The Gentle Fist

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Hoshi was summoned to the Saito Clan Head house. In the letter it wrote that Hoshi’s attendance was mandatory. It explained a change of the head and all associated needed to be there to see. As he approached the clan, more and familiar hyuugas arrived the same time. They all bowed with their foreheads to the ground at Hoshi. Even the children did so, and Hoshi was perplexed. The young teenager was experiencing some drastic changes in life. His signing up for the world martial arts tourney made him famous overnight.

Hoshi entered the clan sliding the door open. He kicked off his ninja sandals and proceeded with the customary greeting. As Hoshi was mid way through he noticed everyone bowing to him. Akita Saito’s brother was the only one not bowing, but walking up to him with a smile. Hoshi bowed at the sight of their leader but he was greeted with a stiff hand gesturing nin to rise and so he did.


“My Time has come, the clan will look for a new leader with youthful vigor. Who better than you? A young man with much growing room. You will become wise in the ways of delegation and politics I’m sure. Trust your officials, they are here to guide you. Always keep tradition, and continue to unfold the mystery of our eyes to our young ones.”

He patted Hoshi on the shoulder and cupped his cheek. Hoshi was astonished, mouth agate and stammering. He looked around to everyone, even the elders seemed adamant about this decision. He looked down at himself.

”But, I... I can’t be, I don’t know anything about lead-“

He was cut short and interrupted as the latter spoke.

“You will do just fine. Just be yourself, under your fist our clan will be strong in mind and body. “

Hoshi nodded, there was no point in arguing. He bowed once more, tears filling up in his young eyes.

”Yes sir! Yes sir!”

The man chuckled and left calmly leaving the clan behind and it’s residents with a wave and a goodbye.

“Alas, I can finally retire and enjoy my old age.”

And the man left, while the clan rose to their feet and began clapping and cheering. The elders greeted the boy and adorned him linens of hierarchy.

 

[Honnou]

His parents had been summoned to the Saito Clan Head house just as well, given that today was the day to announce the new head. It was, thus, a very important occasion that both his father and mother couldn’t avoid, in which they also took their newly-baked genin boy with them. Having just achieved the headband a few days prior to present time, Honnou had now become one of many. He was now a shinobi among prodigies, masters and practitioners in one of the most prominent clans in the Hidden Cloud. Obviously, he couldn’t stay home himself, right?

Along the way to the HQ, the young Honnou tucked his father’s sleeve a little to grab his attention. His mother noticed it immediately and smiled gently, getting ready to overhear some father-son conversation. As the elder man looked down to his beloved son, Honnou asked: “Who do you think that they will announce? I think that they want you as leader.” He was ever so straightforward with his opinion, and his father couldn’t but laugh joyfully. “Now, now, my son… my opinion is that they seek after a more, what do you call it, younger blood. One with more potential in his yet early days than even me,” the old Saito replied. A broad silence came out of Honnou’s expression, but it was broken as the father ruffled his son’s hair. “But it’s sweet of you to think that. I’m flattered..!” Having his eyes closed, the young Saito was truly happy for his father’s reply. However, that also lead the young boy curious; who would be the one..?

When they finally arrived at the Head House of the Saito Clan, everyone else were about to settle. Honnou threw his eyes around, recognizing younger friends and close family of his and greeting with a proper bow that befitted his manners. He quickly noticed how everyone seemingly had their eyes on one specific individual, Hoshi-nii. The elder Saito member had, recently, gotten quite the nice mentions ever since a while ago, due to his participation in a future tourney. He smiled by that thought, almost subconsciously aware of today’s climax.

That was when the leader made his way to Hoshi and declared him their new head of the clan. Honnou was alongside his father and mother when the announcement emitted, and both parents had bowed prior in deep respect. Given by Hoshi’s words, Honnou could understand how shocking that these news were, but their elder leader had a point. He was confident that Hoshi would do well as a leader; it was going to happen, inevitable given by that Saito’s capabilities.

