I love this scene because it’s not the typical damsel in distress moment, despite what people might think. Sasuke catches Sakura before she falls, exhausted, after having used up all her chakra to save him. She was the one doing the rescuing, and she thinks she’s lost him, again; but luckily, she managed to save him, and he’s right behind her, breaking her fall. And, with his sharingan still activated, he can probably see how chakra depleted she ended up being, and of course he looks at her like that. Time stops for a moment, and they just look at each other in the eyes, as if they were wordlessly communicating - You’re okay, I got you. Echoes of that infamous thank you probably fill their minds.

I saw a lot of people criticizing this scene because Sasuke’s sharigan is still activated, and I honestly don’t get it. The fact that it strayed activated is so meaningful - it’s “the eye that reflects the heart”:

When a wielder of this kekkei genkai experiences a powerful emotional condition with regards to a person precious to them, their brain releases a special form of chakra that affects the optic nerves, transforming the eyes into Sharingan; for that reason the Sharingan is described as an "eye that reflects the heart" (心を写す瞳, Kokoro o utsusu hitomi). Often, as per the Uchiha's so-called "Curse of Hatred", this emotion is a negative one, brought on by stress or loss. The emotion can also be positive, driven by a desire to protect or reunite with a loved one. (from NarutoPedia)

And can’t you just see that green and red are complementary colors? Plus, Sasuke’s eye is glistening, for f*** sake! The level of “soulmatism” in the details shown in this scene is just unbelievably obvious and amazing, and what can I say? It’s a real shame people refuse to see that.

I cannot believe I found it!

There is this tumblr: @sasusakudaily - it’s long inactive but at some point it was gathering SasuSaku fanart. And becasue it was active long time ago - it’s old art!! All that art of nami86 and @sorceressmyr that got me hooked first on SasuSaku and then had me discover Naruto, back in 2007.

I’m scrolling and I keep seeing all those fanarts I even forgot, and then I see it and it’s so familiar. So nostalgic...

And the themes are different - lot’s of Sasuke as missing nin, much more angst. Happy endings completely different from the one Kishi came up with.

The moment Sasuke realized he loved Sakura because he understood she hadn’t given up on him either ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me?