damned_institute | Day 34: Men's Showers

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Day 34: Men's Showers

Artemis Fowl was, yet again, exceedingly displeased to be naked.

As much as Haku insisted that since he had experienced public bathing before, this time would be easier, the feeling was not mutual. Artemis' body was his own personal business, as far as he was concerned, and no one else's. His only comfort was the fact that he was not hideously tattooed anymore with various and sundry insults branding him a moron.

Still, that did not stop him from taking a towel into the shower area once again, Nurse Hedgerow grudgingly allowing it. She could see no other way of getting the boy to bathe. He was as stubborn as ten teenage boys. And after that lecture on psychological torture through means of public humiliation...

The boy let the water run over his head, the towel clutched firmly around his body. And he thought. July. How was it July when it had been fall just a week previous? It was impossible, logically speaking. But what part of this place fit in with any sort of logic Artemis had ever encountered? No, if he didn't let go of the fact that things would be as insane as people claimed he was, he would lose his mind.

His fingers brushed the burn mark Caleb had given him for what seemed the fortieth time. ...He had to get himself together, or this would only be a small taste of what awaited him in the hallways.

[For Omi]

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Well, yeah, it hadn't been his fault a ninja had barged in without being invited and then had started a fight with Sai, but it was still a better idea to start off with apologies than with accusations. Usopp frowned at the wall, not that Sasuke would notice if he'd frowned right at the ninja. "Yeah. It's not my job to tell someone else what to do with their lives."

Sasuke'd hear the 'but' coming in that, and Usopp took a deep breath, 'cause he knew it wasn't going to go over well no matter what he added. "If you needed a hand--not fighting the guy, but finding out about him, or even... weapons, or something. All you have to do is ask, if you did want something. I know I'm not exactly a super ninja or anything, but I'd help if I could."

It seemed like Usopp, at least, knew better than to interfere with what was going on. How come the pirate from another world understood and the shinobi from Sasuke's own original village didn't? Sasuke nodded shortly to acknowledge Usopp's words and considered actually saying something grateful.

The pirate kept talking, though, and after the words had registered Sasuke had to frown. While what Usopp offered would certainly be helpful ... "You're under no obligation to assist me."

Okay, he wasn't angry, that was good. Usopp was really--actually, being sedated in the shower had the potential to be pretty fun if he got to go in while the sedation was starting to go off and he was pretty loopy. But this was not the time. Also he didn't want to drown.

"You helped me get supplies earlier. We're at least allies." The important thing was that Sasuke was listening and not getting agitated at the suggestion that he needed help from anyone at all. Sometimes people got like that when their life goals floated up in front of them. Usopp had seen it even in his own crewmates, although usually before they joined. "And you've been around me fighting, so you know it's not like I could probably offer to go up and beat the guy into the ground even if you had been okay with something like that. But I could ask questions about him, find out about him."

Sasuke was trying to work out exactly where Usopp benefited from this deal. It didn't make much sense for someone who, frankly, barely even knew Sasuke (and was friends with someone Sasuke had hurt just the night before) to offer help of any sort. Of course it could also just be that Usopp was the type to run around randomly offering help.

It was also hard to ignore the memory of Naruto, accusing Sasuke of not being particularly good at making connections (hard to deny; not that he needed them). And the fact of Sasuke's blindness made it a little difficult to look for Itachi himself.

Not impossible, though. Sasuke shampooed methodically and contemplated. "What are you getting out of it?" He asked finally, because damned if he just didn't know.

"I don't like guys who go around killing people who trusted them." Usopp answered simply, and tried to come up with a better answer. "Besides, people like that are dangerous. And Sai's mixed up with him now too... maybe he couldn't help but be, since he's from that ninja village, and maybe he didn't have any better choice than trying to make peace, but it still worries me. It's all I can do not to worry constantly about some of the strangers here stabbing me in the back, I can't protect Sai from someone like this."

