Post by Kuchiki Rukia on Sept 3, 2008 19:39:19 GMT -5
Name: Nakamira Sakura
Age:
Real Age: 320
Visual Age: 23
Birthday: November 29
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 130 lbs
Division: Third Division
Position: Third Seat
Physical Appearance:
Sakura has elegant, dark brown hair and black coloured eyes. She has fair, pale skin that turns a slight pink when she blushes or smiles. She wears a turquoise coloured hairclip in the shape of a flower. Her hair descends just shy of her shoulder area and curls at the ends. She is about five foot five inches and has a very slender figure. This is due to her constant desire for a slender tone and she will do anything to keep this figure. She weighs about a hundred and ten pounds.
Her clothing style is much like normal Shinigami. She wears the black silk uniform of the Shihakushou but takes on a different obi sash than the regular white fabric. Her favourite colour is pink therefore she takes on a light pink silk sash to tie her uniform together. Her Zanpakutou is tightly sheathed under the sash. Her Zanpakutou is often sheathed under her obi. She wears the regular sandals that are part of the Shinigami attire. Upon promotion, Sakura has adorned the fifth division insignia because of her rank as fukutaichou. She wears this with pride although she still carries the memories of once having served the same rank but as fukutaichou of third division.
When she is not needed to take on her duties as fukutaichou, she wears a black kimono. This is usually when she is asked to go to an important event within Seiretei. Suki does not like to always where her uniform because it makes her feel too superior at social events. Therefore she chooses something more elegant and more informal to wear. She requires matching assessories for every casual clothing that she wears because she has this obsession with looking her best when she is not in her Shinigami uniform.
Personality:
Sakura is a quiet girl. She dislikes talking and seldom does. That does not mean that she keeps quiet all the time; she only talks to those that she trusts. With that said, Sakura merely smiles at other people so that she is not taken as a rude girl. This personality trait was taken from the event prior to her death. It was also because of another individual that her subdued nature worsened when she graduated from the academy.
When she talks though, her true nature shines through. She loves to laugh and only her true friends can make her laugh. Her quiet nature is broken when she is with her most trusted and she becomes just like a normal girl; energetic and happy. Yet through this happiness, she never speaks of her past, especially the life she led before she died under the hands of her own father. She prefers to keep all this to herself and sometimes will even pretend that she has forgotten all of it to lessen the pain.
Sakura is also very loyal to the Commander General and to Gotei 13 in general. She knows her place as a Shinigami and will do all that she is required to do in order to fulfill this duty. Before her promotion as taichou, she is quite timid to her superiors, casting her eyes to the ground even when she is addressed. This takes after her original personality and only through knowing her superiors will she shatter the invisible barrier that keeps her from her normal congenial nature.
The girl is also very nice to people. When someone comes for her help, she will not hesitate and give the person that comes to her everything that is needed. She understands that when one needs help and she is able to provide it that she can not refuse. This is a fundamental principle which she holds on to and will never dispose of. This personality trait often becomes Sakura’s secondary weakness because she can not bear to make an enemy within Soul Society.
Sakura is very serious when it comes to training for both kidou and Zanpakutou. She knows that in order to purify all the Hollows that invade Earth, she must become as strong as possible. She will often be so serious that it turns into being stubborn. She will not give up learning a new kidou until she has fully mastered it. This often makes her illness even worse. She has been advised against being so serious due to her health but she can never really evade this nature.
When she is happy, she can really be energetic. She giggles and claps her hands, often taking a child-like nature. One would know that she is happy when she goes on an eating expedition and smiles at everyone without the timid personality that is usually accompanied by the smile. When she is sad, she does not leave the comfort of her room in 5th division. She hides away in the confinement of her room and cries. Only when she is out of this sad and depression time will she leave the four walls of her room and venture out of her room.
Upon promotion as the third seat of 3rd Division, her leadership qualities shine through. She understands that she takes on the entire division as taicho therefore she is serious and uptight. The girl rarely smiles when she is within the division or to her sub-ordinates. This is because she wishes to keep her division orderly and somewhat "professional" She is still soft-spoken and many of her sub-ordinates are quite scared of this new personality. Although she has developed a new side to her original personality, Sakura is more lenient to other things such as training. She does not require that all those within 5th division become very strong Shinigami. She understands that everyone goes their own pace so she never really forces them to train very hard. With that said, she is always willing to help her division out by training every member seperately so that she is able to develop a closer relationship with each individual
Fighting Style:
Strengths:
Sakura's strength lies in her use of her Zanpakutou. There are two reasons why she is strong in this area. First it is her tendency of using her sword rather than kidou. This tendency is achieved through constant training when she was still a student within the academy. She is more comfortale with the sword rather than either kenjutsu or kidou because she likes to have something to hold in her hand to fight. The girl enjoys feeling the blade in her hand and the texture of the hilt. Second it is beacuse of her other less prominent strength which she learnt of when she encountered her first Hollow as a Shinigami graduate. Some of her zanjutsu skills were developed much later when she became a seated officer of 3rd Division.
Her secondary strength resides in accuracy. This was made clear to her when she fought her very first Hollow as a Shinigami. She had been patroling Earth at the time and found her self face-to-face with a Hollow. At first she was afraid but soon she unsheathed her sword and began to duel with it. She was quite amazed that she was able to cut the Hollow in various places before sending a powerful stab to its abdomen area. From then on, she became more confident with her Zanpakutou and therefore trained harder each day, enhancing the accuracy as well as the force of each blow she delivered at a target.
Weaknesses:
Sakura's number one weakness is her use of kidou. She understands the incantation to some of the kidou especially those of higher number and also understands how to fire a kidou spell at another but there are certain other aspects to firing a kidou spell that she can not ignore. As she graduated from the academy, she had not really trained in kidou, focusing more on zanjutsu because she felt most comfortable. The first weakness for kidou is rieatsu. She channels rieatsu to her palm or her fingers and releases it to create a spell. But her rieatsu control is a little suspect. Over the years especially since she was promoted to seated rank within 3rd Division, she had made improvement on this aspect. She usually transfers too much of her body's rieatsu to fire one kidou spell so that her body weakens when she releases this reiatsu. This becomes a crucial vulnerable point for her because she would weaken in a battle once she performs a kidou spell. However, recently, she has learnt how to control some part of the reiatsu so that this weakness does not become too apparent.
Her secondary weakness in respect to kidou is accuracy. She has no problem with accuracy in zanjutsu but she can not really perform every kidou spell at the target intended. This has always been a weakness of hers since she first learnt the first kidou spell. Sparring with others, it takes Sakura often more time to fire the kidou at the body part she intends. This is because her agility is a little off when she performs a spell. Agility plays a big role in casting kidou because in battle, people tend to move around and if one stays in a single place for too long, he or she becomes vulnerable. That is why one must be always ready to move especially when the opponent is moving as well. She concentrates too much on casting the spell rather than casting it at the right place. Since she became a seated member of her division, she has tried to train more in this area in order to improve.
