Miko Yakusho

Miko Yakusho (やくしょ ミコ, Yakusho Miko) is a villager of Kusagakure and younger sister to Kazō. Although she is not a ninja, she has learned how to manipulate wood like her brother.

Background
Miko Yakusho was born to Kōza and Isane Yakusho. Her birth occurred a few months after her brother Kazō lost his arm. As such, she has never seen him without a prosthetic. It wasn’t until she was a bit older that she understood his injury. During her first few years, Miko’s presence had, in a way, helped Kazō cope with his loss. When she was around, Kazō couldn’t seem to dwell on the problems his loss had caused. Miko was also the reason Kazō decided to return to the Academy. After he had almost dropped her the first time tried to hold her, Kazō realized he needed to get better at adapting with only one arm. Her infantile innocence continued to cheer him up as he struggled through training, and even when he began working on his chakra flow.

After Kazō became a genin, he and Miko began acting like most siblings do. Miko was now old enough to talk back to Kazō, making fun of him and running to their mother when he tried to retaliate. Their mother would always side with Miko since she was the baby. She even gave Miko permission to punish Kazō if he used foul language in front of her. She would usually accomplish this by yanking Kazō’s ears. When Kazō’s teammates came over, Miko would continue to harass him. Oda and Avaki found it funny, and Avaki would even defend Miko when Kazō tried to get even.

Even through the bickering, Miko loved her big brother. He would always carry her on his back when they went into town. When he picked up carving, he would make figurines for her. When she got scared or hurt, he would cheer her up, regardless if they had been arguing earlier.

Personality
Still a child, Miko shows signs of immaturity. This is mostly seen when she’s with her brother. She can be a bit spoiled and pouts if she doesn’t get her way. She tends to be very shy around strangers, shown when she hid when Avaki first visited their house. She also scares easily, though this may be due to her young age. Since she knows her brother will protect her, she goes to him in most situations. This is shown when she hides behind Kazō instead of meeting other kids who were playing; and when she clung to him the first time she saw Oda, saying he looked scary.

Miko has shown a braver, and sometimes rebellious, side after the time skip. To allow her friends to get away, she stands up to some bandits on the outskirts of the village before Oda shows up. She proves a challenge for Kazō when she reveals she can manipulate wood like him, and wants him to teach her more. It is shown that she has a great pride for her brother’s skills and wants to be strong like him, even if he refuses to let her for her own safety. She works hard in the hopes that he will see her like she sees him. When traveling with Kazō’s team and Team Ginta while they handled a minor mission, she stayed brave even when a chakra powered suit of armor found her hiding and mortally wounded her. After being miraculously revived, Kazō told her how proud he was of her for staying brave. Happy that he finally praised her, and finally understanding the dangers she can face, she decided to stop trying to act like a ninja.

Appearance
Miko has dark brown eyes and matching hair, just like her mother. As a baby, Miko was dressed in a light green, one-piece outfit. During Part I, her outfit consisted of a dark red tee shirt with a dark green Kusa symbol on the front and navy shorts. She also began wearing her hair in two ponytails.

Her Part II attire is a turquoise shirt with matching shorts. She has a yellow sash running diagonally from her left shoulder to under her right arm. Her shirt is cut off on the right side, above the sash, revealing a black undershirt. There is also a yellow sash around her waist and one cuffing her left sleeve. The sashes are sewn into her outer shirt. She now keeps her hair tied with wooden rings given to her by Kazō. When learning wood manipulation, Kazō gave her a wooden hanbō to manipulate. She would carry this tied to her back when she snuck out to train.

Wood Manipulation
Miko was never trained to be a ninja. Growing up, she learned about chakra from her brother. Soon after, she began attempting to tap into her own. It wasn’t until after the time skip that she finally figured out how to gather her chakra. From there, she tried wood manipulation. As explained by Oda, Miko grew up with Kazō having the ability to manipulate wood. At such a young age, she saw it as a trait she would have too, since they were siblings. After hearing Kazō explain the basics of it to her when she asked how he did it, Miko had truly believed the technique was innate for her. This mindset made Miko able to learn the technique; and at a faster rate than Kazō, who had to start from scratch without knowing if it would work at all.

Since Miko is new to using chakra, she has very little to tap into. She also lacks the physical stamina most ninja gain while training at the Academy. This combination gives her even less to work with than her brother. Although Kazō refuses to train her outright, she has convinced him to teach her some skills in order to protect herself when he’s not around. To compensate for the little chakra she has, Kazō has taught her how to change the way the wood cells bind to each other. This results in her making a less dense wooden shield that still holds up to attacks.

After a falling out they had, Kazō finally agreed to help her with an offensive attack. It is a collaboration technique with him in which Miko fires long, thin needles of wood into the air from her hanbō while Kazō sends thick, root-like tendrils underground. Miko’s attack rains down around them and Kazō’s erupts from beneath them. The attack is known as Wood Manipulation: Heaven and Earth Barrage.

Trivia

 * Miko’s hobby is spending time with her brother Kazō.
 * Miko’s favorite food is dango. His least favorite is grilled fish.

Reference
Miko Yakusho is an OC created by KusaNin.