I feel like the time period around the end of the chuunin exams, before itachi showed up to fuck with his mind, is where you can mostly clearly see who sasuke couldāve been if his life hadnāt become increasingly traumatic over time (even with the uchiha massacre, i think itās generally accepted recovery was possible at this point, heād even learned to fight off the curse seal to an extent)
He seems genuinely happy for naruto, and his teasing later on is playful rather than mean spirited
Heās relaxed and having fun, even with an opponent as dangerous as gaara, rather than hinging his entire self worth on his strength, and fixating on proving his superiority (in contrast, see his attitude during the fight with lee where his mindset was much unhealthier). Both these traits were vestiges of his relationship with his father, with itachi, and survivorās guilt from the massacre, all of which he appeared to be slowly moving past.
Most tellingly, he has grown comfortable openly acknowledging that naruto and sakura are people he cares for deeply, and his purpose has shifted from exacting revenge to protecting his loved ones. Heās been unlearning his āliving for revengeā mindset since the first arc, when he outright said he refused to die until he killed itachi but sacrificed himself for naruto either way, but its cemented here with him actively protecting naruto and sakura without trying to play it off. Thereās no āmy body just movedā, heās very frank about how much they mean to him.
These scenes are so fucking sad in hindsight when you consider that if sasuke had gotten to be a kid for even a short while longer, this is the person he wouldāve been. Team 7 would have had years of protecting each other, bonding, play fighting, just having fun, rather than years of violence, antagonism, and misunderstandings.
janainaart
dailybridgerton
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tangentwithtanner
origamiaround
theartofmadeline
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