Day 37: Sun Room

[hismastersdance.livejournal.com]

Joe had read some of the larger notes stuck up on the bulletin board when the announcement came on the intercom. All things considered, this Landel guy didn't even seem so bad. Even if these people were held here against their will, he was certainly nice about it.

Apparently, the new patients - including Joe - were to hang around in the Sun Room or go to Arts and Crafts with the kids. Well, there was plenty of information on the board, including maps and descriptions of monsters, for Joe to prepare for the nighttime, when he could seriously get going on fighting his way out. He could look for where the boss would probably be waiting, or where his V-watch might be, and figure out how to fight the monsters. In fact, he had plenty of time to work all that out... but this the first time he'd had to really relax since he got his powers. So it couldn't possibly hurt to enjoy the calm period, could it?

The red-head stepped back from the board, and hopped back onto a comfy-looking couch to digest in the sunlight. He reached up to pull his cap down, and sighed when he realized it wasn't there. "Oh well, nothing's perfect. I still wouldn't call this hell."

[free!]

Comments

[toadally4boobs.livejournal.com]

"That's what Sakura said, more or less," Jiraiya replied with a weak smile, glad that Naruto was still soldiering on without him.

"They're still themselves, despite everything," Jiraiya confirmed, leaning back in the couch and forcing himself to relax. "Naruto has had his moments here, though, so you'll have to watch for that. This type of place can wear him down quickly, although he'll try to hide it. He's been needing help to.. be himself."

Kakashi probably already about Naruto's tendencies in these sorts of situations, but Jiraiya figured there was no harm in stating that he had noticed Naruto's moments of.. not being Naruto. Sometimes, he'd act numb or uncharacteristically disconnected from everything. Other times, Naruto would stick closer to his side than usual, acting more dependent on someone than a ninja should allow himself.

Even though Jiraiya knew that could get Naruto trouble down the road, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel good in knowing Naruto needed him. He was the kid's godfather.

He was also dead back in his world. Which meant that if he made Naruto too dependent now, when it came time for Naruto to learn about his fate, it'd only be worse for the boy. Jiraiya sighed.

"... I've been lax in forcing himself to be more independent as I usually do," Jiraiya admitted, even though doing so felt like pulling out his own teeth. "Partially it's regret, and partially it's guilt at not doing what I should have done for him years ago. The last thoughts that went through my mind as I was dying were all about him. All about him and Minato. If it hadn't been for those memories, I wouldn't have been able to stay alive long enough to send that message back to Konoha."

Jiraiya coughed and looked embarrassed, as if he had given out more information than he should have. But it was important for Kakashi to know that, too. His death was affecting his judgement, and he finally had someone he could admit that to, besides Renamon. By pretending it wasn't happening, Jiraiya could others at risk. It was a blow to his ego to tell Kakashi, but Kakashi was the only other adult from their world that he could trust at this point in time.

"Even Naruto has noticed that I'm a bit 'off'," Jiraiya stated with all due seriousness, and then his expression lifted. "But I should be back to myself in a day or two!"

He was channeling Naruto a little with that declaration, but Jiraiya didn't care. It was the truth, that he was improving. But he was still not at his peak performance. Jiraiya still felt unbalanced.

"Enough about me, though!" Jiraiya laughed a bit nervously before he just grinned slightly (but normally) at Kakashi. "Sasuke's been the interesting one. From what Naruto told me about his latest encounter with Sasuke, it seems like he was bluffing that time when he told Naruto he would kill him. Because he was easily able to kill Orochimaru, but didn't even leave a scratch on Naruto. And the fact that he's not only tolerated Naruto's presence here, but agreed to work with him on the basement. And he didn't beat Naruto to a bloody pulp when they accidentally kissed again."

... Oops. Naruto was probably going to kill him for mentioning that, and Jiraiya's thoughts about that showed in his expression for a moment. He shrugged after a moment, though, and focused back on what he was saying.

"What I'm trying to say is that.. it seems that Sasuke still feels something towards Naruto, although I'm not exactly sure what--although, if you ask Naruto, he'll probably assume Sasuke's crushing on him because I thought the idea was funny and then I took him seriously," Jiraiya said the last part quickly, as if he didn't exactly want to tell Kakashi that, but then he continued. "He hasn't had interaction with Sakura yet, but it's possible that you could get the three of them working together again. Or that they could work together by themselves without your help. Now teamwork..."