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Zanpakutou Name: Suna Arashi [Sandstorm]
Inner World:
The inner world of Sakura’s zanpakutou is much expected and natural given its name. It consists of a desert plain with a few cactuses scattered around. The desert is covered with a thick layer of sand that creates an almost brownish-yellow landscape. Little hills can be seen once in awhile making the view of the inner world look almost like a picture. When Sakura is unhappy or mad, a sand storm would rage within this picture landscape, blowing up the particles of sand. Arashi usually just sits on one of the little hills. There are no structures of any kind just like a normal desert. Although it was as pretty as a landscape, it could be pretty boring for Arashi because he is alone in the inner world.
Zanpakutou Spirit:
Arashi is a cold individual. Standing at about five foot three, he gives off an aura of being dangerous, quiet and vengeful. He has light, short brown hair with dark brown eyes. His skin is rather pale, almost white. His limbs are muscular and on average he could be called a very nice-looking man if not for those eyes that sometimes reflect coldness and shrewdness. No person in his or her right mind would like to associate with him. His personality is not reflected when he is around Sakura because she is his wielder. Yet, when the two first met, he used this personality as an advantage in order for her to take control and use his power to its greatest extent. In her mastering her Zanpakutou, Arashi’s personality relaxes slightly but his demeanor is still the same. Many people who have seen him manifested fear his presence.
Sealed Zanpakutou:
Sakura’s Zanpakutou takes the form of a katana. The blade is slightly longer than usual and the end of the blade is slightly bent for reasons unknown. The hilt is strapped with delicate pink silk fabric and the end of the hilt is wrapped in gold silk. On the hilt, one can faintly see the outlines of cherry blossom flowers. The girl had etched them on the hilt because of her constant liking for them and because they resembled her name. The flowers are painted a light pink colour to reflect their beautiful nature. Because the hilt is covered in silk fabric, it makes gripping the sword harder since silk is a slippery substance. But once one gets used to the silk texture, it becomes more soft to the touch and more comfortable to wield.
The sheath is made out of oak wood. The surface of it is carefully adorned with petals of cherry blossom flowers. This is again to satisfy Sakura’s obsession and much of these petals are real. She changes the petals almost every day while going on patrol duty on Earth. She would usually pass the giant cherry blossom tree and take a couple of petals so that each day the sheath would look more “fresh” as she put it. The wood is caressed softly by a couple strands of silk fabric, white in colour to contrast with the brightness of the flower petals. The sheath was made longer because of the blade’s length. There are also etchings of flowers on the surface because some times the petals are blown away and Sakura must find replacement.
Shikai Release Phrase:
Bakuhatsu Suna Arashi [Erupt, Sand Storm]
Shikai Description:
The shikai appearance of Arashi undergoes little transformation. The blade of the sword is shortened considerably to a little more than a dagger in length. The metal portion of the blade is stripped of its silver colour and is replaced by a light brown colour, symbolizing the sand element of the Zanpakutou itself. Only when the Sand Creation technique is called will the surrounding area of Sakura fill with about a fifteen meter sand circle.
Pre-requisite for Shikai Abilities:
Sand Creation
This is the fundamental technique that Kurenai must perform in order for the shikai techniques to follow. By focusing a portion of her reiatsu and allowing it to come into contact with the ground. The amount of reiatsu will determine the amount of sand that will be created. The minimum amount of sand created will cover a fifteen meter radius, forming a circle beneath Kurenai. The amount of sand is vital because if not enough sand is created, the shikai techniques below may not be able to be fully performed. This sand creation can be used as many times as she feels like it during training or battles.
Suna no Tate (Shield of Sand)[/color]
By focusing an amount of reiatsu and combining it with the sand created by Sand Creation, the sand quickly comes together into a shield to protect from on-coming attacks. The idea is to be able to block kidou attacks. The way to diminish this shield is very simple. A Zanpakutou can slice through the sand. Once the shield is diminished, it descends back to the ground under Kurenai’s feet. The amount of reiatsu and the amount of sand will determine whether a normal, not –yet released Zanpakutou can cut through the sand shield
Suna Shuriken (Sand Shuriken)
After sand is created using Sand Creation technique, Sand Shuriken Technique can be performed. Kurenai then calls out the name of the technique and surges a bit of her body’s reiatsu towards the sand. The sand then come together and wrap around her arm. Then shuriken are created using this sand. Again The amount of reiatsu and the amount of sand will determine the number of shuriken which can be created at a single time. The minimum number is five shuriken.
Kyoubou Suna Arashi (Raging Sandstorm):
After sand is created using Sand Creation technique, Raging Sandstorm can be performed. This technique has one primary purpose: using sand particles in order to rip through the flesh of the opponent hoping to cause serious damage from within as the sand stays within the wounds after this technique is performed. Kurenai calls out the name and again uses reiatsu combined with sand for this attack. The sand elevates from the ground and forms a sphere in the air. This sphere then descends to the palm of her hand. Then using reiatsu, she crushes the sphere and the sand rush at the opponent at high speeds so that the sand can cut through flesh. This technique not only erodes flesh and cuts through the opponent's body and clothing the sand will remain within the wounds at all times until taken out.
Bankai:
Sakura has not achieved bankai
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*~!~*History*~!~*
--->Living Years<----
Sakura Hanakora was an only child. She was born to two loving parents that thought loved her. Her mother was a surgeon and her father was an accountant. In fact they showed as much affection as normal parents would show their children. They spoiled her since birth and for ten years lived a loving life free from worries. That was violently changed when the girl was ten years old. Even she herself did not know what had happened after the event. She did know finally however when her life was about to end. But she would never forget that night when she was most vulnerable and felt most betrayed.
It was a rainy evening and her mother was working late at the hospital. Sakura was home alone with her father and thought that it would be like any other night. She felt especially sleepy that night, yawning every few minutes. It was actually a drug that her father had placed in her water during dinner that made her feel drowsy. She bid her father good night and ascended the steps to her room. She fell asleep soon after but was awakened by what seemed like a thunderclap. When she opened her eyes wearily, she saw her father close to her and he was putting on his clothes. She then allowed her eyes to travel to her own body and found that the covers that she used to keep warm were not covering her body. Her nightgown was loosely tied back together but she did not question her father. She pretended to be asleep and waited until her father left her room and turned off the lights. She slept somewhat soundly after that, not knowing what her father had done to her. In fact it took her two years to realize the truth of that night. In these two years, there were about five other nights just like that but she never questioned because it never crossed her mind.
The innocence of the girl was actually merely an act. She did not want to know what really happened between her father and her those nights. Sakura always had nightmares even though she told herself quite keenly to forget all about it. But could she really? For such a long time she told nobody, not even her mother because she was afraid. She was afraid that no one would believe her. Honestly, how many fathers would actually do something such as this to their own daughters? At first she really didn't know what had happened to her was indeed rape but as she grew older, she became more aware. She knew that what her father did to her was not normal and through doing her own research, she finally realized. And yet, when she did realize what had happened, she was even more miserable. The inner desire to end her own life became more prominent as she entered a state of depression. This state of depression lasted all through the remainder of the two years. During that time, she only stayed in her room, staring at the four walls, her mind blank for most of the day. At night she was tortured with memories and nightmares.
