Ashi was making breakfast very carefully this morning as she was not sure what to do about Jamie. He had been going through some sort of phase ever since the C-rank mission, while Shippo seemed calm and cool about the whole thing. Jamie had turned from a shy and timid boy to a brooding shy boy which was something she could not notice right away. Tsume had noticed, but what would he say to Shippo after that speech he gave after they died. Tobourne had actually spent nights guarding Jamie's room since he was not himself. Later on that morning with the sunlight coming up Tobourne went in to pull off the blankets as Jamie yawned and stretched a bit before walking barefoot to go brush his teeth.

Tobourne watched as he simply left his hair in a mess as he went down stairs as Tobourne kept a close eye on him as he was swaying lifelessly left and right. Finally when Jamie got to the table he looked down at the food, then to his mom and then at Tobourne. "Morning mom..." as he had just recently gotten used to it, but the sadness was rather clear in Jamie's voice. To be honest he never spoke if Shippo was here so she wanted to start speaking, but Jamie cut her off.

"Where is Shi?" as he was always calling Shippo as Shi most of the time and only said Shippo when he wanted to say something serious or when he was really upset with Shippo. He was at the very least not upset with Shippo, but he was definitely upset about something as she felt that maybe they could work things out some how.

(288)

Shippo yawned as he and Tsume woke up on this particular day, and they were ready to get the day started. They had been training the night before hunting down exotic and dangerous game in the forests around the land of fire. This was the way that he decided he would become a better shinobi. He had been promoted to Chuunin shortly after that mission with Jamie, and it had seriously affected him. His scars were predominant, but the various wounds that he had suffered that put him and Tsume in the hospital where they had first met Jamie. Waking up and getting out of his bed he was in the buff the rest of his scars were on full display his upper torso was covered in them.

He moved about to prepare for the day brushing his teeth and dressing in the clothes that were his usual gear. When he was dressed and ready to go out for anything he moved out of his room down into the kitchen where his mother Ashi, and his little brother Jamie were waiting for him. He noticed the glare that he got from Tobourne and his mother which made him a bit puzzled to be sure. Still, he moved to the table more importantly to Jamie kissing the top of his head smiling widely “Good morning little brother.” Looking up his eyes traveled over to his mom and her partner “Morning Tobourne, morning mother. I assume papa is out working?”

His mother waved him away “Of course he is. He’s already eaten and gone, but he’ll be back sooner than normal.” She looked to Jamie with a meaningful look. Clearing her throat, she pet Tobourne’s head “We have work outside…you two enjoy the meal.” She moved out of the room and Tobourne didn’t need a word he followed after bumping Tsume who was now the size of a German shepherd.

When they were gone Shippo sat down and started to eat smiling and shrugging his shoulders “Well, I don’t mind. Just the three of us, just the way we like it. Right Jamie?” he asked looking to his younger brother. He had noticed the change in Jamie, but he honestly couldn’t quite understand where the change had come from, or how to fix it. He hoped that Jamie would one day come out of it himself.

WC: 401

That kiss on the forehead was a surprise attack as Jamie was tempted to just hit him in the face, while his emotions were not all shown it was clear that Shippo helped awaken the inner beast inside Jamie at times. It was not really spoken about much, but Jamie had not really met with Shippo's dad. It might have seemed silly, but Jamie always got scared and hid away. Fortunately he either did not care about it or had the patience of an old monk.

Jamie always felt it was strange how quick Tsume was growing, he thought he was already full grown but after spending more time here he realized how small he was. Jamie was watching as Shippo shrugged his shoulders and spoke of them being just three the way he liked it as Ashi resisted her urge to jump in as a plate went flying just over Shippo's head breaking against the wall. "What about mom...five of us..." as he started counting on his hand and then lifting an extra finger. "Six of us, mom, me, you, d...ad, Tobourne and Tsume!!" as he shouted it out. His hair was standing up as his heart was racing, if Ashi stayed there he would have never lashed out. He took a few deep breathes before sitting back down and eating a bit more and downing his juice.

He was pouting there as it was clear that Shippo had struck a nerve, Jamie hated being left out and to leave others out would also hurt him as well. He calmed himself down with the juice as the awkward silence that followed could only be broken by Tsume and Shippo.

(284)
[572]

Shippo dodged under the plate that had been sent flying over his head. He looked at Shippo with shock his hand under the table holding a stop sign out for Tsume who was instantly on his feet as soon as the plate went flying. The snarl was silent and only Shippo was able to feel it. Despite the fact that Jamie was family for both of them, Tsume was Shippo’s partner and he would not allow ANYONE, to attack Shippo without a response.

