Haruno Sakura
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| Haruno Sakura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (春野サクラ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto. Contents
Part IPersonality and abilityIn the beginning of the series, Sakura is a Genin-level student of Hatake Kakashi's. Sakura's main strengths are her intelligence and her great chakra control. She was able to climb trees using her chakra on her first try while it took several days of constant training for Sasuke and Naruto to manage it. Initially, Sakura's stamina and overall talent were quite below average, having had only used a few skills over the course of the series, the most advanced of which is Kai ("Cancel", for dispelling genjutsu).
 Inside Sakura resides the "Inner Sakura", which ridiculously seems to be much more mean-tempered than Naruto's Kyūbi. "Inner Sakura" seems to represent an assertive part of her personality and mostly serves as comic relief. Sakura's typical gentle responses are juxtaposed with the "Inner Sakura"'s constant しゃーんなろー (Shānnarō), which doesn't mean anything but is usually translated as "Hell yeah", "Hell no" or "Damn it" depending on the situation (in English, it's translated as an angry and forceful "Cha!"). Sakura's having 'two minds' actually came in handy when Ino hit her with the Shintenshin no Jutsu (Art of the Valentine) "Inner Sakura" was able to fight off Ino's spirit, while a normal person would be unable to resist. After this point, "Inner Sakura" only appears once in chapter 250 of the manga when Naruto tries to refuse a mission assigned by Tsunade. Sakura, however, does occasionally exhibit traits that would have originally have been confined to "Inner Sakura", though they are rarely seen (they become more frequent after the timeskip). Early childhoodIn her early school years, Sakura was timid and was occasionally made fun of and bullied because of her large forehead, until the popular Yamanaka Ino approached and befriended her, giving her a ribbon and telling her not to hide behind her bangs. Sakura looked up to Ino for her looks and ability, but while she appreciated Ino's friendship, she couldn't help the feelings of inferiority she induced in her. At one point, during a flower arrangement lesson, Sakura wonders whether Ino was like a fully bloomed flower, and if so, then what was she? Ino cheered her up, telling her that even a bud eventually becomes a flower, and there's no point to a flower unless it blooms. Their friendship continued until it became clear that both of them were infatuated with Uchiha Sasuke; Sakura felt that she could never equal Ino, let alone surpass her at anything, while she was trapping herself as Ino's mere sidekick in her mind. She handed Ino her ribbon back and proclaimed that they were rivals from that point on. Their friendship slowly deteriorated into a spiteful rivalry; by the start of the series, there is no indication that they were once best friends, and the story of their friendship is only elaborated on later.
In a sharp contrast to most other characters, Sakura lacks any childhood tragedy and, initially, defining themes (Kishimoto Masashi said that he made her initially unlikable by design). When she, Naruto, and Sasuke are assigned to form Team 7, she is ridiculously fixated on Sasuke and downright cannot stand Naruto - hardly knowing either of them. Shortly after their team's formation, she tells Sasuke that she believes Naruto must be happy, having no parents to order him around; though Naruto isn't there to be outraged at this, Sasuke knows from personal experience that nothing could be further than the truth, and harshly berates her frivolous attitude. This is the first hint that Sakura isn't as shallow as she's been presented, and she concludes that Sasuke was probably right and she should treat Naruto better (though even this may be partly due to her infatuation - Kakashi later notes that she always agrees with Sasuke without question). Survival Test and Wave Country arcsThough her initial infatuation with Sasuke still overshadows her interactions with both him and Naruto at that stage, Sakura's understanding and respect for both her teammates slowly increase as they spend more time together. Another wake-up call for her is when the sensei of their newly formed team, Hatake Kakashi, easily manages to prevent the three from getting even a single bell of the two he challenged them to get. He berates them for their lack of teamwork and specifically admonishes Sakura for her constant attention on Sasuke even though Naruto was right next to her and could use her help. Kakashi allows them to eat - having forbidden it since the morning - save for Naruto, saying that he will fail them all if they feed him. After Sasuke decides to give Naruto his food anyway, she joins in to feed him, in Team 7's first true bonding moment, and Team 7 thus becomes the first team Kakashi ever passed, as all along he was looking for the team with enough spirit to put a starving teammate on higher priority than "the rules."Later, when the team is sent on a dangerous mission in the Land of Waves, Sakura is first confronted with the meaning of being a kunoichi as she witnesses what appears to be Sasuke's death. Reciting to Tazuna shinobi rule #25 (to not show emotion under any circumstance) she tries to keep her feelings in check, but fails, and her tears flow freely during this conversation. Afterwards, Sasuke wakes up, and she cries again, only with happy tears. Chūnin Exam arcSakura's leaps in maturity and the growth of her relationships with Naruto, Sasuke and Ino start in the Chūnin exam. The first stage of the exam is a written test, designed specifically to be too difficult for Genin to complete, forcing them to cheat. However, Sakura is able to complete the exam by herself, a testimony to her intelligence. At the end of this exam, the teams are presented with the mysterious "tenth question" and given a choice of whether to take it or not. The examiner tells them that not taking it fails your whole team immediately, but failing to answer correctly prevents you from becoming a Chūnin forever. Sakura, knowing that Naruto couldn't have answered questions of this difficulty correctly, starts to raise her own hand to quit, forfeiting her own chance at becoming a Chūnin this year so that Naruto would have the chance to take the exam again (she is stopped by Naruto's declaration that he won't back down or quit).
