Downwind the Mountain: An Amegakure Quest (Naruto)
- Thread starter NonSequtur
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[X] Akira, on karma.
Ninshu is from the original work. Desire as a topic is broadly popular. Karma is specific enough that it can be something unique to this quest. Akira is also the genin I have the weakest sense of. Clan ninja, prickly towards Takashi, but not much about him personally is very firm.
This is a good quest. Glad to have found it.
Ninshu is from the original work. Desire as a topic is broadly popular. Karma is specific enough that it can be something unique to this quest. Akira is also the genin I have the weakest sense of. Clan ninja, prickly towards Takashi, but not much about him personally is very firm.
This is a good quest. Glad to have found it.
Transportation 7
NonSequtur
a body
[x] Yuma, on ninshu.
"-matter of perspective." Ikkyu says. "Ninshu could certainly be turned into a weapon. Indeed it has been. The Sage did not teach ninja arts as we know them today. But to do so is to lose the heart of ninshu."
"I guess," Yuma mutters, nearly inaudible under the ambient noise of the caravan. "But doesn't that just make you a loser? If you're always sharing and someone else just takes."
They aren't going to realize you're awake. Probably. If Ikkyu were a ninja he'd be a genin, you think, but you can't be sure he doesn't have some esoteric art that'll tell him you're listening in. Of course, if he did he'd probably try and be subtle about it: temples with secret arts are targets.
"In a sense that's true, yes. There's a reason your team is escorting me to your leader's enthronement rather than the opposite." The wagon creaks around you as Ikkyu shifts positions. "But that raises a question: so?"
"So?" Yuma asks, confused. You, meanwhile, roll your eyes.
"So what if a killer can kill me, a thief take my things, or a lord impose their laws? Why should I look for a weapon to prevent that? The wheel will turn, and karma's strings will drag the world forward - thinking that those things amount to real losses only invites pain."
"Uh." There's a pause. "That seems… suicidal."
"Well, it's contentious even among us priests," Ikkyu admits. "There's martial temples who see fighting evil as virtuous, and there's strict ascetics who do tend to look suicidal. If someone tried to kill me, I'd resist, but probably less strongly than you or your teacher would."
"Why? If someone's trying to kill you, don't they deserve to die?"
"That's more complicated than you make it sound. What do you mean when you say someone deserves something?"
You itch with the desire to answer. Yuma thinks about it. "It means they should get it. Like if you deserve a reward, it's bad if you don't get one, and good if you do."
"So, the question becomes, is it good for a man to die?" Ikkyu chuckles. "Alright, alright. Suffice to say, it's a tenet of ninshu that good and bad, if they exist at all, are complicated. Karma, of course, means the consequences of any action extends much further than what is easily seen. Into other worlds we are barred from, and other lives we do not remember."
"Who cares?" Yuma asks grouchily. "If I'm poor, and I don't remember my past life, then they could've been bad and it's their fault, or they could've been rich and I've got the leftovers. Or maybe they were poor and good, and I'm still poor. Do we even know what karma cares about? Maybe it's okay with killing someone who deserves it."
"Well," Ikkyu drawls. "We're pretty sure it's not 'okay' with murder. The ghosts are a pretty big sign."
"Mgrm."
"Besides, karma isn't all you have to consider," Ikkyu says. "Another tenet of ninshu - the most important tenet, really - is that one of the first illusions to rid yourself of is that you are something other than the world. I know, I know-" his tone turns placating, "-'what does that mean?'. Well, it's like karma, but… horizontal. Contemplating karma reminds us that our actions have consequences long after we are gone. Nishu teaches us that our actions are not just for ourselves in the moment, either. That when we perceive ourselves as individuals, separate from each other and the larger cycle, we have fallen victim to an illusion which hurts us. Ninshu is the practice of breaking these illusions, through meditation, correct action, and the sharing of spiritual energies among many, many others. The last one is what ninja tend to mean when they talk about ninshu, for some reason."
Because chakra manipulation of any kind can become ninjutsu, you add silently, though you're sure Ikkyu knows that. Yuma scoffs.
