Day 51: Breakfast

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Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

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[bothersomewoman.livejournal.com]

That pause naturally made Temari's curiosity peak. This whole time there had been details that Shikamaru wasn't sharing, and she knew it. Whatever had happened to make him so hesitant, be it here or from home, he was hiding something from her, and she was starting to get annoyed by it. If it turned out that he was trying to be stupidly chauvinistic again, she really would punch him. Temari still might, just for the hell of it.

"Which means I have to put up with you every time I'm there? I wonder if my older self pissed off the Hokage somehow." Temari stabbed her toast with the fork, knowing the words weren't true even as she said them. Temari and Shikamaru simply worked well together, as had been proven when they faced Touya. "Or maybe she just knows I'll keep you in line."

Which was a promise for the present too. When Shikamaru waved over the papers, Temari reached across and grabbed his fork, spearing a sausage link which was then held up in front of his face. "Don't forget to eat, idiot. You don't get to use me as an excuse not to take care of yourself. It's not like two experienced ninja can't figure out how to pass notes if you don't finish right away."

Temari let Shikamaru keep going, though what he pointed out next hardly fell in the category of "good news." Temari knew of the chakra restriction firsthand, of course, but the idea of Gaara being without his sand was a hard one to accept. "Are you sure? The sand has its own chakra, and it's been with him ever since he was born. Could this place really take it away from him?" Plausibility aside, if it had happened, then Temari had to consider exactly what Shikamaru had said. Taijutsu was something none of the siblings found their strength in, and it held particularly true in Gaara's case thanks to the sand he'd been able to manipulate his entire life. The strongest of Suna's ninjas might have just become the most vulnerable.

"Are there any taijutsu specialists here?" Temari knew that the Leaf boasted several, even if they were odd beyond comprehension. Still, Gaara would need to learn the basics of self-defense quickly; without her own chakra, Temari was uncertain of her ability to protect him. "And just how did you figure out what you can do with your chakra? You said restricted, not unusable. That means Gaara and I might be able to use ours too."

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Shikamaru didn't bother trying to hide his smirk at her complaints. "Yeah, you say that a lot back home, too," he said. "'The hokage must hate me, blah blah, if it wasn't for me you'd never get any work done, and so on." Sometimes, her ability to complain rivaled his own. He rolled his eyes before grabbing the fork from her hand and eating the sausage, then cut off a piece of the french toast. "I take care of myself just fine," he grumbled, though she was right--he hadn't been eating enough. Without his mother around to force feed him or Chouji to finish his leftovers, Shikamaru hadn't seen an empty plate since he got here.

He turned his thoughts back to Gaara. "I'm not sure about the sand, but I'd bet on it," he said. "It's still chakra, whether it's his or someone else's. Even if it did come with him, it'd be weakened."

And then she had to ask exactly how he figured out what he could and couldn't do, didn't she? No, simply knowing the facts wouldn't be enough when she could force him to admit to mistakes. He scowled at the question and looked away, folding his arms. "I did a quick test when I got here." Sakura was still probably pissed about that. "I can only use the shadow imitation technique, and only for a few seconds--using the little chakra we have is exhausting. And don't think you're above that," he added with a glace back, certain that she would. "People pass out from using too much." Then he looked away again, this time to the ceiling. "But after that, I was an idiot and just assumed a technique was a technique. It's not. Really, my jutsu's back to the level it was at during the chuunin exams. Damage is reciprocal, so try not to kill anything when I'm binding it."

But then, this version of Temari wouldn't have known much about him after those exams anyway.

"It'll probably exhaust your chakra for the night, but you need to test everything, and soon." he said. "So does Gaara. I didn't figure out that last part until it almost got the whole team killed."

Luckily, there was another question to take his mind off of that incident. "As for Taijutsu, Gai's here," he said. "You can't get a much better specialist than that."

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"Are you sure? Maybe picking up the fork feels like too much effort sometimes." Because if Temari's older self complained about having to work with Shikamaru, then it was probable that lazy streak really had changed. But in that case, just how had he gotten the jounin rank? Ability was one thing, but application played a vital role too. Temari studied Shikamaru's face in silence while he chewed, trying to decide if he really had it in him to exert himself that much on a regular basis.

Ultimately, however, Shikamaru's rank was far less important than the matter at hand. The scenario described meant that the absolute best case would be Gaara possessing a less effective Shield of Sand, but even that presented serious risks. Temari knew he would need a taijutsu teacher, although the one presented wasn't the most desirable. "Ugh, that guy?" Temari scrunched her nose, leaving no doubt as to where Maito Gai fell in terms of her opinion. "Isn't there anyone else? I'm not exactly sure how Gaara would take to his--style."

