ａｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎ
Information
Name: Sakura Haruno | 春野サクラ
Age: Sixteen
Gender: Female.
Series & Canon Point: Naruto; chapter 487.
Location: Casualty Communal; 6J.
Partner: N/A.
History: Here.
Personality:
❝I've always considered myself a true ninja. But those were just empty words, because
Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead! But now it's my turn to take the
lead, and all of you can watch me from the background!❞
In the beginning, In part one of the series, Sakura is first shown as being not exactly ninja material. She's well into playing her part as the generic teenage girl; seemingly only interested in nothing but having fun with her friends, chasing after boys, and enjoying a rivalry with her friend Ino for his affections. However, it's easy to see that her personality runs much deeper than just these surface assumptions.
While outwardly Sakura, at first, tries to be compliant and sweet (in order to win over Sasuke), she's quite the opposite on the inside. She had what was called 'Inner-Sakura', the stronger side of her personality that was always, mentally, much harsher than Sakura was outwardly; it was her way of expressing the ideas and thoughts that she, verbally, couldn't. She displayed her thoughts with Inner-Sakura without filtration and indulged herself in every possible fantasy with her. She felt as though she was meant to hold this part of her back, because of wanting to give a good appearance of herself to everyone else.
Starting out she might have been playing her role up in ninja society and within her group of friends, it's soon seen that Sakura has immeasurable potential once enrolled in the Academy. Sakura soon learns about loyalty and what her true priorities are, and what is really in her heart. Keeping her team mates safe, defending the village with everything they have -- she truly awakens her potential once she's with Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi.
❝Naruto's here because he's made up his mind... my resolve is nothing compared to his now!❞
Her resolve, in part one, is still a little less than solid, but definitely becomes cemented in part two. She isn't completely confident in herself or the choices she makes, but the budding ability to do something more is definitely within her. Spending a large majority of her time being defended by the others and standing on the sidelines, her true abilities of determination and desire to protect really start to awaken. She refused to stop watching their backs as they became stronger, and wanted to join them so she could take the lead as well.
Sakura holds high standards for herself, refusing to cheat during exams, and depending on only herself and what she knew to be right in order to succeed. There's also the undertone of caring all too much about what others truly think about her and how she presents herself. (Hence keeping Inner-Sakura as just that.) She has a high sense of morality and what she thinks is right or wrong, regardless of who is involved. However, this judgment is later a little bit more clouded when it comes to either Naruto or Sasuke because of her relationship with them both.
Truly shaping her personality begins to take place during the Chuunin Exams. We really get to see the focus she can have and how serious Sakura can be in dire situations. While she prides herself so much on appearances and how other people perceive her, she ends up cutting her hair off in order to save herself and her team mates. It's a true test for her that she flies through without a second thought. The loyalty to her friends and the need to protect them as they have protected her far outweighs any other priority in her life.
❝Didn't you know? Women have to be strong in order to survive!❞
In part two, Sakura has not regressed at all. Instead, she's fully grown into someone worth respecting and looking up to, retaining a great deal of the personality she grew into in part one.
Taken on as the Hokage's apprentice, Sakura has found that allowing a rather measured merge of herself with Inner-Sakura is acceptable, and allows the stronger side of her personality to be exposed at any given time. In the two years where Sakura was an apprentice to Tsunade, the Hokage became a definite role model for Sakura, and truly showed her how to become a strong and beautiful woman; that she can be more than just one thing or another. She wasn't bound to being the cute appearance of Sakura that she once portrayed, or just the strong side of Inner-Sakura. With that influence, Sakura was able to truly develop an idea of who she is and who she wants to be, finally able to accept and acknowledge her own strengths.
She's expanded on her desire to become stronger, and has done her best to deal with her feelings for Sasuke and get over them, as he defected from the village and betrayed everyone. (It doesn't work completely, but she does her best.)
Sakura becomes much calmer than she was two years prior, more collected. Her maturity extends far enough that even Inner-Sakura has completely disappeared, proving that she is much more comfortable with not only herself, but in voicing her opinions and thoughts as she pleases. However her short temper can still shine through, as can the rather affectionate violence she tends to display towards people like Naruto. She isn't opposed to a slap upside the head or punching them when the need arises. Learning to be the voice of reason, she plays the role well when Naruto returns to Konoha.
❝On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful! I understand that so well right now.
I have family, and I have friends but if you're gone... to me, it will be the same as being alone.❞
Defensive as ever, she has no problems sticking up for her friends -- especially her team mates. Her love and affection for them is endless, even after Sasuke's betrayal and absence from the village for two years. Her determination to bring him back did not wane in the years he was gone, either. If anything, they are the driving force in her life to become a better ninja and grow up in ways that others wouldn't know how to do. The memory of him and the desire to bring him home is part of what pushes her forward and makes her into the skilled nin that she is. While Sasuke is the main force, second only to that is her desire to protect everyone she cares about; Naruto, the rest of their friends, and Konoha as a whole. Her dedication to Konoha is never ending, much like her love and loyalty to Team 7.
