Risa Arakaki


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Risa Arakaki (b. October 27) was a kunoichi from the hidden village of Kusagakure, the second oldest of the five daughters of Kane and Asei Arakaki , and part of one of the most successful ninja teams from her village. She was also the main character of Annax1031's fanfiction story, First Impressions.

Family Lineage
The Arakakis were a long-standing clan in the small village of Kusagakure. They had a history of shinobi in the family, although many never became well known. It is speculated that they are also distantly related to the Hyuuga clan of Konohagakure. Although this is never confirmed, Neji Hyuuga did pay the Arakakis a visit during the chapter, "The Dread," and was described as the heir to all of Kane Arakaki's possessions including the house after he died. In addition, he offered Risa the chance to return to Konoha with him for proper training with the rest of the Hyuugas.

Childhood
Risa was born October 27 to the Kane and Asei Arakaki as the second oldest child in the family. She had one older sister named Jun, and three younger sisters; Kiyoto, Laiko, and Mayu. Life in Kusa was easy going for Risa. She attended the Kusagakure Ninja Academy. There, she met Chiyoko Leiko and Shun Otake, who would go one to become her best friends and teammates while working together under their sensei, Kosei.

Life as a Shinobi
Risa finished Ninja Academy, having excelled in many areas of the curriculum, and was soon assigned as a Genin in Team Kosei.

Team Kosei
Among those assigned in Team Kosei with Risa were Chiyoko and Shun, two classmates she had met during her time at the Academy. The team was highly unusual, as there were two kunoichi instead of the traditional one. The three Genin were supervised by Kosei, their sensei. It is implied that the team was a highly successful match. They are often together at their favorite training area in the forest, although they are not always there to train. Also, they passed the Chuunin exams in Konoha, beating out shinobi from larger, more advanced villages such as Konoha and Suna.

Chuunin
Having passed the Chuunin exams in Konohagakure, Risa became a Chuunin at the age of fourteen. Not much is known about what events might have occurred early on during this stage of ninja rank. However, we do know that Risa, Chiyoko, and Shun remained close friends and that they maintained close ties to their former team leader, Kosei. It is implied that the four went on various C-rank missions together, and although Risa's talent was apparent, she did not have much room to showcase it in the restraints of her small home village. However, she did travel. She had obtained acquaintances and even some friendships with shinobi from Konoha, including Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki. It is also during her time as a Chuunin that Risa meets Sabaku no Gaara. This is where the events of First Impressions start off.

First Impressions
When Risa was fifteen, she and Jun were asked to accompany their three younger sisters to the Chuunin exams. During the time before the exams began, Risa met Gaara while catching up with her old friends from Konoha. She immediately takes a disliking to him because of his coldness and the aloofness he presents himself with. He also manages to insult her.

"Tolerable, I guess. But not enough to tempt me."

- Gaara speaking to Rock Lee regarding Risa

Initial Hostilities
Risa's rocky start with Gaara did not improve quickly. They had a series of encounters like their first in which Gaara's actions continued to confuse Risa greatly. She had heard from many people that he was a good person, however she failed to see or understand how they could make these statements.

"It was then that I made myself a promise; that Sabaku no Gaara was the most horrible, prideful, montrous being I ever had the displeasure of meeting."'

- Risa's thoughts on Gaara

Discovery of the Shukaku
During the time that the ANBU Black Ops were rumored to be staying in Kusa, Risa met Deidara while helping her younger sisters shop for clothes in the village. Unaware of the fact that Deidara was a member of the Akatsuki only posing as a Black Ops member, Risa allowed him to accompany them for the day. He told her about Shukaku and that Gaara was its container. This fact both shocked and horrified Risa, who believed his information. Unbeknown to her, however, Gaara was already rid of Shukaku at this point in time. Therefore, Risa responds with repulse and believes that she now knows the reasons behind Gaara's hostility toward people he was not familiar with.

