Note said:Reposting this for Hayata Shin and posterity, because Akihiko did a good job...
Part I
Nakamura Akihiko said:Akihiko walked into the Raikage's tower once again, though this time it wasn't to see him. No this time he would be interviewing one of the Sennin to help him get more information on the Raikage's personality and overall disposition. It would allow him to paint a better picture of the man and hopefully do him some sort of justice when it came time to write his biography for the man. He went to the receptionist and asked for the room he had requested to be secured for the interview. She pointed him in it's direction and he proceeded to it. Upon opening the door he found a long table with chairs on either side of it with one large chair at it's head. One of the many conference rooms here in the tower. He moved to the large window and looked down, marvelling at the abundance of clouds. It almost made one seem that the village was floating on a cloud. He smiled and moved to take a seat. It wouldn't be long now soon his person of interest would be arriving. He checked his watch.
Any minute now.
Takaki Masao said:According to the lunar calendar, he was thirty years old. He felt sixty. A ragged latticework of scars covered his body. Blades, hammers, darts, bolts, arrows, bullets, and every variety of magic had all left their marks on the exterior, and the slow wasting of tuberculosis had left its lingering, poisonous kiss on his insides. It was a perfect record of twenty years of service to Kumogakure. For a shinobi to go through active duty that long was rare, and for an ANBU, all but unheard of, given that most died or retired or switched to another vocation by their early twenties. And he had seen many an ANBU die in his tenure – a few by his own hand.
With some trepidation, he reached into the folds of the silken haori hakama he wore, and found the object he was looking for. A scroll, upon which he had written the words that would end an era of his life, and signal the beginning of another. Kneeling to the divine being that stood before him, he held the document out with both hands, waiting for the answer.
Shinbatsu, the Seventh Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato, nodded his head and accepted the scroll, his ebony hands betraying a moment’s hesitation that would never be witnessed or recorded.
"Rise, Captain Takaki," intoned the man-god, his voice simultaneously booming and yet focused on the one before him. Masao slowly brought himself to his feet, head still slightly lowered, as one did not look the Raikage of Kumogakure in the eyes. "...Masao. Desire it as I may, I cannot deny your right to retire your captaincy. The ANBU will be poorer for your departure. And so will this village. But I am not, as some have accused me of being, inhuman. All men have limits..." Shinbatsu trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. He fixed his gaze on Masao. "Are you absolutely sure that this is your wish?"
"Yes, my Lord Shinbatsu. I love this village. I have bled many times my body’s allotment for it. It will always be my home. But I know that I must defend it in a different way now. And so must Rin." He smiled sadly. "Our era has passed. Akira Saito’s has begun."
"Very well, Captain," answered Shinbatsu, inhaling deeply. "I hereby grant you my permission to retire from the Ansatsu Tokushu Senjutsu Butai at the rank of High Captain and second in command to Santaru Rin. You will be reinstated as a sennin of the village to serve as a guiding beacon to all shinobi of Kumo, with all the rights and privileges thereof. And...I will fulfill your other request as well."
"Thank you, my lord."
Shinbatsu let out a booming laugh as he clapped Masao on the shoulder in a wholly unexpected display of camaraderie. "I could do no less for you. I believe our formal business is complete, and you...no, we, have somewhere to be."
"Indeed, I have a woman waiting for me below, in her bridal dress, and she grows more impatient by the second. And you, my lord - and my friend - have a couple to marry off."
...Sixteen years later, in the present day...
"Damn this place. Can’t they clean it for once?" he muttered to himself as he made his way through the bustling chaos of the Dawnbringer Plaza. Like any other day, it was a packed, sweaty, marketplace where humanity concentrated itself with shameless abandon. Shinobi status mattered little in the tumult – coin and the volume of one’s voice were the markers of precedence. And of course, it was indescribably filthy, as it had always been whenever Masao himself had visited during his years in Kumo.
Just because some time had passed between his last visit here and the present did not mean it was any less smelly. And yet the odors of decaying fish and fermented spices and sweat were surprisingly nostalgic. There was simply nothing like this where Rin and he had lived for the past nearly two decades. Then again, Rin had chosen the rather far-away location of their estate deliberately in an effort to avoid reminding her of the town she once called home. Some of her memories brought more turmoil than his. He had, in fact, visited Kumo a few times over the years since his retirement from the ANBU. Once to see their children off to the academy, once to attend their graduation, and a few times after that to keep close tabs on one or both when they found themselves in the inevitable tight spots that all hormonal teenagers trained as shinobi do.
Finding an unoccupied spot near the pockmarked fountain of Akiyama Kin, he diverted his gaze east, as he had once done many a time, to regard the Torre Celeste. The corners of his mouth rose slightly into a smile as he regarded the imposing and beautiful structure. It had been a while since he caught its image in the full glory of the mid-morning.
He had business there today. One of the younger shinobi who apparently had some literary inclinations had sent him a message requesting his presence for an interview regarding an autobiography of the current Raikage, Hayata Shin. Normally Masao would not have paid such a request any heed. There were many spies, dissidents, and general troublemakers out there who would easily twist words into defamation and slander. However, for some reason, the request and the requestor seemed sincere. He had of course used his contacts to look up the young shinobi, and found nothing particularly of concern in his record. It was as good an excuse as any to make a day trip, and to see what Enjeru and Saeko were up to.
