Kiba Inuzuka

Kiba Inuzuka 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.Akamaru also acts as a valuable ally in battle, joining Kiba in attacking opponents and using his heightened senses to help Kiba find things. Because Akamaru is naturally better equipped for combat, Kiba typically starts a battle by using Four Legs Technique to make himself more animalistic. Predominately, this jutsu increases his speed and strength, lengthens his nails to claw-like quality, and, as the name suggests, causes him to travel using his arms and legs. Kiba also can gather chakra to his nose to exponentially increase his sense of smell, allowing him to pick up on the faintest of scents. In Part II he becomes so proficient with this sense of smell that he can track things down that actual dogs cannot. Once Kiba and Akamaru are on an even footing the two combine efforts to perform spinning physical attacks that inflict multiple wounds to opponents. They often join together in transformation as well, such as using Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf to become a single, large, two-headed wolf that can attack others with blinding force and speed. Because Akamaru lacks his own chakra reserves, Kiba must provide the chakra necessary for these transformations

Hinata Hyuga

Hinata is the oldest daughter and heiress to the Hyuga clan. Along with Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, she is part of Kurenai Yuhi's Team 8. As a member of the Hyuuga clan, she possesses the Byakugan, which gives her an almost 360° field of vision, and specializes in the Gentle Fist fighting style, which allows her to damage her opponent's chakra circulatory system and inner organs directly with even a slight tap. While Hinata is technically the heiress to the Hyuga clan, her father deemed her a lost cause in her early teens – apparently of even lesser skill than her younger sister, Hanabi, and not even comparable to her cousin Neji.

Hinata Hyuga is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan's main branch, and thus is the heiress of the clan. Her father trained her to use the clan's more basic abilities such as the Gentle Fist style of combat, though in time he came to deem her a lost cause and left her to train by herself. Throughout her early time in Team 8, Hinata's lack of self-confidence and unwillingness to fight bring her failure in every mission she is assigned. In an attempt to change herself Hinata enters the Chunin Exams, where she is forced to fight against her cousin, Neji Hyuga. Although Neji easily outmatches her and taunts her for the battle's duration, Hinata perseveres in an attempt to prove her own worth. After recovering from the wounds she receives, Hinata continues training to improve herself. Her efforts eventually allow her to acquire a better relationship with her father, who encourages her to continue working on improving herself

Kankurou

Kankuro is the second oldest child of the Fourth Kazekage, making him the older brother of Gaara and the younger brother of Temari. Kankuro's most notable personality trait is his apparent dislike for children, as seen when he is noticeably irritated while in the presence of someone younger than him. This is most evident when he is with Gaara, who Kankuro is forced to put up with due to the fear his younger brother imposes on him. Despite their apparent differences, Gaara and Kankuro become very close over the timeskip as Gaara begins to confide in Kankuro and shares his dreams of wanting to risk his life to protect Sunagakure. As such, Kankuro has become very protective of Gaara, willing to challenge anyone who puts Gaara down in his presence. When Gaara is captured by Akatsuki , Kankuro rushes to his brother's aid in an attempt to save him and even after being bedridden as a result he does not falter in his resolve to find Gaara.

Kankuro is a talented puppeteer, and with each of his appearances in the major arcs is seen with a new puppet in his arsenal. The three puppets that have been introduced were all originally created by Sasori, and came into Kankuro's possession some time after the former left Sunagakure. Karasu , the first of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, has been heavily modified by Kankuro. Because of this it has become highly offensive, having numerous concealed weapons and being able to detach any of its limbs for separate attacks. Kuroari , the second of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, is used to capture opponents for assassination purposes. Once an opponent is captured within it each of Kuroari's arms convert to a saw-blades slice through the confined opponent. Sanshouo, the third of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, is not seen in action in the manga. In the anime, Sanshouo is shown to have a hollow body that Kankuro and up to two other people can take cover in to defend against attacks. These puppets seem to be designed to work together to some degree, as Kankuro frequently uses them in tandem to increase their effectiveness. Karasu, for example, can blanket an area in smoke while Kuroari fires weapons at the blinded opponent. Karasu can also disassemble itself to reveal many concealed weapons that impale an opponent it has navigated into Kuroari's torso.

