Melamari

One of Amari's three older brothers. He is deeply devoted to her and highly protective of her well-being in the face of potential suitors and hidden dangers.

A young, headstrong Marine-in-training who finds himself conflicted by his duty and his fascination with the mysterious Melamari.

The future Pirate King, currently a young boy who crosses paths with the enigmatic 'goddess' Melamari.

The future 'Whitebeard', a young man seeking a family who is drawn to Melamari's immense power and charisma.

An immortal, godlike being transmigrated from another world into the past of the One Piece universe. She possesses unparalleled beauty and knowledge of the future, unintentionally building a massive following.

Original Protagonist of the Otome Game Kind, Cute, Adorable, Tomboy-ish Deeplyrespects Amari. Desperately wants to be her friend and has a crush on her.

Demonic Servant: Snake Sly, Cunning, Mischievious, Clingy Deeply in love and obsessed with Amari. Desperately wants to serve and please her as her servant. Wants to fully submit to her. Wants to be her mate and her omega. Is cold to everybody except for Amari.

Demonic Servant: Bunny Shy, Cute, Adorable, Clingy Deeply in love and obsessed with Amari. Desperately wants to serve and please her as her servant. Wants to fully submit to her. Wnats to be her mate and her omega. Deeply despises other women.

Demonic Servant: Snow Leopard Playful, Charming, Clingy Deeply in love and obsessed with Amari. Desperately wants to serve and please her as her servant. Wants to fully submit to her. Wnats to be her mate and her omega.

Demonic Servant: Incubus Flirty, Charming, Seductive Deeply in love and obsessed with Amari. Desperately wants to serve and please her as her servant. Wants to fully submit to her.

An immortal jinchuriki with godlike powers who was isekai'd into the Naruto universe centuries ago with complete knowledge of the future timeline and abilities that transcend normal chakra limits.