He strolled through the doors of the tower. For this occasion, he dressed as he normally did - slacks, a shirt and forgettable black tie, and matching suit. There was really nothing to distinguish him appearance-wise from any other civilian salaryman that toiled away in the village or in the surrounding cities and towns. He noticed a younger shinobi checking his watch. It was likely correct to reason that this was the boy who had asked him for the interview. After all, he looked just like the photographs Masao had reviewed earlier. Others might have toyed with the young man or attempted to perform a test of skill before talking with the subject. Masao was too damned old for such games.
"Hello. I assume you're the one who asked me here?"
Nakamura Akihiko said:Akihiko heard the door handle being pulled and turned to greet his visitor. He was an older man, battle scarred with an air of experience that demanded respect. He seemed nice enough, though Akihiko could tell that he was a formidable opponent when it came down to his enemies.
"Hello. I assume you're the one who asked me here?"
Akihiko nodded and smiled extending his hand in greeting.
Yes, I did, please take a seat.</COLOR><i></i>
He said gesturing to the chairs around the table. He waited for Masao to take his seat before the teen took his as was custom when dealing with a superior. Akihiko then opened his note book and with a few flicks of his fingers he created a field of gravity around the note book and pen such that they floated and the pen stood at the ready to take notes. He then turned to Masao.
Hello Masao-sama my name is Nakamura Akihiko and I have asked you here today to get some view on the current Raikage's past. I hope to write a chronology for the Library to keep on file. So if you don't have any questions shall we begin.?</COLOR><i></i>
Akihiko said the pen beside him rising a few centimeters to the top of the page.
Could you tell me about the first time you met our Raikage, what was your impression of him?<i></i>
Takaki Masao said:Instinctively, he surveyed the room he was in with a few quick deviations of his gaze. Sensibly but sparsely decorated. Two padded chairs, an overhead light, and a small table for refreshments. Only one exit, being the door they had come in through.
He pulled a battered kerosene-fueled lighter out of his inner breast pocket and flicked the ancient carbide wheel a few times. Sparks flew, impacted the sooty wick, and flame rose to meet the end of the cigarette in his mouth. He dragged deeply before exhaling, tendrils of smoke exiting his nose and mouth in a manner befitting an old, surly dragon.
The literary shinobi was a straight talker – all business and no preamble. He’d come prepared, even using one of the newer object manipulation tricks to take his notes for him. Hopefully the penmanship would actually be legible, as that was the downfall of having chakra energy write for you.
"Hello Masao-sama my name is Nakamura Akihiko and I have asked you here today to get some view on the current Raikage's past. I hope to write a chronology for the Library to keep on file. So if you don't have any questions shall we begin?"
"Nakamura Akihiko, is it?" nodded Masao, fixing a critical gaze on his interviewer.
"Could you tell me about the first time you met our Raikage, what was your impression of him?"
"Ah, but Nakamura-san, I do have questions for you," responded Masao, his voice a cross between a purr and a growl. "I have done some background research on you, insofar as I know your name, that you are a candidate for mednin, and that you do not have a significant criminal history. But if you are going to ask me to reveal my memories to you, I expect payment. Don’t worry; it’s nothing as crass as a cash bribe. I know that genin are poor, having been one myself. Rather, I want to know more about you. What your hopes are for this village and for yourself. What your motivations behind writing this book are. Because I want to be sure that you are going to carry this through and do a job worthy of my friend the Raikage. But I also know that you want to see that I know what I’m talking about. That I’m going to give you a real picture of what Hayata Shin the man was like, and not simply the official biography condensed into pamphlet form. So will give you a sample of what I know. Then I will ask you a question and you will answer it, and we will go back and forth."
He allowed himself to sit back in the chair and crossed a leg as he looked up at the ceiling for a few minutes.
Mood Music
"My first meeting with Hayata Shin..." he mused, allowing the memory of that bleak, distant day to suffuse his consciousness. "I remember that one well, even after too much time has passed. It was not a happy one. In fact, our Raikage nearly died that day."
Masao paused to take another drag off the cigarette, still staring at the ceiling, watching the smoke trails waft upward.
"To begin with, you have to have a sense of some of the other events that led up to our meeting. I was a genin back then, and my best friend at the time was another genin named Reikon Dyu. Although we were not in a same academy class, we were placed in the same genin cell for our early training period, and we quickly became friends over the course of our early missions. After all, it’s easy to bond with someone when your lives are in actual danger and you fight hard for each other’s privilege to take another breath. Reikon and I also competed for the love of a kunoichi we were both infatuated with – Uchiha Sei, current matron of the clan, who is known for her grace and stateliness now, but back then had a temper that rivaled Takao the Mad. In any case, for reasons that are still unclear to me after all this time, Reikon attempted to go missing. And as expected, he was killed quickly, before he even had a chance to touch the great doors of the village.
I had been secretly drafted into the training program for ANBU under the auspices of Santaru Ryuuto, who you know as the Sixth Raikage of Kumo, but who was a captain at that time. He had participated in Reikon’s execution, but because I was his subordinate, he allowed me to claim the body, rather than follow the usual and customary practice of incinerating it in the bowels of the Sileo Tempestas. And so I took Reikon’s body to the grounds of my family’s estate with the intention of having a small, private memorial service and cremation. It turned out to be anything but small, however."