"If you're not going to do anything with it, why does it matter?"
There's a rustle of cloth. You think Ikkyu shrugged. "It's been a few thousand years, and despite everything ninshu continues. There's a strength to it that isn't about 'doing' something, I think. In the connection." He sighs. "Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't priests and monks who feel the frustrations you do. They become martial sects, or 'ninja monks' and eventually, sometimes, just ninja."
"You told the captain ninshu wasn't good for that," Yuma replies suspiciously.
"It isn't," Ikkyu replies evenly. "But if you teach yourself to not be open, cling to the lie of separation, what was once ninshu becomes its own illusion. Genjutsu, more than any other ninja art, is a corruption of the Sage's teachings."
"Most ninja don't know a lot of genjutsu," Yuma points out. "She complains about it."
"Ah, is your captain adept with illusions?" Ikkyu replies. "I wonder if that's why she reads sutras." It's not. Just normal curiosity and an excess of literacy on your part. Though if Ikkyu fishes for any more information you might have to stop hiding that you're awake and decide whether to arrest him, again.
"Huh?"
"Just an idle thought," he dismisses. "Of course, it's against the teachings of the Sage to use the strength of the body to crush others, or to call the elements to kill. But I could learn the ash technique your teacher used," -unlikely, you judge, even if you were willing to teach him one of your original techniques- "and so long as I did not use it in battle, there'd be little in the sutras which would condemn me. 'I give you these signs/ to twist in your hands/ and unfurl the flower of the world' and so on. Ah." He fumbles - Yuma must have given him a look. "That's- well it's from a sutra about using ninjutsu. For things other than war. Anyway." A cough. "It's not allowed now, of course. But even prior to Hanzo's law, genjutsu was forbidden among most temples."
You've never read that sutra. A shame. It sounds interesting.
"Even if you used it for good reasons?" Yuma asks. "Like, if you wanted to make someone feel better. Or to talk to someone, maybe - the captain once used a genjutsu to make us hear her voice."
You scowl, lying still on your bedroll. That wasn't a genjutsu - it was an illusory ninjutsu. Clearly you haven't drilled them on theory enough. Genjutsu to trick the heart, illusions to spoof senses, and hallucinogens to confuse the body. No student of yours is going to be the kind of lazy ninjutsu specialist who calls anything that can't make a hole in something 'genjutsu'.
Ikkyu hums, unaware of your spike of frustration. "I did say most sects.But yes, in general, no matter the reason or purpose. It's considered… lying by definition, and against the purpose of ninshu. And if you have something you need to communicate, ninshu is generally considered superior."
You blink. Yuma balks. "Eh? How?"
"Isn't it obvious?" he says, sounding genuinely surprised. "To use genjutsu you have to make sure you're defended, and in control of what you're sharing. Meanwhile, ninshu avoids the… layer? The separation? You simply-" Shadows dance as the monk waves his arms. The sun is rising. "-communicate."
"And that's better?" Yuma asks the question you would have asked with the appropriate skepticism.
"Easier and more complete," Ikkyu says. "And in some ways more powerful: I did prevent that man from committing a murder, while hardly being trained in such things, didn't I? But, ah. Perhaps not for ninja. I wouldn't wish to try it on a battlefield." He shivers audibly. "Had your teacher killed him at that moment, I might well have died."
"Can't you do the same with genjutsu, though?" Yuma wonders. "If you were allowed to."
"Maybe," the monk grants. "But to be truly open… the full impact of it is impossible to fake, I think."
The genin mutters. "Maybe."
Your alarm goes off, and you get off the bedroll.
The conversation ends.
~
You're very lucky: upon reaching the old capital you learn the men you killed do seem to have been bandits with a forged writ. You are, legally, not a murderer. The magistrate hands down a sentence of hard labour like he's already tallying the profit, and you pass on the thumbprints to the local records office, and that's that. There's no bounties for regular outlaws, unfortunately for you, but if any of them can be identified their families will be notified.
