Asuma Sarutobi Overview

Asuma Sarutobi was the leader of Team 10, consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka. Not much was known about Asuma, only that he seemed very laid back and was always smoking a cigarette whenever he was seen. Asuma smoked about two packs of cigarettes a day, though, as Shikamaru Nara pointed out, he stopped the habit when there was "something going on" or something that bothered him. However, despite his laid-back attitude, he often worried about his team, which (as he put it) consisted of a "glutton" (Choji), a "loud mouth" (Ino), and a "slacker" (Shikamaru). Asuma was very close to his team, even though he admitted that they are very hard to work with. Most of them are underachievers who would rather pursue other pastimes than train or take on missions. The team was often shown snacking at the Amaguri Ama dango and teashop or eating at the Yakiniku Q restaurant.

Because his team was lazy, he learned several techniques to get them to do what he wanted, often through bribery and sometimes through outright trickery. He promised Choji barbecue dinners if he completes the day's mission, or whatever else Asuma may want him to do. Knowing that Shikamaru would never take a written test under any circumstances because it would be "too troublesome" (he wouldn't bother to lift his pencil at the academy, hence his low grades), Asuma disguised the I.Q. test as a series of puzzles and asked Shikamaru to solve them (knowing that Shikamaru couldn't resist solving a new puzzle). This method is how he discovered that Shikamaru was a tactical genius with an I.Q. of over 200.

The sash under Asuma's vest indicates that he was one of the 12 Guard Ninjas of Fire who protected the Lord of the Land of Fire at one point in his life, before returning to active military duty as a Jonin (akin to Kakashi's stint as an ANBU operative before returning to the rank of Jonin in the ninja military). These ninja seem to be particularly skilled, and Asuma is no exception. Asuma boasts that his bounty is 5 million ryō more than Head Monk Chiriku's (another Guardian Ninja) bounty, meaning his bounty is 35 million ryō. Asuma used trench knives (brass knuckles with a blade on one end) to fight. He could extend the blades of his brass knuckles with his chakra to injure the enemy even though the physical portion of the blade didn't touch them. In Part II, he exhibited the ability to extend the blades by several feet. Coupled with his taijutsu skills, this made him a formidable combatant.

It has been heavily hinted that he was romantically involved with Kurenai Yuhi. During one episode, Asuma and Kurenai are at a dumpling shop. Kakashi mentions this and Asuma attempted to change the subject. The two were seen together almost constantly when not on duty, and are usually paired together when they are on duty. There has also been a flashback in which Asuma bought flowers for someone and refused to say who, though Ino told him to "Say hi to Kurenai-sensei" for her. When Asuma, Shikamaru, Kotetsu and Izumo are fighting Hidan and Kakuzu, various shots of Kurenai in her apartment are shown, indicating that she was concerned about him. At one point, when she was watering flowers, one of the flowers fell off of its stalk, symbolizing that something had happened to him. In chapter 330 when the report of his death is made to Tsunade, Kotetsu asks, "What about Kurenai?" Tsunade then offers to tell Kurenai the news herself, but Shikamaru interjects that Asuma had wanted him to tell her something. This same chapter then reveals panels of Shikamaru speaking with Kurenai. We are shown a close-up of her shocked face and her reaction of falling to her knees and then later the action of her laying flowers on Asuma's grave during his funeral.