![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
text; un: taka
[ There has been a great deal of things that Sasuke has learned about in the few weeks he's been here just from talking to new people. All of them have been extremely confusing concepts, like therapy and the idea that people take care of children when they don't have anyone else to take care of them.
Some of these conversations where he's learned things have ended in more questions than answers. He could ask for more clarification from the few he's already made contact with, but the more possible answers he can get, the better. He thinks.
He hopes.
This could be a mistake. ]
How would you suggest someone improve their communication skills?
If your go to response is "talk to people", spare me. I'm only interested in more thorough answers.
Some of these conversations where he's learned things have ended in more questions than answers. He could ask for more clarification from the few he's already made contact with, but the more possible answers he can get, the better. He thinks.
He hopes.
This could be a mistake. ]
How would you suggest someone improve their communication skills?
If your go to response is "talk to people", spare me. I'm only interested in more thorough answers.
... private... ig... cw for child slavery, child soldiers, discrimination, parent death, etc. why???
In my world, there is something called kekkei genkai, a rare, inherited trait that allows those who have the gene to use powerful dojutsu in battle. The kekkei genkai are often looked to as power hungry monsters whose only purpose is to engage others in battle. Most kekkei genkai are sold into slavery, working as ninjas for wealthy clans, sometimes for years, and forced to battle other kekkei genkai in order to display their strength. There have been gambling rings that make it so that whichever kekkei genkai loses the battle, they are sold to the winner's owner, and the cycle continues. It's illegal now, but was common practice until recently.
My clan, the Uchiha, have one of the three most powerful kekkei genkai that one can inherit, something known as the Sharingan, which people have feared for several generations and equated to demons. As my clan grew and the number of kekkei genkai increased, my village, Konoha, became convinced that we were going to rise up with our own army and destroy them. So we were separated and sent to live on the outskirts of the village in order to be more easily controlled. My family hid this all from me and told me that the reason others avoided the Uchiha was because of how powerful we were and that they were riddled with jealousy instead. I chose to not make friends when I was younger because I was taught that I was better than them. I suppose it's a habit that stuck.
Eventually, Konoha ordered my clan to be wiped out. My brother was forced to carry through on the act in order to show his loyalty to the highest order of shinobi, even though it forced him to officially become an enemy of the village. I was the only survivor because my brother couldn't bring himself to kill me and he asked our leader to make sure that I was kept safe. I didn't know the truth until much later, so I was unable to use this as any sort of comfort. The previous fear of my clan, my own status as a kekkei genkai, and the fact that people believed my brother was evil enough to kill his own family on his own whims made it so that I was isolated by the village entirely. I grew resentful and stopped trying to even attempt to make friends or even casual acquaintances because of it.
A lot has happened since then and I've learned the value of friendship, but I'm... rusty. And in some ways haven't entirely broken the habit of choosing to be alone.
private
It takes a while, still, to read large chunks of text. He's gotten more and more used to it, but there is a certain amount of quiet reading aloud that he has to do. He narrates to Repede, his brows drawing further and further together until he's frowning hard at his Omni.
Yet another world full of the greedy and the powerful. Yet another world where people are treated like tools, weapons. What a horrible thing to have to find out about your family. To have no one left—to have been scorned as both too powerful and too dangerous all at once, to have been lied to for so long—it stings at Flynn's lungs in a way that is all too familiar. It's only when Repede lets out a little huff that Flynn realizes he has curled his fingers too tightly into the dog's fur. He murmurs an apology, releases Repede, and reflects that communication lessons are perhaps not needed after all. ]
After all that, I think being rusty is more than understandable. Even now, I find that there aren't proper words to say to all of that. I know what it is to be abandoned, and I know what it is to be alone, but not quite like this.
My previous words about bravery stand truer, I think. It takes a strong person to persevere and keep trying. At the very least, you are clear-eyed about what you're up against.
private
Sasuke has to read those words a few times and it takes a great deal of restraint to keep himself from telling Flynn he's wrong. He didn't keep trying, he didn't persevere; he fell apart, he broke and pushed away, he let himself give in to every flaw in his character and was anything but strong.
Is it deceiving him to keep it to himself? To not disclose his true colors as a murderer who nearly destroyed the shinobi world because persevering was just too much? Naruto was the strong one. Sasuke had just been fortunate enough that he'd saved him from his own weakness. Everything he did now was simply to make sure that Naruto's sacrifices hadn't been in vain.
But he has a chance here to not be seen as the insane criminal that so many people still looked to him as back home. There's something freeing in that, too. Maybe that feeling means he learned nothing from his redemption mission. Or maybe he's just... tired. ]
Maybe.
The words you said are fine.
private
Is your brother alright?
private
He's dead.
private
I hope you are prepared for this city to remind you constantly of your own loss. Not a pleasant warning, but a necessary one.
private
Can you explain that further?
private
I have been here but four months. It can only be assumed that this is a pattern, or else I have angered one of the gods here.
private
And worse, if it's that way for everyone (and he highly doubts that Flynn's just pissed off a god), then it means it could happen to Sakura. That she could have to relive her failed attempt at killing him, or his attempts and near success at killing her.
He's definitely going to get sick. ]
I guess it's good to have the warning.
private
That is a lesson I am attempting to learn as well.
private
private
private
private