Yamato ; Shin
Yamato had contacted Shin with the information and details about the meeting spot. Yamato's father had agreed to meet with this boy, who piqued his curiousity due to have a kekkei genkai. It was .. well known at best, that the Minamoru's disliked kekkei genkai and clans that had them, so Yamato had guessed his father was interested by the boy asking so brazenly for a meeting. Besides that, it was also an easy source of information. There was no way his father would simply hand out information without getting anything back for it.
The room that they entered was not part of Yamato's house, despite his house having a small dining room where they could've met. That would've been unsafe, likely, incase Shin was planning something. No, they went down to the Financial district, where cars raced below them as they jumped high above the traffic, over buildings and bridges. It was right ahead where Shin and Yamato would see the sign that said
“Minamoru Corporate Headquarters.” It might seem strange to Shin, to Yamato it was everyday stuff. They landed on the sidewalk amidst a large amount of people, and headed inside through the glass doors. In the lobby, there was a great amount of people waiting, no doubt to search for a job in the bussiness side of the Minamoru family. But Yamato ignored it and headed straight for the lift, the secretary at the booth waving at him as he passed by. He didn't return the favor, in line with Yamato's regular response to pretty much anything.
He waited for Shin to enter before pressing the button to go to the 8th floor, the second most high level of the building. The entire ride up the elevator was rather quiet, as Yamato didn't speak a word. He'd rather have had that Shin wasn't here, soiling the building with his dirty hands. Well, that was overexaggerating, he simply disliked Shin because he had a kekkei genkai. He had an unfair advantage over others. Not that it'd help him..
Ping. The doors opened and Yamato stepped out, as they headed out again. They reached a wooden door down the hallway and Yamato knocked first, then opened it. As he entered, he quickly bowed to the man in the seat, which was his father. His father was sitting there, looking good as always. He was wearing a suit, black all over, with a red tie, and despite his age he looked very young due to the Senju DNA that had been infused in his body. On his desk laid an assortment of prototype new model kunai, a senbon-launcher that had just entered a test fase in production and a new Banzai!-flak jacket. They were, ofcourse, inferior quality. But that didn't stop dumb teenagers who wanted to be a shinobi, but not go to academy, from buying them. Yamato's father, Reijo, folded his hands and laid them on the desk, looking at Shin as he entered. Without a warning, Yamato would grab Shin's neck from behind and force him to bow very deep before his father. It was more for Shin's safety than to annoy him, but Shin would probably still get mad. However, Shin should find himself lucky. For the second time Shin could see what it was like to have Yamato be subject to someone, and unlike his mom, who he obeyed because it was respect, it seemed like Yamato had had.. bad experiences with his father. Shin would likely be able to tell that just by looking at how respectful and neatly Yamato stood near the wall, looking straight at his dad.
The older teen followed Yamato to the meeting silently. Despite being classmates, there wasn't really much to talk with him about at the moment. It felt somewhat awkward as they travelled up the elevator. Shin knew that Yamato wasn't the most social of butterflies, nor was he the friendliest of shinobi, which both conflicted strongly with his own personality. It was a sign of respect, really, to not pester Yamato on the trip. When they entered the spacious office, one befitting a mogul like Mr. Minamoru, Shin was taken completely by surprise when Yamato forced him to bow before his father. His eyes went to Yamato first, clearly confused by the sudden action, but he quickly figured out that he was supposed to bow on his own when he entered. Something he didn't instictively do.
After being released from the bowing position, Shin stood upright and cleared his throat first.
"I'm glad you were able to meet with me today, Mr. Minamoru," he greeted, stepping forward to stand at a more appropriate conversation range. He was tempted to take a seat, but alas there were no other chairs than the one on the other side of the desk.
"Shin Maru, as you may have guessed." To be on the safe side, Shin gave another polite bow after introducing himself, though he was unsure if the second one was necessary or just over-doing it.
As he stood back up again, he took a pause to examine Yamato's father. He was surprisingly young, all things considered. But he seemed like a decent person.
