Sakura Haruno

is one of the main characters in the anime and manga series Naruto. She is a chūnin-level kunoichi of Konohagakure, a medical-nin, and a member of Team Kakashi.

Background
During her early years in the Ninja Academy, Sakura was frequently bullied by others due to her large forehead. To try and combat this, Sakura used her bangs to hide her forehead, fueling the other kids' teasing by indicating she was sensitive about it. Ino Yamanaka, realizing this, helped Sakura by giving her a ribbon that she used as a way of drawing attention to the cuter features of her forehead, which helped Sakura overcome her insecurity. The two became best friends and Sakura grew more confident, developing her own unique personality under Ino's guidance. Despite this, Sakura felt that she was living in Ino's shadow and longed to prove herself as Ino's equal. Later, when Sakura found out that Ino had a crush on Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura ended their friendship so that they could compete for Sasuke's love, thus beginning a bitter rivalry between the two.

Personality
At the start of the series, Sakura had a deep infatuation for Sasuke Uchiha, rooted primarily in his good looks, cunning, cool attitude, and prodigious talents. For that reason, many of Sakura's early appearances are dedicated to her continuing efforts to win his affection. As the story progresses, she begins to recognize that Sasuke is a real person with imperfections, and develops a more sincere desire to be there for him. Sakura also becomes concerned that Sasuke will someday abandon her and the rest of Konoha in his quest for power. When her fears come true at the end of Part I, Sakura does all that she can to stop Sasuke from leaving, such as professing her love for him and offering to join him. Though touched by her words, they do not stop Sasuke from leaving from Konoha.

Since then, Sakura has made her personal goal to bring Sasuke home, which becomes a recurring component of her role in Part II. Although she still worries about his well-being, Sakura is willing to attack him if it means returning him to Konoha. As time goes on and Sasuke becomes an increasingly more dangerous criminal, Sakura recognizes that Sasuke must be stopped at all costs. She also tells Naruto that she no longer has any feelings for Sasuke since he just keeps breaking her heart. However, Sai and Kakashi suspect that she is still in love with Sasuke, and that she wants to stop him only so that he does not sink any lower. Upon meeting Sasuke once again, Sakura becomes upset by how corrupted Sasuke has become and tries to kill him. She ultimately can not bring herself to do so, remembering all they went through together as members of Team 7. She has since come to accept that Naruto is the only one who can do anything about Sasuke.

Sakura's relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, like with Sasuke, also changes throughout the series. When first teamed up together, Sakura viewed Naruto as a talentless idiot who deliberately tried to ruin her life, the result of Naruto's efforts to win her heart interfering with her similar efforts with Sasuke. However, as the story progresses and Naruto continuously shows his worth as a ninja as well as his dedication to his team-mates, Sakura realizes that her initial perceptions of him were wrong. After Sasuke defects from Konoha, Sakura pleads to Naruto, believing him to be the only one capable of bringing Sasuke back. Although Naruto fails and is left in the hospital afterwards, he vows to someday complete the task she has given him. Realizing the lengths Naruto will go to for her, and inspired by his determination, Sakura spends the next three years training with Tsunade so that in the future she can join Naruto in his quest to bring Sasuke back.

In Part II, Sakura learns of the various hardships Naruto faces: the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox and Akatsuki. Saddened by the impact both forces have had on his life, Sakura becomes protective of Naruto and tries to do whatever she can to help him overcome these obstacles. Sakura develops a deep friendship with Naruto, due to their spending a lot of time together. After Sai tells her about Naruto's love for her and the pain that trying to fulfill his promise causes, Sakura is filled with guilt. Soon afterwards she tells Naruto that she loves him and tries to get him to give up on his promise, but he does not believe her and tells her she is lying to herself. Sai seems to confirm this, telling Naruto that Sakura's confession was an attempt to release him from his promise, and possibly distract him while she hunts down Sasuke. Despite this, Yamato has suggested that Sakura's feelings for Naruto are more than mere friendship.

Unlike the rest of Team 7, Sakura is the only one of the four members who has not suffered any heavy losses. Therefore, things that her team-mates desire, such as family and friends, Sakura takes for granted. Also, Sakura is quite outspoken, as when she does not understand something or if it bothers her, she tends to practically yell out in questioning or complaining to someone. However, all of this seems to change by Part II, as she becomes more knowledgeable towards Naruto and Sasuke's sufferings, and tries to ease them. As her personality matures, she also shouts less, but still questions unknown situations plenty.

Within Sakura resides, a manifestation of her inner emotions. In addition to comic relief, Inner Sakura represents Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly displays something opposite. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of. The phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "Hell yeah!", "Hell no!", or "Damn it!", depending on the situation. The English anime, for censorship reasons, replaced the aforementioned phrases with a forceful "Cha!". Inner Sakura is unique as it is in a way a second will within Sakura's mind. When Ino used the Mind Body Switch Technique on her, Inner Sakura was able to repel the user from her body, suggesting that Inner Sakura is a split personality. Although she appears quite frequently at the start of the series, Inner Sakura all but disappears midway through Part I, her only other subsequent appearance being at the start of Part II. Sakura, likewise, now performs the emotional, violent outbursts she once relied on Inner Sakura for, much to the dismay of those who are around her at the time.

