Naruto

Synopsis

Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konohagakure. It was a powerful demon; a single swing of one of its nine tails would raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and caused the deaths of many, until the leader of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage, defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal the demon inside a newly-born child. That child's name was Naruto Uzumaki. The Fourth Hokage was celebrated as a hero for sealing the Nine-Tails away. He wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the Nine-Tails. The village he grew up in, however, mostly shunned Naruto; they regarded him as if he were the Nine-Tails itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even to their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating Naruto like an outcast. Although their children did not specifically know why their parents treated Naruto the way they did, they learned through example to despise the boy. As a result, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonesome atmosphere without friends, family, or acknowledgement. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgement and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief. However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Academy by using his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the Nine-Tails, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared about him. His graduation from the academy opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world, including his way of the ninja for the rest of his life. Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy, with plenty of action interspersed. It follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasises their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under a very experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also confides in other characters as well that he has met through the Chūnin Exam. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of Konoha. Naruto places strong emphasis on character development. Almost all outcomes are a result of decisions, character, and personality; very few things happen just because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. However, other characters are developed, such as Kakashi, Guy, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto's peers in the other Genin teams and other villages. Several major villains came into play as well, the first being Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from the Kirigakure, and his partner, Haku. Later, in the Chūnin Exam Arc, Orochimaru is introduced as an S-Class missing-nin at the top of Konoha's most wanted list, along with other Otogakure ninja, including Kabuto Yakushi, Team Dosu and the Sound Four. Later, a mysterious organisation called Akatsuki begins to pursue Naruto in order to take the Nine-Tails inside him and harness its power.