training montage music

[daimeinashi]

WHO: Sai & Minato
WHERE: Some recreation center in Heropa
WHEN: idk nowish?
WHAT: Ranged weapon practice and chatting
WARNINGS: Will edit if any come up


[Since he'd met Minato in gym class a few months ago during dodgeball, they meet up, occasionally, to train together. Back home, it would be easy to just use a tree for target practice, but Heropa wasn't particularly forested like Konoha was, and people tend to frown on having weapons out in public anyway, so the venue of choice ends up being one of the local recreation centers.

Sometimes they play a modified version of that dodgeball game to practice both evasion and aim at a moving target (other things he's learned that are Frowned Upon in this world is throwing knives at people), or they'll set up some stationary targets and work on precision.

Sai isn't exactly suited to teaching, but he finds that Minato keeps up with him well, and the practice helps keep him from getting too rusty with his skills that aren't all too greatly needed in this relatively peaceful place.]

That time was almost perfect. [he says, pulling out the kunai from the dartboard, where it lodged only just left of center]

Pull in your elbow a little more, next time, and you should have it.

Comments

[dormition]

[It helps that Minato is a ludicrously quick study and never makes a word of complaint or seems to need much instruction at all. He just applies himself and eventually picks it up. He's a natural, in just about everything.

He nods at the direction, and tries again. Sure enough, this time it hits dead on. He looks at it contemplatively.]

Sai-san is a patient teacher.

[daimeinashi]

[It's probably at least part of the reason Sai offered to train with him in the first place; it was easy to tell from the beginning that Minato wasn't quite like the other ordinary civilians in their class.]

Hm? You think so?

[It's a genuine sort of surprise; the last time he'd tried to teach anyone anything it was drawing to Annie, and he'd eventually given up and just started doing their group work for her. It's not cheating unless you get caught, okay.]

[dormition]

Yes. We've been doing well, haven't we?

[Maybe tying it to the practical outcome will make the comment make more sense. Minato nods toward his bulls eye.]

[daimeinashi]

[Ah.]

I suppose we have. You learn quickly, though. It hardly takes much patience.

[Delivered in that same tone as when he corrected Minato earlier; it's less a compliment and more a statement of simple fact to him.]

[dormition]

Complimenting others is a good way to make friends with them, [Minato points out.]

[daimeinashi]

[Sai blinks, a moment of surprise overtaking his features before his lips curl into a faint smile.]

...You would make an excellent shinobi, Minato-san.

Thank you. I will remember that.

[dormition]

Oh? Was that sneaky of me? It doesn't feel very sneaky if I tell you about it right afterwards, [he says thoughtfully.]

[daimeinashi]

I was referring more to your perceptiveness.

[He hasn't really told anyone here about his interest in learning more about bonds and friendship, after all--mostly just tried to figure things out on his own, through reading and observation. And when they'd met, Minato had figured out almost immediately that he was experienced with long-ranged weapons just from their conversation about dodgeball.]

Your aptitude for shinobi skills doesn't hurt, either.

[Casually gesturing toward the bullseye. Is he trying the compliment thing now, or is he just continuing to be bluntly honest? It's hard to tell.]

[dormition]

[Minato is similarly opaque about his motives on a regular basis, but for him, it's mostly out of laziness with speaking. The other factor is that he likes innocuously to troll people, and keep his distance.]

I've been helping a couple people learn how to make friends, [he admits.] It didn't come easily to me, but sometimes that makes it easier for me to explain than someone who's good at it. I guess I naturally think about it now.

[daimeinashi]

[Well that's interesting. Sai tilts his head contemplatively, full attention on Minato now.]

How did you learn? Books help, but I have found the advice does not always fully apply.

[Read: sometimes he gets punched in the face.]

[dormition]

Mm... persistence, mostly. I didn't read any books on it. If you can't tell what to do, asking questions is usually okay. People like to be listened to.

[It's a broad guideline that has served Minato well.]

[daimeinashi]

[He looks, for a moment, as if he wants to write that down, but of course, he doesn't have his notebook or sketchpads or scrolls or anything on him right now. He'll just have to add it to his notes later.]

I see. So it was largely a process of trial and error for you?

[A pause....and then because he's curious--people with similar social difficulties to himself tend to be rare:]

Why was it difficult for you, building friendships? I could tell you why it is for me in return, if you wish.

[Reciprocity seems to be a Thing in social interactions, from what he's experienced--and it makes sense. Exchanges were a vital part of how alliances functioned among shinobi and shinobi villages, so it's not too unusual that it would be a factor in civilian relationships as well.]

[dormition]

Yes, for the most part. You could say that I didn't see the value in having friends. I didn't really speak to anyone until last year.

[And yes, he does mean for his whole life, at least as he remembers it.]

You can tell me or not... I don't mind.

[daimeinashi]

[Sai's expression remains difficult to read as usual, but something in it does appear to--soften, almost. It would seem he wasn't wrong to think Minato was different from the others.]

It's similar for me...although it would be more accurate to say I was trained so that I would not. I was never meant to be any more or less than a weapon, after all.

[His expression softens out even more...and twitches into the tiniest curve of a smile.]

It's been about a year for me as well, since I decided to learn more about bonds, and how to be more than simply orders and a blade.

What changed your mind?

[Did you meet a Naruto too.]

[dormition]

[In a surprise plot twist, Minato is the Naruto.

He doesn't react to Sai's admission beyond a nod. It's sort of relaxing to talk to someone who emotes as little as he does; there's no pressure for him to push himself into it, or to manufacture anything. He does think it's sad, but it's not something that shows on his face.]

