Re-watching OG Naruto has given me some more insight into what Sasuke was feeling and thinking, and it's not like, subtextual stuff. You just forget because you haven't watched the show in a while
But Itachi really messed Sasuke up. Not just in the hatred thing. Sasuke is so worked up with the curse mark, and then Itachi's appearance, that poor kid was really fucking triggered and traumatised
The way he lashes out is terrified. He was actually pretty complex. Like he feels insecure so he fights Naruto on the roof. He is vicious and cruel, and projecting the insecuries Itachi festered onto Naruto. Typical traumatised kid stuff
But then later at the Valley Sasuke tells Naruto that he's laughing like how Naruto got excited to be able to fight him and beat him up on the roof. Sasuke basically compares this and makes it clear to Naruto that Naruto obviously wants to hurt him so this concern now is silly
And Naruto is so guilty! You can see it. He's like "I never wanted that type of confrontation."
And I just think it's interesting that even though Sasuke wanted the fight on the roof, he wasn't actually in his right mind and did interperet Naruto's excitement as a betrayal of closeness. Like how can Naruto claim to care about him when he admitted to wanting to beat the shit out of him too?
It's hypocritical, since Sasuke wanted the fight. But again, Sasuke has PTSD and I'll argue that Oruchimaru's curse mark preyed on that in the chunin exams and it overshadowed Sasuke's normal, non-activated personality and drove him on
He's not thinking clearly. He's in "it's happening again" mode all the way up until Itachi returns
And Itachi fucked with Sasuke's head as a kid, presenting the reality that someone can claim to love you, show concern for your injuries, protect your achievementsā
And then toss you aside, abuse you horribly, torture you physically and mentally, and then leave and tell you you're worthless
Naruto doesn't see physical violence as a "we aren't friends anymore" kind of betrayal
But Sasuke does. He does think "if you hurt me, you must not love me, and I'll run away or make you pay." And he thinks anyone rational would return the same logic
Remembering Naruto was downright hostile and always trying to square up with him, it makes complete sense why he's so fucking baffled by Naruto, because while Naruto is chasing him, he's also the same guy going like "why is he here?!" And "I'll break every bone in your body!" Etc
I feel paternal over younger Sasuke. Like that kid needed a damn hug. I feel like later canon got quite lazy with how they interpreted his motivations and way of thinking.
He could be aware of boundaries, knew it was wrong to hate Itachi for being more loved by their father, did want connections and did care about his friends, and people were genuinely shocked to see him acting so sadistic and violent during the exams and retrieval arc because that was not his chakra, and that was not his personality
That was a corrupted, traumatised version of him being repeatedly pushed to the edge of sanity and being completely neglected emotionally
This is also why I don't like the stupid alternate universe AU where no one's parents die because somehow Sasuke ends up as hateful as he did in canon. But I just don't see 12 year old, or 16 year old Sasuke being as violent or having such a chip on his shoulder like that
Like sure, okay. Being pitted against Naruto (son of the hokage) while also being Fugaku's least favourite would make him resentful... but I feel like it's unrealistic that dead family Sasuke was more emotionally stable, protective, and caring (pre curse mark) and somehow he could get to the same level of resentment as traumatised af, curse mark bitten, Sasuke from canon because of a frustrating family situation
I think that's just filler and the later series as a whole leaning into this theme of "hatred" in the Uchiha clan, and the lazy Indra add on. Like Indra was never planned in the OG Naruto, and OG Sasuke does not reflect Indra
That was NOT his nature. He naturally reached out to friends and family, but his trauma held him back. He was the one trying to give Naruto a chance in the first few chapters of Naruto and Naruto was the one pushing Sasuke away. Did they antagonise each other? Yes. Were they mean? Yes
Did Sasuke try to ask Naruto why he acted like a psycho with the ropes and the transformation jutsu, instead of just beating him up? Yeah! He was curious first
He defended Naruto against the anti orphan stuff Sakura parotted
His instinct was naturally to put his body between his friends and danger when it barreled towards them. His motivation before Itachi returned when fighting Gaara was to never let anything happen to his friends again if he could help it
The way Sasuke acted at the valley was out of character and that's why it shocked and hurt Naruto.
Anyway, I stand by traumatised, hurt Sasuke who needed therapy and later canon to not mischaracterise who he was
Because Naruto did not initially think to reach out to people either. He used to push people away and refuse collaboration.
The Ashura and Indra stuff did terrible things for Sasuke and Naruto's established depth and characterisation
Like Naruto knows he isn't the idealised version that everyone comes to have of him in their head... I'll keep my version of Sasuke gasped firmly
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
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