damned_institute | Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 2-B

Entry tags:

sai,
vlad

Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 2-B

[from here]

Considering Sai's generous offer, Vlad was in no hurry to rush his way down the dark corridor, which sounded empty enough for now. That didn't mean there was nothing waiting in the darkness, of course, just that there probably weren't any patients currently engaged. Vlad had been a fan of letting others go before him since soon after his arrival, but just one other companion wasn't nearly enough barrier space between himself and the creatures in here for his tastes. Still, he was armed enough even as Masters, and the young man had practically volunteered himself.

Well, practically.

Following Sai's lead, he gestured down the hallway. "Let's work down as far as we can, then start to make our way back?" After all, if there were monsters along the way, being timid wouldn't mean they vanished, just that they were reached more slowly... or that Vlad and Sai were ambushed while exploring.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The hall ended in a closed door. Testing it revealed it to be locked. Sai turned back to Vlad before proceeding. "We'll have to break this down. The danger may likely increase beyond this point, so I leave it up to you. There was also a door a ways back or we can try the next hall over."

It was, after all, the older man who was essentially leading this venture. Sai was just along to stab things if the need arose.

"Oh, you can break it open?" Vlad reached forward to fiddle with the knob idly, not attempting to break, just testing it. He was sure he could as well, but Sai's deference was nice to hear. Stepping back, he gestured openly at the door.

"Even if we go back, I'm sure we'll find more barred passages eventually no matter which way we turn. Let's go on and see what's ahead of us, hm? If you don't mind, of course!" Really, he wanted to see the slighter figure break the door down, what kind of method he'd use. Besides, if there were something on the other side, ideally Sai would be leading the way through.

In answer to this, Sai took a step back from the door before slamming his foot hard into one of the weaker areas. The loud cracking sound that followed proved its success.

Flashlight at the ready, the ninja moved on without another word.

[from here]

Badou nudged the boy's head with the back of his flashlight as they turned into the next hallway. "Are you scared of something...whateveryournameis? You've been stuttering this whole time."

So why was Kaiji leading this thing again? It was Badou's stupid idea in the first place. The only thing keeping him from bringing it up was the fact that he wasn't sure how familiar the others were with this place: the boy definitely didn't seem to be suited for leading, the girl, well, maybe, and Badou... Didn't seem to be all that reliable either. So why had Kaiji agreed to this again?

"They're there," Kaiji answered Badou's concern about the scalpels, "I know that there was at least one last night. And if we don't find any, then we know that the bastard in charge is just trying to screw with our heads." The staff wouldn't have changed things around during the day like that, would they? No way! They couldn't do that! They weren't allowed to! ...Wait, yes they could. And they'd probably do it, too, just to watch the ones looking for them squirm.

Was Badou serious, asking the kid if he was scared of something? Not even bothering to face them, Kaiji couldn't help but snap in the stuttering boy's defense, "Why the fuck wouldn't he be!?" So it wasn't the most reassuring thing he could have said. There were plenty of reasons to be scared here, so it wasn't like it was an inappropriate way to feel. Plus, he looked pretty young. That probably made all of this like, ten times worse.

Or not. Kaiji seemed to always be coping less effectively than any of the kids he ran into here.

He wasn't sure if that said something about him or them.

[from here]

The hallway wasn't one that he recognized, from what he could see in the dim light cast by the lights of other passing patients, and so it wasn't much of an improvement of the situation - but still, Yukito was relieved to be there. At least there was some light, and other people, and at least for the time being no sign of new danger.

"Do...either of you know where this is?" He glanced around briefly, doing his best to try to stand up without having to lean on Eileen, and mostly succeeding. At least while he was just standing there it was all right; he wasn't really injured, just...disoriented.

Leon looked around, and shook his head. "No," he responded. He glanced at Eileen. "You have any idea?" He shivered slightly, rubbing his hands over his arms. He still felt feverish.

"No," Eileen admitted, shaking her head. "I've only been to a few places here." Outside, and around the dorms. "And...it all looks the same." So what could they do?

"I guess...we just keep moving. Maybe something will start looking familiar, or someone can point us in the right direction..."

"I think..." Yukito considered for a moment, then turned a little toward his right and carefully lifted an arm to motion in that direction. The movement was uncertain and a little jerky, but he managed. "I hear more from that way...maybe?"

More noise meant more people, right? And more people meant more chance someone would know where they were, if they didn't recognize it.

