Review and Resolve [Private]

[Saotome Asami]

Asami knew what this was about.
It was only a matter of time before the administration caught onto her schemes. Increasingly low attendance in the academy painted the picture of a student who did not want or care to follow the village’s plans for her. It had worked surprisingly well for her – well enough that by she had already solved to try at least a little harder. With any luck, her summon to the hospital would be redundant.

Still, Kumogakure’s great research facility seemed like a strange place for what she assumed would be an interrogation. She had already convinced herself that they would not harm her directly – one of the village’s precious one-hundred students could not be lost to ‘punishment’. If not for that, the idea of masked men bearing syringes would have kept her well away from the area. Instead, she was strangely calm and confident about the situation. She could be honest with her feelings, especially since she had overcome most of them. As soon as she explained to this ‘Osuteno’ that she had resolved the issue herself (with a little help from an old man), their talk would end. In theory, there wasn’t much that could go wrong.
Whenever shinobi were involved, however, something always managed to go wrong.

Moving from the front desk to the man’s office was surprisingly easy; once she showed the letter requesting her presence, the receptionist went from passively-uncaring to oddly eager to help. Weaving through a few corridors brought her to the man’s door, at which point she was left to do the deed. Her free hand rapped against the door three times, patiently awaiting whatever lay on the other side.

 

[Osuteno]

“Come in,” the feminine voice called as Osu heard the heartbeat outside his door. When Asami entered the room she would find an office lined wall to wall and then some with file cabinets and a large oddly industrial shelf along one wall completely filled with books. A desk was partially hidden by a combination of file cabinets, a strange diagram, oddly floating metal beads, some vials of dark red liquid, a small generator, and a scroll filled with unusual calculations.

Behind the desk a purple haired individual wearing a Yukata looked up from what one might assume was a ritual to contact an eldritch being (of one had an overactive imagination that is) with a worried smile and started putting the beads and other things aside.

“You must be Asami-Chan, come on in and have a seat right there, I apologize for how cluttered it is in here, but I managed to clear you a chair not too long ago. Do you prefer Jasmine or Matcha?” Osu asked as he put an electric tea kettle on his desk and started laying out teacups. After retrieving Asami’s leaf preference Osu looked across the table.

“Asam-Chan, is everything alright? Your teachers are reporting a drop in your attendance and marks and… You aren’t being bullied by anyone are you? Are you having a hard time making friends? Having any thoughts of self harm? Feeling ill? You can tell me about anything that might be troubling you, there is hardly a safer place than this cluttered little office of mine.”

 

[Saotome Asami]

Asami walked in to find what her mother would call a hoarder’s haven. How was anybody going to move comfortably in such a cluttered space, let alone work on a daily basis? What did that say about its occupant? She turned to him – or her – as she stepped in. She wasn’t quite sure which she was looking as; it was a good think that they used gender-neutral pronouns!

She took a seat, her eyes darting back and forth between the mess of a room and her gender guessing game. The voice said female, but the face almost said male… She would go with the former for the time being. Once she remembered to be polite, she kept her attention on the one that had summoned her. “Ah… Matcha is fine, thank you.” She answered a little too late, but showed a polite smile all the same.

Then came the spiel she had come to expect. Osu had yet to show any hostility towards her, and yet, she still felt sceptical. Her reasons? Where should she start? Honesty would be a good start. ‘So she can tell you why you’re being silly and have nothing to worry about?’ She believed she had a good idea of how the conversation would go long before she walked through the door. Lying wasn’t much of an option either; it did nothing for either of them, and more importantly, she wasn’t fond of it.

