not even for your sake

SasuSaku is a deformed, twisted East-Asian-style tragic romance couple(from Sasuke’s perspective). For a long time, their relationship existed in an"unhealthy state". and Kishi even described it as "sticky" and complex (interview source )

After a long time, I went back and looked through some old SasuSaku posts and videos again, and I still feel that this kind of malformed, soul-tearing CP perfectly fits “our” (East Asian fans’) aesthetic.

Sasuke is like a soft-hearted but easily triggered tsundere cat. He’s severely love-deprived and lacks a sense of belonging. Ever since he was little, he was never as good as his brother; his father clearly favored Itachi; he’s extremely sensitive and a little proud (classic small tsundere). His whole “cool and aloof” act is just a shell to hide how fragile he actually is. He breaks down very easily, examples include but are not limited to: Naruto saving Sakura and Sakura paying more attention to Naruto; their reunion in Shippuden when Sai and Yamato show up and everything immediately turns into a fight; Sakura’s attempted assassination. Some of these moments make people hate on Sakura, but from Sasuke’s point of view, her actions and reactions are all catalysts that drive him insane.

From Sasuke’s perspective: he has an older brother who’s better than him at everything, parents and everyone else care more about Itachi, and then there’s this really pretty girl who only has eyes for him, who never abandons him, who boldly confesses her love, who’s even willing to die for him. If he didn’t have the weight of revenge on his shoulders, he would’ve fallen into the “dating game” so easily (lol). That’s why he never responds to Sakura’s feelings, but he also never clearly rejects her. It’s that ambiguous “I have no reason to like her, but I also have no reason to be liked by her” attitude, super vague and teasing. He could’ve just said “I hate you” and shut it down completely, but instead he keeps saying stuff like “you’re so annoying,” leaving everything hanging, keeping people on the hook. It’s maddeningly addictive.

He avoids his feelings and self-destructs internally. A lot of Sakura’s emotional reactions actually make sense in context, but they still hurt Sasuke deeply. “You were the one who liked me first, who was good to me, whose eyes were always on me, so why are you looking at someone else now? Why are you betraying me for someone else?” He constantly needs confirmation that he matters, that he is loved. He even tests people by pushing them away, tormenting both himself and others in the process. With Itachi and with Naruto, he’s actually very straightforward: “I’m going to kill you,” “I want to compete with you,” “I care about you,” “I acknowledge you.” But when it comes to romantic feelings, he’s incredibly awkward and twisted. You never know where you stand with him, and that hopeless uncertainty makes most people give up.

The first thing Mebuki does is insult and point out her daughter’s flaws after a mission by saying, ‘Besides, you’re a bit of a pig compared to most girls.’ She then goes on to say that if Sakura were to become a Jonin, she’d only be a burden to her teammates. To make matters worse, Sakura’s father, Kizashi, agreed with Mebuki and laughed at Sakura.

I know some people still think what Mebuki said wasn't rude here, but Sakura actually looked deeply hurt.

While all the other parents were praising their kids and talking about celebrating, Mebuki and Kizashi were humiliating Sakura in front of the entire village - dredging up her flaws at the worst possible time. That's something that should've been discussed at home, not in public. Instead, they laughed at her, called her a pig, implied she'd just get in the way if she got promoted, and basically invalidated all the hard work she put in as a ninja. Which is especially horrible when you consider all the insecurities and self-blame Sakura she's even called herself a has experienced burden more than once in the past.

just because it's a 'joke' doesn't mean it's funny.

What Sakura's parents said clearly made her uncomfortable and embarrassed her. Their comments were completely insensitive, and to be honest, Mebuki doesn't give me the greatest vibes. Even Kishimoto once said that arguments are common between them. But imagine taking a moment when you should be praising your child, and instead, you use it to insult and humiliate them in front of everyone.

Even Ino points out how different Sakura is around her parents. Sakura not being as confident as she usually is.

This gives us an idea of what Sakura's childhood was like. Her mother and father crushing her confidence and making her believe that she was just a burden. This idea sticking into Sakura's head and making her belittle herself on many occasions and seeing herself as a burden.

Sakura was unable to reconnect with her mother and father

Maybe Next Time ~