Kishimoto Reveals A Big Regret With Sakura Haruno 

Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto is a sensational story that fans love to this day and that goes without saying, given the massive success that it managed to achieve. There are many elements behind Naruto’s success, and one of the most significant ones is surely the dynamic of the main characters, specifically Naruto and Sasuke. Kishimoto may not have been a revolutionary in terms of creating certain dynamics, but he definitely set the bar incredibly high by developing these two characters the way that he did.

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However, in doing so, Kishimoto paid a heavy price, and that was the neglect other characters in Naruto faced as a consequence, especially the third member of Team 7, Sakura Haruno. In fact, this decision is something that Kishimoto himself regrets as well.

Kishimoto’s Focus On Naruto and Sasuke

• Kishimoto Started Naruto With A Spotlight On Everyone
• With Time, Naruto And Sasuke Became The Biggest Players

Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of the Naruto series, started the story in quite an exciting manner. In the early parts, Kishimoto did incredibly well to give all of his cast exciting moments, all the while maintaining the idea that some characters were destined for a better showing, such as Naruto and Sasuke. Fans got to see these two shine across the first few arcs, but this didn’t come at the cost of the side cast. Naruto’s first part, in particular, is known to have a phenomenal side cast, with each character having compelling causes of their own and fantastic stories to tell. As Naruto entered the Chunin Exams arc, something that Kishimoto had to come up with at the last minute, fans truly got to see how intriguing the side cast really was. Not only did fans get to see exciting villains who came to Konoha to take part in the exams, but at the same time, those within Konoha, as members of different teams, were equally impressive, if not more.

From the likes of Kurenai Yuhi’s Team 8 to Might Guy’s flashy Team Guy, fans got to see incredible characters putting on quite a show for them, all the while enjoying Naruto and Sasuke as the main stars of the show. As the story continued, this dynamic was maintained throughout the first part. Even in the Sasuke Retrieval arc, fans saw the side characters get ample attention, although this time around, Sakura wasn’t given the importance that she deserved. Nonetheless, this was a good sign as it simply meant that Kishimoto did not shy away from exploring his side cast and giving them important moments.

Sadly, with time, this changed greatly in the Naruto series, for one reason or another. As the story of Naruto continued, it became clear to the fans that Kishimoto only wanted Naruto and Sasuke to have the biggest of spotlights. This was especially true following the fall of Hidan and Kakuzu, and the more the story continued, the smaller the side cast’s importance got. Right up until the very end, Naruto and Sasuke remained the two focal points of the story, and while this definitely allowed Kishimoto to craft these two characters in a near-flawless manner, it saw the other characters pay a heavy price.

How Kishimoto Neglected Sakura Haruno

Sakura Haruno Was A Big Headache For Kishimoto

Right from the beginning, Kishimoto struggled to do justice to the character of Sakura Haruno. The author admittedly struggles to write great female characters, and it is no surprise that this happened with Sakura as well. Sakura, at the beginning of the story, was surprisingly weak for a ninja, and Kishimoto failed to give her as big moments as the other two. That said, she did show immense growth after her training in Tsunade.

Much to the surprise of the fans, Sakura was incredible in the very first major arc of the Part 2 of the story, where saving Gaara was the main focus. Not only did Sakura shine as a medic, but she also got to fight and defeat one of the members of the Akatsuki. From this moment onwards, however, Sakura got very little action for a main character, and that was certainly sad for the fans to see.

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So much so that Kishimoto himself regrets not focusing on her character more and doing her justice. Here’s what Kishimoto said about Sakura’s character recently:

Is there a character or a scene in Naruto that you wish you had explored further?

Kishimoto: “I would have liked to delve deeper into the character of Sakura Haruno. She’s the only one whose parents weren’t actually drawn. I should’ve talked about them earlier in the story, but I missed the chance. And it became too complicated to do so in the middle and at the end of the story. In the movie version, I showed her parents a little. But in the main story, I would’ve liked to develop a scene centered around Sakura’s family.”

Clearly, Kishimoto himself admits to the fact that Sakura was an underdeveloped character and most definitely an underwhelming female lead for the Naruto series, which is a shame since she had a lot of potential in her. Had Kishimoto incorporated her family into the plot and given Sakura more of a humanizing touch, along with developing her greatly in combat like Naruto and Sasuke, fans would’ve loved this character even more.

Would Sakura Have Made A Good Main Character?

Sakura Is A Phenomenal Character in Naruto

Despite the fact that Sakura wasn’t focused on as much in the story, fans know her to be a brilliant character. Sakura was the highlight for the fans on many occasions and her showings in the early story, especially around part 2, are moments that fans hold close to their hearts still. Kishimoto could’ve made a phenomenal character in Sakura the likes of which would’ve been talked about for years to come had been focused on her more. After all, Sakura was already equipped with all the tools to make her a shining star as a female character. Unfortunately, Kishimoto himself didn’t want to invest the required time into the character, leading to an eventual drop in her screen time as well as quality of her plotlines.

That said, there is still time for Kishimoto to make amends. Naruto will continue to have one-shots every now and then, and this was confirmed by Kishimoto himself. Giving Sakura a one-shot and focusing on her life would greatly make up for it and give fans just what they want. Hopefully, 2025 can give fans some more Naruto content, with more focus being on the likes of Sakura Haruno.

Naruto is available to read on the MangaPlus and the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.

Naruto

Release Date

October 3, 2002

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Number of Episodes

220

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix
, Crunchyroll
, Amazon Prime Video
, Peacock
, The Roku Channel
, Amazon Freevee
, Hulu
, Hoopla
, Pluto TV
, Tubi