25 Reasons Sasuke And Sakura's Relationship On Naruto Made No Sense

Sakura and Sasuke are the couple that everyone knew would get together right from the very first episodes of the "Naruto" anime, and yet their relationship is utterly confusing, twisted, and lacking in any kind of affection. From their time together in school to Sakura's long journey to bring Sasuke back home, their relationship resembled nothing more than a desperate puppy chasing and yapping at an uncaring set of heels. Some events leading up to the climax of the "Naruto: Shippuden" series left viewers doubting that Sasuke could ever redeem himself and return to Konoha.

Despite this, the two really did end up destined to marry and have a family, but the circumstances around their daughter's birth and upbringing are perhaps even more shocking and unhealthy than Sasuke's fall into darkness. If you're a little bit fed up or confused about this famous anime coupling, you're not alone. Here are the top 25 reasons that Sakura and Sasuke's relationship really makes no sense at all.

Starting with the obvious, not only do Sakura and Sasuke have seemingly zero chemistry, they also have an incredibly violent history. Until the Fourth Great Shinobi War breaks out, the majority of interactions between Sasuke and Sakura consist of Sakura crying and pleading for Sasuke to come home, and Sasuke calling her annoying and trying to attack her. At the Five Kage Summit, Sasuke takes the violence to a new level and attempts to murder Sakura from behind with a chidori.

It goes without saying that this is not exactly appropriate behavior for a future couple, even in the crazy world of anime. Sasuke's lack of hesitation, lack of guilt, and apparent inability to care about his old friends in any capacity in this scene is damning. The showrunners provide no hints or signs that Sasuke will redeem himself one day, which is why it feels so jarring when he eventually does.

Sometimes anime relationships can be truly epic, with characters coming together after incredible journeys of danger and self-sacrifice, and rewarding arcs of development and growth. Other times, the girl just begins a life-long obsession because she walks into her new classroom one day and spots a good looking guy with an aloof attitude. This is how things start with Sakura and Sasuke.

Admittedly, it's perfectly normal for a crush to stem from nothing more than looks and reputation, but it's not so normal for it to continue that way. Sakura's feelings manage to develop into full-blown devotion just from standing in the same room as Sasuke as he ignores her. Whenever they do missions together, he refuses to work as a team and constantly looks down on her, and yet the memories of these days keep her going for the entirety of her teenage years.

Sakura's feelings for Sasuke already bring her intellect into question, but as Team 7 continues to pursue Sasuke and discover the death and destruction he participates in, her continuing devotion brings her morals into question as well. Despite the evil acts Sasuke commits during his time away from Konoha, Sakura's love for him does not waver and she remains unable to injure him even when she knows she needs to.

She likely believes that there's still good in him somewhere and that one day he will come home, but it's much more difficult for the viewers to share her hope when everything Sasuke does is just so mean and heartless. Thinking about the bigger picture, everyone knows it would make sense for Sasuke to become good again eventually, but the way his character develops really makes the audience doubt that this is possible.

Girls fighting over guys has been a theme in storytelling since forever, but anime is actually more known for taking the rivals-but-still-friends route. This is not the case, however, with Sakura and Ino. The two girls have a strong friendship that develops when Ino helps Sakura overcome bullying, but when Sasuke comes into the picture, they abruptly cut ties with each other.

This is already strange behavior considering how young the girls are at the time — do seven-year-old girls really actively pursue boys for romantic purposes? Either way, such a dramatic reaction isn't necessary at all, especially since neither of them are able to get anywhere with Sasuke anyway. Their bitter rivalry lasts for years before they begin to grow close again, but even as adults, they still act as rivals a lot of the time — and we bet Sasuke never even noticed any of this happening.

Sasuke's attitude towards Sakura during their youth is consistently cold and uncaring. The most she ever gets from him is the odd thank you, even though she earns at least a few thousand over the years. He doesn't recognize her strength as a shinobi, he doesn't appreciate the care she gives him, and all he does is call her annoying. In truth, we can understand his point to some extent — Sakura is very full-on and clingy and continues to be even when Sasuke makes his lack of interest apparent.

