Protection and Care [Kenji]

[Kashino Yuu]

"What do you mean you still haven't decided on my next path?!"

Yuu's scream was so loud that his former parasite, Yuri just covered his mouth with his hands to shut him up. "Not so loud, Yuu. I know you have a license for your Kinjutsu, but unless we want to attract enemies, I suggest you keep your mouth shut until then." After the events that granted him the power of the Rikudo Sennin, Yuri began to focus on cloning his former host's body since he knew he didn't want to let him live in another body that he barely knew forever. "The problem isn't the equipment or your DNA. It's the fighting style and abilities that made me indecisive. During my time as a parasite inside you, you mostly focused on Genjutsu and your Lightning jutsus to fight along with your Elemental Clones. It also helps with the enhanced intelligence I've given you. The Uchiha bloodline may help you with your Genjutsu, but not your Ninjutsu altogether. Unless I can find the right DNA to help you, I'm at a complete loss here."

Yuu groaned at the news his parasite given him. Sure, he wanted to have his own face right now, but if he rushed him, then there would be consequences especially with how will his parents react to his potential botched appearance. "Well, any ideas you can find some information about my abilities and such? I got used to this body right now, but from what you have told me, we might need more than information about the bloodlines from the clans, correct?"

Yuri nodded to him before he turned to the other direction. "I'll try to read more about the bloodlines and abilities in the library. Be right back." With that, Yuu was all alone as his parasite left for his said destination. He has no mission today nor plans to train today as he just wanted to take a load off, so all he had to go was the park nearby and just relax for a while.

[MFT/WC: 342]

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Kenji Osawa strolled through the park, lost in his own thoughts. It had been a tough day of training at the Academy, and Kenji wanted to just enjoy some solitude somewhere. Sure, he didn't have a lot of friends, but that was how he usually preferred it. Give how harsh his life had been with most of his family, Kenji was not one to easily trust or let others in, which left him a loner and somewhat of an outcast, but ultimately he didn't mind.

"Osawa!"

Kenji stopped, recognizing the voice. He rolled his eyes as he turned to see Genthru, a bullying student who often teased and tormented Kenji at every chance, and several of his friends.

"So you think you're all that because your family has money and a legacy," Genthru said mockingly. "You think you're too good for us that you decide to always just be all by yourself."

"That's not it at all," Kenji replied coldly. "I just like to keep to myself. I've told you about a thousand times. Or are you just that airheaded that you can't, remember?"

"What did you call me?!," Genthru snarled angrily. "You know, fellas. I think Mr. Lonesome here needs to learn some respect...the hard way." He and his friends began to pound their fists menacingly at and slowly advance on Kenji, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"And I think Mr. Brawn-For-Brains and his lackeys need to learn to pick their battles more carefully," Kenji replied with a small, sly grin.

[MFT/WC: 252]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

In his honesty, all he wanted today was rest and relaxation, never overthinking about everything he worried about every day like his shinobi missions and his siblings' studies. Instead, he found trouble as he saw a young boy being surrounded by other boys. Judging by this scenario, the boys pounding their fists seemed to be the bullies while the boy in the middle might be the victim. Yet despite this cheesy scenario, he noticed that he showed no signs of fear to his tormentors.

He wondered if his expression was a bluff or not, but all he knew was that he might not able to survive this encounter. Seeing this, he got up from the bench and walked in between the young boy and his would-be bullies. "Sorry to break up your fight-fest over here, but I can't let you hurt this young boy. Unless you want to face me in a spar." That last one was a bluff, but with his headband on his shoulder, he knew those boys might get an idea who were dealing with.

 

[Kenji Osawa]

"What's it to-," Genthru began to say, but he stopped short, upon seeing the armband on the man's shoulder. Genthru and his lackeys realized he was a Genin, and therefore one not to be messed with. "Oh, um, sir, this is...this is nothing."

"Yeah, uh, Kenji was trying to pick a fight with us. We're just telling him to back off," said one of the lackeys.

"Yeah, that's, uh, that's what happened," claimed the other.

"That's all a lie," Kenji calmly said. "If anything these buffoons challenged me."

"You are just asking for it, aren't you, Osawa?!," Genthru exclaimed angrily.

"Well bring it on. I prefer a straight fight and quick victory against you than engaging in all this stupid wordplay. I hope all those big words were're too much of a stresser on you pea-sized brain!"

