006 [Written]

[deathsdoctor]

[Today seems to be the day for announcements like this. And this? He confirmed the morning of the experiment’s end. Written in a starkly elegant hand is this simple message:]

For those who knew him, Uchiha Itachi has been returned home.

[The message is anonymous and untraceable – though there are people out there who will recognise his handwriting. He doesn’t really want to reply – he’s too drained. He’s still striving for emotional equilibrium – rage and bloodlust and pain surging repeatedly and then ebbing away to leave him spent and hollow. His powers are a choppy sea – unstable – and he needs to find his center again.

Bil’s in the village. Untouchable. He’s read the Malnosso’s post a hundred times, and all the conversations that he could access… gleaned what could be gleaned, drawn new conclusions, confirmed and discarded old ones, and made unsettling new projections. And these means for uncertain ends? He doesn’t care if he had the purest of intentions (he did not) or the best of reasons – this is not something to be forgiven. Or forgotten.

… this threatens to make a smoker of him yet.

But the experiment’s taught him the importance of memories and how important it is to remember. Even if no one else cares to… even if he doesn’t want to for many things – he must. Memories are important things. And in the end, memories are sometimes the only proof of existence. He shall not forget.

Goodbye, Uchiha Itachi, for now. Trafalgar Law will remember you for as long as he is able.

… for as long as he is here.]

Comments

[Filtered]

[deathsdoctor]

[He tilts his head, considering.]

Then try to filter something to him on the journal. If the filter breaks down... or doesn't, conversely...

[He learned this after stalking one of Nami's posts.

And yes, he knows very little about him. But he knows just enough to be sure now.]


... then you know.

[Filtered]

[endgames]

[He's thought of this - it was a method he'd used to see if Sasuke had really gone like Itachi said he had. He could probably prove the same here.

But can he really settle it like that? If there's anything an Akatsuki member is good at, it's breaking the rules.]

I will.

[But he's not going to argue it; it'd be too troublesome even under normal circumstances. There's other things he should talk about anyways.]

...how's your head?

[Filtered]

[deathsdoctor]

[Neither is he. Argue it, that is. Law knows all the evidence in the world isn't going to make much of a damn right now. The hooks are too deeply in right now - the thought, the idea, the suspicion that Mister Uchiha is out there and lurking. Waiting. Letting go of that is... hard. Being duly diligent (or properly paranoid) is survival. It's something that has saved them more often than not.

Someone on the outside just wouldn't understand. Call Shikamaru obsessed. It's not that. It's just how it is. ... it takes time.]

[Glancing to the side...]

It's fine.

[Fine, of course, meaning he's alright now. Fine, meaning he was knocked out until Katara mercifully healed what she did and nursed a concussion until the experiment. Fine, being surprised like he was, choked, strength drained from his body, head smashed around, and then being pitched aside because beating his head in wasn't finishing the job. Fine... he thought he'd last longer against the droids - nevermind their strength, speed, or the fact that they were on him, distance closed (not that there was much distance to close) before he could do more than draw. No excuse.

Fine, because the anger at the Malnosso and their droids on this particular matter is nothing towards the fury he feels towards himself on this issue. Such an end? It is shameful. He is better than this. He should have...

Fine. He is fine. His head is fine.]

[Filtered] 1/2

[endgames]

[


It's not fine.

And Shikamaru considers it all; what he knows about Law, and what he knows about people - stress and encounters with your best not being good enough, and the way Luceti twists circumstances to show you that, and every feeling in the nasty aftermath that involves.

Which isn't even touching on the mess leftover from the experiment. There's only so much he knows about Law, but it's not enough to wonder even idly at his thoughts on that.]

[Filtered]

[endgames]

[He does know enough though to understand that while giving people enough space to clear their head is necessary, you can't find balance when you stand alone on a scale.]

That's good. So I won't have to go easy on you next time we play shogi then.

[Filtered]

[deathsdoctor]

[... heh. That wins a smile.]

Oh? Easy, huh? Perish the thought.

[No really, perish it. It wouldn't be fun for either of them if one of them had to hold back.]

... a match soon, then?

[Filtered]

[endgames]

You got it.

[He doesn't make plans - no pressure here. Take longer than a week though, and you might find a ninja and a shogi set outside your door.]