Hiraku huffed walking through The Red Lights, he particularly liked this place for some odd reason, ever since his father had died he had spent his time lurking around by himself. Some found it odd for a nine year old boy to be by himself during his childhood but Hiraku found it perfectly normal and he was more comfortable acting alone. But he did know one thing, when you are a Ninja teamwork is a must, and you cannot act alone or it will mean your demise and the falling of your comrades. His father liked to try and work alone, or so he was told, that's how he died. He huffed thinking about his father for a while, the image of the ninja who told his mother when he died flashed into his eyes bringing a sinking feeling to his heart. It brought a tear to his eye, but he promised not to let it fall from his tear duct, he would not take the risk of someone seeing him cry. He looked around him. There were plenty of shady characters about during the evening, he had to get home before the skies turned blood red, if he didn't he wasn't sure what was going to happen but he knew that it would be bad, he looked around lightly his family dropping into poverty after his father's death had to live in The Red Lights until his mother got a steady job while Hiraku went to school and taught his brother. He turned another corner as he looked out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow emerge onto the wall, someone was following him. Hiraku bit his lip and found himself walking faster on the way to the small house. As soon as he turned the corner, he bumped into a large burly man around 6'5, his clothes were dirty and his face looked beat up and scarred. "What's a little kid like you doing in a place like this?" the man asked in a deep grim voice. Hiraku paralyzed with fear just looked up at the man and mumbled "W-what?" he asked biting his lip harder the longer he stared at the man as if trying to wake himself up from the nightmare. But nothing happened the man just repeated his question, and without a split second he got up and an at the man. He huffs before sliding between the mans legs and huffing before sprinting away. But then all of a sudden a shooting pain hits Hiraku in the side of the face he tumbles to the ground only to see a whole group consisting of four people. Hiraku gets up as the group of individuals advances towards him "You came to the wrong part of town little one." the man says as the group slowly walks towards him. The nine year old backs up into a wall calmly thinking of what to do next as the blood red crystals of The Red Lights illuminate the night. Hiraku sighs, huffing he opens his eyes and concentrates, they surrounded him. He grinned "What are you smiling about?!" one particularly larger one yelled "Get him!" another yelled charging at him from all sides. Quickly he built the chakra up in his feet he inhaled and exhaled once before jumping. He skimmed the larger one's head and began to run. He turned a corner, and then another corner and ran as fast as he could. They were no match for Hiraku's speed, he was small, agile and fast, while they were large, strong but slow. He expertly climbed on top of a dumpster and scaled a low wall. On top of the roof he quickly climbed the side of the metal staircase leading to his apartment. He looked at the ledge, it was thin but he could make it if he was lucky. He climbed over the railing carefully stepping onto the small sleek edge. He breathed in trying not to fall down into the streets below he opened the window careful not to awake his brother and stepped down into the bedroom. But then, he smelled something in the air, something unfamiliar, something he later would realize no nine year old should smell, as he turned on the dim light in the room blood was everywhere. His brother lay motionless on the floor, he was barely recognizable with all the dark crimson red liquid. His mother lay on the opposite side of the locked bedroom door. Tears weld up into his eyes as he opened the door to see his mother's corpse laying there stiff pale and bloody. He looked to see if anyone else was there, there was no one. Everything was gone from the small apartment, money, clothes, food and even pictures were gone. The only thing they left was the furniture. Hiraku sobbed silently to himself swearing he would kill the person that did this to his family along with the man who murdered his father. With that he left wandering the dark red streets of The Red Lights. He huffed not letting anyone see how he was feeling on the inside. He did not sob in public, no matter how much he wanted to. He stayed silent people begged at him, and yelled at him as he passed he just avoided them until he was alone, completely alone. He made sure, he sobbed quietly to himself trying not to draw any attention, panic rose up to his throat, gripping it like a python. He gasped for air once loudly and huffed falling to his kneese he clawed at the ground in rage, anger but then was too frustrated to continue he backed up onto a wall and sobbed his head in hands crying softly.
Ninpocho Chronicles
Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.
Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.
Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.
The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.
This is Ninpocho Chronicles.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time:
Alone in Red Darkness (OPEN)
- Thread starter Hokuma Hiraku
- Start date
A blindfolded hearsensing genin walking down the streets of the Grand Palais wasn't all that tough to imagine was it?
