#kakashi hiden

[uchiha-itachi-amaterasu]

Kakashi Hiden — Hyōten no Ikazuchi

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky

[asiriyep]

Rarepair Event 2025.

Day 15: Fun in the sun.

She's Kahyo, a character who appears in Kakashi Hiden. A lot happens in that novel, it's amazing.

@narutorarepaireventhub

[primnroses]

— Sakura Haruno/Uchiha in the Naruto novels:

The information presented in this post has been checked and revised. My aim is not to hate or to discredit any of the characters mentioned. Please read about me for further information.

This post will contain evidence in picture format directly from the novels published by Shueisha in 2015 - 2019. 

This informative post will explain the roles that Sakura Haruno/Sakura Uchiha has fulfilled in each novel. Please consider that I will be giving a summary of each novel, so if you want to read the full work you can purchase each novel online or your local bookstore. Remember that due to Tumblr's image limit, I won't be able to upload every screenshot from the novels.

This meta is crossposted in AO3. Please read here for the complete information.

I give my permission to use or share this thread with informative purposes as long as you credit me.

I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. Furthermore, these fillers include some actions that these characters are unable to do in the canon according to official sources and they also generate unnecessary debate.

Please, take this into consideration.

The Naruto light novels are a series of light novel projects launched by Shueisha and VJump that tell the story of one or more characters who are commonly used as protagonists. Each novel explores a story set between chapter 699 of Naruto and an uncertain point in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 

The novels are written by different authors and all illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, who is also credited as the creator. Each novel occupies a space within the official Naruto timeline. 

Complete timeline of Naruto and Boruto.

The Naruto novels are often overlooked and surrounded in mystery as some of them never received a proper and fair adaptation into the anime, with only a few making their way into Naruto Shippūden and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations with a much shortened version of the full work and omitting key characters from each. 

Despite light novels making their way into many universes in the world on animanga as one of the methods to flesh out blank parts of the story or characters, many fans reject the written format.

Usually, non-readers who have had access to information about their contents, more than once find incomplete or erroneous summaries or explanations. Some of these novels have also not been translated to English, which contributes to the lack of public knowledge about them outside Japan or the correct version of the story.

Many others consider that these novels are not canon and reject them despite being officially part of the universe because they’re not written by Masashi Kishimoto, instead being written by people affiliated with the franchise whose story has been approved by the editorial. 

Although people are free to believe what they want, without novels, a lot of material from the anime wouldn’t exist, as well as any potential sequel. The only projects written by Masashi Kishimoto are Naruto, Naruto Gaiden and Boruto: Naruto the Movie, as well as the recent prequel Minato Gaiden. 

Nonetheless, Masashi Kishimoto does offer his ideas and is in contact with the many writers and illustrators that write content for the franchise. 

Despite differences of opinions, all novels are canon, although the concept of “canon” doesn’t exist in Japan. Novels, as well as mangas and other movies are all written to follow the original work of Naruto, so they are all a spin-off. 

A spin-off is a piece of media created based on an earlier work or an original work to act as its prequel or sequel. For example, Naruto Gaiden is a spin-off of Naruto despite being written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto himself, as it’s all Boruto material and the light novels. 

A spin-off isn’t the same as filler. 

The Naruto novels are divided in four installments: 

Naruto Hiden (NARUTO -ナルト- 秘伝) published in 2015.

Naruto Shinden (NARUTO -ナルト- 真伝) published in 2015.

Naruto Shinden (NARUTO -ナルト- ナルト新伝) published in 2018.

Naruto Retsuden (NARUTO -ナルト- 烈伝) published in 2019.

Sakura Haruno/Sakura Uchiha is mentioned in almost every novel and plays a big role in the majority of them. 

Naruto Hiden (NARUTO -ナルト- 秘伝) is a series released in 2015 that was part of the first Naruto Project in commemoration of the manga’s 15th anniversary. The project has six different novels released between February and July of 2015 written by different authors.

The time chosen for the stories lies between Naruto chapter 699 and 700, a period known as Blank Period.

The Blank Period is the official young adulthood era of Naruto. It’s one of the fan favorite periods and it contains some of the most popular and preferred designs of the main characters. Because Naruto suffered an abrupt timeskip of 15 years from chapter 699 to 700, many fans aren’t privy to what happens in that time frame, so the novels offer a very interesting perspective into the lives of the main characters.

The Hiden novels contain six stories about some of the most beloved characters: Kakashi Hiden, Shikamaru Hiden, Sakura Hiden, Konoha Hiden, Gaara Hiden and Akatsuki Hiden, all published in chronological order. 

Two of these were adapted by Studio Pierrot.

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KAKASHI HIDEN:

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky (カカシ秘伝 氷天の雷) or Kakashi's Story: Lightning in the Frozen Sky is a novel written by Akira Higashiyama and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on February 4th, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the “hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Kakashi’s Story was the first novel to be published. It focuses on Kakashi Hatake, the jōnin leader of Team 7 and former ANBU currently preparing to assume his new Hokage title. He takes the role of protagonist where he goes on one last mission before being appointed Konoha’s Sixth Hokage.

The summary reads:

“A year has passed since the Fourth Great Ninja War, and Kakashi’s appointment as Hokage blooms. But first he heads to the Land of Waves for a dangerous mission rescuing hostages from a top-secret airship. There he confronts a ninja whose heart is frozen by tragedy.

Having lost both his friend’s eye and his greatest abilities, can Kakashi protect anyone from his cold-hearted foe? What is the true meaning of the Will of Fire gained in the distant heavens? Kakashi finds these answers and more as he enters a ninja ninja era.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include his friend Might Guy, Tsunade, his students Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno and their classmates Sai, Team 10, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Team 3 who participate in the mission, and the main villains Rahyō, Kahyō and Garyō.

SAKURA HARUNO IN KAKASHI HIDEN:

Months after Sasuke left for his journey of redemption and in the wake of a new Hokage, Kakashi asked Tsunade to keep her title as leader while he prepared his last mission as a shinobi: overseeing the security of the Tobishachimaru, an airship developed by Tazuna and Inari in the Land of Waves. Meanwhile, other Konoha shinobi guarded Hozuki Castle (Blood Prison) after the previous guard, Mui, had passed away.

However, the airship was hijacked by the Ryūha Armament Alliance, who delivered a message to Konoha about their intentions with the Tobishachimaru. Tsunade then contacted Shikamaru, who was in charge of guarding Hozuki Castle, and informed him of the situation. She instructed Sakura to put together a team of medical-ninja and head to Hozuki Castle in case they needed to shoot the airship. 

At the castle, Sakura saw the Ryūha Armament Alliance descending from the airship to infiltrate the prison. She watched the roof of Hozuki Castle along with Sai, Rock Lee and Chōji. Later, as the Tobishachimaru glided to the ground, Sakura and her comrades rushed to put the prisoners to safety. 

After putting everyone to safety, Sakura and Tsunade rushed to treat any injured.

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SHIKAMARU HIDEN:

Shikamaru Hiden: A Cloud Drifting in Silent Darkness (シカマル秘伝 闇の黙に浮ぶ雲) or Shikamaru’s Story: A Cloud Drifting in the Silent Dark is a novel written by Takashi Yano and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on March 4th, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the “hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Shikamaru’s Story was the second novel to be published. It focuses on Shikamaru Nara, the heir of the Nara Clan and a jōnin member of Team 10 that is currently preparing himself to become Naruto’s advisor. He takes the role of protagonist where it explores one of his most dangerous missions as captain.

The summary reads:

“Two Years after the Great Ninja War, Shikamaru spends his days racing around, hands full as one of Konoha’s key protectors. Then one day a large number of ninja from every region are reported missing. Even Sai disappears. And the place where the missing shinobi end up is the mysterious empire, the Land of Silence.

As a ninja, as an adult, to protect all that he is responsible for, Shikamaru must do battle with the shadow of a new generation.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include his teammates Chōji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka, his classmates Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno and their allies from Sunagakure Temari and Gaara who participate in the mission, his two ANBU teammates Rō and Soku, and the main villain Gengo.

SAKURA HARUNO IN SHIKAMARU HIDEN:

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, several Konoha shinobi mysteriously went missing, including Sai, amidst peaceful times. Kakashi sent Shikamaru on a mission to the Land of Silence to investigate with two of the best ANBU experts on infiltrations with him. 

Some time before the mission, Shikamaru was pensive, at one time remembering when he almost died at the hands of the Ten Tails and his desire to become Naruto's advisor while Sakura treated his injuries in the battlefield. When Shikamaru arrived at the Land of Silence, Sai and several shinobi had been put under genjutsu.

One day while visiting Sakura at her workplace, Naruto voiced his concern about Sai’s sudden disappearance from Konoha and Shikamaru’s suspicious behavior. She discussed it with Naruto, but Sakura reminded him that Shikamaru and Sai are powerful shinobi and they would ask for his help in case they needed it.

Some time later, Sakura arrived at the Land of Silence with Naruto, Chōji and Ino, where she saved Temari from a direct attack from Sai by sending him away with her taijutsu. She removed the kunai plunged in Temari’s abdomen and quickly treated her wound. As Chōji held Sai, Ino used Mind Body Switch to free Sai from the genjutsu while Sakura and Chōji joined forces to protect her body by fighting the other incoming enemy. 

Inside Sai, there was a warm chakra inside of him that belonged to Sakura and Team 7.

