#naka shrine

[zelianthos-capercaillie]

Concept art by Samuel Michlap titled "Tartarus" on ArtStation for DreamWorks' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas animated film

This can also be a great environmental art for the ruins of an abandoned Uchiha shrine/hideout ⛩️ (or even the ruins of Uzushiogakure 🏯)

[city-of-ladies]

Japan's third empress regnant, Empress Jitō (645-703) was a powerful and effective ruler. Shrewd, bold and clever, she walked in the footsteps of empresses Suiko and Saimei and prevailed against all odds.

A troubled youth 

Jitō was the daughter of Prince Naka no Ōe, the son of empress regnant Saimei. The year she was born, her father killed a minister in front of his mother, leading to her abdication.

Jitō’s maternal grandfather committed suicide three years later, having been wrongly accused of plotting against Prince Naka no Ōe. Jitō’s mother, Ochi, died of grief. Jitō was thus placed in her grandmother's care and raised by the former empress.

At age 12, she was married to her paternal uncle, Prince Ōama, who was 27. Jitō was a reserved person with a brilliant intelligence and much liked by the court. She was curious, open-minded and studied Chinese literature. The death of her grandmother in 661 pained her greatly. In 662, Jitō gave birth to her only child: prince Kusakabe. Her father then ascended took the throne as Emperor Tenji in 667.

Succession struggle

The question of Emperor Tenji’s succession soon arose. The sovereign favored Jitō’s half-brother, Prince Ōtomo, but Prince Ōama had his own ambitions. He and Jitō left the court, waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

Ōtomo indeed succeeded Tenji, but Ōama revolted against him soon after with Jitō's support. When they arrived at Ise province, she dressed in male clothes and personally addressed the troops. She also worked on tactical plans. As Ōama left to leave an offensive in Ōmi province, Jitō took command of the troops stationed at Ise. She had indeed volunteered to defend the shrine dedicated to the sun Goddess, Amaterasu.

Their joint efforts led to their success. Ōama ascended the throne in 673 as emperor Tenmu, with Jitō becoming his co-ruler.

The radiant empress

Jitō was very influential in court matters. This was reflected in the choice of Tenmu's heir. He could have chosen his son by another woman, Prince Ōtsu, as his heir, but chose Jitō’s son, Prince Kusakabe, instead.

As Tenmu died in 686, Jitō took the matter in hand. She declared Ōtsu guilty of treason and forced him to commit suicide. She then organized grandiose funerals for her husband and wrote poems expressing her grief. 

Oh, the autumn foliage

Of the hill of Kamioka!

My good Lord and Sovereign

Would see it in the evening

And ask of it in the morning.

On that very hill from afar

I gaze, wondering

If he sees it to-day,

Or asks of it to-morrow.

Sadness I feel at eve,

And heart-rending grief at morn—

The sleeves of my coarse-cloth robe

Are never for a moment dry. 

Her son died in 689. Since her grandson was too young to rule, Jitō became empress regnant. 

She reformed the country, establishing a strong central power and surrounded herself with capable ministers. In 689, she enacted a mandatory code for all local governors. In 690, she launched a population census.

She reformed the army, improving the recruitment conditions and the troops' training. A protector of the arts, she also actively participated in the propagation of Buddhism. Poetry became more refined during her reign. One of her poems was later included in the popular Hyakunin Isshu anthology:

The spring has passed

And the summer come again

For the silk-white robes

So they say, are spread to dry

On Mount Kaguyama 

Jitō made her predecessors' objective of replacing the tribal system with a strong central power a reality. Her rule was synonymous with a degree of stability that neither her father nor husband were able to reach. She can be regarded as one of the true founders of Japan’s imperial monarchy. The empress was also fond of travels. In 692, she undertook a trip symbolic trip to Ise province, strengthening her authority and gaining the support of the local people.

The empress indeed took advantage of the Shinto rituals and the image of the sun Goddess to reinforce her legitimacy and used the links between the deity and the imperial family. Such was her prestige that Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, one of the greatest poets of his time, compared her to a goddess.

The retired empress

Jitō’s grandson, Monmu (r. 697-707) was ready to take the throne. She stepped back as Dajō Tennō (or “retired emperor”), becoming the first sovereign in Japanese history to assume this title. The power was in reality still in her hands. The Taihō Code was promulgated in 701, reforming governmental administration as well as administrative and penal law. This was only made possible by the reforms enacted during her reign.

In 702, she went through another tour of inspection of the eastern provinces and bestowed gifts and court ranks on the local officials and leading farmers. Jitō died in the first month 703 and her ashes were interred in her husband's tomb.

Here's is the link to my Ko-Fi if you like what I do! Your support would be greatly appreciated.

Further reading: 

Aoki Michiko Y., "Jitō Tennō, the female sovereign",in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (ed.), Heroic with grace legendary women of Japan

Souyri Pierre-François, Nouvelle histoire du japon

[doctorbunny]

The mission to track down (most of) the locations in Ai Nan Desu Yo!

Firstly, I want to thank @archivalofsins /Gunsli-01, this whole thing started because of us DMing, wondering if we could use the background images in Mahiru's first MV to guess which university she went to, that started this whole adventure. By the end of this saga, the process truly was a collaboration too and i would've given up much sooner (sorry for taking so long to write this up!)

It started here. The caption says Mahiru is sat on the 大学のテラス (University terrace). So we figured this was the best shot to find her uni. Gunsli tried reverse image search but it just kept throwing milgram back at us. So I got an idea:

The magic of photo editing! it worked too and I got this back:

That's right! This isn't a university but a pizza place! Specifically one called 800 ディグリーズ ナポリタン ピッツェリア (800 degrees Neapolitan pizzeria) It is right next to two universities however:

Of these two, I speculate Aoyama Gakuin University is more likely to be Mahiru's as they have a large humanities department and an option to take Chinese language classes (interestingly, it is also a Very Christian university and we know from question 19 of Mahiru's trial 1 interrogation, she believes people go to Heaven when they die. There is also a lot of focus on international students and the campus nearest the pizza resturant has a 'statue of Love' in the Majima Archives building)

Inspired by this fruitful discovery I decided to try my method on other photos:

I jumped all the way over to day 13 because I felt like the sign would aid in my search. Before I bothered with any photo editing I just did some google searches "Tokyo Marun-" I got the autofill result 'Tokyo Marunouchi hotel' after investigating it wasn't the right place but we had a location name "Marunouchi" Trying again I typed "Tokyo Marunouchi Street" Autofill gave me "Marunouchi Street Park": Bingo!

This must be some kind of iconic sign because there were a ton of results for it. The bad news is that the sign was portable and only placed out for special events. So I introduce the next weapon in my arsenal: Google Streetview With a street to work with I walked up and down Morunouchi Naka-doori avenue until I got to a building with similar square pillars to the one behind Mahiru

This place is the MyPlaza, it's got a couple different shops, but importantly there is a function room you can rent out for events just like the wedding reception Mahiru attended here. This one turns out to be further away than some of the other discoveries but it makes sense because Mahiru is travelling to an event, not on a date.

Back to photo editing! This is one of two shrines I'll identify, they become important as they get special icons on google maps, becoming landmarks to search around later.

This is the Meiji Jingu Shrine

I was on a roll so quickly moved to day 14, however, my editing trick wouldn't work here so it would only be later that I uncovered the location of the park

Searching for day 11 was much more fruitful

I was really excited to track this one as Mahiru mentions it being the filming location for her favourite movie. So I thought if we could discover that, then we may unlock more clues about her as a person

I got about this far before realising I could try a different tactic. If this was a well known spot, surely in my broken Japanese I could google it right? So with a little help of my dictionary I spat out "Tokyo red hand railing movie". Somehow this barely worked

The movie? Your Name

At this point I was rolling on the floor laughing because I had been expecting some Japanese cult classic romance movie or a domestically popular but internationally obscure rom com meanwhile Your Name was a massive box office smash hit in many places. One of the few anime movies that even non-anime fans will be aware of.

Despite this, I hadn't actually seen it myself and wasn't really in the mood to watch it (I had more locations to track down, dammit) but fortunately Gunsli came in clutch, having previously seen the movie and also in the mood to rewatch it for clues about Mahiru.

These stairs are actually at a place called Suga Shrine, making this our second landmark. (Fun fact: if you look it up you'll find pictures of movie fans recreating photos of the place)

We were starting to build up an idea of Where Mahiru's world was, the border between Shibuya and Shinjuku ward. There were several parks in the area, so I figured I'd set out to find the day 14 park location by searching through each one. I was worried this would take a while but when I started with the biggest park, Yoyogi, I basically hit jackpot right away. Immediately upon seaching it, google recommended me results for images of the park at night. It turns out that Yoyogi had a large area used for concerts (that also may have been used for movie nights). By chance, I found this image from the park at night

which looks awfully similar to the lamp/benches seen in the background of day 14... According to Gunsli, the nearby yoyogi station is featured in an important scene in Your Name, so that's another thing pointing towards them being in this park. It's not solid evidence but we'll come back to this later.

