Starring:
Date: December 11, 2012
Summary:
Taiki confronts his team after their bout and tries to give them advice.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"On Revenge and Support"
Dammed Arena — Participant Preparation Area
As Ryo exited the arena he made his way through the Dam Works. He had no intentions of sticking around. He really had not up for the forced socialization caused by the match. If it were not for the fact that he needed to prevent Usagi from moving forward, he probably would not have even shown. Given that he continues to move quickly room to room in an attempt to get to the exit door. He was not sure how to explain things to people and the match had been hard enough as is.
Usagi is already in the rooms, and she only gives Ryo a bit of a glance as he enters the area, then looks back to dressing her own wounds. She already has salve on her burns, and is wrapping bandages around them ot make sure the salve stays. She's also taking care of what else she could, though most of the damage was from fire jutsu. At least, that easily treatable. The rest were mostly bruises.
Unfortunately for the two genin, they had their senseis already on an intercept course even before they left. Not only that, but Taiki has an entourage, which he has no qualms about using. He and said entourage reached the exit, and as Taiki was reaching for the door, he ordered his partners to watch any other exits. The guards were also asked to send their ninken to cover any other escape routes, including the one back into the arena itself. No barrier means nothing to stop them from leaping into it after all…
Combined with Hinotori's presence, the genin were not leaving without either talking to them or actively trying to escape. Taiki himself was healed enough now to give chase if needs be. "Going somewhere?" Taiki asks as he spots Ryo first. "Turn around, and go back to where Usagi-san is," he adds as an obvious order. He will obviously be following behind.
Hinotori moving quickly along with Taiki and his entourage, for now he was in the backseat of this. Having wanted to try and explain a few things to Ryo, as well as Usagi, but the first thing was to catch them which seems is something him and Taiki are very good at doing. His eyes scanning each area as they move through, but also Hinotori was tracking using the chakra signatures of the two genin. Somethinge else he's learned but for now it does the trick. Upon reaching Ryo, Hinotori's hands are in his pockets and as Taiki speaks up, Hinotori just gestures with his head for Ryo to follow orders.
Ryo closed his eyes as he heard Taiki's voice and as he spots Hinotori. The boy really had no desire to deal with this at the moment. "Look, its been a very bad week and an even worse day. Odds seem like things are not going to improve today. Lets do this when exams are over… sound good?" His tone was obviously sarcastic. He then looks towards Hinotori, more seeing the door behind him. His thoughts move to how close he almost was to it.
Usagi had already heard Taiki's voice, and she remains where she is, sitll taking care of her bandages. But as Ryo speaks, she says simply. "I may not have been able to hurt you Ryo, but I doubt that disobeying your team lead is a good idea, or will reflect on you well in regards to becoming a chuunin. You said you're carrying Ryuu's burden now. Don't you -dare- throw his dream away"
Taiki moves himself slightly so that he is directly in Ryo's sight to the door. For now he keeps his arms by his side, obviously ready to reach out if needs be. "Didn't work when you confronted me, isn't going to work for you Ryo. I told you to head back to where Usagi is. Don't make this any harder than it has to be," he says as he focuses more chakra into his senses. Taiki's stance practically mirrors the one Ryo took with him after the big fight. He doesn't take his eyes off of Ryo, but he does nod with the sentiment. "Turn around. Head back to where she is," he says again a little more forcefully.
Hinotori only watches for now, allowing for Taiki to take the lead on this. His hands still in his pockets, but he does regard Usagi as she comes into the area they are in an speaks to Ryo. He then turns his gaze back on the other Uchiha and Taiki, backing up a little so that the view isn't obstructed to wehre Taiki wants to take his team, the older Uchiha would make eye contact and then gestures to where Taiki wants them to go, "Come on." he says simply.
Ryo looks directly towards Taiki. "When we spoke, it was just us if I remember right. I made sure it was one on one." Ryo states. He then turns towards the others. "Usagi, get off it and quickly. I held back the entire fight while you verbally rode me. I'll carry his fight. I will take out every last bit of it on her. But really what do you hope to accomplish by ticking me off?"
"I know snide well you held back, Ryo. And as much as it crabs me off that you had to, I'm glad you did. But you need to realize that if I can do this with just words, what's going to happen when you face someone who can fight back?" Usagi glares at him from where she is. "Because we both know right now, I can't. You're in no condition to fight, Ryo. Not until you clear your head"
Taiki shrugs and says simply, "In that situation, you were having to deal with one person, me. In this situation, I have to deal with two people, you and Usagi. The situations differ, but the ratio remains the same." He then looks back to Hinotori, welcoming him to add his two cents before continuing. "And just to let you know… she is right. I could see you fighting yourself out there, and I heard comments of you playing around out there in the stands. You and I both know the later is not the case, but that's what it looked like. If you don't get a grip on yourself, and quickly, you won't make chuunin. You're too smart for that, so face it, whatever you're doing isn't working."
He then turns to Usagi and says, "You, on the other hand, have a problem as well. I know this problem well, because I suffer from the same problem. You are one stubborn individual. Yes, I know, pot and kettle, but the fact remains you are. A fight in front of an international audience is not the time to be airing a person's innermost thoughts. Once you saw that your speeches were not working, you should have stopped. But you were stubborn, and it blinded you to the fact that the moment he activated his Sharingan, he was serious and you became massively outmatched. This was not a spar, Usagi. This was a qualification fight."
