[Plotboard] Checking Up

[Willoria]

[Plotboard] Running Errands The girl was running through the village as fast as she could go, pulling her pack on as she went. Judging by the hurry she was in, the girl was probably late. A member of the Juuin of Mamorinuku and close to her chunin exam date, she had the mark of the org on her pack. She pulled her headband haphazardly as she ran, nearly running into more than one person, though the last one she ran into was Gene himself.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she was saying in a rushed fashion, one hand on his arm as she turned to keep running but suddenly froze. "Oh! It's you!" she said, stammering a moment as she stopped and took her hand from his arm, pulling at her pack nervously as she blushed and tried to explain herself. "I-I-I'm sorry, I was running late and I didn't want to be late for this. It's my first outpost assignment and I was told I was supposed to travel there with you, so I was... running..." Her speech slowed as she caught her breath and ran a hand through her hair, her bangs coming down in front of her headband before finally holding out her hand in front of her for a handshake from the man.

"Natsuruma Keiko." she said, introducing herself with a sheepish grin as she clearly felt like she'd failed to make any form of a decent impression.

[Legacy]

Gene had been running through a written list of supplies issued out for his assignment and double checking the number of posts he was supposed to cover for the day; Mamorinuku, an organization of great beneficiary status had tasked him with perhaps one of the greatest technical responsibilities of his career - or rather, Aina did. According to reports from the dossier he held in hand Gene was supposed to mentor several groups of people in the ways of Scout ninjutsu or sensory as everyone else referred to it. In retrospect, the task was fairly simple and easy going but in practice, Gene foresaw many-a-headache in his future.

He had just been going through the last of his personal specs when a girl dashed right into him like some kind of baby elephant. His brow furrowed, did this girl not grasp the importance of the task at hand? "You're late," said Gene stoically before launching what looked to be a rice patty in her direction. Eat up, we're going to be moving around quite a bit. I don't want you falling out on me." As a Shinobi, Gene had learned to place his own emotions to the side in favor of the task given. To him but he couldn't help but be disappointed. Rules and regulations were in place for a reason and from his point of view; if the girl couldn't arrive on time for a mission, she wouldn't arrive on time to an outpost under siege whicb meant lives could be lost which meant her purpose as a ninja was null. Of course, He'd never say these things but thinking it was another story. After some time,the Chunin forced a smile which caused his features to radiate under the morning sun despite the suggested thoughts beyond the surface.

Natsuruma Keiko, my name is Mitsurugi, Gene. I'll be your instructor on this assignment." Reaching out and accepting the hand shake offer, Gene maintained the light heartened smile even as he uttered the words "Lets try to be on time next time, yeah?"

[Willoria]

Keiko was staring at Gene in almost fear as he confirmed she was late. 'Oh god I really screwed this up...' She didn't say a word or try to argue with him, she had already admitted it after all. Though as he threw the rice patty at her she barely managed to catch it before following his instruction and unwrapping it enough to bite into it. She nodded as he mentioned not wanting her to fall out. "I won't." she said, her words muddled by the food she was trying to speak around. She swallowed hard, wincing as she'd hardly chewed it well enough.

Honestly even as Gene finally smiled at her though, she hardly relaxed. She shook his had as he spoke and followed him, nodding. "I promise, never late again." she told him, taking a deep breath as she walked along with him. It was pretty clear she felt like she'd already screwed up in a way she couldn't fix, but she didn't dwell on it like some pouting child. She did what she could to push her worries aside and try to focus on the task at hand.

Which at the moment involved walking and eating at the same time.

[Legacy]

A nod in response was all that he could give for now, they were already behind in schedule. First on Gene's list of posts to visit was a northern garison just on the edge of Konoha; it was small compared to other posts but it served its purpose, protection. With his aid and some fresh recruits the Garrison would grow and that was the whole point. However, before they would arrive Gene decided that it would be for the best if he learned more about Keiko's stance on everything related to the org: starting with her basic skills.

"So Keiko, what made you decide to join Mamorinuku? It was a simple and broad enough question to start out with. Branching out into other subjects related to the matter would be fairly easy at this rate and if all worked out, maybe Gene thought, he could give some pre history on the org itself. Being a book worm had its perks sometimes.