Appearance
Sakura has bright pink hair, green eyes, and fair skin. In Part I, Sakura wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, tight dark green shorts, and a forehead protector which she used to accent her face. Sakura was often bullied due to her rather large forehead hence her nickname off Ino Yamanaka "Billboard Brow". In Part II, Sakura, now a chūnin, has acquired a new outfit consisting of the same basic red top as in Part I, with black gloves, black high-heeled boots, black shorts, short pink apron-like skirt, and pink elbow protectors.

Sakura is now also armed with a Chūnin's tantō (along with Shikamaru Nara and Ino, which she wears above her Medical Pouch, but she has never been seen using it in combat). The cloth of her forehead protector has also changed to red in color. When she's not on a mission, she wears her regular red shirt, with a light yellow shirt under it, and a navy-colored skirt. In this outfit, she still wears her sandals.

Another notable trait of Sakura's appearance is her hair. At the series' beginning, Sakura's hair was very long (when she was young, there was a rumor that Sasuke was attracted to girls with long hair). After Sakura was forced to protect the unconscious bodies of Sasuke and Naruto after their battle with Orochimaru, Kin Tsuchi grabbed Sakura's hair and taunted her for paying more attention to her appearance than practicing her jutsu. Kin kept Sakura captive, holding her tightly by the hair and forcing her to watch Zaku Abumi attack Lee. This caused Sakura to cut her hair to release Kin's hold on her, and determinedly attacking Team Dosu with a new goal of surpassing her team-mates. Sakura has kept her new, shoulder-length hairstyle for the rest of the series. Later, during the time skip, she grows her hair again, as shown in a flashback, but later cuts it.

Abilities
At the start of the series, Sakura's only defining characteristic was her intelligence, largely due to her interest in memorizing things and her success with taking quizzes while in the Academy. Because of this, Sakura was shown to have very keen talent for observation and analyzing. Through this, she could easily see through most basic deceptions an opponent may use on her.

Because she had focused so much on her book studies, it greatly affected her physical performance. While in the Academy, she excelled in basic practice of ninjutsu and kunoichi training, but her prowess in combat was much weaker. Her stamina and fighting skills were below average, making her not very helpful during battles. However, in Part II, after receiving two and a half years of training from Tsunade, Sakura's abilities have vastly increased, to the point where she was able to hold her own against powerful enemies such as Sasori. She was able to find Kakashi during the second bell training quickly, while Naruto could not. Sakura was also able to tell how dangerous an opponent (ex. Sasori) is by the first encounter. Sakura was able to outsmart Sai, Kiba and Rock Lee, putting them to sleep with a gas without them noticing, especially Sai, who is a member of Root.

Sakura has been noted to have a natural affinity for genjutsu, though her only experience with genjutsu is dispelling it.

Chakra Control
Soon after the start of her first mission, Sakura discovered that she had an excellent control over her chakra, and as such she had an innate ability to use jutsu to their maximum efficiency without wasting any chakra. Kakashi pointed out about Sakura Haruno, "The ability to gather chakra from every part of the body and then using it with great timing. In just that, she's above Sasuke." While this particular ability was never put to great use in Part I, her chakra control became a focal point of Sakura's fighting style in Part II, as it helped her to concentrate chakra to her fists to reduce things to rubble by a simple punch.

Medical-nin
Sakura's natural control of her chakra had been taken to new heights over the time skip, an ability utilized to its fullest by the training she had done with Tsunade. With her excellent chakra control, Sakura had turned into an excellent combat medical-nin, and had shown herself to be able to heal fatal injuries with relatively little effort, even when more experienced medics would deem it a lost cause. She also has shown extensive knowledge of poisons and herbal medicine, surpassing even the knowledge of Chiyo. Her knowledge was great enough to withdraw Sasori's advanced poison directly from Kankurō's body, and create multiple antidotes sometime afterwards. During her fight with Sasori, she was able to start healing herself even with a poisoned sword still lodged in her abdomen, a feat Sasori remarked at. Tsunade also taught her how to make a powerful sleeping gas. Shizune has been mentoring Sakura as well; showcased by a kunai which had been infused with poison.

Taijutsu
In close combat, Sakura's taijutsu skills have seen tremendous growth thanks to Tsunade's constant battle drills to better protect herself should she find it impossible to avoid battle. Also, while not as impressive as Tsunade's, Sakura has repeatedly demonstrated during Part I to be deceptively strong, able to launch Naruto several meters in the air with a punch and plow through solid rock. Her strength is take to higher levels during Part II thanks to Tsunade. To further aid Sakura in escapeless situation, she can rely on the super strength taught to her by Tsunade. Sakura's skill has reached the point where she can handle multiple opponents, such as Sasori's puppets with ease.

By building up and releasing her chakra with precise timing, Sakura could easily decimate any obstacle and turn it to rubble. An opponent struck by her full strength could suffer from anything ranging from instant death, broken bones, ruptured organs, or any other wound associated with intense blunt force trauma. It should also be noted, that even without this augmented strength, Sakura has shown a great deal of raw strength, as seen when she was able to pull Sasori and destroy his body in a single punch before he could react.

