Temari

is one of the supporting characters of the series, and is a Jōnin-level kunoichi of Sunagakure. She is the eldest child of the Fourth Kazekage, and is thus the older sister of Gaara and Kankurō. Like her siblings, Temari is seen less often than the other main supporting characters in the series.

Personality
Temari is generally overbearing, if not blunt, toward those around her, rarely afraid to speak her mind. Temari does have a caring side, however, and is not above showing concern for others. She seems to value peace, as she questioned the reasoning of starting a war with Konoha. It is shown in Part I during the Chūnin Exams that the one person she is afraid of is Gaara. When Gaara and Kankurō were fighting she showed a light, happy, mood to make sure Gaara didn't hurt her or Kankurō. In Part II, Temari acts as a diplomatic liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure to prepare for the next Chūnin Exams. Like Kankurō, her relations with Gaara have greatly improved, although she isn't as close as the two brothers. When Gaara was captured by Akatsuki, Temari hurried back to the village to save her brother, and when Kankurō was poisoned, she watched over him until he was ready to move himself.

Many of Temari's appearances are associated with Shikamaru Nara. Though they were opponents during the Chūnin Exams, they came to each others' aid at different points in Part I. When Naruto returned to Konoha at the start of Part II and saw the two of them walking together, he asked them if they were on a date, which both of them denied. Despite her usual tough demeanor, she has a tendency to show a softer nature around Shikamaru. Some examples include showing sympathy for him after his father scolded him for questioning if he should be a ninja after the Sasuke rescue mission failed. Later, after Shikamaru had escorted her to the Konoha gates near the beginning of Part II, she told him that he should take his duties more seriously, and to quickly become a Jōnin like herself. This theme was continued when she was assigned to the Fourth Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces with Shikamaru. She tells him to "look alive" and act more like a leader now that he was essentially the division's acting general in Gaara's place.

Appearance
Temari has dark green eyes and blond hair, which is gathered into four pigtails arranged around her head. In Part I, Temari's outfit consists of a single light purple-colored garment that extends from below her shoulders to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, she also wears her headband around her neck. In Part II, Temari's appearance is completely different, exchanging her previous purple-colored robe for a black one that reaches down her legs with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline. While she retains a red sash tied around her waist, she now uses black gloves and wears her headband over her forehead.

For the remainder of Part I after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Temari displays a slightly different outfit than her first one, consisting of a gray top worn over a darker purple-colored blouse and a dark blue skirt.

Abilities
Temari's speciality is long-range combat, and she is a keen analyst, being able to easily deduce an opponent's strategies and weaknesses soon after a battle begins. During her second Chūnin Exam fight, she easily calculated the distance it would take for Shikamaru to reach her with the Shadow Imitation Technique, and was able to keep out of its grasp. Despite ultimately being out-thought in her fight against Shikamaru, Asuma called Temari an excellent strategist.

Giant Folding Fan
For actual combat, she uses her giant that, in addition to serving as a makeshift club, can be used to glide upon in order to intimidate her foes. Inscribed on her fan are three purple circles spaced equally across its length, which she calls "stars" ("moons" in the English dub). As she opens the fan to reveal each star in sequence, the fan's power increases greatly.

Once all three moons are revealed, Temari can create slicing whirlwinds that she can guide with her chakra. Her winds allow her to attack from afar and alter the battlefield to her liking. Temari can also summon Kamatari, a one-eyed weasel summoned with her fan. Kamatari serves to aid her in battle, particularly by creating strong gusts of wind to attack her opponents, which Temari can then mold into attacks of her own. Temari can also summon her Giant Folding Fan by using a scroll. After the timeskip, Temari is shown to have far greater control of the winds she creates with her fan. She demonstrates the ability to slice through multiple points on a Samurai's armor without injuring the man inside.

