Naruto

Jiraiya

2008-09-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari ("The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"). The Jiraiya in this story excelled in summoning a giant toad (the toad itself was sometimes called "Jiraiya") and toad magic. In that story, Jiraiya and Tsunade were a married couple. There, his name is written as "児雷也" meaning "Young Thunder" which in turn comes from the name Garaiya ("I came") from the Chinese story Kaishi.

Masashi Kishimoto originally planned to draw Jiraiya with a different design and with a different style of hair. He also intended for Jiraiya to summon Toads that were of a similar size to humans. However, this idea was deemed a failure. During an interview, he comments that, of the student-teacher relationships in Naruto, Jiraiya and Naruto's is the one he likes the most.

Background

As a child, Jiraiya and his former teammates, Orochimaru and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he discovered the residence of the toads, who trained him to call upon them in battle. During this time a prophecy concerning Jiraiya was told, dictating that he would travel the world while writing a book and meet a child who might bring either great peace or great chaos to the world. During his travels, Jiraiya and his former teammates fought with Salamander Hanzo of Amegakure, who rewarded their ability to survive his attacks through the title of "Legendary Three Ninja" (Densetsu no Sannin). Soon after this Jiraiya met Nagato, a boy he believed to be the child from the prophecy.Jiraiya trained Nagato and his friends, hoping to steer the boy down the path of good before returning to Konoha.

Upon his return, Jiraiya became the sensei of Minato Namikaze and two other unknown Genin. Years later, when Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and fled the village, Jiraiya pursued him, trying to convince his friend to come back. He failed in his attempt and resumed his travels of the world, wanting to follow Orochimaru's movements as well as the organization Orochimaru eventually joined, Akatsuki. Around this time, Jiraiya was made the godfather of Naruto Uzumaki by Minato and Kushina Uzumaki because they decided to name Naruto after the lead character in Jiraiya's first book "The Gutsy Ninja".

Personality

Despite the fact that he periodically leaves Konoha, Jiraiya has maintained a strong allegiance with his hometown. He will also often come back to Konoha, even if it was to just spy on women in the bathing house. During Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha, he helps fend off the invading forces in order to protect the village. When Konoha finds itself in need of a new Hokage after the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya volunteers to look for Tsunade so that she can become the Third's successor. He turns down the position himself, believing he isn't qualified for the title due to his inability to have saved the Third and Fourth from death. After he finds Tsunade and begins to suspect that she may be assisting Orochimaru, he makes it clear that he will kill her if she betrays the village. Tsunade ultimately turns out to be loyal to Konoha, and Jiraiya joins her in attempting to defeat Orochimaru.

Jiraiya is a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal and a frequent voyeur, going so far as to create the Transparent Escape Technique (Tōton Jutsu?, English TV "Transparency Jutsu") to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught (doing "research" as he calls it). He never actually hides his perversion and even seems proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, Jiraiya doesn't like being called Ero-sennin (Ero-sennin literally "Perverted hermit", English TV "Pervy Sage") by Naruto in front of others. His perversion has been used against him on occasion, as seen when two Akatsuki members use a hypnotized woman to draw him away from Naruto. While their effort initially succeeds, Jiraiya eventually sees through their plot due solely to the fact that women do not typically express interest in him. His peeping habits have also caused him great injury on one occasion; when caught spying on Tsunade in his younger years, she proceeded to break both of his arms, six of his ribs, and ruptured a number of organs in fury.

During his travels, Jiraiya began to write a number of books. His first book, a sort of autobiography about a character named "Naruto," found little success. To improve the sales, he wrote a book based on his experiences in love, which came to be known as "Come Come Paradise" (Icha Icha Paradaisu, English "Make-Out Paradise"). The book proved an instant success and has since spawned a number of sequels. The popularity of the Icha Icha series seems to have paid off well, as Jiraiya's checkbook reveals that he is fairly wealthy (Naruto exclaims that there are quite a few zeros at the end). Despite his wealth, Jiraiya is not above taking Naruto's money and spending it on sake and women.

Abilities

Jiraiya is known as the "Toad Sage" (Gama Sennin English TV: "Toad Mountain Sage") due to his utilization of a number of toad-related jutsu. Many typically deal with summoning toads, and he has risen to a level of ability that allows him to summon Gamabunta. He can even summon the nearly indestructible esophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad with Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind (Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari?, English TV "Toad Mouth Trap"). Once the jutsu has been used to cover the area, Jiraiya can control it as he pleases and uses it to trap most ninja.[15]In desperate situations, Jiraiya is able to switch into a "Sage Mode" (Sennin mōdo), a transfiguration invoked by drawing natural energy. Jiraiya's "sage mode" is not complete. Because he has not yet learned how to utilize the mode by himself, he must summon two elder toads to assist him, who further aid him by contributing their own techniques to a battle. Despite the advantages the form allows him, his Sage Mode is slightly malformed, giving him a frog-like appearance, with webbed-hands, a large nose, and a number of warts, and thus he dislikes using the form since his new look scares away girls.

In addition to calling upon toads for aid in battle, Jiraiya has a number of jutsu he can use independently. He uses Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld (Doton: Yomi Numa?, English TV "Earth Style: Dark Swamp") to create a large swampland under a target that is capable of completely engulfing them. He can spit either fire or oil from his mouth, allowing him to burn or drench opponents as he pleases. Jiraiya has also been shown to use his hair for jutsu, and can grow and sharpen it to surround him as a shield, protecting him from harm and injuring attackers, or use it to bind and impale opponents. His Toad-Silhouette Control Techniqu Gama Daira Kage Ayatsuri no Jutsu?) allows him to merge with the shadows of others, and through this he is able to take complete control of their body. Jiraiya was taught how to use the Rasengan by Minato, and has since developed a variant called Super Great Ball Rasengan (Chō Ōdama Rasengan?), though its capabilities are currently unknown. He is, however, not well suited for genjutsu, and thus cannot effectively utilize it in battle.

Jiraiya has been shown to be very knowledgeable with sealing jutsu, and has used a number of them throughout the series. When first meeting Naruto, he quickly deduces that the seal on Naruto's stomach keeps the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him though also allows its chakra to mix with his own. He later creates a method of suppressing the demon fox's influence over Naruto through the Subdue Seal (Ō Fūin), which activates by simply coming into contact with Naruto's body. In addition, he can utilize the Fire Sealing Method (Fūka Hōin, English TV "Fire Seal") to contain a fire within a scroll for future study.

Minato Namikaze

2008-09-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage (Yondaime Hokage), was the father of Naruto Uzumaki. Although Naruto and Minato are noted to have a number of similar traits throughout the series, their familial relationship is not revealed until Part II of the series. He was the student of Jiraiya and the teacher of Kakashi Hatake. Minato was a prodigy among ninja, such that enemy villages issued flee-on-sight orders if ever he appeared on a battlefield. He developed a jutsu that was in essence a teleportation jutsu, allowing him to wipe out whole armies in the blink of an eye, thus earning him the title of "Konoha's Yellow Flash" (Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō).Before the start of the series, he gave his life to seal the nine-tailed demon fox into Naruto's body, saving Konoha from destruction and giving Naruto access to its great strength.

Masashi Kishimoto

2008-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Masashi Kishimoto (born 8 November, 1974) is a Japanese manga artist, most well known for creating the manga series Naruto. His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series 666 Satan.

Works

Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri, which he submitted to Shueisha in 1996. In 1999, Naruto was serialized in Shonen Jump magazine, winning its monthly "Hop Step Award". Naruto is still ongoing, with more than 40 volumes, and has sold over 71 million copies in Japan as of volume 36, also being adapted into two successful anime series. The Naruto manga series has become one of Viz Media's top properties, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in 2006. The seventh volume of Viz's release became the first manga to ever win a Quill Award when it claimed the award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2006. As of volume 36, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan.

In his interviews and exclusively in the Naruto manga, he commonly mentions his deceased plant, Ukki-kun. According to Kishimoto, the first time he had an office plant, due to missing the country atmosphere, he fed it undiluted plant food. He continued purchasing several other plants afterwards, but many of them perished.

When Masashi Kishimoto was originally creating the Naruto series, he looked to other shōnen manga for influences while attempting to make his characters as unique as possible. Kishimoto cites Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series as one of these influences, noting that Son Goku, the protagonist of Dragon Ball, was a key factor when creating Naruto Uzumaki due to his energetic and mischievous personality. To complement Naruto, Kishimoto worked on creating a rival that was a "cool genius", as he believed this was "the archetypal rival character". After reviewing different manga for ideas, he ultimately developed Sasuke Uchiha. When creating the primary heroine, Kishimoto admitted, "I don't have a definite image of what a heroine should be". He eventually created Sakura Haruno, emphasizing "her energy and flirtatious spirit" as her primary characteristics. These three characters would be the mold for the other three main Naruto teams. For Kishimoto, Sasuke remains the most difficult character for him to draw. While drawing, errors and mishaps commonly result in Sasuke's youthful appearance being lost, a result of Kishimoto's inexperience in drawing characters mature beyond their years. Despite the time and energy Kishimoto spends drawing Sasuke has become his favorite character to draw.

When drawing the characters, Kishimoto follows a five-step process that he consistently follows: concept and rough sketch, drafting, inking, shading, and coloring. These steps are followed when he is drawing the actual manga and making the color illustrations that commonly adorn the cover of tankōbon, the cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump, or other media, but the toolkit he utilizes occasionally changes. For instance, he utilized an airbrush for one illustration for a Weekly Shōnen Jump cover, but decided not to use it for future drawings largely due to the cleanup required.

