Sakura Haruno

is a main character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

The name Haruno means "spring" 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 Japanese, Haru no Sakura means "cherry blossom of spring", which may be an origin of the name.

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 and that "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
Sakura Haruno is a member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, originally consisting of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. Contrary to her teammates, Sakura did not experience any kind of tragedy during her childhood, however she was picked on. Because of this, she takes for granted things Naruto and Sasuke wish they had, most particularly a loving parent. Sakura's favorite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings and umeboshi, with her least favorite being anything spicy. Her favorite phrases are and. Sakura's parents have never been revealed in the manga or anime, however her mother's voice was heard in episode 3 of the anime.

Personality
At the start of the series, Sakura has a deep infatuation for Sasuke, rooted primarily in his good looks, cunning, cool attitude, and prodigious talents. Because of this, many of Sakura's early appearances are dedicated to her continuing effort to win his affection. As time progressed, and she began to know Sasuke more as a teammate instead of the cool, mysterious boy she had a crush on, she both grew to love him as a person and began to fear that he would eventually leave her in his quest for power. When Sasuke finally defects from Konoha, Sakura offers to join him in his self destructive quest for revenge rather than leave his side, an offer Sasuke refuses. She has since joined Naruto in his quest to bring Sasuke back, even adopting Naruto's notion to use force to bring him back to Konoha.

Sakura's relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, like with Sasuke, also changes throughout the series. Despite Naruto's crush on her, Sakura, as with the rest of the village, saw Naruto as a burden, and was less than enthusiastic at being assigned to the same team as him. Due to his attempts to win her heart, which in turn ruins her chances to win Sasuke's, Sakura viewed Naruto as a talentless idiot out to ruin her life. However, similar to Sasuke, as they spent more time together as teammates, Sakura came to realize that her initial view of Naruto was wrong. When Sasuke defected from Konoha, she turns to Naruto believing him to be the only one able to bring Sasuke back. As such Naruto would in turn dedicate his next mission and 2½ years of training to fulfill this promise. After the failed Retrieval mission, Sakura resolves that she will be there for Naruto from now on. By Part II, when she learns the extent of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's relationship with Naruto, and the Akatsuki's goal to capture Naruto she has grown a desire to protect Naruto herself. Yamato would comment that Sakura may feel something more for Naruto while she was healing him after his four-tailed transformation, but the unconscious Naruto woke up before he could finish, only able to start the first letter of the next word, "l...".

Within Sakura resides "Inner Sakura," 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 "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. The English dub, 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 the Mind Body Switch Technique was used on her, Inner Sakura was able to repel the user from her body, suggesting that inner Sakura is a split personality, as Sakura comments she is a girl with "two minds". Although she appears quite frequently at the start of the series, Inner Sakura all but disappears midway through Part I, and rarely appears in Part II. The reason behind this is that she no longer needs to hide her true feelings or reactions behind a fake smile, finally allowing herself to truly say whats on her mind. However, because Inner Sakura usually possessed somewhat violent reaction to things, Sakura is prone to violent outbursts which is not helped by a her chakra- enhanced strength.

As a ninja Sakura felt as though she was in the background, not being able to help anybody. Then in the chunin exams she made a resolution not to let anybody down and to be in the front line instead of falling behind. She kept this resolution when she asked Tsunade if she could become her apprentice after the mission to retrieve Sasuke failed in order to make herself better as a ninja and a person. After training hard for two and a half years she has finally been able to pull her own weight and creating a strong desire to protect her comrades. She has made herself stronger through her training with and still won't give up on saving Sasuke and Naruto. While Sakura does have a very strong personality in her, she also has a softer side.

Sakura and Ino
During her early years in the 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, gave Sakura a ribbon to accent her face and help Sakura overcome her phobia about her forehead. As such, the two became good friends and Sakura was in time able to develop her own unique personality thanks to Ino. Despite this, Sakura felt she was living in Ino's shadow and longed to be able to prove herself as Ino's equal. When it later became clear that both were infatuated with Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura ended their friendship so that the two could properly compete for Sasuke's affection, beginning a bitter rivalry between the two.

