damned_institute | Day 37: Breakfast

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Day 37: Breakfast

[for Sylar, I believe]

At the sound of the intercom, Wally jerked awake and blinked around at the room. He’d fallen asleep. He should have been up and keeping an eye open for ZEX, but he’d fallen asleep waiting on his bed.

“Idiot,” he groaned, ruffling his hair and sighing in annoyance. “Way to help a guy out, hotshot.” Hopefully ZEX hadn’t dropped by and thought he’d left or something, or wouldn’t be too mad at him for just forgetting about it like that. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch up with the other patient at some point and explain what had happened.

Rolling himself a little awkwardly out of the bed, Wally took the opportunity to stretch his injured leg and test how well it was holding up. It was feeling a bit better, not so much that he could abandon his crutch or that it didn’t pull painfully if he wasn’t careful, but better. Tony had apparently made it through the night in one piece as well, which was a relief. He really didn’t feel comfortable about the thought of his roommate wandering about on his own with an injured arm. Not when Wally himself could relax and fall asleep in the apparent safety of their room.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to let himself forget that one in a hurry.

It was at that moment that the door swung open to admit one of the nurses. She seemed surprised to find him awake and ready to go already, but smiled warmly. “Hungry, are we Mr. West? Well in that case, let’s get you to the cafeteria. The staff have provided some delicious French Toast as well as a range of other foods I’m sure you’ll like. Now will you be needing a hand with your leg, dear?”

“No thanks, I can handle it,” Wally replied, smiling back. After all, it probably wasn’t the nurses’ fault that this place was so messed up, so it wasn’t like picking fights with them would do anything. With a cheery wave goodbye, Wally slowly made his way to the cafeteria, keeping a tight grip on his crutch all the while. Obtaining a plate of food was only slightly less difficult than it had been yesterday – he didn’t have the painkillers to work around this time – but he managed well enough, coming away from the buffet with a tray containing a plate piled high with slices of French Toast and slathered in maple syrup, butter, and sugar, as well as a glass of juice. Not quite as good as some coffee would be right now, but the sugar would hopefully make up for it. And, with how few people were here at the moment, he could afford to take more food than might have been considered ‘normal’ – he’d have most of it gone by the time anyone came to keep him company, then he could just worry about how many extra serves would be allowed before he aroused suspicion.

Feeling pretty happy with how things were looking so far, Wally hummed faintly to himself as he dug in to his breakfast.

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It seemed the worst of times to black out, and it was almost like a little skip in time that brought her to morning. How had she arrived there? Was this some kind of joke? She might've thought it all a dream if the bat wasn't tucked in at her side in the bed.

She picked it up and walked over to the door, ready to run back through the halls, but this time the exit was locked. Now what was she supposed to do?! It didn't look like there was any chance of picking the lock from the inside, so she gave the door a few sharp raps. “Hello?” Sakura called. “Hey, can anyone hear me? Who locked the door?!”

After a moment, she could hear someone fiddling with the door lock and took a couple of steps back, ready to defend herself if she had to. What was there to fight with? Just the metal stick from Archer. She didn’t have any shuriken or kunai, the closest thing was a couple of pens on the desk. Tucking one away, she prepared herself for a fight.

The door eased open to reveal a woman in what looked like some kind of uniform. She was followed by a larger, much more intimidating man. So she was outnumbered. Off to a great start, she thought dryly.

“Who are you? What do you want?” she demanded, brandishing the babat.

“I thought she might be feisty with hair like that, but who left that baseball bat in her room?” the woman clucked her tongue and spoke to the man almost as if Sakura wasn’t even there. She shook her head, not at all bothered by the pink-haired girl waving a bat around.

“Courtney dear, you need to settle down or we’ll have to give you some medicine. You don’t want to be all groggy on your first day, do you?” This part was actually directed at Sakura, and was wrong for all kinds of reasons, making it really difficult to pick just one. Archer had said something about this last night, that the place was like a real hospital during the daytime.

She lowered the bat, holding it limply at her side and the orderly wasted no time in taking it away from her. She still had the pen at least. “What’s going on?” She could be completely rational when she had to be. Of course, heaven help them if they didn’t give her a good enough answer.

“This is an institution, Courtney,” the nurse seemed relieved that Sakura had stopped waving the bat around. “You’re here because you’re sick. We want to help you get better.”

