A little bit of stretching in the forest does the body wonders[Free/Open RP]

[Osuteno]

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chigokai Osuteno,

As you stated, the artillery cannon you presented answered our issues for transportation, weight, and range and we don’t regret purchasing the machine from the medical branch of Kumogakure research subdivision. What we are trying to communicate is that this warranty information is rather unfair. Upon reading it as you suggested in your last letter there was indeed a few clauses related to the voiding of the warranty should we have opened the mechanisms or attempted “reverse engineering” and indeed the contract we signed does state that the price we paid was for the one machine and not its design, but the least you could do is help us put it back together and send replacement parts for the inner mechanisms that shattered upon dismantling. If you do, I can promise that the Naval Academy Engineers won’t attempt to, as you suggested, ‘trample upon’ your intellectual property rights.

Awaiting a positive reply,
Vice Admiral Narayoshi Endo of the Lightning Navy
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Osu looked at the letter and the ever grand seal of the Lightning Navy’s second fleet and considered the veiled threat at the end that they would try to steal some of his other designs if he didn’t put that unseemly overpriced prototype back together.

“I wonder how much face we should give them…” Osu mumbled.

Unlike the case of the researchers of the Naval Academy, Osu didn’t have any particular dislike of the Vice Admiral, he just wanted to rob the Navy of extra funds without actually giving them anything. The artillery piece in question was an expensive prototype meant as a proof of concept and wasn’t remotely optimized for cost or mass production. It was specifically designed to outclass the pieces the Navy currently possessed and to completely destroy key mechanisms upon dismantling to prevent the Navy from gaining technology they had yet to figure out for themselves. While it was an obscenely expensive project, the ambassadors to the Navy managed to sell it off for more than five times the cost to develop including labor and got the Navy to look past the fine print long enough to screw them over. All in all, a successful “fundraiser” to open up a few more clinic fronts for his pet project. They could pay for their own operating costs and make a steady decent profit once opened, but they were an expensive bureaucratic mess to start up, particularly since they had to disguise Kumogakuran involvement completely while setting these clinics up in the various cities and operating them. Officially they were safe houses for Kumo Shinobi should they need medical treatment or a place to hide while the staff were Mednin and a couple nurses from the hospital pretending to be normal, non chakra using doctors. There were a few unofficial details as well but nothing that would show up looking into the accounting records and everything was perfectly on budget, so it was beneath the radar of those uninvolved.

“On that note, I need to find more mednin to manage clinics… I can open up at least six by conservative efforts… but which cities… or should we set up multiple clinics in the larger cities we already have clinics in…” it wasn’t something that could or should be decided on a whim so he decided to put a pin in it and look over the data for a few days before deciding.

“Now… I have a bit of time left before the twins are done with their scout meeting and Chiai has a couple MiT serving her… helping her with the baby… I will go get some exercise and unwind, my blood flow is rather lethargic.”

Strictly speaking, exercise as most understood the term was ineffective for Osu as his body didn’t possess skeletal muscles or the like. Aside from a few hearts and marrow and a few minor organs that hadn’t been broken down into unique blood cells to serve a similar function, his body wasn’t much of anything but blood and blood vessels. As such, for Osu, exercise referred to something completely different.

A few minutes after leaving the hospital Osu arrived on the outskirts of the ancient forest and walked right up to the edge of the trees. He pulled out a map and reconfirmed this area wasn’t anyone’s private property and that it was set aside for training as a good portion of the outskirts, then he began to literally unravel.

The average adult human body had on average 100,000 miles of blood vessels, Osu having six complete circulatory systems, he had well over half a million miles of blood vessels beginning to stretch out, some as thin as five micrometers, others as thick as an inch, but all reaching further up and out over the trees. The figure of Osu had basically become completely undone, and the patch of forest became more and more entangled in what looked like red wires. Soon the section of trees had become so wrapped up that one couldn’t see from one side to the other due to all the red threads in a hemisphere a couple hundred meters in radius.

At this point the threads began to contract, weaker limbs simply snapped off the trees on the edge of the red wire hemisphere, while a growing wall of sound made of cracking and creaking began reaching farther away. As time passed the strength of the contraction increased and the sound coming from the trees grew louder. Some trees snapped in thunderous cracks while others came unrooted in clouds of dirt. More and more the strings tightened and within minutes the hemisphere had shrunk in half, leaving craters and dirt where it had passed. The cracking sounds grew louder and more frequent, and the rumbling grinding of trees being crushed against each other joined the cacophony. A few more minutes passed and so much matter was squeezed together that it was difficult for the threads to contract any further. So the threads loosened slightly and began to slowly rotate around the shattered mass of former trees and rock, cutting into them and grinding them down into dust they began going up in a huge cloud. Thankfully Osu was well away from the village proper and downwind of it or all this noise and debris would definitely be a problem, and hopefully, no one in the forest nearby would be too bothered by his stretching routine.

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

“Don’t worry about it. This will be fun and consider it training.”

“Yea, Shinobi need to move through the trees and night swiftly and silently.”

“Besides, making a game of it will just make it fun training.”

Airi was feeling really uncomfortable...and also felt like she really should not be here. The ancient forest reeked of trouble. What would happen if something bad happened? What if they got lost? Airi had only come with them because this was the first time she had gotten invited to anything. She wanted friends really badly and in the three weeks she had been here she had been unable to really make any.

So here she was, the kids had mentioned the Airi could start to hunt for them first and when she found one they would both help until everyone was found and then they would do it all over again. She was nervous since she was fairly certain she was the slowest…

--

Some time had passed and the girl knew that she had been ditched. Either that or they were playing a prank on her. She had no idea. She had been running through the forest for who knows how long and now she was just walking. She was certain she herself was lost and could only think about how disappointed her teachers would be at her for not making a proper trail to follow back. By the time she thought about it, well it was already too late. Now she just needed to try and find something or someone.

A wall of red appeared before her and she stared at it with interested. It seemed to be...a cocoon… or maybe...a spider web? She was tempted to get closer to it. Thankfully she did not, as she started to get closer the wall pulled away from her. Like a slow, living organ it pulled an entire section of the forest out of the ground. Between the earth shaking and her fears she slowly slipped to the ground.

Her only thought as it pulled away was how impossible it was. Her legs stopped working...even after the shaking had stopped and the crater lay before her she simply looked out in horror. Unable to control herself she screamed, “I JUST WANNA GO HOOOOMMMMEEEEEE!”

She looked out into the forest and just wondered...were those kids okay? Would she be okay?

 

[Osuteno]

Hmmm? Did someone just yell? Osu had been so busy and making so much noise turning the small patch of forest into dust that he had not heard anyone approach. On further inspection, it was a young child. A few hundred threads approached the child and began weaving together until what appeared to be the rough outline of a human arm formed, making a gesture as if it wanted the child to wait a moment and a few more threads approached with a lovely kimono, holding it in such a way one would think it was on a mannequin and on display.

And then the 600,000 miles of blood vessels began entering the sleeves, top, and bottom of the kimono without even undoing it, the motion similar to that of the retractable cord mechanisms some machines possess. After a few seconds what appeared to be a lovely young woman stood where all the threads rushed to and they were looking about their person and making minor adjustments to their clothing to make sure it was on neatly before approaching the child.

Osu crouched down in a rather delicate and graceful motion as if he had not just physically crushed trees and rocks to be at eye level with the girl and smiled warmly while brushing some stray hairs out of his face and behind his ear. The main feature at this point that signalled Osu was not a normal person was that he had yet to put his contacts back in and what looked like glass orbs filled with swirling red liquid sat in Osu’s eye sockets. “Hello miss, the forest, even on the outskirts, is a little dangerous for most your age, did you get lost while playing and need help getting home?”

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

She was feeling pretty sorry for herself which was stupid. Shinobi do not wait to be saved, they save themselves. What else had the last three weeks been then for her to improve and get better? She would need to find a way out of this place once she collected herself. She looked out at the landscape that had been torn apart and slowly nodded to herself. Something had attacked here and she needed to get out of here before it happened again. She had no idea which way was going to be the right way but just sitting here when no one would be looking for her would get her killed. Thus she started to pick herself up off the floor.

“Alright, no more tears now.”

