Title: Time and(bent) Motion
Notes: I had a lot of thoughts on this one… but then I forgot them. I'm still debating whether or not to start another series for relationship vignettes, and keep this one purely sketchy. And wow, this is depressing, even for me. But fear not dear readers –pets- the next one is pure fluff~
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The average life span of a ninja depends on his village, and its politics. Shortened life expectancies are not a concern, however; the younger the shinobi, the more loyal, and more malleable, and less likely to defect. Also the more likely to reproduce in the chaos of the front lines. Strong bloodlines are formed from the conjoining of warriors.
Conversely, in a village like Konoha which knows war perhaps once in a decade, the life expectancy is high. It is not uncommon for men to reach late twenties (considered old then,) and become complacent. The Elders understand this, and in an attempt to stimulate growth, like pruning a tree, they instigate conflict.
In war it is the abundance of willing gennin and chuunin who survive, and go on to become the new jounin and Anbu. The old ones die out, or go insane, or disappear, only to show up years later in the bingo books. The majority of them die. As pure as the bloodlines are, it seems like nasty things like blindness and insubordination inspired by the degradation of the mind are unavoidable.
And bloodlines mean everything. At birth a record is created- name, clan, sex, marked physical traits. From these things is estimated a period of bodily endurance, or life expectancy. For names like Haruno and Uzumaki, that number is thirteen. For a name like Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, male, healthy eyes, strong lungs, son of Fugaku Uchiha, that number is more like eighteen. Other members of the Uchiha clan, ones from lesser houses, project higher numbers than this, most ranging in the high twenties. This is because the purer the blood runs, like a more highly concentrated alcohol, the quicker it is to burn.
These are averages, though. And all too often shinobi outlive their expectancies. Like men fated to die, they somehow survive to create an alternate world in which their only objective is to continue avoiding their demise. Naruto is one of these, and Sakura, and Kakashi. And they can know in the most personal of ways that Sasuke is rapidly approaching his own end. Only, unlike them, he has always been one for following tradition.
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