Sunshine Applications (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunshineapps) wrote2014-02-08 01:14 am
sunshineapps) wrote2014-02-08 01:14 am
Entry tags:
Application Izumo
Name: Kamizuki Izumo
Canon: Naruto
Journal:clouded_moon
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Canon History: Naruto Wiki Kamizuki Izumo
Leafninja entry
We first meet Izumo at the very beginning of the Chuunin exams (manga chapter 36, anime episode 21), set as the first test for the new Chuunin to pass; he and his partner Kotetsu are guarding the second floor entrance, disguised under genjutsu as the third floor room to the written exam. He doesn’t speak much, leaving Kotetsu to talk, but the whole while both he and Kotetsu are smirking - clearly they’re enjoying this duty. Under a genjutsu to appear younger, we see both Izumo’s eyes. Later, transforming back to themselves behind the closed doors, the right side of Izumo’s face is covered by his bangs. He and Kotetsu, after commenting on the prize students, agree that this will be fun for the examiners.
We next see Izumo showing up in the ranks of Ibiki’s examiners (manga chapter 40) along with Kotetsu and several other Chuunin. Izumo and the others are seated around the room to make sure none of the Chuunin candidates cheat too obviously on their written exam, but are also watching to gather information and gauge skills and techniques of the candidates. Izumo catches Naruto cheating once, and smirks at him, letting Naruto know he’s down one on his four strikes. It’s said during this time that the examiners chosen are among the “elite” of the Chuunin ranks.
After the Chuunin candidates start the second test of the exam, Izumo and Kotetsu are seen investigating three dead bodies on the edge of Konoha (manga chapter 49). These dead bodies are the three Grass nin who had their faces stolen by Orochimaru and co. When asked, Izumo produced the papers and identification of the ninja for Anko to examine. Izumo, Kotetsu, and another Chuunin were then sent to report to the Hokage.
Izumo and Kotetsu show up with the Hokage to get report from Anko after she was attacked by Orochimaru (manga chapter 64). They both provide information on Orochimaru’s rank and strength and question his motives for returning to the village he deserted. The Hokage decides to keep the test running as planned though he knows Orochimaru is after Sasuke.
We next see Izumo and Kotetsu sitting in the crowd at the beginning of the second round of the Chuunin exams. They’re in full uniform in the crowd, making small talk about the participant’s chances (manga chapter 99); they are likely there not in fun but on-duty to continue to evaluate performances. Izumo dourly predicts Naruto got this far on luck and will not be able to beat Neji. Kotetsu agrees, and both look very surprised when Naruto manages to throw off Neji’s attacks. They are seen to listen intently and seriously to Neji’s story of the curse seal among the Hyuuga (manga chapter 102). They seem to be astonished when Naruto reopens his tenketsu points (manga chapter 103) and when Naruto climbs to victory (manga chapter 104). They are both impressed by “that fox kid’s” ability to fight (manga chapter 105).
During Shikamaru’s fight with Temari, they remark that Shikamaru is the “guy nobody took seriously” (manga chapter 108). However, Izumo also comments that Shikamaru has the qualities of a good team leader, able to think ahead and measure risks and benefits, and Kotetsu agrees (manga chapter 109). Izumo also says neither Neji nor Naruto exhibited these traits in their match (same chapter) while smirking, saying they were “average Genin” despite their fighting skills. He asks Kotetsu what he thinks, and Kotetsu states Shikamaru has better chances at becoming Chuunin than Naruto. The fight breaks loose between Orochimaru and the Sandaime, and we lose track of Izumo and Kotetsu. They show up during the Sandaime’s funeral, obviously having survived the fight, standing beside Yuugao (manga chapter 139).
We next see Izumo and Kotetsu lugging paperwork and files for Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage (manga chapter 182). They find Sakura after Sasuke knocked her out and fled the village. Izumo and Kotetsu report the news to Tsunade, then fetch Shikamaru for her. They are obviously acting as her personal assistants and running-boys.
It’s not until the Akatsuki attack the monastery in the Fire country that we see Izumo and Kotetsu again, this time as team members of Tsunade’s new “Twenty Squads” organization (manga chapter 318). They are on a team with Asuma and Shikamaru. Izumo is the one who comes up with the information on the bounty on Chiriku’s head (manga chapter 320) placed there by the Akatsuki. Kotetsu asks him where the bounty exchange points are and Izumo helpfully lists off the information, reading out of his Little Black Book. They send message-birds to the other teams and set off to the closest one, Izumo in front and Kotetsu as rearguard.
Asuma attacks Hidan as a distraction (manga chapter 322) and gives Izumo and Kotetsu and opening to come in on either side with the giant kunai Kotetsu was carrying. They stab him through, but amazingly do not kill Hidan. Izumo and Kotetsu are astonished but don’t retreat, with Izumo correctly guessing he’s invulnerable.Good job, genius, you pierced his heart and he’s still talking. They hold Hidan in place and do not retreat until Shikamaru’s Shadow Jutsu comes undone and Asuma orders them back. They fall immediately into formation with Asuma and Shikamaru. Izumo suggests retreating because Hidan and Kakuzu are very strong and if they retreat they can come up with a better strategy for taking them on.