Sakura has a great deal of hope and trust within her. As naive as that might be, a leftover remnant from who she was in part one, it's not something that she can easily brush off. Despite Sasuke's betrayal, for example, she still holds out hope that she and Naruto will be able to return him to the village, and will still trust him despite this. She goes up in a fight against him, knowing how much he's changed, but still has so much confidence in him that she ends up letting her guard down and almost dying. It's a difficult scenario for her, knowing where to stop the hope and trust that she places in others.
All that she truly wants out of life is to make others happy, protect her friends and her village, and successfully bring Sasuke home. The latter becomes less of an option over time, but it's an ever present ideal in the back of her mind. Continues to be a driving force for her. It isn't so much about succeeding anymore as it is about making Naruto happy again, about bringing Sasuke back to where she feels he truly belongs.
When Sasuke left the village in the first place, Sakura was the one to try and stop him; when she failed, she made Naruto promise to bring him back because she had failed at it. It's worth mentioning that a large basis of their relationship is built on Sakura having asked him to do this and how they both grow as people as a result. But Sakura grows, matures, and is no longer as passive as she used to be. She realizes that Naruto can't be held to that promise, and finally sees how much of a burden it was on him.
❝I don't want to get it wrong anymore... don't want to screw it up anymore.❞
Sakura's learned what it means to take ownership and responsibility for her choices and actions, and she certainly does that when trying to relieve Naruto of his suffering resulting from the promise. Because of this, she realizes that she's stopped depending on Naruto as much as she used to, and has realized how selfish she was in holding him to that promise. She goes so far as to make a pact with the other ninja in the village for the greater good of killing Sasuke for what he's done, despite how she still feels for him, but ultimately is unable to truly kill him because of the hope and confidence she still has in him.
Beyond everything, she cares about her team more than life itself, and does her best to convey that in everything she does, everything she learns, and all of the priorities and decisions she has and makes. Sakura is a girl that knows what she wants in life. Whether it was as a child wanting to run off into the sunset with Sasuke, or becoming a teenager and wishing to reunite her team into the happiness they once had. More than that, she is determined to achieve it at any cost. However, this also means that she isn't necessarily awake of her weaknesses that include her team; her emotions for them often cloud her judgment (fighting in situations where the outcome is bleak; going after Sasuke, charging after the Kyuubi, etc.) Her feelings cause her to be instinctual instead of logical, and yet in everything else she keeps a level head.
She has a strong will and is as stubborn as they come. Sakura wants what is best for her team, her family, friends, and for Konoha. Headstrong but down to Earth, she no longer knows what it means to give up on something when she sets her mind on it.
Weapon Form: Sakura's weapon form will become the forehead protector that she wears in canon. Red with a metal plate on it with the Konoha symbol engraved across it. It can be worn anywhere, and the length of the headband will change in accordance to where the Meister wears it. Her partial weapon form also derives from this; she can change any limb into a piece of fabric from the forehead protector and elongate or shorten it as needed.
This weapon form is fitting to Sakura because in her world, her forehead protector is the most important possible item that a ninja can own. It solidifies where they are from and who their loyalty is to. It is only given to a ninja when they are ready to graduate from the Academy. It contains a great deal of accomplishment and pride, and Sakura treasures hers very much. Not only because of having to work for it, but because of what it symbolizes in her home world.
Weapon Abilities:
1. Taijutsu; the most diverse move for Sakura's weapon form. The user will be granted knowledge of Sakura's taijutsu abilities and use them, channeling her strength and knowledge. Depending on the strength of the resonance will depend in the amount of strength they have and how much knowledge they are able to receive.
The more basic moves will be general offensive and defensive martial art moves. The most complex will be having super human strength with no effort. The technique is strong enough that if the strength is focused into one hand and punched into the ground, it would destroy any obstacle in its path and turn it to rubble.
Another technique that can be picked up on with stronger resonation will be her evasiveness; being able to read an opponent's movements, see which their dominant hand/foot is, or any weapon the enemy might have. By doing this, they'll be able to predict any movement the opponent might make and evade it without injury.
However all of this strength and knowledge will only be available to the highest possible resonation. The weaker the resonance, the less they will know and the less chance of the ability working.
2. Genjutsu; the Meister is able to either see through or break illusions, depending on the complexity of the illusion and the strength of the resonance.
3. Medical ninjutsu; the Meister will be able to gather energy from the resonance to heal themselves or others. The strength of the resonance will depend on how much healing can be done or for what type of injury. So if the resonance is weak, it can heal a few scrapes or a deep cut; for the strongest of resonances, it can have full use of Sakura's medical nin ability of being able to heal even fatal wounds. However, even with a strong resonation, the more intense wounds can only be healed a few times before both Sakura and the Meister will be too drained to continue.
Soul Appearance: Light pink, the same shade as her hair, with the Konoha symbol on the top of her head where her forehead protector would be. It will also have a white circle on her back, much like she does on her shirt.