Temari (Naruto)

Temari is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

Background

Temari is the daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, as well as being teammate and older sister to Gaara and Kankurō. She carries a giant, iron fan on her back, which she uses as a powerful ninja tool; she specializes in long-range combat, and has demonstrated herself to be a keen analyst, though not of the same caliber as Nara Shikamaru.

Temari is generally caring, if crude, toward her siblings and cohorts, but has a tendency to be quite cruel to her opponents in battle. She is more demonstrative with her feelings than Kankurō when dealing with Gaara and somewhat less afraid of him. Shikamaru, after witnessing her fighting style first-hand, has stated that she is more terrifying than his own mother.

Temari fights using her fan. Her fan has three purple circles inscribed on it, which she calls "moons" ("stars" in the original Japanese, though moons would seem to make more sense given their shape), and each moon revealed increases her fan's power greatly. She usually starts fighting with it closed, and then opens it up, revealing each moon one by one until the third is shown. Finally, she will finish her opponent using her main jutsu, Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Cutting Whirlwind Technique).

Temari mainly uses her fan to create a large wind gust to cut her opponents apart or force them back. She can also create whirlwinds and tornadoes. She also uses it as a powerful thrusting weapon or as a makeshift club, and has knocked her opponents unconscious simply by slamming the fan into their bodies, as in her fight against Nara Shikamaru. She may use the fan to glide around, probably a showing off to frighten her opponents.

Part I

Chūnin Exam arc

During the Chūnin Exam, Temari doesn't show off her abilities until paired against Tenten in the preliminaries and the third stage. During their match, Tenten throws wave after wave of weapons against Temari, only to have Temari mockingly blow them away, all the while explaining when the match will end. Sure enough, the match ended exactly when she said it would. After using her fan to trap Tenten in a vortex of slicing wind, she finished the match by making Tenten land on her fan. After she was declared the winner, she attempted to toss Tenten into the pile of weapons she had created earlier. Luckily, Rock Lee jumps in to save her.

During the third stage of the exam, she was paired to fight Nara Shikamaru. While both are keen analysts and tacticians, Shikamaru was simply better at it, and eventually managed to trap her in his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique). However, Shikamaru claimed he had wasted too much chakra in his attempt to capture her in his shadow, and forfeited the match.

After the Chūnin Exam was interrupted by the assault on Konoha, Temari and Kankurō attempted to get Gaara to safety so he could heal from the wounds he sustained in his match with Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke pursued them, and she elected to buy Gaara and Kankurō time to escape by fighting Sasuke by herself. Her efforts, however, only managed to buy a short amount of time. Even though he was holding back during the fight, Sasuke defeated her with a clever combination of Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) and exploding tags. She later observes the fight between the transformed Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto, clearly surprised by the fact that anyone could take Gaara on in this form. Naruto's summoning of Gamabunta is also clearly surprising, as she thought she was the only one capable of summoning creatures at the time.

Sasuke Retrieval arc

File:Temari02.jpg

Temari coming to the aid of Nara Shikamaru.

When the situation looked hopeless for Shikamaru in his fight against Tayuya during the failed mission to retrieve the renegade Uchiha Sasuke, Temari came to his rescue. Her fan was able to reflect the sound waves right back to their caster, as well as destroy Tayuya's flute in the process. As Tayuya attempted to hide in the tree cover, Temari asked Shikamaru for a quick explanation of Tayuya's abilities. Shikamaru explained them, and recommended that they retreat. Temari then reminded him that she just asked for a description, not his opinion of the situation. Using her Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai (Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance) to summon Kamatari (a Kamaitachi or "Sickle Weasel"), she had Kamatari cut down the entire forest, simultaneously defeating Tayuya's strategy to hide and attack from a distance and killing her with falling debris. After the display, Shikamaru quietly thinks to himself that Temari is actually more frightening than his own mother.

Part II

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Temari, after the timeskip.

During Naruto's two-and-a-half year absence, Temari has advanced to the level of Jōnin. She is now acting as a liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure as they prepare for the new round of Chūnin examinations.

Upon hearing that Gaara had been kidnapped, she joins Team Kakashi and rushes back to the Hidden Sand village. Upon reaching at Sunagakure, Temari learns that Kankurō had been poisoned by Sasori as well. Sakura arrives in time and is able to heal him. As a result, Temari plans to join Team Kakashi in fighting Akatsuki; however, Chiyo goes in her place, and Temari is left to see to the defense of Sunagakure instead. Later, Temari and a recovered Kankurō catch up to Naruto just as Chiyo performs her life-giving jutsu on Gaara, with the help of Naruto's chakra.

Trivia

• A "Temari" is a traditional ball of wound thread that kids use to bounce and dribble. They can be highly elaborate, and some consider weaving them to be an art form.
• Temari is also a name for "Dark Soy Sauce", this may be another food related name like Naruto (steamed fish-paste cake used to decorate soups.)
• According to the official databook, Temari’s favorite foods are roasted chestnuts and vegetable soup; her least favorite foods are squid and octopus.
• Botany is her hobby and her favorite phrase is "Sharpen your kama at sunset."
• Her ability is believed to be based on that of Princess Iron Fan in Journey to the West.
• Temari is the only female Genin to have become Jōnin, the only female Genin to participate in the mission to retrieve Sasuke, and the only female and part of the only team whose members all made it to the third part of the Chūnin Exam.
• According to the official databook, Temari's most desired opponent is Nara Shikamaru. But since the two have become good friends, it seems unlikely that they will ever seriously fight again.

External links

• Tempest Wind - Tempest Wind; Temari fansite
• Sand Lilly - Sand Lilly; a Temari character shrine