Name: Koichi Itoh (伊藤浩一)
Meaning of Name: Happiness and One
Age: Twelve
Physical Description: Koichi is 5’4 and weighs a lean 105 pounds, being both taller and heavier than his peers. He carries his weight well, keeping his body fat percentage low from his childhood of working on the farm and his more recent training with his father. His skin is bronze in color from always being under the sun, but during the winter months he’s as pale as a ghost. He has dark colored hues, thin eyebrows, and a charming smile to boot. But compared to everyone else, he’s not very discernable. His hair is long, down to the midpoint of his neck, and he often keeps it tied in a ponytail with a singular braid in front of his face. He has a couple scars from training sessions with his father from the ages of 10-12.
(An Older Version of Koichi)
Mental Description: Koichi had to mature at a young age since his father owned a farm. Once he came of age his life simply consisted of school and farm work. So while he knows how to have a good time when he’s around family, he’s always aware whenever it’s time to get to work. For most of his young life he never considered what he wanted to be when he grew up. Mostly because he expected to take over the farming business from his parents. But the secret his father revealed to him would later change things for him.
Now Koichi is determined to become a member of the ANBU guard. He wants to become a member of the hokage’s secret guardians for both the prestige and honor, but also for something far more personal to himself and his father. When it comes to this goal he’s outgoing and unwilling to yield to anything and anyone.
He’s pretty open with anyone he meets, but he only gets personal with people he truly comes to respect and admire. Those are the people who truly get to hear about his goals.
History: Koichi Inoh was born and raised on the outskirts of Konohagakure, he was a single child of two loving parents. For most of his young life his mother was his idol. She became the perfect image of a woman in his eyes. She was always loving to him, aiding him with his early school work, taking him into town whenever they needed something for the farm or exchanging their crops for money. Everything his father was too busy to do. Of course this wasn’t his father’s fault, he had to upkeep a small farm and refused to ever hire a helper (despite many attempts from people to work for him). But because of the lack of time his father spent with him, he glorified his mother.
That was until he became old enough to help around the field. At around eight years old, he began working with his father who taught him many things he didn’t know before. For the very first time he saw his father in a new light. This was no longer the man that just lived in the same house with him and his mother, this was his father. Over the course of two years, his house actually felt like a family. He’d go through school (homeschooled by his mother), then work on the farm with his father, to come inside and do his school work with the help of his mother. Rinse and repeat.
Everything changed when he turned ten years old and heard a strange rustling coming from his room-
Bloodline:
It took a couple seconds for his eyes to adjust and for a long while all he could see was the darkness of his room. The noise that disrupted his sleep stopped and all he could hear was the sound of his own shaky and shallow breath. A cold sweat dripped from his forehead onto the sheets, and as he went to lay back down he saw it. The outline of a human being. A hand quickly shot to his mouth as he attempted to shout, and he instinctively tried to pry the hand off.
“Shhh,” The voice in the dark whispered, “It’s me son.”
The voice was that of his father’s, Koichi Hoshi. His father removed his callous hand away from Itoh’s mouth, “Father? What’re you-”
“Keep your voice down and get dressed. I don’t want to wake your mother. Come with me, I’d like to show you something.”
Koichi Itoh did as his father commanded, putting on a pair of grey pants, a white t-shirt, and work boots. His hair was messy and undone; he grabbed a hair tie on the way out of the room and put his hair up in a spiky ponytail .
Once they were outside he could see his father better under the moonlight. He had this solemn look on his face and it was obvious to Itoh that whatever his father wanted to show him would be something serious.. He questioned his father the whole time they walked. He kept pestering him with questions, are they going to try and get some yard work done early? or if he was in trouble? But his dad would answer with a simple no, over and over to all his questions.
Finally his father stopped at a tree at the far end of his farmland. It was quite a distance from their home. There laying against the trees were two shovels, Hoshi handed Itoh a shovel and commanded him to help him dig. Itoh reluctantly did as he was told, he was never the kind of kid to talk back to either of his parents but his father’s behavior was starting to freak him out.
After about ten minutes of digging his father struck what he was looking for and threw his shovel aside. He bent down and heaved out a hefty black box. They placed it onto the dirt next to the hole and his father took a deep breath before turning to his son. Behind the rough wrinkles that stained his face was a twinkle in his eye. Koichi Itoh watched motionlessly, his father was never the type to show emotion.
“Koichi Itoh, my dear boy,” His father ran his fingers through the soil he sat on, “You are very precious to your mother and I. I promised her I wouldn’t do this without her knowing first, but, it’s time for you to know who you truly are.”
Itoh didn’t reply, he didn’t know what to say. Had his father gone crazy? He took to one knee, groaning because of his aching legs, and turned to face the matte black box. It had an insignia on it.
