[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Everything was happening a little too fast. In his day-to-day life, Sho was someone who liked to take his time, to consider things, to know what he was doing before he was doing them. Sure, he had moments of quick thinking and action, but those were almost always related to something he had been trained in all his life - surgery, medical practice, that kind of thing. He was a great doctor, and good at thinking and diagnosing on his feet. But ever since he had gotten back into the active life of serving the village, it felt like everything had been a whirlwind.

Somehow, before even six months had passed, he was already signed up for the Chuunin exams. This kind of thing took most Genin years to accomplish, and yet here he was, feeling like he hadn't earned it. Sure, he was known throughout the village for his help with the hospital but that wasn't combat. In truth, it felt like it had been years since he had actually felt the adrenaline of a real fight, so he needed to change that if he was going to pass the Chuunin exams.

Given this, as well as his usual way of handling things, he had tried to think about what his options. Tried to decide how he was going to handle things, and every train of thought he had all arrived at one central conclusion - He needed someone who had gone through it, recently too. Sure, every ninja Chuunin and beyond had gone through the exams at one point or other in their life, but he needed it raw and fresh in their mind. Someone who was smart, who could think like he could, and yet had showed sufficient strength to break through the barriers in their way.

He had burned too many bridges from his old class when he had decided to walk away from that aspect of life. That meant he had to go to someone he didn't know, someone he was unfamiliar with, but someone he felt would know his reputation and understand why it was important that he came to them.

Given all the requirements, the answer was obvious.

---

It was just after lunch when he found himself standing outside the office door to the Kage's assistant. He had put a great deal of thought into when to do this and what method to take. He had decided not to ask first thing in the morning in case he was still waking up and was feeling grouchy, but also not too late into the day so that he wouldn't be about to head home. It was just late enough in the afternoon that he had almost certainly had lunch already; full, content, and probably more willing to hear a strange request.

Sho wore his usual outfit, his long white coat draped over most of his body, with a surprise by his side. A two litre of soda was in a plastic bag hanging from his left hand, alongside a bag of donuts; they were obviously a gift, something to get in the guy's good graces, but also didn't have a tinge of romance in them. Better not to risk giving them the wrong idea as to why he was approaching.

His hand wrapped on the door to the office, calling through.

"Mister Kojima? Sir? The guy at the reception desk told me you were in. Are you free?"

572 words | Kojima Daisuke

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuikkurōtēshon 1/8

[Kojima Daisuke]

IF YOU ALWAYS WORRY ABOUT CRUSHING ANTS BENEATH YOUR FEET

Daisuke had more than enough as of late to keep himself busy. Preparing for a village festival soon to be under way, and creating written approval for a select few genin to particiapte in the chunin exams had taken enough time, aside from his usual tasks of dealing with Kizumi's paperwork and running his own operations. Of which, he had only just recently returned, and paperwork had piled up in his abscence. But, despite his distaste for such busy work, it was part of the job, and a job he had taken willingly. Or so he told himself.

The window open beside him, a cool breeze whispering by with an unusually clear weather for Kaminari no Kuni. Still, though, it was nice to feel the rays of the sun from time to time, and with the autumn chill still lingering about some might go as far to say it was a perfect day to be outside.

A little after lunch now, the sashimi he had eaten now fully settled in his stomach as he worked away signing or revising document after document before his ears perked up hearing a knock at the door. His head rose, his mind jolting away from the work before him before he'd eye the notebook left open on his desk wherein lie his schedule.

"Don't have any meetings I forgot about.” He muttered to himself. He was curious who it could have been, knowing full well that if it was Kizumi, or anyone else of some import they would have simply barged right in. "It's open.” He finally called after a new voice rang out to him.

The young sage couldn't help but shift his brow, his typical disgruntelled expression lingering on his face before it soon faded after recognizing the fellow.

"Yamamoto Shosuke, right? I just signed some authorization for your exams this morning. What can I do for ya, kid?”

^{THEN YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO WALK}

---

^{Yamamoto Shosuke}

Temp By: Akira

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

As he was called into the office, Sho stepped into the office slowly, closing the door quietly behind him as he did so. This place was... well, clean at least. There was something about this place that made him a little more concerned than he had been before, not because this plce was messy or distraught or anything but because this place reminded him of the hospital - it reeked of hard work.

The man in front of him, young as he was, was Sho's elder by quite a bit. Not only in years but in sheer aggregated experience. Everyone knew this guy, he was the sage's apprentice, the Kage's assistant, and they were but a young man.

Who knew how far this guy would go in time, perhaps he would become the new sage, or he could replace the Kage themselves one day.

In front of all of that, who was he? Just a trainee doctor, someone who had walked away from his mother's expectations and was now having to make up for lost time. It seemed like he had no right to bother the man, he almost considered leaving the way that he came before Daisuke spoke up, asking what he was here for.

"My apologies, sir. It's a personal matter, but if you're too busy, I completely understand."

His tactic of bringing drink and food with him seemed to be out of play, but he still held it up as if offering it to the man, before placing it on his desk if he would allow him.

"Forgive me, I thought that you might enjoy some afternoon food. It's good to keep up your sugar level, especially when you work as hard as you do.

I know people don't want to get fat, but there are so many people in this village who refuse to eat properly in order to keep in shape that its a wonder they don't faint on more missions."

