Nara Clan

Nara Clan Symbol

Basic Information

Clan Name: Nara Clan, 奈良一族
Country of Origin Hi no Kuni
Current Location: Hi no Kuni
Clan Village: Konohagakure no Sato
Clan Starter: Nara Shikanobu; Shikanobu is frequently credited as being the first man to master the art of shadow manipulation, so he is credited with being the Clan Starter despite there being no clear original leader of the clan.
Clan Head: Nara Hiei
Clan Age: Old; The Nara Clan and its people were united before the formation of ninja villages. The Nara began as simple herders and doctors, and have flourished over many centuries of practice.
Clan Status: Well-known; Respected

History

Alternate clan symbol; Often appears on items of clothing

Origins

The Nara clan was born long before the leaf ever existed. The original clan was a group of like-minded deer herders. It was a cluster of exactly three families that grew into an entire clan over the span of six generations. By the time the leaf formed, the Nara Clan had established themselves as wild doctors, who specialized in the medicines to be born of the deer they raised. They were taken on by the budding village as doctors, and became a staple family in Konoha’s history. This addition also increased the physical size of the village, as the village grew to encompass their deer herding grounds, a specialized forest to their sole use.

The growing ninja movement only furthered their sciences. As battles began to be commonplace, the once simple herders were called on to create antidotes for the men and women who succumbed to enemy poisons. Naturally, creating the antidotes caused them to figure out the compositions of most poisons they encountered, and soon the Nara expanded their art to the creation of deadly and inventive poisons, many of whom could kill silently and without pain, aiding in the assassinations that began to be popular. The deer of their forest provided everything they needed, and the forest herbs gave them the rest. Soon, a Nara child was as good for their poisons as their medicines. Their art grew, and the Nara Clan began to train their children to fight, creating field surgeons and hand to hand combat specialists. The change of profession had begun to shift.

The first famous shinobi from the Nara Clan was Nara Kometsu. He began as a medical shinobi, using deer medicines in time with the ninja arts of healing, inventing several of those methods himself. In a battle that would lead to the first Great Shinobi War, Kometsu was captured and taken prisoner. He was tortured to reveal the medicinal secrets, and enemy troops tried to press him into service as a doctor to Konoha’s enemy. Refusing to help, he was locked up in a dungeon for eight years, and was presumed dead by the time the war ended.

After the close of the war, Kometsu was still imprisoned, but was broken. His brethren had never sought him out, and after years in solitary, the once genius man began to lose his grip on reality. Losing his mind to his captivity, Kometsu discovered the secret to his escape. Without hands free to make seals, or weapons to fight with, Kometsu learned to fight with the only thing he was given: the very darkness of his cell. Kometsu invented the precursor to the Kagemane, the Kage Shibari. Two years after the close of the war, Kometsu escaped from the dungeon, killing every guard, and several prisoners, along the way. Those who survived trickled back and told the story of his “greatness” while his family, the Nara Clan, grew divided.

Birth of the Shadowmasters

Suddenly, there was this great weapon, but Kometsu was so changed, so violent. The clan nearly had a civil war over whether they should learn this method. One half argued it was a necessary tool, and that no enemy would dare face them if they controlled the very darkness. The rest of the clan argued that the method would spawn violence and hatred in their family, which they did not want. They enjoyed the clan’s peaceful identity.

It was then that Nara Shikanobu, Kometsu’s younger brother, learned the method from Kometsu in secret. He perfected the art of commanding his shadow without being crazy or violent. Shikanobu used the shadow not to kill or injure, but to paralyze deer in the forest and safely harvest their antlers. Once displayed to the clan that the technique was not only not a weapon, but in fact would aid his people, the clan came around and accepted this new way of life. They only requested that it not be a tool of war, nor should they flaunt it. The Kage Shibari, later to evolve into the famous Kagemane, would remain their secret.

The Shadowmasters were born.

Shikanobu’s choice would launch the Clans on a path they could never turn back from, and many regretted the decision to claim the title of Shadowmasters. Elevated from the position of Deer Herders, men and women of the Nara Clan were now expected to fight alongside shinobi from Konoha and die in battle for a land that wasn’t entirely their own. As before, Shikanobu proudly declared his allegiance to Konoha, forming one of the deadliest tri-attack teams that Konoha had ever produced alongside Akimichi Chozaru and Yamanaka Inomoto. Their battle formation, Ino-Shika-Cho, is still feared worldwide today.

