The Nature of Sasuke’s feelings for Sakura using manga panels and databooks 1 and 2
As a part of my contribution for SasuSaku Month, I’ll be making an analysis on Sasuke ——> Sakura scenes. There are always Sakura ——> Sasuke posts, and I thought it would be interesting to do it the other way around for once. This analysis will most likely contain information on Sasuke’s character, and some Sakura —-> Sasuke scenes. Before I touch the databooks, lets clarify that databook is there fore us to clarify the context and significance of some scenes. In the end it’s the scenes themselves that matter more than the databook. Even if they’re wrriten by Kishi himself. And it depends when the databooks were written. Example: the “sakura’s feelings towards Naruto is changing” thing got outdated, and kishi himself went out to clarify her true feelings.
Word count: 5516+
Picture count: 59+
Prepare yourself. This is going to be loooong.
What is the nature of the Sasuke ——> Sakura relationship and how does it affect Sasuke?
Before we analyze the Sasuke —-> Sakura bond, let’s take a look at Sasuke’s character.
At the beginning of the story, Sasuke is an indifferent, blunt, focused, ambitious, and not a person to make bonds that would distract him from his goals. His superiority and inferiority complexes also make him interesting. Because of his clan, he initially thinks that he is better than everyone else and takes pride in being an Uchiha. But if someone beats him in a match or shows an excessive amount of strength and power, he obsesses over it. In his mind Sasuke needs to be the strongest, because Sasuke was stuck in Itachi’s shadow as a child growing up (and he now wants revenge), Sasuke feels the need to constantly prove himself by defeating powerful ninja.
Kishimoto has confirmed in one his interviews that he tries not to make Sasuke too emotional. This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have emotions, it just means he is not the touchy-feely type of character.
Sasuke’s interaction with most females in the manga has always been rather indifferent. He doesn’t want their attention, and since he has to put up with it all the time he doesn’t pretend to be flattered anymore (even though he probably never was in the first place). What we can conclude is that Sasuke was very close to his mother, because she gave him a sense of self-worth and made him feel loved as a child. After Mikoto died in the massacre along with the rest of his clan and family, Sasuke has lost all sense of self-preservation.
Now to move onto Sasuke’s relationship with Sakura.
At first, Sasuke does not think much of Sakura. To him she is another one of his fangirls at the academy that he doesn’t pay attention to.
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See? He practically ignores her existence.
After this scene and having Naruto tie him up, Sasuke meets Sakura and this leads to the "You’re annoying" with his cold glare. Sakura takes having parents and family for granted. The importance of this scene is to change Sakura’s view of Naruto so she would begin to accept him as a friend and become more considerate as a person. Because honestly, Naruto wouldn’t of been able to change Sakura like Sasuke. Because Naruto lost his parents and had no family to begin with, where with Sasuke, he has lost everything. I don’t blame Sasuke for being harsh with Sakura here, the girl needed a wake up calling.
and the outcome of Sasuke’s harsh “You’re annoying” had a positive affect on Sakura.
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Sasuke is bad for Sakura’s development and as a character? Yeah right. Even though he was far from nice, it made Sakura see the way she treats Naruto, as an annoyance to her love-life. From this point Sakura starts to become more considerate, even though she states what she dislikes is Naruto. It’s a small step, but at least something has begun to change.
Not long after this scene, Team 7 meets Kakashi and they do the bell test. The interactions between Sasuke and Sakura are still platonic at this stage.
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But even before their dynamics begin to change, Sasuke still remains at Sakura’s side until she wakes up. He’s still cold to her, but he stayed until she woke up to make sure she was okay. He’s not a complete dick to her as some think. Even at this stage he does care about her physical well-being enough to “waste his time” on her. Sasuke then tells Sakura about that night and “that time…crying…” We don’t know the reason Sasuke decided to tell her this. Maybe it was because she was the closest one to expressing concern for him, but that may not tell us everything. But the scene was meant for Sakura to realize the actual seriousness and darkness of the path Sasuke wants to take, and this would eventually lead for her to begin to worry for him.
