Day 46: Breakfast

[repeatingfate]

For the second time, Rika found herself waking with a start. She blinked at the grey light streaming through the windows, and looked across the room. Anise was still asleep. So. I'm still here. Let me just check...Rika put on her slippers and walked over to the desk, checking the drawer and breathing a light sigh of relief. Good, the knife was

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[see_my_back]

Sakura woke sluggishly after a good night's rest. Who the hell wanted a good night's rest! This is bullshit!! She tore her sheets before violently throwing them to the ground. Just what the hell had they done?! She didn't remember being taken for brainwashing or a genjutsu or even some kind of rare body invasion jutsu, it was none of that! So how had they done it? Just the thought of prancing around yesterday as some vapid, air-headed, bratty teenager was enough to make her-

Sakura gave a indistinguishable grunt of anger as she toppled her dresser over. That felt better.

The nurse clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she entered, one for the mess, one for the patient, who'd have to be tidied up before breakfast. "Courtney! What happened here?!" she demanded.

Sakura tried not to smile at the destruction she'd caused and only answered innocently, "I had a scary dream. I don't know what happened, I'm sorry." She might be pissed as hell, but she wasn't stupid enough to get sedated over it. As much fun as it would be to punch the nurse in the face. Probably wouldn't even see it coming. Bitch.

The woman sighed and motioned for Sakura to follow her. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

They stopped at the bathroom on the way to breakfast, but Sakura was confused as to why. She hadn't gotten herself dirty, so what-

Oh hell no. Someone had taken a marker to her forehead. It read: Hello. I am brainwashed. Please don't let anything eat me?
P.S.--Sensei is the coolest ninja ever!

Sakura twitched visibly and it took every bit of restraint she had not to punch the mirror in front of her to bits. She yanked the soapy rag the nurse gave her from the woman's hands and scrubbed at the message, which luckily, came off without too much work. She'd just have an even more glaringly obvious forehead under the redness went away. Someone was definitely going to die for this. Nevermind the fact that they'd managed to fit the entire message in relatively large letters on her forehead(including the postscript).

She was fuming by the time she got to breakfast. She didn't even care what they gave her to eat, she just wanted to hit someone, something, anything at all to get rid of the inner voice rampaging through her mind.

[Closed to an Uchiha that ISN'T Sasuke? Or Itachi *gasp* One angry kunoichi for Obito!]

[itsdustdammit]

[Oh hai! From here]

The room was filled with people, but the nurse loaded up his plate and led him toward one in particular: an older girl with a reddish forehead. She seemed vaguely familiar in a way he couldn't place, but then, he didn't always trust his sense of recognition. Because she was wearing the same grey stuff, she probably wasn't one of the nurse-like people, meaning that she might be able to help him. Without looking at his food (and without really looking at her forehead, no more than a glance), he started, "I'm looking for a girl, about my age and she's maybe this tall--" his hand's height didn't indicate much since he was seated "--with purple marks on her cheeks and her hair's kind of brown but a tiny bit red and shortish--" another gesture "--and her name's Rin. Have you seen her?" He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible. He had to finish this as quickly as possible.

The pink-haired girl looked a little pissed, so he tried to keep as much distance between them as the table and chairs allowed before adding, "And how do I get out of here?"

[see_my_back]

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she looked up at her visitor. Seriously, who the hell didn't get that she was giving off enough stay away vibes to rival even Sasuke? She gave him an appraising glance and took the description into account without having to think much about it. She paid attention and she hadn't seen anyone that matched the description. But given his second question, it was just as likely that he was new and probably pretty confused.

Great start to a great day, she was sure. After giving an audible sigh, she gestured to the chair across from her. "You're new, right? I haven't seen your friend, but sit down, this is gonna take a minute and you really do wanna hear it."

[itsdustdammit]

"Uhm..." The way she phrased the question made him uneasy, and it showed. "New? I mean, I don't know where I am, but I can't stay here." 'New' made it sound like she expected him to be around for a while, and that definitely wasn't all right. Still, he sat down across from her, eager for any information. The more he could find out, the sooner he could get out and back to what needed to be done. Obito couldn't stand thinking of what might be happening to Rin while he was sitting in some safe-seeming room with a bunch of people he didn't recognize, possibly not even in the same country, possibly not even conscious. He tapped his plastic fork against the edge of his tray impatiently, but it didn't seem to be a hint directed at Sakura. Obito's expression was determined, but the anxiety behind it was very poorly disguised.

"I've gotta leave right away," he added, giving Sakura almost every bit of his attention that wasn't focused on Rin. A portion of concern was reserved for Kakashi, but Obito was annoyed to be worried about him. The newly-made jounin had made his choice. Even if the team was only two people now, it was still a team, and Rin was still Rin, and she was still in danger. If anything happened to her, he'd...he didn't know what he'd do. But that didn't matter, because nothing would. He'd get out of here and fix it before anything else could happen.

