Yoshiaki Tatsu
Male | Thirteen | Inuzuka
Tatsu's life has revolved around an atypically harsh lifestyle. Not that it isn't by choice, the boy's rough nature suits his life choices far better than a cushioned life. Tanned skin shows his love for the outdoors, and so too do his countless nicks and scars, especially for his age. These can easily be confused with typical shinobi battle wounds, but most originate with his roughhousing with the wolves. His spiky black hair is usually very unkempt, falling to his face in a somehow handsome manner. His hair gives him a ruffled puppy dog cut, but his scarred face and fierce eyes only outweigh it with a wild air about him.
His eyes resemble a harvest moon, wide and yellow-orange or gold in color. He retains an abnormally focused composure matching well to his posture which is tense and ready. There is a slight adjustment to his step hints at the wild side within him. The jump in his step is untame and his movements are almost feral. A scar stretches from the bridge of his nose and separates into two claw scratches as it reaches his cheeks. This was obtained by roughing around with the wolves as a child. He wears it proudly as it speaks to his origins.
When he expects heavier combat, Tatsu wears a traditional black gi using leathered pads for protection. He has learned to protect his neck from his years with the wolves and has grown accustomed to wearing a thick hanging pad around his neck that collapses into sections for ease of movement. His gear is decorated with a golden ribbon. Tatsu typically wears the symbol of a wolf's head atop his arm guards. He commonly has a pair of duel hook swords crossed at his back and a small tanto at his waist.
Tatsu's training wardrobe varies just slightly from his heavier set. He wears only the black top, gray pants, a Flak jacket, his neck padding, and leathered arm guards on his shoulders, forearms, and shins His left arm has the same golden ribbon tied around it. Outside of missions, Tatsu wears a black short sleeve shirt with a blue, hexagon patterned jacket. He wears khaki cargo pants and blue shin-high boots. His Village symbol is on matching blue fingerless glove.
Ko
Ko is a large sized half-wolf with thick gray and white fur, He has patches of light brown on his haunches , under his tail, up his legs, and on his scruff. He is just shy of 3 feet high and just over 5 feet long while on all four and weighs close to 180lbs, a typical large male wolf. His eyes are silvery blue and most often alert or focused.
A cast out, Ko was taken in by Tatsu and raised as nothing less of a brother. Typical of a canine, he is loyal to a fault to Tatsu, but just as equally demands his own respect. The two exist in close brotherhood, sharing almost everything. Ko is finicky and ill tempered at times, quick to snarl at anyone who he poses as a threat. He is always kind to Tatsu however and respects anyone who Tatsu seems to trust. The two are virtually inseparable. The two typically travel together at all times, and are rarely out of sight of each other. While in his youth, Ko assisted with Tatsu in fighting on a much larger scale. However, the wolf is no longer a pup and is unable to assist as much as he'd like. He will travel with Tatsu around the village and sometimes train with him, but a majority of the wolf's fighting has been worn down.
Kuruk
Kuruk, or Bear, is an abnormally large brute of a wolf. He is mostly brown in color with a darker brown mane. His tail is bushy and willowed. His eyes are amber and he has white tipped ears, tails, and socks. Kuruk is the more aggressive of the three of Tatsu's wolves and much harder to keep in line. He had a tendency to disobey and has a defiant personality. With Ko being weaker in his age, Kuruk tends to be alongside Tatsu on missions more often.
Raja
Raja is a smaller female wolf, pure black with a white speck at the center of her chest. She is lithe and is typically used for sending messages or for distractions rather than fighting. Her eyes are light blue and shine silver on brighter days. She is a rather patient wolf with a keen sense of smell. She is the kinder of Tatsu's three wolves with a motherly instinct about her. Not to be fooled as the weaker, she has Ko and Kuruk in line at all times.
Fierce// A clear origin of his titles. He is a force not to be trifled with. His fiery nature does not only refer to his fighting style but reflects a lot of his personality as well. He speaks with confidence and strength and pushes those around him to be confident in everything that does. He is abrupt and often blunt when annoyed, but his intentions are always for the better of that person's interest.
Resourceful// Coming from a rather harsh background, Tatsu has often had to rely on the world around him for survival. Making the best out of any situation in second nature to him. Whether this is in the heat of battle or making the most out of an already crappy situation, Tatsu is quick to come up with ideas that would benefit himself or those around him.
