"Ow!" Usopp's hysterics stopped, although he gave Sai a somewhat baleful expression while rubbing his cheek, until his face cleared. "... oh, um, thanks. Sorry."
Deep breaths. Relaxing. If there was a way in, there had to be a way out, unless the warden (or whatever it was) had trapped himself in here too. Or the voice from the ceiling is transmitted further than you think. Or...
"We're... I'm really lost, then." It was hard to come up with words for comparison, even soberly. "As in, no matter how hard I search, the odds are good I won't find my way home... outside. In this world." That was it. "I'm right, aren't I? My roommate's not from home, from my world, either." He gave Sai an odd look again, but at least seemed calmer about it all. "Are you
( ... )
Usopp wasn't an idiot. He might act like one sometimes, but he was capable of figuring things out on his own, like he was doing now. Sai let him go on again, listening carefully as he made some very good assumptions. Maybe it was just the world he came from that let him believe in the possibility of multiple others better than he had
( ... )
Usopp was quieting down again, trying to think clearly. Alternate worlds, or maybe time passed enough that the world wasn't recognizable, which would amount to the same thing. Time travel. Dead people. And friends he couldn't remember. His eyes wandered to Sai's lap, where the ninja headband had joined the other, hand-drawn one
( ... )
Once again, Sai listened patiently as Usopp tried to take in everything he was told. If the ninja had been better at feeling sorry for others, he would have had a few kind words to interject, perhaps, but as it was he could only sit with an odd half-smile
( ... )
Usopp felt embarrassed at Sai's reaction, even though it fit his own serious mood. Looking away for a moment and scratching the back of his neck, he answered as Sai rose again. "No, I believe you. It's all insane, but I really believe you."
That settled for now, on to practical matters. "Okay, Shikamaru's room. Do you know the number too? And you never really explained what the bulletin is for me. Or, well, what would you be doing tonight if you weren't explaining all this stuff to me? What did I do before I disappeared?"
Was I a brave warrior or a bigger coward than now when you knew me?
The smile on Sai's face grew wide again. "Shikamaru and Luffy-kun share room M37." That would have been in the same hall as Usopp's old room, but that little bit of information didn't seem important. "If I'd not been here tonight, I might have been meeting with him or perhaps one of the other ninja from my village. We're from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, from within the Land of Fire. The leaf symbol like the one on my headband will get the attention of all of us, should you use it on the board
( ... )
So Usopp had moved rooms, which was to be expected, but not very far. How odd that was. Sai stood and retrieved his own notebooks from the dresser as the pirate struggled with his. With his pen, he drew a quick and simple sketch of a deer before holding it out for his friend to see. Though a brush was his preferred tool, there was no point in wasting that ink on this.
As Usopp mentioned the name Kabuto, the ninja's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I know of a ninja named Kabuto," he said carefully, "but I wasn't aware you were acquainted with him. ...Unless we're not talking about the same person." Or a person at all. He could never tell with the pirate sometimes. His answer was an obvious enough way of saying that he didn't recall Usopp ever mentioning his prized slingshot.
"Oh, thanks." Usopp leaned over to watch Sai draw, although it was almost over before Sai had started. Sai was good. Even for something as simple as this, he had a lot of confidence, didn't hesitate at all, and the image was precise and clean. So Sai was an artist, or at least had some skill in it
( ... )
Sai just stared at Usopp's explanation. That was one he was going to have to get used to. It wasn't as though two people sharing the same name was all that uncommon, but he knew he was going to be unable to help thinking about Orochimaru's right-hand man whenever the pirate mentioned his slingshot.
He shook his head at the last question, quite willing to switch topics. "I did not. Any weapon I, or anyone else, is in possession of had to be acquired in the Institute. I've heard there are patients that can craft them, but that's not how I got mine." He pulled out his two remaining trowels and set them down on the floor, followed by his kunai. Then he slid his machete carefully out from under his mattress.
"There are scalpels in my dresser should you require them." He smiled again.
Sai's stare made Usopp a bit more uncomfortable, more than the ninja's awkward smiles. Usopp shifted a little, but the change in topic seemed to ease the atmosphere again, as much as a strange hospital room lit by flashlights and occupied by a ninja and a pirate could be eased. Asking if this Kabuto guy were a friend of Sai's village was pointless, so Usopp went with the change of subject instead.
"Oh, scalpels? Well--sure, thanks! If you don't need them all." If he had even his old slingshot, he could have improvised weapons pretty easily out of the scalpels themselves or out of carving something, assuming they stayed sharp enough long enough. Without a slingshot, he didn't have a lot of faith in his ability to throw or fight with blades. That was more Zoro or Brook's field... or Sai's, apparently. Still, he had to admit even to himself that it beat the rubber band. But where did you get a machete out of a place disguised as a mental hospital
( ... )
The scalpels were easily retrieved, and Sai wrapped a few of them in a gray shirt before handing the bundle over to the pirate. They'd be easier to handle that way. He might have questioned what Usopp planned on doing with them, but it was possible even Usopp didn't know.
As his friend began rambling again, Sai returned to his time honored tradition of nodding and listening with what he hoped was an attentive expression. He was glad Usopp hadn't turned him away, not that he thought he was the sort of person who would...
"I paint, yes." Hence the pseudonym he'd been given. "I also use ninja arts that involve ink drawings - animals, mostly. They're not very powerful here."
