InsaneJournal

Age: 18

Birthday: Feb 18th

Rank outside ANBU: Jounin

Affiliated with which ANBU branch: Intel – field ops

Registration Number: 011124

Physical Appearance

Height: 5' 4" (164 cm)

Weight: 108 lb (49 kg)

Blood Type: AB positive

Hair: Dark chocolate brown, almost black, and short-ish. The top hangs smoothly to cover the tops of his ears, and the rest is trimmed close. It gets slightly longer towards the front, and his bangs fall down over his cheekbones to hide the telltale engorged veins of the Byakugan.

Eyes: Typical Hyuuga – very large and milky white. Hiro has thick, though short, lashes that make his eyes look even bigger. On undercover missions he uses just the lightest touch of a henge, almost undetectable, to make his eyes look an ordinary warm brown.

Skin: Pale and creamy, with no blemishes. If he doesn't get enough sleep the dark circles under his eyes are very prominent.

Facial Features: Softer and more rounded than the Hyuuga genetic ideal, though still recognizably part of the family (even without considering the trademark eyes). He doesn't have the sharp-boned hauteur of the Main House Hyuuga, looking much closer to pretty than imposing. He still has the thin, expressive eyebrows in common with the rest of his family, though, which are more than mobile enough to make up for the inscrutability of his Hyuuga eyes.

Other Physical Traits: Very slight build, clearly more suited to speed than to strength. Since he's a stealth-type and has spent large amounts of time on covert missions, he moves very quietly and unobtrusively on instinct, even off duty. He commonly sneaks up on low-level chuunin by accident, and his mission partners often gripe about putting a bell on him (not entirely good-naturedly).

Handedness: Naturally right-handed, though he can throw weapons and control wires almost equally well with both hands.

Voice: A light, medium-range tenor, rather quiet.

Identifying Marks: One vivid green curse seal, inscribed across the middle of his forehead. He keeps it covered with his hitai-ate (or infiltration-grade makeup if he’s on an undercover mission).

Usual Clothing: When he isn't wearing a disguise for missions, he wears black. All black. On duty it's because he's a stealth specialist and wearing colors would be stupid, and off duty because at this point wearing anything else just feels weird. Often he layers his shirts, wearing a short-sleeved black t-shirt over a long-sleeved black turtleneck. His hitai-ate has a black band (of course), and he wears it in the usual spot across his forehead. He also applies a mattifying coating to the metal, so it won't glint and break his cover. He wears flexible-soled black shoes instead of the usual ninja sandals, and standard issue black gloves with the metal plates also matte-coated. He does not, however, wear black fingernail polish. That would be crossing the line into emo territory. (He has, however, considered it.)

ANBU Mask: A panther, with slanted eyeholes dramatically lined with black and a stylized cat's muzzle and whiskers.

Living Situation: Apt. 325

Ninja Skills

Fighting Style: From the shadows, and only when necessary. Hiro is a stealth master, with a wide array of techniques intended to keep him completely hidden, even from the most perceptive of shinobi. Usually on his missions he uses specialized ninjutsu to cover up all traces of his presence, observes what he needs to observe, and gets the hell out of there. Hiro has barely jounin-level proficiency in the Hyuuga taijutsu style Jyuuken, but since he is Branch family he does not know any of the more advanced Main House-reserved techniques such as Hakke Rokujyuuyonshou or Hakkeshou Kaiten, and taijutsu is not his main focus. He is also skilled in genjutsu, though he usually uses them for misdirection rather than direct offense. His element is wind.

Preferred Weapons: Poisoned senbon, razor-sharp ninja wire, anything difficult to see that can be used from hiding while minimizing the risk of giving away his position. All of his weaponry is painted with a mattifying black coating everywhere except for on the sharpened edge – including every single senbon. He painstakingly touches up the coating after every mission.

Special Jutsu:

Fuuton: Kaze Dama no Jutsu (wind sphere): This is actually the name of a set of techniques which don’t really rate names on their own, but are all based on the same general principle: the highly controlled manipulation of a sphere of wind around the user. Depending on the intent of the user, the wind jutsu can muffle noise by preventing the air around the user from vibrating, trap scent by creating an insulated air bubble that travels around with the user (though this is limited by the combination of the amount of air trapped by the jutsu and how long the user can hold their breath), or as a last resort can, by rotating the wind at high speeds, cause some amount of deflection of projectiles (it’s nowhere near as powerful as the sheer amount of raw chakra used in the Main House’s Hakkeshou Kaiten, though it was created in imitation of that technique). Hiro often uses the stealth variations of this technique in conjunction with the Hikari Henkou no Jutsu. His noise-muffling jutsu has the side effect of also completely insulating the user from outside sounds, but the Byakugan’s skill at detecting motion and lip-reading essentially negates that disadvantage.