At this point I'm both hyped up and bored, so to amuse myself and just to see if I can, I decide to search for the place Mahiru's boyfriend is working at in day 8

At first I had written it off as pointless to even try searching, but Gunsli noticed that in the top left corner you can see a hint of the store's sign. It is the same colours as a Seven Eleven (a chain that exists both in the US and Japan) This greatly narrowed down my search, as it ruled out the many Family Marts and Lawsons in the area (I cannot stress how many convenience stores there are in Tokyo) Unfortunately, there were still many 7/11s to search through and thus leads to the several hours I spent on google maps, individually going to each 7/11 in Shibuya and trying to look for those bike racks, floor tiles and old security camera. It was demoralising. But when hope was nearly lost and I almost gave up (there was a heat wave outside so my brain was melting during this). Gunsli reminded me of something very important. On day 8 we get two images, the above of Mahiru waiting outside the 7/11, and one of her sat on a park bench. If we were right about the day 14 park being Yoyogi, then surely our 7/11 would be in walking distance? The search began again. The third 7/11 I found near the park was it.

In one fell swoop I had confirmed both day 8 and 14. In celebration I made a tumblr post

Now, at this point I'm running out of images to search for because a lot of the locations in Ainan are indoors, meaning they could be taken from a studio or even one of the milgram crew's homes (which isn't actually uncommon) and thus, not a relavent location. I did half heartedly attempt to look for the day 9 bar, but as you can imagine, without any external landmarks it was even more of a goose chase than the 7/11...

The last location I decided to look for was all the way back in day 5

This edit was pretty tough to make so i was very annoyed when it didn't work. By this time it was late at night, but Gunsli had a hunch that this would be a well known running route, so started looking for those. By the time I'd woken up, she got it down to a route called the Imperial Palace Running Route, which is very popular (especially with tourists, it is recommended to give it a go if you're in the area)

I found it on streetview by following road signs seen in a video of someone running the route Gunsli found (the part in Mahiru's video appears at about 1:35)

It's an area called Takebashi and here is a screenshot both of what we saw in ainan, as well as what Mahiru would've seen in the direction she ran (the route loops back on itself)

Ok I'm tired it's 1 am, finally here's a really rough map of everywhere in relation to each other

An interesting thread throughout is that many of these places are sort of tourist-y, suggesting Mahiru's boyfriend may not be from Tokyo either. The university (assuming I'm guessing the right place) taking in lots of international students and Mahiru's boyfriend working at a 7/11 (which Japanese people can do but is also Stereotypically the part time job of choice for people from outside Japan while studying) could perhaps even hint to him not being Japanese, but it's all speculation right now

I hope you enjoyed this long rambly mess, I'm so sorry it took me so long to write it all up....

[sketchmenot-art]

Mizore Ito (Misery-chan) - Little Miko

My character Mizore Ito (Misery-chan)

Wanted to draw her in her miko (shrine maiden) uniform since she works as a miko part-time! My good friend Kyōno Meiro drew her as a miko a few years ago and it’s super cute! Thought I’d finally draw her as a miko for his birthday! 🎂✨

Mizore's Toyhouse Profile

While working on this piece, I felt inspired by the song Moya no Naka no Yubi Kiri by Kana Shibue from the Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu OST:

Kana Shibue - Moya no Naka no Yubi Kiri

Done with Clip Studio Paint EX September 3, 2024

[queenmikoto]

Traditions

(I’m making up my own Uchiha tradition based on this image and the Japanese Festival Tsukimi, the Autumn Moon Festival)

Fic under cut. Ao3 link

As one of the founding clans of Konoha, the Uchiha took pride in their traditions and festivals. Outsiders were rarely, if ever, allowed to join. 

There were winter prayers in the Naka shrine, the whole clan kneeling, praying, sharing the warmth of the flames at the front of the room. Sasuke remembered fidgeting and his mother’s graceful hand alighting on his knee to stop his squirming. His father sat at the front of the room leading the prayer, Itachi kneeling tall and proud behind him. The fur collar of his kimono tickled his cheeks. 

Spring brought the cherry blossom viewing festival and his mother’s most beautiful kimono, a silvery grey with white and pink petals all over. The slippery silk was cool to the touch and the potpourri that his mother kept in the folds was always comforting to him. He sometimes wished he could use it as a blanket, his mother said no but offered her soft apron covered lap as a substitute and that worked just as well.  

Summer had street fairs. The whole clan, usually reserved, let loose and had fun. Children running and playing, the adults indulgently smiling. Outsiders were let in and the Uchiha went out among the people, the whole village celebrated. Sasuke clung to his brothers hand or rode on his fathers shoulders in the crowd. The family together, and happy. He always got a new cotton yukata for his birthday, to wear to the festivals, the Uchiha crest stitched by his mothers own hands. 

Autumn was the Tsuki no Inori festival. There was no need for fancy clothes or loud music and laughter. Every year on the night of the first full moon in Autumn all of the Uchiha, young and old came together in the heart of the Uchiha district to light candles and share the love and celebrate the bonds in the clan. 

Sasuke was excited to stay up past his bedtime and to spend time with Itachi who had grown increasingly busy as a newly minted chunin. He held his small candle tightly as he walked behind his mother and father, Shisui at his side and Itachi holding his other hand. The rest of the clan followed behind, the light of the full moon guiding their steps to the bank of the river. They stood in a loose circle, the moonlight creating halos on their dark hair. There were artful arrangements of pampas grass that his mother helped with. He had helped too, handing her the stalks to put into the vases, she occasionally tickled him with it, gently caressing his cheek when he got distracted. To the side there was a table with sake, tea, and traditional tsukimi soba, chestnuts, edamame and piles of tsukimi dango. Sasuke could see Itachi eyeing the dango with a wistful look.

Fugaku came to the center of the circle, the whispers silenced as he addressed the crowd. 

“We gather here today, as we do every year, to celebrate the autumn moon. To also celebrate the bonds between us and our members of the clan that have passed on. Tonight we will light the flames in remembrance of them and to honor the history of our clan. The Uchiha crest on each of your backs represents the fan that rouses the flames of our wills and our hearts.”

Fugaku looked towards Mikoto with a softness Sasuke rarely saw on his face. She stepped forward towards her husband. She held up her candle, in it’s simple flower shaped holder, Fugaku’s hands slowly and deliberately formed the signs for a Katon jutsu. The flames bloomed from his mouth and lit the candle in his wife’s unflinching hands. She was wreathed in light, not the silvery light of the moon any more but the warm golden flames of her husband’s power. She smiled at him and turned to place the candle on the ground, to start the shape of the crest. She closed her eyes over the candle, to take a moment to reflect, then she raised her face to the moon and inclined her head in reverence. Standing, she moved back to Fugaku’s side, he nodded and flames started to light up the glade.

Tradition held that those closest to you lit the candle, usually direct family husbands and wives, siblings, parents. Those orphaned and alone had friends do it. Itachi stepped over to Shisui, who held up his candle to present it. The light burst out of Itachi’s mouth, Sasuke stared with pride and some envy, longing for the day he could do the same. Shisui placed his candle carefully and returned to Sasuke’s side. He and Itachi kneeled and Itachi held of his candle infront of Sasuke. He looked confused for a moment before Shisui spoke. “I’ll help you until you can do this yourself ‘cuz ‘Tachi here wants you to be the one to do this.” 

Sasuke beamed at his brother, elated that he was Itachi’s closest person, he honestly thought it was Shisui since he was older and he took his brother’s attention away from him. Itachi gave him a smile warmer than the flames that had glided past Sasuke’s head. Shisui had formed the seals while holding Sasuke’s hands in his and gently blew the flames from his position over Sasuke’s shoulder.

Itachi placed his candle and turned to his brother who’s focus was on their parents. Mikoto was kneeling to place another flame. As the matriarch of the clan, Mikoto was responsible for lighting a candle for each clan member that they lost in the year.   Fugaku kneeling behind her with a protective arm around her, not touching but just grazing her shirt. He should have been looking at the flame, but he was looking at his wife, still as radiant to him as the day they met.  Itachi could see the love plain as day. His father caught his eye and he would swear he saw an extra glow upon Fugaku’s cheeks. 

Chuckling to himself, he turned to his brother again, who was practically vibrating in excitement for his brother’s attention. He smoothly ran through the signs, and taking a quick breath, he let out a thin line of flame, the control a testament to his mastery, even at a young age. Sasuke, who had been focusing so hard on Itachi’s hands, trying to memorize how he did it, grinned brighter than the flame after it was lit. 

In the glow Itachi thought about activating his Sharingan to capture the moment. Shisui, who’s curls shined in the light and who’s eyes held all the warmth of the flames around him. Sasuke’s cheeks, still round with baby fat, were squishing his eyes almost closed with the smile on his face. Itachi could feel the presence of his mother and father behind him, he could feel their happiness. He remembered when he was little, his father kneeling behind him, cupping his hands around his own to hold the candle. His mother before them lighting the flame, her long eyelashes touching her cheeks before they swept up and her eyes caught his, the flames painting them as red as the Sharingan.