Masao slowly stubbed the remainder of his cigarette out in a copper ashtray nearby. Small, dying embers worked their way loose from the dying stack and wafted upwards like tiny fireflies let loose for a moment’s life. He drew another cigarette and lit it in the same fashion as the first, now looking directly at Nakamura.
"Dyu and I had been special to many more people than we thought, and soon there were many other shinobi arrived. I had no way of knowing at the time, but a lot of the people who attended the service would make their own marks on Kumo’s history. One of those individuals I had not met before that day. He was a small, bookish academy student in his final year. His eyesight was terrible, his skin was pale and clammy from spending many nights in the libraries and labs, and his voice managed to be both mousy and annoying at the same time. In short, a kid who had no business trying to enter into our trade.
It was immediately apparent that Hayata Shin the student seemed unable to read people’s emotions – to capture the subtle clues in body language and demeanor that guide one’s interactions more than the actual content of speech. His thought processes were perfectly logical. He quite rightly stated that Reikon was a missing nin, and that he was merely a tool of the village that should never have allowed his emotions to lead him to such rashness and endangerment of others. I think that Hayata was probably trying, in his way, to improve things – that he never meant to really hurt anyone’s feelings, but to remind us of what we were. Shinobi are tools of the village, and of our country, like it or not. And yet, to state such things at a funeral where every other attendee clearly cared about the deceased was, shall we say, situationally inappropriate. Uchiha Sei, who had become Reikon’s lover shortly before he died, and who had the famous temper, came rather close to slitting his throat. She was a rather overpowered genin, and none of the senior shinobi present seemed as if they would prevent her from doing so. After all, Shin and Sei are both Uchiha by blood, and a duel between clansmen is a sacred right.
I didn’t know it at the time, and frankly I didn’t give a damn, so I held Sei back. I was resolved that no one else would die that day, even if he had spat on my friend’s parting ceremony. She nearly turned her wrath on me for my trouble, but I managed to calm her down. The senior shinobi then wanted to arrest Hayata at the time, but I forbade it."
Masao let out a chuckle and a slight smile before bringing the cigarette to his lips for another puff and looking upwards.
"Imagine that. A mere genin telling an ANBU Captain and a Jounin to back off from teaching a student a lesson. I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed in the end. Hayata eventually left the ceremony, finally sensing what had just transpired. It was...a disastrous first impression to make on a good portion of the other shinobi, but I don’t think he really cared. In his mind, he was right. Objectively, he was right, too. Later on I grew to respect that."
He now fixed his gaze on Nakamura.
"And now, if you wish to continue, I want to be satisfied by your answer. I will start with an easy one. Tell me about yourself, Nakamura. And not simply what your parents’ names are and how many missions you've done."
[[OOC note: I will actually try to provide links to the original threads that were posted in 2007 that the Masao of present day is referencing. The funeral for Reikon Dyu takes place here: http://www.ninpocho.com/naruto/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34543 ]]
Nakamura Akihiko said:"Nakamura Akihiko, is it?"
Masao responded, as if he were tasting the name on his tongue. Akihiko wondered what the man's first impression of him was. Was it good bad, did he seem like the intelligent young aspiring shinobi he wanted to seem. Or was he someone suspicious harboring a secret he didn't want people to find out about. It was hard to tell from the man's face alone So the teen gave up trying, he would learn the answer soon enough.
Outwardly he nodded in afirmation that his name had been said correctly and proceeded to ask Masao of what he knew of shin. Adding for formalities sake the option of asking a question before hand. No one usually took him up on the offer and more often that not they would immediately delve into their stories leaving Akihiko the avid listener. He waited for the beginning of the story the pen setting onto the note book to his side ready to scribble down what ever the Teen heard.
"Ah, but Nakamura-san, I do have questions for you,I have done some background research on you, insofar as I know your name, that you are a candidate for mednin, and that you do not have a significant criminal history."
As it should be, not a bad way to portray myself. The teen thought smugly.
"But if you are going to ask me to reveal my memories to you, I expect payment."
Akihiko paused.
He wants me to pay him? The teen though quizzically, surely he wasn't serious. And as if Masao read the young Nakamura's thoughts, he amended his statement.
"Don’t worry; it’s nothing as crass as a cash bribe. I know that genin are poor, having been one myself. Rather, I want to know more about you. What your hopes are for this village and for yourself. What your motivations behind writing this book are. Because I want to be sure that you are going to carry this through and do a job worthy of my friend the Raikage. But I also know that you want to see that I know what I’m talking about. That I’m going to give you a real picture of what Hayata Shin the man was like, and not simply the official biography condensed into pamphlet form. So will give you a sample of what I know. Then I will ask you a question and you will answer it, and we will go back and forth."
Interesting, never had someone ask about me before. This should be an good interview.
The response was certainly unusual, but somewhat fitting for Masao. He was old even by normal people's standards and as a shinobi he had to have developed some sort of system to ensure he stayed that way. Akihiko was even a little flattered, he wasn't aware that he was anything special to have a man of higher rank not only research him but ask to know more. Taking this book keeping job was paying off in ways he couldn't have anticipated.
Sounds fair enough, I take it you will begin. <i></i> Akihiko said though Masao's change in posture was all the answer that was needed.
The pend above the Nakamura's head set to the paper as soon as the first syllable was uttered.
"My first meeting with Hayata Shin..." He paused his eyes distant recalling the memory.
