Act 1, Scene 19: Picking Up the Pieces
So cleaning after something that is broken. It could be Shizue herself or her friends or other people affected by the battle.
Funerals and the burning of bodies filled the long evening, and yet to the average civilian, Shizue grew to realize as she listened, the war was farther away than she'd thought.
I think that rather than the average civilian, it is the civilian living on Reef and other islands away from the borders with the other villages that are away from it. Those who live in islands hit by it, on the other hand, would find things like Ken setting their town on fire to be harder to ignore. Besides, I would assume that the official version of things is that Reef is closer to victory than ever so they wouldn't worry about it reaching their homes/ the capital. Add to it that the ones fighting are ninjas so they are not conscripted to it and that ninjas and civvies are separated in status and thus unlikely to be family with each other, then it is only natural that they consider the war as someone's else business.
Which brings an interesting idea to mind. I don't really know where I am going with this yet though, so have a little patience.
I mean, the genin with civilian background are somewhat looked down upon as we see with Rika. Other than her, in our class, I don't remember many who didn't have a ninja in the family even if a lot of them had those members already dead. Yet if those without it have the potential to be shunned like Rika, who had no friends prior to us, there can't be that many since the prejudice would have a little trouble being maintained if most of the students and ninja had commoners as parents (unless they are the bulk of the ninjas who commonly die).
It wouldn't be surprising if most of those who don't have a ninja background that go to the academy were orphans since they wouldn't have parents whose trade they would have to learn or who would object to it. That is one of the possible reasons for the civilians not to worry about the dead since they would not be related to them but there is another cause for that other than them having no family at all.
Now, with the divide between the ruling class and the subjects, while if a ninja wants to have children with a civilian I doubt they would be denied, that doesn't change the fact that ninjas look down on civilians and are more likely to interact with other ninjas. I think that many would have children with civilian just because it would be hard for one of them to refuse marrying up in society (among other things) but it wouldn't be weird if two ninjas were to have children or marry. In either case, any children they have are likely to choose being ninjas and they might have more than one. Provided that they reach adulthood and have children on their own, you would have a small group of ninja that are related in a village with less than a hundred of those.
Considering the low number of adult ninja in service then, to keep the rate at which they die and assuming that civilian born ninjas who aren't orphans are rare (that is that they use orphans to fuel their war machine) then either most of those in the academy are orphans or sons of retired ninja or the ninjas in active duty feel the need to pop up children from civilian wives to keep their numbers. Either that or they are encouraged to form a family while young and we don't see that many ninja families because the parents die before their offspring finish the academy.
Yet most of the strong ninjas we heard of don't. We know that Akahito had at least one son but Hirotomo has never been known to be in a relationship, Tomoyo doesn't seem to be married and neither does Zenzo. That is at least three high ranking ninjas without progeny. The other special jounin and jounin might have family but more likely than not the chunin if anyone would have them yet we have heard nothing about all the orphans they would have left.
Yes, we have heard of ninjas who lost children. There was that chunin that got drunk and trashed a bar, there is chieko's mom. And it is true that the bulk of our loses has been in genin so that would explain it. Yet later in the chapter, of the seven academy students that are going to graduate early, we heard nothing from their parents.
Given the number of ninjas I am somewhat surprised we haven't heard of many brothers from Reef other than the Yaramachi… one would expect that they would want as many offspring as possible to make sure at least one reaches adulthood. Though now that I think about it, that is probably something more likely to happen in Island. Reef gives power based on personal skill and merit and cares little for clans while in Island they are the ones that rule. So here we would have small families while there they would make sure to have them being as big as possible to make sure that their techniques survive.
There is also, now that I remember, another source of ninjas, that is, the outside of the Archipielago. A lot of the backstories are about clan people who moved to Reef.
People laughed and joked, and she heard- heard and listened and grit her teeth and imagined them saying that about Rika- people saying, where they thought shinobi couldn't hear, that Manami got what she deserved, that she was rude to civvies and took too much from them, and mannish, and her ways were unnatural.
Yet another mark of the social divide. Ninjas don't really seem to care about homosexuality since Manabi felt safe to display it in public and Shizue didn't bat an eyelash when she learned about Rika. Yet her father struck her when he learned about it and now these people criticize it. It might have to do with the fact that children often help their parents with their jobs or it could be that the influx of ninjas from the outside made their class more progressive in that aspect (sexuality becoming more accepted in the central elemental nations as time progresses and ninjas who moved to the Archipielago made sure that their descendants were ok with it. Considering how small a proportion ninjas are then the change would be faster since not only would they make a bigger percentage than those who move to the islands in the civilian front but because they would have a greater chance to survive because of outside training).
It might be that Island also has such stigma if they give much importance to their clans but here, where it doesn't matter that much the son of what ninja you are if you are not skilled on your own (unless said parent had a bad reputation and then people hate you), it is not so important that a good ninja keeps their skills secret or makes sure they survive. Which would explain why Chieko felt comfortable teaching her mother's techniques or why we haven't heard of many ninja siblings except the Yaramachis, who are a clan without which the village wouldn't survive.
It might even be that this is one of the reasons, if not the main one, that Rika chose to be a ninja. This way she could move to a place in which people didn't care much about her life choices as long as she helped the village despite being clearly interested in intellectual topics. Even if there were others in the academy with such prejudice, they would have started their training at a young age and be around those that don't care which would stomp it even if not treated directly.
Finally, there is a matter of necessity, if you have a small amount of soldiers and some of them are worth more than others then you can't really afford to alienate them. All of these reasons are tied with the act of having children and it being unnatural but I think the divide goes beyond that.
Take note about how they talk about it. Mannish and unnatural. Two different aspects of it. The second, which we treated already, has to do with the conception that man should not lay with man or woman with other. Mannish is akin to man but that is not just about who one beds but about behaviour. It is weird to consider that they would have such conception regarding ninjas considering that they are all killers but it is possible that they have stereotypes about what a shinobi and kunoichi should be like or about men and women should speak and behave even for a line of work that seems to defuse said lines.
The other critic is about oppression which we can understand so I won't comment much of it. Sae already expressed to Shizue what her opinion should be about it.
Though it is interesting that in the update it says that Manami "was rude to civvies". Civvies instead of civilians. Since this seems like a peyorative term, it is unlikely that the civilians call themselves like that. This would imply that this is actually a mental translation that Shizue is making herself, and the fact that she used the term probably means she also has some prejudice against them, even if she is unaware.
It took very little social ability to be able to understand exactly what it was they meant
A good thing too. I used to believe Shizue was a-ok with her social ability but the OOC warning from the GM spooked me a little. With our low Power score I am less sure about how good we are at it. Fortunately we are planning to solve that at the end of the week, I would hate for Shizue to end up naïve compared to the others even with high intelligence that we are planning for her to have.
It took quite a bit of social ability to be able to refrain from confronting them
Now this give us an interesting topic. I already said, we have low Power which is our ability to convince people about stuff. Now, one could argue that it includes when to talk and when not to but I think that would be more related to Willpower since Power is force of personality.
The one we think about when we talk about power and force of personality would be Naruto. Then, was her ability to keep quiet because we raised willpower but her inability to convince them to feel bad about speaking of the dead like that something to do with Power? Or was it that she didn't feel secure enough in herself to confront them because of her lack of the second?
If Shizue revealed she was a ninja, rather than going about Transformed, uncertain and not wanting to be fully home, no doubt they'd apologize and blubber
Now, I know that she has that custom of walking around transformed because she didn't like that she was shunned by other ninjas and that by pretending to be a civilian she can feel like she belongs to the village. But she has friends now. It might be that she is still not used to the idea since it is fairly recent but it could be that she is aware of that and wants to be transformed so that they don't find her. In that case, we have two aspects of this actions: She doesn't want to go to that empty house and be alone but she doesn't want to see the others who were THERE with her.
Now, what reason could she have for that? The one that immediately comes to mind is that she doesn't want to think about it. If she went home then she would be alone and have no option but think about it. If she stayed with those that were there it would remind her of it. So she walks the streets to keep herself distracted and see what it is that she fought for, her home.
Except it doesn't work like that because 'home' does not appreciate her efforts. They mock those who died and the brass will send them to die again for it.
They'd get on their knees if need be, afraid of a twelve year old girl because of what she represented, rather than her skills.
So… it is not that they would be afraid that she could kill them because she is a child but because she is of the ruling class and might inform those in power about what was said in which case they would be punished? Because as a ninja, she does not represent someone who protects but someone who oppresses so they don't feel safe when they see one. Because even if they believe what they are saying, even if it were true, a ninja does not care for that.
Getting on their needs is a gesture of submission since they would be unable to defend themselves properly (granted, they wouldn't be able to do so while standing either). It is often joined with exposing their neck, telling the other that if they wished to they can kill them. It gives their life to the one they are apologizing to, basically telling they own them.
It takes away their dignity. Grown men become dolls for a child to play or break them out of fear of the adults behind her, becoming objects in the process.
There was a part of her that wasn't proud of the fact that for a tired, vengeful moment she savored the idea. Shizue didn't want to even consider it, didn't want to be one of those bullies Sae had sometimes told her about, who took their own feelings of powerlessness or hopelessness and attacked those who couldn't fight back.
First of all, it is entirely natural to feel like that. Beyond the fact that they were talking shit about a subject she is currently feeling sensitive about, everyone craves respect and, if one were to train in something like the skills to be a ninja, one wants them to be recognized and said effort respected. It is one of the reasons I think in different manga and cartoons those trained to fight solve things with violence. Beyond the fact that they are raised to behave like that (as are ninjas in Reef) the more someone learns about something the more they want it to put it in practice unless they grow to hate it.
Imagine you spend six or more years in college studying something and then a kid of thirteen with no experience in it believes can explain things to you and knows more than you about it. It would be telling you that those nights you spent without sleeping were wasted. The part of us who believes in justice and fairness, the one who would expect work to be rewarded would be naturally pissed off. The same can be expected to happen between soldiers and those untouched by war, who asks how can someone talk so easily about something without having experienced it.
Now, onto the situation at hand. Shizue would like to react to them saying things like that and punish them for a perceived wrong. Yet she doesn't want to take her feelings on those who can't defend themselves. Problem is, those who can't defend themselves are the ones hurting her and thus those on which it would be fairer to take her feelings on. If she does so as a ninja, then they won't fight back. If she does so as a civilian, then they won't understand or she won't be able to punish them. So she wants them to have a chance to defend themselves and act not as someone stronger forcing them to do something but if she does so she knows that they, more likely than not, would not be punished for their wrong.
This comes from a mistaken perception about what is fair or not. For a punishment to be fair (in this case the punishment would be the fear they would feel upon realizing they screw up) then the accused must have a chance to defend themselves
by explaining their actions. It is important to make this distinction. It does not matter if she is stronger than them. What matters is that, in fear of that strength, they would not defend themselves or their position. By the mere fact of being a ninja they feel like she is threatening them into compliance. But that is if they know she is one.
One possible solution would be to start the discussion while transformed, get into the argument so that they may explain themselves and their position and then turn back so that they realize who they were talking to, feel the fear and she leaves without punishing them. Then she would think she gave them a chance to prove their point and instill the fear for a while. It wouldn't get them to apologize but they would 'pay' by wondering if they are in trouble.
Unfortunately, while that would make her feel good about it, it wouldn't help in the long run since it would probably turn the civilians paranoid about who they talk to and they would resent that too. But on the short term and regarding how she feels about it she might feel like it worked.
…
I just realized how much of a jerk someone has to be to do something like that and that it isn't much better. I mean, yes, it sidesteps the whole not fighting back thing but it stills releases her anger on them at the end. Much better advice would be to turn into a random drunk commoner, shout at them until hoarse and then leave. That way, at least, she finds release without bullying them.
It was hard, hard when the village burned the bodies of the enemy dead and held hasty funerals for Chieko, for Manami, for the other Chunin.
I didn't expect for her to find it hard when they burned the bodies of the dead. Is it empathy for other ninja, those in the same situation as her? Does it remind her that they contributed, that they are the cause they are not among the living? Or is it a matter of respect?
I assume that the enemy was burned not in Reef but the place they died. I mean, I expect them to bring the bodies of their own soldiers to burn but those from island would only take space in the ships.
