Haruna

Haruna

 * Seiyu: Yumi Fukamizu

The princess of the Land of Vegetables. She had been kept as a hostage from much of her childhood, isolated and under constant surveillance. Her father had done this 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.

In 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 traveled with Kikujou and Yurinojou, posing as part of the caravan to avoid being targeted, and took the role of her bodyguards' sickly (male) cousin Shun in order to avoid people questioning her identity. Naruto, Hinata and Choji were hired under the pretenses of helping the peddlers move their wares in a D-ranked mission, but they learned of the true purpose of the mission after Kikiujou's death in battle.

Despite their anger over being misinformed, and them and the peddlers being put at risk for the princess' sake, Naruto's group agreed to protect the princess, sending the peddlers 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.

Naruto eventually caught up with Haruna after Hinata's battle with Jiga, the second conspirator. Although Haruna was unwilling to accept Naruto's arguments, she was shocked to learn that Hinata was badly injured while fighting the second conspirator. When the Renga, third conspirator attacked after capturing the princess's 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.

After Naruto's victory, she succeeded her father as ruler of the Land of Vegetables, apologizing at Kikujou's grave. She asked Naruto to stay and help her, but Naruto politely declined, due to his promise to bring Sasuke back.