The truth, then, but two could play that game. She spoke with a formality well beyond her age (though not too far beyond her usual mannerisms), though her smile quickly faded. She didn’t feel up to feigning happiness, but if he was going to pretend... “None of those, miss. Not anymore, anyway.” She kept calm – almost eerily so. He or she or whatever would not see her upset just because she pulled a smile. “My problem is – was – simple. I don’t have much interest in being a shinobi. I understand that this is a… difficult concept to grasp for a lot of them, but it doesn’t change the way I feel. How I feel about it doesn’t change the situation. I can make the best of it, or I can die now and get it over with. If I don’t at least try something, then it would all be a waste anyway, wouldn’t it?” She didn’t know why she bothered waiting for an answer. He would be a questionable counsellor if he pushed her towards the other option.

“So I’ll go to my classes. As long as I stick to the path that’s been set for me, there’s no trouble and no complaints. I realised that not too long ago.” In theory, admitting she had solves her own problems should have put an end to the conversation, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. She decided to be frank, starting again with a disappointed edge to her voice. “You don’t have to pretend to be concerned, either. Really, I don’t mind. At the end of the day, this is just an extension of that and we both know it. I can’t blame you for doing your job, but I don’t see why you would ask be to be honest when you won’t do the same.”

 

[Osuteno]

Osu sighed as he finished listening to Asami’s explanation. “Another CPSS candidate who had no choice in this life… Well it is understandable, and at least it isn’t another case of students bullying each other,” Osu said with a slightly tired look while checking the tea kettle. Just hot enough. Osu began to brew the tea. “You seem to at least intend to return to your studies, which is fine and I am sure the Main Branch’s Academy division will be happy to hear it. But you are mistaken in your assumptions as to why you are in that chair. Your willingness to be a shinobi and study and train towards that is the responsibility and concern of your teachers. It only concerns me if you are healthy and not a danger to yourself and others.”

The matcha was starting to release a quite pleasant smell which caused Osu to perk up a bit. “At the very least, I likely don’t have to worry as much about you coming in with stupid injuries from being too eager to give your life for the village. I ramble, but your willingness to be a shinobi really isn’t our focus here, as you said yourself you don’t have a choice in that particular matter. Your choices are basically move on and try and do something meaningful to you with what you are stuck with or just end it. You seem to have chosen the former, which is good, there is already too much death around here without you adding yourself needlessly. We have at this point touched upon what does fall under the scope of my ‘job’, which is to keep you physically and mentally healthy. You will remain in that seat, enjoy your tea when I finish preparing it, and honestly tell me about how you feel, your frustrations, your fears, your goals, anything that comes to mind should you start feeling like you want to be honest with yourself, or don’t and we can just sit quietly here drinking tea for a while. If some fatalistic or loner tendencies prevent you from willingly receiving aid and understanding from others you can take what I just said as orders and do so begrudgingly to justify it to yourself. Not saying that does apply to you just that we have had issues with it… Also you can just call me Osu, or, if you wish to remain distant…” Osu seemed to actually lose a bit of his momentum at this point and even seemed rather embarrassed. “It is actually sir not miss, I am a guy.” Having to make that statement did significant mental damage to the young man. Why do people keep thinking he is female?!

 

[Saotome Asami]

Honesty was what she asked for, and it appeared to be what she was getting. She appreciated that the woman gave up on feigning sympathy, but removing that left behind a cold and logical train of thought. It didn’t take long for her to decide she didn’t like that either. It always stung to be reminded that regardless of the reason she sought to bring herself comfort, she had no say as to whether or not she would don a headband. She couldn’t help but let it show, if only for a moment; furrowed eyebrows showed her discomfort with the idea as Osu mentioned it, even if it was a repeat of what she had just said.

Perhaps she hadn’t guessed the right reason why she had been sent to the hospital, but she hadn’t been too far off, had she? If she’d attended all of her classes, then nobody would have noticed anything was wrong… Right? She’d attempted to call out a teacher once, but he didn’t seem to care – nor did anybody else in the class, for that matter. Her being jumpy at the sight of violence couldn’t have been so strange that it called for counselling, so what else was there? It didn’t matter, she told herself. She couldn’t do anything about it when she was already in the chair, and what power did she have to react after the fact?