Of course, the sympathy for Sasuke ends abruptly after he defects from Konoha and tries to harm Sakura and his friends. The strangest thing about Sasuke's inability to show affection, however, is that it's still continuing. We're meant to somehow believe that these two got married and created Sarada even though Sasuke can barely stand to touch Sakura and has literally never given her a kiss.

In terms of what we see on screen, Sakura and Sasuke's relationship goes from nothing to marriage completely out of nowhere. This is a relationship that kept viewers on the brink of insanity for ten years, and when it finally happens, it doesn't even get animated. After the war, Sasuke goes on a journey of redemption without Sakura. The next time he appears in Konoha, she refuses to let him leave alone. They travel together, get married, get pregnant, and give birth to Sarada in one of Orochimaru's lairs, weirdly.

By the time "Boruto" starts, Sarada has grown to be nearly ten years old, and Sasuke hasn't been seen for multiple years. It's a lot for the viewers to take in, and it feels genuinely disappointing that we didn't get to see how this situation came to be. Many viewers may have consoled themselves with thoughts of Sasuke's homecoming and finally getting to see some physical affection between the two, but, unfortunately, that was not to be.

Those three or four years of joint child rearing also make up the bulk of Sakura and Sasuke's relationship. Despite loving him from a young age, Sakura spends practically no time with Sasuke over the course of "Naruto" and "Naruto: Shippuden." He defects from Konoha after only a short period of time working with Team 7 and stays away from his friends until the climax of the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

It's already hard to believe that Sakura's feelings for Sasuke can stay so strong even though he ignores her, looks down on her, leaves her, and does evil things — but add years and years of separation on top of this and it becomes almost ridiculous. How can the 16-year-old Sakura know she wants to be with Sasuke when all she knows him as is a bratty child and a murderous teenager? Where exactly does her faith in him even come from?

It would be reasonable to assume that Sasuke and Sakura settle down after the birth of Sarada and finally get the time they need to develop their romantic relationship, but reasonable is not a word we can use to describe this couple. In actuality, Sasuke leaves home for years at a time while Sakura raises their child alone. The strangest part of this is that the nature of Sasuke's work doesn't seem to be a joint-decision. As far as we can tell, he made the decision to leave alone and without consulting Sakura, which is completely inappropriate behavior for a grown man with a wife and child.

We know and Sakura knows that Sasuke's work is important and that he aims to uphold the safety of his family and the village, but still. Being a family is about communication, and Sasuke really does not get that at all — though he did lose his family at a young age, so maybe he gets a pass on this one? Opinions on this will no doubt differ, but, in general, he doesn't spend anywhere near enough time with Sakura and their child.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking consequence of Sasuke and Sakura's non-traditional relationship is the effect it has on their daughter. Since Sasuke leaves while she is still very young, Sarada has very few memories of her father and doesn't really have any concrete information about his personality or his past. When she asks her mother when he will come home, she doesn't get a straight answer. Her negative feelings come to a head when she discovers the only picture of her parents together is actually just two separate photos slotted into the same frame.

At this point, poor Sarada feels forced to consider the possibility that Sakura isn't her real mother at all. She deems Sakura's detachment from Sasuke to be suspicious, and wonders if her real mother is one of Sasuke's old teammates, who are in the aforementioned picture with him. While this plot line shows that Sakura and Sasuke's relationship is recognized as strange even in-universe, it doesn't change the fact that it's a sad and ridiculous situation. The two apparent lovers have so little chemistry that even their young daughter is freaked out by it.

When Sarada becomes doubtful of her parentage, she leaves the village to pursue her father, eventually finding him near Shin Uchiha's lair. At this point, Sasuke hasn't seen his daughter since she was around three or four years old, and due to her sharingan, he assumes she is one of Shin's lackeys. He thrusts a katana into the wall beside her face and reaches out to grab her throat before Sarada finally manages to identify herself.

