Wh-who?! [Takahashi Sousuke]

[Samejima]

Still lollygagging around the Dojo after having done some training, Naoki had reached a state of near-enlightenment. For a nine-year-old anyway. She was considering her future and what she'd do after the gates were reopened, as well as how she'd get back to her family after accomplishing some pretty cool things for a ten-year-old. A year was still a long time to be away from her parents, but she assured herself that she'd keep on her toes with all the missions and things she'll be taking.

So the obvious first thing to do is to help out the citizens of Sunagakure after the Cabal attack... There seems to be some kind of war, so maybe I should start learning how to perform first aid? Oh! There's bound to be a shortage of food or something like that, so I can go back early and ask dad to help me get some fish!

Naoki started humming a little, before she recognised the presence of someone powerful close by. Those footsteps were no ordinary footsteps. They sounded like they've seen many battles, calculated and systematic to prevent unnecessary use of stamina. She feigned unawareness, while being wary of whoever's coming.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Who knew that emotions were so ... exhausting. The Steward was flat out tired. He was never one for shouting. He was not one for being angry. Lately though the Steward had his feathers ruffled, or that is what his father would say. Another one of his father's phrases. It didn't make sense. In fact it made Sousuke's head hurt the more he thought about it. The dojo was quite a mess. Cabal agents of course destroying mostly everything. Even now they were probably still about. Shouki was still at large, and still very much a nuisance. His riddles weren't the greatest, but his codex was slightly infuriating to figure out. Even then he still needed the other riddle to acquire access.

"Stupid riddles. If I hear another it'll only be too soon."<i></i> The Steward grumbled. Since when did he grumble? He merely shook his head. Wait. Was he talking to himself? Mindless chatter when doing calculations was fine, this though was not acceptable. The Steward hoped that his momentary lapse of sanity was not going to de-evolve him into some criminally insane minded individual. No. He was not going to be like Shouki. That man was for better or for worse mentally damaged. It must have been the heat. Given his display to the Cabal Agent with the flame show, it was quite probable that his criminal insanity was only bolstered again. That would be a problem the Steward would need to fix at a later time and date. It was quite probable that he would to fix his error with violence.

The Steward heard the sound of humming. It sounded like a child. A child. Out here? In the outer portions of the Dojo? What was Kuro thinking? His older brother was a very fearsome feline man, but sometimes the Steward wondered if Kuro ever suffered a minor glitch when he was operating his multiple bodies. If wasn't like Kuro could be patched up. It was just ... well sometimes Sousuke worried about Kuro. He was married. No children. An heir to his mother who was a 'Lady' and much more. "You're not lost are you?"<i></i> He would speak in his slightly less monotone sounding voice. Children always got lost easily. The Steward's own ward wasn't the best with directions.

 

[Samejima]

As the man approached, Naoki relaxed a little. He didn't seem to be hostile at all, and he even asked her if she was lost. She turned to face him, and pointed to the headband tied around her eyes. "Don't worry mister, I'm a genin! There's no way I'd be lost and admit it! Ah, I mean..." she trailed off, waving her arms around as she tried to calm herself down.

Confidence cracked, she tried again, shaking her head to clear her thoughts, "I'm not lost, but Lord Onimaru told me to get to the center of the Dojo... That reminds me, please head straight ahead to the main hall, we're having some kind of trouble and..." She tilted her head, examining the man before continuing. He seemed even more experienced up close, as she could now tell that he was wearing armor which weakened her ability to hear a heartbeat. Snapping her fingers a few times, she said, "Are you one of those... Sen-nins?" she asked, never having sensed anyone with this kind of armor and thinking it must be high-level equipment.