Just as she was about to start moving, a large amount of red started to slowly weave itself in front of her. She wondered…was this fate itself? She was certainly lost and broken but she felt like she had not suffered nearly enough for some mythical calling to show up. As she looked at it, she felt her need to flee again. What if this was a bad thing? In fact it moved sort of like…”Yu…?”

She was about to say, when the being held up a hand as if for her to wait. There was no way this was the same person. She held her tongue and watched as a beautiful kimono appeared and her eyes looked on in confused astonishment. As the form took on a beautiful woman, the rather plain looking Airi watched on.

The figure started to look itself over, making sure it was appropriate. Well…she cares about appearances…which would mean I should be safe. Her feelings of being in danger were not gone but she was left once again with concern. Out of her hands really at this point…was it not? The lady before her looked completely normal except for the disturbing red orbs that filled the place of eyes. It almost made her sick, except for the fact that everywhere else…this lady was beyond beautiful. She swallowed deeply and then noticed that the lady bent down so that they were at the same eye level and then started to speak to her.

She assumed things but they were all true. She had been playing and gotten lost. She mentioned this forest was dangerous and she could not help but agree on that front. She asked if she needed help getting home and the small girl nodded.

She felt a prick in the back of her neck and it shook her enough to find her body once more. “I…I…Yes!”

Her voice was still loud for her yell and she blushed as she put a hand over her mouth. She gave a very deep bow and said, “My name is Irie Airi, I…I…would really…appreciate your assistance.”

She held her head down and continued, “As…As…long as it…would not displease you?” She did not want to bother anyone but she really did need the help.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu’s smile began even warmer as the girl seemed a bit silly, but still had decent manners, and gave a nod in response to her bow.

“Airi-Chan is it? That is a pretty name if a bit of a tongue twister, Irie Airi, Irie Airi…” Osu seemed to hum at the name for a moment a bit distracted before realizing he was distracted. “Oh, my apologies, my third daughter was born recently and I have been musing a lot over names. My own name is Osuteno but most people simply address me as Osu.”

Standing up Osu straightened the girl’s clothes a bit from where she fell and lightly took the Airi’s hand out of habit as he would do for his six year old twins, “Dressed rather warmly aren’t you? And don’t worry about it at all, it is no trouble to get you back home. It is about time for me to head back to the village anyway. And be mindful of your step, it is a bit messy around here.” Osu glanced at where the trees were previously from the corner of his eye and then promptly looked away as if it had nothing to do with him. What? He spent the majority of his one doing paperwork and reading documents. Despite being a broadly peaceful soul, he HAD been trained to be a shinobi since he could hold a toy kunai and he got a bit restless if he didn’t stretch every now and then. He would send someone over to clean this up under the guise of practice for their earth jutsu or something.

Walking in the general direction of the village, Osu looked at Airi and asked, “So whereabouts in the village do you reside? And perhaps why don’t you tell me how your play led you out so far? While many do practice on the outskirts of the forest, it isn’t perfectly safe, particularly if you are alone.” Honestly speaking given how many training injuries the hospital saw every week, no one should be training alone.

“On occasion things from deeper in the forest wander and even those monsters aside it isn’t unheard of for students or genin to be found half eaten by bears or wolves after they got lost. Well… you are about tenish perhaps? I suppose when I was your age I went camping in the forest a few times for survival training…” Hmm? Wait, he suddenly realized that as a parent, he would not be alright with his children doing many of the dangerous things he had at that age.

Wait… how many times had he almost died back then?… The question itself was a problem he realized.

... If he were his own parent he would have been grounded until he was an adult to keep him safe… It was a bit of a shocking revelation.

“... Even considering shinobi training, kids shouldn’t go playing in the forest without a chaperone.” He might have personally been rather free to risk his life at a young age, but now as a responsible adult, he wouldn’t turn a blind eye to the risks. Considering how many times he had almost died or been kidnapped or such when he was younger, Osu felt perfectly justified saying such things were too dangerous for young children.

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

It caught her off guard, something she had really not been prepared for…the lady who looked down at her, well she smiled. It was weird to think about but in the last month or so she had been within the village walls, no one who dealt with her directly ever smiled. Sure, she had seen clerks from stores and things like that but for someone like this…well she had no answer but for someone to genuinely smile at her. She felt a pang in her heart like someone had stabbed a wall with a knife. She felt emotions that she wanted to express pressing hard into her. Almost as if responding to this bang. She held herself back for two reasons. The first being that the few times she did break out in emotion she got disappointing looks. The second was that this person did not know her, it would be rude to meet someone to just break down and cause them problems.

Osuteno was their name and apparently this person had a third child. Her ears picked up at that. She looked in awe...could...she...have children? She had thought that path was locked away from her but now...?

The lady reached out to her and fixed her clothing up and then took her hand. She thought it was weird...the last time she held a hand was when she was sick years ago. Since then...well...it was weird. That's all she could really think. She went through a bunch of motherly things. Asking if she was dressed too warm, to watch her step, to not worry about her taking time to put her back towards home.Honestly she was checking off everything before she even asked or did anything. Truly this was what it meant to be a parent.

Airi was asked a few questions which made sense. Osu went on to explain that there were things even deeper in the forest...forbidden terrible things and Airi had been walking into it blind. If not for Osuteno...she might have died tonight. All for the sake of "Fun" training. Yea she shivered at that. She even started to walk a little closer to Osu for comfort. Her childish fears began to run wild with the thoughts.

She had a long monologue to themselves about safety how they should always have a chaperone with them going anywhere that would be considered dangerous. Airi felt a need to agree for a number of reasons. It was at this moment though that Airi remembered that she was asked a few questions and that she should probably go about answering them, less she come off as rude.

"Ahh....umm...I d-d-dress warm, in case I would get lost...and was alone...in the cold." She figured that was as good an answer as any about the matter. It was a precaution even if it did make the training a little less effective. She was a calm headed worry wart and as such she was slow to about everything she did. Though this time...she had been right considering her situation. As to the next question..."I am...a new resident...so I live in the school dorms." She breathed a bit making sure she kept from tripping as she had been instructed. "I was found by a chakra examiner and...a-a-am from a family that has no shinobi in them." Looking on it that way she did not have any immediate family members within the village. Considering her basic cooking skills and ability to sew and brew tea she managed better then most in the dorms. Though her knowing all these living skills and not many shinobi ones had cause those to separate from her more. She looked sadly forward. Not particularly looking forward to going back. Her scream may have been more of a wanting to go back to her real home. She knew she would not go back...not yet. She still had determination.

"I...I...ahh...I think we got separated...I was supposed to find them but I failed to do so. They probably got bored and went home a-a-a-at this point." What she should have said was, I got tricked and ditched in the forest under the guise of fun training. She hoped it was not the case though. No one was calling her name or looking for her though...this meant that it probably was intentional. Not like any of them had been friendly with her before.

She turned to look at Osu and just looked at what a nice adult was. "If I may...Wh-wh-what are their names?" She sort of glanced away and said, "My elder sisters name is Irie Chiemi, and my younger sister's name is Irie Emiri...My older brothers names are Irie Kaito and Irie Ashai." She figured if she was thinking about names...maybe any of those would help. Though speaking about her brothers and sisters did make her quite happy. She gave a small pleasant smile remembering how upset but encouraging some of them were. They loved her and would want her try her best before coming home. She squeezed the hand she was holding.

"If this place is so scary...did I take you away from something important?" She looked up at her quizzically again. "I feel like someone like you would normally say something like home is that way, figure it out. That's what the teachers have been saying. They rarely give away hints or help directly." To give the teachers credit, now that she was showing improvement they have not been hard on her. Still vague hints were the best direction they got. "Thank you...I was...really scared..." In her mind the man's voice came forward again...about how useless and pitiful she was. How he threw rocks at her and told her to give up. Would he ever stop bothering her? She could only blame herself letting him get in her head so easily.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu nodded as Airi spoke, piecing together a little puzzle as they went. Not being used to the cold around here made sense for a new resident. It also seems their parents chose the considerable monetary compensation rather than picking the whole family up to move to Kumogakure. Though with how many siblings she had it was probably the more stable choice for the family as a whole, if a bit sad. If hers were a normal peasant family that was enough money to provide their family comfort for many years to come through. It probably wasn’t an easy decision though. He slightly shifted the direction they were walking towards the academy though they were still not really close to the city yet.