Over time and through repeated use, Sakura had become able to unconsciously use this strength, and she does not need to put any effort into using it. Her strength, coupled with her medical expertise and the beauty she gained over the time skip, had caused many to see Sakura as a younger version of Tsunade, or someone who could even surpass Tsunade. However, while Sakura's strength derives from this technique, unlike her master, Tsunade has been noted to possess incredible raw strength much greater than this ability, and is enhanced even further to monstrous levels when using it.

Another key component of Sakura's taijutsu are her evasive skills. As a field medic, she cannot afford to be gravely injured or killed on the battle field, as drilled in by Tsunade when she trained her. Sakura would attempt to read an opponent's fighting style in order to find the dominant hand/foot or anything that the enemy was using. With that, she could increase her evasive skill to impressive levels. Sakura was proficient enough in this that she could figure out Sasori's finger movements and predict his movements of his puppets. Her skill in evasion is so great, she could avoid the puppets in Sasori's ultimate technique, Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, even when being attacked from all sides. Chiyo, who was also fighting Sasori and the Third Kazekage puppet, remarked that Sakura's skills were so great she barely needed aid from her.

Part I
Upon being assigned as a member of Team 7, Sakura spent much of her time trying to appeal to Sasuke, despite the fact that Sasuke had no interest in her and had a habit of belittling her. All the while, Naruto tried to appeal to Sakura, despite the fact that she had no interest in him and degraded him whenever given the opportunity. As such, when Kakashi administered a test on the three to see if they would be allowed to become Genin, Sakura preoccupied herself with following Sasuke instead of helping Naruto.

After Kakashi lectured Sakura for this, as well as Naruto and Sasuke for their respective faults, Sakura realized that if they were to become genin, they would need to work as a team, even if that meant breaking the rules. This revelation having been the goal of the test, Kakashi passed the three, Team 7 being the first group to have ever passed his test.

Land of Waves Arc
Sakura accompanied the rest of her team on their first mission to the Land of Waves, to act as bodyguards for Tazuna. While there, Kakashi administers a Tree Climbing Practice, and Sakura masters the exercise on her first try. This leaves her in charge of escorting Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke complete the training. When they are later attacked by Zabuza and Haku, Sakura protects Tazuna while Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke battle the enemy. After hearing that Sasuke was apparently killed, Sakura violated Shinobi Rule #25 of not showing any kind of emotions by crying for Sasuke's loss even as she recited it. When Sasuke turned out to have only been in a death-trance, Sakura was relieved that he was alive. Once their mission was completed, Team 7 returned to Konoha.

Chūnin Exam Arc
When Team 7 is entered into the Chūnin Exams, Sakura is reluctant to participate because she feels she is too weak. With some reassurance from Sasuke, she agrees to enter. During the first, written portion of the exam, Sakura is one of the few examinees that is able to answer the questions without cheating. She instead spends her time lamenting that Naruto is probably too stupid to answer the questions or know that he is supposed to cheat, and contemplates forfeiting so that he doesn't need to embarrass himself. After seeing Naruto's confidence in himself, she decides against it, and they pass the first phase.

Soon after the start of the second phase of the Chūnin Exams, Team 7 was attacked by Orochimaru. Although Naruto and Sasuke did their best to defeat Orochimaru, both were rendered unconscious, and Sakura was left to take care of them. When they were attacked by a group of Oto genin sent by Orochimaru to kill Sasuke, Sakura tried to defeat them with some traps she had pre-prepared, though the group easily avoided her efforts. Just as the Oto genin were about to turn their attention to Sakura, Rock Lee came to her rescue, determined to protect Sakura at all costs. Despite his best efforts, Lee was defeated, and the Sound Genin again turned their attention to Sakura. Kin Tsuchi immobilized Sakura by grabbing her hair, scolding her for putting more effort into her looks than her abilities as a ninja.

Distraught that people were always fighting for her because she couldn't fight for herself, Sakura resolved to better herself as a ninja. Cutting off her hair to release herself from Kin's grasp, Sakura did what she could to fend off the Oto genin, even going so far as biting to make sure that she couldn't be easily repelled. This display spurred Ino and her team into coming to Sakura's aid, allowing her some rest. The unconscious Sasuke re-awakened after receiving Orochimaru's cursed seal, and immediately asked Sakura who injured her. Quickly overcome by his new Cursed Seal, he began a violent rampage on the Sound ninja who were present. Frightened by his new behavior and after having realized that "this is not Sasuke", a tearful Sakura rushed to his side and embraced him, begging him to stop. Her words and embrace got through to him, and his Cursed Seal quickly receded.

