Manners Training 101 [Class]

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin walked back to the academy with students in tow. This was going to be a very annoying lesson for him but he understood Takeshi's point of view. Treat the wound before it becomes infected... and now he made him use a medical analogy. This was a weird day for sure. Kenshin would be quiet on his way back and he would simply lead. He approached the academy and asked the person at the front desk if there was a room available. There were a few and Kenshin picked room 121. It was a medium sized traditional classroom. Nothing too special about it.

Again, he would lead the students through the academy and he lead them to the room. He opened the door and let them pass into the room before him. He would close the door behind him and walk to the front of the room in front of the desk. He would scan the room carefully his silver eyes passing through the lot of them simply enough.

"Right so you all know why you are here. I am Yuu Kenshin. I am the Main Branch Sennin, Head Instructor, and Head of the Hokage Guard here in Leaf. This lesson is all about manners. As such I have introduced myself first. Now it is time for you to introduce yourselves." Kenshin would say his voice polite but firm.

WC 229
TWC 229

 

[Saitou Rei]

The silent journey from the forest to the academy seemed to stretch on forever. What a mess she had gotten herself into, for boys whose names she didn't even know! Yet she felt no regret, at least not for choosing to get involved. The last thought that had given her comfort in the forest continued to play in her mind, 'Dad would be proud.' Could she have gone about it differently? Most definitely. She didn't know at that moment what she could have changed, with all of it happening so quickly. Maybe this lecture would turn out to be a good thing, help her to be more diplomatic in her efforts to vouch for the kid who'd gotten himself mixed up in the wrong business. As they entered the academy, she felt certain she could make the most of this. She hoped the others, including those not there who were sent off to see the heads of the other branches, would do the same.

As they filtered into the room, Reicheru quietly took a seat as she awaited Kenshin's instruction. She panicked for a moment when he stood at the front of the room, wondering if she should have waited until he instructed them to sit to do so. 'It's a class, in a classroom. Teachers stand at the front and students sit. That's how it works, idiot,' she thought to herself, even as she suddenly felt hyper-aware of every move she made. This was, after all, a correctional behavior class; she could potentially get called out for anything at this point. The tension she felt faded as the Sennin introduced himself, calmly and politely, modeling his lesson's content from the start. Just from the way he carried himself, she could understand her parents' admiration of their branch's Sennin.

Then came time for the students to introduce themselves. The young girl looked around at the others, and when no one else made a move, she looked back to Kenshin and slowly stood from her chair; her demeanor was meek and timid, but her voice was strong and clear as she addressed the room. "My name is Saitou Reicheru. I am a new academy student, the daughter of Saitou Gorou and Nanjirou Akane…" she paused for just a moment, a small but proud smile reaching her lips as she said her parents names that was tainted with the same sadness that always came when talking about her recently deceased father, "…both of them shinobi of Konohagakure." She stood for a moment, fearing she had said too much, before giving a small nod and retaking her seat and turning to the others.

[MFT]
[Note: In another class already and as such not claiming rewards; here for RP purposes. Edit: Unless this is correct, in which case, if this class and the Evasive Manoeuvres class end in different weeks, I will gladly take the reward.]

 

[Imaya Kuza]

Katsu followed the girl, Reicheru, into the academy without much thought, somewhat oblivious to the whole situation. All he knew is she had spirit, and he liked anybody who had spirit. Felt like nowadays nobody was willing to do something beyond expectations, good or bad. Cowards, bullies, and weaklings, the lot of em. But him and her? They got involved in that situation, albeit in their own ways, knowing they didn't have to and put their own necks on the line.

Perhaps, of course, this sense of comradery was nothing but Katsu's own delusion to help rationalize the fact that he's vulnerable to the romantic charms of the opposite sex. Who's to know, except... wait, a minute... where was... huh? "Hey, I don't know why I'm here? And what d'you mean manners? I thought shinobi were all 'bout the fight, not stuck up aristocrats, yeah?"

[WC: 145]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

"Chill, we're not gonna be late!"

Another day, same old routine. As the young Inuzuka walked to his first class of the day, he seemed preoccupied with placating a young Shiba Inu nervously bounding alongside him. The dog certainly seemed antsy about something. His master continued to brush him off.

"Shiro, I promise we're gonna be on time," he insisted as the dog let out a few more disgruntled whines. As they approached the classroom door, they seemed to have arrived shortly after the students had taken their respective seats and the teacher began to give his lecture. Only two other students seemed to be there: one of them, a male student who looked like he wasn't massively keen on being here, and the other was a girl who looked so painfully uncomfortable that the air around her might as well be about to explode, at least until the teacher started talking.

Kohaku quietly took his seat close to the two students, letting the small Shiba dog jump up onto his lap. Shiromaru was staring intently at the teacher, taking in everything he was saying and looking strangely interested. The boy was sitting upright and simply letting what the sensei was saying wash over him as he tried to get his bearings of what was going on. Missing the introduction was always a great start to the class. Luckily, the other students had begun introducing themselves so he could kind of guess what the task at hand was all about.

