Sakura Haruno

is a kunoichi of Konohagakure. She is appointed as a member of Team Kakashi, but quickly finds herself ill-prepared for the duties of a ninja and the complications of her team-mates' lives. By training under her master, Tsunade, she becomes a strong kunoichi and an excellent medical-nin, capable of facing the challenges of life as a ninja, as well as help and protect her friends and loved ones when they need her.

Background
During her early childhood years in the Academy, Sakura was frequently bullied by others due to her large forehead. To try and combat this, Sakura used her fringe to hide her forehead, fuelling the other children's teasing by indicating she was sensitive about it. Ino Yamanaka, realising this, helped Sakura by giving her a red 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. In the anime, it was shown that while searching for Ino to have lunch with, Sakura spotted her, along with Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi stealing bits of food from others. Curious as to what they were doing, she followed them, discovering that they were bringing the food to a mysterious young child named Yota.

Later, despite her genuine appreciation for Ino's friendship, Sakura felt that she was living in Ino's shadow and longed to prove herself as Ino's equal. When Sakura found out that Ino also 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
As a child, Sakura was insecure and highly self-conscious about her large forehead; covering it up with her bangs. It was not until she met Ino, whom defended her from bullies and became her friend, did she become more self-confident. However, while Sakura was noted as being an honour student for her scholastic intelligence in the Academy, she became narcissistic as she was more interested in her appearance and Sasuke as opposed to practising her ninja skills. Because of this, she found Naruto Uzumaki's advances and attempts to gain her attention irksome, calling him childish and foolish, citing his lack of a family as being a reason he was such an annoyance to everyone in the village. Sasuke pointed out that this was because Sakura had never experienced loss in her life and thus could not understand himself or Naruto, prompting Sakura to look at things from Naruto's perspective in an effort to better understand her team-mates. Over time, Sakura became more mature as she developed a mutual friendship with her team-mates, mirroring that of their Sannin masters in their youth. At her core, Sakura is compassionate, determined, and courageous, willing to sacrifice herself and combat those she knows to be superior to her to defend her team. By Part II, Sakura displayed that she does not back down from a fight, noting that she inherited her master's contempt for losing. Sakura has also shown a perverted side, from getting excited by Konohamaru Sarutobi's Sexy: Boy on Boy Technique and having a nosebleed from seeing Naruto's Sexy Reverse Harem Technique.

From the start, Sakura had a deep infatuation for Sasuke, rooted in his appearance, cunning, cool attitude, and prodigious talents. When Sasuke began to defect from Konoha, Sakura did all that she could to stop him from leaving, such as professing her love for him and even offering to join him. Despite thanking her and sounding grateful, Sasuke knocked Sakura unconscious and left. Sakura, cursing herself for not being strong enough to stop Sasuke from defecting, ultimately decided to help Naruto retrieve Sasuke back to Konoha. However, as time went on and Sasuke became an increasingly more dangerous criminal, along with becoming immensely guilt-ridden upon learning of Naruto's feelings for her and how both she and Sasuke had made him suffer from Sai, Sakura was saddened and distraught at the notion that Sasuke could not and would not return to Konoha and he would have to be killed to prevent a war between nations, but decided she would do it herself, oblivious to the fact that she was outmatched by Sasuke. In the end, she found herself unable to kill Sasuke, which nearly cost Sakura her life. Upon seeing Naruto's resolve to bring Sasuke back no matter the cost, Sakura decided she would put her faith in both of them. During the war, when Sasuke returned to fight alongside the Alliance, Sakura did not believe Sasuke could be trusted, which was confirmed with his intention of starting a revolution. Ultimately, Sakura tried to appeal to Sasuke, proclaiming her deep love for him once more, only to be silenced by genjutsu. When Sasuke dismissed her desire for romance, Kakashi scolded him, stating that Sakura loved him so much that she wanted to save Sasuke from his dark path. Ultimately, after Naruto and Sasuke's final clash, the latter, having been redeemed, apologised to Sakura for all he had put her through. Despite her slight hesitation, she tearfully forgave him.

After becoming a mother, Sakura is shown to be very loving and caring as her daughter, Sarada, had no problem sharing her feelings about Boruto and her father. That doesn't mean she doesn't get angry at her daughter, as when Sarada questioned the validity of her marriage she proceeded to smash the ground. After seeing that her daughter was acting out of sadness rather than anger, she apologised and reassured her that her father would be home soon. Sakura also seems to be very protective of her family, as seen when after she woke up she immediately went to find Sarada and how she became enraged when Shin Uchiha attempted to kill her husband and daughter. During Sasuke's time away, Sakura adopted Itachi's habit of poking Sarada in the forehead and telling her "maybe next time" like Itachi always did with Sasuke. She also demonstrates loyalty to Sasuke. This was shown when she pretended to be a helpless hostage to trick Shin into revealing information about his plans on Sasuke's behalf before deciding to finish him off.

Inner Sakura
A significant trait of Sakura's personality is her brashness. In Part I, these were turned inwardly, in the form of — a manifestation of her inner emotions. In addition to comic relief, Inner Sakura represents Sakura's actual opinion on things when she outwardly remains calm, collected, or reserved. Inner Sakura's appearances are typically marked by an exclamation of — a phrase which 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 Sakura has a split personality, consisting of the "Inner Sakura" and her normal personality. Although she appears quite frequently at the start of the series, after her apprenticeship started with Tsunade, and Sakura began to subconsciously adopt some of her master's mannerisms, these feelings would actually manifest through Sakura herself, in violent outbursts that would result in Naruto usually being hit for his foolish or perverted actions. Despite this, however, Inner Sakura will still manifest in some cases such as when Naruto mouthed off to Tsunade. She disciplined him before Tsunade could, noting how fearsome Tsunade could be in cases such as those.

Appearance
Sakura has bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. Sakura was often bullied due to her rather large forehead hence her nickname of "Billboard Brow", due to this she wore her bangs over her forehead in an attempt to cover it, though Ino encouraged her to wear her hair back. In Part I, Sakura wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs, with or without short sleeves, with a zipper, tight dark green shorts, standard ninja sandals, and a forehead protector which she used to accentuate her face.

In Part II, Sakura has donned an attire that consisted of a red top with the same design as the upper-half of her Part I outfit, with black gloves, black, low-heel, calf-high boots, black shorts underneath a short grey apron skirt, and grey elbow protectors (her skirt and elbow protectors are pink in the anime). The metal portion of her forehead protector had moved to a red cloth. Sakura was also armed with a tantō which she wore above her medical pouch. When she was not on a mission, she wore her regular red sleeveless shirt, with a light yellow short sleeve shirt under it, and a navy-coloured skirt. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she donned the standard uniform of her village inclusive of a Konohagakure flak jacket, albeit opting to wear a skirt instead of pants and her regular boots. She later changed her skirt to pants to assist the medic unit. During the battle against the Ten-Tails, having stored up chakra for over three years, Sakura obtained a rhombus mark on her forehead similar to Tsunade's, known as the Strength of a Hundred Seal, which since being released has permanently remained in the centre of Sakura's own forehead.

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 rumour that Sasuke was attracted to girls with long hair). After Sakura began 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 practising her technique. 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, Naruto and Sasuke. Her hair was very short and messy that time. After the battle, Ino cuts Sakura's hair to make it neater. During the time she trained with Tsunade after the Chūnin Exams, she had let her hair grow back but has since then cut it again in favour of her new, shoulder-length hairstyle. Like Shizune, she also has the tendency to pin her hair up in a ponytail when working.

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sakura, at age 19, retained her short hairstyle, though cutting it even shorter this time now reaching around her chin, with her bangs now parted to the left keeping it out of her eyes, and her usual red cloth forehead protector worn as a hairband. She now wears a sleeveless red qipao dress that reaches her upper thighs, with white trimmings and a white circular design on the back similar to her Part I attire. It is tied with a black obi and she wears black shorts underneath as well as her usual black gloves and grey elbow protectors (pink in the anime), which she now also wears as knee protectors.

She has also changed her previous boots to regular black, high heeled ninja sandals. While off-duty, she wears a small, bottom-up sweater under a larger cream sweater with a pale yellow neckline and white capri pants as well as pink, strappy high heeled sandals. She also wears a dark red hairband, in the place of her usual red forehead protector, along with a cherry-blossom pendent (similar to her father's) hung around her neck, half-hidden underneath her sweater. She is also seen wearing a red winter over-coat that falls to her mid thighs, with pink trimmings, pockets and a hood with white fur trim.

Several years later, after becoming a mother, Sakura's figure has become somewhat more womanly. When off-duty, Sakura wears her usual red dress with the Uchiha clan crest on the back. Over it, she wears a long white apron. She also dons light-coloured pants, with heeled sandals. She now possesses shoulder-length hair, which is parted to the left-side of her face with two red clips. Some time when Sarada was younger, Sakura sported longer hair, which was styled into a loose ponytail. She also keeps her fingernails longer and well-manicured.

