Chapter 1: Boy From the Shadows (Open)

[Katsu Katachi]

SCREAM! Eyes open, Katachi awakes. He's sitting in a pile of trash resting against a dumpster. The smell is atrocious but fortunately, Katachi is used to it. He just recently got kicked out for the 5th time for not paying his landlord on time. He shrugs, scratches himself and walks away from the dumpster. Katachi walks out of an alley with his hands in his pocket, he thinks to himself, "How can I get enough money so that I can survive. I've spent months sleeping in crap." Katachi shivers a little bit and wipes away a tear that was in his eye. "Hey, no crying. You aren't a baby no more, at least no ones gonna treat you like one anymore. You're all you've got now, be strong." Katachi was the type to always be looking to take the shortcut in these situations. Rather than properly dealing with an issue he'd rather find a loophole, not deal with it or his personal favorite, gamble his way out of it. Just by thinking of the word 'gamble' was enough to set his mind on how he was going to get money for rent.

Katachi knew his way around Cronopolis, he knew where all the underground activity of the Lightning Country was happening. He made a fortune betting on the current champion at the fight club, and while he was considering going to the fight club he knew the best way to make money gambling was to cheat. Smart? Not at all but the word 'smart' was not in Katachi's dictionary, the words 'cheat' and 'money' were. He pulled out his dice that he knew how to throw to get virtually any number he desired and entered an alley with 4 men playing cards. They looked at him, disgusted by the stench of his smell. One of them asked, "What do you want kid?" Katachi smiled, "I want......actually I'm GOING to take all of your money."

They all clenched their faces when they're leader looked at him. "Bastard, who do you think you are? Coming here and acting tough. Kids like you shouldn't be here, they should be sleep with their mommies." They all laugh, Katachi grins, its a typical thing for adults to say to a ten year old kid who boasts like that. "Well some of us don't have mommies and daddies to run off to. Now let's get serious boys, I got no cash. I'll bet all of the clothes on my back that with one dice I'll tell you exactly what number will come."

The group laughed again, this time for a longer duration. The leader spoke again, "Kid, I'll be nice. I want to see you run the streets naked. If you can predict the number that comes on the dice that you're holding. I'll give you 500 yen." Katachi knew then and there that he had already won their money because even though they had experience and knowledge, underestimating your opponent is the worst thing to do while gambling. The group continued to laugh, thinking that there's no way that this kid was lucky enough to guess which number was going to come. They continued laughing, not paying attention to Katachi at all, thinking of him as some mascot or jester for their enjoyment. "FIVE!" Yelled Katachi. The group looks at Katachi, who smiles at all of them.

"Hey, what number did he get?" Said one of the lackeys. They all looked in astonishment, it was what he had said, the number was indeed a five. They all looked at him in disgust. "Pssshh, bastard just got lucky don't even worry about it boss he's not gonna win again. I'll bet him 3000 and win you your cash back..." Before he could even finish his sentence, Katachi had already called 5 again and thrown the die. As the lackey finished his sentenced and looked at the deadly five he was simply left scratching his head. Katachi smiled again, "Want to go for 18,000 or are you guys a bunch of pussies?"

And it continued, by challenging them he simply kicked them when they were down until they was simply no way that they were ever getting up. He won 20 straight throws, guessing every time which one was correct. He even switched it up, using all 6 numbers to win during those 20 throws. Katachi had won, and as he was walking out of the alley with his prize, the leader grabbed him from behind.

"Hey kid, what do you think? That I'm a retarded? I know you were cheating the whole time, you know how to throw this die so it'll get you any number that you want. You didn't think I would let you just take our money and walk away, did ya?" The crew looks at him, snapping their necks and cracking their knuckles, he could clearly see that these individuals were being serious and if he wasn't careful, he would lose his life. "Look I didn't do anything, I wasn't cheating at all. Here's the dice that I used if you think I was cheating check it out for yourself."

