Name: Duel Disciplines
Rank: D-S (Takashi: C)
Type: Physical
Description: The character has the ability to use two distinct fighting styles. They can easily switch from one or the other, especially if one relies on a type of weapon or perhaps a martial stance while the other doesn't. They are capable of using either style to the fullest ability, and are knowledgeable to the lore and technicalities of each, and can even blend the two together to make a whole new style using both. *In Takashi's case, he knows the styles of sword fighting (Or samurai) and the style of shinobi, or using general taijutsu and ninjutsu, as well as the concepts of chakra control and the application of elements in techniques both nin and kenjutsu.

Level 1: (This is Takashi's level) The character is very advanced in one style, having nearly mastered it or at least is very skilled for his/her level, while the other is rather lacking. The secondary style is in the beginning stages, as the character just barely grasps the concepts of it though has the basics down pat. They are actively attempting to learn this style more, usually fighting with this style more often than the already "Mastered" one to gain more experience with it. The process of switching from one style to the other is obvious, and elements of either cannot be mixed in any way. In addition, the character knows quite a bit, but definitely not all, of the lore and technicalities behind a primary style, but knows nothing though is most likely interested in the lore of the secondary.

Level 2: The character is rather advanced in both styles, though the secondary is not as good as the primary. Due to particular focus on the secondary style in the past, the primary has rusted a bit, and the character is not quite as good with it as they were previously, however the secondary has advanced greatly. The character is equally adept with either, but again neither is really amazing or commendable. The character is also able to mix the two styles together a bit, or switch between them quickly enough to string basic combos using both together. Despite this, the character will still clearly be actively using one style or the other, while basic elements of the other can be seen being used in addition to the currently active one. The actual switch between styles is less obvious and quicker. In addition, the character knows a fair amount of the lore and technicalities behind either style, including the strength and weaknesses of either, as well as which they could be used best against.

Level 3: The character is very advanced in both styles he/she has decided to undertake. They are as skilled with either as a master would be under a single style. Achieving this has taken much training and equal use of either style, though the rewards have paid off greatly. When fighting, the character can seamlessly switch from one style to the other without the enemy noticing, and can mesh the two together while stringing combos with ease. If they so desire, the character can focus all attention on one particular style and become more skilled with it than if not, though the use of the other style will be temporarily disabled. Finally, the character knows all there is to know about either style in terms of lore and technicalities. They know what makes it tick, how to make it work in any situation, and ultimately how to use it to the best of its ability while concealing if not outright preventing any weaknesses.
Open: Yes

The beginnings of Takashi Yoshino is of a life that many other people in the world shared, yet is unexplored and untold all the same. Many a tale from a successful or well known man takes its origin in a village. Almost never is there any mention in any text or word-of-mouth-story of a champion who came from a less fortunate setting. The less prosperous people who do not have homes, who were not born into the luxury of a hidden village. This is the setting, the beginning of Takashi Yoshino. He was born in a small town somewhere in the fire country with no name, and his family did not stay there. As a matter of fact, the only reason they stayed in this town for more than two days was because his mother was to give birth to twins, and not a day after, they were gone.

The Yoshino family was that of a long line of salesmen. Thats all they had ever been known as, though they were quite revered as such. Salesmen of all kinds, some selling a particular thing, some selling basics of everything. As for Takashi's family, they were traveling salesmen. Because of this, they were known particularly by many people, though they never stayed long enough to make anything more than friendly aquantinces they could exchange world news with upon visits. They were a very cautious people who did not like to make ties with anyone. As such they route they took included the entire world, going to many small towns and hamlets everywhere, though never stopping in an actual hidden village for obvious reasons. As one could imagine, because of this, it took a number of years to make a full rotation, though their merchandise was always top notch and valuable, making their rare appearance very valuable.

This type of fame comes at a price, however. Bandits who preferred rather to ambush and steal the merchandise rather than wait for them and pay attacked frequently, though Takashi's father was a skilled samurai, and was always capable of single-handedly taking care of them. His mother was also an experienced medic and cook, able to keep the lot of them alive and healthy despite any encounter or hardship while traveling. Takashi took an interest in his father's swordsmanship, often admiring and looking up to his skill enthusiastically, though never worked up the nerve to ask him to teach him for the first few years of his life. His twin sister, Saeko, on the other hand, took more of an interest for her mothers work, and actually began learning to be a medic early on. Her bravery and dedication in learning her mother's art also inspired him...but never enough to make him work up the nerve to ask his father to how to wield a blade.

