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Revision as of 01:20, 24 March 2007 by Monkono (talk | contribs) (→New personality)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Template:Infobox Naruto character Sakura Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.
The name "Haruno" means "spring field" and "Sakura" means "cherry blossom", which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and almost tragically short life span (sakura blossoms have historically been associated with samurai).
In the June 2006 issue of the American version of 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."
In Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Sakura is frequently in the Top 10, making the Top 5 once.
Background
Template:Spoiler At the beginning of the series, Sakura is a Genin-level student of Kakashi Hatake and teammate of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. 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 dispelling genjutsu. 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 Naruto and even Sasuke to manage it.
Inside Sakura resides the "Inner Sakura", which seems to be much more ill-tempered than Naruto's demon fox. 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 "Shannaro" (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 (in the English anime, it's translated as an angry and forceful "Cha!"). Inner Sakura is often attributed to being Sakura's defining ability, aside from her chakra control, much like Sasuke's Sharingan or Naruto's demon fox. Inner Sakura actually exists as a separate spirit within Sakura, which came in handy during her battle with her rival, Ino Yamanaka. When Ino hit Sakura with her Mind Body Switch Technique, she only suppressed the regular Sakura. As such, Inner Sakura, after a little prodding by Naruto, was able to emerge and force Ino to leave. After this point, Inner Sakura only appears once in episode 197 of the anime, when Sakura fails to notice that a smoke bomb was set off the night before, and 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, a sign that Sakura is becoming more comfortable with herself and is showing her true nature more often).
Sakura's favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings and umeboshi (pickled ume fruits); her least favorite food is anything really spicy. Her hobbies are quizzes, and memorizing things. Her favorite phrase is "courage" (勇気, Yūki), although it was once "a lifetime full of love" (一線愛の人生よ！, Issen ai no jinsei yo!). The latter was also featured in the ending song of episode 170 as a painting on her bedroom wall. She is also shown to be afraid of frogs.
Part I
Early childhood
In her early school years, Sakura was timid and was occasionally made fun of and bullied because of her large forehead, until Ino Yamanaka 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 ignore the feelings of inferiority Ino 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 Sasuke Uchiha; 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.
In a sharp contrast to most other characters, Sakura lacks any childhood tragedy and, initially, defining themes (Masashi Kishimoto said that he made her initially unlikable by design). When she, Naruto, and Sasuke are assigned to form Team 7, she is fixated with Sasuke and cannot stand Naruto - hardly knowing either of them. Shortly after their team's formation, she tells Sasuke that she believes the reason that Naruto behaves mischievously is because he doesn't have any parents to control him, and that she's jealous because her parents are always trying to tell her what to do. Though Naruto isn't there to be outraged by this, Sasuke knows from personal experience that parental chastisement is nothing compared to the loneliness of an orphan, 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 arc
Though 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 grow again during the Survival Test. Kakashi, the sensei of the newly-formed Team 7, administers a test designed to split the team apart – only the genin who capture one of the bells hanging from his belt will pass, but there are only two bells and three genin. As Kakashi expects, the "team" splits; he easily counters their individual attempts at seizing the bells, then admonishes Sakura for ignoring Naruto in favor of Sasuke even though Sasuke had declared both his teammates to be nothing more than an obstacle. Kakashi allows Sakura and Sasuke to eat lunch in anticipation of their next attempt – but not Naruto, who had earlier tried to eat the team's box lunches. Though warned that feeding Naruto means failure, she follows Sasuke in doing so. Pleased, Kakashi passes the team, saying that while those who disobey the rules are garbage, those who abandon their teammates are even lower.
Wave Country arc
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. She recites Shinobi Rule #25 (to not show emotion under any circumstance) as she violates it, bursting into tears on Sasuke's chest. Her tears become joyous as Sasuke awakens from what was only a death-trance.
Chunin Exam arc
The first stage of the Chunin 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 Chunin 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 Chunin this year so that Naruto would at least have the chance to take the exam again. She is stopped, however, when Naruto raises his own hand. Shortly after, he slams it down on his desk declaring that he won't back down or quit, which turns out to be the correct answer.
