Tutoring Time! (Tutoring)

[Kairyuu]

Maki wasn’t the whistle as you work type, but this newfound vigor and life was making him act a bit off. He sat in the room, bouncing one of the feet propped upon the desk in time with a tune he was humming to himself. The humming served several purposes, one of which was to keep himself in tune so he could utilize his newest set of gifts to their full potential. The others…well those would come later. For now, the important thing was that Maki was seated at a desk, humming and bouncing one booted foot.

He was wearing his normal gear. Black boots were covered by red suneate, black pants that had matching red haidate over the thighs for protection. Up top was a black shirt with a red jacket that ended at his waist. There were red han kote to protect his forearms. He had no headband or helmet, no gloves, and his jacket was mostly bland. It wasn’t heavy armor by any means, but it was still astounding someone would be seated as he was while wearing it. Maki had done worse things, though. Sitting in a Konoha classroom wearing partial samurai armor wasn’t the worst of those things, by far.

He was expecting a small class today. One, two people tops. But it would be a much more productive session for it. He was hoping to teach someone how to truly connect to their inner power as he had.

 

[Naomi]

His light steps the only thing that betrayed his hesitant presence, Masahiko forged his way through the halls of the Academy quickly. His stance exposed his feelings at that particular moment: his head swiveled about with a searching jerkiness, his hands wrung each other out with a displeased desperation, his gait remained clipped and tight. His brows were furrowed as well, which was something they rarely did. It wasn't that he didn't want to be here. In fact, a part of him wanted to and absolutely loved to be here. Yet there was another part of him that wanted to return to the books he'd grown to adore.

It didn't take long for Masahiko to stumble into the classroom. Stupidly tall, he instinctively ducked as he passed the doorway, which caused his cheeks to redden in newfound embarrassment. He would undoubtedly tower over anyone in the room, perhaps even the instructor, yet there was a good chance he was the weakest in the class. Even if the population was just him and who was supposedly the instructor. Especially if the population was just him and the instructor.

His frown grew as his eyes looked towards the 'sensei'. Masahiko was most often the one who dressed in an unprofessional manner. But it had only just registered to him that he was far under-dressed for this occasion. He wore simple, pale-brown silk trousers that were quite baggy on his upper legs yet slimmed noticeably around his calves and ankles, while his tunic, similar in color and material, bore a plunging neckline that would have exposed his abdomen. A simple white undershirt kept his modesty.

"Ahem," he cleared his thought in an obvious attempt to gain attention. "Hayashi Masahiko. I believe I'm in the right place?" His question sounded open-ended as if it would be a statement under certain circumstances and a question under others. And it was because he wasn't as sure as he usually was.

Word Count: 324

 

[Kishinami Kou]

He yawned as he crossed the halways of the ninja acadmy. Had been a long time since he had been last here and to be honest it was fine this way, he didn't partcularely like it here, had even bad memories of it and his family, but what had to be done, had to be done. HE didn't wanna pass up the opportunity to learn from one of the ANBU captain. He'd already heard that this one was a little more of an eccentric one compared to what one might expect from an ANBU. If that was the case Kuro wouldn'T complain, he liked it for people to have personality beyond their believes of what they should be like or worrying of what others thought of him. Probably the reason he would never become hokage and wasn't intersted in it either, well afterall he decided to become part of the ANBU, right?

Upon arriving at and entering the classroom, he wasn't to surprised really, there was only one other student sitting here, he eemed about the same age as Kuro but was even taller, quite a feet considering he wasn't small himself. Kuro wasn't really interested in the other guy though as he looked the man who was gonna be their teacher, up and down. Well he did seem different from the other ANBU Kuro had met and couldn't really tell what it was about him, but Kuro at first glance indeed liked him more then most he'd met. The Anbu in Training sat down in the front most row and close to the door, a habbit he had from wanting to pay attention when he was smaller and being able to leave quickly when it was over. Izanagi Kuro. I don't think we had the pleasure of meeting yet, sir." He didn't know if the Captain had heard of him before, he wasn't part of the branch for long, but he used this to get to fin out what kind of guy this Maki person was. In his mind the lesson could start, whoever else was going to arrive now was not important to him, he wanted to see what this class and the teacher were all about.