They were a close family, through and through. They all relied on each other for everything. Because of their lifestyle choices, as in constantly traveling from place to place and camping out frequently, money usually wasn't a concern for any of them. They made good profit from sales though, so whenever they came to a town they often slept at an inn. They even went to some extravagant cities, but again never to an actual hidden village. They saw the world many times over, and were happy with one another. To them, life, while hard and in comparison rather rough, was complete.

Unfortunately...life could not remain perfect for them for so long. Eventually, something had to give, and give it did. During one visit to a rather rich town in the fire country, one particular male took an interest in Saeko. The interest was not shared however, and she tried rather hard to politely be rid of him. All these attempts were foiled, and it seemed as though he would not be satisfied without her. To make a long and painful story short, they ended up having to leave the town with a fight, and it was clear that this man was very, very displeased. Naturally, they decided to never go back to that town, though the problem could not be solved so easily.

Not only was this man not an actual resident of the town, he appeared to be royalty of some sort, or at least nobility. As they soon found out, he was capable of hiring shinobi to find and attack them. An attack proved to be only a distraction however...as per usual the father, Kisuke, was left to fend of the shinobi. They were unlike regular bandits, and he actually had his hands full for quite awhile, it looked as though they might best him. They did not, however, though the reason for this became clear. In the state of awe they were all put in in observing him, they had not noticed when a single shinobi had snuck behind them...and ran off with Saeko.

Needless to say, they were mortified when they discovered this, though they instantly knew what had happened. The entire attack had been nothing but a kidnapping, and it was even wondered if the reason Kisuke even survived was so they could keep the distraction going. If that was so...they could have all been killed, but they were not, which only angered them more, as the intention was probably to make them suffer through the loss of Saeko. Not a day later, they stormed the town they had visited before, looking for the man they knew hired the shinobi to capture her...but he was nowhere to be found. No one knew where he was either...he had taken her and left. The very thought of that sick man clutching his sister made Takashi's blood boil with rage...but also sorrow. He could do nothing to protect her, even if he had noticed the creeping shinobi. He had been useless. Why? Because he could do nothing to help...

As anyone might suspect, not a day after they had given up the search, Takashi asked his father to teach him the art of swordplay. What happened next was also obvious. He was given a lecture instantly saying that Saeko's capture was not his fault, that just because he was not able to fight did not mean anything different would have happened. What ensued was a heated and emotional argument...but in the end, he agreed to train him. In truth it was never his intention to deny him, and had in fact waiting for a long time for him to work up the nerve to do so...he only wished that the catalyst would have been something a little more peaceful than his sister's capture.

The next couple of years were hard emotionally. Realistically, nothing much had changed with Saeko's capture, the routine was much the same, as was life...but that didn't make it any less empty for them. During their travels, they asked every customer if they knew the man who took Saeko, or if they had even seen her. Some knew the man, but none knew where he was. It was like this for many years. Takashi trained every day as much as he could to learn to wield the sword, but for the longest time he was never able to assist in fending off bandits. Kisuke continued to insist that he was neither old enough or experienced enough to do so. This upset Takashi...but underneath everything he knew it was true, and therefor never harbored any real contempt for his father.

The times were catching up with him however, this was becoming very obvious. He could not fend off the bandits like he could in the past. Be this from age or maybe loss of heart, it was unsure. Either way, it seemed as though the bandits never got older, which made sense really. They were slowly becoming successful though. As if they had heard the strategy of the shinobi, they adopted the same tactic of distraction. Every time it was discovered this had happened, Takashi's heart strained unbelievably. Even though it wasn't his sister he was losing again, Takashi just could not bare being beaten by the same tactics again and again. Eventually he paid attention during one raid in particular, and it was then that he killed his first opponent. Rightfully too...for the man attempted to steal a keepsake of Saeko which Takashi held more dear to him than any other. Indeed, the foolish bandit had picked the wrong prize.

From that moment on, for some reason, Takashi was more dedicated than ever. And he was good too, his father even told him he was a natural. Before long, he had basically become the rear guard of them all whenever a bandit attack took place. He still was not allowed to participate in the main fight, however he was always successful in beating back and flanking attempts. His skill was growing, but Kisuke was always too protective of him to ever let him fight alongside him. After all, he couldn't imagine what he would do if he lost his son too. Takashi, of course, understood this...but he still wouldn't let that alone satisfy him. Regardless of his fathers lecturing, he still felt largely responsible for his sister's capture, and was devoted to finding her again...and the first step was proving to himself that he was a competent swordsman. But he was young and foolish...even with his constant training he was still rather pathetic in swordplay compared to many, as was his father even.