...well, that was what was happening as she expertly avoided all stares with her Cloak of Obscurity (read: tatty old hood) and her headband was made not directly visible to avoid too much attention. It was a bad thing for one to be gathering, as a member of the shinobi forces in the red light district. Especially an underage one, granted she had the ability to fight her way out of most things... if necessary of course, only if necessary.
Naoki traveled this path rather frequently, and it wasn't always for patrols. She lived here, or at least this was just about the same area she went home to every day after training. Errands were a thing too a lot of the time, and it was a good thing most of the signs were neon and she could make out their shapes if nothing else. So it came as a surprise to her when one night, as she traversed the road to get home for the night, a sound caught her attention, away from the hustle and bustle. Is that... crying...? Is there a kid here somewhere? This late at night?! She turned on her heel and attempted to locate the source of the sobbing, soft as it was.
"Hello? Is... Um, are you okay?" Her somewhat high-pitched kid voice shouldn't have raised any alarms, but she continued just in case, still making sound loud enough to scan the area but not to attract any undue attention, "I'm not a bad person, uh-" What! What'm I saying? "I'm a genin I mean, haha, sorry. Uh, please come out, it's not safe this time of night!"
...well, that was what was happening as she expertly avoided all stares with her Cloak of Obscurity (read: tatty old hood) and her headband was made not directly visible to avoid too much attention. It was a bad thing for one to be gathering, as a member of the shinobi forces in the red light district. Especially an underage one, granted she had the ability to fight her way out of most things... if necessary of course, only if necessary.
Naoki traveled this path rather frequently, and it wasn't always for patrols. She lived here, or at least this was just about the same area she went home to every day after training. Errands were a thing too a lot of the time, and it was a good thing most of the signs were neon and she could make out their shapes if nothing else. So it came as a surprise to her when one night, as she traversed the road to get home for the night, a sound caught her attention, away from the hustle and bustle. Is that... crying...? Is there a kid here somewhere? This late at night?! She turned on her heel and attempted to locate the source of the sobbing, soft as it was.
"Hello? Is... Um, are you okay?" Her somewhat high-pitched kid voice shouldn't have raised any alarms, but she continued just in case, still making sound loud enough to scan the area but not to attract any undue attention, "I'm not a bad person, uh-" What! What'm I saying? "I'm a genin I mean, haha, sorry. Uh, please come out, it's not safe this time of night!"
To some it was an odd site seeing a young kid out on their own, to many it's just another part of life. One of those children, while not being completely on their own, knew the was well used to the way life liked to deal out hands. As far as she's concerned, if you could pick up those cards and learn the game fast enough, there only thing you really have to worry about if how everyone else decides they want to play.
Of course, she didn't figure that out on her own; but with a father more concerned with having his own fun and spouting nonsensical ideologies than working to become something other than a leech on society, she understood what those words meant. As for the way she plays the game, well, like any bottom feeder, she's just as unpredictable in her moves as any other street rat. It all depends on what kind of opportunity you provide that she can see. But for the most part, so long as there's no crossing or irritating her she's pretty harmless.
People in the Red Light district knew this well enough, and for the most part avoided kids like her who came from parts of the village with a worse off reputation. She was fine with that, with the others making a mess sometimes it was harder to avoid getting a beating from some frustrated person of authority or wandering gang but so long as she could steal from the little people and sneak some food it was nothing to worry about.
Today she didn't need to worry, even while holding a small bag of candy. There was a small raid, street kids seemed drawn to each other when real mischief was a foot, and little could stop the tiny terrors when they were going after their target, as they always struck fast and at random. Usual no one got much, and today was no exception, but a new pair of shorts and some quick snacks was a better haul than she expected.
She paused at a sound, one eyebrow raised. It wasn't unusual for someone to be hidden and crying softly in the streets for one reason or another, she may or may not have been trying to seek out the sound for a quick bit of entertainment, but that often meant they had no where they couldn't go somewhere safe right away. That gave her a few ideas, one or two wouldn't be pleasant for whoever was on the receiving end, but she wouldn't do anything too bad until she had an accurate measure of the situation.
As she crept closer, she kept out of sight when realizing someone else already there. Well there went some entertainment choices out the window, but that didn't mean she couldn't manage to get something fun out of this situation. But first she was going to wait until the crying kid responded before showing herself to either of them.