Ikkyu lets his distaste show on his face. You advise him to get rid of that habit before reaching Amegakure, or to get a mask like yours, but that just makes it more obvious. You wonder how isolated his temple is, that even something this common seems to him. You never actually saw it, you remember. You were just told to meet at the torii gate at the end of a road to nowhere. Just like you never heard of the sutra he quoted.
For the third time, in the privacy of your own head, you think about arresting your client, before discarding the thought. Konan did invite him; she presumably knows. You don't need to, this time.
~
Your provided funds are enough to cover a faster ride down the river. Which is good, because you haven't seen the great river this congested… ever. It's like every ship in Rain is trying to reach the city. At least four people drown, capsized in the traffic, and that's just the ones you bother to notice.
When you reach the city, you encounter another problem.
"What do you mean there's no space." It's a question. You don't intone it like a question and the chunin telling you that your mission isn't going to be completed to requirements definitely doesn't take it like a question, but it is a question. Honest.
The girl is so tense that you can see her fashionable curls shiver. Chunin manage postings like this so a random ninja can't just bully their way through. You're not an average ninja, though, and you're not bullying her. You're just asking questions.
"It's all full, ma'am. I mean-" Her eyes flicker to your vest, and for a second you can see her pause. "Major? It's just, we don't have the rooms. They're all… full." She wilts as she realizes she's repeated herself, like an idiot, in front of a superior. Lucky for her, you won't remember her name or her stylish hair in a few hours.
You sigh. "So, either a bunch of uninvited guests showed up with enough rank to claim hotel space on the main island, or somebody misallocated the rooms." Given the size of this event, you'd bet on the latter. Let it not be said that the Amegakure bureaucracy is incapable of doing some dumb bullshit, like not realizing that the main island doesn't generally have a lot of empty space for rent. "Is that about the size of it?"
"I gues- I mean, yes, Major," she nods briskly. "There's always the outer city…?"
Yeah, well, your mission scroll says to deliver Ikkyu to a room 'in Amegakure', and legally the outer city is not that. It's just the natural consequence of putting the capital, hidden village and a good amount of industry on one island in the middle of a huge river.
Things spill over.
You consider putting Ikkyu up in your apartment, but dismiss it immediately. You don't take missions home. It's a rule you keep to more in the breach, but having a client on your couch is definitely a step too far. "Well, thanks." You sigh again and turn to face your team and client, mentally resigning yourself to writing yet another 'unexpected mission interruption' form for this month. It's your fourth, which must be some kind of record for a pair of C-Ranks. "Okay, we're not going home yet. We're going to the outer city."
The genin's reactions - Yuma's grimace, Akira's wince, and Takashi's mix of excitement and trepidation - really say it all.
Also you have to cross the bridge, again.
~
The outer city of Amegakure - which is legally none of those things - is a chaotic place. While the hidden village proper has the dense energy of a place where every square foot of space and every meter of pipe is valuable, either there because the leader of Rain had decreed it necessary or because it had clambered over the alternatives to lay claim to it, the outer city doesn't lack for space and has little direction. On the major axes, along the rail lines, riverbanks and outbound walls, things are kept in order. Multi-story towers like those which forest Amegakure spring up and the slums are kept away from the vital arteries of the nation. By force.
In between, however, it's a mess. Factories and slums, and all the people driven here by war, poverty and fantasy. You step over a horse's dung pile with a grimace. You're glad beasts of burden are banned from the main island. The north-east bank is by far the worst, and that's where you've ended up. In a way it reflects the state of the nation - with the north-east so much smaller than the rest of the country, of course the part of the outer city which connects to it is neglected. On the other hand, that makes finding a hotel that won't gouge you out for Ikkyu's room easier than you suspect it's going to be on the southern bank, which approaches Amegakure itself in the density of its factories and buildings.
Across the river, to the west, you can see the parade grounds where the enthronement is going to be held. From a distance you can see the big pillars which have been driven around the field. You heard they put a lot of work in, flattening the whole area. It'll be the ceremony of a lifetime, you're sure. You grab some unidentifiable balls of sugar and bread on sticks for you and your genin from a stand-owner who tries to tell you that it's free. You slap down your bills and ignore him when he offers change. You ignore him harder when he says 'Praise Lady Konan!' at your retreating back. Your genin seem confused, but are quickly distracted by sugar. Unfortunately, it doesn't last.
