damned_institute | Nightshift 40: M11-M20 Hallway

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Nightshift 40: M11-M20 Hallway

[M12]

There was this 'Avatar' again, the thing that supposedly linked one's consciousness within this video game. Klavier couldn't quite understand how such a thing could help anyone fight, but he was certain that this connection had something to do with how and why Endrance was taken. If this really wasn't something every player experienced, then there was little doubt others might find such a thing interesting, yes? He still wasn't sure how this all worked, but preserving this connection had to be the point of it all. At least in this particular case.

Any further discussion on this or the strange 'Kira' murders was cut short with the intercom announcement. If one could call it that. Herr Doktor's voice and demeanor changed come nightfall, true, but this was stranger than usual. In fact, he couldn't even be sure if it was the doctor. It was far too raspy to identify either way.

This was getting more bizarre with every evening. First taunting then what may or may not have been snoring... and now this strange dilapidated voice?

"Open the box?" he repeated. What could he possibly mean by that? ...Wait. Was this voice even addressing the patient population? It seemed too specific a thing to say to everyone. Could this be a message for Herr Doktor? Or was this a message for a specific party? Maybe someone had managed to do something recently...

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See, that was exactly the type of news Shikamaru didn't need to hear in passing conversation. If he'd been drawn from a couple weeks prior, he'd be in a very, very bothersome position right now. It was just Sai's way, so he couldn't hold it against the ninja for not understanding that a person might not want to first learn about the death of a person close to them in that sort of manner, but he still wrinkled his nose in disapproval. Luckily, he'd already added a 'don't ask' to the note he'd written for an alternate self. If only other people could grasp the concept.

"I'm from about the same time," he said, glancing to Sai. "I don't remember Konohamaru, though." A few days had passed since the battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, but it was the last thing he'd done that Kakashi would know about.

Time to get the rest out of the way, then. "Kakashi. If I vanish from here and another version of me shows up later, it'd help a lot if you'd give him--me--this." He produced the folded paper he'd hastily scrawled during dinner. "They're just notes, but it'll save me a lot of work." Kakashi was the one he could best trust to do the task. Naruto might forget, and Sakura could refuse based on what he needed to record about Sasuke. Even if Kakashi didn't agree with something he'd written, he'd understand that Shikamaru was only skipping to conclusions he'd eventually come to anyway.

"I don't see any advantage in knowing about the future," he continued, choosing his words a little more carefully (and hopefully more successfully) than he had at breakfast. "I need to worry about this place now, and it'd be a hassle to waste time thinking about things I can't change." He kept his voice level and professional, hoping that Kakashi would consider it a strategic decision rather than an emotional defense. "So it would be best if you didn't tell me about anything that happens, no matter how insignificant it seems. The same goes double for any version from an earlier time." If it hadn't been for the last two weeks, Shikamaru wouldn't have known enough to make the request on his own, and he briefly looked over to Sai, hopefully indicating exactly what it was he needed not to know about. He'd grown a lot, but that wouldn't have been possible if he'd had to work with cold facts instead of experience.

He didn't expect Kakashi to make the same kind of slip that Sakura had, and as someone unaffected by emotion, Sai probably wouldn't understand the necessity at all. Still, he made it a point to learn from his mistakes, so Shikamaru phrased the request as unambiguously and firmly as he could without blatantly overstepping his rank.

"I don't believe you were with us when Konohamaru joined us," Sai pointed out. It had been mostly just Team Kakashi. They'd been trying to help Naruto eat while he his arm was wounded. Shikamaru had left them by then.

He listened to the other boy's request, seeing some logic in it, and nodded to show that he understood. Experiences were important to a person's growth. He needed to experience the time he'd spent with Naruto in order to come to terms with some things. If he'd heard about it beforehand, his past self might have actually gone out of his way to avoid it happening.

"Perhaps it would be best if you didn't tell either--"

There was a sudden noise further down the hall and Sai froze where he sat. Another followed. Was there some sort of creature outside this block? It sounded more explosive and man-made.

Whether or not Shikamaru realized it, Kakashi could definitely some traces of his mother in the ninja. He took the paper when it was offered, but didn't move to tuck it in a drawer or anything just yet. "I can do that. Do you mind if I look over it though? There might be details that we can add." Better to get that out of the way now. Plus, somehow Kakashi though Shikamaru might like the idea of having information just told to him rather than to go hunting it down himself.

Kakashi also saw the logic in the pair of requests, and had been operating under the same mindset until that very day. Before he could respond, however, he heard the same set of explosions Sai did, and immediately turned towards the door. A monster, or patients fighting one? Kakashi pressed closer to the wall, and signaled to Sai and Shikamaru with a hand.

