Much to learn still you have, Young Padawan. [M]

[Shinryu]

Teach Me, Teach Me!
Rank: C
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: The village has re-established itself and the Academy Students are giving their teachers a very hard time. Wow them with stories of war and death and teach them a jutsu or two. The Kage would like this to be a weekly event to keep the moral up.
Special Info: Can be taken indefinitely.

1/5

I had found an intial intrest in the mission not because I found the prospect of working with children to be promising, but because I could comprehend the importance of raising these children properly, so that they would become proper ninja who would do their village proud. That said when I'd first contemplated accepting the mission in the Mizukage's tower, I had imagined somewhat more... serious youth than the crowd of snot-nosed youth I found myself face to face with. That was to say, I wasn't entirely surprised at their outward appearance; but I was rather disappointed that none in the crowd seemed to take the same serious outlook that I had taken at their age. It seemed these children were still innocent, and carefree. Was it my job to break them of that? Perhaps. I would have to make combat seem glorious, and yet terrifying. I would have to let them know the joys and fears of the job, something that these Academy Teachers seemed to have failed. It had seemed that standards had slipped since I had graduated. There was no innocence or naivety to be had as a ninja. It was well past time for these children to learn that.

I stood beside the chalkboard, my posture unassuming, as the Chuunin academy teacher introduced me to the students. Most of them looked bored or uninterested, as was expected; however, I found a few pairs of bright eyes in the crowd, the ones who recognized what being a ninja entailed. I had been wrong in my initial assessment, it seemed. At least a few in the room appeared interested enough. I gave a half smirk, and turned to the board. I remembered that the ninja who had come before, when I was still an academy student, had always written their names on the board before starting their lectures. I had something a little different in mind today, and as I reached out with one hand, I dragged my hand down the green face of the slate, creating an awful, screeching, ringing sound throughout the room. The chuunin instructors stared at me in shock and anger, but as I finished, I held up my hand to them, returning my icy glare to the children, many who had been rent from their daydreams to find a nightmare before them.

"Now, now... no need to be afraid[/]..." I said, my trite tone teasing the youths, my lips curling up, as I gave them a stern glance.

"This lesson will be like none you've had before. It will be filled with the reality of what it is to be a ninja. The pain, the horror, the sorrow, the bitterness... all emotions which you young pupils are almost certainly unfamiliar with."

I began pacing slightly, a bitter ire in my voice.

"Your instructors, while no doubt dutiful, seem to be more soft than the ones who taught myself and the ninja from my class. I look at you all, and see children. That is, children, and not ninja. Not one of you has demonstrated the instinct, the emotional capacity, or the will to live that was expected of my graduating class. Had I attempted that bit with the chalk-board in a room full of my peers, I'd have found myself face to face with several projectiles, and a few spunky ninja who were eager and willing to fight."


I laughed and shook my head. Perhaps I was expecting a bit too much of them, then again, I held their collective gaze, some angry, some scared, most simply awestruck, that I was addressing them in such an informal, assertive manner. But it was necessary. They had to learn one way or another...

[Shinryu]

They were eating out of my palm, and while I could tell the instructors were unhappy, they weren't challenging my lesson, as they knew I would bring important insight to the young minds. And so, I cracked my fingers, and walked forward, up between the aisles of desks. Most of the children cowered; but one miscreant with his chair tilted back the gall to snarl at me. I flicked his forehead and upset his balance in his chair, making him fall backward. Some of the children gasped in shock, but he got up from his chair and promply shut up, looking rather embarassed.

"Anyone else have a problem with my teaching method?" I challenged them, daring anyone to raise their hand in defiance. No one did.

"Good. I'm a member of Hydra, and I would expect that to command at least some respect from you kids. Anyway, I had something to say, before I was so rudely interrupted... where was I...?"

I took a minute to ponder falsely and build the suspense, as I climbed to the top aisle, fully aware of what I'd been planning to bring up. It was more fun to make the youth shiver, though. I was milking it for every precious second of silence I could, before I broke it, turning around with an almost malicious grin.

"Ah yes. I remember now. Show of hands everyone, who here is willing to die to defend the village?" My voice took a tone of mirth as I raised my arm to half-mast, looking around, and seeing others do the same slowly, looking around and seeming rather unsure as they did so. It would have been cute if I didn't find it pathetic. I knew how many hands were about to fall.

"Ah, well, that's most of you..." I said snidely, eyeing the few who hadn't raised their arms, the meek and the scared. At least they were honest.

"Now, everyone who has their hand up, tell me, who among you would be willing to watch their best friend die helplessly on the field of battle, for the betterment of the village?"

They hadn't been expecting that. I saw one of the proctors cover her mouth in shock, as smore of the genin dropped their arms, less than half remaining. Some of the girls started sniffling in the corner. I was just getting started.

"Oh... we have some brave ones do we? Very well. How would any of you with yor arms still raised deal with having to kill your best friend on the field of battle, because you found out they were an enemy spy?

The hands dropped like flies. Only a handful remained, and some of the girls were openly crying. It was nothing but disrespectful to me and the lesson I was teaching. That made me angry. My fist collided with the surface of the desk with a loud thump, spooking many of the children.

