The characters of Team 8 bear many similarities to their counterparts in Naruto, but the altered story has also changed them in various ways.
Spoilers below.
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Team 8
General
- Ascended Extra: The other members due to Naruto taking Kiba and Akamaru’s spot on the team.
- Badass Crew: Easily the most badass in the story including: A master of genjutsu, a formidable literal one-man army jinchuriki, a highly skilled Hyūga, and a kikachu expert with skill in genjutsu.
- Berserk Button: They are all fiercely protective of each other.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Kurenai brings Naruto on the team to specifically avert this trope.
- Dysfunction Junction: Shino is the only member who doesn't have a Dark and Troubled Past.
- Elephant in the Living Room: Hinata's family, Naruto being a demon-container.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Naruto is Sanguine, Kurenai is Choleric, and Shino is Melancholic. Hinata tends to be Phlegmatic in relation to others, but Melancholic with herself.
- Took a Level in Badass: All members are much stronger here than they were in canon.
- True Companions: They are all this, each one fiercely protective of the other and would fight the whole world just to protect their own.
Kurenai Yuuhi
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In hindsight, the information given are different from what canon has given, in particular when she was a Genin herself.
- Author Avatar: Described as the author's "mouthpiece." Of course, that doesn't mean he won't kill her off.
- Badass Teacher: She turns Naruto from a barely competent academy graduate to a Chuunin hopeful. Her successes with Hinata and Shino aren't quite as obvious but are still quite notable.
- Cool Teacher: Her students and Tenten look up to her.
- Berserk Button: Several: Sexism, chauvinism, those who are horrible to and look down on her students and Hiashi Hyuuga.
- Broken Bird: Her sarcasm helps her cope with her past. And boy does she need the coping.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her best friends and teacher were brutally murdered, she just barely escaped the same treatment and she finds out that the whole hellish affair was orchestrated by a high ranking member of her village.
- Death by Adaptation: She is the second of the canon heroes to die. The first was Tazuna.
- Decoy Protagonist: Prior to her death, if not for the fact that Naruto and Hinata are displayed as the two main characters, you could be forgiven for thinking that Kurenai is The Hero of this story. Much of the altered backstory and the changes the proverbial nail has wrought are thanks to her mentoring of Team 8, after all.
- The Insomniac: Ever since the incident in her past, she's had difficulty sleeping and reads for half the night. And she's also (somewhat justifiably) quite paranoid.
- Iron Lady: Kurenai is tough as nails and doesn't suffer fools well.
- Mama Bear: Would put the safety of her team above that of the village. Not joyfully, mind you, but still.
- Master of Illusion: Like in the original work, but that said, it really shows when she breaks Tsukuyomi, a supposedly unbreakable Genjutsu for anyone not named Sasuke.
- A Mother to Her Men
- Neck Snap: Kills a Sound ninja this way at the start of the invasion, with the help of genjutsu.
- Sacrificial Lion: Is Killed Off for Real by Itachi in chapter 20.
- So Proud of You: To her team.
- Sole Survivor: Of the assassination of her old team.
- Team Mom: To the point of being a Parental Substitute for both Hinata and Naruto.
- You Are What You Hate: Minor, but Kurenai is awfully quick to assume Naruto is being sexist on more than one occasion, and awfully nonchalant about her ability to "play to the male egos" of experienced fellow Jonin, for someone who claims to hate sexism so much.
Naruto Uzumaki
- Achievements in Ignorance: Infusing shadow clones with personalities? Makes sense, why shouldn't he?
- All of the Other Reindeer: Far much more than in canon, with people denying him service, sabotaging his reputation, and even trying to kill him. It gets to the point that it infuriates Kurenai because of how dumb it is.
- Anti-Magic: His Chakra Pulse works like an EMP and can cancel large-scale genjutsu.
- Berserk Button: If you know what's good for you, don't you DARE hurt his friends.
- Blow You Away: As in canon, his affinity is revealed to be for Wind Release, and Jiraiya immediately starts teaching him Great Breakthrough.
- Book Dumb: He never becomes a genius but Kurenai works hard to remedy this.
- Smarter Than You Look: Manages to fool Kurenai once with his Transformation technique and is very good at the Indy Ploy.
- Character Development: Kurenai's teachings and acknowledgment and the bonds he forms with his teammates cause him to grow more thoughtful and introspective than in canon, and very caring and protective of his friends.
- Cute Bruiser: Becomes a Lightning Bruiser thanks to Gai's taijutsu training and the Kyuubi's chakra and can now punch through metal if he's focused and angry enough.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In addition to his canon troubles, people tried to kill Naruto as a toddler (usually around the first of each month), the hospital staff hate him and shopkeepers and store owners regularly try to screw him over.
- The Hero: The story follows him.
- Heroic BSoD:
- After his first kill. Hinata and Kurenai snap him out of it.
- Again after Kurenai's death. Shino, Hinata, Jiraiya, Iruka and Konohamaru bring him back around.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: He eventually buys several dark green uniforms and a grey scarf to counteract this.
