| Inuzuka Sumire |
|
|
| Personal |
| Birthplace |
Inuzuka Village, Konohagakure |
| Birthdate |
Nov 4, 7 BF |
| Gender |
Female |
| Age |
15 |
| Height |
5' 6" |
| Weight |
149 |
| Blood Type |
AB |
| Kekkei Genkai |
None |
| Classification |
Chuunin |
| Areas of Expertise |
Close Range Combat, Search and Rescue |
| Clan |
Inuzuka |
| Affiliation |
Konohagakure |
| Team |
None |
| Rank |
| Ninja Rank |
Chuunin |
| Genin-Equivalent Age |
12 |
| Chuunin-Equivalent Age |
14 |
| Nature Type |
| Element (Affinity) |
Fire |
| Family |
| Father |
Inuzuka Rokuro |
| Mother |
Inuzuka Kiku |
| Signature Jutsu |
| Four Legged Style with her Ninken partner Hakuro |
Background
Sometimes it's quiet competency that carries the day. When Inuzuka Sumire achieved the rank of chuunin, nobody was really surprised. But, at the same time, nobody came from far away to see how she fared in the tournament, either. She wasn't expected to win, but she did do well enough to make it to the second round. Really, though, it was her performance on both the written exam - which she aced both the first and second times she entered the chuunin exams - and her time during the survival course, where she showed leadership, resourcefulness, and prowess both in stealth and fighting ability. All of the skills that suggested that she was both able and mature enough to be promoted to chuunin.
As the daughter of Inuzuka Rokuro and Kiku, Sumire has spent her life as part of the Delta Clan of the Inuzuka. Both she and her pup, Hakuro, have trained in search and rescue and to support the other members of her pack (or her team) since she was in the academy. Sure of her position, Sumire has never really challenged the alphas, be they the Inuzuka Alpha pack, or the most outspoken and flamboyant members of her class of genin. She's been content to quietly work behind the scenes for everybody's greater success, and she doesn't intend to rock that boat now that she's been promoted to chuunin.
Even though Sumire has a subdued personality, her classmates couldn't avoid but notice how smart she was. Simply put, she was always scoring at the top of the heap on any of the written work. And, more than that, she spent a lot of her free time tutoring her classmates that weren't as good as she was. Generally, her peers thought of her as bookish, but she got along with them well enough. If there was anything that disappointed her instructors, it was that she never pushed herself to excel in her taijustu, ninjustu, or genjutsu. She did enough to pass the practical examinations in the academy, but she was much more interested in working with Hakuro than becoming a master of the kunai, or learning more than the basic techniques that they were teaching all of the students.
It wasn't until she became a genin that her taijutsu skills bloomed. As an Inuzuka, she was expected to fill the role of taijutsu combatant on her three man team, and she dedicated herself to it as she never had in the Academy. It was wise placement - if she had been paired with a Hyuga or another taijutsu expert, she would have been content to let them have the spotlight. But, as she had a role to fulfill and her teammates were counting on her, she refused to let them down, and in so doing grew to master the Four Legged Style of fighting.
Stats
Personality
It’s not that Sumire has a clinical split personality, but she can be very different depending on the situation. Normally, she’s hesitant and often second guessing herself. It’s not that she’s shy, it’s more that she’s not assertive, and is often concerned that she’s going to do the wrong thing, or that somebody’s going to take what she’s saying the wrong way. She’d much rather be a member of a team than its leader, and would much rather do one on one training than lead a class.
In a fight, though, it’s like she’s a different person. As the techniques of the four legged style make changes to her body, it’s like the chakra flowing through her has unleashed her mind as well. She’s much more decisive and forceful, and sometimes even blunt. Though it doesn’t happen very often, she gets the same way when she’s drunk, too.