Honnou’s parents began clapping joyfully with the rest of the people around, almost hailing the new leader. His father was quick on his toes, too, and made his way to the young leader with little Honnou holding his hand and going along. Truth be told, Honnou didn’t know that much of the elder shinobis in his clan, but first time for everything. “It’s an honor to have you as our new leader, Hoshi-sama,” his father greeted, “This is my son, I guess that you haven’t met each other yet. His name is Honnou.” Despite living in the outskirts, Honnou’s parents were full-blown Saito members in both words and actions. Honnou simply looked up at the taller Hoshi with sparkling eyes, and his father was ready to hear the young boy’s greeting to Hoshi. However, it came out in a different way that the father expected…

“I’m… hereby under your training. Please take care of me.” That was his formal greeting along with the bow and all. Honnou had not told the reason behind as he felt rather awkward about it, but it was worth a greeting to the new head.

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

Hoshi was still stunned. His mouth was agate as many walked passed him and greeted him. Hoshi shook their hands, returned their bows, kiss the foreheads of babies, all with an awkward smile. The former Saito patted him in the back before leaning into his ear and giving a word of advice. Hoshi nodded before another approached him, an elder man with a son not too far off from Hoshi's age. In fact, he saw himself in the boy.

Hoshi shook his head, and adverted his attention to the elder. The words, sama rang throughout his ears. He looked down at his feet and back to the elder bowing deeply. He looked over to the boy as he was introduced, and Hoshi noticed the twilight in his young eyes. Ah yes, it was the same light in his young eyes. Hoshi gasped lightly leaning over a little.

"His eyes! I know that light anywhere! He is on the cusp of activating his doujutsu!"

He was cut short, the boy proposed himself as Hoshi's student. He became wide eyed, he leaned back and straightened his posture while clearing his throat. He had to take that in for a moment. Not too long ago, he was in the boy's position begging for a mentor to guide him. Hoshi brought his right hand to rub his bare chin. He nodded accepting the boy's challenge and even smirked.

"Hai, Hannou-San, I promise to make you a splendid ninja with a blazing spirit. To you all..."

Hoshi stepped away from the family and addressed the remaining congregation. He cleared his throat once more before he spoke.

"I will unite all the hyuuga's of cloud. Main and Branch, we are all together. Each will bare the curse of our family name. Each will bare the fame and glory of our family. I ensure you, I will guide the clan into further greatness, with the light of our eyes!"

He hoped his words could rattle those of uneasy heart, being led by a kid and all. Then again, Hoshi was just as much as an adult, as he was a kid. He was forced to grow up fast, causing to him hold tight to childish desires and dreams, but that's what made him a potentially great leader.

 

[Honnou]

Honnou kept his eyes at the elder boy’s as he felt rather surprised by the way that his father had greeted him. Even Honnou himself would be surprised, because the honorific sama held a lot of weight and expressed a lot of honor and authority. Also, despite the attempt to look rather formal in front of the Saito Clan’s new head, Hoshi appeared to have noticed something on him. At first, the little boy was about to panic a little, but… his eyes…

Hoshi mentioned his eyes out loud before. It certainly left Honnou curious as he didn’t feel any different, neither around his eyes. His dad had moved his face down to the boy and tried to notice the same too, in which he smiled brightly. They were both seemingly pleased with what this kid emitted, and Hoshi wasn’t slow in accepting his request to make him a ‘splendid ninja’ as he called it. That was also when Hoshi had to give a speech to the rest, in which Honnou looked up to his dad.

“Ahh… perhaps, you’re already reaching the clouds of the Saito Clan?” his dad asked him. Due to no kind of knowledge about this phrase or way of constructing such a question, Honnou attempted to reply back: “The clouds of the Saito Clan… couldn’t you elaborate?” His voice indicated a slight annoyance in the way that his father just left him out like that, maybe it was for fun or to fully build in the meaning of what he was about to say later as Honnou had concluded that his father intended that his son asked, in which the elder man would continue: “Our dōjutsu. The one that your mother had used back in the day, remember?” Truly, the boy remembered. His mother’s eyes had changed drastically that day, and they emitted such intimidation that his skin began to crawl and shiver by the mere thought. Was he, by any chance, about to tap into that very same power? At such a young age, too?

