Post by Kuroyama Karei on Dec 13, 2011 21:05:15 GMT -6
Name: Kuroyama Karei
Age: 21
Village: Amegakure
Rank: Jounin
Alias: Monsun
Appearance
Karei stands at 6'3" and weighs 140 lbs, giving him quite the tall, dark, and handsome look. Although he doesn't mind the clichѐ, he does mind when crowds gawk in unison at him.
Karei's alabaster skin is preserved by wearing a light coating of sunscreen whenever he leaves his house, even for the simplest reason, such as buying groceries. Bright red eyes teeming with intelligence sit atop high cheekbones, and perfectly manicured midnight-black eyebrows allow Karei's silent expressions a subtle hint of mischievousness. A soft, yet angular nose is centered on Karei's face and, when needed, supports a pair of frameless glasses with silver legs for reading. Thick dark lashes rim the man's ruby eyes and sometimes annoy him by pressing against his glasses when in use, but once the glasses come off, Karei's lashes caress his cheeks and soften his eyes to such a degree that he seems to stare off into space when he contemplates a matter. His teeth are a pure, shimmering white from his knowledge of plants and other herbs that are able to bleach his teeth without thoroughly damaging them.
The man's hair is one of his many trademarks, though with his homemade products, this feature seems to stand out more than others. Karei's locks have been so well taken care of that they give off a healthy glow and shine in even the darkest places with minimal sunlight. It is cut in an A-line bob style mostly for girls, but with his angular chin, Karei pulls the look off quite nicely. A part rests slightly to the right and a rouge strand of hair falls into his face, but doesn't block his vision, so he doesn't consider it a nuisance. The back on his hair ruffles lightly, and a few short spikes of soft hair stick up, though it adds to his overall look instead of distracting or taking away from it.
The young man's body structure is quite similar that of others. A slender neck accents his strong cream-colored torso, and lean muscles are easily seen on his abdomen. Similarly, his limbs are only slightly muscular though most of the power resides in his legs, giving enough body mass to the teacher so that though he may not be stronger than others in the area, but he is superbly lithe and quick enough on his feet to outrun even a seasoned athlete.
Karei prefers a Westernized wardrobe consisting of many black tuxedos with silver studded buttons and matching pants and ties. Simple white dress shirts and butler-like gloves are the only contrast to his otherwise dark clothing, and a silver pocket watch on a thin chain is fastened to the bottommost right button on his jacket and tucked away into the pocket below for safekeeping, and polished black shoes are worn on his feet. When on a mission, however, Karei will wear a lightweight tanktop-like black shirt with a matching sleeveless cotton kimono that hangs open until it reaches a thin red sash. Karei's weapons pouch is fastened around the top of this accessory. The kimono continues down and sports a pattern of three red-and-white carnations clustered together on his hip and peeks out from below the pouch. The kimono stops just short of his ankles, and standard black shinobi sandals adorn his feet. Black armwarmers with a thin strip of netting at the tops cover his arms. A thick red scarf rests around Karei's neck, and beneath that, the silver chain of his pocketwatch hangs out to his chest. The watch itself is tucked within the folds of the scarf where a secured pouch may be opened and closed for safekeeping.
Aiko, small tan house cat with dark brown stripes, a white belly, and glistening green eyes, trots after Karei whenever he makes a motion to move. The cat shares many of the same interests as he himself does, and Karei finds a comforting friend in the fluffy creature.
Personality:
Karei's primary mode of living is focused internally, and as such, he is quite the introvert. He values security and kindness and is distraught when none are presented, though he has learned how to mask his feelings well. When presented with an emotional challenge, Karei bottles everything into himself and never lets it show. If pleased, Karei will warmly thank the other, but if bashed, he will allow the feelings to build and well inside of him until he needs an outlet which usually presents itself as a physical outing.
When such an occasion arises, Karei tends to keep to himself. He will train diligently until all of his frustrations have been released and feels content enough to show himself to the public once more. Because of this habit, he has learned many jutsu as a focus of the training. Usually convinced that "everything is all wrong" or he "can't do anything right," Karei has proven to himself over and over again that he is not merely a tool of his country and that he is an individual with a mind, a body, and a spirit. He believes that one cannot be a person without his own mind to make decisions, a body to carry those decisions out, and the spirit to guide him in the right direction. Without those three, a person is merely a weapon in the hands of someone else.
If there is no physical outlet, Karei will not hesitate to let it out verbally on others that anger him, especially those that have harmed him or those that are not doing their jobs correctly or at all. He is usually quite intimidating depending on the person, and because of his ability to put up with many wrongs before exploding and his usually easy-going attitude towards others, he makes for a decent leader. He pushes those he cares about most to their limits to see them succeed, and although he is stricter on those he does not like, he attempts to give an equal amount of helpfulness all around.
Karei is also able to read the atmosphere well. Whenever he enters a room or similar place, he can tell people's moods at a glance from a combination of their facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice, as well as how the others in the room are acting if anyone is there. If calm, Karei will either join the room or simply smile and be on his way. If not, Karei will attempt to help if he believes that he can lend a hand; if things look like they would be impossible for him to help with, he usually will go find someone else that could. He cares so much more about others than himself that he will drain himself to see the smallest smile on another's face.
