"Mhm." Tobira's voice drawled from behind as the man moved to sit by Sasuke's side. It seemed the spices were done being sorted, not that it was exactly the center of his attention at the moment. He was more focused on the firm-faced shinobi who had settled beside him. Sasuke wasn't sure if it was better or worse to have the masked shinobi sitting or behind him. Probably better. "I'm fairly sure glaring and stabbing at the Hokage's face isn't part of the assignment."

So Tobira had definitely seen what he was doing. Not that it really mattered. It wasn't like he'd hurt the photo beyond repair. It'd be fine if he just smoothed it over. A small pout of embarrassment crossed the boy's features, muttering stubbornly as he continued to write down the final bits of work required, "I wasn't glaring. Or stabbing."

Okay, he had sort of stabbed the picture. It had only been with an eraser, though. Sasuke was pretty sure that didn't count. It hadn't even hurt the picture, other than maybe wrinkling it a little. Kiba and Naruto were constantly doing way worse to their books. Drawing in them, bending the pages, poking lead through them. Not to mention he was pretty sure Akamaru had wrecked a few of them beyond recognition...

Given, he wasn't like those two at all. Or the freaking puppy. He had respect for the academy property. He was an Uchiha. Well behaved- and- well-

His pencil pressed against his paper, lines dark as he tried to finish the assignment. Fine. Maybe he shouldn't have been poking at the picture. Tobira didn't seem very happy that he'd messed with it, even if it had been minor in his opinion.

Pausing only momentarily, he allowed a somewhat sincere "Sorry." to pass his lips. Sasuke hadn't meant to hurt the book, he just...had. He'd been doing that, sometimes. Getting distracted and doing things without thinking. The boy wasn't exactly sure why, though. A feeling of relief settled in his stomach as he heard a hum of acknowledgment from the other.

"Why?"

Huh? He blinked over at the other, pencil hovering over the homework. Why?

"Why are you sorry?" the elder clarified, watching him with sharp yet interested red eyes. His arms were crossed, leading Sasuke to shift slightly in his seat.

Toying with the pencil, he brought his hands away from his book and towards his lap. "Because I made you upset and messed up the book?" his answer sounded more like a question, even he knew as much.

"I'm not upset. I just want to know why you're being rough with your school book. People had to work to get those materials to teach you about those people, you know." his tone was scolding, though it lacked the bite that usually came when people yelled at each other.

Sasuke puffed up his cheek, though he tried not to react too strongly. He didn't want the conversation to take a turn for the worse, but it was hard to explain. Being annoyed at the picture was one thing, explaining why he had done it was another. "I don't know. I just did. It was making me angry." he muttered, pushing the tip of the pencil idly into his hand. He watched the faint imprint of the lead dent his skin, only to fade a moment later.

Though he tried not to let the feeling of eyes on him bother him too much, it seemed like the more they got into it, the more uncomfortable the eyes made him. He looked up only briefly to see the sharp red eyes. "What did it do to make you angry? Was the work hard?" his tone sharp and curt despite the calm look he gave Sasuke.

"...No." the young Uchiha admitted, breaking eye contact once more to away to look at the photo with poorly hidden disgust. His lip curled back at the photo, eyes narrowing at the sight of it. That big grin for some reason made his blood boil, his arms tensing. He didn't like that Itachi looked up to the man so much, but there was something else. Something that made him uncomfortable. It took a moment, but when he figured it out, his brows furrowed. "Lord First's photo is dumb. Why's he smiling like that?"

Sasuke could feel Tobira's eyes on him, though he didn't look up to see the expression on his face. "Perhaps he was happy." the masked man suggested, hand gently tilting the book so he could see it better.

"Or he was just acting." the words came out more sour than he'd like to admit. It seemed too bright and sweet next to the serious photos of the other leaders.

For a long moment, Tobira was silent. Glancing up at him, Sasuke could only see an unreadable look on his face. A breath escaped the elder, who seemed to tear his eyes away from the page and towards the younger male. "Why do you think he's faking it?"

Why, why, why. Why did Tobira have to ask it so much? Sasuke crossed his arms with the pencil still in hand, looking down at the photo and sucking in a cheek silently. His chest hurt a little as he looked at that idiotic grin, not sure how to explain it. "People always fake it. I don't know why. They do. Sensei does it when our class is being annoying, Shisui did it for a long time, and Itachi's been doing it forever!" listing them off, unable to stop himself as malice slipped into his voice.

Sasuke wasn't sure why, but it only frustrated him further when Tobira remained calm in the face of his outburst. Why was he so calm and focused all the time?

He felt his irritation melting into surprise as Tobira nodded. "You're right. A lot of people do lie." the confirmation making him pause. He was right? "Sometimes they do it to hurt the people around them. Sometimes they do it because they think it will help." Sasuke listened, trying to sift through the words in his mind. "Then there are people who tell the truth. Some people do it because they don't want to cause issues. Others do it to hurt others with harsh reality."

