Post by Tenkai Suzaku on Mar 15, 2011 15:15:06 GMT -5
ALL MY HEROES HAVE NOW BECOME GHOSTS
NAME: Tenkai Suzaku
ALIAS: Konohagakure's Kishi no Akai (The Village Hidden Within Tree Leaves' Red Knight)
AGE: Thirty.
GENDER: Male
HEIGHT: 6'1"
WEIGHT: 171 lbs.
VILLAGE: Konohagakure
RANK: Jōnin
NATURE MANIPULATION: Katon & Raiton
WEAPONRY AND TECHNIQUES: [X]
RELATIONS: Tenkai Kappa ; Former Kappa Clan Leader ; Suzaku's Great-Grandfather ; Deceased
Tenkai Raijin ; Kappa's son and Suzaku's Grandfather ; Former Second-In-Command and later Leader of the Kappa Clan ; Deceased
Tenkai Hoen ; Raijin's son, Seirei's twin brother and Suzaku's father ; former future Leader of the Kappa Clan ; Deceased
Tenkai Seirei ; Raijin's son, Hoen's twin brother and Suzaku's uncle ; plotted to frame brother and gain rights to the Kappa Clan Leader position ; Deceased
Tenkai Tomoko Yūki ; Seirei's wife and Suzaku's aunt ; supported husband but married Seirei for the wealth ; Deceased
Tenkai Yamada Kaede ; Hoen's wife and Suzaku's mother ; Deceased
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
It can be said that a man is shaped by the experiences he goes through. If that is the case, Suzaku is the extreme. In his youth, Suzaku was a very carefree, always smile young child who believed that the true evils of the world could be vanquished if a person just had enough hope and faith. Looking back on his life, Suzaku wonders how he could have gone through his life being so clueless. In actuality, today’s Suzaku is a very battle and life hardened individual who always looks at every situation realistically. If Suzaku in the past had been completely optimistic, then it is safe to say the Suzaku of today is completely pessimistic. Suzaku always assumes the worst, though he has his reasons behind it. Suzaku feels that if you always assume the worst is going to happen, then your heart and mind are hardened and ready to embrace it. If something good happens, especially if it’s the opposite of the grim thing you expected, then that makes the joy behind the occurrence that much more savoring. This kind of mindset could be considered weird amongst Suzaku’s colleagues, though the way he has chosen to live his life is stone set on the philosophy that if you assume the worst, the best will come. Suzaku has always been a man waiting for his sunshine to show, yet has always been met by the chilling winter that is reality.
Still, you can’t go and say Suzaku is a very cold and hard person. No, instead, Suzaku can joke around with the best of them. Suzaku has a certain brand of sarcasm laced with most of his sentences that can piss people off, yet at the same time make them laugh if they stop to think about it. Suzaku appears to have a particular liking of sake, and one of the most comical things about him is that no matter how much sake he drinks, he never appears to get drunk. This probably has something to do with the fact that he used to always sneak drinks when he was a child, and would drink so much that he got used to the burning sensation that flowed down his throat. Suzaku also seems to have a bit of his childish nature still in his personality from when he was a kid, not above teasing people and watching their reactions to his words. That’s all Suzaku believes they are, words. The term “actions speak louder than words” is something that Suzaku lives by, to the point where he refuses to listen to a man until he has proven that he is worthy to be listened to. This also allows Suzaku to keep a clear mind when in combat, because he is able to shirk off the words that an opponent may say and ends up completing his objective with minimal or (though most likely) no failure.
When it comes to combat, Suzaku once more becomes the cold killing machine that had graced the lands during the war. Very skilled in utilizing his God-given traits and special family treasures, Suzaku is the kind of person that knows he is powerful and slightly flaunts his abilities. Suzaku has an inept ability to make a strategic decision on the battlefield and as long as the possibility of victory is there (even if it is small), Suzaku is sure he will come out on top. That doesn’t stop Suzaku from belittling his opponents on or off the battlefield, though he does it in a way that is both insulting and true, which causes him to seem only slightly dishonorable and not arrogant in the least. Suzaku also believes that pride is something better fed to the dogs, and has no qualms in throwing away his pride to apologize to someone, or to retreat from a fight. While victory to him is of the utmost importance, Suzaku can live to fight another die, though he will make sure that the next time he meets his opponent it will continue until one of them dies. Suzaku has a very tenacious personality, and will refuse to bend to things such as interrogation and hostage situations. Suzaku has the mindset that sure, he should save his ally, but at the same time if he is in a situation where he has to choose between two allies then he will be sure to save one of them and leave the other behind if necessary.
