Psych Eval

[Tsedas]

Within the oasis valley that was Sunagakure, the Kage building was home to many offices with busy people bustling through their days. Included among these people were the Village Council, in particular Hizashi Kaifu. The blond man walked briskly through the halls to return to his office after a quick meeting with some Chuunin about handling the manditory evaluations that were coming up. As his robes flowed around him, Kaifu held a stack of files in one arm as he had his own share of people to assess to help with the sheer number of shinobi. The evaluations were done in batches with the batches spread out to keep from overworking the people in charge of the assessments.

Passing his assistant's office and the guard stationed outside his office, he walked in as the guard opened the door. Going to his desk, Kaifu set the stack of files down and started organizing them to create a time efficient schedule. Looking over his set up, he grabbed several papers and wrote out summons with times on them before walking back to the door and handing the summons to his assistant. He her the young man scamper off to set up a messenger to deliver the summons as Kaifu went back to his desk and prepared.

Brushing off the cushioned chairs in front of his desk, Kaifu locked all but one file into his desk before he sat down with a pad of paper, pen, and the file. Flipping it open, he started making notes and reading up on a Chuunin by the name of Henrin Tsuken. He had plenty of time to study up on them until they came knocking on his door for their evaluation.

[Kao]

Some people would be nervous about the prospect of a psychological evaluation that could determine the course of one's career. This particular evaluation could determine whether or not Tsuken would continue as a shinobi of Sunagakure, or if he would be deemed unfit to serve the village a reduced to a civilian. He completely expected the summons to come quickly, but he didn't think he would be called upon so soon after he left the hospital. After being bound to a hospital bed for nearly a week and immediately thrust into his sister's funeral, Tsuken thought he would be given at least a few days to compose himself further before being evaluated.

He was lying in his dark room surrounded by broken glass and splintered wood when the messenger came to his door. It was two days after the funeral and he was tired, too exhausted to clean the mess he had made as soon as he stumbled into the room he once shared with Atsumi. When a timid knock sounded against his bedroom door, the man closed his eyes and heaved a deep, shuddering sigh. He didn't move. He probably shouldn't move. His limbs were heavy and his stomach hurt, and if he moved too much too soon he would probably dry heave until he collapsed in a heap.

One of his younger brothers nervously entered his room and set the summons next to him and left without saying a word. A little over half an hour later, Tsuken was inside of the kage building, fully dressed but with greasy hair and heavy bags beneath his eyes. He sighed deeply, his shoulders slightly hunched, and knocked on the councilman's door to announce himself.

[Tsedas]

Finishing his notes, Kaifu reviewed them as he waited until at last there was a knock at his door. "Enter." Rising from his chair, the Hizashi turned and looked at the Henrin as they walked in and made a few mental notes about their appearance as they looked a little worse for wear than he expected. "Come in, take a seat." Offering the chair next to him, Kaifu sat down and flipped open the Henrin's file.

"Henrin Tsuken, age 17, Chuunin, shows here that your Taijutsu abilities exceed your Ninjutsu and Genjutsu abilities." Kaifu closed the file and looked to the teen. "Tell me a little bit about yourself Tsuken. Let me know about the person that isn't jotted down in a file of statistics and summarized clif-notes. The only thing I know for a fact as that since you've returned from your last mission, which was two and a half weeks ago, while not unusual in most cases, you've also failed properly debrief superiors about the mission or sign in for any duties you had taken upon yourself to be apart of. So, tell me a little about yourself and what's troubling you." Kaifu flipped to a fresh page on his pad of paper and held his pen at the ready to make notes about the Henrin as they spoke.

[Kao]

He took a seat and folded his hands in this lap. Suddenly Tsuken was aware that this was a big deal, but the revelation didn't make him feel nervous. Tired, sure; the thought of sitting through an extensive evaluation made the chuunin want to crawl back in bed and sleep for three days straight. But he wasn't nervous, and spoke frankly.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say. Sir." He glanced around the room, looking at everything except for Kaifu's eyes. He suddenly took great interest in the pen in the other man's hand. "I like small animals. I live at home with my parents and ni....eight brothers and sisters." He squirmed a bit and faltered, taking a somewhat shaky breath before continuing. "I was in the hospital for a week after my mission, then I had um...a family event to attend the day after I was discharged. That was two days ago, and now I'm here. I haven't had time to debrief or do other things."

It was the truth. Debriefing his superiors hadn't even crossed his mind, and he couldn't remember any duties he had committed to. His mind had been focused on his family, his remaining siblings, and grief. Grief and regret were the most pervasive things in the chuunin's life at that point. "I've been a bit preoccupied, sir. I expect you know why."