(Hope)
His father dusted the box off, and took a deep breath, “I was not born here, as much as a home as this has become. This is not where I’m from.”
“What do you mean father?” Itoh’s voice was much more stern, this no longer felt real. It felt like a dream.
Hoshi ignored the question and continued to speak, he was facing the box on both his knees and his son could only see the back of his head in the moonlight. His hairs were graying, “When I was your age, my mother, your grandmother presented me with a rite of passage. Our lineage has been passed down this way for many years, through the form of awakening. Many years ago there were many of us, but as the years passed and with our service to our kages, many died in the heat of battle. Now we are few.”
“What’re you saying?”
He unlocked the two seals of the box and opened the top, it creaked as it came open revealing the contents inside to Hoshi. Itoh was yet to see anything, his father blocked his field of view. But he couldn’t move, he felt frozen in place.
“I’m from the village hidden in the sand, Sunagakure. I worked for the kazekage many years ago. Prior to you even being born. In 230, a group known as the Sovereign rose up and kidnapped the Steward Kazekage’s adopted cousin. I was sent on a mission to discover the whereabouts of the kidnap victim, but in reality the mission was an attempt to kill me. Our clan was assumed to be traitors to the cause. I-” He paused, lifting out an item that was in a black cloth. It was long and curved and he began to unravel the knock that kept it closed, “I didn’t want to kill those men. Yet I did, and I had to get your mother and myself away from our home. We luckily escaped here. Konohagakure gave us refuge in our time of need, but my identity was kept a secret from the immagration workers. Your grandmother...wasn’t as lucky.”
“Why would they think of us as traitors?” Koichi Itoh felt his legs begin to tremble, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“My mother often would tell me about how our clan was a great cause of issue for the Kazekage for as long as we existed. When our numbers were great our influence was equal to that of councilmen. But things changed with recent history, many of our people died in combat - honorable deaths albeit. So our numbers were much lighter in Sunagakure than ever before. I believe this was a way to remove our branch of the lineage. Koichi itoh, you’re a Nanjirou.”
“A Nanjirou?” Itoh had never heard that word before, and he knew very little of any sand history at all or any other clans for that matter.
“We’re a distinct clan of samurai,” His father removed the cloth and placed it back into the box. Out came a beautiful dark scabbard with a katana sheathed inside. The scabbards insignias were in gold and the kanji’s written on it were 幸福と一つ (happiness and one). “I had to hide my identity when we arrived here, but our surname is not Koichi, we are truly members of the Nanjirou clan. There are many branches of our clan out there, and I do believe there may still be living members walking the earth as we speak. But as far as you and I know-” He turned to face his son, holding the sword out with two hands facing Itoh.
“We are the last living members.”
Itoh stared at the blade and he felt a cold rush of air run through his entire body. He felt this sudden urge to reach out the blade. It was his, it was calling his name. Never before in his life had he felt the conviction that he felt at this very moment. It was like finding a long lost brother, a part of himself that he never had before but at this very moment he knew he needed. He went out to take hold of it and once he did he felt the sudden spirit of someone familiar standing besides him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Koichi Itoh,” It was a beautiful lady, she seemed to be a couple years older than himself. He felt loved and safe. His father didn’t move or act like he could see her. It was something only he was experiencing, “It’s a pleasure to finally be meeting you nephew.”
Itoh looked from his spiritual connection to his father and found tears staining his tired eyes,“When a Nanijrou passes, weapons are forged with their ashes. This forms our spiritual links with ancestors. That sword was made with the remains of my older sister who died far before the events that lead to us coming here. She was a gifted swordsman, and now she will guide you on your journey Itoh.”
“I don’t understand...why are you showing me this father?” He looked back down to the blade and over at the hazy looking spirit of his aunt. He just met her and yet her aura felt so familiar to himself.
“You are destined to do great things my dear child,” His father wiped the tears from his eyes and reached back into the box, pulling out another sword that was in a scabbard, “It’s time you awaken to your destiny.” He held the weapon out before him, keeping it in the scabbard.
Itoh took a step back and he felt the cold hand of his aunt’s aura over his own. She guided him to take his stance. “Don’t falter in combat. This is where your training begins, Itoh-Chan.”
From that day forward, his father finally hired a couple helping hands for the farm and everyday instead of doing field work they would train the day away. With the help from his father and the spirit of his aunt he became the wielder of his blade. Although it was his first time using it, and his novice skill showed, he was much more fluent than most new users. The blade was an attachment to his body and who he was. For two years he prepared his body and swordsmanship for combat - then he was off to Ninja Academy. To become a ninja for the honor of his long lost clan and the revenge his father deserves. He has his eyes set on the village hidden in the sand.
(Bloodline: 1622/200)
(let me know if there’s anything I need to fix!
