A Day Off [Open]

[Morikou Asuchi]

Sometimes you really just needed to relax.

Asuchi’s life lately had been mission after mission, assignment after assignment, and he really just needed some personal time. You can only go balls to the wall, tryhard mode for so long before it starts eating away at you. Everybody needs a break eventually, and Asuchi definitely wanted his. He left his house in the early morning, before the couriers made their morning rounds to come tell him he had to report to the Torre Celeste for mandatory sexual harassment training or some other crap seminar. Everyone thinks being a shinobi is so cool but there’s just so much damn paperwork and extraneous bullshit.

No, today was going to be a personal day. He trekked up toward the Ancient Forest early, listening to the songs of the birds as they awoke, seeing the mountains silhouetted against the rising sun. At the entrance of the forest, he grabbed one of the lower branches of the nearest tree and swung himself up. Climbing up a few more branches, he found one that looked large enough to comfortably support his weight. A content sigh escaped his lips as he threw his bag onto the next branch over and settled in, back against the trunk, legs sprawled outward. His perch was a decent distance off the ground, but anyone coming along the path could still clearly see him. Perhaps it wasn’t the best position to avoid being bothered by passersby, but this branch was oddly comfy…

Asuchi clasped his hands behind his head and yawned. Closing his eyes, he planned to just sit and relax for an hour or two. There was no better way to spend the day than doing nothing, and that was just what he intended to do.

[MFT]

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Another day off, another full day of training.. Randori had gotten to the point where he doesn't even question how he's able to wake up so early just so that he can exhaust himself by doing hours of constant training in the forest. Waking up a few hours before he would've been woken up by his classmate, he got all of his gear ready and exited the dorms. Letting out a sigh as he walked off of the academy grounds, he began making his way to the forest. It was fairly cold this morning, he was now seriously considering buying a jacket, despite preferring not to wear anything that could potentially get in the way. A few people that were up at this hour smiled as they walked past him on their way to whatever it was they had to do. He didn't even bother sprinting to the forest like he normally would today, he just felt groggy and sore, not really wanting to do anything, simply knowing that he should to better himself.

As he reached the forest, he took a moment to stare up at the trees for no reason at all, besides to do it. The birds began to chirp when he reached the path to his usual training grounds, but something was off. For some reason, there were footprints on the path that were never there on normal mornings, no one ever came out here this early in the day. Deciding to ignore it for now, he continued, but hoped he wouldn't encounter whoever left the prints behind. When he reached the person that left the tracks, it seemed they were asleep in the tree by the path, so he tried to slip by them without getting their attention.

"Guess I got lucky, didn't have to deal with being social.." He mumbled to himself as he walked by as quietly as possible. But of course, things couldn't go his way, and he ended up stepping on a dry branch. The branch snapped and seemingly echoed through the forest, and was probably heard by the man in the tree. Randori stopped and looked toward the man, assuming he had woken up and noticed him. Just in case the man was dangerous, Randori clutched the hilt of his massive sword, prepared to draw it if necessary.

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

Although he appeared to be lounging in the tree, Asuchi was far from asleep. His mind was calm and clear, but his shinobi training did not flutter away at the first sign of an easy day. He heard a set of approaching footsteps. They were soft, but still apparent, and he originally intended to pay them no mind. There was bound to be people coming through this path over the course of the day. He figured that they wouldn’t bother him, and he wouldn’t bother them. But he clearly heard one set of footsteps, and then he suddenly heard a voice mutter something that he couldn’t quite make out. His curiosity was piqued, and his eyes flit open right when the crack of the branch reached his ears. He glanced down at what was now obviously a young boy carrying a very large sword. The boy’s eyes met his own, and he noticed the subtle movement of the boy’s hand shifting toward the hilt of the blade.

Asuchi’s brows furrowed in confusion as he languidly dropped out of his perch. He took a step or two towards the young boy and interlocked his fingers behind the back of his head. Perhaps it would put the boy at ease seeing his hands where they couldn’t easily access a weapon. Of course, the chuunin could still be extremely dangerous, but he had no reason to cause any harm.

”What do you think you’re doing with that thing? I know the Ancient Forest can be scary and all, but we are still in Kumogakure you know. It’s not the wild west out here, you don’t need to be suspicious of everyone you pass.”