By the end of the mission, Sakura healed Shikamaru’s wounds and stayed behind with Naruto in the Land of Silence to wrap up and tend to other people.

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 489 to 493 in 2017. Despite being part of the mission to rescue Shikamaru, Sakura was completely erased from the adaptation.

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SAKURA HIDEN:

Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze (サクラ秘伝 思恋、春風にのせて) or Sakura's Story: Love Riding the Spring Breeze is a novel written by Tomohito Ōsaki and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on April 3rd, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the ���hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Sakura’s Story was the third novel to be published. It focuses on Sakura Haruno, the Fifth Hokage’s student turned the world’s best medical-ninja and a jōnin member of Team 7 that is currently on her path to innovate Konoha’s medical branch. As the former main female character, she takes the role of protagonist and fights one of her most powerful battles.

The summary reads:

“The Great Ninja War did not only harm adults, but left many damaged children behind. Medical ninja Sakura travels the land, opening clinics dedicated to healing children of the mental trauma they experienced. She learns of a series of attacks against Konoha, and her investigation leads to an impossible conclusion: Sasuke is the terrorist mastermind behind them all! 

Using her skills and her heart, Sakura strives to clear Sasuke's name and bring the real perpetrator to justice.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include her teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sai, Kakashi Hatake, Ino Yamanaka and Tsunade who support Sakura with her project, and the main villains Kido Tsumiki and Magire.

SAKURA HARUNO IN SAKURA HIDEN:

Because this is Sakura’s novel, she appears throughout it and all the plot points are centered around her, so rather than giving a summary of her role in the story, I��ll try to explain some of the most important aspects. 

Months after Hanabi’s rescue mission to the Moon, Sakura attended a meeting at Konoha Hospital to review reports about her new Children’s Therapy Center, a new hospital ward to assess children’s hearts and minds that she had established six months after the Fourth Shinobi World War, a new revolutionary concept that had proved a success in Konoha. Days later, Kakashi summoned her to his office to inform her that, guided by Gaara’s interest in her Therapy Center, Sunagakure was seeking to follow the same path. She began preparing a trip to Sunagakure accompanied by Ino to help their Medical Corps establish a similar center at their own hospital, where Sakura delivered a speech about the results obtained in Konoha and solved any inquiry they might have about the project.

In Sunagakure, Sakura and Ino learned from Gaara that Sasuke had been plotting an attack against Konoha and Sunagakure. Back in Konoha, they were informed that Sai had been investigating an attack against the Fire daimyō and one of the advisors, with whom Kakashi had recently met to allocate funds on Sakura’s center, per the Hokage’s orders. All eyes pointed to a coup organized by a former ANBU Root, Kido Tsumiki, and his accomplice, the medical-ninja Magire. In the meantime, Sakura pondered about the idea of Sasuke trying to plot against Konoha, but Naruto convinced her that it couldn’t possibly be him. Both friends became teachers at the Ninja Academy for the day.

Sakura learned about Sasuke’s recent whereabouts from Kakashi, but both believed that it must have been an impostor imitating Sasuke’s chakra to carry out a plan. In a meeting with Tsunade, Sakura theorized if it was possible to take DNA from Sasuke and draw out his chakra to impersonate him. At the Hokage office, after Sakura explained her theory to Kakashi and Ino, Sai believed that Kido might have used Magire’s medical knowledge to replicate Sasuke’s chakra. Kakashi appointed Sakura, Sai and Ino to form a team, which Ino called “Ino-Saku-Sai.”

During one of her rounds, Sakura found herself in a genjutsu that she couldn’t dispel in time, which gave Kido a chance to kidnap her. She woke up bound and unable to knead chakra in Kido’s hideout. He told Sakura that he planned to use her to lure Sasuke to Konoha due to the nature of their relationship, also planning to kill Sakura before him to develop his Sharingan and replicate it to use it as a weapon. In order to buy time to regain strength, Sakura interrogated Kido and he confessed that he was using Sasuke and Naruto’s DNA to make synthetic weapons to sell them to villages. After his confession, Sakura used her strength to break herself free. Outside the facility where she was kept captive, she found Sai and Ino.

After beating several ANBU, Sakura suggested she fought Kido and his Tailed Beast chakra alone, while Sai and Ino joined forces against Magire. Kido used his synthetic Tailed Beast drug to draw nine tails in order to defeat Sakura as a Pseudo-jinchūriki, but using Creation Rebirth and her previous knowledge of how bijū cloaks heal damage, she defeated him with a jutsu of her own that applied the principles of medical ninjutsu to her advantage in battle: by killing the cells that healed themselves by over-replication, Sakura managed to stop Kido’s regeneration and defeated him with a powerful blow.

After his defeat, Kido confessed that he came from a poor family and couldn’t afford medication to help his sick father, but his father preferred to give up his medication so he could send Kido to the Ninja Academy. Decades after his father’s passing, Kido wondered about how different his life would have been if they had money. Sakura was hopeful that her new center would help children in need and prevent cases like Kido’s. Days later, Sakura was summoned by Sunagakure to deliver another speech.

At the end of the novel, a long time had passed and Sasuke returned to Konoha.

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KONOHA HIDEN:

Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding (木ノ葉秘伝 祝言日和) is a novel written by Shō Hinata and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on May 1st, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the “hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Konoha’s Story was the fourth novel to be published. It focuses on several characters from Konoha, narrating the adventures of pairs of Konoha 12 shinobi in their quest to find the perfect wedding gift for Naruto and Hinata. Each pair is the protagonist of a chapter.

The summary reads:

“In Konohagakure, there was an announcement of a certain special mission by the Sixth Hokage Kakashi. It was a confidential mission that Naruto and Hinata could not know about at all: “The people who are attending the wedding ceremony of Naruto and Hinata are to bring celebratory gifts”. 

And so, the shinobi of Konohagakure raise the curtain on a mission to procure the items. Lee was even thinking about it while running several laps around the spacious village. Then, Neji appeared in a dream. Tenten was worried about the ninja weaponry in her hands. At once, she began training in throwing kunai. Shikamaru and Chōji held a tactical meeting over barbecue. There, Temari appeared. Sakura and Ino bumped into one another at a general store. For some reason, a cooking showdown began. Ichiraku's Teuchi, Naruto's former teacher Iruka, and Hinata's teammates, Shino and Kiba… What celebratory gifts did everyone choose?”

The main pairs include Rock Lee and Tenten with Might Guy, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi with Temari, Naruto Uzumaki and Teuchi, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka and Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka with Tamaki, Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake.

SAKURA HARUNO IN KONOHA HIDEN:

While looking for the perfect unique gift, Sakura found a beautiful photo frame she was sure nobody could copy. As she reached for it, Ino reached for the frame at the same time and both tried to seize the object from each other’s hands. With her strength, Sakura took the photo frame from Ino’s hands, which prompted a loud and heated discussion that got both kicked out of the store.

Pointing out that she could only use force to her advantage, Ino tried to manipulate her friend into thinking the photo frame was ugly, but Sakura was confident that those tactics wouldn’t work on her anymore now that she had surpassed her former rival in everything. As a response, Ino claimed that if there was one thing she could beat her at was in femininity, the opposite of the brutality Sakura offered, like cooking and being a good wife. Sakura felt insulted by the accusation and challenged Ino to a cooking competition with Chōji as judge. 

They decided to cook Soldier Pills, a mass of preserved transportable balls of nutrients to use on missions. Sakura ultimately made soldier pills using Ino’s favorite food, and Ino did the same. During the competition, Chōji was so overwhelmed by the taste that he fainted, so Sakura and Ino tasted each other’s plates and called it a draw. Then, they decided to get a joint wedding present. 

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 494 to 500 in 2017. Despite being a more accurate representation compared to other works, a lot of material and lines were erased.

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GAARA HIDEN:

Gaara Hiden: A Sandstorm Mirage (我愛羅秘伝 砂塵幻想) is a novel written by Ukyō Kodachi and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on June 4th, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the “hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Gaara’s Story was the fifth novel to be published. It focuses on Gaara, the son of the Fourth Kazekage and current Kazekage who is approached by the village’s elders in order to produce an heir that would continue the family’s tradition. He takes the role of protagonist and it explores Suna’s political state.

The summary reads (taken from the Japanese as this novel was never translated to English):

“The Ninja Alliance has overcome the danger posed by the moon, but for one of its most prominent members, the trouble is far from over. Gaara, Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, is summoned by one of the elders. Now that he has turned 20, they insist he take steps toward finding a suitable marriage partner. Meanwhile, intrigue surrounds Kankuro, as the stability of the village begins to crumble. Politics, blood ties, and fate intertwine as the man famous for his solitary nature strives to protect this new era.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include his siblings Temari and Kankurō, his former sensei Baki, several Sunagakure officials and Shikamaru Nara.

SAKURA HARUNO IN GAARA HIDEN:

Sakura doesn’t participate in the affairs happening in Sunagakure, but Gaara mentioned her a few times when talking about a shinobi’s skillset.

Gaara remembered that shinobi villages were founded by several shinobi clans filled with hidden techniques and Kekkei Genkai whose power were revered, but there were times where coming from a good family or bloodline didn’t mean becoming an outstanding shinobi. Gaara thought about Sakura, a kunoichi with a regular civilian background that had surpassed others by hard work and pure strength. He also compared the difference between the taijutsu level of a medical-ninja with his own, a shinobi sent to the frontlines, and recalled that Sakura was the exception of the rule, managing to be both a medical-ninja and a battle-type.

