Episode 1: 'Nobody('s) Home'| said:[col]After concluding his shenanigans at the registration table, Roku decided to take a little detour to go an explore his old home. The Okayama Clan was different than most of the other lineages in Wind Country. All the clans within the sands started out similar, breaking from the lines of First Men and becoming wandering nomads until eventually forming together. These clumps eventually forged the bloodlines and territories within Wind Country. The Okayama, however, was a bit different. It would take decades before it would officially come into existence, as it remained a large collection of nomads for as long as possible. Unlike the rest of the world around them, these groups of collected people did not see the need to band together or to fall under rule, the merely used the area for a rest stop, a trading market, and then when they were ready they would continue to wonder on. That all changed the day a man emerged, ferocious as a beast that had been left starving, appeared. He claimed the land as the land of the Okayama, but the name held no real significance and wasn't even a part of his own name. Instead, he stated that anyone who wanted to claim this banner as their's, even if they did not stay in the territory, could. The man had noticed the powers in play with the other clans emerging, killing and infighting to establish ruling bloodlines to carve up Wind. The Okayama, a collection of drifters, orphans, nomads and those who just wished to start anew was formed. After time, newborns were no longer given the family name of their parents, if they even happened to know it, and instead took on the name Okayama. For years upon years this would continue, by the time of Saemon, Roku's older brother, everyone within the territory was hailed under the Okayama name.
The found of the clan wished to see those who fell under this umbrella maintain their freedom to live how they wish while also holding encroaching clans at bay. In order to do this, he established the simple philosophy of "Freedom through strength". If those under the clan of Okayama wished to maintain their way of life, they merely needed to be strong. Unlike most cultures born under the same sort of mentality, the man expressed that his desire was not to see one rise to the top but that the whole village would be strong. So, the warriors began their way of life. Men, women, children, the elderly, all were trained in not only the art of fighting but strengthened in competencies of agriculture, crafting and crude engineering; skills that would benefit them whether they chose to remain in the village or leave and continue to roam. This was the society he wanted, a world of freedom. But that is where his story ends in terms of the telling of Roku's.
Roku approached the village he had not seen since his youth. The Okayama clan remained in their village despite the Diamond Maelstrom, but the storm did force them to rethink their village. Much like Suna, the Okayama went underground, albeit not nearly deep as the shinobi village. They built thick stone walled structures that rose from the ground and went a few stories underground. To join the buildings, a series of underground tunnels were developed so traveling could happen without ever entering the storm. Lastly two longer tunnels were designed that led to Soon's and to Suna for trade and bartering. This was the life of the Okayama Clan for the last 30 years. Bit by bit, however, the nomads, wishing to be away from the maelstrom in general, began to leave the village. Now before him was, as far as he could image, just an empty shelled relic of the past. He had no stepped foot in the location for nearly two decades, he could not believe there was anyone still left. His memories could only picture the location with the blinding, raging sand storm, so seeing it clearly from the outside now was a surreal moment.
"I wonder if anyone is home..."
Pushing nostalgia aside, he would calmly make his way towards the structure that once housed his family...
To Be Continue
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OOC: MFT- 706 words
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]Roku[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
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Ninpocho Chronicles
Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.
Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.
Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.
The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.
This is Ninpocho Chronicles.
Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time:
Eyes Wide Open
- Thread starter Raizo
- Start date
Episode 2: 'Just Wanna Be Somebody'|Side Story said:[col]Standing before the door to one of the rather plain stone structures, he would notice several carvings in the wall. Each carving was representative of what families lived within this building and what else one could find within it. Each structure, thanks to the Diamond Maelstrom, had to be not only a place of residency but also house many of their businesses and services. His hand would trace over a specific symbol, one he had not seen in a long time. The symbol was the sign of his father, his familial marker. Again, the intricacies of the Okayama were a bit weird, especially since they all took on the same clan name after awhile, but each bloodline still felt a sense of honor and pride in their specific branch of the larger whole.
"Knock, knock..."
He would quickly clench his fist, rare back and send it darting forward into the door. The force of the punch send a shockwave reverberating throughout the exterior of the structure until the door finally gave out and went falling down from the hinges.
"Anyone there..."
