Mei Takanami

Mei Kizanami ('刻む波 メイ, Kizanami Mei) is one of the main supporting characters in the series. She is a chunin-level member of Team Yuri and the heiress of the Kizanami clan.

Background
Years prior to the Introduction Arc, Mei was born into the elite and disciplined Kizanami family, and therefore, the heiress to the clan. Disappointed the child was a girl, her father Inoue decided to treat her like cattle by betrothing the girl to the branch family heir, Neji Hyuga. The two liked each other at sight. How could they not - a sweet girl who wanted to be good, and an appreciative little boy? From the point the boy became embittered with his fatalism, Mei grew up cloistered and sheltered and living under her father's verbal abuse, with few friends.

From good friends, she and Neji visibly grew apart. She had Ryoji and Kaname. In the Academy, she performed very well because of her hard work, although had little confidence in herself. She was forbidden by her clan to socialize with Naruto.

Personality
Mei, in her initial appearances, is shown to be a passionate young girl, with an edgy personality, who dislikes being restricted. She is determined to prove herself to Neji Hyuga and her clan that she is a worthy fighter. In the Chunin Exams, she shows herself to be very gentle if needed, when she tried her best to heal Ryoji. Kaname comments on her, saying that she has the motivation but lacks the confidence to be what she wishes. She generally cares over her clan, and holds strong feelings for Neji Hyuga, from her hate to love. After her fight was cancelled in the last stage of the Chunin Exams, she is proven to become quite braver than her usual timid self, when she said she wasn't scared of anything now.

Although she says she hates Neji, she wasn't above comforting the Hyuga after his fight with Naruto, which leads to a different relationship. From a shy and scared girl, Mei, in Part II, has matured into a steadfast and caring young woman with a masculine attitude. The first thing Naruto commented on her when he returned was that she looked different and talked more like a boy, not a young woman.

She rarely complains - a constant trait, and is very assertive when training. She is a steadfast and quite sensitive to the feelings of others, crying easily one time when Neji verbally attacked her for her gentle ways. In contrast to her teammates, cunning and loner Kaname, loud and extraverted Ryoji, Mei was the steadfast but quirky teammate who balanced them. She is often praised for her good manners, although she tends to be rough at times. In her brief tenure with Team Guy, Guy praises her for her eagerness to prove herself, and tends to be berated and chided for taking things too far. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she was adamant to protect Naruto, and kept on fighting even if she had a scar and barely stood. When Yuri chided her, she insisted she was okay.

In Part I, she shows a bit of being unforgiving, and headstrong.

In Part II, she visibly emerges as a more confrontational young tomboy. Mei refused to end conflicts without confronting her foes.

Although she has a nice reputation, she is also notorious for her own faults. She is shown to be a heavy sleeper, and very unpredictable and laid-back. She is shown not to forgive grudges easily, as seen in her flashbacks with Neji and her clan. It is constant that she holds a strong belief to be strong until the end, and as a result, she has become quite courageous in her attempts to be accepted by those she admires.

Due to her change of personality from timid to boyish, Mei has noticeably grown to hold a rather "Devil-may-care" attitude when it comes to her personal appearance, by cutting off her hair. Her tough-guy persona allowed her to hide her inner insecurities about her appearance, although she claims it is not important.

Appearance
Mei has long and straight brown hair that is always neat and combed, with indigo eyes and fair skin. As a child, she wore her long hair loose and traditional Japanese clothes, though when in civilian attire, rather long and baggy clothing. When she became a genin, she wore a large gray jacket over mesh armour and a shirt, with navy pants and her hair is tied up with bells in a bun. In the Pre-Shippuden fillers, she changes her outfit: replacing her bun with a high ponytail and braid, and trades her top for a Cheongsam top.

In Part II, she wears her hair in a ponytail and qipao tunic over leggings and sandals. It is noticeable her hair is cut shorter and in layers. During the Shinobi World War arc, she dons the Jonin vest and wears her forehead protector in her forehead.

Abilities
Here you will write the basics of the ablities, such as what is their strongest asset, their strenghts and weaknesses, strategical preferences and such

During Mei's formative years, she was taught basic Kizanami and basic taijutsu, and C-class level basic Water Release ninjutsu. She was a diligent student, with good grades, always getting eighty percent out of one hundred percent in the exams, not a mediocre pupil. Yuri hints she is a natural at Genjutsu.

As a Kizanami, Mei automatically uses her clan's techniques. Her fighting style is both ninjutsu and taijutsu, and her genjutsu is only limited to dispelling it.

