sample clans

[songstress]

these clans are examples you can use to create your own.

Suna no Soushuku

Country/Village: Wind Country/Hidden Village of Sand

Minor History: When Gaara was first born in Sand he was infused with Shukaku, a sand priest. A sand priest, this implies the existence of a religion in Wind. Such a religion did exist, and still does. The Priesthood of the Sand still exists and its religion is practiced in the Wind Country. They believe that the desert is a sentient being and a god of sorts. The land provides them with food and nutrition. Legend states that at high levels of priesthood, the priests are able to sustain their existence with sand alone.

Description:

To actually find the origin of the Suna no Soushuku, one must travel through the endless desert for unknown distances. Only those members of the Priesthood know the actual location of the dwelling. Most people who look for the synagogue of the Priesthood of the Sand never find it, and they are never found again either. When you first arrive it seems as though the land is empty and barren. In fact, no person would even give a second thought as to how one could survive there. This is because of a mirage though. A permanent genjutsu supplied by the desert around them that hides the location of the religious group. Four large, tall obelisks uphold the genjutsu:

Each pillar is derived from compressed black sand to make the obelisk seem almost obsidian. It is eternally polished and never loses its shine. On the sides of the obelisks are many kanji that seem to be carved into the obelisk. As of today, there are no known people who are able to read the kanji as it is written in a very ancient dialect that dates past the actual birth of the Sand Village. The pinnacles of the four pillars control the weather in the area of the synagogue to provide it with rain or with less sunlight. This gives even more truth to the thought that the desert provides for the priests. The compressed sand of the obelisk provides the required weather for the priests for them to sustain any life necessary

A path goes from the entrance to the head synagogue of the priesthood. No matter which side you enter from, you will be transported to the pathway by the ability of the obelisks. Along this pathway are much smaller temples for those who require dwelling and for smaller gatherings of worship. These temples look similar to these:

The Suna no Soushuku looks as though it has no defense, but that would be because no one has ever been able to get inside the grounds of the Priesthood. Though if some interloper were actually able to enter the Hidden Temple of Suna no Soushuku, they would not feel welcome. The grounds are littered with statues, guardian statues that have existed there for roughly the same amount of time as the temples themselves. The guardian statues, when someone intrudes upon the temples, will come to life. When the priesthood was first founded, the souls of great Sand Priests were bound to the statues when they died. When someone intrudes with malice at heart, the statues come to life with the souls of the ancient Sand Priests controlling them.

Suna no Soushuku Ranks
Once a person decides to dedicate their lives to the Priesthood, they must cut ties to all things that were in their former lives. Former loyalties to loved ones, friends, and villages are forbiddon and the Archbishop becomes their new master.

Archbishop – The Archbishop is the supreme ruler of the priesthood. His word is law, and his word must be followed even if it means death, because he is God-favoured. There have only been two Archbishops in existence, and the deity they honour, the Sand God that dwells beneath the desert, has chosen both of them personally. He never leaves the temple; though there really is no need, as he can find sustenance in the sands due to his divinity. His power is immense and surpasses even that of some known legendary nins.

Bishop – The Bishop is the voice of the Archbishop, relaying his messages to the rest of the Priesthood and ensuring that the lower ranks are doing their jobs as they should be. Basically they keep everything in top running order, but are powerful nins in their own right. All the bishops are talented jounin level shinobi with a great deal of experience of defending the priesthood. .

High Priest – There are five high priests that make up the rest of the high order council. They are all wise and calculating, and constantly scheming to further their cause. Once they receive the orders from the Archbishop, it is they who analyse the information and formulate a plan to best put it into action.

Priest – The priests are the main firepower for the priesthood. Comprised of a mix of Jounin and Chuunin ranked Shinobi, they are organized with the intent on maintaining the safety and well-being of the Suna no Soushuku, as well as apprehending those who stumble too close to the temple for comfort. They routinely travel around the country, silencing those who hunt members of the priesthood as well as rescuing any members that had been found out and caught.

Monk – The monks could be compared to a shinobi village’s academy teacher. Armed with the knowledge and history of the priesthood, they take it upon themselves to teach young initiates the philosophy and ideals of the new life they are embarking on. When not teaching, they spend much of their time in deep mediation or prayer.

Acolyte – The Acolytes act as the eyes and ears for the Priesthood. Disguised as regular villagers, they travel all across the Wind country, picking up information and relaying it back to the Suna no Soushuku. There are hundreds of Acolytes in hiding right now, keeping the priesthood within a huge network of information and news so that they are always up to current events even in their isolated temple. In addition to this job, they also seek out potential initiates, sending those with promise in the direction of the temple.