Regardless, the bandits that constantly attacked were neither very skilled or trained, and therefor easy to defeat, though Takashi did not understand this. He believed he was getting better and better, and he was, though his progress was not as substantial as he believed. It did not help his growing ego when during one attack, Kisuke was injured badly. It seemed as though the bandits would finally overtake and rob them completely, if not take their lives. However, Takashi was able to take charge and fight them off, and actually wound a few rather severely. It was unknown if he actually managed to kill any of them.

Afterwards, Takashi was full of pride, though his father still had a few lecturing words for him. He basically told him that his actions were reckless, not to do it again, and not to get a big head. Naturally, this left him somewhat upset again, and he left to blow off some steam. He knew his father was right, he just wasn't ready to admit it yet...because the fight made him feel strangely closer to his sister. Speaking of which, while he was gone, he was approached by a villageless shinobi apparently under the employ of the man responsible for kidnapping his sister. The shinobi told him that he was here to kill his parents and take him into custody, but expressed that he had no intention of doing so...if he agreed to simply come quietly. He was told he would get to see his sister again, and that alone caused him to act.

He returned to the nearby camp and told his parents he would be gone for about a day or so, and asked that they stay and wait for him there. Before they could ask, he was gone. He followed this ninja back to the village they had first encountered the man, and he was angered to know that he had been there all along, but the citizens simply refused to tell him. He felt...betrayed by them all...but quietly went to the man. He was brought before him in what seemed like a throne room. Apparently he was some form of prince or other kind of royalty. Either way the effect was the same.

He was left alone in the room with the man while the guards left. They were alone...and the man had a sword. For awhile he just circled Takashi...looking at him with a disgusting sneer, as he was in shackles by the wrist. After what seemed like half an hour, the man began to speak. At first he just taunted him, called he and his family disgusting and laughable, a confusing statement considering how "in love" he was with his sister at the time, who he still had yet to see at the moment. He eventually got to that, and did something that he should not have.

He told Takashi that Saeko was dead. He told him that she had been far too disobedient for his tastes, especially in his demanded desires. She did not bend to his will, so as a result he raped and killed her. The look of utter mortification, devastation, and loss on Takashi's face seemed to make the man squee with putrid joy...something that sped up the process of turning Takashi's despair into rage. The man enjoyed this as well it seemed, and continued to go into detail about how she screamed, how she begged and cried and...it only killed Takashi on the inside more.

Eventually an apparent point came to his being brought here. The man said he wanted Takashi to know this just before he killed him. Wanted him to know how pathetic and unsatisfying his sister had been, and how much he resented his family as a whole. At that point, he made a move to kill Takashi, making a downward swipe from above. He used this clumsy attack to his advantage and used it to break the chains binding his wrists. From there, it was simple. The man was actually quite the novice with a sword, and therefor was disarmed with ease. Without hesitation, he was cut down...blood spilled all over the floor. This was expected by the guards and whatnot, so even if the conflict was heard, no one came rushing in for they all assumed that the sound of a dead body was Takashi's rather than the man's...and they had all been paid to look away.

This allowed Takashi some time to sit on the floor and cry. Cry for his sister, and his parents who he would have to tell. Eventually he was able to pick himself up and escape without being seen. He was spotted by one though...an old man who caught him regardless of how sneaky he was being. He silenced Takashi's initial retaliation, and got his attention long enough to tell him something. He told him that the man's words were false. Saeko was not dead, and had not even been raped. It was true that she had been disobedient from the start, but rather than do all the horrible things he said, what the man really did was send her off on a cart of slaves to be sold somewhere else. Apparently, since then, the man had grown a pair and decided to extract his revenge for a damaged pride on Takashi.

Takashi was humbled by this, and thanked the old man for lifting his spirits and telling him the truth. He escaped the town again without being seen, though just barely, and returned to his parents who were of course not very pleased with his behavior. After the initial scolding and chastising, Takashi told them what Saeko's fate was, though left out the part about killing the man and what he said he did. It took some convincing to get them to believe him without revealing the more solemn details, but eventually they did, and turned their attention to tracking down slave traders or slave owners rather than finding the man.

A few months passed, and eventually they heard word that Saeko was a slave somewhere in Kiri. They were all completely shocked to hear this...not only that she was in Konoha, but that they used slaves. They were all disgusted to hear this news, but they took heed to it all the same. They quickly changed gears with the intention of moving into Konoha to look for Saeko. They did this with some success, as they were able to enter the village as salesmen and even open up an actual shop for once. They bought a home...and did everything to become actual citizens except actually register for citizenship. This was the point though. As soon as Saeko was found, they would bail as quickly as possible. However, fate proved to have a different plan.

