I’m an sns truther and I strongly believe in all the evidence you gave and that Kishimoto was fully intentional in his writing. But I still can’t wrap my mind around why Sasuke apologized to Sakura and even thanked her. That’s probably the most popular ss evidence, so I’m wondering what you think about it.
I’m mostly interested in the first “thank you” because the last one was pretty meh. He used the forehead poke and it was an obvious sign of a fake promise. However he says the first one while standing behind her back right after telling her that she’s annoying. At that time he might still consider her being a comrade so he might be actually sincere? Maybe it was just distraction so that he could leave peacefully? Idk
As for “sorry”, he might’ve actually felt guilty because of all that shit Kakashi said.
But I still can’t wrap my mind around why Sasuke apologized to Sakura and even thanked her. That’s probably the most popular ss evidence.
Yes, and it's easily counter argued and debunkable "evidence" so don't worry about it.
Let's start with the apology. Sorry to all the Team 7 enthusiasts and every Sakura stan in the world, but Sasuke apologized to Sakura to appease Naruto.
Throughout the manga you will see that oftentimes Naruto would stand up for Sakura when Sasuke mistreated her and call him out. Because Naruto and Sasuke where having their own conflict going on and Sasuke was going down the path of vengeance and darkness, Sasuke would dismiss Naruto and basically tell him to mind his own business or that he doesn't gaf.
Some examples where you see this are after Naruto saves Sakura from being killed by Sasuke or when Sasuke told Sakura to shut up because she couldn't do anything during the war arc. Also after Sasuke puts Sakura under a genjutsu.
Even when there's no mistreatment, Naruto has to remind Sasuke to treat Sakura with a bit more decency and respect, like that time after Sakura and Obito retrieved Sasuke from another dimension and Sasuke swapped places with Sakura's vest and caught here (that moment SS shippers love lol). Sasuke did not thank them for saving him and dodged Naruto's questioning telling him to instead focus on the enemy.
After Sasuke and Naruto's final battle, Naruto is finally able to completely reach Sasuke's heart and save him from the darkness. Sasuke admits he's lost and that he now acknowledges Naruto.
So when Sakura arrives and starts to heal both boys, Sasuke gives her a simple apology, nothing compared to the big grand monologue he had thought about Naruto being his strength and how he also felt Naruto's pain and all that. It's just a "sorry". But additionally, you will notice that right after the apology, Sasuke returns his attention to Naruto, to the point that he only smiles again after seeing Naruto smiling and chuckling. I find it so interesting that it's Naruto who is smiling in this moment, it's almost like it's about him seeing how Sasuke has finally reached the light again and not a romantic SS moment lol.
So now we go with Sasuke thanking Sakura. He does this twice, the first time before abandoning Konoha to go with Orochimaru and the second time right after leaving Konoha for his atonement journey.
It's been greatly explained in the following post by @narutouzumakiarchive and @guidaozongshi [LINK]
Although in that particular post they're both discussing only ch. 699, guidaozongshi argument works for both instances Sasuke thanked Sakura.
Western fans or rather fans from any country where confucianism isn't the foundational philosphy, will consider thank you something you will say to anybody that does something for you, it's the ultimate showcase of gratitude over here. SS shippers for instance, think that Sasuke is thanking Sakura because he's been deeply touched by her "unconditional" love for him and for standing besides him through their ups and downs and is finally rewarding her for it with his words (I've written about this phenomenon that I call "the beauty, the prince and the beast" here).
However, Japan is a country deeply influenced by Confucianism due to their close historical ties to China. The words thank you have a different connotation and usage than it does in other parts of the world.
In the link that Guidaozongshi shares you will find people explaining the different cultural perspective regarding gratitude between the West and Confucian societies like China, Korea or Japan.
Sasuke thanking Sakura is another way of putting distance between them. He has to acknowledge her that way because they're strangers to each other and there's zero intimacy/closeness between them, something both of them acknowledge.
You say in your ask that you're confused why Sasuke thanked Sakura right after calling her annoying and this is why.
If you remember, when Sakura was attempting to stop Sasuke from leaving Konoha she 1. Made the situation about herself ("It won't make anyone happy [...] not me") 2. She downplayed Sasuke's trauma as a genocide survivor ("Even though I have friends and family, if you leave I'll be very lonely") 3. Doesn't care actually about saving Sasuke as she'll happily watch him succumb to darkness as long as she's with him ("Please, please don't go... I'll even help you take revenge", "stay with me, if you can't ... maybe I can go with you?").
Sakura showed Sasuke that not only she doesn't know him, she doesn't even care about him. So Sasuke thanks her, perhaps for the time they were a team, maybe to soften the blow of leaving as a final goodbye but most importantly to show the audience that they're strangers to one another. One thing is for sure, it's after this interaction that Sasuke starts to develop a deep resentment towards Sakura and their relationship would never recover.
But that's also the reason why Sasuke never thanks Naruto out loud. They're so close they're able to read each other's thoughts without saying a word, they can sense each other's chakra, they're able to claim each other's pain, they know each other's heart.
As Kishimoto said, they're more brothers than blood brothers, this means their closeness surpasses even the ones between blood related individuals, y'know how the saying goes blood's thicker than water but Naruto and Sasuke's bond is so strong it becomes thicker than blood That's a level of intimacy and unconditional love that Sasuke doesn't experience with anyone else to the point Naruto doesn't even need to hear Sasuke say thank you because he already knows, with Sasuke’s looks, with Sasuke's admission of defeat, with Sasuke holding onto that headband for years to come.
I think that's also the reason why Kishimoto wrote the narration of this chapter as Sasuke's thoughts rather than spoken words, Sasuke doesn't need to say it out loud for Naruto to understand. That's the beauty of the confucianism philosophy that's embedded into the story.
Don't feel cornered by SS shippers "arguments" or "evidence", it is all easily debunkable and crumbles with little to no research
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