I spent most of today (when I wasn't working) thinking up the family background for my Cameo (like I said, he's taken on a life of his own).
Nara "Nobegami" Shikanenai (no one except the Third Hokage calls him Shikanenai anymore - Nobegami is the archaic type of paper he prefers to use for his origami jutsus). Born fourteen years after his cousin Nara Shikaku and twelve years before Shikaku's son Shikamaru, his parents died when he was four and he lived with Shikaku's parents until he was seventeen as an adoptive younger son (Shikaku having moved out to get married at about the time Nobegami was orphaned). Still visits the graves of Shikkari-tousan and Fuyou-kaasan as often as he does the memorial stone where his parents names are marked.
Graduated out of the Academy into Gai's first team as jounin-sensei, a little ahead of shedule as Konoha's ninja were rather depleted in numbers by the Kyuubi. First entered the chuunin exam when he was fifteen - one of his teammates passed but he didn't. The other teammate passed the next attempt they made and when he was seventeen he left Gai's supervision and went into the exam again, filling out an open slot in Iruka's team. Iruka passed but Nobegami got his tail kicked (to be precise: burned) by a certain 10-year old Uchiha, too quickly to make any sort of impression.
Rather than going back to Gai (who had other duties), he was spent the next few years filling out open slots in teams on C-class missions - finally made chuunin a couple of years ago when he happened to run into a Konoha team that had lost a member en route to Sunagakure for the Chuunin exams. Having had several years to improve, he passed handily but still works away from Konohagakure mostly.
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Somewhere in Lightning Country, a tall man looked at a small turtle and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Another 'urgent message'?" he asked rhetorically.
"Uh huh."
"And you got here in, what, six months?"
"Five and a half," the turtle said proudly. "I've been practising."
"Merciful Amaterasu." He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, what's up?"
The turtle looked quizzically at the sky, forcing the lean shinobi to cover a chortle by coughing into his fist. The turtle didn't say anything - he didn't have to - but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.
After a moment, the turtle retracted one forepaw into it's shell and rooted around for a moment before producing a small scroll.
There was a rustle of paper as the scroll was unrolled. Then a whimper of disbelief: "Sandaime made him a jounin-sensei - again!?"
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Nobegami looked up as a shadow fell across him. "Shikaku-nisan," he said in greeting.
The scarred ninja nodded and set down the bottle of sake and two cups. "I didn't know you were back in Konohagakure. You never come by anymore."
"Your wife keeps trying to set me up with her nieces," the younger of the two Nara cousins replied, pushing aside his empty bowls so that he could reach across the table for one of the cups.
Shikaku snorted. "Even Shikamaru will get married someday. If your sensei found someone then so will you."
Both flinched them at the familiar but disturbing idea of Gai reproducing.
"Shikamaru is a genin now?" Nobegami asked, filling his cup and his cousin's. "I'm surprised he can be bothered."
"Yes, he's teamed with Inoichi's daughter and Choza's boy - Shika-Ino-Cho again," Shikaku said proudly.
They drained their cups together.
"So, how is Sunagakure?"
"Still standing. Surprising, given the way they treat that Gaara kid. He'll level the place someday and it couldn't happen to a nicer Kage."
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Lee jumped into a defensive posture as the tall Nara clansman appeared out of nowhere, the only warning of his presence being the growling grunt that preceded him.
"So," the chuunin said bluntly. "You're the apprentice." He looked Lee up and down with a calculating look in his dark eyes. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know?"
Lee blinked, then beamed. "I admire Gai-sensei greatly," he admitted, eyes wide with sincerity. "I swear that I shall one day to be such a truly excellent Ninja as he, or I shall carry an Akimichi matron around the village with both legs tied behind my back!"
Nobegami closed his eyes and repressed a shiver. "Your motivation is... admirable," he managed to say between clenched teeth. Pulling a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket, he studied it. "Says here that you can't manage ninjutsu or genjutsu at all?"
"Yes!" Lee agreed proudly. "But I shall become a great ninja nonetheless or I shall -"
"Whoa, whoa," Nobegami interupted. "Don't get carried away or we'll have no time to train today."
Lee remained silent, almost vibrating with eagerness.
"Riiight..." the chuunin drawled, tucking the paper away. "Well, I gather you've had to face ninjutsu before and that your taijutsu was up to the task. How about genjutsu?"
"I -!" Lee broke off as Nobegami shushed him. "I have great difficulty, Nobegami-san."
The chuunin nodded. "Understandable. The usual counter to genjutsu being a form of genjutsu itself, I can see that you would be unable to counter in the conventional manner. Since your sensei will doubtless polish your ninjutsu to 'reflect the burning passion of your youth', I shall teach you to detect genjutsu." He smirked. "Once you know you're caught in one, escape is merely a matter of..." He'd usually say 'willpower', but edited the assertion for the audience: "the 'burning power of youth'."
"YOSH!" Lee shouted. "I will master Nobegami-sempai's counters to genjutsu or I shall do a thousand press-ups one-handed!"
