The Naruto Plot Hole Fans Still Can't Explain: Why Sakura Loved Sasuke After He Tried to Kill Her

Naruto pulls off a lot of wild swings, but the one that still makes my brain do a hard reboot is Sakura staying romantically locked on Sasuke after he literally tries to kill her. You can hand-wave cosmic chakra lore all day; this one never stops being messy.

The love story the show wants vs. the one it actually shows

The franchise always clearly wanted Sakura and Sasuke as endgame. That is never subtle. The problem is the path there. Instead of giving us real growth, fallout, and healing, the story basically jumps from betrayal to forgiveness and expects us to vibe with it. That shortcut is why the debate never dies.

Where it starts to wobble

• Day-one crush: Sakura falls for the classic archetype — cool, gifted, emotionally walled-off. Fine for middle school vibes; she is supposed to be immature at the start.
• She levels up, her love life does not: As Sakura becomes a smart, formidable ninja, her romantic arc just freezes in place.
• Team 7 turns awkward: Sasuke keeps her at arm’s length, shuts her down, and eventually treats her like a liability. That dynamic curdles fast.
• The fake confession detour: Her staged confession to Naruto actually hints the story knows this devotion is unhealthy… then it punts and snaps her right back into the same pattern.
• The breaking point: In the Five Kage Summit arc, Naruto Shippuden Episode 214, 'The Burden,' Sasuke doesn’t hesitate — he straight-up attempts to kill Sakura. Not an accident, not symbolism — a direct, intentional attempt on her life.
• No real aftermath: What follows isn’t deep trauma processing, a serious re-evaluation, or any earned rebuilding. It’s basically a narrative speed bump when it should have been a full-on emotional pileup.

The counterargument that keeps it afloat

Plenty of fans don’t see this as a plot hole so much as a thematic choice. The idea is that Sakura’s love is unconditional — a mirror to Naruto refusing to give up on Sasuke. Team 7 isn’t just a squad; it’s a found family. Early on, Sasuke protects Sakura and treats her like someone who matters, which the story expects to carry weight later.

'Precious.'

That single word shows up in the early days, and it sits there in the background while he spirals into revenge. Through that lens, Sakura isn’t just lovestruck — she chooses empathy and belief when the rest of the world writes him off. It also plays like a shoujo-style romance thread woven into a shonen series: the steadfast girl who holds the line while the broken hero figures himself out. Realism is not the goal; redemption is.

Boruto hits the fast-forward button

By the time Boruto rolls around, the text commits to redemption. Sasuke apologizes, acknowledges his past, and finally reciprocates. Marriage, a family — the works. It’s meant to prove the faith was justified. The catch: most of the heavy emotional lifting happens off-screen, which is exactly what critics of the pairing were frustrated about in the first place.

Where to watch and how the shows stack up

If you want to revisit the highs and the headache, everything is on Crunchyroll. For context: Naruto sits at 8.4/10 on IMDb and 81% on Rotten Tomatoes; Naruto Shippuden bumps that to 8.7/10 on IMDb and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Boruto lands quite a bit lower at 6.3/10 on IMDb and 52% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The verdict

Sakura loving Sasuke isn’t impossible; it’s undercooked. The series skips the ugly middle — the true reckoning and repair — and speed-runs to forgiveness, then uses her unwavering support as shorthand for romance. That’s why, years later, the image of Sakura staying devoted after a literal murder attempt still reads as one of the franchise’s most puzzling, controversial choices. And yeah, we’re still arguing about it.