The Matsuoka Clan -- A Dead History
Long, long ago in the ancient times there was a clan named the Matsuoka. They were also known as "The Dead Clan" or "The Clan of Ghosts" due to their history and abilities. However, there was a time when the Matsuoka clan was just simple--before the ghosts came along. There were two siblings; Nariko Matsuoka, the older sister, and Hirotsugu Matsuoka, the younger brother. As children they were granted the gift of necromancy--or in other words the ability to speak with the ghosts and spirits of the dead--and astral projection. Shunned by their family, the siblings were banished from their own home being thought that they were demons of threat. It was not just their abilities they feared, but the fact that their eyes always had a transparent white glow to them. As they grew they also developed techniques that can manipulate astral energy. When presented to other shinobi, it was thought just to be the same as chakra and not astral energy of its own. It is similar to chakra, yes, but at the same time it is so different. Nariko and Hirotsugu were able to prove this; not only were they shinobi themselves, but they were philosophers. Astral energy is its own life force separate from chakra, even though you can use chakra to help use astral energy in some ways. Not only is astral energy a paranormal force and is mostly everywhere, but it focuses from the soul and mental body. Chakra, on the other hand, comes from the physical and spiritual. Paranormal, spiritual--in these terms they are different.
Many, many years--centuries--later, a new Matsuoka clan was made and grew as a whole. As Nariko and Hirotsugu, with their spouses marrying into their clan, they passed down their what is now known as the clan's kekkei genkai, the Ghost Release. Eventually this resulted to the development of a while clan. Jutsus were created and traditions came alive. Especially one tradition where if a person has recently died, you cannot interact with their ghost unless they interact with you or until at least ten years pass. It was their way to respect the dead. At first, with Nariko and Hirotsugu, they would see ghosts against their will. Over time they came up with a way to fix that. Not only was a jutsu created, but it became a tradition when a child has their first "astral visual"--when they see ghosts for the first time--it was time to obtain their psyche markings. Psyche markings are purple markings that come in a variety of designs; it is put on the members of the Matsuoka clan's faces and represents their soul as an individual. After that had been obtained, the work of a simple jutsu could be used to switch between astral vision and normal vision. This would also switch from a transparent white glow in their eyes to no glow, or in other words just the color of their eyes.
Lovely to Haunting
In one of the forests of Konohagakure walks a young woman, Kumiko Nagahama, who is a chunin. She spots a young man who appears to be relaxing against a tree; his eyes were closed and he was leaned back against the tree with his hands behind his head. Out of curiosity, Kumiko tries to engage casual conversation with him, "Heya, what brings you out here?" Kumiko was trying to talk to him from a distance that maybe he could hear her from, but there was no response. Kumiko raised a brow, "Hey, did you hear me?" Kumiko spoke up louder as she walked up closer. Maybe he didn't hear her? Kumiko approaches to what seems like a sleeping but very still man. Kumiko crouches down to him, "Uhhh..." Kumiko poked his forehead before pressing her finger against it. Soon she moved his head around with that just one finger from where it is. With no success of waking him up, Kumiko makes an annoyed grunt that starts out soft and then crescendos as he shakes the man's head harder to the point where it's spastic. "WAKE. UP." Kumiko slapped the man in the face--one slap per word. To Kumiko's surprise, not even that woke him up. She blinked and rose an eyebrow in concern before slowly leaning down and bringing an ear to the man's face to check his breathing. There was none. Kumiko slowly took a deep breath, "OooooOOOOHHHH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!" Kumiko jumped from where she was and started pacing around in front of him like crazy, hands to her head messing up her auburn hair and everything. At this rate she was talking super fast, "What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I DO! When did this happen?!
How did this happen?! Who did this to you?! We have to find them! This I swear sir we will find the--" Kumiko suddenly gasped covering her mouth with both hands, "Did
I kill him...? Were my two slaps so powerful that it affected his brain and he died?!" Kumiko then sat on her knees in front of the man and starts bowing repeatedly. At
this point she spoke so fast it all sounded like a bunch of sentences mushed into one, "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorrypleaseforgiveme!ItwasanaccidentIswearIwasjusttryingtowakeyouupcauseIwastryingtobesocialforonceIknowweonlyjustmetbutpleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseforgivemeeeeeee!" Kumiko kept going on and on; it didn't seem like she'd ever stop.
As Kumiko went on, purple marks appeared on the man's face just as he opened his eyes. He sat up from the tree as he stretched a bit before turning his attention to the rapid bowing Kumiko. He couldn't help but snicker before bursting out laughing for a few seconds and then pulling himself together quickly, "Uh, hey there."