[Willoria]

Keiko walked alongside Gene in near silence as she nibbled on her food, but as he asked the question her bubbly demeanor seemed to disappear for a moment. She took her time in swallowing the food she'd been nibbling on before she spoke, but her tone was much more serious. "My older brother was killed in the invasion." she told him, her eyes fixated ahead of them rather than looking at him as she spoke. "Mom couldn't handle it, she killed herself. Dad retired and fell into a bottle... I was the only one left a shinobi so I decided to try and do something to help. I wanted to make sure no one else has to go through that." She returned to chewing on the food in her hand, finishing it up without even looking at him.

A moment later it was as if she hadn't just told a fairly tragic story of her own life, she was practically skipping as they walked and she was clearly trying to move on without dwelling on the information she had just stated. "What about you?" She asked suddenly, turning her head to look up at Gene as she practically bounced along. "Why did you join?"

[Legacy]

A sweltering heat burned inside of Gene upon discovering what Keiko had suffered at the hands of two cowardice ninja with far too much time to dwell. Had he been strong enough, fast enough...more experienced in that time things would have gone differently. The smell of burned bodies assaulted his nostrils, side effects of remembering all the corpses he'd dragged from fallen structures set ablaze during the initial assault. Hatred coursed through his veins; something dark, ominous had been born in the young boy at just the mention of the invasion - His own sensei, Komori and the others, everyone had been scarred but the weight was Gene's to bare. So enveloped in thoughts of revenge he'd hardly caught the first question, snapping out of his haze only when asked why he'd joined.

During the invasion there had been a moment where I was presented with a choice: stay and help my fellow comrades escape the clutches of a vile technique or flee, saving my own life. Turning his head toward her Gene chuckled flatly.Recklessly I charged in and attempted to save everyone...I hadn't thought twice about it. If not for a jounin who happened to be passing through Iwould have been killed by one of the attackers. That Jounin saved my life at the cost of his own but because of his sacrifice I'd been able to get everyone to safety."Gene's auburn hues flickered only once with a combination of dosgust and humility, I owe it to that ninja to do anything in my power to protect this village and its people, including you. They were nearly to the Garrison by the time he'd finished his tale and at the realization Gene returned to his "few words" policy.We're almost there. When we arrive just fall in line with the others and sit tight."

[Willoria]

Keiko didn't miss the emotion welling in Gene, or at least the fact that he was trying to hide emotion. The girl was pretty good at picking up those kinds of things, and in a lot of ways it was why she was so chipper most of the time. She firmly believed that she could help others by simply keeping a positive attitude and trying to cheer up those around her. After all, a problem never seemed so gloomy when one had a smile on their face.

Of course, she felt her small observation had only been confirmed as Gene told his own story. She did not interrupt nor even comment on it, though she was happy to see they arrived at the garrison rather quickly. It certainly boded well for her as she'd probably be spending a good deal of time there in the coming days. As they stepped through the gates of the structure she saw a few genin in a line and took that to mean that was what Gene was talking about. There was only a handful of them but Keiko quickly swallowed the last of her food and ran over to join them, waiting to see what would happen next.

The garrison had its own hustle and bustle of activity, the only thing noticeably off about it was the group of four or so genin that Keiko joined in with, all fresh to the garrison and all about to be assigned to it.

[Legacy]

When they had arrived it was almost like a breath of fresh air, the hustle and bustle from people performing duties definitely subtracted from an earlier foul mood. Just a few meters from the entrance Gene noted a count of roughly fifteen fresh faced graduates and assumed these were all people whom he were responsible for, many of them looked either excited or nervous for whatever reason. To the opposite side of these juin were a combination of katamaru and another division. Admittedly the place had quite the aesthetic look to it; wooden gates with a golden carving of a lion at the center, a collection of swords & spears, they'd even carved some of the will of fire mantra into one section of wood along the Garrison walls. A nice touch, Gene admired.

Approaching a group of three other chunin and one jounin from the looks of it, Gene stated the reasoms for his visit and proceeded to chat as if he'd known the group. Whatever words were exchanged, the three chunin giggled and the Jounin nodded her head approvingly before heading on over to the juin sect recruits and introduced their guest."Everyone, we have a special guest from Mamorinuku command.
He's young like the rest of you but he's proven himself capable in the field and off of it. Listen well to what he has to say, it might just come in handy." If the warm welcoming introduction had made him feel odd, Gene didn't show it. Stepping up next to the Jounin he'd opt to wave at everyone instead of bowing and his expression was well - aloof. Hello everyone. My name is Mitsurugi, Gene and I'll be your guest instructor for a time. At this time I'd like to get some ground knowledge on each and every one of you -
Unfortunately, time isn't on my side so we'll have to skip formality." Pausing for a moment, Gene collected his thoughts and then resumed."Can anyone here tell me what the purpose of Mamorinuku is?"