Initiate – The lowliest of ranks, initiates serve two purposes within the priesthood. To work towards the objectives of Suna no Soushuku, or to die for it. All initiates start out with a month’s worth of schooling, learning the history, ideals, and goals of the priesthood. After that month, their knowledge and dedication is put to the test, in which they are taken far out in to the desert with no food or supplies, and survive for forty days and nights. One the fortieth day, they are to return to the temple, in which they receive their initiation ritual. Unknown to the initiates however, close eye is kept on all of them, and those that show signs of dying are branded with the curse seal beforehand so not as to let their soul go to waste.

Real History:

It is understood that Shinobi are tools of war and as such they are the armed forces. But it does not mean that a Shinobi should be heartless...

It was a time of peace for the Hidden Village of Sand, all was right for the village. People experienced economic glory and agriculturally they were horrible as usual. Yet trade and commerce sustained them. Not all was right though, a group of four Shinobi became bored. Eventually they kidnapped a Chuunin and took him to the desert. It was there that they explained his dark fate. The Chuunin would be freed and released into the desert. There, he would be hunted down like an animal for their own amusement.

And so it came to pass, the Chuunin named Assate was released and he ran. He used his shinobi skills as best as he could yet it was not enough against the four Jounin. Cornered in a ravine with a large hole in the middle. Just as he was about to be struck down the sands came up and in a mere flash the Jounin had disappeared.

Dumbstruck, Assate collapsed from exhaustion and hunger. A loud, booming voice was heard though. "I will provide for you..."

After some undetermined time, Assate awoke to the voice again. "Wake child..." Assate moved around and soon found himself in a cave of sorts on a...bed. A bed made of sand... Standing up he looked around the room and again saw something beyond his imagination. Slowly sand started to form in front of him and a table appeared. On top of this a bowl came to being from the sand in the desert, and inside the bowl came fruit. It looked like sand and felt like it, yet the voice urged him on. "Take the fruit, eat of it."

A ssate picked up a sand fruit and hesitantly took a large bite out of it. Expecting to eat sand he instead tasted the sweetest fruit he had ever tasted. Looking down the inside still looked of sand. The table formed even larger and soon a great feast of... sand appeared on the table. A chair appeared beneath Assate and forced him to sit, and thus his feast began.

Each morsel of food tasted as it would if it were not sand. Each drop of wine was delectable and tasted like wine. It felt like liquid in his mouth, yet it was purely sand. What happened next cannot be explained easily. The food was finished and the sand formed into a new form. The form was amorphous at first. Yet seconds later the sand took the shape of a face of sorts in the sand. Taking form it seemed to look at Assate and Assate spoke to it.

"Who...What are you?"

"I am nothing, but I am everything. I exist, but I do not live."

"That doesn't make sense... How can you be alive and dead at the same time?"

"As long as humans exist, life and death are the same thing."

"What are you? I mean, what is your name...?"

"Names are useless, I have no name. Do you really need a title to remember who someone is? I am the desert, I live to provide for this country so to say. Its endless desert allows me to be anywhere I please. Do you believe in me traveller? Do you have faith in the fact that I provided you and can continue to do so?"

"...Yes I do. How could I not after you have just done so for me? I believe in you completely."

"Bow before me... Worship me... Your prayers make me stronger... Offer souls to me... It makes me stronger... In return I shall provide for you and any other follower... The desert will always provide..."

From this point on, Assate was 'trained' by the desert. Assate would find followers, and the desert made him stronger. The followers grew in strength as well. In time, Assate grew to be a great Shinobi even becoming a Legendary Ninja. When Assate did die, the desert used it's own power and sealed the soul of Assate to the temple.

Basis for the Religion: "Provide for the desert and the desert shall provide for you. Your life can be sustained by the desert, but it can also be stripped away."

Initiation Ritual

Once someone wishing to join the sand religion is successful in passing the test, they are immediately led to a small circular chamber filled with sand and countless great spiders, snakes and scorpions. Each member of the Suna no Soushuku's council borders the edge of the circle, softly chanting for several moments. After several minutes the chanting ceases and a small door opens, allowing a single person to enter, typically a person who wandered haphazardly into the temple and was captured.

Through sheer force of will the Archbishop commands the captive to stand back to back with the initiate and approaches them, placing his palm upon their forehead. Chanting, softly at fist but steadily growing louder, the Archbishop utters a single word in a long forgotten language known only to him, and in that instant the captive’s body simply explodes. All that is left is a glowy light in the center of the Archbishop's palm, what remains of the captive’s soul. Grasping firmly the back of the initiate's head, the Archbishop utters one more word, sealing the soul into the body of the initiate and creating an irreversible connection to the sand god. From this point on, the initiate will always feel the presence of the sand god and known the Sand God’s wishes.

As a sign of the initiate's ascension the sand god bestows a gift. Collecting all of the remains of the captive and the bodies of all creatures within the sand circle, the sand god molds them together, creating a weapon for the user (described below), which is bound to the initiate’s very soul.

