Prologue: Land of Waves, Vols. 1–4

Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan and the Academy's class clown, carries the Nine-Tailed Fox without knowing it. After foiling the theft of a scroll, he becomes a ninja and lands on Team 7 with Sasuke and Sakura under Kakashi, who tests them with two bells. Their first real mission is escorting bridge builder Tazuna to the Land of Waves, where swordsman Zabuza and young Haku lie in wait. On the bridge, Naruto and Sasuke take on Haku while Kakashi fights Zabuza. Haku dies shielding Zabuza, who, betrayed by the tycoon Gato, kills his employer and dies beside his partner. The bridge is finished and named the Great Naruto Bridge.

1. Behind the scenesIt started with a fox

   Naruto grew out of a 1997 one-shot in Akamaru Jump about a boy who could turn into a fox. Kishimoto wasn't happy with it and reworked the idea into a ninja story; the series launched in Weekly Shōnen Jump on September 21, 1999.

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2. Behind the scenesKakashi was due earlier

   Kakashi was meant to debut in chapter 2, before the rest of Team 7. After talking with his editor, Kishimoto pushed him back so he could set up the students first.

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3. SetupScarecrow

   Kishimoto weighed Kuwa, Kama, Botan and Enoki before settling on Kakashi, which means scarecrow. That's why scarecrows keep popping up in the series, including on the cover of volume 3.

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4. ReferenceOn screen

   The prologue became episodes 1–19 of the first anime, all canon.

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