Tensai hadn't kept track of just how long he and Kimura had been wandering the streets of Konoha, but it felt like an eternity. It was hard enough keeping himself upright when he was by himself, let alone when he had one of his best friends pulling him along without the sense to warn him when they were going to make a turn or go down a set of stairs. It was all he could do to hope she hadn't already pieced together what his aunt had made all too obvious. After almost tripping over himself for the third or fourth time in a span of minutes, Tensai's frustration finally got the better of him and he stood his ground. The sudden pull on his grip reassured him that he hadn't accidentally caused Kimura to fall over.
It took Tensai far too many precious seconds to realize he'd stopped the two of them dead in their tracks amidst a crowd of people without an explanation. Desperately trying not to think about the awkwardness of the situation, Tensai acted quickly, whispering something about how he needed to tell Kimura something, and, to the best of his very limited ability, led the Inuzuka and her ninken partner to what he hoped was a side path removed from the hustle and bustle of a main road.
He'd hoped to do what he was about to do back at the academy when the teams were first announced, but it was just his luck that Fukushu would end up being one of his teammates and that his sensei turned out to by his aunt who turned out to direct the newly formed squad to the training grounds without so much as a conversation. Was he always breathing this heavy? Sage, he could feel himself starting to sweat. Better to get it over with than settle into panic, and so, without a second thought, Tensai tensed his body and looked directly into Kimura's eyes (he hoped) and got what he needed to say off his chest.
"I'm blind."
The world around him went silent after the words left his mouth, and, to be quite honest, he was terrified of what Kimura's response was going to be, so the young Uchiha turned back towards the main road without thinking about it and made a hasty retreat.
Location: The Classroom of Hatake Toshiro, Konohagakure Academy
For the most part, Kitanai was content to suffer through the disdainful glares he received from his fellow Jonin upon his arrival. It was becoming a rather familiar sight in the past week or so that he'd been in the village. To say that his sudden promotion by the newly elevated Hokage had ruffled some feathers was an understatement to say the least. Granted, Shinatobe and Matsuoka had been glaring at him since they were children. Not unlike the way one of the students was staring kunai into the back of one of her classmate's skulls. Something that was only exasperated when Toshiro announced the team formations. He didn't have much time to ponder to himself about the interpersonal relations of a pair of twelve year olds for long, however.
Before the name had even left Toshiro's lips, Kitanai found himself practically assaulted with questions by the last of his three Genin students, to say nothing of the fact he now found himself with a child hanging from his neck.
"Well, I got into town about a week ago. Got promoted too. Who knew your former teammate becoming Hokage came with perks? As for being your teacher, I wanted to keep it a surprise."
Kitanai maintained a smile on his face for Tsume's sake. It was no accident that the village's new leader had placed him in charge of a four man cell, nor was it a mistake that Tsume happened to be one of its members. If Tsugumi had to anchor him to Konoha with a squad of his own, she made sure he wasn't going to be able to say no. She was always clever that way. Nevertheless, he had two other Genin to care for, even if they weren't there for the express purpose of guilting him into staying.
With a gentle hand, Kitanai removed Tsume from around his body while the only other male on his team introduced himself. On instinct Kitanai gave a slight bow in response. From what he recalled, Shunpei was Toshiro's nephew. If he was anything like his uncle, it'd be easy enough to get along. Though the man himself had openly admitted to Shunpei's slightly pedestrian performance. No matter. They'd said the same about Kitanai when he was a student. He had no doubt Shunpei would prove them wrong.
Lest he forget, Kitanai bowed again, this time to the only student who'd remained silent through the whole ordeal. Why Tusugmi would put a member of the Hyuga Clan's branch family under him was anyone's guess. More importantly, something about Hyuga Mitsuko seemed oddly familiar to him that he couldn't place his hand on. Maybe it was just the pale white eyes reminding him of his own youth, but knowing one Hyuga Mitsuko was the only member of her class that showed any acumen in medical ninjutsu both excited him and made him uneasy. He had no idea whether he'd prove a good instructor in the art, but he knew for sure that the Hyuga clan elder likely would've preferred anyone else to do the job.
