Uchiha Indra

the pannels of sasusaku moments we try to show to antis are not to make the conclusion that sasuke loves or has a crush on sakura. they are there to be a demonstration that sasuke cares about her and that she is someone dearing to him.

sasuke’s feelings did not come from nothing. they had a special friendship and it was only developed into love of both parts after a LONG LONG time and to be clear it was not even love from sasuke’s side in 699 when he taps her forehead, it was a signal of deeply care, but not really love maybe just the perspective of it.

their love story is between 699-700 in which they travelled together, married and had a child. the details we don’t have, such as how sakura got to travel with him (in gaiden it says she chases after him but after what consideration? how did sakura made this decision?), how they actually started to evolve from care to love and how sasuke asked her hand on marriage (if it even was like this or just a natural proposal) etc.

edit: so people didn’t understand what i was saying (sigh). in short words:

sasuke cared about sakura in part 1 but not in a romantic way, he was too focused on his revenge;

after the war he saw the potential to trully love sakura but needed to clear his head before and soon as they travelled together and got to know each other again after all the hardships, sasuke could finally be able to love her in a romantic way and the way she deserved;

Most of the time it becomes difficult to understand the Japanese (Asian) contexts because of the wide cultural difference that exist all over the world.. In general for western side, falling in love happens through a process. “love at first site” “As long as we are under the same sky” etc etc kind of themes might appear unrealistic to relate ? (i’m strictly talking abt the traditional view, coz in this modern era  those cultures are evolving with the interchanging of the concepts)..

The most Striking contrasts that can be seen in this west v/s Asia is.. in west normally people start to date to find love or to explore, nothing is concrete until both parties decides to take it to next level, even then it’s a very complex process. But in asian culture, its quite the opposite and love is more reserved & simplistic in comparison, here dating happens only after 2 people profess their mutual love to each other.. u date to build the future with that person!! okay i am going to end my rant here and get into the actual topic lol

Sasuke’s emotions towards sakura where deliberately hidden to create the melodrama , the angst and to maintain that suspense till the last chap like, Can sasuke be saved from the darkness ?? will he be able to forgive himself to finally accept the future he THREW away or will it be too late?? with major hints abt his feelings being dropped here and there…

I think people are confusing Naruhina theme with sasusaku.. Naruto starts falling in love with hinata when he finally sees her (in romantic light) after understanding the depth of her emotions which happens in the last movie timeline..but that was not the case with sasuke, he knew from the beginning what sakura had felt towards him, not only that but sakuras emotions made him happy (one of the hints).. and it surprises me when shippers say “sasuke was too focused on his goals to allow himself to fall in love” ( @lonelywolf1754 ) coz the very existence of team 7 (sakura) contradicts that notion.. sasuke just didn’t deeply care abt sakura (or naruto). sasuke who had lost his hope on humanity, who didn’t even think he could form any kind of bonds with revenge being a constant baggage of his past unknowingly started to feel such strong emotions towards narusaku that he was ready to throw away that very REVENGE. which surprised even him… This is where he starts to freak out coz sasuke was showed the harsh reality through orochi & itachi that as long as he stays with them he can never completely embrace hatred since his bonds with sakura and naruto will never allow that to happen.. they are his bright light while revenge is his darkness.. 

hence Sasuke decides to lock away the emotions that are already there, he is not refusing to let himself feel (coz he already did) but he is refusing to accept what he is feeling towards team7 since he started to consider those emotions as his weakness of heart and even those emotions get clear distinction in databook quotes “Though until then he had taken no notice of either love or friendship, after meeting with Naruto and Sakura Sasuke begins to accept them as nakama, even if only little by little. In Sasuke’s eyes, before he even noticed it, he and Naruto became mutual good rivals capable of boosting up each other’s skills - and also, when his heart was about to be swallowed by Orochimaru’s wicked cursed seal again, he was rescued by Sakura” etc etc .. see how kishi didn’t use just friendship but he made clear distinction between platonic and romantic one in team7 bonds? and how sakura is always associates with sasuke’s heart???