Appearance
Sumire doesn't need to tell people that she's an Inuzuka - it's pretty obvious even if she didn't always have a small pup at her side. Her dark brown hair is pulled back in to a pony tail - and between that tiny bit of styling and the Konohagakure forehead protector actually worn on her forehead, her hair is kept from being a completely unruly mop. She has friendly eyes, but they're so dark that it's hard to tell her iris from her pupil. Her cheeks are painted with two red triangles pointing down, another common affectation of her clan. And, of course, when she smiles - which is frequent - it's easy to spot that she's got exaggerated canines.
She wears very typical garb for a chuunin of the Hidden Leaf Village. She's fit, as one would expect for a kunoichi, but the green flack jacket she's wearing makes it a little tough to judge how curvy her figure is. Likewise, the baggy black pants that she's wearing aren't particularly flattering for her legs, though the heavy material is often more practical on missions. And while her sandals and kunai holder are just two more things that make her look like many other chuunin in a Leaf Village line up, she does show her individuality and wild nature one more way. Instead of the everpresent jacket, she goes sleeveless.
Her constant companion is a small dog named Hakuro. He’s black, except for a big white spot on his back. He has floppy ears, a fairly short muzzle, and, compared to the rest of him, his paws are fairly oversized – suggesting that he’s going to get much bigger. It’s tough to say exactly what breed he is, like many Ninken he’s something of a mutt. Also, like many Ninken, he’s had an extended puppyhood, and will likely live much longer than a regular dog. He’s a partner that can be with Sumire for many years to come.
Relationships
| Name |
Relationship |
Notes |
| Name |
Inuzuka Kiku |
Sumire gets along pretty well with her mom, and is realizing more and more that she's just like her mom was at this age. This is leading Sumire to try to be a bit more independent - she doesn't want to become Kiku 2. Her mom's kind of a Yamato Nadeshiko now, and Sumire doesn't see herself ending up that way. |
| Name |
Inuzuka Rokuro |
The Inuzuka With A Million Friends, Rokuro can negotiate with the Senju and the Uchiha, but he's having trouble relating with Sumire these days. As a chuunin, she sees herself as an adult and a full ninja, but Rokuro still sees her as his little girl. |
| Name |
Inuzuka Taiki |
Sumire gets along with Taiki, and she thinks that it's unfair that he's catching some of the blowback from his uncles turning traitor to the village. |
| Name |
Inuzuka Atsuro |
A somewhat distant blood relation, and not in her age group as well, Sumire hasn't developed a relationship with Atsuro yet. |
| Name |
Relationship |
Notes |
| Name |
Satonezu Ataru |
Sumire looks up to Ataru, and wishes that she could be as carefree as he seems to be. She's a respects him as a fighter, and is a little concerned about going on a mission with him. As a chuunin, she'd likely outrank him, and she's not sure how that will work out. |
| Name |
Naru Usagi |
Sumire has trained with Usagi, gone on missions with her, and is the girl her own age she's spent the most time with. Sumire is strongly rooting for her in the upcoming chuunin exams. |
| Name |
Uzumaki Amiko |
Though this Land of Whirlpools nin is stationed in Konoha, Sumire didn't meet her until they were both in Kirigakure to watch the exams. They developed a fast friendship. |
| Name |
Relationship |
Notes |
| Name |
Senju Isato |
Isato isn't so much an enemy or a rival, he's just somebody Sumire doesn't like. He attacked a wounded Konoha nin, end of story. The only thing keeping Sumire from thinking worse of him is she can sense the Will of Fire in him. So, there has to be a good person buried in there somewhere. |
Ninja Journal
I returned from my extended training, and was walking the streets of Konoha for the first time as a chuunin. Pretty quickly, I met a wanderer named Ataru. We had the chance to spar, and I was impressed! The villages have only been around for 7 years, so I didn't know that there were still people training to his level who weren't associated with one of the villages. But, there you have it. He's only a couple of years older than me, but he's so much further along. Also, really, he was just a lot of fun to hang out with.
I also got a chance to meet Senju Daisuke. With everything that's been going on with the Inuzuka clan and the rest of the village these days, I was expecting that there might be some trouble with meeting a Senju - but he was great! I'd love to run into him again sometime.