When on duty, she wears a short red sleeveless qipao dress with the Uchiha clan crest on the back. She also wears light colored pants and elbow protectors, as well as high heels.

Abilities
Initially, Sakura's overall abilities as a ninja were considerably less than those of her team-mates. After her two-and-a-half years of training with Tsunade, she had greatly increased her skills enough to hold her own against powerful enemies, such as Sasori, and even prove instrumental in defeating him alongside Chiyo. Sakura's refined abilities has caused others to see her as a younger version of Tsunade, or even someone who could surpass the latter. This was further demonstrated during the Fourth Shinobi World War, where she earned praise from Hashirama Senju, Shizune, and Naruto for being a possible equal to Tsunade. Years after the war, Sakura's abilities improved further as she was promoted to jōnin, and later defeated Shin Uchiha with a single blow, forcing him to retreat. Several years later, Sasuke Uchiha would also compliment her abilities and criticize those who would doubt them.

Chakra Prowess and Control
At the start of the series, Sakura discovered that she had an excellent control over her chakra, and thus, an innate ability to use techniques to their maximum efficiency without wasting any chakra. Kakashi pointed out that her ability to gather chakra from every part of the body and then using it with great timing made her superior to her team-mates in that respect. Her control has been noted multiple times as very similar to Tsunade's prowess. Even Shizune, a fellow student of Tsunade's, admitted to Sakura's control being much greater than hers. 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 and medical abilities in Part II. In Part II of the anime, with her excellent chakra control, she was chosen in sealing the Three-Tails with the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier along with Shizune, Ino and Hinata.

Due to these skills, Sakura has been noted to have a natural aptitude for genjutsu, though thus far she has only been seen dispelling it, even Kabuto's sleep-inducing genjutsu. In the anime before the Chūnin Exams, she could instantly recognise a genjutsu casted by a disguised Iruka trying to trick her into not participating in the exams, noting Sasuke would never ask her out, and only playing along to find out who casted the genjutsu. She could also decipher at the start of the Chūnin Exams that they were trapped in a surrounding-altering genjutsu. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, she ultimately became so resistant to the effects of genjutsu that she was the only one in her team to be unaffected by Toneri Ōtsutsuki's genjutsu trap.

The pinnacle of Sakura's control was seen during the Fourth Shinobi World War; for over three years, she has stored up huge amounts of chakra on a point on her forehead, developing the Strength of a Hundred Seal and the ability to release it. In the anime, Sakura could even exceed the normal conditions of developing the seal, learning how to continue building up chakra while still channeling some of it into her normal reserves to not hinder her as much in battle or surgery. She was also able to use the Ninja Art Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique in battle after releasing the seal. Furthermore, Sakura has shown the ability to transfer the chakra directly from her seal into other individuals, leading to her Strength of a Hundred markings to spread over the recipient. The chakra stored inside Sakura's seal is so enormous that she could distribute it to the alliance through Katsuyu on a massive scale. Afterwards, she powered several of Obito Uchiha's Kamui techniques in order to move between Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's various dimensions, and still had leftover chakra in her seal to spare.

Physical Prowess
Although not known for her strength in Part I, Sakura could still knock Ino several feet backwards with a single strike, and in the anime, wield the broken mast of a ship as a weapon. In Part II, her taijutsu skills grew tremendously thanks to Tsunade's training, learning to build up and release her chakra with precise timing to easily demolish or destroy objects with powerful punches or kicks. An opponent struck by her could suffer damage ranging from broken bones, ruptured organs, or even death, as seen in Fuen's case. Through repeated use, Sakura no longer needs to put any conscious effort into using this strength, and can use it instantly.

With her new strength, Sakura could knock away Sasori's giant iron constructs,, throw the Lion-Headed Kannon fast enough to catch Sasori by surprise, and prevent the airborne puppet master from reaching his target, later smashing his body to pieces. She could also defeat Pain's Giant Centipede and a transformed White Zetsu Army clone with a single blow each. In the anime during the Fourth Shinobi World War, she lifted a chunk of the ground to protect herself from Obito's attack manifested through the Ten-Tails. After completing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Sakura's strength grew immensely, being able to easily decimate several dozen of the Ten-Tails' spawns, while obliterating the surrounding battlefield. This feat earned her praise from Hashirama himself, deeming Sakura's strength superior to Tsunade's. This was further shown when she injured Kaguya, even knocking one of her rabbit ear-like horns off her head.

From her training with Tsunade, Sakura has also inherited her master's resilience and contempt for losing, able to continue fighting after being surrounded by a poisonous cloud, and using an explosive tag to dispel it. She pushed herself to keep fighting Sasori despite being poisoned and survived long enough to be healed. Sakura also learned to read her enemies' attack patterns and thus greatly increase her evasive skills as a field medic. From this, she could evade a barrage of poisoned senbon, a multitude of puppet arms, and help defeat one hundred puppets unharmed, hardly needing Chiyo's assistance later on. Likewise, Sakura has shown keen reflexes, quickly grabbing and moving Obito out of danger from a sea of acid, as well as evading Kaguya's extremely fast chakra arms before being saved by Kakashi's Susanoo. Years later, she could even blitz and defeat a Mangekyō Sharingan-bearing Shin with a single blow. Though, years of using her strength ocasionally left her with pent up power, which was showcased whenever she hugged sarada too tight, causing her too complain in a choked up voice.

Medical Ninjutsu
Sakura's naturally refined chakra control had been taken to new heights in Part II, an ability utilised to its fullest by her training with Tsunade. With her excellent chakra control, Sakura had turned into an excellent 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. In the anime, she could even perform a regenerating procedure alone that would normally require a team to assist. She also has shown extensive knowledge of poisons, having been taught by her senior pupil Shizune on how to imbue weapons such as kunai, with poison. She also has an extensive knowledge of herbal medicines, surpassing even the knowledge of Chiyo, as well as other chemicals such as powerful sleeping gases taught to her by Tsunade. Her knowledge was great enough to withdraw Sasori's advanced poison directly from Kankurō's body, and use it as a base template to create several doses of antidote swiftly afterwards, even though she didn't know the exact ratio of the poison's components, a fact praised by the poison's creator, Sasori, who noted that even a hairline mistake would have rendered the antitode ineffective. During her fight with Sasori, she was able to start healing herself even with a poisoned sword still lodged in her abdomen, which Sasori commended.

At the end of Part I, when observing Sakura successfully heal a fish with the Mystical Palm Technique, Tsunade remarked that her student had come so far, and she hadn't seen such talent since Shizune. Sakura can also assist with autopsies, as seen when she and Shizune performed an autopsy on a White Zetsu during the Fourth Shinobi World War, and she has knowledge of cells and DNA. Even after the short period of time she was under Tsunade's tutelage, prominent individuals had even commented on Sakura's potential to surpass the Sannin in terms of medical skill. She also proved capable of using a chakra scalpel in order to make incisions into flesh and perform surgery or very direct heart massage.

After completing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Sakura can summon Katsuyu and remotely heal others, which Shizune praises her for. Upon the release of the seal, she, along with Tsunade, summoned a large proportion of Katsuyu to heal the alliance and according to Tsunade, they would be able to recover just by standing on her. Sakura has also shown to be able to release the seal completely, granting her the ability to heal any damage she sustains. During her fight against Madara, she could instantly heal even the damage done to her by a staff created from his Truth-Seeking Ball, without feeling any fatigue or physical repercussions.

By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sakura's medical prowess had rivalled that of Tsunade.

Summoning Technique
During Fourth Shinobi World War, Sakura was shown able to summon Katsuyu onto the battlefield. By having the slug divide and attach themselves to the wounded individuals, like Tsunade, she was capable of healing multiple injuries at different locations simultaneously. Shizune noted that this was quite a feat as it was the first time that Sakura had summoned Katsuyu.

Nature Transformation
Sakura is also proficient with four nature transformations: Earth, Water, Yin and Yang Release.

Intelligence
Sakura's original defining characteristic was her intelligence, as seen with her consistently high test scores while in the Academy. She has a keen talent for observation and analysing, which she uses to overcome most forms of deception. Moreover, in the first phase of the Chūnin Exams, Sakura answered all the questions on the written test rather quickly, even though the examiner, Ibiki Morino, later commented that they were designed to be too difficult for a genin to answer, displaying her exceptional scholastic aptitude. She could also cleverly set traps that could be triggered by herself to attack the opponent, and even use obvious traps as decoys to lead opponents into others. Sakura's intellect has also allowed her to see through genjutsu with no apparent trouble. Even Sasuke, prior to the first stage of the Chūnin Exams, admitted his ability to see through genjutsu without his Sharingan is inferior to Sakura's. However, Sakura's focus on her studies in the Academy greatly affected her physical performance; her poor combat skills and stamina prevented her from being helpful during the earlier battles in the series.

