ic contact, synflux;

[eyeforaneye]

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InvalidAnswer

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CHARACTER NAME

Uchiha Sasuke

CIVILIAN NAME

Eizou Shimada

TEAM

Revelation

HOUSING NUMBER

007

❤

Comments

[eyeforaneye]

[ what constitutes an emergency tho ]

Do you know what a curate is?

[kawarimi]

( not this )

I assume it has nothing to do with the actual definition of the word.

[eyeforaneye]

Don't try to be smart when there are multiple definitions.

[ which I JUST LEARNED ]

It's a word for an apprenticeship in a certain specific profession.

1/2

[kawarimi]

2/2

[kawarimi]

Which certain specific profession?

[eyeforaneye]

[ This suffering will never end. ]

Catholic priesthood.

[kawarimi]

( high-pitched frequency noise......... )

I see.

So, your civilian identity is "curate," which means you're in training to become a priest for a religion you know nothing about. And you start officially... when?

1/3

[eyeforaneye]

I said I'm studying now, so I'm studying. Do I have to say it again?

2/3

[eyeforaneye]

3/3

[eyeforaneye]

I've already visited the church. I'll be in regularly next week.

[kawarimi]

I think you're mistaking my surprise for concern. You'll be overprepared next time.

( that's how sasuke is. that's how sasuke's always been. )

It's just that it doesn't seem to suit you.

1/2

[eyeforaneye]

2/2

[eyeforaneye]

Perhaps not.

[ Does he want to talk religion with Kakashi? A complex question he doesn't currently want to answer, and it defaults him to "no". Doubtless his old teacher would have some valuable insights that he craves, and so it takes a surprising amount of willpower on his part to stay closed off and irritating. ]

If you want to switch, I'm open to it.

[kawarimi]

I don't think so. It wouldn't suit me either, after all.

Have you visited any of the local shrines?

[eyeforaneye]

I suppose not. You have to build your client base, after all.

[ I hope it's a miserable experience. ]

Are you asking me because you have?

[kawarimi]

( why do you hate my guts????????????? )

I have.

Things are modernized somewhat. The decorations on the torii make them glow. But the shrines themselves are untouched.

1/2

[eyeforaneye]

[ I love you so much how dare you ]

It sounds tacky.

2/2

[eyeforaneye]

I've considered going. [ Finally, even if it's small, he gives something. ]

If I ask you something personal, will you answer?

[kawarimi]

It is tacky.

( torii are cultural. they're the gateways of the gods, and where the natural meets the supernatural. they're some of the most well-built structures in their world—in this one, too, which is why they're still standing despite monstrous assaults on the city.

so, when sasuke says it's tacky to dress them up in flashy lights, kakashi doesn't have to strain to agree with the criticism. )

I want to answer you, but it depends entirely on what you ask me. That's fair, isn't it?

[eyeforaneye]

This conversation should give you the context you need.

You haven't shared your feelings on that sort of thing with me before. Religion. Prayers. What you honor and what you disregard.

[ His willpower is faltering already, but questioning Kakashi instead of sharing his own opinions feels safer. More self-indulgent, perhaps, in a way he should be avoiding, but he manifests justifications almost as fast as he does protests and that's impressive for him.

And besides, it's only half true. He knows full well what Kakashi holds sacred and what he values, in this life or the next. It does't mean he won't ask him to say it. ]

[kawarimi]

I've never been religious. The only thing I used to believe in was the rules. And I realized the hard way that I was wrong for prioritizing them over the lives of my comrades.

Now I pray to the people who made a difference in my life, not the gods who didn't.

( heroes like the sandaime hokage. like his father. like minato and kushina. like rin.

like obito.

they all died to protect the ones they loved. sacrifices, though regrettable, that taught men like him that their lives were important. if they can burn so brilliantly still, maybe he can, too, even if his light flickers and is turbid. the will of fire can never truly be extinguished. )

You already know my answer, Sasuke. The day I acknowledged you, Naruto, and Sakura as shinobi, you paid attention to what I had to say about teamwork and applied it. Because a part of you knew that it was the most important lesson I could teach you if I managed to teach you anything at all.

I honour those who honour their friends and disregard those who disregard them.

[eyeforaneye]

[ For a while, longer than he needs, no response comes through. Bits and pieces of Kakashi's answer are what he had anticipated and would find value in, almost entirely due to how Kakashi views those in his life who have passed on. Comrades, yes, but more importantly loved ones. That isn't what gives him pause.

It's the way it's used as a springboard to talk about their own pasts together and his teacher's lessons, how they should treat each other as shinobi. How Sasuke should treat Naruto and Sakura. Of course it falls under what he'd asked, but for a young man ready to talk about prayers and rituals he's unprepared to think about those two again. ]

Past kage? Your teammmates? The "people who made a difference in your life".

[kawarimi]

Both.

( sasuke was featured prominently in more than a few prayers. his time at the shinjuku shrine was spent sharing a contemplative list of what he has to return to. while his students are fractured and separated, the name of the one responsible for that slipped in, too.

sasuke's made a difference in his life. good or bad, it never mattered; they'd always have regret in common. )

But we have to honour the living as much as we honour the dead.

[eyeforaneye]

[ Again there's a pause, though this one is short. ]

Are you telling me that as a lesson or are we talking as equals?

[kawarimi]

It's a lesson. But this one's for me to learn, too.

Equal enough?