When Naruto gained popularity as a manga and anime series, the focus was largely on the title character and his cohorts on Team 7. That meant Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno shared most of the spotlight with him. While the two young men were beloved by fans, Sakura’s road was a bit bumpier.
Some fans disliked that she appeared to fill the slot of “love interest” for both Sasuke and Naruto, creating the dominant love triangle for the franchise while also leaving some things about her unanswered. Over time, Sakura proved herself a capable shinobi, as well as learned the skills needed to become a medical ninja. Now, here are 10 questions about her, finally answered.
When Did Sakura First Appear?
Sakura, like many of Naruto’s Academy classmates, appeared in the very first episode of the series. A lot of the characters that appeared in that episode (Sakura included) actually didn’t appear in the first chapter of the manga.
Instead, Sakura’s first appearance on the page, was in Naruto’s first volume but in chapter three, titled Sasuke Uchiha! The chapter, much like the early episodes of the anime, involved the Academy students being assigned their three-man squads. Sakura wound up with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, setting the trio up for their interactions for the rest of the series.
Was She Always Supposed To Be The Series’ Heroine?
Sakura became the heroine of the franchise by default. She is the one female character the audience (and readers) spends a large amount of time with, largely due to her place on Team 7 with Naruto. According to Uzumaki: The Art Of Naruto, series creator Masashi Kishimoto didn’t always intend for her to be the heroine.
Instead, his goal was to take an annoying character and prove them to be well-intentioned. While many of Sakura’s quirks may have annoyed the audience, she always meant well, wanting to help her team, be the best shinobi she could, and help those in trouble.
What Does Her Name Mean?
Many of the names in Naruto have special meanings. For example, Jiraiya is a nod to an old folktale, while Naruto is named after a ramen (his favorite food) ingredient. Similarly, Sakura’s name also holds meaning.
“Sakura” translates to cherry blossom, which is the national flower of Japan. While it’s known for beauty, once it blooms, it doesn’t live for very long. “Haruno” translates to spring field. Her name literally means "fields of cherry blossoms," calling to mind a delicate and beautiful sight.
Why Is Her Hair Pink?
In anime and manga, a lot of characters get technicolor hairstyles. Surprisingly, the Naruto world doesn’t use quite as many outrageous colors as something like Sailor Moon would. Sakura is one of the few characters to have a hair color we would deem “unnatural” in the real world.
Sakura’s hair color, according to a rumor around the internet, is an extension of her name. Masashi Kishimoto wanted her hair to call to mind actual cherry blossoms. Whether or not that’s true hasn’t been confirmed by the Naruto creator.
How Many Naruto Movies Feature Sakura?
Not every Naruto character features in the movies inspired by the series. Sakura is one of the few to appear in every single movie in the franchise.
In nine of the ten Naruto movies, Sakura is actually a member of the team the movies center around. While the manga typically featured the assigned three-man teams without much variation, the movies rotated through many of the characters to create new teams. Naruto and Sakura were the only characters to appear on every team. Meanwhile, Blood Prison featured Naruto on a solo mission, so Sakura wasn’t on the team in that single movie - but neither was anyone else.
Why Did Her Childhood Friendship With Ino End?
When Sakura first began classes at the Ninja Academy, some of the other students made fun of her for her appearance. Ino Yamanaka taught her to embrace her appearance and not let their classmates get to her. The two were the best of friends.
As time went on, however, Sakura started to feel like she was little more than Ino’s sidekick. The two slowly began to grow apart. A wedge further drove between the two when Sakura discovered she and Ino both had a crush on Sasuke Uchiha. When Ino announced her crush, despite Sakura’s feelings, Sakura considered their friendship over. That was the last straw for her, and she decided she needed to break away from Ino.
Why Did Inner Sakura Appear Less In Part II?
When Naruto began, Sakura had a personality that existed only in her mind. It was the part of her that allowed her to say or think whatever she wanted about people - just not out loud. Called “Inner Sakura,” this separate personality even allowed her to evade Ino’s mind-body switch. Inner Sakura, however, only made a single appearance after the three year time jump between parts one and two.
As Sakura trained with Lady Tsunade during the time jump, she became more comfortable with herself, her own abilities, and expressing her opinions. Instead of keeping her thoughts to herself and allowing her anger to build, her maturity after the time jump saw her speaking her mind. It meant she didn’t need Inner Sakura anymore.
Did She Pass Her Chunin Exams?
When Naruto and his Academy classmates competed in the Chunin Exams, only one member of their class graduated to the next level. That was Shikamaru. During the years Naruto spent away from the village training, however, all of his classmates were tested again.
With Shikamaru already a chunin, and Sakura’s teammates gone from the village, Ino and Choji invited her to test with them. Sakura didn’t have the same skills as Shikamaru, but Choji and Ino were able to work with her well enough to get pretty far in the exams. Though the exams were interrupted and placed on hold, Lady Tsunade opted to pass all of the teenagers, allowing them to become chunin.
Did She Belong To A Shinobi Clan?
Many of the main characters in Naruto’s generation belonged to prestigious clans in the shinobi world. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, for example, all belonged to clans with ninja specialities. Likewise, Sasuke and Hinata had inherited family jutsu from their clans.
Sakura, on the other hand, belonged to no clan. In fact, the Harunos were civilians, not shinobi. When asked at conventions if there was backstory about Sakura he wished he revealed, Masashi Kishimoto revealed there wasn’t because she and her family were just “normal."
How Many Missions Did Sakura Complete?
The databooks released during the manga run of Naruto gave trivia and facts about characters for fans to enjoy. Included in Sakura’s information was the official number of missions she completed. All in all, she had 34.
That number includes 12 D-rank, nine C-rank, six B-rank, and seven A-rank. D-rank missions were meant to be the simplest missions, and were typically given to newly graduated Ninja Academy students. A-rank were the most difficult of the ones here, assigned to jonin level ninjas.
Officially, Sakura never participated in an S-rank mission, which were the hardest of all. Of course, her numbers likely don’t take into account anime filler arcs or her decision to follow Naruto when he struck out on his own time and again.