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Who: Uchiha Sasuke and you
What: Sasuke's memory lapses/losses become more difficult for everyone (including himself) when he starts to forget more of his recent past and reverts back to his... crazy ass self before Naruto punched some sense into him.
When: Middle to the end of September
Where: All around.

Content Warnings: Sasuke's usual warnings apply, but most likely to come up from them are mass murder, PTSD, parent death, revenge, and Sasuke being an asshole about everything. Specific threads will be marked if there's intense content.

[ Sasuke wasn't ever a very fun or even pleasant person to deal with most of the time, but by the time it hits mid-month and he's forgotten everything from his redemption mission, including why he went on it in the first place, it's only getting worse. He's testier (whether it's because of his basic personality or because he woke up unable to recall when or how he'd lost an entire limb is up for debate), more prone to lashing out, and certainly doesn't want to show compassion or empathy to just about anyone the way he'd started to in this place.

Mostly, he's trying to avoid the confusion and the headaches, keeping his distance and looking for distractions. The easiest place to find him throughout the month is down by the shores, where he'll either be training or maybe taking his aggression out on some of those crabs that keep getting found at the coast. He gets to kill something and he's a fan of crab meat, so it's a win/win situation here.

If he's not by the shores, he might be at the Gate. It's hard to tell if he's been impacting by the Bloodsport, but he's more than happy to fight anyone who has been. He doesn't plan on holding back, even if it's a face he should be familiar with. While he doesn't have as much control over his Rinnegan as he might have with all of his memories, some of it seems to be instinct, and he's a quick learner all the same. With all the rage he has to channel, it's hard to talk him out of fighting, but it can be done if someone's dedicated enough to the cause.

Or maybe he can be caught before a fight, staring at the beasts locked away inside. His mind seems a little lost, like he's trying to put together a puzzle when he's missing too many pieces. There are emotions that he hasn't forgotten, even if the memories are gone, and staring at the beasts stirs that up in him in a way he can't quite put his finger on.

He can also be found around the Willful Machine, particularly near his home, though rarely in the actual apartment. He's been avoiding being home as much as possible, given that it's a little awkward to be around people you lived with and apparently a woman you married even though you know nothing about it. He's not really looking into actually getting anything, though, and his most popular place to hide out in is the stables. If horses judge you, they can't really say anything about it. It's peaceful and he could use some peace with how loud his head feels.

If someone who clearly knows him approaches him while he's trying to avoid, he'll give a huff, or an eye roll and possibly even a quick "Get lost." Apparently he's less than happy to be reminded he has friends. ]

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[Where's a good place to hide from an amphibious reptile who lived on the beach for a while? Probably not the shores.]

[That's exactly where Melius currently is. Wading in the shallows, a basket attached to his back. Bits of seaweed can be seen through the woven parts of it, and it occasionally twitches - a fish or two flopping around in there. He doesn't seem to realize Sasuke is nearby until there's a crab battle.]

[Then his head jerks up, staring wildly around before he spots the source - and relaxes.]

Be - be careful. They're um. They're poisonous - when they pinch.

[Keith was feeling super restless, too, thanks to the Bloodsport. He was susceptible to these sorts of situations to begin with, and having just had a major issue with something similar not so long ago, he was trying to work as much of it out of his system as possible by training when he could... away from others. And, seeing as how Sasuke was someone who'd helped him out during that particular situation, he didn't think much of seeing him there along the water's edge.

He wiped at his brow, having been trying to work against the heavy humidity making him feel like his limbs were made of lead, and managed a small wave in Sasuke's direction.]

Hey... catching some of the crabs around here?

[ Sasuke makes sure to slice off the pincer of the crab at the warning, lightning streaming down through the blade and causing the monstrous shellfish to twitch and writhe. Electricity and wet things never went together very smoothly.

He waits until the thing has stopped moving before bending down, to poke at it with the tip of his blade. Yeah that thing is definitely dead. ]

I'm immune to poison.

[ Having someone else on the beach hadn't been something that would have bothered him, but the wave makes his shoulders tense. Maybe he's just a friendly stranger, but something about it makes him think he's not that lucky.

He finishes wiping off his blade after killing his most recent crab, shrugging his shoulder. ]

Best way to get meat to store right now.