Chūnin Exam Arc
During the preliminary matches of the Chūnin Exams, Temari was pitted against Tenten. Since the bulk of their fight went unseen in the manga, the anime adaptation explained the circumstances. Tenten began the match by throwing wave after wave of weapons at Temari, although Temari easily blew them away with her fan. After Tenten ran out of weapons, Temari used her fan to trap Tenten in a cyclone and propel her into the air. She finished off the match quickly, as the cyclone dispersed and Tenten fell to the ground. Temari made it a point to have Tenten land on her closed fan, knocking Tenten unconscious. Even after she was declared the winner of the match, she threw Tenten off of the fan in an attempt to have her land on the many weapons on the ground. However, Rock Lee jumped in to save Tenten before she hit the ground.

During the final rounds of the Chūnin Exam, Temari faced Shikamaru Nara. Knowing Shikamaru used shadows to trap his opponents, Temari made sure to stay out of his shadow's range. Despite this precaution on Temari's part, Shikamaru used various tactics to increase the distance his shadow could reach, all the while buying time for the sun to set and give him more shadows to work with. As Temari evaded his attacks and prepared to finish the match, she was caught by his shadow, Shikamaru having navigated her to a position where he could easily trap her without her notice. Although Shikamaru appeared to be in a position where he could win the match, he tactically forfeited, saying he had used too much chakra and could no longer use his jutsu.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
When the invasion of Konoha began, Temari was forced to help Gaara flee the village. In the anime, when Sasuke Uchiha began to pursue them, Temari stayed behind in an effort to slow Sasuke down, although he defeated her with little effort. After Gaara was defeated by Naruto, Gaara apologized to both Temari and Kankurō, who were amazed, wondering what Naruto had done to him, while they carried him home.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
At the request of the Fifth Hokage, Temari and her brothers came to the aid of those sent out to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha. Temari arrived to help Shikamaru in his fight against Tayuya. She asked Shikamaru for information on Tayuya, although, after explaining Tayuya's abilities, Shikamaru suggested that they should retreat. Uninterested in Shikamaru's opinion, Temari used Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance to level the surrounding forest, which caused a tree to fall on Tayuya, killing her. She accompanied him back to Konoha. While waiting in Konoha's hospital, she criticized Shikamaru for his lack of emotional control, but showed compassion when his father scolded him. And later relief for his sake when he learned his companions would survive. Shikamaru then sees Temari and her brothers off. Before leaving she tells him she will help him again if anything happens and then teases him about crying in front of her in the hospital.

Pre-Shippūden filler arcs
In the episode Mix it, Stretch it, Boil it Up! Burn Copper Pot, Burn! she makes a quick appearance waiting in line for diet ramen at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, being the only non Konohagakure villager there. Later, when one of Gaara's students was kidnapped by the Four Celestial Symbols Men, Temari and Kankurō joined him in rescuing her. In doing so, Temari was forced to fight Kujaku, who had abilities similar to her own. Although she was able to hold her own for a while, her opponent's abilities gradually began to overwhelm her. Just as Temari was about to be killed, Shikamaru and Ino arrived to save her. Shikamaru and Temari quickly began bickering, but ultimately devised a strategy to defeat Kujaku. Temari used her fan to change the direction of a nearby waterfall, allowing Shikamaru to increase the reach of his shadow by using the waterfall's shadow. After Shikamaru trapped Kujaku, Temari finished her off by summoning Kamatari.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
Temari's first appearance in Part II revealed that she has become a Jōnin, as well as Sunagakure's ambassador to Konohagakure, since the events in Part I. Her presence in Konohagakure at the time of Naruto's return was to see to the organization of the bi-annual Chūnin Exams. Her escort around Konoha was Shikamaru Nara; when asked by Naruto Uzumaki if she and Shikamaru were out on a date, they both denied it. Temari is later escorted to the Konoha Gate by Shikamaru, much to her surprise, since she never thought he would get up so early.

