Gate Duty

[Jack_Spaden]

The assignment handed down for rehabilitation normally involved common chores. Raking leaves, gardening, de-rocking someone's lawn or taking on any other task that a fresh academy student could easily accomplish without a problem. Despite having nearly a year of experience outside of the academy, Fi was in a position where he couldn't take on dangerous missions or even think of taking the Chunin exams yet.

"Low level missions are so boring though."

While grateful that he was making a recovery he wished for something more exciting to pay his bills than chasing cats and using Taijutsu on nefarious weeds. When he finally worked up the salt to ask for something different he didn't receive any kind of an argument, but upon opening the scroll he assumed it would be as unfulfilling as his other missions. Gate Duty. Often used as a reprimand for Chunin or other shinobi. It was safe enough as he would only be the aid for Jonin on standby or man it when they left for lunch but it meant that he'd be stationary almost the entire time.

Fi arrived early, unlike the Jonin that were actually assigned to gate guard duty. The morning was bright and it looked like it was going to be a warm day. He was told by the lingering night shift that this was pretty common, the morning guys were coming off a mission rotation so they were either exhausted or drunk and due to be in an hour later. They then told him that they would wait around for the shift change but he was welcome to begin his work day.

They showed him the logs that he needed to update, the sectors of fire in case of an emergency, the protocols that happened if a hostile was identified coming up the road and the escalation of force accompanying it based upon their distance from the gate. While he didn't necessarily have the chakra to use it, they till went through the process of showing him how the fuinjutsu worked that would seal the main gates in a time of danger. About twenty more minutes of showing him paperwork went by and they left him at the small, wooden structure just inside the gate to perform the job.

He leaned back in the rickety, wooden chair and pulled a kunai out of his bag. Fi flipped it end over end and caught it while scanning the travel advisories that dealt with weather, bandits and safe routes. While the job was low risk, because of the current peace and the fact that Jonin were nearby, but there were a lot of aspects to the duty that he needed to absorb. While it wasn't exciting, it was definitely different so he didn't complain and occupied his time while waiting for someone to enter or exit the village.

[Legacy]

What Fi had not known was that somewhere very, very distance from where he'd been there was a certain Silver-haired Jounin observing his every move through the lens of a particularly useful Shinobi tool. Guard duty on any account was boring and typically uneventful but the fact that this Genin arrived early struck Gene as an unexpected development. From what he'd known about kids they had a knack for never truly taking anything seriously, it was always a game of misplaced vigor and optimism which frankly, annoyed him to no end. It was one of the many reasons (on a mighty long list) that he abhorred taking up graduates; they weren't raised to become Shinobi from the start, they were just children who believed that a little bit of effort would automatically guarantee success in this dark & dangerous lifestyle. In reality, few actually were raised to become Shinobi and many saw it as just another way to "pay the bills" unaware that just chasing a pay check would wind up getting someone killed, or worse.


Roughly two-hundred meters South-East of where Fi was just about to go over paperwork with the relieving guard post Shinobi, Gene could be found hunkered down in a narrow passageway seventeen foot above the surface; there were countless buildings, billboards, wires and water towers between himself and the young boy obstructing a clean line of sight (not that it would have mattered to begin with) and yet for the Jounin it was almost as if none of these things existed. It wouldn't have surprised him if Fi were to get the uncomfortable feeling of being watched with an invasive clarity because he was, Gene knew more about the boy than any regular civilian should have and hadn't particularly cared about how creepy others may have thought if they were to somehow find out this information. As far as he was concerned, Fi shared something very close to Gene which was further investigated when a manila file had been handed to him regarding the newest Team of Genin to be placed under his care.

This one in particular had already come from troubled beginnings and his old instructor, formally known simply as "9" was an enigma all his own. Apparently, the man valued secrecy because his former student had taken to covering his face even though there was no reason to do so inside the village. Perhaps there was potential in this one after all...