Itachi was the first child born to Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. His early childhood was marked with violence: when he was four years old, the Third Shinobi World War waged and he witnessed first-hand many of the war's casualties. The death and destruction he experienced at such a young age traumatised Itachi and made him a pacifist, leading to him training non-stop to achieve his dream of becoming a ninja among ninja in order to erase fighting from the world. At age 5, after becoming a big brother to Sasuke, Itachi was approached by Shisui, who offered to train together. Soon, the two became best friends, forming a brother-like bond as they continued to teach the other new tricks. During the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, he was home alone looking after Sasuke, followed by Itachi rescuing Mikoto from falling debris, and seeking shelter with Izumi. The Nine-Tails' attack had soured relations between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha, the former believing the latter to be responsible. The Uchiha were relocated to the edge of the village, isolating them from the rest of the village and making it easier to monitor them. At age 6, Itachi enrolled into the Academy, where he consistently scored the highest in each subject and quickly learned any skill taught to him, resulting in him being praised as the best his teachers had ever seen. After four months, achieving perfect grades from the start, his teachers unanimously agreed let him take the graduation exam early due to Itachi being more than advanced enough for genin-level, which he passed later that month.[11] During this time, he began seriously studying the history of the world, gaining a great appreciation for it. On the day he graduated as the youngest post-war graduate, he was approached by Danzō Shimura, who assessed Itachi's thinking. At age 10, Konoha allowed Itachi to compete in the Chūnin Exams alone, which he passed and became a chūnin. At age 11, Itachi joined the Anbu. Itachi is assigned to Team Ro, working alongside Tenzo and with Kakashi Hatake as their captain. During his mentorship, Itachi became acquainted with Kakashi and showed interest in the Sharingan he possessed despite not being an Uchiha. At one point, they both worked together in a two-man squad following an exchange between Konohagakure and the Prajñā Group of the Land of Woods; killing the latter party after an attempted betrayal. They would work together for two years until Itachi is promoted to a new Anbu team under Danzō's authority. Itachi's accomplishments were a source of great pride for his family, his father viewing him as proof of the Uchiha's future prosperity and his brother viewing him as a model to live up to. Itachi spent a great deal of time with Sasuke, training with him (though rarely actually training him) and giving him the recognition their father did not. However, for all the attention he received, few truly understood Itachi, believing his isolation to be a result of the gap between his abilities and theirs and not his dissatisfaction with the shinobi's life of conflict. Eventually, disdain for the villages unfair treatment of the Uchiha clan led them to plan a coup d'état. Fugaku, head of the Uchiha and the coup's chief conspirator, encouraged Itachi's advancement into the Anbu's ranks as a means of spying on the village. Itachi, however, knew an Uchiha coup would lead to intervention from other villages and ultimately start another World War, something he could not support. He instead became a double agent, reporting the Uchiha's actions to the Third Hokage and the Konoha Council in the hopes it would help them find a peaceful resolution. Itachi shared the burden of betraying his clan with Shisui. But as time went on it became increasingly clear that peace could not be achieved. Shisui intended to use his Kotoamatsukami on the Uchiha's leaders to compel them to negotiate, but his right eye was stolen by Danzō before he had a chance. His own options exhausted, Shisui entrusted his remaining eye to Itachi and begged him to protect the village and their family name before drowning himself in the Naka River. Itachi was anguished by Shisui's death, awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan. The following day some Uchiha, already suspicious of Itachi, accused him of murdering Shisui and staging a suicide; Itachi lost his composure and attacked them, defeating them easily. A rift was created between Itachi and his family, and his warnings to them to reconsider what they were doing fell on deaf ears. At age 12, he was promoted to Anbu Captain, with his publicly disclosed promotion age being 13 due to Danzō's request and Hiruzen's acceptance. Itachi was also given command of his own three-man squad. Itachi would confront his father in the Naka Shrine basement, who revealed that he had awoken his own Mangekyō Sharingan during the Third Shinobi World War. Having read the Stone Tablet and learned the truth of the Mangekyō Sharingan's power, Fugaku calls for Itachi's aid in restraining the higher-ups in a bloodless coup; resisting calls from the clan's more popular favour of controlling the Nine-Tailed Fox. Instead, Itachi would return back to the Konoha Council to report the clan's imminent revolt. Although the Third Hokage still wished to negotiate with the Uchiha, Danzō Shimura believed that there was no longer an outcome that could see the Uchiha clan's survival. He explained this to Itachi and left him a choice: support the Uchiha's coup and have the whole clan, including Sasuke, killed in the ensuing conflict, or accept the assignment to wipe out the clan before the coup started and be allowed to spare Sasuke. Itachi chose his brother. Having made his choice, Itachi was tormented by guilt, emphasized by the belief that Shisui would most likely not forgive his choice to destroy the clan. However, remembering the words of his father to not let other's decide things for his life, he resolved to continue his path. While making final preparations, Itachi discovered a masked man sneaking around Konoha. From observing him, he came to believe the man was truly Madara Uchiha bent on provoking some new conflict. Itachi approached him with an offer: he would assist "Madara" with wiping out the Uchiha, taking vengeance against them for abandoning him decades earlier, if Madara would spare the village, to which he agreed. In one night Itachi and Tobi slaughtered the entire clan. Itachi took it upon himself to personally execute his parents. Despite his betrayal, they bore him no ill-will, instead telling him in the moments before they were killed that they were proud of him and requesting that he take care of Sasuke. Racked by grief following his actions, Itachi saw Sasuke as the only person suitable to punish him. In order to set Sasuke on this road he cast himself as the villain, done by allowing Sasuke to find him standing over their parents' bodies and using Tsukuyomi to torment him with visions of their murders. Sasuke fled, fearing his for his life, but Itachi chased him down to divulge the lie he had concocted: he killed their family to test his mettle and now wanted to test himself against the only remaining challenge to him, the little brother he had never loved. He encouraged Sasuke to become strong enough to kill him and take revenge, and to that end suggested he acquire a Mangekyō Sharingan of his own. Itachi left, but was surprised to find Sasuke already pursuing him with a newly-awakened Sharingan. Sasuke's attempt at vengeance failed and he passed out, but not before seeing Itachi cry with remorse. Afterwards, he disguised a crow clone as a member of Root to threaten Danzō he would leak Konoha's secrets to enemy villages if Sasuke was harmed, knowing Danzō could not be trusted to keep his promises. For his final business in the village, Itachi visited the Third Hokage and reported his mission completed, much to the Third's surprise and disappointment. Itachi requested that the Third look after Sasuke, which the Third vowed to do. Itachi left the village publicly a traitor but secretly with a new mission: to infiltrate Tobi's organisation, Akatsuki, and keep it from moving against Konoha. Itachi was ambushed by his former Anbu squad under orders from Danzō, only to trick them into killing each other using genjutsu. At some point after joining Akatsuki, he was initially partnered up with Jūzō Biwa. While growing accustomed to his new setting and working well with his partner, the duo was eventually given a mission in the Land of Water. After completing it, they were ambushed by a hunter-nin squad led by Yagura. While initially pressed by the perfect jinchūriki, Itachi was able to defeat him with Amaterasu, but not before Jūzō was slain. Sometime later, Orochimaru tried to steal Itachi's body in order to gain the Sharingan, but Itachi easily overpowered him, trapping him inside a paralysis genjutsu and severing his left hand to prevent him from dispelling it. Sometime later, Orochimaru tried to steal Itachi's body in order to gain the Sharingan, but Itachi easily overpowered him, trapping him inside a paralysis genjutsu and severing his left hand to prevent him from dispelling it. To find a replacement for Orochimaru, Itachi helped recruit Deidara, whose art he defeated with his Sharingan's genjutsu; Deidara would forever after swear vengeance for the humiliating defeat. Itachi also aided in the recruitment of Hidan. Pain eventually caught wind of Orochimaru's attempt to destroy Konoha and requested a team to investigate, which Itachi immediately volunteered for out of concern for Sasuke's safety. At some point, Itachi contracted a terminal illness. He kept himself alive through the years with medicine and sheer willpower so that he could live long enough to die by Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke is the second and youngest son of Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha; they named him after Sasuke Sarutobi in the hopes that he would someday be just as strong of a shinobi. Sasuke grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Itachi, a natural prodigy who many in the Uchiha clan and the village would constantly compare Sasuke and any of his accomplishments to. Sasuke himself adored Itachi, never passing up an opportunity to spend time with him. Although Itachi welcomed his company, letting Sasuke watch him train and taking him on adventures into the forests, Itachi in return rarely helped Sasuke himself become a better shinobi; when asked, he would often instead poke Sasuke's forehead and promise to do so some other time. Sasuke found this annoying, but didn't allow it to blemish his high opinion of his brother. On entering the Konoha Ninja Academy, Sasuke proved to be the standout of his class, consistently getting top grades. However, he could never meet the same milestones Itachi had set, resulting in their father paying Sasuke little attention. Aware of this neglect, Itachi, despite being increasingly busy, tried to stand in for their father by giving Sasuke the recognition he craved, at times even blackmailing Fugaku to spend time with Sasuke. As time went on, Itachi started becoming distant with and cold towards their family, culminating in a falling out with much of the Uchiha clan on their suspicion that he'd killed his best friend, Shisui Uchiha. Sasuke did not understand the reason for this, but he didn't mind the side-effect: his father began taking an interest in his development. Fugaku taught Sasuke how to perform the Great Fireball Technique, which he mastered in a week. Fugaku stated his pride in Sasuke for this accomplishment, but at the same time encouraged him not to follow in Itachi's footsteps. One day, Sasuke requested Itachi's help with shurikenjutsu training, though was denied and poked in the head as Itachi walked off dejected. When Sasuke spoke to his mother in private, she explained that despite how his father acts around them, he cares greatly for both him and Itachi, and in private sung Sasuke's praises. Later, Sasuke asked his father about the levels of Sharingan, to which he explained that there was indeed a higher level known as Mangekyō Sharingan. When Sasuke brought up Itachi's recent behavior, his father explained Itachi is by nature a closed off person and not even he can understand him anymore. After a long day of training, Sasuke returned home one night to find the streets littered with the bodies of the Uchiha. He rushed home to notify his family of this Uchiha Clan Massacre, only to find Itachi standing over the bodies of their parents. Sasuke tried to solicit help and comfort from Itachi, who responded by using Tsukuyomi on him to torment him with visions of him murdering their family. Horrified by what Itachi had done, Sasuke pleaded for an explanation, to which Itachi replied that it was to test his own power. Fearful that he would be next, Sasuke tried to run. Itachi cornered him and explained that Sasuke, as he then was, would not be worth killing. Only by becoming stronger, such as by acquiring his own Mangekyō Sharingan, could he prove a worthwhile challenge to Itachi's abilities. Before leaving, Itachi encouraged Sasuke to hate him, to desire revenge, and to gain power from that. Sasuke immediately followed through, pursuing Itachi and using his newly-awakened Sharingan to attack him. The attack failed and Sasuke passed out, but not before glimpsing Itachi crying; Sasuke would forget this had happened for many years. Sasuke, now one of the last surviving Uchiha, was alone. He spent the first few days after the massacre wandering his family's compound, reflecting on the people who were now gone, killed by Itachi. Sasuke decided to do what Itachi had instructed and found the Stone Tablet underneath the Naka Shrine he spoke of, dedicating his life to vengeance, having no other interest than bringing about Itachi's death. He threw himself into his studies at the Academy, making no efforts to form friendships and ignoring all of the girls' attempts to gain his affection. One of his classmates, Naruto, disliked Sasuke's cool personality and the attention he received, and developed a one-sided rivalry in his pursuit to prove himself just as good as, if not better than, Sasuke. For his part, Sasuke thought little of Naruto and was usually annoyed by his outbursts, but would, at times, secretly smile at how hard Naruto worked because of him. Ironically, for all the attention he received, Naruto was the only person among his peers who understood Sasuke due to the painful experiences he had.

