I Don't Wanna Go To School! [Mission/Solo]

Taijutsu Training Tutorial:

Second Thought Shinobi:

Kaito couldn't help but stretch and yawn as he exited the Sunagakure Shinobi Headquarters, taking in the fresh morning air as he did so. The sun hadn't even risen from beyond the clefts surrounding the village yet, and there weren't a lot of people walking around like there typically were. Glancing at a big analog clock situated upon the outer wall of the Shinobi Headquarters, he could see that it wasn't even 6:00 in the morning yet.

"Damn it's early!" He said to nobody in particular as he began walking at a lazy stroll. He couldn't remember the last time he had been up this early, other than maybe back during his academy days. Ironically enough, however, that was exactly where the young shinobi would be headed; Sunagakure's Shinobi Academy. He would be going back to the place that brought him so many bad memories, but he would have to look beyond that, for his business there on this particular day was of the utmost importance. Today he was tasked with helping the instructors at the Academy in building up a new Taijutsu training regiment, and he was picked especially for this over some of his other fellow Genin due to him being, what they called, a "Taijutsu specialist".

'I'm happy those morons at the Academy are finally realizing the importance of Taijutsu as a viable fighting style.' Kaito thought to himself, letting the importance of his mission go to his head a little bit. 'They sure as hell didn't when I was a student there...'

While it may just seem like a throwaway and rather backhanded comment, Kaito couldn't be more right in what it was he was saying. Before this new training regiment was implemented, Taijutsu and its practitioners had taken a backseat at Sunagakure's Academy, and that was made even more apparent if a student had trouble molding Chakra at all. Kaito fell into the latter category during his time there, and his life was made a living nightmare by both students and teachers alike bullying him. While the boy had no trouble molding his Chakra now and using Ninjutsu and the like, these experiences still left a rather bad taste in his mouth for the place.

'You'll all see what I'm capable of. Just you wait...'

Those words flooded through Kaito's head. It was the promise that he had made internally a few weeks before when he had fallen into a deep depression and dug himself out. He aimed to be better than he had ever been before, and this was just one of the many opportunities he would have to prove himself and his growth as a shinobi of Sunagakure.

The Inuzuka would come out on top no matter what!

"Alright!" Kaito said as he slapped his hands against both of his cheeks to wake himself up. "I'm gonna show them the true value of Taijutsu!"

Just as Kaito finished his outburst, he heard some snickering from behind him. Turning around, he could see three young boys; two were wearing backpacks, probably no older than ten or eleven years-old, and the other was probably closer to thirteen or fourteen. The older boy was wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector, meaning he was an official shinobi of at least Genin rank.

"Oi! What's so funny, huh?" He asked, walking over towards the small school of kids.

"You, weirdo." Replied the boy with the headband. He jumped down from the one-meter-tall wall he had been sitting upon and landed gracefully on his feet, meeting Kaito at eye level. "Everyone knows that Taijutsu ain't worth squat, right guys?" The two boys at either side of the shinobi agreed, smirking and nodding their heads in agreement. Kaito looked the boy up and down, smirking pervasively.

"Oh yeah, tough guy? What do you specialize in?" Kaito inched ever closer to the other shinobi until they were almost the tips of their noses were almost touching. The other boy appeared as though he tried to keep his cool, but could barely keep any sort of eye contact with the Inuzuka. He hurriedly pushed Kaito away before turning to the side, crossing his arms across his chest, and holding his head high in the air.

"I don't need jutsu. As I was just telling these two, I'm done being a ninja, and they should just drop out of the Academy while they have a chance. It's dumb, and anybody who wants to be a ninja is dumb too..." The boy had barely finished his sentence before Kaito snatched the scruff of the kid's shirt. As he lifted the kid into the air from just the cloth of his shirt, Kaito could feel anger and rage filling his very soul. Being a ninja was dumb? How could somebody say such a thing when so many had given their lives for peace and so insolent little stains like this one could continue living a life free of oppression. Kaito removed his right hand from the boy's shirt and reared it back, balling it into a tight fist.

"You wanna say it again to my face?"

"Pu-put me down, man!"

