Oh, the ever-loving Sakura. It is truly a tough pill to swallow knowing that Sakura still loves Sasuke even after he tried to kill her. In the real world, this is hard to imagine, but I guess, it is natural in the Naruto universe. Is Sakura supposed to be a love masochist?
Sakura loves Sasuke even after he tried to kill her because her love for him is both selfless and selfish. Selfless, as she is willing to accept all his wrongdoings. Selfish, because she is in love with the illusion that she can pull Sasuke out of the darkness.
This may still be hard to understand, and we get that this idea can be maddening especially as we derive opinions from real-world situations. So let us piece together this so-called unconditional love of Sakura for Sasuke. Read on!
The Love Of Sakura For Sasuke Is Unconditional
From the very beginning, it was clear that Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke. The problem is, we really never knew why. In scenes where Sakura is having her personal monologues, she simply said that it all started because Sasuke was cool.
It was simply a crush as Sasuke was the coolest kid in their class. He was a genius, mysterious, strong, and a snob. These qualities are all of the makings of your stereotypical boy crush.
In other episodes, Sakura noted that her feelings just grew when she teamed up with him in Team 7. She somehow understood where his “darkness” and thirst for revenge is coming from. They had the opportunity to bond, thus her crush turned into infatuation or even obsession.
It was clear that her feelings for Sasuke finally turned into serious love when she was ready to leave the Hidden Leaf Village, just so she can be with Sasuke. Although by now, we know that that did not happen. Still, she held on hope for this love to be something more, once Sasuke goes back to the village.
We are all familiar with the saying “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and that is exactly what happened to Sakura. Even though it was not shown in the anime and manga, Sakura simply kept loving Sasuke with her own idea of what her love should be, as she hopes and waits for his return.
“On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful! I understand that so well right now. I have family, and I have friends but if you’re gone… To me… It will be the same as being alone.”
– Quote from Sakura
Spoiler! Be warned.
It was clear that her love for Sasuke is unconditional as after he tried to kill her and after Naruto reiterated that it is still his will to keep his promise to Sakura, she was relieved as she can still hope that Sasuke will come around.
The proof was that after the Fourth Shinobi War, Sakura even left the village to travel with Sasuke as he processed his demons and go on missions that he wished to do. This was a huge step for Sakura, who for the most part just stayed in the Hidden Leaf Village.
If you want to know all the reasons why Sakura loves Sasuke, you can take a look at this read.
Selfless Love Of Sakura For Sasuke
Sakura stood by Sasuke in both the good and bad times. Even if she already knew that Sasuke was wreaking havoc and plans to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village, she still held on to her memories of Sasuke when they were doing missions in Team 7.
She knew of his pain and in their time together, with Naruto she knew that it was possible that their strong bonds can break his intent for revenge. Therefore, this was the only thing that she kept on holding to even if other people already lost faith in Sasuke.
Even during the time when she resolved to kill him, she felt that doing so is an act of saving him. In fact, even at the last moment, she gave Sasuke the opportunity to try and kill her as she never thought for a second that he will kill her.
Slight spoiler!
When she was given a chance to land a fatal hit on Sasuke, she hesitated. It was clear to her that she never had the guts to kill Sasuke, even if it meant Sasuke will kill her. She was ready to take Sasuke’s assault, were it not for Naruto’s interference.
Selfish Love Of Sakura For Sasuke
As we do not have a lot of information regarding the root of Sakura’s love for Sasuke, other than he was cool and that they bonded, we can only rely on what we read in the manga as well as what was shown in the anime.
A lot of fans speculate that Sakura’s love for Sasuke ran deep as he made her feel better about herself. In the flashback with the love triangle situation with Ino, it was shown that they broke their friendship as they both like Sasuke.
Now, Sakura being with Sasuke in Team 7, shows how she has the opportunity to have a relationship with Sasuke compared to Ino. Which can mean that Sakura bested Ino (and all the girls who like Sasuke), at least in this aspect.
At the same time, Sakura has this idea of love for Sasuke where she thinks that she can be the reason for him to let go of his quest for revenge. In scattered scenes in the anime, especially during the Chunin Exams, it was shown that it was due to Sakura’s pleas that the curse mark of Sasuke was contained.
Further, in other missions that they had in Team 7. Sakura and Naruto almost always succeed in pulling Sasuke out of the darkness in situations where Sasuke’s judgments are clouded.
“I love you with all my heart! If you were to stay here with me, there would be no regrets because every day we’d do something fun, we’d be happy I swear! I would do anything for you! So please, just stay with me!”
– Quote from Sakura
However negative these situations are, it gives Sakura a sense of accomplishment that she knows on a personal level one of the strongest ninjas in the Hidden Leaf Village. Further, it is her strong bond with Sasuke that will eventually get him back.
It is pretty much what is happening in the real world where a woman keeps on loving a broken man, in the hopes that her unconditional love will change him. If that change does happen, a lot of credit is thrown to the woman.
The Romance Plots Of Naruto Are Weak
Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto also stated that he is not good with writing female characters. Therefore, the end result is shallow romance plots. Proof of this is the fact that we really do not know where Sakura’s love for Sasuke came from, besides her childhood obsession.
More than that, Sakura’s feelings were not explored when it finally dawned on her that Sasuke meant to kill her. On three separate occasions when the love of her life tried to kill her, she simply accepted it. The act never changed her feelings, except for the initial shock that she felt.
When everything was resolved and she learned from Naruto that he will still try to persuade Sasuke to stop his evildoings even if it means, they will fight to the death, she did not reassess her feelings for Sasuke. She was simply thankful that she can continue her delusional thoughts on love for him.
It would have been better if there is a scene where Sakura thinks about the fact that Sasuke tried to kill her. In this way, we can understand her thought process for forgiving him. As there are no scenes of this, we can only assume that after every attack, Sakura simply understands him out of love.