Now Where Did I Put That?

[Rain21199]

Zakuro had been looking forward this day for a long time. As his assistant, Niku, grew and rose in the ranks, he needed someone new to do the low level work around the office. What's more perfect than a Genin fresh from the academy? There was a lot of work to be done today, so Izaki, the new intern, was going head first into his new position. Zakuro had only heard a few things about the boy. He was 11, he was skilled in Ninjutsu, and he was born to two non-shinobi parents, like Zakuro. It would be interesting to see how he would eventually fit into Mamorinuku. As the leader of Sekkoutai, Zakuro thought it unlikely that Izaki would join his branch, but he would use him while he had the chance. The leader was simply waiting for a knock on the door. Then the newcomer's day would begin.

[hobnob]

Zooming through the streets, the youth moved swiftly as he tried to navigate using a map. The location of this office was in an area of the village that was not well known to him, and so he had to get there using this piece of paper, he had never used before. But, seeing that he was to be the new intern for the Mamorinuku, he would have to get good at navigating the land and other skills that he didn't require in his day to day life. This was obviously his first test and he was eager to pass it. So, when he eventually managed to get himself onto the correct street, he slowed down his pace and began to take in every little detail. He remembered the name name and number of the building, now he just had to find. Folding his map into a neat square, he tucked it into his pocket and carried on moving through the street, keeping a keen eye on the buildings that moved past him.

'Bingo.' Said the youth, a few steps later. He walked up to a big, well-made door and gave it a good, firm knock.

[Rain21199]

Zakuro heard the sound of bone on wood reverberate throughout the building. In the distance, it sounded like the front desk secretary got the door. He could hear her familiar, yet muffled voice saying "Are you the new hire? Mr. Gerudo is just down that hallway. Last door on the left. He should be expecting you!" Quickly, the 6'4", unshaven shinobi organized a few papers on his desk and awaited the little one to arrive. If he knocked, Zakuro would reply with a quick, "Come in."

Upon entering the room, Zakuro would stand up and give him a look over. As a big fitness person, anyone working under Zakuro needs to be in good shape. If they aren't, they would be by the time they leave. Next he would ask a series of questions, even though he knew the answer to most. "Where are you from? What caused you to want to become a shinobi? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? If your family was captured, and the only way to let them live was to give up the location of only one of our hidden guard camps, what would you do?" He waited patiently to hear the response of each question. Let's see how the boy would answer.

[hobnob]

The youth took a step back as the door opened, he did not know what to expect. And this fine lady was probably the last person he expected to be working for a shinobi organisation.

'Thank you, miss.' The boy said once he heard his much required directions and proceeded to his final destination.

Once again, a loud knock could be heard bouncing off the walls of this old building, and soon after a male voice came from the other side of the door. 'And here we go...' The youth thought as he pushed the door open. Inside was a tall, very well built man. It was easy to notice that this man, has seen a lot of whats out there, and this was the kind of people that the youth liked, people who knew the real deal.

The youth stepped into the room graciously, shutting the door behind him; before he could get a chance to show his manners, senpai was off on a barrage of questions. So without any further ado, the youth began verbalizing, one long answer, that would cover all the bases.

'I was born in a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire. When I was still a small boy, my family and I were attacked by a gang of villains, my father didn't get out of it alive and if it wasn't for shinobi from the village Hidden in the Leaves, neither would I, or my mother. The shinobi escorted us back here and we were given permission to stay. I became a shinobi because, I want to grow strong and one day be able to do exactly what those shinobi did for my and my mother. Protect those who can't fend for themselves. My strengths? Art, and ninjutsu. My weaknesses? Hand-to-hand combat...' The youth took a short breather, to regain his breath and to think of the correct way to structure this answer.

'I would lie.'

[Rain21199]

Zakuro's face did not betray his thoughts. It remained still and calculating, but it showed no signs of whether the boy's answers were satisfactory or not. Instead Zakuro circled around Izaki and took in every detail. There was a lot of work to be done with him, if he was to officially join the ranks. Not just his body, but his spirit and mind as well.

Moving on, Zakuro settled back into his office chair. "Shimada Izaki. Ask me any three questions and if I'm able to, I will answer them truthfully. They can be about Mamorinuku, they can be about the village, they can be about me, anything. Fire away."

[hobnob]

The youth stood still while his Zakuro circled around him. His eyes followed the man from the moment he entered his vision to the moment he disappeared. He was trying to remain calm and analytical while his heart raced from the pressure which he was under by not being able to figure out what the man thought about his answers. He was not at all prepared for such questioning, and having to come up with an answer on the spot was equally challenging as it was exciting, not knowing the result was the truly troubling part. All he could do for the moment, was hope that his answer was satisfactory.

Once he saw Zakuro making his was over to his seat, Izaki took a deep breath and slowly breathed out. He had a moment to relax and get his thoughts in order, before he had some time to ask three questions about Mamorinuku and the village. This was perfect, the youth had plenty of questions about the organisation, but three would be enough to satisfy him for the time being.

'This might seem like a very vague question but,' the youth began, 'how does the organisation work?' he finally concluded after the brief moment he used to get his thoughts in order.

[Rain21199]

The Chuunin leader of the Sekkoutai ran his fingers across his stubble ridden face. Of course, right of the bat, this kid had to hit him with a tough question. Now... how should he answer? There were a number of ways he could go about it, but...

A gentle smile stretched across Zakuro's face. "Good question Izaki. I think I know exactly how to answer that, but it comes with some good news, and with some bad news" The smile continued and for only a moment, one could mistake the smile for something a little more devious. "The good news is that you're about to learn a whole lot about how we operate here... The bad news is that were going on a long journey to do it, and I'm a notoriously fast walker."

Zakuro bolted up to his feet so fast that his chair was knocked to the floor. Either he didn't notice or he just didn't care because in the next second, the man had already reached the door and was walking out. Izaki would hear his voice trailing off as power walked out of the building "Hurry up Genin!"

-------------------

Zakuro made his way to the gates of Konoha. He was moving very quickly, but he made sure Izaki was able to keep up. Likely the boy would have to maintain a quick jog to keep up with Zakuro's pace, but he'd be able to make it. Of course, Zakuro didn't normal move this fast when guiding people anywhere, but Izaki was a weak-body that needed to get in shape. There was nothing like building up your endurance by jogging for 15 miles, and that's exactly what he planned on making his new protege do.

The gate keepers of the village allowed the two to exit without any hassle. Being the leader of the Sekkoutai, Zakuro spent quite a lot of time outside of Konoha's walls. He looked back at Izaki, who was likely to be struggling a bit, and gave another devilish smile before saying "Do try your best to keep up while we're out here. This forest is designed to make people get lost. Fortunately, I know the routes like the back of my hand, but without me... frankly you'd be screwed." Nothing motivates a person to keep moving like the looming threat of death.

"While we're journeying out, why don't you ask me those two other questions?"

[hobnob]

Izaki stood and paid close attention to the man. The smile on his face communicated mixed messages, and Izaki only knew what he it meant when Zakuro began to speak. By the sounds of things, they were going to venture out of the village. Which at first was not bad at all. Izaki missed the time when he would roam through the lands freely, this would most likely make him a little nostalgic, but he could not go all soft in the middle of the mission; he had to compose himself. In the next moment, he realized what Zakuro meant when he said that he was a notoriously fast walker. In a blink of an eye Zakuro had got out of a chair, and was out the door making his way down the corridor.

"Hurry up Genin!" could be heard in the distance, and before it clicked what was going, Izaki heard the front door shutting. His body jerked and he ran out of the room almost slamming into the wall opposite the door because of how fast he was going. He pelted down the corridor and ran out the door, giving the secretary a smile as he did so. He looked around, scanning the street for Zakuro and not being able to see him at first, but eventually making out a trail of dust in the distance. 'Wow...' the youth let out and began running behind the man as quickly as he could. Sweat trickled down his face as Izaki rushed behind Zakuro who seemed to be having a great time. Among the heaving breathing that came from Izaki, the youth managed to make out what Zakuro was saying, at least a part of it; something about keeping up, the forest being designed to make people lost and asking Zakuro the remaining questions. Izaki was all up for that, but trying to keep up with Zakuro was proving to be a little trouble some. So, the youth began to think outside of the box.

Izaki grabbed his scroll and his paint brush and quickly jotted down an image of a great bird, that after a few hand seals flew out and glided through the air beside Izaki. The youth hopped on and began picking up speed. Eventually flying past Zakuro and making a playful sound of 'weeeeeeeee' as he flew past him. Only to then perform some stunts in the air and keep constant speed beside Zakuro.

'My second question is... what hierarchies are there in the organisation?' the youth let out.

[Rain21199]

Zakuro's brows furrowed as Izaki blurred past him. Damn Ninjutsu... The thought entered his mind to destroy this ink creation, but he decided to let it slide for now. After all, he did what he could to keep up with Zakuro. His reward for the quick thinking would be to avoid physical training... for now.

"Now that's an interesting question. It all depends on what branch of Mamorinuku you end up in. In the Sekkoutai, we have a very simple command structure. We have strike teams that consist of four members, one of which is the leader. There are four of these strike teams to a squad. Squads are lead by a squad leader, who report directly to me. The other two branches have similar systems, but I'm not going to get into that right now."

Zakuro hoped that his short description would satiate the Genin's question for now. He'd be able to explain it much better when they reached their destination.

[hobnob]

Izaki sat cross legged on Takashi as he, and Zakuro made their way through the forest. Listening to the response the leader of the organisation had for him only sprung more question to his mind. The youth was very inquisitive and wanted to know all the ins-and-outs of the organisation. But, the situation was made a little tricky by the very limited number of questions he could ask; he could only ask one more, it was going to be a good one.

After a few moments of deep thought, the youth looked over at Zakuro. 'Who are the other notable members of the organisation?' The youth let out, quickly before he had to fly off to the side to avoid colliding with a tree he was heading directly for. Spiraling through the air to avoid the dense forest, filled with strange plants that were covered in spikes and thorns. Izaki was not sure where they were heading, but this place was not the average forest someone would go for stroll in. Finally, once the forest opened up a little, the youth quickly made his way back to Zakuro. He recalled the man mentioning that the forest was designed for people to get lost in, and that was not something Izaki was planning on doing.