But Kaito didn't wanna put the boy down. He wanted nothing more than to punch him square in the face over and over again for the distasteful words he had said. The words sure hit close to home for the young Inuzuka, whose father had been a Jounin of Konohagakure before they had moved to Sunagakure after Kirigakure's invasion of their native home. Not only had his father lost his arm bravely on a mission many years before the invasion, but he also fought valiantly against the Kirigakure invaders even though he had been retired for some time. For the majority of his life, Kaito had felt that his father had been the perfect exemplification of what a ninja should be, and while Kaito's envisionment of what a true shinobi should be had changed over the years, his father was still an inspiration to him and highly regarded in his book. What this boy said really struck a nerve within Kaito...

It was nothing less than blasphemy...

Preparing to drive his fist into the boy's face, Kaito's ear twitched as he heard one of the other two children begin to cry. Shaking his head, Kaito looked down at them and noticed that the one was coddling the other, who now had tears in his big blue eyes. Kaito then looked back up at the other boy, who also had tears starting to form in his eyes. Kaito sighed as he only then realized he had taken things too far. He unclenched his fist and dropped the other ninja down to the ground. He hit the sand below with a plunk and landed flat on his butt before clenching his throat and gasping for air. Kaito looked at the other two boys sternly with cold, dead eyes.

"He tried convincing you two to leave the Academy?" The two boys shook their heads yes in reply. "Well, I suggest that you two forget what bad things this punk has said about Taijutsu and being a shinobi and get to class. You two will have a special instructor today in fact." The two boys nodded again before turning hard and their heels and running in the direction of the Academy. He then turned his attention to the boy on the ground and knelt down in front of him. "As for you, you said you're done being a ninja? I guess you won't be needing this then." Kaito took his hand and grabbed the forehead protector upon the other boy's head. With one fell swoop, he removed the headband, the utmost sign of being a valued part of the Shinobi Forces, and placed it into the item pouch upon the back of his left hip. The boy didn't even bother to look up at Kaito, continuing to look at the ground somberly.

"I'll make sure to bring it back with me to H.Q. along with your general description after I finish my special mission at the Academy later today." Kaito spat on the ground next to the boy as he hoisted himself up from his knelt-down position. "Suna's forces don't have room for losers like you anyway." And with that, Kaito continued his walk back towards the Academy. He couldn't help but notice that the sun was now beginning to rise over the cliffs surrounding the village and was bringing forth the first lights of day. Shanking his head from side to side, Kaito reached into his item pouch and removed his drink flask filled with imported spring water.

'This is shaping up to be a hell of a long day.' He thought to himself as he pressed the flask to his lips and took a sip.

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Kaito arrived at the Academy only about fifteen minutes after his encounter with the smart-mouthed ex-shinobi and his two student subordinates. While he had mostly calmed down from the ordeal, in which he had gone massively overboard, he was still rather upset about what the little snot had said about ninja and the people wanting to become them.

'If only those two kids weren't there. I totally would've decked that little shit!'

'Maybe we will see that twerp later after we finish up here and we can rip his tongue out of his head?' Kaito rolled his eyes as the vocal manifestation of his darker self came onto the scene. 'Gosh! Just the thought of it makes me feel tingly!' Ever since he had killed Bunta Jinpacho, this voice had stuck around and showed no sign of going away anytime soon. Kaito had made an agreement with it that he himself would keep full control of his actions unless he explicitly called upon his dark self if need be, but he forgot to put the part in their little contract for it to remain quiet. With this snippet left out of their agreement, this voice talked to the boy constantly and would always try to coerce Kaito into giving in to his dark impulses.

'Do you ever shut the hell up?'

'I'm literally the voice inside our head. I can't shut up.'

'God just be quiet and let me think!' Looking around, Kaito could now see that he was about to be walking up the stairs and into the main hallway of the Academy. He could see others, mostly the teachers and other staff, walking into the building as well. While he didn't see any students yet, it only made sense. Classes wouldn't start until 9:00 in the morning and would continue on until 3:00 in the afternoon. He could only imagine though how many students would actually show up now that the punk he ran into a few minutes before was telling them to drop out and pursue other careers. What would the higher-ups do about this situation? If he ever dreamed of becoming a Chunin, or Jounin, or even the Kazekage someday, he would have to put himself into their shoes. For what it was worth, however, he felt that taking the boy's headband from him was the best thing he could have done. To a ninja, nothing would be more embarrassing than being stripped of their rank, and while the boy had claimed he had given up on being a ninja, Kaito taking his headband sure left him looking rather distraught.

