ninjanature | (no subject)

Reincarnations, resurrections.

[For a long moment, he peers at Nico, not exactly studying so much as simply deciding on what all he wants to say, to explain.]

When someone dies, their chakra and their soul can be placed in another vessel. [Like him, he thinks. He and Naruto, brothers from the beginning.] It can be passed down among generations of people, on and on. That is reincarnation.

Resurrection is a style of reincarnation, but it's a little different. It's something you may be more familiar with. You can resurrect the fallen. Most of the time, they will be husks, not conscious of anything. You're using their bodies and techniques. They're easy to kill.

Sometimes, however, you can resurrect the fallen into who they once were. [It's not a drastic change, but he face softens slightly. He can't help but think of Itachi. He knows he'll probably be thinking of the older brother more when seeing all Nico can do.]

They're aware, but they obey only you despite this.

[ He listens and considers how much of it is pretty similar to what can be found in the Greek history and mythology. Idly Nico wonders just how many worlds might have this sort of thing not only rooted in their beliefs but also in truth.

Some say they believe in reincarnation and even ghosts or zombies but his world has so many different religions and they all tend to have different views of the way things work. ]

The Greeks have both of those things and a whole lot more. In slightly varying ways. Some souls can be reborn but I'm not sure if they continue through various generations. If you live three good herioc lives, you can reach the ultimate afterlife. Like paradise.

You know I can raise ghosts which are sort of the souls of people but I can do more than that. I can raise the dead like those skeletons wandering about and more... fleshy versions. Both can retain a bit of who they were. If someone was a warrior in life, they remember that much.

[ Or if someone was a racecar driver, then they become speedy chauffers in their undead afterlife. ]

And I could bring someone back to life completely. Even considered doing it once but didn't. The price was too high for that. [ A life for a life. Bianca hadn't wanted that. ]

[Sasuke's frown is gentle, and not directed at Nico, but it's there. Like before, he can't help but be reminded of someone, though the someone isn't Itachi this time. It's Orochimaru.

He doesn't think Nico has sinister ideals of self-interested like Orochimaru, of course, not in the slightest, but the abilities are similar. He's glad it seems as if Nico has a good head screwed onto those shoulders.

For a long moment, Sasuke is quiet. He glances up, as if he may not speak whatever it is he had planned to say. Nico had seen a hard-fought battle, but not Sasuke at his most vulnerable necessarily. He finally speaks, and his voice is quiet.]

The boy who fought his friend. Before all of that, he had another goal. He wanted to kill his brother. He would do anything to accomplish this, even at the expense of himself.

So he went to a man who defected from any ties to Konohagakure to learn for a few years. A man who wanted to live forever, who experimented with immortality. Who was extremely powerful. A man who performed kinjutsu, forbidden techniques.

Raising the dead by sacrificing another.

[ As the tale is spoken, there's not a hint of judgement from the demigod. He accepts that mistakes were made and that the boy is different from the man who stands here today - yet the same. Smarter and hopefully wiser than the boy had been.

It's something Nico hopes for himself one day. To know that he has the power to bring back the people he loves but accepts their death nearly every time. He can't say what might happen today except that others will definitely try to talk him out of it.

There isn't a hint of surprise when Sasuke names the price. In fact, he nods in agreement. ]

A living soul in exchange for one that's already passed on. I was planning on sacrificing a life that had escaped death for thousands of years. That wasn't what she wanted so I didn't go through with it. Now she's gone on to be reincarnated again, said she was going to try for paradise.

I believe that sounds very much like a better end.

[As someone who comes from an equal, if not more, amount of bloodshed and death. He would rather someone go on to reach paradise than be yanked out of the ground, so to speak.

Itachi...] Naruto lost someone very special to him, too. [It's a bit easier talking about Naruto than himself.] His mentor. It was hard on him. They weren't able to bring the body back for burial much less resurrection. In the end, it was better that way.

Even if you miss them dearly, bringing someone back won't ever end like you think it will.

[ Yeah, about that... ]

Not being able to have a funeral is hard but we do this thing where we burn shrouds for our fallen comrades. It gives people the opportunity to mourn even if there isn't a body to bury.

And I just got smarter at bringing people back to life. I actually brought my younger half-sister back without having to exchange it for someone else. [ He'd been looking for Bianca and found her gone already. ]

Even if the realm of death is a specialty you didn't exactly ask for, you shouldn't play with people's lives or deaths that way.

[This time, his voice is fairly scolding. It's not angry, of course, but he doesn't seem to approve no matter the circumstance.]

The outcome may turn out fine once, but it may not be so on every occasion. Resurrection is a power you need great discretion in wielding.

[ A sigh and he doesn't brush off the scolding. Technically, it's the only one he's gotten because his biological father pointedly ignored what Nico had done. For the sake of his children. ]

I know it was stupid and defying the rules of death is bound to get me and others in trouble if I keep doing it. We didn't even know each other but she was family.

[ Chances are that Nico will never be able to do it that way again. ]

Even now I can't really say that it's something I regret because I can't imagine my life without her but I realize a lot of things would be different if I hadn't. She played a major role in saving the world and without her we'd probably be in serious trouble. It might have worked out fine but I've realized the impact a single life could make.