He also revealed that Sakura was one of the few shinobi who taught him about love and became his pillars.

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AKATSUKI HIDEN:

Akatsuki Hiden: Evil Flowers in Full Bloom (暁秘伝 咲き乱れる悪の華) is a novel written by Shin Towada and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on July 3rd, 2015. The book is one of the six novels written for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where different authors explored the “hidden” stories of some of the most popular characters including the Gaara, Shikamaru Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and two books about individual stories of the Konoha 12 and Akatsuki. 

Akatsuki’s Story was the sixth and last novel to be published. It focuses on the many missions the Akatsuki members went on before the start of Naruto.

The summary reads (taken from the Japanese as this novel was never translated to English):

“During his travels, Sasuke Uchiha meets a boy whose family was murdered by Akatsuki. Clad in dark cloaks covered with red clouds, this group of gifted ninja killed, stole, and destroyed. Selfishness, to protect loved ones, money, religion, art, peace, hope...the motives of its members could not have been more varied. As a new age dawns for shinobi, light is shed on the true story of these ninja renowned for their darkness.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Sasuke Uchiha, the Akatsuki members, and the brothers Ōmitsu and Komitsu.

SAKURA HARUNO IN AKATSUKI HIDEN:

While remembering his days as a shinobi of Konoha, Sasuke thought of Sakura and how much love she made him feel.

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THE LAST: NARUTO THE MOVIE:

The Last: Naruto the Movie is a novel written by Maruo Kyozuka and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on December 8th, 2014. The book is the written adaptation of the movie The Last: Naruto the Movie, also written by Maruo Kyozuka, for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where the official Fourth Databook and the Blank Period’s databook were released.

The Last: Naruto the Movie novelization was the first novel to be published about the Blank Period. The story revolved around Toneri Ōtsutsuki, a descendant of the branch family of Hamura Ōtsutsuki, who kidnapped Hanabi Hyūga and Konoha is sent on a rescue mission to the moon. It takes place shortly after the events of Shikamaru Hiden and before Sakura Hiden.

The summary reads (taken from the Japanese as this novel was never translated to English):

“The moon begins to collapse and meteorites rain down on Earth! As the last day of the Earth approaches, in the Hidden Leaf, Hanabi is kidnapped by Ōtsutsuki Toneri, and Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru and Hinata embark on a mission to rescue her.”

Some of the main characters of the novel include Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sai, Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyūga, as well as supporting characters Kakashi Hatake and Konoha shinobi, Hanabi Hyūga, and the main villain Toneri Ōtsutsuki.

SAKURA HARUNO IN THE LAST: NARUTO THE MOVIE NOVEL:

The novel isn’t very different from the movie, but there are things that are explained more thoroughly than in the movie, where things happened sometimes for plot convenience rather than having a logical explanation (that the novel explains or removes because in the movie it makes no sense). I’ll explain the parts where the novel offers insight about Sakura’s role.

After learning from Hiashi that Hanabi had been kidnapped, Kakashi chose Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru as the original lineup to rescue Hanabi. Shikamaru thought that Sakura was needed for her medical ninjutsu, ideally following the norm that every team should have at least one reliable medical-ninja, but had doubts about Hinata and Naruto 

When the team fell for Toneri’s genjutsu Sakura dreamt about her closest friends, Tsunade, Sasuke, Ino and Naruto. She identified inconsistencies common in genjutsu like blurry vision, and dispelled the illusion.

While healing Naruto, Sakura mentioned that his heartbeat was weak after having his chakra drained by Toneri. 

(In reality, a jinchūriki’s chakra can’t be absorbed that quickly. It took the full members of the Akatsuki several days to extract Shukaku from Gaara, just as it took Momoshiki a long time to partially absorb the power of Kurama with Rinnesharingan. In reality, it would take Sakura a while to replenish, although she has quicker options like her seal and Katsuyu.)

While working, Shikamaru offered Sakura to take a break before she lost consciousness, which is the prelude of Naruto finding her later resting after saving his life. The following day, Sakura was still not at full strength but decided to join the rescue team. Shikamaru mentioned she was a great kunoichi.

It was Sakura who had put Hanabi’s eyes back in place and healed her completely.

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SASUKE SHINDEN (2015):

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise (サスケ真伝 来光篇) or Sasuke’s Story: Book of Sunrise is a novel written by Shin Towada and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on November 4th, 2015. The book is one of the three novels written for the Naruto Project.

Sasuke’s Story was the third novel to be published. It focuses on Sasuke Uchiha, the last member of the Uchiha Clan and a rogue ninja member of Team 7 who possesses both the Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan that is currently traveling the world. He takes the role of protagonist where it explores one of his adventures as a traveler.

The summary reads:

“The Great Ninja War has ended, but to untangle the mystery that remains,Sasuke sets out on a journey-a journey that he hopes will allow him to atone for his sins. During his travels, those ninja faithful to the avenger Sasuke bring about tragedy. Meanwhile danger closes in on the villages of Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo, where red eyes burn with hatred. What is the future Sasuke staresdown?”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include his teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, Sai, Kakashi Hatake, several other Konoha shinobi, his two companions Chino and Nowaki, his former master Orochimaru and Team Taka.

SAKURA HARUNO IN SASUKE SHINDEN:

A few months after the incident on the Moon, Sakura and Naruto questioned the disappearance of several Konoha citizens along with Sai. Shortly after, an explosion near the A-Un gate alerted the trio and they headed to the place with Team 10 following behind them. They found ninja from the Barrier Team fighting the missing Konoha citizen, one of which was a regular customer at the Yamanaka flowershop. Noticing the irregular pattern, Sakura and Shikamaru realized the intruders were Konoha shinobi that had been placed under a genjutsu that forced their bodies to explode upon contact. 

Even though they managed to take one down, it wasn’t an efficient remedy because the foreign chakra inside them would start manifesting inside their bodies if it wasn’t removed, so Aoba Yamashiro tried reading the mind of one of the fallen intruders to find a solution. While delving into their mind, Aoba fell into a genjutsu trap placed inside them. Sakura pointed it out to Ino so she could free him with Mind Body Switch, resulting in both shinobi being exhausted from the effort of dispelling the illusion. Sai sent them to Konoha Hospital to get immediate treatment from Sakura.

In a facility outside Konoha, Sakura was tasked with leading the investigation of the mysterious genjutsu to find a way to remove the foreign chakra from their bodies. She had asked Hinata to use her Byakugan to locate where the foreign chakra was located (even though Sakura has a medical ninjutsu technique to sense chakra inside the body) and test a theory. Using the Byakugan to locate the foreign chakra, Sakura used her medical ninjutsu and managed to find a cure to treat the patients. Now free from any potential genjutsu trap, Aoba read the intruder’s mind for a second time and discovered that they were under the Dark Thunder, a group Sasuke had been after.

Some time later, after clearing the Arena, C, the Raikage's assistant, informed Sasuke that the Konoha medical-ninja were on their way to treat the people affected by Chino’s Ketsuryugan. Sasuke believed Sakura was among those. 

Sakura and her medical team travelled to Kumogakure and Kirigakure and treated everybody that had been affected by the Ketsuryugan. When she returned, Naruto visited her and told her about what Chino had confessed to him about Sasuke. She recalled that the Uchiha Clan used to be Konoha’s Military Police Force and Naruto let Sasuke know that both considered him like the police running after the bad guys.

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 484 to 488 in 2017. The adaptation shortened Konoha’s role in the pursuit of the Dark Thunder and Sakura’s scenes as well. This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 484 to 488 in 2017. The adaptation shortened Konoha’s role in the pursuit of the Dark Thunder and Sakura’s scenes as well.

The Boruto novels is a project of individual series set after Boruto: Naruto the Movie but disconnected from the plot of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, so the novels official bear the Naruto seal on them despite being set in their adult era.

The Shinden and Retsuden novels tell the stories of some of the most beloved characters in their adult lives and are all published in chronological order. 

Two of these were adapted by Studio Pierrot.

BORUTO: NARUTO THE MOVIE NOVEL:

Boruto: Naruto the Movie is a novel written by Ukyō Kodachi and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on August 10th, 2015. The book is the written adaptation of the movie Boruto: Naruto the Movie, written by Masashi Kishimoto in collaboration with Ukyō Kodachi, for the 15th anniversary of Naruto dubbed Naruto Project, where the official Naruto Gaiden and the Boruto era’s databook were released.

Boruto: Naruto the Movie novelization was the first novel to be published about the parent era of Naruto. The story revolved around Boruto Uzumaki, Naruto’s son, who develops a disdain for the Hokage title and makes it his mission to show his powers to his father during the Chūnin Exams. It takes place weeks after the events of Naruto Gaiden.

The summary reads (taken from the Japanese as this novel was never translated to English):

“The Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, runs the Hidden Leaf Village. His son, Boruto, works as a genin with Sarada and Mitsuki everyday. He wants to surpass his father, Naruto, the hero of the village…! Boruto applies to become an apprentice to his father’s friend, Sasuke…?!”

Some of the main characters of the novel include Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, Mitsuki, Shikadai Nara, Inojin Yamanaka, Chōchō Akimichi, Metal Lee, Shinki and others, as well Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara, Sai Yamanaka and Hinata Uzumaki, and the main villain Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN BORUTO: NARUTO THE MOVIE NOVEL:

The novel isn’t very different from the movie and Sakura’s role doesn’t really differ from that of the movie’s or even the anime’s, but she does get special mentions about her position in the village or her status.