When Kishimoto was creating the setting of the Naruto manga, he initially concentrated on the designs for village of Konohagakure, the primary setting of the series. Kishimoto asserts that his design for Konohagakure was created "pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery is based on his home in the Okayama prefecture in Japan. Kishimoto created Konohagakure without specifying a specific era or location in the real world, noting that the village is "just a place in [his] head". Without a specific time period, Kishimoto included modern elements in the series such as convenience stores, but specifically excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the storyline. For reference materials, Kishimoto performs his own research into Japanese culture and alludes to it in his work. In an interview, he commented that he "often visits Japanese gardens and [goes] to Kabuki performances" for reference material.

Kishimoto added that, as Naruto takes place in a "Japanese fantasy world," the creator has to "set certain rules, in a systematic way" so that he could easily "convey the story." Kishimoto wanted to "draw on" the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this. Regarding technology Kishimoto said that Naruto would not have any firearms. He said he may include automobiles, aircraft, and "low-processing" computers; Kishimoto specified the computers would "maybe" be eight-bit and that they would "definitely not" be sixteen-bit.

Iruka Umino

2008-08-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Iruka Umino (Umino Iruka) is a Konohagakure ninja and instructor at the Ninja Academy, a school for prospective ninja. Masashi Kishimoto's initial design of Iruka featured "evil" eyes and sharper cheekbones, but this was abandoned in favor of a more relaxed appearance. When Iruka was a child, his parents were killed by the nine-tailed demon fox, which was sealed into Naruto Uzumaki. He bears no ill will towards Naruto, instead being one of the few people at the start of the series to recognize Naruto as a person and not just a container for the fox. Naruto thinks of Iruka as a father figure because of this, and Iruka in turn has great faith in Naruto's potential to be a great ninja. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Toshihiko Seki, and his English voice actor is Quinton Flynn.

Kurenai Yuhi

2008-08-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Kurenai Yuhi (Yūhi Kurena) is the leader of Team 8. Of all her students, Kurenai is closest with Hinata, acting as a surrogate parent in the absence of Hinata's father, and helping Hinata overcome her weaknesses. Whenever Kurenai appears in the series, she is regularly accompanied by Asuma Sarutobi. Because of this, many other characters assume them to be a couple, though they both deny this. During Part II of the series, Kurenai is revealed to be pregnant with Asuma's child, making their relationship clear. In battle she specializes in casting illusions, and is shown to be particularly skilled with illusions involving plants. In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Rumi Ochiai. In the English adaptation of the anime, she was voiced by Saffron Henderson in episode three, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in all subsequent appearances.

Hidan

2008-08-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hidan (Hidan) is the immortal, foul-mouthed partner of Kakuzu and a former ninja of a yet-to-be-identified village. He is a member of the Jashin (Jashin lit. "evil god") religion, a religion that worships a deity of the same name and where anything less than death and utter destruction is considered a sin. His religion seems, to some extent, to extend to his unique abilities; by consuming an opponent's blood and then drawing Jashin's triangular-design on the ground, Hidan can create a voodoo doll-like link with his opponent. Once this link is created, any damage done to Hidan's body is reflected on his opponent, allowing him to kill them by giving himself fatal injuries. Because he is immortal, Hidan is not impaired while doing this, instead finding pleasure in the pain it causes him. After Hidan uses this ability to kill Asuma Sarutobi,Shikamaru Nara fights him to avenge his teacher. Their battle culminates in Hidan being blown up, and Shikamaru buries his still-speaking remains in a place Akatsuki will never be able to reach. As such, Hidan is no longer considered a member by the rest of Akatsuki. In the Japanese anime, Hidan's seiyū is Masaki Terasoma.

Zetsu

2008-08-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Zetsu (Zetsu) is the only member of Akatsuki to regularly act without a partner. This is in part a result of his ability to merge with any object and quickly travel to a new location, a feat few other ninja are capable of. Because of this ability Zetsu serves a variety of different positions in Akatsuki, such as a spy that observes and reports on battles of interest or a lookout during Akatsuki's meetings. Being cannibalistic, he is often sent to dispose of bodies Akatsuki does not want found, mirroring the large venus flytrap that envelops his body. Zetsu's body is split into two different colors, his right side being black and his left being white. Similarly, the two sides have their own personalities and knowledge bases, frequently leading to discussions and arguments between the two. The black half speaks in katakana in the Japanese manga, and white speaks kanji and kana. In the Japanese anime, Zetsu's seiyū is Nobuo Tobita and in the English adaptation, Zetsu has two voice actors: the black half is voiced by Michael Sorich and the white half is voiced by Brian Beacock.

Sasori

2008-08-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sasori (Sasori) is a former ninja of Sunagakure. His parents died when he was young, leaving him in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo. Lacking the love of parents, Sasori left Sunagakure when he got older and joined Akatsuki where he is initially partnered with Orochimaru. After Orochimaru's defection Sasori teamed with Deidara, who looks to him and his artistic knowledge with reverence. Before leaving Sunagakure, Sasori was taught the art of puppetry by his grandmother, which he refined to fit his needs over the years. He eventually devised a way to convert the corpses of humans into puppets, allowing him to use any of the ninja abilities they possessed during their life for himself. In time he even converted his own body into a puppet, which gives him eternal life and allows him to control hundreds of puppets at once. Each weapon in his puppets' extended arsenal is laced with a poison of Sasori's design that causes extreme pain to the inflicted until they die. Sakura Haruno is able to create an antidote for Sasori's poison, allowing her and Chiyo to fight him uninhibited. They eventually destroy his heart, the only part of his humanity he kept when converting himself to a puppet, resulting in his death. In the Japanese anime, Sasori has several seiyū for his different appearances: when he is controlling Hiruko, a scorpion-like puppet he wears like a suit, he is voiced by Yutaka Aoyama; when he is featured as a child, he is voiced as Akiko Yajima; and as an adult, he is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai.

Deidara

2008-08-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Deidara (Deidara) is a former ninja of Iwagakure. He tends to end his sentences with an audible grunt that is usually translated as "hmm" or "yeah". He acted as a terrorist bomber for hire before being forced to join Akatsuki by Itachi Uchiha. Though he came to embrace the organization, Deidara holds a grudge against Itachi and all Uchiha throughout the series, as he feels they look down on his abilities. Upon joining Akatsuki he is partnered with Sasori, who Deidara treats as his master due to his artistic expertise. Sasori is replaced by Tobi after his death, and Deidara assumes the master-position as Sasori had before him. By consuming clay with mouths in his hands, Deidara is able to create his own form of art: sculptures that explode with varying intensities. Deidara's creations can take any form he so chooses, and from the time of their creation to their detonation he can bring them to life and control them remotely. He is very confident in his art's ability, such that he believes it cannot be defeated. When Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother, is able to systematically nullify and gain the advantage over his art, Deidara transforms himself into a living bomb in an effort to kill Sasuke and prove his art is supreme, but ultimately fails. His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Katsuhiko Kawamoto, and in the English adaptation, he is voiced by Quinton Flynn.

Kisame Hoshigaki

2008-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Kisame Hoshigaki (Hoshigaki Kisame) is a former ninja of Kirigakure and the partner of Itachi Uchiha. While most Akatsuki partners are hostile towards each other, Kisame and Itachi get along considerably well; Kisame does as Itachi asks of him unquestioningly and always looks out for Itachi's well-being. While he was still loyal to Kirigakure, Kisame was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a group of violent ninja that use particularly large swords in battle. His sword, Samehada (Samehada lit. "shark skin"), is covered in scales, can absorb untold amounts of an opponent's chakra, and only allows Kisame to wield it. Kisame has a unique appearance, having pale blue skin, a gill-like facial structure, and sharp triangular teeth. These shark-like characteristics extend to his choice of attacks in battle, as he frequently shapes water into the forms of sharks to damage opponents. If there is no water nearby, Kisame can quickly produce his own lake to use at his leisure. His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Tomoyuki Dan, and his English voice actor is Kirk Thornton.

Itachi Uchiha

2008-08-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

Itachi Uchiha (Uchiha Itachi) is a former ninja of Konohagakure and the partner of Kisame Hoshigaki. Though having spent his early youth as the kindly child prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi is treated as a villain for much of the series. He is initially portrayed as being solely responsible for the slaughter of his entire family, sparing only his brother, Sasuke Uchiha, with the explanation that he was testing his abilities. Around the time of his death his villainous role is downplayed; not only is he revealed to have had help from his master, Madara Uchiha, in killing the clan, but he performed the massacre under the orders of Konoha's leadership so as to prevent an Uchiha coup d'état. Though he was ordered to kill Sasuke as well, Itachi could not bring himself to do so, instead forcing Konoha to keep Sasuke safe or risk Itachi going public with his mission. For his part, Itachi accepts his role as a villain, never telling anyone of who else was involved and even encouraging Sasuke to grow strong enough to kill him and avenge their family. Throughout the series Itachi attempts to avoid combat, seeking nonviolent discussions instead. If he is forced to battle he usually remains stationary, only acting in self-defense. From his idle position he studies an opponent's movements with his Sharingan eyes, trapping them in illusions when opportune by merely pointing or looking at them. Itachi at times uses one of the three abilities of his Mangekyo Sharingan, though he tries to avoid doing so as it is taxing on his body and damages his eyesight. The first, Tsukuyomi (Tsukuyomi), allows him to torture opponents for what seems like days in a matter of moments. Amaterasu (Amaterasu), the second, generates black flames at his focal point that will continue to burn until the target is reduced to ash. The final ability, Susanoo (Susanoo), creates a massive ethereal warrior that fights on Itachi's behalf and shields him from all attacks. Before he dies during his battle with Sasuke, Itachi implants his Amaterasu in Sasuke's eyes, hoping that doing so will keep him safe from Madara Uchiha. In the Japanese anime, Itachi's seiyū is Hideo Ishikawa. His first voice actor in the English anime was Skip Stellrecht, who voiced Itachi in episodes 29 and 30, but in all following appearances, he has been voiced by Crispin Freeman.

