Actually, let me fix that, one sec. EDIT: Here you go. Check where code /doesn't/ work to fix it. Pretty obvious the two spots it didn't. [@Rabidporcupine] [hider=Aragami Tsubaki][center] [I]Character Theme-[/I] [URL= https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GKfo1hm60X8]True Arbiter[/URL] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [img]https://4tu34.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/mushishi_00_01.png [/img] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]Full Name[/U]】 Aragami Tsubaki 【[U]Nickname/Alias[/U]】 Akiyama Izuku The Cook That idiot The Pebble 【[U]Gender[/U]】 Male 【[U]Age[/U]】 24 【[U]Age Appearance[/U]】 Young adult 【[U]Sexuality[/U]】 Heterosexual ____________________________________________ 【[U]Village[/U]】 Formerly Empire of Stone Currently Kumo, technically. 【[U]Birthplace[/U]】 Iwagakure 【[U]Alignment/Affiliation/Organization[/U]】 Kumogakure Formerly Iwagakure 【[U]Clan/Bloodline[/U]】 The Aragami are a family of civilians, so nope. 【[U]Rank[/U]】 He was a genin when he left the Stone. Most people don't even know he's a shinobi these days. 【[U]Chakra Nature[/U]】 Earth 【[U]Appearance/Wardrobe[/U]】 Tsubaki is the kind of person who you can generally figure out just by looking at his face. A tired, almost lazy looking smile is his most common expression, and he rarely looks as if he's taking a situation seriously, even when he actually is! He will constantly have something sticking out of his mouth, as he has only recently quit smoking and needs something similar just to tide him over. This may be a pencil, or a piece of paper rolled into a cylinder, or any number of other things, just so long as they have the same basic shape. As for clothes, Tsubaki rarely wears anything that could be considered particularly complicated. In fact, he refuses to wear any clothes that would take more than two minutes to put on, saying he would rather spend that time actually [i]enjoying[/i] himself. For this reason, he tends to stick to standard shirts and pants. [i]Maybe[/i] a jacket or coat, if he feels like living it up a bit. Of course, there wouldn't be a whole lot of colour to them, but he's pretty sure that's not that important. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]Personality[/U]】 Unlike during his childhood, Tsubaki is fairly laid back and relaxed these days. One of his greatest joys is being able to enjoy a little peace and quiet, without having to worry about anything. This has been something of a rarity throughout his life, but when such a moment comes along, he won't pass it up. Overall, his philosophy involves not getting stressed over the small things, lest you miss the big things right in front of you. He tends to try and make friends with the people around him, even if he's not always great at it, and finds enjoyment in teasing people and getting under their skin, especially if he thinks they're too strict or uptight. However, he also knows there is a fine line between annoying someone and upsetting them, and he has a great fear of crossing that line. If he should accidentally cross it, he will go to great lengths to make up for his mistake, as in his own words, friendship is one of the big things in life. However, one thing that has stuck with him since childhood is his hatred of killing others, usually going well out of his way to avoid the act. Even when he is in battle, and at danger of being killed himself, he will go well out of his way to try and take his opponent down non-lethally. Despite his usually somewhat relaxed nature, there are a few things that will cause his personality to do a near complete 180. The first is if someone wastes, ridicules or otherwise disrespects food and cooking. Do that, and you'll be on the receiving end of an earbashing so bad the Raijin has joked about classifying it as an interrogation technique. Food is definitely a pretty big thing in life, after all. The second is... Well, a little more serious. This is when he thinks someone is coming close to figuring out his identity as a former shinobi of the Stone. Even though he may seem like he's acting the same on the outside, on the inside he will go into overdrive, his paranoia and survival instincts consuming his thoughts. His safety is a pretty big thing. One of the biggest, in fact. And finally, the third goes right back to being dumb, occurring when he doesn't have something cigarette shaped in his mouth. When this happens, he will begin to second guess himself, getting worried far more easily than usual. As it turns out, not having a cigarette or appropriate substitute on hand makes the small things in life seem [i]a lot[/i] bigger. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]History[/U]】 [hider=Hider because too long] Tsubaki was born in the outskirts of Iwagakure, to a small, poor civilian family. Life was hard for someone so young in that position, as they barely had what they needed to support their family as it was, let alone an extra mouth. Still, they held strong, doing as much for their son as they could. It wasn't until Tsubaki was six years old that things began to look up. His sister, Izumi, had already been a shinobi for a little while, but right after his sixth birthday, she became a chuunin, and started making a name for herself as an exceptional shinobi. Tsubaki had already thought Izumi was cool, but after all her successful missions, she quickly gained the honour of becoming his hero, and it wasn't long before he decided to become a shinobi as well. At first, his parents were worried, but they eventually calmed down after Izumi promised to watch out for him and teach him what she could. It was this that led to Tsubaki's life long dedication to the use of polearms, doing his best to replicate his sisters abilities with her spear. However, things changed once more when he entered the academy. At this point, Izumi was widely considered a full on war hero, and it was all but impossible for her to take time off, as busy as she was with the war. As he ended up at the academy, he quickly learnt that the way they taught was [i]very[/i] different to Izumi's methods. They were expecting someone like Izumi! Someone strong, assertive and courageous! Instead they got Tsubaki, who at this he was soft spoken, easily upset and too scared of annoying others to even [i]think[/i] of putting his own opinions forward. In addition to this, his teachers didn't show the understanding and patience Izumi had, with even the kindest of teachers eventually finding it somewhat irritating to try and teach him. Oh, he learnt well enough, but he was just too... passive. He even seemed to try and avoid attacking vitals in exercises, instead focussing on non-lethal attacks. This continued despite his teachers concerns that, on the battlefield, this could easily cost him his life. Despite all these however, he eventually managed to pass the academy, officially becoming a genin. Over the next few months, things were almost... Well, nice. He was able to complete a number of D-ranks without coming to worry about it too much, his team and jonin sensei were actually pretty patient and friendly towards him, and there were even a few where he got to show off the only talent he had any confidence in, cooking. The only exceptions were a couple of missions where he ended up working with one Shinrikyo Nagi, which he spent terrified that he was constantly pissing her off. And then one mission, his very first C-rank, changed everything. His team had been sent to help with repairs at a small village a few days journey from Iwa itself. He had actually been truly excited in the days leading up to it, not only because it would be the first time he travelled outside the village, but also because Izumi had apparently volunteered to help out as well. According to the message she'd sent, she had been given some time to rest after her last victory and deciding to try and meet him and his team on her way back to Iwa. The first two days of repairs were happy ones, as the two siblings caught up. However, the second night brought tragedy. Apparently, a number of cloud shinobi had abandoned their posts in order to make a desperate, and in their eyes heroic sacrifice, striking into the heart of the empire and weakening it enough to give the dynasties a small chance of victory. Fortunately for Iwa however, they ended up running into Tsubaki's jonin sensei on the journey, as he patrolled the area around the village. The resulting battle was loud, as the jonin did everything in his power to raise the alarm while the shinobi tried to stop him. Thankfully, it worked, and Tsubaki, Izumi, and the other members of his team were quickly awoken and went to join the fight. As it turned out, the Kumo shinobi were stronger than expected, and they quickly knocked out Tsubaki and his team, leaving the two jonin to fight back on their own. When Tsubaki came to, it was to a sight he wished he could erase from his memories, but knew he never would. The ground was littered the bodies of the Kumo nin, the smell of blood heavy in the air. Amongst them lay his jonin sensei, also quite clearly dead. And only a little way from his corpse lay his sister, hand still clenched around her spear as she bled out. Unable to contain his grief, Tsubaki ran to her, sobbing the entire way, only for her to tell him that she was sorry, her voice weak. Before he could ask why, she lifted one shaky hand and gave him her spear. Tsubaki instantly realised what she was telling him to do, and tried to say no, but she insisted, telling