"Nice to meet you guys," began Kohaku, looking fairly relaxed yet attentive, "I'm Kohaku, and this is my little brother, Shiromaru."

As the young student spoke, he seemed almost unaware that Shiromaru was a dog. He didn't seem to speak about him like he was a pet at all, in fact.

"Er... My father's called Inuzuka Mikaze. He used to be an ANBU squad leader, but he's been retired for a few months now," said Kohaku, sounding like he was trying to say something for the sake of padding out the silence after his slightly abrupt introduction.

WC: 341
[MFT]

 

[Kuru Watashi]

During the walk back to the academy, a few more bees flew in and out of Ryujou's collar as the boy himself remained fairly silent. He internally smiled to himself at the irony of the situation; before attending any classes or even getting the opportunity to go to class, he was sent here to get it over with. Not an entirely bad deal for talking trash to the Hokage. His bees would make sure that the time for this lesson wasn't entirely wasted.

Ryujou took a seat near the back of the class, looking around at the other students in the classroom as the Sennin explained the purpose of the class. He watched each student in turn as they introduced themselves until they were finished and an opportunity opened up for him. He then stood up, taped an explosive tag to the table infront of him and detonated it.

"I heard that this is what the cool kids do in classrooms," He said, pushing up his glasses as he spoke. "The name's Ryujou - I'm a bee carrier." Ryujou had noticed that the other students mentioned their parents which he followed suit with. "My parents are nothing special. I like bees."

His introduction quickly pattered out into awkwardness like the others but he felt confident that he had made his introduction cool and unique so he sat down once again.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would make a mental notes of the faces and the names. He would commit these names to memory. He had to put these students on the right path. Most of them were doing well with the simple introduction but... there always had to be one.

"It is very nice to meet you all. Now as for your question. Fighting is a very important part of being a shinobi. However shinobi must not only interact within the village but interact with other nations on certain occasions. For example, we do occasionally send students to other villages to train and it would behoove you to be civil. So you all met the Hokage and based on the fact we are here, it seems like your manners are not up to par. As you know in the village there are levels of shinobi. As Main Branch Sennin I am the head of all main branch shinobi. I take my orders directly from the Hokage, For Main branch shinobi, you start off as Genin, which is what all of you will hopefully be at some point. From there it is Chuunin then Jounin. Sennin is right above this and then the Hokage is the leader of all of Leaf. As such respect should be given to those who hold higher rank than you. For me, I don't like such stuffy titles and calling me Kenshin is perfectly ok. However if you were sent on a diplomatic mission, you would need to know what titles to use and what honorifics to give. Now, could you tell me the difference between informal and formal speech? " Kenshin would ask as his eyes scanned the class making sure everyone was paying attention.

It was not his normal topic of discussion but he expected them to work hard. This was an important foundation for them all. If they did not learn it now, it would cause them much distress in the future.

 

[Saitou Rei]

Reicheru listened as the others introduced themselves, giving an inaudible sigh and slight smile as Katsu failed to introduce himself and instead started going on about the idiocy of a lesson on manners for ninja. 'This is not going to go smoothly, is it?' She turned to look as the next student began to introduce himself, but something was off. Was this the same Inuzuka boy who had shown up at the last minute? No, he'd been sent off to talk to another branch head. This was a different kid, and he definitely hadn't been in the forest with them. He must have thought this was a regular class. Oh, was he in for a treat. As she was considering who all had been there, she looked around for the third student that should have been there when suddenly there was a loud BANG from behind. He had taken a seat in the back, and seemed determined to make this as difficult for himself as possible the young girl thought as she observed the smoke that rose from where the desk in front of him once stood.

Kenshin seemed to brush it off, however, and focused on explaining why they should care, even being a profession in which meetings were likely to come to blows anyway. It was a familiar concept for Reicheru, whose grandparents had instilled in her mother that it was just as important to be respected in the street as it was to be feared on the battlefield. There were parts of their philosophy that Rei disagreed with, but much of it made good sense. "Now, could you tell me the difference between informal and formal speech? "

Thinking on it, she wasn't sure she'd ever heard anyone break down the exact differences, but it was easy enough to infer from their names what the different types of speech would be used for. "I imagine informal language is how you'd speak with friends and close family. You can joke, use slang. Formal language is less personal, more…" Reicheru struggled not to say 'formal' in her definition of formal speech, "…professional. You'd be more likely to use it in a lecture, or when writing. You wouldn't use first person pronouns, or shorten words, or drone on needlessly."

As she finished, she thought back on what Kenshin had said about them all needing work on their manners based on their encounter with the Hokage, and while she still didn't think her asking them not to fight had been particularly disrespectful, Kohaku hadn't even been there, and she would hate for Kenshin to remember him as a trouble maker for something he hadn't done. Shooting an apologetic look at the Inuzuka boy, she quickly added on to her answer, "Also… with all due respect, Kenshin-sama, Kohaku wasn't there with the Hokage just now, he hasn't done anything wrong. And I hope I'm not overstepping by pointing that out, I just wanted you to know."

