Uzumaki Naruto (うずまきナルト Uzumaki Naruto) is the main character of the manga and anime series Naruto. He is a student of Hatake Kakashi's.

Little is known about Naruto's birth or parentage, and it is very probable that he has no living relatives at all. What is known, however, is that around the time his mother was about to give birth to him, the Nine-tails Demon Fox- or Kyuubi- attacked his village, Konohagakure and the Fourth Hokage (Yondaime) decided to seal the demon away with a forbidden technique inside him, sacrificing his life in the process. Yondaime's wish was for Naruto to be remembered as a hero by the people of the village.

Things, unfortunately for him, definitely did not turn out that way. The people of the village needed something to blame and channel their bitterness and loss onto, and he was the perfect candidate. The adults of the village, without known exceptions, knew him and treated him as nothing more than the stupid fox that has attacked the village; As a result he grew up alone and isolated. It is implied in the manga that he went through very difficult emotional times and often shed many tears, but kept reprimanding himself for doing so and telling himself nothing would be achieved by crying. Eventually he developed into the loudmouth, hyperactive prankster he was at the start of the manga, though the (as Third Hokage (Sandaime) observed and even Naruto himself, in a moment of rare enlightenment, admitted once) this is only an act to cover up for his deep insecurity in a desperate plight for recognition.

Up to his academy graduation, he had precious little of the acknowledgement and empathy he was seeking. His sensei, Iruka, and to a lesser extent the Third Hokage, were the only positive influence on him in that respect (and though how highly Hinata thought of him would definitely have helped, he had not the shred of a clue about it). He neglected his academy studies so much that he failed graduating repeatedly (though the Art of the Doppelganger (Bunshin no jutsu, literally Replication Technique), the one he was worst at, being the final test every year didn't help much). That is until he was manipulated to steal the scroll of seals- a scroll belonging to the village containing forbidden techniques- by Mizuki. In the events triggered by this he learned that Iruka truly did acknowledge him, and acquired his signature technique by learning it from the scroll. When he demonstrates usage of this technique, Iruka passes him and congratulates him on graduating.

Naruto is naturally impetuous, hyperactive and tends to rush into combat without thinking. However, he is capable of devising some quite clever plans by creative usage of his techniques. He has more than once upstaged what looked like a superior opponent by exploiting the element of surprise an unconventional usage of a technique entails.

While seemingly uncontrollable, the demon inside Naruto- while not exactly nice whenever Naruto subconsciously faces him- is surprisingly cooperative and when truly necessary, such as in a life-threatening situation, The Demon Fox's chakra will almost always lend itself to him, if only for the fact that Naruto's death would apparently mean Demon Fox's death, too. The Demon Fox has also saved Naruto many times with his extreme healing ability, rivaling that of Kabuto. However, unlike Kabuto, it does not require any chakra of his own. The Demon Fox's chakra is slowly fusing with Naruto's chakra and over time, they would share the same chakra source. It is already evident with Naruto's stamina as a result of the Demon Fox.

However, it can also be said that this mix of chakra, while giving Naruto great stamina, also causes the chakra instability partly responsible for Naruto's inability to control and focus chakra consistently. This can be seen in the inconsistent results when Naruto tries to summon Gamabunta in battle against Gaara, and in the later battle against Orochimaru and Kabuto. This may also explain his problems performing jutsu during his days at the academy.

While labeled as dumb at the academy, Naruto shows surprising talent in unexpected areas. He has managed to learn the Rasengan, a technique it took the fourth Hokage three years to develop, in just a week (although his delivery is slow and he needs both hands to execute it, while ideally only one hand would be required).

After his graduation, Naruto has gradually become more acknowledged and appreciated, as more and more people came in contact with the real Naruto behind the "demon" and "idiot prankster" stigmas- a quirky and adorable kid who likes Ramen to an extreme degree, dreams of being the next Hokage, never gives up and definitely has his heart at the right place. From the state of isolation he was in he developed friendships with all sorts of people, most notable among which are the other two members of his three-man Team 7- Sasuke, with whom he shares a friendship/rivalry relationship that gradually grows into a rivalry of epic proportions, and Sakura who used to be just his crush, but now is much more of a precious friend. The genin in his year are a tight group in general, but apart from Sasuke and Sakura he has particularly bonded with Shikamaru, Lee and Hinata. His positive influence has even gone as far as reforming Hyuga Neji and Gaara of the Sand.