Kumiko screamed like the girl she was("KYAAAAH") as her arms suddenly flailed around and then rolled on the ground fast, slamming into the tree across from them as a reaction to the 'jump scare', "O-Oh n-n-n-n-noooooo now you're gonna haunt me!" Kumiko was almost on the verge of crying as she trembled in fear curled up in a ball on the floor up against and facing the wall.
"Uh...you wouldn't have happen to thought I was dead did you? Cause as you can see," the man couldn't help but chuckle a bit in mid-sentence, "That isn't the case," the man was still chuckling a bit as he was scratching the back of his head. Kumiko suddenly went still and stopped making noise. "You see, what I was doing was using an astral projection jutsu...where I can kinda...seperate my soul from my physical body and explore... It's uh...part of my kekkei genkai..." the man chuckled again once more. He was finding it funny at first but he got just a little nervous as he spoke.
"...
What." Kumiko spoke with a suddenly changed mood to serious, almost dark. The man kept scratching the back of his head as he finally stood up, now nervously laughing.
Kumiko rolled on the ground back towards him and as she approached beneath him she gives him an uppercut to the chin as she leaped up to her feet. "Anyways, I'm Hideki MatsuoKAA!!" Hideki exclaimed, the last syllable was shouted out because well, he was in pain from getting an uppercut to the chin, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"
"YOU SCARED ME!" Kumiko yelled back. Her expression was now totally angry instead of upset and worried.
Hideki slightly waved his hands around, trying to calm Kumiko down, "I'm sorry I'm sorry! Really! If it makes it any better, there's a way to tell the difference!"
Kumiko sighed, turning away from him, "It's fine. Just, carry on." Kumiko began to walk away; she believed that was enough for one day.
"O-Oh..." Hideki looked to the side in thought just before looking to Kumiko again, "H-Hey!" he got her attention as Kumiko stopped and looked at him over her shoulder. "What's your name?" Hideki asked. Kumiko just looked at him for a couple of seconds in silence. "I-I didn't quite catch it..." Hideki rubbed the back of his head again before Kumiko sighs.
"Kumiko Nagahama," she responded.
It may or may not seem like it, but not only is this the start of a friendship but it is also a foreshadowing of love. Yes, this is basically a love-hate relationship. Yes, they eventually get along better than this. And winding up on the same team together only made it better...and funnier.
After a long time of knowing each other, sharing deep feelings, fighting alongside each other, arguing with each other, and comforting each other through grief, the two soon and
finally realize that they were in love with each other. Yea, it took long enough. Within a matter of time they get married--with Kumiko marrying into the Matsuoka clan of course--and they even had children together. They have a daughter who they name Lana, who has her mother's auburn hair and her father's brown eyes, and then a son named Hirito who was four years apart from Lana, he had his father's dark brown hair and his mother's blue eyes. Although this is where the happiness ends, however, this isn't where the story ends just yet. When Lana was twelve and Hirito was eight, Hideki was aiding in Lana's training and Hirito had come just to watch. They were training, or rather sparring, by a cliff and had to be very cautious to not fall off. If you know where this is going, you can probably guess that someone wasn't cautious enough. Long story short, Hirito tripped first just as Hideki grabbed his hand before he fell but as that happened he wound up hanging from the cliff with Lana holding onto Hideki and trying to pull him up. With both of Hideki and Hirito's weight combined, Lana wasn't able to pull them back up and there was hardly anyone else around. Lana held on to them for as long as she could until they finally slipped from her hands. They fell, and it was a long, long fall. Lana raced around down to the bottom hoping in the slightest miracle that they would be alive, only to confirm the opposite. Lana felt it was completely her fault; it was because of her Hirito came so close to the edge in the first place. When she came home late that night, teary faced, Kumiko is of course mourning in sadness and anger but it's almost like she is blaming Lana. Now you're probably thinking, but they're Matsuokas' right? They can see ghosts, right? They can just see them and still talk to them,
right? Well it's not that simple. Remember that tradition where they are not allowed to interact with a ghost who has recently passed unless the ghost does the interacting or until ten years? They still do that. Not only that, but Kumiko
married into the Matsuoka clan. Technically, since she's from another clan, she can't see ghosts. Lana could look for them, and she has tried, but she wasn't able to find them for an odd reason. Ever since this happened, the relationship between Lana and Kumiko have, well, decreased a bit.
So that's the current family status. To this day Lana still blames herself for what happened and can't help herself but bare herself responsible. Lana is now a chunin as tries to move forward, but is she really moving anywhere?
