Shigeo Mizushima

 ★ Personality

Shigeo is overall described as obnoxiously flirty and annoying by most people. He is a self-confident, strong willed, and somewhat aloof. He hates working hard and gets by from coasting on his teammates and classmates. His grandmother asserts that he could have been brilliant if he applied himself but rather focused his energy on being liked by his peers. Despite how social he seems, Shigeo has very few deep relationships. Only his grandmother and Genji really know what he’s like beyond his annoying flirting and snide remarks. Shigeo is highly vigilant in combat and kind to his grandmother. To her, he is very passive and obedient. During the timeskip Shigeo mellows some and spends less of his time going out of his way to annoy Higashiyama.

★ Background

Shigeo was the only child of Shinobu Mizushima, a cheerful jonin level shinobi from Takigakure’s slowly dissolving Mizushima clan, and his wife Wakako Nishimura, a Konohagakure native. Shinobu’s mother, Sayuri, had passed in her sleep several years before the birth of Shigeo, his father’s eyes began to fail him, and his sister left the village the night of Shigeo’s birth. Shortly after Shigeo’s third birthday Wakako fell ill and Shinobu caught her ailment while trying to tend to her. The illness bested the both of them, leaving a young Shigeo without a proper family. Unable to take care of his grandson without his eyes, Kaijin Mizushima had his neighbors write to Wakako’s family in Konaha, pleading for them to take him in. Tsubame Nishimura, Wakako’s mother, was glad to take Shigeo into her care. After being taken to Konohagakure to live with his grandmother, Shigeo’s life took on a more normal rhythm.

Being as young as he was when he lost his parents, he felt no kinship to those in Taikigakure and was minimally affected by his lost parents. Not having a father figure did cause some trouble, and he turned to mischief to get attention from his peers and elders. Shigeo found a love for girls and for swordplay when he began training at the academy. Shigeo was not especially interested in studying, preferring to flirt with his female classmates, sleep through lectures, and mock the teacher’s pets. As a result, Shigeo was never particularly good with genjutsu and some ninjutsus, but excelled with weaponry and taijutsu. There was an almost unnatural affinity towards swords and kunai blades inside him, which has grandmother thought was perhaps a feint connection to his clan, who were well known for their Kenjustsu skills in his birth village. After graduation from the academy at age 12, Shigeo was placed on a team with Sada Higashiyama , an extremely bossy kunoichi who refused to put up with Shigeo’s obnoxious flirting habit, Genji Arima, a kind-hearted, self-confident, animal lover who would later become Shigeo’s closest friend, and their sensei, Takao Kamui.