WC: 370 / 1500

[Entering - Post 1/5]

 

[Kairyuu]

As the two shuffled in, his whistling not faltering as one eyebrow slowly rose above the other. He’d been told he was training two people today, one a student. No one mentioned both would be taller than him, though. Maki wasn’t a short man, but neither was he tall. One of them was only a bit higher than him, but the first one to enter towered over Maki himself. Interesting setup here, whoever decided on this one was a funny one indeed. After the two introduce themselves, Maki ends the whistled tune with a bang by kicking his feet off the desk and rising.

”Well, nice to meet you both, Masahiko and Kuro. I am Tonkon Maki. I believe I have one of your names from internal records…” He looks to Kuro and nods to himself. This one was in his branch already. He looks to the other next. ”But that doesn’t grant anyone any special favors here. Now, one of the things I’ve been told the kids coming up in this new shinobi world lack is a good appreciation for exactly what we do. Neither of you look young, but I’m not sure just how much you’ve had to do to survive or succeed in a mission either. So let me introduce our fourth wheel in today’s lesson. Get in here!”

At his words, the door slides open and a woman shuffles in, then slides it shut behind her. She stumbles towards the front of the room with an uneven gait, as if drunk, before coming to a stop before the two students. Maki speaks once more. ”This is Izumi. Izumi has been a bad human being, and an even worse member of Konoha.” The woman makes no movement at this. She looked as young as either of the two before her, her eyes being glazed over didn’t help. ”Izumi figured out how to kill young girls and use their blood to return her to her youth. So far, two dozen females under the age of fourteen have been abducted for this purpose across the country. She accounts for a quarter of those, and knows something about the rest.”

“Izumi belongs to what her kind call a coven. They believe they’re witches of old who wield magical powers. Her coven sister took the rest. Some of these girls are as young as five. Now. What, gentlemen, do you think we should do with Izumi? Currently, I have her under a genjutsu to keep her docile.”

 

[Naomi]

Masahiko watched attention with the full-bodied attention reserved specifically for educational studies. He sat at the edge of his seat and his upperbody leaned forward, though his propped elbow gave him the ability to rest his chin on his face. His dark, odd-colored locks would have most likely tumbled forward and been the source of a moment's annoyance had they not been restrained with a simple golden clasp, which remained a necessity in Masahiko's learning routines. Despite the usefulness it displayed so far, however, it sorely lacked the ability to reign in his bangs, as it didn't have the width required to hold all of his thick hair.

Masahiko neither responded to nor reacted to the majority of Maki's words, though his eyes flicked to the other student when missions were briefly brought up. Masahiko had not been on a single mission yet, so he wondered if the other had had a mission, and if he had, why had they paired the two of them and this man? He had assumed he'd begin with the basics, and advance as they felt he was ready to, but this seemed like..... Being catapulted into the middle of his training. The thought excited him yet frightened him at the same time as the image of the miniscule cherry blossom tree surfaced in his mind.

That particular feeling grew further as a moonfaced woman entered at Mako's behest, her movements sluggish and uncoordinated. He wondered if she was simply drunk or drugged, until the situation was explained. His brow tightened as much as his stance did. Was this type of thing really legal? And if it was...... Why was it in a classroom, or anywhere near the Academy? His mouth almost opened to loudly protest this turn of events when his jaw stopped its movement and his body remained still and watchful.

The teen was in another place altogether. The academy was nothing like the civilian schools of Konohagakure, and this sort of thing might be a constant occurence. So he didn't open his mouth, but instead watched seemingly harder than before. It was obvious by the slight anger and rampant concern that Masahiko wasn't so sure (or happy) with the way this lesson was turning out, but he was slowly realizing this was exactly what he was going to be expected to do in the future, and this was exactly the jobs every other shinobi had. And that tradition wasn't going to change soon, no matter what Masahiko thought about it.

"Can't you just use more Genjutsu to make her tell the truth, or.... Torture her?" He asked, a noticeable amount of confusion coloring his tone. He didn't much about Genjutsu other than it concerned the mind. And shinobi had a multitude of tools that could be used to harm people enough that they give up their information..... "Unless you want us to be creative in gaining answers," he thought and said aloud. "In which case I'd say cast a Genjutsu that makes her think she's escaped and is fine, then have shinobi trail her to her coven's.... Den.

WC: 516 + 324 = 840

 

[Kishinami Kou]

A lack of Aprecciation of what we do? Well Kuro wasn't sure if he could comment on that, but he had to think to himself that he mght fall under that category of none appreciation. On the other hand he was a little triggered at Maki stating the truth. He didn't get to do anything dangerous yet, the worst he had been through were his parents and that was a sad fact. If he could, he would risk his life in a mission, it would probably make a crazy person like him happy to get a kick out of it. His eyes looked at the door as Maki asked someone to come in. There was a young woman coming into the classroom, but something Kuro couldn't yet figure out, was wrong with her.

