[Levi waits for Sasuke to approach the bar, leaning back with one leg crossed and one elbow on the edge, relaxed and deceptively ambivalent.] You don't seem like the type that comes to a place like this often.
[Sasuke glances at Levi, then back to the bartender and orders his drink, waiting for the bartender to hear him and turn away before even responding. He doesn't look at Levi when he does.] I'm not.
[Levi glances over the the group Sasuke's left. It's been too loud for him to catch much of the conversation going on, watching body language and facial expressions instead.] Friends from home?
[The pause is longer than it should be.] You could say that.
[That gets his attention, and a sidelong glance.] Sounds complicated.
[Sasuke finally glances at Levi again before turning around to lean back against the bar, also watching the noisy crowd while waiting for his drink.] More so than I'd like.
[Levi turns his full gaze on Sasuke, taking in his appearance close up rather than at a distance. He's used to seeing the more subtle ways people express themselves.] Is it possible that it's not as complicated as you think?
[Sasuke snorts. The otherwise deadpan expression on his face shifts just a little as his brows draw down a fraction.] Hard for it not to be.
[He's quiet for a moment, gaze drifting back to the group, reflecting on what he's seen just minutes ago.] Perhaps that just reflects how important they are to you.
[Now that gets a reaction - Sasuke turns his head quickly to look at the other, surprise written on his face. It takes him a moment to compose himself, parted lips meeting and forming a line. He means to say Who the hell are you but what comes out instead is:] I didn't expect them to be.
[It's more of a reaction than he expects, but Levi's expression stays even, neutral, almost before it shifts to the side. He huffs slightly - not quite a laugh, but as close as he gets.] You never do, with the ones that end up being the closest. [Speaking from experience? Yeah. Pretty much.]
[At that, Sasuke 'hmphs.'] I don't think I know anyone who qualifies as close.
[Levi glances at Sasuke again out the corner of his eye.] By your decision, or theirs?
[Sasuke's eyes narrow a little, still looking at Levi. Trying to read him. It's a little harder with the alcohol in his system, and the alcohol of course makes it harder for him to note that.] ...Both.
[Levi's inscrutable to most people, though he can't help but feel an odd resonance with Sasuke, similar and yet different in the way he normally can pick out young people with troubled pasts.] So what do you want?
[Sasuke takes a moment after that question to consider. To take Levi's measure one more time before looking back toward the group. The bartender sets the tokkuri-sized bottle at Sasuke's elbow, and he picks it up without looking, takes a slow sip, eyes moving across the people who once called him friend. It would be lying to say he'd ever really called them that.] I don't know.
[Levi glances once at the flask, but doesn't comment on it, waiting silently for Sasuke's answer.] Do you know what they want?
No. ...Yes. I don't know. [Another sip.] They want things that mean changing the past.
[Interesting, though somehow Levi doubts a whole group of people could be that naive to not accept things that have happened and move forward - or perhaps that's because he doesn't know how to be any other way.] ...Explain.
Che. [Normally Sasuke wouldn't. But really, what does it matter? And why the hell should he care what a nosy stranger thinks if he wants to nose in, anyway? Sasuke's done being silent about these things.] They want me not to have left. To stay put and be good. [More bitterly:] Some of them would probably rather I didn't know the truth.
"Good" is a relative term. Some people are only as good as they are useful. [His eyes narrow slightly] What truth is that?
[There's really only one response to that, as Sasuke turns his head just enough so that, while still mostly sidelong, he can look at both of Levi's eyes with both of his. Sasuke's spin red and black in an instant, straight from quiet grey-black to the whirling blades of his Mangekyou, and both men and the world around them rip into negative black-and-white. Scenes flash, and most of them involve a man who looks terribly similar to Sasuke, though with a deeper exhaustion in the lines of his face, and a longer angle to his jaw.
Hugging a small child who can only be Sasuke by the spike in his hair.
(flash) Face suddenly darkened into hard lines, cruel, blade in his hands and bloodied bodies at his feet. The woman has Sasuke's face.
(flash) She's pretty when she smiles.
(flash) "Run. Run and cling to life."
(flash) A large hand on a preteen's wrist, and a snap that jolts the world in real, tangible pain that Levi will be able to feel for that split second.
(flash) "You will be my new light."
(flash) The same bodies as before, alive, people, on their knees. Tears on the older teen's face, now so young. "You really are gentle."
