Baek Seju || What Does The Fox Say?

• 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲/𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝗲

let’s look at this objectively.

it starts with sasuke begging naruto to tell him why, why he continues to do so much for sasuke’s sake, why he was willing to die with him, why he was willing to be maimed for him, why he wouldn’t give up on him, despite having every right to. even when everyone else did.

this question isn’t new, either. it’s not something naruto hasn’t answered before. sasuke asked him why he wouldn’t give up in vote1 & naruto told him he was one of his most precious bonds. he asked him again in the 5 kage summit arc & naruto told him it was because they were friends. sasuke has enough answers, but he asks again. why? because he’s not satisfied with the answer naruto’s given him. because he’s looking for more.

naruto doesn’t disappoint, giving him the same ‘we’re friends’ response. sasuke is not having it. he gets visibly angry, clearly displeased with the answer. he presses forward & asks naruto for more, asks him to put a meaning to the supposed feeling of ‘friendship’ naruto keeps pushing on him. why? because what he feels for naruto, and what he believes naruto feels for him, is more than friendship. because he needs to know that naruto feels the same way for him that he does for naruto.

so naruto describes the feelings he has for sasuke in words. he tells him that he hurts when sasuke hurts. that he feels his pain too.

i will make a point of bringing up the fact that this ‘i hurt when you do’ is used countless times in media & literature to represent love—especially and predominantly romantic love. and the kicker of this is that this is what makes sasuke react.

sasuke’s expression here is probably one of the most emotion filled expressions of him in the manga. he’s shocked by naruto’s admission, by naruto’s confession. this is a huge deal for him.

this is more than friendship to him.

then we get to see into sasuke’s thoughts about naruto, for the first time in the entirety of the series.

this is sasuke’s confession.

sasuke explains everything he thought of naruto, using phrases like ‘seeing you made me feel warm and fuzzy’, implying things like ‘loving you made me feel weak’.

and sasuke finishes it all with the fact that he hurt when naruto hurt. all along, he’s felt pain when naruto’s in pain. all along, he has reciprocated naruto’s feelings to a tee.

all along, he’s loved naruto back just as much as naruto loved him.

once you realize this, it is easier to understand his reaction to naruto telling him he felt his pain. sasuke reacted like that because he realized that his love was reciprocated, that this feeling of ‘friendship’ that naruto kept going on about was the same thing that sasuke felt all this time. and that it was never friendship at all.

it was love.

then sasuke accepts defeat. accepts that he’s lost. but this acceptance is more than just understanding he’s lost a battle.

sasuke is accepting naruto’s feelings for him he’s accepting his own feelings for naruto. he’s accepting that he never could kill naruto and he never would be able to, not now that he knows that he loves him. not now that he understands the distances naruto would go to for him and why.

sasuke brings it up once more, a few moments later. naruto tells him he knows he won’t try to go rogue again, and sasuke asks him how he can be so sure. to me, it seems like a final effort to really prove to himself that naruto loves him.

and naruto does.

he tells him not to make him repeat himself. he tells him that he knows he won’t because he loves sasuke, and sasuke loves him in turn. because they share each other’s pain and there’s no question about that anymore.

he tells him ‘you won’t hurt me again, now that you know how i feel, now that you’ve seen my heart, now that i’ve seen yours, you won’t hurt me again.’

and sasuke cries tears of joy. because, even after everything, naruto loves him and naruto trusts him.

and the chapter ends with a panel of naruto and sasuke, lying on their backs, with the blood between their arms making it look as if they are holding hands.

they are finally together, exactly where they’re supposed to be.