A Long Lost Relative

Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:14 pm

Finished with the first round of the chunin exams, Gonk decided to wander around Hoshigakure to kill the day. Gonk’s exploration took him to many of the popular attractions, like the archives, and the palace, though Gonk entered neither of them. Instead, Gonk found himself in a sort of town square, filled with all kinds of shops and stalls.
“Wow there’s so many businesses here,” Gonk thought as he turned in a slow circle, looking around the entire area. As he examined the place closer he realized the shopping district extended far beyond this square of prime real estate. There were several smaller streets that branched off from the square, each lined with shops. Gonk decided to start with a food cart or two because he was starving. It was around lunchtime and he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Spotting a stand that sold fried seafood, Gonk started walking towards the north end of the square, his stomach growling as he did so. When Gonk arrived at the food cart, Gonk ordered some fried shrimp and fried calamari. He had worked up quite an appetite during the chunin exam and while walking around the village. When the food was ready, Gonk paid the man then wandered off while munching on his food. None of the shops that lined the main square interested Gonk. They were all tourist traps, offering over priced souvenirs and other junk Gonk had no interest in. Gonk then decided to check out some of the streets that led off from the main plaza.
“I wonder what’s down this way,” Gonk thought as he picked a street at random. The street he now walked on was far less crowded than the ones he roamed earlier, but it was by no means empty. As he walked down the road a particular sign caught his eye.
“Arame’s Armor,” it read.
“Arame,” Gonk thought as he came to a halt. “Why is that name familiar?” Gonk thought, perplexed. After staring at the sign for a minute, Gonk decided the best way to find out why he recognized the name was to enter the shop. A small bell chimed as Gonk pushed open the door. The shop was filled with all different types of armor. From the steel plate sets Gonk saw some of the Queensguards wearing back at the palace, to outfits made from chakra infused threads, this place had it all. The counter at the back of the shop was empty, but Gonk could hear banging coming from a back room. Most likely this Arame person forging another set of armor. Noticing a bell on the counter, Gonk rang it to get the attention of the shop owner. The banging abruptly stopped, and Gonk heard a lady's voice call, “Give me a second,”
“This voice is so familiar,” Gonk thought, growing more certain that he somehow knew this Arame. Gonk then heard footsteps, followed by a door opening behind the counter.
“The moment of truth,” Gonk thought as the woman started to step out from behind the door. Gonk froze as she stepped out into the room, and upon seeing him, the blacksmith froze as well.
“No way,” Gonk thought as he took a small step back. “You’re a Hoshigaki!”
The woman’s expression was beyond shock, it looked like she was seeing a ghost.
“Gonk?” She whispered. “Is that really you?”
Gonk eyed her suspiciously not yet recognizing her. “Who are you, and how do you know my name.”
The woman’s face momentarily fell, then she quickly regained her composure. “Well I suppose I can’t blame you for not recognizing me. As for who I am, my name is Arame Hoshigaki…”
As soon as Gonk heard her say her name memories started flooding back. He was much younger, perhaps six or seven, he was sitting at the dinner table with his parents, as well as Arame. His father and Arame were laughing, with his mother trying to coax him into eating his vegetables. Wakame was also there, young and healthy, not an adult yet. Several other memories flashed by, some were holidays, some were outings in kirigakure, but almost all of them included Gonk’s parents and Wakame.
“... and Gonk,” Arame continued, “I’m your...”
“...aunt” the two said in unison, staring at each other.
Gonk was the first to break the silence, asking “How are you here? I thought you died.”
“Pull up a chair,” Arame said as she sat down on one behind her desk. “This story will take quite a bit of time.” Gonk walked over a chair sitting in the corner and brought it back over to Arame.
“Where to start,” she said to herself, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, I suppose I better start from the beginning. As you should know, I am the middle child of the clan head, your father was my older brother, and Wakame was my younger brother. The clan was doing nicely, and your father was set to take over, but then things started to change. Members of the clan were assigned more and more dangerous missions, causing more and more Hoshigaki casualties. One day your father and I were called into the clan head’s chamber and told we had a mission. This mission was for the two of us to infiltrate an enemy base and steal some intel. I would rather not go into the details of the mission, but to keep it simple, it was a trap. A fight ensued, and your father sacrificed his life to allow me to escape. The enemy ninja thought they had killed both of us, so they didn’t bother trying to chase me. Even though I was able to escape, I was in pretty bad shape, and after a few days of traveling I couldn’t go on. I was in the middle of a desert when I collapsed. I must have been lying there for the better part of a day before a couple shinobi from Hoshigakure found me. They took me into Hoshigakure where after some interrogation, I was allowed to stay as a citizen. You see, I wasn’t wearing my headband at the time, so they had no proof that I was actually a Kirigakure shinobi. The only reason I was even interrogated at all was because of the Hoshigaki reputation. But anyways that’s pretty much the story of how I got here. As soon as they released me, I opened this shop and have been creating armor for the shinobi of Hoshigakure ever since.”
Gonk listened attentively throughout the story, nodding at various parts. “That’s quite the story,” Gonk said when Arame finished.
