Toujitakumi Nendo

Toujitakumi, (<classified>) Nendo
Personal
Birthplace	Land of Earth
Birthdate	31/Oct/4 B.F.
Gender	Male
Age	17
Height	5'10" (178 cm)
Weight	200 lb. (91 kg.)
Blood Type	AB+
Kekkei Genkai	Bakuton (Explosion Release)
Classification	N/A
Areas of Expertise	Ninjutsu
Clan	Toujitakumi
Affiliation	Iwagakure
Team	N/A
Rank
Ninja Rank	Genin
Genin-Equivalent Age	12
Chuunin-Equivalent Age	N/A
Nature Type
Element (Affinity)	Earth
Element (Secondary)	Lightning
Element (Special)	Explosion
Family
Father	Toujitakumi Ishimaru
Mother	Toujitakumi Tamako

Signature Jutsu
N/A

"Clay is a lot like a person… it is shaped by the world around it both in terms of its composition and in how its outward appearance will be. Much like with Kintsugi, a broken person can be more beautiful once mended."

Background

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It was a dark and stormy October night filled with agonized screams that echoed the thundering roar overhead. The cries resounded from within the traditional home that stood off the beaten path, downhill from the main road. In the gathering hall of the home - its sliding doors leading outside drawn open - laid a man and woman surrounded by the bodies of several others. The pained screams sounded out louder this time, brought on by the powerful grip the woman held on her husband's hand as she was directed by the midwife to "push". It was on that night that the young baby boy was brought into the world and named after the sight beyond their open doors. The boy was named "Nendo"; named after the clay his father used in molding pottery.

As the years went by, Nendo spent much of his youngest years with his mother, developing into quite the "Momma's boy." He spent almost every moment of his free time exercising with her, watching her sparring with family members, or listening to her beliefs. "The hands of the Toujitakumi are meant to clear the path for those precious to them," Nendo's mother would often tell him, though he would not fully understand for years to come. Rather than explaining, however, she'd always have him exercise with her or watch her sparring with a member of the family instead.

When Nendo turned six, it came time to begin actually training rather than just having fun playing with his mother; it was made evident in the time he spent with her that the boy was not going to be hoisting boulders over his head any time soon. Nendo was more like his father when it came to natural talents - taking to the lessons on molding chakra like a mole to digging - and through his father's teachings learned how best to use what chakra he had. Still, even as he learned to manipulate chakra, his father would not teach him how to use it for jutsu until he could do one thing; "I'll teach you how to fight when you can beat your mother."

When not training with his father, Nendo would still make sure to train with his mother and at times - because of his father's challenge - spar with her…. it always ended with Nendo unsuccessfully grasping for victory in one way or another. After his sparring matches with his mother or watching her spar, Nendo would take to applying aid to small scrapes and wounds. At the very least, he learned how to mend wounds when training in Taijutsu with his mother; but just being able to fix the wounds inflicted would not let him "clear the path" like his mother had told him his hands were meant to do.

Finally seven years old, Nendo began attending the Iwagakure academy to officially begin his training and despite being quiet, managed to gather a few friends fairly quickly. The biggest change by far however, was when his family chose to move from the home he was born in. With Iwagakure established and members of their family already happily adjusting to the towers of stone, Nendo's mother and father took to packing up their belongings for the journey into the stronghold of a village.

It was on their road to Iwagakure, that Nendo would take to trying to explore the new lands so far from his house, and where he'd come across the greatest fright of his young life… Venturing from the path and chasing the sound of a river, Nendo would come across a large beast close enough to feel its breath as it stared directly into his eyes. The boy would be able to do little more than scream and scramble away in the presence of what should have been a bear were it not for the low profile and long, furred tail that told he was standing before a monstrous badger. The beast raised its paw but rather than the boy being thrown across the forest, a booming sound behind the boy startled the badger. Lunging over Nendo's head, a figure grappled the beast by its hide and threw it backward into the river. With his mother now standing over him protectively, Nendo could only watch as his father formed seals with his hands and caused spires of stone to impale the beast. As though simply skewering it wasn't enough those spires erupted into individual explosions to ensure it would not be getting up ever again. Behind Nendo the source of the booming sound was made clear, the tree that had been in his mother's path was blown away so she could reach him without delay.

Initially, Nendo would go as far as to say he hated the village… Ever since they moved within its walls his mother was gone far more often, his father was busy with work of his own as well. It was as though the village had stolen his family away from him. Rather than sulking however, Nendo did his best to work hard in his studies and forge connections with the other students of the academy. Being out of the house and playing with children his own age did wonders to change Nendo; the once near-silent boy began humming often when working clay with his father, and would talk about what he'd done while his mother was away when he was sparring with her.

By the time graduation day came around, Nendo was a cautious young man when it came to strangers, but fairly warm with his friends. When free, Nendo would spend time around the village and, most often, be working in his father's clay-works shop crafting pots, dolls, and when the mood struck him, figures of the monstrous badger from all those years go. That badger had become a symbol of fear, power, and something else for Nendo; if it weren't for his parents, he had no doubt he'd have died to that beast.