"Uh. Excuse me. Captain?" Akira asks. He's holding something in the hand not gripping his unhealthy treat - a piece of paper, which had been sliding by in the early afternoon breeze. He shows it to you and you recognize it immediately. It's a poster for the upcoming celebration of Rain's new leader. A depiction of Konan and various people paying homage and symbols of power, in the same brightly coloured paper-craft style as the pamphlet you read all those weeks ago. Which you suppose is Konan's chosen aesthetic. That it's something so easy to print and easy to recognize makes you more and more sure she was the Akatsuki's propagandist, once. "I just realized- I don't know if we're supposed to attend the ceremony with you, or…?"
You blink at him. Ikkyu - or, rather, Ikkyu's temple, the name of which you've already forgotten - has a predetermined spot in the ceremony which was included in the mission scroll, and you gave the ticket to him before leaving him to the mercy of hotel bedsheets. Hopefully they've organized the seating better than the accomodations for all the invited guests. You, meanwhile- okay you definitely have to attend, a jonin being in the city and not on some vital assignment not attending is a scandal even you can foresee, but you've been out of the city for a month and not heard a thing about it.
So, where?
You're not part of the Sensor Corps, R&D or the Hunter Squad as a jonin-captain, technically. You might be able to sneak back in if you didn't have genin, and while you could send two of your genin with their families, what if they expect them to be with you? And it's not like Yuma has a family who can take him…
Yuma and Takashi are now also looking at you curiously. Beneath your rebreather your mind races. You definitely can't not bring Yuma - he's too talented, with too many expectations - which means you can't not bring the other two. Teams stick together and all that. Frankly there's probably a dedicated spot for jonin-captains-
Your mind catches like a shuttle on a loom. Fuck. You know a jonin-captain who would know. But do you really want to ask-
[ ] him? He's still bitter about that time you made him look like a fool at R&D.
[ ] her? She's still mad about you 'leading her on' when you were in the Hunter Squad.
[ ] them? They're still convinced you're sabotaging yourself and need 'encouragement'.
"-matter of perspective." Ikkyu says. "Ninshu could certainly be turned into a weapon. Indeed it has been. The Sage did not teach ninja arts as we know them today. But to do so is to lose the heart of ninshu."
"I guess," Yuma mutters, nearly inaudible under the ambient noise of the caravan. "But doesn't that just make you a loser? If you're always sharing and someone else just takes."
They aren't going to realize you're awake. Probably. If Ikkyu were a ninja he'd be a genin, you think, but you can't be sure he doesn't have some esoteric art that'll tell him you're listening in. Of course, if he did he'd probably try and be subtle about it: temples with secret arts are targets.
"In a sense that's true, yes. There's a reason your team is escorting me to your leader's enthronement rather than the opposite." The wagon creaks around you as Ikkyu shifts positions. "But that raises a question: so?"
"So?" Yuma asks, confused. You, meanwhile, roll your eyes.
"So what if a killer can kill me, a thief take my things, or a lord impose their laws? Why should I look for a weapon to prevent that? The wheel will turn, and karma's strings will drag the world forward - thinking that those things amount to real losses only invites pain."
"Uh." There's a pause. "That seems… suicidal."
"Well, it's contentious even among us priests," Ikkyu admits. "There's martial temples who see fighting evil as virtuous, and there's strict ascetics who do tend to look suicidal. If someone tried to kill me, I'd resist, but probably less strongly than you or your teacher would."
"Why? If someone's trying to kill you, don't they deserve to die?"
"That's more complicated than you make it sound. What do you mean when you say someone deserves something?"
You itch with the desire to answer. Yuma thinks about it. "It means they should get it. Like if you deserve a reward, it's bad if you don't get one, and good if you do."
"So, the question becomes, is it good for a man to die?" Ikkyu chuckles. "Alright, alright. Suffice to say, it's a tenet of ninshu that good and bad, if they exist at all, are complicated. Karma, of course, means the consequences of any action extends much further than what is easily seen. Into other worlds we are barred from, and other lives we do not remember."