Akatsuki

Akatsuki :

Akatsuki is a criminal organization which is first introduced midway into the first arc; it gains greater significance in the storyline during the second arc. Despite its small size (it consists of nine S-class wanted criminals), the Akatsuki is extremely influential due to its potency, which is due in no small part to its elite membership. The exact criteria for admission to the group are unknown, but extraordinary fighting ability and deadly ruthlessness seems to be prerequisites; the rings worn by the members seem to have a significance in the process of joining. It has been speculated by fans that in order to join the Akatsuki one must break away past relations (this explanation explains Uchiha Itachi's wholesale slaughter of his clan: he had to kill them to not merely prove himself a strong fighter, but also to sever his previous connection). The members of Akatsuki who wear village headbands have struck a line through the village symbol on the plate, supporting the hypothesis further.

History Of Temari

Country: Sand
Age: 15 Height: 5'2" Weight: 098LBS
Birthday: August 23rd
Bloodtype: O
First Seen: Volume 04, Chapter 034, Page 136




Temari is the oldest child of the Fourth Kazekage, making her the older sister of Gaara and Kankuro. She is generally overbearing, if not crude, toward those around her, often not being afraid to speak her mind. Temari seems to value peace, and questions Sunagakure's justifications for going to war with Konohagakure. This trait carries over to Part II where she begins acting as a liaison between Sunagakure and Konoha as the two villages prepare for the next Chunin Exam. Many of Temari's appearances are associated with Shikamaru Nara. The two face each other during the Chunin Exam in Part I, where Shikamaru forfeits his match instead of defeating Temari. Temari later comes to his aid during the Sasuke Retrieval arc and defeats Tayuya to save him. Shikamaru returns the favor in the last of the anime's filler arcs and saves her from one of the Shiitenshounin. In addition, the two are seen together in their Part II debuts. Naruto Uzumaki asks if the two are on a date, though both state that this is not the case.

Temari is a keen analyst, and can deduce an opponent's strategies and weaknesses soon after a battle begins. For actual combat she uses her giant iron fan that, in addition to serving as a makeshift club, she can use to glide upon for short distances. The fan's primary usage is for performing Cutting Whirlwind Technique , which creates guidable gusts of wind that she can use to attack opponents over long distances. The winds her fans create can also be formed into tornadoes that immobilize opponents and leave them open to attack. Particularly strong winds can also be used to manipulate the surrounding environment to her advantage, such as uprooting trees to eliminate any potential cover. Temari is able to use the fan as a medium for summoning Kamatari , a one-eyed weasel that creates gusts of wind for Temari that are capable of decimating an entire forest.

History Of Gara

Country: Wind Country; Hidden Sand Village
Age: 13 Height: 148.1 CM Weight: 40.2 KG
Birthday: January 19th
Bloodtype: AB
First Seen: Chapter 035; Anime Episode 020
Acquaintances: Baki, Kankurou, Kazekage, Shukaku, Temari, Yashamaru

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 One-Tailed 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 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.

Tenten

Country: Leaf
Age: 13 Height: 5'1" Weight: 093LBS
Birthday: March 9th
Bloodtype: B
First Seen: Volume 04, Chapter 036, Page 161



Tenten 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 , 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.

she specializes in weaponry, and according to Guy she can hit a bulls eye 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.

In Part I she has many scrolls that serve this purpose, but in Part II she has consolidated her arsenal into a single large scroll. The weapons predominately consist of steel projectiles and an assortment of close-combat weapons, though she is seen using a crossbow in the anime and even a spiked bomb in Part II. Tenten's most powerful technique is Twin Rising Dragons, which rapidly summons dozens of weapons that she can throw at opponents in quick succession and then controls them with wire for continued attacks. She frequently uses this ability to help Neji train with his Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin.

Rock Lee

Country: Leaf
Age: 13 Height: 5'2" Weight: 103LBS
Birthday: November 27th
Bloodtype: A
First Seen: Volume 04, Chapter 036, Page 161

Lee is unable to use any type of ninjutsu or genjutsu. Upon being assigned to Team Guy, Might Guy took a personal interest in Lee's attempts to prove himself and began to help him in his dream of excelling in taijutsu. With Guy's assistance Lee learned many advanced taijutsu abilities, bringing him ever closer to achieving his goal of becoming a splendid ninja. Lee looks up to Guy as a father type figure.