(flash) An older man with a cross-shaped scar on his chin, all scars and bandages, giving the order nodded to by the other old men and woman at his sides, a thirteen-year-old boy helpless on one knee before them. "Even the unknowing children."
(flash) A smile, the warmest yet, on the face of that same older teen - now much older, paler, with lines like cracked pottery in his skin. One of his eyes is blind. "I will love you forever."
(flash) In the distance, the sound of a small child crying.]
[It takes seconds. It takes seconds and when it breaks it's as though nothing happened. No one around them has so much as glanced their way. And when it breaks, the next breath into Sasuke's lungs sucks in over parted lips. He turns his head away, a dark flush sweeping fast over just the lines of his cheekbones. That was more than he meant to show, more truth than he meant to give. He'll blame the alcohol later, and not the fact that he's so much worse than Itachi ever was at controlling his own will. After a beat, he tips his head back to knock back half the bottle in one hard gulp.]
[For someone who's never experienced illusions, let alone those from a Sharingan, the whole sequence is entirely surreal, to say the least. It takes Levi a few seconds to understand what he's seeing: Sasuke's past. Much of it is too brief for him to fully comprehend, and there are finer details that he notices but can't quite piece together as it all rushes before his eyes. Family - siblings, parents? A hint of betrayal and loss. Incredible, incredible loss.
Levi doesn't understand family as most people know it. Blood relations, if he ever knew them, hadn't played any sort of role for most of his life. His family is scrapped together, ripped apart and destroyed so often that he's had to force himself to be careful with how much he attaches himself to people. Though - as he'd hinted at earlier - he often inadvertently cares more than he intends. He'd been reminded of this fact the other day, and has been since doing his best to ignore it.
When they return to the present again, he feels a strange sense of disorientation and nausea. Levi grabs for the water that's been sitting neglected next to his hand and gulps it as Sasuke downs his flask. His jaw clenches tightly as he fights to control his breathing and his pulse.]
The fuck did you just do?
[It takes Sasuke almost a minute to answer that, and for that minute, his jaw is set hard, and his eyes are shut. His breathing is controlled, even, and very, very slow. A few of the breaths shake slightly on their way out. The hand gripping the bottle: the knuckles have gone white. His voice is extremely tight when he speaks.] Mangekyou Sharingan. Genjutsu. It means illusions, but that word is bullshit. I showed you what's inside my head.
[His eyes are still shut.]
Itachi - my brother - eradicated our entire clan on orders from our village elders. Because my father was going to lead a coup. They decided the best answer was genocide.
I spent ten years thinking Itachi did it on a whim.
[It won't be until tomorrow when Sasuke will realize that just now, he's maybe a little more drunk than he thinks.]
[Years of experience against motion sickness means that he recovers fairly quickly, but it's still incredibly unnerving, like Sasuke had reached into his mind and forced a vision in front of him. Illusions - but what Sasuke had shown him were memories rather than illusions. Genjutsu - the word is familiar and Levi racks his memory a moment for where he heard the word before.
Kakashi. He and this kid must be connected somehow. Kakashi had indicated that all but one of the sixteen here were from his village, and insinuated that they were allies. Yet there's clearly discord between Sasuke and the others - though not by choice, it seems. But there's an obvious question that needs asking:]
Why? What was the reason for lying to you?
[Levi watches him carefully. If there's something hidden about this group that he needs to know, something dangerous, he'd rather be aware of it before it potentially comes around to bite him in the ass. Kakashi had been careful and guarded - more interesting information is often gathered when tongues are loosened with alcohol.
Even so, Levi can't help but find himself a little drawn in, curious about Sasuke's story and experience.]
[Sasuke's frown is deep. When he opens his eyes, it's to stare into his bottle, rather than at Levi or the rest of his teammates, though he's not really seeing what's in front of him.] Most of the village didn't - doesn't - know about the coup. I was supposed to die. Itachi bought my life and made the elders promise I'd be able to remember our clan with honor.
The price was Itachi being exiled as a criminal. I spent ten years thinking the person I loved more than anyone else turned into a monster and I'd been too fucking blind to see it.
[A beat. Another slow, deep drink from his bottle.]
I left the village at thirteen so I could find the strength to kill him. And I did. And only after that did I learn he was still Konoha's the entire time. Just more Konoha's than Uchiha's.