"I remember that one well, even after too much time has passed. It was not a happy one. In fact, our Raikage nearly died that day."
He stopped again and took another drag off the cigarette he held nibly between his fingers. His eyes still distant staring at the ceiling, watching the smoke trails that wafted from his nose and mouth.
Akihiko shifted the grav-feild around the note book to screen him from the smoke. He had never really liked the smell of tobacco and never really understood why people smoked. Social reasons he postulated, but then....He allowed the thought to trail off. He couldn't afford to lose his concentration the pen would write his thoughts instead of the story he as to hear.
"To begin with, you have to have a sense of some of the other events that led up to our meeting. I was a genin back then, and my best friend at the time was another genin named Reikon Dyu. Although we were not in a same academy class, we were placed in the same genin cell for our early training period, and we quickly became friends over the course of our early missions. After all, it’s easy to bond with someone when your lives are in actual danger and you fight hard for each other’s privilege to take another breath. Reikon and I also competed for the love of a kunoichi we were both infatuated with – Uchiha Sei, current matron of the clan, who is known for her grace and stateliness now, but back then had a temper that rivaled Takao the Mad. In any case, for reasons that are still unclear to me after all this time, Reikon attempted to go missing. And as expected, he was killed quickly, before he even had a chance to touch the great doors of the village.
I had been secretly drafted into the training program for ANBU under the auspices of Santaru Ryuuto, who you know as the Sixth Raikage of Kumo, but who was a captain at that time. He had participated in Reikon’s execution, but because I was his subordinate, he allowed me to claim the body, rather than follow the usual and customary practice of incinerating it in the bowels of the Sileo Tempestas. And so I took Reikon’s body to the grounds of my family’s estate with the intention of having a small, private memorial service and cremation. It turned out to be anything but small, however."
Masao slowly stubbed the remainder of his cigarette out in a copper ashtray nearby. Small, dying embers worked their way loose from the dying stack and wafted upwards like tiny fireflies let loose for a moment’s life. He drew another cigarette and lit it in the same fashion as the first, now looking directly at Nakamura.
Akihiko stared back, meeting the gaze and nodding an affimation that he had heard and recorded what Masao has just said. With that the Sennin continued.
"Dyu and I had been special to many more people than we thought, and soon there were many other shinobi arrived. I had no way of knowing at the time, but a lot of the people who attended the service would make their own marks on Kumo’s history. One of those individuals I had not met before that day. He was a small, bookish academy student in his final year. His eyesight was terrible, his skin was pale and clammy from spending many nights in the libraries and labs, and his voice managed to be both mousy and annoying at the same time. In short, a kid who had no business trying to enter into our trade.
It was immediately apparent that Hayata Shin the student seemed unable to read people’s emotions – to capture the subtle clues in body language and demeanor that guide one’s interactions more than the actual content of speech. His thought processes were perfectly logical. He quite rightly stated that Reikon was a missing nin, and that he was merely a tool of the village that should never have allowed his emotions to lead him to such rashness and endangerment of others. I think that Hayata was probably trying, in his way, to improve things – that he never meant to really hurt anyone’s feelings, but to remind us of what we were. Shinobi are tools of the village, and of our country, like it or not. And yet, to state such things at a funeral where every other attendee clearly cared about the deceased was, shall we say, situationally inappropriate. Uchiha Sei, who had become Reikon’s lover shortly before he died, and who had the famous temper, came rather close to slitting his throat. She was a rather overpowered genin, and none of the senior shinobi present seemed as if they would prevent her from doing so. After all, Shin and Sei are both Uchiha by blood, and a duel between clansmen is a sacred right.
I didn’t know it at the time, and frankly I didn’t give a damn, so I held Sei back. I was resolved that no one else would die that day, even if he had spat on my friend’s parting ceremony. She nearly turned her wrath on me for my trouble, but I managed to calm her down. The senior shinobi then wanted to arrest Hayata at the time, but I forbade it."
Masao let out a chuckle and a slight smile before bringing the cigarette to his lips for another puff and looking upwards. His mind losing itself in the memory.
"Imagine that. A mere genin telling an ANBU Captain and a Jounin to back off from teaching a student a lesson. I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed in the end. Hayata eventually left the ceremony, finally sensing what had just transpired. It was...a disastrous first impression to make on a good portion of the other shinobi, but I don’t think he really cared. In his mind, he was right. Objectively, he was right, too. Later on I grew to respect that."
He now fixed his gaze on Nakamura. The tone of the meeting changing yet again.
"And now, if you wish to continue, I want to be satisfied by your answer. I will start with an easy one. Tell me about yourself, Nakamura. And not simply what your parents’ names are and how many missions you've done."
Akihiko chukled, refreshed by the Masao's forwardness. It was his turn to remember though this particular memory wasn't a pleasant one for the boy. He began to guage how much he was going to tell Masao, Akihiko was by nature a private person, and divulging infromation regarding his transition to shinobi-hood wasn't something he was confortable thinking about about let alone telling someone. But he was sure that Masao would eventually furret out the truth in any case, better it came from his own lips. But where to start.
My story isn't really all that spectacular, if anything it is....<i></i> He paused trying to furret out the right word for it. When he couldn't find it he simply continued.
Not really sure where to start. His eyes looked down and to the right in pensive thought. Then he looked back up, feeling Masao's gaze on him, it was somewhat intimidating. He took a breath to steady himself, apprihention balling up in his chest.