The way she spoke of the other students… it seemed that she didn’t really want to find them in a way. At the very least it didn’t sound like she had any close friends. If they really lead her out here and simply went home without her… the way she was stumbling over her words made it obvious that her feelings were very likely hurt.

“Oh that is an interesting group of names. Chiemi, Emiri, Kaito, and Ashai… My little twin girls are Yukiko and Karasuko. Despite being twins Yukiko has snow-white hair and Karasuko’s is black like a raven’s. They are just six years old but very excited about their new little sister and are pushing us to hurry and name her. It actually took us about two months to decide on their names so we will continue as we are and see what fits her as best we can.” He lightly squeezed the child’s hand back knowing that the little girl was homesick and was missing their family. How as a father could he not be sensitive to this?

Osu coughed lightly at the question of if he was doing anything important and looked away a little guiltily. “Ahem, rather than scary, I would say the first few miles of the forest are actually mostly manageable if one is well prepared and possesses a healthy amount of caution and emergency supplies, especially if you are good at travelling through the trees. It is actually very rare for something to come from deeper in the forest. As you get stronger you can risk going deeper though after a certain point the forest gets… unusual. Though that is a ghost story for a summer night around a campfire. As for what I was doing… well… my work involves doing a lot of paperwork, reading and approving or denying request and procedures, and managing research projects so I am rather cooped up in my office all day every day while building up stress and feeling restless… and occasionally I come out here to well… unwind a bit and squeeze a few trees… like a stress toy.” Osu turned his face back to the child with an obviously embarrassed expression and held a finger up to his lips in a cute gesture, “I hope this can be a little secret between us Airi-Chan. Some people find me scary enough as it is, I notice a lot of the shinobi who I speak to often get tongue-tied when they are with me, sometimes sweating and turning all red as their blood pressure rises.” It made Osu sad how many people avoided him and such. Just earlier that day he accidentally grabbed a man’s hand pressing the same button on the elevator and they had actually passed out.

“As for why I didn’t just send you on your own… I must admit it isn’t wrong for them to simply send you back, the teachers are expected to turn you into individuals who are able to take care of yourselves. Not that I always agree with their teaching styles, one of my own students has described my own teaching style as harsh in grading and emotionally terrifying, though he also calls me Osu-Mama and hanging onto my sleeve like I am his actual mother despite actually being a few years older than I am, the little rapscallion…”

Osu paused in his step seeing how the village proper was entering sight, then looked down at Airi before lowering himself back to eye level. “But you are not my student now are you Airi-Chan? No, I see a young girl who is lost, a little scared, and very lonely. But you are smart enough to know when you need help, brave enough to admit you are afraid, and you really cherish your family don’t you?”

Osu’s hand reached out and lightly brushed the top of the girl’s hair while still giving a warm and knowing smile. “The fact you came out here with those other children despite not getting along with them shows that your heart is open and hopeful to finding friendship despite the risk of being hurt and that is something terribly brave and valuable in a person. It is all very difficult right now adjusting to a new life, especially this one, but once you find your stride you will figure out what sort of good you want to do with your strength, big or small so long as it is something that makes you feel whole, and you will find good people who will help you along the way so long as you are earnest and be open to meeting them. No matter what though, and as a parent, I feel confident in saying this, I am sure your family will be proud so long as you are doing something you believe in.”

Osu’s hand pet the child’s head another few moments before drifting down
and lightly pinching the end of her nose between his index finger and thumb and giving a little shake playfully before letting go. “How about instead of going straight back to the academy we go pick up my girls from their scout meeting and we can get a little something to snack on or a meal?”

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

As she was walking she was more focused on not being a problem for her walking partner than anything else. The ease at which the person next to her moved more so than anything else only further confirmed that this person was quite practiced. If she had been better trained then she might not have to focus so hard but there was no point in her worrying about what she could not do and she needed to focus on what could be in her line of sight.

“Yukiko…and Karasuko…they are nice names.” She had never really tried to name something before but she figured it would be very hard to pick something so important. She had mentioned her name was a tongue twister a bit and she had to agree. She called herself Airi Airi for a long time in her youth. This of course had sometimes been shorted to Riri though she found that it felt weird to hear it now. Some people she had seen were even trying to name their attacks at the academy. Though their names were usually silly or overly long. Coming back to the conversation she frowned a bit and said, “It sounds weird…that they would look so different in hair colors.”

So the forest was only really scary the deeper you got. The outsides were fine and that would make them good for training but only if the right conditions. As such what she had been doing was certainly not training under the right conditions. Still that made sense considering there were no guards into the ancient forest. Only those who were terribly stupid could get themselves killed, that or foolish…though would they even want those type of people as shinobi to begin with. It seemed like the forest was a natural selection in a way.

The way that this person appeared and the way they spoke about research things started to kind of make sense to her. When she was originally going to say something about it, she was halted, but this just confirmed for her what she had been thinking. “You’re a doctor…that makes sense then why you were so stringy at first. You’re just like the other doctor I met at my tutoring session. Though…you are not as cold as he was. I mean to say…well…In well I guess both ways actually. That…well it might explain why I was not quite as taken aback when we met…I guess things do get easier the more you do and see them…”

Like killing people apparently…

She clenched her teeth a bit at that. This was still something that worried her. She would have to do it eventually…would she be ready when the time came?

She felt…warmth and that pang again against her chest. This time though she felt tears build up in her eyes. A compliment…she knew what they were but since she had been here she had been doubting. This whole month had been so hard and finally someone gave her two cents of encouragement. She noticed the village coming into sight and wiped her eyes a bit…trying very hard to make it took like it was the lights that bothered her and not the fact that this lady was tearing down her poor constructed walls. She sniffled a bit but just gave a very happy smile to Osuteno. The first real smile she had felt in quite a long time. She admitted to barely holding back a breakdown but this was not the time or the place. This was a joyous cry for the first time she had been here.

Seeing the village did make her a little sad, after all she had been really enjoying speaking with someone…someone…who was nice. She felt a pinch on her nose and it made her flail her arms since she had no idea what was going on or why it was happening. Her mom used to do this with her when she was making faces so this was not unaccustomed but not expected.

As if light had appeared again at the end of a dark tunnel little Airi smiled happily and said, “I-I-I…would really like that.” She tucked her coat down a bit, a nervous habit her mother told her not to do. “I would…would not be imposing would I?” She was offered and thus she would probably not be but she also knew that without asking it would be rude to not give her a chance to back out. While she said it in a shy way she was quite excited, she had no idea why she was even being so shy with Osuteno either.

Not paying attention to her surroundings she tripped slightly but caught herself by putting a bit of chakra into the soles of feet. “Yeeeepp!” She almost spun a bit from the momentum but when she did not trip she sighed happily. At least the obstacle courses had helped her with that. Though he mind did pull her to the rocks being thrown at her again.

She quickly moved back to the lady’s side and said, “Sorry…I’ll be more careful. I just…just got excited. I have not…socially eaten in a while. I have been feeling…lonely.” She shifted a little and as they walked a bit more went on, “My mom runs tea ceremonies, so we would have guests all the time and the front of our house used to be a casual brewing and lunch location. I miss helping out there.”

She really did miss home.

 

[Osuteno]

Twins:

Spoiler

“Of course you wouldn’t be imposing Airi-Chan.” Osu said warmly though something was currently bothering him about what she had said.

What? What did being stringy have to do with being a medic?? Wait. Another revenant from the medical branch? Cold? “That tutor… a bit impolite and direct, haku bloodline, really has a thing with puppets, named Byakko Yukiin?” … Osu gave a small cough. “If so, he… it would probably be best to not make a direct association between someone being a doctor and revenancy… or rather he is… never mind that.” Yukiin was a difficult young man to say the least and it was probably better to steer the young lady into the idea that Yukiin was a bit of an oddity among mednin... people in general. The difficulty was being polite about it and not accidentally putting negative thoughts about the young man in the mind of this girl.

