Riku Kyoudo - Character Submission
Nov 1, 2017 17:27:25 GMT -7
Post by rikudova on Nov 1, 2017 17:27:25 GMT -7
Basic Information
Name: Riku Kyoudo
Bloodlimit: Kyoudo
Height: 167 cm (5’6)
Weight: 66 kgs (142 lbs)
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Alignment: Neutral Good
Birth Country: Kaminari no Kuni
Village: Konohagakure
Special: Taijutsu Specialist & Clan Specialist / Ninjutsu Non-Specialist & Genjutsu Non-Specialist
Primary Equipment
Allowance: 13,000 Ryo
Wire (Overview)
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Slashing, Soft Weapon
Effect: Metal drawn out into the form of a thin flexible thread or rod.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Two-Handed Weapon. These weapons do +4 Amour Points of Damage. Wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various wire gauges. When using Wire over 1.2 m (1 to 4 feet) they are treated as a 2-handed weapon. Wire under 1.2 m (1 to 4 feet) are treated as 1-handed weapons. If the user learns Wield Oversized Weapon the user is able to wield the weapon 1-handed.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 3,000 Ryo per Bundle, 200 Ryo per Meter
Spent: 3,000 Ryo on bundle for 15 meters of wire
Left: 10,000 Ryo
[/ul]Secondary Equipment
Allowance: 30,000 Ryo
Kunai (Overview)
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 2 per Slot, Piercing/Slashing, Knife
Effect: A kunai is a tool derived from the masonry trowel.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Light Weapon. These weapons do +4 Amour Points of Damage. The Range Increment of this weapon is 5 meters. A kunai has a blade that is about less than 1 foot in length. The user gains a +10 bonus on Sleight of Hand Skill to conceal a knife on their body.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,000 Ryo per Slot, or 500 Ryo Each.
Spent 2,000 (Bought 2 slots worth)
Left: 28,000 Ryo
Shuriken, Hira (Overview)
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 15 per Slot, Piercing, Shuriken
Effect: A shuriken is a small piece of metal with sharpened edges, designed for throwing.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Light Weapon. These weapons do +2 Amour Points of Damage. The Range Increment of this weapon is 5 meters. Although they are thrown weapons, shuriken are quick and easy to draw, thus allowing the user to draw such weapons without the need of a movement. A shuriken can't be used as a melee weapon. Hira-shuriken are constructed from thin, flat plates of metal and generally resemble popular conceptions of shuriken.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,500 Ryo per Slot, or 100 Ryo Each.
Spent: 3,000 (Bought 2 slots worth)
Left: 25,000 Ryo
Compass (Overview)
Rank: "B"
Type: Secondary, 10 per Slot, Gadget, Survival, Compass
Effect: A compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A compass relies on the Earth's magnetic field to determine the direction of magnetic north. A compass grants its user a +10 circumstance bonus to Direction Sense checks.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Gadget Shop.
Cost: 5,000 Ryo per Slot, or 500 Ryo Each
Spent: 2,500 Ryo (Bought 5)
Left: 22,500
Pack, Waist
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Slot Holder, 7 Slots, Wearable Container
Effect: An enlarged pouch that fits tightly around your waist.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Picture A wearable container can hold up to 7 slots. The waist pack can be worn in 1 of 4 ways: It can be attached to the bottom of a Patrol Pack by passing the stiffened webbing straps with the female side release buckles through the 4 webbing keepers on the bottom of the patrol pack. It can be attached directly to a tactical Vest taking up 3 Pouch Slots. by utilizing the stiffened webbing tabs on back woven in the corresponding slots on the back of the Tactical Vest. It can be carried in the "stand alone" configuration by utilizing the attached 2 inch wide waist belt. This method allows the user to rotate the waist pouch around in front to easily access the contents of the pack without removing a Patrol Pack or a Tactical Vest. When not used in this mode, the attached waist belt is stowed into the tunnel on back of the waist pack. It can be attached directly to the Main Pack by passing the side release buckle and straps through the webbing below the claymore pouch on the main pack.
Limit: These type of items may be bought inside any Tailor Shop.
Cost: 1,400 Ryo Each.
Spent: 1,400 Ryo
Personality and Background
Imagine being judged all your life for how you look, who your parents are, your race, or anything else you think people would discriminate over; add on to that the necessity of survival that comes from living by one self at an early age. Now I want you to imagine the happy go lucky attitude of a child who grew up with both his/her parents, who loved him/her and would give their all to raise into a fine adult; protecting them from harm until adulthood and sometimes beyond that. Finally, I want you to imagine how different these two extremes are and the outlook towards life that a person who has gone through one or the other may have.
Okay, are you done imagining? Now I want you to substract one of the two situations from the equation, it can be which ever one you desire; however, apply one of the outlooks you imagined to your answer. What do you get? Well first, if you decided to go crazy with your answer, you’d get a paradox: How can one apply a sad, depressive outlook to a perfect life with parents and all? It doesn’t make sense (bear in mind, we are talking about a child here). Well, that’s the human psyche, it never makes sense. No matter how “simple” a person may seem. And reading said psyche, well that’s another world of complexity all together, but it is possible. Are you in my head yet? No? Well let me see what I can do about that…
Taking into account the aforementioned situations and outlooks, I’m going to give you the “correct” answer – a pass into Kyoudo Riku’s mind, if you will. You see, Riku’s past was a harsh one: the latest memory he can recall of his parents were of them leaving, while muttering only two words of goodbye, “Good luck”, through some strange, light filled doorway when he was 5 years old. This had an adverse effect on Riku, whose young mind, which thought they would come right back, would suffer its first big disappointment. Such a thing made Riku aware that life wasn’t all fun and games and that he had to square up just to get by each day. This mix of disappointment and shock-to-reality at such a young age forced Riku to mentally mature faster than he should; though at heart he was just a kid.
Fast forward a bit and Riku is now 10, he was beaten up and sore from an encounter with bullies, who, ever since he decided to attend the local school on his own, had started to pick on him, beating him up, and calling him names like “little demon” or “red face”.
Riku knew of it, but he hadn’t noticed until recently, but every time he walked the streets people would stare at him, specifically at his face, while muttering to themselves. He could only make out the words “mark”, “he”, “red” … and “demon”. He stared at his mirrored image on the waterfilled bathroom bucket in the school restroom, touching his face and tracing his finger in a “straight” line from the top of his left cheek (right below his left eye) to the right, ending on the top of his right cheek (right below his right eye). A bright red line, a birth mark pertaining to the Kyoudo… or so he heard one of the older teachers mention once.
The days passed and on the way to school one glommy day he noticed the bullies were picking on a young, chubby boy; he couldn’t have been that much younger that Riku, maybe 7 or 8 years old, but Riku decided to ignore it, seeing it as an opportunity to maybe get the bullies off his back and make them move onto a new target.
Riku knew the ruthlessness of the world and the fact that the strong rule over the weak, and the weak rule over the even weaker.; he had only made it this far while riding on the coattails of those stronger than him, hitching carriage rides from his original farming village, where he was born, to the place he is now: a bigger, wood-cutting village that was known for their pine-wood carpentry; all of this, in the Kaminari no Kuni.