Kuro raised an eyebrow at the ANBU captain's words. The woman definately didn't look tat much older then the boys, but he had no choice but to belive MAkis words for now. Drinking child blood for youth, hue? The idea didn't resonate with him, because although he was more ready to commit wrongs and inteact with such peope then most, he had no real attachment to life like most people did. The little background knowledge about the 'witch' actually got him interested though as he wanted to find out about them. Again, not to learn how to drink the blood of children, but one could never know when this knowledge would come in helpful. He also thought about how Zirens reaction would look like on the talk about drinking blood.

Makis quetion, got Kuro thinking though and he let the other guy - he already forgot the name - talk as he listened to his opinion. in then end though, he didn't have to much to add on to guy #2's answer. "I would agree. If you want to find out where to find the her acomplice and the children, there probably are shinobi skilled at gettinginto someones head." He wasn't sure how it worked, but didn't the Yamanaka do something like this? Kuro unlike his fellow student though seemed much more open to potential harm caused to the trapped woman, "But, If you already did, it's the safest bet to get rid of her." He made a gesture of dragging his thumb across his throat. "If she is useless to us, better get rid of her then giving her the chance to escape, even as unlikely as one would think it is."

WC: 416
Total: 786/1500 [2/5]

 

[Kairyuu]

Well, there were two wildly differing responses there. One of them seemed to not know what was going on, and mortified almost by what he was seeing. The other one, meanwhile, didn’t seem at all phased. Maki wasn’t sure which response bothered him the most, to be honest. Both seemed to suggest using his genjutsu to further break her mind, which elicited a subtle shake of the head from Maki. ”I could indeed try to pry this information from her mind, however the more damage done to her mind, the less likely I am to get anything reliable. The human mind is at once a fragile and strong thing. Think of it like a turtle. There is the hard shell of protection, but once you’re past that there is nothing to protect it. Anything further done to this woman’s mind could well be akin to putting a whisk into her brain and spinning it around. Fun to watch, but fruitless if we want coherent information from her. I think instead you two should get some experience in interrogation.”

That said, he reaches into the desk behind him and pulls free two tanto. He throws them into the floorboards near each student and places a hand on the woman’s head. ”Alright darling. Time to wake up.” That said, the woman gives out a shriek before falling to her knees. She looks around in panic and confusion before looking up at Kuro and Masahiko. Tears begin to stream down her face.

”Please, oh please help me. This psychopath broke into my home and told me he was going to kill me. Where am I? How did I get here?! Please, please for goodness sake help me! Save me from this monster!” For his part, Maki pulls an apple from his jacket and takes a bite out of it, making no response to the allegations of the woman.

 

[Naomi]

The teenager nodded along as Maki spoke, committing the words to memory. He wondered exactly how a person with a broken mind would act. And if they had any hope for recovery, if it had been done by Genjutsu. And it probably wouldn't by anything near "fun"....

A particularly confused look passed over the male's face at the mention of interrogation experience. Without moving his head, he looked over at the other student. He seemed far too.... Comfortable with killing. He seemed as if lacked much compassion or simple emotion, and instead was as cold as this woman supposedly was. Kuro's suggestion seemed to offend Masahiko, if one judged how his brow furrowed further. If the story of her and her coven taking young girls for youth was true, then not using what she knew in every way possible to find who was left was a waste of time and resources.

He looked at the blades embedded in the floorboards. Of course, he had some experience with knives alone, though he wasn't very good with them. And he'd never used them to cause anyone pain, yet. His long figure allowed him to easily reach down and pull the blade out and up to his desk, though he held the blade with a wary grip before he simply set it down. He wasn't pleased with this session so far, that was true, but he couldn't quit simply because he hadn't yet grown the nerve to maim people for information.

Masahiko frowned as the woman fell to her knees and began begging for help. He instinctively felt a pang of sympathy, and wanted to leave his chair and help get her to a hospital. But the presence of two stories made him hesitate and instead ask, "What's your name and where are you from?" He hoped the other wouldn't simply get up and begin to cut her open, but he wasn't optimistic. At all.

