Shinko Inari

is a former member of Team 2.

Background
Shinko and her family moved to Konohagakure when she was nine. However, she retained her foreign accent, making her easily identifiable that she wasn't native to Konoha.

At graduation, Shinko was placed on Team 2 under Yūki Minazuki's leadership alongside Itachi and Tenma Izumo, much to the latter's annoyance. During their time together, Shinko tried to stop Tenma from competing with Itachi as she slowly realised Tenma would never be able to outdo Itachi's skill.

Thanks to Itachi's skill, Team 2 was given the ceremonial honour of being the Fire Daimyō's guard during his annual trip to Konoha. During the trip, a mysterious man in a black cloak and orange mask attacked the caravan, placing all but Itachi and Tenma in a genjutsu. When she awoke, she found that Tenma was brutally killed. Exposed to the realisation of the horrors of the shinobi way of life, Shinko decided to quit and find civilian work, which was safer.

When Itachi became a chūnin, he and Izumi Uchiha visited the tea shop where she worked at and she waited on them. While she playfully teased Itachi about his girlfriend, she admitted she quit her shinobi job because not only was Tenma killed, but because Itachi was so much more skilled than her and even younger than her, making it seem redundant to be a shinobi when Itachi was one. After Itachi pressured Izumi to follow Shinko's example, only to cause her to run away crying, Shinko chastised Itachi for making his girlfriend cry and belittling her goals.

Personality
Shinko is a kind young girl who wanted to see her team happy, so she tried to foster better relations between Itachi and Tenma Izumo, who hated having a younger shinobi be better than him. She also is shown to be very considerate as Shinko scolded Itachi for belittling someone's dreams of becoming a shinobi despite their obvious weaknesses.

In the anime, Shinko also has a weakness for "cute things" as she loudly gushed at the sight of the young Itachi wearing cat ears and later when the ninneko defeated her (leaving her covered in paw prints and scratch marks) all she could say was that the cat's paws were "so soft" with a smile.

Abilities
While she was in the Academy, Shinko focused her studies on medical ninjutsu. For that reason she served as Team 2's medic, treating wounds, providing information on poisons, and identifying enemies in disguise.

Trivia

 * is the name of the Japanese deity of fertility and foxes, while Shinko has different meanings:
 * When written as 新香, it means "pickles".
 * When written as 新古, it means "new and old (thing)".
 * When written as 新子, it means "very young fish (especially a konoshiro gizzard shad)".