Neji Hyuga

Neji Hyūga
Neji Hyūga (日向ネジ, Hyūga Neji) was one of the main supporting characters of the series. He was a jōnin-levelshinobi of Konohagakure's Hyūga clan, and a member ofTeam Guy.

Source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Neji_Hyuga

Background

Neji as a child.

Neji was born into the Branch House of the Hyūga clan to Hizashi, the twin brother of the clan's current headHiashi Hyūga. WhenHinata, the heiress apparent, turned three years old, as customary Neji's previously unmarked forehead was branded with the Hyūga Main Family's Juinjutsu by his uncle Hiashi.All Branch House members carry this cursed seal, and Neji believed it to be a symbol that one lives only to serve, and protect the Main House.

Neji's father, was well aware of Neji's natural talent, and he was frustrated that despite Neji's tremendous skill, he still carried the fate of a servant. Often times when contemplating this fate, Hizashi's anger would subconsciously turn outwards; consequently, he was punished through Hiashi's activation of his curse seal who noted that he would no longer tolerate such animosity. Around this time, the Konoha andKumogakure had signed an alliance treaty. However, the treaty only served as a means into Konoha and a way to lower the village's guard so the Head Ninja of Kumogakure could abduct Hinata and steal the secrets of the Byakugan. This attempt failed, however, as Hiashi intervened and killed the man within moments.

When word of the murder reached Kumogakure, they demanded Hiashi's body as compensation as per the agreement in the treaty (as his body would hold the Byakugan as well). Konoha wasn't prepared to comply to this request until Hizashi stepped in and offered to give himself up instead. Due to him being bound by the Hyūga Main Family's Juinjutsu when he died, the Byakugan would be sealed away, thus protecting its secrets. Hizashi made this sacrifice willingly in order to protect his brother, family, and village. However, Neji came to believe that the main branch had forced him to do so. This misconception became the primary basis of his nine year grudge against the main branch and of his concrete view on one's unalterable fate.

Personality

Neji was extremely serious and mature for his age, and had great control of his emotions. Before and during the Chūnin Exams and his fight with Naruto, he was cold, and somewhat arrogant. In his younger years, Neji was a kinder, optimistic child who smiled more often. He even told his father he thought Hinata was "cute" when the two branches of the Hyūga clan met for her third birthday.

Neji's branch family seal, his perceived inescapable fate.

While under the belief that his father had died because he was a member of the branch house, Neji concluded that fate is something decided at birth and that no matter what one does, people cannot escape their destiny. Neji often applied this to people he viewed as weaker than himself, such as his cousin, Hinata. During his match in the Chūnin Exams, he told Hinata that she was unfit to be a ninja, due to being too kind and not confident enough. When she was eventually able to turn his philosophy against him, telling him that she believed that he was suffering from trying to become worthy of the main house, despite him being born into the branch family, Neji became enraged, and attempted to attack Hinata. He was stopped by multiple jōnin, but Hinata nevertheless was left in critical condition from his earlier attacks.

Neji displayed similar efforts to condescend others during his match with Naruto Uzumaki who, despite being repeatedly struck down, continued to try and fight him. While Neji tried to show Naruto that fate cannot be fought, and that someone who is weak will always remain weak, Naruto was unwilling to accept this mindset, arguing that Neji, for all his belief in fate, had not accepted his own destiny. Naruto went on to defeat Neji, suggesting that, if a "failure" like himself could change his destiny, think of what a "genius" like Neji could do.

With this example of overcoming "destiny", as well as finding out the truth about his father's death soon afterwards, Neji abandoned the concept of inescapable fate. No longer bound by the idea that he was stuck at his current status, Neji resolved to become strong enough to never again lose in a battle. To do so, he began putting more emphasis on working well with his team and started to value a mission's successful completion and his team-mates' safety over his own betterment, even encouraging Rock Lee to continue pursuing his own dream. His abandonment of the concept of inescapable fate was most prominent during his fight with Kidōmaru, where despite the Oto-nin's discovery of the Byakugan's weak spot and Neji being severely wounded, he was still able to fight on and eventually defeat Kidōmaru, because he remembered what Naruto had said to him.

In addition, Neji began trying to remedy the estranged relations between himself and the main house members, most particularly by being kinder to Hinata and his uncle Hiashi. It was also shown that since then he has been training with Hinata, sparring with each other in order to hone their skills. During theFourth Shinobi World War the two cousins protect each other's back as well as the great concern Neji showed for her safety on the battlefield. The strongest amount of care towards Hinata was shown when he unhesitatingly sacrificed himself to save her and Naruto from being killed by the Ten-Tails. He similarly has great confidence in Naruto's capacity to change others, as he stated that the latter could redeem Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha. However, it seems that he gave up hope for Sasuke, and gave up his thoughts that even Naruto could bring him back.