After Team 7 goes to Wave Country, the concepts of teamwork begin to sink in for Team 7. Sasuke no longer thinks only of himself and his safety, but nearly sacrifices his life to save Naruto from Haku. He also risks his life to protect Sakura, as well as showing great concern for her safety.
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Notice the difference in Sasuke’s expression and demeanor compared to the second time he hears Sakura scream. He’s worried about her and wonder what Kakashi is doing at that point, if he is keeping her safe. This is Sasuke showing that he can be caring and concerned about the well-being of others, other than just himself and his “avenger” bs.
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Sakura’s perfect illusion and fantasy of Sasuke as invincible begins to crack here at this scene. The illusion won’t completely go away until Sakura herself changes at the Forest of Death, but in this scene she knows that Sasuke is not as perfect as she makes him out to be. From this scene and onward, Sakura has begun to move on from her childish infatuation to something a little deeper. But it’s not love, yet.
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This is the first time that someone has cried over Sasuke and shown to be upset ever since the massacre. Rule number 25 forbids ninjas to shed their tears over their teammates, and Tazuna states that the way of shinobi is too harsh. We learn that much later that this rule is broken by nearly everyone, since the ninja world is said to be ruled by hate. Notice the Naruto panel at the bottom page, he takes this as a sign of Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke much later.
To say that Sasuke is unaffected by this is a big fat lie.
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Sasuke has not gained complete consciousness yet, but he is already aware of Sakura crying over his “dead” body, and he is shocked. When he awakes, he tells her that she’s heavy, not to get off him the first time that she hugs him.
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When a character’s eyes are shadowed, it means they are concealing the emotions they feel. Imagine how Sasuke feels right now. This is the first time that someone has ever cried over him since the massacre of his family happened. He doesn’t know what to say and he would probably wonder why someone would ever bother to ever cry over him. He’s probably thinking: Someone actually cares if I die? What? *emotion swells up in him*
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Sasuke tells Sakura that her ability is below Naruto. As I said about Sasuke’s character, Sasuke is blunt. He’s not afraid to tell people the truth. And it was very true that Sakura’s abilities as a ninja were below Naruto’s. If we look back at Sasuke’s concern for Sakura and him protecting her, he is telling her that she needs to be able to defend herself, not ask him out on dates. I think his bluntness is the only way to get through to her, even if she does become upset by this revelation. It’s a truth she needs to hear in order to be able to grow.
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And that’s exactly what begins to happen. She sees herself for what she really is.
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Sasuke observes Sakura. He knows the differences in her moods enough to tell when she is upset. Gee, I wonder why Sasuke…
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This is probably one of the most underrated Sasuke —-> Sakura scenes in the series. Sasuke most likely realized that his words cut Sakura. Because his way of lifting up her spirits was to praise her genjutsu and intelligence. Which he said were “below Naruto’s”. This is his way of making her feel better, and to ease the pain. If this was Sasuke in the early beginning of the series, he wouldn’t do this. He would most likely take the praise for himself because he is that prideful and indifferent to others. But no, he gives the praise to Sakura. And look! He even smiles (even if it’s a really tiny one) and his eyes are once again concealed. Concealing whatever emotion he may be feeling.
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Sasuke reaches out to Sakura by clenching and holding her hand. He wants someone to be beside him to help him through his pain. But all Sakura can do is cry, because she’s worried for him and she doesn’t know how she can help him, but she wants his pain to stop. And when has Sasuke ever reached out someone like this? He may of reached out to Naruto to rely on physically, but when has Sasuke reached out to someone emotionally? Never, Not until this scene. And Kishimoto even zoomed in on Sasuke and Sakura’s handhold. It was to show how Sasuke reaches out for Sakura. The gesture itself is rather intimate.
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Sasuke withers down in pain, still holding her hand (top left panel), but this time Sakura reaches out to Sasuke by hugging him. So much physical contact between them just for comfort…
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This is the scene that begins to change the dynamics between Sasuke and Sakura.
Now, I’ll add a quote from databook 1 that talks about this scene.
