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bymystrings) wrote2013-03-08 01:28 am
bymystrings) wrote2013-03-08 01:28 am
Application
Name: Kankuro
Canon: Naruto
Gender: Male
Age: 17-18
Wing Color: Maroon
Canon Point: Chapter 589
Canon Point Explanation: It's the last time we see Kankuro in the manga so far. While taking him from a later chapter would be nice, there is no indication that he is even involved in the later action that is shown. With his exact location up in the air, I felt it was better to take him from his last appearance.
History: It's a very nice History. Please disregard any information pertaining to Fillers and/or movies as they are not part of his canon.
Personality: While Kankuro's personality is rough, rude and short tempered, he is also capable of being compassionate and caring. Though he has changed quite a bit from when he was a genin, the true seeds of his personality were always there, buried underneath attitude and fear. With the opening of Gaara's heart and other changes in his life, Kankuro was able to mature into a well-rounded shinobi, who, while still having some temper issues, was a firm ally to those who needed it and solid and trustable leader.
From his time as a genin, Kankuro has grown up and matured a great deal, especially concerning his relationship with his brother. However even as a genin taking the chuunin exams, he still had a unique understanding of Gaara. Although understandably scared of him, due to his younger siblings unnatural bloodthirsty nature, he still treated him as a person to some extent. Kankuro was willing to argue, discuss strategy, and even get in slight physical altercation with Gaara during the course of the exams even as the boy threatened his life and dismissed their blood connection. The fact he was still willing to claim a blood connection, saying he was his older brother, to the demon-possessed boy was interesting, considering the later-revealed implications that Gaara, one, did not view him the same way, and two, was greatly feared and hated by the village which means any positive association to Gaara would negatively affect Kankuro.
Not only that, but during Gaara's fight with Lee in the preliminaries, he even makes a distinction between Gaara and his more bloodthirsty/Shukaku side, viewing them as two separate though entangled beings. Kankuro is still fearful of both, but it is still an important distinction made.
As a genin, Kankuro had a habit of discussing Gaara's sand with the other chuunin-hopeful's. The first time, in the forest of death, it is probably because he knows that all the opponents are going to be killed, as it seems he is not aware of the genin Konoha team 8 hiding and observing the fight. He also talks about it because he is confident nothing can get through the sand shield so there is no harm in talking about it. The second time he talks about Gaara's sand armor, during the preliminary fight with Lee, he does not reveal as much, in fact reinforcing the impression that it is unbeatable, but still provides a decent amount of exposition. This is probably because, unlike the sand shield, Gaara's sand armor does have a weakness which he does not reveal. Luckily Kankuro outgrows this habit. (Though most of it was probably because he was being used as Mr. Exposition by Kishimoto.)
Probably his most noticeable personality traits as a genin was a particular dislike for children and those younger than him. He especially disliked those younger than him who acted cocky or a showoff. This dislike can be tied to how Gaara treated him, ignoring his advice and such, leading to irritation towards those younger than him, especially cocky brats.
Of the three Sand Siblings, Kankuro is more geared towards stealth, ambush and information than Temari or Gaara. The first hints of this are when, during the chuunin exams, he approaches Konoha genin in an attempt to get more information about Neji in preparation for the third stage of the exams. Knowing Naruto from previous encounters he approached him as the most obviously talkative of the bunch. Unfortunately for Kankuro, Naruto knows next to nothing about Neji and is too hot-headed to provide good information. But it was a good try.
During the third stage of the chuunin exams, Kankuro shows that he is willing to suffer personal advancement setbacks in order for his mission to succeed. While he possibly could have fought in the exam, that would of meant revealing his tricks which he knew he might need later and would have worn down his stamina, so he instead forfeited, being the only genin in that chuunin exam to forfeit before a fight even began. When the fighting begins in earnest, Kankuro leaves supporting an injured Gaara after their teacher tells them to abort their mission. Other than a single 'Damn', Kankuro does not argue with his teacher, instead making sure that they get Gaara to safety. To help with this, once Sasuke catches up to the siblings, Kankuro volunteers to stay behind and delay the other boy at risk of his wellbeing, if not his life. The arrival of Shino makes his decision moot, but Kankuro instead fights Shino so as to prevent him from backing up Sasuke. In this case, Shino is one of the worse type-matchups with Kankuro, due to the chakra eating nature of his bugs, and the fact that his puppets are controlled by Chakra threads. However, Kankuro manages to fight Shino to a mutual standstill, thus partial accomplishing his goal.
After the end of Gaara's fight with Naruto, both Temari and Kankuro show up read to defend their brother from the Konoha genin. However, once Gaara calls them off, they immediately help him and start to head back to Suna. When Gaara, changed by his fight with Naruto, offers an apology to his siblings, they exchanged looks of shock, but acknowledge it with a simple "It's alright", instead of taking advantage of this new development.
