damned_institute | Dayshift 42: Main Street

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Dayshift 42: Main Street - Noon

[continued thread from here]

Hahaha~ Poor Sheena. At this rate, she was doomed. At least it was a playful kind of doomed. Sheena was her friend after all, and if Harley actually felt the girlie was in any danger, she wouldn't have been as nice to little miss youkai over here. Sheena was so dramatic sometimes, heh.

Harley made an excited Oh! noise when she heard this was Yukari's first trip. Fun! "Place is small and boring, but you can have fun anywhere if you know how. We're all dolled up with nowhere to go anyway. Let's hit the town!~" Dusty, little Nowheresville town, but still. Might as well take advantage of whoever's tax dollars were funding this little trip.

She turned away from Yukari, leaned forward, and held a hand up above her eyes as though she was concentrating real hard on looking far away. She turned her head back and forth eagerly as she spoke. "I just been down this street before. Not a whole lot. There's a burger joint and some beauty places and a grocery store and some place with TVs and ya can't really see it from here but there's a hardware store waaaay down there, too. Also heard there's a toy store somewhere around here!"

Harley wasn't a really picky person when it came to the where. If it was up to her, she'd be picking up a big mallet, some machine guns, and a flamethrower... some snacks, too. She hadn't had anything high in sugar in a long time. Since even she knew those weren't an option, well, there had to be some place that was fun.

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[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/654401.html?thread=54796865#t55120961)]]

Sasuke had to focus as closely as he could on the sound of Sakura's footsteps as they made their way down the main street of the town. There was enough traffic in this place that he needed to note the particular sound of her movements and concentrate on making sure he was still on the right track.

In some ways, it was better than groping his way around as he'd had to do the last time he was here -- and yet it was almost worse, relying this heavily on someone he wasn't in the habit of considering particularly reliable.

Hopefully that had changed over the years, although the habit of his former teammates seemed to be consistently maintaining their worst traits.

Sasuke kept up, if only motivated by his stubborn pride. Still, Sakura tried to relax and enjoy his company, even if it wasn't easy. She wasn't about to just give up!

As little as Sasuke said, it was still more than enough for her to piece together her own conclusions. Why she hadn't thought of it sooner was beyond her. The reason Sasuke was more irritated than usual, the way he was avoiding talking about his plans and the fact that he'd not mentioned his revenge outright was all terribly suspicious. There were only a couple possible conclusions; Itachi was no longer here, or Sasuke had already completed his revenge.

Much as she wished it might be the first one, the change in Sasuke's attitude, the defensiveness and the outright anger when they mentioned going back to Konoha... was this what'd become of him in her own time? Was that why he hadn't come home?

Maybe it was just her imagination running wild. But the facts lied so rarely. "Shifting?" she forced herself to sound only mildly curious, a feat made easier without his intense eyes on her. "I didn't think it would ever change."

"We're making slow progress," she said once it was easier to speak normally. Her eyes flicked from one building to another and once again she couldn't help but think how alien their architecture was in this world. "But slow is better than none."

The fact that Sakura sounded surprised and what she said confirmed it -- she hadn't heard about Itachi. Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not for that fact. On one hand, it meant that he wouldn't have to put up with sympathy he neither wanted nor needed (and questions about what came next). On the other, it was clear that Sakura suspected something, and Sasuke had no other explanation for acting differently today.

And telling Sakura was ... Sasuke was hardly going to lie about what had happened, but telling Kakashi yesterday had brought too many things that he didn't have the luxury of dealing with to the surface. He needed much more time before he could handle Sakura's response (or Naruto's, for that matter) in the necessary way.

So for now, Sasuke merely shrugged in response to her comment, choosing instead to continue the second thread of conversation. "What areas are you focusing on besides medical information?"

Ugh, why were boys so dumb sometimes?! There was definitely something wrong and even if he thought he was hiding it, it was so obvious! Why else would he shrug of his lifelong goal of revenge as if they were just discussing the weather!? What the hell was going on? And he'd acted even more defensive about her just talking to him or wanting to spend time together than he had anything else! It was so hard to understand what was going on inside his head!

They'd made little progress and already she could feel her stomach starting to grumble at her. Now of all times?! Couldn't it wait? Ugh!

She ignored it for now and focused on the conversation, taking a slightly different stance this time. "Why are you so interested now?"

At least it seemed that Sakura was willing to go along with the subject change. Sasuke was internally grateful and externally coolly indifferent, frowning slightly at her question.

'Now'? He would have been interested in any information they might have discovered at any point, irrespective of whether Itachi was present or not. It wasn't Sasuke who had problems maintaining a professional relationship, after all; he was perfectly able to trade useful information and aid without bringing up unnecessary history and emotions.

"We're allied," he answered, as if it should have been obvious. "If you've learned anything useful, I'm interested in hearing it."

Ally seemed to be a term Sasuke only used at his own convenience. He was the first to want to keep his distance, but the moment some information might prove useful, he of course, wanted to know about it. Well, he probably justified it to himself somehow, she thought with an almost audible sigh.

"Recently we've been sent to the areas outside the institute," she explained. "My team only made one attempt so far, but we found a small run-down village. There were some human remains, which I'll be analyzing later tonight if things go according to plan." Not that they often did. But so long as she had her chakra, that sort of thing should come pretty easily.

"That's all I know of. Most of my assignments have been regarding medical analysis or information." There was that one assignment about getting a sample of the nurse's sedative, though they'd have to stage some kind of fight or disruption to get their hands on something like that.

"So since we're allies, you shouldn't have trouble telling me how your plans have shifted too. Whether or not we share common goals is vital, don't you think?" she added, unsure of how he might answer. She'd tried really hard to be professional, but Sasuke had a way of twisting her words around. Another silent sigh escaped her lips. What a day. Stuck on a not-date with Sasuke and talking about nothing but business. Ino-pig was probably back home laughing her ass off.