Later, during the Chunin exams the two rekindle their friendship but still consistently argue over guys. They mainly fight over Sasuke and lately, Ino has fought for Sai believing Sakura wants him for herself however Sakura denies this.

Survival Test arc
Upon being assigned as a member of Team 7, Sakura spent much 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 are 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.

Wave Country arc
When Team 7 set out on their first mission to the Land of Waves, Sakura was left in charge of protecting Tazuna while Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi fought the enemy. When Sasuke appeared to have died in battle, 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.

Chunin Exam arc
During the written portion of the Chunin Exams, Sakura was one of the few Genin capable of answering the test's questions without cheating. Realizing that Naruto wasn't smart enough to answer the questions correctly or think of cheating, Sakura contemplated disqualifying Team 7 so that Naruto didn't need to. She thought about Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage, and she smiled and said that she didn't want his dream to die. When Naruto proclaimed that he won't back down from the test, Sakura decided against it, and Team 7 passed.

Soon after the start of the second phase of the Chunin 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 Sound Genin sent by Orochimaru to kill Sasuke, Sakura tried to defeat them with some traps she had preprepared, though the group easily avoided her efforts. Just as the Sound Genin were about to turn their attention to Sakura, Rock Lee came to her rescue, determined to protect Sakura at all costs. Despite using techniques he was forbidden to use, 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 in 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 Sound 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 the latter to rest. An unconscious Sasuke re-awakened after receiving Orochimaru's cursed mark, and asked Sakura who injured her. Quickly overcome by his new cursed mark, he began a violent rampage on the sound nins who were present. Frightened by his new behavior, a tearful Sakura rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him, begging him to stop. Her tearful 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, though Inner Sakura stopped Ino before she could do so and forced Ino from her body. 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.

When the invasion of Konoha began, Sakura was one of the few Genin present who was able to repel the sleep inducing Genjutsu, in large part due to her control over her own chakra. Because of this, Sakura was assigned by Kakashi to wake Naruto so that they could follow Sasuke. Upon catching up with Sasuke, Sakura protected him from Gaara's attacks, though Gaara used his sand to immobilize her. As the sand slowly suffocated Sakura, Naruto fought to defeat Gaara, determined to save her. He succeeded, and Sakura was freed.

Sasuke Retrieval arc
When Sasuke attempted to abandon Konoha so that he could go to Orochimaru for power, Sakura met him at the village's exit. Realizing what he was trying to do, Sakura did what she could to stop him. She admitted that he always acted like he hated her and revealed that he rarely spoke to her. Hastily, she professed her love for him and offering to help him in his quest for power, so long as she could be with him. Sasuke then turned to her, smirking, and told her that she was annoying (in the official English translation, he tells her that she "makes him sick"). To Sasuke, Sakura had not changed from their first day as a team and still failed to understand what loneliness is. Sakura threatened to scream and alert the village of his betrayal, and Sasuke, apparently affected in some way by her concern, gave her a simple "thank you" before knocking her unconscious and leaving the village.

When Naruto set out the next day to retrieve Sasuke, Sakura begged for him 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. Naruto assured her that he understood her pain, reminding Sakura of what she had said to Naruto (while he was impersonating Sasuke) near the beginning of the series. This brought more tears as Sakura realized that Naruto knew how she felt and how he was always there for her and would always be there.

After Naruto failed to bring Sasuke back and lies in a hospital bed, he apologized to Sakura for failing to bring back Sasuke and asserted that he will definitely keep his promise. Sakura regarded Naruto and saw his injuries and determination. She thought about how little she had done. She thought "Naruto..., I did nothing. All I did was cry and cling to you" (official translation). Inspired by Naruto's determination, she replied that next time they would retrieve Sasuke together and would be there for him from now on, then asked Tsunade to become her apprentice, a request to which Tsunade happily accepted.

