Hidden Compassion

Revan had been wandering the town of Hoshigakure most of the day. Through the markets, houses, and unfamiliar faces of people he didn't know. He was just killing time, and none of the missions really had anything he was too interested in. Only one or two were actually interesting and fit his criteria, but they were too high-ranking for him at the moment. The only two he had taken into consideration were shadowing an officer, and gate duty. However gate duty meant he'd have to deal with human stupidity for the day, and the other meant he had to respect an officer for the day, something in which he had less than no interest in doing. Revan continued his wandering, it had seemed he had made his way into the mostly empty part of town. Cobwebs and dust scattered about, barely anyone in sight. Now this is a sight I could get used to. Revan didn't know why, but the air felt a bit warmer than usual. The dense crowd of people he was wandering through had mostly seemed to dissipate. Revan looked up. Looks like rain's coming. Revan thought. Revan stopped walking. Maybe I should head back. He had turned around to start heading home, when he heard a noise. Revan, a look of alarm and horror spreading across his face, shot away from his path, and ran through the city to get to the source of the noise. Revan knew he had to make as many shortcuts as possible to get there in time, before it was over. Revan sprinted as fast as he could, cutting through back alleys in order to get to his destination. Revan dodged in every direction, avoiding all possible obstacles that would prohibit his progress. He bolted down a particularly nasty alley, where he passed the would-be jumpers without any pause or fear. He heard the noise again. Revan let a low growl of frustration escape. He burst into the street, blinded by the sudden light. He blinked and saw three kids beating a stray dog. "HEY!" Revan shouted, "Get out of here!" Two left before anything broke out, but one stayed behind. He looked at Revan, and went back to beating the dog. Revan walked forward, and as the child lifted his arm, Revan grabbed it with an iron grip.
"Let go of me!" The child yelled.
"I said leave. Now." Revan glared, eyes filled with rage. He released his grip and the child ran away, clutching his arm. Alright, now down to business. Revan bent down, and knelt by the dog. He let a soft smile form on his lips. He performed basic first aid, and applied bandages where he could. He pet the dog, who seemed to be reacting well, before he heard footsteps behind him, and saw a shadow stretch from behind him. Revan turned around to meet the face glaring at him.
"Are you the one that my son said was bullying him?" The woman, who was apparently a mother to the boy he had forced away. The son had been standing behind his mother with a nasty smirk. "You should be ashamed of yourself, piking on an innocent child." Revan chuckled.
"'Innocent'? He was beating this dog to near death. What's innocent about that? Maybe you should have learned all the facts before jumping into an argument." Revan responded.
"Excuse me? You attack my son mercilessly, and claim he was lying to me?" The woman's pitch rose, out of fury.
"Now, now, madam," A voice spoke from behind Revan, "Something truly horrid is happening, a sparkling example of the good in humanity is being unfairly treated. This travesty must be halted immediately."
"I know, this delinquent was treating my son unfairly, so I-"
"You seem to have misunderstood me. I meant that you were treating this boy unfairly. He tried to explain the truth to you, but you denied it without thought."
"I- I'm trying to exact justice! It's only ethical!" The woman grumbled, seemingly hiding shame.
"Oh? It just so happens that one of the most unethical things is a sense of Justice never subjected to consideration. Is that the type of justice within you?" The man calmly questioned.
"I- You-! This isn't over!" The woman pulled her son away from the scene. Revan had left as well to go back to treating the stray. Revan had looked over all the animal's wounds again. He seemed to have treated all the minor wounds, such as the small cuts, minor bruises, and some abrasions. Revan looked over the other injury the poor stray dog had obtained, it was mostly minor things he hadn't treated yet. But there were many injuries he couldn't really treat well at the moment. Damn. Is that really all I can do? I only could apply basic medical help, but that alone isn't enough to save this dog for much longer... Revan's countenance had fallen to a frown past his usual sustained frown.
"Is there really nothing else I can do?" Revan muttered out loud.
"No, there are still quite a few things you can do, for instance-"
"What the-!?" Revan jolted, "I thought you left!"
"Honestly, did you expect me to leave so quickly? You didn't even thank me for sticking up for you." The man stated, faking being hurt.
"I didn't thank you because I didn't need your help, even if she didn't know the truth, I did. No one else's opinion of what happened really matters, It won't change what really happened, after all."
"Would you say the same thing if you were in her position?"
"I wouldn't be in her position, I don't force myself into matters that don't have anything to do with me."
"Oh? But that situation did have something to do with her, you injured her son, therefore: she came after you."
"So now you're defending her?"
"No, I'm just stating the facts. Just like you, huh?" Ugh, what is this guy's problem? "Is this the target of that kid's aggression?"
"No, this is the other dog that fell out of the sky earlier," Revan rolled his eyes, "Wait, if you saw what happened, why are you even asking that?"
"Just confirming, calm down."
