Homesickness [Tutor]

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo and Hira had been training together for weeks now, barely a day went by before they either trained or competed. Both of them had experienced rapid growth under each others competition and it was something Tatsuo would miss. He had only told one person about his plan to head home soon, but this time it would be a lot harder. It was hard to imagine a day without some sort of antics between his brothers of the Blazing Spirit. But Tatsuo's yearning for home grew and grew as time went by. He had grown more inwards and depressed the longer he stayed away from the village. The time in Cloud was necessary for him, Kaji's teachings, his experiences alongside Hira and Hoshi, all of these things reinvigorated not only the boy's spirit, but his will to live.

Like all wounds, time slowly healed it. With the assistance of his brothers of the Blazing Spirit and the father-like figure that Kaji provided gave Tatsuo exactly what he needed to go back to Leaf and face his issues head on. Not only to improve himself, but to ignite the spirits of Konoha and to make sure their Will of Fire blazes bright as his own. It had been so long since he had been in the village, he wondered what changed and what stayed the same. He wasn't even aware that there was a new Hokage, no one deemed it necessary to send him a letter informing him of it. He was a lowly Chuunin, after all.

Today Tatsuo was hanging out at the Dojo, if he wasn't at the house he usually was here and he knew it wouldn't be long before Hira showed up. He laid down, rested his eyes and placed his arm over them. As he slowly drifted to sleep..

WC: 303/1500
Post Count: 1/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Scrambling to put on some training clothes, Hira grabbed his weapon and began to sneak into the kitchen; a ninja at work attempting to infiltrate the mother's den and take some well-deserved breakfast for the long day ahead of him. Reaching his hand over to the counter, he grabbed a plate of food, peering around cautiously to ensure nobody was watching. As he started to tip-toe out the door, his mother's voice came calling from another room.

'It'll be a warm day in Kirigakure before you're able to sneak past me. Where are you going?'

"Mom, stop being so nosy. I'm just going out to destroy my rival."

'Well tell your rival that you'd better be home for dinner this time, otherwise, I'm going to be the one destroying him.'

She chuckled as he ran away quickly, a nervous chuckle escaping his mouth as he made way towards a home within the forest.

Finally arriving at his destination, Hira began to snoop around, looking for where Tatsuo might be hiding this time. The boy began to quietly walk around the home, peering through windows and glancing at the surrounding trees. Soon enough as Hira moved on from the empty house, through a process of carefully tripping over his own feet while getting far too into character, he saw the leaf shinobi laying down near the dojo that he frequented.

Now this is just too good an opportunity to let slip. Woody, you're about to meet your maker.

Hira once again entered stealth mode, crouching low to the floor and hiding behind some nearby shrubbery. The two had come to know not only each other's strengths but each other's weaknesses too. At least that's what Hira would have liked to believe. Creeping up on his friend, Hira began to weave some simple hand signs, and soon a miniature sphere of water appeared over Tatsuo's head.

"Wake up sleepy head!"

Hira called out while simultaneously releasing his jutsu, letting the water fall directly onto Tatsuo in a glorious display of both fine pranking and devilish instigation.

[WC 344. Total WC 344.]

 

[Tatsuo]

Sleeping truly was Tatsuo's greatest foe. He could fall asleep in a forest in a matter of minutes and unfortunately for him his rival knew this. Using a quick water jutsu to splash him awake, Tatsuo darted to his feet, putting his hands up in a defensive position as he looked left and right calling out to whoever was there, "C'mon fight me like a real man!!!" he said in a sleepy daze before his eyes drooped as he noticed it was just Hira. "You know that's no fair. I fall asleep quick in forests." But just as quick as he was irritated, he was happy once again. Wiping his face as he remembered what he needed to talk about today.

