A common complaint against SasuSaku is that Sakura is too subservient to Sasuke and becomes a doormat for him to walk all over. Many fans claim Sakura loses her vibrancy, spirit, and assertiveness around Sasuke, becoming compliant and subdued around him. I strongly disagree.

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I don't think Sakura becomes compliant or subservient around Sasuke at all (apart from her recurring self-confidence and low-esteem issues that crop up around everyone, not just Sasuke), nor does Sasuke reduce her character to a soulless doormat that he can walk all over. In fact I see the opposite. Sakura is usually at her best because of Sasuke, not in spite of him. Sasuke challenges Sakura to grow as a person, and her feelings for Sasuke bring out the best in her. Sasuke's influence on doesn't diminish Sakura; rather he enhances Sakura. Sasuke's influence, more than anyone else's, repeatedly inspired and pushed Sakura to become stronger and braver and taught her the importance of comradeship. Her love for him taught her compassion and empathy and he was the driving force that motivated her to become someone helpful to others.

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It was Sasuke's leadership and confidence that instilled the first seeds of teamwork and camaraderie in Sakura, as we saw in the bell test. Sasuke was the one who showed comradeship when he offered his lunch to Naruto. Before Sasuke's bold action, Sakura had been too afraid to break the mold and go against the rules. Even after Sasuke broke the rules by offering Naruto his lunch, Sakura still was afraid of going against established order.

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But Sakura's trust in Sasuke overrode her fear, and she chose to place her faith in Sasuke by following his lead and helping their third teammate. Left to her own devices, Sakura would never have passed the bell test because she would have never found the courage to break the rules on her own. It was Sasuke who pushed her to overcome her fear and share her lunch with Naruto. When they are busted by Kakashi, Sakura initially responds in terror:

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However, seeing Sasuke's resolve to stick by his decision to share his lunch with Naruto even in the face of their sensei's wrath inspired Sakura to boldness and courage, so much so that she joined Sasuke in standing up for their team: "The three of us are one!" Sakura was so powered up by Sasuke's boldness that she bravely declared Team 7 is a team that sticks together – a great show of team unity that had been nonexistent in Sakura earlier.

 

Sasuke's courage fueled Sakura's courage and he gave her strength and helped her to stand up for herself and her team, whereas without Sasuke she would have never have been so bold. This moment is important, as it is the first time Team 7 showed a semblance of unity, and it was Sasuke who taught this to Naruto and Sakura. Those two would have never figured it out without him. Sakura had shown she was too timid to go against orders for a teammate, and Naruto had selfishly pursued food on his own without any consideration for his other team members. Where Sakura and Naruto would've failed, Sasuke succeeded and showed them the way a true comrade should act. Through his actions, Sasuke taught Naruto and Sakura something important: he showed them how to prioritize one's comrades, even if it meant breaking the rules. Sasuke's action improved team cohesion because Sasuke proved he would protect and provide for his teammates first, even when it meant risking his personal career/goals and going against orders. That action inspired sparks of undying loyalty to Sasuke in Naruto and Sakura, and that loyalty and trust only grew over time.

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It was because of Sasuke that Sakura was inspired to stand up against Gaara to protect her teammate, which was Sakura's "Hinata vs. Pain" moment when Sakura interposed herself between an intimidating and powerful enemy to protect her beloved comrade. Sakura's will to stand in harm's way purely for the sake of her comrade shook even Gaara to the core: why would a shinobi do anything so selfless as stand up against an opponent they can't win against?

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Even though Sakura knew she couldn't defeat Gaara, she wasn't going to stand idly by and do nothing why Sasuke was killed. At that moment even Naruto had been scared into inaction, but Sakura found the courage within herself to stand up against an entity as powerful as Gaara, and it was because her feelings for her friend Sasuke became a powerful force that allowed her to override her fears.

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It's because of Sasuke that Sakura took her ninja training seriously and took the course of her career in her hands by doing the unexpected: asking the Hokage to be her sensei. Asking the village leader herself to be her teacher was a bold move and showed Sakura's resolve. At the beginning of Part I, Sakura treated her ninja career like a hobby, something she was doing for fun but had no real passion for. By the end of Part I, she chose to train under the Fifth Hokage, showing she's now serious about being a ninja and realizes how high the stakes of being a warrior are. Sakura's decision to train under Tsunade stemmed from the wish that she could save Sasuke, and also so that she could be useful to her teammates and become someone that could help and support them. Considering how many times Naruto and Sasuke were injured on the field and could've used a healer, it's not surprising that Sakura figured that becoming a medical ninja was the best way to support her teammates in the future (and considering how she later saved both of their lives several times in Shippuden and Boruto, her assumption was correct). Tsunade was a tough and relentless teacher; the series even says that Sakura suffered broken bones and other painful injuries under Tsunade's training.

