Hinoko

Hinoko ( ヒノコ ) is a Konohagakure Anbu . She strongly prefers to go by her codename: Soku ( 鏃 , Soku ).

## Background [ ]

While she was a student at the Academy , Hinoko invented her own signature technique: the Chakra Needle . Because of this accomplishment, she was scouted by the Anbu and upon graduating from the Academy, was immediately recruited as a member.

## Personality [ ]

Hinoko has a tomboyish personality, liking cooler things and how their names sound over the girly ones, like her own name, going as far as preferring her Anbu code-name over her real one. This personal distaste causes Hinoko to violently burst into anger whenever she is called by her real name.

Despite her obsession with cool-sounding things and personal distaste of girly things, Hinoko is prone to romantic situations as she loudly gushed when Shikamaru Nara approached Temari for romantic purposes. She is also prone to typical "teen girl" verbal tics; adding "like" to the beginning and "you know" to the end of her sentences.

A trait which Shikamaru and her teammate Rō found distressing was her interest in Gengo 's ideals that shinobi, rather than civilians and the daimyōs , should be the ruling class. Throughout the mission she was shown to be tempted by the world Gengo wanted to create even when they weren't in the vicinity of his Enlightened Ones . She also has expressed worry that she wouldn't be able to prove herself in times of peace given she was too young to join the Fourth Shinobi World War .

## Appearance [ ]

Hinoko is a relatively short young woman with long light-brown hair and blue eyes. While on duty, she wears a Anbu cat-motif mask with 3 whisker markings on each side of the face and an additional 3 lines at the top along with the standard Konoha uniform inclusive of a flak jacket . As an adult, she had short hair.

## Abilities [ ]

Hinoko is a very skilled kunoichi , supported by the fact that she was scouted by the Anbu while she was still an Academy student . Likewise, she is proven to be very intelligent, having scouted for her own original technique. Her said technique, which lets her fire chakra needles from her fingertips, is very versatile. She can several of these needles at once and in rapid succession. She has great aim with them, able to hit her targets from considerable distance, and likewise and to control the trajectory post-fire. The needs also have a variety of effects including paralysing, instantly kill, or even energising the target. From her Anbu training, Hinoko is presumably skilled in kenjutsu , as she carries a tantō .

## Blank Period [ ]

### Shikamaru Hiden: A Cloud Drifting in Silent Darkness [ ]

Main articles: Shikamaru Hiden (novel) and Shikamaru Hiden (anime)

When Shikamaru was tasked with infiltrating the Land of Silence with the dual purpose of finding missing shinobi, including Sai , and assassinating country head Gengo , the Sixth Hokage , Kakashi Hatake , assigned Hinoko and Rō to aid him. After showing off her abilities, Hinoko and the rest of the group departed at dawn at the hidden back entrance to Konoha. During the mission, Hinoko makes it clear to Shikamaru she doesn't like being called by her real name, lashing out violently at him for doing so. After arriving in the Curtain Village and assessing the situation, Hinoko and the rest of her squad are quickly captured by Gengo's Enlightened Ones . During captivity, she is tortured by them.

When she and the rest are brought before Gengo, he nearly succeeds in placing her and the rest in his mind-altering genjutsu until the timely arrival of Temari and her Suna and Konoha reinforcements break Gengo's hold on them. Hinoko engages the brainwashed shinobi by restraining them despite the injuries she received from torture. After Shikamaru defeats Gengo, having gained a concept of his dangerous genjutsu, Hinoko uses her Chakra Needle to paralyse Gengo's tongue enabling from ever speaking a word again. With the mission accomplished, Hinoko prepares to escort Shikamaru back to Konoha with the rest of the Konoha personnel. Before leaving, Hinoko breaks from her tough exterior and gushes loudly when Shikamaru approaches Temari for romantic reasons.

## New Era [ ]

### Shikamaru Shinden: A Cloud Dancing in Forlorn Falling Petals [ ]

Main article: Shikamaru Shinden: A Cloud Dancing in Forlorn Falling Petals Shikamaru, now advisor to the Seventh Hokage , meets with Rō and Hinoko. Since it's been a while since the three of them were together, Rō guesses that something serious has happened. Shikamaru reports the Fourth Tsuchikage 's demand for Konoha's secret intel at the recent Five Kage Summit . Rō and Hinoko don't see the point of this, as the purpose of secret intel is that it remain secret. Shikamaru suspects that there's something else behind the Tsuchikage's demand and sends Rō and Hinoko to infiltrate Iwagakure to find out what. Because getting into Iwa unnoticed would be difficult even before the current riff with Konoha, Shikamaru meets with the Third Tsuchikage to draw some ninja away from Iwa, thus making Rō and Hinoko's mission easier.

Once inside Iwa, Rō and Hinoko discover that the village's ninja are preparing to invade the Land of Flowers under orders of the Land of Earth 's daimyō . Because this would result in war - something forbidden by the Shinobi Union - the Fourth Tsuchikage needs an excuse to withdraw Iwa from the Union; she expects Konoha to refuse to share its intel, giving her the excuse she needs. Hinoko reports this to Shikamaru, who instructs her and Rō to remain in Iwa and continue to monitor the situation. They send regular updates to Shikamaru about Iwa's ongoing preparations until Shikamaru, through diplomatic channels, is able to stop the invasion. Shikamaru thanks them for all their work once they're back in Konoha and they offer to help him again any time he needs them.

## In Other Media [ ]

### Video Games [ ]

Hinoko is a playable character in the following video games:

## Trivia [ ]

- "Soku" ( 鏃 ) means "arrowhead".