Watching her dance around and nearly trip over herself was humorous though. He chuckled a little and ruffled the girl’s hard when she returned to his side and there was a small glint in his eye when she mentioned tea ceremonies. “Oh so you have a bit of experience at a tea house then, it just so happens that I grow my own leaves in a greenhouse here in the village, most are experiments in breeding traits, but a few plants and teas including my own take on matcha are somewhat finished, nothing commercial mind just that I always kind of dreamed that if I were not a shinobi I would like to have had my own tea shop. I have taught my daughters about tea ceremonies I learned from those years of marriage training but aside from earning their scout badges they aren’t terribly interested. Perhaps you would join me some time after the next batch of leaves are ready?”

As they walked towards the village he once again changed their direction a bit from the Academy towards the commercial sector of the city. After they had entered the city limits he looked over the edge of some stairs that went down about twenty stories and simply picked up Airi in his arms before hopping over the side. After a couple seconds of weightlessness, they somehow landed gently on top of a gondola lift without shaking it and he looked around below them as they moved over an area that had another gap of a few hundred feet between them and the ground before hopping once more and landing on top of a different lift with the same gentleness before putting Airi down on its roof though he kept a hold of her hand. Kumogakure was a crowded city that due to limitations in space had built up and dug down rather that build out too much. It was a bit of a wonder in a sense, though this had many obvious issues such as places that almost never saw natural light down at the bottom and between taller structures as well as many places seeming randomly put together or under permanent construction, not to mention that to those who strayed they could end up in a bit of a labyrinth. Streets did fine for the main areas but lifts like the one they were on top of were much better for moving from one part of the city to another, particularly with the difference in levels.

“Let’s sit down and take in the sights, I doubt anyone has really taken the time to show you the less cleaned up areas of the city, but they are quite fascinating. I once found a space where from the top of a building down to the bottom of a gap to the lowest floors where some of the deeper mines have been converted to future development areas for the city that one could fall a good mile and then some. Well since then we have added a few nets. If you want though we can take a jump down it.” He was joking of course but he did his best to seem serious. He wouldn’t be about to come out in any sort of decent condition from such a fall without spreading himself out as he did earlier and he wouldn’t be 100% confident in keeping the child in good health in that form.

After about 10 minutes of enjoying the sights Osu once more picked up Airi in his arms but rather than jumping down, his threads began reaching up to grab hold of buildings and they began ascending to what was commonly called the ‘ground floor’ which Airi would be most familiar with and they would be standing only a couple blocks from Dawnbringer’s Plaza.

“The Kunoichi Scout Center is just a bit towards the city center from here.” Osu said as he put Airi down and took her hand before walking in the direction he mentioned.”

A few minutes later a four story and rather wide building came into sight covered in pictures of cookies and shinobi gear and a sign that announced it was the Kunoichi Scout Headquarters. Lots of little girls from ages 4-7 in Scout outfits and various bits of shinobi gear we’re leaving the building as they approached and stood near what seemed to be a group of parents and siblings waiting on their kids. Before long a pair of twins about six years old holding hands and pulling a wagon rushed towards Osu and each went to grab one of Osu’s sleeves before noticing Airi. They then went to the other side of Osu to hide while peeking around his kimono at this unknown girl who was with their dad.

“Girls, this is Airi-Chan and she will be joining us for dinner, introduce yourselves.”

“My sister Kiko’s name is Yukiko.” The black haired Karasuko spoke up.

“My sister Suko’s name is Karasuko.” The white haired Yukiko said afterwards.

““Pleased to meet you,”” they spoke simultaneously while peering around from the other side of Osu, mirroring each other perfectly in how they moved.

Suddenly they got odd little confused frowns on their faces before walking in front of Osu with their arms raised up. ““Pick us up.”” They demanded in unison.

Osu was a bit surprised by this and was about to ask why they wanted to be carried when Karasuko pointed at Airi. “She has your hair on her clothes.”

Yukiko followed up with the same pointing motion. “You carries that girl right?”

Then they once more in unison raised their arms up and demanded, “Pick us up.”

Osu turned his head away to prevent them from seeing the near laugh on his face before shaking his head with a rueful smile. These two were quite jealous underneath their stoic little faces. He had no doubts who that trait came from. Instead of commenting though he simply picked the girls up each in one arm and while their faces were looking over the back of Osu’s shoulders they stuck their tongues out at Airi in perfect sync as if to tell her Osu was their momma… *ahem* daddy and they were currently only willing to share him with their new little sister.

“Alright so what do we all feel like for dinner or perhaps a snack? Professor Pork’s Pizzaria? A family restaurant? One of those newer casual sit down places?” Osu asked the group of girls, looking at Airi in particular. The twins weren’t picky eaters anyway so long as Yukiko got some dessert after her meal and Karasuko got a bit more protein.

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

Osu said that she would not be imposing and that made her feel good. She figured she would not be but checking was the polite thing to do! Osu then started talking about Byakko-san. She was told by Osu that she should not make a direct connection between doctors and…revenancy? That must be what she mentioned stringy was. Though Osu seemed to have very few words to portray him and as such she halted the conversation. Maybe they had a fight or something? Airi as they walked waved her hands and said, “He was…better than he made himself out to be. He has a fierce loyalty that really inspired me. He taught me a lot of good things but…I feel like he needs a vacation.” Those were her honest feelings about their interaction.

“I hope someday he can love himself so he can receive love in the future.”
She nodded confidently at that. Nothing really more to say on the matter when it came to Byakko-san.

Osu mentioned tea ceremonies and she smiled softly. “I would love to…though momma would warn you not to let me near where you are growing them. She said I have a black thumb with plants.” She herself was even aware that she was terrible at taking care of plants. They had no pets but Airi even worried about taking care of living things. Hopefully that ability did not translate over to one another or she would never be able to take care of a significant other. These thoughts came from her older brother teasing her.

As they walked she noticed that Osu wanted to pick her up. She was a little…well…a lot of uncomfortable with that but when they leap over the side of some stairs she clung to her tightly. Her eyes had been closed to it but leaps she had no issues keep her eyes open for. Osu was in complete control and always double checked before jumping anywhere. The calm and collect manner this happened really surprised her. She looked around and felt Osu holding her hand with authority. Do not fall or I will not let you fall really pushed into her mind.

Her eyes did sparkle at the sight. It was amazing that the city had a view like this. Shinobi really did get to see things from different viewpoints then others. She did look at Osu though and said, “How did you do that with your chakra to land super light…I just barely got how to somewhat stick myself but if I knew how to fall right I would not embarrass myself so much. Is there a trick?”

After her answer Osu picked her up again and like a creepy giant spider they climbed up to an area where she was familiar. “Really we came out here!?” She was sort of shocked. This city really interlinked in ways she never imagined. They walked to the Kunoichi scout headquarters, something she felt she should know about, and then the twins came out.

They were adorable and they both hid from her that reminded her of herself as a kid. They introduced each other as opposed to themselves and a such she paused for a while looking back and forth trying to keep the names with who they were supposed to. “I-I am Irie Airi but Airi-chan is fine, Yukiko-chan…Karasuko-chan.”

She gave an awkward smile but thought they were absolutely adorable. Airi nodded to Osu as well. It was only fair after all. She had to admit she was amazed at their ability to observe even those sort of minor things. She needed to be careful what she said and did around them. Last thing she wanted to do was be a bad example. When they were picked up she noticed they both stuck their tongue out at her and she playfully stuck hers back out as well. She ran up though to move next to Osu since she had no idea where they were going. Considering what she just thought, she already felt like a bad example.

Airi had never really eaten out before so she had no idea what to expect. She had no idea what a pizzeria was and a family restaurant sounded way to informal for what Airi would be to Osu as such she said, “Maybe a casual sit down place? I would hate to ruin dinner plans and snacking on something warm to drink seems nice.” Hopefully that would be the correct answer, though she hardly knew if there even was one anymore.

Just be yourself Airi…

 

[Osuteno]

“Oh don’t misunderstand, Yukiin is a good young man. He just seems to be in… a rebellious phase I suppose I should say. The real issue is that he is far too willing to sacrifice his youth and freedom when he has plenty of time to enjoy them before needing to make certain decisions. I didn’t really have the choice so I suppose I am a bit frustrated with him for not knowing how to treasure his… self I suppose. But that is a different matter.”

Airi spoke more of her family and Osu smiled but mentally noted not to let Airi come near his plants if that were really the case. He would be heartbroken if something really did happen.