[MFT]
[WC: 494]
[TWC: 934]

 

[Imaya Kuza]

“...What’s with that?” Katsu muttered, though low enough so to not attract the attention of Kenshin. He may’ve been aggressive, but he wasn’t so stupid as to jump to violence without provocation… though, what he may consider provocation may have a much wider definition than for others. Still… listening to these students introduce themselves by their parents pissed him off a good bit. His dad was six feet under, and his mom shipped Katsu off to Konoha when all he wanted was to prove himself, prove that she could rely on him and that he wasn’t going to just exist meekly and small. Maybe his logic was contrary, but it was the only way he understood. It was the hero’s way, overcoming great challenge to reap satisfaction. And he did, whenever he overcame those bigger, stronger, and smarter than he was, he felt powerful. He thought she’d be proud.

He waited, though, and listened for a small bit as Kenshin finished and the other student, the girl he’d followed, answered the question earnestly. Katsu growled. “That isn’t right.” This time he spoke aloud, such that anybody could hear him. “Respect can’t be given based on some hierarchy or rank. Respect is earned through action. I’m no expert on diplomacy, but I would figure it’s the same deal: no need to mind manners with nations that don’t earn their due.”

As if to punctuate his point, Katsu leaned back and lifted a foot, resting his leg on the desk in front of him. A challenge.

[WC: 254]
[Total: 399]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

After watching another slightly mysterious looking kid walk into the classroom, he didn't really pay much attention to him as he seemed to skulk to the back of the classroom. As soon as he heard what sounded like a big firecracker go off behind him, he turned around with a bit of a start. Even Shiromaru flinched quite hard. Kohaku gave a slightly impatient huff and turned back around to give his attention to the teachers questions. There always had to be one person being pretentious and trying to show off. The lecture the teacher was giving started to get a bit weird though.

'Hokage,'</I><i></i> he thought to himself, <I>'so I guess all these guys have been through something together already...'

Shiro, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the more lesson-related aspects of the lecture about respect and diplomacy. When there were a spare few moments of silence, Shiro piped up to answer the question. He let out a few excited barks along with some grumbling noises, immediately looking back at his human counterpart shortly after.

"Oh, uh, he's saying that respect is really important with your superiors, especially when you've never met them before. If you don't try to accommodate others on a diplomatic mission, they don't know you, so if you don't give them respect they'll just have to assume you're intentionally trying to be rude. Diplomacy kinda fails then," explained Kohaku, half interpreting Shiro's words and half putting in his own two cents as well.

"Formal is for your parents, teachers, and superiors. Then you wanna be informal with your friends or you'll seem a bit weird," Kohaku said slightly awkwardly; it always seemed like he was repeating something he'd heard whispered into his ear - Shiromaru seemed to be the smarter one who paid the most attention in class after all.

WC: 312
[MFT]

 

[Kuru Watashi]

Ryujou sat there in his chair fidgeting as the class continued. He had missed a healthy portion of the lecture, distracted by the unnerving lack of intact desk in front of him, only managing to pick up the latter half of the Sennin’s lecture and the following question. He kicked lightly at the smoldering mess in front of him and his arms waved back and forth at his sides aimlessly as the boy felt increasingly aware of the fact that he had nowhere to put them now that he no longer had a desk in front of him

The answers, and lack thereof, on the part of the others seemed dull and he wasn’t in the mood to pay that much attention. The question and the bit of lecture that he had heard however did seem to be fairly interesting. Even more fun was the discussion that the other student brought to the table regarding the respect portion of it. Ryujou had a slight chuckle at the fact that the Inuzuka student and his companion still seemed oblivious to the fact that they were in fact in the wrong classroom, even with the consideration that the other student went to in order to point it out. He abruptly stopped with the realization that it had now come time for him to give his own response to the question of the lecture and he awkwardly stood up from his chair.

He then turned and blew the chair up too with an explosive tag. After all, it wasn’t as though there was much point for a chair to be there now that the desk was already gone. Ryujou felt that he was doing a service to society and turned back to the class with that in mind.

“I really liked the discussion about respect corresponding to ranks!” Ryujou began, “So all one has to do in order to force others to respect you is to reach a high enough rank? At that point you can just walk around the Leaf doing whatever you want to others and they can’t do a thing? Man, it really does seem like a convenient system for those that benefit from it.”

Realizing that he was starting to ramble, Ryujou sheepishly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “But that wasn’t the question was it? Sorry.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, thinking about how to link the question to the lecture and subsequently to the situation that had gotten them in the class in the first place before beginning to speak again, “Now I guess that informal speech is meant to be taken with a grain of salt; you can insult the Hokage as much as you want without it being considered serious!”

