Naruto is populated with dozens of exciting and memorable characters, from the future Hokage Naruto Uzumaki to the "pervy sage" Jiraiya and the slug princess, Tsunade of the Sannin. Then there's Sakura Haruno, a member of Team 7 and the protege of Tsunade herself.
Sakura is known for many things, from her long-standing crush on Sasuke to her insecurity about her forehead and her stubbornly strong will. Her personality can be assessed more accurately with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, or MBTI, and there's one that describes her better than any other in the story of Naruto.
Sakura Haruno's MBTI Personality Type: ESTJ-T, The Executive
The Executive, or ESTJ, is one of the four "sentinel" personality types, a person who favors law, order and purpose in all things they do. In particular, an ESTJ like Naruto's Sakura has natural leadership skills, but whether they actually gain a position of leadership is a different matter entirely. By nature, they favor structure over impulse and chaos, believing all actions should have a clear and constructive purpose. Executives are hands-on individuals who take the initiative with the people around them and assume a leadership role. At the very least, an Executive is a team leader and discipline-oriented person, and they are the ideal type to hold public office or run an organization.
ESTJs like Sakura have a strong sense of right and wrong, and act on those convictions with great confidence and zeal to achieve their goals. They will also take pride in accomplishing a goal through hard work and diligence, and are never tempted to cheat or take the easy route in an endeavor. Executives want to lead by example, after all, and can't stand the idea of letting down the people around them -- or themselves.
Paradoxically, turbulent Executives like Sakura may have some self-doubt or feel their resolve waver from time to time, but never will an ESTJ compromise his or her principles and lofty sense of idealism. Such people are direct, strong-willed and reliable, whether they're turbulent or assertive, and are also known to be somewhat inflexible and rather judgmental at times.
Sakura Haruno As An Executive In Naruto
As far as ESTJ characters go, Sakura is a peculiar case -- largely because she is an incredibly turbulent person in Naruto. She didn't often get a chance to express her innate Executive personality type, owing to her various insecurities, but when Sakura does take charge or feels confident in herself, this side shines through. Many times, Sakura proved herself an empathetic, loyal, reliable, rules-oriented person who always wants to the right thing in the right way. She's not the type to make up her own adventures or go wild unless things get personal, such as where Sasuke Uchiha is concerned.
A model student in the academy, Sakura was a very smart and insightful girl who took pride in following the rules and memorizing the shinobi code. She places a lot of faith in rules, tradition and discipline in Naruto, often complaining about Naruto's reckless and wild antics, Kakashi's frequent tardiness or even Shikamaru's apathy as a tactical genius. Sakura is not cruel, but she is also perfectly willing to act like a stern big sister and lecture -- or punish -- troublemakers and other problematic people.
This marks her as an Executive, someone who's naturally inclined to discipline and rationality in everyday life. Sakura has been known for her irrational behavior where Sasuke is concerned, such as when she tried to assassinate him in Naruto Shippuden, but that was an exception, not the rule. Otherwise, she's known for her strong sense of duty, commitment and token leadership abilities as a turbulent ESTJ.
Sakura may not have Shikamaru's incredible IQ, but she still has leadership talents and the discipline and resolve to use them. She is the type to cautiously plan ahead during a mission and stick to that plan, and make sure everyone else does too. During the quest to meet Kabuto Yakushi on the bridge, for example, Sakura rivaled Yamato as the voice of reason, with her Executive side serving to keep Naruto in line and help foster stronger ties between teammates. She also confronted her new teammate Sai, who disparaged Sasuke casually, and warned him to watch what he says. Like a true Executive, Sakura feels the need to reshape people's behavior and speech to better suit the group's needs and the mission at hand. She won't allow sloppiness or rogue behavior to sabotage the team's well-crafted plans.
