Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto Uzumaki (うずまき ナルト Uzumaki Naruto) is the primary protagonist of the Naruto series. He was the first character created by Kishimoto during the conception of the series, and was designed with many traits from other shōnen characters, including Son Goku of the Dragon Ball series. In the series, Naruto has ambitions of becoming Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure. Because he is the host of the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konoha, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He compensates for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality, and over the course of the series, manages to befriend many foreign and Konoha ninja. He develops an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother. Naruto's seiyū in the original Japanese anime is Junko Takeuchi, and he is voiced by Maile Flanagan in the English adaptation.Sasuke Uchiha
Sasuke Uchiha (うちは サスケ Uchiha Sasuke) is one of the members of Team 7. He was created to be a rival to Naruto, as well as a, "cool genius", which Kishimoto believed was an integral part of an ideal rivalry. He is one of the few remaining members of the Uchiha clan along with his brother, Itachi Uchiha, who killed the rest of their family. Due to this, Sasuke's sole desire is to kill his brother, and he develops a cold and withdrawn personality. His interactions with his fellow teammates, especially Naruto Uzumaki, make him focus less on revenge at the start of the series. During an encounter with his brother in Part I, Sasuke is easily beaten, which leads him to leave the village to seek more power from the criminal Orochimaru. His teammates' attempts to recover him from Orochimaru forms a major component of the Part II plot. In the Japanese anime, Sasuke's seiyū is Noriaki Sugiyama, and his English voice actor is Yuri Lowenthal.Sakura Haruno
Sakura Haruno (春野 サクラ Haruno Sakura) is the sole female member of Team 7. Kishimoto created her as the heroine of the series, although he has admitted that he has little perception of what an ideal heroine should be. As a child, Sakura was taunted by other children because of her large forehead, a feature Kishimoto has tried to emphasize in Sakura's appearances. She was comforted by Ino Yamanaka. As the two continued to grow, however, they became increasingly distant due to their shared affection for Sasuke Uchiha. During most of Part I, Sakura is infatuated with Sasuke, and spurns the advances of Naruto Uzumaki. After Sasuke leaves the village, she resolves to become stronger by training with Tsunade. In Part II, she displays highly developed skills from her training, and a more open disposition towards Naruto. In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Chie Nakamura, and she is voiced by Kate Higgins in the English adaptation.Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi Hatake (はたけ カカシ Hatake Kakashi) - where Kakashi is literally Japanese for "scarecrow" - is the leader of Team 7 and the sensei of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Kishimoto had originally intended for Kakashi to be introduced earlier in the series than he actually was, and created him as an easygoing person that would be able to keep the members of Team 7 in check. Kakashi treats his leadership position with a detached manner, and is consistently late to meetings as a result. In a gaiden on Kakashi's past, this is shown to be the result of an incident in which he witnessed the death of one of his teammates, Obito Uchiha, who gave Kakashi his Sharingan eye and imparted many of his habits, including his tardiness. With Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi has amassed a reputation as a skilled and powerful ninja, earning the moniker "Copy Ninja Kakashi" (コピー忍者のカカシ Kopī Ninja no Kakashi). Although he mentors all three members of Team 7 early in the series, he concentrates on training Sasuke as the series continues, teaching him his Chidori technique; however, he is unable to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village to seek Orochimaru for greater power. Kakashi's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kazuhiko Inoue, and his English voice actor is Dave Wittenberg.Orochimaru
Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is one of the primary antagonists of the Naruto series. To emphasize his role as a villain, Kishimoto worked towards making him appear "pasty and sickly" as part of his theme of distinguishing villains from the protagonists. In the series, Orochimaru is a former ninja of Konohagakure and a student of the Third Hokage. During his time in the village, he distinguished himself as one of the village's most powerful ninja along with his teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade. His desire to obtain immortality led him to conduct experiments on other Konohagakure ninja, and he eventually fled the village and joined the criminal organization Akatsuki. After attacking fellow Akatsuki member Itachi Uchiha, who defeats him, he leaves Akatsuki and establishes his own ninja village, Otogakure, in the hopes of destroying his former home. His immortality technique involves transferring his consciousness between different host bodies, and his desire for a new host, particularly Sasuke Uchiha, is one of his driving motivations throughout the series. Because of his different host bodies and the disguises he assumes, a panoply of voice actors are utilized for Orochimaru; his most common seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kujira, and the corresponding English voice actor is Steven Jay Blum.Akatsuki
Akatsuki (暁, lit. "Dawn" or "Daybreak") is an organization of criminal ninja that serves as the series' primary antagonists. Led by Madara Uchiha, though he acts through the group's figurehead leader Pain, the Akatsuki's goal is world domination by using the power of the nine tailed beasts. The members of Akatsuki are ninja who have abandoned their villages, and are considered by their former homes to be S-class criminals, the most powerful and wanted ninja in the Naruto universe. At any given time, Akatsuki is composed of ten members, who operate in two-man teams. They share similar clothing, most notably a long, dark cloak bearing red clouds and a chin-high collar. Aside from an attempt by two Akatsuki members, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, to capture the nine-tailed demon fox within Naruto Uzumaki, Akatsuki is not prominently featured in Part I. In Part II, they take a more active role, capturing Gaara and extracting the one-tailed beast, Shukaku, from his body, as well as working towards capturing the remaining tailed beasts.Kiba Inuzuka
Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚 キバ Inuzuka Kiba) is a member of Team 8 characterized by a number of dog-like traits such as being very protective of his teammates and super sensitive and extremely keen senses such as smell . Most apparent of his connection to dogs is the constant presence of his ninja dog (忍犬 ninken), Akamaru. Kiba is fiercely loyal to Akamaru, unwilling to abandon him and putting himself in harm's way for Akamaru's sake. In exchange for Kiba's devotion, Akamaru fights with him in battle; he uses his heightened senses to Kiba's advantage, and helps to double-team opponents with volleys of physical attacks. Since Akamaru is naturally better equipped for combat, Kiba usually modifies his own abilities at the start of a battle, growing claws and traveling on all four limbs to increase his speed. He can also drastically increase his sense of smell, and by the second half of the series he can use it to track things dogs cannot. Kiba's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kōsuke Toriumi, and his English voice actor is Kyle Hebert.Akamaru
Akamaru (赤丸) is Kiba Inuzuka's ninja dog (忍犬 ninken), best friend, and constant companion. At the start of the series, Kiba carries Akamaru around on his head or inside his jacket. By Part II of the Naruto storyline, Akamaru grows large enough for Kiba to ride atop his back, but since Kiba spends so much time with Akamaru, he fails to notice this drastic difference. With his heightened sense of smell, hearing, and the ability to detect others' chakra levels, Akamaru acts as a valuable tool for Kiba in hostile situations. To help Kiba keep track of opponents, Akamaru can urinate on them, giving them a strong odor that can easily be tracked. In battle, however, he relies on Kiba to provide the chakra for the combination attacks they execute, which requires Akamaru to transform into a clone of Kiba. In the original Japanese anime, Akamaru is voiced by Junko Takeuchi, who is also the seiyū for Naruto Uzumaki, and Kōsuke Toriumi, who voices Kiba, when Akamaru transforms into a clone of Kiba. In the English adaptation of the anime, Akamaru's vocal effects are provided by Jamie Simone (though Kyle Hebert provided the voice of Akamaru when Kiba performs the Beast Human Clone Jutsu).Shino Aburame
Shino Aburame (油女 シノ Aburame Shino) is one of the members of Team 8 and is fascinated with insects; he spends his free time capturing and studying insects and often uses them as analogies during conversation. A deep connection with insects runs in Shino's family, as each person born in to the Aburame clan is infused with a special breed of insects known as "destruction bugs" (寄壊蟲 kikaichū) during birth. In exchange for using Shino as a hive and feeding on his chakra, the bugs do as he commands. During a battle, Shino directs his bugs towards an opponent, boxing them in without their knowledge and absorbing their chakra once they have been surrounded. Shino's merciless tendencies, in regards to opponents as well as his attachment to insects, have caused other characters to label him as "creepy". Nevertheless, Shino cares deeply for his teammates, being acutely aware of their inner workings and always regretting when he is unable to help them. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Shinji Kawada. His first voice actor in the English anime was Sam Riegel, who voiced Shino in episodes 23 and 24, but in all following appearances, he has been voiced by Derek Stephen Prince.Hinata Hyuga