“Well enough about me,” Arame replied, “what’s been going on in Kirigakure since I’ve been gone?”
It was now Gonk’s turn to gaze at the ceiling now, as he collected his thoughts.
“Well to be completely honest, I forgot you existed. I guess losing both my parents made me forget.”
“Wait your Mom died as well?” Arame asked, surprised.
“Yes she was killed on a mission shortly after my dad,” Gonk told her. “Ever since they died I’ve lived by myself, with Wakame living next door and acting as my guardian. Oh yeah, speaking of Wakame, he was sent out on a mission shortly after you supposedly died and came back extremely injured. He now can’t perform any strenuous activity, including using too much chakra.”
“Well at least he’s still alive,” Arame said with a relieved smile. “I was extremely worried about him, and you for that matter, but I couldn’t risk going back.”
“Yes well I’m afraid most people weren’t as lucky as Wakame,” Gonk continued. “There’s very few of us left, only enough to fill one apartment building. But luckily we’re getting a chance to regrow. The new Mizukage lord Kizmaru has stopped sending us on such risky missions. However, your father is still in charge of the clan, and with him as our leader, we haven’t been making much progress.”
Arame looked shocked. “He is still the clan head? But he must be practically ancient by now. Why hasn’t he named Wakame as the clan head?”
“Apparently my grandfather disowned Wakame,” Gonk said somberly. “I only found out about this recently.”
“I see,” Arame said slowly. “Are you here at the chunin exams so you can become clan head?”
Gonk shrugged. “If grandfather names me the clan head then great I guess. I’m here so I can bring honor to our clan and the village. Though now that I know of his incompetence, I’m not sure what I’ll do if I’m not named clan head."
Arame nodded pensively. “Well, it sounds like things aren’t ideal right now, but surely they could be far worse. But anyways, since you’re here, we should get you some armor.” As she said this Arame stood up and started walking to the back room. Gonk stood up as well and followed her in to find a workshop filled with all kinds of blacksmithing tools and materials.
“Come back here,” Arame said as she opened another door, “I have some things that I think will be perfect.” As Gonk followed her into the room, he was blown away by how much armor there was in the long closet. Racks of armor lined each wall, some of it was completed, while some of it was only parts, but Arame led Gonk past all of it, to a small closet at the end of the room. Upon opening it, Arame took out a beautiful helmet. It appeared to be made of steel, but the interesting part was the design, because the helmet was in the shape of a shark’s head.
“Wow,” Gonk said as he examined the helmet. “This is incredible, did you make it?”
“No not me,” Arame said as she handed it to Gonk. "This helmet was your fathers before he died. Sadly this is the only piece of his armor that I have, so the rest I’ll have to assemble for you.”
Arame then started walking back down the hall, clearly wanting Gonk to follow. As they walked she said “Let’s see, first we’ll need to start with a base. Ah yes, this black bodysuit should do nicely. Let’s see, I’ll need your measurements so I can make the steel plates the right size." After a few minutes of measuring, Arame walked out of the room and over to the forge, calling “why don’t you put on the bodysuit and look around the room for things you want on your armor." Nodding, Gonk did as she instructed, putting on the cloth garment, then walking around, looking for things that interested him. As he examined the racks and shelves, Gonk came across a useful looking strap. It was large enough to carry Kiribachi plus other ninja tools and other things he might need. He also found a blue sash, and a white fur hood. The last thing he came across was a tattered grey cape. With these things in hand, Gonk walked back into the main room to find Arame next to several different pieces of armor.
“Try them on,” she told Gonk as she investigated his picks. Gonk walked over to the armor pieces and slipped each on, before adding his additions. When it was done, Gonk walked over to the mirror in the front room and examined himself.
“Wow I look awesome,” Gonk said excitedly. “Thanks so much!”
“Of course,” Arame said, smiling.
“So how much do I owe you?” Gonk asked as he walk back to the hall to retrieve his stuff.
“Don’t be silly, you don’t owe me anything,” Aramae told him. “I’m just glad I got to see you and hear the news from kirigakure.”
“You could always come back you know,” Gonk told her.
“I no longer have any interest in being a shinobi.”
“You wouldn’t have to be a shinobi, you could do the same thing you do now, but you would be helping your home village.”
“I don’t know Gonk,” Arame said with a sigh, “you’re asking a lot of me.”
Gonk nodded. “I know, and I won’t force you to come back, but I think you could help make things better. But anyways, just think about it, I’ll come back to visit soon.”
“Alright Gonk, I’ll see you later,” Arame said as she moved forwards to embrace Gonk. Surprised, Gonk awkwardly hugged her back. It had been ages since Gonk and last hugged someone, the last time being months ago when he had embraced Kasumi, the slightly older hyuuga girl.
“I wonder what happened to her,” Gonk wondered as he let go of Arame.
“Thanks so much for the armor, it was great to finally see you again!” Gonk called as he walked to the door.”
“It was my pleasure, take care!” Arame called as he opened the door and walked out of the building.
“Well I guess I should get back to the others,” Gonk thought before starting to walk to where the kirigakure team was staying, thinking about both his encounter with Arame, and the mystery of Kasumi.
[WC=2180]
[Exit]

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Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:00 am

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A Long Lost Relative

A Long Lost Relative

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