Inogiri Tarakami

Tarakami, or Tara as she is more commonly known, is the Sandaime Kazekage of Sunagakure. Her parents were famous puppeteers, though Tara showed no aptitude for the art. Instead, she chose to focus on her unique kekkei genkai, one that would come to be both renowned and feared across the continent. Born just before the start of the first great shinobi war, her childhood was rife with violence and confusion. Both of her parents were called off to fight, and so Tara was raised by her grandmother, Miyaga, for most of her early years. Miyaga was around during the villages founding and at the time, served on the council. Under her grandmother's tutelage, she matured quickly, and showed great promise in the shinobi arts. She entered the academy at the age of seven and, as a result of the high level of skill she displayed and the need for greater numbers on the battlefield, graduated at nine. By the time the war was over, she had been promoted to the rank of Chūnin and had a hefty fifty-four successfully completed missions under her belt. However, her accomplishments did not mitigate her detestation of war. Nearly all of her friends were killed, and her father returned home missing an eye and an arm. From her standpoint, nothing good came of it and the motives behind it were superficial. But she was under no delusion that the last of the wars were behind her, and so she devoted herself to honing her skills so that she could protect the ones she loved. After the war, a number of small new villages popped up that aimed to capitalize on the state of disarray in which the great villages found themselves. One in particular, Sunaarashigakure(hidden sandstorm village), had managed to amass a substantially large army with many of Suna's nukenin among its ranks. When Suna could no longer ignore its presence, it established an elite squad of some of their most highly skilled ninja, codenamed Sasori, to combat them and eventually destroy the village. Tara was assigned to the squad. When reports of attacks on Suna controlled territories were reported, Sasori would be dispatched to take out Sunaarashi's forces. Tara eventually managed to capture one of their men and brought him in for interrogation. They discovered that Sunaarashigakure was actually a system of smaller villages allied under a single name and that destroying one village would not shut down their operation. They spent the next several years tracking down and destroying the villages, with Tara eventually emerging as the captain of the squad. Despite her relatively pacifistic outlook, she showed no mercy when it came to quelling the enemy forces. Although her offensive capabilities were astounding, she was better known for her ability to defend her squad. In the years that it was operating, Sasori never suffered a single casualty and Tara was largely credited with that. Eventually, all of the villages were destroyed and Sasori was disbanded. Around that time, it had been decided that the Nidaime Kazekage would retire and Inogiri Tarakami would be his replacement. The decision was somewhat controversial as many of the members of the council wanted an older and more experienced Kage. However, it was ultimately decided that Tara was the best suited for the position. For a while, Suna enjoyed a period of great prosperity under her reign. The village had an abundance of missions coming in and the borders of Kaze no Kuni were especially secure. Unfortunately, they could not keep up with Konoha's rapid growth and over time, more and more of their missions were being given to the leaf. At first, the village viewed it only as a minor annoyance. However, as the decline in their economic status became too great to ignore, they were forced to take action. The Daimyo and most of the council members viewed Konoha's overzealous expansion as an act of war. However, Tara urged against it, fearing that a war would do more harm to the village than good. She insisted that they should take a diplomatic approach, and despite their uneasiness, decided to give the Kazekage her chance. Unfortunately, her diplomatic efforts were largely ignored by Konoha which was preoccupied with its own war with Iwa and Ame. Eventually, Tara was unable to hold off the Daimyo and council any longer and Suna too entered the war against Konoha, a war that would come to be known as the Second Great Shinobi War. As Commander General, the Kazekage played a hands on roll in the war; she was determined to make sure that Suna suffered as few casualties as possible. She came to be known as Tara of the Pink Sands for her unique abilities and was regarded as a beast of pure chakra. Even by the standards of Kage, her chakra levels were considered enormous and her techniques displayed incredible chakra control. Again, her defensive capabilities shined; she had a tendency to show up at just the right time to save a squad from annihilation. Because of this, Suna's percentage of casualties was lower than that of other villages.