Name: Uchiha Zen
Age: 12
Gender: M
General Description: Standing at a modest five feet, Zen is a reserved, humble child. He has a fair complexion with maroon eyes that match his medium length hair. He has an average, fit build.
History
Zen had lived an easy life, enjoying the first 11 years of his life living with his grandma. His two parents are typically away, busy on missions, so his grandma has taken more responsibility in raising him. As a result of his distant parents, Zen is used to being alone and does not mind spending time with himself. He is grateful for his grandma and appreciates her company, however, more often than not Zen is left to his own devices to explore the woods that surround his home. He enjoys swimming in the creek in the woods near his house and playing with the stray animals that he finds there.
When Zen turned 12, things became complicated. He noticed the stray dog population near his house begin to thin out. Zen was attached to very little in life except for these stray animals, so when they began to disperse Zen became very distraught. His studies in the academy began to suffer, and he began to obsess over the potential cause of the disappearances. He reached out for help, asking medical ninja to check to see if the water in the creek had potentially been contaminated. To no avail, the medical ninja found no disturbances in the water quality.
One sleepless night, Zen decided to sneak out of his house and stake out the creek. He was certain there was some sort of outside force involved in the recent disappearances. Not advanced enough to master transformation jutsu, Zen covered himself in mud, leaves, and natural camouflage and found a high point in the trees to stake out the creek. Zen became hyperfocused on the task at hand. He became hyper-vigilant of every small sound, every animal that came up to the creek to have some water. Then it happened. Zen heard a yelp and his eyes immediately fixated on the source of the sound. Birds dispersing from the creek clouded Zen's view, but thankfully his eyes fixated on a shadow hurrying away from the creek with a passed out poor dog in its cruel grasp.
Zen immediately lept after the dark shadow in hot pursuit. His blood boiled with rage and adrenaline as all he could think about was tackling this shadow and freeing the animal from its cruel grasp. The shadow heard Zen's loud pursuit, turned for a moment, then continued running. Zen had been so consumed with rage that he could not react fast enough when it hit him. A sharp pain suddenly erupted from his legs. Zen slowed down and glanced at his leg and noticed that he was bleeding. He had been grazed by a shuriken? Zen's anger was momentarily replaced by intense dread and fear. He was not able to react to the projectile thrown at him. Was he out of his league here? Zen was tempted to turn back. Emotions boiled to a climax as his eyes welled up with tears. The shadow was getting away.
Zen closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he could see the shadow's chakra signature. His clan's ancient power, the Sharingan, has been awakened. Zen's fear was replaced with confidence and resolve, he continued his hot pursuit of the shadow. He became more hyperfocused than before, even in the dark night, he felt fearless. Every time the chakra signature began to turn, Zen would brace himself to make an evasive maneuver in anticipation of projectiles. The chase persisted like this, Zen dodging projectiles until he eventually gained ground. Once Zen found his opportunity, he jumped onto a branch above the shadow and made a desperate lunge for its legs. Zen skimmed the shadow's legs, throwing it off balance and making it lose its footing on its landing from one tree branch to another. The dog fell loose from the object's grasp and Zen pushed down from another adjacent branch to make a lunging save for the dog before it hit the ground.
Zen caught the dog and landed with a loud thud on the ground. He was immediately filled with intense joy, which was soon replaced by a sinking feeling in his stomach as he could feel the shadow looming over him. Zen made a desperate leap from the ground and rolled away from the shadow. He could feel the wind from the blade hit the ground next to him. The shadow had drawn a sword and was in full confrontation mode. Zen was breathing heavy.
"What do you want from this poor dog?"
"Foolish kid. That dog is my next paycheck. I need it for my dog-fighting ring. Let the dog go and we'll both forget this ever happened."
Zen considered the shadow's words for a moment. Even if he let the dog go, there was no guarantee that the man would let Zen go. Zen quickly weighed his options in his mind. Can he escape? Should he escape? Zen did not want this man to getaway. If he ran to alert the authorities, there would be a chance that he gets away. Zen was unarmed while this guy was decked out and ready to battle. How could a 12-year-old boy possible hope to face this criminal? Zen rose to his feet grasping the dog in one arm while making a fist with his other hand.
"I refuse."
Rational thought had clearly left Zen's head. The man ran towards him, ready to swing his sword. Zen released a crazed yell as he prepared for the worse. Suddenly, Zen sensed more presence around them. Small dark shadows erupted from the woods and lunged at the criminal. Zen's stray animal friends had become very aware of his presence at this point and ambushed the man. Blood-curdling yells erupted from the man as the animals tore him limb from limb. Despite never seeing blood before, Zen felt no remorse as he looked on with a stone-gaze. Zen walked up to the bloodied criminal and picked him up by the scruff of his shirt and looked directly into his eyes with his Sharingan blazing bright red,
"Tell me where this ring is." The man spat blood in Zen's face, and Zen threw the man back to the ground, which sent the dogs around him into another feeding frenzy. The man cried for help, and Zen went to pick the man up again. This time, the man obliged him and told him where he ran the dog-fighting ring. Zen threw the man back to the floor as he cried for help, begging Zen not to leave him to these beasts. Zen obliged the man. He picked up the criminal's sword that had fallen from his grasp, and put the man out of his misery with a swift cut to the throat, more mercy than the man had deserved. Zen walked away from the scene with his unconscious dog, back to the creek. He washed out the cut from his leg, the criminal's blood from his face, and washed his camouflage away, waiting for his unconscious dog to wake up. Suddenly, Zen heard a cry come up beside him. The dog stood beside him, eagerly wagging its tail. Zen broke down into the tears and hugged the dog tightly as it tried to lick away his tears. Zen pet the dog profusely and turned to finally go home, to leave the dog be free in the woods. However, the dog followed him all the way home. Zen decided to adopt the dog and named him Hope. Hope that Zen will become strong enough to make use of these newfound eyes, and put more bad criminals like the one he met in the woods away by himself. Zen reported the dogfighting ring to the authorities, and they turned it into an animal shelter. Zen would visit the shelter every day and play with animals that had been abandoned by their families. He had found his reason to become strong. To protect those that cannot protect themselves.
WC: 1350
