In this post, I am going to analyse chapter 347, including Naruto's state of mind, Kishi's machinations and the way he gives information about supporting characters by the way of the situations he creates.
The chapter starts with Sasuke, who has just freed Suigetsu, and Kishi establishes the power dynamic between the two characters right away, given they are soon going to be on their way to form a team. Suigetsu is unlike other characters in their age group with respect to Sasuke, who either immediately submit to Sasuke's authority or are rubbed the wrong way with his stolid persona, and even when it's clear that he has heard rumors of Sasuke being strong, also being the one who murdered Orochimaru and defeated Zabuza with his team, he refuses to pander to his authoritative ways and makes it clear right away that the relationship they are going to share will be sort of an equal kind, which is to say that Suigetsu is in it for his own means and ends, and not just to cater to Sasuke's demands. Their dynamic is reminiscent of Naruto and Sasuke's dynamic. By which I mean that Suigetsu is not a sycophant, just like Naruto isn't, but both admire Sasuke's skills and talent on Sasuke's own merit, and not due to his lineage or looks. This is also mirrored in Naruto's dynamic with Sai, where there was some amount of antipathy between the two to start with, given Naruto's frustration at not being taken seriously or not being acknowledged, but gradually as Sai starts to understand Naruto's motivations and relates it to his own relationship with Shin and Shin's resemblance to Naruto's attitude (an ambiguous relationship, what with them holding hands in Sai's drawing books and Sai looking at Shin's underparts and comparing it with Naruto's). Kishi of course hides the homosexual subtext under the garb of humor in Naruto's case, but it gives the reader enough information to form certain ideas about Naruto's sexuality. That he is closeted.
Anyway, so a newly freed Suigetsu, completely comfortable and bold in his birthday suit, closes the distance between him and Sasuke, proceeds to test him by the way of threatening him, and at the same time lays down his own conditions, just so it's clear that Suigetsu won't do as asked unless his own demands are met. And it's quite apparent that not only Sasuke is amused, but he also likes the fact that Suigetsu is not a submissive sycophant, like so many others he comes across. So he agrees to his conditions, and they head to the land of waves to retrieve Zabuza's sword.
The impression that we get here is that Suigetsu is bold, and since Sasuke chose him for a certain purpose along with Suigetsu's own confidence, it must be the byproduct of his credible skills. Once we hear him talking about the seven land of mist swordsmen, of which Zabuza was also a part, and since it was already established how skilled Zabuza was, we as readers understand more about the reason why Suigetsu is this bold, blunt and self assured. And why Sasuke chose him. Suigetsu is not given to mindless servitude, he is a man with his own mind and very much comfortable in his own skin.
This also supplements our impressions about the kind of qualities Sasuke likes in others. Someone who is self assured, determined, bold and has high self esteem. Does Naruto have all these qualities? Yep, self esteem he develops gradually as a result of his determination and boldness. Where Sasuke sees Sakura as someone whose determination and resolve only revolves around him (who is otherwise weak and unmotivated to do anything about it), and not because of anything rooted in her own desire to better herself, Sasuke prefers those who believe in themselves for the right reasons, reasons to do with their own skills, beliefs, abilities and resolve.
Cut to next set of panels, where we see Naruto stepping out of Ichiraku. Now before I delve into that, let's understand the context a little bit. Naruto and the team is taking a sort of break and recuperating after team ten and team seven's battle with Hidan and Kakuzu. His hand is injured with using his newly created jutsu Rasenshuriken, and as a result, he is having difficulty eating with his left hand.
Now there's no doubt that Naruto was motivated by Sasuke, to get closer to him, as a result of which, this jutsu was created. He is inspired by Sasuke and motivated by the desire of bringing him back, rescuing him from the clutches of Orochimaru. Rasenshuriken is a tribute to Sasuke, a joining of Shuriken jutsu, an Uchiha specialisation, and Rasengan, very innately Naruto's jutsu passed down by his father. It becomes even more apparent when he responds to Yamato's explanation of the relativity of chakra natures. Where Yamato expected Naruto to be relieved that his wind type chakra nature was good to go against Sasuke's lightning type chakra nature, but that Naruto's wind chakra nature will only make Sasuke's fire type chakra nature stronger and hence would potentially set Naruto at a disadvantage, Naruto is visibly pleased to know that his chakra nature was compatible with Sasuke's fire type.
Side note - This boy......I have never seen a character who's this much in love and yet doesn't know it, sigh, a solid ten on the romance scale honestly Kish. Well done.
Look at Naruto's expression when Yamato tells Naruto he was lucky to not have been an earth type chakra user. Such tenderness and softness, as if he is thinking of all those moments with Sasuke that he really cherishes, his precious memories.... He really does see himself as Sasuke's defender, his well wisher and his true counterpart, his partner and best friend, the only one to bear his burden and the only one who can.