Change of Heart
While Risa was visiting Chiyoko and the Hyuugas in Konoha with Shun, she was surprised to find the Gaara was staying there as well. Although she could not put out of her head the things she had heard from Deidara, she was willing to treat him with some indifference. However, when she discovered from Kankuro that Gaara had been responsible for separating Kiba and Jun, Risa ran away, only to be followed by Gaara. He confronted her and admitted that she had made him fall in love with her. Risa did not believe him because she did not think him capable of love. Instead, she was angered and called him out for the wrong he did to Kiba and Jun, his apparent pride, and his being a jinchuriki. She appalled him when she revealed that she knows about Shukaku and he asked her if that is the reason why she thought he is a demon. She replied in the negative, however right before he left, Gaara told her she was lying.

Later on, Gaara gave Risa a letter to read, as she refused to acknowledge him. It explained to her all the wrongs she had accused him of. Risa felt horrible for the confrontation, but unfortunately, it was too late to fix things. She and Shun returned to Kusa soon after that.

Risa had barely spent any time back home in Kusa when her aunt took her to Suna with her to spend a little time with her. It was her aunt's goal to get Risa some one-on-one training, however, she was always busy with work. One day after some time of living in Suna, her aunt needed go to the Kazekage building for her work. Risa was reluctant to go, because she was convinced that she would somehow run into Gaara, but ended up following anyway. To play it safe, she waited outside while her aunt entered the building. Feeling that there would be no harm in a short walk around the village, Risa left and happened across Gaara, who seemed to be attacking a young woman. She marvels at his sand and is slightly terrified at the same time. When Gaara notices her, she quickly flees the scene. However, Gaara catches up to her and as they speak, Risa realizes that the young woman was his sister, Temari, and that they had been training together. Unfortunately, just as Risa and Gaara found that they had the time for a fresh beginning, Risa received devastating news about her younger sister, Laiko.

A Period of Grief
Upon returning home, Risa had to deal with her family's and her own feelings about Laiko's disappearance. It is confirmed that she is with the Akatsuki, although it is never fully specified if she was kidnapped on hopes that it would be profitable in some way or if it was Laiko's own design that she was gone. This was a difficult time for the entire Arakaki family. Risa's hysterical mother spent most of her time bedridden while her father was out looking for Laiko.

Some good came out of this period, however. Kiba traveled from Konoha to Kusa to visit the Arakakis. He expressed his sympathy for their loss and surprised everyone by making up with Jun. Suspecting that there was another force at work behind it all, Risa discovered Gaara outside the house, although he doesn't let her see him. We are led to believe that it had been Gaara who urged Kiba to reunite with Jun, and Risa's state of mind about Gaara drastically changed. She realized how far he went to fix things and started to actually admire him for it.

A New Beginning
After Laiko finally was found returned home, she was sent to live with their aunt in Suna. Jun and Kiba were soon happily married. Everything seemed to be going well until Hyuuga-san paid the Arakakis an unannounced visit. He confronted Risa about her relationship with Gaara, demanding to know whether or not he had made a proposal to her for marriage. Thoroughly annoyed, Risa refused to give him a straight answer. However, she was soon broken as Hyuuga-san insulted her.

"The Lord Kazekage has already chosen Hinata, and his advisors approve whole-heartedly. Do you think Suna will benefit more from a Kusagakure shinobi rather than a bloodline trait like the Byakugan?"

- Hyuuga-san on Gaara and Hinata's betrothment

Outraged by this encounter, Risa did not sleep that night and met Gaara the next morning. The two agreed that they did have feelings for each other by this point, and they speak to Risa's father about it. Although initially confused because he thought that Risa disliked Gaara, Kane agreed to let the two travel to Suna to speak to Gaara's advisors.

The story ends with Risa and Gaara sitting together in the desert, exchanging thoughts about how they thought the prospect looked for their betrothment.

Later Life
After the events of First Impressions, Risa went on to live in Sunagakure with Gaara. Having been approved as a suitable wife for the Kazekage because she was already well known for her talent and skill as a shinobi despite the fact that she was from a small village the two were betrothed. Risa also trained hard to master her second element nature, Fire, and became a Jounin. She and Gaara would later be married. She also maintained close ties with her friend, Shun, and her family in Kusagakure, and became close friends with Temari and other Hidden Sand ninjas.

Physical Description


Risa was described during her teenage years as an average-looking girl. She had darker skin than the rest of her sisters, a curvy and toned physique, and dark hair and eyes. She was less beautiful than her older sister, Jun, feeling in fact that she was rather plain. Naruto and Rock Lee both expressed that Risa was prettier than she gives herself credit for.