Shizue doubted that Chieko's mother had been consulted, though the funeral did include a statement by Yaramachi, written in his hospital bed, praising her actions.
Well, if Chieko's mother (do we even know her name?) is considered insane then I guess that the decision about what to do with the body would fall back to the council. I would say that it was nice of Haruo to write a statement but fat amount of good does it do. Besides, it hasn't been a day. We should probably wait some time to see if the gratitude lasts and to see if he does something else like making sure her mother is taken care of.
Though credit where it is due, he was very wounded and he did take the time to do so instead of resting. Though had we not seen his reaction when he brought the body to the field hospital I would assume it was someone else that wrote it and gave credit to the jounin.
By then the roaming crowd of civilians had grown restless, and when it came time for the speeches, they pressed up against the erected barrier. Beyond that stood Shizue, and all those ninja who could attend, and their family. Listening to the Council speak once more, on another victory, this one hard won
I wonder, do they press closer because they want news about the war, because they want to cheer, because they have village pride or because they are turning impatient? Perhaps they want news to see if it will last much longer or perhaps their ninjas, besides their overlords, are also like they football team and want to cheer for their victory. Considering the sheer amount of propaganda against the other village, some (though I very much doubt most) might even consider this a just war for a just cause.
It seems that Shizue is over her tour through the village.
Also, wanted to point out the fact that they felt the necessity to set a barrier to separate ninjas from civilians. Is it a cultural thing –ruling class being physically separated from their subjects- or is it a precaution for possible trouble? A visible demonstration of power to remind them not to get any idea?
Everyone wanted this war to end, except perhaps the traitor, everyone needed these evening speeches
Is that Shizue's opinion or the GM? I could see how the soldiers would need this for morale. I guess it is possible that the same could be said for the others considering war taxations and the fear of being conquered, of being attacked, or for their families in other parts of the Archipielago. "Everything is fine. Don't panic. We are not about to be killed in our sleep."
Other than that, it is again proposed that the traitor might benefit from the war itself rather than from one side winning. As said before, it could either be that a third power wants control of the Archipielago or that someone is using the confusion to cover something else they are doing here.
I certainly hope this is not about a nonsensical philosophy like Pein's.
Four of the council members stood, dressed in fine kimonos, emphasizing their leadership far more than their power. The village was strong, and it would lead the Archipelago, that's the message they clearly wanted to project- yet, all Shizue found herself wondering was where Emiko was.
So the message is that they would win the war because they are smart and have fine leadership since they can't claim superior strength. At the same time, if the leadership is wise then the war should be a wise choice. By not dressing in military garb they are saying that this is not just for the army, that this involves the civilian side of the village. Those who are mourned are done so not just as soldiers but as members of the community. It also helps that it doesn't feel like an occupying army. They want to paint the enemy as oppressors and thus can't dress the part just like Island will want to paint Reef as upstarts and rebels so they will wear the jounin uniform on their own funeral.
Besides that, riches. A promise of benefits to those there.
"People of Hidden Reef," Ken said, stepping forward. He looked odd. Constrained in a kimono, that's the thing, his arm bulging a bit in a way that indicated that the kimono might not have been tailored right
This is an interesting detail. Ken has an artificial arm so it is natural that he would have trouble for a normal kimono. Yet he is the oldest member of the council and presumably would have enough money and time to have one custom made by now. The fact that he doesn't mean that he not only wears it infrequently enough (instead using his uniform) but that he doesn't care that much about it. It tells us he is a 'Military man' and cares more about the martial side of ruling than the stewardship side. He doesn't care about the day to day ruling. Ken is a man of action and wants to rule a hidden village.
This is commented earlier now that I think about it.
"No, but that water snake, Hirotomo," Shigeru said, distaste in his voice, "It's clear that he's backing Zenzo to the hilt. And we know that all Ken cares about winning this war, and so if he can be convinced that this is the way to do it…"
We didn't notice at the time because there were bigger concerns but why does Ken only care about winning the war?
"A great victory has been won, albeit at a cost that I would like all to honor. In the health of our many shinobi, and in the lives of a few honored heroes, a price has been paid. But for each of our own slain, we killed almost six of theirs, and their best.
Their best? By my last count they still had more jounin and special jounin than Reef and their Shimikage is still alive. Still, six to one loses is fairly good on itself but it is not the full picture. The number of wounded is also important. If most of Reef is wounded and can't fight and if most of the loses Island suffered is in deaths instead of wounded, that means that we are still badly outnumbered. I would certainly hope that they wouldn't send another attack like that after what loses they suffered but that does not assure victory. If they know that Yaramachi is badly injured they might risk it (doubtful) but even if they don't, small skirmishes with similar loses on both sides would still bleed us dry.
I respect the skill of our medics but there seemed to be a lot of wounded. Can we keep guard in the border despite of that?
Their brightest stars of disparate clans were cast down, defeated
Since Island is all about clans then it makes sense to mention it like this since it tells that even that what they think makes them superior is not enough to defeat Reef. Still, I wouldn't call those we fought their brightest. I mean, the kama girl lost in close combat to Shizue!
He paused, "It wasn't easy, and yet this was a triumph of all that Reef had to offer. Every member of the Council, and every Special Jonin, played a role in planning and executing the trap that Island fell for. Our enemies were clever, but we outwitted them
Except Zenzo. He knew shit.
Again emphasis on how smart the leadership is so that it is not cast in doubt by both citizens and ninjas. Specially by the ninjas once it is revealed what they want to do with academy students.
The last sentence is interesting in that its meaning changes depending on whether Ken knows that there is a traitor or not. It
is possible that he knows since there are others that know there is one, thinking of that meeting we overheard. Actually, since Yumiko, Nami and Ieyoshi were in that meeting then, if they reached the conclusion that the traitor is a special jounin then they would suspect either Akahito or Zenzo, which would explain why Yumiko was so antagonistic against him before THERE and why Zenzo was not informed of the change of plans. I mean, Ieyoshi seemed to think he was loyal but still.
Which is a little concerning. If those at the meeting think he might be the traitor… well, the chunin there, Shigeru, was there to represent Momoka which means that such concerns already reached the council.
and so tonight I would like to thank all of our shinobi, both those who are here-"
He looked around at the small crowd, "And to send my feelings to those currently guarding our borders, which have by their efforts been secured. Island is reeling, and now is the time for a strike back, an attack against their oppressive regime, against all that they sought to steal from us
You know, given the amount of genin that are left, does that mean that some of those we know are guarding the borders or do they prefer to leave that duty to the more experienced ones?
Hirotomo-sama has more to say on this matter."
I know he is just being courteous but it grates me to see Hirotomo being referred as sama. Between him being a jerk with no regard for his subordinate, his nickname and this, he is drawing a few parallels with Orochimaru and he is nowhere near him.
"Warriors of Reef," he began simply, and when he stepped forward his cast became clear. He was wounded, and perhaps he was meaning to show that too, Shizue could speculate
To prove that he fought and lead from the front to tell the troops that he shares the same dangers as they do. To those who don't know better, he might be considered heroic for that.
"Today, a victory has been won which is the greatest we have ever faced. For minimal, downrightpaltrylosses,"
Paltry: adjective |pal-try | \ˈpȯl-trē\
: very small or too small in amount
: having little meaning, importance, or worth
You have to love double meanings.
and here his voice was smooth, but Shizue could literally watch as he injected a careful note of commiseration into his voice,
I think she noticed that it was on purpose because she saw what he was willing to do and how he really feels about said loses rather than because of her awareness since once it averages with Perception it ends in the low twenties.
"For all that these losses may sting some, we have put ourselves onto the path of glory and we must merely seize it.
Some:
adjective \ˈsəm,
for 2 without stress\
—used to refer to a person or thing that is not known, named, or specified
: of an unspecified amount or number
: of a fairly large amount or number
Yet again with the double meanings. Isn't the language fun?
Wealth and power awaits to those who can bring the fight to the enemy
That is the ninjas and the council in particular.
No more will their clans rule over their lands, instead to the strongest, to the shinobi of Reef and the loyal villagers of Reef, will gain the power to shape the future
So instead of being oppressed by clans they will be oppressed by Reef. The ruling council is chosen by merit so they would have to either allow some of the Island jounin to it (if they betray their village to help Reef) or kill them so that they can't rouse a rebellion. Actually, there probably will be a generalized purge since otherwise the clans might be too proud to give in without revolting later.
This also means that, since the villagers of Reef will gain power, there will probably be a change of leadership on the conquered islands, not to mention the economic reparations that will be demanded after the war ends. They might try to ensure that the shipping companies of that side of the Archipelago end up in hands of loyal merchants.
But to achieve this, we need everything you can give. Villagers, we shall be implementing stronger rationing on several key materials, but more importantly, there are a few announcements for the shinobi."
"We shall be implementing stronger rationing on several key materials. Like food. Or children. Most children will go to the academy"
Which means that the whole "everyone will get rich" speech was to prepare them before telling them this.
Ink is probably some of those since the last shipment was destroyed and they must have used a lot of it in the trap. And iron, since Rike told us that they were demanding more from the mine that what they could produce.
Also, "Yeah, we are increasing taxes and rationing stuff you might need to live like food and iron. But that is not important…" Way to go, Hirotomo.
He nodded towards Sano Tomoyo, who stepped forward. Unlike the others, she seemed comfortable in the kimono, and it didn't help that she seemed to have prepared for it. Her hair was pinned down by careful artifice, and with as long as it always was, it still didn't look too short, and in fact even in the firelight seemed smooth, as did her skin
Hirotomo nodded towards Tomoyo. "I already warmed them up for you. You're welcome"
The opposite of Ken, this one loves politics and ruling. Not surprising since she takes care of the day to day management. Here is the relevant quote, from the first page:
Sano Tomoyo: In some ways a successor to Ken, she is known for three things. First, her brilliant raids almost a decade ago, and her knowledge of how to survive horrible conditions, push through, and her undoubted skill at using throwing stars. She even had a flattering bandolier to hold more than any pouch could. She is also an administrator, and keeps track of taxes, civilians, and other things related to maintaining the government. As such she has a lot of power and influence as to who gets what and who goes broke for lack of good jobs and contracts. She's also said to be very beautiful, pale with long hair, an easy smile, and a charming way capable of rivaling Hirotomo. This last set of knowledge Shizue knows from listening to her (male) classmates talk.
Huh. I guess that means she is the one on charge of figuring out what happened to the lost civilians.
Anyways, this is a woman who is not only beautiful but she knows she is and how to accentuate it. It remains to be seen if she sees it as a tool or if it is vanity but she certainly takes advantage of the townsfolk liking beautiful people and some might think her less threatening for it.
Smooth and pale and slender, with dark eyes that seemed to stare at each person in particular. Drawing them out, making them the center of attention.
That has to be useful for meetings like this and trying to convince people she is talking about them in particular or feel identified with what she says. Another common method is using the second person in speeches. "You have withstood their tyranny for too long!" For example.
Sae had had eyes like these, but Tomoyo's manner was more careful, more calculated
Eyes that made you feel special or eyes that are beautiful like that? Because with the small number of ninjas and the sons of ninjas having a better chance to survive then they may have had a common ancestor far behind. If it refers to those that makes you feel special it would mean that Sae appreciated life and everyone while Tomoyo does it on purpose.
Or maybe, Shizue admitted, she didn't want to see too many similarities between her mother and Tomoyo-san.
When I first read this part I paused to consider why it would be so. I know it is explained immediately after but at the time I stopped here and began to wonder why or if Tomoyo ever did anything to her. The closer I came to it before I continued is that she didn't want to see the similarities so that she wouldn't miss her mother all over again… or commit the embarrassing mistake of calling your superior mum.
Tomoyo-san, whom the boys in the academy spoke about in ways that made Shizue blush, who people stared at, who people whispered about.
Not Tomoyo-sama?
You know, on times like this I am of mixed feelings about the fact that Shizue does not look that much like Sae. On one hand, there is certain vanity that makes us all want to be pretty (DON'T DENY IT! YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!). On the other, being an orphan and being beautiful is not a combination that tends to end well.