Akatsuki

2008-08-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

Akatsuki (Akatsuki lit. "Dawn" or "Daybreak") is a criminal organization composed of ten high-level ninja that have defected from their village of origin. The group receives little attention during the first part of the series, only becoming major antagonists in Part II. Akatsuki members are characterized by their long, dark cloaks bearing red clouds with a chin-high collar. Each also possesses a unique ring, which seems to symbolize one's membership in the organization. Members are partnered together in teams of two, each team sticking together as they traverse the Naruto world. Despite this partnership, members tend to have a strained relationship with their peers, only cooperating enough to complete their assignments and showing little concern when another member is killed. Orochimaru defects from the organization before the start of the series, taking his ring with him, and thus Akatsuki never exceeds nine members during the current storyline.

Akatsuki was founded by Madara Uchiha after he was expelled from his hometown of Konohagakure. Though initially meant only to mask Madara's movements, Akatsuki eventually began taking part in assassinations and espionage. By the start of the current storyline, Akatsuki's ambitions grow to plans of world domination. To mark this more dynamic goal, Akatsuki increases its activity throughout the series as it attempts to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts. Each member is assigned to capture a specific beast or its current host, at which point Akatsuki convenes to extract the beast and seal it away for their grand plan. As the Akatsuki leader, Pain, explains it, once all nine beasts have been captured Akatsuki will be able to harness their great strength to start world wars at their leisure. With the world governments unable to deal with the beasts' power, Akatsuki will be turned to for salvation, teaching the world the meaninglessness of fighting and giving Akatsuki complete control in the process. As of Naruto manga chapter 404, Akatsuki has captured the first seven beasts.

Gaara

2008-08-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

Gaara is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto designed Gaara as a foil to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, as the two were born through similar circumstances, but develop vastly different personalities as they deal with their troubled upbringing. Initially introduced as an antagonist and Naruto's rival, the two eventually develop a bond as kindred spirits and become close friends as the series progresses.

In the anime and manga, Gaara is a ninja affiliated with Sunagakure, and is the son of Sunagakure's leader, the Fourth Kazekage. As a child, his father attempted to turn him into a human weapon by placing a tailed beast into him, and he was ostracized by the Sunagakure villagers. As a result, he develops into a ruthless killer, slaying others without remorse, and treating his siblings Kankuro and Temari with contempt. His battle with Naruto during the series changes this outlook, and he begins to aid others in order to emulate Naruto. In Part II of the series, he becomes Sunagakure's Fifth Kazekage. Gaara has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including the second featured film in the series, the third original video animation, and several video games.
Numerous anime and manga publications have commented on Gaara's character. IGN labeled the disparity between Naruto and Gaara as "emotional" and "a tad creepy". Anime News Network called Naruto's fight against Gaara the high point of the entire series. Among the Naruto reader base, Gaara has been popular, placing high in several popularity polls. Numerous pieces of merchandise have been released in Gaara's likeness, including plush dolls and key chains.

Creation and conception
Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto created Gaara as a foil to the series' protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki. He and Naruto have a similar background: he was rejected by his peers and fellow villagers for being the host of a tailed beast, a situation that Kishimoto describes as "very much like Naruto's". Gaara's development from this state into a highly withdrawn, sadistic character was intended to induce sympathy for him from readers, as it was contrasted against Naruto's development into a cheerful troublemaker.
Gaara's initial attire, along with the costumes of his siblings, were difficult for Kishimoto to draw on a weekly basis. Because of this, Kishimoto gave the three siblings simpler costumes towards the end of Part I; Gaara received an outfit with an upright collar. In addition to being easier to draw, it was used to demonstrate the change in relationship between Gaara and Naruto following their previous fight. Kishimoto cites The Matrix, one of his favorite movies, as an inspiration for Gaara's new costume, and he considers it to be his favorite costume of the three siblings.

Background
Gaara's background is primarily expanded upon in flashbacks during in Naruto manga volume fifteen. As a child, Gaara had the One-Tailed Shukaku (Ichibi no Shukaku, English TV: "Shukaku the Sand Spirit"), a tailed beast, sealed into his body, giving him the power to manipulate sand. The Fourth Kazekage, Gaara's father and the leader of the village of Sunagakure, intended to use Gaara as the village's personal weapon. Gaara was trained by his father throughout his childhood to help gain control over the abilities granted to him by Shukaku. Despite this, Gaara was ostracized by the Sunagakure villagers, who viewed him as a monster for being the host of a tailed beast. Shukaku would occasionally manipulate sand against Gaara's will to harm other villagers, cementing their perception of him. These attacks on the villagers convinced Gaara's father that he was a failed experiment, and he ordered Gaara's assassination. All of the attempts on Gaara's life failed, as Shukaku would always protect Gaara from harm and kill the assassin. Realizing that he had been abandoned by his family, Gaara adopted the belief that he could only rely upon himself and Shukaku, and that he had to kill others in order to confirm the value of his own existence.

Personality
Gaara's drive to kill is his most fundamental characteristic at the start of the series. After his introduction in the yearly ninja examinations, Gaara has little interest in the actual examination but rather in seeking to kill or seriously maim anyone who makes the mistake of insulting him. As he battles stronger opponents during the course of the examinations, Gaara begins to believe that he must kill anyone he perceives as stronger than him because they are a threat to his existence.Gaara's quest for stronger opponents leads to his crossing paths with Naruto Uzumaki. Recognizing Naruto as a formidable opponent, Gaara threatens the life of one of Naruto's friends to force him to fight. He treats his battle with Naruto as a contest to determine whose philosophy is correct: his belief in fighting for himself or Naruto's belief in fighting for his friends and allies. Naruto defeats Gaara, and as a result, Gaara adopts Naruto's philosophy, realizing that fighting for others yields greater strength than fighting for one's self. He makes amends with the many characters he had alienated, apologizing to those he hurt and improving his relationship with his family. At the same time, Gaara's fundamental characteristic becomes the desire to protect as many people as he can, as in doing so he will be able to find true strength. This culminates in his replacing his father as the leader of Sunagakure during Part II of the series, and he states his greatest desire is to give his life for the villagers for Sunagakure regardless of the opinions they hold of him.

Abilities
Due to having Shukaku sealed within him, Gaara has control over sand. Gaara always carries sand with him in a calabash gourd on his back. To attack his opponents, Gaara uses sand to engulf them, and he can compress the sand, crushing them in the process. When Gaara is attacked, a shield of sand automatically blocks the attack, a result of Shukaku being sealed within him. Gaara also covers his skin with a layer of sand as a precautionary defensive measure.

Like other hosts of tailed beasts, Gaara can manifest aspects of the tailed beast sealed within him. By covering himself in sand, Gaara can take on the appearance of a miniature Shukaku, increasing his speed and strength in the process. As he does so, he allows Shukaku's personality to influence him, making him more violent and bloodthirsty. Once he has completed his Shukaku replica, Gaara can fully bring out Shukaku's personality by forcing himself to sleep. Doing so allows Shukaku to control the replica and fight using its full strength so long as Gaara remains asleep.

Plot overview
Gaara first appears in the series when he is sent to Konohagakure, a rival ninja village, to take part in the Chunin Exams, yearly ninja exams for ninja that wish to increase their rank. In truth, he is sent in order to infiltrate Konohagakure in preparation for an invasion by Sunagakure and its ally, Otogakure. During the exams, however, he is injured by Sasuke Uchiha, and is unable to participate in the invasion. The invasion proceeds without him and Gaara flees Konohagakure, but is pursued and defeated by Naruto Uzumaki on the village's outskirts. Sunagakure is defeated in Gaara's absence and the two villages sign a peace treaty to end the fighting. Later, Sunagakure sends Gaara to help in preventing Sasuke from defecting to Otogakure, which becomes a mutual enemy of both Konohagakure and Sunagakure. While he is able to help protect Konohagakure's ninja from Otogakure's forces, he is unable to prevent Sasuke from escaping.

In Part II of the series, two and a half years after the failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke, Deidara, a member the criminal organization Akatsuki, is sent to Sunagakure to capture Gaara. Deidara manages to capture Gaara by threatening Sunagakure, and the members of Akatsuki extract Shukaku from his body. Gaara dies in the process, but is revived by Chiyo, an elderly Sunagakure ninja, who gives him her life so that he can continue to protect Sunagakure.

Tsunade

2008-08-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

Tsunade (Tsunade), as well as her former teammates Jiraiya and Orochimaru, is a former student of the Third Hokage. She is also the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and so many characters in the series refer to her with the Japanese honorific "hime" (meaning "princess"). Despite her connections to past Hokage, Tsunade hates the position when she is first introduced. After her brother and boyfriend died in pursuit of their dreams to become Hokage, she lost faith in the title and the concept of dreams. She regains her faith in both after meeting Naruto Uzumaki, who consistently overcomes any obstacle in his own dreams of being Hokage.
As a result, Tsunade accepts the position of Fifth Hokage (Godaime Hokage) so that she can protect Konohagakure until Naruto is ready to replace her. Despite the importance of her position, Tsunade tends to avoid her duties, instead leaving them for her assistants. She will fulfill her role to address matters important to the village, and throughout Part II leads Konoha in combating Akatsuki.

Tsunade possesses a number of traits that set her apart from other characters in the series, such as being a compulsive gambler with terrible luck. On the rare occasions that she hits a winning streak she perceives it as a bad omen, and makes it a point to fortify her defenses or assist her allies when it occurs. Additionally, although she is in her fifties, she constantly assumes the appearance of a twenty-year-old woman, retaining only her characteristically large breasts. Despite her odd personality Tsunade is a talented ninja; she has superhuman strength that allows her to reduce buildings to rubble and can heal injuries that most others would consider incurable.

Her healing abilities are such that she has devised a method of regeneration for herself, making her all but invincible in battle.[129] At the conclusion of Part I, Tsunade takes Sakura Haruno as an apprentice, teaching her how to use both of her trademark abilities. In the Japanese anime, Tsunade's seiyū is Masako Katsuki, and her English voice actor is Debi Mae West.