"Who cares?" Yuma asks grouchily. "If I'm poor, and I don't remember my past life, then they could've been bad and it's their fault, or they could've been rich and I've got the leftovers. Or maybe they were poor and good, and I'm still poor. Do we even know what karma cares about? Maybe it's okay with killing someone who deserves it."
"Well," Ikkyu drawls. "We're pretty sure it's not 'okay' with murder. The ghosts are a pretty big sign."
"Mgrm."
"Besides, karma isn't all you have to consider," Ikkyu says. "Another tenet of ninshu - the most important tenet, really - is that one of the first illusions to rid yourself of is that you are something other than the world. I know, I know-" his tone turns placating, "-'what does that mean?'. Well, it's like karma, but… horizontal. Contemplating karma reminds us that our actions have consequences long after we are gone. Nishu teaches us that our actions are not just for ourselves in the moment, either. That when we perceive ourselves as individuals, separate from each other and the larger cycle, we have fallen victim to an illusion which hurts us. Ninshu is the practice of breaking these illusions, through meditation, correct action, and the sharing of spiritual energies among many, many others. The last one is what ninja tend to mean when they talk about ninshu, for some reason."
Because chakra manipulation of any kind can become ninjutsu, you add silently, though you're sure Ikkyu knows that. Yuma scoffs.
"If you're not going to do anything with it, why does it matter?"
There's a rustle of cloth. You think Ikkyu shrugged. "It's been a few thousand years, and despite everything ninshu continues. There's a strength to it that isn't about 'doing' something, I think. In the connection." He sighs. "Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't priests and monks who feel the frustrations you do. They become martial sects, or 'ninja monks' and eventually, sometimes, just ninja."
"You told the captain ninshu wasn't good for that," Yuma replies suspiciously.
"It isn't," Ikkyu replies evenly. "But if you teach yourself to not be open, cling to the lie of separation, what was once ninshu becomes its own illusion. Genjutsu, more than any other ninja art, is a corruption of the Sage's teachings."
"Most ninja don't know a lot of genjutsu," Yuma points out. "She complains about it."
"Ah, is your captain adept with illusions?" Ikkyu replies. "I wonder if that's why she reads sutras." It's not. Just normal curiosity and an excess of literacy on your part. Though if Ikkyu fishes for any more information you might have to stop hiding that you're awake and decide whether to arrest him, again.
"Huh?"
"Just an idle thought," he dismisses. "Of course, it's against the teachings of the Sage to use the strength of the body to crush others, or to call the elements to kill. But I could learn the ash technique your teacher used," -unlikely, you judge, even if you were willing to teach him one of your original techniques- "and so long as I did not use it in battle, there'd be little in the sutras which would condemn me. 'I give you these signs/ to twist in your hands/ and unfurl the flower of the world' and so on. Ah." He fumbles - Yuma must have given him a look. "That's- well it's from a sutra about using ninjutsu. For things other than war. Anyway." A cough. "It's not allowed now, of course. But even prior to Hanzo's law, genjutsu was forbidden among most temples."
You've never read that sutra. A shame. It sounds interesting.
"Even if you used it for good reasons?" Yuma asks. "Like, if you wanted to make someone feel better. Or to talk to someone, maybe - the captain once used a genjutsu to make us hear her voice."
You scowl, lying still on your bedroll. That wasn't a genjutsu - it was an illusory ninjutsu. Clearly you haven't drilled them on theory enough. Genjutsu to trick the heart, illusions to spoof senses, and hallucinogens to confuse the body. No student of yours is going to be the kind of lazy ninjutsu specialist who calls anything that can't make a hole in something 'genjutsu'.
Ikkyu hums, unaware of your spike of frustration. "I did say most sects.But yes, in general, no matter the reason or purpose. It's considered… lying by definition, and against the purpose of ninshu. And if you have something you need to communicate, ninshu is generally considered superior."
You blink. Yuma balks. "Eh? How?"
