Open [Tutor][Paging Dr. Sazuki Nao]Expanding Horizons

[Uchima Shoma]

Shoma had never sweat so much in his life. Not even running through the forest with Kuma, his best four-legged friend had ever worn on him so much as his first taijutsu class had. Of course, it would be one thing if that had been his only class, but it wasn't. It was the last in a day full of classes meant to get students' blood pumping. First had been laps around the Academy campus, then push-ups until he couldn't feel his arms, then plyometric exercises mean to "promote agility". The final class had been an introduction to hand-to-hand combat, where despite Shoma's distinct advantages in size, strength, and advanced age, he'd had his rear thoroughly handed to him over and over by a 10-year-old who apparently claimed some shinobi lineage or other. The tea shop hadn't prepared him for that.

He now found himself shuffling through the doors of the Academy, his limbs having gone by now from entirely numb to practically on fire. He had at least a 30 minute walk to his boarding house in the Maple district even on a good day, but he wasn't sure he'd make it back by dark this time. The thought occurred to him that he might feel better with a little ramen in his belly, despite the Oak district being a good deal out of his way.

Better tired and full than hungry and miserable, he thought as he began his detour, backpack slung over one shoulder, eyes feeling as though there were two tiny dumbbells hanging from them. He passed a number of people on his way to the commercial district, though that was nothing new. Konoha had more people than he could ever count, he was sure, though he had begun recognizing a few of them around the Academy in the past weeks. A teacher here, a classmate there, many of them with family members who had come to pick them up after class. His thoughts went back to his father, wondering what he was doing, how business at the shop had been lately. He let his mind wander along with his feet, and blessedly, managed to forget his physical pain by the time he'd arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. It was the premier ramen joint in the village, at least that's what he'd gathered from his classmates' chatter. He didn't doubt it could beat his frame of reference. His father had never been good at making much other than tea.

One pork ramen, please, he said as he took an empty seat at the ramen bar. He looked around lazily, noticing a few other patrons. One or two looked like shinobi, though he'd barely begun to recognize the different ranks, so couldn't quite tell if he should be in awe or not. At any rate, he was almost too tired for awe. He just wanted a piping bowl of ramen.

[MFT: 479]
[1/5]
[TWC 479/1500]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Nao was talking to one other Medical Ninja who he treated on the ramen to go over some things while multitasking. He would nod towards their papers. "So... you did everything correct on the Physical part of the exam, however, you made a lot of mistakes on the Theoretical... If you wish to take someone's pulse... how do you do that?' he asked the person before he would nod. "Alright... then how come you wrote this down; by watching them." He would listen and sigh. "I will see you in tomorrow again... At the Byoin in my office." He would have to think hard about what to do with this one trainee, as it seems they had a hard time taking the job seriously.

Nao summoned his contract who took a small appearance in a form of a puff of smoke this time and sat down where the Shinobi had sat down earlier. "Yes, Nao?" Sai answered and would look towards him. "Aloha... Do you have any idea how we can get people to get more serious on the theoretical part too..? They seem to excel at all the medical... Even if they are medical Tai, unlike me medical Nin... Not to mention we still need to find a way for Hikaru to be operating again.." Nao spoke towards his contract who started to lean on his hand. "Hmm... For Hikaru I might have found a solution though..." he would embark before noticing a child in the distance. "That is a new one to the academy if I am not mistaken." Nao looked around, not even hiding that fact and then looked back to Sai. "That seems to be... it also seems that the academy is pushing kids..." With that he would grab his own bowl and get close to the kid. "Hello there, Sazuki Nao, mind if I sit here..?" If it were to be allowed to sit, he would mention that he would pay for both their meals.