Over the years, various shinobi were born that expanded on the idea of the shadow and created new ways of fighting, but the Clan as a whole shifted little. It managed to maintain all of its branches of study, growing more diverse in its Medicinal, Poison, and Shadow arts. It was Nara Gensai, a famed poet and philosopher, who first managed to visist the Summon plane of the Deer, and bring back knowledge of their animal guardians. The forest itself had created a copy of its reaches in the Spiritual Plane, a proof of reward for the clan’s unyielding generations of faithful service. Some even began to summon Deer to fight for them, which led many philosophers to believe that summoned creatures are born of a spiritual bond with a person and a place, not by a single shinobi.

Modernization

The Nara’s next tradition would begin, in the largest way, with Nara Shikamaru. Most assuredly the most famous of Nara shinobi, Shikamaru was praised for his genius in battle. He was one of the greatest tacticians Konoha ever spawned, but he was not the only one. Soon it was seen that the genes of the Nara Clan had been sufficiently thinned by war and famine and illness, so much so that every member of the Nara Clan had a high mental capacity, although the gift was favored in men more than women. So the nara clan, in addition with their now inherently deadly series of jutsu, carried a strong tactical advantage over most shinobi. The clan began to change then, growing seriously into espionage and assassinations.

Another split formed in the clan.

While no Nara would speak out against Shikamaru or his methods while he was alive, over the forty years following Shikamaru’s death, the Nara Clan would undergo a political war, with the “Naturalist” faction urging a return to their old ways, and the “Progressive” faction supporting their new way of life. The split would destroy the strength of the clan, and spark a civil war between them. Their forest became red with the blood of their kin, and was almost completely transformed from the safe haven it used to be.

It was then that Nara Cenarus joined the clan in the most unusual of ways. Reaching the pinnacle of his ability to summon, Cenarus released Koudaikou, the monstrous deer summon who was first of his kind. His plan was to summon Koudaikou and order him to eliminate both warring halves of the clan. His plan failed, and he was sentenced to death for treason against his clan, but Cenarus laughed. At his execution, Cenarus was granted his last words.

They saved his life, and were etched on his tombstone after he died of natural causes many years later. His tomb is among one of the most honored graveyards in the nara forest. His words read:

”Yes. Unite and kill me, so that together you may see that both ways exist as part of one being, whole and unstoppable. Never forget.”

The clan united, and while they worked almost entirely as two segregated clans, they elected a leader who was friendly to both halves to direct their clan (Cenarus denied the honor himself, but remained as an advisor to the new leader). Slowly, the two ideals began to merge again, and the clan was ready to serve konoha better. Then the NCIA swept into their lives.

Kumo’s invasion once again divided the clan, although this time, the greatest of majorities favored the resistance. Any Nara defecting to the NCIA was labeled traitor and exiled under pain of death. Many Nara, however, were sent out as spies to destroy the NCIA from within. The only people who had the list of spies were the leader and his hand picked war council. None of them survived the war.

As such, Nara relations were strained when Nara members returned home claiming to have been spies or assassins working for the clan. Many were wrongly exiled, and many were liars, traitors who were later hung. Many of the children were let to return, saying that it was not their fault, even if their parents were traitors. As the clan healed, the forest, which had served as a Resistance Haven during the war, slowly emptied, and life returned to normal, spawning a new host of shinobi to lead their clan…

Abilities

The Nara have been known for centuries for the art of Shadow Manipulation. Just as infamous the Clan members' incredible intellects and unparalleled acumen for strategy in battle. More recently, the Nara have become known for their medical and poison-making abilities.

Clan Culture

Physical Traits

While clansmen can come in any shape or size, the Nara's characteristics are pretty hard to miss. Traditionally, Nara Clan members have dark hair and eyes that range from dark browns to pure black. The more exotic colors are far more rare and have been almost entirely bred out of their genepool by war and famine. Nara men typically wear their hair in a top knot, and their women generally follow suit if they are pursuing a life as a ninja. More domestic Nara tend to wear their hair down, as the topknot is a sign of a warrior.