Naoki stood at attention, and thrust her upper body downwards, giving a bow. Straightening up, then failing to control her volume, she pretty much shouted, "I-I'm a new genin of Sunagakure, Samejima Naoki! I don't have much of an idea of what shinobi do, but I'll do my best so please bear with me for now!"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward's eyes shifted to the side as the child remarked that she was not lost, and more importantly she'd admit it. Yes. Quite. Absolutely. The child seemed to maintain herself and cool down a bit. Following that she explained what Lord Onimaru told her about heading to the centre of the dojo. Sousuke's eyes shifted towards that direction. "Right then."</I><i></i> With that the two began to make their way. Sousuke noticed the child observing his armour. His red leather long coat, and his breather mixed with his helmet. Youths always held an interest in what they did not easily understand. At the very least she wasn't asking if he was an automaton which was a relief. Zenichi once thought of him as an automaton, and certainly it took quite a bit of work explaining that to him otherwise. The child did have a query though, if he was a sennin. The Steward's lenses would grow green. "Mmm... kind of. I have more responsibilities than a sennin does."<i></i> Sousuke paused. "Such is expected when one is named Guardian Protectorate of the Realm... granted lately it is most difficult." Children of course had a difficult time with lengthy titles. Sousuke himself didn't like the phrase, but he certainly was very hesitant to call himself the Kazekage. Steward-Kazekage was acceptable. Steward was what he preferred most.

The child asserted herself, and who she was. It came in the form of a shout. The Steward's lenses continued to grow green. <I>"Naoki of the house Samejima?"<i></i> Sousuke queried back to her. "I ... like to think I am well informed on house sigils, but yours I do not recall. Was it the fish with the two spears? Or was it a shark?"<i></i> Most families had sigil's. The Steward's was the horse with the eight falling stars above it. The child then told him to bear with her and her lack of experience. "Sand Shinobi protect the memory and the legacy of our One King Primus and his family the Sunahoshi."<i></i> He explained. That was it, in essence. There was more to it than that. Everyone had their own ... reason to exist. "Of course there is your family to honour too."<i></i> He stopped mid step. He bowed his head slightly. "I am Sousuke the third, of the house Takahashi. An old house. We can trace our family roots back to the days of Primus."<i></i>

 

[Samejima]

After hearing the entire explanation, she realised she should apologise for her volume as she heard his heartbeat climb. "S-sorry, I get pretty nervous around people with big titles..."

Guardian Protec-tor-ate? But it sounds like he's even higher up than a sen-nin... Ohh, I really can't deal with all these high-ranking people...

Naoki stopped as well, and readjusted her headband to sit neatly in front of her eyes, trying to process what this man titled Guardian Protectorate of the Realm said about houses and purposes.

"So then... You're Takahashi Sousuke-sama, Guardian Protector-ate of the Realm?" she asked, trying her best to pronounce the title right. "I um... I came from outside Sunagakure, so I don't think we have a sigil, but if we do, they sure didn't tell me."

She then bowed back, in a normal fashion, having calmed down significantly. "I am Naoki, of the house Samejima. My house looks really old, and I don't know about any roots, but I'm pretty sure we all come from the same days, seeing as we're all human here. It's nice to meet you!" Standing up straight again, she faced up in the direction of where she sensed his head was and gave a good-natured grin.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Well. It seemed that the child had some difficulty with his formal title. It was most encouraging to see and heard the child enunciate his title. She seemed to have a slight problem with the word protectorate, but that was to be expected. Truthfully he thought it was quite clever how the child broke down the bigger word. "You may also call me Steward, or most preferably you may call me Sousuke."<i></i> Okibi had problems with her words. She learned quickly as she was capable of mimicing sounds and phrases. The actual teaching part took some time, and still to this day his ward still chose certain awkward phrases over proper common.

