Yūrei, Ryūketsu

At fifteen, Ryūketsu stands at 5’6”, and weighs a lean 125 pounds with notably unsettling maroon eyes and small eyebrows. Naturally, Ryūketsu’s hair is pale purple in color, so pale that it’s almost gray in saturation. He’s not particularly fond of the color given to him by the genetics of his bloodline, so he’s constantly dying it a teal color rather than leaving it natural. He’s been dying it persistently since he was around ten or so, so really only people who knew him before that time know his natural hair color.

The teen’s usual attire consists first of white wrappings that cover his entire torso and arms, ending just before his eyes and covering most of his ears. It's extremely rare for him to be seen without them by anyone - if they do they'll see a menagerie of scars over his body. Over those wrappings, he wears a loose maroon top with sleeves that have about a 12” of length past his hands. He wears this shirt tucked into another wrapping just below his torso. The pants Ryūketsu wears are slightly baggy vertically striped pants that are tucked into his dark green ankle height heel and toeless boots.

Ryūketsu was born in the town of Oikana in the Southwestern Islands of Mizu no Kuni in the year 920 A.S. His birth was ten years after Kirigakure was formed, but there was no fanfare for his birth. His parents weren’t of a prominent clan, war heroes, or anyone that held any influence. But that wasn’t always the case.

Akaihaname, Ryūketsu’s mother, and Chitamari, Ryūketsu’s father, were also born within Oikana four years apart, his father the older. Though, at the time of their births Oikana was a very different place as it was still a pirate stronghold at the time. As such, their parents, members of the Yūrei clan, were indeed pirates and that was the initial life that they were drawn into, and Chitamari and Akaihaname were due to wed and merge their families as part of an arranged marriage by the time they were of age.  And luckily this arranged marriage wouldn’t be a loveless as they were thick as thieves from their first meeting.

Of course, as members of the elusive Yūrei clan, there was more to them than simple pirates. They were dealers of intelligence, and at times they would sell the information to various other shinobi clans to use against their enemies. They never really took a side until the Hozuki came to ask for their help against the Inazuma. At this point, Chitamari and Akaihaname and their families agreed to ally themselves with the Hozuki and their goal of building Kirigakure, and they became a prominent part of the effort.

However, joining with the Hozuki’s goals did not end up having a very good endgame for the Yūrei clan pirates.  Before the war between the two clans would come to a close, the majority of Chitamari and Akaihaname’s  branches of the Yūrei clan had been slaughtered, as most simply couldn’t keep up with the violence. And, talented as the pair were, seeing the slaughter of their family and friends and seeing how their own abilities were having trouble coping with the stresses, they chose to abandon the war in favor of keeping their lives.  

Now, some may say that this was cowardice, but considering how many of their bloodline had already died for the Hozuki’s cause, and their own deteriorating health at the time, it was the best choice that they could have made to preserve their lives, and the future of their bloodline. And so they left, returning to Oikana and helping it change from pirate stronghold to a fishing village – their clan, and knowledge that they were once of the shinobi cloth fading into the background in favor for their lives as simple spear fishermen.

They lived a quiet life, really, and as such most of Ryūketsu’s early life was also a quiet life. He was the child of two simple fishermen, and he would have been ready to take on that civilian role of providing fish to the market of Oikana had his father not started to also train him secretly in the ways of the shinobi.  This was much to the displeasure of Akaihaname.  

With their bloodline, Ryūketsu’s mother didn’t want her son to have the disappointment of having to leave that sort of life behind – or worse end up dead like most of their clan line.  But this didn’t stop Chitamari and his son. Compared to his parents and many of his clan, Ryūketsu was healthier and this was what motivated them in his training – though he does have his moments of illness. Ryūketsu was dedicated to his shinobi training and, of course the spear fishing that his dad has started training him in when he was four. But he never really would have become a true shinobi had a Jounin from Kirigakure not visited Oikana on a mission and shown him what a true shinobi could be like from a distance – Ryūketsu observing from the docks.

This started Ryūketsu down the rabbit-hole of wanting to become a true full fledged shinobi as his ultimate career path, and eventually he managed to convince his parents to send him to Kirigakure so that he could go to the academy. So send him they did, but not until he was eight, when he was nearly three years older than when most children would be starting the academy.

Of course, at first this bothered Ryūketsu incredibly that he wasn’t as far along as those his age, but there was another boy a year older than him in his class of the academy that he became good friends with, Toyo Sōsa. Meeting Toyo made living in Kirigakure away from his family a lot easier, because Ryūketsu was, and still is a very sentimental individual who was still close to his family, even with his chosen path. So, he lived in Kirigakure, going to school with his friend, and going home to Oikana every time he got the chance.