"Isn't it obvious?" he says, sounding genuinely surprised. "To use genjutsu you have to make sure you're defended, and in control of what you're sharing. Meanwhile, ninshu avoids the… layer? The separation? You simply-" Shadows dance as the monk waves his arms. The sun is rising. "-communicate."
"And that's better?" Yuma asks the question you would have asked with the appropriate skepticism.
"Easier and more complete," Ikkyu says. "And in some ways more powerful: I did prevent that man from committing a murder, while hardly being trained in such things, didn't I? But, ah. Perhaps not for ninja. I wouldn't wish to try it on a battlefield." He shivers audibly. "Had your teacher killed him at that moment, I might well have died."
"Can't you do the same with genjutsu, though?" Yuma wonders. "If you were allowed to."
"Maybe," the monk grants. "But to be truly open… the full impact of it is impossible to fake, I think."
The genin mutters. "Maybe."
Your alarm goes off, and you get off the bedroll.
The conversation ends.
~
You're very lucky: upon reaching the old capital you learn the men you killed do seem to have been bandits with a forged writ. You are, legally, not a murderer. The magistrate hands down a sentence of hard labour like he's already tallying the profit, and you pass on the thumbprints to the local records office, and that's that. There's no bounties for regular outlaws, unfortunately for you, but if any of them can be identified their families will be notified.
Ikkyu lets his distaste show on his face. You advise him to get rid of that habit before reaching Amegakure, or to get a mask like yours, but that just makes it more obvious. You wonder how isolated his temple is, that even something this common seems to him. You never actually saw it, you remember. You were just told to meet at the torii gate at the end of a road to nowhere. Just like you never heard of the sutra he quoted.
For the third time, in the privacy of your own head, you think about arresting your client, before discarding the thought. Konan did invite him; she presumably knows. You don't need to, this time.
~
Your provided funds are enough to cover a faster ride down the river. Which is good, because you haven't seen the great river this congested… ever. It's like every ship in Rain is trying to reach the city. At least four people drown, capsized in the traffic, and that's just the ones you bother to notice.
When you reach the city, you encounter another problem.
"What do you mean there's no space." It's a question. You don't intone it like a question and the chunin telling you that your mission isn't going to be completed to requirements definitely doesn't take it like a question, but it is a question. Honest.
The girl is so tense that you can see her fashionable curls shiver. Chunin manage postings like this so a random ninja can't just bully their way through. You're not an average ninja, though, and you're not bullying her. You're just asking questions.
"It's all full, ma'am. I mean-" Her eyes flicker to your vest, and for a second you can see her pause. "Major? It's just, we don't have the rooms. They're all… full." She wilts as she realizes she's repeated herself, like an idiot, in front of a superior. Lucky for her, you won't remember her name or her stylish hair in a few hours.
You sigh. "So, either a bunch of uninvited guests showed up with enough rank to claim hotel space on the main island, or somebody misallocated the rooms." Given the size of this event, you'd bet on the latter. Let it not be said that the Amegakure bureaucracy is incapable of doing some dumb bullshit, like not realizing that the main island doesn't generally have a lot of empty space for rent. "Is that about the size of it?"
"I gues- I mean, yes, Major," she nods briskly. "There's always the outer city…?"
Yeah, well, your mission scroll says to deliver Ikkyu to a room 'in Amegakure', and legally the outer city is not that. It's just the natural consequence of putting the capital, hidden village and a good amount of industry on one island in the middle of a huge river.
Things spill over.
You consider putting Ikkyu up in your apartment, but dismiss it immediately. You don't take missions home. It's a rule you keep to more in the breach, but having a client on your couch is definitely a step too far. "Well, thanks." You sigh again and turn to face your team and client, mentally resigning yourself to writing yet another 'unexpected mission interruption' form for this month. It's your fourth, which must be some kind of record for a pair of C-Ranks. "Okay, we're not going home yet. We're going to the outer city."
The genin's reactions - Yuma's grimace, Akira's wince, and Takashi's mix of excitement and trepidation - really say it all.
Also you have to cross the bridge, again.
