Disguise! [Class]

[Myakashi Migoya]

Ah, the smell of a classroom.

Migoya leant casually back against the curved desk behind him, looking down at the teacher’s desk, placed in front of a now blank blackboard. It was this very seat so many years ago that he had first started on his path to becoming a shinobi, though the academy had been rebuilt several times in the interim.

A small wooden mannequin, ‘Mikki’, would sit at that teachers desk, not moving but seeming to scan the room for possible danger. Arranged neatly on the desk in front of the puppet were various powders, unguents, dyes, clay, wigs and other paraphernalia suggesting the topic of today's lesson.

Disguise.

Several different types of clothing accompanied those on the table, hanging up on movable trolleys like some sort of fashion show. The clothing varied in size and shape, offering a wide variety of couture for the choosy academy student.

Migoya stretched, then rocked to his feet, slowly walking down the couple of steps to slowly walk and eventually lean against the teachers desk. It was strange that he was going to be taking a class, especially since most of the people in the village had no idea who he was.

Reaching lazily over to a red wig, Migoya smirked. He had asked his clan mates to provide some excess disguises and costumes from their own stores, and it looked like they had done exactly that. They weren't the best, but they would do.

A tanned hand, covered by black fingerless gloves, ran through silky black hair as Migoya sat on the desk, awaiting the arrival of the students. He was dressed simply in the standard Chuunin Flak Jacket, covering the stock blue uniform of a shinobi of the Hidden Village in the Leaves. On one arm his forehead protector was tied, accompanied on the other by a strange strip of white material, similar to a bandage. His face, seemingly reddened by staying out in the sun too long, carried a mirthful expression but his deep brown eyes did not convey the same emotion.

“Well Mikki - it is a risk, but hopefully one that will pay off for the benefit of the village”, Migoya seemed to respond to no-one in particular. A moment of silence followed. “Because they need us…”

With this, Migoya would walk over to the chalkboard and write in thick, white words, before placing the chalk down and sitting at the desk, Mikki clamoring up to rest on his shoulder.

‘Welcome to Disguise - an art of survival’​

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WC - 422/1500

 

[Motomiya Jo]

Kazuma found himself walking the halls looking for his class. This was his first time in the academy, as he was at the hospital when orientation was happening. Student ran all over the place; some his age and others a bit older. They seemed to be in a hurry, and the hallway was becoming more crowded. He sidestepped one of the older student hurrying past, and pulled his backpack out of the way of another rushing the other way. Why is everyone hurrying?

With a shrug he pulled out the paper his mother gave him. On it listed the room number and the name of the class. He looked up at the closest room number and happened to see a clock on the wall. His blood ran cold when he realized why everyone was running, and why the hall was rapidly emptying of student. He was almost late for class.

With a quiet berating to himself Kazuma sprinted down the hallway. He knew he should have gotten to the academy sooner, but he really wanted to take his scroll for reading between classes. It was a scroll that listed the various bones found in the human body, and he was determined to memorize it as soon as possible. But that morning he lost it in the mess he called his room, and it took him an hour of digging to find it under last week’s clothers. Skidding around a corner he almost ran into another student running the other way, but managed to duck to the side and zipped past her. Wait, was that a teacher? He looked back to see if he could spot her….and ran smack into a door frame.

Kazuma fell onto his butt and felt a bump forming on his head where he hit. Sitting there he reached up and gingerly fingered the spot. It wasn’t as bad as if felt, and he was going to have a large bump soon. He was lucky it wasn’t his eye, and used stood up carefully to make sure he wasn’t dizzy. Looking up he read the sign on the wall. “Disguise”. This was his class. Brushing himself off he walked in slowly and looked around. He noticed the teacher behind the desk, and what appeared to be a mannequin of some type sitting on the desk. Wait, was it looking around the room? No, it was just an illusion. Suppressing a small shiver he gave a short bow to the teacher. ”G-good morning. I’m Hogosuru Kazuma.”

Grabbing his bag off his back Kazuma hurried to one of the seats up front and sat down. He slipped his bag under his seat and glanced at the piles of clothing and wigs up front. A slight frown appeared on his lips, and his expression was one of confusion. When he read the description of the class he thought it was using ninjutsu in order to hide like his father told him; not using actual disguises. Either way he was eager to learn. This was his first class after all.

[Word Count= 509]

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

“Welcome Kazuma-san, and good morning to you. I am Myakashi Migoya. Please take a seat – I hope some of your fellow students will be along shortly.”

The Uchiha are late. Typical. Probably busy styling their emo hair in the mirror.