Ino Yamanaka

2008-08-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Ino Yamanaka (Yamanaka Ino) is the only female member of Team 10. She has known Sakura Haruno since they were children, befriending and helping her to develop her own identity. When they discovered that they both liked Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura ended their friendship so they could properly compete for his affection. The two eventually make amends and rekindle their friendship, but still maintain a competitive attitude towards each other. In the anime, when Sakura begins to excel in healing techniques, Ino becomes her surrogate apprentice, hoping to be more useful to her friends and teammates as an able medical ninja. In terms of combat abilities, Ino specializes in mind-altering techniques. To use these techniques, Ino transfers her consciousness to her target's mind, gaining control over her opponent's body which she can then use to attack others. In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Ryōka Yuzuki, and her voice actor is Colleen O'Shaughnessey in the English adaptation.

Shikamaru Nara

2008-08-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Shikamaru Nara (Nara Shikamaru) is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, consisting of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He is a member of Asuma Sarutobi's Team 10, consisting of himself, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka. While Shikamaru is initially shown in the series as a lazy character, complaining about most things that happen, he later shows an remarkable intelligence during the Chunin Exams, which causes Shikamaru to become the first of the primary Konoha Genin to advance to the rank of Chunin. Shikamaru has additionally appeared in two of the featured movies in the series, Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel and Naruto: Shippūden the Movie, as well as several other media relating to the series, including several video games and OVAs.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Shikamaru's character. While most publications praised the use of his intelligence in his battles, IGN praised his development in the series as he is noted to be a more deep and emotional character. Shikamaru has also been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Shikamaru has also been released, including action figures, key chains and patches.

Creation and conception

The name of the trio "Ino-Shika-Cho" is derived from a hand that can be played in the card game Hanafuda, "ino" meaning "boar," "shika" meaning "deer" and "cho" meaning "butterfly." Shikamaru's family raises deer, and his family name, Nara, is the name of a park in Japan that is famous for its group of free-roaming deer.[13] Masashi Kishimoto has noted that he likes Shikamaru due to his easygoing nature despite being a genius, and contrasted him against Sasuke Uchiha's intelligent but abrasive personality.

Personality

Shikamaru is an extremely unenthusiastic person, and as such lives his life avoiding work. This is partly due to seeking paths of least resistance, as he often chooses to do things he would otherwise not do if people nag him enough. In his free time he typically takes naps, watches clouds, and plays strategy games such as Shogi and Go. When put into a situation where he potentially needs to put effort into something, he attempts to try to find a way to avoid it such as forfeiting a battle or by pretending to be preoccupied with something else. In the instances where he can not avoid these situations, Shikamaru tends to remark "how troublesome" (mendoukusai, English TV "what a drag" or "such a pain").

Despite his lazy tendencies, Shikamaru is extremely intelligent. His teacher, Asuma, found Shikamaru to have an IQ of over 200, and learned that Shikamaru's poor grades were a result of him finding lifting a pencil to be too much work for him. Nevertheless, Shikamaru works very well with his teammates as their fathers were teamed together in their youth as well. Of his teammates, Shikamaru is closest with Choji, who repays Shikamaru's confidence in him with unyielding loyalty to Shikamaru. Shikamaru also has a strong bond with Asuma, often spending time with him playing strategy games. After Asuma's death, he even vows to protect Asuma and Kurenai's unborn child for his teacher's sake. Shikamaru has stated that he will make the child his apprentice someday.

One of Shikamaru's more distinctive characteristics is that he finds all women to be bossy and "a pain." Contrary to this opinion, he has expressed a notably mature interest in marriage and raising a family with a son and daughter. Ironically, Shikamaru seems to constantly find himself surrounded by the very same strong-willed and bossy women he dislikes. In addition to his own mother, and being surrounded by bossy females, he usually ends up fighting against such women. Shikamaru has had a number of his appearances coincide with those of Temari. When they make their Part II debut together, Naruto Uzumaki asks if they are on a date, though both Shikamaru and Temari state that this is not the case.

Abilities

When the need arises, Shikamaru is quick to abandon his lazy nature and act appropriately to complete a mission or save his teammates. Using his Shadow Imitation Technique (Kagemane no Jutsu, English "Shadow Possession Jutsu"), the signature technique his clan, he can capture the shadow of an opponent to either keep them immobilized or force them to mimic his movements. This ability causes Shikamaru to frequently take the task of stalling enemies so that his comrades can get to safety or to simply buy time. Although this role puts him in a dangerous position once he can no longer stall the opponent, Shikamaru is willing to serve it, feeling that sacrificing his life to ensure the safety of his friends is worth it. He then considers every element that is relevant to the situation at hand and analyzes the information to its fullest and plan out a battle ten moves in advance and can devise over a hundred strategies to use against an opponent. This combination of intelligence and dedication to his teammates causes Shikamaru to become the first of the primary Konoha Genin to advance to the rank of Chunin.

Once becoming a Chunin, Shikamaru's father teaches him to allow him to use his shadow to have more interaction with an opponent by using it to choke an opponent. This more interactive capability with his shadow is put to great use over the timeskip, and by Part II Shikamaru becomes able to use multiple shadow-based techniques at once. He is also able to manipulate his shadow to lift from the ground and either grab and throw weapons simply by utilizing an opponent's shadow for the same purpose. After he comes into the possession of Asuma's brass knuckles, Shikamaru becomes able to channel his shadow into the knuckles, using them to immobilize opponents by throwing them at an opponent's shadow to capture them and save himself the energy.

Plot overview

Shikamaru goes to the Chunin Exams without a particular objective, and he really didn't care if became Chunin or not. In the finals Shikamaru fights Temari, he would've won, but decided to forfeit. During the invasion in Konoha, Shikamaru helps Naruto and Sakura to find Sasuke by staying behind and creating a diversionary ambush against the Sound Ninja who were pursuing them. Even though forfeited the match, he was still promoted to Chunin. Mostly because his incredible way of thinking throughout the match. As a result of his early advance to the rank of Chunin, Shikamaru plays a considerably more active role in the plot than most members of the Konoha 11, albeit more indirectly than the primary cast. His first assignment as a Chunin is to assemble a team to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, who has betrayed Konoha is search for Orochimaru to gain greater power, which forces him to defeat his escorts, the Sound Four. While his teammates defeat their enemies, Sasuke is able to escape despite their best efforts.

In Part II, Shikamaru is assigned to track down two members of Akatsuki. While he and his team manage to find their targets with relative ease, Akatsuki member Hidan is able to kill Asuma during the course of the battle. After Asuma's funeral, Shikamaru sets out with the surviving members of Team 10 and Kakashi to avenge their sensei. As his team deals with Hidan's partner, Shikamaru is able to defeat Hidan in memory of Asuma, and single-handedly weakening Akatsuki by one member.

Choji Akimichi

2008-08-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

Choji Akimichi ( Akimichi Chōji) is a member of Team 10 who is typified by his deep love for food to the extent that he continually has a snack with him during the series. Though his habit of always eating gives him a relatively large appearance, Choji insists he is not fat, instead using explanations like being "big-boned". If someone refers to him as fat, Choji instantly becomes hostile and his resolve to battle grows stronger. Shikamaru Nara has never found an issue with Choji's weight, instead choosing to look upon Choji's inner strength. Because of this, Choji regards him as his best friend, stating he would willingly give his life to defend Shikamaru. In battle, Choji can increase the size of his body to improve the amount of damage his strikes deal upon impact. His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kentaro Ito, and his English voice actor is Robbie Rist.

Orochimaru

2008-08-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Orochimaru (Orochimaru) is a fictional character from the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He was created as one of the series villains, and intended to represent the opposite of the protagonists' morals and values.

In the anime and manga, Orochimaru is a former ninja of the village of Konohagakure, and leads his own ninja village, Otogakure, in hopes of destroying his former home. During his time in Konohagakure, Orochimaru distinguished himself as one of the village's most powerful ninja; however, his desire for power led him to obtain a means for immortality by transferring between different host bodies. This desire for a host is one of his driving motivations throughout the series, resulting in his desire to acquire Sasuke Uchiha due to his powerful genetic heritage. Orochimaru has appeared in media outside the Naruto anime and manga, including several video games.

Several anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Orochimaru's character. As one of the series' premier villains, he has been praised in this regard; IGN compared his character to Darth Vader of Star Wars fame. His lack of redeeming qualities and open malevolence was also praised by reviewers, with AnimeOnDVD calling him the "first real villain" of the series. Among the Naruto reader base, Orochimaru has been popular, ranking within the top twenty characters in several polls. Numerous pieces of merchandise in Orochimaru's likeness have also been released, including action figures and plush dolls.

Creation and conception

As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists' values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognize that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains "flamboyant" was one of his "guiding principles," and attributed this to his desire to have the villains have a "powerful aura."

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru's face appear "pasty and sickly," which serves to emphasize the "scary looks" that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. As these occurrences are his "trademark," Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru's appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru's face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru's hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a "creepy atmosphere."

Orochimaru's name and snakelike characteristics are derived from the character of the same name in Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari lit. The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya), in which he utilized snake magic. Other aspects of his character, including his Kusanagi sword, are derived from elements of the Orochi of Japanese mythology.

Background

Unlike most other Naruto characters, whose backgrounds are told in chronological order over a consecutive series of chapters, small portions of Orochimaru's past are explored throughout the series. After his parents died when he was young, Orochimaru's only source of affection was that received from his teacher, the Third Hokage, and his two teammates. As they grew older Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade collectively became known as the "Legendary Three Ninja" (Densetsu no Sannin) due to their exemplary ninja abilities. Orochimaru, however, craved more power than could be obtained from training with his master, and began abducting villagers of Konohagakure for experimentation. He simultaneously applied for the title of Hokage, the village's protector, hoping that the position would give him access to new abilities. The Third, though wishing to pass the name of Hokage to his favorite student, could not bring himself to knowingly satisfy Orochimaru's lust for power, and thus gave the position to someone else.