Of course, she didn't figure that out on her own; but with a father more concerned with having his own fun and spouting nonsensical ideologies than working to become something other than a leech on society, she understood what those words meant. As for the way she plays the game, well, like any bottom feeder, she's just as unpredictable in her moves as any other street rat. It all depends on what kind of opportunity you provide that she can see. But for the most part, so long as there's no crossing or irritating her she's pretty harmless.
People in the Red Light district knew this well enough, and for the most part avoided kids like her who came from parts of the village with a worse off reputation. She was fine with that, with the others making a mess sometimes it was harder to avoid getting a beating from some frustrated person of authority or wandering gang but so long as she could steal from the little people and sneak some food it was nothing to worry about.
Today she didn't need to worry, even while holding a small bag of candy. There was a small raid, street kids seemed drawn to each other when real mischief was a foot, and little could stop the tiny terrors when they were going after their target, as they always struck fast and at random. Usual no one got much, and today was no exception, but a new pair of shorts and some quick snacks was a better haul than she expected.
She paused at a sound, one eyebrow raised. It wasn't unusual for someone to be hidden and crying softly in the streets for one reason or another, she may or may not have been trying to seek out the sound for a quick bit of entertainment, but that often meant they had no where they couldn't go somewhere safe right away. That gave her a few ideas, one or two wouldn't be pleasant for whoever was on the receiving end, but she wouldn't do anything too bad until she had an accurate measure of the situation.
As she crept closer, she kept out of sight when realizing someone else already there. Well there went some entertainment choices out the window, but that didn't mean she couldn't manage to get something fun out of this situation. But first she was going to wait until the crying kid responded before showing herself to either of them.
Hiraku looked up, his light peircing blue eyes looked like they were glowing in the darkness his white hair seemed amplified in the darkness aswell making him seem extremely pale. He wiped his tears and got up walking over slowly to the "Genin" he didn't trust her, he trusted no one, the only people who he could trust was his family. And obviously that wasn't an option now, he bit his tongue hard for punishment for someone hearing him, for all he knew there could be others coming to take advantage of the situation. Hiraku let a small smile appear on his face before looking up at her headband, however it did not stay for long. He looked her up and down before coming to the conclusion she was harmless. "I'm... Fine." he would say looking closing his eyes thinking. His life was now measured by weeks or even days if he didn't start trusting people soon, he couldn't stay alone forever or he surely will be dead. Hiraku opened his eyes looking at the girl with a straight face. "Can you help me?" he would ask in a serious tone.
"Ah, um... S-sure! Let's just get you inside someplace, can't hang around for too long here..." Naoki stepped to the side and nodded ahead to have the boy walk beside her instead of behind, distracted enough not to take much notice of the girl who'd decided to creep closer to the both of them. As she spoke, she'd turn her head to face him out of courtesy. "Would you be okay with just resting where I live for a bit? It's close by, and I think I have some food left over from lunch today... Or I could just take you back home, gotta make sure nothing bad happens while you're out here," she paused then, as the sound of someone being close by and probably watching them registered.
Someone's here? A relative of the kid's maybe? Why else would they decide to stick around? A little crying boy wasn't exactly something anyone unconcerned should be paying attention to, and Naoki was fairly sure no one ever patrolled streets this late... or at the very least, she never noticed them. She made sure not to let slip any sign of her having noticed, but she did attempt to listen more closely to her surroundings to try and determine whether or not this other person was a threat.
Someone's here? A relative of the kid's maybe? Why else would they decide to stick around? A little crying boy wasn't exactly something anyone unconcerned should be paying attention to, and Naoki was fairly sure no one ever patrolled streets this late... or at the very least, she never noticed them. She made sure not to let slip any sign of her having noticed, but she did attempt to listen more closely to her surroundings to try and determine whether or not this other person was a threat.
Going over the few things she picked up; these two weren't related, the girl would probably try to beat her if she went too far, and the boy was so alone he needed to ask strangers for help. The teen was a little more of a mystery but Shiro's seen enough to know that boy either has an abusive family that took it too far or he's a recently made orphan. Could be both, either way she could see he was a bit of a grouch as far as strangers went. Almost reminds her of a few good acquaintances she met before they found someone to teach them the streets. That thought gave her an idea she didn't think anyone would be unhappy with.
