Sakura Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. She is a member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, originally consisting of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. She is also considered part of the Konoha 11.
The name "Haruno" means "spring of" and "Sakura" means "cherry blossom," which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and short life span (sakura blossoms have historically been associated with samurai). In China, the cherry blossom is a symbol for feminine beauty, and love in the language of herbs. Her name in full means "the spring of cherry blossoms".
In the June 2006 issue of the American Shonen Jump, Masashi Kishimoto (in the voice of Kakashi) stated that Sakura would make the best ninja instructor, because "she has flaws in her personality, like stalking Sasuke, but Sakura is the closest to being normal". He also has stated that Sakura and Rock Lee were meant to symbolize human weakness (at least in the beginning of the show).
Sakura is a fairly popular character in Naruto. In Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Sakura is frequently in the Top 10, making the Top 5 once.
Background
The name "Haruno" means "spring of" and "Sakura" means "cherry blossom," which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and short life span (sakura blossoms have historically been associated with samurai). In China, the cherry blossom is a symbol for feminine beauty, and love in the language of herbs. Her name in full means "the spring of cherry blossoms".
In the June 2006 issue of the American Shonen Jump, Masashi Kishimoto (in the voice of Kakashi) stated that Sakura would make the best ninja instructor, because "she has flaws in her personality, like stalking Sasuke, but Sakura is the closest to being normal". He also has stated that Sakura and Rock Lee were meant to symbolize human weakness (at least in the beginning of the show).
Sakura is a fairly popular character in Naruto. In Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Sakura is frequently in the Top 10, making the Top 5 once.
Background
Unlike her teammates, Sakura's childhood was devoid of any actual tragedy, only being marred by her early years in the Academy, where her sensitivity about her large forehead caused her classmates to tease her. Ino Yamanaka befriended her and gave her a ribbon that could accent her face and show others that her forehead didn't bother her. With Ino's friendship, Sakura came to develop her own identity and self-confidience. As Sakura's confidence in herself grew, she developed a crush on Sasuke, who Ino also had a crush on. When Sakura found out about this, she ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two. The two maintain this rivalry until the end of their match in the Chunin Exams, after which they begin to rekindle their friendship. Nevertheless, the two maintain a competitive relationship and constantly attempt to outdo the other.
Personality
Personality
At the series' start, one of Sakura's only notable characteristics is her infatuation with Sasuke. Initially this consists of following him everywhere in an attempt to help him and valuing his opinion and abilities above all others. Once Sasuke begins to be put in more dangerous situations, Sakura's display of her feelings shifts to concern for his well-being, first seen when he appears to have died and she goes against the Shinobi Code by crying for his loss. While his death turns out to be an illusion, Sakura maintains this method of showing her feelings for Part I's duration. The most long-standing example of this is the Cursed Seal Sasuke receives from Orochimaru as a source of power. In addition to worrying for Sasuke when he is left bedridden after the seal's use, Sakura also worries about the seal's potential to draw Sasuke away from Konoha. In time, her fears are realized and Sasuke abandons the village to seek out Orochimaru. Before he leaves Sakura meets him at the village exit, expresses her love for him and begs for him to stay. She fails at this and changes tact, saying she will go with him, willing to do anything to be with him. Rather than leave her with words of parting, Sasuke gives her a simple "thank you" before knocking her out.
With Sasuke's departure, Sakura's feelings for him seem to shift from a childish crush to holding him as a dear friend. As such her driving force is now bringing him back to Konoha, and she joins Naruto in all attempts to do just that. Despite the friend-like qualities she now holds Sasuke with, Sakura is not above fighting him if it means she can protect others or it will make it easier to bring him home. While her opinion of Sasuke has changed, Sakura is not willing to let anyone speak ill of him, and readily beats anyone who badmouths him in an instant.
Sakura's opinion of Naruto is also one of her earliest personality traits. In Naruto's case, however, Sakura initially holds him to be a talentless idiot whose goal in life is to annoy her endlessly. While she continues to call him an "idiot" from time to time, Sakura abandons many of her convictions of Naruto as the two spend more time together. During each of his battles Naruto proves able to use numerous complicated jutsu in many ingenious ways, causing Sakura to value him as a teammate more with each passing mission. She even begins to find herself envious of Naruto's rapid progression, and tries to replicate his methods of getting stronger. Once Sasuke leaves Konoha, Sakura begs for Naruto to bring him back, believing him to be the only person capable of getting through to Sasuke. Naruto promises that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise for a lifetime. It is with this that Sakura realizes the magnitude of his feelings for her, and cries for him when he is left in the hospital after his failed attempt. While Naruto maintains that he will bring Sasuke back someday, Sakura resolves that next time they will bring him to Konoha together.