As members of the same team, Sarada maintained a rivalry with Boruto because her dream was to become Hokage. Due to this, Boruto was acclaimed for being the famed Naruto’s son, while Sarada was acclaimed for being the daughter of the famed Sasuke and Sakura, so she couldn’t lose to Boruto. 

Later on, as Boruto expressed his anger that Naruto kept prioritizing his job over his family, he remarked that Sakura was a suitable Hokage replacement. 

When Momoshiki and Kinshiki attacked Konoha, one of the people Sakura saved from the falling piece of debris was Sarada. When Sasuke saved Sarada from another piece of debris, he took her to Sakura along with Mitsuki, telling his wife that the enemies were the same ones he had told her about. Shikamaru also mentioned that Konoha didn’t send more powerful shinobi because some needed to stay in case something happened. Jonin were also in charge of Konoha, with Sakura being one of them.

In the epilogue scene, when Sakura is sitting on the rooftop with Sasuke, it’s mentioned he offered her a smile he showed anyone but his wife.

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BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS:

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations are six novels written by Ukyō Kodachi and Mikio Ikemoto and illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction from May 2017 to January 2018. 

Because these books have never had an English adaptation and they haven’t been properly promoted as the rest of Naruto novels, it’s hard to find translations. However, they received anime adaptations from episode 1 to 37 where Sakura makes some appearances. 

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KONOHA SHINDEN: STEAM NINJA SCROLLS:

Konoha Shinden: Steam Ninja Scrolls (木ノ葉新伝 湯煙忍法帖) or Konoha’s Story: Steam Ninja Scrolls is a novel written by Shō Hinata and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on August 4th, 2016. The book is one of the four novels written for the Naruto Light Novel Project’s Naruto Shinden (2018).

Konoha’s Story was the first novel to be published. It focuses on Mirai Sarutobi, Asuma and Kurenai Sarutobi’s daughter and a chūnin that is currently on a mission escorting the Sixth Hokage and Might Guy. She takes the role of protagonist where it explores some of her adventures. It takes place during the events of Naruto Gaiden and before Boruto: Naruto the Movie.

The summary reads (taken from the Japanese as this novel was never translated to English):

“A new era in which the Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, rules the Hidden Leaf Village. Retired Kakashi, Might Guy who is pursuing eternal youth, and the chūnin Sarutobi Mirai who is assigned to guard them, head to the hot springs of the Land of Hot Springs! From parent to child… from master to disciple… a heartwarming story of bonds that connects the feelings of the new generation.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, Tenten, Kiba Inuzuka, Chōji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Temari, Tatsumi and the main villains Ryūki and the Jashin cult.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN KONOHA SHINDEN (2018):

The epilogue of Naruto Gaiden is written in the last chapter with Kakashi on the phone with Naruto telling him about Shin Uchiha and Sasuke’s return to Sakura and Sarada.

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 106 to 111 in 2019. It also received a manga adaptation from October 2022 to May 2023 in a bi-weekly format. Sakura appears in chapter 14 described as one of the most successful Konoha shinobi.

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NARUTO SHINDEN: PARENT AND CHILD DAY:

Naruto Shinden: Parent and Child Day (ナルト新伝 親子の日) or Naruto’s Story: Family Day is a novel written by Mirei Miyamoto and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on May 2nd, 2018. The book is one of the four novels written for the Naruto Light Novel Project’s Naruto Shinden (2018).

Naruto’s Story was the second novel to be published. It focuses on several parents from Konoha and their lives as family. Each pair is the protagonist of a chapter.

The summary reads:

“To celebrate Family Day, Konohagakure village's new holiday, Naruto and his daughter Himawari are on the hunt for an elusive must-have item. Hinata wants to make the day memorable for her family, Hiashi, Hanabi and Boruto. Even Sasuke makes special time with his daughter Sarada and his wife Sakura! At the end of the day, will Family Day be a success?”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Naruto Uzumaki and Himawari Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi, Hinata Uzumaki and Hanabi Hyūga, Sakura Uchiha, Sarada Uchiha as well as other Konoha shinobi.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN NARUTO SHINDEN:

As Sasuke arrived in Konoha to visit his family, the house that Sakura told him she had built for the family was gone. Sarada found him looking at the materials left while the house was in the process of being rebuilt, and reminded him of the temporary apartment they were occupying where they had enjoyed dinner after defeating Shin Uchiha. On their way, Sarada told Sasuke about the new Parent and Child Day.

As Sasuke struggled to please his daughter’s wishes, he arrived home to his wife. Sakura offered him tea and to cut his hair. She could tell that Sasuke was frustrated after a failed holiday spent with his daughter even though Sasuke didn’t offer any details about it. To encourage him, Sakura recommended him to act naturally with Sarada, as she doesn’t really know Sasuke from everyday life, but admired him nonetheless because he was a special shinobi stronger and cooler than other fathers in Konoha. Sakura compared their father-daughter relationship with Sasuke’s desire to spend time with his own father, Fugaku, when he was young. Sasuke also learned from his wife that their daughter dreamt of becoming Hokage.

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 93 to 95 in 2019. Sakura’s scenes don’t differ much from the novel except some dialogues and situations such as Sasuke’s haircut. 

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SASUKE SHINDEN: TEACHER’S STAR PUPIL:

Sasuke Shinden: Parent and Child Day (ナルト- サスケ新伝 師弟の星) or Sasuke’s Story: Star Pupil is a novel written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on June 4th, 2018. The book is one of the four novels written for the Naruto Light Novel Project’s Naruto Shinden (2018).

Naruto’s Story was the third novel to be published. Sasuke Uchiha, former Team 7 member and patriarch of the Uchiha Clan and Konoha’s Supporting Hokage that is currently replacing Konohamaru as the new Team 7 leader. He takes the role of protagonist where it explores his new role as a sensei.

The summary reads:

“Sasuke is given the task of training Team Seven, and Boruto is delighted. But he also has trouble accepting his master’s teachings. Then pop star Himeno Lily jumps in with a mission for them, challenging what it means to be master and student. And what does this mean for the future of the ninja?”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki, Konohamaru Sarutobi, as well as other Konoha shinobi, Lily Himeno and the main villain, the Purple Moon Religion.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN SASUKE SHINDEN (2018):

When Sarada worried that her father might leave on a mission abruptly, Sasuke reassured her that he talks a lot with Sakura late at night so she’s informed of all his missions.

Later on, Lily Himeno, a famous idol from the Land of Fire, recognized Sarada to be Sakura Haruno’s daughter, who is famed for being a student of the Fifth Hokage.

Just as Sasuke was preparing to leave on another mission, Sarada teased him saying he had lipstick on his mouth. Sasuke cleaned the area to find it clean, and Sarada reminded him that Sakura didn’t wear lipstick.

Naruto Retsuden (NARUTO -ナルト- 烈伝) is a trilogy released in 2019. The project has three different novels released between June and October of 2019 written by Jun Esaka. The time chosen for the stories lies after Boruto: Naruto the Movie.

It contains: Kakashi Retsuden, Sasuke Retsuden and Naruto Retsuden, all published in chronological order. 

One of these was adapted by Studio Pierrot.

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KAKASHI RETSUDEN:

Kakashi Retsuden: The Sixth Hokage and the Failure Boy (カカシ烈伝　六代目火影と落ちこぼれの少年) or Kakashi Retsuden: The Sixth Hokage and the Failed Prince is a novel written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on June 4th, 2019. 

Kakashi Retsuden was the first novel to be published. It focuses on Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage, who now retired, assumes his role as a bridge between Konoha and the Land of Redaku to discover information about the Sage of the Sixth Paths. He takes the role of protagonist where he goes on a long term mission during his resting days.

The summary reads:

“When Kakashi sets off on a mission to the lush land of Redaku, he encounters its people suffering from a severe drought. The prince of Redaku can bring water to the land, but he has left his royal home for another village. When Kakashi locates the prince, he discovers a more elaborate plot long in the works that involves the fates of both Redaku and Konoha.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Redaku’s Prime Minister, Nanara, Margo, Hakubi Shin, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Uchiha.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN KAKASHI RETSUDEN:

While researching in palace’s library, Kakashi found a book that could contain clues about the Sage of the Sixth Paths and sent it to Konoha for studying. He said that if they used Sakura or Shikamaru’s help they would be able to decipher the contents.

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SASUKE RETSUDEN:

Sasuke Retsuden: The Uchiha Descendants and the Heavenly Stardust (サスケ烈伝　うちはの末裔と天球の星屑) or Sasuke Retsuden: The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust is a novel written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on August 2nd, 2019. 

Sasuke Retsuden was the second novel to be published. It focuses on Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha, the strongest married couple of Konoha who embark on a long term mission together in the Land of Redaku to discover information about the Sage of the Sixth Paths. They take the role of protagonist where they investigate the Astronomy Research Institute and defeat its leader.

The summary reads:

“Uchiha Sasuke heads for an astronomical observatory, far from the Land of Fire. There, he syncs up with Sakura, and together they dive into an undercover investigation in search of traces of the Sage of Six Paths! They discover a plan that goes beyond life and death, and a battle that will test this husband-and-wife team till death do they part.”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Zansul, Jiji, Ganno, Penjira, Menō, Fandal, Shikamaru Nara and Kakashi Hatake.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN SASUKE RETSUDEN:

Because this is Sakura’s novel, she appears throughout it and all the plot points are centered around her, so rather than giving a summary of her role in the story, I’ll try to explain some of the most important aspects. 

