A Wandering Soul {Semi-Open/PM}

[Sumi]

Sumi would wander through the rough streets in the neighborhood known as the Pearl Tenements. She couldn't help but point out to herself how ironic it is. A neighborhood filled with filthy, uneducated thieves named after a pearl, a shiny, coveted jewel. This neighborhood homed the unwanted. And it was the perfect place to go if you didn't want to be found. Not that Sumi didn't want to be found necessarily. She just wanted to be away from normal life, at least what she considered normal, if only for a while. To explore and see things unfamiliar. She'd never been allowed to go see the pearl tenements before. She had always been told it wasn't in her best interests.

Now that she had grown a bit older and those around her had been rather busy with their own lives, she was more free to do as she liked. And she liked to explore and see things for herself. The poor stubborn girl. No one else telling her ever felt like enough. After all, who needs the wisdom of others when you can experience things for yourself? Who needed others always telling you what to do with your life when you could just live? No one. That’s who. Sumi would stop on a corner, sitting on the edge of the sidewalk and watching around her. For a disgusting place filled with disgusting people it was actually somewhat interesting. She watched as people tried to sell items in the streets and others set up booths, doing card tricks to make an extra dime. She could feel a slight appreciation for these people. They were survivors, doing every little thing they could to make it day by day. They couldn’t be nearly as bad as she had heard.

[MFT]

 

[Okada Kaji]

Re: A Wandering Soul {Open}

Within the expanses of the hidden stone village, an urban underbelly sat at it’s core. The pearl tenement was the setting of today’s tale; a region rich with Hidden Stone local culture, but ridden with poverty, crime, and other things that didn’t make it into visitor brochures. It was high noon, and the sun illuminated this residential setting, where peddlers set up mobile stands capable of being carted off at a moment’s notice. Children ran through the dirt path roads, innocently kicking a tattered ball and creating dust storms.

Today, Jomei had ventured down from his cliff side penthouse back to these tenements, where he had come to run errands for his Step Mother, Reon. He found himself wandering the neighborhood for some time, enjoying the day abroad, and neglecting the list of stops required by his Father’s latest paramour. Although he did the chore willingly, Jomei was more excited about making the most of his day abroad, and didn’t intend on sticking to Reon’s script. Bound in brown backpack, Jomei had collected most of what his mum requested, and left the sack high up, webbed against a tree for safe keeping behind an apartment complex. As he fastened his belongings, he adjusted the cape that cape that shielded his provocative mutations from view. He had become accepting of his mutation, but others judged him harshly, and cruelly. Upon orders from his esteemed father, Jomei was to keep his mutation a secret as much as possible until they could develop a suppression seal. He was told to hide them, and never reveal his powers in public. However, Jomei was still a boy, and desired the things many other boys desired.

In a moment’s notice, Jomei had slipped into the group of kids playing soccer in the street, and created a typhoon of action. He seemed unstoppable amongst the untrained, uninitiated villagers who were playing merrily before he come along. Something about Jomei had given him the unfair advantage against these children, and the nature of their game began to change. Aggression fueled by testosterone had morphed the energy within that small nook of the Hidden Stone, and their game was becoming rather violent. One or two more fouls occurred, and that tattered ball rolled away as a conflict ensued. Arguing grew into pushing and shoving, and from there, several young punks had jumped onto Jomei in a one-sided contest.

Without using those extra appendages, his martial arts training proved ineffective against so many enemies, and there were more holes in his guard than a block of Swiss cheese. Without being able to use the skill he had developed, Jomei faced his foes as an incomplete ninja and was overran, nearly maimed by a glass bottle to the back of the head. The bottle shattered and the teen responsible looked on with a sick smile as Jomei nearly collapsed, and a crimson mask slipped down his brow. Amidst the action his cape fell to one side, and Jomei’s spare arms were revealed to the group of delinquents. The physical beating had stopped in favor of petty name-calling and related despicable acts.