For a moment he grew silent listening to the wind rustle the leaves around them. He looked from his feet back to Hira, "Hey buddy there's something I want to tell you." He pursed his lips, he didn't realize it would be so hard to say. His heart grew heavy and a pit grew in his stomach, with a large hefty sigh. "This isn't anything against you.. I just.. miss Konoha." He felt the need to explain himself, he sat back down as he told him. There wasn't anyone in the world he considered better friends than the trio of Hoshi, Hira and Tatsuo but how much would change? How could they be best friends if he left the village and went back home?

WC: 548
Post Count: 2/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira looked over to Tatsuo with sincere eyes as he began to explain his situation, taking a seat next to him to ease the awkwardness of the moment. He knew all too much what Tatsuo was going through right now, and it felt wrong that he was nervous to come out and say what he meant.

"Hey look, Tatsuo, I get it. Yeah, it'll be lame when I don't get to kick your butt every morning, but you need to focus on doing what you want to do, even if that means leaving the village. My parents aren't from here originally, they are from Kirigakure. Look at the place now: it's a frozen wasteland that my mom couldn't go back to even if she wanted to, so I've seen this homesickness."

Hira gave a brief pause for Tatsuo to soak in the information but continued with his explanation. He wanted his friend to feel comfortable with his decision, regardless of what other people might think.

"You should treasure your home while you still have it because at any moment it could just be gone, and the people that made you miss it in the first place could disappear alongside it. Don't let it slip through your fingers without having a chance to say goodbye. I can at least tell you that much from experience. And hey, if anything, it's just more incentive to keep getting stronger. The next time you see me, I'll be leagues ahead of you Woody!"

Hira made a small gesture and pulled as much of the moisture off of Tatsuo as he could, in an effort to show his good faith.

[WC 275. Total WC 619.]

 

[Tatsuo]

Hira took it a lot better than he expected, he never thought that he might have faced the same problem with the Mist Village. The moisture being pulled off him made him smile and shake his head, "I mean, you'll never beat me. But as we've found we're pretty neck and neck. Not sure if I'll ever be able to take you down either." He sighed before rubbing his face with his hands, "I just.. I hope no one thinks it's because I don't like the people of Cloud. I haven't told Kaji yet, Hoshi either. I don't think Hoshi will take it as well, I hope he does." he said laughing as he sat up against the wall, thinking about what it'd be like. He sat up for a few moments without saying anything, letting the silence cut through their conversation before breaking the silence himself.

"Promise me though, no matter what happens, you'll continue to get stronger. I don't want to come back and visit you some day and you're too weak. Remember we've got to beat Kaen and every villain like him. No matter where we are. If i'm in Konoha and if you're in Kumo, or if i'm on the moon and you're under the sea. It doesn't matter. We made a promise to fight it everywhere. I'm going to continue getting stronger, i'm going to teach plenty of kids back in Leaf how to be shinobi like us. Just make sure you do the same thing, I trust you and Hoshi more than I do anyone. I really do. You guys are my closest friends, there aren't any other people in this whole world i'd rather fight someone like Kaen with. Even if i'm not in the village." He sighed, wiping the newly forming tears from his eyes. "Just promise me you'll continue to get strong. And that the next time we cross paths we'll be able to defeat anything the world throws at us!"

WC: 878
Post Count: 3/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

"Look, you've mastered the same water jutsu that I did! Or is that just leftover from when I splashed you awake?"

Hira teased his friend, giving him a soft punch in the shoulder as he wiped his tears.

"You're definitely overthinking this whole thing. Nobody is going to hate you for wanting to go back home. Just because you are leaving the village doesn't give you an excuse to stop being friends with us, cause that is the only thing that would have us hunting you down. And you can be sure that I'm going to get stronger."

Hira looked over to where he had plopped his weapon down, never having gone anywhere these days without it.

"I've made a promise to too many people that I wouldn't stay weak. I don't care what that takes, it will happen. Besides, Im not sure I'm well suited to the whole teaching thing. I'd much rather be able to focus on my own training without interruptions."