- Hot-Blooded: Downplayed, as the harsher treatment he's received has made him more bitter and demoralized. Additionally, he is faced with a number of problems that he cannot simply punch away, which leads him (with guidance from Kurenai) to become more pensive. However, he still tends to put on a brave smile in the midst of his trials, and given an obstacle, a test, or an irritation, he'll pour everything he has into handling it. And he has his loud moments.
- Living Emotional Crutch: As in canon, Naruto and Hinata are this to each other. Both suffer from severe self-image issues, Naruto due to the village that considers him a monster, and Hinata due to her abusive family that considers her a failure. Naruto's cheerful determination inspires Hinata and he praises her for her strength and kindness. Hinata shows kindness and encouragement to Naruto in his moments of despair.
- The McCoy: Much more given to emotion than Shino and Hinata, though not as much as his canon self.
- Oblivious to Love: Deconstructed. Hinata's shyness and his childhood means he doesn't notice the signs. Kurenai spells it out for him in a letter.
- Power Incontinence: Tends to put a lot of chakra into his ninjutsu which can backfire if the jutsu doesn't really need that much. Eventually begins supercharging them anyway to use them on multiple targets.
- Protectorate: Team 8 and Konoha are this for Naruto and he takes his duty seriously.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Shino's Blue and the Blue to Lee's Red.
- Spanner in the Works: To Orochimaru.
- Summon Magic: Gains the Turtle contract.
- Team Member in the Adaptation: In canon, Naruto was a member of Team 7. Here, he's instead a member of Team 8 by switching places with Kiba and Akamaru.
- There Are No Therapists: The academy's psychiatrist was no help, leading to Kurenai stepping in.
- Training from Hell: He begins training with Gai and Lee to improve his taijutsu, eventually going 3 times a day during the Chuunin preliminaries.
- Unstoppable Rage: The first time he uses the Kyuubi's chakra.
- Warrior Therapist: Just like in canon, notably against Neji and Gaara. Later on, during his fight with Tsunade, he uses her two serious issues (her age and gambling habits) to win his bet with her and earn her promise to return to Konoha.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Shadow Clone Jutsu, is there anything you can't do?
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Significantly less so than in canon, since he does hope to become Hokage to disprove everyone who ever persecuted him.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Hinata. Until chapter 24.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The possibility of Naruto becoming one of these is discussed. Itachi is attempting to break Kurenai's mind with his Dojutsu by making her live and relive the killing of herself and her team by a mob. She breaks it by forcing the illusion to faithfully recreate Naruto's likely reaction if he were to see Hinata killed: releasing the Kyuubi of his own will and letting it destroy the village.
- Zerg Rush: He's able to take down an enemy jonin with a large amount of clones.
Hinata Hyuuga
- Abusive Parents: Hiashi is even worse than in canon, like when he deprives her of sleep the night before the first C-ranked mission.
- Adaptational Badass/Adaptational Wimp: Her training and friendship with her team have made her stronger and more capable and determined than at the equivalent points in canon. Moreover, she starts to develop a fiercely protective side early on. However, she is filled with self-hatred and lacking in confidence because of her family's harsher treatment and beration of her. She perceives any of her achievements as trivial compared to her "failure" as a member of the Hyuuga clan. This is all highlighted in her fight with Neji; Neji's withering speech completely fails to even faze Hinata, and Hinata puts up an even better fight than in canon, but she is so desperate to not be a failure that her determination turns suicidal; she'd rather die than lose. It's only after Kurenai points out how harmful her suicidal motives in her fight with Neji were, and after Naruto reassures her in the hospital, that her confidence starts to grow considerably.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Her family is even more antagonistic towards her than in canon.
- Badass Adorable: She's very cute, but a very competent shinobi who shouldn't be underestimated.
- Little Miss Badass: She's a preteen but she's still deadly.
- Berserk Button/Beware the Nice Ones: If you hurt her teammates or her little sister, she will smash your face.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Her father, sister and cousin all seem to hate her and while the rest of the clan might not, they aren't much help.
- Big Sister Instinct: Not that Hanabi cares.
- Character Development:
- When Shino theorizes that Naruto may have been ostracized for something that wasn't his fault, Hinata starts to develop a fiercely protective side. Later on, Shino realizes that her friendship with Naruto is strengthening this assertiveness further.
- After Kurenai criticizes her suicidal motives in her fight with Neji, and Naruto comforts her in the hospital, Hinata starts to appreciate how much her friends value and care for her, and gradually sees herself as more than a failure in her abusive family.
- Cute Bruiser: Eventually learns some Hard Fist techniques.
- Death Glare: Of all people, Hinata pulls one of these when Sakura insults Naruto. Having the Byakugan certainly helps.
- Death Seeker: Years of abuse from her father have made Hinata this. As Kurenai later points out, Hinata would rather die than disappoint someone.
- Determinator: Noted as one of Hinata's strengths and weaknesses. Her father's abuse hasn't stopped her from trying to be a better ninja and impress him (among others), but it warps her self-image to the point that almost anything is better than being a failure.
- Deuteragonist: The story revolves around her arguably as much as Naruto, though the latter has had a more active role thus far.
- Glass Cannon: Almost as fast as Naruto, is a superior hand-to-hand specialist, doesn't need nearly as much strength to hurt people but she has lower defenses over all.