'I really don't have time to worry about that right now!' He told himself to keep his mind on track. 'What I need to worry about is remembering where that damned principal's office is.'

Kaito walked through the open double doors and was greeted with bright lights illuminating vibrant wooden flooring, beige walls, and a magnificent trophy case along the back wall of the entrance hall. Walking up to the trophy case, he looked down the hallway to his left, which would lead to the cafeteria and indoor gym, the latter of which he would spend the majority of his time while attending the school. Being enamored by the trophies inside of the case, however, he looked for ones with a certain name in particular; Shō Ichijoji. Shō had been the only person who accepted Kaito during their time at the Academy, and Kaito would say that the two were best friends, even more so than his rival and mentor Arantima, whom he had met a few days after graduating. With Arantima disappearing and Shō seemingly doing the same not too long after their graduation, who all did the young Inuzuka really have left in his life other than his parents?

'You don't need friends, Kaito. Only more power!'

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Kaito exclaimed back, not realizing he said it aloud. He smacked the side of his head a few times, which usually had an odd way of making the other him stay quiet for extended periods of time, but it also had the side effect of making the boy look like a complete lunatic. One such teacher noticed this weird display, in fact, and proceeded to walk over towards Kaito.

"Excuse me, Son, but are you alright? Do you need to go to the nurse's office by any chance?" Kaito halted and turned on his heel, recognizing the person behind the voice. The man also recognized Kaito just as fast as the boy turned around and let out a hearty chuckle. "Well, I'll be! Kaito Inuzuka!"

"Sabu-Sensei!" Kaito exclaimed, his demeanor changing completely as he was more than excited to see the man. Sabu, or as Kaito called him "Sabu-Sensei", had been the head of the Taijutsu department during Kaito's time at the Academy. He had been one of the first to realize that the young Kaito had been inept at Ninjutsu and Genjutsu during the latter's time at the Academy and helped him towards beginning his journey to becoming a Taijutsu master. Kaito owed a lot of respect and thanks to the man, and thus he bowed as low as he possibly could when addressing Sabu.

"What are you doing here, Kaito?" Sabu asked with a chuckle. You didn't get demoted and sent back here to the Academy did you?"

"No, Sensei, quite the opposite really." Kaito retorted. "I was actually sent here on a mission to help reorganize the Taijutsu department and help them in building a new training regiment."

"Ah, I'm just pulling your leg, Kid." Sabu patted Kaito on the back hard. "Believe it or not, I was the one who recommended you for this mission."

"Yo... You did, Sensei!?"

"Of course. In all of my years here as a teacher, I don't think I had any student grasp the current regiment as well as you did, other than Chen, perhaps. I wanted the both of you here today to help, but H.Q. said that Chen requested not to be put on any mission right now."

"Chen?" Kaito asked, not at all familiar with the name. "I can't say that I remember there being a Chen when I was here, Sabu-Sensei."

"Chen was a student in the class right behind yours. He actually graduated the semester right after you did."

"I see. Kaito replied, trying his best to not allow his mind to go off track yet again. "Well no need to worry, Sensei!" He exclaimed, perking up and showing that he was more than ready to get things started. "I'm ready and raring to get things started. I just need to remember where that principal's office is so I can check in with them and fill out some paperwork."

"You're in luck, Kaito. I was on my way there myself, actually."

"You gotta get some stuff done as well before heading to the Taijutsu department?

"Not quite..." Sabu reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge with his photo, name, and position emblazoned upon it. "You see, it's actually my office now." Confused, Kaito looked closer at the badge that Sabu held before him. Examining where it would say the profession, Kaito could clearly see that it read "principal". Kaito was a bit taken aback by this revelation, and his facial expression would easily ascertain this. So much had changed about this place since he left it only a little while ago, and now the only teacher who actually gave a crap about him was now the head principal of the entire school. What other revelations would he come across to make this day even more confusing and mindblowing?

