u/neon-anime

These moments are taken from:

• Sasuke Retrieval Arc
• Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission Arc
• Itachi Pursuit Mission Arc
• Pain's Assault Arc
• Fourth Shinobi War Arc
• Before and After the Second Final Valley Fight

There are still more moments from these and other arcs, but they are implied or need explanation.
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Explaining Pics (5): The foundation for feeling like real brothers/family started years before Team 7 because Naruto told Sasuke he saw him as his brother during the first Final Valley fight. Then Naruto said this bond was one of the first bonds he ever had, and it immediately cuts to them as young kids (both smiling) about five years before Team 7. And right before this reveal, child Naruto had an internal monologue discussing his orphan experience at that very young age and how he was connecting with the other orphan's suffering. Their shared extreme loneliness and trauma were the foundation for this family-like connection 5 years before Team 7, and Sasuke says the same after their final fight. Naruto was seeing the brother he never had in Sasuke, and Sasuke was filling the blood family he lost with Naruto, specifically the brother spot (Itachi) and seeing Itachi in Naruto.

Explaining Pics (6): Sasuke was clearly moved by Naruto’s seeing him as a real brother and started showing him respect for the first time in this fight. He put on his headband after that line, which had been a request from Naruto during their hospital rooftop fight: to put on his headband and fight him as an equal. Back then, Sasuke refused, saying, “You’re never my equal.” So here, Sasuke was acknowledging Naruto as an equal in both strength and loneliness, and he literally says that to him right after this scene. When Naruto asked why he would even bother with the headband when he still wanted to kill him, Sasuke said, “It's because you know what loneliness is, just like I do. Now we will fight as equals".

These moments are taken from:

• The Sasuke Retrieval Arc
• The Tenchi Bridge Arc
• The Itachi Pursuit Mission Arc
• The Pain Arc
• The War Arc
• Before and After the Final Valley Fight

There are more moments from these and other arcs. I might do another post with chapter and episode numbers, along with brief explanations since a few are implied or need context. For example (Sai's change): The brotherly bond between Naruto & Sasuke was the main reason Sai became good in the Tenchi Bridge Arc. He changed because Sakura told him how Naruto sees Sasuke as his own brother, and saw how Naruto would never give up on that bond no matter what. This triggered Sai to truly connect with Naruto by reflecting on his bond with his own non-biological brother (Shin), a connection he had been forced to suppress while serving in the Foundation.

And there are still more scenes. By the way, I still love and respect the anime, but a lot of Sasuke's care and subtle feelings for Sakura were lost or not executed well, sometimes even butchered.

Sasuke has been written to be in love with Sakura since almost the very beginning (confirmed by Kishimoto more than 20 years ago), and the manga shows that better than the anime. Kishimoto (2005): "The one who filled his lonely existence with the emotion called love... was Sakura." (Naruto Secret: Scroll of Fighting Character Official Databook II).
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Extra: I also made a manga analysis of these scenes and others for anyone interested:

Sasuke’s Great Care and Subtle Feelings for Sakura (Before Itachi):
[ --- Part 1 ]
[ --- Part 2 ]

After Shipuuden spoilers:
>!Correcting Popular False Claims about Sasuke and Sakura as a Couple: [ See here ] !<

Note: These pics and info are from Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (mini-manga written and drawn by Kishimoto).

There are people who spread a lot of false claims about both of the canon couples. You can think whatever you want about them, just don't make things up just to validate your view. So here is a correction of some of these popular claims:

• Claiming Sasuke barely spent any time with Sakura because he left before or immediately after Sarada was born. Or he left for 12–13 years before reuniting with Sarada.

Sasuke spent about 4 to 6 years with Sakura (including at least 2 to 4 years with Sarada) before going on that 7 to 8 year mission until he reunited with Sarada. Sasuke and Sakura spent 1 to about 2 years traveling together before Sarada was born. And you can see Sasuke and Sakura teaching Sarada how to walk, and then Sarada asking about Sasuke right after he left (where she looks like she is 4, or at least 3 years old).

Sakura was very understanding about his mission in the manga. Sasuke wasn't just "playing" at being away during those 7 to 8 years, he was protecting humanity, including his family, and he was the only one who could do this mission at the time, which is a very valid reason to be away.

• For people making a big deal about the Taka/Akatsuki picture:

The picture with teen Sasuke wearing the Akatsuki robe is anime filler, he was wearing regular clothes in the manga. Also the only reason for this picture is for Sarada to see Karin's face to start the plotline. And Sasuke at the end of the mini-manga takes a picture with his family to replace that one. People are just reading way too much into what is just a plot device to move the story forward.