[MFT:330]
[entered topic]
[1/5]
[TWC 330/1500]

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Shoma hadn't expected to be approached, particularly by someone who had just summoned a man with wings to sit beside him. He hadn't meant to stare, but the sight was just so far removed from anything he'd considered ordinary that he simply couldn't help himself. He thought back to the time spent in the library of his tiny village, reading every work of fact and fiction that he could find on shinobi. He assumed that this must be a summoning jutsu, though the books hadn't gone into much detail on that particular class of ninja technique. At any rate, it was nothing short of shocking.

What was perhaps more shocking was when the man strode over to sit next to Shoma, even offering to cover the cost of his ramen. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that someone who could do what he'd just witnessed might take an unprompted interest in him.

O..of course, take a seat. I'm Uchima Shoma, nice to meet you.

Shoma stood, pulling the stool next to him back for Nao, instincts developed over years working in the tea shop taking over as his conscious mind struggled to come up with the proper protocol for such a situation.

Shoma resumed his seat as the other man took his, wincing slightly as he felt his thighs protest the motion. He hoped Nao hadn't noticed, though he was sure a shinobi would. He found himself wanting very badly to make a good first impression, seeing how fate had apparently deemed fit to dump a potential mentor practically on his lap.

If you don't mind my asking, was that a summoning jutsu? I've read a little about them but haven't seen one in practice.

Shoma almost didn't notice when a steaming bowl of pork ramen was placed on the bar in front of him. His stomach did though, and an undeniable growl from thereabouts tore his attention away from the budding conversation and toward the only food he'd seen since breakfast. By the time he'd finished asking his question, he had the bowl in hand and half a mouth-full of noodles protruding from between his lips. It occurred to him that he might have been a bit rude going straight from conversation to food, but the taste of pork and ramen was making it hard to concentrate. He compromised by maintaining eye contact, conveying that he hadn't lost interest in the conversation just because his food had arrived.

[2/5]
[TWC 882/1500]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Tilting his head- he would look to the kid. Questioning him... about.. That was when the bulb in his head started to blink on once more. He looked to Excursai and would smile bright. "Ah- About that, you are indeed correct on the jutsu. This is Excursai, Sai for short. He is my Kami contract." he would point towards Sai who would fold his wings in due to the place they were. "That is correct."
For both of them, it was fun to see someone going to edit mood as quickly as this child was doing. "Got to say; this child is an interesting one," Sai said out loud and Nao did believe that it could come over as quite rude. "That is true, says Shoma. I haven't seen you around hat often. May I ask who you are and what your ambitions are?" Nao would think of something along the lines of his answer. Perhaps he could teach him something to think about in later life.

[2/5]
[TWC 476/1500]

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Excursai

The name didn't exactly roll off the tongue, but Sai was easy enough. That creature, man...kami... was strange, but seemed nice enough, as did Nao so far. Shoma found himself getting excited. His thoughts went back to that time three years ago, when he'd stood by a table in the tea shop, waiting eagerly to refill the cups of two shinobi and their apprentice. He remembered how he'd wondered what it must be like for the student to have not one, but two mentors take such an interest in her. His father had always been detached, holding his son at arm's length, just as he did with the rest of the world. Shoma had grown up with a distinct feeling of missing out on something but hadn't known what until that day.

The next question hit him like a falling log,

May I ask who you are and what your ambitions are?

Ambitions... I don't know if I'd call them ambitions exactly.

Shoma went quiet for a moment, staring into his bowl of ramen as he thought the question over.

I'll never be the best, I know that. I started too late. I could be a good shinobi, I guess. That would be nice. But that's not really the biggest goal either. What do I want?

His face scrunched up visibly as he came to what he figured was a conclusion, if not necessarily the final one. Lifting his head, he looked Nao in the eye and said,

I just got to Konoha and started at the academy a week ago, that's probably why you haven't seen me much. I grew up in Yomogita, a little village out in the forest. My father owns a tea shop. I guess my ambition is just to be something different. I don't know what that will be, really, but I know I want to be a shinobi. I've read every book I could find on shinobi in my village, and I want to be able to do what they do. More than that though, I really want to be a part of something.

