The Hokage & The Will of Fire [Open]

[Yoshihiro Ichida]

Shelving the book back into place, Ichida's attention was caught by another book on the bookshelf to his right. "The Hokage and The Will of Fire", proudly announced the title of the book, with big, orange font, complete with blue outlines, in a rather fiery loooking font. The title stood out rather peculiarly to the 10 year old boy, as he flipped through the pages of the book, curiosity arising as he read through the contents of each page.

"The first hokage was Senju Hashirama, who belonged to the Senju clan, dubbed the 'Senju of the Forest'. This was due to their powerful Kekkei Genkai, Wood Release, possessed by the First Hokage, who with it was able to..." Ichida began reading, hooked onto the book by now, "defeat any and every enemy who stood in the way of the village.". Ichida flipped to the next page, "The Shodaime was also the one who introduced the idea of 'Hokage', a term that was used to describe a ninja that was the leader of the village, who at the same time would be regarded as the strongest shinobi in the village.", the boy read quietly to himself, as he began walking from the bookshelf aisles into the walkway.

Ichida checked the time on his watch, "12pm?! Oh no! I was supposed to turn up for the Academy study group today!! Oh man I'm so late...", he exclaimed aloud in his head, not wanting to make any unnecessary noises in the library. Ichida was rushing to a study group that some Academy students had formed, and he was invited to join them today, although he didn't know if there was going to be a tutor helping them with the study group today. He had heard that they were going to study the Hokage today, which Ichida was pretty excited for, as he had heard stories of the late Hokage, and their heroic deeds, from Juno's grandmother, who seemed to have nothing but love and good words for the Hokage. She was always smiling from ear to ear when talking about them too.

Ichida quickened his pace, looking at the signs in the library that guided him towards the area that the study group was held. As he rushed ahead, he was feeling a little nervous about joining the study group, after all, he was a transfer student from the 1st year students, and he was joining a bunch of seniors in their 3rd and 4th years at the academy. "How scary they must be...", the boy wondered, trailing off in thought.

 

[Yume]

One of the few rare moments she was allowed a solid lunch time. Though she was so used to scarfing down her food within minutes to ready herself for some other event of the day, Yume found herself wandering around the village for about an hour. Of course, wandering around carelessly as she were would prove to a hassle with being recognised and stopped by the overzealous fan. She didn't have the most inconspicuous appearance after all.

Hopping soundlessly from one rooftop to another, she ended up on top of the roof of the library. No one would think to find an idol here, she smiled. She found herself an open window to an empty room and slipped in. She might as well get some studying done. Brush up on the other languages before her world tour. Then her manager wouldn't be so crabby if by the off-chance she was late in going back to the company building.

Dusting off her uniform-like outfit, her bright blue eyes scanned the room. It was empty, void of other people, with few books on the shelves in the corner and a large table in the centre of the room. What caught her attention was a lone book on the table. A copy of The Hokage and the Will of Fire. What was this?

She picked it up, flipping through the pages and skimming the word before reaching a chapter on the first Hokage.

"Senju Hashirama?" she read aloud. "Who is that?"

She read the chapter properly now, and a disbelieving smile eventually broke through her visage. First, she tried to refrain from laughing. Yume didn't know who was out there and the wasn't a big fan of her since that signing event incident either. But then, it slipped out. The giggles were initially quiet, and if Ichida had opened the door to this study room at this time, he'd see Yume hunched over in her chair. Book held in one hand, and the other covered her mouth as her body shook silently from laughter.

 

[Yoshihiro Ichida]

"Study Rooms, this way", stated the sign, as Ichida continued scurrying down the Library halls to reach the conference rooms that the study group was being held at. "Was it study room 3? Or was it study room 4?", the boy continued wondering, as he arrived at the corridor that led into the rooms. The corridor here was noticeably smaller than the other halls of the library, as there were not as many books shelved here - students would usually take their selection of books before coming here to read up on their selected materials. Mostly anyone who used the rooms were either studying for tests, or just holding a book club - the library wasn't a place that many frequented at all.

Ichida began looking into the rooms, opening the door room by room, trying to find out where his arranged group meeting would be. Looking back at his watch again, the boy realized, "it's only 11pm?! Oh come on... real nice, Ichida you moron!", he muttered to himself, realizing that he had saw the time wrongly back there, since he still had an analog watch, where the hour and minute hands were abnormally big, making it confusing for anyone to tell the time on it. The only reason he still wore it was because he'd been told it was the only keepsake that belonged to his father. Whenever he wore it, Ichida would feel like his father would be watching over him, through each passing moment of time.

Ichida would take this time to read up on The Hokage and The Will of Fire, since no one would be here for another hour. After realizing he was way too early, he slowed down to a stroll, pacing around the place, exploring what this part of the library had to offer, after all, he didn't really come here very often. The books found here were not really to Ichida's liking, most of them were about the Konoha geography, which Ichida just did not fancy. However there were a few gold nuggets that was to the taste of Ichida - the geography of the early days of Konoha, and how Konoha was built into the bustling village it is today. "Guess I'll settle with this, then!", he thought to himself, opening the door to study room 4, which he finally remembered was the room they would be using.

