Haruna

is the daimyō of the Land of Vegetables, who replaced her father after he was assassinated.

Background
She had been kept as a hostage for much of her childhood, isolated and under constant surveillance. Her father had done this in order to secure the welfare of the Land of Vegetables, but later came to regret sacrificing Haruna for this purpose. As a result of her isolation and sense of betrayal, Haruna came to see sacrifice as inevitable, and believed that even if many of her subjects were sacrificed, her safety was all that mattered for her country.

Personality
At a young age, Haruna trusted no one after taken as a hostage. She finds the need to use other people in order to revive her country. This is shown when she tried to use the children and the elderly as a decoy for the Criminal Brothers who were chasing after her. She can be cold-hearted and cruel since she cares for no one but herself and in order to stay alive like when she knocks Hinata out. Though underneath the tough and mean exterior, she was really sad, hurt and confused. She can be quite smart as she thought of a plan to use the peddlers as decoys.

Land of Vegetables Arc
At that time, three ninja staged a coup in the Land of Vegetables, forcing Haruna to flee the country, and she hoped to gain international sympathy in an attempt to reclaim her throne. She travelled with Kikujō and Yurinojō, posing as part of a caravan to avoid being targeted, and changed her appearance to take the role of her bodyguards' sickly male cousin Shun in order to keep people from questioning her identity. Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyūga, and Chōji Akimichi were hired under the pretences of helping the pedlars move their wares in a D-ranked mission, but they learned of the true purpose of the mission after Kikujō's death in his battle with Ruiga.

Despite their anger over being misinformed, Naruto's group agreed to protect the princess, sending the pedlars away to safety and defeating the first of the ninja. Haruna refused to rely on them, even going so far as to knock Hinata unconscious to escape alone, despite Hinata's attempts to convince her that Naruto also suffered from loneliness. Haruna fell down the hill while fleeing and ended up unconscious. Naruto eventually caught up with Haruna and told her that Hinata was badly injured while fighting Jiga. When Renga attacked after capturing the princess' other protectors, Haruna learned that her father had regretted giving Haruna as a hostage, and begged the conspirators to treat the people well. Haruna's ideals changed, and she even used herself as a shield to try to protect Naruto from Renga's attacks.

Haruna is later seen at the Land of Vegetables, apologising at Kikujō's grave. It appeared that she had, by that time, developed feelings for Naruto, since she asked him to stay and help her rebuild the country. Hinata Hyuga was witnessing this event and was starting to quietly panic, but Naruto politely declined, due to his promise to become strong and bring Sasuke Uchiha back, and for the need to remain with his friends.

Trivia

 * name means "springtime vegetables".
 * Her character is very similar to Koyuki Kazahana and Toki. All three of them are daimyō, were in disguise, their fathers were assassinated, and endured a tragedy which made them act cold towards other people until meeting Naruto. All three seemed to grow fond of him as well.

Haruna