Kankurō

is a ninja; a Jonin-level Shinobi of Sunagakure; he is the younger brother of Temari and the older brother of Gaara, and the middle child of the late Fourth Kazekage. Like his siblings, Kankuro is usually seen less often than the other main characters in the series.

Personality
In Part I, one noticeable personality trait he displayed is an apparent dislike for children, first seen when he attempted to beat up Konohamaru for running into him. This carried over to many of his interactions with other characters, as he was noticeably irritated when in the presence of someone younger than him. This was most evident when he was seen with Gaara, who Kankuro was forced to put up with due to the fear his younger brother imposed on him.

Despite their apparent differences, Gaara and Kankuro become very close over the timeskip, as Gaara began to confide in Kankuro, and shared his dreams of wanting to risk his life to protect Sunagakure. As such, Kankuro has become very protective of Gaara, willing to challenge anyone who puts Gaara down in his presence. When Gaara was captured by Akatsuki, Kankuro rushed to his brother's aid in an attempt to save him. He was quickly defeated and bedridden as a result, though joined Temari in looking for Gaara as soon as he was able to walk. Once Gaara was found and saved, Kankuro joined Temari in thanking Team 7 for saving their brother.

In the original Japanese, Kankuro speaks with a distinctive Yokohama accent. He can often be heard ending his sentences with "jaan." This makes him sound tough, as this accent is often used for biker gang members or punk kids (called yankii in Japanese, Yokohama supposedly has many) in manga. It is possible that he was given this accent to make him sound different from the Konoha characters' standard Tokyo Japanese.

Chunin Exam arc
Soon after their arrival in Konoha for the Chunin Exams, Kankuro and his siblings ran into Team 7. Although Kankuro was tempted to pick on its members, he was threatened by Gaara to stop. During the written portion of the exam, meant to test the examinees' cheating abilities, Kankuro disguised his puppet Karasu as a proctor. After using Karasu to gather answers from other tests, Kankuro asked to go to the bathroom. Karasu escorted him and gave him the answers.

During the survival portion of the exam, he was seen, only briefly, by Kiba, Shino, and Hinata while Gaara brutally murdered a team of Rain Genin.

During the preliminary matches, Kankuro was paired with Misumi Tsurugi. Misumi quickly wrapped himself around Kankuro's body, threatening to break Kankuro's neck if he did not forfeit. Kankuro refused, so Misumi made good on his threat by appearing to kill Kankuro. Before the match could be called in Misumi's favor, the Kankuro that Misumi attacked was revealed to have been Karasu in disguise. Karasu quickly grabbed hold of Misumi and constricted him before he could surrender. Misumi survived, but was in no condition to fight, and Kankuro was declared the winner.

The Invasion of Konoha arc
In the final round matches set to take place a month later, Kankuro was scheduled to fight Shino Aburame. Because he was to take part in Sunagakure's invasion of Konoha, planned to begin before his match with Shino, Kankuro outfitted Karasu especially for the invasion. When the invasion was delayed and Kankuro's fight with Shino was to begin, Kankuro forfeited, not wanting to reveal Karasu's new features.

When the invasion began, Kankuro and Temari escorted an injured Gaara out of the village. When they discovered they were being followed, Kankuro stayed behind to buy time. Before he could engage their pursuer, Sasuke Uchiha, Shino arrived to fight him instead, wanting to have the battle he was denied in the finals. Sasuke continued following Gaara, while Shino and Kankuro began to fight. Kankuro had Karasu begin an immediate assault, but Shino avoided the attacks and, unbeknownst to Kankuro, planted a bug on him. Kankuro then launched a poison smoke bomb at Shino. Shino inhaled some of the gas, but was able to escape and use his bugs to trap and restrain Karasu. Before he lost complete use of Karasu, he tried to launch a final attack, only to discover that Shino's bugs, guided by the bug placed on him earlier, had found his location and consumed all his chakra.

Kankuro is left unable to move, but Shino, because of the poison gas he inhaled, passed out and couldn't finish him off. He was later found by Temari, and together they helped Gaara get back to Sunagakure. Gaara, having been defeated by Naruto, wearily apologized to both of his siblings. Kankuro, utterly shocked, stammered out words of forgiveness.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Kankuro and his siblings were sent by Sunagakure to help Konoha retrieve Sasuke Uchiha. Kankuro came to the aid of Kiba Inuzuka and his dog Akamaru, saving them from Sakon and Ukon. While Karasu protected Kiba and Akamaru from Ukon, Sakon tried to use his Soma no Ko to fuse with Kankuro's body. It was revealed to be Kankuro's new puppet, Kuroari, in disguise, which immediately attacked Sakon. Kankuro had Karasu navigate Sakon and Ukon into Kuroari's body, trapping them. Karasu then split apart to reveal an assortment of weapons that bombarded and pierced Kuroari, killing Sakon and Ukon.

After the battle ended, with Sasuke gone and almost all of the Leaf ninja hospitalized - but alive - Kankuro and his siblings were seen off by Shikamaru Nara.

Rescue the Kazekage arc
Two and a half years later, when Gaara was defeated and captured by Deidara and Sasori, two members of Akatsuki, Kankuro followed in hot pursuit, determined to stop them from taking his brother. To defeat the Akatsuki pair, Kankuro released his puppets from their carrying scrolls (Karasu, Kuroari, and his new puppet Sanshōuo) to challenge the Akatsuki members. Sasori agreed to fight, but immediately repelled an attack from Karasu, revealing himself to be the puppets' creator, thus knowing all of their secrets.

