Kankurō

is a supporting protagonist in the series. He is a Jōnin-level Shinobi of Sunagakure, and is the younger brother of Temari and the older brother of Gaara, being the middle child of the late Fourth Kazekage. Like his siblings, Kankurō 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 Kankurō was forced to put up with due to the fear his younger brother imposed on him.

Despite their apparent differences, Gaara and Kankurō become very close over the timeskip, as Gaara began to confide in Kankurō, and shared his dreams of wanting to risk his life to protect Sunagakure. As such, Kankurō has become very protective of Gaara, willing to challenge anyone who puts Gaara down in his presence. When Gaara was captured by Akatsuki, Kankurō 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, Kankurō joined Temari in thanking Team 7 for saving their brother.

In the original Japanese, Kankurō 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.

Abilities
Kankurō is a talented Puppeteer, indicated when Sasori, a master of the Puppet Technique, complimented Kankurō'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 long range fighters who rely on their puppets in combat, Kankurō is weak against close range combat. 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, Kankurō is seen with a new puppet in his arsenal. The four puppets that have been introduced were all originally created by Sasori (the fourth actually being Sasori himself), and came into Kankurō's possession some time after Sasori left Sunagakure. His first three puppets are destroyed by Sasori at the start of Part II. It is unknown if he repairs them, as he uses Sasori's puppet body during his next appearance. Each of these puppets is characterized for the excessive clicking noises they make when moving, making them less than suitable for stealth purposes.

Kankurō's first three puppets seem to be designed to work together to some degree, as seen with Poison Mist Hell: Hundred Continuous Hell, where Crow blankets the area in a smokescreen while Black Ant fires poisoned needles at the blinded opponent. Black Secret Technique Machine One Shot also displays the puppets' abilities to work together, where Crow navigates an opponent into Black Ant's torso. Once trapped, Crow separates its limbs to reveal a number of concealed weapons, which enter the slots on Black Ant'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 Black Ant's body, reaping the victim inside.
 * Crow
 * Black Ant
 * Salamander
 * Sasori

Chūnin Exam arc
Soon after their arrival in Konoha for the Chūnin Exams, Kankurō and his siblings ran into Team 7. Although Kankurō 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, Kankurō disguised his puppet Karasu as a proctor. After using Karasu to gather answers from other tests, Kankurō 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, Kankurō was paired with Misumi Tsurugi. Misumi quickly wrapped himself around Kankurō's body, threatening to break Kankurō's neck if he did not forfeit. Kankurō refused, so Misumi made good on his threat by appearing to kill Kankurō. Before the match could be called in Misumi's favor, the Kankurō 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 Kankurō was declared the winner.

Invasion of Konoha arc
In the final round matches set to take place a month later, Kankurō 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, Kankurō outfitted Karasu especially for the invasion. When the invasion was delayed and Kankurō's fight with Shino was to begin, Kankurō forfeited, not wanting to reveal Karasu's new features.

When the invasion began, Kankurō and Temari escorted an injured Gaara out of the village. When they discovered they were being followed, Kankurō 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 Kankurō began to fight. Kankurō had Karasu begin an immediate assault, but Shino avoided the attacks and, unbeknownst to Kankurō, planted a bug on him. Kankurō 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.

Kankurō 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. Kankurō, utterly shocked, stammered out words of forgiveness.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
Kankurō and his siblings were sent by Sunagakure to help Konoha retrieve Sasuke Uchiha. Kankurō 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 Kankurō's body. It was revealed to be Kankurō's new puppet, Kuroari, in disguise, which immediately attacked Sakon. Kankurō 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 - Kankurō and his siblings were seen off by Shikamaru Nara.

Rescue Gaara arc
Two and a half years later, when Gaara was defeated and captured by Deidara and Sasori, two members of Akatsuki, Kankurō followed in hot pursuit, determined to stop them from taking his brother. To defeat the Akatsuki pair, Kankurō 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 Kankurō's defeat. While able to combine the use of his puppets with great effectiveness, Kankurō was unable to bypass Sasori's defenses. Sasori captured each of the puppets in turn, disassembling them, before attacking Kankurō with his tail. His tail being coated with poison, Kankurō 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 Kankurō 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 Kankurō, and created an antidote from the poison still in his system. Kankurō 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, Kankurō set out with Temari to catch up with Team 7. When Gaara was found and revived, Kankurō joined Temari in thanking Team 7 for saving their brother.

Five Kage Summit arc
Kankurō was seen coming late to escorting Gaara to the five Kage meeting called for by the Fourth Raikage. Temari was also there, scolding him for being late, as they were escorting Gaara to the Summit of the Five Kage together. Kankurō countered that he was only late because it had taken him a "while to figure out [a] new trick" and that it wasn't like Gaara needed bodyguards. Kankurō's facial make-up and outfit had once again changed.

Kankurō and his siblings were all later seen as having made it to the Five Kage Summit, being hosted in the Land of Iron, safely without incident, and were greeted by Mifune and his samurai. He made a comment that it was cold and that the weather there was the opposite of what it was like in the Land of Wind. Kankurō, along with Temari, watched as the Kage held their meeting, becoming annoyed with the Tsuchikage's comments towards Gaara's youth and inexperience as a Kage. He was later seen going on the offensive momentarily along with the other escorts when the Raikage crushed the section of the table in front of him, revealing an unknown cloaked puppet looking like Sasori; but was stopped at Gaara's request. When the white half of Zetsu appeared, he went on the defensive, bringing out his cloaked puppet again.

Later on, Kankurō joined his siblings in joining the Raikage's fight against Sasuke. As they made their appearance, Kankurō used his chakra strings to first pull the burning armor off of a samurai, and then to puppeteer his new, white-cloaked puppet, then revealed to be the puppet body of Sasori. The Sand Siblings and Darui attacked Sasuke simultaneously, with Kankurō in particular showing off his new Red Secret Technique: Machinery Triangles, though it proved to be useless in the face of Sasuke's upgraded Susano'o. Sasuke escaped and got inside the Summit.

When they arrived there, Madara was seen holding a hurt Sasuke, and explained his "Moon-Eye Plan." When the Kage refused to give the Akatsuki the two remaining beasts, he declared the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, and left. The Kage later agreed that the Raikage should become the leader of the new Shinobi Alliance.

Later on, the siblings interrupted Naruto and Sai's conversation, and explained what had happened in the Five Kage Summit. Kankurō then left with Gaara and Temari to return to the Land of Wind.

Trivia

 * Although he rarely removes his hood, his actual hair color is brown, which is first seen when Gaara has a flashback of Yashamaru trying to kill him.
 * 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.
 * Whenever Kankurō 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 is often used. In the art of putting on make-up, each of the colors mean something, purple representing nobility and loftiness.
 * Kankurō 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.
 * According to the Naruto databook:
 * Kankurō's hobby is collecting puppets.
 * Kankurō wishes to fight with Shino Aburame and Sasori.
 * Kankurō's favorite food are hamburger steaks, whilst his least favorite food is spinach.
 * Kankurō has completed 43 official missions in total: 0 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 10 B-rank, 23 A-rank, 1 S-rank.

Quotes
"Naruto... please save my little brother."