[Yamamoto Shosuke]

If someone had said to Shosuke but a few months ago that there was something a blind person could do better than a vision-blessed person could specifically because they were blind, Shosuke would have probably called them crazy.

It wasn't so much that Shosuke was ableist, he had spent so much time in the hospital helping people recover from and beat their disabilities that he knew just how difficult life was for them and how much they could still achieve. Even so, it would e accurate to say that he was a little cynical. Someone didn't become a faster sprinter after they had lost their legs, and he would assume the same applied for most conditions.

Even so, here he was, being ordered out to deal with a mission in a neighboring nation state - the Forest Country.

The Forest nation was, to most onlookers, a tiny, unimportant land in the middle of nowhere just asking for someone to invade and take it for their own. It didn't even have a ninja village to protect it from outsiders, something even other smaller countries had had for decades now.

Given its size, one would have imagined that the rulers of the country would be able to know what was happening within its borders at all times, that they would have long-since gotten everything mapped out and understood. Yet, here he was, being ordered to do the cartography for them. It was a job he was actually surprisingly prepared for, given the fact that he was able to see everything around him for miles should he need to. No need to worry about the denseness of the forest or the visual interference posed by the foliage. He could see whatever he needed to, simply by the nature of his clan abilities.

What was more surprising, however, was who he was being sent to work with on this mission. Once again, it seemed the gods had seen fit to pair him with the young Uchiha girl, Miroru. Of course, it might just be by facet of the fact that they had completed several successful missions on their own by now, proof if any was needed that they were a competent and able team. The mission equivalent of survivorship bias, if you will. Even still, to be paired with someone this many times...

Well, he almost felt like he saw her more than he did her big sister, and they were in the same village.

Of course, that wasn't actually true, Shosuke hadn't seen the girl in six months. Not since the ritual, not since.... Well, since everything changed. He wondered, just for a moment, what her reaction to the news would be. After all, she no doubt already underestimated him, saw him as small comparatively, so for him to get "even weaker"? It wasn't going to be a good luck.

That was why he dreaded meeting her again, even as he stood at a small border checkpost. It had been the pre-designated rendezvous point, though it seemed it was closer to the Kaminari side of the border as she had yet to turn up.

520 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-rank Mission: 1/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamamoto Shosuke | 300 | notes

Miroru buried her face in Koutashi's mane as they shot down the paths leading towards the Forest Country's borders. The fox was huge and fast, more than big enough to carry the petite girl on his back, and they made excellent time as they bolted through one beaten trail after another, eating up the distance between themselves and the meeting spot in short order.

The memory of recent events still ached in the back of Miroru's mind, but she kept it close to her chest, hiding it as best she could. She was always happy, always cheerful. If she broke character, she'd invite question, inquiry. She'd be backed into the choice of lying or talking about...

Mizuki.

She shook her head hard where it was ruffling into Koutashi's mane, and he chuffed back at her. "Please try not to snuffle too much. I have to ask someone else to clean my mane if you get it snotty and that's a rude ask for anyone," he murmured as they slowed to pace along the edge of a ridge before leaping across and continuing down one last path to meet up with Shosuke, the huge fox slowing to let her slip off his back and hug his neck tight.

"Mmmmm..! You're the best, Koutashi-san." The fox chuffed pleasantly and laid down, still nearly as tall as Miroru even laying down.

The redhead then padded over to Shosuke and waved pleasantly, the wave slowing as she came to a stop near him, squinting a bit as she tried to figure out what seemed off about his presence... "... Shosuke-san? You seem different..."

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

The vibrations of the pawsteps across the ground could be felt long before they came into view, with Shosuke turning to look in that direction nonetheless. Given the time between him becoming aware of them and their actual arrival, Sho had plenty of time to take note about just what was actually coming in his direction - namely, the strange, enormous fox-creature that Miroru had apparently chosen to ride into battle like some sort of steed.

Of course, Sho already knew that this girl had some sort of fox contract, he had met and conversed with the tiny fox summons on their last little outing together. Even so, this one was a little strange. It was enormous, about the size of a horse, and that alone drew his interest just out of pure biological interest. How did a scavenger get that big?