That was when he quickly released himself from his grab to dad’s sleeve, making it through the crowd and reaching where Hoshi stood at. He didn’t say much, but his eyes said it all; show it. Show the young and promising Honnou what his father meant by ‘clouds’ of the Saito Clan. It was bound to be something ascended, something that would push him to even further heights in every way…

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

The boy ran to him, his eyes full of excitement and curiosity. In reality, there wasn't that big of an age difference between them. In a different light, they could have been friends, or classmates at the academy. Yet here Hoshi stood, on the cusp of becoming an ANBU elite at the tender age of fourteen, when he was just enlisted four years back. He had seen many battles, drawn blood, and experienced the vices of the shinobi world. Treachery, love, murder, prudence, prayer. He had been through a lot.

He would kneel down, once he did he was slightly shorter than Honnou. He looked the boy clear and deep in the eyes. Hoshi hoped he would return the same gaze. The boy's face would be serious, he then clutched the bro by his collar and pulled him in to hear something.

"The Ancient Forest."

Hoshi released him and stood straight up, now looking down at the youth. He cleared his throat and elaborated deeper on the subject. The stern look continued, Hoshi was examining his new and supposed student. He grinned and playfully nudged the child at the shoulder.

"I have a dojo there. Any who wish to learn, or wish to train, come by. I moved my living quarters there. Honnou-san, I will help you awaken your eyes through various training regiments. They will be difficult, but I believe you have the spirit. After all, we are a proud family. Those born of the hyuuga family are called to be shinobi. Embrace your doujutsu, train hard! We should all strive to make our ancestors proud."

 

[Honnou]

It was unexpected, yet pretty expected given by how Honnou looked at him. His age, once again, made him look too curious, didn’t it… well, as Hoshi kneeled down to reach his height, the boy was about to chuckle a little. He didn’t have to do this, he was the leader… but maybe that was just the younger Hyuuga’s anticipation to a great leader? Maybe he missed the overall picture of how a leader should be? A leader had to be easy to talk to, first of all, and thus the boy approved of this action. However, Hoshi whispered the name of a place that the boy had been to before… the Ancient Forest.

To think that such an honored place would host a dojo of his. He was told that anyone who wished to learn or train should come by. That made it much easier for the boy to know exactly where he was going now that he had his student title given to him after having asked Hoshi. However, there was still something that bothered his mind…

“… My dōjutsu… Could you help me awaken it here and now..?”​

His clenched fists had been raised up to his shoulders in determination that befitted a steel-minded practitioner. It also showed that, if it took that way, he was ready for combat. His father saw him and heard the words coming out from the lad's mouth, and he smiled like never before. “I thought that, earlier, I was no good with a headband this fast… but… if I’m really capable of becoming a splendid ninja… if I’m able to bring glory to my name…” His voice had begun to breeze out a little, while his spirit was steadfast as ever. “Show me everything. Everything that tributes the Saito Clan… no matter how long that it'll take.”

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

He looked to the boy perplexed at his question. Clearly, Hoshi’s face with eyebrows extending high on his forehead and mouth agate was truly surprised. He cleared his throat and looked away, and then to the young boy’s father, then the rest of the congregation. He calmed himself, the wrinkles of his surprise fading and the softness of a young face returning once again. The words of this young boy had made Hoshi’s heart rise to his throat. He was beginning to think, he could see the new leader, after him maybe, already in a student. A large grin came across his face.

The boy expressed his doubt, yet he knew nothing of the doujutsu that would change his life upon activation and mastering its use. It would all make sense if Hoshi did help him to activate such a talent right now. Seeing as that, his Father was okay with him becoming a student. A first lesson here and now wouldn’t harm a soul in fact, it could be the stimulation the Shinobi needed to succeed.