I am a Nakamura.</B><i></i> He said somewhat shakily.
And my family aren't shinobi by trade, they are carpenters. I am the eldest son of Haichi Nakamura, so I was to become the next Master Carpenter like my father. My life was comfortable to say the least, my family was well respected in our village. My father often made high quality items for the local Lords of the country and we were renoun in our own right for his work. Akihiko said, the memories that came of that simpler time made his grin a little.
I was satisfied, if you can believe it, the work was challenging and stimulating, progress was measurable and attention to detail was important. It fit me, and my only aspirations then were to follow my father's lead and even surpass him. I hoped to expand the buisness, train new apprentices and build a carpentry empire.
He paused again searching Masao's face for any indication of what the man thought. His dream then sounded somewhat grandiose and naive now. And he felt a little more apprehensive about telling the rest. But once started needed to be finished. And he continued.
<COLOR color="grey"> My shift to this profession wasn't an easy one, it happened back when I was thirteen. just about to end my apprenticeship and begin working for my father. I had just completed an ornate table, decorated it with carvings of lions on each corner with paws for table ends. It was a deep mahogany, finely lacquered, accented with trace amounts of gold. I had cut out the inside of it, for a piece of frosted glass. Showing a feild of tall grass with lions at each of the four corners of it.
Even then he could still remember the smell of the lacquer, the smoothness of the wood under his fingers as he appraised it. The pride he took in the table as he draped a covering over it setting it out for slumber as a father to his child. A look of forlorn regret took the Teens face then.
That was when they came. He said with a tinge of anger.
They were simply strangers in our small village, we were not unused to seeing shinobi pass through. But unlike the usual, shinobi they stayed. Drinking was their past time, and they grew steadily more violent the more they drank. My village tolerated them, for a while. But soon they began to destroy property chase women, calling out vulgur obscenities. They couldn't be left in the village any longer, so my father decided to gather some of the villages men and go to confront them. They argued, and I am not sure who started it but a fight broke out. And alot of the village men were gravely injured. The shinobi became even wilder after that. They claimed the village for their own and demanded tribute, women, money, sake. Anything they wanted they got or took. It wasn't until we managed to secure a contract with the cloud village that our rescue came in the form of some cloud shinobi. The battle was quick and brutal. The missing nin were caught off guard and were taken easily. They were drunk. <i></i>
Akihiko paused, seeing the ease that the cloud shinobi had used to take out the missing nin.
We were given asylum in Cloud for a few months to heal while our village was rebuilt. The Lightening lord saw to it himself. But by then I had lost my interest in carpentry, I felt weak, what would building tables and chairs do for me if something like that happened again. I had lost my passion, and I hated myself for it. But I knew that I needed to regain my confidence, I needed power, enough so that no one would ever take my safety away from me again. It broke my father's heart when I told him, my mother cried for the entire day. But I choose to stay here becoming an academy student then Genin and now a Med nin in training.</B><i></i>
Akihiko turned away from the gaze, feeling somewhat vurlnable. Had he said too much, he should have kept some of that away. Maybe told a slightly augmented story. He cursed himself, feeling that weakness again. He hated that feeling and yet it was what really drove him.
He looked up timidly.
Uuuh....yeah, that is how I came to be here, doing what I do.
He paused. Feeling awkward.
So, your turn I guess, what was Shin-sama like as a teenager.<i></i>
He asked, his voice cracking in the question. Embarrassed he hoped Masao didn't think too badly of him for it.
Takaki Masao said:Mood Music
Masao regarded Akihiko with veiled interest as the boy relayed his story. At the start, he seemed reticent, indicating that the Akihiko was probably unused to opening himself up to others. Still, the boy knew that he had to render payment, and continued on, gaining a confidence born of conviction as he revealed to a stranger what he probably kept from his closest friends.
As the story continued, a few more mysteries about Masao’s interviewer cleared away, particularly the boy’s name, which had sparked some curiosity earlier. Akihiko’s own words confirmed to Masao that the Nakamura in front of him was a scion of the famous furniture making family whose works he had encountered over the years. Many aspired to own a piece, and few did. He recalled that Santaru Ryuuto, known for his Spartan lifestyle, had allowed himself only a few luxuries as Raikage, and one of them was a desk made by the boy’s father. Unfortunately, it seemed that Akihiko would not be contributing to the family’s opus anytime soon.
The boy’s story would not have been uncommon a hundred or even fifty years ago. Missing-nin on the run from their villages would often band together in temporary alliances to parasitize small villages overlooked by the country’s military. They would make life hell for the poor villages and any unfortunate passers-by, and when they had either exhausted all resources or simply gotten bored, they would raze the place and move on to the next unlucky town, leaving the inhabitants to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. It was a much less common occurrence these days, however, because fewer shinobi were able to successfully make an attempt to run from their villages. The vast majority were caught early on, as Reikon Dyu had been. And yet Akihiko’s life had still brutally changed. The boy still bore the internalized scars of regret over those times that would probably torment him for the rest of his life.
"Uuuh....yeah, that is how I came to be here, doing what I do."
Masao nodded as he eased back into his chair.