[Levi is quiet for a long time, listening, absorbing. The deep seated anger and pain are nearly tangible, but he doesn't reach out to attempt any kind of comfort. Aside from the fact he's rarely the type to do so, he has the distinct feeling that Sasuke wouldn't accept such a blatant display of sympathy from a stranger.
Coming from a world with widespread death and suffering, he's seen and experienced his fair share of suffering, but he's also careful to know that there are levels of pain he simply can't understand - killing someone you'd once loved above all others because you'd been convinced they were evil, only to find out afterward that you'd been deliberately deceived by people you should have been able to - even wanted to trust...]
What did you do when you found out the truth?
I promised myself I'd kill every single person in the village so that maybe they could start to grasp a single fucking fraction of my pain. [There's no hesitation there, and no embarrassment or shame. It's what happened. Sasuke can't undo the past. And if he could, he wouldn't stop at something so paltry as belaying his rage; he'd go straight to the cornerstones of the village first.] I started with Danzou - the man with the scar on his chin.
[Another sip.]
Things happened. Forbidden jutsu. "Edo Tensei." I talked to my brother. I talked to the dead founders of our village. I went back. [One beat.] I want to fix it. [Then three.]
I don't know where to start.
You talked to the dead... [Levi murmurs it to himself, wondering at how that could be possible, but cutting that off abruptly. Death is supposed to be final, and here it isn't. Whatever he might want to ask the dead is probably best left unasked.
He glances back over to the table Sasuke had come from, one of his companions glancing back at them in clear curiosity of what could be taking him so long.] It looks like you already have.
[It takes Sasuke a long moment to answer that. He nods to the person glancing over toward him, lifts his bottle slightly in indication he'll be over in a moment. When they wave and go back to their conversation... Sasuke just spends a minute or two staring at the group, thinking deeply and yet not really thinking at all.] It's not enough. [Before Levi can ask whether Sasuke means for himself, or for them, he just shakes his head and levers himself up off the bar, making his way back to the group.]
Hey. [He calls it clearly enough for Sasuke to hear him, though Levi isn't sure if he'll wait. If he turns back:] Didn't get your name.
[Sasuke does pause, and he does turn. Once more, one calculating once-over.] Uchiha Sasuke. Yours?
[Levi doesn't flinch at all under those calculations.] It's Levi.
[Another beat, and Sasuke just nods before returning to his table, his movements all much more sober and calm than his words so far.] Be seeing you.
no subject
[Sasuke glances at Levi, then back to the bartender and orders his drink, waiting for the bartender to hear him and turn away before even responding. He doesn't look at Levi when he does.] I'm not.
[Levi glances over the the group Sasuke's left. It's been too loud for him to catch much of the conversation going on, watching body language and facial expressions instead.] Friends from home?
[The pause is longer than it should be.] You could say that.
[That gets his attention, and a sidelong glance.] Sounds complicated.
[Sasuke finally glances at Levi again before turning around to lean back against the bar, also watching the noisy crowd while waiting for his drink.] More so than I'd like.
[Levi turns his full gaze on Sasuke, taking in his appearance close up rather than at a distance. He's used to seeing the more subtle ways people express themselves.] Is it possible that it's not as complicated as you think?
[Sasuke snorts. The otherwise deadpan expression on his face shifts just a little as his brows draw down a fraction.] Hard for it not to be.
[He's quiet for a moment, gaze drifting back to the group, reflecting on what he's seen just minutes ago.] Perhaps that just reflects how important they are to you.
[Now that gets a reaction - Sasuke turns his head quickly to look at the other, surprise written on his face. It takes him a moment to compose himself, parted lips meeting and forming a line. He means to say Who the hell are you but what comes out instead is:] I didn't expect them to be.
[It's more of a reaction than he expects, but Levi's expression stays even, neutral, almost before it shifts to the side. He huffs slightly - not quite a laugh, but as close as he gets.] You never do, with the ones that end up being the closest. [Speaking from experience? Yeah. Pretty much.]
[At that, Sasuke 'hmphs.'] I don't think I know anyone who qualifies as close.
[Levi glances at Sasuke again out the corner of his eye.] By your decision, or theirs?
[Sasuke's eyes narrow a little, still looking at Levi. Trying to read him. It's a little harder with the alcohol in his system, and the alcohol of course makes it harder for him to note that.] ...Both.
[Levi's inscrutable to most people, though he can't help but feel an odd resonance with Sasuke, similar and yet different in the way he normally can pick out young people with troubled pasts.] So what do you want?