Izumo connects the dots and tells Shikamaru physical attacks on Hidan will only injure Asuma after Hidan’s got his ritual going (manga chapter 324). Izumo and Kotetsu also mention that they sent for backup but that they will not arrive in time. Izumo had apparently heard of these kinds of jutsu, stating that the only way to stop it is to kill Hidan, but they can’t do that right now. He and Shikamaru reason out Hidan’s jutsu out loud (manga chapter 325) and figure it out, and Asuma lops off Hidan’s head.Which still doesn’t kill him. Izumo and Kotetsu are dumbfounded at this turn of events, with Izumo admitting he’s not quite sure how to handle the situation. However, they leap into action to rescue Asuma (manga chapter 326). Kotetsu summons his giant shell-mace and Izumo immediately performs his “Sticky Syrup Jutsu,” suggesting they’ve used this combination often and successfully. Unfortunately it does not work and they get choked to a standstill (literally). After Asuma’s death Kakuzu throws Izumo into Shikamaru to block him (manga chapter 327). Backup arrives, and Kakuzu is forced to retreat, leaving Izumo and Kotetsu alive. On orders, Kakuzu and Hidan retreat, and the teams return to Konoha.
And unless I am horribly mistaken, we do not see Izumo and Kotetsu again for the rest of Timeskip.
Canon Abilities/Powers: Weapons: Bladed weapons with Kotetsu (the giant kunai) and the wiki states he can use a bo staff, but we never see him use it. Beyond this the usual assortment of kunai used by ninja are all we see him using.
Taijutsu: We never see him fight bare-handed, but in the fight with Kazuku he is quick and agile at getting away and good at working in tandem with Kotetsu. We can assume that as he is Chuunin his fighting skills are appropriate for this level.
Genjutsu: The only genjutsu we witness Izumo using is the one where he and Kotetsu are hiding the entrance to the Chuunin exam to test the candidates at the very start, while at the same time he and Kotetsu appear to be merely graduate-age themselves. This is potentially a tricky combination, to hold up both these illusions at the same time.
Ninjutsu: Izumo is stated in the guidebooks and in the wiki to have water type chakra. The only ninjutsu we see him work is the “Suiton: Mizuame Nabara” jutsu, which creates a sticky puddle meant to entrap enemieswhile Kotetsu bashes them in the head. Presumably, as he is Chuunin, he is up to that rank in his jutsu-working abilities.
Sunshineverse History: Izumo was born to a pair of Chuunin near the end of the Second Ninja war. His mother died in childbirth, leaving him with only his father to care for him. Izumo was old enough to remember the Third Ninja War and all the poverty and death it meant. Izumo’s father was embittered by the wars he’d survived, and their relationship was a rocky one; Izumo’s father had deeply loved his mother, and was always reminded of her death when he saw Izumo. It didn’t make the relationship any more comfortable. Izumo grew up in poverty, and from a young age learned to read people and their intent; whether they’d be kind and share a little more food or whether they’d send him on his way with a curse and a cuff. He became a shameless pickpocket and thief, and only being sent to the Academy curbed this.
[Izumo’s father drank heavily and blamed Izumo for his mother’s death, because Izumo shared her heterochromia. Where her eyes had been dark brown and golden hazel, Izumo’s were dark brown and hazel-green. Hating to be reminded, Izumo’s father was often physically abusive. Izumo stayed away from home as much as he could at a young age, and was taken in by a pair of prostitutes who lived on his street. They taught him to gamble and lie and pick pockets, and Izumo learned well. It was when Izumo tried to pick a ninja’s pocket that he got caught and sent to the Academy.]
Redirected into ninja skills, Izumo applied himself industriously. He became something of a teacher’s pet, with his love for cleanliness, order, and his ability to memorize rules. Izumo’s talents in reading people and flattery got him a recommendation for further Intel training. Because of the war, Izumo’s class was graduated earlier than usual and the young Genin sent out to be useful. Izumo was slow to gain Chuunin, mostly because he hated fighting and kept getting pitted against combat-oriented candidates: on his fourth try he made it, though. After that he specialized more often in undercover spying roles, and was accepted into Intel ranks.
[Izumo memorized the rules because it was easier to remember them than it was to read them: coming to reading and writing a bit later than his peers, Izumo’s unaware of his own dyslexia, blaming his difficulty on the fact that he didn’t learn to read when most people generally do. Izumo displayed a talent early on for small genjutsu and henge disguises, motivated mainly by the idea of hiding his green eye. He’s perfected his ‘everyday’ henge to a low-level layer of illusion over his face that generally goes unnoticed because it’s so low-key, and who would suspect that he’s trying to do something so simple as hide one eye anyway? With this knack for disguises, he took undercover spy roles, and in his teenage years often took deep insertion missions, where he lived and breathed his role for weeks and months at a time. He was good at it, but after one particularly bad mission where he was captured and tortured for his information (which he did not reveal) Izumo decided to switch to mainly desk-work in his early twenties. He still takes field missions but really not as often these days.]
