Shizune

Shizune (シズネ, Shizune) is a jōnin-level kunoichi of Konohagakure, a talented medical-nin, as well as the Fifth Hokage's attendant.

Background
Shizune is the niece of Kato Dan, a renowned shinobi of Konoha. Some time after her uncle's death, Tsunade, his lover, left Konoha and Shizune went with Tsunade as her attendant and apprentice. The bond between Tsunade and Shizune is strong and, above all, Shizune sees her purpose in life as caring for Tsunade.

During their time away from the village, Shizune often worried about Tsunade's constant gambling, losing money and then borrowing more. On one such occasion when they were at a gambling den, they were approached by the Fourth Raikage and Amai who beseeched Tsunade to help their injured comrade. After Tsunade complied, Shizune was actually the one to conduct the surgery, and when she told the Raikage of her master's two great losses, upon hearing his response that her master was unhinged, she chided the Raikage, throwing the Exploding Insect. Recomposing herself, she told Amai who had been aiding in the surgery to finish up.

Appearance
Shizune is a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with black eyes and hair. Her hair is straight and shoulder-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face. Normally, Shizune is seen in a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels. Shizune has also been seen wearing the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with flak jacket, when deployed on missions which has distinct, extra-long sleeves. She, however, doesn't wear a forehead protector. Shizune also has the tendency to pin her hair up when working; a trait also shared by Sakura. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she donned the standard attire of the village, but this time with shorter sleeves. She now wears the forehead protector of the Allied Shinobi Forces and a band around her right arm signifying her position.

Personality
Shizune is always level-headed, practical and a rational thinker. As a result, she is the one who tends to stress over details, such as Tsunade's tendency to gamble and to think with her heart. She often gets comically worked up over any irrational decision Tsunade makes. Shizune also looks after Tonton, Tsunade's pet pig. She is also a very kind and calm person but will immediately rush to Tsunade's aide and in contrast, will become fierce and somewhat ruthless; a testament of her loyalty to Tsunade. At the same time however, she is not timid and is not afraid of objecting to Tsunade's decisions or voicing her opinion as seen when she even alerted the Konoha Council to Tsunade's intention to send Naruto on a mission that Shizune thought would put him in great peril.

She is not the type to tire easily and is very energetic and efficient while acting in her capacity of Hokage's Assistant, often urging Tsunade to finish the paperwork in order to avoid mountains of unsigned documents later on. She is often seen asking Tsunade questions about what to do with the village and the shinobi on missions.

Abilities
As Tsunade's first apprentice, Shizune is a very capable kunoichi and a highly talented medical-nin. Her abilities were acknowledged by Jiriaya, who first went to her to counteract the drug that Tsunade had dosed him with, and later left Kabuto Yakushi up to her.[5 ] A further testament to her prowess was her being put in charge of the Logistical Support and Medical Division of the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War.[6 ]

Medical Ninjutsu
Shizune is noted to be a very talented medical ninja, surpassed only by Tsunade herself. Her prowess set a high standard for Tsunade's other disciples, as the Sannin noted that she had not seen someone with so much skill since Shizune while training Sakura Haruno.[7 ] Shizune's chakra control is great enough to perform even the most complex medical ninjutsu, leading Tsunade to have the utmost confidence in her. It was due to her control that she was assigned to lead the sealing of the Three-Tails.

Shizune demonstrated her great medical knowledge when she lead a group of medical ninja in a complicated procedure that took over three hours while the slightest mistake could be fatal.[8 ]

Poison Techniques & Weaponary
Shizune has rarely been seen in battle, but from what has been seen of her skills so far is that she incorporates the use of poison-related techniques during combat. During her battle with Kabuto, Shizune showed the ability to use the Poison Mist technique, creating a thick cloud of toxic gas, capable of being fatal even if only a mere whiff is breathed in, as noted by Kabuto in the anime.[9 ]

Shizune is also skilled to use her poison in conjunction with her weaponry. She uses poisoned senbon in a variety of ways, like firing them from a concealed wrist-mounted device or spitting them out of her mouth in quick succession. Kakashi mentioned that Shizune is also able to imbue a kunai with poison.[12 ]

Intelligence
Shizune is quite observant and has a keen intelect. This was seen when she was put in charge of the autopsy Konoha performed on the first Animal Path that Jiraiya had captured, where she and her team were able to find out the secret behind the chakra receivers embedded in the corpse after just a short ammount of time.[13 ] Likewise, during the Fourth Shinobi World War, she could find out the DNA-similarities between the White Zetsu Army and the first Hokage Hashirama Senju, something that she already presumed before.[14 ]

Other Skills
In battle, Shizune is quite fast, and equally fierce and precise in her attacks.[15 ] She is also very adeptable to the situation and is able to perform immediate counters that are too fast for her opponents to react properly.[16 ] Shizune is also a gifted teacher as she could instruct Sakura on how to imbue her weapons with poison.[17 ]

In the anime, she has made use of the Shadow Clone Technique,[18 ] and has been shown to be able to create at least 36 clones at once. She also demonstrated capable skills in fūinjutsu, able to lead her team in the process of sealing a tailed beast. It was also shown that she was adept at using taijutsu, able to fight and defeat countless of Naruto's Shadow Clones.[18 ]

Search for Tsunade arc
When Orochimaru came to Tsunade years later in an attempt to get her to heal his arms, Shizune attempted to persuade Tsunade against it, even trying to convince Tsunade to kill him with her assistance. When all attempts to persuade Tsunade failed, however, Shizune tried to use force to stop Tsunade from helping Orochimaru, although Tsunade easily defeated her. She later fought Kabuto Yakushi in an effort to protect an incapacitated Tsunade and Naruto Uzumaki. Despite Shizune's efforts, Kabuto proved too much for her, as he managed to dodge her attacks and incapacitate her, too. Shizune was able to heal her legs, and left the field of battle with the unconscious Naruto as the three Sannin prepared to conclude their battle. She then returned to Konoha with Tsunade after she accepted the office of Hokage.

In the anime, the group stopped in a hot springs town. When Senta and Bunzō had stolen the First Hokage's necklace which was currently worn by Naruto, the two plot to blackmail Tsunade to give them the money she owes their boss. When Shizune found the note, she couldn't find Tsunade anywhere which left her the choice to use the Transformation Technique to pose as Tsunade. When Naruto and the Akagi brothers stole the bag, Shizune in Tsunade's form goes after them. After Shizune took down Naruto, the Akagi brothers discovered that there's no money in it. Just then, the real Tsunade arrived and recognised Shizune in disguise. With help from Jirōchō Wasabi (whom Tsunade encountered in the casino), Tsunade explained that she already paid her debt to the Akagi the year before.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
When Tsunade took on the title of Hokage, Shizune led a team consisting of Genma Shiranui, Raidō Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami to compensate for the lack of manpower caused by the Invasion of Konoha. While in a forest recuperating from the seemingly tiring mission, they detected a presence close by. As Raidō and Genma leave to check out what is was, Shizune and Iwashi waited for their return. When the duo took too long to return, Shizune and Iwashi went to see what was taking so long. Upon their arrival, she is shocked to see Genma and Raidō injured on the forest floor. Acting immediately, Shizune gave them medical attention but noted that they needed to be hospitalised. Later, when the Sasuke Retrieval Team returned to the village, Shizune led a team of medical-nin including Kitō and Mogusa. As the operation went on, Shizune noted that even though they were using Neji's hair as a medium to heal the wounds, that every strand of hair had to be affected by chakra control. Later, though visibly tired, she happily reported the success of the operation to Tsunade.