Naruto Uzumaki (うずまき ナルト, Uzumaki Naruto) is the eponymous title character and primary protagonist in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the series, Naruto is a young ninja who encases the spirit of a violent fox demon that attacked his village before his birth.

Naruto was born on October 10 in the fictional village of Konoha to Kushina Uzumaki and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. When Naruto was a newborn infant, the powerful Kyubi attacked his village. In order to save the village from destruction, the demon fox was sealed in Naruto's newborn body by his father, the active Hokage at the time, who sacrificed his life to do so. Despite the Fourth Hokage's dying wish that Naruto be viewed as a hero for serving as the container for the demon, the adult villagers of Konoha harbored a fierce hatred for him. Many believed that Naruto and the demon were one and the same and openly displayed an abhorrence towards Naruto, thus leading to the unknowing village children picking up the adults' hatred^. However, no one told Naruto about what his body harbored until he was twelve years old, leaving him confused for most of his childhood as to why the villagers of Konoha treated him with hostility.

Naruto is seen to be a prankster and a loner. He lives alone in a small apartment and has supposedly done so for years. Even though Naruto was treated as an outsider, he was befriended by his compassionate ninja instructor named Iruka Umino when he was twelve. Although Iruka's own parents perished during the battle with the demon fox, he refused to view Naruto as the cause of their deaths. Instead, Iruka attached himself to Naruto because he was similarly isolated after the death of his parents. Naruto was deeply moved by Iruka's kindness and confidence in him. As a result, Naruto now values Iruka as a father figure, as well as an instructor.

His signature jutsu is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (影分身ã?®è¡“, Shadow Clone Technique) that he can use many times and even create a lot of shadow clones because of his great stamina won by having Kyubi inside him. Using this jutsu, Naruto develops a large number of combos techniques and allows him to use one of the ninjutsu created by the Fourth Hokage: the Rasengan. Although this jutsu is normally performed with only one body, Naruto needs one shadow clone because of his lack of chakra control. This weakness is also noted when he tries to perform the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) to summon powerful toads and he ends summonning toads in little size. In Part II, Naruto starts training to be able to use his Wind Element and combining it with his Rasengan to create powerful variants. When Naruto finally accomplish this Kakashi mentions that now Naruto could be stronger that him. Before going to the Land of Wind to rescue Gaara, Jiraiya mentions to Naruto not to use a certain jutsu. However, although in that mission Naruto performs a bigger version of the Rasengan this is never confirmed if this is his new jutsu.

Being the host of the demon fox, Naruto occasionally takes on characteristics of the demon fox's violent and mischievous behavior. Physically, Naruto has some of the demon fox's characteristics, such as whisker-like marks on his cheeks and larger canines teeth than normal. His eyes are also somewhat slitted like a fox. He also has increased stamina and healing ability, which allows him to recover from major injuries within a day and minor injuries within a few seconds. At first, the fox demon's chakra only exposed itself when Naruto encountered life-threatening situations, or the feeling of extreme stress or rage. Later, Naruto learns to tap into the chakra through training, as well as demanding it from the fox demon. The reason Naruto is able to access its chakra is because of the unique way in which it was sealed. Though the fox remains trapped within Naruto, its chakra can leak out through the seal and mix with Naruto's. The fox's near-limitless supply of chakra becomes an invaluable resource for Naruto, often turning the tide of a difficult battle in his favor. Beyond that, the fox's chakra seems to increase in intensity with time. However all his abilities are enhanced by using the chakra of the Kyubi. But during this state Naruto gets angrier depending on how much chakra he uses and starts losing his control. This is noted specially when a dark red chakra that makes sounds of water appears around his body. A large red chakra tail appears around his body showing that the seal of Minato Namikaze is turning weaker. During the time-skip the seal becomes weaker, veing able, Naruto, to use four red chakra tails. In this state his body turns red and he loses his consicous, being able to attack even his partners. Naruto becomes so strong in this state that even Orochimaru mentions he could be killed with a single punch. The use of this state also reduces the overall life-span of Naruto because of the continuous use of the ability to heal his injuries of the Kyubi.

Naruto consistently ranked in the top two (taking first place three times) in the first five official Shonen Jump character popularity polls. However, in the sixth character poll, he ranked fourth.

Sasuke Uchiha (??? ???, Uchiha Sasuke) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series. In the beginning of the story, he is member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, which, at the time of his membership, consists of himself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno, making him an original member of the Rookie Nine; Sasuke later leaves the team and goes with Orochimaru to get enough power to be able to kill his older brother: Itachi Uchiha.

The early years of Sasuke's childhood were spent living in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, who had proven time and again that he was an extremely talented ninja. Because of Itachi's successes, most of the members of the Uchiha clan looked to Itachi as the clan's future, the biggest proponent of this idea being Sasuke's father, Fugaku Uchiha. Due to this focusing on Itachi, Sasuke did what he could to prove himself to his family, though no amount of training could help him in surpassing the milestones set in place by his brother. Itachi, aware of Sasuke's struggle for recognition, tried to shift some of their father's attention to Sasuke, even offering to train Sasuke in various fields of ninja abilities. Although Itachi succeeded in getting Fugaku to spend more time with Sasuke, much of that time was still dedicated to Itachi, and all the while Itachi never lived up to his promises of training Sasuke. As time went by, Itachi's standing in the clan began to falter as his trustworthiness was constantly called into question. At this time, Itachi also began to create a more competitive relationship with Sasuke, challenging Sasuke to surpass him. Because of Itachi's changing personality, Fugaku began to take a more active interest in Sasuke's development, teaching him the Great Fireball Technique in less time than Itachi had taken to learn it, which also gave Sasuke proper membership into the clan. Most prominently, Fugaku encouraged Sasuke to not follow in Itachi's footsteps, the former prodigy of the clan having lost his father's confidence.

Soon after receiving the attention from his father that he had so yearned for, Sasuke returned home late one evening to find all the members of his clan dead. After finding Itachi standing over the bodies of their parents, indicating he was the one responsible for the clans' murders, Itachi informed Sasuke that he wasn't worth killing. As he left, Itachi repeated his encouragement to Sasuke to get strong enough to surpass him, and disappeared into the night. From that day forth, Sasuke lived as an orphan, longing for the parents that had been taken from him and allowing his brother's words to fester. Soon after the clan's annihilation, Sasuke's only goal in life became to gain power through any means necessary in order to kill Itachi and avenge the clan.

During the start of the series, most of the jutsu of Sasuke were Fire Release techniques and manipulating shuriken techniques, however after being defeated by Rock Lee Sasuke starts copying taijutsu by using his Sharingan and training to increase his speed and strength until having a similar strength of Rock Lee to be able to use the only original jutsu of Kakashi: the Chidori, during Part I Sasuke is only able to perform this jutsu twice in a day (three using the Cursed Seal) and he needs to use his Sharingan to use this jutsu in a fight. During all the series his speed is noted to be very high being able surprise the opponent during a fight. By using the Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven) received by Orochimaru all his abilities are drastically enhanced. However, the Cursed Seal tends to drain the chakra of Sasuke and he may lose the control of himself. In the level 2 of the Cursed Seal, his appareance totally changes, turning his skin brown, and growing his back two wings. During Part II, it seems Sasuke does not have problems to use the power of the Cursed Seal and has shown the ability to manipulate the Chidori to create a large group of lightning-based weapons or use it with his chokuto (his sword) to increase the damage and paralyse the opponent. His ability with the Sharingan also has been improved, being able to perform genjutsu like his brother. He also can summon snakes and after absorbing Orochimaru his healing abilities have increased in a similar way to the ability of the Kyubi. During this part, it is mentioned many times that Sasuke has learned a jutsu from Orochimaru that he tries to use against Yamato and Deidara, but he is interrupted or finds an easier way to fight. This unknwon jutsu seems to be his strongest one.