The aforementioned ball had gotten away, and rolled to the feet of Sumi who idled on a corner nearby. The nature of the teenage fight seemed to blend in with the atmosphere of that slum, but that did not make it acceptable. Other people seemed to carry on with their lives, and walked by the hateful act as if boys would simply be boys.​

 

[Sumi]

Re: A Wandering Soul {Open}

Sumi hadn't seen what had caused the fight, but she did take notice after it had started. One thing she had taken specific notice of was that the boy being pummeled by the group was wearing a headband. A headband that belonged to their village. Sumi watched the boy closely as the group beat him down, a confused look on her face from her spot on the corner. Why was he not defending himself? Surely he was capable, even if he was just a genin. Or at least she would assume him to be a genin based on his apparent age. He couldn't be much older, or possibly younger, than herself. It was sickening. They possessed Genin this weak within the village..? Well, maybe she was being a bit unfair. Genin were the lowest tier of true ninja. It wasn't the villages fault he couldn't defend himself amongst a group of hoodlums.

The fight seemed to come to a quick end once one of the teens had strucken the ninja with a bottle to the back of the head. Sumi couldn't help but scoff. These hoodrats were no better. They didn't fight with honor. A value so important in the Village of Stone. If you don't have honor, you have nothing, she reminded herself as she shook her head. Her attention had then returned to the fallen ninja and she was shocked. His cape had fallen to the side revealing multiple arms. Instead of running away in fear however, the other teens were trying to humiliate him further. Instead of realizing that he had not fought to his true potential, they attempted to humiliate him. Sumi grew with furiosity, her already short fuse lighting as a scowl fell upon her face and she stared down the group of teens, now decidedly the enemy. She looked down to find the ball at her feet and kneeled down to pick it up, clenching it in her hands.

Sumi was known to have anger issues and to be impulsive, so what she did next was no surprise. Sumi would charge up to the group, throwing the ball and one of the teens faces before grabbing another boy by the collar from behind and attempting to pull him backwards to the ground. "Now you all listen to me.." She'd say through clenched teeth. "You honor-less, wastes of life are going to leave him alone. Or i'm going to make you. You have a choice and I don't show mercy. So choose. Walk away unscathed or lose all the teeth in your mouths." Sumi would then give the ninja a look of serious disapproval. "And you. What the hell is up with you going easy on these scumbags, huh?" She'd yell at him in her furious rage. How calming and considerate of her, it was no wonder she didn't have many friends.

 

[Okada Kaji]

Just when things seemed their worst, an unfamiliar but welcomed ally had intervened and managed to put a stop to the gang of hoods. Face down in the grass, Jomei heard the sound of her voice, channeling rage. She descended upon the group with tough words and a promise to deliver on her threats if they didn’t scurry off like vermin in the dark. The teenage dirt bags dispursed and took their ragedy ball with them, leaving Jomei and the heroine he’d soon know as Natsumi to themselves. One of the trio collapsed as they fled, as his feet had been webbed together during the fight. He was carried away in a daze.

And the wrath of Sumi was spread without prejudice as she turned to Jomei, berating him all the same. As he arose, Jomei finally set eyes upon the one responsible for aiding him. She was the lily in the valley, or the proverbial pearl hidden within the urban decay. The blue of her eyes nearly paralyzed him.

“Well” Jomei answered with a anxious tone, “things got out of hand… If I would’ve known they would be out for blood over a few points, I wouldn’t have played.” He revealed all six appendages to his new acquaintance, and let her notice the strange looks from strangers. “Besides, they weren’t even academy kids. I would’ve been chased out of the tenaments the moment I shot webbing in their faces. You know how this district can be.”

Pressed by the influence of his father, Jomei was attempting to follow a code of secrecy regarding his mutation until they could find a cure. Of course, this meant wearing a cloak everywhere he went for the foreseeable future, or until Benjiro found the right ninja... Whatever came first.

Jomei put his freakshow away and offered Sumi friendly vibes, along with a sincere note of appreciation. “I almost had them you know, but thanks for the back up. Things could have gotten ugly if you didn’t- oww.” As he was speaking, Jomei rubbed through the bed of hair on his noggin, which still had small flakes in it- not of glass, but of gold. He made a disgruntled grunt as the blow to his head resulted in a wound that produced a golden scab, which resembeled a patch of golden hair in little time.

Something about this girl seemed familiar to Jomei, but he couldn’t place it quite yet. He’d have to know more, and deal with her agressiveness using the patience needed to await a passing storm. This could be fun.