Foxes weren't exactly mighty hunters, they lived off of what they could scrounge, so where did it get a sufficient food supply to become that large?

But, perhaps he was simply thinking through the eyes of a biologist and a doctor rather than just accepting the traditional weirdness that came with Summoned Creatures in this world.

What was more pressing was the fact that he could tell that something was wrong. It was still a relatively new ability to him, he couldn't use it quite as adeptly as Eri could to almost read another's thoughts telepathically, but he could still garner base emotions. Despite whatever she said, there was a sadness that ran through her to her core. Some sort of emotional vulnerability, something she was trying to conceal.

They'd only known each other a little, and they had last met six months ago, so it didn't feel right for Sho to simply come out and ask the question. Even so, he couldn't help but feel concern for her. Perhaps simply because she was Azarea's little sister.... no, he realized after a moment, it was genuine concern for her herself, not some proxy interest. He was actually genuinely worried about her.

Finally, Miroru came into the clearing by the outpost, waving and pretending to be all smiles. Well, Sho decided, if she wasn't going to bring it up herself, he wouldn't force her to. It wasn't like he was her mother or something...

"... Different? Do I?" Sho asked, his tone light and airy. In truth, he did indeed look different, though it was far from a singular thing that marked him out. He was wearing the Kumogakure flak jacket that announced him as a Chuunin, his hair was far longer than it had once been, and sitting atop the bridge of his nose were those black shades that seemed almost more like a visor than mere fashion. The lenses of those glasses were pitch black, so dark one couldn't even see Sho's eyes behind them, keeping them concealed from the rest of the world.

"Well, it HAS been six months. But, then again, look at you! A chuunin and only, what, 13? Most people haven't even graduated from the academy at your age and yet here you are standing proud for the rest of your village. I'm sure Az must be very proud."

Almost instinctively, Sho's hand shot out and moved to the kid's hair, giving it a short ruffle. The difference in intimacy and friendship that had come in such short time together...

570 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-rank Mission: 3/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Genin

Yamamoto Shosuke | 265 | notes

"You do, you do! Maybe it's the new shoes..." She teased, before breaking into snickers. "The flak looks good on ya! I'm glad you got everything figured out. That officially means everyone I fought passed or promoted anyway! WOO!" Miroru cheered with sincere excitement, delighted that she hadn't been a roadblock to anyone she'd met.

"Oi! I turned fourteen, like- two months ago!" protested the redhead at the guess of thirteen. "I'm BASICALLY an adult already!" She grinned wide, puffing her chest out. "I sure am~ I do lots to make sure the village stays safe these days! Outpost patrols, bandit raids, plus the odd slaver cave diving~" She murmured, referencing their last escapade.

"I'm pretty sure she is," Miroru stated firmly. "She's been kinda busy to come see me, but I've been busy too, so I get it!"

The ruffled hair was a familiar and welcome gesture, even if from a new source, and she giggled before playfully protesting. "Heyyyyy, you're gonna mess it uuuuuup~" She used her fingers to comb the unruly fluff back into something like obedience before glancing at the sky. "So. You and me on recon. This'll be new! We usually get into trouble immediately, and now they're asking us to stay discrete. Tell me, Professor Shosuke," she said in an absurd "academic" voice, like some stuffy old man. "Are you talented in this thing they call... 'stealth'~?"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

MISSIONS
D - 0 | C - 9c/3i | B - 0 | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Yes, his promotion... In the end, though he wouldn't admit it, Miroru had actually helped him get that promotion quite a bit. The tour of duty they'd put in during the exams in order to clear up some threats on her homefront had proved his capability as a Shinobi. Plus, for some reason, he got the feeling that the raikage actually liked him for some reason... Couldn't quite work out why she had so much faith in him, but it wasn't something that he would spit on.

Just another debt to repay, he supposed.