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In case you aren't able to read between the lines: no girl would endure that kind of grueling training for a shallow crush. But a girl would endure it for a friend they truly loved and wanted to protect. In the beginning of the series, Sakura hadn't shown nearly so much resolve to undergo such grueling training, yet later on her resolution to become someone who could help Naruto and Sasuke propelled her through the training that led to her later success as a ninja. It was Sasuke's influence on her life that caused her to change and mature in areas where she otherwise would have remained shallow and not taken things seriously.

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Sasuke influenced Sakura to take risks and do adventurous, daring things in order to help save him from Orochimaru, such as sneaking outside of the village and digging into information about Sasuke's past.

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Again, this displays a surprising amount of boldness and initiative from Sakura, because previously she would have never broken the rules. Yet now she has her own goals and isn't afraid to bend the rules some to achieve them. And it's impressive that despite the village of Konoha searching for Orochimaru's or Sasuke's location for years, the first person to get intel on Orochimaru's location was Sakura, who had a considerably smaller network and fewer resources than some of the adult ninja of her village would have. Yet because of her boldness and assertiveness in seeking answers about Sasuke's location, Sakura was the first person to get information on Sasuke's location.

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Sasuke influences Sakura to push herself to her limits and to work harder. Some of her boldest moments come from her resolve to protect Sasuke, such as her pushing her beyond her limits to save Sasuke from Kaguya's desert dimension, or when she pulverized Shin for daring to attack her husband and daughter, or the fact that she decided to become a medical ninja in the first place.

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So I don't believe that Sasuke flattens Sakura's character and subdues her and turns her into a subservient fangirl. From what I see, it's the opposite. Sasuke inspires her to be stronger and to push herself harder, just like how Sasuke inspired Naruto to train and work harder. Sasuke's influence gives Sakura the courage to take risks and do things that she wouldn't have the willpower to do on her own.

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Sakura had self-confidence issues around everyone and these eventually emerge around Sasuke too. I can't think of an incident that Sasuke ever shut Sakura down with his criticism so badly that it completely shattered her confidence or resolve to keep trying. After all, Sakura never gave up on helping him, and she still held on to the hope that they would be friends again one day, no matter how bad the state of their relationship appeared to be. Sakura never gave up on trying to be a ninja either, even after being exposed to intensely dangerous and traumatic situations, several of them courtesy of Sasuke. Even when Sasuke criticized Sakura, at least some of the time his critiques were constructive criticism that Sakura needed to hear to improve herself. And Sakura would listen to Sasuke because she respected and admired him.

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Sasuke doesn't just inspire Sakura as a warrior, but on a personal level as well. Sasuke's influence on Sakura helps her to become a kinder, gentler, and more empathetic person while maintaining her warrior's ferocity, personal boldness, and spirited nature, and Sasuke pushes her to grow in her independence and to be more mature and sensitive to those around her. Sasuke's influence seems to have pulled out the more substantial, thoughtful, and considerate aspects of Sakura's character as well. Certainly we see a calmer, gentler, and loving side emerge from Sakura when she is around Sasuke. And Sasuke is the same. Most people tend to think of Sasuke as ferocious, and a recklessly bold, courageous warrior, but around Sakura, a completely different side of him emerges, his gentler, softer side, virtually unseen outside of his interaction with his wife or daughter.

 

I know a specific scene that receives criticism for when Sakura appeared cowed in Sasuke's presence, which some fans take to be a sign of her losing her usual vibrancy and spirit around Sasuke, the moment when Sasuke tells Sakura to be quiet after the Infinite Tsukuyomi activates.

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Certainly it was rude behavior from Sasuke, but it wasn't as personal an attack as fans make it out to be. Sasuke told Sakura there was nothing she could do presently and told her to shut up since she didn't have anything to contribute. Then he told Kakashi the exact same thing.

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At the time, Sasuke was only interested in Naruto because he knew that Naruto and he were both equally necessary to save the world and he needed Naruto if everyone were going to survive beyond that night. Sasuke knew that Naruto was necessary to survival, but he was convinced that everyone else was extraneous and expendable (ironic that Sakura later ends up proving him wrong when she goes on to save Sasuke's life only a few minutes later). Fans complain about Sakura being too subservient in this scene, but I don't find that to be the case. It's more of a case of Sasuke was right: Sakura didn't have any ideas or strategies to add on how to defeat Madara. While people may hate Sakura for being so easily chastised, Kakashi responded the exact same way that Sakura did: he admitted he was useless and deferred to Sasuke as leader. The only difference was that Sakura's response was silent and internal whereas Kakashi vocalized his feelings, making his response external.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funnily enough, fans probably think Kakashi is cool and humble for admitting he's useless and deferring leadership to Sasuke, but when Sakura does the same, it's pathetic and weak. I bet if Kakashi's lines were changed to be Sakura's lines and Kakashi was the one who was silent while Sakura verbally deferred to Sasuke's leadership, fans would relentlessly make fun of Sakura for acknowledging her limitations and mock her for always sucking up to Sasuke, since the fandom loves to use double standards wherever Sakura is concerned - but I digress.

