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Night 43: M51-M60 Hallway

Aug 29, 2009 21:50

The intercom's words grew more and more telling as the day neared its end. Faize now understood that to those running the institute, he and the other captives were the subjects of some sort of reeducation program, one which was responsible for the brainwashing of patients, visitors, and doctors alike. Next Wave, the announcements mentioned often. ( Read more... )

kakashi, sechs, sai, rolo, sasuke, xigbar, aidou, edgeworth, leonard, shikamaru, fox, souji seta, faize, jason, matt

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M60 tsunagari August 31 2009, 07:15:34 UTC

When the announcement came over the intercom, Sai hardly heard it. Oh, he tried to get himself to pay attention, at least turn his ear more toward the speaker, but it was such a struggle. All he wanted to do was lay there and sleep or stare at the wall as his mind wandered to other places. His stomach rumbled, yet he didn't feel hungry. His dinner could just go on sitting where it was.

The ninja didn't recall ever feeling this way before - at least in the short time he'd been remembering how to feel. It was as if someone had reached within him and removed something so vital to his existence that he couldn't function without it. There was hole in its place that was slowly sucking down what energy he had.

A small voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he needed to get up, that there was something important he should be doing that night. He would listen to that voice too. Just as soon as he could understand it.

Outside M60 toobothersome September 2 2009, 00:55:41 UTC

[from here]M60. He stopped in front of the doorway and flashed his light across the numbers to verify, frowning. There was only one logical route to Shikamaru's room and it had been notably Sai-less, meaning that the ninja hadn't left, and given the time that had passed since the intercom, he didn't plan on leaving either. Maybe he'd just fallen asleep. Wouldn't that be a riot: Shikamaru waking up someone else to do work ( ... )

M60 tsunagari September 2 2009, 05:55:50 UTC

That was Shikamaru. Of course - he was supposed to meet with Shikamaru tonight. He remembered the plan now. There was a sedative stashed away with his bandanna from their successful mission the day before. The chuunin was free to take it with him.

It occurred to him that he should probably say something, acknowledge the fact that the other ninja had arrived. Slowly, and with some difficulty, he forced himself to sit up and swing his legs over the edge of the bed. Shikamaru would need him to be awake. He could manage that. Awareness was another matter.

"Yes," he answered belatedly, no life in his voice whatsoever.

M60 toobothersome September 2 2009, 12:07:30 UTC

Sai's voice sounded about as thrilled as Ino's when their mission required crawling through mud, but at any rate, it was a voice and it wasn't saying no. That was about all he could hope for. He twisted the knob and shoved the door inward ( ... )

Re: M60 tsunagari September 2 2009, 18:45:18 UTC

Very little of what Shikamaru said penetrated the thick fog currently engulfing Sai's cognitive mind. The words 'Sakura' and 'team,' were enough to get him moving, albeit mechanically. He stood, walking to the dresser where he pulled out the vial of sedative. It was laid carefully on his pillow.

He was silent as he made his way over to his closet and began undressing, changing into the preferred black. It would have been possible to complete the mission in the basic gray uniform, but he was also taking this opportunity to try and get his thoughts focused. It took him longer than usual, every movement careful. He almost put his shoes on the wrong feet - had to stop himself and redo them.

There would also be reason to arm himself, and the ninja took a moment to ponder on what from his fair-sized assortment of weaponry he should bring. There were scalpels, his kunai for sure, the trowels might stop being usable soon (they weren't built for combat), and there was something else...

Re: M60 toobothersome September 3 2009, 00:52:37 UTC

Shikamaru moved one arm just enough to drag his hand down his face, giving a barely audible groan. He could hear the other ninja preparing more slowly than usual, and considering Sai's usual efficiency, Shikamaru would have to be an idiot not to infer what it meant. Sometimes, it was almost surprising how often Shikamaru wished he was an idiot. His eyes remained on the ceiling, watching shadows shift as he adjusted his weight to return his hand to its position behind his neck. Flash of memory: once, age four, he'd whined to his father about the injustice of the fact that studying shadows was the exact opposite of watching clouds. His father replied, quite seriously, that it must be some form of karmic punishment for arguing with women in a past life, so he'd better be careful in this one. For better or worse, the past pressed hard against the present that evening. If he'd been alone, Shikamaru would have smiled at the memory ( ... )

Re: M60 tsunagari September 3 2009, 06:52:26 UTC

Sai had to force himself to focus on what the other ninja was saying. It was difficult. Sentences blurred together into meaningless nonsense, and as he stared at Shikamaru sometimes it appeared as though his mouth would move but no words would be spoken at all. He did hear the word mission several times, and from what he could make out from it all he thought he could put in context to grasp the basic meaning ( ... )

Re: M60 toobothersome September 3 2009, 08:15:42 UTC

Um. Well. Sai wasn't a girl, so he had that working in his favor, but the idea of punching any Leaf-nin wasn't exactly appealing, especially one who'd pinned him with practically no effort just the day before. Still, with a groan, he moved enough to swing his legs to the ground. Not enough to stand up, of course, but it was still a reasonable gesture that he might do so in the future.