In a fluid motion Migoya stood up from the desk and casually walked towards the boy, brown eyes seeming to scan him from top to toe, as if appraising an apple from an apple cart. Silver streaks in his hair, a strong frame. Slight bruising... a fighter? No... he has books - scrolls... medical scrolls... surprising...

A small mile would appear in the corner of his mouth as he appeared to have come to a decision. The smile would then become wide and Migoya would simply turn to sit on top of the desk.

“Hogosuru… I cannot claim to know of such a clan. Do they all have such interesting hair? Is that the result of a particular bloodline, or are you just fortunate?”, Migoya said kindly. His tone was clearly friendly, as if trying to start up conversation whilst the two were waiting.

“Your appearance is.. unique. A blessing and a curse so to speak. But hopefully I will be able to teach you some tricks for when you don’t want to be… unique. Also – I couldn’t help but notice your backpack… ’Sakemitsu’s guide to Anatomy – an interesting book. You wish to become a med-nin in the future?”

WC: 640/1500

[OOC: Welcome! Feel free to post Kazuma - If the others dont post by Monday Ill begin.]

 

[Motomiya Jo]

Kazuma watched the teacher stand up and walk to him. He squirmed uneasily underneath that discerning gaze, and for the first time he wished he was still at home. There he was allowed to read all he wanted, and could stay inside away from the outside world. He wasn't a complete shut out, and had a few friends in the local boys of where he lived. But he was always more comfortable reading then he was socializing.

“Hogosuru… I cannot claim to know of such a clan. Do they all have such interesting hair? Is that the result of a particular bloodline, or are you just fortunate?” Kazuma reached up and touched a few of his hairs. It was a touchy subject, as it showed that he was from a mixed parentage. Not so much that his parent's had different color hair, but that he never inherited any of the bloodline of his father. Not that the school would know of that. His parent's weren't exactly vocal about their marriage, and his father rarely left the house because of his condition.

"Hogosuru is my mother's name. M-my parents decided that she keep her maiden name, and that I should as well." He was tempted to say more, about how his father was of a noble bloodline, and had passed away a week prior. But he couldn't. The wounds were still too deep; and he couldn't voice his fear, his anger, and his sadness. School was supposed to help him take his mind off his loss, but he figured it only made sense that the teacher would be curious.

Kazuma's fingers tapped his leg nervously, and he itched to take out the book he brought. He wanted to get lost in the words and hide from the pain of the memories of his father. “Your appearance is.. unique. A blessing and a curse so to speak." That only made him feel worse.

"But hopefully I will be able to teach you some tricks for when you don’t want to be… unique." His fingers stopped tapping at this, and then looked up at the teacher in surprise. He glanced at the clothing and wigs on the table and floor. Could he hide what he was from the rest of the world? Is that how he would 'honor' his father by hiding what Kazuma was given.

"Also – I couldn’t help but notice your backpack… ’Sakemitsu’s guide to Anatomy – an interesting book. You wish to become a med-nin in the future?” Kazuma set his jaw and looked at the teacher with a determined expression. "Yes sir. I want to become the strongest medical ninja of the village." That's how he would honor his father, by woking to make sure no one has to go through what his father did. After all, that's why he decided to join the academy to begin with.

[Word Count= 480 total; 393 without copied text]

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

"Hogosuru is my mother's name. M-my parents decided that she keep her maiden name, and that I should as well."

Migoya gave a smile, taking in the slightly uncomfortable nature of his response. “Very good Kazuma-san. Well, it appears that the others are busy – a shame, but it gives us the opportunity to focus on you.” A change of focus, to stop the boy from becoming too uncomfortable. Another question was posed.

"Yes sir. I want to become the strongest medical ninja of the village”.

Migoya grinned – he remembered himself at that same age, wanting the same thing. Did this boy know of the sacrifices needed? Sacrifices that he once was willing to make…

“The strongest in the village, or the best? There is a difference you know…”, He responded in typical cryptic fashion.

It was then that Migoya started to pace back and forth from the front of the room, talking to the floor as if thinking about what he was going to say next.

“Disguise. I’m sure that when you entered the room you were disappointed with the, shall we say, non-jutsu method of establishing a disguise. Admittedly, there are many jutsu, both from the families of Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu that provide a person with disguises, even hiding them all together from sight”.

“However, there is a problem with them, and one that all too many spies, assassins and never-do-wells forget”, Migoya said, stopping to address Kazuma directly.

“Jutsu cannot be maintained indefinitely, and can easily be dispelled by the right combination of counter-jutsu. In addition, it is easy to detect those who are under such disguises if you know what to look for. The slightest injury can also dispel such a jutsu”.