Weapon of the Suna no Soushuku

The weapon of the Suna no Soushuku is easily the most unique of weapons imaginable. It typically appears like a long staff that has been created from the flesh of countless scorpions, snakes and spiders, and if one observes it closely they can see gentle movements of the staff as if it is breathing, for it is in fact alive. The weapon however can take many forms aside from that of a staff. Firstly it can elongate and flatten itself, forming itself into a spear or sword, or alternately it can become much more flexible and long, forming into a whip. The top of the staff will always be capped with a snake’s head, and in fact the snake is capable of biting and releasing a powerful poison, which can quickly cause the target to succumb to unconsciousness. Generally the weapon is worn wrapped around one of the users arms, ready to slither out on its own whenever there is call for it.

Suna no Soushuku Objectives:

The priesthood relies on sacrafices to do their work; the more sacrifices they perform, the stronger the order become. Beyond finding sacrifices, few know of the ultimate goals of the Suna no Soushuku, though of the few not in the organisation that are aware of their existance, there have been several sightings of curse seals being placed on others, though the purpose of this seal is unknown to all but the Archbishop himself.

Recently Archbishop Sakai received word of an anarchist organization working in Stone, something that interests him greatly…

[songstress]

Clan Name: Akimichi clan

Clan Village: Leaf Village

Clan History: It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time when the Akimichi clan appeared in Konoha. To those outside the family, many saw the Akimichi as nothing more than a clan who was known for their large size, the love of food and stubborn determination. Unknown to them, the creation of the Akimichi clan is a lot more than just big bones. Known for their loyalty to those around them and their steadfast devotion to their country, one could always count on an Akimichi to succeed in a mission (Or die trying, but that doesn’t happen often).

The person who began the clan’s infamous jutsu wasn’t an Akimichi. In fact, it was a female chuunin by the name of Nakuta Nemura who first came up with the idea of using chakra to manipulate the cell size of the body. She was a large woman, one who shameless enjoyed the greater luxuries of life, namely eating and sleeping, and generally being a lazy ass. Despite her sturdy girth (or perhaps because of it), Nemura was well known for her taijutsu. Although she lacked speed, the chuunin made up for the loss with a high stamina and impressive strength. Throughout her shinobi years, Nemura heard about many clans whose specialty was the manipulation of their body structure. Some altered their physical appearance while others found techniques in using various components which made up the human body. Not all of the clans passed down their abilities by genes, or in other words these jutsu needed not a bloodline to achieve. This got Nemura thinking; if others could harness the body’s natural abilities and use them to an advantage, why couldn’t she think up of something which could enhance her specialty?

Creating a jutsu is a slow and arduous process. It took Nemura eight whole years and a rank promotion from chuunin to jounin for the woman to finally master her self-taught jutsu. By focusing on one’s chakra and channeling it to one’s body cells, the woman was able to expand the cells and double her body size. Joyous, the jounin dubbed her new-found technique “Multi-Size”. And that was how the Akimichi was founded. It took her another year to fully learn how to maneuver around while in Multi-Size and went on to creating Meat Tank jutsu. By that time, Nemura’s was happily married to a chuunin called Akimichi Kimoto and had two sons by the name of Akimichi Kura and Akimichi Natsu. Both boys inherited their mother’s large body structure as well as Multi-Size jutsu and went on to become shinobis.

At first, the two brothers found their mother’s jutsu to be advantageous in battle. But there was a problem; maintaining enough chakra to expand the body’s cells was not an easy thing. The jutsu needs a constant supply of chakra in order to work, a supply that was far more than what an average shinobi can produce. This posed as a large problem to the Akimichi brothers; by using Multi-Size just once, the two would find themselves drained of a large portion of chakra. In order to overcome this problem, Natsu began researching into the different way one’s body produces extra energy. Soon he saw a solution to the problem.

During respiration, the fat in one’s body is broken down to supply the body with the needed energy. After several trial-and-errors, Natsu found that by using chakra to consciously break down the fat in his body, he was able to produce more chakra than what the body would normally have. With this method, one can maintain the extra chakra needed for a prolonged period of Multi-Size jutsu. The only set-back about this method was that one must make sure that one had enough fat in one’s body to burn. There was only one solution; large meals throughout the day while the recommended food to intake consisted of meat, sugar and oil. The Akimichi family was happy with the side-effect; it wasn’t anything different from what they ate everyday anyways. And so they lived happily on…

Three generations passed; now the Akimich was of great renounce in Konoha. Not only did the clan flourish wonderfully, but each new generation of shinobi brought some new jutsu to the family. Now they were able to expand only a limb instead of the whole body and use great bursts of chakra to propel them into deadly attacks. Although their jutsu weren’t as powerful as that of the doujutsu of the Hyuuga or Uchiha, nor have the great speed and raw power of the Inuzuka, it can be said that the Akimichi held a position of their own as the most faithful and trusted clan in the village, a rank that they take up with honor and pride.

