Discover Top Posts Tagged with #not an analysis

The Journey through the Naruto Manga

[SNS Version]

NOTE — this is not an analysis but an essay recording all the thoughts and feelings we had when we first read the manga (without watching the anime). As I'm an Asian, my perspective may differ from Western people. This is written based on from what I got to know about other sns fans over the three years of spending time in this fandom. But still, as it's me writing this, bias and perspective may show, and opinions might differ.

Please note that this essay is written from the perspective of someone who saw the story from Naruto's eyes (not Sasuke), and therefore, the thoughts and feelings written here leans toward Naruto more than Sasuke. (At least at first)

[Warning — a very, very lengthy essay]

When we first read Naruto manga, we are introduced to Uzumaki Naruto — a loud and boisterous boy who wants to be acknowledged by everyone and become the greatest Hokage. But this dream seems really hard to fulfil because Naruto is hated by most of the villagers because of him being the Kyuubi's container.

From the very start, Naruto was different from a typical shonen mc. He isn't a bright, simple, or happy-go guy. He's a kid who's been hurt too much by everyone around him, and therefore deliberately ties to appear as arrogant and obnoxious and uses it as a defence mechanism.

I'll be honest, understanding Uzumaki Naruto is one of the hardest things in Naruto. Because he's a person who, for the most part of the story, constantly lies to himself and deliberately hides his real feelings. He's very deceptive — toward himself and others. It is for this reason that most of Naruto fandom doesn't understand him or his actions at all.

The targeted shonen audience is mainly young teenage boys. They love the type of stories where this underestimated and weak mc eventually becomes all powerful, defeating every villain and, at the end, get the hotest girl as a prize. It boosts their ego and vanity as they self insert themselves into the mc.

People expected Naruto to be the same.

Well, till a certain point, the Naruto story appeared like it was the same. Emphasis on the word "appeared".

Chapter 3, titled "Enter Sasuke," introduces us to Uchiha Sasuke for the very first time. And just by his introduction, we get the feel like he's going to be the rival of mc. In the same chapter, we are introduced to another character, Haruno Sakura, who we find out is MC's crush.

An undermined MC (check)

A genius rival (check)

MC's crush (check)

— okay so we can probably expect the story to go on something like this: "MC surpassing the genius rival" and "MC eventually getting his crush in the end".

The kiss between Naruto and Sasuke takes place, and we consider it as a comedic relief. But then we find out that "the crush" is insensitive and comes off as mean. Also, the fact her whole character revolved around the rival genius seemed super disappointing. But we brush it off, saying that she's just a child.

The story progresses to Land of Waves Arc, and we see mc and his rival fighting against the enemy and the crush just standing aside. Then comes that epic moment, "my body moved on it's own" and we're in shock. Even though we fail to realise what that scene actually means, we do understand that mc and his rival are not just "rivals" — they're "good friends" who are ready to sacrifice their life for each other.

Sasuke isn't just a "rival" anymore — he's a "friend".

We see Zabuza and Haku — the "villains" — and how they died. We feel sad. Their relationship gives weird vibes, but we ignore the feeling as we don't have an answer.

The Chunin Exam Arc starts, and we finally meet other teams. Oh, and there is also this weird and shy girl who likes Naruto. Oh, and Neji (her cousin) is literally her slave!! What a horrible thing.

As expected, we see the mc facing certain powerful individuals and come out victorious, changing people's perspective of him.

On the other hand, the story divulged into Sasuke's traumatic past — and isn't that the most horrible thing we've seen?

Things happen, and we see Sasuke leaving the village. But Sakura tries to stop him. At first, her reasoning seems good, but then, she starts crying while asking him to take her with him because she just wants to be with him. And if that's not worse, she even compares his loneliness (which was due to him losing his entire clan and family in one night) to her loneliness (which is due to her crush not noticing her and leaving her) despite the fact that she has friends and a loving family!