Before he knew it, the rest of the teams had disembarked from the classroom and Kitanai's was the only squad left lingering. Both of his peers had wandered off to the training grounds with their students. For his own, Kitanai had something slightly different in mind. Something he spent about thirty seconds of dead silence coming up with while his Genin stared at him with anticipation. Being a sensei was going to take some getting used to.
"Well, I figure we should probably get out of here before someone comes around and tells us to shoo."
Kitanai moved for the door and waved his hand for his Genin to follow.
"I'm starving, we'll have to stop at a food stall on our way to the hospital."
Location: The Classroom of Hatake Toshiro, Konohagakure Academy
Tensai had hardly been paying attention to his surroundings until he'd felt the sudden grasp of his shoulder by Shunpei. It only dawned on him midway through their descent to the front of the class that the two of them were placed on separate teams. He couldn't even take solace in the fact that Kimura was coming with him due to just who Shunpei was being replaced by. Tensai didn't know what was worse; that one of his best friends was on another team, leaving him with Fukushu of all people, or that he was leaving the tutelage of Shunpei's uncle for the aunt that hated him.
For now, it was all he could do to take his place next to his teammates. Even with the classroom full of students and Jonin alike, Shinatobe's presence stood out from the rest. Not knowing where he was supposed to face, Tensai simply turned around when he reached the group and peered his nonexistent gaze around the classroom one last time. While his aunt was already more than aware of his predicament, he didn't relish the thought of what he had to do once they were removed from everyone else. It wasn't going to be easy telling his teammates about his blindness, but they had to know if they were going to be working together from then on.
He could only pray that Fukushu wouldn't laugh in his face.
Location: The Uchiha Clan Compound, Konohagakure, Morning
It couldn't have been past dawn when Tensai roused himself out of bed to the sound of rain and faint thunder. For the past week he'd been trapped within the grounds of the Uchiha Clan's compound, and he couldn't help but feel as if he were being treated as an embarrassment; he'd heard the whispers when he was brought before his estranged grandmother and head of the clan, Chiaki. A prodigy of Tensai's caliber blind at age twelve? Rather than speak of the loss of one of their own, the influential group of Uchiha elders spoke only of how Tensai's condition brought shame to the clan as a whole, and only the most ancient amongst them whispered of the Mangekyō. For such a legendary eye to appear in such a young specimen was a preposterous notion to most, but even the most skeptical of the Uchiha's council had grown eerily silent when Tensai recollected the black flames that filled his last line of sight.
Tensai was shaken out of his thoughts when his appointed servant entered his chambers and almost immediately made to grab him as if he would fall over at any moment. He had only gotten up to go to the bathroom, apparently Akemi was sent especially early. Tensai inquired as such as his maid, or rather babysitter, began the process of bathing and clothing him, all he got for a response was some hackneyed speech about his "big day" and how he needed to look his best. Tensai certainly didn't feel comfortable with the new development of having a stranger clothe him, he supposed no child would, but no amount of stubborn outcry and attempts to do it himself would dissuade the woman from doing her job. In that she reminded him of his mother. After some time of standing still and obeying any order to raise an arm or other such trivialities of getting dressed, Tensai allowed himself a sarcastic "How do I look?" he didn't know what possessed him to ask such a meaningless question, perhaps he hadn't entirely lost his sense of humor, no matter how hard he tried to mask it.
"Like a proud scion of the Uchiha clan." the boy couldn't tell if his companion was sincere or joking, but whatever semblance of a smirk he felt on his face disappeared at that moment. Of course, that's all he was to his fellow Uchiha now, a trophy to be paraded around. Truthfully he wasn't even sure why his clanmates were allowing him to go through with remaining a shinobi, the prospect of transplantation was raised during his initial questioning, but he had almost hysterically refused, the technology of surgery was still a recent development of the shinobi world, and he had no desire to become the first case of a ninja getting his eyes ripped out of his head.
The rest of Tensai's monotonous preparation went by in relative silence, he had his breakfast of eggs over rice and within minutes, he was handed a parasol. He heard his newfound companion slide open the front door and reach for his hand. He pulled back from the physical contact and presumably pouted, judging by the audible sigh that he was met with.
