Kakashi Hatake (Hatake Kakashi?, alternately spelled ) is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto originally planned to introduce Kakashi in the manga to the series' titular character, Naruto Uzumaki, early on, but pushed back this meeting so that Naruto's teammates could be better developed.In the story, Kakashi is the leader and teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto. He is initially portrayed as a detached and apathetic figure, but as the series progresses, his loyalty to his friends and students becomes increasingly apparent. Kakashi's past has been extensively explored in the series, resulting in a gaiden being devoted to his past experiences. Kakashi has appeared in several pieces of Naruto media, including three of the four featured films in the series, all of the original video animations, and several video games.
Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Kakashi's character. Although he has been noted to be an echo of similar detached shōnen characters, the duality of Kakashi's apathetic and serious sides have been praised. Kakashi's popularity has been noted by reviewers; T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews commented that the series could simply be renamed "Kakashi." Kakashi has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Kakashi has also been released, including key chains and plush dolls.
Creation and conception
Masashi Kishimoto originally intended for Kakashi to debut in the second chapter of the Naruto manga, appearing prior to the other members of Team 7. This Kakashi was designed as a laid back, affected, skilled ninja that ended his sentences with the polite "de gozaru" in the Japanese versions of the series. After speaking with his editor, Kishimoto pushed this debut back, allowing him to better develop Kakashi and the rest of Team 7. Despite this, Kakashi retains many of his original personality traits, being easygoing, unfazed by the actions of others, and appearing to be half-asleep. Kishimoto feels that this makes Kakashi a compelling leader and helps to keep the diverse members of Team 7 unified. Because he acts as a link between the other main characters of the series, Kakashi is rarely featured prominently in promotional artwork, instead appearing in the background while his students are the focus of the scene.
When deciding upon Kakashi's name, Kishimoto considered a number of possibilities: Kuwa ("hoe"), Kama ("scythe"), Botan ("peony"), Enoki (a nettle tree), and Kakashi ("scarecrow"). He eventually decided upon Kakashi, and remains glad that he did to this day. In keeping with the meaning of his name, scarecrows are occasionally used to represent Kakashi; Naruto, for example, uses a scarecrow that is dressed like Kakashi to help him train for a combat test between the two. Likewise, scarecrows are at times added to the background of scenes in which Kakashi appears, as is the case with the cover of the Naruto manga volume three. During episode 101 of the anime, Kakashi uses a scarecrow of himself to elude Team 7. When the face of the scarecrow is shown, you see a comical interpretation of Kakashi's face also used in Naruto's imitation of him.
Background
Kakashi's background goes unexplored for the first part of the series, not being shown in any detail until Kakashi Gaiden, a six chapter series that divides the gap between Part I and II of the manga. During Kakashi's youth his father, a ninja that was highly revered in Konohagakure, abandoned a mission crucial to the village in order to save the lives of his teammates. Disgraced by the villagers and those he had saved because of the repercussions the village suffered, Kakashi's father committed suicide. Wishing to avoid his father's dishonor, Kakashi adopted the philosophy that the success of a mission must always come first, becoming humorless and by-the-book in the process.
In later years Kakashi was assigned by his teacher, Minato Namikaze, to lead a mission that would turn the war going on at the time in Konoha's favor. When his teammate, Rin, was captured by enemy ninja, Kakashi elected to leave her behind and finish the mission. His other teammate, Obito Uchiha, rejected this alternative, stating that those who abandon their friends are worse than garbage and that Kakashi's father had done the right thing by saving his teammates. Touched by Obito's words, Kakashi joined him in a rescue effort, though his left eye became damaged in the ensuing battle. After finding Rin and preparing to escape, an enemy induced cave-in crushed Obito's right half. With the cave continuing to collapse around them and Obito unable to free himself, Obito urged his teammates to save themselves. Before leaving, Obito had Rin implant his newly acquired Sharingan eye into Kakashi's damaged eye socket as a gift. His new eye in place, Kakashi fled with Rin as the cave collapsed, eventually completing their mission and forever mourning Obito's death.