"Trust me, kid, you're not. And that's a good thing; you've got plenty of time to develop more adult tastes, to get major milestones like your first kiss and your first love, your first drink, to develop an eye for boys... or girls, whatever really." he said, his tone almost casually slipping into one of a lecture.

Of course, it didn't mention the fact that he'd never actually had either of the first two, but he'd certainly developed an eye for boys and girls recently. Shame none of them liked him back, but he'd find someone eventually... hopefully.... maybe....

Either way, as she asked him about whether or not he was skilled at stealth, Sho turned to look at her with an almost infuriatingly smug look.

"What do I look like, a child? Being stealthy is a big part of being a field medic; if you get knocked out before other people even get hurt, there's really no reason for you to even be there.

Besides, considering your whole lightning obsession, I'm not sure I want to be lectured about stealth by someone who spends most of their time lit up like a Bon Festival."

Dusting himself off for just a second, he turned to walk towards the eponymous forest of the forest nation before pausing.

"Oh, by the way - Are you taking that fox mount of yours? I'm pretty sure they're still waiting in that clearing over there. If not, it might be a good idea to unsummon them, they're just going to be waiting around otherwise."

Shosuke spoke casually, but he turned and pointed in the exact direction of the fox despite the fact that from his current vantage point there was no way he should even be able to tell it was there.

Whilst they had been working together, this was not an ability that he had displayed; he lacked the nose of an inuzuka, the eyes of a jokyu, or the ear of... well, some clan that worked with sound genjutsu, probably. Nothing about his appearance revealed how he had seen that, but he clearly had nonetheless.

Perhaps she was right, perhaps there was something implicitly different about him now.

463 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-rank Mission: 5/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Chuunin

Yamamoto Shosuke | 290 | notes

"Hmpf. Totally am," Miroru protested, puffing her cheeks out as she glanced away. "Pfft. Adults have boring tastes. Like cigars and vegetable curry-rice and strawberry cake without whipped cream. How do you even HAVE cake without whipped cream?! Tell me that, I dare you!" The other comments made Miroru perk up. "HEY! That reminds me! Uriko-chan and I wracked our brains but we couldn't come up with an answer. How come adults think slapping butts is something appealing?! We couldn't come up with a single answer! Maybe you know! You're getting old!"

As for boys and girls, she dodged the question entirely, for various reasons, deflecting with that good old adult-stymying butts question.

"I mean... I dunno, maybe there's a medic technique to wake yourself back up! I don't know medic stuff, there could maybe be a way to get whonked unconscious and still be useful later," Miroru posited, shrugging. "But I see your point."

"Who, Koutashi?" Miroru asked, thumbing back towards the huge fox. "He can do whatever he wants. I'm not the boss of him. He just gave me a ride. If he wants to hunt or something before he heads home, he's allowed." As if to prove a point, the fox turned and wandered off into the woods a ways, sniffing and marking a tree before poofing home on his own.

The bit about being lit up like a Bon festival made Miroru squint grumpily. "Okay, smart guy, then let's get movin'. I've got ways to be sneaky. You'll see. Or... not see!"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE MISSIONS
D - 1i | C - 14c/5i | B - 2i | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Ah yes, the most mature thing in the universe - puffing your cheeks out and having a tantrum. Sho couldn't help but smile to himself at her childish antics. It was nice that despite how powerful she was and despite whatever was going on with the Uchiha clan, she somehow managed to get through it all with her childhood naivety somewhat intact. Or, well, that was what he had thought until she asked THAT question.

"..." for a moment, Sho just paused, genuinely surprised at the words that had just come out of her mouth. Why was she speaking about spanking? Was this something he was allowed to speak about with someone her age? Well, she asked a question so he figured he owed her enough to give her an answer.

"During periods of heightened eroticism, one's nerves are far more sensitive. Plus, soft tissue like buttocks and cheeks are far more sensitive to pressure than more muscled tissues like legs. Think about it - it hurts a lot more when you bite your inner cheek than it does when you bite your tongue. Thus, pair sensitivity with additional sensitivity, and you get a stronger reaction. That's why most adults enjoy spanking."