Ryo stares directly at Usagi. He's almost oblivious to what Taiki said. "Do you even understand what just happened?" he asks her. "If my head is clear or not, I said I would protect you. I did so, even if I failed to protect him. I told you to go home and you threw it in my face." Even with the dark eyes, the anger is evident in his voice. "I do not care if I have to tear everyone in the tournament apart to get at Risu. If you're in the tournament, I cant focus on my job."
"You think I went into this fight thinking I could win, Taiki. I know my limits, and I knew even before he activated his sharingan I was outmatched. We've fought beside each other, and if you think I don't know what he can do just by watching, then you don't know me half as well as you think either" Usagi narrows her eyes and takes a deep breath, her visage calming. "Taiki, I knew going into this third round I didn't qualify against anyone else in this bracket. I made it to this bracket by my smarts and wits. Not by my fighting ability. I can't stack up against the other people with scrolls, and I knew that coming in. But I wasn't giving up. Not if I could help it" Again though, her visage is directed at Ryo. "Vengeance won't bring him back. She's in a different bracket as well. And honestly, I doubt she's going to fight. Secondly, I can handle myself, and I know my limits. I'm not going to get myself killed, and I'm honestly ashamed at you both for thinking you 'have' to protect me in this, as if I'm some frail maiden who can't do anything for herself" And with that, unless she's stopped, she's heading for the exit. And wouldn't turn around unless they said something to catch her attention, or physically stopped her.
Okay, Taiki is not done yet, and Usagi is being stubborn. But as he himself said, pot and kettle, and Atsuro does not call Taiki more stubborn than a god for nothing. Taiki /intended/ to wrap his arm around Usagi's stomach and push her back to her seat, but he apparently went a bit harder than he should, causing her to bruise. "Sit back down," he orders in a low growl. "First of all, I was not talking so much about your fighting capabilities, or what you may or may not have known about Ryo's abilities, I was talking about your trying to talk sense into him," he snarls. "You yourself knew you weren't getting past this fight, so stop trying to put words in my mouth that aren't there."
"Secondly, of course I'm trying to protect you, just like you want to protect me or Ryo. It's called caring about your friends. So get off being offended and get over it. Ryo has been stating all along that he was doing the same thing by putting you out of the exams. And before you think I'm coming down solely on you, think about what I opened with, talking to /Ryo/."
He then turns to Ryo and frowns. "I'm the last person to talk about swearing vengence, but from what I understand, the girl in question tried everything she could to stop from killing Senju-san, including giving him /both/ her scrolls. He continued on despite this, wanting to kill her just like you do now. She acted in self defense after trying to end the battle other ways."
"Break his leg or incapacitate him. There are ways of binding people. Run away. A thousand options. Yes, he was wrong, but she was clearly stronger and able to make a choice. She made hers. I would expect someone to come for me, had I made the same choice." Ryo then glances towards Usagi. He had already said his piece.
The arm grab gets a wince and a very hard stare from Usagi as she's pushed back, but she doesn't sit down. "Yes, I knew I wasn't going to get past the fight. But I wasn't going to stop trying just because of that" She crosses her arms at him, not moving this time. "I'm not talking about caring for your friends, I'm talking about this business of you two doing something TO me against my wishes 'for my own good'. THAT is what's cheeking me off, you're taking the choice out of my hands because you think you know better" She glances to Ryo. "She did. She conjured sand to bury him so he'd stop attacking. He dug himself out and attacked her 'again', despite the condition he was in. Now, 'if' you two will excuse me, I am going to go train. Because I'm not in the mood while you two are hosing down the decks with testosterone" And there she goes again.
Taiki rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "So far the only thing I've done /to/ you 'for your own good' is throw you back into the seat long enough to defend myself. If you have another allegation you want to lay at my feet, have the courage and decency to do so to my face," Taiki says succinctly.
"I have been nothing but supportive this entire time, despite my objections for you entering this tournament to begin with. Remember that? Once you made it clear that you had your mind made, I supported you. And I won't apologize for calling you stubborn, because you are! So am I!" The dogs move to stop her from leaving, but Taiki waves them off. "Oh let her go, heaven forbid I be accused of doing something else to her…"
He then looks over to Ryo and says, "Right or wrong about the vendetta, you're still falling into a very dangerous trap. You're letting it control everything you're doing and saying. On /that/ I am an expert on, and have room to talk. Face the fact that you apparently don't know the entire situation. You lost a teammate. Something everyone here also feels, including me. Do you think, for just one moment, that I'm not tearing myself up inside wondering what I could have done differently? Each one of you were put into my charge to teach. And I failed. I failed to teach the most important lesson there is, how to survive. That is something I have to live with for the rest of my life Ryo. So if you want to hate someone, hate me. In the meantime, think long and hard about what you're doing, and what your planning, make sure you can /live/ with it. Once an action is taken, it can't be taken back." With this he himself decides enough is enough. "Shinobu, Nozomi, come on. I need to get out of here."
Ryo shakes his head. "Every single woman has to think these things happen because their sex. I guess next time she's on a mission and needs help, I shouldnt come to the rescue cause I might be letting off too much testosterone." He then turns towards Taiki. "I am the one who talked both of them into going. I am the one who swore to protect them. We knew what it was going in. I let them run around out of my sight and he died on my watch. You can be the leader of the team, but we went on a mission under my watch and one did not come back." He was not worried about the choice yet. He would deal with that bridge when he came to it.