His heart desires the light, the future he has with team 7 but his mind surrounded by darkness denies the light (databook1).. so in order to get his revenge he has to throw away his future.. this is why he was not able to respond to sakuras confession even wen it was showed that, what he shared with sakura was so precious that it falls under his “most happiest memories” infact those were his “last happiest memories” hence he showed his gratitude to her by saying “thank you” for giving him an opportunity to feel things even if it was for a short period of time, sasuke and sakuras interaction always had that romantic undertone.. that why like @better-than-a-kiss said , sasuke refers his time with sakura in team7 as “playing at romance”.. and sasuke’s infamous quote “I have closed my eyes long ago, my goal exists in the Darkness“ just explains the complete journey of sasuke in part 2 in just one sentence.. it shows sasuke is not living anymore (in part2) he is the shell/vessel who’s only purpose is to achieve his goals..

Only after sasuke gets defeated by naruto, he finally opens that closed eyes and realizes the importance of what he threw away in part 1 and finally understands the concepts of true strength (like naruto  in his fight with gara).. A shinobi can only become strong (even strong enough to change the world like naruto) when he has precious people in his life that he wants to protect the most.. there is more strength in standing united rather than standing alone..  this is also the reason why he was hell bent on apologizing to sakura coz now after being freed from his burden he was not afraid, not anymore to finally accept those feeling that he had locked away. This is also the reason why sasuke’s VA said  “This was when Sasuke realized that he not only had loved her romantically but also he felt a love more deeply than their bonds”

2014 vs 2016. This is why I don’t read interviews. (well this and shady translations)

Sakura is the MAIN. FEMALE. CHARACTER. She has always been and putting her in the same category as Shikamaru and Kiba is a slap in the face.

Ino and Hinata are in that category. Not Sakura.

Want to know why? Not because those girls are inferior but.

Because Sakura IS. THE. MAIN. FEMALE. CHARACTER. SHE IS ON SQUAD SEVEN. SHE IS PART OF THE MAIN GROUP OF CHARACTERS. SHE IS NOT A SIDE CHARACTER.

There are stories that have no heroine but that is because no female fits either definition (the main girl, like Nami of One Piece and/or love interest, like Misa from Death Note). With Naruto, Sakura and Hinata share those qualities as does Bulma and Chichi of Dragon Ball and Rukia and Orihime of Bleach.

The above interview is solely concentrated on the naruto pairings…. kishimoto wanting naruhina to happen at early stages as got nothing to do with sakura’s character creation.. 

This is the order of the naruto characters creation *cough* hinata doesn’t even exist in his initial creations *cough*

Kishimoto clearly stated that wen he thought he needed a heroine  / Female main for his series he created SAKURA,  his editor only suggested the idea for the progress of the plot !! like Kishi said Naruto is a shonen manga not a shoujo, hence he initially thought to put more focus on naruto and sasuke but as the plot thickened sakura also became the main part of the series because of her strong bond with both main leads of the series..

No one says that, everyone says that she was one of the first characters that was created.

The above interview is solely concentrated on the naruto pairings…. kishimoto wanting naruhina to happen at early stages as got nothing to do with sakura’s character creation..

Except when NaruHina literally does predate Sakura’s creation

This is the order of the naruto characters creation *cough* hinata doesn’t even exist in his initial creations *cough*

And where did you get that exactly?

Because from the actual DATABOOK it clearly states that the first characters of the series was Naruto, Kakashi, Minato, Sarutobi, Anko and HINATA. No Sakura, No Sasuke.

Kishimoto clearly stated that wen he thought he needed a heroine  / Female main for his series he created SAKURA

Except Kishimoto never thought of Sakura as a heroine or main female

As stated (AGAIN) in his 2017 interview

hence he initially thought to put more focus on naruto and sasuke but as the plot thickened sakura also became the main part of the series because of her strong bond with both main leads of the series..

“No one says that, everyone says that she was one of the first characters that was created “

where as it been stated that hinata was among the first character creations?? KIshi’s main character creations are of SIX in no and the order follows as below.

DO u see hinata anywhere in this order?? coz i don’t!!

Except when NaruHina literally does predate Sakura’s creation

posting the same pic once again…. Sakura is the first female character  created by kishi 

Because from the actual DATABOOK it clearly states that the first characters of the series was Naruto, Kakashi, Minato, Sarutobi, Anko and HINATA. No Sakura, No Sasuke.

