Okiku Satō

Okiku Satō (佐藤 おきく, Satō Okiku) is a chūnin-level kunoichi from Konohagkure. She belongs to the Satō Clan and is a member of Team Riku.

Background
Okiku grew up together with both her parents, her little brother Akio and her uncle Yutaka. She always listened eagerly to her uncle's stories, inspiring her to become a shinobi as well.

Later, Okiku started attending the Academy where she befriended Keiro and Kaname. She was a motivated student, studying in her free-time and, as a result, graduating successfully from the Academy at the age of twelve.

Personality
Initially, two of Okiku's most prominent characteristics were her tendency to be strict with others and herself as well as her composed and matter-of-factly behaviour. She learned from her uncle that, although most likely worthwile in the end, her career as a shinobi had the potential to be filled with pain and regrets. As a result, she stopped idealizing the shinobi life like she did when she was younger and became a more serious person upon graduating from the academy, usually being extra careful on duty and worrying deeply for her teammates. Over the course of the chūnin exams, getting through many difficult situations and learning from her peers, she began to become gradually more relaxed and confident in her abilities as well as more comfortable in her role as a shinobi.

A sensible and patient individual since childhood, Okiku typically acts as the voice of reason when in a group of people. Her patience and competence are what enable her to help her little brother with his studies and training before and after his graduation. While thorough on missions, she likes to wind down and be leisurely when off-duty. Okiku is a well-meaning and cooperative person and quick to help people once they open up to her about their problems, however she will distance herself from people she deems untrustworthy or unpleasant.

Despite being an otherwise shamelessly honest character, Okiku has admitted to struggle with expressing feelings of compassion. This trait often makes her seem somewhat indelicate to outsiders, although those close to her know that she doesn't act that way intentionally. Her ability to communicate deep emotions seems to have improved since Part I, as seen when she suggested a joint walk through the village to Ino and Chōji in an attempt to lift their spirits after Asuma's funeral.

Okiku shares a strong loyalty for Konoha with her peers and wholeheartedly believes in the will of fire. She is concerned about the safety of her loved ones and is willing to protect and support them in any way she can.

Appearance
Okiku is a fair-skinned girl of average height with honey-brown eyes. She has chin-length black hair, tucked behind her ears on both sides. Her bangs are slightly parted to the left. Due to her eye and hair color, she has been mistaken for a member of the Nara Clan in one episode. She usually wears a neutral, arguably a bit hard to read facial expression.

In Part I, Okiku sported a sleeveless grey top with a zipper down the middle and a mesh midriff shirt underneath. She combined it with dark brown pants which reached slightly over her knees. Additionally, she wore regular navy blue sandals and placed her headband on her left hip, fastened on by two steel buttons. Okiku also wore a shuriken-holster on her right thigh and a brown weapon pouch.

In Part II, Okiku wears a simple short-sleeved blue jacket with pockets on the lower part of each side and the same mesh undershirt as before. She also sports black pants reaching down to her knees. She continues to place her headband on her left hip, however only the metal part is visible, apparently sewn onto the pants themselves. Her sandals are now brown and reach more above her calves. Okiku has started to carry two cream coloured weapon pouches instead of the previous single brown one. Additionally, Okiku has started to wear a pale green bangle on her left wrist, a gift she received from her little brother during the time-skip.

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.

In The Last, Okiku has grown her hair out more, now almost reaching her shoulders. She wears a sleeveless blue vest-like top, kept closed by three square-shaped metal buttons running down the middle. She also sports a pair of high-waisted, black pants and brown sandals.

In the Epilogue, Okiku has shortened her hair again, wearing it slightly shorter than she did in her youth. Similar to her war attire, she sports the regular Konoha flak jacket over a black sleeveless shirt, three-quarter length black pants and black shoes.

Abilities
Okiku is a fairly talented kunoichi who generally utilizes ninjutsu. Like the other members of her clan, Okiku has specialized in the use of defensive Barrier Ninjutsu. As a result, she usually has a supportive role in fighting, protecting her comerades from attacks or trying to trap her enemies. However, she can also fight well at the front lines if needed. When not using barriers in combat, Okiku either fights with taijutsu or attacks with kunai and shuriken. She sometimes also makes use of smoke bombs to confuse her opponents before or while attacking.

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.

