Okiku Satō

Okiku Sato (里 お菊, Sato Okiku) is a chūnin-level kunoichi from Konohagakure's Sato Clan and a member of Team Tomoko.

Background
Not much is known about Okiku's past. In a conversation with her teammates, she has stated that she has had a relatively peaceful and normal childhood, not having had to experience any of the hardships which could be caused by living in a shinobi world. She was raised by her parents, Yūdai and Hizano Sato, and has been living together with them and her aunt and uncle for as long as she can remember. She has said to have had a fair amount of respect and love for all of them. She often sat together with her uncle when she was still a little kid and had him tell her stories of his life as a shinobi to all of which she listened eagerly.

Her early years in the academy were shown in a flashback. As a student, she was intent and willing to learn, though she was always a bit bored in class and felt unchallenged. She regularly voiced her discontent about Iruka's way of teaching and raised her hand to correct him when he made explanations, making her a know-it-all in class. Kiba, annoyed by her actions, often told her to shut it. She seemed to have had a close connection to Keiro and Kaname even back then, though she also seemed to get along quite well with Shino Aburame.

Personality
Okiku is a generally calm, firm and level-headed girl. Though she mostly acts collected and carefree, she is also very headstrong and quite conceited, wanting things to be done her way. She may often seem a bit apathetic when it comes to her surroundings, but deep inside, Okiku is very passionate about her ideals and also caring about the people important to her.

Okiku is shown to be serene for the most part, although there are times when she can be a real pain to those surrounding her. She often finds herself nagging at others or being overly reprehensive due to her highly developed sense of duty. In general, she is a perfectionist, having high expectations of others as well as herself. She is rarely at peace with herself and constantly tries to improve, thinking that she can be better if she tries hard enough. She is a workaholic who won't rest until she's satisfied with her achievements. In addition, Okiku has stated that her aspiration in life is to gain skill to be acknowledged by everyone and that her motto and ninja way is to stay strong, work hard and not to lose sight of her goals, underlining her eagerness to live a meaningful life she can be proud of.

Due to her rather strong craving for recognition, Okiku has developed a competitive nature, loving challenges and not being afraid to guide others if necessary. She can be quite bossy and likes assuming leadership and taking control of various tasks, though she tends to be demanding and not easily satisfied with other's efforts. This, combined with her being generally oblivious about other people's emotions, often makes her seem somewhat ruthless and cold-hearted. As the series progresses, however, she starts to show a softer and a bit more understanding side.

Okiku is a very imaginative and creative person who dislikes routine and prefers trying out new things, which is clearly noticable in her fighting style. During her match in the Chūnin Exams, as an example, she had an idea to summon a tank full of water with a scroll in order to perorm water style jutsu in the arena which didn't have any water. While she is also willing to take some risks from time to time, she will most likely only do so if the result is promising in the long run.

Okiku is presented as a very responsible, structured kind of person. She dislikes hasty action and has an aversion for people who are rash and impulsive, like Kiba Inuzuka.

Appearance
Okiku is a girl of average height with fair skin and mousy brown eyes. She has black hair, barely reaching to her chest. Her bangs are always parted to the right. Because of her eye and hair colour, she has been mistaken for a member of the Nara clan in one episode.

In Part I, she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail. She wore a short-sleeved light blue top with a zipper in the middle together with simple knee-length, rather dark reddish-brown shorts and the regular navy blue shinobi sandals. She wore her navy blue forehead protector in the standard position and also had a small pocket for weapons attached to her right thigh like most ninjas.

