Born just a few years before the end of Era of the Warring states, Rankoro Rinoko doesn't really remember much of the time before the villages were founded. She was only a child and a happy one at that, born to a couple in the Land of Trees with a mother that came up an artist and a dancer and a father that was a Rankoro that fought tooth and nail in the war to survive and come home to his wife and three children, including Rinoko and her older sister Mayako and younger brother Shunso.
As soon the children were old enough to begin to learn, their father Tetsuo began training them in seals while their mother Yoshike taught them in arts and dance. Shunso wasn't too fond of the dancing part, but he did it because he couldn't do his other training otherwise. A good balance had to be had, after all. Mayako, however, made it a point to prove she would outdo her younger sister in this area, thus a bit of a rivalry was spurred between them.
As the children grew older, their personalities came out more and more. Mayako and Shunso were both outgoing and strong while Rinoko was more quiet and reserved and liked to stick to her arts and hobbies rather than mingling with crowds in new places, particularly sticking to origami and painting as well as reading.
One day when the family was traveling through a mountainous region of the country, Tetsuo and Yoshike needed to speak with a business partner privately, so Mayako was left to tend to Rinoko and Shunso. With their parents not there, Shunso decided he would run off to play however he wanted, which forced Mayako to pursue him. The last thing Rinoko heard her sister say before she took off was an order not to lean over a set of railing that was there to protect passersby from a rather steep dropoff down the mountain.
The scenery was too much to let go to waste by not capturing it. Seeing her one opportunity to be a bit rebellious and try to step out of her shell to capture this place in her art, Rinoko edged her way to the other side of the railing with her things to try and sit on the steep cliff. This attempt, however, would not be as fruitful in proving her independence so much as her clumsiness. Her foot caught on a post, which sent her tumbling down and crashing against rocks and trees over and again. Perhaps the only solace was that it didn't take too many of these hits to knock her unconscious.
Surprised to be waking up on the side of the living, Rinoko's eyes edged back open slowly to find herself being treated by a Medical Ninja with her parents and siblings standing nearby watching over her with a mixture uneasy looks in their eyes. Shunso looked as if he felt guilt over drawing Mayako's attention away. Her parents faces were a mixture anger, worry, joy that she was alive when her eyes opened, and some others that she couldn't quuite all figure out, but she was quite certain that both she and Mayako were in a lot of trouble. Mayako's face was something she'd never forget, that look of worry mixed rage over all this falling to her when she had done the best she could with the situation. Her eyes felt like they would pierce Rinoko's heart, but it wasn't a pain she was allowed to focus on as much as she would have due to the multiple broken bones in all areas of her body. Still, while she would be a bit impaired when it comes to Taijutsu, she would live and be able to walk on her own and still perform her arts and Ninjutsu practice.
During Rinoko's long recovery process, the family still had to be on the road. They figured they could handle her care, after all. One particular place they visited caught her attention, a village in the Land of Trees where all the people dressed like cats. She didn't want to stay there, but she started drawing some of them and decided on maybe getting one of those made for herself one day for a combat disguise. Perhaps behind that cowl she could find some more confidence.
Life wasn't all rosy, though. Rinoko felt as if she'd lost some trust with her family due to the incident, especially Mayako. It seemed incredibly hard to get through to her no matter how hard Rinoko tried or how many times she apologized. She even tried giving her gifts of art she made her, but Mayako was strong-willed.
Matters between them didn't get to get settled completely and wouldn't it seemed as Tetsuo and Yoshike decided it would be best to let Rinoko stay in Konohagakure for a while. A Medical Ninja had promised he could help her recover at a much faster pace than she could on the road constantly with her family. It was a hard decision but one that had to be made for her well-being. Even at that Rinoko couldn't help feeling at least a little like she was being abandoned for her mistake. It took quite some time for her to stop crying herself to sleep over that even as she regained motion in her limbs better.
When Rinoko finally gained enough motor control to be able to perform tasks again, she began picking up odd jobs here and there. She already had basic shinobi knowledge and had been tested by Academy Instructors to be sure of that, so this was her training until she could go on missions again. It would take quite a while, but finally she would earn her way into the life of a shinobi, beginning as a Genin.
Over her last few years as a shinobi, Rinoko has severely grown in combat strength. While her body is still physically weaker than most shinobi and she's never really practiced Genjutsu, her Ninjutsu strength and mental acuity are superb, some would say even rivaling a Nara. Despite still being shy and such socially, she's proven herself time and again as a shinobi and was recently promotion to Chuunin, and that is where her story will begin.
