Ahira Henshin - Sunagakure Genin

Ahira has dark skin and dark hair. However, her eyes are a very amber-gold color. Sometimes varying to pea green on occasion or if in the right light. Her body frame is slender, but curves in all the right ways. Ahira’s dark hair flows out long and is eye-catching - though she will wear it up in a ponytail. Sometimes, if you catch it in the right light, Ahira’s hair has a dark purple tint to it. Normally she’s dressed in a medium gray long sleeved turtleneck, a black sleeveless bodysuit worn underneath. Other times Ahira opts for a black sleeveless bodysuit, a tan scarf around her neck that she uses to hide her face on missions. She wears the standard ninja boots, but they come up to about mid shin and she wears white shin protectors with black leather strips around them. She also wears arm bands of the same material as her scarf which are also wrapped in black leather strips to secure them on her arms. Occasionally Ahira will even go so far as to wear a bright orange do-gi top or a black shirt with a white butterfly on the chest over the bodysuit. Ahira wears her Sunagakure head protector around her right leg at the mid thigh region. Most of her equipment can be easily accessed in seconds on her body, most in pouches, holsters, or strapped to her back. When she's traversing the desert, she wears a black hooded robe-like outfit to shield her from the sun.

Ahira was born in Konohagakure, but she doesn’t remember much of it. She can barely remember her parents and that doesn’t help much seeing as how Ahira doesn’t even remember their names! The only thing she really remembers at all from that long ago in her past is the fact that she originally hailed from Fire Country and that around the age of three, she and her parents fled the country. Why they fled the country, she still doesn’t know or understand how it ended up happening. One thing that stuck clear in her mind was the immense pain wracking her body and the feeling that something else was currently inside of her own body - something foreign and menacing.

As her family fled the country into the lands of Sunagakure, Ahira’s only comfort during the chaos and pain was the warmth of her father’s back as she clung on to him for dear life. Fortunately they were able to get safe passage thanks to a friend, but that was all they could afford the Henshin family of three. Once they reached the outskirts of Sunagakure no Sato, her family kissed and hugged Ahira, telling her how much they loved her. She could remember her father’s strong, protective embrace and her mother’s gentle kisses and caresses. Though at three, when her parents told her they were going to a town nearby to get food and supplies and asked that Ahira stay there where it was safe, the young child had no reason to refuse.

She waited and waited and waited…but her family never came back for her.

Eventually someone took her in to Sunagakure no Sato. It was a man who asked why such a pitiful looking child was stranded outside the village. At first Ahira didn’t want to follow him inside. She was worried her parents would come back and they would not find her where they had asked her to remain. The man, instead of leaving her, decided to sit outside with her and wait. Three days passed and still no word or sign of her parents. Ahira – tired, hungry, and sad – finally followed the man in to Sunagakure no Sato.

The man’s name was Jinnai, though that was all the name he gave her. He was a peculiar looking man with a strong physique and an even more set jaw. His black, beedy looking eyes seemed menacing, but Ahira was able to look passed all of that. Instead, Ahira would poke fun at his wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. The man called her impertinent and she just called him old – both laughing at the other after a moment of controlled silence passed between them. Ahira loved Jinnai and the same could be said of the old man of her.

Thanks to Jinnai’s efforts, Ahira didn’t have to attend the Ninja Academy and worry whether or not the child would fall flat on her face during the ordeal. She picked up techniques quickly and efficiently, especially in regards to anything that involved Taijutsu. The bronze-skinned girl was a fighter, through and through, and nothing thrilled her more than close-quarter-combat. In all honesty, the only other really interesting technique that Ahira had an affinity for was jutsus involving transformation and fire. It hadn’t occurred to Jinnai that she was in possession of a Tailed Beast sealed deep within her body. However, at Ahira's exhibition to adapting to - and picking up - jutsus easily, he started to dig into her background.

Apparently Ahira's family had fled Konohagakure in order to keep their child safe from the arms of those in Fire Country. Fearing the last great tailed beast, Naruto Uzumaki, and the damage it entailed, they wished to wipe out poor Ahira from the face of the map. Best to extinguish a risk before it got out of control and caused more harm than good later, right? Well Ahira's parents wanted no part in any of it and fled the country - the risk of being hunted - in order to keep their daughter safe. Upon Jinnai's discovery, he opted to keep the news a secret from Ahira. She need not know and so long as the Tailed Beast remained sealed within her - dormant - it would not cause any inherent harm to herself or those around her.

Soon, Ahira graduated from the Ninja Academy and was going to celebrate the joyous occasion with her guardian. But, when she arrived home, she was horrified to see her house completely in ruins. The house looked like it had been hit with a tornado, or worse. Photos were destroyed, the fabric was torn to shreds, and there were holes all over the house. There had definitely been a battle. Frightened and barely able to keep her emotions in check, Ahira raced out of her house and ignored all the questions the people of Sunagakure no Sato had to ask her. She had to find Jinnai.

But it was already too late. By the time she got out of the village, a group of people were bringing back Jinnai’s body. It looked as if someone had carved him up with a butcher knife and his black eyes, beedy as they were, now lifeless – the great ninja who had protected her was now gone; presumably killed by a missing-nin who’d managed to get into Sunagakure and challenged him to battle.

Ahira only got to touch his hand before they prepared him for burial. It was on this day that Ahira officially became an orphan. She was eleven years old.

The night of Jinnai’s burial, Ahira stared at his grave in silence. She hadn’t shed one tear during the funeral. But now, she shed her tears freely. The only person who’d ever seen her cry was the man now buried beneath her and so, just as it always had been in the past, Ahira allowed only Jinnai to see her crying. At that moment, Ahira swore she would not allow herself to depend on anyone. Attachments made the heart vulnerable and believing in hope. She also promised herself that she would never allow herself to cry in front of anyone again. She would rather bite her own tongue and bleed to death.

“I, Ahira Henshin, swear before you, Jinnai, that if I shed a single tear in front of another person ever again, I will follow them, love and care for them, and protect them until the day I die. Just like how I should have been protecting you when this happened.”

On that night, something awakened inside of her: a dark, sinister voice that purred into both her ear and inside of her soul - telling her to let go of the rage burning inside of her like an out of control flame. Ahira quieted the voice as best she could, biting back the tears as the pain assaulted her from all over. The rain continued to drum down on her; the only sound to be heard throughout all of Sunagakure.

Five years have passed since Jinnai’s death and the promise she made to Jinnai is still in effect. She has neither depended on anyone nor has she cried in front of anyone since that day. She refused to get close to any one person for fear of the monster inside of her taking control. There were times when she would lose herself completely and Ahira was forced to flee to the desert, away from all known human life, and tango with the beast inside of her. This monster she had come to learn was the Two-Tailed Monster Cat. The voice haunted her dreams and laughed as she walked through the village in the daytime - reminding her that every one knew of her origins but her.

Ahira was determined to live her life on her terms and refused to let anyone get in her way. She was a spirit that was not meant to be broken and she longed to spread her wings and soar high into the skies like Jinnai wanted her to. But now she wonders what became of her parents and why, in the end, did they have to flee Konoha Village. And if Konoha was such a terrible place - and her parents are, in fact dead - then what was to stop her from destroying her birth place in a simple gesture of vengeance. The feline in her mind thought it was a grand idea and even hinted that Jinnai's death was, in fact, linked to the secret burrowed in her body.

Vengeance would be hers.