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Kaito followed Sabu through the long, winding, and now confusing-to-him hallways of the Academy. It had been some time since he had been back to this place, and he believed that he would never have to again in his life, so he never took the time to remember the structure and layout of the inside. Now more than ever, he wished he had. Trying not to get too confused, he just looked down at Sabu's feet before him and kept a steady pace behind the man.

"So how have things been for you since graduation, Son?" Sabu asked as the two walked up another flight of stairs.

"Things have been good, Sensei." Kaito replied, kind of sugarcoating the events that he had partaken in a few weeks prior. "Believe it or not, I've found my footing when it comes to molding chakra properly and became adept at using Ninjutsu. I've actually taught myself some techniques in that area of study up to A-Rank." Sabu's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at this revelation.

"You don't say, Kaito." Sabu opened the door at the top of the stairwell, a sign next to the door reading "Third Floor", and the pair continued down the hall. At the end Kaito could see it; a heavy-looking door made of oak. In the center of the door was a glass windowpane that read "Principal's Office" in bold black letters. "If you were able to teach yourself the fundamentals of Ninjutsu within only a few months, I think you would make a fine teacher someday."

"I appreciate that, Sensei." Kaito replied with a light chuckle. "I'll see where life takes me, but as for right now, I have much bigger goals in mind."

"That's right. You always said that you wanted to become the Kazekage someday."

"Yes, Sir. And I am still holding onto that goal."

"Well, I support you all the way, my dear boy." No later did Suba finish his last sentence did he swing open the door leading into his office at the end of the hallway. "Alright. Here we are. Feel free to make yourself at home while we wait for Kazuma-Sensei from the Taijutsu department so we can get things started. It's only 6:40 now, so he should be in no later than a quarter after 7:00."

"Yes, Sir."

Kaito and Sabu both took the time to get themselves situated and ready for the long day the two of them had before them. Once they were all settled in, they wasted no time in finding all the files and tools they had available in regards to the Academy's Taijutsu regiment. Having done graduated from the Academy months before, Kaito still knew the regiment like the back of his hand. He wished that this "Chen" that Sabu had offhandedly mentioned earlier was in attendance as well so they could have some assistance with all of the paperwork, but it couldn't be helped if they weren't partaking in any mission at the time. They would just have to do their best with what they had.

Reminiscing on his time at the Academy, Kaito remembered that all students went through the same basic training regiments, but there were some advanced training regiments for honors students and individuals interested in irregular variants of Jutsu, such as Bukutsu, also known as Puppetry Jutsu. Kaito was not all too familiar with these advanced courses as he was only enrolled in the regular classes, and all of what he knew about them in fact was what his friend Shō had said of them. Kaito's days, and the days of regular students, were scheduled as follows:

9:00 AM - 9:30AM - HOMEROOM
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM - NINJUTSU CLASS
11:00 AM - 12:00 AM - STUDY HALL
12:00 AM - 12:30 PM - LUNCH
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM - GENJUTSU CLASS
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM - TAIJUTSU CLASS

Looking over the schedule for regular classes, which had not changed in any way since the young Inuzuka had attended, he noticed that  Taijutsu classes were still held in less regard than either Ninjutsu or Genjutsu classes. Taijutsu classes had the same amount of time allotted to it as the hour-long study hall, the latter of which most students just used as an opportunity to goof off and have fun. That typically happened as well in the Taijutsu classes, as most students were able to perform the stuff easily enough, so they never took the class seriously. Kaito wanted to change that. Kaito wanted nothing more than for Taijutsu to be treated as equally on par with both Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.

And the boy had just the thing to get these students interested in the art of hand-to-hand combat, but that would be something that he kept in his back pocket until later that day.

"So looking here, Sensei," Kaito said after a few minutes of examining the schedules and timesheets quietly and extensively. "I see that Taijutsu classes are still a half-hour shorter than both Ninjutsu classes and Genjutsu classes. Not only is that true in the regular curriculums, but it is also true when it comes to the advanced curriculums. I remember that a lot of the students actually used to make a point of slacking off in both the Taijutsu class and also in the study hall." Kaito slunk back further into the couch he sat upon and crossed his arms across his chest impressively. "I personally believe that if we are going to make any sort of change for the Taijutsu department we will actually have to implement some structural changes to the student's schedules."