- Healing Hands: Learns the Mystical Palm Technique under Tsunade and Shizune.
- The Heart: She always tries to get people to work together and for Naruto to have faith in himself.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Sees no worth in herself. Those around her are very slowly changing this.
- Honor Before Reason: Why she refused to surrender during her duel against Neji despite the fact she had clearly done all she could in the fight.
- The Kirk: This helps her calm down Naruto and rouse Shino to action.
- Lady of War: Heading that way. Her grace and precision when she fights is the first thing Naruto mentions when talking about finding her attractive.
- The Lancer: Strikes a heavy contrast with Naruto.
- Living Emotional Crutch: As in canon, Naruto and Hinata are this to each other. Both suffer from severe self-image issues, Naruto due to the village that considers him a monster, and Hinata due to her abusive family that considers her a failure. Naruto's cheerful determination inspires Hinata and he praises her for her strength and kindness. Hinata shows kindness and encouragement to Naruto in his moments of despair.
- Making a Splash: From Kurenai, she learns Suiton: Condensation, a jutsu which gathers water in the humidity of the surrounding air and ground. Her chakra is later revealed to be water-natured.
- The Medic: She plays this role for her teammates at times, and even admitted that she made her medicinal cream herself. Later on, she takes on six months of service under Tsunade.
- Ojou: As the former heiress of one of Konoha's greatest clans, Hinata is very proper, graceful, and knowledgeable of manners and etiquette.
- Shrinking Violet: As usual, but her even more abusive family and being on the same team as her crush exacerbates the problem.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Not quite yet, but she's starting to show some signs of this.
- Supreme Chef: This canon trait is given more emphasis. She can even prepare wild game, and Naruto claims her cooking is even better than Ichiraku's.
- Team Chef: Both Naruto and Shino praise her cooking, and the three agree that she'll take on the role of cooking when necessary.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Hurting Naruto is her Berserk Button and the Ship Tease between them is tremendous.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: To her father. Eventually Deconstructed; she is so desperate to meet the harsh standards set by her father and family that she sees little to no value in anything else she accomplishes. It's only after Kurenai points out how self-destructive this mentality is that Hinata starts to consider the possibility that her father could, in fact, be wrong about her.
- White Sheep: Of the Hyuuga clan.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Naruto. Until chapter 24.
Shino Aburame
- All of the Other Reindeer: Not nearly as bad as Naruto or Hinata, but Shino's bugs are noted to disturb others, and the Aburame are encouraged to keep to themselves.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: How he figures out Naruto's jinchuuriki status, Hinata's feelings towards Naruto, and how he fights Kiba, Chouji, and Kankuro.
- The Beast Master: Natch.
- Berserk Button: Attacking his teammates and teacher.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Possibly the quietest person in the story but just as dangerous as the rest of his team.
- Big Brother Instinct: Is eldest of the 3 genin and is very enraged by threats to the others' safety.
- Calling the Old Man Out: After learning the truth about Naruto, Shino tears his clan apart over their treatment of his teammate and influencing Shino's opinion about him.
- Defrosting Ice King: While he was, at worst, neutral to Naruto at the beginning of the story, Shino didn't think highly of his skills and temperament. This changes in short order after Naruto proves himself.
- Foil: More intellectual and methodical that his emotionally-driven teammates, and has a happy family life, while Naruto is an orphan and Hinata's family is abusive.
- Guile Hero: On the occasions he does speak, Shino tends to verbally harpoon people he dislikes and get them to do what he wants.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Was a lot more skilled than he let on when the team was first formed and eventually stopped hiding it.
- Jack of All Stats: Not as strong or as tough as Naruto, not as fast as Hinata but well-rounded enough that it's rarely a problem. Though to people outside his team, he's a Lightning Bruiser. Sasuke has trouble keeping up with his foot speed.
- Mana Burn: What he frequently uses his bugs to do to his opponents.
- Nothing Up My Sleeve: His kamas.
- Odd Friendship: He and Naruto make for a strange pair of friends but friends nonetheless.
- Only Sane Man: The only well-adjusted member of Team 8.
- The Quiet One: Prefers observing people and only commenting when he has something to say.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Naruto's Red.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: Tags everyone he knows with one of his bugs, making him the number choice to find a missing colleague.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: To the point that Naruto sometimes needs a translator to understand what he says.
- Sinister Scythe: His mother eventually teaches him how to dual-wield a pair of kama.
- The Smart Guy: Is the Teen Genius of his clan, loves big words, can work a crowd if he has to and is very observant and calculating.
- Specs of Awesome: His specs just make him look even more awesome.
- The Spock: The most logical member of Team 8.
- The Stoic: By normal standards, Shino is not given to emotion and generally keeps to himself.
- Not So Stoic/Sugar-and-Ice Personality: By Aburame standards? He's a ball of passion, caring and fury towards those who hurt his friends.
- Tranquil Fury: Shino is quiet but menacing when angered.
- Twitchy Eye: The primary way of gauging his moods is to watch his eyebrows.
Team 7
General
- Break the Haughty: The failure of the Wave Country mission was hard on the entire team, as is what they go through in the Chunin Exams, including them being eliminated by the end of the first round.
