Gakuto Hara

Gakuto Hara (原 ガクト, Hara Gakuto) is a ninja of Konohagakure. He shows great proficiency with taijutsu and poison tools, but avoids close combat fights due to his family's volatile bloodline. While he currently holds chūnin status, his background and specialization has inspired him to apply for a promotion to tokubetsu jōnin.

Gakuto Hara is property of Shotons on The N.O.W.

Background
Gakuto spent the majority of his childhood absorbing survival tactics by osmosis in the unforgiving wetlands of the Valley of Lies. He was taken from his mother Naika and her remaining family, an eccentric caravan of travelling apothecaries, at a very young age; their family home in the Howling Wolf Village was attacked by a former Kodon clansman whose motives were, at that time, unknown. Gakuto survived the attack by remaining hidden under his mother, who had thrown herself over his body and smothered his negligible chakra signature with a family technique.

The following morning, Gakuto pursued his family's killer. Their confrontation resulted in Gakuto begging to become the man's apprentice, determined to one day become strong enough to get revenge. Surprised and somewhat touched by his resolve, the man agreed to take him on. Over the course of their travels, Gakuto learned by example and soaked up knowledge and techniques like a stubborn sponge. He payed close attention to Sainan's "cooking lessons," wherein all plants and forage-able items were categorized into "edible," "poisonous," "medical," or "other." It was the "other" plants that made him nervous, and Gakuto learned to distrust any meal he hadn't prepared himself.

Due to Sainan's high bounty, supply trips (when not foregone in favour of combing the wetlands for available resources) were conducted under several layers of genjutsu and transformation ninjutsu with strict instructions not to engage with the locals. Gakuto was better at the former than the latter. In order to make a living, Sainan usually hired himself out to various mercenary positions; Gakuto's master was vicious when it came down to it, and he actually seemed to enjoy getting his hands dirty. Based on the intel from a few of his contacts, Sainan was able to find a semi-permanent position in the secret city of Shangri-la; as always, Gakuto doggedly tailed him to their new base of operations.

Under Sainan's tutelage, Gakuto grew shrewd and distrustful. As he grew older, he became increasingly aware that his and Sainan's relationship had progressed without his really realizing it; Gakuto's one-sided hostility and his plans for vengeance had bled out into his admiration for his master, and the result was something uncomfortably close to kinship. Somewhere along the way, Gakuto had begun to think of Sainan as his "father." The man himself was unpredictable, alternately praising Gakuto for his ingenuity and delivering anecdotes about the "underhanded" tactics their families shared—Sainan was hostile to anyone who mentioned his clan and their techniques, cryptically determined to leave them behind.

Gakuto's childhood attempts at imitation, in addition to being the sincerest form of flattery, had made him a formidable fighter in time. His attempts to weaponize his apothecary skills, both learned and inherited, was a slow and painful process undertaken in parallel to the Kodon clan's synthesis of the medicinal drug Kotarō. Gakuto managed a breakthrough that became the one true point of contention between master and student—his chemical repository technique wasn't the kind of flashy jutsu Sainan favoured, but it was brutally effective in gaining Gakuto his own reputation.

The target Gakuto had inadvertently placed on his back had upended his own designs; Sainan was bitterly opposed to any reminder of his former clan, and Gakuto's inner turmoil about the nature of their attachment to one another predisposed him to acts of violent rebellion. [...]

Running low on options, Gakuto utilized nearly a decade's worth of honing his infiltration and intelligence gathering skills, giving up his mother's surname and quietly smuggling himself into the Hidden Leaf until he grew strong enough to defend himself outside its borders.

Personality
Gakuto's bluntness and tendency to "cut to the quick" paints him as a rather flippant person. As a natural result of his carefree demeanour, he tends to bring out the worst in people; during their first meeting he managed to crack the "stone face" of Yukiteru Hada, famous for his cool head.

Gakuto has an extremely conflict-avoidant personality, seeming to ignore major problems until they go away while at the same time obsessing over minor inconveniences as a way to micromanage his own perception of self-control. Several people have referred to him as especially heartless due to his apparent lack of reaction to rage or grief. In Part II, Sainan's death seems to act as a catalyst for his breakdown, working in tandem with ROOT's machinations to make him vulnerable enough for viable recruitment.

Gakuto's travels with his mentor in his youth have made him socially confused, and he often questions the nature of his relationships with others. He takes cues from very mild cases of annoyance or disappointment, and as a result he tends to be kind of a pushover to keep himself in others' good graces. He hates to initiate "milestones" in his relationships and expresses anxiety about possibly committing a social faux-pas. Despite his flaws, he is an empathetic person who often faces difficulty when he is expected to be emotionally vulnerable or sincere.

Appearance
Gakuto strongly takes after his mother in looks, as both are tanned with noticeably large hazel eyes. His hair is most often wavy, chin-length, and sand coloured. He has a "round, babyish face." Gakuto also inherited two dark marks on the right side of his chin, and (presumably) from his father, a large, wedge-shaped nose. He is tall for his age.

He typically wears a black fishnet shirt under a cream or brown kimono top and matching pants; his hands, wrists, ankles, and sometimes knees are wrapped with either bandages or sports tape, under (and sometimes within) which he hides explosive tags. Gakuto is always outfitted with armour—the danger his blood poses when exposed to others is minimized by covering his back, chest, outer arms, and legs in durable mail. He carries a light jacket but rarely wears or has cause to wear it, although he once used it to distract Itachi Uchiha in a fight.