I get stronger as I become closer to people, so for the sake of fighting our enemies, I made friends. Doing that... became a habit. It changed me.

What has it been like for you, to grow like that?

[Minato has to admit some interest. He's never met someone else that has gone on a similar path as him before.]

[daimeinashi]

[The comfort with the lack of emoting definitely goes both ways. There's something nice about being able to say that to someone without having them look at him with pity, or something else of the sort.

And honestly--he's kind of fascinated by Minato's explanation, because even though it happened to him differently, he could easily see himself having begun forming bonds for a utilitarian purpose instead like the other boy had, and being changed by them along the way.

He's curious, too, about how those friendships made him stronger. Minato doesn't sound like he's being anything less than literal, unlike how people like Naruto and Luvander talked about the strength that came out of bonds with others.

But first:]

...It's difficult. Frustrating at times. I don't understand most people, and very few of them understand me. There's a great many questions that seem meant to lack any definitive answers.

[But for all that....he doesn't actually want to go back to the way things were before. It's not something he actively realizes yet, but some part of him knows he is no longer capable of following an order that would make him harm or kill Naruto or Sakura. He "exists" now, whatever that means for him.]

But I am starting to think that it is precisely because I cannot find the answers that such things hold as much importance to people as they do.

[He's starting to come around to the idea that maybe the reason bonds are important are because they don't make sense, in the way he can make sense of tactical maneuvers and battle strategies and various jutsu.]

[dormition]

[Minato definitely means it literally. He's a very literal sort of person, so it's not hard to guess from his demeanor. He doesn't offer any explanations about Social Links or associated Arcana, though; that's immaterial to the real discussion and he knows it. He doesn't want to get the conversation bogged down in the strangeness of his life when the point here is the normalcy that they are both only just beginning to feel comfortable with.

He nods in understanding.]

More accurately, everyone has their own answers. Why are we alive? What makes it worth it? What is our purpose...? We have to define those things for ourselves. They can't be given to us.

Sometimes, people hurt themselves that way, I think. They feel badly for someone else's suffering, and want to ease it...

But you can't. You have to lead them to their own understanding. Just like we have to find our own.

[daimeinashi]

[Sai is already a naturally excellent listener, coming of having been a soldier for so very long. But when Minato explains further, he carefully pays attention to every word, almost wishing again that he had something to take notes with. But then again, that would seem to go against the very point Minato is making.

It's honestly huge progress for Sai just that he can take a sentence like "everyone has their own answers" without questioning the validity of something that does not hold basis in concrete fact, the way one can answer why it rains or why the grass is green. Months of grappling with this confusion has finally led him to understand that lack of definites in these sorts of matters, although he's still far from developing his own conclusions--especially when his own questions aren't even as broad in scope as Minato's.]

...I certainly know someone like that.

[And here, for the first time, something fond touches the corners of his expression.]

What answers did you find, Minato-san? How did you go about searching for them? Even if they will not be the same for me...it would help to have an idea of a good place to begin.

[dormition]

Mm...

[He reflects for a moment, deciding how to compose his thoughts into sentences. Minato is a fairly abstract thinker.]

I didn't search for them. There just came a time when I couldn't afford to look away anymore. As for my answers...

[His gaze drifts away into the distance; an immense tragedy is welled deep within him, but there's not more than the barest hint of that on his face.]

As long as my friends are safe, it was worth it for me. Standing together, we can find the strength to face our own Shadows-- our own darkness. If we try alone, we'll merely fall into despair.

People need each other. Even me.

[daimeinashi]

[He's quiet at first, thinking that over. Thinking of Naruto, of Sakura, of Haruka and Kitty and Luvander. Of how, again and again, when people talked of strength, it went back to bonds.]

It's strange. [he admits, finally] I was trained to believe that such bonds were unnecessary. A weakness. That such emotion would interfere with my capability to perform my assigned missions.

[Just remember, Sai. Emotions breed hatred, and hatred breeds war.]

But I'm...beginning to wonder, now. If Danzou-sama had been wrong.

[Another stretch of silence.]

...What happened, then? That you could no longer ignore those questions?

[A normal person might apologize for asking such personal things, but matters such as personal privacy and tact are still ones he has difficulty grasping.]

[dormition]

They are a weakness, [Minato points out. His own history denying emotion makes him very clear on this point. That's why he'd denied them, after all.] But if we don't have weaknesses, we're not really human anymore.

It's a tragedy... to let that escape us, just because we're afraid.

[Minato doesn't mind personal questions. He just doesn't answer them if he doesn't want to. After ruminating for a few moments, he continues with,] The people around me needed me. I'd never experienced that before. Abandoning them... it turned out that wasn't something I could do. [So he'd had to learn how to be human.]

[daimeinashi]

[No one's ever put it to him like that, before. It makes its own sort of sense, and having learned what he just has about Minato, he's more inclined to believe it than he might be for someone who has always had bonds with others.]

That's another thing I'm still not entirely clear on...the value everyone ascribes to humanity.

[He's still in that stage where he can comprehend that if someone dies, those who had bonds with them will suffer, but the abstract concept of the intrinsic value of a human life is still a concept he generally lacks.]

Is there something truly so special about being human? It's something that seems obvious to most, but I never ascribed much meaning to it. I suppose that is another of the answers I will need to find for myself.

[A pause.]

...But I think I might understand a little, about being needed. I'm part of a team, back home, the third member. There's...someone they wish to save, a friend of theirs, and I told them I would help. It's...important to me, to be able to go home and see that through. I wouldn't wish to abandon them either.

[...But with what Kakashi had said about war on the horizon, he might have to. He doesn't know how he feels about that.]