[Sasuke takes a moment after that question to consider. To take Levi's measure one more time before looking back toward the group. The bartender sets the tokkuri-sized bottle at Sasuke's elbow, and he picks it up without looking, takes a slow sip, eyes moving across the people who once called him friend. It would be lying to say he'd ever really called them that.] I don't know.
[Levi glances once at the flask, but doesn't comment on it, waiting silently for Sasuke's answer.] Do you know what they want?
No. ...Yes. I don't know. [Another sip.] They want things that mean changing the past.
[Interesting, though somehow Levi doubts a whole group of people could be that naive to not accept things that have happened and move forward - or perhaps that's because he doesn't know how to be any other way.] ...Explain.
Che. [Normally Sasuke wouldn't. But really, what does it matter? And why the hell should he care what a nosy stranger thinks if he wants to nose in, anyway? Sasuke's done being silent about these things.] They want me not to have left. To stay put and be good. [More bitterly:] Some of them would probably rather I didn't know the truth.
"Good" is a relative term. Some people are only as good as they are useful. [His eyes narrow slightly] What truth is that?
[There's really only one response to that, as Sasuke turns his head just enough so that, while still mostly sidelong, he can look at both of Levi's eyes with both of his. Sasuke's spin red and black in an instant, straight from quiet grey-black to the whirling blades of his Mangekyou, and both men and the world around them rip into negative black-and-white. Scenes flash, and most of them involve a man who looks terribly similar to Sasuke, though with a deeper exhaustion in the lines of his face, and a longer angle to his jaw.
Hugging a small child who can only be Sasuke by the spike in his hair.
(flash) Face suddenly darkened into hard lines, cruel, blade in his hands and bloodied bodies at his feet. The woman has Sasuke's face.
(flash) She's pretty when she smiles.
(flash) "Run. Run and cling to life."
(flash) A large hand on a preteen's wrist, and a snap that jolts the world in real, tangible pain that Levi will be able to feel for that split second.
(flash) "You will be my new light."
(flash) The same bodies as before, alive, people, on their knees. Tears on the older teen's face, now so young. "You really are gentle."
(flash) An older man with a cross-shaped scar on his chin, all scars and bandages, giving the order nodded to by the other old men and woman at his sides, a thirteen-year-old boy helpless on one knee before them. "Even the unknowing children."
(flash) A smile, the warmest yet, on the face of that same older teen - now much older, paler, with lines like cracked pottery in his skin. One of his eyes is blind. "I will love you forever."
(flash) In the distance, the sound of a small child crying.]
[It takes seconds. It takes seconds and when it breaks it's as though nothing happened. No one around them has so much as glanced their way. And when it breaks, the next breath into Sasuke's lungs sucks in over parted lips. He turns his head away, a dark flush sweeping fast over just the lines of his cheekbones. That was more than he meant to show, more truth than he meant to give. He'll blame the alcohol later, and not the fact that he's so much worse than Itachi ever was at controlling his own will. After a beat, he tips his head back to knock back half the bottle in one hard gulp.]
[For someone who's never experienced illusions, let alone those from a Sharingan, the whole sequence is entirely surreal, to say the least. It takes Levi a few seconds to understand what he's seeing: Sasuke's past. Much of it is too brief for him to fully comprehend, and there are finer details that he notices but can't quite piece together as it all rushes before his eyes. Family - siblings, parents? A hint of betrayal and loss. Incredible, incredible loss.
Levi doesn't understand family as most people know it. Blood relations, if he ever knew them, hadn't played any sort of role for most of his life. His family is scrapped together, ripped apart and destroyed so often that he's had to force himself to be careful with how much he attaches himself to people. Though - as he'd hinted at earlier - he often inadvertently cares more than he intends. He'd been reminded of this fact the other day, and has been since doing his best to ignore it.
When they return to the present again, he feels a strange sense of disorientation and nausea. Levi grabs for the water that's been sitting neglected next to his hand and gulps it as Sasuke downs his flask. His jaw clenches tightly as he fights to control his breathing and his pulse.]
The fuck did you just do?
[It takes Sasuke almost a minute to answer that, and for that minute, his jaw is set hard, and his eyes are shut. His breathing is controlled, even, and very, very slow. A few of the breaths shake slightly on their way out. The hand gripping the bottle: the knuckles have gone white. His voice is extremely tight when he speaks.] Mangekyou Sharingan. Genjutsu. It means illusions, but that word is bullshit. I showed you what's inside my head.
