Valen? Teaching? P

Spoiler:

Well this was certainly an interesting turn of events that had come out of left field. He was teaching… Him… Valen Akari, also known as one of the most reclusive young Jounin within the village. Now he was being forced to teach a class of twenty academy students that would all be sitting before him soon, eager to learn, and probably be confused as to why in the world the Dark Prince of Hoshi was standing before them instead of their regular academy teacher. He teenager sighed deeply as he thought back about an hour ago when he was awoken by a bird at his window, pecking ceaselessly. Of course it was supposed to do that as it needed to deliver its message to the recipient. In this case of course, the intended target for the urgent message was the crimson garbed Jounin. Of course at that moment he wasn’t garbed in anything except a bed sheet. Stupid early morning missions, but that’s neither here nor there. The Jounin would take the mission report expecting some kind of urgent rescue, or assault mission that would need his immediate attention. Of course he was surprised he was shocked to find that it wasn’t any of those things, but instead it was a mission request for him to sub in for an academy teacher that had an emergency occur and needed a cover. 

Valen of course would follow orders, after all it was what he signed up for when he became a shinobi. So with a yawn he resigned himself to his fate before giving the bird a small pet and closing the window, prompting the creature to fly away to the roost where it would receive a treat of some kind for a job well done and allowed to rest. He would proceed to dress himself fully, including his new armor that had somehow materialized in his home overnight one night a few nights prior. He had spent most of his time at recently, meditating and making sure he was sharp mentally, it was just as an important aspect of a shinobi’s life as their bodies were. It wouldn’t do to let it become dull, much like his blade. By now the now crimson garbed shinobi would be fully dressed and outfitted, including his weapon of choice. Of course he wouldn’t leave his home without it, such a decision could come back to bite him in the ass if he allowed such a thing to happen. Even if he simple stored it within his Storage Displacement something would always be near him when he needed it. 

Based on the time he had an hour to get to the class and set up. He considered what he wanted to do with the class. What lesson to teach them, what to show them. He wasn’t really cut out as a teacher in his opinion but there had to be something he could teach time. He tapped the hilt of his sword as he moved toward the academy, thinking as he moved before an idea struck him. Turning quickly he made a detour to run a side errand so that he could get something he needed as materials. He had a lesson idea now, and with what he was planning it would easily get the idea into all twenty of their little imaginative heads. 

Now, after his preparations were completed he would now be awaiting for each of the students at the front of the room, as a dutiful teacher should. Slowly, one by one they would file in over the course of the last thirty minutes before class began. They were all chatting away happily as they came in and sat down with their friends and continued to speak amongst themselves. As more students came in and sat down the noise level of the room slowly increased in volume, making it bit by bit, more intolerable. He would wait patiently though, class had not officially started yet after all. This was their time, because soon he would obliterate their little minds in shock and awe. He wouldn’t be surprised if some of them quit the academy after today. For he would be teaching a harsh lesson. One a shinobi didn’t usually learn until it was far too late in one way or another. 

At 6 AM exactly Valen would clear his throat loudly. The sound would go unheard by the students, but a few in the back that weren’t chatting, the loners by his guess, would know that he was trying to get everyone’s attention. As well as his lack of success at doing so. They would brace for whatever yelling or screaming that would be coming. Valen however, as we all know, is quiet by nature. He wouldn’t raise his voice unless in extreme circumstances. As such he wouldn’t be yelling or screaming this morning. His chakra would focus up, and a small dose of chakra pressure across the room paralyzed the students in fear. It wouldn’t be powerful or dense enough to manifest the crimson snake that tended to coil around him when he used the full display of his power, but the pressure was more than enough to paralyze a class of young kids. He would maintain the power for a few moments before slowly letting it dissipate. As one group the students would turn toward him now, silent and wide eyed. This wasn’t their normal teacher. 

“Good morning Class, I am Valen Akari, you may call me Valen-Sensei for the day. I’m here to fill in for Hijikata-Sensei this morning as he had an emergency come up that required his attention.” He would say formally, his voice would be loud enough to be heard by everyone in the back, but otherwise it wouldn’t be any higher than normal. “I’m going to start with asking you all what you’ve learned so far. I would like an idea of how far along you all are in your studies.” He would continue to say before seeing the raised hand of a student that had been a bit too quick in his opinion. Obviously this question wasn’t in answer to his question, after all one would generally have to think for a moment or two to remember everything they had covered. “Yes?..” Valen would ask with a raised eyebrow in curiosity, the young girl in question would speak up, a clear, confident, yet confused voice ringing out toward the Jounin. “Um, aren’t you going to get everyone’s names and such?” She would ask with a raised eyebrow of her own, eliciting a chuckle from the normally stoic weapon user. “Absolutely not.” He would begin, enjoying everyone’s confused looks as they wondered if they heard him correctly. “I don’t know any of you, and by the end of the day, I probably still won’t. Even if that weren’t the case, I still wouldn’t learn your names. As it makes this far too formal. I’m supposed to treat each and every one of you equal, and if I get closer to any of you then my integrity as an instructor will be compromised. I could become either harder on favorites to make sure they do well. Or more lenient and have them be unprepared. When in reality I should be hard on all of you to make sure you all understand what you’re signing up for. So no, I do not care to learn any of your names.” He would lecture casually, giving a shrug toward the end as the students stared at him in confusion. 