Katachi threw it to one of the lackeys in hopes that while they were busy trying out the dice that they wouldn't notice him trying to escape. He slowly creeped away from the group, slowly walking backwards until his back touch something. He turned around and saw their boss looking at him, he smiled and punched Katachi right in the face. Katachi lost consciousness, worst time. He awoke in the same alley tied to a chair, the men looked at him, they beat on him. Kicked, punched, kneed simply anything they could throw at him. Bloodied up, the leader walks up to Katachi. He grabs Katachi's face by his chin and looks at him. "Look boy, I didn't want to go and beat up a ten year old kid but sometimes kids just never learn. You gotta teach them discipline, something I think you're parents never got to." Katachi clenched his teeth and started breathing heavily. "I see that stirred some fire, anyways, here's what's going to happen. We'll let you go but first you have to do one thing for me, kneel and kiss my feet."

The group laughed, their boss loved to do this to people who didn't pay their debts or were caught cheating, they were used to it by now. Katachi knew what he was going to do and even if it meant dying, Katachi wasn't going to do what they wanted him to do. The boss brought his feet up to Katachi's face and looked at him, waiting to see how he would respond. Katachi put his head down like he was going to kiss his feet then spits into the leader's face. They all smiled and laugh except for the boss. "Bastard......" He said as he pulled a knife from his back pocket.

 

[Miraku]

Raku wasn't usually one to travel through the slummy area of Kumo, but today he had just been wandering around the village. Things on his mind lately had got him taking long walks just trying to clear his head. He really had no idea how he'd ended up where he was, but it didn't really matter to him overall. It wasn't a very nice looking place, filled with poverty, shady looking people, and even the air felt dirty while breathing it in. Shinobi probably didn't spend too much time in this part of town, unless they were probably dealing with gangs or criminals for a mission or something, so Raku didn't expect to find anything that would pique his interest in this part of town. It was probably a good place for him to continue his walk and be not be bothered by other people, unless some idiots wanted to pick a fight, but that didn't seem like a very likely outcome at the moment, nor was it something Raku was even thinking about at this point in time.

Sadly, this strange peace was quick to end, as he heard the sound of a bunch of people down an alley way that he was approaching. It sounded like some sort of commotion was going on, and Raku was now interested in what was going on. One thing he didn't want, was to get involved in anything, so he had decided it was probably best for him to do a little recon, and check out what was going on without being noticed whoever was down the alley way. He quickly made a dash to the wall closest to the alley, and silently listened to what was happening. There wasn't much sound at the moment, except for the laughter of some men, so Raku decided he needed to take a look. Peering slightly around the corner for a minute, what he seen was what looked like a young boy tied to a chair, and watched as he appeared to awaken in that chair, the other men surrounding him started beating on the young boy, doing whatever they wanted to him. Raku wasn't sure he really cared what kind of business the young boy had with the other guys, though he didn't contemplate stepping out and stopping the abuse for a moment before someone moved forward and began talking to the boy, giving him a way out; though that way out with cost the boy his pride from what Raku could hear. The man lifted up his shoe, and Raku watched as the boy chose to keep his pride and chance death rather than to submit to these thugs, spitting in the mans face. This had obviously angered the man, as he watched him pull out a knife, looking ready to kill the kid. Raku couldn't help but smirk at this boys tenacity and guts in the face of death. Maybe this one was worth intervening in.

Walking out from behind the wall, Raku stood in the entrance to the alley way. Standing there at a height of six feet, five inches tall, though appearing a little shorter due to the slouch in his stature, his orange hair flowed down past his shoulders, and flew through the air, as a breeze blew through. Wearing pretty casual clothing, consisting of a pair of black black cargo pants, a normal pair of shoes, and a black tank-top, he was also equipped with some pretty standard shinobi attire such as his cloud headband (his old mist headband hidden in his pocket, since he wasn't wearing long sleeves today) around his right arm, which rested with his hand on the hilt of his katana attached to his belt on the right side of his body and his other hand rested inside the side pocket on his left side. His right eye was covered by an eye patch, which he wore even though his right eye was fine, to limit himself, staring down the alley with his other eye, normally a bright green, was now slightly shadowed over due to the shady area they were currently in. Clearing his throat for a moment, in attempt to get the thugs attention.