Sakura Haruno (???,, Haruno Sakura) is a fictional character. She is also a member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, originally consisting of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. She is also considered part of the Konoha 11.

Unlike her teammates, Sakura's childhood was devoid of any actual tragedy, only being bullied in her early years at the Academy, where her sensitivity about her large forehead caused her classmates to tease her. Ino Yamanaka befriended her and gave her a ribbon that could accent her face and show others that her forehead didn't bother her. With Ino's friendship, Sakura came to develop her own identity and self-confidence. As Sakura's confidence in herself grew, she developed a crush on Sasuke, who Ino also had a crush on. When Sakura found out about this, she ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection or even his friendship, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two best of friends. The two maintain this rivalry until the end of their match in the Chunin Exams, after which they begin to rekindle their friendship. Nevertheless, the two maintain a competitive relationship and constantly attempt to outdo the other at nearly everything. At the series' start, one of Sakura's notable characteristics is her infatuation with Sasuke Uchiha. Initially this consists of following him everywhere in an attempt to help him and valuing his opinion and abilities above all others. Once Sasuke begins to be put in more dangerous situations, Sakura's display of her emotions shifts to concern for his well-being. She grows more worried when Sasuke achieved the Curse Seal form. Sakura also worries about the seal's potential to draw him away from Konoha. In time, her fears are realized and Sasuke abandons the village to seek out Orochimaru. Before he leaves Sakura attempts to stop him at the village exit, expressing her love for him and begging him to stay. She was so desperate that she was even willing to go with him on his journey. Sasuke, however, only gives her a gentle "thank you" before knocking her out.

During Part I Sakura does not have a noted skill Her only known skill is her control of chakra and her big intelligence. However, at the end of Part I she becomes into a student of Tsunade to train to be a medical-nin. In Part II, Sakura becomes a medical-nin and thus she is able to use different medical jutsu. Her fighting abilities have drastically increased by channeling chakra to her hands and perform powerful punches.

Kakashi Hatake

Kakashi Hatake (??? ??? Hatake Kakashi) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is the leader of Team 7, originally consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. After Sasuke defects, Team 7 receives Sai as a replacement.

Like his father, Sakumo Hatake whose skills have been compared to that of the Legendary Ninja, 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. Deeply ashamed and ostracized even by those he had saved, 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 team mates.

At the age of 13, Kakashi achieved Jonin status. 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 enemy forces from attacking Konoha. Shortly after the mission started, Kakashi's teammate, Rin was captured by enemy shinobi. Kakashi's other teammate, Obito Uchiha immediately stated his intention to save her, but Kakashi said they had to focus on completing the mission, opting not to make the same mistake his father had. Though Kakashi believed that they had to complete their objective and they parted ways, a little reflection on Obito's words and Rin's prior kindness eventually convinced him that his father had done the right thing in saving his teammates. This revelation prompted Kakashi to turn back to join Obito in the rescue effort, although he initially claims that he did not believe Obito could survive on his own—a statement that is more or less supported by how his arrival coincided with saving his oblivious teammate from a ninja's attack. During their attempt to save Rin, Kakashi lost his left eye as a result of taking an enemy ninja's attack for Obito. To protect Kakashi in return, Obito managed to awaken his Sharingan and killed their assailant. Soon after saving Rin, a rockfall technique was triggered and a rock struck Kakashi on his blind side. He would have been buried beneath the rocks had Obito not pushed Kakashi out of the way, getting the right side of his body almost completely 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. As his first act with his new eye, Kakashi avenged Obito by killing the enemy ninja with his now-perfected Chidori technique, bringing the Kakashi of today into being. Years later, Kakashi became a member of the Konohagakure ANBU where he served as a squad leader. During this time, he had several kohai. It is unknown when or why he left ANBU, but he still wears his gloves, a characteristic of ANBU uniforms.

Using the Sharingan he received from Obito Uchiha Kakashi has been able to copy more than one thousand jutsu and thus being called "Sharingan Kakashi" and "Copy Ninja Kakashi". From the jutsu he has copied he tends to use water-based and earth-based jutsu. He rarely uses genjutsu and sealing jutsu, but during a training he is noted to be very good in taijutsu, being able to open at least one of the Eight Gates. His only jutsu called original is a lightning-based jutsu called Chidori (å?ƒé³¥1000 birds), then upgraded and renamed Raikiri (雷切, Lightning Blade). During the time-skip Kakashi obtains (by unknown methods) the Mangekyo Sharingan, using this doujutsu Kakashi is able to create a localized interdimensional space-time warp, allowing him to target any object and send it to another dimension.The attack requires considerable effort to aim precisely and appears to leave Kakashi's chakra significantly drained; he collapses after using the technique three times in a single day. Because of his great ability, Tsunade considers that Kakashi may be the next Hokage.

Though his name is written in the manga using kana, Japanese syllabic scripts that carry no particular meaning, the family name "Hatake" can be written in kanji (Chinese characters) as ç•‘, or ç• which means "field" or "farmland". The name "Kakashi" can be written in kanji as 案山å­?, which means "scarecrow". Understandably, Naruto uses a scarecrow look-alike of Kakashi to practice on the day before Team 7's first test, since he then considered Kakashi as the main one to defeat. Also, when Sakura spies on Kakashi so he would take off his mask, he replaces himself with a scarecrow to get rid of her.

Iruka Umino (?????? Umino Iruka) is an instructor at the Ninja Academy, characterized by the distinctive scar across his face that he has had since childhood. The name "Umino Iruka" can be taken as "umi no iruka" ("sea dolphin"). His parents were killed by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox when he was younger, though he holds no hostility towards its container, Naruto Uzumaki. In fact, Iruka is one of the few people at the start of the series who values Naruto as a person, being able to relate with Naruto's methods of trying to gain attention. Because he, like Naruto, was forced to grow up without parents, and was socially isolated as a result, he can relate to Naruto in this regard as well and has assumed the role as Naruto's father-figure. Once Naruto becomes a ninja Iruka starts to underestimate Naruto, and as such become overprotective of him, though he in time discovers that Naruto has all the makings to become a great ninja.

Yamato (???) acts as additional leadership for Team 7 in Part II, and since his introduction has joined the team in all of its endeavors. "Yamato" is actually a code name given to him for the purposes of leading Team 7. His real name is Tenzo (???? Tenzou), though he seems to prefer going by his code name.

Yamato is able to use Mokuton (Wood Release) Jutsu because when he was young Orochimaru kidnapped him and injected him the DNA of the First Hokage (the only one user of Mokuton) and being the only test subject who survived. To perform a Mokuton ninjutsu, Yamato has to use water and earth-based ninjutsu in his hands at the same time and then mixing them. The Mokuton ninjutsu also allows him to suppres the chakra of the Kyubi on Naruto. In his fight against Sasuke, Yamato mentions that it is time to get serious, meaning that he has not showed all his ability. After he mentions that Sasuke is stopped by Orochimaru and the fight is cancelled.