Personality

Patient and adaptable are the best words to describe Nendo. Rather than rushing head-long into something, he prefers taking his time and examining many possibilities before taking the first step. Every step that follows is based on how well the step before came out, making sure to adjust and change his tactics where he feels necessary in order to make it to his desired ending result. In the case of a test he will often study it from beginning to end and think over each question even before his name has been signed. Being something of a trickster deceit isn't beyond Nendo if it will allow him to get the result he's after. Rather than simply taking on friends Nendo takes on extended family; Nendo is more so the type to feel friends fall under the category of being "precious" and calling one as such can be a sign of his being dedicated to their safety, readily placing himself in danger's way if it means defending a friend.

Likes	Stormy days, Overcast skies, Plants, Insects, Books, Animals, Mythology, Money, Bird Songs, Explosions, Solitude, Frightening things.
Dislikes	Unnecessary things, Loud (Piercing) noises, Solitude.
Hobbies	Collecting Clay, Pottery, Drawing, Cross Stitching, Sculpting, People watching, Finding life's beauties.

Appearance

Nendo maintains an athletic build telling that in large his weight comes from muscle rather than a surplus of fat. With his shaggy brown hair hanging short in the front, and down to his shoulders in the back; Nendo wears a bandana or his forehead protector covering his hair atop his head. Dim hazel toned eyes often give a blank stare of even when Nendo's expression is otherwise friendly. Olive toned skin covers Nendo's form while black cargo-styled pants covering his lower half down to his shinobi sandals that give his toes some wiggle room. While he still wears his lapel hanging from his right hip, his red tunic with the single sleeve now sports that sleeve on the right side to cover the lingering scarring from an accident that left the Toujitakumi burned. Black gloves cover Nendo's hands to cover the tattoos that now mark his palms as is his family's tradition.

The tattoos are in the form of a heptagram housing one of two shapes; a circle within a downward pointing triangle on his right palm which represent the sun as well as gold and a crescent shape within an upward pointing triangle representing the moon and silver on his left palm. The meaning of these tattoos is known only by the well informed or those who have asked one of the family. Rather than two small pouches, Nendo carries a single wide pouch reaching across the back of his hips and attached to his pants by a pair of metal rings. The interior of the pouch is divided into carrying slots for spare kunai and shuriken, scrolls, and medical supplies. It also tends to carry roughly a kilo of clay and sculpting tools used by Nendo in his down time.

Relationships

Allies Name Relationship Rank Notes Kaneko Her ex-tutor. Genin. Cute. A hard working and energetic little thing. Hotaru Her ex-tutor. Genin. Troublesome. Seems persistent but with little in the way of commitment or respect. Juudai She's the Tsuchikage. Tsuchikage. Beautiful. She keeps her office amazingly organized and decorated. Maneshi Shu & Kimi My possibly tutor? Chuunin. Pretty and Cute. A fast little thief of a shinobi but respectable none the less. He talks to his cat. Cherii A Chuunin with a frying pan. Chuunin. Pretty. She speaks in an interesting manner but isn't one to be doubted. Kioko New kid on the rock. Temporary-Genin. Pretty.She can turn into a giant bee.. It's quite an interesting and pleasant look to be honest. Mitsue Mind Melody. Genin. Beautiful. Probably the only genjutsu user that has discovered a genjutsu which doesn't annoy me. Akio Scarred Stranger. Genin. Interesting. Quiet and compliant. He seems wary and the scars he bears give fair reason for it. He's grown friendly with Kaneko and Hotaru which had made for less time spent beating Hotaru up. It's a good trade off. Yama Fist Fighter. ??? Interesting. While he has a strange personality his prowess with physical combat rivals that of Shu which says something. He is cooperative but I'm not sure I can trust him as of yet. Shokku Clan-cousin. Genin. Interesting. I've not met with this person often however now that I have, I can say they are far more interesting than most others I've met. Unique ideas and an inventive mind tell me he will go far with little able to hold him back. Team Juudai Juudai She's the Tsuchikage. Tsuchikage. Beautiful. She keeps her office amazingly organized and decorated. Mitsue Mind Melody. Genin. Beautiful. Probably the only genjutsu user that has discovered a genjutsu which doesn't annoy me. Alts Name Shugo Shinta

Nendo has a habit of ranking those he comes across on a scale anywhere from interesting to beautiful, what qualifies for which rank is anyone's guess.