She didn't want to imagine some immature eleven year idiot making stupid and crude gestures while talking about Suzuhisa Sae, so she mostly didn't try to pay attention to Tomoyo in most circumstances
Actually, it would be worse for Sae because she had a daughter fairly young and nobody knows who is the father so she would have rumours and a reputation about her. But yes, I can imagine how uncomfortable it would be since they would probably say them to Shizue's face and it wouldn't be just children but the adults would whisper. Actually, didn't Sae have people who didn't like her methods? I mean, there must have been some drawback besides being a single mother that prevented people from trying to use Shizue to get close to her mum (since they could have gotten close to Sae without Shizue noticing since they are all ninjas). I can understand people keeping their distance from Tomoyo (if they do, we don't know) since she is the boss but if Sae was as beautiful as Shizue thinks she was there must have been something stopping suitors from appearing.
Now, though, she was speaking on the low number of chunin remaining
Again, chunin? What chunin? Let's see, as of scene 18 we lost 14 chunin. Checking on the numbers…
As of scene 18, Reef has: 5 jounin, 5 special jounin, 6 chunin, (I can't find the exact number of genin. I think it was around 28)
Island has: 6 jounin, 7 Special jounin and around 70 others either chunin or genin if you go by village numbers and if you don't count the ninjas from Tide who defected to it (3 chunin and 3 genin)
Tide has around 12 ninjas if you don't count the academy students that graduated early, the highest rank among them being special jounin.
So island right now outnumbers Reef and Tide combined across all ranks except maybe special jounin. Even after the heavy loses they suffered. Of course, this is only a ballpark approximation.
"Iesato Ginchiyo-san, we are temporarily raising you, and your two comrades, Aiura Sanosuke-san and Ijuin Ginjiro-san, to the rank of Chunin. At some point this will be followed by a formal promotion, but all of you have shown heroism that deserves recognition, in this time of troubles."
So either Tomoyo recognizes that Ginchiyo is the important one of the group or is the only one present. The promotion is temporary, so I guess that means they can remove it if they don't play ball with the council, a stop gap measure while the war is going strong and they don't want troubles. At some point will be followed with a formal promotion does not recognize a time. Depending on what they do it could be at the end of the war or some years from now. Finally, the thing that deserves recognition is heroism, not their skills. This shows that the official version is that Sanosuke valiantly put himself in the path of danger to save Hirotomo. It also encourages people to act valiantly since the promotions were based on that.
Shizue thought she- no, didn't think she saw, did see, the way Tomoyo glanced at Hirotomo
This could have too many meanings to pinpoint one. It could be that she is thinking of what heroism entailed for Sanosuke, that Hirotomo opposed the promotion, that Hirotomo was ballsy enough to offer it as compensation.
Was the inclusion of all three of them some sort of compromise, a compensation to make up for what he'd done to Sanosuke? Or was it mere necessity?
Were it a compensation it would be official. This is more akin to a bribe.
Not giving them the full title of Chunin might rankle, but Ginchiyo's face was passive, so passive it was hard to read even the beginning of an emotion on it
I wonder if it was expected or a deal, if they gave her forewarning about why she was 'promoted'.
But perhaps there was doubt there: certainly there was no pride, nor any sense of being glorified.
She is at least somewhat aware of what this means and why was she promoted. If so, it tells her that they might doubt her skills but being promoting them anyways.
You know, I am getting the same vibes as when Anakin Skywalker was given an honorary position in the jedi master council without being actually promoted to one. He knew he had the skills to be one but his appointing was tainted as a political decision so those on top were wary of giving him some real authority.
"In addition, we are going to start a program in which the seven best academy students are given a two and a half week course to prepare them to graduate early
It seems that Ieyoshi's plan to counteract Zenzo's was given the go ahead if with some modifications. My question is who will actually be training them with the pressing need for ninjas in the frontlines?
Here is the relevant quote as to when it was proposed:
"What about training?" Ieyoshi said, "We offer an advanced training program for talented academy students, to prepare them for early graduation! Under the care of powerful Special Jonin and Jonin, surely with a month of preparation they will be more ready for war!"
"That… may be acceptable? It sounds so to me, but I am not Momoka-sama," Shigeru pointed out.
"We could cut the limits however we want," Nami pointed out, "If some skilled ten year old came and applied, we could find ways to push them aside. We'd hold the standards in our hands, and we could do whatever we want. It'd be our program. If we could get Momoka, Ken, and then one more…"
Yumiko sighed, "I think I can find one more. I know how these things work. So, we set up a training program to cut Zenzo and his hawks off at the knees? For the conservative, careful needs of the village? But when, and how?"
The training time went down from a month to two and a half weeks because they need the soldiers now and can't keep their jounin from the front.
Originally it was meant so that they could block the academy students from becoming genin, give them an excuse to reject them.
Finally, the teachers would be the special jounin and jounin. I think that rather than having one teaching them they will take turns depending on who is free. Which has the potential to be bad in that some might hold different opinions and contradict each other or that some would be bad teachers and good because they won't necessarily be stuck with a bad teacher.
Though one has to wonder, why two and a half weeks? 17-18 days. It is kind of random, so it could be either that they have something planned by then (unlikely since a lot can change in that time) or, more likely, that different members of the council were haggling for more or less time and they reached that compromise. Probably started with a month vs now/a week, transitioned to 2 weeks vs 3 weeks, then settled for the middle ground.
It is quite possible," Tomoyo said, "That by then the war will be won, but if it is not, we have faith in them, and in their ability to be great shinobi
It is also quite possible that the war will take a turn for the worse and they will be forced to end their training early to fight. Or recruit more.
Rise as your name is said: Chobunsai Seiichiro, Kihara Junko, Masuzoe Chinatsu, Nawabe Kohaku, Okamura Yuichi, Sonoda Tsuneo, Tono Tsubaki."
So, from here we know Junko (obviously) and her rival Seiichiro. I wonder if these are going to eventually be added to the list of people we can talk to?
It seems like Yukinaga-kun (the academy student with the crush on Emiko) didn't make the cut.
They stood, one by one. Some of them proud, some of them uncertain. Shizue remembered seeing all of them, but she couldn't have picked them out. They were just kids.
I know that technically she reached adulthood upon becoming a genin but Shizue, you are a kid too, you know? I guess you could argue in that they are children because they don't know yet that they should be afraid of war. To some of them, this means they are at the top of their class and that are close (ha!) in skill to a fresh genin. Some might be doubtful not because they fear death but because they are not sure they deserve it yet.
One year younger, but a year was a lot when one didn't have many to their names.
I really like this phrase, it talks about both respecting life and the tragedy of its loss and of the experience and maturity of those involved.
And that was Shizue's impression: kids. Children, people who shouldn't be involved in the fighting
Again, you shouldn't be involved in the fighting either. Emiko would agree to this.
Junko for her part was looking anywhere but at the Jonin
She went out of her way to stop it, to do what she thought was right and now she is forced to do so. They agreed with her that it was a crime and wrong and now they are doing so anyways. Furthermore, when it came to light that Zenzo had ordered to apply to early graduation, this was said about it:
Tomoyo had made a counter proposal that that if the need was that desperate, they should simply train the best academy students for at least another month before graduating them, and surprisingly enough, Momoka agreed with her for the first time in a long time: if the need was that desperate, she had emphasized.
While the civilians Shizue passed by didn't seem to understand the gravity, being used to shinobi ordering them around, it was a violation of everything the village stood for. Only lawful orders had to be obeyed, and pressuring mere children- for it was becoming a Genin that made one an adult, and legally at least Shizue could have drank with Emiko, and had all the rights of an adult- in such a way, when they were the future of the village…
So the question is, what is considered lawful? Does the fact that the jounin agreed to it suddenly makes it right?
Also it is very telling the change in timeframe. If the need is really desperate, they would be trained for a month. That was a public statement, one that Junko would be aware of. Now, she is being told she has two and a half weeks.
I guess it could be shame too, the feeling that if she had not said anything then perhaps they wouldn't have reached this point. That since she only delayed the inevitable, it might have been better to have more soldiers before.
She looked like someone who didn't understand and didn't want to. Someone who hadn't chosen this, and wouldn't have chosen this, but knew there was no choice. Someone lost and scared and alone.
Both Emiko and Shizue told her she was right to do as she did. She thought it was settled. But now her efforts were somewhat in vain. And now there is really no chance to avoid it because those she should have gone too in case of injustice are the ones performing it.
"You shall all learn, and you shall all do your duty to the village
Am I the only one reading "do your duty" as "die for the village"?
"Alright kids, welcome to Meatshield 101. If you are looking for Acting as Replacement Prop go talk to Hirotomo-sensei next door so that he can give you an exploding tag vest to take those Island bastards down with you."
Early tomorrow we will have an induction ceremony into the program, and afterwards we may soon begin training.
Again, who teaches them? Seriously, I am almost afraid to ask. It could be Yumiko demeaning them, Ieyoshi telling them to charge ahead… ideally it would be the jounin. Tomoyo is good at surviving, Momoka might teach first aid. We have heard good things about Nami.
Little more needs to be said, except that the council believes in you."
Actually, since Haruo was in the hospital, was he even part of this meeting? He had a girl just sacrifice herself to save him…
She stepped back, and for a moment there was a pause, as people waited to see if they were supposed to applaud yet or not.
They are well trained those Reef.
Finally, Momoka-san stepped forward briefly, stooped slightly in an old, faded Kimono
Someone else who doesn't care much about appearance but that seems to be mostly because of her age.
"With the end of the war, peace will cover the wounds like a bandage. Already, investments are being made towards the healing of the war wounds across the archipelago
Metaphors referring to medicine. Of course.
so that the villages we have conquered may be justly governed, and those we have protected be swiftly repaired.
Justly governed by people loyal to us instead of those to Island and thus corrupt baby-eating clan-loving bastards to suck the life essence of those islands to feed the evil Island war machine rather than the Good Reef war machine.
Nice dichotomy at the end. They protected their islands but not from being damaged but from changing hands and thus must still be repaired. Repair takes to meanings, to fix and to offer reparations because of the damage they took while they 'protected them' (I am looking at you, Ken).
I know it is the wish of all on the council that this war end,
Except perhaps the traitor.
and that we can at last come to the business of peace- and may it be the wish of the whole village
Business of peace because war is losing money though I imagine someone must have found a way to make profit, even with the villages confiscating what they need.
I asked to go last because I wanted to end here, on the possibilities of peace, not just for the gain of new contracts, or new markets, but for the healing process that might finally begin over our shattered land. I wish all a good night, and though tomorrow may bring war for some of us, we have hopes that it will soon end."
Healing done not only to the damage done from the last bout of fighting but from the breach caused in the Nation, people separated by hate since the end of the Shimmikage's era. This is a Nation divided and such a wound is festering. The traitor is just another symptom of a disease that has long afflicted them.
See Momoka! Two can talk like that! You don't have to be constantly remind us of your role or use calming images to sweeten the message!
There was applause among some of the civilians, and as it became evident the ceremony was over, the applause spread and spread like a wave across the crowd, until everyone was cheering and shouting
Either they are really well trained or they really see Reef as the local football team.
Actually, this is probably better than the political acts in my country. At least in Reef they don't menace to take away social plans if they don't go and cheer and they don't make deals with hooligan organizations to protect them from justice in exchange of going there or harassing the opposition.
The party lasted, Shizue had no doubt, through all the night
Meaning she didn't stay there. Also, that they felt they were allowed to party through the night, that they had cause of celebration. Yes, it is a mayor 'victory' but I wonder how much of it is that they believe things really are going that well for the war effort and how much of it is that they actually don't want to think about it.
But Shizue remembered the hopeless, bemused expression on Junko's face, the way this war was at last beginning to touch everyone. She remembered Junko's silly Eri dance, and her rivalry with an academy student who might soon be out there, killing and dying
I think it was already touching everyone, it just wasn't as obvious. There are the victims who couldn't fight back, those who lost loved ones, those who feared going into it.
This brings me back to what her thoughts were when she first heard of Zenzo's plan:
What? Shizue thought, imagining Junko- well within the top ten percent, as far as she knew- and Seiichiro and all of the others fighting. Killing. Dying. Becoming Jubei or becoming Shizue. Killers or the slain
Her worry for them is not just about them getting killed we should remember but about them killing others. They might survive the war but they may not live after it.
We don't want them to end like Chieko but we don't want them to end like Rika or Zenzo either.
It wasn't something she could celebrate, and so she went to her empty home and tried not to wonder what her mother would say of all of this: surely she'd be horrified, but there was nothing that Shizue could do save her duty.