Riku kept on walking, making sure he went as unnoticed as possible, when all of a sudden, a rat passed by extremely fast right between Riku’s feet, making him jump back and squeal, an action he would immediately regret for the rest of his life… or would he? Almost like blood thirsty raptors, the bullies looked up from their “prey” and locked eyes with Riku. Riku’s mind was yelling at him to run, but just as his leg muscles were tensing up to go into a sprint, he felt a tingle go from his head to his spine and from there to his legs, stopping him. He didn’t know what it was, but he did know that they were going to catch up to him, so he decided that, for the first time, he was going to fight.
There was no use in running anyway, since they would just beat him up at school that day or the next, at the place he was using to sleep; he happened to like that school, so in the end he was grateful that his sprint was halted.
Riku knew little about fighting, but he knew all of the bullies’ favorite attacks that they would use on him day in and day out. And so he fought.
The biggest bully, a big oaf named Antu of 5’8 (too tall to be a 10-year-old…. Maybe he was held back?) came running forward, winding-up a haymaker with his left arm, ready to strike Riku’s head; if you were none the wiser you could’ve mistaken the gigantic arm for a big baseball bat. Riku knew this was coming so he ducked as Antu came in, and went for a kick to the oaf’s nether regions, putting the giant on his knees, while holding his crotch. The other 3 boys looked at each other for a second and came rushing at Riku in such a uniform fashion that you could mistake them for actual soldiers going for a flanking maneuver if you weren’t careful. Riku waited until the last instant and spit in the face of the one coming from directly in front of him, stopping him for a moment and then, facing the one coming from his left, kicked up some dirt with his right foot and prepared a punch for the stunned, dirt-faced bullied. However, the bully who was spit on by Riku, let out a roar of rage that even made the possibly infertile Antu (nah he was fine, Riku ain’t that strong) turn around from his makeshift dirt cradle. The roar made Riku lose his focus for an instant, which was enough for the momentarily distracted bully to his now back to rush in and square Riku right in the face, making him crash on the ground.
The bullies started laughing, and even the teary eyed Antu was beginning to stand up, and they all headed towards the grounded Riku and started kicking him, hitting the downed boy twice. They were interrupted, however, by the young, chubby kid’s shriek, who, pointing in the direction where Riku had yelped because of the rat (the entrance of the alleyway the bullies used as their usual beat down spot) screamed, “M-Monster!” and started running away in the opposite direction towards an alternate exit that turned to the right and possibly led to the town’s main square. “I don’t like bullies” said a growling voice coming from a blue Oni mask whose host was at least taller than Antu and whose clothes resembled that of a civilized barbarian (what ever that is). The bullies were scared to their core, evidenced by the suspicious yellowish puddle that appeared on the ground some 3 meters from Riku, right where one of the bullies had backed up due to the “monster’s” sudden appearance. The four heathens started running, leaving the alleyway through the way the chubby kid escaped. Only Riku and the Oni masked man remained. Riku knew better, and realized that the man in the mask had saved him from a horrible pummeling. The man helped Riku up, and removed his mask and makeshift loincloth, which was worn on top of a hakama (type of pants). The man was the older teacher from his school, the one he had heard the Kyoudo birthmark comment from, Mr. Tai.
Back at Mr. Tai’s office, Riku explained to the old man what had happened with the bullies and the feeling that had halted his escape. “You’re a Kyoudo, Riku, is that right?” asked the old man as if he didn’t already know, which was of course not the case. Riku nods in response and mentions that he noticed what the old man had said about the birthmark. “I said that in hopes you would notice. It’s good to know that you did.” quipped Mr. Tai sounding extremely sure of himself and almost a little arrogant. Riku stared at the old man for a few seconds, confused, as he continued, “You may be asking yourself if I know anything about your family or if I have any ulterior motives. Well the answers are: I did and yes. You see, I haven’t met a Kyoudo in all my life... until now, but I used to be a traveling merchant before I became a teacher, and I vaguely remember reading a book in Konohagakure, one of my only stops with a library, that spoke about the Kyoudo”. Riku’s eyes shot up as he heard the comment about the book; he thought that if he could learn a bit about his family, he could strive for greater things and maybe find a new reason for living aside from just surviving day by day. However, Riku was even more surprised at Mr. Tai’s next question: “Are you thinking of going there?” As if the old man was a mind reader… Riku nodded solemnly and looked back up to his teacher with grim determination. The old man continued, also nodding, “Then you are going to need my help. The journey to Konohagakure from the Kaminari no Kuni is long and perilous; many dangers lie in the roads and forests”. Riku interrupted him, muttering under his breath, “I know how to take care of myself” to which the old man replied almost instantly, “I can see that, you wouldn’t tell anyone where you were staying, and I know that you live alone, or at least without your parents; nevertheless, this is no simple task. You need to learn how to defend yourself, so you can truly survive on your own”. Riku looked down and nodded. The old man then stood up from his office chair and motioned Riku to follow. Once outside, he said, “Alright, then before we start I need to assure three things from you. First, you will need to finish the school year before you begin training. Second, I don’t know where you’re staying, so you’d best make sure you don’t starve or freeze to death before we finish. And third, you need to promise me that you will never forget the kindness that people will offer you, or the times the times they will act against you; that you will never judge or act without thinking first. I will not teach a villain the means to hurt, but neither will I train a hero the means to die, so as a bonus: four! Don’t die until you accomplish your goal.” With that last remark, the old man let out a weak smile and in turn, Riku nodded, determined.
For the next two years Riku trained the art of Krav Maga with Mr. Tai. Now granted, Mr. Tai was not a master of the art, but he did teach Riku all he knew, at least that’s what he told Riku. Riku picked it up quickly, getting a hang of the concepts and the style as a whole. He though it suited him very well: a martial art that’s to the point. No flurry, no pointless babble, he could truly learn to defend himself like he knew best, using all the means available to him.
After his training had ended, the old man gave Riku his regards, but before heading out, Riku felt the urge to ask the old man all the unanswered question he had refused to ask before because he thought it would be disrespectful to the man who had shown him much kindness: “Mr. Tai… I have a lot of questions. And I mean a lot. Like, how did you find me that day, the day you helped me with those guys in the alley? Or why did you help me? Or why would you go so far for a kid with nothing to his name? It doesn’t make sense…” Mr. Tai let out a bright smile, brighter than Riku had ever seen before. At the young boy of 12’s questions, the old man answered simply, numbering each answer with his fingers, “The scream, because I felt like it, and remember promise number three”. Riku couldn’t help but smile at that last remark. Shortly after, he turned around and waved good bye to the old man who had been the closest thing to a father that he’s ever had.
Before leaving the small wood-cutting town, Riku stopped by a shop and purchased the cheapest knife he could with the measly money he had saved up from odd jobs, and the amount that Mr. Tai had given him for the travels while saving a bit for the trip. He was finally ready to depart on his journey to Konoha, when suddenly, while crossing the town’s eastern most edge, he was confronted with the image of Mr. Tai running towards him while shouting, “I forgot to give you something!” Riku kept staring at the exhausted old man as he panted and held out a piece of paper. It was a Map! How could Riku forget something so important?! The thought of this possible slip up made Riku turn red with embarrassment over his own idiocy that was only normal for humans on occasion. “Also” Started to say Mr. Tai between heavy breaths, “I think you may have an aptitude for the use of chakra… when you get to Konohagakure, check out the ninja academy, you’ll get much better training there. Now… take care”. The old man’s smile was even brighter this time and Riku couldn’t help but smile back. And so, finally, Riku begun his journey to Konohagakure.