Ninja Journal

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Ninja's Log “Musical Tastes.” I’ve gotten into music a bit more lately. Namely trying to manipulate Genjutsu through playing patterns of music like what I saw in the battlefield some time ago. The woman could play notes on her stringed instrument and without a single hand seal, trapped even Mitsue in Genjutsu when she caught the young Gansao off guard. It’s made it hard to think of Genjutsu without thinking of that and trying to mimic it. I’ll go talk with Mitsue about it soon. “Return of the Genjutsu.” Of course it would rain on the day I managed to free up to go visit Mitsue at his new home. It was a beautifully built house and the new garden had come together well, but I didn’t really come to inspect the house so much as to see that Mitsue was alright. I also wanted to speak with Mitsue about him teaching me a few more things concerning Genjutsu but it seems he felt differently. I’ll have to craft Genjutsu on my own for now since he’s using Genjutsu that involves his family’s special chakra, chakra that I can’t mimic. “The Shuuren Job.” Shuuren, the Daimyo from the land of tea arrived in Iwa today with a mission. From what I’ve heard he was a master of the medical arts, however I had not heard much about the man’s combat prowess. He brought along a armoured knight along with himself that seemed to be fairly competent in her abilities. The recruited genin for this mission included Kaneko, Hotaru, and myself. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much trouble the instant that Shuuren informed us we would be transporting a rock… An expensive rock but a rock none the less. I could appreciate stonework, but I still preferred working with my clay. Rock or no rock however, we did come into conflict with some rather insanely powerful bandits. They were foolish, but accurate. Hotaru got it the worst but everyone came through that fight with more than a few scratches. Shuuren got his suit bloodied and kind of vanished. The only signs showing he’d not run away were the people he beat into a near-death state on a whim… The Daimyo of the Land of Tea is a powerful person. “Shuuren’s advice” While on the mission with Shuuren, I commented on wanting to learn how he had gotten so skilled with medical techniques and his advice was that I not try retracing his steps. That instead of trying to become a medic in the same manner as he did, that I may be better off learning from the medics of my own village and growing into a medic of my own making rather than the shadow of another. It was good advice… I think I’ll go to the hospital and see if they will trust me to learn techniques and not simply blow something up for a few days.

Old Journals Lining a shelf are the many journals of the shinobi as he grew up in order from youngest to oldest; lowest shelf to the highest. Within each there's no doubt much if the more exciting events of the ninja's life. Ninja's Log 04-2016 "The land is my ally." Finally, I can do it…! I can touch the land and have it yield to my will. Travelling even through stone was a surprising step but one I find myself enjoying even more when I combine it with my special chakra, leaving entire pathways of explosive. Working harder should reward me with even more ways to manipulate the earth. Only time can tell. "At one with the world." Sinking down into the earth a bit and closing my eyes gives me so much more information than in the past. The movement of the branches in the trees, the footfalls of creatures upon them, even the sound of someone speaking all resonates with the ground. Deep concentration pays off when you can literally feel the words of those you’re spying on. "Liquefying the land." The Underground Fish technique opened up new pathways for me, I’m working toward being able to treat even stone the same way but I stumbled across something even more special by accident. While trying to tune my chakra correctly so I could pass through the stone, I fell. I didn’t lose my footing, the ground simply ceased to exist as a solid. A small bog had opened up beneath my feet but stepping through it, I found that it was liquified dirt. I was standing in a puddle of mud. The mud was unlike anything I’d ever felt.. Sticky and hard to escape. Just imagine if I could make this on a more grand scale… "The spoken word." Genjutsu is something I’ve wanted to work on developing ever since Mitsue taught me how to use the simple genjutsu of Auditory Hallucinations. But that very genjutsu is what makes me wonder.. What if I could, rather than transmitting words through Genjutsu, transmit Genjutsu through spoken words? It would need to be a pattern or some other special way of speaking of course, but if I could do it… I could begin using subtle Genjutsu in combat without giving away my true intentions. Ninja's Log 01-2016 "Dedication to the cause." Focus, concentration, and the power of will are what will drive me to continue forward through any and all obstacle no matter what it may be. Spring has come and it is the season of renewal from the frosts that bite and eat away at the old days of the year gone past. Just like the spring then, I will feed on the old world, and allow it to fill me with the energy I need to set foot forward into these coming days and the trials that come with them. No matter the hindrance, I refuse to falter. As I leave this book with my band, so too do I leave the self that has been eaten and died to feed me as I grow toward the coming light of this day's dawn. "Mitsue's Birthday" Today was a special day for a special reason. A birthday only comes once in my family's belief, and each one should be celebrated to its fullest. Which is why I was tasked with a mission of great importance: I was to take Mitsue out of the house and keep him distracted while my parents dragged his along with them to begin working on the special birthday celebration for Mitsue. I took him out to help me get some shopping done, to unload some of the surprises for his parents, and then to a romantic getaway in a private room of the hotsprings where no one could bother us for a while and I could give him his birthday present without the blowing of horns or birthday songs. I wanted it to be just Mitsue and I for a while. "Farming day" Today's mission was a bit of an odd one, we were being taken by cart rather than travelling for one, but we were going to help clear and manage the fields of a small farming village. The catch was that the task was to be done using purely the jutsu at our disposal, which for Mitsue and I meant we were to do it all using Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. That was fine on its own but the place we ended up stopping at was less of a village in need of its fields being worked, and more so it's everything being worked. Clearing it was easy enough even if a bit flashy.. I just blew everything up with a few low impact explosions that caused the debris to shatter downward into the ground rather than the crowd of villagers watching. A few tips and Mitsue ended up doing more work than I did really. I could till the earth with a half-finished hollow earth bullets, but Mitsue was more useful as his pillars brought the rich earth up. If it weren't for him they'd not have their well or the fence up anywhere near as quickly as things were finished. More than that, it seemed the villagers gained some motivation from watching what we could do. They stopped us from helping with more than the fields we came to do, telling us that they wanted to finish on their own. With a gift basket in hand, the two of us called it a day and started off for home. "Bonding with the Earth" The earth is a tangible tool, similar to water but much more easily maintained due to its naturally solid state. It made what I have been attempting to do far easier to perform. Using the dolls I create as a medium, I can release pulses of chakra from them at a greater range and then take my time in deciphering the data so that I can analyze a larger area. It's been quite a bit of work but I think with time, I may be able to use this ability to search out more than what I can already see with my own eyes. Perhaps I can adjust it to take notice of things trying to keep themselves hidden away. Ninja's Log 12-2015 10-29-13 A.F., "A Kage's lesson."1 04-11-13 A.F., "The return of a mother."2 21-11-13 A.F., "The oddities of the Gansao."3 30-11-13 A.F., "Talking about power and travel."4 Ninja's Log 11-2015 Stealth Date: 27-08-13 A.F., "Informing Allies"5 Stealth Date: 27-08-13 A.F., "Progress in teamwork."6 Stealth Date: 29-08-13 A.F., "Blackout Sparring"7 Stealth Date: 13-09-13 A.F., "Rescuing parents from donors."8 Ninja's Log 10-2015 Stealth Date: 29-06-13 A.F., "A Haunting in Iwa?"9 Stealth Date: 18-07-13 A.F., "Dusting Pots"10 Stealth Date:27-07-13 A.F. "Graduation day"11 Stealth Date:28-07-13 A.F. "Vacation days?!"12 Stealth Date:01-08-13 A.F. "Big bangs in Little Iwa Town."13 Ninja's Log 09-2015 Stealth Date: 14-05-13 A.F., "Shifting Clay"14 Stealth Date: 19-05-13 A.F., "Mission Day"15 Stealth Date: 20-05-13 A.F., "Unexpected Practice"16 Stealth Date: 25-05-13 A.F., "The Assignment"17 Stealth Date: 28-05-13 A.F., "Training Report #1, The Riverside"18 Stealth Date: 03-06-13 A.F., "Training Report #2, Tree Walking"19 Stealth Date: 12-06-13 A.F., "Training Report #3, Arena day"20 Stealth Date: 17-06-13 A.F., "Cave Assault"21