"Be quiet." I barked harshly.

"These are all realities that you will likely face in this tenure as a ninja of the Hidden Mist. It is not a fun job; it is dark, and bloody, and filled with all the nasty parts of life that most of you have been blissfully unaware of as of yet. It is not for the faint of heart or the weak of constitution. It is WAR. Do any of you understand what that means?!"

[Shinryu]

The question of course was rhetorical; they couldn't possibly know what I meant. Their silly games would never prepare them for the reality of losing a comrade, or the pain of seeing their family die. I had been smart. I had severed those emotional ties early; had grown up not caring what happened to my family. It had prepared me for what I'd come to face at the hands of the Yakuza. But these young fools had never had the benefit of teachers that were willing to breach through their innocence and give them the truth of what pain and loss was. They were far too soft here, and it was almost sickening to see these children, the future shinobi of the hidden mist, cowering. I scanned their faces, and found that, of course, one idiot had raised his hand. He looked to be the bookworm type; the one who memorized every "rule" in the ninja handbook, but never bothered to actually try following them.

"Put your hand down. It's a rhetorical question, because the obvious answer is no. None of you knows what it is to kill another human being. You do not know that sick, muddled feeling of guilt and the rush of power that you feel when you take someone's life. It's something that can only be experienced, and it's something that should never have to be experienced..."

I finished the sentence bitterly. I had never felt much guilt in killing, as I'd always been judging the guilty, but I'd long thought about how much the idea of killing innocents preturbed me, and how much I'd hate doing it if it came to that. These children though, hadn't any sort of experience taking lives. We'd just arisen out of the ashes of a war, and here before me was the first real generation that had grown up with the ignorance of never having had to deal with that fear. I still remembered the commotion, and the misery back when I was a young child, before the village had been re-founded, and before my family had settled down.

"The world is a very cruel place, and death can come when you least expect it. If you're lucky, maybe a third of you might reach chuunin. It's likely that at least half of you will die before you hit the age of twenty-one. Yeah, that's right. Look to the person beside you. Odds say that either they'll be dead, or you will, come ten years. That's what you're getting yourself into. That's the reality. People you care about will die. There will be times when there is nothing you can do about it. That is the world you are getting yourselves into. Is that what you want?"

I finished the last sentence with a ringing tone of finality, my voice almost daring anyone to say no.

"If anyone thinks themselves unfit for this reality, it's probably best that you leave the academy now. I have no real authority as an instructor, so I can't fail you, but if you're not ready to learn how to grow up fast, and face a world with responsibilities beyond your worst imaginings, then you probably signed up for the wrong career choice."

I turned, and stared at the board, waiting to hear the sound of creaking chairs, or shuffling footsteps... but all I heard was abject silence. No one spoke, and no one moved.

I turned around to see a room full of children, most looking upset, but steely-eyed, and unshaking. It made me proud. They had ninja in them after all.

[Shinryu]

"So... you've all decided to put your games behind you, then? You've all chosen to grow up? To become the men and women that you're expected to be?"

I smirked and stood there, arms crossed as little more than a blink or two passed over the crowd.

"Very well. You're made of tougher stuff than I thought. Even my class had deserters the first time we were taught about how dark being a ninja really was. Maybe I'm not giving your instructors enough credit."

I raised an eyebrow, and leaned back against the chalkboard, twiddling my thumbs. Looking over the crowd again. I was starting to make out the individual faces; starting to see them as more than just snot-nosed kids.

"You've made an important choice today. The reponsibilities that come with being a ninja are many, and a great burden is placed on your shoulders from an early age. However, you gain an appreciation for life that is near unparalleled, and the power to do just about anything you put your mind to."

I smiled, a little more warmly now that my initial scare session was through. That they had weathered the storm, and were willing to continue to learn, to continue on, was good enough for me, and they deserved to know the real benefits as well as the real drawbacks of being part of the Hidden Mist.

"As a ninja, you get to see the world. You get to protect the people you care about. If you're dedicated enough, you can wield immense power, and use it to aid your allies, or wreak destruction and terrible loss upon your foes. The possibilities are infinite, and the jutsu you've learned at the academy are only a taste of what exists for those who have the will to earn and the spirit to learn."

Their eyes were starting to gloss over a bit, as I told them about how honourable and noble it was to be a shinobi, and what their sacrifice meant towards the village. That it was on their backs that the village functioned, and that despite the odds, they all had the potential to become truly great shinobi.

"Within each and every one of you is the potential to become truly great. How you do it is up to your discretion, but you have all the opportunity in the world to become powerful young ninja, who will work alongside myself and the other ninja of the village, to build up a new era of prosperity and power for the Hidden Mist village."

I felt a bit rustic, rather, almost beyond my age as I said that. After all, it was the sort of speech the Mizukage should be giving. I cleared my throat, and stared them all down, getting a feel for the atmosphere of the classroom. Things seemed a little tense, but the kids were in much brighter spirits.

"Now... I suppose a bunch of greenhorns like you have questions for me? Go on, I won't bite... not unless you betray the village..."

