Naoki Nara

Naoki Nara (Nara Naoki, 奈良直樹) is a shinobi of Konohagakure's Nara clan. Due to his repetitive use of Fire Release: Fire Shadow Stage Technique in collaboration with other clan jutsu for creative attacks and distractions, he earned the moniker Kage Houken (Shadows Fire Fist).

Background
Naoki was born into the Nara clan to Yūdai and Megami. As he grew older, it quickly became apparent that Naoki mostly lacked the standard Nara laziness and was always reading scrolls or trying to learn as well as master new jutsu, something that inspired pride yet puzzled his parents.

At the tender age of nine, Naoki graduated from the Academy, placed in a squad with fraternal twins, Daiki and Riku Harada under Chōukichi Nakamura. He was later informed by his on the same day that his mother and father were KIA; the older woman was surprised but saddened to note he didn't shed any tears.

Later that week, Naoki met up with his teammates and Sensei at their training ground. Chōukichi's test to see if they were Genin-criteria was an improved game of "Tag", the rule simply being to catch him before noon with any method they preferred, but if they didn't manage this, he'd send them back to the Academy for rudimentary training. His declaration had the desired effect as the twins immediately went on the offensive, relying on each other and completely abandoning Naoki.

With his keen intellect, the Nara deduced the fact that without all three of them working together and using their individual skills, they had no chance of catching their teacher, but the older boys refused to listen or cooperate with him which resulted in several hours of a fruitless chase; Chōukichi berated them all, claiming that teamwork was the foundation of a successful squad and without each other to depend and rely on, they either failed at best or died by enemy hands at worst.

The twins loudly proclaimed that they understood that fact and tried to blame Naoki for not participating in the chase and "proving his worth", the youngest member of the squad rebuked their claims, mocking them for being too gung-ho and lacking the necessary attitude and training to be shinobi, a statement that nearly earned him a beating had not Chōukichi intervened, harshly reprimanding them but ultimately decided to give them another chance.

Fifteen minutes afterward, the twins awkwardly apologized for abandoning him and asked for a chance to make amends, although dubious, Naoki agreed. Chōukichi sprung from his hiding place, having not really ever left at all, and congratulated them on showing the signs of being more than just brats, much to their chagrin, and told them that they'd passed.

The details are a bit sketchy about how exactly Daiki and Riku were KIA on an even sketchier mission, but it served to be the breaking point for Chōukichi who later fell into depression and committed suicide while Naoki threw himself into mission after mission until Shikaku and the Sandaime stepped in and forced him to take a temporarily relieve from his duties a few weeks after he became chūnin.

Although equal parts disquieted and incensed, Naoki took the time off to re-evaluate his goals and dreams, what he wanted out of life and when he came back on active duty, he appeared to have made a complete one-eighty personality change with kinder and sloth-like behavior.

Personality
Naoki is a difficult person to understand, whether in simple day-to-day, mundane interactions or while on the battlefield. During missions with others, he maintains a professional, if not impersonal, attitude, preferring not to become emotionally attached, if at all, possible. Despite this clinical and anti-social behavior, he will never endanger his comrades' lives needlessly or ask them to do anything he's unwilling to do himself first, this trait likely appeared after the death of his teammates and Sensei, he bears survivor's guilt that he's the only living member of his former squad, attempting to make amends for his mistakes by often shouldering the responsibility for anything that goes wrong despite logically understanding there was nothing he could do and it wasn't his fault.

He has few real ties to the Nara clan beyond his aunt, uncle and cousin. He's different than the members of his family who are generally lazy and unmotivated despite being incredibly intelligent, preferring to work hard on whatever task he's given whether important or not, and he's considered a prodigy due to his mastery of clan techniques, striving to perfect his style in every way. After achieving the rank of chūnin, Naoki adopted the facade of kindness, acting more like his clansmen in a sloth-like manner.

