Trying To Catch Up [Open]

[Kashino Yuu]

It has been months since he entered the Academy to achieve his dream of protecting his loved ones as a ninja and yet, he learned so much about being a ninja. From survival, killing instinct, and summons. However, Yuu felt he wasn't ready to become a real ninja yet as he wanted to learn more about it. Also, he had no clue about how he was able to graduate since he managed to study very hard and trained his newly learned jutsus everyday as well trained his swordfighting skills. He needed more information about being a real ninja, which they called the graduated ninja "Genin".

"Genin, students who managed to graduate from the Academy for mastering the basics and learned about survival and the risks of being a shinobi. I'm going to risk my life just to protect my parents and my siblings. But can I survive in the coming days if I become a Genin myself? If I did, they might become depressed if I'm really gone." Realized that his thoughts are negative, Yuu snapped himself out of them and said, "No way, I will keep training to prevent that from happening and I will keep my promise for my family and friends. I swear it!"

But realized that he suddenly blurted out his thoughts, Yuu covered his mouth in embarrassment at first, only to found the open field empty, which he remembered that it was after-school hours. But didn't felt like going home yet, he decided to walked around inside the academy out of boredom and thought, "But if I do become a Genin, will I meet new friends and enemies along the way?"

[MFT/WC: 276]

(OOC: Open to everyone who wants to talk to the blue-haired kid!)

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Kichida Yoko​

Yoko leapt from her apartment's window, summoning her wind jutsu to soften her fall. Once her boots made contact with the ground, she broke into a sprint. Hopefully the abruptness of her actions would confused the husband she'd left behind. To those who didn't know the couple well, Yoko's mad dash from her significant other might make them question if she was in an abusive relationship. However, the situation was quite the opposite. Kichida Kazuhiko was surprisingly clingy, and the two were very much in love. In fact, it was Kazuhiko's undying affection that had caused him to drop the C word...children.

Yoko frowned to herself as she continued her run, her sandy brown, thigh-long hair trailing behind her. She could say without a doubt that she was NOT ready for kids. She may never be ready for kids. She could say with certainty that their child would have chakra potential, and would be forced to become a shinobi, whether the child wished to or not. She could not bear the thought of bringing children into the world, knowing that they would not be able to defy their fate of a shinobi life.

The Chuunin's mind was still jumbled, but she forced herself to stop running. If Kazuhiko hadn't caught her yet, then it meant she wasn't being chased. It didn't hurt that he probably didn't remember the conversation. Yoko's time manipulation could be a powerful thing. Scanning her surroundings, the woman realized she had run to the academy. An odd choice considering her current dilemma. Giving in with a shrug, she walked up to the fence that surrounded the school's grounds. With a burst of wind, Yoko cleared the hurdle and softly landed on the other side. Standing there was a young child, though from what the Chuunin could tell, he wasn't all that much shorter than her. Without warning the boy blurted out something about training and promises, which caused Yoko to stagger back in surprise. The boy recognized his outburst and slapped a hand to his mouth before scanning the area. Their eyes met, and Yoko could feel her cheeks grow warm. Drat! This kid probably thinks I'm some kind of creepy pedo.

Yoko held up a hand to the sky. "Temporal Strider Powers Activate!" Time reversed to before Yoko jumped the fence, and she stood silently in anticipation of the boy's shout. Once he'd let loose his declaration of unwavering fidelity, Yoko heard the boy walk into the academy. She tilted her head questioningly. It's after hours. Why is that kid wanting to roam the halls? Curiosity overtaking her better judgment, Yoko again jumped the fence and proceeded to follow the child. He seemed to be facing some internal conflict, much like Yoko, and she wondered if she could help. Luckily she found it much easier to converse with youths rather than adults. She moved through a set of hand seals, and suddenly the boy was lifted into the air with Kinesis jutsu, only barely hovering over the ground. He floated into a nearby classroom, where his body was forced to sit at a desk. Yoko entered behind him and took a place behind the teacher's desk. She rested her elbows on the desk before lowering her chin into her open palms. "You seem troubled kiddo. How can this onee-chan help you?"

