Kinmu Chichi was originally born to simple farmers from the Land of Earth, fleeing to the Land of Lightning to avoid the war in their homeland. Unfortunately, they fled from one war right into another. Chichi was still an infant at the time, and the Great Shinobi War was still raging, but the one who planned to eventually become the First Raikage was already gaining influence with the other ninja groups, due to his great power and charismatic personality. Yotsuki Raiga was his name. He had vowed to bring order and peace to the Land of Lightning, and many people, tired of the constant chaos, death, and horrors of war, were lending their support to this man. Chichi's parents, looking for protection in the shadow of Raiga, gathered with many other civilians and hoped the growing army of ninja would lead them to a peaceful future.
When the Eight-Tailed Beast was encountered, Raiga bound the creature with an extremely powerful Jutsu — Lightning Release: Eight-Fold Thunder Mountain Chains. Raiga prepared to seal it in one of his most loyal and skilled companions, a Jounin-level ninja named Kusanago Ro. Though Raiga trusted his friend, he began to question his decision more and more. At the last moment, the would-be Raikaga realized that putting the power of a Bijuu in the hands of an adult might lead to Ro being corrupted by that same power. He did not wish to see his good friend turned into a villain, and thus decided he would secretly direct the Seal — and the Eight-Tailed Ox-Ogre — into the body of a nearby infant. Someone who was raised with that power, who understood it and its responsibilities, would be a far more useful and balanced Jinchuuriki than an adult who had their own views, their own values, and their own ideas of how to use a Bijuu's power for personal gain. An adult would not see their new-found power as part of him or herself in the same way that a child who grew up with it would. An adult would view it as a tool.
Thus, Yotsuki Raiga turned his gaze on the crowd of people standing at a distance, watching as the Eight-Tailed Beast was prepared to be sealed away… And he found among them three infants in the arms of their mothers. He decided he would have to choose one to become a Jinchuuriki, and not his friend as he had planned. There was no time to interview the parents and determine what sort of people they were, how they would raise the child, or anything else. He knew nothing of each child's heritage. He just had to choose one. He had to choose one to bear the terrible power of a Bijuu, and to become a weapon for the Land of Lightning… And he had to choose one to maybe, just maybe, bring peace and light to his homeland.
He picked Kinmu Chichi. The Bijuu and all of its Chakra were sealed away inside of the baby girl. Pehraps he hoped that a female would have a touch of gentleness and empathy that could benefit her and others in life. Maybe it was just random. But from that day on, Chichi's destiny was intertwined with that of the Eight-Tailed Beast… Raiga claimed that something had gone wrong with the Sealing, and that the Bijuu's Chakra had willingly gone to the child instead of its intended destination. Though this was intended to make people feel that there was nothing that could have been done, and to keep his friend from knowing the would-be Raikage's doubts about him, in the end it made things much more difficult. The people who would make up the population of Kumogakure once it was formed, as well as Kusanago Ro himself, felt betrayed. Further, Ro had been looking forward to having the power of a Bijuu. He craved it. He felt he deserved to be the Jinchuuriki.
Chichi grew up being treated like a traitor. She was able to stay with her parents at first, and though she was generally optimistic and cheerful, she wondered why her mother and father were always so sad and so tired-looking… She had no idea the kinds of things they dealt with on a daily basis from the other families, and the ninja who guarded everyone. She was kept away from other children mostly, though she sometimes managed to sneak out to play with them. These ventures typically did not end well, but Chichi never gave up hope that the next kid or group of kids would be nicer and want to play with her. Or the next group. Or the next group. Or the next…
Chichi never found that kid or group of friends who would treat her with respect or acceptance. She was watched all the time by guards, though she was often unaware of them. Eventually, she was forced into training at around 7 years old, when her parents, and many others, were killed in an avalanche. She was told she was expected to grow strong to protect the entire Land of Lightning. This was an immense burden on top of the grief she was suffering from losing her only family. Raiga was off fighting against the unruly pirates at the Shattered Shore, or he would have seen to her emotional well-being, and compassionate training. She didn't know why she was being treated like scum, yet at the same time the ninja had such high expectations for her. Why was she so special that she could protect an entire country and all the people in it? They told her it was because the Land of Lightning was her home, and so she HAD to do so, because any other ninja would do the same thing for their people. But she had never been treated like one of the people. She had been treated like an outsider, or a villain. She did not understand.
Still, Chichi remained optimistic. She told herself that if she did as she was told, and became the powerful ninja that she was expected to be, that people would treat her differently. She just had to prove herself to them! And so she trained hard to become a ninja. And she was terrible at it. Though she grew strong physically, and never seemed to run out of energy, picked up the skills expected of her, and so on, she was always being berated for being slow-witted. She was exceptionally poor at perceiving and countering Genjutsu, and just didn't seem to be displaying any of the qualities expected of a Jinchuuriki. No matter how hard her trainers pushed her, she just didn't seem to be making progress as quickly as they wished. The idea behind training her early was to obtain a suitable weapon to be used in the Clan Wars. But with the would-be Raikage leading the way to a union between various Clans, it looked as though the weapon might not be necessary after all…
Still, as a safe-guard, it was decided to continue her training. For one, they did not wish for the Jinchuuriki to be weak enough for an enemy to steal her away or easily defeat her, and there was no telling what the future might hold for these Clans who were only just now starting to organize themselves. Finally, Chichi reached the equivalent of a Genin in skill level, and was able to perform all the tests required of her adequately for a normal ninja… Though not for a Jinchuuriki. They still had had no luck in getting her to draw out the Bijuu's Chakra. As far as they could tell, the Seal was still holding at its original strength from 10 years prior. A testament to the would-be Raikage's strength. However, Yotsuki Raiga, who had placed that Seal, had been slain while fighting against three enemy ninja named Dead Hand, Dead Heart, and Dead Eye. Even with his legendary Lightning Release Armor, the combined might of these three had overwhelmed him. And now all the Clans lay exposed to the mercy of the Dead Brothers and anyone else who cared to start killing them. And Chichi was nowhere near ready.
It was decided by some of the more experienced Jounin, who had not trained her and thus had a rather tenuous grasp on what Chichi's skill level was at, to send the Jinchuuriki to the frontlines to face the Dead Brothers. Only by destroying them utterly could they ward off the image that the Clans were weak. But Kusanago Ro had another suggestion. To extract the Bijuu from Chichi, and attempt to seal it into a more competent vessel. He volunteered to be the recipient of the Bijuu's power, citing his experience, the trust that Yotsuki Raiga had had in him, and Chichi's uselessness. While the Jounin were considering this, news was brought to them that the Dead Brothers had been defeated and were presumed dead.
…At the hands of Raiga's pupil. This obviously came as a shock, as no one had even known that Raiga had a student, but apparently this woman, Takahashi Raiko, had been taught secretly ever since Raiga left for the Shattered Shore, and was now the most powerful shinobi in the Land of Lightning, perhaps even surpassing her teacher.
The Clan Wars were over — at least in one country — and it was decided that it was time to settle down and establish a central location where all the refugees, villagers, and even the ninja of the various Clans, could live in relative peace and safety. Raiga's pupil, Raiko, was named the First Raikage, and held ultimate authority over the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Three years later, as Kumogakure became more and more established, and the chaos outside its walls began to die down, Chichi was still struggling to prove herself. An academy had been built, and there were students in training, and there had even been a graduating class of 'geniuses' and 'special cases' who were now Genin. They had endured training as tough as hers, and had excelled! Chichi wondered why it was so hard for her. Why had she been born so dumb? Why couldn't she do what everyone else did? She felt lost, useless, and even her positive outlook on life began to errode…