After deciding she would also travel to the Land of Redaku, Sakura saved Sasuke from Menō, the prison’s guard lizard, whose claws were laced with some mysterious potent poison that Sasuke couldn’t resist. When Sasuke woke up, Sakura informed him that she infiltrated the Astronomy Research Institute as its new doctor to aid him in his mission, much to Sasuke’s persistence that she returned home ahead of the dangerous task. During the mission, both needed to hide their marital status from the staff and prisoners, although they told Jiji, one of Sasuke’s cellmates.

Sakura decided to look for more information about the polar particles in the archives using Penjira’s love for gambling to obtain the key to the basement. Initially, Sasuke wanted to use genjutsu on Penjira, but Sakura stopped him, using her intellect and memory to force each round of Hoshinarabe into a draw and exhausting her rival, which earns her the key. On their way to the basement, Sasuke crafted a ring made from his own chakra to lure men away and Sakura used a sensory jutsu to search for traps and map the area, and she found a secret room accessible from Zansul’s office. Among the archives, they found the map that would lead them to the polar particles, a map drawn by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki himself containing images of animals similar to Hoshinarabe. Sakura compared them to an astronomical map and took the it to her office to decipher the code behind the illustrations.

The following day, Sasuke told Sakura that the animals from the map were the Tailed Beasts. In turn, she managed to sneak into Zansul’s office to discover he had an appointment with a messenger from Redaku’s Prime Minister. When Sakura escorted the messenger, she knocked him down and used transformation jutsu to impersonate him, while Sasuke transformed into his cane. Once inside, Sakura stalls Zansul long enough for Sasuke to gather clues inside his secret room. He found chickens inside.

Days later, after receiving a message from Kakashi informing of Nagare village, Sakura rushed to tell Sasuke but started a conversation with Ganno instead, who, upon seeing her ring, guessed Sasuke was her husband by the brief description she had made of him and Sasuke’s longing for the plum blossoms to bloom. When they finally met, Sakura informed Sasuke that the animals also represented hand seals and could be the clue to obtaining the polar particles. At the lake, Sakura and Sasuke have a private conversation about their relationship and their family. Then, after Sakura successfully used the hand seals to reveal the polar particles, an explosion took place in the prison and dragons invaded the place. 

Sakura rushed to the prison to evacuate the prisoners and on her way she’s stabbed by Jiji using Menō’s secret poison, revealing his collaboration with Zansul in the process. Unable to move or knead chakra, she was trapped under the rubble after the prison collapsed. Sasuke found Sakura using the chakra from her ring and removed the poison from her body, and then she resumed fighting the dragons to buy time for the prisoners to escape. Jiji arrived at Sakura's location and she lured him to a trap she had prepared. Jiji confesses that he wanted to use Edo Tensei to revive his lover, Margo, who had died back in Redaku; however, Margo was alive. One of the last dragons moved to attack Sakura but Jiji took the blow for her, and he’s later healed by Sakura.

Back in Konoha with the polar particles, Sakura met Ino for tea after a successful long mission. They spoke about their families until Ino noticed the ring on Sakura’s finger. Ino comments about how Sakura will always remain a girl in love even after years of marriage. Back home, Sarada cooked dinner for the family. Shikamaru rang the bell and brought some reports about the polar particles and Zansul’s immune eyes. Both agreed that they would make progress about Naruto’s condition. 

This novel received an anime adaptation from episodes 282 to 286 in 2023. The adaptation shortened many details from the novel and Sakura’s scenes as well. It also received a manga adaptation from October 2022 to April 2023 in a bi-weekly format. The manga is a perfect way to enjoy the details of the novel without major changes.

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NARUTO RETSUDEN:

Naruto Retsuden: Naruto Uzumaki and the Spiral Destiny (ナルト烈伝　うずまきナルトと螺旋の天命) or Naruto Retsuden: Naruto Uzumaki and the Spiral Destiny is a novel written by Jun Esaka and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on October 4th, 2019.

This novel is the bridge between Kakashi Retsuden and Sasuke Retsuden. 

Naruto Retsuden was the third novel to be published. It focuses on Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage and jinchūriki of the Nine Tails currently suffering from an unknown disease that blocks his chakra pathway system. They take the role of protagonist where it explores Naruto’s life inside Konoha and his frustrations.

The summary reads:

“When Naruto is no longer able to use chakra, the shinobi of Konoha come together to help him. Even Orochimaru offers to assist with scientific ninja tools. While directing the people around him with all the dynamic ferocity of a mighty whirlpool, Naruto stands tall, facing this trial with an unbreakable spirit!”

Some of the supporting characters of the novel include Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara and Kakashi Hatake, Orochimaru, Hinata Uzumaki, Yamato, Ino Yamanaka and Chōji Akimichi, Chihare Amano, Furie Kanhen and other Konoha shinobi.

SAKURA UCHIHA IN NARUTO RETSUDEN:

In the Land of Stairs, Sakura became part of Naruto’s Hokage Guard Team along with the rest of Team 7 and Shikamaru. She took down one of the clones made by Yanaru Aze, an assassin hired to kill Naruto. 

Some time later, Naruto began complaining about his inability to knead chakra and sudden dizziness. He met in a secret location provided by a close friend of Sakura, Tami, whom she had saved during Pain’s attack, with his teammates and Shikamaru. They all agreed to follow Kurama’s guidance to investigate Hagomoro Ōtsutsuki’s whereabouts in the Land of Redaku much to Naruto’s opposition, who considered that the most important people of Konoha shouldn’t interfere in his personal affairs. After Kakashi and Sasuke left for Redaku, Sakura found Naruto passed out on the Hokage Rock and informed him that she had made an accurate diagnosis after studying his medical analysis. Sakura then decided to follow Sasuke to Redaku. 

After Kakashi and the Uchiha’s long term missions, the polar particles that Sakura and Sasuke obtained from the Astronomy Research Institute had been destroyed by Naruto. Back in their secret location, the pillars and Chihare discussed a way to reach the celestial body to access the other half of the polar particles. In order to reach it, Team 7 would need to climb up a pillar and open the meteorite. 

The next day, Sakura picked Naruto up riding the motorbike they would use to climb the pillar. Sakura would be in charge of maintaining the team on track with her chakra control. During their ascent, they encountered some stormy clouds and the men became separated from the pillar for a brief moment while hanging by a kunai attached to the road, Naruto worried that Sakura might have been knocked out, but Sasuke reassured him that she would be back soon, and in that moment Sakura picked them up and went back on track. Unfortunately, Team 7 made it to the celestial body too late, so Sasuke had to sacrifice himself to destroy it in order to free the particles. Sakura kissed Sasuke and threw the headband hanging on Sasuke’s coat to use Amenotejikara. 

On their way down, Gaara and Kurotsuchi aided Yamato and Kakashi with their rock pillar. Several pieces of it started falling over Konoha, but Temari blew them away with her Folding Fan. Tenten, Rock Lee, Kiba, Karui and Kankuro also joined Temari. 

Several days later, Sakura watched the fireworks from the recent festival while drinking with Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi. 

If you want to read some of the passages from each novel, please read on AO3.

[tora-the-cat]

why are villains so obsessed with Madara, esp in the blank period. he's not like a cult leader or anything. he didn't talk to any of them for the crime of Not Being Hashirama. if he DID talk to them he'd call them a worm. how do they even KNOW what madara wanted. he only said WORDS to the other crazy bullshit basically-god ninjas. None of them can even quote his ideology correctly cause they were all reading his lips from like 3 miles away, so they just made shit up. Why not just make shit up while keeping Madara's name OUT of your mouths.

[notsorryiml8]

In Defense of KakaKahyo

Okay, first tons of spoilers ahead for those who've never read the novels, so read at your own risk.

So I've always found shippings and fandoms to be interesing. I say ship who you like, you do you boo. Since becoming a Naruto fan, well, Kakashi fan, I've seen KakaGai, ObiKaka, KakaRin, ObiKakaRin, KakaYama, KakaShizu,KakaSaku, KakaIru, Kakashi x OC, and and everybody has their reasons.

Personally, I do adore KakaKahyo. And someone actually asked me why??! I shouldn't have to defend myself, but hey why not. Granted, it's not the most common ship. And also, the only way people will know about Kahyo is if they read the canon novel, Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Frozen Sky. Other than canonically being the only love interest that Kishi has ever given Kakashi (they did him dirty by putting it in the novel only and making it be the only novel never animated, but I digress...), I think they're adorable and a perfect match of power, tension, and mixed up feelings. They have a boy meets girl, boy falls in love/lust with girl at first sight, girl tries to kill boy and everybody else, boy saves girl and the world and puts girl in jail but both still have feelings- kind of relationship.

People are like, but he wasn't serious about her and I'm like did you read the book? Read it, because as that song says, that boy got it bad!

When they meet: "In the confusion, their eyes met. Flowing, curly hair, slightly parted lips, large, moist eyes open in surprise—time stopped for a moment, and the world, to Kakashi, was this woman and nothing else."

When her group is terrorizing the airship: "And then, Kahyo. So that was the name of the woman who owned Kakashi’s heart."

When they fall out of the ship - he just wants to make sure she is safe!: "Even as he was being blown up practically horizontally, Kakashi tried to search out Kahyo somehow."