In the preliminary matches of the exam, Sakura was pitted against Ino. After Sakura and Ino exchanged insults, Ino followed Sakura's earlier example and cut her hair, leading Sakura to believe that Ino had lost her mind. In actuality, Ino cut her hair to help her in battle; by sending chakra into her cut hair, Ino was able to tie Sakura in place, allowing her slow-moving Mind Body Switch Technique to have no difficulties in finding its target. After taking control of Sakura's body, Ino tried to force Sakura to forfeit, but thanks to Naruto's cheering, Inner Sakura was able to force Ino from her body before she could do so. With both girls exhausted from the amount of effort they'd been putting into their fight, Ino and Sakura charged at each other to deal final blows. Striking each other simultaneously, both were knocked out, leading to a draw. As the two recovered, Ino and Sakura began to rekindle their friendship.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
A month later, while watching Naruto and Sasuke's matches during the finals and marveling at how their abilities had improved, the invasion of Konoha began. Sakura was able to repel the sleep inducing genjutsu that spread throughout the stadium. Because of this, and because Sasuke had pursued Gaara, Kakashi tasked Sakura with waking and assembling a team to go after him. Upon catching up with Sasuke, Sakura protected him from Gaara's attacks, risking her life to put herself between him and danger. Gaara used his sand to immobilize her, and as the sand slowly suffocated Sakura, Naruto fought to defeat Gaara using Sakura as inspiration to not give up, and save her. After Naruto defeated Gaara, Sakura was freed. Later, Sakura thanked Sasuke for saving her, but he explained to her that it was Naruto who had saved her, and she turned to smile at Naruto, not noticing the jealous scowl on Sasuke's face as she did so.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
As time goes by and Sasuke's lust for power grows stronger, Sakura grows concerned that he may abandon Konoha to seek out Orochimaru. Although she spends as much time with him as she can in an effort to deter him from this path, Sasuke finally defects. Having suspected this would happen, Sakura met him at the village's exit, doing what she could to stop him. When it seemed that he was still going to leave, Sakura declared that she was in love with him. She said she would do anything for him, even offering to help him in his quest for power, so long as she could be with him. Sasuke then turned to her and called her annoying. Sakura then threatened to scream and alert the village of his betrayal. Sasuke gives her a soft "thank you" before knocking her unconscious and leaving the village. When she awakens the following morning she tells Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, who in turn reports to Tsunade about his departure, leading to the formation of the Sasuke Retrieval Team.

When Naruto set out the next day to retrieve Sasuke, Sakura came out to meet him. Sakura begged for Naruto to bring Sasuke back, believing Naruto to be the only person who could get through to Sasuke. Naruto, looking at the crying Sakura, promised her that he would bring Sasuke back, making it his promise to her for a lifetime. This brought more tears as Sakura realized that Naruto knew how she felt and that he had always been there for her.

After Naruto failed to bring Sasuke back and was left hospitalized in the process, he apologized to Sakura for his failure and asserted that he would definitely keep his promise. Inspired by Naruto's determination, she replied that, next time, they would retrieve Sasuke together, and that she would be there to help him from now on. Determined to never be useless again, and to save Sasuke and help Naruto, Sakura then asked to become Tsunade's apprentice, a request which Tsunade happily accepted.

Pre-Shippūden filler arcs
Little was seen of Sakura during the filler arcs, much of her time being preoccupied with training. When she did go out on missions with her fellow Genin, Sakura served as the medical specialist, healing the wounds of others and examining bodies. Ino, jealous of Sakura's newfound healing abilities, asked to train with Sakura to be a medical ninja. To Ino's dismay, Sakura immediately proclaimed that Ino would be her junior during the course of the training.

Part II
After Naruto returned from his two and a half years of training abroad, Sakura was one of the first villagers to greet him, and was happy to see him, even noticing he was now taller than she. However, this doesn't last long, as Sakura asked him if she had changed, and gotten prettier, to which he responds she hadn't and that she was the same old Sakura. The results of her training with Tsunade first show themselves when she punches Naruto for attempting to demonstrate a new perverted jutsu for Konohamaru. Kakashi soon recruited both of them into Team Kakashi and issued another bell test, this time the goal actually being to take the bells. Both are able to show off their new abilities. She shocks Kakashi and Naruto when she uses her super strength granted to her by Tsunade, but in the end are only able to take the bells by tricking Kakashi.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
After returning from the bell test, they learned that Akatsuki had captured Gaara. Team Kakashi was assigned to go to Sunagakure to help rescue him. Upon arriving in Sunagakure, Sakura used her new medical expertise to save Kankurō from a poison given to him by the Akatsuki member Sasori. Sakura then made a few antidotes to counteract the poison in case anyone on the team should have need of it. The antidote in hand, Team Kakashi followed Akatsuki's trail, accompanied by Chiyo, a Sunagakure adviser.

Once they arrived at the Akatsuki lair, the team split up, Chiyo and Sakura fighting Sasori while Kakashi and Naruto went after Deidara and Gaara's body. With both Sasori and Chiyo being master puppeteers, and with all of Sasori's attacks being imbued with his poison, Chiyo controlled Sakura like a puppet to improve her dexterity. This, combined with the analysis of Sasori's movements gained from her training with Tsunade, allowed Sakura to land a number of successful attacks on him first destroying his puppet armor Hiruko and then his Third Kazekage puppet.

Revealing that he had turned himself into a puppet Sasori gained the upper hand in the fight and later summoned one hundred puppets to fight against Chiyo's White Secret Technique: Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu. After beeing sealed by Chiyo Sasori moved to another puppet body and tried to kill Chiyo, only for Sakura to step in as a human shield. With him being distracted, Chiyo stabbed Sasori through the heart. As his life waned, he relished the fact that Sakura would die too, only to be proven wrong by the combination of Sakura's antidote and Chiyo's healing abilities. As a reward for defeating him, Sasori told Sakura of a spy within Orochimaru's ranks with his last breath.