The human body in its natural state, however, could only go so far. Soon the time came when the Akimichi tried to create a stronger jutsu, they discovered that the chakra produced by the fat was too slow and too little. The normal amount of fat the body burns up was too little. In order to take their techniques to a higher level, the Akimichi produced a set of medicine pills that would allow them to obtain a temporary but phenomenal chakra growth. When taken, the pills forcefully consume all the fat in the user’s body in the matter of a few seconds. While this results in a sudden burst of gigantic chakra, the user’s body is seriously harmed and death could result. Because of this, the Akimichi clan only uses the medicine pills when it’s absolutely necessary.

Clan Description: The first and foremost thing that the Akimichi are known for is their larger than average body size. No Akimichi have been born small and lithe or with anything that comes close to resembling a trim figure. While the hereditary aspect plays a large part in their sturdy built, the most important factor comes from the Akimichi's life-style.

The clan is split into two sectors, the shinobi and the non-shinobi. Those who become genins and dedicate their life to mercenary work must maintain a constant reserve of fat in their body in order to use the clan techniques. Because of this, the Akimichi shinobis are greatly over-weight and have a large bulk. After each mission they would be seen in anywhere that serves a lot of oily, fatty food for a good price. The other Akimichi members, those who enjoy a normal, battle-less life, are somewhat slimmer than their shinobi side of the clan. Since they don't use jutsu and therefore doesn't need chakra, the non-shinobi members are free to work for whatever figure they wished. A rare few fights their way down from being obsese with a life-time supply of rabbit food, but the majority of the clan love the luxury of eating too much to worry about their appearance. The rare time an Akimichi is slim comes only when they've consumed a colored pill and have burned up all the fat in the body. Then their next mission would be to re-gain their old body back by eating as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. And if anyone's ever seen this done before, they would tell you that it's a truly amazing feat.

Since the Akimichi is not a bloodlimit clan, they care little about marriage and the genetic pool. Because of this, there is no set appearance for an Akimichi. Aside from being born with the trademark girth and size, the appearance of an Akimichi varies as greatly as the number of stars. The same goes for their personality as well; while the majority of the clan are laid-back, loyal and generous people, there's always the random angsty, introvent loner now and again.

An Akimichi wears every sort of clothing, so long as they are able to withstand a Multi-Size, or in rare cases, Super Multi-Size. Since the clan's ability lies in physical endurance and strength, the attire must also be able to handle rough conditions and not be worn out easily. Other than those two things, one's imagination can go wild on what to wear.

Clan Housing: The clan's housing consists of a large courtyard house. Rectangular in shape, the place is basically a large, open, long courtyard surrounded on all four sides by joined houses. All the rooms are single-leveled (walking up and down stairs isn't exactly a perk to an Akimichi) and has enough space for even the largest of the clan member. The doors of all the rooms are located on the inside of the structure and opens into the courtyard rather than out of the place. So one's neighbor is technically living right across you and next door. The whole structure is brick-based, the walls painted to a pale, soft brown while the window and doors are coated in white. There is only main entrance, a heavy double-doored thing centered squarely at the base of the rectangular structure. Passing through the door, one would immediately step into the paved courtyard and into Akimichi life. With an average of ten seperate families living within the tall walls, one can be sure that something is always happening behind those walls.

Clan Leadership: The Akimichi are a rather democratic clan. Each year at the beginning of winter, clan members are given the chance to be a candidate for the next year's leadership. Only those who are a jounin or vetern chuunin are allowed for the position. Unless announced otherwise, the current head is automatically put in contention with the others for next year's spot. When the time comes, certain members of the clan are allowed to vote for who they wish to take up the position. Genins and non-shinobis aged twenty or below does not have a chance to have their say. Candidates are also stripped of their voting power.

The votes would be counted and the leader decided that way. If a tie comes up between two candidates, the current head is given the deciding vote. If it's a tie between the new and residing head, the newcomer would be given a three month trial where their actions would be monitored and evaluated by the rest of the clan. If he or she passes the trial period without many problems, then they will continue to hold the head position until the next election. If the clan deems them too inexperienced then they would be asked to step down and the previous clan head re-take the position.

In case of emergency situations where the clan head is for some reason unable to take care of clan matters, then a temporary council of the six most experienced clan members fills in the spot until an election can be held.

Influenatial Clan Members:

Akimichi Zora (NPC): The residing clan head, Zora's a vetern jounin at the grand age of fifty-seven. Being one of the rare clan members who have taken a red pill and lived to tell the tale, the woman is respected not only for her fighting skills but also her unbiase judgement and fair solutions.

Clan Nindo: “True strength comes not from the body, but the heart.”

Clan Abilities: Akimichi Ninjutsu Tech Tree

Clan Item:Akimichi Medicine Pill

Akimichi Clan Specialist - When taken as Primary Archetype, gain an extra point in Reserve.
Primary: Chakra
Secondary: Own Choice
Tertiary: Own Choice
Stat Merit: +2 to Power, +1 to Stamina
Stat Flaw: -1 to Speed, -1 to Tactics, -1 to Intelligence

[songstress]

Aburame Clan

History:

The Aburame clan is one of the oldest families in the in the Fire Country. When Konohagakure was founded, they joined this newly formed shinobi group for promises of wealth and a respected position. The first Aburame shinobi became well known all across all Konoha for their incredible skills in various areas such as tactics and taijutsu, but that wasn’t the real reason they were made famous.

