Any day but todayNov 27, 2022 3:24:53 GMT -5
Souma
Don't work smart, OR hard. Work smart- THEN hard.
groupRock Shinobi
age 15 years old
birthday June 9th
rank Tokubetsu Jounin
occupation Ops Team Medic
Chuunin, Iwagakure Medical Corps
Souma blinked and pulled back a touch at the thrown-aside water bottle, startled but not moving away. She listened closely to every word, withholding judgment, nodding to show she was tuned in, holding Taki's gaze when it was turned her way, glancing away only to consider some things said while Taki wasn't looking her way.
She let her get every single word out, and then- only then- responded. Not, at first, with words, but with a gesture. Stepping up behind her friend and closing her arms around her, resting her cheek against the back of her shoulders.
"NONE of it is your fault."
She squeezed, gently, before speaking further. "You were an academy student, or almost one, when he disappeared. There is nothing you could have done to send him into the field, or stop him from doing so. There is nothing you could have done to prevent his defeat, either. So it was not your fault then that he was gone."
She turned, her other cheek resting on Taki's back as she spoke. "You became a genin two years ago. Even then, as a genin, it was not in your power to pull him from the grasp of his defeat, however it played out. So it was not your fault then, either, that we was not returned."
A shift, her forehead against Taki's back now. "You became a Chuunin only. This. Year. In April. We both did, and we both know the only reason you haven't been recognized further is that it take longer to confirm whether a promotion to Jounin is in order than most other considerations." She finally placed her hands on Taki's shoulders to turn her to face her, staring up into her eyes as she spoke in that calm, soft, level voice that was like standing on a beach as the tide went out- it wasn't that it was forceful, but it pulled the sand out from under you and inevitably pulled you right along with her.
"You realize that means you advanced through the academy; being a genin; being a chuunin; and becoming the village Sage, all in the past three years? The last time your uncle knew, you were just some blonde kid with a wrestling career ahead of her. Do you really. Seriously. For a SECOND. Think your uncle is sitting there thinking, "Gosh, I remember that kid, Taki, she sure has been lazy if she has not come to break me out of a foreign national shinobi prison in three years, what a failure."
She shook her head, the soft blue tendrils swaying side to side. "No. No, and no again. He is not. Nobody blames you for not rescuing him yet. Nobody had expecations on you to become a Jounin Sage in three years time, but here we are. I said it before, and I will say it again, and this time, Okada Taki, I want you to LISTEN to me, and not just hear my words:"
"Tetsuya-san will be proud when he sees the person you have become."
"Don't work smart, or hard. Work smart, then hard."
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Threnody
has written 348 posts
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