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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"You can tell just by looking at him, really--he's far too pretty and wears his hair completely differently than most men," Jiraiya replied, shrugging a little. "And by the way he acts. He's too melodramatic to be a straight man, and the rest of the time, he acts far too removed from his emotions. Straight men don't need to hide that much."

He took another bite, chewing it thoughtfully. "Most boys wouldn't have gotten so angry if their rival seemed to be stronger than them--he got pissed and petty, when most would've just taken it as a push to get stronger. It was almost like watching a cat fight when he challenged you on the roof."

Jiraiya had seen part of it, anyways, and it had been enough. Really, it was just obvious to him. Sasuke acted more like a woman than some women did.

"But that boy is so repressed that he wouldn't recognize his own sexuality if it dropped an entire gay bar on top of him," Jiraiya nodded, as if that was an absolute truth. "So, no, I'm not surprised."

Naruto laughed when as he listened, just so surprised at how much sense it was making.

"Oh, oh! And he wears really gay clothes! When I saw him again he was wearing this shirt that showed his chest and a purple bow thing that I think was holding a black skirt like other thing!"

It really shouldn't be making that much sense. But Sasuke was pre -- good looking, and looked a little girly, and something different about him then most guys did.

Naruto thought for a second, things clicking together. What if one of the reasons Sasuke had left was that he'd been afraid of what people would say?

"Maybe he does know, though..." He added, but it seemed weirder even.

He chuckled again, knowing the only way to know was to ask Sasuke himself. Now he definitely had to find him later during the day.

It was only unamusing in the sense that Naruto wasn't sure what Sakura would think of it. He hoped she wouldn't be upset.

Jiraiya laughed at Naruto's description of Sasuke's clothes. Definitely gay. Had to be. Skirt, bow, open shirt. Yeah, completely gay.

He was snickering openly by the end of it. "Okay, maybe he has some clue."

And then, a horribly amusing thought occurred to Jiraiya. "With that outfit, and his arm around your shoulder that time..."

He tilted his head back, putting down his fork to cross his arms again, looking distinctly amused. "And he let you see what Aidou was doing to him."

Jiraiya grinned wider. "Well, I guess it makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

So what if he was saying all of this purely to horrify Naruto? It was funny. Really damn funny. And the boy needed to be teased, anyways. Wasn't that a sacred godfatherly duty, or something like that?

"Explains why he was so obsessed with beating you," Jiraiya nodded, trying to keep a straight face. "He was worried about not being dominant enough."

There was no way that Naruto was stupid enough to not realize that Jiraiya was completely bullshitting him. Because he was, and it was obvious. He even made sure to have the right tone of voice to hint to that....

Naruto gaped as Jiraiya's words sunk in.

That was impossible. Just not right. Sasuke hated him, he wasn't -- He brought both of his hands to his hair, tugging at it with eyes wide.

"You think he likes me?!" Naruto shrieked, loudly enough for a nurse that was walking by to stop and ask if there was a problem, syringe in hand.

Jiraiya blinked at Naruto rapidly and then slowly brought a hand up to his face, letting his head drop into it. He let out a sigh, and didn't answer for a minute or so. How could he have forgotten that Naruto was Naruto.

"I was teasing," Jiraiya stated at long last, dropping his hand from his face--and then he grinned a bit. "We hope, anyways. Never know with Sasuke...."

Maybe he should roll with this. Yes, he should. It would be a laugh.

"He didn't lean on anyone else, did he? Although, by the sounds of it, it could have been more like a hug..." Jiraiya appeared thoughtful, again trying not to laugh. "You both have always been rather focused on each other, too. It's quite possible that he could have misinterpreted your interest in him along the way...."

If Naruto was actually going to believe him, Jiraiya was going to have fun with it. Served Naruto right.

"But you have nothing to worry about," Jiraiya stated, grinning wider. "It's not like he's kissed you before or anything."

There was a desperate, sort of high whimper when Jiraiya brought up kissing. Naruto quickly covered his mouth with his hands hoping the old man hadn't heard that and wouldn't inquire about it.

There was no way he'd tell him about that after what they'd just talked about. If Jiraiya was convinced Sasuke liked him Naruto would be teased about it forever, he knew.