WHERE?? Coz the pic you posted is about the designs of random Naruto characters not their CREATIONS.. (FYI: THE EARLY STAGES DO NOT MEAN MY FIRST CHARACTER CREATIONS :P)….The databook pic of year 2000 consists of random sketches of character’s design which doesn’t even include the “concept art “ of main protagonist let alone sakura and sasuke.. DO u know why?? coz the main characters art were published inside the original manga itself in the year 1997 from the official publications..here you go ..

NARUTO UZUMAKI 

SASUKE UCHIHA

SAKURA HARUNO

KAKASHI HATAKE

These are the FIRST concept arts of the main characters from the year 1997.. the pic of hinata is of the year 2000.. let this fact slowly sink in!!

Except Kishimoto never thought of Sakura as a heroine or main female 

Except when his idea of making her more “heroine-like” is 2 second scenes with her team mates only to get knocked out of the final battle. 

I am not going to repeat myself over and over again so i’ll just quote Kishi for you “I decided i needed a HEROINE, And created sakura.. Suddenly it became a lot easier to figure out what should happen next(regarding naruto plot)”.. the interviews mentioned in the OP is about how naruhina was decided from the early stages not that how hinata is one of my first characters :P kindly understand the context..  when he introduced sakura he didn’t thought of making her the central focus of the manga since its a shonen  but as the plot progressed it happened anyway!!

You still won’t even say where that picture came from. 

And I’m using Kishi’s own words too:

This is part of the first Naruto Databook where Kishimoto talks about what he planned to do with Naruto BEFORE the main series. When Naruto was Kurama’s SON, when Sarutobi was gonna be a DOG, and before Kishi had the idea to put Naruto in a team. 

Again No Sasuke

No Sakura

In fact, even Anko came before Sakura. 

And this is the entire section

Get over it.

WHERE?? Coz the pic you posted is about the designs of random Naruto characters not their CREATIONS.. (FYI: THE EARLY STAGES DO NOT MEAN MY FIRST CHARACTER CREATIONS :P)….The databook pic of year 2000 consists of random sketches of character’s design which doesn’t even include the “concept art “ of main protagonist let alone sakura and sasuke.. DO u know why?? coz the main characters art were published inside the original manga itself in the year 1997 from the official publications..here you go ..

The stuff I’m posting is from before Kishi was even hired by SJ tho……..

Back when he was planning and wrote the prototype chapter for Naruto to send in to SJ. Did you even know that existed??????  Of course not. 

the interviews mentioned in the OP is about how naruhina was decided from the early stages not that how hinata is one of my first characters :P kindly understand the context..

I understand the context just fine. Still doesn’t erase the comments made in Databook 1 and how they confirm that Hinata existed in the prototype era of the manga. 

Since english is not my first-language i’ll say things bluntly to you instead of sugarcoating them..kishi said wen he INTRODUCED ..key word being ‘introduced’ sakura he never considered her to make the central focus of the story even if she was the heroine of the series  coz she was meant to be a supportive type for the main male leads ex:like kiba or sikamaru (mind you hinata is not even mentioned under the said side characters let alone the main).. But wen he introduced hinata kishi was clear from the beginning that she going to be a pairing fodder for naruto but since even that theme is boring he thought of using sakura’s strong bond with naruto to create a “MESSY LOVE TRIANGLE” so the pairing naruhina would have some exciting element to it :P .. and where’s the link of the other interview ?? :P

This is part of the first Naruto Databook where Kishimoto talks about what he planned to do with Naruto BEFORE the main series. When Naruto was Kurama’s SON, when Sarutobi was gonna be a DOG, and before Kishi had the idea to put Naruto in a team.

Again No Sasuke  No Sakura  In fact, even Anko came before Sakura. And this is the entire section. Get over it.

The stuff I’m posting is from before Kishi was even hired by SJ tho……..

Back when he was planning and wrote the prototype chapter for Naruto to send in to SJ. Did you even know that existed??????  Of course not.

Okay!! let me get this straight ..According to YOU Anko, some random sand village shinobis along with some random konoha village shinobis were created before kishi thought of making NARUTO as a main series which involves shinobis?? Does this even make sense to your own self?? 

