A New Ruler [Open]

The hat. She had never lusted after it, had never hoped for it, had never wanted it. Yet, now she had it. Someone had had to step up and given her abilities, given the beast sealed within her, she was the best candidate for it: one of the strongest people in the village. People had left the village due to the previous kage's inactivity, and she would allow them to go: there was no point in putting prices on the heads of those who left due to a shotty government. No, she wouldn't fault them for their choices.

Things had been dead for too long; to much had been swept under the rug, covered up, and hidden. Changes were going to be made; lots of them.

Which, was precisely what the new Umikage was working on at her office desk. The office had been cleaned out, renovated for her new tastes; nothing too extravagant of course, just enough to make her comfortable - and she had paid for it all out of her own pocket and not the village funds. Her desk, a large wooden carved one with intricate designs of various fish, and its matching chair, several couches and chairs around her desk, plenty of tables that matched her desk, shelves filled with trinkets and other pretty things, and a miniature fridge stocked with all of her favorites. Simple, yet enough to be workable for her. Of course, the temperature was also comfortably low for her; only roughly fifty degrees; she'd prefer it lower, but she wasn't going to make everyone else around uncomfortable.

Another piece of paper was signed, moved from the spot in front of her and off of the stack, and over to the out-box bin on her desk which was now far fuller than the in-box. With yet another in her dwindling pile down she picked up a new piece of paper from in front of her and got to reading.

Myuto sat on the bridge in the bobbing waves, playing a tune. The skies above him were blue, with big creamy looking clouds. It was a hot, beautiful day. There were many fishing boats around, among them tourists boats that often came to this area to catch a glimpse of Umigakure.

Some of the tourists came up onto the bridges and platforms. Some came to take a look around, and some came to catch a glimpse at one of the last remaining shinobi of the village. A couple of people were standing on the bridge that Myuto sat on, listening to the tune he played. Some of the people often gave Myuto money, and since he tired of having to stop playing to take it, he had a cup next to him for donations. Whether or not people gave, it mattered little to Myuto; he didn't do it for the money.

His gaze would occasionally turn towards the horizon, to land, where he'd never been. He constantly wondered why he hadn't left like all the others; maybe is was because this was the only place he'd ever known. Maybe it was because he didn't want to go to far from the family, even with the way his older sister and younger brother treated him. Maybe it was because he was curious to see what would become of the village, now that barely anyone inhabited it.

Nevertheless, Myuto, like he did daily, sat on his favorite bridge, drumming out a tune with his custom built instrument.

"..."


(Rp post #1, WC: 260)

Another paper read, signed, and placed into her out-box. Her new secretary would get to filing them soon enough - the woman, Hoshi, was a god send after all. Umiko was only as organized as she was because of her: without her help Umiko likely would have a pile of paperwork up to her ceiling right now. It was while Umiko was reaching over to pick up another piece of paper that the sound of beautiful music reached her ears. She paused, the paper in her hand, and turned her head towards the open window; her office being the only portion of the building above water after all.

She put the piece of paper back onto her desk and shifted in her chair before standing. Wandering over to the window she opened the giant windows wide and looked out. In the distance she could see an individual on a bridge: he was playing the beautiful song she was hearing.

Umiko shifted a bit, leaning her back against the window frame while folding her arms across her chest. She listened in silence: she had a bit more paperwork to do, but she certainly could enjoy a bit of a break and listening to some good music. Umiko began to think about going outside, wandering over to meet this individual who was playing such beautiful music.

The clinking sounds of the ryo dropping into the donation cup was something he'd grown used to, even though he didn't desire the money. As the noted continued to be plucked out by his gloved fingers, Myuto let his thoughts wonder to the future of Umigakure. Would things turn around? Or would the village fall to ruin? In which case he'd have to leave, even if the new person in charge was strong.

He didn't know anything about the new person, except that she was a female, and that she used to hang around several other strong people who weren't in the village anymore; people he stayed away from. His brother and sister surfaced suddenly, splashing Myuto with a wave of water. Myuto didn't mind getting wet, and continued to play the Koto. They'd done it on purpose, he knew this, but everything they did was an effort to try getting under his skin, which he didn't allow. His expression didn't even change.

"Why're you always up here mute?" asked Same, his little brother. Same looked a lot like Myuto did, having the same red eyes and hair style. "It's so boring. All the cool strong guys left, so that just leaves you."