"I'm supposed to escort you to the-"
"I've been going to the Academy for six years. I know how to get there."
A short argument ensued, mostly with Akemi pointing out that Tensai didn't know how to get there from the clan's compound and that the roads would be wet from the rain and so on, but Tensai refused to relent from his position, insisting that if he was supposed to be a shinobi he'd have to learn how to navigate without a personal chaperone. Seeing how he wasn't going to see reason, Akemi gave the young Uchiha what was quickly becoming a trademark sigh and moved away from the doorway, bowing her head as Tensai made his way out of the home with enough confidence to immediately lose his footing when stepping off the slightly elevated platform, though he caught himself and made a mental note to feel for railings whenever he came across a stairway.
Location: The Classroom of Hatake Toshiro, Konohagakure Academy, Present
Even though he couldn't see her, Tensai could feel Fukushu's eyes glaring a hole in the back of his head when their sensei addressed the class and singled him out. If it hadn't been for the timely arrival of a pair of Jonin, she would've no doubt spewed some harsh insult his way. In that sense, Tensai was thankful for the momentary chaos that prevented him from having to get up and address the rest of the class. That was, until Toshiro-sensei had gotten everything under control and everything had gone silent again. Their teacher didn't need to repeat himself for Tensai to begin rising from his seat. A million thoughts ran through his head at once. What was he going to say? Who was going to be on his team? Was he going to end up being taught by the aunt who seemed to ignore his entire existence?
For the latter questions, Tensai could only pray for anyone but Fukushu and that he would be spared the fate of being tutored by his mother's sister. He didn't know which would be worse.
Before he could find something to say however, another knock came at the classroom door, and a voice Tensai had never heard before came from the other side.
Whoever Tensai's father was, he seems to have left little to nothing in his son, who seems to have inherited almost all of the defining traits of the Uchiha clan. Though a select number of the clan's elders would insist against this. Black hair, black eyes, the only thing that seems to separate Tensai from his clansmen seems to be that he allows his face to show emotion. Why, he even smiles and laughs on a regular basis. Like his grandmother, Tensai is shorter than average, currently standing at 4'5".
Raised away from most of his kinsmen, Tensai doesn't garb himself as a typical Uchiha would, foregoing the high collar for a simple, long-sleeved gray t-shirt to go with brown shorts and uniform black sandals, though the fan of the Uchiha can be seen on the back of his shirt. He now keeps his medium length hair out of his face with the standard blue forehead protector.
Though an extremely recent development, Tensai's most notable trait are his now hauntingly pale grey eyes. One of his clansmen has described them as "having all their light snuffed out." Suffice to say, Tensai looks noticeably less cheerful than he did before.
PERSONALITY & MOTIVATIONS
Despite the relatively high scrutiny that was placed on him by the Uchiha Clan in the first several years of his life, Tensai remained an unerringly grounded, kindhearted and carefree child, unburdened by the expectations and responsibilities of being a member of the Uchiha Clan. It could be said that this is due in no small part to his mother's influence.
Wandering the village streets, helping old ladies with groceries, shuriken target practice. Tensai did it all. To him, life was great. He had a loving mother, friends, and no true worries in life. That he excelled at the Ninja Academy and was showered with praise because of it only added to his happy and confident demeanor. Amongst those in charge of the Uchiha Clan and the Ninja Academy alike, it was often said that Tensai lacked the diligence needed to make full use of his inherent ability, seeing as he frequently cut more "boring" classes in order to play games or get in extra ninjutsu training. However, most save the most rigid of clan elders assumed that Tensai would grow into his abilities in time once he had been exposed to life as a full fledged Genin.
As could be expected after the tragedy of his mother's death, Tensai has suffered a drastic shift in perspective and demeanor, becoming generally more distracted and distant, to the point where his reputation could be considered well-deserved. While still respectful and uniformly kind to his peers and superiors, Tensai has effectively put a wall between his emotions and his everyday life, though this can arguably be just a phase of the grieving process, and while pieces of Tensai's former personality are still locked away within him, it will take him some time for him, and his friends, to pull him back to his feet.
