Naruto creator has one regret about the story’s most hated character

In a recent interview, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto shared his regret about Sakura’s character.

Kishimoto is known for his iconic manga Naruto, dubbed one of the ‘Big Three’ alongside One Piece and Bleach. The author is also the mind behind the sequel, Boruto Two Blue Vortex, with Mikio Ikemoto handling the manga’s art.

To promote Boruto Two Blue Vortex, Kishimoto and Ikemoto recently sat down for an interview where they not only talked about the current series, but also the author’s previous work.

In the interview, Kishimoto revealed he regretted not expanding Sakura’s relationship with her parents the way he did with Naruto and Sasuke. She’s also one of the main characters, yet didn’t receive the same depth as her teammates.

This makes sense, as doing so would’ve contributed a lot to Sakura’s writing. Despite being one of the main trio, she’s considered the most hated character in the series. A lot of that hate comes from how shallow her writing was compared to some other major characters.

Masashi Kishimoto/Studio Pierrot

Expanding Sakura’s relationship with her parents more would’ve given her a different role than just Naruto and Sasuke’s weaker teammate. Though she gets a lot stronger (in fact, the strongest female character by the end), she still can’t hold a candle to either of her teammates.

This, coupled with the messy romantic triangle between the trio, earned her immense hatred from fans. Maybe if she was given a more detailed backstory, viewers could’ve related to her more.

After the author’s confession, fans are now asking to see it happen. As one X user commented: “KISHI HAS BEEN WANTING TO GIVE SAKURA AN ARC SINCE 2005 SOMEONE LET THIS MAN WRITE THE SAKURA ARC!!!!!”

“KISHIMOTO PLEASE MAKE A BLANK PERIOD MANGA THAT COVERS SAKURA’S NOVEL AND DIVES INTO HER BACKSTORY. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE. PLEASE WRITE THE SAKURA ARC,” wrote another.

“He’s right, he should have put more care in Sakura,” said a third, while a fourth weighed in, “Is there still time to do so? I personally would love to see more lore on Sakura.”

“Hence we got Road to Ninja, the first Naruto movie Kishimoto ever storyboarded,” pointed out another fan.

Since Kishimoto is busy with Boruto Two Blue Vortex, it’s unlikely we’ll get anything on solely Sakura anytime soon. But that won’t stop fans from asking.

For more on the ninja world, check out our ranking of the Shinju. You can also learn more about the strongest character in Naruto and Madara’s unnamed Mangekyo Sharingan.