“Speaking of the academy kids, have I seen you around before?”​

 

[Sumi]

Sumi would cross her arms, a victorious smirk distinct on her lips as she watched the cowardly teens run away from her wrath. A smart move on their part, because she really would've tried to do it. Being of the Minamoto-Kono she didn't feel that she had room for weakness or mercy. Academy students or not, you were on her side or in her way. It was always better to pick being on her side. A quality that was probably very similar to her older sister, Haruka. As Jomei arose she would look him over with her fierce but beautiful misty eyes. Upon close inspection it could be seen that non of her features really reflected a Stone born, despite it being the place of her birth it was not her families first home. From her dark black hair, to her deep almost gray, blue eyes, to the pale skin that almost made her look delicate, or would make her look delicate if it wasn't for that scowl she so often wore.

"You should always assume everyone is going to be out for blood. Or when they are it won't matter, because you'll have already lost the battle... Do you not know anything?" She'd give him an annoyed look, raising an eyebrow. At least she seemed a little bit more calm, yet condescending to say the least. At her age, Sumi just enjoyed being right. "And no. I don't know how this district can be. I've never actually been here before." She'd say with a shrug of her shoulders before glancing around them. It seemed that she was starting to get frustrated again. She didn't understand what everyone was looking at this boy so strangely for. Her hands would clench into fists as she glared at the people looking so strangely, watching as some of the younger ones would quickly look away.

She didn't look back to him until he let out a sound of pain. "What's that gold stuff." She would demand that answer from him. Sumi was self-entitled that way. If she wanted to know something you were going to tell her. Hm... Maybe she should be an interrogator. She had plenty of time for life choices tho. "I don't know if you've seen me. You're probably just thinking of my sister. Like everyone else, my whole life." She'd say before rolling her eyes. Why did she have to look like her sister? Not only did she stick out like a sore thumb, but she almost paled in comparison. Which was part of the reason for her short-temper. Haruka was always patient and put together. It was Sumi's way of separating herself and making her own identity. Haruka was like water. Sumi wanted to be like fire, a dancing flame.

[MFT]

 

[Okada Kaji]

Jomei continued scratching the gold flakes out of his scalp, resulting in falling specks of glitter shimmering under the summer sun. Quite the oddity. When demanded to answer, Jomei casually explained his golden cow-lick. “I have an autonomous armoring ability- I mean... it’s like a scab or something. Erm, webbing. Part of my whole spider thing.” The gash on his dome was covered in that small gold deposit as Jomei revealed it to Sumi in detail.

As their exchange developed into conversation, the discussion progressed to the subject of Sumi’s older sister. The closest Jomei had ever come to the sibling experience was his short stint at the village’s orphanage, where he got to meet plenty of children like the ones who just fled the scene. Despite knowing more stories about sibling rivalries than stories of good times, Jomei always dreamed of the authentic sibling experience. He would’ve given anything to have someone to relate with. Friendly faces were always in short supply for Jomei, but he still didn’t let it ruin his confidence in the future. Jomei was resolved to exist as the first and only son of Matsui Benjiro and his latest concubine until either his father died, or his own last day... Again, whichever came first.

As Sumi dropped subtle clues, Jomei’s interest grew. A hand slipped out from his flowing cloak and softly gripped his chin, stroking the peach fuzz that hardly grew there. “Hmm. Is your older sister someone popular or something? She’s gotta be.” A list of possible matches scrolled through the annals of his mind, but no one came to mind. “She’s probably where you get your bossiness from as well.”

Before he could await her reaction, Jomei began walking along the path through the neighborhood, and waved a hand, suggesting that she join him. “I was just about to head back towards the Daimond Complex before I got distracted with the game, if you’d like to join me.” It was safe to assume that she was from the same district as him, as only the wealthy villagers had enough reasons to avoid the Tenaments for a lifetime, even the youth. “We still have time, but you know... If you think you dislike it around here now, this part of the village becomes preeeetty unsavory after dusk.”

In a flash he recalled his first misadventure after nightfall in the slums of the Tenaments. In an effort to gain more experience, he attempted to patrol the region one night after dark, posed as a vigilante with a mask and getup. I didn’t go so well, and Jomei was forced to learn a difficult lesson on restraint. This was not a good place for good people once the sun turned a blind eye. “And before you say anything about going places with strangers… my name is Jomei. There, I’m not a stranger anymore.”​

 

[Sumi]

Sumi couldn't help but be intrigued by the golden scabs the boy had. So it was a clan trait..? Or at least something of that nature. She couldn't help but let it peak her curiosity. Just like she couldn't help but notice how Jomei's interest grew. She would sigh at his question about her older sister being someone popular 'or something'. ".. I'll give you a few hints. Cage of Rubies. She overthrew the old kage for an amount of time and lead in that position." She had been pretty calm mostly, though slightly aggitated, as sepaking of her sister often reminded her of her short comings in comparison. Her sister was basically a prodigy by the time she had reached Sumi's age. And here Sumi was. An Academy Student without much to show but her stubborn attitude and a little hidden back up plan. The misty look of her eyes weren't the only thing unique about them.