Hira paused for a moment, not sure where else he wanted to go with his train of thought. It had seemed that Tatsuo was planning on taking much longer to explain his reasoning, despite the unavailing nature of doing so. He should have realized that his friend would not hold something so petty against him. Ever since the battle with Kaen they had been in this thing together... what ever this thing was. A shared desire to bring peace to the innocent by defending them against harm? But what good were they if all they could do was fight...

"Look, I don't know much about where you come from or if you have any family there. I've made my promise, but you have to swear to me that you won't push them away. I spent my whole life up to this point fighting with my dad for nothing, accomplishing nothing, but in the end,
I didn't even get to say sorry... I didn't get to say goodbye. Promise me you won't let your connections just disappear like that..."

[WC 342; Total WC 961]

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo took in the words Hira had to say, it was comforting in a sense. To know that Hira had some of the same issues he did, it made him feel more alive and less foreign to the world. Sharing pains like these with a friend, especially one he held to such a high regard made him feel human. Just like when you worry about something and always wonder if others do but you're too embarrassed to ask, Hira helped him with that. He wiped his tears, "Yeah I mean.. I can't believe you splashed all that water on me." he said between laughs and tears.

"I promise. No matter what happens, just like that day when we fought so fiercely and figured out our Nindo. They'll never be a day where I won't be affected by the connections I made here. When you, Hoshi, and I stared death down and didn't flinch it changed me. It really did Hira, from that day on I felt some new invigoration to become strong enough to protect people who were willing to stand up to evil like that. No matter who they were, friend or foe I realized that day. One day. All of us would be able to protect them.. but i've realized whose protecting Leaf? Sure the Hokage is there.. and sure there are plenty of ninja stronger than I. Probably ones who make Kaen look weak even, but they'll never understand what we mean when we say our spirit blazes. Someone has to teach them you know? All the academy students, all the Genin, someone has to show them what it means to be a Ninja and I feel like.." he sighed realizing just how long he had been talking. "I'm sorry, I just feel like someone needs to show them. And who else other than me?" He began to laugh a bit, for no real reason it was just a childish giggle that seemed to come out of him. Here they were, just two kids barely at the curtails of adulthood and they spoke like this. Like they understood the world, ready to take on her burdens. But if any kid could, it would be them.

He continued to laugh at his past ignorance, "Of course. We'll always be friends Hira. Doesn't matter where I am. Doesn't matter where you are, whether the Dojo is destroyed or the whole world, you know I got your back even if i've got to march all the way back from Konoha to remind you of it." Conversations like these rarely happened between friends but when they did it re-cemented that bond of friendship the two worked so hard to forge. "You know, when I get back to Leaf i'm going to have to build a Dojo there. I don't actually have a house there anymore." he said as he rubbed the last bit of tears out of his face. "I'll make sure to put in a room for you and Hoshi if you guys ever find yourself on the warmer side of the continent." He jested for a few moments before growing quiet. Moments like these took some time to really breathe in all the information, so much was changing so fast. Life would be very different, but different wasn't always bad. And he knew deep in his core, that if he ever needed help, he could find it here. Among his brothers of the Blazing Spirit.

WC: 1454
Post Count: 4/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

"Yeah, I'd like to visit your village some day. I want to travel all around the world, and maybe even back to see what is left of my real home. I think being able to experience different things like that... we need to get stronger in more way than one. I need to have the strength to believe my mom will be safe while I travel. I need to have the strength to believe that the others will take the torch of teaching the students when I grow up so that I can keep them safe from afar."

Hira stopped briefly, wondering what exactly it was that had brought Tatsuo to the village in the first place. He realized that he never really found it appropriate to ask, nor did he ever feel comfortable asking something like that. He didn't know what kind of memories it may bring back, or if there might have been more political reasons that might cause some tension between the two, but in this moment before he left for real, when they were sharing more personal thoughts, he felt that it might finally be time to learn more about his friend.

"Hey, I've been wondering Tatsuo... what made you want to come to leaf? I mean... even if there was some kind of mission or political venture, you don't have to tell me. Past that is what I mean. If it was only a mission, they would have sent a jounin. Not that you aren't strong, but at least here I doubt they'd send someone so young past another village's gates if it might not go well. So they must have sent you because you had some sort of reason to... right?"