him that there may very well be more of them, and she knew too much to let herself be captured. Realising that everything she said was true, he took the spear from her, sobbing uncontrollably the entire time. That day, Aragami Tsubaki made his first kill and last kill, a kill stain his soul forever. Aragami Izumi. After that, he dragged his unconscious teammates back to the village, Izumi and their sensei's sacrifice allowing them to escape with their lives. And then he ran. He ran far away from the village, from Iwa, from everything. During that battle, he had been reminded just how weak he was. A shinobi? How could he even [i]begin[/i] to think he was strong enough for that?! His incompetence had gotten his sister, his [i]hero[/i], killed! It had gotten his sensei killed! It had nearly gotten his friends killed! He couldn't face the people of Iwa again, not after this failure. It wasn't until he had passed the countries borders that he realised what he was doing was desertion, or even that he still held his sisters spear. He was a missing nin. And that horrified him. It was then that he came to a decision. From that day onwards, he would wander the land, learning what he could and improving himself as not only a shinobi, but as a [i]person[/i]. And one day, if he managed to actually survive, he would return to his homeland, his head held high, and redeem himself. And that was exactly what he did. He travelled between all five of the great nations, learning what he can. He passed himself off as a travelling chef, befriending people across the continent, and slowly, over the years, he grew as a person, his entire outlook on life changing. Of course, he trained himself to the limits, scouring books and scrolls he came across for whatever jutsu he could find. He also went to great lengths to hide his former identity and change his appearance, even killing cells in his hair to change it from its previous brown to pure white. However, after a while, he found that he wished to stop wandering, and perhaps settle down for a little while. The solution to this problem, his yearning for somewhere to call home, came in a form he never would have expected. The village hidden in the clouds, Kumogakure. After the war, the town was a mess, and his anger towards the nation had faded years ago. And so, he set up shop for a little while, making sure the people of the Raijins tribe had good food and doing what he could to help rebuild. He had only planned to stay a little while, but when he realised that he could truly help people there, he decided to stay a little longer. And a little longer. And a little longer after that, too. A year later, Tsubaki was a well known face in the tribe, and he had come to befriend many of the villages shinobi. This included the Raijin themselves, who had also taken a hands on approach to restoring the village as best they could. In addition to that, they were a regular customer, and the two became close friends. Eventually it got to the point where, despite the risk, Tsubaki trusted them enough to tell the the truth of his identity, as well as the story of why he left. Honestly, he fully expected the Raijin to turn on him. He was pleasantly surprised however, when they allowed him to continue living in the village as a friend and citizen. There were two conditions to this though. The first was that he was to inform all the jonin of his true identity in an official meeting. At first, a few of the shinobi he'd befriended turned on him, as along with their general anger at the empire, many of them had lost friends to Izumi specifically. However, it wasn't long before his previously established bonds with them won out over their anger, and they viewed him as a friend once more. The second was that he take an 'unofficial' role as a shinobi in service of Kumo. Thankfully, this second job generally involved simply working on rebuilding with the civilians and helping to feed refugees, the kind of thing he had already been doing. Occasionally however, he would be asked to help deal with bandits, or worse, shinobi from rival dynasties. His unwillingness to kill turned out to be something of a boon for information gathering, after all. Even during his time as an unofficial shinobi however, the main trait his friends seemed to notice about him was his belief that, despite everything, there should be peac. Not just between the Iwa and Kumo either, but between [i]all[/i] the villages, and even beyond that. He just wanted a world where he wouldn't have to watch the people he cared about kill each other. After spending two years in Kumo, the Raijin gave Tsubaki the mission of a lifetime. He was to join the expedition to the new world, under the new name Akiyama Izuku. Officially, he was a chef, sent by