Sent to? The phrasing implied the Konoha-nin were actually working as a cohesive group, with somebody actually making plans and giving out commands. Sasuke was almost surprised -- then again, the last time these nin had been here there hadn't been any real authority figure amongst the bunch.

It was interesting nonetheless. And it meant that it was probably worthwhile to find out who was in charge.

"Who's giving out these assignments?" Sasuke asked. "Kakashi?"

Or perhaps Jiraiya, though the Sannin didn't seem the type to take charge with such efficiency.

-- and then, of course, Sakura managed to twist his words into something convenient for her to pry into his plans. It was probably reasonable to want to know what it meant when an ally said something like that, but Sasuke had just barely succeeded in pushing Itachi and what he'd said (that they had never really been the last Uchiha) out of mind and had no intention of retrieving it and all the attendant issues into the open. Especially not with Sakura around.

"Any of my goals that are relevant to you have stayed the same," he said shortly, choosing his words with a certain amount of care. "I am still exploring the basement as my current priority."

The more Sasuke tried to hide, the more obvious the answers became. Maybe if he was talking with Naruto it would've rolled right over his head, but Sakura at least, could read between the lines. If Itachi had merely disappeared, Sasuke would continue to seek power and strength and ways to destroy him. But if he'd already achieved his goal...

She was quiet again, considering the implications. Itachi was dead. She could easily assume that much from what she'd observed. So what now? Sasuke had to be asking himself that exact same question. Technically, he'd destroyed an enemy of Konoha, hadn't he? So he could hardly be branded a complete traitor, right? While it made sense in her mind, she couldn't be sure Tsunade and the village elders would feel the same way.

And how did Sasuke feel about it? She knew how much it hurt to lose people you cared about, but how could she understand how it might feel to kill his own brother? There were complications there that just made it impossible to know exactly what he might be feeling. And that same stoic mask he wore, crushing any emotion that threatened to sneak away didn't make it any easier. But it wasn't herself or Itachi or anyone else she was worried about. It was Sasuke. Whatever burden he was carrying had to be so much heavier alone.

"Yes," she replied, though her voice had grown somber. "Kakashi-sensei and Shikamaru have been doing most of the planning."

She wanted to reach out, but she wasn't sure she could handle it if he jerked away again. So she tried to keep up the act, even if she was failing miserably. "Have... you found anything worth mentioning?"

The fact of the matter was the situation hadn't so much changed as reverted -- Sasuke was aware of another goal he had to complete, one that required that he become even stronger, if Itachi were to be believed. And what reason would Itachi have to lie about Madara's power? Where that left him was where he had been when he had first arrived in the Institute: looking for an escape route in order to be able to continue with his goals. Because there was no way he could become stronger here.

But even if he knew that he had things he needed to accomplish, goals he had to meet -- without Itachi the path of darkness had lost its edges; without Itachi at its end, there was nothing but a murky gloom and a direction that Sasuke understood without knowing the precise way to walk it. As if Itachi had been more guide than goal, had led his spare like a brother.

With effort Sasuke forced all thoughts of Itachi out of mind again to concentrate on what Sakura was saying (for the first time he could ever remember, forcing Itachi out of mind in order to focus on Sakura and not the other way around).

"Shikamaru's doing the planning?" He questioned, surprise evident in his tone. The class slacker? Sasuke did remember that Shikamaru had supposedly done well in their first Chuunin Exam, but beyond that the news that filtered into Sound barely mentioned the Nara. If Kakashi trusted Shikamaru enough to plan for his team, then there had to be something useful about him -- intriguing.

Something worth nothing.

Unlike what Sasuke might have learned the past few days. He tensed slightly, aware that he had nothing to offer, and shook his head. "I haven't yet."

Of all the things for him to show emotion about, Shikamaru would not have been her first guess. How... annoying. Still, it gave her something to focus on instead of what had happened to Itachi.

Sasuke hadn't been there to hear the results of the Chuunin exam. And she knew that Shikamaru's team had been sent after him, only to come back battered and half-dead. Apparently it hadn't been anything noteworthy in Sasuke's opinion.

"He's lazy and obnoxious," Sakura explained flatly, "but he's a very good strategist." It was because of him, after all, that they'd been able to take down both Kakuzu and Hidan of Akatsuki. His plans were nearly flawless.

"What is it," she asked, "that you think might be down there?" The bulletin had been filled with nothing but negativity when it came to the basement. While some thought it held the secrets to escape, others only cautioned against it.

Count on Sakura to make her opinion known so bluntly. Sasuke had to wish that she could muster some of that firm judgment when it came to him -- the only reason she could even be here had to be because she was looking at the situation with glasses tinted so deeply rose they might as well have been a blindfold.

Nonetheless, the information about Shikamaru was interesting. Sasuke made a note to possibly look into speaking with him at some point; though Shikamaru had made little impression on Sasuke when they were younger, people did change. Should change.

As for the basement -- well, there was an example of something that did change when it really wasn't supposed to. Then again precious little of Landel's, creature or building, did what it was actually supposed to.

"I don't have a precise idea of what might be there," Sasuke said, truthfully enough. "But if there were nothing of interest, it wouldn't be set up the way it is. Landel wants us down there, but he only wants those who are able to make it all the way. It's worth finding out why."

That, and Sasuke could hardly go running out into the darkness beyond the Institute without having to rely much more heavily on others than he liked.

Sasuke had a point, but Sakura wasn't sure she could trust that Landel's motives were so simple. She decided to drop it for now so they could get moving.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/660443.html?thread=55328987#t55328987)]

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Dayshift 42: Main Street - Noon

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