The Official Haruno Sakura thread

[coolitman]

i don't know who kiddo7 wholeheartedly agrees with...but i agree with you koenosaki (hot sig btw )
i think sakura just said anything she could before the timeskip to get sasuke to stay...and i think personally in sasuke's absence, sakura has grown up wonderfully and become a much better person...in fact i think if sasuke was to know her as she is now he wouldn't find her "annoying". And I think now she would defnitely consider, if she could get er head around it, Naruto as more than a friend...at the moment I think she maybe mothers him a bit because she doesn't really know how to feel about him...

[Ninjetone]

It really bugs me how people still trash Sakura as being mean to Naruto and refer to her actions in early chapters as proof of what an awful person she is. Anyone paying attention to the manga knows that she took inspiration from Naruto and began cheering him pretty early on. Sakura's present relationship with Naruto reminds me of the relationship I have with my husband.....I care for him deeply, I support and comfort him when he needs it, I cheer his successes, but I'm not blind to his faults and will give him hell when he gets too full of himself.
I guess I like Sakura because she's more like me than some of the other female characters.

[kiddo7]

with me? or with someone else?

with you.

Explanation: Usually, I find it redundant to quote the person right before me when replying to his/her post. I most times am too lazy to quote except if the post does not directly precede mine, in which case it is necessary.

[Koen]

It really bugs me how people still trash Sakura as being mean to Naruto and refer to her actions in early chapters as proof of what an awful person she is. Anyone paying attention to the manga knows that she took inspiration from Naruto and began cheering him pretty early on. Sakura's present relationship with Naruto reminds me of the relationship I have with my husband.....I care for him deeply, I support and comfort him when he needs it, I cheer his successes, but I'm not blind to his faults and will give him hell when he gets too full of himself.
I guess I like Sakura because she's more like me than some of the other female characters.

Yeah sakura has changed, and when she sometimes gets angry, or something like that it's because of making some comedy or that's it part of her characterestic. Sakura has certainly changed compared to the past in which she was annoying, crying, doing nothing,...

At least she has a meaning now, and she has grown up towards herself, others and especially naruto. And I agree there's a deeper relationship between naruto and sakura before the time jump

[mizu172]

Saku's the best ^_^ lol

[kiddo7]

hey! nice sig!
are both of those the time skip version of her? Neither of them look like the early version of her but the one on the left kinda looks..."different" don't know what it is about her.

[coolitman]

she looks really pretty in the right one...in the left one its that annoying time when she hasn't got her forehead protector so her hair's really flat...it's a really nice sig though! I really hope Sakura and Karin fight soon but I want Sasuke to be there so he can be like "whoa Sakura is so cool i wanna kiss her!" I'm so fickle...a couple of posts ago i was saying I wanted Naruto to kiss her under the moonlight...i don't mind either she's the only one good enough for them two.

[mizu172]

thanks guys! yeah they're both timeskip version! that's true, she doesn't look that pretty without forehead protector. Or maybe it's just how kishi drew her :P

[Ninjetone]

With all the Hinata fans going into hyperdrive over Hinata appearing next to Naruto I think Sakura is being forgotten at a time when there could be some major Sakura development in this arc. (Choices people, choices) Also, once the Hinata fans are served with her probably getting to look reasonably good in a fight, I thing the focus of the arc will return to the Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto interaction. I don't see why Sakura would fight Karin (a member of Sasuke's team) while there are more dangerous targets at hand, but I guess we'll have to see if Sakura is still as jealous of rivals for Sasuke now as she was when she was 12. My money is on Sakura having matured greatly.

[mizu172]

but I guess we'll have to see if Sakura is still as jealous of rivals for Sasuke now as she was when she was 12. My money is on Sakura having matured greatly.

Me too. I hope she'll show her strong side to sasuke and not the useless fangirl -.- I think karin will be the one who's jealous and act really childish. guess that's what kishi wanna show, if she and karin fight. karin's like the post time-skip sakura, even worse. sakura on the other hand has greatly matured and her little crush developed to a real love. wouldn't that be great?! ^_^

[blueweber]

Who is Sakura like?

If the hints are not clear enough, she's like a girl Naruto. Let me count the ways, my friend:

1) She was weak when she started out in the manga and was not respected by her peers, like Naruto.
2) Naruto said EXACTLY what Sakura wanted to hear said to her at the beginning of the manga when he pretended to be Sasuke. Even as children they thought alike.
3) Their reaction to Konohamaru's little double sexy jutsu was EXACTLY the same in regards to the uh.. different versions.
4) Inner Sakura and Naruto, very similar.
5) Both stubborn as hell.
6) Both got stronger after the two year skip and apprentices under Sannin who were teammates and legendary. And both won't give up on Sasuke.
7) Both got an inner self (Kyuubi and Inner Sakura) who they've integrated better with after the skip, though Naruto's chosen to lock his up since Kyuubi's not exactly like another you on the inside...
8) Same goal means similar development.
9) A lot of similar reactions to things - Naruto's trick on Kakashi, the desire to be stronger, not liking seeing Sasuke's back or anyone's back for that matter, competitive, hard working, don't know when to give up, etc.
10) They're both loyal as hell. Their loyalty baffles the readers even. Yeah, THAT loyal. (So damn stubborn one wonders if they're stupid or something.)
11) Anyone else notice how obviously paralleled Sakura v. Ino and Naruto v. Sasuke is (without the abandon and betray village part, and traumatic brother moments, for Ino)? Ino was the popular girl like Sasuke was the popular boy. Sakura and Naruto were the outcasts. But, of course, because Naruto and Sakura fought tooth and nail to get where they were, Ino and Sasuke end up being the ones chasing after them to revive a rivalry that is no longer the main focus for either Naruto or Sakura. However, I think Ino and Sakura give great insight on who and how Sasuke and Naruto could have been if they were both not as messed up!
12) Sakura inspires others to change their mind through her own strength! Like Naruto, maybe not to that scale but more than Sasuke's inspired others to change their minds (and he's the "cool" one) :P

And of course, this leads to: Why does Sakura rule?

