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As Shuniji spoke he would notice that the dagger's blade was slowly withdrawing, but only slow enough to show that Tatsuya was thinking more of how to answer the questions he was handed. "I guess it's my upbringing, we come from different worlds Shuniji... Different universes even, the fact that we have met under these circumstances twice now, me holding a dagger to your chest." The boy looked at the older man and saw nothing more than himself several years ago, living in the fake shadow of his brother, trying to find his way to be seen and loved by someone. "I aspire to be something greater than myself, something that will be seen as something heroic, like Brother always wanted to be. He always said that when history is written the villians are nothing more than whispers, but the heroes live on forever in the hopes and dreams of younger ninja."

In that instant Tatsuya had caught up with the tip of his dagger, resorting it to it's normal short size. Though he kept it in place for a couple more moments, hoping to get an answer that would constitute him placing the knife at his waist. "Do you believe that being a tool is what we are supposed to aspire to become as ninja? To be used by a single man until we are no longer useful then tossed aside like we are rubbish? Is that what you want to be Shuniji? The only way for you to become something worth while is to have more respect for yourself not to follow a man that only leads by fear. If he truly cared about you or anyone else he would treat you differently, he wouldn't send you to kill his enemies, he wouldn't brainwash you into believing that what you are doing is good."

The boy's knees buckled under the pressure of holding himself up for so long with his injuries, and his brow began growing beads of sweat from the internal conflict of deciding what words needed to be shared. "I do not believe you like your current placement in the world... If I have everything it is only because I have those who didn't treat me like a tool, I had those who saw me as an equal enough to guide me, I had those who loved their fellow shinobi enough to die for me. I know that I am nowhere near as powerful as you Shuniji, I know that I have not the same experience you have, nor have I been exposed to the sort of love that was given to you. Even through all of this, I do not see you as an enemy, I see you as someone that needs to be given the same respect we expect, the same sort of love we are given, the same sort of opportunities we are rewarded. I would be glad to help give you the life that you deserve as a human being, not the one you have been given as a tool." With that he finally lowered his dagger to his side, allowing Shun to stand up and give his answer.

There was a moment of silence between the two ninja, the two paths that were prominent in the world represented by each of their existence. During the silence Tatsuya slowly placed his dagger back on his waist and slowly began removing what was left of his undershirt. Call him whatever you liked but after witnessing Saru be vaporized he was a bit wary of those dark blotches on Shuniji's skin. With extra care he wrapped it around his strong hand until he saw it fitting for protection against those things. "Y-you don't have to..." With a rather slow movement the boy outreached his hand to the sound ninja, offering to help him up off the ground. Either Shuniji was an amazing actor or he was sincere, both seemed likely, but Tatsuya hoped strongly for the latter.

Tatsuya gave the older man a small smile, he had to admit he would enjoy having Shuniji as an ally and not an enemy. "F-Fix what?" The boy was completely oblivious to the fact that a majority of his back had sustained some rather crazy looking burns, other than the small bit of tingling when he stretched out his muscles. Without much more than a second thought about Shun's question the boy asked loudly to the members of the Southern Division. "W-we both need medical help... And we need to figure out where we go from here... W-Who is second in command after Saru?" Possibly not the best thing to ask immediately after their first beloved leader had been burned from the planet right in front of their eyes. Heck, they could easily take care of Shuniji right now, and Tatsuya wouldn't be able to do more than defend him while they both passed out. Still though, a leader needed to be decided, they still had more business to take care of elsewhere.

"D-Did Ichite-ru lie?" The boy wanted to trust that Ichi wasn't purposely trying to instigate a war between other countries against the sou- On second thought, it sounded like something that could be lied for. "L-Li. He's in this area... We should find him..." Tatsuya spoke referring to the Immortal that roamed the area of the Fire Country Forests. On top of that they needed to find Ichite-ru in order to ensure his safety. Who was to say that the next targets would be the hosts themselves, seeing how the guardians would be out of the way.

"W-what are our orders?" They had reached a sort of predicament, they had been sidetracked several times, first with Shuniji, and now with the Immortals. Would they continue going after the people that attacked the Leaf Village or would they drop it, or would they split up? The options all seemed horrible but in the end it was ultimately up to the new leader; a man that Tatsuya would not begin to envy due to the decisions he was forced to make immediately after gaining the position.

"U-understood." Tatsuya replied a bit haphazardly, this new leader's voice didn't have the same twinge that Saru's had, and it looked as if he himself knew it. However, the mission at hand wasn't reading the new leader, it was aiding the Leaf, and as such he needed to focus on it. Without anymore words the ex-cloud ninja moved forward to resume his place at point as he had been instructed by Saru. If the new one wanted him somewhere else he would tell him, or something, but for now he would continue to do as he was first told. It was around that time that Aoiro finally made his presence known by pouncing on the boy's back and placing his large cold belly on Tatsuya's charred back which was soothing in a weird way, taking away from the stinging the air was forcing upon the wound.