[ his answer would have been very different a few days ago. he's changed. everything about him has changed. that doesn't mean he's lost his edges or that he's softened.
but he understands, a little better, the value he puts in his hands, his words. ]
There are gonna be consequences, bad or good. Still, I'm a big fan of people getting their say. Agency. At least we can try to give the princess that much.
（ it may sound like agreement, but it's really more cold neutrality. the attempt may yet result in disaster, and intuition tempers him to caution. itachi is not reckless or prone to sympathy — he pities the girl for her impossible position, but one's duty cannot be so easily set aside. one girl's wish is not worth the lives of thousands lost to war. ）
（ he too is a man of proof, and he understands this is tremulous ground. he will not manufacture outrage where none exists. his suspicions are his own. ）
I believe it prudent to exercise caution regardless.
（ they are still missing information. too much caution is always better than too little. ）
（ whether he has struck a nerve or not is irrelevant. this reaction tells him he has misstepped, and itachi is not a prideful man. apology is easier when it has no attachment to ego. ）
I do not doubt the competence of the Ximilia's recruits. However, these people are good-hearted, and that makes them vulnerable to those that are not. I do not wish to see that exploited.
Successfully completing two missions is not unimpressive, but for those unaccustomed to this level of danger it may also result in complacency.
（ he isn't concerned that erik may fall into that category — there are things that come out in a fight. the way one moves, the way remembered pain informs how one steps or dodges or blocks. erik is not naïve in that way. yet, for those who have not felt the bitter sting of defeat, victory can be a heady poison. he is wary, thinking of tenma. ）
I will defer to your assessment. You know them better than I.
Buddy, I'm the last person to get complacent. We have some newcomers, but I think we're on the right track here. It might still be messy, but I think we can pull through.
It is a fine line, after all. You probably know that too.
（ in his own world, this would not trouble him — nearly no one dared to meet his gaze. yet here, no one save erik has avoided it.
there are no other uchiha here now. he would have sensed them. but perhaps, one of them was here before his arrival. it is foolish to hope that it may have been sasuke, yet such foolish emotions persist in him. ）
（ he's an internationally wanted s-rank criminal with one of the highest bounties ever offered for his death, the idea of someone knowing about him because they read about him does not strike him as strange — it only begs the question how he somehow missed the fact that erik was from his world, though perhaps not his time.
there is something absent from the equation. beyond his sight. ）
Why did you anticipate that would be something I am unaccustomed to?
（ the specifics of the sharingan wouldn't have been created by coincidence, though he supposes on a broad enough scope it would eventually be possible. human imagination is an unfettered thing, after all.
but likelier yet — space-time ninjutsu could account for the travel between worlds, and it would likely be a rinnegan user to do it. pain, perhaps?
itachi made peace with his death long ago, but suddenly all the little parts that came after he isn't privy to are a point of contentious frustration. a muscle clenches briefly in his jaw — and it isn't for the first time since coming here that he's hoping that amaterasu was enough to take care of madara. ）
And what did you learn of me, in these stories?
（ erik would have been unnervingly calm for a man with barely above baseline strength, fighting against one who killed his clan. ）
That you're competent. Secretive. You pride yourself on your abilities and closed off on your feelings. The less people know about you, the better it is for them.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text ↪ un: 朱
（ zero preamble. just. suddenly this. ）
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They are concerned about the possibility of firearms?
（ sorry, erik, while his world is oddly anachronistic at times, his only exposure to 'guns' has been on the ximilia.
#weirdlyliteralninjathings ）
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1/2
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（ he is not without compassion for those that cannot bear it. truthfully, he is acutely aware of their condition. ）
What do you intend?
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but he understands, a little better, the value he puts in his hands, his words. ]
There are gonna be consequences, bad or good. Still, I'm a big fan of people getting their say. Agency. At least we can try to give the princess that much.
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（ it may sound like agreement, but it's really more cold neutrality. the attempt may yet result in disaster, and intuition tempers him to caution. itachi is not reckless or prone to sympathy — he pities the girl for her impossible position, but one's duty cannot be so easily set aside. one girl's wish is not worth the lives of thousands lost to war. ）
My concern is that she may be compromised.
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[ gut instinct is valid, but his impression was more akin to their first mission with so-yeon. ]
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（ he too is a man of proof, and he understands this is tremulous ground. he will not manufacture outrage where none exists. his suspicions are his own. ）
I believe it prudent to exercise caution regardless.
（ they are still missing information. too much caution is always better than too little. ）
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Look, not saying this is the brightest bunch out there or the most pragmatic, but we have succeeded in all our missions so far.
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（ whether he has struck a nerve or not is irrelevant. this reaction tells him he has misstepped, and itachi is not a prideful man. apology is easier when it has no attachment to ego. ）
I do not doubt the competence of the Ximilia's recruits. However, these people are good-hearted, and that makes them vulnerable to those that are not. I do not wish to see that exploited.
What caution I urge is on behalf of that wish.
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We'll still be cautious but we've also pulled together. It's 50/50.
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（ he isn't concerned that erik may fall into that category — there are things that come out in a fight. the way one moves, the way remembered pain informs how one steps or dodges or blocks. erik is not naïve in that way. yet, for those who have not felt the bitter sting of defeat, victory can be a heady poison. he is wary, thinking of tenma. ）
I will defer to your assessment. You know them better than I.
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Buddy, I'm the last person to get complacent. We have some newcomers, but I think we're on the right track here. It might still be messy, but I think we can pull through.
It is a fine line, after all. You probably know that too.
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（ fine lines, impossible things. he'll let it lie, with that. ）
May I ask a question of you?
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How?
（ in his own world, this would not trouble him — nearly no one dared to meet his gaze. yet here, no one save erik has avoided it.
there are no other uchiha here now. he would have sensed them. but perhaps, one of them was here before his arrival. it is foolish to hope that it may have been sasuke, yet such foolish emotions persist in him. ）
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You sure? The answer's kind of weird. May not be something you wanna know.
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（ his answer is immediate. it is not a matter on which he needs deliberate — when has he ever shied away from anything he may not want to know? ）
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I know about you because I read about you.
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there is something absent from the equation. beyond his sight. ）
Why did you anticipate that would be something I am unaccustomed to?
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Because I'm not from your world?
itp local man finds weird ways to rationalize fictionalized accounts of his existence
I see.
（ the specifics of the sharingan wouldn't have been created by coincidence, though he supposes on a broad enough scope it would eventually be possible. human imagination is an unfettered thing, after all.
but likelier yet — space-time ninjutsu could account for the travel between worlds, and it would likely be a rinnegan user to do it. pain, perhaps?
itachi made peace with his death long ago, but suddenly all the little parts that came after he isn't privy to are a point of contentious frustration. a muscle clenches briefly in his jaw — and it isn't for the first time since coming here that he's hoping that amaterasu was enough to take care of madara. ）
And what did you learn of me, in these stories?
（ erik would have been unnervingly calm for a man with barely above baseline strength, fighting against one who killed his clan. ）
bless
ruh roh
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