He could protect Sasuke from the younger man's intentions either. But they'd gone fighting together, Sasuke wasn't a kid. It wasn't Usopp's job to direct him back to safety. He didn't know why he added, "I grew up mostly without a family. Not because of someone's crimes, but I do have friends who... some guys deserve the crap kicked out of them on general principle even if it isn't my family that was... it just, sometimes things need to be done. And if it's your place to do it, all I can do is offer help from the sides, but I can still do that."

... yeah, Usopp was very firmly planted in the definition of a 'good guy,' in Naruto-ish phrasing. Kind of like Rock Lee, but toned down maybe by three-quarters. It was coming back to principle and protecting his friends.

Sasuke blinked in a bit of surprise when the pirate kept talking, though. In the shinobi world, it was hardly unusual to be orphaned, especially after the war that had occured roughly before Sasuke had been born. There was still a difference; had Usopp met others who were walking the path of revenge?

"Itachi is one of the most dangerous ninja in our world," Sasuke said finally, speaking in a carefully blank, matter-of-fact way. "He's stronger than Sai. Stronger than me right now, probably. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to fulfill my promise of revenge.

"You couldn't understand," with finality -- but Sasuke paused and then nodded shortly. "But I'll accept your offer. You can expect aid from me if you need it as well, unless it interferes directly with killing Itachi."

"Okay. I'm glad. I get he's dangerous--but a man's stronger if he has support, even if they can't fight the last battle with him."

It's not like you fought Kuro on your own, is it? Maybe that was part of what bothered him. Like Arlong and Kuro rolled into one package--family killers, betrayers. People who would kill the ones who trusted them most, destroy whole families for their own selfish reasons. He did need to talk to Sai, but Sai was the one who'd passed the story along, and Sasuke hadn't argued about holes in it. And how much more could there be, if the man killed Sasuke's family, his own family?

"I don't think anybody can really understand someone else's feelings about a thing like that, but I'm glad. I'll do what I can. And I'm glad you're my ally."

It did make sense on a tactical level; Sasuke had to admit it. There was no point getting caught up in every little fight on the way to the destination, after all. It was much more efficient to have others able to handle minor roadblocks.

Usopp did sound like a sap, though. To his own surprise, Sasuke caught himself smirking very slightly, somewhere between amused and ... something else. When did his mood improve? Stepping under the hot spray, Sasuke rinsed the suds out of his hair and hid the wince when a few drops of shampoo-laced water got into his eyes.

"Your type annoys me," he said when the soap was mostly out, but his voice lacked any real vehemence. "You're just going to get hurt someday, helping people like me."

Usopp blinked, and frowned a little, but didn't get too angry. Sasuke sounded more amused than anything. "I think I'm gonna get less hurt than Sai is, helping people like that guy. And besides, someone has to pick their own decisions in life, right? I respect yours, even if I know you'll probably get hurt too."

Usopp was rinsing his body off, but he could still talk, his voice a little quieter. "... And I'm not all that strong. For people like me, having as many friends and allies as you can is the best thing. Or is that the type you were thinking of?" A coward who hides behind other people? Or someone who talks a lot about friendship and then can't come and back it up with strength to match? It wasn't Sasuke's intentions, probably. But he had to admit somewhere that he saw it in himself.

While Sai had claimed that he was 'on Sasuke's side,' and while Sasuke suspected that much of Itachi's violence was reserved for Uchiha (he had never seemed violent before that one day), Sai was courting danger.

It was simply that most of the danger came from Sasuke, should the Konoha-nin get in his way. But it was probably best that Usopp tried to convince Sai of the danger from Itachi -- it would likely be more effective than the threats Sasuke had made at breakfast. Itachi's reputation was solid, but Sasuke's ...

"There are plenty of ways to be useful without physical strength," Sasuke said, shrugging. He'd been planning to collect at least one Oto-nin not known for fighting ability. "And there are idiots with plenty of strength who consistently put their comrades in danger."