Sakura's exceptional intelligence and keen observation skills improved over the time-skip. Thanks to her training with Tsunade, she learned to read an opponent's fighting style by observing the dominant hand/foot or anything that the enemy was using. As a result, she could now read complex patterns in her opponent's attacks, even opponents as strong as Sasori, a feat that surprised even an experienced war veteran like Chiyo. Furthermore, she tricked Sasori into believing that the poison she received from him had affected her in order to lure him into a fake sense of security. She could also determine Kakashi's location during the second bell test which was something her team-mate, Naruto, could not do. When Sakura and her team encountered Tobi and his technique, she was able to assume its mechanism and deduce that Tobi was only pretending to be affected. Sakura is also skilled at planning, formulating a plan to kill Sasuke with poison and prevent Kiba, Sai and Lee from following her by using a sleeping gas bomb. During the first night of the Fourth Shinobi World War, when a spy had infiltrated the Logistical Support and Medical Division compound, Sakura worked out that the spy wasn't using the Transformation Technique as the sensors would've detected the spy. When having a talk with Neji, she deceived and attacked him while he was unprepared. She could extract information from the assassin and piece together the mechanics behind the enemy's abilities, using information she had come across previously, as well as what the clone told her.

Prologue — Land of Waves
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 realised 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.

Sakura accompanied the rest of her team on their first mission to the Land of Waves, to act as bodyguards for Tazuna. However, before arriving at their destination the group was ambushed by the Demon Brothers. After the two missing-nin apparently killed Kakashi, Sasuke took them on but they didn't bother with him only to draw their attention to their target, Tazuna. Sakura knowing her mission was to protect the bridge builder, brought herself to jump in front of Tazuna ready to defend him. Sasuke soon came to aid Sakura but before any further action could take place the demon brothers were knocked out by Kakashi. It turned out that the Kakashi they thought was killed was merely a piece of wood.

Upon arrival at the Land of Waves, they were suddenly attacked by Zabuza Momochi. As he summoned a thick veil of mist with the Hiding in Mist Technique, Kakashi ordered Team 7 to use the Manji Formation in order to protect Tazuna, though Zabuza asserted that such protection was useless, instantly appearing in the centre of their formation. However Kakashi was able to stop him before hitting them. The battle was aventually won by Kakashi, however he collapsed from exhaustion and was brought to Tazuna's home, which gave Sakura and Naruto a chance to try and see what is under Kakashi's mask, but he woke up before they were able to do so. Later, Kakashi administers a Tree Climbing Practice, and Sakura masters the exercise on her first try. This left her in charge of escorting Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke completed the training. Later, Sakura escorted Tazuna to buy food, and was amazed at the poor state of the country. At the food store, Sakura almost got her bag stolen by a men named Teguse. However, thinking he was trying to harass her, she responded with a fierce kick to his face. When they left the store, Sakura was approached by the young Ageha with her hands reached out and Sakura gave her some candies.

When they are later attacked by Zabuza and Haku, Sakura was ordered by Kakashi to guard Tazuna and stay close to him, while he and Sasuke battle the enemies. However, when Sasuke got into trouble fighting Haku, Sakura apologised to Tazuna and left to throw a kunai at Haku, only for him to catch it, but creating an opening for Naruto to hit him and join the battle. After their battle, Sakura noticed Naruto and asked where Sasuke was. When Naruto looked away and didn't reply, she guessed at what had happened, and quickly escorted Tazuna to Sasuke's body, where 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. They both rejoined Kakashi and Naruto to witness the swordsman's death by Haku's side. Once their mission was completed, Team 7 returned to Konoha.

Chūnin Exams
Sometime after their return from the mission in the Land of Waves, Sakura seems to be annoyed by Naruto and Sasuke's growing rivalry. As they returned from another mission Sakura helps a beaten Naruto, as he and Sasuke started fighting again. Then Sakura asks Sasuke to work on their teamwork together, however he declines and pointed that her abilities are even worse than Naruto's, which gets her very depressed. When Konohamaru suddenly shows up and asks Naruto if Sakura is his girlfriend, she gets angry and punches Naruto in the face and also beats Konohamaru for insulting her. When Konohamaru ran from Sakura, he bumped into Kankurō, upsetting the latter. Sakura tried to apologise, saying it was her fault, but her words didn't help. Naruto tried to challenge Kankurō only for Sakura to strangle him, and when Sasuke shows up and saves Konohamaru, Sakura cheers for him in adoration. When Sakura later notices that Kankurō and Temari are from Sunagakure, she tells them they can't enter Konoha without permission, and asked them their reason for coming to their village, to which Temari answered that they do have permission and came for the Chūnin Exams.

When Kakashi gives Team 7 their applications to 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. During the test, she starts lamenting about Naruto and his dream. Worried that if they fail then he might not be able to become Hokage, Sakura prepares to forfeit so that his dream will not be crushed. However, 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 efforts, Lee was defeated, and the Oto genin again turned their attention to Sakura. Kin Tsuchi immobilised 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 began to form seals before she is impaled from behind by Kin's senbon.

Sakura, however, is revealed to have used a replacement. Sakura reappears and launches a volley of kunai at Zaku which he blasts back at her though she avoided damage by using the Body Replacement Technique again. From above, Sakura comes down at Zaku who merely tosses kunai believing her to be a substitution, however, she turns out to be the real one after being hit and not revert. With Zaku caught off guard, Sakura was able to immobilise Zaku's arms: impaling one with a kunai and biting down on the other. 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 Oto ninja who were present. Frightened by his new behaviour and after having realised 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 they battled seemingly even. Ino being upset at this and Sakura criticising her that she worries too much on her looks, cuts her hair following Sakura's earlier example in the Forest of Death, 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. Though when Ino declared that she wasn't going to just hand Sasuke over to her, Sakura became angry and declared that the same went for Ino as well.

Konoha Crush
A month later, while watching Naruto and Sasuke's matches during the finals and marvelling at how their abilities had improved, the Konoha Crush 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 immobilise 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 scowl on Sasuke's face as she did so. She later attended the Third Hokage's funeral.

Search for Tsunade
Sakura approached Sasuke thinking that he had saved her, but the latter reveals that it was Naruto's doing, much to Sasuke's dismay and Sakura's surprise. Later, when Sasuke was brought to the hospital, after getting beat by Itachi, Sakura visited him every day and was present in the hospital when Tsunade arrived, as Guy-sensei told her, and asked her to heal Sasuke. After Sasuke woke up Sakura hugged him with tears.

Sasuke Recovery Mission
At the Konoha Hospital, Sakura tries taking care of Sasuke and keep him company as he recuperated from the battle with Itachi Uchiha but Sasuke isn't very humble about it and with Naruto coming in, only made him more upset and challenged Naruto, who gladly accepted. Sakura watched as her two team-mates began to fight. Not being able to take anymore of their fighting, she forces herself to intervene, but they are unable to stop their attack; however, Kakashi is able to stop them and separate them.

As time went by, Sasuke's lust for power grew stronger, and Sakura grew 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 decided to defect. 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 Recovery 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 realised 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 hospitalised in the process, he apologised 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 accepts.

Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission
In the anime, after the rescue mission to retrieve Sasuke failed, Sakura was still determined to save Sasuke. She shortly afterwards joined Naruto and Jiraiya for a mission in the Land of Rice, where the Orochimaru's ninja village was known to be located. While the mission failed to even find Sasuke, Sakura decided she needed to grow as a kunoichi and asks Tsunade for medical training. During this time, she seen little as she was often preoccupied by Tsunade's tutelage.

Mizuki Tracking Mission
In the anime, at the end of Naruto's mission, she runs to tell him that she succeeded in healing a fish during her training with Tsunade.

Mix it, Stretch it, Boil it Up! Burn Copper Pot, Burn!
In the anime, she, Chōji, and Naruto helped rescue Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi. To save the daughter, Sakura and her team-mates were forced to create the perfect ramen, to which Sakura assisted by pounding the dough of the noodles to its shape.

Konoha Plans Recapture Mission
In the anime, Sakura and Ino were sent to examine a corpse that was believed to be that of Gennô.

Yakumo Kurama Rescue Mission
In the anime, she help Kurenai along with Naruto and team 8 to defeat Kurama Clan.

Gantetsu Escort Mission
In the anime, Sakura, Naruto and Lee help transfer a member of the Shinobazu to prison.

Sunagakure Support Mission
In the anime, she tagged along on a mission to save Gaara's student. Ino, jealous of Sakura's new-found 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.

In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths
In the anime, as Sakura's performance grew enough, Tsunade began instructing Sakura in how to master the Strength of a Hundred Seal and by extension the self healing techniques it provided. While Tsunade warned Sakura the danger of developing this technique alongside strenuous performance, Sakura found a way to divert some of the accumulating chakra into her natural reserves. About two years after Naruto left the village to train with Jiraiya, as Sakura began earning great respect amongst her fellow medical experts in the hospital, she was approached by Ino. With Konoha deciding to host an early Chūnin Exams alongside Sunagakure, Ino asked Sakura to fill in as her team's third member as Shikamaru was already promoted. Still unsure of her growth, Sakura declined the offer. Later at the hospital, a ninja was brought in with severe injuries. Quickly assessing the damage, Sakura took it upon herself to help the man, determined to stop living in Naruto and Sasuke's shadows. While the procedure made her nearly pass out, she successfully saved the man's life, to which Tsunade applauded her for as she caught her student.

