Hanabi Hotaru

Hanabi Hotaru is Special Jōnin kunoichi from Konohagakure. She specializes in Explosion Release ninjutsu, developing her own form of it in which she shoots out exploding fireworks at her enemies. She primarily relies on her fireworks for medium to long range combat, however, at close range, she does possess some taijutsu ability, which she integrates into her Explosion Release. She's a mid-long range fighter that only engages in close quarters combat if she needs to.

Background
Mai Asami was born into a family of artists from Konohagakure towards the end of Naruto: Shippuden. She spent her youth learning to dance, sing, sew, cook, paint, and play the flute. Her father, a famous Zither musician, guided Mai into learning the arts of music, whilst Mai's mother, a professional dancer, taught Mai how to move gracefully and elegantly.

Despite her parents' wishes for her to continue down the path of art and entertainment, Mai wanted to grow up to be a strong kunoichi like her role-model: Saki Shiroshinku. Consequently, Mai was eventually enrolled in the ninja academy. She proved to be an able student, especially when it came time to write, draw, or perform. Never afraid of the spotlight, Mai accepted any assignment that helped showcase her talents.

Though the Fourth Shinobi World War had ended, Mai was still intent on becoming an able kunoichi. Thus, she poured more and more time into basic ninjutsu and taijutsu training, mixing her dance and acrobatic skills into her combat style.

Mai would go on to graduate from the ninja academy, earning the rank of Genin and being assigned a three-man squad.

Personality
Mai is a chatty and prideful girl who often takes on a mocking or sarcastic tone and a sadistic demeanor. She's tricky and not easily frightened. She takes her missions somewhat seriously, but she likes to show off her art and have fun.

During missions, Mai is relaxed and easygoing. She likes to fool around and humiliate her opponents, degrading them. Not only does she enjoy it, she also finds that such actions cause her adversaries to lose focus and make more mistakes. If her opponents are the one's who choose to embarrass her, she begins to lose her composure and becomes self-conscious.

Mai enjoys relaxing in cool water, flirting with other girls, and ribbon dancing (rhythmic gymnastics). She likes to refine her artistic talents and always pursues a greater level of gentility, gracefulness, and elegance. She also likes to show off, be it with her talents (singing, dancing), her jutsu, her luxurious clothing, her intellect, or her material possessions. She cares greatly for status and craves increased social power and idolism.

Personally, Mai believes that a truly refined woman embodies grace, elegance, and serenity, and that all women should seek to better themselves and walk in both dainty and delicate fashion.

Mai is quick to scrutinize and degrade those who are performing less than adequate. Her chattiness can lead to her saying things that might regret later. However, she easily analyzes the weaknesses (and strengths) of her foes and she also exposes their humility to worsen their situation and better her own. In battle, Mai is arrogant; her sensei says that she needs to learn to be more humble and less underestimating. Ironically, though she likes to discipline others, she herself is in dire need of humility.

When humiliated, especially publicly, Mai flusters and turns red with embarrassment. She tries to hide her wrongdoings and attempts to save face. In her pride, she has a hard time admitting that she isn't always the end all-be all. Additionally, because of her strong devotion to proper etiquette and "grace," she forces herself to follow through with publicly apologizing and self-discipline. Examples of such include a public announcement of apology, sitting in seiza position on hard surfaces for long periods of time, and bowing deeply whilst on her knees in begging position. Of course, Mai also makes sure to include the necessary honorifics.

Intimately, Mai is a lesbian and therefore would like a female partner or spouse for a monogamous relationship. Preferably, they'd fulfill a more submissive role and she'd be the more dominant of the two. She sees feminine ladies as the only respectable sex and does not care for men or masculine women. Mai has been known to use her visual appeal on missions to gain information or infiltrate an organization. She laughs at the victims of such an simple technique.

Appearance
Mai is a 5'3" tall girl who weighs around 96 pounds. She has scarlet-red hair and green eyes. She usually wears her scarlet, navel-length hair in a ponytail. Mai has pale, fair skin and sharp features. Her breasts are larger than average, comparable to Hinata Hyuga's bosom. She has toned, slim legs, a small waist, and hips proportionate to her body size. Her slim and toned figure reflects her skill as a dancer and healthy kunoichi.

Mai likes to wear very fancy dresses and clothing pieces, ornate and exquisite in design. Aesthetic patterns cover her robes and clothes. Her wardrobe, while surprisingly not over encumbered, possesses many unique styles that tend to lean towards the more traditional and oriental as opposed to the contemporary and modern.