He can't get her out of his mind, even as he's falling to his death: "The power line finally slipped from his hand, and the last thing Kakashi saw as he tumbled to the earth with Guy was —one woman.” The woman in the long blue dress"...."Dammit… Closing his eyes, he saw Kahyo in that blue dress."

He just wants her to be okay and can't think straight until he knows she is: "The ice created with Kahyo’s Earth Chain Ice bulged out from the sealed gap, threatening to overflow. She was safe. As he breathed a sigh of relief, Kakashi focused his mind."

Then my girl is up there sending him perfumed letters! Perfumed people! That's not just casual hey, how you doing? You're not sending your casual friend or neighbor perfumed letters. And not in the book, but in the game, he sends her jewelry to say "thank you." And gets all kinds of flustered when talking about it.

All I get from this is that when Mr. Hatake falls for that rare someone, he falls HARD and FAST.

And it works if you think about it. He's always afraid of losing those he loves so doesn't want to get close to people. Well, hello, she's not going anywhere! She's not in public, she's not in danger, she's safe because she's confined to one place and she controls that place. He always knows she's safe. She is a safe space for him.

Granted, there's the criminal element. Something about her being a criminal and he's the one that put her in jail and him being Hokage so there'd be dissonance of some kind or another. People say it wouldn't work out becasue he's Hokage and she's a prisoner. Kakashi has never been the most ethical person. He's no angel. Also, they apparently openly communicate as she sends him letters and he writes to her as well (at least in the game). And being that the other Kage visit her, there's no reason he can't. So, he has open access to her. He doesn't see her as a prisoner and neither do the other Kage. She's just seen as the new warden of Hozuki castle. And he's pardoned just about everybody major he's ever put in jail - Sasuke, Kabuto, Orochimaru, for example, and then in Sasuke's books, Kakashi pardons some more criminals because they were deemed useful. He pardoned so many people, Konoha was gaining a reputation for being soft on crime. So, it's a possibility he pardons her at some point.

Anyway, it's not a common or popular ship, though is ironically the most canonical that Kakashi has ever experienced in terms of romance and gushy love, but regardless, I adore Kakashi and Inmate #31707 Kahyo. I mean, I like KakaYu(gao) too, but that's another post.

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Hi how many months do you think Sasuke was in jail for 2 or 3 months or more before Kakashi become the Hokage and pardoned him

Hi! I am actually a Sasuke jail-denier LMAO.

I refuse to believe that Team 7 would let him be jailed after the war, considering he was directly responsible for ending the Infinite Tsukuyomi and defeating Kaguya, and the only real significant politically-impactful death he caused was Danzo's (and Itachi's), which was probably a favour to Konoha as it is.

Orochimaru is walking free, and he killed TWO actual long-standing Kage, instead of an acting Kage, who no one was in favour of appointing except for a few council members, and who repeatedly acted outside the interests of his village. Kabuto is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people during the war, and he works at an orphanage?! I cannot believe that Tsunade would jail Sasuke for what he did, and I cannot believe that Kakashi, Naruto or Sakura would let anyone do so.

I know they showed Sasuke in jail for a minute or two in the anime, but it's not in the manga, and I don't remember it being referenced elsewhere, so I choose to see it as the most unfortunate choice of filler rather than a part of any timeline.

So, my short answer is: 0 DAYS!! I think at most he was on probation, by which I mean a collective of village voices were like, "Stay in Konoha pretty please?" And Sasuke was like, "That's fine, all of my ribs are broken and I've got no arm, I need some time off anyway." And they were like, "Great, Naruto is your probation officer (roommate)." And Naruto went, "YAY!"

[evilkitten3]

new revelation from me and @tora-the-cat's routine naruto yellings:

mifune has had more gay sex than anyone else on earth, and has also been on the receiving end of multiple curses from the wives of all the men he's fucked. also witches exist in naruto but they're too busy cursing mifune (and tsunade that one time) to get involved in the plot much

[maybeblueberry]

¿Soy la única que necesita un Hiden de Hinata? Digo, sería muy genial saber qué fue de ella después de la guerra, además de The Last y sus pequeñas apariciones en los otros Hiden. Lo que quiero decir es que tenga un Hiden dedicado completamente a ella, ya que su historia de trasfondo tiene muchos vacíos sin resolver. Además, me encantaría saber como son sus misiones en solitario y más sobre su relación con su padre 🫠.

Am I the only one who thinks Hinata needs her own Hiden? Like, it’d be so cool to see what happened with her after the war—besides The Last and those quick cameos in other Hiden. I just wish there was one totally focused on her, ‘cause her backstory still has a ton of gaps. Plus, I’d love to see her on some solo missions and get more on her relationship with her dad 🫠.

[edai-crplpnk]

Every other day I think about that scene in Sakura Hiden where she thanks Kakashi for supporting her Children Therapy Center project and he's like "Yeah well God knows I understand why we need it" 🥲

[tora-the-cat]

WHY DOES KAKASHI HAVE A LAPTOP. sometimes I forget to forget about thinking too hard about naruto technological development

[notsorryiml8]

I may be the only one, but I ❤️ KaKaKahyo....

[mugiwara-lucy]

I need to read the Kakashi novels again 😅

just sitting here thinking about how incredible kakashi was as a leader even though most people seem to think he was like a placeholder hokage until naruto took over

(spoilers for kakashi retsuden incoming)

listen okay he was hokage for at least 12 years and in that time he not only helped konoha to insanely technologically advance, teamed up with sakura to create a children's mental health clinic but also had time and dedication to develop jutsu that can overpower the element they're weak to

based on the novel, we know for certain that he created a fire jutsu that overpowered a ridiculously strong water jutsu and that he developed a way to make an earth wall resistant to lightning by turning the point of contact into crystal (it's also indicated that he's one of the only people with good enough control to do it)

without the sharingan sapping his chakra and training throughout his entire hokage tenure he also had enough power to hold up an earth wall thick enough to stop cannon fire around an entire village for two straight days

and after all that, he brought down a whole hoarde of hired shinobi non-lethally

kakashi never wanted to be hokage, he didn't think he was worthy of that title, but took it on because his comrades needed him to and believed in him

he dedicated himself to the position and made so much positive change for konoha and for the bonds they forged during the fourth war

people who think kakashi was just a nothing hokage warming the seat for naruto completely misunderstand who he is fundamentally as a person and as a shinobi

okay rant over lmao

[philosophicalparadox]

Interesting Itachi notes

(And a bit more about his ancestors because it’s relevant)

//Tumblr is letting me edit posts again, so some info has been corrected for//

Alright, well, I did not anticipate my Kisame list to be so popular — apparently some of that was NOT common fandom knowledge lol. So I figure why not do the same with his partner, especially after I’ve done labors of love to find this information over the years lol

Starting with VA’s first, once again the boy gets duped by translators. I will forever not forgive Crispin Freeman for not cutting loose like he usually does (I.e. Alucard from Hellsing) because it would have matched the energy of the way Itachi speaks in Japanese so much better lol. Contrary to English speaking fandom interpretation, Itachi talks in Japanese pretty much exactly the way Sasuke does (sassy, scathingly sarcastic, dramatic), minus the cussing and with a few more odd word choices. Itachi is fond of, not puns, precisely, but using words and phrases that have deliberately obscure or double meanings. Which is terribly ironic because he’s very direct and to-the-point about a lot of things; he does in fact mince his words, but he also doesn’t waste time talking at length unless he needs to explain something, but even then he is usually pretty short and almost, if not actually, rude about it. He also is, true to fandom interpretation, rather philosophical, which gives him a pretty idiosyncratic way of speaking; he’s bordering on rudely casual (with other Akatsuki members) if not outright being a bratty lil shit (Kisame, and when he’s dissing Madara to Sasuke) but he’s also patently well versed. He reminds me the most of Sasuke and Kakashi when he talks if that helps lol it’s so hard to explain

HOWEVER there’s one exception right at the beginning: when Itachi encounters Kakashi during their trip to Konoha, his entire (informal, rude-ish) register changes, and kicks up to a more polite but still familiar one. He essentially talks to Kakashi like he’s an old colleague, which he is, but that’s really the first clue we get about that. Asuma amd Kurenai also get a formal attention, but it’s more distant; I can only imagine Kisame had lots of questions about that after the fact lolll.

In addition to this, Itachi refers to Jiraiya as -sama, the highest order of honorific, which isn’t unusual for Jiraiya, since he’s a Sannin, however, Itachi pointedly is quite rude to and about Orochimaru, and appears to avoid even saying his name, where possible. This may be to avoid the impression of anything like closeness, since dropping an honorific can mean either disrespect or closeness such that it isn’t a requirement.

According to the Hiden and interviews with Kishimoto He’s basically a pseudo-piscivarian, in that he largely prefers to eat vegetables, especially crunchy ones like cabbage and peppers, and actually detests beef and most meat* . That said, we see him eat fish and chicken in canon, so he probably doesn’t mind white meats. Consensus on pork is non existent. He also, yes, prefers sweet foods, but also likes bitter things. His least favorite flavor profiles are Umami/savory (beef, mushrooms), acidic or spicy food and anything oily or fatty. (He shares the latter in common with Sasuke, though he’s the polar opposite in pretty much every other regard.)

His “hobby” according to Kishimoto is visiting traditional tea houses/shops. He really likes tea, and the relaxed atmosphere is soothing to him. Conversely, and unsurprisingly, he doesn’t like visiting bars or other “crowded” places.

Speaking of hobbies and habits, yes, Itachi does like to cook and clean. There’s canon evidence for this, but Kishi also has confirmed it in interviews.