Riku met many types of individuals while on his journey south to the Fire Nation through the Snow and Hotsprings countries. He met good people, kind people, bad people, righteous people confused people and people who were just like him, just trying to survive the day by day. He managed to come up with an explanation for the nature of people on his travels: there were no good or bad people, only people; and what they do cannot be so easily classified or judged. Humans would have times when complex reasons motivated their actions, other times there were none. Riku also learned from the suffering he saw and the people he managed to aid on his way, as per keeping his promise to the old man to not be a “villain”, that there was value in helping someone else, as long as we don’t destroy ourselves in the process, also, as a side bonus, you’d get on that person’s good side and you never know when that’s going to benefit you. However, humans were not all Riku met on his travels; various creatures also crossed their paths with Riku’s. some of which would regret doing so as they became Riku’s food.
Riku used everything that was taught to him and all he had learned on his own for the past 12 years, to make this journey. Suddenly, one night, he saw something he had never seen: shadows that moved so fast, he couldn’t make them out; footsteps so quick that they almost didn’t sound like footsteps, and suddenly one of the figures stopped on a branch not so far away from Riku and noticed the boy looking at him. The person, who was not much taller than Riku and looked to be not much older either, stared at Riku and smiled, before zipping through the trees again, as if nothing ever happened. The only thing Riku managed to glimpse of this person after he had zipped off was the faint glimmer that seemed to be the light that torches generated, the reflection appeared to coming from where the persons head would be and then Riku remembered: The person had a headband with a spiral symbol on it. And with this realization Riku knew that the two years of travel were worth it …. What he had seen were ninja and the lights meant that he had arrived at the Hidden Leaf.
Riku’s entrance to the Hidden leaf was not easy. He was heavily questioned by the Village’s gate guards, who seemed to be constantly on edge. However, after long hours of questioning, he was allowed into the Village; but what now? He had gained entrance into the village, but he had little money (gained from doing odd jobs on his travels) and he had to somehow find a way for a 14-year-old to survive in a big Village like this without resorting to his old ways. He decided on a plan of action.
First, the academy, his reasoning being that becoming a student would bring him more opportunities than just being another immigrant. Second, he needed to find a place to stay. And third he needed to find a source of income until he managed to graduate from the academy and become a ninja. After he had done all of that he could get to doing what he came here for: finding more about his family.
So, he started to carry out his plan. He first asked a local ninja – whom he had identified because of her headband – who was standing around in front of a ramen shop, while reading an extravagant looking book. She gave him directions to the academy and even offered to take him there, which he gratefully accepted. On the way there he started speaking to his guide, a ninja by the name Yui, she was a Genin, a rank of ninja according to her. She had graduated from the academy a few years ago, and was not that older than Riku, but she had always failed in the Chunnin exams -another rank of ninja according to her. Along the way, Riku told Yui about his journey from the Kaminari no Kuni, leaving out specifics such as his training and the identity of his family (he had learned to not be so trusting along his journey). Yui acted surprised and remarked, “So you grew up on your own… wow… I can’t imagine having my mom or dad missing… By the way, that’s a cool tattoo you have there on your face.” Riku was taken by surprise, his birthmark, he had completely forgotten about it. He had spent so little time in a single spot for the last two years, so he had forgotten all about it; nevertheless, he remembered the stigma it was for him back in in the wood-cutting village where he met and trained with Mr. Tai, so he replied, “Uh, yeah. Thanks”. The kunoichi simply smiled and continued to guide Riku to the academy. Once they had arrived, Yui stopped Riku who was already starting to go inside and asked him, “Hey Riku, you said you were new to the village, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?” Riku pondered whether to tell her the truth which was that he didn’t or to lie to her and avoid further distractions. He eventually decided to tell her the truth, which wouldn’t really cause any harm, to which she replied, “Oh, then be sure to mention that to the principal; you’re not the first immigrant to be admitted to the academy”. Riku noticed that her voice had a slightly condescending tone to it, uncharacteristic of what Riku knew about Yui in their short time together. “I’ll be sure to let him know. Thanks”. And as he said this, Riku entered the academy.
It wasn’t long before he was pointed to the principal’s office, who just so happened to be free of appointments for that day, and knocked on the door. He waited a few seconds before knocking again to which a voice replied, slightly annoyed, “Hurry up and come in, I heard you the first ti-” just as the principal was finishing his sentence, Riku opened the door and peeked his head in before entering through the doorway and letting it close behind him; the principal stopped his sentence and his eyes widened, clearing staring at Rikus face. “That mark… you’re a Kyoudo aren’t you?” Riku was extremely taken aback by this comment, even more so than Yui’s iteration of his “tattoo”.
He felt a sudden rush of danger, like his brain telling him that he would die if he stayed there any longer, so he turned around in a hurry, his body tingling all over, and started to fumble with the door knob while desperately attempting to open the door again. Suddenly, a flash of smoke appeared next to him and a hand was now holding the door shut. Riku looked up and saw the principal’s wide grin as he looked down on Riku. A man of a strong build, maybe as tall as Antu (the big oaf of a bully from my previous home) if not taller, that was the figure looking down at him, “You felt it didn’t you?” Said the man obviously amused. Riku responded terrified, “F-felt what?”. Never in his life had he felt that kind of power, were they bandits, creatures, or beasts, nothing compared to this. “I just used a Lighting Release Justu, judging by your reaction, you could feel the power and the electricity through the air and on my body.” Said the principal coldly, “You’re going to need a lot of training if you fear a ninja like me; there are more dangerous individuals than I… much more dangerous.” Riku gulped at the principles last remark, which he emphasized with extra bitterness and obvious amusement. “I- I seek entrance into the academy… I’m al- also ho-” Riku started to say and the principal finished his sentence for him, “Homeless, you’re also homeless, and you seek academy instruction, and you would also like to know more about your clan. Yes, yes, I know. I guess you’ll also need a job to get by and a place to stay, huh? We can arrange that”. Among this new surge of revelations, Riku felt that the principal was reading his mind. He then decided to blurt out, ignoring his nerves, “How do you know all of this?!”. The principal was a bit taken a back by this sudden burst of courage and decided to respond to the boy of 14’s question. “Geez” the principal sighs, annoyed, as he starts, “Well this is not the first time this has happened, though it has been a while since it has happened here in Konoha. Members of the Kyoudo clan, which I knew you were from because of that mark, are by tradition set to wander and fend for themselves to grow, they often wind up in the Hidden Villages… or so the book says”. Riku looked agape and managed to blurt out, “Book?”, the principal continued now speaking in a sarcastic tone “Yes young one, a book, do you know what that is, do you even know how to read?” He chuckled, “Forgive me, I was obviously kidding. Yes, um, who are you exactly?” Riku felt embarrassed that he hadn’t even told him his name; Riku then proceeded to introduce himself and explain his story to the principal as he felt there was no use in holding anything from the seemingly “all knowing” academy principal. “I see, Mr. Kyoudo, we’d better get you accommodated soon”. The principal then rummaged through his desk and handed Riku some papers, “Here, these are the academy sign up papers; if you enroll now, you can expect to be a full-fledged ninja in around 3 to 4 years”. Riku gaped at the mention of the time needed, but remembered all he had gone through and a sudden determination filled his whole being… or at least he thought so because the last thing he saw was the principal’s face as he handed him the papers, before he collapsed from exhaustion.
