The first question everyone Naruto fan had, does Sasuke really love Sakura? Was Sakura wasting her time? Their fandom was unquestionable, and honestly, I wouldn’t want the smoke of asking a SasuSaku fan if it is legit.
I do truly believe that Sasuke cared for Sakura and fell in love, and Sakura? She was head over heels for him since day one.
Lets’s list some of the specific moments that showcase Sasuke’s feeling for Sakura, I will start with the original series and end with the modern generation (AKA the Boruto series).
Starting with chapter 36, after Sakura has declared her love for Sasuke a couple of times, and began to have complex with Sasuke.
Previously, Sasuke had referred to Sakura as the dead weight of the team, even more so than Naruto, this naturally upset Sakura as she was idolizing Sasuke at this point.
Chapter 36 is set during the Chunin exam arc, this whole arc was a stepping stone for their relationship. But back to chapter 36, Sasuke complements Sakura intelligence, and notes her ability in Genjutsu.
Something that Sasuke did on purpose, as he knew she wasn’t feeling confident over the exams.
Chapter 55-56 is one of their key chapters. Sasuke and Naruto are out of action after the battle with Orochimaru. Sakura is left to defend herself and them. After getting a beat down from the sound Shinobi, Sakura is looking worse for wear.
During this time, Sasuke is being tormented by Orochimaru curse mark and his memories of the Uchiha massacre and his brother, Itachi. Once Sasuke awoke, under the influence of Orochimaru chakra, Sasuke isn’t the same Sasuke we all knew.
The first thing he saw after his coma/Orochimaru nightmare was a battered and bloody Sakura. He asks Sakura, “who did this to you?”. The sound ninja, who hurt Sakura, owns up to it, and Sasuke brutally breaks both of his arms.
Sasuke becomes consumed by bloodlust and the only way he was able to break out of it was Sakura embracing him, while being visually upset.
After the Forrest of Death, Sasuke and Sakura appear visually closer, Sasuke doesn’t seem to mind Sakura company or touch, he in fact reaches out varies times to initiate physical contact.
Chapter 181 is one of the most heartbreaking moments for Sasuke and Sakura. After Sasuke decides to leave the village and seek power from Orochimaru,
Sakura already knew Sasuke would choose vengeance. Sakura tries to convince Sasuke to stay by recalling all the Genin missions that they all had together.
Sakura exhausts every method, declaring her love for him, offering to go with him. She is heartbroken, her last resort if telling Sasuke that if he leaves she will scream and alert the guards.
Sasuke thanks her before knocking her out and continuing his quest. Throughout this confrontation we, as the audience, do not see Sasukes facial reactions, but it is hinted that he too is upset.
Shippuden is a world wind for Sasusaku relationship, as Naruto and Sakura get closer and Sasuke is still a missing ninja. Sakura however stayed true to her feelings. In chapter 286, Sakura defends Sasuke to Sai after he badmouthed him.
Throughout their meetings, Sasuke always acknowledges Sakura first, even before Naruto. After Sasuke joined the Akatsuki and was labeled a war criminal.
Sakuras heart broke and came to the conclusion to kill Sasuke herself, and she throughout she had burdened Naruto with her pleas to bring him back. Sasuke as he fell more into darkness attempted to kill her first but was thankfully stopped by Kakashi and Naruto.
After Sasuke did some soul-searching and decided to help with the forth ninja war, (thank you Itachi and the other Hokages). He and Sakura fell straight back into old ways.
Being both impressed with how strong Sakura got and still appearing to be her knight in shining armor, the ship seemed like it was back on.
The end of the war and his battle with Naruto, Sasuke is now starting his road of redemption, by saying sorry to Sakura for everything, something that Sasuke never did.
The show ended with Sasuke and Sakura saying goodbye before he travelled, Sakura asks to go with him, he refuses, telling her that this is a journey for him to redeem himself.
Sasuke leaves after poking her on the forehead and telling her thanks yet again. The headpoke was a significant notion of Sasuke returning her feelings, it eventually turned into Sasukes own way of showing affection.
Sasuke Loving Sakura In The New Generation
All the fans were relieved after the time skip, once we saw Sakura with the Uchiha fan proudly on her back with a daughter who looked just like Sasuke.
During the skip, we learn that they did in fact marry and have their own child, Sarada. Sasuke however is n not in the village often, due to special operations.
This causes a rift between Sarada and her parents. Sarada felt like she didn’t know who her father really was, I don’t want to spoil Boruto too much due as the show is still ongoing. But we have a lot of confirmation of Sasuke truly caring and loving Sakura, in fact he is proud to call her his wife.
So there we have it, a brief summary of moments where Sasuke showed us he loved Sakura back. Due to his own demons and cold exterior, it was a difficult for him to express it, but Sakura was patient and understanding.
If you want to know more about their relationship, especially during the blank period, I would recommend reading the Hiden books, as they are full of more cute moments between the couple.
