Celebrating Sakura's Best Moments For Her Birthday

Riley Hutchins

03/28/2017 12:40 pm EDT

Today is one of Naruto's most controversial characters birthday, Sakura Haruno. The pink haired protagonist is hated by some fans, and loved by others. There are strong opinions on both sides of the spectrum about whether she is a good character or not. But regardless, today is Sakura's birthday, and the influential character deserves to be celebrated.

Sakura was born a single child of Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, unlike Naruto and Sasuke, she had a normal childhood with no tragedy. She entered the Ninja Academy, and like most maturing kids, had many insecurities and was bullied. That is until she became best friends with a classmate name Ino who taught her to be more secure and showed her the ropes. But Sakura felt that she was living in Ino's Shadow instead of being her own strong person. The relationship with Ino was abruptly cut off however when Sakura started to grow strong feelings towards another fellow classmate Sasuke. Both of the girls had a crush on Sasuke and so they grew to resent each other and became rivals.

At first Sakura as insecure, and generally weak at the beginning of the show, carried in fights and training by her team (Naruto and Sasuke). But as the show progress she starts to grow in many ways, not only in her personality and really finding herself as a person, but also as a strong ninja. Being one of the most book smart of Team 7, she uses her brain and medical Ninjutsu to help the team throughout the series.

To celebrate Sakura's birthday we are going to take a look at some of Sakura's best moments in the Naruto Franchise, just click start slide show below:

When Sakura cuts her hair

Sakura cutting her hair is her pivot from the "annoying" fan girl that she gets a bad rap for, to a strong ninja. It stood as a symbol of her growing up, no longer doing things for approval, but rather taking a step toward being a stronger independent ninja. As she cuts her hair she states that she is done letting people fight her own battles, and this moment is one of the first times we see Sakura in this new light.

Saving Naruto with CPR

When the Nine-Tails is extracted from Naruto, his life is threatened. Unlike other times when it seems Sakura is focused and calm in the face of injury, Sakura is visibly shaken, and afraid when she sees Naruto in real danger. Regardless she attempts to heal him with just chakra, when that fails she pumps his heart with her bare hands and gives him CPR. This moment not only is impressive because of her actions but also heart warming because she attempts to use her own chakra to save Naruto. This is an intense and heart felt moment and we are all thankful that Sakura is able to save our favorite hero.

Getting the Byakugou seal

Sakura gets her own power up moment as a purple diamond seal appears on her forehead, that matches her master Uzumaki Mito's seal. This is important, because the build up to this moment showed fans how hard it was to obtain the seal. In order for one to obtain the legendary seal, the ninja must have near perfect control of their own chakra. This seal on her forehead signifies the mastery of chakra control, but it is also a signal of strength among other ninjas.The Byakugou seal completely heals the user of their injuries, and keeps their ageing skin to a minimum, so she is going to look young for the rest of her life.

Fighting and beating the puppet master

Sakura is usually shown as a good ally, but her fighting in never really showcased. That is until she takes on Sasori, The Puppet Master, essentially alone. This is the first time we see her take on an opponent head on without the help of Naruto and Sasuke. Sasori comments on Sakura's strength and determination multiple times throughout the fight, and even takes on Sasori's extremely lethal techniques. This is a big deal because Sasuke was able to defeat a Akatsuki member, a feat that Naruto had not even achieved at the time. This fight was proof that Sakura was a true ninja, and was not to be underestimated.

Making an antidote to a mysterious poison

This moment truly showed off Sakura's new skills as she ties up her hair and combines ingredients to make a antidote to save Kankuro. It is so impressive because the poison that was affecting Kankuro was unknown and yet Sakura handled the situation calmly and healed him, creating an antidote with just a few questions. We not only see Sakura's brains in this situation, but her calm during a crisis was also impressive.

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