When they caught up with Naruto and Kakashi, Sakura tried to revive Gaara, only to discover that he was already dead. As Chiyo surrendered the rest of her energy to resurrect Gaara, she tells Sakura not to give her life for an old woman and that someday she would surpass her master as a kunoichi. After attending Chiyo's funeral, the team returned home.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
With the information gained from Sasori, Team Kakashi decided to use this as an opportunity to find Sasuke. Because Kakashi was still bedridden after his encounter with Deidara, Yamato led the team instead. Sai was also added to the team as Sasuke's replacement, but neither Naruto or Sakura were willing to view him as such, and had difficulties getting along with him. In fact Sakura even punched him for insulting Sasuke. Their mission being to meet with and capture the spy, Yamato, disguised as Sasori, went on ahead. When the spy, Kabuto Yakushi, ended up being in league with Orochimaru, Yamato called in the team for back up.

Naruto quickly engaged Orochimaru in combat, and Sakura was surprised by the very danger of his tailed forms. She was then knocked out after Kabuto was thrown away by Naruto and slammed into her. After regaining consciousness, she realized that Naruto had advanced to his four-tailed form. When Sakura approached him to try and bring him to his senses, he attacked and injured her, unaware of what he was doing. She was then healed by Kabuto, pointing out that they aren't that different and Akatsuki is also a thorn in their sides. Once Yamato forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede, Sakura tended to his wounds and lamented that all she could do is heal him after a battle. He recuperated, and they continued on to Orochimaru's hideout, where Sai finally proved his worth by helping them find Sasuke. When they were unable to persuade Sasuke to come home with them they attacked him instead. Sakura was able to determine how his Chidori Current worked, and charged him after charging her fist, attacking Sasuke for the first time ever. However, when Sasuke attacked her with a massive amount of killing intent, Yamato intervened and took the attack for Sakura. In the end, Sasuke fled with Orochimaru and Kabuto, and Sakura told Naruto very determinedly that tears weren't going to bring Sasuke back. Then, they returned to Konoha.

Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc
In the anime, Team Yamato was sent to the Fire Temple to investigate the grave robbings of some of the former Twelve Ninja Guardian. While trying to apprehend the grave robbers, they were drawn into a trap, and their team was split up. Sakura was attacked by a giant spider but was saved by Sai, and together they found Naruto and rescued him from Fūka's soul absorbing power (although Sakura furiously thought Naruto was making out with the enemy).

Later, during the attack on Konoha, Sakura did her part as medical ninja, healing all injured people she came across until she was told to aid Asuma at the power plant. There she discovered that the four Ninja Guardians had been resurrected in order to destroy the village, and Asuma sent her to stop one of the four. She was intercepted by Fuen, who trapped her in a unique genjutsu. However, Sakura had already analyzed Fuen's attack patterns, and devised a counter-maneuver. She then tricked Fuen into revealing herself, allowing Sakura to strike her. Fuen then down on the ground stunned was killed by the Cherry Blossom Impact, thus, causing Fuen's defensive barrier around Konoha to disappear. She returned to Asuma, and found Naruto struggling with the Nine-Tails' chakra once again. Trying to heal Naruto, she jumps in when Sora fires a powerful beam to them. Naruto saves her by pushing her to the ground and covering her. After he overcame it, she healed his injuries.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Team Yamato was sent to provide back up for Team 10 during their battle with Akatsuki. Because Shikamaru was separated from the rest of the group, Sai and Sakura were sent to provide assistance for him, though upon arrival they found that Shikamaru had already defeated his opponent. Having not taken part in the battle, Sakura returned to Konoha with the others, and later healed the damage to Naruto's arm from the use of his new jutsu. Because this made it difficult for him to eat, she offered to feed him. Though he was delighted by the idea, interference from both Sai and Kakashi prevented this from happening.

Three-Tails Arc
In the anime, the team was once again sent to provide back up, this time for Team 8. After locating them and discovering Hinata to have been captured, Sakura watched as Naruto rescued her and helped her recover afterwards. After rejoining her team and learning that the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle had appeared, Sakura was added to a team meant to seal the beast. When their efforts kept being stopped by Orochimaru's forces, more skilled ANBU members replaced them and they returned home.

Itachi Pursuit arc
When news reached Konoha that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, Sakura and Naruto were the first to join Kakashi's Eight Man Squad, and began the hunt. During her search, she barely missed a member of Sasuke's Taka, Karin, and later regrouped with the others. When Kiba caught Sasuke's scent, the group followed until they encountered Tobi. Sakura initially suspected that he was using genjutsu or clone techniques, but after Hinata pointed out that his chakra remained in one location and Tobi managed to escape Shino's bugs, she realized that he was removing parts of his body from existence. She attempted to head to Sasuke's location with her team, but Tobi had already taken him away.

Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc
Sakura's time to grieve over her failed mission was cut short when Katsuyu arrived with an important mission order on Tsunade's request. Team Kakashi and Team 8, minus Kakashi who returned to the village for more information, were immediately sent to the aid of the Tsuchigumo clan to help protect its extremely destructive kinjutsu from enemy ninjas. Upon arriving, the enemies had already left in search of jutsu, which was taken by the former clan leader's granddaughter Hotaru. Sakura heals him while the rest of the team find Hotaru. After Naruto, Yamato, and Sai return from searching for Hotaru, Sakura joins them and Utakata to prevent the extraction of the forbidden technique from Hotaru's back. She, along with Yamato and Sai, fight off Akaboshi, Benten, Chūshin, and Nangō while Naruto and Utakata fight Shiranami.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Once they returned to Konoha and learned of Jiraiya's death, Sakura tried to comfort both Naruto and Tsunade. When Naruto blamed Tsunade for the death of Jiraiya, Sakura scolded him. She was then shocked to hear Naruto declare that he would get his revenge. She later tried to help decipher Jiraiya's dying message to find out more about the Akatsuki leader, Pain, but was interrupted by Pain's attack on the village. After saving some villagers and killing Pain's Giant Centipede, Sakura went to the Konoha hospital, where she was quickly asked to lead the medical front defending the building and healing what injuries she could, impressing Choji through her leadership and skills.

