An alleyway in the slums

Mission details:

Today Arashi was requested to patrol the village in the evening, so as the afternoon came to an end, he put on his cloak and headed out to do his patrolling. He was gonna do normal rounds through the village, while walking around he overheard several conversations, "Did you hear about the discount in ramen the other day" "Ohh Mommy but I wanted those clothes!" "Ugh damn I lost everything yesterday at the gambling hall" So on and so forth, they were mostly uninteresting, he even got a bit bored but alas he had to do this nonetheless. At one point he heard some noise coming from an alleyway in the slums followed by a hiss and some shouts, he went to investigate what was happening there and found a bunch of kids hurting a stray cat. he immediately called out to the village kids. "Hey! What are you kids doing here!" some of the kids got a bit scared but others just straightened and looked back at him "What do you care" taken a bit aback by the kid's attitude and harsh tone he went forward, at that point the kids got scared a little. "Hey calm down I'm not gonna harm you." The kids stopped trying to leave, "Seriously why are you doing this." the cat was hiding behind a plank that had been left resting against the wall, it was a white baby cat looking under the weather, a bit wounded and very thin as if it hadn't eaten for days.

Arashi started talking to the kids "You know they feel right? That's why it was screaming it was in pain." "Well why do you care, the kage doesn't like cats" "You know that not all ninja are the same right? I mean the kage is her own person and I am too, we don't have to share 'likes' for me to serve under the village" "That's not what dad says!" one of the kids interjects "And what does he say?" Arashi said in a calm voice trying to not make the kid worry, Which apparently didn't work "W-well... h-he... Forget it I'm not saying that to a filthy shinobi like you!" Arashi scratched his chin  "So that's what he says huh." The child got alarmed "N-no... i-it is not!!!" "Don't worry I'm not gonna do anything to him" The kid seemed puzzled "H-huh! B-but... All shinobi are bad people" another kid interjects "Y-yeah! you are just manipulating us into believing you... as soon as we turn our back or we tell you what you want, you'll just dispose of us!" Arashi got obviously sad "You really think we are all like that don't you... I mean, I won't deny some shinobi don't have the best interests of others at heart, but not all of us are like that. In fact I know a handful that aren't" The kids had their rage and fear dwindling , while Arashi wasn't really trying to be convincing or to convert them per se, it really hurt him to see that the same people he wants to be protect and be useful for, is the people that most fear him. "He doesn't seem that bad though..." one of the smallest children said "What are you saying of course he is... Look! He has the headband and everything!" Arashi had to willfully hold back a tear, he just couldn't believe how some people saw them. Still it seemed possible from some of the more marginalized and poorest parts of the village, that they would blame their current leadership and protectors, while a lot of kids were missing and there were little to no clues about the matter.

As the kid's calmed down the cat started to poke his head out, Arashi always liked animals so he called the kitty, to his surprise it came out of hiding feeling like it was safer now. The kids were in a bit of awe since they didn't expect what just happened.  "Well no matter what you think about us shinobi, but you shouldn't harm innocent creatures, after all they also feel just as you do... as we do..." the kids stared silently at the floor, they clearly didn't like being lectured, still some had a look of true guilt on them. "well... I hope you can be happy and live in better conditions some day, but as you might be well aware, no one is gonna gift those things to you, sure some will help, and those are the ones that are worth keeping around. But you gotta work and fight for what you want, that's the best we can do..." The cat was now on Arashi's lap licking itself clean "Anyways I gotta keep patrolling so I hope that if we meet again, that you'll be without so much hatred... If you'll excuse me" Arashi then picked up the cat, who responded with a soft sweet meow, and put him inside his cloak, while walking away from the alley. "Well to keep patrolling, Hope they can find themselves eventually, right Amy" "Meow!"

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Arashi Tento Character sheet