The young lady’s reaction to the leaps was mildly amusing though Osu did do his best to make the experience as safe and relaxed as possible for her. As for how he did so, “I did notice earlier that when you almost fell, you simply used your weight to reshift your balance. That is good and for now you should practice rolling correctly when falling and turning your body to control your center of gravity. What I did however is purely chakra control though a bit more of an advanced application. I remember now that to prepare for my exam to graduate the academy to become an MiT not only did I practice medical jutsu and study medicine, I put a lot of effort into chakra control exercises. For instance you should probably go ahead and practice walking up trees. You do this by concentrating a particular amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet.” At this point Osu stopped to think for a moment before reaching into his kimono sleeve and pulling out a small ball and dropping it on top of the gondola lift. It bounced but before it could fly away the bottom of Osu’s geta tapped the ball midair but it seemed to simply stick to the bottom of the footwear. “Too little chakra and you won’t be able to keep your footing,” Osu continued with the ball beginning to fall before being pulled back.

“Too much and you will actually repel yourself away from the tree or break the tree and lose your step that way.” Osu caused a burst and the ball popped and smacked the roof before falling into the apparent abyss below.

“If you can walk up trees to the point you can do so unconsciously you should be able to walk flat ground without worrying at all about tripping on ground and as you saw it is also a good way to manipulate objects such as if I wanted to throw someone off by throwing a kunai with my feet in much the same fashion I launched that ball though with more finesse,” as Osu said this he leaned back from his knees while keeping his shins vertical and then lifted one leg to be parallel to the ground with the rest of him while looking at Airi to prove the point.

“At this point… well you should not attempt what I just did even when you have this down. To a certain point when you jump down particularly if the height is less than a few stories you will eventually just use this technique along with shifting the energy of the fall forward or such like you would do without chakra. After a certain height though attempting to do so is just a good way of breaking bones. The next step is actually learning to walk on water which even I had some trouble with and barely managed to accomplish while I was still a student. It is more of a mid to late genin exercise. The difference there is than the water is constantly shifting so you have to make constant adjustments. When you get really proficient at walking on water is when you can attempt more advance chakra manipulation techniques such as propelled movement much like skating on water and, as I showed a bit ago, falling from great heights gently. How this works requires a bit of instinct and mental calculation, but basically you are using the same method you would use to make an enhanced jump, causing a burst of chakra to be emitted from your feet. The difference is that you start this burst a good distance from the ground and control it very carefully and narrow its focus. With the initial jumping technique the chape is more of a cone while this is a more precise column. Your fall begins to slow and as you feel yourself beginning to repel from the ground you lower the emission as needed until you, ideally, land gently. There are actually many more applications and variations, but really you should focus on tree climbing for now and learning to fall properly without chakra by redirecting the momentum, rolling being the most effective. The rest is for when you have a lot more chakra and more precise chakra control. Of course there are also jutsu that more directly solve issues like falling with wind or gravity jutsu but those really aren’t my forte, while I am quite confident in anything related to chakra manipulation. It is how I move my body after all.” It was at this point of the explanation that Osu’s threads lifted them from the lift to the ground floor like a creepy giant spider.

A few minutes later, as everyone was introduced, the twins stared wordlessly at Airi with small frowns when she returned the gesture. They made the gesture out of fun but was this girl actually considering wanting to steal some of their father’s attention from them? Their eyes briefly turned the same blood red as their father’s, though only their irises and not transfixing into actual orbs of blood.

Spoiler

However, their eyes returned to normal almost instantly. They were still young and had incomplete chakra pathways and could not consciously activate their bloodline, or chakra at all in fact.

“Well Listless Wednesdays it is then by the sound of it,” Osu said not noticing any of this as he seemed busy thinking about something.

““Appetizer platter!”” The twins somehow managed to cheer in synchronous monotone, seeming to completely forget about the possible competition for their father’s attention.

Osu smiled and shook his head a little before saying, “Yes, yes an appetizer platter for you two. I know you two like variety but you should really-”

““We will both have a vegetable salad as well, no dressing, and we will eat them before we start our appetizers,” the twins quickly addressed their father’s reservation.

“That is a lot of food for you two?” Osu asked a bit surprised.

““We will stop when we are full and save what is left for later.””

Osu nodded thinking he was happy so long as they ate a healthy salad and some decent protein they could be a little spoiled.

“You don’t really have to worry about dinner plans, rather constant snacking has rather disrupted consistent actual meals for the last while so after we all get settled in with the new baby we'll be trying to do real meals more often. Right now my spouse is probably snacking or napping while some MiT I picked out to get more experience handling newborns does a bit of babysitting,” Osu said the last part with a bit of a shameless wink, admitting to a slight shenanigan of authority. To be fair, the MiT in question were looking to focus on pediatrics and were happy to have a chance to directly impress their boss.

Before long they arrived at a moderately large two story traditional building, with a sign that read “Listless Wednesdays.” What was peculiar about it was not the fact it had an outdoor garden in the center square of the building with the inner walls being almost entirely windows and openings for the guests to look upon the garden, but that it was raining on this inner garden, but not the world outside.

They were quickly shown to a kotatsu on the second floor that had a gentle breeze drifting in from the inner garden. Because of the windowless outer walls, the only natural lighting came from the inner garden where it was raining, so despite the time of day it was a bit dim, with the lazy atmosphere completed by the soft clacking of bamboo wind chimes and a nearby fireplace. Most in the restaurant’s second floor were experiencing about the same relaxed setting. The kotatsus a bit spaced out and the occupants either lounging lazily and silently or with soft conversation. The first floor below them was a bit more crowded and active, but the din faded when they ascended to the second floor with the thick floors and rain drowning most of it out.

A pot of tea was placed on the table as they sat at it along with cups and menus for each of them. The girls sat together facing the outside garden on Osu’s right, and skimmed the menu which was much like any casual restaurant and quickly wrote down on a nearby notepad their order before passing it to their father. Osu glanced at what they wrote and nodded with approval seeing they wrote their salads as promised as well as added grilled shrimp to them with calamari, chicken potstickers, and spring rolls for their appetizer platter before writing down his order which was two bowls of seafood chowder with extra kale and spinach cooked in. He ate a lot of leafy greens such as well as fish and shellfish since his main nutritional requirements focused on blood production.

“Feel free to get your fill, it is my treat today, get something warm into your stomach and follow their lead,” Osu said nodding towards the twins who already seemed half asleep with their bodies warmed by the kotatsu, their cheeks laying on the warm table, and their half closed eyes gazing out at the rainy garden with the breeze brushing their faces, occasionally lifting their heads to sip their tea.

“This is a good setting to relax, and if you wish we can chat a bit more. A fair warning, I am afraid I am prone to lectures, so feel free to stop me if I start going down rabbit holes.”

““Sensei will lecture about everything under the sun and beyond the moon,”” the twins yawned slightly teasing their father.

“From the endless explosions that make a star,” began Karasuko.

“To the cultures near and far,” replied Yukiko.

“The myths and legends of the past.”

“Feats of engineering and how long they should last.”

““The physics of chakra to which we are tied, and the names and feats of those who have long since died.””

“Life, love, sorrow, and hate.”

“Why little girls cannot stay up too late.”

“Medicine, philosophy, politics, and war.”

“Sensei will lecture about all of this and more.”

““Hours, Days, Months, and Years. The lectures will drain you to tears.

Informative and wise they might be, but lo they severely lack brevity.””

The twins yawned and sipped at their tea before simply saying without bothering to rhyme anymore, ““So be careful of what you ask or be prepared to be here all night.””

Osu looked at the precocious little rascals with a slightly exasperated and amused smile and sighed. “I can acknowledge my own faults, I do tend to speak a lot when it comes to sharing knowledge. But I have been trying to be better about it. They do have a point though, whether it is your studies, the village, or simply something you are confused about in general do feel free to ask. If I don’t know the answer I can usually direct you in how to find it or can look a bit into it myself. Of course, if you want to just chat about home life, the weather or such I would be pleased to do so as well Airi-Chan.”

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

The long and short of the explanation to Airi was that there were a lot of amazing things you could do with really good chakra control but to get to the level of Osu, she needed to focus on running up walls or trees. She made a mental note that was where she should go next with her training. She had really wondered what to do with herself now that the obstacle course was getting easier. She mentally thanked the fact that she had met Osu. She needed to make sure she repaid her at some point.

