The anime "Naruto" showed me what friendship should not be and what love should not be, using the example of the long-suffering Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto is an example of what friendship should not be. Naruto is a toxic friend, a manipulator, an abuser, a gaslighter, and a privacy violator. He bullies Sasuke, forces his friendship on him, provokes him into a reaction, emotionally vampirizes him, and humiliates him in every way possible because he is jealous that Sasuke is better than him. Sasuke constantly tells Naruto to fuck off and that he doesn't want to be friends with him. Naruto hasn't changed with age.
Sakura is an example of what love should not be. Sakura is a toxic girl, a manipulator, an abuser, a gaslighter and a violator of personal space. She wants to possess Sasuke like object, she wants him to belong only to her, she makes sure that he does not communicate with other girls, she imposes her love, provokes a reaction, emotionally vampirizes, violates personal space by constantly hanging on to him. Sasuke constantly tells Sakura to fuck off and that he does not love her. She did not even know that Sasuke is an orphan. Sakura hasn't changed with age.
In the end, we see the victim under the oppression of toxic people give in and accept Naruto's friendship and Sakura's love. It's disgusting. I haven't yet analyzed Itachi's "true brotherly love" for his younger brother.
An example of a healthy friendship is Sasuke and Suigetsu. They respect each other. Sasuke released Suigetsu from captivity after killing Orochimaru and Suigetsu voluntarily agreed to help Sasuke take revenge on his brother. Suegetsu said that he followed Sasuke because he believed that he would make the world a better place. Despite everything that happened next, they remained good friends.
An example of healthy love is Sasuke and Ino. As a child, Ino was in love with Sasuke and also violated his space and imposed her love, but by the age of 15, she grew up, kept her love for Sasuke and began to respect him. She no longer imposes herself, she does not manipulate him, does not abuse and gaslight. Unlike Sakura, she was able to realize that she was wrong. So I regret that they are not together.
Another example of healthy love is Sasuke and Chino, at the end of "Sasuke Shinden". Chino hates the Uchiha, but she sometimes forgot her hostility around Sasuke and cared for him, she is genuinely surprised when he saved her and this makes her look at Sasuke not as an enemy. When Sasuke finds out the whole truth about her and her clan, he shows sympathy, support and understanding. She forgives his clan, and he does not hold a grudge against her desire for revenge. Chino feels guilty for wanting to kill Sasuke, she genuinely cares for him and worries. Unfortunately, Chino is already in a relationship with Fushin, so she and Sasuke do not have any love relationship. But they really could have been a good couple.
P|S
About Sasuke x Karin. I don't hate this ship. Sasuke respects Karin from their first meeting, Karin understands Sasuke and knows the logic of his actions and what goals he pursues. They had a good relationship, there were no conflicts in the beginning, but Karin, like Sakura, imposes her love and it also looks manic. All this is very stressful and in real life such dependence is scary. In addition, Sasuke almost killed Karin and this is not the norm, although he was in an unhealthy mental state at that moment thanks to Konoha, Itachi and Obito, and if he loved her, he would not have done this, so Karin deserves better.
That's why I think Ino and Chino are the best option. Even when Ino behaved inappropriately like Sakura, Sasuke treated her loyally. While he directly told Sakura and Naruto to leave him alone and used violence against them. I also think that Ino's inappropriate behavior is related to her rivalry with Sakura. She didn't act so aggressively before she met Sakura and their fight. That's why there was such a striking difference in behavior when they both turned 15.
I also want to add that Sasuke is not a completely mentally healthy character, because most characters in anime look at him not as a person, but as their personal project [Itachi, Konoha, Obito, Madara], as a piece of meat or an inanimate object [Sakura, Danzo, Kabuto and Orochimaru], as something that is broken and needs to be fixed (not try to be a normal guardian) [Kakashi] and as an object of bullying or a person who supposedly owes you something [Naruto].
When I first watched the anime, there were strong hints in season 1 that Kakashi and Anko would be Sasuke's father and mother figures. They both worried about Sasuke and showed concern for him at the beginning. Unfortunately, the whole plot went to shit. We really lost such a good plot where Anko and Kakashi try to protect their child from Orochimaru. What a waste of potential for Anko, I was so hoping she would kick Orochimaru's ass.
