Unearthing a Legacy

“Your father told me on his deathbed, that should you ever discover your true lineage and seek to tread the path of a shinobi, you should have this, it’s your birth right”
 
The conversation with his mother still rang in Akis head as he shovelled the dirt, digging a hole beneath the white tree outside the village walls, where the map said it was buried. Aki hated digging but needs must, the box apparently had protections against ninjutsu so manual work was the only way to get it out.
 
Aki recalled what he knew about his father, it wasn’t a huge amount, and he had been a very private man and died when Aki was 13. I had been officers in Hoshi who had told him his father was of a ninja clan and told him to enrol in Hoshis academy. Aki continued to shovel dirt onto the ever growing mound beside him. Mulling over his thoughts and settling into a rhythm before being roused by a loud clunk as his spade hit something hard and wooden. He had found it
 
Getting on his knees and dusting away the dirt Aki uncovered a large wooden chest decorated with old worn seals. Pulling it free form the earth the seals flared up activating and vanishing leaving bare wood underneath “huh wonder what that was about” said Aki placing the chest to one side. Taking up his shovel again Aki shovelled the dirt back into the hole he had made patting the dirt flat. Taking one last look at his handiwork Aki picked up his shovel and the chest, turning away and strolling back towards the village gates intending to carry it back to his house.
 
 
Aki dropped the heavy box on a table and looked it over, the old wood looked strong but the box itself was just held shut by a simple catch. “No locks or seals huh” Aki thought, “it still could be trapped from the inside”. Aki slapped his forehead cursing himself for being stupid. What was he thinking why would his father send him an explosive trapped box on his deathbed, what could he possibly hope to gain from that
 
.although the thought that he might have done so didn’t quite leave Akis mind.
 
Steeling himself Aki tripped the catch on the box and opened it up unveiling the contents of what his father had left him. His questions would all be answered, he would finally know what it means to be a Yamanaka, the hidden secrets of his legacy. So he was more than a little disappointed to find the chest contained a satin bound Scroll, a small wooden tile, and a pair of steel earrings studded to a note.
 
“Gee, thanks Dad” Aki muttered picking up the earrings and looked over the note “To be worn when you’re a chunin” Aki read, before dropping them back into the box. The earrings probably meant something but Aki had no idea what it was. Still note said wear when chuunin so that’s what he would do.
 
Aki then picked up the tile and turned it over in his hands, it was fairly flat with a strange seal on one side and on the other was a picture. It showed a pair of hands locked in a Snake seal, squinting closer Aki could just about make out the tile sticking out between the hands of the seal.
 
“Umm, ok I guess” Aki took the tile in hand and placed it between his palms and formed the Snake seal. For a moment he panicked his arms locked together holding the seal as a foreign chakra worked up his arms and rushed towards his eyes, everything when white and Aki could taste metal as his vision blurred and changed.
 
 

Inoken Yamanka sat on the corner of his bed a facing the mirror his eyes heavy and shoulders slumped, taking a deep breath in he composed himself and looked into the mirror and spoke. “Aki, if you’re seeing this, then I am likely dead and you have been told of your heritage.” He exhaled and centred himself again, this was tough and he wanted to get it right “I want you to understand why I left my village, and why you don’t have to follow the same path did”. He sat up more and looked more directly into the mirror “For centuries the Yamanaka clan have long perfected a sensory jutsu that allows us to relay our thoughts memories and feelings, much like how I’m doing now via a memory stored on a wooden slate”. “Because of this we are renowned the world over as being the ultimate communication tool, useful in times of peace, and invaluable in times of war”.
 
“I spent many years relaying and connecting people via my mind, I was partial to many secrets, and because of what I knew and the powers I possessed I became a target and several attempts were made to capture me” “I was getting older and more disillusioned with the notion that what I was doing was for the good of the village, I had seen its darkness and it horrified me but I was too deep in the system to leave it” Aki lost sight of the mirror as Inoken bent over his head in his hands . “So I plotted an escape, I betrayed village secrets to another in exchange for assistance in faking my death and escaping the village” Inoken looked up a tear in his eye “Aki, people died because of me, I sacrificed others to attain my freedom…” he breathed in became more solemn, the stern expression returing “And I would do it all over again Aki, because had I not, you and your mother would not be here today”. Inoken wiped his eyes and continued his strength returning. “My life with my family was worth more to me than the secrets of my village, and while I regret the cost I don’t for a minute regret the outcome” “This will likely one day cost me my life, but you and your mother will live through it I’m sure”
 
“My decisions Aki were my own, your path does not have to follow mine, and while I won’t be around, I can at least provide a little guidance to help you on your way”. Inoken sat his hands locked in a odd seal that Aki had not seen before “This Aki is what I leave to you, this is the Yamanaka seal the foundation of our jutsu” Inkoens chakra flowed through the seal in an odd fashion, the flow passing through points in the hand that Aki didn’t know he had “Now you have experienced it through my memory you can use our hiden jutsu, the scroll will show you the rest of what you need to know”
 
“Good luck my son, Farewell, I love you”
 
 
Aki breathed in rapidly as he awoke with a shock, the wooden tile falling to the floor its surfaces blackened and burnt on both sides. He looked around he was back in his room the box still open on his desk, the moon in the same spot in the sky. “I-Im back ?!” he picked up the tile his head and eyes stinging form an unknown sensation. “Damn…” Aki walked over to his bedside table and poured himself a glass of water before sitting down and drinking, rubbing his head trying to remove the sensation.
 
His father was a traitor…he betrayed his village to attain his freedom and start a family. Aki did not know how to process this. Inokens death had always remained unexplained to him but in his heart he always knew, Inoken had been assassinated, by whom he did not know, likely his village or the people who helped him escape. Aki took another sip and pondered anew, He and his mother were still alive and had been for several years after Inokens death, his father likely took steps to make sure that no one would find out about his connections. No one but Aki and possibly his mother also knew the full truth about what happened to him.
 
“I guess, I will have to keep this as a secret, Yamanaka’s are good with secrets” Aki told himself
 
Unfurling the scroll on the table infront of him Aki looked down and smiled, the Jutsu was all there just parts of it had been heavily redacted, without knowing the trick to the Yamanaka seal this would be useless to anyone who tried to use the Jutsu. “Classic Dad, leaving behind 50% of the story” Going through the motions Aki  performed the technique as described by the scroll substituting the Yamanaka seal at the required point in the jutsu, sensing the chakra awaken and flow both through his fingers and mind as the Jutsu completed itself, the sensation feeling correct and whole. He was confident that he could do it again when needed.
 
Aki looked over the burnt tile in his hand, “this is also interesting” trapping memories in a tile that could be viewed by another. Aki wasn’t sure how it had been performed but the uses for such a technique were many if he could figure out how it was done.
 
Aki lay back on his bed and reflected on what he now knew about his father, there were still gaps sure, what village did he betray?, who helped him escape? But Aki pushed that aside, his father’s secrets died with him and it wouldn’t do him any good to become publicly connected to a traitor nin.
 
“My decisions Aki were my own, your path does not have to follow mine”
 
This Aki agreed with, he would be his own shinobi and Hoshigakure was his home now, this place had been a haven for him and his mother and he cared deeply for it. “Whatever secrets I may learn, I will keep my faith in what Hoshi stands for, A place for the lost to call home, A village hidden in the stars” Rolling to the right Aki blew out the lantern on his bedside and settled in to bed, he had a big day tomorrow, and a fresh start.

"This is my own ninja way"
 
Exit
WC 1708
Claims
1708 to purchase Mind Body Transmission (1708/2500)

Stats
+10 Vigour
+7 Chakra

Approved