Through Guy's teachings, Lee has learned many powerful taijutsu techniques. The most basic of these is his Strong Fist style of combat, a martial art style focusing on external damage. Lee has also learned how to open the first five of eight chakra gates, a feat that is difficult for even the most talented ninja. Because of the danger to his body that gates' power presents, Lee is only permitted to open them in certain circumstances . Lee has also learned or developed a number of taijutsu techniques that take advantage of the extreme power and speed he gains from opening chakra gates.

Neji Hyuga

Neji Hyuga

Neji Hyuga is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto . He is a member of Might Guy's Team Guy, consisting of himself, Rock Lee, and Tenten. He is also considered part of the Konoha 11.

Neji is the only known Hyuga clan member whose first name does not start with a kana from the Ha-gyō . 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 Nèijiā, the word for soft when applied to Chinese martial arts techniques. Soft styles such as Taijiquan and Xingyiquan put their emphasis on "internal power" rather than "external power", and tend to stress circular redirection and controlling the force of an opponent rather than attempting to use force against force. These martial arts are a possible basis for Neji's Gentle Fist style.
In Shonen Jump's annual character popularity polls, Neji often ranks in the Top 10,

Kakashi Sharingan

he can copy enemy techniques and use them as his own, as well as track and predict his opponent's movements flawlessly. Because it is a transplanted eye, his Sharingan eye is always active
With his Sharingan, Kakashi has been able to copy more than one thousand jutsu, giving him the nickname "Copy Ninja Kakashi"

In Part II Kakashi is able to develop his own Mangekyo Sharingan, although it differs from Itachi's. With his variant he is able to manipulate space-time to conduct long range attacks

While Kakashi specializes in the use of ninjutsu due to his Sharingan he is fairly adept with other jutsu types, though his use of them is rarely seen. Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu, causes his opponent to see what they would find a horrifying vision, keeping them preoccupied until they can overcome the illusion. Thousand Years of Death, Sennen Goroshi, consists of Kakashi forcefully plunging his index and middle fingers into an opponent's rectum. While only capable of launching the opponent humorous distances in typical uses, the fingers can be replaced with kunai attached to exploding tags to actually do damage to an opponent. He has also started using sealing jutsu, as seen when he attempts to use Evil Sealing Method to seal Sasuke's cursed seal. His proficiency with this ability seems to be in its beginning stages, as the aforementioned jutsu is reliant on the user's will to keep the seal active. He is also quite adept at taijutsu and often matches taijutsu skill with his rival, Might Guy. Because of his well-rounded prowess in jutsu, Kakashi is the highest-ranking technique specialist and one of the strongest ninja in Konoha, as indicated by both Sakura and the manga databooks. Because of his abilities, Tsunade notes him to be an obvious choice for the title of Hokage should the position ever become vacant.

Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

• The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit") is the most powerful of the tailed beasts
• The demon fox's attacks were seemingly random, the only apparent reason for its appearances being its attraction to places of human malice
• demon fox attacked Konohagakure twelve years before the start of the series
• Naruto's father Minato Namikaze ( Fourth Hokage) Minato sacrificed his life seal the fox into the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal Technic.
• Minato gave a key to Jiraiya to either strengthen or weaken the seal should the need arise. The seal naturally becomes weaker as the years pass, and in the event that it is broken the demon fox will be released.

Kakashi Hatake Background

Country: Leaf

Age: 26 Height: 5'11" Weight: 149LBS

Birthday: September 15th

Bloodtype: O

First Seen: Volume 01, Chapter 003, Page 107

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, causing him to become arrogant, humorless, and by-the-book.

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 kōhai, named Yugao Uzuki and Tenzo, and recognized the latter as the most successful of his kōhai. It is unknown when or why he left ANBU, but he still wears his gloves, a characteristic of ANBU uniforms.

History Of Sakura Haruno

Country: Leaf

Age: 12 Height: 4'10"

Weight: 078LBS

Birthday: March 28th

Bloodtype: O

First Seen: Volume 01, Chapter 003, Page 088


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, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two. 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

Sakura is what could be called the cute intellectual part of Team 7 that consists of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and herself. This ninja knows every rule and every technical detail that would be required of a ninja to know. First in her class when it comes to knowledge, Sakura is a totally different person when she's on the battlefield at the beginning of the series. During the battle she could hardly hold back her feelings and emotions and is often seen panicking or bursting into tears when the battle is not turning out in her teams favor, therefore giving her the reputation of being somewhat unreliable in her teachers eyes. But, even though she sometimes lacks the bravery to act as a real ninja during battle, Sakura progressively takes a more and more active role in her team as time passes by.

