Sasuke & Sakura: An Analysis
Chapter 27
The Reason Sasuke Wanted to Save Naruto
There are two points where Sasuke showed that he was apathetically willing to let Sakura die: (1) when he was going to retreat from the barrier and planned only take Naruto with him and (2) when Sasuke didn't swoop in to save Sakura from being burned alive by lava.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
I want to clarify a few things about this.
​
Sasuke saved Naruto a few times during the war, but that loses its glamor somewhat once we realistically consider Sasuke's reasons for protecting Naruto:
​
1. Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto by his own hand. It appears anti-SasuSaku fans believe that desiring to kill your best friend yourself is a sign of friendship and affection whereas passively allowing your former teammate to die on the battlefield if she isn't strong enough to take care of herself is clearly as sign of uncaring indifference. Personally, I don't think wanting to murder your former teammate is any more affectionate than doing nothing to stop your teammate from dying. At least in Sakura's case, Sakura has the chance of getting herself out of her own near-death situation and living on based on her capability as a shinobi. Meanwhile Naruto gets the aggressive attack treatment from Sasuke: Sasuke has already decided for Naruto that he is going to die immediately after the war, whereas Sakura gets the benefit of being allowed to live on based on her own capability.
2. Sasuke isn't presently interested in committing suicide. Sasuke's not stupid; he knows there are limitations to his abilities and things he can't do on his own, and he knows he needs Naruto to defeat Kaguya. Without Naruto, Sasuke and every other person on the planet will perish, and Sasuke knows this. Sasuke isn't interested in dying or losing or in letting the planet be destroyed. His current objective is reforming the shinobi government system, and he needs to stop Kaguya first to get to that point. So he must keep Naruto alive unless he feels like foolishly throwing his life away, which he evidently doesn't.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Sasuke wasn't on the war battlefield to rekindle his friendships on the Fourth Great Ninja War. Sasuke still didn't want attachments. He was as firm on wanting to sever his bonds with everyone as he was before. He didn't want to establish close friendships, so he ignored them (well, kind of).
​
As for the lava realm: at Naruto's request that he save the others instead of himself, Sasuke actually glances over his shoulder at Sakura and the others before deciding to swoop down to save Naruto. That moment's glance indicates hesitation. Rather than completely ignore Naruto's request to save Kakshi, Sakura, and Obito, Sasuke weighs and considers his options in a flash, no matter how briefly or subconsciously. It's possible that Sasuke had even seen Kakashi saving Sakura and Obito and thus it may have influenced his split-second decision to save Naruto, since Kakashi was already taking care of the others. After all, Sasuke was able to accurately describe exactly how Kakashi had saved Sakura and Obito in detail despite not even looking their way afterwards.
​
​
Even if Sasuke wasn't a villain try to maintain a gap between himself and his friends and keep his distance from bonds, Sasuke had a split second to decide who lived and who died. Considering that the fall into the lava pit only took a matter of seconds and Sasuke likely could only save one (considering that the two groups were in different locations), who would you save: humanity's last chance for survival (Naruto) or the three shinobi likely to be only liabilities and deadweight (Kakashi, Sakura, and Obito)?
​
Sasuke's no idiot, and while fans like to glamorize Sasuke's decision to protect Naruto from being burned to a crisp by lava as a symbol of devoted and caring friendship, Sasuke's decision to save Naruto is founded on pragmatism, not purely friendship. If instead Sakura was Asura's reincarnation who had received a special seal to defeat Kaguya from Hagoromo, you'd see a very different scenario play out. Or if Kakashi was Asura's reincarnation who had received Hagoromo's power – again a different scenario. Sasuke's thinking pragmatically in his decision to save Naruto, not just emotionally like fans seem to think.
​
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sasuke is not playing at romance or at making friends. He's in a pragmatic, logical mood. In the lava realm scene, even Naruto and Sakura acknowledge that Sasuke's realist attitude is correct from a utilitarian/pragmatic standpoint, but Naruto and Sakura are fighting for more than mere survival and they feel Sasuke is wrong from an ethical/humanist standpoint.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Sasuke did indeed save Naruto because Sasuke couldn't stand the thought of someone else killing Naruto, and Sasuke's protectiveness of Naruto does indeed belie his feelings for Naruto, but let's not glorify Sasuke's desire to save Naruto too much. The primary reason Sasuke was protecting Naruto was so that he could later kill Naruto himself, so that Sasuke and everyone else wouldn't die, and so that he wouldn't lose the war.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
We can twist murderous intent all we like and go, "oh, see what great friends they are? Sasuke wants to kill Naruto himself rather than let some random villain end Naruto's life because Sasuke cares about Naruto sooooo much". But we could twist that in Sakura's favor as well, "see how much he cares about Sakura? He'd rather their bond end by coincidental tragic fate because he can't bear to kill her himself".
Now I'm not trying to sell short the depth and specialness of Naruto and Sasuke's friendship. At this point of his life Sasuke was closest to Naruto and indeed the fact that Sasuke wanted to kill Naruto was a complicated way that did show he deeply loved Naruto, because he wanted to cut all friendships out of his life, particularly his deepest and most potent bond. But in the end, I don't see wanting to kill someone as a higher symbol of friendship than not saving someone. Sasuke cared about Naruto more at this point, but that doesn't mean that Sasuke didn't or could never care about Sakura as well.
​
There needs to be more convincing cases against Sasuke's feelings for Sakura than "Sasuke tried to kill Naruto after the Fourth Great Ninja War so that clearly means he doesn't love Sakura at all." That argument is far too simplistic and needs a stronger logical foundation.