Kaito looked back up at Sabu, he could see the man had also folded his arms across his chest and was nodding his head in agreement.

"I've noticed that as well, Kaito. I'm glad to see that you remembered those details. What changes are you thinking of implementing?"

"Well since the students are using their study halls as an extended recess, I think we should cut the time allotted for the study hall in half and add an additional half-hour to each Taijutsu class. At least that way the school days aren't extended in any way and the school's resources can be redirected to where they are needed in a better and more accurate way."

"While I do agree that those changes would be the best way to go about things, I've tried implementing them already and ran into some... disagreements within the staff."

"How so, Sensei?"

"The new head of the Taijutsu department, Wakui-Sensei." Sabu rose from the chair behind his desk and walked around to stand in front of Kaito. "He is very opposed to the changes that I've proposed. I'm really hoping that your being here today will make that man see sense."

"Don't hold your breath for too long, Sabu."

Kaito and Sabu both turned their heads towards the door that led into the room. Sure enough, there was a man standing there whom Kaito had never seen before. He wore a red tracksuit, matching red shorts, a white t-shirt, and a face contorted with anger. Sure enough, this man was Wakui Inupi, the new head of the Academy's Taijutsu department.

"Ah, Wakui. I guess you got my message to meet me here. This here is Kaito Inuzuka and he is will be assisting us in reorgani-"

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Sabu. I am not changing how the Taijutsu department currently operates."

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Sabu and Wakui argued back and forth for an hour over the decision to reorganize the day-to-day structure that the Academy had in place. Sabu was very much in favor, advocating that the change would be able to put Sunagakure on par with the other major villages in terms of Taijutsu ability, but Wakui was playing devil's advocate and argued that the changes would be too much of a change for the students to handle and that it would possibly cause even more students to drop out.

The number of students dropping out of the Academy was also a lengthy target of discussion, one that revealed that almost thirty students had quit over the course of the past few weeks. This was very bad for the school as the new semester had only begun not too long beforehand, and Kaito couldn't help but think that the students dropping out was linked to the punk that he had seen earlier in the day. Now was not the time to think about that, however. He would take care of the trash later, as he viewed it.

Kaito did speak on only a handful of occasions, addressing both sides of the argument and helping organize the pros and cons of both choices. By the end of the discussion around 8:30 that morning, it was decided that a trial run of Kaito's schedule would be used for the day and that he would be observing and taking notes of all of the Taijutsu classes for the day. It was also determined that a new Taijutsu regiment of training would also be trialed for the day, something that both Wakui and Kaito hastily put together in the half-hour before classes would begin at 9:00 that morning, and that Kaito would also partake in a one-on-one Taijutsu-only spar during the regular curriculum class that would now start at 1:30 instead of 2:00 that afternoon. The latter decision was made because, as stated, the regular curriculum class seemed to be the problem child of this mess. Kaito was bound and determined to whip these troublemakers into shape, and he was pretty sure that the changes implemented would make them all see sense.



[2 HOURS LATER...]

The first two Taijutsu classes went off without a hitch, much to the surprise and annoyance of Wakui. These first two classes were honors classes, and since the honors students took on more subjects than the students in the regular curriculum, their classes were all smaller to fit in the other subjects. All of the students and Sabu seemed to quite enjoy the new training exercises that Kaito had made up with the help of Wakui, and while the Inuzuka was taking notes on how everything was going, he was also working on writing down all of his findings into a guidebook for Wakui and future Taijutsu department managers to follow. He also took the time to physically demonstrate some of the new techniques and applications of the regiment to the students, helping them to get the hang of things so that they could do them easily and without fear of injury or failure.

Soon enough the second class for the day ended and it was now time for lunch. As the class left, Wakui gave Kaito a stern look.

"Listen here, you little twerp!" The man said, throwing his clipboard down to the ground and shoving a boney finger into Kaito's chest. "I don't know what you're playing at, but don't you ever think that you are going to come in here and change everything in a day and take my position away from me!"

Kaito was confused. Take Wakui's position away? Why the hell would he ever want to do that? Now slightly irritated, Kaito slapped the belligerent man's hand away from him.

