Naruto Musasabi

Naruto Musasabi is a fictional character in service to Shuku Village from The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi novel written by Jiraiya. He is featured as the novel's main character alongside his partner Tsuyu, who is also written as his primary love interest. Inspired by Nagato, the character is Naruto Uzumaki's namesake.

Background
When Naruto was young, his father, whom he never met, was killed in the First Shinobi World War. Upon hearing stories about his father from the Second Kokage, Naruto decided to live up to his father's example of a shinobi as "one who endures".

At age six, Naruto graduated from the Shuku Academy and was placed on Team Shū under Shū's leadership alongside Tsuyu and Renge Momoashi. Naruto almost immediately developed romantic feelings for Tsuyu, but she was uninterested in him, much to his grief. He started a bitter rivalry with Renge during the course of their training. At one point, Naruto tried to spy on Tsuyu changing into her swimsuit, and she nearly killed him in retaliation.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Naruto and the rest of Team Shū rose to the rank of jōnin and became involved in many battles. One battle in particular where they managed to hold their own against rival village leader Maei Yagyū, who bestowed the three the title "The Three Ninja of Shuku".

At some point, Naruto was trained by Grand Master Fūtenso, the Rat Sage, in order to become a Sage. He succeeded in mastering senjutsu and the Sage Mode.

Personality
Naruto is determined, good-natured, hard-working, and has a dedicated personality that forces him to never give up. Tsuyu also describes him as dumb and an idiot for his antics.

Appearance
Naruto's appearance is currently left mostly up to reader interpretation, but he normally wears the jōnin uniform throughout the novel.

Abilities
Naruto is a powerful and skilled shinobi having attained jōnin rank and being declared one of "The Three Ninja of Shuku".

Ninjutsu
Naruto is skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and senjutsu. His nature transformations include wind, lightning, and yang. His signature techniques include "Gale Supreme Slash" (Jinpū Hazan), which generates a focused whirlwind, and "Comet Sphere" (Suiseigan), a giant ball of wind and lightning.

Naruto had the ability to summon giant mice to aid him in battle and his senjutsu. Three of the mice are Tora, Miki, and Mini.

The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi
When his teammate Renge defects from Shuku and becomes a missing-nin right after the village of Ton has been destroyed, Naruto and Tsuyu are ordered to chase after him.

After Renge takes over Kon Village and becomes the Kaosu, Kon kunoichi Shima joins Naruto's mission to stop Renge.

Trivia

 * Much of Naruto's character appear to be inspired by Jiraiya himself, something Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki noticed. This is most notable in Naruto's perverse personality and his mainly one-sided strong romantic feelings for his teammate, Tsuyu. A good deal more of his personality appears to be inspired by Jiraiya's former student Nagato, to whom the novel is dedicated.
 * Two of Naruto's mice summons, Miki and Mini, were inspired by Jiraiya's own summons: Fukusaku and Shima. Their names are a reference to Disney's mascots Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
 * The surname "Musasabi" means "Japanese giant flying squirrel" (鼯鼠).