A Helping Hand [Tutor]

[Miraku]

Although Raku was originally from Kirigakure, and he had sought refuge here after his travels following the fall of his country, he didn't have a ton of contact with those who also sought refuge here. There were a few, and he was aware of a good chunk of them, but he was only faintly acquainted with them; not really close to them. Even though he wasn't super close, he felt a kinship with anyone from his homeland such that he would certainly attempt to help them if they asked for it, and today was to be one of those days.

A couple who grew up in Kirigakure as shinobi had a child here in Kumogakure, and had recently decided to enroll him in the academy, but the problem was, he didn't really want to go. They had approached Raku asking if he could try to convince and teach their son a little bit to convince him of the importance of going to the academy and becoming a shinobi as he seemed to be uninterested in doing so. As times were pretty peaceful currently it made sense; plus being an outsider as only a first generation Kumogakurian, it would certainly feel a little strange for a young one like that to experience such a thing.

Raku really didn't know anything about the kid, other than he was told the boys name was 'Hirateuchi', which was definitely a mouthful more than Raku was used to saying, and a general idea of what he would look like, knowing what his parents looked like. He had told them to have their boy meet him at the edge of the residential area where it was a little less crowded, and he could have the boy follow him and take him to where they would train or talk or whatever it was they would do whenever they would meet; that was if Raku could convince the boy to live the life of a Shinobi and he would want to keep training with Raku in the future in order to become stronger.

It seemed like Raku's life had changed a lot in the past few months as he had began passing on his knowledge to the youth of the village. Unsure how to feel about it; was he getting old? Or was it just because he had opened up a little and become comfortable with where his life was at finally? He wasn't truly sure, but either way, he would continue what he was doing until it felt like it wasn't the right thing to do anymore. And so Raku waited, sitting near the edge of the residential area, leaning himself against a light post as he waited for the boy to arrive. Wearing just a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, his long hair let down like usual, bangs slightly covering his eyepatch while is exposed eye was left clear of hair in order to had proper visual sight. He had already done his usual training for the day, and had changed into more casual wear as to not look like a slob as his first impression to the boy whenever he showed up.


[531 WC]
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[Hirateuchi]

It was late in the morning when Hirateuchi woke to the bustling crowds outside his home. He glanced around groggily, but with a sense of relief knowing he did not have any classes at the academy today. He clambered to his feet, stretching and yawning with an exaggerated exhaustion as if to make a point to someone who wasn't there. He spotted a neatly folded black kimono with a red hem near his bedside and decided to put it on. Feeling ready for the day ahead of him he headed outside, only to find his parents talking. They looked worried about something, but warmly smiled at him as he approached.

"Hira, sweetie, how are you doing?" His mother greeted him with a welcoming tone. It had been a while since she had called him that, so he knew something must be up, but without any way to tell what it may be he begrudgingly resigned himself to listening. "Your father and I needed to grab some food today but we're being called in for work. Would you be a darling and grab us some? There's a really good market near the edge of the residential district."

Hirateuchi didn't remember there being a market in that part of town but there wasn't much he could do about it. "Yeah sure." He nodded his head in agreement and headed off without another word. As he was walking through town his mind went back to earlier when his parents had looked worried. There wasn't a lot of food in the house, it was true, but they certainly had enough to last for the rest of the week. Were they sending him out for another reason? He couldn't quite figure it out, and in an attempt to convince himself that there was no ulterior motive, he ignored the creeping suspicion that burdened him. He picked up the pace and continued his stride with renewed vigor so he could finish his chore and get back to his day.

As Hirateuchi arrived at the edge of the residential are, he noticed that he had not been to this specific section before. Confused he started to wander aimlessly looking for whatever market his parents could have been talking about. "They could have at least given me some better directions..." he muttered to himself under his breath. Passing by a few small homes he turned the corner of the path and walked down an alley. As he popped out of the other side he noticed something odd. A strange man was propped up leaning against a fence looking around intently, almost as if he were waiting for someone. Hirateuchi paused for a moment, thinking to himself that it wouldn't hurt to ask for directions. Hirateuchi walked confidently towards the stranger but not long after the stranger noticed him and gave him a strange look. Startled, Hirateuchi paused for a moment, but boldly finished walking up to the man.

"Excuse me sir," Hirateuchi stuttered out. "I was hoping you could give me some directions."

[505 WC]

 

[Miraku]

As Raku stood there waiting, only a few people had walked by in the twenty minutes he had been waiting, and all of them were adults just leaving the busier parts of town to explore the more peaceful and wild areas still within the village. But as the first young boy came into view, Raku looked towards him, thinking for a second, realizing he could easily fit the one he was looking for. The boy stopped, seemingly thinking about something for a moment before he began to walk towards him and looked up, talking to him. Apparently he was looking for directions. Was this even the kid he was looking for? Maybe his parents tricked him to come here. They did say he was against going to classes, so maybe they figured he would be against talking to another shinobi. Unsure, he figured he'd just ask anyway.

