Okay, I know that it's been a while, and I know that some of you probably want to shoot me now, but I have an excuse! Well, I always do, but this one's a good one! I've had to do college applications, and my time on the computer is limited, since not only am I writing for Fanfiction, but my sister is as well, and my dad has things that he has to do on the computer as well; like, after I upload this, he's going to get on. So, anyways, I hope that I've written enough on this chapter to make up for the time. Though, I can't promise that it won't happen again-I'm really, super lazy! XP
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Kakashi approached the door to the elevator, which would take him to Level Three, where he had to help pass out medicine to the patients. From what Kakashi could see, the elevator was the only way to actually reach the Third Level, something about extra security. So obviously, Sasuke had a hard time getting to Itachi.
As Kakashi reached the door, he noticed that along with the call-button for the elevator, there was also a key pad with a finger-print scanner.
Wow, no wonder Sasuke hasn't killed his brother yet. I suppose you can never be too cautious at an asylum. Kakashi thought to himself. Now, how do I get up?
As if by reading his mind, which wasn't entirely non-plausible, an electronic voice came from the elevator.
"Please STATE purpose for approaching THE elevator terminal."
Kakashi looked around quickly, to both make sure that he was alone, and to make sure that it was in fact the elevator that talked. Once he made sure, Kakashi answered the elevator, which for some reason looked like it was expecting an answer.
"Um, I have to go to Level Three, to help administer the medicine. I'm a new employee, here." Kakashi added, thinking that it might be necessary with the elevator.
"Please STATE your name to VERIFY your identity." The computer-voice from the elevator asked.
"…Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi told the elevator uncertainly, sure that he must look like a fool to any random passerby.
"Please STEP forward to be TESTED…Kakashi." The voice said, pausing to say Kakashi's name slowly and deliberately.
"…Okay?" Kakashi said while stepping over to the keypad and hand scanner.
"Please put YOUR hand on the SCANNER…Kakashi." The voice told him.
Feeling even more uncertain, Kakashi hesitantly put his hand on the scanner. A green light quickly scanned Kakashi's hand, and as he was about to pull away from it, a pricking sensation entered one of his fingers, and Kakashi quickly pulled his hand away, to find that the elevator had taken a blood sample from him.
This is a little overboard, and besides, this place doesn't even have a sample of my blood, or handprint signature, to go by—or do they? Kakashi thought to himself.
"While THE computer is scanning, PLEASE enter your employee CODE… Kakashi," the computer-voice from the elevator told him.
"Uh…I only started here today. I don't know my employee code, and I didn't know that I even needed an employee code." Kakashi said, feeling that this was probably going to be an indication of what work here was going to be like from now on, and what it would be like to have to deal with Gain again, and under these conditions.
"Very WELL…Kakashi. Your blood AND handprint HAVE VERIFIED that you are WHO you say you ARE…Kakashi." The elevator said while opening its doors.
"…Thank you." Kakashi said while stepping into the elevator.
Before the doors closed, however, the elevator scanned a green light through the inside of the elevator.
"Warning, WARNING!" Unauthorized personnel in THE elevator terminal!" The voice said as a flashing red light pulsated throughout the inside of the elevator. Kakashi had started when the lights had started flashing, and began looking abound, trying to figure out what had happened when he looked behind himself. Kakashi saw Sasuke, looking dejected that his plan had been foiled.
As Kakashi was leading Sasuke out of the tube-like elevator, which was actually quite spacious inside, he told the younger man, "Now, now, Sasuke, surely you've tried this before, and were caught just the same, right?" On the inside, Kakashi was thinking, these kids will be the end of me, or at least my patience.
"Yeah, but I never made it into the elevator before. I didn't know it had a scanner." Sasuke replied sulkily. Kakashi made sure that Sasuke had left, and that there was on one else with him, when he went back into the elevator.
I don't need this kind of stress, Kakashi thought. The elevator had scanned him again, and had pronounced that he was the only occupant in the terminal…Kakashi…when a thought suddenly struck him.
Wait. Gai was crazy before he was introduced to this sort of thing. How's he going to be when he sees me again? Kakashi fretted. I hope he doesn't challenge me to another pointless duel. Kakashi shuddered at the thought.
