Aru is a Genin eager to fulfill her duties as a ninja. Burdened with the pressure of being a Head Family member, and of upholding the Hyuga name, she feels she must compete with much more accomplished and capable ninja in the elite Team 13.
Aru is a genin hyuga who graduated four years ago, showing exemplary talent. But she has been kept around the main house's compound all this time, due to her parents being protective of her and intent on her taking a place among this most prestigious of families, rather than going out on missions that would endanger her and the Clan's secrets by extension. She has mostly had busy work to do as a result, or 'guarding' the compound, leaving her with little to no advancement skill-wise. She seeks to follow the example of other Main House ninja who have gone before her into the ninja forces though. She is nobody's "princess", and while she wants to make her parents proud of her, she is also a strong-spirited, and independent girl who is just looking for a reason to take on full ninja duties. The recent joining of another main house ninja, Reime, to a team with two Uchiha, may be just what she needs. She intends to spin politics into her own best interests, by proposing to her parents that allowing a member of the main house to be protected only by members of a different Clan is both not in the Hyuga's best interests, and a sign of weakness in the eyes of others. She is smart enough to know how much her parents value appearances. If this works, some strings might be pulled to have her assigned to Uchiha Tsugumi's sensor unit, along with "big sister" Reime.
Personality
Socially awkward, fierce and determined, can be somewhat stand-offish despite wishing to be friendly with others. She just can't figure out how, and frequently second-guesses herself in interactions. She has learned through her experiences on Team 13 to speak up more, to stand up for herself, and not to be afraid to help others. She is more confident in her own strength and in the team work and friendships forged under Rankoro Rinoko and the guidance of Uchiha Tsugumi. But she still has serious self-doubts and can be moody at times when she feels offended by something.
She is quite serious and dedicated, and really needs to learn how to have fun and relax. But humor and silliness just seem like pointless frivolity to her.
Appearance
Aru is a young Hyuga woman with straight black hair down to her shoulders, kept neatly trimmed. She has the standard pale eyes of her Clan, with a somewhat more tan complexion. She's an older teenager, noticeably developing the body of a woman, though doesn't seem to possess a lot of muscle definition. Clothing varies, but a small vest buttoned over a mesh undershirt, and a pair of shorts, with sandals on her feet, is typical attire. A forehead protector is frequently about her throat, along with a long forest-green scarf, and she has a pouch for ninja tools at her side.
Tsugumi-sensei is one of the two leaders of Team 13. She leads "Team Tsugumi", our "A Squad". She is a wise, experienced, compassionate, brave, and beautiful kunoichi. She understands teamwork, friendship, family, and what it is to be a teacher and leader, and her grasp of the responsibilities she bears as a ninja of the Hidden Leaf, and how to accomplish them despite what they must cost her personally, shows she is truly a great shinobi. I sometimes wonder why she chose me to be on Team 13. But I always eventually decide I'm glad she did.
Tsugumi-sensei's daughter. Suzuha-senpai is a close friend. Despite being stronger than I am, she needed my help to overcome her own flaws, and has worked hard to help me with my own training. I once viewed her as a rival for the attention of Reime-oneesan, but it's not like that anymore. I know her. She knows me. We each know the other will do whatever we can to help each other, and that no one can come between us.
Reime-oneesan and I are part of the Head Family. I looked up to her so much, and wanted to be around her more and more. But she's been so busy, that she's now more of a reserve member of Team 13 than anything… I've seen her LESS since joining this team. I wonder where she is and what she's doing? I miss her, but I don't feel that need to follow her around all the time anymore. I can stand on my own now.
Our second team leader, Rinoko-sensei leads Team Rinoko, the squad that I am part of. Like Tsugumi-sensei, Rinoko-sensei is a kind, intelligent woman. She is one of the people who has helped me to learn and grow, and despite us both sharing social issues, together we've pushed past them and become better people… Braver people, who can fulfill our roles as ninja and as team mates. I'm glad she was there for Tsugumi-sensei when the latter lost her husband as well. I think Tsugumi-sensei would have had a much harder time without the support of her co-captain.
She used to annoy me to no end. She was always teasing me and sneaking up on me, and I felt so inferior to her for being a Chuunin already despite being younger than me. It's not like that now. We understand each other more. She can still be kind of annoying, but we're much closer than we once were.