He'd even gift-wrapped them. True, it was a shirt, but the thought was what counted. Usopp smiled broadly at Sai before taking them, and resisted the urge to open the t-shirt immediately to start trying to figure out what to do with the new items.
"Thanks! I'm learning a lot about ninjas today." Not that he'd really known much about ninjas before. If Sai tended to paint animals, no wonder the deer had come along so quickly, even with a different instrument. It was clear that painting, even a special ninja painting, wasn't Sai's only skill from the collection of weapons, improvised and obvious, that he keeping on-hand. Whatever panic Usopp had felt about the situation itself was easing away, and the weapons weren't threatening at all. Maybe it was the fact that Sai seemed so comfortable about them.
"You're weakened, like you said Luffy was? I guess I should try to make sure my legendary marksmanship is still on the same unmatched level that it used to be." At least the lying seemed to be the same.
"I'm sure it is," Sai smiled, seeing the lie for what it was and choosing not to comment on it. "But yes, I'm weakened here. Everyone is. Though... " he looked thoughtful, "there was a time when we couldn't access our chakra at all. Now we can, if just barely."
Barely was still better than not at all. Being able to run up the side of a building, even if not for far, could still allow for an escape he would have been denied otherwise.
"Are there any other questions? I wish to inform you about as much as possible tonight so that you'll be prepared in the future."
"I've just gotten here. I haven't even seen monsters or anything, unless the nurses count." Usopp had no idea, really. "You'd know what I should know better than I do."
Talking about that sort of thing was all right, but he still wanted to know more about the base of things than the day to day parts. For one thing, Usopp was a bit worried that if he knew too much about what he might be facing, he'd wind up a little terrified out of his mind again. That was embarrassing. "Does anyone know why they take who they do? Sai, what's your dream?"
Usopp thought the two were related subjects, without pausing to consider that they sounded completely unalike or that Sai might genuinely not have a dream.
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Deep breaths. Relaxing. If there was a way in, there had to be a way out, unless the warden (or whatever it was) had trapped himself in here too. Or the voice from the ceiling is transmitted further than you think. Or...
"We're... I'm really lost, then." It was hard to come up with words for comparison, even soberly. "As in, no matter how hard I search, the odds are good I won't find my way home... outside. In this world." That was it. "I'm right, aren't I? My roommate's not from home, from my world, either." He gave Sai an odd look again, but at least seemed calmer about it all. "Are you ( ... )
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That settled for now, on to practical matters. "Okay, Shikamaru's room. Do you know the number too? And you never really explained what the bulletin is for me. Or, well, what would you be doing tonight if you weren't explaining all this stuff to me? What did I do before I disappeared?"
Was I a brave warrior or a bigger coward than now when you knew me?
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As Usopp mentioned the name Kabuto, the ninja's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I know of a ninja named Kabuto," he said carefully, "but I wasn't aware you were acquainted with him. ...Unless we're not talking about the same person." Or a person at all. He could never tell with the pirate sometimes. His answer was an obvious enough way of saying that he didn't recall Usopp ever mentioning his prized slingshot.
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He shook his head at the last question, quite willing to switch topics. "I did not. Any weapon I, or anyone else, is in possession of had to be acquired in the Institute. I've heard there are patients that can craft them, but that's not how I got mine." He pulled out his two remaining trowels and set them down on the floor, followed by his kunai. Then he slid his machete carefully out from under his mattress.
"There are scalpels in my dresser should you require them." He smiled again.
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"Oh, scalpels? Well--sure, thanks! If you don't need them all." If he had even his old slingshot, he could have improvised weapons pretty easily out of the scalpels themselves or out of carving something, assuming they stayed sharp enough long enough. Without a slingshot, he didn't have a lot of faith in his ability to throw or fight with blades. That was more Zoro or Brook's field... or Sai's, apparently. Still, he had to admit even to himself that it beat the rubber band. But where did you get a machete out of a place disguised as a mental hospital ( ... )
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As his friend began rambling again, Sai returned to his time honored tradition of nodding and listening with what he hoped was an attentive expression. He was glad Usopp hadn't turned him away, not that he thought he was the sort of person who would...
"I paint, yes." Hence the pseudonym he'd been given. "I also use ninja arts that involve ink drawings - animals, mostly. They're not very powerful here."
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"Thanks! I'm learning a lot about ninjas today." Not that he'd really known much about ninjas before. If Sai tended to paint animals, no wonder the deer had come along so quickly, even with a different instrument. It was clear that painting, even a special ninja painting, wasn't Sai's only skill from the collection of weapons, improvised and obvious, that he keeping on-hand. Whatever panic Usopp had felt about the situation itself was easing away, and the weapons weren't threatening at all. Maybe it was the fact that Sai seemed so comfortable about them.
"You're weakened, like you said Luffy was? I guess I should try to make sure my legendary marksmanship is still on the same unmatched level that it used to be." At least the lying seemed to be the same.
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Barely was still better than not at all. Being able to run up the side of a building, even if not for far, could still allow for an escape he would have been denied otherwise.
"Are there any other questions? I wish to inform you about as much as possible tonight so that you'll be prepared in the future."
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Talking about that sort of thing was all right, but he still wanted to know more about the base of things than the day to day parts. For one thing, Usopp was a bit worried that if he knew too much about what he might be facing, he'd wind up a little terrified out of his mind again. That was embarrassing. "Does anyone know why they take who they do? Sai, what's your dream?"
Usopp thought the two were related subjects, without pausing to consider that they sounded completely unalike or that Sai might genuinely not have a dream.
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