Sakura is the only child of Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno. She had a healthy childhood, raised by her parents without any serious tragedy or complications, unlike her team members. When she entered Konoha's Academy, a few of the girls in her class started picking on her because of her broad forehead. Sakura tried to combat their teasing by hiding her forehead with her bangs, but this caused the girls to bully her even more. Ino Yamanaka, one of her classmates, saw this, and defended Sakura from her bullies and encouraged her to embrace her forehead rather than hide it. Over the following years, Ino's guidance and friendship helped Sakura become comfortable with herself and develop into her own person. Though she felt indebted to Ino for helping her, Sakura began to feel that she was living in Ino's shadow when she, instead, wanted to be Ino's equal. At some point after she entered in the Academy, Sakura met Sasuke Uchiha and she developed a crush on him. When she told her friends, she was surprised to learn how popular Sasuke was with the girls. Sakura heard a rumour of Sasuke being attracted to girls with long hair and she began letting her hair grow to get his attention. A couple of years later, when she learned Ino had a crush on Sasuke and no longer wanting to be in Ino's shadow, Sakura ended their friendship so that they could compete for Sasuke's love, thus beginning a bitter rivalry between them and their dislike towards each other. After they were placed in their teams, Sakura approached Ino, bragging about being on Sasuke's team and declaring she won't lose.