[Jack_Spaden]

He spun the kunai on the end of his finger and caught it point down, poised like a dagger.

Fi hesitated a moment and then went back to spinning the blade slowly. He struck a rhythm as a distraction while he leaned forward in the chair. The boy buried the point of the knife into the wooden counter in front of him. He wasn't the first one to do it, as evidenced by a plethora of marks scattered about the surface. The path was clear as far as he could see, no one was approaching. He looked back towards the village and saw early morning activity beginning to pick up. People were moving about the streets, young children were going to ninja school and there was a distinct lack of Jounin coming to assist on gate duty. He would have been happy to see the typical, stumbling form of any familiar face that guarded the gate.

He didn't know why though.

The need to look around had come on suddenly. It wasn't appeased when a chuunin and two genin came back in from an overnight mission. They presented their identification, signed the logs and moved on. It felt the same. There wasn't a murderous intent in the air or even an eerie feeling. It was closer to an old test that 9 made the team do after their initial meeting. Wires. He would have them navigate variable terrain with changing constrictions with the intent for them to observe, locate and bypass traps as a means of learning infiltration techniques and battle perception. These training days were usually frustrating, instead of an easy day it was one of their hardest in practice because they could never completely bypass anything. He recalled the feeling of working with his team, each of them being deprived of a key sense and spending the span of a night moving through a mock scenario. They would disable traps, avoid 'detection' to a satisfactory level and approach a predetermined goal that often moved through the night.

During these exercises Fi always found himself with a feeling that told him he was missing something. Entirely different than being overwhelmed by a personal aura or being struck with fear of observation or the unknown. It was a feeling that told him he hadn't disabled every trap. It was a feeling confirmed by 9 holding a wire at the end of the night that had been attached to each of the genin on his team, tracking their movements and providing a chakra link that could have been used to disable them at any time. Fi had developed a caution, a warning that told him he was missing something.

He leaned back out of view in the overhang.

What am I missing? There shouldn't be danger here but I can't be certain that I'm seeing everything. Is it outside or inside?

Fi clutched at a smoke bomb in his back, unsure of why that he wanted to be out of sight so suddenly. He was on guard as a few people approached to move outside the village. They didn't make the feeling go away either.

[Legacy]

In his observation Fi's skittish behavior had not been lost on the Jounin; if he hadn't already believed otherwise, it would have been as if the boy knew he was being watched. Looking around suddenly as if to expect something or someone to 'pop' out from the shadows of the watch station - there was no mistaking it, something had triggered the young upstarts fight or flight instincts and Gene was willing to bet that it had been his pervasive eyes taking in the child's every move. When Fi leaned back and out of visual range, Gene promptly adjusted his own position by roughly ten meters. Re-establishing a visual just ten meters North East of where he'd been before behind a billboard - one of the characters being displayed having its eyes carved through and replaced by a set of very real ones. Gene couldn't have been sure if the boy had actually been responding to him or if there were something else triggering these responses so he observed the surrounding area as well. That was when he noted the approaching group of Shinobi coming from outside the village. Must've had a rough time, thought the silver-haired Jounin who noted how dirty the clothing of the approaching group was.

Moreover, his attention had shifted back to Fi. According to reports he'd been a fairly average student in the academy with decent marks all across the board; however, grades in school weren't as important as many seemed to believe. Gene wanted to know what it was that made this child a Shinobi candidate to begin with - something he wouldn't be able to do by simply watching from a distance. Besides, he was starting to get bored being a stalker. Bringing his hands together in what could only be described as a cross shaped form with the index and middle fingers, chakra had been gathered and then rationed to make use of the smallest amount possible for a technique that would take most people years, if ever, to learn. Where there had initially only been one of the tall Silver-haired male, there was now two. "You know what to do," said the original to the Shadow clone who would respond simply with a nod before dropping down to the streets below.