"WOAH! Who are you?!" Ichida instictively exclaimed, as he came face to face with a young adult lady that looked way overdressed to be in a library, donning an outfit looked like a uniform, complete with leather boots that extended to her thighs, not to mention she was quite beautiful too, with crimson red hair that sat elegantly on her shoulders, and bright blue eyes that look like they shined. "E-e-err... I-i-im sorry for i-i-interrupting you...", Ichida stuttered, while trying to keep a grip on himself, being nervous because he'd never really talked to girls that much - he was pretty much a klutz when it comes to girls, to keep that in mind.

 

[Yume]

The shaking of her body eventually stopped and Yume lifted up her head, wiping a non-existent tear from the corner of her eye as her silent laughter came to a silent close. Looking over the to surprised boy, the idol laughed--a little more audible this time, and took her feet off the desk. In hindsight, that was terribly rude of her. She sat up properly, spinning herself to face Ichida properly from her chair. The book was on her lap and still open on the same page.

"I'm sorry, how embarrassing of me! I'm Yume, or maybe you might heard of me better on the radio or magazines as..." Her pointer fingers drew the outline of a heart in front of her and she tilted her head to the side with a dazzling smile. "U<3ME! Oh, but keep that on the down low right now, okay? I'm hiding out here for the time being. Even the Librarian doesn't know I'm here!"

She brought her finger to her lips, as if letting him on a juicy secret. The hand dropped to her lap as quick as it came. Yume glanced at the books Ichida had hugged in his arms and smiled again.

"Reading up on Konoha's history?" she remarked, nodding soon after. "I actually taught a class about that not too long ago! It's not really part of my day job description, but the Academy asked me to. I thought it was fun."

Her eyes trailed down to the book in her lap and she picked it up. Ichida would most likely recognise that it was a copy of the same book he read not long ago. While his mind was in awe at the knowledge, Yume was... two things. On the outside, she appeared to look concerned to the boy. On the inside, she found it incredibly funny. The misinformation in this book was just too much for her to bear. Just who in the school of historians... Who hated or was so ashamed of her father, the first Hokage of Leaf, that they had to make up a new and possibly, possibly not fictional entity to completely replace him?

It wasn't her, that's for sure. She was an idol, not a historian. Plus, she didn't care enough of the old man enough to write a book about him.

Yume let out a soft exhale and turned the pages of the book on her lap. "Though the lesson didn't cover anything from this book, especially what's written about the First Hokage here. I've never heard of this person, but I do know that's not the name of the old Hokage. I wonder who wrote this?"

A hand quickly shot up to cover her mouth and she paused, as if she was refraining from sounding anything else out--more specifically, a laugh. Yume brought her hand down and smiled sheepishly at Ichida. "Sorry, I don't know whether to laugh or be sad. Oh, silly me! I didn't get your name...?"

Edited: Marking this for training - WC 250+

 

[Yoshihiro Ichida]

"Ahhh! So that's why you look so familiar...", Ichida said, feeling awkward about being with such a huge star in a small room as this. It was almost ironic, he thought, as seemingly wandering off into thought, when she heard Yume asking for his name. "Ah! Um.. err.. I'm Yoshihiro Ichida!", the boy replied, almost immediately, giving away his nervousness. Ichida was on edge. This was too much for a 10-year old boy. After all, he'd never met an idol in person before, and in such a surprising situation at that! How was he to behave in such a situation?

"Uhh... and d-don't worry about it, my lips are sealed!", the boy continued, at the same time trying to calm his nerves. Remembering what Yume just said, something piqued his interest, "E-ehhhh?! You were an Academy teacher?!", even more surprised. It seemed the surprises he got were only getting bigger, and they definitely weren't stopping, although he was disappointed that she'd told him that whatever he'd read in that book wasn't true at all. He was so in awe of the glory of the Hokage that the book painted them out to be.

Shrugging off the disappointment, Ichida was now ever hungrier for the truth, "t-then, could you teach me the truth about the Hokage?? I'd really want to know all about them! After all, I'm also aiming to be the Hokage one day!", Ichida declared innocently, as a little 10-year old boy with huge dreams.

 

[Yume]

Yume blinked back and waved her hand in front of her to and fro as if to dismiss the notion. "Eh? Oh no no, the Academy just asked me to guest lecture a lesson on the history of Konoha. I think enrolment numbers for students were low, so they used me?"

The girl swayed in her seat with a hand to her chin in thought. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to play teacher again, especially with a touchy subject to her like the first Hokage. Well, giving a tiny bit of information wouldn't hurt.

"The First Hokage? His name was Yamaguchi Kami. I think he used to be Anbu before becoming Hokage?"

How did she know that? Shouldn't a daughter know even the darkest of secrets of her own father? Just kidding, her mother just blabbed it. Even at that point, Yume wasn't even sure if it was true or they just said it at the time to stop her incessant questionings.

"What exactly did you want to know about the old man- I mean Hokage?"

That he disappeared when the Samurai invaded Leaf? That he had nefarious ties to the Yakuza, the underbelly of Konoha? His reign was not glorious, and Yume wasn't sure if there was anything she could say that painted him in a good light. His reign was dark, gritty and morbid. Not that was born at the time. It was even lucky that she wasn't.

Edited Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:43 am
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