Amongst the Naruto fandom, Temari is best known for two things: being a member of the Sand Village Siblings and having a relationship with Shikamaru Nara. The members of her family weren’t main characters in the early days of the franchise, but the Sunagakure shinobi gradually played a larger role as the series progressed. Temari began the series as a pragmatic teenager always ready to finish a fight but grew into a diplomatic young woman who only wanted to achieve peace.
Her knack for negotiating (and protecting herself) led to her becoming the chief liaison between Konohagakure and Sunagakure. That’s exactly how her relationship with Shikamaru became more than just someone who nearly beat her in the Chunin Exams. In the anime, the two even proctored the next round of exams together. Temari became a recurring character and still recurs in the sequel series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
When Did She Make Her First Appearance
Temari is one of the few characters in the Naruto franchise to make her first appearance in roughly the same place for the manga and the anime. Temari made her first appearance as Naruto’s Academy classmates met genin from other villages right before the Chunin Exams.
Temari and her two brothers made up the three-man team sent from Sunagakure (The Village Hidden In The Sand) to test to become Chunin. They made their first appearance in volume four of the manga, in chapter 34, called “Intruders,” which saw Naruto and his classmates preparing for the exams. In the anime, she first appeared in episode 20, introduced in a room full of genin taking the written portion of the exams.
What Does Her Name Mean
Many of the names used in the Naruto franchise have a deeper meaning than fans sometimes realize. In the case of Temari, her name meaning can change depending on how it’s written. Her name is one of many Japanese names that has its origin in a Chinese lettering system. Some variations of her name correspond to translations for “heaven” and “village.”
The closest translation to Temari’s name as it is written in the manga? It’s actually a type of Japanese handball that was popular with artists. The balls originated in China and started being crafted in Japan around the seventh century. They used to be made from the scraps of fabric from an old kimono, but today, they can be made with intricate embroidery. The creation of Temari balls became popular with rich Japanese families as rubber balls became cheaper to obtain for use in games. This decorative toy (and the word) has become associated with friendship and loyalty.
Is She Royalty
Sunagakure has a different method of choosing their leader compared to Konohagakure. In Konoha, the outgoing Hokage and the village elders offer the position to a respected and powerful shinobi. In Suna, the position is inherited.
Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were all the children of the Fourth Kazekage. While the position isn’t exactly royalty since the shinobi world, for the most part, had gotten rid of kings in favor of ruling councils, it might as well be. Though Gaara was already positioned as the leader years earlier, Temari lost her chance to rule Suna when she decided to marry Shikamaru Nara and move to Konoha.
Was She A Jinchuriki
Longtime Naruto fans will likely know the answer to this, but casual Naruto fans might only remember that one of the Sand Village Siblings was a jinchuriki. That sibling was Gaara, but it could have been Kankuro or Temari if their father had his way.
Someone close to the Kazekage always became a jinchuriki as a way for the village to know their “weapon” was well looked after. For their generation, the Kazekage turned to his children to be the keeper of the tailed beast. Temari and Kankuro were not compatible with the one-tailed beast, so they couldn’t act as his keeper. The responsibility fell to Temari’s youngest brother Gaara.
Did Shikamaru Let Her Win Their Chunin Exam Match
During the Chunin Exams, Naruto’s generation faced off in one-on-one matches to determine who would graduate from genin status. After trouncing Ten Ten in the first round, Temari had to face off against Shikamaru Nara. As a more strategic fighter, Shikamaru kept her on her toes.
Temari’s skills at the time were mostly in longer range combat. She liked to use her fan, so she didn’t have to get too close to her enemies. Unfortunately for her, Shikamaru’s ability was similar as he employed the use of his shadow jutsu. He looked to have the upper hand, but claimed his chakra was depleted, forfeiting the match. Temari accused him of letting her win, and over the course of the franchise, he’s never admitted it.
Fan speculation agrees with Temari’s assessment. Shikamaru had her trapped and weakened when he gave up.
How Many Naruto Movies Does Temari Appear In
If Naruto fans hope to see a storyline for Temari in any of the movies, they’ll have to look pretty hard. She only appeared in three of the movies, and her parts to play were mostly in the background.
In Naruto Shippuden The Movie, Temari appeared as a member of the shinobi forces assembled to fight the Ghost Army before later spending time with Shikamaru. The Will Of Fire again sees her as part of the assembled shinobi forces heading into battle. That time, however, she was preparing to fight her allies in Konohagakure as her leaders believed they had been betrayed. Temari also appeared as a guard for her brother in The Last Naruto The Movie, but she wasn’t in on the main action.
What Did Temari See In The Infinite Tsukuyomi
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Madara Uchiha had a plan to take over the shinobi world. He wanted to use the ultimate genjutsu to trap everyone in a hallucination. He nearly succeeded with the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura defeated him.
While trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, however, fans got a little insight into the dreams of many of the characters. While Hinata saw herself with Naruto and Shikamaru saw happy relationships, but no wedding in his own future, Temari saw something else entirely. She saw her younger brothers trusting her and taking her advice. Though she went through the same training as Gaara and Kankuro and was their big sister, she was clearly insecure about how much they believed in her.
What Is Temari’s Job In Boruto
Technically speaking, Temari is a stay-at-home mom in the Boruto series. Like Hinata Hyuga, her focus is on her family. The difference between the two, however, is that Temari still goes on shinobi missions.
Temari takes care of the Nara household, does her own research in the Nara clan’s medicinal facilities, and she still has time to undertake missions for the Hokage. Even though the newest generation of shinobi are typically sent out on low-level missions, the manga and anime have shown Temari meeting up with them.
Does She Have A Hobby
Surprisingly, fans learned very little about Temari outside of her work as a shinobi in the early days of the franchise. Her life was very much focused on training and protecting her people from outside threats. The Naruto databooks, however, included some interesting details about her.
The hobby listed for her is “flora appreciation.” In other words, Temari likes plants. That’s probably a good thing because it would have provided something for Temari and Ino to bond over. Ino, Shikamaru’s teammate and an old family friend growing up, runs a florist, just like her father before her.
How Many Missions Did Temari Complete
The databooks also provide fans with stats about their favorite characters’ missions during the Naruto focused years. Despite not being a heavy presence in the franchise outside of her interactions with Shikamaru, Temari had a pretty decent load of missions.
Over her time as a young shinobi, she completed 42 official missions. That’s more than most of the other characters in the franchise! Naruto only officially completed 16. She never completed a D-rank mission, considered the simplest for genin just starting out. She did, however, complete nine C-rank, 12 B-rank, 20-A-rank, and even 1 S-rank, which is considered the most difficult of all.