Hikari Henkou no Jutsu (light deflection): This is Hiro's illusion-style version of a "perfect defense," which he invented himself. He takes the light coming at him in all directions and deflects it to pass around him, sending it out on the other side in its original path. For someone observing from outside the perimeter of the technique, anything inside is completely invisible, since the light passes around it as if it weren't there. Inside the technique is a different story - because all the light is deflected around, it is completely dark. This would be a serious problem, except that the activated Byakugan doesn't utilize visible light to see, and can thus function normally. Hyuuga can, of course, see through this technique, but the sharingan can only see the chakra being used, not what's going on inside. Because it only uses a very small amount of chakra, it is extremely difficult to detect. Despite having the appearance of an illusion, this technique relies purely on physical manipulation of light with chakra, and thus is classified as a ninjutsu. It is not affected by any standard genjutsu cancelling techniques, and requires five seals to generate.

Service Record:

Hiro entered the Academy at age 5. He graduated at age 9 at the top of his class in written exams and genjutsu, towards the middle in ninjutsu (he was never particularly good at the flashy, explosive ones), and near the bottom in taijutsu due to his small frame and low stamina – even the Hyuuga Jyuuken relies to some extent on reach and resilience, both of which Hiro was lacking. During the stealth test, however, even the chuunin instructor couldn't find him, and they were forced to ask him to show himself. (The fact that Hiro had been hiding in a tree directly above the examiner’s head when he made the request caused no end of embarrassment to the chuunin, and might have contributed to the man’s retirement from teaching.)

Hiro was put on an infiltration and reconnaissance-based genin team with jounin instructor Inuzuka Tetsuo and his familiar Ranmaru, and teammates Aburame Chiyo and Uchiha Takuro, both of whom died in the Kyuubi attack. After he became a chuunin at the next exam, when he was 13, Hiro and his sensei parted ways. However, not before Tetsuo recommended him for reassignment to his own former jounin-sensei Sasaki Sayuri, a retired kunoichi specializing in undercover (and seduction) missions. The idea of a Hyuuga being allowed to run seduction missions did not even merit thought, but she trained him in the art of disguise and infiltration as well as the application of genjutsu to those arts. During this time Hiro continued to develop his stealth and illusionary ninjutsu techniques on his own. At 15 he was made a special jounin in recognition of his stealth skills, and after considerable taijutsu training he managed to pass the jounin exams at 16 years old. He joined ANBU a bit over a year after that upon special request from the Hokage.

Personality

General Personality Traits: Very stubborn. If he says he'll do something, he'll damn well do it – that's the one occasion in which his rarely-in-evidence pride wouldn't ever let him back down. Otherwise, he is not much given to posturing, preferring to be underestimated. He would say that he doesn't feel the need to prove himself to anyone. In reality, he deeply cares what other people think of him, but tries to convince himself otherwise to save himself the pain of being disregarded. He usually serves back what he receives, so if someone is snarky or rude to him, he'll be irritable right back. But if anyone is nice to him, even just in little things, he'll think they hung the moon.

Quirks: Takes particular care of his health. On missions he'll push himself beyond the limits just as much as the next ANBU - he's too stubborn not to - but outside of missions he tries his hardest to get as much sleep as his body needs, and to make sure he's getting proper nutrition. He wears a facemask when anyone around him is sick (since he's Hiro, the mask is black rather than the usual white).

Sexual Orientation: Straight. At least, he thinks so. Mostly he likes girls, anyway. Since he’s a Branch House Hyuuga and therefore forbidden to sleep around out-clan, however, the point is rather moot.

Gifts/Talents: Very clever, and thinks quickly on his feet. He was known as a genius in the academy, and it wasn't because of his abilities with Jyuuken. He also can be a good leader if his teammates are willing to listen to what he has to say, though he is not the most assertive of people. He is usually calm during crises, able to detach himself and make the split second decisions that need to be made, postponing getting upset about things for later when there's time to deal with it. He is very, very good at getting people to underestimate him, and is a consummate actor.