Yamato is a member of the ANBU, where he once served under the guidance of Kakashi Hatake. His exemplary performance record caused the Third Hokage to have great faith in him, something that the Third's successor, Tsunade, has retained. Like other ANBU members, Yamato projects a calm, stoic demeanor in stressful situations. Despite this, he can also be quite laid back when not on duty, and is not above using his Mokuton techniques for creature comforts such as making a house to "camp out" in. While he has been good natured so far, Yamato claims to be a different sort of leader than Kakashi, one who is not above "ruling by the use of terror" when his team misbehaves. Aside from his obviously intimidating skills as a ninja, however, this "terror" has so far primarily consisted of casting an unsettling "ghoul-eyes" expression directed at his charges, which seems more humorous than terrifying. Naruto, however, is easily creeped out by it.

Sai (??, Sai) is the replacement of Sasuke Uchiha in Team 7. The name "Sai" is given to him for the purposes of joining the team, his actual name being unknown. He was recruited at a young age by Root, which trained him to have no emotions so as to make it easier for him to accomplish missions. Although Saio does not seems to have emotions, he carries notebook he wanted to give to a friends of Root that he used to see as an older brother, but after his death he could not give it. This lack of personality causes Sai to meet with hardship upon joining Team 7, as he makes the mistake of insulting the other members in an attempt to seem sociable. He tries to seem more caring by smiling, though his teammates come to dislike it due to his obvious insincerity. After spending more time with his team Sai comes to appreciate bonds, particularly the bond that exists between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Wanting to experience bonds for himself, Sai sets out to make as many bonds as he can. His initial attempts consist of giving people pet names, though his habit of calling people as he sees them ("fat", "ugly", etc.) finds little success. Realizing that people dislike hearing how they actually look, Sai begins to say the opposite of how he sees them, such as calling Ino Yamanaka "beautiful". With names proving successful, Sai has since made attempts to be helpful to others, though his attempts have thus far been unwanted by those he is trying to help.

Sai tends to use jutsu related to ink for spying purposes. However, he has never been seen having a serious fight.

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (ä¹?å°¾ã?®å¦–ç‹?, KyÅ«bi no YÅ?kÅ?, English TV "The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit") is the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Its power is such that it is regarded as an age-old natural disaster, as a single swipe of one of its nine tails is enough to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. The demon fox's attacks were seemingly random, the only apparent reason for its appearances being its attraction to places of human malice. The nine tails of the demon fox is a reference to the belief that a fox may possess as many as nine tails. Generally, an older and more powerful fox will possess a greater number of tails, and some sources say that a fox will only grow additional tails after they have lived for a thousand years. After that period of time, the number increases based on age and wisdom. During Part II Jiraiya mentions the only person who could have summoned it was Madara Uchiha, the person who founded the Uchiha clan.

Zabuza Momochi

Zabuza Momochi (桃地å†?ä¸?æ–¬, Momochi Zabuza) first gained renown during one of  Academy graduation events of Kirigakure, where he singlehandedly killed all of his peers. Zabuza would later become one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist where he acquired his zanbato. At some point in time, Zabuza found a young boy named Haku wandering the countryside, and offered to take Haku in as his tool. Haku accepted and became loyal to Zabuza, learning from Zabuza and protecting him whenever necessary. Zabuza eventually attempted a coup d'état on Kirigakure by trying to assassinate the Mizukage. The coup failed, forcing Zabuza and his subordinates to leave the country. In the hopes of gaining funds for a second coup, Zabuza becomes a mercenary assassin, killing anyone if the price is right.

Being from Kirigakure, Zabuza excels in water-oriented jutsu, frequently launching large bodies of water at opponents for attack. In addition to the offensive capabilities of his water jutsu, Zabuza is a highly skilled assassin. By blanketing the area in mist, Zabuza can blind an opponent and then locate them by the sounds they make and kill them without their noticing his presence. This talent with assassination is very well-known, as even the ninja of Konohagakure are familiar with Zabuza's history. Despite his abilities, Zabuza repeatedly fails to kill Tazuna, a target given to him by Gato, because of the protection of Kakashi Hatake. After Kakashi leaves Zabuza unable to battle further, Gato revokes their contract and instructs his men to kill Tazuna and Zabuza. Unwilling to let Gato have his way, Zabuza kills him, though is heavily injured in the process and dies of his wounds.

Haku (白, Haku written in jÅ?yÅ? kanji, meaning "white") was born in a perpetually snowy village in the Land of Water. Although he lived in peace for a time, Haku eventually discovered that he had inherited a kekkei genkai from his mother, an ability that was irrationally feared at the time. Once Haku's father learned of their gift he rallied a small mob and had his wife murdered. He would have done the same to Haku, but Haku inadvertently created a field of icicles through the house in a panic, killing both the mob and his father. Orphaned, Haku wandered the Land of Water as a beggar child until he was found by Zabuza Momochi, who agreed to take him in as a tool, warning Haku not to expect any companionship. Haku readily accepted this role, devoting his life to becoming the ultimate weapon for Zabuza. Over the years Haku was trained by Zabuza and in time became fiercely protective of him, so much so that he would not allow anyone to touch him. In his devotion to Zabuza, Haku finds purpose in life only by being of use to Zabuza, and does whatever is asked of him to continue to give his own life meaning.

Haku's Kekkei Genkai is MakyÅ? HyÅ? ShÅ? (é­”é?¡æ™¶, Demonic Ice Mirrors), which creates any number of mirrors made of ice to trap opponents. Haku can freely merge with and move between these mirrors, allow him to attack opponents from multiple angle simultaneously. In Part II his real Kekkei Genkai is named Hyoton (æ°·é??), while the Makyo Hyo Sho was never called ninjutsu. Haku is also skilled with needles, and can incapacitate or kill a person with a single needle. Despite these abilities, Haku dislikes needing to kill in his role as a tool, and avoids doing so whenever possible. When forced to face an opponent Haku does all that he can to avoid bringing them great harm, even putting them into a death-like state to prevent them from fighting further.

Neji Hyuga (日��ジ, Hyūga Neji) is a fictional character. He is a member of Might Gai's Team Gai, consisting of himself, Rock Lee, and Tenten. He is also considered part of the Konoha 11.

Neji's father, Hizashi Hyuga, was born as the younger brother of his twin, Hiashi Hyuga . Because he was born second, Hizashi was put into the Hyuga clan branch house, causing Neji to years later be born into the same faction. At a young age Neji was branded with the Hyuga branch family seal so that the main house could punish him for insubordination and protect the secret of the Byakugan should he die. Hizashi, believing Neji to be denied his full potential as a branch house member, began to openly resent the main house, and was punished on some occasions because of it. In one instance, Hizashi's curse mark was activated while Neji watched. Due to the punishments his father received as well as his father's influence, Neji also came to resent the main house.

In time, Hizashi would sacrifice himself to save the life of his brother, Hiashi. Neji believed that Hizashi was forced to give up his life because Hiashi's life as a member of the main house was considered more valuable. Neji blamed the main house for this tragedy for years to come, and his belief would not be corrected until after his defeat by Naruto Uzumaki during the finals of the Chuunin exam. At this point in time, Neji learns that his father willingly gave up his life not to save a member of the main house, but to save the life of his brother and to make a decision about his own destiny. Upon learning this, Neji rejects his belief in fate and does what he can to rectify his mistakes.

