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Narutopedia On the Wiki Wiki Activity Random page Videos Photos Articles Community Naruto Answers Contribute Share Watchlist Random page Recent changes Sakura Haruno View source Talk853 5,153pages on this wiki editSakura Haruno[1][2][3] Part I Part II Sakura.Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura) Forehead Girl (デコリーン, Dekorīn; English TV "Bilboard Brow")[4] Tsunade Number Two (綱手二号, Tsunade Nigō)[5] Debut Manga Chapter #3 Anime Naruto Episode #1 Movie Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow Game Naruto: Clash of Ninja OVA Find the Four-Leaf Red Clover! Appears in Anime, Manga, Game and Movie Voice Actors Japanese Chie Nakamura searchgray_iconsmall.png English Kate Higgins searchgray_iconsmall.png Personal Birthdate Astrological Sign Aries March 28 Gender Gender Female Female Age Part I: 12-13 Part II: 15-17 Height Part I: 148.5 cm-150.1 cm Part II: 161 cm Weight Part I: 35.4 kg-35.9 kg Part II: 45.4 kg Blood type O Classification Medical-nin Affiliation Konohagakure Symbol Konohagakure Team Team Kakashi Konoha 11 (Anime only) Eight Man Squad Team Three (Anime only) Third Division Rank Ninja Rank Part I: Genin Part II: Chūnin Ninja Registration 012601 Academy Grad. Age 12 Chūnin Prom. Age 14 [Hide] Family Kizashi Haruno (Father) Mebuki Haruno (Mother) [Show] Jutsu [Show] Tools Sakura Haruno (春野サクラ, Haruno Sakura) is one of the main characters in the series. She is a chūnin-level kunoichi of Konohagakure, a talented medical-nin, and a member of Team Kakashi. Contents [show] Background Sakura 001Sakura as a child. During her early years in the Academy, Sakura was frequently bullied by others due to her large forehead. To try and combat this, Sakura used her bangs to hide her forehead, fuelling the other kids' 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, one day about five years ago while searching for Ino to have lunch with, she 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.[6] 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. Later, 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.[7] Personality As a child, Sakura lacked self-confidence and was highly self-conscious about her large forehead. As such, she would cover her forehead with her bangs. It was not until she met Ino Yamanaka who would later defend her against her bullies and tell her that if she hid her forehead, it would only make it stand out more. It was after this that the two became inseparable friends and Sakura started to become more bold and self-confident.[7][8] As a student, Sakura was noted to be an honour student, and even to this day, Sakura's scholastic intelligence is hardly rivalled by any of her peers. Despite this, however, just like most preteen girls, Sakura was more interested in her looks as opposed to practising her ninja skills, something that she was scolded for by Kin. As such, she became a selfish individual and even developed a rivalry with her best friend Ino, referring to her as "Ino-pig". In the beginning of Part I, Sakura was self-centred, vain and was solely focused on herself and developing a relationship with Sasuke Uchiha. Due to this, Naruto's advances and attempts to gain her attention as well as his antics would generally irk her as she saw them as nothing more than childish and foolish. Sasuke pointed out that because Sakura had not experienced loss in her life, she could not understand Naruto nor him, prompting Sakura to start looking at things from Naruto's perspective in an attempt to understand her team-mate. This caused them to develop a mutual friendship which endured even when Naruto had left the village for two years. In Part II, Sakura becomes more mature and no more self-centred, though she still has a bad habit of being critical, specifically with Naruto. She also learnt of the various hardships Naruto faced with the Nine-Tails and Akatsuki.[9] Saddened by the impact both forces have had on his life, Sakura becomes protective of Naruto and tries to do whatever she can to help him overcome these obstacles and eventually, due to their time spent together as Team 7, develop a deep friendship that mirrors their masters, though Naruto's feelings towards Sakura are unreciprocated due to her being in love with Sasuke instead. At her core, Sakura is extremely compassionate, strong-willed, determined, and courageous, witnessed during the Chūnin Exams when her team-mates were incapacitated and it was left up to her to defend her team-mates from Team Dosu.[10] This was also witnessed through her spurring Sasuke on to act when they were confronted by a disguised Orochimaru.[11] Not one to lose or give up in a fight, when it came down to it, held captive by her hair which Kin Tsuchi mocked for being lustrous, she willingly cut her hair off and then confronted Zaku Abumi head on, despite her disadvantage.[12][13] This was also prominently seen during her fight with Sasori where despite being told to run by Chiyo, she stayed and fought, noting that she had inherited her master's contempt for losing.