• For people saying Sasuke could just teleport back to them whenever he wanted:

The reason Sasuke rarely used teleportation during those 7 to 8 years is because:

One, it isn't free. Using it causes the tomoe in his Rinnegan to disappear, leaving him physically drained and vulnerable to sudden attacks until it recharges.

Two, some Otsutsuki have the ability to trace back dimension shifting. Meaning, if an Otsutsuki with Kaguya's level of dimension-shifting, or someone even stronger, teleported to him immediately after he shifted while he was tired and recharging (like dropping him into a lava dimension), Sasuke would be doomed. He would doom humanity along with him because he was the only one at the time with that dimensional ability. Obito is dead and Kakashi lost his Sharingan. Even Naruto wouldn't be able to escape if he were trapped in another dimension. That is why, during those 7–8 years, he made sure to rarely teleport unless absolutely necessary, relying on birds for messages and things like that. Even when he did use it, Naruto and the others were asking him to be more careful.
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Extra: If you are interested see: Sasuke’s Great Care and Subtle Feelings for Sakura (Part 1): Before Itachi
[ See here (Part 1) ]. Part 2 link is in Part 1 post.

Just wanted to debunk the claim about Team 7 not having enough time to bond together. People also forget what happened in the OG was a lot. Like, Sasuke left the village in Episode 110 of the OG. Attack on Titan as a whole (with the canon movies) has about 100 episodes in length. So it's not like we didn't see much from them bonding together or the 6 years before Team 7 don't count.

First the bell test, then against Zabuza the first time and working together to free Kakashi from his water prison, then the tree-climbing exercise, and then against Zabuza and Haku the second time working together against the Crystal Ice Mirrors and the rest of the Land of Waves arc. Then the written test, the Forest of Death, then against Orochimaru and his Sound minions, then the preliminaries, then training in between before the finals and the rest of the Chunin Exams, and then the Orochimaru attack and them against Gaara, and then Sasuke and Naruto went against Kisame and Itachi. Then the beginning of the Sasuke Retrieval arc before he left. Even for the off-screen missions, you can imagine them spending time together or watch filler, OVAs, and the first movie to get ideas of what it would be like.

If you have seen the "anime vs manga" posts, you will realize how much care Sasuke showed to Sakura that was butchered in the anime, and I mean most of their moments.

In the Naruto radio segments (Oh! Naruto Nippon), Noriaki Sugiyama mentioned that he had to be very careful with his tone. Because he knew Sasuke would eventually return to the village and marry Sakura, he tried to ensure that Sasuke never sounded "purely evil" or "hateful" toward her, even when the dialogue was harsh.

----- Part 1: [ See part 1 here ] -----

I explained the scene where he put her under a genjutsu near the end of Shippuden. Some love to use that scene without showing what comes after [ here ].

If you have seen the "anime vs manga" posts, you will realize how much care Sasuke showed to Sakura that was butchered in the anime, and I mean most of their moments.

In the Naruto radio segments (Oh! Naruto Nippon), Noriaki Sugiyama mentioned that he had to be very careful with his tone. Because he knew Sasuke would eventually return to the village and marry Sakura, he tried to ensure that Sasuke never sounded "purely evil" or "hateful" toward her, even when the dialogue was harsh.

----- Part 1: [ See part 1 here ] -----

In the Naruto radio segments (Oh! Naruto Nippon), Noriaki Sugiyama mentioned that he had to be very careful with his tone. Because he knew Sasuke would eventually return to the village and marry Sakura, he tried to ensure that Sasuke never sounded "purely evil" or "hateful" toward her, even when the dialogue was harsh.

If you have seen the "anime vs manga" posts, you will realize how much care Sasuke showed to Sakura that was butchered in the anime, and I mean most of their moments.

Part 1: [ Here is part 1 ].