By the next time Kankuro and his siblings show up, it is obvious their relationship has changed some more. The exact details of this change are clouded, but it is obvious that by the time they arrive to help the Konoha genin with the retrieval of Sasuke that they have formed a more solid team and family.
Of all the sand siblings he is the most vocal, especially when expressing annoyance. As a shinobi, Kankuro knows when he should keep his mouth shut, but can sometimes still be vocal when he shouldn't be. This is especially true if you insult or are disrespectful to his siblings, especially Gaara, within his hearing. Kankuro will also participate in trash-talking if he feels the fight isn't serious, or he already has an advantage.
A good portion of Kankuro's personality is shaped by how he deals with his siblings. This is the area in which he has shown the most change, though as mentioned earlier, the seeds for this change were already there. Over the course of the two year time skip Kankuro becomes closer to Gaara, and in return, his brother confides in him. Seeing this change in his younger brother and a strengthening of familial ties as well makes Kankuro very protective of Gaara. He is less protective of Temari because she can defend herself quite well, but is still not one to take an insult to her or Gaara lightly. Kankuro's trust in Gaara and Gaara's strength is shown in the Kazekage Rescue arc. Where Baki expresses concern that Gaara may lose control to Shukaku, Kankuro know that his brother would not succumb and hurt the village, having faith in his control. He sits back and watches the fight, fully confident in Gaara's ability, while also being able to interfere should the fight move towards the village and into inhabitants.
The moment Gaara loses to Deidara and is captured Kankuro moves to chase even as Baki protests. Kankuro sharply disagrees with his old teacher, questioning if they are just going to abandon Gaara, much to Baki's denial. Kankuro continues out of the village, determined to save Gaara at all costs, no matter what. His love for his brother, while perhaps not blinding him to the dangers, make Kankuro ignore them. He simply has to get his brother back. As he leaves the village proper, he comes across the slain Suna shinobi at the entrance and is visibly shocked and enraged. This is still visible once he catches up with Akatsuki members Deidara and Sasori. He takes out his puppets immediately partly because he recognizes the threat and partly because Deidara tries to get away.
Though terribly outmatched by Sasori he would not give up. Fatally poisoned, he still managed to retain enough willpower to manipulate the broken pieces of his puppets and snatch a bit of Sasori's face mask to aid his village in the recovery of Gaara. Back in Suna, still poisoned and in great pain he manages to tell Baki about Sasori, showing the ability to think while suffering and his determination to help Gaara even if he could not move. Once cured of his poison, Kankuro immediately shares the information he learned with the Konoha shinobi who are there to help, trusting them. Recognizing that he is too weak to help, Kankuro instead asks the only person there he feels he can trust to recognizes Gaara's worth as himself to save his brother. The very moment he is recovered enough to travel himself, Kankuro sets off after Gaara with Temari and other Suna shinobi, determined to help his brother even though he is barely up to strength. After Gaara's revival, Kankuro is self-aware enough to recognize that Naruto did just as he promised too and thanks him sincerely. He is also aware enough of the power behind Chiyo's action that when Naruto make the wrong assumption, he corrects him firmly but honestly telling him the truth and recognizing her sacrifice and Naruto's power in changing her mind.
By the time of summit of Kages it because evident that the family has gotten even closer. Kankuro and Temari act as Gaara's bodyguards not just because he might need them, but also because he trust them with any information that may come to light, and their ability to help him make plans according so any such information. While also his physical bodyguard, Kankuro and Temari also guide him in other matters, such as during the confrontation with Sasuke Uchiha. Kankuro recognize that there is nothing Gaara could say that would stop Sasuke, reminding him that they were not the same and to approach things as a Kazekage, not as someone who actually understood Sasuke in a way. They stand by his side during the confrontation, as siblings and shinobi.
During the 4th shinobi war, Kankuro demonstrates talent as the leader of a small specialized squad by being both compassionate and firm. When Omoi of his squad starts to express worries or concerns which could negatively affect his performance, Kankuro tells him to concentrate of winning so as to protect his family and friends. His straightforward manner actual calms Omoi, and he does not give in to worrying. When a fellow ambush squad member, Zaji, is put at risk due to a trap by the enemy Kankuro pulls him away in from the explosion, saving his life. He expresses regret at not being able to rescue the Aburame clan member who was used by the enemy to attack, but quickly shuts it away to concentrate on protecting and directing his squad. While no Nara, Kankuro demonstrates a good amount of intuition and intelligence when facing the Akatsuki Ambush squad. He is able to command his forces carefully, so that no life is lost, and capture both Deidara and Sasori with his puppeteering. Kankuro then manages to reveal to Sasori the puppeteers own faults, causing Sasori to entrust his precious 'Mother' and 'Father' puppets to proud Kankuro.
