Kanai Shinjiru

Very little is known about Kanai at this point. He is the only surviving member of his village, Ryūgakure, which was attacked, ransacked, and utterly decimated by a certain snake sannin. He has only been seen wearing (oddly) an Akatsuki cloak, with a hood similar to those of Team Hawk. Despite this, he has no affiliation to the organization, instead insisting that he loathes it and wants nothing more than to see it destroyed.

Personality
Kanai seems to have an overwhelmingly positive outlook on life, similar to Naruto Uzumaki. Though nowhere near as hyperactive, Kanai does try to make light of certain situations and never fails to see the silver lining. Whenever a friend or fellow jinchūriki is threatened, Kanai's attitude undergoes a drastic metamorphosis; he becomes irrationally violent and overprotective, insisting that he and only he can protect his friends. This obviously is the rationale behind everyone's frustration with him. Kanai's dream is to restore his village to it's former glory, and to ensure that no jinchūriki or bijū ever comes to any harm.

He is described by Kakashi Hatake as "...an exact replica of Sasuke, as far as the confidence and ego goes. And yet, he's something altogether...different. He's like Naruto's morals and Sasuke's attitude and even my own indifference rolled into one."

Abilities
Again, very little is known about this troubled boy's power. The only person with some plausible knowledge would be Yugito Nii, as she claimed that it was he who rescued her from the Akatsuki duo of Hidan and Kakuzu. She insists that he had enormous chakra control, even being able to temporarily loan her some of his bijū's chakra. Aforementioned chakra had enveloped her in a matter similar to Naruto's one-tailed fox cloak, guarding her from Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear and elemental masks. Kanai reportedly made short work of Kakuzu, and proceeded to engage Hidan in a kenjutsu (art of the sword) battle. Kanai and the immortal seemed to be in an endless deadlock, with neither weapon even grazing their opponent's clothing. After a few moments, Yugito and Hidan finally realized the awe-inspiring truth; Kanai had just been fooling around. As Yugito would later describe it; "...he suddenly leaped backwards, and quickly sliced his hand with the sword. He wiped his own blood across the blade, and muttered something I couldn't quite understand. Out of nowhere, red kanji lit up all over the blade, and he brought the sword down in a diagonal slicing motion. I swear, it was the strangest thing! Flames actually erupted from the sword and swallowed the Akatsuki, and disappeared in an instant! Once the last of the flames dissipated, all that was left was the man's strange-looking scythe and his necklace. There wasn't even any smoke or flesh. It was like he was disintegrated before my eyes. And to top it all off, my rescuer actually came back, picked me up, and carried me home. He didn't even ask for my number.

Kenjutsu
Kanai's main strength (excluding Norsdamu's chakra) seems to lie in kenjutsu. He treats blade-wielding as a hobby more than a fighting style, and has been seen practicing frequently with his blade, which has yet to be identified. All that is known of the strange katana is it's extraordinary ability to mimic the knowledge Kanai learns along his sojourns. The blade is decorated with different kanji, which light up and utilize the form of nature chakra that Kanai wishes to use.

Bijū
Kanai jails one of the only two remaining nine-tails in the world; Norsdamu no Ryūko, the nine-tailed demon dragon. This bijū takes the form of a massive black dragon, sporting creepy eyes and a grin that could rival Naruto's. Norsdamu enjoys tea, oriental music, human flesh, and his "period". Do not misunderstand this concept; every 100 years sees the coming of an ancient and terrible celestial event. The planet's orbit comes drastically close to the sun, dragging it's moon with it. The moon, embodied by this sudden change in gravitational pull, revolves around the planet much faster than normal. This event, known as the "8 Demon Days" or "Octorbital Lunar Demon Possession", is a terrible time for the bijū alive in the world. Each day, as the planet draws further away from it's fatal closeness to the sun, the moon takes on a red hue that deepens every 24 hours. On the final hour of the 8th day, the bijū lose control and destroy everything in their paths. It is speculated that, twelve years before the start of the series, this is what caused the Kyūbi's rampage near Konoha (it has yet to be proven). Nine-tailed bijū are highly susceptible, and often require desperate measures to be undertaken in order to quell their rampages.

Norsdamu is the oldest bijū alive, as well as the wisest. While he may not have as much chakra as the Kyūbi no Yoko, or know as much about ancient jutsu, he makes up for this with his unequaled knowledge of kenjutsu and fūinjutsu (sealing techniques). Using this knowledge, Norsdamu (or "Damu-san" as Kanai so fondly calls him) plans to find all the jinchūriki and offer the jailed demons freedom, with the consent of both parties.

Affiliations
Kanai Shinjiru has no living family members. His village was aptly named Ryūgakure, for their symbol and power was derived from Norsdamu. In a way, the age-old bijū was the prophet and defender of this village, and was treated with the utmost respect. Sadly, a foolish Utaku Shinjiru (Kanai's father and the first Ryūkage) sealed the dragon into his youngest son, in hopes of having a super-powered bloodline and an invincible clan. Orochimaru's spy in the village reported this sudden turn of events, which temporarily left Ryūgakure vulnerable to attack, even with it's legendary quicksand defenses. With his only home desolate, and no one to look after him, a young Kanai managed to find his way to the neighboring village of Sunagakure. There he befriended Gaara, a fellow jinchūriki, and Kanai's first bond was formed.

Only Kanai himself knows what happened between his initiation into Sunagakure and his first meeting with Yugito Nii, and he has yet to reveal this personal information. He is Naruto's closest friend (following the defection of Sasuke), and is therefore seen as a Leaf nin. He was given the headband, which he has strapped to his right arm. He wears it there, to show his new found allegiance to Konohagakure, and he wears his village's headband (which takes the shape of a dragon circling a shuriken) on his head, to show that no matter what happens, Ryūgakure will still be his home.