My story is pretty boring to how I started to ship it in my opinion, but it's still a reason nonetheless. This is actually really long...lmao.

I actually got into Naruto last year in March 2017 (I know, I'm late), and Sakura and Sasuke's always been my two favorite characters, for reasons I wont say here because that's not really the point. I love them together and as individuals.

I actually read the manga first, before watching the anime. Usually this is what I do when I watch something if it's an adaptation of something, I read the book/comic/manga first, then I watch the actual thing to see how many things got changed.

I started shipping SasuSaku in the Forest of Death. Like, 100% shipping it. Because before, I saw potential development between to two as at first, Sasuke didn't like her at all, he found her a nuisance and he thought she was annoying.

But as Part 1 progressed, Sasuke started to grow closer and fonder to Team 7, and In Team 7 is Sakura of course.

When this happened:

Is when I saw the potential. It's when I started to like the idea of them together, because things like that just make me squeal. This was in the chapter called "Sakura's Depression" and it was because Sasuke told her that instead of flirting with him, she should train more because now her abilities are lower than Naruto's.

And the following day, she was still kind of down about it, and Sasuke noticed this.

He noticed something was up, and then, that's when that page up there happened. He was nice to her, he tried to cheer her up by complimenting her analytical skills and genjutsu know-how , saying it was the best on their team, and actually, the SFX near him while saying this, translates to "wink," and when it actually cheered her up, he was that happy about how he succeeded that he smiled.

That was when I first started liking the idea of them.

Then came the Forest of Death.

After Sasuke got bit by Orochimaru, and was in extreme pain, he reached out to her for comfort. Their hands were intertwined, and the "squeeze" SFX hints that he was squeezing her hand. (Came to this conclusion because when somebody is in extreme pain, they tend to clench their fists, or they try to squeeze something  usually.) And I highly doubt she'd be squeezing his hand while he's in immense pain.

Then this happened:

A flashback, one that proved how Sakura didn't start having a crush on him because he was "popular" like many anti's claim. She had no idea that he was popular at all, she was confused when the kids guessed who she liked so easily.

And then, the one moment that 100% sealed the deal:

My favorite page of all time. It just looks so awesome, plus it is connected to my OTP so that also fuels it.

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was how Sakura was beaten up to a bloody pulp. He didn't pay attention to Lee just meters away from him unconscious, and he didn't pay any mind to Naruto either who's literally right next to him. The second he saw Sakura like that, was what really triggered his curse mark to really go in action.

This moment is a huge example to talk about when discussing if he cares for her or not (he does) and I loved this moment so much. It was intense, surprising, and lovely all at once. Intense because look at Sasuke, he looks so angry, surprising because look at those marks all over his body and that chakra, and lovely because look how Sakura was able to calm him down by trying to hold him back, begging him to stop (because if he didn't, he would've been lost to the mark).

This right here, was when I started supporting it 100%.

These things in the future only fueled my love for it.

And I still and will forever love them <3

-gIennita