"Why you–!," Genthru snapped as he prepared to throw a punch at Kenji.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Upon seeing the young boy throwing his fist to the defenseless student, Yuu knew it's time to intervene. Using his quick reflexes, he caught the fist with his right hand as he daggered at the bully with an intense glare. "Unless you want me to report you to the Chuunin, I'm afraid you have to step away and leave this kid alone. I don't want to ensure any kind of violence around here."

As a shinobi, he has to use his abilities to defend the village, not to enact any kind of fight, especially against young kids. He just hoped that words were enough to leave the young boy alone. He didn't want any more trouble that may cost him his day-off.

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Knowing the shinobi meant business, and knowing that being reported to the Chuunin for bullying could mean big trouble for them, Genthru and his friends backed away, as the former said nervously, "Uh, you know what, I just remembered, we have to help the elderly with getting around the village."

His friends agreed and all three ran off, leaving Kenji alone with the shinobi. Kenji, however, glared at the man angrily.

"I was about to teach those losers a lesson they'd never forget. You shouldn't have interfered!," he snapped at the shinobi. Having undergone fierce hand-to-hand combat training, Kenji had full confindence he could've not only beaten Genthru and his friends but made them so scared that they'd never think of picking on him again. As a result, he was not happy with the shinobi for butting in and scaring them off.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

As he saw the bullies fled the scene, Yuu sighed in relief at this. He was in the middle of his vacation and he didn't want to instigate a fight just to prove young students about their ranks. Besides, he might end up at the same end as those bullies and that would betray his own shinobi code to use his abilities to protect, not to destroy.

Yet despite this success, he was not expecting the young boy's anger to all of this as he turned around to see his eyes daggered at him. Sure, he did protect this young boy, but he didn't think he would praise him like his siblings and their friends would be whenever he rescued them. Yet, he felt a small hostility from this student despite his actions. Regardless, he sighed at this as he remained calm at this. "If I wouldn't, you might end up eating dirt back there. Besides, just inflicting violence against them isn't the answer to all of your problems. It might even fuel the fire that you may not even control yourself."

Sure, he often relied on brute force most of the time before Yuri's arrival, but even he didn't want to use his bare hands or Ninjutsu to get away a minor childhood problem like bullying. Either way, he decided to go proactive regarding this student's choices and problems for now.

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Kenji's eyes flashed with anger. Who was this guy to tell him about how he should solve his issues with Genthru and his goons?

"How would you know?," he seethed. "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me or what I've gone through since I was a kid!"

Kenji had never really had much positivity in his life; his father was a strict and mostly emotionally distant man, who had pushed Kenji and his five older brothers into harsh training and discipline, in order to mold them into successes prior to them going to the academy. While Kenji was able to push through and successfully complete the training, he did so at a slower pace than his brothers and as a result was mocked and looked down upon by them and his father as an underachiever and the family's weak link. As a result, Kenji had a continuous chip on his shoulder, which often led to him lashing out at people, including those who tried to help him for whatever reason.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Yikes. From what he can tell, this young kid must have a bad luck regarding his past and his relationships. Unfortunately for him, Yuu was a not a mind reader, so he can't really tell the reason behind his sudden outburst. Still, he has to remain calm and stern in front of him. As would his father said, he has to keep making strict commands in order to pave his siblings' bright future ahead. So he has to stay calm if he wanted to help this student out of his problems.

"I don't need to know more about you or your past. I just want to make sure you won't make a bad decision in your life. Every small action could lead you to success or failure. And trying to solve any problems just by your fists may land you in detention or any punishment those Chuunins will give you. Even worst, you may lose your chance to become a shinobi."

He hated to say that to a young Academy Student, but he has to let him show the truth of being a shinobi along with the dangers to it. At this point, he started to wonder if he might try to teach him regarding these facts someday.

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Hearing these words, Kenji took a deep breath, and started to calm down and use his head. He realized that who ever this guy was, deep down, he was right: letting his impulsive wish to solve violence with violence against his tormentors, even if he did beat them, could cost him his chance to become a shinobi. That would undoubtedly confirm his father and brothers' beliefs of him as the family's weak link, and disappoint his mother and younger sister, who had always been by his side and believed in him when the rest of his family didn't. And that was something that Kenji couldn't allow.

"You're right, sir. I apologize," he said humbly. "It's just, I feel have a lot to prove to people. And I don't appreciate when people like that jerk and his friends judge me without getting to know me. It's why I usually prefer being alone."