Izumo occasionally worked with Uchiha Itachi, as a junior Intel member when the Uchiha heir began to lean more towards spying and intelligence. After a difficult mission where he was badly injured, a couple of years ago, Izumo does more desk-work than field missions. After a stray comment made by Itachi to Obito, Izumo is now the Hokage’s personal secretary.
He’s still not quite sure how that happened….
Sunshineverse Abilities/Powers: Weapons: Still competent with blades and fighting in tandem with Kotetsu; Izumo’s favorite blade is his six-inch tanto. He uses this most often and carries it concealed under his flak vest in the small of his back. He is always, always carrying a set of senbon on him, somewhere,on-duty or off. Izumo is also very good at setting traps, either with blades or jutsu, and generally has the supplies for several traps on him when he runs a mission.
Taijutsu: Izumo’s taijutsu is a little erratic, and he relies heavily on dirty tricks he learned as a child on the streets. He’s solid and it’s almost impossible to knock him off-balance. He prefers not to close and fight hand-to-hand, instead keeping his enemy at a distance, because he knows his taijutsu is not the greatest - too many technical holes for a better fighter to utilize. However, as mentioned, it’s hard to knock him down and his stocky build allows him to pack quite the punch when he lands it, even without chakra.
Genjutsu: Izumo has a talent for smaller illusions and hiding. He uses low-level illusions frequently, what he calls “Genin tricks,” because they’re the simplest things learned by Academy students – but he utilizes them to good effect because very few ninja will look for something so small and trivial. Izumo can hold a henge through sleep, sex, and torture. Through a lot of experimenting and fooling around, he’s figured out he can bind one of his low-level henge into a tag or scroll and leave it activated that way, until the tag or scroll is destroyed or removed from his person. He will occasionally use a playing card from a deck of cards for this. Larger illusions are a little harder for him to sustain, because his chakra reserves are not extensive, but just because he prefers low-level tricks does not mean he can’t pull off the higher-level genjutsu if he needs to.
Ninjutsu: Izumo’s a water-type chakra and has a decent range of jutsu to use. They’re mostly concerned with traps, such as his Sticky Syrup Field jutsu. He prefers to use water clones over shadow clones, but rarely uses more than a few jutsu in a fight, saving his chakra for illusions, which he’s better at.
Appearance: Izumo stands 5'5" and weighs in at 128lbs. He's short and built solidly, well-muscled with sturdy bones. He wears his hair across half his face, using long bangs to hide his right eye. His visible eye is brown. With tan skin and jet-black hair he keeps cut at chin-length, Izumo has regular features and an even smile. He's not the cutest or the most good-looking, and in fact if he'd get a normal hairdo he'd be rather forgettable.
His most memorable feature is his eyes; he keeps his right eye hidden under his bangs or a henge, because while his left eye is brown his right eye is a hazel green. Izumo dislikes his heterochromia and will go through great lengths to hide or deny it. Off duty, Izumo can often be seen sporting several piercings: he has eleven all told, but generally only the six in his ears and his tongue-piercing are what people see.
Though he’s very stockily built, Izumo is extremely flexible, due in part to hereditarily loose ligaments and in part to a dedicated stretching regimen. He can put his knees over his shoulders and dislocate his own shoulders at will. He can tuck himself into a startlingly small bundle, and can wriggle out of many holds or pins, but his favorite use of this flexibility is dodging attacks in unexpected and odd ways.
Izumo has several noticeable scars; the first is a check-shaped scar framing his right eye. He has another on his stomach where an enemy nin stabbed him in close quarters. The last set of scars is a bit unusual: four parallel lines angled down each shoulderblade, like a particularly amorous lover scratched him….but the scars are deep and raised as if from claws or blades. (When asked about them, Izu never tells, only smiles and says it was a great night.)
Personality: Izumo on the job is a dedicated and efficient; he takes his work as a ninja very seriously and is proud of his abilities. He works hard to be the best ninja he can be, to serve his village well and protect her. He enjoys his work, and can often be found smiling and with a cheerful comment to be had for anyone...or on anyone. Izumo works with Intel and loves gossip and rumor. Whether behind a desk or on the mission field, you can be sure Izumo’s giving it his all, and he’ll present nothing but his best work for his teammates. He’s extremely organized and neat (to the point of outright obsession) and has an excellent memory for rules and regulations (and names and faces and embarrassing details). Izumo’s intelligent and very good at taking clues and behavior and motives of people and putting them into the big picture. People don’t often realize that he’s smart, though, as he has dyslexia and has problems with reading and writing; he was also born poor and his speech is often rough and slangy. Izumo has no problems with letting people assume he’s dumb as a box of rocks. He gets away with more when they do!
When he’s off the job and on his own time, however, Izumo’s not half so serious. He’s cheerful and loves to socialize and talk with people and enjoys playing pranks or starting mischief. He’ll tease anyone if he can get away with it - and he often can, because Izumo’s got a silver tongue and a quick way with words. Compliments and flattery sound sincere in his mouth, and he makes friends very easily. He’s very good at reading people and guessing motive, and uses this to his advantage. Be careful you don’t make him angry, though; those same quick words will be used to flay you and your reputation to the bone. Izumo’s temper is often a momentary thing, a flashfire explosion before it fades. But he’ll carry a grudge forever, so take care you don’t make an enemy of him. Izumo rarely starts physical fights, even at his angriest: words are what he’ll use to take you down.
