LogFAQs > #967617609

Of course, being an orphan whose family was slaughtered, it would have made some sense for Sasuke to try compensating for his loss and look for his family in his teammates as a way to cope with his trauma, but if that was how he felt the whole time, then the story did a piss poor of showing it, because we dont hear a word about Sasuke saying, You guys are my precious comrades who I compare to my family until the fight with Gaara. We only ever saw him actually bond with Naruto a little bit when they trained together and acknowledge him as a worthy opponent, and take pity on Sakura a few times when he saw her upset; everything else was just him being annoyed with his teammates, or just typical soldier behavior of protecting each other as members of the same team. Ninja protect each other regardless of how close they personally are; its not like Sakura became close friends with Lee, Shikamaru and Choji just because they protected her in the Forest of Death, and we know she didnt, because they rarely even talk to each other. And furthermore, trying to compensate for a loss by trying to find what you lost in other people as a way to deal with the trauma is an ultimately futile practice; its looked down upon because it suggests you have a mental illness as youre scarred and youre expected to eventually accept what you lost and move on. You cant replace what you lost; youre supposed to make new bonds and move on. Thats what Sasuke should have done after he lost his family, but he didnt; the story failed to show that he had any real friendship with his teammates. Sasuke seeing his relationship with Naruto and Sakura as more than it really was because hes mentally scarred doesnt make them actual friends; they were really just acquaintances at the very most.

There are also some people who say that Sasuke was jealous over Sakuras reaction when she found out that Naruto was the one who saved her from Gaara, but this is false as he didnt have any reaction to it and he wasnt even the one having a flashback to when he told Sakura it; if you actually pay attention to that chapter, you would see that Sakura was the one having the flashback to when Sasuke told her. When the scene cuts to Sasuke training, we see that hes not thinking about Sakura at all; hes just thinking about how Naruto could beat Gaara when he couldnt, and how much stronger Naruto has gotten. If hes mad when he tells Sakura, its only because hes angry that Naruto is stronger than him; talking about that to anyone will make him mad. Sakuras happiness isnt on his mind; hes just jealous that Naruto is stronger than him. Hell, Sakura was rarely ever on his mind to begin with; Sasuke only ever really cared about becoming stronger, and as such, never had any time to actually bond with Sakura as he was only focused on that. You would think that theyd actually be seen hanging out together outside of missions if they were real friends; grab a bite and train together, but Sasuke was only ever focused on himself. After the fight with Gaara, this hasnt changed; hes just now insecure over being weaker than Naruto.

Then, Sasuke gets beaten up and mind broken by his older brother Itachi; although Sakura repeatedly visits him in the hospital, they dont interact because hes in a coma. Again, no progress in their relationship. Anyway, Sasuke wakes up when Tsunade heals him sometime later, and hes right back to treating his teammates like trash. Sakura gives him some apples and he throws that shit away in front of her. He fights Naruto and gets tied up by Kakashi as punishment; its again said that Naruto and Sakura are his close friends, but again, it falls flat because weve never really seen them bond like real friends do, and he repeatedly treats them like shit. Furthermore, it only took a little convincing from the Sound Four for him to leave them altogether; wow, so much for that friendship and family, huh? Before he goes, Sakura stops him and pours her heart out, begging for him to stay. While Sasuke is flattered to hear that someone cares this much for him, even thanking her at the end, he does not reciprocate any of her feelings. The fact he explicitly tells her that his business has nothing to do with her and that Sakura brings up how he never opens up to tell her anything is all the proof needed to show that they were never actually friends. Real friends open to each other; Sasuke never really did that with Naruto or Sakura, because he basically always kept to himself like the antisocial loner he is.