|
|
Post by Yusuke Ishida on Dec 28, 2018 0:38:25 GMT -5
For a Special Jonin, guarding the main village gate was by far the worst assignment, and Yusuke was growing tired of this duty. The sun beat down overhead as he inspected a local caravan of traders entering the village, seeking passage to the village’s infamous bazaar. “I’m sure you won’t be needing this in the village,” Yusuke chuckled, pulling various items of contraband out of the merchant's leather pouches. After an intensive investigation, he waved the group onward. “Alright, you’re free to go.” Minutes seemed like hours as group after group approached his squad, seeking entrance into Sakyugakure.
Needless to say, this was not the life Yusuke expected for a trained ninja. Throughout the day, he was also tasked with keeping tabs on the shinobi entering and exiting the village, to work on declassified missions. Each time, he was reminded of all the different assignments a shinobi of Sakyugakure could be asked to fulfill. His mind started to fill with still images of him defending allies in hostile territory, or covertly finding information about the other shinobi villages, or foiling an assassination attempt of the Sunakage during a public event.
“Yusuke? You listening?” His commander looked at him, catching the daydreaming shinobi off guard. The much older and senior Jonin had grown comfortable with a career of Village Garrison assignments, but was well respected among the local citizen and shinobi as a loyal friend.
“Sorry Suzuki-senpai! What’s up?” The young red-head smiled back at his commander, hoping to conceal a bit of embarrassment.
“The Sunakage wants to see you in her office tonight.” He began to turn his attention to another group of merchants, only to say. “You’re dismissed. Good luck.”
At sunset, he finally approached the village’s administration building, where the office of the Sunakage was located. Guided by fellow shinobi of the village through the structure labrynth of hallways, he eventually found the Kage’s chambers. Knocking first, he cracked the door open saying confidently “Suna-sama? You requested my presence this evening?”
WC: 333/333
OOC: Sorry for the short post, but I wanted to get a thread going!
|
|
New
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Female
20 POSTS & 2 LIKES
|
Post by Sayaka Sarutobi on Jan 1, 2019 17:10:59 GMT -5
Yusuke Ishida... He seemed like a bright young man. What did put a stern expression on Sayaka's face was the fact that he failed the academy graduation exam about five times. Although he did pass eventually, it was still something that made the Sunakage a little... concerned. Nonetheless, he was a Special Jounin at the end so her worries didn't become reminded so often. What did catch her attention was that he lost an eye. It was an interesting pattern to witness as she knew a few certain kunoichi who had some eye conditions; one had heterochromia and the other got her eye slashed off, so she had to get an eye transplant. Who knew her little soon-to-be group could be so special? Sayaka looked up from her seat as she noticed someone knocking at her door. As it was opened, she spotted the shinobi he summoned in her office: Yusuke. She closed the boy's records, leaning back in her seat while she made a heavy sigh. "You tell me. If you weren't requested to be here you wouldn't be here in the first place. You don't need two eyes to know that now, do you?" She asked in a snarky tone, her eyes squinting in what seems to be irritation as if she were annoyed by Yusuke's confirmation of being called by the Sunakage. The woman went silent for a moment as she stared down at the one eyed boy... until a smile quirked up on her lips and her serious expression transitioned to joy. Sayaka broke out into laughter that boomed in her office. She slammed a fist down on her desk as she leaned forward, continuing her gleeful giggles. When she stopped laughing, her face became more relaxed as she gave the boy a soft and welcoming smile. "Of course, Ishida-san, I've requested you to come in my office. Please, come in!" She said as she got up her seat, arms spread out from each other in a welcoming gesture. She walked away from her desk and approached to one of the two couches, motioning one hand over to the couch across from her. "Take a seat. I do have some offers I'd like to talk to you about... but before we do that, I'm just curious on one thing..." She stopped momentarily as she took her seat on the couch before she'd continue. "How was your day today?"WC: 402
|
|
|
|
Post by Yusuke Ishida on Jan 2, 2019 22:27:25 GMT -5
It had been years since Yusuke had seen the interior of the Sunakage’s office, and it appeared that the Sandaime Kage had the office styled to her liking. Across the back wall were a set of dark wooden bookshelves, covered with leather-bound texts. A large green rug was laid center in the room, accompanied by two plush couches and a coffee table. At the jest of losing an eye, he was welcomed into the room, and found a seat on one of the sofas. “You’ll have to forgive me, Lady Sunakage. There’s a bad history of my family using their clan techniques for selfish reasons, whether it’s to prove a point or not.” He joined in genuine laughter, grinning from cheek to cheek.