Taking a step inside, all that could be heard were the creaking noises of the innards being disturbed for the first time in seemingly a long time, and all that could be seen was the light from the outside and the rest of the interior before him was cloaked in darkness. He let out a sigh as this seemed to confirm that anyone who might have been around the complex had left a long time ago. He came looking for answers and it would now seem like he would not be able to ask any questions. This did not mean the trip was in vain, there was still an opportunity for some clarity. The journal of his brother's he had found mentioned the research lab in the lowest level of the complex. So he would just need to go down. Placing his newly forged gauntlets, Muzan, he would begin to circulate chakra through them causing them to glow like a lantern. With his light now equipped, he would begin his search for the stairs and how to reach the depths of this compound. In his search, he would pass relics of the former lives that were here; books, toys, furniture. Things were left in a manner that seemed like the occupants just up and left, while other items were discarded in more of a rush. It would seem that the evacuation of the compound did not occur all at one time and families chose to handle it differently. The storm outside and finding safe passage probably dictated some of that while others probably got stir crazy from being locked inside with a dwindling population.
Roku would pause as he lifted his arm up to shine more light on a door he had crossed. Upon the door was the same symbol carving he had traced before. This was his old home. Once more, instead of even checking the door to see if it would simply open, he would slam his fist into it sending it flying off the hinges. Making his way inward he would notice that this domain seemed to have been ransacked and looted to some degree. He could not remember the day him and Saemon left here but he did no that his father had died in disgrace, so once him, his sibling and mother left the compound their belongings were probably up for grabs. It was a sad sight, but there was no time to dwell on a past he could barely remember. His eyes would scan around for pictures, artifacts of their old family, but the only thing he could find would not bring him solace. The frame held an image of three individuals; Saemon, their mother and their father. Based on how his brother looked, it would have been before his birth, but still it almost reaffirmed this growing feeling in the pit of his stomach; this was not his family. And if that was true, who was he? Was he anybody? He wanted to be somebody.
Exiting the living quarters he would once more continue his trek towards the stairs.
To Be Continue
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OOC: MFT- 697 words
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Episode 3: 'Number 6'|Side Story said:[col]The final latch down would come tumbling to the ground as Roku would emerge into the room he had been searching for since reading about it in the book. Looking around, nothing would immediately seem familiar. For a place that was wrote about so much throughout the course of his apparent young life, he could not remember it at all. The room itself looked like a laboratory that was a cross between something you would find in a medical center and something you might find in a fictitious lab of a mad scientist. The room had not seen a visitor in what appeared to be years as it was caked in dust and cobwebs. The books on the shelves showed heavy signs of decay, exacerbated from the humidity that was seeping into this underground facility. There were formulas and notes scribbled about boards within the space, but Roku's eyes was draw to something in particular. Before him was something large that seemed to be concealed under a blanket.
Calmly, he would approach the blanket with a fixated gaze. While it did not look familiar, there was something about the item that drew him in. What was hidden under the cloth, the thought alone was enough for him to want to find out. His pulse would race as his mind would begin to blur slightly, causing him to almost enter a trance like state. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to find out what was under the sheet as his body entered an autopilot mode. Before he knew it, he was upon the piece of fabric as his hand would reach out, take hold and pull.
From under the sheet there would be a coffin like container. The thing seemed to have a half glass cover, for either someone to look into the contents or the contents to look out. The rest was made of a rather strong looking alloy. There did not seem to be anything to outstanding about the thing except for a plate attached just under the window-esque feature. Upon the plate was the following;
Subject 006 - Anti-Ancient Weapon
FAILURE
The word failure seemed to have been handwritten over the top of the words and the image. The image itself was odd, maybe something he had seen before but something he would not soon forget. As he continued to fixate on the image, something would return to him. When he first found the book, he remember that the earlier pages referred to him as Number Six, which eventually was turned to Roku to make it more like a name and less like a prisoner's ID. Was this where the 'Number Six' came from? Was he the failure that was written upon this coffin? Moving to examine the sides of the item, it would be apparent that this thing had been drug across various surfaces.
Was he an experiment that was cast aside as a failure, one that was found by the Okayama and given a second chance? If that was the case... why...
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OOC: MFT- 697 words
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OC: May I join? I promise to make his presence two posts. You will see how and why. Then you can return to your solo posts.