History:
Born into a family of chefs in Amegakure, Kuroyama Karei learned the basics of cooking from his parents. The family owned a tiny restaurant that also functioned as the family house in the middle of the slums, and they hardly received any business because of the horrid financial state of the country. With no other jobs and the demand for money increasing, the shop had to charge more and more for their goods until, finally, the store closed down and the Kuroyama family was forced into the streets.
While searching for a new job and being completely unsuccessful, Karei's mother found a stray cat wandering about the slums, and, feeling sorry for the creature, brought it back home. It was only later that they found out she was pregnant, and a litter of kittens was born; however, the mother died while giving birth. The Urushiyama family had a mini-funeral for the mother cat and took extremely good care of her kittens.
When a noble happened by the family and saw the kittens, he payed a few thousand ryo for all but one which the Kuroyamas wanted to keep and named Tora.
Wanting to help with the financial situation, Karei decided to become a shinobi. His parents enrolled him in the school, and Karei worked night and day to train his body and mind into becoming the perfect tool for both his country and his family. He constantly referred to his training as "sharpening his blade," and within a few months, he had soared to the top of his class, and soon after that, he aced the graduation exam. Now proud, his parents spent what little money they had from doing odd chores on buying him new clothes to congratulate him. His little sister was jealous of the way that their parents praised him, and she turned her back on both her family and the shinobi lifestyle.
Seeing how his little sister treated him, Karei began doubting his choice, but with the constant trickle of money from his new occupation, there was no way that he could deny what he did was wrong. His family finally had the funds to reopen the restaurant, and together with his little sister, Karei's mother and father began cooking and teaching her what Karei himself had already learned.
Karei didn't find comfort in cooking again, and since he was away so often from missions and training, he didn't have the time to spend with his family in the kitchen, and Karei found that a rift in the family had been formed. His little sister made snide comments about his shinobi ways both behind his back and to his face, and each time he heard her harsh words, he felt his soul being pierced over and over again until he finally felt like he was going to burst.
He began taking out his anger on nearby objects away from his house and trained his body once again until he was about to collapse. He went back home that night to find Tora giving birth, and he instantly ran to her side and delivered her babies while his family was preparing food for the guests. Tora passed away as her mother did, and Karei sneaked warm milk from the pantry in the kitchen to feed to the newborn kittens one by one until his family finally came out to find that they had neglected their cat and her babies.
As the kittens grew up, a tawny kitty with dark brown stripes and curious green eyes began padding after Karei constantly and mewed at him whenever he tried to leave her alone. Karei finally gave in and began carrying her with him where ever he went, and he grew attached to the kitten and named her Aiko since she was the only one that he felt strongly for.
When Karei was asked out by a girl that wasn't in his squad, he was hesitant at first, but he accepted her advances and became her boyfriend. He didn't feel much differently toward her than his female teammate, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Aiko became jealous of Karei's new girlfriend and clung to him more desperately than before, thinking that the human girl was going to take him from her, but when the other became frustrated with the kitten and told him to choose between them, Karei immediately chose his beloved Aiko.
A few days later, Karei was introduced to the Chuunin Exams, and he trained diligently with his teammates, though he didn't have any special relationships with them to mention. When they failed the exams, the distraught Karei returned home and found a comfort int he kitchen with the rest of his family as he attempted to mend the broken relationships between them.
Karei continued to train both in the kitchen and in the field, and finally after failing two other times, he and his teammates passed the Chuunin Exams.
It was then that Karei fully turned towards the kitchen and began learning about medics and their practices, and with the help of some of his friends that had taken up the field, his mother, and guidebooks, Karei began learning how to make healing foods. He perfected a stew that would boost immunity in sickly peoples, candy that helped to stimulate the body for long periods of time, and tea to put others into a relaxing sleep, among other recipes.
When the restaurant was attacked by raiders, Karei tracked the bandits and jailed them with the ANBU's help, and once he returned to the house, he was awarded a visit to the kage and the title of "Jounin."
While Karei was out training one day, he came across a shinobi's corpse laying in the outskirts of the village. Thinking it was his duty to take care of the remains, he lifted the body only to see a scroll topple from the man's bag. He quickly recovered it so it wouldn't get drenched in the heavy rainfall and brought the man to a nearby cavern. Curiosity got the best of Karei, and he took the scroll out and began to read it only to find it was a forbidden jutsu. He was surprised by this but supposed that the deceased shinobi was supposed to be delivering the scroll to another location and somehow ended up starving to death or something else internally simply because there were no external wounds. Against his better judgement, Karei kept the scroll on himself and disposed of the body before returning to the village again and locking himself in his room to study. He found that it was a jutsu that allowed the user to summon the dead permanently, though the newly-raised would be in bad shape. Thankfully, Karei already knew some healing methods and would be able to bring them back to full health within a matter of hours. The jutsu also put the other under the user's complete control. This was stunning to Karei, and he studied it diligently.
It was only when Karei left the village again that he was able to gain information on a renegade group known as the Akatsuki. He had heard from numerous sources that the head of the gang resided in Amegakure's tallest tower, but he was unaware of their intentions. When he caught wind that they wanted to gain power, this struck a chord with Karei. He decided, even if the leader was a part of his village, that no renegade group should gain enough power to do as they pleased and vowed to use this new jutsu to stop them.
