Shizuka

Of middling height, Shizuka carries an athletic yet shapely frame and fair skin. Her eyes are green, and her black hair falls to her waist in a hime cut; she binds it high in a tail, with chin-length locks and short bangs framing her face. Out of combat she tends to wear a kimono in light green, or else a beige robe fitted with a hood. Missions call for her village's snug kunoichi outfit, a grey ensemble that includes grey gloves, a right shoulder guard, a black forehead protector, and a shirt slit open enough to expose part of her ample cleavage.

Losing Sagiri breaks Shizuka's heart, and she swears off love entirely, both to spare herself another such loss and to harden into a stronger fighter; Tokiwa sees this only as self-punishment. Back when Sagiri lived, she had spoken out against her village's marriage law and wished to overturn it. Naruto's determination to make Sakura happy moves her, and she resolves to grow far mightier and, in time, to find someone she can love without any law forcing it.

A formidable kunoichi, Shizuka wields weapons with rare skill, folding kunai into signature Nadeshiko-Style moves such as her Second Step and her Deep Crimson Dance Performance, the former scattering a spinning volley of blades to widen her reach. Wind Release deepens her taijutsu, driving attacks like the Hardliner Gale Fist and Hardliner Revolving Cut, and she can exhale a jet of compressed air fierce enough to erase shadow clones on the spot.

For a long stretch the puppeteer Kokuyo hunted her, aiming to beat and marry her so he could rule Nadeshiko, yet she shattered his puppets ninety-eight times before Naruto entered the picture. Traveling with Tokiwa into the Land of Fire, she sought the pupil Jiraiya had rashly pledged to her, wrecked his ninety-ninth puppet, and then took on Naruto, keeping him at bay and clearing away his clones. His Hundred Puppet Soul Binding briefly seized her before Naruto broke it and put him down. Once Naruto explained the law and admitted his heart lay elsewhere, Shizuka's outlook shifted, and she pledged to grow stronger for a love she could choose freely.