In Defense of Haruno Sakura:

Refuting Anti-Sakura Arguments

Ok. So these anti-Sakura arguments literally make me laugh. Read the manga! Guys seriously, this character is literally so misunderstood due to the anime studio’s disgusting misinterpretation and bias against her. I will be refuting the following using canon source material (ie the manga, databooks and hiden novels. The anime, I do not care for, it is mostly filler containing ooc moments so no, I won’t even be discussing anime only content)

More under the cut!

Usefulness

I don’t understand why we’re still arguing this. It’s like the anti’s ignore all her feats because they know their fave can’t even compare. Well here are her feats

• Gathered intel on Sasuke and Kabuto (Akatsuki spy)
  
• Defeated Sasori with Chiyo
  
• Healed your faves including, but not limited to Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Kankuro, Chiyo, everyone in the Shinobi Alliance
  
• Not just healed, but kept Naruto alive long enough for him to get to Minato
  
• Gathered intel on Obito’s Kamui, White Zetsu’s technique
  
• Motivated the whole shinobi alliance
  
• Summoned, Katsuyu, the slug summon, a feat only shown by her and Tsunade
  
• Dimension hopped with Obito, using her byakugou chakra to get Sasuke back
  
• Punched Kaguya, the rabbit goddess and progenitor of Chakra on Earth and broke the horn off her head, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to seal her
  
• Opened a children’s mental health clinic, establishing the shinobi world mental health system
  

Also, Sakura is a medic-nin. Are we forgetting the amount of lives that she saved? Are we forgetting that medics had a guideline they were meant to follow issued by Tsunade?

1. First clause (第一項, Daiikkō): “No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.” (「医療忍者は決して隊員の命尽きるまで治療を諦めてはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite taiin no inochi tsukeru made chiryō o akiramete wa naranai.”)
   
2. Second clause (第二項, Dainikō): “No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.” (「医療忍者は決して最前線に立ってはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite saizensen ni tatte wa naranai.”)
   
3. Third clause (第三項, Daisankō): “No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.” (「医療忍者は決して小隊の中で最後まで死んではならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite shōtai no naka de saigo made shinde wa naranai.”)
   
4. Fourth clause (第四項, Daiyonkō): “Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.” (「忍法創造再生の百豪の術を極めし医療忍者のみ 上記の掟を破棄できる」, “Ninpō Sōzō Saisei no Byakugō no Jutsu o kiwameshi iryō ninja nomi, jōki no okite o haki dekiru.”)
   

It’s literally stated in the second clause that medic ninja were not supposed to be on the frontlines in battle, they could only disregard the system if they mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique. It wasn’t until the war that Sakura unlocked the yin seal.

Compared to the other kunoichi in the Naruto series, Sakura has achieved so much more than the kunoichi in her generation, surpassing her own master in her teens.

“Sakura hasn’t shown anything different from her master? Hinata developed her own jutsu.” Well, put it this way. Sakura is a 17 year old in the middle of war, is she really going to be spending time developing new techniques or will she use techniques her master taught her, that she knows she can master and will work in combat. Also, when has Hinata’s lion fist ever done any serious damage? She defeated one juubi fodder? So have all the rookies in her gen. Sakura’s fist may not be anything new but it does work (multiple juubi fodder and Kaguya’s horn say hi), and in combat you have to be able to utilise your skill-set fully rather than have techniques that cannot be optimised.

“Sakura doesn’t have a tragic backstory/She’s too plain to be in the main cast.”
Not everyone in this series needs a tragic backstory. Her lack of tragic backstory was evened out by her lack of skill in the beginning of the series.

Sakura was meant to be the girl who didn’t have a tragic backstory, didn’t come from a highly revered clan, or have any special circumstances. Her character is meant to show that just because you are ordinary, does not mean you can’t become extraordinary. She defied the odds and rose up to become a significant kunoichi. Sakura’s character was always about development throughout the story, she was meant to be someone who you watched grow despite her disadvantages.

 “Sakura is selfish”

When has this ever been shown in the manga? Sakura’s motivations throughout the manga are never shown to be selfish. She has always been shown with good intentions.

“Sakura broke her friendship off with Ino for Sasuke” No. If you read the manga and have basic comprehension skills, Sakura broke off her friendship with Ino in order to step out of Ino’s shadow and become her own person. Ino literally degraded her own friend by calling her a bud after she revealed her insecurities. Sakura breaking off her friendship with Ino sparked a rivalry to become the better kunoichi which Ino agreed was a good idea. Sakura putting her forehead protector in the ribbon’s spot should tell you that.

 Her confession to Naruto? Her trying to kill Sasuke? Do not forget that the entire Rookie 9 guilt-tripped her. They straight up ganged up on her, Shikamaru told her that a war may start in Sasuke’s name. Add on top of that, Sai, told her, to her face that she was hurting Naruto with her promise. Her wanting to kill Sasuke herself was to prevent Kakashi from killing his own beloved student. So excuse her for trying to prevent conflict as quick as possible. Although her actions weren’t the greatest, her intention was to prevent Naruto from getting hurt, and to prevent the war from happening because of Sasuke.