Riku opened his eyes and looked left to right. He saw curtains surrounding his bed, which was against a wall. He sat up and caused the bed to make a slight creaking noise to which a beautiful woman would open the curtains and step in. “I’m glad you’re awake Mr. Kyoudo” The woman who was apparently a nurse said with a gentle smile and a caressing voice. “You’re in the academy infirmary, you collapsed yesterday due to exhaustion, but you should be better now.” Riku looked around once again and saw the academy papers the principal had presented him the day earlier, he also saw a note that read: “Your job is as my assistant, your job is to push papers. You start tomorrow at noon”. The note’s date was of yesterday. Riku immediately panicked and asked the nurse the time. It was still early, he didn’t start until noon, so he decided to ask the nurse about the academy. The nurse explained about the curriculum and explained that he could use the academy’s infirmary as a place to sleep for now, she added that his meals would have to be payed for with the money from his job.
Not long after, he started his job with the principal, starting out slow and amping up, earning enough Ryo a day to at least put food on his plate; and not long after that, he started his academy semester, now with a little dorm room near the academy that was simple but cheap. His student life had now begun, and he was determined to accomplish his goal.
2 years had passed and Riku had accomplished his plan: he was now an academy student, halfway to graduation might he add; he had a place to stay and a job (which he had gotten very proficient at); and he had searched up various books about his clan and their history. As a sweet bonus, he now knew some basic chakra techniques and how they worked. So, one day he wanted to try something crazy: he wanted to take that feeling he had felt with the principal and against the bullies when he was 10 and use it to his advantage. So, he asked the principal to help, which he reluctantly agreed to and headed out into the forest to train with him. The principal told Riku that as a Kyoudo he was proficient at Lightning Release Jutsu so, after confirming this, he started to train this skill with the principal until finally he could concentrate his chakra to his finger tips and release little arcs of electricity. However, something weird happened, once during this training, the principal was to attack Riku so he could defend with mixing Lightning Release and Taijutsu, but as he countered the principal he felt a surge like that of the time with the bullies and his first meeting with the principal. He went on the offensive and while concentrating on that surge of weird power, punched his sparring partner. The principal staggered back a little, but came on the attack again and swung a punch that Riku blocked, but as he did so, the principal staggered back and fell to the ground writhing with little shocks in the place where Riku had connected to block. “What was that?!” Uttered Riku obviously excited. The principal, however, was a little slow on the response, “Something… something… Nagare. A Kyoudo… technique”. And then fell flat for a few seconds after which he stood up. They continued their sparing and Riku kept practicing his Lightning Release and something something Nagare, which, he would later learn from a book, was actually called Sutatikku Nagare and proceded to learn the special hand signs for it.
Before he noticed, another year had passed; he had begun training on his own and eventually sought out something else to complement his style. The principal was no longer in Konoha, as he had retired and had moved to the Land of Hotsprings, so Riku sought out a dojo in which to train a new skill. He ended up deciding on the Demon Weaver technique because he thought it sounded cool and because it would complement his Lightning Release and Kyoudo abilities quite well.
And before he knew it, another year had passed, he was 18, and the day of the graduation had arrived. His friends were there, those he met during the years, and even Yui attended, someone he hadn’t seen in a while since they last spared together a year ago. Riku had learned all academy basic techniques and was now able to specialize and develop his skills even further, but most importantly he could now call himself a Genin; a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village!
So, to summarize, Kyoudo Riku’s personality is that of a jack of all trades, who’s ideals have been shaped by his experiences and as such seeks more. He is fun loving, determined, easily scared by those more powerful than him, but evidently, he learns from this fear and trusts himself, knowing that the world is filled with endless possibilities and that he could change it for the better (Something he had picked up from reading books about war, suffering and human perseverance).
Kyoudo Riku, age 18, 167 cm or 5’6 (pretty short for his age, but it leans more towards average), 66 kgs or 142 pounds, a healthy weight. Riku has a muscular, yet thin build. He loves to eat and as such he couldn’t be described as ripped, more like bulky, but with a larger chest, shoulders, arms, waist and legs. Think more of a martial artists than a cross-fit athlete. He is also hyperflexible, meaning the collagen in his bones is rubbery in substance and they don’t break as easy (though not noteworthily so), evidenced by the way he sometimes looks paler than is normal for one of the Kyoudo (who are also super pale).
He has dark, brown eyes, short, white, wavy hair (think Sakata Gintoki from Gintama) because of his Kyoudo blood and a red birthmark that stretches across his face right below his eyes from cheek to cheek. His mouth is medium sized, his lips not so big, his ears not so large, but not small either, and his nose is arched a bit downwards (around 15 degrees from the tip, maybe less). His hands are a bit larger than normal, though not noteworthily so. His skin is a tan, coffee with milk color though still a pale palette of that tan, and has a lot of hair on his chest (forming a tree like design on his chest), arms and legs, but not enough on these to be a subject of ridicule, however this hair is all white which means it is hardly visible. His thighs are bulky and his legs average in length, taking into account his body size. His shoe size is 9 ½ US, male.
He has very little facial hair, aside from a goatee he is trying to grow out, but that is not very long (maybe just an inch long at most). He also has chewed up nails, a bad habit he used to carry until a few days ago when he “decided” he was going to finally “quit”. They were still chewed up, but he hopes they’ll grow to normal once again, so he can trim them properly.
His clothes are very minimalistic. On his head he wears his brand new Hidden Leaf Village headband, a sign that he is a finally a ninja. His headband is strapped on his forehead in a way that it kind off holds his short, white hair back (kind of like the Black Clover protagonist or Subaru’s hairstyle, only closer to the head, and revealing more forehead which would be visible if not for the headband).
His upper body (torso) is clothed with a long sleeved, dark blue, tight-fitting, and simplistic shirt. The sleeves are rolled up to the elbow and the shirt has a small V-neck like opening where the neck goes in. The shirt has no designs; however, Riku wears a black shirt vest with no protective qualities over said shirt. The vest is always unbuttoned and on the right shoulder of the vest, he has strapped on the the hilt of the now-broken knife he had bought back when he started on his journey to Konoha, as a sentimental reminder of what he has had to go through. The knife hilt inside of the shoulder strapped scabbard seemed to be that of an actual knife, with no difference from one until drawn and revealed to be broken, and said scabbard was tightly fastened by the shoulder straps so that it would lie on the front-right side of Riku’s chest, plainly visible.
His bottom half, starting with his waist, is a bit more decorated. He sports a sort of harness that would act as a belt and which would hold up his carrier pack (where he stores all his shuriken, kunai and other useful items). Said carrier pack would lie on his back, right above his butt, so it would not hinder his movement and fighting. Also, he carries his long wire inside of the pack’s bigger slots; however, the wire is a bit too long, so he puts the protruding part of the wire through one of his kunai, making a kind of small loop of wire that comes out of the pack’s biggest slot and enters one of the pack’s smaller slots.
His pants are, like his shirt, overly simplistic. His cloth pants are dark blue and end right below his knees, making them seem as if they are rolled up. The sewed lines, from the many times they were ripped, are seen on the crotch area, right ankle, and left knee. His shoes were the run-of-the-mill shinobi tabi sandals. He would also wear long, black, knee high socks that resembled tights; these were of a silky material and in broad daylight can be seen right through.