As he rested in the leather cushions, he was a bit perplexed at the question posed by his superior. “Well, if I must be honest, today has been pretty trying. I’ve enjoyed my time with Suzuki-senpai, and I’ve learned a lot, but working garrison shifts protecting the village gates isn’t what I thought a shinobi would do.” Truth be told, he hated working the gate shift, especially in the early mornings. The job was a glorified customs enforcement officer, taxing imports from traveling merchants to support the village’s shinobi. Most of his peers rarely checked out of the village with the garrison squads, as most of the mission required discretion even among the local ninja.
Scratching the back of his head, he wrapped up his point. “I guess you could say, I want to grow as a shinobi, and I don’t think I can from the leaders of my current squad.” He chuckled for a moment; he couldn’t shake his nervous tick even in front of the most respected shinobi of the village. “How about you, Lady Sunakage? How was your day?” Maybe he was being too informal with his village’s leader, but it felt like they were having an open and honest conversation. After all, she was human too, and Yusuke imagined it was a rare moment where she could step away from the role of Kage to simply chat with the denizens of Sakyugakure.
A more senior shinobi would have probably been fearful of the word “offer” in the hands of the reigning Sunakage, but Yusuke overlooked the consequences in the hopes of a lifetime opportunity. A chance to discover what it truly meant to be a shinobi, and to uphold the pride of the Ishida clan. He was willing to do anything to earn the respect of his Kage, a shinobi he truly respected more and more as the conversation went on.
WC: 438/771
|
|
New
IS OFFLINE
Years
Old
Female
20 POSTS & 2 LIKES
|
Post by Sayaka Sarutobi on Jan 3, 2019 20:50:44 GMT -5
Sayaka would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat taken back by the reaction the one eyed boy gave, but she kept her usual composure on the outside with her signature smile of warmth. It wasn't often for someone to genuinely laugh and play along. She could tell when someone was faking it for her sake, which was a smart move she'd acknowledge if the person knew what was good for them. It was good to know the boy before Sayaka knew how to take a joke unlike a certain somebody who couldn't take the joke of the same nature. It was a real shame, too. She didn't mean too much harm into her jokes. After all, that's all they were; joke. They weren't meant to be taken seriously. She supposed not everyone could handle her sense of "humor", but Yusuke? He just might be a new favorite.
"I see..." Sayaka responded with a soft nod of her head. She delicately rested one leg over the other as she leaned back in her seat, both hands set on the cushions flat on their palms near her sides. "Sometimes being a shinobi isn't as action packed or exciting as some people believe or make it out to be, but that doesn't mean such trivial things aren't vital to our village. After all, if someone doesn't protect the gates, who knows want kind of unwanted visitor we would be getting?"" She explained. She knew exactly where the boy was coming from with this. Even with the rumors of her parents affecting her, she remembered the times of how close she was to death due to the boredom she had with certain tasks.
Sayaka took a quick deep breath before she exhaled from her nose to continue. "Now, you don't necessarily need to learn from your leaders to become a great shinobi. If you did, you wouldn't be your own person. After all, at the end, it's only you that gets to shape your future. Of course, you already know these things, but I figured you needed a reminder of such things." She explained, one hand raised from the cushions and waved it in dismissal while giggling.
As she put her hand back down, Sayaka's eyes shined a little when Yusuke asked how her day went. "My day went fine, thank you for asking!" She exclaimed with a delicate squeal at the end. "Sometimes people need to be reminded of their place and sometimes other people lose them. That's just the beauty of being Sunakage; making people know who you are and knowing that you can make them remember." Sayaka's voice rose up a bit in pitch out of excitement as a mischievous grin curled on her lips. Now that she was kage, anyone that defied her would feel her wrath... every single bit of it... and just the thought of that really got Sayaka going.
