11 replies to this topic

[Vyse]

I've noticed lately, how we have had some excellent (and some not so much) posts about Sakura's recent position in the story. The problem is that we have used the wrong threads for this discussion in my opinion, so I've decided to make the new home for the discussion about the question:

What will Sakura do if she meets Sasuke?

Before I start, do mind that character bashing of any kind is against the board rules, and keep your tempers to yourselves. I know some of you can get a little... passionate when debating Naruto-issues, but my fellow mods and I will not tolerate this going out of hand. Keep your temper down, and respect people's right to their own opinions. With that said, let's get to it shall we?

I'll start of with my view on the case. I think that the recent spoilers had some merit to them. Sakura doesn't strike me as the character to just kill off her feelings, but she's stubborn to a fault. To protect her image of Sasuke, as well as her feelings for Naruto and her friends, she tells herself that she needs to take responsibility. She tries to convince herself that she's strong enough mentally to kill Sasuke, and fight him with all she has, aiming to kill him. In my honest opinion, that's never going to happen. Sakura is too emotional, and she has not killed her feelings for Sasuke. Sure, they're not as strong as they used to be... she might not be IN love with him, but she cares greatly for him. He was her first love, and she was gunning for him for so long. She can't just throw that away... it's just not in her character.

I think that she will face Sasuke, dead set on ending him. She will fight him, but not be able to fight with everything she has. Yet, even with everything she has, I'm 100% sure she could not defeat Sasuke. The problem here lies with their teachers.

The three Sannin are all incredible shinobi, and few jounin would like to face either of them, as I believe most would have lost. From where I stand, I'd say the strength and legend of the three was because of one thing preached about in the manga alot: Teamwork. I think these three each had their strengths and weaknesses, but they filled each other's weaknesses by using team work. Take Orochimaru for instance. He was probably the best at ninjutsu out of the three, both when it comes to power and amount of jutsu. He dedicated himself to learning every jutsu in the world after all, so he couldn't have advertised this better if he tried. Jiraiya... well, I think Jiraiya was an even allrounder. He had few, but powerful jutsu, and he had mastered how to use them best, and he was probably the best close fighter of the three. In adition to his physical provess, he had his seal mastery and his spy network. Tsunade is a combat medic. Her incredible strength and perfect chacra control made her a force to be reckoned with, but compared to the other two, I'd say she was the weakest fighter. Her greatest strength is her medical abilities to heal more or less anything, and her ability to end fights quickly. We know that she has to hit her enemies to defeat them, and she can't take too many hits or waste chakra in a fight, as she'll be needed to heal her team after.

So the three sannin each has their successor.

Orochimaru taught Sasuke to be an efficient killer. Sasuke wanted power to kill Itachi, and to do that he would have to be better than Itachi at everything. He would need strong jutsu, he would need incredible taijutsu and he would need to master the art of genjutsu. So, he goes to Orochimaru, and he learns. I think Sasuke is the greatest overall shinobi of his generation at the moment. He's smart, strong, knows powerful jutsu and how to use them, and he's fast. He can react faster than most due to his bloodline, and that's worth more than all the gold in the world combined. He needs to be the faster enemy.

Naruto has learned from Jiraiya, whom I believe to be the strongest of the Sannin. If they all fought each other in their prime, I believe Jiraiya would have been the last one standing if he could bring himself to fight with everything he had. Like Jiraiya, Naruto has focused on how to use the jutsu he knows to the best of their abilities. Naruto can do things with his bunshin that no other person has ever done before, and his wast chakra pool is perfect for Jiraiya. Naruto's supply of chakra, his near limitless stamina and ability to take more punishment and stand back up than any other known fighter is what makes him able to stand up to Sasuke. Naruto refuses to lose, even against greater opponents.

Sakura was instructed in Tsunade's fighting style. Don't let yourself get hit... dodge every attack. That takes alot of stamina, and that's Naruto's strong point, not Sakura's. If she can't avoid fighting, attack head on or make sure to plan a successful attack, because she'll need to hit her opponent to defeat him or her. In a fight, Sakura needs to get in close, and she needs her attacks to connect.

That's the problem with this question for me, as I don't think Sakura will be able to defeat Sasuke, even if she really has killed off her feelings for the Uchiha. To me, Sakura would be like Trunks when he had trained with his father in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber before fighting imperfect Cell. Trunks came out with a level of Super Saiyan his father hadn't bother to achieve for himself, and that's the so called Ultra Saiyan. In this form, Trunks ki read stronger than Vegeta's power level, and it's been said that he was stronger than even the Super Saiyan 2-form. But for those of you who aren't familiar with the drawbacks, let me explain them to you. Trunks easily surpassed his limit in brute strength with this form, but this insane strength came at a price too steep; his speed. He was too slow to land a hit, even if landing a hit would probably ensure his victory against Cell. This is how I picture Sakura's fight against Sasuke as well. She could have defeated him if she could land hits on him, but with his Sharingan that probably won't happen. Sasuke has shown that he's incredibly fast, even before he left Konoha, it was said that he had gotten noticeably faster.