Did you even know that kishi first idea of making naruto, a son of kurama was a one shot manga which also got published by SJ (after akamaru jump) in the official manga volume itself as an extra?? DO you have any idea of the characters who were in that one shot manga?? LOL.. naruto sarutobi and Teuchi are the only familiar characters in that one-shot..here’s some pic of it

The databook u are talking about is called “RIN NO SHO” which includes the complete info of naruto characters from chapter 1- 180.. the pages u posted includes random sketches of naruto characters including kishi’s one shot naruto.. i surprised u couldn’t even differentiate them…

the book i am talking about is called “hyo no sho” which includes every details about the author , MASASHI KISHIMOTO along with every details about the origin of naruto :P

I know you don’t like the obvious stuff over delusional ones but still i’ll post some obvious facts from kishi’s own mouth  for you …

I cannot belive i have to go to such great lengths to prove something that should have been obvious to genuine naruto fans … Since i’m feeling gracious ill even post the timeline of kishimoto sensei for u.. which includes the time he was born till the time he became this amazing manga artist..

2014 vs 2016. This is why I don’t read interviews. (well this and shady translations)

Sakura is the MAIN. FEMALE. CHARACTER. She has always been and putting her in the same category as Shikamaru and Kiba is a slap in the face.

Ino and Hinata are in that category. Not Sakura.

Want to know why? Not because those girls are inferior but.

Because Sakura IS. THE. MAIN. FEMALE. CHARACTER. SHE IS ON SQUAD SEVEN. SHE IS PART OF THE MAIN GROUP OF CHARACTERS. SHE IS NOT A SIDE CHARACTER.

There are stories that have no heroine but that is because no female fits either definition (the main girl, like Nami of One Piece and/or love interest, like Misa from Death Note). With Naruto, Sakura and Hinata share those qualities as does Bulma and Chichi of Dragon Ball and Rukia and Orihime of Bleach.

The above interview is solely concentrated on the naruto pairings…. kishimoto wanting naruhina to happen at early stages as got nothing to do with sakura’s character creation.. 

This is the order of the naruto characters creation *cough* hinata doesn’t even exist in his initial creations *cough*

Kishimoto clearly stated that wen he thought he needed a heroine  / Female main for his series he created SAKURA,  his editor only suggested the idea for the progress of the plot !! like Kishi said Naruto is a shonen manga not a shoujo, hence he initially thought to put more focus on naruto and sasuke but as the plot thickened sakura also became the main part of the series because of her strong bond with both main leads of the series..

No one says that, everyone says that she was one of the first characters that was created.

The above interview is solely concentrated on the naruto pairings…. kishimoto wanting naruhina to happen at early stages as got nothing to do with sakura’s character creation..

Except when NaruHina literally does predate Sakura’s creation

This is the order of the naruto characters creation *cough* hinata doesn’t even exist in his initial creations *cough*

And where did you get that exactly?

Because from the actual DATABOOK it clearly states that the first characters of the series was Naruto, Kakashi, Minato, Sarutobi, Anko and HINATA. No Sakura, No Sasuke.

Kishimoto clearly stated that wen he thought he needed a heroine  / Female main for his series he created SAKURA

Except Kishimoto never thought of Sakura as a heroine or main female

As stated (AGAIN) in his 2017 interview

hence he initially thought to put more focus on naruto and sasuke but as the plot thickened sakura also became the main part of the series because of her strong bond with both main leads of the series..

“No one says that, everyone says that she was one of the first characters that was created “

where as it been stated that hinata was among the first character creations?? KIshi’s main character creations are of SIX in no and the order follows as below.

DO u see hinata anywhere in this order?? coz i don’t!!

Except when NaruHina literally does predate Sakura’s creation

posting the same pic once again…. Sakura is the first female character  created by kishi 

Because from the actual DATABOOK it clearly states that the first characters of the series was Naruto, Kakashi, Minato, Sarutobi, Anko and HINATA. No Sakura, No Sasuke.

