To Grandmother’s House We Go! [Lesson]

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

There were days to be treasured, and the more he came to think of it, the more Yoshihisa realized after being stationed in the Land of Fire the two subsequent weeks had been entirely wasted to him. His interactions with the world had all been rather superficial, the moments he wasn’t trying to put up a front were almost entirely devoted to sulking his way through his new screenplay cast as Konoha’s latest legal alien. Whether it even served a purpose whatsoever had been lost to him ever since, and now here he was, out planning on what might as well be a glorified picnic for his students, people he had to remind himself time and again were -people he had actually been put in charge of!- As abrasive a picture as Iwagakure had tried to paint of the outside world, he could now only begin to describe whomever it was that made the whole thing go round had a very distinct fondness for unusually themed trails and tribulations to say the least.

With a look of utmost defeat plastered across his face Yoshihisa tossed aside the documents he had been studying tirelessly for the past few hours, fully aware he was not getting any closer to his goal, whatever that might possibly be by now. Moreover, he had to expect company any minute now, the two ANBU in training that had been assigned to him: Sugihira Juko and Uchiha Hana, the most memorable passage having informed him that he now had a Seikon and -surprise surprise- an Uchiha at his disposal. The latter didn’t bother him as much as he had once suspected, given the natural affinity for Genjutsu the Uchiha were known for, but ever since he had to come to terms that while it wasn’t his prefered method, it was a valid approach nonetheless and in the rest it merely raised his interest on what he was going to discover in the person itself.

With an eye on the time, he took to sprucing himself up as much as he could, quite ashamed to admit he had neglected it up til now. As an incentive he had settled on revealing his face in attempt to form a bond of trust, a courtesy that could attest to the fact he was insisting on keeping his word to Takeshi, which was quite ironic when you came to realize he had gone through great lengths to avoid doing the same to the man that was now the Hokage. All he could ask for now that at least his subordinates were going to give him the break he himself never did. Or at the very least tried to avoid their untimely deaths during the days to follow.

[MFT]

 

[Uchiha Hana]

Hana got the news she was supposed to meet with Yoshihisa. She hurried to park area to see what it was all about with the mission and training. She wondered about the other student as well, she thought she met him once before but was not sure if he was at the meeting where Takeshi announced with a meeting of his own in the past.

A picnic did sound nice, she liked his idea, for talking things over. This was a big day for Hana since ever joining The ANBU in training, and also training with Manzo in the past. She had hoped he didn’t mind that she was an Uchiha, some don’t seem fond of them and their Sharingan.

Hana finally reached the park and saw Yoshihisa, she smiled at him.

“Hello, I’m Hana, very nice to meet with you.”

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

“Uchiha Hana, I bid you welcome, my name is Umakaki and as you probably know I have been assigned as your instructor from here on out.” Yoshihisa rose to his feet as the young woman approached him, running his hands through his flowing auburn hair. It was slightly disheartening, knowing that such a fair kunoichi would be left to his care and yet he had to stay as professional as he would have been in any other situation: It were those common obstacles one had to face when becoming a junior squad commander for the very first time, but he could see how delegating the lives of your subordinates was not something you would grasp with written knowledge only.

“I’m ashamed to admit it on the very first lesson I’ve ever hosted, but seeing as we don’t have as much time as I would have liked, we are heading off without your fellow student. You won’t have to worry, however, for it won’t cast your performance in a bad light.” He smiled at her as he tried his very hardest to lighten the mood a bit, for while he was somewhat disappointed by only half of his mentees deciding on making an appearance today it also gave him the opportunity to judge Hana’s abilities to the fullest extend possible. “I also may or may not have been a bit too liberal when setting up the briefing for today, but rest assured that you will have enough time to inform close relatives and friends.”

He turned around to point at the direction of the Forest of Death, a sly smirk spreading across his face for the very first time since he had concocted this challenge. “You are to survive within the examination area for the next 168 hours with nothing but the instruments you have on your person at the very moment. Moreso, I have taken the liberty of constructing a small base of operations for myself, a place you will have to conquer by the end of the aforementioned deadline.”