--->Years in Rukongai<---
Her death came quite suddenly. Through her depression phase, she had wanted to end her own life, thinking up numerous ways to do so. Every time she did so, her mother would save her life. Her mother became increasingly worried for Sakura, not knowing why her daughter went from being a happy and carefree child to one that was depressed and passive. Her mother asked her time and time again why she wanted to commit suicide and she would only shake her head, her eyes staring off into space. It was not that she did not want to tell her mother but she just couldn't begin to tell her. She was still in a daze when she figured out that her parents' relationship was stressed. They had a big quarrel one day and her father pulled a kitchen knife threatening to kill her mother. Sakura saw this and screamed for them to stop. Her father was no longer the person she knew, the caring father. The man before her eyes was insane, running after mother and daughter, the knife raised. She screamed but nobody came to help them.
What happened next happened in slow motion. Her father had caught her mother and was about to drive a knife into her. When Sakura turned back and saw this, she rushed to her mother's side just as the blade was brought down. She felt the knife pierce her body, stunning her. Her fingers touching her wound, she saw with horror as the knife was pulled out of her. She fell to the ground and felt the first sign of pain. Blood poured from her wound as she looked with disbelieving eyes at her father. Her father was stunned also as he dropped the knife on the ground. Her mother rushed to her side and immediately tried to sustain her life. But all was in vain because she died seconds later in her mother's arms. Her last waking moment had been in her mother's arms, seeing her mother's worried expression before she entered the world of eternal darkness
Because she was quite loyal to her town, when she became a ghost, she often watched over her parents. It was also because she did not wish to see her parents argue that she wanted to protect them. She saw everything that happened after her death. Her parents divorced and her mother lived far from her father. When she saw her father after the divorce, it was at her own grave. She listened intently to what he had to say. He expressed guilt for having raped her. Then it dawned on her that what he had done was indeed rape. She loathed her father for doing this to her and this new information shocked her. She vowed never to speak of her past life again and walked the Earth for quite awhile, lonely and lost. But her life on Earth would be cut short very soon when she first encounters a Hollow.
At the time she did not know what a Hollow was. She merely saw a hideous looking creature that was three times her size. It towered over her and wanted to capture her. All she could do was run away. She did not scream for she understood that nobody would and could hear her. She only ran and ran, looking back at the monster that was chasing after her. She then met a dead end at an alleyway and thought she would be the prey of the monster. She closed her eyes firmly and a tear fell from her eyes. But after a few minutes, she did not feel anything. She opened her eyes and found someone standing before her, with a sword. The woman was dressed in black and sliced the monster in half. In a matter of minutes, it disappeared. Sakura was greatly awed and only stared at the girl. Then she thanked her for all her help. The girl, seeing Sakura all alone, approached her and using the hilt of her sword, stamped her on the forehead. Immediately, Sakura looked at herself and she began to "glow". She closed her eyes, unsure of what had and will happen
Her first waking moment in Soul Society was in a forest area. She was unsure of where she was and walked the streets with a blank face. Many people along the way asked her why she was wandering but she could only remain silent and shake her head. Soon she collapsed in the middle of the streets from fatigue and hunger. She could feel her body hit the concrete of the streets, still unable to understand where she was. In fact, she was quite scared up to that point because she was no longer in the safety of her parents. She slept soundly for a long time and the next time she awoke, she was in a room, once again feeling the confinements of the four walls upon her body. At first she was anxious and afraid until she was introduced to the owner of the house and the person that had taken her in after she fainted; Yuki.
Yuki was a Shinigami who had a family that lived away from Gotei 13. The house that Sakura found herself in was where Yuki's family had decided to stay after he became a Shinigami. He himself had been patroling the area before he came upon her and took her home. Sakura was grateful to him and when she was better, she asked about his "kind" She was quite curious at what Shinigami did because of the girl she had seen when she was still a soul on Earth. The girl questioned about everything including the uniform that they wore because she had guessed it when she saw the same clothing on both the girl and Yuki. He answered every question that she had and told her that if she wanted to live in Seiretei, she had the duty to protect its people. Sakura agreed and Yuki told her about becoming a Shinigami. He said that the very first thing that she would encounter is to develop something called reiatsu. He warned her that this process would come naturally and she would know because it was somewhat painful.
Sakura had then nodded her head and stayed at Yuki's house for half a year. Three months since her arrival to Soul Society, she was already very used to Seiretei. Then one day she felt extreme hunger and pain, something that she had not felt before. But this hunger was not for food and at the time she did not know what she was craving for. She had turned to Yuki then and asked him. He smiled back at her and told her this was the process he had referred to when they first met; developing reiatsu. He told her that she had now finally developed rieatsu and could enroll into the academy to become a Shinigami. The girl was quite excited to be able to become a Death God and prepared herself for a vigorous six years in the academy.
--->Academy Years<---
Sakura's academy years started out as pretty rough like many rogue souls wanting to become Shinigami. She was enrolled into a normal class with twenty other people. She wore the regular academy student uniform, a piece of clothing adorned with red and white. The girl started out learning about kidou. She was quite fascinated with this concept because she had never really seen anyone use kidou before. She was then given a wooden sword where she would practice zanjutsu. She then knew that the reiatsu which she had developed before entering the academy was to perform kidou spells. She had learnt the basics in terms of textbook information in the first year and upon the second year would she actually be able to fire her first kidou.
She still remembered that the first kidou spell she had learnt was Hadou no sanjyuu ichi-Shakahou. This involved an incantation and she needed to memorize it. The girl was asked to train this spell on a wooden target in the training room. The first time she had tried this spell, she had absolutely no sense of reiatsu control and had use up almost all of her body's rieatsu on one trial. Through the next two years, she learnt a lot of kidou spells from her sensei and was able to perform although no so well, at least four kidou spells. It was not until the fourth and fifth year of Shinigami academy did she get to focus more on zanjutsu. Her sensei taught her the fundamentals including how to wield a sword and the basic stance for an attack. Sakura learnt a lot on both fighting styles but she stuck to zanjutsu more because it required less concentration in her opinion. Therefore she was especially keen on developing upon this skill rather than training in kidou.
Upon graduation, it was time to meet the thirteen captains of Gotei 13. They came to look for special, elite academy students as recruitment to their divisions. Sakura didn't know this at the time and therefore only viewed this event as somewhat of a drag. She really didn't care which division she fell under and who her taichou was. She only cared that she would become a Shinigami and serve both the people of Soul Society and also those on Earth from Hollow invasions. She was not part of the elite so she wasn't one of the specially recruited members. After graduating, she was placed under the 3rd Division, under the Ichimaru-taichou. She was honoured but she would not get to talk to her taichou until her third year in his division. She passed the test that qualified her to become a Shinigami and she officially graduated from the academy after six long years of training.
--->Admission into Gotei 13<---
Her Shinigami years were quite eventful especially as she progressed from being a rogue Shinigami to being one of more experience. She met a lot of people within her own division and kept to the duties of a Death God. She went on numerous patrols on Earth in order to look for Hollows to purify. Even though she patroled the area many times, she did not neglect the other part of becoming a strong Shinigami; training. She passed an eventful five years as a regular member of 3rd Division until one day when her taichou approached her and asked her whether she felt she was up to the challenge to take a seated officer test. Sakura was shocked because she did not think she was as strong as her taichou thought but she nodded her head. She wanted to see what her capabilities were and whether they hard work she had put in to training these five years would pay off. This rank that was proposed was fifth seat. The test was not hard, just a little spar against the fukutaichou, Izuru-san. He went easy on her she thought because there were times within the battle that he could have overpowered and won. But he had allowed her to take the upper-hand in the battle and therefore was promoted to 5th seat of 3rd Division. But the road ahead would be rough and there was still one task that needed to be completed; developing shikai and learning the name of her Zanpakutou.