WHERE?? Coz the pic you posted is about the designs of random Naruto characters not their CREATIONS.. (FYI: THE EARLY STAGES DO NOT MEAN MY FIRST CHARACTER CREATIONS :P)….The databook pic of year 2000 consists of random sketches of character’s design which doesn’t even include the “concept art “ of main protagonist let alone sakura and sasuke.. DO u know why?? coz the main characters art were published inside the original manga itself in the year 1997 from the official publications..here you go ..

NARUTO UZUMAKI 

SASUKE UCHIHA

SAKURA HARUNO

KAKASHI HATAKE

These are the FIRST concept arts of the main characters from the year 1997.. the pic of hinata is of the year 2000.. let this fact slowly sink in!!

Except Kishimoto never thought of Sakura as a heroine or main female 

Except when his idea of making her more “heroine-like” is 2 second scenes with her team mates only to get knocked out of the final battle. 

I am not going to repeat myself over and over again so i’ll just quote Kishi for you “I decided i needed a HEROINE, And created sakura.. Suddenly it became a lot easier to figure out what should happen next(regarding naruto plot)”.. the interviews mentioned in the OP is about how naruhina was decided from the early stages not that how hinata is one of my first characters :P kindly understand the context..  when he introduced sakura he didn’t thought of making her the central focus of the manga since its a shonen  but as the plot progressed it happened anyway!!

You still won’t even say where that picture came from. 

And I’m using Kishi’s own words too:

This is part of the first Naruto Databook where Kishimoto talks about what he planned to do with Naruto BEFORE the main series. When Naruto was Kurama’s SON, when Sarutobi was gonna be a DOG, and before Kishi had the idea to put Naruto in a team. 

Again No Sasuke

No Sakura

In fact, even Anko came before Sakura. 

And this is the entire section

Get over it.

WHERE?? Coz the pic you posted is about the designs of random Naruto characters not their CREATIONS.. (FYI: THE EARLY STAGES DO NOT MEAN MY FIRST CHARACTER CREATIONS :P)….The databook pic of year 2000 consists of random sketches of character’s design which doesn’t even include the “concept art “ of main protagonist let alone sakura and sasuke.. DO u know why?? coz the main characters art were published inside the original manga itself in the year 1997 from the official publications..here you go ..

The stuff I’m posting is from before Kishi was even hired by SJ tho……..

Back when he was planning and wrote the prototype chapter for Naruto to send in to SJ. Did you even know that existed??????  Of course not. 

the interviews mentioned in the OP is about how naruhina was decided from the early stages not that how hinata is one of my first characters :P kindly understand the context..

I understand the context just fine. Still doesn’t erase the comments made in Databook 1 and how they confirm that Hinata existed in the prototype era of the manga. 

Since english is not my first-language i’ll say things bluntly to you instead of sugarcoating them..kishi said wen he INTRODUCED ..key word being ‘introduced’ sakura he never considered her to make the central focus of the story even if she was the heroine of the series  coz she was meant to be a supportive type for the main male leads ex:like kiba or sikamaru (mind you hinata is not even mentioned under the said side characters let alone the main).. But wen he introduced hinata kishi was clear from the beginning that she going to be a pairing fodder for naruto but since even that theme is boring he thought of using sakura’s strong bond with naruto to create a “MESSY LOVE TRIANGLE” so the pairing naruhina would have some exciting element to it :P .. and where’s the link of the other interview ?? :P

This is part of the first Naruto Databook where Kishimoto talks about what he planned to do with Naruto BEFORE the main series. When Naruto was Kurama’s SON, when Sarutobi was gonna be a DOG, and before Kishi had the idea to put Naruto in a team.

Again No Sasuke  No Sakura  In fact, even Anko came before Sakura. And this is the entire section. Get over it.

The stuff I’m posting is from before Kishi was even hired by SJ tho……..

Back when he was planning and wrote the prototype chapter for Naruto to send in to SJ. Did you even know that existed??????  Of course not.

Okay!! let me get this straight ..According to YOU Anko, some random sand village shinobis along with some random konoha village shinobis were created before kishi thought of making NARUTO as a main series which involves shinobis?? Does this even make sense to your own self?? 