Naruto Databook 1 p.g.41 (from Uchiha Sasuke’s section):
「呪印の影響で暴走するサスケを身を挺して鎮めるサクラ。サクラのサスケを想う心が、邪な力を包み込む。」(translation by Nobusaki) (Databook 1 RAW can be found here)
”Sakura who [voluntarily (bravely)] calms the rampaging Sasuke under the influence of the cursed seal. Sakura’s heart that thinks of Sasuke devours the malevolent power.”
There is more romantic context that surrounds this scene than it appears. As Sakura hugs Sasuke, notice how everything around them turns to white, it is to make the scene and interaction between them be the only thing the reader sees. As Sasuke stares into her crying (and bruised) eye, he sees something that makes him stop. What it is, we the reader don’t know. But he is moved by her tears and her actions. Though the databook translation says something differently. It says that it is her heart that gets through to him, her heart that thinks of him. Not by her tears as from what I originally thought. But what does this mean? I’ll let you come to your own conclusion about that. It’s open to more than just one interpretation. But mine is that Sakura can control Sasuke’s malevolent power, with her “heart”. It’s referenced here in 286.
After this scene, the dynamics between Sasuke and Sakura have indeed changed. Now that Sakura has grown from a fangirl from a girl who wants to change herself to protect her teammates, her perfect illusion of Sasuke is laid to rest now. She can see him for who he really is, and because of this Sasuke comes to accept her even more. He’s acknowledged that she is a person that can emotionally affect him.
After the FoD is over, we get into the third part of the Chunnin Exams. Out of concern for Sasuke’s well being Sakura tearfully requests that Sasuke drops out.
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Just look at Sasuke’s face. His teammate is upset over concern for his well-being and the pain the curse seal brings him and he doesn’t know what to do or say at first.
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Notice the top right panel. It’s not a speech bubble, but a thought bubble. When Sasuke speaks to Sakura, his words are nicer than his thoughts. When Sakura raises her hand Sasuke grabs her wrist. Now notice that here he says “Shut up.” and not “Be quiet.” She just threatened to take his goal away from him.
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"Stay out of my business."
Sasuke then goes on to explain to Sakura once again that he is an avenger. Being an avenger means going on a lonely road that doesn’t make space for bonds such as his bond with Sakura, whatever it may be at this time for Sasuke to tell Sakura that he can’t forgive even her (in the raws he says [いくらお前でも。。。] which means “no matter how many times even you…” is he referring to her tears or her heart? It would make sense if he is referring to her heart considering the databook 1 quote “Sakura’s heart that thinks of Sasuke devours the malevolent power.”. So, in other words, Sasuke is saying that Sakura’s heart and tears have a big impact on him.) if she takes his goal away from him, he’s also saying that she (and her tears) has a great impact on him. So what Sasuke is pretty much saying to Sakura is to not concern herself with an avenger. Maybe because Sasuke knows that Sakura’s influence is a powerful influence over him, and he won’t let himself succumb to it if it means he has to give up being an avenger.
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And look at his face here. Notice the sweat going down his face. Now the room’s temperature didn’t just go up really high all of a sudden. He knows that her concern for him is genuine. Look at his expression…he looks anxious. Like he’s wondering if he’s gone too far even though he’s standing his ground (and this is before he explains himself to her). He doesn’t want to hurt her.
In the raws, Sakura says: 「私にはサスケ君が。。。」which means “To me, you’re…” It would make most sense if she said “To me, you’re the person I love the most”. Right? Because she doesn’t want to him get hurt anymore. Sasuke knowing that her feelings are romantic and yet he feels fulfilled by the databook 2 quote “The one who filled Sasuke’s lonely existence [for him] with the emotion called love was Sakura”. Comparing this to when Sakura hears from Sai “Even I can see how much Naruto loves you” she felt anything but pleased/fulfilled. Instead she looked so guilty and upset. This shows a lack of reciprocation. But what about Sasuke? He actually benefited from it.
Moving on, Sasuke did not take Sakura’s concern lightly.
When Sasuke’s match with Yoroi begins, Sakura states that all she can do is just watch. As the match continues, Sasuke’s curse seal begins to take control.