There are times in which Shizue is talking about her mother in which I wonder if she is remembering her as she was or if she is idealizing her. It is easy to imagine someone who disapproves of how the village treats civilians to think this is horrid but that is because of our conceptions of what is right or wrong, not because they are entirely related thoughts. They live in a different culture so we don't exactly know what she would have believed.
Don't take me wrong, I think Shizue is probably right. She was raised by the woman after all. But the way it is worded, that surely she would feel some way implies that this is how Shizue believes one should feel and hopes her mother agrees with it because she thinks it is what a good person would feel and her mother must have been a good person.
The next morning, Shizue caught Emiko dropping off a package. She'd woken up early after a barely adequate night's sleep, only just now realizing how hungry she was. She'd picked at her lunch, and she hadn't been hungry. Now she was so starving that she stumbled out just in time. Emiko even had the grace to look surprised at the sleepy wreck, hair even frizzier than usual, standing before her, even though she'd no doubt seen Shizue coming a long way off.
For some reason, I find the image of Shizue having bad bed hair and being found in messy clothing while at home amusing. This seems like a coincidental meeting but as Shizue said, Emiko could have detected from before and timed her approach to reach her door as Shizue was coming out. Still, thinking that way leads to paranoia.
"Ah, Shizue, here you go- I'm not going to be teaching as often this week, owing to some problems cropping up
I wonder, is it the problem just half her class being in the hospital as the GM said last update or something more? Something like extra training to those poor academy students.
so I was going to set out some homework for you and others to do." She paused and leaned in.
We were studying stealth, genjutsu and traps. Still, this comes as somewhat of a relief. Even if we don't plan to raise those this week I was somewhat worried that we would lose the training bonuses those classes gave us if something like this happens again. I am guessing that we will do our homework together with Genta once we train with him.
She looked as tired as Shizue, though the girl was in very poor spirits for any sort of long discussion. "Are you…" Shizue began.
"Okay?" Emiko asked, a little tersely.
Shizue blinked, "Yes?"
She did just lose a student and might feel guilty over starting this war and all the kids that died because of it. She might also be somewhat offended that we feel the need to ask. Now, whether it is that implies that she is angry because she thinks we think that she can't handle the situation or that she could possibly be ok with what is happening…
"We'll see. Everyone's duty is to end the war before they bring yet younger children into it. This place, even with you and other innocents in it,"
It seems that Emiko includes us when she talks about children. She also has an interesting definition of innocent. Killing someone is not enough to take that away, being callous about the lives lost is.
Emiko said, her expression dark, "...I'll be glad to leave when the time comes.
The question now is, when will that time be? She pretty much says she will indeed leave (no taking over the village in her immediate plans) but that still makes us wonder what is she waiting for. Just what is her objective? I can't believe she is just staying because she grew fond of the genin and wants to see them survive this conflict.
But- just be there for others, if you'd like a hint."
Emiko as the GMs under henge confirmed!
She let out a long sigh and said, "I'll no doubt be in a better mood tomorrow, but right now, I wish you a good day, and I shall see you later."
She is probably very pissed about that early graduation.
(no shit Bakka…)
Which is when she disappeared. Shizue suspected she was getting used to it, as she didn't even startle a little.
The first class she gave to the genin, she came walking. So it isn't that appearing and disappearing like that is a weird quirk that she has, she does it with a purpose. That she did it right now means she really didn't want to keep talking about this.
The academy, this early, was almost empty. Only seven people in a small room when Shizue entered, waiting. Sitting at desks.
I am getting flashbacks of team 7 waiting for Kakashi. That would not be a good start for the program.
"Oh shit! We forgot to elect a teacher!"
Alternatively, the teacher was elected by saying "not it". So it is the only jounin that couldn't go to the meeting.
On the other hand, she said that it is too early for the normal students to be on the academy. Perhaps those selected came to an unspoken agreement to come here early or all of them had trouble sleeping.
The image of them at desks help give the impression of them being children, as if the intensive training consisted of classwork. I would suggest to them that they work in teamwork if they were a normal graduation but I doubt they would be put together in missions or at least I hope they won't.
She entered quietly, slipping in. She knew that the door creaked, but she also knew just how to move it to barely slip through without a sound,
Probably a result of raising stealth to chunin level even if the stats are dragging it down to genin.
Hey, now that I think of it, is she referring to this specific door? Did she grow used to sneak around the academy, making sure not to make a sound to the point that she learned just how far can she move it?
That tells us very sad things about the time she spends in it, trying to avoid attention. Either that or she had very interesting stealth classes or she got to mischief but I doubt the last two.
Shizue, I am getting worried about you.
just in time to hear one brown-haired girl Shizue thought she remembered seeing around say, "I'm sorry, Junko--"
"For what?" Junko asked, with a slight smile, "I don't really--"
"Please, don't...I mean, I have reasons to be sorry. I nodded when Chinatsu said you were ruining things by snitching--
What was her name? Oh! Tsubaki.
"Listen, I dunno, but it's all worked out, hasn't it?" a high pitched girl asked, "We're going to become Genin soon, and it's probably better! This way we can train to become great first."
All, right time to make a list of them.
One would believe that she is apologizing because she was one of the two that was not approached by Zenzo to graduate early and didn't really understand how scary a prospect that is but later we learn that it is because she now knows the dangers of war since she was friend with Chieko. For the others, the general tone of the conversation after it is somewhat upbeat.
So this means that Junko was resented because by snitching she prevented the other four from being Genin? That is messed up. It seems the other genin think that things are better now because they are getting training from the Special Jounin and Jounin now which is something that other classes can brag about and that Junko's gambit was aimed to this rather than because it was a very bad situation. They are still of the mentality that being a ninja is cool.
Of course it could also be that they are trying to be optimistic and I am just reading too much into it.
"I'm going to beat you Junko, beat you at everything!" Seiichiro pointed at her. He was a scruffy looking fellow, but the grin on his face was surprisingly easy going, "Just you wait!"
The rival. Scruffy means untidy or shabby which means that he likes to move a lot and gets dirty as a result. A taijutsu user maybe?
And of course he wants to beat her at everything. This is intensive training given by the best. Being better here has more value than doing so in the academy as far as bragging points go. Of course, that is also because rivalry is like honour and one has to be constantly be updating his/her arête in order to keep it so it is worthless to refer to successes from the past but to constantly be achieving more.
Also, at everything? Do you know what that means…?
"DANCE OFF!!!!!!!!!!"
"I aim to do my best, Seiichiro-kun," Junko said, her voice surprisingly competitive, "And don't worry about it, either of you, I mean--"
Ah, so Junko is the cool one in the rivalry, the one that pretends it is not that important while the other is the one who has to catch up. Or at least she currently is.
She paused and looked Shizue's way, then started. The others turned, and the group stared at Shizue in surprise. Even Junko, who must have been distracted with talking.
This bring me back to the good old days of the Naruto manga in which how stealthy you were was a measure of how strong or skilled you were. Take the first meeting with the sand siblings for example, Sasuke not being noticed meant he was better than Temari and Kankuro and then Gaara better than him. Same applies to Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku.
That means that yeah, we are the older genin that appears within their midst without them noticing and could have killed any of them. Even though she just literally just walked through the door.
I don't like what that says about their chances of survival.
Also, since the situation is kind of similar, Shizue should had totally went with the same speech Emiko gave at the start of the quest.
"Who's that?" a boy asked. He had a kunai out, and was leaning back in his chair, balancing it on a finger, the faint distortion surrounding it telling her that he was circulating chakra through it. Someone skilled at chakra flow? Surprising for an academy student, but Shizue supposed there was a reason they were chosen to be trained to graduate early.
Hey, how does this enhance the kunai? What does this do? I want to make a list of hypothesized skills, damnit!
"That's Suzuhisa Shizue-sama," Junko said, "She's a super sneaky, super cool ninja who is always calm and collected! She was at that battle last night, and, and...and she's a really good dancer." Junko smiled at that last one, just waiting for someone to say…
…-sama? Look Stinger! We are moving up in the world! Though I do have to wonder what we really did to earn that moniker. We are going to have to train like crazy not to let her down.
Also, good work minion! Build us up, get us the admiration of the younger generation! It is never too early to start!
However, it is worth to point out that for all her hero worship she doesn't know Shizue that well. She says she is always calm and collected but Shizue had a minor breakdown both after giving a mortal wound to Jumbei and when she left the hospital tent and she was anything but calm when Hiroto pulled her into close range or when the chunin attacked her.
"Wait, a good...dancer?" Chinatsu, the high pitched girl, asked, "How would you…"
"Seeeecreett," Junko said with a playful grin.
Junko as little sister! Build our legend minion!
Seriously, all the strong leader ninjas seem to have second in command or minions that admire them. Momoka has Shigeru, Hirotomo has (had?) Zenzo, Ken has Ieyoshi.
Orochimaru had Kabuto, Tsunade had Shizune, the kages had the bodyguards that eventually became kages.
Seiichiro pouted, "You don't look that tough." Despite saying that, he looked a little jealous that Junko knew and was apparently on speaking terms with a Genin who had fought.
Seichiro (while taking his shirt off) "A good dancer? Then I shall prove my superiority by beating your master! CHECK THESE MOVES!"
To be fair, Shizue is not that though. I wonder if he will look for another genin to talk with? We need to be super cool so that when he starts to see her as our apprentice he becomes super jealous! We need to feed the whole chasing after the rival narrative! It is tradition!
~Ah, to be young
"Wait, you were at the battle," Tsubaki said quietly, "Did you see Chieko? I mean, I've heard what- but were you there?" Her voice had grown quieter the more she talked.
When I first read this I thought she had a sense of morbid curiosity and wanted to learn about the genin who died for the jounin. That should teach me to read all of it before jumping to conclusions.
"You miss her, don't you? I'm sorry," one of the boys said. His voice was quiet, but his tone was far from shy. He was scrawnier than the others, but he also looked rather hearty, like someone who was a scrapper
So a close combatant that can take a punishment.
"I'd like to talk to her alone," Tsubaki said, "If she's alright with that."
Tsubaki, Shizue is right in front of you. Talk to her, not to Junko if you want to talk. Or, if you feel the need to tell the class, do so by telling Shizue. Speaking like this makes it sound like you want them to give you privacy and leave rather than not follow you.
Though given that they are ninjas maybe it is necessary to clarify to them you want privacy as some might be able to listen even if they don't follow.
"Eh, fine. But don't take too long," a boy near the back said, "I was going to show you something I thought would help! I mean, something I could teach you to help your own medical practice." He was a rather handsome boy, if Shizue was looking objectively. Okay, even subjectively he was handsome. Tsubaki blushed slightly, and why wouldn't she? That tone was clearly flirtatious.
…
He is offering to study anatomy together, isn't he? Saying that he is no good with the theory but can help her discover the practice.
Man, to think this one is just a year younger than Shizue and Okiie (to whom we will remain loyal and true, regardless of handsome boys near our age around us!).
"I'll talk to you in a moment, Junko. Actually, it's not about much, I was just wondering if you'd like to train. I think I perfected the dance
Yes, a genin came specifically to ask her to train, she will get extra work besides the one in class. Also, calling it training makes it sound like it is a secret technique instead of real dancing.
You missed an opportunity here. It should have been The Dance with capital letters so they could imagine a cool technique like those of Kimmimaro.
Shizue said, her mood lightening. Just seeing children being children, even if they were ninja children with chakra flow and rivalries, it raised her spirits just a bit.
It is certainly a great way to remember what you are fighting for. She needed it after that deal with the townsfolk talking shit about dead ninjas.
"How about this evening," Junko said, "Better to dance when it's darker and we can practice hiding!"
Erm, wouldn't it be harder to see if the invisibility is working properly in the dark?
Shizue nodded, and just down the hall, Tsubaki took a breath, "Did you see her die?"
Translation: Was it worth it? Did she die a hero? Did she talk about me or have any regrets? Can I talk to you about it, to someone who might understand?
"No, but I saw her body. I was helping out in the hospital afterward, helping Zenzo."
"You were? I hope to meet him someday soon, Zenzo and Momoka, they're two of my biggest heroes,"
Odd. I am getting used to think of them as just these guys since we work with them but in a small town like this, they must seem like these larger than life characters. With everyone knowing about everyone I guess it becomes easier to construct a hero out of those you know and to an academy student they are everything they want to be.