They had never had an instructor like this before, he didn’t care to learn anything about them. He was here just to teach them, to prepare them. He had their attention now, they all wondered what in the world he would be teaching them today. Another students hand went up in a flash. Valen nodded his head toward the young boy he stood straight and bowed his head politely. “If I may Valen-Sensei. So far we’ve learned theory behind trap setup, and the importance of teamwork.” He would say before sitting down again. The resident snake summoner would nod his head in understanding before taking a deep breath. He felt there was a more important lesson to be taught here today. Hijikata could continue where he left off tomorrow. With whatever students might remain. “We are in the village of Hoshigakure. To be more specific, we are in the academy designed to train shinobi for the village. With that in mind, I have a question for you all.” He would say, casually sweeping his gaze across the room to avoid making eye contact with any one student. “Do you feel safe?” He would ask in curiosity, getting more than a few raised eyebrows. Students looked at each other in confusion before all nodding toward him in the positive. “I want you all to feel under your desk, right now. Don’t worry, you won’t find any gum.” He would say before students began to feel under their desk, peeling off a slip of paper that seemed to be stuck on the bottom and pulling it out to discover what it truly was. 

Slowly the students eyes would widen and their skin would turn pale. Valen was briefly reminded of a certain albino boy with a dog that he spoke with not too terribly long ago as the colour drained from the faces of the students. For all of the students were holding in their hands, an explosive tag, that they peeled directly off of their desk. Of course they weren’t primed, but they were in fact real. “You say you feel safe, yet you’ve been at my mercy since the moment you sat down in this room.” He would state evenly, without a hint of emotion present in his voice. “Something I want you all to understand in your decision to become a shinobi for our great village is the reality of the situation. In choosing to take up this profession you will be asked, no, ordered to put your life on the line each and every day. The consequence of not knowing your surroundings could be the death of you, or a teammate. Look at your neighbor.” He would say, each student immediately and without question looking toward their neighboring student. “If you don’t check your surroundings carefully, you could cause the death of the person you’re looking at. As well as anyone else in this room or the other classrooms. Could you live with yourself after that? The first step to becoming a shinobi isn’t the theory of trap setup and teamwork. It’s understanding the weight of your decision. You’ll be put into life and death situations with the people surrounding you. They might be the only thing keeping you from dying in the future, as you could be the only thing keeping them from the same fate. So always know your surroundings, and if you come back to class tomorrow make sure you understand what you’re signing up for.” He would say before motioning down toward the desk. “Single file, everyone bring your tag down and set it on the desk… What, you didn’t think I’d let you keep it did you?” He would ask with a grin. 

Slowly, the students would stand and form a single file line and each one of them would set their tag on the desk. As they did so Valen would keep lecturing. “Obviously I’m not going on with what Hjikata had planned for today. He can catch up tomorrow. I will be assigning you homework though, don’t worry, you’ll enjoy this one. Tomorrow, I want each and every one of you to try and catch Hijikata in a similar situation to what I just caught you in.” He would say as he opened up the desk drawer and pulled out twenty fake exploding tags. They were exact replicas of the real ones. Except they weren’t written with chakra, meaning they weren’t real. “These are your weapons of choice.” He would say as he moved to pass out a fake tag to each and every student. Then, making sure each ‘real’ tag was in the stack on the desk he would continue. “Most academy instructors do this job for life, sadly however that means at times their skills rust, and their your first and sometimes last line of defense if an attack were to occur on the village. Your homework is to prove to Hijikata that he needs to keep up with his training. Don’t worry about if you pass the assignment or not. I’m sure I’ll hear about it.” He would say with a grin before continuing on with the lesson he had planned. It was an interesting day for the students. That was for sure. 

Each and every one of them showed up to class the next day too. 

Hijikata was pissed at the end of it all. 

Valen did find him in the training grounds later that week though. 

Exit
WC: 2171
Claiming mission rewards and 2171 words toward Lightguard bringing the ryo requirement down to 3658

Approved