Day 47: Recreational Field [Second Shift]

[vsyourface]

Scott wasn't really what one would call the sporty type, at least not currently. In the past, maybe. He could have called himself a hockey player at one point - in grade two (it totally counted). And he had been a jock in high school, hadn't he (he had at least played a lot of Track & Field for the NES, anyway)? Regardless of what his athletic

Comments

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke woke late, but he ignored his nurses chirpy morning greeting and lay still for a moment, simply taking his time to catalogue every limb. They were working; his entire body was working. The lack of chakra was something he was accustomed to by now, an endless frustration that had to be ignored in order to keep moving --

But he could keep moving. He had his hands and his feet and the will to see vengeance through to the end.

He also had too many people here who could prove troublesome if he targeted Konohagakure as a whole, however guilty the village might have been by what must have been a close-to-willing blindness. But blindness was hardly the worst of a hidden village's sins -- and those who had never seen the truth in the first place could hardly bear the same weight of sin that those who had committed massacre with their eyes wide open did.

And if Jiraiya was to be believed, there might be less opposition to vengeance than Sasuke had expected.

He had no need of approval, and he had no need of forgiveness -- but if he could quicken the swing of his sword, if the guilty could sooner taste the same pain they'd dealt, then the path to walk was an easy decision. And Sasuke had always worked better on the move.

So he was almost pleased when his nurse informed him that he'd woken up only in time for the second shift. As expected, there was no trace out here of the bird that that patient had made a meal of during the night, just clean air and few others yet, apparently.

Sasuke settled into a routine set of patterns, mind the closest to calm it had been in -- in what felt like a long time. The remaining irritation was how much time the Institute had stolen in the past several days, but he would have to make up for lost time with brief training now.

It was too damn bad that the Institute would probably stop any sparring even if Sasuke could find a match.

[[for Kakashi, I believe. 8D]]

[lostonlifesroad]

The best Kakashi could hope for after his conversation with Artemis was to have offered the boy some temporary distraction; shift changed before he could ask about what had been weighing him down so much, and Kakashi felt a bit guilty afterward. He hadn't meant for the entire conversation to be about him, after all. And what was worse, the nurse refused to let him take his 'calculus' book outside. That was a time for exercise, she admonished, and sent him into the cold with nothing to read.

Ah well. Letting out a soft sigh, Kakashi began walking the length of the recreational field, surveying the few people already out. One was extremely familiar, and between Obito's arrival and the latest bulletin, someone Kakashi needed to speak to. He recognized the practice for what it was, though he also knew Sasuke would find it less than satisfactory, along with anything the nurses would actually allow. Still, it presented an opportunity for Kakashi to study Sasuke's form for the first time since he'd left the village, among other things, so he made his way over.

"It's been awhile, Sasuke." Kakashi kept his hands in his pockets as he approached, though the Uchiha would know better than to think he was off guard. There was simply no way of knowing what would happen during the day, and any ninja knew that it only took one hit to land a fatal blow. "I thought we should talk, after that note you left." And because of Obito, but Kakashi wouldn't bring him up just yet. First he wanted to see just what Sasuke meant by 'alliance' this time.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke was halfway through a pattern when he caught the sound of grass rustling in approaching footsteps. When the person spoke, he realised that he should have expected it, especially after he'd left that note earlier. It wasn't easy to leave detailed explanations on the bulletin board, for more reasons than because Sasuke still wasn't sure how readable his handwriting was -- it made sense that Kakashi would seek him out for clarification.

He acknowledged the man's presence with a brief nod, speeding up to finish the pattern in half-time before stilling to talk. It was a basic training pattern, an imaginary unarmed opponent to disable, and Sasuke wasn't so immature as to want to show off with the rapidity of his movements. (Because he definitely no longer cared what Kakashi's assessment might be and definitely hadn't for a long time.)

"I expected as much," he said, hoping that the conversation might go quickly for more than one reason. (If Kakashi asked for specifics of Sasuke's plans -- Sasuke didn't have them yet himself, let alone have a version he could provide to Konoha-nin.) "I spoke with Jiraiya. What he said leads me to believe that I can expect to complete my work without having to deal with the entire village."

A blunt retelling of Jiraiya's words, but it was the gist of what he'd said. It wasn't like Konoha's elders were listening at the very moment, and on this topic Sasuke had no need of beating around the bush: he wanted a clear confirmation, to decide which side of the path before him he could choose now.

[lostonlifesroad]

Kakashi had to wonder just what Jiraiya had said to inspire such a conclusion. True, the Sannin didn't exactly approve of the elders, and the same could be said of many of the village's upper ranks. Kakashi might even include himself on the list, given what he'd learned just in Landel's. But to go so far to say the village would do nothing while Sasuke took his revenge among the upper ranks?

"That might be true, though political structures aren't usually that simple." Kakashi shrugged slightly; he didn't intend to ask for anything more detailed at the moment, because going too far into that discussion could very well undo the choice Sasuke had made. "But first, we all need to focus on getting back home. Right?"

