#but analysing sakura and her relationship with sasuke is a far heavier task

[comikadraws]

does sakuras (rather unhealthy) fixation on sasuke count as loving a shadow? because sasuke and sakura never really had a proper friendship or bond and sakura hardhlyif not knows anything about sasuke

I personally think so!

Sakura is "Loving a Shadow"

For reference, "loving a shadow" is a trope in which a character falls in love with another character not for loving them as a person but for loving what that person represents. It can be a character trait, their looks, or even the idea of being in love itself.

But also, Sakura is not a favorite of mine, hence I never paid as much attention to her. Analyzing her from start to finish would require a full re-read of Naruto, which I really just don't have the time or energy for. So don't take my thoughts to heart or expect them to accurately reflect her character.

DISCLAIMER: I will only use information from the manga in this post!

Sakura's Love as a Preteen

Sasuke is Sakura's first crush. She is a preteen and my interpretation is that she doesn't have a very elaborate idea of how a romantic relationship works - only what they should look like. So instead of searching for intimacy and partnership, she searches for a symbol of such. Those symbols (first kisses and flirting) are what she fantasizes about in chapter 3 of the manga.

This is also reflected in her approaches. Instead of establishing an emotional connection, her goal is to win Sasuke's attention via physical appeal, not even considering that she herself could rather offer her own attention in the form of genuine care and empathy. Again, she doesn't seem to know what to expect from a relationship - and especially not a relationship with Sasuke.

As a result, Sakura doesn't actually know much about who Sasuke is as a person. So when she gossips about Naruto and his lack of parents, she seems completely unaware of the fact that Sasuke is an orphan, too, unintentionally insulting him.

This is not necessarily a fault of her own alone but also because Sasuke is a very closed-off person who doesn't reveal a lot about himself (probably due to his trauma). This idea is supported by both chapter 4 and chapter 181 (the panel for that later). This makes getting to know him genuinely hard no matter whether Sakura is interested in learning about him or not.

But still, Sakura doesn't seem to express curiosity about Sasuke as a person either way. When Sasuke explains that he has sworn to kill someone, indicating a history between himself and that person, Sakura's reaction doesn't go beyond a "he is so cool". Sakura doesn't see the history behind Sasuke. She doesn't even question it. She only recognizes a surface-level character trait.

Sakura's Development

I am not going over the entirety of the Naruto manga now, but it is entirely possible that she grew out of her surface-level crush eventually. We get signs of that sort of development in chapter 181 where Sakura expresses a clear desire to learn about Sasuke as a person.

Not that this desire ever goes anywhere as her understanding of Sasuke and his past is still very basic, to the point that she believes her loneliness (unrequited love) is comparable to that of Sasuke (being the survivor of a genocide). A completely disproportionate comparison. Furthermore, while she does care about Sasuke's well-being, her core motivation seems to be his presence in her life.

Again, it is not like she is really to blame for not understanding Sasuke. Nobody does at this point in the story. Even Naruto, who is one of the most empathetic characters in the manga, doesn't understand Sasuke and instead prioritizes his own feelings of loneliness over Sasuke's trauma and desires.

Beyond this, Sakura expresses an interest in Sasuke's life every now and then in part 2. She takes the initiative to learn about Sasuke and understand what happened to him and what drives him.

But then again, as we can see at the end of the manga, she is still very focused on her own relationship with Sasuke rather than his desires or even just Sasuke's relationship with the entirety of Team 7. Her own feelings take priority. This might indicate that Sakura's love could still be part of her longing for Sasuke as a partner rather than Sasuke as a person.

Post Marriage

Whether or not those patterns persist into her adulthood and marriage, I do not know (mainly because I haven't read the Boruto manga). The stakes are different once they are married, giving Sakura a sense of safety in her relationship and erasing the need to beg and plead with him. On top of that, we don't know how their relationship came to be in the first place and which hurdles had to be overcome.

What we do know, however, is that Sakura seems to be far less desperate for symbols of affection than previously. She still seeks them, but she can do without them. She understands that love is a connection of hearts and not necessarily how you express that love. Personally, I interpret this as Sakura also accepting that Sasuke might have a different love language than her and that he is more of a tease rather than someone who openly shows affection.

Sasuke's departure in Gaiden contrasts with Sasuke's departures in part 1 and 2 of Naruto. Sakura is no longer begging Sasuke to stay. Instead, she understands his reasoning and is accepting of his absence.

Well, either that or neither Sasuke nor Sakura are happy with this marriage, both of them having their needs neglected. But I prefer living in a world in which Kishimoto is simply just that bad at writing romance and thinks that physical presence and spending time with each other is not at all necessary for a functioning relationship.

Either way, Sakura's love for Sasuke, in its earlier stages, can definitely be considered "loving a shadow" as Sakura is more fixated on the idea of having a "cool, handsome boyfriend" rather than learning about him and forming a genuine connection. However, she matures and begins to learn about and appreciate Sasuke as a person. Whether or not this knowledge and appreciation goes far enough is ambiguous, however.