Yanagisawa Mariko

During the great war against the Enemy, not every ninja clan took sides. Some remained neutral, supporting neither the Council nor the dark young ninja who would become known as the Enemy. The Yanagisawa were one such clan, who devoted their chi-fueled explosive expertise to neither side in the war. When the forces of the Council eventually emerged victorious, non-participants in the struggle such as the Yanagisawa Clan were treated harshly by those clans who had fought and suffered so much against the Enemy while clans like the Yanagisawa hid behind neutrality.

The Yanagisawa have long been considered traitors and cowards by many of the Council clans, despite an official Council ruling that as a neutral Clan, the explosive-ninjas could not be considered allies of the Enemy. Nevertheless, despite the Council's opinion, most ninjas distrust (if not hate) the Yanagisawa as a result, refusing to work with them as much as possible and ostracising them socially.

Mariko, the daughter of the Yanagisawa clan leader, has taken this prejudice to heart, hiding the inferiority complex all Yanagisawa feel behind a facade of uncaring, sarcastic cynicsm. Despite that, Mariko would dearly love to find friends among her ninja peers, and strives for acceptance of her skillful chi-explosive abilties by her Council-ninja peers, knowing that her family could be so much more than barely-accepted ninja outcasts, and vowing to prove their (and her) worth.