Mid-flight the Shadow clone brought its hands together in the Ram hand sign and almost immediately, the chakra within began to radiate outward having a rather strange effect on its body. Morphing and contorting in what could only be described as something painful to watch, the body double took on a completely different physical structure before even hitting the ground. What had been silvery strands of vibrant cloud colored hair, now flowed in radiant locks of deep Chestnut brown; messy yet somehow flowing seamlessly along a defined jaw line, the bangs seemed only to accentuate an otherwise warrior appearance. Eyes that were a deep Auburn hue took on a shade that couldn't have been further from their original make, being a piercing Azure shade that would probably make keeping eye contact more than difficult if one weren't solidified in who they were inside. Furthermore, the facial structure of the body double had been morphed near completely to reflect an aged man roughly in their thirties complete with facial hair that matched the color of what rested on its head. Add on three inches of extra height, a navy blue long sleeved shirt and black pants along with a white Haori to match and anyone looking could have sworn that they'd been staring at the Hokage himself.

Gene was both fortunate enough to have an opportunity to work alongside Takeo directly and intelligent enough to put what he'd learned to use for his own means of evaluation. After all, who would dare question the Hokage in his dealings and better still, the man had a natural quality of easing the tension of those around him which for Fi, would make it difficult to keep up the defensive charade. Or so Gene believed.

---

Approaching from the direction of the village 'Takeo' strolled toward the Gate post though made sure to acknowledge those whom he'd passed by along the way. Everything about him seemed genuine except for one crucial thing...there was no Forehead protector across his head. "I see the youth are hard at work protecting our village gates," began the male, his voice commanding attention as the real Takeo's would have. "I remember when I had to take up the same task. Between you and me, I hated it." There was a gesture of good character, a smile that in end of itself meant nothing - but to someone as young as Fi it might have served to quell the alertness he'd been feeling previously. In which case, there was an even greater issue at hand...

UsedShow

*[Ninjutsu • Shadow Clone Technique]
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user proceeds to create a number of clones of themselves (maximum is equal to 1/3rd the users stamina). Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies of the user in both appearance and substance. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own and can even bleed, but they will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original and any experience the clones gain during their existence is transferred to the user once they are dispersed. Given that the clones are an exact replica of the user, they share the same stats except for stamina, which is determined by the number of clones presently in effect.

*[Ninjutsu • Advanced Transformation Technique]
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
An advanced form of the Transformation Technique, after performing the correct hand seals and holding the final one temporarily, the user will coat and mold chakra around their body into the shape and form of something or someone which is no more than twice their size at a speed of 4. This technique's true advantage is that the disguise is given physical substance. This means, for example, if they transform into something with claws, they will have claws that can physically be used. For the disguises 5 post duration, if it is damaged by a hit of 16 or more strength, the disguise "poofs" from existence. This includes collateral damage caused by striking an opponent that may occur to the disguise.

[Jack_Spaden]

When he shifted back he started to edge in on the realization that he needed, the pressure was off for just a split second as if he had shifted out of the way of a waterfall for a brief respite. Then the pressure was back on again. He couldn't decide what to do exactly at that moment, he could treat it as a threat or he could ignore it. Both approaches seemed valid.

Fi instantly moved to his assuming the stance of a soldier. The Hokage was a literal ghost, either that or he was absorbed in what he had been doing at the gate. There was no mistaking the coat that the great shadow of the village would wear, and he was often known for being exactly where he wanted to be at any time of the day. Nonetheless it surprised him greatly as he had never been this close to the man, even during his academy days he had never been in a situation that most young ninja tried to thrust themselves into. He clasped the knife behind his back, obviously he wasn't hiding it but he didn't see the propriety in holding it out front while he talked with a superior.