Appearance
Naoki has neck length, thick curly black hair, his bangs often getting into his hazel brown eyes, porcelain skin, and often dresses in black pants, black ninja sandals, a button up shirt with the Nara clan design on the back, and a black Konoha flak jacket or his Chūnin vest in Part I of the series.

In Part II of the series, his hair has gotten a bit longer and more unruly, mainly kept in a ponytail. He has gotten taller and filled out with a bit of muscle; while not on duty, he can be seen in a black trench coat, a silver cross draped around his neck, black pants with a heavy silver belt buckle, and a dark blue shirt.

While on duty, Naoki wears black clothing and grey chest armor, metal arm guards and gloves, ninja sandals with spikes, three ninja pouches on his back-waist and a signature spiral tattoo on his shoulder, a black cloak over his standard uniforms, he carries a sword, which is usually strapped to his back with a white tiger face mask.

Abilities
Naoki is an extremely skilled shinobi. This claim is proven true with the fact that despite being a year or two older than the, he achieved chūnin rank only a year after graduating from the Academy and even further when he joined ANBU; a remarkable feat.

Taijutsu
Naoki prefers mid and long range combat but can fight close range. He is capable of getting in close, delivering punishing blows with astonishing force despite his, at first glance, disarming appearance. Well versed with the human body, he is able to use senbon needles with deadly accuracy to stun his prey or trapping them with his wire strings before cutting them apart with his Chakra Blade or Fūma Shuriken.

Hapkido
He utilizes several styles of combat, most prominently being Hapkido which is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks; it contains both long and close range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges and pressure point strikes, joint locks, or throws at closer fighting distances and emphasizes circular motion, non-resisting movements, as well as control of the opponent. Naoki prefers this style because it maintains a wide range of tactics which focus on escaping and regaining footing or finishing a downed opponent.

Judo
The second style of combat he commonly uses is Judo where its most prominent feature is where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. There are three basic categories of waza (技?, techniques) in judo: nage-waza (投げ技?, throwing techniques), katame-waza (固技?, grappling techniques) and atemi-waza (当て身技?, striking techniques). Uki otoshi countered by Tai otoshi Seoinage countered by Yoko guruma Kata guruma countered by Sumi gaeshi Tai otoshi countered by Kotsuri goshi Obi otoshi countered by O guruma Okuriashi harai countered by Tsubame gaeshi Kouchi gari countered by Hiza Guruma Ouchi gari countered by Ouchi gaeshi Sasae tsurikomi ashi countered by Sumi otoshi Uchi mata countered by Tai otoshi Hane goshi countered by Kari gaeshi Harai goshi countered by Ushiro goshi Han goshi countered by Utsuri goshi Uki goshi countered by Yoko wakare O goshi countered by Ippon seoinage
 * The Nage ura no kata (投げ技裏の形?) is a judo kata that, like the Go no sen no kata and Kaeshi no kata, focuses on counter-attacks to throwing techniques.

Aikido
Naoki's lesser known and utilized style of combat is Aikido which is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength, as the aikidōka (aikido practitioner) "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks.
 * Initial Attacks: Aikido techniques are usually a defense against an attack, so students must learn to deliver various types of attacks to be able to practice aikido with a partner.

Front-of-the-head strike: a vertical knifehand strike to the head. In training, this is usually directed at the forehead or the crown for safety, but more dangerous versions of this attack target the bridge of the nose and the maxillary sinus. Side-of-the-head strike: a diagonal knifehand strike to the side of the head or neck. Chest thrust: a punch to the torso. Specific targets include the chest, abdomen, and solar plexus. Same as "middle-level thrust", and "direct thrust". Face thrust: a punch to the face. Same as "upper-level thrust".


 * Basic Techniques: The following are a sample of the basic or widely practiced throws and pins.