He made a request of her – well, it sounded a lot more like an order, even before the clarification. He probably didn’t mean to touch a nerve, but she couldn’t help but show irritation at the command. Why did some woman get to decide what she was going to do, and why did she feel the urge to disobey out of spite? Who said she was going to drink anything, anyway? Who was to say the drink wasn’t spiked to make her more cooperative? Did she really have a reason to be so suspicious of every authority figure in the shinobi ranks? Did any of those matter either? She already knew the answer, as much as she had come to loathe it.

But first… That was a man? Really? She struggled to see it, but was she really going to argue with him over it? “Ah. Sorry… Osu-senpai.” She couldn’t claim she felt any closer to the man after that, but referring to him as ‘sir’ would be rude after her mishap. She opened her mouth again, but quickly decided against explaining how she came to her conclusion. “Thank you for being honest. Please don’t assume I can’t be honest with myself. I have been, and that’s how I came to my conclusion.” It wasn’t entirely true, but even mature adults struggled to see what they were missing. “I don’t see what else there is. Maybe you don’t either, or it still doesn’t make sense to you. It’s… not surprising, but I think I already said that. I could tell you what I love or hate, what I have to look forward to and what terrifies me. … At the end of the day, it doesn’t change anything. You say that my being willing to… be a shinobi isn’t important to you, even after I said it’s exactly what the problem is.” She shrugged. “Like I said: difficult to grasp. I guess I can’t really blame you for that.” Her gaze slowly shifted to the floor. While she occasionally remembered to make eye contact, she put less and less of an effort into doing so as she went on. “Nothing I have to say will get me out of this academy. We’ve already been over that, and I’ve accepted it.” Her tone and her eyes told of defeat instead. “So the rest isn’t important. Well, it is to me. You don’t care about that – you care about doing your job, and I’m telling you I’ll be fine.” She wouldn’t be. “I might not like it, but who has ever liked being forced into something? All I can do is make the most of it, because that’s the only real choice I have.”

 

[Osuteno]

“Don’t mind it, it is fairly common,” Osu sighed in reply to her apology.

Osu couldn’t help but smile a bit as he made tea and listened to the young girl’s explanation. Really this kid wasn’t good at picking up on things, thanking him for ‘being honest’? Well, why not play the part she is so certain of a bit until she catches up?

“All you can do is make the most of it, because that is all you really have, is it?” Osu half repeated, half asked as he served them both from a nice, hot pot of tea.

“That would almost be close to the right answer if you actually believed it. ‘Difficult to grasp’ indeed, do you really think you are the only one who simply ended up in this life and have questions what to do about it? You aren’t even the only one in this room, though at least I can feel somewhat satisfied now in the fact I wasn’t such an angsty teenager about it, so I must thank you.” Osu took a warming sip of tea from his cup, how lovely, if he said so himself. Nearly perfect, he would still have to make some modifications to the next generation of plants. He momentarily lost the mocking smile he had been wearing for one of bliss. He never had been a particularly good actor, Osu thought to himself as he tried to return to the same face but ended up looking more mischievous instead.

”So If you really have resigned yourself to make the most of it, what have you decided to become? Being a shinobi is more a social subclass than a particular profession, like saying you are an artisan… hmm that is actually a fairly good object of comparison...” Osu pulled out a notebook and wrote something down in it before returning his attention to Asami.

“Most people know of our roles as mercenaries of sorts and spies, but there are also doctors, researchers, guards, jailers, diplomats, messengers, librarians, engineers, etcetera. Even if you go the normal route of taking missions you can specialize be it as a bodyguard, a tracker, or maybe even one of the people who harvests some of the rarer or dangerous ingredients and materials for the medical branch, we pay them rather handsomely. There is almost no end to specializations should you find a market for them. I even have a friend who idolized maids to the point that she works as a secret bodyguard for a lord’s mansion and basically sleeps in a uniform... though she was in all honesty a disaster at the maid part of the job when I worked with her some years back.