With another soft giggle, she shook her head as her expression softened to a more friendly look. "I suppose people can never learn. Anyway!" She paused for a moment to clap her hands together as if she were making an announcement. "I've been... 'watching' you, as I'll be putting it as that. Despite being left to do trivial yet extremely important tasks, you're very well a potential candidate I've been looking for, for an idea I had in mind." She explained.
She then pulled her back from the couch as she slightly leaned forward. "You have the physicality of what I'm looking for and I know you can be more than capable of handling certain complicated tasks on your own and perhaps with a few other people." She paused again to let her words sink into the boy before she would continue. "But I need to know how well you are mentally for what I'm about to offer you, Yusu-kun." She said with a smirk slowly perking up the right corner of her mouth.
"A bird, specifically a cuckoo in this case, has stopped singing. There are three kages who each have a solution as to how to make the cuckoo sing once again. The first kage suggested to wait for it to sing. The second kage had an idea of making it sing. The third kage, on the other hand, had no intent of having the bird sing again whatsoever, so he decides to kill it. Which kage's solution do you think is best? Or rather, which solution would you go with?"
It was a riddle used when it came to looking for very suitable candidates for her "groups", and she definitely had some interesting answers from certain other candidates that have answered this question. She was more than curious with what Yusuke had to say; she could only hope that he can surprise her. If not, that was fine. She had other ways of doing her unique and fresh tests that were definitely more... interesting from her end.
WC: 824
TWC: 1,226
|
|
|
|
Post by Yusuke Ishida on Jan 5, 2019 18:24:47 GMT -5
Mental test questions and scenarios always seemed to accompany changes in assignment or rank, but that didn’t make them any more fun for Yusuke. Too often, he found they lacked sufficient detail to be meaningful. “I’m not sure there’s enough information to make a reasonable decision,” he began. “Without any context, I think it would be rather rash to side with one party, only to isolate the other two. Especially given the fact that all three shinobi in this scenario are leaders of military nations, and wars have been started over much smaller disputes.”
He figured, like every other examination that had to do with the mental capabilities of a shinobi, that there was not a truly correct answer. Proctors would masquerade questions as having a solution, but they were only interested in how the particular shinobi determined their answer. “Take the first Kage, for example. Waiting for the bird to respond is a slow response, but the most efficient use of resources if the bird is likely to sing again without an incentive. However, both strategies of the other Kages are in direct conflict with inaction.”
“Similarly, the second Kage’s strategy spends resources while solving the problem much more quickly, but only if there is confidence that the bird will sing again with motivation. Intervening would conflict with the first’s solution, while allowing the bird to sing dissatisfies the third Kage. And needless to say, if the bird is killed, neither the first nor the second Kage hear the bird’s song again.”
He sat upright on the sofa, looking directly at the Sandaime Sunakage. “Of course, you also neglected to mention which Kage was the Sunakage!” He laughed a bit to himself, but he meant it earnestly. The office of the Sunakage was filled with a history of protecting its shinobi and civilians above all else. Yusuke knew first hand, as he was certain the village acted against his clan when his great uncle stole his eye from him. Whether the ends justified the means is one thing, but he knew in his heart Sayaka Sarutobi would continue this legacy.
However, he didn’t want Lady Sunakage to get the wrong impression. “This village and its people have been good to me, some might say better than members of my own clan. So long as the Kage protects these people who have cared for me, I’ll voice my opinion and follow the lead of our Kage.”
Flattered that the Sunakage had been watching him for some time and felt confident in his skill as a shinobi, he was curious what the village leader had in mind. “Lady Sunakage, I hope my abilities as a shinobi can live up to your expectations. What sort of ideas do you have in mind for my assignment?” Yusuke knew he had a long way to go before becoming a masterful shinobi, one respected by even the other villages, but perhaps this would be his best opportunity to excel through the ranks of his village.
WC: 511 / 844
|
|
