Day 44: Sun Room (4th Shift)
As soon as she had the chance, Sheena ninja'd herself out of the cafeteria and away from the conversation she'd been semi-forced to have. She probably could have just clammed up and told the boys to go away, but she'd kind of owed at least Endrance some kind of explanation. It wasn't everyday the embodiment of darkness pops up and delivers a
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This time, though, rather then immediately head for the showers, he pressed his fingertips to the point where the base of his ribs met his abdomen, half-expecting tenderness or at least some kind of scar. There should be a mark. Something. Anything. Even if last night had been an illusion, it wasn't fair for his body to have forgotten everything so easily when it took almost all of his willpower to keep it at the furthest edge of his thoughts.
What happened to the memories of dead people?
Shikamaru showered quickly under water nearly hot enough to scald his skin, then stepped into the relative chill of the changing room. He closed his eyes, pausing to focus on the tangible loss of heat and gradual return to room temperature, but after a few seconds he remembered that there wasn't time for that. He dressed quickly and didn't bother to dry his hair before tying it back and heading for the sun room. He had a lot to report and that's what this would be: a report and nothing further.
Kakashi could be so damn inconsistent, he thought with a flash of uncharacteristic and probably projected anger. Just two days before, the man had told him not to refuse leadership because of personal weaknesses--taking stuff as learning experiences, or something--but Shikamaru sensed that even though he'd requested their meeting only to report on Sokka and Momo, it would lead to some troublesome 'let's talk about feelings' sort of thing. How was anyone supposed to rely on him if he acted like a genin every time something went wrong? It was pathetic. With the way this place worked, one day Kakashi wouldn't be around, and someone would have to hold the group together. It couldn't be Jiraiya, who only cared about Naruto, or Naruto, who didn't have any leadership experience. It couldn't be Sakura, who lost all sense of reason every time Sasuke walked by, or Sai, who couldn't convey an idea without unintentionally offending someone. This type of thing was going to be Shikamaru's responsibility someday, and he'd never known an effective leader who let emotion get in the way of responsibility for his team. He had to get his shit together, he had to do it without relying on anyone, and he had to do it now.
Luckily, Kakashi was already seated on one of the many sofas, masked nose in a book, and Shikamaru walked over and dropped onto the other end with his usual lack of propriety. "I've talked to Sai and Sokka," he started, quick to speak and to continue speaking, knowing that Kakashi rarely interrupted. If he could prove that the events of the previous night hadn't affected his ability to perform his duty, there was a chance Kakashi wouldn't have the chance to consider otherwise. "I plan on collecting the sedative from Sai at the start of night and asking Sai to retrieve the sand-creature's weapon from Sokka while I pass the vial to Sakura. After that, I recommend a temporary change from our usual plan. I've met an ally who could make our exploration of the basement considerably easier, but she wants to be sure she can trust our group before offering assistance." He'd hoped to introduce Kakashi to Momo while he and Sai took care of their tasks, but that would come later in the conversation. As much as Shikamaru wanted to prove his competence, he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. Kakashi was still the team leader, and as long as the jounin wanted to talk about something that wasn't bothersome personal junk, Shikamaru would respect rank.
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That would come later, however. Right now he had a good deal of information to think through, and he gave a slight nod as Shikamaru paused. He'd definitely been busy, and it sounded like the work he'd done would lead to good things. "You also had something to talk to Sakura about, right? I spoke to her at lunch, and she wants to take Sai and Naruto upstairs with her to retrieve those medical texts she needs. I don't think that's a bad idea." And with Shikamaru's new ally, the basement team would still have a set of three. Assuming they would be headed to the basement again; Shikamaru had said the woman could make things easier, but not how, or to what extent.
"You probably saw, but I commissioned one of 'toy-makers' for our group." While the ninja were capable of making do with whatever they could get their hands on, Kakashi would prefer having at least a few of the weapons they'd all been trained with as part of their arsenal. "I'm third on the list, but I think we should go ahead and get the metal our maker wants as soon as possible." Since things were pretty impossible to predict anymore, it would be better not to put it off.
Kakashi still had another task he thought it would be good for the ninja to complete, but for the moment, he kept that idea to himself. First he wanted to find out about the woman Shikamaru had met, and just what she had to offer. "So tell me more about the ally. Considering our success with even getting to the basement thus far, I'm certainly not going to complain if someone can make it easier on us."
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That concluded, he dug a hand into his pocket and produced the folded map that Momo had shown him at lunch.
"I got this from Hinamori Momo," he said, unfolding it and spreading it across the space between them. He removed the pen from his pocket and pulled the cap free with his teeth, then continued. "She's the one who gave me the map of the area behind the wall, too, which has been accurate according to other groups."
"We've seen this map before before. It was on the bulletin earlier today, along with a lot of questions. Momo-" he caught himself "-Hinamori-san doesn't put information in public places, but I guess I impressed her a few days ago or something, with the outdoor thing. Either way, here."
"This door seems to be the main objective down there," he said, circling the southern one. "It requires two keys."
He tapped the pen against the western door, then scrawled in a note. "There's a maze here," then a tap and note on the eastern side, "and some kind of elemental trap rooms here. It loosely fits with what the unreliable girl told me, but that's irrelevant. The main point is, Hinamori-san already has these both of these keys."
He shifted to make himself more comfortable, and balanced his elbow on his knee to rest his chin in his palm. "I don't know how much you know about Hinamori-san--she's polite like that, so I'm trying to stick to it," he added, to justify his uncharacteristic use of honorifics. "She's been here for a long time. She's combat-trained, but I think her team's suffered a lot of losses and disappearances. There's a good chance that she lacks reliable, organized people to work with, and I think she's looking for people she can trust."