Though he has many friends, they tend to be superficial friends only. Working as a spy has led Izumo to be secretive about his personal life and emotions. He’ll tell you a lie more easily than he’ll tell you the truth, and he’ll tell you what he thinks you most want to hear. Only a select few are close enough to him that he’ll be real with them, because being real is dangerous. And even they rarely get to hear the absolute truth, the sour bitterness Izumo secretly harbors from a harsh childhood and his own self-esteem issues. He buries these deeply and leans hard on his cheerful outlook because it’s easier.
Izumo believes in what he can see, and is not very religious...but he is somewhat superstitious. He maintains that he’s “lucky” and it is true he often wins games of chance. He’s extremely practical, even if his logic tends to make odd jumps and unexpected twists. He’s excellent at coming up with plans on the fly, and he has very good instincts. Though he’s decent at hand-to-hand combat and well-trained in weaponry, Izumo prefers to talk his way out of conflicts or run away. A fight is his last resort.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Strengths:
+Perceptive about people
+Friendly
+Practical
+Thinks on his feet
+Good instincts
+Excellent memory for rules/names/faces/details
+Fast reflexes
+Extremely flexible
+Avoids fighting
Weaknesses:
-Moderately dyslexic
-Lies
-Deceptive
-Tends towards manipulation
-No large reserves of chakra
-Sorriest immune system ever
-Hates fighting
-Paranoid
-Obsessive
Village Affiliation: Konohagakure
Rank: Chuunin
Prose sample: Izumo yawned, rolled over, and fished off the side of the bed for his pants. Beside him, Ranma pulled the pillow over his head and groaned. Izumo snorted at him. “Up an’ at ‘em, Ran-chan, we’ve got to report in today.”
“How are you so cheerful?” Ranma demanded. “And why are you not hungover?”
“Never get hungover,” Izumo retorted, and rolled onto his back like an upturned turtle to pull on his pants, socked feet paddling in the air. Ranma emerged from his pillow and huffed a dry chuckled. “Don’t you laugh at me, you Sand scum,” Izumo managed.
“Yeah, yeah, you Leaf bastard.” Ranma rubbed at a hickey on his throat, and sat up to drop a kiss on Izumo’s bare shoulder. “So Leaf is definitely not patrolling this border or investigating the incident with that pack of Grass nin.”
“And Sand is definitely not behind it and they are certainly not hired by the local lord to end this stupid blood feud between families,” Izumo returned.
“Right. So when are you ‘not’ dropping by again?”
“Probably not for a few months, really. Too bad, so sad, you know really I can’t say enough good things about your blowjobs. It was good ‘not’ seeing you.” Izumo reached for his shirt.
“Same to you.” Ranma grinned, and reached for his own clothes.
Izumo was mentally composing his report as he dressed, happily leaving out all but the essentials – he’d come, he’d seen that the Grass nin had been hired in a fit of pique over ancient land holdings, and they had been killed when the lord had hired other ninja of unknown origin. More investigation possibly needed.
Because he definitely hadn’t met with an old lover standing guard to fend off all investigations, swapped delicate political secrets over wine and dinner, and made love like rabbits for half the night. Who needed to know that? He had his official contacts, and then he had the ones he never mentioned. In return for his silence, they never mentioned him…a satisfactory arrangement the whole way around. It was never anything vital to Konoha’s safety he sold…just little hints of how the wind might blow, who might take a mission over here, who might be headhunting for revenge. He got the same sort of half-information, whispers and murmurs between the sheets, and they all parted ways peaceably.
He shrugged on his flak vest and reached for his headband. He wasn’t being disloyal to his village, no not at all. He was serving her well, raking in all the information he could. And in the end, he knew that when Konoha called for it, he wouldn’t hesitate in the least to pull his blade across his lover’s throat. He knew it, and Ranma knew it, and that was fine.
They dealt in truth as much as in lies, after all.
Bracket sample: [Izumo picked three files out of the middle of his stack without disturbing its balance in the least. He spread these files open and checked each, painstakingly bending over and reading with a finger alongside each line, tracking his progress. Yes, he’d remembered correctly – each mission report, from three different ninja, in the same area, on different missions, contained the same information on one man in particular who had been seen. Izumo turned to his file cabinet behind him and whipped out his copy of this month’s bingo book. It was already dog-eared and battered, and he flipped through the pages with ease, looking not for page number, but the right section. Quarter ways in, he thought, and yes there it was, on the left-handed page.]
Ima Mushiro, missing nin from Stone, Jounin, specializes in Earth jutsu… And former spy.
[Izumo smirked, and eyed the picture, matching it up with the descriptions in the reports. Scar there, yes, and the tattoo behind the left ear, yes.]
Gotchya. Now, who wants your head the most, hmm? Stone’s offering a pretty penny…I bet you know things they don’t want known.
[Izumo leaned back in his chair, bingo book spread in his lap, and chewed idly at the clear retainer in his tongue piercing. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Well, then, if there were secrets to be mined, best they be Konoha’s…but he remembered a conversation with a contact in Mist he’d had not too long ago, about bingo book targets, and Ima Mushiro had been mentioned, along with a grudge and a hell of a bonus.]