Tch..(Clears throat). Moving on.
While he was inside Ichiraku, about to be fed by Sakura, and is interrupted by Sai's attempt at feeding him, Naruto gets annoyed at Sai and then just makes do with Kakashi feeding him.
This was a peculiar thing to write, and I wondered what Kishi was thinking. On the one hand, it makes sense that Naruto, since he projects his feelings for Sasuke onto Sakura, given his closetedness, something which is consistently established by Kishi, would get panicky at Sai doing the same, since feeding someone is quite an intimate act. But this whole incident is remarkable. Why? Because it is a clear parallel to this.
While Naruto didn't have a problem with Sasuke feeding him, the opposite as a matter of fact, because it was Sasukeeehh, he gets uncomfortable at Sai feeding him. While this was a major point of evolution of Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, where Sasuke broke the rule even at the cost of his career and dream, just so that Naruto won't go hungry, it became a very precious memory for Naruto, where he was made to feel acknowledged and valued. By Sasuke.
He is reminded of Sasuke, like he wasn't thinking of him enough already (there's precedents that he thinks about Sasuke when he is alone, and now here, when he is with other people) and his mood shifts.
Look at the first four panels. Naruto is looking glum, which is very jarring. He is eating ramen at Ichiraku with his team, never before have we seen him looking like this while sitting at the altar of ramen.
Kakashi is responding to Sakura's jibe, and then telling Naruto that he might have surpassed him at this point. One would have expected Naruto to be pleased, to show some sign of mirth, which is as typical of Naruto as it could get. But it's like his mind is on other things. Now I know that this is not explicitly shown by Kishi, but Kishi doesn't do things without a reason, no good writer does. So why bring up something like this again, unless he wanted to jog our memories about the last time he needed to be fed? And why would Naruto be so listless and glum after this happens? He is obviously not worried about the aftereffects of Rasenshuriken as he tells Sakura (and instead stresses on how they are getting closer to Sasuke, and is so happy about it) and then he repeats it to Kakashi before he even gets a chance to say it. Naruto obviously anticipated it from Kakashi and he shut that train of thought right away, sealing it with his million dollar smile. He takes charge, and I felt like it was reminiscent of when he reprimanded Kakashi at the time of his training for his new jutsu.
The impression that it gave me was that not only he was growing up and relying less and less on his superiors (such as Kakashi), and that to be able to get close to Sasuke, he will not leave any stone unturned. He is showing agency. This was also seen in his battle against Kakuzu when he insisted he would go it alone, without help from the rest of his team. So subliminally, we get a sense that Naruto is growing up, and that when it comes to Sasuke, he will Not heed anyone's advice to the opposite, no matter who is giving it and how well intentioned it is.
So when he finally steps out of the ramen stall, he steps out alone. You might think it's not important, but it is. Given Naruto is always energized, with a spring in his step, after he is done inhaling ramen, his mood looks decidedly low here, and given he was having a meal with the help of his friends, one would expect him to step out with them, but Kishi makes a point to show in this wide frame with just Naruto in it, like he is oblivious to his friends' presence, like he was inside, and is just lost in his thoughts.
So we see Konohamaru, Naruto's friend and protege approach Naruto with a determined look on his face and his kage bunshin. Seeing him, Naruto's mood shifts again, nothing better than a jutsu contest to cheer him up. And so Konohamaru proceeds to put his jutsu in effect.
Kishi mindfully designed the panel placement identical to each other to make comparison easier to the reader. The girl on girl jutsu followed by Naruto's reaction, and then the reactions of the rest of the team members.
The boy on boy jutsu is followed by Sakura's reaction, and then the reactions of the rest of the team members.
Kishi did it for clear comprehension of the reader. Of course, the takeaway can only be gleaned with critical understanding of Kishi's visual approach and text.
In the case of girl on girl jutsu, Naruto looks excited, he approves of Konohamaru's skills. Sakura looks disgusted, Kakashi looks embarrassed, which is pretty much expected from a near stoic Kakashi. And Sai looks totally blank, no reaction whatsoever. Sai is also not someone to show any amount of expression unless a social situation demands it and even then, he only goes by the books, if he is motivated enough to do it. But it's clear that this image doesn't make him react even a little bit.