Flaws: He is quite stubborn, and often has the tendency to stick with something long after it would have been worthwhile to change tacks. Generally only in situations where no one would get hurt, however, otherwise he never would have survived to make jounin. He also has a strong respect for authority that comes from growing up in the Branch House, where said authority figures could cause you to fall down screaming your throat out - or worse - with a single seal. Given that he’s a full-fledged shinobi now and rarely works with Main House Hyuuga, he’s trying to be more independent-minded, but childhood habits are hard to break. He still has a strong tendency to immediately obey any order given by someone he considers above him, without necessarily taking the time to think about it first.

Religion and Philosophy: His mother is extremely superstitious, and he’s picked up some of that from her, even though if asked directly he would say it's nonsense.

Likes and Loves: Creamy, sweet desserts. Traditional style brush painting and calligraphy, as a hobby, and practicing meditation to increase his chakra control. Natto.

Dislikes and Hates: The cold – with his delicate build he is very susceptible to it, and any illness he catches tends to knock him out for longer than your average shinobi. He also hates it when people dislike him for being a Hyuuga, without even knowing anything about him. If he doesn’t watch himself, this leads him to be arrogant and dismissive towards them, which of course tends to perpetuate the stereotypes…

Fears: Blindness. Having his cover broken during an infiltration mission. He is also, though he would never admit it, quite afraid of the Hyuuga Main House.

Dreams and Ambitions: He’s confused about what led to him being recruited for the ANBU – and what possibly could convince Hiashi-sama to accede to that request – but he wants to prove himself worthy of the special treatment. In the long term, he’d love to prove to his Hyuuga peers that his stealth and illusion techniques are just as useful to Konoha as the more typical Hyuuga fighting style, and that he is not a coward for choosing to hide and run instead of stand and fight. But he knows that has a snowball's chance in a Suna summer of ever happening, and he’s mostly made his peace with that.

Relationships

Family:

Hiro's mother, Hyuuga Hatsuyo, works as a housekeeper in the Hyuuga compound. Most of the Hyuuga chores are done by young Branch House children on rotation, but Hatsuyo was always… shall we say, a bit slow. But despite that, she had a good lineage and strong eyes, even though she was incapable of utilizing them well enough to become a ninja. So she was encouraged to wed Hyuuga Hideki, a young Branch House Hyuuga who didn’t really mind having a somewhat simpleminded wife – after all, he certainly wasn’t getting tail anywhere else, and she was quite a fine-looking specimen, brains aside. But then Hideki got himself killed on what was supposed to be a routine patrol mission, and Hatsuyo was left alone with a squalling young child.

She really did surprisingly well, all things considered. Higher analysis would always be beyond her, but she did simple tasks with quiet care and endless patience, which is essentially all you need for raising an infant. Hiro was often ill when he was younger, possibly a relic of Hatsuyo’s inferior genetics or some aspect of his care that she overlooked, but it was clear there was nothing wrong with his mind. And by the time Hiro was asking questions that were beyond Hatsuyo’s capabilities, he was at the point where he could find the answers himself.

Hiro loves his mother, very much, but he was more than happy to have the opportunity to move out of the Hyuuga Compound and into an apartment at ANBU HQ. She can take care of herself, and tends to mostly forget about him when he’s not around for a while anyway, so he knows she’ll be happy enough with him gone.

Friends:

Sasaki-sensei wouldn't really count as a friend – she’s his sensei, after all, not a peer – but it’s clear that she does care about him at least a little, which makes her the closest he's got at the moment. Just before the Kyuubi attack he had pretty much gotten to the point where, if asked, he might have called his genin teammates his friends - but then the Kyuubi attacked and ruined that. He never got close to his teammates for the chuunin exam, just joining them to fill out a team, and after that he ran mostly solo or in temporary teams that he never formed a connection with. He's still on amicable terms with his first jounin-sensei, Inuzuka Tetsuo, but they don't really have much to talk about.

Lovers: None so far

Hero: The Yondaime Hokage, obviously, for sealing away the Kyuubi. But mostly the Sandaime Hokage, for skillfully manipulating the reins of power for so long to keep Konoha the most powerful of the hidden villages, even as it is also the largest target.

Enemies: None that he knows of. Though there are probably a lot of people out there wishing bloody murder on whoever the hell it was who managed to spirit their super-secret information out of their sealed and locked, ninja-certified safes – without ever opening the door.