Did you even know that kishi first idea of making naruto, a son of kurama was a one shot manga which also got published by SJ (after akamaru jump) in the official manga volume itself as an extra?? DO you have any idea of the characters who were in that one shot manga?? LOL.. naruto sarutobi and Teuchi are the only familiar characters in that one-shot..here’s some pic of it

The databook u are talking about is called “RIN NO SHO” which includes the complete info of naruto characters from chapter 1- 180.. the pages u posted includes random sketches of naruto characters including kishi’s one shot naruto.. i surprised u couldn’t even differentiate them…

the book i am talking about is called “hyo no sho” which includes every details about the author , MASASHI KISHIMOTO along with every details about the origin of naruto :P

I know you don’t like the obvious stuff over delusional ones but still i’ll post some obvious facts from kishi’s own mouth  for you …

I cannot belive i have to go to such great lengths to prove something that should have been obvious to genuine naruto fans … Since i’m feeling gracious ill even post the timeline of kishimoto sensei for u.. which includes the time he was born till the time he became this amazing manga artist..

I’ve been reading a lot of haters and crosstaggers saying that Sakura’s development was ruined, that SasuSaku had more negative than positive development, claiming that Sasuke is an abuser, posting Anti-SS on pro-SS posts and all this bullshit. I’m sick of this, and I’ll write a monologue based on manga facts to destroy all of your misinterpretations.

In the beginning of part 1, Sakura was just an annoying fangirl, like the others. She was just a 12 years old ordinary girl, that never had any bad experience neither knew the pain of loss. Sasuke, however, was a kind and loving boy that saw his entire clan being slaughtered in cold blood. Since the Uchiha massacre his behaviour changed drastically and he became a lost and broken person, and started to act like a cool cold hearted jackass to avoid making bonds with other people, because he was afraid to love again.

When they interacted for the first time, Sakura was mocking Naruto for being alone. She said he was LUCKY because he had no parents, she touched on Sasuke’s wound, because Sasuke also had no parents and felt empathy for Naruto. So, he was bothered by her attitude and called her annoying. 

Sakura deserved this. In fact, it was a positive development for her character, because she used to treat Naruto badly, and after Sasuke deservedly  called her annoying, she reconsidered her attitude towards Naruto and started to be more kind to him.

But even thinking of Sakura as an annoying person in the beginning, Sasuke always showed concern about her. During the bell’s test, when she fainted, Sasuke heard her scream and remained near her (losing his time) until she woke up. 

During the Land of Waves arc, Sasuke also showed great concern for Sakura.

There’s another situation when Sasuke calls Sakura’s ninja skills worse than Naruto’s when she invites him for a date. We know that Sasuke always was a focused person, that pushes himself hard to become stronger, while Sakura just thought of dates and romance. Again, Sasuke is acting like Sakura’s driving force to become a better and stronger person. She always wanted Sasuke to acknowledge her (exatcly the same way Naruto always wanted Sasuke’s acknowledgement).

But then, Sasuke noticed that she was weird, regreted what he said and cheered her up. Since the beginning he was capable of reading well Sakura’s feelings.

Now, I will talk about the Forest of Death arc, maybe the most important arc for Sasuke and Sakura relationship. It was during the Chunin Exams that Sakura’s crush for Sasuke started to turn into true love. She stopped being a fangirl when she noticed his many flaws and that he was a broken boy that needed help. Sasuke also started to be even more overprotective over Sakura, hurting himself to save her and going mad when he saw how much she was wounded. Not to mention the fact that Sakura was the only one able to stop Sasuke when the curse seal dominated him. For sure this arc was the start of their bond.

After this arc, Sakura started to worry very much about Sasuke’s well being. She witnessed Orochimaru marking Sasuke and saying that he was going to abandon the village to seek power to achieve his revenge. Salura was the first one to sense that he was going to leave Konoha, because she knew he would do anything to achieve his revenge, but instead of abandon Sasuke because he was a problematic person, as the good and kind girl she is, she started wanting help him more and more. 

And look, the first person that comes to Sasuke’s mind when the curse seal is about to dominate him.

Her feelings for him became an unwavering love, that later on faced harsh situations, but even so it endured. Sakura’s love for Sasuke can be compared to Naruto and Sasuke friendship: both Naruto and Sakura never gave up on Sasuke.