Almost conspiratorially, Migoya opened one of his side pockets, showing what seemed to be a fist full of small stones. He gave no explanation before hiding them once more.

Let us see if he understood that…

He began again.

“So… why do we learn how to disguise ourselves in a traditional manner? Because people rarely look beyond the surface. Take off one mask and people believe that what they see is the truth”, he said slowly, before his voice changed to something rather dis-settling.

“We all wear masks Kazuma-san. Your face speaks one thing, but your eyes say another”.

Migoya let the sentence hang in the air before once again returning to his more jovial teaching method.

“The first step then is to establish what you can see about others – what notable features can you ascertain, and memorise. If you were to see me again, for example, what key pieces of information do you think your brain would retain in order to recognise me. Let us start there.”

“When you look at me, Kazuma-san, what do you see? Look… and look hard.”

OOC: Link to profile to help :- https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=773&t=58011&p=306680#p306680

WC: 475
Total 1145

 

[Motomiya Jo]

Kazuma looked at the teacher curiously. I need to stop thinking of him as the teacher. He sat back and considered the man's words. He never thought that strongest and the best were different. To him he figured that becoming the strongest would automatically say he was the best. But he remembered stories that his father told of the strongest ninjas in history and sat back in his seat. "They weren't strong because of their physical strength, nor with the number of jutsu learned. They were strong because they used their mind to out think their opponents. That's the meaning of true strength." Maybe Myakashi-sensei had a point.

Kazuma listened carefully to Myakashi-sensei's words as he explained the class. In a way it made sense, but at the same time the young boy was confused. He had yet to have a class on jutsu; let alone classes on how to use chakra. He didn't know about ninjutsu, genjutsu, or even taijutsu. All he knew about ninjas were stories his father told him growing up. He wasn't even shown any of the techniques his father knew before he passed away because of his illness. He thought that he'd be learning more about the mystical abilities his father spoke of; not about masks.

A small part of Kazuma resented his father for not teaching him about being a ninja. Deep down he knew it was unfair, as the medicine that kept his father alive for so long also blocked whatever bloodline abilities he had. But he still felt ignorant in the world of ninjas, and that just made him hunker down in his seat even more. He almost didn't respond when Myakashi-sensei asked him a question, but he pushed the anger to the back of his mind. The teacher asked him to look hard at him. "Um, you have white hair." For ninjas it might be harder to hide with white hair. Even Kazuma's dark silver hair might be easier to hid. "And your eyes are red." Those two features would definitely stand out as far as Kazuma thought. The clothing as well, but he thought that would be easier to hide.

[Word Count= 360]
[Word Total= 1262]

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

Migoya snorted at the obvious answer, clearly disappointed in the simplicity of the response. The child holds back. Is it fear? No - I am expecting too much - trained too many who have seen more than this child. But still, he has pain - pain is the greatest teacher.

“Yes. I have white hair and red eyes, and those two facts would enable you to identify me… So, in order to create a disguise, I need to modify those two”.

Migoya reached over to a black wig, quickly donning it to cover the shock of white hair. Mumbling something and moving his hands in rapid succession, Migoya caused a very small amount of water to appear which he used to slick down the wig,causing it to cover his eyes as he adopted a very slouched posture. He crunched his face, making it look solemn, whilst hiding the glare of his red eyes.

“See… something simple has covered my hair, and so now you would probably ignore me as I walked down the street. Adopt the attitude of someone who has issues, and people will run from you!”, Migoya chuckled. “People only notice things that either entice or disgust. The normal is ignored”.

Migoya moved once again towards the boy. “Please stand Kazuma-san.” A pale hand would reach out to touch the boys shoulder, as now deep red eyes locked onto the boys.

“Should you wish to become shinobi young one, you will need many masks. Masks to hide your identity. Masks to hide your feelings. Masks to hide your deceit. Masks to hide your pain. Why?”

“Because masks protect us.”

“But you… you need your first mask. Just as you looked at me, look at yourself now, and decide what needs to change in order for people to not recognise, or at least not pay attention to you. Remember - simple is better.”

Migoya made a slight handsign before changing his appearance to an exact replica of Kazuma, a mirror image. He adopted the same stance, even copying the sad look in the boys eyes, the slight slouch of his left shoulder. When Migoya spoke next, he sounded exactly like Kazuma. To truly see ourselves for what we are is the largest step towards a greater future.

“Look at yourself. Your hair, your facial expressions, your clothing. Your stance. Reflect on what others see in you. Choose three things you would change, and go and do them,” he said motioning towards the many disguise options around the room. Migoya lent in close, and whispered...