It's a pretty unpleasant scene. Shock and pain is written all over Sasuke's face, but when she tells him why she's there, he doesn't say anything. Sure, he might be confused as to why his daughter suddenly doubts who her mother is, but the fix is fairly obvious and it definitely wasn't "stand still and say nothing." The experience clearly has an effect on Sasuke though, as at the end of this arc he actually spends some time with his family and even consents to a real family photograph — before promptly leaving again, of course.

This one is obvious — how could Sakura not be insecure considering the complete trainwreck that is her relationship? However, the reason her insecurity is important is that it shows that her relationship with Sasuke isn't just different. Some fans claim that Sakura consented to the parenting situation she's in and the affection in their marriage is just shown in other, non-traditional ways, but her insecurities suggest otherwise.

She clearly wants love, affection, and communication from her husband, but is so afraid of the teetering nature of their relationship that she doesn't dare to ask for it upfront. If she pushes too far or upsets Sasuke, who's to say that he won't just leave for good? It's not like it hasn't happened before. While Sakura tries to put on a brave face in front of her daughter, there are many scenes where she voices her doubts and worries about her marriage to friends and colleagues.

One really unhealthy aspect of Sakura's obsession with Sasuke is how it affects her growth and motivation during her formative years. Despite the fact that she becomes a strong medical-nin with important war responsibilities and amazing accomplishments under her belt, her emotional state is completely dependent on her progress with Sasuke. Sure, her day-to-day duties are fuelled by her desire to help others and protect her village, but her larger motivation for moving forward is to one day reunite with Sasuke and convince him to come home.

In-universe, this doesn't take away from her achievements or her reputation amongst her peers, but for the viewers, it just comes across as a little sad. She should be doing these things for herself and for her beliefs, and the only sensible development would have been for her to slowly move on from Sasuke. Her involvement on the frontlines of the war is not usual for a medical-nin, and though her status as a main character influences where she is, it also feels like she's abandoning her medical tent to get as close to Sasuke as possible.

One famous and frequently flashbacked scene from the original "Naruto" series is the night of Sasuke's defection from Konoha. Suspecting that he'll try to leave, Sakura waits at the village gates in case he shows up, and when he does, she pours her heart out to him. She lists just about every reason she can think of as to why Sasuke should stay, including her own loneliness and the futility of revenge, but when all else fails she begs him to take her with him.

This might sound innocent enough, but walking out of those gates with Sasuke would mean defecting from Konoha, losing her status as a ninja, and abandoning her family and friends. She'd be a wanted person with a price on her head, and even the Anbu would come after her. It's an extreme thing to say and an expression of deep devotion, and Sasuke just counters it with the same old line: "You really are annoying."

Sasuke gains popularity with the girls as soon as he enters the academy, and Sakura is just one of many that develop a strong crush on him. He's the topic on all the girls' lips, and there are plenty of rumors circulating about what he likes and how to draw his attention. One of these is his apparent preference for long hair, so Sakura promptly decides to begin growing hers out. It's a small gesture in some ways, but considering the amount of time it takes to achieve, it's quite the commitment for such a young person to succeed in keeping.

All of her efforts are in vain, of course, since Sasuke's complete lack of interest in girls and dating guarantee that the rumor was baseless to begin with. He likely never even knew that he had anything to do with her hairstyle at all. While it's normal for girls to dress up for the guys they like in anime, Sakura's long hair is just the first sign of the lengths she is willing to go to for Sasuke, and her acts of devotion only become more extreme as they grow older.

By the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Sakura is a world-famous medical-nin and an incredibly strong fighter. However, her efforts as a child and arguably even during her teenage years were not exactly fueled by her desire to become a competent ninja. During her time in Team 7, Sakura was seen by Sasuke, herself, and even viewers to be the weakest member of the group and a bit of a deadweight. When Sasuke leaves Konoha, she laments her powerlessness and eventually commits herself to training with Tsunade so she can become strong enough to bring Sasuke back herself.

In some ways, any motivation is good motivation if it does the job, and focusing on your loved ones to keep you going during wartime is completely normal. However, Sakura's obsession with Sasuke always goes just a little too far and always feels a little too desperate. It would definitely be more healthy for her motivations to include a bit more variety.

