Sunagakure

is the hidden village of the Land of Wind. As one of the five great ninja villages, Sunagakure has a Kage as its leader known as the Kazekage. The ninja from this village seem to specialize in Wind Release techniques and the Puppet Technique. Shinobi from Sunagakure believe that the accomplishment of a mission predominates the lives of the ninja trying to accomplish it.

History
Sunagakure was founded by the First Kazekage, who gathered the desert-dwelling shinobi under his control with his overwhelming power. At some point the village would come into possession of the One-Tailed Shukaku, and in the coming years the beast was sealed into two different hosts so that its abilities could be studied. The Third Kazekage was able to emulate Shukaku's abilities, earning recognition as the strongest Kazekage in history. Sasori later kidnapped and murdered the Third, likely sparking the Third Great Shinobi World War with Sunagakure attempts to find him.

During the Shinobi Wars, Sunagakure frequently fought with Konoha; Chiyo's attempts to poison enemies during the Second Great Shinobi World War were often counteracted by Tsunade. To compound this fact, following the Third Shinobi War, the Wind Daimyo began outsourcing missions to Konoha, leading to a lack of funding for Sunagakure. To make up for the loss of military power this created, the Fourth Kazekage sealed Shukaku into its third host, his own son: Gaara. It was hoped that Gaara would become a weapon for the village, but he proved too unstable and the idea was abandoned.

Later, Sunagakure was approached by Orochimaru with a proposition for a joint invasion of Konoha. The Fourth Kazekage was killed and impersonated by Orochimaru to give the impression of support, and Sunagakure was falsely led to a devastating loss against Konoha's forces. Once Orochimaru's deceit was discovered Sunagakure re-allied itself with Konoha, gaining much from the peace and leading to new prosperity for the village. By Part II, Gaara would be made Fifth Kazekage to replace his father.

Trivia

 * The second fanbook gives Sunagakure a population size of two out of five stars, a military strength of two out of five stars, and an economic strength of two out of five stars. This gives it the lowest overall score of all the five main shinobi villages.
 * Despite the element of sand being seemingly unique to One-Tailed Shukaku and its host, it seems that ninja from this village are capable of utilizing techniques affiliated with sand (such as Sand Clone).
 * Two very famous and powerful ninjas from this village hold epithets: Gaara of the Sand Waterfall and Sasori of the Red Sand.