Rain

Hey Maddy, I came across a video titled "Creator says why Sakura was so useless" by Cycles. I didn't watch it tbh, not a fan of watching these typical YouTubers tear her down. Just wondering if Kishi had said anything regarding her character that may have given this person to use such a title.

Before watching the video, I already knew that Kishi had never said anything close to describing Sakura as useless, but I watched the video anyway just to see if it was anywhere near as bad as Swagkage’s video where he demonstrated a severe case of diarrhoea of the mouth… And I have to say this person gave Swagkage a real run for his money. 

No, the Youtuber used the Kobayashi interview and the more recent Jump Festa 2017 interview as “evidence” that Kishi thought Sakura was useless, and then he proceeded to ramble on for 11 mins where he not only grossly twisted Kishi’s words, but also gave pathetic examples as to why she’s a useless and hated character.

Best example of twisting Kishi’s words - In the Kobayashi interview, Kishi mentions that he regretted how Sakura’s character turned out in terms of her popularity because he wanted her to appeal to a wide audience due to her normality, but this instead made her more unpopular. This guy however, twists that into saying “So there you go, even Kishimoto didn’t want her dumb ass!”… Despite the fact that if he didn’t want her he wouldn’t have tried to raise her popularity in response to its decline, nor would he have persevered with her as the heroine despite Hinata’s increasing popularity.

Best example of a pathetic reason as to why she’s hated - At around the 3.20 mark, he says “she spent the entirety of part 1 using Naruto as a sword and shield”, despite the fact that she not only put her body and life on the line to protect Naruto, Sasuke and Lee from the Sound Ninja in the Forest of Death, but she again put her body and life on the line to protect Sasuke from Gaara. But no this guy didn’t see any of that, of course not. I could go through each point he gave and provide detailed explanations as to why they’re so short sighted, but just like with the SwagKage video, that would make this post far too long.

And then you know what he did? Towards the end of the video he claimed that everything he said was “a fact” because Kishi himself apparently said it and agreed with him, despite the fact that the interviews he referenced literally made no mention of any of the points he made as to why Sakura is hated. The Kobayashi interview mentions Sakura’s declining popularity, Kishi’s attempts to improve it, the thoughts on making Hinata the heroine instead despite her not doing much either, but ultimately sticking with Sakura. The Jump Festa interview mentions how Kishi initially had no plans on making Sakura a main, but just because those were his initial thoughts obviously doesn’t mean that this was the case throughout - his thoughts regarding her character clearly changed in due course because she was indeed the main heroine of the story, and evolved from being someone who was on Shikamaru and Kiba’s level of importance.

According to this guy though, Kishi supported his claims, meaning he also agrees with his claim that one of the reasons Sakura was hated, was because she “trained the wrong skill set” (said at around 7.50). Obviously, Kishi has never said anything of the sort, but let’s just process this for minute - This guy thinks Sakura was an idiot because she “trained the wrong skill set” due to the fact that she didn’t train herself in genjutsu, and he admonished her for that because she apparently trained to become a “defensive ninja”, which he deemed to be insufficient for saving Sasuke. He even referenced her chakra control as further evidence that she should have focused on improving her genjiutsu, which is just all kinds of stupidity because not only is medical ninjutsu and the super strength taijutsu a far better indication of great chakra control than genjutsu is, meaning she obviously trained the right skill set, but her super strength taijutsu is a much more offensive technique than genjutsu anyway because it actually causes extreme physical harm. So… At that point I was just Like… 

What is this guy on about? And of course, people just lapped it up because it was a Sakura hate video.

Basically Anon, this Cycles guy referenced two interviews where Kishi said absolutely nothing about Sakura being useless, then he spent the next 10 minutes giving preposterous reasons as to why she’s hated, and then he finished by saying how everything he said was a fact because the interviews he referenced (which again, said nothing about how she’s useless), somehow proved that she’s useless… And people believed him.

I give you the Naruto fandom ladies and gentlemen 😒

i will be forever bitter bc Sakura never got her own side story or arc beside her love for Sasuke, I am pleased on how Kishi written her, but still. If I would be him, I would have written something that highlights her selflessness, badassery and intelligence( not just battle type of intelligence, but more like deduction, anticipation, fooling others to get information, her genjutsu skills etc).