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The first thing Sasuke thinks of is Sakura’s voice and her tearfully asking him to stop and then he thinks of Naruto yelling at him. After he thinks of their worry for him, Sasuke’s curse seal retreats.
Much later when Sasuke fights Gaara in the Chunnin Exams, the sound village invades and Gaara ends up fleeing, and Sasuke trailing after him. Sasuke becomes unable to fight and Sakura takes a hit for him, and this is Sasuke’s reaction afterwards.
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Look at Sasuke’s serious face here. He’s not joking around. “You have to save her, no matter what…” It’s Sakura that is in danger that causes Sasuke to decide that he will buy time for Naruto and Sakura to escape while leaving him behind.
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The word Sasuke uses in the RAWS is “Precious Nakama”
Nakama (仲間) means friends, buddies, comrades, etc. It’s any term of endearment for a friendship close to you. He also called her “precious” to him. There’s no denying it now, Sakura and those who are dear to him (his other team 7 bonds) are precious to him.
But despite being exhausted Sasuke saves Sakura when Gaara’s sand releases her.
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He stares at her with a concerned yet soft look. He was concerned about her because of Gaara’s sand that was suffocating her, and mostly because she did it to protect him.
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Awww just look at them. They’re so relieved that Sakura is okay.
And then, in the hospital with Shikamaru and his dad…also get ready for bipolar sasuke XD
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and isn’t this funny? Because Sakura’s tender side to Sasuke comes out in the same chapter that Shikaku said this to his son. (also, in Sakura’s databook it says “Sakura is a tomboy, but she is girly and tender around Sasuke”) I see what did you there Kishi.
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Look at what Naruto says. “Sasuke…you”. But it was cut off, but he would most likely said “Sasuke…you”re alright. But he stopped. Notice how Naruto can not see Sakura’s face as she tearfully hugs Sasuke. But what he can see is Sasuke’s face, and his expression. I mean, just look at his face.
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His “…” in the previous panel showed he didn’t know how to react/what to say. But in this panel, it’s gone and he’s returning the tenderness that Sakura is showing him. When has Sasuke ever looked at someone besides Itachi and his family (and especially another female that isn’t his family) this way? Never.
Naruto realizes that he is basically a third wheel in this scene. Sasuke’s tender attention is on Sakura, and he’s not even acknowledging him. And notice his pained smile. It’s accepting and a little heartbroken. Naruto sees something in Sasuke’s expression that makes him leave.
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In the raws, Tsunade said “ki ga kiku” which is [気が利く] = to be thoughtful, to be tactful, to be sensitive, to be smart. Naruto is being thoughtful by leaving Sasuke and Sakura to their rather intimate moment. Plus the Japanese take romance as a private-matter. So that alone implies this scene is indeed romantic.
Now, I’m going to jump ahead and use a Databook 2 quote. Scenes from here will not be in order. But it will make sense later, just bear with me here.
Databook 2 RAW can be found here.
「孤独だった自分の存在を愛情という想いで満たしてくれたのがサクラだった。だが、その想いに応えることはやはりできない。サスケは、ただ一言の感謝の言葉を、別れの言葉として告げることしかできなか ったのだ。」
“The one who filled his lonely existence [for him] with the emotion called love was Sakura. But, as expected, Sasuke cannot respond to her feelings. Sasuke was only able to leave a single word of thanks as word of parting.”
「最後まで己を必要としてくれたサクラ。口を突いた言葉は、サスケの偽らざる本心だ。」
"Sakura, who [did him the favour of/for him] needed him to the last. His words are not a lie/deception but his true feelings." (credits to Nobusaki for translations/explaining the Japanese meaning to me XD)
くれた is kureta. In English there are only two verbs for when someone (the giver) does something for someone else (the receiver). Which is obviously “give” and “receive”. Japanese people are very polite and humble, so they use these so donatory verbs are part of their repository. Now Kishi used kureta for a reason, the system of donatory verbs illustrates clearly the relevance of context when applied to the exchange of favorable actions. So,
"tomodachi ga oshiete-kureta."
