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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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Well, fuck. We didn't tell Kagome.

e: Rest of it went decently, though.
 
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I did, if Hazou didn't manage to actively convince her (which I doubted).

It's pretty much exactly what I expected to happen. Should have thought through how Kagome would react, though.

At least his birthday's coming up.
 
On the one hand, I am sad that we hurt Kagome like this, especially since it was preventable if we thought to include him in the planning.

On the other hand, rebuilding trust with Kagome is a task I think we can accomplish given time and effort, while fixing Mari was a task beyond our means that needed to be done now, so trading the latter for the former is still a net positive.

Might sour Kagome's birthday, though. We better make sure our present to him is up to snuff.

I'm also not 100% sure how much Mari's improved internally from this. Hana did cut through her funk, but Mari could've just as easily focused on the 'I will never forgive you' as the 'prove to me you want to change'. Time will tell, though, and keeping Mari active does mean she can return to normal routines and generally stabilize.

All told, Goketsu social situations are not perfect, but in a better position than before. I can't consider this a complete victory given the cost of Kagome's trust, but it's a kind of victory nonetheless.
 
eaglejarl said:
For a fleeting moment, Hazō considered trying to interefere, but common sense told him that it was far more important to interfere with Kagome-sensei's inevitable reaction. The man himself was coming down the hall at a dead run, hands raised and blast-rings extended. Hazō threw himself into the line of fire and stayed there when Kagome-sensei shifted to the side to get a clean shot. He closed on his teacher quickly, pushing his arms upwards with a crossed-hand block that allowed him to trap both of Kagome-sensei's wrists and keep them directed away from anything squishy, like people. Hazō turned a hip to block the frantic knee to his groin and then chakra-adhered his back foot to the ground so he could drive forward with all his strength, pushing Kagome-sensei into the wall and keeping him pinned there, one shoulder against the man's chest.

"Let me go!" Kagome-sensei cried, thrashing as hard as he could. He sent a burst of chakra repulsion surging through his feet, trying to throw himself up and clear of Hazō's grip, but the younger ninja pushed him to the side and off-balance before adhering his own feet tightly to the floor.

"Sensei, it's all right!" he said desperately. "Momma's not going to hurt her, I promise!" Well, that wasn't true. Momma hadn't been this angry since the Tablecloth Incident when Hazō was nine; Mari-sensei was definitely going to have bruises, but there wouldn't be any serious damage. He hoped.

"Let go of me! She's going to kill her!" Kagome-sensei was desperate, pushing as hard as he could, striking at Hazō with his knees and stomping down in an attempt to break his feet. Hazō shifted and turned, soaking the knee strikes on his thighs and hips and deflecting the stomps to the side until Momma had dragged Mari-sensei out of sight around the corner.

"Sensei, I promise, it's all right!" Hazō said, releasing his teacher and slowly stepping back. "Momma agreed to help pull Mari-sensei out of this funk. She's probably the only one who can do it—Mari-sensei always looked up to Momma, and she'll listen." He hoped that was true, anyway. Momma had been a jōnin long before Mari-sensei had, and there weren't that many female jōnin, especially not ones who specialized in close combat. It would make sense for Mari-sensei to have admired her, perhaps treated her as a role model. It would also explain why Momma's words, whatever they had been, had hit so hard.

"But she was hurting her!" Kagome-sensei's eyes were wide and his manner frantic, but there were reassuring traces of uncertainty as well.

Hazō cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Momma can be a little...direct, when she thinks someone needs to man up," he said, rubbing his backside without realizing he was doing it. "She's a good leader. I have a feeling that pretty soon Mari-sensei is going to be too tired to feel miserable."

Kagome-sensei calmed slowly, his face shifting from panic to disgusted anger. "You're just going to let that woman treat Mari like that? Just because she's your mother? Mari is part of our team!"

"Kagome-sensei," Hazō said tiredly, "yes, Mari-sensei is part of our team. She's also miserable to the point where she's not even getting out of bed except to pee. I'm doing everything I can to take care of her, and the best way I know to do that is to get Momma."

Kagome-sensei digested that for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was low and trembled slightly with suppressed rage. "You didn't tell me."

Hazō froze. "What?"

"You could have told me that's what you were planning," Kagome-sensei said, his voice icy. "The idea of including me is so bizarre to you that when I point it out you can't even make a response. What, you think I'm too stupid to help?"

"No, but...."

"Yes, that is exactly what you think. I know I'm not good with people and yes, I'm nervous around threats and yes, I react by destroying them immediately. You don't think maybe that would have been a good reason to let me know what to expect? Or am I just that crazy old hermit you picked up in the woods, good for seal lessons and making skywalker blanks and traps, but not for anything actually important?"

"No, sensei! No, we just—"

"I don't want to hear it. I am going after them and watching to make sure that your mother is effective and safe. If she endangers Mari, I will kill your mother. If she's not getting the job done, I will tell her to leave. If she does not and continues to harrass Mari, I will kill your mother. If she is both effective and safe then I won't interfere. For now, don't talk to me."

Hazō watched helplessly as his teacher and (former?) friend turned and jogged away. After a few seconds, Hazō went after him.
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Sobbing in Hazou.

:cry::cry::cry:
 
Hey would someone mind messaging when we are out of the depressed Mari arc? Not able to read it right now. Is hitting a bit to close to home
 
FWIW if people care about Mari's long-term welfare I suggest you start damage control now. If you just want her to fake it past the exams, you're probably fine as is.
 
So, I may have missed something, but how is nosing around Anko's love life going to fix Hazou's reputation?
 
Veedrac said:
Imagine you're depressed and someone charges in and does that shit to you. Do you feel better?

Dunno yet. Apologising, and insisting on the apology, would be a good first step. Admitting that you messed up would be a good first step with Kagome, too.
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Wait, are we talking about Kagome or Mari?

(Also, I feel the need to note that with the rest of the Goketsu going to Mist in around a week, it doesn't particularly matter if she feels better short term as long as she doesn't kill herself, which I am not confident she wasn't on the road to doing. It may not have been ideal, but it was the best solution I could come up with.)
 
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