Anime 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.

Naruto the Movie
Sakura joined her fellow members of Team 7 on a mission to protect the actor Yukie Fujikaze as she and the production group she worked for traveled to the Land of Snow. Throughout the movie, Sakura encountered the Snow shinobi Mizore Fuyukuma and eventually defeated him with her Sakura Blizzard Technique. However, the final victory was achieved when Mizore crashed into one of his allies and their suits of chakra armor overloaded each other.

Naruto the Movie 2
Sakura was sent out on a team with Naruto and Shikamaru to deliver a pet ferret to a village where it could be picked up by its rightful owners. 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.

Naruto the Movie 3
Sakura was assigned along with Naruto and Rock Lee to protect the Land of the Moon's prince during his world trip. Sakura also 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. Sakura got trapped in Karenbana's Genjutsu technique, but 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.

Part II
After Naruto's 2½ year training Sakura was one of the villagers to greet him. She flirtingly asked him if she looked any different, though in complete ignorance to her reason, remarked she looked exactly the same. Not long afterwards she displayed some of what she gained from her training with Tsunade when she punched Naruto for attempting to reveal a new perverted technique that was designed to put the Sexy Technique to shame. Kakashi would gather the two remaining members of Team Kakashi together for another bell test, in which Naruto and Sakura had to work together to retrieve. Again Sakura shocked Naruto, and Kakashi as well by displaying her excellent chakra-enhanced strength. But even then it wasn't enough to slow down Kakashi. It was only Naruto's plan to spoil the latest entry of Jiraiya's book did they manage to get past Kakashi's Sharingan.

Rescue Gaara arc
When Gaara was kidnapped by the Akatsuki, Team 7 was sent to help in rescuing him. After arriving in Sunagakure, Sakura was sent in immediately to help save Kankuro. Just in the nick of time Sakura used a highly advanced technique to save him and used the poison she extracted to make three antidotes. As Team 7 set out to pursue Gaara's captors, they were joined by Chiyo. After finding Gaara, Sakura and Chiyo battled an Akatsuki member Sasori, while Naruto and Kakashi follow his partner, Deidara. By guiding her as a puppet, Chiyo was able to help Sakura in avoiding Sasori's poisoned attacks, allowing Sakura to use her superior strength to destroy Sasori's puppets. As the battle progressed Sasori summoned a puppet of the Third Kazekage, which could create iron sand, and Sakura's strength was really put to the test. While fighting the Third Kazekage puppet, Sakura began to pick up on Sasori's movements and dodging his attacks. Even Chiyo was impressed with how quickly Sakura picked up on Sasori's attacks and stated that Sakura was doing well without her help. Sakura was able to destroy the Kazekage puppet by feigning unconsciousness and then using her insane strength to destroy the puppet when Sasori moved the puppet in to insure the kill. After this, Sakura displayed her considerable Taijutsu skills by destroying many of the puppets in Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets Technique while Chiyo was busy controlling her Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu Technique. When Sasori tried to kill Chiyo, Sakura used herself as a human shield to protect her, giving Chiyo the opportunity to stab Sasori through the heart. Even as Sasori stabbed her through the chest Sakura began healing her wounds while the sword was still in her body. Despite her healing ability, Sakura's wound was too great and she didn't have enough chakra to heal herself fully. Chiyo used her Resurrection Technique on Sakura but because Sakura was not dead yet, Chiyo didn't have to give all of her life-energy to complete the resurrection. Before Sasori died, he rewards Sakura for her survival by telling her of a spy within Orochimaru's ranks that he was scheduled to meet in ten days from that day. As Chiyo surrendered the rest of her energy to perform the Resurrection technique to save Garra, she said to Sakura not to give her life for an old woman and that someday she would surpass her master as a female ninja. Team 7 returned to Konoha, and now had an opportunity to find Sasuke with Sakura's newfound information.