Sakura's shining moment comes in the second stage, set in the Forest of Death. At a certain point in the exam, Sasuke is feverish and unconscious on the floor after being branded with Orochimaru's cursed seal, and Naruto is knocked out from the impact of being struck into the air and branded with a seal to block his Kyūbi chakra, although Sakura did save him from a fatal fall. When the Sound-nin choose this moment to attack, Sakura realizes that she will have to protect her friends if they are to live and pass the exam. As Kin Tsuchi grabs her long hair and immobilizes her, she comments on how Sakura's hair was glossier than her own, saying Sakura spent more time on her looks than on her training. (Sakura had grown her hair long because of the rumor that Sasuke liked girls with long hair.) At this point, she begins to think about how she always scorned Naruto and Lee, believing herself to be above them, even though she could only watch from the sidelines while they fought to protect her. She realizes that she was the weakest member of Team 7, not Naruto as she had always assumed, and, deciding to change herself and fight for her friends, cuts off her hair with a kunai, freeing herself from Kin's grasp. After getting away from Kin, she delays Zaku Abumi's attack on Sasuke by tricking him with a series of replacement jutsus, slamming her kunai into his arm and biting him. Even as Zaku punches her repeatedly in the head, Sakura refuses to let go. This display is what finally convinces Ino and her team to come to Sakura's aid.
The battle with the Sound-nin ends not by the intervention of Ino's team (though they make a laudable effort) or even the two other members of Rock Lee's team, who come searching for him as he had come to Sakura's aid earlier. Rather, it is Sasuke, who finally awakes, engulfed by Orochimaru's cursed seal. He inquires about who is responsible for Sakura's wounds and, upon learning that it is Zaku, Sasuke proceeds to savagely brutalize him, making several scathing and ominous comments about Zaku's arms before finally breaking them. However, before he can continue, Sakura, knowing that the Sasuke she knew would never go on a pointless killing spree, catches him in a hug from behind, begging him to stop and causing the cursed seal to recede. After that incident, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto manage to use teamwork (and the help of Yakushi Kabuto) to pass the second exam. In the preliminaries of the third exam, Sakura fights against Ino, her longtime rival. Naruto cheers Sakura on, which annoys her, but at the same time inspires her to fight harder, giving "Inner-Sakura" the chance to overcome Ino's Shintenshin no Jutsu. In the end, however, the fight between Sakura and Ino ends in a draw, with both girls knocking each other out at the same time. When Sakura wakes up, Ino comments that she has finally blossomed into a beautiful flower, and the two finally reconcile their differences and rekindle their friendship (though they remain rivals). Sasuke Retrieval Arc
 Eventually, perhaps inevitably, Sasuke decides to take Orochimaru up on his offer of power. He advances the cursed seal into Level 2 instead of attempting to contain it, and turns his back on Team 7 to join Orochimaru's Hidden Sound Village, betraying the entire village in the process. As he sneaks out of the village, Sakura finds him, and soon understands the magnitude of what he is about to do. Crying and desperate not to lose Sasuke, Sakura does anything she can think of, confessing her love for him, offering to help him with his revenge, and even offering to join his twisted journey so they can at least be together. Sasuke's cryptic last words before swiftly knocking her out and departing are "Sakura... Thank you." The databook elaborates on this a bit, saying that "Sasuke is unable to answer her feelings. At the end, he leaves her with only a word of gratitude rather than words of parting." The next day, before Naruto leaves to bring Sasuke back, Sakura appears and begs Naruto to bring back Sasuke, stating that only Naruto is able to do it. "Naruto...only you...my only wish...please...bring Sasuke back!" Naruto, looking at the crying Sakura, promised her that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise to her for a lifetime (even using Rock Lee's "nice guy" pose to seal the bargain). Sakura seemed to finally understand how Naruto feels for her, and she realizes that he is not what she originally thought he was. When Naruto comes back from the retrieval mission, he can only tell Sakura that he's sorry for failing. He tells Sakura that he'll definitely keep his promise, because he said it was a lifelong promise. Sakura, seeing his determination, replies, giving him a strong smile, "Next time, we'll do it together!" Later on, she asks Tsunade to make her her apprentice. Tsunade, recognizing her determination, agrees to Sakura's request. At this point, each member of Team 7 is now training under one of the Legendary Three: Naruto under Jiraiya, Sasuke under Orochimaru, and Sakura under Tsunade. The anime filler shows some of her progress from Tsunade's training before the timeskip. She gets noticeably stronger and exhibits decent healing abilities as well. Part II
