Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki (うずまきナルト, Uzumaki Naruto) is the main character of the series. He is a member of Team Kakashi and the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Background

Naruto was born the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki. Before his birth they had decided to name him after the main character in Jiraiya’s first book, hoping their son would be as great a ninja as the character (who was based on Jiraiya) was. This made Jiraiya Naruto’s godfather. Soon after his birth, however, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the village of Konohagakure. To save the village Minato sealed the demon fox into Naruto’s body, believing that his son would someday use it. Minato died afterwards, leaving Naruto to grow up knowing nothing of his parents. He received his mother’s last name, which Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, felt that it was best that nobody knows he was related to the Fourth Hokage.

Before Minato died he asked that the villagers of Konoha to view Naruto as a hero who had helped to stop the demon fox. Few did as he asked, instead of openly resenting him for containing the monster that had destroyed their home. In light of this, the Third Hokage made a decree that nobody should ever speak of the demon fox sealed within Naruto, hoping that their children would not resent him as they did. The children, however, followed their parents’ lead, not knowing why. Naruto was forced to live confused over why the villagers hated him so and strived to win their recognition. Iruka Umino would be one of the few exceptions, who was always compassionate to Naruto’s plight. For this, Naruto came to view Iruka as the father-figure he never had.

Personality

Before graduating from the Academy, Naruto had a craving for acknowledgment. He would play pranks all around the village in an attempt to be recognized by its inhabitants. He would also tell everyone who doubted him on a near-constant basis that he would one day become Hokage. As he tells Iruka, he wishes to achieve this rank in order to be recognized by those around him, and to have the responsibility of defending them. Even after graduating, Naruto is still determined to be recognized, and becomes the “Number One Loudest, Unpredictable, Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja” of Konoha, as described by Kakashi Hatake. As the series progresses with Naruto makes more and more connections with others, his reasons for wanting to become Hokage undergoes a change, having less to do with the desire for recognition, and more to do with wanting the strength to protect his home and the people close to him.

Naruto’s exuberant personality and fiery desire for self-improvement strongly impacts the lives of those around him. At the beginning of the series, Naruto befriends Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage, and it is through his brief tutelage that Konohamaru learns that the path to success is through plenty of hard work. Kakashi describes this as Naruto’s “unique power,” as he seems to change the world views of everyone he meets and inspires courage for the future within them.

Naruto is relatively naïve, being slow to understand jutsu principles and often requiring a dumbed-down analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him. This assumes he is able to keep his attention long enough, as he commonly seeks to change the subject in light of his ignorance, outwardly insisting that he already gets the concept. Though he retains this confidence in himself to great degrees, loudly proclaiming that he will master whatever technique he is learning in a fraction of the usual time, he will not hesitate to ask for help if he needs it.

As an extension of his naivety, Naruto has a number of childish traits. His pajamas always include a comical black nightcap with eyes and teeth, and he keeps his money in a chubby, green-frog wallet he affectionately calls “Gama-chan.” He almost exclusively eats ramen, and is a frequent customer at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. He has a natural affinity for perverted ideas and jutsu, something he tends to be reprimanded for by Sakura and that is only brought to new levels after meeting Jiraiya. He also smiles near-constantly, which during his childhood was to mask the sadness of his lonely life. Those who are closest to him are able to recognize when his smile isn’t genuine.

When the situation calls for it, typically when someone dear to him is in trouble, Naruto can be very serious and will instantly come to their aid. This is most commonly seen in the series through his interactions with his teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto views him as a brother and throughout Part II strives to bring him back to Konoha despite his defection from the village. With Sakura, Naruto has a long-standing crush on her, and will do all in his power to make her happy, even if it is at the expense of his own happiness. Recently, Hinata Hyuga has confessed her love for Naruto which has caused Naruto to worry about her; weither or not this means he’s grown feelings for her in unknown.

Appearance

As stated by Jiraiya, Naruto bears a striking resemblance to his father. Naruto possesses similar blue eyes and spiky blond hair. Naruto is regularly seen with an upbeat and eager persona, always eager for something such as learning a new technique or a hot bowl of ramen. A trait regularly mentioned that easily angered him was his short stature even for his age. During Part I, he was one shortest of his graduating class, second only by Hinata. During Part II, he had a significant growth spurt that was noticeable to all, as first mentioned by Sakura who stated he was much taller than her. Even Kiba states that Naruto has become a “giant.” Also earlier in the series, Naruto used to squint his eyes a lot when confused, but stopped after awhile.