So, how are you going to make the most of being a shinobi? What do you want to do? What would you want to be doing if you weren’t on the path of being a shinobi?”

 

[Saotome Asami]

Something about his words made her second-guess her assessment. Several things, in fact. The casual belittlement, and the assertion that she couldn’t even keep her maintain her beliefs. Was it any surprise that she was visibly irritated at his thinly-veiled insults, or that she hesitated to give answers to somebody that dismissed her woes as ‘teenage angst’? "I never said I was the only one. You asked how I was feeling, and I told you." A decision she was already beginning to regret, if the bitter edge in her voice meant anything. She straightened it out by the time she spoke again.

He did have a good point, or at least, he claimed to have one. Supposedly, there were shinobi hiding amongst all tricks of the trade, and she had never heard of them. Perhaps that was information divulged in one of the classes she had dodged, or left for the students to figure out themselves. Either way- “I… didn’t know that. They didn’t teach that… In the academy, we only saw the fighters, the killers and the leaders. They didn’t even bother with the healers.” She still hesitated to meet the man’s eyes, but there was some small success in getting her to listen. Getting her to speak her mind was another battle. She had exposed a small part of her heart and earned small jabs to her pride for the effort. Did she feel comfortable leaving him another avenue to go again by giving a personal response? No, not really. She knew what plans the shinobi life had stolen from her, but he couldn’t be trusted to know them. Mundane as they might have been, no sensible person left themselves open to be attacked. “I’ll have to do some research. Look into it more, and come back to it later. I just want to make sure nobody is forced into my position again.” She folded her arms, as if it wasn’t obvious enough that there was so much more to the story.

 

[Osuteno]

Alright Asami seemed to be getting agitated, that was better than her pretending to be emotionless, though still not Osu’s preferred method to go about this. He still wasn’t getting this face right either, mocking was a bit more like… this? This felt a bit more lock a mocking smile, maybe. Still to get somewhere with this conversation he needed to either enrage her passion to get her to truly speak her mind, or damage the foundation of her confidence to the point that she will more willingly take time to reevaluate her assumptions so they could make progress that way. “Make sure nobody else is forced into the same position? Rather hard to when the parents almost always give the kids to the village willingly either for the compensation or the chance to move here themselves? And you won’t really find orphanages that say no either since the kids basically belong to Kumogakure by Lightning Country Law anyway at that point and they will be able to operate a for a year or two depending on the size just by handing one over. Adults can be selfish for their own reasons so the only way to really prevent it is to remove the offer itself.

Removing the offer itself would mean Kumogakure no longer needs to import talent to maintain projections for future operations. Chakra sensitivity is a recessive gene, so that isn’t terribly likely.

And even if Kumogakure stopped rounding up talent, do you think we are the only ones who gather up chakra users? The various nobility try to snatch up who we miss when they can to force into their own armies, and they mostly see us as monstrous freaks useful only for war. Beasts only to be kept until the first sign that they might bite the hand that feeds them. Marsh terrorists are also fans of kidnapping Lightning chakra sensitives, probably a small few every month are carried off in the dead of the night to be subjected to brainwashing and such. There are also those damned…”

Osu cleared his throat and calmed himself with a long sip of tea before smirking at Asami with a look in his eyes like he was looking at a fool. “There is also the growing authority of the Tenouzan Church who tests people as well but not to create shinobi. They see us as witches and burn people even suspected of being chakra sensitive in city squares to the cheers of massive rallies. They have the support of a few of the Daimyo as they support the ‘divine right of royal blood’ in their teachings, and their lack of direct action against the village and its shinobi keeps us from being able to directly counter them.