Again, Shikamaru's pen returned to the southern door. "You remember this one. It's..." a slightly uncomfortable pause, a shift back toward the arm of the chair, "...well, you read about what happens. We'll talk about that later. But once it's finished, according to the only other group who's made it, you gain access to the catacombs. No one knows what's down there, or if they do, they're not talking."
Shikamaru paused, realizing he'd just gone over a lot of info. He was used to briefing, but the day had already been exhausting. He took a long, slightly tired breath before continuing. "Obviously, these keys aren't easy to come by, and I imagine most people who knew she had them are gone. I might be the only one she's told. After meeting with her twice I trust her, but we ought to make sure she's reliable, so I think it'd be best to have her accompany us on an unrelated and safer task tonight."
"She's smart, and she sounds like a decent fighter," he continued. "She's from a world that seems kind of like ours in organization, but with more chakra per person and a wider variety of ninjutsu. She claims to be good with a sword, has a katana, and limited healing skills. The whole thing seems mutually beneficial."
Shikamaru glanced up, well-aware that he'd overstepped the line of rank. "Considering the rare opportunity and how much difficulty we've had so far, I went ahead and agreed."
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He really didn't have a choice, did he?
Lowering his novel, Kakashi listened as Shikamaru explained what he had learned, and reiterated certain points from the bulletin. That he skimmed over the promise of death behind the southern door didn't go unnoticed, but the jounin let the subject be for now. What was most important was confirmation that Hinamori did indeed have the keys, meaning the ninja wouldn't need to risk going through the other halls in order to open the final door. It seemed minor when confronted with the fact that one of them would be forced to die in the colleseum, and at the hand of one of their teammates, no less. But Kakashi already had an idea of how to deal with that, though he wouldn't bring it up, just yet.
Shikamaru really did have a lot of information to relay, but Kakashi thankfully had a mind that could keep up. He also understood the meaning behind Shikamaru's look when he said he'd already committed to working with HInamori. It really had been breaking rank, but Kakashi wasn't exactly upset by it. "It sounds like that was the right thing to do. Considering how many other people are here, there definitely has to be someone else she could've gone to if you had said no." And it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially if HInamori was as good as she claimed to be.
"We can send Jiraiya-sama and Renamon after the metal. I have an idea for something that Hinamori-san, you, and I can do." Now Kakashi closed his novel completely, focusing his full attention on Shikamaru. He wouldn't like the idea, but at the same time, Shikamaru especially wouldn't be able to deny the sense in it. "They keep information about the lives we lead here--and probably files on former patients too. After what happened yesterday, I think it's prudent that we find out all the information we can about those lives, so we can be as prepared as possible for whatever the Instiute might throw at us next." It would have been more effective before the visitors, but ignoring it even after would've been foolish. "The mission would involve us covering a pretty big area, so we'd probably have a lot of opportunity to see just what HInamori-san can do. And she might want to find out those details herself."
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"Got it," he said with a nod. "My room again?"
Objectively, Shikamaru considered his initial reaction to the idea of collecting the files. Sure, he was a little more skilled than most when it came to evading unpleasant emotions, but all of the Leaf-nin were getting tired, some to the point of near-collapse. In fact, Shikamaru was lucky to have had so much practice.
"It might be wise to read the current Leaf-nin's files before distributing them," he said. "From what I gathered, my false life wasn't much different from my real one, and my real one...most of it was okay, I guess." Compared to what many of the other ninja went through, at least. "With Sai, though, there's some stuff he needs to deal with, and giving him a file like that might be rushing it. I don't know him that well, but he doesn't know how to ask for help and I'm pretty sure he needs it. I don't know how many of the others are like that." Shikamaru remembered the vague threat, the kunai in the door, the tears. Giving Sai a bunch of information about that life, the one he wanted but couldn't have...it was just a bad idea.
Not that Kakashi was great at knowing when to hand out information.
Shikamaru was silent for a while, trying to consider everything he knew about the ninja from his village. "It's a matter of resources," he finally said, quietly and thoughtfully, struggling to apply one of the few things he fully understood to a wholly unfamiliar concept. More seconds passed before he continued.
"I mean, I spent two days worrying about that visitor thing, and it..." he considered his words carefully, took a slightly less personal route, "I'd overprepared. And some things we can't prepare for at all." Kakashi knew all of this, of course, but since it was a somewhat new revelation for Shikamaru, he spoke it as if testing the ideas before committing them to a more permanent place in his mind. "When it comes to stuff like this, there's an emotional toll to preparing for every contingency, and even if a person can handle it, then that confidence makes them more vulnerable to the unexpected. We can't spread ourselves too thin."
While Shikamaru spoke his eyes were focused on the map between them, but when he finally looked up, he fully expected Kakashi to have returned to his book.
"I know I'm out of line," he continued, rubbing his neck. It wasn't intentional insolence as much as a difficulty adjusting between Kakashi's style of leadership and Asuma's. After so many hours of shougi, Shikamaru was used to saying whatever was on his mind, though his mind was usually a quiet place. It was part of the training, he guessed, or Asuma's temperament, or, most likely, the fact that after so much time, teachers understood their own students in ways that others of the same rank and position couldn't. "The team leader has to know everything, yeah," he said. Someday he'd have to do that--or, more accurately, the version of himself back in Konoha would have to do that. When it came to those kinds of responsibilities, Shikamaru felt a strange mixture of pity and envy for his double. "But when it comes to everyone else, sometimes too much preparation is dangerous."
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