Nightshift 29: M51-M60 Hallway

[blood_and_pocky]

This was no night to be lingering; Aidou sealed up M52 in his usual fashion and left hurriedly enough. He ignored the intercom beyond noting, with not a little suspicion, that 'wandered off' meant the usual babbling idiot was possibly planning something else. Who knew. The disgusting, rasping nurse's words weren't worth thinking on

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[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke bid Allen a curt good-bye and then almost wished he hadn't, because he was left to figure out where he was going after that. He'd made no plans, which hadn't happened for a while, and so he was left with the unusually disjointed -- and frankly, more than slightly troubling -- intercom message. A short while later, an equally trouble radio message crackled to life as Sasuke rifled the sword out from under his mattress and jammed the nails he'd gotten from the town into his pockets.

He'd just improvise. It wouldn't be too bad. Sasuke could handle it.

Following the wall of the hallway was slow work, though, and he was working on memory without even Kakashi's single eye to help confirm.

Extremely tense, Sasuke worked his way towards the end of the hallway.

[tsunagari]

[from here]

Finally, Sai came to a stop. A rather abrupt stop at that. There, coming nearer to them, was Sasuke. Thankfully for them, he hadn't gotten far at all. The ninja figured he had to have stayed in his room just a little while longer after the doors opened, as Sasuke wouldn't move that slow even blinded.

"Sasuke-kun," Sai said clearly, far enough back that Sasuke hopefully wouldn't strike if startled (though most likely he'd already heard them). "I've brought my friend the pirate. Were you still interested in meeting with him?" He didn't go on to mention anything about the previous night. Their plans hadn't happened, was all.

[usoppsenchou]

Usopp had found himself not-quite running after Sai, startled at how fast the ninja moved. At least he didn't get quite out of reach at any point, and Usopp couldn't blame Sai for being in a hurry if they might miss his acquaintance.

Unfriendly... Usopp could handle unfriendly, he thought. Zoro was unfriendly. Sanji too, sometimes. Of course, neither of them really meant it, and Sai hadn't called this Sasuke-kun a 'friend,' so jumping to conclusions might be dangerous.

"Hi. I'm Usopp. Nice to meet you," Usopp added helpfully, standing a little behind Sai.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke had moved the sword to a lowline defensive position (non-threatening, just in case the approaching footsteps were prone to take things the wrong way) by the time Sai spoke, and it was with no small amount of relief that he lowered the blade, although none of it showed on his face.

"Sai," he acknowledged, and nodded to show that he was indeed still interested in meeting the pirate. Usopp, huh? Interesting name. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Moving right on into business and completely ignoring the fact that he'd been almost floundering for a goal a few minutes ago, he asked, "Do you two have plans for the night?"

[tsunagari]

"Usopp needs supplies," Sai answered gesturing to the pirate beside him. "He is something of a craftsman."

The fact that Sasuke asked about their plans made it clear that he didn't, in fact, have any of his own. This could work out all around. "You are welcome to join us." That they would help be his eyes went unspoken. "I don't know if there's anything you're after, but as long as our requirements come first..."

Even blind, Sasuke would be able to fight. And he had a proper blade, which was something Sai lacked.

[usoppsenchou]

As long as our requirements come first? Ouch. Something about that seemed kind of harsh--but then Usopp wasn't very good at being business-like, he was learning that fast. Maybe it was better to let Sai handle that, the ninja wouldn't just give things away without thinking twice.

"I have two goals. The first is the janitor's closet, which is upstairs, and the second is the gardener's shed, which is downstairs. Either one of these would be acceptable to me," Usopp announced, feeling a tiny bit like he was speaking to Sousuke again, trying to sound serious and commanding in tone. Well, if Sasuke couldn't see him, for all Sasuke knew Usopp was a big hulking pirate captain (imagine that) with arms the width of a main mast.

[sasuke_of_sound]

"A crafstman?" Sasuke asked, intrigued. "Are you able to make weapons as well?"

Could come in handy, and Sasuke really didn't have any plans of his own. Sai's terms were only to be expected, and Sasuke nodded shortly. Janitor's closet and the gardener's shed -- Sasuke and Sai had been to the gardener's shed, if Sasuke remembered correctly. It was close to that other building that had reeked.

"We've been to the shed," he said, indicating the direction in which Sai's voice had come. "I don't have any concrete goals for the night, so I don't care where you're going."

He was still intrigued by the basement, but by now he understood that he needed to be much more accustomed to the blindness before he could venture down into the blindness. Or accompanied by companions whom he could trust completely to keep him alive.

[tsunagari]

Sai turned back to Usopp. "Then where we go is your decision," he told the pirate. After all, it was Usopp that needed the supplies. Sai would go along with whatever was decided, and Sasuke would follow suit. For this night, the sniper really would have two ninja bodyguards for the most part.

He was wary when Sasuke asked about weapons, as the ninja already had one of his own and Usopp had his own crew to worry about. Most likely he was referring to objects he could use for throwing, which they could take into consideration. He just hoped the other ninja wouldn't ask too much.

[usoppsenchou]

All up to him? R-right. He could handle this.

"Let's go upstairs. I want to go to the gardening shed when possible, but for now, I don't think any of us have seen..." Uh... "or been to the janitor's closet. Someone I was speaking to today suggested there was some pretty good stuff in there. And I haven't really looked..." Jeez! "around upstairs yet."

He took a deep breath. "I can make weapons, sort of... I'm good at improvising. But I can't make things whole the way the alchemists can, I just put stuff together. Was there something in particular you wanted?" Ninja needed shuriken, right? Usopp glanced uncomfortably at Sai, not sure what to offer or not.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke nodded, absorbing both the decision and the odd pauses here and there in Usopp's speech. It didn't quite register that the pirate was trying to avoid anything regarding sight until Sasuke matched the slight hesitance to the way his nurse avoided the same words. It was just as annoying here as it was with her.

Still, if he could ignore it with that woman, he could ignore it with someone who sounded at least a bit more useful.

"I'm armed," he said, and lifted the sword slightly for emphasis. "I am merely asking for future reference."

He shifted, letting his hand leave the wall expectantly. One or both of them had to go ahead of Sasuke, and they should probably start moving soon.

[tsunagari]

"Upstairs it is," Sai smiled and at once turned on his heel. They could make good time if they got moving now, and the ninja knew the way to the stairwell at least. He had no doubt that Sasuke would be able to keep up fairly well even without his eyes. The other boy was in fact trying to make this clear, it seemed.

"I'll warn you again that it's no safer up there than it is down here, but Sasuke-kun is already aware of this. We'll be on our guard." And with that he was on the move.

[to here]