"What a surprise is seeing you here, Uchiha," the Governor says as he notices his presence in his home. He's getting better; now it only took him three minutes to spot him. "If you continue coming here to rest, others will get the wrong idea."
It disgusts him the techniques the Governor uses to get a rise out of him. They are mostly comments that poke insistently to find some weakness under his façade. He's good at masking most up but his temper has let the Governor know that family is one quick way to make him lose his cool. That and that he loathes crowding, insinuations, innuendos, or even simple flirting directed at his person.
Since then, the Governor has made sure to use subtly one of them to rile him up from time to time.
"I don't think anyone would be able to rest in peace with the biter you have in your closet. You know why I'm here," Sasuke snaps. It doesn't make the other tense but the coldness in his presence grows. It's true that since the Governor has learned Sasuke won't mention it to anyone, he's relaxed as much as someone can when someone has the clear upper hand on him. But he still doesn't know why Sasuke keeps it quiet and that's enough to make him constantly wary.
Even so, the governor hasn't gotten rid of his daughter, and that by itself says a lot about the man's psyche.
"You come here for a lot of things, how could I guess which one is this time, um?" The Governor, sitting now in front of his desk, starts looking into some of the papers sprawled across the surface, placing two more he's brought inside a notebook. "Should I assume that you're planning on taking another supply trip?"
Sasuke gives a grunt as his answer. He's also reading the papers, though without that much attention, knowing the Governor wouldn't read any important document when he's in the same room with him.
"You've chosen a bad moment to leave. Hasn't Rowan informed you we had a mission?"
The choice of pronoun makes him know the Governor is participating, so it must hold some kind of importance as the man doesn't leave in just any supply run.
"Were you planning on bringing biters inside?"
The Governor looks up, probably already knowing he's trying to fish for information. "I was concerned by the fact the barrier's power diminishes once you leave."
That's a no then. Though even in the missions Sasuke accompanies them to bring biters to the entertainment of the people in Woodbury, the governor doesn't come.
"The biters only realize Woodbury is there, they still can't trespass the barrier I made."
"It still worries the people inside who see them lurking when you're not here."
"As if you really care, governor," Sasuke mocks, before he stands up. "Don't forget that your act doesn't work with me. I already informed you; my part of the deal is done. Just keep yours."
Not waiting for an answer, Sasuke turns around, an easy genjutsu to disappear at ready. Perhaps a bit dramatic but infuriating others is what he has to let out some steam without causing damage lately.
"You and I aren't so different," the governor says, stopping him from continuing. "I can see it in your eyes; how you sought to control, how you are barely holding it yourself. You haven't said anything about my daughter to the others. But I have to wonder, it really is to have the upper hand, or it is because you would have done the same?"
Itachi's small smile while being under the Edo Tensei comes into his memory without permission and his shoulders tense slightly. He can feel the palm of his right-hand tingling as his eyes change into the purple and red combination. He glances over his shoulder and meets the governor's gaze.
"Don't ever compare me to you," he snarls, face twisting into something ugly and disgusted before he shunshin's away from the room.
It is later when he's jumping through trees with the morning light and the small bag he carries over his shoulders whenever he leaves, that he thinks of the governor's words. Because it's those times, when Sasuke is alone in his room or taking one of those trips the governor still thinks are for supplies that he ponders about how the world he's currently in reassembles what he wants to create in his own world. There's a common enemy lurking, always close and dangerous, making the people suspicious, as they sharp themselves, never letting forget that without being prepared, they'd die.
However, instead of uniting them against a common cause, it has made them wary of the unknown, highlighting the faults mistrust can cause when survival is the only thing that matters. Morals are lost and like in the first days of Academy people close into the small groups they've first formed, not all that brave to go into another one or let others in.
It's worse than the Academy, of course. The fear makes it worse and it's clear to see it from an outside perspective.
Sasuke wants to think that under him it would be different. He would be able to herd and mold them into what he wants. A world without corruption and people like his brother who are used as scapegoats for the ones in control to retain their power.
There won't be a governor in his world to take advantage of people's weak wills.
But that's not true, isn't it? How many people like the Governor are there in his world who would act the same? How many 'governors' would there really be?
A lot.
The governor disgusts him, so why hasn't he killed him yet? Is it because he understands his twisted motives of always wanting to be in control even if he doesn't like it?
.
"You and I aren't so different. "
The branch he steps on cracks at the misbalance on his chakra but Sasuke is already jumping onto another sturdier one before it gives in under him. He stops, takes a map from his bag, and opens it. It's filled with red dots and blue lines. Parts he's already searched and others with too many biters. He's been searching the surroundings from where the portal opened but so far there's been nothing coming up.