Well, we can always catch you and sell you to the highest bidder…
[Izumo nodded, then bounced forward in his chair and reached for a fresh sheet of paper. It took him the better part of twenty minutes, but he soon had a suggested mission written up, and sent a Genin runner downstairs with it for missions commissions to write up. He grinned, closed his files, and reordered his desk, tidying everything before he started in on the next missions report.]
Missive Sample: [A missive to Itachi; the handwriting is narrow and precise, but several misspellings have been crossed out and corrected] Try south-westwngi wing archives. Better luck. Ask Rin on duty there. Find Fuji Midori, ithnk think she missin ran that mission, she working missions desks tomorrow. Why’d you ask me about hins hensbane, fuck do I know about that shit?
Canon: Naruto
Journal:
clouded_moonGender: Male
Age: 28
Canon History: Naruto Wiki Kamizuki Izumo
Leafninja entry
We first meet Izumo at the very beginning of the Chuunin exams (manga chapter 36, anime episode 21), set as the first test for the new Chuunin to pass; he and his partner Kotetsu are guarding the second floor entrance, disguised under genjutsu as the third floor room to the written exam. He doesn’t speak much, leaving Kotetsu to talk, but the whole while both he and Kotetsu are smirking - clearly they’re enjoying this duty. Under a genjutsu to appear younger, we see both Izumo’s eyes. Later, transforming back to themselves behind the closed doors, the right side of Izumo’s face is covered by his bangs. He and Kotetsu, after commenting on the prize students, agree that this will be fun for the examiners.
We next see Izumo showing up in the ranks of Ibiki’s examiners (manga chapter 40) along with Kotetsu and several other Chuunin. Izumo and the others are seated around the room to make sure none of the Chuunin candidates cheat too obviously on their written exam, but are also watching to gather information and gauge skills and techniques of the candidates. Izumo catches Naruto cheating once, and smirks at him, letting Naruto know he’s down one on his four strikes. It’s said during this time that the examiners chosen are among the “elite” of the Chuunin ranks.
After the Chuunin candidates start the second test of the exam, Izumo and Kotetsu are seen investigating three dead bodies on the edge of Konoha (manga chapter 49). These dead bodies are the three Grass nin who had their faces stolen by Orochimaru and co. When asked, Izumo produced the papers and identification of the ninja for Anko to examine. Izumo, Kotetsu, and another Chuunin were then sent to report to the Hokage.
Izumo and Kotetsu show up with the Hokage to get report from Anko after she was attacked by Orochimaru (manga chapter 64). They both provide information on Orochimaru’s rank and strength and question his motives for returning to the village he deserted. The Hokage decides to keep the test running as planned though he knows Orochimaru is after Sasuke.
We next see Izumo and Kotetsu sitting in the crowd at the beginning of the second round of the Chuunin exams. They’re in full uniform in the crowd, making small talk about the participant’s chances (manga chapter 99); they are likely there not in fun but on-duty to continue to evaluate performances. Izumo dourly predicts Naruto got this far on luck and will not be able to beat Neji. Kotetsu agrees, and both look very surprised when Naruto manages to throw off Neji’s attacks. They are seen to listen intently and seriously to Neji’s story of the curse seal among the Hyuuga (manga chapter 102). They seem to be astonished when Naruto reopens his tenketsu points (manga chapter 103) and when Naruto climbs to victory (manga chapter 104). They are both impressed by “that fox kid’s” ability to fight (manga chapter 105).
During Shikamaru’s fight with Temari, they remark that Shikamaru is the “guy nobody took seriously” (manga chapter 108). However, Izumo also comments that Shikamaru has the qualities of a good team leader, able to think ahead and measure risks and benefits, and Kotetsu agrees (manga chapter 109). Izumo also says neither Neji nor Naruto exhibited these traits in their match (same chapter) while smirking, saying they were “average Genin” despite their fighting skills. He asks Kotetsu what he thinks, and Kotetsu states Shikamaru has better chances at becoming Chuunin than Naruto. The fight breaks loose between Orochimaru and the Sandaime, and we lose track of Izumo and Kotetsu. They show up during the Sandaime’s funeral, obviously having survived the fight, standing beside Yuugao (manga chapter 139).
We next see Izumo and Kotetsu lugging paperwork and files for Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage (manga chapter 182). They find Sakura after Sasuke knocked her out and fled the village. Izumo and Kotetsu report the news to Tsunade, then fetch Shikamaru for her. They are obviously acting as her personal assistants and running-boys.
It’s not until the Akatsuki attack the monastery in the Fire country that we see Izumo and Kotetsu again, this time as team members of Tsunade’s new “Twenty Squads” organization (manga chapter 318). They are on a team with Asuma and Shikamaru. Izumo is the one who comes up with the information on the bounty on Chiriku’s head (manga chapter 320) placed there by the Akatsuki. Kotetsu asks him where the bounty exchange points are and Izumo helpfully lists off the information, reading out of his Little Black Book. They send message-birds to the other teams and set off to the closest one, Izumo in front and Kotetsu as rearguard.
