damned_institute | 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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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.

Day 34: Men's Showers

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