"The kids got some balls. Apparently more than you shit stains have, since you're all beating up on a little kid." Raku said immediately afterwards, with a smirk across his face. These guys were obviously much weaker than they put on, so Raku had no issue standing up to them. More than likely, guys like that would fun off at the sight of a real threat. Shinobi weren't really something a weak thug would want to mess with. "Looks like you got yourself in quite a jam there kid. Maybe you should be a little more careful with who you hang out with." He jabbed his words at the kid, giving a slight chuckle, knowing this probably wasn't the kind of situation the kid probably wanted to end up in today. Raku slowly began to walk down the alley towards the group, his right hand pushing down on the hilt of his katana a little, as to show he was serious about using it if need be.
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[Katsu Katachi]

As the man pulled the knife out of his pocket, Katachi began to wonder. What would happen if he was killed? Would it make a difference to anyone? Would anyone cry or remember who he was? No. Katachi knew he was alone, at least now he could be with his family, he thought to himself. As the leader approached Katachi with the blade, a tall man appeared from the other entrance to the alley. Katachi couldn't see that well due to some blood in his eyes but from what he could see the man had long orange hair, was wearing an eye patch and most importantly his shinobi headband. The thugs all knew very well that this man was without a doubt, a shinobi. One of the lackeys whispered to his boss, "Hey, hey, hey, boss that mans a shinobi, maybe we should just back off and you know let the kid go. We still got our money, there's no problem." The leader considered it, he knew that this man wasn't to be taken lightly. Unfortunately for them, when the man decided to call them 'shit stains', the leader basically forgot all about letting it go and focused on how to kill this shinobi standing in front of them. "Listen guys, I know he's a shinobi but he's only one person, what the hell is one person going to do against four?"

The group listened to the leader, the wanted to believe his words so badly that for a moment they forgot about who they're up against and focused more on how they could win this fight. Katachi chuckled, then proceeded to cough on his blood slightly, he spit out some blood on the the walls and looked at the group. "Bakas, you honestly think that you losers have even a .01% chance against that man. Sheesh, if I was you, I'd run for my life. That man is a real shinobi, he could probably cut up the four of you and untie me without any one of you even seeing what he did." Katachi wanted the group to be angered by his statement which, they obviously were. He was hoping that they would definitely fight the shinobi without hesitation, and his statement did just that. The leader already had his blade drawn, while the rest of them pulled out their knives. The group slowly approached the tall man, two of the lackeys were standing in the front while the leader and the other lackey were behind. Once the man began to start moving towards them, the two lackeys in the front dashed towards him, hoping to catch him off guard.

 

[Miraku]

It was quite clear that Raku had angered the man who appeared to be the leader of the thugs with his previous statements, as he appeared to want to try and fight this out, thinking four guys could take on a single person. Of course, normally this would be true, but Shinobi weren't on the same level as regular citizens, so this would normally end up in a slaughter. Soon after the men began to walk in Raku's direction, as the young boy behind them now began to tell them how dumb they were being, but they wouldn't heed his warning, and just continued on their path. Closing his eyes for a moment, a smirk formed and a chuckle passed his lips for a moment as Raku realized they had set their resolve and weren't going to back down on this fight. Raku's hand slipped down the hilt of hit katana, and his fingers wrapped around it, gripping it upside down, not believing he would even need to draw it properly or use it normally to deal with these caliber of thugs.

"Your funerals." Uttered Raku as he shook his head slightly as the men walked towards him, two in front, two in back. They were only armed with knives, so it wouldn't be much trouble for Raku to avoid any major damage. Taking a few more steps forward himself, two of the men began to charge towards Raku in attempt to gain some sort of advantage in this fight, but it was useless, because Raku was a real Reckless fighter, unlike these men, and there would be no advantages to such attacks against him. As they charged forward, Raku stepped slightly to the right, and then immediately lunged to the left, at the same time drawing his katana upwards and leaning forward, as the blade sliced upwards, slightly grazing the man that was to Raku's right originally, slicing up part of his arm, cutting it deep enough to cause bleeding, as well as cutting some of the muscle, causing him to drop his knife before he even realized what had happened. Lifting his far foot, and rotating on the other, Raku spun around away from the first man towards the second, slamming his elbow into the second thugs chest before he could react. Continuing the rotation, Raku came back around, this time removing his left hand from his pocket, pulling it back, and straightening out his fingers to a point forward, as he lunged his arm forward, moving so quick it looked like a spear for a moment as he jabbed it into the mans rib cage, only using enough force to force to break his ribs and send him back onto the ground. Luckily, he flew back into the boss thug behind him, causing him to have to get his friend out of the way, while the third lackey came at Raku from his right. As quick as the last, Raku dashed toward quicker than the men could see, and slammed the hilt of his katana under the chin of this third man, knocking him back, as he landed on his head, knocking him out instantly.