Open Minded// Most would think that Tatsu's life with the wolves would cause him to be closed off from the rest of the world. However, it has taught the man just the opposite. He is accepting of all people, all creatures, and all things. Tatsu is open to criticism and ideas, and often encourages others to question his actions and decisions.
Enigmatic// Tatsu's views on life are out of the norm, but have always made sense in one way or another. Given that, he is just a tad atypical from his fellow shinobi. He does things that others might view as strange, but it's simply due to how he was raised and what he has grown accustomed to. He words things oddly and oftentimes has a strange way of doing normal activities.
Tatsu's father was Inuzuka Naganori, a strong Shinobi and a born leader. He was sent to the allied village to assist in the war efforts, as a lot of Shinobi were. His village, in its rugged state after the death of several of its political heads, needed the strength of its allies. It was during this time that Naganori met a medical ninja residing in an allied village residing in the center of the Land of Lightning. Her name was Yoshiaki Ayame. After arriving in allied village, all ninja required a checkup of their physical and mental health to assure they were fit for battle. Naganori arrived, and Ayame was his caregiver. Love affairs between two villages were discouraged in times of war. The focus was to be kept on the battle ahead. However, the two connected instantly, and there was no stopping the fire that was lit in their hearts.
Naganori and Ayame did their best to hide their relationship during the war but swore to each other that when the bloodshed ceased, they would find a way to make it work. Despite their efforts to hide their love, Ayame became pregnant with Tatsu after seven years of secrecy. Ayame did her best to continue to hide the pregnancy, even staying away from Naganori to prevent any backlash from their Squad Leaders. Ayame's belly began to show, and questions began to rain down on who the father was. Ayame refused to say and never did confess to who the father was. Tatsu to this day is unaware of his birth father.
Ayame was forced off of the medical team once she got further into her pregnancy. Tatsu was born late in the year as a healthy boy with already wild hair. He was born fierce and defiant--something that has not changed. Only months before the war would end, Naganori was killed in combat, leaving Ayame and Tatsu alone. Grief-stricken and unable to care for the newborn, Ayame committed suicide, leaving Tatsu an orphan of war.
The war was over and their village was in shambles. Orphanages opened up around the country, housing any children left alone in the wake of the bloodshed. Tatsu had been sent to a small home of nearly two dozen war orphans or unnamed children. Luckily, before Ayame took her life, she left documents with the three-year-old boy she left behind. Because Tatsu mostly took after his mother, his Inuzuka blood was mostly hidden at a young age.
With the village in a state of disarray, Tatsu, like most of the children left alone from war, was tossed around from one temporary home to another. The village did its best to provide for the children, but with little success. Many were left to fend for themselves, and many starved. As if a kind act of destiny, fate, or whatever it would be called, Tatsu befriended a pack of mountainous wolves settled close to to the village. For reasons unknown to the village, the Wolves took an uncanny liking to the boy. It is perhaps because of his Inuzuka bloodline, but he bonded quickly with the ]wolves, often spending more time with them than the homes to which he was sent.
The wolves treated him as part of the pack, one female, in particular, taking a liking to him, treating him as her own. At only four years old, Tatsu's behaviors often resembled the untamed nature of the wolves. The wolves provided him with something that the village never could -- familial ties. It was something he had always been too young to remember. Only hints of his mother's hair and soft hands stayed in his memories. To Tatsu, the wolves were his family and the wild were his home. Tatsu often would disappear from the village for days at a time, returning when absolutely necessary. This was such a continued behavior that the villagers stopped looking for him altogether by the time he was seven years old.
As a child, Tatsu especially befriended a pup that had been cast out from a pack nearby. It was a half wolf but straggling about, scrounging for food in the village. Tatsu saw himself in the pup and helped to nurture him back to health, giving him the name Ko. They bonded quickly, and are lifetime partners even still.
At eight years old, Tatsu was sent to another home. This one treated him quite well and even insisted that he enter that Academy. He showed a strong resourcefulness and overactive mind. The Academy proved as a very useful outlet for him. He was a well-behaved student, though odd if compared to his fellows. He received good marks, and jutsu seemed to come quite naturally to him.