"I guess your new job Pan Handling is more fun huh?" added Sakana. "Playing beggar? How much have you managed to con out of the tourists today?" His 20 year old sister was a village beauty whom all of the eligible young men of the village tried to court. She often dressed like a mermaid, baring much of her skin and leaving little to the imagination. Like Same and Myuto she had red eyes, but had brown hair like their mother.

Myuto, not missing a note on the Koto, gave a plain glance to Sanaka and Same, before returning his stare out in the distance somewhere. Myuto didn't care about the money in the cup, and proved it by nudging it towards Same, who happily accepted it. "Hey, thanks!"

Sanaka seemed somewhat disappointed, mostly because her daily attempts to piss Myuto off or to make him say something normally failed. With a huff she pulled herself the rest of the way onto the bridge and dropped a bottle next to Myuto; a bottle of fresh water from his mother. He stopped playing to pick it up and pull out the cork. Myuto went to take a drink of it, but stopped to look inside of it. Myuto took several sniffs of the bottle, then looked to Sanaka plainly again as he poured the water out.

"Hahaha see, I told you bro would know you spiked it," Same said, laughing while counting the ryo.

"You're such a square, Myuto," Sanaka said with a frown, folding her arms. Her well developed body began to garner the attention of male tourists that occupied the bridges and rafts with them, but showing off like she was never seemed to be an issue for Sanaka.

(RP post #2, WC: 766)

Umiko glanced over to her secretary's desk; Hoshi was about to head off for her lunch break, something Umiko figured she too should take. There was no point in starving herself while attempting to get the village up and properly running after all. "Hoshi, why don't you take an extra half an hour, alright? I'm going to go meet the person playing that beautiful music." Hoshi nodded with a smile, grabbed her coat and purse, and then left.

Umiko watched Hoshi leave and then went over to the fridge and removed her lunch box; it was a plastic container sectioned off to hold a variety of food with a strap to it to make it easier to hold and carry. Umiko slipped it onto her shoulder and then walked over to the windows instead of the door: no point going through the ocean when she could simply use chakra to walk on the water and over to the bridge.

With chakra coating the bottom of her feet she stepped out of the window and onto the ocean. Thankfully, due to years of honing such a skill as well as chakra control, she was able to stand on top of the ocean without falling through. She used this ability to get her across the water and over to the bridge. She walked to the lower end and jumped up before making her way across it and closer to the person playing the music. She stopped nearby, noticing two other individuals, one a female dressed a bit revealing and the other a male who looked like him, nearby.

Umiko took a moment to lean herself against the railing before opening up her lunch box and pulling out a pair of chopsticks. A chunk of rice was plucked free from her lunch box and popped into her mouth, chewed and then swallowed without word. Her purple hair would blow in the gently breeze since she wasn't wearing her kage hat as red and black colored eyes would glance from time to time to the man playing. Another bite of food was brought to her mouth, chewed and swallowed..

The new Kage was coming. She exited the building that was to be used as the Administration Complex and walked across the water with chakra control, something he himself was taught. Myuto didn't exactly look at her, but could track her movements with his echolocation.

Same gave him another bottle. "Don't worry bro, it's clean," he said. Myuto took the bottle and removed the cork, sniffing and looking inside. It was clean like he said, and Myuto took a drink. He began to play another tune on the Koto; one that he would often play when someone new came to the house. When he started playing it, it caused both Same and Sanaka to look around, finally laying their eyes on the new Kage.

"Oh, you must be the new kage huh?" asked Sanaka of Umiko. "I remember you. You used to hang around a couple of scary looking people. A lot of villagers were afraid of you guys... So why did you decide to start leading a village with no shinobi left in it? Well, except for my brother here, but he sucks."

Myuto just blinked his eyes and continued to play his music. He showed no reaction at all. "Hahaha, she's crazy," said Same. "My brother is the best! He can do a bunch of cool things! He can play a song that can make anyone do what he wants them to! He can---"

"Same shut up!" said Sanaka. Myuto blinked his eyes slowly again. Even though Sanaka daily insulted and tried pranking him, she seemed to be very protective of Myuto. It seemed like she didn't want him getting involved in the revamp of the village, or any sort of ninja situation, so she would often tell people he was terrible.

"...Oh, right. I forgot," Same said, and he looked the other way.