More often than not, Risa wore green clothing because it was her favorite color. It was also a color that the Arakaki clan tended to wear in general, and it may also be have been a reference to her home village, Kusagakure. It was mentioned that Risa was most complimented when she dressed in red because it went well with her skin tone. She usually wore her hitai-ite headband on her forehead.

Personality and Traits
Throughout First Impressions, Risa demonstrates a great amount of intelligence and wit. She recognized the faults and goodness in others easily, although depending on first impression did lead to some trouble. For instance, her experience with Gaara proved that she was mistaken in her initial assumptions about him. Her wit was displayed by the way she retorted to the wittiness she recognized in other people. Risa also had remarkable self control, determination, sense of responsibility, honesty, and morality.

Skills and Abilities
Despite being a natural klutz, Risa was a skilled kunoichi. Her intelligence helped her excel in ninja basics, and at the same time she possessed excellent chakra control. Her physical strength and ability to use her jutsus with as little chakra as possible made her comparable to Sakura Haruno. Therefore, she had a tremendous amount of taijutsu skill.

Risa's affinity for the Earth nature was responsible for her ability to use Earth-style jutsus such as Earth Clone Technique. She mastered this nature over the course of her time as a Chuunin and also developed abilities in the use of the Fire nature. She was an overall talented ninja, having had passed the Chuunin exams at a relatively young age and later on became a Jounin.

Parents
Kane and Asei Arakaki were very different parents to Risa. She was often annoyed or bothered by her mother, not understanding why she and her sisters can never be left alone by her. In addition, she was the least favorite daughter of her Asei because of the stubbornness she demonstrates toward her. Risa was also often embarrassed by the way her mother acted. With her father, Risa was on better terms. Her personality made her his favorite daughter, and she could turn to her father for counsel.

Jun
Risa and Jun shared a very close relationship. They were often together and shared everything from secrets to a bedroom. They understood each other for the most part, although Risa could not understand how Jun could be so mild-tempered and Jun could not understand Risa's rationale for her judgments on others. Also, the two sisters were very different.

When Kiba left Jun in "The Horror," Risa comforted her and was angered that she was hurt. She then took action to find out who was responsible for separating the couple, as she suspected the plan was not engineered by Kiba himself. After discovering that it had been mostly Gaara's doing, Risa's loathing for him was fueled. Similarly, Jun cared for Risa as well and disliked it when Risa was upset.

Younger Sisters
Risa and her three younger sisters, Kiyoto, Laiko, and Mayu, were not as close as Risa was with Jun. She suffered more from the responsibilities of being an older sister than Jun for unknown reasons. The expectation of keeping track of the three usually fell on Risa's shoulders, and she was often upset or embarrassed by their behaviors. However, she deeply cared for her three younger sisters like the rest of her family and obliges to keep them out of trouble the best she can even if they do not always listen to her.

Chiyoko Leiko
Chiyoko Leiko became Risa's friend during their time at the Kusagakure Ninja Academy together. They quickly became friends because of Risa's openness and Chiyoko's friendliness. The two got to be very close, referred to as surviving the Academy with one another. After finishing at the Academy, the two friends also were assigned to the same team as Genins; Team Kosei. Chiyoko did not have a very strong character, and therefore Risa was often the one to step up for her. In return, Chiyoko offered Risa a loyal friendship outside of her own family.

Risa and Chiyoko had a slight falling out in "The Disbelief" when Chiyoko announced that she had taken up Neji Hyuuga's offer to train in Konoha. Feeling a bit betrayed and incredulous, Risa could not understand why Chiyoko had made the decision, and Chiyoko scolds her for judging her about it. Later, however, the two resumed their strong friendship, and Risa even visited Konoha with Shun to see their old team member.

Shun and Risa had a great amount of difficulty searching for someone to replace Chiyoko. She was described to be "the one who completed our team, made it whole, balanced us all out." They also missed her too much to have the heart to really replace her.

After the events in First Impressions ended, Risa and Chiyoko saw less and less of each other. Chiyoko was busy with her training in Konoha while Risa was juggling her relationship with Gaara with working hard to become a Jounin. The old friends eventually grew apart and would only remain on small acquaintance terms.