The second stage is set in the Forest of Death. Soon after Team 7 enters the forest, Naruto and Sasuke are rendered unconscious as a result of their fights with Orochimaru. When a group of Sound Genin choose this moment to attack the group, 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 a rumor that Sasuke liked girls with long hair.) At this point, she begins to think about how she always scorned Naruto, believing herself to be above him, even though she could only watch from the sidelines while he fought to protect her. She realizes that she was the weakest member of Team 7, and, deciding to change herself and fight for her friends, cuts off her hair with a kunai, freeing herself from Kin's grasp. (This is a common Japanese fiction image, where a character--often a woman--cuts her hair short simply as a symbol of discarding her previous life.) 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 spurs Ino and her team into coming to Sakura's aid, allowing the latter to rest.
Although Team 10 contributes heavily to the fight with the Sound Genin, it is Sasuke, who finally awakes engulfed by Orochimaru's cursed seal, that defeats them. 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 wrenching them out of their sockets. 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's influence to recede. After Team 7 recovers, they go on to pass the second stage.
In the preliminaries of the third exam, Sakura is matched against Ino. During their fight, Sakura notices that Ino is holding back, and insults Ino to fluster her to the point where Ino cuts her own hair (not wanting to be outdone by Sakura's newfound determination). This turns out to nearly be Sakura's undoing, as Ino is then able to turn her hair into living ropes with her chakra, and hold Sakura in place. When Ino manages to hit Sakura with her Mind Body Switch Technique, Naruto cheers Sakura on. While this just seems to annoy Ino, it also helps Inner Sakura break free, allowing her to force Ino out of her mind. In the end, however, the fight between Sakura and Ino ends with both girls knocking each other out at the same time, causing both of them to lose.
In the actual third exam, Sakura exhibits feelings of both amazement and slight jealousy when Naruto wins his match against Neji, promising that she would do her best to become a strong shinobi from then on out. She was also one of the few Genin able to repel Kabuto Yakushi's sleep-inducing genjutsu, and also managed to show extreme bravery when she came between Gaara's attack in his Shukaku form to protect Sasuke.
Sasuke Retrieval arc
Eventually, Sasuke decides to abandon Konoha so that Orochimaru can give him the power he desires. As he leaves 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 "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, looking at the crying Sakura, promises her that he will bring Sasuke back, making it his promise to her for a lifetime. Sakura seems 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.
Anime filler arcs
The anime filler shows some of her progress from Tsunade's training before the timeskip. She gets noticeably stronger and exhibits amazing progress in her healing abilities as well.
Konoha 11 arc
During the Konoha 11 arc, Shikamaru has Sakura examine the body of Gennou. With the help of Ino and Hinata, she learns that it is actually the body of a random civilian. After Gennou is discovered and it appears as if he succeeded in destroying the Hokage mountain, Sakura declares that it is an illusion and dispels it. After Gennou summons his giant bird, she throws a large boulder at it, but misses, allowing Naruto to hit the bird with his Spiraling Sphere.
Shiitenshounin arc
In the Shiitenshounin arc, Sakura serves as a medic. At the end of the arc, Ino asks to train with Sakura to be a medical ninja. To Ino's dismay, Sakura immediately proclaims that Ino will be her junior during the course of the training.
Movies
Naruto the Movie
Sakura played a small role in the first movie. She encountered Mizore Fuyukuma throughout the movie and defeated him with Sakura Blizzard Technique. At the conclusion of the film, she looked out at the newly born Spring Country with a greatly injured Sasuke.
Naruto the Movie 2
Sakura played a major role in the second movie. During a final battle with Haido's wolf-like henchman, Fugai, Sakura killed her by using metal pillars to reflect her ear-splitting howl, which caused the pillars to collapse in on her.
Naruto the Movie 3
Sakura is assigned to protect the prince of the Land of the Moon during his world trip, along with Naruto and Rock Lee. Sakura has a new outfit in the movie, which is like her old one, only two piece. In this movie, Sakura is seen with her newly acquired strength from the tutelage of Tsunade. When fighting a blonde-haired assailant, Sakura destroys a wall with a single punch.
Part II
New personality
After the timeskip, Sakura's personality has taken on a much more mature and even tone. 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 formerly personified in the Inner Sakura segments, instead of just responding within her timid restraint. Jiraiya comments that she is becoming another Tsunade upon first seeing her.