The process of learning the name of her sword was not hard but tedious. She had trained hard everyday hoping to be able to know the spirit within her blade but each day passed without success. Even as third seat, she was lagging behind all the other divisions' seated officers. Almost everyone who had obtained third seat knew the name of their Zanpakutou except for Sakura. She was discouraged and thought that she would never know its name and therefore never be able to use her blade in battle. But there she was wrong. Learning a spirit's name and learning the shikai release process could not be hastened. Faith would intertwine with this young Shinigami where she can not force herself to learn it. Only time and fate together would grant her this desire. A year and a half later, the time had come and she would learn both the spirit's name as well as the call out phrase to her blade without even knowing she had done so.
The process of learning her Zanpakutou's name came to her in a life and death situation. She had been patrolling Earth for Hollows and had found herself cornered by about five Hollows. She was the only Shinigami fighting and she had been injured. Her injuries were not life-threatening but the Hollows around her were pushing her limits. Sakura remembered one of them had sent a claw at her that missed her shoulder only by a fraction of an inch. She thought she would die under their hands but all of a sudden, she heard a voice within her head. At first she thought she was hallucinating and neglected the voice. But as the battle progressed, she found herself very much overpowered by the Hollows to the point where she could not stand in the battle alone. Then the voice of the spirit called to Sakura again and this time although unwillingly, she listened to it. The voice told her to raise her blade vertically in front of her and call out what she would soon learn was the release phrase to her shikai. She was obedient and heeded to what the voice said, having no other choice at the time. As she said the words, she could see the sword in her hand glow and it amazed her. But her job was not done. She once again listened to the voice, which she learned was the spirit, Arashi, and she told her to say the first stage of her shikai abilities. The girl did and she could feel the sword disperse into the wind and a storm of shuriken took its place. She directed her reiatsu to the shuriken and it stormed on the Hollows around her, successfully purifying them. Although happy that she had finally learnt first stage shikai, she was exhausted and therefore passed out shortly after the ordeal.
Having learned first stage shikai, Sakura was quite content and proud of herself. She grew fond of the spirit Arashi and shared many secrets with her. Her training had reached another level where she would focus on shikai and hopefully be able to learn the second stage to it. Sakura and Arashi trained together every day and each time for hours. The two bonded quickly and on one such training session, Megami told Sakura bluntly that she was ready to move on to the second stage. But she did not know the attack that needed to be called in order to release it. Arashi was not going to merely tell her it because she needed to figure it out herself. The spirit gave her a number of clues. Firstly the second stage is hugely associated with the first stage in terms of attack. Second, she uses the element of sand therefore the attack must have the word “sand” in it. Third, since it is closely associated with the first attack, then the structure of release is the same. Sakura listed to all of this and pondered a moment. It would take her about two days before she would be able to learn the release phrase. Once she learned it, she called it out and the second stage was activated. The second stage proved to be stronger than the first and provided two new attacks for this young Shinigami. Having been successful was what Sakura looked for and therefore she was very happy. But she knew that her role as a Shinigami needed to improve now that she learnt the new technique.
Two years later, another chance arose for the young Shinigami. Aizen-taichou had been surveying in the shadows each person's progress within his division and found Sakura had improved a lot since she was first promoted to 5th seat. Therefore, he gave her the third seat test, a spar not with Izuru-fukutaichou but with Aizen himself. It was an exceptional honour to be selected out of all the members of the division to take the test and she knew that even if she failed, the thought of having sparred with her taichou satisfied her desires. So as she went in for the test, she expected her skills to not match up with that of Gin's. The spar was quite interesting and also an experience the girl would never forget. Her taichou activated his shikai and she was grateful as well has honoured to be able to see his blade’s shikai form. Having just learnt her the second stage of shikai, she was not prepared for the agility and experience her taichou displayed. The spar ended with Gin winning but because he felt she was capable in terms of power, he allowed her to become the third seat of his division. He told her to train with Izuru-san where he will teach her more kidou and how to retain reiatsu so that she doesn’t run out after one spell. She was grateful that she was promoted once again and vowed to do her best to serve the humans of Earth as well as those within Soul Society.
Having gained more status within her division, Sakura did not feel that her goal was fulfilled. Upon promotion, she trained even harder each day with Arashi in order to become one of the strongest Shinigami in Gotei 13. That seemed like an unrealistic goal to most people but Sakura was determined to make this goal come true. She had only learnt the first and second stages of shikai in the past years, she knew that what she needed to do was to strengthen the three attacks and one defense so that when she encountered a battle with either a Shinigami or a Hollow, she would be ready to release her Zanpakutou without fear. She was quite busy for years to come because she was torn between patrolling on Earth, training with her Zanpakutou and training with Izuru-fukutaichou. Two years flew by like the wind and Sakura found herself immensely stronger that when she was first promoted to third seat. Now her reiatsu control had improved substantially, her zanjutsu skills perfected and her bond with Megami more prominent. The girl was yet to reach one of the strongest within the Gotei 13 but she was trying very hard to do so. Then one day, she decided to take a little break from all the hectic of her life and visit Rukongai. She was aware that the furthest districts of Rukongai were those that were lawless and therefore decided to venture off into the 78th District. She did not really know why she decided to go there or what she expected to find, but the person that she happened upon would change her personality for the better.
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Visual of Character:
Theme Song: [Optional]
RP Sample:
Age:
Real Age: 320
Visual Age: 23
Birthday: November 29
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 130 lbs
Division: Third Division
Position: Third Seat
Physical Appearance:
Sakura has elegant, dark brown hair and black coloured eyes. She has fair, pale skin that turns a slight pink when she blushes or smiles. She wears a turquoise coloured hairclip in the shape of a flower. Her hair descends just shy of her shoulder area and curls at the ends. She is about five foot five inches and has a very slender figure. This is due to her constant desire for a slender tone and she will do anything to keep this figure. She weighs about a hundred and ten pounds.
Her clothing style is much like normal Shinigami. She wears the black silk uniform of the Shihakushou but takes on a different obi sash than the regular white fabric. Her favourite colour is pink therefore she takes on a light pink silk sash to tie her uniform together. Her Zanpakutou is tightly sheathed under the sash. Her Zanpakutou is often sheathed under her obi. She wears the regular sandals that are part of the Shinigami attire. Upon promotion, Sakura has adorned the fifth division insignia because of her rank as fukutaichou. She wears this with pride although she still carries the memories of once having served the same rank but as fukutaichou of third division.
When she is not needed to take on her duties as fukutaichou, she wears a black kimono. This is usually when she is asked to go to an important event within Seiretei. Suki does not like to always where her uniform because it makes her feel too superior at social events. Therefore she chooses something more elegant and more informal to wear. She requires matching assessories for every casual clothing that she wears because she has this obsession with looking her best when she is not in her Shinigami uniform.