Sho figured, by cloaking his words in the language of science and medicine, it would prevent it from getting too specific and too lurid. Though, he did note the fact that she said he was getting old. He was only three years her senior, it wasn't like he was even fully out of puberty yet. Still, he supposed compared to her he did come off as quite the adult.

Ignoring her mentioning of the kitsune that she apparently was leaving to its own devices, it seemed it was finally time to leave the outpost. Wandering out into the Forest Country, it was immediately obvious that this land lived up to its name. The place was filled with an enormous, all-encroaching forest. So deep was the forest that, save for the small path between the trees that was obviously meant to be travelled down, it was impossible to even see all that far into it. At least, through traditional means.

Sho wondered what this place looked like for Miroru. They had been through a lot together, through the tight tunnels of the slaver camp and the wide open ocean of the Land of Fire's coastline, but somehow despite being aboveground this felt a lot more claustrophobic than even being underground did. At least it wasn't quite as dangerous as the forest of bewilderment, but it was still a pretty hostile landscape to anyone who wasn't used to the place.

Certainly not the most receptive place for a conversation.

It was as they were walking, however, that she mentioned the thing about not seeing. At that, Sho paused for a moment. Was she aware of his condition or was that just a poor choice of words? Sho turned to look at her, or at least inclined her head in her direction, before he spoke again.

"Did you just..." he paused, trying to find a way to say this. Especially how to say this to someone her age, considering the need for sensitivity.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I... can't see. Anything. So any stealth technique you have should be focused on the enemy, not on me."

555 words | Uchiha Miroru _

SPOILER: Click to show

B-rank Mission: 7/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Chuunin

Yamamoto Shosuke | 222 | notes

Heightened what now? The rest made... mostly sense? She nodded as he pointed out biting the inside of her cheek hurt a lot more than her tongue. "Well, you're the doctor... so I can't argue, but I don't think I've ever liked getting slapped anywhere, heightened carroticism or not." She plucked at her hair, as if suspecting that "carroticism" had to do with orange things like that.

The comment on his sight made her stop dead. "Wh-what? No, I meant if I was successfully sneaky, you wouldn't see m-whaddya mean can't see?! That's a big fat part of what we're doing, you know?! I mean, I know my eyes are good- I mean they're super good, if I'm honest, like maybe a little less than my clan but mine work all the time, so maybe I can do the seeing for us, but- Shosukun, I'm really confused, how the heck did you lose your vision?! You could see just fine after our fight and that was your last one at the exams!" She seemed to be getting a tiny bit frantic. "Please tell me I didn't cripple someone else..!!!"

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE MISSIONS
D - 1i | C - 14c/5i | B - 2i | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Heh, heightened carrotocism. Ignoring the fact that the word she was thinking about was Carotene, he just had to smile a little at her maintained childish innocence. How was this the same girl who was able to throw about fully grown men and sink entire pirate ships with a single blast? It was sometimes hard to reconcile just how powerful she was with just how young and innocent she was.

A part of him wondered if she would ever grow up to be able to live a normal, healthy life. After all, she was clearly far from the peak of emotional maturity and yet she had already had to weather so many horrible things. Even hearing about things like people smuggling could negatively impact people's mental development and she had had to deal with it first hand. What kind of woman would she grow up to become?

Either way, Sho simply stood there and listened to her going off about how she didn't understand what had happened, how he could have lost his vision. She even used some sort of new nickname for him, Shosukun. It was cute, endearing, but honestly it was a little sad to see her this worked up. She was perhaps the only person to get this worked up when they heard the news, aside from his own mother of course. She really was a good kid.

"Calm down, 'Roru. This has nothing to do with our fight. It happened well afterwards, so you can't hold yourself responsible for it. And I can still do our mission without issue, I've got other senses that can make up for it. Heck, you could almost say I traded my ability to see for better ability to sense those around me.

That was why I could tell about your fox back there without even needing to see it, though I feel you might not have realized what that meant when I told you. Just... promise not to freak out, okay?"