Hinata Hyuga (日向 ヒナタ Hyūga Hinata) is a member of Team 8 who suffers from a lack of self-confidence throughout the series. She is always reluctant to speak her mind or to do something that might antagonize another character, causing her difficulties whenever she is on a mission. This results in her effective expulsion from the Hyuga clan even though she is the eldest daughter of the clan's leader and thus its heiress. Hinata's inability to stand up for herself caused her father to disown her at a young age, leaving her in the care of her teacher, Kurenai Yuhi. Soon after her introduction, Hinata begins training to become stronger, both to overcome her own weaknesses and to prove her worth to her father. Her efforts begin to prove successful towards the end of Part I, as her father takes a greater interest in her training.Though Hinata's training has in large part been to prove herself, she also trains to try and win the attention of the series protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. Inspired by Naruto's confidence and determination, Hinata becomes infatuated with Naruto to the extent that she immediately blushes or faints upon seeing him. However, as the series progresses, she goes out of her way to help him. While Hinata is hesitant to openly admit her feelings for him, most characters are aware of her feelings. In the anime, Hinata's attempts to impress Naruto result in her creation of a new ability capable of instantly blocking or attacking anything in her extended field of vision. During Part II, Hinata finally admits her feelings to Naruto while protecting him from Pain; as yet, there has been no follow up to her confession. Her seiyū in the Japanese anime is Nana Mizuki, and her English voice actor is Stephanie Sheh.
Kurenai Yuhi
Kurenai Yuhi (夕日 紅 Yūhi Kurenai) is the leader of Team 8. Of all her students, Kurenai is closest with Hinata, acting as a surrogate parent in the absence of Hinata's father and helping Hinata overcome her weaknesses. Whenever Kurenai appears in the series, she is usually accompanied by Asuma Sarutobi. Because of this, many other characters assume them to be a couple, though they both deny this. During Part II of the series, Kurenai is revealed to be pregnant with Asuma's child, making their relationship clear. In battle she specializes in casting illusions, and is shown to be particularly skilled with illusions involving plants.[51] In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Rumi Ochiai. In the English adaptation of the anime, she was voiced by Saffron Henderson in episode three, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in all subsequent appearances.Choji Akimichi
Choji Akimichi (秋道 チョウジ Akimichi Chōji) is a member of Team 10 who is typified by his deep love for food to the extent that he always has a snack with him during the series. Though his habit of always eating gives him a relatively large appearance, Choji insists he is not fat, instead using explanations like being "big-boned". If someone refers to him as fat, Choji instantly becomes hostile and increases his resolve to battle. Shikamaru Nara has never found an issue with Choji's weight, instead choosing to look upon Choji's inner strength. Because of this, Choji regards him as his best friend, stating he would willingly give his life to defend Shikamaru. In battle, Choji can increase the size of his body to improve the amount of damage his strikes deal upon impact. His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kentaro Ito and his English voice actor is Robbie Rist.Shikamaru Nara
Main article: Shikamaru Nara
Shikamaru Nara (奈良 シカマル Nara Shikamaru) is one of the members of Team 10. Creator Kishimoto has noted that he "likes" Shikamaru due to his easygoing nature despite being a genius, and contrasted him against Sasuke Uchiha's intelligent but abrasive personality. Shikamaru's intelligence is such that Asuma Sarutobi, Team 10's leader, has never been able to defeat Shikamaru at games such as shogi or go, and he can devise complex strategies even in the heat of battle. However, his laziness frequently prevents him from effectively utilizing his intelligence. Shikamaru is a longtime friend of Choji Akimichi, his fellow Team 10 member, as he chooses to look upon Choji as a person rather than only considering his large girth. In battle, Shikamaru can manipulate his shadow, and by extending it into another person's shadow he can force the target to mimic his movements. In the Japanese anime, Shikamaru's seiyū is Showtaro Morikubo, although Nobutoshi Canna acted as a stand-in for Morikubo in episode 141. His English voice actor is Tom Gibis.Ino Yamanaka