[see_my_back]

On one hand, she could understand exactly how anxious and frustrated he must be feeling. On the other, it was hard not to be annoyed that she was trying to help and he was giving her the brush off.

"Look, this is gonna be a whole lot easier if you understand one thing. I know you want to leave right now. So do I. So does every sane person in this building. But you can't. Not right now. Maybe not even tomorrow or next week," it was a hard truth, but one he was going to have to acquaint himself with if he wanted to start working on a solution instead of just running off and doing something stupid.

"See those nurses over there and all those scary looking big guys in white coats? They might not look like much now, but they've got drugs that will knock you out or worse and more of 'em can show up at a moment's notice. And unless you can get by them, you're not going anywhere. Trust me. Wherever you're from and whatever you can do, it's not going to be enough to stop them. Not during the day at least."

[itsdustdammit]

Obito's expression went through several phases as he listened, but by the time the girl across from him finished talking, it read little beyond confusion. He blinked a few times, trying to reconcile his idea of the world, his place in it, his team's place in it, Konoha's place in it, and this pink-haired girl's explanation, but one of those things was not like the others. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't have until tomorrow or next week," he said, disregarding the whole impossibility thing. Rin might be dead by then. He looked at the nurses and men in white coats, who he'd already become uncomfortably acquainted with, then looked back to her without much change in his stubborn expression. "Who are they? Where are the exits? How are they blocking our chakra? I'm not going to try to fight them--" unless he had no other choice, and he really, really, really hoped he had some other choice "--but this place has to have some weakness, right?"

Obito wasn't an idiot, but he wasn't used to doing of the thinking and planning. He frowned as he looked around again, feeling very lost and alone and trying just as hard not to show it. How the hell was he supposed to do this all by himself? He swallowed hard and tried not to feel overwhelmed, willing himself to be strong for Rin's sake.

[see_my_back]

It was like trying to explain things to Naruto. She honestly should be used to it by now, but that didn't mean it wasn't trying on her patience. But one of the things in the long string of babble he'd just blurted out was actually somewhat important. Chakra.

"We're trying to find a weakness," she said, hoping he realized she was being completely honest with him. "And when night falls, you'll get your chakra back. Some of it. We don't know how they're doing it or why, but those are the rules we have to play by. We've gotten out of the building, but somehow every morning, you wake up in the same bed all over again. Those guys are-" she paused, shaking her head. "Look, I can give you a map if you want, but..."

"This is going to sound stupid, but just give me a straight answer, okay? So if you know about chakra, that means you're a ninja, right? What village?" There was something oddly familiar about the kid now that she thought about it. She was pretty good about remembering names and faces, though she didn't go to the extremes that some did. Like ninja trading cards? Really? But he was close enough in age that if he was Konoha, she should at least know his face. Probably be about the same age as Konohamaru.

[itsdustdammit]

He didn't want a map. He wanted to get out, back to where he needed to be, before it was too late. His expression only became more distressed as her explanation continued--how could he contend with that?--but still, he had no choice. Obito again shook his head to clear it. He wasn't smart enough for this. Why wasn't Sensei here? Even Kakashi would be helpful at this point. He bit his lip. Stay strong. Figure something out. He was the only one who could do this. He couldn't afford to be weak.

Obito wasn't sure why her question was supposed to sound stupid, but he was too concerned with other matters to be distracted by confusion. Even his answer, which usually sounded firm and proud, was a little pale compared to what it would have been in Konoha. "I'm Uchiha Obito of the Leaf Village," he told her.

[see_my_back]

Uchiha Obito of the Leaf Village.

Sakura just stared, open-mouthed for a couple of seconds, her mind still trying to catch up with what had just been said. Uchiha?! That wasn't possible! There were only two Uchiha still alive. One now. And that was Sasuke! They'd all been killed; even she knew about the massacre, though the details were vague and hard to come by. So either this kid was lying... and judging by the dark hair, dark eyes, and the cut of that jaw... it wasn't likely, or someone was messing with the time again.

"That's not... you can't be," she tried to find words, but they were hard to come by at the moment. So far, everyone had come from slightly bigger jumps into the future... so... if he was from the future, that meant that Sasuke had to have come back to the village, right? And if there were more Uchiha, then... then he'd definitely found someone to help him restore his clan. Her cheeks reddened slightly and she found herself wondering if that was her father's nose or maybe her mother's ears(that definitely wasn't her forehead...) on Obito. At least none of the kid's features looked anything like Ino-pig! That was a good sign, right? Right?

She shook her head, "I'm Haruno Sakura, er, from Leaf Village too. There's lots of us here from Konoha. Trust me, we all want to leave here too and we're doing all we can to get out, but... it's not easy as you think. Please, humor me. What's the last thing you remember?"

