Character File
* Tetsuko (鉄虎) *
Other names: Ringo, 'Isao',
Tetsuko is a member of Mokuren's genin team, and is the son of a weapons store owner. His perspective is given many times throughout the story, and he is one of the main protagonists of the first four arcs. His quiet nature makes him a more difficult character to pay attention to and sympathize with.
Personal
Birth date: 6 October (Libra)
Age: 12 (as of The Lost Mission arc)
Height: 156 cm (5')
Weight: 38.5 kg (84.877 lb)
Blood Type: A
Nature Type: Wind
Affiliation: Sunagakure
Team: 'Team Temari', 'Fourteen Alliance',
Rank
Ninja Rank: Genin
Academy Grad. Age: 11
Chunin Prom. Age: N/A
Family
* Nesuri (Father)
Background
Tetsuko is close childhood friends with Kentsu, also his genin teammate, although they showed something similar to a rivalry at the start of the story. His father, Nesuri, is not very encouraging and was the primary motivation for Tetsuko to become a ninja in the first place.
Appearance
Tetsuko has dark hair and eyes, drawn as black. His skin is paler than that of his teammates, and he is described as being awkwardly thin. He is taller than his teammates, but is actually the youngest of the three and was still eleven for much of the first two arcs. He chooses very modest clothing, and his typical outfit resembles salwar kamiz in brown with a long khaki overcoat.
Personality
Tetsuko is timid around new people, and afraid to cause offense. Even with those he knows well he is quiet, often smothering down emotions. His father's political views, especially concerning the illegalization of temptations, have been passed to Tetsuko. His character is shown less than his teammates, as he is a more subtle person. His relationship with his father has left him feeling insecure and he holds a great fear of failure, though he is not unaccustomed to it; he is even somewhat of a perfectionist. His long history with Kentsu, who is more boisterous, has left him feeling to a point that he is not fully his own person. He is indecisive about a great number of things, which also contributes to him allowing others to lead even when he disagrees.
Tetsuko does prioritize group success over an individual's, and became a ninja largely to impress his father. He does not believe himself to be cut out for the shinobi lifestyle, and has difficulty setting goals and thinking forward.
Arc One: Team Temari
Tetsuko is placed on a genin team with his childhood friend/rival Kentsu and a stranger, Mokuren, who he briefly appears to have a crush on. Despite the difficulties he and Kentsu were having with their friendship before the start of the story, he is still very protective of him. Tetsuko receives a great deal of training from Temari throughout the arc, and discovers that his nature type is wind. However, he does not seem to advance as well as Kentsu does, and Tetsuko has almost no scenes to himself.
Arc Two: The Lost Mission
Tetsuko enjoys the freedom of leaving Sunagakure only briefly. The mission itself goes poorly for him - he and Kentsu make multiple mistakes while trying to investigate the dried well, and although he disagrees with Kentsu's methods he still follows them.
His clothing protects him well during the sand storm, and he actually takes the lead somewhat while he and Kentsu fight to survive. After being captured and then rescued by Mokuren, he is so upset that she appeared to be remorseless about murder that he seriously considers quitting. However, he is quick to support her and for the first time really, the two have a scene regarding their friendship. He does very well in the fight against Ayano, but not well enough. After Mokuren's capture, he and Kentsu initially do very poorly and Tetsuko is forced to take charge. Together they resolve to become stronger and rescue Mokuren.
When they meet Azami, a former chunin who was being held captive by a band of smugglers, Tetsuko is disgusted by her. She has a fondness for alcohol, and he can't stand that. He learns about illusions from her, something that he picks up easily on and has a natural talent for. When she disappears as they are breaking into the Zoruna Compound, he is angry but not very surprised.
He and Kentsu find Mokuren only a minute after Temari does, and Tetsuko is non-judgmental about Zoruna's death as he believes it was necessary to save Mokuren.
Arc Three: The Chunin Exams
Initially frustrated by the insects that like to bite him, Tetsuko is grumpy as they travel to the site of their first chunin exam. Tetsuko meets many other competitors for the Chunin Exams before the first one and crushes on Yuri, a Coral kunoichi. During the first exam, Tetsuko performs spectacularly, aside from prioritizing his new crush over his teammates.
In the second, survival-based exam, Tetsuko's luck and his system of traps keep him from fights until he and Yuri team up. Kirikama approaches them about making a large group to work together and pass the exam in bulk. Tetsuko's perspective in that group is not explored much.
In the preliminary fights, Tetsuko is asked to face Yuri. She easily convinces him to give up, as he has no solid goal and no desire to attack her.
Arc Four: Pre-Tourney Fillers
Fill this in later
Arc Five: The Great Tournament
Up in the stand, Tetsuko worries for his team and for Maitsu.
Trivia
*His name was created halfheartedly, as he was originally not going to have a perspective or be very important to the narrative of Mokuren. At that point, I knew very little about Japanese names and assigned him one that actually looks fairly feminine - I've thought about changing it throughout the story, but instead picked a different kanji to spell it with. At the start, I intended Tetsuko to mean 'child of iron', referencing his father's occupation.
*Tetsuko's favorite foods are falafel and kofta.
*His hobbies include reading and writing poetry. He likes to study traps, and plan out pranks that he is unwilling to actually commit.
*Tetsuko tastes very good to mosquitos.