Kiba Inuzuka

Kiba Inuzuka

(犬塚キバ)

Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚キバ, Inuzuka Kiba^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

The name "Inuzuka", meaning "house of dogs", belongs to a clan that was one of the most powerful in the Chiba prefecture in Japan during the Edo period. They were known as "dog warriors" and worshipped Inu ("Dog"), a deity representing the zodiac sign of the dog. The name "Inuzuka" also originates from Hakkenden, a novel about a dog samurai. "Kiba" literally means "fang".

Kiba Inuzuka is a loud and head-strong Chunin member of Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8, although he has a very soft and caring side that he shows to his friends. He's from Konohagakure's Inuzuka family, known for their use of Nin-dogs (忍犬, Ninken^?) in battle, and has an almost symbiotic relation with his nin-dog Akamaru - they are even able to communicate with each other, allowing Kiba to gain information from Akamaru's heightened senses of smell and hearing. The two also perform many jutsu together, such as Beast Human Clone so that they both look like a beastlike Kiba. Afterward they can use Double Piercing Fang to spin towards the opponent at high speed, causing great damage on impact. By gathering chakra to his nose, Kiba can also increase his own sense of smell a thousand-fold.

Kiba and his team members, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame, are highly specialized in tracking and survival; Kiba's and Akamaru's heightened senses, combined with Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's Destruction Bug Host Technique, make their team exceptional at this. Compared to Team 7, Team 8 appears to be on very good terms with one another, although Kiba proclaims his dislike for Shino's bossy attitude during the second part of the Chunin exam and Shino seems to think Kiba should be more serious and less goofy. The three spend time together as they pursue their hobbies (Kiba training Akamaru, Hinata picking flowers, and Shino collecting bugs).

According to official databook Kiba's favorite foods are beef jerky and gristle. His least favorite foods are anything that he can't chew. His hobby is walking with Akamaru, which rarely involves simple walking. His favorite phrase is "Akamaru". Unlike the rest of his team, Kiba takes off his jacket when he sleeps and goes to bed in his undershirt. While sleeping, Kiba curls up like a sleeping dog.

Part I

Chunin Exam Arc

During the first part of the Chunin exam, a written test, Akamaru is sitting on Kiba's head, thus being able to look at the other examinees' papers. Since Kiba is the only one in the classroom able to understand Akamaru's barking and growling, Akamaru can easily pass the answers through to Kiba.

In the third stage preliminaries, Kiba is set up against Naruto Uzumaki. Although Kiba has the upper hand for most of the battle, Naruto manages to turn the tables for a while through his use of surprisingly clever strategy, as well as some luck. While everyone is amazed by Naruto's growth, Kiba gives Akamaru a food pill, increasing his chakra. This turns Akamaru's fur red, revealing the true reason for Akamaru's name ("aka" meaning "red" in Japanese). Once again having the upper hand, Kiba and Akamaru attack Naruto. However, Naruto, with his determination, and a clever use of the Transformation Technique, manages to eliminate Akamaru from the fight. While Kiba is down, Naruto attempts to debut his Uzumaki Naruto Combo, but Kiba gets up and tries to prevent this, eventually ending up behind Naruto. Having his concentration disrupted by Kiba, Naruto farts, turning Kiba's own heightened sense of smell against him. This distraction allows Naruto to finish the Uzumaki Naruto Combo, thus finally defeating Kiba. As Kiba is being carried to the emergency room, Hinata comes and offers him the same ointment that she gave Naruto. He tells her to forfeit if she is placed with Gaara or Neji.

Though during the fight Kiba taunted Naruto about his inferior strength and mocked his dream to be Hokage, by defeating him Naruto earns his respect and Kiba cheers for him with Hinata in the third stage main matches. Kiba has realized that Naruto has changed and is one of the few viewers that believe that Naruto has a chance in beating Neji. When Hinata begins coughing up blood and is taken by the medics, Kiba follows them, thus missing Naruto's fight. He is knocked out by Kabuto after returning, since Akamaru recognized Kabuto's smell.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc

Kiba is a part of the team sent to retrieve the renegade Sasuke Uchiha, together with Naruto, Neji, Choji Akimichi and their leader Shikamaru Nara. He and Akamaru successfully kept Sakon and his twin brother Ukon occupied, allowing the rest to move on and continue the mission. The fight is a close one, with Sakon and Ukon having to resort to using Orochimaru's last defense to protect themselves from Kiba and Akamaru's powerful Double Wolf Fang. He shows amazing intelligence during the fight which impresses even Ukon who tells Kiba, while fused into his body, that his nose and brains won't help in this situation.

The twins are ultimately stronger, and almost kill Akamaru, so Kiba decides to withdraw and hide with Akamaru from the brothers. They eventually find him, but Kankuro intervenes at the last second — saving Kiba from certain death and killing Sakon and Ukon - as a part of a joint effort by him, Gaara, and Temari to aid the Leaf-nin on their mission.

In the anime, we see during their fight, how Kiba met and grew up with Akamaru, which goes some way to explain how incredibly close the two are.

Filler arcs

Like Neji, Kiba is teamed up with Naruto numerous times on other missions in the anime after the failed Sasuke retrieval mission. During the episode "Kiba's Long Day," more of the connection between Kiba and Akamaru is seen while Akamaru is infected with a biological weapon. It also takes an in-depth look at Kiba's family life. We also see that Kiba has very good hospitality. When Kiba finds Naruto trespassing in the Inuzuka's garden, he is not angered, but instead invites him to come into the house.

In the Treasure Hunt arc, Kiba sees the error of his and Naruto's ways of wanting leadership. When he points out that the team of Naruto, Hinata, and himself has a weakness, Naruto and Hinata think he is talking about Hinata because she has an injured leg. Kiba then tells them that Hinata is the strong part of the group since she worries about everyone and that he and Naruto are the weakness because they always argue. Kiba makes the point that they will be a better team if they work together.

In the Konoha 11 arc, Kiba and Shino unsuccessfully attempt to search the village for the missing blueprints, only to find that a smoke bomb set off the previous night also had a scent-neutralizing agent. Later on in the arc, Kiba is teamed up with Neji while searching the school. Kiba proves that he can easily lose his temper when he is angered by a group of children taking part in a kunai throwing practice. The reasoning for this is because if a kunai hit the bulls-eye, the academy would be blown up. While Kiba does lose his temper, it is simply because he doesn't want to hear the kids complain.

Part II

Kiba & Akamaru in Part II

During Naruto's two-and-a-half-year absence from Konohagakure, Kiba passes the Chunin exam and is promoted to Chunin level. He has largely remained true to his loud, joking personality. He has exchanged his fur coat for what appears to be a leather jacket. Akamaru also grew so much that Kiba can ride on his back. When Naruto commented on Akamaru's growth, Kiba said he hadn't noticed since he had been around him the entire time.

Hinata Hyuga

Hinata Hyuga

(日向ヒナタ)

Hinata Hyuga (日向ヒナタ, Hyūga Hinata^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

Hyuga (日向, Hyuga^?) means "toward the sun" and is the name of a city in the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. "Hinata" as her first name is a pun, as it is another way to read this kanji and means "a sunny place".

Despite her relatively little time in the spotlight, Hinata is a very popular character: she generally ranks among the top ten in Shonen Jump's character popularity polls.

Hinata is the oldest daughter and heiress to the Hyuga clan. Along with Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, she is part of Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8. As a member of the Hyuga clan, she possesses the Byakugan, which gives her an almost 360° field of vision, and specializes in the Gentle Fist fighting style, which allows her to damage her opponent's chakra circulatory system and inner organs directly with even a slight tap. While Hinata is technically the heiress to the Hyuga clan, her father deemed her a lost cause in her early teens – apparently of even lesser skill than her younger sister, Hanabi, and not even comparable to her cousin Neji – and thus left her in the care of Kurenai when she became Hinata's sensei, stating, "Do what you want with her. She is of no use to me."

In the beginning, Hinata lacks self-confidence and gives up easily. Though she stayed at the training grounds longer than anyone else and worked hard to improve her skills, she would give up when faced with any real competition. In an attempt to change herself, Hinata entered the Chunin exam, where she finally finds the will to never give up. She finds inspiration in Naruto, her academy student crush, whose constant determination and confidence she admires. Hinata's strong affections for Naruto seem to be a rather glaring exception, as no other introduced girl of around Naruto's age has displayed anything of the sort for him.

	Humans are separated by differences they are born with but I want to believe that people can change and wanted to express that. Hinata's theme is 'by believing in yourself, you can become a new person.'
—Masashi Kishimoto

Hinata seems to share similarities with a somewhat established stereotype (or archetype, depending on how one looks at it) of typical manga/anime girls - characterized by cuteness to the point of adorability (or an eerie beauty, as in the case of Rei Ayanami), introversion, dark hair, a fierce resolve to work harder, and a crush on the unaware main character. The "Sailor Hinata" incident is consistent with this, as the uncharacteristic encounter where the main character is shocked by a side of the character he hasn't seen before, often involving nudity, is a recurring theme as well. Compare Shinobu Maehara, Nodoka Miyazaki, and partly Ami Mizuno (who is, ironically, Sailor Mercury).

