Contrary to what her appearance might suggest, Sakura is a quiet, kind and level-headed girl. She rarely loses her nerve and seems able to maintain clarity in any situation. At times she can grow slightly annoyed and upset, like when people assume things like she isn't a good cook due to her looks. During more rare moments, she can lose her temper completely and become extremely intense, particularly when her friends get hurt. She also gets impatient if she cannot properly train for a long period of time. She is known for her love of protein and protein coffee, and enjoying exercising early in the morning before a large breakfast.

Due to her more old-fashioned upbringing, Sakura has a habit of talking in an old-fashioned, formal manner. Being raised as the sole heir to a dojo with a three-hundred-year history, she believes that being a martial artist is simply her destiny. Along with learning martial arts, she learned to respect nature and animals, being particularly fond of rabbits as they never seem to get frightened when she holds them.

Along with protecting her legacy as her sworn duty, Sakura wants to prove that a woman can be the Strongest Person Alive. She also believes that she must work harder than men to achieve this goal. However as a result of striving to be strong, Sakura is embarrassed of her own softer feelings and being feminine, assuming that other people would laugh at her if they knew. She is especially embarrassed about having romantic feelings for Kenshiro, thinking that it doesn't fit someone like her. However, she appeared to grow out of these insecurities after gaining real friends in high school.

Despite her gentle nature, Sakura has trouble socializing with others due to her intimidating appearance and aloof nature. Spending most of her time training, she didn't have any real friends until she attended Hope's Peak Academy. Because of this, she also has a somewhat poor knowledge on modern popular culture. For example, she knows quite little about popular modern music and doesn't understand the live music culture, or know how to sing and dance. Instead, her father taught her to appreciate traditional enka. She also dislikes action comics, because they tend to have an inaccurate view of martial arts.[5] However, she appears shyly curious about young adult fiction, but knows very little about it.