You know, fuck it. We should ask someone of greater rank to train with us eventually.
Tsubaki said, "Chieko was my biggest. She had been tutoring me in medicine, said that I had a talent for it, and even began to teach me medical jutsu. Some of her… mother's, I mean," she said.
I might be broken because I fixated upon her being the inheritor of Chieko's techniques. They aren't lost!
Maybe we should hook her up with Rika. They can train together, share techniques and most importantly, stop getting almost killed.
Alright. First of all I agree with Veekie here, the first thing I focused on was in that the techniques were not lost. Reef medics must be badass.
Yet as far as to introducing her to Rika… well, yes, it is a fair point. But I think it would be more interesting to suggest she visits Chieko's mother and introducing her to Haruo so that she can see who she died to defend and gets some closure by getting to know more about her, answering some questions she might have.
Also, hook her up? Wording.
"I regret that I didn't know her as well as I wanted to," Shizue said, truthfully, "So she was teaching you a lot?"
MEDIC GET! GET THEM ALL!
*cough*
We all regret not having talked to her earlier. It could have been an interesting storyline…
Hey she was supposed to end the Shimikage as in killing him, right? Perhaps she placed the seed that will eventually lead Tsubaki to do it. Or it could be that her mother was batshit insane.
"Yeah, she said I was like a sister to her, once. Though I think she might have been joking," Tsubaki said, "Or not. She was really quiet, but I like being quiet too, and she was very- she had this interesting philosophy, and some of the techniques… and…" she trailed off, and Shizue reached down and hugged her, having expected this. She'd seen the tears coming, felt the way the words could only pave the way for one thing.
Techniques and philosophy we won't learn about. Because she is dead.
Be there for people Shizue.
"I understand, I really do. I miss people all the time," Shizue said.
That is a lie. Shizue does not miss people all the time, she misses Sae all the time. She had no other people to miss before.
"I was so stupid. I wanted to go out with her and be a hero and heal people and save people's lives so we could beat Island and make everything better," she babbled, "But--"
You know, Junko probably has similar thoughts regarding Shizue. Now Tsubaki has seen what it means to be a hero. It does not make everything better. Far from it.
"But it's not that simple, I know. Just… my friend Rika's learning to heal people too. She doesn't know any medical jutsu, but I admire it, you know? Being able to help other people."
Instead of just killing them like Shizu does. Like most of the nin do. I guess her time in the hospital impacted her a lot.
"If I was there, I couldn't have helped Chieko. I probably would have died," she said, and though she was still crying, her voice was calm, matter of fact.
Well, she was fighting a chunin and two genin and did pretty well despite being focused on healing. That is a part of the problem. For them to be able to heal them, they have to survive the battle so that they can do so in peace.
I guess that will be our contribution. To use our puppets to draw attention away so that the wounded can be evacuated to where it is safe to treat them.
"Probably so, but that doesn't make you weak," Shizue said, "It makes you realistic."
You know, what Reef needs right now is to survive. They might call her a coward if she runs but a dead soldier helps nobody. Better to leave so that she can help where she can rather than being no help at all.
There are several types of strength. Skill, moral, psychical. To be able to stand up and move again is the greatest of them all.
"You know," Tsubaki said, "Maybe you are a little bit cool. Though I have no idea what Junko meant by 'dance.'"
"It's a long story," Shizue said with a mysterious grin.
"Not you too," Tsubaki said, deadpan.
Well, we are practically a mirror of Chieko so it is logical. We have to remember to keep an eye on this one or guide her growth since it will be easier to interact with the younger ones that respect us rather than those our year that look down on us.
This all reminded Shizue that she should probably see Rika, and so after a very hurried breakfast, she headed to the hospital
She did look pretty down before.
You know, it is curious. You said that Shizue was very hungry when she left her home since she had barely eaten lunch the day before and skipped dinner. But upon hearing Emiko's advice she chose to talk to Junko and go to the academy over having breakfast.
Maybe it is that she didn't know if they would take them away from the academy to train someone else and wanted to be sure to talk to her. Or maybe she just wanted to reassure her since she didn't do so the night before.
she headed to the hospital, which was still dealing with overcrowded rooms, still trying to fix everyone.
For a moment I actually forgot this was the day after THERE. It seemed to be longer than that.
But the place seemed robbed of much of the power it'd held over her before
It used to trouble her a lot because it reminded her of her mother's disease but after THERE she has experienced far worse. It seems rather silly on hindsight probably.
Compared to the dreamless nightmare of a day ago, the antiseptic and controlled environment was positively comforting.
I like that phrase. Dreamless nightmare. A place and time horrible beyond anything one can imagine but on their subconscious but without the comfort of it being fake and only in your mind. Something you can't escape by waking up since you are already awake.
Upon seeing so much pointless death, a place dedicated to healing is comforting because it opens the chance of life. Waking up in the hospital means that you are waking up after all and might even recover.
She made her way through the hospital until she heard Rika saying, "So that's how you do it…"
"Yes, Rika," Zenzo said, "That's…"
So Rika bagged some training from the special jounin. I don't regret not asking him since at least this doesn't pull him away from his duties and might even save him time.
he yawned and stepped out of the door, walking over towards a coffee machine, passing Shizue with a wave, "You here to see Rika, Shizue-chan?"
"Yes I am, Zenzo-sama."
"Good, good," Zenzo said, "She hasn't slept
That is concerning. Um, we left to fight during the night and she was presumably awake before that. She caught a nap on the way to her home but we arrived that very night so it wasn't long. Waited awake and fought until morning, probably kept awake or just napped until the funeral and on the way to Reef, then went to the hospital to work. She should be able to function with cat naps but it certainly isn't healthy.
Another thing to note, she calls him as Zenzo-sama while she thinks of their superior as Tomoyo-san. Is it because she is talking to him in public and she would do the same with Tomoyo or did she gain some respect for him during the past week?
Neither have I, but I have drugs that let me do that, and I'll be crashing in another day or so."
OH GOD WHY!? Zenzo, that is not how it works! You are already on drugs, I don't want you taking more!
Put frankly, he looked worse than Shizue did, by far. Except his eyes. They seemed to dart around, alert as the rest of his body wasn't. Moving as the rest of his body was halfway to collapsing. Even his words seemed slower, as if he was fighting through a fog or even alcohol, or his mind moved faster than his body could match. It was disturbing, or at least disconcerting
Two possible interpretations. The first one is the obvious one, that it is an effect from the drugs (seriously Zenzo, what the hell?). The second one which could be there on top of the first one is that he is looking everywhere because he has still not unwound from the battle.
You know, I wonder, if his mind moves faster than his body if that can be used to complement a fight, to give more time to plan or such? Would it be safe to combine that with soldier pills?
"Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay once I'm sleeping
Not what we asked but ok. Go to sleep, you madman!
It is some sort of answer though. "Yeah, I am not ok but I am able to function even though I feel like shit. It is my regular state of being. I don't have time or will to talk about this, just give me some rest so that my drug addled mind can kill the morals my stimulants allow me to run in the background. Also, bring me some coffee."
Rika though, she's taking it hard, and I've had to throw easy cases at her because she's so locked up, so afraid of messing up, and she wants to learn everything, but when she doesn't get it immediately--"
"She gives up?" Shizue guessed.
"No, well, she looks like she's about to give up, and then she gets this determined look on her face,"
It has been a day. How many times has it happened for him to have that pegged down? She should calm down. The war is going at a fast pace, yes, but she can't expect to learn everything overnight.
Zenzo paused and tried to replicate it, but he just looked constipated instead, "And it's so cute but she's also frustrated." He paused and said, "Man, I must be losing my grip, if people are no longer laughing at my jokes- of course, they're not great jokes, but they usually serve for the bedside."
"Look how she frowns when she fails to stop the blood loss! It is adorable!"
Also, was that a joke? Are you sure Zenzo? It makes me wonder if they laugh because they are denying that they are in the hospital and don't want to think about it or if they pity your attempt and don't want to anger the bipolar special jounin.
Bedside manner, Shizue thought, and she gave a soft smile, "What's she learning now?"
She is learning bedside manner. Duh! Can't you tell it is Zenzo's specialty?
"How to close the site of a wound. It won't help if a wound is too deep, or infected, but it's a useful jutsu for small problems, or if you're patching up a buddy in a lull in the fight.
Considering that Rika almost suffered death by a thousand cuts against the chunin I can see how it could be useful.
That's what Momoka-sama told me when she taught it to me, when I wasn't much older than you, and she was right."
You know those master student traditions that seem to plague Naruto? Like the line from Hokages or Raikages in that strong characters train future strong characters?
It would be a lot more impressive if they weren't pretty much the only ones that are available to teach this stuff.
"Ah, you know, is there anything I can do to help?" Shizue asked, her voice carefully neutral
The voice being neutral is so that she doesn't imply he needs it and thus causing offense and so that he can decide what she means, whether it is helping in the hospital or him, which would allow him to choose said meaning without pride factoring in.
He looked like he needed help, but she didn't want to butt in.
The first and hardest step is to accept one has a problem.
"Well, talking to Rika would be good, but you meant me, didn't you? Well, it's a long shot, but I'm going to be asking around with the other Special Jonin and Jonin. Ask if any of them know summoning so I can get bodies for Rika to practice healing on."
"What summoner would agree to that?" Shizue asked, a little incredulously.
"None. A summons isn't some beast to dissect on the table. I was looking to see if any of them actually sounded or looked offended. I mean, like if I was trying to find out which genin was a puppeteer, I'd go around saying I needed firewood, and asking if someone would donate a puppet-" He paused and laughed, "See, see that look on your face? That's what I'd be looking for. But other than that..."
That was actually funny and somewhat clever even if it burns some bridges. He must be really tired though, to be speaking about it in the halls of the hospital without taking precautions. Like, we could hear Rika talking from outside, who is to say someone else can't hear us from one of the rooms?
He shrugged.
"You don't have any ideas?" Shizue asked. When he shook his head, she said, "I'll try my best to investigate. I'm sure we can figure something out. I mean, the traitor did something big, they have to have exposed something. Stuck their neck out-"
Well, considering that after asking if we could help he admitted he was stuck…
You know, we should be happy that he is not hogging the investigation and trusts us enough to help with it and admit when he has a problem.
Just for the record, this doesn't mean that if we choose to investigate summons next week she is going to try that, does it?
"Maybe. Hopefully," Zenzo said, "As well, could you ask Momoka to look after Rika while I'm out and resting? A bit of training from a master could help Rika's confidence."
Not to mention her skills. You know, I am somewhat surprised that Reef doesn't have a program in which the healer apprentices follow Momoka and Zenzo considering the emphasis they put on their profession.
It is a real shame Chieko's mom went insane… we might be able to get her to help Tsubaki but other than that…
"Sure," Shizue said, nodding as Zenzo walked into the room and presumably said a few things before hurrying out. Shizue entered the room, to find that Rika was caring for a ten year old academy student, a gap-toothed girl who had sticks and twigs in her hair.
A curious thing just happened. I was going to comment on how the ten years old was Moegi what with her twin pigtails but the I realized it said nothing about her having them. It must be that my mind instantly relates academy student with the Konohamaru corps. Except Junko and Co. They are cool like that.
Have things really calmed down enough since yesterday that Zenzo and Rika could deal with things like this? It must be nice being a ninja and have such a good healthcare package, one can come for a minor thing right after a mayor battle and still expect to be attended professionally. Though I am somewhat curious about what she was doing that her hair ended up like that.
"So you were...practicing?"
"Yep!" the girl said, unconcerned.
"Sneaking around and running and training, I assume?" Rika asked.
"Yeah, then I tripped."
… sure, let's go with that.
Isn't it a little early to be training? Shizue just came from breakfast after going too early to the academy. I guess that more time could have passed between scenes but if so then the girl should have been at the academy. One has to wonder what she did to end with her hair like that. She must have spent a lot of time in the trees or rolling in the ground and I can't think of a normal training that would end like that.
"And got cuts and bruises all over?" Rika's eyes had dark circles around them, but she was smiling, softly.
"I was holding one of those practice kunai. Okay, okay, a real one I'd borrowed from a training post," the girl said.
That doesn't really explain the bruises and one would expect that after the first few cuts she would stop. That and that no matter the training she wouldn't have cuts all over.