Ino Yamanaka (山中 いの Yamanaka Ino) is the only female member of Team 10. She has known Sakura Haruno since they were children, befriending and helping her to develop her own identity. When they discovered that they both liked Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura ended their friendship so they could properly compete for his affection. The two eventually make amends and rekindle their friendship, but still maintain a competitive attitude towards each other. In the anime, when Sakura begins to excel in healing techniques, Ino becomes her surrogate apprentice, hoping to be more useful to her friends and teammates as an able medical ninja. In terms of combat abilities, Ino specializes in mind-altering techniques. To use these techniques, Ino transfers her consciousness to her target's mind, gaining control over their body which she can then use to attack others. In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Ryōka Yuzuki, and her voice actor is Colleen O'Shaughnessey in the English adaptation.Asuma Sarutobi
Asuma Sarutobi (猿飛 アスマ Sarutobi Asuma) is the leader of Team 10 and son of Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had a falling out with his father when he was younger, and briefly left Konohagakure in protest. The two had not completely reconciled by the time of the Hiruzen's death. Asuma is usually seen smoking a cigarette, but will temporarily drop the habit when something is bothering him, such as when his father died. Among all his students, Asuma shares a particularly close relationship with Shikamaru Nara, and the two often play shogi or go together. Asuma frequently appears alongside Kurenai Yuhi, leading many characters to assume the two are a couple. Both deny this and promptly try to change the subject whenever it is brought up. During Part II of the series, however, Kurenai is revealed to be pregnant with Asuma's child, making their relationship clear. In battle, Asuma wields unique brass knuckles equipped with blades that can be infused with chakra. When infused with his wind-based chakra, Asuma can extend the blades' length and easily pierce through rock. After Asuma is killed by Hidan, a member of the criminal organization Akatsuki, these knuckles fall into Shikamaru's possession, and he uses them to defeat Hidan and avenge Asuma. Asuma's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Jūrōta Kosugi, and he is voiced by Doug Erholtz in the English adaptation.Neji Hyuga
Neji Hyuga (日向 ネジ Hyūga Neji) is a member of Team Guy and a child prodigy of the Hyuga clan. Despite his natural talent, Neji's membership in one of the clan's lower houses leaves him ineligible to learn the clan's most secret techniques. At the start of the series, Neji openly hates the main house because of this, readily attacking its members verbally or physically when given the chance. At this point in the series, Neji believes in a fatalistic philosophy: that one's destiny is inescapable and that a weak person will always be weak. After being defeated in battle by Naruto Uzumaki, a character that has proven his "destiny" wrong by getting stronger, Neji has a change of heart. He abandons the idea of a predetermined fate, and resolves to get strong enough to never lose a battle. He also tries to remedy the estranged relations between himself and the members of the main house, resulting in his training with the leader of the main house at the end of Part I.Neji displays his title as a prodigy of the Hyuga throughout the series; when first introduced he is highly proficient with the Gentle Fist style of combat, with which he can directly attack an opponent's internal systems. Though never actually trained in the form, Neji has been able to replicate it and its most powerful attacks through simple observation. As the series progresses, Neji refines these abilities into more powerful counterparts, either to increase their potency or to fix an inherent flaw. One such example is his Byakugan, an eye technique that by default gives the owner a near-360-degree field of vision within a fifty meter radius. Neji constantly trains to overcome a small blindspot and to increase the Byakugan's range of sight. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Kōichi Tōchika, and when he is featured as a child, he is voiced by Keiko Nemoto. His voice in the English anime is provided by Steve Staley, and Wendee Lee provides his child voice.