Asuma attacks Hidan as a distraction (manga chapter 322) and gives Izumo and Kotetsu and opening to come in on either side with the giant kunai Kotetsu was carrying. They stab him through, but amazingly do not kill Hidan. Izumo and Kotetsu are astonished but don’t retreat, with Izumo correctly guessing he’s invulnerable.
Izumo connects the dots and tells Shikamaru physical attacks on Hidan will only injure Asuma after Hidan’s got his ritual going (manga chapter 324). Izumo and Kotetsu also mention that they sent for backup but that they will not arrive in time. Izumo had apparently heard of these kinds of jutsu, stating that the only way to stop it is to kill Hidan, but they can’t do that right now. He and Shikamaru reason out Hidan’s jutsu out loud (manga chapter 325) and figure it out, and Asuma lops off Hidan’s head.
And unless I am horribly mistaken, we do not see Izumo and Kotetsu again for the rest of Timeskip.
Canon Abilities/Powers: Weapons: Bladed weapons with Kotetsu (the giant kunai) and the wiki states he can use a bo staff, but we never see him use it. Beyond this the usual assortment of kunai used by ninja are all we see him using.
Taijutsu: We never see him fight bare-handed, but in the fight with Kazuku he is quick and agile at getting away and good at working in tandem with Kotetsu. We can assume that as he is Chuunin his fighting skills are appropriate for this level.
Genjutsu: The only genjutsu we witness Izumo using is the one where he and Kotetsu are hiding the entrance to the Chuunin exam to test the candidates at the very start, while at the same time he and Kotetsu appear to be merely graduate-age themselves. This is potentially a tricky combination, to hold up both these illusions at the same time.
Ninjutsu: Izumo is stated in the guidebooks and in the wiki to have water type chakra. The only ninjutsu we see him work is the “Suiton: Mizuame Nabara” jutsu, which creates a sticky puddle meant to entrap enemies
Sunshineverse History: Izumo was born to a pair of Chuunin near the end of the Second Ninja war. His mother died in childbirth, leaving him with only his father to care for him. Izumo was old enough to remember the Third Ninja War and all the poverty and death it meant. Izumo’s father was embittered by the wars he’d survived, and their relationship was a rocky one; Izumo’s father had deeply loved his mother, and was always reminded of her death when he saw Izumo. It didn’t make the relationship any more comfortable. Izumo grew up in poverty, and from a young age learned to read people and their intent; whether they’d be kind and share a little more food or whether they’d send him on his way with a curse and a cuff. He became a shameless pickpocket and thief, and only being sent to the Academy curbed this.
[Izumo’s father drank heavily and blamed Izumo for his mother’s death, because Izumo shared her heterochromia. Where her eyes had been dark brown and golden hazel, Izumo’s were dark brown and hazel-green. Hating to be reminded, Izumo’s father was often physically abusive. Izumo stayed away from home as much as he could at a young age, and was taken in by a pair of prostitutes who lived on his street. They taught him to gamble and lie and pick pockets, and Izumo learned well. It was when Izumo tried to pick a ninja’s pocket that he got caught and sent to the Academy.]
Redirected into ninja skills, Izumo applied himself industriously. He became something of a teacher’s pet, with his love for cleanliness, order, and his ability to memorize rules. Izumo’s talents in reading people and flattery got him a recommendation for further Intel training. Because of the war, Izumo’s class was graduated earlier than usual and the young Genin sent out to be useful. Izumo was slow to gain Chuunin, mostly because he hated fighting and kept getting pitted against combat-oriented candidates: on his fourth try he made it, though. After that he specialized more often in undercover spying roles, and was accepted into Intel ranks.
[Izumo memorized the rules because it was easier to remember them than it was to read them: coming to reading and writing a bit later than his peers, Izumo’s unaware of his own dyslexia, blaming his difficulty on the fact that he didn’t learn to read when most people generally do. Izumo displayed a talent early on for small genjutsu and henge disguises, motivated mainly by the idea of hiding his green eye. He’s perfected his ‘everyday’ henge to a low-level layer of illusion over his face that generally goes unnoticed because it’s so low-key, and who would suspect that he’s trying to do something so simple as hide one eye anyway? With this knack for disguises, he took undercover spy roles, and in his teenage years often took deep insertion missions, where he lived and breathed his role for weeks and months at a time. He was good at it, but after one particularly bad mission where he was captured and tortured for his information (which he did not reveal) Izumo decided to switch to mainly desk-work in his early twenties. He still takes field missions but really not as often these days.]
Izumo occasionally worked with Uchiha Itachi, as a junior Intel member when the Uchiha heir began to lean more towards spying and intelligence. After a difficult mission where he was badly injured, a couple of years ago, Izumo does more desk-work than field missions. After a stray comment made by Itachi to Obito, Izumo is now the Hokage’s personal secretary.
He’s still not quite sure how that happened….
Sunshineverse Abilities/Powers: Weapons: Still competent with blades and fighting in tandem with Kotetsu; Izumo’s favorite blade is his six-inch tanto. He uses this most often and carries it concealed under his flak vest in the small of his back. He is always, always carrying a set of senbon on him, somewhere,on-duty or off. Izumo is also very good at setting traps, either with blades or jutsu, and generally has the supplies for several traps on him when he runs a mission.
