サスサク

❄❄ An Uchiha Holiday ❄❄

In 699 Sasuke admits that he was a child starved of love and fostering hate in this world. 

Now if we look back, in 181 Sasuke genuinely thanks Sakura for everything; for loving him. This is further supported in DB 2 where Kishi emphasises that Sasuke was genuinely grateful for Sakura loving him and that she was the one who filled his lonely existence. 

“Towards Darkness the one to appear before him is Sakura. She confesses to him as he tries to leave without looking behind him. She confesses with a blindingly uncompromising mind that does not want to lose him. The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura. But he cannot let her in. He leaves with just one word of thanks. Sakura who needed him to the very last. His words were real.”

— Masashi Kishimoto, Databook 2 Uchiha Sasuke’s profile

And this comes full circle in 699 when Sasuke, finally free of darkness, accepts Sakura’s feelings, expressed his own with the poke and thanking her. He thanks her this time once more showing how grateful he is for her caring about him and loving him as she had throughout the manga. 

From the start to the end, everything with SS comes together perfectly to create a complete story and I find that fascinating.