Personal History:

As a Branch House child, Hiro didn't have a choice about whether or not he would become a shinobi. He had a strong Byakugan, therefore he would go to the Academy, simple as that. He entered at five and graduated to genin at age nine, to take his part in the war effort. He was put on a reconnaissance team with jounin sensei Inuzuka Tetsuo (and Ranmaru) and teammates Aburame Chiyo and Uchiha Takuro, and they were immediately sent out to the front lines of the war - recon teams were rare enough that they couldn't afford to be babied.

It would have been a difficult situation even for a well-oiled team that had known each other for years. As it was, well... Tetsuo disliked Hiro because he was a Hyuuga, Takuro because he was an Uchiha, and Chiyo because she was so damn quiet. Takuro disliked Hiro because he was a Hyuuga, and everyone else on principle. No one knew what Chiyo was thinking behind her Aburame sunglasses and high-wrapped scarf. But somewhere between spying on hidden documents with the Byakugan while lurking undetectably outside enemy tents (Hiro), copying the seal keys on enemy bunkers while hanging upside-down in trees (Takuro), sequentially tagging enemy shinobi and tracing their contacts and hideouts (Chiyo), and tracking stolen scrolls in the pouring rain with "breakneck speeds" almost becoming a literal term (Tetsuo and Ranmaru) – lather, rinse, repeat – Team Recon #4 became something that almost resembled an actual team. During this time, Hiro developed the basic forms of his Hikari Henkou no Jutsu and Kaze Dama no Jutsu, and worked on refining them and developing variations.

Then the war ended. Genin-level reconnaissance teams suddenly became much less a necessity and much more a potential huge liability if something went wrong. Thus Team Recon #4 was recalled back to Konoha, where they suddenly were able to do what genin teams normally do in peacetime: gripe, run generally boring missions (though at least they had proven themselves beyond D-class), and study for the chuunin exams. They played track-the-stealth-specialist in the Forest of Death, Tetsuo and Takuro had daily explosive arguments (usually both figuratively and literally) proving that neither of them had progressed beyond the age of five, and Hiro had the shock of his life when Chiyo nervously asked him out on a date. Everything was as idyllic as it ever gets in a Hidden Village – until the Kyuubi attacked. In a day, the small peace they had built crumbled down around them. During the attack, Hiro was tasked with bringing wounded shinobi to the hospital, using his stealth techniques to slip in under the Kyuubi's nose (once in a terrifyingly literal manner) and retrieve half-flayed, scorched, and trampled ninja for treatment. Which is why he wasn't there when Chiyo and Takuro died defending the West Gate. He would say he knows it's not his fault, that there was absolutely nothing he could have done, but still… he wasn't there.

After Hiro passed the chuunin exam at thirteen years old with a team composed of thrown-together remnants from the Kyuubi attack like him, his sensei petitioned to return to active jounin status. Tetsuo passed him on with a surprisingly positive recommendation to Sasaki Sayuri, a retired kunoichi who had been Tetsuo's own jounin-sensei. Though initially unimpressed by the scrawny brat who showed up at her door with a letter and a pleading, lost look on his face, she was intrigued by the idea of a Hyuuga infiltration expert and so agreed to take him in on a trial basis. She eventually grew fond of him for his single-minded determination and agile mind, though his ability to occasionally be 100% stubborn teenage boy was damn frustrating sometimes.

Then it was missions, missions, missions for the next several years – Hyuuga were always in demand, and Hiro even more so because of his unique jutsu. And it wasn’t as if he actually wanted to spend time at home with his childlike mother and hostile peers (who had teased him since he was a child because of his mother’s simplemindedness or his own small size and “un-Hyuuga” fighting style). So he took as many missions as he could get his hands on. He was promoted to special jounin at fifteen in recognition of his stealth skills, and worked on his taijutsu like crazy to achieve jounin status the next year. Then somehow some higher-up must have heard his name, because he received a special invitation to ANBU a little over a year after that, when he was eighteen (pending successful physical and mental examinations, of course). He has no idea why Hiashi-sama agreed to let him join – after all, everyone knows that Hyuuga don’t join ANBU – but he’s not complaining. If they really want him, he’s not leaving until his name is on the monument.

Special Notes:

Most of Hiro’s experience lies in the field of intelligence-gathering, whether in straight-up spying or infiltration. If significant fighting is anticipated, it is best if he is assigned backup, since invisibility isn’t all that useful against overwhelming odds or when the opponent can just blanket the area with fireballs.