The kikai bugs that had been their partners, incorporated into them since before any of them could remember, were the source of their growing fame among the community of hidden leaf. Their abilities to sap chakra from their opponents brought fear and respect among their comrades and enemies on the battlefield. Meanwhile, being a part of a shinobi village led to greater abilities among the Aburame, as their chakra abilities grew.

How did they bond with insects? There is a legend, dating from before the creation of the clan all about the first Aburame. Aburame Zaemon was a man passionate by the insect way of life and generally peculiar, all around. When he came to fire country, seeking rare types of insects, his research made him discover a story about four giant bugs with legendary abilities. Each of those bugs had been sealed in 4 distinct locations that he needed to explore.

The four giant bugs supposedly represented a form of power as Zaemon the insect hunter decided to take it upon himself to look for each and every one of them. It was said that the one who was able to capture them would be granted their protection and powers. The first giant bug was Makushi, a 6-foot tall praying mantis. Capturing the creature became one of his greatest tasks yet, as the creature was able to use its arms to cut through trees and all the traps that were set for it. Using his knowledge of the fiend’s anatomy, Zaemon was able to create a trap that would hinder Makushi’s abilities to use its terrible slashing arms.

The second challenge was Wajudo the giant moth. Strangely, this bug didn’t offer any form of physical resistance but it was nearly impossible to catch it. This giant bug was incredibly fast and knew the forest like the bottom of her pocket. Zaemon couldn’t count on his tactics or speed to catch it. Zaemon prepared a rather ingenious plan and quietly observed the bug’s patterns for many weeks. Knowing exactly where Wajudo was running, he placed a net between two trees as she rushed into the trap and ended up being tied up and ensnared by the net.

The third challenge was in a dark cave. The scent of death traveled to his nostrils as he explored the underground cave. A cracking noise made him startle and fell on his behind as he turned on the light. Skulls, maggots, broken bones and spider webs all other the place. That was the den of Kashiga, the legendary spider. As he progressed down to the bottom of the cave, something intrigued him.

There was no sign of life or any kind of noise coming from the surrounding. His senses didn’t fail him; with a violent spin and dashed back to avoid sting from the spider. Kashiga was already here and advanced with her long legs trying to reach him and put him against the ground. Zaemon didn’t wait for being killed and kept on going down until his feet stomped on something.

All around him, eggs as far as the eyes could see. That was probably where Kashiga kept all her future children. Using the torch his hand, he pointed at the eggs room and the creature simply backed down and waited. How long did Zaemon stay in the cave? Nobody knew. Some said a few weeks, others said months, or maybe years. One thing was certain, after this long and patient hide and seek in darkness, he came out of the cave a changed man.

The last challenge was announced to be probably the hardest one yet. The stag beetle, Banzatsuia, was quite a sight to behold and unlike the other bugs was pretty confident of his offensive and defensive abilities. Zaemon knew that little trick wouldn’t do it this time. Zaemon decided to call on his new found allies to aid in the task. The three giants weren’t happy about battling one of their own, but they had sworn themselves into Zaemon’s service.

The web of Kashiga was used to ensnare Banzatsuia and Makushi terrible claws were used to make some marks on its impenetrable carapace while Wajudo served as a mount for Zaemon to find the weakest spot of the beetle. After long hours, Banzatsuia bowed down in submission.

The four giant bugs accepted him as their new master and offered him a gift. Zaemon advanced toward the hall where they guided him. Inside little ant-like insects were walking around and the bugs seemed to point in that direction. Not being afraid for his life, he stepped forward as the insects leapt upon him and began to eat into his body. After hours of agonizing, he stood up and he felt a connection with the little creatures crawling under his skin.

The little bugs even had a name from his new gained knowledge of the insects, they were called kikai bugs. Zaemon and his children followed the same ritual to become Aburame. However, they did so without fighting the four giant bugs who had became the guardians of the Aburame clan from that day forward.

Today, they have become quite well known all over Konoha, despite their tendency to speak little of their abilities and of their high mission success rate. Their actions spoke louder than words.

Clan description:

There is no real set style with the Aburame. They have been known to have diverse ranges of hair colors from black to blonde to the more outrageous hairstyles. Their eye colors can range from blue to brown and depending on the way they dress, their skin tones are from pallid to tan.

In normal daily life, clothing is loose and light, more suited for the forests and for their kikai companions. During ceremonies, they wear kimonos and for the purposes of addressing the elders with serious discussions and political enquiries, the clan heads wear robes of cotton, with their family designs and emblems on them. The elders wear heavier robes, which are made of canvas or wool, with their family logos as well as a few simple and plain patterns. Dark glasses have become very common in the recent years, however, and many are made for those who want them.