"I’m impressed by your earnestness, Nakamura. I was always good at reading people – I could tell that you struggled deciding whether to tell me your real story or a censored version thereof. I’m glad you chose the former. As a shinobi, you will of course have to guard your words and cloak your feelings and intentions when dealing with others on missions. After all, we are supposed to be shadows - inscrutable and unknowable to the enemy.
However, when you are at home in your village, with those you hold dear or those you trust, it is important to be yourself and let your guard down, even if it makes you a little vulnerable, even if sometimes you get hurt because of that. You will draw immeasurable strength from those moments of real humanity, and that strength will see you through the darkest of days."
He gave Akahiko a warm smile. It was rare that he could give counsel to the younger generation. His own children barely listened to him these days. It was a different world for the shinobi of their generation. However, some truths remained steadfast no matter their age.
Masao shifted position slightly in the chair and again leaned forward.
"I think that Hayata Shin also slowly came to realize this as well, as he progressed through the years.
Shin came from a fairly unfortunate family situation, which probably had the most significant influence on how he thought and acted early on. As I mentioned before, he is an Uchiha by blood. I believe that the Hayata family is separated from the main clan tree by two or three generations – enough that they go by their own name, but not enough to avoid the famous Uchiha predilection towards tragedy.
His mother was afflicted with a wasting illness and for most of his childhood was bedridden, slowly deteriorating every day and reliant almost entirely on her son to serve as a caregiver. His father was a very prominent mednin researcher, said to have been the intellectual equal of Karubin Ree. Some of his research actually laid the groundwork for what we understand about the field of Genjutsu today. However, based on what I’ve heard, his father was also a distant man, consumed by his work, scornful of those who did not share his passion and talent. I don’t know whether he ever showed any direct signs of affection to Shin at all, and certainly I don’t believe he was a substantive husband for his wife.
Because of this environment, young Shin suppressed his emotions, favoring cold, hard logic as his means of interacting with the world. And yet he, like any other human, was led partly by his own emotions and desires. Like his father, he favored the field of genjutsu, and his goal was to further research the field and produce results that would outdo even the senior Hayata’s. He even became Karubin’s apprentice for a brief time in order to try to fulfill that dream. If that’s not a son seeking a father’s love then I don’t know what is.
I believe that Shin started to want to change, however, when he failed his first genin exam. How do I know about this? Interestingly enough, his exam was proctored by none other than Nara Aio, who much later on attempted with others to stage a coup against the seventh Raikage Shinbatsu. Aio happened to be my superior officer in the ANBU, and so told me all about it. In any case, the entire exam was him showing our Raikage-to-be a scene of imagined carnage – bodies everywhere, shinobi tending to the wounded, it was a gloriously overdone genjutsu. But the boy could not explain to Aio what the scene really meant to him. What it meant emotionally and how such a thing might affect the village. For Shin, this was a contradiction – he had followed the rules, given the correct answers, and yet he had failed for a reason entirely irrelevant to him. I don’t know if he resented Aio for this, but it certainly made him think. And I believe he realized that his problem from the start was that he always worked alone.
From then on, he accepted the fact that shinobi, especially those at his level, would always benefit more from working as a team than working alone. I’m sure the change wasn’t easy for him. His credo had always been self reliance above all else. And yet for his second exam he teamed up with two other students and helped them take down a crazed serial killer that had been abducting and mutilating civilians. I think it impressed him; not just that he could have actually died that day if not for the help of Akira Saito and another genin, but that his peers were actually worth interacting with, and worth befriending.
From then on, over the course of the next few missions and years, he became fast friends with Akira Saito, who you know as the former Supreme Commander of the ANBU and is a councilor now. To tell you the truth, no one could have anticipated those two becoming friends. Akira Saito was brash, illogical, over-enthusiastic, and overall a polar opposite to Shin. And yet they seemed to have a natural fondness for each other, tempering each others’ extremes. With Saito by his side, he flourished, proving his worth as a genin, and I think in the process, learning from his friend about other aspects of life outside of the cramped, cold world of his home."
Masao paused to cough into his handkerchief. He had not talked this lengthily in quite some time, and although refreshing to do so, it did inflame the disease in his lungs. Briefly, he checked the handkerchief, noting a tiny spackling of blood on it. That was better than expected – the mednins at the Curatio Domus had been doing an excellent job on him for years.
"Now, back to you, Nakamura. I can certainly understand your desire to become a shinobi, especially after what happened with your village. Compared to a civilian, or even a professional soldier of the bakufuu, a shinobi is essentially a weapon of mass destruction. So regardless of your branch, you will eventually become a force that can destroy nations, or even the world. No group of drunken rogue missing-nin will ever be able to harm you or your family again.
At the same time, though, you are under the control of your superior officers, who are under the control of the Raikage, who has to listen to the Daimyo of the bakufuu of Kaminari no Kuni. You are like a rifle stored in the armory, and rifles do not have free will – only their wielders make the decision to shoot and kill another human being.
It may come to a point where one day the Raikage makes a decision on an overarching issue that has nothing personally to do with you, and issues orders to sennin and jounin, who then issue their orders to chuunin, who then issue an order to you, and that order may very well be to throw your safety away and potentially die in the course of a mission which you may very well believe is pointless. Have you thought about what might happen if such a thing were to pass? Is that something you are prepared to deal with?"
