The Perfect Gifts (Solo)

Isemori’s spikey hair bobbed up and down slightly with each step he took. He had been trying to look for gifts for his mother and older brother. Plus, he figured that getting out of the house rather than sitting around all day would be good for him. He continued walking down the city square, thinking to himself, “I know what I want to get for mom, but I have no idea what Itsuki would want… I also have to get Yuuma Sensei a gift, as well as Emelia,” However, just like his older brother, he didn’t know what to get for either member of his team. He figured though, with it being close to the holidays and all, that they too deserved something … but he was trying to figure out what exactly to get them. “I don’t wanna just get something they can get themselves … It should be something special,” he thought to himself, placing a hand underneath his chin, thinking … perhaps thinking too hard in all honesty.

He sighed, unable to come up with something for them. He decided to hold off on that for the time being and had decided to head into the local jewelry store. Luckily for him, Ise had already made arrangements for the necklace he had wanted to give to his mother prepared in advance. He just hoped that it was done. He walked up to the woman at the front desk and said, “Hi, I’m here to check in about the necklace I had asked to be made?” He asked, having a smile that formed on his lips. Then within a few moments, The lady had pulled out an opened box, revealing a necklace. There was a polished Sapphire as the necklace’s centerpiece that had his mother’s initials engraved on it. Ise’s smile had brightened, seeing that the necklace was not just ready, but also beautiful. “Whoever you had this made for will love it! Are you wanting to pay for it in full today?” The lady had asked, which had prompted the young Uchiha to nod. He quickly pulled out the money in order to pay for the necklace, and then after a few short minutes he made his way back into the city square.

“Okay! That’s one gift down. Three more to go!” Ise had said in an excited tone … despite the fact that he still had no idea what to get the others …

WC: 408

The next person on Ise’s list was his own Sensei, Yuuma Fujiwara. The young Uchiha may have seemed like the kind of person who does not make well with his own first impressions, however that couldn’t be far from the truth when it came to the silver-haired Uchiha. Perhaps it was because of how he carried himself, but normally, people also would just assume things about him rather than making an accurate one. When he was guarding the Gates with Yuuma sensei, honestly, the young Uchiha was worried that he’d mess up, despite doing it once before as an actual mission on his own. The differences between the two different times was that he wasn’t guarding the gates by himself, and secondly, there were actual people that were stopped before entering. The first time he had done so, there was hardly anyone coming through the gates, or at least not travelers.

So, when it came to Yuuma’s present, rather than buying him something, he figured that making something instead would be way better. Luckily for him there was a short carving seminar that was being held in the city square for the holidays. Ise didn’t really know what carving had anything to do with the holidays, but as far as he knew, this was the only place where he could actually make something, and since he wanted to actually make Yuuma Sensei’s gift, he figured that this would be a good opportunity to do so. Not only that, but it was a community event, so it was free. Ise as well as the others who had come to participate in the seminar were instructed on how to carve the small log of wood, however, over time, the instructions had become more and more difficult. “Jeez. You’d think carving would be easy for a Ninja like me… especially since we’re taught how to wield as well as use Kunai and shuriken at the Academy,” However, even though that was unfortunately hard, Ise had continued to try and work on his carving that he was making.

After an hour or so, the seminar had ended, and the other students of the seminar’s carvings looked wonderful in Ise’s opinion. But his however … was little … mangled? One of the antlers that he had tried to make on the stag accidentally broke off while he was trying to carve the other side of the antlers. Not to mention that it looked like it was missing an ear … Ise sighed, wishing he had done a better job, however, the young Uchiha couldn’t just toss it after working so hard on it. So, he decided to keep it, and hope that Yuuma Sensei would like it. The reason why he had made a stag was because when they were guarding the gate together, Yuuma had mentioned a place that were somewhere near Konohagakure … If he remembered correctly, it was called ‘Stag Forest’, which had given him the idea to carve a stag for him. It was also a physical item that meant Ise would keep his word when or if Yuuma would travel to the land of Fire in the hopes of going there one day. Isemori had promised that he would one day go with him. Given the young Uchiha’s lack of experience as a shinobi however, would more than likely prevent him from traveling long distances. However, Ise would prepare himself for when that time came, and Ise wasn’t the type to throw away promises that he makes with people. The stag he had made symbolised that promise.

WC: 597
TWC: 1005

Ise had taken a moment, eating a snack while sitting on the bench in the cold. Even though he didn’t much care for the cold weather, his clothing was keeping him fairly warm. Not only that, but he was almost halfway done with his Christmas shopping. However … Like earlier, he faced a dilemma. He didn’t know what exactly to Emilia. She, like him, was a genin that was part of Team Summer. She was a really nice person, and Ise had wanted her to be a part of his little christmas gift giving. After all, it’d be rude to leave her out. Not to mention that he’d get a scolding from not only his mother, but also from Yuuma Sensei. Plus, it would just be plain rude. If that had happened to Ise, he’d throw a fit, so he figured that she also deserved some kind of Christmas present. But … he didn’t know what she wanted.

“I know that she likes weapons … Yeah, I’ll get her a weapon!” The young uchiha thought to himself as a grin stretched across his face. With that, he stood up, beginning to make his way towards the Ninja Tools Shop in the city square. He entered without a care in the world, and some of the patrons inside had given him a funny look until they realized that the young boy had a Hoshigakure headband tied around his forehead. However, after looking the silver-haired Uchiha up and down, they no longer gave him any attention. Ise had made it to the counter, looking at the katana that were lined up on the wall, waiting for someone to buy them. Hopefully, the young Uchiha would be able to afford as well as walk away with one in the hopes of giving it to his fellow teammate as a present for the holidays.