[14] Her courage, along with her care and deep understanding of Naruto appeared to have increased through time. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, she raised the morale of the Shinobi Alliance while healing Naruto by telling them that he was protecting them because he saw them all as his comrades. Sakura determinationSakura's motivation to get stronger. At the start of the series, Sakura had a deep infatuation for Sasuke Uchiha, rooted in his good looks, cunning, cool attitude, and prodigious talents. For that reason, many of Sakura's early appearances were dedicated to her continuing efforts to win his affection. As the story progressed, she began to recognise Sasuke as a real person with imperfections, and developed a more sincere desire to be there for him, and later fell in love with him. Sakura also became concerned that Sasuke would someday abandon her and the rest of Konoha in his quest for power. When her fears came true at the end of Part I, Sakura did all that she could to stop Sasuke 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 the village.[15] Painful DecisionSakura emotionally shattered upon agreeing to stop Sasuke at all costs. Sakura cursed her own uselessness at first, therefore she decided to take matters into her own hands and help Naruto to being Sasuke back home.[16] Although she still worries about his well-being, Sakura is willing to attack him if it means returning him to Konoha,[17] however, as time went on and Sasuke became an increasingly more dangerous criminal, Sakura recognised that Sasuke must be stopped at all costs. Despite agreeing that they had no choice but to kill Sasuke themselves to prevent Konoha from being involved in a war by his criminal actions or his death at a foreign country's hand, Sakura was immensely saddened and distraught at the notion nonetheless to the point where it drove her to trying to take care of the Sasuke situation by herself,[18][19] though in the end she couldn't bring herself to do it, being brought to tears as she remembered her most cherished moments with him. Sakura even went as far as to attempt to have Naruto abandon his effort to save Sasuke when she realised how much suffering it had brought to Naruto.[20][21][22] Ultimately, while still in love with Sasuke,[23][24] Sakura has decided that the only option left for her is to have faith in both Naruto and Sasuke.[25] Inner Sakura Sakura InnerInner Sakura. Another detail of Sakura's personality is her brashness. In Part I, these were turned inwardly, in the form of "Inner Sakura" (内なるサクラ, Uchi Naru Sakura) — 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 "Shānnarō!" (しゃーんなろー) — 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.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28] Appearance Long-Hair SakuraSakura with long hair. 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, and a forehead protector which she used to accentuate her face. Haruno Sakura at the warSakura's appearance during the Fourth Shinobi World War. In Part II, Sakura, now a chūnin, has donned a new attire consisting of a red top with the same design as the upper-half of her Part I outfit, with black gloves, black boots, black shorts, short grey apron skirt, and grey elbow protectors and forehead protector which is now on a red cloth. Her skirt and elbow protectors are pink in the anime. Sakura is now also armed with a tantō which she wears above her medical pouch. When she's not on a mission, she wears her regular red shirt, with a light yellow shirt under it, and a navy-coloured skirt. In this outfit, she still wears her boots. She later dons the uniform of the Allied Shinobi Forces inclusive of a Konohagakure flak jacket, albeit opting to wear a skirt instead of pants and her regular boots. She later changes her skirt to pants to assist the medic unit.[29] During the battle against the Ten-Tails, having stored up chakra for over three years, Sakura obtained a rhombus mark on her forehead similar Tsunade's, known as the Strength of a Hundred Seal.[30] 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).[7] 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. 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.[29] Abilities At the start of the series, Sakura's overall abilities as a ninja were considerably less than those of her team-mates; Sasuke and Naruto, with her greatest strength being her intelligence. After two-and-a-half years of training with Tsunade however, Sakura's abilities greatly increased to the point that she could hold her own against powerful enemies such as Sasori. Her skills in other areas have also increased, such as being able to locate Kakashi during the second bell test[31] — something Naruto could not do — as well as tricking Sai, Kiba, and Lee into fighting each other so that she could put them all to sleep.