Raku jumped back, as there was only one man left, his katana now back in its sheath on his side, hand on the hilt still, as the boss thug stood beside the second man Raku had caused to pass out. Seeing the anger in his eyes, Raku sighed knowing that he would have to finish this man off too, as he was the most dense of all these thugs, probably only thinking of revenge now, he would have to be put down in order to end this silly fight. The boss rushed forward again, knife in hand, as he charged letting out a scream of anger as he ran towards the shinobi with full force. Raku took a few steps forward, head down slightly, and in an instant, he appeared to flash forward, grabbed the mans hand with his left hand, his grip tight around the mans wrist, and pulled up his katana with the other hand, the blade now pressed against the mans throat. The knife quickly dropped to the ground as he lost his grip, and Raku pushed him back a little bit, sheathing his Katana, quickly preforming a few handseals, as wind began to whip around his hands, as he lunged forward once more, his left hand now in a ball of a fist, as he move it forward, slamming his fist into the side of the bosses head, knocking him out instantly, and sending him flying into the wall on the side of the alley.

All of this had happened in only a matter of a few seconds. Raku had taken out four thugs like they were nothing. Letting out a brief sigh, he began to walk forwards, past the men laying on the ground currently unconscious, as he walked toward the boy still tied up on the chair, covered in his own blood. Reaching across his waist with his left hand, Raku properly drew his katana, holding it out forward, as he reached the boy, and used the weapon to quickly and cleanly cut the bonds that held the boy there, releasing him.

"You've got some balls kid. You should try to be a little more careful next time though. There wont always be someone around to help you." He said with a chuckle to get under the kids skin a little bit. He thought this kid seemed like more of an independent person, not one to rely on others. Sheathing his katana once more, and hopefully for the last time today, he placed his hands back in his pockets, slouching a bit once more, as he turned around and walked towards one of the men, reaching down, and tearing off a sleeve of their shirt, he turned around and threw it at the kid, "Clean yourself up a bit. He had told the boy, since he still had blood on his face, probably making it a little hard to see.
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[Katsu Katachi]

Katachi watches as the man makes a fool out of the group. He notices that the men are unable to react to his movements due to his overwhelming speed advantage, Katachi seems to realize that not only can the men not react to his movements, they can't see them all together. Katachi was able to see all of the action because his senses were naturally higher than the average, what felt like a couple of seconds for the crooks, felt like a couple of minutes for Katachi. Nonetheless, Katachi was simply in awe of the shinobi and he had quickly learned what he would be capable of if he puts his mind into fully becoming a high quality ninja. Katachi thought to himself though, why? What would be the purpose of gaining strength? To make sure that no one tries to take away his life? No. Katachi had already discarded his life, he no longer cared for anyone that was alive other than himself. All he truly wanted was revenge to he man who had killed him and to know what had transpired when his eldest brother decided to leave his home. Answers and revenge, Katachi was willing to stake his life on those two goals.

As the shinobi tossed him the piece of cloth, he grabbed it as it was dangling through the air. He wiped his face into the cloth and made sure to press deeply any cuts that were on his face. He was in pain but as always Katachi learned to deal with it and move forward. He cleared his voice, noticing that the shinobi had taken some attention to what he had to say. "You know......if you want some sort of thank you, you came to the wrong place. I could've handled that myself. I don't need some walking pirate to come save the day for me, I know how to take care of myself, asshole." Katachi jabbed back a little at the man, even though he was truly grateful and knew he owed this man his life, he wasn't gonna show any weakness at all. "To be quiet honest, I was getting ready end it before you could even get started. But I was thought myself, 'hey let the weaklings deal with the shit stains'."