"Stay here." The explosions sounded close enough for Kakashi to be reasonably sure he wouldn't end up traveling far on his own, and when it came to reconnaissance, the fewer that went out, the better. He wasn't interested in getting involved with anyone else's fight. But they were still missing at least one of their own, and Kakashi wanted to be certain none of the ninja not present weren't in danger.

The jounin slipped out the door, staying in the hallway for several long minutes before he returned to the others. "Two patients were fighting, but it looks like it's broken up now." Or at least, Kakashi hoped it had. In truth, it had been more of a single patient assaulting another than a fair fight. The talk of brainwashing on the bulletin came to mind, but for now, the jounin decided to keep the thought to himself. He didn't want to risk passing the other ninja in the hall and causing confusion, though if it took Sakura much longer, the three there would have to go out and get her.

"Now, back to what you both were saying." Kakashi paused, thinking of something else just then. "And while we're at it, I want you both to tell me your room numbers along with the names of your roommates." Better to have that information in case either of them ended up a bit too late for comfort as well.

"Yeah, go ahead," Shikamaru said when Kakashi took the paper. He should have thought of that earlier; combining information would be a good idea. Anyone who'd looked over the notes he'd kept while working on the Chuunin exams should be should be able to make out at least a few words, and he imagined Kakashi had seen them. "I'll add them to my own copy, in case you disappear before me." In theory, they should all exchange these kinds of notes, but he was sure that some of the things he needed to record about the Uchihas would piss off Sakura, and he'd been punched more than enough for one lifetime. There was a compromise, however. "If we all kept notes of stuff we've learned or figured out, maybe during the day, it'd be easier to pool info than wasting time at night." He gave a soft, disapproving sigh at the thought of so much extra paperwork, but it really was the most efficient option. With the obvious exception of the future, he needed to know everything that the others knew to come up with the best plan he could, and he knew that some of the other Leaf-nin, particularly Sakura and Kakashi, were also excellent strategists. The more people thinking about this, the better. "I could come up with a code if using the bulletin would be better than passing things around." As long as he kept it simple and used a base that only Leaf-nin would be familiar with, all of them should be able to remember it.

When the loud sounds rang down the hall, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and his thoughts snapped to the ninja who hadn't yet arrived, but after Kakashi's statement, he refocused immediately. "That's about it," he told the other two ninja with a shrug. "I'm in room M37, my roommate's Luffy, and the nurses call me Luke. I don't know the family name yet." The last bit of information might prove useful as well. Shikamaru looked to Sai, waiting for him to speak.

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/605196.html?thread=50868748#t50869260)]]

She had no trouble remembering the room number, but she pressed her ear to the door just long enough to hear familiar voices before she tapped twice and pushed the door open.

Shikamaru and Sai were already there, but no sign of any other leaf ninja. She only caught the end of what Shikamaru was saying, but it was probably just general information. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Kakashi to explain what exactly this meeting was to be about. It might be a while if they had to wait for others, but maybe they could actually start formulating some kind of plan. Probably a lot easier to do that when Naruto wasn't around anyway. He got so bored with that kind of stuff; the idiot just loved to charge in without so much as a second thought.

She nodded her greetings to the others and waited to hear what this was all about.

If Kakashi said the situation was fine, then it probably wasn't anything they needed to be worried about. Sai turned his attention back to the topics at hand and was about to continue his earlier comment when they were asked to give a different set of information.

He blinked at Shikamaru's response. "You're in the same room as Luffy-kun?" he asked with a bit of a smile. "That's convenient. He's one of the pirates I mentioned earlier today - the captain, if I'm not mistaken." Then his expression was serious again, and he went on to relay his own room number. "I'm in room M60 with one Mitsukuni Haninozuka. He goes by the nickname 'Honey.' The nurses refer to me as Simon Pastello."

As another member of his team entered, Sai glanced up to offer acknowledgment. "Good evening, Sakura."

Edited 2009-04-21 06:31 (UTC)

As soon as he got back in, Kakashi opened up the paper he'd been given to look over what Shikamaru had gathered so far. He had to admit that it wasn't bad work for the sometimes laziest ninja in the village. Of course, there were additions to be made, and once Sakura came in, Kakashi left his post by the door to get a pen.

