In Part I, one noticeable personality trait he displayed is an apparent dislike for children, first seen when he attempted to beat up Konohamaru for running into him. This carried over to many of his interactions with other characters, as he was noticeably irritated when in the presence of someone younger than him. This was most evident when he was seen with Gaara, who Kankurō was forced to put up with due to the fear his younger brother imposed on him. Despite their apparent differences, Gaara and Kankurō become very close over the time skip, as Gaara began to confide in Kankurō, and shared his dreams of wanting to risk his life to protect Sunagakure. As such, Kankurō has become very protective of Gaara, willing to challenge anyone who insults Gaara in his presence. When Gaara was captured by Akatsuki, Kankurō rushed to his brother's aid in an attempt to save him and risked his life for him. But he was quickly defeated by Sasori, though joined Temari in looking for Gaara as soon as he was able to walk. At one point when Kankurō had been poisoned by Sasori he was heard muttering Gaara's name though he was unconscious, which showed how much he cared for Gaara. Once Gaara was found and saved, Kankurō joined Temari in thanking Team 7 for saving their brother.
In the original Japanese, Kankurō speaks with a distinctive Yokohama dialect. He can often be heard ending his sentences with "jaan." This makes him sound tough, as this accent is often used for biker gang members or punk kids (called yankii in Japanese, Yokohama supposedly has many) in manga. It is possible that he was given this accent to make him sound different from the Konoha characters' standard Tokyo Japanese.Soon after their arrival in Konoha for the Chūnin Exams, Kankurō and his siblings ran into Team 7. Although Kankurō was tempted to pick on its members, he was threatened by Gaara to stop. During the written portion of the exam, meant to test the examinees' cheating abilities, Kankurō disguised his puppet Crow as a proctor. After using Crow to gather answers from other tests, Kankurō asked to go to the bathroom. Crow escorted him and gave him the answers.
During the survival portion of the exam, he was seen, only briefly, by Kiba, Shino, and Hinata while Gaara brutally murdered a team of Rain Genin.
During the preliminary matches, Kankurō was paired with Misumi Tsurugi. Misumi quickly wrapped himself around Kankurō's body, threatening to break Kankurō's neck if he did not forfeit. Kankurō refused, so Misumi made good on his threat by appearing to kill Kankurō. Before the match could be called in Misumi's favor, the Kankurō that Misumi attacked was revealed to have been Crow in disguise. Crow quickly grabbed hold of Misumi and constricted him before he could surrender. Misumi survived, but was in no condition to fight, and Kankurō was declared the winner.
