Akamaru

Akamaru (赤丸, Akamaru) is a nin-dog (忍犬, ninken) from Konohagakure's Inuzuka clan. He is Kiba Inuzuka's partner, as well as his best friend and constant companion. He is also a member of Team Kurenai.

## Background

At some point, while Kiba was still in the Academy, his mother, Tsume Inuzuka, entrusted him with Akamaru. Although Akamaru almost immediately urinated on Kiba's face, much to his mother and sister's amusement,[5] the two would soon become inseparable.

## Appearances

### Debut

Manga Volume #5, Naruto Chapter #39Anime Naruto Episode #23Novel Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy SkyMovie Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of FireGame Naruto: Konoha NinpōchōOVA Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!

Akamaru has been described as active and devoted.[6] This can be seen from his interactions with people especially his best friend and companion Kiba whom he has always been with since the two met. They often spend their time going on walks, or more accurately, running through trees chasing one another. His devotion is most often seen when Kiba is hurt in battle, Akamaru will immediately run to his side.

In Rai no Sho, a story from Akamaru's point of view reveals much of his personality. Akamaru is revealed to have a humorous thought process by erroneously explaining something, but then immediately correcting himself. He has a very scientific thought process about humans, thinking they enter oestrous too late in life when they should be focusing on being shinobi instead of finding a "mate". It's also revealed Akamaru is very overprotective of Kiba as he immediately tried fruitlessly to pull his master away from Tamaki when he realised the two had a strong mutual attraction to each other, as he didn't want Kiba to shy away from his training in favour of romancing Tamaki like "the others".

In the epilogue, Akamaru had grown old and took delight in just napping most of the day and playing with his offspring. When prompted by Kiba to back him up, he mocked Kiba's notion that he turned down the Seventh Hokage seat, giving a sly smirk.

## Appearance

In Part I Akamaru was a small puppy with white fur, and resembles a Great Pyrenees, regularly carried on Kiba's head or inside his jacket. Akamaru's eyes are usually squinted, appearing closed, and he has a brown nose, as well as brown patches on his ears and a brown outline around his mouth. His fur on top of his head is styled to somewhat resemble a mohawk. Whenever Akamaru ingests soldier pills his fur turns red and he becomes more feral, which is why he was named Akamaru (赤丸) "Aka" meaning "red", and "maru" being a common ending for male names in Japan.

In Part II, Akamaru has grown into a full-sized adult large-breed dog. His size is such that Akamaru can now have Kiba ride on his back comfortably. Despite this, Kiba claimed he failed to notice due to the amount of time they spend together. Apart from his size, his general appearance has remained the same.[7] Years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Akamaru aged a bit, with a few wrinkles appearing on his snout, though was otherwise unchanged.

## Trivia

The 'Aka' in Akamaru's name means the colour 'red', and 'maru' meaning 'perfection' or 'full circle' is a common suffix for Japanese male names. The reason for his name was explained by Kiba when Akamaru's fur turned red after eating a Military Rations Pill.

According to the databook(s):

Akamaru wishes to fight Kuromaru.

Akamaru's favourite food is the special dog food Kiba makes.

Akamaru shares the same birthday with Kiba, which is also the day when Tanabata starts in Japan.

In an omake segment that aired in Japan for New Year's, Kiba attempted to get Akamaru to talk, with little success. There are no indications that Akamaru even has the potential to speak, other than the fact that other ninken can.

Interestingly, Naruto was first published in a segment of Weekly Shonen Jump known as "Akamaru Jump".

Akamaru in Part I and Naruto have the same seiyū, Junko Takeuchi. However, they have separate English voice actors.

During an interview, Kishimoto was asked which character he would like to see get a spin-off. Possibly as a joke, Kishimoto simply replied "Akamaru".