I remember the first day I met them. It was beneath a great, white oak, in the center of a forest, in the middle of…well, that's not for me to tell you. In fact, I shouldn't really be speaking to you at all, especially since I doubt you even know what a ninja is.
What? You say you do know? That thing in children's tales with the black mask, the midnight assassin? That is one aspect of a Ninja, to be sure, but that doesn't nearly begin to cover what my people really are.
My people…No, not all GoldElves. My people consist of many, many different races. Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Halflings, Gnomes, the occasional Ork, even a troll or two. One of my teammates was actually a Drow…I assume you know what that means. Not at all do I say that our relationship was perfect…in fact, the wounds I suffered at her hands were greater than possibly any other I have received…and to this day her shadow haunts me.
But here I am getting off track. In due time, you will understand who she was. In due time, you will learn of my village, my people. For now, the story starts with a great, white oak tree…yes, and a summer so very long ago…
I sat beneath the great tree…a favoured spot of mine from my childhood. I have a fairly common story; father dead before birth, mother died soon after… I was handed from family to family; not because I was unwanted, but rather this tradition of my people suited the needs of a Ninja family. One never knows when the next 'parent' wouldn't return from a mission.
Through out my school days I would come here to rest, to think, to be by myself. Often in those hectic years of first learning I would run for solitude in Nature. I am an elf of sorts, and of the 'highborn' gold variety. In Otogakure, my village, race is generally not an issue. Yes, different areas of Otogakure would be occupied mainly by Orks, or by Dwarves, or Elves, but I was neither loved or shunned especially for my birth.
This tree was my closest comrade through the first twenty years of my life. By then, most of my human schoolmates had moved on to more rigorous academies, to accommodate their short lifespan. By Elven count, I have yet to enter puberty. By human count, I am too old to be made friends with.
And so this lonely life continued, until the day of my graduation from the Primary Academy. It is at this age when young 'Gennins,' or lowest level ninja are assigned to teams of three with one elder, or 'Jounin' teacher. I was exuberant; how could I not be, with the opportunity to have real friends and an adult to care for me. I had no real idea what being a 'Gennin' would entail, and it was in this veil of innocence that I met Ringo, Ropo and Sezzy Sensei.