Hakumei is a ninja whose family never integrated into Konohagakure. They took the chance provided by the end of the Clan Wars to put as much distance as possible between ninja conflicts and their lives as a family. They wanted nothing to do with combat, and that strong pacifist attitude was impressed upon Hakumei even at a young age. However, due to the general weakness of the family, when trouble came about, they had no means of protection. None other than hiding.
Hakumei was the only one who was not found, by suppressing and concealing her minimal Chakra, erasing herself from the world as best she could. But she did not find out what happened to her parents, the mighty ninja who had
dared to never become mighty and simply live in peace. She has thus spent the intervening years trying to locate them, training herself in ninja arts and seeking out masters where she could among the nebulously-aligned groups who continue to refuse to join with the Villages. She didn't have much in the way of education growing up, outside of ninjutsu and genjutsu, and thus she is lacking information on many things. However, she has recently come into contact with a very highly-educated woman with a dream of peace for the whole world, that can best be obtained through accruing knowledge, information, and allies.
Thus, even as she studies with and is taught by Reikoku, Hakumei continues to perform her role as a mercenary, establishing herself as a reliable but low-powered kunoichi, even as she secretly continues to build her power and
strengthen her sensory abilities to gather information on other ninja. All of this is not JUST for the benefit of Reikoku and this 'Fall' organization, however, but also part of an attempt to make it possible to resolve any conflict through non-lethal means… Genjutsu would appear to be the ultimate solution to that. But Hakumei will have to be a very powerful Genjutsuist for no one to be able to stand against her. Thus she has begun taking on higher-risk jobs, to push her skills ever further, and test her jutsu against various opponents. She has spent 10 years refining her skills in battle and out, but it appears now that her true training has only just begun.
And perhaps pushing herself in this manner is just what she needs to make her sensory abilities stronger too. Though she was nine when her parents vanished, and she sometimes doubts her own memories, and can no longer even see their faces when she tries to imagine them… She remembers the feel of their Chakra. And that might be the last and only hope she has of rejoining her family.
Personality
Somewhat flighty and simple-seeming, she is smarter than she acts, just extremely lazy. She prefers the straight forward approach to most things, rather than subtlety, which is an odd contradiction of priorities for a Genjutsu user. But overwhelming Genjutsu power does not require subtlety if it can shut down all foes who fall before it. Or maybe she's just too lazy to put in the effort to be subtle. It's hard to say.
Though she acts childish and looks the part, leading others to assume her immature, young, and naive, Hakumei has a quiet sort of awareness and information processing ability that registers varying degrees of "danger", in and out of social situations, and she uses this to gauge appropriate courses of action in combination with her intelligence. She avoids violent combat because she senses the danger to herself, and prioritizes away from such.
When forced to deal with extreme levels of danger, her reasoning and decision-making abilities degrade increasingly until she is running on pure instinct in an attempt to save herself. While she is perfectly fine working with others, the only reason she's alive now is because she did everything she could to save herself, up to and including spontaneously manifesting a latent sensor capability. If she is seriously pushed, there's no telling what else might pop out and who might be sacrificed for her own well-being…
Appearance
Hakumei is a young woman with very long, spikey black hair, and dull-red eyes. She wears a somewhat ragged black kimono, tattered about the sleeves and hem, and may appear rather unkempt as a result. However, she tends to be clean and groomed, despite the state of her clothing. There also seems to be an abundance of black feathers in her environment wherever she goes.
She's teaching Hakumei a lot, and leading her down certain paths in life, but maybe Hakumei wants to be led. She's increasing in power and knowledge, and seeing places in the world she wouldn't otherwise. Even if some of those places are scary. Hakumei thinks Reikoku is pretty strong, and that she's better off working with her than not.
Hakumei only knows this person by their Shinrin identity presently. But even if he's kind of bossy and annoying and maybe even boring, when he fights he's amazing! Hakumei has a very high opinion of Shinrin's fighting skills, which might go beyond what Shinrin actually has. But it does mean she's willing to follow his lead and do what he says in battle, trusting in his greater prowess to carry them through.
She hasn't had a chance to interact with them yet, but they seem like Hakumei's type of kunoichi! Excitable, a little bit silly, and good at distractions. Can't take ninja-ing too seriously, or you'll go nuts!
Fall went to Sunagakure to talk to her for some reason but another pair of people they wanted to talk to showed up at the same time, requiring that Hakumei stall to keep Itami there. It was kind of terrifying, but she succeeded. Itami seemed like a reasonable person. Hakumei might be okay talking to her under less assassin-under-the-ground circumstances.
A pretty lady, and friendly too! She complimented Hakumei's name! Hakumei doesn't know why, but she appreciated that! She'd like to talk again sometime.
Stand-offish. Didn't introduce himself. No idea who he is exactly, but he was wary of Hakumei and Reikoku. …Which is pretty reasonable. She can't fault him for that. But he didn't even offer his NAME! That's just like… Bro! Brah! Broskate! Seriously! Hakumei offered HER name! So rude!