When Pain destroyed the village, Sakura was saved by Katsuyu. When she sees the village in ruins she cries out for Naruto to return to save everyone. After Naruto's return Sakura could only watch as Naruto tried to defeat the six Pains. She became worried when Naruto entered his six-tailed form, and was amazed to find out that Hinata risked her life to try and save Naruto because she loves him. She heals Hinata afterwards and watches as Pain, defeated and converted by Naruto, revives all those who had died during his attack.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Sakura joined the rest of the village in welcoming Naruto back from his meeting with Pain. First she punched him, but then tearfully hugged and thanked him. She later told him about Tsunade going into a coma, and that neither she nor Shizune could do anything for her. She tried to cheer him up, but her effort was interrupted by the arrival of Kiba. Kiba told them that Danzō Shimura has replaced Tsunade as Hokage and that he has ordered Sasuke to be executed as a missing-nin. Naruto and Sakura, hoping they might be able to convince Danzō to change his mind, asked Sai about him. Sai is unable to tell them anything, but their questioning attracted the attention of Omoi and Karui. The Kumogakure ninja informed them of Sasuke's crimes and demand any information they may have on Sasuke. Seeing how upset this made Sakura, Naruto volunteered to tell them for her the information they wanted to know about Sasuke.

Naruto, with Kakashi and Yamato, went to the Land of Iron to ask the Fourth Raikage to forgive Sasuke. While they are gone, Sai informed Sakura of the lengths Naruto has gone to to make her happy. He also said that although Naruto loved her, the strain of trying to bring Sasuke home and fulfilling the promise he made to her cause him nothing but constant pain. Shikamaru joined the conversation on behalf of the other members of the Konoha 11, telling Sakura that Sasuke's actions will only lead to war. Believing that the best course of action would be for them to personally stop Sasuke, Shikamaru asked for Team 7's consent. Sakura agreed, but insisted that she be the one to tell Naruto.

Sakura, Sai, Kiba, and Lee went to the Land of Iron to talk to Naruto. After they located him, Sakura told Naruto that she loved him and encouraged him to give up on the promise he made to her. Naruto however, does not believe her and says she is lying to herself. Angered by this, she insisted it was true and then pushed for Naruto to forget his promise to her and focus on the fact that Akatsuki is after him. Naruto in turn, said that he was also pursuing Sasuke for his own reasons, not just because of his promise to her. Again, angered by this, Sakura left. Ignoring Kiba's questions about why she hasn't told Naruto their plans, she asked him to help her find Sasuke. When they start nearing Sasuke, Sakura tried to set off a knockout gas to incapacitate Kiba, Sai, and Lee. Sai stopped her and, having told Naruto and Kakashi about their plans, instructed them to wait for Kakashi to arrive. She convinced Kiba and Lee to fight Sai with her, but used the knockout gas on them as they began to scuffle.

Sakura found Sasuke about to kill Karin. She stopped him and told him that she wanted to join him, even if that means betraying Konoha. Suspicious, Sasuke told her to show her resolve by killing Karin. Pretending to agree, Sakura approached them, thinking that if she killed him now, it will all be over. Karin interrupted her by warning her that Sasuke was about to kill her, but his attack was blocked by Kakashi. Kakashi instructed Sakura to heal Karin and to leave once she had done so. However she sneaked up on Sasuke and tried once again to kill him, but she then started to remember all the times they had together and she was ultimately unable to bring herself to do it. Sasuke noticed Sakura and seized her by the throat and attempted to kill her, she was then rescued by Naruto. Naruto then prepared himself to attack Sasuke after Kakashi tells him and Sakura that he will personally take care of Sasuke and wishes for them not to witness it. Kakashi states that Sakura's kunai was crafted by Sakura herself, with poison learned from Shizune, and that it would most likely not work as Orochimaru would have made him immune to it.

After Naruto voiced his determination that he and Sasuke will die together one day in battle, and that he would shoulder Sasuke's hatred as a friend, Sakura was touched by Naruto's determination, and showed her gladness that he showed her a way for Team 7 to still have a happy ending. However, Naruto suddenly collapsed from the poison kunai that Sasuke used to nick Naruto's face when he saved Sakura from him, and Sakura panicked, and gave him an antidote on Kakashi's request.

Confining the Jinchūriki Arc
After returning to Konoha, Sakura is seen present with the rest of her friends, wondering as to what Naruto is hiding from them, but then remembers his statement when they encountered Sasuke. She is then seen out of breath when she meets up with Naruto at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar, and she is happy to inform him that Tsunade is awake. Teuchi then offers her a bowl but, being in a rush to tell people the good news, she turns it down. She then tells Naruto she will see him later.

Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
Sakura joined her fellow members of Team 7 on a mission to protect the actress Yukie Fujikaze, as she and the production group she worked for traveled to the Land of Snow. Throughout the movie, Sakura encountered the Yuki-nin Mizore Fuyukuma, and eventually distracted him with her Sakura Blizzard Technique. She was later seen looking out at the newly created Spring country, holding Sasuke's head in her lap.

Legend of the Stone of Gelel
Sakura was sent out on a team with Naruto and Shikamaru to deliver a pet ferret to a village where its rightful owners could pick it up. After arriving and finding the village in ruins, they were attacked by mysterious warriors led by Temujin, a knight wielding the power of the Stone of Gelel. Their conflict with him resulted in Sakura and Shikamaru becoming separated from Naruto, only to rejoin him later after several conflicts with Temujin's allies. During a final battle with the wolf-like Fugai, Sakura killed her by using metal pillars to reflect her ear-splitting howl, which caused the pillars to collapse in on her.

Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
Sakura was assigned along with Naruto and Rock Lee to protect the Land of the Moon's prince during his world trip. Sakura displayed some of the immense strength learned from Tsunade by destroying a wall with a single punch, and her improved taijutsu skills during a fight with genjutsu user Karenbana, who was hired to kill the prince. For Sakura's second fight with Karenbana she could tell where she was because she could smell her perfume. Sakura was almost knocked out during her first encounter with Karenbana. During her second encounter with Karenbana, Sakura got trapped in Karenbana's genjutsu technique, resulting in her being knocked out by Karenbana, then after waking up (before the final blow) she shattered a chandelier above the two combatants' heads with a thrown shuriken, causing glass to fall on the floor. Sakura was then able to hear Karenbana's movements by the sound of the glass crunching under her feet. Sakura delivered a bone-crushing punch to Karenbana's jaw, ending the genjutsu and the fight. In the movie Sakura used some healing techniques on the King and tried to heal an injury.

Naruto: Shippūden the Movie
Sakura was assigned to protect and escort Shion, the head priestess of the Land of Demons, to the tomb of the ancient demon Mōryō. To aid her in this mission, she was joined by Naruto, Rock Lee, and Neji (who was assigned as team captain). Upon their arrival at the temple, Sakura and her team were forced to face off against a group of ninja, with unusually powerful mastery of elemental ninjutsu. Sakura used her tremendous strength to aid Lee in fighting them off as Neji went in search for the priestess.

During the journey to Mōryō's tomb, Sakura was put in charge of carrying Shion, something the latter claimed was very uncomfortable (causing Sakura to go into a fit of rage), but she was paralyzed after Kusuna injected her with his Secret Anesthesia, causing her to fall off a tree, but luckily Neji caught her and had enough time to recover. After a hard battle with Shizuku, Sakura was able to join her team in taking down their opponents by first tricking them into using up their medically-enhanced chakra.

Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds
Sakura was first seen at a hospital during/after the attack on Konoha, and commenting on the injured villagers who had been saved by the mysterious old man, Shinnō. Sakura was assigned with Naruto and Hinata to escort a boy (who was really a girl) named Amaru, and Shinnō, her sensei, back to their village. During their journey, Sakura and Naruto were separated from Hinata. They both then found the Zero-Tailed Masked Leech, that fed on the darkness of human souls and somehow took over Amaru's body. Sakura tried to fight it, but was defeated easily. She was then left behind when the ruins began to fly away, and only reappeared at the end to watch the ruins explode from Naruto's repeated Rasengan attacks.

Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire
Sakura was first seen with Naruto and Kakashi when Sai got ambushed by a bunch of birds which knocked him down and Naruto aided him and both got attacked, only to get saved by Kakashi and Sakura. Sakura healed both of them and forced them into the hospital bed. Naruto and Sai who both got out of the hospital bed and went to the restaurant to celebrate their recovery both got slapped by Sakura for leaving the hospital. After when Hiruko announced a Fourth Ninja War will start, Sakura was one of the Konoha 11 who got assigned to secure the village. Later Tsunade said that Kakashi is a missing-nin and that they shouldn't go after him. She got dismissed and overheard Tsunade's talk with Shikamaru that Naruto is locked up. She went there to go see him and he told her how Kakashi was controlled and he's planning to die for the village. Sakura broke the cell and freed him then they both went after him.

On their way they found Kakashi, but got stopped by Shikamaru and the rest of the rookies. Sakura and Naruto both stated that they're going to rescue him no matter what and that they won't abandon their sensei. They got ambushed; Shikamaru decided they can go ahead while they hold off the enemies. Sai later comes and brought Naruto and Sakura with him on the ride to save Kakashi. Gaara then attacked them and said that he won't let them go any further. Naruto then fought Gaara while they went ahead. When they found Kakashi, he was still under the jutsu that Tsunade put on him, and Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru all engaged Hiruko in battle, but due to lack of knowledge of the bloodlines he acquired, they were defeated. After Naruto saved Kakashi, Sakura engaged the combined summon form of Hiruko's minions with the rest of the Konoha 11 while her team-mates and sensei fought Hiruko himself. After the battle, Sakura stood victorious with her friends.