Skills And Abilities

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Styles Styles * * CLASSIFIED * * Chakra Shaping Earth Release Lightning Release Explosion Release Genjutsu Type Name ~~ D ~~ General Auditory Hallucinations ~~ E ~~ General Genjutsu Perception Ninjutsu Type Name ~~ B ~~ * * CLASSIFIED * * * * Unidentified * * ~~ C ~~ C1 * * CLASSIFIED * * * * Unidentified * * General Chakra Pinch II ~~ D ~~ Hollow Earth Bullets Tremor Sense Spark Shift Crackle Step ~~ E ~~ General Clone Technique General Body Replacement General Escape General Transformation Technique Taijutsu Type Name ~~ E ~~ Medical First Aid General Stealth Skills Rank Type Name D General Tree Walking Transformations Rank Type Name * * CLASSIFIED * * B * * CLASSIFIED * * C Bakuton II D Bakuton I Charts

RP Logs

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Campaigns The Dust Trail Gang - Part 1 Four Stone Blades - Roadside Sting The Dust Trail Gang Part 2 Brothers Four Stone Blades - Second Blade Falls Murasame Strife - The Matter of Pride Four Stone Blades - A Warning Given Murasame Strife - Drowned Flames, Dark Cloak Rising Murasame Strife - To Trust or Not; A Fight at a Fork Four Stone Blades - Compound Cracked The Greed of the Falls - The Recovery of the Scroll The Greed of the Falls - Part 2, The settled invaders are Dealt with The Iron Caged - Treachery Unleashed The Iron Caged - The End of the Beginning Tough Choices - Left or Right Verge of Darkness/Rebirth of the Blood Scythe - Stone Transport Land of Despair - The Meek and the 'Hero' S Rank A Rank B Rank The Haunted Underground False Idols Big booms in Little Fire Town C Rank Stone Beast Terror Striking back against the Bandits! D Rank Tea and Candy: The Sweet Side Helping no Jutsu

Social Training Shaping Students Like Explosive Clay Cooking and Slicing: How to Become a Great Shinobi!

Theme

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Being raised with the mentality of being a guardian and his affinity for Earth Manipulation have brought about Nendo at times looking at himself as a protector of those around him.

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Footnotes

1. I was called out by the Tsuchikage today, she wanted me to come to the training grounds for some reason. To my annoyance, it was to scold me about having hospitalized Hotaru again in our training session, and this time it was barely even my own doing. The runt calls me out, challenges me; launches an attack that I return in kind, and I'm the one catching flak for it?! No matter, I can think of ways to remedy this issue. On the topic of the matter at hand, I was somewhat pleased with the result that I'd earned either way. I had wanted to test myself against someone who wouldn't die easily and while the Tsuchikage may look at this as a chance to teach me a lesson, I saw it as a chance to test myself. I was expecting it to be just me and her, but it seems she called the new boy, Akio as well.
When the match began I was half-expecting her to just stand there but to my surprise once I attacked, she not only defended, but charged for an attack of her own. It's been a while since I felt overpowered by someone in a sparring match and the ease with which she blasted me away had me amused.. Then I got curious. I asked about what I'd get for landing a hit on her that was just as hard as the one she'd landed on me.. She said respect, and I couldn't hold back anymore. It was like my chakra was pulsing my very being eager to strike with everything I had. So I did…
Ohh, the joy I felt when I saw that flash in her eyes.. I made the Tsuchikage stop playing around. Even if she didn't give her all, she made an actual attempt to block my strike, and I still broke through that defense. Juudai might have just brushed the dust and singed cloth away, but I was proud of myself…
And then she trapped me in Genjutsu and sent me to the hospital. Less proud about that.