CLAN HISTORY
The Uchiha stand as one of the four founding clans of the Leaf Village, making theirs the oldest blood in the entirety of the village save for the likes of the Senju, Hyuga, and Sarutobi. As such, the Uchiha are intrinsically tied to Konoha, producing some of the finest shinobi in the village's history, including the Fourth Hokage, who led his fellow ninja throughout the Great Shinobi War. (To be finished)
PERSONAL HISTORY
A story not dissimilar to some of his classmates at the hidden leaf's ninja academy, Tensai was born near the tail end of the recent Shinobi World War to an Uchiha kunoichi by the name of Narumi and a man whose name Tensai never learned or heard of. One thing he wasn't allowed not to know about his father, however, was that the man clearly wasn't what the Elders of the Uchiha clan would call a worthy suitor for the daughter of the Clan's Matriarch.
Though Tensai was permitted to bare the name Uchiha, Narumi was all but cast out by her clan and forced to raise Tensai as a single mother. Despite this, Tensai has shown no ill will towards his situation or his clanmates. Too young to understand the implications of such things, Narumi instead chose to raise Tensai as a normal child of the Leaf Village, and the Uchiha Clan was content to let her do so. That is, until Tensai enrolled in the village's Ninja Academy.
Once he began his formal shinobi training, Tensai emerged as a naturally gifted, some would go as far as to say prodigious, practitioner of the ninja arts. Initially, the development was simply dismissed due to Tensai's being an Uchiha. After all, Uchiha were expected to be better than most. But Tensai had no such formal training at the hand of his clanmates like everyone seemed to assume, which only added to his steadily growing reputation. However, within a year, the conjecture only seemed to grow. Tensai was already capable of walking up the side of a tree. It wouldn't be long until he was spewing fireballs from his mouth like the other shinobi of his clan. These were the sort accolades the more knowledgeable in their implications gave to Tensai, and without a doubt, Tensai lived up to them in every area save written grades.
All said, this time of Tensai's life was the closest thing to idyllic he'd probably ever get. Praised by his peers and superiors alike, the center of attention in pretty much any class he was in, and a blissfully happy home life? What more could a young shinobi in training ask for? All that was left was the formality of the graduation exam and Tensai would be on his way to becoming a hero like those in the stories his mother always told him about.
Some months later, Tensai aced the graduation exam with top marks in all fields, and to celebrate, Narumi took him on a trip to the Land of Fire's countryside. He'd finally done it. All the hard work had payed off. He could start living life like everyone else. Well, living life like every other shinobi. Tensai doesn't quite remember how it started or who the attackers were, rogue shinobi, bandits, barbarians, it didn't matter. The one sight still fresh in Tensai's mind is that of a tanto shoved cleanly through his mother's gut. The next minute or so was a blur, a man approaching him with his weapon drawn, a blink, the feel of blood running down his eye, the scream of a man writhing on the ground, set ablaze by the black flames of the Amaterasu, and then nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The sheer amount of chakra output and pain required to activate his mangekyou sharingan was too much on Tensai's young body, and the action effectively destroyed his optic nerves, rendering him blind. The boy was found by a pair of travelers some time later and returned to Konoha, where he has slowly begun the process of grieving his mother and moving forward. Despite his predicament, Tensai maintains his desire to become a shinobi, seeing it as a way to honor his mother and ensure he doesn't spend the rest of his life in mourning.
As the death of Narumi and Tensai's subsequent blindness occurred very recently, Tensai has not been seen since, and the graduation ceremony will be the first time in several days that any of his classmates have laid eyes on him.
INFLUENCE & RELATIONS
Uchiha Chiaki: Maternal Grandmother
Uchiha Narumi: Mother
Uchiha Shinatobe: Maternal Aunt
Unknown
Hatake Shunpei: Tensai and Shunpei have known each other longer than their years in the academy would imply, as their mothers had been best friends and, seeing as they had two similarly aged children, introduced the two to each other almost immediately, forging a lifelong bond between the two in the form of driving the adults of the village mad with their antics. In short, Tensai thinks of Shunpei as nothing less than a brother, and treats the Hatake household as if they were extended family. A true home away from home.
