There is the prevalent societal myth that gets told again and again through fiction, advertisements, social media, people, and essentially every aspect of society: romantic relationships are the height of human connection and the most special of all human relationships.

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I reject that societal/cultural narrative. In my personal experience I have observed and felt it to be false. Romantic relationships can be and are amazing and they are extremely special in their unique way that a platonic relationship could never approach. But they aren't necessarily always the zenith of a human bond and the deepest, most evolved form of a relationship that a human could ever possibly have. Certainly a romantic relationships can be and usually is the most special and deepest bond that a person has with someone else (and anyone involved in a romantic relationship must have their partner be among their deepest and closest relationships, otherwise a romance is not in a healthy state). But any form of relationship, whether it be parent/child, siblings, cousins, aunt/uncle/nephew/niece, friends, or student/sensei can be just as deep as a romance. It all depends on how close the persons in a relationship are to each other. Thus why some people don't need a romance ever in their entire lives to feel happy or fulfilled, because they have other forms of bonds that are just as deep, meaningful, and sustaining.

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I'm not saying this to diss romantic relationships (that would be stupid when I'm a hardcore SasuSaku shipper); my point is that while romantic relationships receive plenty of praise, platonic relationships are constantly undermined and cheapened by society, despite those forms of relationships holding the potential to be incredibly deep and close, as close as a romance, just in different ways. A romance is a very special, unique relationship that has aspects to it that no other form of bond has. I could spend a while emphasizing how special it is (then again, I could spend a while emphasizing how important each form of bond can be if deep and close enough).

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Understanding this perspective on romance is important to understanding Sasuke's approach to relationships. What I believe is that most fans see that Sasuke doesn't clearly love Sakura far more than anyone else (because he loves Naruto and Sarada as much as he loves his wife), and fans assume that this means his romantic feelings are fundamentally wrong and deem it unacceptable, and it renders Sasuke's love life invalid in their eyes.

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It's true that Sakura is not more important to Sasuke than Naruto and Sarada are. Sakura, Naruto, and Sarada are equally important to him and he loves all three of them the same amount. Each of Sasuke's family members offers something special to Sasuke, but one isn't more important than the other to him.

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Sasuke is focused on family, and he doesn't spend time erecting an abstract pyramid of which family member is his favorite and which ones rank at the bottom. Family is family, and each member of the family is equally essential, equally wanted, and equally loved in Sasuke's eyes: one is not more important than the other, they are each special and needed/wanted in different ways. Sasuke's romantic bond to Sakura is just as special as his parental bond to Sarada is just as special as his brotherly bond to Naruto. Each relationship offers him a unique form of support and love and emotional sustenance, and each of the three bonds gives him something that the other bond can't.

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Sarada is his child and thus precious to him. To him she represents the love between him and Sakura and the hope for the future. Sasuke loves her dearly and would sacrifice anything to protect her.

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Sasuke's brother Naruto is his teammate and partner in protecting the world from all enemies who seek to harm it, a tremendous responsibility that Sasuke could never shoulder alone. Sasuke depends on Naruto as the one who understands and shares in his feelings.

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Sakura offers Sasuke the presence of a family and gives him a home to return to. She offers the emotional support of a friend, and their connected feelings allow them to stay on the same page and operate as a team walking through life together.

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Point is, Sasuke's platonic relationships can be and are just as important and as deep as his romantic relationship. Sakura isn't Sasuke's sole bastion of emotional support and love and friendship; he has Naruto and Sarada for that as well. And he loves all three of them each the same amount.

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If you have a problem with this perspective and with the love interest not being a definite number one in Sasuke's eyes, then you probably won't like SasuSaku. I realize some fans probably hold the expectation that a romance should be unquestionably at the top of the chart in regards to one's relationships and a love interest must be more important than all other familial relationships (perhaps with the exception of one's children). So those fans might have a problem with Sasuke being as close to his brother as he is to his wife.

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But that's how Sasuke is, and he needs a wife who can understand how important his brother-figure and his child are to him, a partner who can respect that loving connection he has with others aside from herself. That's why Sakura is the perfect fit for Sasuke, because she respects and supports his platonic friendships outside of his bond to her and she recognizes how important family is to Sasuke. Sakura embraces and supports her husband's special connection to his brother Naruto instead of demanding that her husband drop all outside relationships to devote his complete attention to her and only her. Sakura and Sasuke being in love doesn't mean that Sakura has to have a monopoly on Sasuke that prohibits any deep friendships outside of his spouse/romantic interest. Sasuke can and does care deeply about more than one person at once. Sasuke and Sakura's romance allows for ardent friendships outside of just each other, thus allowing Sasuke to simultaneously maintain a deep brothership and a deep romance.

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Having deep platonic relationships outside one's love life seems better and healthier anyway rather than placing your spouse on a pedestal and expecting them to supply all your social needs and be your sole source of emotional support and comfort. That only places an unreasonable amount of pressure on your spouse, and two romantic partners will quickly tire each other out if they're expected to be each other's sole bastion of love and support all the time. People need more than just one person in their life to offer them emotional support, love, and friendship. A romance shouldn't dry up and kill all your other relationships, despite what societal and media narratives frequently like to propagate. I for one reject society's narrative that romance is the only ultimate relationship and are all other forms of relationships are merely cheap caricatures in comparison. A platonic bond can be just as deep as a romantic one, and a platonic friendship (in this case, brothership) should not be sacrificed on the alter of romance. Sasuke can and does have multiple deep relationships at once, and that's for the best.