The Puppets
Speaking of puppets, it's hard to talk about Kankuro without talking about his puppets. They are as much a part of who he is as his brotherly bonds, face paint and hood. Not much is known about the puppeteers of Suna. Aside from Kankuro the only recognized puppeteers are Chiyo-baasama and Sasori of the Red Sands. There aren't even any in the war except for Kankuro. This being the case it must be assumed that puppeteering is a dying art, possible helped by Sasori's betrayal twenty years ago and the decimation of that times puppet corps. This being the case, along with Chiyo's retreat from everyday Suna life, where exactly Kankuro got his first puppet, the subsequent ones, and how he learned his skills is shrouded in mystery. What is known are who his puppets are.
The first puppet, Karasu, has been his partner for the longest. It is the main puppet he uses during the Chuunin exam arc, showing great skill with it. It is an offensive puppet with a great many concealed weapons, some installed by Kankuro himself.
The second puppet, first seen in the Sasuke retrieval arc is, Kuroari. This puppet works well in conjunction with Karasu and is mainly to capture and hold opponents until Karasu's blade pierce through slots and kill the target. It is not a defensive puppet, but rather a supplementary attack puppet. By the time of the shinobi war, Kankuro has made a second Kuroari puppet and uses it in tandem with the first one.
The third Puppet, shown in the Rescue the Kazekage arc is, Sanshouo. Unlike the first two, Sanshouo is almost purely defensive puppet, useful to give a puppeteer a safe place to attack from, hold injured allies, or, as Kankuro uses it, be able to contain a bomb explosion.
The fourth and final Puppet is Sasori, or rather the puppet body Sasori of the Akatsuki inhabited. Kankuro retrieved the puppet from where it was beaten by Chiyo and Sakura (and possible the other puppets that were there as well) and made some modifications to it for his use. Sasori is both an offensive and defensive puppet, though it mainly focuses on offence, with limited single person/single file defense.
All of the puppets work together to some degree, with Karasu and Kuroari being obviously made for joint attacks. Like Chiyo's White and Sasori's Red Secret Techniques, Kankuro has also made his own puppeteer secret arts, calling them Black Secret Technique. Part of this creation seems to be tied to being a puppeteer itself, but another reason may be because it was unlikely he was trained in any actual Secret Techniques.
With his puppets come a whole other range of talents, used to modify and maintain his puppets. Kankuro understands the basics of mechanisms, as many are used to create and maintain the different puppets hidden weapons. There is also carving and maintaining wood, as the bodies of the puppets are wood based, though possibly treated with chemicals to make them harder. Any replacement parts he has to make himself, as there does not seem that there'd be a plethora of spare puppet parts in Suna, especially not for puppets made by the notorious Sasori of the Red Sands. Poison and chemical knowledge and ability to make is also needed, to make and maintain any poison coated weapons, poison bombs, smoke bombs, and other chemical based products the puppets may use.
The other talent he needs for controlling puppets is the ability to form and maintain Chakra threads. It is unclear how difficult such a feat is, as no other shinobi except puppeteers seem to use them. As such it is unknown what skills are needs in order to excel at puppeteering. Breaking down the technique itself, it seems to need a high level of Chakra control and chakra shaping. Puppeteers are able to make the threads without using hand signs, showing a high level of chakra control on par with most medics. The threads themselves are ninjutsu, mainly chakra shaping to form the thin strands which connect the Puppeteers to their puppets.
Chakra threads themselves are highly versatile, able to connect to other objects and humans. With them you can push, pull or otherwise manipulate an object or human. In the case of manipulating a human like a puppet, if they are alive co-operation is needed or the other person must be weakened, if they are dead, well go nuts. With enough skill, Chakra threads can be rendered invisible, though Kankuro certainly hasn't reached that level yet.
Along with the versatile Chakra threads Kankuro also has the ability to make his puppets look human for a period of time using sand as a medium. So far this has proven an undetectable change to the naked eye, physical contact through clothing and Inuzuka noses. This affinity for sand may be connected to his being a Suna shinobi, not through any ability with sand like Gaara.
Strengths
Physical: Of the sand siblings, Kankuro is the strongest, physically of them. Not only because his build is that much sturdier than that of his siblings, but also due to extensive training with his puppets, which weight a hefty amount by themselves. All of his actual physical fighting abilities are driven by his puppets, meaning to take in account his strength you must also include the puppets. His puppets are his greatest strength, physically.
Although poisoned by Sasori, and again not being able to complete fight off Ibuse's poison, it is likely that Kankuro has a building resistance to poison. While certainly not overly resistant to outsider's poison's it is more than likely he has built up an immunity to any poison's he uses in his puppets. This would be the only sensible precaution, as it is possible for the puppets weapons to be used against him, or for a poisoned smoke bomb attack to surround him as well.