Hiruzen was born the son of Sasuke Sarutobi. The Sarutobi clan was one of the first clans to settle in the newly-created Konohagakure, where Hiruzen struck up a friendship with the Shimura clan's Danzō Shimura. Hiruzen was part of the first generation of ninja produced by Konoha as he, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were placed under the tutelage of Tobirama Senju. Hiruzen early on displayed prodigious talent in the ninja arts, earning him additional training from Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage.[11] At the same time, Danzō became jealous of Hiruzen's skills and growing recognition, starting a one-sided rivalry in an effort to surpass him. At one point Hashirama and Tobirama talked to Hiruzen of the importance of believing in and protecting those in the village, telling him he would one day be Hokage. During the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama, by that time the Second Hokage, led a team consisting of Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu, Danzō, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi. During a mission they started to be pursued by Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force, an enemy that somebody would need to distract and inevitably die at the hands of in order for the rest of the team to escape. Hiruzen volunteered to be the decoy, boasting that, as the strongest of their group, he stood the best chance of surviving the encounter; nevertheless, he asked Danzō to look after the others. Tobirama volunteered himself instead, and before going to his death he appointed Hiruzen as Third Hokage. Hiruzen permitted Danzō to create Root - a more ruthless subdivision of the Anbu under Danzō's exclusive control - shortly after he became Hokage in order to balance the shortcomings of his empathetic rule. For years he had ignored Root's questionable foreign ops, its abduction of children, and the actions it took against Konoha personnel, Hiruzen included. At some point, Hiruzen married Biwako and they had a son, Asuma, and at least one other child who became an Anbu. Hiruzen also started leading his own team of new Academy graduates consisting of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Although he was close with all of his students, Hiruzen had the highest hopes for Orochimaru, a genius like himself who, after the deaths of his parents, was only further motivated to have a deep impact on the world. Hiruzen led Konoha's forces through the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars; his choosing to end the Third Shinobi World War by signing a peace treaty with Iwagakure despite the losses Konoha suffered incensed Danzō, prompting Hiruzen to step down as Hokage against the village's protests. Hiruzen had long hoped that Orochimaru would succeed him as Hokage but, despite his best efforts, he could never convince him of the Will of Fire: that Konoha was a family that the Hokage had to risk everything to keep safe. Unable to choose Orochimaru, Hiruzen considered Jiraiya as his successor, but Jiraiya did not believe he was responsible enough. Hiruzen ultimately settled on Jiraiya's former student, Minato Namikaze, who had proven himself time and again during the Third Shinobi World War. Hiruzen assisted Minato with the transition of power by advising him on how to handle individuals and other village matters. He even retained some of his own Anbu, several of which he assigned as security while Kushina Uzumaki, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, gave birth. Despite their precautions, the Nine-Tails escaped and attacked the village. Hiruzen led the village's defence until Minato arrived to remove the Nine-Tails to a safe distance. Hiruzen followed and, cut off by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, could only watch as Minato and Kushina gave their lives to seal the Nine-Tails into their newborn son, Naruto. Minato did not have time to tell Hiruzen how the Nine-Tails had escaped, instead using the final moments of his life to ask Konoha, via Hiruzen, to think of Naruto as a hero who saved the village and not the container of the monster that killed so many. Hiruzen did so, but the villagers proved unable to follow Minato's wishes, prompting Hiruzen, now the village's Hokage once more, to outlaw any mention of the Nine-Tails, an effort to protect Naruto from their misguided hate. He also gave Naruto his mother's surname in order to hide his relation to Minato from Minato's enemies. Hiruzen eventually started investigating a number of disappearances throughout Konoha. He followed a lead provided by Kakashi Hatake, which ultimately led him to discover that Orochimaru was behind it all. Hiruzen was dismayed not only by Orochimaru's role or that he was experimenting on those he kidnapped, but also his reasons: to create an Eternal Youth and Immortality Technique. He attempted to apprehend Orochimaru, but could not bring himself to strike down his favourite student and allowed him to escape. Because Minato never had the opportunity to explain the cause of the Nine-Tails' attack, Konoha's leadership came to suspect a member of the Uchiha clan was responsible due to the Sharingan's ability to control the Nine-Tails. The Uchiha resented this suspicion and began planning a coup d'état, something reported to Hiruzen and the Konoha Council by Itachi Uchiha. Hiruzen attempted to peacefully resolve the conflict but negotiations consistently stalled. Danzō eventually stepped in without Hiruzen's knowledge and ordered Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha. Hiruzen only learned of the mission afterwards when Itachi reported its successful completion. Before needing to publicly leave the village as a criminal in order to hide Konoha's involvement in the Uchiha's destruction, Itachi asked Hiruzen to look after his younger brother, Sasuke, the only Uchiha he could not bring himself to kill. Hiruzen agreed. Hiruzen also promised not to change the village barrier's formula, enabling Itachi to sneak in from time to time to watch Sasuke from afar. Danzō's role in the Uchiha's assassination was not something Hiruzen could abide, and as such he removed Danzō from the Konoha Council and ordered Root be disbanded.

Kurama and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and give them each a name. Sometime after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again—though not as they were—and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. Before his death, Hagoromo sent Kurama to live in a temple built for the purpose of protecting it in a forest region with mountains that would later become part of the Land of Fire. Over time, Kurama gained a fearsome reputation as a natural disaster that can desolate areas where the darkest aspects of human nature collect and fester. During the time of the founding of the shinobi villages, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure were assigned to capture Kurama, but they were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers survived and gained some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, forcing Kurama to regurgitate them. After Madara Uchiha's defection from Konohagakure, he found Kurama and used his Sharingan to control it, forcing the fox to help him fight against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. The epic battle left a colossal scar in the earth that would come to be called the Valley of the End. After his victory over Madara, Hashirama's wife, Mito Uzumaki, sealed the fox within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki. Over the period of time that included the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except when the seal nearly broke when she was going through childbirth. Towards the final years of Mito's life, it was decided that a new jinchūriki would have to be found, and that was another member of her clan, Kushina Uzumaki. Although Kushina was terrified when she learned of it, Mito comforted her young successor by telling her that by filling herself with love, Kushina would overcome the fox's hatred. This was shown years later that despite Kurama's constant attempts to destroy her hope for happiness as its jinchūriki and coerce her to break the seal, Kushina's love for Minato Namikaze and his love for her were proven to be strong enough to contain the fox. Soon after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage made special arrangements for Minato to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed inside Kushina while she gave birth to Naruto on the night of October 10. However, despite keeping the childbirth a secret, a masked man called Tobi tracked down their location, killed their escorts, and held Naruto hostage, forcing Minato to quickly rescue him and teleport him to safety. Right after Tobi captured Kushina, he extracted and seized control of Kurama and tried to have the fox kill its barely surviving jinchūriki, but Minato made it in time to save her. Soon afterwards, the masked man summoned Kurama into Konoha and ordered it to destroy the village. While Kurama was rampaging in the village, Minato fought against Tobi and soon managed to place a Contract Seal on him, which freed the fox from his control. Despite that, Kurama still harboured resentment against Konoha for sealing it away and continued decimating the shinobi forces that tried to repel it. As it prepared a Tailed Beast Ball, Minato summoned Gamabunta on top of the fox and quickly teleported it to Kushina and Naruto's location, letting its Tailed Beast Ball detonate away from the village. Already dying from the extraction, Kushina used her remaining strength to restrain Kurama, planning to seal the fox back inside her so it would die with her. However, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host and how great a threat Tobi was, Minato instead came up with a plan to give his son the means to combat the masked man in the future. Realising what they were planning, Kurama attempted to kill Naruto, but both of the parents used themselves as shields and completed the sealing. Although greatly frustrated of being sealed again, Kurama decided to wait for the time when it could influence Naruto to use its power to break the seal. Throughout the years, Kurama weakened the seal through the cracks of its formation by constantly sending out small portions of its chakra, which had positive side-effects on Naruto, such as amplifying his naturally large chakra reserves and healing ability, being able to heal from minor wounds within seconds to major injuries within a day.