And I want to know what it's like to have a father, or a guide... just someone who cares, he thought to himself. He hadn't thought it would be prudent to tell a stranger that bit. It would happen naturally or not at all. The last thing he wanted was someone to take him under their wing out of pity. Still, though it was a nice though to keep tucked away in the back of his mind.

[3/5]
[TWC: 1302]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Nao was looking towards him, but as he stayed quiet for a while. He would take his chance to get some ramen on his chopsticks and start eating. The smell was amazing, but with each bite, the rich flavor was getting more and more intense. Once he finally spoke, he would place his chopsticks down and look him in the eye.

"Even as a Sennin... I haven't heard of that place, must be a remote little spot." He would look towards Excursai who would softly shrug, even he didn't know about it. Guess that was where his Wisdom stopped. Then again, his contract didn't contain the ancient wisdom either. "There is plenty to be part of something, it doesn't need to be big. As long as it is enough for you. For example; I started out as a student, lived my way up through Genin, and then went into the Medical branch. In my trainee days, I got this habit of studying plants, eventually mastering the art of them even and now I use them for medical just as good as bad. You could say my lover might call me foolish when he picks me up because the plant was poisonous for example..." He would chuckle a bit awkward as he thought back about the last time he confused 2 plants. As you could only tell them apart in the nighttime or by tasting the roots. The roots weren't toxic, but one of them was sweet and the non-toxic plant wasn't .

"I was called back in the day a Phantom Medic... I was never in the spotlight and most people never heard of me." He would take a bite and let that settle, once he was done with his bite he would continue. "I am happy where I am, even though I don't bring major impacts on the place. "There are three branches inside Konoha, the one you are in starting is the Main Branch, they do most of the work inside Konoha I would say, with different branching to go to. Once you reach Genin, you can choose. Either try to get into ANBU, who do work from the shadow, and lead a double life. You never know who are and who aren't part of such a place. Like I said; they lead a double life. Can't imagine how a family must be having them too... Everyone you know becomes a target if they know who you really are..." There he went, away with his thoughts and rattled on. It was this moment that Excursai coughed a time that signaled towards Nao. "R-right... sorry..."

"The medical branch is where we try to keep everyone in Konoha as healthy as possible. Not only, we have also a division to go into combat, we call those combat medics." He would end with that as he wasn't sure where this kid would go towards, and he was no mind reader as to what he wanted.

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Shoma listened intently, taking an occasional, subdued slurp of his ramen. He was already nearing the bottom of the bowl by the time Nao had finished speaking. He felt his heart sink a little when he heard the clink of chopsticks against the bottom. He'd been much hungrier than he'd realized.

Oh, yeah, well all of the shinobi novels have anbu in them, so I know a little about that branch. I don't know if you've read it, but "Shadow Guardian" is about an anbu who protects his village from other shinobi who try to break through the gates undetected. It's a really cool book!

The main branch is just the regular shinobi, I guess. No one writes about them very much, or I guess it's more that everyone writes about them so much that no one bothers to name the branch. They're just...regular shinobi I guess.

I actually met the head of the Combat Division the other day! Her name's Hikaru and she's blind, which I thought was kind of weird for a shinobi, but she taught me some about poisons and how to use them and heal them. It sounds like that's kind of what you do too, huh?

Shoma thought back to the time when being a shinobi had been nothing more than a vague wish for the future. He'd imagined a hundred different futures for himself, but now that he was actually beginning to walk that path, he found himself at a crossroads. Who would he be in the end? Did he want to protect his village from the shadows or help his friends on the battlefield? Did he want to be a rank and file Main Branch shinobi, putting in the grunt work for the village? Each day seemed to bring with it more questions than real answers.

Do you think you could tell me a little about the medical branch? It sounds like there are some that go into battle like Hikaru and some that don't. If a shinobi doesn't go into battle, doesn't that make a lot of our training kind of...pointless?