“I feel fine,” Sakura replied cautiously, “and my name isn’t Courtney, it’s Sakura. You’ve got me confused for someone else. Can I talk to your supervisor or something?”

“I’m afraid not, we have places to be Courtney, you don't want to be late for breakfast, do you?” the nurse continued, not at all bothered.

Sakura was escorted out the door, but that didn’t stop her from pouting angrily as she was lead from the room. At least the hallways were well-lit this time and she could see where she was going. They reached a cafeteria and it wasn't until she'd placed a few things on her tray and given the empty tables a good look around (Sasuke might be here after all) that she noticed someone she knew.

He was an Uchiha, but definitely not the one she wanted to run into. Her hands tightened on the tray and if she'd access to even an ounce of her chakra, the plastic serving dish would be in pieces by now. As it was, she was sorely tempted to throw the thing at his head.

A quick analysis of the situation told her that might not be the best course of action, and if they were watching her like a hawk, then they had to be watching him too. The good thing about that was it made an even playing field. Still, she wasn't about to just let him get away, not when she had a chance like this. Sakura stormed over and slammed her tray down, a loud and angry noise in the former quiet of the eating area.

"You," she all but spat the word for all the venom in her voice. "I should've known Akatsuki had something to do with this. What the hell's going on here?" She was scared, yes, but that wasn't enough to keep her from facing this horrible person. More than fear though, was the anger. This man was the one to blame for what Sasuke had become. It was for this person that he'd sought power from someone as vile as Orochimaru and denied himself any happiness.

Itachi looked up, staring in abject confusion at the furious girl in front of him. Naruto-kun's teammate, wasn't she? He hadn't seen her here before, but she was likely new if she was asking such questions. That was interesting, even if it wasn't something he particularly wanted to address right now.

"Haruno Sakura, is it?" He was tempted to explain that Akatsuki had nothing to do with this -- he was wearing the same uniform as her, after all -- but it would be excessively foolish to expose his position of weakness to an enemy for no reason. If she did not know he was as much a prisoner here as her, she did not need to know.

"What's going on," he continued calmly, "is that you are being held captive in a mental hospital by someone with significant power." His tone remained perfectly cool, despite all the tray-slamming and his own inner frustration.

She'd expected some kind of smug satisfaction, or calm indifference, but when Itachi looked up at her with... was that confusion? It baffled her all the more. Who was he to be acting all confused! That just wasn't fair! Ugh!

"Forgive me for not being flattered that you remember," she glared across the table at him.

"And I'm supposed to believe you have nothing at all to do with this?!" her voice rose despite her efforts to keep hold of it. Even if the bulletin said so, it was too suspicious, too impossible not to think that Akatsuki or their other enemies would be in on this.

Itachi sighed the tiniest bit. She was going to cause a scene, and he did not want to attract the attention of the nurses. It seemed he would have to be more open if he was going to calm her down.

"I have something to do with it in that I am trapped here as well as you. Besides, Akatsuki does not have this much power." Not to do this to him. "And don't be so loud," he added curtly.

"You're terrible! Don't even think you can tell me what to do!"

Don't be so loud? Don't be so loud?! Itachi had never HEARD her be LOUD. She had half a mind to show him just how loud she could be when she had a mind for it. On the other hand, hearing that he was just as trapped and powerless as she was... that was all the incentive she needed to go from simply glaring angrily to actually attacking the other ninja. How dare he sit there so unmoved and unbothered after all the things he'd done!

With an angry growl, (yeah so maybe it was loud but who the hell cared?!) she flipped her tray up at the traitorous ninja, sending french toast, fruit, and sticky syrup flying in his direction. But fruit wasn't the only thing that was headed right for Itachi's flawless Uchiha face. Sakura drew the pen she'd tucked into her waistband, following up the primary distraction with an actual attack.

Itachi blinked at the force of Sakura's anger. He was hardly bothered by the insinuations against his character, but she was behaving very irrationally. Which could be particularly inconvenient if the nurses decided to intervene. Though he was sick of behaving within the confines of what the nurses desired. . . nevertheless, cool logic demanded he not rise to her challenge. That would be far too idiotic; how could he even consider it an option?