[MFT]

 

[Uchiha Hana]

The ANBU instructor assigned to Hana greeted her with a smile as he quickly rose to his feet, running his callused hands through his auburn hair. She wondered why the other student that had been invited hadn’t come along. She was unsure how training would go, but hoped it would go smoothly. Hana stood and waited for him to tell her what would happen next. She was happy he was allowing her to tell family and friends of her leaving for a bit, which made her feel a whole lot better. She would miss Ziren terribly though, and a few close friends whom she considered family.

She saw Umakaki pointing in the direction she needed to start her journey; towards the Forest of Death. Hana cringed at the sight and saw a sly smirk come upon his face. She took a deep breath, wondering what she’d face or what was to come during all the time he had indicated. She was instructed to take only what she had on her, which was her sword, and the very clothes she wore.

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

“That said, I will be your main opponent for the duration of this trial, scouting out your talents and making sure you’re up to standards to proceed to the rank of a fully fledged ANBU anytime in the near future.” His briefing was somewhat undercut by the muffled chittering emerging from his sleeves, something to which Yoshihisa paid little to no mind at the time, his gaze focused on Hana as he made an effort to keep the airs of a professional instructor. “With that in mind, in about an hour from now, your objective will be to locate the aformentioned site, secure it and incapacitate or otherwise cause any potential threats to no longer be capable of capturing it until the timer has run out.”

Things slowly but surely were coming more naturally to him, the levelheaded approach he had during his own missions in the past starting to seep into his own performance. As a tutor for those cherrypicked for their potential to become ANBU, he would have to be confident in their ability to perform as he was in his very own to make in this far in equal measure. Their performance hinged about as much on him as it would on them from this point onwards, and he had no intentions not to deliver another soul into Konoha’s inner circle. “You’re authorized to use lethal force towards me if necessary, just like I would be doing the very same if the situation ultimately demands it from me, which I very much doubt will be the case.”

“Now I am very much aware these might be quite the set of obstacles, as you’re on your own and I doubt the liberal use of lethal force is as common as I might make it appear, but this is the life that will await you as an ANBU: You can’t shy away from a difficult mission because of fear or doubt, since that means it will fall unto one of your allies instead, possibly even close friends if you do. A decision that could result in their deaths.” Yoshihisa’s expression was a mirror image of the tone in which he spoke, stern yet with the slightest hint of curiosity to back him up. It was quite the ultimatum after all, classical amongst shinobi in its ability to separate the wheat from the chaff and for its curious position to never come too early in this particular career path. For it was never too early to ponder on what kind of life you were heading towards.

[MFT]

 

[Kodoma Yoshihisa]

“You’re dismissed until further notice, during which I’d advice you to train and say your goodbyes where they are in order.” Yoshihisa bend over to pick up the ANBU documents and dusted them off, a faint smile briefly crossing his face before he set off towards the village limits. There would be a lot to do in preparation for an undertaking of this magnitude, and not just on the end of his subordinates: Since they were fresh out of the accademy, there was the difficult task for an equally fresh teacher to translate a considerable amount of book knowledge into an experience for them.

“Umakaki, reporting in.” A few hours had passed, dusk had settled across the lands and with quite the impressive stack of papers tucked away underneath his arm, Yoshihisa shuffled his ways through the tunnels of the ANBU hideout. While he had to admit he about somewhat anxious to be admitted to the field again, the gnawing feeling that this position involved little more than data entry at this point was having the upper hand. Only time would tell whether or not he was cut out for a position such as this, let alone getting higher up than that. For the time being he would have to find solace in the fact that like all others he too still had time to get prepared. As the gate of the archive slammed shut behind him and he barely managed to stiffle a yawn, he decided these were now future Yoshihisa’s problem.

[MFT]

[Topic left until further notice]