She later joins Ino and Chōji to take the exams. Once entering the exams, Sakura and her new team-mates were randomly split into different rooms to take the written test. She was placed in room 3 with Tenten and Kiba. On a monitor, Shikamaru, as proctor, explained that everyone only needs to answer one question on the test each with different worth, but their team's combined score must equal exactly 100 points to pass. While Sakura tried to calculate what questions her team-mates would probably take, Ino telepathically contacted her and Chōji to make sure their score would be even. Hearing bangs through the walls, Sakura deduced that someone was trying to send a message to answer certain questions based on the amount of vibrations. After time was up, Shikamaru reveals a bonus question asking the genin what team member they would sacrifice as a decoy with the answer having to be unanimous, and the person picked being disqualified. Sakura saw through the deception and knew not to answer, delivering the news to Ino who delivered it to Chōji. Her team ultimately passed the first round. However, a preliminary round was issued to lessen the many participants there were, which involved a race to Sunagakure where only the first 30 teams to arrive at the destination would qualify for the second exam.

Ultimately, her team were among the first 30 teams to make it. The following night, as all the genin were ready to eat dinner, everyone grew nervous about the overly-sweaty Burami ruining the food, which caused the genin to quickly try to stop him, resulting in Neji using the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and accidentally destroying the food. As tension grew between everyone over the recent event, an all-out brawl began. Eventually everyone lost their desire to fight when Fū arrived with her optimistic ways. Later, while everyone returned to their rooms, an anxiously hungry Chōji decided to go to the next building in hopes that the jōnin supervisors would share their food. As Sakura and Ino went after Chōji, they were all attacked by a giant scorpion. They were saved by the joyful Fū, who swiftly defeated the massive beast. Suffering a wound, Sakura was healed by Ameno. With the situation solved, everyone turned in for the night. The following day, the second exam began. Like the last exam in Konoha, the teams were each given either a Heaven or Earth scroll and were required to within three days to obtain a matching set. They were then required to bring the set to the main building in the centre of Demon Desert.

On the third day of the exam, Team Asuma lost their provisions in a previous fight. Following Sakura's decision, they went for an oasis to replenish themselves. Taking so long to arrive, Ino and Sakura got into another heated argument. Their bickering was quickly ended by the attack of another giant scorpion. While Ino didn't have enough time to use her clan techniques and the scorpion overpowered Chōji, Sakura surprised everyone by defeating the creature with a single punch. Afterwards, Ino healed Sakura's hand from the attack. With everyone calming down, they used the scorpion's meat as new provisions and commented on each other's growth, reasserting their desire to pass the exams.

Not feeling the provisions from the scorpion was enough, Ino insisted that the team go to the nearby oasis. Before arriving, they were cut off by a Suna-team to which, Ino attacked first, letting the enemies counter and pretend to be knocked out. While the enemies then engage Sakura and Chōji, Ino begins sensing the enemies' movement and telepathically informs her allies. Soon seeing through Ino's ploy, they erect a barrier to disrupt her ability to sense. This allows the enemies to continue their assault without resistance. Remembering what her allies and teachers taught her, Ino improves by linking minds with her allies, allowing them to counter-attack and defeat the Suna-nin. Afterwards, Sakura, Ino and Ameno heal all members from both parties. While the Suna-nin openly admit defeat and offer their scroll, Sakura notes that it is unneeded as they already have two matching scrolls. The two teams then part ways, agreeing to meet again in the third exam.

Later, while Sakura was still struggling with maintain her own reserves of chakra and developing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, she and her team was attacked by another Suna-team The leader of the team, Saya, attacked with a small doll as her puppet. After snatching some of Ino's hair, she possessed Ino's mind and forced her to attack Sakura. As Saya's team-mates began to be overwhelmed by Chōji, Saya canceled her technique on Ino and turned it on Chōji. Ino explained that Saya's technique is similar to the Yamanaka clan's own mind techniques. Ino then used her technique to enter Chōji's mind and attempt to free him. Sakura meanwhile was left to face the giant sized Chōji alone.

Ultimately, Ino succeeds in expelling Saya from Chōji's mind. After which, Chōji regained himself and attacked the enemies, forcing them to retreat. Later, with Ino and Chōji still exhausted from the last skirmish, Saya's team soon returned, keeping Ino and her team pinned down in a sandstorm while attacking them with sand puppets. While Ino tried to keep up her sensory mode, her team convinced her to conserve chakra and rely on their eyes. The Konoha-nin easily dealt with the sand puppets, until one of them was revealed to be Mamushi in disguise and poisoned Ino and Chōji. As Sakura began reflecting on everything to this point, Ino and Chōji apologised for pressuring Sakura to join them in the exams, learning of how Sakura felt through Ino's Mind Body Transmission Technique. Sakura however insisted that she wanted to join for her own sake of bettering herself. Afterwards, gaining enough chakra, Sakura was able to propel herself out of the sandstorm and defeat the enemies with a single strike. Afterwards, Sakura healed her team-mates, to which Ino and Chōji voiced their pleasure in having Sakura for a team-mate. Later, Team Asuma was caught in a massive sandstorm. Ultimately, the team was rescued by the Suna-nin proctors and brought to a building to wait out the storm before resuming the exams.

After the storm passed and the second exam was concluded, it was learned that the Chūnin Exams were ended early due to controversy happening in the second exam. Instead, it was decided by Gaara that a report on each participant would be sent to their respective village leader for them to decide if they would be promoted. Upon returning to the village, Sakura and her team-mates were all promoted to chūnin status by Tsunade.

Kazekage Rescue Mission
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 is. However, this doesn't last long, as Sakura asked him if she had changed, 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 technique 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 with her super strength, taught to her by Tsunade. Despite her and Naruto's improved skills, they are only able to take the bells from Kakashi by tricking him.

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. During this period of time, Sakura first learned that the Nine-Tails is sealed into Naruto.

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. Starting off the battle Sasori launches a barrage of senbon from Hiruko but she and Chiyo were able to dodge them. With Chiyo's assistance Sakura was able to get close enough to Sasori to destroy his puppet armour Hiruko.

Sasori then showed his ability to use puppets made out from humans and summoned his Third Kazekage puppet, much to Chiyo's shock. Using the mechanisms Sasori has given to the Third Kazekage as a puppet, he battled. Sakura soon got trapped in a poisonous cloud and was unable to move out do to her being tied by Sasori and thus Sakura escaped by detonating an explosive tag. After she recovered, Sasori employing the former Kazekage's ability which he had combined with his own poison used many iron-manipulated techniques against the two. As the battle ensued, with Chiyo's help, Sakura was able to dodge and counter Sasori's attacks easier and eventually deduced the puppets movements, Sasori's attack pattern and was ultimately able to destroy Third Kazekage puppet on her own. Revealing that he had turned himself into a human puppet as well, Sasori gained the upper hand in the fight. Despite Sakura being struck by Sasori's attack, she was able to stop and grab Sasori from attempting to kill Chiyo from behind pulling him by his thick cable cord to her and destroy the puppet body, only for the pieces to join together again. Sasori later summoned his trump card: one hundred puppets to fight against Chiyo's ten puppets. As the battle continued while Chiyo used her puppets to take down some of Sasori's puppets, Sakura used her taijutsu and evasive skills to take down some of the puppets. With Sakura's aid Chiyo apparently sealed Sasori only to find out 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 reviving abilities. As a reward for defeating him, Sasori spent his last breath to tell Sakura of a spy within Orochimaru's ranks.

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 told Sakura not to give her life for an old woman and predicted that someday she would surpass her master as a kunoichi. After attending Chiyo's funeral, the team returned home.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
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 nor 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 jinchūriki forms. She was then knocked out after Kabuto was thrown away by Naruto and slammed into her. After regaining consciousness, she realised that Naruto had advanced to his four-tailed form. She recalls on who Naruto used to be, his happy personality, and his promise to her, then feeling guilt for the monster he had become and his suffering, she starts to cry and call for him to stop. When Sakura approached him to try and bring him to his senses, he attacked and injured her, unaware of what he was doing. Kabuto attempted to heal her wound, saying that they were both enemies of Akatsuki. All he could do was close it, however. Once Yamato forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede, Sakura tended to his wounds. While healing Naruto's wounds, she tears more on how she wishes she could be of more use to Naruto rather than just healing him after a battle. Yamato tells her that she does much for Naruto by just caring for him just before Naruto awakens.