Realizing that that might be no way to talk to a Sennin, he added,

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just curious.

[OOC: My thread with Hikaru is still on-going, but it doesn't make sense to have never heard of the combat division in two different threads, so I'm going to place that one before this one in the timeline]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

"Hikaru-san. Don't forget she is older and higher in rank than you..." he would correct him as he did found it a bit lacking of manners. He would explain his branch then, he did seem to lighten more up the more he would talk about it. "In the Konoha Byoin, we do our best to keep everyone in Konoha healthy, we even make trips back to crater city to help those in need. Not a long while ago, we had the frost wars, that is where shinobi were critical. On the battlefield and behind the battlefield. If all the medical staff are on the battlefield. Who will help those who aren't chakra gifted. For us it's normal to be used with it, to have it... but do not forget, not everyone has it. Not every person is gifted with it. To those people, even we, matter the most. We can make miracles happen for them. Someone on the brink of dying, we save them with our medical knowledge and chakra." He would pause and think correct of his words.

"Medical-nin are ninja who is specialized in medical treatment and medical oriented jutsu to aid others. They are also trained to avoid getting injured as much as possible. Mainly for the reason that if they are hurt, there would be no one else to help the people in need. Combat medics are mainly accompanied by another ninja on high-ranking missions to increase the success rate of the mission and overall survival rate of the squad. Not to mention, those inside the branch use their knowledge for many things. Combat and non-combat alike. For example, Hikaru-san is excelling to heal in combat, to use her veterinarian medical jutsu. While I am excelling in medical ninjutsu, instead of taijutsu. I trained myself to be used inside of combat and outside of combat. In combat I will go into my Archsage mode Kami if possible and aid my people from the side, trying to shield those who are in need and heal those who are in need of healing. When I ain't at the battlefield, I will use my knowledge with the plants, creating poisons, antidote, healing potions, and more. We have functions inside and outside." He noticed he was going a bit outside of the talking bit.

"Basically... we have 2 sub-branches inside the medical. The Research Division on which Medical researchers pride themselves on exploring the inner regions of Hi no Kuni and often dabble on the outskirts to search into additional items of interest in hopes of discovering answers to the unknown. Periodically quests end up taking medical personnel to other countries. To stamp one's legacy and cement their name onto the village is often a goal of many in the department for their finds. This branch even splits further down towards Botanical research where I excel best at, and medical research."

"And then not to forget the Medical Combat Division who are basically a Terror on the fields of combat that do not sway those within this particular division. Honing their skills, many are capable of not only defensive techniques but offensive to aid in delivering deadly blows to the enemy. Often the members of this division are described as steel trap minds and holding a strong sense of duty to ensure the safe return of those fighting alongside them in battle."

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Well, that was embarrassing. Shoma didn't normally forget honorifics, but he'd managed to do it while talking to one of the most powerful people in the village. He hoped the Sennin would chalk it up to exhaustion.

Sorry, Nao-sama. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I never realized that the medical branch was so varied. Before meeting Hikrau-san I didn't know much about the medical branch, but now it sounds like there are really three different groups within the branch. That's really interesting! Are the Anbu the same way? The books make it sound like they're all just focused on hunting down traitors, but now I'm wondering if that branch is like the medical branch and there are different groups with different responsibilities. I also met a boy named Toshi-chan. He says he wants to be Anbu to defend the village from traitors. At first I thought maybe that branch isn't for me, but if there are different groups then maybe I can keep considering it.

Can I ask how you decided to join the medical branch? I know I still have a long time before I'll be a genin, but I keep thinking about which branch I want to go into and I just don't know... I guess I don't know where I'll fit. Part of me says I just should stay in the main branch and be an average shinobi, but I'm kind of sick of being average, you know?