At this point he was rambling, he was well aware he was rambling, but there was little that he could do about that. He was genuinely nervous for the first time in a long time, and that was causing him to have to find a way to cope.

"Regardless, Lord Daisuke, I was wondering if... Well, this probably sounds like an insane favour, coming from someone you've never met before, but I've heard you're one of the greatest shinobi in the village in the last few years.

As someone who wishes to follow in your footsteps, to become strong enough to change the village and to help people as soon as possible, I was wondering if you would allow me to train under you. If only for a short while."

He had just come out and said it, huh? Well, at least he was no longer beating around the bush. When the man said no, and he was almost certainly going to say no, he could just apologise and go about his day as if nothing had happened. There was no over investment in time into what was almost certainly a failure from the start.

520 words | Kojima Daisuke

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuikkurōtēshon 2/8
Jutsus Used: None

[Kojima Daisuke]

IF YOU ALWAYS WORRY ABOUT CRUSHING ANTS BENEATH YOUR FEET

Daisuke's brow shifted, raising on one side as his hands clapsed together before him.

'Lord?' The young sage thought to himself as the genin before him spoke. While he may have liked the sound of that, boasting a small inflation to his pride, the term was far too lofty for him. Calling him a Lord was almost like relating him to Kizumi or Kaede, in his mind, and while his ego would bark that he should be treated as such, the humility he'd been trying to work on lately seemed to be winning out over that train of thought.

"Just Daisuke is fine.” He eventually said, finally leaning back is his chair once Shosuke had finished.

His eyes glanced down to the folder he'd been working from, moving his pen to the side and shutting both it, and the small journal on the right side of his desk. He reached forward, gripping the small bag gifted to him and pulled one of the pastries from within, giving it a small sniff before popping it in his mouth. It was good. a light sourness from the bread, sweetness to the filling, and flakiness was a wonderful touch. He'd have to ask where he got it from, if he remembered to do so later.

Daisuke didn't waste much time with pleasantries, taking another bite before he spoke, his mouth still half full.

"Yeah, I think we could manage that. I could use a good stretch, anyway. Keeping my nose in this damn paperwork can take its toll.” Daisuke would swallow the food in his mouth before taking the last bite and dusting his hands off as he stood and came around the front side of his desk, waving for Shosuke to follow.

As he lead the two down the tower and out to the training yard, Daisuke would occasionally glance over to the genin and offer a few words.

"So from what I gather, you seem to have some Senju in you, yeah? Latent, maybe, but your file said you could use Mokuton nonetheless. I assume you want some kinda ninjutsu exercise then?”

^{THEN YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO WALK}

---

^{Yamamoto Shosuke}

Temp By: Akira

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

The man spoke with surprise as Shosuke called him a lord. Well, Sho thought, the man was in an office that helped to oversee the village, even if he was the secretary. Perhaps he should have called him 'Lord Secretary' or whatever but it couldn't be the first time that he had been addressed with this level of respect, right? At least, that was Sho's thought process.

In truth, he had very rarely had to come up against the village bureaucracy, though he had heard things from other doctors at the hospital. The annoyance of filling out paperwork, the difficulty at getting new supplies when needed, that sort of thing. Nothing that particularly seemed all that interesting though, and certainly nothing that gave him an insight into the kind of man that he was speaking to.

"As you wish, Lo- Daisuke." He quickly corrected himself, his tone quiet and respectful as he waited for an answer to his main concern. Fortunately, when the answer came, it was an affirmative, giving him a reason to celebrate.

He tried not to show it too much, preferring to not be overly open with his emotions, but if Daisuke paid a great deal of attention to him he would be able to see a certain sparkle behind his eyes and a relaxation of his posture.

It looked almost as if he had let go of a breath he wasn't even aware he had been holding in.

"Well, Daisuke, if you need to get your paperwork done, I completely understand. Consider this request to be low priority. Even so, as a doctor of the village, I will recommend you get plenty of breaks.

Repetitive activities like paperwork can cause eye-strain, and we don't want to see you get injured on something like this, right?"

He tried to make it sound jovial, as if he was joking, but the truth was that he was very much telling the truth. It was often overlooked because of the comparatively meager risks when looked at against the risks incurred by being an active Shinobi, but stress and repetitive task injuries were a threat nonetheless, something that he regularly had to treat people of.

If anyone knew how serious carpel tunnel could be, it was him.

Regardless, at Daisuke's queue, he stood up and moved to follow him, following behind him with a quiet, underspoken gait. It wasn't as if he was hiding or trying to make himself smaller than he was, but there was a courteousness-before-all-else that was built into the way he walked and held himself.

It was pretty obvious that he was someone who wasn't used to being in positions of authority outside of the hospital.

"I... don't know." he answered honestly, as Daisuke asked him about his heritage.

"I mean, biologically speaking? Maybe. They're certainly the main users of Mokuton, and its rare for an individual to develop a unique Chakra Element."

Rare? It was damn near unheard of throughout history. Of course, they all had to come from somewhere, all those releases that families later expressed, but almost all of the original carriers were born hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

"But my mother never told me about my father. He could be a Senju, or this could be something I gained some other way. Regardless, I just want to learn how to..." he paused, trying to find the word for it. "I want to conduct myself like a Shinobi. I've spent too long in the village hospitals, I need to be able to hold my own against other ninja."

596 words | Kojima Daisuke

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuikkurōtēshon 3/8

Jutsus Used: None