When Naruto says this brotherly bond is one of his first, it cuts to them as young kids smiling about 5 years before Team 7 (Ch 229/OG Ep 133) during the first Final Valley fight. This is because they started to feel a family like bond way back then, >!and Sasuke says the same after their final fight. For kid Sasuke, it was seeking his lost family all day, every day; for kid Naruto, it was the blood family he never had. Seeking that the most as kids, along with their shared loneliness and trauma, made it feel like they grew up together (in the same village and ninja academy class) and made them feel like blood brothers years before Team 7. They found the blood family they sought the most in each other. Naruto described his feelings at that young age in more detail in (Ch 227-228/OG Ep 132).!<

>!Then as the manga concludes in (Ch 699/ Ep 479), Sasuke internally acknowledges that same moment (when Naruto called him the [blood] brother he never had from the first Final Valley fight). He thinks his lingering feeling is finally clear: Naruto is not just like a brother, he truly feels as if he is with a real blood brother, sharing Naruto's feelings from back then. !<

In the Naruto radio segments (Oh! Naruto Nippon), Noriaki Sugiyama mentioned that he had to be very careful with his tone. Because he knew Sasuke would eventually return to the village and marry Sakura, he tried to ensure that Sasuke never sounded "purely evil" or "hateful" toward her, even when the dialogue was harsh.

Kishimoto openly confirmed his love for her to the fans in 2005, more than 20 years ago.

Kishimoto: "The one who filled his lonely existence with the emotion called love... was Sakura."
(Naruto Secret: Scroll of Fighting Character Official Databook II).

Part 2 is coming very soon.

Personally, the first final valley fight hits the hardest.
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Kishimoto Naruto Meigenshu: Kizuna (2013) Interview:

Kishimoto: Iruka started in the manga as the father Naruto never had. Since Naruto did not have parents from the very beginning, I wrote him with the intention that he would see Iruka as his father.

Q: In one chapter, Naruto tells Itachi that Sasuke is like a brother to him. Is that what you were going for from the start?

Kishimoto: Yes. Rather than just being friends, I wanted Naruto and Sasuke to be more brothers than blood brothers.
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Kishimoto 2015 Interview with Entermix Magazine:

Kishimoto: "I thought that the bonds a child who had no family and no ties would finally acquire wouldn't be so easily severed. Since he didn't have a family, the people he could consider family wouldn't be something he could just cut off."

Personally, the first one hits the hardest.
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Kishimoto Naruto Meigenshu: Kizuna (2013) Interview:

Kishimoto: Iruka started in the manga as the father Naruto never had. Since Naruto did not have parents from the very beginning, I wrote him with the intention that he would see Iruka as his father.

Q: In one chapter, Naruto tells Itachi that Sasuke is like a brother to him. Is that what you were going for from the start?

Kishimoto: Yes. Rather than just being friends, I wanted Naruto and Sasuke to be more brothers than blood brothers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kishimoto 2015 Interview with Entermix Magazine:

Kishimoto: "I thought that the bonds a child who had no family and no ties would finally acquire wouldn't be so easily severed. Since he didn't have a family, the people he could consider family wouldn't be something he could just cut off."

From: Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (written and drawn by Kishimoto).

Note: read the pictures first. I just wanted to clear some things up about Sasuke's estimated 8 year journey...

Also, here is why the canon mini-manga and the canon novels were made:
Chapter 700 was the final Naruto manga chapter, and it was a time skip to the ending Kishimoto was hoping to reach. Episode 479 marks the end of chapter 699 and the conclusion of the final manga arc (the War Arc). Kishimoto got tired after 15+ years of non-stop work and wanted to rest. That is why even Naruto becoming Hokage was not included in the manga, despite making Naruto say it 1,000 times. So, to continue some of his vision and to fill in the blanks between chapters 699 and 700, professional novelists were hired. While Kishimoto did not write the dialogue, he held a supervisory role over the novels; they carry Kishimoto’s name. He approved the major plot points, provided guidance for the story and characters, and did other things as well. Kishimoto treated them as "official expansions" of the story and was very happy to see others handle some aspects of his characters, like the romance parts in these expansions. But he won't step in for every detail or subplot, so some parts might not be as good as if he were 100% involved. It is basically a similar situation to Dragon Ball Super with Toriyama.

If anyone is interested, the manga depicts his subtle feelings much better than the anime; check this link: [ Sasuke’s Great Care and Subtle Feelings for Sakura (Part 1): Before Itachi ] (Part 2 link is in the post)

Sasuke’s Great Care and Subtle Feelings for Sakura (Part 1): Before Itachi (Part 2 link is in the post)

Many online use these scenes to argue that Sasuke never loved Sakura or even hated her, but the full narrative reveals the opposite.

In the Naruto radio segments (Oh! Naruto Nippon), Noriaki Sugiyama mentioned that he had to be very careful with his tone. Because he knew Sasuke would eventually return to the village and marry Sakura, he tried to ensure that Sasuke never sounded "purely evil" or "hateful" toward her, even when the dialogue was harsh.

Naruto is even holding sunflowers with which the name Hinata is associated (although the actual word is himawari).