[Tsedas]

Kaifu listened to Tsuken speak. He seemed to give little information that Kaifu couldn't already gleam from his file. Still, getting the personal things out of him was part of what Kaifu had on his agenda today, especially when that look into Tsuken could impact his status as a shinobi. "Yes, I know of your sister's demise. I also know, that your teammates have been debriefed so I know how she came to an end. Did you wish to talk about that subject more or would you prefer we continue at getting a deeper understanding of yourself?"

The Hizashi presented the option and knew that most people often wished to steer away from painful subjects. Still, maybe he would surprise him and move to face his demons head on... Of course it's not often someone sees such a thing so soon after a traumatic event. "Frankly, I'm needing to understand your state of mind. Knowing about who you are and how you view things will paint a picture of you for me. So if you wish to discuss your sister's passing first, we can. If you'd rather we start small and you tell more more in depth details about yourself, then we can. Things like how did you spend your days? Who did you spend them with? You said you haven't had time to debrief of 'do other things', what are these other things? You know, personal details that set you apart from lines in a file and a face in the crowd."

Kaifu leaned back in his chair as he shifted his pad of paper and pen to take more notes as they spoke. "The path of this conversation is currently yours to choose, what topic will choose first?"

[Kao]

At first, he said nothing. He knew that the bannin had no reason to be at all emotional about Atsumi or approach the topic cautiously, but the way he casually mentioned his "sister's demise" twisted a knot in his stomach. Despite everyone's efforts to have him open up about it, he still wasn't ready to discuss it with anyone. Not with his parents, not with his remaining siblings, not with his friends. He certainly wasn't ready to talk about her with Kaifu, who had only mentioned her for the sake of getting to know his mental state. But ready or not, he knew he likely wouldn't be able to leave without saying something.

A small growl crept into his sullen sigh, and the Henrin crossed his arms and sunk down deeper into the chair. "Honestly, I'd rather not talk to you at all. I'm only doing this because you guys are forcing me to." The more the thought about it, more irritated he became. His teeth clenched, and he finally looked at Kaifu in his eyes. Once he did, he remembered exactly who it was he was talking to and did his best to force the bile out of his voice. When he looked the man in his eyes, something in him cracked slightly open, and words began to spill forth. "I haven't had time to debrief 'cause I was in the hospital. Haven't had time do anything else like train or meditate or relax 'cause as soon as I got out, I had to go to her funeral and listen to the clan leader say some impersonal bullshit about how she died for the village, but she didn't. She didn't die for anyone or anything. She died because of me. You all know that already so why should I even take the time to debrief? You know what happened so what's the point."

Once he started, it was hard to stop, but when he did he somehow felt worse than before. His chest heaved in a forceful sigh, and he tore his eyes away from the Hizashi and glued them to the desk in front of him. It had no piercing, intuitive eyes that bore into his thoughts and soul. It was much easier for him face.

"I used to kill time with Atsumi, but then I killed her," he paused to give a bitter, breathy chortle before continuing, "so now I spend my days smoking or sleeping. Shinzo tried to force me to train with him but then I told him to fuck off so we aren't talking right now." The thought of him unintentionally pushing away his best friend silenced him. He hadn't meant to force others away, but it was easier than dealing with unwanted questions about his well-being. But in the end, it didn't matter; he was now being forced to confront what was going on in his head, which was the one thing he wanted to avoid. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in a hole and wait until he faded away.

[Tsedas]

Kaifu made some simple notes as Tsuken spoke, ignoring his initial aggression as he had witnessed it so many times over the years. As the Henrin mentioned pushing someone away, Kaifu wrote down Shinzo's name and put a question mark next to it before setting his pen down and looking at the younger ninja. "Sounds like you're beating yourself up for what happened and it's slipping out enough that you've aimed it at others. I assume Shinzo is either a relative or friend? You should probably come to terms with them before it's too late to mend that fence. After all, it sounds like he was trying to take the burden of your sister's death off you mind. Even if for a moment, the small reprieves from reality with others help us to be reminded of better things."

Opening the file in his lap Kaifu pulled out a few sheets of paper with statements written on them. "These are the debriefs of the mission, namely they are in reference to the death of Henrin Atsumi. It seems that you engaged the usage of Skitter Step, a style that creates paranoia to amplify one's combat prowess if I recall.It would seem to me that in a team situation that wasn't the best idea to be had. As for your debrief, we like to get all the facts on this kind of matter. After all, your negligence caused the death of another. Your inability to utilize a dangerous style such as Skitter Step led to this. The blame falls on you and accusations could be made for days on end. However with the facts, we can determine if what you did was wrong, if what you did was an accident, or if what you did was intentional."

