Naruto: Shippuuden Episode 078-079

Naruto: Episode 200

Naruto was born on October 10, but not much is known beyond that. His parentage remains a mystery, as do any other family ties he may have had. As a newborn infant, the nine-tailed demon fox, which had attacked the village of Konoha, was sealed within Naruto's body by the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.

Despite the Fourth Hokage's wish that Naruto be seen as a hero who contained the demon, the villagers of Konoha harbored a fierce hatred for the young child, since he bore the spirit of the demon who decimated their once peaceful village. Naruto wasn't even aware of the presence of the demonic entity inside him until he was twelve years old, leaving him confused for most of his childhood about why the villagers of Konoha hated him so much.

Fortunately, Naruto was befriended by his compassionate ninja instructor, a Chunin named Iruka Umino. Though Iruka's own parents perished at the hands of the demon fox, Iruka didn't blame Naruto for their deaths. Instead, Iruka accepted Naruto and empathized with the boy's desire to be accepted, since he too once had the same desire. He may have been the first person to believe in Naruto, and has made a lasting impact on Naruto himself. It is through Iruka's presence as Naruto's only family figure that Naruto learns to overcome his sadness.

In Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles, after a two-and-a-half year time skip, Naruto shows physical growth, sports a new outfit, and appears to not only have increased in strength, speed, and techniques, but intelligence as well, Kakashi even said that Naruto has become more cunning. However, Naruto is still Genin, since he hasn't had a chance to take the Chunin Exams again. According to Tsunade, Naruto is also slowly adopting some of Jiraiya's perverted traits. During his apprenticeship under Jiraiya, Naruto was able to read the latest of the "Icha Icha" series written by Jiraiya, although when he presents a copy to Kakashi, he says he thought it was boring.

It seems Naruto's feelings for Sakura have matured. He does not seem to have a child-like crush anymore. They have a very easy time communicating with each other, despite the nearly three-year separation. They are capable of having a casual conversation together, and they seem to like spending time together. Naruto is now noticeably taller than Sakura and some of his other friends. (In Part I, he is made fun of for being shorter than her.)

It was when Team 7 was on the way to Sunagakure that Naruto finally reveals to Sakura and Temari that the demon fox was sealed inside him. Sakura sympathizes with him, as does Temari, who is very grateful to Naruto for the change in her little brother, Gaara. With this revelation, Sakura begins to understand why the village hated him and why he was so alone growing up. It is also shown that Sasuke's defection still affects Naruto and Sakura, and when the whole of Team 7 (minus Kakashi) finally meets after two and a half years, Sasuke greets them, as he did when they became a team, with cold indifference, and says he doesn't care if he becomes Orochimaru's vessel as long as Itachi will die. He even attempts to kill Sakura and Naruto. Later, after Sasuke leaves with Orochimaru and Kabuto, Naruto and Sakura are clearly upset that he is no longer the Sasuke they knew.

After his 'reunion' with Sasuke, and the realization that after all his special training he is no closer to saving Sasuke, Naruto sinks into a deep depression. His outlook is changed, however, when Kakashi tells him that he will train Naruto to create a unique jutsu that could possibly give him the strength to finally meet Sasuke on an even level. Finally receiving the one-on-one training with Kakashi that he has always desired, and with his last encounter with Sasuke driving him, Naruto becomes more serious and focused than he's ever been. During his training, Kakashi remarks that he believes Naruto will surpass the Fourth Hokage and later, even sees a vision of the Fourth Hokage around Naruto. Also, after Naruto shows off the results of his special training Kakashi admits to himself that Naruto has surpassed him.

Naruto has displayed a few new abilities since the start of Hurricane Chronicles. His ability to release the demon fox's chakra, and the subsequent lack of control of it as a result, has increased dramatically. Naruto can now use the two or three tail states with ease, although it is a dangerous and harmful technique to use. Sometime during his training with Jiraiya, Naruto transformed into a four-tailed form of the demon fox, although this is extremely dangerous since he starts losing control at this state. Orochimaru states that this form is powerful enough to actually kill him. Jiraiya mentions that the seal holding the demon fox is becoming weaker, accounting for the ease with which its chakra escapes.

