Land of Wind

[edit] Land of Wind
The Land of Wind, one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, is a large, dry, and desolate country whose cities are typically found near water sources. While much of the country is inhospitable, the population is large and prosperous due to its frequent trading with the Land of Fire. While not seen as often as the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind receives a great deal of attention in the series, and has a great many powerful ninja to call its own. Its hidden village is Sunagakure, Village Hidden in the Sand. The Land of Wind has been relatively uninvolved with politics until recent times, and even had a peace treaty signed with the Land of Fire. The lord ruling it, however, had been systematically cutting down his military force and transferring missions he would normally address to his own country's hidden village to Konohagakure, prompting desperate measures on the part of the Kazekage at the time.


Sunagakure

Sunagakure ("Village Hidden Among Sand" or "Village Hidden in the Sand") is one of the five great ninja villages, and as such has a Kage, known as the Kazekage, as its leader. The symbol on their headband is of an hourglass. The one-tailed Shukaku was said to originate here, having been created from the spirit of a dead monk who was trapped in a tea kettle. With its military forces being scaled down by the Land of Wind's feudal lord, the Fourth Kazekage realized that they had to increase the quality of each ninja to maintain a military force. Gaara is just one result of that.

As more time passed, the lord started commissioning Konoha with requests he should have been making to Sunagakure. On top of that, he began cutting back on Sunagakure's budget. The Fourth Kazekage realized that if he didn't act quickly, Sunagakure would be in danger of disappearing, so he joined forces with Otogakure in an attempt to destroy Konoha and force the lord to re-establish Sunagakure's military force if he wished for his country to continue existing. With the failure of the attack and the death of the Fourth Kazekage caused by the betrayal of Otogakure, Sunagakure re-allied with Konoha, and Gaara, Temari and Kankuro assisted Konoha during the mission to retrieve Sasuke. Gaara eventually became the Fifth Kazekage over the timeskip, and continues to remain such even though the Shukaku was removed from his body by Akatsuki.