Standing in the shades of the trees, Sho's hand shot out to his sunglasses and took them off, letting them rest against the edge of his armour. Underneath, Miroru was able to get an accurate view of what had happened - She could see the thickened tissue at the edge of his corneas, the way that his pupils seemed discolored and faded, the way they seemed to be focused on her but only being slightly narrowed, as if he was unable to focus all the way as he had when he'd stared at her previously.

"After our work together in Konoha, I was... let's say inspired by just how powerful you were. I wanted to catch up, or at least to grow strong enough that the next time we met I wouldn't be holding you back quite as much as I did in those tunnels. So I spoke to some of my family and I underwent... well, I can't tell you much about it, it's some pretty heavily protected family secrets.

Suffice to say, I underwent a ritual that was supposed to give me the ability to see without needing to see. To sense things through the ground, to allow basic contact with any physical surface to let me see through it.

Unfortunately, that ritual is usually done when my clan are kids - even younger than you. We're talking about the age to start the academy, if not younger. Having it done as an adult caused me to be far more skilled with it than a lot of family members my age, but... things got complicated. Long story short, I've been almost entirely blind for the last six months."

Sho sighed, moving to pull his sunglasses off of his armour and slipping it back onto his face, hiding his deformity once more. 

"I can see you, but its a fuzzy outline. It's like.... overexposing a photograph. Nothing is in detail, nothing is really discernable from anything else. Were it not for the senses I gained in exchange, I wouldn't even be able to be a shinobi any more. I'm trying to research how to fix it but it's hard cos I can't see well enough to read any more and its not like a lot of medical techniques are recorded on tape..."

690 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-Rank Mission: 9/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Chuunin

Yamamoto Shosuke | ### | notes

She did relax when reassured, gratefully, the redhead crossing an arm under her chest and cradling her opposite elbow, the other hand tangled in a long lock of curly orange hair. "If... you're sure..." She did her best to take him at his word, nodding in acceptance. "Okay. If you say you're good for it, I believe you. I just- how ARE you going to manage?" He did explain, shortly, that he'd enhanced other senses, and she nodded, letting out a faint coo. "Ohhhh. I thought you'd just- noticed us on approach or something. That IS pretty cool..."



Miroru balked faintly at the sight of his eyes, milky and faded. She grimaced a bit, then nodded. "I can see what happened. Fascinating how a modification to your eyes could expand so much more of your senses, though..." She didn't press for details.



Powerful? Miroru's eyes cut to the side, her hand lifting to scrub at the back of her head. "Holding me back..? You weren't, not even a little. You handled the other branch, created that huge distraction. You bought me the chance to get rid of the threats without endangering the captives. Why did you feel like you were holding me back? It's not like there would have been some other more optimal outcome if you showed up with more firepower- is there?"



For a girl loaded for bear with as much sheer force as she did, she sure didn't seem to see a lot of value in stacking more on top of it.



"I think it's super brave of you to take on such a risky procedure. I really hope they manage to restore your sight in time, cuz... yeah, trying to research your own cure when you can't read is..."



A nightmare. It made her heart pound just to imagine it.

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE MISSIONS
D - 1i | C - 14c/5i | B - 2i | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

If Miroru were more socially gifted, she might have been able to see the way that his face contorted when she reacted like that. It was hard to read why, but there was definitely something about it that hadn't worked in the way it was intended.

"Yeah, you're right." He finally said, his voice quiet as they continued walking along the narrow path into Forest Country.

"I didn't hold you back, because I might as well have not been there. Miroru, I don't know if you've noticed this, but you're an incredibly powerful young woman. Since assuming the role of Chuunin, I have taught people even older than I am who don't hold a candle to what you're capable of. And you do so with such swagger and confidence that it makes people like me feel... inadequate.

I mean, think about it. If you had done the mission alone, nothing would have changed. You would have escorted the girls out to a local treatment center and they would have been fine. But what if I had been there without you?

The one thing I managed to successfully do all mission could have risked collapsing the entire tunnel system, whereas you could just rip through them like they were made of wet tissue paper. How am I supposed to compete with something like that?"

