While the argument transpiring before the chunin exam's semifinals is a negative moment between Sasuke and Sakura (since they have a dispute), it's nonetheless an important and characterizing scene between them.

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In this scene, Sakura is sweet and caring while Sasuke is the idiot who should've listened to Sakura but didn't.  After all, Chapter 66 is tellingly titled "Sakura's Advice", and it her counsel was indeed good advice.

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Sakura used to buy the cool, tough guy act and fawned over Sasuke with the rest of the fangirls during her academy days. But after all that transpired in the Forest of Death, Sakura is no longer so naive. She saw both how scared and how ruthless Sasuke could be, she saw how human and flawed he actually was. Before her eyes, Sasuke had experienced terror and rage and pain and other intense emotions, and Sakura's image of the unshakably cool and calm Sasuke had been stripped away, removing her shallow fangirling and leaving behind only genuine concern and care for a friend's safety and well-being.

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In regards to Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto were idiots who glibly elected to ignore Sasuke's worsening mental state because they didn't want to deal with big inconvenience it would be for them. So even when Sakura voiced her concerns (multiple times) to all three of her teammates and sent up red flags that something was seriously wrong with Sasuke and that it was not okay and needed to be dealt with, Naruto and Kakashi ignored her and told her everything would be fine.

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Sasuke didn't ignore her, but he rudely told her to mind her own business and stop worrying about him.

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So yeah. Super unhelpful and unsupportive (and frankly stupid) team. When it came to Sasuke, Sakura was evidently the only one who was sensible and had a clue in regards to what he was struggling with.

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Sakura was the only one of her team who used preventative measures and actively tried to help Sasuke and prevent something bad from happening before it happened, like, I dunno, Sasuke resorting to the extreme of desertion. Naruto only started doing his best to patch up Sasuke's problems after Sasuke deserted, and Kakashi didn't bother trying to help Sasuke at all. Only Sakura had the foresight, sensitivity, and awareness of Sasuke to realize what he was struggling through and that he might resort to extremes (like deserting the village to join someone who is trying to kill him). Interesting that so many fans either miss this or purposely overlook this, perhaps because after Sasuke deserts Konoha the story starts focusing on Naruto's and Sasuke's friendship and Naruto's understanding of Sasuke's loneliness while Sakura's moments with Sasuke are increasingly are left by the wayside and forgotten, so while fans know that Naruto understands Sasuke very well, they assume that Sakura doesn't understand Sasuke as well. While that may be true in regards to loneliness, in regards to Sasuke's survivor's guilt and other things he was suffering through in the Forest of Death, Naruto was painfully oblivious for the whole thing even while Sasuke's trauma was unfolding right before him.

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There's quite a lot going on between Sasuke and Sakura in this scene. It's a serious discussion about purpose and justification of one's existence. Sakura is hitting the dark places of Sasuke's heart that no one has yet before been able to shine a light on until then. This is impressive, considering how cagey Sasuke is about discussing his emotions or letting people see into the depth of his feelings surrounding his clan. Yet Sakura is the first to uncover the ugly truth of Sasuke's revenge: revenge is something he has an unhealthy obsession with, and it's preventing him from making safe, smart decisions. He continues to risk seriously hurting himself in the chunnin exams because his drive to kill his brother has become a dangerous force to himself, compelling him to take stupid risks when he should play it safe if he were behaving rationally, responsible, and maturely. But nope, he'd rather take stupid risks and hurt himself than listen to reason, and it's his unhealthy obsession with revenge that made that way, and Sakura is horrified to discover that during their argument before the semifinals.

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Sakura is the first person to hit this mental roadblock when she realizes that there are things Sasuke is placing above his team, and areas of himself that he won't allow his teammates to touch, areas he is intentionally hiding away from his team. Sakura, no longer the shallow girl she was at the start of the series, recognizes the danger.