My friend (kindly) taught-kureta me (for my benefit) (If you want to see the rest of the article, go here)
When you use kureta, it it connotes gratitude because the action was favourable/ beneficial to you. So, Sakura filling Sasuke’s lonely existence [with love] was beneficial to Sasuke and seen as something positive. Notice that Kishi uses kureta again when it says "Sakura, who [did him the favour of/for him] needed him to the last." [ 最後まで己を必要としてくれたサクラ ] = kureta-sakura. So Sakura NEEDING Sasuke is seen as something positive for Sasuke as well.
が is Ga. ”Ga” is used for emphasis, to distinguish a person or thing from all others. If a topic is marked with “wa,” the comment is the most important part of the sentence. On the other hand, if a subject is marked with “ga,” the subject is the most important part of the sentence. In English, these differences are sometimes expressed in tone of voice. (source)
So if we compare these sentencess using wa and ga, we get
Taro wa gakkou ni ikimashita.
太郎は学校に行きました。 Taro went to school.
Taro ga gakkou ni ikimashita.
太郎が学校に行きました。 Taro is the one who went to school
Kishimoto is putting emphasis on SAKURA as the one that filled Sasuke’s lonely existence with her love, it wasn’t Kakashi or Naruto despite that they are precious people to Sasuke as well. But it is SAKURA that makes Sasuke feel needed and eases his loneliness with her love. Sakura did not force her feelings onto Sasuke to fill his lonely existence. It was Sasuke who felt his existence was eased because she loved and needed him [to the end]. Does this make sense? This is all coming from Sasuke’s POV in 181 in the databook, just so you know. :P
So you’re probably wondering “why is she jumping ahead to the scene in 181?” Well I’ll tell you why…
Taking up where I left off with the manga, Sakura is still with Sasuke at the hospital. she’s always staying by his side hfughghjfgeg Pay close attention to the sequence of flashbacks.
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We went from Sasuke thinking of Itachi, and then Sasuke seeing Sakura smile, and Sasuke bitterly remembering Sakura’s smile to Naruto in 144, and then Naruto. And Sasuke is getting more angry with every panel of Naruto.
There was a reason I left chapter 172 out and went straight to databook 2.
In order to understand what is happening here, you have to understand that Sasuke felt needed because Sakura loved him, and Sakura needing him was seen as something positive and something Sasuke benefited from. Her love itself filled Sasuke’s lonely existence. And by her love, I mean her tenderness, kindness and her being thoughtful. Sakura’s smile in the top right corner of the second page makes Sasuke think of the smile she gave to Naruto. That look, full of affection and tenderness, was directed at Naruto, not at Sasuke. Sakura used that look only for him, it’s an indication to Sasuke that Sakura loves him. So he looks jealous. But notice how he doesn’t look at Naruto, Sasuke’s focus is on Sakura’s smile, and then we get a panel of Sasuke looking bitterly at Naruto after he looks at Sakura’s smile. And can we just acknowledge how beautiful Sakura is in Sasuke’s flashback, it’s how he sees her, and all her tenderness is very pronounced in that panel. He doesn’t think that tender smile is directed towards him anymore, so he thinks of Naruto.
But Sasuke’s inferiority/superiority complex also comes into play here. I’ll re-quote myself (so you won’t have to scroll all the way back up)
“His superiority and inferiority complexes also make him interesting. Because of his clan, he initially thinks that he is better than everyone else and takes pride in being an Uchiha. But if someone beats him in a match or shows an excessive amount of strength and power, he obsesses over it. In his mind Sasuke needs to be the strongest, because Sasuke was stuck in Itachi’s shadow as a child growing up (and he now wants revenge), Sasuke feels the need to constantly prove himself by defeating powerful ninja.”
So Sasuke feels threatened by Naruto. Aside from Sakura’s smile towards Naruto, he feels threatened because of his inferiority complex and his pride. But that doesn’t take away the meaning of Sasuke’s flashback to Sakura’s smile, which had to do with Naruto saving her, and then suspiciously going to Naruto flashbacks. But the flashback to her smile is more like a trigger of Sasuke going into the red zone, when Itachi made Sasuke more prone to lack of emotional regulation.