Meaning that they would all simply have to deal with the issue later, when the time came. Kakashi knew he'd need to tell the others more than ever now, because they would be the ones faced with whatever resulted from Sasuke's decision. First, however, Kakashi needed to confirm Sasuke's intentions of working with them, and to let him know about Obito's presence.

"You know, a person named Yuffie is planning on getting people together for exercise tonight." Although Sasuke had changed, Kakashi got the feeling that he wouldn't find simple training patterns satisfying. "You might find it a bit more satisfying than this."

[sasuke_of_sound]

Konohagakure's governance wasn't simple. Sasuke was aware of that much -- the elders and the Hokage's office aside, there was the pressure of the daimyo and the clout, or lack thereof, of the village's bloodline clans. But that complexity was also what would make it easier for Sasuke to work with the Konoha-nin here, because it muddied the chain of loyalty just enough to ease alliance. Sasuke had no need to attack their direct superior, and if Jiraiya was to be believed ... there was little love lost for the elders buried in the hearts of Konoha's remaining loyal Sannin.

And the conclusion he'd drawn the first time Konoha-nin had appeared was the same one he'd arrived at here: not working with them, and in this case openly declaring aggression, would doubtless prove endlessly more frustrating than humouring them for now. He had learned enough from Orochimaru to know that there was profit to be had in the use of others' desires.

Sasuke had just never expected to use these particular people. He'd cut his ties -- but Landel's had forced him to find a way to re-knot them without letting them tangle to death. Another price to exact when he eventually had the man's life in hand.

"First things first," Sasuke agreed, relieved that Kakashi had chosen to pry further into the details of Sasuke's decision, and latched onto the newer topic. His interest wasn't entirely out of avoiding discussion of anything after escaping this place -- Kakashi was right in assuming that simple kata weren't satisfying in the least as training.

"I noticed that plan on the board," he said. So it was training, as he'd half-guessed, half-hoped. "I am considering looking into it after my other business tonight. Are you intending to go?"

He hadn't exactly had time to observe if Kakashi's skills had changed during that brief fight against the spiders, after all.

[lostonlifesroad]

Well, Kakashi couldn't say he wasn't pleased with the conversation; so far, it was turning out to be the most agreeable one he and Sasuke'd had since the jounin arrived. Granted, that was largely due to the silent agreement to simply not talk about the weightier issues, but Kakashi was willing to take what he could get. It was a start, and like Sasuke had said, first things first.

"I am. I don't know if the person had intended to let us bring along weapons of any sort, but I need to get used to fighting with a certain sword. It'll be easier this way than trying to learn the moves while it's owner is trying to kill me." Particularly when the clockwork man apparently couldn't die, a bulletin that had been none-too-reassuring to Kakashi. But this might work out in his advantage after all, since Sasuke also fought with a sword. "So maybe I'll find you if you do show up."

But this arrangement couldn't be the sole focus of their talk, and after a brief pause, Kakashi moved forward. "If you've been paying attention to the bulletin, you might already know this. But they brought another Uchiha here. Uchiha Obito." Kakashi knew Sasuke would recognize the name, even if this was the first he'd heard of the boy's presence. It'd been the jounin himself who told Sasuke about his best friend--though he hadn't exactly been expecting the person in question to show up such a short time later. "He's going to want to talk to you, just because you're also an Uchiha. He's always been proud of being part of that clan."

[sasuke_of_sound]

Kakashi had found a weapon? That sounded more than promising -- Sasuke would have to deal with what he'd planned quickly, then. Even if Kakashi turned out to be occupied, there was the chance of finding someone else worth consideration. Sasuke was about to ask more about the opponent Kakashi had managed to take it from when the man spoke again, in a tone that clearly indicated the importance of the topic.

Once the name was spoken, it became obvious. Sasuke turned his head to listen more closely to Kakashi's voice as he continued, brow furrowing.

Firstly, that was the longest time difference he'd heard of yet. Even Haku and Zabuza had only been from three years previous. Secondly, judging by the future tense Kakashi had used in going to want to talk, Uchiha Obito didn't know about Sasuke's existence yet, let alone his defection from the village. Thirdly, if the reason Kakashi was putting forward for that eagerness was pride in the clan, the fact that said clan barely existed anymore had yet to be imparted.

... and fourthly, this Obito couldn't be any more than a child, student of the Yellow Flash or not.

"He's your teammate," Sasuke said, voice carefully blank -- from the way Kakashi had spoken about Uchiha Obito, Sasuke could guess that the boy's safety was a priority for the jounin, but it didn't sound like he'd told Obito about the fate of his own family. "How well do you expect him to handle what I can tell him about what's happened since his death?"

[lostonlifesroad]

Kakashi chuckled at Sasuke's question. Clearly the boy was assuming that Kakashi had been upfront about certain things with Obito. And maybe Kakashi should have been, but the fact of the matter was simply that most of it--or, all of it--still remained unrevealed. Maybe that would change in part come the next shift, particularly since Obito knew about the Uchiha presence in Landel's, and would seek Sasuke out probably before day's end. The idea of a deadline made telling Obito the truth all that more important and imposing at the same time, and Kakashi still wasn't relishing the idea too much.