So with the growing dangers for chakra sensitive people outside of this village, what do YOU, some child who doesn’t even know a fraction of the situation around you because you only see what is right in front of your nose before jumping for a solution, plan to do to make sure no one ends up in a situation like yours? Are you sure you aren’t dooming them to a worse fate by doing so and could you bear that responsibility? Does your moral code have a definitive answer for what is just or right or whatever you justify with in this situation, or is that something else you will have to look into more and come back to later?” Osu refilled his tea and keeping an eye on Asami, refilling her cup if needed.

”Do you really think you have what it takes to back up those words?”

 

[Saotome Asami]

She had it right the first time, from the looks of it. The man absolutely did not take anything she had to say with any weight. He looked at her as if she were a child – not the ‘teenage’ child that she was, but one that could barely walk, announcing her plans to fix everything for everybody. She should have been angry. Should have… but wasn’t.

When she’d realised that she had been ripped away from her path in life, she had so much anger to share with the world. Anger at the government, the shinobi that controlled her new life, her friends for having what she couldn’t anymore, her parents for being unable to stop it… It felt like relief in the moment, but weeks passed, and she realised the emotion did nothing for her or anybody else. Perhaps she had short-circuited part of her brain, or perhaps she wasn’t quite as illogical as some imagined. Either way, something clicked, and she found anger difficult to muster up. Bitterness, disappointment, turmoil, frustration… They came and went just as easily, but rage? It seemed to require a genuine effort, and at that point it was unnecessary.

Some normal person might have played right into his hands, blowing up at him and whatever he claimed to stand for. Asami’s mind, on the other hand, remained oddly clear. In her eyes, he only helped to confirm what she had tried to convey to Ayumu – that there were a frightening amount of shinobi that were hard to see as good people. This one wasn’t outright evil or insane, which was more than she could say for some of the other superiors she had met, but there was a sense of apathy and superiority that was either rage-inducing or just disheartening. While the first wouldn’t come to her, it was all too easy to feel the latter in the face of insurmountable odds. He wasn’t wrong, as far as she knew. Every one of those reasons would stand in her way, regardless of what she did, but she already knew that. She might not have known the specifics, but she would have been stupid to believe it was as easy as saying the children would be free. Yuii and Ayumu had ensured she understood that, and it hadn’t deterred her yet. So what was Osu hoping to do? Break her resolve? Why? If he did, he would steal away the only hope she had to make herself useful, which could only end poorly for her. If he didn’t, she would… get angry? What did he have to gain from that? Was it his idea of counselling, or was he, like another ‘superior’ of hers, looking to get his highs off tormenting those under him? She only gave it a moment’s thought before she realised it didn’t matter either. She was going to face countless opposition on her journey – that didn’t mean she had to stop and yell at every one of them. In other words…

“Half a dozen reasons not to try, and for all the effort you put into thinking of them… You couldn’t give one to try. You’re part of the problem.” Her face steeled itself, removing what discomfort he had allowed to draw out. “Sure, I could explain why, but something tells me that wouldn’t change your mind anyway. That’s fine. I’m not trying this for you.”

She stood up, leaving behind the teacup (she’d made a point of not touching it as soon as she realised the man gave up trying to be nice). “Maybe this was a nice chat for you, but I can’t say I feel too counselled after this. I don’t think you were trying to solve my problems at all.” It would have been enough, she realised too late. Having somebody that genuinely cared, to burden with her woes and perhaps find something better to look to. That wasn’t what she was going to find in that office; Osu had made that perfectly clear to her. Such people were apparently far and few between, especially when she was stuck at the bottom of the shinobi chain. Yet another problem, but not one that would be solved there and then. She could only take a small victory in knowing he would not break her. No raised voices, and no outbursts. A look of irritation was the best he would get from such a stubborn child. “I can’t see why. I’m open to ideas, but why would I sit here and be ridiculed for even thinking of doing something good?” She gave pause. Normally, she’d finish with a reminder for him to have a nice day or take care, but even that would be ingenuine. She wished nothing good for a man like him, and so she turned and made to leave.