Personality:
Sakura is a quiet girl. She dislikes talking and seldom does. That does not mean that she keeps quiet all the time; she only talks to those that she trusts. With that said, Sakura merely smiles at other people so that she is not taken as a rude girl. This personality trait was taken from the event prior to her death. It was also because of another individual that her subdued nature worsened when she graduated from the academy.
When she talks though, her true nature shines through. She loves to laugh and only her true friends can make her laugh. Her quiet nature is broken when she is with her most trusted and she becomes just like a normal girl; energetic and happy. Yet through this happiness, she never speaks of her past, especially the life she led before she died under the hands of her own father. She prefers to keep all this to herself and sometimes will even pretend that she has forgotten all of it to lessen the pain.
Sakura is also very loyal to the Commander General and to Gotei 13 in general. She knows her place as a Shinigami and will do all that she is required to do in order to fulfill this duty. Before her promotion as taichou, she is quite timid to her superiors, casting her eyes to the ground even when she is addressed. This takes after her original personality and only through knowing her superiors will she shatter the invisible barrier that keeps her from her normal congenial nature.
The girl is also very nice to people. When someone comes for her help, she will not hesitate and give the person that comes to her everything that is needed. She understands that when one needs help and she is able to provide it that she can not refuse. This is a fundamental principle which she holds on to and will never dispose of. This personality trait often becomes Sakura’s secondary weakness because she can not bear to make an enemy within Soul Society.
Sakura is very serious when it comes to training for both kidou and Zanpakutou. She knows that in order to purify all the Hollows that invade Earth, she must become as strong as possible. She will often be so serious that it turns into being stubborn. She will not give up learning a new kidou until she has fully mastered it. This often makes her illness even worse. She has been advised against being so serious due to her health but she can never really evade this nature.
When she is happy, she can really be energetic. She giggles and claps her hands, often taking a child-like nature. One would know that she is happy when she goes on an eating expedition and smiles at everyone without the timid personality that is usually accompanied by the smile. When she is sad, she does not leave the comfort of her room in 5th division. She hides away in the confinement of her room and cries. Only when she is out of this sad and depression time will she leave the four walls of her room and venture out of her room.
Upon promotion as the third seat of 3rd Division, her leadership qualities shine through. She understands that she takes on the entire division as taicho therefore she is serious and uptight. The girl rarely smiles when she is within the division or to her sub-ordinates. This is because she wishes to keep her division orderly and somewhat "professional" She is still soft-spoken and many of her sub-ordinates are quite scared of this new personality. Although she has developed a new side to her original personality, Sakura is more lenient to other things such as training. She does not require that all those within 5th division become very strong Shinigami. She understands that everyone goes their own pace so she never really forces them to train very hard. With that said, she is always willing to help her division out by training every member seperately so that she is able to develop a closer relationship with each individual
Fighting Style:
Strengths:
Sakura's strength lies in her use of her Zanpakutou. There are two reasons why she is strong in this area. First it is her tendency of using her sword rather than kidou. This tendency is achieved through constant training when she was still a student within the academy. She is more comfortale with the sword rather than either kenjutsu or kidou because she likes to have something to hold in her hand to fight. The girl enjoys feeling the blade in her hand and the texture of the hilt. Second it is beacuse of her other less prominent strength which she learnt of when she encountered her first Hollow as a Shinigami graduate. Some of her zanjutsu skills were developed much later when she became a seated officer of 3rd Division.
Her secondary strength resides in accuracy. This was made clear to her when she fought her very first Hollow as a Shinigami. She had been patroling Earth at the time and found her self face-to-face with a Hollow. At first she was afraid but soon she unsheathed her sword and began to duel with it. She was quite amazed that she was able to cut the Hollow in various places before sending a powerful stab to its abdomen area. From then on, she became more confident with her Zanpakutou and therefore trained harder each day, enhancing the accuracy as well as the force of each blow she delivered at a target.
Weaknesses:
Sakura's number one weakness is her use of kidou. She understands the incantation to some of the kidou especially those of higher number and also understands how to fire a kidou spell at another but there are certain other aspects to firing a kidou spell that she can not ignore. As she graduated from the academy, she had not really trained in kidou, focusing more on zanjutsu because she felt most comfortable. The first weakness for kidou is rieatsu. She channels rieatsu to her palm or her fingers and releases it to create a spell. But her rieatsu control is a little suspect. Over the years especially since she was promoted to seated rank within 3rd Division, she had made improvement on this aspect. She usually transfers too much of her body's rieatsu to fire one kidou spell so that her body weakens when she releases this reiatsu. This becomes a crucial vulnerable point for her because she would weaken in a battle once she performs a kidou spell. However, recently, she has learnt how to control some part of the reiatsu so that this weakness does not become too apparent.
Her secondary weakness in respect to kidou is accuracy. She has no problem with accuracy in zanjutsu but she can not really perform every kidou spell at the target intended. This has always been a weakness of hers since she first learnt the first kidou spell. Sparring with others, it takes Sakura often more time to fire the kidou at the body part she intends. This is because her agility is a little off when she performs a spell. Agility plays a big role in casting kidou because in battle, people tend to move around and if one stays in a single place for too long, he or she becomes vulnerable. That is why one must be always ready to move especially when the opponent is moving as well. She concentrates too much on casting the spell rather than casting it at the right place. Since she became a seated member of her division, she has tried to train more in this area in order to improve.
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Zanpakutou Name: Suna Arashi [Sandstorm]
Inner World:
The inner world of Sakura’s zanpakutou is much expected and natural given its name. It consists of a desert plain with a few cactuses scattered around. The desert is covered with a thick layer of sand that creates an almost brownish-yellow landscape. Little hills can be seen once in awhile making the view of the inner world look almost like a picture. When Sakura is unhappy or mad, a sand storm would rage within this picture landscape, blowing up the particles of sand. Arashi usually just sits on one of the little hills. There are no structures of any kind just like a normal desert. Although it was as pretty as a landscape, it could be pretty boring for Arashi because he is alone in the inner world.
Zanpakutou Spirit:
Arashi is a cold individual. Standing at about five foot three, he gives off an aura of being dangerous, quiet and vengeful. He has light, short brown hair with dark brown eyes. His skin is rather pale, almost white. His limbs are muscular and on average he could be called a very nice-looking man if not for those eyes that sometimes reflect coldness and shrewdness. No person in his or her right mind would like to associate with him. His personality is not reflected when he is around Sakura because she is his wielder. Yet, when the two first met, he used this personality as an advantage in order for her to take control and use his power to its greatest extent. In her mastering her Zanpakutou, Arashi’s personality relaxes slightly but his demeanor is still the same. Many people who have seen him manifested fear his presence.
Sealed Zanpakutou:
Sakura’s Zanpakutou takes the form of a katana. The blade is slightly longer than usual and the end of the blade is slightly bent for reasons unknown. The hilt is strapped with delicate pink silk fabric and the end of the hilt is wrapped in gold silk. On the hilt, one can faintly see the outlines of cherry blossom flowers. The girl had etched them on the hilt because of her constant liking for them and because they resembled her name. The flowers are painted a light pink colour to reflect their beautiful nature. Because the hilt is covered in silk fabric, it makes gripping the sword harder since silk is a slippery substance. But once one gets used to the silk texture, it becomes more soft to the touch and more comfortable to wield.