Water Release
The Water Release is the immediate kekkei genkkai of the clan. Kizanamis can channel water from their body, and also draw their release from the environment around them, and with their bodies, use it for combat purposes. There are different stances often to release this water, and it requires strict training to master the stances for the release. Simpler Releases can be done with simply summoning and manipulating the element on the spot.

During Part I, Mei did not show much of her knowledge about the Kizanami-style Water Release stances, instead, manipulating it with will. Althroughout the arcs in Part I, she is seen training by herself in the river to improve her Release, as her father detested her and left her training to her aunt Yuri and the Hyuga. She was occasionally able to create splashes of water the same way Gaara could control sand, and used it rather sparingly, as she found it hard to control. She activated it during the Chunin Exam Arc. In the Pre-Shippuden filler arcs, she was able to show more improvement and started to train the basic seals for using greater releases of water, limited to creating bubbles and surfaces and ponds. During the timeskip, she grew much in training, creating medium-sized water whips.

Because of her training, in Part II, Mei was able to maximize more strength in the area of her Ninjutsu. She can create ice needles from the tips of her fingers, water prisons, ice arcs, water whips, waves, water bullets, water shields, and icebergs. Yuri along with Neji and Lei supervised Mei's training to improve her water control so she could be acknowledged stronger than before. In the Shinobi World War arc, her father comments that she has surpassed his expectations when she created an ice vortex, ramp and ice razor rings to fight against the Zetsu clones. Her level is quite high, although Yuri and Inoue, Mei's own father are stronger than her.

Taijutsu
Mei certainly had a lot of potential in this area. She was quite agile enough to learn and she knew the basics, although she got a B in this class in the Academy. She used the Kizanami-style taijutsu in Part I, kicking and punching. Her family deemed her weak in Part I.

In Part II, her taijutsu gets a whole new level. She displays a whole new variety of her clan's signature taijutsu, which she was able to perform with relative ease, hinting that her clan is warming up to her. She is able to perform a high-level technique, Clenching, that requires precision and strength to knock the enemy down and she can replicate Kizanami-style Taijutsu moves efficiently. She was able to destroy several metal weapons with a roundhouse kick, during the Invasion of Pain Arc. In the Naruto Movie 2: Bonds, she appears to have decapitated altogether many enemies using pushkicks, kneeing, and clenching. She performed the Heian Shodan technique, which was strong enough to overwhelm twenty white Zetsus crowding around her in the Shinobi World War. Mei also developed her natural strength, in order to perform her clan's techniques: she was shown jogging ten times around the village, warming up and sparring in order to keep up well.

Her renewed strength stems from the training she bought on herself to be strong. She trained for a while with Team Guy so she could be taught and easily duplicate her clan's taijutsu with ease. Guy also exposed her to the Strong Fist taijutsu style so she could fight better without ninjutsu and not totally rely on it.

Yuri decided for her training in Taijutsu, simply training her under Guy was not good enough. She had Mei wear weights temporarily in her ankles. During this time period, Mei has noticeably grown stronger and wield also Strong Fist in her array of Taijutsu techniques.

Intelligence
In Part I, Mei was quite known for this. Her test scores revealed that she is quite smart, with consistently high grades in the Academy. During her fights, she plans her battles, always coming up with a counterstrategy and she is quite good at gathering and analyzing Intel.

Introduction Arc
Mei appears as a student who quietly listens for her team. She is seen looking relieved when her team is assigned and joins her team outside with Yuri. She accompanies Yuri when Kakashi and Yuri talk.

On the way home, Mei passes by Team Guy, and she greets the team politely. Only Neji ignores her.

Chunin Exam Arc
Like the other teams, Mei and her team enter the Exams. In the first phase, she was able to answer all the questions in the Chunin Exams by herself and effectively sent them to Ryoji via Kaname's needles, with which a message was encoded. Strategically, Ryoji was put behind Mei and Kaname to cover him. In the next stage, her team almost got attacked by Gaara's, if it were not for Kaname, who told them to hide. Team Guy and Team Eleven clashed in the Forest of Death, by accident, when Ryoji bumped into Neji. Mei and Neji had a long verbal argument, Neji domineering over her, until the Sound ninja attacked Sakura. Mei offered to help with her senbon and almost would have intervened, had Sasuke not woken up in time due to the Curse Mark activating.