2. Mitsue and I were sent on a mission to collect a scroll, suddenly. The path we were taking was one that looked like it would just make us a distraction so we took it easy. Along the way we were supposed to pick up supplies to exchange with the recon unit so that the trade looked more like a resupply. Perhaps that's why it was only Mitsue and I being sent on the mission rather than a large group but either way, we made it to the village checkpoint where we were to gather supplies and Mitsue seemed to be eying a pottery wheel that looked nice.. I remembered the shop so that when we were leaving, I could leave a controlled doll, note, and payment for it behind. I wanted it delivered soon.

As we continued on, a small band of bandits attacked but Mitsue's Genjutsu put them in their place and allowed us to reach our destination. Rather than finding people with a scroll however, we found spies trying to impersonate our returning Shinobi. I noticed it when they used a password I had made up but it was confirmed when I spotted the woman of the group wearing a familiar mask and speaking in an unfamiliar voice. That was my mother's mask… After I had snapped on her, Mitsue and.. a horrible, horrible name, brought me back to my senses. Mitsue had discovered the fallen shinobi, and my mother among them. They weren't killed, perhaps beaten or placed under a Genjutsu but the three returning Shinobi were well enough to bring in the invading shinobi with us for questioning. It's been far too long since I last saw my mother. She's going to want to test my strength soon so I have to end this here.

3. We had a cleanup mission dealing with those bandits from the last mission, just Mitsue and I being sent out to quell the bandit activities in one way or another. I decided to carry a pack so it looked like I was carrying supplies like the last time we were ambushed. The mission however, wasn't noteworthy.. What was, was how Mitsue's Mother and father acted before the mission. They were at the gates with Mitsue when I arrived and as soon as I did, they were all over me; Mitsue's father was shaking my hand and his mother was giving me a hug while making sure I took care of myself on the mission. They must have really liked the offer to live in my family's home while their own was being rebuilt but it still was a bit over the top. It had me distracted through the whole mission and so when we got back, Mitsue and I decided to do a little spying.

It seems that Mitsue's parents wanted to talk with mine about not only moving in - making sure it was alright and that they weren't imposing -, but also about if I would take care of their son. It was a little awkward to listen to that kind of conversation but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from the door until the end and when I did, it was at Mitsue's urging so we weren't caught. It gave me a lot to think on for the days to come. If I'm going to take care of him, I'm going to need to make sure he'd alive to take care of. I need to talk with the Tsuchikage about those rumors of a medical expert in another land…

4. I went to speak with the Tsuchikage as soon as she had an opening in her busy schedule to listen to some simple questions from a younger member of her clan. I wanted to talk about travelling beyond the village right away but I knew that she wouldn't allow something like that. Instead, I chose to speak with her about something a bit more close to home. I'd heard her use bigger explosions than ones I could simulate even with some techniques I've not used in the field yet… Nothing came even close to the powerful booming explosions she can set off on a whim. The key is this orb she gave me, a ball with a massive amount of control needed to set it off. It's something she can control and trigger at a whim, needing a mere few seconds to set the explosion off. She allowed me to keep this orb and even said I could attempt learning the ability.. I might, though I still have a few of my own to work out before I learn this one… From there I started to speak with her about leaving the village for a time…

We have doctors in the village and even Kioko - the little wasp woman that has fairly pretty abilities - seems to know a thing or two about healing others. Still, I don't think that her abilities and mine are quite so alike and the hospital is only willing to teach so much to someone who tends to be their prime supplier of injured genin. No, if I want serious training; the training I need, I think I need to search elsewhere. The rumor of an amazing medic in the land of Tea was the best lead I've heard of when it comes to nations not very involved in the major rivalries between the four main villages. From what Juudai's told me, this medic's name is Shuuren, though it seems I'll be calling him Daimyo Shuuren while I am there, if he is in the mood to train an apprentice..

5. I was out buying more scrolls for notes and drawing in the field earlier when I caught sight of Mitsue doing something I'm not used to seeing him doing. He was running through town with something in hand and a stressed look on his face. Well, I caught up with him and so did Kaneko and Hotaru from whatever rock they were hiding under. It seems like Hotaru doesn't want to involve herself with people that aren't in her team, even tried making Kaneko do the same but then she spun around and was trying to blame Mitsue and I (Mostly me) for not spending time with them. Even when I'm not tutoring the girl she still strives to annoy me. After trying to spark one argument and then another the Watanabe left thankfully and so did Kaneko, though the latter would come back to find out the information of what was going on with Mitsue and I being constantly busy these days. We ended up letting her in on the information at the coliseum's pit until she was satisfied and left to get back to work in the forges.