Suzaku is not the type of person that is easily hurt by emotional stress, and death is something he as a Konohagakure member has come to embrace. Suzaku does not fear death, nay. Instead, he respects it and knows that the Reaper could come knocking on his door at any time. Suzaku is not a religious man, but that does not stop him from honoring those that have died in the past with a few words driven by memory. If Suzaku had to pick a religion, however, he would go with the Shinto faith as it is what he feels is the most respectful. Just because Suzaku thinks death is of minimal importance does not mean he doesn’t respect and admire his fallen brethren. Suzaku also does not go out of his way to make everyone happy, feeling that in this world there are more chairs labeled ‘happiness’ than there are people to fill them. If you’re not the kind of person who is willing to make a living for themselves, then you shouldn’t cry and moan until someone comes to save you. To these kinds of people, Suzaku would refuse to save them unless they had to upon an order. Suzaku’s alignment is Chaotic Good, showing that he is willing to go out of the spectrum of rules and tradition to do the ‘right’ thing if he so necessarily needs to.
As Suzaku is not hurt by death, nor is he inflicted with the joys of ‘love.’ Suzaku believes that all of the love in his body died a long time ago, and that love is a very trivial matter. He has seen it countless times, people loving one another and losing their loved one or breaking up due to some stupid reason. He has seen families broken up by fights, and children crying because they are now orphans due to being disowned. Suzaku has decided that there are many roots to the evil tree in this world, and love is one of them. It is also why Suzaku hates the idea of greed, feeling that money is one of the numerous roots. The final root is power, which is why Suzaku refuses to ever go out for any official ‘council’ or high ranking positions. In his later years, before traveling the world as a Sennin, Suzaku was offered to be made one of the very prestigious ANBU Taichou. Suzaku refused, stating that he had his own reasons but refusing to allow anyone to know those reasons. Suzaku feels he would be going against everything he was taught if he were to accept such a position, and has shirked away all three of these evils from unnecessarily intruding into his lifestyle.
Finally, we come to Suzaku’s view of the world. Through the year spent traveling and training, Suzaku came to the conclusion that Konohagakure has it lucky and that it is very harsh out there in the rest of the lands. The reason Suzaku rejoined Konohagakure was because he felt that he would rather die defending as many people as he can, instead of simply dying out in the world like a dog. When Suzaku sees the faces of the Academy Students, or young Genin ready to prepare themselves for the long journey ahead, it brings a rare smile to his face and perhaps even warms his cold heart a bit. The only reason Suzaku is even willing to train a Genin team is due to the fact that he has seen many horrors and does not want the young ones of Konohagakure to have to go through that… at least not without the proper training. Suzaku doesn’t have anyone to vouch for his teaching methods, but if they’re anything like his training methods, they’re going to be harsh. Strict, mean, and refusing to let up. Despite restricting himself to the fields of Kenjutsu, Taijutsu (these two go hand in hand) and Ninjutsu (the latter mainly due to intense chakra focus) Suzaku has an advanced understanding of Genjutsu. However, it is safe to say that Genjutsu is where Suzaku struggles the most. Just because he knows he is in a Genjutsu due to his realistic stance on the world doesn’t mean that he can break it so easily, and it takes a bit when you’re not very honed in Genjutsu skills.