WC: 322 + 840 = 1162

 

[Kishinami Kou]

Kuro wondered if he would turn out a psycho like Maki aswell if he went down the ANBU path. Turning he brain to mush by use of a whisk would be fun, hue? He looked at his teacher and then at the woman while only wearing thin smile that didn't seem to posses any actual emotion, oh this lesson could turn out to be fun. He imagined it would be from getting the chance to interrogate a highly criminal woman.

The ANBU Captain even gave them eapons to aid them in acomplishing their task but Kuro wasn't actually willing yet to hurt the woman, if she ent into a shock state he couldn't have done anything further to her, let alone ask any questions. Before the Woman could answer Masahikos question, Kuro cut in to comment on her words. "Yeah, I don't really want to go this route. Asking her for her name and where she is from won't get us anywhere, but I am interested in her making the teacher out to be a bad guy." Kuro paused a second as he considered his words. If this hadn't been a lesson and he would have to stand before the descision to trust one of these, he wouldn't trust Maki any further then the woman.

"It is easy to lie if you can just alter the truth. Lets say I believe what both of you said is true, except that it is up to interpretation of what exactly happened between the two of you. I am afraid though, unlike from that guy..." He pointed to Masahiko. "You won't get any sympathy from me." He stood up and pulled the blae of the ground. More to see everybodys reaction to his actions, then to hurt her for interrogation purposes he lifted the tanto and said, "Now I wonder which finger you need the least." First of he wanted to see her reaction, it could probably tell a lot about her in any case. More then that he might be able to get her to show her true face, although that would be to easy and obvious to work that way. He was also wondering if Maki actually wanted to see any blood or just wanted to judge them on what they were willing to do.

 

[Kairyuu]

”My name is Kagomi Miyu! I’m from a small village outside on the border of Tea. Please, where am I? I don’t recognize this place….” The tears continue to fall as Maki keeps eating his apple, down to just the core almost. He reaches a foot out and prods the woman, shoving her forward. ”Get off the floor and stop embarrassing yourself. They’re not going to fall for that.” The woman gives no response except to sob.

Maki sighs and takes another bite out of his half apple. The threat from Kuro caused a shriek as she tried to hide her hands from him. ”No please! I don’t know what you want from me. I was trying to make dinner for my father when this man broke into my home. He said I would do perfect for his test, and then he was going to kill me. I tried to fight back I really did, but then I just….I just woke up here!” Maki reaches that same green booted foot out and prods her once more.

”Seriously woman. Cut the act. One of you make her talk. Lives are at stake, remember?” He sets his apple down with the single bite taken out of it and stretches, looking down at the two students with a frown. ”Not getting cold feet, are you?” It was obvious what he expected. He removes his black jacket and lays it over the chair behind him, revealing fully the blue shirt underneath.

 

[Naomi]

"You can't gain cold feet if you weren't ever ready to do something in the first place," countered with slight exasperation while his foot tapped a low, anxious beat. He had stood up when the other boy had gotten to his feet with the knife, the threat loud and clear. His fists were balled against the desk as he leaned against them. A single tentacle of wood grew from his under fist and wrapped around his arm, and he looked ready to lash out against all of them.

He wasn't unused to fast-paced events. There were plenty at the hospitals that he'd been a part of, though he'd not been much more than a volunteer or intern. No, he was unused to being nearly forced to harm another human being. The terror in the woman's eyes made him feel anger towards the two people that obviously had problems, while the ease in the two shinobi's decision to hurt the woman made him feel like there was indeed a reason to hurt this woman.

"Why would you expect anyone sane to harm another human being when you haven't even given them all of the information needed to make such a decision?!?" He shouted at Maki, though his stomach dropped immediately afterward. This man was obviously not someone to mess around with, much less yell at with such disrespect. Here he was, his first ever shinobi class, and he was already flinging accusations! Gods, he felt like such a dumbass.

Even with that feeling twisting his guts into knots, he continued on, as he knew that he'd already crossed a line and might as well not stop. "Where did you find this woman, and with what proof do you condemn her to the unsteady blades of students?! She can't possibly be the only source of information for a case with such a magnitude, and if she was, why would any intelligence gathering corps relinquish her to anyone not as experienced as their top interrogators?" He said directly to the class's sensei, and his gaze refused to waver even as his voice pattered to a quiet close.

WC: 354 + 1162 = 1516

 

[Kishinami Kou]

'Pleased to meet you Miyu, I am gonna cut off your fingers', probably wasn't the right way to go, especially with his fellow classmate being on edge like this. He held the knife in his hand up to the womans face, letting her feel it's cold steel on her cheek. Funny how cold feet were associated with being scared, when cold hearted people were made out to have isues showing certain emotions.

