Name: Katoiya Umino
Age: 13
Personality: Normally calm, Level-headed, Loves jokes, Naturally happy person, Hard working, Clever, Caring, Observative
Abilities: Katoiya has an Earth Chakra Nature and mixes it with water to use plants, though it quickly drains her of energy. She is good at recognizing and dispelling genjutsus. She is also very good with weapons and uses it as a powerful asset to her fighting style, making her a close range fighter. She can set traps so well that if she didn't leave her special 'mark' there, she wouldn't know where exactly it was. But her traps often also involve tricking the enemy, which she is very good at. Katoiya is also a skilled sword master, though she very rarely uses her sword.
History: At four months old a demon fox started attacking the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Katoiya was sent to live in the Hidden Grass Village at the time until her parents sent for her. The only problem was, they never sent for her.
Being only a baby, Katoiya had no idea what was going on and didn't really care for that matter. Her parents had died in the attack and her older brother was only twelve and busy grieving over their parents to think much about his sister. It was rough for him, so she wouldn't blame him if she understood any of it.
By the time he was over it he had all but forgotten her. He knew that she was his baby sister and wanted her back. But he was smart enough to know that she'd be taken away from him because he was too young to take care of an infant. So Katoiya grew up in the green hills of the Grass Village.
She didn't have a very happy life in permenance. She was always hopping from one foster family to another. Then, at six years old the foster mother she had at the moment said that enough was enough and adopted her.
Her new father, Raiden, could be a little harsh sometimes and often grounded her for her pranks. Sometimes her mother, Amaya, would get the girl out of it by saying that she was only a kid having her fun. Yumi, Katoiya's older sister was beautiful with her lavender hair and crimson eyes, but she was often too distant for the child to ever get close to her.
Then there was her favorite. Masahiko was the older brother that every girl wanted. He was slightly overprotective, but not overbearing. He gave Katoiya her space when she needed it or was her security blanket when she felt cold, scared, or alone.
Everyone always took the pair as polar opposites until they got to know them. Katoiya always had a sunny disposition, but Masahiko was a child of the moon. He had pitch black hair with eyes to match and a complexsion so pale he could've been dead. But he loved to laugh and always gave a smile. Her bond with him was deeper than any she had ever had before.
When she was ten, she was out in the village, walking home from the candy store with a brown, paper bag full of sweets. She heard screaming a few streets over and started to walk faster. Then out of nowhere there were two swords across her neck and a man behind her. Katoiya dropped the bag and candy scattered all over the ground.
Men were shouting that they believed the man they were looking for went down an alley to cut across the streets. Then said men rushed out of the alley to find the dire situation the girl was in. Masahiko was in the group and completely froze when he saw her-his little sister.
Katoiya locked her desperate and pleading eyes on his stone cold gaze for as long as she dared. And for that moment, the happy-go-lucky Masahiko she knew and loved died. In his place was a furious angel of the night with no intention of letting anything stop him from getting to his sister.
He ran forward and disappeared. The man behind her tensed and she closed your eyes and yelped in fear of what was to come. The swords dropped from her neck and rattled against each other as they hit the ground. She opened her eyes. When she turned her head she saw her brother holding his sword which he just impaled her captor with.
After the mess was cleaned up and the man's body was taken away, Masahiko crouched in front of his sister, smiled, and opened his fist to reveal a gumball to her. She smiled and took it from him.
After that day, he taught her how to use a sword and even custom made her one with a green snake wrapped around a black lotus carved into it. He told her the snake was for her hair and the lotus for her eyes. From that day on they would happily impale trees every day until Katoiya started at the academy in two years.
Looks: Katoiya has lightly tanned skin, waist length mossy green hair, and black eyes. She wears a sleeveless, cutoff shirt. The top quarter of it is tan and the rest of it and the collar is gray. She also wears black shorts and a half-skirt that goes around only her left side. The skirt is tan and has a gray lining on the side. She wears black gloves that go up to her mid-forearm and her shuriken holster is on her right leg where the shorts end. Her shinobi sandals are back and they are fishnet from her ankles to just under her knees where the boots end. Her headband is traditionally on her forehead.
Katoiya stood there, tapping her foot as she waited for the rest of her team to show up. The only other person there was her sensei, and she wasn't the most interesting person on the planet. She was pretty and all and she was really skilled, but she just wasn't any fun.
Her blonde hair fell from their ties down to her waist while her staff rested on the ground next to the tree she was leaning against. Then she lifted her head and opened her chocolate eyes.
"Relax Katoiya. They still have a half hour to get here. Kenji and Miako were never ones to be early," she said. Katoiya sighed and threw her hands up. "I might as well kill the plant life!" she said, annoyed at the boredom of the moment. She pulled her special sword out of its sheath and turned toward the bamboo forest.
"Don't get lost," her sensei warned her. "Relax Hanari Sensei," she said, repeating the woman. "I was never one to get lost easily." Then the green-haired girl turned to smile at her. She nodded, her eyes closed again and Katoiya ran in to the maze.
As she went, she let her sword move as if it was just another part of her body. That was how Masahiko had taught her. She smiled at the thought of it. The bamboo fell in the pattern of her dance, never touching her but always in sync.