Hinata's hobby is pressing flowers. Her favorite foods are senzai (soft bean jam) and cinnamon rolls; her least favorite foods are crab and eel. Her favorite phrase is "self-confidence".

Part I

Chunin Exam arc

When Naruto briefly breaks the fourth wall during the start of the Chunin Exam and introduces his classmates - the "Rookie 9" - to the audience, he describes Hinata as "a shy, dark, weird girl who always looks away when I look at her". He gradually learns of the kind of person she is by snippets of interaction during the exam; she offers to let him copy off of her paper during its first stage and gives him a case of medicine during the third stage, both acts of kindness rather out of place in the fiercely competitive environment that is the Chunin exam. Though Naruto is oblivious to her attraction to him, his opinion of her becomes more sympathetic and caring.

In an attempt to change herself, Hinata enters the Chunin exam with her team. Because of their exceptional skills in tracking and reconnaissance, they pass the first two tests easily. They encounter a minor obstacle in the form of Gaara, who they witness killing another team single-handedly simply because they looked at him the wrong way. Gaara would have killed Team 8 as well, but Temari convinced Gaara to stop. However, this good fortune does not continue into the last stage.

Hinata is paired against her cousin Neji Hyuga in the preliminary battles. Not only is this an abysmal match-up for her, as Neji not only uses the same fighting style, but is much better at it, Neji also has a bitter grudge against the main house. He takes this opportunity to belittle her aspiration of changing herself, carrying a rather mentally unbalancing speech tinged with fatalism with the conclusion that personality traits and ability are determined at birth and, ultimately, people cannot change. As the ferocity of the speech and Neji's psychological warfare intensifies, Hinata is practically brought to tears, at which point Naruto, who is enraged by Neji's belittling, shouts for her to stand up for herself.

Hinata vs. Neji in the preliminary matches of the Chunin Exams.

Inspired by Naruto's words, Hinata battles Neji, much to his surprise. Though it seems as if she is actually doing well at first, it turns out that Neji was merely toying with her. Although he blocks off the chakra holes in her arms, rendering her Gentle Fist attacks useless, she fights on, unwilling to submit. Her continued defiance of the obvious outcome of the match confuses Neji, causing him to sweat, but he remains in command of the match. After a second attack aimed at her heart by Neji, it seems as if she isn't getting up. Just as the examiner is about to call the match, Naruto stops him. Sakura berates him for it, since Hinata is unconscious, but he merely looks at her, noticing that she's getting up once more. On the verge of collapse, Hinata tells Neji that he has the situation backwards. It's him that is fighting against his fate, not Hinata. This drives Neji into a blind rage, and it took four Jonin to stop him from landing a killing blow on Hinata. Regardless, the previous injuries have left Hinata near death, and she collapses shortly after they stop him. When Naruto comes up to check on her, she tries to ask him if she's changed even a little, but can only manage to say, "do you." Then, unable to speak, she thinks to herself and finishes her sentence in her head, "think I changed, maybe even a little," before losing consciousness.

One month later, just as the main matches are about to begin, Hinata meets Naruto again, this time in the training area. Despite the training he's had over the one-month break, he confides in her that his self-doubt is strengthening, and he thinks he only appears strong to her because he's always acting strong to cover up the frustration of his constant failures. Upon hearing this, Hinata immediately speaks up, telling him that it isn't true. She tells him that even though he fails a lot, he never gives up. Awed and cured of his self-doubt, Naruto in turn tells her that he always thought of her as "a dark, weird girl", but that now, he thinks he likes people like her. This leaves her blushing in place, which goes comically undisturbed even after Naruto is long gone and Kiba arrives to take her to the stadium.

During Naruto's match against Neji, the injuries Hinata suffered in her match against her cousin show to be not fully healed. She begins coughing and is healed by a masked ninja, later to be revealed as Kabuto Yakushi. Kabuto heals Hinata of her injuries and then knocks both her and Kiba out so they don't get in the way of the oncoming invasion. Her injuries prevent her from watching the rest of the match, so she never sees Naruto win, nor does she see him use the Demon fox's chakra.

Filler arcs

Curiously, Hinata enjoys a large amount of spotlight in the "filler" arcs. Though it follows the common filler pattern of sending Naruto off to a mission with members of another team, the Bikochu arc is about her and her development for all intents and purposes, which is very unusual since filler arcs tend to shy away from developments regarding the original cast in order to maintain continuity with the manga.

Bikochu arc

In this arc, Hinata – who is pained to see Naruto's constant frustration about losing Sasuke – convinces the rest of Team 8 to try to find some way to help him. Shino recalls the existence of the Bikochu (微香虫, "Faint smell bug" or "scent bug"^?), a rare insect with great tracking ability, which, he says, is pretty much their only chance to help, and consequently says that they shouldn't go because the chance of finding this bug is very small. Very uncharacteristically, Hinata insists that they should go and they wind up taking the idea to Tsunade, who agrees to send them off to the mission, even sending Naruto off with them, who she claims would have gone anyway.

During one of their sleeping breaks on the way to the Bikochu's habitat, Naruto wakes up to relieve his bladder. While he does so, his attention is drawn to a nearby waterfall, where a beautiful nude girl is performing a sort of swirling dance which causes the water to sprout in an orb around her. Awed by this captivating sight, he approaches her and asks who she is, only to slip on a rock and fall in the water, thus alerting her to his presence. He apologizes but there is no response, as she is already gone. Though it is quite obvious that this girl was Hinata, Naruto fails to make the connection and later excitedly recounts to Kiba how he saw this "ultra-pretty girl" during the night, embarrassing her incredibly. He fails to notice this connection, as well.

Hinata uses Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

However, other shinobi from the Aburame's rival bug clan in Hidden Rock are also after the Bikochu in order to restore their clan, so after numerous decoys, counter-decoys, traps and other types of underhanded warfare, during which all of the team members come inches from gruesome deaths, it is ultimately Hinata who comes to the rescue. Presumed dead by the Konoha-nin's adversaries, she appears in a crucial moment and nullifies the combined effect of all of the Kamizuru bee swarm jutsu, including a gigantic bee summon, by means of a new, original jutsu she has developed - Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, a technique combining elements of Neji's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Eight Trigram Palms Heavenly Spin. Shino explains Hinata's motives of pushing herself to this level - she did it to be acknowledged by her father and Naruto; and as she drops to the ground from exhaustion Naruto catches her and pronounces her performance "awesome", grinning. Hinata, not unexpectedly, blushes and smiles.

Later, when back in the village, the Hyuga clan - Hiashi, Hinata and Neji - are seen sitting together in the clan residence. Hiashi asks her how the mission went to which she responds, smiling, that it was a complete and utter failure. Quite surprised by this change of attitude, Hiashi smiles and tells her to do her best, and the arc ends with the smiling Hyuga clan and her staring up at the sunlight and resolving to always strive to become stronger. This concept is largely not filler; the manga similarly deals with the healing of the Hyuga clan and Hinata's ever-strengthening resolve.

Treasure Hunt arc

In a later filler arc, Tsunade decides to send Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba on a mission to retrieve a box that a man who calls himself Kaisen Agari is looking for. However, there is a catch: due to the fact they failed in both the Bikochu and Bounty Hunter missions, if the 3 genin fail once again, they would be sent back to the academy. Fearing for their ninja status, Naruto and Kiba spend much of the trip bickering about who is lagging down who, while Hinata quietly watches, not wanting to get in the way. As a result, Hinata gets a nasty cut on her leg while following Naruto's brazen way of path finding.

They are soon trapped in a cave by Agari, and his comrades proceeded to use a jutsu that allowed them to copy the faces and bodies of Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba. This jutsu is apparently potent enough to escape detection by smell. Before leaving, the cave is rigged with explosive notes that will crush the three real genin. However, Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru manage to free Hinata from her ropes via biting, and Hinata proceeds to use Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho to deflect the debris from the explosion. After momentarily fainting again when she got too close to Naruto, Hinata frees Kiba, who uses Gatsuga to dig them out. Once on the outside, all three of them realize their lack of teamwork was what had made this mission become almost a failure. It was decided that Naruto and Kiba would run ahead to the village and stop the imposters while Hinata would go her own pace. Upon returning to the village, Hinata finds that all is well and that the imposters were actually hired by Tsunade to test their skills; however, she found out too late to stop herself from giving Naruto a Juken attack after Naruto forgot the sign that was suppose to indicate he was the real Naruto.

Their mission does end in success, but it turned out this mission was a ploy to increase and improve their teamwork skills. Most importantly, they didn't have to worry about losing their status.