As a member of the Hyuga Clan Neji posses the Byakugan that he uses to perform different jutsu of the Gentle Fist style. He has learned the main jutsu of this style without having a sensei who teaches him how to perfom it. Because of these and other facts Neji has been called a genius. He also has can display chakra from his weak point of the Byakugan. His other weak point, the lack of fighting from far distances, is covered in Part II by displaying chakra from his hands in a similar way to the Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin) to perform attacks from far distances, but with less power than his other offensive jutsu.

Neji is the only known Hyuga clan member whose first name does not start with a kana from the Ha-gyÅ? (ha (ãƒ?), hi (ヒ), fu (フ), he (ヘ), or ho (ホ)). His name means "Screw", "Spiral", or "Helix", which probably refers to his Heavenly Spin technique. Neji uses a style similar to Baguazhang and has techniques containing "Eight Trigrams Palm" in their names. His name also bears resemblance to NèijiÄ?, the word for soft when applied to Chinese martial arts techniques.

Rock Lee (ロック・リー, Rokku Rī) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series. He is a member of Might Guy's Team Guy, consisting of himself, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten. He is also considered part of the Konoha 11.

Although his hard efforts Rock Lee was never able to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he decided to train his taijutsu when he met Mighty Guy, who taught to him the Strong Fist style to perform fast and strong taijutsu. Rock Lee is also able to open 5 of the Eight Gates, being able to drastically increase his abilities but risking his life. Rock Lee is the only known user of the Drunken Fist (酔拳Suiken), a taijutsu where he performs unpredictable moves. However this taijutsu can only be done by drinking sake.

According to an interview with Masashi Kishimoto in Shonen Jump's Naruto Anime Profiles Episodes 1-37, Rock Lee is his most fun character to draw. He also has stated that Sakura Haruno and Rock Lee were meant to symbolize human weakness (at least in the beginning). Like Guy (Gai), Lee is modeled after the martial artist Bruce Lee and even has the same birthday.

Tenten (テンテン) is the least seen member of the primary Konoha ninja. The only battle she has in the first part of the manga is almost entirely skipped, with the anime's rendition of the same battle being slightly more drawn out to fill the gap between the battle's start and her defeat. What is known of Tenten is that she strongly believes that female ninja can be just as skilled as male ninja. As such, her goal in life is to someday be as great as Tsunade. Because neither Tenten nor Neji can train on the same level as Might Guy or Lee (nor do they even want to), the two are usually seen together having more "normal" training sessions. As a result, Tenten has come to hold Neji's abilities in high regard.

Tenten specializes in weaponry, and according to Guy she can hit a bullseye 100 out of 100 times, although strong winds can deflect her attacks. Tenten's accuracy seems to have allowed her extra benefits, as the anime's Konoha 11 arc shows her to be a keen observer that can pick up on facts others overlook. In battle she summons varying types of weapons from the scrolls she carries with her.

Mighty Guy (マイト・ガイ, Maito Gai) is the leader of Team Guy, though much of his time with this team is spent with Rock Lee. Guy specializes in using taijutsu, though, unlike Lee, does so as a matter of preference on his part. Instead he simply chooses not to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, even going so far as to use a regular (albeit bad) disguise during one of the anime's filler arcs instead of using the Transformation Technique. In the few instances that he has used ninjutsu, it has always been offscreen, such as when he summoned Ninkame prior to his first appearance. Through his mastery of taijutsu Guy specializes in the Strong Fist style of combat. Likewise, he can also open at least six of the Eight Gates, with each gate giving him more power for short periods of time. As the self-proclaimed rival of Kakashi Hatake, Guy has developed an effective counter against Sharingan users: by focusing on their feet, Guy can both predict the movements of the enemy and negate the hypnotic abilities of the Sharingan that require eye contact.

Some fans translate his name as Maito Gai, however Masashi Kishimoto states in the 2nd databook that his name is Mighty Guy. While Maito Gai is the direct pronunciation of his name.

Hinata Hyuga (日�ヒナタ, Hyūga Hinata) is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan's main branch. She was trained by her father, Hiashi Hyuga, to become the clan's heiress, though in time he came to deem her a lost cause. Throughout her early time in Team 8, Hinata's lack of self-confidence and unwillingness to fight hamper her abilities. Although she trains to improve her skills, she immediately gives up when faced with competition and fails every mission she is assigned as a result. In an attempt to change herself, Hinata enters the Chunin Exams, where she is pit against her cousin, Neji Hyuga, in the exam's preliminary matches. Although Neji easily outmatches her and taunts her for the battle's duration, Hinata perseveres in an attempt to prove her own worth, even turning one of his own insults against him.

Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚キ�, Inuzuka Kiba) is characterized by his almost symbiotic relationship with his dog Akamaru, as the two are always seen together. Kiba is extremely devoted to Akamaru, and he is more than willing to risk his own life if it means saving Akamaru's. Kiba has acquired a few dog-like qualities from the time he has spent with Akamaru, such as being able to understand Akamaru's barking and disliking any food that he can't chew on. He is also very loyal, and despite often being overconfident, he cares deeply for his teammates' well-beings. This is most evident in his attempts to remove his teammates from harm's way as well as his constant attempts to avoid hampering his teammates' progress.

To fight Kiba tends to use the Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique) to have movements similar to animals and then perform spinning techniques by using all his body. He always fights having Akamaru as an ally and combining jutsu.

Shino Aburame

Shino Aburame (油女シノ, Aburame Shino) is a rarely seen character who has a fascination with bugs; most of his spare time is spent watching bugs and he often makes analogies to bugs when talking. In addition to liking bugs, Shino is characterized by his emotionless, solitary, and collected way of doing things. He speaks very bluntly and never allows emotion to interfere with his judgment, sometimes offending people in doing so. These odd traits have caused people to identify Shino as "creepy" or "weird," and they tend to dislike being in his company. Despite his odd personality, Shino has a very strong sense of connection with his teammates and allies, first seen when he regrets being unavailable and therefore unable to help with retrieving Sasuke Uchiha. From that point further he resolves to work on his teamwork skills, even helping Hinata Hyuga to improve her abilities, and providing her with encouragement. The fruits of his efforts are seen throughout the filler arcs where Shino is able to carry out a mission successfully while keeping others safe. He also proves to be able to understand his teammates' inner workings, as he can sense when the slightest of things is wrong with either of them.

Kurenai Yuhi (夕日紅, Yūhi Kurenai) is the leader of Team 8. Kurenai acted as an Academy Instructor for many years, eventually becoming a Jonin soon before the start of the series. Prior to the formation of Team 8, Kurenai taught a student named Yakumo Kurama. Yakumo's abilities, however, were a danger to herself and those around her, so Kurenai was forced to seal away her ability and as a result took her chance of becoming a ninja. As a Jonin leader, Kurenai is notably kind and supportive of her Genin subordinates, particularly toward Hinata Hyuga. Once Team 8 was formed, Hinata was left in her care, Hinata's father having little use for her. Kurenai has since begun to act as a parent for Hinata and tries to help her in overcoming her own weaknesses.

Shikamaru Nara (奈良シカマル, Nara Shikamaru) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is a member of Asuma Sarutobi's Team 10, consisting of himself, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka.

