Editing Saburo (Polesia) (section)

==The Children of Ichimitsu==

Clan Ichimitsu is a prominent family under the patronage of the Sasori daimyo, often referred to by others as his Black Left Hands, a moniker that they have actually taken to calling themselves with pride. While mostly shinobi/samurai, there are many in the Ichimitsu, as their family name suggests (Ichi=one; Mitsu=bright, reflective, expressive; meaning essentially one who delights in expressing themselves in bright or brilliant ways) they also tend to boast agents that are trained in other forms of combat that while able to blend well with the shinobi arts, are not those of traditional shinobi, making them often unexpected threats for those who might have experience or training dealing with common shinobi.

The current patron of Clan Ichimitsu is Hisoka Ichimitsu, who has earned his reputation as an aesthetic, as well as one of the deadliest shots with a longbow, able to take down targets at a distance unthinkable to most. With his wife Miyuki (a notable onna-bugeisha from another clan), he has fathered five children, though the first two boys did not survive past two weeks.
 
The first time it happened Hisoka was distraught, thinking that somehow he was unfit to father living children. He spent time fasting and meditating, trying to purify whatever taint existed in his heart, but when his second son died of the same causes, he started to become suspicious and called several of his most trusted retainers. To these men, some of whom he loved as brothers, and several that were actually his close kin he confided his thoughts, that someone was poisoning his children to prevent him from fathering an heir.

To see if there was truth to this, Hisoka had his retainers shadow all those who had any contact with his sons, including Miyuki, whom he fully intended to kill if he found guilty. In time, it was found that a kitchen worker was being bribed by a rival clan to feed Miyuki a slow acting poison, that while virtually harmless to her, caused the babies to sicken as they fed from her breast. While this was a somewhat happy end to this horrific event, Miyuki had become aware of her husband’s suspicions, and mortified that he would ever assume her capable of murdering her own child, she closed herself to him and their relationship lacked any true affection thereafter, simply becoming a duty to both. Despite this, the supposed curse of Clan Ichimitsu was broken and Hisoka and Miyuki had two more sons and daughter in between. 

The death of two children and Miyuki’s emotional rejection frosted Hisoka’s heart more than any amount of battle or murder ever could. He gave his sons practical names (Saburo and Shiro, meaning third and fourth son) and didn’t even bother to name his daughter, whom Miyuki named Naomi.