When Suzaku was born, the first war between the villages had just started. At this time, Tenkai Kappa, the leader of the Kappa Clan (having named it after his own first name due to bigotry) mainly raised Suzaku, taking the load off of his father and mother. Despite his arrogant nature, Kappa had always had this mindset that he wanted a better future for the world. His methods to attain that future were vicious, such as murdering those who would cause his loved ones harm and stealing from those who had stolen from him, even if they had been poor and needed money for food. At the time, Suzaku was too young to truly understand his Great-Grandfather’s evil ways, but that still didn’t stop him from adopting his dream for a better future for his loved ones and his family after Kappa died halfway through the war. At the age of five, Suzaku’s tutelage was shifted over to Raijin, Kappa’s son and the new leader of the Kappa Clan. Suzaku was taught the basics of the warring world around this age and because of this, would usually be swinging a wooden stick around as if it were a sword. Raijin was amused by his grandson’s ways, and when Suzaku hit the age of seven, began to formally teach him how to wield a sword. (starting him off with a bokken, or wooden sword)[/font][/color]
At the age of eight, Suzaku witnessed Raijin practicing in the Tenkai Dojo with a black and white sword. Fascinated by the shape, structure, and overall beauty of the weapons Suzaku obviously inquired. Raijin told Suzaku that they were the clans’ treasures and that one day he may be able to wield them. During that same year, Suzaku was admitted into the Academy, and got along well with the many students that inhabited it. Suzaku would typically be seen training with his close friends, laughing it up and even getting really shy around the girl classmates. Suzaku still clung onto the dream that he would make the world a place for everyone to live in peacefully, which caused his fellow students to cheer him on and his teachers to assume that Suzaku had a bright future ahead of him. At age nine, Suzaku passed through the Academy with average grades and came under the news that Raijin, the man who was also carrying Kappa’s dream had died in combat. Swearing that he would carry on this dream for both of their sakes, Suzaku was now placed under the training of his father, Hoen. When Hoen didn’t have the proper time however, his brother Seirei would teach Suzaku, and would begin to ridicule him for his dream. Seirei believed that only ultimate and absolute power could bring this world it’s peace, though Seirei refused to reveal to Suzaku what his idea of peace truly was.
At the age of ten, Suzaku started growing an affinity for using two bokken at one time, having copied the fighting style of his great-grandfather and then grandfather. The treasures of the clan were passed down to Hoen, next in line, and this angered Seirei. Seirei believed that he deserved his grandfathers’ most prized possessions, as well as stating that his ‘weak twin brother’ couldn’t hope to master them. Hoen told Suzaku to ignore this and that his uncle was a bad influence, so Suzaku made sure to steer clear of him. At the same time, Suzaku was placed onto a three man cell composing of himself and two other boys. Suzaku’s sensei reminded him of his uncle. His name was Ryudou Shinsuke, affection ally dubbed ‘Shin’ by friends. When he heard of Suzaku’s ideal future, he laughed and told him that peace could not be attained when the nations were in a state of decline and war. Refusing to believe this and claiming Konohagakure would recover from it’s wounds, Shin trained Suzaku the hardest, refusing to allow him to continue believing his dream unless he showed he was man enough to follow through. Hoen continued to train Suzaku, until the day came where he was ready to allow Suzaku to use the twin clan treasure blades that had been passed down from generation to generation. However, in the midst of this, Seirei was plotting…
It started with Seirei’s wife, Yūki. She was a very spiteful woman, yet seemed to have this mask more often than not that made you think she was as pure as her name implied. Seirei’s anger spilled unto his wife, and the two slowly started to begin plotting. Seirei promised Yūki that if she were to help him throughout the entire ordeal, that she would have just as much power as he did. It started with attempting to seduce Hoen. This occurrence started to make things between Hoen and his wife Kaede very heated. Still, half the time Hoen would shrug her off and train Suzaku in the utilization of the cleans’ treasures. Kaede was worried for her son, that he was turning a bit too harsh recently due to the way Hoen’s training was effecting him. Because of this, the two got into a fight, and it was around this time that Seirei decided that Hoen was an unfit leader due to the way he treated his wife. Hoen and Seirei got into a physical fight, though neither came out the victory after Suzaku attempted to intervene. This was one of the few times that Suzaku felt that the dream he had inherited from his forefathers was something very far off, and that you couldn’t defend everyone and make this a ‘perfect world.’
Around the time that Suzaku would normally have a Chūnin exam with his teammates, one of them had fallen ill and Suzaku had to wait another year. It was during this year that he was taught his first elemental affinity; Katon. Suzaku’s namesake may have come from this, and Suzaku was something of an oddity. The Katon nature wasn’t usually chosen as an elemental nature when it came to the Tenkai family, and Katon hadn’t been seen since the days of Suzaku’s ancestors. That didn’t stop him however, and for years he stated he would continue training with the element. At the age of sixteen, after six years had passed since his sword training (and at least three years since he undertook the element training) Suzaku was able to participate in the Chūnin exams. Having to fight his teammates was not something Suzaku would come to terms with, and he nearly failed the combat portion. However, using his clans’ treasures and swearing that he wouldn’t cause his opponent too much harm, he barely got into the Chūnin position by the skin of his nose. (mainly due to the judges feeling that he didn’t have the killing intent necessary for a shinobi) When Suzaku came home, Hoen found Seirei beating him for having failed the Chūnin exams, and it was around this time that Seirei and Yūki were figured out by Hoen and Kaede, who had rekindled their love. However, it was too late, and Seirei had become much stronger than Hoen. Seirei was now the leader of the Kappa Clan, having framed Hoen for murder and having shamed him the following month.
