Saturday, May 24, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
YUUHI KUNRENAI
| Yuuhi (Sarutobi) Kurenai | |||||||||||||
First Manga Appearance: Chapter 34 First Anime Appearance: Episode 20 Name Meaning: Yuuhi=Setting sun, Kurenai=Crimson |
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  Yuuhi Kurenai is the teacher of Team 8, consisting of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata. Upon taking her pupils on, she was a recently-promoted Jounin herself, dubbed a rookie by her peers. She was shown acquiring Hinata in a flashback, wearing a distinctly different outfit as her father virtually disowned Hinata and gave her to Kurenai’s care. Kurenai’s outfit was also completely red in an early episode of the anime, possibly being an animation error. All subsequent anime appearances have given her a single red sleeve and white patterned bandages. Kurenai, alongside the rest of Team 8, has suffered a lack of exposure save for the anime-exclusive episodes. In the Chuunin Exams, she provided commentary about the fights, but was not shown actively defending the village. It is highly unlikely that she fell asleep from Kabuto’s mass Genjutsu considering her talent in that field. Kurenai’s actual Genjutsu abilities would not be showcased until a later episode. During the Akatsuki infiltration of Konoha, Kakashi semi-jokingly asked if there was any chemistry between her and Sarutobi Asuma from the amount of time they spent together. Kurenai blushed and explained that she was running an errand for sweets for Anko, indicating the two were just friends. Kakashi had them then track Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigake Kisame. While Asuma kept Kisame busy, Kurenai displayed the ability to entrap both of the intruders in a simultaneous Genjutsu, placing them under the illusion that a tree was ensnaring them. As Kurenai emerged from the bark ready to kill, Itachi used his Sharingan to reverse the effects, where Kurenai found herself unable to move as the same tree was now pinning her in place. Biting her lip to the point it bled to negate the effects, she was still dispatched by Itachi and then, on Kakashi’s command, rendered helpless as Itachi’s Mangekyou Sharingan threatened them all with a Genjutsu more powerful than they had ever experienced. However, as Gai arrived to lead the counterattack, she stood and prepared to go at them again, forcing their retreat. Aside from a brief appearance at the end of the manga, this would be Kurenai’s last moment in the spotlight until the second part.   The anime-exclusive episodes offered Kurenai little more than the treatment she received in the manga. She and Asuma were both trampled as the traitorous Mizuki led a prison break from a correctional facility for ninja-criminals. Outnumbered by several hundred, Kurenai was hospitalized. However, her Genjutsu abilities were once again showcased in a short story arc involving a former pupil of hers named Kurama Yakumo, the monstrous Idou (a psychological term for part of the psyche) and a decision made with the Third Hokage to seal it. Kurenai discovered that Yakumo had a part of her subconscious that manifested itself as a twisted version of Yakumo and abused her amazingly strong powers of Genjutsu to satisfy the murderous intent it held.Kurenai, under great resentment, sealed up the Idou along with a large deal of Yakumo’s power in a ceremony greatly resembling Kakashi’s with Sasuke, inking various charms and seals around her. Several years later, Kurenai made another resentful decision to abandon her team and deal with Yakumo once more as her power was seeping out again. Throughout the incident, Kurenai showed an almost motherly side of herself trying to protect Yakumo from her innermost dark self, even going as far as entering an illusionary world where any Genjutsu damage would become permanent if desired by the Idou and risking the loss of everything below her neck. It was her words that finally motivated Yakumo to muster the strength to fight and defeat it. Kurenai’s role in part 2 of the manga has also been small so far, looking concerned at several points when Asuma was fighting. When Asuma falls in battle, she feels a sudden shock as if hit by a premonition. Shikamaru himself would later give Kurenai  the