Minamoto Rika

[Minamoto Rika]

Minamoto Rika​

Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8"

Rank: Chuunin
Bloodline: TBD
Chakra Mark: Kanji for "trickster" on right shoulder blade
Affinities: TBD

Personality: Though the yin-yang is not a symbol of Japan it still best depicts the dichotomy of Rika's personality. It is a contrast between the playful nature of one still young with much growing up to do and the seriousness that comes about from having placed her life on the line countless times. The battlefield is a cruel and exacting teacher - it is a furnace that refines and distills away anything not necessary to survive. Though she does not fight in a war and lay her life on the line every day, Rika has been through the fires enough to appreciate the fleeting nature of life and find enjoyment in the small things that make up life off the battleground.

Her playful and carefree side exhibits itself when she is not on a mission or involved in the day to day affairs of being a shinobi. She is a practical joker, with the innate ability to bring smiles to faces. Her jokes are purely and completely harmless by nature. They all accompany a spirit that is seemingly without restraints or bounds - where laughter comes easily.

The other side of the coin is shown when she is on duty. As a shinobi she knows what her most important duty is and where her loyalties lie. As a Minamoto she is determined to do nothing to sully the reputation of her family name. She takes each assignment given to her seriously and prepares almost meticulously for them. Execution of her assignments is done with the same meticulous eye and attention to detail. She may allow herself to be laid back and carefree during those lulls in her tasks but when it comes to fighting or to anything else of that sort she focuses on being professional and doing the job right.

 

[Minamoto Rika]

History

Rika is the exception to the Minamoto clan. All other members were born into the clan but Rika was the first member to be adopted by Taro.

At a very young age Rika was abandoned by her parents, left in the care of a shinobi master who lived somewhere in the area between Mist and Sand. It was this man, Kousuke, who acted as Rika's adopted father while she was growing up. Kousuke was an unaffiliated shinobi who had worked as a mercenary in his younger days. Though he was still capable of holding his own the forces of age and time were against him. Having had no family of his own he saw Rika as a student and an opportunity to continue his legacy and pass it down to the next generation. Thus from an early age he taught and trained her in the shinobi way.

When she was 11 years old she had an experience that would change her life forever. It was during this year of her life that she met the man who would eventually take her under his wing, Minamoto Taro. A conflict had been brewing along the border of Sand and Mist, agitated by a local warlord who had purchased the services of a mercenary shinobi company. Dispatched from Mist to settle things before they could get out of hand, Taro encountered Kousuke and Rika while performing reconnaissance. Kousuke had been drawn into the fighting (and thus Rika with him) due to the proximity of the warlord and the pleas of those who lived in the village where he resided. Taro and Kousuke teamed up to carry out the mission. Though told to stay home by Taro, Rika followed them anyways and soon discovered what the battlefield was really like. The fighting was a blur to her but when it had ended she had held her own against several shinobi in the fighting. Impressed in her skill, ability, and courage, Taro told Kousuke to call on him if he ever needed help.

They would see the Mist ANBU several more times as Rika grew older, stronger, and developed more of her own personality. When word came that Taro had become the Kage of the village, Kousuke sent a bird to congratulate his friend and fellow fighter. The message, however, contained a request. Kousuke had taught Rika all that he knew. He did not feel that she should live a life of solitude on the frontier. And he knew that, at some point, he would die and leave Rika all alone. Would Taro consider taking Rika in as a member of his clan?

When the return message arrived, containing a yes to his request, Kousuke gathered Rika and her things and sent her to Kirigakure - to her adopted family. She was old enough to understand why, and Kousuke had taught her much about being a shinobi, including the mindset. Though leaving him was difficult, Rika saw the opportunities that awaited her in Kiri. But first she would have to meet the man who had graciously taken her into his family, and meet that family as well.

 

[Maki]

Inactive as of this post.