Her expression darkened once her back was turned to him. She had a lot to think about – again – and despite her answer, she felt seeds of doubt sprouting in the back of her mind.

 

[Osuteno]

Osu’s smile became much more genuine as the young lady started storming off and held his cup just below his mouth. Despite Osu seemingly doing nothing, a force seemed to take a firm grasp of the blood in Asami’s body, binding her to prevent her from acting in a way only a Chigokai could, with the threat of ripping the blood straight through her skin alarming her instincts. “Asami-Chan, at the very least you should request permission to leave, if for no other reason than I have to have time to turn off my eavesdropping inhibitors before you hurt yourself... To be honest, you are doing much better than I was really expecting. I thought you would be quicker to spill your thoughts or lose a bit of conviction… Though you do lose a few points for mistaking a checklist for reasons not to do something.” Osu’s tone of voice had returned to the same as it had been when he first welcomed her into his office.

“If you really want to end CPSS I can’t say it is even a secondary concern for me as the conditions are not yet right for it to end, however my goals also involve changing the very conditions in the way of that. I don’t really plan on giving you any real details at this time, but I do have two things thing to ask you at this point. First, do you really want to be part of the solution? I have one, but it isn’t some grand and glorious scheme that is bound to work and even less likely to make anyone a ‘hero.’ Not to mention it is a very miserable path that would several years of painfully slow progress, has less than favorable risk returns, and whether anyone is regarded as a hero or a villain in the end, everyone involved is almost bound to have done something or several things that will leave them living with guilt for quite some time if they aren’t a psychopath... Note I said guilt, not regret, unless you would regret doing what is correct even when you must sacrifice what is just, ethical, profitable, or sensible at times. Second… is if you really think you could keep your mouth shut. I don’t mean just ignoring questions that are asked of you, telling half truths, or simply being defiant like you are now. I mean being able to lie to everyone, especially those closest to you, and keep silent even as an executioner's ax looms above you or someone you might care about in the future… admittedly it all does sound a bit melodramatic, but it honestly is that serious. Even if you aren’t willing to go through all that I will ask that you don’t discuss my little offer to anyone, mostly for your own sake.”

The force that was holding Asami vanished as suddenly as it came. “You may leave now if you would like, as much as you don’t feel counseled you yourself said you didn’t need to be, and I feel confident that you aren’t a danger to yourself or the people around you. Even if some other students were trying to bully you, you wouldn’t just take it lying down based on our interaction, much less stay away from the academy because of it. I can say with confidence my job is done as far as this session goes and that you have a clean bill of mental health.

… I don't really expect an answer from you now or ever concerning what I have said. If you are willing to hear more about what I have to say and do more than thinking of doing something good and actually put in the sacrifices necessary, then you can sit down or come back later and we can discuss what I seek to do for the chakra sensitives of this country and how you could perhaps help and how I could help you… Though I have no real evidence to support any concrete confidence in you, so what I am willing to share is rather limited at this time.” Osu turned off the switch on his electric teapot, simultaneously turning off the electric current running to the air duct and turning off a mildly loud miniature generator that was next to the door for the express purpose of making a masking noise, as well as powering a small device that would send a strong jolt to anyone that attempted to turn the handle.

“If you are indeed leaving, I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”

 

[Saotome Asami]

She made it halfway to the door before she was reminded why she was there in the first place. Regardless of the reasons she gave herself, in the end, hers was a battle she couldn’t win. As long as she played nicely and picked her small victories carefully, she was entertained. Refusing, on the other hand, ended with her in predicaments like this – frozen by some invisible force, and probably moments away from losing a body part. It was her ever-present fear that striking out against the system would only end poorly – not just for her, but for her loved ones – and with nothing to show for it. If the man could control her blood, he could probably feel resistance; she didn’t know how to fight against the bind, of course, but fear raised her heartbeat regardless.