First technique: by using one hand on the elbow and one hand near the wrist which leverages attacker to the ground. This grip applies pressure into the ulnar nerve at the wrist. Second technique: a pronating wristlock that torques the arm and applies painful nerve pressure. Third technique: a rotational wristlock that directs upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. Fourth technique: a shoulder control similar to ikkyō, but with both hands gripping the forearm. The knuckles (from the palm side) are applied to the recipient's radial nerve against the periosteum of the forearm bone. Fifth technique: visually similar to ikkyō, but with an inverted grip of the wrist, medial rotation of the arm and shoulder, and downward pressure on the elbow. Common in knife and other weapon take-aways. Four-direction throw: The hand is folded back past the shoulder, locking the shoulder joint. Forearm return: a supinating wristlock-throw that stretches the extensor digitorum. Breath throw: a loosely used term for various types of mechanically unrelated techniques, although they generally do not use joint locks like other techniques. Entering throw: throws in which nage moves through the space occupied by uke. The classic form superficially resembles a "clothesline" technique. Heaven-and-earth throw: Sweeps one hand low ("earth") and the other high ("heaven"), which unbalances attacker so that he or she easily topples over. Hip throw: Aikido's version of the hip throw. Naoki hips lower than those of attacker, then flips he or she over the resultant fulcrum. Figure-ten throw: a throw that locks the arms against each other Rotary throw: Sweeps the arm back until it locks the shoulder joint, then uses forward pressure to throw.

Nara Clan Techniques
Naoki is highly proficient with the Nara's clan techniques though he primarily uses Fire Release: Fire Shadow Stage Technique. He was later seen using the Shadow Imitation Technique for mundane things like capturing Tora, Madame Shijimi's cat while on a D-rank mission or stopping a child from falling down some stairs.

However, he does know how to utilize the Shadow–Neck Binding Technique, as seen in a flashback where he threatens to break an enemy nin's neck and does so without remorse. He is able to successfully use the Shadow Sewing Technique while having his hands in his pockets and the Shadow Gathering Technique in succession with Black Lily to bring his targets in close.

Nature Transformation
Naoki possesses the Earth Release and Fire Release nature transformations and has shown adequate talent in using both in order to cause the maximum amount of damage to his adversaries. He's quite accomplished with using earth chains to hold his target in place before creating a wall of flame to incinerate them.

Genjutsu
Although Naoki uses Genjutsu less often, he has also shown some skill in the area. He is able to use low-level techniques, decipher high-level techniques and has advanced knowledge of their working and can dispel genjutsu. He is also able to simultaneously affect multiple opponents with his techniques and could revert the effects of genjutsu to the caster.

Naoki has only been seen using two or three Genjutsu techniques, his favorite being the Demonic Illusion: Bloody Dream and Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique in rapid succession on an enemy with debilitating effects, leaving them vulnerable so that he can kill them easier.

Bukijutsu
Naoki is a highly-skilled user in a large variety of weapons such as Fūma shuriken, wire strings, senbon, wakizashi and others. Due to his ANBU background, he is especially proficient in kenjutsu. His weapon-skills are also very adaptable; the Nara is able to shift between weapons with relatively fast speed and ease until he finds the one required for the situation.

By using the Chakra Flow skill, he is able to amplify an ordinary katana and wakizashi into a blade of flames due to his natural Fire affinity, incinerating anything which it comes into direct contact with and spreading around the area like sentient wild fire, the flames only becoming bigger, wilder and more difficult to contain the more chakra is added to the technique.

Introduction Arc
Naoki often acted as an Academy instructor when he wasn't actively taking on missions and worked alongside and. After defaced the Hokage Monument with graffiti, he was one of the few shinobi who didn't give chase and even found the orange clad ninja's antics amusing, if a tad troublesome. When Naruto was supposed to transform into Iruka, but instead turned into a naked girl, Naoki was reading an Anatomy book and barely looked up when Iruka suffered from a massive nosebleed.

He helped Naruto clean the Hokage Monument despite his fellow chūnin's reluctance and offered to take Naruto (and indirectly, Iruka) out eat whenever they were free, he ate ramen with the duo that night and learned that Naruto wanted to be Hokage. The following day, Naruto failed the exams after producing a single, sickly looking clone, and he concluded that the blonde simply had too much chakra and overloaded the technique, a fact he intended to bring up with Iruka but the Sandaime called the older Chūnin away.

