Missive Impossible [Open]

[Suzuki Setsu]

Setsu had little free time to spend on his own pursuits, not that he had many yet. The Academy’s policy with conscripted students was to bring their physical abilities up to par with the Kumogakure-born before beginning any sort of chakra-based training. This was no small feat considering Kumogakure natives were usually trained from birth in some manner of shinobi arts. For Setsu, this meant a schedule where he’d undergo intense physical conditioning, eat, then sleep only to wake up and repeat the process. It was a tiring life, and the young boy was almost always exhausted by the end of each day. But on the weekends, the students were given time to recuperate from the physical training. Setsu had spent the time writing a letter to his parents. While students weren’t allowed outside of the village, he figured he could still send word that he was alive and well.

Unfortunately for Setsu, he didn’t know where the post office would be. Back home, it was the town elder that handled deliveries, so Setsu had assumed that the enormous tower would be the place to go. But from there, he had no idea where to proceed. The place was busy with activity as shinobi came and went, some taking missions, others collecting their hard-earned rewards. The thought that saying the wrong thing to any of these individuals might cause them to incinerate him on the spot, filled the boy with anxiety as he tried approaching one of the shinobi that seemed to be answering questions and directing people. Setsu made it about halfway across the lobby before nerves turned him around and led him back outside the imposing building. He leaned against the black stone of the Torre Celeste, glancing down dejectedly at the letter in his hands. Sighing, he began working up the courage for a second attempt.

WC: 309
[MFT]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Doi was quite bored at the moment. All of his friends were busy today, and he couldn't find any other Genin to train with. As a result, Doi initially planned to head for the Torre Celeste and pick up a simple mission to keep him occupied for the rest of the day. Sadly, he'd left the building empty handed. It seemed he'd arrived way too late. All of the missions that were at his level or below were already assigned to other shinobi. The boy had tried asking for a higher ranking mission, but his attempts were fruitless. They certainly weren't going to give a Genin fresh out of the academy a big mission just because he asked for one. At least not until he'd proven his worth as a shinobi of Kumogakure.

As he left the tall administration building, Doi momentarily stopped to think in front of the main entrance. What exactly was he supposed to do now? He could always train on his own, but knowing himself he'd more than likely get bored after a while. After a few moments passed with Doi pensively standing in front of the building, the boy decided to return home. Just as he turned to walk home, the genin noticed a small boy leaning against the Torre Celeste's wall. The boy, who appeared to be somewhat younger than him, was despondently looking down at an item he held in his hands. With his interest momentarily peaked, Doi decided to approach the boy and kindheartedly inquire what was troubling him.

"Hey, everything alright?"

[WC:260]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Setsu froze upon being addressed, not daring to look up at the face of the one approaching. The voice sounded young, but was full of confidence. He hoped that perhaps the boy addressing him was in fact addressing some other dejected child who couldn't even summon the courage to ask for directions. But that was wishful thinking, and silently ignoring the greeting was extremely rude. Slowly, Setsu lifted his head to acknowledge the other boy’s presence.

The first thing he noticed was the other boy's height. At least a foot taller than Setsu, with long white hair that reached down to his neck. Setsu’s eyes then found the village headband that all official shinobi wear, strapped to the other boy's upper right arm. His eyes widened, and his face paled. Sure enough the boy in front of him was a ninja, fully armed and ready for battle. And there was no doubt in Setsu's mind that his reticence had offended the shinobi somehow. Even if his expression was cheery, and his tone kind. Setsu, quickly bowing his head in deference, quickly stammered out a barely audible response.

“S-sorry for disturbing you Shinobi-dono,” Setsu briefly considered playing his predicament off as unimportant or not worth the boy's time, but decided that was not the best course of action. The boy had asked and, therefore withholding the information would be more likely to result in being disintegrated. “I'm just trying to mail a letter back home. I-I won't be able to see my parents until I'm,” he glanced at the headband fixed to the genin's arm again, “like you, after all.”

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

This boy was certainly intimidated by the genin's presence if his speech pattern was anything to go by. The fidgeting also gave it away. Never would Doi have thought that he'd be able to intimidate someone, much less unintentionally. This was a new experience for him. It was kind of nice, he liked it. One thing that the boy said did catch his attention, though. "Until you're like me, huh?" Doi replied to the nervous boy's statement. He couldn't see his family until he'd successfully become a genin? What could've been the story behind that? Nevertheless, it must be hard being away from one's parents; especially at his age.