It was an enjoyable life for the quiet boy, and he was in general, always happy. Until things got rougher when he was older. Graduating the academy was when things took a turn for the worse, and when his happy demeanor became cold and calloused and all the more quiet than it had been. The unlucky graduate got roped into something that he shouldn’t have been when he and a mentor were out training.  A genin, he was pulled into fighting of several jounin ninja, much above his skill set.

This event left Ryūketsu scarred both mentally and physically, after watching his mentor be murdered only to be rescued by another kirigakure jounin just before he was slaughtered along with him. This event is why Ryūketsu is watchful and considers opponents and other people before acting. He doesn’t like the thought of losing anyone to foolish actions, or getting hurt because of them. Because of this, as he’s grown as a genin, he’s focused on analysis of other individuals before his actual fighting skills – though he knows he needs to hone those to even if his genetics don’t lend themselves to well to that.

And, though he now resides in Kirigakure as his permanent residence as he focuses on his career as a shinobi, he still makes the time to visit his family in Oikana as often as he can.

Ryūketsu’s appearance plays a big factor into people’s impression of him. With wrappings covering his face up to his eyes, people can’t see whether he’s smiling, frowning, etc, and it’s rare for him to express himself too much with either his eyes or eyebrows beyond a furrowed brow or narrowed eyes. This makes the quiet, cunning, watchful and contemplative teen come across as callous to many.  

However, though he appears to have a callous demeanor, Ryūketsu actually has more empathy than he cares to admit. It’s something that he fights with on a daily basis, attempting to keep it under the firm wrap of logic and impartiality as he was taught by his father. Logic usually wins the fight, especially when in the company of others, but sometimes his heart will win out and his actions will be guided by his empathy.  However, because of this empathetic heart that he has, this can also lead him to be incredibly unforgiving to those who’ve wronged him and he can and will hold some serious grudges.

The teen is an incredibly patient, persistent, and self-controlled individual in all moments of life, including moments that may be unenjoyable for him. This can be a benefit on missions that call for a long amount of time to be used as he will gather intel and wait until the time to act finally arrives. Some of his favorite pass times are fishing, or going out on tracking trips. Of course, this nature can of course be agitating to those who are the more ‘grab life by the horns’ sort.

Ryūketsu enjoys reading, tea, fishing and free diving, drawing, tracking/hunting, meditation, people watching, blending into crowds, and music.  He dislikes children though he’s good at handling them because of his patience, people who rush into things without thinking first, smoking, and sand.

Teal hair broke the calm surface of the water a few meters out from the docks as Ryūketsu found himself resurfacing into the morning fog. It wasn’t much of a difference, having his face in the water or out of it at this time of morning, with how the fog clung to his skin, but he didn’t mind it. Ryūketsu found the unwavering nature of fog combined with the unpredictable nature of the water calming, and from where he tread water he let out a soft sigh. An early morning swim had been just what he’d needed.  

Of course, the docks Kirigakure were already bustling with morning life as they normally would be. The lives of fishermen were for early risers, and his unsettling maroon eyes scanned the docks ahead of him contemplatively.  Only a few weeks ago he’d been back in Oikana helping his family with their business on some time off, his mother once again trying to talk him into coming home. She’d tried wooing him with his favorite foods, playing music with him, and even diving with him, but in the end he’d chosen to return.  He missed the simple life of a spear fisherman, yes. But he’d long accepted that becoming a shinobi was what he was meant to do.

Smiling at the thought of his family, Ryūketsu let his chin and mouth dip under the water again, closing his eyes and allowing himself to just dead sink into the water for a few feet.  The water was so peaceful compared to the bustling life of the village that was becoming a city day by day, and he was glad he still had it to retreat to when he needed a break. Letting out a spurt of air from his mouth the teen opened his eyes in the water to see the distorted bubbles floating upwards before following after them back to breaking the surface again.

This time when he broke the surface, the teen admired the docks and the few lights of the village that were slowly coming on for only a moment before lifting his arms to propel himself forward to the shore to the side of the docks where he’d left his things neatly hidden away as he usually did. His things were undisturbed, like usual when he returned to them – not that anyone would have any reason to do so. When he went on morning swims like this he didn’t really bring anything worth anything with him – and if he did, he kept it on him as he swam.

So, drying himself off he was quick to dress, not really one for wanting to gather unwanted attention to himself. Not that anyone would say anything untoward about him taking his long morning swims with how they'd become ritual for him since moving to Kirigakure all those years ago to come to the academy. If he had to estimate, he’d probably have been in the water for his usual hour judging from how many lights were now on in the streets and how the sky’s colors were changing. Not that that bothered him. Ryūketsu had practically been raised in the water of Oikana’s shore, so long swims weren’t unusual.

Rolling his shoulders and glancing once more at the docks, he then pulled his boots on before heading towards the morning market, hair still dripping. Perhaps he would manage to find good deals on fresh fish this morning, and maybe he'd  take it to Toyo's so that they could have breakfast together.