“Formal speech is when you have to be more correct with honorifics so that they know you’re being serious. In this sort of setting, if you’re insulting the Hokage then you really mean it!” Ryujou shrugged, “I think diplomatic missions and stuff should also be where you use formal speech too but I’m not too sure about that.” Having answered the question, Ryujou went to go find a new desk and chair for him to sit down in. He really wasn’t comfortable at all to be sitting somewhere that didn’t have a place for him to put his arms.

[MFT]
Word Count: 561
Total: 791

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

"Thank you. I do know that Kohaku was not part of the group. I like how you phrased that answer. It was polite. I think you are getting it." Kenshin would say as he looked around to the others.

Of course, Katsu had a different thought.

"I firmly disagree with your statement Katsu on a few points. First off, the very nature of that person's rank means they have proven themselves to many people. That may not include you but enough people to promote them to that status. And you must forgive me, shinobi especially foreign ones, are not going to explain to you why you should respect them. I do not need to introduce myself as a veteran of the war that reclaimed Leaf every time I meet someone. Our Kage has proved himself and as such even though I have known him a while and he is my friend, in official meetings he is Lord Hokage first. As a student you must realize that you are the bottom of the food chain as it were. Almost every shinobi you run across is a higher rank than you. Secondly, while you are no diplomacy expert you are and will be an ambassador from Leaf everywhere you go. You represent The Hokage, myself, if you stay in my branch, and the village every time you interact with another shinobi from another country. We are allied with Sand and Cloud because they have proven themselves to those who have power. Our alliances are not voted on by every ninja of every rank. They are decided by the higher ups for a reason. Which leads me to my third point. To maintain these alliances we must respect those int he alliances. That is the deal made by those in charge. The last thing we need is for our alliance to be scrapped because some ninja thought it was good idea to disrespect those shinobi while they were in our village. Wars have been started for less. So I expect all of you to pay attention and show as much respect as yo can to those around you. By respecting others you can build bonds and make this village stronger as well as yourself stronger. " Kenshin would then turn to the next answer.

He would nod towards Kohaku 's words.

Then Ryujou decided to speak some more interesting words.

"Respect does not mean you can do whatever it is you want. I am bound by rules just as much as you are as well as my moral convictions. Respect in this instance is just talking about using the right names and talking in a correct manner to those in a higher rank. Keep in mind that part of the genin exam you will be taking is about respect and the less you show others the more likely you are to fail. It only gets worse as you get into the higher ranks. I personally will never promote someone to Chuunin if they are seen disrespecting the Hokage, You can disagree with someone respectfully. This is a subtle difference that you may not grasp now. And as stated informal speech and formal speech is about honorifics yes. However, even informal speech is still wrong to use at the Hokage. Disrespect can be given by both informal and formal speech. Continuing to do so would be a very bad idea."

Keshnin would take a breath and look around again.

"For the next question, how would you approach a disagreement with someone who is a higher rank than you respectfully?"

 

[Saitou Rei]

Eyes closed, Reicheru held the bridge of her nose between her fingers with her elbow propped on the desk as Katsu continued to push the boundaries with Kenshin and Ryujou continued detonating explosive tags and destroying the classroom furniture. She was beginning to think that they got great joy out of this, digging deeper and deeper in the holes they'd gotten themselves into. Well, more Ryujou than Katsu - while she couldn't get a good read on the bee keeper, she couldn't imagine that he thought emphasizing the enjoyment he got out of talking smack to the Hokage would serve any purpose other than to further antagonize the Sennin. Katsu at least seemed to be standing up for an ideal that he truly believed. Unfortunately, it was one that Reicheru fiercely disagreed with.

She opened her mouth to voice that disagreement with the dark haired boy, but before she could Kenshin spoke the same words she had been planning to - albeit, much more eloquently. Probably for the best; getting into a verbal altercation with another student in a manners lecture surely would not have been a good look. Settling back in her chair, she listened as Kenshin explained the alliances they had forged and the apparent fragility of those bonds. Pursing her lips, she considered the likelihood of those relationships enduring if these were to be the rising shinobi of Konohagakure. Shaking the thought away, she refocused back on the Sennin as he posed his next question about how to disagree with someone respectfully.

"Honestly, Kenshin-sama, I had hoped to ask you that question. Back in the forest for example, I came into the confrontation a little late and while I didn't know all the details, it was clear that I couldn't fully agree with either side. I tried to talk things down, to convince the others to consider another perspective: that instead of fighting, things could be talked through. But considering that landed me here, I guess I must not have done it as well as I could have. The only alternative I could think of though was not to get involved, and that didn't sit right with me. So I really am not sure how I would handle it, I guess."

[MFT]
[WC: 372]
[TWC: 1,306]

 

[Imaya Kuza]

Was this bee man a friend of Kira’s? Katsu thought with some amused delight. He wasn’t too much about explosions, they weren’t his ‘style’, so to say. Imprecise, lacked a certain social dynamic which he could only express in combat. But, that said, controlling bees was damn cool! He wanted to fight this kid, but Katsu acted with his better judgement and decided this wasn’t the time. Rap battle against the Hokage? Okay, makes sense, could lead to something interesting. But fighting Bees right now only led to a singular, boring end point which he’d rather just not deal with at the moment.