Twenty five minutes later she heard the faint footfalls of the two boys on her team, rushing to either make it to the meeting in time or to outdo each other. She put the sword back in its sheath, hanging from the back of her waist and headed out of the forest, following her path of destruction. Not too long after that she heard the distinct arguing and annoyed sighs of her team. Somewhere in the back of her mind Katoiya wondered who'd really won the race.
As she made it back to the clearing the fighting stopped and she frowned. "What the hell took you two so long? I swear I'm going to slaughter the two of you next time!" she yelled, pulling out her sword for emphasis. The boys blinked and then the three young comrades burst out laughing.
Katoiya let her sword fall back into place as things quieted down. "So, sensei...what are we here for?" Kenji asked, his honey orange eyes curious. All three turned to their sensei who had finally come out of her hibornation. "Well, the three of you have shown enough skill in my eyes to be eligible for the Chunin Exams," she said.
Kenji cocked his head to the side. "Okay...What're the Chunin Exams exactly?" he asked.
Hanari straightened up to improve her already perfect posture. "You should know the rankings once you are a ninja go from gennin to chunin, chunin to jonin, and jonin to a bunch of special rankings. The Chunin Exams are a series of tests that are held in a single village twice a year. In this case we'll be going to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The tests are never definite and the rules usually change with the procter. People are eliminated in each round until during the final test, the procters choose the people who they think would make the best chunin," she explained.
Miako snorted, ruffling his crimson hair in the process. His arms were folded tightly across his chest and his emrald eyes were locked on Hanari. "Ha! That's easy! Just pick A, B, C, or D not to mention eliminating the stupid answers leaves you with a fifty percent chance of passing! Piece of cake!" he laughed.
Hanari sighed. "Not exactly...You'll see when you get there. For now, just go back home and pack!" she said pointing in the direction they all came from. Katoiya shrugged and headed off on her way back home.
The boys could have been following her, but she didn't really care. It sounded like they were hopping in the branches behind her. Probably just wanted some of her mom's cooking again. She just ignored them, knowing that if her dad was home they would be too scared to invite themselves in.
When she got to her house the sounds stopped. Maybe it wasn't them. It was probably her imagination.
She walked in the front door and smiled at her mom who nodded back in return. Then, before she got the chance to ask about the team meeting, the green haired girl ran straight to the back room and started pounding on the door. She could hear her mother's laughing down the hall.
"Masahiko! Let me in!" she yelled. The door opened in the middle of her tirade and she fell forward into open arms. "What's up kiddo?" the smooth voice asked.
Katoiya glanced upward to look into her brother's midnight eyes. He smiled down at her and pulled her up and into his room. She immidiately started bouncing up and down. "I get to go to the Chunin Exams! I get to go to the Chunin Exams!" she squealed.
He laughed at his sister's enthusiasm and bounced off the walls with her. "Do I get to come?" he asked just as fervently as she was squealing. She stopped mid-bounce and blinked. "I don't know..." she said, rolling her weight to the left side. "I'll see what Hanari Sensei says later. I gotta go pack! You wanna help me?" she asked.
He smiled at her with his eyes squeezed shut. "Sure, why not?" he replied. The pair headed down the hall and walked into a room on the left side of it.
The floors were a very light wood panneling and the walls were a soft ivory. The right side of the back wall was completely window with a mint colored silk curtain pulled off to the side to reveal the garden-like clearing in the trees that led into the forest. On the left side of the room was a small one person bed draped with white sheets and a beige pillow with a swirling, minty pattern embroidered in the top right corner.
The right side of the room held another door, though this one was a sliding, paper door, with a design of green dragonflies over a sky blue pond. On the left side of that there was a mohogany bookcase with every shelf filled to capacity.
Masahiko walked to the foot of Katoiya's bed to grab her small ivory bag while she turned the other way to grab clothes from her closet. When she came back with an armfull of clothes, Masahiko pulled the black straps aside to open the bag which she promptly emptied the clothes into. When that was done she got on her stomach and reached under her bed for a small box in which she kept some of her extra weapons. Those went into the bag on top of the clothes.
She hadn't even noticed her brother's temporary departure until he came back carrying a bottle of food pills for the journey and tests. They were added to the load as well. Things went on like that in a happy silence for the next few minutes.
Katoiya let her parents know about the news and told them to pass it on to Yumi since she wasn't there. After she left the house with good luck wishes from her mother you set off to the meeting place again, whistling a happy tune.
When she got there Miako was waiting with their sensei and his own backpack. She ran up to see them with a hopeful smile on her face. "Hanari Sensei?" she asked, grabbing the woman's attention. She looked the way of her only female student. "Masahiko was hoping that he could tag along and watch where he was welcome," Katoiya explained. "It doesn't bother me," Hanari said indifferently. Katoiya jumped in the air, pulling her fist down in triumph. "Yes!" she hissed to herself.
Just then one of the village's messenger birds flew overhead. She whistled for it to come to her and it swooped down to land on her waiting forearm. She wrote up a message for Masahiko to let him know to pack and get there before the team left. It flew off in the direction of her house to give her brother the news of the depature.
Within two minutes Kenji arrived with his things and Masahiko ran up with his bag over his shoulder and sword on his hip another five after that. "Let's get going!" Kenji shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah!" Katoiya and Masahiko laughed.
Masahiko slung his sister onto his back as the five of them set out. And with that, Katoiya was unknowingly on her way to the most important part of her life...