Looking down quizzically at the boy for a moment, he just decided to get it over with. "Are you Hirateuchi?" he asked. He was pretty sure it was him, but it would at least be polite to ask first before he tried to talk to this boy and take him with him to another part of the village. Raku wondered how the boy would react when he realized his parents sent him out here to meet this man, and not to do whatever it was he seemed to think he was doing. Would he try to run, or talk to Raku like a normal person. He certainly wouldn't get far if he tried to run, but it would definitely be an interesting outcome. Though Raku really hoped it would be the latter, so he wouldn't have to exert himself very much today. This was just meant to be an easy day for him to get started with helping this young boy out, and he have definitely liked to keep it that way, but he would find out in a matter of moments.

[329 WC]
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[Hirateuchi]

'Wait how does he know my name?' Hirateuchi pondered this for a moment as he continued to stare at the man. At that moment his mind flashed back to his parents' strange attitude this morning and it all started to make sense. While he was a kid, Hirateuchi wasn't so oblivious as to not understand the situation. His parents had not sent him here on some errand to get food. They must have planned for the man to be here all along.

He thought about what options he had. Not knowing if the man might be trouble, he pondered the idea of just running away, but soon lost confidence in that plan. The man looked as if he had at least some form of training, and even if he didn't he could surely still catch a kid. He could also try to pretend he wasn't who the man was looking for, but he didn't look gullible enough to fall for that either. Guess that just meant he would have to talk and deal with whatever this man had in store for him. Leaning up on a nearby fence, Hirateuchi looked up with a quizzical look in his eyes, wondering what he could ask the man that would shine some kind of clarity as to why he was waiting there. After another moment of thought mixed with silence, Hirateuchi piped up. "How do you know my parents?" He didn't know if the sudden question would throw the man off guard, but Hirateuchi didn't want to waste time pretending not to know what was going on.

[264 WC]

 

[Miraku]

As he waited silently, it seemed the kid began to think some more, taking a few moments to process the situation. Raku just stood there in silence waiting for his response, and it could possibly tell him a lot about the kid based on what he would decide to do, and how he would handle it if he figured out what was going on here. For his sake, Raku hoped the boy would come up with a good response. It didn't take too long for him to finally come up with a solution, as he looked at Raku for a bit and then spoke up. His response was good, not what he was expecting, and maybe a little smarter than he assumed a kid at this age would be, with his actions in such a situation. The boy didn't try to run, or freak out. He didn't simply answer Raku's question either. The young man had instead opted to answer Raku's question with a question of his own, which both told Raku he was the boy that he was looking for, but also that he knew his parents set him up already.

"You're sharp kid." Raku replied, a smirk crossing his face slowly as he looked down, bearing his right canine tooth inside, as he got up off the post he was leaning against, and turned towards the kid, resting his arm on the hilt of his katana as he lowered his arms to stand up straight; standing above the boy at 6 feet, 2 inches tall, he put his other hand in his pocket before continuing. "I'm Raku. I know your parents because I too came from Kirigakure. I was raised as a shinobi there as a kid before it's fall, and ended up here after my travels." he told the boy, hoping it would appease his curiosity without getting into too many more details.

Raku turned ninety degrees away from the boy again, back to the street, and then looked to his side at the boy. "I'd like if you could follow me for a bit so we can talk while we enjoy this peaceful afternoon." he said, phrasing it in the nicest way he could, without just straight up telling the boy he would be coming with him. He began walking slowly into the roadway and started heading in the direction that lead further away from the busy city, waiting for the boy to follow, going at a pace which he could keep up with for now.

[420 WC]
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[Hirateuchi]

"I have to be sharp," remarked Hirateuchi with a slightly sullen look on his face. "My parents have always been good at not telling me the full truth or hiding things away from me. I've gotten pretty proficient at finding small details that I can connect, I guess."

The man who introduced himself as Raku did indeed turn out to be a shinobi. Hirateuchi was able to figure out that his parents had tricked him but what he couldn't figure out was what possible reason they would have having him talk to a this strange and mysterious figure. Could it be that he was in trouble for not going to classes? Was this going to be some form of scare tactic in order to make him want to learn how to fight? Whatever the case, Hirateuchi knew that there would be no escaping the situation.