Not-Kira was probably in the wrong place, not that Katsu’d tell him. It was, how to very amusing.

“Hm...” After hearing Reicheru’s own account, Katsu seemed to be thinking hard about something, rubbing his thumb against his temple in a semi-aggressive manner. He was considering what Kenshin said for a bit, then what Reicheru said, examining it from multiple angles, flipped it upside down and upside right again. He found faults and insights alike, and formulated his words carefully such that they combined into a cohesive argument. “I see what you’re saying, but I feel like that’s three different things we’re talking about. You can acknowledge accomplishments, and you can fear strength, but I don’t think either of those is inherently synonymous with respect.” In this instance, Katsu showcased a rare side to himself: intelligent and thoughtful. “When people begin to give respect to figures without ever being truly privy to their actions and thoughts, it’s akin to worship of a god, an impersonal relationship between two people made highly personal. It’s… absurd.”

“What my dear Reicheru said is testament to this. She did something, I think, is worthy of respect. May not be so grandeur as yours, sensei, but I saw it and I admit it took guts to get involved when she didn’t have to,” Katsu continued, gesturing to his fellow classmate.

Katsu became silent for a precious few moments, feeling like he was on the edge of some important realization, but put a lid on it for now and saved it for later. “My point being, if you need to recount your exploits to get people to respect you, Sensei, then you’re doing it wrong. Just my opinion, of course.”

“As for disagreeing with somebody of a higher rank than you, in a respectful manner? Impossible to pin down, I say. A waste of energy, even. Some would say that disagreeing in of itself is disrespectful.” Katsu sighed inside at that, remembering days when the grownups back in the village would constantly use age to strongarm their way through arguments with Katsu. He was probably the most literate in the village, though he supposed they would never admit that after the trouble he caused. In his head, though, it made sense to read a good bit. Combat was a physical fight, but debate was a fight of the mental category. Taijutsu and genjutsu, in a certain way.

[WC: 503]
[Total: 902]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Both Kohaku and Shiromaru had to admit that they felt very out of place here; neither of them had been present in this apparent precursor to the class in the forest. How did they end up here? Wrong classroom, maybe? It didn't really matter - Shiro seemed perfectly content listening along to what everyone was saying and Kohaku couldn't muster up the effort to move his butt from his seat. He was firmly planted and that was that.

"A disagreement, huh? What do you think, Shiro?"

Shiro looked up at Kohaku, seemingly lost in thought. The little pup didn't seem too confident in his answer. The Inuzuka boy gave a little guess anyway, if only to support his partner.

"You gotta let them know that you respect their wisdom, that you can see where they're coming from, but that you think things would work slightly differently. Suggest another option to the decision, I guess? Like, if you were talking to Lord Hokage, you'd give your advice, but you wouldn't tell him what to do," Kohaku explained, seeming fairly confident in his answer. Even to Kohaku it seemed pretty obvious that respect was to be given to one's elders and superiors, and he was raised by his father's dog, essentially. He'd never met Lord Hokage, but if even he knew that it was important to respect him, surely it wouldn't be too difficult a conclusion to arrive at for everyone else either.

Kohaku looked about the classroom at the other students who seemed to be more interested in a fierce debate with the teacher. Debate and diplomacy wasn't exactly his strong suit - he usually attributed those skills to Shiromaru if anyone, rather than himself. In the ninja world, intelligence gathering and hunting are what he usually fantasised about. To be honest, he just wanted to the credits to pass so he was pretty okay with giving the bare minimum in these classes.

WC: 322
MFT~

 

[Kuru Watashi]

Ryujou kicked his feet beneath his new desk, attention back on the Sennin now that there were no further real distractions for him. He thought about what Kenshin had discussed and felt that he was quite lucky to be in the back of the class - he had more time to formulate his respond without distraction after the previous awkwardness of his last two responses. After Katsu's retort though, Ryujou once again shifted his focus away from the actual question that was asked and began to think about unrequited respect.

When it became his turn, he stood like he had his previous times; "Before discussing disagreement with higher ranks, I thought it was interesting that you've spent a lot of time during this class relating respect to shinobi from other countries. Beyond the whole conundrum of giving unrequited respect to higher ups in our own village because of unrelated exploits, why the hell are we supposed to bow down and respect foreigners who we haven't even met? I understand that they're our allies because the higher ups decided it for a reason and we weren't allowed to have a say in the decision, but is our respect really something so cheap that people in our village who are supposed to stand up for us can so easily give it away to people in different villages?

If there does happen to be a ninja that disrespects these shinobi in our village, then do they get punished even if those shinobi acted as they pleased and individually made actions that shouldn't be respected? If the integrity of these alliances are at stake, are our fellow villagers just supposed to let themselves get walked all on? I've heard that the needs of the many outweigh the desires of the few but this respect really just seems like something that people of higher rank use to bind people below and use as an excuse to punish others without even looking into the reason behind the so called disrespect."