[32] Along with physical abilities, Sakura has also inherited her master's resilience and contempt for losing. This was best displayed after she had been surrounded by a cloud of poison, and used an explosive tag to dispel the cloud of smoke without sustaining much damage herself.[33] Chakra Control ByakugonoinSakura's Strength of a Hundred Seal. Soon after the start of their first mission, Sakura discovered that she had an excellent control over her chakra, and as such she had 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.[34][35] Her control has been noted multiple times as very similar to the prowess of Tsunade. Even Shizune, a fellow student of Tsunade's, admitted to Sakura's control being much greater than hers.[30] 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 her excellent chakra control, Sakura has been noted to have a natural aptitude for genjutsu, though thus far she has only been seen dispelling genjutsu.[31][36] In the anime, before the Chūnin Exams, a disguised Iruka conducted a test on her, trying to trick her into not participating in the exams, by using genjutsu, which she recognised in an instant, noting Sasuke would never ask her out, playing along to find out who cast the genjutsu.[37] She was amongst the few skilled shinobi who successfully detected, and dispelled Kabuto's sleep-inducing genjutsu and helped Naruto out of it.[36][38] She was also able to decipher at the start of the Chūnin Exams that they were trapped in a surrounding-altering genjutsu.[39] The pinnacle of her control was seen during the Fourth Great Shinobi War; having stored up chakra and focusing it one point for over three years, she developed the Strength of a Hundred Seal.[30] Taijutsu R.I.P.FuenSakura's superhuman strength. Although not known for her strength in Part I, Sakura was still strong enough to knock Ino several metres backwards with only a single strike during their match in the Chūnin Exams. In the anime, during a mission to the Land of Tea, she was seen breaking off the mast of a ship and using the large log of wood as a weapon.[40] In Part II, Sakura's taijutsu skills have seen tremendous growth thanks to Tsunade's training. By building up and releasing her chakra with precise timing, Sakura can easily demolish or destroy obstacle with powerful punches or kicks. An opponent struck by her full strength could suffer blunt force trauma resulting in broken bones, ruptured organs, or even death. Through repeated use, Sakura no longer needs to put any conscious effort into using this strength, and so can use it instantly. Her strength, coupled with her medical expertise and the beauty she gained over the time skip, had caused many to see Sakura as a younger version of Tsunade,[5] or even someone who could surpass Tsunade.[31] She was also able to use this new-found strength to lift a boulder nearly twice her size,[41] throw the Lion-Headed Kannon with enough force and speed that it caught Sasori by surprise,[42] and was also able to stop an airborne Sasori from reaching his target, later smashing his body to pieces.[43] During her battle with Sasori, Sakura's strength was enough to knock away the giant constructs created by the Iron Sand Gathering Assault technique.[44][45] Sakura's strength was great enough to completely immobilise a transformed White Zetsu Army clone, which are extremely durable, with just one blow.[46] During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Sakura's strength has grown tremendously and after completing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, she was able to decimate several dozen of the Ten-Tails' spawns with ease, while completely obliterating the battlefield surrounding them. This feat gained praise from Hashirama Senju himself who noted that Sakura's strength may be more fearsome than that of Tsunade's.[30] Another key component of Sakura's fighting style is her evasive skill. As a field medic, she cannot afford to be gravely injured or killed on the battle field, as drilled into her by Tsunade when she trained her. Sakura would attempt to read an opponent's fighting style in order to find the dominant hand/foot or anything that the enemy was using. With that, she could increase her evasive skill to impressive levels. Sakura was proficient enough in this that she could figure out Sasori's finger movements and predict the movements of his puppets. Sakura's skill in evasion is so great that she can completely evade a barrage of poisoned senbon, a multitude of puppet arms, and defeat one hundred puppets without a single scratch. Chiyo aided Sakura in evading Sasori's attack at first, but later noted Sakura hardly needed her help after she learned to read his attack patterns.[47] Ninjutsu Medical Ninjutsu Poison RemovalSakura using the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique. Sakura's naturally refined control of her chakra had been taken to new heights over the time skip, an ability utilised to its fullest by the training she had done with Tsunade. With her excellent chakra control, Sakura had turned into an excellent combat 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. She also has shown extensive knowledge of poisons having been taught by her senior pupil Shizune — learning how to imbue weapons such as kunai, with poison.