Blinking when Shisui nudged him he watched Sasuke taking slow and halting steps towards the nearly finished crest of flames. Sasuke knelt as slow as possible, knees bending centimeter by centimeter till he was on the ground. When he placed his flame he let out a gusty sigh, almost enough to blow out his candle. Clapping his hands to his mouth, he turned wide eyes to his brother and Shisui who were trying (Itachi) and failing (Shisui) to hold in their laughter. Sasuke hastily went through his reverence before running back to Itachi’s side, slightly behind him and peeking out at the crest. 

When the last flame was placed Fugaku stood and started saying the ancient prayers for the deceased.  Itachi stayed at Sasuke’s level since Sasuke was still hanging onto his shirt. He could feel Sasuke fading from tiredness after a few minutes so he nudged Sasuke before making subtle motions towards the dumpling table, as if he was going to make a break for it.. Sasuke giggled and an uncle cleared his throat quietly nearby, glaring. Sasuke’s shoulders fell under the scrutiny but Itachi’s returning glare and warm hand in his made him feel better. 

Once the prayers had finished, Itachi presented his back to Sasuke so he could climb on. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Itachi’s neck as he moved at a quicker pace than his usual towards the dumplings. As son of the head and a once in a generation prodigy,he had certain privileges to get to the front of the line quicker than most, and if Sasuke was holding several dumplings for him as Itachi held his own, no one said anything. The brothers retreated with Shisui to a nearby tree, to lean on and share the food they grabbed. Meaning Sasuke handed Itachi his dumplings and rested his head on his shoulder. Sasuke promptly started dozing, surrounded by the love and light of his family.

Sasuke opened his eyes. The Uchiha hideout where he had his fateful battle with Itachi was cold in the autumn. The moon shone over head through the destroyed roof. The candles before him had almost burned out in their lotus shaped holders. He was now more than strong enough to light all the flames himself in one go. Arranging the crest with one hand was what took the most time. One candle was laid for each Uchiha who passed in the massacre and one for Shisui and one at the end for Itachi, all of them long gone but the memories fresh in his mind.

The candles would burn out soon, the moon would wax and wane, and time would keep moving on. But Sasuke would always be surrounded by the love of his family.

[not-so-terrible]

so Itachi and Kisame's names can kinda match

Like most characters outside Kiri, Itachi's name is written with katakana rather than kanji for weasel 鼬. But in Japanese, tiger sharks are called weasel sharks - itachizame (鼬鮫), with the first kanji from the meaning of Itachi's name and the second from Kisame's. While they're from a different family, another kind of tiger shark comes up in their meeting, as the description of shark pups devouring each other in the womb matches the otherwise docile sand tiger sharks.

And then there's Kisame's given name. While the kanji used are for demon shark, using different kanji, 樹雨 'kisame' is a noun. It's used for when fog settles around tree leaves and falls like rain. So a Mist Ninja finding their place alongside Leaf Ninja through the Rain Village/Akatsuki is literally summed up in his name

While being the only team to share ring placement and nail polish colour, the kanji on them, Vermilion and South, also match. Many of the Akatsuki rings are connected to heavenly beings in some way, but Itachi's, Konan's, and Deidara's are part of a set of Four Auspicious beasts - The Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Azure Dragon. They're all linked to different elements/weather/etc, tying the two of them together, as the Vermilion Bird is the deity of the south. Each of the symbols also has different phases of the moon connected to them, called mansions; one of them for the Vermilion Bird is 鬼, the first kanji in Kisame's name. And the main occurrence of the south kanji in the series is the Uchiha's Naka Shrine and Naka River; 'The Shrine/River of Southern Joy'. Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan activates at the river, the tablet describing Infinite Tsukuyomi is in the shrine, and they meet by a seaside shrine.

[tsukuyomii45]

Infinite Dream - Wedding

They're married!

I really love Japanese weddings; and my headcanon is that Obito and Rin would get married during spring time at the Naka Shrine. (a tie-in to the day he wanted to confess to her under the sakura tree).

[lyquoritte]

For @obito-week​.

The day Sasuke sets foot back in the Uchiha Compound (he’s brave, not weak; he could have come back sooner, but the hospital staff wouldn’t let him, he tells himself), he walks past his family home, not sparing it a glance (he’s brave, brave, not weak) and heads straight for the Naka Shrine. He wants to pay his respects, to show his parents he survived, to tell them he’ll avenge them (he’s not weak, he can do it).

Instead, he cries for the first time since That Day. That’s alright, because he’s all alone, no one has to know. No one will see (ghosts aren’t real).

Except someone does (and they are).

Sasuke makes an unlikely friend.

-

Obito wakes up after the rockfall, expecting the Pure Lands to greet him. Meeting his parents would be nice. Instead, he opens his eyes to an ornate ceiling, and quickly realises he can’t shirk his duty to the Clan, even in death.

It’s a lonely, pointless life as a priest when no one can see you, when the thing you are guarding can’t possibly escape the moon. It’s even lonelier when your Clan moves on without you, leaving behind a one-ghost ghost town.

Not long after, the sound of pitiful crying wakes him from his daze. He doesn’t expect those pitch black, watery eyes to settle on him.

-

Bingo card below:

[woodblxssomcrowned]

Just how close to each other did the Senju and Uchiha live since Hashirama and Madara could meet with fair frequently and presumably make it there and back the same day?

And without it being obvious that they were Senju/Uchiha because what other random shinobi kid would otherwise hang out this close to their home?

Both the Naka River and the Naka shrine, landmarks that are located within Konoha, are stated or hinted to be connected to the Uchiha since pre-Konoha, so Konoha was likely built on land that was probably in their territory.

Although there is no confirmation if it's the same river, this nonetheless suggests that the river where Madara and Hashirama met is closer to Uchiha territory than Senju, since the cliff that overlooks Konoha is the same that young Hashirama and Madara sit on and talk about their dream, and is presumably not far off from the river.

Honestly no wonder Butsuma and Tobirama were concerned about Hashirama being at high risk to be branded a traitor. Hashirama, the son of the head of the Senju clan, the future head of the Senju, continuously spending time near/in uchiha territory and hanging out with a shinobi boy there??!?

[natsumebookss]

The Mami-san shrine grows! Just got a fancy Soul Gem replica last weekend at Naka-Kon. It cost about $200, but it was worth every penny.

Just look at it in the light!

It looks just like the real thing, and the metal and glass used to make it are surprisingly sturdy and heavy. The feel of it reminds me of one of those "dragon tear" stones you see in churches and gardens. (The exhibitors selling them advertised them by saying "feel the weight of your soul." I'd say it weighs probably a half a pound, if I had to guess.)

This is by far the best Soul Gem replica I've seen, and surprisingly, they still had Kyoko and Homura's left at the stand by the time the con ended. I almost got a Proplica brooch from the new Sailor Moon Eternal movie (and will probably still get it at some point since I've always wanted a Sailor Moon transformation item), but this caught my eye instead and I'm glad I got it.

One last photo with Mami-san, her Soul Gem, and her goddess (and also Pluto and Tamahome are there too)!

(Tama was the other big purchase I made at the con. Not a lot of people know this, but I have a big soft spot for Fushigi Yuugi.)

[jopetkasi]

Happy Chinese New Year, dear Tumblr friends. May this year be auspicious for all!

The song you are hearing is about one person's search for the Buddha everywhere, only to find him in his heart. Ganda no?

So we spent New Year’s Eve in the Temple in Malate called "Mabuhay Temple" administered by the Fo Guang nuns, as my maternal grandmother and the rest of our family are practicing Buddhists.

Contrary to popular opinion that Tsinoys or FilChi’s would gather around the table and eat lots of tikoy, pancit and siomai and light fireworks at midnight, we instead first troop to the temple to reverence the Buddha and our departed ancestors. Hence, we bow three times and offer flowers, fruits, and incense. How about fortune telling? No, our branch of Buddhism does not read fortune nor do the monks do that (Taoists do, since they have geomancers)

After the ritual of lighting the "first incense" there was a short program by the Guan Ming scholars who serenaded the community with songs and dances. Afterwards, a second service was conducted and they sent us off with loot bags containing sweet treats, mostly vegetarian candies but sorry, no tikoy lol.

After the first temple, we went to Seng Guan which is another temple so dear to my amah (grandmother) which is located in Narra Street which is proximate the Divisoria Malls. If Catholics in Manila has the lovely Manila Cathedral, Buddhists in Binondo offer Seng Guan. It is a three-story building that houses the shrines of different deities like the first level is dedicated to the Kuan Yin Ma or the Goddess of Mercy while the second and third are for the Buddha and the Buddha of Medicine or Good Health where the majority of the services are conducted.

medyo na surprise lang ako kasi yung monk naka iphone. akala ko naman na napaka austere nila kasi they live a life of simplicity being vegetarian and all lol.

and there is also my "wealthiest" cousin (kasi lagi nya pinamumukha sa akin na ako ay mahirap lol) trying to strike a convo with this temple cat. as usual, the cat knows what an asshole my cousin is so she ignores him lol.

going back, and please forgive me for saying this, again and again, tsinoys barely eat tikoy. we are so done eating it - sawang sawa. what is usually served after the service is a bowl of misua without meat and that's it. the only time we have a spread is during lunch, the first day of the new year, and there is no siomai, no hakaw but you get served with steamed fish, suaje (shrimp) cooked in Chinese wine, oyster cake, then there is beef and broccoli, soup with abalone, and yes, lots of fruits. ang pao's are also handed after the meals.

so that is how i spent my New Year. I hope yours was fun as well.

