Narutism

The theme of becoming strong for those you care about has existed since the start of the manga (Chapter 21):

And prior to unlocking his abilities, he had displayed multiple looks of worry towards his team. (Chapter 413)

And here’s another moment.

His bond with them was brought into question, yet he made a worried expression. If Sasuke didn’t care about them, he wouldn’t have made that face. (Chapter 579]

“He saved them because he needed to use (them as tools)”

If that was the case then he wouldn’t have said this:

You’re probably saying, “doesn’t this go against his bond with them?”

And it’s actually the opposite, he chose them first (out of all the options he had) and didn’t want to force them to go along with him if they had refused.

Him saying “I’ll try someone else” implies he had other people in mind, yet if he regarded Team Taka as tools plus had a backup plan, why would he go out of his way to save someone he could replace while also blinding himself further?

Another thing to note is that this all occurred after Itachi’s death and the revelation/truth of his clan. Meaning he still had a mental wound and was going through grief, yet he still very much displayed care towards his team (the bee fight).

Here is them together, at Sasuke’s most vulnerable moment.

This is the very first time Sasuke has cried throughout the whole series. Would he show such a side to people he didn’t care about ?

The second (and last) time he cried was with Naruto, the person who understood him the most.