Naruto has grown into a huge franchise with the anime and manga winning many hearts all over the world. The universe created by Masashi Kishimoto is undoubtedly one of the best Shonen universes in Japanese anime, and, he has also created some hugely popular characters that fans have come to love and adore. Apart from the hilarious “Naruto Run” memes and the awkward “Dattebayo” phrase that has been a popular slogan amongst the youth, Naruto is also loved for its brilliant characters like Itachi Uchiha and Nagato Pain.
However, one character that has failed to shine despite the many adulations that the anime series has received is the third member of Team 7, Sakura Haruno. Having one of the worst character arcs in the series, her character has failed to reach her potential despite the many episodes that she has come to enjoy as part of the series. While the show has focused on other characters, she has always been the butt of jokes for hardcore fans, inspiring some of the funniest memes that only a true fan would understand.
Invisible Sakura
One of the most hilarious and strange things about Sakura has to be her ridiculous obsession with Sasuke, while the latter even fails to acknowledge her. She had even told Naruto once that she was desperate to receive Sasuke’s love. However, Sasuke, who was always preoccupied with the greater things, never really cared for Sakura or her feelings and has even tried to kill her, which makes this meme extremely funny.
As Sakura complains to Sasuke that sometimes she feels like he doesn’t even notice her, he puts the nail in the coffin by wondering where these words are coming from and exclaims saying that he didn’t know that even benches could talk. While this did not really happen in the anime, this perfectly sums up Sasuke’s attitude towards the cringy obsession Sakura held for him.
What If?
Sakura Haruno from Naruto is probably one of the most hated characters in the series, and the fanbase is more or less undivided on that opinion. However, there exists another character from an anime known as Fairy Tail by the name of Natsu Dragneel, who probably enjoys the same kind of hatred from its fanbase.
According to this Reddit user, asking if someone hates Natsu, is like asking if someone hates spiders. The answer is obviously yes. Therefore, the meme stating that probably Natsu and Sakura are the same is hilarious on so many different levels.
Ultimate Ninja Move
Be it the battle with Zabuza, or that one time that Sasuke almost killed her, or the time when Naruto and Sasuke had to intervene to save her from Madara after she had been stabbed, Sakura is probably the weakest link in the entirety of Team 7.
This, coupled with the fact that she never learned a signature move of her own despite training under the Legendary Sannin Tsunade, makes this meme even more hilarious. With the many intricate hand-signs of the series, Naruto has developed his Rasengan, Sasuke his Chidori, Neji his Byakugan; however, the ultimate ninja move for Sakura remains the precious dialogue of “Naruto! Sasuke! Help me!”
Good Joke
It is true that Sakura is an underappreciated and underrated character of Naruto and that her love for Sasuke is something that is quite commendable at times. However, it gets on the nerves of fans, especially when she hesitates to kill Sasuke, even after he had already tried to kill her not once but twice. Furthermore, Sasuke might have many questions that fans want answers for, but it is a well-known fact that Sakura is nowhere close to his power level or skills.
The fact that she even attempted to kill Sasuke, a ninja far superior to her in strength and someone, for whom she holds immense love, is hilarious in itself. The meme accurately mocks this situation by calling Sakura’s resolution to kill Sasuke all on her own, to be nothing short of a grand joke.
Say What?
Sakura delivered these lines of dialogue toward the final episodes of Naruto Shippudden, and fans couldn’t help but let out a huge roar of laughter. Despite the fact that she had trained under Tsunade, Sakura is nowhere close to the power levels of her Team 7 colleagues, Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke and Naruto are not just supremely powerful, but they are the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, holding within them the same chakra that the Ōtsutsuki sons had, owing to the resumption of the transmigration cycle after the death of Hashirama and Madara. Therefore, Sakura’s declaration is nothing short of being ridiculously funny.
Silly Sakura
Sakura, during her first days at the Ninja Academy in Konoha, tries to win the attention of Sasuke like many other girls in her class. However, in order to gain his attention, she discards Sasuke’s queries about Naruto saying that they should not care about him as he is a troublesome kid causing fights intentionally.
She further goes on to say that this is because he has not had a normal childhood and that by not having parents he hasn’t learned any social etiquette. However, unknown to Sakura, even Sasuke is an orphan, which makes her comments very insensitive, which they were, to begin with. This meme stating that it is only possible for a character like Sakura to crack a joke about being an orphan to another orphan thereby makes it all the more hilarious.
The Biggest Lie
While there are many well-written relationships in Naruto, the one between Sakura and Naruto has to be the funniest. In the episode "Sakura’s Feelings," Sakura confesses to Naruto that she loves him and that she has let go of her emotions for Sasuke, as he has joined the Akatsuki and is nothing more than a common criminal. Naruto, who remembers how Sakura had confessed to him about her desperation to receive Sasuke’s love, reprimands her by saying that he hates people who lie to themselves and that she should go back to the village as he knows what her feelings are.
Sakura tries to convince Naruto, but the protagonist has become wise to Sakura’s feelings by then. The fact that makes this meme so hilarious is that, despite saying those things, Sakura asks Kiba to go and search for Sasuke at the end of that episode, and, by the end of the series, she ends up marrying Sasuke instead of Naruto. Thankfully, Naruto always deserved someone like Hinata, anyway.
Even Morpheus Can't Help
This meme is nothing short of genius, whereby it does a crossover between The Matrix and Naruto and reiterates Morpheus’ famous dialogue to Neo regarding the true nature of the Matrix simulation.
The meme shows him telling Sakura the same thing he had told Neo regarding the Matrix simulation: people who enter it can become anything they wish to be. Sakura, who is by far the most useless member of Team 7, asks whether she can be useful or not. Morpheus’ reply stating that it is impossible deserves nothing short of a guffaw.
You Reap What You Sow
While there are many things on Naruto that haven’t aged well, Sakura memes are evergreen. One of the most permanent aspects of these memes is them featuring the fans’ hatred for the character.
Therefore, this iconic boardroom meeting meme template asking everyone about their opinions on Sakura Haruno, with the one saying “I like her” being thrown out of the window is absolutely accurate with what hardcore fans feel about Sakura’s character and their reactions to people who state that they like her.
One-Punch Woman
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, with her God-like powers, is arguably the toughest villain that Team 7 had faced. However, the way she got defeated with Sakura coming and delivering the final punch, thereby breaking one of her horns and giving Sasuke and Naruto the chance to initiate the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei fūinjutsu is quite strange and hilarious.
Being completely useless throughout the series, the fact that it was her final punch that helped Sasuke and Naruto save the world makes this meme an absolute genius.