The Itachi Shinden novel implies that he’s at least baseline knowledgeable about traditional medicine. (More on that later) Whether that’s normal-ish knowledge for ninja, an Uchiha thing, or a quirk of his is unclear. Kakashi has similar knowledge, and he’s a total bookworm, so perhaps they are both simply well read lol.

Maybe it’s well known, but I don’t often see people acknowledging that Itachi 1, specializes in gathering Intel, and 2. That he worked closely with Konoha’s intel division consequently. This is acknowledged directly late in the series by Aoba, Itachi’s genin sensei, who also works for Intel under Ibiki.

I’ve mentioned this in another post, but his name has a triple/quadruple meaning— “Itachi” does translate to “weasel”, but it’s also an old catch-all term for any shape-shifting Youkai, though in particular it’s often associated with Tanuki. It’s also a derogatory term for people that are dubiously trustworthy or whose intentions aren’t always clear, as well as a descriptive word whose best English equivalent is the word “skulking”, or moving around like a fox, acting benign or innocent but clearly up to something.

As a related aside, the in-canon reason for his name probably comes from Izuna, in that he was possibly named after him. “Izuna” translates as “stoat/ermine” — like a mini weasel but far more vicious lol. The name Izuna has multiple meanings also, but is a far more common old name because ermines, the winter form of a stoat, were prized for their snow white pelt— consequently, “Izuna” as a descriptor refers to something that’s pure white, or something that’s easily tainted because of its purity (like ermine pelts, which stain easily).** Which gives Madara’s name, meaning “speckled/blotched/piebald/particolour” at the surface and has a double, derogatory meaning of “blemished, scarred, (as by smallpox)”*** some degree of irony lol.

Back to Itachi though —

Let’s talk about his fighting style: there’s no official data about this, but if you watch martial arts enough it’s fairly obvious that Itachi specifically uses a very Aikido inspired style— aikido is a Japanese martial art that began in Korea, and it specializes in non-lethal disarmament by way of holding or locking an opponent into a particular position where they can’t do shit until they exhaust themselves or give up lol. It’s also a defensive style that relies on the opponent doing most of the attacking, with, again, the intent of the Aikido being to arrest their movements or otherwise disarm them principally by using their own attacks/momentum against them, and by feinting dodges to direct their attacks into prime grappling/locking position. Philosophically, Aikido strongly emphasizes non-violence and is more of a self defense art. A classic example of this that he (sort of) uses in canon is when he (as his fake self) locked Kakashi’s clone into a neck hold that forced eye contact — that is based on an actual move in Aikido that is designed to communicate intent and read the opponent’s, but in his case it just happens to work fantastically with his abilities lol. Probably the reason Kishi chose it as the basis of his moveset.

Speaking of abilities, again there’s no official data on it, but from canon interpretation it’s pretty clear that Itachi’s Genjutsu abilities (especially the Tsukiyomi) rely on the opponent seeing him, not the other way around. He can be totally blind (and in the manga at least he mostly is) and his powers still work fine as long as they seek out eye contact with him. Nearest we can tell the base sharingan works in a similar way, but also requires the user to at least be able to see their victims chakra; it can however be used to enhance other genjutsu that doesn’t originate from the Sharingan itself, as evidenced by Sai’s encounter with Sasuke, so 🤷‍♀️. Who knows how it works; I was just thinking about the fact Itachi doesn’t need hand signs to cast a genjutsu even with just his base sharingan active. He could’ve been bluffing Naruto, but if it’s true that the Sharingan can enhance a genjutsu already cast, it would lend itself to explaining that ability. (Or, in HC territory, maybe he’s taught himself to project some of the Sharingan’s power, much like Shisui could.)

Evidence that Itachi’s illness is probably respiratory comes from two things — in the Shinden novel, he uses an herb called Japanese Knotweed in English, which has medicinal uses principally related to the lungs and heart, since it’s a bronchodilator, and two, from the fact that any time a character in Naruto is severely ill they all seem to have respiratory diseases lol. Hayate dying of what looks like tuberculosis, side characters on their sickbeds with coughs, etc. there’s a cultural and industry reason why that’s so — one, lung diseases are ✨dramatic✨ and two, just like how the Victorians romanticized “consumption” (aka, tuberculosis) Japan did something very similar after an outbreak hit Kyoto in the late 1800’s, probably from a different strain brought by Dutch ships. So the image is engrained.

To add a few notes:

* The fact Itachi hates beef and isn’t fond of meat has…potentially interesting, implications. Meat, especially beef,= masculinity in Japan, so being vegetarian has long since been a very UnMasculine thing to do, and therefore is associated with cross dressers and Queer men in Japan. That he also appreciates feminine pastimes like cooking, cleaning, and tea houses (and by extension ceremonies) sets up a bit of a queer code for him lol.

** I’m not done talking about Izuna lol because, as you’d expect, it’s very often a girl name. Because yknow, purity culture stuff. Yeah Japan had it too.

*** a historical note about Madara because I just can’t justify making another list for him, 1. Madara is a common name for calico cats, especially rare male calicos, and 2. It’s not surprising that there’s a ton of correlation between Madara and historical Nobunaga, but I honestly think he got his name partly because of a stand out feature Nobunaga had — he was severely scarred from smallpox as a child. So it’s possible, though there aren’t historical accounts of it, that he might’ve been jeered at with the derogatory form of Madara. Certainly Oda Nobunaga’s clan fucking hated him lol

Anyway, I’m done for now unless I think of something else. Do with this information what you will. 🕊️

[dranosh-haran-of-paleoworld]

Sakura stans really need to get over themselves. Kakashi wasn't a "teacher" in the traditional sense. Despite the fact that Naruto and Sakura called him sensei out of respect, the fool was a military instructor, his job was to make sure that his team knew the basics essentials for their survival as shinobi, like the tree climbing exercise. Outside of the basics, Kakashi and the other instructors such as Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai are under NO obligation to teach their charges anything new, hell of them Kakashi and Gai, focused on certain team members for different reasons.

Gai focused on Lee because he WANTED to, he saw himself in Lee and because the boy was a talentless fool. Gai was under no obligation to teach Lee anything other than the basics, but he taught him Gates because he WANTED to. Neji and Tenten were taught nothing but the bare essentials by him, other than that, they both did their own thing.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was ONLY taught chidori and nothing else, and that was because the boy was to face Gaara an absolutely insane murder hobo during the Chunin Exams, and chidori was the perfect counter as doton and sand are vulnerable to raiton, Kakashi also projected himself onto Sasuke which was another reason why he focused on him. Another reason why Kakashi taught him this was because Sasuke and Naruto were the two most valuable assets in Konoha. Sasuke, as an Uchiha, had the capacity to awaken the sharingan. Meanwhile, Naruto was Kurama's jinchuruki, aka the villages nuke, but he was also a dead-last, so teaching him was a MONUMENTAL priority for the village, if he were sent onto the battlefield with his shitty excuse for skills some random shinobi could just easily kill him, and cost Konoha their biju, and should that happen, the other villages and factions mainly Kumo and the Akatsuki would scramble to find, locate, and capture Kurama and make him theirs shifting the balance of power in their favor. I say Kumo because they have a reputation for running around collecting jutsus and kidnapping kids with rare bloodlines and kekkei genkai, focusing on increasing their own power, by the time of the main story Kumo was already in possession of the 8-tails and the 2-tails, and it's stated multiple times that long before Madara got hold of it, Kumo had made numerous attempts to control Kurama. Got off topic there, but anyways, it was paramount that Naruto was trained. Kakashi was also explicitly placed in charge of Team 7 by Hiruzen because of Sasuke and Naruto, this was explicitly stated in the manga, although the anime added some unnecessary bullshit about Sakura but the manga made it perfectly clear that Sasuke and Naruto were his priorities.

Additionally, here's another thing that Sakura stans blatantly ignore on this topic. Almost all of the other kids in the academy were from military families. They all had their own skillsets that were taught to them by their families or were self-taught. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all come from clans that possessed Hiden or kekkei genkai, having been taught these things by their families.

Sasuke and Neji, due to their circumstances, were self-taught. Like I said in my first blog post, if the Uchiha survived and Fugaku maintains his decision on him being heir, Sasuke would've been trained by his father and other clanmates. But, unfortunately, the poor boy didn't get that in canon, so he was forced to train himself. He taught himself all of his clans jutsus, including their katon jutsus, how to channel chakra and elemental chakra through instruments, and body flicker, Neji was precisely the same, both young men, brought a lot to the table.

Sakura, meanwhile, did jackshit in regards to any real training, and that's a fact. Sasuke straight up told her to her face that she spends her time flirting and not training, and her skills are worse than Naruto's. That's not all, she couldn't figure out the henge's used by the Ame shinobi and Orochimaru during the Exams, her trap making skills are ass and her focus on taking care of her looks rather than her training caused Dosu and his pack to rip her to shreds over how idiotic she was. She legit only took her training seriously when Sasuke defected to Orochimaru, and Naruto failed to bring him back. Other than that, Sakura was only focused on getting into Sasuke's pants, and that's a fact.

Additionally, I've said this just a few days ago, in a separate post, and I'll say it again, Sakura has NO WASTED POTENTIAL of any kind. Her chakra control is explicitly stated to be delicate.