After about a minute, the elevator finally reached Level Three, which despite being named Level Three, was actually the top floor, five stories up.
"Please wait TO be scanned before LEAVING…Kakashi." The elevator said while scanning Kakashi once more. After making sure that no one had slipped in when Kakashi wasn't looking, the elevator finally let Kakashi out of the elevator.
"Have a good DAY…Kakashi." The elevator said while closing its doors behind Kakashi.
Well, that was odd. For some reason, it reminded me of the computer on 2001, HAL.
Looking at the hallway, which was lined with doors on each end, with a hallway turning right at the end, Kakashi was left to ponder, what do I do now?
Now that I think about it, nobody actually told me when and where I was supposed to meet Gai and the other guy, Asuma, to dispense the medication. Kakashi thought while leaning against the left wall and pulling out his Icha Icha Paradise book. After flipping through a few pages, Kakashi noticed that a few of the Level Three's had wandered onto the floor, and were looking at him.
I could always talk to them, if I get bored. Kakashi thought. Without looking up from where he was reading, Kakashi asked, "Is there something that you want?"
The Level Three's seemed surprised that Kakashi had noticed them, and began muttering under their breaths to each other. This went on for a few seconds, before they seemed to elect a leader to speak for them.
"What are you doing here? Why are you here? How did you get past the elevator?" the spokes person from the group of Level Three's asked. From somewhere behind him, someone shouted, "What do you want from us? Leave us alone!" But before the person could say anything else, the crowd shushed him, and moved him away.
"What did you do with that person?" Kakashi asked, feeling that he should ask, since he is an employee now.
"Keisuke's in his room now. But you didn't answer my questions. Are deliberately not answering?" Spokes-psycho asked with a bit of an edge in his voice.
Okay, so they are all paranoid. I can deal with that.
"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi, though you can call me Kakashi. I got past the elevator because I am a new employee here, and before you ask, Gai got me this job," at this, several people showed signs of sympathy, though whether it's because he knew Gai well enough for him to get Kakashi a job, or because he's now working there, Kakashi wasn't sure. "As for why I am here, on this floor, it's because it's none of your business." Kakashi said while turning back to his book.
This made several people upset, which attracted the attention of the people in the cloaks that Kakashi had seen in the cafeteria earlier—the Akatsuki, if Kakashi remembered right.
"Okay, what the f*** is going on here, dammit? I was in the f***in' middle of my ritual, you shit heads!" An older teenager with slicked back white hair, carrying a weird rosary-type-thing, shouted into the crowd. When the Akatsuki had shown up, several of the other patients had moved over to the side, so that they would have more room. But when the man with Teretz started yelling at them, even more moved over to the side.
"What is going on here?" The apparent leader of the group, who had deep orange hair and several piercings in his nose, ears, and even in his bottom lip, said.
…Why is it that everyone here is allowed these types of things? Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I'm surprised that a place that has the type of security such as the elevator would allow something like that. Kakashi thought to himself. He didn't change his posture, though, since he was in the middle a good part in his book.
"P-Pein-sama! Th-this person, H-Hatake Kakashi, he-he's very disrespectful, a-and w-wouldn't a-answer our questions!" The spokes-psycho told Pein while cowering under his gaze.
So, he's the boss around here, huh?
"…And that's reason enough to annoy us, un? Geez, what's going to happen when someone comes and starts smacking you around, or something, hm?" A teenager with blonde hair who looked like a girl asked while shaking his head.
"Shut up, Deidara. We would have been here approximately 37 seconds earlier, if you hadn't stopped to grab your clay. You know how I hate waiting." A red-haired teenager chastised to Deidara. The red-haired teenager looked very upset and irritated that he had to wait.
"But-but! Sasori-no-danna! You know that I always have to have it with me, in case there's a need for my art!" Deidara said, spreading his arms out wide, and nearly hitting Itachi, who was standing next to the man with shark-DNA.
"Hey, hey! You nearly hit Itachi-san! Watch what your doing!" The shark-man said while glaring menacingly at Deidara.
"See what you've done, brat?" Sasori said while huffing.
"Kisame, it doesn't matter." Itachi said calmly, not really moving to say what he had.
