I've found names are important.
Like a brand, they mark you for everyone to see. Not, like, literally but if you're judging a book and the title on the cover is Laser Sex Bots from Beyond the Oort Cloud it says something about the book no matter what some dewey eyed elementary school teacher would have you believe.
Most people have a couple they pick up in their life; nicknames, titles, pet names from those who love us. Like a rolling stone, those labels will begin to cling to us as we bang down the hill of the way of life like… something. Look, point being nobody is just one name, but most people don't have a sack full of them either. But in my line of work, you pick up a metric fuck ton and immediately forget about ninety percent of them. The ones that stick tend to be the ones that matter.
I've been called many things in my life.
The people who raised me called me Michiaki.
Leaf ninja called me Cloud's Black Arrow.
The samurai of the west called me The Devil that Rides White Death.
My fellow shinobi called me Bow of the Raikage.
My commander called me Little Shitface.
My friends called me Never Miss Michi.
That last one is kind of embarrassing, believe me I miss a lot.
But the thing you have to know is that none of those are my real name.
My name is Michael Westport.
And I'm not from this world.
This is my story.