[Topic Entered with NPC]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

As he wandered around the academy's hallway, Yuu suddenly had a strange feeling of deja-vu, which he wondered what was it. But even after he shrugged it off as he continued to walk, he was suddenly floated in midair, which he was unable to get down to. "Wh-What the heck?! Put me down, put me down!" Despite his pleas since he suspected someone was behind this, they were ignored as he was floated to a nearby classroom and forced him to sit on the desk. "Am I being kidnapped? But why kidnap me? I didn't do anything wrong."

Before he can guess why, he saw a young woman sat behind a teacher's desk as she asked if she can help him on anything while she rested her elbow on the desk. "Um... I'm actually wondering about the Genin Exa- HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! Why do I have to answer you first after you floated me in here?! That's kidnapping, you know! Plus, I don't even know you!" He was still troubled about it, but he wanted to know why this woman dragged him in the classroom without warning.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Yoko smiled innocently, though her tone could not keep up the charade. "What? Kidnapping? Noooooo. More like...relocation. And I must say, you're rather plucky to sass back to an adult. Especially one that wanted to help you. But I'm a nice person, sometimes, so I'll let it slide." Standing up from the desk chair, Yoko circled around and leaned on the desk itself. "Ah, I suppose you don't know me, do you? That whole 'don't talk to strangers' saying is very true. It can cost you your life, and maybe even your innocence." Her eyes lost focus as thoughts of her sensei came to mind, and she subconsciously smiled. "However, sometimes a meeting with a stranger can spark a new world of possibilities." She brought a hand to her forehead, where her Lunar seal rested. Pulling her attention back to the boy before her, Yoko stood at attention and gave a salute. "Kichida Yoko at your service." Relaxing again, she motioned a hand to the boy. "Now once you introduce yourself, we won't be strangers anymore. Isn't that a lovely loophole?" She lightly chuckled. "And while you're at it, go ahead and tell me what you were going to say. Something about the Genin exams?"

 

[Kashino Yuu]

"Well, I'm just lucky that my Mom mentioned it to me or I wouldn't be suspicious of you. Although I'm still not getting on what you said about "meeting with a stranger can spark a new world of possibilities", but you're right about meeting them would cost us our lives or worst." He didn't believe what she said, but she got a point there. Although he still didn''t trust him, he decided to introduced himself to the woman. "Fine, my name's Kashino Yuu. Happy?" As for his problems about the Genin Exam, he was conflicted whether if he could tell her or not. Yet, since she might looked like a veteran, he knew she might had some ideas about it. "As for my problem, I was wondering about how the Genin Exam works. I've already studied and trained hard in here and yet, I'm worried about how the exams really looked like when I planning to graduate. I mean, I learned some jutsus, decided to train swordfighting as my fighting style, and participated some classes to learn more about being a ninja."

However, he then wondered about how in a world Yoko transported him by floated him in mid-air to this classroom. "Now that I think about it, how did you make me levitate to this room anyway? Is that a new jutsu I never heard about?" His favored jutsus are Genjutsu and Lightning Ninjutsus, yet he was impressed by her abilities despite his suspicions about her and the fact he didn't heard about that kind of jutsu from the books he just read from the library.

[MFT/WC: 267]

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Yuu introduced himself, asking if Yoko was pleased. Her smile narrow. "There's a difference, dear Yuu-kun, between plucky and disrespectful. I'm surprised Kitsune-sama didn't hold a class on that." Or maybe the baroness did, and that happened to be the one Yuu missed. Shrugging it off, Yoko listened to the boy's woes, nodding a few times to show she was paying attention. "Well, I'm sorry to tell ya kiddo, but Genin exams are a grab bag. Luck of the draw. Heart of the cards. Wait, what? Anyway, what I'm saying is that your exam could be anything, from a simple test of the basic jutsu, to combat, to finding the best ramen in the Susukino District. It's all in your exam proctor. But I'm sure if you've been attending classes and training, you'll do fine."

Only now did the boy realize that Yoko had used a jutsu to get him in the classroom. Hmm...he's a bit spacey. Maybe he should worry about his exam. She thought this, but Yoko herself had acted very similarly when she was a student, and she had successfully grown into a kunoichi. He'd get there. Feeling a desire to show off, Yoko held her palm out before Yuu, and three pieces of chalk floated from the chalkboard rack to her hand. They spun and flipped as Yoko explained. "Kinesis Jutsu. It's not new by any means, but it is considered advanced. This is a kind of jutsu that is more based on your natural skills rather than reading it in a book." The chalk returned from where it came, and a small flame formed in the woman's hand. She held up the other one and a small circular flow of wind was created. "Kinesis Jutsu comes to those with a strength in fire and wind jutsu." The two jutsu died down in her hands. "Don't ask me about any other elements though, because I have no idea." Yoko wasn't one to study up on things if they didn't pertain to her. She crossed her arms and awaited Yuu's reaction.