While having no sand abilities like Gaara, Kankuro has also demonstrated the ability to use sand as a disguise on his puppets, making them look human. This could be connected to shinobi's tendency to use the most common natural resource as clone and/or replacement material. In the case of Suna, that's sand mainly.
Mental: Kankuro has a lot of willpower. Not only is it needs to control his puppets like he does but it also drives him to keep going, even when hope seems lost. Such as his defeat at the hands of Sasori. While he is lying poisoned and slowly dying in the sands he manages to control Karasu's hand enough to grab a piece of Sasori's face mask, so that they could track him down later. As Kakashi puts it, making a success from failure. His whole puppetry fighting style depends on strong willpower and concentration.
Kankuro is also very good at ambush tactics, able to utilize his team in the 4th shinobi war efficiently. He can separate himself from the sorrows of the battle field so that his team survives. While not one to like being underestimated, Kankuro is also not the type to fall for a quick-talking 'you suck' mental attack. You can try to undermine his self-confidence, but you won't succeed. Kankuro's battle take place, not only physically but also mentally as he uses the psychological effect of his inhuman puppets and his tendency to replace himself with his puppets to undermine an enemies mental strength.
The ability to control 4-5 puppets at one time, as well as being able to make Chakra threads themselves make him a dangerous opponent. He is also strong for learning his puppetry art (probably) on his own, taking theory and turning it into practice.
Emotional: He cares a great deal for his family. While caring is not usual seen as a strength in the shinobi world, Kankuro lets his ties to his family make him strong, a lesson probably strengthened by seeing Gaara struggle to form bonds and do the same. That being said, he is not outwards affectionate with his siblings, trash talking with Temari as a form of affection and simply being there for Gaara. He is the support of his family, willing to do anything for his brother and sister to help them along. However he also trusts in their own abilities and would never undermine their own strength.
Kankuro is also ruthless in battle, and kills enemies with little remorse. While he may delay a moment or two once they are captured, that is only to increase the psychological effect of being caught by his scary puppets. Kankuro is rather brutally honest, being perfectly content to express his opinion or to tell the truth about most thing, such as Chiyo-baasama's sacrifice.
Weaknesses
Physical: Kankuro's main focus is on his puppets. This means that while he still has decent hand to hand skills, close combat will never be his forte. So if his puppets are taken out, he is at a greater disadvantage than other shinobi who have lost their weapons. Kankuro is also a great disadvantage if someone manages to get past his puppet's if confronting a group as he still has to have his puppet defending himself and attacking the others while having to rely on his own skills and strengths with the close range fighter. In this scenario it is likely he'd be in great trouble by himself. In fact, as a fighter, he is much more proficient if he is part of a group. Though he has been shown to be able to fight by himself, both times against an enemy that either had a type advantage or simply was more skilled, he lost.
Also, having gained the muscle needed to lug around his puppets, he is slower than his siblings and most other shinobi. He is simply not built to be as quick as the others, having a broader and sturdier build then most shinobi his age (apart from, y'know, Chouji).
Due to specializing in Puppet jutsu Kankuro has no other techniques to fall back on other than basic shinobi training in the case that he either loses his puppets, or becomes too drained of Chakra to control them. This leaves a gap in his abilities that he has not seemed to have done much to fill other than to decrease the chance of such a thing happening. Kankuro only carries small arms such as kunai and senbon, so if it comes to a fight against a sword, and his puppet is out of reach he has a disadvantage.
Mental: According to his stats, Kankuro is weak against genjutsu which is basically shinobi forms of psychic attacks. This means, accordingly, that he probably vulnerable to other forms of psychic attacks that aren't jutsu based.
He also has a temper, and doesn't always know when to keep his mouth shut, though it hasn't gotten him into a lot of problem yet. Kankuro's temper mainly flares up in regards to disrespecting his brother (and sister when she can't defend herself), making fun of his puppets, and underestimating him. While having mostly outgrown his reckless behavior, it comes up again if his family is threatened. While undermining his confidence in his own power isn't likely to work, if you attacked his ability to protect his family, it is possible that Kankuro concentration would break and he could be filled with self doubts. Given his strong sense of self, he could probably overcome such a mental attack but would still be distracted by it enough for someone to get an attack through.
Emotional: His weak point is his family. While Temari has never canonically been in great danger or against overwhelming odds, Gaara was after the Akatsuki attack and kidnapping. Seeing his brother in danger made him chase after the Akatsuki by himself, leading to his poisoning.
Another weak point is in his physical appearance. Rarely do we see Kankuro without his all-encompassing black clothes, bunraku hood and face paint. Due to his appearance without any of said items being a lot like his fathers, the fourth Kazekage, one wonders if such a resemblance makes him continually cover up. Though not much is known about the fourth interaction with his other Children apart from Gaara, given what we know we can conclude it probably wasn't the best family environment. Considering how much Gaara hated their father when he was younger, at first the hood and face paint may have been to protect Kankuro from Gaara's not so specific wrath. After the chuunin exams and as the brother's became closer, it is possible Kankuro kept the hood and makeup as a way to not remind Gaara or Temari of their father. The hood and face paint are also homage to kabuki theater and bunraku. But that might just be a convenient excuse.