Shoma reflected on his upbringing, his life inside the village. He hadn't been average in every way. He was a bit taller than most kids his age, and everyone said he'd be like his dad one day, big and imposing. Other than that, though, he really couldn't think of much that set him apart in a good way. He'd never been particularly good at much, but then again he'd never really tried many new things. Life had centered around the tea shop, leaving little room for new experiences.

Coming to Konoha to join the academy had been the most exciting thing Shoma had ever done, but now that he was here, he wasn't sure he knew how to make the most of the opportunity. He knew he was learning, or at least hoped that he was, but he wanted to do more than that. He wanted to belong to something, to contribute to a community. He wanted to make a difference somehow.

How do I figure out what I'll be good at? It seems like everyone I meet just knows what their specialty will be, but I just don't.

[MFT]
[WC=425]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

"How to figure out what you are good at..." he would think for a bit and lean onto his hand as he did. Catching himself doing such a mannerism in a place like this instantly had him shift to a straight back and neat sitting. "Well... To think things through..." he would look towards the kid. "I know from the main branch and the Medical you can get days to walk with someone. Kind of like an internship, you can attend the classes... As far as I know for ANBU... You already have to have something unique for them to come to you." He would think of a better way to put it.

"Anbu is people that are living in the shadows, lead a double life... and if they are known to who or what they are. They are having a major target to their back. Everyone wants to know secrets... And you know how people keep secrets..? One of them has to die. Even the dead speaks these days with damn dark sages..." he would complain as he met one of that ' secret which cost him almost a student.

"All you can do I guess from this whole long waterfall of talk... Is to just try. Try to see if it fits, if it feels natural. Like I said; the main branch and medical have internship days where you can spend the day along with someone."

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Shoma could feel his mind glazing over Nao's point. He struggled to cling to it, to focus on the revelation of internship days. It was, after all, the answer to his question, but the boy in him simply was not having it. The Uchima Shoma who had spent hours upon hours in the library reading novel after novel about Shinobi and their fanciful exploits could focus on nothing more than the words "Dark Sages".

His eyes grew wide, and the last bit of noodles hung out of his mouth for a moment until he regained some modicum of composure and slurped them down his gullet where they belonged. As soon as he'd swallowed enough to be considered at least minimally polite, he blurted,

What's a dark sage?! They can talk to the dead? And it's the Anbu's job to hunt them down, right?

Nao-sama, that sounds incredible. Are they evil shinobi who want to destroy our village? Have they tried before? Have you met one?

At 13 years old, Shoma was just enough of a man to know that he was being childish, but more than enough of a child to not particularly care. This was the kind of thing he'd been waiting for. This was what he'd read about in the novels. This might just be his purpose. He had qualms about hurting other people, sure, but evil shinobi who talk to the dead and steal village secrets? Well, in his imagination, the words "dark sage" were instantly associated with each and every bad guy or girl he'd ever read about. He wouldn't feel bad about hurting evil people, would he? He'd be a hero, after all!

Does the combat division fight dark sages, Nao-sama? That's what I want to do, I want to fight evil!

To say that Shoma was visibly giddy would be like saying that a lake is visibly wet. Even some of the other patrons, many of them shinobi themselves, turned to glance in the boy's direction at the exclamation. He hardly noticed, though. All of his attention, even the little bit he'd previously reserved for eating, was focused on Nao, yearning to hear more about this great foe of the village hidden in the leaves, the infinitely ominous "Dark Sage".