One of many geniuses on Team 13, and younger than any of us. She is one of our two medics, skilled in multiple ninjutsu styles, and a sensor ninja as well. All very formidable skills. But I get the impression she has had a very difficult and isolated childhood, where she was unable to connect with or interact with other people in a normal manner. Maybe all the proclamations of her being a "genius", and putting her on a pedestal made her feel separated from others. But it's like she doesn't know how to express emotion. Team 13 is a miraculous squad. It has taught many with social problems how to act and how to become better. Maybe I'll try to help her grow out of her shell like others have helped me.
A Jounin who has gone on missions with us from time to time, and been there for some of our training. I get that he is very experienced and strong, but sometimes he just seems very clueless as well. But for some reason, it seems like really strong people tend to be really dumb. Still, I can find no fault with his courage or dependability, and he is Suzu-san's boyfriend. He has provided her with much-needed emotional support, I think. I am grateful for that.
While I should work on my offenses as well, now that my perceptual powers have increased as much as I can extend them right now, I believe I can fulfill my role as a sensor adequately. To keep myself safe to continue fulfilling that role, I need to increase my defensive effectiveness. I can't always have the others protecting me.
I know how to perform the Heavenly Spin. Rather than spending time and effort on a brand new jutsu, I'll just focus on trying to strengthen what I already know. There has to be a way to make my technique stronger and able to handle more types of attacks.
I asked Suzuha-san to help me with my training. She launched some Fire Style jutsu at me, but she was holding back a lot to avoid overpowering me. I wish I was strong enough she didn't have to hold back, but it is what it is. I was able to deflect her attacks fairly readily, but I had to push my Byakugan to the limits when she started using her normal strength. Unfortunately, she didn't know any Fire Style jutsu stronger than C-Rank, but she promised to fix that so she could help me train further.
Hinotori-sensei came by to watch us and offer advice. It was unsolicited, and mostly not relevant to what we were doing, but I appreciate his efforts to help. I think he just wanted to be involved somehow, but wasn't sure how. Maybe I should get to know him better sometime when we're not on a mission. As it is, I just feel like I'm monopolizing his girlfriend's time otherwise.
I wanted to increase the types of jutsu I can defend against, now that I've been able to push the strength and range of the Heavenly Spin further. Nonon-san assisted me by using Lightning Style jutsu against my barrier, and I think I have the handle of deflecting that. Saori-san promised to work on improving her Earth Style so she could try to help me defend against those as well, but at this point I might be better off just asking Rinoko-sensei to do it. As much of a prodigy as Saori is, I think she lacks the raw power to make trying to block it meaningful training. I also need someone to use Wind and Water Style against me…
Nonon is working on Wind, but it may be awhile before she has anything useful. Tsugumi-sensei is way too powerful for me to practice against her Water Style. But maybe if she holds back… I'll have to ask her.
My efforts have paid off, thanks to the help of everyone. I can now use the Great Heavenly Spin jutsu. I demonstrated it to my parents, and they told me the technique I had been trying to create already existed, and that was its name. That was a bit embarrassing. But they were proud of me for having come to this point without even needing instruction or knowing the jutsu existed. That was less embarrassing.
I suppose now that my defenses are this strong, I should consider my offense… But I feel like I'm close to understanding something more about my Byakugan. As though maybe, if I push a little bit further, I'll reach a new level. It's so close I can taste it.
This was the chain of events that introduced me to Team 13, and the rigours of being a shinobi. We uncovered a conspiracy, defeated foes, suffered losses and injuries, and came out the other side damaged but ready to grow stronger. The Bombers and their allies caused a lot of problems, and not all of them can be fixed. This was the start of everything.
I nearly died on this mission. It was supposed to be simple. It was anything but. I could do little to help after I was injured, but it motivated me to grow stronger, and I believe I may have contributed during the early stages… But when those monsters appeared, I was simply out of my league. I'm glad I was able to trust the others to protect me and carry the day.
???
TBD
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Attacks on the borders. Civilians slaughtered. And Team 13 the only ones in a position to stop the perpetrators. I still have to wonder why no one else intervened. This was the beginning of something larger. We just haven't found out what yet.