After Naruto recuperated, they continued on to Orochimaru's hideout, where Sakura crashes to the ground due to her injury from Naruto, and she refuses to tell him the cause. 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.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
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 assist 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 technique. 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. Shortly afterwards they left to find Konohamaru, who had just revealed to have mastered the Shadow Clone Technique. He showed them his variations on the Sexy Technique, one of which excited Sakura.

Itachi Pursuit Mission
When news reached Konoha that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, Sakura and Naruto were the first to join Kakashi's Eight Man Squad. After splitting up to cover more ground, she was partnered with Kakashi's ninken, Shiba and Bisuke. During her search, she unknowingly passed Karin, a member of Sasuke's Hebi, and later regrouped with the others.

Fated Battle Between Brothers
When Kiba caught Sasuke's scent, the group followed until they encountered Tobi. She attempted a strategy according to Yamato's plan against Tobi with Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru but the plan failed. Tobi managed to avoid every move they put out and 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 realised 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. With the mission failed, they headed back to Konoha.

Pain's Assault
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 Chōji 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. When Naruto came back to the village after talking to Nagato, Sakura punches Naruto calling him rash for taking on Pain by himself but then hugs and thanks him for saving them.

Five Kage Summit
Sakura is later seen in a tent along with Naruto, Kakashi, and Shizune, telling them about Tsunade going into a coma, and that neither she nor Shizune could do anything for her. She tried to cheer Naruto 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 who wanted know the whereabouts of Sasuke. After Naruto decided to go on the offence, he had stricken up a short battle between Konoha-nin and Kumo-nin. When all gained distance from each other, the Kumogakure ninja informed them of Sasuke's crimes and demanded 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, along 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 make her happy. He also said that although Naruto had feelings for 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 made a false confession of love to Naruto and claimed she no longer cares about Sasuke and encouraged him to give up on the promise he made to her. Naruto, knowing very well that she's still in love with Sasuke and that she doesn't love him, 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, furious by this, Sakura left with her group. 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 snuck 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. After Sakura gave Naruto the antidote, Naruto says he still feels sick. When Naruto asks who Karin is, Sakura replies that she's a partner of Sasuke, which Karin denies. When the group are ready to leave the bridge, Kakashi reminds Sakura that she left something behind to which he is refering to Kiba and the others. Team 7 and Karin are later seen with the sleeping Kiba, Akamaru, Lee and Sai and Kakashi expects Sakura to apologise to them after they awake to which she will.

After returning to Konoha, Sakura is seen present with the rest of her friends, wondering as to what Naruto is hiding from them, remembering his statement about his and Sasuke's death in a possible fight. She is then seen out of breath when she meets up with Naruto at the Ramen Ichiraku, 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.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
In the anime, Tsunade tells Sakura that they will go to war with the Akatsuki and Sasuke.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
Sakura is placed within the Third Division and is later seen using her Mystical Palm Technique to heal Might Guy and wondering how he got to be in this condition right before the war, while a worried Lee looks on. Later on, Sakura is seen with her division as a red flare goes off and Kakashi orders them to go the Surprise Attack Division. Along with her division, they encountered Zabuza and Haku who were about to attack the Surprise Attack Division. She was shocked to see Zabuza and Haku again.

After Haku and Zabuza's personalities were wiped out along with those of Pakura and Gari, Kakashi orders his squadrons to group themselves around the sensor ninja in the Manji Formation. Lee then tells Sakura that he'll protect her no matter what, to which Sakura tells him to also be careful as last time Zabuza attacked from the only weak spot of the formation: the centre. When the battle began in earnest, Sakura began healing the wounded.

As the battle came to a halt when night fell, Sakura went to the Logistical Support and Medical Division compound to heal all the wounded that were being moved to a central location. She attends to Morio's wound before Neji arrives. After she finishes she tells him that he should take the opportunity to get as much rest as possible. She is later seen outside one of the barracks after being alerted that three jōnin level medics were killed by an unknown assailant. When they surmise that a spy must've entered their numbers despite their stringent security measures, she dismisses the Transformation Technique as their method as the sensors would've detected them and assumes that one of their own must be under the enemy's control. Later as she prepares to start her rounds again, she is Morio who hands her a love letter saying that he didn't know if he'll survive the war or not. She takes the letter and thanks him, but tells him that she loves someone else.

After one last compliment, Morio leaves the tent visibly disappointed that Sakura was in love with someone else, Sakura soon afterwards becomes saddened as she starts thinking about Sasuke. Moments later, Neji then enters her tent asking her if she was ok. He then tells her that he doesn't blame her for being upset given the current situation. Sakura says that they need to be vigilant to which Neji agrees. He then asks for Shizune as he had made some headway in uncovering who the culprit was. Sakura tells him that she's attending to Tonton who had sprained her leg. Neji then says it's better than her arm to which Sakura agrees that she would still be able to form seals. He then asks her to take a look at his hand again to which she agrees, telling him to sit down. As he draws for a kunai to kill Sakura, she slams him to the ground. Surprised he inquires how she knew and retorts that piglets don't have hands. After being punched the transformation technique wears off and the White Zetsu clone resumes his original appearance. Sakura then interrogates the Zetsu about how he was able to get onto the compound undetected. Together with this information and a report Yamato had compiled on Zetsu, she pieces together the Zetsu's abilities and then leaves the clone in the hands of two shinobi to inform headquarters of this latest discovery.

After reporting the findings to Shizune, they then perform an autopsy on the body of the clone and realises the similarity in their DNA to that of Yamato and by extension, Hashirama's. They then begin to piece together the truth behind the White Zetsu Army clones.

The next day, in the anime, at the Logistical Support and Medical Division, a group of revived shinobi, consisting of Hayate Gekkō, a Suna shinobi, and a Kumo shinobi, attacked the Medical camp to retrieve the KIA scroll and left. Sakura, Yūgao Uzuki, and a few shinobi has gone after them to retrieve the scroll. As they managed to catch up to them, they fought them off and managed to seal the Kumogakure and Sunagakure shinobi away but diddn't manage to seal Hayate because of the injured and he escaped. Sakura has healed the injured and ran off to have a talk with Yūgao and listen to her past life with Hayate. Sakura ran off to pursue Hayate on her own and was told she had become a fine shinobi. As she fought off Hayate, Yūgao came to her aid and defeated Hayate and he is sealed away.

Later, as more wounded were brought to Sakura, she was surprised to see that one of them was the boy Yota from years ago. Happy to see Sakura, he began making snow appear and dancing around. Soon afterwards, the snow's intensity began to increase, overwhelming Sakura. Sakura then had been contacted by Ino and confused how is there more than one Yota. She contacted Naruto and found out that he was fighting Yota and was told that they aren't the real ones just a White Zetsu clone so she defeated him and let out a tear.

Later, Sakura was approached by a pair of ninja, one of whom appears to be gravely injured and the other desperately requesting her assistance. The Akimichi guarding the medics is adamant that they stay back, uncertain of who's who. Sakura, unable to turn them away after hearing the kunoichi beg them not to let her husband die in her arms, agrees to help. The pair then reveal themselves as imposters and attack. Before she can be attacked however, Naruto's shadow clone promptly takes them down, much to the surprise of Sakura and Shizune. After being informed by Inoichi from HQ that Naruto and B were fighting the "masked Madara", Sakura and the rest of the Konoha 11 rush to his aid. As she runs, she thinks to herself that Naruto always got left with insurmountable tasks but this time would be different as not only her, but everyone would be there fighting alongside each other this time.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Upon arriving at the battlefield, she immediately began to tend to the wounded Kakashi and Might Guy. She later stood with the remaining members of the Allied Shinobi Forces as they prepared to face their opposition. Positioning herself behind Darui to lend support when necessary, Sakura was buffeted by the Ten-Tails as it emerged from the hole it had been trapped in. Narrowly dodging the wooden stakes being fired by the Ten-Tails, Sakura later watched on in horror as Neji sacrificed his life to protect both Hinata and Naruto. Sakura was later seen on the battlefield with Naruto and the others and has received chakra from Naruto, Sakura was then attacked by Obito ejecting multiple weapons at her and two others, who were protected by Kurama's chakra tail.

After having survived the Tenpenchii attack, Sakura and the others rallied around a wounded and exhausted Naruto where behind a defensive line, Sakura healed his injuries. As the Ten-Tails grew impatient with the situation, it proceeded to open its maw and prepared to fire an even larger Tailed Beast Ball. With the shinobi losing hope, Sakura rallied the troops with a rousing speech in which she declared that she would do her all to heal Naruto completely, and that no matter what they should not give up fighting, because if they were to die any way, it would be better not to simply give up. When the Ten-Tails created an enormous Tailed Beast Ball which it fired at the Alliance, she watched on as Shikamaru initiated his strategy, having the Alliance create multiple defences and a transformed Killer B tried to deflect the attack to no avail. When the Tailed Beast Ball disappeared, Sakura looked on in shock as the Fourth Hokage appeared before them, asking his son, if he were late.