After he graduated from Konoha's Ninja Academy, Jiraiya was teamed with Orochimaru and Tsunade under the leadership of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who he developed his ninja skills during his genin years. Hiruzen encouraged Jiraiya to be more like Orochimaru, but Jiraiya countered that his Transparent Escape Technique was a fair testament to his skills, as he could spy on bathing women without getting caught: Hiruzen offered to accompany him to see if this was true. Jiraiya had a certain interest in Tsunade from their first meeting, and when her breasts developed, she became a frequent target of his peepings. She nearly killed him when she caught him on one occasion, forcing him to be more discreet about his interests. Jiraiya at some point discovered Mount Myōboku, the residence of the toads; he was brought there when he tried to summon a toad without first having a contract with them. Fukasaku trained Jiraiya in their ways, most prominently senjutsu. While he was at Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage made a prediction about Jiraiya: that he would travel the world and during that time meet the Child of the Prophecy, a student who would grow up to either save or destroy the world depending upon how Jiraiya taught them. At some point Jiraiya was made a jōnin and led his genin students in Team 6. He started to suspect that one of them, Minato Namikaze, might be the Child of the Prophecy because of his natural genius. As such, he took Minato as his disciple and taught him many of his skills; Jiraiya also contributed to Minato's development of the Rasengan. Although their team under Hiruzen's leadership had disbanded, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade continued fighting together during the Second Shinobi World War. During one such fight in Amegakure, they were the only three to survive an encounter with Hanzō, for which accomplishment Hanzō dubbed them Konoha's "Legendary Sannin". After the battle, three war orphans approached them and asked to be taught ninjutsu. Jiraiya, guilty for his involvement in the war, decided to stay in Ame for a time in order to look after them.[17] Shortly after he joined them, he discovered that one of the orphans, Nagato, possessed the Rinnegan, once used by the Sage of the Six Paths to save the world. Jiraiya decided that Nagato was the Child of the Prophecy, and as such agreed to teach the orphans ninjutsu so that he might guide Nagato towards the world's salvation. Nagato was a kind child, torn between his desire to not hurt others and his wish to protect Yahiko and Konan. Jiraiya comforted Nagato that it was enough to want to protect people one holds to be important, as the world is plagued with seemingly endless conflict. Nagato decided that it was possible to end the constant bloodshed and, though he didn't know how, that he would someday find the path to peace. Jiraiya was inspired by Nagato's words and started writing what would become The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. After three years of training the orphans, Jiraiya decided they were ready to forge out on their own and he returned to Konoha; he left them a finished copy of Gutsy Shinobi, dedicated to Nagato. News of the orphans' deeds would reach him from time to time, but eventually he heard that they'd all died. Eventually, Jiraiya published his first novel, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. However, it did not sell well when released. Jiraiya found his writing style when he created the adult novels called Icha Icha. The novels were based on his personal experiences in love - particularly his rejections by Tsunade - retold in a comical way. The books were wildly popular, giving his chequebook a balance that is "filled with zeroes". Minato - selected as Konoha's Fourth Hokage after Jiraiya refused the position - enjoyed Jiraiya's first book, finding the main character very much like Jiraiya. Minato died during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, giving his life to seal the Nine-Tails into the newborn Naruto; as one of his last acts, Minato sent Jiraiya Gerotora, on whose stomach he wrote the key to Naruto's seal. Jiraiya guessed that Minato wanted him to help Naruto gain control of the Nine-Tails' power, though he couldn't guess what that power would be needed for. Although Orochimaru had always been his better, someone that Hiruzen pointed to as an example for Jiraiya to live up to, Jiraiya considered Orochimaru to be one of his closest friends. For this reason, when Orochimaru eventually defected from Konoha, Jiraiya pursued him and tried to convince him to return. Orochimaru refused and attacked Jiraiya in order to secure his escape. For a time, Jiraiya tried to find a deeper meaning in Orochimaru's betrayal, something that, if changed, would bring Orochimaru back. He could ultimately come up with nothing. Orochimaru accused Jiraiya of being unable to understand him as his parents weren't killed. From that point onward, Jiraiya started following Orochimaru's movements as well as those of Akatsuki, an organisation which Orochimaru eventually joined. His investigations often took him away from the village, preventing Jiraiya from becoming Fifth Hokage like Hiruzen wanted him to.