The Steward's lenses would turn from green to yellow as Naoki spoke of how her house did not have a sigil, or one that she was aware of. "Perhaps Naoki you should be the first of your household to initiate a sigil. Think of a concept, be it an animal, weapon or symbol that fits your clan, and associate yourself with that symbol."<i></i> There was a slight pause over the Steward as what the child next said to him. It took him a moment to realize he had made an error, and that the child most likely misunderstood him. "When I speak of house ... I refer to clan. The word is interchangeable. It is true though that a clan may reside in one particular household for many years."<i></i> At the mention of everyone being human, the Steward would look to the side. "House Toraono has some ancestry of a demonic heritage... they're mostly human... or at least some percentage of human that is no less than forty-five percent if I had to make a proper guess."<i></i> Sousuke made a shrugging motion. The Suna symbol on his coat crinkled slightly before it unfolded itself properly. "It is mutual. Always good to meet new people."<i></i> Sousuke nodded his head. Being social wasn't his strongest suit, but certainly he had been improving upon it. becoming superior about it. "It is considerably refreshing that you acknowledged me as a human and not an automaton. Well done."<i></i>

 

[Samejima]

Uwaah, I can call him by his first name? Mom always told me I should be respectful to others... but in this case he himself said I should call him that. Umm...

"Sousuke-sama then!" Naoki said aloud, finishing her thought.

She then continued, "I've got an idea... But I should talk it over with my parents first." She did not exactly wish to disclose her idea of fluffy sheep and rainbows as the family sigil. It just didn't seem appropriate.

As the Steward, and Naoki still hadn't fully grasped the weight of this title, explained houses and how House Toraono was at least 45% demonic, she grew thoughtful for a while, before replying, "They did seem really different compared to anyone else I've seen the first time I saw everybody... but I always thought that was what could happen when you get to be really strong. They're actually like, half-demon?" Her eyebrows furrowed, something they'd been doing a lot recently.

Even if they are about half demon, they were all really nice and helped me with all this training... And mom always said people are only human when they show kindness... Which is it mom? she turned her mother's words as well as the ones she'd just heard over in her head, before deciding to just ask her when she got back.

And what's mutual? She drew the conclusion that it must mean something like "same here", since "Always good to meet new people." followed. There was a word she couldn't make heads or tails of though. "Automaton?" she asked, continuing quickly, "Whatever that means, you're talking, and you have a heartbeat. I haven't seen anything other than a human who could talk..." She hesitated as she was about to mention the members of House Toraono, as she still clung to her mother's words.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

When Naoki remarked about how they were half demon, the Steward thought harder about the real break down for the influence of the Toraono clan. "Almost half or maybe a third."<i></i> He corrected himself. "They are very different yes, but when one does become quite strong they do have a very different appearance. I suspect then ... by that logic my armour is something you're not familiar with then."<i></i> The Steward ran his index finger down his helmet. The helmet proceeded to unfold itself and transform into more of a hood. The Steward pulled back the hood revealing his spikey purple hair, his dark eyes, and tanned skin. Given that he wasn't used to being on the surface, it was somewhat of a miracle he had such a tan. Really though his tan could be attributed to the lights from keystone prime and his work at the forge.

"Automatons are more like puppets. Sometimes they can speak like we do, but they ... don't show emotion when doing so. Granted some puppets of ... a darker nature can express themselves. That is ... taboo for us of the Takahashi clan."<i></i> Ironically Sousuke himself was speaking monotone, as of late though it was ... less monotonic in nature. Granted any show in emotion caused Sousuke to get tired. It was frustrating which then led him to getting even more tired. When Naoki spoke of having met things that talk and are human only, "You've never met a summoned entity have you? They act like us at times, but they are very different from us. Cats. Insects. Slugs."<i></i> A thought came over the Steward. His eyes shifted skyward for a moment. His eyes narrowed as if he grew at something that was forcing its way into his head. An idea. A vicious infectious thing ideas were.

"Well, you're about to see something prettier than a human talk." Nemuri the moth spoke as she phased into existence. The Steward's relationship with the Insect contract was a strange one. The insect court usually summoned themselves when they wanted to, with the exception of Ken. Nemuri fluttered her wings, and did a barrel roll. "Tell me you love my wings."<i></i> The creature would then hover slightly to Sousuke's side.