He wasn’t hurting her, she realised a few moments too late. She also discovered that she could still use her face, and that she was doing a very poor job of masking her fear. So much for a calm façade, she might have thought, if she wasn’t preoccupied with watching for his next strike. It wasn’t coming. Instead, he was smiling and asking more of her. Picking up the implications of his words was a lot harder when under threat, but she was nothing if not a good listener. He put forward difficult questions, a thinly-veiled threat, and then… She was free. Unharmed, as far as she could tell. She gingerly reached for one arm with the other as he continued. If he’d meant to wear down her confidence through mind games and intimidation, he’d succeeded.

It took her a while to speak. She liked to hope her attempts to control her breathing was subtle, but the keen eye of a shinobi could spot most anything with ease. He wasn’t wrong; she was mentally stable, albeit with a myriad of concerns nestled in her mind. If she didn’t need counselling, she could certainly do with some guidance, but she wouldn’t find it with him. “I just want to do the right thing.” Her voice was a little quieter before, and lacking her usual forethought. “There’s a way to do that, without… making yourself into some monster along the way.” The details, again, would have to be figured out later, but she had already decided it was possible. It would do, for the time being.

She really didn’t know what to make of the man. If he had meant to be hostile, she would already be out cold, but it was hard to imagine any sane person would think… whatever he did could be seen as friendly. Still, it was the worst he had done, and it almost sounded like he had given her an offer. It wasn’t one she could take – even if he hadn’t rattled her, she wasn’t prepared to throw her morals aside just yet. Was she?

She wasn’t sure. If Osu had managed one thing, it was reminding her that she was unsure of too many things.

Asami made for the door and left the room.

[Thread left, unless interrupted.]​

 

[Osuteno]

Osu’s eyes took on something of a nostalgic look as the young lady said she would not become a monster to do the right thing. He almost said something more but knew he had pushed Asami a bit too hard already, he had given her something to keep in mind and he was certain that if she ever truly had doubts about moving forward she would at the very least consider coming to see him.

“I hope you have a nice day, and I wish you success in your search.” Is all he said as she walked out the door.

He picked up Asami’s untouched cup of tea and drank from it... cold. Such a waste. A red thread locked the door while another flipped the switch to his kettle.

“Not be a monster was it?” He had some doubts for some time about his own humanity, being a literal walking bag of blood would make one concerned about such a thing, but over the years he had come to terms he was just a little bit different but still a human all the same... if only he found some form of comfort in that.

“Monsters...” the word conjured up a wide assortment of images in his head. A amphibious predator that dwelled in the heartlands, the frost pack that prowled a particular snowy mountain hidden deep in the forest, an infectious creature that mutated other wildlife into freakish and violent forms... but not himself, and not certain other people… not anymore.

Osu was, without a doubt in his mind, a human. But he was afraid, he had much to lose, and he was growing increasingly desperate with the situation the more he observed, as things only grew worse as time passed.

For all the things other people thought of him personally, whether he was called the student of a coward or a mad scientist, whether he was called kind or strict by his own students, whether he has referred to as a clansman or a remnant of a deposed line by other Chigokai, whether he was seen as being far too soft hearted or weak by his fellow shinobi when it came to his hesitation towards conflict… he loved this village and those who lived here all the same.

“Ugggh,” Osu uncharacteristically groaned. His mind was drifting towards the unpleasant tasks and future ahead of him, he was drinking cold tea, and he had unexpectedly tried to pull another young kid to a miserable path that likely would end in failure or success at the cost of many burdening sacrifices. It was rather bitter… But he had no time to dwell on it, he needed to finish the experiment he was working on before Asami came in to gather some necessary materials for his newest pupil’s training. He quickly brought the unusual arrangement of objects back on his desk, paused for a moment to check he had no one else scheduled for the next few hours he might have forgotten about, and carefully restarted his work.

[topic complete]