[ Winter was around the corner, right? He's pretty sure it only got this cold in winter. ]

Yeah... true.

[Keith shrugged.]

Gotta watch them, though. Apparently, they're poisonous when they attack.

[Keith leaned down, resting his hands on his knees. The adrenaline from having worked off some of the Bloodsport energy through training was wearing off, and he was starting to feel that humidity weight. Ugh.]

Have you gotten a lot so far?

[Yeah. He was just having conversation with you, Sasuke, like he knew you.]

[Please hold, we're processing this information. Because Melius suddenly isn't sure whether or not he's known that, or if it's something new Sasuke dropped onto his lap. It's entirely possible he just flat out forgot.]

[And he fidgets, as a result.]

I um. I didn't... know you were. So-Sorry.

[ Sharon likes to visit the shore. Lately, it's been to send gifts out into the sea. Little things: tiny canvas paintings and scraps of fabric she's embroidered upon; gifts for her mother out in the waters. The crabs have made it annoying to do but she does it regardless. She powers through. She cooks them in their shells and moves on.

She spots Sasuke as she treks through the sand and the stone. She's holding a little glass bottle in her hands like it's something precious and important. He seems focused and busy, and she wonders if she should let him be. But then she remembers his memory issues. ]

Sasuke, hey! [ She calls out, jogging over to him. ] You need any help dealing with those crabs?

[ She can tell he doesn't. Still, it's a way to needle in to check on him without making it overt. ]

Tinya pads barefoot along the shore in one of her usual light slip-dresses and a black feather boa, her Omen Moonlight trotting alongside of her while occasionally trying to leap up and get the feathers on her boa. Despite the chill in the air, she's clearly suffering no ill effects.

She makes sure that she makes some noise as she approaches Sasuke who she sees sitting on his own, lightly kicking at the sand as she stepped. When she reaches him, she gives him a calm look with an eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"So. I'd ask if you were feeling better, but solitude on the shore is rarely a good sign for anyone. Not thinking of diving in, are you?"

Hmph.

[ It's not something he's usually got a reason to be open about. Given the way he became immune wasn't particularly pleasant to think about, he's kept it to himself except when necessary. Normally he'd explain all of that to him, but of course it comes out now of all times.

He stares at Melius for a moment, remembering that he's the lizard from the apartment he apparently live in. The one he wrote about, likely, and he wonders what it was that made him emphasize to not be a dick. In so many words. ]

Do you always apologize like that?

That won't be an issue.

[ He doesn't think about the fact that that probably just makes him sound like someone who is arrogantly confident in their ability to not get hit in a fight, but would he even care??? Likely not.

He lets out a sigh through his nose, before he goes to cut into the crab to try and get the meat from it. ]

No. [ That's bullshit, he's gotten plenty. He'd probably end up trading what he had later for something that looked useful. ] Why? Looking for free food?

[ Sasuke had just placed a set of black flames onto one of the crab he'd been going against, apparently having decided he had enough meat from them and not particularly caring if it burnt to a crisp. He glances over at Sharon when she comes over, the sparkling, liquid form of Darkblood rolling down his cheek from his right eye. Apparently his more powerful jutsus counted enough as blood magic to make his blood have a tangible form afterward. ]

I'm fine.

[ It's certainly snappier than his usual tone, but he's trying to hold back some judgement until he can connect her with any of the descriptions he'd read over in the notebook he'd apparently been keeping. Note to self: stop making friends with so many blondes. ]

Are you going to tell me we're friends, too?

Sasuke's jaw tightens slightly when he sees who is approaching him. His memories haven't gotten worse since they'd spoken on the network, which means he at least still remembers their conversation, even if he doesn't remember her just yet. He goes to shove his sword a little more roughly than necessary into its sheath.

"Not interested." Whether he meant in throwing himself into the ocean or talking is up in the air. It's probably both. "I do better when I'm by myself. You can leave."

Sasuke. It's a public beach.

And Tinya gives him a look which can only be labeled as Innocence. Despite the fact that her dress is rather short. A holdover from the Other world, but also influenced by this one, where she's a Night Walker.

Night Walker. Courtesan. Two different names for what was essentially the same thing, comforting the afflicted with charming yet insightful conversation and listening carefully to their responses.

