OMG I WROTE SOMETHING
It's kind of funny (except not really). You never really notice how much you rely on the Sun until it's gone.
***
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, because the only things that told how much time had passed were hunger and food.
Hunger became a constant after a while. This wasn't a particularly bad prison, but the food was never plentiful. The food itself didn't really come in at regular times, either -- the guards had never let anyone go for days at a time foodless without a good reason -- but even when the guards felt generous they tended to bring the food when they felt like it rather than at food time. This was encouraged by their superiors, who felt that disorienting the prisoners could only be helpful.
***
The guards were forbidden from talking to the prisoners. One of the reasons for that being that a guard might get attached to a criminal.
Even so, some of the guards couldn't stop themselves from feeling a slight fondness for some of those criminals. There was the timid woman who'd poisoned her husband, and never failed to thank whoever brought her food or water or to blush when her bucket was emptied. (More than one guard was certain her husband had been an abusive asshole, and they'd be right.) There was the charming international thief who repeatedly complimented this prison and its country for their fantastic security measures, in an ever so slightly despairing tone of voice. And there was that guy who'd killed Counsellor Danzou. He was cheerful and energetic despite the gloominess of the prison, and though the guards were forbidden from talking to the prisoners there was no rule against the prisoners talking amongst themselves, which meant that listening to the entertaining bantering, conversations and monologues of this particular prisoner was fair game.
He sounded like a nice guy, that one, although he sounded like a bit of an idiot too. He was ridiculously expressive, and sometimes a bit rude, but overall most of the guards thought they'd have liked to meet the guy in a bar.
He didn't let the prison get him down, either -- which, really, was actually pretty impressive. He always seemed to be doing something -- if he wasn't talking he was exercising. He exercised a lot, and his body was in very good condition. This made a few of the guards nervous.
There were a few debates on why this guy had killed Counsellor Danzou, mostly by the newer guards. Why would such a nice guy kill someone, especially someone as well-known and respected as a Counsellor? They came up with wild, if plausible, theories -- he was avenging someone who'd died in the Revolution; he was politically opposed to Danzou's position; he was paid to do it. That lasted until someone thought to go after the guy's records. The more experienced guards, who'd just shaken their heads and stayed out of it, weren't terribly surprised by what was found. Uzumaki Naruto had been an orphan with no known relatives, raised by Danzou's people and trained as one of his elite soldiers, until one day he'd killed the man. He was to be executed for treason and had made no tries to defend himself.
It just went to show... Sometimes you just can't tell.
***
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, because the only things that told how much time had passed were hunger and food.
Hunger became a constant after a while. This wasn't a particularly bad prison, but the food was never plentiful. The food itself didn't really come in at regular times, either -- the guards had never let anyone go for days at a time foodless without a good reason -- but even when the guards felt generous they tended to bring the food when they felt like it rather than at food time. This was encouraged by their superiors, who felt that disorienting the prisoners could only be helpful.
***
The guards were forbidden from talking to the prisoners. One of the reasons for that being that a guard might get attached to a criminal.
Even so, some of the guards couldn't stop themselves from feeling a slight fondness for some of those criminals. There was the timid woman who'd poisoned her husband, and never failed to thank whoever brought her food or water or to blush when her bucket was emptied. (More than one guard was certain her husband had been an abusive asshole, and they'd be right.) There was the charming international thief who repeatedly complimented this prison and its country for their fantastic security measures, in an ever so slightly despairing tone of voice. And there was that guy who'd killed Counsellor Danzou. He was cheerful and energetic despite the gloominess of the prison, and though the guards were forbidden from talking to the prisoners there was no rule against the prisoners talking amongst themselves, which meant that listening to the entertaining bantering, conversations and monologues of this particular prisoner was fair game.
He sounded like a nice guy, that one, although he sounded like a bit of an idiot too. He was ridiculously expressive, and sometimes a bit rude, but overall most of the guards thought they'd have liked to meet the guy in a bar.
He didn't let the prison get him down, either -- which, really, was actually pretty impressive. He always seemed to be doing something -- if he wasn't talking he was exercising. He exercised a lot, and his body was in very good condition. This made a few of the guards nervous.
There were a few debates on why this guy had killed Counsellor Danzou, mostly by the newer guards. Why would such a nice guy kill someone, especially someone as well-known and respected as a Counsellor? They came up with wild, if plausible, theories -- he was avenging someone who'd died in the Revolution; he was politically opposed to Danzou's position; he was paid to do it. That lasted until someone thought to go after the guy's records. The more experienced guards, who'd just shaken their heads and stayed out of it, weren't terribly surprised by what was found. Uzumaki Naruto had been an orphan with no known relatives, raised by Danzou's people and trained as one of his elite soldiers, until one day he'd killed the man. He was to be executed for treason and had made no tries to defend himself.
It just went to show... Sometimes you just can't tell.