No longer having a reason to keep face in Konoha, Orochimaru was less discreet about his abductions and experimentations, giving in the Third the opportunity to discover what he was doing. Unwilling to bring himself to harm Orochimaru, the Third allowed him to escape and flee the village. In time Orochimaru joined the criminal organization Akatsuki, where he tried to get close to and steal the body of Itachi Uchiha so as to gain the Sharingan. When Itachi was easily able to repel his efforts, Orochimaru was forced to flee the organization. With Akatsuki now seeking to assassinate him due to his knowledge of their organization, Orochimaru founded his own ninja village, Otogakure, populated with ninja loyal to him. There he continued his experimentations uninhibited, gaining the means to make all his dreams of power come true.

Personality

Orochimaru's various human experiments take place so as to serve two purposes, most prominent of which is his desire to learn every jutsu in the Naruto world. To this end, he experiments on others to see what kind of modifications the human body can endure and to otherwise harness a subject's unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru hopes to be worthy of the title of "ultimate being". Because a human's lifespan does not allow enough time to learn every jutsu, Orochimaru also experiments on others so as to achieve immortality. By living throughout the ages, Orochimaru need never worry about death and thus all the knowledge he gains will never be lost.

Above all else, Orochimaru cares only for himself. He grows bored when there is no conflict or violence in the world, and immediately strikes fear into others when they first meet him. Though he has a number of followers who would do anything for him, Orochimaru treats them as mere pawns. He does not hesitate to send them to their deaths for his own personal benefit, and only finds remorse in their loss if they are unable to properly complete a task. To win over these followers to their disposable status, Orochimaru approaches them with promises of making their dreams, such as obtaining power, revenge, or a purpose to their lives, come true. He applies a cursed seal to many of his stronger subordinates in order to corrode their body and mind, making them more susceptible to his influence and control.

Abilities

Much of Orochimaru's arsenal of abilities deals with snakes. By summoning them to his side during battle, Orochimaru can battle multiple opponents at once and simultaneously keep himself out of harm's way. Through his experimentations he has also been able to add some snake-like characteristics to his own body, such as shedding his body to escape injury or extending parts of his body to great lengths. Of the more common of his snake-related abilities, Orochimaru possesses the Kusanagi sword (Kusanagi no Tsurugi, English TV "The Grass Long Sword"), an extendable blade that he stores within a snake that is in turn stored in his own mouth. Though he can wield the sword regularly with great proficiency, it is not uncommon for him to use the sword without ever removing it from his mouth.

The influence snakes have had on Orochimaru is most evident in the results of his immortality research: after years of study and self-modifications, Orochimaru's "true" form has become that of a giant white snake that is composed of many smaller snakes. To live forever and escape death, Orochimaru first finds a new body that will act as his own. He then leaves the confines of the body he is inhabiting, revealing his true form. Once doing so, Orochimaru need only consume the new body and gain dominance over the soul of its current inhabitant, thus gaining complete control and access to all the body's unique abilities. While inhabiting this body, Orochimaru typically wears a mask of his original face, it being both his personal preference and easier for others to communicate with someone they recognize. Orochimaru can only perform this body-transfer once every three years, at which point in time weaker bodies begin to reject him and therefore necessitate he find a new body.

Plot overview

Orochimaru acts as the primary antagonist for the first part of the series, planning the invasion and eventual destruction of Konoha so that he can kill the Third Hokage and gain the body of Itachi Uchiha's brother, Sasuke Uchiha. When the Third is able to fight back during their battle and take away Orochimaru's ability to perform jutsu, he is forced to put his plans for Sasuke on hold, calling off Konoha's invasion and pulling his forces back. Wanting to regain the ability to use jutsu, Orochimaru seeks out a way to cure himself. When all his efforts prove unsuccessful, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to fetch Sasuke, hoping that a body-transfer will undo the Third's seal. Though he waits as long as he can, Sasuke takes too long to arrive and Orochimaru is forced to switch to the body of one of his prisoners instead. Once Sasuke arrives, Orochimaru begins molding him into the ideal body, coveting the day that he will be able to take the body for himself.

Two-and-a-half years later, in the second part of the series, Orochimaru prepares to take Sasuke's body. Sasuke, unwilling to give himself up to Orochimaru, fights an attempted body-switch. Having the stronger will, Sasuke retains control of his body while trapping Orochimaru's soul within him, giving him access to many of Orochimaru's abilities in the process. In the aftermath of Orochimaru's defeat one of his subordinates, Kabuto Yakushi, absorbs his remains, which have since begun to slowly take over Kabuto's body. During Sasuke's later fight with Itachi, Sasuke is left too weak to continue suppressing Orochimaru's spirit, allowing Orochimaru to escape and try to take his body again. Before he can do so, Itachi traps him in an inescapable dream-like realm, robbing Orochimaru of his chance to gain the Sharingan and releasing Sasuke from his influence.

Kakashi Hatake

2008-08-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

Kakashi Hatake (Hatake Kakashi, alternately spelled) is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, consisting of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. Kishimoto originally planned to introduce Kakashi in the manga to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, early on, but pushed back this meeting so that Naruto's teammates could be better developed.

In the story, Kakashi is the leader and teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto. He is initially portrayed as a detached and apathetic figure, but as the series progresses, his loyalty to his friends and students becomes increasingly apparent. Kakashi's past has been extensively explored in the series, resulting in a gaiden being devoted to his past experiences. Kakashi has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including three of the four featured films in the series, all of the original video animations, and several video games.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Kakashi's character. Although he has been noted to be an echo of similar detached shōnen characters, the duality of Kakashi's apathetic and serious sides have been praised. Kakashi's popularity has been noted by reviewers; T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews commented that the series could simply be renamed "Kakashi." Kakashi has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Kakashi has also been released, including key chains and plush dolls.

Creation and conception

Masashi Kishimoto originally intended for Kakashi to debut in the second chapter of the Naruto manga, appearing prior to the other members of Team 7. This Kakashi was designed as a laid back, affected, skilled ninja that ended his sentences with the polite "de gozaru" in the Japanese versions of the series. After speaking with his editor, Kishimoto pushed this debut back, allowing him to better develop Kakashi and the rest of Team 7. Despite this, Kakashi retains many of his original personality traits, being easygoing, unfazed by the actions of others, and appearing to be half-asleep. Kishimoto feels that this makes Kakashi a compelling leader and helps to keep the diverse members of Team 7 unified. Because he acts as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi is rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students are the focus of the scene.

When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities: Kuwa ("hoe"), Kama ("scythe"), Botan ("peony"), Enoki (a nettle tree), and Kakashi ("scarecrow"). He eventually decided upon Kakashi, and remains glad that he did to this day. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows are occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, uses a scarecrow that is dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows are at times added to the background of scenes in which Kakashi appears, as is the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three. During episode 101 of the anime, Kakashi uses a scarecrow of himself to elude Team 7. When the face of the scarecrow is shown, you see a comical interpretation of Kakashi's face also used in Naruto's imitation of him.

Background

Kakashi's background goes unexplored for the first part of the series, not being shown in any detail until Kakashi Gaiden, a six chapter series that divides the gap between Part I and II of the manga. During Kakashi's youth his father, a ninja that was highly revered in Konohagakure, abandoned a mission crucial to the village in order to save the lives of his teammates. Disgraced by the villagers and those he had saved because of the repercussions the village suffered, Kakashi's father committed suicide. Wishing to avoid his father's dishonor, Kakashi adopted the philosophy that the success of a mission must always come first, becoming humorless and by-the-book in the process.

In later years Kakashi was assigned by his teacher, Minato Namikaze, to lead a mission that would turn the war going on at the time in Konoha's favor. When his teammate, Rin, was captured by enemy ninja, Kakashi elected to leave her behind and finish the mission. His other teammate, Obito Uchiha, rejected this alternative, stating that those who abandon their friends are worse than garbage and that Kakashi's father had done the right thing by saving his teammates. Touched by Obito's words, Kakashi joined him in a rescue effort, though his left eye became damaged in the ensuing battle. After finding Rin and preparing to escape, an enemy induced cave-in crushed Obito's right half. With the cave continuing to collapse around them and Obito unable to free himself, Obito urged his teammates to save themselves. Before leaving, Obito had Rin implant his newly acquired Sharingan eye into Kakashi's damaged eye socket as a gift. His new eye in place, Kakashi fled with Rin as the cave collapsed, eventually completing their mission and forever mourning Obito's death.

Personality
Obito's death greatly changed Kakashi, as he adopted many of Obito's traits and philosophies. Most recurring of these is his concept of teamwork: when first forming Team 7, Kakashi gauges their abilities with a bell test in which the three must capture the two bells he keeps on his person. Only by working as a team, regardless of the fact that there aren't enough bells for each of them, are they able to pass, instilling in them the concept of teamwork early on. Kakashi continues to further this philosophy for the duration of Part I upon Sasuke Uchiha, whose drive to get stronger causes him to slowly turn against his friends and teammates. Though Kakashi frequently reminds Sasuke of the importance of teamwork and tries to show him how strength can be found in friendship, he is unable to get through to him before the latter's defection.

Kakashi keeps his personal life separate from his interactions with his students, only going so far as to say that he has a number of hobbies and dreams that are "none of [their] business". He also states that everyone precious to him is dead. What is known of Kakashi's personal life is that he spends much of his free time at a memorial site where Obito's name is engraved. He tends to lose track of time when he is there, and is frequently late to his appointments as a result (another trait adopted from Obito). Similarly, Kakashi constantly keeps the lower half of his face covered, and thus the appearance of his face remains a mystery. Episode 101 of the anime, an omake episode dedicated to Team 7's efforts to unmask Kakashi, implies he is quite handsome, as two employees at a ramen shop (male and female) are left awestruck after he briefly removes his mask to eat.