His off-duty clothes are a similar style; Gakuto seems to prefer sportswear and prioritizes breathability and certain fabrics over style. He favours neutral colours like cream and brown, but his beloved off-duty sneakers are an unfashionable yellow-green. He tends to use his hair as a mode of personal expression far more than his clothes, which resulted in several major cut-and-dye changes from the ages of fourteen to nineteen. He has several small piercings, but never wears them while working.

General Abilities
Gakuto is fairly adaptable in a fight, able to find flaws in enemies' ninjutsu that help to strengthen his own ninjutsu—ninjutsu is by far his weakest skill, and Gakuto rarely strays from his hand-to-hand combat comfort zone. He initially took to earth ninjutsu for his main attacks, later finding his affinity in fire release techniques to build up his attack and defence. He has shown a high affinity for genjutsu and is a practiced hand at recognizing and dispelling illusions, often baiting by opponents into making the first move by disorienting or disguising terrain.

He has a comprehensive knowledge of herbalism and chemistry; he can identify plants by leaf and flower structure as well as the individual parts of plants and their exact uses. Although his family had long since left the service of hidden villages to work as wandering apothecaries, Gakuto has shown himself to be highly competent at both healing and poisons. He prefers to work with ingestible or foodborne contaminants.

His time in Sainan's care left him with something of a "might is right" complex: he struggled as a registered ninja because he was reluctant to use "underhanded" tactics like contact poison and turning others' weaknesses against them in case he risked revealing his origins, but ultimately lacked the necessary firepower for more flashy techniques. However, Gakuto appeared to express a dislike of the disparaging of poisons techniques by other shinobi; in Part I, during his first fight of the Chūnin Exams, he actively advertised his use of a non-fatal paralytic because of his opponent's criticism of poison as a "woman's weapon."

His apprenticeship in Konoha and his contract with the rhinos has expanded Gakuto's skill set to the point where he feels comfortable utilizing his background in poisons, although he refuses to fight using his blood unless he's certain it won't be a danger to his comrades.

Bukijutsu
Gakuto is reasonably skilled in the use of ninja weapons. His essential training begins midway between Parts I and II, where he becomes proficient with his mentor's gift, the hollow knives. Prior to Part I, Gakuto used only a select few tools (mostly tags and bombs). Sainan was allegedly an "excellent shot," and may have graced him with some practical experience with a bow and arrow; Gakuto mentions having to hunt for game, which could refer to bow proficiency or to a familiarity with traps.

Gakuto typically exhibits a higher level of paranoia than his less seasoned year mates, and he has engineered custom explosive tags altered to expel airborne chemicals, including a neurotoxin and a paralytic. They also double as stylish accessories, which makes it difficult for others to catch him unarmed.

Chemical Repository Technique
Passed down from his mentor as part of his mimic training, Gakuto practices a chemical repository technique that allows him to produce an extremely toxic and inexhaustible poison from his blood. The basis of this technique actually relies on the Iwahara family's unique biological structure, as the hemoglobin in their red blood cells contains trace amounts of mercury in addition to iron. It has been theorized that this bond may be a mutation of the Steel Release. Gakuto's blood is highly toxic and corrosive, and can be employed in many of the recipes and ninjutsu techniques he has amassed.

Endocrine System
Over time, members of the Iwahara family have become adept at using chakra to consciously manipulate their  endocrine system, a chemical messenger system consisting of the regulation of hormones to distant target organs. They first used this technique to build up a resistance to   saigenzai, a hallucinatory drug they produced en-masse. This has the added effect of making them nearly impossible to track by scent, and has given Gakuto the ability to induce an influx of the adrenaline hormone on command.

Gakuto's grasp of this ability comes with a few barriers: his mother used this technique in her initial attempt at saving his life, permanently damaging his system—Gakuto currently maintains a chokehold on his body's hormone distribution, and the scarring on his natural pathways (both chakra and endocrine) makes it difficult for him to absorb and distribute hormones without manual interference. In addition, he is more susceptible than the average person to intravenous narcotics.

Summoning
Gakuto has made contact with the armoured rhinoceros summons. In addition to providing standard aid in battle, his summons instruct him in the use of fire release techniques and applications for medicines in combat. The Fire Release: Pharaoh's Serpent appears to be unique to Gakuto's bloodline, as it requires the use of his mercurial blood for proper execution; however, the technique itself is kept secret by the Rhino Boss.

It's possible that the rhinos were actually Sainan's personal summons - Gakuto often takes this into consideration when theorizing on his master's origins. Under the tutelage of the Rhino Boss, Gakuto has mellowed out somewhat and no longer seems reluctant to use his "underhanded" techniques.

Naika Iwahara
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Sainan Kodon
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Chōrei Akimichi
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Yukiteru Hada
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Seiho Haseki
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Part I
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Part II
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Trivia

 * The names of Naruto characters are almost always objects or concepts (as opposed to recognized names). "Gakuto" comes from the characters "楽人"; the literal reading is "musician," but it can also be read as a colloquialism for a carefree person. Alternative spellings include “学徒” (gakuto), meaning student or follower; and “学徳” (gakutoku), meaning “learning and virtue.”
 * Gakuto uses the name Tōboe (トオボエ) as an alias in Shangri-la, and later on in Part II to draw Saisan out; a literal translation, meaning "(distant) howling," is a compliment to his master's alias during the same period. However, tōboe is also an idiom for "backbiting/criticizing others behind their backs," referring to his initial plan to train under Saisan in order to eventually betray him.
 * Gakuto loves fast food and considers it one of his "guilty pleasures."
 * Gakuto's favourite word is “nakayado” (中宿), meaning “inn where one rests on the way.”