damned_institute | Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

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"Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are my teammates," Sai replied with a nod. "My... friends, really." Sasuke was not. He left that unsaid. He had defended the Uchiha because of his importance to Naruto, though they had found each other mutually helpful since.

"That man you were with was your... sensei?" he guessed.

Haku hadn't missed the one shinobi left out of that and he smiled. "Naruto-kun and I were almost friends once," he offered. He didn't know much about Sakura and as such, was unable to voice an opinion of her to Sai.

He almost laughed at the idea that Zabuza-san was his teacher. "No, he is not," he said with a bright smile. "He is my Master."

A lord, then? Ninja weren't often directly servants to others, but Sai didn't push the question further. "Ah... I see," he smiled, even though he didn't really.

"It's unfortunate that we were on opposite sides last time we met. It's good to know of others from the same, uh, world." The concept was still foreign to him. "What village are you from?"

Haku smiled right back. It was obvious that he didn't understand, but no one seemed to and he made no move to explain. It wasn't important.

"I am from Kirigakure. You?" Again, not entirly true, as he wasn't a true ninja... but, once more, not important.

Kirigakure. Well, they'd never been particularly well known for getting along with that village, so that might explain the tension. Haku's question must have also simply been asked out of politeness. If he knew Naruto-kun, then he should be aware of what village he was from.

But he would answer with the same politeness. "Konohagakure." He rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to look embarrassed. "It's funny. I don't think I knew what the confrontation was about."

"Do you mean the one from the other day?" Haku sighed and looked down at the table, expression also embarrassed. "I'm ashamed to admit that I acted without thinking when Sasuke-kun attacked my Master. It was silly of me to get involved like I did."

Sai thought for a moment, watching Haku as he did. "I've read..." he began slowly, "that standing up for those you care for is part of what being a friend is. Isn't that right?"

Though perhaps a master wasn't in the same category as a friend? Haku had seemed to genuinely care for the man, if Sai was one to judge such things.

Haku looked up and smiled. "I've read the same thing," he said. "But I would never presume such a thing about our relationship." He tilted his head and thought.

"I would consider Naruto-kun my friend though. He is also someone I would stand up for."

Haku smiled about as much as Sai did, the ROOT member noticed, and he began to winder if the Mist ninja's smiles weren't equally as fake. But the boy's comment on Naruto made him think twice about immediately raising his guard.

"Naruto-kun seems to make friends easier than most."

Haku nodded. "He does indeed." He hadn't failed to notice that even Zabuza-san seemed to respect the boy. He wondered what had happened to cause such a change.

"Have you known him for long?" They seemed the same age and if two years had passed...

"Perhaps a couple of months," which seemed pretty long now that he thought about it, even though it really wasn't in the grand scheme of things.

"When did the two of you meet?" He wasn't sure if he remembered Naruto ever mentioning anyone named 'Haku.'

Haku nodded. That was certainly a long time for a ninja.

"We met about..." He frowned slightly in thought. "About two years before he woke up here I think." That sounded correct, based on what he knew.

Sai considered the phrasing of Haku's response. "But not two years before you woke up here?" he asked, mildly curious. At this point he supposed it would make sense for this to be another case of someone pulled from a different time than his own.

Haku shook his head. The other boy was smart. "I woke up here only a few days after we had met."

Right after he'd died. It had been ... jarring, to say the least.

Sai glanced down at his spaghetti. He'd almost forgotten about it. It might start to get cold. Somewhat absently, he began picking at it with his fork.

"I wonder," he said, no longer smiling, "if we are here because of an... attachment to Naruto-kun."

Haku thought about that. "It is a possibility," he said. One that he hadn't really thought about. "There are a muber of people here that know him and are close to him..."

Woudn;t that be interesting if it were true? Would Zabuza-san still respect the boy?

A number of them. Sai gave it some more thought, starting on his noodles. The sauce was different, but edible.

"I believe you've been here longer than I have. I'd woken up here the shift we met on. Have you met any others from our world who didn't know Naruto-kun?" He hadn't, but he'd only met his teammates, Sasuke and now this boy.

Haku nodded. "I've met a lot of people here that do not seem to know Naruto-kun," he said. "Indeed, not even be aware of what a ninja is. However, those of us from our world all know him." He looked out over the faces in the room, spotting the boy they were speaking about.

"So those of us taken from our reality all have that one factor in common."

[briefly barging in with permission from Sai-mun, excuse me ^^;;; from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/177215.html?thread=12100159#t12100159)]

Having finished the interview with Roy, finding it a mixed success, Usopp's next mission was to find his friends from the leech raid and share the medicine he'd gotten. After a bit of searching, he'd spotted Sai and walked over. Sai was speaking to someone feminine... someone who was smiling as much as Sai usually did. In tandem, the effect was downright unnerving. But Usopp mustered his bravery and made a little coughing noise as he interrupted.

"Uh, Sai? I got a little medicine for the leech bites off my therapist today, I thought you could use it too. There's plenty left." Sai definitely could use it--he'd gotten the worst of things last night, no question. Usopp held up the tube helpfully. "It's supposed to help with the itching, he said. There's also some painkiller, he called it Tylenol..."

"Usopp-kun!" The smile Sai offered the long-nosed pirate was about as real a smile as he was capable of. The fact that the young man had bothered to find him again spoke well of the truth of his earlier comments about them being friends.

He took a short look at the items Usopp offered. "I won't be needing painkillers, thank you." The nurses seemed to mean well enough during the day, but he wasn't sure if he was willing to trust any medication offered by them yet. The cream, however... Just the mention of itching had immediately started making his arms irritated. He had been trying to ignore it to the best of his ability. Still, it wouldn't be good to unwrap his bandages at the lunch table. He was a aware of that much. The bites wouldn't be anything anyone would want to see while eating. "You want me to use that here?"

Haku blinked up at the new boy. A long-nosed young man, unfamiliar. Nervous. He smiled warmly and bowed his head in greeting.

Listening carefully, he frowned in thought and wondered if he should offer help.

They seemed fine for now, so he was happy to sit and watch them interact. He looked up at the new boy.

"Did you want to sit down?"

"I used it at the table," Usopp admitted, "just on my arms. You could try hiding it a little under the table if you like, but I think most of the people here've seen worse, so as long as you aren't too obvious about it, it shouldn't be a big problem?" Had it been his imagination, or had Sai's smile warmed up when he'd come over? No, that was probably just ego. Though the feminine person's smile seemed warmer too. Maybe they just both liked his nose.

As Haku nodded at him, Usopp bobbed his head back in greeting. "S-sorry for interrupting." Your super-secret ninja talk, or whatever it was. "I don't really need to sit, after this I need to find another guy, but thanks."

He turned back to Sai. "If you don't do it now, it might have to wait 'till late tonight."

Sai gave that a bit of thought. It would be nice to have his arms itching less sooner rather than later. After a moment, he began unwrapping them. Not all the way up, or else it wouldn't be as easy to re-wrap them when he was done.

His skin was very pale even without the loss of blood, so the splotches against this paleness seemed almost otherworldly. Even Sai had to mentally admit it wasn't pretty. And they were itchier now that he was actually looking at them. "All right. I'll try to be quick."

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Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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