[MFT]

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Randori's hand gripped the blade's hilt even harder as the man approached him, and even when his hands went behind his head he was still tense. The only thing that made him ease up a bit was when he spoke, he figured that if someone tried to kill him, they wouldn't take their time doing it. He took his hand away from his sword and stuffed them into his pockets with a sigh. Quickly scanning the man, he determined he wouldn't randomly attack him and responded to his statement.

"I don't have it for protection currently, I'm here to train." Why he told the man exactly what he was doing out here he didn't know. Looking around him to make sure there was no one else, he sighed again and closed his eyes for a moment. He had to prepare to put on his act for a while since he felt he wouldn't get away so easily without looking suspicious. After cracking his neck, he reached his hand out to the man and said. "I'm Soruja Randori, nice to meet you." Wether his hand was accepted or not, he would proceed to take the sword out of its holster and lean against a tree to the side of the path. Randori still didn't fully trust the man in front of him, so he kept an eye on him.

A group of people walked down the path toward them, but seemed to not want to get involved with what seemed like a bad situation, so they turned around and looked back frequently to see what would happen. Snickering at them for a moment for getting the completely wrong idea about what was going on, he lost focus for a moment but quickly corrected himself and continued to stare at the man in front of him.

{MFT}

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

"I don't have it for protection currently, I'm here to train."

Whatever your intentions, you definitely treated it as a self-defense mechanism when you thought I might be a threat. Asuchi thought, looking the boy up and down. He noticed an odd amount of sighing from the younger shinobi, as if he was hassled and tired by their interaction, brief as it had been so far. Hopefully you don’t want to be in main branch then, or at least not the intelligence service. Most of our job is talking: to diplomats, to beautiful women as part of cover IDs, and to angry gangsters whenever those cover IDs are blown. Each operative needs a silver tongue and bloody fists.

"I'm Soruja Randori, nice to meet you." Asuchi noticed hand extended in greeting. He smiled and shook it, replying in kind, ”Morikou Asuchi. The pleasure is mine.” He noticed Randori proceeded to withdraw his sword, although not menacingly, and then leaned against a nearby tree. He also took note of the group of people that appeared to stay at a safe distance, watching their interaction. They were quickly filed under “Not a threat” and “Uninteresting”. Randori on the other hand, was at least interesting.

”So, I take it you’re an academy student? Have you thought about which branch you’re going to join upon graduation?”

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Randori had never actually thought about what he wanted to do when he passed his genin exam, besides when he was told by one of the sennin to see them after he passes his exam, which made him think about the possibility of being anbu. He took a moment to think about what branch he would join, but couldn't come up with anything. It didn't help how he was never informed of all the branches, nor did he take the time to research them. Looking back at Asuchi, he realized that he was probably a shinobi, so he decided he would ask him about the various branches, including the one he was in.

"I've never actually thought about what I wanted to do, but maybe if you tell me about the different branches I'd get an idea." With that, he stabbed his sword into the ground so it could support itself and sat down. He was now prepared to listen to what could turn out to be a long explanation, unless Asuchi didn't want to explain them of course. As long as he could get some form of info to assist him in the future, losing time from his physical training would be worth it. Looking around the forest, he noticed that it was actually rather peaceful when there wasn't to many people around. He never took the time to take in his surroundings before, since he was always training or focused on doing so to notice that the scenery was nice.

Wether Asuchi had begun speaking or not, Randori would begin looking around and focusing on what was around him rather than the man he just asked a question that would require an explanation. Of course, he would focus enough to still gather information from the explanation, but would probably seem wholly unfocused on the talk. Eventually, Randori would close his eyes for a moment and continue watching Asuchi when he opens them. He had to try and remain focused in any situation so that he wouldn't be taken by surprise.

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

Randori appeared to think about the question for a moment or two, before confessing that he had absolutely no post-graduation plans. Asuchi stared, mouth agape for a moment or two. This was a completely foreign concept to him. In his academy class, most everyone wanted to join the ANBU, with a small contingent preferring the medical branch. Almost no one seemed to choose the main branch, like he did. It was just where you ended up if ANBU or Med-Nin didn’t work out. But regardless, everyone at least had an idea.