Shizune's the only one who's complimented her on that front. Don't even bother bringing up Hashirama's compliment, as Tsunade was 6 years old when he died, and as such, he knows exactly nothing about Tsunade's arsenal, so his complement is null and void. Sakura's chakra reserves as I and a few others pointed out are abysmal, they're ridiculously tiny, and they're why she's got delicate chakra control. She can't handle large volumes of chakra, hell, she couldn't even handle a trickle of biju chakra that leaked into a small scratch on her. Her chakra isn't potent either, as chakra potency can matter as well, as revealed through Kushina, her chakra was explicitly stated to be unusually potent for an Uzumaki and that's why she was made to be Kurama's jinchuruki after Mito. Because of this, Kakashi was deterred from teaching anything chakra intensive.

Her having water release doesn't mean shit either, considering that Sasuke and Naruto have it too, yet they don't use it either. The axe she's got in artwork and figures is just promotional shit, not anything Kishimoto intended for canon, this is especially backed up by the fact that Sakura's speed and agility feats in canon are nonexistent, her situational awareness is ass too. During the War Arc, she let's an enemy watch her back, and she was too damn slow to dodge a jubi clones attack, why would she get an axe when she can't even compete with the really heavy hitters.

Sakura's learning curve is also ass too, her took three long months to make a single fish wriggle. Sasuke, meanwhile, mastered his clans signature fireball katon in under a week despite not knowing anything about the spiral nature of chakra. He also learned chidori and Lee's gated speed in a similar time frame as well. Sakura, unlike her peers, didn't self-learn anything. She's not an asset to Konoha in any way.

Taking all of this and what I said prior into account, there's absolutely no reason for Kakashi to teach Sakura anything. It would just be a MASSIVE waste of time, energy, and resources to invest any training into talentless and hopeless fool like her.

[evilkitten3]

good ship dynamics (note: "guy" is gender neutral in this instance. all of these can be any gender):

guy who's just an absolute nightmare of a person x guy who's even worse

guy who gets lost in the supermarket pasta aisle x guy who runs through "warning: floor is wet" signs and falls every time

guy who keeps raising the undead x guy who keeps raising a slightly different kind of undead x guy subtly encouraging them to keep trying to one-up each other

guy who's been present for the whole story but somehow missed every single exposition scene x guy who people can't stop expositing at

guy whose only personality trait is reading books x guy who doesn't believe that books exist

guy trying to sneak onboard an airplane's first flight x guy who's supposed to be guarding the plane

[stu-dyingstudent]

recently updated this with far more concrete evidence that indicates Naruto follows the Japanese school system for ages

Sakura is the youngest of team 7

Let’s talk about a hot topic rn in regards to Sakura… the age order of the rookies. Tbh, I don’t think it’s a big deal but I’m tired seeing misinformation going around.

It’s been the common belief for many years that Sakura is the oldest member of team 7 because of the thought that the Naruto universe follows the American school system for age. However, if we use the Japanese school system then she would be the youngest of her entire graduating class.

What is used by many to back that Sakura is older is the information derived from the databook 4 character files. In those entries it follows that Shino is the oldest and Hinata is the youngest of the rookies. Sakura is said to be 17 during the war and Naruto (as we all know) turned 17 at the end of the war. This would indicate a following of the American school system for the ages.

However, databook 1 goes against this information. In this databook, it takes place in the middle of the chunin exams. For the character files it states that all of the rookies graduated at the age of 12 and that all of them are still 12 while under examination for promotion to chunin. Why does this matter? The only way for this to be possible is if it follows the Japanese school system and let me explain why.

In chapter 11 of the Naruto manga, kakashi states that “it’s springtime” during the Land of Waves arc. This whole arc lasts about a month. Not long after they return to the village (about a week) the teams enter into the chunin exam, which, according to Hiruzen in chapter 34, starts on July 1st. In Japan, spring is from March to May and graduation takes place from mid to late March. Furthermore, the Japanese school system works where children with birthdays from April to March of the following year are placed in the same class. This lines up perfectly with the information here as if they graduate in late March then the rookies would be 12 when becoming genin and for the exam.

Now, you might say “well why should we trust one databook over the other?” Well, if you look at databook 2 and 3 it still follows that all of the rookies graduated at the age of 12, which follows what was said in the first databook. The entire timeline of Naruto is very difficult to follow without looking to extreme detail (which I don’t have time or care for). However, the wave arc being in spring is an easy find and sets up the storyline for it to follow the Japanese school system/year.

Now, lets take a look at the novels. We know that The Last took place when Naruto and Hinata were 19; however, no information was given about Sakura's exact age at the time. On the other hand, Gaara Hiden explicitly states multiple times that Gaara is 20 years old during the novel, which is why they are pushing for his marriage in addition to the fact the Temari and Shikamaru and engaged. That later part is important. Gaara is apart of the same graduation year as the rest of the rookies and his birthday takes place in January, which makes him one of the disputed ages. There is a scene in the novel where Gaara calls Shikamaru his "elder brother" on page 122 since he is his soon to be brother-in-law. On that same page, Shikamaru also refers to Gaara as his "troublesome little brother." Now, Shikamaru is born in September, which makes his age confirmed to being in accordance to what we already believe, yet Gaara claims that he is the older one. This follows that Gaara, and thus Shino and Sakura, were born the following year like what is seen in the Japanese school system.

Notice this: Gaara Hiden is written by Ukyō Kodachi, who is one of Kishimoto's former assistants while working on Naruto. He is also the original writer of Boruto until it got taken over by Ikemoto. None of the other novels in the Hiden series are written by him or another assistant. Instead, the rest are by various Japanese authors who are working on Naruto for the first time. Why is this important? Kodachi is the most reputable source when it comes to the information we have gotten from the Hiden novels and he says that Shikamaru is older than Gaara.

Furthermore, let's look at the official timeline of the Hiden novel series, which was released by Shonen Jump. Shikamaru's novel is set before The Last, and in such novel it is said that he is 19 years old at the time. Very shortly after (same time section), The Last takes place and as discussed earlier, Naruto and Hinata are said by Kishimoto in interviews (and based off of Shikamaru's age) to be 19 as well. Then there is a few months break to where Sakura Hiden occurs. It is stated multiple times throughout the novel that it's spring; however, Sakura's age is never discussed. Nonetheless, it is said by Kakashi that Naruto and Hinata are "going to be married soon." From Naruto Mobile, it is said that they officially got married on May 8th, which would be the month that Konoha Hiden would occur.

Note: In the novel of Konoha Hiden (brief ceremony and events leading up to the wedding), there is no mention of cherry blossoms like is seen in the anime and some official art. However, it can be disputed that the wedding took place in spring, which does not affect the timeline I have put forth below.

Akatsuki Hiden, which Sasuke's portion is in the same time period as Gaara Hiden, mentions that flowers are in full bloom. This indicates that it takes place in springtime as that is when such an event occurs. Meaning, it must be the year following Sakura Hiden in order for this to be possible since Gaara Hiden and Akatsuki Hiden are set to take place an unspecified number of months after Naruto's wedding (in summer/spring).

Note: Sasuke's age is not mentioned in either Akatsuki Hiden or Sasuke Shinden, which occur at similar times.

Now, this would indicate that Gaara Hiden takes place a little over a year after The Last. This would mean that Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru are 20 at this time and Gaara would be newly of that age as well. This, once again, indicates that Naruto follows that Japanese system for the ages according to these timelines and still works with the ages in Boruto as those indicate that the next generation wasn't born until the rookies were about 21 years old.

Even with all of this being said, I have seen plenty of people argue that “Naruto doesn’t take place in Japan and therefore doesn’t follow their school year.” Now let me ask, why would Kishimoto, a Japanese man who has used lots of Japanese history and folklore in his series and even said much of the scenery was based on Okayama (which is in Japan), not use the Japanese school year? Why would he use the American system instead? It makes no sense. The only logical conclusion is that Naruto follows the Japanese system and that databook 4 ages were a mistake.

Kishimoto himself has never officially come out to state the age order and there are no direct references of it in the manga. The only thing absolutely certain is that Sasuke is older than Naruto, which we all know and doesn’t help at all. Now, there is one scene in chapter 18 that could give us a clue that Sakura is the youngest, but it’s all perspective imo. Kakashi calls Sakura “our young lady,” which although doesn’t confirm anything, it does indicate or imply that she is the youngest of the team. Otherwise there would be no reason for kakashi to point that out instead of just calling her “our lady.”

Anyway, what I saw rekindle this debate was the apology that Shueisha released regarding some official Naruto merchandise that came out back in 2023. In this apology they admitted to getting the ages of Sakura and Gaara during the war arc wrong and changed the info cards of the characters from 17 to 16. In addition, Sakura's character description (for the war) in one of the Naruto videogames (Borutage) also places her at the age of 16 during this arc. Many fans say that these technically aren't "official" sources to confirm her age, but aside from the databooks, which contradict themselves, these are the only other sources of her age in the war. It's also something to consider that Shueisha went out of their way to make a public apology on the matter and corrected themselves. The databooks have plenty of mistakes, so if they apologized for one mistake then they would have to do it for all. Meaning, it's best if they don't.

Furthermore, you must note that Shueisha is the publisher that Shonen Jump and obviously Naruto are under. This is the official copyright holder of the series coming out saying that Sakura is the youngest.

Also, I have seen some fans say that this illustration was released by shonen jump, but I haven’t found any proof of that being the case. Nonetheless, I will still place it below as it provides a visual for the birth order and you can use your own discretion if you think it’s official.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the matter of age order. Cheers!