"Good evening, Sakura. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to tell us your room number, your roommate's name, and the name the nurses have been calling you." Quickly writing down what Shikamaru and Sai had told him, he added his own information as well, but also said it outloud for the others' benefit. "They've been calling me Ray Bolger. My room is obviously M18, and my roommate is named Dias. He was the tall, thin man I called out to last night." Just in case they ever needed to get in touch with him for whatever reason. It might never come up, but in this case, too much information might be better than too little.

"To catch you up, Shikamaru's put together some basic observations, and suggested we all do the same. It's a good idea, as is the code." Reading the bulletin had made it clear that there were some people with less than good intentions around, so having a more private way to communicate in the crowd would be ideal. "We'll need a guide for our non-Konoha allies as well." And for Naruto, who wasn't quite so good at remembering codes, but that probably went without saying.

"The other thing was that both Sai and Shikamaru are from shortly after the battle with Hidan and Kakuzu. Right around when Konhamaru showed us all that technique you liked so much." Not that Kakashi had been entirely fond of it, but to each their own. "And both have asked not to be told anything about the future.

"Normally, I'd agree with that." Kakashi looked between the three ninja, knowing that what he had to say wouldn't be so well-received. "Being from a further time than anyone here, I've been keeping some major developments from you. But you all know that Naruto was subjected to the Institute's experimentations the other night. What they specifically did was gave him the ability to see the future."

Kakashi paused then, considering how he should go about this. Technically, he could just order all three of them to listen, but that didn't seem right in this situation: almost as if he'd be doing just what the Institute had. "I have to tell you that bad things happen back home, and Naruto is going to have a hard time dealing with them. He's going to need support from all of us." And from Sasuke, but that was a entirely different matter to confront. "So that leaves all of you with three options. You refuse to listen to Naruto when he tries to deal with what he's seen, you wait for him to tell you the details...

"Or you can find out from me what I know now." Obviously Kakashi thought the last was the best choice, but he'd leave it to the trio of nin to pick. "It'll only prepare you for so much, but that'll be a start. And it'll better prepare you to be there for Naruto when the visions happen. But if you want to go with either of the first options, I won't stop you from leaving so you don't hear any more."

He'd offer them that much. But if any of them did leave--well, they probably all knew what Kakashi thought of a person who abandoned his teammates by now.

Shikamaru listened with a sinking sensation, and even before Kakashi gave them the option to leave the room, he was already fighting the urge to do so. For all he knew, all of Konoha could be destroyed. What the hell was the point of getting back at all, then? Just to watch everyone he cared about die? To know that he'd failed at one of only responsibilities he'd promised himself to fulfill at any cost? Shikamaru dragged his hands down his face, thinking for much longer than Kakashi probably would have approved of. It was phrased like a list of options, but he knew it was only a shade away from an order.

He couldn't argue. He couldn't argue, but he also couldn't take much more of this shit. As hard as he was working to become strong, Shikamaru's inability to fully compartmentalize emotion after Asuma's death had led to misjudgments that could have been fatal for Chouji and Ino if Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 hadn't stepped in.

He wanted to provide emotional support to Naruto, but more than that, he desperately wanted to keep the people left in his life alive and safe and he couldn't let his own weakness stand in the way of that. He wasn't used to desperately wanting things, though it seemed to be becoming a frequent occurrence as of late.

So, as usual, Shikamaru told himself that it was a strictly strategic decision to push himself away from the wall and start towards the door. Kakashi wouldn't want to hear his reasoning. Shikamaru knew that he was about to lose all of the jounin's respect, as well as Sakura's and Sai's and probably the rest of the Leaf-nin.

Which meant, he realized, that he could ask one final question. Shikamaru's gaze settled on Kakashi, though he wouldn't be surprised if one or two of the others answered instead. "Is it that important?" Once again, he trusted Kakashi's judgment, and even if his own estimate of his stamina told him to leave, Shikamaru knew that his life had been full of people who'd known his limits better than himself. "If I screw something up, one of you--us," he quickly corrected, "could end up dead." Shikamaru doubted he'd have to remind Kakashi of the recent events.

Edited 2009-04-21 08:38 (UTC)

"Hello Sai," she returned, making attempts, at least, to be nice to everyone. There was no reason to be annoyed just yet, and she was the one who'd made them wait, so she could try to be polite.

"Until tonight I was in F6, but they've moved me to F1. I was worried that I would have lost my supplies, but it seems those were moved as well, even the hidden pieces. My roommate is Hinasaki Miku, though the nurse called her Alice when she was brought in at mealtime. The nurses have been calling me Courtney Marsh," she reported. Most of it was fairly uninteresting, except for the part about moving into the new room only to find that every last hidden weapon had been moved too.