[x-authorship-x]

"I admit this is a bizarre ask. But I figured, you've looked at all the conveniently high cliffs around Konoha, yes? (So many minecraft results, nooo.) Do you happen to know *where* that pier is where Sasuke and Naruto do all their male-coded moping? (I believe the Hatake had some man-pain moments there too.) All I can figure is it's on an east-west axis for maximum golden-hour angst lighting. And that embankment is artificial? Like maybe a levee?" - Anon

Woo did you open up a can of bullshit here, anon. I don't think you are but, just in case- if you're looking outside of the walls, then I can't help you because I think we both know that my research lies firmly within Shisui-spheres.

("you've looked at all the conveniently high cliffs around Konoha" YOURE CORRECT BUT ALSO 🙃)

Let's just look at Konoha (a "3D" image, instead of the variety of shots or "maps" online)

We have about 0 pixels to work with if you try and zoom in so I try and look at it with my eyes unfocused 🥴

So we're looking for the pier from here, I'm assuming

Assuming it's the same pier/lake-

We're looking for something that shows mountains when facing east, which is the direction the Hokage Monument is also facing in. So, wherever we look needs to put the Hokage Monument behind it (tHe wHoLE of KonOHa)

Well, let's have a look at the map (and not make fun of my art ability when editing with my finger on my phone)

The red lines show (obvs not including the Hokage Monument) the highest points of elevation within the village boundary.

The blue lines show that Konoha is built within a bowl but the whole valley is also at an angle with highest point marked with a white dot (Hokage Monument) and the lowest (black) where the largest part of the Naka leaves the village boundaries.

The Naka is split into several branches and we know that the larger sections can be both fast flowing as well as relatively peaceful. The cliffs lined in red are out, since we assume that is where Shisui died-

(Warning: Shisui Dying

It's a huge fucking jump and that current isn't messing around. Considering the waterfall, you'd think it would be at the waterfall I helpfully circled in red but NOPE. Because there's no cliff in front, the "red circle" waterfall seems fuller in shape (more circle 🥴), than the long and fast river we see above^

This is the issue with Narutoverse 🤡 the gaps are fucking massive, so there is an invisible waterfall somewhere on those red underlined cliffs where Shisui died, he was probably chased by ROOT in the trees just south of there, which means the Uchiha Shrine and Compound must be located in that area too (because otherwise how the fuck wasn't any of this witnessed or interrupted???)

I've gone off tangent. But, then again, you came to me for help so I think you knew what you were getting into, Anon 🤣

TL;DR: Shisui died at the cliffs underlined in red.)

Please scroll back up to the "Doodled Map"

From the look of things, I'd say the Pier of Boyhood Angst was the waterfall smack bang in the red circle.

If you think that the red circled body of water is flat, then voila, I've found the pier.

If, like me, you think those handful of pixels look more like a waterfall, we're in trouble.

It's not a neat answer. The water is too still and has the feel of a much larger body of water YET, from this panel, we know that it must be in the middle of the village because the buildings are positioned in such a way to suggest lines of streets going in different directions: if they were on the outskirts, the buildings would be better spaced.

In the doodled map, we can see that there is a grey smudge behind the top of the waterfall, that looks different from "Shisui's Cliffs" but that more closely resembles the grainy "city bits". This would fit with the panel of Sasuke with the buildings behind him if not for the huge waterfall also missing 🤣. Opposite the waterfall, are a few blurry somethings and then a lot of trees. Sasuke also seems to be facing the sunset, which is East and the direction that the Hokage Monument (and, roughly, the waterfall too) is facing towards, putting them at Sasuke's back.

So, either we accept that this is the spot anyway, and ignore the slightly glaring counter evidence, or we keep going.

In the Doodled Map, between the white dot and the top right hand blue arrow, there is a bit of river that looks fatter than the rest. I can't see where it connects to the rest of the Naka, so maybe it's an actual lake? Maybe it's just a weird bit of blue and not water? Is this the pier? Maybe! I'm not convinced but, once more, you're welcome to grab this option - wilfully ignoring that it might not actually be water - and enjoy!

But, oh, wait- look at Portrait of Hatake Familial Love, again

*please scroll up*

They're not in that high corner of the village because the whole of Konoha, if they are indeed facing the setting sun (and that's obvious 🤷), would be visible in front of them.

So that's a 'no'.

Let's swap maps. I love that they don't all look the same regardless of time period, variety is the spice of life ✨

Here there are no nice bodies of water for nice broody piers. Another damning fact: this is it after Pein's curb-stomp so it's a new version of Konoha, 2.0 if you will - or 3.0, depending on how much damage you think the Kyuubi wrought. Why did I use it? Because I was figuring that even Pein couldn't completely destroy the bodies of water/flow of the Naka, which in this post-rebuild map does seem to resemble the OG map above^. However, it's still not helpful. Conclusion: That's Not My Pier.

Let's try again!

0/10, there's no waterfall, barely ANY Naka river, and absolutely no pier to brood on. The Uchiha Clan looks weird and not very big and not very isolated and not very good for an uninterrupted massacre. I ventured to Narutopedia and everything. Conclusion: That's Not My Pier.

Third time is the charm, right?

0/10, where is the water? Let's fast forward-

Here me out 🤣

This is the Konoha of the Rookie Nine's childhood. Yeah, it's mid-destruction but look, look, look! An exploding body of water! Could that be where the Pier is? Well... maybe not because I'm not seeing any huge village boundary walls in the panel behind Sasuke, when he has his back to buildings. Conclusion: Not My Pier (but maybe like a close-your-eyes-and-pretend situation?)

Final thoughts... you have three options:

1) Sasuke is tangential to a waterfall which pours so perfectly, like those TikToks of teapot making, that the water doesn't even ripple. In Narutoverse, the setting sun wiggles around a bit on the horizon, very thoughtfully, so it's always in frame for Brooding.

2) Sasuke is located on a pier that may or may not be water in the very top corner of the Doodled Map. Godspeed, if so because there must be a serious (and not at all well-shown in the maps) hill that blocks the whole village from the view.

3) Sasuke is technically outside of the village boundary and the path, where Naruto is looking down from, is on the other side of the village wall (if you think the local Jinchuuriki would be allowed to cross it) and we just can't see it for mysterious reasons.

4) the red circled water is NOT a waterfall and I can't interpret pixels well enough. Ignore all of this P.I work and enjoy success!

Final-Final thoughts:

Narutoverse is a hot mess

-

You definitely got more than what you signed up for, Anon, but seeing as this took me several hours, I think I did too lmao

Hope this helped, somehow! ✨👋

[guizh0ng]

Remember

Chapter 8: Rumor Has It..

(TW: OOC ALOT OF OOC SO STFU)

"Shinden. Sono gādian ga kaettekita" ("The Shrine..Its Guardian is back").

Sora remained as quiet as possible, hoping to eavesdrop on the two of them and hear more of the conversation, yes she didn't even know what they were talking about, but the way the ladies talk says like it was something important and she was curious to hear more of that.

She slowly moved closer, trying to get a better position where she could hear their conversation better.

"Nani.. ? Mori no naka no furui jinja no kotodesu ka? Demo sore wa mō hōki sa reta n janai no?" ("What..? Do you mean THE old Shrine in the forest? But didn't that got abandoned already?")

"Hai! Demo obāsan wa mite ita ndesu! Aka to shiro no kimono o kita chōshin no dansei de,-gatana o motte imasu! O bāchan ga kare ni chikadzukou to shita toki, kare wa kanojo o sashi-sō ni narimashita" ("Yes! But Grandmother saw it! A tall man wearing a red and white kimono, and he has a sword! When Grandmother tried to approach him, he almost stabbed her!")

"Sate, anata wa ima kore o detchiagete iru dakedesu" ("Okay now you're just making this up")

"Iya, honkida yo, chikau yo!" ("NO I'M SERIOUS I SWEAR")

"E e, sonotōri.." ("Yeah, Right..")

Sora breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the two of them walking away and their footsteps fading.

She finally let out a tense breath as she turned back towards herself and began trying to recall the information she had just heard.

Sora tried to remember everything that she had heard and tried to piece it all together in a logical way, considering the context.

Shrine..?

Guardian..?

What do they mean?

'Wait, why am I even thinking about a stupid rumour..its probably not real..probably, but what if..okay stop!'

Sora shook her head and snapped herself out of the useless thoughts that had been swarming around her.

She clasped her hands on her cheeks and rolled her eyes lightly, trying to stay focused on more productive thoughts.

After composing herself, she took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

"I should go back..she'll worry, I can see the stands tomorrow.." Sora softly mumbled to herself as she started to walk back to her room.

She was slightly disappointed that she had to retreat to her room, but she knew that it was the more sensible decision at the moment.

Sora was an 'agent' now, after all, not a little kid who wanted to see silly lights.

Although sometimes, she wishes she wasn't.

Sora came back into her room, finding that Adrianne and Viktoriya were still sleeping soundly just as she had left them before.