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His flashbacks to Naruto cause Sasuke to smack the plate of apples out of Sakura’s hand. He only got angry when he remembered Naruto after he bitterly thought of Sakura’s smile towards Naruto. So in other words Sasuke is taking his anger out on the wrong person.
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Sakura looks worried and startled here. She has never seen Sasuke act this way to her before. (He has glared at her before, but that didn’t involve Sasuke smacking things out of Sakura’s hand)
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See? It’s not Sakura that he is angry with. Now that the person that is source of his anger is here, Sasuke looks like he’s ready to kill Naruto here.
We get panels of Sakura thinking of Sasuke being influenced by the cursed seal. The panel with Sasuke in CS mode was likely in the FoD, she knows that this erratic behavior is not Sasuke’s. But then we get a panel of Orochimaru, who said to her: “Sasuke-kun will seek me.” Was this a prelude to Sakura knowing that Sasuke would eventually leave the village? One can conclude that, but we don’t really know.
As they are about to use their finishing moves, Sakura runs in between to stop them. Sasuke and Naruto then don’t want to go through with their attacks. In the raws, Sasuke said “kuso”, which means shit (XD) You can see from Sasuke’s expression that he’s like “shit, Sakura is gonna get hit”
After Sasuke flees and Kakashi tells him to quit revenge, Kakashi says that they have both found precious companions. And this is what Sasuke thinks of:
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Though it has been shown many times that Naruto and Sakura are precious to him, this one shows that even if he does explode and go into the red zone, Naruto and Sakura are precious people to him. After Kakashi leaves, Sasuke begins thinking things over.
If you think that leaving team 7 and his bonds behind was easy, then you’re wrong.
Notice the difference here.
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and here
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It was day time when Kakashi leaves Sasuke to think. The second page shows it is night-time, and Sasuke is still thinking and re-evaluating his bonds, thinking of the consequences that will come from his choice. You can just feel the angst coming from Sasuke. He looks so conflicted. His bonds with Naruto and Sakura heal Sasuke, but getting revenge on Itachi is his reason for living.
As Sasuke is thinking, The sound 4 approach him.
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The Sound four was purposely sent to make Sasuke realize that he is weak if he stays in Kohona, and if he realizes that he is weak he will go seek Orochimaru.
Maybe if that Sound Four didn’t come, it might have changed the outcome. But we don’t really know that.
At the end of the fight (which Sasuke horribly loses), the belief “Strength and Friends” (which Sasuke believes in) is destroyed.
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Which you can see in the side-text Kishi wrote.
But even after Sasuke’s belief is shattered, he still won’t go with them. After he is beat again, he finally comes to a resolution. But do you see how far Kishimoto went to make Sasuke leave and to have his belief destroyed? Sasuke didn’t just decide to leave on a whim…
Which leads us to the unresolved SasuSaku scene…*grabs tissues*
Before Sasuke leaves his home, he stares at the picture of Team 7. It’s as if he’s saying goodbye to them.
As Sasuke leaves, he encounters Sakura. She looks like she’s been waiting for him.
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You can tell that Sasuke looks annoyed here. He doesn’t want to confront Sakura, he just wants to leave. He’s already made up his mind…
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So he moves past her.
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But as he’s walking away, it looks like his head begins to turn, but he doesn’t let it and he continues forward. Once Sakura begins to speak, the スタスタ (step step) is gone. He stops to listen to her. Sasuke is acting cold here to push Sakura away. We also don’t see his eyes or his expression, which tells us what he felt for Sakura. It’s done on purpose, because Sasuke has already made up his mind. We only have to see Sakura’s feelings now.
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Poor Sakura. She thinks he hates her, even after everything. Most of the Sasuke ——> Sakura scenes that have happened Sakura has not been aware of. To her, she is still an annoying fangirl Sasuke only tolerated. This was true at first, but we know it isn’t true now. The whole scenery most likely brings up memories for both Sasuke and Sakura, because she is remembering the first time that they were here. But Sasuke…
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Sasuke says he doesn’t remember it. He could not be wanting Sakura to persist, because of her emotional influence over him. But he does remember what happened that day he got angry with her, so he’s sparing her feelings by saying he doesn’t remember. Since when does Sasuke spare people’s feelings? He’s a blunt person.
