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Who: Uchiha Sasuke
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Marsiva
When: This very moment.

(broadcast)

[ Sure there are bound to be the occasional less-than-thrilling broadcasts but this one may be a new low, with the camera focused in on a nondescript blob that turns out -- with some acquired distance -- to be a knee. The feed shakes then and there's the loud metallic tap tap of the device being knocked against the framework of one of the generic cots aboard the Marsiva. Tap. Tap. Tap. The only other sound is that of the painfully bland music in the background, without a word being spoken.

At least this inept user finally turns the communicator around to inspect it at another angle, granting any viewer a flash of dark and impractically spiked hair before the camera then focuses on equally shadowed eyes and a severe expression.

No, he's not going to panic. He probably already did that internally before he even tried to figure out the communicator ~~less than successfully~~. Send aid. ]

(action)

[ Sasuke will be easy to encounter either sitting on that cot and fiddling with his communicator, exploring the bay thoroughly, or staring with incredible and difficult-to-read intensity out into the murky void of space. Godspeed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I wouldn't know whether or not wind is weak in mine.

[ only aang can control air, and aang has beaten zuko with more than just an elemental advantage. the little bastard is fast as hell. ]

But waterbenders can control all liquid around them, so it depends on where they are.

[ -- and if they can bloodbend.

like katara.

fml. ]

Aa, you said the others couldn't generate their elements without help. [ What a strange thought, though water shouldn't be overly difficult to find.

His mind immediately goes to the human body, too, which says something about him. ]

Did you ever try to learn katon techniques? [ Even just out of curiosity. Sure, it'd be pointless, but it'd be an interesting experiment. ]

Yeah.

[ pause ]

My way is easier.

[ it's far less work and also far less intuitive. ]

[ Here he actually snorts. ]

Easier isn't always better. But sure, it's what you know naturally.

And other general shinobi techniques too, you've tried those?

Somewhat, but I don't like your style of fighting.

[ it doesn't feel smooth to him, or as well suited to his firebending. his style of attack is aggressive, fast, controlled, but also fluid. ]

Firebending doesn't work as well with your techniques. It's too choppy, and I don't need to go through that much effort in order to control fire.

[ aka u suck bro ]

[ . . . repulsed immediately. ]

That's why I said general techniques. If you don't think clones or replacements or disguises are useful then you must be very confident.

[ oh, that. ]

I've never tried to make clones.

[ the world does not need more than one zuko. but, he pauses, and then continues. ]

I've never had to.

[ zuko is adept tyvm ]

How fortunate for you.

Did you say you had fought me before? [ He's trying to decide just how offended he should be. ]

Yeah. A lot.

[ not, like. actual fighting.

bro fighting.

it's a thing for shounens. ]

[ Does that mean we only broke each other's fingers; I don't understand. ]

And you're still content to believe you'll win.

[ sasuke why would he volunteer if you kicked his ass last time you moron ]

It's almost like you don't want to believe that you lost.

[ -- truth be told, sasuke did lose the first time. mostly because he hadn't expected zuko to have such control over fire, and zuko just sent everything right back at him. but zuko lost the second time, because

um

his firebending kinda went away. because he grew feelings.

sasuke did have more wins in the end, but zuko was hardly a pushover, that is the point, sIR. ]

[ Because if someone kicks Sasuke's ass the first thing he wants to do is challenge them again and keep trying. ]

I don't. [ bluntly ]

Why would I? I'm much stronger than I was before the war began, and your boasts are just making me more ready to silence them.

[ jfc hot mess express ]

Sasuke.

[ as patiently as possible ]

It's a friendly spar.

[ not life or death bro chill out ]

[ He literally just finished fighting his best friend nearly to the death approximately ten minutes after ending a war; he's in hyper drive.

B r e a t h e, Sasuke. ]

... my fighting instinct is hard to suppress.

[ zuko wants to say his version of 'no shit sherlock' but. he'll be nice.

sasuke is gonna fucking eye-scan him anyway he may as well get it over with. ]

... you weren't expecting my level of control over fire, and decided to try and show off. It backfired.

