Story of 'Sai'jo Atsuki: No Longer Faceless

A boy of twelve awoke abruptly, only to find himself standing upon nothing, in an empty, white void. He twitched in alarm when he realized that he was clad only in his birthday suit. With nothing to cover himself with nor anyone to hide himself from, the boy did not react further.

Just as he was about to take a step, he was interrupted by a voice that boomed in the silence. "You, who would be doomed to the fate of a faceless doll, devoid of emotion stand before me."

The boy placed his foot back where it was and remained still, though on guard and on high alert. The voice spoke again, "You, who are doomed to be a weapon to be pointed at one's foes, have a chance." The boy quirked one eyebrow in question as a pedestal, black as obsidian, appeared before him. A sword with no defining features to it was embedded at the top.

"You, and only you, have a chance to escape this destiny. Take this sword by the hilt and raise it to the skies. Shout your name to the heavens!"

The boy followed the commands of the voice, seeing no reason not to. At the top of the Black Pedestal, he pulled the nondescript sword free as freely as if from its proper sheath. He held it high and shouted to the void, "I am Saijo Atsuki!"

The voice sounded almost pleased. "You, who have taken the Sword of Fate into your own hands, charge forth and you will walk among legends!"

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Atsuki awoke with a start, kunai knife in hand. He scanned his bedroom with a critical eye, seeking possible threats within the darkness. An untrained eye would have seen only the blackness of night. An eye trained only in night vision would have seen a sparsely decorated bedroom, which consisted only of the futon Atsuki occupied, a closed closet, a clock that read five thirty, and a writing desk with an open book and a closed book on its surface. There were no writing implements to be seen. These were the Spartan living arrangements of a good Shinobi.

Atsuki was better than that. He saw all of the secret panels and all of the loose floorboards, many of which were rigged with nasty traps and just as many held the wonderful goodies that were Atsuki's possessions. He should, as he was the one who installed all of those things.

Finally satisfied that there was no danger to his person, Atsuki stored his kunai back under his pillow, where it belonged as he lightly bereted himself for reacting so harshly to a dream, even such an odd one. He ran his finger through his short, dark hair in an attempt to mitigate his bed head, with little success.

After he pulled himself out of bed, Atsuki glanced down at himself, relieved that he was, in fact, still wearing his grey boxers. He turned his attention towards the desk, jerking in surprise before remembering that, yes; he did forget to put away his journal last night. IT was turned open to its very first page, the very first entry. Despite himself, Atsuki found himself reading in the dark.

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Dear Journal,

I am Saijo Atsuki. I am beginning my final year at the Academy. TenTen san gave me this journal, saying that I need to express myself in more than just drawing in the margins of the notes that I don't need. … (There were several splotches of in here as if Atsuki had been debating on what to write next.)

I have short, black hair and black eyes. I like to wear a black jacket left unzipped due to the heat, a blank, skintight undershirt with wire mesh interwoven into the cloth, and black pants that only go down to the ankles so that I don't have to tape the ends shut. I hope to find a way to dull the color to merely a dark grey due to some horror stories I heard of shinobi getting killed because they were darker than the shadows they were hiding in.

Atsuki

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Atsuki grinned lightly and decided to pen down a journal entry for yesterday before heading out to do his daily morning exercises and then coming home and showering. After all, he needed to be at Genin Orientation by seven thirty.

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Author's Note

I am back! Hopefully for good this time.

Just in case it isn't totally obvious, Saijo Atsuki is Sai as if he had never become a part of the Ne.

As 'Sai' was just a codename, I felt that it was necessary to give him a name. Hopefully this isn't too different.

Also, this is a working title. I will probably change it later.

Please read and review! Be sure to criticize anything you don't like.

Eye of the Blizzard, over and out!