Day 44: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[mizuhomaiden]

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

Comments

[lostonlifesroad]

With neither pretense or preamble, Shikamaru fell into a seat and began talking almost the moment he arrived. Kakashi had been watching for the younger ninja, so he was aware of his approach, at least. But given how completely Shikamaru had avoided talking about his experience from the night before, it wasn't hard to guess what he was trying to keep out of the conversation now. He didn't have to worry so much though. Kakashi did plan on touching on the subject, but something Shikamaru had said on the bulletin struck the jounin. Kakashi wasn't going to force Shikamaru to talk about anything he didn't want to, but he also had a bit of advice for the chuunin as well.

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."

[toobothersome]

And Kakashi seemed to go right along with it. That was a relief. He settled deeper into the sofa and gave a quiet, comfortable sigh. "I do need to talk to Sakura, but it can wait until tomorrow. It sounds like a good plan." After all, it was Team Seven, and she could probably use some time with her team. "So does the commissioning."

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."

[lostonlifesroad]

Kakashi held his tongue when Shikamaru pulled out something for him to look at, since that naturally required him focusing on something other than his book. He'd continued to read throughout the conversation, having no need to stop thanks to his talents at observation. Now, however, he didn't have a choice, especially since Shikamaru had not only put the map outside of his range of vision, but was drawing on it as well.

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."

[toobothersome]

Before he'd even considered Kakashi's idea, Shikamaru flinched at the thought of knowing anything more about himself, fake or real or whatever. He'd had more than enough of himself for a while, and would be happy to never have to think of himself again. The flinch was brief, though, and he steeled himself to consider what Kakashi said from every possible angle. Shikamaru wasn't going to get any better at this not-acting-like-a-kid thing by running away.

"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."