~
The outer city of Amegakure - which is legally none of those things - is a chaotic place. While the hidden village proper has the dense energy of a place where every square foot of space and every meter of pipe is valuable, either there because the leader of Rain had decreed it necessary or because it had clambered over the alternatives to lay claim to it, the outer city doesn't lack for space and has little direction. On the major axes, along the rail lines, riverbanks and outbound walls, things are kept in order. Multi-story towers like those which forest Amegakure spring up and the slums are kept away from the vital arteries of the nation. By force.
In between, however, it's a mess. Factories and slums, and all the people driven here by war, poverty and fantasy. You step over a horse's dung pile with a grimace. You're glad beasts of burden are banned from the main island. The north-east bank is by far the worst, and that's where you've ended up. In a way it reflects the state of the nation - with the north-east so much smaller than the rest of the country, of course the part of the outer city which connects to it is neglected. On the other hand, that makes finding a hotel that won't gouge you out for Ikkyu's room easier than you suspect it's going to be on the southern bank, which approaches Amegakure itself in the density of its factories and buildings.
Across the river, to the west, you can see the parade grounds where the enthronement is going to be held. From a distance you can see the big pillars which have been driven around the field. You heard they put a lot of work in, flattening the whole area. It'll be the ceremony of a lifetime, you're sure. You grab some unidentifiable balls of sugar and bread on sticks for you and your genin from a stand-owner who tries to tell you that it's free. You slap down your bills and ignore him when he offers change. You ignore him harder when he says 'Praise Lady Konan!' at your retreating back. Your genin seem confused, but are quickly distracted by sugar. Unfortunately, it doesn't last.
"Uh. Excuse me. Captain?" Akira asks. He's holding something in the hand not gripping his unhealthy treat - a piece of paper, which had been sliding by in the early afternoon breeze. He shows it to you and you recognize it immediately. It's a poster for the upcoming celebration of Rain's new leader. A depiction of Konan and various people paying homage and symbols of power, in the same brightly coloured paper-craft style as the pamphlet you read all those weeks ago. Which you suppose is Konan's chosen aesthetic. That it's something so easy to print and easy to recognize makes you more and more sure she was the Akatsuki's propagandist, once. "I just realized- I don't know if we're supposed to attend the ceremony with you, or…?"
You blink at him. Ikkyu - or, rather, Ikkyu's temple, the name of which you've already forgotten - has a predetermined spot in the ceremony which was included in the mission scroll, and you gave the ticket to him before leaving him to the mercy of hotel bedsheets. Hopefully they've organized the seating better than the accomodations for all the invited guests. You, meanwhile- okay you definitely have to attend, a jonin being in the city and not on some vital assignment not attending is a scandal even you can foresee, but you've been out of the city for a month and not heard a thing about it.
So, where?
You're not part of the Sensor Corps, R&D or the Hunter Squad as a jonin-captain, technically. You might be able to sneak back in if you didn't have genin, and while you could send two of your genin with their families, what if they expect them to be with you? And it's not like Yuma has a family who can take him…
Yuma and Takashi are now also looking at you curiously. Beneath your rebreather your mind races. You definitely can't not bring Yuma - he's too talented, with too many expectations - which means you can't not bring the other two. Teams stick together and all that. Frankly there's probably a dedicated spot for jonin-captains-
Your mind catches like a shuttle on a loom. Fuck. You know a jonin-captain who would know. But do you really want to ask-
[ ] him? He's still bitter about that time you made him look like a fool at R&D.
[ ] her? She's still mad about you 'leading her on' when you were in the Hunter Squad.
[ ] them? They're still convinced you're sabotaging yourself and need 'encouragement'.
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] her? She's still mad about you 'leading her on' when you were in the Hunter Squad.
- Location
- France
edit:
[X] them? They're still convinced you're sabotaging yourself and need 'encouragement'.
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[X] him? He's still bitter about that time you made him look like a fool at R&D.
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] her? She's still mad about you 'leading her on' when you were in the Hunter Squad.
@NonSequtur , you will probably want to label this chapter as Threadmark.
@NonSequtur , you will probably want to label this chapter as Threadmark.
[X] them? They're still convinced you're sabotaging yourself and need 'encouragement'.