Usopp smiled a little over at Sasuke, before rinsing out his own hair. It'd probably be frizzy this afternoon...

"Well, this talented and brilliant Captain Usopp-sama will continue to rise above the challenges placed before him, using his natural wits and skills to overpower those enemies that foolishly think their brute strength can save them from his unstoppable wrath!" His hand cut through the shower's spray dramatically, although he was careful enough not to aim the spray in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke re-evaluated: Usopp was maybe only toned down about a half from Rock Lee. But Rock Lee was useful, even if he was something of a character -- and it wasn't as if Sasuke had any right to complain about the people he worked with being characters.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd never worked with anyone who wasn't.

At any rate, it was good to see that Usopp was more or less confident in his abilities. Even more annoying than do-gooder types were allies without confidence; insecurity resulted in faltering at key moments. Sasuke smirked again, more obviously amused this time, and soaped up quickly and efficiently before rinsing off one last time.

"I'll warn you again that Itachi is dangerous," he said, on a more serious note. "If he's making alliances, I doubt he will make a point of hurting anyone, but he's not to be trusted."

"Hey, the great Captain Usopp knows when to step down from..." Okay, time to tone it down a bit... "Well, I hear you, I won't get in the way there. And I once met a guy who smiled and was kind and gentle for three years when he intended on slitting half the village's throat once the right chance came. Even if I'm a sap, I'm not a total sap, don't worry."

Usopp took a heavy breath again, inhaling the steam from the room. "I think shower time is about over. I'm glad we had the chance to talk alone." Please don't come into my room and get in a fight without warning me first next time. Well, if Sasuke had been kept sedated or something all that time, maybe he hadn't had the chance to warn. "Let me know how things are going."

... so Usopp did know, to a certain extent. Even if Itachi hadn't ever been exactly kind and gentle, he'd been the ideal older brother. Gentler than most, actually. Sasuke inadvertantly thought back to the smiles Itachi had had sometimes and had to wipe the memory as viciously as he could.

"I'll remain in contact," he said. "Talk to Sai, by the way. You have more sense on this topic than he does, for whatever reason."

"I'll try," Usopp agreed, "but he can be pretty stubborn." Something the two ninja shared in common. Come to think of it, they reminded him of Zoro in that. But Zoro was definitely not a ninja... that required too much sneaking around and probably not enough stabbing. And from what Usopp could tell still, being a ninja primarily consisted of those two traits with whatever personal variations a person specialized in.

Then again, asking him to define a "pirate" in his mind would result in an even vaguer response, although he had some firm ideas on what pirates shouldn't be. "If nothing else, I'll try to keep us both out of your way."

Usopp understood Sai's feelings, or thought he did (at least, he understood the logic, even if Sai would probably have argued at calling them 'feelings') but he couldn't agree. Maybe it made him a little cold-hearted, if Itachi was really that dangerous... still, he and Sai had important things they needed to do too. Assistance was one thing, condescension was another. He also remembered once shouting at an offer of help, when he'd been preparing himself to fight and probably die.

Geez, it was complicated.

Stubborn was certainly a trait Sasuke was increasingly associating with Sai. He wondered if maybe it was a Team 7 trait (it was a little difficult to deny that Sasuke himself was strong-willed) and then decided that he'd been thinking entirely too much about Team 7 in general recently. They were neither here nor important; what was important was that Usopp had decided to be sensible and to attempt to pass that along to his friend.

"That would be best," Sasuke confirmed, and turned the water off to reach for a towel. "Both of you should focus on keeping yourselves alive more than anything else."

Sasuke had no doubts about whose side the pirate would take should it come down to taking sides, but he also had few worries about fighting Usopp. Sai might present a problem, but what Sasuke lacked in confidence he made up for in tenacity.

... definitely a trait.

Nodding shortly at Usopp one last time, Sasuke picked his way towards the exit.

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Day 34: Men's Showers

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