[48] 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.[49] Her knowledge was great enough to withdraw Sasori's advanced poison directly from Kankurō's body, and use that as a base template to create multiple antidotes swiftly afterwards.[50] 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 on.[51] At the end of Part I when Tsunade observed Sakura successfully heal a fish with the Mystical Palm Technique, Tsunade remarked that Sakura had come so far, and she hadn't seen such talent since Shizune.[52] 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.[53] A few individuals have even commented that Sakura has the potential to one day rival Tsunade in terms of medical skill, and perhaps even surpass her given enough time,[54][55] though Sakura has stated that Tsunade's skills are far greater than her own. By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, after completing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Sakura is able to summon Katsuyu and remotely heal others, which Shizune praises her for.[56] Summoning Technique During Fourth Great Ninja War, showed herself able to summon Katsuyu onto the battlefield.[57] By having the slug divide and attach themselves to the wounded individuals, like Tsunade, Sakura 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.[56] Intelligence Sakura answering questionsGiven her exceptional intelligence and knowledge, Sakura was able to answer the most advanced questions in the Chūnin Exams without cheating. Sakura's original defining characteristic was her intelligence, as seen with her consistently high test scores while in the Academy.[58] Sakura has a keen talent for observation and analysing, which she uses to overcome most forms of deception.[39] Moreover, in the first phase of the Chūnin Exams, Sakura was able to answer all the questions on the paper test 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.[59] Sakura could also cleverly set traps, that could be triggered by herself to attack the opponent, and even use obvious traps as decoys to lead opponent's into other traps.[60] 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. In Part II, along with her other attributes, Sakura's exceptional intelligence and keen observation skills also improved during her training with Tsunade, who taught her to read and decipher the attack patterns of her enemies and act accordingly. As a result, she could now read complex patterns in her opponent's attacks, even opponents as strong as Sasori, a feat which even surprised an experienced war veteran like Chiyo.[61] She got him to believe that the poison she received from him had affected her. When Sakura along with her team encountered Tobi and his technique, Sakura was able to assume its mechanism and deduce that Tobi was only pretending to be affected.[62] Sakura is also shown to be skilled at planning, being able to formulate a plan to kill Sasuke by the use of a poison and prevent Kiba, Sai and Lee from following her by the use of a sleeping gas bomb.[63] During the first night of the Fourth Shinobi World War had ended, when a spy had infiltrated the Logistical Support and Medical Division compound, Sakura was able to work out that the spy wasn't using the Transformation Technique as the sensors would've detected the spy. When having a talk with Neji, Sakura was able to deceive him and attack him while he was unprepared.[46] She was able to 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.[64] Stats Databook Ninjutsu Taijutsu Genjutsu Intelligence Strength Speed Stamina Hand seals Total First 1.5 1 3 3.5 0.5 1 1 4 15.5 Second 2 1 3.5 4 1 1 1.5 4 18 Third 3 3 3.5 4 3 3 2.5 4 26 Part I Introduction Arc TeamkakashiThe official group photo of Team 7. 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. Land of Waves Arc Manji FormationSakura and her team-mates protecting Tazuna. Sakura accompanied the rest of her team on their first mission to the Land of Waves, to act as bodyguards for Tazuna. While there, Kakashi administers a Tree Climbing Practice, and Sakura masters the exercise on her first try. This leaves her in charge of escorting Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke complete the training. When they are later attacked by Zabuza and Haku, Sakura protects Tazuna while Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke battle the enemy. After hearing that Sasuke was apparently killed, Sakura violated Shinobi Rule #25 of not showing any kind of emotions by crying for Sasuke's loss even as she recited it. When Sasuke turned out to have only been in a death-trance, Sakura was relieved that he was alive. Once their mission was completed, Team 7 returned to Konoha. Chūnin Exam Arc When Team 7 is entered into 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. She instead spends her time lamenting that Naruto is probably too stupid to answer the questions or know that he is supposed to cheat, and contemplates forfeiting so that he doesn't need to embarrass himself. After seeing Naruto's confidence in himself, she decides against it, and they pass the first phase. Sakura Blossoms!Sakura frees herself from Kin's grasp by cutting her hair. 