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Sakura’s gradual acknowledgement of Naruto

People have always been saying that Sakura did not care for Naruto at all, but the truth is, she has been gradually acknowledging him ever since the beginning of the series.

At first it was just Naruto’s crush on Sakura, a girl who didn’t care about him in the least, and maybe even hated him. Sakura kept putting Naruto down and pining for Sasuke instead. Her opinion on Naruto was that he was a guy who didn’t understand her at all, and was just annoying. Although she hated him, we see in Episode 3 that Naruto is almost perfectly fit to be Sakura’s “dream Sasuke”, when he Henge-ed into Sasuke to get closer to Sakura. Sakura wanted Sasuke to complement her about her forehead, and Naruto-as-Sasuke did so in the exact words she wanted it. “You sure have a large, charming forehead. Makes me want to kiss it...”

At the same time, this is the scene wherein Naruto realized just why he liked Sakura so much. When Sakura uttered the words “All I want... is for you to acknowledge me,” he saw kindred spirits in them. They were two people who would do everything in their power for acknowledgement. Sakura, on the other hand, saw warmth in Sasuke because...he was actually Naruto. In a way, she fell deeper for Sasuke because of Naruto. Later on, the real Sasuke appeared and, much like Sakura to Naruto, insulted her and made her shrivel up. To me, this symbolizes why I am against SasuSaku. While Naruto has always made Sakura stronger, Sasuke made her weaker.

While Sakura hated Naruto in the beginning, there had been a lot of instances wherein she was starting to care for Naruto a lot.

When Kakashi got trapped in Zabuza’s water bubble and Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones left to rescue their teacher, Zabuza removed Naruto’s forehead protector. When Naruto got it back, Sakura was blushing fiercely saying “What’s this feeling...? Naruto is so...”

During the chuunin exams part 1 (the written tests), when the tenth question came up, she was faced with the possibility of Naruto failing permanently. She was thinking, “But that silly dream of yours... I don’t want to see it crushed.” She was willing to let her whole team fail in order to protect Naruto’s dream (I’m not entirely sure if she was doing Sasuke any favors there, since there weren’t any mention of him).

During the chuunin exams part 2, Sasuke was about to give up their scroll until Naruto snapped him out of his thoughts. Sakura told Sasuke that “Naruto may be an idiot, but at least he’s not a coward like you!”

After Sakura’s fight against Ino, Sakura told Naruto “Thanks. If it weren’t for you yelling like an idiot, I would’ve lost.”

In Naruto’s fight against Kiba, she was thinking “I used to make fun of those words, but I was wrong”. After that, she said “Naruto... Tell everyone...” and then Naruto finished her sentence by saying “Don’t underestimate me!” showing yet again how the two think alike. As explained in Episode 3, they are kindred spirits. Their personalities match well with one another (which will be explained in the ‘Naruto and Sakura’s relationship’ part).

In the chuunin exams part 3, Sakura was thinking “I’m kind of jealous of you. When I watch you fight, I feel like I have to do my best, and that is an incredible thing,” and later on in Naruto’s fight against Gaara, Sakura was Naruto’s motivation to win. For me, this is one of ‘The Great NaruSaku Qualities™’. They motivate each other, learn from each other, and grow stronger with one another. Following Sakura’s line, “that is an incredible thing.”

In Sasuke’s fight against Gaara, however, Sakura showed no cheering, no self-narration, none about Sasuke except for asking Kakashi about the Cursed Seal and probably being gloomy when Sasuke wouldn’t show up.

After the fight against Gaara, Sakura thanked Sasuke for defeating Gaara for her. Sasuke honestly told her that it was Naruto who did the job, and instead of being disappointed, she smiled for Naruto in a surprisingly warm way – a smile that she had never given anyone else. Not even Sasuke.

Sakura asked Naruto on a date later on, intending to tell him about the Sasuke. This one is noticeable. Sakura could’ve just told Naruto that she wanted to have a word with him privately, but no. She asked him out on a date. Although it doesn’t scream out “OMG SAKURA TOTALLY LURVES NARUTO!!!11”, it shows just how far their relationship had gone. Sakura was now comfortable with going out on a date with Naruto. And Naruto, in turn, didn’t go all “OMG SAKURA’S ASKING ME OUT!!!!” but instead took everything seriously as he could tell that Sakura had bad news. And when Naruto comforts her, she smiled truly. And nobody else could’ve made her smile like this in the time of her darkest.