Taijutsu: Izumo’s taijutsu is a little erratic, and he relies heavily on dirty tricks he learned as a child on the streets. He’s solid and it’s almost impossible to knock him off-balance. He prefers not to close and fight hand-to-hand, instead keeping his enemy at a distance, because he knows his taijutsu is not the greatest - too many technical holes for a better fighter to utilize. However, as mentioned, it’s hard to knock him down and his stocky build allows him to pack quite the punch when he lands it, even without chakra.
Genjutsu: Izumo has a talent for smaller illusions and hiding. He uses low-level illusions frequently, what he calls “Genin tricks,” because they’re the simplest things learned by Academy students – but he utilizes them to good effect because very few ninja will look for something so small and trivial. Izumo can hold a henge through sleep, sex, and torture. Through a lot of experimenting and fooling around, he’s figured out he can bind one of his low-level henge into a tag or scroll and leave it activated that way, until the tag or scroll is destroyed or removed from his person. He will occasionally use a playing card from a deck of cards for this. Larger illusions are a little harder for him to sustain, because his chakra reserves are not extensive, but just because he prefers low-level tricks does not mean he can’t pull off the higher-level genjutsu if he needs to.
Ninjutsu: Izumo’s a water-type chakra and has a decent range of jutsu to use. They’re mostly concerned with traps, such as his Sticky Syrup Field jutsu. He prefers to use water clones over shadow clones, but rarely uses more than a few jutsu in a fight, saving his chakra for illusions, which he’s better at.
Appearance: Izumo stands 5'5" and weighs in at 128lbs. He's short and built solidly, well-muscled with sturdy bones. He wears his hair across half his face, using long bangs to hide his right eye. His visible eye is brown. With tan skin and jet-black hair he keeps cut at chin-length, Izumo has regular features and an even smile. He's not the cutest or the most good-looking, and in fact if he'd get a normal hairdo he'd be rather forgettable.
His most memorable feature is his eyes; he keeps his right eye hidden under his bangs or a henge, because while his left eye is brown his right eye is a hazel green. Izumo dislikes his heterochromia and will go through great lengths to hide or deny it. Off duty, Izumo can often be seen sporting several piercings: he has eleven all told, but generally only the six in his ears and his tongue-piercing are what people see.
Though he’s very stockily built, Izumo is extremely flexible, due in part to hereditarily loose ligaments and in part to a dedicated stretching regimen. He can put his knees over his shoulders and dislocate his own shoulders at will. He can tuck himself into a startlingly small bundle, and can wriggle out of many holds or pins, but his favorite use of this flexibility is dodging attacks in unexpected and odd ways.
Izumo has several noticeable scars; the first is a check-shaped scar framing his right eye. He has another on his stomach where an enemy nin stabbed him in close quarters. The last set of scars is a bit unusual: four parallel lines angled down each shoulderblade, like a particularly amorous lover scratched him….but the scars are deep and raised as if from claws or blades. (When asked about them, Izu never tells, only smiles and says it was a great night.)
Personality: Izumo on the job is a dedicated and efficient; he takes his work as a ninja very seriously and is proud of his abilities. He works hard to be the best ninja he can be, to serve his village well and protect her. He enjoys his work, and can often be found smiling and with a cheerful comment to be had for anyone...or on anyone. Izumo works with Intel and loves gossip and rumor. Whether behind a desk or on the mission field, you can be sure Izumo’s giving it his all, and he’ll present nothing but his best work for his teammates. He’s extremely organized and neat (to the point of outright obsession) and has an excellent memory for rules and regulations (and names and faces and embarrassing details). Izumo’s intelligent and very good at taking clues and behavior and motives of people and putting them into the big picture. People don’t often realize that he’s smart, though, as he has dyslexia and has problems with reading and writing; he was also born poor and his speech is often rough and slangy. Izumo has no problems with letting people assume he’s dumb as a box of rocks. He gets away with more when they do!
When he’s off the job and on his own time, however, Izumo’s not half so serious. He’s cheerful and loves to socialize and talk with people and enjoys playing pranks or starting mischief. He’ll tease anyone if he can get away with it - and he often can, because Izumo’s got a silver tongue and a quick way with words. Compliments and flattery sound sincere in his mouth, and he makes friends very easily. He’s very good at reading people and guessing motive, and uses this to his advantage. Be careful you don’t make him angry, though; those same quick words will be used to flay you and your reputation to the bone. Izumo’s temper is often a momentary thing, a flashfire explosion before it fades. But he’ll carry a grudge forever, so take care you don’t make an enemy of him. Izumo rarely starts physical fights, even at his angriest: words are what he’ll use to take you down.
Though he has many friends, they tend to be superficial friends only. Working as a spy has led Izumo to be secretive about his personal life and emotions. He’ll tell you a lie more easily than he’ll tell you the truth, and he’ll tell you what he thinks you most want to hear. Only a select few are close enough to him that he’ll be real with them, because being real is dangerous. And even they rarely get to hear the absolute truth, the sour bitterness Izumo secretly harbors from a harsh childhood and his own self-esteem issues. He buries these deeply and leans hard on his cheerful outlook because it’s easier.