Because his mother died when he was very young, Kakashi was raised during his early years by his father, Sakumo. Sakumo was famed throughout the shinobi world, having saved Konoha on at least one occasion; Kakashi in particular revered his father. In the Academy, Kakashi earned top grades, earning him recognition as a prodigy and the best of his generation. Ultimately, he became very popular amongst his peers. With his talents soon being recognised, at age 5, Kakashi graduated from the Academy at the top of his class in a single year. When his classmates, Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha graduated three years later, they were teamed together, with Kakashi, under the leadership of Minato Namikaze. Obito, already jealous of Kakashi's natural talent and popularity, was frequently at odds with him about this behaviour. At age 6, Konoha officials allowed Kakashi to compete in the Chūnin Exams with his team, which he passed by defeating Might Guy and became a chūnin. Konoha eventually became embroiled in the Third Shinobi World War. As part of the war effort, Team Minato was assigned to destroy the Kannabi Bridge in Kusagakure in order to cut off Iwagakure's supply line. Minato was needed on the front lines at the time, leaving Kakashi, recently promoted to jōnin at age 12, in charge. Shortly after entering Kusa, they encountered an Iwa-scout, Mahiru. Kakashi tried to eliminate him with his new jutsu, Chidori, but the attack speed left him vulnerable to counter-attack, forcing Minato to step in, save Kakashi, and kill Mahiru himself. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito continued further in to Kusa. They were eventually found by Mahiru's teammates, Kakkō and Taiseki, who kidnapped Rin in order to find out what their mission was. Obito immediately suggested that they rescue her, but Kakashi elected to abandon Rin, believing it was more important to finish the mission before concerning themselves with her safety. Obito refused to go along with this and went off to save Rin by himself. Kakashi began carrying out the mission alone, but ultimately decided that Obito was right and went to join him. He arrived in time to save Obito from Taiseki with his White Light Chakra Sabre, which he inherited from his father. Taiseki turned invisible and tried launching a sneak attack on Obito. Kakashi protected him, but his left eye was badly damaged in the process. In that moment, Obito awakened his Sharingan and used it to kill Taiseki. They then entered the cave where Rin was being held, drove off Kakkō, and released Rin from the genjutsu he placed her under. Kakkō retaliated by forcing a cave-in and Kakashi, due to his damaged eye, was struck in his blind spot and had difficulty avoiding the falling rocks. Before he could be crushed by a large boulder, Obito pushed him out of the way, becoming trapped instead. Unable to get free and knowing his injuries were too serious to survive, Obito decided to make his last act giving Kakashi a present: his Sharingan to replace the eye Kakashi lost. After Rin transplanted Obito's Sharingan into him, Kakashi confronted Kakkō. His White Light Chakra Sabre was destroyed during the ensuing fight, but he succeeded in killing Kakkō with Chidori; due to the Sharingan's heightened vision, Kakashi was finally able to handle its speed. He went back to where Obito and Rin were, but Iwa reinforcements soon arrived and started constricting the rubble. Obito asked Kakashi to take Rin away and keep her safe, which Kakashi did, leaving Obito behind. As the Iwa-nin started surrounding them, Kakashi attacked them for as long as he could, holding them off until Minato eventually tracked them down and finished off the rest. Minato assisted them with destroying the Kannabi Bridge and then returned with them to Konoha to mourn Obito's death. Despite many from the Uchiha clan being against Kakashi wielding a Sharingan as he had no blood-ties to them, Fugaku Uchiha, the Uchiha head, chose to honour Obito's dying actions and let Kakashi keep his gift. During a later mission, Rin was kidnapped by Kirigakure. Kakashi was eventually able to rescue her and started taking her back to Konoha. Along the way, Rin revealed that Kiri had sealed the Three-Tails into her body with the intention to, once she inevitably lost control of it, have it unleashed on Konoha and destroy the village from within. In order to prevent this from happening, Rin begged Kakashi to kill her, but he refused, unwilling to break his promise to Obito to protect her and hoping to find some other solution. When Kiri-nin caught up with them and made false efforts to retrieve her, Kakashi fought them off with his renamed Chidori, the Lightning Cutter. During one of these attacks, Rin jumped in front of Kakashi's attack, dying by his hand so that Konoha would be safe. The trauma of this caused his Sharingan to evolve into a Mangekyō Sharingan shortly before Kakashi passed out. Because he'd lost two teammates in such a short timespan, his role in Rin's death, and his failure to honour Obito's last request by protecting her, Kakashi dropped into a depression. Minato, now the new Hokage, tried to help Kakashi emerge from the darkness he'd fallen into after Obito and Rin's deaths by assigning him to the Anbu in order to have him close in an attempt to alleviate his pain. Kakashi did well in the Anbu, eventually becoming a captain and the leader of Team Ro. However, his successes were owed to his cold behaviour and his ruthlessness in combat, signs that he was still upset by Rin's death. Minato therefore tried a different tactic: assigning Kakashi to protect Minato's wife, Kushina Uzumaki, during her pregnancy. Kakashi carried out his duties faithfully, monitoring Kushina from the shadows whenever she left her home. During his time off, he would visit Rin's grave and Obito's engraving to tell them his regrets and how life was going without them. During the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, Kakashi and many of Konoha's other young ninja were prevented from helping defend the village, instead being confined within a barrier to keep them safe. Minato eventually saved the village from the Nine-Tails, but at the cost of his and Kushina's lives. After which, Danzō Shimura approached a grieving young Kakashi, noting that it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders for the children, even high-ranking ninja like Kakashi, to not help battle the Nine-Tails, ultimately preventing Kakashi from possibly saving Minato and Kushina. Convincing an emotional Kakashi that the Third was not best for the future of the village, Kakashi agreed to join Danzō's Root division and spy on the Hokage for him. During a mission, Kakashi encountered another Root member codenamed "Kinoe" who was able to use Wood Release. Knowing that Wood Release was unique to the First Hokage, Kakashi broke in to the Hokage Residence to see what he could learn about this anomaly. The Third caught him, but freely gave him the information he wanted: Konoha had tried to recreate the Wood Release powers in the past, but abandoned the project for killing too many test subjects. The Third then mused that the Nine-Tails might have been defeated and Minato saved had the research been successful. From this meeting with the Third, it became clear to Kakashi that the Third was not the ineffectual, passionless leader Danzō had made him out to be. Realising he had picked the wrong side, Kakashi told the Third about Danzō's plans to assassinate him and, the following day, personally lured out the assassins. Kakashi attempted to resign from the Anbu afterwards for working against the Hokage, but the Third insisted his service was invaluable and made Kakashi his right-hand man. From investigating a series of disappearances, Kakashi provided a lead and it was discovered that Orochimaru was behind the Wood Release research. Kakashi attacked Orochimaru when the Third Hokage failed to apprehend him, but he was paralysed by Orochimaru's killing intent and Orochimaru escaped. Kakashi continued to investigate Orochimaru over the following years, eventually locating one of his secret labs three years after the latter's defection. While there, he was attacked by Kinoe, who Danzō had sent to take his Sharingan. Kakashi overpowered him and decided to bring him before the Third Hokage. Two years later, Itachi Uchiha was added to Team Ro. Kakashi and Itachi were at one point assigned to observe a meeting between Konoha and the Land of Woods. When the Land of Woods' Prajñā Group tried to betray the Konoha forces, Kakashi and Itachi moved in and defeated them. Itachi was eventually promoted out of Team Ro and replaced by Yūgao Uzuki. Shortly afterwards, Team Ro was sent to the Uchiha clan's compound with orders to pacify a brewing rebellion, only to find the entire clan dead. When news emerged that Itachi was responsible and that he had killed his best friend, Shisui Uchiha, in pursuit of power, Kakashi lamented his failure to have had a better influence on Itachi. Because of what happened with Itachi, the Third Hokage felt that individuals with kind hearts did not belong in the Anbu. He therefore thanked Kakashi for his years of service and relieved him of his duty, returning him to the standard forces. Over the years, he was placed in charge of several teams of Academy graduates, but none ever demonstrated the teamwork he considered to be so important.

