I like Hinata, any iteration, more than the person that ending fans think Sakura is supposed to be. Or rather whoever she was made out to be by Kishi and whoever wrote those ridiculous light novels? Like, was the Heaven and Earth bridge scene retconned? It wasn't, right? That did happen in canon. Yet many people exist who would claim that Sakura was a consistent character. A consistent fangirl garbage fire, but still, consistent. My question is, how is this possible? What is the interpretation of that scene that actually works for Kishi's purposes of selling out to NH? Hinata at least makes sense.
Sakura threw her very life up into the wind. There was no guarantee that she would survive. You could even say that it was likely that she would die. There was no reason to think that Kyuubi Naruto would just attack her once and stop. He could've beaten her to death. This would have actually been better than some alternatives, like her getting dosed with so much Kyuubi chakra that she'd burn from the inside out until there was nothing left. Which would be extremely painful (Bane: For Sakura.)
But let's say he does hit her only once. Who says she is gonna get hit on the arm? She could have gotten impaled. She could've gotten decapitated. She could have gotten mortally wounded in so many ways. And Sakura was the medic. No one else can heal her. They could very easily end up in a situation where she is incapacitated and every other member of the squad is just watching her slowly die. That would have been quite unpleasant also.
And yet this is apparently what happened. Right? She put herself into that situation, by choice, via an extremely, EXTREMELY irrational decision. And she made this decision to save a... little brother? A stupid friend who she generally finds annoying? Someone she doesn't even actually like, but is forced to be around? Because one or all of these is apparently the canonical Sakura's view of Naruto according to fans.
Let's keep something else in mind. Naruto's life wasn't even in danger. He was just very upset. And the Kyuubi thing naturally hurts him. He wasn't going to die. But Sakura is. To make him feel better. Okay! That's cool. Let's do that.
But now you're stuck. Now you have established something. You have established that Sakura values Naruto's happiness more so than she does her own life. Because she was willing to risk that life for a mere chance of saving the happiness of Naruto. This life of hers is an item with certain applications, such as saving Sasuke or being with/marrying Sasuke. Saving Sasuke or being with Sasuke has to be worth less than or equal to her life, not more, for obvious reasons. So Sasuke is worth less than her life, because she can't enjoy his presence if she's dead, and more than, I dunno, a bag of donuts.
Let's assume that marrying Sakura could have made Naruto happier. Is the canonical problem, then, that she simply didn't know this? Because I don't really see how else to possibly explain it. Naruto's happiness is at such a premium here, worth more than the man she loves, and apparently did marry. That you'd think she would at least offer up her hand in marriage to Naruto first, and ask "Would it make you happy to marry me?" and if he said "yes" then she would do so. I mean that's an entirely free action. There's no way it could hurt anything. Why not at least spend the time to try it? Since Naruto's happiness is related to Naruto, and Naruto expressed interest in being with her romantically, it's basically a certainty that she would consider the marriage of herself as an option to obtain the aforementioned. So given the choice between marrying Sasuke to be with Sasuke, valued at her life or less, or marrying Naruto to make him happy by being with him, valued at Naruto's happiness, or MORE, she chose to marry Sasuke.
The ending can only work after this scene if she was unaware of the potential that marrying him could have a positive effect on his happiness at all. Which given the storyline is entirely impossible. There isn't any risk in offering herself to Naruto romantically and the scene clearly establishes that she would do that 100 times out of 100 before marrying Sasuke. Because saving Sasuke is worth Sakura's life or less, and she can't marry Sasuke if she's dead, so marrying Sasuke is worth Sakura's life or less also. While the value of Naruto being happy is a value strictly greater than that of the life of Sakura or any lesser valued property, including Sasuke and the bag of donuts. An equally bad decision she could have made is killing Sasuke to obtain a bag of donuts. But if she did that, she'd at least have the donuts. This way she doesn't even have anything.
Naruto would have had to decline a proposal at some point. Because she was aware that Naruto was interested in her, therefore she has to offer herself in marriage to Naruto first to serve the greater priority of his happiness before she can avail herself to Sasuke. They needed to do that.
... They basically did do that. Maybe Kishi is a genius after all. But seriously, Sakura doesn't make sense. She was never clarified as being insane or schizophrenic. This is not the only example either. Hinata at least is consistent, she never risked her life for or blushed at Kiba, she only ever liked Naruto, and she won. She sucks, but I just can't feel anything when I think about her. I do feel something, namely great irritation, when people deny the very obvious motives behind the crap that Sakura did for him.
James: Wanting to get rid of the caged bird seal crap for her, now dead so she can be with the guy she likes, cousin?
Edited by DrK, 08 February 2018 - 11:44 PM.