Katachi laughed, trying to amuse himself. He had gone through a pretty rough ordeal but he wasn't going to let something like this end the path that he had chosen. He stood up from the seat and went to the leader, Katachi went through his back pocket to get the money that he had "won" from this group. After pulling the money out of his pocket, he noticed one of the lackeys was still awake. The man was bleeding and couldn't move but once he saw Katachi take the money and wasn't pleased at all, "Hey bastard, put that back where it belongs, you cheated us all." Katachi looked back at him with a furious look, he had noticed that his heart starting pounding. He had wanted an opportunity to hurt one of these men for what they tried to do. And as he begin to think of what to do with the lackey, Katachi then noticed the leader's knife which was on the floor right beside the leader's body. Katachi grabbed it without hesitation and slowly walked towards the lackey.

"Hey, c'mon now, I was just kidding. You know, that's your money now. Take it, I won't say anything." As Katachi moved forward slowly, the man's voice got louder, his eyes got wider, he tried standing but his body was too injured from the fight he simply could not move. Katachi had his eyes glued to the man's movements, he wanted to see him squirm for survival before he decide to crush the man like the ant that he was. He moved the knife from his left hand to his right, he then spun the knife on his index finger until he stood right ontop the man. The man looked terrified, Katachi looked menacing. Katachi couldn't control his actions at this point, he simply wanted the man dead, and he was willing to forget about his own morals to do that. Katachi bent down, he hovered the knife over the man's body until it was standing directly over the man's heart. Katachi had his eyes glued to the knife, he then turned to look at the frightened human being. He gave him a blank stare and asked him, "why don't you try to stop me?" Katachi then gave him a sinister smile, but the man was too afraid of Katachi to say anything. The man took a pause and once he had decided to say something, Katachi did not give him the opportunity. He stabbed into the man's heart and stared at him. He wanted the pleasure of seeing the man go through death, the man began to bleed out instantly and he tried screaming for help. He just couldn't, he man laid backwards, closed his eyes and had lost his life.....

Katachi opened his eyes, he saw he was standing in the man's blood with the knife in his hands. He was shocked and began to cry uncontrollably, this wasn't the first time this had happened to Katachi. He shivered as he saw the man's lifeless body, he was horrified as to what he had done. He slowly began to lose balance, and feel to his knees. Katachi began to pant heavily, he squeezed his hands into a fist and began slamming them on the ground in rejection of what had occurred.

 

[Miraku]

Raku stood silently as the boy had began to wipe his face with the cloth, then walking towards the wall, he turned his back to it, and leaned back against it. Hands in his pockets, Raku listened as the young boy began to speak in response to him, saying he wouldn't give a thanks and that he could handle himself, but Raku didn't mind because he had never expected any gratefulness or gratitude towards his actions. He was merely bored and an interesting situation had arose. But the boy continued, calling Raku some ind of walking pirate, a remark which Raku found quite hilarious; shown by the fact he couldn't hold back a slight chuckle at the words. But again, the boy insisted he could take care of him self. It was like he needed to tell himself these words, and not Raku, in order to reassure himself and keep his dignity. For a moment there was a pause, but the boy continued soon after; stating that he was going to take care of those thugs himself, but that he thought he wanted to let the 'weaklings' deal with it. This caused a loud outburst of laughter, but only for a moment, as Raku choked it back down, trying not to be too much of an ass in this situation, but it was truly a laughable remark; the helpless boy calling Raku the weak one.