They searched for many weeks for her. Mostly Takashi went around the village, conversing with questionable people and exploring all the nooks and crannies he could find...all while keeping as little attention as possible. In the end, the only reason he didn't become a target for the underground is because there were no slaves in Kiri, and he eventually came to discover this. Though...by the time this was discovered, his parents had settled in quite well. They were well known for their quality merchandise, and had actually made a few friends...a concept they were not used to, but actually enjoyed. Simply put, they did not want to leave. Takashi, on the other hand, was not convinced, though he had to obey his parent's wishes. They proclaimed that finding Saeko had become a wild goose chase, that they would never do it alone. They told him that perhaps by gaining some allies in Kiri, perhaps they could gain some assistance. After all, many people seemed helpful.

He was not completely convinced, and the idea of "allies" from the village did not sit well with him. After all, the military force of the village were shinobi! The very things that had taken Saeko in the first place. The village was crawling with them...and he disliked them all. It was understandable though, and he knew in his heart that it was not their fault. In a way, he was actually jealous of them. He never could defeat a shinobi, he had attempted to kill the one that approached him that one knight, but was thwarted with ease, and he even seemed laughable compared to some of these guys. He stayed away from most of these people...and he stayed hidden from the all seeing Mizukage as best he could.

However, it still seemed as though fate was not done being ironic just yet. One day, when Takashi was watching the shop, a boy a little younger than Takashi attempted to steal something from the shop. He got outside and Takashi chased him, grabbing up his sword and making chase. They got out of the streets, and he cornered the kid in an alley. He faced him, and they fought. Since it was just a kid, Takashi used the blunt end of his blade. He seemed to be winning, though the fight was rather intense. At the end however, the boy did something Takashi could barely comprehend. He threw a huge ball of fire at him, right out of his mouth! He was so stunned by this spectacle that he was barely able to dodge it. At first he thought it had to be some kind of illusion, but he could feel the heat and most of his clothes had been singed.

He looked back up at that point to see the boy jump, with the goods, up to a rooftop. He was dumbstruck...again. He was also defeated, and his pride was wounded severely that he let the boy get away...but before long, a man came before him with the boy held up by the collar. He was also a shinobi like the boy, but older...almost looking like a police officer, at least in the way he handled the boy. The man apologized on the boy's behalf, returned the stolen goods, and actually commended him for his sword skills. With that, he was gone, apparently to punish the boy however that was done.

From the following night to the next day, Takashi thought about what he had seen that boy do. Throw fire and jump to the top of a building. Amazing! Still he could not believe it. He thought...he had to learn to do that. As much as he hated to admit...he wanted to learn to be a shinobi as well. Surely if that ratty thief of a shinobi could do it, he could too. The next day however, a letter was received at their house. He was to report to the Mizukage immediately with his parents...and so they did. Thankfully, they were not in any trouble, and in fact, the Mizukage thanked Takashi for attempting to stop the boy, who was told to be a rather troublesome genin. He brought to mention the fact that they were not citizens...and offered them a deal.

He said he would make the three of them citizens of Kiri on one condition. Takashi was to become a shinobi for Konoha. If he denied, they would be removed from the village and never allowed back. This was actually a tough decision for Takashi...he attempted, while contemplating, to bring to light the fact of his sister, but the Mizukage claimed to already know of his plight. He guaranteed that they would do what they could to aid him in finding his sister, but a full scale search party would have to wait. In the end, Takashi could not refuse. He agreed to become a shinobi and learn the art, and they were all granted citizenship.

At that point, the Mizukage described the rank system and mission system, as well as the point of the academy. However...he told Takashi that, since he was so old and showed promise in combat, he would allow him to skip the academy by taking a special test both physical and on paper, quizzing him about the different shinobi aspects as well as demonstrating a few. Basically, it was a slightly dumbed down and modified version of the academy final exam. Takashi was given a week to study and learn. In the end, he did so and passed the exam not exactly with flying colors. However, it was enough to get him the rank of Genin. He still knew rather little as far as being a shinobi, but he was clearly competent in a fight and able to go on missions with a team with his Kenjutsu skills, as the Mizukage called them.

He knew less than academy graduates, but the Mizukage assured him that he would get a team that would support and teach him quickly, and also expressed that he was sure he was a fast learner. Takashi was greatly humbled by all this...and could do nothing but go along. In truth, he was and is very interested in learning the ways of becoming a shinobi, but ultimately, his greatest desire continued to be finding his sister...or at least learning her true fate.