Airi had been moving forward and thus missed the reaction of the children. If she had seen it she would have been concerned only briefly, but alas this was not the case. Listless Wednesdays was where they were apparently going which was an interesting name for a place to eat. She was very stiff with herself when it came to money so spending on allowing someone else to cook for her when she was perfectly capable seemed silly to her and knew if her parents found out they would be disappointed. This was why she really never explored much beyond the markets and stores. She knew some kids stopped by these places after school but Airi usually went home or to a part-time job after classes.

Airi watched as the twins easily bullied their parent into getting what they wanted. They were much smarter than she had expected and sort of respected that in a way. As she listened she never knew what it was like to have a baby sibling being the youngest. It sounded really hard, though when she mentioned the MiT getting newborn lessons Airi kind of smiled and said, “That sounds really nice…taking care of newborns.” She had no idea what really went into it but it was an innocent pleasure. No harm was really meant to be taken from it.

As they came to the building Airi was highly confused by the fact it looked like it was raining inside the building. She tried to look around a bit but could not make heads or tails of it. She wondered if they pumped water out of the top, or maybe it was some jutsu or something. Airi’s eyes lit up at seeing the kotatsu. She nearly broke out into a run looking back at Osu and exclaimed, “OH! It’s been so long since I’ve been in one!” She squeaked with delight upon seeing it she nearly wanted to run in place. She had enough mental ability to resist however, just enough which bouncing a little was fine until they were allowed to sit.

As she sat in the warmth she took off her coat and shoes and snuggled into the warmth nearly dying right there. The soft sounds of the chimes and dim lighting, as well as the calm atmosphere really made her tired and relaxed. She perked back up when the tea was placed on the table and she sat up like a good girl. Airi nodded and decided, “I’d like to try some fish with Miso and noodles. Maybe a salad as well so I can get some good things in me.”

Airi had picked up her head once the ordering started so she shook her head but said, “Thank you but I should be more courteous in public.” She decided to pour tea for everyone since she wanted to do something and her tea pouring was probably her only decent skill she had developed.

When the two went on their little song Airi was just shocked. How…? She clapped a little and said, “Well if nothing else they could become pop idols with the rhythm.” She smiled happily and was quite content to hear that. What did Airi really want to talk about though? Here she had someone who could answer anything and everything. Well of course as a girl she had to wonder…

“Is it okay for a shinobi to have family? Everyone seems…so cold and I get why but…I did not come here to be sad. Not that I really had a choice but my family would want me to be happy. I am having so many troubles just speaking to people and it feels like the few that do have friends made them before I showed up. The others are so focused and determined making sure they can…end…people seems to be the only thing they care about.” She paused and curled up on the table. So much for manners…

Looking at Osu and her children she could start to feel the emotion bubbling. Could she…maybe. It might have been the home atmosphere and how sweet Osu had been but suddenly she just felt the dam inside crack open.

“I want to get strong so I can grow up…I want to experience things and grow with people.” She looked a little forlorn and as she looked across the table she felt a pain in her chest. “If I can get strong enough to have just a little of what you have right now I would be content…I’m just so scared I’m not going to make it…” She felt her tears start to form and she was trying hard to hold it back.

“I am so scared I’ll just make it by and then end up dying to someone who is an amazing shinobi…” She sniffled slightly but she wiped her face and quickly drank the tea. She stuck her tongue out and cough… “Oh…oww…hot…” She was smarter than this but her emotions got the better of her.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu smiled as the girl insisted on pouring their tea and the girls seemed a bit miffed that somehow their little rhyme to poke fun at their dad had been treated so… normally? And who wants to be pop idols?

Osu merely commented with a tired smile and petting both of the twins’ heads in turn, “While I do tend to encourage their creative endeavors, I would rather not encourage it when they make fun of me with poems.”

He almost answered her initial question directly but she continued and the mood dropped somewhat. After she hurt her mouth Osu simply stared at her for a minute thinking about how to best answer her concerns. The initial question regarding the ability to have a family wasn’t difficult at all, so he decided to go ahead and explain that while forming a more gentle answer to her lack of confidence and fear of death.

He began slowly, “Rather than whether or not being okay, as a shinobi the higher your rank and the older you are, the more socially unacceptable it is for you not to have children. The pressure doubles for members of clans, tripled for bloodliners. The real difficulty is finding the right person to settle down with though arranged marriages aren’t uncommon in the village, particularly with the major clans.

You mentioned that you were brought away from your family by people testing for chakra sensitives and it is all for the same core reason; chakra sensitivity is a recessive trait. In our country with some 15 million people, as well as scouting into Bear and Marsh at times looking for possible shinobi, we only have around 18,000 chakra sensitives in Kumogakure, our overall population being about 120,000. Even among the non chakra sensitive population, about everyone is a descendant, sibling, or parent of a chakra sensitive, meaning that there is a decent chance that they at least carry the gene.”

Osu paused for another moment before adding, “Of course I got into a bit of trouble with my clan for the twins being born when I was 16 and, well…not with whoever it was I was betrothed to. I know among most of the peasant class, particularly farmers it wouldn’t be too unusual to have kids at that age, but here there is more of an intention to spend your youth training and studying without distractions since it is the easiest time to grow in those areas, so I will suggest putting starting a family on the back burner for some years until you are a financially stable adult with a solid career path… plus even though the village does supply some aid for shinobi to raise children… well we aimed to provide for them beyond our means for a time which meant many sleepless weeks and taking missions with danger pay. Had a number of hearts fail on me from lack of rest,” Osu seemed to stare into a troubled past.

“But my last promotion was rather significant so we are very comfortable and relaxed now even with the new baby. I still work a lot, but I get sleep of some sort every da. We would not have had so much budget trouble if we didn’t try to live at the nicest apartment building in the best family neighborhood in the most expensive district. A chuunin salary and village aid for children of chakra sensitives in a normal district can keep a family of two parents and a child comfortable if not affluent with only the one source of income. Two proven chakra sensitives, like my partner and I, get a bit more support since any of our children are almost guaranteed to be chakra sensitives as well. Two Chuunin can have several kids and live very comfortably financially. Jounin also get a bit more aid than Chuunin for each child, whereas genin don’t get as much to sort of help encourage people to train and advance before trying to settle down.”

He didn’t have an easy answer for her concern of dying in the line of duty. His own experience was actually incredibly bleak. His classmates from the academy had rough fates, aside from himself there were only a couple others confirmed to be alive after entering active duty as shinobi these last fifteen years, he had even been considered dead for a few of those. This was far from normal, and statistically the other classes had no where near such a terrible survival rate, but it was what it was. Just because there was a low chance of something occurring didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t tell this child that. Osu thought a bit more while having a sip of tea before continuing, “When you are young there is a lot of encouragement to focus on nothing but training in whatever fields you plan to specialize in. While it is discouraging at times, it does make sense that they would rather have you learning to kill effectively when you are a child as there is a chance, despite your youth, that you will end up in dangerous situations where it could save your life, rather than encouraging you all to think about settling down and having a family which *cough* SHOULD be many years off for you… Teen parenthood is difficult and while I adore my children it is still best to wait until you are an adult yourself before going through the trials of raising kids.” Osu was being extra sure to get that point across.

“It does seem to get some youths into the wrong mindset these days… Though when I was… I… hmmm… Looking back, while I was still a student, I put the entirety of what I had into everything they gave us to learn. One of the most distinct memories I have was during a combat class we had back then, I was 8 and had recently activated my Chigokai bloodline and my sparring partner was 11 or 12 I believe and had had his Santaru bloodline for a little while. The teacher was a med chief and told us to give it everything we had and he would make sure we came out in one piece. Out of all the students I am fairly sure our fight was the most extreme. I was fairly electrocuted and had large gashes in my chest, and for my opponent… I had shot him a few times and even destroyed one of his eyes. It was called a draw since we both fell unconscious, but I, in fact, fell first and had the more threatening injuries. We were both praised for our fight despite putting a decent amount of effort into harming each other. He had to be taken to the hospital to get a replacement eye, but I had been praised for doing that to a fellow student. It was strange and rather unsettling after some time passed. I focused harder on my medical studies. But still the point was they knew that in the field if it came down to us or our opponents, we wouldn’t hesitate to strike them down first. Hesitation can kill you… but at the same time you should never enjoy killing. The ideal temperament for a shinobi is for killing to be professional necessity, you don’t kill because you enjoy to do so, you kill because your duty has made it necessary, and when you kill in duty the blame lies not in you but your orders… But the world isn’t that perfect.” Even though his class had actually been full of talented enough individuals who were trained properly it didn’t end up saving most in the end. Still, perhaps there wouldn’t be any survivors at all if their training hadn’t been so… intense.