Rock Lee
Main article: Rock Lee
Rock Lee (ロック・リー Rokku Rī) is a member of Team Guy and the favorite student of team leader Might Guy. In the ninja academy, Rock Lee was unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu techniques, but his persistence impressed Guy. Guy spends much of his free time training with Lee to help him accomplish his dream of becoming a respected ninja by using only taijutsu. Lee has adopted several of Guy's habits because of this, such as his wardrobe and his perseverance. Guy has taught him a number of powerful, even forbidden, techniques. Because some of these techniques, such as the ability to open the eight chakra gates, can pose a severe risk to Lee's body, he is only permitted to use them to protect something or someone dear to him. In the Japanese anime and manga, he always utilizes honorifics such as "san" and "kun". In the English adaptations, he never uses contractions. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Yoichi Masukawa, and his voice actor is Brian Donovan in English.Tenten
Tenten (テンテン) is the only female member of Team Guy, and longs to prove that a female ninja can be just as skilled as a male ninja. Of all the Naruto protagonists, Tenten receives the least amount of screen time, such that her only fight in Part I of the manga is almost entirely skipped; the battle's start and her eventual defeat are the only portions shown. Despite her lack of appearances, series creator Masashi Kishimoto favors her design more than those of any of the other female characters he has created. In battle, Tenten specializes in weaponry, ranging from projectiles to close-combat weapons and even explosives by the second part of the series. During a fight she uses the hundreds of weapons kept stored in scrolls she carries with her to bombard opponents with pinpoint accuracy. Tenten uses this expertise to help Neji Hyuga train his defensive techniques, and she holds him in high regard since he can always block her attacks. Her Japanese seiyū is Yukari Tamura, and her English voice actor is Danielle Judovits.Might Guy
"Maito Gai" redirects here. For the Japanese actor nicknamed "Maito Gai", see Akira Kobayashi.
Might Guy (マイト・ガイ Maito Gai) is the leader of Team Guy, and dedicates most of his time to only one of his students, Rock Lee. Because of Guy's dedication to him, Lee has modeled himself in his master's image, mimicking Guy's distinctive green jumpsuit and shiny bowl haircut. Lee has also adopted many of Guy's mannerisms, including his "My Rules" philosophy, which involves setting tough self-imposed penalties for failure in the belief that the punishment will make him stronger Series creator Masashi Kishimoto likens Guy's passionate personality to that of a physical education teacher he had in junior high school, but notes that the teacher was not a model for Guy's character.In battle, Guy specializes in physical attacks, which he constantly tries to teach to Lee. While Lee is forced to concentrate on physical attacks due to his inability to use other types of techniques, Guy deliberately chooses not to use techniques other than physical attacks. When not teaching Lee a new ability, Guy is usually found in competition with his self-proclaimed rival, Kakashi Hatake. Throughout the series, Kakashi has never displayed a particular interest in their rivalry, which only further motivates Guy to defeat Kakashi and his "coolness". In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Masashi Ebara, and his English voice actor is Skip Stellrecht.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
Hiruzen Sarutobi (猿飛 ヒルゼン Sarutobi Hiruzen), the Third Hokage (三代目火影 Sandaime Hokage), has been the longest-ruling Hokage, having served two separate terms. He is a peace-loving leader, preferring nonviolent discussions to his advisers' more militaristic suggestions. Throughout the series, he acts as a source of wisdom to younger generations and is one of the few characters to treat Naruto Uzumaki as a person and not just the container of the nine-tailed demon fox. In his youth Hiruzen was known as "The Professor" (プロフェッサー Purofessā), as he purportedly knew every jutsu in Konohagakure. He was also the teacher of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Orochimaru had always been his favorite student, and Hiruzen could never bring himself to recognize Orochimaru's evil qualities. When Orochimaru invades Konoha years later, Hiruzen fights him to repent for never prosecuting Orochimaru as he should have.When he is unable to win, he robs Orochimaru of his ability to use jutsu, bringing an end to the invasion and thus allowing Hiruzen to die happily. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Hidekatsu Shibata, and his English voice actor is Steve Kramer.Minato Namikaze
