[ And normally, Jake might've left it there. Itachi certainly wasn't the path of least resistance, nor was he the path of much fun... but for once, Jake wasn't here in search of fun. ]
actually, it is. or it's my family's business.
i just want to ask a couple questions, then i'm outta your hair.
[ Well, that's one second opinion. Jake can't help but feel a surge of relief at the sight of it, honestly. Though it's followed quickly by dread. The thrill of being confirmed not crazy is a shallow victory in the face of his little brother's situation. ]
that's been my experience, too. guess he's not as good at covering his tracks as he seems to think he is. except for where my brother is concerned, apparently.
thanks, itachi. i appreciate the candor, seriously.
[ What a question. The directness of it throws Jake a little, dragging a hand down his face as he considers it. A minute passes. ]
no. [ Another pause. That didn't feel right, either, even if Jake couldn't think of any evidence to the contrary. ] or. i don't know. i don't think so. no more than you have.
[ It's not meant as a slight, not even a little bit. Rather, a reminder to himself. His own fears were ample, but Finn was still his brother, not his son. He was allowed to make his own choices. Those choices led to him genuinely befriending the man Jake was now messaging with his concerns. A man who, by his own stubborn insistence, tortured the boy.
It's hard to know where to draw the line, now. That Itachi was more likable than Felix, to Jake, felt like both the most important qualifier in the world and somehow the shallowest. ]
maybe i'm jumping the gun here. i wasn't here for such a long time, y'know?
๏ผ however it's intended, it slides against his throat like a blade. he is certainly no stranger to having all the worst of his actions thrown back at his feet. there is not a shinobi in his world who has somehow remained unaware of uchiha itachi, ichizokugoroshi. but that fetter has... diminished, in his time here, and there have been moments where the long-held awareness of its bite against his wrists has been less heavy than when he lifted his sword that night.
never gone. they will never be gone.
but lighter.
that comment throws him back into the keen-edged awareness of the two hundred and seventy-four lives in a way little else has. for a moment, sorrow subsumes him. fury is the hand that reaches to it to lift it from the mire, and helplessness stands at the distant shore.
his own doing, and undoing.
it is a long time before he simply writes back: ๏ผ
[ The pause leaves Jake plenty of time to puzzle over his own response. The permeance of text, even mental notes like these, could do that to someone. Itachi seemed so untouchable by the fire. Unflappable, provided you weren't jumping in his lap in thanks.
Maybe he was wrong about that. Or, maybe the man was simply scanning through his own mind for examples. Maybe they weren't as close as Finn indicated?
It only took a second's more consideration for Jake to shake that thought away. He'd found Finn in that on shed back on Ciraiwei, straw in his hair, being cagey about his whereabouts for all of five minutes before spilling the entire morning. Including a questionable attempt to replicate Itachi's gravity defying traversal on the side of a tree. Whatever their relationship had been once, it was forever changed by Itachi saving Finn's life. Jake knew his brother well enough to see that in how he spoke about the man. It was exactly the kind of openness and warmth he didn't see when discussing Felix.
It made Jake feel safe approaching the man with this concern, now. So then why throw something so unnecessary back in someone's face? He didn't understand his brain sometimes. Or maybe he didn't want to.
When the no comes back, Jake heaves a sigh. ]
i guess i should be happy about that.
listen, could you keep an eye out for me? i can't be everywhere at once and i don't want to cut the kid's independence off at the knees.
finn trusts you, which means i trust you. and it would mean a lot to me to have someone else i could trust with this. y'feel me?
๏ผ he cycles through a half-dozen responses, some crueler than the others.
unbidden, he considers sasuke. what would his brother say, to his being trusted? welcomed by others, insistent on his being the lesser of two evils? perhaps that is why, in the end, he says only: ๏ผ
Very well.
๏ผ there are days when not being the man his brother thought he was when he was just a child come back to haunt him. ๏ผ
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text; un: jtd | some time after dr. strange's post on evacuation planning
so. felix, huh?
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What about him?
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is there some beef there or am i imagining it?
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๏ผ look his petty catty murder aunt vibe only jumps out around one man, okay. he isn't going to stoop to gossiping with a dog. ๏ผ
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actually, it is. or it's my family's business.
i just want to ask a couple questions, then i'm outta your hair.
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what kinda man is he? do you trust him? and have you ever seen him and finn together?
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No, and no.
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that's been my experience, too. guess he's not as good at covering his tracks as he seems to think he is. except for where my brother is concerned, apparently.
thanks, itachi. i appreciate the candor, seriously.
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no. [ Another pause. That didn't feel right, either, even if Jake couldn't think of any evidence to the contrary. ] or. i don't know. i don't think so. no more than you have.
[ It's not meant as a slight, not even a little bit. Rather, a reminder to himself. His own fears were ample, but Finn was still his brother, not his son. He was allowed to make his own choices. Those choices led to him genuinely befriending the man Jake was now messaging with his concerns. A man who, by his own stubborn insistence, tortured the boy.
It's hard to know where to draw the line, now. That Itachi was more likable than Felix, to Jake, felt like both the most important qualifier in the world and somehow the shallowest. ]
maybe i'm jumping the gun here. i wasn't here for such a long time, y'know?
YOU haven't seen anything, have you?
no subject
never gone. they will never be gone.
but lighter.
that comment throws him back into the keen-edged awareness of the two hundred and seventy-four lives in a way little else has. for a moment, sorrow subsumes him. fury is the hand that reaches to it to lift it from the mire, and helplessness stands at the distant shore.
his own doing, and undoing.
it is a long time before he simply writes back: ๏ผ
No.
no subject
Maybe he was wrong about that. Or, maybe the man was simply scanning through his own mind for examples. Maybe they weren't as close as Finn indicated?
It only took a second's more consideration for Jake to shake that thought away. He'd found Finn in that on shed back on Ciraiwei, straw in his hair, being cagey about his whereabouts for all of five minutes before spilling the entire morning. Including a questionable attempt to replicate Itachi's gravity defying traversal on the side of a tree. Whatever their relationship had been once, it was forever changed by Itachi saving Finn's life. Jake knew his brother well enough to see that in how he spoke about the man. It was exactly the kind of openness and warmth he didn't see when discussing Felix.
It made Jake feel safe approaching the man with this concern, now. So then why throw something so unnecessary back in someone's face? He didn't understand his brain sometimes. Or maybe he didn't want to.
When the no comes back, Jake heaves a sigh. ]
i guess i should be happy about that.
listen, could you keep an eye out for me? i can't be everywhere at once and i don't want to cut the kid's independence off at the knees.
finn trusts you, which means i trust you. and it would mean a lot to me to have someone else i could trust with this. y'feel me?
no subject
unbidden, he considers sasuke. what would his brother say, to his being trusted? welcomed by others, insistent on his being the lesser of two evils? perhaps that is why, in the end, he says only: ๏ผ
Very well.
๏ผ there are days when not being the man his brother thought he was when he was just a child come back to haunt him. ๏ผ