”For Shinbatsu’s sake, they haven’t even taught you about the branches? What in the world has happened to the academy…?” Asuchi pondered aloud. Perhaps he needed to switch to the Academy division and whip the curriculum into shape. There’d be less exotic women to court, but some of the kunoichi sensei weren’t too bad to look at. Perhaps later in his career, when the physical toll of intelligence work would be too much for his old joints and bones.

”Well, you’ve got the standard three branches, Main, ANBU, and Medical,” Asuchi began, ”I can speak about Main much more than I can about ANBU or Medical, but I can give you a general overview of each. ANBU are your standard special forces, focusing on covert operations. They’re secretive, of course, with those masks everyone covets. They’ve got a few different divisions, although I’m not actually privy to the finer points of all of them.

“The Medical branch generally support Main and ANBU out in the field, with one or two Med-Nin on a mission in case it all goes tits up and they need to prevent someone from dying. They’ve also got your standard hospital doctors back here in the village that deal with the sick and injured within the safety of Kumogakure. There’s also a medical research division, but I confess I don’t know too much about that one.

“Finally, there’s the Main branch. We’ve got the Deathwatch, which keeps order at the gates, as well as oversees all communications through Kumogakure. They handle everything from missing attempts, to taxes, to telegrams. Then there’s the Academy, which is in charge of all of your classes and your curriculum. In addition, they also employ scouts to travel across Lighting Country and find chakra-sensitive children to bring to Kumo. Main also has a small division dealing with special assignments, somewhat similar to the ANBU. I can’t tell you too much about this one. Security clearance required, you understand. It's existence has actually been a point of contention lately, with some arguing that we’re stepping on the ANBU’s toes. I personally like that we have the division, but that decision is above my pay grade. Finally, there's the Intelligence Service. This is my division, and where the bulk of Main shinobi and therefore Kumogakure shinobi end up. I’ve been on assignment around Lightning country lately, but we have operatives working right here in Kumogakure as well as in other countries. We take on your “standard” shinobi assignments: taking out dangerous targets, stealing valuable goodies, operating undercover long-term to gain intel, etc. We’ve got the Diplomatic Corps, as a sub-division, which handles international relationships primarily with Bear and Marsh, but also with all other countries as well. There’s also the Criminal Investigative Division, which confusingly enough is another sub-division. It enforces laws and investigates crimes and suspicious activity. Positions within the Intelligence Service are relatively fluid. I primarily work out on assignment, but I’ve occasionally helped out with the Diplomatic Corps and the Criminal Investigative Division.”

Asuchi seemed to catch up with his own train of thought, and realized that he basically haphazardly threw a bunch of information at the younger shinobi, hoping it would stick. He reconsidered his earlier thought of becoming an academy sensei. Perhaps he wasn’t fit for that line of work. ”That’s basically it. Sorry for the info dump, do you have any questions?”

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Even though there was a lot of information being thrown at Randori, he still managed to take note of the important things, these "important things" mostly being the names of the different fields in the main branch. Now that he knew of all the things he could do when he graduated from the academy, he had even less of an idea of what he actually wanted to do. There were so many options, it was hard for him to choose any of them, especially since he didn't even know what he enjoyed doing besides fighting at the moment. The only things he knew for certain, were that there was a possibility of him getting into Anbu, and being a guard at the gate didn't seem like it would be hard, which meant that they were both possibilities for him if he wanted to be lazy. So much information was being processed in his mind right now, and this caused him to completely forget about the fact he was talking to someone until he looked back up at them.

"Oh, sorry." He said after taking a while to think, he assumed he looked like he didn't even hear the question he was asked. "I don't think I have any questions, you seemed to explain it well enough to give me an idea of what they all are." Continuing to think about all the information he had just been given once more, he remembered that Asuchi had mentioned how the academy must be loosing it's way and decided to be a bit more clear with why he didn't know about the various branches.

"And by the way, it's probably not that they didn't go over the branches, but that I didn't pay attention even if they did. I've never done well in classes that didn't involve any physical training, so it's honestly a miracle I've made it as far as I have." With that, he stood back up and returned his sword to it's sheath. He was getting a bit fidgety now since he was wanting to go train, and he needed a way to move around a little. "Could we walk? I need to move around a little." If Asuchi agreed to walk and began doing so, Randori would follow, if not then he would remain in place.