The sheath is made out of oak wood. The surface of it is carefully adorned with petals of cherry blossom flowers. This is again to satisfy Sakura’s obsession and much of these petals are real. She changes the petals almost every day while going on patrol duty on Earth. She would usually pass the giant cherry blossom tree and take a couple of petals so that each day the sheath would look more “fresh” as she put it. The wood is caressed softly by a couple strands of silk fabric, white in colour to contrast with the brightness of the flower petals. The sheath was made longer because of the blade’s length. There are also etchings of flowers on the surface because some times the petals are blown away and Sakura must find replacement.
Shikai Release Phrase:
Bakuhatsu Suna Arashi [Erupt, Sand Storm]
Shikai Description:
The shikai appearance of Arashi undergoes little transformation. The blade of the sword is shortened considerably to a little more than a dagger in length. The metal portion of the blade is stripped of its silver colour and is replaced by a light brown colour, symbolizing the sand element of the Zanpakutou itself. Only when the Sand Creation technique is called will the surrounding area of Sakura fill with about a fifteen meter sand circle.
Pre-requisite for Shikai Abilities:
Sand Creation
This is the fundamental technique that Kurenai must perform in order for the shikai techniques to follow. By focusing a portion of her reiatsu and allowing it to come into contact with the ground. The amount of reiatsu will determine the amount of sand that will be created. The minimum amount of sand created will cover a fifteen meter radius, forming a circle beneath Kurenai. The amount of sand is vital because if not enough sand is created, the shikai techniques below may not be able to be fully performed. This sand creation can be used as many times as she feels like it during training or battles.
Suna no Tate (Shield of Sand)[/color]
By focusing an amount of reiatsu and combining it with the sand created by Sand Creation, the sand quickly comes together into a shield to protect from on-coming attacks. The idea is to be able to block kidou attacks. The way to diminish this shield is very simple. A Zanpakutou can slice through the sand. Once the shield is diminished, it descends back to the ground under Kurenai’s feet. The amount of reiatsu and the amount of sand will determine whether a normal, not –yet released Zanpakutou can cut through the sand shield
Suna Shuriken (Sand Shuriken)
After sand is created using Sand Creation technique, Sand Shuriken Technique can be performed. Kurenai then calls out the name of the technique and surges a bit of her body’s reiatsu towards the sand. The sand then come together and wrap around her arm. Then shuriken are created using this sand. Again The amount of reiatsu and the amount of sand will determine the number of shuriken which can be created at a single time. The minimum number is five shuriken.
Kyoubou Suna Arashi (Raging Sandstorm):
After sand is created using Sand Creation technique, Raging Sandstorm can be performed. This technique has one primary purpose: using sand particles in order to rip through the flesh of the opponent hoping to cause serious damage from within as the sand stays within the wounds after this technique is performed. Kurenai calls out the name and again uses reiatsu combined with sand for this attack. The sand elevates from the ground and forms a sphere in the air. This sphere then descends to the palm of her hand. Then using reiatsu, she crushes the sphere and the sand rush at the opponent at high speeds so that the sand can cut through flesh. This technique not only erodes flesh and cuts through the opponent's body and clothing the sand will remain within the wounds at all times until taken out.
Bankai:
Sakura has not achieved bankai
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*~!~*History*~!~*
--->Living Years<----
Sakura Hanakora was an only child. She was born to two loving parents that thought loved her. Her mother was a surgeon and her father was an accountant. In fact they showed as much affection as normal parents would show their children. They spoiled her since birth and for ten years lived a loving life free from worries. That was violently changed when the girl was ten years old. Even she herself did not know what had happened after the event. She did know finally however when her life was about to end. But she would never forget that night when she was most vulnerable and felt most betrayed.
It was a rainy evening and her mother was working late at the hospital. Sakura was home alone with her father and thought that it would be like any other night. She felt especially sleepy that night, yawning every few minutes. It was actually a drug that her father had placed in her water during dinner that made her feel drowsy. She bid her father good night and ascended the steps to her room. She fell asleep soon after but was awakened by what seemed like a thunderclap. When she opened her eyes wearily, she saw her father close to her and he was putting on his clothes. She then allowed her eyes to travel to her own body and found that the covers that she used to keep warm were not covering her body. Her nightgown was loosely tied back together but she did not question her father. She pretended to be asleep and waited until her father left her room and turned off the lights. She slept somewhat soundly after that, not knowing what her father had done to her. In fact it took her two years to realize the truth of that night. In these two years, there were about five other nights just like that but she never questioned because it never crossed her mind.
The innocence of the girl was actually merely an act. She did not want to know what really happened between her father and her those nights. Sakura always had nightmares even though she told herself quite keenly to forget all about it. But could she really? For such a long time she told nobody, not even her mother because she was afraid. She was afraid that no one would believe her. Honestly, how many fathers would actually do something such as this to their own daughters? At first she really didn't know what had happened to her was indeed rape but as she grew older, she became more aware. She knew that what her father did to her was not normal and through doing her own research, she finally realized. And yet, when she did realize what had happened, she was even more miserable. The inner desire to end her own life became more prominent as she entered a state of depression. This state of depression lasted all through the remainder of the two years. During that time, she only stayed in her room, staring at the four walls, her mind blank for most of the day. At night she was tortured with memories and nightmares.
--->Years in Rukongai<---
Her death came quite suddenly. Through her depression phase, she had wanted to end her own life, thinking up numerous ways to do so. Every time she did so, her mother would save her life. Her mother became increasingly worried for Sakura, not knowing why her daughter went from being a happy and carefree child to one that was depressed and passive. Her mother asked her time and time again why she wanted to commit suicide and she would only shake her head, her eyes staring off into space. It was not that she did not want to tell her mother but she just couldn't begin to tell her. She was still in a daze when she figured out that her parents' relationship was stressed. They had a big quarrel one day and her father pulled a kitchen knife threatening to kill her mother. Sakura saw this and screamed for them to stop. Her father was no longer the person she knew, the caring father. The man before her eyes was insane, running after mother and daughter, the knife raised. She screamed but nobody came to help them.
What happened next happened in slow motion. Her father had caught her mother and was about to drive a knife into her. When Sakura turned back and saw this, she rushed to her mother's side just as the blade was brought down. She felt the knife pierce her body, stunning her. Her fingers touching her wound, she saw with horror as the knife was pulled out of her. She fell to the ground and felt the first sign of pain. Blood poured from her wound as she looked with disbelieving eyes at her father. Her father was stunned also as he dropped the knife on the ground. Her mother rushed to her side and immediately tried to sustain her life. But all was in vain because she died seconds later in her mother's arms. Her last waking moment had been in her mother's arms, seeing her mother's worried expression before she entered the world of eternal darkness
Because she was quite loyal to her town, when she became a ghost, she often watched over her parents. It was also because she did not wish to see her parents argue that she wanted to protect them. She saw everything that happened after her death. Her parents divorced and her mother lived far from her father. When she saw her father after the divorce, it was at her own grave. She listened intently to what he had to say. He expressed guilt for having raped her. Then it dawned on her that what he had done was indeed rape. She loathed her father for doing this to her and this new information shocked her. She vowed never to speak of her past life again and walked the Earth for quite awhile, lonely and lost. But her life on Earth would be cut short very soon when she first encounters a Hollow.