Clothing

The Nara have no real distinct clothing options, and instead almost always try to blend in. Their vests or shirts may occasionally carry the clan emblem, but Nara attempt to attract as little attention as possible.

Outlook

The Nara Clan sits in the middle of reclusive and helpful. They constantly supply Konoha with poisons and medicines to better do their jobs, but the Nara never allow anyone near their forests without special permission. They guard their secrets carefully, and expect everyone to respect their isolation on that matter. Despite this trait, there is always a Nara present when big decisions are being made, and they are more than eager to fight for Konoha's defense.

Professions

The Nara Clan was first and foremost a clan of Deer Herders, so those who do not enter the Ninja way of life find this to be their calling. Several others find lives of mediocrity as doctors and veterinarians. Those who show an aptitude for molding chakra are moved into the Shinobi lifestyle and are taught the secrets of their clan, but very few families push their children into that life if they wish to do otherwise since they have a plethora of options within the clan.

Estates

The Nara Clan make their home in their Forest, aptly called the Nara Clan Firest. A small village has been built there over the years with an estate building. The Nara Clan also has an official estate building in Konoha proper, but that is considered more of their workplace or as a temporary place to stay when business demands it. Almost the entire clan lives in the forest.

Notable Clan Members

Shikaku and Shikamaru

Sennin

• Nara Shikanobu
  

Status: Deceased
Alias: The Shadowmaster
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kagemane
Information: Shikanobu was promoted post-mortem his position of Sennin, but is widely regarded as the Clan's progenitor. He was the first to master the Kagemane and its related shadow manipulation without succumbing to the madness that took his brother. Without him, the clan would never have become what it is today.

• Nara Cenarus
  

Status: Deceased
Alias: None
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kuchiyose
Information: Cenarus was granted his title of Sennin before death, as a token of his service to the clan. It was Cenarus who mastered the Summoning of Deer, and was first able to pull the Deer Lord into our realm of existence. His actions once saved the Clan from certain destruction, and he has been honored ever since.

• Nara Shikamaru
  

Status: Deceased
Alias: None
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kagemane | Battle Strategy
Information: Regarded as one of the most intelligent shinobi to ever live, Shikamaru hid his genius behind his laziness until the death of his mentor launched him into the realm of legendary shinobi. His ability to think on his feet has never been matched by another living shinobi.

Jounin

• Nara Komatsu
  

Status: Deceased
Alias: The Mad Shadow | The Witch Doctor
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kagemane | Medical
Information: Kometsu was Kagemane's inventor. He crafted the jutsu out of the darkness of his cell where he was kept for several years. Using the jutsu, however, drove him slowly mad until he was only a shell of his former self. Thus he was never granted the title and honors that his brother held, despite being the more talented of the two.

• Nara Shikaku
  

Status: Deceased
Alias: None
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kage Kubishibari | Battle Strategy
Information: Father of Nara Shikamaru, and vicious combatant in his own right, Shikaku was one of the most fearsome ninja the Nara ever created. He was immortalized by his sacrifice during the Ten-Tails War. His plan ultimately brought success to the ninja army, and he delivered it to his son at the cost of his own life.

• Nara Hiei
  | Alive
  

Alias: Herald of Tomorrow
Gender: Male
Specialization: Kagemane | Battle Strategy
Information: Hiei is the 34th Head of the Nara Clan. He claimed his title despite being so young, for he reminded most of the clan of Shikamaru himself. Hiei is impulsive, but is incredibly bright, and looks to the Clan's future, not its past, for answers.

• Nara Shikanto
  

Status: Alive
Alias: The Silent Sentinel
Gender: Male
Specialization: Medical | Poison
Information: Shikanto was the other candidate for Clan Head. He lost to Hiei, who championed the future and was able to sway support with his charisma. Shikanto is a proponent of the old ways, and is a master in the Medical and Poison arts the Nara originally were famous for.

PC Members

• Nara Kaidomaru
• Nara Shikahiro
• Nara Jin

NPC Members

• Nara Yoshikiro
• Nara Yoshimatsu
• Nara Gensai
• Nara Arashi