[WC 287; Total WC1248]

 

[Tatsuo]

When Hira asked him the question of why, he bit his lower lip. He was right, it was no political maneuver, it was a simple request accepted by the Hokage but that wasn't all of it. He hated saying why, but in a moment like this, especially to someone he respects so much he couldn't lie. "If I didn't come to Cloud I would've died." he said choking up a bit, as if his throat was trying to get him to stop speaking. "I had no reason to live, my mother passed away. My father kicked me out, I was working as hard as I could just to pay for an apartment. I was too young back then and nowhere as powerful as I am now. The only missions I could do were simple, walk dogs, clean yards, nothing that would allow me to make a real living off of. I got to the point where I questioned whether this was the life I wanted to live, or if I wanted to live at all. But after a few months of dealing with that, I got a message via courier, someone I helped in Cloud on my first trip needed my help." He took in a few big breaths, trying to calm his nerves of talking about the situation.

"I begged the Hokage to let me go, for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to come back to Cloud and hopefully die in this frozen wasteland on a mission that was probably too much for my ability. That was my plan, I convinced him it would be easy and he was gracious enough to listen to me. He let me return, I fully planned on dying on that mission. At least I could've went out doing something good ya' know? Not being a loser who couldn't even afford a house. However.. I ran into someone I never hoped to." He thought back to that day in the tavern, just how awkward he felt. No matter how he felt that day it was the beginning of a change in him, one that made him a better person. Something he'd never forget.

"Kaji sensei walked into the tavern and treated me.. just like nothing had ever happened. I don't know why, I guess I was vulnerable, but I told him everything. Just like i'm telling you now and he offered me to come to Cloud with him, even if for a short bit, just so I could be more comfortable." he nearly broke into tears again, wiping at his face trying to keep them in. His voice continued to crack and betray him. "It took a while, but after meeting back with Hoshi, training with Kaji, fighting Kaen with you guys.. I just made my will of live come back, I want nothing more than to become great. There are too many people who believe in me now. Before I had no one and now i've got better friends than I could ever imagine. But there are somethings I need to face there. I promise this won't be the last time we see each other, but I can't always run from my problems." he looked over to Hira with a broken smile, "Now with all of you on my side, I can face the world."

WC: 1500+/1500
Post Count: 5/5

 

[Hirateuchi]

Hira listened sympathetically as his friend relayed his tragic story, not seeming to hold back any of the sad details. It made him sad as well, but it also made him crack a faint smile, happy to realize the effect he had on Tatsuo. It was so easy to simply pass this friendship off as something bound to happen just by fighting together, but everything they had talked about today...

When Tatsuo finished talking, Hira gave a moment of silence to let all the information sink in before chiming in.

"Look... I'm not going to sit here and say that I understand what you are going through. I'm fortunate enough to still live with my mom, but my dad passed away recently and I'm still trying to come to terms with that. But I'm glad that I could help you feel some worth again. For the longest time I had no desire to live the life of a shinobi either, even up until we fought Kaen. Heck even after that I was still hesitant; perhaps I was more hesistant. Me and my father always fought about training, and up until the end I was horrible to him because of it. I didn't realize until it was too late that people like Kaen... that's what he was trying to protect me from. That's what he was trying to get me strong enough to protect myself from. Now I'm left with.... regrets. And I will always have to live with those. Seeing you though... seeing Hoshi and Kaji, all of the people I've met fight so hard for this, I get it now. You can be damned sure that I'm going to get stronger, and if... no when i visit, if you're slacking you're dead meat!"

Hira finished his resounding speech, tilting his head up and laughing as he tried his best to cover up a tear of his own. Tatsuo had truly been a great friend, and he hoped that whatever he planned to do back in Leaf wouldn't change that. No, he hoped that if Tatsuo could face his struggles head on it would only serve to strengthen it.

[WC 359; Total WC 1607]