"Well if you need to send some mail around here, you're at the wrong place." The postal office isn't too far from the Torre Celeste anyway, so the kid wasn't too far off. "Keep walking down this road, and make a right at the fruit stand. After that make a left at the large apartment building." Doi said while pointing down the busy road."The postal office should be the second building on your left. It'll be hard to miss." He then looked down to look at the younger child."You think you can handle that? Or would like me to take you there myself?"

His directions were quite simple, but Doi didn't have anything to do today anyway. If the younger child decided he needed Doi to accompany him, he would. "Oh, and my name's Doi by the way, Nice to meet you!"

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

He was in the wrong place? Of course he was. Setsu sighed again when he heard that, but tried his best to remember the directions the older boy was giving. Right at the fruit stand, left at the apartment, second building on the left. Right at the fruit stand, left at the apartment, second building on the left. Right at the second fruit apartment left at the building stand. Unfortunately, Setsu’s best efforts resulted in him immediately getting them mixed up. Although this shinobi had been nothing but helpful and understanding, Setsu wasn’t sure how far his patience would extend. Most of the shinobi over seeing the basic training of the conscripts didn’t seem to like repeating themselves too often, and Setsu wondered if the ninja before him would exhibit a similar irritated response if asked to explain how to get to the post office a second time.

The older shinobi seemed to pick up on Setsu’s predicament fairly quickly however, offering to lead the young child there. Could he read minds? Setsu wondered to himself. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, if they could flatten villages and decimate armies there was no doubt some would easily be able to read minds. He meekly nodded, and fell into step beside and a little behind the genin. “Setsu,” he responded to Doi’s introduction, “Suzuki Setsu. I-It’s nice to mee-, make your a-acquaintance too, Doi-dono.”

As Doi began to lead the way to the post office, Setsu’s eyes were locked on to the taller boy’s back. He was quite knowledgeable about the village and had to be somewhat skilled as he bore the village crest on his person. From the lectures he had received during basic training only academy graduates were allowed to wear headbands. And that meant, perhaps he could allay some of his fears about becoming a shinobi. But Setsu didn’t want to pester Doi with questions. Although Doi seemed not to care much for formality, Setsu assumed that being bombarded by all sorts of questions by someone he had just met would be off-putting. The young student decided to just ask one question, the one that had been niggling in the back of his mind since he and the other conscripts had been told what they would become. “Um, Doi-dono? You can use chakra right? What stops you from just doing whatever you want with your powers?”

[WC: 400]
[MFT]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

"Alright, Setsu. Let's go," Doi said as he began to walk. As the genin guided Setsu in the direction of the post office, he would occasionally look back just to make sure the younger boy hadn't fallen behind. The boy was being so silent that he couldn't tell while facing forwards. Doi didn't mind, of course. He could tell the younger boy had a shy demeanor. It was just the way he was. He'd get comfortable with time.

Only shortly after they'd passed the fruit stand did the boy finally speak up and ask Doi a question.

"I'd say there's a lot of reasons why, Setsu. For starters, there's plenty of people much stronger than I am that enforce the law here. You've got your Raikage, the Sennin, ANBU.... the most influential shinobi in the village making sure Kumo thrives and everyone can live at peace inside of its walls." Doi crossed his arms as he responded. "Another reason would be the circumstances we're trained under. They teach us to fight for our village and protect its people." He paused as they turned the corner where the apartment building was located."Personally, imposing my will on others just because I have the power to do so just doesn't feel right." The genin turned to the younger child with a smile. "So, Setsu. That's enough about my reasoning for now. I'd like to know what you would do if you had amazing power. Would you do whatever you want with it?" He was curious how the younger child would respond.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Doi mentioned that the Raikage and other older shinobi ensured that no one in the village got too carried away with displays of power. This was both reassuring and frightening for the young student. While Setsu appreciated the safety the Raikage ensured, frightening what-ifs arose in his mind. What if someone stronger than the Raikage and other shinobi appeared? What if the Raikage didn’t deem someone worthy of protection? What if-, the pessimistic scenarios kept running through Setsu’s head. Luckily, Doi continued speaking and pulled Setsu back to the conversation. He mentioned that the Academy staff ingrained a sense of loyalty to the village and people. Perhaps they hadn’t gotten to that part yet, all Setsu could remember from his time so far had been the grueling training and constant lectures over his lack of progress. But if Doi said it, it must be true. After all, he was the shinobi here. Doi finally mentioned that he found the act of imposing his will on others just because he could distasteful. “If that’s the case, your will is very strong, Doi-dono.” If only everyone had that kind of self-discipline.

