Hika Tourou

Born in Kesshōgakura, Tourou was born to the Hika clan. His parents were not very high ranking within his clan. In fact, they were actually looked down upon by other Hika clan members. Tourou's father in particular suffered from a common problem found among Kesshō residents. Gambling Addition. Ah, while Kesshōgakura could be a magical place full of luxuries and fortune, it could also be home to great tragedy. Because even in the ninja world, the house always wins.

When Tourou was four years old, his father bet him on a game of Hanafuda to a foreigner from the mountains named Tai Sota. Sota was a trader and was interested in Tourou because he had never seen the Hika Clan's unique features until meeting Tourou and his father. Simply betting Tourou on the Hanafuda game was already a major dishonor on his entire clan. The majority of Kesshōgakura's native clans came from escaped slaves and abused workers. Treating his own son like property made Tourou's father a traitor to his people's history. And what made it worse? He lost.

Tai Sota left Kesshōgakura with his new pet. Tourou didn't have the best upbringing up until then, but it was a whole lot better than what was to come. Sota dragged Tourou far away from his home underground and into the light. The boy with aquatic features and an affinity for electricity became a novelty. Tourou was forced to both fight and perform for whoever would pay a pretty penny. Sota described Tourou as his little badger. Fierce. Trained to be shoved into small places and do his bidding. The problem was up until that point Tourou was a shy and sweet little boy. Despite his terrible father, Tourou had been known as that little cutie who would sit with you and listen to your day. And, he always seemed like he understood. So young and yet able to comprehend big people problems.

But...He wasn't home. He was with Tai Sota. And Tai Sota was a monster.

When Tourou didn't want to do something, he would get beat. Any transgression would result in Sota attacking him mercilessly. Simply talking was enough to set off Tai Sota. So he didn't. Tourou learned quickly to not speak. Sota actually forgot what Tourou sounded like at one point. Tourou even went a full three years without uttering a single word. But, he was always listening. Even if it wasn't to take in other people's problems like he did when he was a little boy...Tourou remained observant even as he aged. He would pick up on things that passing shinobi would say, often secrets that he definitely shouldn't know. Tai Sota didn't exactly keep the best company and that resulted in Tourou hearing about way too many injustices of this world.

On one terrible day, Tai Sota was traveling through a small settlement with a young twelve year old Tourou at his side. If he had stayed in Kesshōgakura Tourou would have been enrolled in the ninja academy by now, not being some slave to a crazy merchant. For most of his life now, he did Sota's bidding. He stole, killed, used his electricity to amuse him, really anything at Sota's word. Tai Sota had him trained well. But on that terrible day, Sota ordered something worse than usual. He got into an argument with the village's leader. For retribution... Tai Sota ordered Tourou to kill the leader's daughter, a young girl that was maybe seven years old. And Tourou did it. Without a second thought, he cut down a little girl who had nothing to do with the argument just because a bad man told him to.

Tourou's reaction to killing the girl wasn't cold indifference. Years of bottled-up emotions all slipped out at once. To Tai Sota's horror, Tourou just started laughing. Sota yelled at him, told him to stop. But Tourou wouldn't. And then Tourou cut down Sota. Tourou didn't stop. He continued to slaughter the entire settlement. Bad people, good people, adults, children, it didn't matter. They either died by the claws of Tourou's teeko-kagi or they were electrocuted when they got too close and tried to stop him. The whole area became a bloody field of wild energy, zapping anyone who dared to step within it.

But, someone did anyway...

Sixteen year old Safaia Kurojaku ran right through the electricity with no hesitation. He completed evaded Tourou's claws and bear-hugged him. Even when Kourou's claws started to dig into Jaku's back through his armor, the Kesshōgakura prince kept his grip and simply said "I've been looking for you". Because he had been. Jaku had always had a big heart for his people. When he saw Tourou's name on the list of the ninja academy's recruitment list marked off as a no-show, Jaku investigated this by himself. He was horrified after finding out what had happened from other Hika clan members. Jaku ended up spending months tracking down Tai Sota, looking for Tourou.

It was not an easy adjustment. Tourou fought Kurojaku constantly. He tried biting him, electrocuting him, attacking him in his sleep. Jaku took it all with a smile on his face. The prince didn't judge the slaughter. He just dragged Tourou all the way back to Kesshōgakura while talking about stupid mundane things that made him happy. Somehow this worked at Jaku was able to befriend Tourou. Tourou had been on the edge of becoming the ninja world's next major serial killer...instead Jaku's stupid monologs converted him back into an alley. Mostly. Tourou still hated basically everyone else. Jaku became his only real friend. Instead of sending him off to the ninja academy like he was supposed to, Jaku instead trained with Tourou. Kurojaku didn't exactly have his own team like other shinobi of his age anyway. Besides, Tourou's skills were already more advanced than anything the current genin were leaning anyway.

Currently, Tourou works at Kurojaku's personal ANBU bodyguard and assistant. He does go on solo missions for Kesshōgakura, but for the most part stays at Jaku's side. ...Jaku is still trying to work on getting him to smile more.