Temari Nara is a former kunoichi of Sunagakure’s Kazekage Clan and the eldest of the Three Sand Siblings. She is the sister of Gaara and Kankuro, and the wife of Shikamaru Nara. She is also a wind release user who wields a giant iron fan as her weapon. In this article, we will explore her character development, abilities, relationships, and role in the anime Naruto Shippuden.
All about Temari Nara
[schemas]- Birthdate: August 23
- Sex: Female
- Age: Part I: 15–16/Part II: 19–20
- Height: Part I: 157.3 cm–159.3 cm/Part II: 165 cm/Blank Period: 170 cm
- Weight: Part I: 44.5 kg–44.9 kg/Part II: 47.9 kg
- Blood type: O
- Occupation: Ambassador/Fifth Kazekage’s Bodyguard/Chūnin Exams Proctor
- Affiliation: Sunagakure/Konohagakure/Allied Shinobi Forces
- Team: Three Sand Siblings/Fourth Division/Wind Release Team
- Clan: Nara Clan/Kazekage Clan
Contents
Temari Nara’s Background
Temari was born the eldest child of Karura and the Fourth Kazekage: Rasa. While it was customary for close relations to a Kage to be a jinchūriki, neither she nor her younger brother Kankurō were compatible with the One-Tail, so Gaara was chosen.
In the anime, growing up as a relative to the Fourth Kazekage and Gaara, Temari had a hard time making friends as everyone was always intimidated by her lineage.
One boy, however, Daimaru, would spend much time around her, albeit always to play pranks on her. She also used to play with Sen and Yome when they were little girls.
Temari Nara’s Personality
Temari is a prudent, stoic and blunt individual who is rarely afraid to speak her mind, a trait she would later pass on to her son. In Part I, similar to her siblings, she was rather dismissive with a cruel streak which was demonstrated when Gaara killed Team Shigure; she simply smiled and waved goodbye to them before they were crushed.
However, Temari seems to value peace, as she questioned the reasoning of starting a war with Konoha in Part I, and was saddened by the countless lives that would be lost as a result.
In Part II, her value for peace increased, as she acts as a diplomatic liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure to prepare for the next Chūnin Exams, as well as by risking her life several times during the Kage Summit and the Fourth Shinobi World War to save her comrades, it didn’t matter if they were from her village or not as it initially did for other shinobi.
During the Chunin Exams, it is revealed that the one person she is afraid of is Gaara. When Gaara and Kankurō were fighting, she showed a light, happy, mood to make sure Gaara didn’t harm her or Kankuro.
Despite this, during the short time between then and the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, she no longer expressed fear around him, having been one of the first to accept the new Gaara.
Like Kankuro, her relationship with Gaara has greatly improved after he sought redemption after being reformed by Naruto. Temari is shown to be a loving sister who deeply cares for her siblings: when Gaara was captured by the Akatsuki, she hurried back to the village to save him; and when Kankuro was poisoned, she watched over him until he had recovered.
In the anime, as revealed from her Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Temari cares greatly for her siblings and her greatest desire is for them to trust and rely on her.
Temari frequently appears alongside Shikamaru Nara. Though they were opponents during the Chunin Exams, they came to each others’ aid at different points in Part I.
Despite her usual tough demeanour, she has a tendency to show a softer nature around Shikamaru, such as showing sympathy for him after his father scolded him for questioning if he should be a ninja after the Sasuke Uchiha rescue mission failed.
When Naruto returned to Konoha at the start of Part II and saw the two of them walking together, he asked them if they were on a date, which both of them denied.
Later, after Shikamaru had escorted her to the village gates near the beginning of Part II, she told him that he should take his duties more seriously, and to quickly become a jōnin like herself.
This topic was continued when she was assigned to the Fourth Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces with Shikamaru. She tells him to “look alive” and act more like a leader now that he was essentially the division’s acting general in Gaara’s place.
In the anime, it is implied that Temari has feelings for Shikamaru, as she became very flustered when Yukata and Matsuri made note of it.
This would turn out to be true, as after the war, she was clearly angered by how Shikamaru would not tell her the secret mission he was about to do, apparently having considered them to be able to confide in each other anything, to the point of slapping him and crying. She eventually started a relationship with Shikamaru and eventually even married him and gave birth to their son Shikadai.
Temari is shown to be quite strict as a mother, as she was very upset to hear him get involved in any trouble at school and sharply tells him to give his uncle, Gaara, a proper greeting. She is not above physically disciplining her son.
She is also shown to have just the same relationship with her husband as Shikaku and Yoshino Nara, her parents-in-law, had, with Shikamaru becoming “whipped” by Temari just like Shikaku was by Yoshino. She is annoyed by Shikamaru’s lack of discipline towards their son and finds it unacceptable.
She is also just as annoyed whenever he focuses too much on teaching their son shogi to the point of resorting to violence, as shown when she blasted both him and Shikadai out of the house after they repeatedly ignored her due to being so focused in playing shogi.
Overall, she is shown to be the matriarch of her family, as both men greatly fear her wrath and she is easily able to guess their inner thoughts.
She also became very loyal to the Nara clan, caring very much about the clan’s future and reputation. At same time, she is not without having a carefree side, smiling at watching her son compete in the Chunin Exams and chuckling after seeing her son forfeit in an manner almost identical to Shikamaru during their own match years earlier.
While strict and fully willing to admonish her son in public, as she did when Shikadai showed hesitance to engage the Byakuya Gang as her backup, she does have limits to what she is willing to push her son into, as she disapproved of Shikamaru sending Shikadai to capture Boruto and Sarada thinking it would be too much for him to fight his friends. She also blushed when Shikamaru stated at times he wanted to eat with his family.