Well to be fair, there have been multiple instances where each of those traits of Sakura have been highlighted, like how she fooled the White Zetsu who was impersonating Neji into revealing themselves as an impostor by tricking them into referring to Tonton as a human. But I do agree that her character should have been expanded upon more. Then again, I can say the same for others.

i will be forever bitter bc Sakura never got her own side story or arc beside her love for Sasuke, I am pleased on how Kishi written her, but still. If I would be him, I would have written something that highlights her selflessness, badassery and intelligence( not just battle type of intelligence, but more like deduction, anticipation, fooling others to get information, her genjutsu skills etc).

Well to be fair, there have been multiple instances where each of those traits of Sakura have been highlighted, like how she fooled the White Zetsu who was impersonating Neji into revealing themselves as an impostor by tricking them into referring to Tonton as a human. But I do agree that her character should have been expanded upon more. Then again, I can say the same for others.

Why do you think Sakura loves Sasuke?

I’m not sure I can explain why Sakura loves Sasuke in general, as opposed to why her feelings for him evolved into love. That may or may not be essentially the same thing, but I just wanted to make that distinction.

Before I get there though, does she really need to give a reason in the first place? Whenever people give their apparent reasons for loving someone, I just always think to myself so if they didn’t do all those things, would they not have fallen for them? Not being able to give a reason to explain someone’s feelings for another aways just makes it seem to me as if those feelings are more unconditional, because in those instances the feelings are more of a result of the person’s impact on you, and how they make you feel, rather than being a result of something that they said or did, which makes it seem more superficial. I remember several instamces where this was explcirly demonstrated.

For instance, it happened in The World God Only Knows.

Keima’s words and sentiments here are probably very similar to the thoughts running through Sasuke’s head when Sakura confessed to him for the 2nd time in 693. He was likely wondering how she could possibly still love him under the circumstances:

And Chihiro would subsequently set the record straight, echoing Sakura’s feelings towards Sasuke:

Chihiro couldn’t explain why she liked him, but she knew that she didn’t need any justification. Not having a specific reason to love someone is part of what makes the feeling unconditional after all.

Another example of this was demonstrated in Ore Monogatari!!.

Yamato was asked why she liked Takeo:

But Yamato couldn’t answer because she couldn’t articulate her reasons. However, that didn’t mean that she loved Takeo for no reason:

She just couldn’t describe it. But we the readers could see why. The same applies for Sakura; just because her reasons weren’t explicitly stated, doesn’t automatically mean that they didn’t exist, nor does it mean that she loved him for no reason, it simply means that they can’t put it into words because the exact origin or reason is too hard to pinpoint. This is because their feelings weren’t a result of that the person said or did, they’re a result of who they are.

Yet another example of this was exhibited in Love Is Like After the Rain.

After Akira confesses to her Manager, he eventually questions her as to why she would fall in love with a 45 year old man:

And Akira’s reply? The same thing that was echoed by Chihiro, by Rinko, and by Sakura - you don’t need a reason:

And Akira certainly didn’t feel as though she needed any form of justification for her feelings; she loved him, and that was the end of it:

So going in from this, I can’t say exactly where Sakiura’s feelings for Sssuke stemmed from, but what I can say is why they deepened so much. The development of her feelings derived from her wanting to help Sasuke overcome his darkness and wanting to know more about who he truly was. Sometimes feelings can develop from the sincere endeavour of wanting to help someone dear to you get better, and in the process, learning more about them. In fact, Sai and Ino’s canonisation largely shadowed this process as well.

When Sasuke awoke in the Forest of Death with the Curse seal activated, this was when Sakura realised that there was darkness in him, and that’s when her feelings began to develop:

Notice how she compared how Sasuke was acting then, to the happy Sasuke that she saw and admired:

She wanted Sasuke to smile again, and her feelings for him deepened due to that endeavour, it’s there for all to see. She had a crush on the “perfect” Sasuke, but she fell in love with the broken Sasuke, and wanted to relieve him of his internal suffering; this was reiterated at regular intervals in the story.

Hey mate (madara + fate = mate lol) I know you must be so DONE answering sasusaku related questions but wud you mind answering if I ask one? Actually I don't understand why Sasuke - not even once in 12 years - came to meet Sarada and Sakura. He, not being able to recognise his own daughter, I just can't digest that! How serious is that mission that he can't even contact his family let alone coming to meet them? He did come to the village after meeting Sarada right? He'd have done that sooner.

