Sakura started to train when she saw Ryu in a fight.

After some time she decided, that she will find Ryu and ask him to train her. She managed to find him, but he told her, that he himself had much more to learn and could not train her. They had a friendly sparing and he left to travel the world.

Later Sakura decided to find Ryu once again. While searching for him in Japan she met E.Honda, who told her that Ryu is travelling to other countries for training.

On her journey she met Dan, who self-proclaimed to be her teacher. Also she met Blanka, who promised her a fight later and Karin, with whom they fought. Sakura lost to Karin, but they eventually became friends.

Sakura later left Dan and travelled with Ryu's friend, Ken Masters. They eventually found Ryu, who has been brainwashed by Bison. While Sagat fought Ryu, Sakura and Ken fought Bison. Eventually Ryu snapped out of his state and defeated Bison.

After that Ryu once again told Sakura, that he could not train her and left.

She later met with Dan to ask him, if he might know where Ryu is. Dan tells her about the S.I.N. tournament, where Ken Masters is rumored to participate. Due to Ken and Ryu being friends it was likely, that they both be participating. Sakura alongside Dan and Blanka enter the tournament.

Eventually she met Ryu during the tournament, after Ryu destroyed the BLECE project. They escaped together from the exploding S.I.N. base and went they separate ways.