Sasuke and Sai arc
After returning to Konoha, Kakashi was left bedridden, leaving Yamato to lead in his stead. Sai was also added to the team as Sasuke's replacement, though Sai's insults towards his predecessor caused conflict amongst the team. The meeting with the spy turned out to be a trap and Naruto was left heavily injured in his battle with Orochimaru. Sakura was simply shocked by Naruto's transformation and remembered how all that Naruto was doing is to keep his promise to her. When Kabuto commented on how this is now a fight between monsters and not shinobi, Sakura tightly placed her hand over her heart and ran after Naruto trying to stop and save him, but Naruto in his four-tailed form attacked Sakura with a single swipe of his tail, causing the poison from the demon fox's chakra to harm her, but luckily, Kabuto healed her. After Yamato supressed the demon fox's chakra from Naruto, which made him unconscious, Sakura healed his wounds, asking Yamato if there was anything else she could learn to be of more use in protecting Naruto. Yamato realized that Sakura wanted to be there for Naruto, so he reminded her that its the strength of her feelings for Naruto that counts. While Yamato was going to suggest that she felt something more for him, Naruto woke up before he could finish. After the group navigated their way to Orochimaru's hideout, they found Sasuke after much searching of the lair. Uninterested in returning to Konoha, Sasuke attacked the team, and Sakura did what she could to stop him. Despite their efforts, Sasuke managed to escape, and Team 7 returned to Konoha. Seeing Naruto devastated by his escape, she promised to get stronger along side him, in which she helped Naruto to get out of his sudden stage of depression.

Hidan and Kakuzu arc
Sakura came to Team 10's aid in their fight against Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu. Because Shikamaru Nara was separated from the rest of the group, Sai and Sakura were sent as backup 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. Later Sakura joined Naruto and Sai at the ramen bar. Naruto had diffuculty eating and Sakura remembers touching words Naruto said to her. Based on this she flirtingly offered to feed him. Naruto becomes greatly exited by this. Then Sai started feeding him instead to which Naruto furiously reminded Sai that if he should try that again he should be aware of the intimate moment Sakura and him were having.

Hunt for Uchiha
Sakura accompanied Naruto to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. When Naruto has difficulties eating his ramen due to his injuries, Sakura remembered his words to her when she was healing him. He said that he enjoyed her there because it felt like they were becoming closer to bringing back Sasuke. Remembering these words Sakura offered to assist Naruto in eating. Interrupting their intimate moment, Sai fed an indignant Naruto in her place who was very upset because he ruined his moment to be with Sakura. As they left they encounter Konohamaru, who demonstrated some of his newly created perverted jutsu for Naruto, who having not grown out of his perversion, reacted in a way similar to Jiraiya. Although she berated Naruto and Konohamaru for their practice of creating perverted jutsu, she fell prey to Konohamaru's Sexy: Double Knockout Guys Technique, which took the form of a naked Sasuke and Sai in a suggestive embrace and reacted like Naruto did. Shocked at how she reacted, she tried to dismiss her outburst, but the others were unbelieving. When news reached Konoha that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and left Otogakure, Sakura and Naruto were the first to join Kakashi's 8-Man Squad and began the hunt.

During her search, she barely missed a member of Sasuke's Team Hawk, Karin, and followed Deidara's suicide explosion to regroup. When Kiba caught Sasuke's scent, the group followed until they encountered Deidara's former partner, Tobi.

