Sakura's Lover

Naruto Uzumaki (うずまきナルト, Uzumaki Naruto) is the main character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

Naruto can mean "maelstrom", and is also the name for a sliced stick of Kamaboko with a pink whirlpool design in the middle that is used as a topping for ramen which is also Naruto's favorite food. The surname Uzumaki is a pun on "spiral" (渦巻), while uzumaki refers to a three-dimensional spiral, like a whirlpool or vortex. A more accurate translation for spiral would be "Rasen". The Konoha leaf symbol is drawn with an arrow attached to a spiral, part of the seal on his abdomen is a spiral, the symbol on the back of his jacket and shoulders is a spiral, and one of his attacks is Rasengan, which means "Spiraling Sphere". Uzumaki can also mean "whirlpool", in reference to the Naruto whirlpool (鳴門の渦潮), named after the city of Naruto. An interesting fact is that his mother is from the Whirlpool Country.

Naruto's definitive characteristic in battle is his immense amount of chakra. While naturally having a significant amount of chakra on his own, he can summon a gargantuan amount given to him by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

October 10th, Naruto's birthday, was Health and Sports Day ("Taiiku no hi") in Japan when his character was conceived. The holiday, however, was moved to the second Monday of October in 1999.

Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of the manga series, stated in a recent interview with the U.S. Shonen Jump that his childhood was like that of Naruto's years while he was enrolled in the Academy.

Naruto consistently ranked in the top two (taking first place twice) in the first five official Shonen Jump character popularity polls. However, in the sixth character poll, he was ranked fourth. According to the latest character poll, Naruto took second.