At this time, Sakura was already a dear and precious person to Sasuke (Sasuke himself said this). When they fought Gaara, Sasuke was ready to give his own life to make time for Naruto to save her. He compared Naruto and Sakura to his family. Sakura was so dear to him that when he told her that Naruto was the responsible for saving her and she turned to Naruto smiling to him, Sasuke became clearly jealous. He even reminded of her smile later and seemed to be sad because he wasn’t capable to save her. Not to mention that when she hugged him, he didn’t feel bothered, and we know that Sasuke doesn’t like physical contact. He feels unpleased by any other girl who touches him, except Sakura. 

When Sasuke is about to leave the village, he thinks of Naruto AND Sakura. He was sad for leaving, but as he said, he would do anything for his revenge.

And finally, the famous confession scene. At this time, Sakura’s love for Sasuke already had grown to a very deep kind of love and she already knew that Sasuke was going to leave. This moment is the beginning of Sakura’s winter: Sasuke was ready to sink deep into darkness to achieve his revenge.and was wanting to sever his bonds with Naruto and Sakura. We all know that it was what led Sasuke to try to kill them later, he was ready to eliminate everything on his way.

At that night, Sasuke was clearly avoiding Sakura (probably because he was afraid to falter his resolve and he was in pain to leave her too). When she asked him if he remembered their first conversation, he said “No, I don’t remember that”. But he was lying, because soon after he called her annoying again.

And then, we have the “Thank you”. Sasuke was truly grateful to Sakura. And look at how he goes to her back to thank her. He was leaving once and for all to finally sink into darkness, so he couldn’t look at her eyes, he couldn’t respond her feelings. All he could say was a “thank you” to everything Sakura has done for him.

When Sasuke left, Sakura decided to become stronger to save him. Sakura was a very weak person in part 1, she wasn’t even capable to defend herself (Sasuke was the one responsible for always saving her), but in part 2 she became really strong.  Again, Sasuke was acting as Sakura’s driving force. The fight she had against Sasori, for example, was motivated for her love for Sasuke and determination to find the love of her life. Sasuke, even if he has done a lot of shit, always was the main reason for Sakura’s development. That’s why I facepalm when I see a lot of supposed “Sakura’s fans” claiming that Sasuke ruins her development. Are you really serious? We read the same manga? 

Now I will talk about the infamous Land of Iron moment. The scene when Sasuke tried to kill Sakura is very controversial and many people use it as an argument to prove that SasuSaku is an abusive relationship or to say that Sasuke never cared about Sakura and SS was an asspull.

But first, I want to talk about abusive relationships. I was a witness of a REAL abusive relationship (my grandmother was in a true abusive relationship). The people who claim that SasuSaku is an abusive relationship don’t even know the concept of abuse. An abusive person tries to take control over the partner by physical force or psychological torture. And Sasuke never injured physically Sakura, even if they tried to kill each other. He never tortured or manipulated her to take control over her. So please, stop saying bullshit.

At that time, Sakura was determined to kill Sasuke to stop him. She loves him so much that she was willing to kill Sasuke to avoid him to sink even more into darkness. And as we know, at that time, Sasuke was totally out of his own. The real Sasuke would never act like that and Kishimoto reinforces this idea by giving to us many panels where Sakura says “This isn’t the real Sasuke”, “The old Sasuke-kun would never do something like that”. Even Karin said that he wasn’t the same person anymore.

Sakura arrived there with a poisoned kunai to kill Sasuke. She tried to do it two times before he attacked her. If you are a dangerous criminal and your former comrade tries to stab you with a poisoned kunai, what would you do? Remain stopped? Not to mention the fact that Sasuke was crazy and blinded by his hatred.

Sakura wasn’t a defenseless victim. She put herself in risk when she tried to kill Sasuke.

In chapter 675, we have Kakashi reaffirming Sakura’s love for Sasuke. He said that her love changed (she was not a fangirl anymore) and stated that her goal was to save Sasuke from darkness.