6. After informing Kaneko and Hotaru was another surprise of its own kind.. the Maneshi called Shu showed up and we got to have a bit of a sparring match. That slippery cat's still so quick that I can't hit him but I can stop his attacks now which is an improvement. Mitsue was the real key to the session though; he was sparring Mitsue and I at the same time and Mitsue managed to catch him in a Genjutsu which made it easy for me to get a couple of good hits in before the cat did something strange. He was going to drink from a vial but the sound of his partner, Kimi-kat hissing seemed to have made him decide to just scamper out of sight and hide to the point that I couldn't detect him. He didn't hide forever however and while I managed to block his attack, Mitsue didn't and took a pretty severe strike from his surprise attack that needed a lot of attention and care back at home. He's a good measuring stick of sorts though and being able to improve in terms of fighting a Chuunin gave me a bit of confidence for the future.

I think I'll do the same sparring with Kaneko and Hotaru to make sure they're strong enough now to join Mitsue and I for what needs to be done. Even if Hotaru annoys the heck out of me, she's still a ninja of the village so there's nothing wrong with trying to make sure she's not falling behind.

7. Well I decided to spar with Kaneko and Hotaru the last time I wrote, I just didn't expect that I'd be writing about it from the hospital. Yeah, things seem to have gotten a bit out of hand almost right out of the gate but it was probably my fault for holding back with Kaneko a bit and not giving it my all. With Shu I attacked with everything I had knowing he could take it but it seems Hotaru attacked with a vendetta in mind for my mix up that lead to harming the new student called Goze. I let Kaneko get in a good hit that winded me and before I knew it, I was getting burned alive as a result. After that, things get kind of fuzzy but when I came to again I was going too far for sure. Kaneko was down and I was halfway through calling up a technique that has no business being in a sparring match.

A little bit of good came from this blunder and a lot of bad. I got to apologize to Goze, found out Kaneko was mostly incapacitated due to Genjutsu that must have come from Mitsue, and Mitsue is angry with me for doing whatever harm I did. I'm fairly pissed off about that part and considering Hotaru and Kaneko weren't hurt badly.. I'm thinking he's mostly angry that I let myself get caught off guard. That will have to never happen again I guess… I'll take the girls seriously from now on.

8. After a lot of searching, sparring, missions to earn funds, and training to grow stronger, we've found them. Mitsue's parents had been stolen away and seemed to have been held all of this time in a strange village within the Land of Earth. With the enemies no doubt being users of Genjutsu Juudai seemed to have only brought Mitsue and myself along for this mission which I can't complain too much about. If Kaneko or Hotaru had come and became targets it would be a choice between defending them or taking advantage of their being assaulted. With them off the list as worries the mission presented a new complication… Horses… I've never ridden a horse before and as much as I can appreciate the beautiful artwork of nature's design, the beast's galloping pace nearly murdered certain parts of myself that I'd much like to keep alive but I'm glad to say now that we're home everything is A-ok.

After reaching the village there wasn't much needing to be done. Juudai located the targets and we closed in while allowing Juudai to slip around behind the captors. She was at least kind enough to not have us watch her do all of the hard work and when the opportunity arose, she separated the two captors for Mitsue and I to aid her in dealing with them. The reason behind their kidnapping Mitsue's parents is unimportant but the result was the same: Once the man was beaten down, Mitsue delivered the final blow and while Juudai dealt with the other we evacuated Mitsue's parents and I had Mitsue guide them to the horses while I kept an eye on Juudai's fight. Not that she really needed anyone considering how easily she dispatched the captor. With everything settled, we took Mitsue's parents home to the village for some simple first aid and family time with their son.

9. Well, I found out that being a tutor to a student with no respect for you isn't the worst thing that can come from training students these days. They can get you roped into being a babysitter while they go on a while ghost hunt in the house of some stranger that's moving in. Hotaru called him Yamajiji which I'm guessing from the lack of reaction, is his name. Strange people have strange names I guess… Wants to move into the house some people have started saying is haunted due to the deaths that happened in it, but I thought they were all just paranoid until I saw it for myself. When we got there however, we weren't inspecting the house since it seems the cat and some others already inspected that place. No, we had to go inspect not the basement, no, we were inspecting some cavern he found under the basement. And down there is where this haunting business kicked off. All the crap down there was being tossed about.. There was even some fungus on the walls that looked really bad for our health. Hotaru tried showing off to prove she wanted to be a shinobi… ended up breathing the crap in. It didn't seem like it was too deadly so I left it alone. That Yamajiji touched Mitsue though… I wanted to cut his arms off for that…

Deeper inside that cavern was a big open area with a well in the center like something out of a mythology book I read once but that was where I noticed it… The ground's vibrations were off. An extra step told me there was someone down in that well shifting in time with the 'ghosts' moving stuff around so I went and shot them. Turns out shooting people for no reason, but bring out some big bad boss when you go into a basement since this guy in a trench coat showed up. Turns out he was an arrogant little twit that claimed to be dangerous for the spidermen in Kiri… So dangerous he got his butt kicked out by those spider people. I don't know if it's because I told him that or not but he decided to flood the room with poison spores and these weren't so easily ignored. After Yamajiji landed some smacks on him - and by smacks I mean his bones made that sound, not the hits - he decided to collapse the cavern we were in. I went down and grabbed the person in the well since they seemed to be someone Mr. bossman was looking for and thought that Juudai would want to interrogate her.. But after we got out I handed her over and haven't heard from her since.

