6. Sakura’s Burden in the Mission to Eliminate Sasuke

After joining the Akatsuki and completing the mission to hunt down Killer Bee, Sasuke shocked the Shinobi of Kumogakure by kidnapping Ay’s younger brother, Raikage. This act turned Sasuke into a wanted criminal worldwide.

At the time, Danzou, who was serving as interim Hokage replacing Tsunade, granted Kumogakure permission to eliminate Sasuke Uchiha. Unlike Tsunade, who was considered too lenient with rogue shinobi, Danzou took a firm stance, planning to dispose of Sasuke without hesitation.

Furthermore, Naruto and Sakura’s peers also agreed that Sasuke, now a global fugitive, had to be dealt with. Shikamaru even explained to Sakura that the best solution to prevent war between Konoha and Kumogakure was for Konoha’s shinobi to eliminate Sasuke themselves.

A team was subsequently formed from Konoha, consisting of Sakura, Sai, Kiba, and Lee, with the mission to kill Sasuke. Before the mission began, Sakura met Naruto in the Land of Iron under the pretext of freeing him from his old promise to bring Sasuke back to Konoha.

During this meeting, Sakura confessed her love for Naruto and claimed she had moved on from Sasuke, who she said had only ever hurt her. However, Naruto doubted the sincerity of Sakura’s feelings, causing her to grow upset and leave.

After Sakura left, Sai’s shadow clone approached Naruto, Yamato, and Kakashi to explain Sakura’s true intentions. As it turned out, Sakura’s confession wasn’t genuine. She had intended to inform Naruto that their peers in Konoha had decided to eliminate Sasuke. She also expressed her personal desire to end Sasuke’s life herself.

Sai explained that Sakura hesitated to reveal the truth because she feared Naruto would reject the decision and remain determined to save Sasuke.

Kakashi became concerned for Sakura’s safety, believing she was heading toward her own demise, as she was no match for Sasuke. Assigning Yamato to escort Naruto back to Konoha, Kakashi decided to search for Sakura alongside Sai’s shadow clone. He also instructed the clone to contact the real Sai and stop Lee, Sakura, and Kiba from attempting to confront Sasuke.

When Kiba and Akamaru successfully tracked Sasuke’s location, a conflict erupted within the team tasked with eliminating him. This occurred after Sai caught Sakura attempting to use sleeping gas on them. Following Kakashi’s orders, Sai tried to prevent the team from pursuing Sasuke, but Lee and Kiba resisted, leading to a fight. Amid the chaos, Sakura detonated the sleeping gas, rendering Sai, Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee unconscious. She then ventured alone toward Sasuke’s location.

Meanwhile, after Sasuke defeated Danzou, Sakura arrived and confronted him. She claimed she wanted to join Sasuke’s group, but Sasuke set a condition: she had to kill Karin, who was gravely injured after being pierced by Sasuke’s Chidori during his battle with Danzou.

Sakura’s declaration of allegiance was a ruse. As she pretended to stab Karin, her true intention was to attack Sasuke while he was off guard. However, doubt and hesitation plagued Sakura, preventing her from carrying out the act. Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke prepared to strike Sakura from behind with Chidori.

Fortunately, Kakashi arrived just in time to block Sasuke’s attack, saving Sakura. This led to a brief battle between the former teacher and his student, who hadn’t faced each other in three years. During the fight, Sasuke revealed his Susano’o, but his vision suddenly blurred due to exhaustion.

Sakura attempted to exploit Sasuke’s weakened state, preparing to attack him from behind with a kunai. Yet again, her hesitation stopped her, even as the kunai was mere inches from Sasuke’s back. Sensing the attack, Sasuke quickly grabbed Sakura by the throat, disarmed her, and prepared to slash her with her own kunai.

Naruto arrived just in time to save Sakura, although his cheek was grazed by Sasuke’s kunai. However, Team 7’s reunion was short-lived. After a brief clash between Naruto and Sasuke, with their Rasengan and Chidori colliding, Tobi suddenly appeared to take Sasuke away. Exhausted from his earlier fight with Danzou, Sasuke allowed Tobi to escort him to safety.

# Reasons Why Sakura Was a Burden During the Mission to Eliminate Sasuke

Before embarking on the mission to eliminate Sasuke, Sakura had been trained by Shizune on how to coat kunai with poison. This gave her great confidence and the belief that she could take down Sasuke using the poisoned kunai.

Sakura actually had two clear opportunities to strike Sasuke with the poisoned kunai. However, her hesitation stopped her at the last moment both times. As a result of her indecision, Sakura’s life was put in danger twice by Sasuke, who had no qualms about trying to kill her. If not for Naruto and Kakashi’s timely interventions, it is highly likely that Sakura would have been killed by Sasuke during the mission.

This incident highlights that, while Sakura had the intention to act, her hesitation and lack of capability made her a burden in this extremely perilous mission. Kakashi later pointed out to Sakura that she had overestimated the effectiveness of the poisoned kunai, explaining that it would have no effect on Sasuke. This was due to Orochimaru’s modifications to Sasuke’s body, which made him immune to poison, rendering Sakura’s efforts futile.

Although Sakura was fortunate that Naruto saved her from Sasuke’s poisoned kunai slash, unfortunately, the same kunai ended up grazing Naruto’s cheek. As a result, Naruto became affected by the poison Sakura had prepared.

To make matters worse, Sakura neglected her teammates who had supported her journey to the Land of Iron and helped locate Sasuke. If not for Kakashi reminding her during their return trip to Konoha, Sakura might have completely ignored the plight of Sai, Lee, Akamaru, and Kiba, who had been rendered unconscious by the sleeping gas she had used.

To hasten their recovery, Sakura needed to administer the antidote she had prepared. Without it, they would have remained unconscious for days before waking up.