Leon cocked his head to the side, listening. There were a few others down that way, it sounded like. "If we can get to a main hall, maybe we can figure out where we are..." He wanted very badly to get to his room and lie down, maybe change out of his blood-and-sweat soaked clothes, but he also wanted to make sure the others got back to their rooms safely. "Or we could try to find a room nearby and wait until morning." There didn't appear to be many other doors on this hallway, but surely they could find something close by. Closer than the first floor, in any case.

Eileen nodded. "The hall should empty out into one. If the layout of this building makes any sense..."

Which she wasn't going to bet on.

"Well, no use standing around wondering about it," she mumbled, mostly to herself. Legs still shaking some, Eileen brushed her hair out of her face with her free hand and began heading down the hallway.

(to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/465075.html))

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/465075.html?thread=38230195#t38230195)]

There was only one hallway this far down, which made it easy and the big empty block wasn't that hard to find. There were two doors. One that wouldn't open and one that was already forced open. He knew the second he saw that black abyss that this was where Seimei had disappeared. This was where his brother had been taken and this was where he had yet again slipped out of his grasp like a ghost.

And he knew that if he didn't hurry, the very same could happen to Soubi. He wasn't going to lose anyone else. It was selfish, but he wasn't going to give anyone else to this place. Seimei, Alfons, so many more that he wasn't even aware of - it had to stop. It had to stop. Not waiting for Sheena to catch up, Ritsuka ran forward into the hall and paused only a moment before going into the next room.

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/470731.html?thread=38231755#t38231755)]

There was a door immediately to their left. Itachi reached out to try to open it as he waited for Jiraiya's (hopefully enlightening) answer.

"It's not hard to know once you've seen him," Jiraiya corrected--Pain wasn't outwardly broadcasting his possession of the Rinnegan, after all. "Are you comfortable, being in an organization whose leader has stronger eyes?"

He watched Itachi go for the door, not commenting further. Itachi was trying to get him to say too much without reciprocation. Not that Jiraiya could blame him at trying--it was something any reasonable ninja would attempt.

[Sorry, had a headache yesterday and was busy today! Also, Firefox suggests replacing Rinnegan as Finnegan, asdf.]

That was true. It meant that Jiraiya -- and by extension, probably Konoha -- at least knew who the leader of Akatsuki was, as well as something about his powers and origins. Though not Itachi's greatest priority, this would certainly prove important information once he got out of the Institute.

Itachi should have expected something like the next question. Jiraiya would not have continued placidly answering questions for long. But the wording was strange. 'Comfortable,' how was that word even applicable? Normally Itachi would have shrugged off the import of the word, of the entire question, not considering the Sannin's opinion important. But here, with his every move restricted to the point of insult, unable to see, unable to do anything, Itachi could not help feeling slightly affronted. This was not helped by the fact that the door was locked, and looked highly reinforced. It would take a great amount of effort to get it open, something Itachi did not have time for.

"It doesn't matter," he answered, tone sharper that it would ordinarily have been. "Were you comfortable spying on him, knowing what he might be capable of if he found you out?"

It was good to hear Itachi irritated at him. To hear some emotion coming from the man, really. So Jiraiya had to hide grin, not wanting to irritate his companion further--and a moment later, he was completely serious again.

"I was willing to take the risk," Jiraiya replied calmly. "I went in knowing that there would be a high probability of discovery. The knowledge was worth the risks."

Jiraiya had to give Itachi credit, though--he pulled no punches with topic, and easily deflected the question onto the older man. Itachi seemed intent on giving him little to no information.

Once again, Jiraiya simply answered the question. Itachi had expected him to turn the questioning right back around. The Sannin's level of cooperation was surprising, perhaps even something Itachi should be suspicious of.

"Not if you were captured and eliminated before you could pass on the information." Itachi had learned something about the other man, that he was the gambler type, not so willing to examine every side of a situation and act carefully. Not that he had rushed in without considering the situation, just that he was more willing to leave certain things up to chance.

"You were taken by the Institute before you were discovered, then?" Itachi watched Jiraiya curiously as he continued down the hall, wondering if he would answer this as well. There was another door on the left, and Itachi made for this one as he waited for a reply.

Jiraiya stilled for a moment, Itachi's statement hitting home. Eliminated before you could pass on the information. Damn it. Itachi was getting too close to the truth that Jiraiya wasn't ready to tell Naruto, much less a member of Akatsuki.

He cursed at himself mentally, forcing himself to start walking again. Jiraiya hoped that Itachi hadn't of noticed the reaction, but knew he probably had. The Sannin knew he needed to start being more careful, or he'd say too much.

"I was discovered," Jiraiya said shortly, sounding gruff and irritated. "But I was able to pass on the information before I ended up here."

There. He was telling the truth, yet didn't mention his death. Now it was time to start getting some answer himself.