IC:
Number 5
Ogasawara Nao
Beneath an ashen and somber sky, there was an unseasonable chill that suddenly forced the door ajar. This aura was like Mikaboshi's in so many ways -- this ominous sense that would leave the hairs on the back of one's necks raised. However the shadows did not play in the same way as they did in response to the presence of a Deep Court denizen. There was no chill, or rather not the came bitter cold that defied the warmth of life yet this dire sense was not mundane. A weight could be felt on his chest, as if someone was crushing his ribs under an immense weight. The air was thin and the room smelled of sulfur, the dull taste of ash on his tongue. A man, not the sort of man that should come without fanfare would enter the space with a dignified air. He was smaller than Roku and by a fair margin, flesh as pale as the moon and hair as dark as raven winds. He appeared cachectic and stood at a height barely over five foot six, he dressed in a manner most teens who wrote about pain and self-hatred would. The only difference here was, this man seemed to preach what he professed. His arms were exposed and upon them were dark, inky black markings, they would appear nonsensical to most but to one proficient in Runic Terran the reader might recognize words. There was a time when words held power, much like a true name holds authority over ones will and strength.
His joints would pop and click as he moved and there would be a dull, crackling sound that seemed to emanate from this small man's withered form. He did not appear to be old, but there was something in those dark hollows one could call eyes that seemed to speak of an antediluvian time that few remember. "For the effect of your pride, have you come to confess, Number Six?"
IC:
Number 5
Ogasawara Nao
Beneath an ashen and somber sky, there was an unseasonable chill that suddenly forced the door ajar. This aura was like Mikaboshi's in so many ways -- this ominous sense that would leave the hairs on the back of one's necks raised. However the shadows did not play in the same way as they did in response to the presence of a Deep Court denizen. There was no chill, or rather not the came bitter cold that defied the warmth of life yet this dire sense was not mundane. A weight could be felt on his chest, as if someone was crushing his ribs under an immense weight. The air was thin and the room smelled of sulfur, the dull taste of ash on his tongue. A man, not the sort of man that should come without fanfare would enter the space with a dignified air. He was smaller than Roku and by a fair margin, flesh as pale as the moon and hair as dark as raven winds. He appeared cachectic and stood at a height barely over five foot six, he dressed in a manner most teens who wrote about pain and self-hatred would. The only difference here was, this man seemed to preach what he professed. His arms were exposed and upon them were dark, inky black markings, they would appear nonsensical to most but to one proficient in Runic Terran the reader might recognize words. There was a time when words held power, much like a true name holds authority over ones will and strength.
His joints would pop and click as he moved and there would be a dull, crackling sound that seemed to emanate from this small man's withered form. He did not appear to be old, but there was something in those dark hollows one could call eyes that seemed to speak of an antediluvian time that few remember. "For the effect of your pride, have you come to confess, Number Six?"
Episode 4: 'Parent'|Side Story said:[col]A feeling rushed over him as his body seemed frozen in place. His pulse began to rush as his eyes widened. It felt like something was clinging to his body and slowly crawling across his skin. He was not sure what this sudden change in the atmosphere was, he had no idea what was happening and at the same time, there was some familiarity to this strange sensation. Then he heard the voice. Slowly, Roku would turn around. Sweat beading up across his face would quickly cascade down as his eyes locked with the figure before him. The man looked like someone that was roughly around the same age as himself, yet this person's voice sounded like one he had heard before. Was this all merely a trick his mind was playing? Being in his old home, the already sense of overwhelming familiarity, was it all just forced deja vu from sensory overload or did he truly know this voice. Either way, at this time he did not know the person before him but it seemed the man might have known more about Roku than Roku did. At least he knew the significance of the name Roku and the number 6.
"I am getting awfully tired of assholes magically appearing behind me...."
Something Mikaboshi had done numerous times here recently. Was that why this person felt familiar, because they were giving a Mikaboshi-like vibe? While Roku questioned, his body began to work on its own. The human limiters that kept one's chakra regulated began to snap within him. The rush of chakra would fill his body as his muscles would begin to grow, his veins would begin to pop. Another limiter would snap and chakra would now be visibly seen cloaking his figure. Finally his facial expression would change as his eyes would narrow in on the figure before him.
"Just who the hell are you, and why the hell are you here?"
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OOC: MFT- 323 words
|[legend="[glow=maroon][b][size=5]Roku[/size][/b][/glow]"][/col]
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Bitch, you are like summer: no class
Number 5
Ogasawara Nao
Number 5
Ogasawara Nao
There was something insidious about the man despite his stature being rather average, his form quite slender and his flesh pallid. Nao was obviously male, but the manner he sashayed would suggest otherwise. Of course when you are a man such as Nao, there are few social conventions that one would find necessary to abide. He let the door shut behind him, the blinding light that shaded his narrow form was taken away and the dim unnatural lighting of the laboratory space would again serve as the settings only illumination. Carmot lighting always gave him a sallow tone, sunset and candlelight were by far more flattering. The Dark Sage stopped next to the Sennin and ran his bare fingertip along a flat surface and before he raised the singular digit before his eyes and gazed at the thick clot of dust with amethyst eyes. "Tsk..."</B><i></i> What was this, a hovel for sandmen?
