Night 47: M51-M60 Hallway

[hat_einen_vogel]

[From M59]Dinner hadn't been Italy's cooking, but Prussia finished it anyway; food was food, and if he succeeded in breaking out of here, it might be a while before he had another chance at a meal

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[tsunagari]

Sai was somewhat surprised that the jounin knew his name, but he could have learned it through any number of means. The younger ninja had been with Team Kakashi long enough for that. "Correct." He bowed politely, straight to business the moment he raised his head again.

"It's something like that, Gai-san, and then not. There are many of us here. Kakashi-san should be arriving shortly, in fact. It will take some explaining, and he might be able to do a better job of that than me." Not that Sai couldn't explain if he wanted to. He'd done it plenty in the past - once a day or more at times. Kakashi knew this man's personality better than he did, however, and if there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was give Maito Gai the wrong idea.

"As far as I'm aware, the current number of ninja from the leaf village in the facility is seven, eight including you: Myself, Hatake Kakashi, the Sannin Jiraiya, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, and Uchiha Obito. There is also one ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist still present, but we don't often make contact." He wondered if the jounin would recognize the last name, and if so how much he'd have to explain before Kakashi arrived.

This wasn't the best of times for him to show up fashionably late.

[gai_namic_entry]

Gai didn’t even pause to ponder how the youth knew his name - the green beast of Konoha was used to his reputation proceeding him, throughout the village and beyond. What did strike him was the calm and collected way the young ninja spoke of the situation at hand, almost as though he was accustomed to the setting...it was certainly strange. How long had he been unconscious? Another shinobi of his village had been able to collect so much information about the place already, despite the sudden nature of their crisis...had their abductor taken them one at a time, leaving him, the brilliant and powerful Maito Gai, as his very last conquest?

One could practically see the gears in the jounin's head turning as he tried to sort out the meaning behind their current state. The fact that his infuriatingly cool rival was here, as well, and would soon be joining them was a consolation at least - if anyone had figured out the workings behind the predicament, it would be him.

"I will wait for Kakashi." He nodded strongly, then turned his head left, and right, scanning the halls for the man's unique presence - Gai was a man of action, and this was far more standing in place than he felt like doing at such a pressing time. His animated movements soon stilled, however, as Sai began to list the names of all the leaf village ninja who had been abducted - a random selection, with nothing in common, it seemed, except for their origin.

"Wait." He nearly cut off the youth's sentence, speaking just as the last words left the other's mouth, his eyes narrowing as the significance of certain names dawned on him. "Member of the legendary three, Jiraiya...and Uchiha Obito...my rival's former team-mate..."

His deep voice voice grew low, his gaze colored with a dark realization. "...they are both dead." The dead could not walk amongst the living, no matter how much the people left behind wished it to be so...but the living could certainly join the dead. Is that what had happened? Had he, and the other Konoha shinobi that now existed here, including the missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke, died?

His turned back to Sai, his expression deadly serious. "...what's going on here?"

[tsunagari]

And here Sai had been hoping to avoid more questions until Kakashi arrived. Unfortunately, the man was proving to be his usual tardy self. There was no sign of him yet in the hall. He even delayed his response as much as he could, just to see if the jounin would appear in time to answer the questions for him. That didn't seem to be the case.

"It's... hard to explain, I'm afraid." The pale ninja stalled for time. "When I arrived I didn't understand it either. However, asking among the population here only got me the same answers - mostly that there aren't a lot of answers for what happens here." Another pause, another almost-hopeful glance down the hallway. Nothing. "Whoever's bringing us here, and it's not only ninja, seems to lack any barrier of space or time."

Those who were dead, those who'd disappeared from this place multiple times already - nothing seemed to be an obstacle when it came to choosing those Landel wanted among the patients.

"There's more, but I shouldn't dump everything on you at once. It's a lot to take in." And this should be Kakashi's job. "For now, just know that the nights are dangerous. You shouldn't wander the halls on your own, well equipped or not."

[lostonlifesroad]

[ From here]

Kakashi headed down the hall with Shikamaru, able to discern actual words as they got closer. From the sound of things, Sai was doing his best to avoid explaining the nonsense behind the Institute to Gai. Kakashi couldn't exactly blame him; Gai could be difficult to talk to at the best of times, and now certainly didn't qualify. Of course, being the one who the task would ultimately fall to, the jounin's sympathy was naturally limited.

"I might be able to help with that." Kakashi made sure to announce himself and Shikamaru when they were close enough. No one needed one of Gai's signature kicks to their face just then. He gave Sai a friendly wave, then produced a second pair of kunai. "One for each of you. After this I'll have five left, and there's still a number of people to give them to."