"I don't think that's how it works," he said. "I mean, I might hit you, but you're not always going to have people around to punch some sense into you. No argument would convince Naruto, for instance, and Kakashi'd see right through it ( ... )

Re: M60 tsunagari September 3 2009, 13:05:25 UTC

"I am... aware of this." Sai's eyes wandered to the smiley face on Shikamaru's shirt and held there. "I'm aware that it's wrong. All of those things you said... I know they're true. Naruto helped me realize that." It was funny how one boy had so easily broken years worth of training. Perhaps he hadn't been as solidly grounded in it as he'd thought to begin with. "But... It's all I've known for years, and my foundation is breaking apart too quickly."

He remembered his other weapon now. Slowly, Sai bent and slid his machete out from underneath his mattress. It wasn't a sword, not as solid and the edge was too dull, but it was a better weapon than the trowels. The ninja set it beside his pillow where it wouldn't clink against the sedative vial. He considered pulling it on the chuunin, threatening him into action, but they didn't need to be drawing blades on each other right now.

"I can't focus." His expression now was a little pained. "Please hit me, and hard, or I'll hit you first." And he wouldn't go easy on him either ( ... )

Re: M60 toobothersome September 4 2009, 02:30:34 UTC

"People don't get to sit around and pick when they feel like dealing with their shit," he said. "If you need to be alone, fine, I'll leave." Wouldn't that be convenient? "But if I do, you'd better show up tomorrow ready to act like a Leaf-nin, because we're trying to get the hell out of this place and you don't get to skip out on that based on personal issues ( ... )

Re: M60 tsunagari September 4 2009, 05:57:48 UTC

"I'm not trying to skip out on anything!" Sai raised his voice, and this was unusual enough coming out of him that it sounded unnatural. His face went from pained to angry. "It was a simple enough request I made of you, and you should have done it." Naruto would have done it, no matter what Shikamaru said to the contrary. He could have goaded Sakura into doing it easily.

He wasn't going to go back on his own words, either. True to his warning, the ninja took a couple quick steps forward, ready to swing at Shikamaru's face. If the shadows stopped him, he'd work with that as well. "Are you really willing to waste energy on me instead, when this could have been over quickly?"

Re: M60 toobothersome September 4 2009, 21:23:48 UTC

"Whatever, Sai. I'm not fighting you." Shikamaru stepped sideways, towards the door, hands tense but not forming the seal necessary to lock his shadow with Sai's. He had faith in his ability to move quickly if necessary; after all, the technique was the first he'd learned, and he'd used it on almost every mission since. "If I hit you now, I'll have to hit you tomorrow night, and then the night after that, and every night until we get out of this place. It's a pain in the ass, and I'm not putting my life in the hands of someone I need to punch before I can trust ( ... )

Re: M60 tsunagari September 5 2009, 08:19:44 UTC

There was a good chance that Sai had never looked as angry as he did then. As Shikamaru turned away, the other ninja drew his single kunai, flipped it over in his hand, and threw it as hard as he could. He wasn't aiming at the chuunin; no, the kunai buried itself deep between the door and the door frame, effectively making it just that much more difficult to open. Any delay to keep him in... even if he wasn't quite sure what he wanted anymore.

He didn't want to be so easily dismissed. Being called unfit for a mission due to his emotional state hit him somewhere deep. He was a trained ninja. Highly trained! This incident shouldn't have been hitting him as hard as it was. That's why he needed the help of his peer...

"Don't walk away from me." His voice shook and his teeth were gritted tightly. "...Please."

Re: M60 toobothersome September 5 2009, 22:56:51 UTC

Shikamaru froze when the kunai slammed into the frame of the door inches away. His muscles twitched but his arms remained at his side--if Sai had intended to kill him, that kunai would be at the base of his neck and not embedded beside the door. There was no point in binding him, not with so little chakra to spare. "I'm not hitting you," he said, voice tense and flat. Shikamaru turned to lean against the door, folding his arms, kunai over his shoulder.

It was the 'please,' that had gotten to him, a word rarely uttered by ninja and certainly not by ninja of Sai's caliber. If not for that word, he would have yanked open the door and kept walking, but as it was, Sai had a few seconds. "Give me a reason not to leave."

Re: M60 tsunagari September 8 2009, 06:01:33 UTC

At first, Sai just stood and glared at Shikamaru without making any further movements. Then he seemed to just... deflate. He fell to his knees on the floor, hands in his lap, head bowed. What had he been about to say? Was it even worth it?

"I..." His throat closed up on him, causing him to swallow before he could continue. "I apologize, Shikamaru-san. My actions tonight have been inexcusable. If you'll allow me just a few minutes to calm myself down, I would like to go with you." He might be able to get himself to focus once he started taking the mission seriously. It had worked before. "Please just talk with me. I won't ask you to hit me again."

Re: M60 toobothersome September 8 2009, 08:22:48 UTC

Of course, it would be Shikamaru stuck in this situation. Despite how deeply he cared about the Leaf-nin as a whole and his usual teammates in particular, he'd avoided much closer friends because he found other people's pain especially troublesome. It might sound hard to believe, but Shikamaru had a strong empathetic streak (even when kunai were thrown inches from his head) and though his visitor session hadn't gone as poorly as everyone else's, he wasn't in the best condition to lead some kind of pep-talk ( ... )

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