Kankuro is also brutal honest, which might not be appreciated by everyone.
Anything else?: Just like Pokemon trainers, Kankuro is limited to three puppets. His three puppets will be/are Karasu, Kuroari, and Sasori.
Canon: Naruto
Gender: Male
Age: 17-18
Wing Color: Maroon
Canon Point: Chapter 589
Canon Point Explanation: It's the last time we see Kankuro in the manga so far. While taking him from a later chapter would be nice, there is no indication that he is even involved in the later action that is shown. With his exact location up in the air, I felt it was better to take him from his last appearance.
History: It's a very nice History. Please disregard any information pertaining to Fillers and/or movies as they are not part of his canon.
Personality: While Kankuro's personality is rough, rude and short tempered, he is also capable of being compassionate and caring. Though he has changed quite a bit from when he was a genin, the true seeds of his personality were always there, buried underneath attitude and fear. With the opening of Gaara's heart and other changes in his life, Kankuro was able to mature into a well-rounded shinobi, who, while still having some temper issues, was a firm ally to those who needed it and solid and trustable leader.
From his time as a genin, Kankuro has grown up and matured a great deal, especially concerning his relationship with his brother. However even as a genin taking the chuunin exams, he still had a unique understanding of Gaara. Although understandably scared of him, due to his younger siblings unnatural bloodthirsty nature, he still treated him as a person to some extent. Kankuro was willing to argue, discuss strategy, and even get in slight physical altercation with Gaara during the course of the exams even as the boy threatened his life and dismissed their blood connection. The fact he was still willing to claim a blood connection, saying he was his older brother, to the demon-possessed boy was interesting, considering the later-revealed implications that Gaara, one, did not view him the same way, and two, was greatly feared and hated by the village which means any positive association to Gaara would negatively affect Kankuro.
Not only that, but during Gaara's fight with Lee in the preliminaries, he even makes a distinction between Gaara and his more bloodthirsty/Shukaku side, viewing them as two separate though entangled beings. Kankuro is still fearful of both, but it is still an important distinction made.
As a genin, Kankuro had a habit of discussing Gaara's sand with the other chuunin-hopeful's. The first time, in the forest of death, it is probably because he knows that all the opponents are going to be killed, as it seems he is not aware of the genin Konoha team 8 hiding and observing the fight. He also talks about it because he is confident nothing can get through the sand shield so there is no harm in talking about it. The second time he talks about Gaara's sand armor, during the preliminary fight with Lee, he does not reveal as much, in fact reinforcing the impression that it is unbeatable, but still provides a decent amount of exposition. This is probably because, unlike the sand shield, Gaara's sand armor does have a weakness which he does not reveal. Luckily Kankuro outgrows this habit. (Though most of it was probably because he was being used as Mr. Exposition by Kishimoto.)
Probably his most noticeable personality traits as a genin was a particular dislike for children and those younger than him. He especially disliked those younger than him who acted cocky or a showoff. This dislike can be tied to how Gaara treated him, ignoring his advice and such, leading to irritation towards those younger than him, especially cocky brats.
Of the three Sand Siblings, Kankuro is more geared towards stealth, ambush and information than Temari or Gaara. The first hints of this are when, during the chuunin exams, he approaches Konoha genin in an attempt to get more information about Neji in preparation for the third stage of the exams. Knowing Naruto from previous encounters he approached him as the most obviously talkative of the bunch. Unfortunately for Kankuro, Naruto knows next to nothing about Neji and is too hot-headed to provide good information. But it was a good try.
During the third stage of the chuunin exams, Kankuro shows that he is willing to suffer personal advancement setbacks in order for his mission to succeed. While he possibly could have fought in the exam, that would of meant revealing his tricks which he knew he might need later and would have worn down his stamina, so he instead forfeited, being the only genin in that chuunin exam to forfeit before a fight even began. When the fighting begins in earnest, Kankuro leaves supporting an injured Gaara after their teacher tells them to abort their mission. Other than a single 'Damn', Kankuro does not argue with his teacher, instead making sure that they get Gaara to safety. To help with this, once Sasuke catches up to the siblings, Kankuro volunteers to stay behind and delay the other boy at risk of his wellbeing, if not his life. The arrival of Shino makes his decision moot, but Kankuro instead fights Shino so as to prevent him from backing up Sasuke. In this case, Shino is one of the worse type-matchups with Kankuro, due to the chakra eating nature of his bugs, and the fact that his puppets are controlled by Chakra threads. However, Kankuro manages to fight Shino to a mutual standstill, thus partial accomplishing his goal.