She quietly slipped back into her futon, feeling disappointed that she couldn't fall asleep after all, even though she was exhausted.

Sora's mind is filled with regrets about not going to see the displays and her curiosity about the rumour has only grown stronger.

Her mind was now filled with regrets and curiosity, and she swears one day this curiosity of hers will kill her.

_____________________________________________

Sora woke up the next morning feeling exhausted, as she had barely gotten any sort of complete sleep the night before.

She rose from her bed with a small groan of frustration, noticing that Adrianne and Viktoriya were both gone from their futons.

Sora let out a heavy sigh as she realized that she was now all alone in the room.

She also wondered where the two had gone and what they could be up to.

Sora got up from her bed and decided it would be best if she got changed before she went out to meet up with the two others again, wherever they were.

She opened her suitcase and proceeded to pull out a large clump of clothes, which she suspected was a long dress.

However, she couldn't say for sure as she hadn't seen the clothes yet.

Sora sighed and stood up from the suitcase, thinking that it would take quite a while for her to change into the dress if she decided to try it on.

Sora took off her clothes and began to put on the 'dress', or technically a kimono, that she had taken from inside the suitcase.

She ignored the slight pain from the bullet wound on her arm as she continued to dress in the more traditional Japanese clothing.

Once she was done and had the kimono fully on, she took a look at herself and examined her appearance.

Sora wore a beautiful floral-designed purple kimono that featured long sleeves.

The bright colours and intricate patterns of the floral designs created a very eye-catching outfit.

As she stood in front of the mirror, the kimono was slightly loose on her, allowing her to move around freely and comfortably.

She thought that she looked like a complete Japanese lady with the kimono on, for some reason, it felt wrong and right at the same time.

Sora gently closed the sliding door once walked out of the room, her eyes now blinded by the bright sunlight.

She quickly covered her sight with her sleeves, wanting to avoid any unnecessary nuisances like brightness right in the early hours of the day.

She proceeded calmly and slowly as she tried to adjust her eyes to the brightness of the sun.

Sora made her way out of the building and walked along the hallways, where a few of the workers greeted her with a smile.

She politely returned their gestures, giving a small nod or wave, even if it wasn't seen.

Once she made it out to the entrance outside, she stepped outside and squinted her eyes as she attempted to look for her fellow agents.

The bright sunlight was starting to slowly become more bearable, but it still left her slightly blinded.

"Hey, Over here!" Sora turned her head towards the sound of the voice calling her, hoping to find out who it was.

It didn't take her long to find who it was, she quickly spotted Adrianne waving her hand up in the air from near another's building, wearing a short kimono.

Sora noticed that Adrianne's kimono featured a green, floral design, which was quite common for this area as she noticed, as well as the short skirt that only went up to her knees.

Sora also noticed the pink and green socks with the black boots, which was a bit of an..interesting combination to put it in a nicer tone but Sora didn't judge anyone's style choices.

Instead, she simply shrugged and let Adrianne be with her weird outfit choice.

Sora quickly sped up her pace and walked towards the other agent.

When she reached her, Sora gave a polite bow as a way of greeting.

"Took ya long enough to get here" Sora rolled her eyes internally when she heard Adrianne snicker, questioning why she was dealing with yet another nuisance first thing in the morning.

Was it gonna be worse from here? She hoped not.

Sora shook her head slightly as she tried to remain positive and keep her composure, "Where's Viktoriya?"

"Geez, do you miss her that much? Don't you wanna see your dear instructor too?" Sora instantly recognized the sickly sweet tone that Adrianne had put on, causing her to roll her eyes mentally again.

Adrianne seemed to enjoy teasing Sora whenever she got the chance, causing the latter to sigh in frustration.

'No. I rather not.' Sora thought to herself.

"Just drop it, Where's Viktoriya?" Sora asked once more in a nonchalant expression, causing Adrianne to cross her arms and look at her.

"I know I said you should get to the point when attacking during our trainings but can't you chill for a while?" Sora looked at Adrianne with an impatient gaze, wanting to get this conversation over with so that she could go do something more productive.

Adrianne seemed to find Sora's response quite amusing, as she continued to chuckle internally, "Okay fine, Viktoriya's inside, she's been waiting for you" She pointed at the door on the building behind her.

Sora couldn't help but facepalm internally when Adrianne finally answered her question and told her where Viktoriya was.

'Of course that's she were! I mean why else Adrianne is standing in front of this conveniently placed building!.. I need to get my common sense checked' Sora sighed to herself.

Sora nodded in response to Adrianne's answer and walked past her to the building - in proper terms, kaiseki, that was located right behind her.

Adrianne watched Sora as she made her way to the building.

_____________________________________________

Viktoriya sat there in her seat awaiting Sora's arrival.

She had sent Adrianne outside in case Sora went looking for them, and she had let the new agent get some rest.

This might seem unprofessional but this was all an investment on Viktoriya's part, as she knows that if Sora got some decent sleep, she would be able to perform better on the mission that they were on.

Viktoriya continued to sit down with a cup of green tea in her right hand as she took a light sip.

The morning had started very calm, with only a few minor interruptions so far.

Viktoriya was thankful that she had asked Iris not to give her a kimono, she never liked the thought of wearing one either.

Viktoriya wore a plain black yukata with a dark blue obi around her waist as she sat there and sipped her cup of green tea.

She had her hair twisted into a messy bun, which was pinned down with a blue and gold floral pen, a simple yet effective way to complete the look.

She was also wearing a pair of wooden geta sandals, which made the outfit even more simplistic and appropriate for the sake of blending in.

She wished she didn't have to wear the floral pin, but for the mission's worth, it was necessary.

Viktoriya suddenly felt her earpiece connect, hidden behind her hair that fell from the tie of her bun.

She pressed it closer to her ear to allow for clear communication with the person on the other end.

She cleared her throat to prepare herself for speaking, but she would have to wait for the person on the other end to start talking first.

"Mazekeen," It was Iris, Viktoriya immediately fixed her posture as if it was an instinct "How are things going there?" She asked, sounding concerned and Viktoriya wasn't a fool not to notice this.

"Affirmative" Viktoriya responded as she heard the voice on the other end of the earpiece.

She lightly gestured her cup in a circular motion before drinking and finishing it all.

"..Yeah, sorry, I was just worried in all of this, especially with Sora..being new and..them being back" The voice of Iris could be heard on the other line as she spoke to Viktoriya.

Iris seemed to be slightly frustrated as she had to pause her words in certain parts.

Viktoriya chuckled lightly and smiled, "Yeah I know, don't worry, are you okay?" Viktoriya asked Iris another question.

She felt a bit strange about the way she was speaking to her, she knew herself in all of the years but she never actually genuinely talked to someone like this, but she assumed it was just the way for Iris to get to people's hearts, like always.

Iris's unique charm was a great thing to have as her business partner and friend, but Viktoriya still wished that she could have done more for her.

"I am, just thinking y'know.. for the future of this agency, I just-..After everything I've been through, I don't want it all to go to waste" Viktoriya was aware that Iris often tended to overthink during missions, which could sometimes become quite annoying.

However, now that Iris had stopped doing so, temporarily, Viktoriya knew that it probably meant that there was something more significant than just simple overthinking going on, she knew where she was getting this from.

The two of them had been working together for many years now, She knew that she was probably right in her assumptions.

"But I'm still here with you, I'll still be here till the end, partner" Viktoriya's smile grew bigger as she heard Iris laughing lightly on the other end.

"Pfft- HAHAHA! That's so corny!" Iris was laughing heartily on the other end, and Viktoriya couldn't help but smirk at the sound of her laughter.

"But hey, it made you laugh, didn't it?" Viktoriya leaned in towards the table and raised an eyebrow, amused by the comment that Iris had said. Even though

Viktoriya could not see her, she still got the feeling that Iris was rolling her eyes for a moment, "Yeah, yeah.. good luck, Mazekeen" Iris cut off the call, leaving Viktoriya alone with her thoughts.

It was nice talking to a friend.

Viktoriya found herself randomly smiling for no apparent reason, but she quickly shook herself and returned to her professional persona.

'Right! The mission, focus Mazekeen, don't mess this up!' Viktoriya repeated on her head multiple times.

Just as the call ended, Sora and Adrianne both conveniently entered the room and took up their positions beside Viktoroya.

Sora sat to her right, while Adrianne took her place on her left.

"Ohayo" (Good Morning) Sora greeted Viktoriya in a very tired mood, while the latter gave a polite nod in acknowledgement, "Anata mo ohayō" She replied.

'She looks tired even getting more sleep than the both of us..eh, who am I to judge, I slept for two days once and I looked like I'd been making up theories for days when I woke up' Viktoriya's thoughts were totally different from her expression as she plastered up an automatic smile to Sora.

"Are you ready for today?" Viktoriya asked Sora a question while Adrianne called up for the chef in the background.

Sora looked dumbfounded when Viktoriya asked her the question, her jaw slightly dropping in response, "Today?"

'If she's not ready, she has a high chance of getting herself killed...maybe I should've gotten that deal on coffins when I had the chance' Viktoriya thought to herself.

"Oh, yeah! I'm so ready..!" Sora nervously replied, but the latter could tell that Sora was just trying to play it off.