In battle, he was able to stay relatively calm in most situations and carefully look at the situation at hand. He had shown himself to be a bit stubborn, as seen during the Fourth Shinobi World War, whenKiba told him to go to the medic corps, he refused, telling that he is fine, despite the fact he was shaking and barely able to stand.

Appearance

	Neji in Part II.

Neji had long, black hair, which is usually depicted as dark brown in the anime. In Part I, his hair reached the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end in a loose ponytail, while two straps attached to a smaller headband underneath his ninja forehead protector frame the sides of his face. In Part II, he got rid of these straps, and allowed his hair, which is now longer, to frame his face instead. When he appears with the rest of his clan to protect Naruto in the Fourth Shinobi World War, he had his hair out of the ponytail. Like the rest of his clan, he had very fair skin and possesses the renowned Byakugan, which when activated, stimulates the veins and arteries immediately around his eyes to protrude more prominently. In the anime, his eyes are depicted with a slight tint of lavender to them.

Neji's appearance during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

In Part I, Neji wore a black forehead protector that he wore snugly over his forehead. He wore a khaki shirt, under which he wore a dull blue shirt with a mesh armour underneath it, dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg. In Part II, Neji abandoned the bandages and is clad in more traditional Hyūga-like robes: a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black shinobi sandals. This may or may not have been to facilitate easier execution of his techniques, or to symbolise his warming relations with his clan. Neji usually carried a large, tan and black drawstring bag, which he carries over his shoulder. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he dons the standard Konohagakure attire with flak jacket, and the Alliance's forehead protector.

In Part I, Neji's facial expression was usually stern, hard, and cold. As the series progressed, however, his expression relaxes. He even smiled and chuckled at times. While still composed, Neji looked to be more calm, confident, and mature, rather than challenging.

Abilities

From a young age, Neji had been hailed a natural genius even amongst the Hyūga clan. In Part I, he was labelled the top-ranked rookie in his class, and was said by Rock Lee to be the strongestgenin to take the Chūnin Exam that year. His father even stated that with his talent, he could potentially surpass all other members of their clan. Over the time-skip, when most of the former Konoha 11 genin reached chūnin rank, Neji was the only one to advance to the rank of jōnin.

As stated by Tsunade, Neji had excellent instincts, both on the battlefield and as a leader. When forced to make difficult decisions on missions, he shows himself able to make a decision through keen observation and analysis. In the anime, Neji was also shown to be a capable teacher, having helped Hinata improve and refine her skills, among other things, her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.

Asuma Sarutobi

Asuma Sarutobi
Asuma Sarutobi (猿飛アスマ, Sarutobi Asuma) was ajōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure's Sarutobi clan as well as a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. He was also the leader of Team 10.

Source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Asuma_Sarutobi

Background

Asuma at his entrance ceremony.

Asuma was born toHiruzen, the Third Hokage, and Biwako Sarutobi. During theAcademy entrance ceremony, Asuma became friends withKurenai Yūhi. He later cheered on his classmates during the third round of the Chūnin Exams.

During the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Asuma along with the other young ninja were barred from participating in the defence of the village by Kurenai Yūhi's father and the other senior shinobi. A few years after the event, Asuma would become an uncle toKonohamaru.

Asuma and Chiriku while part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

About seven years before the start of the series, he had a disagreement with his father and left Konoha to pursue his personal interests. During his absence, he became one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, a group that protected the Land of Fire's daimyō, indicated by the sash on his waist. During this time he developed a strong friendship with the monk Chiriku, who would go on to become the head monk of the Fire Temple. Prior to returning to Konoha to resume active military duty, he accumulated a bounty of 35 million ryō on the black market, something he seemed to be particularly proud of.

Personality

A young Asuma playing shōgi with Hiruzen.

Asuma was typically a laid-back individual, and did not get himself involved in things unless absolutely necessary, as seen when he decided not to help saveHinata Hyūga during the Chūnin Exams. He was a heavy smoker but despite this, he would abruptly break the habit under certain circumstances, such as when his father died,^[8] or learned that Kurenai was pregnant.^[9][10] Not always seeing eye to eye with his father, Asuma later came to respect his father's role as Hokage: referring to him as a great father, and was proud to have been born into the Sarutobi clan.

Asuma and Shikamaru playing shōgi.