Since their fight went unseen in the manga, the anime adaptation explained the circumstances of Kankuro's defeat. While able to combine the use of his puppets with great effectiveness, Kankuro was unable to bypass Sasori's defenses. Sasori captured each of the puppets in turn, disassembling them, before attacking Kankuro with his tail. His tail being coated with poison, Kankuro collapsed, but with the last of his strength, was able to have a piece of Karasu tear off part of Sasori's cloak. Sasori left, giving Kankuro three days before the poison killed him.

Soon after, Team 7 arrived at Sunagakure to help in rescuing Gaara, and while they were there, Sakura Haruno cured Kankuro, and created an antidote from the poison still in his system. Kankuro then provided Team 7 with the part of Sasori's cloak that he had taken, which they used to track down Gaara. Once well enough to walk, Kankuro set out with Temari to catch up with Team 7. When Gaara was found and revived, Kankuro joined Temari in thanking Team 7 for saving their brother.

Summit of the Five Kage
Kankuro is seen coming late to escorting Gaara to the 5 Kage meeting called by the Raikage. Temari is also there, scolding him for being late, as they are escorting Gaara to the Summit of the Five Kage together. Kankuro counters that he's only late because it had taken him a "while to figure out [a] new trick" and that it wasn't like Gaara needed bodyguards. Kankuro's facial make-up and outfit have changed yet again.

Abilities
Kankuro is a talented Puppeteer, indicated when Sasori, a master of the Puppet Technique, complimented Kankuro's skills. He was physically strong enough to carry around two puppets on his back in Part I, though in Part II he instead uses a scroll to store them in. Because puppeteers are meant to rely on their puppets in combat, Kankuro has little taijutsu skill, and has shown only a basic use of ninjutsu. He is, however, very deceptive, regularly tricking his opponents to believe that his puppets are him.

Puppets
With each of his appearances in the major arcs, Kankuro is seen with a new puppet in his arsenal. The three puppets that have been introduced were all originally created by Sasori, and came into Kankuro's possession some time after Sasori left Sunagakure. Similarly, each puppet is destroyed by Sasori years later, and it is unknown if Kankuro will rebuild them. Each of these puppets is characterized for the excessive clicking noises they make when moving, making them less than suitable for stealth purposes.


 * - The first of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, Karasu resembles a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid with jagged teeth and a spiky black hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides. In Part I, Kankuro typically keeps Karasu wrapped in bandages on his back, and he is able to switch places with it at will using the Body Replacement Technique. Because of Kankuro's enjoyment in installing mechanisms into his puppets, Karasu is very offensive, having numerous concealed weapons, including poison-tipped darts and smokescreens in order to blind its opponents. The smokescreens can be made up of poisonous gas to serve a secondary purpose. Karasu is also able to detach any of its body parts for separate attacks. In the video games, Karasu is shown to be armed with a special flight mechanism that enables it to maneuver high into the air, where it could bomb targets from above.
 * - The second of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, Kuroari has a much longer head than Karasu, with a bucket-shaped face sporting two red horns and six arms; its facial features include three eyes similar to Karasu and a dark dishevelled hairstyle. Its overall body-frame somewhat resembles a large barrel. While Kuroari does not contain as many hidden weapons as Karasu, each of its arm segments contain a hidden saw-blade, which can be used to inflict large slicing wounds to opponents. Kuroari's primary function is to trap opponents within itself, while weapons enter the slots along its body to puncture the opponent. Like Karasu, Kuroari is able to detach any of its body parts for separate attacks.
 * - The third of Kankuro's puppets to make an appearance, Sanshōuo, unlike Kankuro's other puppets, stays true to its name and resembles a salamander. Its abilities are unseen in the manga, but in the anime, Sanshōuo is shown to have incredible defensive power. It has a frill that swings up to defend against attacks from the front, as well as the tail being able to tuck up to reach the frill and guard the rear followed by an iron cloak immediately covering all sides, and a hollow body Kankuro and up to two other people can take cover in to defend against attacks coming from other directions.

Kankuro's puppets seem to be designed to work together to some degree, as seen with Poison Mist Hell: Hundred Continuous Hell, where Karasu blankets the area in a smokescreen while Kuroari fires poisoned needles at the blinded opponent. Black Secret Technique Machine One Shot also displays the puppets' abilities to work together, where Karasu navigates an opponent into Kuroari's torso. Once trapped, Karasu separates its limbs to reveal a number of concealed weapons, which enter the slots on Kuroari's body to impale the opponent. Similar in purpose, though only needing one puppet, Black Secret Technique Machine Two Shot calls upon four scythe-like blades to run along the sides of Kuroari's body, reaping the victim inside.

Trivia

 * Whenever Kankuro appears in a new arc of the manga, he sports a new design of purple face paint. This could be a nod to Kabuki theatre, where face paint was often used. In the art of putting on make-up, each of the colors mean something, purple representing nobility and loftiness.
 * In addition to his Kabuki-like make-up, the fact that he uses puppets as well, as the black outfit and cap he wears, are possibly an allusion to Bunraku, Japanese puppet theatre. His entire character seems to be an allusion to stage arts.
 * Kankuro was ranked as the 19th most popular character in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He placed 30th in the fifth poll.
 * His name means "black cap", which is an allusion as to how he dresses.
 * Although he rarely removes his hood, his hair color is brown, seen when Sakura tried to restrain him for treatment against Sasori's poison. His hair appears to be the most adherent of their family's heritage.