The boy began to laugh himself, but it wasn't a laugh of happiness. No, it was a laugh of a person trying not to go mad from being in such a crazy ordeal just moments ago. Raku stood and watched as he walked over to the leader, and picked his pockets for all the money they had, as one of the men Raku had just beaten down was already awake and talking crap, but that soon stopped as the boy appeared to be angered by this, and picked up a knife which had dropped during the fight, and began to slowly walk towards the talking man. Surely he wasn't dumb enough to kill the man while he was down and out, was he? Raku wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to interfere with it, because the boy had to make his own choices, no matter how selfish they were. The man began to become distressed as the boy got closer with the knife, and got down over top of his, the knife against his chest. Maybe he really would kill the man? Had the boy lost his mind? Raku let out a sigh as the boy stabbed the knife into the mans chest and killed him, taking a mans life.

The boy stood there for a little bit shocked before the truth set in. It looked like he began to cry, and he didn't stop, as he realized what he had done. As he fell to his knees, he began to punch the ground repeatedly, obviously upset by what had happened here. Raku just stood there down the alley way a bit, leaning against the wall and shaking his head, though the boy was too busy being upset to notice this. Why did Raku even care enough to stick around? This kid obviously didn't want him there, at least based on what the boy had said a few minutes ago. The urge to stick around and talk to this kid was there though, but for what reason? Raku wasn't one to take pity on someone like this. Letting out another long sigh, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards the boy.

"Pull it together kid. These things happen in this world. It's a cruel place out there. You've now murdered a helpless man out of anger." Raku said, pointing out the obvious, but it was probably something the boy needed to hear, since he was obviously upset over what he had just done. "Maybe instead of crying about it you should put your skills to use and become a shinobi. Protect your village, and kill people who actually deserve it." He said, not knowing if this kid was just a normal kid or an academy student, since there was no indication that a person was enrolled in the academy.

Raku stood up straight again, stopping himself from leaning against the wall, as he walked a few steps closer to the kid. He removed his left hand from his pant pocket, lifting it up to his forehead, and brushing the strands of hair that had fallen over his face back up on top of his head messily to clear his vision. "You certainly can't just sit here brooding over what happened. The past is the past and you gotta move on.

[Marked for Training; 787 WC]
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[Katsu Katachi]

"Kill people who actually deserve it"

Those words stemmed inside Katachi's brain, it was replaying over and over like an old cassette tape that was stuck on play, it wouldn't stop. Katachi was lost he couldn't understand what to say or do, he simply wasn't in control of any of his actions. But he understood why he had this thirst for blood, Katachi knew this man did not deserve to die, they never deserve to die. He was just some poor lackey following the orders of his leader. Katachi looked at the man's pale dead face and saw nothing in his eyes. He started to remember the face of his dead mother, he saw those eyes, the eyes that display a sense of emptiness. He got a severe headache and grabbed his head using his right hand. He took a deep breathe to calm himself down and regain his emotions, he got down on one knee. "You didn't deserve this, you're the 4th person I've murdered in the last month and I....don't......can't." Katachi paused, he was at a loss for words, he would always vow to what he believed was their spirit that he wouldn't kill no more. The problem was that the amount of times that he would kill was making him lose belief in himself. He pictured himself being the child of the father that this man would've been. He pictured the young boy crying, but no one there to console, emptiness he thought.

"Kill people who actually deserve it"

He knew one man that deserved it, and that was the only man that he would have ever wanted dead. If he could kill that man, he knew that all of the problems that he was causing would end. He brought his hand above he man's face, close his eyes and recited some prayers underneath his breathe. "I vow on your dead body, that I will find the man that killed my family and avenge my family." This time he vowed something completely different, he refocused his entire life on what he was going to do. He stood up, turned his back from the man he had just murdered. He looked at his knuckles and saw they were bleeding so he tore a cloth off one of the other lackeys shirts and wrapped two cloths around his fists to stop the bleeding. He stood and turned the man that had saved his life. He saw this man defeat the goons like a human stepping on 4 little ants, he knew what he had to do. He had already been accepted into the academy as a student, he now refocused to become as strong as he can possibly be. He saw how strong this man is and desired to become even more powerful than him.

"Hey, what you saw here stays between you and me. But I want to thank you for saving my life. Even though I don't necessarily deserve it..." Katachi looked at the ground to gather himself. "...If it wasn't for you I would be dead right now, and I owe you my life. If there is anything you ever need from me, let me know. I know I'm just a kid right now but, I'm determined to become strong. One day, I hope to come to your aid in a situation where you need someone here. I'm a bit crazy as you can tell, for some reason I go blank when people make me mad and I can't control any of my actions. To be honest, my entire family was murdered because of one man and once I get angry the person who I'm mad at becomes 'him'. This is what is the result of that anger." He pointed behind him.

"I only have one question for you, why? Why did you save me? I'm grateful but I don't see why a skilled ninja like yourself would waste his time saving some random kid from the slums."

 

[Miraku]

Raku stood tall, the light from the street casting his shadow down the alleyway as he watched the boy as he stayed where he was. The sound of his voice quietly speaking, as he spoke, talking to the man who he had just killed, but really, he was just talking to himself. It sounded like this wasn't his first kill either, which seemed a little worrying for such a young kid, but who was Raku to judge? He himself was raised as a shinobi, made to kill others and protect those he cared about and his village. It wasn't so farfetched that young kids killed others as well. Watching as the boy closed the mans eyes and began what sounded like smothered mumbles under his breath, Raku didn't pay too much attention to what he was saying, he just wanted to make sure that the child wasn't going to do something crazy again.

Once the boy finished he turned around towards Raku after covering up his fresh wounds with some extra cloth he took from the men on the ground. Raku listened as words once again came out of the boys mouth, telling him that this incident needed to stay between them, but them out of no where, a thank you; something Raku certainly wasn't expecting after the things previously said. Maybe there had been a change of heart within this boy; no telling what it was that caused these words to be said. He had offered his future services to Raku. This seemed a little strange to him, but he wasn't one to turn down such a offer; that would seem a little rude to him. Continuing his speech, he told Raku that his family had been murdered and how that person caused him such blinding rage that had been seen only minutes earlier when he killed the lackey.

Raku let out a deep breath in the silence that followed, but only for a moment, as the boy posed a question to him. Questioning why Raku would get involved in the situation that happened. There wasn't some deep answer to this question, it was really quite simple, but it also wasn't heroic, so Raku felt a little bad answering, but he might as well tell the truth. "Honestly, I was on a walk, heard the commotion, and decided the situation might cure some of my boredom. I haven't had much interaction with others lately. Mostly stick to training, and resting in my home when not doing Shinobi work." He told the boy, explaining his current situation. "Besides, a young man like yourself has plenty of life to live still. The death of a kid is a tragic thing."

Walking forward a bit, Raku got a little closer to the boy, "By the way, my name is Takuya, Raku. Currently Kumogakure Jounin. Nice to meet you." he said as he pulled his right hand from it's pocket, and held it out towards the boy in the gesture of a handshake. Growing up Raku was always taught that a handshake was the way to introduce yourself; a strange custom that it seemed, but it was usually a gesture between men as a sign of respect. Some people like to bow or whatever as introductions, but a strong, firm handshake always felt more like the manly thing to do.

[Marked for Training; 557 WC]
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[Katsu Katachi]

Katachi wasn't surprised by what Raku had told him, he had a feeling that the man walked into this situation occurring. But regardless, he knew that Raku still paid attention to what was going on and decided to help. It was actually the first time in a long time that Katachi's been in a situation where he simply couldn't handle himself and someone bails him out at the last minute. Katachi at least could take some solace in that, as Raku extended his hand, Katachi did the same. As they exchange a hand shake, Katachi felt the tough nature of Raku's skin, he could feel the years of accumulated training then went into him becoming a strong shinobi. Katachi put his hands in his pockets and took a little look back at the man he had killed, he quickly turned his head back to get his mind off of it. "Well it's alright, I didn't expect you to know about me and save me specifically. The fact that you'd come when you saw someone in need shows that you know what it really means to be a shinobi."