Questioning who the person before them was, Sakura is later shocked as the ocean behind them rose up, and the stranger before her simply noting that he had sent the Tailed Beast Ball out to sea. Akamaru's behaviour soon alerted Sakura and the others to the fact that Minato had been reincarnated, but the Fourth waves down their suspicions noting that he was on their side. When he questions his son about Sakura being his girlfriend, Naruto's response prompted Sakura to lash out at him and she tells him to focus on the situation at hand, reminding the Fourth of Kushina. Sakura, though puzzled by Minato's words that Naruto's friend was also on his way, looked on as the other previous Hokage arrived on the battlefield, and Minato donned a chakra mantle similar to that of Naruto's. After the Ten-Tails was immobilised, Sakura stared in disbelief as Sasuke appeared before them. Questioning his reasons for coming to the battlefield, Sakura and the other members of the Konoha 11 were shocked to hear Sasuke announce that he would become Hokage. As Sasuke and Naruto left to enter the battle, Sakura refused to rest while they took care of the Ten-Tails per Naruto's request. Stating that she was not a weak woman and had also been trained by a Sannin, Sakura noted that she had almost stored up enough chakra to unleash her true power and she would not stand by and watch them, which Naruto smiled at.

With this, the trio looked on as Naruto merrily noted that the original Team 7 had been reborn. As the rest of the Rookie Nine prepared themselves, Hashirama opened small holes in the barrier to allow the Allied Forces to strike at the Ten-Tails. As Team Kakashi charged the tailed beast, Sakura reminisced her place on the team, how she had sworn she would one day match Naruto and Sasuke, and Tsunade reminding her that she was a disciple of the Fifth Hokage and would inherit her power of the Sannin. Sakura formed the Strength of a Hundred Seal and charged towards one of the Ten-Tails' clones, impressing her team, Shizune and the First with her abilities. She turned around to face two clones that approached her from behind, but they were stopped by her team-mates. She noted that if they kept arguing, she would end up snatching the Hokage title from under their noses. Not too long after Naruto had saved Sai from a barrage of attacks from a clone, Sai explained that they would need to defeat the larger of the clones and slip close enough to defeat the Ten-Tails, although it wasn't close enough to jump in one go, and that even if they repelled attacks, the medical team would not be able to arrive.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke each used the Summoning Technique, through which she summoned Katsuyu and exclaimed that she was all ready to heal anyone who got injured. She then asked the slug to split and attach herself to the members of the Allied Shinobi Forces, so that they could be healed. She later silently spurred on her team-mates as they attacked the Ten-Tails. Her happiness later turned solemn, however, as she overheard Sai question Jūgo about Sasuke's true motives. When Sai later asked Sakura her sincere views on Sasuke's actions, Sakura noted that she was glad that Sasuke was back and that she trusted him. While her words were sincere, Sai noted, however, that her smile was a fake. Later on, she watched on in shock as the Ten-Tails' body disappeared from the battlefield. Wanting to find out what had really transpired, she asked Hinata if she had been watching the scene with her Byakugan activated, and was told that Obito had become the beast's jinchūriki. Upon spotting Amaterasu flames burst to life further ahead, Sakura was quick to ask Hinata what the current condition of her team-mates were.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
With the situation looking grim as the Alliance was trapped in a barrier with a Tailed Beast Ball-firing tree, Sakura and the other shinobi soon found themselves shrouded in the previous Version 1 mantles again. Shocked that it had reappeared because she thought it had dissipated entirely, Katsuyu informed her that this was not the case and that it had noticed when healing the shinobi, that it had only diminished in size but not disappeared entirely. She and the other subsequently found themselves on the outside of the barrier, escaping the near-fatal attack thanks to Naruto and Minato's action. However, when the Ten-Tails began transforming into its tree form, many shinobi were attacked and had their chakra assimilated or became injured while escaping, Sakura being one of them.

As the Ten-Tails' tree form begins devastating the battlefield, killing countless people, Shikamaru becomes one of its victims. Seeing her friend's gravely injured state, Sakura asks Katsuyu to begin healing the field, who regretfully tells Sakura it was unable to as its clones had suffered the same fate as the shinobi. Instead, Sakura rushes over to see how she could aid her comrade, hoping that she was not too late. As she tends to Shikamaru, Hashirama contacts everyone in the Alliance telepathically via Ino's Mind Body Transmission Technique to inform them of what his original had heard from Madara during their fight and rally the troops to continue fighting. While Hashirama's words fail to inspire anyone, Naruto's senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Mode causes his feelings and personal memories to be transferred to everyone, leaving Sakura astounded as these feelings were conveyed to her.

She is later astounded when the Version 1 mantle begins to surround Shikamaru once more, thinking that Naruto was overextending himself, though Ino tells her that this was being done involuntarily. Relieved when Shikamaru recovers enough to sit up, she was surprised when Tsunade arrived at their location and expedited Shikamaru's recovery. Happy when Tsunade praised her for her hard work, she and her master later stood side by side and released their Strength of a Hundred Seals in order to summon a larger portion of Katsuyu from the Shikkotsu Forest. As the slug begins to deconstruct to form a recovery area of sorts, they remotely heal the shinobi using Katsuyu as a medium. While still helping Tsunade healing the Alliance, Sakura watched on as her comrades from the Konoha 11 and Sai dealt a devastating blow on Obito's defences and his weapon and silently spurred them on.

Though the Alliance was successful in defeating Obito, they were soon faced with the threat of a revived Madara and Tobi who appeared as well and began assaulting the entire Alliance with its massive wooden statue. As the Alliance retaliated, Gaara appeared with a critically weakened Naruto, having just lost the Nine-Tails to Madara. Though neither of the three medical experts had enough chakra to help, Sakura began using what little she did have left to heal him while Gaara continued to carry Naruto to their next location.

As Naruto's heartbeat became weaker, Sakura struggled to heal Naruto to no effect. Gaara informed her that Yang Kurama has been extracted from him but before it was sealed away, the beast had told Gaara to carry Naruto to Minato who had the Yin half sealed inside him. Switching her tactics, as Naruto's pulse and heartbeat all but stopped, Sakura made an incision in Naruto's chest using what little chakra she had left to assist her, as she manually pumped his heart and performed CPR on him. Remembering all the times Naruto proclaimed his dream, a determined Sakura noted that she would not allow him to die so easily. Finally, they found Minato and relayed the message to the Fourth Hokage from Yang-Kurama. Minato quickly began to transfer Yin Kurama into Naruto, only for Black Zetsu to intercept his action and absorb Yin-Kurama into himself instead before retreating. Suddenly, Madara arrived — now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki — to reclaim his left eye from Obito.

As Black Zetsu attempted to return to Madara with the left Rinnegan and Yin-Kurama, Obito managed to overpower him, stopping him from leaving his body. Having decided to follow his former path from childhood, Obito chose to fight alongside the Allied Forces. After Kakashi teleports Sakura and Naruto to Kamui's dimension, a terrified Sakura tried to regain her composure while contemplating Madara's power. When Obito arrived soon afterwards saying he wished to save Naruto, Sakura is sceptical to believe him. Obito admitted that he has walked a wrong path for a long time, but wished to correct that mistake. Choosing to trust him, Sakura let Obito transfer Yin-Kurama into Naruto. Soon afterwards, Naruto regained consciousness.

Left alone with Obito in the other dimension, Sakura addressed the Uchiha, telling him that while he had killed many of her comrades and was her enemy, she would consider him an ally for the time being, and then thanked him for saving Naruto's life. Obito, however, told her that he has a request to make of her, one which she would not need to consider him an ally for. As Obito struggled to keep Black Zetsu under his control, he begged Sakura to destroy his Rinnegan. Sakura agreed and prepared to do so, only to be attacked by Madara, who stole Kakashi's Sharingan and used it to teleport himself to Kamui's dimension to regain his true left eye.

Narrowly escaping the attack thanks to Obito teleporting her out of the dimension, Sakura reported on the situation inside Kamui's dimension while giving Kakashi medical aid for his now empty left eye socket. She was then shocked when Naruto restored Kakashi's original eye and though intrigued by how Naruto had pulled off such a feat, she sidelined her interest in favour of hearing an answer behind Sasuke's motives. Their discussion was cut short, however, when Kakashi alerted them to Madara's return. The trio then heeded their sensei's words to use true team-work like they were taught for their first lesson.