For lack of a better word, since "Gai" and "style" were about as harmonious as "Shikamaru" and "hard work." Some things just didn't go together, period.

Despite her misgivings, however, Temari couldn't deny Gai's prowess. If that weird eyebrows kid was any indication, he could work miracles with his students. "I'll talk to Gaara about it. Really, it's up to him." And if there really was no other option, better that her brother be safe. Temari would just have to remember that, and pray that the ninja had no access to green spandex there. An older sister had to draw the line somewhere.

Testing her own chakra being a much easier concept to embrace, Temari nodded as she mentally went down the list of techniques. "You know that I use a fan for most of my jutsu. Is there any way of getting one here?" Shikamaru had found at least one kunai somehow, so it might be possible. For Gaara, however, getting his weapon of choice might be a much simpler task. Temari pulled out the maps again, taking a closer look at the layout. "It looks like we can get outside. If we can, Gaara might be able to make some sand." Which would definitely be better than nothing.

But all of that ideally would only take a single night, and maybe not all of that. Given that they'd apparently be working together for a long while, Temari decided it was time to pry for some of those details Shikamaru wasn't sharing. "So just what are your plans, short-term and long-term? Normally you love to brag when you've gotten everything figured out, but so far you've been silent on that point."

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"There's always Naruto," he pointed out. "Technically, he's not a great teacher, but Gaara might actually learn." There was a degree of trust there, and that was important. Gaara didn't need to learn the finer points of taijutsu, just enough to stay alive. Besides, the best people to learn from didn't always act like teachers. Shikamaru shuddered to think of what he'd know about strategy if he took shougi advice from Asuma rather than simply playing against the man.

"And as for your fan..." His voice trailed off as he felt the familiar sharp scraping against the inside of his skull. Luckily, it was a weak pain, something he could ignore for the time being. "There are people who can make weapons, yeah. They mostly do swords and knives...I'm not sure if they can make fans, but we can come up with something. Did you make your own?" If Temari knew all of the steps and materials that went into constructing her weapon, they might be able to improvise. Even if she didn't go looking for trouble, trouble would find her eventually.

He unfolded his arms and rested his elbows on the table, palm against his cheek as he stared at the remnants of his food without much interest. Right. He was supposed to have everything figured out.

"In the short term, we need to make sure that everyone's armed, make sure that the teams are well-balanced, institute a reliable but secret communication method, and establish an informal chain of command. Kakashi was acting as the leader, but he disappeared the night before last and we haven't had a chance to reorganize. As it stands, there's almost no coordination. No one knows who to report to, and trying to assign missions is a mess." Sakura was best suited for a leadership role, but he was worried about her...she was strong, but she was also emotional and had been through a lot since arriving here. Gai was too new, Jiraiya too disinterested, Sai too focused on his other companions. Shikamaru couldn't do it, not with these headaches. The pain grew stronger as he spoke, acidic and sprinkling his vision with pinpricks of light, but he tried to keep it out of his voice. The last thing he needed was someone berating him for weakness.

He fell silent, trying to decide whether to share his larger plan with Temari, but the more he tried to focus on the question the harder it was to ignore the roaring sounds and nauseating smells of the cafeteria. The thing in his head, if it was a thing, still had a distaste for planning. Shikamaru pushed away his plate before the strong odor made him ill.

"I don't know if you want to know my long-term plans," he finally said.

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Naruto, the shrimp? While Temari couldn't deny what he'd done for her brother, the idea of that kid trying to convey an idea so that other people could learn it (without punching someone) didn't exactly seem plausible. Ultimately, however, Shikamaru knew Naruto better than she, and Gaara had bonded with him in some incredible way Temari couldn't understand. Moreover, Naruto had beaten the Shukaku demon within Gaara, so maybe. There was definitely more to the kid than Temari had initially given him credit for.

"Like I said, I'll talk to Gaara. It's really his choice what he wants to do, but thanks for the idea. Just who else is here anyway?" Temari doubted that there were any enemies of the Leaf, given how freely they did use the bulletin. Even if no names were exchanged, anyone would recognize the Leaf symbol itself, and it didn't take much to figure out the emblems each individual used, provided they'd met. Still, there had been at least one Temari couldn't figure out, and it'd be good to know numbers in a general sense. While Konoha and Suna were allies, Temari's loyalty was first to her own; if Gaara decided it'd be better to work separately for whatever reason, she'd go with her brother. Granted, she'd tell him that it was a really dumb idea, but the point still stood.