She witnesses Naruto's promise and fights the preliminaries well. During this grace period, she is bothered by Neji, to which Kaname tells her to be strong. In the month that followed for the finals, she trains hard to surpass him, and manages to master a few Kizanami jutsus. She greets Naruto happily when he arrives, and the two talk. Before he steps into his match, Mei cheers him on. After his match, Mei talks to Neji. This talk leads to them seen together the next day talking over ramen.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
She is one of the remaining shinobi left to fight and easily dispels the genjutus put on her. She easily proved her place as one of the last remaining fighters, anaging to immobilize several Oto nin. Later, she attends the Third Hokage's funeral and promptly puts a flower on the Hokage's crypt.

Sasuke Retrieval Team Arc
As a back-up, Mei is sent to patrol next to the Team assigned. She is told to watch over Neji, and helps him fight Kidomaru, until he insists taking over. When he collapses, she takes him to the hospital and watches over him. This action hints romantic feelings. After he wakes up, he sees flowers on the vase next to him, and they are lavenders, hinting it is Mei.

Pre-Shippuden Fillers
Neji and Mei are often spotted talking together. In the filler arc episodes, she plays a large role in the Bikochu Arc. Hinata bumps into her, and Mei pats her back. On the last episode featuring the Bikochu arc, Mei serves the Hyuga tea, as a visitor. Neji takes this chance to thank her for the flowers to which she denies and tells him he was an idiot.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
She is one of the first to be seen with Naruto. He is quick to compliment her looks, and how she seemed so different. "You look boyish but pretty." She laughs and tells him to forget her looks, and tells him about how Neji has been kinder to her, chattering pleasantly with him. Naruto also asks her about his rival, Ryoji, to which Mei grins and says Ryoji is a full-fledged playboy. The team is assigned to accompany Team Kakashi and Team Guy, with Lei Kizanami acting as a helper and sensor.

The two siblings bicker and end up singing and fighting each other's ear off in the speakerphones, until an exasparated Guy and Neji had to tear them apart for the rest of the mission. Nonetheless, the two manage to work together nicely enough to handle Deidara, until he immobilised the others. She tried to comfort Naruto at Gaara's death, and attended Chiyo's funeral. She talks with Kankuro and Temari, who comment on Ryoji's devotion to her. Temari teases Mei about Neji, but Mei tells her that they're just friends.

Ironically on the way home, Naruto asks Neji if she and him are a couple, because they were "always together." Mei gets irritated and ignores him.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
Mei is arguing with Ryoji and Kaname over the way she is seen with  Neji, to which she angrily responds that they aren't dating and that they should mind their own business, not stalk her. Kaname points out as an heiress, she needs to have a good reputation, to which Mei retorts that she's not even acknowledged by her clan, why be an heiress, and that she has a better life away from her clan and her own business. Ryoji is upset by her words and sulks. Kaname runs after him to confront him.

She angrily storms out to forget about the two teammates for a day and goes around to buy and look for new books, even adult books in the bookstore. After buying them, she bumps into Sai, who comments on her appearance, calling her "a cute girl." She rolls her eyes.

After Sai's attack, she encounters Shikamaru. Later, both of them confronted Sai, and befriended him. Sai recognizes her as the "cute girl" but never recognized her due to her outfit change, saying how tomboyish she was. After the shuffle with Sai, Mei is reminded of her teammates. Thoughtful, she goes to buy dango and onigiri for them and drops the food off for her teammates, attached with a note that said "I'm sorry."

Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc
Mei was sent as a last-minute back-up by Yuri to assist with the mission. She aided Shikamaru in binding Sora, complaining that she was enjoying a date when she just had to be interrupted.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Yuri sent Mei after the Niju Shotai, under the belief that the Akatsuki might kill one of them. Shikamaru grumbles about her unwanted presence, to which Mei threatens to throttle him and work with her to protect more lives. She joined the coordination of an attack on Hidan, which failed. Together with Shikamaru, they pieced together that Hidan was doing a ritual that harmed both Asuma and him, but Hidan was immortal and therefore unaffected at all by this ritual. She and Ino tried healing Asuma but he died, and she patted Shikamaru's back when he cried. She attended Asuma's funeral and was summoned for a clan meeting with her father discussing the Akatsuki and that his children be included in all plans to break the organization down as soon as possible. This fuels her to start training longer.