Despite Asuma's very blunt personality, often calling his students what they were unreservedly, a "glutton" (Chōji), a "loud mouth" (Ino), and a "slacker" (Shikamaru), he had a very good relationship with all three. He often took them to Yakiniku Q for lunch and dinner where more often than not Chōji would eat too much and Asuma had to pay more and apologise emphatically to the owner. To help them overcome their underachieving natures, he attempted to use bribery and outright trickery to manipulate them into doing what he wanted. This was seen most with Chōji, who Asuma was frequently able to entice into action with the promise of food and even Shikamaru whom he had to use games like shōgi on to assess his skill level. Out of his students, Asuma spent the most time with and was closest to Shikamaru. Asuma and Shikamaru often played shōgi or Go in their free time, though Asuma was never able to beat Shikamaru. It was Asuma who first discovered that the lazy Shikamaru was actually a genius, with an I.Q. over 200.

Throughout the series it had been heavily hinted that Asuma was romantically involved with fellow jōninKurenai Yūhi. The two appeared together in most of their scenes, and the other characters made it a point to note this fact on several occasions. When Kakashi Hatake found the two together at a dumpling shop, Kakashi asked if they were on a date, to which Asuma responded by quickly changing the subject. In a flashback, Asuma was shown buying flowers for a person he refused to name, though Ino asked that he say hello to Kurenai for her anyway, to which Asuma nervously asked how she knew about it. During Asuma's battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, Kurenai was often shown wondering about his progress, appearing anxious. When she heard of his death, she fell to her knees grief stricken. She later laid flowers on his grave during his funeral. The truth of their relationship was then made clear when Kurenai revealed that she was pregnant with Asuma's child.

Appearance

Asuma (far right) in his youth during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha.

Asuma was a tall man, with brown eyes, short, black spiky hair, and beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up half way, flak jacket, regular shinobi sandals andforehead protector. He also wore the Twelve Guardian Ninja sash that had the kanji for "Fire" (火) marked on it around his waist, a pair of black bangles and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves.

As a genin, he wore a short-sleeved, white shirt with a blue and black collar over chain-mail armour, along with a simple white vest along with a pair of black pants and a white belt. In the anime, it was shown that while he was a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, he wore a simple long sleeved shirt with bandages on the arms, pants, that sash denoting he was a guardian and a jacket with a fur collar. He also had his trench knives with him at that point.

Abilities

Asuma was a highly talented jōnin-level shinobi, having even once been part of the Twelve Guardian Ninja — an elite hand-picked team which served to protect the Land of Fire's daimyō, a role which later earned him a bounty of 35,000,000 ryō. During the Invasion of Konoha he was able to kill nineOtogakure ninja — who were noted to have been of of chūnin-level or above — with seemingly very little effort. He could also fight evenly with Hidan: a powerful member of Akatsuki while also protecting his team using his skill set. He also established a great record in military prowess — something which many upcoming shinobi greatly admired.

Ninjutsu

In the anime, Asuma was taught how to use the ultimate technique of the Fire Temple, Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder, which allowed him to manifest the spirit of the Thousand-Armed Kannon to defend him and attack any enemies.

Ino Yamanaka

Ino Yamanaka
Ino Yamanaka (山中いの, Yamanaka Ino) is a major supporting character of the series. She is a chūnin-levelkunoichi of Konohagakure's Yamanaka clan and a member of Team Asuma. Along with her team-mates, Ino makes up the new generation of Ino–Shika–Chō, just like their fathers were before them. In Part II Ino has also expanded her repertoire of skills and is now amedical-nin also.

Source: http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Ino_Yamanaka

Background

Ino as a child.

From a young age, her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, raised her to embody the meaning of the violet flower, which symbolises a blunt, candid love. She was raised to treasure the bonds that she has with her friends, which led her to become good friends withSakura Haruno.

In the Academy, Ino was considerably more popular and self-confident than Sakura when they met. She convinced Sakura that hiding the size of her forehead was pointless, saying that it only made her look worse. Ino gave Sakura a red ribbon to draw attention elsewhere, suggesting that Sakura had great potential, but had yet to reach it. In the anime, around this time, Ino along with Chōji and Shikamaru went searching for a set of kunai Chōji lost. During their search, they met a mysterious boy named Yota. They soon learned to their amazement that Yota had the ability to manipulate weather, especially through his emotional state. Fearing how the village would respond to an outsider considering how turmoil it had with the other nations, Ino and the others decided to hide Yota's existence, giving him shelter in a treehouse and regularly bringing him food. She also defended Sakura against her would be bullies Ami, Fuki, and Kasumi, pretending that the flowers she had launched into Ami's mouth which she said reminded her of a vase, were poisoned. This lead to ongoing arguments about Sakura's "Billboard Brow" and Ino's nickname "Ino-pig" (due to her name, Ino, meaning 'boar'). Despite all these arguments, she helped Sakura gain her confidence. When Sakura became attracted to Sasuke, and found out that Ino was attracted to him as well, Sakura ended their friendship hurting Ino in the process so she could compete with Ino for his affection. Ino later made friends with Sakura again during the Chūnin Exams, but they are still considered rivals by many.