And besides. It just -- wasn't possible.

Right?

There was only one thing that high-pitched whimper could mean.

Jiraiya's jaw slowly dropped open. "... You've... You've...."

He swallowed, then stared at Naruto. "He kissed you?"

There was no way he was going to let Naruto get out of talking about this. He wanted to know--he needed to know more now! Just because he was a straight man didn't mean he could ignore something as hilarious--he refused to call it "juicy"--as this!

Naruto's face flushed bright red and he flailed, shrieking again.

"It was an accident! Someone pushed me and I...landed...on his lips..." He said, before dropping his head hard against the table and groaning, mortified. He could feel his ears going redder, and he wished he could hide under the table and wait for it all to go away.

"Oh," Jiraiya stated, still dumbstruck, and then he began to snicker. "I see. It was an accident."

He gave Naruto a pat on the back, grinning a bit. "The telling part is if he punched you. He did, right? Any straight man would've punched your lights out, even if it wasn't your fault."

Jiraiya wasn't serious about this, after all.

"It..." Naruto started, voice squeaking, so he cleared his throat and mumbled instead. "It happened here, too, remember? On the bus..."

He flushed further afterwards, realising that he'd not been punched either of those times.

And that was a bad sign, right? Or a good one?

He wasn't sure.

"He...didn't punch me either times."

"That's... right...." Jiraiya stated, blinking again. "He never even tried to punch you...."

Jiraiya pat him on the back again in consolation. "Well, at least he looks like a girl. Could be worse."

He thought for a moment, then grinned to Naruto. "Any chance he let Aidou give him a hickey in an attempt to make you jealous?"

"W-What? Why would he do that?!" Naruto asked, his voice a little higher than usual.

This conversation was just plain weird, and he wasn't sure he liked what it was implying.

Even if, deep down, he felt an odd satisfaction at the possibility, but he wasn't aware that that's what it was, instead thinking he was just glad to know another side of Sasuke.

He was learning more here than he'd ever had back in their world.

Jiraiya shrugged innocently, "Beats me. You'll have to ask him. But he'll probably try to punch you."

He went back to eating, figuring that Naruto needed a break before his brain imploded. At least Jiraiya knew he'd have something to amuse himself with for the next couple of days. It would keep him sane.

"Tell me how it goes," Jiraiya snickered, taking a drink.

Naruto's head heavily fell right back to the table as he groaned again. He knew Jiraiya found the situation amusing, and he'd think of a way to get him back for that. Later.

For now, he had to find Sasuke and hope he'd get answers, hopefully avoiding a broken nose.

"Ugh, you're having way too much fun, Ero-sennin."

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about dying of boredom," Jiraiya stated with a snicker, then shoved Naruto's tray towards him. "You should eat, kid."

He looked thoughtful again for a moment. "You know, now that you know I'm your godfather, I can do horrible things to you. Like make you eat your vegetables."

"Yup, definitely way too much fun," Jiraiya confirmed with a firm nod before he started to eat his food once again.

Naruto sat up quickly, glaring at Jiraiya.

"You wouldn't," he said, before taking a bite of what was left of his breakfast. "No way I'm eating vegetables, old man!"

Kakashi had tried, but Naruto had barely taken a bite of anything his teacher had brought him. His fridge was only there for the milk he drank with his ramen in the morning, and most of the time it expired before he finished it.

It was a litte pathetic, but it was all Naruto knew.

"And you wonder why you're shorter than Sasuke," Jiraiya smirked after taking another drink. "You need vegetables to grow strong and tall. It's like training--you might not like training at the time, but you like the results. Why do you think I made you eat different things when we were training?"

He sounded distinctly amused, probably because he was. "With some of that stuff, you were eating vegetables and didn't even know it. And they didn't taste that bad, did they?"

Jiraiya figured he should probably tell Naruto about Sakura, but he had to finish teasing first. After this, then.

"Hey! I'm not that much shorter!" Naruto objected quickly, scowling. "S'not like I can eat ramen here, anyways," Naruto continued, a little dejectedly as he poked at the food in his plate. Nope, definitely not ramen.