Izumo believes in what he can see, and is not very religious...but he is somewhat superstitious. He maintains that he’s “lucky” and it is true he often wins games of chance. He’s extremely practical, even if his logic tends to make odd jumps and unexpected twists. He’s excellent at coming up with plans on the fly, and he has very good instincts. Though he’s decent at hand-to-hand combat and well-trained in weaponry, Izumo prefers to talk his way out of conflicts or run away. A fight is his last resort.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Strengths:
+Perceptive about people
+Friendly
+Practical
+Thinks on his feet
+Good instincts
+Excellent memory for rules/names/faces/details
+Fast reflexes
+Extremely flexible
+Avoids fighting
Weaknesses:
-Moderately dyslexic
-Lies
-Deceptive
-Tends towards manipulation
-No large reserves of chakra
-Sorriest immune system ever
-Hates fighting
-Paranoid
-Obsessive
Village Affiliation: Konohagakure
Rank: Chuunin
Prose sample: Izumo yawned, rolled over, and fished off the side of the bed for his pants. Beside him, Ranma pulled the pillow over his head and groaned. Izumo snorted at him. “Up an’ at ‘em, Ran-chan, we’ve got to report in today.”
“How are you so cheerful?” Ranma demanded. “And why are you not hungover?”
“Never get hungover,” Izumo retorted, and rolled onto his back like an upturned turtle to pull on his pants, socked feet paddling in the air. Ranma emerged from his pillow and huffed a dry chuckled. “Don’t you laugh at me, you Sand scum,” Izumo managed.
“Yeah, yeah, you Leaf bastard.” Ranma rubbed at a hickey on his throat, and sat up to drop a kiss on Izumo’s bare shoulder. “So Leaf is definitely not patrolling this border or investigating the incident with that pack of Grass nin.”
“And Sand is definitely not behind it and they are certainly not hired by the local lord to end this stupid blood feud between families,” Izumo returned.
“Right. So when are you ‘not’ dropping by again?”
“Probably not for a few months, really. Too bad, so sad, you know really I can’t say enough good things about your blowjobs. It was good ‘not’ seeing you.” Izumo reached for his shirt.
“Same to you.” Ranma grinned, and reached for his own clothes.
Izumo was mentally composing his report as he dressed, happily leaving out all but the essentials – he’d come, he’d seen that the Grass nin had been hired in a fit of pique over ancient land holdings, and they had been killed when the lord had hired other ninja of unknown origin. More investigation possibly needed.
Because he definitely hadn’t met with an old lover standing guard to fend off all investigations, swapped delicate political secrets over wine and dinner, and made love like rabbits for half the night. Who needed to know that? He had his official contacts, and then he had the ones he never mentioned. In return for his silence, they never mentioned him…a satisfactory arrangement the whole way around. It was never anything vital to Konoha’s safety he sold…just little hints of how the wind might blow, who might take a mission over here, who might be headhunting for revenge. He got the same sort of half-information, whispers and murmurs between the sheets, and they all parted ways peaceably.
He shrugged on his flak vest and reached for his headband. He wasn’t being disloyal to his village, no not at all. He was serving her well, raking in all the information he could. And in the end, he knew that when Konoha called for it, he wouldn’t hesitate in the least to pull his blade across his lover’s throat. He knew it, and Ranma knew it, and that was fine.
They dealt in truth as much as in lies, after all.
Bracket sample: [Izumo picked three files out of the middle of his stack without disturbing its balance in the least. He spread these files open and checked each, painstakingly bending over and reading with a finger alongside each line, tracking his progress. Yes, he’d remembered correctly – each mission report, from three different ninja, in the same area, on different missions, contained the same information on one man in particular who had been seen. Izumo turned to his file cabinet behind him and whipped out his copy of this month’s bingo book. It was already dog-eared and battered, and he flipped through the pages with ease, looking not for page number, but the right section. Quarter ways in, he thought, and yes there it was, on the left-handed page.]
Ima Mushiro, missing nin from Stone, Jounin, specializes in Earth jutsu… And former spy.
[Izumo smirked, and eyed the picture, matching it up with the descriptions in the reports. Scar there, yes, and the tattoo behind the left ear, yes.]
Gotchya. Now, who wants your head the most, hmm? Stone’s offering a pretty penny…I bet you know things they don’t want known.
[Izumo leaned back in his chair, bingo book spread in his lap, and chewed idly at the clear retainer in his tongue piercing. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Well, then, if there were secrets to be mined, best they be Konoha’s…but he remembered a conversation with a contact in Mist he’d had not too long ago, about bingo book targets, and Ima Mushiro had been mentioned, along with a grudge and a hell of a bonus.]
Well, we can always catch you and sell you to the highest bidder…
[Izumo nodded, then bounced forward in his chair and reached for a fresh sheet of paper. It took him the better part of twenty minutes, but he soon had a suggested mission written up, and sent a Genin runner downstairs with it for missions commissions to write up. He grinned, closed his files, and reordered his desk, tidying everything before he started in on the next missions report.]
Missive Sample: [A missive to Itachi; the handwriting is narrow and precise, but several misspellings have been crossed out and corrected] Try south-west