Sakura Haruno remains one of Kishimoto's biggest regrets in Naruto, and it has to do with her family

Modified Aug 25, 2024 12:30 GMT

Sakura Haruno remains one of Kishimoto's biggest regrets in Naruto, and it has to do with her family (Image via Studio PIerrot)

Sakura Haruno from Naruto became the talk of the town after Masashi Kishimoto shared his thoughts during an interview on Konoha Day, alongside Ikemoto. According to the author, he regretted not developing Sakura's relationship with her parents, even though the other two characters from the main trio had a proper relationship to start with.

Fans might not remember but Sakura's parents didn't make an appearance in the manga series. However, their character designs were done by the official author who considered them a part of the storyline but didn't remember including them in the series. Although her development with her parents went unnoticed by the majority of the fandom, this was one of Kishimoto's regrets.

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Naruto: Exploring Kishimoto's regrets about Sakura Haruno

Sakura's parents as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

During the interview on Konoha Day, the interviewer brought his attention to Masashi Kishimoto and asked if there was a character from his magnum opus he would have explored before his series ended. The author chose Sakura and told how he would have loved to develop her bond with her parents in the manga series.

The author revealed how out of the majority of characters, Sakura was the only one whose parents weren't drawn in the official manga series. The author expressed his regret over how he should have brought them earlier in the series because the choice of introducing them later would have made things complicated.

Although her parents did appear in the anime, the author brought to attention their appearances in the Naruto movies as something that could be considered a slight development between the character and her parents. All in all, the author wanted to include a scene or two regarding her parents in the official source of the series but it kept getting delayed until the series reached its climax.

Who are Sakura's parents?

Kizashi and Mebuki as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Introduced in Naruto episode 271 of the anime series, Mebuki Haruno (mother) and Kizashi Haruno (father) were the parents of Sakura Haruno. Both of them were shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village. The character designs of both parents were done by the author himself for the Road to Ninja movie. However, even at that time, the author was adamant about failing to introduce them earlier.

Kizashi Haruno was a kind-hearted man who cared for his daughter and his wife. During the Road to Ninja movie, in the alternate universe, Sakura's character was replaced by the protagonist and Kizashi was the Fourth Hokage who died during the Nine-Tails Rampage Incident. Although nothing was revealed regarding his jutsu technique, he was still a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village.

Mebuki Haruno was a kind-hearted woman who cared for her daughter but as compared to her husband's mellow personality, she was a bit more wild, indicating that Sakura inherited her anger from her mother. During the Road to Ninja movie, she died alongside her husband, who was the Hokage in this alternate universe. Moreover, she was adept at using Taijutsu techniques.

Mebuki and Kizashi in Japanese translate to 'budding' and 'sprouting,' both of which are development procedures of a flower. This could be related to their daughter's name 'Sakura' which translates to 'cherry blossoms,' a flower species famous for its beauty in Japan.

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Edited by DEEPALI