So if Sakura and Sasuke fights now, she will not be able to defeat him because of two things: her feelings for him that I refuse to believe is completely gone, and that she'd be too slow to fight him. She could make it interesting for a while, but Sasuke has so much power to hold back that I don't believe Sakura can handle. For instance, I'm completely sure Sakura would not be able to defeat Bee, yet Sasuke managed to (barely) defeat him.

I also believe Naruto isn't ready to fight Sasuke yet, as I do not believe he has had enough time to master the Sage chakra. If he could access it fast, it would most certainly help him in a fight against Sasuke, but I do not think he's ready just yet. It all depends on Sasuke really, as I'm unsure of what his plans are now. Kill the elders? Kill Danzou? Then what? Revive the clan? Where?

So that's my answer to the question. I do not believe Sasuke can be defeated yet, but the time will come when he'll be outclassed in a fight, but that fight will either be against Naruto alone as a rematch for VotE, or it will be a fight Vs. his former team as a whole. Three Vs. Sasuke (or just Naruto and Sakura working as a team... again with the team spirit and will of fire).

[Tsunade]

That's the problem with this question for me, as I don't think Sakura will be able to defeat Sasuke, even if she really has killed off her feelings for the Uchiha. To me, Sakura would be like Trunks when he had trained with his father in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber before fighting imperfect Cell. Trunks came out with a level of Super Saiyan his father hadn't bother to achieve for himself, and that's the so called Ultra Saiyan. In this form, Trunks ki read stronger than Vegeta's power level, and it's been said that he was stronger than even the Super Saiyan 2-form. But for those of you who aren't familiar with the drawbacks, let me explain them to you. Trunks easily surpassed his limit in brute strength with this form, but this insane strength came at a price too steep; his speed. He was too slow to land a hit, even if landing a hit would probably ensure his victory against Cell. This is how I picture Sakura's fight against Sasuke as well. She could have defeated him if she could land hits on him, but with his Sharingan that probably won't happen. Sasuke has shown that he's incredibly fast, even before he left Konoha, it was said that he had gotten noticeably faster.

BLOLOLOLOLOLOL....pure win RIGHT THAR. I mean I agree. >.>;

Ten bucks says she cries during the fight.

EDIT: OMG POST 1,234!!!!

Edited by Tsunade, 02 December 2009 - 03:27 AM.

[Derock]

Very good (long! XD) Post... but it should've stay in the spoilers thread, but we let that slide.

Anyways, I do agree, however, if she was really telling the truth of loving Naruto and abandoning her feelings for Sasuke (so this can shut the months up of our fandom because now its getting ridiculous), as I said this way back in 469, she has to prove it. Now if she going to fight Sasuke, she will have to give her all though she has to lose... but in this situation that many people might recognize during fight scenes:

Side character steps in to fight opponent, tries to give his/her all to win but eventually lose because the opponent may have the advantage, however side character fight long enough against the opponent which he/she loses health, stamina, speed, etc. before main hero arrive to finish the job...

(I think we saw this in Dragonball )

I really can see this situation happening if Kishimoto setting this up soon (right now, the upcoming fight is about 50-75% chance of happening). I still want a Team 7 fight (Naruto and Sakura tag-team/team battle Vs. Sasuke) though, it can happen but before the final battle comes.

[ciardha]

Vyse, the thing you're forgetting is Sakura is wisely not taking on Sasuke alone. Kiba's the biggest liability in the fight- he has no advantages over Sasuke other than Akamaru peeing on Sasuke and distracting him (Kiba's speed is actually listed in the databook as the same as Sasuke's- I'm betting that's only with a direct link with Akamaru though. Sakura actually shows more advantages than Kiba, she's more rounded in her abilities all around and she's smarter than Sasuke and her genjutsu level I'm betting is definitely strong enough to defeat any attempts of his (he's barely higher than her on genjutsu, she's the best fighter of the group on a genjutsu level, strong enough with her defensive ability to not be affected at all by the 30% Itachi clone, where even Kakashi started to go under.

Kiba's basically there to track Sasuke down and probably be a backup and distraction fighter, his stamina is no better than Sakura's, both in the lower range of average. (2.5) (and actually Itachi's stamina was on that level as well, so it's not as much a disadvantage as it might seem, especially for Sakura who can rigidly control her use of chakra, she did incredibly well against Sasori after all, and that was no short fight. Sakura also can extend her fight to medium range with a strong punch to the ground creating the equivalent of a localized 10 point earthquake, opening fissures in the ground. (And we saw with the fight with the Raikage that Sasuke does still have big problems with physically strong fighters- also Orochimaru's weakness, once Tsunade landed that punch Orochimaru lost. So you have both Lee and Sakura who can cause Sasuke lots of problems in that department, and Lee with speed and stamina to boot.

