Twelve Guardian Ninja

The were a group of twelve elite warriors who left their village and pledged their lives to protect the Fire Daimyo. The members are identified by the marked loincloths they wear.

History
A group formed before the start of the story, the Twelve Guardian Ninja have for a long time protected the daimyo. All the original members are dead, but the group continues to operate. About ten years before the start of the series, half of the original members began to believe that only the daimyo should lead the Land of Fire. To that end they planned a coup d'etat against the Hokage, and would later conquer the rest of the countries. Kazuma tried to remove the daimyo to replace him with a puppet daimyo since the daimyo didn't support the revolt, but he was stopped by Asuma. The ideals split the group in two which led to a fight between them, where only Asuma Sarutobi, Kazuma, and Chiriku survived. It would seem that some time, before the group was disbanded, some underground organization put a bounty on most of the members.

In the anime, Kazuma tries once again to destroy the Hokage and Konoha by resurrecting the four fallen loyal guardians. Asuma is able to stop and kill him. Chiriku is killed soon afterwards by members of Akatsuki in order to collect the bounty on his head. Once they collect the 30 million ryō they are confronted by Asuma. After a prolonged battle Asuma is killed too, but that are unable to cash-in on his 35 million bounty.

Known Members

 * Kitane (killed by Kazuma; deceased)
 * Nauma (killed by Kazuma; deceased)
 * Seito (killed by Kazuma; deceased)
 * Tōu (killed by Kazuma; deceased)
 * Kazuma (killed by Asuma; deceased)
 * Chiriku (killed by Hidan and Kakuzu; deceased)
 * Asuma Sarutobi (killed by Hidan; deceased)

Potential Members

 * Shikamaru Nara. Received an invitation from the daimyo of the Land of Fire to become one of his guards, which would have led to becoming a member of the elite Twelve Guardian Ninja. He refused saying he'd rather stay in Konoha and protect his friends.