The more they walked, the more of a mental map was being painted out in front of Shosuke's eyes, and that map... well, it was almost entirely forest. The roots of the trees interlocked and joined together, almost like one might see in somewhere like a mangrove swamp. Only in this case, there was no water, and everything was just forming into one great tangling knot. If one walked off the road, they would maybe be able to get ten strides before coming into an impassible barrier of tree.

How these trees even managed to get enough light to survive when the competition was this tough was unclear. Not to mention the nutrients in the soil... this place must be unfathomably rich in such things for these trees to not only replicate as they did but also seem as healthy as they did. Everything about them seemed healthy and fine, something which only made them all the thicker and all the more impassible.

Maybe that was why, despite the fact that this was ostensibly supposed to be a stealth mission, Shosuke wasn't too bothered about keeping quiet as they walked. They could talk, they could hash this out openly, though he doubted Miroru would be able to understand his opinions or the way that he felt. After all, the strong very rarely had the ability to understand the feelings of the weak.

"I'm a field medic, 'Roru, unless someone's already hurt or injured I'm useless. When I took out the other path? I got lucky. Those idiots were carelessly guarding their fuel supply and standing too close. What if next time they're NOT idiots?

What if it's an actually talented shinobi, or someone who knows what they're doing, or..."

The words went unspoken, but the implication was pretty clear - What if it was you? Though he had surrendered in the exams because of her connection to Azarea, the more that he had seen of her in the field the more he was confident that she would have ripped him to pieces if she had but been given the opportunity. Hell, she had tried to talk him down from the fight, explicitly because she was aware of how powerful she was. He probably dodged a bullet.

Now, the way that he spoke made it clear that it wasn't like he was planning on fighting her any time soon. They were allies, and more than that, there was a budding tie of friendship there. They couldn't be more different and they were a few years separate, but he clearly did value her as a friend.

Even so, if Miroru could be like this, what about someone else of her level? What about someone from an enemy village, like Taki? Just cos they were at peace now didn't mean they would be in the future.

695 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-Rank Mission: 11/20

Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Chuunin

Yamamoto Shosuke | ### | notes

Miroru hunched her shoulders at being praised for being powerful. She'd heard a lot about how much power she had, and almost always in reference to what the Kyuubi provided or could. And since Shosuke didn't know any better... this felt like more evidence of the fox's power, not her own. "I... guess... I've always been like that, though. Even when I didn't have any power to speak of, when I was just... losing at everything. Every game, every test. I just got used to pretending I was smart, and strong, and confident. So when things get rough... I just do what I know." She glances deeper into the forest.

"It's hard to take advantage of weakness you can't find. So if I pretend to be smart, and brave, and confident, then nobody can pick apart those things."

Her expression tightened, and she shook her head at his scenario. "No, that's entirely short sighted. It's presuming the availability of medical attention and that everyone rescued was going to be in a proper condition to get to such locations. By myself, the ONLY thing I brought to the situation was violence and death. The ONLY tool I have when it comes to problems like that IS violence. YOU have MORE than that. You might have needed to be tricky, but you could have managed that alone- and NOT needed to try to transport everyone to a treatment center. You're eliminating your talents deliberately, and that's not fair to you.

The one who could have resolved that entire situation alone isn't me.

It's you. You can learn violence. But I can't ever heal anyone. I tried to learn. It's like trying to learn your letters by splashing the ink pot at the paper. Too much and not enough precision. But everything I did? You could do.

So don't put yourself down for being able to take life AND save it. Sure, maybe you feel like your best talents are only most useful when things have already gone wrong-

-but nobody else can do anything about it at all at that point."

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE MISSIONS
D - 1i | C - 14c/5i | B - 2i | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

If Sho had known about the fox, it was true that there would have been a certain amount of relief there. At least it was an explanation of why no matter how hard he tried he couldn't catch up with her. He didn't know his village's Jinchuuriki directly, but he knew that they were a powerful and impressive warrior in their own right, so Miroru being this powerful made a lot of sense.