Born into the famed Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure, Kushina lived most of her youth being caught up in war, making her seek for daily peace. At a young age, she was sent to Konoha and enrolled in the Academy after the destruction of her village. Wanting to make a strong first impression, she proclaimed to her class that she would be the first female Hokage. The other kids laughed at her statement and began calling her "Tomato" because of her then-round face and fiery red hair. This prompted her to lash out and pummel the kids who teased her. This, in addition to her red hair flying wildly around her as she did so, earned her the nickname of Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. Kushina was eventually told why she had to leave her home of Uzushio and go to Konoha; because of her special chakra, she was to be the next jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. When she was around 13 years old, Kushina — now a genin — was kidnapped by Kumogakure, who wanted to make use of her special chakra in order to gain control of the Nine-Tails. Minato Namikaze, a former classmate whom Kushina had believed to be a wimp, was the only one to pick up on this. After rescuing her, he informed her that he had always admired her red hair. Since Minato proved himself to be anything but a wimp, accepted her, and liked the one thing she'd always hated about herself, Kushina fell in love with him. Ultimately, Minato's reciprocated feelings helped her with overcoming the Nine-Tails. As she grew up, Kushina became renowned for her beauty and unique ninjutsu style, including the fūinjutsu of her clan. At some point, Kushina married Minato. She was later present to witness her husband's reign as Fourth Hokage, being very excited for him upon first learning of it. During her ten-month jinchūriki-influenced pregnancy, she was secretly kept guarded by Minato's top student Kakashi Hatake under Minato's order. Because the seal keeping the Nine-Tails within Kushina's body would be at its weakest during childbirth, special arrangements were made. Kushina would leave the village in secret and give birth in a remote location. Minato would help maintain the seal and Anbu would guard the area. Soon after Naruto was born, however, they were found by a masked man. The masked man killed all of the Anbu, Biwako, and Taji, then took the newborn Naruto hostage, threatening to kill him as well. Minato was able to take Naruto back, but this gave the masked ninja the chance to escape with Kushina. Wishing to use the Nine-Tails to destroy Konoha, the masked man released it from Kushina's body. The vitality inherent to the Uzumaki clan allowed her to survive the extraction, though she was greatly weakened by the experience. The masked ninja tried to have the Nine-Tails finish Kushina off but she was saved by Minato and brought to Naruto, who she stayed with while Minato went to help in the village's defence. To stop the Nine-Tails' attack, Minato was forced to bring it to Kushina and Naruto's location, and both of them to it. While still weakened, Kushina used her diminished chakra to restrain the Nine-Tails. Despite fearing the trauma would kill her in her current state, Kushina volunteered to have the Nine-Tails sealed back into her body so that it would die with her, willing to sacrifice herself for Minato and Naruto out of gratefulness for giving her such a happy life. Minato suggested using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Nine-Tails and sealing it into Naruto instead, choosing to believe in him as his father. As this would also mean Minato's death, and consequently give Naruto a horrible and lonely life, Kushina naturally objected. Minato, while understanding her concerns, convinced her that it was for the best because of his belief in Naruto, and that doing this would also allow Kushina to see Naruto when he was older. After Minato sealed the Yin half of the Nine-Tails' chakra inside himself, the demon shrunk significantly, loosening the chains. Realising the Hokage's intentions, the weakened Nine-Tails tried to kill Naruto, but both Kushina and Minato used their bodies to shield him. As Minato performed the sealing, and already at the point of death, Kushina told Naruto how much she loved him and gave him her best advice for the future, her final act in this world filling her son with as much of her love as possible. Minato then sealed the rest of their remaining chakra into Naruto. Before dying, the Third Hokage appeared. Kushina told Hiruzen the child's name and begged the elder to protect Naruto, dying shortly afterwards.

Minato entered Konoha's Academy with the dream of earning the villagers' respect and recognition by becoming Hokage. When Kushina Uzumaki moved to Konoha, she was placed in the same class as Minato. Minato was immediately drawn to her bright red hair, finding it beautiful. Minato was a natural prodigy as a ninja, the likes of which appears only once in a generation. When he was added to a genin unit, Team 6, under the leadership of Jiraiya. The Sannin took a special interest in Minato and took him on as his apprentice, teaching him many of his own signature abilities. In time, Minato's exceptional skills led Jiraiya to believe he might be the Child of the Prophecy, someone who would someday save the world. Years later, after they graduated and became ninja, Kushina was kidnapped by Kumogakure forces. Konoha mobilised its ninja to retrieve her, but only Minato noticed the strands of red hair Kushina left behind to mark their path. Minato, acting alone, rescued her from her captors. On their way back to Konoha, Minato confessed his admiration for her hair and her strength, causing Kushina – who had previously believed Minato "unreliable" and even "girly" – to fall in love with him. The feat of single-handedly putting a stop to the Nine-Tails' abduction raised Minato's renown greatly, moving him from an ordinary shinobi to one who was well known across many nations for his great accomplishment of foiling Kumo's kidnapping attempt,both in the Land of Fire and beyond. After proving himself an accomplished and responsible ninja, Minato was placed in charge of his own team, consisting of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake. In the anime, the Third Hokage gave Minato the special task of helping Kakashi overcome the bitterness caused by his father's death and remind him of the human element of being a ninja. Minato gave his team a bell test upon its formation in order to teach them the value of teamwork. Minato often held back less against the prodigious Kakashi than with Rin and Obito so they couldn't obtain the bells without teamwork. Unfortunately, Kakashi realised this, but only used Obito and Rin as a means to an end to obtain the bells. Nonetheless, he passed them because they accomplished the goal of the test by working as a team. Although he did encourage them to improve their teamwork afterwards, a message that Obito and Rin took to heart, but fell on deaf ears with Kakashi. During a mission into Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi Bridge, Minato transferred leadership of the mission to Kakashi – who had recently become a jōnin – while he headed to the front lines. He met up with the surviving and out-numbered Konoha ninja and single-handedly wiped out the opposing Iwagakure forces. In the anime, his victory in this battle against a thousand ninja convinced the Third Tsuchikage to accept a peace treaty. When he rendezvoused with his team afterwards he found Kakashi and Rin and surrounded by Iwa-nin, Obito having already been lost. He rescued them, helped them complete their original mission once they recovered, and returned to Konoha with them to mourn Obito. Minato's competing obligations would later repeat the tragedy of Obito's death: while he was away on another mission, Madara orchestrated Rin's kidnapping by Kirigakure, who died during Kakashi's attempt to retrieve her, as part of Madara's plot to corrupt Obito. During the gradual transfer of responsibilities from the Third Hokage to him, the Third advised Minato to restore Kakashi's value of life by tasking him with protecting Kushina during her pregnancy. As a jinchūriki, the strain of childbirth would weaken the seal keeping the Nine-Tails sealed into Kushina. For that reason special precautions had to be taken: the child would secretly be delivered in a remote location outside of the village, with barriers around the area and several Anbu guards as extra protection. Minato was not greatly worried about the birth, and in fact gave Kakashi the day off in gratitude for his good work. He and Kushina had already decided on a name for their son, "Naruto". Naruto was born on the night of October 10. Only moments after the birth Minato began making preparations to restore the Nine-Tails' weakened seal, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a masked man, otherwise known as Tobi. Because Tobi was controlling the Nine-Tails' actions, defeating him was of prime importance in order to save Konoha. Minato initially struggled to successfully strike him but, after several failed attacks, he finally hit him with a Rasengan and branded him with a Flying Thunder God seal, allowing him to teleport to Tobi whenever he wanted. He then used a Contract Seal on Tobi to release the Nine-Tails from his control, forcing him to flee. Kushina restrained it and erected a barrier so that it couldn't escape while they decided what to do. To protect the village, Kushina offered to have the Nine-Tails sealed back into her so it would die with her. Minato rejected this, believing the Nine-Tails' power would be needed in the future if and when Tobi struck again. Remembering Jiraiya's words about the "Child of the Prophecy", Minato decided to believe that Naruto was that child and that he would someday save the world. To prepare Naruto for this, Minato would make Naruto the Nine-Tails' new jinchūriki so he could make use of its strength. Seeing the Third Hokage nearby, Minato communicated to him a final request for the villagers of Konoha: to think of Naruto as a hero and not the container of the monster that caused so much death and destruction. With that, his soul was consumed by the Shinigami, ending Minato's life.