Mai also possesses a small collection of fine jewelry and accessories ranging from various hand-crafted earrings, necklaces, rings, and circlets, to silk gloves, arm and wrist bands, and shoes as well as sandals. Of course, a Chūnin such as herself wouldn't usually be able to afford such goods, so most are gifts from her family (who are of high performing status). Certain items, Mai saves up for; she is quite smart with money and doesn't overspend on the trivial things other girls her age buy. This is why her wardrobe contains less than most girls, but the quality of each item is greater.

Mai's shinobi outfit is very elegant and fancy, reflective of her more sensitive and refined nature. It's mostly made from silk and is quite soft and fine to the touch. It's a slim-fitting Qipao (aka: Cheongsam) that hugs the natural curves of Mai's body and helps to define her features. The qipao is mostly red with gold trim and is a single, one-piece dress. The dress goes down to Mai's ankles and the long slits up the sides reveals a sizable portion of her upper legs. Her dress is sometimes short-sleeved and sometimes sleeveless, but Mai tends to wear long, upper-arm length gloves on one or both arms; sometimes, Mai also wears thigh-high stockings. The entire dress is very ornate with many gold decorations to accompany Mai's golden and jade jewelry. Mai tends to wear either heeled sandals similar to that of Tsunade's, or closed toe high heels.

Mai carries no bag, pouch, or satchel as she finds she has no need for them and they tend to make certain dance movements feel and appear clumsy. Thus, Mai has no ninja tools, nor does she use them.

Abilities
Mai specializes in using the Fire Release: Fox-tail Ribbon Whip technique and its accompanying Ninja Art: Fox-tail Ribbon Dance technique; her proficiencies in Fire ninjutsu and acrobatic dance/taijutsu are her strongest skills.

Strategical Preference: Mai typically likes to keep her distance from her opponents, maintaining a medium distance most of the time. She uses her Fire Whip as her primary weapon of choice and prefers to lash, strike, and ensnare her foes with it before burning them to a crisp. In closer engagements, Mai also has a very acrobatic form of taijutsu that relies heavily on kicking techniques.

Fire Release Ninjutsu
Mai heavily relies on her Fire Release ninjutsu skills in combat; next to her proficiency in dance and acrobatic movement, Mai's skill in Fire Release is her most valuable asset. Her jutsu are typically on the smaller scale, as she is primarily a weapon/physical fighter. Essentially, her fire ninjutsu is used to enhance her natural skills in dance and taijutsu.

Mai's primary technique, Fire Release: Fox-tail Ribbon Whip is her personal fire whip. This whip, which greatly resembles a Rhythmic Gymnastics ribbon, is the center of her entire combat style, and contours to her fighting ability. She uses it to whip, lash, strike, ensnare, and burn her foes; all while moving in her distinct dance style. This whip is Mai's one and only weapon and is best suited for close to medium ranges.

Using her fire whip, Mai's signature technique, Ninja Art: Fox-tail Ribbon Dance, is a beautiful and graceful (yet deadly) dance taijutsu. It consist of advanced and intricate dance and gymnastics skills combined with various aerial kicks from martial arts such as Changquan, Taekwondo, and Capoeira.

Often combined with her dance and fire whip, Fire Release: Fire Serpent Circle is Mai's go-to defense ninjutsu. From her arm or whip, a long, fiery serpent springs forward at her target. The serpent can ensnare and bite her target, as well as encircle people, creating a ring of flames around them. This ring can defend Mai from an opponent, or confine the opponent within the ring. Mai also likes to perform her ribbon dance art when both she and her target are within the ring as the target will have difficulty evading the whip within the confines of the serpent circle.

In the event Mai requires more distance with her jutsu, she can use Fire Release: Phoenix Flare or Fire Release: Fox Fire to hurl balls of fire and flame at her foes. These techniques require very little chakra and thus, are quick and easy to use and spam.

Taijutsu
Taijutsu is an integral part of Mai's dance art, as she often incorporates it into her signature Ninja Art: Fox-tail Ribbon Dance.

Mai primarily focuses on aerial kicking techniques, but has little knowledge with regards to hand to hand combat techniques such as punching or jabbing. These flying and elegant spinning kicks easily melt into the natural movements of Mai's dance, acrobatics, and rhythmic gymnastics. The kicks are definitely on the flashy side, but are deceivingly powerful; they can come in from unexpected, radical angles and catch an opponent off-guard.

Not only does Mai use these techniques alongside her whip and dance skills, but should the situation occur where she must use taijutsu exclusively, she can hold her own in close-quarters combat. However, against an experienced taijutsu expert, Mai should prioritize returning to using her whip by establishing some distance. Either that, or attempt to flee. Considering Mai's pride, she often doesn't know when to quit which can land her in trouble every now and then when she gets more than what she bargained for.