"I have no intentions of taking your position, Wakui-Sensei." Kaito retorted, trying to make himself sound as sure of himself as possible to convince Wakui that he was telling the truth. "I'm only here because I love Taijutsu and want to help this place get back on track. Things are getting way out of hand with this department and I am not going to just sit around and watch it continue to implode upon itself."

"Well you better sit back and watch, kid. It is too late for this department to start coming out on top. Everyone thinks it's a joke. And besides, everyone knows that Taijutsu ain't worth squat in comparison to Ninjutsu or Genjutsu." Wakui slumped down aggressively to pick up the clipboard he had thrown on the ground before hastily making his way towards his office. "I'm off to lunch now. Because of the new schedule changes for the day we are taking an hour-and-a-half break, but you already know that. Just make sure to be back here no later than 12:30 for our last two classes." Wakui slammed open the doors that led into the Taijutsu gym and disappeared around the corner, leaving Kaito a fuming mess. He began to punch the air, wishing that it was the man's face, but after a minute decided on another idea.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, having an amazing idea come to life within his mind. "That would definitely be of assistance to them!"

Wasting no time, Kaito ran up two flights of stairs to the A.V. storage room on the second floor. From there he collected a video camera, and with the camera in hand he raced back to the gym and set it up upon one of the bleachers along the back wall. Once the camera was in place and the record button clicked, Kaito spent the next thirty minutes straight doing all of the moves from the regiment he had created over and over again. This would be an amazing and easy-to-follow video tool for future students to follow, and following the general guidelines of an instructional workout video, it could also be enjoyable for them and teachers alike.

Once he was done, he sat the camera aside with the rest of his notes and papers before finally deciding to head off to lunch. He had decided much earlier in the day that he would go get a bento box from his mother's shop, which was only a few minutes' walk from where the Academy was situated within the village. On his way out the main doors, however, he instinctively looked over towards the small training grounds along the side of the school. This was the main hangout for students during their lunch and study halls, and this was no different today. What was different, however, was the large crowd of students huddled around in a large circle. Kaito knew that when this happened a fight had almost certainly broken out between two students. Not seeing any teachers around, he decided to swing into action. Running over to where the students were crowding around, however, he saw only one person in the circle.

One person ranting on and on, addressing the students like they were at some sort of pep rally.

"I'm telling you all now that being a ninja is in no way what it is made out to be. Not even close!"

Kaito's eye and temple twitched when he realized who it was who was giving this speech...

It was the same idiot from that morning, the insolent bastard who had called ninja and anyone who wants to be one dumb.

As Kaito was trying to listen to what it was the kid was saying, a few more pushed their way past him to get a good spot to see what was happening.

"Move!" The one said. "I've gotta hear what Chen is saying."

The name resonated with Kaito the moment it hit his ears. Chen. Where had he heard that name before? It took him a moment to realize, but it soon hit him like a ton of bricks.

"No way..." He said in a mere whisper, tsking under his breath as he pushed his way through the sea of students and into the circle. The one the students called "Chen" quite suddenly stopped his jabbering and back up a few feet once Kaito entered his peripheral vision. A scared look filled his face.

"Its you..." He choked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Chen." Kaito replied, staring at the boy with cold, dead eyes. Chen tried to turn sharply on his heel and make a run for it through the crowd, but Kaito was much too fast and grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt. "Everyone get out of here and go about your business or I'll make sure you are all in detention this afternoon." The crowd quickly dispersed at Kaito's threat, leaving Kaito and Chen as the only two individuals left at the small training ground. Chen continued to fight back, but Kaito wasn't letting him go that easily. As soon as all of the students were gone, he turned Chen around and used both hands to hold him by the front scruff of his shirt as he had earlier before sunrise that morning. "Havent you had enough, you prick? I thought I made it clear to stay the hell away earlier today."

"Oh blow it out your ass, Mr. 'Taijutsu Specialist'." Chen replied before spitting in Kaito's face. "I heard from the others what you're doing here today, and it ain't gonna work one bit."

"Well I heard about you too, and I think there is someone who would want to have a word with you."