I got to do my first official duties as a chuunin today. Nara Usagi and Senju Isato were training for the upcoming exams, and I was helping them out. Usagi was hurt - apparently her brother is a little rough in spars - so I specifically instructed Isato to leave her alone. And he up and attacks her! I had to jump into the middle of things, and put an end to the training. I thought about writing him up, but this close to the exams, it would just mess with his chance of promotion. If everything else works out for him during the exams, I don't want to be what held him back. But, I'm not really looking forward to working with him as an equal.
I got a mission that took me to the borders of the Country of Earth. I'm so glad that Uchiha Narusegawa was team leader, I think that, overall, I did a much better job as her second. Nara Usagi was with us as well, and it was great to be able to spend more time with her. Most of the time, we were guarding a caravan that belonged to this bore who called himself Broadway Bobu. I can't say I liked him at all.
And, wow, I think I messed up. I was on point, and there was a guy that I didn't like the looks of. I didn't give a warning soon enough, though, and he was part of some guys that attacked us. Everything turned out alright, I guess. We got that guy, and one other, and they've been arrested now. But one got away. I can't help but think that the whole caravan got put into danger because I didn't stop them before they got to where the bad guys attacked. I've got to get better about going with my gut.
Nara Shintaro was holding a unusual mental training at the Ramen House - he was taking on all comers at the strategy game of their choice. Of course, I went with one that I've been playing for years, Shogi. Well, he'd beaten everybody who challenged him so far, so I didn't really think that I'd be able to get the better of him. And, I was right - I think I was maybe doing better than him up to move seven or so, but then he just destroyed me. I think he was lulling me into a false sense of security.
Ataru showed up, and in his usual boisterous way got to the head of the line of people waiting to play, and Shintaro offered to play us both at the same time. Apparently I'd done the best so far against him! So, he played us both. And won against us both. Man! He's really good.
Then, when Usagi showed up, Ataru somehow convinced Shintaro to play all three of us at the same time. I think Shintaro got kind of cocky, because he said if -any- of us managed to beat him, he'd buy all of our lunches. And I did! It was close, but I actually won a game of Shogi against him. I need to get better, and play him again when he isn't handicapping himself, though. I don't know if it was really training, but it was a lot of fun.
I had the chance to talk with Taiki today about what's been going on with our clan. It's tough enough for all of the Inuzuka that some of our members have become traitors to the village, but for him it's his uncles! And they even crippled his father! I think about that sometimes - what would it be like to have been a ninja, but to get so badly hurt that you can't perform any jutsu. It's scary to imagine. But, Taiki's dad - right now, he can't even walk. With Taiki's uncles being behind everything, his dad wasn't going to have any family with him when Taiki went out on his next mission. That didn't seem right to me. Yeah, Taiki's uncles are why our clan's having problems, but you can't blame the rest of their family. So, while Taiki was going out, I'm going to go sit with his father, so he knows that he's got an Inuzuka by his side.
I was there, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. Narusegawa-san and Ataru got into a fight - not a spar, but a real fight. It escalated pretty quickly, but I think as soon as Narusegawa-san saw Ataru, it was going to happen. As soon as she walked onto the training field, she was after him, well, yelling at him. For training. On the training field. Not even crazy training - he wasn't doing anything wrong at all. Of course, his response to her yelling at him was hitting her. THAT was wrong. I tried to keep things from exploding here, and so did a genin whose name I didn't catch (OOC Note: Berii), but there wasn't really time for introductions. It was Ataru who brought things to the full fight level, and even with Narusegawa-san goading him, if the village elders or the Hokage asks me to explain what I saw, I'm going to have to tell the truth. He was swinging hard enough that his punches were leaving huge craters in the ground, so Narusegawa-san probably wasn't breaking any rules when she defended herself with incredibly powerful lightning jutsu. I ran to get help - maybe I should have taken the genin with me, but I wanted to be able to move as fast as I could. But by the time I got back, it was all over.