 

In their conversation, Sakura voices her frustration with Sakura. She knows Sasuke is intentionally shutting her (and everyone else) out emotionally, and she wants to know why. She calls him out for his tough guy act, demanding to know why he had to act strong all the time, because now Sakura sees that is all it is – an act. Sakura desperately wants to help her friend, but she's learned over the past few days that Sasuke doesn't show his pain - he hides it. Sakura recognizes this is an unhealthy and ineffective way to deal with one's emotions, and ultimately the only possible outcome is that by hiding his pain, Sasuke will only hurt himself more (and that is exactly what happens). Sakura calls him out for always acting strong and demands to know what he's trying to prove, demanding to know why he can't let down his guard for his friends (who care about him) so that they can help him.

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Sakura wants prevent Sasuke him from getting hurt any further. First she attempts negotiation by attempting to talk him out of the chunnin exams. She wants him to drop the tough guy act and let her in so that she can help. Sakura has hit a mental wall with Sasuke that she knows she can't breach without Sasuke lowering his guard and showing vulnerability and open honesty. Like a good friend, Sakura makes it clear that she is concerned for him and that she wants to help him by offering support if he would only stop emotionally holding her at arm's length.

 

Instead of opening up to her, Sasuke reveals that his revenge is something he won't let his friendship with Naruto and Sakura get in the way of. In short, Sakura hits upon the fact that revenge is more important to Sasuke than she or Naruto are, and this fact alarms and scares her.

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Rather than being touched by Sakura's worry for his safety, Sasuke is annoyed by how much she cares for him. Not because he hates her, of course, but because he worries that her love for him is going to stand in the way of him avenging his clan. She might do something to try to protect him, something that will prevent him from doing what he wants (avenging his clan). On his own, Sasuke can hurt and destroy himself and his life as much as he wishes to. But bonds to others come with responsibilities and obligations. Ties to people means a part of you belongs to them as well, because your choices affect them; what hurts you hurts them too. And Sasuke doesn't want this relationship restraint because it creates barriers to his purpose as an avenger. Thus when Sakura tells him that she "can't bear to watch" him tear himself apart, Sasuke's response is to tell Sakura to stop caring about him: "Then don't watch". Basically: don't get involved with me then. If Sakura doesn't like it, then she should forget about him and mind her own business and stop interfering with his. It's a clear moment of him shutting her out, and needless to say it greatly upsets Sakura.

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Sakura knows that Sasuke is in no condition to fight (she even directly tells him so) and that he shouldn't continue, otherwise he'll hurt himself. Sakura was the only one to register and care about the immense pain Sasuke was in or what the influence of the curse mark was doing to him, both physically and mentally. She knew that he was in no condition to fight, and that he was suffering greatly, and she couldn't stand to watch him tear himself apart.

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Noticeably Sasuke doesn't attempt to reassure Sakura by telling her he's not going to get hurt, nor does he try to refute her claim that he's in no shape to fight (showing Sasuke's hardcore honesty with Sakura and how he treats her as an equal by being upfront with her, even in a way he isn't with Naruto at this point of time). Sasuke doesn't bluster and put on a bold façade and declare he won't be hurt. His silence on Sakura's concerns speaks volumes for himself. Sasuke already knows his revenge isn't healthy, and that most likely it's going to lead to him getting hurt or even killed. He doesn't even care how badly messed up he gets on his quest for revenge. All Sasuke knows is that revenge is his purpose in life, and without that avenger purpose to cling to, he has nothing. His existence is worthless, unnecessary, and unjustifiable (there's his survivor's guilt kicking in).

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I appreciate how much foreshadowing for Sasuke's desertion Kishimoto wove in this scene. Already we see Sasuke pushing his friends away when they attempt to hinder his pursuit of revenge, showing how "annoying" their interference is to him. We're seeing how Sasuke callously pushes aside friendship and his own safety for the pursuit of revenge. Sasuke's objective to avenge his clan is unhealthy and unsafe for him, and Sakura is the first one to uncover this truth and to try to put a stop to it.