)
Meaning of Name: Happiness and One
Age: Twelve
Physical Description: Koichi is 5’4 and weighs a lean 105 pounds, being both taller and heavier than his peers. He carries his weight well, keeping his body fat percentage low from his childhood of working on the farm and his more recent training with his father. His skin is bronze in color from always being under the sun, but during the winter months he’s as pale as a ghost. He has dark colored hues, thin eyebrows, and a charming smile to boot. But compared to everyone else, he’s not very discernable. His hair is long, down to the midpoint of his neck, and he often keeps it tied in a ponytail with a singular braid in front of his face. He has a couple scars from training sessions with his father from the ages of 10-12.
Mental Description: Koichi had to mature at a young age since his father owned a farm. Once he came of age his life simply consisted of school and farm work. So while he knows how to have a good time when he’s around family, he’s always aware whenever it’s time to get to work. For most of his young life he never considered what he wanted to be when he grew up. Mostly because he expected to take over the farming business from his parents. But the secret his father revealed to him would later change things for him.
Now Koichi is determined to become a member of the ANBU guard. He wants to become a member of the hokage’s secret guardians for both the prestige and honor, but also for something far more personal to himself and his father. When it comes to this goal he’s outgoing and unwilling to yield to anything and anyone.
He’s pretty open with anyone he meets, but he only gets personal with people he truly comes to respect and admire. Those are the people who truly get to hear about his goals.
- Tendencies: Tying up his hair before combat
- Hopes and Dreams: Become a ANBU member; Getting revenge for his clan
- Phobias: Thanatophobia (The fear of dying)
- Loves: Salmon and Sushi
History: Koichi Inoh was born and raised on the outskirts of Konohagakure, he was a single child of two loving parents. For most of his young life his mother was his idol. She became the perfect image of a woman in his eyes. She was always loving to him, aiding him with his early school work, taking him into town whenever they needed something for the farm or exchanging their crops for money. Everything his father was too busy to do. Of course this wasn’t his father’s fault, he had to upkeep a small farm and refused to ever hire a helper (despite many attempts from people to work for him). But because of the lack of time his father spent with him, he glorified his mother.
That was until he became old enough to help around the field. At around eight years old, he began working with his father who taught him many things he didn’t know before. For the very first time he saw his father in a new light. This was no longer the man that just lived in the same house with him and his mother, this was his father. Over the course of two years, his house actually felt like a family. He’d go through school (homeschooled by his mother), then work on the farm with his father, to come inside and do his school work with the help of his mother. Rinse and repeat.
Everything changed when he turned ten years old and heard a strange rustling coming from his room-
Bloodline:
It took a couple seconds for his eyes to adjust and for a long while all he could see was the darkness of his room. The noise that disrupted his sleep stopped and all he could hear was the sound of his own shaky and shallow breath. A cold sweat dripped from his forehead onto the sheets, and as he went to lay back down he saw it. The outline of a human being. A hand quickly shot to his mouth as he attempted to shout, and he instinctively tried to pry the hand off.
“Shhh,” The voice in the dark whispered, “It’s me son.”
The voice was that of his father’s, Koichi Hoshi. His father removed his callous hand away from Itoh’s mouth, “Father? What’re you-”
“Keep your voice down and get dressed. I don’t want to wake your mother. Come with me, I’d like to show you something.”
Koichi Itoh did as his father commanded, putting on a pair of grey pants, a white t-shirt, and work boots. His hair was messy and undone; he grabbed a hair tie on the way out of the room and put his hair up in a spiky ponytail .
Once they were outside he could see his father better under the moonlight. He had this solemn look on his face and it was obvious to Itoh that whatever his father wanted to show him would be something serious.. He questioned his father the whole time they walked. He kept pestering him with questions, are they going to try and get some yard work done early? or if he was in trouble? But his dad would answer with a simple no, over and over to all his questions.
Finally his father stopped at a tree at the far end of his farmland. It was quite a distance from their home. There laying against the trees were two shovels, Hoshi handed Itoh a shovel and commanded him to help him dig. Itoh reluctantly did as he was told, he was never the kind of kid to talk back to either of his parents but his father’s behavior was starting to freak him out.
After about ten minutes of digging his father struck what he was looking for and threw his shovel aside. He bent down and heaved out a hefty black box. They placed it onto the dirt next to the hole and his father took a deep breath before turning to his son. Behind the rough wrinkles that stained his face was a twinkle in his eye. Koichi Itoh watched motionlessly, his father was never the type to show emotion.
“Koichi Itoh, my dear boy,” His father ran his fingers through the soil he sat on, “You are very precious to your mother and I. I promised her I wouldn’t do this without her knowing first, but, it’s time for you to know who you truly are.”
Itoh didn’t reply, he didn’t know what to say. Had his father gone crazy? He took to one knee, groaning because of his aching legs, and turned to face the matte black box. It had an insignia on it.