Setsu would have silently ruminated over Doi’s responses for the rest of the trip, but the genin had other ideas. He turned the question back around on the student. “What would I do?” Setsu hadn't really thought about it since arriving in Kumogakure. The basic conditioning and combat training had kept him too busy to worry about himself and his future. “Well I wouldn't use…,” he trailed off. Could he honestly say he wouldn't use the new abilities he would obtain here for his own gain? If something he really wanted was just out of his reach and a little lighting or fire would remove whatever, or whoever, blocked his path, would he be able to resist using it? There were justifications he could make of course. If he was striving for world peace or some other goal, and only one person stood in his way, or someone was trying to hurt his family. But in the end he would still be using his power for his own gain. Another more troubling scenario popped into Setsu's head. What if it was Doi standing in his way? The kind and thoughtful shinobi who had stopped to help out a lost child. Would Setsu use his abilities to remove him, if he stood between Setsu and his goals? Setsu wanted to say no, that he wouldn't ever do something like that. But he couldn't, because he didn't know if he would. And that uncertainty terrified the young boy more than anything else he'd seen or heard in the village so far.

Setsu stopped walking, the post office was in sight now, just a couple of blocks away. He timidly called out to Doi, “Hey, um…back home I've heard stories. Stories about shinobi. They're described as heroes, but also as bad guys sometimes. The one thing they have in common is that they both have lots and lots of power. And the scariest part about those stories,” he paused, “well for me anyway, was when those bad guys were once good guys.” He trembled a bit as he continued, “I want to be like the good guys in those stories, so I’ve got to be strong to beat the bad guys," Setsu rambled on his eyes starting to water, “but what if in becoming strong I end up turning into one of the bad guys?”

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Setsu's eyes were visibly watering. Had Doi said something wrong? The genin wasn't sure how to react. All Doi had to go on were the boy's words. Yet, with that alone he could tell that something troubling popped up along Setsu's thought process.

Maybe asking him what he'd do with power wasn't such a good idea?

"Uh..." Doi knew he had to watch his words or they'd just make things worse. "Just remember to keep true to your morals and never let your resolve falter." Hopefully that would do the trick. "Besides, you have a loooooong way to go before you'd ever be put in that position. Don't let it bother you too much, alright?" Doi motioned for Setsu to follow him as he continued walking."Now wipe off those tears before they start to fall and let's get your mail sent out."

Now standing outside of the postal office, the genin turned to the younger child. "This is it. Enter these doors and talk to the person behind the counter." Doi reached into his pocket and pulled out a few yen coins."Let's see here... alright, this should be enough to cover the cost of mailing it." He held his hand out to the younger child."I'll see you around, Setsu. Don't be afraid to say hello if you see me around the village," Doi said with a smile.

With that said, Doi left the younger child at the postal office and began to walk home.

[TLUS]


(OOC: Thanks for the RP! You can stop Doi from leaving and continue this, or we can do another thread some time. Just let me know. I'm always on Discord.)

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Doi was uncomfortable, but did his best to try and assuage the young students fears. Keep true to my morals and never let my resolve falter. The words sounded like something a manga protagonist would say, but if that’s how Doi was able to keep himself from going off the deep end perhaps the sentiment wasn’t just pretty words. Doi followed up with a suggestion to just not worry about it yet. Setsu nodded and wiped his face with his sleeve. The older shinobi was right, Setsu didn’t have enough power to sneeze out a spark currently, so wallowing in hypotheticals would just wear him down.

Doi explained how the post office worked once the duo had arrived, and even paid for the postage. Despite the stories Setsu had heard about shinobi, the genin wasn’t fitting any of the dispassionate enforcer stereotypes. So naturally, Setsu began to wonder if all the stories were true, and the fears of his future shinobi career unfounded. If other shinobi were like Doi, perhaps life here wouldn’t be so bad after all. He bowed to his senior, “Thank you Doi-dono.” Setsu waved at the genin as he walked away before turning to enter the building.

[Topic Left]

OOC: Yeah that was fun! Thanks for the RP!