In Part II, the position of Okiku's forehead protector hasn't changed, although the colour switched to a dark gray. Okiku also now wears her hair in a low ponytail, tied in a slightly more fancy-looking way. She sports a kimono style top in a darker mid-blue shade with the sleeves almost reaching her elbows. She still dons pants in the same length and colour as in Part I, though they now have a different style and material, looking similar to the trousers Hinata wears in Shippūden. She wears glove-like, violet protectors for the back of each hand, reddish-shaded fishnet stockings and black ninja shoes that reach more above her calves. Okiku no longer has the pocket on her right calve like when she was a genin, instead, she replaced it for two cream-coloured pouches she wears side by side above her bottom.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she shifts her clothes, replacing them with the standard uniform of the Alliance and a regular Konoha flak jacket.

Abilities
Okiku is a fairly capable and promising kunoichi, her most noticable skills being ninjutsu, cunning and creativity. She mostly uses elemental attacks as well as various distraction techniques like Kawarimi no Jutsu to keep her enemy's eyes occupied while striking. She seems to prefer shuriken over other ninja weapons. Furthermore, she likes to use smoke bombs for blinding her opponents. In Part II, Tomoko noted that she would be a worthy successor for her father's position as a clan group leader.

Ninjutsu
Out of the three main kinds of jutsu, Okiku is most talented and proficient in ninjutsu. Along with Ino, Okiku was among the female students with the best ninjutsu skills in her academy class.

Nature Transformation and Sato Clan Techniques
Typically for a member of the Sato clan, Okiku has specialized in Water Release techniques over the course of the years. While she couldn't use them as much in Part I as in Part II due to her at that time rather poor amount of energy, she can now use it more often than before due to her hard training during the time-skip. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she is shown to be capable of using Lightning Release and Fire Release.

Taijutsu
Okiku hardly used Taijutsu in Part I. However, she has improved in this field of combat, being trained mostly by her teammates. She is seen using it more often in battle in Part II and during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Genjutsu
Okiku has shown to posess some talent for genjutsu, being the only genin next to Sakura and Shikamaru to sucessfully repel the genjutsu cast by Kabuto at the Konoha Crush.

Chakra Control
Okiku is skilled at chakra control and, although not as skilled as Sakura or probably some other medical-ninja, better at it than some of her peers.

Intelligence
Okiku has shown to be very perceptive and analytical, always carefully observing her opponents and surroundings and quickly finding an appropriate strategy to use. This was shown when she used a scroll to summon a water-filled tank for her water style jutsu during the Chūnin Exams since there was no other source of water, surprising those who were watching. She is quick on the uptake when it comes to learning new things as she is always interested in extending her knowledge.

Other Skills
Okiku is known to have an exceptionally flexible, creative and adaptable fighting manner. She will always vary her approach to each individual shinobi she has to face, making her unpredictable for the most part. On top of that, she has the rare ability to hear extremely well, allowing her to detect enemies even far away just based on sounds. It is thanks to these skills that she was assigned to the Fifth Division in the Fourth Shinobi World War, where she proves herself to be of great use to her fellow fighters.

Introduction Arc
Okiku was first seen sitting in the Academy classroom after having graduated successfully. She thought about why Naruto was there despite him having failed the graduation exam. She later was announced to be in Team 6 alongside Keiro and Kaname, which she seemed to be content with.

Chūnin Exams Arc
Okiku and her teammates took part in the Chūnin Exams together with the rest of the Rookie Nine. In the first phase, she and Kaname had to rely on Keiro to get the correct answers for all the questions. Though she felt uneasy about the tenth question, she regained her confidence after hearing Naruto's short speech. Like the other candidates who decided to stay, she passed the written test and Team 6 proceeded onto the second phase.

In the Forest of Death, Okiku and her teammates were in search of a heaven scroll. They were seen after a while having successfully fought against another team, though they were unlucky and were shown dissapointed at the sight of yet another earth scroll. As they wanted to move on, Okiku heard two people drawing closer to them, who turned out to be Tenten and Neji, searching for Lee who had run off to rescue Sakura from Dosu, Zaku and Kin. Seeing themselves having an advantage since one member is missing, Team Tomoko decided to try to fight the two but was interrupted by an agonized cry coming from afar. All five rushed to where it came from and witnessed as Sasuke with a curse mark beat up the Oto-nin. After the fight was over and Tenten scolded Lee for being reckless, Okiku slightly chuckled and complimented her for having such good control over her comerades. Later, they were seen at the preliminaries, indicating that they had managed to get the scroll they needed after all.