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

Asuchi watched and waited as the boy appeared deep in thought about something. He hoped he was processing the buttload* of information, but it was equally likely he was thinking about the cool new skateboard he was going to get for ninja Christmas. This whole teaching business was difficult, how were you supposed to know if you were getting through to the students? They’re timid little children, they’re not going to tell you. What if no one has any idea what you’re even talking about? What if they just don’t care? HOW DO I REACH THESE KEEEDS?**

"Oh, sorry. I don't think I have any questions, you seemed to explain it well enough to give me an idea of what they all are."

Oh thank Shinbatsu. Perhaps he did have a future boning hot kunoichi sensei.

"And by the way, it's probably not that they didn't go over the branches, but that I didn't pay attention even if they did. I've never done well in classes that didn't involve any physical training, so it's honestly a miracle I've made it as far as I have."

Asuchi looked down at Randori, a look of mild surprise evident on his features. Admitting faults was difficult for many, even some of the jounin he’d met. This boy had at that going for him, and it could be quite the help. A walk was proposed, and Asuchi wasn’t one to protest. He nodded silently, and they set off down the path.

”You’re aware of your shortcomings it seems. That’s the first step to fixing them. If you’ve gotten by on physicals alone, you’re probably quite the talent in that area, but you’re going to have to bring the other areas up to snuff. I’m not much for Genjutsu, for example, but what few I do know, I can do well and they’ve come in handy many times.” Asuchi glanced down at the young boy, aware he was on the verge of lecturing once again. He decided to cut himself short, ending simply with, ”The well-rounded shinobi are the ones that stay alive.”

* A “buttload” can be taken as a synonym for butt, which is an English unit used to measure volume of an alcoholic beverage. A butt is equal to 1.5 puncheons, or 2 hogsheads, or 4 barrels, or 126 gallons. Other equivalent units of measure have been excluded for brevity.

** In this instance, keed (singular, slang: “kid”). Gosh Grandpa, learn the lingo.

[MFT]

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Enjoying the short moment of silence as they made their way down the path, he closed his eyes and simply hoped he wouldn't stray from said path. It had been a while since Randori had simply relaxed like this instead of training in some way. When he began taking a deep breath, Asuchi spoke and caused him to cut this breath short and open his eyes. Randori was somewhat sad that the moment of silence was gone, but the statement that caused this was one that he didn't mind. It ALMOST seemed like a compliment to him.

”You’re aware of your shortcomings it seems. That’s the first step to fixing them. If you’ve gotten by on physicals alone, you’re probably quite the talent in that area, but you’re going to have to bring the other areas up to snuff. I’m not much for Genjutsu, for example, but what few I do know, I can do well and they’ve come in handy many times.”

This made him think about the fact that he actually focused on his shortcomings quite often, mostly because he wanted to improve and needed to know them in order to do so. Although, if he were to follow this advice completely, it would contradict advice he was given earlier. Now beginning to think of ways to merge the two pieces of advise, he figured that the old one was probably more useful, but Asuchi did have a point since it seemed Randori's physical capabilities have improved a lot since the last time he had tested them. Maybe it was time to test them once more? If his taijutsu proved to be good enough to begin mixing in other forms of fighting, it could be worth it to try.

"The well-rounded shinobi are the ones that stay alive."

This statement broke him from his train of thought, but also gave him an idea at the same time. Maybe Asuchi could help him with seeing if it was time to move on to other forms of training? It was clear that he was strong enough to handle Randori, so it could be both fun and a chance to learn something. Now smiling from the thought of something challenging coming along today, he cracked his neck again and turned to face Asuchi while still walking

"If you believe that's the case, would you want to help me see if it's time to move on? Just a short match will do." He couldn't wipe the smile off his face, it had been a bit since the last time he got to spar with a shinobi, and it had been getting boring just fighting people on the street. "The place I usually train is pretty close if you'd be up for helping me out." Stopping, Randori pointed in the direction of his usual training spot. Hopefully this could be something he'd get to do today.

[MFT]