narutomush

Shimizu Kazuhiko grew up in the Village Hidden in the Mist as part of its elusive blood clan. Despite the clan's emphasis on stealth and secrecy, Kazu was very loud and boisterous as a child and still has trouble being subtle with attacks today. His outgoing nature made him popular with other students but less popular with his teachers, who would often punish him for his recklessness and try to get him to conform to the traditions of his village, to little success. Despite this, his teachers often commended him on how quickly he could learn and apply ninja techniques, and he graduated from the Academy with high marks.

Kazu grew up near the ocean with his father who’s a fisherman and his mother who sells custom-made quilts. He also has a 13-year-old brother, Kimihiro, who he likes to pick on but who he will protect and give advice to when needed. Kazu was born with the Blood Release kekkei gentai, which he inherited from his grandmother, a kunoichi who acted as a mentor for Kazu until she died of old age when Kazu was 8. Kimihiro was jealous of Kazu because his kekkei gentai caused everyone to pay more attention to him than to his younger brother, making him feel inferior. Kimihiro joined the same ninja academy as Kazu with the hope that he would surpass Kazu in skill and finally get the respect he deserved, but he constantly struggled, unable to grasp the concepts that seemed to come easy to his older sibling. In danger of flunking out of school, Kimihiro begrudgingly went to Kazu for help, and though Kazu wanted to rub this in Kimihiro’s face, he saw that his brother was embarrassed, and so he agreed to help.

Kazu took Kimihiro out into the forest, as his grandmother had done for him many times. There, he taught Kimihiro how to set traps, control his chakra, and various other things Kimihiro had trouble with at the academy. Kimihiro asked Kazu about their grandmother, as he was too young to remember her very well. Kazu told him that their grandmother was an amazing woman with no shortage of love who did whatever she could to make Kazu and Kimihiro feel special. Upon hearing this, Kimihiro sulked, saying that their grandmother only made Kazu feel special. Kazu tried to reassure him that this wasn’t the case, but Kimihiro questioned why their grandmother took Kazu into the woods and not him. Kazu didn’t have an answer to this, and Kimihiro said that he had learned enough for one day and that he wanted to go home. Kazu complied, leading him from the forest and to their home, where they didn’t talk for the rest of the night.

Kimihiro was able to do better in school thanks to Kazu’s help, but their relationship only got worse as Kimihiro lost faith in his own abilities and resigned to being little more than a second-rate version of his older brother. When Kazu became a genin, Kimihiro didn’t bother to attend his commencement ceremony. This hurt Kazu deeply, even though he usually ignored Kimihiro’s coldness, thinking it was a phase that Kimihiro would get over once they were adults. Now 16, Kazu has been on numerous D-rank missions, as well as one that was C-ranked. When a teammate of his died on the C-rank mission, Kazu convinced his team leader to replace the fallen teammate with Kimihiro, who had recently graduated from the Academy with barely-passing grades. He hoped that this would bring Kimihiro and him closer together, but so far, this hasn’t happened at all.


Starting Skills Info:
+1 Stamina (Stat, Shimizu Clan Bonus)
+1 Speed (Merit, Improved Speed)
Blood Release (Skill, Shimizu Clan Bonus)
Minor Regeneration (Heal, Shimizu Clan Bonus)
Blood Rain Technique (Attack, Free Genin D-Rank)