Shun Otake
Shun met Risa in the Kusagakure Ninja Academy around the same time she met Chiyoko. However, the two did not befriend one other until they were both assigned to Team Kosei. Early on in their training together, Risa became infatuated with Shun. He doesn't seem to reciprocate these feelings, acting toward Risa casually and treating her like a sister. However, this may have been due to his easy going nature.

In the chapter, "The Disbelief," Shun revealed that he in fact did have the same feelings toward Risa as she did for him. After sharing a kiss, the two realized, however, that they really only loved each other as friends. In First Impressions, the typical roles of the genders were reversed; Risa being the heroine of the story and Shun being her love interest.

Gaara
When Risa met Gaara for the first time, she was immediately drawn to him by curiosity. She had heard of the Kazekage, but he wasn't what she had expected, especially since he was only a year her senior. She was particularly attentive to his eyes, which she was transfixed on when she saw him for the first time.

The two were introduced by Naruto, who knew them both prior, at the Chuunin exams in Konoha where Risa's three younger sisters were taking the exams. She was taken aback by his aloofness, and later on by his refusal to be social and leave the exams to buy ramen, both of which lead her to form a negative opinion of Gaara. Although Risa is determined to remain indifferent to him, she finds this a near impossible feat when she meets Deidara. Using his charm, Deidara managed to reinforce Risa's hatred for Gaara by explaining the Shukaku that was sealed inside the Kazekage. Risa was not aware that at this point in time, Gaara was no longer a demon container. Risa's dislike was built up even further when his brother, Kankuro, informed her that he had been responsible for breaking up the relationship between her sister, Jun, and Kiba. Based on the evidence she had gathered from their first meeting and on her usual excellent sense of character judgement, Risa was persuaded that her feelings toward Gaara were justified.

Gaara greatly surprised Risa when he declared his love for her in the chapter, "The Outrage." Unfortunately, Gaara's harshness of manner ultimately invoke fear and disgust in Risa and only made her determined to protect her pride even more. He told her that she was the first girl to have challenged him in such a way and still remained unharmed. Furthermore, he not only told her that he had fallen in love with her, but also that he has been weakened by it. All of this prompted Risa to express how she was repulsed by the things he had done, blame him for the role he played in separating Jun and Kiba, and call him out on being a jinchuriki.

Her reaction to Gaara and the way she had lost control of her emotions made Risa all the more guilty about her prejudice against Gaara when she read his letter explaining everything. He caused her to see the faults in herself and also to revert back to indifference toward him. When the two met again later at Sunagakure while Risa was staying with her aunt there, she realized much to her surprise that she was in love with him, although the idea of being with him was unnerving, as she wondered whether or not Gaara would know how to reciprocate those feelings back to her.

After receiving news that her sister, Laiko, had gone missing, Risa hurried back home to Kusagakure, and the two were separated again. Once rumors started to start that Laiko had become a missing nin, Risa's hopes about Gaara are dashed because she would have the obligation to stay home and help take care of the crumbling family. However, Gaara rescues Laiko and brings Jun and Kiba back together. Following Jun and Kiba's engagement, Risa and Gaara went to Sunagakure together for approval of their own marriage.

Kosei


Kosei was Risa's sensei during her time as a Genin. He was a supportive team leader of Team Kosei and trained the trio well enough that they passed the Chuunin exams. Although Shun was Kosei's favorite student and not Risa, he was very proud of her and helped her become a successful, skillful ninja.

The Hidden Leaf
Risa also had many acquaintances and several friendships with shinobi her age from Konoha. Among those were Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Rock Lee. Kiba later becomes her brother-in-law when he marries Risa's sister, Jun.

Etymology
The name Risa is of Japanese origin and has the meaning "Sand of the Village." This is ironic in two ways, the first of which being that during their meeting in Konoha for the Chuunin exams, Naruto refers to Risa as "Sandy," a peevish nickname that he invented for her that is seemingly completely irrelevant to her - she doesn't have sand colored hair and doesn't live in the Hidden Sand Village. Secondly, Risa shows a clear disliking for sand in First Impressions, however her name might have foreshadowed her marrying Gaara and eventually living in Sunagakure.