I am among the crowd that absolutely adored Naruto. Yes, I’m sure it’s two parts nostalgia and one part actually thinking the story was great after analyzing it, but so it goes. Though it’s been years since the anime ended, I still have not gotten over how absolutely terrible Sasuke and Sakura’s love story was. The message that the anime gives by having them end up together is, in short, that it’s healthy and acceptable to pursue someone through the years who couldn’t care less if you died and is nothing but abusive to you. The fact that the show is trying to get us to accept that a little girl’s crush turns into mature, undying love for this same person is preposterous, considering how many years went by that Sasuke never showed her a shred of interest or care.
Why write an article about this? Because it completely takes away from the anime overall. While I’ve still been able to enjoy watching it, and I do reflect fondly on it overall, Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship basically goes against everything Naruto is supposed to be advocating for—friendship and overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. Had Sakura dealt with the heartbreak and found a healthy partner, this would be a completely different story.
“But Naruto also spent his whole life chasing after Sasuke,” you might say. “The whole plot of the show was to bring Sasuke back to the good side.” This is true. And while I could go on an entirely separate rant about Naruto and Sasuke, Sasuke and Sakura are not the same. You see, Sasuke actually demonstrated care and appreciation for Naruto, both in subtle and direct ways. Not only are there long monologues in the show about how similar their lives were and how much they bonded over this, but Sasuke’s actions also consistently demonstrate that he cares about Naruto before he leaves the Hidden Leaf Village. Can he still be cruel with his words? Absolutely. You’ll never find someone who believes Sasuke is an overall nice person. But most of the harsh things Sasuke says when they’re younger stem from their rivalry, and they’re not nearly as awful as what he says to Sakura (which oftentimes is nothing, as he rarely acknowledges her existence).
On the other hand, even before Sasuke completely loses himself in darkness, he is nothing but cruel to Sakura 100 percent of the time. He consistently rejects her attempts to get to know him better and tells her that she’s annoying. Later in the anime, Sasuke tries to kill both Naruto and Sakura, but Sakura’s able to maintain her love and appreciation for Sasuke due to all the great… Oh, right—nothing there is to hold onto.
I still have trouble believing that this epic adventure anime that tackled such huge issues like the balance between war and pacifism, and how much moral accountability we have for our current actions based on past trauma, wrote in such a terrible relationship trope. Since the message seems to be that it’s perfectly okay for Sasuke to abuse Sakura until he decides “nevermind” later, why not just excuse the actions of all the other characters? If Sasuke’s actions are acceptable, then anyone throughout the series who was abusive and attempted to murder her (or really, anyone) should get a pass.
I’d still recommend Naruto overall. The Sasuke-Sakura relationship isn’t demonstrative of all the relationships in the anime, as many actually include interesting dynamics, hardships, and reconciliation. But damn, do I wish they hadn’t scraped the bottom of the barrel so hard for romance. I truly believe Sakura and Sasuke would be a candidate for the worst anime couple of all time.