I would hypothesize that she and one of her classmates thought they were hard core enough to spar with live steel, playing as if it were a duel under the moonlight but we really don't have enough evidence to figure it out. At least it doesn't seem to have ended badly, while she is a ballsy little thing to lie so brazenly I would expect her to be more nervous if someone was hurt.
The other theory would be bullying but she is too easy going for that.
"Well, you might want to try not doing that in the future, Harumi-chan" Rika said, "But you'll be fine."
Whatever it was you were doing. If they don't think you are ready to 'practice' with live steel you shouldn't but I still have my doubts about how she got them. She might have gotten in trouble and cut herself with the trees in her haste to escape.
"Do I get a lollipop?"
"Of course you do," Rika said, "One moment…"
This. I have now the mental picture of medic nin handing lollipops to their patients. Like, Haruo is wounded with burns all over, Momoka finishes checking on him and goes "Here, have a lollipop." Or Shizue is hungry during a mission because she forgot to pack rations and Zenzo gives her one. Or Ginchiyo trains to exhaustion with a medic friend and while they are both with the back on the floor, panting and looking to the sky then he takes one out of his pocket, looks at her and asks her if she wants one.
Also, cheeky little brat.
She stepped towards Shizue and asked, "Hey, Shizue, what is it?"
"You can't possibly have gotten injured already, so whazzup?"
I think it is a reasonable assumption that Shizue came for something specific since they just saw each other the day before. Maybe she wants help with something or help in the hospital or there was something she wanted to talk about.
"I just wanted to check up on you, see if you were doing okay."
Rika was certainly the one who showed the strongest reaction. For us, Genta and Okiie it was mostly business as usual it seems. Must be a ninja family thing since even if Genta has no family he was still raised as one by the village.
"I'm… I went to see the two new prisoners
Already? It hasn't been a day. I can't imagine they were too happy to see her.
Hey, can anyone on the force go to talk with the prisoners? Or is it because they are only genin or because we are the ones who 'captured them'?
they're keeping them in an old house that they've repurposed into a jail.
That doesn't sound safe. Like, what did they do? Add bars to the windows, build wall over some doors, get rid of all the furniture, cut the water and do something to the doors so that they can open them? I mean, it could work but an old house is not exactly what you expect when you think of a cell, specially when they can throw around the fury of the elements.
Maybe it is just me, but I find it odd that, even with how small the village is that they don't have a more specific building for their prisoners. They've been on and on and off war for about forty years, this can't have been the first time it came up. Specially since we captured a Chuunin not long ago.
Drugs to weaken their ability to use chakra, lots of chains. I tried to talk to them,"
I guess that will do too. Um, yet more drugs we should see if we can see in gas form on in a poison version.
Rika said, her voice low. "The clanner just spat at us, refused to say anything. Ryota, he kept on asking about Hiroto, but it was like he knew, like he just wanted us to admit it."
Well, we did just kill the clanner's family. Ryota makes sense too since Hiroto was his friend and he went out of his way to save his life. He won't want to work with those who killed him.
He must be wondering right now what it is that determined that he survived and not Hiroto. Not in the sense of the wounds or that he thinks his friend couldn't have fallen in battle. It is survivor guilt, wondering why the one who lasted more, that could do something, that saved his teammate had to die. He would feel inadequate; think that Hiroto was better and he should have been the one who lived. Whether that is actually the case or not wouldn't matter.
Shizue stared for a long moment, "Maybe I should go and see them, try to talk to them--"
Last time the clanner saw us we were sticking a kunai into her sister or cousin. I think that going to talk to them would only make us wonder why we are doing it. They would assume that we just want info until we do or say something to prove otherwise.
I'm trying too. I think I'll go every day.
I'm not going back to front line. I can't handle this war, that's the truth. I'm going to keep on training my body, getting stronger, sure- but I want to train as a medic-nin, because it's safer. For everyone."
Well, that is one less member for the team. It should have been a three men cell from the start, but still. This also means that the only remaining close quarters combatant in our team is Stinger. Luckily we are talking to both Ginchiyo and Saya who specialize in that,
I am somewhat worried by how she phrased the last bit. "Because it is safer. For everyone." It can be taken in more than one way.
It could be that having someone who knows about healing would keep more people alive. But it could also be interpreted as if it were safer for her not to be in the frontlines and then safer for the rest because they wouldn't have to look out for her, be it because she is idealistic or just not skilled enough. Many, that is those who don't know her, would interpret something like this as her being afraid of the fighting. We might have to find a way to counteract said rumours in the future so that they don't call her a coward.
"Did your father encourage that?" Shizue asked.
"We… agreed that it'd be best that way," Rika said,
For different reasons. Also, she hesitated there. Maybe he undermined her self-esteem. For him she will always be her little girl and can't imagine her as a soldier. Trying to make her safe, telling her he worries about her safety when she is starting to doubt her place as a ninja… I could see it happening.
"Once this war is over, well, if it ever ends, I can take combat missions, or ones that might risk fighting bandits, and it's no trouble. But during the war, I mean, I still- I had dreams last night and I never want to have dreams like that again."
Ah, so that explains why she has been working overnight. It is not that she wants to be a medic fast enough to help even though she does. It is that she is afraid to sleep.
What would give her the more nightmares? The fire and the wounded or her part in the murder of those kids? I guess it is the scale of it all that bothers her since she might take combat missions after it.
Though, "if it ever ends"? That is… an odd way to put it to say the least.
Shizue patted Rika on the shoulder. "I understand. I respect that. You know? I said this to another girl, one who knew Chieko, but I can say it to you too; I respect what you're doing, and what you tried to do, saving lives.
Mostly because it is something she can't do herself. I was going to say that it is harder to create than it is to destroy but Shizue makes puppets so she does create things. True, they are made so that they can kill things but in a way you can say the same about those who heal our warriors.
It doesn't have to be that way. Ken has an arm that works on fuinjutsu but I think we might be able to do something similar with puppetry. If we work on our fuinjutsu then we might be able to help in the hospital in a few years by making prosthesis for those who lost an arm or a leg.
Not to mention that I am coming to think of the medics as an important part of the village. If they didn't have so many or so good medics then Reef might have lost already, putting those wounded back into the meat grinder and performing to acceptable standards this fast helps against the fact that they have numerical inferiority.
When all this is over, I would like to be a village famous for it is medicine. We are very far from there since I wager that anything to do with diseases is not really explored as proved with Sae but it would be something nice to be known over. It would project a new look for Reef, one that might help to put the horrors of this war behind.
Not to mention that I have the inkling of a suspicion that something very bad will happen to our leadership before the conflict is over and we are kind of dependant on Momoka and Zenzo. We need spares for them.
Just understand I'm there, too, and I'm going to try my best to help you."
Dully, Rika said, "I know…"
She took a breath and stepped out of the room, heading for the water cooler next to the coffee machine, and pouring some, taking a moment just to breath in and out, "I know."
To help her both to come to terms with the decision and if she wants to talk.
You know, this is something like out of a TV series. Her body language is pretty good. She walks away from us, turns her back from us, her voice gets quieter, she is hiding from us, covering her shame. The spectator would see the scene from in front of Rika: he would see her face grow emotional as Shizue speaks and waits for her in the room. Maybe there would be a hint of tears. Finally, as she grows quieter and takes a deep breath, her face would lower and the darkness, a trick of the light, would stop us from seeing her expression, maybe a few bangs of her hair would dangle in front of her eyes to cover them better. Those, at least, would become completely invisible.
Shizue waited, aware that sometimes people needed a little bit of time. "That doesn't make it any easier. You're, you're more able to put it all away than I am--"
"To focus on the now, to be practical?" Shizue asked.
"There's nothing practical about this war," Rika retorted, annoyed, but just as quickly she calmed down, "Yes...something like that."
Focus on what you can do. If you can do something to do to help, then you shouldn't waste time worrying. If there is nothing you can do to help in a situation, then there is no need to worry as it is out of your hands and you did all you could. It is somewhat concerning that she can do so like this but it is not like we are the only ones. Okiie and Genta seem well enough.
Is Rika jealous of that? That we can simply not worry by how horrible it is? That we can hollow out so fast? Because we are not like that and she knows better, we broke down in front of her the day before. It has probably more to do with how after a good cry we are seemingly fine. We release our emotions in one burst and then back to normal or at least back to functioning since we are still suffering the effects.
To her, this is either something she can learn the trick to or a quirk of personality. I am leaning to her thinking it is the second one. Don't worry about what could have been but on what it is now possible.
"I find it hard enough, to take all of it in. It's so much easier to focus on those we care about,"
The scope is too big to take it all in. Besides, it is somewhat hard to care for those one doesn't know. Rika is special like that.
"Our friends. I don't know, maybe there's something lacking, that I wasn't able to throw myself in front of Zenzo like you.
Would Sae have done so?
It is hard to define what it is that would be missing. It is a different kind of bravery but she did help in the end to save them so it is not like she stopped out of fear. She did feel like it was bad to kill them and later cried for it so it is not empathy or morals. I think it is more about the importance of ideals. Rika understands that once you compromise on what you believe in you live only half a life. That sometimes one has to act not because of the results one expects to achieve but because every moment has a meaning, they define ourselves. The way we think and the things we do are connected, by changing one so does the other and vice versa. By not doing anything you tacitly condone such methods and that is the first step to find them acceptable.
It is, as Shizue said, to focus on the practical. Rika worries about the kind of person she will become, the spirit is important for a healthy life just as much as the body. But to Rika the way to treat it is by contemplation while for Shizue it is action, small acts of kindness. It is not a matter of being a good or a bad person but to simply be.
I get the feeling that Rika is the kind of person who spends time thinking on what it means to be good. Someone who has a well thought ethic and ideals. To her, a good person would be someone who acts according to their ideals, even if that acts proves to be pointless because the moment one compromises and ignore something that breaks them, one is willingly condoning a wrong. Even if in the end practicality makes her commit an action against them in the end, she has to explore the options her code gives her first. Shizue, on the other hand, would be a casual do-gooder. One that just has to live her life as she can and to be a good person they have to perform small acts of kindness here and there and not to be purposively bad. It is someone who, instead of performing according to a greater moral code acts according to how one feels at the time. Instead of thinking that if something is wrong she has to act against it like Rika does, she would be the kind of person to whom if an act of good doesn't really cost her anything then it is right to perform it because otherwise she is choosing in a situation in which neither act is a drawback to her to allow someone to be or remain hurt instead of doing good by them.
So to overly simplify, Rika would be the one that if she sees something wrong feels the need to fix it while Shizue would be the one that if something can be improved she ask herself why not to do it. Of course, there is some overlap since people are not as simple as that but it is an easy way to put it.
I felt bad for the dead, the enemy dead, I felt hollowed out, but I didn't, I wouldn't have--"
"You didn't cry yourself to sleep over their fates," Rika said, "And you're right, it's hard
I am trying to reconcile this Rika with the one that ignored Shizue back in the academy. She cared about the enemy from even before she had friends but was afraid to be excluded and thus ignored Shizue. So what? I think her problem is that she wants to belong but when the time for an important decision comes she finds that she is too different from others and can't reconcile what she believes with what she what she wants to be does. It ties up with the hypothesis that she joined the force because she couldn't fit in in a more traditional world.
At least she admits it is hard. To paraphrase a well loved character, sometimes one has to choose between what is right and what it is easy. To Rika it was hard to put herself in front of Zenzo but she did so because it was good. On the academy she chose what was easy and ignored Shizue and now she regrets it. I think that might have something to do with it. That and that she can relate to the enemy risking their lives for their friends now that she has them.
And, and I don't think I blame you. I think I might have, once
She
thinks she doesn't blame us? That implies she is not sure that she doesn't. Though to be fair, had she said that she doesn't blame us then I wouldn't have believed her. People don't think in negatives, if she felt the need to clarify then she probably would have.
I do something like that at times, when speaking of my emotions. I realize that I can hardly be objective about them since it is only natural for a human to see themselves as better than they are and thus I try to clarify that in my speech. Here Rika doesn't want to be someone who resent her friends since her choice is perfectly valid and doesn't want to be jealous of them doing alright after something like that. To be fair, she doesn't think she is and that might be true. But it is not like she did any soul searching about that. I know I wouldn't, I would be scared about what I could find.