“And this time, impress me.”

WC: ;358
Total 1553

 

[Motomiya Jo]

(OOC-You’re going to hate me for this. )

Kazuma watched as Migoya took a black wig and stuck it over his white hair. A small movement of the hands, and a bit of water appeared that helped slick the wig over the eyes. The young student was surprised at the swift transformation, as Migaoya adopted a slumped manner and non-caring attitude. I watched him the entire time, and even so I can’t recognize him.

He could still notice some other smaller details that he didn’t mention before, but Kazuma was still impressed. Maybe this could actually be more useful that using ninjutsu to hide. At the very least it would be good for stealth missions if you had to be out in the open.

The young student jumped at the white smoke that surrounded Migoya, and from that smoke stood an exact duplicate of Kazuma. Everything from the strands of dark silver to the clothing he wore. This was what he was expecting to learn, but at the same time he didn’t feel as disappointed as he did before. What Migoya was teaching appeared to have more use than a simple ninjutsu. On the surface at least (how ironic). The least he could do was give it a shot.

Standing up Kazuma walked to the front of the classroom with all of the wigs and costumes. He pulled at a few of the wigs before selecting a yellow one with spikey hair. If I’m going to be changing my hair I should choose something noticeable. Then I can be remembered for the wrong thing. With that in mind he picked an orange jumper that he could easily wear over his clothing. He took his time putting on the wig to make sure his hair was completely covered, and then slipped on the orange jumper over his clothing.

The whole time he kept his back to Migoya, and the mentally prepared the ‘face’ he was going to show his teacher. Turning around quickly he struck a pose with his hands outstretched and a big grin on his face. He stuffed his sadness into the back of his mind so only a determined look was in his eyes. ”I’m going to be the strongest ninja in the village. Believe it!” After a moment holding the pose he relaxed and stood up straight. ”I figured if I might be noticed I may as well be noticed for the wrong reasons.”

[Word Count= 399]
[Word Total= 1661]

 

[Myakashi Migoya]

Oh. My. God. The boy… understands – at least he is starting to.

White smoke covered Migoya for a second as he reverted back to his normal albino self, a wide grin on his face. A hint of… mirth was evident in his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest and chuckled. Believe it... sheesh. What a stupid catch phrase... brilliant.

“Well… a bit over-the-top, but very effective nevertheless”, he grinned. What this boy could not know is the resemblance he had to a long-lost mentor and friend – a former med-nin chief who just happened to skirt the bounds of copyright infringement.

“I believe you have got the gist of it. Disguise is not about wigs, and costumes. No – its about hiding oneself. Hiding feelings, thoughts, emotions – fears, and putting on a mask. One mask might confuse an enemy, showing weakness where there is strength. Another, like yours, gives off a sense of bravado, useful when inspiring or… annoying others”, he chuckled.

“Our village is a family – each of us plays a part in making sure it is safe. Sometimes we need to put on a mask – a mask that our family needs us to wear in order to keep them safe.” Migoya added with a hint of sadness to his voice. “The problem is sometimes we confuse the mask, and the person beneath it.”

He took in a deep breath, before smiling once more. His hand motioned towards the doorway.

“Now, young Kazuma-san, there is a class across the hallway. I want you to attend that class with a mask on, and see how differently others treat you. Make a game of it.”

The small puppet the had lay unmoving now seemed to spring to life, clambering up Migoya’s arm to sit on his shoulder and watch the boy, as Migoya moved back towards the teachers desk. Apparently this was normal as Migoya ignored it, rummaging through an old knapsack that lay on the desk to pull out a small and heavily worn book. ‘Guide to Herbology – Hyutta Shin’

Migoya turned and offered the book to the boy. The volume was very worn, and various notes about the properties of plants, best ways to cultivate them, medicinal benefits and the like was written in the folded pages, or glued in… it was a mess.

“Here – someone once gave me this book when I aspired to be a great medical shinobi. I apologise for the notes – I used to get bored in class. I hope it helps you on your journey to becoming the most powerful.. influential Med-nin in the village. If you ever need any assistance, just ask for the Myakashi.”

A wry smirk came upon Migoya’s face, as if it truly belonged there.

“We shall be watching.” He added, giving a slight nod of the head.

“Class dismissed. For now”.

WC: 461
Total WC: 1963
[Class Ended. Topic Left]
[OOC: Cheers Kazuma  Love the reference hehe! I hope that twas mildly entertaining for you - I enjoyed the RP! Make sure to link to this in your training logs so you get double training! My request is here:- https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=776&t=50090&p=308547#p308547, so if approved link it in your training and enjoy the boost! Thanks!]