video; un: taka [ memory share ]

[retsuden]

[ happier memory ]
[ It starts off with a stupid looking twelve year old blond kid in an orange jump suit turning towards a twelve year old Sasuke and Sakura, his eyes narrowed mischievously. ]

Hey... Don't you wanna see it? It's about time...

What?

You know what I'm talking about! Kakashi-sensei's... real face!

[ Naruto had gotten right up into Sakura's face, and she gasps, punching him on reflex. ]

What's the matter with you?!

[ Sasuke turns away from them both, rolling his eyes. ]

This is stupid. Count me out.

Yeah, you're probably right...

What if he has lips like a blimp?

[ Sasuke freezes in his foot steps. He pictures their sensei, his mask covered face, his hand lifting to pull it down and revealing a huge, bulging set of red lips. It's...disgustingly hilarious. ]

Or maybe... buck teeth!

[ The image of Kakashi with big lips is replaced by one with insanely large teeth, the kind of exaggeration only children can make in their imaginations. It is... possibly the stupidest thing that could break his resolve, and yet...

Sasuke turns back around, folding his arms over his chest. He's reluctantly agreeing and the three start to hash out their plan. The memory unfolds to show them trying to repeatedly get Kakashi to reveal his face in some way; they treat him to ramen, the three of them watching intensely, only to have their friends block their view and Kakashi's mask is pulled back up before they can get them to move. They try to serve them tea, but Naruto spills it and Kakashi blocks it by yanking up a table with all the snacks on it, ruining any chance that he'll have to remove his mask to eat. Sasuke and Naruto sneak into a bath house, figuring he has to take off his mask in there, but Kakashi emerges with a towel covering his face where the mask should be. They even pose as rogue ninja to try and attack him and pull his mask down in a fight, but Kakashi overpowers them easily.

And, strangely enough, they end up revealing actual ninja who were there to hurt Kakashi, foiling their plan by being idiots but making it look like they saw right through the ninjas well-thought out plan.

It's not until they're all in front of him for another mission that they finally do something smart: they ask. ]

You want to know what's behind my mask?

Will you show us?

Sure, I don't mind.

[ The three of them are at full attention, each anxiously staring as Kakashi lifts his hand to pull his mask down. It feels agonizingly slow, each kid picturing what's going to come next, before he finally reveals... ]

It's another mask! Pretty cool, huh?

[ The three of them collapse on the ground and thank God this memory finally comes to an end. ]

[ worst memory]
[ CWs: mass murder, parent death, mental torture, ptsd, violence ]

[ The memory cuts in as a seven year old Sasuke wakes in a room that's sterile and white, a curtain pulled around his bed. The hospital. He pulls himself up, not entirely sure what's going on at first. Walking into the halls, he can hear the nurses gossip, reminding him of the very thing he's in here for. ]

That boy was the only one who survived the massacre.

Someone said he has an older brother. Is that right?

He does, but no one knows where he is right now.

I can't believe it. That the elite Uchiha clan could just be...

[ Sasuke bolts from the hospital hall before the conversation can finish, running through the streets of Konoha until he reaches the entrance to the part of town where his clan had been banished too. There's police tape across the gate, tape he stares at, but ignores as he finally ducks underneath, just wanting to go home.

There's a moment where he thinks he sees his Aunt and Uncle greeting him, their hands raised to wave him back after a long day at school. But the image goes static, blurs, before disappearing entirely. In its place is just blood soaked gravel and dirt. Sasuke feels like he's been kicked in the stomach, and as if to emphasize the mood, it starts to rain.

He walks through the still blood soaked streets towards his home, memories flooding his head as he goes.

Good morning, Sasuke! Heading off to school now, are you? I saw your brother earlier. He's grown into such a man. He's an excellent shinobi, isn't he? ... That boy is the pride of the Uchiha clan, no doubt about it.

Sasuke stops and stares at his family crest painted on the wall, cracked and broken from where a kunai had been thrown into the rock. It's the crest just outside his own house. He pushes open the sliding door, staring at his empty house like he doesn't quite get why it's so dark. He walks inside, and an image of his mother invades his head.

Sasuke-kun, welcome home.

He takes his shoes off out of habit before walking through the rest of the home. He thinks he sees his father, but he vanishes like a ghost, just like the others. There's a bang from the kitchen and Sasuke bolts for it, his heart filled with hope. ]

Mom?!

[ His heart sinks when he sees it's just a cat eating the scraps. He leaves the room without another word, heading to the main room. There's still blood sprayed across the floor, the chalk outline of his parents bodies on the ground. He sinks to his knees beside them, the image of their bloodied corpses stuck in his head, and his brother, Itachi, standing over them.

Foolish little brother... There's a memory of himself in an illusion, standing in the same streets he just walked down, watching as his brother kills their clan, as the bodies fall in front of him, and he screams, begging for it to end.

The memory fades and Sasuke's still sitting in the same, empty room, kneeling in the dried blood stains, staring at them with empty eyes. His brother's voice echoes in his head once more.

At present, you are not worth killing. ... If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live a loathsome life... Run away.

He feels tears stinging his eyes, before they start to come in waves, and he finally lets himself cry. ]

. . .

[ Sasuke should say something, right? Acknowledge that this just got blasted everywhere?

But instead he sighs in irritation and goes to toss his Omni into the ocean. It'll come back. But it at least made him feel better for now. ]

Comments

[ happier | video | un: keith ]

[tempredmental]

Wait... he had a mask under his mask?

[retsuden]

He said it was to be prepared in case one ripped, but I know he was messing with us. He knew all along what we were trying to do.

[tempredmental]

Yeah... [Keith was amused.] Adults are weird like that sometimes.

[Like Keith wasn't an adult or something now.]

worst: video: un; apparition

[unphase]

[she watches the memory with her heart in her throat, threatening to choke her to death. she knew...basics. but not this. not all of this. sweet Mistress, however did he stand it?

she doesn't know.

all she wants to do is help. as much as she can. if she can]

...Sasuke. What I saw...was true.

[retsuden]

[ His omni had shown up beside him again within seconds of hitting the water, but it's still some time before he gathers the energy to respond. He sounds tired, to put it lightly. ]

It's... more complicated than it appears.

PRIVATE forever

[unphase]

[in the meantime, Tinya can't help fretting. congratulations, she's adopted Sasuke and part of that involves fretting like a mother cat.

softly] May I ask how?

both [Video] un: QueenCobra

[abornfighter]

[Both of these memories were broadcasted to her, but the latter was so heartbreaking and Sasuke seems so reserved. She can't imagine him wanting to talk about something like that to anyone but the people he was the closest with. So she comments on the silly memory instead.]

Your sensei was definitely trolling you at the end with that second mask.

[retsuden]

[ Jokes on everyone, Sasuke handles his angst more solidly than embarrassment. His eyebrow twitches slightly as he frowns. At least he's heard the term trolling before. ]

He was prone to that in most circumstances.

[abornfighter]

But it seems like he still taught you really well in spite of all that. Maybe it was to make you bond as a team.

worst: video: un; an.observer

[thisislife]

[the memory comes out of nowhere. last thing she knew, she was playing on her omni, Orville content on her shoulder and then.

well, she thought she had issues with Cassie. suddenly Cassie and whatever guy problems she's going through this time seemed...not inconsequential, not that, she wouldn't dismiss her sister like that. but more bearable. in contrast to what she just saw.

in a shaking voice] Your brother. Did all of that?

[retsuden]

[ Sasuke's jaw clenches slightly. Itachi is and always will be a mess of a topic for obvious reasons. ]

He had no other choice.

[ ... That's exaggerating, but he has to cope somehow. ]

(CW: hospital)

[thisislife]

[Lexi inwardly quails because, fuck, would she want everyone to see the worst moments of her life? hell no. but none of hers, not even visiting dad or Rue in the hospital, come anywhere close.

and she's trying to imagine any set of circumstances which would make that the no other choice and is failing miserably.

and she's trying to figure out something to say, anything.

the best she can do is] Yeah?

[fucking hell, Lex, that was awful]

Text UN: ClickClickBloom

[onekindsoul]

BUT WHAT'S UNDER THE MASK THAT'S UNDER THE MASK!?
THIS MYSTERY IS GOING TO KILL ME!

[retsuden]

His face.

[ THANKS, SASUKE. At least he was being this way to be a dick this time and not just an idiot. ]

It's been almost 10 years and I still don't know the answer.

[onekindsoul]

YEAH! BUT THERE'S GOTTA BE MORE TO IT THAN THAT
THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF LEGENDS ARE MADE OF
THE MYSTERIES OF YOUR OLD TEACHER.

...Maybe it's something you'll find out when you're ready.
Like really really ready.
The last gift your teacher passes onto you.

Video; un: darkness

[survivalthroughhate]

You lost your entire clan....

[Maul says the words quietly and his face has a pensive look to it. Doesn't he know just how that feels? The Nightsisters completely wiped out and the Nightbrothers driven to the edge of extinction. Within another generation there would be none left.]

[retsuden]

Lost. [ He knows the word isn't wrong, but something about it makes it all feel so passive. He shakes his head a little. ] They were taken from me.

Video: UN - Runeseeker

[onerthes]

...

[She frowned for a moment. Did she respond to this or not? It certainly explained some of why he was as ... what he was, to have seen all he loved dead. Like that.]

I shouldn't have seen that. Sorry. So... I'm going to focus on something else.

Your teacher... has a colorful sense of humor.

[Vira-Lorr, queen of avoiding the issue.]

[retsuden]

Don't. I'm used to people already knowing. It's not a big deal.

[ OKAY IT IS A BIG DEAL, but it's hard to put into words that he's more used to people being aware of the massacre than he is having held it to himself all this time. Was this somehow weirdly this world doing him a favor??? WHO KNOWS.

But he does give a snort at remark on Kakashi. ]

Kakashi sensei is nothing if not childish. It could be such a pain.

un: FLYHIGH (the happier one)

[asas]

i figured it out
sasuke i know what's under there

[ ]

[retsuden]

His face?

(worst memory; private) audio | un: graham crackers

[possessum]

( Yet another memory that no one else should see, exposed. It hasn't happened to Peter (...yet), but he's seen it happening to others lately, and a deep fear has blossomed in him, festering.

It's extremely difficult to watch any of these that pop up over the network, but this one.... catches against a very particular place within Peter. In ways that are familiar, but in a surreal, nightmarish way. He dreams about it, often. He's waking up and the house is dark and too quiet. He comes downstairs, calling for his mother, father. No one ever answers.

He stirs from those kind of dreams with tears pooling his eyes, chest tight, aching. He'll never see his family ever again. They're all— they're dead. Something horrible happened to them, and he's alone.

The smaller version of the young man he'd met once with the flickering purple aura keeps haunting him. Peter doesn't think he should reply to this, but... he keeps thinking of the little boy's screams, his cries.... he lost everything, everyone. It's not something Peter can just quietly tuck away. When he finally does respond, it's with a soft tremour to his own voice. )

Hi, I... I don't really know how to say this.
I saw a memory of yours. Something I don't think... you would've wanted anyone else to see.

( ...Which could also be Sasuke's best memory, actually... )

I'm sorry. I didn't— It—

....My family's dead, too. I wouldn't want anyone to see it play out like this. I'm really sorry.

private audio

[retsuden]

[ It takes him a minute to place why he knows this voice. The one conversation stuck with him enough to continue to recognize it, but apparently not enough for it to be immediate. The way he responds to people who try to empathize with him varies greatly based on what his opinion of their character is, so it's important to remember if he thinks this guy is an idiot or not.

But it clicks after a second. The jinchuuriki. It makes his family being dead make more sense. A lot of the people who had to carry demons seemed to end up orphans. It also makes Sasuke less likely to ask him if he wants a cookie or something for being apart of the dead family club and actually maybe say something close(ish) to being nice. ]

You don't have to apologize. I don't care if people see. [ That's not entirely true, but it's easier to pretend he doesn't care at all, right?? Right. ] Almost everyone back home already knows the story. I'm used to it.

[ There's gotta be something else he's supposed to say here. ]

... Sorry about your family.

[creationrebirth]

[ Too many memories. She easily feels joy at the reminder of one of their fun times together as part of team seven. She remembers that day as clearly as he does. Despite how much of a stick in the mud he could be, she'd always known they had fun together.

But then, there is the other memory. She knows about it. Her heart has hurt so much for him over it, but she's never actually seen it like that before. It's enough to make her cry for him. But she doesn't want him to see her crying like some baby and make him apologize for her tears. Instead she takes a moment to try and collect herself. But it's her, so it's obvious she's feeling emotional over it.

She swallows. ]

We never did figure out what was below that mask, huh?

[retsuden]

[ He knows her well enough to place his money on her having cried over him. He stares at her for a moment, debates on reassuring her, but he imagines it was almost more painful for her to see his past than it was for him to have it broadcasted.

She's the only one who is remotely able to get him to talk about Kakashi with humor instead of embarrassment. He snorts. ]

Mm. Stubborn bastard.

... Shōyō thinks he's faceless.