Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi reunite with Sasuke, and things go a little (a lot) sideways.
At some point, Sakura had to come to terms with the fact that she never saw Sasuke as a real person, just an idol she could put on a pedestal or maybe a goalpost she could one day reach and prove herself worthy.
It's not that she faults herself for having a schoolgirl crush; it's that after he repeatedly rejected her and drew boundaries, she leaped over them because her feelings were more important than his.
She never took two seconds to consider his situation, how he was a young boy whose family was brutally murdered.
Sakura found a family—people who supported her during her darkest hours and picked her up when she fell, and she loved them more than life itself.
Who did Sasuke have? Any other clans? Konoha? The same city that made him sleep in the Uchiha compound? The city that was willing to sweep it under the rug? Danzo got away with almost assassinating Sarutobi; murdering a clan is peanuts.
Kakashi? The man is like a lifetime of trauma packed into a jounin uniform. He's absolutely not helping in any meaningful way.
Naruto was the closest thing he had to a real friend, because Sakura, instead of following the blonde's example and trying to become a real support for Sasuke, just became part of the problem.
When Enji died during the Tea Country Civil War, Sakura (and Saeko) felt so helpless and angry, and realizing she would never have any justice for it, and fell into a deep, dark place. The things she and Saeko did in that aftermath were heinous. But at least they got revenge. At least they got closure. It didn't fix anything, but it certainly fuckin' helped.
Now Revenge on Sasuke? Why, and what for? All Sakura sees now is a young boy whose pain and rage stunted him—whose desire for justice was warped into some 'curse of hatred' bs because loyalty to family over your government is the biggest sin in Konoha's eyes.
If your family is brutally murdered and the people who swore to protect you do nothing, how can you be blamed if you leave to find justice -and, barring that, revenge- for yourself?
Konoha's already devoured Kakashi's soul, and left the man a stunted shell. Even if he understands, he's too shackled to Konoha to ever admit it.
Naruto's family's death was some vague, abstract concept, considering he never met/had any memory of them, so his idealization of Team 7 is a very toxic surrogate that he keeps bullying onto others- which works more often than not but can be so unbelievably insulting and tone-deaf.
Sakura? Now? She gets it. Revenge isn't going to save him, but at least it's better than sitting helpless.
And while she's angry that he dipped from Konoha without ever checking on her, she's absolutely forgiven him for never taking her seriously. After all, if Sakura never truly thought of Sasuke as a person, how can she blame him for doing the same to her?
Later in Tsunade's office:
Tsunade: You let Sasuke go?! When you had the opportunity to bring him in?!
Sakura: I'm a citizen, remember? Not my job. :)))
Once again, thank you SO much for all these kind asks! <3 <3
- Sinto saudades, achei que hoje ia doer mais. Fiquei feliz de poder cuidar de você, mas pensando agora sinto falta de quando cuidava de mim. A gente brigava muito, dois teimosos cabeça quente, mas não acho que soubesse como eu me orgulhava e alegrava quando diziam que eramos parecidos. Sinto falta de segurar sua mão. Feliz aniversário. Quero dizer "Obrigada por tudo, desculpe qualquer coisa", mas mais ainda quero acreditar que "família não tem pra que isso."
last one for now, I was hoping to get 4 posters done total for AB but I've got work to do so the final one is on the shelf until I get more free time 😩
also this one was cute in my head but jeSUS MY HAND IS DEAD why did I decide to draw a show where everyone's wearing 4+ robes 🙃