"I'm not angry." Revan said sternly.
"Really? Your face, tone, body language, and attitude don't help your case, " Revan went silent. "Well, never mind all that, it was a tangent, anyway. Like I said; there is something you can still do to help it."
"Such as?" Revan asked.
"Well, what about a vet or hospital?"
"None nearby. Well, no good ones, at least."
"What have you done so far?"
"Basic medical stuff. Bruises, small cuts, minor abrasions."
"What about feeding him?"
"No, but I don't have any food on me that he could eat."
"Here," The man pulled something out of his bag, "Something for the dog to regain his strength." The man pulled out some food. Revan quickly eyed over it, checking for something the dog couldn't eat. All clear. Revan placed the food in front of the dog. It sniffed over it for a few seconds, and then quickly ate the food. It was gone in a matter of seconds. The dog had started wagging his tail, and Revan let out a smile, while the dog licked his face. Revan had forgotten about the stranger behind him, who had shook Revan out of his happy moment. Revan turned around to see a new man, red in the face, and about to overflow with rage.
"Now, Sir," The calm man said, "I believe this is all one big misunderstanding and we can solve it without violence." The angry man pushed him to the side, and lifted a fist behind him aiming for Revan. As the fist flew forward to it's target, just inches before it hit, it stopped suddenly. Revan hadn't blinked at the attempt. He looked up to the arm, and saw it was covered in wooden hands, whose strings led back to the calm man.
"I tried to give you a chance to talk, but instead you were blinded with rage. Befitting of the two members of your clan we met already." He pulled back, and the man flew along the path, the puppet user had thrown his fist forward into a punch, that with the speed from the yank, did a lot of damage. The puppet then spun the man around, and threw him back to were he came from, if a little disoriented.
"My apologies you had to see that."
"Honestly, I could have taken him."
"Life is not purely about strength, you should learn about that. Life is a balance of inflicting, receiving, and healing pain. I have an example that can also help your canine friend here." He pulled out a small scroll, with some scrawls across the exterior.
"What is-?" Revan opened the scroll. A healing technique?! "Why didn't you use this on him from the start?!"
"I had a feeling you could do this with more care than I." URGH! Revan thought in anguish, and annoyance. He reviewed the scroll.
"Fine, if you won't be helpful, I'll do it myself."
"I feel like I've been very helpful, giving you the tools you need to save this dog."
"Not as helpful as you could have been." Revan grumbled angrily, reviewing the scroll. Revan briefly looked up at the dog. Calm down. My feelings aren't important right now. Revan had breathed in deeply, and let it out in a sigh. He formed the handseals one after the other, trying to get a feel for how his chakra wanted to flow throughout his body. Revan's meditation-esque method was interrupted by him feeling a pair of watchful eyes behind him.
"Something interesting?" Revan asked, mildly annoyed.
"Possibly, keep going." Revan's eyes instinctively rolled. Another deep breath, and trying to focus on the flowing chakra through his being. He willed his whirling chakra into his hands. He held his hands outward towards the dog, and a warm golden glow engulfed Revan's hands. The man's tight gaze, once again felt by Revan, interrupted his concentration. The golden glow around Revan's hands flickered before going out all together.
"What is so interesting?" Revan asked, a bit tired. The man said nothing, but was writing something down. Revan looked back at the dog, seeing it had curled up into a ball, and began to relax. Revan's focus sharpened right away. He moved his chakra to his hands, once again. Revan had reached out to the dog. Once again, Revan felt a pair of eyes drilling into him. Revan was unshaken the vivid image of the dog still burnt into his mind. I can't afford to waste much more time. Don't let him distract you. Revan wanted to help the dog, and to do that, he'd have to ignore the man's curious glare. He opened his eyes to see the soft golden glow around his hands. Revan gently placed his hands on the dog's wounds.The dog flinched, before relaxing. Revan held his hands there for a minute or two, and when he removed them, the wounds were scabbed over. Revan did the same with the minor injuries he had treated before. Revan had released his control over his chakra, allowing it to flow freely once more. Revan pet the dog's head. It got up with little problem and seemed much better. Revan smiled. Revan looked at the man.
"That last guy was fake, wasn't he?" Revan asked the man.
"So you picked up on that?"
"I had my suspicions. You stopped the illusion before he could make physical contact, he was how you managed to convince me to learn the healing technique, how you got to observe... something about me, and finally, and most convincingly, when you stopped his punch there wasn't any wind or gust, when there should have been."
"You're very perceptive."
"You purposefully left those gaps in the genjutsu, right?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Given your skill, you could have easily made it so they weren't there, or at least less noticeable. My question about that is why did you leave them?"
"I've seen you around, you needed a friendly push in the right direction." Revan sighed deeply.
"Thank you, I couldn't have saved the dog without your help." The man with unknown motives let out a smile.

2,060 wc

Claims: 10 stat points
Healing Jutsu (Level 2 Learned)