So...sometimes lying was good, sometimes it was bad? Sometimes the truth was good, other times the truth was bad? Sasuke wished he understood, but he really didn't. Tobira was like that, though. Sasuke didn't always understand what the man was getting at. Sometimes, it almost seemed like the silver-haired shinobi did it on purpose. That might just be in his head, though. "So Lord First might have been lying, then?" he settled on, figuring it would at least answer his question of whether or not Tobira was on the same side as him.

"He might have." Sasuke let out a breath at the other's words, though his brows drew together when Tobira tapped another photo. An Uchiha leader at one point. Madara? He looked serious, just like most of the others. "Then again, so could he. Maybe Madara was happy when this photo was taken. If everyone lies, that would include him, right?"

Sasuke's head hurt. He had a feeling he'd be stuck thinking this through for a while. "...I guess."

"If you don't know whether or not Lord First told the truth, you can't know if Madara was telling it either. Right?" Tobira's words were almost coaxing, much to Sasuke's displeasure. Well, technically that was true. Even so, it felt strange to hear it flipped the other way around.

The young Uchiha uncrossed his arms, hands landing in his lap as he let out a huff of air. Hands on his ankles, he leaned back a bit, then forward. "No. I couldn't." the sulk in his voice was undeniable, even to him.

Tobira seemed determined to push as he carried on, "But you didn't poke at his photo. Just Lord First's. If they're both lying, why not pick any of the others? Why just be angry at his?" eyes steady on him as he spoke.

Why just the person who was smiling? He didn't think it was hard to answer. People who pretended to smile were a lot worse than people who pretended to be cruel...

For a split moment, an image of Itachi flashed in his mind. Itachi, always poking him away. Itachi, always giving him piggyback rides and encouraging him as they walked down the road. Itachi, always talking to him by the dojo. Talking about how they were flesh and blood. How they'd always be there for each other. All with that lying smile. Always pretending. At least father had been honest with his disinterest towards Sasuke.

"I-" swallowing down, Sasuke eyed the photo and then Tobira. A burning sensation filled the young Uchiha's chest as he clenched his fingers into fists. Looking up at Tobira and seeing the other's unreadable expression, he bit the inside of his cheek. Finally, he bit out while looking away, "Itachi- Itachi liked him. Lord First was probably just as much of a fake- dumb- actor!" standing from his chair roughly and glaring down at the offending paper, pointing to it accusingly as the frustration that had been dying down began to frow once more. "They even have the same annoying smile!"

A growl left his throat as Tobira watched him, not reacting to his words past a tightening of the jaw and narrowing of his eyes. It wasn't fair, why was it so hard to understand people!? All anyone did was lie and show what they wanted, it was nasty! Why couldn't people just say what they felt, and why couldn't he do it too without being called mean? "I was just- I barely touched the picture, you just made it worse than it really was."

"I didn't make it worse than it was." Tobira sighed. "You were glaring at the photo, whether you noticed or not. It's not healthy to blame Lord First for any of your brother's actions." standing as he spoke. Sasuke took a step back, watching Tobira's sharp eyes. "Regaurdless of whether Itachi thought highly of Lord First, he didn't know him. Neither do you. There's a lot people can come up with, even if they only see photos and hear stories."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond to that. He still felt the burning in his stomach, though an uncomfortable itch beneath his skin began to build as well. For some reason, he felt short of breath as Tobira walked past him. Heart squeezing, he couldn't bring himself to respond. He could barely process the words, let alone respond to them.

"It looks like you finished your history paper. Do you have others to do?" Tobira asked as he stood in the living room, voice low. It jarred Sasuke's already worked up nerves, the boy crossing his arms and digging his fingers into them. He shook his head. "Good. Then put your papers away, shut the book, and come here."

Turning to the papers, he grabbed them, putting them away as calmly as he could. They wrinkled slightly under his tight hold, flattening as he tightly closed his binder. It was shoved into the bookbag, along with the previously discarded pencil. Then was the book.

Picking it up, Sasuke held it, eyeing the numerous images and descriptions with an ache. How many times had he seen books like this beside Itachi's bedside? The book snapped shut, the boy resisting gripping or throwing it as he shoved it into his backpack.

Feet heavy, he headed towards the living room. The man had cleared it out, rearranging the coffee table so that there was more room. Lingering by the doorway, Sasuke asked in a bitterly small tone, "What are you doing?"

"Your sensei told you to meditate if you had time, didn't he?" Tobira quirked a brow, motioning him closer. "It seems you do."

Puffing up his cheeks, Sasuke glanced out the window. "But it'll be getting darker soon. I wanted to train."

Preferably with taijutsu. The young Uchiha didn't think he'd be able to focus on his aim when he felt like this.

"Meditation is training." the silver-haired shinobi pushed, motioning him closer once more. Sasuke moved towards the taller shinobi, arms still crossed as he looked up at him doubtfully.

Tobira let out an approving noise as the younger finally came over, seeming to look him up and down before motioning to the floor. "You can do physical training tomorrow if you'd like. For now, focus on this. Alright?"