Odayaka Lou

Odayaka Lou is quite an odd genin, wearing a tengai on his head at all times, making his voice muffled at most times, and causing his face to remain hidden. Despite the basket on his head, he is capable of things as eating or playing flute, as he often likes to do. He is sometimes confused for a monk, but despite his occasional practice in Fuke-shū, he is far from one.

Background
Odayaka was born near Takigakure, on a moderately popular apiary, his family supplying honey to the local village. Having lived on the apiary since birth, he grew rather fond of the bees, and they reacted quite well to him as well. Where his parents would often require bee keeper suits, Odayaka did not. He never cared much for collecting the honey, he just enjoyed observing them, and sometimes “play” with them in his eyes, where it was really just him running around close to the bee hives. At the age of ten, his parents decided that he would do better to become a shinobi of Takigakure, as he had many siblings, and not many were needed to maintain an apiary, despite its size. After having spent those ten years, he had already grown so fond of the bees, he often buzzed tunes, mimicking the sound the bees make. It was also at that age that he decided to get a Shakuhachi, an odd flute without reed, making it very hard to get sound out of. It took him many days and weeks to get the hang of the instrument, but after a long time of frustration, anxiety and determination, he managed to master the flute.

A new hobby originated for the boy, aside from his bees, he now had his flute to enjoy all for himself. Whenever he was not busy with the bees, he was practicing and playing his flute, finding it rather calming and eventually ended up seeing it as a form of meditation. Despite the years of experience with handling bees, he got reckless in his last week before academy enrollment in Takigakure, and ended up getting stung in the face by a flock of the bees, causing his face to swell up rather badly. Being only ten, Odayaka cried for days about it, waiting hopelessly for it to get cured so that he could show himself outside again, and the fact that he had to go to academy soon didn't help much either. Not being healed in time for his enrollment, he decided to hide his face, at first starting by wrapping bandages around his face. Despite the cool look and impression he made, it wasn't exactly comfortable to have something wrapped tight around his swollen face, and thus he decided to change pace after graduation, which happened quite fast. At the age of twelve, he had graduated, and yet, his face remained swollen for reasons unknown, at most it should have lasted a month, and the average was actually only two weeks. Perhaps it was that he spent so much time with the bees, his body figured it was normal. That was the only time he regretted his decisions in those ten years.

After graduation, the boy got placed in a squad like any other, but as he had already planned, decided to change the way of hiding his face. Having something pressing against his face was no option, he already knew. And thus, he thought days and days, trying to think about what to do. It was not that the swelling was disgusting or horrifying, it was more a matter of self-confidence that he lacked, he didn't want others to think bad of him and affect the teamwork they would need. It was not until he found out about Tengai that he decided to get one of those made for him, hiding his face in that way. It would look odd, but it also made people notice him, often thinking he was a monk. Little did they know he was just a boy trying to hide his face.

After many years of doing missions with his squad in Takigakure, Odayaka got summoned, and confronted with his issue regarding his face, eventually asking if he would wish to start over again. Naturally, the teenager simply shook his head. He had lived his life the way it was laid out for him, starting over would be meaningless. The man in front of him could only chuckle, and nodded in agreement. However, it seemed that he wasn't quite convinced yet, and offered him to aid the village of Hikagakure in its development. The teen frowned behind the tengai, not visible to the man, and then nodded. It wasn't really a new start, it was a new chapter in his book. Having to only sign a few things, Odayaka packed his stuff, and headed towards Hikagakure. He was offered transport, but he kindly declined. Travelling on foot was his preference.

It took him long to get to Hikagakure, growing older every day, and learning from his experiences on the way. He often had to buy new clothing and tengai with the money he had gotten from his family, as those did not grow like Odayaka did. Before reaching Hikagakure by boat, he had learned many things, and ended up finding peace in the simplest of things. He had noticed himself that his face was returned to former glory, but he had already grown attached to the tengai, it was part of him now, and he refused to ever take it off, only shifting it up a little bit to eat or play flute. Once arrived at Hikagakure, he looked at the dock, folded his hands, and nodded, silently making his way into the town.

Personality
Much like any other, Odayaka is a rather calm man, usually not stepping in other people's business, yet seems to happily do what he has been told. Despite his current rank and age, he seems rather mature with his own view on the world. He is not the man to cause a fight, yet should he end up in one, he will not turn his back on his foe, and act as a worthy opponent.

Appearance
Not much can be seen by simply looking at the man, his face is always hidden by a tengai, more than often causing great curiosity. His body is covered by a black robe, reaching to just under his knees. The sleeves of this robe are rather wide at the ends, causing them to hang when he lifts his hands (Much like the picture below.) Rather than wearing a belt, he has bandages tightly wrapped around his waist, giving the same result. His legs seem to be tightly wrapped by the same material, but it is unknown if this is also the case with the rest of his body. His hands are not wrapped by said bandage, but his fingers are individually. A Shakuhachi hangs from a woven necklace around his neck. His feet are cushioned by sandals, and he proudly wears his headband around his right shoulder. A rather big honey spoon hangs from his waist, acting as a scabbard for a longsword. The handle and cross-guard are coloured like the honey spoon itself so they blend in, the only noticeable difference being the handle, as it is thinner than the scabbard. The blade is measured at a 110cm (43.3 inch) long, the handle being 20cm (7.8 inch) long. The width is about 3.4 cm, only getting thinner at the tip. Because the blade is not a katana, it is also not curved, and is completely straight.

Abilities
The three basic jutsu.

Bee Bullet (Hachi no dangan) The user forms the bird handseal, and channels chakra to his mouth, opening it shortly after. A lone bee made out of chakra will be expelled out of the mouth, and will fly towards the enemy and attempt to sting it. The sting itself is nothing horrible; at maximum it will paralyze a limb for one turn. The bee dies when it stings, no matter if it is successful or not. If it does not sting successfully or is otherwise destroyed, the bee will wither after the initial post. The speed of the bee is not too fast, just a little faster than a normal bee would fly (about 20mph).