One pastime that Kakashi allows his students to be aware of is his fondness for the Make Out (Icha Icha) series of novels. The books, detailing the author's (Jiraiya) experiences in love, are runaway best-sellers within the Naruto world. When asked more specifically about the contents of the books, Masashi Kishimoto explained that Naruto's target demographic was not old enough for him to disclose the details of the plot. Kakashi is usually seen reading one of the books during events that do not require his complete attention, such as his early conversations and training sessions with Team 7. Naruto has on occasion used Kakashi's attachment to the books against him; he threatens to spoil the ending of the latest installment in the series, forcing Kakashi to shut his eyes and ears to avoid learning the secret and leaving him off guard in the process.

Abilities

The Sharingan given to him by Obito is a sticking point to Kakashi's fame in the Naruto world. Granting him the ability to mimic the movements and jutsu of others, the Sharingan gives Kakashi an edge in battle by allowing him to turn his opponent's abilities against them. Because the Sharingan only naturally occurs in those of Uchiha lineage, Kakashi needs to exert much more energy when using his own. Similarly, because his is a transplanted eye, Kakashi's Sharingan is always active, and so he keeps it covered with his forehead protector when he is not using it to keep from tiring out. Despite these shortcomings he is very proficient with his Sharingan, being of comparable mastery to experienced Uchiha like Itachi Uchiha. During the gap in time between Part I and II, Kakashi even develops a Mangekyo Sharingan. With it he can create a localized interdimensional space-time warp, allowing him to send any targeted object to another dimension. Because performing this ability requires extended bed rest afterwards, Kakashi avoids using it unless absolutely necessary.

With his ability to mimic the jutsu of others, Kakashi has added over one thousand different attacks to his repertoire, leading to his nickname of "Copy Ninja Kakashi" (Kopī Ninja no Kakashi?). Much of this extended arsenal is composed of ninjutsu, making him a specialist in the field. Kakashi is also well-rounded in all other jutsu-types, shown to be adept with taijutsu and at least having a cursory knowledge of genjutsu. Because of his abilities, Kakashi is noted to be an obvious candidate for the position of Hokage, the protector of Konoha, should the position ever become vacant.

Although most of Kakashi's abilities were acquired with his Sharingan, Kakashi has two abilities he developed by himself. Lightning Blade, a collection of lightning chakra in one's hand, was created by Kakashi in his youth. By rushing at the enemy and thrusting the Lightning Blade into a target, Kakashi can kill most opponents with one strike. Because of the speed at which the technique is performed, regular eyes experience a tunnel-vision effect when using it and leaves the user open to counterattack. After gaining his Sharingan, Kakashi was able to overcome this flaw, and uses its analytical capabilities to better react to enemy movements. His second unique ability is the pack of eight ninja dogs (Ninken?) he is able to summon to his side. The dogs are capable of talking and have presumably been raised by Kakashi since they were puppies. He primarily uses them for tracking purposes, sending them out to find and detain a target until he can catch up to them.

Plot overview

Kakashi's role in the series predominately consists of his time with Team 7, leading them on missions and training them to improve their ninja abilities. He takes a special interest in Sasuke Uchiha during Part I, who he trains exclusively in an attempt to steer him away from Orochimaru, an enemy to Konoha. Despite his efforts he is ultimately unsuccessful and Sasuke defects from Konoha at the end of Part I. Naruto and Sakura also part ways at this time, leaving Kakashi's tutelage to train under new teachers. Two-and-a-half years later in Part II, Kakashi reforms Team 7 with Naruto, Sakura, and two new members. Because his students are now capable of taking care of themselves, Kakashi takes a more active role in the battles that go on during the series, particularly those with the criminal organization Akatsuki. He also joins Naruto and Sakura in their efforts to find and retrieve Sasuke, and although they almost apprehend him, they lose his trail and are forced to return home.

Sakura Haruno

2008-08-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sakura Haruno is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. Sakura has become the series' female lead, although she was not immediately intended for the role. Kishimoto has had difficulty in drawing her, resulting in Kishimoto inadvertently emphasizing certain parts of her appearance, including her large forehead.

In the anime and manga, Sakura is a kunoichi affiliated with the village of Konohagakure, and part of Team 7, which consists of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and their sensei, Kakashi Hatake. Sakura initially has an infatuation for Sasuke, praising him at every juncture, and heaping scorn upon the less skilled Naruto. Over the course of the series, she begins to shed this singularly driven persona, and grows more appreciative and accepting of Naruto; in Part II, she begins to develop a closer bond with him as they both share in their goal to bring their departed teammate Sasuke back. Sakura has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including the four featured films in the series, all of the original video animations, and several video games.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Sakura's character. She was initially noted to be a stereotypical shōnen character, serving as a love interest for the protagonist, and served little purpose in the series initially beyond being comic relief.Her emergence from this stereotype as the series progressed, however, has been celebrated by reviewers. Amongst the Naruto reader base, Sakura has been popular, placing high in several polls. Several pieces of merchandise have been released in Sakura's likeness, including a plush doll and key chains.

Creation and conception
Although Sakura is the most recurring female character in Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto did not originally intend for Sakura to be the heroine of the series. Kishimoto attributes this to his being unable to draw good heroine characters, and fashioned Sakura as a girl who cannot understand men, the best example of a heroine he could come up with. Sakura's creation is a result of Kishimoto's desire to make a somewhat irritating character who was well-intentioned. Despite these elements, Kishimoto is fond of Sakura, as he feels that many of her personality traits are common among all people, thus giving her a sense of real humanity.
When designing Sakura, Kishimoto focused on her silhouette and created a costume as simple as possible. This is a divergence from the other main characters of the series, whose costumes are very detailed. The leggings are the most notable aspect of her design, as they are meant to show that she is very active. At the start of the series her leggings extended below her knees and closely resembled trousers. As Part I progressed, the leggings became increasingly shorter and tighter. Similar to his inexperience with drawing heroines, Kishimoto lacked the experience needed to make Sakura "cute" when he first began drawing her. Although he implies that her appearance has become cuter since then, Kishimoto and much of the Naruto manga staff agree that Sakura was "far from cute" at the start of the series.
Sakura's most well-known physical characteristic is her broad forehead. Because of this, Kishimoto at times focuses too much effort on drawing it in scenes or promotional artwork where Sakura is featured prominently. This results in her forehead appearing too large.

Personality
At the start of the series, Sakura has a deep infatuation for Sasuke Uchiha, rooted primarily in his good looks, cool attitude, and prodigious talents. Because of this, many of Sakura's early appearances are dedicated to her continuing effort to win his affection. As the story progresses and she begins to spend more time with Sasuke as a teammate, Sakura develops a concern that Sasuke will someday abandon her and the rest of Konohagakure in his quest for power. When her fears comes true at the end of Part I, Sakura does all that she can to stop Sasuke from leaving, such as professing her love for him and offering to join him. Though touched by her words, they do not stop Sasuke from defecting from Konoha. Since then, Sakura has made her personal goal to bring Sasuke home, which becomes a recurring component of her role in Part II. Although she still worries about his well-being and doesn't allow others to insult Sasuke, Sakura is willing to attack him if it means returning him to Konoha.

Sakura's relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, like with Sasuke, also changes throughout the series. When first teamed up together, Sakura views Naruto as a talentless idiot who deliberately tries to ruin her life. As the story progresses and Naruto continually shows his worth as a ninja as well as his dedication to his teammates, Sakura realizes that her initial perceptions of him were wrong. After Sasuke defects from Konoha at the end of Part I, Sakura pleads for Naruto to bring him back. Despite having a crush on Sakura, Naruto does all in his power to return Sasuke to her. Although he fails and is left in the hospital afterwards, he vows to someday complete the task she has given him. Realizing the lengths Naruto will go to for her, Sakura spends the two-and-a-half years dividing Part I and II to training so that she can help Naruto during his next attempt. As they search for Sasuke during Part II, Sakura learns of the various hardships Naruto faces: the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and Akatsuki. Saddened by the impact both forces have had on his life, Sakura becomes protective of Naruto and tries to do whatever she can to help him overcome these obstacles.

Within Sakura resides "Inner Sakura," a manifestation of her inner emotions. In addition to comic relief, Inner Sakura represents Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of "Shānnarō". The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "hell yeah," "hell no," or "damn it" depending on the situation. Viz media replaces it with the word "Cha!" in the English versions of Naruto. Although she appears quite frequently at the start of the series, Inner Sakura all but disappears midway through Part I, her only other appearance being at the start of Part II. These decreasing number of appearances is likely a result of Sakura becoming more comfortable with herself, as she no longer says the opposite of how she actually feels. Sakura, likewise, now performs the emotional outbursts she once relied on Inner Sakura for, much to the dismay of those who are around her at the time.

Abilities
For the duration of Part I, Sakura's abilities go largely unseen and undeveloped. While she is shown to be very proficient with basic ninja abilities during the few battles she participates in, Sakura lacks any unique traits that set her apart from the rest of Team 7. Her teacher, Kakashi Hatake, notes that Sakura has an excellent control over her chakra early in Part I, but it is not until Part II that she is taught to use this ability to her advantage.

After training under Tsunade for two-and-a-half years, Sakura acquires two abilities that rely directly on her precise chakra control. The first and most common of these two is her ability to heal wounds, giving her the position as her team's medical ninja. Due to the speed and proficiency with which she can heal others, many characters have noted Sakura to be more talented than most medical ninja with far more experience. Because a ninja team relies on its medical ninja to survive, Sakura must both avoid opponents and keep them at bay during battle. This is accomplished through Sakura's second ability: her superhuman strength. By building up chakra in her fists and releasing it on contact with a target, Sakura can reduce most obstacles to rubble with great ease.