Suzaku, now an elite Chūnin at the age of eighteen, had come to excel utilizing his single Katon element. The problem was, however, that because of his Kenjutsu and Taijutsu prowess, he was lacking in Genjutsu and couldn’t properly form a Katon technique. It was around this time that Suzaku learned specific weapons could have the element flow through them. He practiced with this numerous times, and decided that that was the only element of Ninjutsu he would add to his usual fighting style. Suzaku lived an average life, all the while being hounded by Seirei who was now his new teacher. Suzaku turned merciless when fighting Seirei, a mix between the hatred he had toward him and what he had done to his father, and an attitude he had slowly gained through numerous missions. More missions had been performed, with most of the money going toward Seirei. Around the age of twenty, Suzaku was told about something very rare by Seirei. Seirei didn’t care for the wellbeing of Suzaku, only himself, so he taught Suzaku that you could use a second chakra element if you were skilled enough. Soon enough, they found out that Suzaku’s second element was Raiton. Seirei manipulated this fact and decided to force Suzaku to train so hard that he nearly died, which enraged Hoen. After being attacked once more, Seirei made an example out of ‘traitors’, and killed Kaede through hanging her from a pole utilizing a thin wire around her neck. Suzaku was torn, Hoen was angered, and even Yūki was a little surprised.
Now at the age of twenty-three, Suzaku was starting to become a bit more advanced in the second chakra nature, but still had not done anything that could warrant him Jōnin status. Hearing that the relations between the villages was becoming bitter, Seirei and Hoen predicted that war was soon going to rise in a few years. This caused both Hoen and Seirei to devise a plan, which made you think Hoen dropped the ideas of revenge after losing his wife. During a mission as a team, Suzaku, Seirei, Hoen and Yūki (who at the time had become a skilled Iryonin) were to save a comrade of Konohagakure from a rogue band of Nukenin. Hoen turned on the team (namely Seirei) and sliced Yūki’s neck open, stating it was payback for what Seirei had done. Angered, Seirei and Hoen fought once more, and try as he might there was nothing Suzaku could do. In a quick dash, they each killed one another with fatal blows, and Suzaku not only had to report their deaths but the still captured state of the ally. Broken by this, Suzaku’s beliefs crumbled, and he didn’t know what to believe anymore. It wasn’t until he hit twenty-five, and the beginning of the second war began, that he actually started to formulate new beliefs. Suzaku decided to become a cold machine for Konohagakure, and decided that if he could not serve them properly, he would prefer to die on the battlefield.
Attempting to get over the grief that he had been inflicted with due to this occurrence, Suzaku was sent on a few missions that were a bit higher-ranked than ones he had been on before. His prowess usually put him in front of the others, though his teamwork skills were excellent and he didn’t try to hog all the ‘glory’ for himself. Most of these missions were what you’d basically expect from a Chūnin; things like distress calls, dispatching defective shinobi of a certain rank, and assisting in returning escaped prisoners to Konohagakure’s prison. So, in the end, basic shinobi tasks. However, seeing his proficiency in combat, Suzaku was allowed after requesting to go on a higher ranked A mission, having gone with himself, another Chū and a Jōnin. This mission was specifically brought up due to the current war state Konohagakure was in, and was of a lethal difficulty. Proving not only that Suzaku could effectively work alone on such a dangerous mission but at the same time saving the Jōnin teammate from a fatal wound, eyes were brought down to Suzaku and contemplations of making him a Jōnin himself were whispered about.