Temari Nara’s Appearance
Temari bears a great resemblance to her mother; she has teal eyes and sandy blonde hair, which is gathered into four consecutive pigtails. In Part I, Temari’s outfit consists of a single light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist.
In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her black forehead protector around her neck.
During the Sasuke Recovery Mission and for the remainder of Part I, Temari wore a long-sleeved purple blouse under a grey top, a dark blue skirt, and a longer sash arranged in a bow.
In Part II, Temari’s attire is completely different, exchanging her previous purple-coloured kimono for a short-sleeved, black kimono that reaches down to her legs, with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline.
While she retains a red sash tied around her waist, she now sports fingerless black gloves and wears her forehead protector on her forehead. When escorting Gaara to the Summit of the Five Kage, she wears mesh armour underneath a sleeveless, purple dress with a purple blouse over it, a purple sash around her waist, hand warmers and leg guards.
She also carried a scroll in which she sealed her fan and instead opted to carry a smaller fan around with her. She is also seen in her previous outfit after the summit. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Temari, like all the other shinobi, donned the standard attire of her village inclusive of a flak jacket.
Two years after the war, she is seen having bangs that fall to the right side of her face along with her hair, which is a bit longer, up in two pigtails. Her attire resembles the one she wore during the Sasuke Recovery Mission.
Her clothing consists of a purple long-sleeved blouse with a high collar under a grey top, and a dark blue skirt with a split in the middle revealing her leggings.
She wears fingerless gloves and her sandals are slightly different. Noticeably, she isn’t wearing her forehead protector. She also started wearing lipstick.
After she settled down in Konohagakure and became a mother, and when off-duty, she would wear a simple dark purple kimono robe. She styles her hair back into four pigtails and would also begin to part her hair to the right.
In Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Temari’s hair has changed again; now it has only two ponytails at the bottom of the back of her head. She wears a pair of simple white earrings, a light pink lipstick, and also a shuriken holster on her right thigh.
Temari’s outfit consists of a dark blue short sleeved dress that reached her above her knees, a beige belt with white polka dots around her belly (which also serves to carry her fan), fingerless black gloves, and high-heeled boot-sandals with wooden soles.
Temari Nara’s Abilities
Being one of the Fourth Kazekage’s children who underwent the gruelling training of Sunagakure, Temari is a highly talented and skilled kunoichi who specialises in long-range combat.
Even as a genin, Temari easily managed to kill Tayuya, the second strongest member of the Sound Four, without a single scratch. She rises to the rank of jonin by Part II, and her skills allowed her to be chosen to guard the Fifth Kazekage during the Five Kage Summit.
As an adult, despite having spent years as a house-wife, Temari still displayed great prowess, able to single-handedly handle the Byakuya Gang, forcing them to retreat, and easily outclass Team 10.
Ninjutsu
Tessenjutsu and Nature Transformation
Temari wields a giant iron fan (鉄扇, tessen) in battle, which she uses in tandem with her Wind Release nature manipulation to create severe torrents of wind.
In addition to being used as a makeshift club or to block attacks, the fan can be used to glide upon for transportation or intimidation, and it seems to be made of some sort of steel, since it is able to deflect kunai and shuriken when opened.
Inscribed on her fan are three purple circles spaced equally across its length, which she calls “stars” (星, hoshi, English TV: moons). As she opens the fan to reveal each star in sequence, the fan’s power increases greatly.
Once all three moons are revealed, Temari can create slicing whirlwinds that she can guide with her chakra. Her winds allow her to attack from afar and alter the battlefield to her liking, as well as deflect or divert most ranged attacks.
A stronger variant of her whirlwinds can be used as a counter against sound wave attacks that can cause genjutsu, making it both a defence and an attack at the same time. In the anime, Temari showed the ability to mix sand into her attacks to catch the enemy off-guard. She could also create a deadly tornado.
In Part II, Temari is shown to have far greater control of the winds she creates with her fan. She demonstrates the ability to slice through multiple points on a Samurai’s armour without injuring the man inside.
She also developed a stronger variant of the Sickle Weasel Technique. By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Temari was claimed to be the best Wind Release user in the Fourth Division, which was shown when she could injure the Third Raikage, whose body is known to be extremely durable, and counter the resulting wind force caused by a swipe of one of the Ten-Tails’ tail by using the Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique alongside the other tessenjutsu users.
Likewise, she could counter the Ten-Tails’ arms alongside the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces. In the anime, she has used Wind Release even without her fan, being able to create a swirl of air using her palm. Two years after the war, she was recognised as the best Wind Release user in Suna, and possibly the world.
Intelligence
Temari is a keen analyst, able to easily deduce an opponent’s strategies and weaknesses soon after a battle begins. During her Chūnin Exams finals fight, she easily calculated the distance it would take for Shikamaru to reach her with the Shadow Imitation Technique, and was able to consistently keep out of its grasp.
Despite ultimately being out-witted in her fight against Shikamaru, she was praised by the jōnin Asuma Sarutobi who called her “an excellent strategist”.
She has also shown to have keen senses, able to tell when a Wind Release technique is being used, as well as when Naruto was attempting to use the Tailed Beast Ball.
She is also apparently very studious as since marrying into the Nara clan, she has become well-versed in its techniques (or least the knowledge of them) and helped develop a new technique.
Other Skills
Temari can summon Kamatari, a one-eyed weasel, able to aid her in battle by creating strong gusts of wind in unison with her own. Temari is also a capable short-range combatant, able to easily block Rock Lee’s Leaf Whirlwind with her fan, much to the latter’s surprise, and in the anime, use her fan in tandem with taijutsu to defeat several of Konohamaru Sarutobi’s shadow clones.
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