Name: Riku Kyoudo
Bloodlimit: Kyoudo
Height: 167 cm (5’6)
Weight: 66 kgs (142 lbs)
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Alignment: Neutral Good
Birth Country: Kaminari no Kuni
Village: Konohagakure
Special: Taijutsu Specialist & Clan Specialist / Ninjutsu Non-Specialist & Genjutsu Non-Specialist
Primary Equipment
Allowance: 13,000 Ryo
Wire (Overview)
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Slashing, Soft Weapon
Effect: Metal drawn out into the form of a thin flexible thread or rod.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Two-Handed Weapon. These weapons do +4 Amour Points of Damage. Wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various wire gauges. When using Wire over 1.2 m (1 to 4 feet) they are treated as a 2-handed weapon. Wire under 1.2 m (1 to 4 feet) are treated as 1-handed weapons. If the user learns Wield Oversized Weapon the user is able to wield the weapon 1-handed.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 3,000 Ryo per Bundle, 200 Ryo per Meter
Spent: 3,000 Ryo on bundle for 15 meters of wire
Left: 10,000 Ryo
[/ul]Secondary Equipment
Allowance: 30,000 Ryo
Kunai (Overview)
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 2 per Slot, Piercing/Slashing, Knife
Effect: A kunai is a tool derived from the masonry trowel.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Light Weapon. These weapons do +4 Amour Points of Damage. The Range Increment of this weapon is 5 meters. A kunai has a blade that is about less than 1 foot in length. The user gains a +10 bonus on Sleight of Hand Skill to conceal a knife on their body.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,000 Ryo per Slot, or 500 Ryo Each.
Spent 2,000 (Bought 2 slots worth)
Left: 28,000 Ryo
Shuriken, Hira (Overview)
Rank: "C" Rank
Type: Secondary, 15 per Slot, Piercing, Shuriken
Effect: A shuriken is a small piece of metal with sharpened edges, designed for throwing.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A Light Weapon. These weapons do +2 Amour Points of Damage. The Range Increment of this weapon is 5 meters. Although they are thrown weapons, shuriken are quick and easy to draw, thus allowing the user to draw such weapons without the need of a movement. A shuriken can't be used as a melee weapon. Hira-shuriken are constructed from thin, flat plates of metal and generally resemble popular conceptions of shuriken.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Weapon Shop.
Cost: 1,500 Ryo per Slot, or 100 Ryo Each.
Spent: 3,000 (Bought 2 slots worth)
Left: 25,000 Ryo
Compass (Overview)
Rank: "B"
Type: Secondary, 10 per Slot, Gadget, Survival, Compass
Effect: A compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A compass relies on the Earth's magnetic field to determine the direction of magnetic north. A compass grants its user a +10 circumstance bonus to Direction Sense checks.
Limit: These items may be bought inside any Gadget Shop.
Cost: 5,000 Ryo per Slot, or 500 Ryo Each
Spent: 2,500 Ryo (Bought 5)
Left: 22,500
Pack, Waist
Rank: "C"
Type: Main, Slot Holder, 7 Slots, Wearable Container
Effect: An enlarged pouch that fits tightly around your waist.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Picture A wearable container can hold up to 7 slots. The waist pack can be worn in 1 of 4 ways: It can be attached to the bottom of a Patrol Pack by passing the stiffened webbing straps with the female side release buckles through the 4 webbing keepers on the bottom of the patrol pack. It can be attached directly to a tactical Vest taking up 3 Pouch Slots. by utilizing the stiffened webbing tabs on back woven in the corresponding slots on the back of the Tactical Vest. It can be carried in the "stand alone" configuration by utilizing the attached 2 inch wide waist belt. This method allows the user to rotate the waist pouch around in front to easily access the contents of the pack without removing a Patrol Pack or a Tactical Vest. When not used in this mode, the attached waist belt is stowed into the tunnel on back of the waist pack. It can be attached directly to the Main Pack by passing the side release buckle and straps through the webbing below the claymore pouch on the main pack.
Limit: These type of items may be bought inside any Tailor Shop.
Cost: 1,400 Ryo Each.
Spent: 1,400 Ryo
Personality and Background
Imagine being judged all your life for how you look, who your parents are, your race, or anything else you think people would discriminate over; add on to that the necessity of survival that comes from living by one self at an early age. Now I want you to imagine the happy go lucky attitude of a child who grew up with both his/her parents, who loved him/her and would give their all to raise into a fine adult; protecting them from harm until adulthood and sometimes beyond that. Finally, I want you to imagine how different these two extremes are and the outlook towards life that a person who has gone through one or the other may have.
Okay, are you done imagining? Now I want you to substract one of the two situations from the equation, it can be which ever one you desire; however, apply one of the outlooks you imagined to your answer. What do you get? Well first, if you decided to go crazy with your answer, you’d get a paradox: How can one apply a sad, depressive outlook to a perfect life with parents and all? It doesn’t make sense (bear in mind, we are talking about a child here). Well, that’s the human psyche, it never makes sense. No matter how “simple” a person may seem. And reading said psyche, well that’s another world of complexity all together, but it is possible. Are you in my head yet? No? Well let me see what I can do about that…
Taking into account the aforementioned situations and outlooks, I’m going to give you the “correct” answer – a pass into Kyoudo Riku’s mind, if you will. You see, Riku’s past was a harsh one: the latest memory he can recall of his parents were of them leaving, while muttering only two words of goodbye, “Good luck”, through some strange, light filled doorway when he was 5 years old. This had an adverse effect on Riku, whose young mind, which thought they would come right back, would suffer its first big disappointment. Such a thing made Riku aware that life wasn’t all fun and games and that he had to square up just to get by each day. This mix of disappointment and shock-to-reality at such a young age forced Riku to mentally mature faster than he should; though at heart he was just a kid.
Fast forward a bit and Riku is now 10, he was beaten up and sore from an encounter with bullies, who, ever since he decided to attend the local school on his own, had started to pick on him, beating him up, and calling him names like “little demon” or “red face”.
Riku knew of it, but he hadn’t noticed until recently, but every time he walked the streets people would stare at him, specifically at his face, while muttering to themselves. He could only make out the words “mark”, “he”, “red” … and “demon”. He stared at his mirrored image on the waterfilled bathroom bucket in the school restroom, touching his face and tracing his finger in a “straight” line from the top of his left cheek (right below his left eye) to the right, ending on the top of his right cheek (right below his right eye). A bright red line, a birth mark pertaining to the Kyoudo… or so he heard one of the older teachers mention once.
The days passed and on the way to school one glommy day he noticed the bullies were picking on a young, chubby boy; he couldn’t have been that much younger that Riku, maybe 7 or 8 years old, but Riku decided to ignore it, seeing it as an opportunity to maybe get the bullies off his back and make them move onto a new target.
Riku knew the ruthlessness of the world and the fact that the strong rule over the weak, and the weak rule over the even weaker.; he had only made it this far while riding on the coattails of those stronger than him, hitching carriage rides from his original farming village, where he was born, to the place he is now: a bigger, wood-cutting village that was known for their pine-wood carpentry; all of this, in the Kaminari no Kuni.
