Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Team 8 is a group of Konohagakure ninja lead by Kurenai Yuhi. The members of Team 8 primarily concentrate on tracking, with each of the members' unique abilities primarily utilized in this role. During Part II, Team 8, sans Kurenai, joins Naruto Uzumaki and Team 7 in their search of Sasuke Uchiha.[44]
Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚　キバ, Inuzuka Kiba?) is a member of Team 8 characterized by a number of dog-like traits, including being very protective of his teammates and enjoying any food that he can chew on.[45] Most apparent of his connection to dogs is the constant presence of his ninja dog (忍犬, ninken?), Akamaru. Kiba is fiercely loyal to Akamaru, being unwilling to abandon him and will readily put himself in harm's way for Akamaru's sake.[46] In exchange for Kiba's devotion, Akamaru fights with him in battle; he uses his heightened senses to Kiba's advantage, and helps to double team opponents with volleys of physical attacks. Since Akamaru is naturally better equipped for combat, Kiba usually modifies his abilities at the start of a battle, growing claws and traveling with his arms and legs to increase his speed.[47] He can also drastically increase his sense of smell, and by the second half of the series he can use it to track things down that actual dogs cannot.[48] Kiba's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kōsuke Toriumi,[49] and his English voice actor is Kyle Herbert.[50]Akamaru

Akamaru (赤丸, Akamaru?) is Kiba Inuzuka's ninja dog (忍犬, ninken?), best friend, and constant companion. At the start of the series, Kiba carries Akamaru around on his head or inside his jacket. By Part II of the Naruto storyline, Akamaru grows large enough for Kiba to ride atop his back, but since Kiba spends so much time with Akamaru, he fails to notice this drastic difference.[51] With his heightened sense of smell, hearing, and the ability to detect others' chakra levels, Akamaru acts as a valuable tool for Kiba in hostile situations.[52] To help Kiba keep track of opponents, Akamaru can urinate on them, giving them a strong odor that can easily be tracked. In battle, however, he relies on Kiba to provide the chakra for the combination jutsu they execute.[53] In the original Japanese anime, Akamaru is voiced by Junko Takeuchi, who is also the seiyū for Naruto Uzumaki,[15] and Kōsuke Toriumi, who voices Kiba, when Akamaru transforms into a human state.[49] In the English adaptation of the anime, he is voiced by Jamie Simone,[54] but when Akamaru transforms, he is voiced by Kyle Herbert, who additionally acts as Kiba's voice actor.[50]
Shino Aburame (油女　シノ, Aburame Shino?) is one of the members of Team 8 and is fascinated with insects; he spends his free time capturing and studying insects and often uses them as analogies during conversation.[55] A deep connection with insects runs in Shino's family, as each person born in to the Aburame clan is infused with a special breed of bugs during birth. In exchange for using Shino as a hive, the bugs do as he commands.[56] During a battle, Shino directs his bugs towards an opponent, boxing them in without their knowledge, and absorbing their chakra once they have been surrounded.[57] Shino's merciless tendencies in regards to opponents as well as his attachment to insects have caused other characters to label him as "creepy."[56] Nevertheless, Shino cares deeply for his teammates, acutely aware of their inner workings and always regretting when he is unable to help them.[58] In the Japanese anime, he is voiced by Shinji Kawada.[59] His first voice actor in the English anime was Sam Riegal, who voiced Shino in episodes twenty-three and twenty-four,[60] but in all following appearances, he has been voiced by Derek Stephen Prince.[6
Hinata Hyuga (日向　ヒナタ, Hyūga Hinata?) is a member of Team 8 who suffers from a lack of self-confidence throughout the series. She is always reluctant to speak her mind or to do something that might antagonize another character, causing her difficulties whenever she is on a mission.[62] This results in her effective expulsion from her clan; athough she is the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan's leader and the heiress to the clan, Hinata's inability to stand up for herself caused her father to disown her at a young age, leaving her in the care of her teacher, Kurenai Yuhi.[63] Series creator Masashi Kishimoto had not originally intended to have Hinata be a ninja, but intended for her to be a regular member of the Hyuga clan.[64] Midway through the Chunin Exam arc, Hinata begins training to become stronger, both to overcome her own weaknesses and to prove her worth to her father. Her efforts begin to prove successful towards the end of Part I, as her father takes a greater interest in her training.[65]

Though Hinata's training has in large part been to prove herself, she also trains to try and win the attention of series protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. Inspired by Naruto's confidence and determination, Hinata becomes infatuated with Naruto, to the extent that she immediately blushes or faints upon seeing him; however, as the series progresses, she goes out of her way to help him.[62][66] While Hinata has yet to openly admit her feelings for him, most characters (except for Naruto, who only considers her blushing "weird" wink are aware of her feelings.[67] In the anime, Hinata's attempts to impress Naruto result in her creation of a new ability capable of instantly blocking or attacking anything in her extended field of vision through slicing it with extremely fine chakra blades.[68] Her seiyū in the Japanese anime is Nana Mizuki,[69] and her English voice actor is Stephanie Sheh.[70]
Kurenai Yuhi (夕日　紅, Yūhi Kurenai?) is the leader of Team 8. Of all her students, Kurenai is closest with Hinata, acting as a surrogate parent in the absence of Hinata's father, and helping Hinata overcome her weaknesses.[63] Whenever Kurenai appears in the series, she is almost always accompanied by Asuma Sarutobi. Because of this, many of the other characters assume the two to be a couple, though they both deny this, and try to change the subject whenever it is brought up.[71] During Part II of the series, Kurenai is revealed to be pregnant with Asuma's child, making their relationship clear.[72] In battle she specializes in genjutsu, and is shown to be particularly skilled with illusions involving plants.[73] In the Japanese anime, her seiyū is Rumi Ochiai.[74] In the English adaptation of the anime, she was voiced by Saffron Henderson in episode three, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in all subsequent appearances.[75][76]