"I wanted to ask a few questions. Not that I'm going to rib you or anything... I'm just... trying to figure out what is happening with that Jashin cult." Almost immediately, Shin's casual demeanor shifted. There was a notable tension in the air, a sign of emotion in his voice.
"They were after your family, but they've already done plenty to the village. The jonin haven't weeded them out yet, so I intend to find them myself. First... do you know why they were targetting Yamato and Rei, sir?"Reijo looked at Shin with bored eyes, squinting at the boy when he started talking.
Is this kid serious? It seemed to splash right off the man's face. It was clear he was waiting more or less to see what the boy's real intentions were, and if this was it.. well, Reijo wasn't impressed. He put two fingers at his chin and closed his eyes as he faced down towards his desk. Slowly he looked back up and opened his eyes at Shin again, before a deep voice rung through the room.
“Shin Maru, son of Kaito. I know your father. Dangerous man, him. I've had the unfortunate happen to me as I crossed paths with him. More than once. Your father does his job well.” He'd close his eyes again and take a moment, turning around in his chair slightly. As he readjusted himself a grin came upon his face.
“Not well enough, I suppose. Why are you worried about my families safety.. and more importantly, why would I tell you what I know?” Yamato couldn't help but wonder why he had agreed to bring Shin here. He was turning this into a disaster. Yamato's eyes pierced the back of Shin's back, wondering what the boy was trying to do.
He's met my father? I haven't heard anything about this. I should talk with dad later and see what he's holding back from me, Shin thought briefly, seemingly oblivious to the jabs that were taken at his family. Whether it was ignorance or acceptance, he didn't bat an eye to Reijo's words.
"I appreciate company, sir," Shin stated first. It was an odd thing to say, but he quickly continued.
"I consider many people I know a friend, even if they don't look at me the same way. When my friends are dying and nothing is being done about it... I take matters into my own hands."His gaze went around over his shoulder for a moment, to see Yamato's expression. He knew the guy wouldn't care much, but he hadn't forgotten who allowed him to have this meeting in the first place.
"I take my role in this world seriously," he continued, returning his gaze to Reijo.
"An attack on any family in Konoha is like an attack on mine. So if nobody else is going to take care of the Jashinists, then I'll do it myself." He resisted the urge to make a gesture of strength, because it might come off as threatening. And if he appeared to be threatening Reijo, having his back turned to Yamato wouldn't be healthy.
"That's why I want to know. Your family was the specific target, so you must know something that nobody else does. Or at least that's what I was hoping." Shin closed his blue eyes for a moment and let out a sigh.
"I wouldn't expect you to have all the answers, but I need to make some kind of progress on this if I want to consider myself useful."Reijo listened to the boy carefully. The boy definetely looked more dumb than he sounded. Maybe this meeting was an interesting idea anyway. Never the less, the boy was a Maru. He'd have to get something in return, at the very least. Reijo didn't reply as quick as he had before, instead closed his eyes once again and, as if he had done this a million times, he opened his drawer and pulled out a notebook with a pencil. He threw it down in front of him on the desk, next to the Banzai!-flak jacket. He beckoned Shin to come and take the notebook, and read it. In it it would have a few random words, that he'd need to remember. But at the center of it would be a few words, surrounded with a circle.
“Maru clan, Gemstones?”As soon as Shin would've read it, Reijo would continue, folding his hands again and holding them up, resting his chin on it.
“What does the Maru clan have to do with the Gemstones, and what do the Gemstones do?” It was a pretty straight forward question.
The teenager looked at the notebook, a surprised expression taking over his face. He didn't expect there to be any questions for him, nor did he get why Reijo would want to know about his clan. The Minamoru's were an interesting family, certainly, but Shin couldn't see why they'd care about his family.
"The Gemstones. The Maru clan, my family, have a bloodline limit. Not everyone gets it, but those who do become a Gemstone. I would be the youngest and most recent addition," he said simply. This information wasn't classified or anything, so held no restraint as he explained.
"The Gemstones are partly a pride thing. To pass on old traditions and train the next generation in the family..."