Osu looked at the twins who appeared to have fallen asleep under the kotatsu. “My first kill, it was actually two in one go… I was days away from turning ten. Vile individuals who... but they were still people in the end. The one didn’t even know what happened while the other… they wanted to live, so much. I could see it in his eyes… I was a wreck for a while after that. I had hoped that by being a medical shinobi I wouldn’t have to kill anyone. But life has a terrible sense of humor. I have probably seen more death than most, and I don’t mean from my work in the morgue. As a doctor, I have pulled many plugs over the years, sometimes on behalf of other doctors who had trouble doing so. I have sat at the besides of others to share their final moments when they were in need of company. In the field… I have killed a number of people, not many compared to some, but certainly not few, at least the weight on my mind says it could never be few. Even more than that, I have sent people on missions that included orders to eliminate individuals at times. Those deaths are on my hands as surely as if I performed the deed myself. People who died performing said missions also will surely count against me should my life and deeds be judged when I die.

… And we all will die, and it is a scary prospect. We can’t know for sure when or how until it is already upon us... But that is true whether you are a shinobi in the field, the shogun on his throne, or a farmer in the field. Though our life expectancy is admittedly not much better than most peasant farmers. Most of us seem to go by the time we are 50 or 60 despite our strong advances in medicine. Of course should we make it past that point and maybe retire... I am fairly aware of rumors that the granny who acts as one of the head librarians of the village library is fairly ancient. What records I could find about her suggests she retired as a shinobi decades before the first Raikage of this era took the helm. I would guess she is at least about 130. She always seems like she is about to drop at any moment but she has kept on going all these years even though she refuses any medical assistance. I even once observed her heart stop before she actually punched it into beating again. But I ramble on a tangent.”

Taking another sip of tea and seeing the food arrive, two red threads gently shook the twins who groggily acknowledged with a nod and started pulling apart their chopsticks.

“I myself am not actually very good at combat… My focus is surviving not winning. There are several people around in our village who can beat me senseless, not to mention foreign shinobi who can, but killing me would take far greater effort… but I have only seriously fought with enemy chakra sensitives three times in my life, and one of those were more genetic experiments than trained combatants. The last war that had a few individuals who could fight on par with shinobi was many years ago, the demon war was also before my time but they are firmly sealed away.

More likely you will only find yourself fighting seriously against normal people, occasionally trained soldiers, mercenary bandits or pirates with weapons, though firearms have been getting rather problematic in recent years. Crossbows were bad enough as it was. Still as long as you either strike first and hard or maintain a fair defense while attacking you should be fairly safe. After you get to around Chuunin strength you should notice that most of your fights are pretty one sided unless they come at you in numbers.

I remember as a MiT once fleeing from an entire platoon of dragoons armed with rifles, one of the closest times I ever came to dying. I managed to run away by creating a thick fog and scrambling for the rooftops while they couldn’t see me. It was a bit of a pathetic and embarrassing scene looking back on it but that is how you survive at times. As long as you prioritize your missions, being unglamorous at times will be better for your health. Stealth and being good at running away is more helpful in most missions than fighting to the last body standing. Come upon a group of people with rifles in a narrow hallway? A jutsu to create a sturdy wall is more sensible initial action than a fireball. Rather than summoning a storm to help you strike down a group of bandits with lightning you can save a lot of effort and risk by slipping through the shadows, looking for prisoners and hostages, then poisoning their food or such and waiting patiently to clear them out when they are at their weakest. Rather than focusing on being strong, learn how to minimize risk, unless you wish to be like an ANBU or a Monster Hunter. Those professions will require high level combat abilities. There are actually plenty of jobs that have minimal danger attached to them, depending on what type of work you are interested in. Traveling around Lightning Country your three biggest risks of actual danger are monsters who have wandered near the road, bandits, and… well a lot of danger in the cities mostly, particularly in the eastern half of the country though the Southern cities are also becoming risky. There is a growing religion that has convinced many people that chakra sensitives are witches and monsters over the years and… well it is best not to advertise that you are a shinobi in the outside world these days. Not unless you are confident you can handle a frightened mob without harming them or letting the situation spiral.

If you see Tenouzan clergy or paladins it is best to avoid interaction completely. They can’t openly touch us due to the shogun’s influence, but the laws and attitudes of most Daimyo are more supportive of the church than they are of us so we can’t touch them either, particularly not without alienating ourselves further from the general population.” He actually had many concerns on this front and the Tenouzans actually had their own individuals who could fight on par with shinobi but hopefully that would never be a direct concern for this girl. Simply instilling a bit of caution would be enough.

“... While nothing is guaranteed, it is important to know that preparation and possessing a wide range of practical knowledge can help one make the best of the worst situations. And perhaps you should really think about your character, interests, and talents so you can find the occupation best suited for you as that not only improves your likelihood of living for many years to come, but also helps keep you in a healthy frame of mind and more able to start and provide for that family you wish for one day. For instance as difficult and stressful as it has been at times, my love for my work and the amount of good it provides helps me make it through some of my bleaker moments, not to mention it has challenged me in ways that have kept me from getting bored. I would like to stress that while we are all shinobi and kunoichi, we actually have a wide range of professions and specialties split among us. I even have a friend who was… is obsessed with maids so she mainly takes long term field work as a undercover bodyguard for a wealthy family up north and prances around in a maid uniform at all times… though she is terrible at cooking and cleaning and all actual maid work... She is a rather silly example, but proof all he same that it is possible to incorporate your interests and hobbies into your work as a shinobi.”

Oh he had better eat some before his food got cold. He clapped his hands and silently thanked Raiden for his meal and began enjoying the food that had been sitting in front of him since part way through his explanation.

The twins had their own thoughts though. “I want to sleep and eat sweets all day,” commented Yukiko.

“I want to raid old tombs, Daimyo palaces, and the Shogun’s house to leave pranks and be really rich,” nodded Karasuko.

Osu coughed while sipping his tea and looked at his daughters with a troubled and tired look. “That… why don’t you two focus a bit more on your Kunoichi Scout activities to see if there are maybe other things that interest you more?”

““Okay,”” the twins replied obediently even though they were fairly sure of what they wanted to do at this point.

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

As Airi was fanning the flames of her tongue she blinked back tears. Osu was taking her time thinking about the best way to answer her. Really she was not expecting anything along the lines of an answer but apparently the older shinobi did in fact have wisdom on the matter.

When Osu began explaining that as they got older and depending on their skills people who were chakra sensitive we told to have children with other chakra sensitive people she wondered why? Something about jeans or another…she figured it must have something to do with Science though she admitted as an eleven year old she did not fully understand the concept. What she did get was this, they needed children who could also become shinobi so they wanted shinobi to have kids. So that way more shinobi were made. She nodded at this still feeling a little blue on the matter.

The next bit of information that came through was do not worry about having kids at least for another good long while, also known as wait to be a Jounin. It is not like Airi planned to be a mother anytime soon but she admitted to think at eighteen with this line of work she really hoped she was at least in a strong relationship with someone. She mentioned that maybe two Chuunin could if they did not ask for the best of the best which Airi could agree she was not planning to live a swanky life. She sipped her drink a bit more before listening to the rest.

Airi was surprised that Osu might have been in an arranged marriage. She could not imagine the weird feelings that could have went into something like that.

Airi was shocked when Osu mentioned what had happened in one of her academy classes. Airi could not begin to imagine doing what she did to one of her classmates. The fact they made them fight so hard seemed…well wrong. She figured there was a reason they made them go so hard but even still…Airi felt a little sick to her stomach imagining even watching that. Never enjoy killing be but be prepared to do it. Do not hesitate or else she would die. These were the biggest point she felt for the whole evening for her. She needed to do her best to survive and a even a small amount of resistance would be the death of her. She needed to remember this. Even a sweet person like Osu told her this…it must be true.