Personality

Ino is often thinking about boys and takes a great deal of pride in her appearance, which was seen even during her younger days in kunoichi training. She also takes great effort to keep up as well as improve her appearance, as seen from her constant dieting to lose weight in the belief it will make her more attractive. Ino can also be very confident, kind, and outspoken, not afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes suggests that Chōji should lose weight. She is attracted to Sasuke and she cried when Sasuke was declared an international criminal, showing that she still cares for him despite his descent into darkness. It is confirmed that she loves him during the Fourth Shinobi World War, where she pictures Sasuke as the "love" that the violet flower symbolises. She also seems to be attracted to Sai because he looks just like Sasuke. Ino is described as relatively cheerful and can be bossy to people, especially to her team-mates if they get in her way or their behaviour annoys her.

Ino tends to take charge of her team-mates due to their lazy and nonchalant natures. She however clearly cares for them, as shown by her relief when Chōji survived near fatal injuries. Shikamaru, despite thinking of most girls as "troublesome", typically offers no resistance, being unwilling to deal with how she reacts if she is unable to have her way. Asuma recognised the control she has over the others, and, while dying, told her to look after Chōji and Shikamaru, and ensure that they didn't get into trouble.

By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino has demonstrated more bravery and confidence so much so that Ino was unfazed when told by Shikamaru how powerful the Gold and Silver Brothers were and even told her team-mates to man-up when they began to waver. Keeping to the promise she made to Asuma, Ino has resolved to put her life on the line, to protect her team-mates and her village no matter what. By the time Inoichi died in the Fourth Shinobi World War, he believed that she had truly blossomed into the violet of the Yamanaka family, and is proud of her bonds with her friends.

Appearance

Ino's appearance during Part I.

Ino is a fair-skinned girl of average height with green eyes (blue in the anime). Her most noticeable trait in her appearance is her long, blonde hair, which is always seen in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. In Part I, her hair reached down to her waist until she cut it during her fight with Sakura, and after, she wore a bun. In later Part I appearances, Ino's hair had grown to shoulder-length. By Part II, it grows to hip-length and Ino also sports a red clip in the left side of her hair.

In terms of attire, Ino is more often seen wearing a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. During Part I, she wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a purple apron skirt that is cut off on the sides and bandages on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this, and her forehead protector around her waist as a belt. During the anime filler, she stopped wearing the elbow warmers. At the Chūnin Exams finals, Ino sported an orange t-shirt that had the stylised kanji for the word "boar" (猪, inoshishi) inside a light green circle on the upper-left side of the chest, brown shorts, and cream-coloured elbow guards.

Ino's appearance in the Fourth Shinobi World War.

In Part II, Ino has gone through noticeable changes. Her formerly protruding bang has now flattened against her face and the bandages around her waist have been removed, revealing her bare stomach. She also replaces the warmers on her elbows with fishnet ones and wears a pair of the same over her knees. Along with these, she wears a short, purple, sleeveless blouse, an open-front purple apron-skirt over a shorter, black skirt, with short, fishnet shorts underneath. She has stopped wearing her forehead protector. While on missions she carries a tantō just above her medical pouch. She has also changed her hoop earring to the studs given to her by her former sensei after they passed the Chūnin Exams as a long-standing tradition.

The purple colouring of her outfit seems to be a reference to the embodiment of the violet flower that Inoichi wanted her to be.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she dons the standard uniform of the Alliance and a Konohagakure flak jacket.

Abilities

In Part I, Ino was noted to be an exceptional kunoichi by Asuma. During her fight with Sakura in the Chūnin Exams, she was able to turn the battle in her favour through the simple act of cutting her hair, overcoming her technique's inherit weakness and mimicking the Shadow Imitation Technique at once. For this reason, Sakura notes that Ino probably would have beaten her had Naruto not interfered.

Sensory Perception

Ino, like most members of the Yamanaka clan, is a sensor type, showing signs as early as during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams in Part I when she noted the change in Sasuke's chakra under the influences of Orochimaru's juinjutsu. In the battle against Kakuzu, Ino commented the masks emitted foul chakra. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino's aptitude as sensory type is shown to a greater extent as she is able to sense the chakra of all enemies in the area and lock onto them, before guiding her allies accordingly.