[itsdustdammit]

Obito was used to his family's name commanding some degree of respect, though this girl, Sakura, seemed to react more strongly than most. Unfortunately, he was too preoccupied to feel the usual pride, and her attention didn't make him look or feel any less despondent. At least she was another Leaf-nin, though, and with that revelation came an overwhelming sense of relief, despite the fact that she wasn't a teammate and he'd never even met her. At least he wasn't alone, and if there were others there, then all together maybe they could...

He sniffed quietly as he looked around the cafeteria once more, this time feeling a small degree of hope. "We were on a mission," he started, looking back down at the pile of food on his plate. "I can't talk about the details. But we were ambushed and they took Rin...she's the girl I described...I think they're going to torture her or something, or even kill her. I don't know." He frowned, still looking at the waffle, and quickly drew the back of his hand across his eye. "Our team captain wouldn't rescue her, so he left and I went to go do it myself." The bitterness in his voice was rivaled only by the obvious concern. "But then I ended up here, so unless she's here too..." Obito didn't have to finish the statement, and he didn't want to. Telling the story was already a struggle. He gritted his teeth and jammed his fork forcefully into the waffle, then leaned back with his arms folded, scowling, looking away at such an angle that, had he been wearing orange goggles, his eyes might not have appeared slightly red.

[see_my_back]

Dammit! That SO didn't help! All she knew was Obito knew some girl named Rin from his team kidnapped. It didn't give her a reference in time at all! Agh! So there was no way to know for sure if it was some future Uchiha or past or anything! And all the more frustrating was that he was still upset and- was he about to cry? An Uchiha? She turned, catching herself in a stare that would've been more than a little awkward.

"It's going to sound really weird, but time moves different here from other places," she softened her voice, trying to sound reassuring and trying very hard NOT to think about what kind of mother she might be to a future Uchiha. Crying didn't seem like the kind of thing Sasuke would want his kids to be doing at the very least. Unless of course, time and a caring wife had softened him enough so that-

"A-ah I mean... this place, it isn't even the same world as it is back in Konoha. I don't know how, but this place is completely different. And things back home... well... they have to be put on hold for a while. But I think it'll be okay. So don't get discouraged, alright?" His team captain sounded like an insensitive ass. Probably trained under one of Danzo's or something. Most of the jounin that'd trained her class put teamwork as a high priority. Leaving someone behind when they could go rescue them... it didn't seem right.

"There's a lot of reasons I want to get home too. Important ones." She tried very hard not to think about how Kakashi might very well be dead when she returned, along with who knew how many people. At least it was easy to stay mad at her sensei when she thought about the marker on her forehead from this morning.

"If there's a way for us to be taken from our homes, there has to be a way for them to put us back. And if they can play with time, it should be the same as when we left it." Not that she could promise any of that, but it was something she'd surely thought long and hard about. Something she hoped for too. If she made it home with what she knew now, maybe she'd actually be able to change some things. Maybe.

[itsdustdammit]

Obito was already thoroughly discouraged, and despite Sakura's reassurance, his mood didn't lift in the slightest. He didn't care about how time moved. He cared about one thing--saving Rin--and none of what she was saying led to that outcome. "I can't just sit around here waiting until someone lets me out!" He couldn't even think about what might be happening to her...it made his eyes burn, and indoors with only a waffle in front of him, there wasn't much he could blame that on. "If you haven't gotten back, how do you know it'll be okay?" he asked, voice still wavering at the edge.

There was only one door to the room, and like she said, it was heavily guarded. Besides, if he had no idea where he was, she was right; there was no way to get back home, and certainly not with enough time. They'd only found their way through Grass Country at all thanks to the map Sensei had given Kakashi. Obito's stomach felt cold and he had no desire to eat the food in front of him. It was hard to sympathize with whatever problems Sakura had when his concern about Rin swallowed so much of his consciousness, though he was sure that others had tried in earnest to escape. No Leaf-nin would give up just like that, even if they didn't need to get back as urgently as he did himself.

[see_my_back]

Her future Uchiha love-child or not, Sakura was getting closer and closer to giving the kid a good hard smack for not listening. He didn't even know how hard she'd been trying to get back or what she'd already been through here! Of course she was desperate to get home, but that didn't mean she was going to be foolhardy either!

"I don't know, okay?!" she said finally, slamming her hands on the table. "I don't know for sure how to get out or what will work or whether or not my friends will even be there when I wake up in the morning, but crying isn't going to do any good either!"

Sure, it was mean, but she'd tried the nice route and he just refused to listen! What other choice did she have? "There's no easy answer. You can't just break down a wall and run home. It doesn't work like that here. I'm trying to help you!"