(RP post #3, WC: 1,076)

Umiko took a bit of fish with the end of her chopsticks and skillfully brought it to her mouth; a quick pop into her mouth, some chewing, and she was ready for yet another bite. However, before she could snatch up her next bite she noticed something: the younger looking male was handing the older one a bottle of what looked to be water with a comment that it was clean which the older boy checked before sipping. Did he not trust them? They looked like they were his family, yet he didn't seem like he trusted them. Strange, but not her business.

Her attention shifted fully to the female when she was spoken to; red and black colored eyes focusing on her and her alone. Her question brought a bit of a smile to her face; nothing threatening, simply amused. "Heh. You're not the first person to ask me that today. I suppose I didn't want to see our beautiful village end up lying in ruin. Even if I'm the only one left to protect it... well, my family is here. Here is where they want to remain, so I will do what I can to ensure that happens - same for anyone else who feels that way."

She would then glance toward Myuto: she doubted he sucked as badly considering what the younger male began to claim before the female shut him up. Myuto seemed to have no reaction to any of this, and simply continued to play his music: was he shy, or was it perhaps he simply didn't care? Most people spoke up when people started to bad mouth him, but he hadn't said a word yet.

"So, you all know who I am, but who would you three happen to be? Are you three shinobi?", she would ask curiously before picking up a bit more rice with her chop sticks, bringing it to her mouth, and chewing it quietly.

"No," said Same to Umiko when she asked if they were Shinobi. "I want to be, but my mom and stupid Sanaka says no."

"I was never interested," said Sanaka, slapping Same on the back of his head, producing an oww from his mouth. "Mom didn't want any of us to be Shinobi like she used to be, but my lunk head brother here wouldn't be convinced. He's so stubborn." Sanaka frowned some, moving brown hair from her face. "My name is Sanaka Hozuki, and that's my baby brother Same. Our mother was a Kunoichi once, and our father farms the coral in this area. Maybe you've heard of them..."

Next she looked at Myuto. "This is our brother Myuto. It means Mute. He's never ever spoken a single word; he doesn't talk. He didn't even cry when he was a baby. He may have graduated at the top of his class in the academy, and he may have had a part in some missions around here, and he may have even made it to Jounin rank, but he still sucks. So if you're planning on building yourself an army you might as well count him out, okay? What good is a soldier if he doesn't talk?"

Still, Myuto showed no reaction, and simply took another long swig of his water. Tourists walked by and dropped more ryo into Myuto's cup. "Mom says you have a brother complex, whatever that means," said Same.

"I do not," Sanaka said immediately.

"You keep saying Mute sucks, but bro is amazing. Why try to hold him back? We should be proud if she wants to take him in so he can start back doing ninja stuff. What if some bad guys come and try to take over? Bro would do that sound thing he does and kick all of their butts easy, you saw 'em fight before. You want the Kage lady to have to fight them all off by herself?" Sanaka folded her arms again with a frown, looking at something off in the distance. "Hey Kage lady, Mute would be a cool soldier in your army. Our Hozuki clan are masters of Suiton. Bro learned how to mess with sound and he can use it to fight with. Sometimes he doesn't even have to fight, he can play a song that makes the bad guys fight each other!"

A shark emerged from below just then. Tourists began to scream and run. Even Sanaka and Same looked scared, but Myuto simply looked at the monster calmly. He seemed to flick something from the Koto towards the incoming shark while playing his song. The sound took the shape of an axe, slicing into the beast. Myuto performed 2 more flicks of the Koto, creating a sword and another axe composed of sound, with both of them traveling through the air quickly and hitting their marks. The shark was sliced in half.

Spoiler:

Chakra: 915/940

Myuto continued playing his song as tourists began to clap and cheer. Fishermen jumped into the water to harvest the shark for various things: food, clothing, and oil for example. "Nice job, bro! You saved everybody, even me and Sanaka!" said Same, making Myuto shake his head no with a skeptical expression. "Yeah, you did, bro! You're a hero!" Myuto waved him off and kept playing ...

(RP post #4, WC: 1,778)

Same answered her question, saying no, that he had wanted to be, but his mother and sister had said no. Sanaka then spoke up stating she was never interested while slapping Same on the back of the head which she assumed was for his stupid comment. Sanaka went on to explain that their mother hadn't wanted any of them to be shinobi like she used to be, but how Myuto, meaning mute since he had never spoken a single word, wouldn't listen. From what his sister said next Umiko was beginning to feel that perhaps his sister was a bit protective of him: she seemed steady willing to downtalk her brother and make him seem uninterested in helping to revive the village. Perhaps she was worried he would get hurt?