I am getting anxiety butterflies in my stomach. This isn't my first dangerous situation, but usually I'm dealing with other humans, not… Ghosts or witches or whatever we're up against. Serial killers too maybe? Do serial killers count as humans? Pretty sure they're some kind of awful parasite. Or predator. Maybe that's a better analogy. Ugh, I'm just trying to be less scared by making fun of the stuff I really don't want to run into. I hope this Shinrin guy is strong, because I'm not sure how much good I'll do if we have to fight something. Oh well. I don't have to be the strongest. Or the fastest. I just have to be faster than the next slowest person. …Sadly, I think I may be the slowest, even accounting for all that weight on chest that Reikoku-sama has to carry around.
OH MY DONKEY, FUTURE ME, I TOLD YOU TO WISH ME LUCK. INSTEAD YOU JUST WISHED ME SKELESPIDERS. NEVER COMING BACK HERE. NEVER GONNA' COME, NEVER GONNA' RETURN, NEVER GONNA' GIVE YOU UP OR LET YOU DOWN. This place is officially off my tourism list. If Reikoku-sama wants help, she'll need to find someone else.
Or hire some meat shields to put between me and the nightmare monsters.
Not to scale. Also the real thing was not as cute.
We split up with Shinrin for awhile after that mission. Or rather, we went back to Kusagakure, and hung out underground. And I hated it, it was all dark and cold and gross. And there were snakes for some reason. But soon enough we were on our way again, to go find someone. Reikoku-sama is rarely emotional but I get the sense she was annoyed at someone. From what little I've seen of her fighting style and abilities, I'm not sure if I should be worried or not if this jo-ho we're after is going to wind up sliced up like… Like… Cut up hot dogs. That go in beans???
Anyway, the desert is awful and I hate it. It's so stupidly hot and the sun is my nemesis. At least I met a couple of people. Though one was all uber-mystery, the other one was some lady who liked my name. Alas, we didn't find who we were looking for, and had to back out into the desert.
Between dark underground and sunny sun, I'm gonna' wilt! I seriously mean it! I'm getting wilty!
We eventually wound up in Sunagakure. They have water, and shade, and food, and beds with slightly less sand than the desert outside. A definite step-up from being outside the Village's walls. Though the place looks kind of wrecked like maybe some crazy ninja army blew through here?? And I guess that's exactly what happened???? We're sticking around for a little bit to talk to some folks. I met a couple of dancer twins with lots of energy. I'd like to chat with them some more in the future.
But the most important thing of all is that Sunagakure has merchants selling candy. Banana taffy, infact. Like, such taffy, much banana, very candy. Wow. Makes the whole trip worth it. Almost.
I still hate deserts though.
Okay maybe the desert isn't so bad if the people living there can make stuff like this.
So apparently Shinrin is actually this chick named Kuchibiru except actually he or she is also not Kuchibiru, and actually I'm not sure what their real name even is or who they actually are. All I know is they're a shapeshifter or something and they've killed people in the past to take their identities. I wasn't told before now in order to protect me, because, like, that's the sort of thing that would make a lot of people mad, you know?
Makes sense. Though still kind of annoying. Reikoku-sama thinks whatever Kuchibiru actually is, and also me, should go learn the Summoning Technique or something. Not sure why. I guess it would be useful though. I wonder what kind of animals I'll be summoning?
Awesome, back out into the awful, awful desert. At least this time we're LEAVING it. I will miss you, banana taffy, but it was a relationship that was never meant to be.
Though I guess along the way to our destination, we have to pass through some kind of graveyard or something. What a stupid freaking idea. Quickest route to our destination though. Sigh.
How do you make a desert grave yard worse? A sand storm! How do you make a desert grave yard during a sand storm worse? Add ghosts! How do you make a haunted desert grave yard during a sand storm worse? Add an underground dungeon or something that you have to scout out for a potential future base but it's so full of instant death that you can't even enter it! That was my Dead Sands experience, it is now marked off the bucket list, I am not going back.
You know what? It's been great. IT'S BEEN GREAT. But I have to go bye.
I'm not sure what getting mercenary jobs has to do with summoning, but my companion, who I guess is actually named Nano, said it was necessary. I guess having some cash can't hurt, but I'm not the fighting type, and I guess this is an assassination mission or something. I'm just going to hang back and let Nano handle that. I doubt I'd be very useful.
But seriously, what does this even have to do with summoning.
I've only known Reikoku for a few years. I've known Shinrin for even less time. But here the three of us are, going on an adventure into some dark and spooky woods. I guess we're looking for a place to set up an out-of-the-way base or something. Technically, I guess a haunted forest qualifies.
So I guess we're looking for a team mate who can be anyone, or something? Maybe we should get some radios. I think that would be faster and easier. For me.
The best time for a bunch of foreigners to try to catch the Kazekage for a chat is directly after an attack by crazy terrorist scumbags! Clearly our timing is the best! Sigh, at least there was some candy on sale. Though I guess maybe in the middle of a crisis might actually be a good time to approach the Kazekage if our plan is to help her out. She'd probably welcome it. Wow. I meant it sarcastically before, but I guess our timing is actually really good!
I'd kind of like to just take the easiest route. Maybe for people to leave me alone. I'll figure things out. And I don't have to "act like an adult" to do it, just because others say I have to.
"How Do You Love Someone"
Ashley Tindale
I seem functional on the surface because I don't let anyone look deeper. They think I'm just socially awkward. If that's all they think, I've succeed in deceiving them about how broken I truly I am.