As Raku began walking slowly away, Hirateuchi took a deep breath and pursued with uncertainty, but also a piqued interest. This venture had turned out to be quite the escapade already, and he was intrigued as to where it would go from there. At any rate, this day was going to be far from boring. The pair walked away from the edge of the residential area and towards an open plain near the outskirts of the village. As they walked, Hirateuchi thought back to all the stories his parents had told him about their old village. 'They've never told me about anybody they used to know before they moved here, so who is this guy?' . For a while, the two walked without speaking, thinking of what to say to one another. Raku was clearly put in an awkward situation by Hirateuchi's parents, and the boy was still pondering what the right questions to ask would be. Finally Hirateuchi decided he needed to break the silence and get some answers.

"So what do you do in the village?" It was a simple question but one that needed to be asked if he were to understand then man standing before him. "Or should I be asking what you do outside of the village?" Hirateuchi listened diligently to all of Raku's answers, making sure not to miss a detail in case it could help him later. "My parents always acted like they didn't know anybody in the village so it seems odd that out of nowhere someone from their home seems to know them. Did you ever work together?" Hirateuchi continued his bombardment of questions to try and soak as much knowledge as possible.

[WC 426]

 

[Miraku]

Raku walked silently for a while, thinking about what might be the best way to talk to this boy. It seemed like his parents were like most parents, keeping some things from their kids, trying to give them a better life than their own. Though that wasn't always the best way to raise your kids, especially when they become able to see through your deception like this boy clearly had. He followed Raku as they walked towards the fields where it was easier to have time alone, and not have to worry about getting in other peoples ways. Also a very relaxing place since it was quiet out here, and one was able to enjoy the nature instead of just the busy bustling growth of the city.

As they walked, the boy began speaking again, asking questions. He was quite curious, asking an onslaught of questions out the gate. Raku kept quiet for just a bit as the spot in the field near the forest where he usually liked to relax was in view, before turning to his side to look at the boy as they kept walking. "It's not that I know your parents very well or anything. I just know of them because they came from the same home as me,
and so we had talked a few times in the past. But I didn't know them back home, nor do I know them super well here." He started off telling the boy, trying to give him a clearer picture of who he was to their family. "Right now, I'm a Jounin of Cloud. I do all kinds of things. In the village the only work I really have is gate duty, which isn't super often. I usually go out on missions. From protecting smaller villages and civilians,
fighting bandits, etc. to escort missions. There's always something interesting I guess." he continued, trying to explain the kinds of things he did.

Raku continued walking for a few moments in silence. "From what I understand, you're supposed to be going to the Academy to learn to become a Shinobi, but you don't want to go to school, right?" He asked, as he looked down at the boy once more, more rhetorical than actually a question as he had heard this from the boys parents, but maybe there was more to it. "Academy definitely isn't fun for everyone, but it's certainly necessary if you're wanting to get stronger." Looking back out to where he was heading, they were almost there. "I don't want to harp on you about it, but I'm sure like anyone else, you don't want to be weak. You want to be able to protect what is precious to you. So I guess it depends what you care about. Your home? Your parents? Future friends? Who knows. That's up to you."

Arriving at his usual spot, Raku turned his back to the tree he liked to lean up against, and did so. He took in a deep breath and looked down to the boy once more. "So I guess it depends what type of person you are. Do you want to get stronger?" He posed the question, curious what kind of person this boy wanted to become.

[540 WC]
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[Hirateuchi]

"Well..."

Hirateuchi stared at Raku as he leaned back on the tree, trying to come up with an answer after being put on the spot. 'I don't really feel like it most of the time,' Hirateuchi thought to himself, 'But why?' There had to be a better answer than that. Why did he feel that his time there wasn't worth anything? If the answer was as simple as that, his parents wouldn't have sent somebody specifically to talk to him about it.

"Well my parents never told me much about what happened to their old village, but it just always seemed like... how do you stop something so bad even if you are strong?" With his prideful intellect giving way to show his youthful inexperience, Hirateuchi shifted and stared nervously at the ground. Nobody else who had asked him this same question had quite made the impact Raku was making right now, and he wasn't quite certain why. Raku didn't sugar coat the topic like those at the academy or his parents had done in the past. It distinctly threw Hirateuchi off of his customary low-key, cocky demeanor.

"Hey Raku..."

Hirateuchi once again shifted, anxious and unprepared. He choked on his words a few times before he finally piped up with a quiet but deliberate question. "There's this feeling I get whenever my parents talk to me about it that they aren't telling me something horrible they went through..." He paused before continuing, Raku eyeing him carefully the whole time. "Have you ever lost someone you cared about because you weren't strong enough?"

