Inuzuka Clan


 * Known members: Tsume, Hana, Kiba
 * Known canines: Kuromaru, Akamaru, Three Haimaru Brothers

The or  is known for their use of ninken as fighting companions. Clan members are apparently given their own canine partner or partners when they reach a certain age. Thereafter, the shinobi and his/her dog(s) are practically inseparable. Clan members have distinctive red fang markings on their cheeks, animalistic eyes, and enlarged canine teeth. It would seem that due to the bond between a Inuzuka clan member and their canine partner(s), their chakra is allowed to mix and is shared between them, adding a feral appearance to the human partners, and makes a bond between them that affords them the use of the clan's collaboration jutsu, such as the Dual Piercing Fang.

Kiba notes that his mother, Tsume, scared his father away. It is unknown what this father's involvement with the clan was.

Trivia

 * The name "Inuzuka", meaning "house of dogs", belongs to a clan which was one of the most powerful in the Chiba Prefecture in Japan during the Edo period. They were known as "dog warriors" and worshiped Inu ("Dog"), a deity representing the zodiac sign of the dog. The name "Inuzuka" also originates from the Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, a 19th-century series of novels about a group of samurai brothers who each embodied the eight fundamental principles of Buddhism.
 * The known Inuzuka members are all named after a part of the body of a dog (fang, nose and claw), while their dogs are named after colors (red, gray and black).
 * The facial markings of the Inuzuka Clan members are similar to the facial markings on San's cheeks, from the Miyazaki film, Princess Mononoke.