bad news. She and the rest of Konoha would then gather to honor the fallen ninja. Shikamaru would get revenge for his Team and Kurenai, neutralizing Hidan by blowing him up and burying him deep in the earth. Shikamaru would return and find Kurenai at Asuma's grave. He explained how Asuma always looked out for him and he in turn would look out for her son. We then learn that Kurenai is pregnant and wearing a wedding ring. During Naruto's time away Kurenai and Asuma got married. She had lost her husband but she would soon have a new Sarutobi in her life.The pairing of Asuma and Kurenai by fans was a firm favorite, with the two cited being together and quickly denied with blushing even in the manga. Their eventual marriage carried out Kishimoto's hint that there would be romance in the second part of the series. On a trivial note, Kurenai is one of the few kunoichi that uses cosmetics and makeup in a regular manner, with purple eye shadow and dark red lipstick. In conjunction with her striking two-tone red eyes, it might be possible she uses this to draw attention to herself and trap the enemy in Genjutsu more effectively. | |||||||||||||
| Yuuhi Kurenai Timeline | |||||||||||||
| BSS: Before Series Start ASS: After Series Start (All dates approximate) 27 Yrs. BSS - Kurenai Born. 18 Yrs. BSS - Graduates Ninja Academy. 14 Yrs. BSS - Passes Chuunin Exam. 2-1 Yrs. BSS - Promoted to Jounin. 0 - Series Start, Becomes Jounin sensei of Team 8 6 Mo. ASS - Enters her team in Chuunin Exam 7 Mo. ASS - Helps repel Sand and Sound invasion. 8 Mo. ASS - Faces Itachi and Kisame. 10 Mo. - 3 yrs. 2 Mo. ASS - Increases skills and strength, Marries Asuma. 3 Yrs. 3 Mo. ASS - Remains in Konoha as Leaf faces Akatsuki, Faces Asuma's death. | |||||||||||||
INUZUKA KIBA
| Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru | |||||||||||||||
First Manga Appearance: Chapter 34 First Anime Appearance: Episode 1 Name Meaning: Inu=Dog zuka=A small hill, Kiba="Fang", Aka=Red maru=Boys name |
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  Kiba Inuzuka is a member of Team 8, alongside Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, watched over by Yuuhi Kurenai. He is rarely seen, if ever, without his lifelong companion, Akamaru.The Inuzuka family have close relations with canines. They share some traits with them too, as indicated by Kiba’s unique sense of smell. Because of this ability, he forms an integral part of Team 8’s tracking specialty with Hinata’s vision and Shino’s homing abilities. Akamaru is also sensitive to chakra, adding another edge to their detection skills. It was Akamaru’s sensitivity that first alerted them to danger when the team had a close brush with the Sand siblings in the Chuunin exam, where they witnessed a small demonstration of Gaara’s fearsome power. Akamaru literally hid as Gaara wiped out a trio of Rain participants single-handedly. Luckily, they remained undiscovered as Gaara looked for more targets and finally calmed down.   Due to the nature of the Chuunin exams, all three were entered into the preliminaries to half the number of winners. Kiba was drawn against Naruto Uzumaki, to both their confidence. Kiba remembered how poor Naruto was in the academy. Facing Naruto with Akamaru by his side he felt a win was a sure thing. Despite flooring Naruto with a beast mimicking style of Taijutsu that made him bleed from the mouth, Naruto rose. Kiba then created a cloud of smoke and used the lack of sight along with Akamaru to keep the advantage to himself. However, Naruto once again stole the advantage back and used a combination of Kage Bunshin and Henge to fool Kiba and capture Akamaru. Insulted, Kiba fed Akamaru a pill that turns his fur red and increases his strength. The two then used a combination technique that makes them both into feral-looking versions of Kiba that boast enhanced speed and strength, double-teaming Naruto with wild scratches and bites, culiminating into a spinning drill attack. Kiba’s confidence only increased after the attack, causing him to taunt that he would be more likely to be Hokage before Naruto.However, Naruto’s determination caused him to stand again. Irritated, Kiba and Akamaru proceeded to shred him up even more, throwing more smoke bombs to prevent his escape. However, they halted their assault as Naruto masked himself as one of them. Kiba’s sense of smell proved superior, however, causing him to lash out at the fake. However, the hit clone changed into Akamaru. Instantly, Kiba slammed an even more savage hit into the other, who also slide away and transformed into Akamaru. The first Akamaru then transformed back into Naruto and attacked Kiba, now Akamaru was out of the match entirely thanks to Kiba.   