 

[Kashino Yuu]

He never heard of Kinesis Jutsu before, nor the fact it was the combination of Fire and Wind jutsus. The only jutsus he wanted to learn are Lightning jutsus, yet was there anymore elements he never heard about? His curiosity grew as he wanted to learn more about them. But unfortunately, Yoko didn't know more about them, which he decided to go to a class that might focused on elements or find a book about them. If he wanted to grow stronger, he needed to learn more about them along with other basics as Yuu knew he can't learn all of them by himself.

As for the Genin Exam, he was both surprised and disappointed that the fact it only appeared in random times. But how can he prepared for them? Can he train for them while he waited for the exams to arrive? "I see. So if I'm prepared for it to arrive, I'll managed to pass the exam and become a Genin. Yet since you said it depends of the exam proctor, it might be an unexpected objective? Man, I didn't know about that." However, that didn't dampened his dream on becoming a real ninja as he decided on what to do next. He not only decided to train more, but also to make sure he won't turn down his guard when it happens. However, he wondered about something: Did Yoko attended the exam and passed it? This made him a little curious about it. "So what's the exam looked like for you, Yoko?"

[MFT/WC: 256]

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

The boy seemed frustrated for not having a straightforward answer, and Yoko couldn't blame him. However, she could see the determination in his eyes, which was a good sign. The nice thing about the Genin exams was that one could take it again should one fail. Yuu asked Yoko about her exam specifically, using her first name without an honorific. She was a bit shocked, as even some adults would still referred to her as Kichida-san. However, this kid was probably not raised in such a formal household, so she pushed the need to correct him out of her mind.

"My first exam? Gosh...it's been so many years...did I even take an exam?" Of course the woman would have had to take the exam, two exams since she was a Chuunin. However, for some reason, she couldn't bring up any memories from that event. It was as if she hadn't existed for a few of her teen years. Since she couldn't remember anything, and the boy certainly wouldn't be able to know for sure if she was lying or not, Yoko decided to make something up. Her eyes gleamed. "Oh yes. I had to enter into a tournament. I had to face a few random people that had only a single personality trait, and then fight my best friend. Then, my rival, Kichida Kazuhiko. I walloped him by throwing appliances at him." She paused a moment to place her hands on her cheeks and swayed back and forth. "Then he called me to Dawnbringer Plaza where he asked to be my eternal rival and I said yes and then we got married and lived happily ever after." Truth be told, this was all from one of her romance novels she had read, though the fact that she was married to Kazuhiko wasn't false, along with her throwing appliances at him. Yoko gave the boy a thumbs up. "Here's hoping you find your eternal rival kid! I'll be rooting for ya!"

 

[Kashino Yuu]

As Yuu continued to listened, he was more disbelieved than interested at Yoko's story. From a cliched opponents she faced, defeated her rival be throwing appliances to him, and then married each other after that. Though he was shocked though, he might get hurt from her if he ticked her off since he thought she might have powerful strength unlike himself. "O-Okay... I can see what I can expect from the Genin Exam, which might be very unexpected on what kind they had for me, though." However, that doesn't mean he had to slack off just to wait for the exam as he needed to learn more about being a ninja and she might have some more ideas about it.