Mai's kicking techniues draw from martial arts such as Changquan, Taekwondo, and Capoeira. She focuses primarily on their kicking techniques, but neglects their other, more grounded moves.

Teamwork
Mai can work perfectly fine by herself on missions; she prefers to. However, she does possess some team utility: Mai's Fox-tail Ribbon Whip can ensnare foes, leaving them wide open for a combination jutsu or a special technique.

Genin
Mai Asami graduated from the ninja academy and was promoted to the rank of Genin a year ahead of Mirai Sarutobi. She was glad to achieve this new rank and eagerly looked forward to her time as a Genin kunoichi. When asked by her sensei who she wanted to be like in the future, she replied that she greatly admired the beauty and power of the "White Cloud," a fiery kunoichi named Saki Shiroshinku.

At first, Mai didn't get along with her teammates all too well; she liked to take the spotlight and charge in by herself. She also made fun of her fellow Genin and often pointed out their flaws, much to their distaste. Her sensei would try to reel her in, but Mai never stayed quiet for long. She never admitted, nor recognized her personal faults, and she was quick to judge her companions; even her sensei.

During missions, Mai acted selfishly; she would refuse to help with basic chores and only cared for her own well being. If she needed help in a bad situation, she would frantically plead for aid, but if a teammate was in dire need, she avoided endangering herself.

One day during training, Mai was talking down to her Genin squad-mate, pointing out how she always winced when she was being attacked: The kunoichi had had enough. Mai's teammate lashed out at Mai, pointing out all of her flaws, her pride, her arrogance, her lack of humility and respect for other people. Mai was taken aback, and honestly scared, but her teammate persisted. She ranted on and on about everything Mai had ever said and done, or failed to do, all the while venting her frustration in increasingly powerful taijutsu strikes. Their training had practically become a brawl. It wasn't until their sensei intervened that the aggression subsided.

Already, Mai had begun to feel incredibly guilty, shameful even. She bowed her head in remorse and her face flushed bright pink with embarrassment; her two squad-mates and her sensei were all staring at her with frowns and furrowed eyebrows. As she was lectured by all three of them, Mai tried to formulate words, but nothing could move the lump in her throat.

She wanted to cry.

Mai didn't know what to do. She wanted to run, but she knew she had to endure the humiliation. She felt she deserved ever ounce of her team's discontent. Suddenly, her body moved and before she knew it, Mai was on all fours with her forehead to the grass and her hands in a forwards bow. She interrupted her squad, apologizing and begging with tears for their forgiveness, admitting to everything she regretted and knew she'd done wrong. Those few seconds felt like an eternity to Mai, but it was the least she could do to make amends.

Suddenly, Mai heard her sensei's voice from behind her. Started, Mai got up off the ground and turned to view her companions grinning at her. Her sensei revealed that she had been placed under a Genjutsu during training in order to draw out her humility; such was, in-fact, part of Mai's training. Her teammates forgave her as she sunk to her knees and wept, issuing various apologies for her ill behavior. Her sensei smiled, as she was glad that Mai had finally gained some sense of humility.

Though the conflict was over, The "training" wasn't quite finished for Mai. As further punishment for her actions, Mai's sensei sentenced Mai to 3 hours of sitting in seiza position in the center of the leaf marketplace. Mai was to sit, bare-knees, in seiza position, on a hard, textured, wooden platform. Her legs were bound with twine looped through holes in the wood platform, and her arms were bound to the post behind her to prevent her from moving. Two, fifty-pound stone slabs were placed on her legs, increasing the pain, pressure, and discomfort in her knees and shins. If either slab ever fell off her thighs, then for every occurrence, an extra hour would be added to the punishment, the slabs would be placed back on top again, and another 25 pound stone slab would be added to the punishment; Mai let them fall once, and immediately regretted it. This was an infamous (historical) form of corporeal punishment know as ishidaki, which was used to punish female prisoners in China and Japan. Additionally, a large sign was nailed to the post over her head, outlining (in her own writing) everything she did to deserve such punishment and promises of what she would not do anymore.

During the 4 most busy hours of the day did Mai sit in seiza position, completely humiliated as she had to endure the pain in her legs and knees whilst being judged and laughed at by the villagers. Never in her life had she felt such shame; she prayed that no one she knew would see her: Mai's classmates stopped by for a visit.

After such a humiliating day, Mai feared her sensei and her ill-treatment towards her peers stopped. Of course, she did tease still, and often spoke out of turn, but she no longer harassed her peers as she did before. From that moment on, Mai learned the importance of humility and often took self-discipinary actions such as seiza sitting whenever she made an error.