[MFT]
[WC=370]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

" A Dark sage..." He thought he had explained it before already... bu tthen again he had been teaching a lot of people these days. "They use Cursed chakra or Dark chakra sometimes named. Its chakra is formed most of the time by negative emotions from the heart? It requires a user to have a proper chakra control to use, and a disruption in the control can offer a damaging backlash. For example, a body can heavily deteriorate when its control is sabotaged. However, to those who do master it, they seem to have no or even fewer drawbacks. Those people are called Dark Sages... and they can easily toy with the aspects of life and death as they see fit.. Now I ain't a dark sage exactly, but I do know we have somewhat of an extra chakra reservoir. For example, if I ever my sage mode, I get holy alignment. Now I deal strong damage against a Dark Sage, but weaker damage against a spirit. Dark sages are strong against Spirit but weak against Holy. For those who have SPirit, they deal damage against holy, but hardly anything against Curse..."
He gave him a full explain about things, perhaps even going too far with explaining for him to comprehend. " We have had people trying to take over this place, for example the Frost Shinobi, we have been at war with them. I haven't met them personally, but there are people that wander here that have. I was inside the Byoin taking care of the wounded back in those days."

"Not all the dark sages are exactly bad people, you still have some good dark sages around too. even though those are rare." he hcuckled on that tought as he would look towards the child. "Every place fights them, if they cross their path."

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Cursed Chakra. Cursed. It sounded exactly like something out of the novels. The assertion that some Dark Sages are good people was a bit confusing to Shoma, though the part of his mind that wasn't totally infatuated with romantic visions of battling embodiments of evil in defense of his village worked out that the nature of a tool doesn't always reflect the nature of the user, though he was sure it would be a thin line to walk.

Nao-sama, thank you so much. I think I finally know why I'm here, in Konoha. I first came because I wanted something more for my life, I needed to get away from my father so that he can be happy, or at least less sad, and I wanted to find people who could show me the way, help me become something. Up until today I didn't feel like I was doing any of that, and the thought of hurting people was confusing, but I think I know what I want to do now. I want to fight Dark Sages. I want to find them and destroy them so that they can't hurt the village. Well, the evil ones, anyway. I don't want to hurt anyone who's good, even if they use an evil tool.

It came out in less of a rush than his last few outbursts. Despite his spiking levels of excitement, this was something that came from his core, from the heart, and he wanted to make sure that Nao-sama understood that he truly meant it. This was a turning point in his ninja journey, he could feel it.

Whatever branch I join, that's going to be my goal. I promise you, someday I'll make sure that we don't have to worry about Dark Sages ever again.

Shoma's bowl was on the bar, long empty by this point, and the chef was approaching to take it to the wash. Shoma realized they'd been chatting for quite some time at that point and instantly felt bad for occupying so much of such an important person's time. He hoped the Sennin would say something if Shoma was getting to be a burden. He wouldn't want to make too bad of an impression.

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Nao would eat the last bits of his meal as the other was talking, for him it was a break to have at least something in his stomach before he would need to react once more toward the curious child.

" Just make sure that you are staying safe as a first. You cannot help others if you are harmed along the way." He would comment and watch the youth once more. "Safety first."

After that he would stand up and watch the time. "But, I do have to get going, I hope you have a good meal and just make sure that you don't do anything that can get you killed."

[topic left unless stopped]
[Tutor finished; you passed congratulations]

 

[Uchima Shoma]

Thank you again, Nao-sama.

Shoma stood and bowed to his superior, truly grateful that the Sennin had offered his time to chat with a new academy student.

I'll be careful, I promise. I'll train hard and make sure I'm ready before I take on a Dark Sage.

Shoma wasn't sure how long it would take for him to be ready. The idea of being strong enough to take on a master of the dark arts seemed like a far-off notion indeed, but he was sure he'd found his calling. He would be ready one day, and when that day came, evil had better watch out.

As the older shinobi walked off, Shoma reflected on the conversation, knowing he'd probably made some social faux pas, but the embarrassment was minor compared to the rush of having discovered his future. He picked up his things, thanked the owner of the ramen shop, and head on his own way toward the boarding house in the Maple District, his mind aflutter with images of epic shinobi battles between good and evil. This time, though, the side of good was an older version of himself. It was the first time such a thing had felt like a true possibility.

[Thread left]
[Thank you for your time, Owly! It was very helpful!]