I'm still kind of shaken up about what happened to Ataru, and I'm going to visit him in the hospital as soon as I can. I wish my control over my chakra was a little better, maybe I could have taken up being a medical nin, and then I could have at least stayed on the scene to help out immediately. Anyway, I was trying to work off a little stress on the training field, when I ran into a chuunin who I hadn't met before named Zuroji. He seemed to be out there for some practice, and we ended up sparring each other. I think the fight I saw yesterday was messing with me - usually once I go into four legged stance, and I can feel the chakra flowing through me, all of my doubts disappear and I know exactly what I should be doing. But in this spar, I couldn't decide how I should attack, or how hard, or anything. I was a mess! So, even though we weren't keeping score, I'd have to say that I lost. I need to get it together before I get sent on a mission.
So, it's raining like crazy when I go to check the hospital, and Ataru had already checked out. Some people said to check the training field - and there he was. At least he was out again, and he seemed to be really serious about getting stronger. I was really glad to see he was doing okay! But, I think that it means that there's going to be another fight between him and Narusegawa-san. I'm going to try to stop it from happening.
I got his side of what happened between them in the past. Don't get me wrong! I wasn't interrogating him or anything - he's probably one of my best friends, and there's no call for him to get hospitalized fighting Konoha ninja. And, I couldn't get past a couple of the things Narusegawa-san said the day they fought. One, that he was her rival - and he obviously doesn't feel that way about her. And the other was that his fighting style was undignified. She might have even said bestial. I kind of took offense at that, but at the time, there was no way I was going to bring it up. I want to talk to her, though, to see if I can get her side of things. And, I'll probably bring it up then.
There's an old saying that once an avalanche has started, it's too late for the pebbles to vote. Well, right now, Ataru and I are just a couple of pebbles. We got to talking, I mean really talking, about Fuuma Alley. What the crime organizations are doing there is just wrong. I'm not looking to start a ninja world war again, but what's the point of a village like Konohagakure having all of its might if it's not going to use it to try and put right some things in this world. So here's my thoughts:
1) The two of us aren't going to be able to make a difference on our own.
Even if a chuunin and a wanderer are powerful enough to assassinate the entire top level of the criminal organizations that run Fuuma Alley, that is just going to cause instability, and likely make things worse while new bad guys rise sort out who's in charge. So…
2) It's not enough to eliminate the government there, we have to put something new in place
That means that even just Konoha isn't enough. I don't think that, long term, the Hokage, or any of the clans, are going to want to administrate Fuuma Alley. This is getting me to think that we'd need the backing of the feudal lords. The nobles would see the upside of increasing their territory and taxes, and the people of Fuuma Alley would be far better off under the leadership of the Country of Fire than they would be under the thumbs of the criminal organizations.
3) A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
I'm not going to be able to convince nobles that this is a good idea on my own. I've got to make contacts in the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga clans. They've got the political pull to be able to push for this. So, I wasn't expecting that I'd have to do a lot of talking - I would have thought that I'd be the last person to be doing something like that. But, I've got to do this myself.
I wonder if this how Dad got his start as a negotiator?
What do you know, it is possible for powerful ninja to spar without trying to kill each other. I know, I'm just being critical here, but Narusegawa-san and Ataru's fight is still getting to me, I suppose. Anyway, Ataru got into a spar with Shintaro-san. Seeing what Shintaro-san was able to do was just impressive - he's a jounin for a reason! But, what was even more amazing was seeing Ataru do a pretty good job of keeping up. It's made me think that Narusegawa-san is probably pretty close to getting promoted to jounin. If she can deal with her personal issues. I really need to talk to her - maybe I can help.
Oh! I also met Fujiwara Ei! She seemed nice, but with the fight going on, I didn't have much of a chance to get to know her. I'll have to make a point to try to look for her. I want her to try to make a good impression! Normally, you don't get a second chance at that, but I think she may have been just as distracted as I was.