Kiba resumed his solo assault, becoming fiercer and drawing more blood as revenge for making him hit his own dog, wounding Naruto and severely turning the tide of the match in his own favor. Naruto repeatedly threatened a new move, but Kiba would rush in to finish him off before he can by slipping in for an attack on his blind side. However, Naruto’s nervousness caused him to lose control of his bodily functions inadvertently. Kiba is forced to stagger back, revolted at the smell from his ultra-sensitive nose. Naruto then put him away with an imitation of Sasuke’s own copy of Lee, eliminating Kiba.Later, Kiba attended the finals as a spectator, watching over Hinata due to her injuries from her battle with Neji. Her condition worsened, causing an ANBU member to heal her. As Kiba went to thank him, Akamaru began barking, recognizing the ANBU member as someone they had met before. Before Akamaru could be any more specific about his identity, the ANBU member silenced them both to prevent them revealing he was Kabuto. They remained out cold for the duration of the failed invasion.  Kiba was later added to an impromptu team in a desperation mission to retrieve Sasuke, with him and Akamaru leading the way for their tracking abilities. During the mission, he ended up taking on Sakon, the strongest of Orochimaru’s active bodyguards. Debuting a new technique that transformed himself and Akamaru into a gigantic two-headed lupine beast, he landed a direct hit on Sakon, literally splitting him in half. However, thanks to the power bestowed on Sakon that allowed him to attack in tandem with his conjoined brother, Ukon, they survived and continued to attack. Summoning an equally large gate as a barrier, which they referred to as "Orochimaru’s strongest defense", they were surprised when even though it stopped the beast, it had been dented. Worse still, Akamaru had taken the worst damage, leaving Kiba without a partner.Things declined again when Ukon’s demonic face sprouted from Kiba’s shoulder, as he explained their power to manipulate flesh and that while he had merged into Kiba, he would simply tear him apart at a cellular level. In desperation, Kiba drove his kunai into his own abdomen, realizing that sharing the same body would cause damage to Ukon too, forcing him out and allowing Kiba to take Akamaru to escape. The twins pursued Kiba until they cornered him, where assistance luckily arrived in the form of another double-team from Kankurou, who saved Kiba’s life by trapping Ukon (with Sakon in his body) inside a puppet and impaling him. Both Kiba and Akamaru would recover fully from their wounds, mostly due to the care of Kiba’s sister, Hana, an expert in dog care.  Kiba would feature in a number of anime-exclusive episodes, living up to his usual character as a hot-headed and energetic foil for Naruto. One episode covered his relationship with Akamaru, who had been mutated by a bio-attack of Konoha, the results of which made him much larger in size and more savage. Although the events of the manga occurred first, this would prove ironic as his first appearance in part 2 showed Akamaru to have grown to around 5 times his previous size, enough for Kiba to ride comfortably on his back. Aside from his re-introduction that showed their changes in appearance, neither Kiba nor Akamaru have had another appearance in the manga to date, much to the annoyance of fans of Team 8, which has been proven to be the most underused team in canon. | |||||||||||||||
| Inuzuka Kiba Timeline | |||||||||||||||
| BSS: Before Series Start ASS: After Series Start (All dates approximate) 12 Yrs. BSS - Kiba Born. 6 Yrs. BSS - Joins Ninja Academy. 3 Yrs. BSS - Akamaru Born, Given to Kiba 0 - Series Start, Graduates Academy. 6 Mo. ASS - Enters Chuunin Exam, Loses to Naruto in Third Test Prelims. 9 Mo. ASS - Assists Naruto in chasing Sasuke, Fights Sakon and Ukon. 10 Mo. - 3 yrs. 2 Mo. ASS - Increases skills and strength, Passes Chuunin Exam. 3 Yrs. 3 Mo. ASS - Meets Naruto again. | |||||||||||||||