[ literally. and explaining this is just another reminder that this isn't his version of sasuke, but zuko carefully ignores that. this is helpful, for the time being. ]

We were about even, after that.

[ Interesting. He almost thinks to tell Zuko not to give him the advantage of information, but... Zuko has that advantage too, doesn't he? Maybe this is just making it more even. He can respect that. ]

Your control of that kind of fire seems to be better than mine. [ There, he's admitted it. ] The version of me that you knew... at what point in his life was he taken to the world you were in?

It's hard to say.

[ which is true. ]

Time in Adstringendum didn't make any sense. You were younger, but we... sometimes, the spirits in charge gave us information about the future. So you had the memories, and the knowledge, but you were still younger.

[ read: before you went totally apeshit and decided to try to kill your bro 2409283 times ]

So I can't tell you for sure. You have more experience now, if that's what you mean.

Strange. [ The calm outward reaction while inwardly he's envisioning how damaging that could be, how confusing and how difficult.

Still, he has his own way of narrowing down the exact period. ]

Did he have a mark on his neck?

Yes.

[ it's said automatically. because that fucking thing caused a lot of issues, you actual moron. ]

[ Why am I being called a moron this time. Sasuke angles the camera now after tugging at his collar, showing unmarked pale skin. ]

... then he arrived before he faced Itachi, possibly before he left Orochimaru.

[ zuko opens his mouth to say he definitely didn't face itachi, but he closes it at the lack of mark. he almost wants to ask how that happened -- zuko knows an overview, but not (obviously) every single specific detail of sasuke's life.

also, speaking about itachi, even with sasuke who knew zuko backwards and forwards, and who trusted him with nearly everything, was difficult, and generally avoided. this version, who had actually physically lived through... well. ]

... I don't think he had left Orochimaru, no. But I'm not sure.

[ should he say something about itachi? probably not. but he can't just deliberately ignore it, either. that's probably worse. is it worse??

fuck it. ]

He definitely hadn't faced Itachi yet.

[ zuko had been forced into many awkward uchiha brother conversations in adstringendum, okay. itachi was kind of a dick. ]

[ There's no one who has ever existed or will ever exist that is more important to Sasuke than Uchiha Itachi, the man he'd hated more than anyone he's ever known and the man he still loves in equal measure. The person that had psychologically tortured him and broken his bones, nearly burned him alive, slaughtered their family, and helped teach him to read and write.

Who always made time until he had none. Who always said 'next time, Sasuke' until he finally admitted 'this is the last time'. 'Forgive me'. As if that isn't the hardest thing he could ever ask Sasuke to do.

The person that Sasuke had finally killed only to see him brought back in a war before he was ripped from his side yet again. The person who'd admitted to devising a plan to brainwash Sasuke permanently if he threatened Konoha. Just before telling him he loved him. ]

... I understand. You know about both of them as well? [ Orochimaru and Itachi. ]

[ there is no right answer here, and zuko feels uncomfortable lying about it. he doesn't think this information should be lorded over sasuke, but he also doesn't think he should hide it, either.

zuko has never met orochimaru. which was probably a good thing. but he has met itachi, and most of sasuke's family. should he tell him about itachi? sasuke had already flatly refused to wish to meet people again who were supposed to be dead. but -- ]

I never met Orochimaru.

[ but zuko leaves itachi out. ]

I know what happened with both.

[ Translating between what Zuko says and what Zuko means isn't too difficult for him, even after such a short time of knowing him. He met Itachi, presumably in Adstringendum, and he's dancing around that issue because he believes speaking about it directly will trigger some kind of strong response in Sasuke. Is that courtesy or just avoidance? ]

So then you know I killed both of them. [ Those words just slice right through any layer of tact and decency, emotionless. ] Well... I suppose that credit isn't entirely mine. Both were ill, and I absorbed Orochimaru more than I ended his existence. I resurrected him again when it was convenient for me.

If I can't speak about them then I'm letting myself remain trapped in my own past. You must feel the same way. [ Not that it isn't still an extremely raw subject, but he already had to listen to Danzou telling him how he'd wasted his family's lives just after Itachi died. It can't get much worse than that had been. ]

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