Inuzuka Kegawa: While Shunpei is the first friend Tensai ever had in life, Kegawa is the first friend he managed to make after entering Konoha's shinobi academy. On their first day, Tensai had the fortune of being approached by a distressed Kegawa who had somehow lost track of her ninken partner, Momomaru. As you do when you're only seven years old, Tensai leapt at the opportunity for adventure, and after much aimless wandering and shouting, Momomaru was found stuck in a tree. Without hesitation, Tensai climbed the wooden prison and freed the imperiled pooch, much to Kegawa's relief. Thus began the two's close friendship, as Tensai took it upon himself to introduce Kegawa to Shunpei the very next day. He's still trying to convince Momomaru to be the group's official mascot.
Namikaze Fukushu: Of all his classmates, the one Tensai has struggled the most with is Fukushu. He finds himself wondering why he seems to be the target for all of Fukushu's cold jibes and insults despite his never being outright hostile to her in any way. While he has tried multiple times to reach out to Fukushu over the years, her increasingly dour attitude has turned Tensai to simply ignoring her whenever he can, though he still has a tendency to jolt up whenever she shoots him one of her piercing glares.
Hyūga Mitsuko:
Ryūga Tsume:
CHAKRA NATURE
Fire
SPECIAL TRAITS
Chakra Sensor: Though blind, Tensai seems to have awakened some form of latent ability as a sensor type. At present, Tensai's sensory skill is, well, practically nonexistent. He claims to have random "flashes" of color when people walk past him or just before he walks into someone. Just how potent this ability will become is anyone's guess however.
FOCUS & SKILLS
First and foremost, while Tensai was undoubtedly talented at almost all things ninja, there was one thing he made abundantly clear throughout his academy years; he knew next to nothing about the academics of his craft. This is not to say he didn't train diligently, quite the opposite. Tensai always threw himself at lessons enthusiastically when they didn't involve putting pencil to paper. He seemed to simply learn things after observing them, and when asked to explain how he did so, he'd shrug and wonder how walking up a tree with one's chakra or throwing three shuriken at once wasn't easy to everyone else. In short, Tensai excelled at the physical aspect of the shinobi and all but ignored the mental. A natural grasp of movement and molding his own chakra has formed the foundation of Tensai's skill set. Now unable to "do what he sees" as it were, Tensai's growth as a shinobi has undoubtedly been stunted. Just how severely and for how long has yet to be seen.
EQUIPMENT & INVENTORY
Tensai has shown a preference for the uniform kunai and shuriken during his time in the academy, and has experimented with manipulating his projectiles with ninja wire. Nobody tell him blindness renders your accuracy severely hampered.
JUTSU
Obvious list is obvious. Link to the Naruto wiki as well.
All things considered, Brent would rather be pretty much anywhere rather than where he was. No matter how often he found himself in the high school's detention hall, it never became less soul crushingly boring. No doubt that was the whole point. Maybe if the rebellious youth saw the alternative, they'd get on the straight and narrow just to avoid such a monumental waste of time. Evidently it didn't have a very success rate, considering the sheer amount of familiar faces in the crowd. One such face was currently at the front of the peanut gallery. Something about heading up to the quarry for fireworks to celebrate. To celebrate what, Brent did not know. He figured the immediate silence was going to be his fellow detainee's answer.
Then, the impossible happened. Someone accepted the offer. He didn't recognize the girl by name. Word from the grapevine was that she was some rich princess who managed to get busted for drugs in her locker. Somehow her father managed to get her locked up here rather than in juvie. A believable enough story considering what Brent knew about the upper class students at Angel Grove, but usually those types were smart enough not to store drugs in their lockers, and they certainly didn't mingle with the peasants. Unless they were dealing, of course.
He considered his options. Did he really want to drive all the way up to the mine just for cheap thrills? Well, he didn't have a shift scheduled at the garage later that day, and it would give him an excuse to get out of the house and away from his mother for an hour or two. Or three. What the hell, it was something to do. He didn't bother raising his head out of his arms to give his response, and he put his head back down almost immediately after giving it.
Member
Kuro
Little Bill