Ryujou shrugged and looked at the others in the room, "Some people can have my respect because they did things that do things to help others in sacrifice of their own well being. But if someone did something that seems magnanimous yet later holds it over other people's heads in order to bind them to themselves then that, fundamentally, shouldn't be respected."

"If they truly deserve my personal respect and get in a disagreement with me then I'll do my best to work towards a compromise or even back down in consideration of the past. However, I make the decision to back down, not a party that tries to force me to retreat by waving around something that happened long ago." Ryujou sat back down, rather content that he had gotten his say in. The class was turning out to be much less dull than he had originally expected. It was somewhat fun having a teacher that actually bothered to debate opinion against opinion. Though it did seem like his question had been a bit of a jab at the fact that some of the students in his class had reached a disagreement with his opinion.

[MFT]
Word Count: 530
Total: 1,321

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would listen to everyone in turn and proceed to talk after everyone else. There were some varied opinions.

Reicheru was curious, Katsu was defiant, Kohaku seemed earnest, and Ryujou had stopped blowing up things. THat was good because if he did one more time... Well even the Buddha can be angered after 3 times.

"Then I am confused Katsu. You say respect should be earned through action but not to recount actions? How can you tell someone has done good things for a village? It almost seems like the rank we give shinobi explains the previous actions of the shinobi in question. As Sennin it is implied that I have many years of service under my belt and other accomplishments. As shinobi there are some things that are public record and there are some that are not. No offense to you but you are all Academy Students, the lowest branch. What the higher branch does does not need to meet your expectations. At the end of the day we are a village but also a military force. Rules are in place for a reason to protect all of you. It may come of a surprise to you but I am willing to defend Leaf and by proxy you with my life at any given time should the need arise. Part of that is expecting you to respect the order to "Leave me and run""

"You are right that there will be some who see any question to authority as disrespect. As far as I am aware, in Leaf we do not do this. We allow to ask questions. In times of crisis, which as you know Frost is on its way, I hope that you respect the higher ups enough to listen so you can stay alive. My number one job is make you survive. Part of that is learning how to take an order. Kohaku yes those are good examples of respectfully disagreeing. This allows you to offer another solution peacefully. "

Kenshin's eyes would rest on Ryujou.

"Foreign shinobi is a simple example. And before you continue too harshly, I am not from the Leaf village. I was born, raised, and trained in Stone. Stone helped Leaf reclaim this very village you are in that allows you to train to become a shinobi. I transferred to Leaf because I believe in it. So there is that." Kenshin would say coolly before continuing. "But you are right in a sense. If someone disrespects you that is one thing. If a foreigners shinobi tries to lord over you that is not ok. I would hope that you have enough restraint to report it. It is part of my responsibility to raise and protect the lot of you even when you graduate. I don't want anyone disrespecting my students or my branch. I expect you to work hard and follow rules within reason. There are going to be disagreements and i am willing to hear them but from what I know happened in the forest... what is it called... "smack talking" the Hokage is not a good way to get your point across. Does this make sense? I want you to succeed and become fine shinobi and sometimes that means swallowing your pride and being respectful to someone who you don't feel like being respectful to. I am not in agreement with everything that other higher ups say. So we discuss and talk about it. SOmtimes this means i Have to follow orders I would rather not. This is life. The sooner you understand this the sooner you can get back on track."

"Alright a little bit of practice. If I say that I am going to give you all Strawberry Ice Cream because that is the way it is, how would you respond to this if you did not like strawberry ice cream respectfully?"

 

[Saitou Rei]

Hearing Katsu say that what she had done was worthy of respect caught the young girl off guard. She raised an almost annoyed eyebrow at his use of 'dear', unsure of how she felt about it or how he had intended it, but she quickly laughed it off and began to study the boy's manner. He was a perplexing one for her. One moment he is challenging the Lord Hokage to a rap battle after practically begging the shinobi leader to annihilate him, and the next he's genuinely wrestling with the more philosophical nuances of respect and honor in a fighter's world. What an interesting one he was. Though they certainly didn't see eye to eye on everything, she began to wonder if they were more similar than it would seem on the surface. Not that she was particularly interesting; her actions were just typically motivated by something other than the stereotype, which it seemed was also the case for Katsu.