"But that's not the only thing we're expected to do." His eyes went back up to Reijo now. At this point he was clearly hesitant. Going into fine detail wouldn't be wise, but being too vague may also not be wise. Shin took a moment to think how he would word his next statement.
"We work closely with the police, as you already know. What the Gemstones do is handle... high-risk situations. Things that the regular officers would be at great risk of death or dismemberment. Our abilities are useful for..." Shin paused, looking over his shoulder at Yamato again. He knew that Yamato hated kekkei genkai, and Crystal Release was no exception. This fact would probably make him hate Shin more.
"Eliminating criminals or other shinobi."With that out of the way, he looked back at Reijo.
"Police red tape, I've heard some people call it. Putting it that way sounds a bit nasty... but sometimes there is no other choice than to kill for the greater good." Shin let out a sigh, before crossing his arms over his chest.
"That sums up the Gemstones well, I think. Not like we're top secret or anything, but I suppose it's better if some people don't know about us." His eyes then locked with Reijo's.
"Now you know a little about me. But... you still haven't answered my question from earlier."Reijo nodded as he heard the story. This was useful information to him. He'd have to warn his captains about the Gemstones. No wonder he'd been missing some of his higher ups, who were rogue nin on the down low. He smiled at the boy in front of him and looked him dead in the eye.
“I suppose I shouldn't expect better from a clan like yours, using their kekkei genkai to murder. Using your curse like it's a blessing. But you're still young. You can still repent.” The words were not aggressive or anything like Yamato would've said them, and they rang with intelligence, even if the words were somewhat harmful.
He took the notebook and noted down some things before putting it away again.
“I suppose you know Yamato well enough to know he's a powerful boy. I suppose they were after him, like they said, for his blood. Could also be they were trying to get at me, since I was also an original target. I knew about it, so I left Konoha for a day hoping they'd back off.” Reijo's eyes met Yamato's in a deadly stare, indicating that this was not 100% the truth. There was something more going on beneath the surface of the words Reijo said, but it was obviously something private to the Minamoru's.
“I don't know what else there is to say. Maybe they are trying to break my company by killing me, my heir or my lovely daughter. Who can tell. It would certainly harm the Konohagakure economy, since I own nearly 70% of the economical assets in the financial district.” He'd wave his hand in a circle as if he was trying to come up with something. It took a minute before he got the words he wanted.
“Besides, my wife owns a restaurant in Downtown. It's called.. ehh.. 'The Great Sasuke' or something like that. She loves her history, but if you ask me, that Uchiha brat Sasuke was a farce all along. Something tells me he never even existed. Either way, maybe a rival hates her and her family and wants us taken down.” Reijo looked at his desk again, in wonderment, as he was still left with a few questions of his own. This time, they were more related to the issue at hand.
“You say you care for all the families in Konoha, right boy?”Shin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly thinking hard. Like he was trying to put together pieces of a puzzle using only his mind. The Jashinists were targetting Yakuza and wealthy families, they had been around Konoha long enough to go under the radar and obtain lots of information on the shinobi and their targets. He knew that he was missing something. A name, or perhaps a place, and he would surely pick up their trail. He was snapped out of his thought process when Reijo questioned an earlier statement Shin made.
The boy opened his eyes again and brought his hand back down, bringing both arms to his sides now.
"Yes, sir," Shin responded simply, at first.
"I became a shinobi to protect. Failing to protect one family is the same as failing at life, because..." Shin trailed off, suddenly losing his words. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't so sure what he really wanted in the grand scheme of things. He originally became a shinobi to protect, sure. But he didn't know where he stood now.
"Because the life of a protector is the one I chose. It's my duty, sir."“Maybe that makes you slightly better. If I may be so free to offer you advice, boy?” he asked, with an open handed gesture towards him as if giving him the word, but he quickly continued, not giving Shin a chance to react.
“I am not a dangerous individual. Atleast, if I choose not to be. You opened up to me when I asked about your family and the Gemstones within a second. Now, this info.. I could've gotten it if I paid some money to the correct people at the police department, I suppose. But you gave it to me almost for free. All I had to do is tell you something in return, and I'm not sure if I know more than you do.”Ah, well. Ofcourse Reijo knew more, or else how'd he anticipate the Jashin attack? But Shin didn't ask about that anymore, so he left it out the question for now.