"Not well. Especially since he doesn't know he's dead just yet." Not one of Kakashi's proudest moments, but he'd just wanted to protect Obito from that truth for as long as possible. "Or rather, that he's going to die shortly from after he's been taken. He wants to know just what he's doing in the future, among other things."

The limits of Obito's knowledge probably were clear enough just from what Kakashi had said so far, but he couldn't be too careful. "So you can guess he doesn't know anything about the death of the Fourth, our Sensei, much less the fate of the Uchiha. And all due respect, but I'd rather be the one to tell him." Hearing it come from Kakashi would be bad enough. Sasuke had a way of being heartless (to put it lightly) that wouldn't exactly mix nicely with Obito's way of being a crybaby (same). The news wouldn't be well-received no matter who spoke it, but Kakashi would be the one to bear the burden; if that was all he could do for Obito, then so be it.

[sasuke_of_sound]

That second sentence was enough for Sasuke to draw his conclusion. Kakashi was as soft as the rest of the Konoha-nin here -- something Sasuke should have expected, given whose fault it was that Team 7 was as wilfully ignorant of the ninja code as it was. Still, he'd been able to say what he thought was necessary before; surely he didn't think that it would even be possible for someone in Uchiha Obito's situation to avoid learning the truth eventually?

"You've told him nothing." Sasuke's voice was flat, expression cool enough to express what he thought (very little) of that fact. Kakashi confirmed it in the next moment, and then -- then he asked what Sasuke had been expecting.

After all, if someone long dead to him had suddenly appeared -- not the way Fugaku had, not as a lie but as they had been before death, whole and alive and above all innocent of their future -- Sasuke would have wanted the same thing. If his family ... if Itachi ...

But there it was: family. And above that, clan.

Sasuke didn't know Uchiha Obito or vice versa, but blood was blood (even though it was utterly bizarre by now to think of the clan in any tense but the past, or of family in any sense but --). And for all that Kakashi knew more about the massacre than virtually anyone else still in Konohagakure, he had never been more than one eye Uchiha.

"You're his teammate, and I don't know him," Sasuke said, turning his face to direct his gaze (unseeing, but the deliberate nature of the movement wasn't about what his eyes could do) towards Kakashi's voice. "But he is my kin, not yours."

A pause, and then, "I advise you say whatever you have to say to him before he finds me. The only thing I have to tell him is how our clan was destroyed, but it is my prerogative to tell it."

Because an Uchiha deserved to know the whole truth of what happened to Uchiha.

[lostonlifesroad]

"You're right. You don't know him." Kakashi had been expecting this to be Sasuke's reaction, and he couldn't entirely disagree. The Uchiha had always been a clan that prided their power and their heritage, almost to the degree of being separate entity, even within the village. Sasuke had carried that pride all of his life, and even more so after the massacre. Now, he was the heir of the Uchiha title, and maybe that did give him some right in this situation.

But Kakashi had been given something stronger, by Obito himself.

"Obito asked me to carry his eye. So he could see the future through it." A future that had been filled with so much pain and so much death, yet also hope throughout the years, powered by their generation and the children that followed. Kakashi had lived sixteen years longer, and now it fell to him to tell Obito that future. He'd avoided it, certainly, for selfish reasons cloaked in good intentions. But now, facing a member of the Uchiha clan, the task he hadn't wanted now almost seemed like something he could take pride in. Because Obito had trusted him, hadn't he?

"It may be your prerogative, but it's my duty as his teammate, and his friend. If I disregarded that, then I couldn't say I really had changed so much from back then." Nothing would disgrace Obito's sacrifice more than that, in the end. The Uchiha and the sharingan had shaped Kakashi into the ninja he'd become. Now he had to fulfill Obito's request in return, and suddenly it didn't seem like such a hardship.

Kakashi chuckled then, wondering if maybe this had been the reason he'd come over to Sasuke in the first place. He hadn't planned on it happening, but suddenly he didn't want to avoid the talk with Obito so much anymore. "Thanks, Sasuke. Talking to you helped more than I realized."

[sasuke_of_sound]

Kakashi wasn't going to give up his right to tell his former teammate what had happened, that much was obvious from his most immediate response. It wasn't surprising; even Sasuke could understand it, even after what he had said. And it wasn't something he was willing to put effort in to fight, not least because -- judging by the fact that Kakashi had his eye -- it was doubtful that this Obito was going to come asking Sasuke for answers before he heard Kakashi's story.

And it seemed like Kakashi had determined that he was going to tell the story first. Sasuke didn't understand the thanks (unless Kakashi was so concerned about what Sasuke might say that he had been driven to the choice), brow furrowing slightly before he decided to skip over it as something inconsequential.

"Find him before he finds me, then," Sasuke said, noncommittal. He would have to speak with Uchiha Obito sooner or later, as a matter of blood, but if Kakashi was going to insist on being the one to tell the kid about his future, Sasuke wasn't going to force his way into a potentially annoying role.

Still -- "How do you intend to tell him about the massacre?" It was one thing to inform a shinobi of his own death; death was something that could be an honour in ninja society. And the future of his teammates couldn't be too much difficulty, either. Kakashi had done well enough, after all.

The Uchiha, though ... that was another matter altogether.