Though the last place he went had a town with a library that wasn't surrounded by those beings and he's discovered democracy by rummaging through the aisles.
It sounded like an answer from what little he's been able to understand. There are more ideologies and he really just wishes to sit and read, but it's already Sunday and the sun is starting to hide. He doesn't want to run when it's dark so the book about this world's politics rests heavily inside his bag alongside two other more.
He sighs, curls the toes of his feet that feel constricted inside the boots he now wears, and readies for another jump.
"Come on, bambi, look up," he hears someone mutter, stopping him dead in his tracks. The sounds come from far away and it's only thanks to his sharp senses that he manages to even pick it up. Then there's the sound of a projectile being thrown before it smacks flesh. Sasuke jumps somewhere near when the unmistakable sound of an animal dying reaches him.
He hides behind leaves and sees a man holding a weapon walking towards the bleeding doe. He's gruff-looking as the few people not from Woodbury that he's seen are. There's another smaller man with a cap following with similar slanted eyes as his own. He's smiling as he looks at the wounded animal, two dead squirrels on his hold.
"We're lucky, this will lasts us for two days at least."
The gruff man grunts as he starts lifting the doe and with practiced ease he bleeds him out, opens the soft belly, and takes the insides to then put them inside a bucket the smaller man carries, ignoring the look of utter disgust the other gives him.
"… I seriously don't think Beth gave me the bucket for that."
"We're close. Carol can make some soup with them. Let's go."
The smaller man nods absently, resignation written all over his face. "Probably for the better. Hershel says Lori's date is close. The baby could pop out any moment now. Better to save the meat for when that happens."
"You talk too much."
Sasuke ignores any more of their conversation and glances at the path that would take him to Woodbury before looking towards both men leaving. He probably shouldn't bother following but they're not that far from Woodbury, a couple of hours at best, and they seem to be from a settled group.
His fingers trace lightly the fabric of the bag by his side before he lets out a soft exhale. Sasuke then follows the two figures from above.
Being silent comes easily and even if the trees aren't as strong as they were in his world and he has to stay on top of some as he waits for them to advance, he still manages to not break any more branches.
It's an hour after, that Sasuke hears commotion ahead. The others below him don't notice but they still seem to know that danger is close. It makes him know that the place where their group must be staying in one surrounded by biters.
With a slight bend of his knees, Sasuke jumps to another tree, this time aiming for a higher place. He follows the noise until the forest recedes and then the building that the trees hide is revealed.
"It's a more secure place than Woodbury," Sasuke mutters as soon as he sees it. The fences are flimsy protection but the walls of the buildings inside are sturdy and the place seems easy to protect.
A quick recollection of the books he's read to understand better this world makes him know that what he's seeing is a prison as it doesn't seem like a place run entirely by the military.
The beings that surround the place seem to have noticed the two men he left behind as they start moving towards them. The people he's noticed are behind the fences but outside the buildings notice as well; they ready their weapons.
Sasuke has an idea of what's going to happen so he doesn't linger, choosing instead to inspect better the place; look for other entrances and weak points.
It's not until he's almost on the posterior part that he finds a liability. Part of one of the biggest buildings is partly destroyed, along with the fence. There are a great amount of biters wandering, but most seem to be inside. Only a couple are close to the bundlers.
He could use the hole to go inside without the people inside knowing. It would be easy to stick to the ceiling and go to the building they're using as living quarters. Killing them would offer him a secure place, but... He can make seals like I'm Woodbury to protect it from biters and even humans. He can construct traps to hunt and make the entrance harder. He can turn the place into a fortress.
However, make the electricity work, turn the ground into fertile soil, clean and organize everything in place: make the place habitable? That wouldn't be easy. He remembers his genin days doing C-ranks and while not difficult, they were strenuous jobs. Though what he learned while doing them will now be helpful in restoring the place. However, while Sasuke knows he can do it even if he recognizes it would be an arduous job to do, it would still be a waste of time when there are people here that could aid him.
Why to do it, when there are volunteers already working on them?
Sasuke smirks.
It's always good to have a backup plan. And a safe house is even better.
Looking up at the sky, he sees it's already late. It's not really cold, however, and there's a nice roof above the building hidden from prying eyes that he could use to sleep. So, nodding to himself, he jumps while he takes some paper and ink from his bag, a simple seal already in his mind. This place is not that far from Woodbury but it would still do good to have it tagged, that way he would be able to always find it.