I said jokingly, although my last sentence had a bitter cynicism laced into the words that I doubted any of them would pick up on.

[Shinryu]

I waited, sitting there bemused, until one of the trainees raised his hand. He had a mop of short brown hair, and wore rounded glasses. I nodded my head, and he quivered a bit, suddenly scared of the attention he'd gotten.

"Oi, yeah you, the brave little pointdexter with the brown hair. You have a question for me?"

He quivered even more, and started stammering, trying to choke out his question. one of his peers started to chuckle, but I banged my hand on the board, and glared at him. The kid wanted to ask a question, and he had every right to.

"TLook, just tell me your name first, and ask. It's nothing to be scared of."

I went on, rather off-handedly. He still seemed unsure, but at least that got him over his stage fright, for the most part, because I could understand what he was saying.

"I... I'm Kujiro Yamashita... I... I was wondering, w-what's it like... to.... t-to kill someone, sempai...?"

I quirked my eyebrow. None of the chuunin had fielded this one before? I looked at them with a bit of distaste, before clearing my throat.

"Well, Yamashita, you've got balls to stand up and ask the most relevant question to your career choice right off the bat, I'll give you that."

The boy blanched a bit, and sat back into his seat, uncertain and uncomfortable, inasmuch as I could tell.

"But like I said before... there's a certain rush you get, an adrenaline pulse from knowing that you've killed someone... it's exciting, and terrifying, because not soon after, you feel the weight of that person's life on your shoulders. You begin to contemplate what kind of person they might have been, what kind of family they might have left behind... everyone you kill is a brother, or a sister; a son, or a daughter a father or a mother to someone. And when you take their life away, you have to shoulder that burden for as long as you continue."

I took a moment for a solemn pause. It seemed appropriate as I bowed my head, and recollected the people I'd killed. I had felt no guilt, though I knew I should have, at least a little, anyway.

"Killing is something that should be avoided if at all possible, and done only if necessary; however you will find, as ninja, that scenarios where killing becomes necessary pop up far more often than in civillian life. I myself have never killed another person unless they'd done something to deserve it. So far, the only people I've killed have been murderers and thieves, and I take a sense of pride in that, I suppose... Although I know a day may come where innocent blood may have to be shed by my hand, and I do not enjoy the thought of it, but the village comes before my personal qualms, as so it comes before all of our personal issues."

I said with a sense of finality. The most important thing I believed I could teach them was obedience to the village. Too many ninja were willing to give up the village for personal gain. I despised that kind of activity. Desertion was selfish, lawless, and pointless. One could learn far more with aid than by one's self. How anyone could simply turn from their home and pursue selfish power was beyond me.

[Shinryu]

Of course, after the first question, more and more began to ring in.

"What was your first mission like?"

"Do you have a jounin sensei?"

"What's the Mizukage like, is she nice?"

I was flooded with queries, and I could barely make out what anyone was saying. I turned around and drug my fingers down the board again just to get their attention, rending the air apart with that god-awful screech.

"Alright, now. One at a time, people, calm down."

I called out over what was now moans of pain and soft whimpers. I called on one girl, dressed in pink, with long blond hair that was braided down her back, and deep green eyes.

"You, the blondie in pink... a Yamanaka, I'm guessing?"

I assumed she was from the fabled mind reading clan. They weren't unheard of in these parts, although they were certainly rarer than my kind.

"No, sempai... well... Yes and no I guess. My mom's a Yamanaka, but my family name is Toragami."

She said, sweetly. She looked as though she was the popular type, trying to laud her credibility over the rest of the class, out of some sort of social hierarchy among the students. Girls in my class had done that, too. I'd hated them for it, because it was pointless and stupid, as social status meant nothing as a ninja, but girls would be girls, I supposed.

"Your question, then, miss Toragami."

I said it with a little bit of venom, but it was well hidden, and I'm sure that the teachers were the only ones who caught it, if they did at all.

"Oh, hehe!~ How silly of me. Right! My question is... have you ever had to seduce an enemy ninja?~"

The question took me a little off guard, but I was perfectly fine with being honest. Although I could tell the little bitch was trying to play mind games with me. They rarely ever handed missions that involved seduction over to men, because women weren't as easily wooed as men were. Any good academy student who payed attention in class would know that much. as far as I could tell, she was tring to get my goat. So I responded in kind.

"No, actually. Missions like those are usually handled by women, and if that was your insinuation, I would think my voice and my height would make my gender obvious."

I smirked as she stuttered on something else, then frowned and took her seat. I could tell she was good at manipulation, but I wasn't stupid enough to fall into her juvenile little social experiment. Thought to be fair, my glory was cut short.

Just then the bell rang, and the students started shuffling from their seats. One of the instructors rose, and called for the students to stand and wait.

"Let's all say thank-you to Mr..."

"Shinryu. Yukina Shinryu. And don't worry guys, I'm sure I'll be back again."

I said with a wave, before bowing to them. They did the same as a chorus of thank-yous rang out behind me. I opened the door, and walked outside, my hands in my pockets. I could get used to doing things like this.

[exit]

[chiatsuki]

+ 60 shinryu