[Willoria]

Keiko couldn't help a tilt of her head as Gene stepped forward to address the group of genin. He had been so strict on the road and now it was as if it was an entirely different person speaking. The girl wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Of course as the Jounin addressed the group, Keiko and the others straightened up and tried to hold themselves according to protocol. But as Gene asked his question the other genin looked among one another. The giggles of the other chunin had already convinced them that there was some kind of trap in the seemingly simple question.

But Keiko knew not answering it would get them nothing, and so it was she who spoke up. "To protect the village against any and all malicious forces that seek to do her harm by increasing village defenses."

Another of the genin made a face as if he'd just bitten into something shower. "It's Protect and Instruct." he countered with an air of someone who was convinced they couldn't be wrong.

Keiko didn't even look at him, her eyes were fixed on Gene as she waited for feedback, while the more pompous boy attempted to stare her down, despite her refusal to look at him.

[Legacy]

Among the small group of Genin Gene could see the fire, embers of passion burned in each and every last one of them. Some beamed with intensity, others gleamed with curiosity. No one believed that one so young as the fresh faced Silver-haired, Auburn eye colored male standing before them could possibly hold any weight in Mamorinuku. Then came answers from two directions - one from a person who he'd come to know a bit about prior to his arrival, the other a troubled youth. If the boy's comment had struck a chord in Gene the Chunin hadn't shown it.

"To protect the village against any and all malicious forces, eh? That's correct." His attention then shifted to the boy, What's with that look in his eyes? Gene wondered if he would have been justified in dealing with the situation right here and now prompting a mental check list that would spur his decision.

"Understand the situation," he thought. Keiko had known what was going on from the looks of it - it was obvious to anyone paying attention that the focus on anything but the boy was deliberate, why? Jealousy and the kind of venom that slowly ate away at tranquility was painted over the boy's face - was it a case of pride? What did he have to prove and to who?

"Understand the environment," he continued to think. There was a Jounin present who should have been more conscious to the situation than any Chunin may have been; however, that was all dependent on the kind of relationship forged with the Juin students. Judging on how each of the newer recruits perked up Gene imagined the relationship hadn't extended beyond a chain of command, aptly as it should have been. Next were the Chunin; they spent the most time around each Genin and reported usually directly to the Jounin afterwards, which one of them saw what was going on? He would need to analyze their body language - how? Making it obvious would yield nothing in light of his personal investigation & only could make things tense between the students themselves, think. Feigned interaction....in a setting like this it was the only sure fire way to work, at least that's what Gene's instincts told him.

"Very good, I see you all have been instructing your Juin well!" Gene exclaimed feigning surprise and admiration while turning back to smile at each of the spectating Shinobi behind him. It was brief, hardly a second in fact, but Gene took in the subtle body language and expressions of each individual ninja as fast as his mind would allow and the situation permitted as comfortable. If any of them seemed out of the ordinary they'd be first on his list of people to check on after all of this was over.

"Prioritize the mission," more of an after thought but Gene wasted no time in returning his attention back to the Juin. In so many words both Keiko and the boy had been spot on with their answers but Gene wondered if they knew to what lengths their superiors were willing to go in order to preserve peace. "One more question," said Gene now speaking to the Juin recruits, "What is the responsibility of the Juin division?"

[Willoria]

As Gene turned to compliment the other Chunin there on the way they had trained their Juuin, most of them smiled with pride, save for one. One of them had his eyes fixed on Keiko and the other boy as well, a look of disappointment on his face as he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, chewing on the inside of his lip as he seemed to think over something. He seemed to be trying to puzzle something out himself about the pair.

Meanwhile Keiko was still ignoring the boy as Gene turned his attention back to them, and the boy had finally turned his eyes forward again. As he asked his next question though, Keiko looked a little puzzled, likely overthinking things as she tried to come up with an answer. The boy cleared his throat and spoke up to answer with, "To learn! To find our own path in Mamorinuku!" He was grinning from ear to ear as Keiko shuffled her feet in the dirt, though she still refused to look back at them.

A couple of the other students exchanged looks as well, almost a wary one as if they had seen this before between the pair, and seen it get worse.