The Land of Vegetables

In a recent filler arc, Hinata, Naruto, and Choji are sent to escort a group of peddlers from Nano country, which is being pillaged by three mysterious ninja brothers who use nature-elemental jutsu. The group from Konoha discover that among the peddlers was hidden the last heiress of the Nano Country nobility and that the three mysterious ninja were trying to kill her.

The princess believed Naruto was a living failure of a ninja because he listened to his emotions. Hinata defends Naruto stating that Naruto was always alone and he didn't have a family. Hinata also stated that Naruto has never thought about running away or abandoning people to save himself, and works hard to gain respect and become the next Hokage. The princess questions Hinata on her feelings for Naruto, but all Hinata does is blush. The princess figures it out and says she understands. However, when Hinata turns around the princess knocks her out with a rock and said that she has no intention of dying due to Hinata or Naruto. Naruto later finds Hinata and berates her for not being able to defend herself. Naruto runs ahead to find the princess and tells Hinata to find Choji.

Hinata is unable to find Choji, but she finds Naruto's headband on the ground. When she meets up with Naruto, he's fighting a powerful enemy that utilizes magnetic jutsu. Naruto tells Hinata that she will be in danger if she comes to help him and he falls down due to his injuries. Hinata decides that she will protect him. She's no match for him at first, just narrowly escaping his magnetic attacks, but eventually turns his own magnetism techniques against him, causing him to become covered in a thick laver of iron particles and subsequently buried deep underground. She would have been buried, too, but Naruto and Choji arrived in time to save her. Naruto is somewhat surprised that she won, later saying that he can't lose to her (in an encouraging way), and leaves her with Choji as he goes to find the princess. A little later, Hinata and Choji are captured by the third and most powerful brother.

Naruto confronts the final brother, and he has some trouble with him for a while. Eventually, Naruto uses the brother's power against him by reflecting the light back at the Criminal brother and injuring him. As a result, Naruto emerged the victor over him. Afterwards, Shizune comes with Shikamaru, and it turns out they rescued Hinata and Choji. The princess seemed to have a change of heart after all of this, and she starts to value other people's lives over her own. The princess wanted to hire Naruto to help her rebuild her country, but he said that he needs to go home so he can train and become stronger, so he could help his friends. The princess understood and said goodbye and thanked Naruto, Hinata, and Choji for their services.

Konoha 11 arc

Like the rest of the Konoha Genin, Hinata is part of Shikamaru's investigation into the plot of Gennou, repeatedly using her Byakugan alongside Neji to help discover traps. At one point, Naruto, in need of a Byakugan user, bumps into Hinata and asks for her help, accidentally using a double entendre which can also be mistaken as asking someone out on a date. Hinata, at a loss of words, begins to blush and twiddle her fingers. Sakura, who was also present, also misconstrues his intention and scolds him. Confused, Naruto simply notes that they're busy and decides to ask Neji, both shocking and confusing the two. Later on, while everyone talks around her, Hinata silently glances over at Shino who senses her distress and turns around to ask what's wrong. She sees a second trail leading away from the trigger. She and Neji survey the village, learning that a massive network of interconnected exploding tags had been woven throughout the village during Gennou's time as a carpenter. When Gennou tried to use his summoned bird to blow up Konoha, Hinata helped Naruto defeat it by using her Byakugan to predict its movements.

Part II

Hinata 2 ½ years later

Like the rest of the "rookie nine", Hinata has become a Chunin during Naruto's absence. She makes her Part II debut in Chapter 282, having blossomed into a young woman, sporting longer hair, and wearing slightly different-colored clothing. Hinata's feelings for Naruto seem to have been magnified by his long absence; she wasn't even able to bring herself to greet him, opting to hide instead and fainting when he rather loudly detects her.

It is as of yet unknown how her skill has changed during the two and a half years Naruto was gone as she has yet to show any new techniques; however, it is reasonable to assume that she has attained at least the skills she has shown in the anime.

Sai

Sai

(サイ)

Background

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A member of a now-defunct independent subdivision of the ANBU called 'Root,' Sai is the codename of a ninja about Naruto's age specializing in artistic ninjutsu and functioning as an undercover agent sent by Danzo to infiltrate Team 7 as the replacement of Sasuke Uchiha. The name "Sai" was assigned only for the Grass Country mission. His birth name is currently unknown, as he is mostly cut off from the rest of the world. There is a good chance he can't remember his original name. His mission and its full objective was to kill Sasuke because of his supposed danger to Konoha, but after realizing the bond between him and Naruto, he decides against this, instead stating that he wishes to protect that bond by rescuing him from Orochimaru. When he successfully became a part of Team 7, his initial attitude toward Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno would not be evidence of this. His introduction to Naruto was an attack on him, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, which was followed by an insult to Naruto's manhood by asking him if he even has a penis (and makes several other comments about it in later chapters). Calling Sakura ugly later does not win him any points with her either.

Later, he tops it off by vehemently denouncing Sasuke using quite colorful language. With this, it earned him Naruto's rather emphatic flat-out refusal to accept him as a member of the team, insisting that Team 7's third member is still Sasuke, even when he's gone. Sai also earns a well-aimed power punch from Sakura for bad-mouthing Sasuke. As the story unfolds, Sai admits that he has a problem of showing his emotions (even when his big brother died) because he is somehow devoid of his own emotion or thoughts. He values the completion of his ANBU mission more than the safety of his teammates, as shown during training with Naruto, as well as when he ignored Yamato's order to catch an unconscious Sakura who fell from a bridge during the confrontation with Orochimaru.

Sai uses a scroll, brush and ink to draw animals that will jump out of the scroll and attack to his will. He can also use this method to produce a fully flight-capable bird, which he can ride. He also wields a short sword like weapon that he keeps on his back at all times.

After the Sasuke and Sai Arc, Sai heads to the library to read books on improving relationships with people. Specifically, he reads about how nicknames can forge some intimacy with others. Unsure of how to give people nicknames, he consults Sakura and Naruto for help. Sakura advises Sai to use characteristics to which Sai replies by calling her an ugly dog. So far he has called:

Naruto: Dickless Wonder (results in Naruto responding comically. In the Sasuke and Sai arc, when Yamato, Sakura, Sai, and Naruto were in the hotsprings, Sai commented that Naruto does indeed have one, which made Naruto jump up and start yelling at how strange Sai was for always mentioning it, and Naruto was at the same time rather disturbed and creeped out that Sai actually was watching him. It should be noted that he called his brother the same thing.) However, he doesn't call Naruto that anymore.

Sakura: Hag/Ugly-Dog (He called Sakura this twice. The first time, Yamato held Sakura back, but the second time earned him a nasty beating, as Sakura did not hold back with her chakra-augmented strength.)

Choji: Fatty/Fatso/Tubby (Japanese term is "Debu", which is an offensive way to call someone fat; Naruto prevents him from actually doing so)

Ino: Ms. Lovely/Beautiful/Gorgeous (afraid of receiving a similar reaction like the one Sakura gave him, he decided to give Ino a compliment instead of pointing out physical flaws; this annoyed Sakura to the point where she beat him again)

Sasuke and Sai Arc

After the fight between demon fox-powered Naruto and Orochimaru ends, Sai confronts Orochimaru with a message from Danzo. The message prompts Orochimaru to leave with Kabuto, taking along Sai as his new subordinate. However, this event is not done so without witness, as Yamato's clone spies the group's dealings before they leave.

Following them, Yamato discovers what is apparently Sai's body hanging from a tree, dead. But in the following chapter, he is discovered alive and well, still on the run with Orochimaru and Kabuto. The "body" was an elaborate fake body created by a technique of Kabuto's. Yamato is able to discern the true nature of the body due to unnatural appearance of the stitching around the body's neck from which it was hung.

Sai dropped his sketchbook and left it with his things where Sakura, Naruto and Yamato find it. The sketchbook contains mysterious drawings of Sai and his assumed older brother growing up and going through a gauntlet of enemies. In each later image, Sai took the weapons and armor of his previous opponent. The center pages, where the two brothers are supposed to meet, are unfinished. The left page is completely empty, probably because Sai's brother has died, whereas the right page has an image of Sai in full ANBU attire, only without a face. The true meaning of this is unknown to them.

Following Orochimaru to his hideout, Sai is introduced to Sasuke himself, who has been training under Orochimaru for the past 2 and a half years. Sasuke seems indifferent to him, expressing discontent towards Orochimaru. When Sai mentions that he might get along better with Sasuke than he did with Naruto, Sasuke fixes him with a stare, freezing Sai with a huge amount of killing intent. Sai expresses surprise that his emotionless self felt afraid after just a glimpse into Sasuke's eyes. He then relates that Naruto has not given up on Sasuke, and thinks of him as a brother. Sasuke once again seems indifferent and says that he only has one brother, the one that he has vowed to kill.

Orochimaru then orders Kabuto to get started in making a bingo book from the information contained within the message from Danzo, complete information on the ANBU directly under the control of the Hokage. Kabuto then leads Sai to a room within the hideout and locks the door, stating that he is not needed at this time. However, he forgets the envelope full of information in the room and leaves the room. Sai makes sure that Kabuto is gone, before pulling out a scroll and activating the seals on it to summon a book, which he immediately starts to read, surprised at its (unknown, as of now) contents.