In the one on one-matches, Okiku was pitted against a genin from Kusagakure called Nori. Not knowing anything about his abilities, Okiku initially kept her dictance. Nori immediately started his attack and, while running towards her, threw a kunai at her, only to find out that Okiku had used Kawarimi no Justu. Grinning, he stopped and turned around, seeing the real Okiku summoning a tank full of water a couple of metres away. She performed Suiton: Mizurappa, but Nori easily dodged it by jumping into the air. As Okiku prepared to launch a second attack by forming hand seals, Nori revealed his true ability and shot ball-shaped slimy secretions out of his hands. Okiku tried to dodge them all but failed, resulting in her hands, torso and feet covered in the sticky substance, preventing her from moving freely. She struggled, but couldn't free herself. Before Nori could proceed to attack her with several kunai, Hayate stopped the fight, declaring him the winner.

At the final matches of the Chūnin Exams, Okiku was seen sitting next to Tenten in the arena's spectator areas, carefully observing the matches. Much like Tenten, Okiku was watching Naruto's and Neji's fight in disbelief, showing respect for Naruto.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
As Sunagakure started its attack on Konoha, Okiku managed to dispel the genjutsu cast by Kabuto in time. Spotting Temari and Kankurō wanting to jump away to get Gaara, she decided to stop them. Although Temari was too fast, Okiku got hold of Kankurō's arm, but was quickly thrown to the ground by him. Thinking to have hit him after using Suiton: Mizurappa, she attempted to attack him again, only to find out that she had in fact attacked one of his puppets. The real Kankurō defeated her and before she could stand up again, he grabbed the puppet and followed his older sister. Okiku yelled at him to come back, but couldn't jump after him due to her foot having been sprained during the fight.

Later, Okiku was seen at the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, grieving about his death.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
After the mission, Okiku ran into the Sand Siblings just before they head back to Sunagakure. She and Kankurō had a short talk and decided to forget about their fight at the Invasion, showing respect for each other.

During the Time-skip
With Naruto having left the village to become stronger, Okiku, as well as the other genin, is motivated to do the same. She visits Konoha's library now and then together with Keiro to gain more knowledge about different kinds of jutsu with the help of books, often running into either Sakura or Sai and eventually getting to know the latter better. Okiku also trains hard with her teammates, where she mainly improves her taijutsu with the help of Kaname.

Every so often, Okiku crosses Kankurō's path and even goes on some missions with him. Similar to Temari's and Shikamaru's relationship, they tease each other occasionally, but appear to be a bit more friendly towards each other comparatively. They start to be good friends over time.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
After Team 7 and Team 9 come back from Gaara's rescue, Naruto is in search for a person to accompany him and Sakura on a mission to find Sasuke. While looking all across the village for suitable people, he runs into Team 6 resting at the dango shop. After a short talk, he asks them to join, however, the problem is exactly the opposite to Team Kurenai's. Instead of having to leave for a mission, they just came back from one that lasted for four days, thus being too exhausted to leave yet again. Before a dissapointed Naruto leaves the scene, he remembers his previous mission and turns around to tell Okiku about Kankurō's poisoning. She immediately looses her cool, but is relieved again when Naruto assures her that Sakura has saved him. She makes sure to thank her when she has the chance to.

Fourth Shinobi World War Arc
When the Fourth Shinobi World War began, Okiku was placed in the Fifth Division. She was seen looking slightly annoyed at Kiba when he joked around about becoming Hokage after the war. Later, she was sent to assist the Second Division in fighting a group of White Zetsu together with Shino, Hana and Kiba. Like the others, her chakra was gradually sucked out by the clones, draining her. Shino asked her if she is alright, which she affirmed. Later, she was seen kneeling next to an exhausted Neji as Kiba told him to get treatment. She was shown looking confused when Neji couldn't distinguish between Akamaru and Kiba anymore.