At the time she did not know what a Hollow was. She merely saw a hideous looking creature that was three times her size. It towered over her and wanted to capture her. All she could do was run away. She did not scream for she understood that nobody would and could hear her. She only ran and ran, looking back at the monster that was chasing after her. She then met a dead end at an alleyway and thought she would be the prey of the monster. She closed her eyes firmly and a tear fell from her eyes. But after a few minutes, she did not feel anything. She opened her eyes and found someone standing before her, with a sword. The woman was dressed in black and sliced the monster in half. In a matter of minutes, it disappeared. Sakura was greatly awed and only stared at the girl. Then she thanked her for all her help. The girl, seeing Sakura all alone, approached her and using the hilt of her sword, stamped her on the forehead. Immediately, Sakura looked at herself and she began to "glow". She closed her eyes, unsure of what had and will happen
Her first waking moment in Soul Society was in a forest area. She was unsure of where she was and walked the streets with a blank face. Many people along the way asked her why she was wandering but she could only remain silent and shake her head. Soon she collapsed in the middle of the streets from fatigue and hunger. She could feel her body hit the concrete of the streets, still unable to understand where she was. In fact, she was quite scared up to that point because she was no longer in the safety of her parents. She slept soundly for a long time and the next time she awoke, she was in a room, once again feeling the confinements of the four walls upon her body. At first she was anxious and afraid until she was introduced to the owner of the house and the person that had taken her in after she fainted; Yuki.
Yuki was a Shinigami who had a family that lived away from Gotei 13. The house that Sakura found herself in was where Yuki's family had decided to stay after he became a Shinigami. He himself had been patroling the area before he came upon her and took her home. Sakura was grateful to him and when she was better, she asked about his "kind" She was quite curious at what Shinigami did because of the girl she had seen when she was still a soul on Earth. The girl questioned about everything including the uniform that they wore because she had guessed it when she saw the same clothing on both the girl and Yuki. He answered every question that she had and told her that if she wanted to live in Seiretei, she had the duty to protect its people. Sakura agreed and Yuki told her about becoming a Shinigami. He said that the very first thing that she would encounter is to develop something called reiatsu. He warned her that this process would come naturally and she would know because it was somewhat painful.
Sakura had then nodded her head and stayed at Yuki's house for half a year. Three months since her arrival to Soul Society, she was already very used to Seiretei. Then one day she felt extreme hunger and pain, something that she had not felt before. But this hunger was not for food and at the time she did not know what she was craving for. She had turned to Yuki then and asked him. He smiled back at her and told her this was the process he had referred to when they first met; developing reiatsu. He told her that she had now finally developed rieatsu and could enroll into the academy to become a Shinigami. The girl was quite excited to be able to become a Death God and prepared herself for a vigorous six years in the academy.
--->Academy Years<---
Sakura's academy years started out as pretty rough like many rogue souls wanting to become Shinigami. She was enrolled into a normal class with twenty other people. She wore the regular academy student uniform, a piece of clothing adorned with red and white. The girl started out learning about kidou. She was quite fascinated with this concept because she had never really seen anyone use kidou before. She was then given a wooden sword where she would practice zanjutsu. She then knew that the reiatsu which she had developed before entering the academy was to perform kidou spells. She had learnt the basics in terms of textbook information in the first year and upon the second year would she actually be able to fire her first kidou.
She still remembered that the first kidou spell she had learnt was Hadou no sanjyuu ichi-Shakahou. This involved an incantation and she needed to memorize it. The girl was asked to train this spell on a wooden target in the training room. The first time she had tried this spell, she had absolutely no sense of reiatsu control and had use up almost all of her body's rieatsu on one trial. Through the next two years, she learnt a lot of kidou spells from her sensei and was able to perform although no so well, at least four kidou spells. It was not until the fourth and fifth year of Shinigami academy did she get to focus more on zanjutsu. Her sensei taught her the fundamentals including how to wield a sword and the basic stance for an attack. Sakura learnt a lot on both fighting styles but she stuck to zanjutsu more because it required less concentration in her opinion. Therefore she was especially keen on developing upon this skill rather than training in kidou.
Upon graduation, it was time to meet the thirteen captains of Gotei 13. They came to look for special, elite academy students as recruitment to their divisions. Sakura didn't know this at the time and therefore only viewed this event as somewhat of a drag. She really didn't care which division she fell under and who her taichou was. She only cared that she would become a Shinigami and serve both the people of Soul Society and also those on Earth from Hollow invasions. She was not part of the elite so she wasn't one of the specially recruited members. After graduating, she was placed under the 3rd Division, under the Ichimaru-taichou. She was honoured but she would not get to talk to her taichou until her third year in his division. She passed the test that qualified her to become a Shinigami and she officially graduated from the academy after six long years of training.
--->Admission into Gotei 13<---
Her Shinigami years were quite eventful especially as she progressed from being a rogue Shinigami to being one of more experience. She met a lot of people within her own division and kept to the duties of a Death God. She went on numerous patrols on Earth in order to look for Hollows to purify. Even though she patroled the area many times, she did not neglect the other part of becoming a strong Shinigami; training. She passed an eventful five years as a regular member of 3rd Division until one day when her taichou approached her and asked her whether she felt she was up to the challenge to take a seated officer test. Sakura was shocked because she did not think she was as strong as her taichou thought but she nodded her head. She wanted to see what her capabilities were and whether they hard work she had put in to training these five years would pay off. This rank that was proposed was fifth seat. The test was not hard, just a little spar against the fukutaichou, Izuru-san. He went easy on her she thought because there were times within the battle that he could have overpowered and won. But he had allowed her to take the upper-hand in the battle and therefore was promoted to 5th seat of 3rd Division. But the road ahead would be rough and there was still one task that needed to be completed; developing shikai and learning the name of her Zanpakutou.
The process of learning the name of her sword was not hard but tedious. She had trained hard everyday hoping to be able to know the spirit within her blade but each day passed without success. Even as third seat, she was lagging behind all the other divisions' seated officers. Almost everyone who had obtained third seat knew the name of their Zanpakutou except for Sakura. She was discouraged and thought that she would never know its name and therefore never be able to use her blade in battle. But there she was wrong. Learning a spirit's name and learning the shikai release process could not be hastened. Faith would intertwine with this young Shinigami where she can not force herself to learn it. Only time and fate together would grant her this desire. A year and a half later, the time had come and she would learn both the spirit's name as well as the call out phrase to her blade without even knowing she had done so.