With a grin, she sauntered out of the shadows with such an easy air you could have thought she'd claimed the place, "I don't mean to intrude or anything but I couldn't help overhearing the both'a you and," she hopped onto an abandoned box to make up for the height difference between the three of them, which did keep her from having to tilt her head all the way up when looking at the girl's face, "as a non-residential street urchin I think this guy would be better off with me. Sure bringin' him home like a stray might help for a while but if you ask me his seems more like the independent sort, so if he wants real help I can show him who an' what to look out for till he gets the instinct for it himself."
She waves a hand nonchalantly towards the other girl, "Not that your type isn't helpful but without any real street smarts he might run into someone who'll get him killed, or worse." She turned to him, "No offense or anything, you just make yourself out as a fresh target when you're glaring and tear stained like that. Not to mention your anxiety is clear as day to every rat out here looking for an easy target." He doesn't need to know how close he came to being her target. Still, her smile was genuine enough even with that hint of mischief in her eyes.
With a grin, she sauntered out of the shadows with such an easy air you could have thought she'd claimed the place, "I don't mean to intrude or anything but I couldn't help overhearing the both'a you and," she hopped onto an abandoned box to make up for the height difference between the three of them, which did keep her from having to tilt her head all the way up when looking at the girl's face, "as a non-residential street urchin I think this guy would be better off with me. Sure bringin' him home like a stray might help for a while but if you ask me his seems more like the independent sort, so if he wants real help I can show him who an' what to look out for till he gets the instinct for it himself."
She waves a hand nonchalantly towards the other girl, "Not that your type isn't helpful but without any real street smarts he might run into someone who'll get him killed, or worse." She turned to him, "No offense or anything, you just make yourself out as a fresh target when you're glaring and tear stained like that. Not to mention your anxiety is clear as day to every rat out here looking for an easy target." He doesn't need to know how close he came to being her target. Still, her smile was genuine enough even with that hint of mischief in her eyes.
Hiraku huffed lightly, thinking about what the girl infront of him had proposed. He had nowhere to go and no one to watch his back. He was truely alone for the first time in his life and he could feel it tugging at the small invisible strings of his heart. He looked grimly at the Genin infront of him. He didn't want to go with her, a "goodie two shoes" life was not for him. Even though he did want to lead the path of a Shinobi, he wanted to do it his own way, and right now he didn' want to take advantage of her. He sighed "I am sorry, but I cannot go with you." He says smiling lightly "But thank you for the offer." he wiped away the remains of his tears and then looked up at the newcomer. He huffed smiling lightly at her proposal. "I accept, please, teach me your ways." he said looking up at her with peircing blue eyes.
"Eh? Hmm..." It's not like Naoki hadn't encountered people who didn't want any help, but she did find that more often than not once she did leave them alone... Whatever they were having trouble with ended up escalating into something that would require a mission to resolve, or was otherwise just left unattended until it bothered someone enough to take care of it themselves. She felt that she needed to explain the circumstances before anything else, and addressed the girl first. "I was just saying we should go someplace a little safer to talk about what he wanted help with though... I don't really have enough money to be bringin him home for real, haha..." She turned to the boy now and squatted a little bit, "Eeeh, well, if you wanna go with her that's fine, just remember to be careful around here okay? Don't stay out late like this again!"
Straightening back up, she addressed the girl once more. "If you don't mind, is it okay if I at least tag along until you get where you're staying? Just to be sure..." She's met these street types many a time, living in the area and all, and though she's stayed clear of most of them she knows they do trick people quite a large portion of the time. Her face betrayed none of this suspicion however, concern being prevalent. "Place takes a step up in danger once it gets dark after all- not that I'd be able to tell if it got dark otherwise, hahaha..." She'd need to cut down on the somewhat-suspicious nervous laughter too.
Straightening back up, she addressed the girl once more. "If you don't mind, is it okay if I at least tag along until you get where you're staying? Just to be sure..." She's met these street types many a time, living in the area and all, and though she's stayed clear of most of them she knows they do trick people quite a large portion of the time. Her face betrayed none of this suspicion however, concern being prevalent. "Place takes a step up in danger once it gets dark after all- not that I'd be able to tell if it got dark otherwise, hahaha..." She'd need to cut down on the somewhat-suspicious nervous laughter too.
