Character Profile: Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke grew up in the shadow of his older brother Itachi. Sasuke was largely neglected by his father. Sasuke looked up to his brother, but Itachi always seemed friendly yet distant. When Itachi grows increasingly distant from the clan, Sasuke's father begins to spend more with Sasuke, teaching him Gokakyu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique). Sasuke finally performed the jutsu in front of his father at age 6. Then one day, when Sasuke was about 7 years old (or possibly just turned 8), he returned home to find his family massacred with Itachi standing over the bodies. His brother said:

If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life. And one day, when you have the same eyes as me, come before me.

Years later, Sasuke is now one of the top scorers of the ninja apprenticeship school and the top Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village. He is also one of the two surviving members of the Uchiha clan, the once powerful ninja clan of the village that was destroyed by his older brother, Itachi. When Sasuke demanded a reason, Itachi told him he simply wanted to test his strength. As a result of his desire for vengeance against his brother, Sasuke became very dark and cold, caring for nothing else other than becoming stronger.

While in Kakashi's squad (and even before), Sasuke saw Naruto as a weakling. But the events behind the Chunin resulted with Sasuke being given Orochimaru's cursed seal because of his bloodline, and Sasuke began to recognize Naruto a both a friend and rival. However, when Itachi ignored Sasuke to go after Naruto, Sasuke snapped, feeling inferior after realizing how strong Naruto had become in such a short time while he lacked any significant improvement to be able to rival his brother, and thus he used his Chidori on Naruto.

Orochimaru used this chance to send his Sound Ninja Five to bring Sasuke to him in a vain attempt to transfer his soul into his body. Though Sasuke went willingly, under the notion that Orochimaru would give him the power he sought, Orochimaru already transferred and decided to condition Sasuke into a ideal host over the next three years. Prior to arriving, Sasuke attempted to kill Naruto to obtain the stronger form of Sharingan that Itachi obtained (Itachi had said that it was obtained by killing your best friend). Sasuke beat Naruto in their battle, but ultimately, Sasuke couldn't go through with it. He hesitated, then struck Naruto with the back of his hand instead of the Chidori, sparing Naruto's life. He had realized that he needed to beat Itachi in his own way.

By the time Naruto and Sakura find him with their new team years later, Sasuke became twisted and relentless over the years with full knowledge of Orochimaru's intentions for him, not caring as long as he gets stronger. But once he sees he has nothing more to learn from him, Sasuke turns on Orochimaru and reverses his ex-mentor's jutsu so that he remained in control of his body.

Once disposing of Orochimaru, Sasuke forms a team called "Snake" to hunt down Itachi, taking out Deidara in the process. And while Itachi is able to seal away Orochimaru forever, he was not able to survive against his brother. Once Sasuke's fight with his brother ended in Itachi's death, he is spirited away by Tobi.

With the Curse Seal removed, Sasuke learns that the Hidden Leaf Village's leadership up until the Third Hokage were the ones who had Itachi kill their clan. Infuriated at this truth, Sasuke renames his team "Hawk" with the intent to destroy Konoha.

As part of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke has higher "chakra" (spirit energy/chi) than most. He has a technique to blow fireballs from his mouth, and being a part of the Uchiha clan, he inherits the clan's Kekkei Genkai (or bloodline trait) known as the Sharingan. Being the prodigy that he is, Sasuke successfully activated his Sharingan when he was fighting Haku (who himself was using a Kekkei Genkai) and it gradually gains strength as he learns to use it to track movements and observe ninjitsu techniques.

Sasuke's Height

The third DVD box set lists Sasuke's height as 150.8cm, while apparently there is a Sasuke card out there which lists his height as 151cm. If you have a scan or image for either one of these, please contact me.