Hidden Copse (Private)

Anei chuckle softly, sliding his sword back into his sheath taking a few steps forward fluidly. She was clever for her age. Or perhaps it was the simplicity in the mind of a child. He watched her intently with growing curiosity welling up in his eyes.

"Something about you caught my eye, something different from the crowd, something that stands out. I'm getting plenty of training,its just training of a different sort. What other thoughts are you having, then?"

Paks sat up straighter. She still was not sure why he would do this, other training? Paks went on though, because he was an adult.

"I also wonder about how you are different from other shinobi that I know. Is there a reason for that? Are you unique, an abnormality, or are other shinobi outside of Suna like this?" Paks paused, was she saying too much? She should not be telling him this anyway, or at least she did not think she was supposed to.

Anei continued smiling at her, coming to sit in front of her and chuckling merrily. It amazed him, it seemed as though she danced some line connecting two very different worlds, the childlike straightforward nature and curiosity yet coupled with a very mature awareness and calculating capability. He arched a brow hearing her pause at the end of her sentence.

"Hmm, well, every one of us is an abnormality in our own right. That is what makes people interesting. But it is true that some are more unique than others. Just as I found you to be pleasantly unique among the villagers of the sand, I too, I suppose, would be considered particularly unique. I notice you hesitate, Paks-chan. No need to hide or restrain anything from me, say all that there is to say, in the way you would like to say it. Formalities and protocol mean little to me."

"How? Shinobi have to follow protocol, at least to a certain extent, in that way they should matter to everyone," She stated. She was relieved to know that he was unique, it would not do to be as unsettled by other foreign ninja. Although if he found her unique she wondered if that meant that she would also in turn unsettle someone. She was beginning to learn that there was a certain advantage to that ability, once she had been unaware of before.

He nodded, leaning in a little to listen better, resting his gloved hands on his legs, coat spread around him on the ground.
"I meant mainly that there was no need to worry with me about one should or should not say, should or should not think, or should or should not do. You can do as you wish, how you wish, around me. But, what protocols are these you say a shinobi must follow?"

Paks blinked. Tilted her head to the side. Blinked again. She would not allow herself to show more surprise than those actions, forcefully clamping down on her self-control.

"...How do you not know? I... I could not very well just list them. They are too expansive," she waved her right arm slightly. There, maybe he had phrased that wrong or something. It was impossible for him to not know.

Anei blinked, tilting his head to the side, then smiled in a sort of playful mock of her, speaking warmly yet as incredulously as she had. While occasionally a questions such as that would only be asked for manipulative purposes, to use the answer to lead the other person to a new line of thinking, in this case he truly wanted to hear her answer.

"well what makes you assume I would have to know?"

Paks couldn't help it this time, she lost her composure and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What... But you're a shinobi! Is that not reason enough to assume?"

Anei laughed a little finally seeing her lose her composure. She was a tough egg to crack but it turned out was still just a child. He reached out and tussled her hair again still laughing.

"Whoever told you I was shinobi? And for that matter, what is a shinobi to you?

"What?" Paks stared at him quizzicaly. "But... But, you fight as if you've had training of some sort and you use shuriken, and most people who are not shinobi do not ask a shinobi where to train," she finished in an openly startled tone. This was not at all what she had expected him to say. At all, and she was too unsure to be able to grasp her emotions at the moment.

He simply continued to smile at her.

"Saying 'most people' is making an assumption, when I already told you I was unique. Any fool on the street can throw a shuriken after a few days practice...As for my training, it goes back to one of my questions you still haven't answered. What do you consider a shinobi?"

"A shinobi is someone who was trained to kill using various means by a hidden Village or person previously trained in the art," Paks said. "A tool, if you would, of the Village or group or whatever they belong to."

"Fair enough, a better answer than I had expected. But I am no person's tool, so perhaps I am not a true shinobi. In any case, what protocol did you assume I would abide by? What protocols do you follow? And how do you feel, sand shinobi, about being a tool?"
His smile lingered though it was somewhat less sincere, his eyes cooling off a little as they studied her more intently.

Paks began reciting things off the top of her head, some of them she knew where general protocol, some were just Clan protocol, "A shinobi must always carry out the mission assigned, unless it endangers their kage. A shinobi must remember the mission comes first. A shinobi must never show his tears. A shinobi must always listen to their commanders. A shinobi must not show weakness at any time. A shinobi must always be ready to sacrifice their life for their Village. A shinobi must never be merciful with an enemy," she paused, "Do you really want me to keep listing?"

She then remembered his second query. "If I am a shinobi then I am a tool, that is all there is to it. What then does it matter how I feel?"

"That'll do for now...I just wanted to ask you a few questions. I want to know what you think, how you feel. Do you really believe in all those protocols? You sound to me like you are reciting, not explaining, Paks-chan."
He smiled very subtly, tilting his head again.

Paks nodded, "Yes. They are protocol so of course I believe in them." She watched him, for some reason she thought that he might not think that was the correct answer. Well, he was unique as stated earlier, she tried to use that as an excuse to placate her mind.

He straightened up a little, his smile softening.

"The flaw to that answer lies in the answer. 'because they are protocol' is the reason for believing in them? You sound like an imitation, you are repeating what you have been told Paks-chan. I want to know what you BELIEVE not what you know. Take if from your heart, not your mind."

Paks shook her head, "It is what I believe," she said adamantly. "It is what I belive." How could this not be what she believed? Paks was still confused but beginning to see that they must differ on this point. Maybe the Village he was from was not as strict with protocol? She heard that Leaf was always bending things like that.

Anei shrugged a little, watching her. Perhaps she was yet too young to grasp this test, or perhaps she did believe, it was hard to tell. Still, she wasn't without hope. He only hoped her devotion to these formalities and protocol was not truly embedded into the core of her being, that there was something more beyond it. One way to find out.

"Alright. but, why do you believe?"

"The things shinobi do, our purpose here, there are rules that you need to follow to better prepare you for those things, if you acted as a normal civilian you would be unable to deal, to be as effective. What is a shinobi if they are not effective? If they cannot handle the job? They are not truly a shinobi then," Paks said with conviction. It made sense to her, she did not understand why this did not make as much sense to him.

Anei smiled at her listening to this, nodding his head as his grin grew. He could not help but chuckle softly. A view so different from his own, and yet at the heart so similar, a different route built on similar principles.

"A good answer Paks-chan. You are well aware of your place in this world, and steadfast enough to defend yourself against any unruly questioning to that place. I was raised and trained by a sole man, who was never anything more than that, a trainer. I can't remember my family. So I was never given a natural sense of these protocols, I enjoy listening to others describe them with such conviction. Thanks."

Anei watched her closely, smiling, winking at her, gloved fingers drumming on his leg idly.

"So then you are a shinobi?" Paks needed to know this, he could easily have been lying earlier since it seemed that this had been a test of some sort. She was glad to have passed, or seemingly passed, but she was unaware as to why she was being tested.

He shrugged again, nodding a little.

"By your definition, yes, you would say I am a shinobi. With the exception of the fact that I do not consider myself a tool...I am one of the tool users. I answer to nobody because i must, or because of any protocol...I answer to those I choose to answer to, whom have earned my trust, or my respect."

Paks nodded. "Okay then." She could understand him now, in a small extent. In this way she gathered her composure once more, wishing that she had not lost it in the beginning.

Anei chuckled watching her. It was almost like the wall she put up was visible, so obvious was it when she had control again. Tilting his head inquisitively, he reached out to mess with her hair a little again, gauging her reaction carefully.
"Glad to have met you Paks-chan" ^_^