[[OOC: The following threads were referenced in this post:
Shin asks Karubin to become his apprentice: http://www.ninpocho.com/naruto/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37217
Shin fails his first genin exam: http://www.ninpocho.com/naruto/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=33440
Shin’s second genin exam: http://www.ninpocho.com/naruto/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=35001
Shin’s mission at the port with Saito and Enjeru: http://www.ninpocho.com/naruto/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=39182 ]]
Nakamura Akihiko said:
The air felt heavy, at least to the Nakamura, it wasn't because of the smoke that was now beginning to fill the room. None of that could come near him due to his field of distorted gravity that forced the contaminated air up and away from the Carpenter. No this was a type of heaviness that stemmed from uncertainty. Yes, that was it, uncertainty, one of his most hated of feelings. The inability to judge as to where an occurrence was going to happen. The reason he had abandoned his life's work and opted for a more, assured path to power. Because with power uncertainty could not hit one so hard. With power one could write within the very book of their own fate and mold it to their own wills.
He took a breath, and then another trying to calm himself. And soon he had managed to reign in his emotions, there was nothing to fear from this man. But the air was still heavy.
<B>"I’m impressed by your earnestness, Nakamura. I was always good at reading people – I could tell that you struggled deciding whether to tell me your real story or a censored version thereof. I’m glad you chose the former. As a shinobi, you will of course have to guard your words and cloak your feelings and intentions when dealing with others on missions. After all, we are supposed to be shadows - inscrutable and unknowable to the enemy.
However, when you are at home in your village, with those you hold dear or those you trust, it is important to be yourself and let your guard down, even if it makes you a little vulnerable, even if sometimes you get hurt because of that. You will draw immeasurable strength from those moments of real humanity, and that strength will see you through the darkest of days."
Masao said trying to pass on a bit of wisdom and tying it off with a genuine smile. An act of rapport to show that he meant no harm to the Nakamura. Akihiko appreciated the gesture, it marked the budding of an easy relationship. The act of self disclosure to another human being was the way strong friendships began. For by showing one most vulnerable self to another one earned trust and trust could be called upon during times of trouble. But the down side to that was that nor everybody was trust worthy and a problem stemmed from the fact that knowing who was and wasn't trust worthy was difficult and not always accurate. So disclosing personal information while liberating wasn't something that was advisable in the long run. For as one grew in power, so too grew ones who would see that power taken for themselves. But Akihiko couldn't possibly say any of this to Masao, young as he was his experience stemmed from the books he had read, his father's teachings colored negatively by crisis he had suffered. He was in the eyes of his supriors green, yet to taste the true hardships of life. And if the boy had anything to do about that he never would.
<B> Yes, that is true, wise words. He said portraying a slight admiration in his eyes.
It wasn't difficult for he actually respected Masao. But idealistic notions pertaining to the addition of friends and the use of emotions especially in this line of work was chancy. And if there was one thing the teen didn't want it was uncertainty. He would make friends, build rapport and if required place himself in a vurlnable position again. But it would all be towards his own goal. Power, enough such that he would never need to feel uncertain again, enough where he would be able to live in peace.
All action is chaos unless bound by a goal.
One of his father's sayings, and it was true enough.
Masao after the assuring moment and Akihiko's response began again, adressing the question the carpenter had posed at the end of his own story.
"I think that Hayata Shin also slowly came to realize this as well, as he progressed through the years.
Shin came from a fairly unfortunate family situation, which probably had the most significant influence on how he thought and acted early on. As I mentioned before, he is an Uchiha by blood. I believe that the Hayata family is separated from the main clan tree by two or three generations – enough that they go by their own name, but not enough to avoid the famous Uchiha predilection towards tragedy.
His mother was afflicted with a wasting illness and for most of his childhood was bedridden, slowly deteriorating every day and reliant almost entirely on her son to serve as a caregiver. His father was a very prominent mednin researcher, said to have been the intellectual equal of Karubin Ree. Some of his research actually laid the groundwork for what we understand about the field of Genjutsu today. However, based on what I’ve heard, his father was also a distant man, consumed by his work, scornful of those who did not share his passion and talent. I don’t know whether he ever showed any direct signs of affection to Shin at all, and certainly I don’t believe he was a substantive husband for his wife.
The pen above his head scribbled away furiously writing down each word. And yet mid way through Akihiko heard something that caused a conflict within his mind. Masao had said that Shin's mother had been afflicted with a disease, while when shin had told the tale it had included a poisoning. The boy didn't say anything as to not be rude. But he made a note of it. Since the book on the Raikage was going to be public knowlege anyways it stood no harm in asking about that little detail.
Because of this environment, young Shin suppressed his emotions, favoring cold, hard logic as his means of interacting with the world. And yet he, like any other human, was led partly by his own emotions and desires. Like his father, he favored the field of genjutsu, and his goal was to further research the field and produce results that would outdo even the senior Hayata’s. He even became Karubin’s apprentice for a brief time in order to try to fulfill that dream. If that’s not a son seeking a father’s love then I don’t know what is.
I believe that Shin started to want to change, however, when he failed his first genin exam. How do I know about this? Interestingly enough, his exam was proctored by none other than Nara Aio, who much later on attempted with others to stage a coup against the seventh Raikage Shinbatsu. Aio happened to be my superior officer in the ANBU, and so told me all about it. In any case, the entire exam was him showing our Raikage-to-be a scene of imagined carnage – bodies everywhere, shinobi tending to the wounded, it was a gloriously overdone genjutsu. But the boy could not explain to Aio what the scene really meant to him. What it meant emotionally and how such a thing might affect the village. For Shin, this was a contradiction – he had followed the rules, given the correct answers, and yet he had failed for a reason entirely irrelevant to him. I don’t know if he resented Aio for this, but it certainly made him think. And I believe he realized that his problem from the start was that he always worked alone.