- Demoted to Extra: With the exception of Kiba and Akamaru partially due to the team swap.
- For Want Of A Nail: The Nail being Kiba and Akamaru are on the Team instead of Naruto.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Kiba and Akamaru are Sanguine, Sasuke is Choleric, Sakura is Melancholic and Kakashi is Phlegmatic.
- The Rival: To Team 8. Not enemies but as a rule, they can't stand each other much.
- Took a Level in Kindness: As a result of their interactions with Team 8 and a little Break the Haughty, most of the members become more affable.
Kakashi Hatake
- Break the Haughty: Not as bad as his students but Kakashi finds out they aren't quite as strong as he thinks they are.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Subverted over time, as the author has him cut back on his eccentric behavior as he is forced to train his team seriously.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Because Naruto's on Team 8 in the story, we rarely get to see the Badass. And his eccentricity is dialed back as he starts taking training his students seriously.
- Disappointed in You: Has this reaction when all three of his students fail the Chunin Exams before the finals.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When he gives his team their orders during the invasion, they realize that this is the ANBU Captain in him speaking.
- Shame If Something Happened: Takes this route to stop Hiashi from making a scene at Kurenai's funeral, outright stating that he knows a dozen ways to overpower eye-based bloodlines that he could hand over to the ninja academy.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Deconstructed. In the original series, this method worked somewhat well for the most part as Naruto's position in the team pushed Sasuke and later on inspired Sakura, along with his attitude as The Determinator. However, in the fanfic, Kiba takes Naruto's place and thus, the dynamics are changed to where the weaknesses are more glaring and as such, his students don't do nearly as well in the Exams. Eventually they demand more involved teaching.
Sasuke Uchiha
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: The Top Rookie of his class and legitimately powerful though not nearly as much as he thinks.
- Break the Haughty: In an attempt to get Naruto to fully fight him, he goads him with a comment regarding Hinata. Cue defeat by a single punch by a thoroughly enraged Naruto.
- Humble Pie: He notes that he's been coasting since graduation after Naruto hands him his ass and decides to get serious about training.
- Ineffectual Loner: He’s callous and cold, but uses that to hide how lonely he really is.
- Kick the Dog: Callously insulting Hinata, who was almost killed in her match, to Naruto's face.
- Pet the Dog: His pride and revenge aside, he doesn't want anyone to be hurt by Itachi.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Thanks to Orochimaru's Curse Seal.
Sakura Haruno
- Academic Alpha Bitch: She maintains her haughty attitude since she never underwent the Character Development with Naruto by this point. However, hearing Naruto dissuade Rock Lee from pursuing her breaks her out of this mentality.
- Break the Haughty/Jerkass Realization: Naruto telling Lee to not ask her out causes her to realize that, with the exception of Sasuke, she treats people badly.
- Character Development: Begins moving away from her Tsundere tendencies, tries to rebuild her friendship with Ino, and begins taking a sincere, non-fangirl look at her attraction to Sasuke.
- Hidden Depths: Shino is surprised at her demonstration of intelligence and tactical skill.
- The Smart Girl: Of her team and recognized as such.
- Trap Master: Has a talent for making them.
- Tsundere: Deconstructed. Yeah she tends to be rough to most people (or at least Naruto), but this does give off bad impressions often and indeed, Naruto dissuading Rock Lee from pursuing her makes her realize she is not as nice as she thought she was.
Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru
- Action Pet: Akamaru.
- A Day in the Limelight: Gets an entire omake to himself in the aftermath of the Wave Country mission.
- Break the Haughty: Not nearly as bad as everyone else but Kiba underestimates Shino during the Exams. Shino kicks his and Akamaru's asses.
- Hot-Blooded: Especially compared to the rest of Team 7.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kiba can be obnoxious but he cares deeply about and is loyal to his Team.
- The Nose Knows: Naturally. He takes his role as the Team's tracker very seriously.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Sasuke's Blue.
- Team Member in the Adaptation: In canon, Kiba and Akamaru were members of Team 8. Here, they're instead members of Team 7 by switching places with Naruto.
Team Gai
General
- Charles Atlas Superpower: While only one of its genin is unable to use chakra, all members use more comparatively mundane methods to defeat opponents that fostered by constant practice i.e. Gai and Lee punch people really well, Neji pokes people really well and Tenten stabs people really well.
- Friendly Rival: To Team 8, with the exception of Neji.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The rest of the team is not at all pleased with what Neji did to Hinata, and make it clear to him in varying ways, and to varying degrees.
Might Gai
- Badass Teacher: Not just to his Team but also to Naruto and Hinata.
- Boisterous Bruiser: It wouldn't be Gai if he wasn't loud and dynamic.
- Cool Teacher: Rock Lee, Tenten, Naruto and Hinata all adore him.
- Large Ham: He wouldn't be Gai without the hamminess.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Heavily implied to play up his hamminess if it will allow him to get away with something.
- Papa Wolf: Intervenes during Lee's fight against Gaara much sooner than in canon.
- Team Dad: To his team and to a degree Naruto.
- Training from Hell: Reflex training under him means being Tenten's target practice (blunted kunai, thankfully).
Rock Lee
- Badass Normal: He lacks the jutsu capabilities of his teammates but makes up for it in sheer skill.