Naruto's influence, however, was powerless to help Sasuke decided to become a renegade ninja and left the leaf to receive training from Orochimaru. Sasuke's decision to leave was the result of a chain of events that rekindled his hatred and desire to avenge his clan so much that it overshadowed all other influences in his life. This experience was traumatic to Naruto, as he had promised Sakura to bring Sasuke back and this was the first time he was unable to live up to something he promised to an important person. Unlike Jiraiya, however, who from his own experience with Orochimaru believes that Sasuke is too far gone and that Naruto should forget about him and concentrate on his own survival, Naruto believes that there is hope for Sasuke yet. He tells Sakura that he will, one day, bring Sasuke back to the village and live up to his promise.

After this failed attempt to rescue Sasuke Naruto trained under Jiraya for three years, as did Sakura under Tsunade. This follows tradition, in which the current Hokage or a Sannin member trained the next Hokage or Sannin member. This places Naruto in a very good position to fulfill his dream to become Hokage. This training is partly a response to the secret organisation Akatsuki's attempts after the Demon Fox inside of Naruto. This generous three year time period is granted because Orochimaru switched bodies prematurely. The body switching technique only works once every three years, so there is a three year time period where they can train before they need to attempt another rescue mission for Sasuke. When Naruto returns to the village two and a half years later he finds out, much to his chagrin, that he is the only one of his former-genin social circle (known as the "Rookie 9") who is still a genin at this point of the story. During his absence, the rest have become Chūnin (and Hyūga Neji even made Jōnin).

In this new arc of the story, dubbed Naruto II, we see the growth of all of the characters, including Naruto. Naruto shows physical growth, sports a new outfit, and appears to not only have increased in strength and technique, but intelligence as well.

With Naruto's return, Jiraiya's information sources indicate that Akatsuki has been growing impatient and another attempt on Naruto in the near future seems inevitable.

Profile

Age: 12 years old at start of Manga, now 15.5
Height: 145.3 cm
Weight: 40.1 kg
Birthday: October 10
Blood Type: B
Affiliation: Konohagakure
Signature Ability: Art of the Shadow Doppelganger (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu; literally Shadow Clone Technique), Rasengan
Seiyū: Junko Takeuchi

• "He is, after all, the number one ninja in surprising people." – Hatake Kakashi
  (unofficial translation)
• "For him, I have nothing but respect.... he is an excellent student.... he works with all his might.... but sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy.... a screw-up.... people have mocked him and shunned him.... and it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. That boy is no longer your demon fox. He is a citizen of Konohagakure.... Uzumaki Naruto!" – Umino Iruka
  (Viz translation)
• "Naruto is the boy who will one day become the Hokage!" -Tsunade (5th Hokage)
  (unofficial translation)

Trivia

• The surname "Uzumaki" means "a whirlpool" and "Naruto" is after Naruto, Tokushima prefecture, the city near the Naruto whirlpool, which is between that city and Awaji Island, Hyogo prefecture.

• Naruto is also the name for a sliced stick of Kamaboko with a pink whirlpool design in the middle, which is used as a topping for Ramen (Naruto's favorite food).

• The Kitsune is a well-known character in Japanese myth, and the influence behind not only the Demon Fox a.k.a. the Kyūbi but many other reincarnations in modern Japanese culture. It likes to play tricks and pranks on people, and on occasions transforms itself into a beautiful woman and seduces a man (obviously the inspiration for Ninja Centerfold (Oiroke no Jutsu, literally Sexy Technique), which is often called "Sexy no Jutsu" by people in the North American Naruto fanbase.

• October 10, Naruto's birthday, was Taiiku no hi (Health and Sports Day) in Japan when his character was conceived- a holiday full of physical activity fit for a hyperactive kid. The holiday, however, was moved to the second Monday of October during 1999.

• According to the GBA game "Naruto: The Will of Inherited Fire" one of Naruto's hobbies is gardening and he is the one who gives Kakashi, Mr Ukki, the plant seen on Kakashi's windowsill. According to the official databooks his hobbies are playing pranks and watering plants.

• Many aspects related to Naruto involves swirling or rotation. The Konoha symbol is drawn with an arrow attached to a spiral, and the seal on his abdomen is also a spiral. Rasengan, one of his moves, means "Spiralling Sphere".

See also

• Naruto characters