"U-Um, Yoko? I know there's a Genin other than Academy Student, but what other kind of ninjas are there?" He was still had little knowledge about this, so it might not hurt to ask to the woman right in front of him. But then again, he might be weirded out by her stories again, so it might be safe if this was the last question to her for today.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

The boy obviously didn't believe a word Yoko said, and she couldn't blame him. Those kinds of things were left to the books, not reality. But that's why she was addicted to such texts. She took a few steps back to give Yuu more space, as he sounded a bit unnerved when he asked his last question. She smiled. "Alright, now that I can answer! Sensei made sure to drill this stuff into me!" She walked to the chalkboard and faced it. Showboating yet again, she lifted the chalk with her jutsu and had it write for her. She wrote words in a branching diagram.
[col3]

Medical Sennin
^
Mednin Chief
^
Mednin
^
Mednin-in-Training
^​

|

Main Branch Sennin
^
Jounin
^
Chuunin
^
Genin
^
-Academy Student-​

|

ANBU Sennin
^
ANBU Elite
^
ANBU
^
ANBU-in-Training
^​

[/col3]

Happy with her handiwork, Yoko turned to face Yuu and held a hand to the board. "There are three branches total: Medical, Main, and ANBU. The medical branch is just as it sounds, it's filled with shinobi who have a focus in treating the wounded, performing surgery, the like. The ANBU are super secret. I don't really know much about them, other than the fact that they tend to be shinobi who track and assassinate the most...I think." It had been a while since she was taught about the ANBU, so her knowledge was rather vague. If he was interested, he'd surely find someone more qualified to inform him sooner or later. "Lastly we have the Main Branch, which I happen to be a part of. My branch usually just kinda fills the gaps. Things you wouldn't need the super secret ANBU for, but still need a shinobi. Not that the Main Branch is weaker than the ANBU or anything!" Yoko couldn't rightly say if her statement was true or not, but she didn't want him to think her branch was filled with weaklings. "Each branch has a Sennin that is in charge of the branch. And as I'm sure you know, our Raikage leads the entire village." She placed a finger to her chin. "Though, I can't rightly say I've heard much from the Raikage as of late...though I am a bit of a lower rank...soooooo..." Waving off the idea, Yoko returned to her explanation. "What path you choose is up to you and your abilities. Do what you'll do and you do what you do." It was no surprise that Yoko wasn't asked to teach the students. Despite being more social with children, Yoko didn't quite have the patience or wording capabilities required to educate others.

Believing her impromptu lesson was adequate enough to call it a day, Yoko clapped her hands together. "And that should cover that. Um...I'd tell you to go to recess...but it's after-school hours, so maybe going home would be best. But you should definitely come back for more classes! If you're lucky, you may just run into another Chuunin as informative as I!" Obviously joking, as even the young woman knew that she wasn't the best at teaching, Yoko looked to the door. Hopefully Kazu has forgotten about our attempted conversation. I think this little side-quest has taught me that I'd be a horrible mother. She turned to face Yuu one last time, a smile on her face. "Be safe on your way home kiddo. Wouldn't want to make your mother worry." Giving a two-fingered salute, Yoko exited the room and made her way back to her own residence.

[Topic Left]

 

[Kashino Yuu]

Yuu was a little nervous after he asked that question as he wondered if she had no clue about those stuff. But to his surprise, she actually had lots of information as she scribbled the said ranks along with ones he never seen before. "Medic-Nin and ANBU? What are those?" However, he didn't even need to verbally asked to Yoko as she fully explained more about the ranks and how they served in the shinobi life. As Yoko explained, Yuu learned that Medic-Nin served as doctors who healed some ninjas who are injured in missions or battles while ANBU are actually vague since she has limited info about them except the fact they served as assassins who took part in classified missions. Although they are unique from the other ranks, he preferred being a ninja rather than those. Medic-Nin can save any lives, but he rather take part in action to make sure he can really save anyone. As for the ANBU, he rather not because assassinating other people was not his forte because he didn't like to kill until he was willing to do so.

As for the Main Branch she mentioned, he learned more about the higher ranks such as Chuunin, Jounin, and Sennin along with the Raikage, which he felt she was right about him though as he wondered what happened after the elections for the new Raikage. And when Yoko finished her explanation, Yuu was completely excited after that. Other than information about Medic-Nin and ANBU, he was fired up at graduating the Academy and do his best by training and learning more to make sure he has the power to protect his loved ones when the time comes. When Yoko told him to go home after that, he then said, "Good idea. And thanks for answering my questions. Although I prefer being a ninja than a Medic-Nin or an ANBU when I graduate the Academy." With that said, he left the classroom with a smile on his face, but not before he waved goodbye to the lady he met. "I will. Thanks for everything!" As he then left the Academy, he took Yoko's words to his heart as he dashed to his house to greet his parents and siblings once more.

[MFT/WC: 376]

[OOC: Topic left]