"I am getting awfully tired of assholes magically appearing behind me...."
An irked number announced. A sardonic smile eclipsed his slender face. "Magic? Darling, you have not met anyone else like me," he announced with a limp wave of his wrist as he rubbed away the offensive dander from his fingertips. "And I have not forgiven you," Nao pouted. "You never said good-bye, but it is time for you to come home soon enough." Nao's approach would not make a sound despite the heavy boots he wore and the dust at his feet was steadfast and seemingly refused to be scuffed away.
"Just who the hell are you, and why the hell are you here?"
Number Six seemed to grow in size, the vasculature engorged and his muscles massive yet better defined. Nao rose his hand over his heart, "I am hurt. Bitch, you might be pretty, but I am fabulous. You might look like a man, but you are still a boy at heart. A boy that does not even remember his father... or at least the closest thing he ever had to one." Nao's message was cryptic, but no more than the name he shared. "...Nao," he added with a hand on his hip. The name was familiar, but not in the context that would prove to be the most important. Roku had forgotten who he was and he was becoming the man he was intended to become, but this was not the man Roku actually was. Why was Fuu so drawn to him without ever seeing his face? Why was she so insistent that he was meant to be the hero? She was not sent, at least she was not aware of it but she was if nothing else predictable as well as brilliant. Roku was everything she would look for in a hero. Roku was everything a leader would look for in a friend and a confidant, he became an even closer one to the Sunan leader when nepotism and hard work allowed him to rapidly ascend in rank. But the fun was not in building a man up, much like making a tower out of blocks, the real fun was breaking them down.
"Rude," he breathed. "But no worries, homecoming will be spectacular," Nao concluded as he took another step forward into Roku. If Roku stuck out at him he would not avoid and if he did not move or evade Nao would seem to step through the likely befuddled Sennin, turning into a cloud of inky black feathers in the process. The feathers would fall to the ground, swaying in cadence with an intangible breeze only to dissipate into a mist when they touched the ground or Roku's form.<B>"Be seeing you soon Six."
There was no evidence that anyone less the Sennin had been there in years. Perhaps it was simply a hallucination or the delusion of an overworked and paranoid mind. No proof less the one clean spot where Nao had ran his finger in the dust to demonstrate the poor housekeeping of the former residents.
((Carry on))
[/quote]Episode 1: 'An End and A Beginning'|Nameless Arc said:[col]Each step the figure made, the more the emotions within Roku began to swirl around. His body was tense and on edge, as if it instinctively knew that this person was someone to be on alert with. Was this because of his, at times, animal instincts, or was this because he actually knew this person and his body was reacting accordingly. Within his mind there was just a continually unraveling mess. Questions would rise and there would be a struggle to try and remember memories that he wasn't even sure were there. This man, this person, this voice, something about it all made so much sense and at the same time made no sense what so ever.
Forgiven me..?
The man not only spoke nonchalantly to Roku but also spoke with a clear sense of familiarity. This person knew Roku, and still he was not able to recognize this individual. The man then mentioned that Roku would soon be coming home. While that was not surprising, he already knew this building was not his real home, it did not bring him any ease. There was somewhere else out there for him, somewhere he was before he was taken in by the Okayama. But where?
"Who..."
The man was already addressing the question before he could repeat himself. The mentioning of being the closet thing to a father caused a feeling of emptiness to start growing within the pit of his stomach. His eyes remained on the man and his ears continued to listen but his body froze as his mind seemed to be paralyzed.
No... Saemon... he was the closet to a father... but he left too... a father... father died... Saemon... brother... father... who....
The man then mentioned his name; Nao. The state of being frozen in place remained but the internal workings of Roku once more kicked up as chakra limiter after chakra limiter in his body began to break in his body until he had reached a point of all of his seven earthly gates being opened. His body was consumed by his chakra as the ground around him began to crack and rumble.
"Nao."
The Sovereign... the one who seemingly leads the academy and one of the oldest members.
The facts Fuu gave him played out almost robotic within his further fracturing mind. Did this mean he was truly connected with the Sovereign, was his name being a number more than just a coincidence? At this time, nothing made sense in his world. Nao would step closer to him, almost getting close enough to touch the Sennin if he wished. Nao spoke of the homecoming of Roku being something spectacular and that he would see him soon before phasing out of the room. In that brief moment, amidst all his confusion and all his emotions there sat one feeling that was foreign and not what he expected; comfort. There was a small speck of comfort of knowing there was a place for him out there somewhere, a place where he could finally learn about who he was. That moment, the small spark of comfort would not last long as all the feelings would come rushing forward.