Anyway, Sasuke leaves the village, and Naruto chases. The first Valley of the End confrontation takes place. It's then we find out that Naruto and Sasuke noticed each other when they were really young and Naruto wanted to be his friend, but due to the difference between their power and status, he felt inferior and instead made Sasuke his rival. Naruto admits that Sasuke was his goal — someone he wanted to be like and someone whose approval he wanted the most. Then Sasuke's flashback tells us how Itachi told him to kill his best friend to gain mangekyo sharingan. Sasuke admits that Naruto has become his closest friend, and that's why he must kill Naruto. We also see him awakening his third tomoe, but at this point, we don't know the reason behind it.

— All this establishes one point. This fight isn't between two 'rivals' but between two 'friends' — one who is trying to cut that bond and another who is desperately clinging to it.

At the end of the battle, we see Sasuke leaning closely over Naruto's face — looking somewhat in a trance and a little lost.

And we're like, what is Sasuke doing?!!! This is so weird!! The fact that half of the whole page is given to that scene just adds to the weirdness. But again, due to the uncomfortable feeling and confusion it gives us, we try to subconsciously ignore it and push it back until we don't have to think about it.

Later, Jiraiya tries to make Naruto give up on Sasuke, but he declares boldly that "if not giving up on Sasuke means being a fool, then I'll remain a fool". Naruto then leaves the village to train with Jiraiya, and that's how part 1 of Naruto ends.

After the timeskip, Naruto returns to the village. It's been three years, and he's still as fixated on Sasuke as before. In the manga, it's been three years, but for us, it's just moving from one chapter to another in no time. We don't understand the magnitude behind the term 'three years'.

Naruto and Sakura meet after so long, and we don't see any interaction like that would take place between a boy and his crush after a long separation. The interaction make it seem like they're just normal friends. Naruto doesn't find any change in her and even claims he doesn't understand the interest in women (note that he's around 15 – a teenager). We ignore it or forget it as the story goes.

Sai and Yamato are introduced in Team 7. We see Naruto getting pissed off because how dare this weirdo take Sasuke's place, and at the same point, he doesn't appear to be bothered by Yamato replacing Kakashi as Captain. It seems weird for Naruto to have this intense reaction while Sakura, the one who's supposed to have a crush on Sasuke, seemed fine with it. Maybe it's because Naruto is the main character. Of course, it must be because of that. Kishimoto must've wanted to show 'power fo friendship'. Right.

At this point, we find it hard to self insert into Naruto or relate to him. It seems weird. But anyway, let's go on.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission takes place, and Naruto goes berserk when Orochimaru calls Sasuke 'my Sasuke-kun' and erupts into four tails.

"In my presence, don't you dare talk about Sasuke like he belongs to you!" Naruto screams furiously.

The reaction seems over the top. We can no longer relate to Naruto at all because what even is this reaction?? Why does it feel like he's being . . . . possessive??

Naruto and Sasuke meet again after three years, and we get a lot of intense staring. Kishimoto didn't need to spend so many panels just to show us them staring at each other!! Sasuke then jumps across to . . . hug him?? Huh? It looks like a one-sided hug. We feel uncomfortable and weird (again).

Sasuke then says some infuriating words, which angers us. Naruto has been working so hard to bring him back, but he's just kicking away all that earnestness with such cruel words. How dare he. Sasuke, do you no longer consider Naruto as your friend?

The story progresses, and we see Naruto thinking about Sasuke under a shooting star. We see him developing Rasenshuriken solely from the drive he felt to reach Sasuke.

Isn't Naruto getting too focused on Sasuke? We understand the need to emphasise themes like friendship, but shouldn't his dream be the driving force behind his growth? Why is Sasuke the one who drives him to become more powerful? Shouldn't his crush on Sakura or Hinata's crush on Naruto be more emphasised in the story? Shouldn't the story equally emphasise his friendship with his other friends like Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Kiba, etc? Why does it seem like his 'intense friendship' only extends towards Sasuke??

Let's not forget that panel that stunned us silly when we first saw it — Sasuke and Sai naked and in a certain position. When Konohamaru performs that jutsu, most of us are dumbfounded. Because what even is that?! There is no heterosexual explanation for it!!

Pain Arc arrives, and thank god finally, Naruto doesn't seem so focused on Sasuke as before. Hinata shines for a moment due to her confession, but it's extremely disappointing when she turns out to be completely useless. Things happen, and in the end, Naruto becomes the "Hero of Konoha" and finally gets everyone's acknowledgement.