"Shika" can mean deer (鹿, deer), and "-maru" (丸) means "round", "circle", or "well-developed", but is commonly used as a suffix in boys' names. The names "Ino", "Shika" and "Cho" are also a pun on the "Ino-Shika-Cho" winning combination in Hanafuda. His surname, Nara, is taken from Nara Park ( Nara ko-en), a park famous for deer whose antlers are used for medicines. Nara was also the era when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. The Buddhist monasteries founded in the Nara Prefecture took the deer as their symbolic protector, and made hunting deer illegal in the prefecture. Nara also refers to maple, which is the plant associated with the shika card in Hanafuda.

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. His plans on life reflect this aspect of his personality, as he plans to be an average ninja making an average salary, and retire once his children become independent. 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't avoid these situations, Shikamaru tends to remark "how troublesome" (ã‚?ã‚“ã?©ã??ã?›ã?‡, mendokusÄ“, English TV "what a drag"). Despite his cowardly tendencies, Shikamaru is extremely intelligent. Asuma, wondering why Shikamaru was always able to beat him at Shogi and Go despite receiving abysmal grades at the Academy, disguised a IQ Test as a series of puzzles to see how smart Shikamaru really was. In doing so, 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 "troublesome". With his big intelligence he is able to think of any plan and to combine it with his ninjutsu or when he is working in a team. During Part II Shikamaru uses his own developments of the Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique).

Ino Yamanaka (山中��, Yamanaka Ino) is a childhood friend of Sakura Haruno. Sakura was often picked on due to her sensitivity about her large forehead, though through Ino's influence, she was able to overcome this and develop her own identity. As Sakura's confidence in herself grew she became aware that Ino liked the same boy as she did: Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura soon ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection, beginning a bitter rivalry between them. The two maintain this rivalry until the end of their match in the Chunin Exam, after which they begin to rekindle their friendship. Nevertheless, the two maintain a competitive relationship and constantly attempt to outdo the other. During their feud she became superficial, thinking highly of her looks and having no problem telling people what she thinks, such as telling Choji that he should focus more on his appearance because girls dislike overweight boys. Although both of her teammates fit the profiles of people she wouldn't associate with because of her apparent shallowness, but she actually cares deeply for their well-beings and maintains a strong bond with them.

Her only known jutsu in Part I is the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Disturbance Technique), a jutsu that is not used for fighting and in Part II she becomes a medical-nin like Sakura and is able to perform medical jutsu.

Choji Akimichi (秋é?“ãƒ?ョウジ, Akimichi ChÅ?ji) is a long-time friend of Shikamaru Nara. When his fellow peers would keep Choji from playing with them because of his size, Shikamaru stuck up for him and spent time with him instead of playing with the others. Because of Shikamaru's willingness to look past Choji's athletic deficiencies and recognize his true strength, Choji came to view Shikamaru as his best friend who he would do anything for. Choji is characterized by his love for food, his favorite being Korean barbecue, general snacks and sweets, and basically anything that is edible. His nigh-constant hunger is a constant annoyance for his teammates, as sating himself often comes before other necessities such as stealth and teamwork. Despite his eating habits Choji is very sensitive about his size and becomes highly agitated when somebody calls him "fat" (he refers to himself as "big boned," "chubby," or "pleasingly plump"). Once called "fat," Choji's resolve to fight is elevated to new levels and he becomes much more hostile to his opponents. In Part II he starts to look more muscular than obese, causing him to look like he always claimed he did: big-boned. Also in Part II, his attire is more like his father's red armor. Even with this new look, he is apparently still sensitive about his size, and others make it a point to avoid using the word "fat" around him.

Choji tends to use the Baika no Jutsu (Multi-size Technique) in batte combining it with taijutsu. While in Part II he does not need to use the Multi-size Technique to perform his taijutsu.

Asuma Sarutobi (猿飛アスマ, Sarutobi Asuma) is the son of the Third Hokage and the leader of Team 10. After having a falling out with his father during his younger years Asuma left Konoha to pursue his personal interests. Prior to returning to Konoha to resume active military duty, he accumulated a bounty of 35 million ryÅ?, something he seems to be particularly proud of. In addition, he previously served as one of the Fire Daimyo's twelve ninja guardians. He continues to wear a sash about his waist which denotes his position. Once getting back he begins a long-standing relationship with Kurenai Yuhi, whom he frequently appears with. While the two deny being an item and try to write off the amount of time they spend together, the revelation that Kurenai is pregnant with Asuma's child in Part II makes their relationship clear. After the creation of Team 10 Asuma begins to spend much of his free time playing Shogi or Go with Shikamaru Nara, though Asuma has never been able to beat Shikamaru.

Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage

Tsunade (綱手, Tsunade) Tsunade's name is taken from the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (�雷也豪傑物語, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"). The Tsunade in that story excelled in snail magic and was married to Jiraiya. The name "Tsunade" (綱手) means "mooring rope."

After his failed invasion of Konoha, Orochimaru approaches Tsunade to persuade her to heal his arms, which would enable him to once again use jutsu and resume his plans for conquest. While she initially refuses, Orochimaru offers to revive Dan and Nawaki in exchange for healing his arms and providing two human sacrifices for their revival, giving her a week to consider. Once meeting Naruto Uzumaki, Tsunade begins to remember the dreams of her two loved ones and how much they loved the village of Konoha. While she longs to see them both again, Tsunade ultimately is unable to bring herself to help Orochimaru, his hopes of destroying Konoha too strong to ignore. Determined to protect the village her loved ones held dear until the end of their lives, Tsunade battles with Orochimaru and eventually defeats him. Having accepted the title of Fifth Hokage, Tsunade returns to Konoha afterwards.

Tsunade's trademark ability is her superhuman strength, which is derived from her excellent chakra control. By storing chakra and releasing it at the point of contact, she can enhance her strength to the point where she can break through boulders with her bare hands or, as seen with her Painful Sky Leg (痛天脚, TsÅ«tenkyaku), create a gigantic crater by simply kicking the ground. For fighting she also summons Katsuyu (カツユ) the queen of the slugs. Even though she is in her fifties, Tsunade's Transformation Technique allows her to appear at almost any age she wants, although she prefers a default form in her 20s. She often uses this ability to escape those who have lent her money, changing the age of her appearance to avoid being recognized. Tsunade's transformation is somewhat different from a normal transformation as it seems to be permanent, not getting dispelled when she is slashed or injured, and she apparently does not need to exert any effort to stay transformed. The transformation does rely on chakra in order to be maintained, and after exerting all of her chakra she reverts to her actual older form. She is also an extremely talented Medical-nin, and can use medical jutsu to heal wounds that most others would consider impossible.

Shizune (シズ�, Shizun) is the assistant of Tsunade and a talented Medic-nin. She left Konoha with Tsunade after her uncle, Dan, died, and trained under Tsunade for many years afterwards. Shizune is quite close to Tsunade, being one of the few people Tsunade will trust with absolute certainty. Unlike Tsunade, Shizune is level-headed, practical, and a rational thinker. As a result, she tends to stress over details like Tsunade's tendency to gamble and think with her heart. She often gets comically worked up over any irrational decision Tsunade makes, particularly her making large bets. Shizune also looks after Tonton, Tsunade's pet pig.

Jiraiya

Jiraiya (自�也, Jiraiya. His name literally means "coming on one's own," which is a description of his personality; quietly appearing and disappearing from Konoha at any time. The kanji on his forehead protector (油, Abura) means "oil."

Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (�雷也豪傑物語, "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 "�雷也" meaning "Young Thunder" which in turn comes from the name Garaiya (我�也, "I came") from the Chinese story Kaishi (諧�).

Jiraiya has a large number of toads he can summon for fighting and spying. Between his most known are Gamabunta and the two elder toads, this last  he uses it to enter in the Sennin Mode (Sage Mode). In this mode his appareance changes to have abilities like to jump as a toad and his pther abilities are enhanced. He also has a large away of Fire Release powered up with oil and hair manipulating jutsu. As many jutsu related with toads.

As a child, Jiraiya and his former teammates, Orochimaru and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he traveled the world and discovered the residence of the toads, a species he proved to have a natural affinity for. During this time, Jiraiya is told a prophecy concerning him and his students, which states that they will decide the fate of the world. Once returning to Konoha, Jiraiya and his former teammates were forced into battle wit Hanzo as a result of an ongoing war at the time. When they proved able to survive his attacks, Hanzo rewarded them with the title of "Legendary Three Ninja" (ä¼?説ã?®ä¸‰å¿?, Densetsu no Sannin) to indicate their status as the strongest ninja in Konoha. Once the battle was over, Jiraiya encountered three orphans from Amegakure; Konan, , and Nagato. He looked after them for a time and taught the ninjutsu before leaving them so that they could pursue their own goals. Although news of their exploits reached him from time to time, he thought them to have died during an undisclosed incident. Once becoming  Jonin capable of leading a squad, 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. Orochimaru refused and attacked Jiraiya, turning his back on Konoha forever. While he tried to find a reason for Orochimaru's defection, he eventually realized that his friend wasn't coming back. Feeling he was responsible for Orochimaru's escape, Jiraiya left Konoha so he could follow Orochimaru's movements as well as the organization Orochimaru eventually joined, Akatsuki. In doing so, Jiraiya was unable to fulfill the Third's wishes of taking on the role of Hokage, knowing that tracking down Orochimaru was more important. Jiraiya predominately acts as Naruto's teacher, instructing him on how to better utilize the demon fox's chakra and showing him how to summon toads and perform the Rasengan. Due to the amount of time they have spent together, Jiraiya has come to think of Naruto as a grandson. He also acts as an intelligence-gatherer for Konoha, and frequently appears after long absences to report on Akatsuki and Orochimaru's doings. Jiraiya takes Naruto with him at the end of Part I for an additional two-and-a-half years of training to help him better face the challenges that await him in Part II. During this time he tries to give Naruto more access to the demon fox's chakra by using the key to the seal left to him by Minato, though only injures himself and weakens the seal in the process.

Sarutobi, the Third Hokage

The Third Hokage (三代目ç?«å½±, Sandaime Hokage) and his former teammates, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were students of the First Hokage and Second Hokage. Because of his surname, Sarutobi (猿飛), the First and Second called him "Monkey" (猿, Saru). He is the father of Asuma Sarutobi and the grandfather of Konohamaru. The Third was called The Professor (プロフェッサー, PurofessÄ?) due to his vast knowledge of jutsu, purportedly knowing all the jutsu within Konoha. During the only battle he is seen in he utilizes a number of attacks dealing with fire and earth; his fire-based jutsu deal with spitting streams of flames at opponents, while his earth-based attacks allow him to either create defensive walls or projectiles to launch at opponents. The Third also has a personal summon: the monkey king, Enma, who can turn into a staff that the Third wields with great proficiency. Despite all of his abilities, the Third seems to have had some sense of lecherousness in him as he spends much of his free time talking to young girls and even succumbing to Naruto Uzumaki's perverted jutsu on one occasion.

The Third was sensei of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. While Orochimaru was his student, the Third came to appreciate his natural talent and, after becoming Hokage, hoped to someday pass the title on to him. As he neared retirement, however, the Third realized that Orochimaru was only interested in the role of Hokage as a way to get power, and thus could not give him the role as village's protector. As such, the Third passed on the role of Hokage to one of Jiraiya's former students, Minato Namikaze. After Minato's death the Third was forced to reassume the role of Hokage, at which point he began investigating a number of disappearances within Konoha. Upon finding that Orochimaru was the source of the abductions, the Third was unable to bring himself to harm his favorite student, allowing Orochimaru to escape. Years later, Orochimaru invades Konoha in an attempt to kill his former master and gain revenge. After struggling with the battle the Third uses the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to try and seal away Orochimaru's soul, though his age and the injuries he has received from the battle make it impossible. Doing what little he can and hoping to rectify his mistake of allowing Orochimaru to escape years earlier, the Third seals Orochimaru's arms to ensure that he will never again be able to use jutsu, a punishment for Orochimaru's obsession with power. With the village saved from Orochimaru, the Third dies with a smile on his face, death being the result of performing the sealing.

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage

Minato Namikaze 波風ミナト, Namikaze Minato) was the Fourth Hokage (四代目ç?«å½±, Yondaime Hokage) of Konohagakure and the man responsible for sealing the Kyubi inside his son Naruto Uzumaki soon after he was born. Doing so cost him his life, and before dying he asked that the villagers not see Naruto as the monster within him, instead wanting him to be viewed as a hero, a request ignored by the villagers. "Namikaze" translates literally as "Wind and waves" or "Discord." "Minato" translates as "Harbor" or "Port."

Minato shares a number of traits with Naruto, namely in appearance and attitude. These similarities are frequently pointed out in the series until it is revealed in Part II that Naruto is Minato's son, who he had with Kushina Uzumaki. In his youth Minato, along with two other unknown Genin, was a student of Jiraiya. Prior to becoming Hokage, he was also the sensei of Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha , and Rin.

Minato is said to be the greatest ninja Konoha had ever produced, with natural talent that is rarely seen amongst ninja. He created several distinctive techniques, including the Hiraishin no Jutsu (飛雷神ã?®è¡“, Flying Thunder God Technique), which essentially allowed him to teleport to any location with the use of a special seal. By attaching the seal to a kunai or an enemy, Minato could teleport to the location of the seal unnoticed, allowing him to wipe out nearby opponents almost instantly. This ability led to his title as "Konoha's Yellow Flash" and it caused him to be seen as so dangerous that a flee-on-sight order was given in regards to him during the Third Ninja War. He also created the Rasengan (螺旋丸, Spiraling Sphere), a technique that does not rely on hand seals but instead uses a concentration of spinning chakra in one's palm that causes immense damage to its victim on contact. Later in the series it is revealed that technique is actually incomplete. Minato had planned to add his own nature manipulation training to the Rasengan, making it even more powerful, but failed to do so prior to his death and the Shiki FÅ«jin (å±?鬼å°?å°½, Dead Demon Consuming Seal) which was the techique the allowed him to defeat the nine-tails foxs by removing its soul and then seal it in a newly born Naruto but this techique has a price to pay namely the user must give up their own soul to remove an enemies soul as in both the Third Hokage and Fourth Hokages case it was a price they were willing to pay to protect the village.

Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage

Gaara (我愛羅) is shinobi from Sunagakure. Prior to Gaara's birth, Sunagakure saw a series of budget cuts that made it difficult for the village to operate. As a result, Gaara's father ordered Chiyo to seal the Shukaku within Gaara during his birth in the hopes that he would become the ultimate weapon for the village.Because a sacrifice was needed, Gaara's mother, Karura, was used. Before she died, Karura cursed Sunagakure, hoping Gaara would avenge her death. As with the other demon hosts, Gaara acquired a physical trait of the tailed beast inside him - in his case, dark rings around his eyes resembling those of the Shukaku. These rings are also indicative of his insomnia--he cannot sleep, or else the Shukaku will consume his personality. Gaara was trained by his father, but raised mainly by his maternal uncle, a medic-nin called Yashamaru. Because of the power of Shukaku, the villagers of Sunagakure hated and feared Gaara, seeing him only as the monster sealed within him. For a time, Yashamaru seemed to be the only person who cared about him; when he would mistakenly harm others due to the subconscious abilities granted to him by Shukaku, Yashamaru would be the only one who understood that Gaara hadn't intended to harm anyone. Gaara's father, however, did not see him in the same light, and viewed his frequent attacks upon villagers as a result of a failed experiment that was a threat to the village. Because of the danger Gaara represented, the Kazekage asked Yashamaru to kill Gaara. As a result, Yashamaru tried to assassinate Gaara, though Gaara's abilities defeated him with ease. Although Gaara tried to dismiss this attack as an order of the Kazekage, Yashamaru corrected him by saying that he had willingly accepted the mission. Having never truly loved Gaara, Yashamaru hoped that killing him would avenge the death of his older sister, who had named Gaara after the phrase "a self-loving carnage" (我を愛ã?™ã‚‹ä¿®ç¾…, Ware wo ai suru shura), a sign of her hate for Gaara. In a last effort to kill him, Yashamaru detonated a number of explosive tags covering his body, and said "This is the end". Having said that he assumed Gaara would be killed along with him in the explosion. Gaara survived the blast without injury and lost the only person he thought had cared for him. From the ages of six to twelve years old, Gaara would encounter many assassins sent by his father, dispatching them with ease.

As the host of Shukaku, Gaara possesses the ability to manipulate sand, typically moving it through the air to serve various purposes. The amount of sand he can control at one time is fairly immense, as in Part II he is able to gather enough sand to cover Sunagakure as a shield. If sand is lacking in abundance, Gaara can use what little sand there is to break apart the minerals in the ground to create more sand. While he can control any dry sand, ordinary sand requires more chakra to manipulate it, tiring him at a rapid rate. As a result, Gaara keeps his own chakra-enhanced sand with him at all times in a calabash gourd also made out of sand on his back. Because this sand is already infused with his chakra, Gaara has a great deal more control over it, enabling stronger and faster attacks with it. Gaara has created a large number of offernsive and defensive ninjutsu with the sand, while the offensive ninjutsu are seen to be able to make extreme damage and in most cases death to the opponent, the defensive are so strong that they have been called the ultimate defense many times.

In desperate situations, Gaara can take on the form of Shukaku by layering sand on his body, making him many times more powerful than he already is. Shukaku's personality grows more dominant during this transformation, increasing Gaara's homicidal tendencies. Once finished, Gaara assumes a human-sized version of Shukaku wherein he relies on his brute strength to destroy everything around him. He also can use wind-based jutsu in this state. If need be, Gaara can almost instantly create a life-sized version of Shukaku should the human-sized form fail. In this form, he remains deep within the Shukaku copy safe from harm though unable to move. Gaara can also unleash the spirit of Shukaku through his Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (狸å¯?入りã?®è¡“, Feigning Sleep Technique) which forces him to sleep to allow the Shukaku copy to operate at its full potential. To do so, however, Gaara must emerge from within the copy, leaving him open to attack for the duration of the jutsu. While Gaara is initially dependent on waking independently or through someone else's intervention to regain control of his body, he begins to be able to suppress Shukaku by himself towards the end of the anime's filler arcs. By the time Part II begins, Gaara is even capable of using numerous Shukaku arms for attack without losing control of himself and after the Shukaku is sealed by Akatsuki he is able to control sand.

Temari

Kankuro

Orochimaru

Pain

Pain (ペイン) is the leader of the Akatsuki organization and of the Land of Rain. He appears first in the chapter 238 of the manga but his face is not seen until the chapter 363.

From child was known as Nagato (é•·é–€), he was left orphaned because of a war of the Land of Rain. He tried to live with Konan and Yahiko (other orphans) by asking for and stealing food. One day, they found Jiraiya to whom they wanted to be trained and so Jiraiya decided to take care of them and teaching them ninjutsu. During the training Pain awoke the Rinnegan (輪廻眼, Samsara Eye), a Doujutsu that it was mentioned it lets him use six elemental jutsu (although only five elements are known) and other unknown abilities. As shown in a color page of the chapter 378 the Rinnegan is blue. Sometime after Jiraiya left the three, Pein began to believe that his childhood traumas had enlightened him and started to view himself as a god destined to teach the world the meaninglessness of fighting. As such, he began a civil war within Amegakure, which he subsequently ended by singlehandedly killing the village's leader, Hanzo. To make sure there were no sympathizers of Hanzo remaining in the village, Pein killed all of Hanzo's family, friends, and affiliates, elevating him to god-like status amongst the townspeople. He now uses the village as his base of operations for Akatsuki, where he is partnered with Konan. Although he directs the actions of the other members and maintains authority over them, Pein takes orders from Tobi.

Pain has six bodies, that he changes for different uses. These which he refers to as "The Six Paths of Pain" (ペイン六é?“, Pein RokudÅ?), stating that the name "Pain" is shared by all six.  Each of the six entities that are Pain were ninja that Jiraiya encountered as he wandered the world. The first body that is seen  is that of Yahiko and is able to control rain and can detect the movements and chakra levels of people traveling within it. The body with a large ponytail can summon a wide array of creatures as well all the other five Pains. The fat body is able to absorb ninjutsu as a form of defense, while the body with a happy expression can shoot his hand as a missile.

Konan

Konan (å°?å?—) is the only female member in Akatsuki. She is also the only member to call her partner and the Akatsuki leader, by his name. When she was younger, Konan, Pein, and Yahiko were left orphaned by one of the many wars of Amegakure, forcing them to fend for themselves. The three eventually encountered Jiraiya, who looked after them and taught them basic ninjutsu. Jiraiya had believed Konan to have died with Nagato and Yahiko some time later.

Konan has a natural talent for origami, as seen with the paper flower she keeps in her hair. This talent extends to her type of jutsu, as she can divide her body into countless numbers of paper sheets. These sheets can be controlled individually and formed into various shapes for a number of purposes, such as butterflies for scouting or generic weapons for attack. Konan can even form wings that mirror her title as "God's Angel" amongst the villagers of Amegakure, as she often carries out Pein's will.

Hidan

Hidan (飛段) is the foul-mouthed partner of Kazuku and is the second newest member of Akatsuki at the time of his expulsion. Hidan belongs to the Jashin ("evil god") religion, a religion that worships a deity of the same name and where anything less than utter destruction is considered a sin. Before battles start Hidan prays to Jashin and asks for nothing short of a kill or, when he is not allowed to kill his opponents, for forgiveness. After battles, should he have time, Hidan performs a thirty-minute ritual in accordance with his religion that culminates by stabbing himself in the chest and lying upon the ground. In addition to his religion Hidan has been gifted with immortality, and as such he is able to survive fatal wounds and even retains the ability to speak after being decapitated. Despite this, Hidan needs to be connected to his body in order to control it. Kakuzu assists him in these instances by reattaching his limbs, allowing the wounds to heal with time. Hidan's inability to die is also used to Kakuzu's advantage, as he can attack Hidan all he wants without worrying about finding a new partner afterwards. Although the two dislike working together, this advantage makes them the ideal team.