"Nao..."
The room would continue to rumble as the power would now be pouring off the body of Roku. Glass containers began to shatter as loose items within the room began to lift up and swirl around as if being caught up in a slow moving vortex around the focal point of the reckless man.
"Number Six..."
Clenching his fists, Roku began to let out a scream that seemed to resonate from the very depths of his soul. Each passing second the sound would grow more intensified as the chakra from his body began to expand outward and coat the entire room. Within his body a break was continuing to happen as his chakra reserve was reaching a breaking point of its own. Only one other time had he utilized the otherworldly eighth gate, the Gate of Death. His body was now a critical mass and could no long avoid it, it was time for the final limiter to break. Unlike last time, however, he did not initiate this break by piercing his heart with his chakra infused hand sign. Instead, the gate seemed to break reactively to the heightened strain upon his body. Once the gate opened, a dark inhuman chakra would consume his body casing it in an almost cocoon like state. Within it the chakra would poor out from his body as his muscles would snap, his bones would break and his flesh would rip. His body was going through a metamorphosis once more but unlike this time it was not in a positive manner. At this time, Roku's body was literally tearing itself apart at the very seams. Letting out another bloody, guttural roar, the chakra that encased Roku would explode outwards and consume the entire room in the energy.
On the surface, the abandoned colony would look like it had for years; empty. There were no sounds, no movement and no signs of life. Suddenly that would all change as a stream of chakra would erupt upwards from the secret laboratory and causing the upper portion of the compound to eject outwards in all directions. The explosion would ring out, stirring up the sands and shaking the remaining buildings in the colony. The closest buildings would begin to collapse under the stress of the concussive force.
Within the crater like remains, the broken and battered body of Roku laid within a heap among the debris. His red eyes looked upward towards the sky as his mind began to slowly creep back to reality. Thoughts begun to process within him once more as he attempted to digest all he had been given, and while he had always prided himself on his strength he could not help but feel weak in this moment. He went on a journey to find his past and to get questions in his life answered, and while he got a couple of answers he was ultimately left with a longer journey unwinding and a multitude of new questions. What was worse was the fact he had the person that could answer those questions right there before him but before he could even muster the strength to say any words or take any action, Nao was gone. Was he always this weak? This was utter defeat.
"Who... who am I? Roku? Number Six? Okayama? Sovereign?"
The words seemed to meekly escape his mouth, just a muttering of a once proud man. He had names and titles, but what did that mean?
"Sennin... ANBU... Sovereign... Kasha... Tenken... Zombie... Yoshida... Roku.... Six.... Hero... Who am I?"
Over the past couple of years he had amassed so many aliases, so many names, but what did any of it mean? Where any of those his 'true' name? No. Most were just names he made up to serve a purpose. They were nothing more than a tool to be utilized and discarded if necessary. So then Okayama, was that his name? No. It was the name of the family that took him in. So then Roku, that had to be his name, or was it just a convenient way of humanizing someone that was given the number six for their name? So then, what was his name?
Among the rubble, Roku slowly began to pull himself up. His dirty, bloodied and ravaged body was quivering with each step. Once a figure of strength, had now be reduced to almost an infantile state. Within his body his chakra system had been completely wrecked, the gates shattered and the flow of his natural energies now seemingly running dry. He was beaten and now he was weak. Clenching his fist, in one of the weakest grips he had ever felt, he attempted to activate the Gate of Healing, but there was no reaction. Any gate, no reaction. It was as if the body he had crafted to utilize the Hachimon secrets was no more. No name, no greater ability, just who the hell was he...
Hours would pass before he would finally make his way back to the surface. Slowly, the crippled body of the Sennin would slowly make his way onward, but not back towards Suna. No, his new journey was in a different direction. Deeper into the sands he would go, searching for answers with no true goal in sight. He was not heading to what he thought was home, the village, and he was not heading towards Sora or Soons. No, he was not heading anywhere in particular because he literally had no idea where to go. Maybe he just needed a moment away from everything for things to start to make sense to him once more? And while he did not realize it, something new was beginning to grow within the body of Roku. From within, his body would begin to shape into the form it was always meant to be.
Maybe this failure was finally turning into a success...
[topic left]
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OOC: MFT- 1512 words
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Current Ninpocho Chronicles Time: