A heart to heart [Private]

[Minamoto Daisuke]

Shinzo sat atop Hokage Rock, his legs relaxed over the cliffs edge. Ever since his promotion things hadn’t been all that simple, then again, things were never simple in the life of a shinobi. That much was blatantly obvious now. Having been enlightened to the trials and tribulations of his position, the Head Jounin took it upon himself to begin making peace between his subordinates. As of late, a very specific group of students, seemingly led by one boy in particular, had been causing chaos in the village. It was likely that if an intervention wasn’t had then harm would not only befall the inhabitants of Konoha but also the boys partaking in the trouble themselves.

A light sigh escaped the Seikon’s lips as he gazed out over the now quiet streets from his perch. On occasion he would come here to think, such a view of his home provided great incite for introspection; this was especially true for a peaceful evening such as today. With barely a breeze in the air, he waited, occasionally glancing towards the nearby path as he anticipated Riku’s arrival. Shinzo had specifically requested the boy to meet with him earlier that day, some things needed to change but such changes wouldn’t be made without first opening discourse with the student in question. That was only fair.

Next to Shinzo lay a cold box, within it sat a pile of shaved ice along with several bottles of syrup. Along with the cold box, two bowls with their own spoons were situated on either side of the ice container. Hopefully this would encourage Riku to relax once he arrived, but for now Shinzo waited.

[Summoning Riku]

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

The young scoundrel walked up the path to the perch, his hands in the pockets of his new robe. The robes were a light blue with multiple different hues of red used as flames. It wasn’t his normal style, but he’d liked the taste when browsing the markets. He suspected he would have to begin wearing a more practical type of fashion in the future, especially with the apparent tracking system being hidden in his clothes. The boy returned from his thoughts as he caught sight of a figure at the perch. His hands left his pockets as he pulled out his deck of cards.

Riku walked towards the cliffside with a reluctant gaze. He didn’t wish to be here, not with everything in motion. He knew however that things would only get worse if he chose to remain elsewhere, and he didn’t need worse, if it was possible anymore. The white-haired scoundrel walked over to the man he was to speak with, beginning to play with the deck of cards in his hands, shuffling them mindlessly.

“I got the message,” Riku said with a sigh, as he looked towards the man, “Suspect I would’ve just been chased by another group of goons if I didn’t.”

The boy looked outward at the view, the cards in his hands still shuffling. His eyes casually looking towards the academy with a smile. He didn’t have too much time now, before everything came together. The thought turned his attention back to the man, the young rogue deciding to sit on the ground, keeping a distance away from the cliffside.

“You’ll have to forgive me,” Riku grumbled, “But I’m not sure anything will come from this. The packs of lackeys paint the message clear enough.”

 

[Minamoto Daisuke]

The shinobi sat on the floor wasn’t too much older that the student who soon joined him, in truth he hoped that this would give him an upper hand in what he assumed would be a conversation full of friction. Though he truly wished for a smooth talk, it was unlikely given the recent events that had lead up to this summoning. The gentle yet warm summer air lifted the Head Jounin’s brown hair, allowing it to sway lightly in the breeze as he readied himself to speak to the youngster.

A warm smile spread across Shinzo’s face as the figure of Riku came into view, thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long. In truth the arrival panned out as expected, with little enthusiasm from the student who had garnered so much attention as of late thanks to the shenanigans of he and his friends. Of course, Shinzo did expect the odd show of disrespect and vandalism from students, they all seemed to go through a phase, but with Riku it was different. His rebellious streak was not only bordering on illegal in some cases, but in fact the vast majority of acts were actually law-breaking – something that the Head Jounin really wasn’t all that happy about.

Despite this flurry of thoughts that caused a tinge of frustration, Shinzo’s warm smile held strong. His jolly nature never visibly wavering despite the negative reflection that this meeting connoted. Again, Shinzo wasn’t surprised by Riku, his choice to be seated slightly further from the edge of the cliff face. “I’m glad to see you decided to answer my call, and despite your apprehension I can assure you that I’d be the only one searching for you if you had not come.” With his right hand, Shinzo gestured toward the cool-box before sliding the top off to reveal its contents. “Would you like some shaved ice? It’s pretty warm today so don’t let yourself get too hot.”

The head Jounin himself took one of the cones before scooping several spoonfuls of the ice into his handheld container. Soon it was to be covered in syrup, the colours of which were quite bright. In his mind he mused over the utterances that came from the student. “What exactly is it that you are expecting me to say? It’s clear to me that you’re not dim so I would like to hear what you think this is all about and why you think that.”