"I'm glad you're not going back into the sea," she replies lightly as though she was talking to her own best friend, Sasuke. "I'd miss you. And please, spare me the part about doing better by yourself. You know that's wrong, I know that's wrong. Who's being fooled?"

And she has a seat next to him, Moonlight curling herself into a ball at Tinya's braced feet.

"I'm not going to ask you to talk about it because clearly the message is no, but I will tell you that this won't last forever. No matter how much you might hope it does. Or fear it does. Nothing lasts, not forever. For now. That's what it is, for now. And those of us who do care about you and your well-being? We're not chased off so easily." All said as idly and casually as if she were talking about the weather.

Sasuke's fist clenches tight enough that the nails will leave deep impressions in the skin. He can feel the stinging in his palm, trying to take a deep breath at her words. During his redemption, they would have been exactly the sort of thing he needed to hear. A comfort that may have been emotionally overwhelming, but still welcomed.

Instead, they hit all the wrong places, each phrase being near identical to the things Naruto has told him a million times, that Sakura had cried to him when trying to change his mind on his own goals. It makes the same sort of rage bubble up inside him and he goes to push himself a little farther down the shore to widen the gap between them. He doesn't get up and leave, but it's mostly because he refuses to abandon his spot on the beach out of pure stubbornness. He was here first, dammit.

"There's nothing to talk about. You prattle on as much as the idiots at home who think they know what I need. You don't know anything about me."

Tinya takes careful note of that and wonders if she should message Sakura about the possibility of genuinely broken skin. But she doesn't smell human blood, coppery and thick in the air.

And ironically (or as Sasuke himself would eventually remember), he'd compared her to Naruto often enough. Even without the comparison, she was willing to withstand his anger and try to redirect it or take it on herself. She was strong. She could take it. Even without being able to become intangible anymore.

"Oh? Don't I," she says quizzically. "I would like to think I know quite a bit about you, we've been friends for nine months. You were and are my first and best friend here." Again, all said as idly as discussing the weather or what they should have for lunch at a particular bistro. Mozzarella and tomato paninis while in season, always. And she flips the end of one side of the boa over to cover her neck like a scarf.

Edited 2022-09-29 13:35 (UTC)

[Oh crap. Oh no. He said the wrong thing. He shouldn't have said that, or done that. He should just dig a hole in the sand and crawl into it. That's the appropriate social reaction here, isn't it? That, or dive into the ocean and swim away to be one with the squids again.]

[None of that actually happens, because Melius is too busy trying to figure out what to do. So much so he doesn't even bother trying to do it. At least until Sasuke speaks again - ]

I um. I - m-might? I'm so--

[And then he clamps his jaw shut before the words come out.]

[ It startles her to see the blood rolling down his cheek but she refrains from pointing it out for the moment. She may broach it at a later point, however.

Or she would if he didn't ask that question. Her brows pinch tightly together. It's not quite concern but it answers a few of her unspoken questions: how are his memories doing? ]

No. [ She responds simply. That isn't to say she doesn't care about him in some way. She feels she owes him and, truthfully, she likes him as a person and wants to look out for him. ] Friend isn't really a word I like to use and we're not super close or anything. You saved my life once, though.

Sasuke can feel a small pounding behind his head as he wakes up, the sun streaming in through the cracks in the blinds hardly helping anything. He doesn't remember falling asleep in a place with windows. He isn't sure where he fell asleep, but the chances are it was either fully outside on a patch of dirt and not a wooden floor, or it had been in an underground hideout which would have had been dimly lit by torches. This was neither.

He'd gone to pull himself up to sit on the mat, lifting his hand to press it against his forehead... Only nothing presses. His arm feels funny. Lighter, somehow, and he's trying to blink past the confusion and the pain in his head to register why it is. When his gaze finally adjusts and lands on the stump at his elbow, any sense of the usual calm and collected behavior he tries to keep at all times goes out the window. He does what anyone would in that situation: he screams.

Loudly.

It's a panicked scream and he tries to scramble away from the sight of his own amputation scar, but it's not possible to get away from your own body. All it does is make him land the few inches from the mat onto the floor with a thud, breath coming in heavy enough pants to be easily considered hyperventilating.

He hasn't even noticed he was asleep next to someone yet. This was a bit more pressing.