However, when he hears a sound at the door, Sai quickly stashes the book in his bag. The sound turns out to be the Yamato unlocking it using a wooden skeleton key formed out of his hand, followed by the rest of Team Kakashi, who had infiltrated Orochimaru's hideout and tracked Sai by a wood "seed" that Yamato had planted earlier on his body. Although Sai expresses gratitude towards Sakura when she returns his art book, he is barraged with questions from the team about Danzo's motives. Sai just stands there, emotionless, with his eyes closed, until he cracks a smile and says that all of their assumptions about Danzo were incorrect. However, Naruto recognizes Sai's fake smile for what it is and yells that he is lying. Caught, Sai states that his mission is a failure and confirms that Danzo is indeed planning an attempt to destroy Konoha as it exists today. However, he is also to spy on Orochimaru for Danzo, since Danzo knows that as soon as the old Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will turn on him. Sai's abilities made him the best choice for Danzo to send, as his jutsu can make the ink he writes with turn into animals that can make their way back to Danzo, providing him with information.

When Sakura yells at him about the collateral damage that would occur due to Danzo's planned invasion, Sai states that he doesn't care, as those were his orders and he is only following them. Sai considers himself only as Danzo's emotionless tool. However, Sakura says that a shinobi cannot be completely emotionless, and uses Sai's attachment to his art book as a link to his brother as an example. Yamato mentions that Danzo had implemented special training to eliminate emotions in 'Ne'. This training was similar to the former graduation exam of Kirigakure, in which fellow students, or family members in this case, had to fight each other to the death. Sai denies this and claimed that his brother merely died from sickness, and the book was supposed to be a present for him. Furthermore, he claimed that he and his brother were not related by blood, they were merely two orphans who found a strong connection between each other. He says that the book is unfinished because he forgot what he had wanted to put there after his brother died.

After they return to the surface, Team Kakashi ties Sai up, leaving him under the watch of one of Yamato's Wood Clones. Naruto states that they will now go rescue Sasuke. However, Sai doubts their success, stating that he met Sasuke, who no longer cares about Naruto. If they go after him, Orochimaru will defeat them and use them for his experiments. He then asks Naruto why he is willing to oppose Orochimaru even if he hasn't been ordered to do so. Naruto responds that he used to hate Sasuke, but now he has formed a bond with him over time due to their shared experiences. Sai still doubts their success against Orochimaru, but Naruto states that he will do whatever it takes to retrieve Sasuke.

Before Team Kakashi could set out, Kabuto shows up and frees Sai. However, before a battle could develop, Sai, moved by Naruto's words and hoping to understand his relationship with his own brother, shocked everyone by helping Yamato immobilize Kabuto.

Sai finally showing a true smile after completing his picture book about him and his brother.

After his capture, Kabuto was forthcoming about information on the lair, but not Sasuke's whereabouts. Team Kakashi split into two pairs; Sai was paired up with Naruto, and Sakura with Yamato, in search of Sasuke. After Naruto collapses inside the lair due to fatigue from when he activated his Demon fox form, Sai suggested that they should rest. During this rest period, Sai said that Naruto reminded him of his brother, and it was at that moment when he finally remembered how to draw the final picture in his book. He draws his brother and himself holding hands and smiling as both wear ANBU uniforms. This appears to bring an actual smile to his face. Orochimaru then appears questioning Sai's loyalty.

Naruto tells Sai to escape while he holds off Orochimaru, telling him to find Sasuke and bring him back. Sakura and Yamato arrive to backup Naruto, as Yamato has sensed Naruto's chakra emission. Orochimaru decides not to fight due to these odds and retreats. After he leaves, Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato find Sai's bingo book, which contains orders for assassination. His next victim is supposed to be Sasuke, as Danzo considers him a threat to Konoha.

Sai uses rats he drew to locate Sasuke, and when he finds him, uses drawn snakes to attack him while he is seemingly asleep. Sasuke senses the attack, but does nothing to prevent it. However, Sai reveals in a surprising move that he is going to bring Sasuke back to Naruto, instead of following his assigned mission. This is because he doesn't want to break Naruto's bond with Sasuke and will fight to protect that bond which Naruto was willing to give his life to defend.

As the fight between Sasuke and Team 7 begins, Sai moves to prevent Sasuke from stabbing Naruto with his hiltless version of the Kusanagi sword. However, before he can counterattack, Sai is stunned by Sasuke's new jutsu, Chidori Current.

Sai gave comforting words to Sakura and Naruto after they realized that Sasuke was gone. Finally, Sai has been accepted by Team Kakashi as their "companion". Upon returning to Konoha, Sai decided to continue using this name, and requested to stay with Team 7, despite some minor objections from Danzo. In his home he remembers what Naruto has told him and regains his emotions. Naruto then calls for him to go on their next mission together. He leaves his house to join Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato on their new mission, but not before placing a scroll in front of his window that says "Friends".

Current Arc

During a little R&R, Sai has been working on his personality and relationship skills by reading about it at the Konoha library, where he reads books on how to gain people's trust. Sai has gotten very close and friendly with his team members and they head out to meet Kakashi. As one could expect from someone who learned to communicate with others via a book, Sai initially has problems putting what he read into practice, but Naruto tells him not to worry about being formal. Reading earlier that giving friends nicknames was a positive thing, Sai calls Sakura "Hag" in a friendly way, which solicits a not-so-friendly reaction from Sakura. At the hospital, Kakashi tells the new Team 7 about a training technique that will help Naruto become strong enough to compete against Sasuke. Possibly even surpass Kakashi himself.

However, further talks are postponed as Team Asuma had come to visit them (chunin exams had ended). Team 7, along with Choji and Ino, ended up going to the Yakiniku place to re-introduce themselves to each other. Sai attempts again to put what he read into practice by giving nicknames to Asuma's team. He almost makes the severe mistake of calling Choji "Fat", but is saved by Naruto at the last second. At this point, taking into consideration his prior experience with Sakura, Sai determines that nicknames based on compliments are more suited for women. To this end, Sai calls Ino "beautiful" — promptly earning another severe beating from an annoyed Sakura.

Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake

(はたけカカシ)

Kakashi Hatake (はたけカカシ, Hatake Kakashi^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

Though his name is written in katakana in the manga, the family name "Hatake" can be written in kanji either as 'farmland' or 'leaf warrior'. The literal translation of "Hatake" is "cultivated field"; however, "Kakashi" means 'scarecrow'. Interestingly, Naruto used a scarecrow look-alike of Kakashi to practice on the day before Team 7's first test. Also, when Sakura spied on Kakashi so he would take off his mask, he replaces himself with a scarecrow to get rid of her.

Kakashi is a popular character, consistently ranking in the Top 5 in Shonen Jump magazine's official polls. He has taken 1st place in these polls twice.

Background

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kakashi is a Konohagakure Jonin and the current leader of Team 7, which originally consisted of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. He is known as Copy Ninja Kakashi (コピー忍者のカカシ, Kopī Ninja no Kakashi^?) or Sharingan Kakashi (写輪眼のカカシ, Sharingan no Kakashi^?), referring to the Sharingan in his left eye and his use of it in battle, which has allowed him to copy more than a thousand jutsu. Kakashi's Sharingan eye is not his own; it originally belonged to his former teammate, Obito Uchiha.

Though he reportedly has many hobbies, the one pastime seen most in the series is his reading of "Icha Icha Paradise" (イチャイチャパラダイス, Icha Icha Paradaisu^?, literally "Make out Paradise"), an adult and probably erotic novel authored by Jiraiya that is a runaway bestseller in the Naruto world. Kakashi most prominently reads it while training and speaking with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and later in the series can be seen reading the second volume, "Icha Icha Violence" (イチャイチャバイオレンス, Icha Icha Baiorensu^?, literally Make Out Violence").

Kakashi has an ongoing, albeit slightly one-sided, rivalry with Might Guy; Guy constantly proclaims that Kakashi is his rival and challenges him on occasion, but Kakashi simply acts indifferent to the matter, annoying Guy to no end. Kakashi's current record stands at 49 wins and 50 losses, though the contests that make up this figure are so varied that it is not much of an achievement on Guy's part. Nevertheless, Guy is proud of his record. The contests have included 100-meter dashes, sumo-wrestling, ramen-eating contests, and even Rock, Paper, Scissors. Guy serves as a perfect antithesis for Kakashi in personality, appearance, and technique. Unlike Kakashi, Guy has had to work hard to achieve success as a ninja and mainly uses taijutsu. Kakashi, on the other hand, uses mainly ninjutsu and other techniques he copies with his Sharingan.

