Himiko, the Team Player (Spec Training)

Himiko rolled over in her bed after her first morning back in Dipugakure after the chuunin exams that she had passed came to an end. The journey home had been long and a little awkward with her bad attempts in speaking in Armen and Dec once again. Crystal had not been a fan of that, albeit it had been a little fun, despite making the siblings speak even worse in their natural way that she couldn’t have understood. Needless to say, that was over now and she had made a lot of choices since coming home. Sure she passed the exams first time like her ancestor, but she still had a long ways to go, and her older the most age was a slight hamper to her goals.

Stepping out of her home she began to make her way across to the Dipu temple for her daily duties, drawing out water from one of her vials and using it to create the Disguise that created her typical robes, reading to stop by the painting at the entrance to the temple of the Zakiyoshi deity Kikuri. She’d walked by the painting every day, but for the first time in years she actually stopped to stare at the painting. Being one of the relics to survive the clans move of continent, it was certainly not in the best condition, yet nobody had ever repaired the piece. It was a reminder of just how far they’ve come.

Himiko would stay there for a good while, lost in thought and staring at the painted face of the minor deity. The face that was bland, yet reflected the admirers face. Himiko was sure that was the purpose, to see themselves in Kikuri, but as a Zakiyoshi with the Bakufuko Manako dojutsu there was that extra bond, with the legend that Kikuri was the first to have the eyes that saw waves, the Zakiyoshi before the clan even really existed. Who knows by now if that really happened.

Eventually she tore herself away from the Kikuri portrait and wandered on in. Despite she was not due to do any duties, she still wanted the quiet the temple brought, and such helped out with the routine cleaning. She would make another stop in particular when dusting off the plaque of the important members of the clan to forever pay homage too. It was one of the earliest names on the plaque that caught her eye; her direct ancestor Kimiko, the Kage. The exams had changed something in her, and not just her rank. She’d begun to seriously think about what she was doing. Up until that point, she only had one goal and that was to be better than Kimiko, blindly going about her business as both a priestess and a kunoichi and hunting being the best. But she’d wasted a lot of time too. She was rather old to have been a genin, and whilst chuunin her age now weren’t uncommon, she was chasing a dream she would really have needed to go after years earlier. Then there was the rumours of the next Kage of Dipu being a young woman by the name of Summer. Someone who could supposedly defeat Himiko with ease, and that unnerved her slightly.

After another few moments she was shoo’d off, drawing her chakra water back into the vial and closing off her Disguise so she was back to her regular attire. All the work she’d hoped to do really just went nowhere and she’d begun getting in the way of the other priests. Instead she would make her way into the town wanting to find herself something to eat, and specifically choosing a Zakiyoshi run place to fill her diet of the high magnesium food her fire techniques required. With all the training recently she had felt her flames were getting weak.

It was over this meal that she would make the new promise to herself. Slamming her hand down on the counter after she was done she would stand up and startling the young man serving her. “That’s it, I’m gonna keep pushing myself and… wherever I go, I go,” She announced to herself mostly, getting a slight teasing from the man there. “S-Sorry, I just… if I didn’t say it out loud with somebody around to hear me… it doesn’t really feel like I made the promise to myself.” She would pay for her food and leave, wandering back into her own head.

She decided to head to her usual training spot by the water and think things over there. With a deep breath she activated her jutsu, finding all the more comfort in watching the water through the swelling beat that her eyes gave it. She still had plenty to do, she still had her team and Dec was still a genin after all, and the two boys still had yet to find their father like they promised. She wouldn’t put it past them to be getting there soon. But then… then there was the slight distance she was feeling lately, wondering if something was up with the brothers. She had shrugged it off as nothing to worry about, but she couldn’t quite help but worry, it was her team after all and she wanted them to be happy.

Hours passed, and Himiko rubbed her eyes as she felt her whole body being exhausted, if only as she had been keeping her dojutsu active the whole time in hopes it might have helped her think. She stood up and stretched her body off after being sat still for so long whilst she deactivated her dojutsu, even closing her eyes as she was brushing herself down to give them a better few moments of rest and to ‘reset’ them. “… Kimiko Zakiyoshi… Kikuri… please watch over me. I’ve not given up on my dream of becoming Kage. It might never happen. But what will happen… I’ll help people. I’ll use my abilities, my voice, my burning spirit… and I’ll do good. If I can’t become Kage, then I’ll become the Kage’s right hand woman. Who knows… maybe I’m better suited there after all.”


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Wordcount: 1019

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