“Honnou, you are a hyuuga. Our fate is sealed at birth, to become Shinobi. Our clan, our race, his renown for our visual prowess and taijutsu expertise. Never forget that. Come, now.”

Hoshi lead the way out the door. Into the training grounds of the family house. It was here he watched many elders duel and learned the way of hidden techniques of the Hyuuga clan. He beckoned for any to follow and, like ants they all lined up and filed outside door filling up the grounds. What stood in the middle was a square arena lined out by thick rope and white paint.

“Enter the ring, young Honnou-San. Our doujutsu activates under certain conditions. Stress, anger, sadness, determination, training, or in that moment... what do they call it? Flight or fight. Now.”

Hoshi entered the ring and slid into a horse stance. Immediately his chakra fluctuated throughout his body as a whistling sound could be heard from the excess chakra leaking from the pores of his skin. Hoshi gritted his teeth and manipulated his chakra to three focal tenketsu points. Once the valves reached their limit begging for more, Hoshi’s eyes would begin to bulge with chakra induced veins. The activation of his own doujutsu highlighted Honnou’s and everyone else’s chakra network.

“Hachimon Tonkou!”

A sudden burst and a forceful wave exploded from Hoshi in a rather late radius. The clan had to brave themselves or they slid away falling down. Hoshi had burst open three of the Hachimon gates awakening a pale blue aura of raw lifeforce and evaporated sweat from his increased body temperature and blood flow. The young boy’s muscles even expanded to combat and body building young adult.

“The day I awakened my eyes Honnou... My family was slaughtered, my village was decimated by a clan lead by a fallen angel. I escaped with this... At your age I fought for survival and found my way to Kumogakure’s gates. PREPARE YOURSELF!”

Hoshi would dash toward the boy, flickering in that instant as the ground beneath him gave way to his push slightly. He made sure to control himself and not completely wreck the place.

 

[Honnou]

Hyuuga… hey, that wasn’t the first time that Honnou had heard that name. It was a more universal title to their clan, given that due to years of globalization, clan members had settled everywhere across the nations. It was due to local interests that their clan’s HQ here was named Saito, or that was what the young boy could conclude by now. However, he should’ve known much more about this, so he doubted not his knowledge about the clan and its grand history. Such history would encourage every member of the clan, girls and boys, men and women, and perhaps it even pushed Hoshi to where he was standing now. Now that the elder boy stood here, right in front of Honnou, with the new title of head of the clan, wouldn’t that be followed up by an already vast storage of fame?

Putting those thoughts aside, Honnou was prompted to follow him out the door that lead into the training grounds of the HQ. There, the young kid saw lots of other elders and his father included as that man walked out as well, curious to see what Hoshi’s first lesson to the little Saito would be. Not only his father, but lots of other clan members exited the HQ and stood outside the ring, causing Honnou to drop a sweat pearl. S-So many…, he thought worryingly, but when Hoshi asked him to enter the ring, then his assumptions would have been confirmed. That made him calm down a lot as he did so, listening and learning that their dōjutsu would activate under a few, certain conditions that, apparently, included the mindset. Feelings such as stress, anger, sadness, determination, motivation, even battle would suffice in being the catalyst… that only led the young boy to think of one thing; was Hoshi going to be the catalyst? Was he..?

Sounds of blood veins pulsating could be heard now as Honnou saw them with his very own Saito eyes, Hoshi’s own visual jutsu having activated as a lot of chakra was emitting from his contour. It climaxed in a huge burst when the elder Saito roared ‘Hachimon Tonkō’, most likely a jutsu to boost his fighting prowess given that it enveloped his body in a thick layer of pale, blue aura. Sweat could be smelled a little as well, and a very frightening heat was detected by his skin as he was pretty close to the Saito head. What Honnou hadn’t noticed was that the elders and his father had braced themselves from the shockwave, otherwise they would’ve fallen to the ground by the push.