- Bash Brothers: He helps Naruto train in taijutsu and both enjoy themselves immensely.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Louder than even naruto, and just as eager to battle if not even more so.
- For Want Of A Nail/In Spite of a Nail: He’s paired against Gaara in the Chūnin Exams preliminaries here in canon, but thanks to Team 8's reconnaissance, he's not crippled by him thanks to Guy’s early intervention.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Naruto's Blue.
Neji Hyuuga
- Aloof Big Brother: Cousin, to Hinata.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: His messed up family practically made him what he is now.
- Break the Haughty: Naruto apparently mauls Neji during their match in the Chuunin finals.
- Cain and Abel: Nearly kills Hinata during their Prelim fight.
- The Fatalist: Believes Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids! and losers will always be losers.
- Hypocrite: For all his apparent fatalism, Neji tries very hard to be anything other than just another Branch Family member, even though it's clearly his caste in life and thus what he is supposed to be.
- Jerkass: Rude, arrogant, fatalistic and violent towards Hinata. He certainly earned his beat down with his actions.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Does this to Hinata in the Prelim. Has this done to him in the Finals.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After fighting Naruto and getting some sense and humility beaten into him.
Tenten
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Described as having this and certainly an ace when it comes to weapons.
- In Spite of a Nail: Still loses to Temari because her skill set hasn't changed much from canon and it's just a bad match against Temari's.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Looks up to Kurenai for being a competent female jonin.
- Multi-Melee Master: Can accurately use shuriken, kunai, swords, spears, maces and several other weapons.
Team 10
General
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Does rather well during the Chuunin Exams, to many's surprise.
Asuma Sarutobi
- Berserk Button: While Kakashi dances around the issue a bit, Asuma tells Hiashi point blank that if he interrupts Kurenai's funeral to reprimand Hinata, he will not hesitate to beat the tar out of him.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Similar to Kakashi. The difference being his team actually does relatively well during the Chuunin Exams. Kurenai does note his tendency to trust that Shikamaru, Ino and Choji will be able to do fine just because of their legacy of their families working together, though it does work out.
Shikamaru Nara
- Brilliant, but Lazy: It's the former Trope Namer, for crying out loud. He actually manages to win his prelim match without moving from his starting stance, but gives it up, realizing Temari is up to something.
- Casting a Shadow: His Shadow jutsu.
- Minored In Ass Kicking: As usual, in the event you can actually motivate Shikamaru to really fight, he's surprisingly scrappy in combat.
- Teen Genius: The best strategist in the village after his father and like Shino, it was only a matter of time before he figured out what Naruto really was.
Choji Akimichi
- Acrofatic: Shows surprising flexibility when it comes to moving around.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Has a much better showing in-story than he does in canon. He fights Shino in the Semifinals of the Exams and mostly loses due to Shino's bugs being able to attack from long distances.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Shikamaru.
- Nice Guy: Doesn't hold grudges, is chagrined when he possibly permanently hurts an opponent and he and Shino have a honorable fight during the Exams.
Ino Yamanaka
- The Rival: To Sakura. Sakura herself is trying to go back to their being simply friends.
- Satellite Character: Rarely shows up in-story without being accompanied by either a member of her team, Sakura or a mention of Sasuke.
Kurenai's old team
The other three members of Kurenai's team before their deaths on a mission 10 years ago. For Kurenai, see Team 8. Kobaru
Kurenai's teacher.
- Badass Teacher: Kurenai had to get it somewhere.
- The Big Guy: The team's jonin, so a tough guy by nature, but he's also described as looking like "a boulder that had grown legs and gone for a walk."
- Genius Bruiser: Quite good at taijutsu, but believes that it's not his only weapon.
Nomaru Inuzuka
One of Kurenai's teammates, and a close friend.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Described as "brave, loyal, brash and a little conceited," and Kurenai believes that if he had been able to mature, he would have been a credit to his clan.
- Off with His Head!: Decapitated during the ambush.
Mattai Fukuda
A member of Kurenai's team who somehow acquired the Byakugan.
- Country Mouse: From a village outside Konoha.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Stabbed with three swords during the fatal ambush.
- Love Interest: Kurenai wonders if she was in love with him.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents were killed by bandits, and he was taken in by Konoha. As such, no one knows how he got the Byakugan.
- Walking Spoiler: Of all Kurenai's teammates, he's the one who most directly ties into the events surrounding their deaths.
Hyuuga Clan
For Hinata and Neji, see Team 8 and Team Gai. General
- Adaptational Villainy: They are shown to be far more snobbish and sinister than in canon.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Most of them, especially the main branch, are quite stuck up and haughty.
- White Sheep: Hinata and her mother.
Hiashi Hyuuga
- Abusive Parents: Horrifyingly dismissive of Hinata and possibly trying to get her killed.
- Adaptational Villainy: Holy crap, Hiashi's a prick. According to the author, this portrayal has a root cause related to the original nail, and speculation regarding why he is the way that he is in this story is something that has been speculated on by the Viridian Forum members for years.
- He is incredibly and unreasonably harsh on Hinata. Kurenai describes him as "systematically destroying the girl's sense of worth."
