Sakura is one of my favorite female characters from an anime, manga, or video game; quite possibly my very favorite. I tend to like characters I can relate to, or see some of myself in, and she's no different. I liked her from the very beginning, but she matures and grows so much as the story goes along, you just have to like her even more. Or end up liking her, for those who didn't in the first place. :P She may come off as somewhat spoiled at first, mostly through the conversation she had with Sasuke about how lucky Naruto is to not have parents, but I personally don't think she ever was. If anything, she was naive, but she quickly grows out of that. Sakura had a rough time when she was younger. No she wasn't nearly killed or anything quite so traumatizing, but being picked on can deeply hurt someone, and it's a very realistic problem. So she has her weaknesses, like lack of confidence in her looks or romantic attachments, but she also has her strengths. She's the kind of person who won't take crap from anyone else, and she'll stand up for her friends when they need her. She's a realistic character, with faults and high points. That's part of why I like her.

Sakura get's a great deal of respect from me for being incredibly strong. Don't laugh, she is. She may be the weakest of the trio in terms of physical strength, but emotional strength? She's way up there. Of course, both Naruto and Sasuke have incredible amounts of emotional strength also, but I guess the way I see Sakura dealing with her issues is what gains my respect.

Let's start with her feelings for Sasuke. Girls get crushes on boys, that's just the way it is, especially when we're talking about a younger age. It was obvious that Sakura always thought about romance, a lot more than her training, but I'm sure she realized she was doing that. When you really care for someone it's hard to not let that take over your mind, it becomes your top priority. I'm sure Sakura knew she should've been training, but she probably couldn't help having her thoughts dwindle off. Deep down there's probably some guilt because of that fact, you can pretty much gather that also, from the scene when she cuts off her hair. She felt guilty, she felt weak, she finally realized she really had to push aside the emotional part and focus more on fighting. She knows she should've been doing that the whole time. Anyone would feel some guilt over that.

Her feelings even caused her to lose her best friend. Sakura did push Ino away, and you never really know why. Of course, obviously they would be rivals for Sasuke's feelings, but there's never any indepth information on how Sakura felt about it. They both remain friends even after the fact that they proclaimed the other to be their rival, it's obvious that there isn't any real hate there, so why push away your best friend? Here's where my theory comes in. If the two had remained friends, just playfully competing with eachother, and one of them had actually succeeded in stealing Sasuke's heart, what would happen? The "loser" would feel horrible. Probably become bitter towards the other, and feel like they were betrayed. By declaring Ino her rival, Sakura stopped this from happening. If one of the two wins his heart now, there will still be those angry feelings, but they'll be downplayed and less harmful. They won't be able to feel betrayed, because they already stated it was a fight for him. It would end with a broken heart, but they couldn't say the other cheated, or that they were abandoned. To do that, thinking of the best solution, shows Sakura uses her emotions with her brains. She manages to think with her heart, but not get too carried away.

Now, going back to just Sasuke. Sakura's feelings for him started out as just a crush, but they've turned into so much more. I think she cares for him more than anyone else, especially more than the other females. Sakura's feelings run incredibly deep, unlike the drooling fangirls that the rest of them are. Having these feelings would be utterly hard on her, even if she doesn't show it. As I've said earlier, not being able to take your focus away from romance, has to really affect her. When you've fallen that hard for someone, you'll want to devote your time to them. It's just your natural instinct. If you don't it will drive you mad. Sakura would be torn between following her heart, and doing what she really has to.

She wants to succeed, she wants to be as good as her companions, but there will always be that part of her that's taken over by emotion. It will manage to keep her from devoting all her time to training. That's a lot of stress to be under. Then, while she has this internal conflict going on, she has to watch out for her friends. Sakura has to try to have each part of her work together, the lover, the mother, and the fighter. The fact that she can balance them as well as she does is really amazing. Sure, she may let one part take over sometimes, but that's human nature. No one is perfect. Sakura manages to handle everything going on inside her, and still think rather clearly. She doesn't let the inner commotion consume her, and that's what helps her grow. She's constantly changing, even if it's hard for her. When the change is rather forced upon her, that makes it even worse. When she realized that she wasn't there for Naruto and Sasuke, when the fight had come down to her, the fact that she needed to grow was pushed upon her. She went with the flow though, and did what she had to.

To endure everything that she does takes a lot of strength. To change yourself is hard. Especially when you're changing yourself because you've compared yourself to others. Sakura goes through a lot because she knows that she's not as strong as Naruto or Sasuke. Anyone should know that being compared to someone else is one of the worst things, especially when they're being placed above you. When you're making yourself go through that, it's harder to ignore, obviously. I just find it rather amazing that Sakura can balance her feelings, think clearly, and go through so much stress, and yet still manage to beat it all and come out on top. She's an incredible character, but yet still so very human.