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This scene illustrates how dark and bad Sasuke's emotional state really is deep inside. Despite his outward I'm-put-together facade, Sasuke is internally a huge mess. His survivor's guilt holds him back from feeling okay with his existence, forging friendships, and pursuing happiness.

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While all this is transpiring, Naruto is completely clueless - once again a walking question mark to what is going on around him. Naruto was a witness to Sasuke and Sakura's entire conversation as Sakura pleaded with Sasuke to drop out from the chunin exams because he was too hurt and it wasn't safe for him to continue. Sakura is scared for Sasuke's safety. And what does Naruto add to this discussion? Absolutely nothing, except Sakura's tears upset him and he hones in only on the fact that Sakura is upset (not caring at all about the pain Sasuke is in, much like Naruto hadn't noticed how Sakura was covered in injuries in the Forest of Death). The only thing Naruto has to say about this conversation is to get angry at Sasuke for upsetting Sakura, but a smartly-placed comment from Sasuke redirects Naruto's attention to the challenge of the chunin exams ahead and how he wants to fight Naruto. In a flash it causes Naruto to banish thoughts of Sasuke's pain or Sakura's distress from his mind altogether. Even years later in memory, Naruto never recalls or remembers this argument or his two friends' distress, the only thing he remembers is when Sasuke said he wanted to fight Naruto the most. Thing is, in the chunnin exams arc, Sasuke and Sakura were operating on a deeper and more sensitive frequency between them while Naruto was largely a clueless outsider (though still the fondly loved third member of the team, just one that was less mature and not a confidante they consulted with on serious matters).

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With a scene like this, it actually makes it perplexing that fans make generalizations like "Sakura never understood Sasuke". Really? Then how come she was the first one to notice how badly his revenge obsession was affecting him? How come she was the first and only person who tried to prevent things from escalating before he deserted Konoha (except for Kakashi's lackluster attempt to dissuade Sasuke from pursuing revenge further)? How come she knows that Sasuke is intentionally hiding parts of himself from his teammates?

 

For all the "Sakura only does what Sasuke wants" narrative, here we see Sakura attempt to go against Sasuke's wishes. She told him that if he wasn't going to withdraw from the chunnin exams himself, then she'd take action to get the adults to remove him from the exams (exactly what Sasuke didn't want). However, Sasuke physically stopped her from raising her hand and told her that he'd never forgive her if she got him pulled out of the chunnin exams. She didn't just cower in the face of conflict with Sasuke and admit, "he's right, I should just stay quiet and not get involved". Instead she knew he was wrong and at fault. Despite him telling her to mind her own business, she knew that's not what a true friend does, so she tried to look after her friend by attempting to get removed him from the exams, directly against his wishes. It's Sakura asserting herself, an action showing she believes that she knows what is best for Sasuke, not Sasuke himself.

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"But she let Sasuke stop her; how weak and pathetic is that?" some fans might ask.

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It's not that simple, despite Naruto fans' infatuation with oversimplifying very complicated matters.

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Firstly, Sasuke is the unannounced team leader, the person responsible for taking care of the team. Thus there is a bit of a relationship inequality between Sasuke and Sakura at this point in their lives: Sasuke is the team leader; generally what he says goes, considering that the whole year since the team started, Naruto and Sakura have deferred to his leadership. Because Sasuke is the unofficial team leader of their squad, going against his wishes isn't so easy.

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Secondly, Sakura has issues of her own, i.e. her self-confidence issues. She tends to avoid being is troublemaker. Making a scene by engaging in a brawl with Sasuke in front of the Hokage, protectors, sensei, and representative shinobi from multiple nations would be an intimidating prospect. Understandably, Sakura backed down instead of resorting to fighting and making a scene, which is what she would have had to do to get Sasuke knocked out of the chunnin exams. To make matters worse, despite Sakura bringing her concerns straight to Naruto and Kakashi, both of them dismiss her worry and tell her everything's fine, don't worry, it'll be okay. Sakura already has self-confidence problems, and having half her team undermine and dismiss her concerns as ill-founded doesn't help.

