Akiyuki Nakagami
Akiyuki Nakagami (中上アキユキ, Nakagami Akiyuki) is a former citizen of Kusagakure who came to Konohagakure via a foreign exchange programme to attend the Academy. He is in the same year as Kanesada Hyakurai, and later becomes his teammate alongside Katsuki Uzumaki under Seiki Hyakurai as their sensei.
Originally a Kusagakure citizen, Akiyuki was offered to Konohagakure as a transfer student and a "gift" of sorts in light of the formation of the Shinobi Union. Akiyuki was orphaned during the Fourth Shinobi World War when Kusagakure sent out its own shinobi to protect the village from invading White Zetsu that had broken away from the main battlegrounds. The struggle didn't last long as the Zetsu reinforcements were called to the battlefield, but the village suffered several casualties, Akiyuki's parents amoung them.
Akiyuki's transference to Konohagakure was also considered belated repayment for the events of Hōzuki Castle and thus he was expected to defer directly to Naruto Uzumaki himself not only as the apparent Hokage, but as a revered saviour of Akiyuki's home village.
Akiyuki tends to be somewhat reserved and timid to a degree, but generally he is cheerful and full of childish naivety and mischievous curiosity. He is shown to be eager to learn, but prefers a more hands-on, personal approach to new material and has trouble retaining and applying information only delivered verbally, which sometimes gets him into minor trouble in class despite his being an otherwise excellent student. In a similar vein, he prefers to express himself non-verbally, resorting to occasionally exaggerated expressions and gestures. The latter is often ill-timed and impulsive, leading to frequent messes both large and small that, more often than not, incite heavy bouts of anxiety in Akiyuki, though he is lulled by Kanesada most of the time.
Akiyuki also appears to be almost reverent toward Kanesada, considering his friend and teammate to be a guiding force in his life. Akiyuki is often found shadowing Kanesada when he isn't fulfilling some obligation toward Naruto and even goes so far as to cling physically to Kanesada when excited or afraid. Their friendship appears mutually doting, as Akiyuki expresses great joy in spending time with Kanesada and his mother/team leader, Seiki Nikuhitsu. Oftentimes, though mostly after they become a team, they are accompanied by Himawari, and together they all team up on video games, an interest that Akiyuki indulges frequently even on his own free time. He games so frequently, in fact, that he has developed several battle strategies based on the games he plays and possesses acute hand-eye coordination when he is focused on using these strategies, despite his usual clumsiness.
His clumsiness ranges beyond his hand gestures, however. He is often seen taking on an odd way of walking, wherein he tucks his hands behind his back and leans forward slightly, often keeping his eyes on the ground. He also seems to delay in straightening out after sprinting, or sometimes not at all. This can lead to over-balancing, an occurrence Kanesada is also there to prevent most of the time. Additionally, he can be prone to speaking out randomly on the rare occasion that he speaks at all; his outbursts are almost always related to the topic at hand, but are often distant from the point or seem unrelated until he inevitably explains his (admittedly complex) thought process. Typically this is due to his processing certain information faster and/or in a different way than those around him, making him appear overly intellectual under certain circumstances. This, predictably, causes others to be confused when, on other occasions, he seems to know very little about the situation at hand, generally because the information surrounding it has been largely auditory, which he processes more slowly.
Due to this "auditory block", Akiyuki often doesn't follow the humour of jokes and remains relatively expressionless or indifferent when one is delivered, giving others the impression of a lack of humour on his part. He is shown to have a sense of humour, however, though it is more geared toward "cliche" tropes such as circus-esque performances or puns. He is quite the master of puns himself and seems to take great joy in using them whenever he does speak.
Akiyuki has short, curly brown hair, pale green eyes, and a dark complexion common in his homeland. He wears a cropped black jacket with green ribbons tying the collar closed, a green undershirt with a black choker around his neck, and matching elbow-length fingerless gloves with three green straps around each forearm. His forehead protector is worn on one of the belts around his waist that hold a small pouch on the side of his hip. His black pants are flared at the knee and tucked into black high-top sandals.
Although in possession of a unique and powerful kekkei genkai, Akiyuki initially lacks the proper dexterity and stamina to use it practically in battle. Performing it to any useful degree drains him too much and too quickly, so his ability is limited to purely aesthetic purposes. When Sakura Haruno teaches him to begin amassing chakra over time, however, eventually he is able to harness enough chakra to fight with his kekkei genkai. While, later, Akiyuki goes on to inherit (albeit only partially) the precise chakra control required to develop the exceptional healing techniques of Sakura and her mentor's legacy, he focuses primarily on honing his Nishikigoirei.
The Nakagami Clan's kekkei genkai, this ability allows Akiyuki to manifest his chakra in a visible, tangible form, namely in the shape of koi fish. Because this technique removes the chakra from his body and requires his concentration and energy to maintain, it can be very draining and, in some cases, life-threatening if used too liberally. His chakra takes on a pale green hue when outside of his body, suggesting a natural affinity for healing techniques, as shown when he later trains with Sakura.
In using this ability, Akiyuki can grant the koirei (literally meaning "koi spirits") temporary sentience by which to act on their own for a limited time, or control them of his own will, which takes considerably more effort and puts more strain on his body. While sentient, the koirei act more like summons, though they lack any communicative abilities. If they come into contact with another source of chakra, they will attempt to consume it and leave burns on any flesh they touch as if made of scalding water. While under Akiyuki's control, he can orchestrate them into elaborate formations and will consider them in his strategies as extra teammates.
Having tended to several other obligations during his education, Akiyuki had little chance to hone many skills. He shows an affinity for Water Release, wherein he can create koi-like shapes out of water to mimic his koirei and trick his opponents. However, these imitations are far less versatile, and he cannot control them as liberally as his koirei. Due to the smaller amount of chakra needed to maintain them, however, he can maintain them for longer, though they are less effective.
Although his field of interest in gaming largely dictates where the majority of his intelligence lies, he is more than capable of developing intricate strategies based on video games. In addition, he can assess his physical surroundings with acute clarity and swiftness, allowing him to alter his strategies as necessary to accommodate certain physical obstacles or barriers. He has described this aptitude as being able to see his surroundings from several angles, even if he only remains in one place. While his assessments are usually fairly accurate, they are not always precise, and he has been thrown for a loop on several occasions when something turns out to be different than the way he predicts it to be.
WIP
- The given name "Akiyuki" means "bright fortune", while the family name "Nakagami" means "mind" or "soul".
- (To x) "Quote"