Naruto Uzumaki, an energetic ninja who wishes to become Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure. During the early part of the series, he is assigned to Team 7, in which he meets Sasuke Uchiha, a taciturn and highly skilled “genius” of the Uchiha clan; Sakura Haruno, who is infatuated with Sasuke and has Naruto’s attention; and Kakashi Hatake, the quiet and mysterious leader of the team. Over the course of the series, Naruto interacts with and befriends several fellow ninja in Konohagakure and other villages. He also encounters the series’ antagonists, including Orochimaru, a former ninja of Konohagakure scheming to destroy his former home, as well as the elite ninja of the criminal organization Akatsuki.

Sasuke Uchiha (うちは サスケ Uchiha Sasuke) is Naruto’s rival. Designed by Kishimoto, to be the “cool genius” he felt was an integral part of an ideal rivalry.^[1] Sasuke’s older brother, Itachi Uchiha, killed the rest of their family.^[ch. 224] Because of this, Sasuke’s sole desire is to kill his brother, and he develops a cold and withdrawn personality, seeing people as tools to further his goals, although also gaining the affection of most of the girls he knew, much to his annoyance. When made a member of Team 7, Sasuke seems to begin to consider them precious to the point of risking his life to protect them, while focusing less on revenge at the start of the series. Following an encounter and subsequent defeat at the hands of his brother in Part I, however, Sasuke severs his ties and leaves the village to seek more power from Orochimaru and later Akatsuki, thereby becoming an international criminal.

Sakura Haruno (春野 サクラ Haruno Sakura) is the sole female member of Team 7. While creating the character, Kishimoto has admitted that he had little perception of what an ideal girl should be.^[1] As a child, Sakura was teased by other children because of her large forehead, a feature Kishimoto tried to emphasize in Sakura’s appearance. She was comforted by Ino Yamanaka.^[15] The two developed a friendship, however, as the two continued to grow, they became increasingly distant due to their shared affection for Sasuke Uchiha. During the early of Part I, Sakura is infatuated with Sasuke and resents Naruto Uzumaki, although ironically, Sasuke views her as “annoying” and Naruto has feelings for her.^[ch. 3] Her perception on Naruto eventually changes, however, and she comes to see him as a friend and her feelings for Sasuke grow into deep love.