I know I almost did, after...after, by any gods, remember when a single dead enemy seemed like so many? One of three dead, and it felt like I was breaking, now there are dozens, and it's harder, but I can still function. But I don't know--"
Well, at least she is honest. I remember that at the time we had the choice to hunt down those who escaped, follow the suspiscious looking captain or go to the hospital with Rika and Okiie. Eventually we chose the last one and we talked about what happened with them, which was when they became friends with Shizue.
It is funny that at the time I don't think I had friendship in mind. It was more about the fact that Rika was wounded and if the enemy attacked to free their friend then Okiie wouldn't be able to stop them alone. However, had we not done so we wouldn't have ended in good terms with them.
I mean, this was her opinion after the fight in which we killed Jubei
Rika said it first, though all three of them soon came to the same conclusion, within just a few moments of each other, "They're desperate. But we can't know how desperate. I don't blame you, Shizue-"
She did, just a little, Shizue could tell, but she was trying not to hold it against the other kunoichi, and perhaps she'd succeed.
"But we could have interrogated him to see how desperate Tide is. He can't be the only new Genin promoted, and this has happened a few times before with villages facing manpower shortages, but how many? The top ten percent of the class? The top twenty percent? Is it by age, instead? Those closest to graduation age regardless of skill? We could have learned so much, and being so young he no doubt would have been easier to gain information from."
Shizue and Okiie both knew their jobs in this situation. They were to pretend that this was the reason Rika was upset about Jubei's death, that compassion played no part in it, since showing compassion to the enemy was weakness, the one thing that Rika--already bearing the burden of a civilian father--could not stand to have, could not survive. Almost literally, Shizue knew, for weakness could breed distrust, which meant people would not work as hard to help you, wouldn't want to go on missions with you...it was all a vicious cycle if you took a wrong step, and so Shizue respected the lie. Respected it almost as much as she respected the fact that Rika felt bad for the death.
In which you can see that her morals don't let her accept that we killed an academy student. Granted, immediately after it happened, Shizue felt pretty bad about it, she was shaking and on wobbly legs but by the time she had met with them again Shizue looked as normal.
She probably would have thought that Shizue was cold hearted had thing remained like that or had she taken longer to arrive, giving Rika time to consolidate her mental picture of her. However, she talked to her and this happened:
"Well, it did pretty well," Rika said, a little bleakly, "I mean, you should be… proud, Suzuhisa-san."
Not a good sign, last name basis, and Shizue smiled and said, "I'd...hoped for a different way to introduce Stinger. But… I'm just glad that you're alright, Rika-san," she emphasized the way she was using Rika's personal name, "I was worried about you."
"I'll be fine," Rika said, "I'm tougher than that… Shizue-san. So…" she trailed off, not sure what else to say, "You fight mostly with that puppet? Or at least, ideally you do?"
"That's a thought, sorry for not talking to you about these sorts of things," Rika said, "I mean, if we'd known more about each other, we could have done things even better, and maybe captured several of them. Instead, I jumped in without even knowing what I was doing."
"I think you looked cool," Shizue insisted, smiling and saying, "I hope I'd be willing to do that for someone else in that case, but--"
"If you don't, you're smarter than me, Shizue-chan,"
It was only after social-fuing Rika that she patched that impression by playing on Rika's insecurities caused by her civilian background and recognizing her as a ninja, causing Rika to feel obligated to do the same. It fits with the theme present in Naruto about someone becoming special to someone else because he recognizes them.
It is a lesson we should take from this, that of solving issues before they become big. Thanks to that Shizu earned a best friend. Speaking of which:
"You don't know if you could go through it again," Shizue said, "After you're done, do you want to go get lunch?"
As a friend, Shizue will support Rika. It is better that she follows this path. To heal rather than kill is something that both is in accordance with her code and lets her remain as a productive member of the village, plus the fact that she helps people should be a good balm for whatever guilt she is feeling.
It is better for her to be useful this way rather than leave it alone and have her break down and quit as a ninja if something like this happens again.
"I… I do need to take a break eventually, so why not?" Rika finally said.
I would prefer that she take a break by sleeping actually but this will do.
Momoka looked just as tired as everyone else, but seemed to be holding up well. When told about Zenzo's message, she just shook her head and said, "That boy, Shizue-san, he's going to run himself so deep in the ground one day he won't be able to get out. Try to keep Rika-san from taking on that aspect of his personality, if you would?" She was busy looking over a few charts, rather distracted.
Well, I guess that if her worry is that Zenzo is overworking rather than the fact that he is mixing drugs then it should be ok?
I am a little amazed that someone can just walk and talk to the leaders of the village though. That and that by virtue of it being so small they seem to be somewhat aware of every one of their soldiers (which I guess makes what Hirotomo did even worse). We should take advantage of that someday.
Shizue smiled and said, "Well, if you helped train Rika, you could counteract some of it, couldn't you?
She is no Tsunade but a jounin is a jounin. It should certainly help her to get good at it fast enough.
Plus, few more medics can't hurt, can it?"
"Maybe, though that was Zenzo's logic in trying to get Tsubaki-chan to graduate early," Momoka said, "But I suppose Rika's already in the thick of the things, so becoming a better medic can only help."
That should be Reef's motto.
This means that the special jounin were part of the meeting that decided on the kids that should graduate early and serves as a reminder that we might like the guy but Zenzo is still someone who would send kids to the battlefield for a small advantage. It should be a fun game to guess if someone was suggested by someone specific. We know that Junko and Seichiiro were among the original five academy students, presumably because of their marks. Could it be that there is another of them who, like Tsubaki, was chosen because of a specific skill?
More importantly, had there been more medics to begin with, would Tsubaki have been nominated?
and then they had a long discussion about the tea they were drinking and the food they were eating. It somehow morphed into a discussion of economics, and Rika started trying to explain the various new economic systems that had been developing over the past centuries. It was the most animated Shizue had seen in years.
Yeah, it is funny how conversation tend to go randomly off topic like that. Though it really, it is a shame that her work as a ninja doesn't really let her make use of that knowledge. To do so she would need to earn responsibilities related to management and to get those she would need to rise in rank and that is something that favours those who are strong rather than those with that kind of skills.
Though now that I think about it, an alternative would be to get the ear of someone who is in a position to do something. If Rika can get in a good relationship with Momoka, who is going to help train her, she could discuss with her things like this which would allow her to indirectly take it to the council. The problem with this is that, as far as I am aware, the normal ruling of the village is in hands of Tomoyo and when the scandal with Zenzo and the academy students happened it was mentioned that Momoka and Tomoyo disagree most of the time. So if Tomoyo were to be petty about it she could block it just because it comes from Momoka.
Another way to do so would be to bring it up with Zenzo and let him talk to others, maybe take it directly to Tomoyo. That way the proposal could come from the one who manages those things and Rika could try to convince Momoka on the side.
"So the Gato Cartel, to use a famous example, it looked just like the usual government-approved monopoly, and it turned out to be a bunch of criminals, but part of what he did before he started going into crime big time involved undercutting other cartels by offering competitive prices…"
You know, I would have thought that if he had undercut other cartels by using low prices, those cartels would have used their own criminal connections to harass Gato. Unless the competitive prizes that it is talking about is the bribes and the cut given to the government who approves said monopoly.
And that's before she started using kunai and chopsticks and soy bottles to represent various parties, as she talked about shipping rates, and tax systems, and why a unified Archipelago had been much richer than the three separate governments combined, and how the uncertainty of war led to- here Shizue lost the thread of the conversation, but it was something to do with variable taxation rates, and written versus verbal promises- severe economic disruption
Yeah, Rika for minister of economics. There isn't much to argue about that.
It occurs to me that she would be ideal to study both Akahito's gambling debts and whether there are any irregularities on that island which taxes Hirotomo received in a bribe. Or to look into who is profiting from the war. If only she had access to those records…
By the end of the lunch, which had turned out to last almost two hours, Rika was in a much better mood. Then she realized the time, "Oh darn! I need to get back to work, there are probably people and- and thanks for listening to me ramble, I'm sure I didn't make any sense-"
"No, no," Shizue said, "I didn't follow everything, but it was very educational. I'll talk to you later."
"Kaygreatthanksbye!" Rika said, running off so fast that Shizue almost imagined her as a blur.
We didn't really get her to go to sleep. At least she is happier. Mission accomplished.
That night, Shizue and Junko danced.
You know, it is a very simple sentence but when it is taken with what happened in the quest so far you can actually make a deep analysis of it. Especially when compared to Scene 4: Stinger's dance. Not only is there a similarity in the words but the fact that said fight was referenced in the previous segment all but guarantees you make the connection.
Dance can be both the movement to music and the one of battle. They are, in different ways, expressions of life, one by releasing the vital pulse in celebration, the other in a struggle of wills to live. That night passions grow both by having fun and by saying no to death, by moving all the same way or by the cold embrace, people grow equal. When reading the phrase, I think of shadows that clash under the moonlight with the sound of steel and I think "beautiful."
You could also make an analysis of the participants. On Scene 4 Stinger danced with Jubei and here Shizue dances with Junko. Both cases are different aspects of her with academy students and different facets of the dance, of life. It is a separation in Shizue. Stinger is the part of her that is a warrior, that inflicts dead. Shizue is the person, the one who plays with kids. There isn't much difference in her partners either time only in circumstance.
Duality and parallels seem to be a big part of this story. The two aspects of Shizue/Stinger, her mirror image with Chieko, the situations of Hirotomo and Haruo in last battle. Time and time again we see them. I've to say, I like the contrast.
"You're so much better at the cloak than me," Junko said, "It's so cool. You're able to dance without having to stay mostly in the same place. I can't see you dancing, but I bet it's cool."
Ah, hero worship and ego stroking. It is a really fast way to grow to like a character.
Shizue was rapidly discovering that she wasn't a good dancer. It was a good thing she was invisible, or she'd have made a fool out of herself. But then, she was laughing the whole time as they did different dances and Junko laughed and tried to provide music by singing various folk songs. It was training on how to move around the invisible, but it probably wasn't great training. But honestly, Shizue didn't care.
I hadn't really considered it but by being invisible and not seeing your body you lose certain frame of reference to judge distances and not to bump into things. It would probably be hard to pick up things without knocking them over which would make it hard to move silently. Add to it the fact that sudden movements will break the cloak then it becomes a necessity to try them out since there are some moves that depend on being made fast enough to keep balance and by trying them out they become aware of what is and what isn't possible.
This makes me think of something random. Speaking of balance, there are three senses that allows to keep balance: Sight, propioperception (the knowledge of where our body parts are at any given time) and the information that our vestibular system gives us about the pull of gravity. We can keep our balance if two of the feet of this tripod working, but if only one of these senses work then we are incapable of stay standing. We can already interfere with the vestibular system with our jutsu, so if we add something to cloud our oponents vision not only would affect their accuracy, but it should make it even harder for our oponents to keep their balance.
It was rather liberating, to decide to just have fun.
Well, at least there is that. Playing is an aspect necessary for human psychological wellbeing, one that is sadly dismissed in today's society in favour of 'maturity'. This at least gives her the chance to unwind.
Theatre and play pretend would also be good options since they allow to discharge emotions and say the unsaid in a safe environment.
Even if the dances were a little odd. Many of them were meant to be faster. Some were formal, the sort a person would do at some official function, but others were city dances, and those were even faster, meant to be done by young men and women--Shizue understood--who had not a care in the world.
When I read that part about young men and women, I wondered if that made reference to people with enough vitality to keep doing them all night or if it meant dances that are specifically designed to be danced between a man and a woman and that Shizue thought them weird because she is young. Suffice to say, my mind went down the gutter but I think (hope) it is the first. I mean, Shizue is a smart girl, I doubt it would be the second. The fact that the distinction was that they were faster makes it pretty obvious that it was the second but this comes to show what happens when you are reading quickly.
Here in the Archipelago, dance crazes, little bits of culture, they washed up the same way people washed up.
Like Emiko, who is the new craze among the young ones. For shame this new generation, it doesn't respect the values of their ancestors, following those new fads like genjutsu or stealth.
Do a lot of people wash up in the Archepelago?
Floatsam and jetsam, but treasured all the more because no matter how provincial was, it was impossible to forget that out there was a world, a world full of dances and strange songs in accents no good 'Peligar could understand, half the time
Kind of like when K-pop and Gandam Style grew popular, right?