"I spoke with someone who had a lot of experience with the basement," she added, "I wrote down some of my observations, but I left my journal back in my room. I'll have to get it to you tomorro--"

She trailed off when Kakashi started talking about Konohamaru's technique. Her cheeks became a sudden bright red at the thought, but she kept the violent explosion of anger from coming to surface with it. This was a serious meeting and even if she had to grit her teeth, she'd keep it that way.

It helped when Kakashi continued with that vital piece of information about Naruto's experimentation. So the eye implants caused him to see the future? But from what Kakashi was saying, it wasn't the future of what would happen to them here, but rather, the events he'd missed already in their own world.

Sakura glanced at the floor, folding her arms a little tighter. If Naruto would have a hard time dealing with the things to come, wouldn't that be true for their whole team?

Unless he was implying that their team was going to die too. Maybe that was it! That was just so unfair! There's no way she could die so young and beautiful, it would be a waste! She hadn't even had her first kiss yet! There was no way in hell she was gonna let that happen! And anyone else on their team, well... well they just weren't allowed to die! She needed everyone just as much! It'd felt like her heart got ripped into pieces when Sasuke left, and if she had to go through that again, she didn't know what she'd do.

"I think we should hear it," Sakura said, though it took her a few minutes to come to that conclusion. Shikamaru might have a point, but even if it was information that was hard to hear, how could knowing more be that bad? What if it could help? "I'll do whatever I can for my teammates. And who's to say that what's going to happen is set in stone? How do we know that just knowing these things are coming won't change it when we go back home? If they're bad, maybe we can stop them. No one knows how this time stuff is supposed to work, so how do we know for sure, right?"

Sai's eyes narrowed as he thought. This was a complicated situation, and he wasn't entirely surprised to see Shikamaru stand. Despite what the other leaf nin might think, he wasn't going to hold that decision against him.

Frankly, the best scenario would be to have Kakashi tell them the details of an event after Naruto witnessed it, so to save them from learning anything he didn't see. However, that would only work out if they had further opportunities to meet, and if Kakashi didn't disappear himself. (Sai couldn't put faith in anyone sticking around for good anymore.)

"It's possible," he said slowly, "that Naruto could have visions of events that take place after you left our world, correct?" If that was the case, there was nothing they could do for him anyway. "One doesn't require knowledge of the future to be able to offer comfort." Not that Sai was any good at this normally. "I believe... that you should tell Naruto what you know, but no one else. What one person believes best isn't what someone else may believe, and the knowledge of what may be to come could cause them, us, to try and alter things to our benefit without even realizing it. This could cause more harm than good."

He looked up, not sure he was even making sense. "We can't stop Naruto's visions for now. I won't leave the room, and I'll listen if you still think it's important to let us know, but I've given you my opinion." And now he looked mildly uncomfortable for it, as if he hadn't expected to say so much.

Three ninja, three different opinions. Kakashi let out a low sigh, though it was more amused than anything else. They'd brought up good points, and he was half-tempted to let Sai and Shikamaru leave despite what he'd said. But the truth was that he still knew things that they didn't, which ultimately gave him a different perspective.

"It's very possible, and I expect it, Sai. In which case, there's no way to prepare Naruto or ourselves for what he'll see." Not unless they drew someone from an even further time than Kakashi, which was entirely possible. The jounin refused to count on it, however; doing so was wishful thinking at best, and frankly, he'd rather deal with the shock than wish another one of their allies into this place. "But hearing what you can beforehand will give you time to deal with your own reactions to the news. That's one of the things I'm most concerned about. You and Shikamaru saw what happened in the greenhouse earlier--that was when I told Naruto what I'm about to tell you.

"And yes, Shikamaru." Kakashi turned to face the ninja as he addressed him, knowing what he was concerned with. Shikamaru's analytical ability was second to none, but in the fit of his emotions, he'd been ready to lead Chouji and Ino out alone against Hidan and Kakuzu. "It is that important. And to be a little selfish, it's something I'd rather you hear from me, because it concerns me specifically. I can at least tell you objectively; I don't think Naruto can. So I'm going to ask that you indulge me, at least that much."

Kakashi closed his eyes, and let out a slow breath as he prepared himself for what he had to say. At least as much as was possible. "You made good points, and I appreciate your candor. Out of respect for what you all said, I won't go into detail unless you want it; Sakura, we can talk privately tomorrow. But what I told Naruto earlier was that just before I was brought here--I died."