From then on, he accepted the fact that shinobi, especially those at his level, would always benefit more from working as a team than working alone. I’m sure the change wasn’t easy for him. His credo had always been self reliance above all else. And yet for his second exam he teamed up with two other students and helped them take down a crazed serial killer that had been abducting and mutilating civilians. I think it impressed him; not just that he could have actually died that day if not for the help of Akira Saito and another genin, but that his peers were actually worth interacting with, and worth befriending.
From then on, over the course of the next few missions and years, he became fast friends with Akira Saito, who you know as the former Supreme Commander of the ANBU and is a councilor now. To tell you the truth, no one could have anticipated those two becoming friends. Akira Saito was brash, illogical, over-enthusiastic, and overall a polar opposite to Shin. And yet they seemed to have a natural fondness for each other, tempering each others’ extremes. With Saito by his side, he flourished, proving his worth as a genin, and I think in the process, learning from his friend about other aspects of life outside of the cramped, cold world of his home."
Masao paused to cough into his handkerchief. He had not talked this lengthily in quite some time, and although refreshing to do so, it did inflame the disease in his lungs. Briefly, he checked the handkerchief, noting a tiny spackling of blood on it. Akihiko too saw the splatter on the handkerchief. He felt a slight revulsion deep within his belly. Why anyone would do that to themselves was really beyond the teen. Even if it was for social purposes. Surely the consequences out weighed the benefits. The boy let the subject leave his mind. If humans were rational creatures then a lot of their problems would already be solved.
Akihiko waited until the episode had passed. He wasn't sure if he wanted to bring up that detail up then. Surely Masao would certainly read about it when the book came out but would he take it as a slight if Akihiko failed to mention it then. The teen as he often did fought it out with himself mentaly trying to think. But unfortunately for him his thoughts had cost him time and Masao shifted the discussion back to the Nakamura.
"Now, back to you, Nakamura. I can certainly understand your desire to become a shinobi, especially after what happened with your village. Compared to a civilian, or even a professional soldier of the bakufuu, a shinobi is essentially a weapon of mass destruction. So regardless of your branch, you will eventually become a force that can destroy nations, or even the world. No group of drunken rogue missing-nin will ever be able to harm you or your family again.
At the same time, though, you are under the control of your superior officers, who are under the control of the Raikage, who has to listen to the Daimyo of the bakufuu of Kaminari no Kuni. You are like a rifle stored in the armory, and rifles do not have free will – only their wielders make the decision to shoot and kill another human being.
It may come to a point where one day the Raikage makes a decision on an overarching issue that has nothing personally to do with you, and issues orders to sennin and jounin, who then issue their orders to chuunin, who then issue an order to you, and that order may very well be to throw your safety away and potentially die in the course of a mission which you may very well believe is pointless. Have you thought about what might happen if such a thing were to pass? Is that something you are prepared to deal with?"
Akihiko paused at the question a look of surprise on his face. In his thoughts he had neglected the real world and to be pulled into it quickly both surprised him and caught him off guard.
uuuh....ya...sorry my mind was somewhat preoccupied with the history you just told me. ummm let me think.
Upon recalling the question Akihio was first thankful it wasn't a personal one. And it was also one he had already thought and prepared for. Politics were a major player where power was concerned and what were shinobi but human manifestations of that power. He had already place a plan in place that hopefully would help him avoid that fate.
<COLOR color="grey"> That is true, as shinobi we aren't supposed to have any true wills of our own. And I do not doupt that the day will not come when I am called to go on a mission that might potentially kill me. But I have planned for that. For one I know what I am and what the ramifications are of that choice. My price for this power is the forgoing of my interest for those of the village. So I will do as I am asked. That much is a given.<i></i>
He said, and it was true, everything came with a price and he was willing to pay that price for power.
Though I have taken some steps to lessen the chance of my death. For one though the Med nin core I will acquire jutsu that will allow me to heal myself should I become injured. As you know our Med nin core is low in numbers boosting the value of each Med nin in the village. It is likely that we are to be conserved rather than expended as a village with no Med nin is a weak one. I have take positions within the village that will lead to more administrative positions in the future rather than in the field. And all the while I am learning as much about the Ninja arts as I can and doing things that I didn't think possible. By the time of my own fruition I will be a valuable asset that the village will wish to prolong rather than expend. And should I be called to the field, I will, hopefully be a bane to my enemies. Though I hope that will be a rare occurrence. The danger really lies with the main and Anbu branches. But there is still that chance and if by that chance I should die. Then so be it, we all must meet our maker eventually I am no more special than any body else.<i></i>
That wasn't entirely true, sure as he was now he wasn't special but once he acquired the sages's power death would be a small thing to him. That was if he would be able to be killed. The Sage was said to have been able to transcend human barriers. But that was legend and legends often stretched the truth. He wouldn't know for sure until he acquired the power and saw for himself.
It was now that he chose to broach the question.
About shin's mother, when I spoke to him he stated that she had been poisoned. What do you think of this? He asked.