On the other side, Sasuke learns the truth about Itachi and decides to join Akatsuki to destroy Konoha. Our disappointment and anger at him reaches its peak when he attacks Killer Bee, someone like Naruto. It feels like a betrayal. Naruto is doing everything to save him from the darkness, and here he is betraying that very person. We understand why he would want to attack Konoha, and we sympathise with him for the tragic things that happened. But Naruto is the one you shouldn't have betrayed, Sasuke.

When the perspective shifts to Konoha, we expect Naruto to least acknowledge or even think about Hinata's confession to him. Of course, we didn't expect him to accept it or something, but at least some acknowledgement is needed, right? After all, this is a shonen story, right?? But that doesn't happen. Naruto doesn't bother to even acknowledge it. Forget acknowledging it. She doesn't even appear in his thoughts for once. Instead, he's back to obsessing after Sasuke again.

It's just Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, and nothing else.

The news about Sasuke reaches Konoha, and instead of getting angry or disappointed like us, he decides to get beaten up for his sake. Because he can't – won't – betray Sasuke, he decides to take all their (Karui and Omoi) hatred towards Sasuke on himself.

Huh? What??

And if that isn't enough, he decides to confront the Raikage to ask him to forgive Sasuke despite his crimes. Like, what the hell?

Naruro gets on his knees, touches his forehead on the snowy ground, and literally begs Raikage?! Isn't that the most insane thing we've ever seen? Naruto is such a prideful person. How could he beg? Even when the whole village scorned at him, even when he was betrayed by Kabuto, even when he tried to understand Nagato, Naruto had never set his pride aside. But here he is, throwing his pride and self dignity away, literally begging, for the person who betrayed him, who don't even seem to care about him . . . . this isn't friendship . . . . this can't be.

This reminded me of a line that I read in a bl novel called 'Qiang Jin Jiu'.

— "Xiao Chiye drew in his claws, bowing his head in submission to the word 'love"

And how could Naruro even ask the Raikage to forgive the killer of his brother? It's absolutely ridiculous! Crazy! Insane! And that even in the name of breaking 'the cycle of hatred? Konoha has declared Sasuke a nuke-nin, and his peers have already decided to kill Sasuke themselves . . . . Even if Sasuke gets killed, Konoha isn't going to go on a war with Kumo for him. Naruto, you're the only person who doesn't want Sasuke to die.

This is the breaking point where readers can no longer understand Naruto or his goal. He can't be self inserted into no matter how hard we try. We are angry at Sasuke for Naruto's sake, we want Naruto to stop chasing Sasuke because it's not worth it any longer.

But it's us who want all of that, not Naruto. He wants the exact opposite.

In Konoha, we see Sai reproaching Sakura for putting all the burden on Naruto. Shizune then says that Naruto isn't doing it because of his promise to Sakura, but because of himself. Sakura, like the self-centered girl she is, ignores her words and is shown thinking, "I'm the one who caused him the most pain." Like girl, are you retarded?? Naruto doesn't even bother thinking about you in a special way, what gave you the idea that he was in pain because of you? You've been with Naruto from the start. You've seen him desperately and obsessively chasing after Sasuke, crying for him . . . and somehow, you think it's all because of you??

To me, who read Naruto manga long before watching the anime, Naruto's crush on Sakura seemed very superficial. He never thought of her in a special way, was stingy in regards of money with her. She doesn't even occupy his thoughts like Sasuke! There was not a single scene where she became the source of his strength or something. So, when I first read the manga, I never considered his crush on her as anything serious.

Sakura's confession takes place, and Naruto directly calls out her lie. He openly declares that his wish to save Sasuke has nothing to do with his promise to her. Even if there wasn't any promise, he'd still try to bring Sasuke back because he wants to save Sasuke for his own sake. Then Naruto starts hyperventilating after hearing that Konoha has declared Sasuke a nuke-nin and his friends have gone to kill Sasuke. Even thinking of Sasuke's pain and suffering sends him straight into a panic mode.