Sakura in Part II
With Sasuke's departure, Sakura's feelings for him seem to shift from a childish crush to holding him as a dear friend. As such her driving force is now bringing him back to Konoha, and she joins Naruto in all attempts to do just that. Despite the friend-like qualities she now holds Sasuke with, Sakura is not above fighting him if it means she can protect others or it will make it easier to bring him home. While her opinion of Sasuke has changed, Sakura is not willing to let anyone speak ill of him, and readily beats anyone who badmouths him in an instant.
Sakura's opinion of Naruto is also one of her earliest personality traits. In Naruto's case, however, Sakura initially holds him to be a talentless idiot whose goal in life is to annoy her endlessly. While she continues to call him an "idiot" from time to time, Sakura abandons many of her convictions of Naruto as the two spend more time together. During each of his battles Naruto proves able to use numerous complicated jutsu in many ingenious ways, causing Sakura to value him as a teammate more with each passing mission. She even begins to find herself envious of Naruto's rapid progression, and tries to replicate his methods of getting stronger. Once Sasuke leaves Konoha, Sakura begs for Naruto to bring him back, believing him to be the only person capable of getting through to Sasuke. Naruto promises that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise for a lifetime. It is with this that Sakura realizes the magnitude of his feelings for her, and cries for him when he is left in the hospital after his failed attempt. While Naruto maintains that he will bring Sasuke back someday, Sakura resolves that next time they will bring him to Konoha together.
Sakura in Part II
In Part II, Sakura begins to learn of the various hardships in Naruto's life, particularly that he is the container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and that Akatsuki seeks to capture him because of it. Furthermore, should Akatsuki succeed in capturing Naruto and remove the demon fox from his body, Naruto will die. Because of these revelations, Sakura has acquired a worrying mentality for Naruto, and cries for the various difficulties he faces. To help him in overcoming these obstacles, Sakura has become very protective of him and does whatever is necessary to keep him safe. Upon finding that the medical abilities she has learned over the timeskip are ineffective in overcoming the demon fox, Sakura tries to see if there are other things she can learn to be of more use to Naruto. As a result of these newfound feelings, Sakura is generally more accepting of Naruto's personality traits and is much more capable of working well with him.
Independent of her feelings for her teammates, Sakura's holding of herself sees a change during Part I. While she does not realize it at the time, Sakura's initial role is guarding Team 7's object of interest while Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi fight off any hostile forces. It is not until the second phase of the Chunin Exams that Sakura realizes how unfavorable this role is, as she is the sole protector of her defeated teammates during an attack by the Sound Genin. Although she attempts to fend them off with a series of preset traps, her efforts prove futile against the Genin team and Kin Tsuchi is able to grab Sakura by the hair and immobilize her. As Kin condescends her for putting more effort into her appearance than her ninja abilities, Sakura becomes distraught that people are always fighting for her because she can't fight for herself. Deciding to change this, Sakura cuts her hair with a kunai to free herself from Kin's grasp and does all in her power to battle the Sound Genin, buying enough time for reinforcements to arrive. This new resolve remains constant throughout the rest of the series, as Sakura readily comes to the aid of a teammate in need of protecting.
Within Sakura resides an "Inner Sakura", a manifestation of her inner emotions that, aside from comic relief, serves as a representation of Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of "Shānnarō" (しゃーんなろー). The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "hell yeah", "hell no", or "damn it" depending on the situation. VIZ replaced the phrase with "Cha!" in the English anime, similar to what they did with Naruto's "dattebayo" to "Believe it!". Inner Sakura's appearances are fairly infrequent, her last appearance being Sakura's fight during the Chunin Exams (where it is implied that Inner Sakura may be similar to a separate entity in Sakura's mind). Inner Sakura briefly resurfaces later on during one of the anime's filler arcs, and again at the start of Part II. This large gap between appearances is likely due to Sakura becoming more comfortable with herself, and no longer having what she says contrast how she actually feels.
Abilities
Independent of her feelings for her teammates, Sakura's holding of herself sees a change during Part I. While she does not realize it at the time, Sakura's initial role is guarding Team 7's object of interest while Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi fight off any hostile forces. It is not until the second phase of the Chunin Exams that Sakura realizes how unfavorable this role is, as she is the sole protector of her defeated teammates during an attack by the Sound Genin. Although she attempts to fend them off with a series of preset traps, her efforts prove futile against the Genin team and Kin Tsuchi is able to grab Sakura by the hair and immobilize her. As Kin condescends her for putting more effort into her appearance than her ninja abilities, Sakura becomes distraught that people are always fighting for her because she can't fight for herself. Deciding to change this, Sakura cuts her hair with a kunai to free herself from Kin's grasp and does all in her power to battle the Sound Genin, buying enough time for reinforcements to arrive. This new resolve remains constant throughout the rest of the series, as Sakura readily comes to the aid of a teammate in need of protecting.