- Unlike in canon, where he treats Neji with sympathy and regret, he instead plans to punish him for his loss to Naruto.
- Kurenai suggests that he is part of a conspiracy that resulted in the death of her old team, and is obsessed with a "monopoly" on the Hyuuga bloodline.
- Archnemesis Dad: To Hinata.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: An aristocrat who is certainly vile.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Hanabi is the only member of his family who doesn't appear to fear him in any way.
- Government Conspiracy: Involved in two: the murder of Mattai, a non-Hyuuga possessor of the Byakugan and another that concerns Naruto.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: There is scarcely a moment in the narrative where Hiashi is shown as not being angry for whatever reason.
- Hypocrite: It's implied that for all his preaching on emotional restraint and propriety, he's one of the worst-tempered characters in the story.
- Jerkass: Vicious toward everyone and has no problem with punishing his daughter for slights.
- Kick the Dog: Several examples. A few of the more notable ones include:
- Forcing Hinata to train all night even though she tells him she has a mission the next day.
- Planning on punishing Neji for losing against Naruto.
- Complaining about how a "peasant" like Kurenai's teammate Mattai ended up with a Byakugan, which ends up coming back to bite him when he tries to manipulate the person in question into joining the Branch Family.
- Rich Bastard
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: His response to his vicious actions towards his kids.
- Selective Obliviousness: Hinata is clearly more competent than Hiashi says she is, even if she can't take Neji in a fight yet he refuses to acknowledge even that.
Hanabi Hyuuga
- Adaptational Jerkass: Kind big sister worshiper in canon, here not so much.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Her family in summary is extremely messed up and she is a product of it.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Proud, whiny and self-important.
- Entitled Bitch: Looks down on everyone except her father and completely takes it for granted that she will be protected. She actually says that Iruka shouldn't have tried to save her because he was clearly outclassed, despite the fact that Iruka was trying to save HER.
- Jerkass: To everyone minus her father, but acts this way especially Hinata.
- Rich Bitch: Shes wealthy and not afraid to act like she’s all that.
- Spoiled Brat: Acts like this towards everybody:
- Ungrateful Bitch: Hinata saves her life. Hanabi's not impressed because Hinata got hurt while doing it.
Hinata's Mother
- Good Parents: Hinata was truly happy when she was alive.
- No Name Given: Only referred to as mother in Hinata's thoughts.
- Posthumous Character: Died at some point years before the start of the fic.
- Strong Family Resemblance: While Hinata is described as a mixture of her father and mother, Hanabi is described as being the very image of her mother.
Konoha
Iruka Umino
- Badass Teacher: A skilled ninja who's very good at making more skilled ninjas.
- Big Brother Mentor: To Naruto.
- Cool Teacher: With the exception of Hanabi and maybe Sasuke, all of his students look back fondly on their lessons with him.
- Guile Hero: Best seen in the Chuunin Exams arc, where he disguises himself and essentially cons several Hyuugas out of their money and investments. He also, along with Kurenai and Sarutobi are trying to unravel the Government Conspiracy against Naruto.
- No One Could Survive That!: Konohamaru says this of him when Iruka tries to intercept his and Hanabi's kidnappers. While injured badly, Iruka mostly received flesh wounds.
- Rags to Riches: Becomes quite wealthy after the Chuunin Exams, thanks to all of the bets he made and took on others' behalf.
Hiruzen Sarutobi
- Handicapped Badass: Thanks to Haku's intervention, he escapes the fight with Orochimaru with his life and without his arm. It's an acceptable sacrifice.
- Big Good: Of Konoha. Eventually steps down when he's too injured to be physically effective.
- Cool Old Guy: Saved Haku from Orochimaru and was Narutos parental figure for most of his childhood.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Inadvertently allowed Naruto to be mistreated by the general populace as a result of the secrecy law.
- Easily Forgiven: Luckily, Naruto forgives him for it.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Sarutobi survives the fight with Orochimaru thanks to Haku.
- Team Dad: To the village at large, but especially to Naruto.
Konohamaru Sarutobi
- Big Brother Worship: Of Naruto. Konohamaru is perfectly willing to hang around and look up to the village pariah because he thinks Naruto's awesome.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Not nearly as bad as Hanabi. The difference is when he does it, he tends to be louder.
- Foil: To Hanabi. Both are young aristocrats and bratty kids. But where Hanabi is a Spoiled Brat, Konohamaru is a more on the sweet side if a bit loud.
- Wham Line: Telling Naruto that his kidnappers killed Iruka. While it's somewhat subverted in that it later turns out that he's wrong, it does make things personal for Naruto.
Moritake
A retired shinobi who lost much of his left leg to an explosive tag in a war with Iwagakure, and now runs a cafe.
- Local Hangout: Owns a small cafe that Kurenai and her team used to frequent. She later takes Team 8 there as well.
- Original Character: Doesn’t exist in canon.
- Retired Badass: Was a shinobi before losing his left leg to an exploding tag.
Teuchi and Ayame
- Cool Big Sis: Ayame acts as this for Hinata in chapter 5.
- Local Hangout: As in canon, they run Ramen Ichiraku.
- Nice Guy: Are some of the few kind people to Naruto.
- Shipper on Deck: Teuchi briefly teases Naruto about Hinata.
Shibi and Misato Aburame
- Action Dad and Action Mom: Shibi is part of the search party that is sent to retrieve Hanabi and Konohamaru and Misato teaches Shino how to use scythes in battle.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Misato takes joy in playfully taunting her son in front of his friends.
- Badass Family: With Shino.
- Color-Coded Characters: Misato seems to associated with bright green; the color of her eyes and the color she was wearing when she met Naruto and Hinata.
- Good Parents: Played Straight, albeit each in their own way.
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: The Aburame elders were not pleased with Shibi marrying Misato, a Mist ninja. This stopped when they realized Shino was a Child Prodigy.
- Opposites Attract: Played with; their temperaments are different, but Misato's just as fascinated by insects as Shibi is.
- Original Character: Misato.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Hinata intuits that they actually enjoy that one of them is a Genki Girl and the other is The Stoic.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Shibi looks like a taller version of Shino, with the exception of maybe having brown eyes to his hazel.
The Chuunin proctor/Haku
- Anti-Villain: Originally. He's a hero now.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The Hokage gave him both purpose and shelter. He would now die for Sarutobi without a second's hesitation.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: His initial job is to watch over the exams. He gets a promotion to the Hokage's guard.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mentioned a few times during the Chuunin Exams. There's also the fact that Sakura does a double-take at him. This is because he's Haku.
- Combat Medic
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Naruto once again assumes he's a girl.
- Heel–Face Turn: Granted, it's Haku so he wasn't a big Heel in the first place.
- An Ice Person: His Hyoton powers.
- Spanner in the Works: To Orochimaru. His Big Damn Heroes is the second thing that completely derails the Evil Plan.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Zabuza is killed by Kakashi in the Land of Waves and Haku takes his vengeance against Gato and later surrenders. Team 7 brings him before the Hokage who chooses to recruit him instead.
- Walking Spoiler: Talking about him reveals one of the major ways in which the fic diverges from canon, as well as the fact that one of the people involved still has more of a role to play in the story.
Jiraiya
- Anti-Hero: Also Anti-Role Model.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's an incredible ninja. To Kurenai's unending anger, he's also an almost incorrigible pervert.
- Dirty Old Man: Of course.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: When Kurenai demands to know why Jiraiya stayed out of Naruto's absolutely shitshow of a life despite being his godfather, Jiraiya points out that a child with connections to him would die, either by Jiraiya's enemies, or by Minato's ennemies putting two and two together about who Naruto is.
- Parental Substitute: Becomes one of the primary adult figures in Naruto's life after Kurenai's death and honors her Last Request to make him both a great ninja and not quite as perverted as he is. Makes sense because he's still Naruto's godfather.
- Sad Clown: Beneath his perversions and kabuki theatrics is a very world-weary man haunted by his numerous failures, including what happened to the Sannin. Kurenai winces when she inadvertently opens up some olds wounds and notes the serious and solemn demeanor he has beneath Jiraiya's usual antics.
Tsunade
- Broken Bird: The deaths of her loved ones still weigh on her conscience.
- Birds of a Feather: Would have gotten along well with Kurenai, laments never having met her.
- Combat Medic: The best.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Is initially quite frosty to everyone but Shizune and is enraged by how blase Naruto is concerning Hinata's apparent indentured servitude to her. Then she meets Hiashi and immediately understands the real plot. She does adjust though.
- Didn't See That Coming: She never expected Hinata to immediately agree to six months as her personal servant.
- The Gambling Addict: Can never win when she's not in danger.
- Hot-Blooded: One of her faults. It allows Naruto to get one over her.
- Never Mess with Granny: Is around Jiraiya's age and still capable of kicking ass.
- Older Than They Look: Because of circumstances here, when revealed, she doesn't look ancientnote , just clearly older than her genjutsu would suggest.
- The Stations of the Canon: Played mostly straight. She's introduced because a new Hokage is needed.
- Stern Teacher: To Hinata. Though she already shows signs of being impressed.
- Vain Sorceress: Naruto uses this against her to get her to Konoha.
Danzo
- Corrupt Politician: Noted to possess both political allies and access to blackmail.
- We Will Meet Again: Says "This isn't over" word-for-word after the Invasion of Konoha when his attempt to take over as Hokage is thwarted.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: As in canon, Hiruzen describes him as doing whatever he thinks best for the village, regardless of the consequences.
Sound
General
- Jerkass: The closest to nice is Kabuto, who's Affably Evil.
- The Stations of the Canon: The Sound and its ninja don't see too many changes from canon.
Orochimaru
- Complexity Addiction: Noted by the author to be one of his flaws.
- Didn't See That Coming: Naruto's Chakra Pulse and Haku's Big Damn Heroes ultimately force Orochimaru to leave Konoha with less than what he had when he arrived. He even loses his Cool Sword Kusanagi]].
- Handicapped Badass: Haku freezes his arm solid and Orochimaru is forced to smash it to pieces.
- I Shall Taunt You: Loves to taunt his victims.
- Impersonation Gambit: Disguises himself as a Grass genin, the Sound jonin teacher and later the Kazekage to gain access to the Exams.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Complexity aside, Orochimaru is perfectly willing to sidestep a difficult fight, but only after being driven into a corner due to said fight.
Kabuto
- Affably Evil: Very good at playing the polite and friendly Big Brother Mentor. Of course it's all an act.
- Badass Bookworm: Very smart and skilled at what he does but because more people are on to him in this fic, we don't get to see just how skilled yet.
- Evil All Along: Which Naruto suspects to thanks Kurenai's teachings.
- Evil Genius: One of Orochimarus brain assets.
The Sound Trio
- Break the Haughty: Sasuke kills Dosu with his bare hands, Zaku's arm is possibly permanently crippled by Naruto and Kin quickly surrenders rather than fight 6 angry genin nearly by herself.
- Dark Action Girl: Kin.
- Faux Affably Evil: They act polite at first but it’s clearly an act.
- Killed Off for Real: Dosu via Sasuke and Neck Snap. Kin and Zaku are heavily implied to have been Orochimaru's sacrifices for the Impure World Resurrection technique.
- Mugging the Monster: Their job is to test and possibly kill Sasuke and his team. They fail.
- Smug Snake: They're strong, yes but they're still genin.
- Unwitting Pawns: Of Orochimaru.
Sand
General
- Exotic Weapon Supremacy: A large jar of sentient sand, a giant folding fan and a puppet loaded with booby traps. The jonin-sensei attending the Chuunin Exams uses a sword made of Razor Wind!
Gaara
- Ax-Crazy: Thinks it perfectly normal that he wants to kill everything.
- Blood Knight: And thus uses that he wants to kill everything to validate his own existence.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Naturally, his primary weapon is sand.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Not exactly "evil," of course, but he's completely flummoxed as to why Naruto didn't immediately kill him when given the opportunity.
- Foil: To Naruto, natch.
- Graceful Loser: He's more curious about Naruto than pissed he didn't get to kill him.
- Hidden Depths: He's essentially a prince of the Sand Village and on the rare occasion he's not behaving like a stoic Serial Killer or an overzealous Serial Killer, he can present and conduct himself as one.
- Logical Weakness: As it turns out, water has the effect of weighing sand down, making it slower to respond to oncoming threats. Furthermore, even encasing himself in a hard shell of sand won't save Gaara from drowning if he finds himself suddenly immersed in a mire. Thus, Naruto is able to beat his seemingly impenetrable defenses through simple water jutsus.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: He takes an immediate interest to Naruto on their first encounter due to their similar circumstances, and even goes so far as to delay leaving the Forest of Death for several days just so he can have a chance at killing him.
- Pet the Dog/Pragmatic Villainy: The latter is when he formally surrenders to Naruto in chapter 18 because he realizes that just because Naruto doesn't want to kill him doesn't meant he can't and wouldn't if he feels he has to. The former comes in because his surrender means his siblings no longer have to fight and possibly be killed by Team 8 for his sake.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Sealed Shukaku in a can.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Is completely confused by the thought that his siblings would fight Team 8 and Shikamaru to rescue him in spite of what he is and how he treats them.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: His messes up past lead him to become a monster.
Temari
- Anti-Villain: Honestly isn't interested in fighting the Leaf Village but it's an order from "her father".
- Big Sister Instinct: She may not like Gaara but she does love him, as Team 8 quickly realizes.
- Dark Action Girl: Tenten fights her and loses. She also gets into a vicious battle with Hinata. Temari loses.
- Designated Girl Fight: Two of her three fights.
- Worthy Opponent: Considers Hinata one.
Kankuro
- Anti-Villain: Honestly isn't interested in fighting the Leaf Village but it's an order from "his father".
- Child Hater: Doesn't like kids younger than he is.
- Big Brother Instinct: Fights to save Gaara from Team 8 anyway and unlike Temari, faces 2-to-1 odds.
- Deadpan Snarker: Snarks people on whim.
- Jerkass: To Konahamaru.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Does care about his siblings and teacher.
Turtles
Might Gai's personal summon, which he eventually passes on to Naruto. General
- Ancestral Weapon: The summoning contract with them itself is considered this. In the distant past, a malevolent summoner attempted to order the turtles' leader to wipe out an entire clan. The nature of this act broke the contract, the turtles' leader killed the summoner and his army, and the contract was passed on to a child of the clan. It was then passed down over time, eventually to Might Gai, and then to Naruto.
- Proud Scholar Race: They are described as a race that values wisdom above everything else.
- Shout-Out: The turtles each serve as a shout-out to various franchises. Gai mentions the Friend of All Children, and Naruto's first summon is a blue turtle named Squirtle.
Genji
- The Conscience: Has a bit of this with Naruto, advising him regarding his desire for revenge. He also subtly condemns Jiraiya's perverted behavior, but also suggests that Naruto be thankful to have him as a godfather.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently, there was an incident involving his last summoner.
Kabuto
- Faster Than They Look: Despite being a turtle, he proves to be a swift, experienced sparring partner.
- Naginatas Are Feminine: Averted. He wields one and is unambiguously male.
Clothahump
- Old Master: He is also known as 'The Old One,' and intends to teach various techniques to Naruto.
- Shout-Out: To Spellsinger.