Post Hunt for Uchiha
Sakura was present when Jiraya's death was revealed to Naruto. Naruto then blamed his death on Tsunade, which Kakashi scolded him for his disrespect. Naruto stormed off and Sakura asked him where he was going but was stopped by Tsunade who told her to give Naruto time to deal with Jiraya's death. Afterwards, she then tried to convince Shikamaru to help Tsunade figure out Jiraya's code. Later, when Naruto was pestering Tsunade about the autopsy reports, Sakura told Naruto about the delicacy of the autopsies and mentioned that since Shizune was leading it, it would go fast. As Naruto was about to go pester her to speed it up, Sakura declared she'd never forgive him if he bugged Shizune. Sakura was then shocked to hear Naruto announce that he will avenge Jiraya and that he refuses to wait around. Sakura was then assigned with Shikamaru and Shiho to figure out what the code meant and how it could unlock a way to defeat the mysterious Pain.

Invasion of Pain arc
After hearing an explosion from the Code-breakers department, Shikamaru and Sakura headed towards the location. She then killed Pain's huge centipede summon with a single punch, by which other ninja were impressed. She went over to the girl who would've been crushed by the centipede and healed her knee. Iruka came over and told her what was going on, to which she was shocked that the Akatsuki would attack directly. Sakura then headed towards Konoha Hospital to treat the injured, which was starting to fill up.

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

However, as she has focus so much on her book studies, it has greatly affected her physical performance. While in the academy, she excelled in basic practice of Ninjutsu and kunoichi training, her prowess on the actual field of combat was much weaker. Her stamina and fighting skills were below average. Soon after the start of her first mission, however, Sakura discovers that she has an excellent control over her chakra, and as such she has an innate ability to use jutsu to their maximum efficiency without wasting any chakra. While this particular ability is never put to great use in Part I, it becomes a focal point of Sakura's fighting style in Part II.

Sakura's natural control of her chakra has been taken to new heights over the time skip, an ability utilized to its fullest by the training she has done with Tsunade. With her excellent chakra control, Sakura has turned into an excellent combat Medic-nin, and has shown herself to be able to heal fatal injuries with relatively little effort even when more experienced medics would deem it a lost cause. In her training to become a Medic-nin, Sakura has also acquired the ability to pick up on an enemy's movements in a short period of time as a good field medic needs to be able to survive a battle and avoid injury if he or she is to fulfill his or her purpose and heal other members of his or her team. This ability allows her to predict what attack an opponent will use seconds before an attack and then dodge it quickly and easily.

In close combat, Sakura's Taijutsu skills has gained tremendous growth thanks to Tsunade's constant battle drillings to better protect herself should she find it impossible to avoid battle. To further aid her in that situation, she can rely on the super 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. An opponent struck by her full strength can suffer from anything ranging from instant death or, depending on how much chakra Sakura puts into the kick or punch, broken bones, ruptured organs, or any other wound associated with intense blunt force trauma. 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. This strength, coupled with her medical expertise, and the beauty she gains over the time skip has caused many to see Sakura as another Tsunade (Jiraya himself notes this while Naruto thinks that Sakura has gotten even more violent then before). Many believe that she will surpass Tsunade as a female ninja because she has all of the previously mention abilities and, unlike Tsunade, she is a natural Genjutsu user and has the potential to master many high level techniques.

Trivia

 * Sakura is the first one of her team to have defeated an Akatsuki member, Naruto being the second, and Sasuke the third.
 * Despite Sakura and Ino being rivals, it appears that their families are actually good friends as seen when Sakura's mother has her send sweets to Ino's house.
 * While seen as useless in Part I, it is believed Sakura is the strongest female chunin in the Konoha 11 now due to her training under Tsunade.
 * As shown by Sakura and Rin, the purple-pink colored skirt that they both wear may have to do with them being medical ninjas, seemingly making some sort of connection.

Quotes

 * "Shannaro!" (Original Japanese only; it has no literal meaning, but is often translated as "Hell yeah!". The English dub uses "Cha!" instead.)
 * "Sasuke! I'm so in love with you, I can't even stand it!"
 * "Didn't you know? Women have to be strong in order to survive."
 * "Its always like this. The only things I can do for Naruto are small and insignificant."