Sakura Haruno

Sakura Haruno
Naruto character
Sakura Haruno by Masashi Kishimoto as seen in Part I
First appearance	Naruto chapter 3: Enter Sasuke! (1999)
Created by	Masashi Kishimoto
Voiced by	Japanese Chie Nakamura English Kate Higgins Dorothy Elias-Fahn (Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals)
In-universe information
Notable relatives	Sasuke Uchiha (husband) Sarada Uchiha (daughter) Itachi Uchiha (brother-in-law, deceased)
Ninja rank	Genin in Part I Chunin in Part II Jonin in The Last: Naruto the Movie
Ninja team	Team 7/Team Kakashi

Sakura Haruno (Japanese: 春野 サクラ, Hepburn: Haruno Sakura) is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Sakura is depicted as a kunoichi affiliated with Konohagakure (木ノ葉隠れの里, English version: "Hidden Leaf Village") and a part of Team 7, which consists of herself, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and their sensei Kakashi Hatake. Besides the main series, Sakura has appeared in several pieces of the Naruto media, most notably the spin-off Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (2015) and the sequel Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2016) where she married Sasuke Uchiha taking name of Sakura Uchiha (Japanese: うちは サクラ, Hepburn: Uchiha Sakura) and is the mother of their daughter, Sarada Uchiha.^[1]

Sakura is depicted as an innocent girl who does not share the same tragic backstories as her teammates but was regardless bullied throughout her youth. She initially has an infatuation for Sasuke, him at every juncture, and initially is not ambitious, besides becoming Sasuke's girlfriend in the future; by contrast, she is dismissive to her less-skilled teammate Naruto Uzumaki despite, ironically, being Naruto's initial love interest and disgust him. Over the course of the series, as Sasuke eventually leaves the village, Sakura begins to shed this singularly driven persona, becoming a medical ninja while apprenticed under the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and becomes friendly and even protective of Naruto as his life becomes increasingly at risk.

Sakura serves as the series' female lead, although she was not immediately intended for the role. Kishimoto had difficulty drawing her character, resulting in Kishimoto inadvertently emphasizing certain parts of her appearance, including her large forehead which was written into her character. In order to make the character more appealing in the second part of the series, Kishimoto designed her costume in a way that makes her look more like a martial artist as well as more beautiful during later chapters. Chie Nakamura voices the character in the animated adaptations of the series, while Kate Higgins plays her in the English dub.

Numerous anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Sakura's character. She was initially noted to be a stereotypical shōnen character, representing a love interest for the protagonist, and was said to serve little purpose at the beginning of the series beyond being comic relief. Her emergence from this stereotype as the series progressed, thanks to her training with Tsunade, which leads her to develop her medical and combat skills, has been celebrated by many reviewers. Amongst the Naruto reader base, Sakura has been popular, placing high in some polls. Several pieces of merchandise have been released in Sakura's likeness, such as action figures and key chains.