That's the only question he could think to ask. He didn't know if it would help him figure out why he didn't care for the academy, but maybe if Raku had some kind of story, some kind of reason why getting stronger was important, it could sway him one way or the other. Hirateuchi glanced awkwardly to the side immediately after asking his question, waiting impatiently for an answer. Waiting for a way out of this difficult situation. For a reason to trust his parents.

[WC 348]

 

[Miraku]

Listening to the boy speak, he seems so unsure of his own motivations; with what he wanted to do with himself in the future. Raku wasn't sure if there was anything he could say that would change this, but he would at least offer the boy a proper answer for whatever he wanted to know. It seemed he was curious about the fall of Mist and what had happened to his parents there. Raku knew all too well what people had gone through in the fall, and it brought back memories he didn't enjoy reliving too much, but it was something he had to endure. The memories were what formed him, what made him who he was, and he didn't plan to give up now.

"It's hard to say. I'm still not really sure what caused the land to freeze over like it did. At the time we were just forced to evacuate really, while some stayed behind, most left to survive, losing every thing they'd ever known. I've yet to find the answers I'm looking for, but I continue to get stronger and push forward in hopes that one day I might find those answers." He told the boy, hoping to explain to the boy what it was like to lose ones home but also express his own motives.

There was some silence for a moment before the boy continued. He seemed to be curious about whether or not Raku had issues with being weak in the past. He thought to himself for a moment, looking up to the sky, as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. The wind blew in a little stronger in that moment. As his hair fluttered in the breeze, he opened his eyes again and looked down at Hirateuchi, trying to keep a calm face. "My parents. I haven't seen them since the day I left. They stayed behind for some reason, and I can only infer that they're dead as I haven't been able to find them since." he said softly, turning his face to look out to the fields now, "Who knows if there's such a thing as being strong enough to change an event like that, but that doesn't stop me from trying to reach it."

Raku leaned forward, placing his hands on his thighs as he lifted himself up off the tree he was leaning against, standing up, and brushing his hands against his pant legs even though there was no dirt there. Taking a few steps from the tree, he turned to the boy once more before cracking a slight smile. "I hope you learned something today. Take your time to think about it. But, if you'd like to get stronger, I'm willing to help you." he said, as he began to walk away. "If you accept, you'll meet me here at this spot next week, the same time." he finished, raising his hand as a goodbye way as he walked off in the direction of his own home.

[Topic Finished/Left]
[502 WC; 2322 Total WC]
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[Hirateuchi]

'His parents?" Hirateuchi tried to imagine what his life would be like if his parents were to just disappear, but it was a foreign idea that he could not grasp. He listened as Raku explained himself and began to feel guilty for bringing up the topic. Just as he was about to apologize, Raku stood up and gave a final line of encouragement to meet him at the same spot before beginning to leave. As he walked away Hirateuchi called out to him, "Yeah, well, If I got nothing better to do I'll think about it old man!" His facade of confidence was betrayed as he ran quickly in the opposite direction, scared of how Raku might react.

Hirateuchi weaved between buildings and alleys on his way home, in a childish attempt to elude his imaginary pursuer, before finally coming to catch his breath near one of his favorite resting places. He walked up to a lone tree standing a few streets past where he had met Raku near one of his favorite food shops. Strolling up to the tree, he loosened up his kimono just barely enough to let a slight breeze through before lying down gently in the shade of the branches. He glanced up towards the crackling light shining through the odd leaves and twigs not fully covering him from the sun's rays and sighed. The mid-day wind brushed through his hair and cooled his body down from all the running but he still felt so warm. He didn't quite know what feeling it was, but if he had to hazard a guess he would say that he was excited.

"What am I getting so worked up about?" Hirateuchi muttered to himself before putting his arms behind his head and going full relaxation mode. Closing his eyes he remembered everything that had happened that day. Even though it only lasted a few moments, this strange man, this Raku, had instilled a new inquisitive attitude in Hirateuchi. He still didn't know if he wanted to stay at the academy, but he knew Raku could be the one to help him figure that out. After a moment more of relaxing Hirateuchi jumped up, decided to finish his journey back home. Upon his return, his parents were still outside talking. 'Jeeze, they could at least make it more convincing that they were busy today," he thought to himself. He wasn't in the mood to argue their logic, though.

They noticed him walking back and his father asked with a coy smile, "You didn't find the food we sent you out for?" Hirateuchi was about to retort about their involvement in what happened but saw his aprents smiling and remembered back to what Raku said about his. Maybe just this once he could let his parents win.

"No, I ummm... I mean..." Hrateuchi stammered trying to find the right words to say. Finally with a smile, he finished, "Thanks." Just as quickly as he arrived, he went inside to go rest in his room.

[Topic Left]
[WC 501; Total WC 2044]