The kikai bugs:

The kikai bugs, also known as destruction bugs, are unique to the Aburame clan, they are very small and behave much like ants. Those insects are sustained on the host body’s chakra reserve but in exchange grant him incredible abilities. For instance, the Aburame can control his bugs to drain the chakra of his opponents.

Bonding ritual:

From birth, babies are brought to a secluded place where the bonding ritual occurs. The baby is put in the middle of a circle where the kikai bugs gather and penetrate into the baby’s body. The ritual is known to be quite painful but necessary to make them official members of the community. Most children fortunately do not remember their bonding ceremony. It has happened at times that some clan members decided against doing the clan ritual and had normal children. The clan doesn’t apply any strict laws against this, but their children would have no hope in interacting with the other clan members. Most families, therefore, do go through with the ceremony.

Location/Housing:

The clan lives not far from Konoha in the eastern part of the forest that surrounds the village. It is believed that they found the rare race of Kikai bugs there and interacted with them from now on. The Aburame estate could be considered a little village in itself. The houses look like huts and have many entrances. A larger hut in the center of the Aburame village is where the matriarch can be found, residing with her husband.

Each house is composed of basic rooms such as a living room, a kitchen and a number of bedrooms. They tend to have many children so having several bedrooms in each house is not uncommon.

The houses are made of earth and are mostly white with large holes serving as windows and a roof made of thatch. The well-insulated walls keep a warm temperature inside the homes. The kikai bugs hive can be found underground, spreading beneath a large portion of the village. The aboveground portion of the hive is quite large, standing 10 feet tall, and is usually crawling with billions of the little living beings.

Clan life:

The Aburame community is actually ruled by a matriarchy, meaning that the women are the leaders of the clan and the men are generally shinobi or soldiers. While it is not uncommon to see female clan members take on the role of shinobi, the males tend to be passive when he comes to the organization and ruling of the clan. Some older males though get to become elders, they are generally the most experienced warriors and help the matriarch in making her decisions regarding the shinobi aspects of the Aburame.

The small community is well organized between the people taking care of raising and nourishing the kikai bugs in a hive out of sight underground. The bugs are prepared for the bonding rituals for the newborn babies.

The Aburame tend to be rather calm because of the way that they were raised. Living in constant harmony with the ecosystem, they learn to listen to what’s going on around them. Unlike some stereotypes, the Aburame are not distant to people but are men of a few words and prefer to show that they care about people with actions.

While the Aburame can be found occasionally out of their estate, even people from Konoha are not welcome to their estate unless another clan member invites them. Only the Hokage is allowed inside the estate unescorted. Weddings can be made outside of the clan, as the children will most likely be compatible with the kikai bugs for the bonding ritual.

Loyalty to Leaf:

The Aburame are one of the oldest clana of Konoha and will never leave their village without a very good reason. They all follow the general ideal of Konoha and work as best they can for its prosperity. They will in no way ever harm their own country or village. An Aburame missing nin would not be unable to progress in the Aburame tech tree any further. This is due to the lack of training, as well as a lack of proper care for the insects, that only can be provided by specialists in the clan.

The Matriarch:

Aburame Masara
Age 75, high level jounin
This elderly woman has witnessed various events and is quite knowledgeable of the Aburame’s political life and shinobi aspect, serving Konoho. She has had a regular progression from genin to jounin and hasn’t shown any skills that went beyond any of the previous Aburame. Her wisdom is her greatest ability.

Archetype:

Aburame specialist
Special: Gains access to the Aburame tech tree. If this is taken as a Primary Archetype, the character gains one extra point in Reserves.
Primary: Mental or Physical
Secondary: Physical or Mental
Tertiary: Chakra
Description: A clan of people controlling the kikai bugs and talking to various insects. While mostly calm people, they can show various skills in different areas. The kikai bugs are living inside their bodies since birth because of the bonding ritual.
Stats merits: +2 Tactics, +1 Speed
Stats flaws: -2 Power, -1 Control

Clan skills/abilities:
The Aburame tech tree: Teaches the control and usage of the kikai bugs to do their master’s bidding.

[songstress]

Tatsumaki Clan of Sunagakure

Clan Archetype: Tatsumaki Clan Bloodline Specialist

Special: When taken as Primary Archetype, you get Kaze-Maji free.
Primary: Chakra
Secondary: Own Choice
Tertiary: Own Choice
Stat Merit: +1 to control, +1 to reserves, +1 to speed
Stat Flaw: -2 to strength, -1 to tactics
Note: Cannot be combined with the Human Tank archetype
Description: Shinobi born with the abilities of the Tatsumaki intent on making their wind based abilities stronger will take this archetype. Their ability to control the wind and harness it’s power for speed is unmatched by any others, though they tend to be fairly weaker physically when compared to a normal shinobi.