More missions were went on, allowing the elite Chūnin he had become to participate in higher ranked assignments that were reserved for the Jōnin class. Most of the time, Suzaku was sent along with a large team and generally proved that he had the skill level and had shown loyalty enough toward Konohagakure to be among them. However, his contributions had still been a factor. Proposing that he be allowed to be sent on at least three more A-ranked missions alone, it was decided that these would test Suzaku the best. The first A-ranked mission detailed with Suzaku going onto the battlefield to assist in rescuing a captured Konohagakure Jōnin. The enemy was a Genjutsu user, and hit Suzaku’s weakest field. However, deciding that he had no alternative, Suzaku stabbed one of his two family treasures into his left thigh, impaling it all the way through. This inhibited his movement, though he shrugged off the pain for as long as he could and defeated the enemy with only a few cuts and bruises being delivered onto the captured ally. Suzaku made it all the way to Konohagakure before he nearly bled out, and was healed soon after. Despite his actions, he was branded as somewhat foolish, which prompted the need for the second mission.
The second mission detailed with Suzaku having to take out a group of shinobi having been spotted bringing equipment and other supplies to the enemy. The odds were stacked against Suzaku, with three very trained enemies all specializing in Ninjutsu. Having trained his body hard enough, Suzaku’s speed surpassed the enemies, and the utilization of his clans’ treasures allowed him to dispatch at least two of them sustaining numerous injures on his torso region. The final enemy showed that he was also skilled in Taijutsu, and dropping his clans’ treasures, Suzaku pushed his body into a rough physical melee competition with the enemy. It ended in an attack that decided which of them would live and which would die, and narrowly avoiding a quick attack toward his throat, Suzaku made one of his own and effectively caused the enemy to stumble back allowing him to quickly run behind him and snap his neck. Due to effectiveness during this mission, Suzaku’s peers were expecting greater and greater things from him. However, he would need one final large contribution before being allowed to be one of the elites of the village.
The final mission before Suzaku attained his Jōnin status was probably one of the more dangerous. Suzaku was sent directly on the front lines, this being his first taste of two villages facing off against one another, and was told to specifically eliminate ten different men whom Konohagakure had believed to be important strategists. Each one took Suzaku numerous trial and error fights, though it was around this time that Suzaku’s Katon skills came in handy in dispatching them. Once again Suzaku was put under the effects of an enemies Genjutsu, though this time the sacrifice had been minimal. Suzaku, instead of impaling himself, made an X shaped slash on his chest. This injury knocked him out of the Genjutsu, though he was once again racing against the clock due to blood loss. With a few minutes to spare, Suzaku beheaded the remaining enemies and got himself off the battlefield before collapsing. Afraid he was once more going to be looked down upon, Konohagakure had decided that because he was able to overcome the injuries that he had and still come out on top, something not every average shinobi was able to do, they would continue thinking about putting him up as a Jōnin, with his chances being very high.
Suzaku would mainly fight on the front lines afterward, taking out many enemies and watching countless comrades die. At the age of twenty-eight, three years into the war, Suzaku had successfully gained the status of Jōnin for servitude toward Konohagakure, surprising expertise in chakra control, and overall performance on the battlefield and in missions involving his clan’s treasures and chakra manipulation. As the years passed and the flames of war died down, Suzaku had come back from the battlefield the man he is today. Clad in a dark crimson shroud during the war and wielding swords of black and white color, Suzaku was christened the ‘Crimson Red Vermillion Warrior of Fate’, though he would soon drop this title in favor of just being called by his name. As he hit the late months of twenty-nine, Suzaku finally began to excel at a rapid rate within his second chakra nature, Raiton, and was able to use it a lot more efficiently for the last leg of the war. On the final battlefield, Suzaku showed his prowess and around this time, people dropped the prior nickname in favor of just his first name. Some people stated that Suzaku was the reincarnation of the legendary ‘Suzaku’ phoenix. Battle worn, blood soaked and allies lost, Suzaku’s philosophies had switched to be very realistic and pessimistic, and he was no longer the young boy that followed in his grandfather and great-grandfathers’ footsteps. He found his own answer, his own purpose, and may or may not bring that philosophy down onto another individual. For the time being, this phoenix is going to rest his wings, and allow the feathers of tutelage to rain down upon a Genin team. Suzaku still has plenty of life to live, thirty not being young but not old at all, and begins each day with a sarcastic remark and routine training. Suzaku decided not to carry on the Kappa Clan legacy, and to most of the world, the Kappa Clan is now all but extinct. Only Suzaku, the Phoenix of Konohagakure, remains.