“So, I see you have an eye for things,” the owner of the shop had said, not seeming to mind that a child was in his store. Then again, his headband gave the young Uchiha away like a sore thumb. “Yeah! However, I’m not shopping for myself,” Ise had told the shop owner with a smile. “How much is that one?” Ise had asked the shop owner, pointing to the katana hanging up on the wall right in front of them. The katana had a white sheath with a refined golden guard. The owner had brought one of his hands to his chin, as if trying to remember the price was. “Hmm, If I remember correctly, This sword is actually recent within the shop, so I don’t even think I have a price on it yet,” The man said, which made the young Uchiha worry. “Does that mean that it’s not for sale as of the moment?” The young Uchiha had asked. The look in his eyes was obvious that Isemori had hoped that he would still sell it to him. “Normally, I’d say yes … however, it is the holiday after all and a customer is a customer. I’ll even give you a discount due to it being so close to the holidays. It’ll be five-thousand Ryo,” The man had finished, which had made Ise’s grin form on his face once again.

Without hesitation, the young boy slapped the five-thousand ryo onto the counter in front of the man as he got the Katana from the wall. After the exchange, the young Uchiha said, “Thank you, old man! Have a good one!” Ise said, and with that, he was once again back out on the streets. After a few short minutes of walking, Ise had found another vacant bench to sit at, pulling out his list; crossing out Emilia’s name on the small paper. However, when he looked at the name underneath, Ise had become stiff; his expression solemn. It was now time to get Itsuki’s gift.

WC: 648
TWC: 1653

Ise couldn’t help but think back to the very first time that Itsuki had ever raised a hand to him. Honestly, Isemori didn’t know why the memory had come back to him, or why he even wanted to remember it. But things just sort of have a way of happening on their own. Ise was ten years younger at the time, only just recently turning five years of age. He was playing out in the garden out back behind the house, while Itsuki seemed to be elsewhere in his thoughts; sitting on the steps of the back porch.

“Nii-San! Come play with me!” The small silver-haired Uchiha had called out to his big brother. Ise had a hell of a lot more energy back then, Always outside playing with his friends from the academy back in the day. However, that day, he was playing by himself. Ise couldn’t remember exactly why that was, however, the small naive boy that was himself back then seemed to not mind, despite not having anyone but himself to play with. Ise had kicked the ball that he was playing with back and forth as Itsuki had seemed to either ignore what his little brother had said, or maybe he didn’t hear him. After a few seconds, Ise had looked over at his brother, abruptly stopping himself from playing.

Ise remembered his older brother's distant expression, as if he were staring off into deep space. “Nii-San! Did ya hear me!? I said come play with me!” The young Uchiha had called to his brother once more, hoping that he’d hear him this time, or at least acknowledge his presence. However, once again, It was all in vain. The young Ise had made an annoyed expression, not really sure on whether or not Itsuki was deliberately ignoring him, or if he was actually lost in his own thoughts. The little Ise walked over to his brother this time, staring right at him, as Itsuki still hadn’t moved a single inch from where he was sitting.

Ise figured that since his former subject wasn’t getting his older brother's attention, he figured he’d try and say something else. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Ise had asked, calling out to his brother once again. Still no response. “Mom says that if you hold your face still like that, it’ll freeze. Is your face frozen?” The young Ise had asked his older brother, thinking that was the reason why he couldn't say anything. If that was really the case, the little boy wondered if he should go get his mom. However, the little boy had decided against it; speaking once more to Itsuki.

“But seriously! Please come play with me?” The little silver-haired Uchiha had practically begged him to get up and come kick the ball back and forth with him. However, there was still no response from his older brother. The little Ise was now getting angry. The little Ise had started to grab his older brother’s arm, shaking him this time. “Nii-San!! I said Come pl-” Before the little Ise could even finish what he was saying, he felt a powerful smack come from Itsuki’s hand from the very same arm he had grabbed. Itsuki had smacked him so hard in fact that Ise had been pushed back, falling to the ground. Ise had looked up at Itsuki after regaining himself, and the expression that he saw was far scarier than actually being hit by him. It was like the little Ise wasn’t looking directly at his older brother, but a monster - a demon, instead. The little Ise couldn’t look away because fear had crippled his entire body.

Back then, Ise had never felt that kind of fear before. Neither had his older brother ever laid a hand on him like that before. The moment Ise’s mom came outside, hearing the ruckus the two had made, only for Itsuki to walk inside the house, continuing to not say a word. Coming back to the present, A thick breeze of cold air had whipped across Ise as he had sat there on the bench silent. He was looking down at the ice-covered concrete. Then suddenly, a single tear had fallen onto the ice right underneath his own two feet. The expression on Isemori’s face was filled with Anger, pain and frustration; his hand suddenly beginning to ball up into a fist as the paper in the same hand had become to crinkle violently from how tightly he had balled up his hand.

Back then, Ise didn’t really know why or what exactly Itsuki was feeling back at that moment in time, but as Ise had gotten older, Ise had begun to realize why on his own. It was because of their father. Itsuki had known him before Ise was even born. Apparently, the pain of losing his dad had never left him … not even to this day. What’s more is that, from what his mother had told him, Ise was practically a spitting image of his father. Ise had wondered if perhaps whenever his older brother even glances at Isemori, that the pain Itsuki buries from the loss of their dad comes crashing back into him like a speeding train. “Could that be it? Is that why Itsuki hates me?” Ise thought, trying to make sense of how as well as his older brother acts the way he does around him. After another few minutes of silence, Ise had begun to gather his belongings, leaving the cold bench that he had been sitting at, now deep in his own thoughts.

WC: 930
TWC: 2583

Exit and Claims:

Approved