ellie

to begin: we all know how sakura and ino became friends. ino defended sakura from bullies and started to befriend her. prior to ino’s influence sakura’s character is ruled by anxiety and shyness, likely due to the bullying. ino is characterized as popular and outspoken, with many friends. at the start of their friendship, sakura seems to idolize ino, and may even be envious of her.

sakura looks at ino and uses ino as a comparison for herself, and judging by the way she trails off there, it’s implied sakura finds herself lacking. this is likely because of her insecurity and anxiety, still present from the bullying she experienced. however, as ino continues to further her friendship with sakura, sakura begins to become more open.

ino appears happy to see sakura making friends and gaining confidence. she repeatedly expresses the idea that sakura will eventually “bloom.” when sakura compares ino to a cosmos flower, ino tells sakura she will likely blossom into a flower even more beautiful than a cosmos. with ino’s support and encouragement sakura quickly gains self-confidence and all is well!

so what’s this about sasuke?

according to several other ino meta posts i’ve read on this site, ino’s kind of a shit friend because she never told sakura she had a crush on sasuke. she, allegedly, kept her crush a secret and went behind sakura’s back in the process. that never sounded right to me, since it’s been previously built up that ino isn’t a shitty friend, but let’s unpack this. here’s the most frequently used evidence to claim ino was lying to sakura and/or had been crushing on sasuke for some time:

ino’s shock to hear sakura has a crush on sasuke could be interpreted as jealousy. and it’s true that the next time sasuke is brought up in the context of sakura, ino reacts with hostility. strangely, though, all of her aggression is aimed not at sakura, but at sasuke. why would ino say rude things about a boy she liked, especially if she knew she had a “rival” for his affections?

ino seems pissed at sasuke when she discovers sakura has a crush on him. her words sound almost bitter. if ino also liked sasuke, why would she be talking shit about him? ino’s personality isn’t typically (if ever) tsundere in nature, so claiming she’s denying her own feelings isn’t a strong argument, especially when you consider the complete lack of subtlety when she begins to actively pursue sasuke later on. is it an elaborate cover her little girl mind created in order to keep people from finding out about her crush? that sounds unlikely to me. what’s more likely? why would ino be upset with sasuke, not sakura, after sakura reveals her crush?

i’ll tell you: ino had a crush on sakura. not sasuke.

after that, i assume a rumor starts that ino has a crush on sasuke. sakura confronts her about this, and during it, sakura decides to end their friendship. she’s completely shocked when sakura claims to see her as a rival. ino’s speechless. she looks horrified by the development, but doesn’t see a way to stop it, and sakura ends their friendship. it is only after sakura has done this, only after sakura has severed their friendship, that ino shows any interest in sasuke. prior, the only reaction ino had to sasuke was to insult him. before the end of their friendship, ino never claimed she had a crush on sasuke, and actually seemed to dislike him. after sakura ends their friendship, ino is immediately all over sasuke, claiming to see sakura as a rival, too. i interpret this as ino’s last attempt to salvage her relationship with sakura by continuing to interact with her, even if as rivals.

Today I bring you Eruri. Tomorrow? Who knows...