Riku kept on walking, making sure he went as unnoticed as possible, when all of a sudden, a rat passed by extremely fast right between Riku’s feet, making him jump back and squeal, an action he would immediately regret for the rest of his life… or would he? Almost like blood thirsty raptors, the bullies looked up from their “prey” and locked eyes with Riku. Riku’s mind was yelling at him to run, but just as his leg muscles were tensing up to go into a sprint, he felt a tingle go from his head to his spine and from there to his legs, stopping him. He didn’t know what it was, but he did know that they were going to catch up to him, so he decided that, for the first time, he was going to fight.
There was no use in running anyway, since they would just beat him up at school that day or the next, at the place he was using to sleep; he happened to like that school, so in the end he was grateful that his sprint was halted.
Riku knew little about fighting, but he knew all of the bullies’ favorite attacks that they would use on him day in and day out. And so he fought.
The biggest bully, a big oaf named Antu of 5’8 (too tall to be a 10-year-old…. Maybe he was held back?) came running forward, winding-up a haymaker with his left arm, ready to strike Riku’s head; if you were none the wiser you could’ve mistaken the gigantic arm for a big baseball bat. Riku knew this was coming so he ducked as Antu came in, and went for a kick to the oaf’s nether regions, putting the giant on his knees, while holding his crotch. The other 3 boys looked at each other for a second and came rushing at Riku in such a uniform fashion that you could mistake them for actual soldiers going for a flanking maneuver if you weren’t careful. Riku waited until the last instant and spit in the face of the one coming from directly in front of him, stopping him for a moment and then, facing the one coming from his left, kicked up some dirt with his right foot and prepared a punch for the stunned, dirt-faced bullied. However, the bully who was spit on by Riku, let out a roar of rage that even made the possibly infertile Antu (nah he was fine, Riku ain’t that strong) turn around from his makeshift dirt cradle. The roar made Riku lose his focus for an instant, which was enough for the momentarily distracted bully to his now back to rush in and square Riku right in the face, making him crash on the ground.
The bullies started laughing, and even the teary eyed Antu was beginning to stand up, and they all headed towards the grounded Riku and started kicking him, hitting the downed boy twice. They were interrupted, however, by the young, chubby kid’s shriek, who, pointing in the direction where Riku had yelped because of the rat (the entrance of the alleyway the bullies used as their usual beat down spot) screamed, “M-Monster!” and started running away in the opposite direction towards an alternate exit that turned to the right and possibly led to the town’s main square. “I don’t like bullies” said a growling voice coming from a blue Oni mask whose host was at least taller than Antu and whose clothes resembled that of a civilized barbarian (what ever that is). The bullies were scared to their core, evidenced by the suspicious yellowish puddle that appeared on the ground some 3 meters from Riku, right where one of the bullies had backed up due to the “monster’s” sudden appearance. The four heathens started running, leaving the alleyway through the way the chubby kid escaped. Only Riku and the Oni masked man remained. Riku knew better, and realized that the man in the mask had saved him from a horrible pummeling. The man helped Riku up, and removed his mask and makeshift loincloth, which was worn on top of a hakama (type of pants). The man was the older teacher from his school, the one he had heard the Kyoudo birthmark comment from, Mr. Tai.
Back at Mr. Tai’s office, Riku explained to the old man what had happened with the bullies and the feeling that had halted his escape. “You’re a Kyoudo, Riku, is that right?” asked the old man as if he didn’t already know, which was of course not the case. Riku nods in response and mentions that he noticed what the old man had said about the birthmark. “I said that in hopes you would notice. It’s good to know that you did.” quipped Mr. Tai sounding extremely sure of himself and almost a little arrogant. Riku stared at the old man for a few seconds, confused, as he continued, “You may be asking yourself if I know anything about your family or if I have any ulterior motives. Well the answers are: I did and yes. You see, I haven’t met a Kyoudo in all my life... until now, but I used to be a traveling merchant before I became a teacher, and I vaguely remember reading a book in Konohagakure, one of my only stops with a library, that spoke about the Kyoudo”. Riku’s eyes shot up as he heard the comment about the book; he thought that if he could learn a bit about his family, he could strive for greater things and maybe find a new reason for living aside from just surviving day by day. However, Riku was even more surprised at Mr. Tai’s next question: “Are you thinking of going there?” As if the old man was a mind reader… Riku nodded solemnly and looked back up to his teacher with grim determination. The old man continued, also nodding, “Then you are going to need my help. The journey to Konohagakure from the Kaminari no Kuni is long and perilous; many dangers lie in the roads and forests”. Riku interrupted him, muttering under his breath, “I know how to take care of myself” to which the old man replied almost instantly, “I can see that, you wouldn’t tell anyone where you were staying, and I know that you live alone, or at least without your parents; nevertheless, this is no simple task. You need to learn how to defend yourself, so you can truly survive on your own”. Riku looked down and nodded. The old man then stood up from his office chair and motioned Riku to follow. Once outside, he said, “Alright, then before we start I need to assure three things from you. First, you will need to finish the school year before you begin training. Second, I don’t know where you’re staying, so you’d best make sure you don’t starve or freeze to death before we finish. And third, you need to promise me that you will never forget the kindness that people will offer you, or the times the times they will act against you; that you will never judge or act without thinking first. I will not teach a villain the means to hurt, but neither will I train a hero the means to die, so as a bonus: four! Don’t die until you accomplish your goal.” With that last remark, the old man let out a weak smile and in turn, Riku nodded, determined.
For the next two years Riku trained the art of Krav Maga with Mr. Tai. Now granted, Mr. Tai was not a master of the art, but he did teach Riku all he knew, at least that’s what he told Riku. Riku picked it up quickly, getting a hang of the concepts and the style as a whole. He though it suited him very well: a martial art that’s to the point. No flurry, no pointless babble, he could truly learn to defend himself like he knew best, using all the means available to him.
After his training had ended, the old man gave Riku his regards, but before heading out, Riku felt the urge to ask the old man all the unanswered question he had refused to ask before because he thought it would be disrespectful to the man who had shown him much kindness: “Mr. Tai… I have a lot of questions. And I mean a lot. Like, how did you find me that day, the day you helped me with those guys in the alley? Or why did you help me? Or why would you go so far for a kid with nothing to his name? It doesn’t make sense…” Mr. Tai let out a bright smile, brighter than Riku had ever seen before. At the young boy of 12’s questions, the old man answered simply, numbering each answer with his fingers, “The scream, because I felt like it, and remember promise number three”. Riku couldn’t help but smile at that last remark. Shortly after, he turned around and waved good bye to the old man who had been the closest thing to a father that he’s ever had.
Before leaving the small wood-cutting town, Riku stopped by a shop and purchased the cheapest knife he could with the measly money he had saved up from odd jobs, and the amount that Mr. Tai had given him for the travels while saving a bit for the trip. He was finally ready to depart on his journey to Konoha, when suddenly, while crossing the town’s eastern most edge, he was confronted with the image of Mr. Tai running towards him while shouting, “I forgot to give you something!” Riku kept staring at the exhausted old man as he panted and held out a piece of paper. It was a Map! How could Riku forget something so important?! The thought of this possible slip up made Riku turn red with embarrassment over his own idiocy that was only normal for humans on occasion. “Also” Started to say Mr. Tai between heavy breaths, “I think you may have an aptitude for the use of chakra… when you get to Konohagakure, check out the ninja academy, you’ll get much better training there. Now… take care”. The old man’s smile was even brighter this time and Riku couldn’t help but smile back. And so, finally, Riku begun his journey to Konohagakure.
