Warning: SPOILERS for Naruto: Sasuke's Story―The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust: The Manga chapter 1The first chapter of Naruto's Sasuke sequel has yet to deliver on what the miniseries' promotional art promised fans would happen - having him and Sakura actually be together. And through that, it hasn't had a chance to possibly portray their relationship as anything else but toxic.

Although an incredible series, Naruto's biggest problem was its female ninja characters, most especially Sakura. Sakura would always unabashedly thrust herself at Sasuke in the hopes that he would accept her romantically. And yet, he would just brutally spurn her advances in normally brutal ways. Although this cast Sasuke in a negative light, the fact that Sakura was willing to eventually demean herself in the worst possible manner by either accepting or proposing to Sasuke (the proposal has never been shown) portrays Sakura as a woman who willingly marries a man who has mistreated her whole life. As for Sasuke, he should have had the decency to free Sakura from him rather than lead her on and subject her to a marriage with him where he's barely been present. The Boruto spin-off series had a chance to show the positive side of their marriage, but all of them have been negative.

Related: Boruto is Ruining a Fan-Favorite Female Ninja From Naruto

So when Naruto: Sasuke's Story―The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust and other Naruto novels announced, fans once dared to hope that maybe one of them would delve into what's clearly manga's worst couple. This especially became the case when Sasuke's Story was promoted with a cover image of both Sakura and Sasuke. But as of chapter one, Sasuke is traveling on his own, and he only mentions that he's married once and only when a mother attempts to match Sasuke with her daughter.

Does Sasuke Even Love Sakura and Sarada?

Sasuke says that he has a wife and daughter in Naruto Sasuke's Story―The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust the manga chapter 1

Of course, there are going to be many more chapters of Sasuke's Story, during which time his toxic relationship with Sakura can be portrayed as a more healthy one. But it's hard to see how Sakura will eventually join the main plot of the story since Sasuke is traveling alone. But even when she inevitably does appear at Sasuke's side, Sasuke will need to definitively prove that he deserves her. For the majority of Boruto, Sasuke is on a secret mission that requires him to abandon his new family including his daughter Sarada. Even when he eventually returns, he always departs soon afterward. Moreover, the times in which he has been present and shown affection to Sakura he's only poked her on the forehead (which is the same case in Naruto). While some might find this heartwarming, it's more sickening for those who are aware of how desperately Sakura has sought attention from her beloved Sasuke. In fact, one of the few times in which Sasuke has been present, Sakura tells her daughter that Sarada is undoubtedly the happiest that Sasuke is back, and this is in response to when Sarada first tells Sakura that she must be happy that Sasuke's home.

With the affection that Sasuke has shown Sakura throughout Naruto and Boruto, or the lack thereof, Sasuke's Story has a lot it needs to show in order to change readers' minds. And with Sakura only being mentioned once as of the first chapter, it's not off to a good start.

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