During battle Hidan makes every attempt to acquire an opponent's blood where, upon consuming it, he draws a symbol on the ground that "links" him with his opponent. Once this link is created Hidan takes on a grim reaper like appearance and becomes what is essentially a voodo doll for his opponent; any damage that is done to Hidan is also done to them. Hidan first uses this ability to give himself nonfatal injuries that bring him pleasure due to the pain it causes to him and the opponent. Once he is done toying with opponents in this way he stabs himself in the heart, killing them. Links can be broken prematurely if Hidan is removed from the safety of his symbol, though it can easily be reestablished by simply reentering its borders.

Kazuku

Sasori

Sasori (サソリ) is a missing-nin from Sunagakure. After the death of his parents Sasori was left in the care of his grandmother, Chiyo, who taught him all she knew about the Kugutsu no Jutsu (Puppet Technique) . With his newfound knowledge he created puppets in his parents' likeness so that he could feel their love. Since they were only emotionless puppets, his attempt failed, and he left them behind upon leaving the village. Once joining Akatsuki he was paired with Orochimaru and after Orochimaru's betrayal Sasori took it upon himself to track his movements and plot his destruction. Sasori would come to form a better working relationship with Deidara. Sasori has a large number of puppets used to fight like Hiruko and the Third Kazekage. Sasori created these puppets out of the dead bodies of humans, which is done by removing its entrails and preserving it to prevent decomposition. He can also use the abilities that the puppets had when they were humans and use them as disguise. His most versatile human puppet, however, is himself, as he has long since converted his body into one. In addition to giving him an unnaturally young appearance, Sasori's puppet body allows him to control hundreds of puppets at once. Since he needs part of his original body to control puppets Sasori has preserved his heart in a cylinder-shaped device that he wears upon his chest. Sasori is able to survive any kind of attack so long as his heart remains undamaged, and he can even use it to switch to new bodies by simply placing the cylinder onto a new puppet. Every weapon that his puppets wield is also laced with a poison of Sasori's own design; the poison instantly numbs the body and kills the target after three days.

Deidara

Deidara (デイダラ, Deidara) is a missing-nin from Iwagakure. Before joining Akatsuki, Deidara acted as a terrorist bomber for hire, where his work attracted the attention of Pein. Pein sent other Akatsuki members to recruit Deidara, though he refused. After being defeated by Itachi Uchiha, however, Deidara was forced to join the organization. Deidara maintains a deep loathing for Itachi from that point further and becomes determined to defeat him, even training one of his eyes to overcome Itachi's signature ability: genjutsu. His main ability is to create clay animals that explode when he use the command Katsu, he calls it art believing the most beautiful thing about them to be their detonation. Deidara also can make bigger clay birds to use them as a transport. This jutsu are created by making the mouths of his hand eat clay. He also has a mouths in his chest that if they eat clay, Deidara will explode himself and die. His clay jutsu are divided in different levels from C1 to C4. Deidara was partnered with Sasori upon joining the organization, whose artistic ability and insight Deidara admired. After Sasori's death Deidara is paired with Tobi whom he treats as a disciple. Despite Tobi's habit of accidentally angering Deidara, Deidara takes great care to keep Tobi out of harm's way and even dedicates his final moments to apologizing to him.

Tobi

Tobi (トビ) was a subordinate of Zetsu but some time after the death of Sasori he becomes a member of Akatsuki. Tobi has a strange personality compared to all other Akatsuki members. He tends to have fear in a fight and escape and often tends to irritate Deidara. After the death of Deidara, Tobi is seen giving orders to Pein talking in a less formal way, he calls himself Madara Uchiha and he is seen to have a Sharingan in his right eye. He starts having big expectations on the ability of Sasuke and starts wondering what will he do. His ability is totally unknoen because of his fear to fight. His only noted ability was when Sasuke attacked him with his sword and Tobi could stand up with no problems.

Itachi Uchiha

Itachi Uchiha (ã?†ã?¡ã?¯ イタãƒ?, Uchiha Itachi) is a missing-nin from Konohagakure and is partnered with Kisame Hoshigaki. During his time in Konoha, Itachi's prodigious talents and rapid development into a skilled ninja earned great attention from his family, the Uchiha clan. His skills were such that his family focused all of its attention on him and the prospect that he would be the clan's future, ignoring Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, in the process. Over time Itachi began to distance himself from the village and his family, eventually becoming a prime suspect in his best friend, Shisui Uchiha's, death. Before the death could be properly investigated, Itachi killed all the members of the Uchiha clan in a single night so that he could "test [his] ability". Itachi decided to spare Sasuke, however, feeling he was not worth killing; instead, prior to leaving, Itachi told Sasuke to live hating him and get strong enough to avenge the clan. At some point in time Itachi joined Akatsuki. While it stands to reason that he joined after massacring the Uchiha clan, the timeline that has been given throughout the series coupled with his age suggests that he joined the organization prior to killing his clan. Although he talks with Kisame many times and even smiles, he never talks to other Akatsuki members unless he is ordered to. Despite his status as a wanted criminal and murderer, Itachi does not display any open enjoyment of violence or combat. Itachi instead prefers to avoid battle or, if that is not possible, end it as quickly as possible while exerting as little effort as he can. When he does fight Itachi remains stationary, attacking only in defense and to otherwise avoid damage.

Although his awesome use of taijutsu, hand seals, weaponry and ninjutsu, his signature ability is the use of the genjutsu, being able to use it just by seeing the eyes of a person or by pointing with one finger. He can also revert the genjutsu of an opponent just by using his Sharingan. He also posses the Mangekyo Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai he obtained by killing Shisui Uchiha, that allows him to use Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, two powerful genjutsu and ninjutsu, respectively. However, after performing a single jutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan Itachi gets tired and he may not even able to use the normal Sharingan for a seconds as seen when he performed Amaterasu to escape of a trap of Jiraiya. It has also been impplied that his eyesight may be damaged with the use of this doujutsu. Another strange fact of his Sharingan is that he is always using it only disabling it after the use of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Kisame Goshigaki

Kisame Goshigaki (干柿鬼鮫) is a missing-nin from Kirigakure. He gets along considerably better with Itachi than most Akatsuki members do with their own partners, immediately doing as Itachi asks of him and always looking out for Itachi's well-being. His former country, now seeks him out for plotting to overthrow its government and being involved in numerous assassinations. When he was still loyal to Kirigakure, he was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist (霧��刀七人衆, Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū). Like other characters who have trained to be one of the Seven Swordsmen, Kisame enjoys mutilating his opponents.

Kisame has a distinctive shark appearance, complete with pale blue skin, small white eyes, gill-like facial structures, and sharp triangular teeth. Even his name, Kisame, means "demon shark". His shark-like qualities carry over to the type of techniques he uses in battle, as he often shapes bodies of water into the forms of sharks that proceed to attack opponents.Kisame is also noted to have a particularly large amounts of chakra in his reserves; even when he fights at 30% power in one instance his chakra supply is compared to that of a enhanced Naruto Uzumaki using the chakra of the Kyubi.

Zetsu