I didn't come here to listen to any of your bullshit. If you are a ninja and are not willing to hurt people at all, then you might aswell go become a musician or cook. You don'T have to be a heartless asshole to become a murderer anyways, I guess it'S good you feel anything when you hurt others." Kuro let the knife sink. He wasn't even sure if the guy was in the right class, but he did for now decide to not harm the woman.

"Teacher, I don't want to cut her up anymore, would you explain us the right way to do it? Or atleast how you would have done it, I doubt there is a right way if you want to preserve her rights as a human." Kuro stabbed the knife into the ground and walked back to his seat, if he assumed this to be a real situation of life and death, then he would have wanted to get to experience of torturing someone, he knew he woud eventually need it, but for now he wasn't interested anymore, the crybaby had soured the mood.

"I don't want to say I am right in my guess, but I would assume even as a Captain you are not allowe to show students how a real human is tortured, are you? I was ever so willing to hurt her because I thought she was a clone, maybe even your own but transformed. Atleast that was what I thought and wanted to find out, but brother morality over there preaching about right and wrong seriously ruined the mood." Kuro crossed his arms over his chest waiting for Maki do anything. He didn't know if he would be able to put any trust in the village as a whole if Maki was just able to torture important prisoners infront of students.

 

[Kairyuu]

And there was the breaking point. The part where they weren’t comfortable going further. Where training fell to the wayside if you hadn’t gotten enough of it to follow orders without hesitation, to trust your superiors when they told you something. Humanity was a powerful trait, it was a noble one. And it got people killed. Kuro stabs his knife into the ground, and Maki frowns. He looks from it to the two of them, shaking his head. ”Well, I can’t say I’m disappointed. This is what I’m here to teach you. The proper thing is to trust-“

His words cut off as the woman, in a flash, pulls Kuro’s knife from the floor and is on her feet. Blood arcs free from Maki’s throat, coating the two students and the walls as his neck splits open. Then she pivots and drives it behind her into his chest, toppling the ANBU Captain over his desk and out of sight. Miyu begins to laugh as she faces the two, her eyes a cold green. ”Oh, thank you. My heroes! You saved me from the big, mean man who was going to stop me. However can I repay you?” With a wave of her hand, the desks in the room spring to life, converging on the two and holding them in place as if bound to them by an unbreakable force.

She looks to Masahiko first a coos softly. ”I think I’ll start with you first. Your weakness is what saved me, after all. Your inability to follow orders, and to accept what you were told by your superior got him killed. So you’ll be first, and fast. But your friend here will be slow. He gave me the tool to free myself, but only after threatening me. Does that sound fair?”

 

[Naomi]

Relief washed over the boy like a cool midnight tide. Though Kuro's words seemed barbed with the intent to insult, at least he wasn't going to start removing digits. He watched with a triumphant curl to his lips as Kuro returned the knife to the floorboards and went back to his seat before his eyes went back to Maki. The well-geared shinobi frowned at Kuro's actions. To Masahiko, he didn't seem extremely angry or disappointed with them, but the older man kept his emotions masked well.

The boy's eyebrow raised as Maki began to respond to their actions. Of course, he wasn't here to teach them to torture people, and that fact made Masahiko's tinge red. He'd fallen for that too easily, but now he was left wondering how this would teach them to trust - "WHAT THE HELL," Masahiko shouted as he was suddenly covered in a layer of Maki's blood. His eyes were wide and filled with a terrified disbelief, and he seemed glued to his chair.

Another shout left his lips as the desks came together and kept the two students unable to move, despite all of Masahiko's grunted efforts. "What is wrong with you," he shouted at the woman, his teeth bared. He couldn't believe he was going to die in his first class! He was too angry and too much in denial to do anything but continue to struggle and scream threats laced with obscenities.

 

[Kishinami Kou]

"Ohhh..." Came out of Kuro's mouth as the mans throat got slit open and then another, "Ahhh..." Crosed his lips as his chest was pierced. The sound didn't come in disgust or fear, it was more as if he was feeling what happened to mai himself, as if he watched a movie of someone getting stabbed. He wanted to look away, but at the same time couldn't because it was too interesting.

