Yamanaka Nao

To understand Nao, we must first look to his origins. During the warring states, the Yamanaka were nomadic and members whom would eventually settle in Kirigakure, were the best spies money could afford. They were hired by the Daimyo in Bird country, whom had deep seated grudges against the Land of Iron.Thus the Yamanaka spies were sent to Iron and constantly ending up in conflict with the Samurai. While many a battle had taken place, the one which changed destiny occurred on the last day of reconnaissance. Nao's mother Inoko was the last spy remaining after successfully chasing out the others from their land. A chance encounter would put Inoko in contact with Kirito Fujiwara. At the time, Kirito had no idea that Inoko was a spy, which made for an interesting encounter.

Kirito was returning from a peace keeping mission in Fang. Tired from his journey, he stopped to purchase some dango. There he met a beautiful young woman minding the stall. Taken aback, he ended up purchasing far more Dango than he should have, in order to make conversation. They spoke about so much, none of which revealed much about Inoko's origins, yet he felt he'd known her forever. The next day, while on his day off, he heard about the happenings in Iron. Spies?! He couldn't say that he was surprised but as he was off-duty, his focus was on wooing the young maiden at the Dango shop. Inoko was surprised to see him again, causing her to initially be tense during their discussion.

When she realized, the real reason for his visit this second time, she relaxed. After three days of Kirito coming around,  he'd finally convince her to go on one date with him. Initially, Inoko saw that as an opportunity to further her profile and remain undetected, so she agreed. However, Kirito had unknowingly; swept her off her feet. No matter what excuses she came up with to justify her meetups, the truth was she longed to see Kirito. Their dates were kept very pure and love firmly established. Kirito didn't think their peaceful days would ever come to an end. Why, he was already preparing to propose to her.

Unfortunately fate had a different plan in store, starting on their last night in Iron. Inoko's cover was threatened and so, in the middle of the night, she decided to flee instead of waiting around for the Samurai to find her. Word reached out to Kirito that a possible spy was present. He'd be assigned on the task force to hunt this spy down and capture them. Inoko was of course, a skilled kunoichi and while the Samurai attempted to pursue her, she'd managed to split the group up with false leads. The only one whom followed the correct path was Kirito, an expert tracker in his own right.

Upon catching up to Inoko, they clashed in combat before he realized who she was. They had long passed the borders of Iron and both were exhausted. Why did it have to end like this...? The thoughts of a desperate man or a man in love, ultimately served to fuel his new found conviction. "I will go wherever you go, my love." words of resignation. Such words moved Inoko completely and so, the two ended up eloping as they returned to meet the rest of the Yamanaka. There was much suspicion initially but once Inoko became pregnant with their oldest son, the suspicions were put to rest.

The children of Kirito and Inoko would take the Yamanaka name, as the family had settled into Kirigakure. Inoko would give birth to four sons. The first two, being born back to back, while the last two were separated by four years and seven years respectively. The brothers became famous were their skills in reconnaissance, inheriting the skill of their mother but with the good looks of their father. None of them seemed to obtain the Yamanaka blonde hair, which actually served their purpose well. It was far harder to identify them and their skills, as their hair ranged from black, to brown.

While Kirito was proud of his sons, the father whom had abandoned the way of the Samurai, was hoping that their youngest, whom Inoko was carrying, would be a daughter. In fact, Kirito had always wanted a daughter, hence why he was willing to try so many times! When Nao was born, there was a mix of disappointment and awe. Nao had a mix of blonde and brown hair. Being the youngest child, Nao was doted upon with much love. As he grew up, it was like God had compromised with Kirito after all. "There's no way my Son is this cute" a phrase which was commonly heard around the household.

To the present day, the brothers swore that it was their Father's idea to dress Nao up like a girl. However, it was Inoko whom thought of the idea in passing. When she suggested it, stating she had nobody to pass down her kunoichi skills to, Kirito was onboard. Thus the brothers obtained a...sister!?

Kirito initially didn't want Nao to be a ninja at all. If he could have his way, he'd teach his precious child the ways of Bushido and have them open a Dango shop. Yes, keeping Nao off the battlefield was what the doting father wished, however his wife, as well as her family thought otherwise. Perhaps comically, the Husband and Wife, competed to train Nao. Each was hoping to persuade the young boy to go along with their desires. What neither had expcted was that Nao's "talent" was far different from what they expected!
Nao didn't seem to possess any "talent" for being a ninja. His physical constitution was below that of boys his age, so he never played with them.

Instead, Nao was always reading! The parents were ready to call it quits on training when Inoko's mother, Inomi ended the deadlock by offering Nao a book about Ninjutsu. This tactic worked in ways the family did not expect. What was met with resistance and disinterest, was now appreciated in a whole new way. Nao spoke about theory and application of Ninjutsu just as he had with Math, sciences, and other academic interests. However, Kirito wasn't out of the game. Nao had been reading about Samurai and their ways as well. Noting their revolutionary use of chakra shape manipulation. Thus the only physical training Nao was fond of, was the use of weaponry. Truly he was his father's daughter. Slow and steady, he'd learn to move gracefully and strike swiftly with the blade.

In order to get Nao's skill in other areas up to standard, the brother's would help Nao with training, in exchange for Nao's insight. While not phrased with an adult's vocabulary, Nao seemed to be able to "see" what others could not. They often wondered what the world looked like in his eyes. They couldn't understand much of the academic things Nao said but whatever knowledge they could gleam in passing, always helped. All that was left was one minor thing, well okay two things but only one of them was minor. They needed Nao to do the Academy entrance exam, they also wanted to dye Nao's blonde hairs to brown. The latter part to benefit the same way his brothers had. Nao didn't want the latter. Thinking on his feet, Kirito decided to make a bet. If Nao could get perfect results on the exam, then Nao could keep his hair the way it was.

It was the perfect motivation as Nao wasn't particularly interested in tests. Upon testing day, Nao showed a rare outgoing confidence. 100% or nothing was Nao's motivation and things were going smoothly until the physical portion. Taijutsu was Nao's Achilles heel. His perfect score was lost because of an error he made. As a reward for doing really well all things considered, to cheer up the very pouty Nao; Kirito treated Nao to anything he wanted. It was the first and only time thus far, the brothers could recall Nao revealing his spoiled side. He took his parents to town before he let them dye his hair in defeat.

Thus just like those before him, Nao was another one of those Yamanaka without Yamanaka traits, as one of the instructors joked. Despite this, Nao would prove to be very different from his older siblings in practice. On tests, Nao was solid. In application Nao was poor and didn't stand out academically. Then there was the lack of socialization. At first, the instructors thought Nao was being ostracised because of how he dressed. That may have been true of the boys but the girls had accepted Nao just fine. They just couldn't get him out of his shell long enough to do much. They did get him to form a study group though. In the end, Books and Nao were inseparable, you had to take one with the other.

Three years later, Nao passed the graduation exam and became a genin. This being that it took the instructors three years to convince Nao to hurry up and do said test. A mix of bribery and positive reinforcement was employed. Though perhaps, what ultimately pushed Nao to become serious, was the death of his mother. Inoko had died on a mission, leaving the family without a mother. Seeing the sad look in his Father's eyes, he decided to cheer his Dad up in the only way he knew he could. Pass that exam, he'd do it for the both of them. That's what earned Nao the Kirigakure headband.