"All missions are conducted with equal sincerity, lord hokage. Thankyou for stopping today." Fi wouldn't even see the smile as he looked down, not daring to meet the eyes of someone so far above his station. It wasn't a matter of intimidation so much as respect, while their village leader was known as a great shinobi he was also one deserving of whatever courtesy that a genin could give. He silently wondered if the hokage had taken interest in the level of recovery that he was experiencing, gate duty wasn't exactly what you put someone unstable on but then he realized that his situation would be far too trivial for anyone of his stature to have interest in. "I would draw upon your experience from those days sir, did you ever have hours where your mission went well but you felt completely uneasy?"

He felt much safer in the presence of someone that was far more experienced than himself, but he truly viewed all elite shinobi the same way. They were people from another world, to be learned from if possible and respected always, but the feeling of standing next to him was no different that standing in front of his old teacher.

[Legacy]

Admittedly, Gene was both surprised and amused by Fi's reaction. Thinking back to his own first encounter with the Hokage he couldn't imagine that one he'd coined as an "adrenaline junky" commanded this much humility from others. In fact, their encounter had gone completely without formalities of any kind; it made him wonder if whether or not Takeo took offense to the lack of gestures or if instead, he'd welcomed it. Surely having people hang their heads so readily could grow tiresome and if anything, might have made his senior question who among the masses were genuinely fond of him or just acting out of awareness to the title held above his name. Either way, Gene had seen just about enough groveling for one day already. "Raise your head, I'm not here as one baring a title but simply a countryman among family. After all, it'd be hard to perform your duties staring at the ground instead of the people around you." Growing up, Gene had learned to treat everyone with the same amount of respect regardless of position or title out of understanding; however, granted the disguise he'd assumed now there he realized that there were still certain boundaries that must be maintained. With the same train of thought as when he'd remembered Takeo and his first encounter, he spoke and acted with all the down to earth charisma that the man himself had displayed back then.

That's right...Takeo had truly been a man of the people and for the people through and through. It was one of the things that despite his adrenaline chasing style (that to this day Gene hadn't agreed with) made him more respectable than any other Hokage to come before him. Switching gears from formalities to pleasantries had been easy enough, when asked about his own mission experience Gene reflected back to a time where he and Aina, now a Bannin of the village, had gone out to round up a loose cat that turned out to be a giant Sabortooth. Sure, the task had been easy enough still but he'd been left with the feeling that he hadn't done all that he could have in order to procure the result. Perhaps this feeling of unease that Fi felt stemmed from a similar dilemma but - given the parameters of his assignment Gene wondered, what was there to feel uneasy about? Did he subconsciously feel like he'd been getting observed? If was definitely a stretch too far fetched for much consideration but the Trench sitter marveled at the prospect; could this boy, young as he was, have started developing his sixth sense so soon?

"Several times," answered 'Takeo' electing to home right in taking a straight forward approach to dealing with what might have been an interesting development. "The key in quelling that feeling of unease is to devote to your training so that you may build up your body and mind to not feed in to such uncertainties. Every Shinobi has felt the tension of not knowing or unrest at some point in their careers - the trick is to not let that feeling control you. Otherwise, you open the door to a whole world of possibilities and none are fortuitous." Cobalt hues trained to the countless markings clearly indicative of Kunai misuse. "Is that why you've clawed that desk there?" The Hokage was smiling but beyond the disguise Gene wondered if perhaps it had been too soon to send this one back into the field. What the boy had gone through would crush the spirit of even the strongest of them, Death up close was never an easy thing to deal with.

Fortunately, Gene had never gone through the hardship of seeing a comrade die right before his eyes but being the one to rob someone of theirs may as well have been just as traumatic for the first time. A reality that Fi would be forced to face at some point if he kept down the path he'd been on...missions were no laughing matter and if he couldn't perform...Gene didn't want to think about it. A Shinobi in exile by their village could be a fate far worse than death.

---

Meanwhile, the real Gene could only wait while his Shadow clone gathered information in his place. To pass the time, he'd cracked open the sequel to Cloud of Sparrows; Autumn Bridge and began reading, hoping to make a dent in the lengthy novel before the days end.

[Jack_Spaden]

That seemed to be a page right out of 9's book.