"Really? Then what are we doing today?" Viktoroya put in an as if, innocent manner as she asked Sora another question.

However, Sora started to stutter and avoid eye contact, a clear sign that she was feeling nervous about the conversation, "Uhm, for the.."

"We're gonna go around the square today, getting to know the place and locals, I'm sure they have a lot we can use for what we need" Viktoriya quickly interrupted Sora before she could make a complete mess of herself and ended up embarrassing herself.

Adrianne slipped a cup of tea into Viktoriya's hands, which was a good thing, as she needed another good morning tea to get her going.

"Right." Sora briefly said.

"Anyways, we're gonna split around the square, I'll inform you later where you'll go but I'm asking, since your new, do you want someone to accompany you? I could simply ask..'Sayuki' to accompany you" Viktoroya gestured towards Adrianne, who was now busy slurping a bowl of hot ramen, clearly enjoying her time as her attention was on her meal.

Sora's thoughts were elsewhere now, her mind seemingly fixated on being alone with Adrianne.

"Nope, no thank you." Sora straightforwardly declined, even shaking her head for extra measure.

"Alright..just remember to call us up when you need us" Viktoroya said but Sora's eyes grew confused as she realized that something was amiss.

Sora wasn't wearing her earpiece right now, and she had lost hers on the last mission.

Sora was about to correct Viktoriya when she suddenly took something out of her belt obi and looked back at Sora.

Viktoriya gently pinned Sora's hair behind her ears and positioned the earpiece perfectly so it could be secured in place.

Sora was quite taken aback by the gesture, feeling slightly flustered even.

However, she quickly cleared her throat and looked back at Viktoriya, "..Thanks" She replied briefly, not being able to look for her long, she turned away quickly.

Viktoriya smiled at Sora, seeing that she was trying to hide her appreciative feelings.

It was cute to see her struggle to keep cool, and Viktoriya decided to just let her be for now, "No problem"

"What's the problem?" Adrianne suddenly poppedinton the conversation as she held both hands on her empty bowl, Sora slightly frowned on her random appearance, not noticed.

"Nothing, say where's our food anyways?" Viktoriya turned her body to face Adrianne but she just looked at her blankly.

"Oh! I didn't know you guys wanted food, I only got two bowls for me, actually, this isn't enough, Chef!" Adrianne immediately raised her hand calling up the person in charge of the food.

"Of course you did" Viktoriya replied hollowly.

_____________________________________________

After having their breakfasts, Viktoriya immediately instructed them to start scouting their respective areas for any suspicious activities.

Adrianne would scout near the forest, while Viktoriya would wander around the village itself. Sora was sent to the nearby marketplace area, which she was more than happy to oblige.

With the group all assigned their areas, Viktoriya made sure that they each knew what they were supposed to do and be on the lookout for.

Once everything was clear, all of them went to their separate ways.

Sora arrived at the marketplace and immediately got swamped with visual and sensory stimuli.

The whole area was crowded with people, and the sound of happy chatting was all around her.

The atmosphere was cheerful and peaceful, adding up to the wonderful aromatic aromas that filled the air from the variety of food stalls.

Sora felt her once-dreaded spirits lift as she took in the sights and sounds of the vibrant marketplace.

It was a complete contrast to her previous mission with its dark and dreary atmosphere, and Sora felt energized and excited by all the positive energy surrounding her.

While Sora found herself completely captivated by the lively atmosphere of the marketplace, she still remembered that she was here on a mission.

'Focus! You have your priorities, yes but we need to do this mission properly if we wanna go back!' Sora was about to actually start on her goal until she was captivated yet by another stand '..Okay, one last glance'

Sora could feel her willpower faltering, and she was just about to give in to her final desire.

The stand looked like it was quite worn out, as the sign was almost falling off, but the sweet old lady running it was just too sweet-looking for Sora to turn away.

Besides, she was selling some cute little pieces of fabric that had patterns on them.

Sora looked over at the different designs that the old lady had on display.

Some were designed with intricate waves, some with delicate floral patterns, and some were even just simple lines and shapes.

They were all very beautiful and vibrant, and Sora was instantly drawn into their details.

"Hitotsu hoshīdesu ka, shin'ainaru?" ("Would you like one, dear?") The old lady perked up, sensing Sora's gaze.

Sora had tilted her head up to look at the lady, "O ō! Īe! Tada mi teta dakedesu… gomen'nasai" ("O-oh! No! I was just looking..sorry") Sora's reply was a bit shy and timid, as she was being extra cautious with her word choice.

She didn't want to accidentally say something that would upset the old lady, or even worse, make her suspicious.

"Shinpaishinaidekudasai, muryō de te ni ireru koto ga dekimasu.. Kono shissoku wa dōse nagaku wa tsudzukanaideshou.." ("Don't worry dear, you can have it for free..this stall won't last long anyway..") The old lady's reply was rather somber, as she shared how she felt about losing things.

Sora could relate to the old lady's feelings, as she had gone through something similar.

She had lost everything she knew for most of her life too, and the pain of that was still fresh in her mind.

"Naze?" ("Why?") Sora gently asked the old lady a short question, trying to engage her in some conversation.

The old lady looked melancholy, "Ā, chōdo watashinokazoku no jidai ga kita nodesu... Watashitachi ga kazoku no jinja o ushinatte irai, hoka no hitohamina, gendai-tekina seikatsu yōshiki ni ikō shimashita... Watashitachi wa sono jinja de pafōmansu o hirō shi, dentō o tsukuri, arayuru basho de watashitachi no isan o jikkō shite imashita. Sedai... Demo ima wa mō nakunatte shimattaga, watashitachi wa mada koko ni iru" ("Oh, its just my family's time has come..ever since we lost our family shrine, everyone else moved on to a modern way of living..you see we used to perform and make traditions in that Shrine, carrying out our legacy in every generation..but now it's gone, but we're still here")

Sora's heart softened as she sympathized with the old lady, feeling bad at seeing the woman's melancholic expression.

Sora wanted to hug her so badly but she wasn't sure if the lady would appreciate a hug from a total stranger at this time.

Wait, did she say, shrine?

'Ah SHIT, I completely forgot to tell Viktoroya about that.." Sora bit her lip and cursed herself silently for forgetting to relay important information to the team leader at such a crucial time.

But now that the old lady had mentioned it, something seemed rather off.

There was supposed to be someone at the shrine according to what she had heard in whoever she heard from last night, but it seemed the old lady claimed that they lost the shrine, meaning its abandoned..

Now Sora was unsure which one was the correct shrine, or if there was indeed an entirely different shrine in town..

"Soshite kono jinja wa haikyo ni natte shimatta…?" ("And this shrine was abandoned..?") Sora queried tilting her head to the side.

"Zan'nen'nagara,-sōdesu. Menimieru mori no naka ni aru node, soko ni kite hōmon suru no wa muzukashīdesu.." "Unfortunately, yes..its within the forest you see so it's hard to come there and take a visit.."

'Something doesnt add up..do I have to check it out myself..' Sora sighed and agreed to her thoughts, she bowed down to the lady to say farewell.

As she quickly dashed to leave the stand until she suddenly stopped to remember something and walked backward to the old lady's stand.

"E ̄ tto, moshi yoroshikereba saki hodo no ofā wa mada nokotte imasu ka?" ("Umm..if you don't mind, is the offer earlier still stands?") Sora hoped she hadn't come across as rude but she still gave her best effort at asking her question anyway.

"Mochiron, sukinamono o erande kudasai" ("Ofcourse dear, pick whatever you like") the old lady smiled sweetly as Sora's eyes grew in delight.

_____________________________________________

Adrianne had been hanging out on a tree for quite some time now, looking for any signs that would signal a connection to this mission.

She had become rather bored from the lengthy duration of this watch and was starting to roll her eyes in frustration.

However, as she rolled her eyes, she finally spotted someone familiar passing by in the distance.

It was Sora.

"Huh, what the.."

Adrianne saw Sora look around her area before making her way towards the forest, which was quite strange.

Sora's intended place to patrol was the marketplace, not the forest.

That's when Adrianne realized that something very suspicious was going on..

There seemed to be no logical reason why Sora would just abandon her area without explaining her reasoning to anyone.

Adrianne had already been bored out of her mind during this mission, and now someone interesting had finally caught her attention.

So she decided to take matters into her own hands and follow Sora wherever she was heading.

_____________________________________________

Viktoriya walks through the village and exchanges friendly greetings with the locals, acting like she was a part of the community.

She also helped out the elderly villagers with their daily tasks, as they seemed to make up the bulk of the population.

While everything seemed quite peaceful on the surface, Viktoriya couldn't help but think that this calm atmosphere felt a bit too quiet for her liking..

Things were too peaceful in the village for her to trust completely, and she had a feeling that something was bound to happen eventually.

As she continued to walk through the village, Viktoroya's ears caught on some news being spread around by the locals.

Any information, even false news, could be invaluable in her eyes, and she was willing to collect it and assess its validity later.