As a result of this jutsu, Sakura gets pissed and hits Konohamaru despite Naruto's explanation that it is meant to be a diversionary jutsu, not really meant for perverted reasons (well it does come in handy as a diversion in the battle against Kaguya), and that it's an ongoing contest between the two. Now Konohamaru isn't Naruto, so while Naruto would tolerate a hit from Sakura in such a case, Konohamaru wouldn't. He is very much dedicated to his skillbuilding. Look at his face when Sakura is grabbing him violently. He is pissed at Sakura's behaviour and determined to show Sakura down, eventually making her eat her own words. So when he makes the boy on boy jutsu, Kishi replaces Naruto's panel positioning with Sakura but what's different here is that she gets a nose bleed, depicting sexual stimulation, typical of manga terminology. Kakashi looks about the same, but Sai reacts to it. Mostly because he is seeing his own image, but it's still humorous, given that we know that his sexuality is also questionable. However, he is not very given to elaborate reactions anyway, so I won't read too much into it.
But these few panels give us much information about the characters. Where Naruto doesn't bleed out of his nose, Sakura does. What does this signify? That if a nose bleed was supposed to indicate sexual stimulation, where Naruto isn't affected that way by naked girl henges, Sakura is affected by naked boy henges. But why won't be Naruto affected? Well, because he is gay. And why would Sakura be affected this way? Because she lusts after Sasuke. Given that she never really understood Sasuke, or hardly even tried to, it's clear that she was always interested in Sasuke for very shallow reasons, her interest in Sasuke was always only skin deep, which she thinks of as love, and it is keeping in with her characterisation, someone who thinks very highly of herself, someone who puts herself on a higher moral ground than others, despite the absence of any valid justification.
Kishi makes this clear as crystal. When she scolds Konohamaru, saying no one would really fall for a jutsu like that and that they are only using it as an excuse, Konohamaru turns the tables on her with his boy on boy jutsu. While Naruto is offended at this jutsu, perhaps because he doesn't want Sasuke to be seen like that (is it any wonder, if he goes ballistic at Oro merely saying his name out loud, he would definitely not react well to anyone seeing Sasuke like this, he is very possessive about Sasuke, but Kishi manages to hide it under the garb of humor once again), Sakura's reaction is way more telling than Naruto's. And so as she realizes it, she tries to hide her embarrassment, struggling to explain herself, but no one buys it, and Konohamaru is avenged as he gleefully points out her double standards. Heheh. Ten out of ten Kishi, ten out of ten.
And while Naruto is in Konoha, thinking about Sasuke, what do you think Sasuke is doing? Well, apart from assembling a team, he is thinking about Naruto after Suigetsu reminds him of his land of waves stint two and a half years ago.
And does Kishi supplement it with visuals, given Sasuke is also not given to showing his feelings, and Kishi keeps his feelings for Naruto obscured from the reader's eyes as much as he possibly can? A hell yeah.
It all comes full circle.
Like yin and yang.
Kishi gives us major information about the characters in this chapter, especially their sexuality and emotional affectations.
1) Sasuke isn't bothered by Suigetsu's nakedness at all, but reacts at Suigetsu's mention of his fight against Zabuza and Haku, where Sasuke sacrificed his life for his most precious, Naruto. And when he sees the bridge, he is reminded of Naruto and reacts to it with a rare gentle smile filled with tenderness.
2) Naruto is a closeted homosexual, who isn't affected sexually by naked girls but gets really bothered when he sees Sasuke inflagrante with Sai, since he is extremely possessive about Sasuke, his 'best friend', who finds Sasuke attractive and really admires him for his skills and misses him, his absence can make Naruto go from happy to glum even when he is doing his favourite thing in the world, eating ramen. If he were affected just by naked men, he wouldn't have created his reverse oiroke jutsu with such ease. So it's Sasuke's image with Sai that bothers him. Although, it is also worth mentioning that he experiences gay panic whenever a man performs an intimate act for him or says something intimate. Unless it is Sasukeeeehh.
3) Sakura is affected by a naked men, and is lustful, which supplements her general attitude towards Sasuke, given Sakura wanted to see his underparts in part one and would try to get physical with him at every chance despite Sasuke's discomfort. Her hypocrisy is also underlined as designed by Konohamaru, who tells the audience that she is just like the rest of them and has no reason to act this high and mighty.
4) Sai doesn't react to naked girls either and given what we know about his context with Shin, he reacts to naked boys, like he does when he sees Naruto naked, where he feels compelled to comment on his underparts and compare it with Shin's.
5) Kakashi doesn't and it is no wonder since he is a stoic who has survived by repressing his emotions, and isn't given to frivolity.
6) Konohamaru is a determined little boy, who is not a doormat to bullies like Sakura and won't shy away from teaching them a lesson.
7) Suigetsu, a newly introduced character who isn't passive but is bold and confident, someone who would potentially get along with Sasuke, who doesn't like sycophancy in people.
And all of it is a result of how Kishi creates situations to give certain information about the characters and draws them with a certain visual approach so as to make his motives clear to the reader.
And this, lovely people, is what's called good writing.
Don't let anyone tell you that Sasuke and Naruto's love story is a projection or is unintentional or a bait.
Like Peter Baskerville said - "The ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance."
