Sasuke and Itachi’s Farewell – True Love Remains Even in Separation
Farewells today are often painful, confusing, and complicated. That’s because we usually think first of romantic breakups. Living together, moving forward together, sometimes fighting…
But perhaps we’ve misunderstood what true farewell really means?
In this post, I hope we can gain a fresh perspective on what true love is and how we perceive farewell, through the parting of Sasuke and Itachi.
The Farewells We Commonly Experience
When we part ways, we often hurt each other as if we’ll never meet again, recounting each other’s faults one by one.
But such an attitude deeply harms not only our own hearts but also the other person.
Many break up not because of environmental factors, but due to personality differences, careers, or values. But can those really be valid reasons?
I sometimes wonder. Perhaps these reasons are ‘excuses created because love has faded’. Incompatible personalities or values can certainly cause discomfort in daily life. But I believe the essential problem lies elsewhere.
Sasuke and Itachi—What About Their Farewell?
Sasuke and Itachi were brothers and enemies. Sasuke believed his brother Itachi had murdered his family and clan, and he burned his entire life with that rage and desire for revenge.
But the truth was different. Itachi had killed the clan under the village’s orders, and the reason he bore that agonizing decision was one alone: to protect his most beloved younger brother, Sasuke.
He even guided Sasuke to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, and completed that goal with his own death.
Leaving everything to his brother, Itachi disappeared.
Afterward, Sasuke came to hold both a desire for revenge against the village and a deep attachment and love for his brother.
Isn’t this the kind of farewell we should truly consider? Loving someone, yet having no choice but to leave… not because of simple differences, conditions, or lack of understanding, but a painful choice made to protect someone.
And the feelings that remain after that farewell are not resentment or hatred, but regret and tenderness.
What We Learn from Itachi and Sasuke
The relationship between Uchiha Sasuke and Itachi tells us many things.
First, they are not lovers. Yet they share a deeper affection than any lovers. In relationships filled with exhaustion, fights, and repetition, we should reflect on whether there exists a love that quietly sacrifices like Itachi’s.
Second, farewell is not necessarily painful. If love remains after parting rather than wounds, it was surely true love. Love that causes pain to the other person may not actually be love at all.
Third, love is ultimately sacrifice. I’m not saying you should give everything, but love means offering your heart for the other person. Not a relationship that’s comfortable for you, but one that makes the other person comfortable. Within that, we can encounter true love.
Of course, I’m not saying you should endure all bad behavior or hurt. But it’s worth reflecting on whether that behavior is truly bad, or if it only seemed wrong within the standards you’ve created.
Farewell may not be an ending, but another form in which one person’s love is completed.
▼ Curious about the beautiful brotherhood between Sasuke and Itachi?