".. Yamada no kodomo ga kesa yukue fumei ni narimashitaga, nani ga okashī ka wakarimasu ka, darekaga shin'nyū shita keiseki wa mattaku arimasendeshita" ("..Yamada's child disappeared just this morning but you know what's strange, there wasn't a single sign that someone broke in") A middle-aged woman chatting softly to another woman, who was obviously very shocked by whatever she had heard from the first woman.

"Nani? Chōkō wa hitotsu mo arimasen ka?" ("What? Not a single sign?")

"Kon'nichiwa, minasan, o ni-ri no kaiwa ga kikoezu ni haira remasendeshitaga, kore wa dō iu kotodeshou ka?" ("Why hello ladies, I couldn't help but hear the conversation between you two, what's this all about?") Viktoriya approached the two women with a charming and confident demeanor.

She had used this strategy on several missions before, and she was quite proud of it.

Her pride was apparent in her thoughts, but her expression remained neutral as she hid her emotions behind a smile.

Obviously, her charm worked like a 'charm' during their conversation, as the two women seemed quite flattered by Viktoroya's pleasant demeanor.

"Ō! Anata wa nanto utsukushī wakai joseideshou. Tsumari, kesa, watashitachiha kodomo no fukōna shissō ni tsuite hanashiatte ita tokorodesu" ("Oh! What a beautiful young lady you are..I mean, we were just discussing a child's unfortunate disappearance this morning..") The first woman's tone changed from one of flusteredness to a sad one, her mood abruptly shifting.

The other woman stepped in and took over, "Sōda ne! Jissai, sore wa shibaraku mae kara okotte imasuga, sono riyū wa dare mo shirimasen. Shikashi, kita no mura no hitobito ni wa tsuneni onaji koto ga okotte iru tame, ichibu no hitobito wa basho o idō shite imasu" ("Ye-Yeah! Actually it's been happening for some time now and no one knows why..but it always happens to the people in the North village, that's why some of them are moving places") ,as she tried to comfort the first woman and help her regain her composure.

"Ā, hontōni gomen'nasai, minasan no anzen o inotte imasu." ("Oh..I'm so sorry about that, I wish all of you safety..") Viktoriya adopted a sad tone in her voice as she bowed down to the women, putting on an expression, apologetic, and so she walked away with a sad tone in her voice and a look of apology on her face.

Viktoriya felt satisfied with the information she had acquired from the women, smiling.

She hadn't wanted to press them further for more information since it seemed to be a sensitive topic, but she still had her curiosity aroused and wanted to dig a bit deeper.

Viktoriya decided that she would gather the information herself, as getting it from the locals first-hand would probably provide her with more details.

_____________________________________________

Adrianne was following after Sora into the forest, feeling quite bewildered by the whole situation.

She didn't have a precise idea of what she was supposed to do here, and she was feeling odd and curious about what was going on.

The fact that she was sneaking into someone else's place to patrol was definitely suspicious, and Adrianne felt uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Adrianne kept on following Sora through the woods, feeling a sense of slight judgment towards the woman's level of awareness.

If it were anyone else following her through the woods, Sora would probably be dead by now.

Sora had stopped in front of an ornate shrine with a red-colored gate for the first entrance.

Adrianne had been observing her every move, and she could tell that Sora was hesitating to enter the place.

"Just what are you up to.." Adrianne quietly uttered words under her breath as she watched Sora finally enter the shrine.

She had decided to take a different route than Sora, going through the outside area between the main path and the sacred forest near the shrine.

This would allow her to remain unnoticed while still being able to observe Sora's movements from a safe distance.

Adrianne continued to follow behind, but she noticed that the shrine was empty and rusted, though it still retained its beauty and cleanliness.

It was..odd now that the shrine was abandoned, especially with how well-maintained it still was.

This place locating deep in the middle of the forest was also strange, Adrianne let out a scoff in disbelief.

The whole situation seemed suspicious about why the shrine was so well-preserved and why it was placed in this remote location.

The walk was indeed pretty long, and Adrianne was slowly making her way along the side of the path.

She kept using her fingertips to touch the vegetation along the side as she occasionally stole glances towards Sora.

Adrianne didn't seem pleased with Sora's overall aloof and careless behavior, as though she hadn't taken away any of the lessons from their training.

Adrianne huffed and looked at Sora with a disappointed expression, as though she expected more from Sora but wasn't getting it.

Adrianne took another glance at Sora and saw that she had finally stopped walking.

She had arrived in front of the Komainu, the stone guardian lion-dogs that guarded the shrine.

'Alright, this is getting weird..' Adrianne thought to herself, 'I mean yeah Sora is weird from the moment I met her but this is beyond that level..'

Adrianne was thinking about the odd situation with Sora when she saw her about to touch the stone guardian lion-dogs that guarded the shrine.

However, before Sora could do anything, Adrianne sensed a dangerous presence about to charge Sora from the side.

Acting on instinct, Adrianne immediately jumped over to the main path and pushed Sora away before dropping down on the ground with her.

She dragged Sora along with her, feeling as if they had narrowly avoided an attack.

Adrianne quickly got up and scanned the area looking for possible culprits.

"WHA– HEY!.. Wait, weren't you.." Sora's voice had just begun when Adrianne silenced her by covering her lips with her hands.

The quick and unexpected action caught Sora by surprise, and she let out a slight murmur of confusion as Adrianne shushed her silence.

Sora's wide eyes stared up at Adrianne as she was pinned to the ground, awaiting further explanations on what the heck was going on.

Why did Adrianne cover Sora's mouth?

Why was she shushing her?

What the hell was going on here?

"How about more hush-y and less touching random objects unguard-ly" Adrianne spat out some words in a frantic tone, and Sora rolled her eyes at Adrianne's strange choice of word usage.

"Mrkin oh it.." Despite Adrianne's attempts to silence Sora's voice, it was still clearly perceptible.

Sora's muffled voice could be heard even with Adrianne covering her mouth, and a slight edge of impatience could be heard in her whispers.

Adrianne took out her pocket knife from her Obi.

The sharp blade shone brightly under the setting sun as her guard was fully on alert, awaiting any sign of an imminent attack.

Just then, Adrianne felt another dangerous presence about to strike at her from another direction, causing her to react swiftly.

She quickly got up but was a bit too slow as the mysterious figure suddenly attacked her from behind.

Her sandals dragged roughly along the ground due to her sudden movement, and her razor-sharp knife just barely parried the attacker's katana in time to prevent her from getting injured.

Sora was watching the entire event unfold from the floor, and she felt a mixture of shock and terror as she witnessed Adrianne struggle against the mysterious attacker.

Sora quickly got up and moved away from the fight to a safe distance, her body shaking slightly from nervousness and fear.

The sight of an intense fight was overwhelming for her, especially having that she had no idea who this man was or how strong he was.

She kept her distance from the fight while watching Adrianne bravely face off against the mystery opponent.

The sudden clash of blades caused a sharp sound as it echoed throughout the forest, and Adrianne was slightly off-balance due to the unexpected attack.

Adrianne faced her mysterious attacker, standing there unblinking as she struggled against him.

The attacker had white skin and stares at her with his teal-colored eyes in a seemingly emotionless expression.

Adrianne noticed that the man was wielding a sharp katana, which he was holding in a perfect stance.

As he moved his arm, Adrianne also spotted something quite peculiar.

His sleeves had rolled down due to his arm movement, revealing the shape of a watermelon etched into the man's wrist.

Adrianne immediately knew what this meant.

Adrianne snickered, "Hah..I see those assassins are still old-school, sending a samurai..LIKE YOU" She said as her breath was limiting as this goes on, still attempting to stab the man on the side with her knife.

However, the man was quick to react and knocked Adrianne to the ground by using the handle of his katana to strike her stomach.

Despite Adrianne's best efforts, the man was too fast and agile for her to get a clear hit in.

Adrainne grunted as the blow landed firmly on her stomach, and she coughed roughly as she pressed her arm against it as to stop the pain.

She was about to get up and continue fighting against the mysterious samurai, but he quickly reacted and pointed his katana at her cheek, cutting it slightly.

The cut to her cheek was just a minor wound, but it was nothing compared to the pain that she had felt on her stomach.

Adrianne looked up at the samurai, observing his features.

The man had long dark purple hair that was tied high up and neatly, extending all the way down to the middle of his back.

The samurai was dressed in a traditional Japanese attire, consisting of a red haori over a black-colored nagagi kimono with a white umanori-style hakama.

He also wore a pair of zori with red straps, and white tabi socks.

"I work for no one, I only serve for my family's legacy." The samurai spat at Adrianne, and while she couldn't understand what he said, she didn't like the tone of his voice either.

Adrianne's brows furrowed in disapproval at the man's attitude, and she decided to use her feet to sweep him off his feet with a swift kick.

The samurai was caught off-guard by the unexpected blow, and he fell to the ground with a grunting sound.

The samurai was about to fall onto Adrianne, but she reacted swiftly and rolled over to the side just in time to avoid being pinned down.

Adrianne took her opportunity to try and retreat to the forest, but a sharp hand grabbed her on her ankle, causing her to fall down face-first on the ground as she lost grip from her pocket knife.

Adrianne's body took a real beating from the samurai's attacks, and her inability to regain her bearings was growing increasingly difficult.