[Legacy]

There. To the far left Gene had spotted a Chunin who looked how the young boy himself had been feeling, so there was something going on. When he'd turned to face the crowd of Juin and asked his second question the looks of others among the bunch had been duly noted; perhaps, the Garrison wasn't as well put together as he initially thought. Naturally though, he couldn't - wouldn't make a scene during his seminar. When the time was right getting to the bottom of all of this was at the top of his to-do list. "..Right," Gene answered reconsidering his initial thought. "Mamorinuku is a organization put in place to serve the people and build relations between Shinobi and civilian while also keeping a watch for outside threats, Juin are no different from the rest of the group. As fresh members, you all must be able to learn and adapt quickly, as well as build relations with your brother or sister in arms."

Mentally Gene sighed, he hated this kind of work. It was too..delicate. Takeo - no, Aina...Hell the both of them! Knew that he despised politics and Gene unfortunately, had come to see this endeavor as just that. There were too many variables and he had to deal with. Just too many. This may be more troublesome than I first thought... He thought squinting his eyes.

[Willoria]

If Gene were to examine the pair too much, he might have started to pick up on the similarities between the two. The girl who he had already met of course, and the boy who sneered at the back of her head as Gene stated his answer had been correct. The next clue of course would come as Gene spoke, two words he had said affected the pair subtlely. As he said 'brother', the girl blinked, long and slow, letting out a sigh that she tried and failed to hide. As he said 'sister' the boy let out a single exhale of breath as part of a chuckle he stopped as quick as it started.

The rest of course were trying not to concern themselves with the two, they watched Gene carefully and some smiled at his words, even broke protocol to exchange looks and smiles with one another. It was clear that the words he spoke were giving them hope.

But now where to go? A training exercise? Trust exercises? Mission? What did Gene have in mind next to evaluate them?

[Legacy]

In a word, the pair had been acting "Strange" by Gene's standards but he'd long since given up on trying to figure out the puzzle for now. Instead he'd opted to give the group a test exercise that would both serve his mission well & allow the group to have just about as much fun that the situation would allow. The silver-haired Shinobi especially, needed something to distinguish his task from politics & boredom was beginning to overtake him anyway. "Alright,
in the spirit of my last sentiment I'd like you all to break up into pairs and await further instruction." Gene would wait until the group paired off and observe the partner duo's before walking calling over the other Chunin instructors. "Would you all happen to have blindfolds on hand?" If the answer was yes, then Gene would ask them to fetch the fabric from whatever crevice of log they kept it at; but if the answer was no then, he'd just use Chakra to construct his own version of what he'd asked for.

The objective? A simple exercise that would both test the Juin recruit's aptitude for Sensory Ninjutsu & their faith in one another.

[Willoria]

It was pretty obvious the pair weren't going to let themselves get stuck together, both immediately turning to someone else and claiming them as partner the moment Gene told them to split up. The girl got another girl to be her partner, and the boy another boy. It left another pair left together, a girl and a boy who seemed a bit uncomfortable with one another but certainly not to the point the original twins had been.

It seemed for a moment the strangeness was forgotten as the group seemed to go back to some semblance of normal, and as Gene asked for blindfolds one of the chunin nearby spoke up before going off to get them. When he came back he was holding a small box full of about a dozen of them, though only six were really going to be needed it appeared.

[Legacy]

After a brief wait one of the staff returned with blind folds just as Gene instructed, with a slight nod of approval the boy gave his gratitude and then returned his undivided attention to the youngling Shinobi. "Alright," said Gene while snapping into the formal Parade rest stance as if commanding a small platoon. "On my mark one person out of each pair will tie the blindfolds around their chosen partners eyes. After you've tied them -
spin them around three times." Strange? Perhaps, but in order for them to grasp the full weight of what it was that they would be doing Gene wanted their senses to be scrambled. Trust exercises after all, were just that. They'd need to have complete and utter confidence in their partner for this task - or rather, a strong connection he should have said.

Once each student had been spun around the required number of times and sufficiently dazed, Gene would point toward the opposite end of the barracks where several empty barrels stood upright. "Those without blind folds move yourself in that direction." Terse in nature, Gene left no room for talk back at this point & his expression was one of stoicism. "When you get there, don't utter a single word."

[Willoria]

Naturally once individuals were blindfolded and the spinning begun, there were a few chuckles and giggles emitted in the pairs. the girl Gene had originally come with nearly fell but her partner caught her under the arms and pulled her to her feet with a snort of laughter. Despite the man's stoicism it seemed the genin were feeling rather relaxed, and getting more relaxed as things went on. But when he told those who were not blindfolded to move away, awkward glances were exchanged before they complied, they didn't seem too comfortable with whatever direction this was going, and yet they still followed instructions.