Naoki received a summon like many other shinobi and was informed that Naruto had stolen the, he was a bit stunned since it was out of character and it didn't seem to be a prank. Still, he dutifully went searching for the blonde, hoping to catch him before the others did; after a few fruitless hours of searching, he finally found the blonde and was startled to realize that he'd managed to learn a technique but that was the least of his concerns when Naruto told him the bogus story Mizuki had concocted about a make-up exam, quickly deducing he'd been used as a scapegoat.

Before he had the chance to inform the blonde prankster or better yet, get him to the Hokage as the older man should be immediately informed of the traitor, Mizuki appeared on the scene and nearly severed him in half with a Fūma Shuriken; it was only by a hair's breath that Naoki managed to evade the large weapon, knocking Naruto out of the way.

The silver haired traitor mocked them about how easily they fell for his deception, calling them fool and ordering Naruto to hand over the scroll. Naoki rebuked Mizuki, saying he overestimated his own power and cautioned Naruto not to hand over the scroll, even as he prepared to use the Shadow Imitation technique — that is until the former Academy instructor called Naruto a demon and revealed his status as a jinchūriki, jailor of the Kyūbi no Yoko, causing the blonde to run off with the scroll.

Due to the fact that Naoki didn't immediately run after Naruto, Mizuki believed he'd planted doubt in the Nara's heart and said it was only natural to be afraid of demons. The teen curtly called him an idiot before catching his shadow in the Shadow Imitation technique and used the Demonic Illusion: Bloody Dream jutsu on him as Iruka finally appeared, he gave the Chūnin a quick run down on the events that occurred and cautioned the teacher to go after Naruto as he knew him best.

After the Scroll was recovered and both Iruka as well as Naruto were debriefed, the Sandaime called Naoki in for his report, notably in private. Keeping his thoughts to himself on that little tidbit, Naoki verbally recounted his report while keeping up his poker face as Sarutobi queried if he could be trusted with Konoha's greatest secret, with Naruto's secret and the Nara answered positively with no hesitation.

Land of Waves Arc
Naoki was sent to Kirigakure as a potential mole (also called a penetration agent; long term spy) to gain information about the rebellion uprising due to the Yondaime Mizukage's startling discrimination against -users. He rendezvoused with and  in the Land of Waves, posing as a clanless, no-name Kiri orphan who wanted to help the rebels take the Mizukage down and it seemed that there were talks of him being accepted into the group before he received an order from the Sandaime to meet  and  for back-up as they'd been attacked by. After burning the message, Naoki used his personal summon, the Shiroi Tora, to track his wayward comrade and genin team, arriving at Tazuna's house later in the evening.

Seeing Kakashi out of commission, and the genin trio woefully under-prepared to be dealing with a dangerous man like Zabuza, Naoki asked the silver haired jōnin permission to teach his squad and although surprised, the cyclops ninja agreed. The following day, the genin were told that Zabuza wasn't dead and he likely had an accomplice in the, ignoring Tazuna's panicked denials then explained that Naoki would be a temporary teacher while he was on the mend. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all skeptical in their own way of Naoki's skill, the Nara noted this but didn't say anything, instead telling them to meet him an area a bit away from Tazuna's house as they'd be training immediately before leaving; Kakashi chided them for once again failing to see "underneath the underneath".

The shadow using Chūnin immediately engaged the younger teens upon their arrival, resorting to simple Taijutsu to defeat Sakura, a low-level Genjutsu on Naruto and entered a battle of attrition with Sasuke, relying on his more insidious jutsu to overpower the Uchiha's Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and beat him with a well-placed punch to the throat after getting inside his guard. As they lay exhausted, humiliated and humbled, Naoki coldly informed them that they were little more than brats that didn't deserve their headbands and would die by Zabuza's hand if they didn't get serious; scoffing in derision as he laid out their flaws without sparing anyone's feelings.

