Naruto: Here’s Why Kakashi Wears a Mask!

Although not one of the principal protagonists, Kakashi Hatake was nevertheless one of the best and most beloved characters from Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto franchise. The guy had a very specific approach to life. Because of his great relationship with the protagonist trio, Kakashi has become a fan-favorite character, so fans always ask questions about him. This article will, of course, be dedicated to Kakashi Hatake and his story in Naruto, as we will explain why Kakashi always has a mask over his face that hides the lower part of his face and left eye. There is a reason, and we will reveal it to you here.

Kakashi has been wearing a face mask since he was a kid, while the eye mask came a bit later

Even as a child, Kakashi wore simple clothing: a black jacket and matching pants. His distinctive, crooked haircut and face mask made him highly recognizable, even at a young age. The only colored thing about him was his long, green scarf with dark green symbols on it – interestingly enough, the only colored thing about Gai was a scarf.

A few years later, he swapped his clothes for a blue top and bottom. While bandages can be seen on his lower legs, he now wears metal plates on his forearms. A shuriken pouch is attached to a white belt, and the end of a tantou can be seen over his shoulder. It is attached by two brown straps, which form a cross on his chest. Kakashi is a tall young man with dark eyes and spiky gray hair. He wears his ninja headband askew over his forehead to cover his left eye.

He usually wears the regular green Jonin vest with blue or black clothing underneath. Kakashi wears his shuriken bag on his right thigh but also has a pocket over the left side of his buttocks where he stores the current issue of the Flirtparadies book series he is reading. He also wears a face mask that covers his face to his eyes. Only his right eye, right ear, and hair are visible when he doesn’t use his Sharingan. After Madara Uchiha steals Kakashi’s Sharingan, Naruto restores Kakashi’s actual eye, so he no longer pulls his headband over his left eye from that point on.

After two years, when he was in office as Hokage, Kakashi wore the new standard clothing of Konoha nin during this period, i.e., a dark green torso and shoulder armor, which is darker at the neck and waist. A red armband now adorns his left upper arm. As was usual at the time, his feet were in black boots.

A few years later, his appearance has changed only minimally, but what is striking is that he now appears significantly older. Because his mask now only covers the lower half of his face and he no longer wears a headband, more of his face can be seen. He has adapted his appearance to the repeatedly changed clothing of the Konoha nin.

Why does Kakashi wear a mask?

Well, now that we have explained Kakashi’s appearance, you know that he has been wearing a face mask since he was a child and that he has been covering his eyes since the episode that happened during the Third Shinobi World War. But why is that?

Kakashi has been repeatedly described as handsome by the characters in the series, so there is no obvious reason why he would be wearing a mask. We have to admit that Kishimoto never really revealed the reasons behind this, so we assume that it is basically an author’s decision regarding the face mask. Some theories state that he did it because he was ashamed of his appearance, had constant nose bleeds, or wanted to be a successful ninja. Still, neither of these theories has been officially confirmed by Kishimoto.

As far as the eye is concerned, we know that his eye was damaged during the Third Shinobi World War, which left a scar on his face he wanted to cover. When his eye was briefly restored, he stopped covering it, but once he lost it again, he – once again – returned to covering his eye, as it was the only way for him to hide his scar. And that is the story of why Kakashi wore the masks over his face.

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