ABURAME SHINO
| Aburame Shino | |||||||||||||||
First Manga Appearance: Chapter 34 First Anime Appearance: Episode 1 Name Meaning: Aburame="Oil Woman", Shino=Potentially meant to be same kanji as in "shinobi" |
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  Aburame Shino is one of the series’ more mysterious characters. At birth, he entered into a symbiotic relationship with a breed of insect know as the “Kikaichu” or Destruction Bug, as all his clan did. In exchange for feeding on his chakra, the bugs serve multiple purposes for their host. Shino’s clothing covers much of his face, opting for circular black sunglasses to cover his eyes and a high-necked jacket to conceal his lower face. Later, his jacket includes a hood which covers even more of himself and even Naruto has difficulty recognizing him.Shino was assigned along with Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzaka Kiba to the tutelage of Yuuhi Kurenai. Even to his own team, he remained much of an enigma. His true abilities were first seen in the Chuunin Exam when he faced Zaku. A hole opened up in Shino’s face and to the disgust of most watching, hordes of bugs began to crawl all over his skin. Shino revealed to his opponent that the bugs would eat his chakra, rendering him too weak to move. Trapping Zaku between himself and his army, Shino demanded surrender. When Zaku threatened to attack both of them simultaneously, Shino revealed that he had a hidden surprise, sending his bugs inside Zaku’s weapon to jam it. Because Zaku’s weapons were integrated into his physical arms, they were damaged beyond repair. Shino explains that having a “trump card” or “ace in the hole” is vital in battle. Because of his victory, Shino advanced to the finals of the exam, slated to face Kankurou. However, when their match was to take place, Kankurou instantly gave in. The reason, it was later revealed, was to prevent anyone seeing his hidden techniques with his puppet, Karasu. Gaara’s instability then caused the premature plan of the combined Sand and Sound invasion. Shino watched as Kankurou and his siblings retreated to help Gaara, following them in secret. As Kankurou prepared to take on Sasuke to slow him down, Shino stepped in and demanded the match he had been deprived of.  Demonstrating some of the Destruction Bugs’ more unusual abilities, Shino used them to make a decoy of himself, while moving close to Kankurou to strike at him. While Shino’s hand-to-hand skills were none too impressive, he had deliberately made a feint to plant a female bug on Kankurou, giving the rest of his bugs a permanent target to chase after. Despite Kankurou managing to catch Shino with a poison gas bomb, Shino forced the stalemate as his bugs tracked Kankurou down and left him paralyzed after eating all his chakra. Shino’s father later appeared and saved his life, injecting him with his own bugs that ate away the poison. Later, Shino would be absent from the mission to rescue Sasuke, on a mission with his father. Aside from a brief appearance in the timeskip, Shino’s appearances in the series are few and far between. His strong, unshakable confidence, mysterious look and cool aura make him popular among fans despite his ultimately creepy habits. In his spare time, Shino tends to his bugs and at one point, recommends Hinata to do the same. His analytical skill and cautious nature often annoy Kiba, who thinks Shino is trying to become the de facto leader of the team. | |||||||||||||||
| Aburame Shino Timeline | |||||||||||||||
| BSS: Before Series Start ASS: After Series Start (All dates approximate) 12 Yrs. BSS - Shino Born. 6 Yrs. BSS - Joins Ninja Academy. 0 - Series Start, Graduates Academy. 6 Mo. ASS - Enters Chuunin Exam, Advances to Third Test. 7 Mo. ASS - Assists Naruto in tracking Sasuke and Gaara by fighting Kankurou. 9 Mo. ASS - Goes on mission with father and misses being asked to help return Sasuke. 10 Mo. - 3 yrs. 2 Mo. ASS - Increases skills and strength, Passes Chuunin Exam. 3 Yrs. 3 Mo. ASS - Meets Naruto again and is hurt that he is not quickly recognized. | |||||||||||||||
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