Personality
Obito's death greatly changed Kakashi, as he adopted many of Obito's traits and philosophies. Most recurring of these is his concept of teamwork: when first forming Team 7, Kakashi gauges their abilities with a bell test in which the three must capture the two bells he keeps on his person. Only by working as a team, regardless of the fact that there aren't enough bells for each of them, are they able to pass, instilling in them the concept of teamwork early on. Kakashi continues to further this philosophy for the duration of Part I upon Sasuke Uchiha, whose drive to get stronger causes him to slowly turn against his friends and teammates. Though Kakashi frequently reminds Sasuke of the importance of teamwork and tries to show him how strength can be found in friendship, he is unable to get through to him before the latter's defection.
Kakashi keeps his personal life separate from his interactions with his students, only going so far as to say that he has a number of hobbies and dreams that are "none of [their] business". He also states that everyone precious to him is dead. What is known of Kakashi's personal life is that he spends much of his free time at a memorial site where Obito's name is engraved. He tends to lose track of time when he is there, and is frequently late to his appointments as a result (another trait adopted from Obito). Similarly, Kakashi constantly keeps the lower half of his face covered, and thus the appearance of his face remains a mystery. Episode 101 of the anime, an omake episode dedicated to Team 7's efforts to unmask Kakashi, implies he is quite handsome, as two employees from the Ichiraku ramen shop (male and female) were left awestruck after he briefly removes his mask to eat. (He actually shows Team 7 that under his mask is another mask at the end of the episode.)
One pastime that Kakashi makes no attempt to hide from even his students is his fondness for the Make Out (Icha Icha?) series of erotic novels. The books, detailing the author's (Jiraiya) experiences in love, are runaway best-sellers within the Naruto world. When asked more specifically about the contents of the books, Masashi Kishimoto explained that Naruto's target demographic was not old enough for him to disclose the details of the plot. Kakashi is usually seen reading one of the books during events that do not require his complete attention, such as his early conversations and training sessions with Team 7. Naruto has on occasion used Kakashi's attachment to the books against him; he threatens to spoil the ending of the latest installment in the series, forcing Kakashi to shut his eyes and ears to avoid learning the secret and leaving him off guard in the process.
Abilities
The Sharingan given to him by Obito is a sticking point to Kakashi's fame in the Naruto world. Granting him the ability to mimic the movements and jutsu of others, the Sharingan gives Kakashi an edge in battle by allowing him to turn his opponent's abilities against them, leading to his nickname of "Copy Ninja Kakashi" (Kopī Ninja no Kakashi?). With his ability to mimic the jutsu of others, Kakashi has added over one thousand different attacks to his repertoire including every type of ninja technique. Because the Sharingan only naturally occurs in those of Uchiha lineage, Kakashi needs to exert much more energy when using his own as well his eye is always active so keeps it covered with his mask. During the gap in time between Part I and II, Kakashi even develops a Mangekyo Sharingan through unknown means. With it he can use a jutsu called Kamui (Kamui? literally "God's Authority") that allows him to send any targeted object to another dimension. Because performing this ability requires extended bed rest afterwards, Kakashi avoids using it unless absolutely necessary.
Although most of Kakashi's abilities were acquired with his Sharingan, Kakashi has two abilities he developed by himself. Lightning Blade, a collection of lightning chakra in one's hand, was created by Kakashi in his youth. By rushing at the enemy and thrusting the Lightning Blade into a target, Kakashi can kill most opponents with one strike. Because of the speed at which the technique is performed, regular eyes experience a tunnel-vision effect when using it and leaves the user open to counterattack. After gaining his Sharingan, Kakashi was able to overcome this flaw, and uses its analytical capabilities to better react to enemy movements. His second unique ability is the pack of eight ninja dogs (Ninken?) he is able to summon to his side. The dogs are capable of talking and have presumably been raised by Kakashi since they were puppies. He primarily uses them for tracking purposes, but he can use them as tools in combat as well should he need to locate or hold an enemy down for a finishing attack. Because of his abilities, Kakashi is noted to be an obvious candidate for the position of Hokage, the protector of Konoha, should the position ever become vacant.
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