After the end of Gaara's fight with Naruto, both Temari and Kankuro show up read to defend their brother from the Konoha genin. However, once Gaara calls them off, they immediately help him and start to head back to Suna. When Gaara, changed by his fight with Naruto, offers an apology to his siblings, they exchanged looks of shock, but acknowledge it with a simple "It's alright", instead of taking advantage of this new development.
By the next time Kankuro and his siblings show up, it is obvious their relationship has changed some more. The exact details of this change are clouded, but it is obvious that by the time they arrive to help the Konoha genin with the retrieval of Sasuke that they have formed a more solid team and family.
Of all the sand siblings he is the most vocal, especially when expressing annoyance. As a shinobi, Kankuro knows when he should keep his mouth shut, but can sometimes still be vocal when he shouldn't be. This is especially true if you insult or are disrespectful to his siblings, especially Gaara, within his hearing. Kankuro will also participate in trash-talking if he feels the fight isn't serious, or he already has an advantage.
A good portion of Kankuro's personality is shaped by how he deals with his siblings. This is the area in which he has shown the most change, though as mentioned earlier, the seeds for this change were already there. Over the course of the two year time skip Kankuro becomes closer to Gaara, and in return, his brother confides in him. Seeing this change in his younger brother and a strengthening of familial ties as well makes Kankuro very protective of Gaara. He is less protective of Temari because she can defend herself quite well, but is still not one to take an insult to her or Gaara lightly. Kankuro's trust in Gaara and Gaara's strength is shown in the Kazekage Rescue arc. Where Baki expresses concern that Gaara may lose control to Shukaku, Kankuro know that his brother would not succumb and hurt the village, having faith in his control. He sits back and watches the fight, fully confident in Gaara's ability, while also being able to interfere should the fight move towards the village and into inhabitants.
The moment Gaara loses to Deidara and is captured Kankuro moves to chase even as Baki protests. Kankuro sharply disagrees with his old teacher, questioning if they are just going to abandon Gaara, much to Baki's denial. Kankuro continues out of the village, determined to save Gaara at all costs, no matter what. His love for his brother, while perhaps not blinding him to the dangers, make Kankuro ignore them. He simply has to get his brother back. As he leaves the village proper, he comes across the slain Suna shinobi at the entrance and is visibly shocked and enraged. This is still visible once he catches up with Akatsuki members Deidara and Sasori. He takes out his puppets immediately partly because he recognizes the threat and partly because Deidara tries to get away.
Though terribly outmatched by Sasori he would not give up. Fatally poisoned, he still managed to retain enough willpower to manipulate the broken pieces of his puppets and snatch a bit of Sasori's face mask to aid his village in the recovery of Gaara. Back in Suna, still poisoned and in great pain he manages to tell Baki about Sasori, showing the ability to think while suffering and his determination to help Gaara even if he could not move. Once cured of his poison, Kankuro immediately shares the information he learned with the Konoha shinobi who are there to help, trusting them. Recognizing that he is too weak to help, Kankuro instead asks the only person there he feels he can trust to recognizes Gaara's worth as himself to save his brother. The very moment he is recovered enough to travel himself, Kankuro sets off after Gaara with Temari and other Suna shinobi, determined to help his brother even though he is barely up to strength. After Gaara's revival, Kankuro is self-aware enough to recognize that Naruto did just as he promised too and thanks him sincerely. He is also aware enough of the power behind Chiyo's action that when Naruto make the wrong assumption, he corrects him firmly but honestly telling him the truth and recognizing her sacrifice and Naruto's power in changing her mind.
By the time of summit of Kages it because evident that the family has gotten even closer. Kankuro and Temari act as Gaara's bodyguards not just because he might need them, but also because he trust them with any information that may come to light, and their ability to help him make plans according so any such information. While also his physical bodyguard, Kankuro and Temari also guide him in other matters, such as during the confrontation with Sasuke Uchiha. Kankuro recognize that there is nothing Gaara could say that would stop Sasuke, reminding him that they were not the same and to approach things as a Kazekage, not as someone who actually understood Sasuke in a way. They stand by his side during the confrontation, as siblings and shinobi.
During the 4th shinobi war, Kankuro demonstrates talent as the leader of a small specialized squad by being both compassionate and firm. When Omoi of his squad starts to express worries or concerns which could negatively affect his performance, Kankuro tells him to concentrate of winning so as to protect his family and friends. His straightforward manner actual calms Omoi, and he does not give in to worrying. When a fellow ambush squad member, Zaji, is put at risk due to a trap by the enemy Kankuro pulls him away in from the explosion, saving his life. He expresses regret at not being able to rescue the Aburame clan member who was used by the enemy to attack, but quickly shuts it away to concentrate on protecting and directing his squad. While no Nara, Kankuro demonstrates a good amount of intuition and intelligence when facing the Akatsuki Ambush squad. He is able to command his forces carefully, so that no life is lost, and capture both Deidara and Sasori with his puppeteering. Kankuro then manages to reveal to Sasori the puppeteers own faults, causing Sasori to entrust his precious 'Mother' and 'Father' puppets to proud Kankuro.