Lee by the databook, and I'd say proven in the manga, has the speed to fight Sasuke straight on, he's also still significantly physically stronger than Sasuke, and they have the same level of stamina. His weakness is going to be genjutsu, but Sasuke's no Itachi with his genjutsu abilities.

Then there's Sai, not as fast as Sasuke, but fast enough to block him we know. Sai's genjutsu ability is nearly as high as Sakura's and his intelligence is on the same level as Sasuke's, a bit lower than Sakura's, but Sai has worked as years as an assassin, he's a strong match against Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes are both his greatest advantage and his greatest weakness. He is already suffering the ill effects that only started causing Itachi problems after several years. Sasuke has way overused it.

I don't care in the least if how Sakura defeats Sasuke is through teamwork, sounds great, and would show off her intelligence as the leader of a fighting group. She picked a pretty good group to take on Sasuke, working together Sasuke's certainly not in for any easy fight.

Edited by ciardha, 02 December 2009 - 05:44 AM.

[Paradox Jast]

I think that bench scene is going to come back one final time.

Sakura is going to be holding back and losing to Sasuke, and inquire why he's being like this, if everything he said on the bench those years ago was true. Sasuke will have no idea what she's talking about, and tell her as much, perhaps even mentioning that he remembers being caught off guard and tied up by Naruto.

Something in Sakura will snap and come to a realization, and she will pull out all the stops.

I don't really see her 'beating' Sasuke, but she could likely inflict enough punishment for him to leave, probably saying something about fighting her doesn't mesh with his objectives, to which we see a now bitter Sakura mumbling something about 'I never was anywhere near one of your objectives, was I?'.

After that Sakura will confront Naruto about the bench, and then it will take the both of them to stop Sasuke.

[tricksie]

It is an interesting parallel for Sakura and Sasuke: Both of them have had their lives shaped by a persons who were not at all what they seemed.

Sasuke has discovered the "truth" about Itachi, that the one he hated so much was working to protect him.

Sakura does not yet know that the Sasuke she loved so much never existed.

This tragic parallel makes me think that there will be some tidying up of loose ends between Sakura and Sasuke, like returning to the bench scene.

[True]

Sakura vs. Karin.

The battlefield of love, with Sasuke as the spoils of war!!

[Derock]

Sakura vs. Karin.

The battlefield of love, with Sasuke as the spoils of war!!

Now you're gonna make things worse.

[ciardha]

Now you're gonna make things worse.

Sakura wanting Sasuke dead to save Naruto doesn't do much to support that either.

[Miss Soupy]

I don't even think Sakura will find Sasuke right now, but I guess that is besides the question

If she found him... Well, I hope Sakura has some kind of plan. While it's true she has a team with her, the focus is most noticeably on Sakura taking care of Sasuke herself, otherwise it seems anticlimactic to me. If Sakura found him soon, as in, Sasuke was still in the healing process, that would up her chances quite a bit. However, Sasuke heals pretty quickly, so if she can't find him right away, things look less and less likely that she will even do any damage to Sasuke.

I've seen some people mention that it seems like a suicide mission. I'm not sure if Sakura believes this or not; but I do think Sakura is smart enough to understand her odds against a member of Akatsuki (even if that member is Sasuke). That being said, I would guess Sakura would set up some sort of trap in order to use some kind of researched ability or tool. Just seems more like Sakura's style. So, I'm going to go with the theory of poisoning. Kishimoto might have showcased her as strong in this area on purpose. Not sure, but I think right now that is Sakura's best bet that would use some of her shown abilities. I don't think her normal smashy smashy will work. But poison...as long as Sasuke electrifying himself doesn't magically destroy poisons, then I think it might have a chance.

But...I don't feel like Sakura could ever really defeat Sasuke(at full power). But I do hope she could damage him in some way.

[James S Cassidy]

Sakura....is right about one thing. A female heart is complicated. Too complicated to even figure out straight forward.

Like I said, I want to see something great happen. I want to see Naruto and Sakura kiss at the right moment. I want to see Sasuke and Naruto duke it out to the very end. I want to see the final battle that become the climax moment of the series.

I have a feeling Sasuke is going to die and I see three possiblities
1. Naruto is going to kill him
2. Sakura is going to kill him.
3. He is going to self sacrifice when Madara comes after Naruto, possibly in a final redemption. Maybe he will see the light and his last act would be to save Naruto, but die in the process. I also forsee Karin dying as well next to Sasuke in a type of Romeo and Juliet thing.

I just wonder something. Naruto almost turned 9-tails when Hinata was thought to have been killed by Pain. I wonder what he is going to feel when his love Sakura will appear to have been killed by his best friend Sasuke?

I don't know about you guys, but Hinata and Pain have nothing against that situation.

Edited by James S Cassidy, 04 December 2009 - 09:41 AM.