As for Shippo himself was bewildered with the reaction that Jamie had. He held his hands up when Jamie finally calmed down and he spoke softly as one would talk to a rabid dog to keep it from attacking “Jamie…I only meant for breakfast. After all, Mom and Tobourne have work outside and so they aren’t here in the room.” He gestured around to show that it was indeed only the three of them in the room. Indeed, his mother Ashi and Tobourne were not in the house any longer, but they were outside “Working” which was specifically chopping wood for the fire, and collecting wood that serve the house and her husband’s workshop.

Shippo looked to his brother tilting his head in confusion as he cleared his throat again “Jamie…is something wrong? I don’t understand why you reacted like that. I was only talking about the three of us for breakfast, but even so. You seem to have been upset recently, and I don’t understand why, or what’s going on. Yet, that reaction was explosive. What’s going on with you, and can I help?”

WC: 277 / 678

Shippo began giving an answer to Jamie's some what confused state as his voice was softer and gentler then it had been in a while. He mentioned that he was only talking about breakfast, and it was just Jamie bottling up too many emotions in this case. He was also a bit too bad to understand conversations at times, though Shippo was also a bit bad at reading the situation at times. He cleared his throat as Jamie looked like his eyes were emotional as he looked down, he had this glint of emotion that seemed to reflect in watery eyes as he moved from his seat as he held onto the table slightly. He looked a bit shaky, but he was like that for good reason.

It was not just Shippo, he had encountered Sarutobi Mitsuo, one of the former Hokage while he was all alone. He thought he would die that way and he wondered if the people he killed also felt this harsh cold feeling before their death. He moved closer and then just buried his forehead into Shippo's chest, then held onto his top with both hands as he began crying softly and said. "I don't know Shi, I don't understand any of it"

He then kept crying as he hugged Shippo and did not know what to say, his emotions were just too much for him to handle. Jamie had not been used to having all these emotions before, however the truth was that the old lady who raised him before did this so he would not notice her pain. However now that he was beginning to understand more, he began to learn the meaning of pain. However learning the meaning and understanding it was the problem, he was also a gentle soul at heart. There was no way someone as peaceful as Jamie could have naturally become a shinobi, but somehow he managed to cross that road only to feel like he should step back. The problem was that there was no turning back, and there was nothing to be found for him here.

"Sorry..." as he kept on crying not letting Shippo see his face and only letting him feel the wetness of tears through his shirt.

(378)
[950]

Shippo looked over at Jamie with complete shock and surprise as he was not expecting Jamie to cry. When Jamie rushed towards him and hugged him burying his face into Shippo’s chest he blinked in shock not sure what he had done to trigger this kind of reaction. Still, seeing his little brother suffer like this and feeling the tears that were soaking through his shirt brought him a pain to his heart. He wrapped his arms around Jamie and held him there not sure what else he could do at this moment. Tsume, on the other hand, decided that he would get in on this as he also didn’t like Jamie crying or being hurt. He moved up to the two brothers nuzzling Jamie’s legs and body lifting his head to lick Jamie’s elbows which was the only thing that he could actually reach.

Looking down, at Jamie he petted his head very gently as he held him “It’ll be okay Jamie. There is nothing wrong with not understanding things. That’s why Mom, Dad, and I are here to help you. We are here to help you understand the world around you and to help you understand our world. We know that you weren’t born into the world of the Shinobi, but now that you are in the Inuzuka family you are in a world that you don’t really understand. Still, we are here to help you understand the new life you have found yourself in.” Tsume gave a soft bark of agreement considering that he could not speak in the same language as humans, but he was there and wanted to show Jamie that he was there to help him.

Hearing the little sorry Shippo looked down at his brother and patted his head gently again “There is no reason to be sorry. I’m your big brother, I’ll admit that I’m not very good at being a big brother, but I’m here for you. You can come to me as often as you want and over whatever it is that is bothering you.” He gently separated them and pulled his sleeve up to wipe Jamie’s face carefully “What’s going on in your head little brother, how can I help you? All you need do is ask?” With the break between the two humans Tsume jumped up slightly to lick at Jamie’s chin.

WC: 409/1,087

The soft licks from Tsume as he did not understand why his heart was like this, Jamie felt hurt and he just could not explain it at all. He felt so alone right now as he just wanted to have his brother and mom and everyone together, but deep down he knew he wanted to be free as well. To be free one needed to be strong, but to be strong came at a price.
The light petting of Jamie's head as he kept crying tears as said it would be okay, how could it be okay as he felt the hurt so bad he began feeling like he was choking up.

Shippo said he did not understand the world, that he was not born a shinobi and that he did not understand his own family. Jamie was a bit ticklish blushing as he avoided a laugh from what Tsume did as he turned away as he had a light smile, something he could not show his brother as he finally decided to speak a bit. "Shippo, why do we have to kill?" as he knew the reason and it was rather obvious. However it was a case of how it felt to him, Shippo must have long since forgotten what it was like the first time. As your weapon would bring an end to someone's life, to make it so they could never eat ohagi again.

Did people kill to survive and to be kept from being killed. Did people kill for the love of the game, for the sport in hunting down their prey. Did people kill to save others, did people kill to destroy life itself. Why did people kill and why did they have to kill, it was a question that Shippo may never be able to answer and even his mother might not know the answer to this. Jamie felt deep down inside that it was wrong, but he also felt it was something he had to do. He just could not accept it, maybe this was why he had not become a chuunin yet after all his hard work and the large number of missions he did.

(365)
[1315]

Hearing the question that Jamie asked Shippo sighed heavily and gently guided his little brother towards a chair so he could sit down and look Jamie in the eyes. When he sat down he tilted Jamie’s head so that he could look the younger man in the eyes and he spoke with controlled tones and an almost adult air “Jamie, there are many reasons people kill other people. However, there is only one reason that I kill, and that mom, and dad kill. We kill to protect, home, hearth, and family. The Village hidden in the leaves is our HOME, and we will kill anyone who threatens our home. They have decided to become our enemies by threatening our home, and because we love our home we will fight to protect our home. If the enemy won’t back down, then we have to break them down.” He gestured out the window nodding his head “Is there places in this village that you love? Are there people in this village that you like? We kill those who would threaten those things. Because if we don’t then those things and people we like, and love will die.”

Tsume walked over and licked Jamie’s hand again showing he was still concerned. Shippo, smiled to Tsume and then got serious again looking at Jamie in the eyes once more “We kill to protect Hearth. That is our home, this house.” He gestured around the room for example “Do you like this house? Do you like your room, your belongings, do you like Dad’s and mom’s rooms? These are the things that we have to protect, and there will be people who want to take our house from us and our family. We can’t allow that to happen, we won’t allow that to happen without a fight. Again, if the enemy won’t back down, then we have no choice but to break them.” Tsume gave a growl of support.

The last one was the most serious and Shippo’s face grew more serious if possible and Tsume stiffened up in response. As Shippo spoke his voice took on a soft growl “We fight to protect family. My family is you, Tsume, Mother, Tobourne, and Father. It also includes the rest of the Inuzuka clan, we are all one big family. I will kill anyone who threatens to do harm to my family, our family will do anything to protect another of our family. Fighting to protect family is honorable and a duty for every member of a family. If the enemy will not back down, we will have to break them.” His tone lightened considerably, and he said, “The question in the world of the Shinobi Jamie is not ‘why do we kill?’ or ‘why do we fight?’ it is ‘what is worth fighting or killing for?’ Those three things are the things that me, mother, and father kill to protect. What will you fight and kill to protect little brother?” he asked as he gently pat his little brother’s head with a warm smile on his face.

WC: 523/ 1,610

Jamie looked down really conflicted as he just gave the most honest answer he could. "I know I have to do it, I know I have to protect mom, dad and everyone" as the tears were coming back to his eyes as he moved away from Shippo as he petted Tsume a little bit before walking away as he said. "Is it still okay if I hate it" as he would make his way to his room as the look of his small shoulders gave this impression as you looked at him from his back. It was the impression that he was no longer just a small lost little boy, but simply his confused little brother who had a lot to learn and many things that he may never learn.

However there was something deep down that Jamie did not know yet, a truth that would change his life for good. Ashi already knew this truth, his dad had an idea and even Tobourne got a hint of it. However Shippo had not noticed yet and Tsume being his partner seemed to share his clueless nature on the reality that Jamie himself had not accepted yet, he was different in more ways then they knew.

(205)
[1520]

Exit Thread
1500 words for training C-Rank scaling jutsu Wind Speed Foot Step

Shippo nodded his head as he looked at his little brother. He at least understood why they were fighting. However, hearing the comment that Jamie wouldn’t like it, and would hate it he couldn’t help but smile “I don’t know a single member of this family that likes what they have to do, but we won’t apologize or feel bad for doing what we had to do to protect what we must protect.” He let Jamie walk out of the room and he sighed slamming his head softly on the table several times.

When he was done Tsume tilted his head and looked up at his partner clearly concerned about what was happening between him and Jamie. Shippo placed a hand on the ninken’s head shaking his head “I tried partner, but I don’t know if I helped him at all. Still, I hope I helped him in some way.” Tsume nuzzled Shippo’s thigh as he tried to show his support to his partner. With that the pair of them continued to eat their breakfast this time with silence filling the kitchen.

[Exit Thread]
WC: 189 / 1,799
Training
Strength: D1- D2: 400/400 words, 50 Ryo
Endurance: D1- D2: 400/400 words, 50 Ryo
Perception D1- D3: 850/850 words, 125 Ryo
Totals:
Words: 1799- 1250= 549 Words Remaining
Ryo: 225