"... I am not bossy!" She would yell at Jomei before quickly following behind him. She wouldn't reply to him about going to the Diamond Complex, however. She didn't think the Pearl tenements could really be that much worse at night. No one cared enough to stop anyone during the day, so why would night fall make any difference? Then again, the freaks did usually come out at night. Maybe he was right... "I don't dislike it. They're interesting. Just stupid." She would say in a matter-of-fact way. She still held to her opinion that they had amazing survival skills to make due the way they were. Life was never an easy task, but living in a place like this had to make it that much harder.

".. Sumi. Minamoto-Kono Sumi. And I wasn't worried about you being a stranger, I can handle myself." She'd reply in a confident tone. She didn't seem to be worried in the least. It was hard to say if she was truly this prideful and confident, though, or if it was all a facade. Which was plausible considering her inferiority complex when it came to her elder sister who had accomplished so much.

 

[Okada Kaji]

Jomei was leading them down the path that led to the backpack he left stowed in a nook of a tall tree. The weather was perfect for taking a walk, and the experience was becoming enjoyable, even with his head wound aching. That short fight was seeming more worth it with every passing moment, so much he had to contain his cheerfulness and be cool. The neighborhood seemed brighter, and offered a color pallete of summer colors in the afternoon hours when they arrived under the tall tree. Sumi and Jomei were discussing a now familiar person; her beloved sister Minamoto- Kono Haruka, the woman who became Daimyo and attempted to stage a coup after Inu Endo’s mysterious death. Haruka was also responsible for exiling one of the Stone’s most esteemed shinobi, Master Kamaru. Now Jomei understood his new friend’s hangup, it must have been tough living in the shadow of someone so ambitious. On occasion, Jomei wondered what had become of his old master, and Lady Haruka was to blame for his banishment.

With his sensei on his mind, he made skittish glances at Natsumi, attempting to see the resemblance of Haruka within her. Every nervous glance stopped short, and he’d look to a fence, an old lady sweeping, or strange shapes in the clouds. Jomei knew better than to shame Sumi for her sister’s decisions, and allowed rationale to soothe him, and control his reaction.

He started having fun, and turned his focus back to the objective at stake, grabbing his belongings from above. Jomei looked to Sumi one more time and said “Oh I’m sure Lady Haruka’s sister can handle herself on the mean streets” before leaping up the tree, using acrobatic showmanship and a short webline to sling himself upwards and in an arc around the tree. His multiple arms came in handy to snag branches upon his landing, and he reached his bag with ease. “I just wanted the company” he shouted with a slight echo. “Know how to use the tree climbing technique yet, Lady Sumi? You’re wasting your trip to this part of town if you don’t check out the view from here.” It just so happened that the chosen tree was something like a landmark in the district, and towered over many of the two-storey homes, until the metropolitan district eclipses the gates and mountain shelf. The entire stone was revealed.​

 

[Sumi]

She was sure the picture must be becoming very clear to Jomei. With all her sister was known for, it didn't take much to bring her image to another person's mind. In Sumi's mind however, her sister was not a bad person. How could she be? Caring for Sumi from a young age. While it may have been her sister, Haruka was so much more like a mother. Considering their own mother had been bed-ridden for a large part of Sumi's life, if not busy running about with her father when she was well. Haruka meant so much to Sumi and was the only consistent caregiver the girl had ever had. While she may have been jealous of her sister and felt as though she lived in her shadow, she also looked up to her and was ever thankful for her elder sister.