Later in the arc, as she made her way back to Sunagakure, Temari received an omen of bad luck when her cup of tea spontaneously cracked. She commented that, while she didn't believe in such things, she had a bad feeling that something had happened back in Sunagakure. When she learned that Gaara had been kidnapped by Akatsuki, Temari joined forces with Team Kakashi, who were on their way to Sunagakure. Because Naruto, like Gaara, was a jinchūriki, Temari sympathized with him, and was glad to know that there was someone like Naruto who could understand Gaara. Upon arriving, Temari found Kankurō to have been gravely injured in his attempt to rescue Gaara.

Wanting to save her brothers, Temari planned to join Team Kakashi in rescuing Gaara, although Chiyo volunteered in her place. Once Kankurō was well enough to walk, he set out with Temari to catch up with Team Kakashi. When Gaara was found and revived by Chiyo's act of self-sacrifice, Temari joined Kankurō in thanking Team Kakashi for saving their brother.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Temari was setting off with Kankurō to escort Gaara to the Five Kage meeting, called for by the Fourth Raikage. Fanning herself in the desert heat, Temari scolded Kankurō for being late, as they were both needed to escort Gaara to the Five Kage Summit together. As with her brothers, Temari's clothes had changed again since her last appearance, and, additionally, she was also carrying a scroll, hanging from her back similar to Tenten's weapon scroll. She is seen summoning her Giant Folding Fan later during the meeting.

Temari and her brothers are all seen has having made it to the Five Kage Summit, being hosted in the Land of Iron, safely without incident, and were greeted by Mifune and his Samurai. When Zetsu appears during the Five Kage Summit, Temari and Kankurō get into a defensive position blocking Gaara and handing him his gourd of sand.

As Gaara intervened in the fight between the Raikage and Sasuke, Temari took action to save a Samurai that had been hit with Amaterasu. She cut off his burning armor, and Kankurō removed it from the area. She then joined in as part of a four way attack against Sasuke that proved futile once he used Susanoo. Sasuke then leaves the battlefield into the Summit room.

Once they arrive, they see Madara holding Sasuke, who is passed out. Madara then tells his "Eye of the Moon Plan" and asks them to hand over Naruto and Killer Bee. Once the Kage rejected the order, he then officially declares the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, and leaves. Temari then follows her younger brothers to inform their Daimyo what has happened.

Later on, she and her brothers inform Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato about what happened during the Five Kage Summit Meeting.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
Temari later escorted Gaara to a meeting of the leaders of the Allied Shinobi Forces in Kumogakure. She is assigned to the Fourth Division alongside Shikamaru and reminds him to look and act like a leader since Gaara named him the division's Proxy leader. Later, after Gaara's speech, she showed her admiration for her youngest brother because of the influences his speech had on the army.

Trivia

 * In the omake at the end of Shippūden episode 75, Shikamaru told Asuma that Naruto Shippūden would now be called Shikamaru Shippūden. The logo appeared with the title, and two silhouettes appeared facing each other. One of them was Shikamaru and the other was Temari.
 * Temari was ranked as the 16th most popular character in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. Temari was the 11th most popular character in Naruto according to the fifth poll. She finished 15th in the fourth poll. In the "Naruto Databook" Temari was the 14th most popular character overall.
 * The name Temari is also the name of a Japanese handball.
 * Temari made a cameo alongside Shikamaru in Naruto Shippūden the Movie.
 * According to the Naruto Databook:
 * Temari's hobby is just watching plants.
 * Temari wishes for a rematch with Shikamaru.
 * Temari's favorite foods are Chestnuts, and Tofu soup. Her least favorite foods are dishes such as squid and octopus.
 * Temari has completed 42 official missions in total: 0 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 12 B-rank, 20 A-rank, 1 S-rank.
 * Her favorite phrase is "Release the sickle under the sunset".

Quotes

 * "Wasn't much of a match; kinda boring."
 * (To Shikamaru) "You are awfully fragile. What kind of man are you?"
 * (To Lee) "Get yourself and that loser out of my way."
 * (To Shikamaru) "We're up one!"
 * "Sharpen your kama at sunset."
 * (About Shikamaru) "Amazing. This slacker-clown outsmarted me!"