Barrier Ninjutsu
Okiku has focused on learning Barrier Ninjutsu over the years, following her clan's tradition. She uses it to summon various types of shields to protect either her fellow fighters or herself. One of her clan's techniques allows her to create a barrier with a range of about half a kilometre and enables her to detect all people who enter, leave or are inside of it, given that the enemy doesn't surpress their chakra immensely well. According to her, she can trap enemies inside of the barrier for up to half an hour, depending on her chakra reserves and the enemy's abilities.

Nature Transformation
Okiku's chakra affinity is Earth Release. She uses earth style techniques mainly for creating defensive shields and walls, some examples being Earth Release: Practice Brick Technique or Earth Release: Rock Shelter. However, Okiku has also mastered some offensive earth release jutsu. She has shown to be proficient in Fire Release as well in the Fourth Shinobi World War, once eliminating several Zetsu clones with it.

Other skills
Similar to other clan members, Okiku is exceptionally good at observing and noticing enemies. Like most members of her clan, she mainly does so utilizing her naturally good sense of hearing.

Relationships
Being generally easy to talk to, Okiku has not much difficulty building friendships if she wants to, however some people might be turned off by her honest and sometimes seemingly insensitive nature.

In her years at the Academy, she befriended Keiro and Kaname. The three frequently spent the breaks together playing and chatting and ended up becoming best friends over time. It made Okiku visibly happy to be placed in a team with them at the beginning of the series. Due to their long friendship, their teamwork is very good.

Okiku also shares a close sibling-relationship with her little brother, Akio, and holds a lot of respect and admiration for her uncle, Yutaka, who served as her rolemodel during her childhood and inspired her to follow his footsteps as a shinobi. She also loves her mother and father and, although stating to be annoyed by it, is kind of happy about the fact that her parents are so concerned for her well-being. Despite this, she tries her best to not give them a reason to worry for her.

Introduction Arc
Okiku was first seen sitting in the academy classroom after having graduated successfully. She wondered why Naruto was there despite having failed the graduation exam. She later was announced to be in Team 6 alongside Keiro and Kaname and smiled widely as a result, turning her head to look over to them.

Chūnin Exams Arc
Okiku and her teammates took part in the Chūnin Exams together with the rest of the Rookie 9. 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 noticed 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 was missing, the team decided to fight the two but was interrupted by an agonized cry coming from afar. They rushed towards its source and looked on in horror as Sasuke beat up the Oto-nin. After the fight was over and Tenten scolded Lee for being reckless, Okiku smiled and complimented her for having such good control over her comerades, much to the shock of both Lee and her teammates. Later, Team 6 was seen at the preliminaries, indicating that they had managed to get a heaven scroll in time.

In the one-on-one matches, Okiku was pitted against a genin from a Kusagakure team called Nori. He used a shuriken launcher for attacking. Okiku had to defend herself with a summoned barrier since the shuriken were fired with piercing speed. When she let her guard down for a short moment, she was hit by a special shuriken which paralyzed her. Because she wasn't able to fight anymore, Nori was declared the winner. She was angry and embarrased about her loss and, still not able to move, was supervised by the medics until the exam was over. Later, she talked with her teammates about their fights and with their help regained some of her confidence.

About a month later, Okiku and Keiro arrived together in the arena with Kiba and Hinata to watch Kaname's match and the other remaining fights. Though concerned about Hinata's bad condition, they let Kiba and the disguised Kabuto take care of her alone and remained seated. Much like everyone else, Okiku and Keiro were watching Neji's and Naruto's battle in disbelief, showing respect for the latter.

As Sunagakure started to take action, Okiku was caught by Kabuto's genjutsu with Keiro unable to release her from it.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
Okiku attended the Third Hokage's funeral together with the rest of the village, observing the other attendees as if in deep thought. She walked home together with Keiro and Kaname after the event and they shared their thoughts, concerns and hopes about the future.

During the time-skip
Though she appeared normal on the outside, Okiku was still angry at herself for her fight against Nori. She aimed to get stronger, just like Naruto would while he is away from the village. Though one of her her goals was to improve her speed, she mainly gained stamina and, due to practice with her uncle, her Barrier Ninjutsu got better, allowing her to create even stronger barriers and shields. She frequently helped her brother Akio with his studies at the academy.