Sakura's reaction had been predictable, though again, the fact that she thought they might be able to influence their futures or pasts bothered Shikamaru more than it should have. He was too focused on the situation to feel more than a twinge of annoyance, even at what seemed like an implication that he wasn't acting in the best interests of the team. Sai's words, however, were almost the perfect opposite of what he'd expected. The seemingly emotionless ninja was the last person he would have thought able understand the situation. The fact that someone who seemed to thoroughly respect rank could challenge the wisdom of something that he hadn't been able to challenge himself left him stunned, and he didn't disguise his surprise. Shikamaru made a mental note to put more thought into that later.

Honestly, he'd expected Kakashi to let him leave, especially after Sai's rationale. When the jounin rejected the idea, a sinking feeling came over him and in a brief flash of annoyance, he wondered why he'd been given the choice at all. With some effort, Shikamaru forced himself to remember that Kakashi was an intuitive person drawing on years of experience, and his first priority was the safety of everyone on his team. He knew the risks, and this was the choice he'd made.

Despite respecting the opinion, Shikamaru still had to will himself not to scowl as he leaned against the wall beside the door, arms folded, attention fixed on the floor to avoid meeting the eyes of the other ninja. That was apparently the furthest he'd be able to get from the situation.
And then Kakashi spoke.

The logical, disconnected part of him had expected that news, but he couldn't keep from flinching. Everyone kept dying. Everyone. No matter how many times he reminded himself that this was the life of a ninja, Shikamaru didn't understand how people could handle this for generation after generation. All of this miserable goddamn death and no way to get away from it, nowhere else to go either physically or emotionally. Over and over and over. It was bothersome. A pain in the ass. He was sick of it and the words weren't working as well as they used to.

And he was still acting like a little kid.

This wasn't the person Shikamaru wanted to be. He closed his eyes long enough to force the facts to the forefront of his mind: he did understand why this was necessary. Even if the damn kid he couldn't get out of his head wanted to throw a temper tantrum every time this happened, he couldn't afford it and neither could the other Leaf-nin. It was necessary. All of this was necessary if he wanted to protect the things he needed to protect.

So, he could deal with this later. Or not at all. He'd figure it out tomorrow, judge his resilience. Besides, this affected Sakura and Sai far more than it affected him. After forcing all of his thoughts into the places he needed them to be, he looked up to the other two with slightly more empathy than he'd meant to permit.

Sai did have a point, Sakura realized, that one didn't need to know about what'd happened to offer comfort, but she couldn't help wanting to know if things were alright or if something had happened to the people she cared about. Maybe that was stupid or girly or whatever, but at least the others had the good sense not to tell her so. She did have to wonder how accurate these vision were, but she supposed only time would tell.

She expected Kakashi to talk to her later, or not at all since the other two ninja seemed opposed to the idea, but if Naruto already knew, they might as well broadcast it over the announcement system. Uzumaki wasn't terribly well known for being good at keeping his trap shut. Given the choice though, of telling him or waiting for him to find out, she could see the reasoning for each a little easier now.

But when Kakashi said it involved himself, Sakura could feel a cold knot forming in her stomach, right where those stupid tomato noodles were sitting. And when he announced it, she could feel her knees start to get weak.

Kakashi couldn't just die. It was always some kind of genjutsu, every time! She'd been tricked by it before, more times than she could count, but he never really died! That wasn't possible! How could he do that to them? They counted on him as a member of their team and he was telling her that if even if they got out of this place, she had to see him die? It wasn't fair! How could he be so selfish?! How could he just leave them behind?!

Her hands balled up into fists and she turned away, gritting her teeth to push down the feelings and fight how hard it'd suddenly become just to breathe. Just how many people that she cared about were going to die?

She didn't so much as turn as her fist swung back at the wall behind her, impacting with a loud thud and causing little bits of plaster and cement to fall quietly to the floor.

And now? Now he expected her to be able to help and comfort Naruto when she felt like falling apart herself. How was that even fair? She winced, rubbing at the beginnings of tears before they had a chance to fall down her cheeks. It was hard enough to be strong for herself, how could she be strong for someone else?

Unlike the rest of his team, Sai hadn't known Kakashi all that long. He took the news as he would that of any ninja acquaintance dying, as he'd seen it happen many times in the past. He simply nodded once, showing no signs of grief or frustration.

Naruto was a very emotional person though, and he knew that hearing this news so soon after hearing about the death of his mentor would come as a shock. It was no wonder he'd thrown such a fit in the greenhouse. If the boy tried to stop these events from happening, however, would it really be for the best? What if his meddling changed things for the worse?

Could they afford to think of those things now? He wasn't sure. Sai wasn't the sort of person who could easily foresee how others would react to things.