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Nara "Nobegami" Shikanenai (no one except the Third Hokage calls him Shikanenai anymore - Nobegami is the archaic type of paper he prefers to use for his origami jutsus). Born fourteen years after his cousin Nara Shikaku and twelve years before Shikaku's son Shikamaru, his parents died when he was four and he lived with Shikaku's parents until he was seventeen as an adoptive younger son (Shikaku having moved out to get married at about the time Nobegami was orphaned). Still visits the graves of Shikkari-tousan and Fuyou-kaasan as often as he does the memorial stone where his parents names are marked.
Graduated out of the Academy into Gai's first team as jounin-sensei, a little ahead of shedule as Konoha's ninja were rather depleted in numbers by the Kyuubi. First entered the chuunin exam when he was fifteen - one of his teammates passed but he didn't. The other teammate passed the next attempt they made and when he was seventeen he left Gai's supervision and went into the exam again, filling out an open slot in Iruka's team. Iruka passed but Nobegami got his tail kicked (to be precise: burned) by a certain 10-year old Uchiha, too quickly to make any sort of impression.
Rather than going back to Gai (who had other duties), he was spent the next few years filling out open slots in teams on C-class missions - finally made chuunin a couple of years ago when he happened to run into a Konoha team that had lost a member en route to Sunagakure for the Chuunin exams. Having had several years to improve, he passed handily but still works away from Konohagakure mostly.
^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^
Somewhere in Lightning Country, a tall man looked at a small turtle and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Another 'urgent message'?" he asked rhetorically.
"Uh huh."
"And you got here in, what, six months?"
"Five and a half," the turtle said proudly. "I've been practising."
"Merciful Amaterasu." He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, what's up?"
The turtle looked quizzically at the sky, forcing the lean shinobi to cover a chortle by coughing into his fist. The turtle didn't say anything - he didn't have to - but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.
After a moment, the turtle retracted one forepaw into it's shell and rooted around for a moment before producing a small scroll.
There was a rustle of paper as the scroll was unrolled. Then a whimper of disbelief: "Sandaime made him a jounin-sensei - again!?"
^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^
Nobegami looked up as a shadow fell across him. "Shikaku-nisan," he said in greeting.
The scarred ninja nodded and set down the bottle of sake and two cups. "I didn't know you were back in Konohagakure. You never come by anymore."
"Your wife keeps trying to set me up with her nieces," the younger of the two Nara cousins replied, pushing aside his empty bowls so that he could reach across the table for one of the cups.
Shikaku snorted. "Even Shikamaru will get married someday. If your sensei found someone then so will you."
Both flinched them at the familiar but disturbing idea of Gai reproducing.
"Shikamaru is a genin now?" Nobegami asked, filling his cup and his cousin's. "I'm surprised he can be bothered."
"Yes, he's teamed with Inoichi's daughter and Choza's boy - Shika-Ino-Cho again," Shikaku said proudly.
They drained their cups together.
"So, how is Sunagakure?"
"Still standing. Surprising, given the way they treat that Gaara kid. He'll level the place someday and it couldn't happen to a nicer Kage."
^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^^w^
Lee jumped into a defensive posture as the tall Nara clansman appeared out of nowhere, the only warning of his presence being the growling grunt that preceded him.
"So," the chuunin said bluntly. "You're the apprentice." He looked Lee up and down with a calculating look in his dark eyes. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know?"
Lee blinked, then beamed. "I admire Gai-sensei greatly," he admitted, eyes wide with sincerity. "I swear that I shall one day to be such a truly excellent Ninja as he, or I shall carry an Akimichi matron around the village with both legs tied behind my back!"
Nobegami closed his eyes and repressed a shiver. "Your motivation is... admirable," he managed to say between clenched teeth. Pulling a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket, he studied it. "Says here that you can't manage ninjutsu or genjutsu at all?"
"Yes!" Lee agreed proudly. "But I shall become a great ninja nonetheless or I shall -"
"Whoa, whoa," Nobegami interupted. "Don't get carried away or we'll have no time to train today."
Lee remained silent, almost vibrating with eagerness.
"Riiight..." the chuunin drawled, tucking the paper away. "Well, I gather you've had to face ninjutsu before and that your taijutsu was up to the task. How about genjutsu?"
"I -!" Lee broke off as Nobegami shushed him. "I have great difficulty, Nobegami-san."
The chuunin nodded. "Understandable. The usual counter to genjutsu being a form of genjutsu itself, I can see that you would be unable to counter in the conventional manner. Since your sensei will doubtless polish your ninjutsu to 'reflect the burning passion of your youth', I shall teach you to detect genjutsu." He smirked. "Once you know you're caught in one, escape is merely a matter of..." He'd usually say 'willpower', but edited the assertion for the audience: "the 'burning power of youth'."
"YOSH!" Lee shouted. "I will master Nobegami-sempai's counters to genjutsu or I shall do a thousand press-ups one-handed!"
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.