CH_3.14 (073)

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"How is duty treating you? I hope you're at least diligent in front of the patrons."

Taro glanced at his dad walking beside him as they returned home from his dad's workplace, Mito Hospital of Leaf. The best thing he liked about his dad was that they could let the silence sit between them, with it never being awkward. There were hours' worth of spans where both had sat together in the same room without speaking to each other, and Taro looked back at those times as perfectly blissful.

Taro appreciated that, which was why he didn't feel annoyed at the frustrating question his mom sprung up on him like clockwork every few days.

He said, "It has its ups and downs… and I haven't received a legitimate complaint against me yet."

"So, you mean someone did file a complaint against you."

Taro clicked his tongue, "It was one of those patrons, you know. The assholes—"

"Language, Taro."

"— who are awful to everyone no matter how well you do. Thankfully, they had a record of demanding more than what was stated in the request. I got out scot-free when I refused to do anything other than what the mission stated."

Taro's dad sighed. "It's good that you held your ground; that was the right choice. But be careful about handling these types of situations. Be as polite as possible, and if you have partners on the mission, make sure they're there to be a witness. These people can get you in trouble sometimes."

Father and son fell silent as they entered a shopping district to shop for groceries. Another thing Taro liked about his dad was that shopping was quick with dad. His dad knew what he wanted to buy beforehand and stuck to the list without getting distracted by other things, only to ultimately not buy any of it. They were out of the shopping district the moment they checked off the last item on the list.

"Have you thought about what we discussed earlier?" asked Taro's dad.

Taro groaned audibly upon hearing his dad bring that up. And here he thought he would be safe until he reached home.

"I believe it's high time you make a decision. Your mom thinks you should've already made a decision a month back," said Taro's dad.

It had been a few months back when his parents sat him down and told him that he needed to choose what he wanted to do with his career. Having two chunin parents, they could get him out of the Genin Corp before the minimum mandatory period, but they needed him to decide on a 'destination.'

They had asked him where he wanted to go? Taro honestly had no idea where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. And it wasn't like he hadn't given it a thought— he had contemplated on it, but nothing had clicked to him. How was he suddenly supposed to decide where he wanted to go when it had only been half a year since he became a shinobi?

In his mind, he thought he still had time. He had a little under two years on his Genin Corp service, but when his parents said they could get him out early, he knew they were expecting him to move out before the service period was over.

It wasn't like he didn't feel grateful… but he didn't need that right now.

However, when Taro looked around, he could see that he was indeed lagging behind. Ai had already decided that she would join the Medical Corps and had begun preparing for the exam and interviews. Multiple times over the past month and a half, he had seen Nenro in the company of several chunin— and if he knew Nenro, Taro knew he was making moves to get out of Genin Corp early. Masaaki, who hadn't expressed any plans about where he was heading, had told him recently that he was training with an "uncle" stronger than the Masaaki's mentor back home who, according to Nenro, was at least a chunin; Taro had no idea who this uncle was, but he could guess it was a chunin— even Masaaki was building connections.

As for Takuma… he didn't know what Takuma was doing. Taro hadn't seen much of Takuma in recent times. Whenever they did talk, Takuma's plans for the future never ended up being brought up.

A majority of his other friends had also begun planning for things.

'Well, at least I have some companionship,' Taro sighed to himself.

When he didn't know what to do, his parents gave him some options. His dad was an Iryo-nin and had expressed his desire that if Taro wanted to become an Iryo-nin, he would support it. His mom had been urging him to either follow her into the Torture and Interrogation (T&I) Division or become a lawyer like his uncle.

Did he want to go through these fields? Even though it had improved recently, his dad worked late a lot. His mom worked regular hours, but once in a while, she wouldn't come home at night and would even get called away to work in the dead of night. As for his uncle, he traveled most of the year— which Taro, a homebody, disliked even the thought of.

"I need more time," Taro said to his dad.

As they crossed a red bridge over water, Taro looked over at the flowing stream and halted when he saw a figure dressed in black clothing standing on top of the water.

Taro's dad stopped as well, followed Taro's gaze, and saw the figure. He narrowed his eyes. "Is that a map he's reading?" he said before asking: "Taro, have you been practicing the water-walking exercise? Chakra control is vital for a shinobi. Moreover, superior chakra control is a requirement if you wish to be an Iryo-nin."

Taro ignored his dad and leaned against the bridge's railings. He shouted, "Takuma!"

Takuma, his brows furrowed, looked up at the bridge. He waved his hand up high with a smile when he saw Taro.

Taro turned to his dad. "You head on home; I'll talk to him for a bit and meet you at home."

Taro's dad looked at Takuma jogging on water towards them.

"How about we invite him home for dinner?"

———

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"Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Oishi," said Takuma as he sat down in Taro's living room.

"Oh please, Takuma; I'm delighted to host one of Taro's friends," said Taro's dad, "he doesn't bring many of his friends home. I simply had to jump at the chance. Did you know he once complained about there being too many people at his seventh birthday?"

Taro rolled his eyes as he deposited himself beside Takuma on the couch.

Taro's dad sat across from them with a plate of refreshments between them. "Takuma, if my memory serves me right, you won the basic training tournament?" he asked.

"That's right, sir," said Takuma. He had multiple images of Taro's dad in his mind, but seeing the scholarly man with an elegant air to him was surprising. With how sloppy and lazy Taro was, he expected something else.

Maybe he got it from his mother, he thought.

"Impressive, really so," Taro's dad smiled. "Taro told me that you graduated from the Leaf's academy, and I vaguely remember seeing you at the graduation ceremony. Were you two friends back then?"

Takuma could feel Taro's eyes beside him. Both of them knew he had no friends when they were in the academy, and even though Taro didn't do anything to him, he also didn't do anything to stop Hiji and his group from bullying him.

"I only got to know Taro closely in the basic training. He helped me a lot from here and there," said Takuma, flashing a smile at Taro.

"He says that, but then he picks up a nasty fight with me during the training."

Takuma softly smiled, "And that only brought us closer."

Taro's dad chuckled. He asked, "Now, I'm curious about what you were doing in the middle of that stream, Takuma. I could see you were practicing the water-walking exercise, but you also had a map in your hands for some reason?"

"Well… as you could see, I was practicing the water-walking exercise— the map was to get better at cartographic reading, and the map I was using adds stakes," said Takuma. There was no GPS in the world, and if he was going to venture out of the village someday, he needed the ability to read a map. Maruboshi had taught him the basics, but he was trying to advance his skills.

"What might you mean?"

Takuma handed the map he was reading to Taro's dad.

"This… is a high-quality map, Takuma," Taro's dad said after observing the map. "It must be expensive."

Takuma nodded. "It is expensive. The maps are high-quality, finely detailed, printed on a water-resistant fabric-threaded paper, and every time I take a total dip into the water, I force myself to buy another map from the cartographer." He could see confusion in their eyes, so he continued, "I buy a different map every time, and it does expand my collection— but these maps are out of my price range, I can't keep buying them… and that adds pressure on me to do better."

"You're an idiot," Taro said immediately. "Does that even work?"

"Believe me, it works," Takuma said bitterly. Maruboshi's added punishment to his leaf concentration exercise had changed something in him. He performed better when stakes were involved, and even now—he hated losing money.

He accepted the looks from the father-son duo. He didn't need to tell them that he had been thinking about doing water-walking exercises with hot water in his bathroom mini-tub.

"Sir, I know you're an Iryo-nin," said Takuma. "I was wondering if I could learn iryojutsu or anything that would help me if I get injured on the field. And our teammate Ai is preparing for the Medical Corp; if you can give some tips on that all, it would be extremely constructive."

Taro's dad took a breath and looked at the roof for a moment in thought before nodding. "Okay, I can absolutely help Ai if she's trying into the Medical Corp," he turned to Taro, "invite her to dinner when she's free, and we can talk it out," he then turned back to Takuma. "As for learning iryojutsu, I fear enrolling into the Medical Corp or finding a willing teacher are the two viable ways to learn. Iryojutsu needs a base of knowledge before you can do any practical healing, especially if you wish to do it consistently when you're injured in the field

"I can, however, recommend to you some of the first-aid courses that we run at the hospital. Correct knowledge of treatment before you can get proper help can boost your survival and even aid recovery by preventing further damage. In fact, I urge you to take these courses in the near future."

Takuma filed the advice about the courses in his mind. But he also asked, "Would you be my teacher if I wished to learn iryojutsu?"

"Only if you join the Medical Corp and perform well in your exams and interviews," Taro's dad smiled. "I'll be happy to have you as one of my apprentices then."

Takuma shook his head. At least, he asked.

"I will leave you two boys and start on the dinner preparation," Taro's dad told Takuma to sit tight when he offered to help.

Takuma turned and saw Taro staring at him with a studying gaze.

"What?" asked Takuma.

"Nothing. Water-walking, cartographic reading, iryojutsu… just glad to see that you're still trying to learn all sorts of things."

"A shinobi is much more than the chakra he wields," said Takuma sagely.

"Huh, what—"

They heard a voice from the front of the house call out, "I'm home!"

The steady footsteps moved through the front corridor until a tall woman with shoulder-length hair, dressed sharply in the standard uniform of the T&I department, entered the living room. She had a confident and disciplined posture, and even at the end of the working day, she looked like she had just gotten dressed.

"Well, color me surprised. It gave me a second of pause when I saw an extra pair of shoes outside," Taro's mom said as she peered at Takuma. "To think Taro would bring a friend home."

"Dad invited him."

Takuma stood up and greeted Taro's mom, "Good evening, ma'am. I'm Takuma, Taro's teammate from basic training."

"Takuma… ah yes, Taro mentioned you," Taro's mom asked him to sit down as she sat where Taro's dad had been sitting. She gazed at Takuma.

Under her gaze, Takuma suddenly felt conscious. He subconsciously straightened his back and couldn't help but feel that the woman was studying him, looking straight through him. He wasn't

worried about her finding out about his 'secret'— if a Yamanaka couldn't find out, he wasn't concerned about anyone finding out. But he did worry about his second identity getting out. He didn't think he gave out any clues regarding the Ring— he didn't carry his mask around, nor did he show any skin, and he hadn't suffered any significant injuries that would give it away.

He was fine, or so Takuma told himself.

"Tell me, Takuma, what are your plans for the future— after Genin Corp, where do you want to go?" asked Taro's mom.

"Oh my god, mom!" Taro exclaimed loudly, sounding thoroughly fed-up, a rare emotion for Taro. "At least, ask him how he is, chat with him about the weather, maybe discuss general news or something, warm him up before bringing that up!"

Normally, Takuma would've felt awkward, but the person in front of him was a chunin in the T&I division. This was an adult who was currently very active in the Leaf shinobi organization. And he assumed that being from the T&I division, he believed they would be very aware and in touch with the shinobi scene.

So, he jumped at the opportunity.

"To be honest, ma'am, I'm not sure where I want to go," said Takuma, leaning forward. "Week after week, I've been doing these D-rank missions, doing my best, but I feel like I'm not going anywhere. Yes, I've been getting ryo and mission points that I can invest in myself— but I still can't see a clear path I can follow."

"Hmm… from what you said, I infer that you don't have plans to go into a specific division," said Taro's mom.

Takuma shook his head, "As of right now, I don't think any of the technical divisional routes is for me."

"Then, I assume you know that a chunin promotion is the only way to get out of Genin Corp," she asked.

Takuma nodded. "After the mandatory period, I will be eligible for the Chunin Exams, but to participate, I need recommendations from chunin."

"You don't need to participate in the Chunin Exams," said Taro's mom.

"Umm, what?"

"You can get a field promotion. Technically, all promotions are field promotions."

Field promotion… that was the first time Takuma was hearing that. He asked Taro's mom more about it.

According to her: "As long as you collect enough merit, you can be directly promoted without participating in the exam. Chunin Exam, in its essence, is a genin submitting an application saying that they're ready for a promotion, but a field promotion is when you gather enough merit that the promotion committee decides to directly promote you. Then there's also the element of recommendations. Recommendation means much more in field promotion as you're not actively seeking them out as you would during the Chunin Exam," she finished.

Takuma thought about it for a moment. If the Chunin Exam was a performance to get eyes on them, field promotion sounded like putting the head down and doing the work until you got noticed.

Taro's mom could see Takuma wasn't feeling enthusiastic about field promotions.

"There are many ways to get a field promotion, but the most reliable way is to get into a chunin's permanent squad. They take C- and even B-rank missions, and even though you don't get paid C- or B-rank mission rates as the pay is split up, your record still reflects you completing C- and B-rank missions. Stay on the squad long enough, and the promotion department will notice you, and if your chunin leader recommends you, promotion is all but guaranteed," she said.

Takuma wondered how he could get on a chunin's permanent squad. 'I'll need to ask how Nenro managed to get chummy with so many chunin,' he thought.

"All of that sounds a hassle," said Takuma, sighing, "and made me pretty interested in the T&I division. How much of it is torture and how much of its torture and how much of it is interrogation?"

Taro's mom smiled as she leaned back into the couch and crossed her legs. "Well, do you think there's a difference between the two?" she asked.

"Of course, there is. If there wasn't, they would've just named it the Interrogation Division."

Taro's mom turned to Taro with a smile, "I like him." She looked at Takuma, "If you want to join, complete the selection process… when you enter, we will see if you have the stomach for the operation theaters," she then shrugged, "or you can do something that catches the big boss' eye and he might poach you for the team… but that's true all around."

That… was new information for Takuma.

If he could do something eye-catching, he could get into a division.

And that got his mind turning for the rest of the day.

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