Plot overview

Sakura accompanies the rest of Team 7 during all of its early missions, though she does little to contribute to the battles that take place. Instead, Sakura sits on the sidelines, content in allowing her teammates to protect her and defeat their opponents. During the Chunin Exams, when the rest of Team 7 is left in need of her protection, Sakura realizes that relying on others to fight her battles has been unwise. She resolves to better her ninja abilities from that point further, and throughout the rest of the series takes a more active role in Team 7's battles. After Sasuke's defection from Konoha at the end of Part I, Naruto's failure to bring him back, and Sakura's inability to help either of them, she becomes Tsunade's apprentice so that she can do more for her teammates in the future.

Sakura takes a more active role in Part II, as is first seen in her defeat of Akatsuki member Sasori. As a result of her victory, Sakura is given the chance to learn of Sasuke's whereabouts. Naruto, Sakura, and the new members of Team 7 use this intelligence to track Sasuke down, but they are once again unable to prevent him from escaping. While disappointed in their failure, Team 7 tries once again to find Sasuke, though after almost apprehending him they lose his trail and are forced to return home.

Sasuke Uchiha

2008-08-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

Sasuke Uchiha is a fictional character in the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, consisting of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He was created as a rival and foil to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, with his design causing difficulties for Kishimoto during drawing the manga scenes, although he has grown to enjoy drawing Sasuke.

In the anime and manga, Sasuke is a member of the Uchiha clan, a highly skilled clan of ninjas allied to the village of Konohagakure. His primary motivation throughout the series is to avenge the destruction of his entire clan by killing his brother, Itachi Uchiha, a task he pursues at all costs. While he was initially cold and singularly driven by his revenge, he becomes more empathetic through his relationships with other characters, notably Naruto Uzumaki, whom he comes to consider as a rival. Sasuke has additionally appeared in two of the featured movies in the series, Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow and Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel, as well as several other media relating to the series, including several video games and OVAs.

Several anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Sasuke's character. While many reviewers have noted his cold and detached attitude and abilities, he has been viewed as a stereotypical "rival" in the mold of several similar characters in other shōnen manga. His personality has also been subject to criticism, with many finding it difficult to like or sympathize with Sasuke's character; IGN jokingly labeled Sasuke as an "emo-kid." Nevertheless, Sasuke has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Sasuke has also been released, including action figures and plush dolls.

Creation and conceptionWhen developing the original Naruto manga, Masashi Kishimoto had not initially intended to create Sasuke. After speaking with his editor about the future of the series, he was advised to create a rival character for the series' protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, resulting in Sasuke's creation. To learn more about creating an effective rivalry, Kishimoto read a variety of manga to gather ideas on what constituted such a rivalry, and he coalesced these ideal elements into one relationship. Because Sasuke is intended to be Naruto's opposite, Kishimoto is always careful to make sure Sasuke is never too emotional. With Sasuke's character being that of a "cool genius," Kishimoto feels he has created the ideal rivalry.

Sasuke's design gave Kishimoto a number of problems, making him the most difficult character he had to create. Because he lacked a proper idea of what Sasuke's face should look like, initial drafts of Sasuke appeared too old or mature for a character the same age as Naruto. Once settling on a proper face, Kishimoto worked on Sasuke's attire. Original designs of Sasuke had a number of necklaces and ties around his arms and legs, a result of Kishimoto's habit of giving characters as much ornamentation as possible. Realizing he could not draw such a complex character on a weekly basis, Kishimoto simplified the design to a basic contrast of Naruto's costume.
For Kishimoto, Sasuke remains the most difficult character for him to draw. While drawing, errors and mishaps commonly result in Sasuke's youthful appearance being lost, a result of Kishimoto's inexperience in drawing characters mature beyond their years. Sasuke's hair, originally kept short to save Kishimoto time, has slowly gotten longer as the series has progressed, increasing the amount of time needed to draw Sasuke. Midway through Part I of the series Kishimoto drew a new costume for Sasuke that featured a number of belts strapped around his arms and legs. Because of the time needed to draw a costume of this design, Kishimoto returned Sasuke to his original costume. Despite the time and energy Kishimoto spends drawing Sasuke, Sasuke has become his favorite character to draw.

Background

Sasuke's early childhood, as told over the course of Naruto manga volume twenty-five, was spent living in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. As a natural prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi was the pride of their family. In an effort to win some recognition for himself, Sasuke trained diligently to win some of his parents' attention, though he was never able to surpass the milestones set in place by his brother. As the years went by only Itachi would acknowledge Sasuke's accomplishments and treat him as part of the family, filling the role of a loving older brother. In time, Itachi began to distance himself from the clan and fell out of his family's confidence. Because of this, the Uchiha began to look to Sasuke as the new future for the clan, and he finally began to receive the attention he had craved.

Soon after Sasuke started to be accepted into his family, he returned home one day find the streets littered with the corpses of the Uchiha clan. Upon rushing home to alert his parents to the tragedy, Sasuke found Itachi standing over their bodies. His responsibility for the murders clear, Itachi explained that he had killed their family only to test his abilities. As Sasuke tried to flee, Itachi went on to explain that he had never loved his little brother. Claiming that Sasuke was not worth killing, Itachi encouraged him to get stronger by living a life of hate and anger towards him, with his sole purpose being to avenge the clan. Itachi left, and in the absence of a loving family Sasuke agreed to do as instructed, dedicating his life to killing Itachi. Years later, in Part II of the series, Sasuke is shown to have some doubts out about the events of that night. It is not until after Itachi's death that he learns the truth surrounding the massacre of the Uchiha: that it was all done for Sasuke's good.
Personality
When first introduced during his assignment to Team 7, Sasuke displays a great indifference to his teammates. Feeling that his abilities are far superior to their own, he is unwilling to cooperate with Naruto Uzumaki or Sakura Haruno, as doing so would do nothing to help him kill Itachi. These perceptions are quickly proven wrong, for despite their failings, Sakura is an excellent source of information and competition with Naruto acts as an effective way to get stronger. While he retains a confidence in himself throughout the series, Sasuke increasingly relies on his friends over the course of Part I. As he starts to get close to others he also begins to risk his own life to save them, even though his death would leave him unable to gain vengeance on Itachi.

Although Sasuke becomes content with a life of happiness in Konohagakure, he never allows his dreams of power to leave his thoughts. During his Part I battles with characters such as Haku and Gaara, Sasuke tests his abilities against those of progressively stronger ninja, in the process discovering the weakpoints he needs to overcome. While initially complacent with his development, Naruto quickly starts to grow stronger at a faster greater rate. This, coupled with his quick defeat by Itachi during a brief return to Konoha, leads Sasuke to believe that his growth is slowing. In an attempt to reassess his strength, he begins to treat his friends as opponents so as to test his abilities against their own.

Dissatisfied with his progress in Konoha and believing Orochimaru holds the keys to getting strong enough to kill Itachi, Sasuke defects from Konoha at the end of Part I. Naruto attempts to stop him but Sasuke, believing the death of Naruto, his closest friend, will give him the desired power, tries to kill him instead. He is ultimately unable to follow through with this idea, realizing that is what Itachi would want, and instead continues on to Orochimaru. In the two-and-a-half years he spends with Orochimaru, Sasuke's goal to kill Itachi takes precedence above all else; he is willing to give his body to Orochimaru if it means killing Itachi, and later turns against Orochimaru after reaching the conclusion that he can learn nothing else of value.[30] After achieving his goal of bringing about Itachi's death, Sasuke learns of his brother's good intentions and what he seems to perceive as Konoha betraying the Uchiha, and abandons all of his former hate for Itachi and resolves to restore the Uchiha and crush Konoha.
Abilities
Sasuke has always been able to grasp most ninja abilities with ease. When Naruto begins Sasuke is highly proficient with the Uchiha clan's signature fire-breathing and weapon-based techniques, talents he continues to hone throughout the series. Of the abilities gained through his Uchiha lineage, Sasuke most commonly uses the Sharingan, an ability manifested through the eyes, that grants him a variety of advantages. Sasuke's Sharingan develops for the duration of Part I, first only allowing him to track fast-moving objects and culminating with his ability to predict the movements of others. In Part II he starts to use his Sharingan to cast illusions, allowing him to manipulate and confuse others. Sasuke's Sharingan reaches its peak after Itachi's death; through the death of the person closest to him, Sasuke awakens his own Mangekyo Sharingan.

Like the Sharingan, Orochimaru's influence is a recurring element of Sasuke's abilities. During their first encounter in Part I, Sasuke is branded with a cursed seal, which grants him a brief surge in strength and speed when active. Though he is left exhausted after its usage, Sasuke's various uses of the seal cause him to crave more of its power. As such, Sasuke forces his seal to a second level, amplifying the effects of the first level and drastically changing his appearance when active. When Sasuke begins to train under Orochimaru, his physical abilities are greatly enhanced and he learns how to summon snakes so as to help him in battle. In addition to the techniques taught to him, Sasuke gains access to some of Orochimaru's more common abilities after absorbing him into his body; Sasuke is able to recover from injuries in short periods of time and can regurgitate new bodies for himself if he is too heavily damaged. Itachi removes Orochimaru and the cursed seal from Sasuke's body during their final battle, freeing him from Orochimaru's control.

Prior to Sasuke's defection, his teacher, Kakashi Hatake teaches him how to use the Chidori in an attempt to steer him away from Orochimaru. The Chidori, a collection of lightning-based chakra in the user's hand, serves as a rapid thrusting attack that severely damages any target. While Sasuke is able to put the Chidori to great use during Part I, his usage of the attack is somewhat limited in Part II. Instead, Sasuke employs variants of the technique, using the fundamentals behind the Chidori to create a number of new abilities. Sasuke's first display of such an ability involves emitting electricity from his body as a shield and then sending it along the blade of his chokutō to increase its cutting potential. He later proves able to mold electricity into more solid forms such as extendable swords, and even harnesses natural lightning to create a devastating and unavoidable attack called Kirin. Because of the amount of energy required to create the Chidori, Sasuke can only use it twice per day under his own power for the duration of Part I.In Part II, a limit on his number of uses for the Chidori or its variants has yet to be seen.

