In a final blow, Naruto ends up unconscious and Sasuke, also injured, leaves to Orochimaru. Naruto tries to save Sasuke from this decision, and the two fight. The path Sasuke chooses to kill his brother Itachi to avenge his murdered clan to do this he leaves to get training from Konoha's enemy Orochimaru, which is a decision which will seemingly end in Sasuke's death. This friendship is challenged when Sasuke leaves Konoha to pursue a life path without his teammates. The three begin to bond and Sasuke and Naruto begin to form a friendship, albeit grudgingly. This begins to change when the two are placed on Team 7 along with Haruno Sakura. The series begins with Naruto and Sasuke as rivals. In Japanese fandom it is probably the second most popular yaoi pairing after Kakashi x Iruka.
There are over 22,000 fanfics for it at.
At AFF.net, SasuxNaru is the most popular pairing in Naruto fandom. SasuxNaru is the largest Naruto-series pairing community on LiveJournal. In Western fandom it is probably the most popular. The relationship between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto is one of the most popular pairings in the Naruto fandom.
