Starring:
Date: June 23, 2013
Summary:
None given.
"Blood and Bones - Kaguya Pride, Kaguya Honor"
Unknown location
The Elders of the Kaguya clan put out a summons for the rest of the clan
to gather for an official announcement on the recent events that have been
plaguing the clan as a whole, raising the blood of many and causing
friction between they and the city. Those that gathered were many as, no
matter their affiliation, the official word of the council of elders was
of import and interest.
Yuuka raises her hand, calling her people to silence with her words. "My
people," she spoke. "The each of you know that we have come upon
tumultuous times. The clan is fighting itself and it's village.
Questioning ideals, questioning authority, questioning the future,
questioning our very identities…" She regards those gathered before her,
face as somber as her voice.
"And I am ashamed of it."
Yuuka's eyes are steady, voice firm. "Kaguya clan, I am ashamed of us.
Because the reason we raise these questions is not growth but
degeneration. Kaguya Raiji and his new family have stepped forth. He
denounced the Kaguya who have made names for themselves on the
battlefield, calling them soft and pacifistic. The men and women who
trained you, whose stories had inspired you to yearn for glory, he called
them meek and misguided, saying 'We want war, we want blood… If it's not
theirs, it will be yours.'
Yuuka's voice is hot now, a flame in her eyes. "And this man who would
say such a thing, how has he and his moved from there? They wait until I
leave, the cowards, to ransack my home. To leave a bloody message in my
bedroom to hide my child. He sends a nine year old genin before me and you
both to deliver his warning for him, that I either give him Elder Takeshi
on a pike, or he will have my five year old daughter piked in his place. A
threat he nearly makes good on."
The woman's gaze grows fierce, that ferocity slipping into her voice. "He
continues to preach about the call for blood, the need for more battle,
the threat of his strength, and yet I have come to face him three times.
And THREE TIMES, he has used deceptions and clones to flee me. Three
times, he has run, unable to even stand for his own ideals, his own words
and actions — even now he hides! None have seen him since he fled his
home to escape me. And this man who runs from danger and hides behind
children, what do we do with him? We regard him as a savior. We say that
he is the herald of a second coming."
She shakes her head, "Kaguya, you are a people I do not recognize."
"Never had I thought that I would wake and find that my people would lose
their honor. Never had I thought that I would utter the words that I was
ashamed of my family, that we would lose our honor, that we would hold so
fiercely to a pride we no longer deserved. Truly, never could I have
imagined that we would revere a boy whose story was made of such tales of
cowardice." Elder Yuuka shakes her head, disgust undeniable. "I would
never have believed it if I had not discovered his dishonorable
manipulation through the use of genjutsu.
"And yes," she says, spitting at the ground. "He has manipulated you
through genjutsu activated through his voice. And yes, I know that I
cannot be the only one to have noticed it. I know that I wasn't the only
to question why Elder Yuuka would restrain a child as she yelled at Raiji.
I know that the whole of the Kaguya clan cannot have missed being
manipulated so, that we are so inept as shinobi to have missed every
genjutsu inflicted upon us. I know that some of you questioned your own
actions after leaving Raiji's presence, surprised and confused at
yourselves. And I know that now that it has been called to your attention,
more of you shall do the same, shall make your realizations.
"Now realize this, Kaguya! To be manipulated so insults me. To see the
same done to you enrages me. And to think of where it could lead, with us
scattered into bands, hunted to the last until we are wiped out by the
whole world we try to destroy, it saddens me family. It is not the vision
I hold for you. It is not the dream you should hold for yourself." Yuuka's
cerulean eyes are lit with the light of dedicated belief, voice made
potent by the power of her passion.
"I envision a future with a Kaguya clan of a strong, united people. Of a
people who have enough will to handle their own issues before Kirigakure
must send it's own people to do it for them. Of a time where none would
dare speak ill of us. I envision a clan feared and respected on any
battlefield, with stories told of the might of their people and the
inevitability of their conquests. Of a people regarded as skilled and
deadly warriors rather than simple dangerous beasts. Of a people whose
young grow to earn just as great a pride and honor as those who come
before. I envision a destiny where we are the greatest clan within the
greatest ninja village that ever has and ever will see this land. And I
will give my all to my people and my dream. And know this, Kaguya Raiji,
wherever you may have hidden yourself at." Her eyes flash.
"I will -not- allow someone like you to stand in the way."