"It's understandable that Naruto's upset," he said calmly, but could think of nothing to add for the moment.

Kakashi made sure to keep his own reactions to the ninja around him neutral; they had to come to a point where they could continue on their own, and trying to make the pain suddenly vanish wasn't possible. What could he hope to say to them? That he hadn't wanted to tell them at all? That he hadn't wanted to die in the first place? That it might not have done any good? Even knowing why and how wouldn't make things any easier. Probably the opposite.

"Like I said. If any of you wants to know more, I'll tell you. But I won't make you hear the details." There was a gentleness in Kakashi's voice that hadn't been there before, and the jounin looked at an empty spot on the ground for the moment. "And if any of you wants to stay here or go back to your rooms for the rest of nightshift, I'm fine with that."

Had it really been the right choice to make? Now that he'd said the words, Kakashi could feel doubt taking anxiety's place in his mind. But questioning himself wasn't something the other ninja needed just then, and he wouldn't let it show. They needed him to serve as their jounin, and that meant being a source of strength and stability, especially now. Being what they needed him to be was the least he could do for them, as the cause of their pain.

"I know it's difficult, but there are still other things to talk about." Would they accept the change of subject for the distraction it was. Maybe the boys, but Sakura might just try to punch him. Well, that might not be so bad if she did. Hopefully Kakashi would be able to dodge. "The night isn't over, and we can still make use of it."

As hard as he was trying to keep himself from selfish emotional retreat, Shikamaru couldn't help looking away after seeing Sakura's reaction. He was used to wincing when he saw her punch something, but that was because he usually knew or was the person on the receiving end. When he pulled back further into the wall, the movement was slight and he remained in full control.

Sai's comment irked him, though. Only a few seconds before, the ninja had shown a far greater capacity for empathy than Shikamaru had previously granted him, but now he seemed to overlook the fact that there was another person who'd been just as close to Kakashi. True, Sakura wouldn't witness the death the way Naruto might, but in Shikamaru's mind, that wasn't as relevant as Kakashi seemed to believe. As avoidant as he was, he would have had more trouble reconciling himself with Asuma's death if he hadn't actually seen it. The situations were different, but he found it troublesome how readily Sakura was expected to support Naruto while dealing with everything on her own.

Which was a pain in the ass, since even when it didn't involve women, handling emotionally delicate situations was a few steps below calculating and filing fifty years of the village's financial records on the list of things Shikamaru enjoyed. He'd try to find her tomorrow, though. Even if they didn't talk about anything important, and he hoped they wouldn't, the whole team would probably be better off if she knew there was someone around but uninvolved in case she ever did need support with the whole being-supportive thing.

Either that, or it would get him punched. Wouldn't be the first time. Either way, she'd probably feel better afterwards, and if she felt better, she'd be better at doing her job. Shikamaru rubbed his neck as he thought.

He looked to Kakashi when the ninja finished speaking, frowning. Assuming that he meant the stated purpose for calling this meeting, was it really the best idea to talk strategy with people who'd just suffered an emotional shock? Wasn't that the whole point of what Shikamaru had said before almost leaving? He exhaled quietly, not a sigh but a sound of uncertainty. And seeking out potentially deadly opponents right after hearing something that did more to pull them apart than bring them together as a team was an even worse idea. He gave the briefest glance to the others, hoping that the quick movement would be enough to convey his concerns to Kakashi without implying that anyone was weak.

Sakura knew very well the guidelines and rules for being a shinobi. She'd memorized them in her first year at the academy. But living them was much harder. She'd always struggled with keeping her emotions in check, and now was no different.

Naruto again. Naruto. Naruto was going to be upset. What the hell! Wasn't she allowed to be upset too? It was hard enough right now not to go running from the room. She couldn't be as logical as Shikamaru or as cold and emotionless as Sai, she just couldn't do it!

But that was all. Kakashi said a few more words and then continued on, trying to get them to focus on planning and whatever the hell else was supposed to be important here. She didn't miss the irony that despite her initial support of Kakashi telling them, she was the one most upset and affected by the news. It was frustrating and hard to focus, though she knew she had to. If this was a more serious mission or the heat of battle, there would be no time to grieve for fallen allies.

"Decide what we're doing," she said, forcing her voice to be empty and cold as she could. It was far from controlled, and she hated the shakiness that she couldn't quite push out. "I'll be outside."

That said, she opened the door and walked out, closing it with much greater force than she'd intended.

[moving down but still in the same hall!]