"Sai, I'll go ahead and take the metal from you. If you'd like to come with me, Gai-kun, I'll explain things on the way. But I've got a delivery to make." To a little boy with odd ears that might be more convincing than Kakashi's word. "I don't know what your plans are, Sai, but if you're free, you and Shikamaru can head upstairs. We shouldn't be long, and you two can warm up before we get there."

[gai_namic_entry]

Gai had never been so happy to see Kakashi, complete with his annoyingly cool reaction to the situation into which they had all been thrust so dramatically. The unbothered aura that clung to the copy-ninja was to be expected - in fact, proved that this was the man they had been waiting for, and not the enemy guised with a transformation jutsu. Still...the passionate jounin could not help but be slightly irked by it, as was customary of their relationship.

"Rival." He stated firmly, then nodded at the other Konoha shinobi, realizing he was the dear student of the recently deceased Sarutobi Asuma - their severed bond was something he deeply understood, especially now that Lee had been wrought from his side. He gave the young man a hearty pat on the shoulder, before taking the offered weapon from Kakashi's hand. He didn't often rely on such tools, preferring the glorious power of his own well-trained physique to anything man-made - but desperate times called for a little extra defense, and a true ninja could never have too many back-up plans.

"I'll follow you, and lend my strength to your pursuit! Its the least I can do, for an explanation of our current predicament." He glanced up and down the hallways again, checking for threats as they prepared to move on into more unfamiliar territory. "What do you know?"

[tsunagari]

Sai nodded, handing over the pillowcase and accepting the weapon in return. He already had one kunai, but he wasn't going to turn down a second. It would be useful to have - especially if someone else from their world showed up. He tried not to show his relief at Kakashi's arrival, which was something. Usually he wouldn't have to try.

Just as he was about to agree to the jounin's orders, the radio that had been silent for some time came on. It wasn't even Sai's radio, as he'd stopped carrying his around, but Shikamaru's. He paused to listen, still unsure whether or not the words of this woman could be trusted. As little as he was looking forward to "training" upstairs, however, he was willing to go for any other opportunity.

"Kakashi-san, it may be best to take this opportunity as it's given." In other words, with your permission I'd like to check this out. He'd have to drag Shikamaru along, but hopefully the other ninja wouldn't take too much convincing. It had the potential to be more dangerous than heading to the greenhouse, but there was also bound to be other patients heading in the same direction. If nothing else, they could observe.

[toobothersome]

[ack sorry for turnfail]

And again, more of them. Shikamaru wouldn't be surprised if all of Konoha was stuck here by the end of the month. Why was their world so popular? It seemed unremarkable by Landel's standards, yet the institute kept drawing more and more of them. There would be another Gai to fill this one's responsibilities back home, he knew, but it still bothered him to see so many Leaf-nin subjected to this place.

Since he'd never been close to Gai (he could barely remember talking to the man, actually), Shikamaru let the others deal with it while he hung back, waiting for further instructions. When the radio crackled he frowned, and the frown deepened into an annoyed scowl after Sai's suggestion. Understandably, he'd become a little wary of the night's voices, and this one's message wasn't reassuring. "She's pitting us against each other," he pointed out, though the words were more a frustrated complaint than a protest. "If she wants to help us, she wouldn't play games." The fact that it was an obvious trap didn't mean they should avoid it, though. There might be something to be seen, maybe enough to discern her motives. Of course, she could just as easily be doing this to create holes in the otherwise dispersed net of prisoners, leaving certain places deserted. The uneven triangle revealed nothing, and the lack of logic bothered him. Testing their obedience? He didn't have enough information to figure out what she wanted, but there was more than enough to know that she couldn't be trusted. Luckily, Kakashi's judgment could be.

Women.

[lostonlifesroad]

[I think I win the post fail.]

Nice to know that Gai apparently wasn't going to let the longstanding rivalry (largely one-sided) fall to the wayside despite the utter impossibility and hopelessness of their situation. Kakashi would have sighed, but the discussion had been stopped by Shikamaru's radio. Remembering what Dias had told him early on, he was glad the chuunin had possessed the foresight to bring it along. Likely more than Shikamaru would turn out to be, given his doubts.

"Landel's made it clear that he can listen in as well, at the very least." The extent of his influence remained to be seen, and there was only one way for the ninja to find out. Kakashi hefted the metal over his shoulder, then nodded to Sai. "Both of you check it out, but be careful. Gai-kun and I are heading to M88. Find us if things go wrong."

With those instructions, Kakashi motioned for Gai to follow him down the hall. He wasted no time, setting a quick pace, and starting his explanation almost immediately.

[ To here]

[tsunagari]

[to here]