 

[Kuru Naohiro]

Riku glanced towards the village with a thought at the question. What did he expect out of all this? The rogue had to grin at the concept, he rarely had the question asked, he normally just had people listen to him. He glanced towards the shaved ice and with a hesitant hand he decided to place some into a cone as well, he might as well get some food while he’s here.

“You’re here to try and stop us,” Riku commented, giving a smirk, “That’s all you grownups do around here. Curse, threaten and attack, guess this time you want to try talking.”

The white-haired scoundrel looked towards the academy for a moment, giving a grin to it before looking back towards Shinzo.

“Atleast we don’t have any bullies in the academy,” Riku praised with a smile, “Thanks to you lot, we don’t need to trouble ourselves with the effort.”

As he mentioned that, the boy looked towards the Hokage building in the distance, a scowl appeared on his lips at its sight but he quickly returned to his standard smirk. The boy gave a look towards Shinzo, he might aswell take the chance to rant now.

“It took me awhile to learn,” Riku said, “But Spar- Kiramaru filled me in. The girl, Asuka, she was the one in the arena, supposed to be a spar … she brutalised me and another, I think his name was Suto. That fight, we didn’t stand a chance. I barely made it, a speck of dust would’ve finished the job.”

The boy shook his head at the memory, he wasn’t entirely sure why he recalled it aloud but it might finally send a message to at least one of the adults.

“She almost killed me in the hospital right after,” Riku confessed, his smile remaining solid, “It wasn’t any of that which hurt. Kiramaru filled me in … the scumba-Hokage was in that crowd, and he promoted her for that. Promoted! That was the type of behaviour you people encourage, what you want to turn us into.”

Riku placed the cone on the grass with a shake of his head, his hands going back to his cards as he made sure to keep his grin on his face.

“Is it so surprising that we’ll do anything to not become you?” Riku said, shaking his head.

 

[Minamoto Daisuke]

Shinzo took an overly long pause as he allowed for the comments of the young lad to fill his mind. This was to be a moment of reflection for the Head Jounin. In truth this was the first time he had really had to reflect on the actions of himself and others from the point of view of a changer, someone who had influence to make things better. The frustration shown by Riku was definitely felt beyond that of just the academy student himself, in truth there were many wrongs in the village that Shinzo hoped to change as he matured into his position. Being given such power at a young age forced the then thirteen year old to grow rapidly but such growth did not translate to prosperity, the presence of Riku symbolising the acts of unsatisfied students demonstrated that almost a little too well.

A sigh escaped from Shinzo’s lips as he once more turned to face the student who sat close by, it was evident that the boy did not trust him. “I am not here to try and stop you Riku, at the moment I only want to understand your point of view. In reality the trials and tribulations that you have faced are a fault of mine rather than your own, while the actions of stealing and such are – of course – illegal, it just goes to show that you weren’t educated in such a way to provide you with reason not to.” For a moment Shinzo turned his head to look out over Konoha, the village that he had been entrusted to protect and influence positively. He had never really experienced failure and as such this was a harsh realisation to face. “If I’m being honest with you then now feels like the time to tell you that I have been playing catch up in order to try and make your lives a little easier. For all the good that has done…” A slow blink allowed Shinzo to briefly reflect on the words that were about to be spoken. “I have tried to compensate those who you stole from through my own money. And let me tell you that was not easy.” The air around the Seikon filled with a powerful chuckle. “Clearly you lot are skilled as shinobi whether you like it or not! Not everyone gets away with stealing and making it into the forest of death at your age.” The thought of the youth symbolised by the academy students brought a smile to Shinzo’s lips though soon enough that was to fade.

The story of the fight between Riku, another student and Asuka caught Shinzo off guard. In reality he hadn’t been informed of the circumstances of her first promotion, just that she was extremely skilled for an academy student at the time. “If that is the case, Riku, then I am sorry. I wasn’t fully aware of the circumstances of her promotion, and I know these might just be words to you but if I were there then I would not have allowed you to face the suffering that you endured.” Shinzo’s head moved down to rest in his hands, clearly solemn at such news.

“I have failed you Riku, I have failed you. But now I understand where you are coming from, thank you for sharing your experiences with me. All I want you to know is that not everyone of a high rank is the same and while this world of shinobi is a harsh one it should not be experienced needlessly. If you need anything or have any problems in the future then all I ask is that you speak to me about it and I will see what I can do. And even between the times when we talk I will work to make sure you and the other academy students do not face such suffering again.” With this Shinzo stopped speaking and resumed his gaze over Konoha. There was more that he could have said but chose not to, one could never know if they were being watched.

[MFT]