Kakashi's personal life appears to be as much of a mystery as the face behind the mask he has worn for most of his ninja career. He has no living family, or at least none he cares to acknowledge, and he's confirmed that everyone he loves is already dead. He is immediately recognizable as the son of (or mistaken for) the "White Fang of Konoha" (木ノ葉の白い牙, Konoha no Shiroi Kiba^?), Sakumo Hatake. Though his face has never been seen, episode 101, which is devoted to Team Kakashi trying to remove their sensei's mask, implies that he is in fact quite handsome.

According to official handbook his favorite foods are broiled saury with salt and miso soup with eggplant; his least, Tempura. His favorite phrase is "Teamwork." His hobby is reading "Icha Icha Paradise."

History

See also: Kakashi Gaiden

The Fourth Hokage, Rin, Obito Uchiha and Kakashi from his earlier years.

Like his father, whose skills have been compared to that of the Legendary Sannin, Kakashi is considered a genius shinobi, graduating from the Ninja Academy at age 5 and achieving the rank of Chunin at 6. A few years after these accomplishments, Kakashi's father was disgraced by the village for abandoning a mission in favor of saving his comrades, which cost the Land of Fire dearly. Because of the shame he felt, Sakumo committed seppuku, leaving Kakashi to bear witness to the event. After his father's suicide, Kakashi began to adhere strictly to the rules of the shinobi – in particular the rule dictating that the success of the mission must come before the well being of one's teammates, causing him to become arrogant, humorless, and by-the-book.

At the age of 13, Kakashi achieved Jonin status, mainly because of an ongoing war that required ninja more quickly than normal. As a reward for his accomplishment, he was assigned to lead his team on a sabotage mission to blow up a bridge in order to prevent Iwagakure forces from entering the Land of Grass, where the enemy could easily mount an attack on Konohagakure. Shortly after the mission started, Kakashi's team encountered an enemy shinobi and his clones. Kakashi saw this as a good time to test his newly-developed jutsu One Thousand Birds, but could not find the real enemy amongst the clones. After Kakashi's shoulder was slashed by the shinobi in the confusion, the Fourth Hokage had to rescue Kakashi. The Fourth Hokage sternly told Kakashi never to use the jutsu again. Later on, Kakashi's teammate Rin was captured by enemy shinobi. Obito wanted to save her, but Kakashi said they had to focus on the mission, opting not to make the same mistake his father had. Though Kakashi believed that they had to complete their objective, Obito eventually convinced him that his father had done the right thing, causing Kakashi to join in on the rescue effort.

During their attempt to save Rin, Kakashi loses his left eye as a result of an enemy ninja's attack. To protect Kakashi, Obito manages to awaken his Sharingan, and kills Kakashi's assailant. Soon after saving Rin, Obito again saves Kakashi, pushing him out of the way of another enemy's rock-dislodging attack, but becomes crushed in the process. Shortly before he died, Obito had Rin (a medical ninja) implant his Sharingan eye in Kakashi's damaged eye socket as a gift, thus creating Copy Ninja Kakashi. As his first act, Kakashi avenges Obito by killing the enemy ninja with his now-perfected jutsu, One Thousand Birds.

Obito's death changes Kakashi, and Kakashi adopts many of Obito's traits. One such trait is Obito's concept of teamwork, which is most clearly seen in the way Kakashi tests newly-graduated students hoping to become a squad under him. He uses the bell test to test his students, which requires the three students to get the two bells he keeps on his person. Only those who get a bell get to pass, which would be difficult even with teamwork, as at least one ninja would fail regardless. However, the rule is only a ruse; the point of the test is to foster teamwork and teach the students that some rules need to be broken on occasion. Team 7 is the only team to have realized this and passed the test. Kakashi also inherits Obito's chronic lateness due to his frequent visits to Konoha's memorial site, which he visits for Obito's sake.

Ability

As stated by Sakura, Kakashi is the highest-ranking technique specialist in Konoha, and said to be the strongest Jonin in the village by the manga databooks. He tends to focus mainly on ninjutsu though, using his Sharingan to copy the techniques of others and then turn them on their source. However, he is skilled in all three forms of jutsu, having shown his abilities with genjutsu in the bell test with Team 7. Though having never shown prowess in taijutsu, Naruto commented that Kakashi was more skilled than Rock Lee, who himself is extremely good at it. Kakashi actually uses Lee's Front Lotus during the first movie to kill an opponent, though the movie doesn't quite fit into the series' timeline.

Kakashi has his own personal pack of Ninken ("ninja dogs"), which he calls into battle with the Summoning Technique. The dogs were apparently trained by Kakashi, and the smallest one, Pakkun, can even speak. He uses these dogs for tracking purposes, but they can also be used for attack, as seen during his battle with Zabuza Momochi, in which he uses Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique to hold Zabuza still by having the dogs follow Zabuza through the ground by tracking the scent of Kakashi's blood on his sword.

Though Kakashi has copied the majority of his jutsu, his most powerful jutsu is one of his own creations: the One Thousand Birds, a ball of lightning-based chakra held in the hand that can kill in a single hit. Kakashi's current version is known as Lightning Cut, because he is said to have cut through a lightning bolt with it. His version is also more powerful and requires better chakra control, making the two separate, yet still similar, techniques. While the jutsu normally has the downside of leaving the user open to a counter-attack, Kakashi's Sharingan eye allows him to bypass the weakness.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye gives him a significant advantage in battle, as he can copy enemy techniques and use them as his own, as well as track and predict his opponent's. In addition, he can even copy a jutsu that an opponent hasn't used through the Sharingan's hypnotic and suggestive abilities. However, because it is a transplanted eye, his Sharingan eye is always active. While this would not be a problem for an Uchiha, his non-Uchiha blood causes it to use much more chakra than it should. Because of this, he covers it with his forehead protector and only reveals it for the toughest of battles. Kakashi's use of the Sharingan is almost as good as that of Itachi Uchiha, though the aforementioned handicaps brought about by the nature of his eye make him weaker in comparison.

Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan

In Part II, Kakashi has developed his own variant of the Mangekyo Sharingan, which acts differently than Itachi's. With it, he can manipulate space-time, even to a focus, and utilize it to conduct long range attacks. In its premiere, he managed to sever Deidara's right arm. Later on, when Deidara's clone attempted to blow himself and everyone around him up, he used the Mangekyo Sharingan to send the clone to another dimension. The Mangekyo Sharingan tires Kakashi considerably, and after using it up to three times he had to be hospitalized for weeks.

Part I

Team 7

The initial results of the Survival Training Exam for Team 7 were unpromising. Sakura's tunnel vision focus on Sasuke, Naruto's impulsive insistence on being a one man show and Sasuke's arrogant superiority complex and loner attitude resulted in a huge lack of teamwork, which led them to fail the Survival Training Exam. During lunchtime, Naruto was not to be given any food from either Sasuke or Sakura since he tried to eat it by himself during the test. But by breaking that rule, they were the first to pass the test, since the true purpose was to test their teamwork and commitment to each other; not to follow rules that would jeopardize the lives of their comrades.

The team improved their skills under Kakashi's training, which included the tree-walking exercise seen in the anime and manga. This exercise, which involves the use of chakra to walk up trees with feet alone, greatly improved the chakra control abilities of the team as they prepared for a final battle in the Land of Waves against Zabuza Momochi and his student, Haku.

Kakashi's controversial decision to permit Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to take the Chunin exam surprised many, who believed that Kakashi should have given the team another year to prepare. Yet, through this decision, the team begins to truly realize their potential to be ninja. By the end of the second stage, the three exhibit signs of extensive growth from their extreme ordeals.

Kakashi, during the tree-walking exercise, is the first one to recognize Naruto's potential to surpass Sasuke and even himself in Chakra capacity. Initially considered to be weak and untalented, Naruto's growth as a ninja early in the series is attributed to Kakashi's training and influence. Naruto, in his fight against Kiba Inuzuka, quotes Kakashi's earlier admonition to him: "Use your techniques carefully, after giving some thought to what you're doing! Or it'll be used to the other person's advantage, stupid!" Naturally, Kakashi was amused.

However, despite the training that Kakashi has given to Naruto and Sakura, the one he has spent the most time in training with is Sasuke. After the second stage of the Chunin exam until Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru, Kakashi takes an active role in training Sasuke, teaching him One Thousand Birds and how to use his Sharingan, as well as attempting to seal the effects of Sasuke's Cursed Seal. Kakashi, like Sasuke, has lost many important people in his life including Obito, whose name is engraved in the memorial stone. Sasuke's Sharingan ability and natural talent, combined by a need for supervision due to the cursed seal and Orochimaru, lead Kakashi to train Sasuke for the third portion of the Chunin exam, much to Naruto's disappointment, believing that Kakashi is playing favorites with Sasuke. Kakashi's intention was for Sasuke to learn to use the Chidori to focus on protecting the important friends he has made in the present, rather than seeking vengeance for the loss of his family.

With Akatsuki seeking to capture Naruto, Jiraiya appropriates responsibility for Naruto and his training from Kakashi, while they agree that Sasuke should develop his Sharingan under Kakashi's guidance.