 New personalityAfter the timeskip, Sakura's personality has taken on a much more mature and even tone. Also, like most people when they come of age, she seems to be much more comfortable in her own skin than when she was younger, frequently displaying the more ferocious aspects of her personality that were personified in the inner-Sakura segments, instead of just responding within her timid restraint. Inner Sakura has only appeared once since the start of the second arc.The state of Sakura's feelings for Sasuke are still unclear, though she still seems to care for him as a friend. Needless to say, for both herself and Naruto, Sasuke is still a touchy subject, and both have a moment of over-exaggerated gloominess when Kakashi mentions him during the second bell test. Sakura's first impression of the new Naruto was that of a more mature person; she was sorely disappointed to discover he was still lacking in that department. Despite this, she does see that he has mostly changed for the better. They are able to work together much better than before, passing their second bell test due to their excellent, if somewhat unorthodox, teamwork. She also seems far more comfortable around him than she was before, taking him calling their outings "dates" in good stride, where before she would have been outraged at the idea. She still insults Naruto, but in a much more playful manner than before. Sakura now shows far more emotional concern for Naruto's safety, similar to her feelings for Sasuke in Part 1, than she used to. She is very concerned about Naruto being a target of Akatsuki, especially the fact that if he is captured it would most likely mean his death. Sakura's feelings for Naruto have been changing dramatically in the second part of the series. When Sakura finally meets Sasuke once again, she is frozen with surprise. But later, when Sasuke attacks Team Kakashi, Sakura is willing to fight him. New abilitiesAfter two and a half years of intense training under Tsunade, Sakura has become an excellent medical ninja, and her abilities as a ninja have improved substantially in the form of medical jutsu and the use of chakra to create immense physical strength, also due to Tsunade's tutelage. During the Wave Country arc in Part I, it had already been mentioned that she had top-notch chakra control, which is essential for medics, and she does exhibit some enhanced strength in the filler arcs even before being trained. An example of her enhanced strength is seen when she slams her fist into the ground to force Kakashi, who had hidden underground, to reveal himself during the bell test; her superhuman strength easily splits the ground apart. Naruto and Kakashi, both shocked by the display, commented on her technique in reaction to this, calling it her "insane strength".The reason why Tsunade and Sakura possess such remarkable physical strength is due to their unrivalled chakra control; their strength comes from the precise build-up and release of chakra, which requires almost inhuman timing and precision. If Sakura's chakra control weren't top notch, Tsunade would have never been able to teach Sakura the technique, let alone become a medic. Over time, both Tsunade and Sakura seem to instinctively use this jutsu (storing up chakra and releasing it), without actually having to concentrate. Sakura is amongst the most efficient chakra users in the entire series, potentially surpassing even her own master, considering she was able to learn such high level medical abilities in such a short amount of time. Also, Sakura's medical skills have been said to exceed those of many medical nin of higher rank, and she is probably on par with, or even surpasses, Tsunade's and Kabuto's skill when they were her age. Sakura has been praised by both Kakashi and Chiyo for having the potential to surpass Tsunade. Sakura, like Naruto, now has A-rank and S-rank jutsus in her arsenal. Sakura played an instrumental role in the opening chapters of the new arc, creating an antidote for Sasori's poison and curing Kankurō. With the assistance of Chiyo, she also defeats Sasori in combat, gaining information about Orochimaru in the process. Chiyo used chakra strings to control Sakura like a puppet, so she could help her dodge Sasori's attacks, as Chiyo was familiar with the puppet, and she herself could not fight one on one with Sasori. With her vigorous strength, Sakura easily demolished the puppet Sasori was hiding in with one hit. Sakura also seems to have a determination that was previously not present when she was younger; she had kept herself going even when she got stabbed in the stomach with Sasori's poisoned katana to help protect Chiyo. Motivated by an intense desire to be of use to her village and friends, help Naruto rescue Sasuke, and prevent Naruto from becoming a victim of the Akatsuki, Sakura would no doubt rather be dead than return to playing a sideline role. Trivia
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