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After Sakura reminded Sasuke of the great times Team 7 had together. Sasuke explains himself to her once again.
grab your tissues guise
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Ironically, what Sasuke has scolded Sakura for was not being unable to understand what it means to be alone. But here you can just see how much Sakura loves and prioritizes Sasuke. It shows how much she needs him. Which Sasuke benefited from, her need for him made him feel less lonely. So she gets through to him, the thought of Sakura being alone gets through to him. So what does he do? Think of the two people that didn’t make him feel alone.
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But Sasuke is being persistent. Despite that Sakura got through to him here, Sasuke won’t let Sakura waver him from his path. He’s made up his mind.
There’s nothing left that Sakura can do to make him stay. So she confesses…
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Notice how her hands clench her dress over her heart, as if to stop it from breaking. And how she says “we”, we as in Sasuke and Sakura. There is no doubt that Sasuke would be happy if he stayed with Sakura, if he didn’t prioritize revenge. Sakura prized him so much she was even willing to betray Kohona to go with him, but Sasuke wouldn’t of allowed that. Sakura would only be a distraction to him.
The next scene is extremely ambiguous.
Sasuke finally turns around to face her.
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There are several interpretations to this. But it shows that Sasuke DOES remember what happened. It is bittersweet, but this time the meaning of “annoying” is very different compared to the first time. But what is the meaning? My interpretation is that Sasuke was touched by this. And according to databook 2 quote…
「孤独だった自分の存在を愛情という想いで満たしてくれたのがサクラだった。だが、その想いに応えることはやはりできない。サスケは、ただ一言の感謝の言葉を、別れの言葉として告げることしかできなか ったのだ。」
“The one who filled his lonely existence [for him] with the emotion called love was Sakura. But, as expected, Sasuke cannot respond to her feelings. Sasuke was only able to leave a single word of thanks as word of parting.”
He literally could not respond to her feelings. It wasn’t a matter of lack of reciprocation. I’m not saying that he was full out in love with her, but desiring Sakura’s affection and getting angry when it’s directed at someone that isn’t him is not platonic. Maybe he was in between feelings of love and friendship, or maybe he was in denial of his own feelings. But we don’t know. But he was touched by her feelings, he was bothered. So he walks forward because he knows her feelings touched him. If he doesn’t, who knows what would happen. And Sasuke won’t allow that.
When he turned around, what we (and Sasuke) saw was Sakura’s eyes. Sakura, who doesn’t want to lose him threatens his plans of leaving by alerting everyone by screaming. So he stops her.
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Sasuke still could not respond to her feelings. So he thanks her, it was all he could say. By saying “Thank you” he’s thanking her for making him feel needed, for easing his loneliness with her love, for staying by his side. This was Sasuke’s last words to her, he could of rejected her. But he doesn’t. If this was Sasuke severing his bond with Sakura he did a pretty bad job. All the more reason why her feelings did touch him, but it wasn’t enough to make him stay.
So, to answer the question…
What is the nature of the Sasuke ——> Sakura relationship and how does it affect Sasuke?
We went from Sakura being an annoyance to Sasuke —-> Someone he considers a teammate —-> Someone who can deeply affect him —-> To someone who eased his loneliness with her love —-> to ???
Sakura holds influence over Sasuke emotionally. Their bond goes deep. Whatever Sasuke felt for Sakura, be it seeding of romantic love or feelings in between love and friendship, we don’t know as of yet.
Sasuke’s feelings in Part II
If you think that Sasuke completely disregarded his bonds with Sakura and Team 7 in part 2, you’re wrong.
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He made new bonds with Taka. He first viewed them as tools for his revenge, but he came to care for their physical well being. When they fight Killer Bee, they were put in a tight situation. So to save them, he thinks of Team 7 to activate Amaterasu. It shows that Team 7 is still in his heart. All throughout part 2 Sasuke has lingering memories of Team 7 (ex. When he came across The Great Naruto bridge, memories of Kakashi sealing his CS).