The worst thing about Sasuke is his attitude. Loners are a typical archetype in anime, and it's not unusual for characters to become consumed by revenge and have to break away from their friends. Even needing to face those friends in battle is common, but there's usually some kind of pain, regret, or hesitation going on. For Sasuke, however, he just becomes a crazed and heartless murderer that thinks nothing of his former comrades and puts on a good show of trying to kill them.

Although he works for Orochimaru for a time, Sasuke is really his own boss and goes where he pleases and does what he wants. He doesn't have dangerous eyes watching him, forcing him to be rougher with his old friends than he really has to be. If he wanted, he could just ignore them, run from them, or slow them down, but he consistently goes for the kill. His maniacal laughter after trying to kill Sakura is a real nasty moment and definitely strange to think back on now that the two are married. No wonder he's a distant husband — it would be pretty difficult to apologize for that.

On the other hand, Sasuke genuinely did need to defend himself, as his former friends could choose the path of assassination for the greater good at any moment. When Sakura creates a chance for herself to face Sasuke one on one, she tries to lower his guard by announcing her intentions to defect from Konoha and follow him. However, what she really plans is to attack and kill him, as he is becoming more and more dangerous and she feels he is her responsibility.

Anyone could have told her it was a terrible plan, since all of her friends and teammates know that she could never hurt Sasuke, but she tries anyway and freezes up at the vital moment. She curses herself and even tries again a few minutes later, but the exact same thing happens. It is clear to everyone involved that Sakura will never hurt Sasuke, even when she knows it's for the greater good.

After Sasuke eventually comes back over to the good side and helps end the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he is taken back to Konoha before eventually receiving a pardon from the Hokage. The next step on his journey of redemption is to, well, go on a journey of redemption. Though Sakura asks if she can go with him, he refuses. Then comes the monumental moment, the big confession of love: He taps her on the forehead and tells her maybe another time.

That's it. That's apparently all Sakura needs in order to know that her feelings are reciprocated and her future is secure. The next thing the audience knows, they're a married couple with a child. From a cultural perspective, this is also pretty curious since it's common for Japanese couples to be extremely vocal and precise about the nature of their relationship. A couple isn't going steady until they say they are, and nothing can ever begin until both parties expressly confess their feelings for each other. It's pretty clear that the showrunners felt it was too soon to really solidify their relationship and that's understandable, but is some progress too much to ask for more than a decade later? Sasuke still can't even kiss his wife goodbye.

One thing that can't be excused no matter how the situation is framed is Sasuke's lack of communication while he's in the field. His work may be dangerous, but he's not in the thick of a fight or deep undercover for years at a time. The lack of contact he has with his family is definitely a choice, but the reasons for it are unclear. Everyone knows who his family is and where they are, so avoiding contact isn't going to provide them any extra protection, and it's not like he needs to send any sensitive information about what he's doing.

The only explanation is that Sasuke's own personality stops him from contacting his family. He is not close with his daughter at the beginning of "Boruto," and he struggles to communicate with her the few times they meet. He may already feel that he's not suited or deserving of the doting father role, and mistakenly believes his family will be better off if he keeps his distance. However, this feels like a very teenage Sasuke way of thinking, and he really should have grown as a person and a character at some point in the last decade of his life.

Another problem that results from Sasuke's nomadic lifestyle is that no one knows what he's doing or why he's doing it. Considering his past and the known ability of the Konoha villagers to hold grudges, it's no surprise that people doubt him from time to time. An arc in "Boruto" captures this perfectly when a new troublemaker emerges who curiously matches Sasuke's exact appearance and chakra signature.

While all of his friends and his wife instantly assume it's somehow an imposter, as the plot thickens, Sakura is unable to say for sure whether Sasuke remains on their side. The simple truth is that she has no contact with him, and while she strongly believes that Sasuke is ultimately a good person, she doesn't know what might be happening here and now. It's quite a crazy situation and not exactly a stable environment for child-rearing, but this is a war-torn world that is only just beginning to work toward true peace.