Riku met many types of individuals while on his journey south to the Fire Nation through the Snow and Hotsprings countries. He met good people, kind people, bad people, righteous people confused people and people who were just like him, just trying to survive the day by day. He managed to come up with an explanation for the nature of people on his travels: there were no good or bad people, only people; and what they do cannot be so easily classified or judged. Humans would have times when complex reasons motivated their actions, other times there were none. Riku also learned from the suffering he saw and the people he managed to aid on his way, as per keeping his promise to the old man to not be a “villain”, that there was value in helping someone else, as long as we don’t destroy ourselves in the process, also, as a side bonus, you’d get on that person’s good side and you never know when that’s going to benefit you. However, humans were not all Riku met on his travels; various creatures also crossed their paths with Riku’s. some of which would regret doing so as they became Riku’s food.
Riku used everything that was taught to him and all he had learned on his own for the past 12 years, to make this journey. Suddenly, one night, he saw something he had never seen: shadows that moved so fast, he couldn’t make them out; footsteps so quick that they almost didn’t sound like footsteps, and suddenly one of the figures stopped on a branch not so far away from Riku and noticed the boy looking at him. The person, who was not much taller than Riku and looked to be not much older either, stared at Riku and smiled, before zipping through the trees again, as if nothing ever happened. The only thing Riku managed to glimpse of this person after he had zipped off was the faint glimmer that seemed to be the light that torches generated, the reflection appeared to coming from where the persons head would be and then Riku remembered: The person had a headband with a spiral symbol on it. And with this realization Riku knew that the two years of travel were worth it …. What he had seen were ninja and the lights meant that he had arrived at the Hidden Leaf.
Riku’s entrance to the Hidden leaf was not easy. He was heavily questioned by the Village’s gate guards, who seemed to be constantly on edge. However, after long hours of questioning, he was allowed into the Village; but what now? He had gained entrance into the village, but he had little money (gained from doing odd jobs on his travels) and he had to somehow find a way for a 14-year-old to survive in a big Village like this without resorting to his old ways. He decided on a plan of action.
First, the academy, his reasoning being that becoming a student would bring him more opportunities than just being another immigrant. Second, he needed to find a place to stay. And third he needed to find a source of income until he managed to graduate from the academy and become a ninja. After he had done all of that he could get to doing what he came here for: finding more about his family.
So, he started to carry out his plan. He first asked a local ninja – whom he had identified because of her headband – who was standing around in front of a ramen shop, while reading an extravagant looking book. She gave him directions to the academy and even offered to take him there, which he gratefully accepted. On the way there he started speaking to his guide, a ninja by the name Yui, she was a Genin, a rank of ninja according to her. She had graduated from the academy a few years ago, and was not that older than Riku, but she had always failed in the Chunnin exams -another rank of ninja according to her. Along the way, Riku told Yui about his journey from the Kaminari no Kuni, leaving out specifics such as his training and the identity of his family (he had learned to not be so trusting along his journey). Yui acted surprised and remarked, “So you grew up on your own… wow… I can’t imagine having my mom or dad missing… By the way, that’s a cool tattoo you have there on your face.” Riku was taken by surprise, his birthmark, he had completely forgotten about it. He had spent so little time in a single spot for the last two years, so he had forgotten all about it; nevertheless, he remembered the stigma it was for him back in in the wood-cutting village where he met and trained with Mr. Tai, so he replied, “Uh, yeah. Thanks”. The kunoichi simply smiled and continued to guide Riku to the academy. Once they had arrived, Yui stopped Riku who was already starting to go inside and asked him, “Hey Riku, you said you were new to the village, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?” Riku pondered whether to tell her the truth which was that he didn’t or to lie to her and avoid further distractions. He eventually decided to tell her the truth, which wouldn’t really cause any harm, to which she replied, “Oh, then be sure to mention that to the principal; you’re not the first immigrant to be admitted to the academy”. Riku noticed that her voice had a slightly condescending tone to it, uncharacteristic of what Riku knew about Yui in their short time together. “I’ll be sure to let him know. Thanks”. And as he said this, Riku entered the academy.
It wasn’t long before he was pointed to the principal’s office, who just so happened to be free of appointments for that day, and knocked on the door. He waited a few seconds before knocking again to which a voice replied, slightly annoyed, “Hurry up and come in, I heard you the first ti-” just as the principal was finishing his sentence, Riku opened the door and peeked his head in before entering through the doorway and letting it close behind him; the principal stopped his sentence and his eyes widened, clearing staring at Rikus face. “That mark… you’re a Kyoudo aren’t you?” Riku was extremely taken aback by this comment, even more so than Yui’s iteration of his “tattoo”.
He felt a sudden rush of danger, like his brain telling him that he would die if he stayed there any longer, so he turned around in a hurry, his body tingling all over, and started to fumble with the door knob while desperately attempting to open the door again. Suddenly, a flash of smoke appeared next to him and a hand was now holding the door shut. Riku looked up and saw the principal’s wide grin as he looked down on Riku. A man of a strong build, maybe as tall as Antu (the big oaf of a bully from my previous home) if not taller, that was the figure looking down at him, “You felt it didn’t you?” Said the man obviously amused. Riku responded terrified, “F-felt what?”. Never in his life had he felt that kind of power, were they bandits, creatures, or beasts, nothing compared to this. “I just used a Lighting Release Justu, judging by your reaction, you could feel the power and the electricity through the air and on my body.” Said the principal coldly, “You’re going to need a lot of training if you fear a ninja like me; there are more dangerous individuals than I… much more dangerous.” Riku gulped at the principles last remark, which he emphasized with extra bitterness and obvious amusement. “I- I seek entrance into the academy… I’m al- also ho-” Riku started to say and the principal finished his sentence for him, “Homeless, you’re also homeless, and you seek academy instruction, and you would also like to know more about your clan. Yes, yes, I know. I guess you’ll also need a job to get by and a place to stay, huh? We can arrange that”. Among this new surge of revelations, Riku felt that the principal was reading his mind. He then decided to blurt out, ignoring his nerves, “How do you know all of this?!”. The principal was a bit taken a back by this sudden burst of courage and decided to respond to the boy of 14’s question. “Geez” the principal sighs, annoyed, as he starts, “Well this is not the first time this has happened, though it has been a while since it has happened here in Konoha. Members of the Kyoudo clan, which I knew you were from because of that mark, are by tradition set to wander and fend for themselves to grow, they often wind up in the Hidden Villages… or so the book says”. Riku looked agape and managed to blurt out, “Book?”, the principal continued now speaking in a sarcastic tone “Yes young one, a book, do you know what that is, do you even know how to read?” He chuckled, “Forgive me, I was obviously kidding. Yes, um, who are you exactly?” Riku felt embarrassed that he hadn’t even told him his name; Riku then proceeded to introduce himself and explain his story to the principal as he felt there was no use in holding anything from the seemingly “all knowing” academy principal. “I see, Mr. Kyoudo, we’d better get you accommodated soon”. The principal then rummaged through his desk and handed Riku some papers, “Here, these are the academy sign up papers; if you enroll now, you can expect to be a full-fledged ninja in around 3 to 4 years”. Riku gaped at the mention of the time needed, but remembered all he had gone through and a sudden determination filled his whole being… or at least he thought so because the last thing he saw was the principal’s face as he handed him the papers, before he collapsed from exhaustion.