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Aside from that moment, I don't know which scenes fans get the "Sakura is totally subdued and suppressed around Sasuke" narrative from, when Sakura had no trouble being straight to the point with her feelings for Sasuke, even more so than she was around other people. I actually think that Sakura is more genuine and expressive with Sasuke than she is with other people. Unlike with Naruto, who she gets flustered around and punches whenever she admits something more personal than she wanted to, Sakura has no such reservations with Sasuke. She is okay with spilling her feelings and heart out to Sasuke, which displays a higher level of confidence when she's around Sasuke than around anyone else, since sharing your deepest and truest feelings with someone else is a hard thing to do and takes a lot of courage. I fail to see how Sakura is a submissive doormat for Sasuke when she repeatedly told Sasuke how she was feeling.

 

She was public about her crush on him, and she had no reservations about openly flirting with Sasuke (everyone knew Sakura had a thing for Sasuke, including Sasuke, so she was obviously not shy about expressing her dreams and goals around Sasuke).

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In the Forest of Death, Sakura had no problems with voicing when she disagreed with him or thought he was being unfairly harsh:

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Sakura had no reservations with calling Sasuke a coward to his face, telling Sasuke that even Naruto was braver than he was (and she showed little sympathy for Sasuke being terrified out of his mind in that moment) in the Forest of Death.

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When Sasuke directly told her to shut up, Sakura wasn't cowed but continued to speak her mind.

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She tried going against Sasuke's will by trying to get him knocked out of the chunnin exams (though Sasuke physically stopped her):

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She gets angry at him:

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As adults, she has no problem pouring out her anxieties and worries to her husband.

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From what I've seen, Sakura has the normal range of emotions around Sasuke. Actually, I would say more, judging from how Sakura is more open around Sasuke than around other people, and the negative too, not just the positive.

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I think what people misname as subdued is actually Sakura being mature. Since Sakura has a whimsical, fun-loving side, fans are perhaps drawn to the fun, comedic vibe Naruto and Sakura have when they're together. While that's all fun and games – a lot of times that's all it is: fun and games. While most fans seem to think that Sakura deserves a fun, cheerful, optimistic spouse like Naruto, I don't think that's what Sakura wanted. I think she wanted someone she could be serious and real with, not just someone who was constantly messing around and joking around with her. Sure, that's a fun platonic friendship for Sakura and Naruto is one of her dearest and closest friends, but with her romantic relationship, Sakura wanted something deeper and more mature, which is why she was drawn more to the serious and introspective Sasuke more so than the cheerful and light-hearted Naruto. Naruto and Sakura's relationship lacked the depth and gravity that SasuSaku has. Certainly Sakura loved both her teammates dearly, but Naruto was more of a brother figure to her. Sakura has a fun-loving side, but she has a side that longs for emotional depth, maturity, and sensitivity too. While Naruto is very serious and sensitive, it's a side of himself he tends to hide away and he keeps that deeper, vulnerable, and sensitive side locked away almost entirely from Sakura; it's an aspect of himself that he never shares with her. Meanwhile, Sasuke was able to be deep, vulnerable, and serious with Sakura, whereas Naruto kept his relationship with Sakura fairly surface-level because he never seemed able to trust Sakura enough to open himself up to her emotionally. While Naruto has an introspective and thoughtful depth to him, Sakura was never allowed to see that side of him much because Naruto tended to keep her at arm's length, emotionally speaking. Ironically, this is perhaps one of the main reasons that Sasuke ended up with Sakura in the end, because Sasuke was able to be serious and deep with Sakura in a way that Naruto never seemed able to.

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Also, fans act like Sasuke is the cause of Sakura's low-esteem issues and the sole source of Sakura's tendency to doubt herself. But Sakura had these self-confidence issues well before Sasuke ever entered the picture. Her struggle with low self-esteem stems from her being bullied as a kid and from lack of familial support. Her parents seemed average but appallingly uninvolved with Sakura throughout her life, never offering support or advice for what she was going through (which is why they never show up once in the manga, and even in the anime their appearances were sparse to the point of being near nonexistent). Sasuke isn't the cause of Sakura's low-esteem problem and he's actually one of the only people who helps her rise above that emotional struggles. Naruto, Tsunade, and occasionally Ino or Shizune are the others who helped her overcome her struggle with low self-esteem. Everyone else didn't care.

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As for the fans who claim Sakura doesn't have an identity outside of Sasuke...don't be ridiculous. She has tons of aspects to her identity outside of Sasuke.