Minato Namikaze (波風 ミナト Namikaze Minato), the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影 Yondaime Hokage), is the father of Naruto Uzumaki and spouse to Kushina Uzumaki. Although Naruto and Minato are noted to have a number of similar traits throughout the series, their familial relationship is not revealed until Part II of the series. He was the student of Jiraiya and the teacher of Kakashi Hatake. Minato was a prodigy among ninja, such that enemy villages issued flee-on-sight orders if ever he appeared on a battlefield. He developed a jutsu that was in essence a teleportation jutsu, allowing him to wipe out whole armies in the blink of an eye, thus earning him the title of "Konoha's Yellow Flash" (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光 Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō). Before the start of the series, he gave his life to seal the nine-tailed demon fox into Naruto's body, saving Konoha from destruction and giving Naruto access to its great strength. It is later revealed during Naruto's battle with Pain that he is Naruto's biological father and that he never told anyone, hoping it would help Naruto. Kishimoto has expressed desire to make a spin-off series with Minato as the protagonist, but much younger. His seiyu is Toshiyuki Morikawa and his English voice actor is Tony Oliver.Tsunade
Tsunade (綱手), as well as her former teammates Jiraiya and Orochimaru, is a former student of the Third Hokage. She is also the granddaughter of the First Hokage and grandniece of the second Hokage, so many characters in the series refer to her with the Japanese honorific "hime" (meaning "princess"). Despite her connections to past Hokage, Tsunade hates the position when she is first introduced. After her brother and boyfriend died in pursuit of their dreams to become Hokage, she lost faith in the title and the concept of dreams. She regained her faith in both after meeting Naruto Uzumaki, who consistently overcomes any obstacle in his own dreams of being Hokage. As a result, Tsunade accepted the position of Fifth Hokage (五代目火影 Godaime Hokage) to protect Konohakagure on behalf of everyone she has loved.Despite the importance of her position, Tsunade tends to avoid her duties, instead leaving them for her assistants. She will fulfill her role to address matters important to the village, and throughout Part II leads Konoha in combating Akatsuki. When Konoha was leveled by Pain, she transferred all of her energy to Katsuyu, her slug summon, to shield the villagers from harm. Her action caused her to fall into a coma, leading to her temporary dismissal as Hokage. Tsunade is a compulsive gambler with terrible luck. On the rare occasions that she hits a winning streak, she perceives it as a bad omen. Additionally, although she is in her fifties, she constantly assumes the appearance of a twenty-year-old woman, retaining only her characteristically large breasts. Despite her odd personality Tsunade is a talented ninja; she has superhuman strength that allows her to reduce buildings to rubble and can heal injuries that most others would consider incurable. Her healing abilities are such that she has devised a method of regeneration for herself, making her all but invincible in battle. At the conclusion of Part I, Tsunade takes Sakura Haruno as an apprentice, teaching her how to use both of her trademark abilities. In the Japanese anime, Tsunade's seiyū is Masako Katsuki, and her English voice actor is Debi Mae West.Danzo Shimura