However, power was nothing without a deft hand to wield it. No matter how powerful the horse, one who could maintain the reins and keep it in check was a great rider themselves. Even if one attributed all of Miroru's power to the Kyuubi, she still knew how to wield it with grace and authority. Whatever the situation or the cause of Miroru's power, it was hers to wield and he respected her for it. He would never even consider dismissing her abilities just because they came from a third party.

"Its hard to imagine you losing at things." Sho admitted, as they continued walking. "If you are indeed just pretending, then you could outshine even the greatest actors. There is something about the way you hold yourself, the way you conduct yourself that, despite your age? It seems like everything will be okay as long as you're the one responding to a crisis. I know the girls we rescued seemed to immediately take to you."

He wondered, just for a brief moment, if they were okay. He had given them rudimentary medical treatment, but he had never had the chance to follow up on them. He knew he had to trust the process, that they had done everything they could to make sure they were safe and able to return to some state of normalcy, but he was a doctor. He couldn't help but wonder about the safety of his patients, current or former.

Though, that ability to worry, that concern was perhaps what made his discussion with Miroru so difficult.

For the first time, he seemed to get annoyed at something she said. His polite smile turned hard, a flicker of irritation crossed his face. There was clearly something buried there that he simply wasn't speaking about, but it was hard to read. Hell, it'd be hard for even a studied psychologist to read, let alone a teenager like Miroru.

"Short-sighted? You think I'm being short-sighted? Do you even understand..."

Sho paused, turning to face Miroru properly. He knew that they should keep walking, they had a job to do after all and they wouldn't be able to scout things out properly if they stopped every few feet. Even so, this felt like it was too important not to be face-to-face with her when he said, even if he couldn't actually see her face.

"Miroru, do you know why we're the same rank despite me being years older than you? It's because I stopped working as a Shinobi for YEARS after my graduation. My family were on the front lines fighting against the plague when I was younger, and I wanted to help them continue their work. I abandoned my classmates to try and help those who needed medical treatment. And do you know what I learned?

A doctor cannot save anyone. Not a single person."

There was a pause there, pregnant with meaning and frustration. He knew that he shouldn't be speaking to her this way, she was a friend and it wasn't her fault. But it was frustrating that she seemed to be repeating the same truisms that everyone else did when they uncritically talked about his position.

"When I was in that hospital, I had a long time to think. The conclusion I came to? A doctor can only react when bad things have already happened. Whether its as minor as a broken toe or as major as a paraplegic, in order to need medical treatment in the first place something's already gone wrong. And even then, we can't even guarantee we CAN help them. In my time at the hospital, I've seen hundreds of people both young and old pass away in hospital beds.

Yes, Atagi's arms were restored by a medi-nin, he got his life back from that bastard Hotarubi, but someone like you? You can stop them needing that treatment in the first place. A dash of prevention is worth an ounce of treatment.

Even if we save someone? They've already suffered, they've already lost, the worst has already happened. Someone like you? Someone brave and strong and quick to react? You can protect people, stop them needing someone like me at all. Yes, there will always be a place for doctors, a place for those who can save and treat and restore. Not every tragedy can be prevented. But I left that hospital because I wanted to be one of the people saving others, not just picking them up after they had already fallen."

It was a difficult topic to talk about, especially when your conversational partner was so young, so innocent, so relatively carefree. Sure, she had killed enemies, even just on their missions together he had seen her snuff out lives as if they were nothing. But it was one thing to kill an enemy and another to watch someone you cared about die.

888 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-Rank Mission: 13/20
Jutsus Used: None

[Uchiha Miroru]

Uchiha Miroru

Konohagakure No Sato

Chuunin

Yamamoto Shosuke | ### | notes

"Well, I used to lose. At everything. All the time. All that changed was me learning I had to stop playing people at their own games. Make them play something else, something they're not prepared for. That's my trick, Sho. I'm not the best at anything. I'm just good at lots of things- and at changing the game, and winning before people know what to do about it. And the pretending just sells the story that I'm planning to beat them at their own game until it's already over."

