Summary
- Sakura's unrequited love for Sasuke evolved from a crush to true love, despite his dark path and betrayal.
- Fan content for Sasuke and Sakura, including fan fiction and art, flourished due to their popular pairing.
- Sasuke's post-Naruto story in Boruto shows his redemption and strong relationship with Sakura, despite initial doubts.
The mysterious Sasuke Uchiha captured countless hearts when Naruto began serializing in September 1999. Cool and mysterious, he posed as the primary rival and antithesis to Naruto. Alongside the two, was their confident but assertive teammate, Sakura Haruno.
With the contrasting colors of blue and pink, as well as the developing relationship between the two, fans were quick to speculate that there was something more. After Sakura's initial confession to Sasuke when he left Konoha, he quietly thanked her, and purposely kept her out of his drama prior. Come 2014 and the end of Naruto, Sasuke realizes his feelings, and the two get married.
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Young Love
Sakura's one-sided crush on Sasuke was a running gag, as she was a typical pre-teen with a crush. Though she began as bratty, Sakura became more empathetic and grew to respect both Naruto and Sasuke for their determination and strength. Throughout their genin years, Sakura occasionally took the reins to hold her own in battle, but continued to rely on those around her. Ultimately, Sasuke's betrayal caused her to seek out Tsunade's guidance and hone her skills so she could keep up.
In Naruto Shippuden, the two interacted a lot less, yet whenever they did confront each other, the scene was always tense. In episode 214, Sakura attempts to kill him but can't bring herself to, giving Sasuke an opportunity to attack. Arguably, this would be enough for someone to fall out of love, but true love is unconditional, and she refuses to give up on him. In a tragic sense, it's difficult to oppose the ones you love, when they go down a dark path, and in the case of a life or death situation, if they are considered irredeemable, extreme measures must be taken - similar to Mikasa and Eren's conclusion in Attack on Titan.
Rose Colored Glasses
Thankfully, Sasuke and Sakura have a happy ending and Sasuke is able to let go of his obsession and recognize what he has around him. Needless to say, most of the fanbase was satisfied with the happy conclusion. But out of all the canon Naruto pairings, Sasuke and Sakura had the most fan content throughout its serialization.
This ranged from AUs to fan fiction, online contests, and even a fan project titled, Naruto: Next Generation, started by annria2002 and daggerUndrea (later known as te nchufreak), which tells the story of Sasuke returning to Sakura and having a child, who was then taken by Madara to be raised as his own. Along with this, over 1,000 submissions of fanart were posted by annria2002 on her deviantArt page, and over 200 on tenchufreak's, mostly consisting of commissions.
The Sins of the Father
In an extra side story, Naruto: Sasuke Retsuden, a glimpse of Sasuke's life after Naruto's conclusion delves deeper into the redemption of his character. To prove his loyalty, he infiltrates a prison to gather knowledge. Through internal monologue and his interactions, we learn that Sasuke has already married Sakura and speaks highly of her, insinuating that she'd fully earned his respect at that point. Along with the rest of the story, Sakura is seen embarking on adventures with him and, at one point, shares a moment star-gazing and the two make peace with the past.
However, in Boruto after their first child, Sarada, Sasuke is away for most of her upbringing, leading their daughter to believe that he doesn't care about her. While this did spark debate among fans, it should be noted that this spin-off is written by a different author, and so the original interpretations of Sasuke and Sakura may be different. However, in recent chapters, Sasuke has played a larger part in both the story and Sarada's life.
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Naruto
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- October 2, 2002
A popular shonen anime based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga, Naruto follows its eponymous shinobi's journey as he goes from his town's outsider to its hero.
