I've written about Naruto being Sasuke's weakness [here], [here], and [here]. People see Sasuke speak about his feelings for Naruto in a flowery manner in 698 and 699 and then pretend that their relationship is primarily "tell" while ignoring the showing that Kishimoto did prior to his reveal. So this is one in a series of collages I'll be making where I compare Sasuke's monologues with his actions in the earlier manga.
As early as Chapter 27, Naruto was specifically and deliberately used as bait in battle to lure Sasuke to his "death." There were several ways Kishimoto could have taken Sasuke out of commission so that Naruto, as the protagonist, could have his one-on-one confrontation with Haku. Yet, he chose to emphasize Sasuke's protectiveness and build on the theme of Naruto being Sasuke's weakness, which was shown as early as Chapter 3 (i.e. Sasuke defending Naruto even though Naruto antagonized him & empathizing with his loneliness).
In chapter 46, Sasuke was in the midst of battle when he noticed Naruto was in trouble and paused to help him. Kishimoto specifically used that moment to highlight Sasuke being in a vulnerable position which the enemy then took advantage of. Why did helping Naruto specifically have to be the moment when the enemy was able to find an opening to attack Sasuke? Kishimoto has no problem establishing Sasuke being out of his depth when it comes to an enemy. After all, he did so in the Land of Waves arc. Better yet, why was Naruto the Team 7 member that was chosen to place Sasuke in a vulnerable position to begin with?
And the answer is, again, because Kishimoto wanted to build on the theme of Naruto being Sasuke's weakness. To do so, he needed to create instances that clearly distinguished Sasuke's treatment of and reactions toward Naruto as special, which is precisely why the arc ended with not one, but TWO seperate people (who served as Kishimoto's mouthpieces) observing Team 7 and coming to the conclusion that it was Naruto who was removing Sasuke's darkness.
During Naruto and Sasuke's long-awaited reunion, in Chapter 309, Sasuke dispelled Kurama's chakra, but before Kurama fully disappeared, he warned Sasuke that he would regret killing Naruto... a moment followed by a close-up of the sharingan of love that Sasuke transformed for Naruto. Next, we were shown several panels of Sasuke staring at Naruto.
Now, the first panel of Sasuke staring at Naruto deliberately depicted Naruto and Sai positioned in similarly vulnerable ways while Sasuke stood tall, lordimg over the both of them. The framing screamed at the reader that both Naruto and Sai were equally viable options to look at. After all, it was Sai who was able to deflect Sasuke's sword while Naruto stood still. Naruto was passive all throughout their encounter. And yet, it was Naruto who Sasuke chose to stare at while engaged in battle with Yamato. Again, Sasuke was depicted staring at Naruto for multiple panels. Not once did he think to survey the other foes surrounding him, people who were much more active in their battle against him (both Yamato and Sakura attempted to launch attacks against him). He simply chose to stare at Naruto. And that was Kishimoto chose to depict as Sasuke's downfall. Suddenly, Yamato had an opening to attack Sasuke.
Now once may be happenstance. Twice a coincidence. But three times is a deliberate pattern. And it's a pattern that Kishimoto continued to develop by showing the reading how Sasuke uniquely reacted to Naruto instead of telling us.
Sasuke and Naruto both stared at each other across Chapters 484 and 485. Naruto didn't pose a threat at the moment given that he was distant from Sasuke and holding Sakura. It would have been the perfect time for Sasuke to look back at Kakashi, who he had physically engaged with earlier in the chapter, and yet he didn't. And yet again, it was his downfall. It was through simply staring at Naruto that Sasuke's opponent was able to get the upper hand and catch him off-guard.
And this is just a partial list of moments where Naruto was singled out as Sasuke's weakness in battle. I didn't discuss every moment of Naruto being Sasuke's weakness (like Sasuke staring so hard at Naruto's name in Chapter 374 that Suigetsu had to repeat his question) or even every moment that Naruto was shown to be Sasuke's weakness in battle (like Sasuke's sharingan weakening because he felt pain in 698).
That is why it is no suprise that in Chapter 698, Sasuke stated he stared at Naruto continously, this continuous staring was narratively linked with Sasuke's weakness, and Sasuke had to train to attempt to get rid of this weakness. Everything adds up.
More than once, Sasuke specifically stated that it was important to stay on guard during the war arc. Sasuke is someone who takes his battles very seriously and believes in focusing even when the enemy may not actively be in sight. So it's significant that Naruto was specifically singled out as Sasuke's undoing several times.
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