Clan History

The Tatsumaki clan is one of the oldest clans in the country. Its true origin is shrouded in myth and not even the oldest historical tomes detail how this unique clan was created; therefore it has been the cause of much speculation over the years. Many believe that the Tatsumaki family are descended from a spirit demi-god that was kicked out of the otherworld for annoying the higher beings with his pranks and jokes, all of his unearthly powers locked away in a runic stone for safekeeping. Punished by being turned into a mortal, he had no choice but to forget his carefree ways of the past and try and make do with his earthly limitations.

As a human he established himself by the mountain range, in part of the desert where the windstorms were frequent and a breeze always flew to remind himself of his true nature. There he married a mortal woman and began a family, which ended up growing and growing until a clan was formed. For centuries the Tatsumaki survived and found a new life by instituting a hunting business, for they were the best and fastest hunters in the entire desert, able to catch a fleeing jackrabbit on foot.

The shinobi were developed due to the emerging nature of a new advanced bloodline within their clan only. An ancient stone rune sits in the center of their housing, the only remaining item from their past. This stone that contained the spirit’s power lay stagnant for centuries, until finally over being in contact with humans for generations, the power inside finally began leaking out and affecting the denizens of the clan. Over the course of many years, some children began to show signs of losing corporeality after being in proximity with the stone. They found they were able to merge themselves with the wind; this became a serious problem, as most of them did not know how to reverse the process. Some children literally lost themselves in the wind, unable to distinguish themselves from the very air they breathed, leaving behind their bodies as empty shells. However those that survived were able to use their will and their chakra to return to physical form. Those that returned from the experience had quite a story to tell. Some of the children heard faint whisperings, some heard screams, and others heard lovely singing. All of them however saw the world in a completely different light, as if the air around them suddenly took a life of it’s own.

As they studied this new ability it became apparent that many more children were developing this ability at a much faster rate, sometimes only minutes after coming into contact with the stone. The first generation of those that learned to control it were quick to set up place where the kids could learn to control and harness this power. It was then that the Tatsumaki clan split into two parts; the part that still ran the hunting business and the part that controlled the schools for the children. These schools were very important as many lost their lives in the early times when they did not fully understand their power, and needed guidance on controlling it.

The clansmen in charge of these schools found that they were useful for things other than just controlling the power. Wanting to create a strong force to represent their clan they dedicated themselves upon developing this ability further, calling it kaze ma-ji or “wind merging.”

Clan Description

The Tatsumaki are a moderately small clan of about 60 people that is heavily based around tradition. All are dedicated to their nature-based religion. Every Tatsumaki child is brought to the ceremonial stone in the center of the housing complex at age five. In this ritual the child is determined whether or not is has the kaze ma-ji bloodline. If the test is positive the child is sent to the clan’s schools, to then proceed onto the academy. If the test is negative then they usually join the family business.

The family business, a hunting company, offers meat, pelts, and other wares from animals found in the desert that are highly desirable and distributed throughout the country. Coats made from jackrabbit fur, cloth from snakeskin and even scorpion poison are just a few of the things that they specialize in. The business is small but thriving.

The Tatsumaki are the only clan in Sand that have their own separate school apart from the academy, where very young children with the kaze ma-ji (usually between the ages of 5-10) are sent to learn how to manage their untamed bloodline. The main reason for this was due to many children early on when the bloodline first appearing simply disappeared into the wind and never returned, or had a hard time keeping hold of their identities while in ethereal form. The training mainly focuses on building up the strength of your mind and will power rather than any sort of physical training, with deep meditation being the main tactic. The school is taught and run by some of the earlier generations of the people with this bloodline who have had years to master it. These schools greatly reduced the number of children who were lost every year and now it is a very rare occurrence. After the child is deemed ready they are then sent to the Ninja Academy.

Tatsumaki Religion

The religion has no formal name, and has been around for aeons. Once there was a time where every inhabitant in the wind country followed the faith, though in modern times the number has dwindled to a small clan in the Village of Hidden Sand, the Tatsumaki.

The essential belief is that the world of the spirits and gods coexists alongside that of the world of mortals. The only thing separating the two worlds from coming together is the air, or more specifically, the wind. Under normal circumstances the veil of wind cannot be penetrated by a mortal soul, that is except for the special abilities of the Tatsumaki.

The entire mortal realm was created by a being known as Chizume. A native of the spirit world, she created the physical world on a whim for excitement. Humans and animals were created and lived out their daily lives and brought peace to Chizume’s eternal life; she looked at all of the living beings as her creations and loved them dearly. The other spirits however didn’t share her view, many of them found toying and interfering with their lives an entertaining hobby, until Chizume was forced to separate the two realms. She created a veil between both the worlds, keeping the lesser and more mischievous spirits away from her creations. The veil to the mortals would soon be known as the wind.