Something that makes Sasuke's decision to work away from home truly confusing is his alleged desire to rebuild his clan. The events of the "Naruto" saga lead to the almost complete destruction of the Uchiha clan, leaving Sasuke as the sole surviving member. To keep his name from dying out and restore its reputation, Sasuke vows to rebuild and repopulate. While Sarada is a great start, one daughter is not exactly enough to get the job done, especially since she will lose her name when she marries.

With time passing, Sasuke's continuing absence makes it hard to imagine that more children are on the horizon. Even when he does return, the obvious distance he keeps from Sakura is enough to convince viewers that no more babies are being made at this time. Of course, protecting the world from doom is undoubtedly important work, and with his rinnegan and world-renowned skills, Sasuke is one of very few people capable of doing the job.

When Sakura and Ino go on a trip together, they stop at a place very close to Sakura's heart — the spot where she and Sasuke had their first date. Or rather, where they didn't. It seems all Sasuke could manage was sitting on a bench next to Sakura for two and a half minutes. As she sits there again, Sakura thinks about how she has no idea where Sasuke is or how he's doing, and smiles sadly before resolving to keep trying her best.

It's clear that the "Naruto" writers want to retain the aloof and strict personality Sasuke develops over the years, but when it comes to his relationship with Sakura, they seem to go a little too far. After everything they've been through, can Sasuke really not give her a proper date and some conventional affection now and then? He's done some amazing things in his life, so why is he so incapable of maturing into a normal adult?

As the Sarada Uchiha arc of "Boruto" resolves, Sarada spends a precious night with her family before seeing her father off once again. As he leaves, he gives his daughter one of his signature forehead pokes. Sure, it's a cute moment, but she definitely deserves a bit more than just a prod. As Sakura passes him a packed lunch, she shyly looks up at him, eyes full of hope and expectation — she's clearly expecting a kiss. Sasuke looks uncomfortable for a brief moment before turning heel and walking away without even a hug or a kind word.

This is a farewell that could last for multiple years without any contact, but still Sasuke does not step up. How can he be capable of taking near-lethal attacks for his family, but not reaching out a hand to say goodbye? His behavior is so exaggerated and has dragged out for so long that it's becoming impossible to even hope for any further development. Perhaps the writers think their relationship truly did pass beyond the point of no return and now believe it would be unrealistic for them to achieve a normal marriage, or maybe they think the viewers actually enjoy seeing Sasuke reject Sakura over and over again.

Sakura was undoubtedly put in a hard situation when she was left to raise her daughter alone, especially considering that her husband is a renowned former criminal. Being completely open with Sarada about her father's past from a young age would have surely caused problems one way or another, so it's understandable that Sakura hesitated. However, as Sarada grows older and becomes a ninja in her own right, it becomes important for her to know both the recent history of her village and the history of her father.

Unfortunately, even with several years to prepare, Sakura never really comes up with a plan on how to deal with this. She avoids questions about Sasuke, gives vague answers on his whereabouts and his reasons for being away, and completely hides everything about the Uchiha history. Considering her unwavering admiration and faith in Sasuke, it seems out of character for Sakura to suddenly shy away from the realities of his situation. Everyone knows that honesty is the best policy, and her choice to keep Sarada in the dark backfires in the most extreme way when Sarada accuses Sakura of not being her real mother.

A former member of Sasuke's team Taka, Karin has been infatuated with Sasuke for a good number of years. She followed him on a mission that would bring her no personal gain, and returned to him even after he critically wounded her and left her for dead. Clearly unstable, viewers can never be sure of what she will do and how far her feelings for Sasuke will push her. With this kind of history, it seems perfectly insane that Sasuke chooses to take the heavily pregnant Sakura to Orochimaru's lair and have Karin help with the birth.

With no reason to help and every reason to harm Sakura and the child, all Sasuke can do is hope that Karin shows her love for him by doing exactly as he says. It seems like a pretty big risk, and it's unknown whether such measures were actually necessary. Considering that Sarada later wonders if Karin is her real mother, this whole situation becomes even more twisted.