It was understandable that Sakura was upset as well, but Sai wasn't about to say anything like that out loud because he could never be certain what responses were going to land him a blow to the face. It looked like she'd be needing some room to cool down, and he watched her leave with an unreadable expression.

His eyes fell on Kakashi then. "You've already come to terms with this," he stated simply, judging from the man's handling of the current situation. "What will you do if they try to keep it from happening?"

Both of the other members of his team cared deeply for their sensei, and would do anything in their power to save him if they could. He knew this much about them, even with his poor ability to read others.

Near-silent signals from Shikamaru, Sai's unexpected question, and Sakura's suddenly departure added up to things completely falling apart. Deciding that he obviously needed more practice when it came to telling people about his demise, Kakashi let out a low sigh of his own, fighting the urge to slap a palm against his forehead. Really, this wasn't going well at all.

But he did have to answer to the two that were left, and Kakashi looked to Shikamaru first after Sakura was outside. "We don't know what Naruto will see, or when. If he shouts out something like that while we're in a fight, everyone will have to be able to think quickly, no matter what he says." Not that it was nearly so easily done as it was said, but it was true. Being overwhelmed by emotion after a sudden revelation would certainly cause injury at the least, and lives at the worst. Kakashi was already dead, but that didn't mean he wanted to see any of his students suffer the same, or go through it a second time himself. At least not until they'd beaten this place.

As for what Sai said, Kakashi let out a weak chuckle. "You really think so? Well, I have had a lot of experience at this." Hiding his emotions, focusing on the task rather than the feelings inside of him. Kakashi hoped he wasn't the same brat he'd been back with Obito, but at the same time, that experience had served him well over the years. "To be honest, I'm not sure. Being dead like this takes a bit of getting used to. And I hadn't exactly thought much past telling all of you guys--at least not enough to answer your question."

It wasn't until Sakura slammed the door behind her that Shikamaru thought he understood what had just happened, and when he did, he was much, much less accepting of it. Nevermind the fact that Kakashi knew everyone on his team inside-out, much more fully than Shikamaru could even conceive of knowing them. Nevermind that Kakashi had handled this countless times before, and must have understood it far better than someone whose main strategy for dealing with bothersome things was covering his eyes and ears and waiting for them to go away. After his stunned expression faded, he narrowed his eyes and closely examined the jounin.

He understood the wisdom of Kakashi's decision to tell them, but not the wisdom of upsetting Sakura enough for her to run off into the hallway alone, where not only was she going to sit there and cry for god-knows-how-long, but turn herself into perfectly helpless monster bait. Well, relatively helpless. Okay, not helpless at all. Still, the fact remained. She'd found out less than two minutes ago, and already she was supposed to deal with it? It seemed like a terrible decision, and it was far too close to Shikamaru's own emotions to allow the ninja any of his usual objectivity.

He pushed away from the wall, about to follow her, but after a few silent seconds of thought he instead walked over to the empty bed and sat down. "There's no point in trying to plan anything right now," he stated. Finding the balance between emotion and detachment was something he knew he needed to work on, and it was better to err on the side of the latter. The distaste hadn't completely left his voice, but it was well on its way to being eclipsed by something casual but controlled. "We're all too upset, and we'd be idiots to make important decisions that we could just as easily make tomorrow." Shikamaru swung his legs onto the bed and laid back, folding one arm behind his head and finding the ceiling much more appealing than the other two ninja, though he remained almost fully focused on the present. He didn't believe that Kakashi hadn't put much thought into this. If he'd thought about it enough to tell them, which couldn't have been an easy decision, he must have thought about every possible outcome. At least, that's what Shikamaru would have done, and he was apparently having a fine time expecting everyone to think and act the same way that he would in their positions. "Kakashi, give me some paper and I'll write up a code for the bulletin. I suggest that someone who's better at dealing with women go make sure that Sakura doesn't do anything stupid, being as we're in a monster-infested mental hospital and all. She seemed a little upset."

It was rare for his feelings about the fairer sex to get Shikamaru out of a troublesome task rather than into one.

Edited 2009-04-23 02:08 (UTC)

[from outside in the hall]

She hadn't been gone for more than a few minutes when she tapped on the door and pushed it open again. There was a smile on her face, but it didn't seem to fit, to say nothing of the atmosphere in the room. She could only hope they would take a hint.

"Come on in, I think we were just deciding where to go for tonight," she told Naruto and Jiraiya as she held the door open. She only hoped they really did have something planned. Sakura wasn't sure how long she could sit idly with her thoughts.