It was obvious by looking at Sumi, however, that she made purposeful attempts to distinguish herself from her sister. Haruka was more feminine in appearance, not necessarily by choice, part of it was just the bloodline Haruka had inherited. Or at least Sumi had always assumed so. The Haku were known for their captivating feminine looks. While Sumi had not inherited the bloodlines abilities, she most certainly had gotten the looks, but not to the same extent. They shared the same beautiful, porcelain like pale skin and dark, black hair that only brought their skin more attention. Their eye shapes were almost the same, as well. But the coloring of their eyes was slightly different. Haruka's eyes were a more icey blue. More distinct. Where as Sumi's eyes were more faint. While they were a lovely blue-ish color, they could at times pass for gray. At times, her eyes would even turn a near violet color. Sumi also kept her hair cut short, thinking it to make her look less girly, like she considered her sister with her long locks. Sumi's hair was cut roughly to her chin and always remained short. Even in personality, Sumi had always been more of a tomboy than Haruka. Not that Haruka was afraid to get down and dirty, she just preferred the more patient and lady-like approach where as Sumi was more shoot first, ask questions later. They're differences when it came down to it were small.

Sumi couldn't help but notice Jomei's short glances as they walked along the path, but she said nothing. She just wondered what had made him so nervous. Was he intimidated by Haruka...? Many were, but she never understood what that had to do with her. Eventually she found herself following him to a tree. She listened to his words before rolling her eyes. Yes, he had indeed made the connection. Then again with a reputation like Haruka's, who couldn't? There wasn't anyone quite like her. ".. Yea. Mean streets. Right." Sumi would comment as she watched Jomei ascend the tree. He reached a bag that sat high within the tree in record time before shouting down to her. Sumi would look up to him with a smirk, her way of answering his question before she would focus chakra to her feet and scale the tree herself, running up it and dodging branches on her way up before jumping off the tree and flipping, landing behind him on the branch in a knelt position. "Is that really a question..? Just because i'm not a genin doesn't mean i'm an entire failure. I know a bit here and there. I'm just a bad tester, I guess." Sumi would say with a shrug.

She would then make her way next to him, looking out to see the view. "And don't call me lady.." She mumbled, staring out at the stone village. She'd never seen it at this time of day. With the sun starting to set, all the colors were perfect. Sumi didn't know what to really say. She felt speechless. It really was quite the site. After a moment, she'd look back to Jomei. "So what's with the arms?" She would say in a matter-of-fact way. As if it was just the most natural question in the world, and not rude what-so-ever. She obviously lacked Haruka's manners, too. Sumi would reach her hand out towards his cloak, attempting to move it away to take another look. "Were you born that way or something?" It was hard to believe that such a reckless, tactless girl was meant to be the Daimyo one day, once Haruka stepped down and Sumi was of age, of course.

[MFT]

 

[Okada Kaji]

Jomei was impressed to put it simply. Sumi displayed her own adept climbing skills, and joined him upon the branch. “Not bad”, he commended her as she stepped onto his sturdy seat, and neatly planted herself. The branch barely twitched under her added weight. Everything was made to be resilient in the earth country: from the petrified trees, to the hard mineral water that flowed through their streams, to their people who lived off that land. When Sumi asked Jomei about his mutation, he wasn’t a slight bit surprised. They were an interesting subject after all; not something you’d see everyday on your trip to the grocery. The question sparked a memory for Jomei: waking up at the bottom of a valley crag, and digging out of a cocoon like the monster at the beginning of a creature feature at the cinema. The first burst of fresh air was like the start of his second life as a hachiashi.

Snapping back to present time, the memory resulted in a brief pause from Jomei, and he answered “One day, I just sorta woke up like this.” He didn’t expect her to believe him, but the answer was funny enough to buy him a moment to think of a better answer that sounded believable. All the junk about molting and near-death experiences would have to wait another day, or until he felt comfortable swapping secrets. “I know they say puberty is different for everyone, but come on… right?” With a soft smile cuing the change, he became generous and showed her his palms and the small holes in them; each one centered between the radial and ulnar arteries. This is what she peeled his cape away to see, after all. “When I started training at the academy, I wasn’t very talented at first. Actually, that’s an understatement... I was a runt, and got pushed around a lot until my mutations began.” As he spoke, Jomei began to demonstrate his ability to weave small webs between his hands, and crocheted one using over a dozen fingertips. “It may not be conventional, but I found my niche, or at least something to make me feel… like I won’t just live a boring life, playing a minor role in the story of my father’s legacy. Being high-class isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re not actually rich.”