And now Sasuke has abandoned his quest for revenge. But he’s still vulnerable to darkness. Sakura sees this and looks apprehensive.
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This is also apart of Sakura’s databook 2 profile
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(credits to Nobusaki..again XD)
No wonder Sakura said “No matter what I do, you’ve always hated me.” in 181. Oh Sakura, if only you knew. Sasuke was anything but apathetic when she looked and smiled affectionately at Naruto and his flashback in 174
This is also apart of Sakura’s databook profile
Pg. 134
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"Sasuke left the village. Sakura’s feelings have not yet reached him. Naturally lonely and peace-loving, the loss of one teammate causes her great pain. Sakura cannot comprehend/understand why Sasuke is throwing away his village and his friends." (link - the only thing different is the “As of yet” which was lost in translation)
「サスケは木ノ葉を去った。サクラの想いは未だ届いていないということだ。」
"Sasuke left the village. This means Sakura’s feelings have not yet reached him." (translation - Nobusaki)
届いていない:Not reach/is not reached (you can look at this in the raw for confirmation for yourself, but it is accurate)
Sakura’s feelings have not yet reached him. Is Kishi saying that her feelings will reach him in the future chapters? He could of just said her feelings have not reached him. But he gives us hope with the “not yet”. Also, notice what Kishimoto is implying here. If Sakura’s feelings reached Sasuke, he would of stayed by her side according to her confession. She wanted them to be together and said they would both be happy…with eachother, do you know what this means? If Sakura’s romantic feelings are reached by Sasuke, what would cause Sasuke to stay in the village and remain at her side? RECIPROCATION.
I’ll throw this in for good measure.
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友を捨てた。愛を捨てた。里を捨てた。残るのはその名と、この思いだけ。
"He threw away friendship (literally ‘friend’). He threw away love. He threw away the village. What remains are only that name, and this thought (or however you want to interpret ‘omoi’… which can have many different meanings)."
捨てる (suteru) - to throw away; to cast aside; to abandon; to resign; to break up with (someone)
思い (omoi) - thought; mind; heart; feelings; emotion; sentiment; love; affection; desire; wish; hope; expectation; imagination; experience
It obviously refers to Sakura… given that the sentence starts with ‘He threw away (his) friend’ (clearly Naruto), and then proceeds with ‘He threw away love’. (as confirmed by Mezzo with her knowledge of Japanese)
If you scroll down back up, Sakura’s databook 2 section bit says this: “Sakura cannot comprehend/understand why Sasuke is throwing away his village and his friends.”
Kizuna, a professional Japanese critic, says this about chapter 181 and the Sasuke and Sakura relationship.
自分への愛情を知りつつも、全ての繋がりを断ち切るべくサ スケは里に背を向けた。- (source)
“Even though he understands the love that she feels for him, in order to sever all his connections Sasuke turns his back to the village.”
Sasuke has attempted to cut his bonds, and he “threw away” love. So he disassociated himself with love by trying to throw it away.
You can take this with a grain a salt. Don’t over-analyze the quote and use it for substantiating SS. After all, we have all this lovely databook quotes and development and we don’t need parallels to support our pairing. :P
And it makes sense with everything in the manga. Sakura has lost hope of Sasuke returning but Naruto restores it, and it’s shown that she is still in love with Sasuke.
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From the RAWS, the conversation goes:
Iwa Ninja: うまくいくといいですね。= "It’ll be good if it works out" (first bubble)
アナタが好きになる人だ。。。きっとステキないい人なんでしょうね = "It’s the person you like [after all]…Undoubtedly he must be a great person.” (second bubble)
ステキ (usually written in hiragana or kanji, but if in Katakana, it’s more to do with an accent or emphasis)= fantastic, superb, beautiful, great, lovely, cool, capital
いい人=good/excellent/fine/nice person
The first bubble foreshadows a resolution. Be it positive/negative/neutral. But if Sakura has loved Sasuke for this long, I don’t see anything but a positive romantic resolution. And if that isn’t enough…
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Hinata thought of Naruto in the same chapter. And 75 chapters later we got this:
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Just saying…
So what will happen?
Only time will tell
…