Katachi walked away from the alley, the sun shined on him, he felt warm now. He wasn't smiling, he had a determined look on his face. He thought about the actions that were made, he thought about what had occurred because of his actions. The only way anything was ever going to change, if he was to make an honest effort to make it change. Getting into scuffles over gambling, cheating people who are poor and killing those who don't deserve it were all interconnected with one another. Katachi pulled out the dice that he knew how to use to get any number he wanted and crushed it within his hands. It didn't hurt due to the immense amounts of training Katachi put himself through. He wipe his hands of the crumbs and looked back at Raku. "I hope that this experience makes me stronger and I hope that one day I can repay the debt that I've bestowed upon myself." Katachi pulls out all the money he won off the men, and handed it over to Raku. "Listen, I didn't win this money fairly, I fucking cheated and they kicked my ass for it. I know I'm a kid and all but to be honest, this is my fault. I caused this shit to happen and if I took this money I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I'd rather sleep beside the fucking trash every night than take this money so I can sleep on a bed. So here, take this money. It's yours, do whatever you want with it. Charity, alcohol, prostitutes, gambling, I could care less what you do with it, but it's yours. Think of it as a small token that you received for the large debt that I owe you."

Katachi looked at Raku smiled and laughed afterwards. Typical Katachi laughing at his own jokes even though they're not as amusing as he seems to think.

 

[Miraku]

Did he really know what it meant to be a shinobi? Sure, he had grown up being trained to be one, it was his job, his duty. But did he really understand what it took? He had worked hard, training all the time, working to become better at what he did all the time, but for what? The village he had grown up in was now gone, and he had lost his reason to be a shinobi, but here he was, still doing it in another village where he had been accepted into and treated like one of their own. Shinobi were killers, weren't they? Ruthless killing machines made to protect their village. No, they were more than that; they were people too, people who cared about their village and their people, enough to work so hard and long in order to become strong enough to protect it with their own hands. But what was this village to Raku? He hadn't grown up here, and he barely even knew anyone here, so why did he save someone from this village? Instinct he supposed, as he stood there watching the boy walk away from the alley, watching as he took out his dice and crushed them, a good thing that would lead to the boy bettering himself.

Watching as the boy looked back at him, and began to speak, telling him that he wanted to get stronger, and took out the money he had taken from the thugs, handing it to Raku. The boy didn't want to take this cheated money, and he knew he didn't deserve it for what he had done, but he wanted Raku to take it. That wasn't something that was going to happen. Others could do better with it than he. But the boy as obviously raising his mood slightly, since he gave a smile and a laugh after he finished speaking, Raku couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Well, it appears you've already grown stronger, and I'm sure one day you'll make a great Shinobi, kid. You got the will and the strength. You just need some form of control. Although it may not feel like it, being reckless is sometimes a form of control in itself." Raku spoke from experience, as he fought more recklessly than most, it had honed his abilities into something strong, something he could control himself, that most others couldn't. Raku stepped forward into the warming sunlight that crept into the alley way as he neared the street that laid adjacent. Feeling the warmth roll over his hands first, and up his arms until his face was revealed to the light, warming up his face slightly, he closed his eyes for just a moment and then turned a bit. "But I wont take this money. Even though these guys were a bunch of idiots and tried to kill you over it, they lost one of their own today. They could probably use the money more than anyone at this time. Maybe it'll teach them to change their ways a bit." he said, as he threw the bag of money back into the alley and to the side of the still unconscious leader still laying on the ground.

What had started out as a walk just to think, and clear his mind had turned into some kind of adventure. Raku didn't expect to run into a situation like this, let alone feel anything about something like this. Maybe he had learned something about himself here this day? The kind of person he was? Who truly knew; but he definitely wasn't going to give up on finding himself, and becoming a stronger individual than he currently was, because no matter how strong you are, someone will always be better, one day. There were so many people out there in the world. That was besides the point though. This adventure had led to Raku meeting someone new, someone who was on their way to following the path of a shinobi as well, though a different path than he had possibly. "Now that you know who I am, don't be afraid to contact me if you ever need help with shinobi stuff. I'm not really a teacher, but it may be easier to ask someone you've met before than other shinobi." He told the boy, thinking maybe it would give him something to do some day when he was bored, or had extra free time to spare. He moved his hands in his pockets, readjusting them, as he straightened up his body for a moment, stretching his body back a little bit to relieve his back a little, enjoying the sun across the front of his body while he stood there for a bit.

[Marked for Training; 791 WC]
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