In chapter 676, Sakura has the “wonderful” idea of attacking Madara alone. Sasuke showed himself worried along with Naruto (we can see the exclamation mark pointing to both of them) and rushed to save her. Sakura was impaled by Madara’s weapon and we see Sasuke pointing his sword to Sakura, so probably he was going to cut Madara’s weapon. But Madara’s invisible wall repelled them and they fell in different directions, what led Sakura to think that Sasuke didn’t care for her.

During the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Sakura asked Sasuke what was happening outside. He replies that she couldn’t do anything at the moment. I see many people saying “OMG he abused her, he called her useless!!!!!” First of all, where is the panel showing Sasuke saying “You’re useless”? He was being rude, it’s truth, but he was stating the true. During the war arc he was pretending to be an asshole with everybody.

In chapter 680, Sasuke said said that he just saved Kakashi and Sakura because they happened to be next Naruto. And we know it’s a complete bullshit. 

Naruto notices that what Sasuke said was bullshit and remembered him the bridge scene (this chapter is a parallel to the bridge scene, it’s called “Once Again”, because once again Sasuke is giving an excuse for “accidentally” saving the others). Look at how his eyes were covered. When Sasuke is hiding his feelins or lying, Kishi always covers Sasuke’s eyes.

And also, in chapter 698 Sasuke admits that he has always considered Team 7 as a second family. It proves that Sasuke saved Kakashi and Sakura because he cares for them, because he considers them as part of his “second family”. 

In chapter 685, Sasuke is again the main reason for Sakura development. She took the spotlight in this chapter, her love for him led Sakura to be amazing like this (the same way she was when she fought Sasori). She gave all of the chakra she accumulated for years to save her man and screamed like crazy in desperation to save him. In part 1 Sasuke was the main responsible for saving Sakura in almost all the missions they had, but now Sakura is the one who saves his ass.And in the end, he held her against his body, exchanged looks with her and thanked her (and Obito).

Let’s go to Sakura’s second confession. Sakura remembered the “Thank you”. She knew it meant something. 

And again Sasuke says “You’re annoying”. He remembered everything and wanted her to know this. Look at his sad smile in this panel. Probably he was regreting what he was going to do next.

After Sakura fainted, Kakashi starts to explain how much Sakura wanted to save Sasuke from darkness and said that she loved him so much that it was breaking her heart. The first thing that comes to his mind is his family. Sasuke loved them so much that when he lost them, he became this broken person that is afraid to love again and pushes away those dear to him. Sakura reminds him of his family.

About the genjutsu, it was indeed a harsh genjutsu. But in chapter 694 we discovered Sasuke’s intentions.

Sasuke wanted everybody to hate him. To achieve his goal, he couldn’t have any bond neither accept Sakura’s love. It kinda explains why he cast that genjutsu showing him kiling her. It wasn’t because he hates her or he didn’t care for her. It also explains why he was acting like a jerk to Team 7, pretending not to care for Kakashi and Sakura and being sassy to them all.

Finally, after Naruto beated Sasuke to put sense into him, he apologized. I see many people saying “How could Sakura forgive him with a simple ‘sorry’ after all he did?”. Considering that is Sasuke who is apologizing, considering the look in his eyes while apologizing and the fact that he didn’t apologize to Naruto (and he did 10 times worse to Naruto) but even though Naruto forgave him, I don’t know why people are complaining. He finally recognized that he was wrong all this time, he is redeemed now, Naruto helped him to find his place in the world. Now Sasuke will stop to push away the ones precious to him and will accept Naruto’s friendship and Sakura’s love.

Then, we have a huge time skip, considering that Kakashi’s face is already carved in the stone and Sakura’s hair is longer. Sasuke and Sakura seemed to be very comfortable around each other, what makes me think that they spent a lot of time together during the time skip. And many people are saying that her character development was ruined because she asked Sasuke to go with him. I would like to ask you: why it ruins her character development? She loves him, they already resolved their issues, so what’s the problem?

Sasuke pokes her forehead and says he will see her when he comes back. This gesture is very signifcant to him, Itachi used to do this to show affection for Sasuke and now Sasuke does the same gesture to Sakura. And then he thank her again, but unlike the first time he left, he was looking to her eyes. He doesn’t have a reason to push her away, he isn’t afraid to show affection and love anymore. Now he can accept her love into his life.