Then there was Ryujou. He was hard for her to read in a different way. Considering his concerns and Kenshin's response, she turned around in her chair to look at her classmate added with a smile, "I think it's interesting, Ryujou, that every time you mention respect you pair it with bowing down, as if respecting someone means kowtowing to their every whim and opinion. I would say it's more of just showing consideration for someone's experience; not just experience as a shinobi, but life experience." While she considered continuing on this thought, there was something else implied in the Aburame's tone that she felt was more important to address, that maybe he'd hear better from a peer than a superior. "You also seem very concerned about the fact that these decisions are made without our consent. Should a parent confer with their child before making a decision about whether they should eat vegetables? What job the parent should take? Whether or not the kid is allowed to stick their hand in a fire? That would be irresponsible parenting that doesn't really have the child's best interest at the center of it. You may not agree with every decision, but I am one hundred percent certain that Kenshin-sama and the rest don't just say they would give their lives for their people, but that they would follow through with it if the time came, because that it what it means to be a shinobi of Konoha." Her face was kind and stoic as she spoke, but her eyes were quick to betray her as they were in the habit of doing. They spoke of great pain and loss, and a personal understanding of the claim she made. Her father had been a teacher at the academy who had given his life for one of his students; and not just any student, but the one that would have seemingly been easy to give up on given his troubled past and behavior. More than her father's actions, it was the fact that this dedication to the child and view of him as family had been taught to him by this village that convinced Reicheru of the words she spoke, rose-tinted as her view may be. "That alone is reason enough for me to trust their judgment on the decisions they make on our behalf. If that's not enough for you, what would be?" It was less of a challenge the way she said it and more of a request to consider the weight of expectations that came with the rank these shinobi held, and that they too would hold one day, hopefully.

Turning back to face the front of the room as Kenshin posed his next question, Reicheru raised her eyebrows with a smile at the more light-hearted turn the lecture had taken. Scratching her forehead with her pointer finger, she then moved it to her chin as she thought. "Considering it's just ice cream, I'd probably just eat it. No sense in making a big deal over something so small as personal preference. But let's say I was lactose intolerant, and wouldn't be able to eat the ice cream without doing harm to my health. In that situation, I would probably thank you for the offer, but explain my situation and suggest giving it to someone else who could enjoy it." She wasn't sure that her answer was exactly what the Sennin was looking for, but the ice cream example was so… out there. She was interested to see what ways the boys would come up with to fight Kenshin on this one.

[WC: 763]
[TWC: 2,069]

 

[Imaya Kuza]

“Well, how I see it is...” Katsu began, leaning back and pushed his fingers together flatly to think. “That respect shouldn’t be some title one totes around, right? You don’t earn the position of ‘respectable person’ and are now and forever respectable. Respectability is a state of being. One moment, you may be respectable, the next you may not be. By recounting times in which you were respectable in the past, you’re neglecting the current status of respectability.” At this point, Katsu was leaning so far back that it was a wonder how the chair hadn’t tipped, only balancing himself with his feet clamping on the top and bottom of the desk in front of him. “And respect isn’t about following orders either, I think. Plenty of ways to get people to do what you say without any ounce of respect involved. Hell, probably more ways without respect than with it.”

The bee kid seemed a little too anti-authority for Katsu’s own taste, too much rebel and not enough thought. Katsu didn’t hate the higher-ups, so to say… he just thought they were incompetent, not worthy of his respect. Perhaps he was being prideful, but that was where he was at. If it came to life-or-death decisions, Katsu wouldn’t hesitate to listen to orders since they had more experience, but being smart and respecting their authority were two vastly different things.

“As for strawberry ice cream, I’d say I don’t eat it. Shouldn’t have to tiptoe around things like that.”

[WC = 250]
[Total = 1152]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

While the little Shiba puppy still seemed pretty hooked on the whole lecture and seemed to be taking in everything the sensei was saying eagerly, Kohaku was finding himself slumping in his chair and feeling a little bored. Everyone here, with the exception of Reicheru, seemed to just want to sit here in verbal conflict with the teacher. He might be a legendary Sennin, but he figured he'd probably crack soon, especially if there was another outburst by that Aburame kid. It was times like this where he felt the forest beckoning to him; it was the one place where he felt much freer and where he could expel this boundless energy he and Shiro seemed to have plenty of. All of those factors just made sitting in these classrooms all the more painful.

"I mean, I guess I'd just say that I'm not all that hungry," he answered in a questioning tone, looking down to Shiro who seemed to nod in agreement, "but... Is this all we're gonna do today? Just sit here and debate about manners?"

Any onlookers would see that the Inuzuka was becoming more and more agitated, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat at the prospect of sitting still for longer than a couple of minutes. He didn't seem to be able to contain his squirming. Kohaku certainly didn't seem to be in the mood for spending all of his time in here. Maybe this restlessness would help him on the battlefield; it certainly kept his father safe while he was on missions... Maybe members of his family just weren't built for this academic life.

"I wanna go outside! Hunt something maybe! Run around for a bit! Maybe fight someone? Just something a little more... hands-on!"

At this point he was just throwing out whatever fantasies were running through his head - it had become a bit of a coping mechanism for him whenever he'd been really bored. Shiro looked up at his master, half disapproving, but still looking at least half eager to go along with the Inuzuka's suggestions. It almost made the Inuzuka boy chuckle as he looked down at his conflicted nin-ken. He could tell Shiro wasn't massively keen on spending the day here either but he certainly had a lot more patience of the two of them. Regardless of how he appeared to feel, the little puppy was still fidgeting uncomfortably much like his master had been. At the same time, the Inuzuka knew he needed to discuss something with the teacher after all this so he had to make sure he didn't rush out of here as soon as class was dismissed. The sensei was one of the legendary Sennin after all, so this would be the perfect opportunity to discuss what the boy's father wanted of him.