It also seemed however that Same didn't share this same opinion. He was all for trying to convince Umiko to let Myuto join her 'army'. He went on to explain some of the things that Myuto could do, and they certainly did sound like powerful techniques: all from manipulating sound no less. It wasn't easy to defeat sound users, Umiko herself knew that, because dodging sound wasn't exactly something doable. How did you dodge something you could hear? How would you know what was coming before it was too late?

The screams of the tourists brought her attention onto the shark. Umiko was going to crush the thing to death using the gourd of ice on her back, but before she even moved Myuto had already taken care of it - causing the thing to be sliced in half. "Interesting..."

Umiko's strange colored eyes moved from the shark and onto Myuto. "I'm not exactly making an army per say; but I am interested to see who all is sticking around. I don't exactly care that you don't speak, either." No, the choice would be his and his alone; despite what his siblings were saying.

Umiko wasn't making an army, but she did want to see who was staying. Umiko said that she didn't care that Myuto never spoke either. Myuto responded by simply taking his Umigakure headband out, and tying it around his neck. He lived here. He was born here, and raised here. He did want to travel eventually, but unlike those others who left and simply vanished without a trace, Myuto himself had no plans to abandon the village.

This didn't seem to settle too well with Sanaka who frowned and kept her arms folded. "Hmmph," she huffed, turning away. "Fine, do what you want. You deal with mom and dad's reactions on your own too. Don't come crying to me when you get hurt." Sanaka dove back into the water, causing a chorus of "awws" from the horny young males in attendance. Myuto looked at the splash she made with his plain expression, then did a "yak yak yak" motion with his right hand.

"Hahaha," laughed Same. "So you're gonna be a Shinobi again bro? That's awesome. I wonder if mom will let me start training again too!" Myuto shrugged his shoulders. "I'll go ask. Don't worry about Sanaka bro, she's a fish head. I know nobody's gonna hurt you, and mom and dad will probably be real happy!" Same waved to Umiko before he jumped in next.

Myuto reached behind him and removed his "Melody Arm" from his pack, a device he found on the ocean floor when he was younger. He spent years fixing it, but never got the chance to put it to use. Myuto fixed the strange looking device to his right forearm with straps, tying them tightly.

(RP post #5, WC: 2,070)

Umiko watched as Myuto pulled out his village headband and tied it around his neck; she took this as an indication that he still wished to be a part of the village, that he still wished to be an active shinobi in it. His sister didn't seem to happy with the idea and left via diving into the ocean, which seemed to upset some of the younger male onlookers who had quite clearly enjoyed seeing the amount of skin she was showing off. Umiko just shook her head a bit and then focused back onto Same and Myuto.

Same seemed excited about Myuto's choice, and even mentioned wondering if he would be allowed to start his own training back up again. She returned his wave before watching him too leave back into the ocean.

Umiko popped another piece of fish out of her lunch box with her chopsticks while watching Myuto fit some sort of device to himself, and popped it into her mouth. She chewed while thinking, and then swallowed. "Hmm. You know, I could use some help delivering some letters if you're interested. To the other villages kage's that is. I wanted to inform them of what was going on, and about how I've taken charge of the village after the long absence of our previous kage. Interested?" Umiko would ask, removing not one but three sealed scrolled stamped with wax that had dried in the shape of her clan's seals. She wasn't expecting a verbal response, but if he chose to take them then she'd accept that as a yes. "You can visit for a while in each village if you want; I know things are a bit boring around here right now. Up to you, though.."

Travel. It was something he'd daydreamed of doing his whole life. He was born in the ocean, he was raised in the ocean, he WAS the ocean, but in the ocean he couldn't remain forever. The itch to travel around, set foot on solid ground for the first time, to see other shinobi and their styles... He'd never had a reason to leave the village before, and now he did.

Myuto put the strings of the Koto into each of the wooden rods used to connect the instrument, then put both rods onto his back in an X formation, holstered by a cloth on his back that bared his clan symbol while standing up. He took another long drink of water, taking the notes from Umiko and looking at the seals that had a symbol on them. Myuto knew better than to open them and read them. He put them in his pouch, which was water tight, meaning they wouldn't get wet while he was underwater.

Umiko, in so many words, told Myuto he could take his time since the village was slow going for now. His first official order from the new Kage of the village... Myuto, still with his plain expression, nodded his head and gave a thumbs-up to Umiko, before diving into the waters himself.

(RP post #6, WC: 2,293)

-Thread exit-