If Sakura had ever been asked to describe Sasuke, level headed and calm was definitely something that would come to mind. She'd seen him lose that cool, but it was a rare occurrence, and it never happened without just cause. So when she's abruptly pulled from sleep with her screaming, she knows something extreme has happened. She jerks upwards, scrambling out of the bedsheets to get to him.

"Sasuke-kun!"

A sense of deja-vu washes over her and it's like she's back in the chunin exams years ago, watching helplessly as he screams in agony. She still remembered the way he's clutched to her while he suffered through the pain. Just like she had then, she moves to steady him, attempting to be a solid presence in whatever storm he's facing.

There were any number of things that might have been a reason for such a reaction, but if Sasuke was reacting to this extreme, she knew it had to be bad. With him freaking out, she knows it's gonna be up to her to deal with whatever this threat is. The thing is, she sees no threat. A bad dream perhaps.

"Sasuke-kun. It's alright. I'm here."

Hearing his name almost snaps him out of his panic. It at least gets him to stop yelling for a moment, though his breathing is still rapid and his eyes are wide with confusion and fear. The confusion only deepens when he sees the familiar green eyes and pink hair, someone who he knows he definitely shouldn't have been in the same room with, let alone sleeping next to them.

"Sss— Ss...Saku—...?"

He can't get her name out through the gasps for air and he shuts his eyes tightly, like not looking at the mess around him will somehow get his brain to work properly again. It barely makes a dent and he reaches up with his only hand to grip his hair, feeling like there should be two there.

"Where is it?! What— Why—"

Her heart hurts for him, as it always does when she knows he's suffering. For some reason his pain had always hit her more deeply than anyone else. She reaches for him again, her hand reaching out to try and pull the one that was gripping his hair down so he would stop.

His words only confuse her further, especially since he can't seem to finish a proper sentence in the middle of this panic attack. She runs through the list of things that might be causing this, including corruption, but she doesn't immediately make the connection to his memories. In fact, her mind lingers on this being a response to a nightmare of some sort, so she just proceeds with the comforting.

She shifts closer to him, her free hand moving to his leg. It's nothing that would be considered inappropriate, but it definitely suggested familiarity. That familiarity is only amplified by the fact that she's dressed in only a thin robe, the belt tied loosely enough that it leaves little to the imagination. She wasn't thinking about her appearance or her actions though because it simply felt natural at this point to look like she looked and treat him the way she was treating him.

"Where's what?" She moves in closer, soothing him seeming more important than getting answers. "Shhhh, anata it's okay. Everything is okay."

Hn. So you can control it.

[ This is not the way to teach someone to be more confident in themselves, Sasuke!! Intimidating someone into not apologizing is not the same as helping them see they don't have to compulsively fix things they didn't break.

He goes to start to cut apart the crab instead. Might as well get some meat, right? Totally normal to do while talking to someone he can't remember. ]

I probably never had a reason to tell you before. It's not information I share for no reason.

[ No. The single word is at least enough to get his shoulders to relax just slightly. He's gotten exhausted already by the number of people who seem to want to insist on their being besties.

Knowing he saved her does help him narrow down who she might be. Thankfully he apparently didn't spend a lot of time rescuing people. It would've been harder to believe if he had. ]

Hn. Sharon, then?

"There are people who called me there friend for much longer who didn't know a damn thing," he hisses out under his breath, before going to push himself up on the sand. All this talk of friendship and love and caring makes his skin itch and that fight or flight desire take over his body. Fight has always been his go to, but he's trying to remember that damned notebook.

Don't fuck this up for me. For us. He doesn't know why he trusts he truly wrote the damn thing, but something in his gut makes it hard to not believe. Why would he have cared about people who are so aggrivating?

"If you knew me, you'd know better than to title yourself my best friend. It's not a position anyone with awareness of who I am craves."

The touching and the words of comfort, the pet name, it all makes the pounding in his head worse. It makes a growl escape his throat as he goes to shove her away from him, finally opening his eyes to look at her. The sight of her cuts him short of any words, eyes widening for a moment at her lack of dress, and he can feel his face heat with embarrassment he didn't even know he could still feel.

Sasuek looks away from her quickly, the shock of it at least having managed to get some of the panic to pull back. Enough that he can find his voice, his tone coming out angry and exasperated as he shoves the stump towards her.

"This!"

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THE SHORE

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the shore

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CLOSED TO SAKURA

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