The Puppets
Speaking of puppets, it's hard to talk about Kankuro without talking about his puppets. They are as much a part of who he is as his brotherly bonds, face paint and hood. Not much is known about the puppeteers of Suna. Aside from Kankuro the only recognized puppeteers are Chiyo-baasama and Sasori of the Red Sands. There aren't even any in the war except for Kankuro. This being the case it must be assumed that puppeteering is a dying art, possible helped by Sasori's betrayal twenty years ago and the decimation of that times puppet corps. This being the case, along with Chiyo's retreat from everyday Suna life, where exactly Kankuro got his first puppet, the subsequent ones, and how he learned his skills is shrouded in mystery. What is known are who his puppets are.
The first puppet, Karasu, has been his partner for the longest. It is the main puppet he uses during the Chuunin exam arc, showing great skill with it. It is an offensive puppet with a great many concealed weapons, some installed by Kankuro himself.
The second puppet, first seen in the Sasuke retrieval arc is, Kuroari. This puppet works well in conjunction with Karasu and is mainly to capture and hold opponents until Karasu's blade pierce through slots and kill the target. It is not a defensive puppet, but rather a supplementary attack puppet. By the time of the shinobi war, Kankuro has made a second Kuroari puppet and uses it in tandem with the first one.
The third Puppet, shown in the Rescue the Kazekage arc is, Sanshouo. Unlike the first two, Sanshouo is almost purely defensive puppet, useful to give a puppeteer a safe place to attack from, hold injured allies, or, as Kankuro uses it, be able to contain a bomb explosion.
The fourth and final Puppet is Sasori, or rather the puppet body Sasori of the Akatsuki inhabited. Kankuro retrieved the puppet from where it was beaten by Chiyo and Sakura (and possible the other puppets that were there as well) and made some modifications to it for his use. Sasori is both an offensive and defensive puppet, though it mainly focuses on offence, with limited single person/single file defense.
All of the puppets work together to some degree, with Karasu and Kuroari being obviously made for joint attacks. Like Chiyo's White and Sasori's Red Secret Techniques, Kankuro has also made his own puppeteer secret arts, calling them Black Secret Technique. Part of this creation seems to be tied to being a puppeteer itself, but another reason may be because it was unlikely he was trained in any actual Secret Techniques.
With his puppets come a whole other range of talents, used to modify and maintain his puppets. Kankuro understands the basics of mechanisms, as many are used to create and maintain the different puppets hidden weapons. There is also carving and maintaining wood, as the bodies of the puppets are wood based, though possibly treated with chemicals to make them harder. Any replacement parts he has to make himself, as there does not seem that there'd be a plethora of spare puppet parts in Suna, especially not for puppets made by the notorious Sasori of the Red Sands. Poison and chemical knowledge and ability to make is also needed, to make and maintain any poison coated weapons, poison bombs, smoke bombs, and other chemical based products the puppets may use.
The other talent he needs for controlling puppets is the ability to form and maintain Chakra threads. It is unclear how difficult such a feat is, as no other shinobi except puppeteers seem to use them. As such it is unknown what skills are needs in order to excel at puppeteering. Breaking down the technique itself, it seems to need a high level of Chakra control and chakra shaping. Puppeteers are able to make the threads without using hand signs, showing a high level of chakra control on par with most medics. The threads themselves are ninjutsu, mainly chakra shaping to form the thin strands which connect the Puppeteers to their puppets.
Chakra threads themselves are highly versatile, able to connect to other objects and humans. With them you can push, pull or otherwise manipulate an object or human. In the case of manipulating a human like a puppet, if they are alive co-operation is needed or the other person must be weakened, if they are dead, well go nuts. With enough skill, Chakra threads can be rendered invisible, though Kankuro certainly hasn't reached that level yet.
Along with the versatile Chakra threads Kankuro also has the ability to make his puppets look human for a period of time using sand as a medium. So far this has proven an undetectable change to the naked eye, physical contact through clothing and Inuzuka noses. This affinity for sand may be connected to his being a Suna shinobi, not through any ability with sand like Gaara.
Strengths
Although poisoned by Sasori, and again not being able to complete fight off Ibuse's poison, it is likely that Kankuro has a building resistance to poison. While certainly not overly resistant to outsider's poison's it is more than likely he has built up an immunity to any poison's he uses in his puppets. This would be the only sensible precaution, as it is possible for the puppets weapons to be used against him, or for a poisoned smoke bomb attack to surround him as well.