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She is a doctor and a highly respected medical ninja.

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She is in charge of Konoha's medical care.

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She is a powerful warrior.

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She is a member of Team 7.

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She is a member of the Konoha 11.

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She's a war hero who helped win the Fourth Great Ninja War.

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She helped defeat the Akatsuki.

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She is the Fifth Hokage's student.

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She is Naruto's close friend.

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She is Ino's best friend.

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She is Sarada's mom.

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And the list goes on.

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Sakura has a lot to her identity, and Sasuke is merely one part of who she is. Yes, her relationship to Sasuke is one of her most defining and influential identity relationships, since she chooses to make her team her family and her two teammates Naruto and Sasuke became the most important people in her life.

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Maybe nitpicky naysayers will think that it's lame that Sakura's identity as a medical ninja and many of her other accomplishments and standout moments were caused because of Sasuke. I, however, think that's great. I'd rather have a character be motivated to do something by their friend than be motivated by doing things to prove themselves to everyone or show how great they are via their personal achievements. I'd rather have Sakura be motivated to become a medical ninja because she wants to help and protect her friends then see her motivated by wanting to prove herself to nameless others. Sure, that's not a bad motivation either, but I prefer the I-want-to-save-a-friend motivation to the I-want-praise-and-recognition-for-how-great-I-am-because-of-how-hard-I-worked. That is precisely why I like Naruto's character significantly better after Sasuke desserts, because it causes drastic changes in Naruto's personality and Naruto moves from the latter motivation to the former, and he becomes a much better person because of it. Some may have a problem with people being motivated by their loved ones, and if that's you, okay, but not everyone feels that way and I think it's inspiring when people are motivated to work harder and be better for someone they care about.

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I've noticed Naruto fans at times have a weird repulsion to characters being inspired by romance. So many Naruto fans seem to hate a character doing anything inspired by their love interest. When Pain is motivated to carry out his plans by Yahiko's death (a platonic friendship), fans talk about how awesome and intelligent of a character Pain is. But when Obito is motivated to carry out his plans by Rin's death (a romantic friendship), everyone criticizes how pathetic it is that Obito started a war over some girl. Team 7 falls under this same criticism. If Naruto goes the distance and makes tons of sacrifices for Sasuke, it's a deep relationship and noble pursuit on Naruto's part (as a platonic friendship), but if Sakura goes the distance and makes a ton of personal sacrifices for Sasuke, it's a cheap relationship and a pathetic pursuit on Sakura's part (as a romantic friendship). Naruto fans have this weird aversion to romantic relationships, like they are somehow lesser (yet simultaneously greater) than other relationships. A character wants to do something for a platonic friend? Cool. A character wants to do something for a love interest? Pathetic. At least that's the way Naruto fans act, and it's bizarre, and I'm not sure where the hatred and aversion to being inspired by romantic feelings comes from amongst the Naruto fanbase. Other (dare I say more normal?) fanbases don't have a problem with characters being inspired and motivated to do things for the person they romantically love, even when it comes to harming themselves, like Star Wars, Orange, Tokyo Ghoul, The Hunger Games, etc. I could understand it if Sakura never did anything ever not motivated by Sasuke, but she clearly is motivated by many other things and people in her life, not just Sasuke.

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A lot of Sakura's identity was shaped and influenced by Sasuke, but so what? The people around us help shape us into the people we are and help us to grow and better ourselves, and that's a good thing. Naruto wouldn't be Naruto without Sasuke's friendship and influence in his life. Naruto would be drastically different to the point of being basically unrecognizable without Sasuke in his life. Conversely Sasuke is heavily shaped by Naruto's and Itachi's influence (he wouldn't be the same person either without his two brothers' influences). If you have a problem with best friends shaping, influencing, and motivating Sakura, then you're probably just not going to like Naruto, Sasuke, or any of their relationships, and Team 7 isn't for you.

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In any case, Sakura isn't completely helpless and reliant on Sasuke, despite the claims that she always needed Sasuke to rescue her.

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Really?

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That must be why Sasuke didn't need Sakura to stop his curse mark rampage to get a grip on himself:

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Unconscious Sasuke clearly didn't need Sakura to save his fall:

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Certainly Sasuke had a plan to get out of the desert dimension without Sakura's and Obito's help, he was just stalling for...well, reasons:

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Sasuke definitely could have fixed his chakra anytime in the Urashiki arc, he was just messing around because Sasuke's obviously the undisciplined type who doesn't take his work seriously:

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I wonder why Sasuke traveled across an entire dimension straight to Sakura's feet if he didn't need her help? Hmmm...what a mystery.

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True, Sakura relied on Sasuke's protection more than the other way around, but Sakura has helped Sasuke out of some tight spots and saved his life multiple times too

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