Following his recovery after a confrontation with Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi awakes to find that much has changed. Sasuke's frustration at his inability to kill Itachi, and his growing envy of Naruto's recent growth and success, leads him to demand a fight against Naruto in order to prove his superiority. The fight quickly gets out of hand and Kakashi is forced to intervene to protect Sakura from accidental harm.

Despite Kakashi's admonishment about One Thousand Birds and his need to end his quest for revenge, Sasuke's frustration and his need for revenge against Itachi lead him to leave the village and seek Orochimaru and his offer of power. Knowing that Naruto and Sasuke have the potential to kill each other, Kakashi attempts to intervene but arrives too late, finding Naruto seriously injured and Sasuke gone, having succeeded in his defection to Orochimaru. This is the first time that being late has severely cost him, though it is worth noting that Kakashi was away on a mission when Sasuke left and immediately pursued Naruto and Sasuke when he heard from Tsunade that Sasuke had left.

With Kakashi being called on by the village to take more A and S level missions due to the current manpower shortage, Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru, Naruto's three-year apprenticeship to Jiraiya, and Sakura's medical apprenticeship to Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, Team 7 was defunct during the timeskip.

Filler arcs

Curiously, Kakashi had very few appearances in the filler arcs compared to his role in the main series. He first appeared briefly in the Mizuki Strikes Back arc, summoning Pakkun to aid Iruka Umino in locating the escaped criminals. He also briefly appeared at the beginning of the one-episode-long comedy arc, Green Beasts, where he notified Tsunade of the Guy and Lee impostors. Later, Kakashi came to the aid of Naruto, Neji and Tenten in the latter half of the Land of Birds arc, defeating two of the main Watari Ninja.

Naruto the Movie

Kakashi played a small role in the 1st movie. He freed the Princess Fuun movie's staff from being tied up by Sakura and Sasuke due to them thought to be guilty of hunting Fuun. The three Snow Ninja and Doto appear to know Kakashi from a time before the movie takes place. Kakashi encountered Nadare throughout the movie and killed him using Front Lotus. It also states in the movie that Kakashi, as an ANBU member, was the one who saved Fuun when she was a child.

Part II

Kakashi shielding his ears from Naruto's "Make-out Tactics" spoilers

After two and a half years, Naruto and Jiraiya return to the village earlier than expected because of the impatience of Akatsuki at capturing Naruto for his nine-tailed demon fox. Kakashi forms a team with Naruto and Sakura again. However, the relationship between the three is no longer teacher and students, but equal teammates.

Kakashi decides to test Naruto and Sakura's skills with another bell exercise, identical to the one they underwent with Sasuke when they first met Kakashi. This time, however, the purpose is to actually retrieve the bells, since there's no longer an uneven number. The exercise reveals that Naruto and Sakura's skills and abilities had improved over the years, though he is still able to keep the bells from them. However, Naruto and Sakura manage to finally retrieve the two bells by preying upon Kakashi's addiction to the "Icha Icha" ("Make Out") series of books written by Jiraiya. During the test, they try to spoil the ending of the latest volume, "Icha Icha Tactics" (イチャイチャタクティクス, Icha Icha Takutikusu^?, literally "Make out Tactics"), which Naruto gave to Kakashi. Kakashi is forced to both cover his ears and close his eyes, since he could read their lip movements with his Sharingan.

[edit]

Rescue Gaara Arc

Upon hearing that Gaara had been kidnapped by Akatsuki, the team of Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi are sent to the village of the Sand for assistance. When they arrive, Chiyo attacks Kakashi, believing him to be the White Fang of Konoha. She soon realizes her mistake and laughs it off. After Sakura heals Kankuro from his poisoning in the hands of Sasori, Chiyo joins the three Leaf Ninjas in tracking down Gaara. However, they are confronted by Itachi Uchiha, who engages Naruto and Kakashi in combat. However, it turns out that this manifestation of Itachi was nothing more than a body substitution jutsu.

Finally arriving at the place where Gaara was being held (and meeting Team Guy there also), they break into the cave to find Deidara and Sasori standing over Gaara's limp body. Deidara creates a clay bird with his hands and takes Gaara's body, and Kakashi and Naruto chase, leaving Chiyo and Sakura to deal with Sasori. Whilst chasing Deidara, Kakashi uses his new Mangekyo Sharingan and uses it to tear off Deidara's remaining arm. Naruto advances to finish him off, but when Naruto realizes his Rasengan hits nothing more than a Deidara bunshin, he starts to lose composure and grow chakra tails. Kakashi then uses a seal that Jiraiya gave him to quickly return Naruto to normal, thus stopping Naruto's transformation at only two tails.

As Deidara tries one last attack with his explosive clay, Kakashi once again utilizes Mangekyo Sharingan to send the clay explosion to another dimension. Kakashi then collapses from exhaustion from overusing his Sharingan. The effects on his body are so severe that, in a rather hilarious moment, Kakashi has to be carried back to Konoha on Might Guy's back. As a result, Kakashi is unable to accompany Naruto and Sakura on their next mission, and Yamato temporarily replaced him as the leader of the new Team 7.

Current Arc

Yamato has informed Kakashi of all that has occurred during the Grass Country mission. When Naruto, Sakura, and Sai visits him at the hospital, he informs them of a new training technique he created that will help them improve their strength and be able to compete with Sasuke. Specifically it was designed for Naruto. After this training, Kakashi says that Naruto's strength might surpass his own. This training involves creating his own ultimate jutsu, one that can even surpass Naruto's Spiraling Sphere. He also stated that due to this, Naruto wouldn't be super powerful within a few days like some protagonist from a novel (this likely refers to Shonen manga in general, parodying it in that the main characters frequently gain enormous amounts of power easily and in a short period of time). Before he can finish, Ino and the rest of her group come in and interrupt during the conversation so they weren't able to go on but Kakashi says they will continue later. Kakashi is also about to discuss an important matter with Asuma. Then Kurenai interrupts them, and Asuma leaves with her, while Kakashi muses on the fact that he was led on by Asuma just like he led on Naruto.

Later, when Kakashi leaves the hospital, he finally begins to explain to Naruto how he will train him to complete a new more powerful jutsu. It involves two techniques. The first technique involves 'altering the nature' of one's chakra. The second technique involves 'altering the shape' of one's chakra. He explains that the Spiraling Sphere is an example of altering the shape of chakra, and that his One Thousand Birds is an example of 'altering the nature' of chakra (in this case creating an electric current). In order for Naruto to create his new jutsu he must learn the technique of altering his chakra's nature.

Kakashi explains to Naruto that the method to speed up his training involves the use of shadow clones. Kakashi explains that because they are actual clones, Naruto will remember everything the clones do once they disperse. Kakashi then helps Naruto discover the element Naruto's chakra is based on using a special kind of paper that reacts to chakra. Handling the paper as an example, Kakashi makes it crumple, showing his affinity to lightning. When Naruto channels his chakra into the paper, it splits, indicating that he has an affinity for wind. With that, they begin training to manipulate that element. Kakashi explains to Naruto that the wind element is considered the strongest close and mid-range type for battle.

Kakashi begins the training by having Naruto and each of his clones hold a single leaf in their hands, and try to split the leaf with just their chakra. After some effort, only one of the 1000 clones manages to split the leaf. After seeing this, however, Kakashi remarks that this training may go faster than he thought. He also comments that Naruto is learning how to use his clones effectively, after he uses one to pick up some tips from Asuma Sarutobi, another wind-element user. After Naruto successfully manages to split the leaf, Kakashi tells Naruto to go and cut a waterfall that Yamato had created earlier, using Yamato's wood as a floor to stand on. Once Naruto splits the whole waterfall (rather quickly according to Kakashi) Kakashi takes Naruto to get some Ramen after Naruto passes out. When finishing his meal, Kakashi states that he has something very important to show Naruto. This is revealed to be the Spiraling Sphere, which Kakashi learned from the Fourth, apparently before Kakashi had even developed the Chidori. He notes that the Rasengan is an incomplete jutsu, since it is meant to be used in conjunction with the user's nature manipulation, a feat neither he nor the Fourth Hokage could accomplish. He also stated to Yamato that he truly believes that Naruto will be greater than the Fourth.

As Naruto trains alone, Kakashi continues to watch him. However, frustrated at this lack of progress, Naruto tries to pull too much chakra causing a surge of the demon fox's chakra to suddenly appear and begin changing Naruto. Yamato is able to suppress the chakra, but is unsure if he will always be able to stop these changes. Kakashi comments that the success or failure of this training rest on Yamato's ability to control the Demon fox.

Reference: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Sakura Haruno

Sakura Haruno

(春野サクラ)

Sakura Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

The name "Haruno" means "spring field" and "Sakura" means "cherry blossom", which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and almost tragically short life span (sakura blossoms have historically been associated with samurai).

