Shikamaru. Despite his laziness, when he does find the motivation to do something, he can't be stopped. He's come to realize the importance of things in life and he, more than the rest of the k11, is aware of his duties and knows how to take responsibility for them. Plus, I enjoy how he wins his battles through his strength in being a tactician instead of using brute force. I love it when characters exert leadership qualities, too.
For favorite female character, it's a tossup between Temari and Anko, but I'll talk about Anko here. She's always interested me as a character. Her introduction was so crazy and over the top to the point where even Naruto couldn't handle her, but then it immediately went into her having this backstory with Orochimaru, and.. oh. When Hiruzen commented on how she felt guilty for coming back from the Forest of Death alive instead of killing Orochimaru by sacrificing herself like she attempted to do... yeah. Ties into one of the reasons I love Shikamaru I guess with how they're taking actions for what they feel responsible for.
For favorite female character, it's a tossup between Temari and Anko, but I'll talk about Anko here. She's always interested me as a character. Her introduction was so crazy and over the top to the point where even Naruto couldn't handle her, but then it immediately went into her having this backstory with Orochimaru, and.. oh. When Hiruzen commented on how she felt guilty for coming back from the Forest of Death alive instead of killing Orochimaru by sacrificing herself like she attempted to do... yeah. Ties into one of the reasons I love Shikamaru I guess with how they're taking actions for what they feel responsible for.