Jiraiya actually laughed a little when Naruto shoved him. Good, the kid was in a good mood, and acting more like himself. Although it felt less like Naruto was a student of his and more like Naruto was his godson in that moment. Which was weird, but Jiraiya could deal with it. There wasn't too much more he could really be teaching Naruto if he'd eventually be training with the toads.

The atmosphere of the room they walked into only confirmed Jiraiya's suspicions. Kakashi had told them--of this, there was no doubt. Jiraiya could only hope that Naruto was dense enough not to figure it out. The kid would probably be pretty pissed if he knew Jiraiya was hoping he was his usual idiotic self, though.

Sakura's comment about 'deciding where to go tonight' made Jiraiya's eyebrow raise. Kakashi expected them to be able to make decisions after mentioning something like that? Oh, boy. As much as Kakashi had changed, some things never stayed the same. Because Minato couldn't give a sigh at that, Jiraiya gave a soft sigh for him.

Oh well, Jiraiya would just have to deal with it in his absence, "Naruto and I would like to join you for the night, then."

He didn't immediately get into the details, knowing that everyone wasn't quite ready for it. Jiraiya wanted a better understanding of how they were each reacting to it, first.

Sakura probably needed someone to talk to, someone who was also a woman. Hmm. Maybe Renamon? Even if she was knew to being human, Sakura and Renamon had gotten along well enough.

Except that's when Jiraiya paused in mid-thought. He hadn't seen Renamon all day, now that he thought about it. Maybe it had just been the way the day had been, but... damn it. He hoped that she was okay.

Naruto was too focused on acting as normal as he could muster to notice the atmosphere of the room. He just felt that Sakura was hiding something, but if the thought persisted he'd ask her about it another time. They apparently had plans for the night, and he was looking forward to having a goal, however temporary, other than not thinking about Kakashi and Jiraiya's deaths (which, in thinking of not thinking about them, brought him to thinking about them, and it was just a vicious circle he was desperate to get out of).

"So, what's the plan?" Naruto asked, looking at the people in the room. As expected, Sasuke wasn't here, but Naruto still felt the need to go and talk to him about what he'd learnt. Sasuke wouldn't care, though, so why he even wanted to was beyond him.

But he had to stop thinking about such things, and focus on the now instead.

"Naruto." Sai got to his feet with a smile, and soon after wondered what it was that had warranted getting to his feet. He took the opportunity to nod a greeting to Jiraiya as well. When he sat down, he'd moved a bit to one side on the bed as though leaving room for his teammate to join him.

"I don't believe we have one yet," he answered the boy's question with a smile, as though this was perfectly fine. They were all there now, so a plan would surely be coming soon. He didn't ask the blond how he was doing, as that would put all focus on him when they were trying to avoid that. He wanted to, though. He hadn't been able to speak to the boy all that much since he'd arrived back in the Institute.

Even Kakashi was a little surprised to see Sakura suddenly coming back into the room, but the smile and the people who followed her in made what she was trying to do perfectly clear. The jounin had to give her credit; he knew that Sakura was in a bad place, but she was still doing her best to smile and act as though nothing was wrong. Seeing her effort made relaxing a bit easier, and Kakashi mentally added talking to Sakura on his list of things to do come the following day. For now, he offered her what he could: a slight nod, and a genuine smile from behind his mask while the others spoke.

He waited until Sai was finished, and again nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid we don't quite yet. What we had decided on was coming up with a code to use over the bulletin. Shikamaru's going to be handling that." And speaking of that, Kakashi moved to hand over his notebook to the chunin so he could start. If Shikamaru chose to focus on that instead of the discussion that would happen, then that was fine. With Jiraiya and Naruto there now, Sakura and Sai would be trying to act as if nothing were wrong. The night was wearing on, and Kakashi reasoned that even if they came up with a plan, they wouldn't be able to put it into action. That meant they'd have the whole of the coming day to revise whatever strategy they devised now. Putting it in those terms, it was better that the ninja focus on something besides what Kakashi had revealed.

Now, whether or not a certain sighing old man thought it was a good idea was inconsequential. If Jiraiya had a better plan (and Kakashi almost wished he did), the jounin would defer to the ranking ninja. But until the Sannin spoke up, Kakashi was still the one leading the meeting, and that meant he was the one who decided what direction it went in.

"As for how we're spending our nights, so far we've been trying to get down into the basement, but without much luck." Kakashi moved back to where he'd been standing, and to where he could look at the others to try and gauge just what they were thinking. "If we're going to keep trying, then we should work out what details we can to try and improve our progress. Or, if we're going to try going about things differently, we should talk about that now too."

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