“I'm not here to tell you or your clan how to live life. Matter of fact, your clan is cursed with their bloodline limits. But still, you are people. You can't help it. All I'm trying to say is, the Uchiha, the Naito, the Hyuga, all of those powerful families.. they have something to hide. Your clan best have reason to have stuff to hide too, boy. Don't open up so easily.” It seemed like it was well wished advice to Shin, as most of the points Reijo made made some form of sense. He waved the pair of boys away but changed his mind just as Yamato reached for the door.
“Yamato.. I heard you argued with that boy Daiki again, during the incident.” Yamato stopped dead in his tracks and didn't turn around.
“Yes, father.” His answer was short even for Yamato's standard, and Shin was caught right in the middle of this awkward stand off.
“Can you still look me in the eyes with pride?” Yamato didn't answer, but turned around and looked his father in the eye, puffed his chest out and lifted his chin. Only then did he reply.
“Yes, father. The Naito are inferior, and they will always be. He didn't even touch me, only spewing words with no meaning at me, father. He accused me of the murder of the three chunin in the woods. He never thought that it would be us that were targeted, that's how closeminded the Naito are. But I showed him, I saved Rei and showed him that we, the Minamoru, are better than them, and any other clan.” Yamato's father simply nodded and looked to Shin, opening his mouth to ask him something again. It seemed that Reijo was more a man of questions, and not a man of answering, but Shin would have to deal with it. It'd be a bad idea to not obey Reijo, and you didn't need to be a Yakuza to know that.
“What do you think of their little spat, Shin? If I may call you Shin, ofcourse. I assume you are familiar with the ancient fight between the Naito and the Minamoru, the Dogs versus the Tigers.” It wasn't a question, his middle sentence. Shin was going to be called Shin, but Shin being Shin probably didn't care much for that.
When Reijo gave his advice, which Shin had to admit was pretty good advice, the teenager only chuckled a bit. Something that may have come across rude, but he intended to explain later. What he didn't foresee, however, was Reijo and Yamato's interaction. There was an obvious tension between the two, Shin could see that. Already he felt that he could understand Yamato a little better. As someone strong that still was made to be powerless before his own father, that would certainly make him a proud type. Being dragged into their conversation was the second thing he didn't expect, and his face gave away his surprise.
"Their spat? Yamato and Daiki?" Shin reaffirmed, mostly for himself.
"I've known that your families have a feud. But stilll... I don't agree with what they did." His expression grew serious again, and Shin crossed his arms over his chest again.
"They tried to kill each other. Fighting is one thing, but killing your own comrade over something as pointless as he said, she said is completely foolish. Not liking someone isn't a good excuse to take their life."It was only after he spoke his mind did he remember that Yamato was still in the room. Calling Reijo's son foolish right in front of the both of them may have been a bit foolish itself, but Shin didn't make any effort to repent.
"Many people have a hard time finding value in others. I suppose that's what it comes down to. None of my business, and I won't intervene again. I'll take it on good will that they won't try to kill each other again." With a sigh, Shin shrugged his shoulders and returned his full attention to Reijo.
"I apologize, for earlier. I appreciate your advice. The reason I told you about the Gemstones without hardly a second thought is because I'm not worried." He paused a moment, to let the two Minamoru think about what he meant.
"If I were facing some scumbag I wouldn't tell him a word. But I'm not worried about that here." The obvious insinuation was that Shin didn't find them threatening to his family, despite some of the choice vocabulary they've used so far.
"There are more pressing dangers than giving an overview of my family business. Now... you own a lot of property in Konoha, right? From what I've researched about that cult... I can't see why they'd care."There was a pause. Shin let silence take the room for a moment as he stared into Reijo's eyes.
"In their teachings, or ideology... whatever the word is, they don't value earthly possessions. I can't see what they'd have to gain by killing you. Their economic state wouldn't matter to them in the end..." Shin looked back at Reijo's desk for a moment. He hadn't really noticed until now, but the toys on it seemed rather low-quality. Definitely a businessman.