When reunited with Naruto, she asks him if she looks more like a woman in a flirtatious way. Clueless, Naruto remarks that she looks no different, annoying her. On two separate occasions, Sakura beats up Sai over the issue, once for calling her "Hag", and a second time when Sai complimented Ino by calling her "beautiful" (Sakura had expected Sai to insult Ino). Sakura also displays a complete disdain and revulsion towards perverted behavior, particularly in Naruto's case. This disdain often results in the offender being disciplined with her fist. A recent chapter, however, has revealed that Sakura is not above displaying similar perverted behavior, which she unsuccessfully tries to dismiss.
Sakura's first impression of the new Naruto was that of a more mature person; she was sorely disappointed to discover he was still somewhat lacking in that department. Despite this, she does see that he has mostly changed for the better, and they are very close. They are able to work together much better than before, passing their second bell test due to their excellent, if somewhat unorthodox, teamwork. She still insults him, but in a much more playful manner than before. When Naruto defines one of their outings as a date, Sakura, still furious over the maturity letdown, and replies "Fine. As long as you're paying." She is more concerned for his well-being, especially since he's a target of Akatsuki and under constant danger of death. She has cried for him on several occasions, especially upon learning that if the demon fox is extracted by Akatsuki, Naruto will die. Yamato tries to give a clear description of these feelings at one point while Naruto is unconscious, but Naruto wakes up and interrupts him before he can say anything significant.
The state of her feelings for Sasuke are still unclear and conflicting, though she still seems to care for him as at least a friend, as she hits Sai when he insults Sasuke. Even with those feelings, during their first encounter after the timeskip, Sakura looks at Sasuke with hostility and tries to attack him. Needless to say, for both herself and Naruto, Sasuke is still a very touchy subject, and both have a moment of comically-exaggerated gloominess when Kakashi mentions him during the second bell test. However, over the past two and a half years, Sakura has become more confident and less self-conscious around him; she is even willing to attack him to protect her friends and bring him home. In a later chapter, she sheds a tear over a picture of the former Team 7.She actually sheds the tear because Ino is going on a date with Naruto. So later that night she locks Ino in her own closet.
New abilities
After two and a half years of intense training under Tsunade, Sakura has become an excellent combat Medic-nin, 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. An example of her enhanced strength after the timeskip 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". Another useful skill Sakura picked up from Tsunade's teachings is the ability to decipher the pattern of attacks from an enemy. Tsunade stated that this skill was especially important for Medic-nins to know as they generally possess less stamina and combat ability on the battlefield.
The reason why Tsunade and Sakura possess such remarkable physical strength is due to their unrivaled 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 was not top notch, Tsunade would have never been able to teach her the technique, let alone medical jutsu. 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 ninja of higher rank, and she is probably on par with, or even surpasses, Tsunade's and Kabuto's skill when they were her age. Both Kakashi and Chiyo have praised Sakura for having the potential to surpass Tsunade. Soon after, Tsunade, herself admits that Sakura has surpassed the levels that she had when she was young.
Rescue Gaara arc
Sakura played an instrumental role in the Rescue Gaara arc, creating an antidote for Sasori's poison and curing Kankuro. She also assists Chiyo in defeating Sasori in combat, gaining information about Orochimaru in the process. Chiyo uses chakra strings to control Sakura like a puppet so that she could help Sakura dodge Sasori's attacks. With her vigorous strength, Sakura easily demolishes the puppet Sasori is hiding in with one hit. Sakura also seems to have a determination that was previously not present when she was younger: she keeps herself going even when she gets stabbed in the stomach with Sasori's poisoned katana to help protect Chiyo. She is now 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 Akatsuki after seeing what happened to Gaara.
Hidan and Kakuzu arc
Sakura remains a member of Team 7 (now composed of Yamato, Naruto, Sai, and herself), and has acted as a liaison between Team 7 and her mentor, Tsunade, reporting on Naruto's progress in mastering his new jutsu. Most recently, Team 7 arrived to assist in a running battle against two members of Akatsuki. Sakura, along with Sai, was sent to assist Shikamaru in the battle against Hidan, only to find that Shikamaru had already defeated him. After returning to Konoha with everyone else, she heals Naruto's arms due to the overuse of his new jutsu. Template:Endspoiler
Sources
- First Official Data Book (秘伝・臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book)
- Second Official Data Book (秘伝・闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book)
- Jump's 2nd Great Hero Book's Mini Data Book (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini)
- Naruto anime and manga Guidebook (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini)
- Taken directly from the Naruto manga chapters and anime episodes.
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