"Enough, all of you." Pein said calmly, but coldly. At that, everyone was immediately silent, though it wasn't that big a deal for Itachi. Pein turned to Kakashi and looked him up and down.
"Your name is Kakashi?" Pein asked, though it sounded like an order.
"Yes, that's right." Kakashi said, answering as if it didn't really matter.
"What are you doing here?" Pein asked/ordered again. Before Kakashi could answer, however, Spokes-psycho answered for him. "He-he didn't answer before, Pein-sama. I doubt that he will answer this time."
A hushed silence fell over the group in the hallway as Pein turned towards Spokes-psycho. "Did I ask you for you opinion? Did I ask you to answer for him? Just because he will not answer to you, does not mean that he will not answer to God."
…God? What? Kakashi asked himself as he closed his book. He had a feeling that he would have to pay his full attention to what was happening in the hallway.
"S-sorry, P-Pein-sama! P-please forgive me!" Spokes-psycho pleaded to Pein as he threw himself onto the ground, groveling.
"Whether Pein forgives you or not is up to him. You shouldn't bother him with trivial requests such as that." The blue-haired woman with a lip piercing told the whimpering man on the ground with disdain.
"Thank you, Konan. Now, back to the matter at hand; what are you doing here?" Pein asked again, this time with no one interrupting him.
"I'm here because I work here now. I was told to meet Gai and Asuma here; it was Gai who got me this job." Kakashi told the mob. There were a lot of mutters at the fact that Kakashi was working there now, and even more at the fact that it was Gai who got him the job there.
"And what is your job that has made you come up here?" Pein asked.
"I have to help Gai and Asuma dispense the medication." Kakashi replied. Despite his acting like a mob boss, this Pein-guy isn't such a bad person to get along with, as long as you keep it simple. Kakashi thought.
"…You're a medicine man?" Pein asked softly. Around him, the Akatsuki started to look nervous, and began to search for escape paths. The other residents of Level Three, however, flat out started panicking, and a few even screamed, "No more medication, no more medication!"
"I suppose that's one way to look at it." Kakashi said, closely watching everyone's reactions. Everyone is panicking now, and even the Akatsuki, who looked like they were the leaders of everyone, the ones who were looked up to, are acting jittery. What is it about the medication that has everyone upset so much?
Before Kakashi could find a way to ask this, however, the elevator doors opened, and a billow of smoke escaped through.
"-can you stand to smoke like that, it is most un-youthful! And it's bad for your health, as well!" A voice came from the elevator. A cheerfully, obnoxious, familiar voice.
"Eh, to each his own. I smoke because I can, and you don't because it's 'un-youthful.'" Another voice, un-familiar and laid-back, answered the first.
"If you say so." The first voice replied, not sounding convinced. By now, two figures exited the elevator, (Have A nice day), one, the speaker of the first voice, dressed in green spandex, with a tan vest over the spandex, covering his chest, and with a bowl cut. The other voice belonged to a man dressed in an easy-going manner, with brown hair in a somewhat spiky fashion, and smoking a cigarette. The first man was, un-doubtably, Might Gai, Kakashi's old collage roommate, the man who got Kakashi his job, and the other was most likely Sarutobi Asuma, who was supposed to be with Gai when Kakashi reported to his new job on Level Three.
When Gai saw Kakashi, the first thing he did was a double take. The second thing he did was cry man-tears over their reunion, and the third was strike his 'Nice Guy' pose.
Oh, Kami-sama, Gai. You're still doing that stupid, un-cool pose?
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Okay, so that was Kakashi meeting Gai for the first time in, oh, say, about a month, and meeting Asuma for the actual first time. Again, sorry about the delay; I thought that I would be able to update sooner than I actually am, but with various things happening, it just hasn't worked out. So, I'm sorry. Also, I probably won't be updating so quick anyways, though hopefully not as late as this one has been. I have limited time on the computer, so most of my time is spent with e-mail, and sometimes my sister will want to listen to songs on here while I do this, so that stops me too. Oh, well, now that a major hurdle is practically over, for the most part (college applications. It's like they're stalkers, or something!), I should be able to update sooner than this has taken, but I do have another story that I'm working on; luckily, I've already written a lot of the next chapter, I just have to type it. So, for those of you who forgive me, please review! It will make this delay seem like it was worthwhile!