The world was just as large as the village was mighty, and as they observed the horizon, Jomei felt the intuition to follow his desires into the future. He wanted to be more than a Matsui politician, or a web-slinging ninja. At this early-age, he had already learned what it meant to seek a fulfilling life, and sought multiple passions. His part in the conversation came to another pause, and Jomei fiddled with the bag from before. His spare hands took out random items from his shopping list like the spools of fabric and beef jerky for his parents, and made way for his prized possession: a vintage camera barely up-to-date with the invention of flash photography. They were rare machines these days, but not unheard of in the Stone. Jomei looked at Sumi with a shit-eating grin as he raised the machine to his eye and took a surprising photo. The shutter snapped and fired a bright flash, along with laughter from the photographer. Hopefully, Sumi had seen a camera before.​

 

[Sumi]

Sumi would roll her eyes at his commending of her climbing skills, though in reality it did stroke her ego. She loved to be complimented, though she always tried to play it off. Everything about the girl, despite her mist appearance, was stone to the core. Sumi felt one must always present them self as a being of resiliency and strength. Showing too much emotion also showed weakness. If people thought you were weak, they would step all over you. Any stone could be crushed into dust. She had taught herself to present herself in a way that would defer people from even attempting to do so. She was going to be a warrior. A fearless, relentless warrior. She would be the one to turn others into dust, not the other way around.

"... You just woke up like this..?" The words seemed to make her ponder. Sumi supposed that what happened to her was similar in a way. She hadn't always possessed her own gift. She did notice the slight humorous tone that he had used, but people often joke when they're serious and don't know how or are afraid to explain themselves. She wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't help but smile slightly at his next comment. Sumi would look to his palms, examining them as her eyes quickly looked them over. As if at any moment he would pull his hands away and hide his secrets again. She would nod in response to his words, listening as she continued to watch him, a curious look in her eyes. ".. I can see people pushing a runt like you around. You don't fight back. If you crushed them it wouldn't happen, you know. I broke a guys face once, he doesn't even look at me wrong anymore. If they still do, you didn't beat them hard enough." She would say nonchalantly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Which, really, in her mind it was. What did animals do in the wild when they were challenged? Beat the challenger to a pulp. If they came back, they did it again. If they had to do it again, they didn't beat their challenger bad enough for them to learn their lesson. The circle of life. Instinct.

"... You think being high-class isn't all it's cracked up to be..? My home has cage in it's name, Jomei. Cage." She would say with a chuckle, looking up at him with a grin from her crouched position. "No ones life is all it's cracked up to be, ya know. And no one should be rich, everyone just wastes it. Just remember this, wealth is more important, and it doesn't always come in the form of yen." Sumi wasn't just some bruiser, she was also a bit wise. Mostly because of her parents. There were things of greater value than 'riches'. Sumi knew that all too well. She couldn't help but think what she would do if she had all the yen in the world, though. Sumi would've tried to use it to find a way to revive her family's home. It wasn't home to her. She was born and raised in the Stone village. She couldn't help but cherish the idea of how honored and proud her father would be of her, though. He had been the Mizukage. What could make a father more proud than his youngest child restoring his home to it's former glory..? She couldn't think of anything. Sumi knew that the idea was farfetched, though. Reality was reality and dreams were dreams. She knew that she would probably never accomplish that dream, but would continue in her reality. She would be a kunoichi for the village of stone until she took her place as Daimyo. The rest would fill itself in.

Sumi's smile turned into a confused look as Jomei looked at her with a grin before he raised a machine to his eye. Then all she saw was a bright flash. All she heard was laughter. Sumi had not seen a camera before, and the object did nothing but fill her with anxiety, she had quickly covered her eyes which hurt from the bright light before trying to quickly move back from Jomei. After a moment, she would remove her hands from her eyes, glaring at him. Her once lovely, blue eyes of the mist were now a bright red. A tomoe moving around in circles upon her iris. "What is that?" She would demand from Jomei, glaring him down. Sumi didn't seem to enjoy pictures much, it seemed. Sumi was still adjusting to her own gift, however, and was giving Jomei quite the odd look as she examined his chakra moving through his body.

 

[Okada Kaji]

“Relax, it’s just a camera” he said with playful laughter mixed into his words. The camera was cradled in his hands and tucked beneath his cloak subtlety, in-case his stunt provoked Natsumi’s instinct to break faces, and lent her the will to also break cameras. It surely would’ve been a shame if she got her mitts on such a precious machine filled with cellulose acetate film and memories. “Cameras use light to burn an image onto some special chemical coated strips called film…” As Jomei attempted to explain himself, he started digging through his backpack again, and lifted random objects overhead. He revealed a stack of printed photos and began handing them to Sumi. “And then I turn them into these.” She was handed the results of a year spent exploring the hidden stone. Photos of people Sumi may have known, and locations she may have seen, but from the perspective of an artist with a knack for reaching high places, and getting obscure angles. He had photos of a land beneath the village made from glowing jewels, and of a vulture the size of a dragon swooping down from the sky. He managed to keep the compromising photos of village ninja in a separate stack, burrowed deep in Jomei’s bag.