"I didn't know what they were, of course they didn't taste bad!" Naruto sighed, taking a drink from his glass. He should have expected for Jiraiya to have tricked him into eating things he didn't normally, but he'd whined enough back then whenever the man had refused to let him have his ramen.

Jiraiya continued to be amused, "You're acting like I poisoned you."

He sat back, finished with his breakfast. Naruto was happier now, and Jiraiya was glad for that. It was much more "normal".

After a moment, a thought occurred to Jiraiya, and his smile grew a bit softer, "If I recall, your mother loved ramen, too. She craved it even more when she was pregnant with you. I remember Minato complaining about it to me."

Naruto finished his own plate, taking a last drink before he turned toward Jiraiya, curious at the mention of his parents. It didn't bring forth any anger, so he was happy at that, and happier still to now be able to learn random facts about the two people who'd brought him to life.

"Really? I guess I took it from her, then!" Naruto said with a chuckle and a grin.

"Tsunade thinks you take a lot after her, actually," Jiraiya stated with a grin. "Or, at least your mouth does. And probably your personality, too. A real tomboy when she was young."

"Although being pregnant with you calmed her down a lot," Jiraiya chuckled. "Minato was worried that all of her energy was being siphoned into the kid. You were loud even as a newborn, so I guess he was right."

It was easier now, to take about it; even still, Jiraiya's grin weakened as he continued, his voice a bit quieter. "You were luckily asleep the time I got to hold you. ... And then you woke up a few minutes later just to barf on me."

Jiraiya realized he was rambling, and looked embarrassed. Wow, he really was getting old.

Naruto laughed, amused. Throwing up on Jiraiya as a baby...so he'd known what kind of man Jiraiya was even back then.

"I guess I was bothered by how much of a pervert you are!"

Although, now, Naruto would never think that lowly of him. Sure, the man was a pervert, but so was Kakashi-sensei in his own way. Jiraiya was his godfather, and he was one of the strongest shinobi Naruto knew.

Jiraiya snickered, "I hadn't even written my first perverted novel back then!"

It was good to see Naruto happy again. The boy's mood was infectious, for better or for worse. He was one of the reasons why Jiraiya could put his life on the line--he was someone that Jiraiya had to protect for as long as possible.

Speaking of protecting, he remembered what had happened last night. And whom he had met. Jiraiya's face grew serious.

"... I met Sakura here last night," Jiraiya stated, not sure if he was happy or not about that fact. "It's seems that she came in with the new patients."

Naruto stiffened, turning to Jiraiya, mouth set and brow furrowed.

"What?! She's -- " He paused, needing to gather his thoughts a little before speaking (for once).

So Sakura was here too? He wasn't if he was happy about that; he didn't like the idea of her being here, when it was far from safe. He would probably get punched, as she was perfectly capable of defending herself, but his first reaction was definitely worry and fear of what could happen to her.

He glanced around the room but didn't see her, his eyes narrowing as they passed over Itachi, who was sitting alone. Another swept of the room showed Aidou and Sasuke talking together and Naruto's glare intensified, directed at Aidou's back. He was sitting too close. This was breakfast, what was with these two, always on each other at the must inappropriate times?

Naruto would have slapped himself out of it if he'd been alone, but instead he shook his head and spoke softly.

"Is she okay?"

Jiraiya watched Naruto search for Sakura, and would have started searching himself, but he saw Naruto's glare focus and intensify on Aidou's back. He couldn't help but smile softly. Was Naruto actually jealous? Even if Naruto didn't realize it himself, Jiraiya at least knew that he was being possessive of Sasuke. Interesting...

This would give him a lot of material for his next book! Mind you, he'd have to make the boys into lesbians within the book, but the general plot could still work out. And obviously older, too, because he didn't want to get in trouble. These uniforms wouldn't do, either--they'd have to be in dresses, probably short ones....

Naruto speaking up once again broke Jiraiya out of his miniature plotting session, and he found himself looking down at him again. The boy was back to being quiet, looking worried.

"She seemed fine to me," Jiraiya reassured Naruto, turning his chair to look at his student--no, godson--better. "She's in denial about some of the stuff I told her, perhaps, but that's normal for anyone who's new here. I made sure she knew about Sasuke."

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