[His eyes are still shut.]
Itachi - my brother - eradicated our entire clan on orders from our village elders. Because my father was going to lead a coup. They decided the best answer was genocide.
I spent ten years thinking Itachi did it on a whim.
[It won't be until tomorrow when Sasuke will realize that just now, he's maybe a little more drunk than he thinks.]
[Years of experience against motion sickness means that he recovers fairly quickly, but it's still incredibly unnerving, like Sasuke had reached into his mind and forced a vision in front of him. Illusions - but what Sasuke had shown him were memories rather than illusions. Genjutsu - the word is familiar and Levi racks his memory a moment for where he heard the word before.
Kakashi. He and this kid must be connected somehow. Kakashi had indicated that all but one of the sixteen here were from his village, and insinuated that they were allies. Yet there's clearly discord between Sasuke and the others - though not by choice, it seems. But there's an obvious question that needs asking:]
Why? What was the reason for lying to you?
[Levi watches him carefully. If there's something hidden about this group that he needs to know, something dangerous, he'd rather be aware of it before it potentially comes around to bite him in the ass. Kakashi had been careful and guarded - more interesting information is often gathered when tongues are loosened with alcohol.
Even so, Levi can't help but find himself a little drawn in, curious about Sasuke's story and experience.]
[Sasuke's frown is deep. When he opens his eyes, it's to stare into his bottle, rather than at Levi or the rest of his teammates, though he's not really seeing what's in front of him.] Most of the village didn't - doesn't - know about the coup. I was supposed to die. Itachi bought my life and made the elders promise I'd be able to remember our clan with honor.
The price was Itachi being exiled as a criminal. I spent ten years thinking the person I loved more than anyone else turned into a monster and I'd been too fucking blind to see it.
[A beat. Another slow, deep drink from his bottle.]
I left the village at thirteen so I could find the strength to kill him. And I did. And only after that did I learn he was still Konoha's the entire time. Just more Konoha's than Uchiha's.
[Levi is quiet for a long time, listening, absorbing. The deep seated anger and pain are nearly tangible, but he doesn't reach out to attempt any kind of comfort. Aside from the fact he's rarely the type to do so, he has the distinct feeling that Sasuke wouldn't accept such a blatant display of sympathy from a stranger.
Coming from a world with widespread death and suffering, he's seen and experienced his fair share of suffering, but he's also careful to know that there are levels of pain he simply can't understand - killing someone you'd once loved above all others because you'd been convinced they were evil, only to find out afterward that you'd been deliberately deceived by people you should have been able to - even wanted to trust...]
What did you do when you found out the truth?
I promised myself I'd kill every single person in the village so that maybe they could start to grasp a single fucking fraction of my pain. [There's no hesitation there, and no embarrassment or shame. It's what happened. Sasuke can't undo the past. And if he could, he wouldn't stop at something so paltry as belaying his rage; he'd go straight to the cornerstones of the village first.] I started with Danzou - the man with the scar on his chin.
[Another sip.]
Things happened. Forbidden jutsu. "Edo Tensei." I talked to my brother. I talked to the dead founders of our village. I went back. [One beat.] I want to fix it. [Then three.]
I don't know where to start.
You talked to the dead... [Levi murmurs it to himself, wondering at how that could be possible, but cutting that off abruptly. Death is supposed to be final, and here it isn't. Whatever he might want to ask the dead is probably best left unasked.
He glances back over to the table Sasuke had come from, one of his companions glancing back at them in clear curiosity of what could be taking him so long.] It looks like you already have.
[It takes Sasuke a long moment to answer that. He nods to the person glancing over toward him, lifts his bottle slightly in indication he'll be over in a moment. When they wave and go back to their conversation... Sasuke just spends a minute or two staring at the group, thinking deeply and yet not really thinking at all.] It's not enough. [Before Levi can ask whether Sasuke means for himself, or for them, he just shakes his head and levers himself up off the bar, making his way back to the group.]
Hey. [He calls it clearly enough for Sasuke to hear him, though Levi isn't sure if he'll wait. If he turns back:] Didn't get your name.
[Sasuke does pause, and he does turn. Once more, one calculating once-over.] Uchiha Sasuke. Yours?
[Levi doesn't flinch at all under those calculations.] It's Levi.
[Another beat, and Sasuke just nods before returning to his table, his movements all much more sober and calm than his words so far.] Be seeing you.