"I mean, no biggie, but you don't need to thank me for that." By now he was clearly trying to make fun of Maahiko's reaction, hadn't he made it clear that noone would actually die? Maki wasn't gonna be an ANBU captain and then be this weak, there was more to it then that. But what if Maki had just actually died? Would he die aswell? Would he survive and tell Takeshi? Would he n turn rip Kuro a new one which would result in his death? He couldn't tell, but either way he didn't feel threatened in this situation.

I don't have my weapon on me, but sure, try me woman." He said now confident in himself. If she were to attack him he could just swith out of an attack to get to her, otherwise, if she had to stab Maki to kill him, she probably relied on that weapon of hers, maybe she didn't actually know ninjutsu and only was supposed to suck child blood? In the end this all did get Kuro to think about a situation like this if it were to happen, but he couldn't take this serious enough since he almost knew this was a fake, or training if you wanna call it that. He was prepared to act, but didn't move from his chair.

 

[Kairyuu]

Once more there were very different responses. Masahiko seemed to be genuinely distraught over the events, while Kuro was taking things so cooly he may have actually figured it out. As the woman cackles, Maki lifts himself up and walks over to her, neck wide open and knife still jutting from his chest. He steps around the laughing woman and sighs, shaking his head. ”Well this is an interesting situation. Here’s what this lesson is all about. Hang on, she’s getting annoying.” The nearly-decapitated Captain motions and the woman vanishes from sight. ”There, much better. Going to keep both of you held there while I talk, so don’t go struggling. It’ll only make the bind worse.”

He walks over to his completely untouched apple and lifts it up, taking a bite from it and setting it back down completely without marks. Maki slides back into his seat and kicks his feet up once more. ”You both were warned of just how dangerous that woman was. But you didn’t trust me. You had already decided by that point that I was lying. Neither Konoha nor I want unfeeling robots in the position of shinobi in this village, but we do want people who can follow orders. When you don’t follow orders, people can die. You’re going to be told, as shinobi, to do terrible things for the good of your homeland. That can range from assassination to pacification of an entire region. You will have regrets. The only people without regrets are those who are not truly alive.”

He rises and suddenly the room changes. No longer are the two bound. All of the desks in the room are once more in order. The apple is once more completely eaten to the core. Maki’s clothes has gone back to their normal colors. ”That was a genjutsu. You entered it the moment you entered this room. So unlike me, your mistake here didn’t actually cause anyone to die. But don’t treat it as any less of a mistake for that. I made that same mistake and it cost me my mother. When you get an order, follow it. IF you feel it was in error, follow it and then report it to a superior. Humanity is an important thing, but too much and you can lose people truly important to you. Dismissed.”

(Tutoring done.)

 

[Kishinami Kou]

In silence he watched as events unfolded infront of him. He didn't actually expect everything to turn out like this, but it worked out in his book. He would have been more serious if it had been a real event ofcourse, but this being a class, he couldn't really take it serious. The only thing he wasn't to happy about, was the fact that he hadn't figurd out it had been a Genjutsu they had been under, so he did grit his teeth a bit. And although Kuro could feel a little for Maki and the loss of his mother, he himself would consider himself lucky if someone came and just ended his mother, atleast that was what he told himself and believed in. "I will keep it in mind, this was an intersting lesson, far better then the boring student lectures." He stood up and went for the door, "I like you already, Captain, I'll make sure to not disappont you." Back turned he gave a goodbye handsign and left.

[leaving - tutor done]

 

[Naomi]

Masahiko watched, mouth open, as Maki got to his feet like a zombie. The wound on his neck looked so terribly real and bloody that the boy's stomach dropped to his toes. He continued to struggle and squirm, yet not as much as before. His eyes were fixated on the previously dead-looking man, even as the woman's laugh continued without pause, like a broken record that mocked their failure, until the shinobi dismissed her.

He stopped moving as Maki spoke, his own anger and surprise seeping until a frowning but semi-accepting teen was left. His chin never lowered, but he didn't look particularly proud. He didn't want to agree outright, but he didn't want to reject this lesson outright. It was obviously going to play some part in his future as a shinobi, no matter what morals or beliefs he had. But he need to process and overcome his already-glaring weaknesses, and that would take some time.

So he said nothing and merely listened with rapt attention. Of course, he was surprised and a bit miffed to find he was in a Genjutsu. But still, he said nothing and just listened with stony features. He wasn't going to forget any of this soon, and despite how much of a fool he'd ended up looking like, he was eager for more lessons on life as a shinobi.

He got to his feet on dismissal before he bowed to Maki. "Thank you for the lesson, Captain," he said, and left.

[MFT]