 

Thirdly, Sasuke has directly told her that he won't forgive her if she denies him this opportunity. That sounds like a relationship-ending qualifier. If Sakura pushes Sasuke too far at that moment, he'll resent her forever. Sakura wants to help Sasuke, not estrange him from her. At the moment, she's the only person concerned about his welfare. So while allowing him to continue in the chunnin exams may not be the safest thing for him, estranging him from her might not be the best move for his welfare either. Plus Sasuke is her dearest friend and creating a permanent wedge between Sasuke and her would not be something most people want in their closest relationship and not something people are going to do flippantly. Sakura was between a rock and hard place, relationship-wise. Sasuke needed help and the support of his friends, and Sakura wanted Sasuke to draw closer to his friends, not push them away.

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Fourthly, Sakura is not Sasuke's babysitter. Sasuke is capable of making his own decisions. Sakura can try to dissuade him from them, but it's not her job to chaperone his whole life and tell him what he can and can't do and punish him when he doesn't do as she wants. She's a 13-year-old, for crying out loud, and it's not her fault that Sasuke's pig-headed stubbornness is causing him to make bad decisions and go against her advice and not listen to her. Sakura isn't responsible for Sasuke's decisions, and it's not her job to aggravate and nag him until he listens to her and makes smart decisions that are best for his welfare. That should be the adults' responsibility.

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Anyway, Sakura is not cowed or diminished in Sasuke's presence despite what SasuSaku antis claim. When it comes to relationships, there's a big difference between being scared of someone and being scared for them. In this scene, Sakura is afraid for Sasuke and the dark place she thinks he may be headed towards. Sakura even yells at Sasuke, demanding, "Do you think I'm blind or something?!" She's directly challenging him and calling him out for his behavior, and she has no reservations with openly voicing her frustration with him to his face.

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Sasuke literally told her to shut up and stop talking, but she wouldn't let that stop her from expressing her honest opinion and assessment of his emotional state and how it was unhealthy for him.

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Sasuke makes of point of creating distance between him and Sakura by telling her that revenge is his burden to carry alone. It's a trial that he won't allow anyone to share in or help him shoulder.

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Additionally, Sasuke's phrase "not even for your sake" directly puts emphasis on Sakura's significance to him. He's outright saying that she has a special pull on him and influence over him that no one else has.

 

Sakura digs into the heart of Sasuke's purpose, getting him to reveal that he is walking on the path of an avenger, a path absolutely nothing and no one can shake him from. Sasuke confides his personal reasons for participating in the chunnin exams to Sakura: he doesn't even care about attaining the military rank of a chunin. Rather, he is only interested in challenging and testing his strength. Interesting that she is the person he chooses to tell this personal motivation to.

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With scenes like this, we see that Sasuke allows Sakura to slip past his emotionally impenetrable façade, when he allows no one else to do so. With Sakura, Sasuke apparently wants her to see into his innermost self. Like in this scene, we see Sasuke discuss his feelings with Sakura and thoroughly explains himself to her on several occasions, giving her a rundown of his emotional state and feelings. Rather than trying to push her away under the veil of "protecting" her, Sasuke doesn't shirk from confiding to her the seriousness and severity of his feelings. He doesn't waste time wondering if her mind is too fragile to handle the stress; he assumes that she is and he doesn't waste time trying to soften a truth that is anything but soft.

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Their argument is an important moment between Sasuke and Sakura, characterizing their seriousness and honesty with each other, as they discuss one's purpose, harmful behaviors, and Sasuke's true motivation in the chunin exams. Their dialogue is serious and intense. Sakura's concern for Sasuke is very real, and Sasuke's obsession with his purpose is a very real concern. Sakura's worry and fear for her teammate is sweet, certainly the kind of compassion and love for her teammate that Sasuke later thanks her for on the night he deserts Konoha.