Lol, madara + fate = mate, I’ve had the blog for almost 3 years and I can’t believe I’ve never made that connection.

To answer your question, as you know, Sasuke was adamant for those who were not present in their meeting to be ignorant of his actions and the dangers that could possibly be lurking over the horizon, because he knew that should the information be leaked into the general public, it would most likely cause mass unrest and pandemonium amongst the citizens, therefore ruining the era of peace that they had worked so hard to bring forth:

So because of this he was very serious about ensuring the confidentiality of his activity. The problem was that Sasuke took this endeavour a little too far, because he completely closed himself from those who weren’t at the 5 Kage Summit, including his daughter, because he wanted to ensure their safety. But he didn’t anticipate the negative repercussions that would have on Sarada because he had mistakenly thought that Sakura would be all she needed.

As for why Sasuke and Sarada’s reunion turned out the way that it did, earlier in chapter 2, Sasuke was attacked by a mysterious individual. Initially, he sighed when he had noticed that he was being followed, and he didn’t take his opponent seriously. However, when Sasuke saw that mini Shin was wearing the Uchiha crest, he now had his undivided attention:

To make matters worse, Sasuke then noticed that this unknown individual also possessed the Sharingan:

So unsurprisingly, this caught Sasuke completely off guard, and he proceeded to ask who on earth this person was, to which he’d get no answer:

So obviously, after this encounter, Sasuke was now being as cautious as ever. Therefore, when he goes to his and Naruto’s supposed secret meeting place, only to be greeted by an individual who he noticed was not only was wearing the Uchiha crest:

But was also in possession of the Sharingan - just like the mysterious individual who attacked him in the forest:

This was the unfortunate, but unsurprising conclusion he’d reach.

All these factors, along with Sasuke now being highly vigilant, all pointed to Sarada being one of Shin’s comrades, which was what he initially presumed:

But after hearing her desperate cry for her father:

Sasuke realized that it was indeed his daughter, and he ceased his attack:

As soon as Naruto caught up with them, Sasuke immediately began interrogating him on why his daughter and her friend were here with them when he was meant to be coming alone:

This was not just because this was dangerous business which would put their lives in danger, but also because Sasuke’s actions were meant to be kept highly classified; exposing his activities to them would bring the risk of such information leaking to the village and causing pandemonium:

This was yet another instance where Sasuke demonstrated how seriously he took the preservation of his mission’s secrecy; he took it seriously to a fault, because it was this endeavour that essentially stopped him from realising that his absence would cause his daughter a lot of grief in the long run.

To be honest I agree that Sakura wasn't referring to herself being on Naruto and Sasuke's level, I just think she meant that now she didn't have to watch them fight from behind all the time because now she was strong enough to fight with them.

Yeah I definitely agree.

Literally the entire point of her speech in the first place was to illustrate her frustration that she was always being made to hide behind Naruto and Sasuke while they fought the battles for her. She even made it explicitly clear that after a while, she gave up on trying to catch up with them skill wise because that was practically impossible:

So right there, she made it very clear that she was not trying to catch up with them in terms of skill. So why would she then do a complete 180 and end up saying how she caught up to their level, when she had very explicitly said mere seconds earlier how that’s not what she was trying to do? It makes no sense.

Tsunade had clarified to her that a medic’s responsibility to not get killed wasn’t to be used as an excuse to being incapable of fighting on the front lines, and that’s all Sakura wanted to do; she wanted to be able to fight on the front lines with her team mates, rather than watch them from behind.

That’s why when she was finally back to back with Naruto and Sasuke, fighting alongside them, she thought about Tsunade and happily exclaimed that she had finally caught up to them, because she was finally fighting on the front lines with them, which was always what she had wanted to do in the first place; that was the entire point of her inner monologue:

It was never about catching up with them skill wise, which is why I just can’t agree with that interpretation because it doesn’t make any sense with the contents of her speech. And that’s not even taking into consideration how with all that Naruto and Sasuke were shown to be capable of by that point, Sakura’s skills in combat still weren’t portrayed as being comparable, at least not for me.