We feel shocked (again for like umpteenth time) by his intense reaction. And it makes us wonder what is Sasuke to Naruto? Why is he going so far for him? Even Sakura, the girl who is supposedly in love with Sasuke, has given up on him, then why has he not?

Naruto and Sasuke confront each other again for the second time since the latter left the village. We see Naruto save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke, and then next, we see him saying, "Everything you've done until now, it's understandable."

Naruto, why aren't you angry that Sasuke tried to kill Sakura? What happened to that line, "I'll kill you if you hurt my comrades?"

Sasuke then goes on to say that he'll destroy Konoha and kill everyone in it. The two fight, and then in their shared psychic plane, Naruto starts talking. He says how the first real bond he created was with Iruka and Sasuke, how he always wanted to hang out with him, how he kept chasing after him wanting to become just as cool just as strong. He then says that he's really glad he met him.

Naruto then declares, "I'll bear the burden of your hatred . . . and we'll die together . . . . then we'll come to understand each other in our next lives."

What? What the hell is this? Like literally, what the hell is this?! Is this your solution, Naruto? At this point, this is no longer about breaking the 'cycle of hatred' or 'becoming Hokage', it's solely about Sasuke.

Naruto here was willing to give up his life for Sasuke. He was willing to give up his dream of becoming Hokage for his sake. Becoming Hokage was his ardent desire that he wished to fulfil. It was something he had been striving for since childhood. But for Sasuke's sake, he was willing to give it all up.

"Yin Hanjiang did not know what love was. All his strong feelings in his life were tied up to Wen Renhe. Not just because Wen Renhe saved him back then, but because Wen Renhe represented all of Yin Hanjiang's yearnings and longings."

— Chinese BL novel 'Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know'.

"Whatever he wants, I'll give it to him. If he wants my life, I'll stake my life for him . . . there's no betrayal to be had."

— Chinese BL novel Liu Yao: Revitalisation of Fuyao Sect by Priest

"From the beginning to the present, as long as Yue Wuhuan wants it, I will give him everything. Elixirs, no matter how precious they were; expensive magical instruments and weapons. . . Even my body and feelings. Even my life and my freedom."

— Chinese BL novel "Mistakenly Saving the Villain"

It makes you wonder what exactly is Sasuke to Naruto. What even is this bond between them? Why exactly is he going so far for him?

They're not blood-related, so 'brothers' doesn't explain it. Blood isn't the thing binding them together, so even if Naruto considers him as a brother, it doesn't explain this unbreakable and inexplicable bond between them.

Friends? But even Sakura and Karin, the girls who claim that they love him with all their heart, gave up on him. And as Raikage said, in a shinobi world, this isn't called friendship.

At this point, when Sasuke has fallen deep into darkness and every single person (other than Naruto) has given up on him, what exactly is this thing that still bind them together?

And why does every interaction between them give us such a weird feeling? This isn't how friends or even brothers interact. Does Sasuke even deserve such devotion?

Why? Why? Why?

In this conversation, Naruto had explicitly said that his first real bond was with Sasuke and Iruka. But many of us ignore it, or even if we acknowledge it, we are unable to understand the weight of those words because, till now, we actually haven't seen Sasuke's real feeling. So most of us subconsciously ignore all the signs in earlier chapters, which indicates his affection for Naruto, and think that the bond was one-sided.

Then, the Fourth Shinobi war starts. Sasuke, after meeting with Itachi and seeing him sacrifice himself again for the sake of Konoha, finally becomes curious regarding concepts like 'Village', 'Clan', and Shinobi'. He wants to understand what this village is for which people are ready to sacrifice their lives, what does it mean to be a shinobi, etc.

The four Hokage are brought back from dead, and this is where when we finally understand how sharingan develops. Before this, it was all just a speculation.

Tobirama says, "No other clan treasured love as much as Uchiha. That's why they sealed that off themselves . . . When the member of Uchiha knows love, it's as if the feelings they were blocking off arise . . . They awaken something even stronger than the Senju's power of love . . . . When Uchiha suffers after experiencing the loss of a loved one or despair, special chakra sprouts inside their brain, which affects the optic nerves and produces a change in their eyes . . . . That is "The eye that reflects feelings" . . . The Sharingan."