Because she was ordinary. She had NO special bloodlines, no monster on the inside, no orphan issues that asked pity or understanding from the reader, no terrible tragedy, and no clan to really boost her abilities with early training. What she suffered was what everyone suffer from, being ordinary. She was the plain-jane, even compared to Hinata, who had THE bloodline of the village despite her timidity. The only thing Sakura had going for her was her brain and her unprecedented chakra control, which she most likely learned herself. She took what little she had and made it something extraordinary. She could have given up on Sasuke after his rejection, as I'm sure everyone expected her to. She could have given up on being a ninja or relegated herself to remaining that ordinary ninja with two extraordinary teammates and teacher who all left her in the dust. But she, who had nothing going for her, pulled herself up to Sasuke and Naruto's level. It is not the same type of strength but she's on their level. Sakura's medical genius is what saved Kankuro from poison by creating an antidote that Sasori, its creator, would have trouble doing without all the ingrediants and dosages LISTED! She made it possible for Chiyo to survive long enough to destroy Sasori and save Gaara by placing herself in front of a sword that struck a pretty vital place. Her will, her concern for others above herself and her nobility, even Chiyo saw that (bitter crone who HATED Tsunade and Konoha that Sakura represented in that fight) and it earned the respect of Sasori enough for him to give her information concerning Orochimaru and his spy (something not even his partner knew)! And Sakura has never scorned Naruto because everyone else did. She scorned him because she thought he was trying to prevent her from getting together with Sasuke. Yeah it's shallow, but I'm sure we've all hated others for far less reasons. And, if you think about it from a 12 year old's perspective, it isn't hard to arrive at this type of conclusions considering how blundering Naruto was in the beginning and who Sakura and Naruto were in the beginning of the show. The best part was that Sakura chose to be strong and to change for the better. No one pushed her, no one even acted like they needed or wanted her to be strong for them. Naruto promised her he would be strong FOR HER. Kakashi abandoned her as a teacher. Sasuke told her thanks and left her behind too and, obviously, considered her "annoying" and weak. Most people, in situations less terrible than this, at an OLDER age, would have given up. Sakura didn't! She went to the Hokage to ask to be Tsunade, who was a complete stranger to her than, to be her teacher when her own teacher dropped her. She was the one who pulled herself out of her own weaknesses. That she doubts herself, that she tries so hard and have worked her butt off to get to where she is now and still does doubt herself and want to get STRONGER for HER important people, that's admirable and place her on equal footing with Naruto (which, I would like to believe, is why NaruSaku exists - better reason then they look cute together :P). It is as admirable as what Lee did to overcome his own inability to perform ninjutsu and genjutsu, to overcome Tsunade's unprecedented surgery that would have left him unable to be a ninja.

And what's more? Sakura is a genjutsu type which means she is brimming with a potential that have not even been EXPLORED!!! She grew, she made good choices and bad and then didn't give up. I can't see why you won't like her if you like Naruto. She's human and she's flawed and she's an amazing character because she's not perfect. Maybe in the anime she was annoying - not that I watched the anime until this season, after the skip - but in the manga, I don't see why so many people can dislike her. So she's not cute, so what? Her personality rules and she's totally cool in completely surprising moments and ways, just like Naruto was in the first arc. She's proven herself strong, except she's more understated since she's neither the protagonist or the anti-hero! And the fact that she's a kunoichi who no one thought was of value, look at Kakashi, her own teacher who protected her more on missions than trained her, she's done something that no one thought she could do and everyone, in their own way, kinda hindered her from getting stronger. So, yes, I think Sakura is an awesome character. She's not as flashy as, say Hinata or as high-leveled as Temari, but she wears the title of Hokage's Apprentice well and represent Konoha just as well. She's changed Chiyo's mind on Konoha just as Naruto has changed other people's mind and so what if she's not as loud as Naruto or as "cool"-seeming as Sasuke or as cute as all the other kunoichi. That's not why Naruto liked her in the beginning when she was "weak" - or, as I would like to call it, when she hadn't discovered her own potentials - and that's not why I like her now.

Sakura totally rocks!!

How can you NOT love her?

[mizu172]

pretty long post there! I agree with you, sakura really is a bit like naruto(despite the fact that she's female and has pink hair xD) I like how she developed but I'm still waiting for the WOW point when she uses her super powerful genjustsu ability!

and...

Saku' rockzzzz

[kiddo7]

@blueweber:
You said what I wanted to communicate when I opened this thread, only more eloquently. Thank you for posting this here, we need more people like you in this thread. Seeing how this is your first post, it almost makes me believe that you registered just so that you could make this post here. makes me feel kinda proud for making this thread
Welcome to Manga Helpers!!!

[mizu172]

@blueweber:
You said what I wanted to communicate when I opened this thread, only more eloquently. Thank you for posting this here, we need more people like you in this thread. Seeing how this is your first post, it almost makes me believe that you registered just so that you could make this post here. makes me feel kinda proud for making this thread
Welcome to Manga Helpers!!!

you're right kiddo-san! I didn't notice that this was his/her first post. Sorry for that, and WELCOME to Mangahelpers!

[Arch159]

Wow blueweber, that was quite a nice post. I mean, I've made the connection between the two being similair, but only on a few things. Like how they express their feelings towards significant others. I never really thought that there are that many similarities. Very nicely said.