He ran the three ragged with his training regime consisting of and  that later progressed to spars in the trees and on the water, a crash course in strategic thinking, adjusting Naruto's brawler style into something a bit more acceptable, as well as demonstrating the use of one handed handseals. With Naruto's overzealous nature to train himself into exhaustion, Naoki had taken to discreetly chaperoning him, thus was how he inadvertently met Haku and mentally concluded with the herbs the older boy was gathering that he was Zabuza's accomplice and Haku knew that he'd found out his identity, however, the Chūnin jokingly invited the effeminate boy out on a date after his true gender was revealed, grossing Naruto out but earning a chuckle from Haku before he left without a response.

Chūnin Exam Arc
During the final round of the Chūnin exams, Naoki shamelessly gave up a bit of his mission's salary to bet on the fact that Shikamaru would either lose the match or forfeit with the team's Sensei,. He wasn't disappointed nor surprised when his cousin did exactly as he betted, and earned quite a bit of money on that match, promising to split the funds in half with his younger cousin.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
Naoki was seen helping defend the Academy and it's students with, using the Fire Release: Fire Shadow Stage Technique as well as helping evacuate civilians. He later attended the Third's funeral after the failed invasion.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
Naoki confided to Shikamaru that he'd lost both his teammates at varying points in his shinobi career and his former Sensei committed suicide out of grief; he admitted that this is partially why he mellowed out, if he hadn't, he'd likely have driven himself insane with what-if's.

He was later seen on the Nara clan grounds with an ANBU member.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
Naoki didn't make an actual appearance. However, he was briefly mentioned by to have been the only one in his generation to be promoted into the ANBU division, something that visibly distressed.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Naoki and several ANBU were charged with protecting Lady Fifth. When Pain attacked and basically reduced Konoha to a crater, he was one of the lucky few who managed to avoid being killed and did not need to be revived.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Although not personally apart of the Konoha 11, Naoki was allowed to listen in about Sasuke's dealings with Akatsuki, but didn't comment as he felt it wasn't his place to do so. He initially disagreed that Naruto should be left dealing with Sasuke, however, Shikamaru talked him down and he said nothing else.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
Naoki attended a war council with his and cousin to discuss village preparations for the  despite Shikaku believing both he, as well as Shikamaru, were both too young and inexperienced to be there. For once, Naoki showed a serious face and said that he would not back down or fail.

Shinobi World War Arc
When the war began, Naoki was placed in the. He received help from Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji when he and Darui were fighting Kinkaku, assisting Shikamaru in restraining him with his shadow so that Ino could use her Mind Body Switch Technique, leading to Kinkaku's capture within the Kohaku no Jōhei.

After the Ten Tails escaped the hole it'd been trapped in and HQ was destroyed, Naoki felt an inexplicable sadness overcome him momentarily although he didn't receive word that his uncle was deceased until later; he shed only one tear.

Trivia

 * Naoki likes sweets such as pocky and chocolate
 * Naoki means honest tree, and my friend actually used this name first

Quotes
(To ) ''"Do you think the world stops just because of one person suffering? Enough with the troublesome and long speeches though, one day I'll treat you to some yakiniku. Eating ramen all the time isn't healthy!" ''

(To Oto nin during the ) "Man, what a pain. You're going to die anyway, so sit there quietly and wait for your turn."

(To ) "Naruto, you run your mouth too much and rely on the tactic of brute force to get the job done, use your head a little more. The Kage Būnshin is meant for more than just spamming clones. Sakura, you're blind, deaf and dumb to anything other than Sasuke but right now, you're on a mission and he is not your priority, your overwhelming incompetence in anything except book smarts is a hindrance. Sasuke, either lose the superiority complex or tone it down, as proven just moments ago, you are not invincible. Remember this kiddies: everything has a weakness. Anybody can be beaten."