As the breeze places a stray leaf onto the surface of the lake, it ripples. A vast mirror spreads out before the leaf, the reflection is momentarily disturbed as the leaf spins and eventually comes to a tranquil stop. A shinobi must experience the way of the lake and that of the leaf, the feeling of being moved freely and being moved against. The lake must respond but it assumes tranquility once the leaf has been met, acknowledged and accepted. It seemed that everything always came full circle, a feeling of loneliness set firmly in the boy's chest. Despite everything he found that he could not shake the feeling of regret seemed to tag along with him. It was a shackle that made him work harder to move about, it was a scar that made him jerk away from certain people, it was a set of memories that made him more cautious than someone his age should have been. Yet, in the lost relationship with his mentor was the answer that he looked for, brought to him by someone that had learned it in a different way.

I need to be that lake, I'm too often the leaf.

He felt more sure, though reminded of his regret. He closed his eyes a moment, he realized that he felt sure. Fi was aware of himself, aware of the man before him, aware of the warm sun bearing down on the village. He opened his eyes sharply and answered the superior officer. "Bad habit, I'll make sure to have it repaired--Make sure to observe the troubled routes!" Fi snapped his attention towards a pair that were leaving through the main gate, he excused himself to make the proper notation on the log. He felt himself compelled to lack back towards the village. A lingering gaze pointed down towards the village, unwittingly in the direction of Gene. The young shinobi took a breath, he was calm and certain without explanation of his feeling and that realization was somehow enough to take the edge off.

Fi moved back to the Hokage. "I'll take that information to heart. It reminds me of some advice I've heard before, sad that it takes so many times of hearing the same thing for it to sink in though. Or maybe I didn't understand it well enough until you said it a different way, regardless; thankyou lord hokage."

[Legacy]

Gene wasn't sure at first but now having had the opportunity to talk with Fi directly he felt better about the higher up's decision. Anyone with an expression that lively while wearing a mask would definitely be going far in this hellish world. Heh, there it is. Thought Gene to himself, pleased and even motivated by the boy's sudden turn around in his own self-confidence. At Fi's age Gene was lazy, unmotivated and hardly the prodigy that everyone seemed to believe he was. He'd only trained hard enough to get by until Aina really gave him an earful about his habits but - it wasn't just Aina that spurred his growth, it was Isuzu and Taiga, Fanho and Masami, Kazuo and even Minoru. Because of his connections with these people Gene had been able to overcome the loss of his mother and more so, the hatred inside himself. That wasn't to say that he'd been a complete believer in the will of fire or friendships for that matter, but he understood their significance in an era where death and betrayal were too common an entity.

Even so, wherever there existed light shining down upon a leaf - there was also...a Shadow. Gene could only hope that Fi wouldn't allow himself to become the Shadow and instead seek after the light. So far, from what he could tell, the young up start was alright.Don't let go of your innocence, kid. "It's not sad at all. In time, you will learn that repetition truly is the father of learning." 'Takeo' concluded, folding both hands behind his back before nodding in approval of the young Shinobi's words. "I see a promising career ahead of you. Well, I suppose it's time I got back to the office. I can't afford to slack off if even the new leaves are hard at work!" Breaking into a hearty laughter it would seem as though the man had genuinely been happy - which Gene was, but before another moment could pass right before Fi's very eyes the shadow clone technique dispelled in a plume of smoke. Leaving Fi there to wonder about what had been discussed among other things.

---

"So that was Fi, Ikkon. Gotta say, he reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. Well,
I guess that takes care of that. Now to go drop in on Okumura - I heard she's a splendid care taker." Rounding the corner with his eyes trained to Autumn leaves Gene blended in the ever shifting sea of bodies moving along Konoha's commercial district. The day was still reasonably young, he'd decided to go and pop in on another one of his soon to be students before the days end. If his encounter with Fi was anything to go by, he believed that he'd actually like this group.

[Exit thread]