Later on, Sakura went to see Team Shikamaru. Naruto tells Sakura that he understood her pain – the pain of loving someone who can’t love you back. Naruto looked sad, trying to smile because he didn’t want Sakura to cry anymore. Hugging herself, Sakura thought back to the early days of Episode 3, and realized how wrong she was. All of her first impressions of Naruto were washed away by this. When she thought Naruto was someone who didn’t understand her at first, she now realizes that he was the only one who really understood her. She thought that he was just annoying at first, when in fact he was one of the most trustworthy people of all. She said “Thank you!” with all sincerity and emotions. Because Naruto was no longer an annoying bugger, but an important friend. After that, Naruto made a promise that he’ll bring back Sasuke for Sakura, because he loved her enough that he would sacrifice his own happiness for her. He didn’t want her to feel his pain, because he could feel how much it hurt. He wanted her to be happy, even if it meant that she wouldn’t be with him.

When Naruto failed to bring back Sasuke, Sakura tried to act happily, even making jokes about Naruto “looking like a mummy”. She didn’t want Naruto to break down because of his failure, and she didn’t want him to overwork himself, all because of her. And so she tells him that it was okay that he didn’t fulfill his promise. She wanted him to stop. Yet Naruto persisted that he never backs down on a promise. There was no way she could prevent Naruto from going all out, and so the least she could do was look out for him. She asked Tsunade to make her an apprentice, and vowed that next time, she and Naruto were going together.

After two and a half years, Naruto came back after his training with Jiraiya. The first thing that Sakura asks is “How do I look? Have I become more womanly?” Then, when Naruto brushes off Konohamaru’s thoughts of performing the Sexy no Jutsu, she admired him for it, thinking that “More than just his height had grown........ Naruto, you’ve become an excellent man.” After that, Naruto says that he has a new ultra-perverted jutsu, and Sakura, still caught up in the moment of admiring him, says “Yeah, your new ultra-perverted jutsu...” Two seconds later, she comes to realizations and punches Naruto saying “Where the hell do you expect me to put the way I felt about you earlier?!”

Sakura then accepts a date from Naruto! It’s a big change, since this time they don’t really have important matters to discuss (Sasuke’s disappearance didn’t seem to matter at that moment). Sure, Naruto has to pay, but that’s how most dates go, isn’t it?

Fast forward to the later chapters, when they were traveling to Suna, Sakura found out that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. Sakura says that Naruto had gone through a lot, what with the business with Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. She vows that this time, she’ll save both Naruto and Sasuke. This is where we see that Sakura is no longer the Sasuke-tard we once knew. She now views Naruto and Sasuke as equally precious to her.

When Sakura found out that Naruto could die if his Kyuubi is removed, she cries for him. Naruto, thinking that she’s worried about Gaara, tells her that everything will be alright “because [he’ll] save Gaara.” Sakura says “I... Naruto... it’s you that I’m-” and was cut off by Naruto, who said “Let’s hurry!”

When Sai enters the story, Sai says to Sakura, “Sakura-san, it’s times like this that... Hmm... How should I put it... You’re very nice to Naruto-kun. Where those feelings come from is something I don’t understand, but in a book, it said this-” and then he got cut off by Naruto, who said “Everyone, it’s time to go.”

Later on, Naruto goes berserk. He goes into four-tailed Kyuubi mode after hearing Orochimaru badmouth Sasuke. Sakura looked at him with worry, feeling a combination of pity and guilt as Naruto was practically selling his soul trying to get Sasuke back. She didn’t want to see Naruto like this; going way out of his way. And as if her pity and guilt weren’t bad enough, Kabuto furthered her sentiment by saying “Look at him. He’ll even go as far as to take that form. Now even his sense of self has flickered away. What a sad kid.” It was then at that moment that Sakura’s emotions burst out as she recalled the old Naruto. The one who promised to bring back Sasuke. The one who said that he’d never take back his words, because that was his way of the ninja. Tears fell down on her face as she ran towards Naruto, trying to convince him to take it easy. Trying to tell him that things didn’t have to be like this. But Naruto was gone, and Kyuubi has taken over. He hit her with a tail, leaving Sakura on the ground, helpless.

Yamato had managed to seal the Kyuubi using the First Hokage’s power. Sakura wanted to learn how to use that technique. After finding out that she can’t, she said “It’s always like this... The things I can do for Naruto are so small.” Although Yamato had the whole Kyuubi thing covered, although she didn’t have to help, she wanted to do something for Naruto anyways. Because this was Naruto. The only one who understood her. The one who had always helped her. She didn’t want to just wait for other people to come and help. She wanted to do something for the man who had always stood by her side.

Yamato, with a reassuring smile, says “It’s not a matter of big or small. What’s important is the strength of feelings you have for Naruto. Sakura, I can tell by looking at you. In reality, you-”

...And was suddenly cut off by Naruto waking up.

So no, their relationship wasn’t always perfect. In fact, they started from scratch. Or considering Sakura’s apparent hatred for Naruto in the beginning, I’d say that they started from below scratch, just like the whole theme of the series. In the end, they became perfect for each other, just like Heaven and Earth. There were even some parts hinting that maybe, just maybe, Sakura really has grown to love Naruto.