Within Sakura resides an "Inner Sakura", a manifestation of her inner emotions that, aside from comic relief, serves as a representation of Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of "Shānnarō" (しゃーんなろー). The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "hell yeah", "hell no", or "damn it" depending on the situation. VIZ replaced the phrase with "Cha!" in the English anime, similar to what they did with Naruto's "dattebayo" to "Believe it!". Inner Sakura's appearances are fairly infrequent, her last appearance being Sakura's fight during the Chunin Exams (where it is implied that Inner Sakura may be similar to a separate entity in Sakura's mind). Inner Sakura briefly resurfaces later on during one of the anime's filler arcs, and again at the start of Part II. This large gap between appearances is likely due to Sakura becoming more comfortable with herself, and no longer having what she says contrast how she actually feels.
Abilities
At the start of the series Sakura has few defining abilities, the only notable trait being her intelligence. Having honed the art of memorization and taking tests during her time in the Academy, Sakura can answer questions others in her age group cannot. This is most immediately apparent during the written portion of the Chunin Exams, where Sakura is the only Genin capable of answering the test's questions without cheating. Aside from this, Sakura's talents are initially lackluster, her overall skill and stamina being below average. As such she acts as the final defense for Team 7's objective, fending off any opponents that get past Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi. Soon after one of Team 7's first missions, however, Sakura discovers that she has excellent control over her chakra, allowing her to use jutsu to their maximum efficiency.
Sakura's chakra control is put to little use in Part I, due primarily to nobody training her in how to use it in battle. The only contribution it makes is during Konoha's invasion, where her chakra control allows her to become one of the few Genin able to repel the genjutsu that befalls the area. After Sasuke leaves Konoha and Naruto proves unsuccessful in bringing him back, Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice and begins to receive training that will put her chakra control to use. While the things she learns are seen in practice during the anime's filler arcs, they do not begin to play a big role until Part II.
With Tsunade's training, Sakura becomes an excellent combat medic-nin. Her medical abilities have thus far allowed her to heal the fatal injuries of others with relatively little effort and, as seen in the anime, reconstruct dead bodies. Her skills are greater than that of many experienced medic-nin, as she is able to cure injuries others would deem a lost cause with little effort. This is first seen when she uses Poison Extraction Technique (毒抜きの術, Dokunuki no Jutsu?) to utilize chakra to pull some poison from Kankuro's body without doing bodily harm to him, and then proceeds to make an antidote for the poison that no others have managed to create. In her training Sakura has also learned to pick up on an enemy's movements in a short period of time, as good medics need to be able to avoid damage and survive a battle if they are to fulfill their purpose.
In battle, Sakura can rely on the strength taught to her by Tsunade. By building up and releasing her chakra with precise timing, Sakura can easily decimate any obstacle and turn it to rubble. Over time and through repeated use, Sakura has become able to use this strength instinctively and does not need to put any effort into using it. Creating this strength is an impossible task to do without precise chakra control, as noted by Kakashi. This strength, coupled with her medical expertise, her new disposition, and the beauty she gains over the timeskip has caused many to see Sakura as another Tsunade, and even capable of surpassing her master.
Plot overview
Although Sakura is present for many of her teammates' actions during Part I, she does not begin to play a key role in the plot until Part II. Her newfound place in the story is first seen during her battle with Akatsuki member Sasori whom, with the help of Chiyo, she is able to defeat. As congratulations, Sasori tells her of a spy within Orochimaru's ranks, which gives her and the rest of Team 7 a chance to find Sasuke. Despite their efforts and the help of new team member Sai, they are unsuccessful in bringing Sasuke back. Once learning of Sasuke's defeat of Orochimaru, however, Naruto and Sakura decide to try again, and after assembling an 8-man team they set out to find Sasuke or, Sasuke's target, Itachi Uchiha. Sakura has since picked up on Sasuke's trail, though in actuality seems to be following Sasuke's new teammate, Karin.
Other media
Other media
Sakura has appeared in all three Naruto movies. In the first movie she frequently encounters Mizore Fuyukuma. After numerous encounters, Sakura manages to defeat him with Sakura Blizzard Technique (桜吹雪の術, Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu?, English "Sakura Blizzard Jutsu") by throwing numerous kunai attached with bags of exploding tags at him that, once covering Mizore, Sakura detonates with an additional exploding tag to catch him in a large explosion. In the second she battles the wolf-like Fugai, whom she kills by using metal pillars to reflect Fugai's ear-splitting howl, which causes the pillars to collapse in on her. In the third she fights Karenbana, and by breaking a chandelier to cover the floor in glass, Sakura is able to pick up on Karenbana's high-speed movements and deliver a finishing blow to her face. Sakura will also appear in the upcoming fourth movie, which takes place during Part II.
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