Watching Naruto for the first time as an adult is an interesting experience. You assume that SasuNaru is just the result of standard fandom interpretation of platonic rivalry as romantic subtext for funsies…
They kissed in the third episode! IN THE THIRD EPISODE! And they kept up that tension, teetering right on the edge of plausible deniability. The show itself keeps adding fuel to the fire with the way Naruto talks about Sasuke, making you look around, desperate to ask anyone, "Are you seeing what I’m seeing?"
And the fandom answers in chorus, “YES!”
Even if you couldn't care less about either of them, you still find yourself seething with a quiet rage, just wanting the show to finally admit that this goes way beyond the boundaries of heterosexuality. But Kishimoto is like, Hahaha, nope! They're going to have wives! :P
And on top of it all, you have to sit through HashiMada, who, in their short appearance, almost outgayed the main gay couple. Madara simply cannot shut up about how great Hashirama is, and Hashirama, with his "gift from the divine" and that GIANT STATUE OF MADARA!.. Oh, sure, Mr. "I want your likeness carved into the cliff," you wanted to do that as a symbol of protection, and not because you wanted to see Madara's face every single goddamn day!
By this point, you’re practically on your knees begging Kishimoto to just admit that the thing he actually wants to do is write gay drama.
Oh, and don't tell me it was all an accident, that Kishimoto didn't know what he was doing. That it's "just an intense interpretation of friendship." The man who drew this knew exactly what he was doing: