There was once a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox who attacked the Hidden Leaf Village of the ninjas. A swipe from one of its nine tails could cause earthquakes and crumble mountains. All the ninjas in the village tried to fight it in vain, until the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his own life to seal the Demon Fox away...within the navel of a newborn baby boy. That boy's name: Naruto Uzumaki.

It is now twelve years later, and Naruto has grown up to be a very mischievous young boy, painting graffiti on the monuments and pulling pranks on everyone. He seems to enjoy bumming around, and is not taking his ninja apprenticeship too seriously. In fact, his teacher, Iruka tells him that he is the only one in the class who hasn't yet passed the final apprenticeship test, and Naruto has already failed the test three times!

But when a devious plan by an ambitious "Chuunin" (middle-level ninja) places Iruka-sensei's life in danger, Naruto's determination manifests itself and he saves his teacher. Naruto passes, and he now begins his journey towards being a true ninja!


Sasuke is one of the top scorers of the ninja apprenticeship school and the top "Genin" (rookie/first-level ninja) of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He is the sole remaining member of the Uchiha clan, a once powerful ninja clan of the village. He is very dark and serious, and is focused on nothing else but training to become a stronger ninja.

All of this is for one ultimate goal: revenge. His life's ambition is to grow powerful enough to kill "a certain man" (his older brother Itachi). As part of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke has higher "chakra" (spirit energy/chi) and can blow fireballs from his mouth.

Also, as one of the Uchiha clan, he inherits the clan's Kekkei Genkai (or bloodline trait)--the Sharingan. He begins to unlock it in the fight with Haku (who himself was using a Kekkei Genkai) and it gradually gains strength as he learns to use it to track movements and observe ninjitsu techniques. It helps having a knucklehead like Naruto as a teammate. He doesn't like Naruto at first, but as they and Sakura learn to work as a team, he shows a surprising willingness to protect Naruto. It's the beginning of a pretty complex teammate/rival relationship, as each watches for the other but at the same time wants to become better than the other.


Sakura, like any other teenage girl, has only one thing in mind...boys! More specifically, one boy, Sasuke Uchiha. She tries to act all sweet, prim, and proper on the outside, but we also get to see "Inner Sakura", a "darker" (and perhaps the true) hidden version of her personality, whenever she makes certain comments.

As the stereotypical, three way, love-hate-triangle goes...Naruto likes Sakura, while Sakura thinks Naruto's annoying. Sakura likes Sasuke, while Sasuke thinks Sakura is annoying! Of course Naruto hates Sasuke's guts, while Sasuke thinks Naruto is just an idiot. And to make matters worse...it's the three of them who are teamed up together to compose ninja Team 7!