Madara emerged from the other dimension with both Rinnegan, and Obito now completely under Black Zetsu's control. Deciding to take the lead after a moments contemplation, Sakura activated her Ninja Art Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Technique and charged at Madara and informed her team-mates to take advantage of the diversion. However, she was subsequently stabbed by Madara, and one his shadows prevented her from landing a blow on him. Following suit close behind, Sasuke initiated an attack on Madara while Naruto retrieved her. Though saddened by Sasuke's nonplussed attitude initially, she was even more shocked to see that he possessed the Rinnegan. Sakura then watched on as Naruto's shadow clones fought Madara's invisible shadows and Sasuke with his winged Susanoo attacked Madara's multiple Chibaku Tensei. Finally, Madara casts his Infinite Tsukuyomi, casting a light on the world to bind every living being in its spell. Sasuke however saves the former Team 7 with his Rinnegan's power imbued into his Susanoo, masking the team from the genjutsu's light. When Sakura asked Sasuke what was happening outside the confines of his technique, she was shocked when he dismissed her stating that she would be of no help even if she knew. Despite Kakashi and Naruto's protest against his behaviour, Kakashi ultimately agreed that with the situation as it was, Sasuke should take control of their team for the time being. When the light from the Infinite Tsukuyomi faded, Sasuke deactivated his Susanoo. Madara then confronted the remaining free individuals, only for Black Zetsu to suddenly betray Madara and impale his hand through Madara's chest, shocking everyone. When Zetsu decried Madara and declared that his will was that of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Sakura and Kakashi are originally at a loss as to who Kaguya was.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
When Sasuke and Naruto were captured by swirling masses of hair, Sakura moved to aid them. Kakashi stopped her however, stating that acting rashly would mean their deaths. Still puzzled by the newcomer on the battlefield, she was later petrified as Kaguya closed the gap between them in an instant and was still left in shock as Kaguya altered the terrain right below them and they were sent hurtling into a river of lava.

Saved by Kakashi's fast thinking, Sakura hung by a scroll attached to a kunai and witnessed once more Sasuke's disregard for anyone except Naruto and though she admitted to herself that Sasuke was right — only he and Naruto stood a chance of stopping Kaguya — she was saddened nonetheless. When the scroll was set on fire, she and the others were saved by Naruto who left a shadow clone to look after them and retrieve Obito as they confronted Kaguya once more. Later, she was shocked to see Naruto's Sexy: Reverse Harem Technique and even more surprised to see it work on Kaguya.

Despite Naruto's success in landing a direct punch, Kaguya quickly rebounded and separated Sasuke from the group in yet another dimension. After Obito was finally resuscitated by Naruto's clone, the team explained the situation to him. Watching Kaguya's space-time technique, Obito concluded that he could possibly rescue Sasuke by synchronising his Kamui with the portal. As Obito noted he did not have enough chakra to make the journey both ways, Sakura offered Obito to use the chakra from her Strength of a Hundred Seal. Later, the trio was able to make their way into Kaguya's dimension and prepare to find Sasuke. Determined, the duo wasted no time in starting. Sakura activated her Strength of a Hundred Seal and wrapped it around Obito in order to transfer her chakra to him. They then began their painstaking effort to breach each one of Kaguya's dimensions to find Sasuke. One dimension contained a sea of acid which started pouring into them when opened. Sakura blocked the spill from hitting Obito and discarded her damaged flak jacket in the process. They were then finally able to open the sand-dune dimension where Sasuke was, but as the young Uchiha rushed towards them, the portal began closing. Pouring more of her chakra into Obito, they were able to reopen the portal long enough for Sasuke to use his Amenotejikara to teleport to them, catching her as she collapsed from exhaustion.

After Obito teleported with Sasuke and Sakura back to the normal dimension, Kaguya, realising the threat of Naruto and Sasuke being back together against her, shifted dimensions again to one of intense gravity. Her attempt to kill Sasuke and Naruto was thwarted by Obito, who sacrificed himself to save his new allies. Shortly after dying, Obito's spirit passed on his chakra and Sharingan powers to Kakashi, who manifested the Sharingan in both his own eyes and from it, performed Susanoo, using it to protect Sakura from Kaguya's attacks.

Regaining control of herself, Kaguya then shaped the tailed beast-mass into a giant Truth-Seeking Ball. Acknowledging that his Kamui couldn't stop that, Kakashi devised a plan and shared it with his students, telling them to be ready for their last mission as Team 7. Quickly enacting this plan, Team 7 was able to coordinate their efforts and penetrate Kaguya's defences. When Kaguya attempted to escape Naruto and Sasuke by flying upwards, Sakura dropped into action declaring that, as women, they weren't supposed to underestimate each other. She then proceeded to send the Rabbit Goddess plummeting back towards her team-mates with a single punch, snapping off one of Kaguya's horns in the process. She then watched on as her team-mates sealed Kaguya, after which they found themselves in the predicament of escaping the dimension they were in. Hagoromo, however, was able to use his abilities and with the help of the previous Kage, summoned them back to the real world. Admittedly awestruck to meet the Sage of the Six Paths, she noted that she was too tired to react. She later supported a weakened Kakashi and watched on as all the Kage returned to the Pure Land.

As plans for the future were discussed, Sasuke made his own plans known; desiring to kill the current Kage, and seize control of the tailed beasts. After Sasuke swiftly accomplished the latter with his Rinnegan; sealing them away with Chibaku Tensei, Kakashi asked the last living Uchiha if he still desired revenge. Sasuke firmly stated that what he wanted was to change the world as how he felt it should have been, doing so with destruction and rebirth. As Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto — the only one left able to stop him — Naruto firmly stated that he would finally end the feud of the Sage's sons. Heartbroken, Sakura made one final plea for Sasuke to return home, only to be silenced by genjutsu.

Sakura was left unconscious, being tended to by Kakashi as Naruto reaffirmed his promise to her. He and Sasuke then left for the Valley of the End for their final battle against each another. Sakura woke up some time later, immediately asking where Naruto and Sasuke were. She was shown to be very worried when Kakashi told her that they were facing each other in their final battle. She arrived at the Valley of the End with Kakashi, finding Sasuke and Naruto lying on the ground severely injured. While trying to stop their bleeding arms, Sasuke sincerely apologised to her for what he had done, which Sakura tearfully accepted as Kakashi watched on with joy.

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky
Sakura makes an appearance in this light novel.

Sasuke's Departure
After the war had ended, Sakura was promoted to a jōnin. Later, Sakura and the newly appointed Hokage Kakashi, were standing at the village gate with Sasuke, who was about to leave on a journey of redemption. Blushing, she asked once more if she could go with him, but Sasuke declined and said that his sins had nothing to do with her, then tapping her affectionately on the forehead and promised he'd be back, ending it with a 'thank you'.

Shikamaru Hiden: A Cloud Drifting in Silent Darkness
Sakura makes an appearance in this light novel.

The Last: Naruto the Movie
Two years later, Sakura was seen witnessing Hinata with a bag of knitting equipment and, realising what it was for, encourages Hinata to give the scarf she knitted to Naruto. They had lunch together and discussed how Naruto was so popular now since the war, but he doesn't even realise what love is to her opinion. After Naruto's Fan Girls show up, interrupting Hinata trying to give him her scarf, Sakura tells him to walk her home since it's dark, but with Naruto's blunt statement about she's strong already, Hinata walks away depressed. Sakura scolds Naruto and goes after Hinata, telling her she just needs to be confident. When Hinata asks why Sakura is helping her so much, she replies that they need to look out for each other in their feelings for others (as she feels the exact same way for Sasuke).

Sakura is placed on a team consisting of her, Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru and Sai to retrieve a kidnapped Hanabi Hyūga from a mysterious man. During their mission, Naruto would fall into a deep depression over Hinata's apparent betrayal. It was Sakura, however, who helped Naruto snap out of his depression and realise that Hinata truly loved him, giving Naruto the courage to carry on the mission. She and Sai would later storm Toneri's palace and rescue Hanabi while finding the tattered remains of Hinata's scarf. She later attends Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze
Sakura makes an appearance in this novel.

Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding
Sakura makes an appearance in this novel.

Epilogue
At some point, Sasuke returned to Konoha and married Sakura. Sometime after this, Sasuke and Sakura conceived Sarada but Sasuke left the village again before she was born. Sakura followed after Sasuke and at some point went into labor. She was taken to Orochimaru's hideout where Karin delivered Sarada.

At some point she would attended a Five Kage Summit alongside Sasuke, who revealed evidence of a new White Zetsu Army being formed and a potential threat even greater than Kaguya. Ultimately, it was agreed to keep this all a secret from the public and to allow Sasuke to continue his research and go investigate his sources. Due to Sasuke leaving on his mission, Sakura raised Sarada on her own. Over the years, while Sarada would often ask Sakura about her father, she would often side-step the question with vague answers.

Years later, on the day of the Five Kage Summit in Konoha, Sarada comes home to find her mother cleaning their home. As Sarada complained about how stupid boys were, Sakura asked her daughter if she was talking about Boruto. Sarada also noted that the two of them had something in common; their relationship with their fathers.

Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring
While doing house work, Sarada started to ask Sakura about her distant father. As Sakura gave vague answers, Sarada began to question if Sakura was even really married to Sasuke. Angered by this, Sakura struck the ground hard before realising how sad her daughter was about her absent father. After apologising and reassuring her daughter that her father would be home soon, the after-effects of Sakura's punch caused their home to crumble, much to Sakura's horror. She soon after fainted and was put in the care of Shizune.