Hoshi suddenly told the young Honnou about his family… slaughtered. The boy caught as much as that, on top of his village being decimated by some fallen angel. That would mean that Hoshi wasn’t originally from the Hidden Cloud, but that he was from another Hyuuga place? That could be related to his earlier thoughts about the Hyuuga overall, but time proved to be urgent and climatic as the elder Saito suddenly warned Honnou to prepare himself. Yes, Hoshi was about to engage in combat against him… it felt as if time stood still when he said that. It was as if whole grains of sand was flown up in the air between them by the dash.

Instinctively, he held up both his palms and leaned on his heels to ready a spin. Wind Style! Chakra began emitting from his palms as he spun around to try and focus it around the area that Hoshi was directing himself at to reach the little boy, Whirlwind Spin! <i></i> His mind had yet to fully fathom that Hoshi, more than likely a much more provident shinobi than himself, was attacking him right now. His heart barely had time to beat out of fear, yet… his body went too quickly to action, and he could feel the distinctive heat approach him more and more…

WC: 655

 

[Shouyu Hoshi]

“Nice move young Honnou! Ya know! Ya Hyuuga have a similar, more superior move. As I come now, realase your chakra through the pores of your skin. Allow it envelope yourself and protect you!”

Hoshi was thrown off by the wind style. Yet, it wasn’t the first time he had seen a hyuuga utilize such activity. Hoshi dashes toward the boy once more. He would send a flurry of basic strikes, ones that would stifle but not hurt the student. Hoshi took a step back and began to teach the boy more.

“Attack Honnou. Imagine your fists within your mind eye, coated with chakra. Once it reveals itself, form that chakra into the likeness of a fierce lion. The two step, twin lion fist is a basic attack, but far from easy to do, let alone taking a hit from it could cause your opponent to lose their footing. Like so.”

Hoshi’s own fist became coated in the dark blue chakra mixed with black which quickly turned itself into roaring lion heads.

“Time is of the essence Honnou.”

Hoshi dashed toward him again.

 

[Honnou]

Even though his Wind Style managed to do the trick, Hoshi looked almost unharmed by it after regaining his foothold. He suddenly complimented the move to the young boy’s surprise and also stating that he should try this technique that required him to release chakra through the pores of his skin. He described it as something to envelope the Hyuuga and protect him as a kind of barrier. Obviously, in the middle of a battle, Honnou had little time to thoroughly think it through before Hoshi rushed upon him, sending a volley of quick strikes whilst the chakra intimidated the younger boy.

He responded by holding up his parries in form of his arms to block the attacks. The difference in speed was apparent, but as the seconds passed by, Honnou felt more and more able to fathom the next move. It was as if time slowed down for him, but that feeling soon disappeared when Hoshi stepped back. “*huff*…” he almost sighed in a brief moment of exhaustion. His sleeves had gotten bruised a lot, but he could still continue the fight… or so he hoped to do. Looking up at the elder Saito, he mentioned something else, another technique that Honnou was likely to be able to perform here and now. He did as Hoshi showcased, clenching both his fists and focusing into the image of fierce lions’ heads covering each fist like gloves…

He had his head turned down for a second, in which Hoshi was about to dash into him. However, the boy quickly swung one of his fists towards the roaring lion heads, clashing into it as it was revealed. What looked like a naked fist was now coated in chakra as it slowly formed into the wished stature, but that wasn’t the only change in Honnou’s figure. His eyes… he had them closed yet. That was when veins began bulking out around his eyeballs, whilst he slowly opened them to see a whole new world.

Without any words, he quickly shot the other fist towards Hoshi without even thinking about doing so. His eyes led him all the way… his Byakugan.

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At the spectators’ seats, Honnou’s father watched the battle with intense eyes as if they were about to pop off of his skull, or if they were about to activate the Byakugan themselves. Despite his well-awareness of Honnou’s capabilities, he still lacked a lot of knowledge about the boy’s fighting skills due to his discreetness. As the battle turned out to awaken the intended product, his all-seeing eyes, one of the other elders mentioned: “He sure looks a lot like Lord Hoshi… but no one has performed the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist so easily before…”