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Kaito dragged Chen with him into the Academy and up to Sabu's office on the third floor. The boy fought it the entire trek up the steps, but Kaito managed to keep him in check long enough to knock on the principal's office door.

"Come in." Sabu said from beyond the door. Kaito wasted no time in opening the door and tossing Chen inside, making the boy stumble over the coffee table in the center of the room and fall to the floor below. Kaito quickly shut the door behind him and locked it as to add another layer of protection from Chen's escape. Sabu, who had been eating, of course, was taken aback. It was rather easy to tell by the long noodle handing down from between his lips. "What's going on, boys?" He asked after slurping up the noodle and whipping his face off with a napkin.

"I saw your other praised student here holding an anti-ninja demonstration for the students outside at the training ground, Sensei. Kaito reached into his item pouch and pulled out the headband he had confiscated from Chen much earlier in the morning. "The kid told me personally that he was done being a ninja. That it was "dumb".

Sabu looked at the other boy on the ground and was shocked to see that it was in fact the Chen he had requested to come on this particular mission alongside Kaito. He made short time of sitting the boy, who was now in hysterics and blubbering like a fish, down on the couch and consulting him. Kaito stood idly by, doing his best to let the two have a moment to themselves, and the chat he overheard revealed a good bit of information. First, it revealed that Chen had truly been a Taijutsu prodigy like Sabu had claimed and that, like Kaito, the boy had a lot of trouble with molding his chakra properly to perform Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Second, it revealed that many other village shinobi gave him a really hard time about his lack of ability in chakra control, often making fun of him and some even ganging up on him and beating him up for it. And lastly, it revealed that Wakui had been the first one to start the berating and bullying that led Chen to not want to be a ninja anymore.

Wakui, as revealed by Chen and confirmed by Sabu, had begun running the school's Taijutsu department in Chen's final semester. Chen claimed that Wakui had no real goal of teaching true Taijutsu to their classes and was only there for the paycheck. From what Kaito had seen of the man throughout the day, he could one-hundred percent agree with this statement.

Some more conversation was had between the three of them, and by the end of it everything had changed for the better. Sabu and Kaito were able to convince Chen that he was a valued member of the Sunagakure Shinobi Forces and to join them for the remainder of the mission. Sabu also made the decision to fire Wakui on the spot as soon as the latter returned from his lunch, opting to take back his old position for the remainder of the day. Kaito also devised a plan with Chen for the two to participate in the spar Kaito was planning to do with the students, rather to give the regular curriculum students a demonstration of how real Taijutsu specialists fought in battle. The children loved the demonstration, as did Sabu. At the end of the school day, students were held for an extra ten minutes to conduct a survey on how they felt about the changes that were implemented for the day. Kaito personally went to every classroom to collect the results of these surveys so he could go over the results with Sabu and Chen.

The count was astronomically in favor of the new scheduling system Kaito implemented, and Sabu decided that the change would remain permanent. Kaito was pleased at this, and Sabu signed off on his mission report for a job well done. He walked out of the school feeling mighty pleased with himself that day, and watched on as Chen apologized to some of the students that were still hanging around the school by that time for what he had said to them about how being a ninja was horrible. Once Chen was done, he walked back to stand beside Kaito and smiled.

"I should apologize to you as well, Kaito." Chen said as his smile turned to a frown. "I really shouldn't have said what I said to you or those students." Kaito couldn't help but smile at Chen's words.

"I forgive you, Chen." He said as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I need to apologize to you, really. I had no idea what you were going through." Kaito reached into his item pouch and pulled back out Chen's headband. "I think you've earned and deserve this." Chen took the headband gently and examined it before tying it around his head. "There you go. Now you truly are a valued Suna shinobi." Chen and Kaito walked and talked with each other for a few minutes more before saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways; Chen towards the training grounds and Kaito towards the Shinobi Headquarters to collect his payment for a job well done.

He couldn't help but stretch and yawn again as the feeling of being tired overcame him again for the second time that day, but he knew soon that he would be able to rest easy in his bed knowing that he did his part in making Taijutsu a more valued and recognized part of Sunagakure's forces.

'Mission accomplished.'

[Topic Exit]

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[Word Count (Post) - 958]
[Word Count (Total) - 6,562]

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