Naruto has greatly improved his ninjutsu and taijutsu post-timeskip; he has also become a much better tactician, creating a few shadow clones for specific purposes rather than creating several dozen shadow clones and hoping for the best. He managed to catch Kakashi by surprise during his second bell test, and even used Kakashi's obsession to the Icha Icha novels to his advantage. Naruto is also starting to wield and become more skilled with weapons other than regular kunai or shurikens, as seen in the Rescue Gaara arc. Like Tenten, he carries a scroll to summon various weapons from. Naruto has also developed a more powerful version of the Spiraling Sphere, titled the Great Ball Spiraling Sphere. Naruto uses both his and his clone's hand to control it due its unstable nature and immense power.

After Team 7's failed attempt to rescue Sasuke, Kakashi teaches Naruto to manipulate elemental chakra. Naruto's elemental chakra type is revealed to be wind, which is well suited to combat. The elemental training is a prerequisite to creating his own unique jutsu. This jutsu is revealed to be a combination of his elemental chakra and the Spiraling Sphere, which the Fourth Hokage had created expressly for that purpose. He, however, could not manage to combine the two before his death. Kakashi, having learned from the Fourth, could not manage it, either. While such a feat normally takes years to complete, Naruto is able to learn hundreds of times faster through the use of his shadow clones. Since the clones are linked to each other and Naruto, allowing them to share their experiences with the others once they are dispersed (similar to distributed computing). After much training and a few shortcuts inspired by Kakashi, Naruto creates the Wind Release: Spiraling

The second son of a Konoha police captain, Sasuke grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi. Itachi was an acknowledged prodigy who graduated at the top of his Academy class at age 7, mastered the Sharingan by age 8, became a Chunin at age 10, and an ANBU squad leader at the age of 13. The Uchiha clan took great pride and interest in Itachi and viewed him as a genius whose work would further strengthen the bonds between the village and the clan. In particular, Sasuke's father took an active interest in Itachi. Itachi, on the other hand, was rather ambivalent and full of oddly conflicting undercurrents, acknowledging Sasuke by taking interest in his progress as a ninja when even their father did not, but spending little quality time with Sasuke. Even after Sasuke enrolled in the Ninja Academy, he still was unable to escape Itachi's shadow. Despite consistently scoring at the head of every class, Sasuke failed to receive any recognition from his father, who defined Sasuke's success only in terms of his older brother. Itachi acknowledged the rivalry Sasuke felt, telling him, "We are unique siblings. I am the barrier you must overcome, so you and I will continue to exist together."

Itachi's relationship with his father deteriorated further when Itachi was questioned by other members of the Uchiha clan regarding the death and suicide note of his best friend, Shisui. As Itachi's behavior became increasingly bizarre, Sasuke's father, on a whim and partly due to Itachi's growing distance, decided to spend time with Sasuke. He taught him the Great Fireball Technique, a common family jutsu. Sasuke (age 7 at the time) eventually succeeded in performing the jutsu in front of his father after only one week of training, surprising him. At that moment, Sasuke finally received his father's recognition; the Uchiha clan considered the ability to perform fire jutsu as proof that one had become an adult. Sasuke's father told him that he could now proudly wear the clan's emblem on his back. More forebodingly, Sasuke also received a stern warning not to follow in Itachi's footsteps.

Shortly thereafter, Itachi massacred every member of the Uchiha clan, sparing only Sasuke. Itachi said that Sasuke was not even worth killing. In addition, Itachi told him "You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live." Itachi also revealed to Sasuke where the secret meeting place of the Uchiha was hidden and suggested that Sasuke go there to learn what the true history and purpose of the Sharingan is.

Sasuke collapsed, and awakened in the Konoha hospital to overhear villagers gossiping about the destruction of his clan. He escaped the hospital and wandered the village, remembering happy times with his murdered family and finally collapsing into tears as he reached the spot where his parents were killed. He then traveled to the Nakano shrine and found the secret of the Sharingan that Itachi promised him. Whatever he read there only seemed to harden his heart, and from that point forward, Sasuke's life was dedicated to vengeance against his brother.

For the most part, Sasuke has stayed true to his original personality. When first meeting Sai, he did not care the slightest and was interested more in Orochimaru's presence. When Sai states that he might be able to get along better with Sasuke than he did with Naruto, Sasuke freezes him with a stare, catching Sai in a genjutsu exuding a large amount of killing intent. Sai is amazed that even an emotionless person such as himself was affected by Sasuke's gaze, showing the power of his Sharingan. When Sai comments on how Naruto and Sakura have been searching for him, Sasuke once again regards him with indifference.