Activating their bloodline is simply referred to as “crossing the veil.” The Tatsumaki believe that using their advanced bloodline allows them to cross behind the veil into spiritual territory, where they draw their powers from. Understandably they are nervous and careful about treading into territory that no mortal has been to before; therefore they pay homage to the inhabitants across the veil to appease them. In this way the religion serves as a mutual benefaction to both parties; the Tatsumaki gain the use and power of the veil while the spirits gain energy and spiritual power from those that worship to them.

Giving the spirits the reverence they need is an hour long process, in which the Tatsumaki will find a peaceful spot and sit without moving for an hour in a kneeling position. Incense sticks are burned so that the smoke will mingle with the air and leave a trail for the spirits to follow.

The world behind the veil looks very much the same as the mortal veil but with a few differences. The most obvious is that air currents will be visible to the merged Tatsumaki, as will the spiritual energy that every human has, which is shown by a constantly swirling green ball located in a person’s chest. The energy burns brighter the healthier a person is, and weaker as they near death, making some Tatsumaki follow the path of a medical ninja to take advantage of this aspect.

Tatsumaki Spirits

An aspect of the Tatsumaki’s special relation to the wind as well as their religion gives them the unique ability to sense and converse with the ethereal spirits that live within the winds. A windy day may be normal to most shinobi but to a Tatsumaki it is a symphony of voices and songs. Most of the low level spirits are simply tricksters and will only perform a few duties if summoned, for they don’t care enough about humans to learn the language. Some spirits with the ability to speak the tongue of humans have been known to befriend the Tatsumaki and as such it is non uncommon for then to have spiritual companions throughout their life.

The spirits in question are simply nature spirits, and have nothing to do with the world of the dead or anything like that. The spirits being made of air can take any form they wish, and so it is difficult to describe them properly as each one is very different with their own personalities. It is a general rule of thumb to simply ignore all the whispers and voices save for that of your spiritual companion, as most of it is nonsense and can drive a person mad if it’s not shut out at an early age. Indeed there have been rare cases of Tatsumaki going insane from all the millions of voices speaking to them at all times.

Not all of the nature spirits are quite so mischievous and harmless though, the existence of a darker side is present and not all Tatsumaki have been successful in distancing themselves from it. There are some spirits that thrive on a human companion that can act as their link to the physical realm, and promise endless power and strength beyond any skill of any other clan member. Any member of the clan that follows the directions of one of these spirits is considered a traitor and is usually imprisoned or killed immediately.

Traditions

~Every Tatsumaki child usually undergoes the ritual in which they determine whether or not they have the bloodline by the age of five. During such a ritual, the entire clan will be witness to the event. Afterwards if the result is positive, a celebration occurs.

~Meditation is a core aspect to the clan. Keeping one’s focus on their mind is extremely difficult to those that have to deal with thousands of spirits chattering at once while they’re merged. Not only this, but keeping a hold of their identity can also be a problem. In very rare cases, malevolent spirits have been known to completely overwhelm those with weak minds and actually hijack their bodies. For this reason, meditation is not only encouraged, it is required to those with the bloodline. Every morning unless on a mission, it is expected that all Tatsumaki spend at least 3 hours in meditation.

~Every year there is a festival that lasts for a week, in which all the Tatsumaki will gather around the base of their rune and celebrate their good fortune. Many spirits mingle in with the festivities which brings both worlds closer together.

~When a Tatsumaki dies, their body is cremated and their ashes scattered about the wind from atop a high cliff, with all the clan present to be witness to the ceremony.

Clan's Way of the Ninja: “Let the wind guide you to your destiny”

Clan Housing

All Tatsumaki live together in their own neighbourhood built right upon the base of a mountain located within Sunagakure. It’s a fairly large establishment; with all the residence areas build in a circular pattern around the ancient rune that is so important to their society. The houses fairly plain: laid with brown bricks the buildings are constructed to give them a dome shape to protect the building from the fierce winds at all angles. With all the buildings so close together it means that many of the Tatsumaki see each other daily and interact closely together, ensuring that no family is ever outside of contact from the others. The Tatsumaki training school is also located within the center, built right next to the rune so that the students can gather around it for their meditation exercises, for it is believed to help in clearing the mind.

To protect the clan’s welfare a constant genjutsu has been cast around the entire housing area, to make it appear as if it is just a pile of sandy dunes. The genjutsu can be penetrated with Kai, but only if the exact location is known.

Clan’s Appearance: Generally the Tatsumaki people are fairly dark skinned and are dominantly blonde although red and brown is also not uncommon to see among the clan. Living near constant winds they usually wear clothes that are tightly wrapped around their bodies, as the robes tend to flap annoyingly in the high winds. Despite the winds though it is always quite warm and the people are not shy about wearing small cut clothing to stay cool. Strict exercise is highly encouraged as those who have the bloodline tend to be lazy at times and allow the wind to carry them wherever they go rather than running or walking. Blue eye colour is the most common trait among Tatsumaki, with green being the most rare, which is considered a sign of a strong bloodline.

Clan Skills: Tatsumaki Clan List