(Sorry this took so long, guys)
Shioinu grinned, she probably would have slapped a hand on the other kid's shoulder if she wasn't aware of how most people reacted to physical contact around here. There was a chance he wasn't one of them, but she didn't see a reason to risk it. She waved off the taller girl dismissively while hopping off the box, now clearly at least an inch shorter than the hardboiled kid the two wanted to help, "Come if you want, I don't go home till Kiiro runs me to the place her and dad sniffed out."
As though she realized something, her eyes trailed back curiously to their center of attention, "Speaking of, I didn't hear if you did or didn't have a stable place to stay. Not that I couldn't find you one somewhere to sleep but you'll have to move around; gangs like to rove around anywhere someone's not willing to kick a kid out ya know." She started walking out of the alley, waving for the two to follow and noting the slowly shrinking crowd in comparison to the earlier rushing bustle of people. "Oh, I don't think we got each other's names. I'm Shiro." She found no reason to give more than her nickname.
After the other two introduced themselves, she focused more on Hiraku than Samejima, "Now I think it's only fair that the first thing I teach you is to act like every other kid out here who hasn't be beaten to death. You gotta look confident and act like it, even when you don't know who to turn to. The worst of us pick up on that kinda thing, if they think someone'll come look for you by your attitude then you'll have a ton less problems to deal with." She paused after hopping onto the steps of a hotel to look at them, "Which means no matter what happens, act like someone's at home waiting for you with'a big meal." thought for a second, "But, if you're not that type of guy, always the option to lay low as possible. Be a kind of scavenger; safer for most because you'll know the most abandoned place but that makes it harder to learn who to trust after a while." It was hard to tell if Shiro knew what she was talking about, but casting aside doubt it would be obvious she knew urchins her age and older that have learned from each walk of life.
Remembering their tag-along, who was pretty fair in her suspicion when considering Shiro is very likely to get bored and do something to make Hiraku's situation worse just because, she looked towards her, "You wouldn't mind going to those semi-abandoned buildings, huh? Might run into trouble if luck's against us." She felt it was only fair to warn someone they were being taken somewhere that would get them hurt, mostly so they couldn't complain about not knowing later.
[WC: 488]
Shioinu grinned, she probably would have slapped a hand on the other kid's shoulder if she wasn't aware of how most people reacted to physical contact around here. There was a chance he wasn't one of them, but she didn't see a reason to risk it. She waved off the taller girl dismissively while hopping off the box, now clearly at least an inch shorter than the hardboiled kid the two wanted to help, "Come if you want, I don't go home till Kiiro runs me to the place her and dad sniffed out."
As though she realized something, her eyes trailed back curiously to their center of attention, "Speaking of, I didn't hear if you did or didn't have a stable place to stay. Not that I couldn't find you one somewhere to sleep but you'll have to move around; gangs like to rove around anywhere someone's not willing to kick a kid out ya know." She started walking out of the alley, waving for the two to follow and noting the slowly shrinking crowd in comparison to the earlier rushing bustle of people. "Oh, I don't think we got each other's names. I'm Shiro." She found no reason to give more than her nickname.
After the other two introduced themselves, she focused more on Hiraku than Samejima, "Now I think it's only fair that the first thing I teach you is to act like every other kid out here who hasn't be beaten to death. You gotta look confident and act like it, even when you don't know who to turn to. The worst of us pick up on that kinda thing, if they think someone'll come look for you by your attitude then you'll have a ton less problems to deal with." She paused after hopping onto the steps of a hotel to look at them, "Which means no matter what happens, act like someone's at home waiting for you with'a big meal." thought for a second, "But, if you're not that type of guy, always the option to lay low as possible. Be a kind of scavenger; safer for most because you'll know the most abandoned place but that makes it harder to learn who to trust after a while." It was hard to tell if Shiro knew what she was talking about, but casting aside doubt it would be obvious she knew urchins her age and older that have learned from each walk of life.
Remembering their tag-along, who was pretty fair in her suspicion when considering Shiro is very likely to get bored and do something to make Hiraku's situation worse just because, she looked towards her, "You wouldn't mind going to those semi-abandoned buildings, huh? Might run into trouble if luck's against us." She felt it was only fair to warn someone they were being taken somewhere that would get them hurt, mostly so they couldn't complain about not knowing later.
[WC: 488]
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time: