Background
Sakura Haruno is a character from Naruto, Naruto Shippuden & Boruto, which was created by Masashi Kishimoto. She is the heroine and is a part of Team 7, along with Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake (as well as Sai later on) in Naruto. As a child, Sakura was very soft-spoken and bullied by her peers for her appearance; her parents and family members are pretty low-profile as Sakura does not come from a prestigious clan. Now that we have some of the backgrounds out of the way, let's get into the core.
I'm going to be responding to the '6 Reasons why people hate Sakura' on Narutopedia. I will also be referencing Hinata to point out the hypocrisy.
Hate Reason # 1 - "Her Obsession with Sasuke"
Sakura's "obsession" with Sasuke was listed as one of the reasons why she's hated as a character. However, I don't think I would call this an obsession. For one, Sasuke seemed to attract many women, and it was normalized for other women to find him attractive. Secondly, a lot of people seem to forget what obsessed really means. Sakura actually interacted with Sasuke and they were teammates, so there was a foundation there - however small or shallow it may have started.
But she certainly wasn't stalking him or anything.
On the other hand, Hinata creepily stalked Naruto from afar for the whole Naruto series and went as far as to adopt his Ninja way and his ideals as her own. Hinata hardly interacted with Naruto. Now, that is what I would call obsessed. To the point where you're stalking someone, and even going as far as to adopt their nindo way? She literally doesn't have a nindo way of her own and it adds no originality to her character. Sakura, on the other hand, is someone apart from her love interest. Does no one talk about how Hinata literally gave ointment to Naruto over Kiba during the Chunin exams?
It also bothers me how people will say "Sasuke tried to kill Sakura" when Sasuke tried to kill everyone. Sasuke did not discriminate. When he said he wanted to sever his bonds, he really meant that. Sasuke tried to kill Naruto, Kakashi, Karin, the Raikage - and no one gives them crap about accepting Sasuke. I don't understand the hypocrisy. Why is it a problem for Sakura specifically?
And did we forget that Neji tried to literally kill Hinata during the Chunin Exams, but no one gives Hinata crap over forgiving Neji?
Hate Reason # 2 - "She Mistreated Naruto"
So in the beginning, Sakura was horrible to Naruto. I will definitely admit that; however, after Sasuke set her straight, Sakura changed her ways. It bothers me that people think that Sakura is mistreating Naruto when she hits him; it is purely for comical purposes. This happens in all Shonen. Sakura actually grows to care for Naruto and she risks her life to protect Sasuke and Naruto during the Chunin Exams.
Sakura even makes food pills for Naruto at one point in time when he was training to beat the Akatsuki. Sakura clearly cares for Naruto and I don't understand why she wouldn't when Naruto was literally all she had when Sasuke abandoned the Leaf Village. I will admit that Sakura can be ignorant about things she doesn't understand, but that doesn't mean that she is a bad character.
Especially if Sakura changes and learns from them - which she did.
More importantly, If Sakura was so horrible to Naruto, which she wasn't, Naruto would have put his foot down a long time ago. Naruto is not the type to take much of anything from anyone. He has always been known to speak his mind regardless of who it is. He doesn't care if it was some spoiled rich kid or even Lady Tsunade; Naruto has no troubles speaking his mind or standing up for himself.
There have been times when Naruto even punched Konohamaru - the grandson of the Third Hokage. That is something only Naruto would have dared to done - no one else.
Hate Reason # 3 - "Her Lack of Help On Missions"
I'm willing to bet that this was probably earlier on in the series. Honestly speaking, there really wasn't much Sakura could do during Naruto. Let's try to keep in mind that Sakura was put on a team with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha - similar to how Tenten was put on a team with Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga. While I hate to say it, neither woman could hold a candle to their male teammates.
Neji and Sasuke were prodigies.
Rock Lee and Naruto were underdogs, but definitely strong nonetheless.