When Shikamaru asked about her fan, Temari shook her head. "I didn't make it myself, but I know the basic construction and materials. I have to be able to make repairs on my own while we're on missions." The problem was durability; normal fans couldn't withstand the power of Temari's jutsu, and were ineffective as weapons. Hopefully she would be able to find one of the weapon makers soon, in case whatever Shikamaru was thinking didn't pan out.

And then came the rest of it, and context that made Naruto's note much more understandable, if still not sensible. Temari knew Kakashi was a major force in Konoha just by reputation, so she didn't doubt that the ninja felt that loss hard even without the disorganization to consider. Something about it was off, however, in terms of how uncertain everyone was. "Well, Gai and you are the ranking ninja, right?" So it would fall to them to take over in Kakashi's stead. Moreover, from what Temari could tell, everyone was looking to Shikamaru to take over that position anyway. Certainly that's how it seemed from the note.

"You're suited for it, at least." Temari's voice trailed off as Shikamaru pushed his plate away. Something about him suddenly seemed off, and it took a moment for the kunoichi to read his expression. "Are you getting sick?" The food had agreed with Temari so far, but it wasn't exactly unheard of to poison someone's meal. She leaned closer, intending to check Shikamaru's temperature next if he didn't recover.

"And just why wouldn't I want to know about your plans? That doesn't make any sense." It was an attempt to distract him, though Temari wasn't sure just how well Shikamaru or anyone else could think when they were ill. Still, it couldn't hurt to try. "Just tell me already. I can handle whatever you have to say."

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"As long as he's safe," Shikamaru said, and there was no hint condescension in his tone. He didn't mean to speak lowly of the boy, who'd more than proved himself in Shikamaru's eyes. The institute's limitations were just a legitimate concern, something to be taken into account when planning. "You'll keep an eye on him tonight. I'll go with you two. My jutsu's best suited for defense, as long as you don't argue when I say to retreat." At the moment he didn't look well-suited for much, pale with his nails digging into his arms, but there was trained confidence in his voice.

Shikamaru felt an irrational sense of obligation to the well-being of the girl across from him, probably a remnant of his assignment. He had been ordered to act as her guide, after all. She wasn't a Leaf-nin, but she was still his responsibility. Besides, it wasn't like she'd stay safe on her own...she'd probably get herself killed trying to protect her brother, who was also a valuable ally. Someone needed to look after them.

Someone needed to look after everyone.

Someone like one of the two ranking ninja, perhaps. Sakura was lucky that he hated hurting women.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine. It's just a headache." He tried to step away from the razor-lined paths of strategy for long enough to answer the safest of Temari's questions.

He pushed the paper forward and quickly drew the symbols each ninja used to identify themselves on the bulletin. "Sai's from some secret Leaf-nin group I've never heard of," he explained, noting the fact beside the sketched paintbrush. "Obito's some childhood friend of Kakashi who died when he was a kid. He's an Uchiha. I think you know the rest of us from the exams." After a second, he added another note. "Oh, and this one, Haku. He's from Kirigakure. Kakashi said he's an ally, but he does his own thing."

"Almost everyone here is stuck on the idea of getting out," he continued. "Getting back home. I don't think I need to tell you that's impossible. I know you three years in your future. Sakura knows me a few months in my future. We're all..." Shikamaru hesitated, searching for the phrasing that wouldn't cause Temari to outright reject the situation. "It's like the guy in charge, Landel, made copies of us and brought us to this other world. Even if there's a way to get back, there isn't a place for us there. We're already home, doing whatever we're supposed to be doing. If escape was possible, we'd know about this place already."

He took a deep breath. Why did Temari think he was suited for the role of leader anyway, aside from Sakura's bluff about his rank? Shikamaru didn't want to lead. He just wanted to keep his friends from dying. He folded his arms and rested his chin on his wrists, feeling like the air above him had suddenly turned heavy and oppressive. "My long term plans are to keep everyone safe," he said. That was the closest he could come to fulfilling the promises he'd made, though the words still felt like a betrayal. "But they need to feel like they're making progress or they'll run off on their own, and when they do that, they get badly hurt or die. I'm not willing to make pointless sacrifices. They need to think there's a way out of here, and they need to think I'm prioritizing escape over their individual lives."

Actually explaining the things he'd kept nebulously instinctive drew pain back to the forefront of his consciousness, and he closed his eyes against the cafeteria's lights. "If whatever you're going to say involves my weakness or lack of emotional training, just keep it to yourself."