While having no sand abilities like Gaara, Kankuro has also demonstrated the ability to use sand as a disguise on his puppets, making them look human. This could be connected to shinobi's tendency to use the most common natural resource as clone and/or replacement material. In the case of Suna, that's sand mainly.
Mental: Kankuro has a lot of willpower. Not only is it needs to control his puppets like he does but it also drives him to keep going, even when hope seems lost. Such as his defeat at the hands of Sasori. While he is lying poisoned and slowly dying in the sands he manages to control Karasu's hand enough to grab a piece of Sasori's face mask, so that they could track him down later. As Kakashi puts it, making a success from failure. His whole puppetry fighting style depends on strong willpower and concentration.
Kankuro is also very good at ambush tactics, able to utilize his team in the 4th shinobi war efficiently. He can separate himself from the sorrows of the battle field so that his team survives. While not one to like being underestimated, Kankuro is also not the type to fall for a quick-talking 'you suck' mental attack. You can try to undermine his self-confidence, but you won't succeed. Kankuro's battle take place, not only physically but also mentally as he uses the psychological effect of his inhuman puppets and his tendency to replace himself with his puppets to undermine an enemies mental strength.
The ability to control 4-5 puppets at one time, as well as being able to make Chakra threads themselves make him a dangerous opponent. He is also strong for learning his puppetry art (probably) on his own, taking theory and turning it into practice.
Emotional: He cares a great deal for his family. While caring is not usual seen as a strength in the shinobi world, Kankuro lets his ties to his family make him strong, a lesson probably strengthened by seeing Gaara struggle to form bonds and do the same. That being said, he is not outwards affectionate with his siblings, trash talking with Temari as a form of affection and simply being there for Gaara. He is the support of his family, willing to do anything for his brother and sister to help them along. However he also trusts in their own abilities and would never undermine their own strength.
Kankuro is also ruthless in battle, and kills enemies with little remorse. While he may delay a moment or two once they are captured, that is only to increase the psychological effect of being caught by his scary puppets. Kankuro is rather brutally honest, being perfectly content to express his opinion or to tell the truth about most thing, such as Chiyo-baasama's sacrifice.
Weaknesses
Also, having gained the muscle needed to lug around his puppets, he is slower than his siblings and most other shinobi. He is simply not built to be as quick as the others, having a broader and sturdier build then most shinobi his age (apart from, y'know, Chouji).
Due to specializing in Puppet jutsu Kankuro has no other techniques to fall back on other than basic shinobi training in the case that he either loses his puppets, or becomes too drained of Chakra to control them. This leaves a gap in his abilities that he has not seemed to have done much to fill other than to decrease the chance of such a thing happening. Kankuro only carries small arms such as kunai and senbon, so if it comes to a fight against a sword, and his puppet is out of reach he has a disadvantage.
Mental: According to his stats, Kankuro is weak against genjutsu which is basically shinobi forms of psychic attacks. This means, accordingly, that he probably vulnerable to other forms of psychic attacks that aren't jutsu based.
He also has a temper, and doesn't always know when to keep his mouth shut, though it hasn't gotten him into a lot of problem yet. Kankuro's temper mainly flares up in regards to disrespecting his brother (and sister when she can't defend herself), making fun of his puppets, and underestimating him. While having mostly outgrown his reckless behavior, it comes up again if his family is threatened. While undermining his confidence in his own power isn't likely to work, if you attacked his ability to protect his family, it is possible that Kankuro concentration would break and he could be filled with self doubts. Given his strong sense of self, he could probably overcome such a mental attack but would still be distracted by it enough for someone to get an attack through.
Emotional: His weak point is his family. While Temari has never canonically been in great danger or against overwhelming odds, Gaara was after the Akatsuki attack and kidnapping. Seeing his brother in danger made him chase after the Akatsuki by himself, leading to his poisoning.
Another weak point is in his physical appearance. Rarely do we see Kankuro without his all-encompassing black clothes, bunraku hood and face paint. Due to his appearance without any of said items being a lot like his fathers, the fourth Kazekage, one wonders if such a resemblance makes him continually cover up. Though not much is known about the fourth interaction with his other Children apart from Gaara, given what we know we can conclude it probably wasn't the best family environment. Considering how much Gaara hated their father when he was younger, at first the hood and face paint may have been to protect Kankuro from Gaara's not so specific wrath. After the chuunin exams and as the brother's became closer, it is possible Kankuro kept the hood and makeup as a way to not remind Gaara or Temari of their father. The hood and face paint are also homage to kabuki theater and bunraku. But that might just be a convenient excuse.
Kankuro is also brutal honest, which might not be appreciated by everyone.
Anything else?: Just like Pokemon trainers, Kankuro is limited to three puppets. His three puppets will be/are Karasu, Kuroari, and Sasori.