Her eyes slid to the side, then back to him as he spoke of the way the girls they'd saved reacted. "That's... what I like. I don't want everyone to be terrified of me or envious or hateful or dismissive, I just- want people to be able to trust that I'll find a way to make things work out alright."

When he wheeled on her and caught fire, metaphorically, she held his gaze. Shook her head when he said she didn't understand. After all, she didn't. She knew she didn't, and he seemed to want to explain. So she listened, and didn't interrupt, and didn't argue. When he finished, what she added was, "And now you're learning to stop the harm that hasn't happened yet, and know how to undo the harm that has. That's amazing. And I wish you saw it that way, too."

She turned back towards the forest and waved for him to follow towards a ridge that would overlook parts of the Forest Country that couldn't be seen from the border side. "There's three rises- either small mountains or large hills- visible from the outposts along the border. If we get on top of those ridges, we should be able to map out whatever's in the area and improve our charts of the region. Some of the clones sent into the area for scouting didn't return, so it's safe to assume there's something that doesn't want to be seen at at least one of those rises, but hard to say which."

"Just don't give up on me! We can figure this out!"

Template by: Monkey

COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE MISSIONS
D - 1i | C - 14c/5i | B - 2i | A - 0 | S - 0

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

That's amazing, and I wish you saw it that way too.

There was something about the way that she said that that hit something in Shosuke's heart, it stung like a slap in the face on a cold day. Perhaps because it reminded him so much of what Kizumi had said once upon a time - just because you're not as good as other people at something doesn't mean you're not good at something. There was a part of him that acknowledged what she was saying was right, and yet...

... and yet it wasn't enough. She was right, that he was learning, but he hadn't reached the point where he could properly save others yet. He still had to get stronger, and to do whatever it took to get to the point where he could do those things. That was what all of his hard work was for, to ensure that he never felt powerless to save others again.

---

Arriving at the top of the ridge where Miroru was signaling him, he looked towards her and gave her a silent nod. Without another word, his hands shot into a series of handsigns, working through them rapidly before a trio of pillars appeared behind him. In a matter of a few seconds, those pillars were chiseled down til they looked like wooden simulacra of Sho himself, before even the wood changed to appearing like a perfect fleshy recreation. Even had Miroru been gifted with the Sharingan, it would have been damned near impossible to tell the difference between them.

"I'll send out another wave of these clones, see if they can locate anything in the general area. Worst case scenario, we can use them to triangulate everything within about 8 miles at a time. There'll be blindspots, I can't guarantee we'll be able to cover the entire area, but it's still massively better than what we've currently got."

Without waiting for Miroru to speak one way or another, the three all shot off in different directions, aiming to cover a different area. Of course, they were all operating within the same remit - avoid any direct fights that they could. If they couldn't avoid any fights, dismiss themselves and return all information to the host body. They weren't to leave any bodies or any information that any would-be enemies could use to track back to Konoha and Kumo. This was a stealth mission for a reason.

"Alright then - Which one do you want to check out first? I'll follow wherever you lead."

Of course, it might help if either of them were actually making some sort of map rather than working purely off of mental memory. But with Shosuke's inability to see, anything that he made himself was probably not going to be exactly military-grade quality. That would have to be up to Miroru.

471 words | Uchiha Miroru

SPOILER: Click to show

B-Rank Mission: 15/20

Jutsus Used
NAME: Moku Bunshin no Jutsu [Wood Clone Technique]*
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Mokuton
HANDSEALS: 3
DECRIPTION:
A clone that is created by altering the user's own cells with chakra to create vegetation. Possessing more endurance than the normal shadow clones. the doppelgangers are more resilient to damage. The clones have the ability to travel far distances from the user and are able to communicate with the original albeit the can only pass reconnaissance or simple messages with more complex thoughts and strategies depriving them from their full combat potential. The clones can be as simple in function as a wooden dummy for use in the Body Replacement Technique.

This makes this technique extremely convenient and a perfect clone technique that only the most powerful and fully developed dōjutsu will able to see through. By directly touching the wood clone with their hand, the user can absorb the information it gathered or change the shape of the clone. Because clone is made up of the user's own cells.