The Steward would scratch the back of his head. "Naoki, meet Nemuri the moth. Her wings are quite lovely."<i></i> The moth let out a laugh as he complimented her and perfectly at that.

(MFT 407)

 

[Samejima]

As the Steward's helmet changed into a hood, the sounds it made alerted Naoki to the transformation. The sudden change caused her to jump a little, but as he pulled the hood back, she could finally sense his base appearance and felt a little less on edge, showing this by smiling a little. Not being able to sense colours though, she didn't comment on the Steward's hair or tan, and had no knowledge of them as she continued their conversation.

"Hmm..." She was having a little trouble thinking of a puppet that could talk, but soon reconciled her understanding of how voices work with how puppets work by inserting a mechanical voice box into a puppet and making that box move using chakra. It wasn't exactly something she dwelled on though. And she knew what taboo meant, but what was he referring to when he said 'that'? "Wouldn't everyone be against making puppets of darker natures?" she asked, unaware that the Steward might have been referring to expressing emotion. "Unless I remembered the meaning of taboo wrong...?"

When Nemuri the moth appeared, Naoki let out an "ooh" as she performed a barrel roll in the air. "Nice to meet you, Nemuri... Naoki Samejima I am." The response was muddled, likely due to her surprise at hearing a moth speak. "I'm sorry I can't see their colours, but their shapes are very pretty..." she continued, snapping her fingers a few times to better sense the lightly floating arthropod.

[MFT]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Some people are of a lesser morale coding than we are. Our surroundings and parents determine who we are ... or that is what I like to beleive."<i></i> He paused for a moment realizing that the child would need some assistance in making the necessary gap. "That is to say some people do not restrict themselves in what they do and see no issue is venturing down a darker road."<i></i> The irony here was that Sousuke was trying to teach a sort of moral sensibility when he himself was a person of cold calculating logic. Even he had standards. "The point is that not everyone sees things as ... good or evil. Some see such dark ventures as ... opportunity to expand the sciences of this world."<i></i>

Nemuri flew around Sousuke. "What he's saying is no, but people trying to make puppets of that icky nasty unfashionable state do so because to them its not taboo. To Sousuke here it's like ... the worst thing imaginable."<i></i> The Takahashi were such strange people. Good people, but strange. Ken of course spoke mountains about how good Sousuke was to him and fed him oranges. The summoned moth let out a sigh when Naoki said she couldn't see the colours. "How terribly cruel. Well now. I hope your parents colour cordinate everything for you. I don't like a miss-mash of colours! Never black and brown! No! that's terrible."<i></i> The moth fluttered a bit more. "Tell you what. If you don't know what colours are fashionable. You talk to me. We'll put you in a wonderous shade of pink or purple. It'll be the talk of the town... another Nemuri masterpeice."<i></i> The moth turned to Sousuke, and then back to Naoki. "I do the same for this guy here too. I've got to keep him looking pretty."<i></i>

 

[Samejima]

Listening to the Steward and his contracted moth Nemuri, Naoki was reminded of the reason she was given when her mother tried to move her away from the darker themed novels, as well as when her father was dealing with a shifty looking man. "It's a bit too dark for you right now Naoki." Both waved her away with a reassuring smile, never really telling her about what was too dark for her. "Dark..." Well, she understood these dark matters a little more, which would lead her to be more careful in the future when dealing with people.

Naoki was then alerted to her current inability to color coordinate her clothing, which she hadn't thought of, but was quite concerned about as well. "Ahh you're right! I'm still wearing the clothes I got from Yoko-nee, so I don't look weird now, but what about later..." Remembering her current line-up of clothes though, everything was pretty much in the same colour, as she didn't want her outfit choices to hinder her morning preparations. "I didn't come with my parents, so I can't ask them to help... But all the clothes I brought with me are pretty much the same shade of dark blue. I picked them out myself, back when I could still see..."

