Tuujaimaa

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

I'd like to point out also that characters in the Narutoverse tend to be very young - Shira is older than some of the Jounin were at this point (though she is not as skilled and I am not intending to imply or state that) so she has had more time to condition herself to the weight of the blade. While she's become very accustomed to bearing the weight of the sword, she's almost completely foreign to actually swinging it in such a fashion that it could be considered a weapon. I intend fully for her to struggle learning to use it as a weapon rather than a symbol of heritage.

So while I intend to show exhaustion as she uses the blade as a weapon, she will not be fatigued from carrying it around. That is a burden she got used to a very long time ago. I assume that's okay, Prince? If not, I guess I'll have to change stuff around.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

Let's not fight. :(

We can all agree that it's heavy and learning to use it as a weapon will be harrowing. c:

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

Uh. She's used to carrying it. That's literally it. She isn't skilled with using it as a weapon at all.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

Yaaaaay Durn <3

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

I usually take the term "Universe" to include history. If you do not, I apologise for the misleading term.

---

Regardless, muchos apologies for the many posts <3

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

Genin =/= Kid.

Genin is the lowest rung of the Shinobi ladder. Shira's titles are nothing to do with Shinobi. The clan predates Shinobi.

~

Your argument about Genin from the show is contextually invalid. This is a very different universe from that of the show.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

If they were Hataga who participated in a war, they would be Warbringers. It's a title bestowed only by the Hataga that means something only to the Hataga - I don't see why it's an issue.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

>bitching about a genin having a title

>not a ninja title

To clarify:

She is Master of the Flag because she has inherited it through lineage.

She is a Warbringer because she participated in a war.

That is how the Hataga clan works. They are nothing to do with the ninja world. It isn't something you can compare in the fashion that you did, Beta. Shira doesn't possess those titles because of any inherent skill or achievement - she was born with one, and participated in war to receive the other.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

"If you had carried it around every day for ten years, you would be able to lift it too, Kami-sensei." Shira replied, thrusting it forwards so that she could take the massive weapon. If Kami's point was to prove that Shira was stronger than most people by virtue of being used to the weight, the method she was currently attempting was not going to be successful - holding Unmei no Chikara was not about strength of body. Holding the ancestral glaive was as much about knowing how to hold it as well as being used to its weight, it was about a deep understanding of the way in which they were forged and of the burden that you were taking up. To hold Unmei no Chikara was to hold the history of everyone who had ever held it before in your hands, to hold a weapon that had seen every war since the first, and to hold the legacy of hundreds upon thousands of people close to your heart. The Power of Fate was not something to be taken up lightly - something Kami would learn - but it would not prove her point. Wielding the glaive required knowledge and time, not something as mundane as strength.

"I was in the war, Kami-sensei. That is why I hold the title of Warbringer. Warbringer Shira, Master of the Flag. Please understand that I am confident in what I can do, and that I have used my skills in true war before - I am just more aware of my limits than others may be. The future is an unknown, so it is my responsibility to guide it towards the ideal. As a Warbringer of the Hataga, I am to ensure that my future is one of warfare, and in order to ensure that I must grow stronger. I must become more than I am, and that is where I am in need of you, Kami-sensei. As for Sai's family... That isn't something I have to worry about, Kami-sensei. My immediate family are dead, and the remainder of the Hataga are honour-bound to war - if I am to be killed by what I could call my family, it will be the purest death possible, and I will welcome it." Shira added, taking on a grave tone of her own as she did so. The pair seemed to be concrete in their beliefs, and while Kami was trying to impose her beliefs upon Shira, she did not have that authority, and she never would have that authority. She was not Bujin. Shira would obey her to the end, follow her every command, but she would never falter in her loyalty to everything that the Hataga were. There was no greater crime.

"A title and honour mean nothing to you because you have never had them, Kami-sensei. You do not understand what it means to serve. I will be what I am meant to be, for Unmei no Chikara does not give power to those who cannot take it. It decides my destiny as much as I do, and if I am to grow strong and masterful, then I will be. I mean no disrespect, Kami-sensei, but you are not Hataga. You cannot understand, not yet."

As she finished speaking, Shira dropped Unmei no Chikara down onto Kami's unstretched hands, giving her the weapon so she could feel its weight - it was not just a physical weight, but a metaphorical weight, and while she perhaps would not initially understand why Unmei no Chikara felt so heavy, she would do so in time - she would learn from it, and be its student, for destiny was the greatest teacher of all.

Naruto: Birth of a Better Generation

As Kami had stood there, looking shellshocked at Shira's appearance, several doubts began to run through her mind: What if she'd picked the wrong person, and had just reported to an innocent child eating chestnuts? What if she refused to train her, to give her a purpose again? More doubts remained myriad within the echoing caverns of her mind, but she could not hear them over the sound of silence that had descended between the two. The only difference between the two ninja in that specific moment was their outwards expression of the contents of their mind - where Kami looked awestruck and gobsmacked, Shira had kept herself completely expressionless, ready to obey at the first word, like she always was. The entire affair must have been quite a spectacle for one who casually observed it taking place.

When Kami finally found the energy to speak, what she blurted out was certainly... Random. Shira would have responded, but anything that she could have thought about saying would have been insubordinate or obvious, and first impressions were crucial - especially in the process of imprinting a genin on someone of a higher rank - and she wanted to make as good an impression as she could. Silence was definitely the best answer for that particular issue. Shira was, initially, unsure what to think of the figure that she was to call Sensei and bond with for a considerable portion of her life - and what it lacked in span, it made up for in importance. The formative years were always the most important, and as this was Shira's very first day of being a Genin, she wanted to learn as much as she could. She needed the best teacher possible in order to do that - and while she did not yet know what to think of Kami, it was not like she really had that much of a choice. Insubordination was unthinkable, and she could not speak out against Kami even if she wanted to.

Shira remained stoic until Kami said "You're strong then?", before speaking:

"Not strong - I'm just used to the weight. I can't use it as a weapon as well as I should be able to." The response was blunt, informative, and lacking in any discernible forms of emotion - Shira was not one of those people that lamented their weakness with all their heart, and felt a flurry of emotions compelling them to get better, or to not let them defeat themselves. Shira was a warrior who had been taught her limits and had limits imposed upon her since her day she was old enough to begin training, and if that process had taught her anything, it was that strength was simply strength. It was a skill that could be learned, like any other, and that it was her duty to learn as many skills as were necessary to make her into a paragon of the Hataga, to bring honor to the title that was "Warbringer". The thought of bringing honour to her ancestors and her title did, admittedly, make her chest swell with pride - but that was an emotion that could not be allowed to surface or to cloud her judgement. In order to learn, perfect clarity was required. With regards to perfect clarity, emotions were but a distraction.

"I seek only to learn the way of the blade to bring honour to my title, to Konoha, and to my clan, Kami-sensei."