Later, as Sakura recovered, Shizune explained to Sakura of her daughter's recent departure from the village to find her father. After chuckling at her daughter's recklessness, Sakura rushed off to find Sarada. Discovering a threat to her daughter and husband, she pummelled Shin Uchiha into the ground. She then apologised to Sarada for not fully explaining their familial situation, with Sasuke intervening by insisting that it wasn't her fault. As Shin retreated, he teleported his son and Sakura along with him. She then found herself in Shin's hideout, where Shin began doing a transplant surgery on himself with his son's organs. She objected as it would kill Shin's son, to which he responded by saying that the blame was hers. Angered, Sakura defended herself, saying that he was trying to kill her husband, child and close friend. She then expressed disgust when Shin insisted on pushing through with the surgery without any regard for his son's well-being.

Once Shin completed his surgery on himself and made his goal known of ridding the world of naive peace-lovers like Sakura, she prepared to attack him again, confident he would be no match for her. Shin, however, quickly began to overwhelm Sakura when he manipulated countless scalpels into a makeshift arm and projectiles. Alas, before the battle could continue, Sasuke arrived and crushed shin into submission. While exhausted and lightly wounded, Sakura was happy to see her husband after so long, who was joined by Naruto, Chōchō Akimichi, and Sarada. Realising he needed to retreat, Shin called for his clones to distract Sasuke and his allies. To Shin's horror, the clones instead stabbed him, plainly explaining that he was not needed anymore.Apparently, Sakura had wondered as to why such a thing had not occured before. While the clones began battling against Sasuke and Naruto, Sarada quickly jumped into the fight, shocking her mother and everyone with the same immense strength Sakura herself learned to repel several Shin-clones.

Boruto: Naruto the Movie
Sakura will make an appearance in this film.

Naruto the Movie: 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 travelled to the Land of Snow. Throughout the movie, Sakura encountered the Yukigakure-ninja 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.

Naruto the Movie: 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.

Naruto the Movie: 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, 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 two 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, 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 paralysed after Kusuna injected her with his Secret Anaesthesia, 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 the Movie: 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-Tails, which 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 to watch the ruins explode from Naruto's repeated Rasengan attacks. Sakura was last seen lecturing Naruto at the end, most likely for being so reckless. Hinata was talking to her afterwards, probably telling her about Sasuke.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire
Sakura was first seen with Naruto and Kakashi when Sai got ambushed by the bunch of explosive feathers from the bird-like creature 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, however both of them got slapped by Sakura for leaving the hospital. After when Hiruko announced a Fourth Shinobi World 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 technique 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-mate and sensei fought Hiruko himself. After the battle, Sakura stood victorious with her friends while smiling softly.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower
Along with Naruto, Sai and Yamato, Sakura is assigned to capture Mukade, a Konoha missing-nin whose purpose is to get the power of the Ryūmyaku from the ruins of Rōran, once a glorious city which was destroyed during the war. Mukade manages to absorb the seal the Fourth Hokage used and is engulfed by a huge light. Naruto tries to stop him and disappears along with Yamato. Sakura tries to follow them, only to be stopped by Sai's ink bird while she cries and screams Naruto's name.

Almost immediately after, Naruto and Yamato come back from the past but they don't remember what happened to them. As Team Kakashi leaves the ruins, they are approached by a girl who claims that she felt a disturbance on the Ryūmyaku. The girl says she's the daughter of the former Queen of Rōran and bears a Konoha Chakra Blade, telling them that her mother received it from a hero in a dream. As she leaves, Naruto claims that he has the feeling he saw her in a good dream. Annoyed, Sakura then grabs and pulls on Naruto's ear and yells at him for being a pervert.

Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison
When Naruto was summoned to Tsunade's office and accused of attacking the Fourth Raikage, Sakura was the only one who tried to defend him and believed that he was innocent, even though he was still taken away in the end. During Naruto's time in the Hōzuki Castle, he reflects on his bonds with his friends and comrades in Konoha, where a flashback of Sakura punching Naruto's face is shown. In the end of the movie, Sakura is again shown with Shizune and Tsunade, and returns Naruto's forehead protector. When Mui dies and the Fire Release: Heavenly Prison is released, Sakura and the rest of the Konoha 11 stop the prisoners from escaping. She tries to heal a dying and impaled Naruto after his battle but cannot. Ryūzetsu arrives and is able to save Naruto with her Dragon Life Reincarnation. Naruto awakens to see Sakura trying to heal Ryūzetsu, to no success. They later all prepare to go home. It is shown after that immediately when Naruto was taken out of Tsunade's office, Sakura and sigh in relief and reveal to have been faking the "surprise" of Naruto's accusation, Sakura even asking if she was "convincing enough".

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
Attacked by Tobi, Sakura ended up being sent alongside Naruto to another world by the mysterious new dōjutsu. Other than finding her friends, along with Sasuke, being the exact opposite of who they normally are and being terrified of the alternate Hinata's boldness towards her, Sakura learns that her parents died in this world and her father was the Fourth Hokage. She at first enjoys the fact that the alternate Sasuke flirts with her, giving her a rose that makes her blush. She later sees him giving roses to a lot of other girls, breaking her heart. The world they are sent to is the result of Sakura's wish of being free of parental control, while Naruto wants a world where he has his parents, however, as she spent time without them, enjoying it at first, she later realises her mistake and understands Naruto's pain of not having parents and how lonely Naruto has felt growing up. She also feels guilty for her impulsive words she spoke and her actions towards her parents.

As the events occur, the Sakura of the other world ends up in Konoha with similar confusion as Ino and the Konoha 11, believing her to be their Sakura with memory trouble, try to help her by acting out their other-world counterparts. But upon seeing the Kizashi and Mebuki of that world while looking for her necklace, the other Sakura tearfully regains her memories and thanks Ino for her help before teleporting away, leaving the girl confused.

Video Games
In video games set during Part I, Inner Sakura is used as a technique due to Sakura's lack of technique of her own. Sakura has also shown a talent for genjutsu in some video game appearances, most involving Inner Sakura. She will appear in J-Stars Victory Vs. along with Kakashi Hatake and Gaara in the story mode somehow.

Live Spectacle Naruto
Yui Ito plays as Sakura in this stage play adaption.

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, even stating on occasion that he still has a hard time viewing her as a heroine. Kishimoto attributes this to him 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 grew fond of Sakura, feeling 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 China-esque feeling to it, so as to make her more feminine.

In colour 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 sea-foam green, with matching pink eye shadow. 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 colour scheme in Naruto: Shippūden accurately reflects her appearance in colour 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 "Sakura" literally means, 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). It also serves as the national flower for the nation of Japan. Her family name "Haruno" means . In Japanese, her full name can be interpreted as or . Sakura's name can also be a reference to a suit of cards used in the Hanafuda card game.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Sakura's hobbies are playing trivia games and memorising new material for her medical studies.
 * Sakura wishes for a rematch with Ino.
 * Sakura's favourite foods are syrup-coated anko dumplings, umeboshi, and anmitsu, while her least favourites 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 favourite phrase according to the first databook is, and her favourite word according to the second and third databooks is.
 * In the June 2006 issue of Shōnen 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.
 * During a 2010 interview, Kishimoto stated that many who work with him have told him Hinata would have made a better heroine than Sakura. Kishimoto said that despite not being portrayed like one Sakura would be showing a more heroine side of her from then on.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Sakura show her sandals add one centimetre on to her height.
 * Sakura is the only member of the original Team 7 to not master all five basic nature transformations (but is proficient in Yin and Yang Release as well), or had a manga chapter named after her full name.

Quotes

 * (To herself about Naruto) "Always acting like a fool who only knows one thing… Hokage, Hokage. I'm sorry Naruto… that impossible dream of yours… I don't want to see it crushed!"
 * (To herself) "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 herself, about Ino) "Ino… I have always believed those words you told me. I always hoped they were true. I wanted to be like you. You were my goal. Thanks to that, I'm here now. That is why, Ino, I want this to be an all out fight. Unless I… really surpass you, it's meaningless."
 * (To Ino) "Didn't you know? Women have to be strong in order to survive!"
 * (About Naruto) "I… kinda envy your strength, Naruto…"
 * (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 Chiyo) "I may not have amazing weapons like a puppet in me, but what I do have is my master's contempt for losing!"
 * (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 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!"
 * (To herself) "Naruto… You saved Konoha… And now you're trying to save the entire shinobi world… You always get left with these insurmountable tasks… But no matter what you say this time, we're going to be together… Not just me… We're all going to fight together this time!"
 * (To the Alliance after being inspired by Naruto) "He's making us realise that he considers all of us his comrades!!! I'm going to make sure Naruto has a full recovery! Every one of us must do what's in their power! If we're going to die any way… …then it's better to die fighting than to do nothing!!"
 * (To Shin Uchiha) "Try laying your hands on my husband and beloved daughter again… Shannaro!"