"So I'm wondering how you got caught up in this mess in the first place. It seems to me like it would be a stretch for the Jashinists to go out of their way to attack the Minamoru."Reijo smiled as Shin answered his question, and noticed in the background that Yamato was clenching his teeth, and clasping his fists whilst listening to Shin's response.
“Here you go again boy. They don't teach you politics in the Maru clan, right? I guess you don't even have a suitable bride yet. Never the less, let me offer you more advise. When speaking with a powerful person, you do not give your opinion and hope he agrees. Because I don't. The Naito are dogs, and dogs need to be put down if they bite you once. You should've told me you agreed with Yamato, it'd have made a better impression even if you don't really agree.. now.. are we done..?”It seems the question answered itself, as Shin continued. He said he didn't feel worried.
“You underestimate me and Yamato. That's okay. You wouldn't be the first or the last. Truth is, you can't trust anyone. We may not be scumbags, but we can use this information no matter how small it seems. Trust your clan, and your clan only.” He started tapping his chin staring at Shin whilst doing so. Was this boy smart, or dumb..? He couldn't quite tell. It seemed sometimes like the boy could draw the dots, but had difficulties connecting the lines at times.
It seems like Shin was not smart, either way. He didn't really pay attention to the advices he had given, and failed to pick up queue's on how much Reijo knew.
“Listen, boy. You asked for ideas and I gave you ideas, so you're asking the wrong questions to the wrong people. If you want to know exactly what and how about these Jashinists, go talk to this guy.” He grabbed the same notebook that had the words Maru clan, Gemstones? written in it, except he flipped to the next page and wrote down the name Shinjaku Mitaso, an adress and a phone number, before handing it over to Shin.
“This is the contact that warned me about the attack, but I have to warn you. He is a bit.. crazy. Now go. Tell your father I am sorry for what happened last time we met, and tell your mom that mister Minamoru and miss Minamoru would love if she came by the Great Sasuke again for a meal. Or something like that. And remember, Shin. The Uchiha, the Naito, the Hyuga, they seem nice, just like the Maru seem nice to me. But I know that all the families in Konoha want nothing more than to kill the others and take their secrets.” He waved them away and continued working. Yamato got the hint and quickly opened the door, bowed at his father deeply and then left the room, waiting outside for Shin. After Shin would leave, Yamato would lead him back outside, still not saying anything, before finally breaking the silence once they reached the front door.
“You insulted my father before. Now you've seen he's an honourable man. If you insult him again, I will kill you, your father and mother and any other Maru's I find in your house. With the fight between me and Daiki, you got lucky when you caught us. It won't happen again, and I will end you. You had no right to end that fight, because he challenged me. Remember my words, Maru.” He would turn around and walk the other way, obviously angry.
The Maru teen thought about Reijo's words, taking care to memorize the information on the paper about the informant. Perhaps not today, but he did need to speak with this person as well. As they rode the elevator down, Shin pocketed the paper and reflected on the meeting.
He seems a bit suspicious, and a bit mean. But... he doesn't seem as bad as everyone says. Reijo definitely wasn't telling me everything though. I figured as much.Shin was still lost in thought when Yamato stopped him outside and threatened him. He made sure to lock eyes with the Minamoru, waiting patiently for Yamato finish before speaking up.
"I'll only say this once, Yamato," Shin began.
"I don't see you as a bad guy. A jerk sometimes, but you have your reasons. You're still a comrade to me." He left a pause, almost as if that was all he had to say.
"But if you decide to fight me, I won't show mercy. You are strong, but I won't let anyone walk over me. I hope it never comes to that." The seriousness in his tone was surprising. Likely had to do with the threats toward his family as well, as this was far from the first time Yamato had threatened him personally.
"Don't mistake kindness for weakness... Anyways, thank you again for helping me today." With that serving as his farewell, Shin put his hands in his jacket pockets and began walking the other way. He didn't get all the answers he wanted, but he certainly got more questions that needed answering.
Dad needs some explaining to do...