the Raijin dynasty to make sure the expedition had some actual [i]nice[/i] food as a sign of good faith. Unofficially though, his mission was simple. Build friendships. The war was over, now it was time to prevent it from rekindling, as there was little doubt that a third war would spell the end of the crumbling country. [/hider] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]Special Traits[/U]】 Above average chakra capacity Decent chakra control Highly skilled in bojutsu Fair amount of botanical knowledge Damn good cook 【[U]Afflictions/Nerfs[/U]】 [i]Really[/i] doesn't like killing other people, basically refusing to do it. Goes a little crazy if he can't trick his brain into thinking there's a cigarette in his mouth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]Equipment/Weapons/Items[/U]】 [i] [u]Name of Weapon or Item:[/u] Benizakura [u]Description:[/u] A red spear, originally belonging to his sister, the war hero Aragami Izumi. After her death, Tsubaki kept it with him at all times as a reminder her, as well as something to make sure that he never loses sight of his goals. That being said, he keeps it wrapped up in a series of bandages at all times, lest someone recognise it and figure out his identity. [u]Appearance:[/u] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ms/1/13/Gae_Bolg.jpg [/img][/i] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [i] [u]Name of Weapon or Item:[/u] Cooking equipment [u]Description:[/u] Pots, pans, knives, utensils and spices. To touch them and [/i]not be Tsubaki[i] is to declare your life forfeit. [u]Appearance:[/u] Does it really need a description or picture? Look around your kitchen. Boom, there you go! [/i] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 【[U]Kekkei Genkai [/U]】 [I] [U]Name of Kekkei Genkai:[/u] Lol nah he's not that cool. [U]Clan:[/U] [U]Rank[/u] [U]Description:[/U] [/I] ------------------------------------------------------- [I]Jutsu:[/I] [hider=Canon Jutsu] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Rock_Pillar_Prison_Technique]Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Earth-Style_Wall]Earth Release: Earth Wall[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Hiding_in_Rock_Technique]Earth Release: Hiding in Rock [/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Hiding_Like_a_Mole_Technique]Earth Release: Hidden Mole[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Earth_Flow_Wave]Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Fist_Rock_Technique]Earth Release: Stone Fist[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Rock_Section_Cane]Earth Release: Rock Section Cane[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Shadow_Clone]Earth Release: Shadow Clone[/url] [url=http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_Release:_Rock_Gun_Technique]Earth Release: Stone Pistol[/url] [/hider] [hider=Custom Jutsu] [b]Name of Technique:[/b] Earth Release: Earth Pillar Pedestal [b]Type of Jutsu:[/b] Ninjutsu [b]Rank:[/b] B [b]Range:[/b] Close/Personal [b]Nature Type:[/b] Earth [b]Description:[/b] The user calls a flat-topped pillar of stone from the earth. They can call this pillar from the ground beneath them to either launch themselves through the air, or to simply act as a platform so they have the high ground. They can also call it up anywhere in a two metre radius of them, to block attacks in a similar manner to earth wall, or even launch opponents away. The pillar can be summoned on a diagonal angle from the surface it was summoned from, in order to launch the user or opponent in certain directions. [b]Name of Technique:[/b] Earth Release: Skidding Stone [b]Type of Jutsu:[/b] Ninjutsu [b]Rank:[/b] B [b]Range:[/b] Personal [b]Nature Type:[/b] Earth [b]Description:[/b] After a run up, the user kicks up a chunk of stone beneath their feet, which they can then ride on as it skids across the ground. They can also control this stones direction while riding, allowing them to glide across the battlefield. The stone will quickly lose momentum once the rider jumps off however, meaning it is generally unsuitable for use as a projectile. [b]Name of Technique:[/b] Earth Release: Great Stone Hand [b]Type of Jutsu:[/b] Ninjutsu [b]Rank:[/b] A [b]Range:[/b] Close/Mid [b]Nature Type:[/b] Earth [b]Description:[/b] The user summons a large stone hand from the earth, similar to Stone Fist but without connecting to the users body. This hand can punch and grab, but is only controllable for about five to ten seconds, after which it will return to normal stone. In addition, only two hands can be created at once, and the jutsu itself is rather chakra intensive. Therefore, it is not a very viable jutsu for repetitive use. [/hider] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [/center][/hider]