10. I've done it! I've finally managed to control both lightning and earth chakras simultaneously and using only one hand. I still need to form the seals to charge chakra with both hands but I've worked it down to using the hand seal for confrontation to trigger the explosions. I've seen the kage charge kunai or rocks and they blow up on or just after impact. But this is different. I can send my chakra into something I've touched and make it blow up when I focus on it. I tested it with Mitsue using a bunch of clay pots that had been misshapen in one way or another around the village and having him help me throw them off the cliff. Then I just needed to focus and bang, though in the future… maybe I shouldn't tell him they're bombs that can randomly go off at any time… he seemed really panicked by that for some reason.

Still, it was pretty funny to watch and I paid him back in the end so I don't think he'll hold a grudge. That's not to say that pots are all I can send chakra into though… I tested it on the ground itself and on my own shirt. I wonder if there's a limit to what I can prep as a bomb… I'll need to try it on the next ugly bandit I come across. At least their death can be beautiful if it works on flesh.

11. Today was a day a bit unlike any of the others in the recent weeks that I've endured. Today, is the day I'm not longer a tutor for the students since they'll be graduating. I will admit that training them started out as a fun test of my own ability and it indeed taught me a few things while I trained with Hotaru and Kaneko. Most of all however, that time as their tutor taught me that by no means do I EVER want to become a chuunin… The responsibility is about as trying as the people I'd end up responsible for and there's no way I'd live through the trouble. I'd be liable to explode, or at the very least they would explode before I was done with them.

12. You know, I don't think I've ever respected my time as a Genin until I had to spend time being a tutor for those several weeks. Waking early, spending the days teaching, arguing, and struggling to get students to understand that being a student puts them at the bottom of the pyramid where respect is to be given to those above them… Teaching that to a hardhead can be one of the hardest trials for anyone to overcome… More so when that student is a hardhead by choice, only acting out because they can or to make a fool of their tutor. Enough about the past though, I want these vacation days to be remembered for the fun time. I helped Mitsue make his first pot today and he's a natural at it. I didn't think anyone not raised with it could take to pottery as well as Mitsue did. Oh yeah, there's the prank I pulled on Mitsue with the pots too; I had to pay him back for it of course… I decided to make him a nice big pillow, something colorful for his room at his home. I think he'll like it.

13. I've got a roommate, but before I get to that, I want to jot down the reason why… and why I have to work hard from now on. I went to see Mitsue at his home for a change instead of finding him at the arena or somewhere else. It was a little funny talking with his parents and finding out that he was behind the house staring at his forehead protector. It became less funny when we heard the sound of arguing and some information that caused Mitsue to run off with me hot on his tail. The explosion was probably the worst part.. Now people have gone missing and with it being so close to where Mitsue and I were, we've ended up tied to finding out why in the worst of ways… Getting stronger just became a must..

14. I sat in the rain tonight, out in the stone fields and focused. Lightning isn’t the element that came naturally to me but it is one of the elements I’ve decided must be mine. I practiced my hands on the signs for what felt like hours, guiding my chakra flow to shift away from the feeling of sturdy earth and more to the erratic movements of the Lightning element. Only when I felt a bit of a tingle at the back of my neck and in my fingertips did I genuinely feel that I was making some progress. And only then did Kaneko spring out of hiding with her sidekick Hotaru being pulled along for the ride. Kaneko called out to me and broke my concentration which lead to my hands feeling like they’d fallen asleep. I had Kaneko lead us somewhere out of the rain before they got cold but, even with the skill being a failure it felt like my hands responded more quickly for a brief moment.

15. I didn't expect my first mission beyond a D-rank to be a hunting mission with students. The Tsuchikage, Kaneko, Hotaru and a Chuunin called Cherii along with myself were all on this mission. We were hunting humans which made it the first humans I'd get to analyze that didn't live in the village. I'd expected it to be a boring mission considering the Tsuchikage herself came but the smallest things can cause a landslide it seems. In this case, that smallest thing was a pebble, and Hotaru was the one that picked it up. Almost before she was even done commenting on it, we were under fire from a caravan down the road. They weren't bad people but they were scared of being robbed by the people we were looking for. I can't believe how hideous some of the thieves we came for were…

They walked with bowed out legs, some formed sloppy hand seals and even though a few were accurate, I have to say that Hotaru's flames and even the rocks Kaneko threw at me days ago were more frightening. Luckily we were under orders to only leave some of them able to run away so I was allowed to attack as much as I liked briefly. Hotaru ended up a little worse-for-wear but I hope the wound both heals quickly, and shows her what kind of work she'll be in for beyond the school's lessons. Surprisingly, both Hotaru and Kaneko did well under the pressure of the fight that we had; they didn’t shy away and even fought hard when they were told to hide. Brave little chicks they are; I think I’ll make some ideas for sculptures of the two of them when I’m done writing this down.