As a result of his harsh training and strict upbringing as well as bullying by people like Genthru, Kenji was hesitant over letting people into his life, out of fear of being pressured or betrayed by them. But this man seemed...different somehow. How so, Kenji didn't know, but he could feel it somehow.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

As always, being calm and strict helped him a lot, especially with Yasu and Kei. In his honesty, he was always annoyed with his siblings' antics even before making his goals as a shinobi. However, thanks to his mother, he learned that staying calm even in a crazy situation made by one of them always helped him keep a level head and helped him get into the crux of the problem. As for this young man, he slowly understood the reason behind his hostility to him. While he has no experiences of being pressured to become the best due to his overarching goal to protect the village, he can tell how much of the negative effects affected him and his trust on everyone else. Even so much to the point to provoke his academy bully to a fight. Regardless, he knew that he can't stay alone nor leaving him behind after this.

"I see. So I guess you joined the academy by your parents' consent, huh? You must have a rough life beforehand," Yuu said as put his arms behind his head. "Still, it doesn't hurt to make some friends for a while and avoid those jerks. No one's stopping you." Well, he wasn't much of a victim of bullying, but he did butt heads with one to protect his siblings when he was an Academy Student. "And by the way, stop calling me 'sir'. I know I'm much older than you, but I'm still a kid on the inside, you know. Plus, I'm still 13 years old, so I'm not old enough to drink and stuff."

As much he would laugh it off, he secretly sighed in dismay. His Uchiha path was starting to make some misunderstandings as he wished Yuri would speed up his cloned body's creation process right about now.

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Upon hearing this, Kenji seemed to consider this. Having friends did seem like something he was open to, though he was cautious about it, since he was hesitant on who to trust.

"Well, my life before coming here was more or less contemptuous, no thanks to my father and my older brothers," he said. "It's a long story. And I admit, part of me does want friends, but I'm just not sure if I can trust that anyone whom I do befriend won't start judging me for my shortcomings or turn against me as a result of them."

For some reason, he seemed to feel he could trust this man...maybe enough for him to become a friend.

"And if you must know my name is Osawa. Kenji Osawa. What's yours?"

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Yuu smiled as he was relieved to see him losing his hostility to him, which was a good sign. Yet, he was a little worried upon hearing his situation. Unlike his open-minded family, it seemed that his father and his older brothers somehow pushed him into their expectations. He might wonder if it was the result of the inability to make friends.

"Yuu. Kashino Yuu," he said as he offered his hand for a handshake. "And don't worry about it. Besides, you can trust me enough to be your friend and I'm not the type to judge anyone because of your family problems. Heck, why am I talking to you in the first place?" He chuckled a bit before he continued on. "On a serious note, you just have to open up a bit to anyone and try not to judge them a little while. In fact, you might be surprised that your best friend might have a foil to you. Plus, you may find great allies when you become a real shinobi someday."

 

[Kenji Osawa]

Kenji, upon hearing this, cracked a small smile, and chuckled slightly as he shook Yuu's hand. He'd heard encouragement like that only from two people in his life: his mother and younger sister. Unlike his father and brothers, they were supportive of him, knowing that he had the same potential as his brothers, even if not the same pace of success as them.

"You know, you sound just like my mother and my little sister," he said. "They've always believed in me and what I am capable of doing, and always supported me in every way they could. You see, my father put me and my brothers through all this harsh training and strict discipline starting when we were little. According to him it was preparation for the academy, so that we could all end up being the best of the best. While we all managed to get through the training, it took me a little while longer for me to do it than my brothers. As such, they designated me as the weak link of the family. And my father, I think he considered me an underachiever compared to my brothers. And his general emotional distance didn't help at all."

Kenji took a deep breath over recounting all this before continuing, "My mom and my sister on the other hand, they on the other hand, didn't care about how long I took to finish my training. They just knew I had just the same chances of becoming a shiniobi as my brothers did, and have always encouraged me to keep going in my goals no matter what anyone says."

Surprisingly, Kenji started feeling a lot better. This was the frist time he'd ever opened up to someone about his past. There was just something about Yuu that made him feel comfortable enough to do so.

[MFT/WC: 306]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Upon seeing Kenji's small smile, he knew he made some positive effect on him. Even being compared to his supportive family members was a good sign that he trusted him. However, he was still worried regarding half of his family upon hearing most of the student's past so far.

"Well, I suggest you may listen to your mother and sister and take their advice. I didn't see you before, but I can tell you have a potential to become a shinobi. You were even accepted into attending the Aurora Eruditio academy, which I thought to be near impossible before I got accepted!" He then stretched his arms upward as he continued. "Though I have to thank that shinobi who saved me and my sibs beforehand. Not just by enrolling me into the academy, but to help me find my path."