Some time during the time skip, Okiku is shown practicing ninjutsu with her brother. When they finish and Okiku turns to head home for dinner together, Akio stops her and surprises her with a bangle as a thank-you gift for spending her time helping him all the time. Okiku is reluctant to accept it at first, feeling guilty and concerned that it must have cost him at least a month's worth of pocket money, but he insists. Moved by his action, Okiku tears up a bit, hugging and thanking him with a smile.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
In search for a third teammember for his mission to meet Sasori's spy, Naruto eventually ran arcoss Team Riku resting at Konoha's dango shop. They were suprised but very happy to see him again after such a long time. They had a short chat before he asked them if one of them could accompany him and Sakura, however all of them had to decline, having just returned from a long mission themselves. They apologized and wished him luck as he ran off again.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Okiku, Keiro and Kaname learned of Asuma's death from their sensei and were shocked by the news. They were seen mourning his loss at his funeral together with the other shinobi. After the funeral, the team wanted to cheer up Chōji and Ino by taking a walk and talking to them for a bit, but they both declined the offer.

Invasion of Pain Arc
At the beginning of the arc, Okiku was seen leaving her house for a mission, telling her worried parents not to panic over her safety everytime she left Konoha. As she met up with her sensei and Kaname in the village centre, they witnessed the explosions caused by Pain. Once Keiro arrived as well, Riku told them to quickly check on their families and then help evacuate the villagers while he would go and inform the authorities. Okiku, arriving at her house again, brought her parents and brother to the shelters before starting to search for other people in the debris. Later, she joined her uncle together with numerous other members of the Sato clan to defend the village against the attacks.

After the attack was over and all the dead were revived, Okiku was seen celebrating Naruto alongside the other villagers.

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.

Blank Period
Some time after the war, Okiku was promoted to the rank of jōnin. She continued to practice ninjutsu together with Akio, who was now preparing his first Chūnin Exams, and resumed training with her uncle to further enhance her abilities.

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

Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding
Okiku appears in this novel. After thinking about what present to give to Hinata and Naruto, she decides to go to the library to search for ideas in a book about weddings. Flipping through the pages, she starts to think that she should come up with an idea herself instead of relying on some book. After asking Kaname for some guidance, she manages to make two matching bracelets for the two, but voices concern over whether they'll actually like them or not. When Kaname hints at the possibility of her having subconciously gotten the idea for the present from the bracelet she got from Akio, she smiles and becomes more confident in her self-made gift.

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 to their teacher. Looking at the students from afar with a smile, she told Shino not to worry, saying it's no wonder they behaved that way when you thought about their parents.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire
Okiku appears in this film together with her team.

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 this movie together with her teammates. In the alternate world, Okiku is somewhat scatterbrained, very clumsy and overall much less quick on the uptake than usual, shown when she is the last one to notice Lee in the girl's changing room at the hot springs.

Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival
Team Riku participates in the sports festival to win the prize. They congratulate Naruto together with everyone else after he wins.

Naruto, The Genie, and the Three Wishes
Team Riku works together to snatch the genie's bottle but ends up failing to do so. Like the others, they are dissapointed when the last wish is wasted on Kakashi.

Rock Lee's Springtime Of Youth
Okiku mostly appears in the spin-off together with Keiro and Kaname. She usually prefers to stay out of everyone's antics, only joining in if something piques her interest or if it seems inevitable. She occasionally comments on the situations in an apathetic way, providing some funny moments.

Trivia

 * "Kiku",when written as 菊, means "chrysanthemum", which her mother once noted to be her favourite flower.
 * Okiku hates spring because she suffers from hay fever.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Okiku's personality is described as mindful and straightforward.
 * Okiku's hobbies include reading, taking baths and taking walks.
 * Okiku would like to fight Temari.
 * Okiku's favourite food is Onigiri with salmon filling 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 phrase is "Guardians never surrender".

Quotes

 * (To herself during her fight with Nori) "He's not holding back...I hope I can keep this up!"
 * (To Kiba) "I wonder how Akamaru can put up with your crazy personality."
 * (To Akio after his graduation) "Congratulations! You'll be an amazing shinobi one day for sure."
 * (To Shino about Boruto and Shikadai) "Don't let it get to you, Shino. After all, remember who their parents are."

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

Edit: I'm an idiot. I only realized just now that Read Books was kind enough to write about me on her OC's page. So now: a big thank you to you as well!