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, first seen when he appears to have died and she goes against the Shinobi Code by crying for his loss. While his death turns out to be an illusion, Sakura maintains this method of showing her feelings for Part I's duration. 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 willing to go with him on his twisted journey. Sasuke, however, gives her a simple "thank you" before knocking her out.

Although it is unknown what her feelings for Sasuke are now, Sakura still wishes for Sasuke's return to Konoha. As such, during their reunion after the timeskip, she willingly attacks Sasuke to make this task easier and to protect others from his attacks. Despite this new mentality in regard to Sasuke, Sakura still worries about his well-being. Regardless of her conflicting approaches to Sasuke, Sakura is still unwilling to let anyone speak ill of him and readily beats anyone who badmouths him in an instant.

Sakura's opinion of Naruto is also one of her earliest personality traits. In Naruto's case, however, Sakura initially sees him to be a talentless idiot whose goal in life is to annoy her endlessly. While she continues to call him an "idiot" from time to time, Sakura abandons many of her convictions about Naruto as the two spend more time together. During each of his battles Naruto proves able to use numerous complicated jutsu in many ingenious ways, causing Sakura to value him as a teammate more with each passing mission. She even begins to find herself envious of Naruto's rapid progression but it also encourages her to do better as well. When Sasuke left Konoha, Sakura, unable to join the retrieval team, asked for Naruto to bring him back, believing Naruto to be the only person capable of getting through to Sasuke. Naruto promised that he will bring Sasuke back and made it his "promise of a lifetime". It is with this that Sakura realized Naruto's feelings for his teammates and village as she cried for her broken team when he is left in the hospital after his failed attempt in retrieving Sasuke. While Naruto still maintains that he will bring Sasuke back someday, Sakura resolves that next time they will bring him to Konoha together.

History Of Uchica Sasuke

Country: Leaf
Age: 12 Height: 4'11" Weight: 093LBS
Birthday: July 23rd
Bloodtype: AB
First Seen: Volume 01, Chapter 003, Page 089

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.

History of Naruto

Country : Leaf
Age : 12 Height: 4'9" Weight: 088LBS
Birthday : October 10th
Bloodtype : B
First Seen: Volume 01, Chapter 001, Page 009

Naruto has a large and colorful cast of characters, running a gamut of detailed histories and complex personalities, and allowing many of them their fair share in the spotlight; they are also seen to grow and mature with the series, as it spans several years. As fitting for a coming-of-age saga, Naruto's world constantly expands and thickens, and his social relations are no exception – during his introduction he has only his teacher and the village's leader for sympathetic figures, but as the story progresses, more and more people become a part of his story.

The students at the Ninja Academy, where the story begins, are split up into squads of three after their graduation and become Genin, junior ninja. Each squad is assigned an experienced sensei. These core squads form a basis for the characters' interactions later in the series, where characters are chosen for missions for their team's strength and complementary skills; Naruto's squad 7 becomes the social frame where Naruto is acquainted with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, and their sensei Kakashi Hatake, forming the core of his world-in-the-making. The other three-man teams of his former classmates form another such layer, as Naruto connects with them to various degrees, learning of their motives, vulnerabilities, and aspirations, often relating them to his own. The groups of three are not limited to the comrades Naruto's age – groups in the story in general come in threes and multiples of three with very few exceptions.

Sensei-student relationships play a significant role in the series; Naruto has a number of mentors with whom he trains and learns, most notably Iruka Umino, the first ninja to recognize Naruto's existence, Kakashi Hatake, his team leader, and Jiraiya, and there are often running threads of tradition and tutelage binding together several generations. These role models provide guidance for their students not only in the ninja arts but also in a number of Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideals. Techniques, ideals, and mentalities noticeably run in families, Naruto often being exposed to the abilities and traditions of generation-old clans in his village when friends from his own age group demonstrate them, or even achieve improvements of their own; it is poignantly noted that Naruto's generation is particularly talented.

Character names often borrow from Japanese folklore and literature (such as the names borrowed from the folktale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari), or are otherwise elaborate puns; often there is a noticeable influence of the story behind the name shouldered by the character.