Considering the fact that Osu’s first kill had been when she was ten…really threw off Airi. She was eleven and was still crying about it. She really needed to get her act together. Airi knew at some point she would die but when mentioning that the medical field had just as much death really shocked her. She even knew that Osu may have come to love some of those people. It must have been so hard to make those decisions. Between Byakko-san and Osu-san her entire thoughts on the medical field were really off the mark. At first being a doctor had seemed like the right idea but now? She really was not so sure on the matter.

At this point the food arrived and despite the interesting one sided conversation, her eyes sparkled at the food. It looked absolutely amazing…her stomach growled when it was placed in front of her and she broke apart her chopsticks. “Thank you for the food.”

She could not resist beginning to nom on her noodles. Osu mentioned she was training for survival and Airi thought maybe she should follow that similar school of thought. Not focus on killing but on living. When she mentioned the experiments and demons Airi shivered but figured it might be worth a trip to the library to meet the old lady and to gain more knowledge on the matter.

Osu went through a number or realistic scenarios though the one that really stood out to her was the Tenouzan Paladins. They sounds really cool and noble but knowing that she was what they were really against kind of made her nervous. Still she added it to the list of things that she should really research more. Osu also mentioned that she should really focus on her talents and passions. When Osu mentioned the maid person Airi could not help but giggling and feeling better.

“That is amazing…I cannot believe someone would get a job like that.”

The twins had a lovely comment about what they wanted to do and Airi could not help but love them and enjoy their evil little company. It made her really wonder though what it was that she wanted to do. She still had no real ideas and was winging it. She really needed to get on the ball.

She sipped some more noodles and took in some broth as well making sure to blow on it better than tea incident earlier. “Thank you so much for your knowledge…I am not quite sure how I can ever pay you back for this evening but…I promise to do my best.”

She really had a bad habit of wanted to help others who helped her. Maybe she should try and baby sit? Though she already imagined that would go over terribly. The twins did not seem to like her and she had no experience with kids younger than her.

“If I can ever help you…will you let me know?” She figured Osu would never call upon her but she wanted to be clear the offer was open.

“I know you warned me but the Tenouzan Paladins sound cool. Like I would be okay fighting for a righteous and noble reason. Not that I am saying they are but I just…hope I can have an idea I could wield as a blade myself someday.”

It was a weird thought but who knows?

 

[Osuteno]

Airi was a rather attentive listener though there were times that Osu wasn’t quite sure she understood, but she didn’t speak up or ask questions about any points so he could merely press on.

After their food arrived Airi stayed quiet until she finally spoke up about a rather odd acquaintance of Osu’s.

After that though she went back to being quiet. At a point, without questions to guide his rambling it was probably best for him to enjoy his food.

She started to thank him but he simply waved it off, “the girls are right, I simply blather. You don’t need to worry too much about this much. If you really feel compelled to return the favor when you grow up you can treat me to a meal and tell me about what you have learned through your own experiences.”

Soon Osu couldn’t help but frown, but he did not say anything when Airi spoke about how she thought the Paladins seemed cool.

While he thought it was a rather strange jump in thought from his warnings, he understood what she was getting at in a sense.

“Kumogakure has a very loose sort of ideology in comparison to the Tenouzans. Protecting and maintaining the order of the village, fellow Kumo shinobi are comrades, dedication to your orders, service to Shogun under the leadership of the Raikage, Sennin, and village council. But aside from taking ones orders seriously and keeping the village safe, there is a lack of a unifying “mission” like the Tenouzans possess. Some shinobi hunt monsters to protect populated areas and others take healing people as their life missions, but all Tenouzans have a goal to expand their faith, bring others into it, and defeat the ‘enemies’ of their faith. The paladins in particular are very dedicated to monster hunting and training to fight chakra sensitives. It is the cornerstone of their lives, and to them the purest expression of their faith, and they share that as comrades. Whereas shinobi have much looser connections overall despite the dialogue of all being comrades of the same village. The Paladins can teach their new recruits a “certain” ideology, but we don’t have such a focused shared view to say “this is what should guide your life” without uncertainty. Not that this is a bad thing. There is freedom in making one's own path by learning from various individuals and picking parts of their ideologies that suit you, but it leaves people fumbling a lot unless they simplify things by adopting the stance of their parents or mentors etc. I have my own students that I have impressed a bit more of my own ideology on unintentionally, but I also take care to try to have them attempt to seek their own answers first. In full honesty the sort of idea ‘to wield as a blade’ takes having many experiences to form on your own. At least I can’t say I formed a philosophy for myself until I had gone through quite a lot of difficulties. But finding a path that is without doubt ‘yours’ gives much more certainty to your life and actions.”

Though not all paths that people make for themselves are morally correct, Osu thought with a bit of self mockery. Still it was nice to see a child thinking things that might lead them to being a sort of hero for justice or some sort. They certainly needed more of those. His own path unfortunately wasn’t heading in such a direction.

He finished enjoying his meal and looked at the twins who had finished most of their food and fallen asleep cuddled together under the warmth of the kotatsu with a loving smile on his face. It was true that as a father he found his children the cutest, though he would occasionally be uncertain if he was raising them correctly. He glanced out through the open window looking at the rain and listening to the wind chimes.

“It is about time I take these two home, they were more tired than they were letting on. Something you have to look out for in children occasionally.” The last sentence was made with a smile and a pointed look in Airi’s direction.

“Do make sure to take good care of yourself, not only your physical health, but especially take good care of what is in here,” Osu said while tapping the middle of Airi’s forehead before ruffling her hair a little. “You can always come to the hospital and ask for ‘Osu-Sensei’ if you need help or to talk about something… Let’s finish our meals then and make our way out of here. Do you need me to take you back to the academy along the way or are you fine heading back on your own now?” Osu asked as he unhurriedly ate his food and signaled a waiter for the bill.

 

[Yamamoto Airi]

When she grows up all she needed to do was tell Osu about what she learned and treat her to a meal. That…sounds fair…Airi decided that she would at least survive long enough to do that. Not that she was planning suicide at the dinner table but it gave her another good thing to cling to if she was in a pinch. She needed to meet with Osu again at some point just to show her she managed.

Osu began to mentioned how Kumo shinobi were under one order but were more of a loose organization never really founding one primary goal minus the survival and better of the Kumo city itself. He went onto mention how the branches broke down and the Kage and Sennin were the big decision makers. She began to point out the major differences and similarities between the Paladins and shinobi kind. One thing was clear to Airi was that they were very dangerous and very much against her no matter if she looked up to their style or not. Osu then encouraged Airi to meet many people and work hard to understand others and through them and their experiences she would one day come to a truth about her Shinobi way. That was probably the biggest point of their meeting, meet people, be open, and learn as much as you can.

Airi continued to finish her food noticed that the twins were down for the count. She thought they were lovely while they slept…little deviants but maybe someday they could be friends learning together. Maybe Airi could even be their teacher! Now that would be some lovely revenge. Though Airi suspected that being a teacher was probably not where she would go, life always found a way of surprising her even at the young age of eleven.

Airi did not especially want to leave the kotatsu but she knew eventually the warmth and care of the atmosphere and of Osu would leave her. The cold rain would be a problem but if she made a game of trying to run past it and find hiding places maybe she could burn off the food and count it as training. She smiled at that and wiped her face down to make sure she did not have any food left over.

Airi nodded when Osu mentioned that you needed to watch out for sudden children tiredness. She could not think of time as a child she got that tired but her memory was not the best either.

Osu told her to not only watch her physical health but her mental as well giving her a lsight bop on the forehead. She flinched and rubbed her head. “Osu-sensei…I will do that for you. I’ll make sure to carve a path that fits me. I’ll be sure to tell you all about it someday and hopefully I can walk some of that path with you in the future.” She gave a happy smile, not knowing if this would ever cause her trouble or not.

Osu ordered the bill and Airi shook her head. “No I need to start waking on my own two feet! Thank you very much.” Airi would wait until everything was taken of and the twins were happily carried. When she got outside she wished Osu the best and mentioned that she would bring her sometime soon as thanks. With that the girl would take the streets, not talk to any strangers, and eventually make her way home where she would take a warm bath and for the first night in a while, get solid sleep.

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