Last night I wasn't just listening to 1950's rock- just had my mp3 player on while I was going to sleep. I have a rather broad range of music on it- from early 1900's ragtime to Loreena McKenitt.

Last I got a Konoha high school plot bunny, while listening to a 1950's rock song, for guess what generation?

1)Sakura's
2)Hana's
3)Yugao's
3)Kurenai's
4)Tsume's
5)Konan's
6)Tsunade's
7)Sasori's mother's (only female we've seen of that generation)
8)Koharu's
9)Toka's (possibly Hashirama's wife)

If you guessed 8, you were correct. That's right, Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, Danzo, Chiyo, Ebizo as high schoolers in the mid 1950's. (and Chiyo's unknown husband as well- as like Tsume Inuzuka would later, due to chronology, she had to given birth to her son- Sasori's father, at around 17/18 years old)

A little mixing of Japanese and western youth cultures of the 1950's in the story (just a little, the types are pretty accurate for Japan just after the US occupation ended.)

Hiruzen, main character of the story, beatnik with a political leaning toward socialism, into French avant-garde films, Camus novels, 12 tone composers (completely authentic type of the time- that was the crowd a young Yoko Ono belonged to in her youth)

Danzo, main villain of the story. Leader of a delinquent gang of pro militarists. He's a son of a convicted war criminal who had been a Kempeitai captain. As he was a low level war criminal he wasn't executed or given a life sentence but was released after a few years and was soon leading an early yakuza gang. Danzo's father is now a very high level yakuza leader, and Danzo knows he will some day succeed his his father. Danzo, like his father hates Americans and communists equally. He believes that Japan is weak and useless now and should go back to being like it was during the war.

Koharu and Homura. Technically Hiruzen's friends. Both descended from old high ranking samurai clans (Hiruzen is from a low ranking samurai clan) Koharu is a cultural snob, only respecting what she sees as the highest class things of both Japan and the west. Outside of school she dresses a bit too maturely for her age (no poodle skirts or jeans for her!) but not in a sexy way. Boys worship her as the princess of the school but none approach her for dates as she sees them all as beneath her. Homura is a nerd, but none dare taunt him as such due to his high social status, he is also a snob and both he and Koharu harbors some pro militarist sentiments but not to the extreme that Danzo does.

Chiyo and Ebizo- students from the rival Suna high school. Chiyo loves rock and roll and is a lively girl who loves her uncle Monzaemon's Bunraku pupets, and plays pranks as her favorite hobby other than going to sock hops. Ebizo is her twin brother, who by cultural norms would normally be expected to protect his sister from any unwanted advances at the sock hops, but Ebizo is quiet and prefers to just follow in his sister's shadow. Chiyo dresses like a typical teenage girl of the 1950's both in Japan and the US (poodle skirts, pony tail, etc...) Ebizo just tries to fade into background so other than his school uniform his clothes tend to look a bit "nerdish".

Hiruzen's curiosity leads him to check out a sock hop, where he meets Chiyo. The two are kind of attracted to each other- more strongly on Hiruzen's part and begin to date secretly- meeting at sock hops. Bits of the other's personalities and interests begin to rub off on the other. But Danzo and Hiruzen's "friends" find out about his going to the dances and his girlfriend from a rival school and confront him. When Hiruzen continues to go to the dances and date Chiyo, Danzo disrupts a sock hop with his gang. He beats up Ebizo and threatens Chiyo. Hiruzen fights Danzo and gets his gang to leave, but Chiyo tells him they have to break up. Broken hearted, Hiruzen leaves and never goes to another dance. Chiyo soon falls for a senior boy at her school who leads a rock and roll band and she gets pregnant and they have to get married, despite this the couple have a fairly happy life for a number of years. Hiruzen is called to the principal's office, where a sympathic Hashirama and Tobirama tell him what a kindhearted, intelligent young man he is and not give up on learning about things beyond school. Then they tell him that they believe one day he will be this school's principal, and when he's ready to be it, the position will be open to him.

Whew! All that from listening to "At the Hop", "Great Balls of Fire" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" as I was going to sleep.