While...Tenten and Sakura literally came from nothing.
Logically speaking, what is it that they could have done? The playing field wasn't exactly even. Tenten and Sakura were probably the other women of Konoha 9 to not come from a notorious clan. Why doesn't that sink in? That our main female character didn't have any help or a special dojutsu to fall back on.
Sure, in part one, Sakura didn't particularly stand out on team 7, but in part two, Sakura came back a different person. She realized that she was weak and sought out Lady Tsunade for training. That has to count for something, imo.
In part one Sakura would have never been able to do what Sakura was able to do against Sasori in Shippuden; Sakura was the first person to take down an Akatsuki member. Granted, she had help with Lady Chiyo, but so did Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji when they took down Kakuzu. So what difference does it make that Sakura had help? This signifies insane growth.
Someone without a clan, someone without super ocular abilities took down an Akatsuki member. Not to mention, just before this fight, Sakura literally saved Kankuro, the Kazekage's brother. Lady Chiyo and Lady Tsunade are both renowned medical ninjas, and not even Chiyo was able to remove this poison, yet Sakura was able to thanks to Lady Tsunade's tutelage.
Sakura was also able to take down one of Pein's summon during the attack on the village, identify that Zetsu was a spy among them, she was able to help bring Sasuke back during the fight against Kaguya, she saved Naruto and so many other feats that I could list, but I don't want to ramble. Sakura has shown so much growth as she was able to open her own medical clinic in Boruto. I understand that Sakura was pretty bratty in the beginning, but if Gaara can change and Sasuke can change, why can't we acknowledge the change in Sakura?
Hate Reason # 4 - "She Lied About Loving Naruto"
Now, this is honestly a reason I could see Sakura getting hate for. This is one I can understand because I don't believe in toying with anyone's emotions; that is a dangerous and hurtful thing to do. Nevertheless, Sakura did have good intentions behind this, but this was definitely not her best moment.
I wish she would have gone about protecting Naruto another way, but her whole point in doing this was to relieve Naruto of the burden she put on him years back. At the time, Sakura had begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back and it wasn't until Sai pointed this out, that Sakura realized that she contributed to the pressure Naruto was feeling.
I hate to bring up Hinata so much, and I don't want anyone thinking that I hate Hinata as a character because I don't, but I'm hoping people will see the hypocrisy at least. In my opinion, both women are likable but it's a bit annoying how one is trophied and the other gets slandered.
Especially when these women are more alike than one may want to admit.
Anyway, let's take a look at Hinata in The Last: Naruto the Movie
So, here, Hinata ends up willing to go with Toneri despite Naruto's feelings and how she feels. Hinata goes as far as to reject Naruto's feelings, which leaves him in a slump, all to protect him.
While it's not exactly what Sakura did back in Shippuden, it's a bit similar, right? These women both lied to protect Naruto. They both had good intentions, but they both ended up hurting Naruto in the process.
Hate Reason # 5 - "The Way She Treated Rock Lee"
I could be wrong, but I can't recall Sakura treating Rock Lee horribly. I know that Rock Lee loved Sakura at one point but it was mostly shown in a comical manner; I don't ever remember seeing Rock Lee seriously pursuing Sakura. Additionally, Sakura has shown nothing but respect for Rock Lee ever since he fought Gaara during the Chunin exams.
Hate Reason # 6 - "Sakura didn't Stab Obito's Eye"
I remember this clearly during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Obito was trying to hinder Madara's plans and wanted Sakura to destroy his eye. However, she couldn't do it. I don't think this is a reason to personally hate Sakura, but I can see why people would fault her for this. Personally, I don't think I'd be able to take out someone's eye, but that's just me. I feel like even if Sakura did take out Obito's eye, Sakura would still be faulted somehow anyway.
I have no idea why Sakura is hated so much, but I'm hoping maybe this post will open the eyes of some! Next, I'll be doing a post about the Sanji hate. Stay tuned.