Then, quite suddenly, there was food flying at his face. Taken by surprise, Itachi managed to knock the larger pieces of food away before they hit his face, but he couldn't help but get sprayed with syrup, and some of the smaller pieces of fruit landed in his hair and rolled into his lap. Itachi was in abject shock at the previously unknown indignity of having fruit dumped on him, and he almost missed the more dangerous missile that followed. However, distracted as he was and even with his poor sight, his reflexes served him well enough to block the pen. It would have been a much greater indignity if he hadn't.

"They will drug you if you cause more of a disturbance," he warned in a low voice. He was not going to retaliate. He was above such pointless displays of emotion. He was.

When the fruit hit its mark, she thought she had a chance, but even the handicap didn't stop Itachi from blocking her true attack. Her arm shook, still trying to find it's mark even when set against his strength.

"It's your fault he left," she had to grit her teeth to keep the emotion out of her voice and even then it didn't quite work. "It was always about you. He had to get stronger and it didn't matter who he stepped on so long as he got to you."

Her grip on the pen eased and she took a step back, though there was no less animosity in her gaze. And she knew, for all that, even if she did manage to kill Itachi, Sasuke could never forgive her that. Sasuke would- but-

Wasn't Itachi supposed to have died? Standing in front of him, it was hard to believe it was true. The report could have been falsified, that could be why Sasuke hadn't returned home right afterward. It could be... but somehow she knew it wasn't so.

Her voice quieted and her fists balled at her sides. "Why would you hurt him like that?" It wasn't her own pain that she was worried about. Whatever she felt, she knew it was a thousand times worse for him. It was a hard lesson she'd learned on her first day in team seven. "Why?"

Itachi continued to hold her arm away, mildly surprised that her strength nearly rivaled his own. True, size didn't matter much among ninja, but they were no longer among ninja. He forgot about this immediately when she started speaking, though.

She didn't even need to say the name. It was strange to see perceptions of his brother from another side. Itachi supposed she would have been affected by Sasuke leaving, but it didn't really matter, did it. That was what needed to happen. "He had to leave. That is the only way to get stronger," he answered quietly.

At least she had calmed down now, though only due to an onslaught of a different emotion. Living through one emotion to the next without any sort of plan, it wasn't surprising she hadn't become anything significant yet. Which was why she could not understand how anyone else could become significant.

"There is no point in explaining those things to you." Hurting Sasuke was only a means to an end, a practical consideration that could not be evaluated in moral terms. He could afford neither to regret nor enjoy it, just as Sasuke could not afford to care about people like this girl.

What did it matter if you were strong if your life was filled with nothing but hate? Hearing it put in such cold and uncaring words only made her grit her teeth to keep from yelling again.

"No point?" she yanked her wrist away roughly. "He killed you and he still won't come back to Konoha. Unless that was your plan all along," which was a pretty stupid plan in her opinion, "I'd say something went wrong. I like to think I'm a pretty smart person, but even I can't figure out why you'd want to make your own brother hate you so much. What you could possibly stand to gain from ruining his life and keeping him from ever being happy."

She crossed her arms, refusing to give an inch. "Whether there's a point to telling me or not, I don't care, but you ought to know that your brother isn't the only enemy you've made. It doesn't matter how far he falls, our team will still follow. He's our friend and our team-mate and nothing you do can change that." Sakura had to admit that finally getting all of that off her chest, finally being able to say all the things she wanted to say to this horrible man, it made her feel just a little bit better. If she was facing down Itachi on her own at any other time she might have been scared, to say the least, but now? As he looked right back at her with bits of fruit and syrup dripping from his hair and face, it was a lot harder to be afraid.

"He -- what?" Itachi stared at her, completely dumbstruck and nearly speechless. He barely even heard the rest. Sasuke killed -- it must be a case of misinformation. After all, the same had been true of reports of Sasuke's death just before he had come to the Institute. But he couldn't stop Sasuke's voice echoing through his mind, "At what point in time were you taken?" Sakura. . . Sakura could be from a time in the future. A time when he was -- no, it had to be a false report. It had to. It had to, because he couldn't even think about this now. Of course he had to die at some point, and if Sakura played it safe she could easily still be alive at that time. That didn't change the feeling that a once-theoretical time limit had now become very, very real. Or the fact that Sasuke --

Sasuke. She was talking about Sasuke. He couldn't even think now; he had to give some sort of coherent reply, act normal, not display his confusion. He breathed in and out slowly, hoping she had noticed nothing. "There's no use being so loyal. Sasuke doesn't want you to follow him, and you would only be tying yourself down." He was not even going to touch her accusations, because as much as he knew keeping him from ever being happy to be objective fact, it was something new to hear it from someone else's mouth. Something that made it more real, though it really should not be anything he cared about. Especially not now, not here. He could not afford to care about anything other than getting out, so he could --

-- what? Die? Yes. Of course he was going to die, everyone did. He only had to accomplish what he had set out to accomplish. And for now, he had to ignore this.