Riku opened his eyes and looked left to right. He saw curtains surrounding his bed, which was against a wall. He sat up and caused the bed to make a slight creaking noise to which a beautiful woman would open the curtains and step in. “I’m glad you’re awake Mr. Kyoudo” The woman who was apparently a nurse said with a gentle smile and a caressing voice. “You’re in the academy infirmary, you collapsed yesterday due to exhaustion, but you should be better now.” Riku looked around once again and saw the academy papers the principal had presented him the day earlier, he also saw a note that read: “Your job is as my assistant, your job is to push papers. You start tomorrow at noon”. The note’s date was of yesterday. Riku immediately panicked and asked the nurse the time. It was still early, he didn’t start until noon, so he decided to ask the nurse about the academy. The nurse explained about the curriculum and explained that he could use the academy’s infirmary as a place to sleep for now, she added that his meals would have to be payed for with the money from his job.
Not long after, he started his job with the principal, starting out slow and amping up, earning enough Ryo a day to at least put food on his plate; and not long after that, he started his academy semester, now with a little dorm room near the academy that was simple but cheap. His student life had now begun, and he was determined to accomplish his goal.
2 years had passed and Riku had accomplished his plan: he was now an academy student, halfway to graduation might he add; he had a place to stay and a job (which he had gotten very proficient at); and he had searched up various books about his clan and their history. As a sweet bonus, he now knew some basic chakra techniques and how they worked. So, one day he wanted to try something crazy: he wanted to take that feeling he had felt with the principal and against the bullies when he was 10 and use it to his advantage. So, he asked the principal to help, which he reluctantly agreed to and headed out into the forest to train with him. The principal told Riku that as a Kyoudo he was proficient at Lightning Release Jutsu so, after confirming this, he started to train this skill with the principal until finally he could concentrate his chakra to his finger tips and release little arcs of electricity. However, something weird happened, once during this training, the principal was to attack Riku so he could defend with mixing Lightning Release and Taijutsu, but as he countered the principal he felt a surge like that of the time with the bullies and his first meeting with the principal. He went on the offensive and while concentrating on that surge of weird power, punched his sparring partner. The principal staggered back a little, but came on the attack again and swung a punch that Riku blocked, but as he did so, the principal staggered back and fell to the ground writhing with little shocks in the place where Riku had connected to block. “What was that?!” Uttered Riku obviously excited. The principal, however, was a little slow on the response, “Something… something… Nagare. A Kyoudo… technique”. And then fell flat for a few seconds after which he stood up. They continued their sparing and Riku kept practicing his Lightning Release and something something Nagare, which, he would later learn from a book, was actually called Sutatikku Nagare and proceded to learn the special hand signs for it.
Before he noticed, another year had passed; he had begun training on his own and eventually sought out something else to complement his style. The principal was no longer in Konoha, as he had retired and had moved to the Land of Hotsprings, so Riku sought out a dojo in which to train a new skill. He ended up deciding on the Demon Weaver technique because he thought it sounded cool and because it would complement his Lightning Release and Kyoudo abilities quite well.
And before he knew it, another year had passed, he was 18, and the day of the graduation had arrived. His friends were there, those he met during the years, and even Yui attended, someone he hadn’t seen in a while since they last spared together a year ago. Riku had learned all academy basic techniques and was now able to specialize and develop his skills even further, but most importantly he could now call himself a Genin; a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village!
So, to summarize, Kyoudo Riku’s personality is that of a jack of all trades, who’s ideals have been shaped by his experiences and as such seeks more. He is fun loving, determined, easily scared by those more powerful than him, but evidently, he learns from this fear and trusts himself, knowing that the world is filled with endless possibilities and that he could change it for the better (Something he had picked up from reading books about war, suffering and human perseverance).
Kyoudo Riku, age 18, 167 cm or 5’6 (pretty short for his age, but it leans more towards average), 66 kgs or 142 pounds, a healthy weight. Riku has a muscular, yet thin build. He loves to eat and as such he couldn’t be described as ripped, more like bulky, but with a larger chest, shoulders, arms, waist and legs. Think more of a martial artists than a cross-fit athlete. He is also hyperflexible, meaning the collagen in his bones is rubbery in substance and they don’t break as easy (though not noteworthily so), evidenced by the way he sometimes looks paler than is normal for one of the Kyoudo (who are also super pale).
He has dark, brown eyes, short, white, wavy hair (think Sakata Gintoki from Gintama) because of his Kyoudo blood and a red birthmark that stretches across his face right below his eyes from cheek to cheek. His mouth is medium sized, his lips not so big, his ears not so large, but not small either, and his nose is arched a bit downwards (around 15 degrees from the tip, maybe less). His hands are a bit larger than normal, though not noteworthily so. His skin is a tan, coffee with milk color though still a pale palette of that tan, and has a lot of hair on his chest (forming a tree like design on his chest), arms and legs, but not enough on these to be a subject of ridicule, however this hair is all white which means it is hardly visible. His thighs are bulky and his legs average in length, taking into account his body size. His shoe size is 9 ½ US, male.
He has very little facial hair, aside from a goatee he is trying to grow out, but that is not very long (maybe just an inch long at most). He also has chewed up nails, a bad habit he used to carry until a few days ago when he “decided” he was going to finally “quit”. They were still chewed up, but he hopes they’ll grow to normal once again, so he can trim them properly.
His clothes are very minimalistic. On his head he wears his brand new Hidden Leaf Village headband, a sign that he is a finally a ninja. His headband is strapped on his forehead in a way that it kind off holds his short, white hair back (kind of like the Black Clover protagonist or Subaru’s hairstyle, only closer to the head, and revealing more forehead which would be visible if not for the headband).
His upper body (torso) is clothed with a long sleeved, dark blue, tight-fitting, and simplistic shirt. The sleeves are rolled up to the elbow and the shirt has a small V-neck like opening where the neck goes in. The shirt has no designs; however, Riku wears a black shirt vest with no protective qualities over said shirt. The vest is always unbuttoned and on the right shoulder of the vest, he has strapped on the the hilt of the now-broken knife he had bought back when he started on his journey to Konoha, as a sentimental reminder of what he has had to go through. The knife hilt inside of the shoulder strapped scabbard seemed to be that of an actual knife, with no difference from one until drawn and revealed to be broken, and said scabbard was tightly fastened by the shoulder straps so that it would lie on the front-right side of Riku’s chest, plainly visible.
His bottom half, starting with his waist, is a bit more decorated. He sports a sort of harness that would act as a belt and which would hold up his carrier pack (where he stores all his shuriken, kunai and other useful items). Said carrier pack would lie on his back, right above his butt, so it would not hinder his movement and fighting. Also, he carries his long wire inside of the pack’s bigger slots; however, the wire is a bit too long, so he puts the protruding part of the wire through one of his kunai, making a kind of small loop of wire that comes out of the pack’s biggest slot and enters one of the pack’s smaller slots.
His pants are, like his shirt, overly simplistic. His cloth pants are dark blue and end right below his knees, making them seem as if they are rolled up. The sewed lines, from the many times they were ripped, are seen on the crotch area, right ankle, and left knee. His shoes were the run-of-the-mill shinobi tabi sandals. He would also wear long, black, knee high socks that resembled tights; these were of a silky material and in broad daylight can be seen right through.
