believe it, bitch

—if you need to be mean, be mean to me.

[9foxtails]

naruto uzumaki is as much of a victim of kishimoto’s shitlib politics as sasuke but he didn’t respond to his trauma in the way people would have liked so he’s written off as being one-dimensional and singularly complicit in comparison to other characters despite how systemic his oppression is. in this essay, I will—

[9burials]

where you go, I go

what you see, I see

[drfish0-0]

Can you draw GaaNaru kissing

[drfish0-0]

NaruGaa collab with @closetgakure !

it was sm fun man thanks for indulging me! ;P

(Our styles are pretty simmilar so its hard to tell but closetgakure drew Garra and i did Naruto)

[9foxtails]

“Naruto loves toxicity!!!!” genuinely wth are yall talking about

Sasuke: for me, you are my closest friend

Naruto: and yet, here you are, intent on killing me. So I don’t know what to believe anymore. Did you ever mean what you said? Maybe I was just deluding myself, that we’re friends. Maybe I wanted it too much.

Naruto, now with a hole in his chest: After all, maybe I was the only one who thought of us as friends, but I will not give up, Sasuke.

Naruto: Sasuke, do you even think about me?

Naruto, when told that wind is stronger than lightning: but wind also strengthens fire…so I can help Sasuke too.

Naruto: Please, I don’t want any more vengeance-based war! His vengeance became warped! And he stopped being the guy I knew! I don’t want anyone else to become like Sasuke! I don’t want Konoha and Cloud to kill each other!

Sasuke: no matter what you say, i’m not changing! Im still going to kill each and every person in Konoha, including you! Your only choices are to either kill me and become a hero or be killed by me and be a loser!

Naruto: Neither! If you invade Konoha, I will fight you. Until that day, you need to keep you hate in check and throw it at me then.

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (part 26)

“Am I crushing you?”

“Not even a little.”

*

“Did you say hi to Ally and Jiji? The other plants got crushed, but… the desert ones are strong.”

“I did notice them. I am glad they are still here to keep you company.”

“I’m glad you gave them to me.”

read the rest on AO3

[9burials]

THE LETTERS THAT MADE US HAS UPDATED!!!!

[partycemetery]

[9foxtails]

and if Naruto’s a bird then who’s the bum🤨

[littleautismboy]

Naruto sending letters to Gaara as often as he can. Naruto taking missions to Suna just to see Gaara. Naruto holding Gaara to help him get a full nights sleep. Naruto kissing Gaaras scar and reminding him everythings gonna be ok. Naruto being the first person to see, to touch Gaara without his sand armor. Naruto being Gaaras first true friend, the first person to truly love him.

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[9burials]

If I may add:

Gaara giving Naruto low maintenance plants from the sand village. Gaara having a key to Naruto’s apartment to stay there when he’s in town, even when Naruto is on a mission. Gaara leaving his sand around so Naruto knows he’s always with him emotionally, even if he’s not there physically. Gaara making Naruto a weighted blanket with his sand when his anxiety is bad. Gaara making him a new necklace with his sand in it when Naruto loses Tsunade’s. Gaara telling Naruto how happy he is that he exists at the same time as him. Gaara learning how to make ramen so Naruto can have some when he’s comes to visit. Gaara being his voice of reason when his brain is going haywire. Gaara leaning his weight on Naruto in quiet understanding and companionship on his bad days. Gaara kissing all of Naruto’s whiskers. Gaara being living proof that his dream is achievable.

[9foxtails]

Kishimoto I appreciate you giving me Naruto but we need to meet in the boxing ring.

[ooolivia36]

Garra and Naruto are written as true mirrors of eachother who actually understand eachother, both grew up hated by the village, both are jinchuriki, both knew what it felt like to feel/ be seen as monsters rather than children. Naruto is the first person to actually reach garra emotionally and change his life around for the better. That already makes their bond deeper because it is built on healing and relatability. This is my fav to talk about on top of that they are like a parallel of the best couple Minato & kushina Naruto’s blond hair Garras red minato saved kushina just how Naruto saved Garra and Garra being worried/upset when Naruto was trying to participate in the war just how kushina is short tempered. Gaanaru is literally built on emotional recognition respect and admiration. Their relationship carries the weight of 2 ppl who share the same darkness and found understanding in eachother which makes gaanaru feel so natural and they’re just the best idc what anyone says i love them they’re my HOKAGEJINCHURIKIPOWERCOUPLE❤️🧡

[9foxtails]

The way this just thrown in there and everyone’s like “yeah that’s not manipulation at all” and it never not once had Naruto questioning his relationship with the third Hokage, or how Jiraiya took him on a trip to search for Tsunade who would become the next Hokage is wild.

Mind you, Killer B is adopted. He became friends with the son of a man on Gyuuki’s suppression team and then became the next jinchuuriki. Kushina’s story is much the same. How on Earth did Kishimoto make it so none of them actually make it past the propaganda and label it as a good thing.

[9foxtails]

@epimeirs brought up a great point!! Are they chosen as the wife and then made into a jinchuuriki or are they jinchuuriki first? It’s always the women and the children but never the kage themselves, not until Yagura. Hell, even Gaara was only made kage bc they hoped to control him more. It’s all about control and (to my recollection) it’s never acknowledged or brought up :/

[ooolivia36]

Gaanaru is the best ship in naruto and I can 100% deep dive on it(pls don’t make me I don’t feel like it rn)

[9foxtails]

And it’s not even just the parallels they have with each other (which I also adore).

I’ve said this before on another cursed app, but examining Gaara and Naruto is like peering into each of their souls. In Gaara, you have the small, child who is empathetic and desperately wants companionship that turns into selfishness bc of his upbringing. In Naruto, you have the angry, neglected child full of hatred. And at one point in the series, they are both actively rejecting those feelings before embracing them (Konoha Crush and Waterfall of Truth respectively).

Chuunin exams arc hits on that point especially, because Naruto is not afraid of a Gaara at first. Initially he wants to get the same attention Gaara gave Sasuke, but once he encounters him in the exams, he has nothing but disdain for him after what he did to Lee.

It’s when Gaara starts talking about his childhood and the sand village that Naruto becomes afraid bc he sounds just like him. The similarities between the two make him far more terrified than anything Gaara actually did. He sees himself in the boy that had no reason to live, and started killing others just to have a reason to stay alive. Their desires and goals are born from the same helplessness they experienced as children, but went in entirely different directions.

Kazekage rescue arc has some of the best writing in the series for a few characters (Naruto, Gaara, Sakura). He’s grieving Gaara’s personhood as well as his own.

Gaara in shippuden is both a representation of Naruto’s past as well as his future. He is both the traumatized child and the kage of his village. Even in this arc, Gaara is depicted as the lonely child and Naruto as the angry, out of control monster.

It’s Naruto who defends Gaara. He’s so angry and upset that Chiyo approaching his body ticks him off. He’s defensive of Gaara in a way he’s not towards himself. He knows Gaara’s pain so intimately, so the idea that he failed him when it mattered most tears him apart. It hurts him so much that he talks about jinchuuriki as if it is something separate from himself.

Even the metaphor of Naruto lined up with all the people he’s met and the four adults that influenced him has him pushing past them all in order to reach Gaara. (I’d also like to note that in that panel, everyone is wearing their classic outfits, while team 7 + Gaara are depicted as younger than them.)

Naruto brings Gaara out of the darkness while Gaara forces Naruto to acknowledge his own pain.

This arc alone acknowledges the differences between the two and how important they are to each other, how they’ve both grown so much but still have more growing to do along side the people that love them.

I could say so much about how they are after this arc. I could talk about how defensive and protective Gaara is of Naruto, how he cares about Naruto just as much as Naruto cares for him. I could go on about Gaara disagreeing with Naruto but supporting him because that’s his friend, or how he wants to see Naruto achieve his dream and live in it with him, or how their relationship is what unites the previously warring villages into one army. The two of them inspire the ninjas to fight together and be better to each other.

They’re good to each other and for each other. My OTP 😭

[ooolivia36]

Gaanaru is the best ship in naruto and I can 100% deep dive on it(pls don’t make me I don’t feel like it rn)

[9foxtails]

I think y’all give sasuke way too much credit politically all things considered

[9foxtails]

and his character arc didnt go the way you wanted it to so you blame naruto and act as if sasuke was “forced” in any way to go back to the leaf. like it’s genuinely such a dishonest reading of both naruto and sasuke that I fully believe yall like the idea of sasuke and not sasuke himself, which is really weird considering how you bias the story towards him while demonizing everyone else

[9foxtails]

I think y’all give sasuke way too much credit politically all things considered

[9foxtails]

There are certain things about Naruto i find inconsistent bc of kishimoto’s politics but unfortunately Naruto’s interpersonal relationships make a lot of sense. There’s a through line between this and him instantly forgiving minato for sealing a demon in him bc he said “i did it because i believe in you”