It was a rare day indeed to see so many emotions from an Uchiha. Even if most of them were surprise or bafflement or shock, it was still like, huge to see something like that. Then again, it wasn't every day she found herself across a lunchtable from one of her enemies, wearing a happy-faced uniform and throwing food.

Despite his shocked expression, Itachi said very little. "He killed you," she repeated. Of course Sasuke had done it. He was determined, he'd given up everything just to do that one thing, how could he possibly fail? Still, he hadn't returned. It hadn't brought him any happiness to have his revenge.

"I said it before, don't try to tell me what to do," she said coldly. "How can you even pretend to know what Sasuke wants? A wild animal will run to hide its wounds, even if it needs help. I know Sasuke-kun wouldn't ask me to follow, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need us. Whether it's tying me down or not, it doesn't matter, that's my decision to make."

She said it again. He hadn't misheard. Itachi took another deep breath, his eyes closing for a moment involuntarily. He didn't even have control over his reactions at this point.

The girl didn't even seem to notice how strange it was to face a person and tell them they'd died. Perhaps she already knew about the time differences. Itachi's mind latched onto the pointless little observation, unable to comprehend the entirety of this new knowledge.

It wasn't that he had ever been afraid of death. He just hadn't thought about it much, not in that way. It had been an abstract concept, one to work with in theoretical calculations, but anything that involved him being laid low had been outside of his basic understanding.

He could see that now, he was aware of things now that he had never even conceived of before. Before being deprived of something he identified as me, myself, Uchiha Itachi more than his own face. Before being physically overpowered, unable to see and unable to see, unable to have his way without even trying. Before scrabbling around powerlessly, before knowing what it was not to be able to put reality into motion merely through willing it. Now he knew what the sensations of uncertainty, anxiety, vulnerability were, and he knew that there was so much he had not understood before. Not things that he had needed to understand, mind, but he also hadn't understood death and he didn't need that realization now.

What if staying here was the only way to stay alive? What if he really was going to fail (he could hardly even believe the existence of the word)? What if -- what if he were already dead?

No. This was stupid. He wasn't dead, and he wasn't going to die, he couldn't. He needed to focus, deal with the situation, accomplish his goals one step at a time. Sasuke -- he didn't even want to think about to handle that one. Sasuke was here (Sasuke was going to kill him) but he couldn't afford to care. He didn't care about any of this, he didn't care what this worthless girl did with her life, he just wanted to (live) get out.

"Of course I know what he wants," Itachi snapped. "I'm his brother." Reducing Sasuke to a list of easily-predicted goals was so much more convenient. (His own brother was going to kill him.)

It was strange. Really strange to see Itachi actually affected by something. She wasn't sure what to think of it and could in no way be certain of what might be running through the man's head. One thing she did know for sure though, was Itachi didn't know Sasuke nearly as well as he claimed to. As far as she knew Naruto was more of a brother to him than Itachi had ever been.

"Do you?" Sakura couldn't help but shake her head at that. "Unless you're on your knees begging him for forgiveness, you better stay far away from him." And that was that. Dusting herself off, Sakura turned to leave.

On his knees? The idea was so foreign it was almost laughable. Still breathing a little shakily, Itachi managed to get himself back under control. This should not have affected him as much as it did. This girl should not be able to say anything of significance to him.

"I don't need to go near him," he said with a shadow of a smirk, even as she turned away. "He'll come after me." Not that he particularly wanted Sasuke to come after him right now, but she did not need to know that.

Sakura hoped that wasn't the case, hoped that Sasuke had already had his fill of revenge and prayed he might be satisfied, but in this place everything was already so strange and putting it all together felt hopeless.

She was done with Itachi though, and had every intention of making good on her threat. With team 7 here, there was no way Akatsuki was getting anywhere near him.

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Day 37: Breakfast

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