The combination of the pain from her previous wounds and the constant physical exertion was slowing her down, and she was beginning to worry that she would not be able to get up this time.

As her thoughts began to spiral in a panic, she suddenly remembered Sora.

'WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?'

Adrianne was just getting ready to search for Sora when another sharp pain shot through her hand, causing her to let out a shrill scream of agony.

She looked up just to see that her hand had been stabbed all the way through, and a heavy foot had stepped on her back causing her to fall back down.

Her painful screams echoed within the shrine walls and filled the surrounding area, but the samurai was completely unaffected by her cries.

He looked down at Adrianne with a cold stare and no sign of empathy whatsoever.

As Adrianne finally gave in to all the pain and passed out, her cries faded out along with her consciousness.

The samurai finally removed his katana from her hand, taking a moment to examine its bloodstained blade before sheathing it back into his scabbard.

The man watched over Adrianne's unconscious body with an expression devoid of any emotion or sympathy.

The samurai turned his body and his gaze towards Sora, who had witnessed the tragic incident that had just occurred.

Sora was cornered on one side, sitting with her knees pulled close and her hand firmly covering her mouth, almost as if trying to hold back tears of fear and despair.

Sora's eyes were wide with terror and shock from the whole situation, and she was clearly terrified by everything that she had just seen.

The samurai walked slowly towards Sora, and her body froze in a mixture of fear and helplessness.

She wanted to get up and defend herself, but she felt utterly powerless after witnessing what he did to Adrianne.

Sora was weak compared to him, and she knew it.

The samurai finally reached Sora, crouching down to her level and making eye contact with her for a few long seconds.

Sora felt a chill run through her spine as she locked eyes with the samurai.

After a while, the samurai suddenly struck her neck with his hand, causing Sora to lose awareness and fall to the ground in an unconscious state.

"Sleep Well."

[bakakakashi]

post canon sai uchiha au, sai tells sasuke about his brother shin after they reach lv 4 cousins and without even telling him, sasuke post-humously adopts shin into the clan, this was his cousin's brother, he deserves to be honoured with uchiha rites just like the rest of his own family.

and so he teaches sai the proper uchiha rites to pay respects to the deceased. they dress in beautiful mourning robes as the smell of incense seeps into the wood of the rebuilt naka shrine and they give themselves time to grieve.

[shinsengumi-archives]

The Hijikata family in the Ishida village census

I continue to read the book The demon lieutenant of Shinsengumi. This is in fact a collection of articles by different authors, each with their own way of retelling some moments from Hijikata's life. And one of the authors - my favorite Kikuchi Akira - really dug up something new!

Kikuchi Akira is a Bakumatsu researcher who is always getting into the thick of things: comparing the Okita's kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist name) and the kaimyo of his supposed girlfriend, or parsing Hijikata's letters. And now he has found the census books of Ishida village from 1817 to 1869, which refute the official opinion that Toshizo was fired from one job at 11 and another at 17. According to the new records, he was listed "in the people section" at a completely different age and for quite a long time! In addition, these records reveal some peculiarities of the Japanese population of the century before the last century.

These are the family registration books:

There are 20 volumes of them, and they were kept until recently by a certain Hijikata Satoshi, who only deigned to share them with the public about five years ago (how many more of these things are still stashed away in private archives!).

So, in Japan, throughout the Edo period, monks conducted a census of the population. They sent the data to the shogunate and kept a copy for themselves. The original purpose of this census was to prevent the spread of Christianity, so special books listed all members of each family, along with their servants, their ages, and their religion.

It is difficult to say how often this information was collected, because in Ishida village the census was conducted either once every five years, or every year. But it was always in March.

Hijikata Toshizo was born in May 1835, and the first record of him in the registration book did not appear until March 1840:

parishioner of the Kongoji Shrine of Takahata Village - Toshizo, age 6 [4.5 years old according to our age system]

His name was then written as 歳蔵 throughout the census.

The author provides only one entry entirely about the Hijikata family, in 1848. This is roughly what it looked like:

Income 20 koku, 1 to 1 sho 4 go 7 yu 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Hayato, 28 years old Parishioner of the same temple - Wife Naka, 23 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Elder brother Tamejiro, 33 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Daughter Nui, 7 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Son Sakusuke, 4 years old. Parishioner of the same temple - Servant Hachigoro, 19 years old 一 Zen sect, Yaho village, Nanyoji temple Parishioner - Maid Hatsu, 21 years old 一 Shingon sect, Shitada village, Anyoji temple Parishioner - Maid Fude, 12 years old A total of 8 people, of which 4 are male, 4 are female. Two more males are in service in other houses: 一 Shingon sect, Takahata village, Kongoji temple Parishioner - Younger brother Daisaku, 20 years old Parishioner of the same temple - Younger brother Toshizo, 14 years old

By our age system, everyone here is a year younger. Daisaku was probably about to be adopted by the Kasuya doctor family at that time. As for where Toshi was, it's unknown. Though maybe at his sister's...

The official biography says that in 1845 he was employed in the fabric store Matsuzakaya in Ueno, where the owner was a certain Ito. There Toshi quarreled with the clerk and fled home. And this article even says where this information comes from: it turns out that in 1935, the grandson of Sato Hikogoro and Hijikata Nobu talked about it on the radio.

This same Matsuzakaya still exists today. Here's its website. It's even in English.

The census book for 1845 also exists, but in it, the page about the Hijikata family was "deliberately defaced by someone," as Kikuchi Akira writes. But it's easy to reconstruct the rest from the surviving pieces:

一 Zen sect, Yaho village, Nanyoji temple Parishioner - Servant Tsunakichi (or Tsunayoshi), 21 years old 一 Shingon Sect, Ochikawa Village, Shinshoji Temple Parishioner - Maid Kuni, 17 years old A total of 8 people, of which 5 are male, 3 are female. Another 1 female is in the service of another house: 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Younger sister Ran, 15 years old

Ran was Nobu's childhood name. In theory, she married Sato Hikogoro a year ago, and should have been listed in his household by now. But since she's recorded still in it, Kikuchi-san explains, that means her marriage was nominal at first. It was called asiirekon (足入れ婚 ), when one sort of got married, but the wife continued to live in her parent's house. Or maybe "in the service" meant she was living with Sato anyway.

On the defaced page there should be four more "males" and two females: Hayato, Tamejiro, Daisaku, Toshizo; wife Naka, daughter Nui. Sakusuke was born in 1845, the same year (i.e. not yet born in March), and there is no one "in the service" besides Ran.

So Kikuchi-san, based on the study of some other "private documents", concluded that Hijikata worked for this very Ito from about 12-13 and up to 16 years old (according to our age system), and the story of "quarrel with the clerk" and "dismissal because of a girl" took place at the same location.

But in Hijikata's family another version was passed down from generation to generation: that Toshizo first worked in Ueno, and then in Tenmacho, also in a fabric store, and that's where the story with the girl happened. Hijikata has a haiku about Tenmacho, so he was definitely there :) It's just unknown exactly when.

That Toshizo returned home at the age of 16 (in 1851) is a confirmed fact. This is written about in Kojima Shikanosuke's book "両雄士伝" - "The Lives of Two Great Warriors" written in 1873. About Kondo and Hijikata, yep. The very fact that this book exists is a big surprise to me - it's strange that no mention of it has ever been found anywhere! You can understand why though: it's written in kanbun, a hellish mixture of Chinese and Japanese. So, this book says that Toshizo returned to his hometown at the age of 17 (i.e. 16) and began practicing martial arts, in which he soon became very successful. Anyway, he started selling Ishida Sanyaku and going to different dojos.

However, the monastic registration books for 1854 and 1856 still show "two more males are in the service of other houses". It was not until 1858 that the record that Toshi was finally home appeared for the first time.

Income 39 koku, 7 to 8 go 一 Shingon Sect, Takahata Village, Kongoji Temple Parishioner - Hayato, 38 years old. … wife Naka, 33 …older brother Tamejiro, 43 years old. …younger brother Toshizo, 24. (then there are 6 children, 1 servant and 1 maid) Total 12 people, 9 male, 3 female.

On March 9, 1859, Hijikata was officially enrolled as a student at the Kondo dojo. There is an entry about it in the "Registration book of the Tennen Rishin-ryu" (天然理心流神文帳 ), and then in the diaries of relatives, friends and neighbors there are many entries such as "Toshizo came with Okita Soji, both stayed at our place for the night" (Hashimoto's diary, 09-03-1860), or "Toshizo and Kondo Isami went to Itsukaichi" (Sato's diary, 09-05-1860).

In August 1860, another official registration book was published called "Bujutsu eimei roku" (武術英名録 ) - something like "Names of Glorious Swordsmen". It included the names of 600 swordsmen from all over the Kanto region, including Hijikata. Only those who had a rank no lower than mokuroku were enrolled there, and Hijikata would not have been able to get mokuroku in such a short time if he had not studied the sword before, writes Kikuchi Akira. So he did study, but where - that's the question. That is, what kind of "service" he was in from 1853-4 to 1857-8 is unknown. Maybe he just lived at Sato's house and walked around, selling medicine, but Sato has no mention of it. So this is "another mystery" for Japanese historians.