Nightshift 41: Cafeteria

[giftofstars]

[from here]

Upon entering the cafeteria, Sakura fell prey to a cool chill. Unlike the Sun Room, the cafeteria seemed eerily dark, almost as if something would lurch out and attack from an unlit corner. The group made their way to the other end of the cafeteria to a locked door, and Sakura gave a tug on the door with one hand. "It won't open..."

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[alwayscomesback]

All right, so Sokka had decidedly not been trained like the Fire Nation Ninja had, but he still had training. Not much since his dad and the others warriors in the village had left, but enough. And his last year had been more than enough experience on the field for one lifetime. Plus he had the training from Master Piandao so he should be ready for anything this weird place would throw his way.

Still, if this thing really did bleed sand, Sokka couldn't help but think that he definitely hadn't ever covered anything like that in his training! Kinda wished that he had now.

He watched what all was going on with continued confusion but a better understanding nonetheless. This sand-bleeding thing was the first of the monsters he'd seen in this place, and by the plan created by Shika he could figure out that it took a group to take monsters down. The other group that had been trying had already gotten beaten up some; hopefully they were all right, but hopefully they had managed to wear the thing down a bit too.

After Kakashi and Sai went after the thing, Sokka looked a final time at Shika to be sure. According to the plan, he just had to get the swords when they were released and get away. That was all. He could do that. He thought...

[toobothersome]

"Wait," Shikamaru whispered to Sokka, before he could move too far away. The creature's position had changed, and until it was out in the open, there wouldn't be room to move around it without getting in Sai or Kakashi's way.

Shikamaru's degree of focus didn't seem in line with his personality, and it hadn't since they'd entered the room. The change was abrupt and complete, and though he caught Sokka's backwards glance, his only visible response was a slight frown as he wondered if the other boy was actually up to the task assigned to him. Sokka's role was essential; getting the being's weapons away from it ensured that even if his jutsu failed after a few seconds, it would be left unarmed or forced to rely on secondary weapons. Shikamaru could see none, but the possibility had to be considered.

However, it made sense for Sokka to be concerned. He knew even less about the team than the team knew about him, and even if he'd gotten past the whole Land of Fire thing, he had no reason to believe the Leaf-nin were actually competent. From the outside, the plan probably seemed hasty, and considering that Sokka wasn't armed, he couldn't be very enthusiastic about getting so close to something that had swords and no reservations about using them.

"It'll be fine," he said, his voice quiet but conveying more confidence than he felt. The last thing he needed was someone hesitating or second-guessing the plan. Shikamaru didn't take his eyes from the creature. "It's a pain, but we've done this before. I'll have it throw its weapons to the side...just be sure you stay out of Sai and Kakashi's way. They're not used to you yet." Luckily and inexplicably, explaining things without losing focus had never been difficult for Shikamaru.

[alwayscomesback]

Sokka was glad he had waited since Shika didn't want him heading in yet. He would have, but hey, Sokka wouldn't complain over a bit more time to get ready for this.

"Right," he nodded, the asked the question that was bothering him the most, "Soooo, how the heck are you going to do that, exactly? Getting him to drop the swords, I mean?" He had heard Sokka say something about binding the thing, but he'd already admitted to not being a bender, so didn't he have to get closer to do something like bind it? Or at least have some kind of rope to do the binding with.

[toobothersome]

Hadn't he explained this? Well, that made Sokka's concern a lot more legitimate. Shikamaru remembered that he hadn't given many details about his own ability, aside from pointing out multiple times that it didn't use fire.

"I can control shadows," he said. "Once I connect ours, he can't move on his own. He'll have to do everything I do. I'll just open my hands." He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to explain his family's jutsu. "There's other stuff, but that's the only thing I can do here." He hadn't tested the more complicated aspects of shadow control, but based on how much chakra he'd lost in the second he'd held Sakura, lifting shadows into tendrils was an impossibility. He conveniently neglected to mention that he had no idea how long he'd be able to bind this creature. There was no reason for Sokka to know that.

The monster by the doorway still hadn't moved forward, but he forced himself to remain cool and centered while he waited for an action.

[alwayscomesback]

"Oh, right! That jutsu thing..." Sokka has heard him talking about that before, though he had really only been focusing on the fact that Shika wouldn't be barbecuing him because he couldn't. "So you're like... a shadow bender then!" No one could really bend shadows where he came from, but it was pretty neat to think about. Neater still since he knew now that he wouldn't get impaled by a sword.

[toobothersome]

That was one way to describe it, Shikamaru supposed, and he expressed agreement with a slight nod. Describing the others' abilities would have been too much of a hassle. From what he could tell about Sokka's personality, it would only lead to more questions, and they didn't have time for that. Besides, Sai was using ninjutsu already. He'd learn soon enough on his own.

When the armored person or monster or whatever it was finally attacked, he narrowed his eyes but remained still for over a second, focusing on the movement and only the movement with what should have been calm certainty. Patience was usually one of his better virtues, but waiting was getting more troublesome by the second and Shikamaru just wanted to finish already so that he could get the hell away from this room.

"Okay, move," he whispered. He doubted he'd have to tell Sokka to stick to the wall and stay out of the fight, and he didn't want to draw more attention to the two of them than necessary. It was bad enough that Sokka was still using his flashlight, but expecting him to turn it off under these circumstances was unreasonable. As a bloodthirsty sworn enemy of his home country or whatever, Shikamaru imagined that he was already pushing the limit of dangerous requests he could expect to be obeyed.

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