I've headed to Kirigakure for the promotion exams. I think I may be more nervous now than when I was in the exams - I was eager, and confident then, but now I've got a lot of responsibility for the genin that I'm chaperoning, and, when you get right down to it, I don't really trust the Hidden Mist Village. Still, I ran into Ataru while I was walking through the market, and just talking with him was enough to get me so I wasn't on edge. I guess I just needed a friend.
I suppose its worth mentioning that we ended up on the topic of biting. I've got to say, that's probably my least favorite part of the four legged style. Sure, we use punches and kicks and, well, claws for most of our attacks. But, our teeth get strengthened, too, and if there's an opening, and it's our best attack - we bite. In the heat of combat, it always seems like a good idea. But, afterwords, I have to deal with the fact that whatever I've bitten has been in my mouth. Just, ew. I shouldn't know what people taste like!
So I went off looking to find a good spot to read a book. I didn't want to just read in my room - I'm being a chaperon for some genin who are in Kirigakure to observe the exam, and they'd just find me and keep me from getting any reading done. I found what I thought would be the perfect spot - the Cold Springs. It was freezing out, and kind of rainy, so I didn't think anybody would go there. Wrong!
This girl came and jumped right in! It was kind of crazy. I went to check on her, and we got to talking. And so, I met Uzumaki Amiko. She's from the Land of Whirlpools, but she's stationed in Konoha on this hunt for a missing nin. He sounds like a bad guy, a master of seals, and wannabe master of poisons. I'm so going to be keeping my ear to the ground about him. Anyway, while we were talking about him, I was apparently really getting into it - because Amiko tried to splash me, and I flipped right the heck out. Before I knew it, I was in the four legged stance, and I swear, I was this close to trying to bark at her! I think that I've maybe been linking my chakra with Hakuro too much. She was really understanding, and I think we parted on good terms. I hope I didn't mess things up.
So, I went back to the Cold Springs to get some reading done, not once, but twice today. And both times there were people there! In the morning, even before most of the village was up, there was already an old guy soaking in water when I arrived. I assumed it would be rude not to say hi, and I'm glad I did! I met Goh. He called himself a seller of pickled vegetables, but he's a ninja that knows the Hokage well enough to give her a nickname - Hashi, if you can believe it! And he's apparently trying to master the Sage styles, too! Amiko showed up again pretty early into our conversation, and she's working on some really cool seal technique. It makes me feel a little underwhelmed that Hakuro and I are working on Dynamic Marking. Or, really, we're putting working on it on hold while we're in Kirigakure. That was kind of the theme of the chat - none of us really wanted anybody to see what we were working on, though, they were more worried about people seeing their techniques, and I was more worried about Hakuro peeing on something he shouldn't.
When I went back later in the day, I ran into a weird guy named Ishino. He's the first Kiri nin that I've really gotten the chance to talk to, and he wasn't as bloodthirsty as I was expecting one of them to be. But, he was really broken in another way. He has a serious fixation with his pocket watch. He was timing everything, and moving to its beat. And, man, was he just annoying to talk to! There I am, trying to represent Konoha, and he's going on about who knows what. We got into a - I don't know if debate is the right word, I guess "discussion" will have to do - about the proper behavior for ninja on a mission. He seemed to be saying that Kiri nin keep their emotions out of it - I'm not sure that's true at all. I was saying that the Hokage wants us to think and feel - we'll be the feet on the ground, and when we're given a mission, we have to react to changing situations.
Apparently, Atsuro-sempai has been talking to Ataru about whether or not that Ataru should participate in the Legendary Cup. I really didn't want to contradict what Atsuro-sempai had been saying, but Ataru really wanted to challenge himself in the matches. So, when Ataru and I got a chance to talk, I mostly made sure to talk about regret, and tried to get Ataru to see that whatever decision that he made, he'd need to do whatever would leave him without any regrets.