His father dusted the box off, and took a deep breath, “I was not born here, as much as a home as this has become. This is not where I’m from.”
“What do you mean father?” Itoh’s voice was much more stern, this no longer felt real. It felt like a dream.
Hoshi ignored the question and continued to speak, he was facing the box on both his knees and his son could only see the back of his head in the moonlight. His hairs were graying, “When I was your age, my mother, your grandmother presented me with a rite of passage. Our lineage has been passed down this way for many years, through the form of awakening. Many years ago there were many of us, but as the years passed and with our service to our kages, many died in the heat of battle. Now we are few.”
“What’re you saying?”
He unlocked the two seals of the box and opened the top, it creaked as it came open revealing the contents inside to Hoshi. Itoh was yet to see anything, his father blocked his field of view. But he couldn’t move, he felt frozen in place.
“I’m from the village hidden in the sand, Sunagakure. I worked for the kazekage many years ago. Prior to you even being born. In 230, a group known as the Sovereign rose up and kidnapped the Steward Kazekage’s adopted cousin. I was sent on a mission to discover the whereabouts of the kidnap victim, but in reality the mission was an attempt to kill me. Our clan was assumed to be traitors to the cause. I-” He paused, lifting out an item that was in a black cloth. It was long and curved and he began to unravel the knock that kept it closed, “I didn’t want to kill those men. Yet I did, and I had to get your mother and myself away from our home. We luckily escaped here. Konohagakure gave us refuge in our time of need, but my identity was kept a secret from the immagration workers. Your grandmother...wasn’t as lucky.”
“Why would they think of us as traitors?” Koichi Itoh felt his legs begin to tremble, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“My mother often would tell me about how our clan was a great cause of issue for the Kazekage for as long as we existed. When our numbers were great our influence was equal to that of councilmen. But things changed with recent history, many of our people died in combat - honorable deaths albeit. So our numbers were much lighter in Sunagakure than ever before. I believe this was a way to remove our branch of the lineage. Koichi itoh, you’re a Nanjirou.”
“A Nanjirou?” Itoh had never heard that word before, and he knew very little of any sand history at all or any other clans for that matter.
“We’re a distinct clan of samurai,” His father removed the cloth and placed it back into the box. Out came a beautiful dark scabbard with a katana sheathed inside. The scabbards insignias were in gold and the kanji’s written on it were 幸福と一つ (happiness and one). “I had to hide my identity when we arrived here, but our surname is not Koichi, we are truly members of the Nanjirou clan. There are many branches of our clan out there, and I do believe there may still be living members walking the earth as we speak. But as far as you and I know-” He turned to face his son, holding the sword out with two hands facing Itoh.
“We are the last living members.”
Itoh stared at the blade and he felt a cold rush of air run through his entire body. He felt this sudden urge to reach out the blade. It was his, it was calling his name. Never before in his life had he felt the conviction that he felt at this very moment. It was like finding a long lost brother, a part of himself that he never had before but at this very moment he knew he needed. He went out to take hold of it and once he did he felt the sudden spirit of someone familiar standing besides him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Koichi Itoh,” It was a beautiful lady, she seemed to be a couple years older than himself. He felt loved and safe. His father didn’t move or act like he could see her. It was something only he was experiencing, “It’s a pleasure to finally be meeting you nephew.”
Itoh looked from his spiritual connection to his father and found tears staining his tired eyes,“When a Nanijrou passes, weapons are forged with their ashes. This forms our spiritual links with ancestors. That sword was made with the remains of my older sister who died far before the events that lead to us coming here. She was a gifted swordsman, and now she will guide you on your journey Itoh.”
“I don’t understand...why are you showing me this father?” He looked back down to the blade and over at the hazy looking spirit of his aunt. He just met her and yet her aura felt so familiar to himself.
“You are destined to do great things my dear child,” His father wiped the tears from his eyes and reached back into the box, pulling out another sword that was in a scabbard, “It’s time you awaken to your destiny.” He held the weapon out before him, keeping it in the scabbard.
Itoh took a step back and he felt the cold hand of his aunt’s aura over his own. She guided him to take his stance. “Don’t falter in combat. This is where your training begins, Itoh-Chan.”
From that day forward, his father finally hired a couple helping hands for the farm and everyday instead of doing field work they would train the day away. With the help from his father and the spirit of his aunt he became the wielder of his blade. Although it was his first time using it, and his novice skill showed, he was much more fluent than most new users. The blade was an attachment to his body and who he was. For two years he prepared his body and swordsmanship for combat - then he was off to Ninja Academy. To become a ninja for the honor of his long lost clan and the revenge his father deserves. He has his eyes set on the village hidden in the sand.
(Bloodline: 1622/200)
(let me know if there’s anything I need to fix!
)Attachments
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