Plot overview
For the first half of Part I, Sasuke accompanies Team 7 in its various endeavors and training sessions. After his encounter with Orochimaru, who begins to manipulate Sasuke into his custody, Sasuke starts to act independently of Naruto and Sakura, pursuing his own opponents and being the only one to train with Kakashi. After Itachi's brief return to Konoha and his simultaneous defeat by him, Sasuke becomes dissatisfied with what he has learned as a member of Team 7. Believing Orochimaru will be able to give him the strength needed to kill Itachi, Sasuke goes to him, severing his ties with Konoha in the process. Naruto follows him in an effort to stop him, and the two do battle. Though he tries to kill Naruto, Sasuke ultimately cannot bring himself to do so, and instead continues on to Orochimaru's hideout, ready to gain strength at any cost.
After two-and-a-half years Sasuke, convinced that he has learned all he can from his new master, turns against a weakened Orochimaru before the latter can steal his body. Though Orochimaru attempts to force a body switch, Sasuke is able to reverse the process, absorbing Orochimaru and allowing him to put his plans of finding Itachi into motion. Sasuke forms "Snake", a team of individuals assembled to aid him in finding Itachi. Once they are able to track Itachi down, Sasuke leaves his team behind and goes to kill his brother. When Itachi dies after a prolonged battle, Sasuke is collected by Madara Uchiha. Madara tells Sasuke how Itachi killed the Uchiha under the orders of Konoha, spared Sasuke out of love, and subsequently allowed himself to be killed. Saddened with the revelation that his long-hated brother was a good person, Sasuke reunites with the members of Snake, renaming them "Hawk" with intent to destroy Konoha. In the meantime, Sasuke agrees to have Hawk work with the Akatsuki in hunting down the eight-tailed beast.

Naruto Uzumaki

2008-08-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Naruto Uzumaki is a fictional character in the b universe created by Masashi Kishimoto as the main protagonist for the series and developed into a media franchise, consisting of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. While creating Naruto, Kishimoto kept in mind to keep the character "simple and stupid" while giving him many attributes of Son Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise.

In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the fictional village of Konohagakure, and has ambitions of becoming Hokage, or the leader of the village. Due to being the host for the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He compensates for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality, and over the course of the series, manages to befriend several other Konohagakure ninja, as well as ninja from other villages. He obtains an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother. Naruto appears in all of the series' films, as well as in other media related to the franchise, including video games and OVAs.
Several anime and manga publications have expressed acclaim and criticism of Naruto's character. He has been viewed as a stereotypical manga and anime protagonist comparable to many other protagonists in other shōnen manga. Nevertheless, Naruto has remained highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Naruto has also been released, including figurines and plush dolls.

Creation and conception

When creating Naruto, Kishimoto incorporated into the character a number of traits he felt made an ideal hero: a straightforward way of thinking, a mischievous side, and many of the attributes possessed by Son Goku from the Dragon Ball franchise. He also made sure to keep Naruto "simple and stupid," since he does not like smart characters. Naruto himself is not modeled after anyone in particular, being conceived as childlike with somewhat of a dark side as a result of his harsh past. Despite this, he is always positive, making him unique in Kishimoto's eyes.

Naruto's wardrobe is based on clothing Kishimoto wore when he was younger; according to Kishimoto, using a pre-existing design would not have made Naruto unique whereas something original would have made him stand out too much. The orange coloring of his costume is used to make Naruto "pop," with blues often being used to complement the orange. Because Naruto is associated with spirals, swirl patterns are incorporated into his costume. Initial illustrations of Naruto had him wearing boots, but Kishimoto substituted these for sandals, because he likes drawing toes. The goggles that Naruto used to wear were also replaced with a forehead protector, because the goggles themselves were too time consuming to draw. Kishimoto said that he felt glad that his character had blond hair and blue eyes. The editor of Shonen Jump in the United States added that he implied that the traits may have led the character to appeal to a Western audience. Kishimoto said that he most identifies with Naruto out of all of the Naruto characters. When asked why Naruto's favorite food is ramen instead of kitsune udon Kishimoto said that he personally liked eating ramen.

In the Japanese versions of Naruto, Naruto often ends his sentences with the addendum "-ttebayo" (which gives a similar effect to ending a sentence with "you know?"). Kishimoto wanted to give Naruto a childlike catch phrase, and "dattebayo" came to mind. It complements Naruto's character, and serves as a verbal tic that shows him to be somewhat of a brat. Throughout the beginning of the English anime, the dub replaced "dattebayo" and "-ttebayo" with the phrase "Believe it!" to mirror the effect, as well as to match the character's lip movements.

The producers of the English-language anime stated that of all of the characters Naruto was the most difficult character to cast for; they added that Maile Flanagan "has Naruto down, from the mischievous side, that precocious 12-year old we learn to love, to the serious side."

Background

Naruto was born the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Soon after his birth, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked their hometown of Konoha, leaving destruction throughout the village. In order to stop the fox's attack, Minato, the Fourth Hokage, sealed it within Naruto's body, giving Naruto access to its great power at the cost of Minato's life. Before his death, Minato requested that Naruto be viewed as a hero of the village rather than a container for the fox. Many villagers chose to ignore this request, leading to the enactment of a law forbidding anyone to speak of Naruto as the fox's host. With his father dead and his mother presumably sharing the same fate, Naruto has spent all of his life as an orphan, not knowing who his parents were.

Personality

With no family to speak of and the villagers of Konoha always showing him animosity for being the container of the demon fox, Naruto never had a source of love or attention during his early childhood. Desiring that which he has lacked all his life, Naruto's dream is to become Hokage, the village's protector, hoping that it will bring him the villagers' recognition and respect. To assist him in gaining this title, Naruto possesses a fierce determination, always confident he can complete a given task with relative ease. Naruto's efforts have proven successful as the series progressed, as many characters have reached the conclusion that Naruto will someday be an excellent Hokage.

Since his introduction, Naruto's determination has resulted in some of his traits rubbing off on those around him, such that in Part II his teacher, Kakashi Hatake, notes this to be Naruto's unique power. Gaara, after being defeated by Naruto in battle, discovers that true strength is found in fighting for one's friends, not for oneself. These changes that other characters experience serve as the moral for the part of the story they take place in, and subsequently become the creed for the particular character's life.

Through his ability to change others, Naruto has gained the friends that he lacked during his childhood. Among the many friendships he has formed, none are more prominent in the series than those he has with his two teammates: Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto shares a highly competitive relationship that he likens to brotherhood. Though Sasuke betrays Naruto and the rest of Konoha at the end of Part I, Naruto maintains his attachment to Sasuke, readily lashing out at anyone who speaks poorly of him. With Sakura, Naruto possesses a deep dedication to her, rooted in the crush he has had on her for years. Naruto's commitment to Sakura is such that he will do anything to make her happy, vowing to someday return Sasuke to Konoha for her sake.

Abilities

Because of the demon fox within him, Naruto has access to its great chakra reserves, allowing him to perform jutsu that someone of his age would ordinarily be incapable of using. Though portions of the fox's chakra constantly mix with Naruto's own, Naruto can forcibly draw upon its reserves in one of two ways: by submitting to rage or by directly asking the fox for a donation of its strength. Once doing so the fox's power begins to consume Naruto, eventually creating a fox-shaped shroud around him complete with a number of tails indicating his current level of strength. While each tail drastically increases his fighting strength, Naruto begins to lose his sense of self as more tails appear. Because he can quickly become a danger to those he cares for in these situations, Naruto has begun to limit his usage of the fox's power.

Naruto takes advantage of his expanded chakra reserves throughout the series. His first and most recurring example of this is the Shadow Clone Technique, which creates any number of physical copies of the user. Because the user's chakra levels are evenly distributed amongst all of the clones, most ninja only create a few clones to keep from depleting their reserves. Naruto, however, can create hundreds of clones at once without worrying about tiring out. He has found a number of uses for these clones, such as overwhelming an opponent and scouting a large area in a short period of time. His ability to summon toads in battle also relies on the fox's chakra, as he can only summon larger toads with the fox's help.

Rasengan, a concentrated ball of spinning chakra first created by his father, is Naruto's favored method of attack. When performing the technique Naruto creates shadow clones to help him form the attack, one Naruto providing the chakra and the others spinning it into shape. While devastating by itself, capable of grinding into whatever it touches and causing great damage, Minato created the Rasengan with the intention of infusing it with his own elemental chakra. He was unable to do so prior to his death, but Naruto has since begun to complete his work. Through repeated training with his shadow clones, Naruto has been able to infuse the Rasengan with his wind chakra. This has resulted in the creation of the Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken (Fūton: Rasenshuriken?), which damages what it hits on a cellular level. Even though it is extremely effective at defeating opponents, the hand he is performing the technique with is damaged as well, making it a double-edged sword.

Naruto

2008-04-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Naruto (NARUTO - ナルト -, Naruto? romanized as NARUTO in Japan) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime adaptation. The main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, unpredictable adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in the village acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all.

Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konohagakure. Powerful enough to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains with a swish of one of its tails, it raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of Konohagakure – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his own life to seal the demon inside Naruto when he was a newborn. The Fourth Hokage, who was celebrated as a hero for sealing the demon fox away, wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox.

Konohagakure, however, shunned him, regarding Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage forbade anyone to discuss or mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone, even their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating him like an outcast and as a result he grew up an orphan without friends, family, or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief.

However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Shadow Clone Technique, a technique from a forbidden scroll that he was tricked into stealing, to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared for and acknowledged him. His graduation from the academy opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world, including his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.

The main story follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also confides in other characters that he meets throughout the series as well. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of Konohagakure.

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