I don't know what it is about Ishino that gets my goat, but he always manages to wind me up! So, yeah, I ran into him again. He was being less weird this time - I got the feeling that he was still timing everything I did, but he wasn't mentioning it as much when we talked. Maybe one of his superiors said something to him? Maybe I wasn't the only person that found him kind of creepy? Who knows. Anyway, we got into a little back and forth about the importance of the exams, and I guess he was going on a bit about whether or not they were interesting. I don't know that we resolved any of our differences, but one thing that we did come to an agreement on was this: when ninjas war, it's about dominance, and the exams are a good place to establish whether or not a village is dominant without a war having to be fought over it.
I ran into Ataru again today while I was out doing a little bit of training with Hakuro. I wasn't doing anything too serious, just staying in shape. Anyway, he looked really down after his loss in the Legendary Cup, and so I thought I'd try to cheer him up. But, we ended up having a lot deeper talk than I was expecting. He's really struggling with what he should do with his life, and whether or not he should try to become a Konoha shinobi. I think he'd do great at it, but he has some concerns that are completely legit. For one thing, he doesn't want to be sent on a ninja mission that's, in a word, evil. And, while Hashiramako wouldn't take on a contract for Konoha that would have us being the bad guy, she won't always be Hokage. For another, he's worried about reprisals from the Fuuma Mafia if he joins the village. Really, though, the Mafia's not going to go attack one of the main Hidden Villages. They certainly don't want to make an actual enemy of Konoha. Of course, if I'm wrong, and they did, it would sure make me trying to figure out a way to make changes in Fuuma Alley a lot easier. Anyway, I tried to give him some other options - I didn't want him to feel trapped - but I'd love it if he officially became a Hidden Leaf ninja.
Wow. What I really got from watching the matches of both the Legendary Ninja and the chuunin that are attempting to progress to jounin, is that I'm a lot closer to the genin who are graduating to become chuunin than I am to the jounin. I'm not upset by this realization, and, I guess it's something that I was aware of before, but it was pretty graphically obvious to me after watching some of these fights. If I'm leading a team and our opponent is a jounin, unless I get a lot better, I need to be figuring out a way for our team to get clear and survive rather than trying to come up with a way to beat him. That, and I need to keep working on getting better, myself. When I get back to Konoha, Hakuro and I are going to step up our training. And, I need to see if I can get access to some mission reports - I need to see ways that other chuunin have successfully dealt with things when their team was up against somebody with significantly more power. So, yeah, I'll be setting aside some of the fiction I've been reading, and start hitting the books more seriously, too.
The exams were finally over, and I got back to Konoha safe and sound with the genin I was chaperoning. It gives you a different point of view when you're the one in charge. Watching over them wasn't a typical mission, but I'm happy to say that it was a success. When I got back to the village, I ran into a genin that I hadn't met before who was helping with the extra traffic at the village gates. His name was Yamanaka Nori, and he handled himself really well, even when some of the tempers flared when things didn't go perfectly smoothly. I pretty much tried to stay back and let him handle things - I would have hated to have a chuunin step in and take charge when I had things well in hand when I was a genin, and since he'd been given the job, I was going to show his position some respect. It turned out pretty good, too.
A couple of days later, I ran into him again. And this time, we actually got to talk. I don't know if he's typical for a Yamanaka, but I'm going to stick with my first impression. He's got a great head on his shoulders. He wants to get into intelligence work, so I pointed him towards some jounin that could maybe help him along in that field. Still, he did seem a little isolationist, maybe? I'm not entirely sure that he gets that the world out there is going to draw both the Land of Fire and Konoha itself into what's going on, so we need to already be out there. We can't just stay within our borders. Oh! I also practiced talking about needing to do something about Fuuma Alley with him. I think I need to get my pitch better, but trying to persuade Nori is actually good for sharpening my arguments for when I eventually talk to the Hokage about them.
Skills And Abilities
RP Logs
Tropes
Action Girl
Attack Animal
Badass Bookworm
The Beastmaster
Beware The Nice Ones
Canine Companion
Combination Attack
Cute Little Fangs
Determinator
Facial Markings
Hidden Buxom
The Nose Knows
Primal Stance
Teen Genius
This Is A Drill
Urine Trouble
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