In the June 2006 issue of Shonen Jump, Masashi Kishimoto (in the voice of Kakashi) stated that Sakura would make the best ninja instructor, because "she has flaws in her personality, like stalking Sasuke. But, Sakura is the closest to being normal."

In Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Sakura is frequently in the top ten.

Background

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the beginning of the series, Sakura is a Genin-level student of Kakashi Hatake's. Initially, Sakura's stamina and overall talent were quite below average, having had only used a few skills over the course of the series, the most advanced of which is dispelling genjutsu. Sakura's main strengths are her intelligence and her great chakra control. She was able to climb trees using her chakra on her first try while it took several days of constant training for Sasuke and Naruto to manage it.

Inner Sakura.

Inside Sakura resides the "Inner Sakura", which ridiculously seems to be much more ill-tempered than Naruto's demon fox. Inner Sakura seems to represent an assertive part of her personality and mostly serves as comic relief. Sakura's typical gentle responses are juxtaposed with the Inner Sakura's constant "Shannaro" (しゃーんなろー). The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "Hell yeah", "Hell no", or "Damn it", depending on the situation (in English, it's translated as an angry and forceful "Cha!"). Inner Sakura is often attributed to being Sakura's defining ability, aside from her chakra control, much like Sasuke's Sharingan or Naruto's Demon fox. Inner Sakura actually exists as a separate spirit within Sakura, which came in handy during her battle with Ino. When Ino hit Sakura with her Mind Body Switch Technique, she only suppressed the regular Sakura. As such, Inner Sakura, after a little prodding by Naruto, was able to emerge and force Ino to leave. Ino's lack of chakra also helped Sakura to resist. After this point, Inner Sakura only appears once in episode 197 of the anime, when Sakura fails to notice that a smoke bomb was set off the night before, and once in chapter 250 of the manga, when Naruto tries to refuse a mission assigned by Tsunade. Sakura, however, does occasionally exhibit traits that would have originally have been confined to Inner Sakura, though they are rarely seen (they become more frequent after the timeskip, a sign that Sakura is becoming more comfortable with herself and is showing her true nature more often).

Sakura's favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings and umeboshi (pickled ume fruits); her least favorite food is anything really spicy. Her hobbies are quizzes and memorizing things and her favorite phrase is 勇気 ("Yuki", "Courage"), although this was 一愛の十分の生命！ ("Issen ai no jinsei yo!," "A lifetime full of love") in the first databook. The latter was also featured in the ending song of episode 170 as a painting on her bedroom wall. She is also shown to be afraid of frogs.

Part I

Early childhood

In her early school years, Sakura was timid and was occasionally made fun of and bullied because of her large forehead, until the popular Ino Yamanaka approached and befriended her, giving her a ribbon and telling her not to hide behind her bangs. Sakura looked up to Ino for her looks and ability, but while she appreciated Ino's friendship, she couldn't help the feelings of inferiority she induced in her. At one point, during a flower arrangement lesson, Sakura wonders whether Ino was like a fully bloomed flower, and if so, then what was she? Ino cheered her up, telling her that even a bud eventually becomes a flower, and there's no point to a flower unless it blooms. Their friendship continued until it became clear that both of them were infatuated with Sasuke Uchiha; Sakura felt that she could never equal Ino, let alone surpass her at anything, while she was trapping herself as Ino's mere sidekick in her mind. She handed Ino her ribbon back and proclaimed that they were rivals from that point on. Their friendship slowly deteriorated into a spiteful rivalry; by the start of the series, there is no indication that they were once best friends, and the story of their friendship is only elaborated on later.

In a sharp contrast to most other characters, Sakura lacks any childhood tragedy and, initially, defining themes (Kishimoto Masashi said that he made her initially unlikable by design). When she, Naruto, and Sasuke are assigned to form Team 7, she is ridiculously fixated on Sasuke and (like the rest of the village) downright cannot stand Naruto - hardly knowing either of them. Shortly after their team's formation, she tells Sasuke that she believes the reason that Naruto behaves mischievously is due to the fact that he doesn't have any parents to tell him what's right and wrong; though Naruto isn't there to be outraged at this, Sasuke knows from personal experience that parental chastisement is nothing compared with loneliless, and harshly berates her frivolous attitude. This is the first hint that Sakura isn't as shallow as she's been presented, and she concludes that Sasuke was probably right and she should treat Naruto better (though even this may be partly due to her infatuation - Kakashi later notes that she always agrees with Sasuke without question).

Survival Test and Wave Country arcs

Though her initial infatuation with Sasuke still overshadows her interactions with both him and Naruto at that stage, Sakura's understanding and respect for both her teammates slowly increase as they spend more time together. Another wake-up call for her is when the sensei of their newly formed team, Kakashi Hatake, easily manages to prevent the three from getting even a single bell of the two he challenged them to get. He berates them for their lack of teamwork and specifically admonishes Sakura for her constant attention on Sasuke even though Naruto was right next to her and could use her help. Kakashi allows them to eat - having forbidden it since the morning - except for Naruto, saying that he will fail them all if they fed him. After Sasuke decides to give Naruto his food anyway, she joins in to feed him, in Team 7's first true bonding moment, and Team 7 thus becomes the first team Kakashi ever passed, as all along he was looking for the team with enough spirit to put a starving teammate on higher priority than "the rules."

Later, when the team is sent on a dangerous mission in the Land of Waves, Sakura is first confronted with the meaning of being a kunoichi as she witnesses what appears to be Sasuke's death. Reciting to Tazuna shinobi rule #25 (to not show emotion under any circumstance) she tries to keep her feelings in check, but fails, and her tears flow freely during this conversation. Afterwards, Sasuke wakes up and she cries again, but this time with happy tears.

Chunin Exam arc

Sakura's leaps in maturity and the growth of her relationships with Naruto, Sasuke and Ino start in the Chunin exam. The first stage of the exam is a written test, designed specifically to be too difficult for Genin to complete, forcing them to cheat. However, Sakura is able to complete the exam by herself, a testimony to her intelligence. At the end of this exam, the teams are presented with the mysterious "tenth question" and given a choice of whether to take it or not. The examiner tells them that not taking it fails your whole team immediately, but failing to answer correctly prevents you from becoming a Chunin forever. Sakura, knowing that Naruto couldn't have answered questions of this difficulty correctly, starts to raise her own hand to quit, forfeiting her own chance at becoming a Chunin this year so that Naruto would have the chance to take the exam again (she is stopped by Naruto's declaration that he won't back down or quit).

Sakura's shining moment comes in the second stage, set in the Forest of Death. At a certain point in the exam, Sasuke is feverish and unconscious on the ground after being branded with Orochimaru's cursed seal, and Naruto is knocked out from the impact of being struck into the air and branded with a seal to block his Demon fox chakra, although Sakura did save him from a fatal fall. When the Sound-nin choose this moment to attack, Sakura realizes that she will have to protect her friends if they are to live and pass the exam. As Kin Tsuchi grabs her long hair and immobilizes her, she comments on how Sakura's hair was glossier than her own, saying Sakura spent more time on her looks than on her training. (Sakura had grown her hair long because of the rumor that Sasuke liked girls with long hair.) At this point, she begins to think about how she always scorned Naruto, believing herself to be above him, even though she could only watch from the sidelines while he fought to protect her. She realizes that she was the weakest member of Team 7, not Naruto as she had always assumed, and, deciding to change herself and fight for her friends, cuts off her hair with a kunai, freeing herself from Kin's grasp. After getting away from Kin, she delays Zaku Abumi's attack on Sasuke by tricking him with a series of replacement jutsus, slamming her kunai into his arm and biting him. Even as Zaku punches her repeatedly in the head, Sakura refuses to let go. This display, along with Shikamaru telling her that she should, is what finally convinces Ino and her team to come to Sakura's aid.

Sakura, stopping cursed seal Sasuke.

The battle with the Sound-nin ends not by the intervention of team Asuma (though they make a laudable effort) or even the two other members of Rock Lee's team, who come searching for him as he had come to Sakura's aid earlier. In fact, Lee's team doesn't even get a chance to fight. Rather, it is Sasuke, who finally awakes, engulfed by Orochimaru's cursed seal. He inquires about who is responsible for Sakura's wounds and, upon learning that it is Zaku, Sasuke proceeds to savagely brutalize him, making several scathing and ominous comments about Zaku's arms before finally breaking them. However, before he can continue, Sakura, knowing that the Sasuke she knew would never go on a pointless killing spree, catches him in a hug from behind, begging him to stop and causing the cursed seal to recede.

