Interlude: Questionable Losses, Unknown Gains
Oooh, sounds great!
he recognised a familiar figure standing at the compound gates, studying the daily hustle and bustle of Gōketsu life with a logistician's analytical eye
YAGURA??? More seriously, should we be worried.
No, this individual would get bored of watching and start making conversation in five minutes, and have every Gōketsu secret known to its civilians in thirty.
Why would they inform every civilian of Gōketsu secre- oh, wait, I'm dumb
Hazō's sealing headache was still pulsing in the back of his head, so he really hoped she wasn't in the mood for hardcore verbal sparring
Wait. Ami?
Ami took several measured steps towards him, as if gauging distance. Then, before he knew it, he found himself swept into a tight hug.
One hit sure kill big sis hug technique.
an Akane hug, the unfair standard by which the hugs of the world were judged
Aka "cracked ribs." Cracked with LOVE.
it was a very fine hug, the kind one would hope for from a trained expert doing her best.
Readers: awwww, nice things, support and familial love
Velorien: by the way, did you think about the trauma?
Readers (crying): we are now
"Your behaviour," Ami explained, "closely resembles that of an ordinary person grieving for a lost loved one."
But we, dear Hazō, are
extraordinary.
"To reframe, your behaviour does not match my model of someone aware that said loved one is merely a permeable dimensional barrier away, little different to my recent sojourn in Hot Springs save that she requires some labour in your part before she can make her return. It is not the behaviour of Gōketsu Hazō, so certain he was about to conquer death that it required two of Leaf's most brilliant women to convince him that some obstacles remained. I had hoped to return to find you annoyed that the need to rescue Akane as well complicates your timetable, not riven with pain that drives you to irrational behaviour and snap decisions with far-reaching consequences."
In certain terms, shit got real. In other terms, emotions and being personally affected are not that rational and we spent years growing into people who know of death as something final. And in fine, we don't know that we can save Akane before she's gone. She isn't remembered the way Jiraiya is.
It's something I'd wish on my worst enemy if I was more of a hands-off kind of girl.
Why I love Ami and your writing in a single sentence, tbh
Use it the way pain is meant to be used, at least outside the bedroom: as a signal from the spirits in your body that something is wrong and you need to take action now
One could argue that's also how it is meant to be used in the bedroom as well, and the mixing of the message or the partner being unable to take action despite "needing" to would be the point, but one would not really want to argue with Ami tbh, that sounds like an activity one would find less chance at a good result in than running into a wall. Outside the bedroom, that is.
Some relaxing Kagome-style spiced hot chocolate did wonders to relax both of them. Soon, Hazō and Ami were lounging on a sofa in the atrium as she regaled him with tales of hapless world leaders struggling to adapt to a new world order that fundamentally made no sense to anyone raised in the shinobi world (a narrative only a handful of people in the entire world were capable of telling) while he reciprocated with stories of his Conclave antics (a narrative only a handful of beings in the entirety of two worlds were capable of telling).
Outdone, mwahahaha
"Hazō," Asuma said with a smile, "you never fail to exceed expectations. Even knowing that, I have to admit I'm impressed."
Let's goooooooo!
It says something that you left him convinced that he was the inferior sealmaster.
Oh, wow.
I had an omake in the works that didn't quite go this way, I'll have to rework the grumblemumble...
He doesn't mince his words. Manjiro plainly indicated that upon concluding the examination, you had convinced him that you understood sealing as a whole better than he did. I get the vague impression that some of his final questions were actually him probing you for advice on a new project, rather than intended parts of the exam, as he included them in the transcript but didn't comment on their implications.
Bwahahahaha
Yes, Hazō, I'm officially authorizing your promotion to special jōnin.
When momma hears about this...
The last sealmaster capable of making this died in the battle at Nagi Island,
What about Orochimaru? Wait, he did die in the battle at Nagi Island. Retracted.
"If you had any other cohort to compete with, you'd easily be the youngest to special jōnin among your peers. Unfortunately, you're competing with Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke of the SHARINGAINS. He's family. He's a bowling partner. We like him.
Asuma chuckled. "Just make sure they're big in the right direction, Hazō. I told Sasuke to spend more time training with Yuno, as I think they'd have a lot to teach each other. It's a shame that you don't have a peer or rival to push yourself against in the same way."
"Orochimaru is plausibly my peer in sealmastery."
"Yes, but he's Orochimaru."
I like when authority figures are competent and rational. Asuma has his buttons that we must not push, but he has a lucidity that few enjoy.
If you're as good as you say, acting genuinely impressed is practically an insult."
"Hmph. I was going to invite you to the party, but–"
"Hazō!" Ami exclaimed. "Special jōnin, that's amazing! I can't believe you cleared such a major hurdle at your young age. I'm sure you'll go on to do great things."
Dorks. 💜
Hazō sighed. "Ah, forget it. Of course you're invited. You'd probably just gatecrash it anyway in some completely incomprehensible way that drove me crazy as the host and still somehow made people like you more."
"See, you get me!" Ami beamed
Doooorks. 💜💜
Voting for action plans is closed.
[] Vote anyway. Democratic revolution comes through the urns and politeness!
If Hazō has any arguments against doing so (or, indeed, arguments for), this will be his only chance to present them.
Oh, that's heavy. Well, I'm just talking in the air right now, not making a plan, but I'm willing to participate in discussion before voting or drafting a plan.
Arguments against:
- that is genocide
- might have a self-defeating effect if any survives, escapes, recounts the tale
- might have a self-defeating effect if any survives, has a good guess, spills the beans looking for revenge
- might have a self-defeating effect if any just isn't there at the time, etc.
- they already said hello to the world, this might invite Akatsuki/AMITY scrutiny in the first place
- might invite Watcher scrutiny(?)
- we had another plan to replace EM. What of it?
- losing an ally, a good source of ancient lore, a jutsu (tai-, nin-, ken-, and fūin-) tradition, and an economic partner
(- secret, internal: might have a self-defeating effect if they leak post-mortem; will harm Akane so much)
Arguments for:
- trying to stop that ticking doomsday clock is something we have to do
- "the continent and the surrounding islands die" is the scenario we're trying to prevent. "Isan dies" is a possible solution. In both cases Isan dies, might be a sunk cost.
- to quote an important clan and family member, stinkers tried to kill us. Boom, squish!
- they may keep other dangers - dangerous knowledge of the Five and(/including) Jashin. Not as much as... Demon, if memory serves, though.
- they have master manipulators and are deeply xenophobic - they may distrust or be able to see through any of our soft solutions, in which case point blank annihilation is the only guaranteed solution. The question becomes "is EM sufficient" and probably the answer is "have five Shadow Clones cast it a few times in the non-immediate vicinity, there will be nothing and no one left"