It would appear that during his time with Orochimaru, he has come to the conclusion that if he ever wishes to stand a chance against Itachi, he needs to push away all of his past bonds with his friends and make revenge a priority, above even his own life. Because of this, he shows that he no longer cares about Konoha or anyone from the village. In spite of this, he chides Naruto about risking the lives of an entire squad to save one man, and comments that it could damage his chances of becoming Hokage. He also states that, unlike their last encounter at the waterfall, he has no more reservations about killing Naruto, and attempts to do so. He's also aware of the fact he is intended to be the container for Orochimaru's soul, showing that he doesn't care what happens to himself as long as it results in Itachi's death.

Unlike Kabuto or any of Orochimaru's subordinates, who address Orochimaru as "Orochimaru-sama" (which shows that they highly respect him), Sasuke simply refers to him as Orochimaru. Sasuke also never called Kakashi "Kakashi-sensei" (teacher) like the others did, something the Japanese would consider as very insulting or rude. Despite his association with the Sound Village, Sasuke does not wear a Sound headband, unlike most other subordinates of Orochimaru. He still wears the fan symbol of the Uchiha clan on his back, albeit much smaller and higher up by his shirt collar.

Sasuke's fighting skills have improved greatly over the timeskip, which is exemplified by his new jutsu, One Thousand Birds Current. One Thousand Birds Current allows Sasuke to project electricity from his entire body for both defensive and offensive purposes. Sasuke now wields a Kusanagi sword like Orochimaru's, though his doesn't seem to carry the special abilities that Orochimaru's does. His version is also depicted as katana-like, whereas Orochimaru's looks more like a Chinese Jian. Sasuke uses the One Thousand Birds Current in conjunction with his sword to increase its cutting power, as well as to paralyze his opponents when he strikes them.

He has also become much more skilled with his Sharingan, to the point where he can perform genjutsu through simple eye contact. When Sasuke looks down to see Naruto crawling over to him in a sub-demon fox state, Sasuke is able to get into Naruto's mind and make contact with the demon fox, much to the surprise of Naruto and the fox. Unexpectedly, the demon fox itself knew about the Uchiha clan. The demon fox mentions a Madara Uchiha, saying that Sasuke's eyes and chakra are even more sinister than its own. Furthermore, it appears that Sasuke can suppress the demon fox's chakra. The demon fox warns Sasuke not to kill Naruto, as he would regret it.

Just before his departure, Sasuke attempts to use another jutsu to end the battle, only to be stopped by Orochimaru. Orochimaru says that leaving them alive would help Sasuke against his brother because they are also opposing Akatsuki.

Recently, Sasuke has appeared at the end of chapter 342 with Orochimaru after having defeated a large number of unidentified ninja, with the largest of the ninja serving as a seat for Sasuke to rest. When Orochimaru comments that Sasuke's still too soft because he didn't kill any of the ninja, Sasuke replies that those ninja weren't the ones that he desired to kill. Despite being a subordinate of Orochimaru, he betrays him as of chapter 343 by assulting an extremely ill Orochimaru, commenting that he had learned enough from him.

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

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

Sakura's favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings and umeboshi (pickled ume fruits); her least favorite food is anything really spicy. Her hobbies are quizzes and memorizing things and her favorite phrase is "courage" although it was once "a lifetime full of love"
The latter was also featured in the ending song of episode 170 as a painting on her bedroom wall. She is also shown to be afraid of frogs

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

When reunited with Naruto, she asks him if she looks more like a woman in a flirtatious way. Clueless, Naruto remarks that she looks no different, annoying her. On two separate occasions, Sakura beats up Sai over the issue, once for calling her "Hag", and a second time when Sai complimented Ino by calling her "beautiful" (Sakura had expected Sai to insult Ino).

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

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

Kakashi is a Konoha Jonin and the current leader of Team 7, which originally consisted of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. He is known as Copy Ninja Kakashi or Sharingan Kakashi Sharingan no Kakashi?), referring to the Sharingan in his left eye and his use of it in battle, which has allowed him to copy more than one thousand jutsu. Kakashi's Sharingan eye is not his own; it originally belonged to his former teammate and friend, Obito Uchiha.

Though he reportedly has many hobbies, the one pastime seen most in the series is his reading of "Icha Icha Paradise" Icha Icha Paradaisu?, literally "Make out Paradise"), an adult and probably pornographic novel authored by Jiraiya that is a runaway bestseller in the Naruto world. Kakashi most prominently reads it while training and speaking with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, and later in the series can be seen reading the second volume, "Icha Icha Violence" Icha Icha Baiorensu?, literally Make Out Violence").

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

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

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