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. Sakura attacks ZakuSakura prepares to attack Zaku. 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 be a replacement. Bearing down on Zaku, Sakura launches a volley of kuai at him which are blasted back at her. The impaled Sakura turned out to also be a replacement, and as Zaku attacked her from above also believing that Sakura to be a clone, the real Sakura, while injured, is able to immobilse 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. Sakura Ino punchSakura vs. Ino during her preliminary match. In the preliminary matches of the exam, Sakura was pitted against Ino. After Sakura and Ino exchanged insults, Ino followed Sakura's earlier example and cut her hair, leading Sakura to believe that Ino had lost her mind. In actuality, Ino cut her hair to help her in battle; by sending chakra into her cut hair, Ino was able to tie Sakura in place, allowing her slow-moving Mind Body Switch Technique to have no difficulties in finding its target. After taking control of Sakura's body, Ino tried to force Sakura to forfeit, 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 angered and declared that the same went for Ino as well. Invasion of Konoha Arc Sakura protect Sasuke from GaaraSakura faces Gaara. A month later, while watching Naruto and Sasuke's matches during the finals and marvelling at how their abilities had improved, the invasion of Konoha 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 Arc 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. Sasuke Retrieval Arc An Invitation from the SoundSasuke's goodbye to Sakura. As time goes by and Sasuke's lust for power grows stronger, Sakura grows 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 defects. 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 Retrieval Team. Sakura trainingSakura training under Tsunade's tutelage. 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 accepted. Pre-Shippūden Filler Arcs The only filler arc Sakura plays a major part in is the Land of Rice Fields Arc, where she, Naruto and Jiraiya tried to save Sasuke. In the end of the arc Sakura asks Tsunade for medical training. Hence, little was seen of Sakura during the filler arcs, much of her time being preoccupied with training. She did appear when she, Chōji, and Naruto has to help 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 it to its shape. When she did go out on missions with her fellow genin, Sakura served as the medical specialist, healing the wounds of others and examining bodies. Ino, jealous of Sakura's 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.[65] Part II Kazekage Rescue Arc Sakura Haruno ShippūdenSakura's appearance in Part II. 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 when she uses her super strength taught to her by Tsunade, but in the end are only able to take the bells by tricking Kakashi. 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. With both Sasori and Chiyo being master puppeteers, and with all of Sasori's attacks being imbued with his poison, Chiyo controlled Sakura like a puppet to improve her dexterity allowing her to get close enough to Sasori to destroy his puppet armour Hiruko. Sakura destroys Sasori's bodySakura destroying Sasori's puppet body. Sasori then shows his ability to use puppets made out from humans and summons his the Third Kazekage puppet, much to Chiyo's shock, he begins employing the former Kazekage's ability which he had combined with his own poison. As the battle ensues, with Chiyo's help, she eventually deduces the puppets movements, Sasori's attack pattern and is ultimately able to destroy Third Kazekage puppet. Revealing that he had turned himself into a human puppet as well, Sasori gained the upper hand in the fight. As Sasori was about to kill Chiyo, Sakura grabbed Sasori from behind and destroyed 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. After being sealed by Chiyo, Sasori moved to another puppet body and tried to kill her, 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. Sasuke and Sai Arc Team YamatoYamato-led Team Kakashi reveals themselves to Orochimaru and Kabuto. 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. SakuraHealingSakura healing Naruto after Yamato subdued him. 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. He recuperated, and 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. Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc Main article: Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc Hidan and Kakuzu Arc 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. Three-Tails Arc