Songs, dances, and movies. So there was something liberating about dancing, besides that it was just fun. The dancing seemed to say to the world 'yes, we know you are there, yes there is more than just this field.' Somewhere far off two very different people might be doing the same dance, having almost as much fun, and when Shizue danced she felt almost part of that.
It is the taste for the exotic and the want to feel hip and modern combined. I have seen similar things. Here in the capital the night clubs are full of young people in their early twenties but if you move to the cities or towns in the interior you find people from all ages be it fresh out of school or parents out from work and dressed in all kind of ways, from all social strata. The songs are the same but it is somewhat curious to see a domestic employee grandmother grinding with some blue collar middle aged man and leaving only when the sun starts to come up.
Junko laughed, halfway through and said, "Now, flute solo!"
"What?" Shizue asked, brought up short.
"I know you're a great musician, so why don't we do a flute solo? Well, follow this song," she said, and she began singing a jaunty song about a young boy getting into some sort of adventure in a small village. Shizue wasn't paying attention to the words, she was paying attention to the notes. She closed her eyes, pulled out her flute, and began to play. One note piled onto the next, keeping up the fast pace of the song, and the more she played, the more she lost herself, just playing.
That is impressive, to pick the tune just by hearing it and play it simultaneously. Shizue really should play more often. She could do so for her friends though it would be a little embarrassing to make a concert for them I guess. Perhaps in a picnic. You know, whenever friends get together to celebrate there is always someone with a guitar or other such instrument that plays popular song for the others to sing and enjoy. That is going to be Shizue.
Though I do find it weird that she had it on her. She probably carries it whenever she doesn't have Stinger on hand so that she can use her sound jutsu without its bells.
This will eventually be useful if she needs to infiltrate like a traveling artist.
"C'mon, dance too!" Junko said, "This is great."
Good to see she is enjoying it. Chidlike wonder and there is just a year between them. Shizue, what was done to yours?
And so they danced, Shizue moving and jiving in place, invisible as she played one song and then the next, eyes sometimes open, sometimes closed
You know, I love this segment. This immediately brought to mind the idea of fairies partying in a clearing while invisible, traveller only able to hear their laughter and music. I can picture something similar happening on Reef, an unwary traveller coming upon them and thinking that was the case. As they visit every night and more of the other kids join them, rumours of an enchanted forest spread among the population. Years later, long after their deaths, tradition and legends keep on, the fairies dancing every night.
Besides, fairies are cute. I have no problem relating them to this meeting. After all, even if they are human, the night is certainly magical with how they enjoy it.
until at last she heard Junko say, "Shizue-sama…"
Again with the sama. Seriously, what did we do to deserve that? Shizue is casually accepting it too. I dunno, maybe I am giving it more importance than what it actually means.
"Yes?" Shizue asked, pausing her playing, letting out a breath. She missed practicing with her flute, and she had really been enjoying herself.
Then she should do it more often, as a way to relax after missions. Let her feeling out, her sadness, anger, frustration, the joy to be alive and the will for it to remain so.
"Wanna start training for real?" Junko asked, "I figured we could play hide and seek?"
"That sounds good, Junko-chan," Shizue said.
And thus the game began.
Turning learning experiences into game is a good pedagogic experience though I have to admit that, in real life, to do so in order to train killers is more than a little creepy, bordering in horror.
Don't get me wrong, it is a very cute scene and it provides all tha aww's and the character development that you probably intended. I felt them when I read the scene two or three times while checking for this. But once I made the connection to how it would be in real life…
It is sometimes easy to forget that we are talking about child soldiers here rather than children or soldiers.
Junko was surprisingly quiet, and the fact that they had the whole village meant that it was hard to beat her. Shizue several times passed Junko by and allowed her to run to another hiding place, but slowly the game evolved into something less one-sided, both of them taking turns hiding and seeking, ranging all across the island. Hiding near streams, behind trees, using invisibility and line of sight and walking and stepping so carefully, it was actually really good practice.
So, let me get this straight. It was a game of hide and seek, in three dimensions, at night and adding invisibility across all the island.
That is one hardcore game. I will bet that all that recon Shizue did for that assignment for trap class helped with that. Though that does remind me that Athletics and Movement were required to make proper use of Stealth so we should level them along with Evasion next week.
Tired but in a far better mood, Shizue trudged into bed and slept long and dreamlessly. Tomorrow, tomorrow would be a good day, she had high hopes for it, despite all that had happened.
No nightmares for Shizue! Yay!
Mayuzumi Hanae, the oldest Genin in Reef, was promoted on the second day after THERE, the fight against which all others would be compared, as the war pressed onward, pushing into Island territory. Two islands captured, damage done to return the favor, and still Ginchiyo was waiting on her own official promotion.
This is beginning to feel like a slight to Ginchiyo. The previous reasons to withhold her promotion still hold but for someone who doesn't know about the situation with Hirotomo it would probably look that way.
You know, here is a curious bit of trivia. In traditional armies, where hierarchy is so important, there are levels within the same rank. They depend on rule of seniority so that, if there is a lost in leadership and there remains a group of people of the same rank, command goes to the one who has held the position the longest even if it is by a few minutes. It also goes for the different armed forces. Since the air force is newer than the marine and this is newer than the army then a general of the army is technically of higher rank than those of the other two forces.
Now, I don't know if this holds for ninjas or even your country (probably not since those in the council are equals though there could be some unwritten rule about it) but if so, the more people are promoted before Ginchiyo the greater the slight is. Right now it is not a problem since Hanae is older and has been a ninja for longer so it makes sense to promote him first but if Ichiman were to be officially promoted first expect hell to be raised.
Shizue tried not to focus on the war, tried to investigate. It was difficult. Zenzo wasn't there when she searched for him, so she assumed he'd crashed and not found anything much
Let's hope he doesn't try anything else like that anytime soon.
and Rika only had a little time to look around with her work in the hospital,
Rika didn't investigate, that makes sense.
and Genta seemed stuck. Writing longer and longer reports, gathering evidence but unable to quite place the last link.
So, was it all big talk or bad rolls? I mean, we didn't have any new evidence other than the trap going perfectly. I wonder what made him so sure of it before that he could claim he would find them both.
The village hurtled onward, and so did its Genin, and only Okiie seemed entirely there, talking about his parents, or rather complaining about a minor argument they'd had. Shizue had listened and made approving sounds, but it wasn't really something she could connect to. Apparently he'd broken something while trying to walk on the walls, and it was a big deal, some sort of vase, and as it slowly came out, bit by bit, he wasn't actually dismissive and understood their concerns.
What kind of moron practices wall walking inside the house? I mean, I would also be concerned if I were his parent and he did something like that.
The question is if Shizue can't connect to it because she doesn't have parents or because she listened to Sae and didn't do stuff like that or because she would love to have them and can't connect with someone complaining about it.
Also, can he teach us to do so?
"But what can I actually do? I mean, I guess I have the money to replace it," Okiie said, rubbing his nose, "But the value of the vase isn't in money, you know?"
Shizue pictured her mother's instruments and said, "Yeah, I do."
He could start by saying he is sorry and that he won't do it again. Though I don't know if the comparison Shizue is making is apt; as calm as she is, Shizue worships Sae and might go ballistic if someone breaks her last connections to her.
"So, do you know anyone who's friends with Nami?"
Just as the story came out piece by piece, so too did Inoguchi Nami reveal herself to Shizue. Her friends, when asked about her, were immediately defensive, and so little was learned there, but once Shizue started listening to rumors, a few things built themselves up
Well, if she is tied to Island then some people might have given her shit about it and they would be defensive because of it.
Nami was respected among the shinobi, and she had repeatedly argued for greater respect and protection towards younger ninja.
That makes sense with what we saw of her in the meeting Shizue eavesdropped.
"Then we need to cut him off. The war's too costly, it's always been so," Nami said, sounding sad, "It costs so much, if only we could win now, there'd be so much we could do. But we can't merely propose to do nothing."
"No, but Momoka won't stand merely for a few tweaks to the formula," Shigeru pointed out, "Saying 'five percent of eleven year olds' is just the same as ten percent of the best ten or older in her opinion. It's all the math of the monster."
"Really? We can't...damn," Yumiko said, sighing.
"What about training?" Ieyoshi said, "We offer an advanced training program for talented academy students, to prepare them for early graduation! Under the care of powerful Special Jonin and Jonin, surely with a month of preparation they will be more ready for war!"
"That… may be acceptable? It sounds so to me, but I am not Momoka-sama," Shigeru pointed out.
"We could cut the limits however we want," Nami pointed out, "If some skilled ten year old came and applied, we could find ways to push them aside. We'd hold the standards in our hands, and we could do whatever we want. It'd be our program. If we could get Momoka, Ken, and then one more…"
As seen above, she sounded sad when it was proposed to send the younger ones to the front and might have been referencing to the dying genin. When the proposal of making a training seminar for the academy students was fielded she immediately focused on the possibility to use it as a delaying action by either refusing them from taking it by saying they weren't ready or by failing them and making them take it again.
If so, it might be best if she is in charge of the special training program.
She was someone who was admired, and her stance towards Island was hardline. She'd not hear any word that peace could be made with Island, even as she was one of the champions of a peace with Tide. 'Island,' she had once been heard to say, 'Is a disgusting pit of vipers.'
I was under the impression that Nami's mother was from Island but that Nami herself was too young when they left and so her opinions on the place would have been because of the reason her mother left and what she was told about it.
Looking back to the chapter of the meeting that doesn't seem to be the case. If we look at this part:
"Politics is not something new to ninja," Nami pointed out, sounding a little annoyed, as if she'd put up with him a little too much today to humor him, "We're rulers. You've spoken long about how our rule should be just and powerful and how it is justified by combat. But it can only be maintained by--"
"Intelligent and right action," Shigeru said. "If Momoka had known how wise you were, Nami, she would have reacted better--"
"Instead of snubbing me?" Nami asked, shrugging, "It's water under the bridge. Either way, if there is a traitor, they are inept, no?"
We don't exactly know when said snubbing was but I get the feeling it is related to her connection with Island. If so it would make more sense if she actually had a connection instead of being raised in the village.
We should find out her age and when was it that her mother came to Reef.
That said, she really must hate that the clans rule and nepotism (unless it is all a deep cover). We must really figure out why her family left Island. That is probably the key to figure out if her hatred is real or not.
It seemed unlikely to Shizue that all of this was a false front, since it went back years and years, years and years of hating Island...but perhaps that explained Island's failure? A real traitor towards Tide, who played the false traitor towards Island?
So the hypothesis would be that her hatred for it is so deep that she decided to compromise her belief by sacrificing genin just so that she would get a chance to kill more of them? Or that she wanted to force an all out war against them?
That sounds rather weak.
Or...what? It was hard to get a bead on her beyond that, her style of ninjutsu and her skills were well known, but it was also known that she liked to keep a little in reserve, to surprise both enemies and allies, in different ways.
Too bad her style doesn't really mash with ours. Since she thinks the next generation is important she might have been able to be convinced to help with our training.
The last thing that Shizue managed to dredge up before she had to give up and admit there was little else to learn?
That recently Nami had been acting strange, nervous, tense. It could be the exhaustion and the stress of war, it was getting to everyone. Or it could be that someone had discovered her treason, that she was even now connected to the second traitor, the one who might have hijacked her treason.
… and we were so close to discard her too. Still, we haven't interacted with her so we know too little to jump to conclusions. For all we know, she is aware that there is a traitor and she realized someone is investigating her so she thinks she will be accused. Or it could be that she doesn't like what is being done to the academy students. Or she is dating someone in secret.
It could be anything, really.
Shizue turned to Okiie, trying to fight off the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and asked, "Hey, would you like to go on a date tomorrow, like we'd planned? Maybe tomorrow afternoon, evening?"
Okiie blinked and said, trying to sound as casual as he could, "Well...sure."
Trying to sound casual = he is anything but casual.
You'll be learning much more about the situation of the war later on, because right now everyone's in a very confused sort of mood. So enemy losses and what happened in the fights isn't really filtering through. There was also the additional narrative fact that focusing too much on that would weaken the end of the episode, so I decided to focus on Okiie, since you'll have the numbers/developing situation soon enough.