She shook her head, and continued, "You'd be willing to help me with this though? Haha, thank you for the opportunity! Let's meet again somewhere when the Cabal are beaten! It'd be a shame if I got the pretty clothes all worn down and dirty after all." Naoki grinned, just like how a little girl would grin if offered an image change. Inwardly though, she was worried about the outcome of all this. There would no doubt be a silver lining, but what shade the cloud is would make a world of difference in how the rest of her life pans out.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Nemuri's expression didn't quite sour, but it was very neutral. "I'll have to have some fine silks made for you. Very fashionable. Silk is never out of style."<i></i> The moth nodded her head. She started making mental notes of Naoki's proportions. Nemuri knew the best silk weavers in the entire court of insects. Naoki would be looking splendid if she had her way! "I think you'd look very fashionable in an emerald green. Very stunning. Yeeees."<i></i> Once Nemuri had a fashion statement to be made, she would not stop until it was known to all! Looking fabulous was very key in today's world. Sousuke of course didn't argue with the moth. Women were very ... forceful and adamant about their opinions and their goals. Even insect ones for that matter. When Naoki spoke of doing this after beating the Cabal, Sousuke's eyes turned red. Yes. There was business to be had and finished with them. Business that would involve blade and wit. Nemuri of course seemed unphased. "Well those ruffians would want to ruin my fabulous new look for you. So yes. Afterwards. I'll have you the talk of the insect court! Even my eldest sister would be jealous!"<i></i>

"I suspect our paths will not cease crossing. I am here to answer the threat of the Cabal."<i></i> Sousuke revealed. "I've been locked out, it's time to get back in and put an end to their game."<i></i> He had to assume Naoki was locked out too. The Toraono clan were keeping the child well and protected. A sickly blue glow would emit from the Steward's form. Yes. Shouki had given him a way back in. Who knew what terrors lurked, or what devastation was awaiting him on the other side. In his heart he remembered what Shade had said to him. He couldn't merely beat the Cabal. Slaying them may be necessary. They had to be stopped, no matter the cost.

"Above all else, stay safe."<i></i> He would advise her. Children sometimes listened to him. Sometimes they didn't. Children were their own little people, a fragment of what they could become. A child's surroundings often determined their future self. This was perhaps not the best for Naoki. Aki too did not have a pleasant opening few years in his life. Should the Mother and Primus permit it... Sousuke would oversee a change in the lives of many youths. "Nemuri give word to the Queen I may call upon her. Tell Ken ... the chances of him being summoned are significantly less. He can't fit in the dojo and fight to his best abilities."<i></i> The moth nodded her head.

"Until we meet again Naoki. Stay fashionable!"<i></i> With that the moth twirled about one last time. Her exit was fashionable as she warped out leaving a rain of golden sparkles.

MFT 467

 

[Samejima]

"Silk..." Naoki's eyebrows rose slowly. She'd heard of silk before, but never touched or seen any so she didn't know its charm, mostly of its extravagant prices and how only the wealthy got to wear it without breaking their banks. It was unlikely that she knew exactly how proficient Nemuri was, a level up to which she was able to size up proportions at a glance, so she figured she'd ask more about the material later on during the measurement taking and didn't attempt to talk her out of giving her something so expensive.

"Of course, I'll do my best not to get in your way sir!" Naoki stood at attention, facing where she sensed the Steward's head was. "I'm probably supposed to go help the digging team now, instead of just hanging around here, so I'll be heading out that way." She pointed in the direction where the Steward had come in. It was about time she started pitching in as well, she wanted to do her best as a shinobi of Sunagakure after all.

"Oh umm... Please stay safe too Sousuke-sama. We'll all meet again after all this is over, okay?" she asked, smiling. At his reply, she'd either leave, waving, or stay to address any concerns.

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