Setting the papers face down on the desk, Kaifu turned his gaze back to Tsuken. "So you can pout, beat yourself up, or smoke until you're gasping to breath as an old man. But right now, I have no personal investment on the matter. Now then, tell me of the events that occurred that day, won't you? From the debriefs your Doujutsu was active so I know you have a perfect memory of the events that transpired. So take me back to the start of it all, what spurned you to engage Skitter Step in the first place? Was there a fight?"

[Kao]

The more Kaifu spoke, the more frustrated Tsuken became. Nothing Kaifu initially said was helpful. He didn’t need a stranger to tell him to mend his friendship with Shinzo. He certainly didn’t need Kaifu or anyone else to tell him that he was beating himself up about what he did to his twin sister. From the moment their mission went wrong, everything Tsuken did had directly led to Atsumi’s death, and he truly was the only one who could be blamed.

Negligence, he had called it. That much couldn’t be argued, and the word and its implications reverberated within Tsuken and a fresh wave of guilt threatened to consume him. But instead of succumbing, he steeled himself in front of the man; no matter how difficult it was to face, he was determined to keep his composure in front the man.

But when Kaifu dared to suggest there was a possibility that her death had been intentional, rage flashed in his eyes and manifested in tightly clenched fists and teeth. A heated retort bubbled in his throat but somehow the chuunin managed to swallow it back when the man asked him to give him a detailed account of that fateful mission.

He took his time to answer. No one had bothered to ask him to recall the details of that day, and for good reason; whenever the topic was breached, Tsuken became irrational, irate, and overall inconsolable. But now it couldn’t be avoided; it was time to revisit that day.The Henrin blinked, and the tell-tale red concentric circles appeared in his eyes. With his doujutsu activated, he closed his eyes and began the arduous task of remembering everything that happened, down to the smallest detail.

”We were in south-western Wind Country.” His voice came out softly, barely above a whisper, and he lowered his head to rest it in his right hand. The assault squad consisted of him, Atsumi, and three others. Their leader was a special jounin named Hiruko, rough in appearance with scars criss-crossing his face and arms, but soft spoken and intuitive.

”Some town had been ravaged by bandits a few months before, and we were doing a follow up to make sure the rebuilding process was complete and everything was up and running. They sent us, most of us taijutsu specialists, because the bandits didn't seem to use ninjutsu or anything. Everything was fine, but on the second day, there was an incident on the outskirts of town.” He paused, his voice tapering off. Tsuken had followed directly behind Hiruko as they went to investigate. He could clearly picture the squad leader’s stiff frown when they were confronted by eight men, each brandishing secondhand shinobi weapons.

"They seemed weak, so I took on three of them. Didn't seem like a bad idea at the time. Hiruko and the others had their hands full, but I thought I could handle those weaklings with no problem. But...more of them came at me out of nowhere using ninjutsu. So I opened my Senses and then….” He took a shuddering breath as he pictured exactly where things had gone wrong. The enemies’ teamwork was much better than expected, and the battle dragged on for much too long. It was the first time he had allowed himself to recall the incident, and his stomach churned at the memories. With his voice cracking, he added, “The fight just went on too long.”

JutsuShow

~Dosatsugan – Recall – Details
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
By seeing and recording any specific event, the clan member recalls the event, and then replays the event in their head, but in a more specific manner. In doing so, they are able to memorize the minutest detail, from number of buttons on a shirt to the number of pebbles on the ground. However, doing so takes a big strain on the user, making this unable to be used in battle, unless they have two full posts to concentrate on recalling the memorizes and pick out the details.

[Tsedas]

Kaifu listened to what Tsuken said, reclining in his chair as he listened to the Henrin's disposition in regards to the mission. The younger man seemed to gloss over the details and give him the summarized version, much to Kaifu's displeasure as he was hoping to hear a more detailed accounting of the mission from him, but it mattered not as he got to the tidbits pertaining to the encounter with their underestimated opponents. When he seemed to mention the reinforcements the boy trailed off before stating the fight went on too long. Sitting there for a moment, the Hizashi took up his pen and started writing up notes about Tsuken's point of view before making a note.

"So you bit off more than you could chew and decided to use Skitter Step, but in your growing paranoia and panic, you started attacking everyone, even team mates. This over use and long term activation leading to your negligence and striking down of a team mate." Kaifu shook his head as he sighed, "What about the rest of your team? How badly did you injure them? Their reports state you needed to be subdued after you started attacking your allies."