The process of learning her Zanpakutou's name came to her in a life and death situation. She had been patrolling Earth for Hollows and had found herself cornered by about five Hollows. She was the only Shinigami fighting and she had been injured. Her injuries were not life-threatening but the Hollows around her were pushing her limits. Sakura remembered one of them had sent a claw at her that missed her shoulder only by a fraction of an inch. She thought she would die under their hands but all of a sudden, she heard a voice within her head. At first she thought she was hallucinating and neglected the voice. But as the battle progressed, she found herself very much overpowered by the Hollows to the point where she could not stand in the battle alone. Then the voice of the spirit called to Sakura again and this time although unwillingly, she listened to it. The voice told her to raise her blade vertically in front of her and call out what she would soon learn was the release phrase to her shikai. She was obedient and heeded to what the voice said, having no other choice at the time. As she said the words, she could see the sword in her hand glow and it amazed her. But her job was not done. She once again listened to the voice, which she learned was the spirit, Arashi, and she told her to say the first stage of her shikai abilities. The girl did and she could feel the sword disperse into the wind and a storm of shuriken took its place. She directed her reiatsu to the shuriken and it stormed on the Hollows around her, successfully purifying them. Although happy that she had finally learnt first stage shikai, she was exhausted and therefore passed out shortly after the ordeal.
Having learned first stage shikai, Sakura was quite content and proud of herself. She grew fond of the spirit Arashi and shared many secrets with her. Her training had reached another level where she would focus on shikai and hopefully be able to learn the second stage to it. Sakura and Arashi trained together every day and each time for hours. The two bonded quickly and on one such training session, Megami told Sakura bluntly that she was ready to move on to the second stage. But she did not know the attack that needed to be called in order to release it. Arashi was not going to merely tell her it because she needed to figure it out herself. The spirit gave her a number of clues. Firstly the second stage is hugely associated with the first stage in terms of attack. Second, she uses the element of sand therefore the attack must have the word “sand” in it. Third, since it is closely associated with the first attack, then the structure of release is the same. Sakura listed to all of this and pondered a moment. It would take her about two days before she would be able to learn the release phrase. Once she learned it, she called it out and the second stage was activated. The second stage proved to be stronger than the first and provided two new attacks for this young Shinigami. Having been successful was what Sakura looked for and therefore she was very happy. But she knew that her role as a Shinigami needed to improve now that she learnt the new technique.
Two years later, another chance arose for the young Shinigami. Aizen-taichou had been surveying in the shadows each person's progress within his division and found Sakura had improved a lot since she was first promoted to 5th seat. Therefore, he gave her the third seat test, a spar not with Izuru-fukutaichou but with Aizen himself. It was an exceptional honour to be selected out of all the members of the division to take the test and she knew that even if she failed, the thought of having sparred with her taichou satisfied her desires. So as she went in for the test, she expected her skills to not match up with that of Gin's. The spar was quite interesting and also an experience the girl would never forget. Her taichou activated his shikai and she was grateful as well has honoured to be able to see his blade’s shikai form. Having just learnt her the second stage of shikai, she was not prepared for the agility and experience her taichou displayed. The spar ended with Gin winning but because he felt she was capable in terms of power, he allowed her to become the third seat of his division. He told her to train with Izuru-san where he will teach her more kidou and how to retain reiatsu so that she doesn’t run out after one spell. She was grateful that she was promoted once again and vowed to do her best to serve the humans of Earth as well as those within Soul Society.
Having gained more status within her division, Sakura did not feel that her goal was fulfilled. Upon promotion, she trained even harder each day with Arashi in order to become one of the strongest Shinigami in Gotei 13. That seemed like an unrealistic goal to most people but Sakura was determined to make this goal come true. She had only learnt the first and second stages of shikai in the past years, she knew that what she needed to do was to strengthen the three attacks and one defense so that when she encountered a battle with either a Shinigami or a Hollow, she would be ready to release her Zanpakutou without fear. She was quite busy for years to come because she was torn between patrolling on Earth, training with her Zanpakutou and training with Izuru-fukutaichou. Two years flew by like the wind and Sakura found herself immensely stronger that when she was first promoted to third seat. Now her reiatsu control had improved substantially, her zanjutsu skills perfected and her bond with Megami more prominent. The girl was yet to reach one of the strongest within the Gotei 13 but she was trying very hard to do so. Then one day, she decided to take a little break from all the hectic of her life and visit Rukongai. She was aware that the furthest districts of Rukongai were those that were lawless and therefore decided to venture off into the 78th District. She did not really know why she decided to go there or what she expected to find, but the person that she happened upon would change her personality for the better.
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Visual of Character:
Theme Song: [Optional]
RP Sample:
Darkness, something that can shield oneself from reality or shadow threats such as enemies, makes one most vulnerable. Metaphorically, darkness can cloud judgment, manipulate thought and action.
It was because of these reasons that Sakura despised darkness. Being enclosed in pitch black makes one feel weak and alone. Sakura could no longer live with herself in the dark, even if it meant this darkness came at night. Memories, the closest possible thing that could make one search through his or her deepest, darkest secrets, haunted her through this darkness. Some times when she woke up, the images would not fade; clinging to her like bees cling to honey. So, she has developed immunity to not sleeping. The girl became frightened of the past, frightened about everything that came with it. The long hours were long and tedious but whenever she fell asleep, those nightmares would once more surface.
A young girl with pink hair walked out of fifth division barracks. From a distance, she was a beauty; her slender figure, her long legs, her slim pointed face and her big brown eyes contributed to this picture of beauty. She walked with a slow pace, her eyes scanned the area with caution. She glided down the streets with grace and tried to see if she could meet someone new. Although she had been a member of ninth squad for quite some time, her self-constructed barriers prevented her from going around and meeting new people. Now that Aizen had betrayed Gotei 13, her division had been placed under turmoil with third and ninth squad. The other Shinigami looked at her squad with distant and cold expressions, expressing their resentment. She wanted desperately to change this fact; to break the ice with others and maintain a relatively good relationship. But for the most part, she had been unable to do this because of her personality.
The walk down the street was longer than necessary. Today was not a training day and she still had lots of time on her hands before she had to begin her daily patrol for Hollow activity. Sakura came upon a forest area amidst Sereitei and jumped up on one of the tree branches of a tree near its entrance. She then sat down, her Zanpakutou strapped on her right shoulder with a piece of silk fabric. Then the girl closed her eyes and uttered a big sigh. It had been so long since she could rest her body, mind and soul. Having been tormented by the nightmares of her sister was not easy and until this point, Suki was still unable to sleep without awakening with a start. She breathed in and out and hoped that someone would come along; to break the silence.
A sound of rustling leaves broke the momentary silence. Sakura’s eyes opened immediately at the sound, sitting up straighter and peering about. Her ability to sense reiatsu was not the best hence why she was unable to sense this being earlier. This contributed as a weakness and thus she was more vulnerable to surprise attacks. Her hand rested on the branch, ready to jump off it the second she found out this stranger was an enemy. But she must not be so impulsive so she waited. The light breeze swept through her hair as she brushed it absently from her face. Then distinct footsteps could be heard and already Sakura was on her guard. She looked left and right for any sign of this person, getting excited to meet some new person. Arashi’s tone was mixed with disbelief as his voice was heard throughout her mind.
You’re so excited for nothing Sakura!
Arashi was right, for the most part. Suki was very excited to be able to meet new people. Perhaps it was because she focused too much on training beforehand to realize that she lacked the social skills. Now she was trying desperately to improve and it was nice that there were many Shinigami in Sereitei to meet. It would help her more than ever if she could train with someone, instead of always being by herself. Therefore, she replied to her spirit earnestly.
I want to meet new people Arashi. With my current status in Gotei 13, I can’t afford to not meet people. The reputation of our squad is not the best you know!
