Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 17:32:10 GMT -4
Iruka raised a concerned eyebrow. "Do you need to talk about it?" he offered. "I could use some lunch anyway...:"
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 17:36:01 GMT -4
"Only if I buy," Oki countered. "But talking about it might help. At least you'll be objective about it..."
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 17:37:30 GMT -4
Iruka smiled and nodded. He made a motion that said 'after you...' As they started walking towards, Iruka assumed, a ramman stand, he asked, "what is it concerning, if I might ask?"
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 17:52:36 GMT -4
"A lot of things," Oki sighed, indeed heading towards a ramen stand. "But it boils down to not being sure who I can trust any more, and I don't like that. I feel.. wide open, unprotected and I don't know what to do about any of it. I had a mission, not long ago, with Yuki. We came up with a cover of being newly weds on our honeymoon to try and get close to a couple that had eloped; we were supposed to bring the girl back to her father. It was probably the worst thing we could have done, to be honest. I know he's had feelings for me for a long time, and I was really uncertain about how I felt about him. But he was starting to relax, to stop showing off, and there was starting to be something there between us...
"Then the mission went bad. A team from the Sand showed up, after the same girl we were. Yuki took her back here, and I stayed behind to try and take care of the Sand team with a team of Cloud nins. We won, but we got hammered pretty hard. Two of the Cloud nins and I were in pretty rough shape when we got back here, but the mission was a success.
"While I was in the hospital, Takara was brought in and he ran off. Baoh, who had found Takara, filled me in on everything. About how Yuki and Takara had been dating, how she had had to go home and that she didn't come back. Yuki didn't go look for her, he just... assumed she wasn't coming back at all, and I suppose I got scared. He had loved her, but when she didn't come back, he just left it at that. What would have happened if it had been me? What if I hadn't come back from the mission? He wouldn't have come to look for me either, and I could have been dead, or kidnapped, or who knows what!
"But Baoh's being strange, too. He's doing something with Fukurou, and he's pretended to be me to do part of it and I don't like it. Now Fukurou's furious with me, thinking that I'm involved and trying to set him up, I don't want anything to do with Yuki if that's how he treats the women he loves, and I don't know what to do about Baoh!"
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 18:06:27 GMT -4
Iruka blinked several times. She was right, that was no short list... He held the curtain back for her at the rammen stand. "That is a lot to have on your mind..." Iruka mussed as he put names and faces together in his mind...
"Fukurou," he mused. "He's the boy who lives out in the woods - a social isolate," he was remembering. "One of Otomeken's students in the special ed class..." He was thinking on how best to deal with this one first, because at least it didn't sound like it had anything to deal with romance... "With Fukurou, you have to remember that he has not been socialised as many of as have. He tends to take things at face value rather than looking past them to find any hidden meaning, or deeper meaning. If Baoh is teaching him now that Otomeken has gone on a mission of her own, then I'm sure he had good reason for transforming as you." Iruka shrugged. "Perhaps he is trying to teach him that in a ninja village, things aren't often what the seem. For someone who hasn't grown up with that knowledege, it's a usefull lesson. I'm sure if you sit down and talk with Fukurou, and explain that to him, he'll come around - though, as I understand it, it's not like him to get angry at anyone, so perhaps the sooner the better."
Iruka continued to think. "So... Maybe Baoh had no choice but to transform as you for that role. I mean, there aren't too many people that Fukurou speaks with, and the other one is gone. So if Baoh knew you had at least been able to speak with Fukurou and gain his trust - that doesn't leave much of a choice for the lesson. If it still bugs you, however, perhaps just speak with Baoh and ask him to leave your identity out of it from now on. I'm sure someone of his level must be a level headed person, and could do that much at least - though I don't know him personally. He works, above my pay-grade, so to speak."
Iruka continued to think. He remembered how close Takara and Yuki had been as students in his class, but lost track of each of them after they had moved on. He sighed. "I cannot perfess to know much about Yuki, Oki. He was more Anko and Ebisu's responsibility than my own - he was already a genin when he came to the academy. I remember that he and Takara were close - but that is all. Maybe you should go with your intuition on this one though. If you feel like he would abandon you, perhaps it's best not to go any further with your interest in him. Your intuition as a ninja should be very strong, and you should trust it. As I seem to remember, Otomeken also had strong dislikings of Yuki for abandoning his family. He had warning that an attack was coming on his family, and he up and abandoned them - they were all killed, and then he landed here. He never went back or did anything about it - from what Otomeken tells me... Tsunade had a slightly different story when she told me he would be enrolling - but she may have been covering that up to help him fit it... It is her perrogative as Hokage..."
He looked at her to see if his words were helping at all...
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 18:18:10 GMT -4
"My intuition is half of the problem, I think, Iruka. I've known Yuki a long time, and I want to believe him. I don't want to think of him like that, but he's lied to me in the past even if they were silly little white lies. Baoh's still a huge mystery, and I've tried to talk to him about Fukurou, but he's not big on offering explanations.
"I've tried to talk to Fukurou, but he won't listen. He thinks I'm in with Baoh, part of his instruction, and I don't know if I can gain his trust back. I'll try. he's the simplest of the problems to try and solve, but it doesn't help with anything else.
"Yuki says that Baoh's using. Baoh said Yuki was doing the same. I don't know why anyone would bother! I'm only a genin, and not an overly talented one at that. I hold my own, but not well enough that I'd be useful to anyone."
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 18:24:06 GMT -4
Iruka considered it, in the meantime, ordering lunch. He sat in silence, mostly twirling his complimentary cup of jasmine tea.
"I don't know enough about either Yuki or Baoh to be of any special help, but... Have you tried talking to them after the incident at the hospital? Or Takara for that matter?" He pondered for a few more momments. "As I understand it, if what you think is really the case, Yuki has you to lose if he doesn't lie to cover his tracks - and he is a ninja of the Sand - he would know how to lie, and how to manipulate, I'm sure. Baoh... What does he have to gain or lose either way? It sounds like he is trying to protect you. He is a very quick judge of character, and often a good one..."
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 18:32:42 GMT -4
"Baoh's been looking after me," Oki confessed. "I wasn't really myself for a while, and he tried to bring me back around. When he's not off on missions, I see Baoh quite often. He's been staying with me. But I don't want to see Yuki, much less talk to him. If he has been using me, I don't want to give him another opportunity to lie or to manipulate me any further. Takara might be an idea, though. I should try looking her up and hear her version of things. I've heard everyone else's..."
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 18:38:55 GMT -4
Iruka nodded and broke his chopsticks "Ikatakamasu."
"Likely as not, you will have to talk to Yuki again. You'll get a mission with him, or you'll see him around in the village. But you don't have to let him get close to you again."
Iruka looked around a little bit just to make sure. "I shouldn't be telling you this... But you know you now have keys to the teacher's lounge in the academy... And the academy does keep files on all of it's students - if you want to find out a little bit more about Yuki," he shruged. "Or, you could talk to Ebisu - he's Yuki's trainer. Yuki lives with him - maybe he'd have a better idea as well."
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 18:47:30 GMT -4
Oki broke her chopsticks and began to pick at her lunch.
"If I have to, I'll work with him. I can be civil when I need to be, but I can also hope to see him as little as possible. So far, I've been fortunate in that respect. Right now, I don't want anything to do with him. I don't want to read his files, but thank you for pointing that out. And I also don't want to talk to Ebisu. He's not very high up on my list of favorite people, either, and he clearly sees something in Yuki if he's allowing him to live in his home and train him."
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 19:10:49 GMT -4
Iruka was smiling. He couldn't help it. He was almost laughing in fact. "Ignoring those last few statements, it sounds like you saw something in him as well." He took another drink of tea. "Oh well, it's probably for the best that you found out when you did... Just, remember what I said about your intuition. If it is that you shouldn't talk to him, or see him, then follow it. If it is contrary to that, well, there must be some kind of compromise you can make with yourself...
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 19:16:32 GMT -4
"Yeah," Oki sighed. "I thought I did, but it looks like that was a mistake. I'll do what I can, Iruka. I don't know what kind of compromise I can make, but I'll do as you say and trust my intuition. If it tells me anything..."
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 19:18:33 GMT -4
Iruka actually did laugh, but it was soft, and he set one hand on Oki's shoulder. "You'll be fine, Oki. You'll be just fine..."
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Oki
Genin
Posts: 15,140
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Post by Oki on Sept 6, 2009 19:21:42 GMT -4
Oki smiled slightly up at Iruka. "What doesn't kill us, right?"
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Yuki
Genin
Posts: 20,903
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Post by Yuki on Sept 6, 2009 19:26:27 GMT -4
Iruka nodded. "And, for the most part, I think you at least know where you stand now. You know what you want - right?"
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