As they awaited more instructions Keiko, who was currently blindfolded, stood with her arms out to try and maintain her balance despite still being a bit dizzy from the spinning. She even cleared her throat simply as a way to try and keep her mind on task as she waited further instructions.

Oddly enough the boy she'd clearly been at odds with was also one of the other two who was blindfolded, though he stood with his arms crossed over his chest, wavering a bit where he stood but clearly fighting the urge to 'look silly' by using his arms to balance himself.

[Legacy]

Separating the blind from those who could still see, Gene was somewhat pleased with the result. Many were apprehensive - as they should have been, but ultimately retained good spirit about the coming tasks which gave our Silver-haired friend some room to breath. They were still children after all & being not so many years older himself, he understood the desire to preserve at least some shred of innocence among them. However, if he were dealing with his Anbu unit and not a group of fresh faced recruits Shuriken, Kunai & senbon fire would have been imminent to spur a notion of severity. Concentration and total trust in one's comrades was key and THAT was a lesson he couldn't teach them in just one day.

Instead, Gene folded his arms in front of him and observed the blind folded volunteers for a few minutes. It was always fun allowing the silence to create drop back tension when there really was none, at least to him. With time not being on his side naturally though, Gene would eventually give the command "Walk in a straight line," to the blind folded candidates. "Your partners are out there somewhere waiting for you.
Are your bonds strong and heart true? If so, you'll be returned to your allies but if not...
Boom." All had gone well so far... That is, until Gene grew bored. They were duds, but he'd taken the time to throw several paper bombs out in front of the blind folded candidates whom, since they were Shinobi, would recognize the danger immediately - hopefully.

They were in no real danger of course but only those who could see would know that information. So what was the goal? A keen listener would pick apart Gene's words with careful deliberation; "bonds" "pure heart" all things related to a spiritual connection a NECESSITY of Sensory ninjutsu. Now he waited, who among them would grasp such a concept the best?

[Willoria]

Keiko tried to get her bearings, closing her eyes and shifting her feet as she felt the ground before taking a deep breath and starting in what she hoped was the direction of her partner. After a few steps she'd stop and kneel, reaching out a hand to feel the ground with her fingertips. As she did this over and over again, slowly correcting the direction she'd started going just enough that she was soon headed the correct way, it became more apparent she wasn't a sensor. The girl was more into taijutsu than such things, but she was also a tracker. Feeling the ground she checked for moisture and footprints, among other clues, that might have helped her find the direction of the barracks.

Another of the genin soon formed seals, clearly using sensor to find their partner and before long they were able to confidently start forward, despite tripping once or twice on upturned roots.

But the boy who had harassed Keiko before was a different story. He didn't use jutsu, and he didn't check the earth. He simply started walking as if he knew exactly where he was going... even though the direction happened to be almost entirely the wrong way.

[Legacy]

Three different people, three different blindfolds and three different responses but all of the same banner. Gene found the revelation lightly amusing if anything but took more note of the boy who'd been walking opposite the direction of where he was supposed to be - Gene's innermost extremes were beginning to surface & before those watching (the Chunin and Jounin supervising the post) could adjust themselves to his rather strange methods our silver-haired friend detonated the first Paper bomb by way of Kai.

*BOOM*

The explosion was deafening! Approximately five meters away from the careless young boy Gene purposely set off a commotion both as a scare tactic and a means of informing the kid that he'd been going in the wrong direction. After all, no sane person would readily march toward an explosion would they? As for the girl, Keiko, Gene noted that she possessed a very...different talent. Vital in the art of scouting definitely but not in line with what was being taught - her skills wouldn't come in handy here without knowledge of the person she'd been tracking before hand. Moreover, there were far too many bodies for such a method to work efficiently and blindfolded no less. It seemed that the one who grasped the concept was another nameless Juin prospect and as Gene imagined, they seemed to have very little trouble navigating now that they'd figured out the trick. This much surprised even Gene considering the fact that he hardly considered himself a teacher - these kind of things were well, tough for him because of his unique learning style. Even still, his desire to strive for success would push him to make sure that the others also learned. Even if that meant blowing off a few limbs (kidding....maybe).

In hindsight, use of scare tactics like this would prepare each recruit for the potential dangers of live combat scenarios in which high risk, high stress situations would become normal. A Sensory units task was to track down and deal with any threat with appropriate action and Gene would prepare them for just that. Additionally, he would attempt to teach them the importance of building a strong bond to those working along side them; out in the field, they wouldn't be just Shinobi on a mission, they'd be a brotherhood..... or something like that.