Biwako Sarutobi

was the wife of the Third Hokage; Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the mother of Asuma Sarutobi.

Background
Biwako and her husband Hiruzen Sarutobi met with Kushina and Minato Namikaze shortly before Kushina was to give birth. Because Kushina was a jinchūriki, Hiruzen thought it best for Kushina to give birth at a secure location where Minato could maintain the seal, guarded by ANBU and with Biwako and Taji as her midwives. While they were on their way to the location, Kushina stopped to speak with Mikoto Uchiha who had just had her own baby. Biwako was pleasantly surprised that Mikoto had decided to name the boy after the Third's father but prompted Kushina to leave, warning her as they left that her delivery was top-secret. When Kushina went into labour Biwako had to calm a hysterical Minato down as he maintained the seal, noting that women were a lot stronger than men. No sooner had Biwako delivered baby Naruto was she struck down by a masked man who had also killed all the ANBU stationed outside.

Personality
Biwako seemed to be as wise and intelligent as her husband, giving somewhat sagelike advice to Kushina about childbirth. She also seems to be very strongly opinionated about women, stating that they were far stronger than men because they can endure childbirth while men cannot. She also wasn't above reprimanding Minato for not focusing on keeping the seal intact during his wife's birth even though he was Hokage.

In the anime, Biwako was shown to believe that when a child is born the mother should be the first of the two parents to meet the newborn due to what they go through during childbirth as shown when Minato tried to meet Naruto and she turned him away.

Appearance
Biwako had long, brown hair which she kept in a high ponytail, dark eyes, slightly visible creases at the corners of her eyes and her mouth. She wore a purple kimono-like dress, along with a white haori and sandals.

Trivia

 * Her name possibly originates from [[Wikipedia:Lake Biwa|, Japan's largest freshwater lake, located northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa appears frequently in Japanese literature.
 * Alternatively, her name could originate from [[Wikipedia:Biwa|, which is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling.

Quotes

 * (To Minato)