Chūnin Exams
Mai and her squad took the Chūnin exams a total of two times. The first time they took it, Mai failed in the preliminaries of the combat exam. While her dance skills and movement abilities were on point, her taijutsu and Fire Release ninjutsu still needed refining. One of her teammates made it to the quarter-finals, but was defeated. None of them were promoted to Chūnin.

The second time around, Mai was ready for the exams. Over the course of the year, she'd been mastering new jutsu such as her Fox-tail Ribbon Whip to accompany her Fox Fire and Phoenix Flare techniques. These new techniques carried her through the exams and she did very well considering her last performance.

Mai was effectively able to prove her leadership and combat skills and advanced to the semi-finals where she faced off against Mirai Sarutobi, who was now her junior and a talented Genin. Despite being a year older and Mirai's senior kunoichi, Mai ultimately lost the match when she was overwhelmed by Mirai's proficiency with her Chakra Blades and was caught in her Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death.

Though she lost to Mirai, Mai held no grudge and was promoted to the rank of Chūnin along with the rest of her team.

Chūnin
After being promoted to the rank of chūnin, Mai began to take on harder missions. These missions brought on a whole sleuth of new challenges and difficulties and as a result, Mai began to progress faster as a kunoichi.

Thus, Mai was able to advance and refine her skills to even greater heights. Not long after becoming a Chūnin, Mai developed her signature technique, the Ninja Art: Fox-tail Ribbon Dance. Additionally, Mai also picked up Taekwondo to add to her reservoir of taijutsu aerial kicks. Consequently, she poured more time into honing her taijutsu skills, particular the fancy and flashy, aerial kicks that synergized well with her dance movements and gymnastics. This helped to make her dance movements more effective as both an offensive and defensive technique, as well as round out her abilities a bit more.

Mai regularly goes on missions by herself now, but she still performs many missions with her squad-mates and sensei.

Current Whereabouts
Currently, Mai is a chūnin residing in Konohagakure. She chooses to live by herself now, away from her parents for privacy reasons, and to better organize herself. Simply leaving ninja gear and equipment around her family's complex wouldn't bode well for a mother who dances regularly. She visits them regularly and loves to talk to her mother.

Mai often goes on missions that reflect her skills and talents, and loves to bath in cool rivers and streams that she finds on her travels; a nice way of relaxing from the long roads of the Land of Fire. She travels light, not bringing much equipment, and prefers to camp in clean areas. Whilst on her travels, she softly sings tunes and melodies that she likes; birds often mimic her songs.

When Mai is at home or in the Leaf Village, she likes to spend her days training, socializing with friends, and wadding her feet in the cool, clear streams of the village. She's very good friends with her role model: Saki Shiroshinku and often hangs out with her and her girlfriends, Shichi Shizuken and Shibara.

Mai hasn't found anyone to date yet, and is actively looking for potential women to form a romantic relationship with. In the past, she showed mild interest in Mirai Sarutobi, but she knew those feelings would never be reciprocated. Currently, she's searching for someone to crush on.

Trivia

 * Mai Asami is roughly translated to "Dance Morning-Beauty" with Mai meaning "Dance" and Asami meaning "Morning, Beauty".
 * Mai's favorite things to do are: Bathing in cool and refreshing water, flirting (with other girls), and ribbon dancing. She also likes to sing and show off her talents and wardrobe.
 * Mai has always been physically attracted to girls, and prefers a monogamous relationship.
 * Mai is very feminine, however, she is considered dominant with regards to intimacy.
 * Mai currently does not have a girlfriend.
 * Mai wishes to find a girlfriend.
 * Unless her high-heels or heeled sandals make sufficient noise, Mai naturally makes almost no sound when she walks; her training as a dancer has enabled her to be quite nimble and light-footed.
 * Mai has proven herself be very arrogant and prideful, finding sadistic pleasure in degrading others and boosting herself up. She sees herself at the top of the social hierarchy and considers herself to be the ultimate woman. She can't admit to being wrong or being outdone.
 * Mai has been known to punish herself when she has made an error that she cannot avoid addressing. She often choses to sit on hard surfaces in seiza position for extended periods of time, even in public view, enduring extreme humiliation in the hopes of erasing her wrongdoings.
 * Mai's favorite foods are udon and curry. Her least favorite food is raw fish.

Reference

 * Template:LeafNin Infobox
 * Changquan
 * Taekwondo
 * Capoeira
 * The main character used to portray Mai is Phyrra Nikos from the animated series: RWBY