Her hugging Naruto in front of Hinata even though she knew she loved him? Sakura doesn’t owe Hinata anything. Let’s keep in mind that the two have barely interacted and that Naruto and Sakura have been through thick and thin together at this point in Part II. Her close friend just saved the village whose inhabitants include their friends, her mentor, her parents, her colleagues so it’s easy to see why she was thankful. Also, she called him rash before she hugged him, meaning that he had worried her and she was relieved he was okay from his fight. Why should she feel sorry for a platonic hug she gave to her close friend in front of someone she barely even interacted with.

 “Sakura gets too emotional”

So we’re gonna hate on a character for expressing genuine human emotions. They may be strong 2D characters who can kick anyone in this world’s ass any day, these characters are meant to be representations of actual human beings. To me, Sakura being emotional makes her relatable. Her emotion in each situation is understandable. Let’s also not forget that throughout most of Part II, her and Naruto were under immense pain and stress from Sasuke’s defection and actions. Also, many other Naruto characters such as Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru and Hinata have cried on the battlefield. Are we hating on those characters too for crying?

 “Sakura is abusive”

What the heck. Seriously. Her punching Naruto? It only happened like what? Two times. Her punching him in the anime is part of filler, therefore non-canon. The times in the manga, he literally said something stupid. Most friends tend to playfully hit each other. And this is a manga series, anything that happens in real life, is exaggerated upon. Honestly though, have you ever considered that if Naruto felt as if he were being abused he would’ve said/done something about it ages ago? He literally has no problem calling her out. They’re friends. Let’s also not forget that Naruto has been punched by other females including his own mother.

 “Sakura is a fangirl”

Ok. But this was when she was twelve years old. Everyone in her class was a fangirl. One of them was even a stalker. So I don’t see how this argument is a valid one when literally every single girl introduced in the beginning of the series had fangirl tendencies.

 Also, Sakura grew out of her “fangirl phase” in the Chunin Exams/Forest of Death arc, where she was willing to allow her team to get eliminated so that Naruto could retake the exams because she believed in his dream of becoming hokage. She also called Sasuke out for being a coward for not doing anything while Naruto had risked his life.

 “Sakura guilt-tripped Sasuke into a relationship”

It’s been stated in the manga by Kakashi twice that Sakura’s love for Sasuke was pure and she didn’t even need him to reciprocate her feelings. She only wanted to save him from the darkness and for the real Sasuke to come back. Also, this is Sasuke we are talking about. It would be out of character for him to be guilt-tripped much less a relationship/marriage with someone he doesn’t love. Sasuke literally calls her his wife and states that Sarada is a child born out of their love.

 “Sakura is a bad parent”

Sakura was a single mother for majority of Sarada’s life. She was balancing being a mother while also working so she can financially support her daughter. Parenting skills are often reflected on the child, and so far Sarada has been shown to be kind, polite, ambitious and mature. Things that would have to be taught by the parent. Compared to majority of those in her generation, it is clear that Sarada has been well raised by her mother as the others have been shown to be bratty, lazy or rude. In flashbacks during Gaiden, we saw a loving and affectionate Sakura as a mother, nurturing Sarada and looking after her while sick, while keeping a joyful atmosphere in their home.

 “Sakura covered up Karin/Taka.” Given that Sasuke left for his mission early, they either did not get the chance to take a family photo at the time, or, they are all with Sasuke. Sakura obviously wanted to show her daughter her father and so she had to make do with the photo from the Bingo book. Sakura probably covered up Taka as seeing them may lead Sarada to questioning her about Sasuke’s past, something that should be told by Sasuke, not Sakura.

“Sakura is a doormat”

This, to me is hilarious. Where? Sakura has been known to not take anyone’s crap. Whether it be from Naruto, Sai or Sasuke. “Sasuke you say, when has she ever-”

As previously stated during the Chunin Exams arc, she literally called Sasuke a coward for freezing up, and refusing to fight, while Naruto had taken the enemy head on, risking his life. In Chapter 699, while healing the boys, Sakura gets Sasuke to be quiet so she can concentrate as well as, contrary to what anti’s believe, got him to specify his apology.

 “Sakura is flat-chested/ugly”

Now this, is ridiculous. Are we reading the same manga? Sakura is meant to embody feminine qualities as her namesake is the cherry blossom which in Chinese culture is meant to represent female dominance and power. As well as this, Sakura has been called beautiful by multiple male characters throughout the series.

 Also, first of all, Sakura is not flat-chested. She has repeatedly been shown to have curves in multiple drawings by Kishimoto, her being flat-chested is something the anime studio made up and cannot let go of.

 Second, what does a flat chest have anything to do with a character’s beauty? On the other side of the spectrum, for comparison’s sake, we have Hinata. She has a chest, but canonically she is not beautiful. Kishimoto has stated in the databooks that Hinata is meant to be “frumpy-looking” or plain in every sense. So obviously in the Naruto world, chest size does not correlate with beauty.

 Conclusion

So as you can see, many anti-Sakura arguments are heavily flawed and can be voided just by doing some research. Please guys, be like your faves who have good eyes or glasses (not too much though, don’t want you guys going to jail)