Creation and Conception
Although Sakura is the most recurring female character in Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto did not originally intend for Sakura to be the heroine of the series. Kishimoto attributes this to his being unable to draw good heroine characters, and fashioned Sakura as a girl who cannot understand men, the best example of a heroine he could come up with. Sakura's creation is a result of Kishimoto's desire to make a somewhat irritating character who was well-intentioned. Despite these elements, Kishimoto is fond of Sakura, as he feels that many of her personality traits are common among all people, thus giving her a sense of real humanity.

When designing Sakura, Kishimoto focused on her silhouette and created a costume as simple as possible. This is a divergence from the other main characters of the series, whose costumes are very detailed. The leggings are the most notable aspect of her design, as they are meant to show that she is very active. At the start of the series her leggings extended below her knees and closely resembled trousers. As Part I progressed, the leggings became increasingly shorter and tighter. Similar to his inexperience with drawing heroines, Kishimoto lacked the experience needed to make Sakura "cute" when he first began drawing her. Although he implies that her appearance has become cuter since then, Kishimoto and much of the Naruto manga staff agree that Sakura was "far from cute" at the start of the series.

Sakura's most well-known physical characteristic is her broad forehead. Because of this, Kishimoto at times focuses too much effort on drawing it in scenes or promotional artwork where Sakura is featured prominently. This results in her forehead appearing too large. When designing Sakura in her Part II appearance, Kishimoto decided to change her clothes to a more lively karate suit style. The upper part, though, still has a Chinaesque feeling to it, so as to make her more feminine.

In color illustrations of Sakura from Part I of the manga, her leggings, boots, and forehead protector are almost exclusively depicted as being teal, and she frequently has her nails painted seafoam green, with matching or pink eyeshadow. In the original Naruto anime, however, her leggings are a darker green and her forehead protector and boots are the same blue as those worn by other ninja, and she wears no visible cosmetics. Her color scheme in Naruto: Shippūden accurately reflects her appearance in color illustration from Part II of the manga.

Kishimoto's staff have said that Sakura's pink hair was originally intended to give her a unique style and to resemble cherry blossoms, after which she is named.

Trivia

 * The name "Haruno" means "spring field", and the name "Sakura" means "cherry blossom", a flower which is cherished in Japan due to its beauty and its almost-tragically short life span (cherry blossoms have historically been associated with the samurai). The cherry blossom also serves as the national flower for the nation of Japan. In Japanese, "Haruno Sakura" (春野・桜) means "spring field of cherry blossoms", which may be an origin of the name. It can be also used in the game, Hanafuda, as a month card of.
 * In the June 2006 issue of Shonen Jump, Kishimoto stated that Sakura would be the best ninja instructor out of Team 7 and is the closest to being normal, despite having flaws in her personality.
 * In the Ultimate Ninja, Clash of Ninja, and Path of the Ninja video games, Inner Sakura is used as a jutsu due to Sakura's lack of jutsu of her own. Sakura has also shown a talent for genjutsu some video game appearances, most involving Inner Sakura.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Sakura was placed 5th in the first, 14th in the second, 9th in the third, 10th in the fourth, 8th in the fifth, and 12th in the sixth. She finished 6th in the seventh and most recent with 9,701 votes.
 * Sakura had one of the longest battle times in the anime (eight full episodes), giving her roughly four hours of battle screentime. This is when she and Chiyo were fighting Sasori.
 * Sakura is the only character aside from Naruto to appear in all movies.
 * In the seventh Naruto Shippūden opening, Sakura was shown fighting Konan with Ino and Hinata, though in the manga, they did not fight her.
 * Despite being the heroine of the series, Kishimoto stated himself during the 2010 interview that Hinata would make a better heroine than Sakura at the moment, however this is mainly due to the fact that he has a hard time making good roles for female characters like Sakura, but also stated that he would try to have Sakura play a more heroine role in the future.


 * According to the Naruto databook:
 * Sakura's hobbies are playing trivia games and memorizing new material for her medical studies.
 * Sakura wishes for a rematch with Ino.
 * Sakura's favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings, umeboshi, and anmitsu, while her least favorites are anything spicy.
 * Sakura has completed 34 official missions in total: 12 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 6 B-rank, 7 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Sakura's favorite word is.

Quotes

 * (To Ino) "Didn't you know? Women have to be strong in order to survive!"
 * "I've always considered myself to be a true ninja... but those were just empty words, because Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead! But now it's my turn to take the lead, and all of you can watch me from the background!"
 * (To Sasuke) "I... I love you with all my heart!... If you were to stay here with me, there would be no regrets... because every day we'd do something fun, we'd be happy I swear!... I would do anything for you! so... Please just stay with me!"
 * (To Sai about Naruto's smile) " A smile is the easiest way out of a difficult situation."
 * (To Yamato) "Same as always... I can only do the dumbest of things for Naruto..."
 * (About Naruto) "I'm the one who made Naruto suffer the most... I've just been getting it wrong... just been messing it up... I don't want to get it wrong anymore... don't want to screw it up anymore."
 * (About killing Sasuke) "I... Sasuke... I... I thought I could do this..."
 * (About Naruto and Sasuke) "Naruto's here because he's made up his mind... my resolve is nothing compared to his now! I'm supposed to be a ninja, but all I've ever done is lean on him and cry... I was supposed to change that... I came here and I thought I was ready. But I can't do anything... I can't say anything. The only thing that remains for me... is to believe in them!"