After more days of fighting, Okiku along with the rest of her division were instructed to go and help Naruto and Killer Bee fight Madara as soon as possible. She was later seen rushing to Naruto, Killer Bee, Kakashi and Guy's aid along with her teammates and the other members of Konoha 11. After everyone assembled at the battlefield, she and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces stood behind Naruto, ready to fight.

Ten-Tails Revival Arc
Okiku launched attacks on the Juubi along with the others, but didn't manage to deal any damage. Later, she, Keiro and Kaname were seen in shock as they learned of Neji's death by the other Hyūga.

Given some of Kurama's chakra by Naruto, Okiku attacked the enemy together with all the other shinobi on the battlefield. When Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and proclaimed that he wanted to be Hokage, she was seen schocked like the other members of Konoha 11. After Sasuke rejoined Team 7, Team 6, Team 8 and 10 stood besides them, making Okiku think of how they all used to compete in the old days and how they were now fighting side by side.

Despite all of the Alliance's efforts, Okiku and the others were still caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. In the genjutsu, she dreamed of walking through the streets of Konoha while several people gaze after her, talking about her being the strongest and most famous kunoichi in both the village and her clan. Keiro, Kaname, Kankurō and her parents are also present in the crowd.

Final Arc
Ultimately, Okiku woke up once the Infinite Tsukuyomi was dispelled by Sasuke and Naruto after they ended the war.

She later attended Neji's funeral along with the rest of the Konohagakure shinobi.

The Last: Naruto the Movie
Okiku makes an appearance in this film, set two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War. She is later seen at Naruto's and Hinata's wedding, being part of a photo alongside the other girls (Hinata, Tenten, Ino and Sakura).

Epilogue
Years later, Okiku eventually became an instructor at the Academy along with Shino. In the last chapter, she was seen coming to his classroom when some of his pupils - most notably Boruto Uzumaki - caused a ruckus, not paying attention or showing respect to their teacher. Looking at the students from afar with a smile, she told Shino not to worry, saying it's no wonder they behave this way when you thought about their parents.

Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison
Okiku, along with the other members of the Konoha 11 and Guy, Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Yamato, came to Naruto's rescue and helped out in the fight against Satori.

Road to Ninja
Okiku appears in Road to Ninja together with her teammates. In the alternate world, Okiku has changed a lot. She behaves irresponsible, childish, unconcentrated and overly giggly. She appears to just let things happen and take their course instead of wanting to be in control of them.

Trivia

 * While Okiku's last name's kanji 里 (sato) translates to "village", the kanji 菊 (kiku) in her first name means "chrysanthemum", which she once noted to be her favourite flower in an omake.
 * Okiku is given the nickname "Grandma" (jap. "Obaa-sama") by Keiro, referring to her firm, mature and controlling personality. He sometimes uses it to upset her.
 * Okiku suffers from hay fever, which is the reason to why she hates spring.
 * In "Banchō Sarayashiki", a famous japanese ghost story, the main character's name is also Okiku.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Okiku's personality is described as dutiful and alert.
 * Okiku's hobbies include cooking and brewing different sorts of tea.
 * Okiku wishes to fight Temari and Kiba Inuzuka.
 * Okiku's favourite foods are Onigiri with salmon filling and blueberry jelly, while her least favourite is Tempura.
 * Okiku has completed 37 official missions in total: 10 D-Rank, 16 C-Rank, 8 B-Rank, 3 A-Rank, 0 S-Rank.
 * Okiku's favourite word is "determination" (決心, kesshin).

Reference
Okiku Sato is an OC for the Narutoverse created by The SatoGirl.