Distracted, Jomei failed to absorb the change that occurred in his friend, all until he laid eyes upon her. The glowing red hues in Sumi’s eyes were a surprise, but not a mystery. “Sharingan” he blurted. The mere sight of her sharingan caused a shift in Jomei’s mood. Previous experiences with ninja possessing sharingan always resulted in trouble for Jomei, and a few nasty, repressed memories. “Now I know where all the face-breaking stuff comes from; I’ve never known a ninja with sharingan who wasn’t totally bad luck.”

Jomei began packing up his things, and turned his nose away. “I for one, can’t wait ‘till you start using them for more than just beating up bullies.”

Out in the distance, an unfamiliar and unsettling commotion began to grow across the village horizon. Far and wide, there was the sound of shouting as verbal warnings began to sweep through the village. The miraculous golden hour was corrupted by a shadow that eclipsed the sun on the horizon, and the rising sounds of panic. A whirring alarm began to blair hard and loud, unmistakable to every citizen within the village perimeter. A young courier ninja was reassigned to warning the masses, and ran by Jomei and Natsumi on the ground; he was hoarse and short of breath. He spoke of an invasion unlike anything imaginable, and fell to his knees for a desperate break.

“...Unreal.” The terror began to set in at once for Jomei, yet he felt magnetized towards it, and was desperate to know more. “Sumi” he called her name while turning his attention her way. “See what I’m talking about?” Although it wasn’t time for wise-cracking, Jomei targeted his newfound friend with light jabs and arose from his seat on their perch. Fastening his backpack tightly, Jomei prepared for his greatest sling-session to date: how fast could he cross the hidden stone? “If we’re really facing an invasion, response squads are probably forming at the base of the Spire, or piling on the gates if it’s a huge threat…” Holding still for just a moment longer, Jomei waited to uncover Sumi’s convictions in the face of the sudden attack. What would she do? She was an academy student, and while he was sure she’d put up a fight on her own, it would’ve been cowardly of Jomei to leave her behind. “But I take it this has to be a pretty huge threat… We should head for the gates; I can only imagine the greatness awaiting us.”

[Topic Left Unless Stopped]

 

[Sumi]

Sumi would look at him strangely as he handed her the photos, as she flipped through them she began to understand what he meant better, however. Cameras captured moments in time and put them on paper. She would rub at her eyes, feeling a bit dizzy as she didn't use them very much. She still sometimes accidentally activated them when she got over-emotional. She would quickly look up as Jomei blurted out the name of her own gift, blinking a bit in confusion as he began to insult her. Her jaw would clench up tight before she'd go to yell at him. "... You know what? You didn't complain when I was beating the bullies up for you! Plus, that's what shinobi do, we beat up bullies to protect our village! I am not bad luck, Jomei! Take it back." She would demand from him.

She'd never been insulted because she had the Sharingan before. She typically got happy reactions from people. She knew her father would be extremely proud if he was ever around to see the changes she was going through on her road to becoming a shinobi. Sumi wanted to knock Jomei's block off, but she would restrain herself. That wouldn't prove anything, she kept reminding herself. Sumi then heard the alarms start to go off and turned her attention back out into the distance. She couldn't believe how dark it was getting now as she too watched the shadow eclipse the sun. She couldn't help but feel filled with chaos, but not fear. Sumi could hear the courier ninja's words of an invasion and got a small spark of excitement, this was a chance to prove herself as useful to the village. Nothing was going to keep her from this fight, academy student or not.

Sumi rolled her eyes at Jomei as he pointed out the bad luck he associated with her, at least this time he seemed to be joking as he hit her with a few light jabs. Sumi's face was very calm, but inside she was building with excitement. She was listening to Jomei carefully as she watched the horizon, ready to move as soon as he gave the word. When Jomei had mentioned that they should head to the gates, Sumi immediately started darting through the trees. "What are you waiting for then, Jomei? Let's go! Pick up the pace!" She'd yell back behind her, a grin on her face. This was going to be fun!

[Topic Left]