"Speaking of those with special eyes," Jiraiya began slowly. "I've heard that Uchiha Madara was the only one who could completely control Kyuubi with Sharingan."

So what if the subject change was a bit obvious?

Just before trying the door, Itachi noticed Jiraiya pause and glanced back. The Sannin's reply illuminated the reason for his reaction -- this was a point he was not prepared to discuss. Which was interesting. Discovered, but had he escaped Pain? Jiraiya did not sound pleased with the topic of conversation, so maybe it had not been so easy. At least Pain already knew about Jiraiya, though, so Itachi could remove telling him from his list of priorities, leaving room to focus on other things once he got out of here.

Itachi mentally shrugged and tried the door. Also locked, but this one did not look nearly as strong as the other one. He was about to bring up the subject of breaking it when Jiraiya abruptly changed the subject.

And now it was Itachi's turn to stop, surprised at the mention of that name. Why bring up Madara now? Jiraiya was mentioning him for a reason. He wanted to know something, which meant he already knew something. This was an unfortunate situation, and Itachi would have to be careful. Yet. . . the question itself did not exactly cover top-secret information, and he needed to know what Jiraiya knew, or at least thought he knew. Maybe if he played along for now. . .

"That is true," Itachi said slowly, voice low and cautious.

The kid noticed, then. Damn it. Luckily, Itachi was smart enough to get the hint and didn't press further.

Jiraiya didn't reply immediately, instead inspecting this new door. It probably didn't hold the area that was turning the patients, but it could have useful supplies within. Hopefully something Jiraiya could use, even.

"Think we could break into the lock?" Jiraiya asked, glancing at the younger ninja for a moment; then, he continued his earlier statement. "I've recently been thinking. The particular lengths Minato went to seal Kyuubi in a certain way... It's almost as if he was suspicious of something. Almost as if--"

He glanced back to Itachi from the corner of his eye, ever the one for dramatics, "--he believed the Kyuubi's attack wasn't a natural disaster."

"I don't have anything heavy enough to break it, but a kick to the locking mechanism might work." That part of a door was weakest, as well, and even without chakra a well-trained ninja's kick could certainly break a door. Itachi took a few steps back, preparing to make an attempt, but he stopped again at what Jiraiya said next.

So Jiraiya suspected. Itachi shouldn't be surprised; he was a Sannin, after all. The Fourth had been his student, as was Naruto now. Jiraiya was intimately connected to this matter, enough to have a personal interest, and of course he would ask Itachi. Not that Itachi intended to confirm the theory. He absolutely could not let Jiraiya know the truth.

"That would be an unusual opinion," he commented neutrally. "Most of Konoha believes that it was a natural disaster."

"That's what I was thinking," Jiraiya agreed as to the method for getting into the room--he then changed the subject back.

"Minato never did anything without a reason," Jiraiya stated after a long moment. "And the way he sealed Kyuubi inside of Naruto.. he was suspicious of something. That it wasn't simply a natural disaster."

He glanced at the man again, eyes narrowing slightly. "But that would mean one thing. That it must have been a person controlling Kyuubi. ... And the last person known to have controlled Kyuubi was Uchiha Madara."

Oh, Jiraiya definitely suspected, and he was hardly being subtle about it. This was not what Itachi needed right now -- or ever -- and he struggled to keep his irritation beneath the surface of his passive mask. Luckily, most of it could safely be expressed in breaking down the door.

"I'll try it," he said shortly before hitting the lock with his heel, the technique's execution as sickeningly perfect as ever. It was testimony to what this place was doing to him that he should feel proud over kicking a door. But the door shuddered and crunched. Itachi reached out to try and force it, shoving the handle back and forth in an attempt to get the splintered lock to give way.

"Madara would have to be exceedingly old for him still to be alive," he said in response to Jiraiya's not-veiled-at-all query. Good, his tone was still neutral.

"Nice kick," Jiraiya offered as a compliment, turning away to look down the hall both ways--he could at least provide advanced warning if something were to attack them.

It also allowed him to frown in frustration without Itachi outright seeing it. The Uchiha was being stubborn, extremely stubborn. Jiraiya wouldn't get the information he needed to know in order to protect his student.

"I know that," Jiraiya stated, sounding a bit irritated as he swept his eyes along the corridor yet again. "What I don't know is if he's defied reason and is still alive."

Itachi blinked a little at the compliment, then continued struggling with the door before finally managing to get it open.

"No, you wouldn't know that," he said a bit snappishly as he stepped through to the hall beyond. He should not have to deal with this now, it was just unnecessary. He needed to focus on getting out of here, and no one should know about Madara.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 2-B

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject