CH_3.39 (098)

CH_3.39 (098)

Takuma woke up to the sound of his doorbell. He glanced at the bedroom wall clock, telling him it was already eleven in the morning. He had returned late last night from his journey to Dai's parent's house, and he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep after returning home.

He pulled himself off the bed, grabbed his weapons pouch, and kunai in hand as he walked to the door while the doorbell rang again. He cracked a peek through the peephole, and his sleep vanished a level as he opened the door to Taro, Ai, Nenro, and Masaaki in front of his house.

"This is a surprise," Takuma said as he returned the kunai to the weapons pouch. "What are you guys doing here?" He could guess why they were here altogether. It was obvious.

"How are you?" asked Ai, worried as she looked him over.

"I'm fine," Takuma fully opened the door and stood aside. "Come inside."

All four entered the apartment, instantly crowding the small living room more than ever. Takuma had two chairs for his small dining table— there used to be a two-seater couch that Takuma had long ditched— as such, Nenro and Masaaki had to sit down on the floor while Ai and Taro took the two chairs. Takuma served them with refreshments before sitting down on the floor.

"This is the first time you guys are here, isn't it," said Takuma to his friends. He had been to Taro and the trio's home, but they hadn't been to his. "How do you like my humble abode?"

"You should've told us," Taro spoke. "It doesn't feel good to know about these sorts of things from the rotating gossip."

Takuma pursed his lips, feeling his friends' gazes on him. "I didn't have the time," he said. "I was in the village for a night before I was out again. I was going to tell you guys today."

"Did you have to leave so quickly? Where did you go?" asked Ai.

"I had to," Takuma said— he didn't answer the second question.

"... What happened?" Masaaki asked.

"The mission went wrong, people died." The particulars of the mission were under lock because of the international relations implications between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Frost, so he couldn't divulge the particulars to anyone, and he didn't want to. "The remaining team had to go ahead to minimize our casualties, and I was asked to follow, which I did. The injuries made the journey back home a hassle and took a lot of time... but other than that, the way back was uneventful."

Ai and Masaaki were worried while Nenro and Taro were searching.

"You all don't have to look at me like that," Takuma shrugged. "Things went south, but I'm here now, and the problem with the mission doesn't happen often— it was a C-rank mission, for god's sake. Worry about me when I'm doing B-rank missions; I'll dump all over you guys then."

They didn't laugh, but Takuma saw a smile or two of relief crack up on their faces.

"What is that?" Nenro pointed at the wall across him.

Takuma looked up at his information wall that detailed his Ring fights, combat records, notes on skills he was learning, some of his drug dealing records, and other things he needed to visually track.

"All kinds of things," said Takuma with a small smile. The notes were openly displayed, free for anyone in his house to read, but Takuma wasn't concerned. They were written in a combination of two 'otherworldly' languages that didn't exist in the world. He knew for a fact it was nigh impossible to decipher an unknown language— especially language as complex and fully formed as he was using. There was no known language to use as a reference or obvious picture references that could give meaning to a particular sentence. It was a dead language(s). It was another skill he could add to his repertoire as a creator/user of coded language, but for that to happen, he would need to teach the language to someone else, but that wasn't in Takuma's plan— a way to store information only accessible to him was a huge advantage.

"I don't recognize the language," Nenro said.

"That's the point. Don't worry about it. It's some stuff I'm working on. It helps me keep track of random things."

"You created a new language to keep track of... random stuff?"

Do you know how close we had to be for a jonin to sacrifice himself for a genin? Closer than family."

Jonin were infinitely more valuable than genin. Everyone knew that. The jonin knew, the genin knew, and it universally understood that if the entire ship was sinking and there was no way to salvage the situation, the jonin's life was a priority— even if the rest of the team had to die, the jonin had to come out alive.

"Did you not ever think why I am still a genin?" asked Maruboshi.

Of course, Takuma always had that question in the back of his mind. But he never asked because it would be rude.

"... They held back your promotion because of your team's death?" Takuma took a guess.

"Would anyone still be a shinobi if the village kept them down with no future prospects? Especially at my age?"

Takuma shook his head.

"No, I would not have been. I have rejected promotions at least twice yearly for decades because I do not think I can lead shinobi on missions. I led my teammates to death once; I do not want to do it again," Maruboshi firmly grasped Takuma's shoulder. "But you are different, my child. You are bright, competent, and hardworking— the type of shinobi this village needs and deserves. You cannot get bogged down because of this mission. What happened was not your fault. You were not prepared for the mission that you faced. So do not blame yourself for their deaths."

Takuma closed his eyes and bowed his head. His heart felt like lead again.

"I can't get them out of my mind," Takuma held his head in his hands. "They're always there when I close my eyes."

"It's okay, it's okay," Maruboshi rubbed his arm. "What you're feeling right now is normal. Death of closed ones is not easy— it never was, it never will be."

"How do I get them out?" Takuma asked. Yumiko and Dai always came smiling, but they always changed to them being dead. He didn't want to think about them, but his mind betrayed him. It was as if they were etched behind his eyelids.

"The dead are remembered and survived through the living, Takuma," Maruboshi said. "You have to grieve... take it one day at a time. In my experience, you do not do anything special or different to cope, you just do. You just keep living and put one foot in front of the other. Everyone says time heals, but I not know if that is true—" Takuma looked up at Maruboshi— "but it does help you forget more often. Life will be good again... just in a different way."

"That sounds terrible," said Takuma, tears welling in his eyes.

Maruboshi hugged Takuma, "Death always is, my child."

———

.

"W-What... did you say?"

Takuma stared at Iruka sitting across from him with a baffled experience.

"Genin Takuma, your transfer out of the Genin Corp has been expedited and finalized," said Iruka as he placed a scroll on the table in front of Takuma. "You now fall under the directive authority of the Leaf Military Police Force... effective immediately."

"... What?"

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