Danzo Shimura (志村 ダンゾウ Shimura Danzō) is one of the oldest villagers in Konohagakure, a war hawk who believes that all of the former Hokage have placed peace above the village's best interests. He was one of the elders who orchestrated the Uchiha Clan's demise. The right half of his body is covered in bandages to hide a damaged Sharingan eye transplanted from the body of Shisui Uchiha, as well as the vast amount of Sharingan eyes grafted to his arm. He also had himself injected with the cells of the First Hokage allowing him to use the Senju Clan's unique skills. He was once considered for the position of Third Hokage, but that title was given to Hiruzen Sarutobi whom he served as an adviser. Since then he has been using The Foundation, his own personal black ops team, to secretly ensure he would become Hokage. Throughout Part II, Danzo has been at odds with Tsunade and acts on his agenda of killing off Sasuke in secret. But after Konohagakure is destroyed and Tsunade is left in a coma, Danzo finally convinces the Fire Country's feudal lord to make him Acting Candidate Sixth Hokage (六代目火影候補 Rokudaime Hokage Kouho), using his new found power to have the ninja track down both Sasuke and Kabuto, the latter in order to restore Shisui's eye. However, while at the Kage conference, Danzo is forced into fighting Sasuke. He dies shortly after Sasuke mortally wounds him with his lightning technique. In the Japanese anime he is voiced by Hiroshi Ito and in the English version he is voiced by William Frederick Knight.Gaara Of The Desert
Gaara (我愛羅) is the youngest of the three siblings. He was created by Kishimoto as a foil to Naruto Uzumaki, with a similar background yet a highly divergent personality. Before Gaara was even born, his father intended to make him a military weapon for Sunagakure by sealing the One-Tailed Shukaku (一尾の守鶴 Ichibi no Shukaku), a powerful and dangerous tailed beast, inside him. Similar to Naruto, Gaara was tormented by his fellow villagers for being the host of a tailed beast. After one of his few remaining relatives tried to kill him, Gaara developed a sadistic and withdrawn personality, killing others to affirm the value of his existence. His battle with Naruto during the invasion of Konoha changes this mentality; as a result, he becomes more willing to help others as the purpose for his existence, and he succeeds his deceased father as Sunagakure's Kazekage during Part II. Gaara's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Akira Ishida, and his English voice actor is Liam O'Brien.Kankuro
Kankuro (カンクロウ Kankurō) is the second oldest of the three siblings. For the first half of the series, he is frequently at odds with Gaara, though he tends to hold his tongue for fear of being killed. In Part II, once Gaara begins to reveal his dreams and motivations to Kankuro, Kankuro becomes very protective of Gaara; he lashes out at anyone who speaks poorly of Gaara and when Gaara is kidnapped, he readily risks his life to save him. Kankuro is a talented puppeteer, and has thus far been shown to have three puppets in his arsenal: Karasu (烏, lit. Crow), Kuroari (黒蟻, lit. Black Ant), and Sanshōuo (山椒魚, lit. Salamander). Crow is used for offensive purposes, Black Ant traps opponents in its body to make them easier targets, and Salamander protects Kankuro and his allies from enemy attacks. The puppets are all destroyed by their original creator, Sasori, in Part II. Kankuro is later seen using Sasori's body as his new puppet. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Yasuyuki Kase, and his English voice actor is Michael Lindsay.Temari
Temari (テマリ) is the oldest of the three siblings. Unlike her more combat-loving brothers, Temari values peace, as she questions Sunagakure's justifications for going to war with Konohagakure. This trait carries over to Part II, in which she begins acting as a liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure to help the two villages work together. Like her brothers, Temari does not appear in the series very often, and when she does appear she is commonly in the company of Shikamaru Nara. When they make their Part II debut together, Naruto Uzumaki asks if they are on a date, though both Shikamaru and Temari state that this is not the case. In battle, Temari wields a giant iron fan that can create powerful gusts of wind capable of leveling the surrounding landscape. As she is skilled at deducing an opponent's strategies and weaknesses soon after a battle begins, she typically uses her winds to remove parts of the battlefield that might be advantageous to the enemy. Temari's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Romi Paku, and her English voice actor is Tara Platt.Iruka Umino
