Sakura LOVES to assume that Ino is just like her
I noticed this while re-reading certain chapters:
Sakura assumed Ino liked Sasuke
Then she assumes Ino grew her hair out for Sasuke
Assumes every encouraging thing Ino told her was a lie
She assumes Ino is obsessed with her appearance even though not 2 hours ago in the forest of death:
She assumes Ino would cave when she said a ton of mean words to her
which oddly enough mirror the words Sasuke said to her, attacking Ino’s skill (and wtf does she mean Ino isn’t Sasuke’s type???? As if she knows what his type even is)
The same mean words that got HER depressed for 2 chapters
until Sasuke said something nice to her.
Except it doesn’t work with Ino. Unlike Sakura, Ino never needed validation from others to have confidence in her own skills
as shown when she deliberately tricks Sakura into thinking she’s copying her and getting desperate
and like an overconfident dumbass who never watches her surroundings, Sakura falls for it and gets trapped as Ino manipulates her chakra through her hair.
And you’d think this would change as she got older
Even in Shipudden, Sakura grins at the thought of Ino being insulted by a guy she likes
when she knows damn well she doesn’t like it either, in fact the above proves that unlike Sakura, Ino doesn’t shut down with mean words, especially for a trained kunoichi who is supposed to be mentally strong.
Wasn’t it Ino who watched her master die
Yet was still mentally strong enough to connect the entire alliance AND their feelings especially Naruto’s? Something that we assume had never been done before?
You’re busy trying to get yourself killed
and as soon as that person insults you
you again shut down and consider yourself useless to the rest of the team and mission.
Maybe Sakura shouldn’t assume other people are as shallow, needy, and as easily broken as her.