[Open] ... .... WHERE DID EVERYONE GO?

[whyalwaysme]

He'd been doing his part for Lee's most recent genjutsu, which apparently called for him to be a princess today. Fine, so he could be Nejiko-hime until Lee's point was made! No problem. He could hold an umbrella over himself for the dramatic part of the scene and it would work out.

Still, he'd sighed and closed his eyes, because Lee wasn't being convincing at all today, but when he opened his eyes! It was no good, suddenly all the props were gone and the water falling on him wasn't coming from a hose. Where did everyone go?

He turned in a circle, activating his Byakugan as he spun the sunny red parasol on his hands, but no! No Tenten, no Lee?

DID LEE MANAGE A REAL GENJUTSU?!

The idea stymied him, because that wasn't the point of their show! That made no sense.

Freeing a hand, he put it to his head, trying to understand what just happened.

Comments

[whyalwaysme]

"....And where is here, exactly?"

[itachi_san]

"Here..." he answered softly, "is Michi no Sato..."

Which probably left even more questions in its wake.

[whyalwaysme]

"....Is that a new show?"

[itachi_san]

Given the strange happenings of this world, it probably could have been. This Neji must have been some kind of actor, taken from right off the set! (Itachi found that possibility rather interesting.)

"No... This... isn't a show... This is real."

[whyalwaysme]

He rubbed his temples, then sighed. "I haven't seen you in a while either. You're not looking as well as you were."

[itachi_san]

Well, at least he wasn't being attacked. The calm, matter-of-fact way Neji spoke about him was kind of strange, though.

"Where... you come from... Am I on this... show of yours too?"

[whyalwaysme]

"Ah... you're a missing nin with Akatsuki." He paused a beat, frowning at him.

[itachi_san]

"Yes... That is true." He replied softly. "To an extent..."

There was no Akatsuki here, as an organization, anyway.

[whyalwaysme]

"You're not Akatsuki or you're not a missing nin? I noticed some... oddities that match people who haven't been home a while here."

[itachi_san]

"I was both of those things..." He explained more clearly. "But I am neither of those things... now... And my time as an Akatsuki, as a rogue shinobi... Were ordered by Kononha, so I suppose in some ways, I was never really either... I simply acted the part."

And he acted it well.

[whyalwaysme]

He blinked very slowly at him. "So you were a spy. Why didn't you come back then?"

[itachi_san]

"The mission was not over... at least not in the world I came from." He admitted. "And it wouldn't be over... until my life... was over..."

Which, honestly, wasn't that far away when he found himself in Michi no Sato. From the looks of it, it probably still wasn't.

[whyalwaysme]

He sighed at that. "The main series always was more serious than mine."

[itachi_san]

"Most of the... timelines, worlds, however you want to call it... are very serious..." he spoke of it as best he could. "Deathly serious. Things are more relaxed here, though... Happier, I think."

[whyalwaysme]

"Ah... No, I mean, Naruto was much more serious than Rock Lee and Pals." He made a quelling motion. "With the deaths and things. We didn't have any of that."

[itachi_san]

If he was talking about the people, that kind of made sense... "Naruto... was more serious when he got older... But not... for a while... What do you mean, you didn't... have any of that... A world... Without death? Is... that possible?"

[whyalwaysme]

He paused, trying to figure out how to explain. "Ahhh, I'll use Orochimaru as an example. I, for instance, saw the man practically every week, and he was rather silly. He did try, very unfortunate." He paused and shook his head. "But something like that would never happen in Naruto, because Naruto was nowhere near so playful, and there he's... more negative."

[itachi_san]

All Itachi could figure out from any of that was that there was another show, a more serious show, named after Kushina's son. (And that apparently Orochimaru was one world's form of comic relief.)

"These worlds... these timelines... they're not shows. We're not actors..." he insisted, even more confused.

[whyalwaysme]

"No... we're shinobi." He gave him an odd look. "But everyone from the main show doesn't realize it so I understand if that can be confusing."

[itachi_san]

Neji could say that again. Confusing would be right! Maybe he was just calling the different places people appeared from 'shows.' Itachi tended to call them 'worlds' after all. Other people called them 'timelines.' There wasn't a single word for it... Yes, he was going to go with that assumption for now.

"Nothing wrong with... being lighthearted..."

That was something they could agree on.

[whyalwaysme]

He opened his mouth to explain, then closed it. "Right."

[itachi_san]

That was as close to understanding as they were going to get...

"What scene... were you about to do in that dress and parasol?"

[whyalwaysme]

"Just convincing Naruto about something today."

[itachi_san]

That sounded too commonplace, really. "All that... for persuasion?"

[whyalwaysme]

"It was for one of Lee's genjutsu." He nodded, as though this wasn't unusual.