16. Today I decided to take a day off and relax from training with lightning and check in on how the two students were doing. Strangely enough, they weren't together for once and Hotaru was in a bit of a strange training exercise… The Hard-Head Conviction test. Shu had put her up to it, wanting to see her prove her commitment to overcoming her disability and pursuing becoming a true Shinobi. After the mission's blunder, I wanted to see it too. It made me uneasy to just sit and watch, but I guessed that Shu would have something in mind to keep from simply watching a student die… I wasn't expecting that plan to be shielding her with his own body but it just means I respect the strange cat a bit more. Then came Kaneko wanting to spar with him and my somehow getting roped into it. I thought I had the lit— scribbles of the pen linger on the page. Shu, but he dodged every bit of my attacks and then he MUGGED ME. He didn't hit me or even make me feel pathetic by knocking me down. He stole my pouch as if to prove the gap between a Chuunin and genin… I've seriously got a long way to go…

17. That Tsuchikage’s a real slave-driver. I’ve been Kaneko and Hotaru’s kind-of-a-tutor for the longest time (about two weeks now) and now I’m being officially assigned to train them to listen, follow orders, and basically to be ready to be shinobi beyond the classroom. I’ve only gone on one real mission in all this time so I’ve got to make a good long list of what to do in this month that will make these little girls into real ninja. Kaneko’s problem is her footwork, she’s got the speed and the attitude but she’s a little clumsy on her feet whereas Hotaru has some trouble with walking in general. I’ll not clutter this with my plans for their training so I’ll have to get a second book for that. Maybe I can even get Shu to help me out… he’s a pain in the rear end but he’s still a Chuunin and somewhere in that little black heart is a bit of gold… I think it’s his bell.

18. Starting off the girls training was simple enough of a beginning. Kaneko has small issues with the high levels of energy she has and focusing it on a goal. Hotaru has the problem of questioning authority. To sort these two issues out I set Kaneko up with stretches while near by to my sparring match with Hotaru. I would let them both come at me but that would just be letting Kaneko play rather than experience the patience of waiting her turn. Hotaru on the other hand, hid little of her hatred for the sparring method she experienced today. The little Watanabe doesn't like water it seems and this only served to further add to my reason for making her train in this fashion. Mostly it was to have the girl learn to strengthen her legs with the water's aid while listening to my command of wading into the cold water.

Making her go in despite her protests only added to the goal of training the little dragon to not only follow orders, but to do so without questioning her superiors. Eventually as we sparred however, the girl ran out of Chakra as I'd expect from a student whose main method of attack drains nearly all of the chakra she can summon up at once. This lead to training Kaneko which worked as training of not only her footwork and evasion, but on seeing the girl follow the order of being barefoot even on such terrain as the stone fields. Both preformed well for their first session and while I think the simple memory of the trouble caused is enough to quiet Hotaru, I don't think it will keep her from questioning authority forever. Further work is needed.

19. I had planned to have the girls learn tree walking with me at some point so it was a pleasant surprise to see that Kaneko had called Hotaru and myself out to the cliffs to meet her father. The man was huge however he also knew how to preform tree walking and was willing to teach us using a stone. The training was straight forward and while it didn't need much in the way of orders, it did require focus on those orders and both girls showed fairly good concentration in that respect. We spent several hours working on climbing, Kaneko being the first to master the skill that day while it took me a bit longer finding the perfect amount of chakra to use for walking up that stone. I believe Hotaru needs more time however considering the state of her legs I've chosen not to push the matter for the moment and have taken to once again strengthening her legs. Mitsue was near by while we preformed this training and while not willing to take part, I did get to speak with him and believe he will be able to learn a bit along side the girls.

20. Today I had only planned to work with Mitsue on his stamina however when I arrived at the Colosseum I fount that Mitsue was working on training without me, and he'd brought the two girls along to help. While this did seem to mostly focus on the Gansao trying to avoid thrown knives from Hotaru, I also observed Kaneko trying to master the clone technique. I gave them some time to work on their own so that the feeling of training on their own could sink in before I moved into the arena and helped Kaneko with her clone technique. She'd been doing fine and with only a few tips, managed the skill while Mitsue ultimately managed to avoid Hotaru's kunai. At one point Hotaru fired off a wave of wire which I was stunned to hear she thought the Gansao could evade… Kaneko tried protecting Mitsue from it which lead to Mitsue displaying forethought and speed as he moved before her and used his cloak in an attempt to protect Kaneko as well as himself.

I called an end to their sparring at this point and had the girls instead, take part in a somewhat stupid game of walking along the lines in the arena to reach me. I wanted to use this training session to make the girls follow an order, without question, even if it was silly and something she could question for days. I was impressed that the only question received was one for clarity on the orders and not a single challenge of the rules. They're getting better.

21. Today the Tsuchikage took us out to a cave in the forests for a mission of distraction. All that the students, myself, and the two Kamizuru needed to do was draw attention of everyone in the caverns so that the Tsuchikage could easily find the leader of the raiders hiding in that cave. This wasn't supposed to be hard or even troublesome on our end and truly the grunts were no issue at all. It was that Genjutsu user that was a problem.. he had an affinity for making me see my own death and adding to the pain of those imaginary wounds..

I'm not sure we'd have done well against the man if Kioko hadn't bitten his throat.. It was around then that his assaults on the mind weakened and we were able to escape long enough to counter attack. Hotaru took the worst of the assaults, which I blame in part on her walking the closest during our distraction phase. Something to work on with the girl though both of them did wonders for drawing attention. There was a loud explosion from the cave while we were returning, the handiwork of our Tsuchikage making sure the cave was not usable in the future no doubt.