Three Tails Arc
Mei was assigned to watch over Team Three, shifting between Team Three and Team One, due to her combat skills and excellent chakra control.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Before Naruto leaves, she tells him to be safe. After this greeting, Mei meditates and starts to train more. She pores over piles of books.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Mei did not die during the attack. She proceeded to continue fighting. However, she dispatched Shadow Clones to bring the other civilians to safety, believing it is her duty to fight and die for her village. She told Neji Naruto was fighting Pain alone, and tells him to calm down when he was so upset Naruto was being reckless in fighting Pain alone. She convinces him to stay behind, as she "needed him." She joins her fellow villagers in cheering for Naruto.

Konoha History Arc
She features in the Neji Gaiden arc, appearing as a supporting character. She helps Tenten get help so they could retrieve Hinata back.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Mei joined her other fellow shinobi to decide what is in store for Sasuke. Mei is forced to agree with Kaname's decision that he believes the best way is to kill Sasuke. Mei challenges his answer, saying that a nice talk would do much better than murdering someone. She almost loses her temper, and continues to rave like a debater, until Neji tells her of the costs people have paid with their lives for Sasuke and his criminal vendetta. She is dispatched to join Shikamaru tell Team 7 of their decision, although Mei tells him she believes that Naruto mayhap save Sasuke, even if the probability is such a low suggestion. When Ino cries, Mei yells and punches Kiba for his shouting at her, and is able to emphathize with Ino's feelings and hastily tells her to be strong. When Naruto returns, Mei tells him of the decision and adds her own opinion.

Confining the Jinchuriki Arc
Mei attends meetings with her clan and the village to start preparing for war. She is spotted training in her underwear in the river to perfect her clan stances, but is caught by Neji who tells her that she must dress and go to the clan meetings. He escorts her there, and she sees him off. Her father hands over tasks to both Lei and Mei, and has sparring sessions with them. Mei is sent away, as her teammate Kaname arrives with a summon for her that the Medical Team needs her to get books. Mei helps, but is forced to watch when her father begins teaching Lei some of the clan's most secret techniques.

Shinobi World War Arc
She is assigned to the Second Division to back up the Hyuga, with her more improved skills in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. Upon being sent to intercept the White Zetsu Army, Mei leads the melee with her taijutsu, going a little easy on the Zetsus. Kaname warns her that she's slacking off, to which she hits him playfully on the head. It is noticeably she uses Iron Fist taijutsu, intending to go all out if needed, lest she loses someone. Neji chuckles and she banters with him. She rotates around protecting her team and the Hyugas.

After Neji collapses due to fatigue, she gives him a rough scolding and he pats her on the head. She concentrates on fighting, with countless personal victories. Yuri and Inoue praise her courage on the battlefield. After her group mobilised the Zetsus, she joined to fight the Masked Madara. However, her attention is called away by another enemy, and she leaves with a peck on Neji's cheek, saying he'd "see me (Mei) later." She is seen fighting more, when Kaname interrupts her, to tell her the news of Neji's death. In reaction, Mei is emotionally shattered, but puts up a bold front, and holds her beloved's corpse in her arms and remembers all of her memories of him. She wishes she had shown him she truly loved him and wanted him to be hers and bade him a goodbye, by promising a part of her old self with him. When Ryoji asked her why was she so calm, she tells Hiashi and Hinata and Naruto she loved Neji, and that she was willing to go do the same thing for her friends, insisting her loved's sacrifice was worth fighting for and that he was finally free.

Inoue watches his daughter lose the man she betrothed to and calmly tells her he was proud of her, "a contrast to me." This refers to the way he reacted when he lost his wife: he blamed Mei for losing her and refused to move on.

Trivia

 * Her first name means "beautiful," and "daughter" while her last name is translated loosely to "engraved waves."
 * Mei's hobbies are training in martial arts, meditation and anaylzing poetry.
 * Mei's theme song is Shionari meaning "roaring tides."
 * Despite her dislike for the strict rules of her clan, Mei obliged to her clan's wishes to represent them in the War.
 * Mei's favorite word is tsuyoku meaning stronger.
 * Mei's favorite foods are curry, dumplings and herring soba and her least favourites are bitter gourd, and turnips.
 * Mei wishes for a match with Neji and wishes for a rematch with Lei Kizanami.
 * Mei's favourite phrase is "as high as honor."( Meiyo to takai, 名誉と高い)
 * Mei's creator originally created Mei after seeing a copy of a page in the Naruto manga redrawn in Part II. She was originally a medic-nin, and was teamless.
 * Mei's personality is described as "generally edgy, wanting, passionate, unforgiving and headstrong."
 * Kizanami-style taijutsu is based from muay thai, dragon-style kung fu and Shotokan karate.

Reference
-http://nejiholic.deviantart.com

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