WC: 468

 

[Kuru Watashi]

Ryujou considered blowing things up more but the class had begun to take a turn for the more interesting. He eyed the girl that had attempted to calm the waters in the whole brouhaha earlier before starting to talk, “I’d say you’re right that respect isn’t akin to bowing down to others but you really are splitting up what I’m talking about.”

He shook his head, “Parents are parents and children are children, but what kind of a parent demands that their child respect someone else? It’s not so much the decisions that they make are on our behalf but rather they’re for the ‘alliance’s’ behalf. I said it earlier, I’m fine with respect and higher ups but if people just want to use the concept of respect to constrain others then what’s the point of having it be a noble idea? If you want to do something then just do it.” It seemed that parents did keep coming up in this classroom too and Ryujou thought back to his own parents.

“If a parent wants to tell their child to do something, they shouldn’t have to attempt to use morality to bind them. A child listens to their parent out of filially but a parent should also give the child the courtesy to develop his or her own opinions instead of trying to force these things for the kids.” He sighed too, shrugging and looking out of the window. “Besides, if a kid sticks his hand in a fire once then he’ll know not to do it again. If a child follows their parents every whim and believes everything that is told to them without making his own judgement about the fire, then I’d question the child’s mental health. If the child continues sticking their hand into the fire then that’s a whole different set of problems. I'm sure that we want some people in the Leaf still making the decisions, not just a bunch of followers.”

“Furthermore, what’s the point in using all of this respect nonsense to muddy the waters and mess up the whole situation? If the Hokage wants me to do something and threatens me as an individual enough, of course I’m going to do it. There’s no need to say that it’s respect that's making me listen to him, it's just that I don’t have a death wish or anything. Sure, I’m not going to respect the Hokage all that much if he goes around threatening kids but it gets work done.”

“Likewise, Sensei, it’s respectable that you’re going to this much work to try and reform kids who don't agree with you and all that to try and make us respect the Hokage and other higher ups. I would much rather trust you and listen to you than this hypothetical child-threatening Hokage but if it really came down to it, though not as respectable, and this make-believe Hokage really wanted me to do something over you then I would probably listen to him. Sorry but I don’t seek death that much. I understand the whole idea of ranks signifying experience and all that, and I would probably listen to them in most serious situations but I really don’t understand why you have to tie respect into it. It’s not like I go around mocking everyone that I meet. Let people have their own opinions about who they really respect and whatnot.”

It was quickly the Sennin’s turn to talk again. Ryujou had a slight start of surprise upon hearing that the Sennin was born in Stone. It did sound like there had been some sort of misunderstanding when he spoke earlier about people from other countries. Ryujou considered thinking more before he spoke then realized that would be a big waste of time and threw that idea out of the window. When the Sennin finished and the others had gone, Ryujou stood and nodded towards Kenshin, “Thank you, Sensei, for elaborating that respect holds an important part in diplomacy, but in my opinion that’s just politeness. Respect is something that is personally earned while manners are just a way to reduce unnecessary conflicts. Both of them have their own place when people interact but they shouldn’t be confused with each other. I’ll be polite to someone until they have either gained or lost my respect but respect isn’t something that other people should be able to decide for you. I’m more than capable of swallowing my pride if it comes down to it and being polite to someone but that in no way means that I respect them.”

“Furthermore, it’s not that I have some irrational hatred for all foreigners or the Hokage and all of them, but I want to have the ability to reserve judgement on people that I have never met or interacted with before. If I meet someone new and they are upstanding individuals then I would be more than happy to give them my respect. If they aren’t then I won’t respect them. About becoming a fine shinobi, I’m more than capable of doing things that I don’t want to, but man, wouldn’t it be great to just be strong enough where you don’t have to bother with all of that? Just be completely transparent about your motives – if you want to beat someone up then beat them up. If you don’t want to then you don’t have to. Ahh, that would be the life.”

“Anyways, about the strawberry ice cream, that’s an easy problem.” He laughed and reached into a trenchcoat pocket, pulling out one of the jars from his now dwindling supply of honey and plopped it down onto the desk. “Can’t you just smother it in honey until you no longer taste the strawberry? That’s a win-win solution if I’ve ever seen one, like most solutions with honey are. You don’t have to worry about tasting nasty strawberry, he doesn’t have to deal with you rejecting his ice cream and now both sides have the option of putting honey on things! Actually…” He counted on his fingers, since the academy seemed to have a glaring lack of actual math classes, “One. Two. Three! That’s three wins! It’s a win-win-win situation for everyone!”

[MFT]
Word Count: 1037
Total: 2363