After that incident, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto manage to use teamwork (and the help of Kabuto Yakushi) to pass the second exam. In the preliminaries of the third exam, Sakura fights against Ino, her longtime rival. During their fight Sakura notices that Ino is holding back, and insults Ino to fluster her to the point where Ino cuts her own hair (not wanting to be outdone by Sakura's newfound determination). This turns out to nearly be Sakura's undoing, as Ino is then able to turn her hair into living ropes with her chakra, and hold Sakura in place. When Ino manages to hit Sakura with her Mind Body Switch Technique, Naruto cheers Sakura on. While this just seem to annoy Ino, it also helps Inner Sakura break free, allowing her to force Ino out of her mind. In the end, however, the fight between Sakura and Ino ends in a draw, with both girls knocking each other out at the same time. When Sakura wakes up, Ino comments that she has finally blossomed into a beautiful flower, and the two finally reconcile their differences and rekindle their friendship (though they remain rivals).

In the actual third exam, she exhibited feelings of slight jealousy when Naruto won his match against Neji, and his victory inspired her to do her best as well. She also managed to show extreme bravery when she tried to protect Sasuke from a semi-transformed Gaara's assault.

Sasuke Retrieval arc

Sakura, trying to stop Sasuke from leaving.

Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Sasuke decides to take Orochimaru up on his offer of power. He advances the cursed seal into Level 2 instead of attempting to contain it, and turns his back on Team 7 to join Orochimaru's Hidden Sound Village, betraying the entire village in the process. As he sneaks out of the village, Sakura finds him, and soon understands the magnitude of what he is about to do.

Crying and desperate not to lose Sasuke, Sakura does anything she can think of, confessing her love for him, offering to help him with his revenge, and even offering to join his twisted journey so they can at least be together. Sasuke's cryptic last words before swiftly knocking her out and departing are "Sakura... Thank you." The databook elaborates on this a bit, saying "Sasuke is unable to answer her feelings. At the end, he leaves her with only a word of gratitude rather than words of parting."

The next day, before Naruto leaves to bring Sasuke back, Sakura appears and begs Naruto to bring back Sasuke, stating that only Naruto is able to do it. "Naruto...only you...my only wish...please...bring Sasuke back!" Naruto, looking at the crying Sakura, promised her that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise to her for a lifetime (even using Rock Lee's "nice guy" pose to seal the bargain). Sakura seems to finally understand how Naruto feels for her, and she realizes that he is not what she originally thought he was.

When Naruto comes back from the retrieval mission, he can only tell Sakura that he's sorry for failing. He tells Sakura that he'll definitely keep his promise, because he said it was a lifelong promise. Sakura, seeing his determination, replies, giving him a strong smile, "Next time, we'll do it together!" Later on, she asks Tsunade to make her her apprentice. Tsunade, recognizing her determination, agrees to Sakura's request. At this point, each member of Team 7 is now training under one of the Legendary Three: Naruto under Jiraiya, Sasuke under Orochimaru, and Sakura under Tsunade.

The anime filler shows some of her progress from Tsunade's training before the timeskip. She gets noticeably stronger and exhibits amazing progress in her healing abilities as well.

Anime filler arcs

Konoha 11 arc

During the Konoha 11 arc, Shikamaru has Sakura examine the body of Gennou. With the help of Ino and Hinata, she learns that it is actually the body of a random civilian. After Gennou is discovered and it appears as if he succeeded in destorying the Hokage mountain, Sakura declares that all is an illusion and dispells it. After Gennou summons his bird, she tries to hit it with a large boulder, but misses.

Naruto the Movie

Sakura played a small role in the 1st movie. She encountered Mizore through out the movie and defeated him with Cherry Blossom Blizzard Technique. She looked out at the newly born Spring Country with a greatly injured Sasuke.

Naruto the Movie 2

Sakura played a major role in the 2nd movie. She managed to destroy a Knight and was taken hostage by another one. She encountered Haido's wolf-like henchman and killed her using metal pillars to reflect her ear-splitting howl and caused the pillars to collapse in on her. Sakura saved many people from Haido's castle and was in the bonus ending.

Naruto the Movie 3

Sakura is assigned to protect the prince of the Land of the Moon during his world trip, along with Naruto and Rock Lee. The Land of the Moon is a very wealthy nation, so the prince tends to buy whatever he wants, and isn't too quick to follow the directions of his escorts. When the group happens upon a circus with a rare saber-toothed tiger, he ends up purchasing not only it, but the rest of the animals as well. Now the team has to look over both the spoiled prince and his newly-acquired pets. On top of that, three powerful ninja hunt them down. In this movie, Sakura is seen with her newly acquired strength from the tutelage of Tsunade. When fighting a blonde-haired assailant, Sakura destroys a wall with a single punch.

Part II

Sakura, two and a half years later

New personality

After the timeskip, Sakura's personality has taken on a much more mature and even tone. Like most people when they come of age, she seems to be much more comfortable in her own skin than when she was younger, frequently displaying the more ferocious aspects of her personality formerly personified in the Inner Sakura segments, instead of just responding within her timid restraint. Jiraiya comments that she is becoming another Tsunade upon first seeing her.

Sakura has developed some quirks about how others view her appearance. When reunited with Naruto, she asks him if she looked more like a woman in a flirting way. A clueless Naruto remarks that she looked no different, annoying her. On two separate occasions, Sakura has beaten up her new teammate Sai over the issue, once for calling her 'Hag', and a second time when Sai 'complimented' Ino by calling her 'Miss Lovely' (Sakura had expected Sai to insult Ino).

Sakura's first impression of the new Naruto was that of a more mature person; she was sorely disappointed to discover he was still somewhat lacking in that department. Despite this, she does see that he has mostly changed for the better, and they are very close. They are able to work together much better than before, passing their second bell test due to their excellent, if somewhat unorthodox, teamwork. She still insults him, but in a much more playful manner than before. When Naruto defines one of their outings as a date, Sakura, still furious over the previous letdown, replies "Fine. As long as you're paying." She is more concerned for his well-being, especially since he's a target of Akatsuki and under constant danger of death. She has cried for him on several occasions, especially upon learning that if the Demon fox is extracted by Akatsuki, Naruto will die. Yamato tries to give a clear description of these feelings at one point while Naruto is unconscious, but Naruto wakes up and interrupts him before he can finish.

The state of her feelings for Sasuke are still unclear, though she still seems to care for him, as she hits Sai when he insults Sasuke. Even with those feelings, during the Grass Country arc Sakura looked at Sasuke with hostility and tried to attack him. Needless to say, for both herself and Naruto, Sasuke is still a touchy subject, and both have a moment of exaggerated gloominess when Kakashi mentions him during the second bell test. However, over the past two and a half years, Sakura has become more confident and less self-conscious around him; she is even willing to attack him to protect her friends and bring him home. In a later chapter, she sheds a tear over a picture of the former Team 7.

New abilities

Sakura manipulating her chakra to decimate the ground beneath her

After two and a half years of intense training under Tsunade, Sakura has become an excellent medical ninja, and her abilities as a ninja have improved substantially in the form of medical jutsu and the use of chakra to create immense physical strength, also due to Tsunade's tutelage. During the Wave Country arc in Part I, it had already been mentioned that she had top-notch chakra control, which is essential for medics, and she does exhibit some enhanced strength in the filler arcs even before being trained. An example of her enhanced strength is seen when she slams her fist into the ground to force Kakashi, who had hidden underground, to reveal himself during the bell test; her superhuman strength easily splits the ground apart. Naruto and Kakashi, both shocked by the display, commented on her technique in reaction to this, calling it her "insane strength".

The reason why Tsunade and Sakura possess such remarkable physical strength is due to their unrivalled chakra control; their strength comes from the precise build-up and release of chakra, which requires almost inhuman timing and precision. If Sakura's chakra control weren't top notch, Tsunade would have never been able to teach her the technique, let alone medical jutsu. Over time, both Tsunade and Sakura seem to instinctively use this jutsu (storing up chakra and releasing it), without actually having to concentrate. Sakura is amongst the most efficient chakra users in the entire series, potentially surpassing even her own master, considering she was able to learn such high level medical abilities in such a short amount of time. Also, Sakura's medical skills have been said to exceed those of many medical nin of higher rank, and she is probably on par with, or even surpasses, Tsunade's and Kabuto's skill when they were her age. Both Kakashi and Chiyo have praised Sakura for having the potential to surpass Tsunade.

Sakura, like Naruto, now has A-rank and S-rank jutsus in her arsenal. Sakura played an instrumental role in the opening chapters of the new arc, creating an antidote for Sasori's poison and curing Kankuro. With the assistance of Chiyo, she also defeats Sasori in combat, gaining information about Orochimaru in the process. Chiyo used chakra strings to control Sakura like a puppet, so she could help her dodge Sasori's attacks, as Chiyo was familiar with the puppet, and she herself could not fight one on one with Sasori. With her vigorous strength, Sakura easily demolished the puppet Sasori was hiding in with one hit. Sakura also seems to have a determination that was previously not present when she was younger; she had kept herself going even when she got stabbed in the stomach with Sasori's poisoned katana to help protect Chiyo. She is now motivated by an intense desire to be of use to her village and friends, help Naruto rescue Sasuke, and prevent Naruto from becoming a victim of the Akatsuki.

Reference: http://www.wikipedia.org/