So that's what it means?! Does that mean when Sasuke's sharingan fully formed during the battle of Valley of the End first fight, it was because he was in pain and despair due to breaking his bond with Naruto??

"It's as if the Heavens create such a person to trouble him, so that he gets to learn the feeling of,"It's hard to meet you, even harder to part with you."

— a quote from "Liu Yao: the Revitalisation of Fuyao Sect" by Priest.

Wow.

So now that we finally know that Sasuke too felt extreme pain back then, what does it say about their bond??

Sasuke, after deciding to protect the village, joins the battle. We see them fighting side by side again, and somehow, it puts our hearts at ease. Finally. After so long, we finally see them together on the same side. We see Sasuke save Naruto again and again like it was written in his instincts. Their hearts stop together. We find out that Naruto and Sasuke have reincarnated chakras of Indra and Ashura (sons of Sage of Six Paths) attached to them.

They defeat Kaguya, and then we see their final fight at Valley of the End. Naruto says that he won't (can't) leave Sasuke all alone in that hell, and that's why he won't let him kill him. (??) We expect some great ninjutsu fight, but all we get is them punching the shit out of each other. Unlike all his previous fights, Sasuke isn't fighting strategically. He doesn't even seem to have a plan as all he does is throw fists at Naruto while screaming. They both end up being incapacitated, and we see them talk.

Sasuke — "I fell into darkness and gained powers to cut everything my way. It didn't matter who it was, I tried to cut ties with everyone around me . . . But, you never thought of cutting ties with me . . . No matter what happened . . ."

Sasuke — "Why do you care so much about me?!"

Naruto — "Because you're my friend."

Sasuke (looking displeased and irritated) — "I've heard it once. But what does that mean . . . to you?"

Naruto (looks away) — "If you want me to explain, even I don't understand . . . It's just that when I see you carrying all that burden on your shoulders and get all messed up, for some reason . . . I'm the one who's hurting."

Sasuke — (wide eyes; looking very shocked/ stunned)

Naruto — "It hurts so much inside that I can't just leave it alone, dattebayo!"

And when we finally hear Sasuke's feelings, it feels like we're finally understanding something, like all our questions are being answered.

"Naruto, I knew in the past you were always alone. Like me, the last Uchiha left, you were cast out. You acted like an idiot on purpose so that people would scold you because you wanted them to pay attention to you. . . . At first, I thought you weren't worth considering at all, that you were just a weakling playing around. But after seeing you do stupid things and get scolded every time . . . For some reason, I started to keep my eyes on you. That time, I also realised . . . That your weakness had started to sink into me, too. I couldn't stop paying attention to you. When I saw you doing everything you could do to create bonds with others . . . It reminded me of my family. And for some reason . . . I felt relieved. However, I also thought it was a weakness."

"I trained hard to escape from that weakness and to become stronger than my brother to take revenge on him. But you ended up on the same team as me . . . And I got reminded of my family again. After clearing missions with you, who wanted to become Hokage . . . I could clearly tell that we were both getting stronger. . . And I realised I wanted to fight you. I started to see the shadow of my family in Team 7, and that's why when I saw you suffer . . . I would . . . Feel pain, too."

Sasuke then remembers when Naruto opened up about his feelings when they met after he killed Danzo. He then admits that it was the opposite, that it was him who was jealous of him. Because Naruto had the strength, he did not. That he always walked in front of him, much like his brother used to.

Sasuke, looking relieved and happy, admits that he lost. We see him cry, and we even see him laugh loudly (and didn't we all think how uncharacteristic it was of him?).

The panel changes, and we see both their hands destroyed and bleeding on the stones. Their blood flows from the wound and mixes with each other — it looks like they're holding hands.

In the next chapter, 699, we get to hear more of Sasuke's thoughts.

Sasuke — "Naruto, I remember those words you once said to me. That when you're with me, you wonder whether it's like having a brother . . . And when I think of it that way . . . That feeling . . . I finally get it now. I've been travelling around the world, and I seem to recall those memories a lot. We were alone and starved of love . . . Kids that lived in a world full of hate . . . From that point on, we went our separate ways and fought . . . But time has passed, and now I'm thinking . . . Could it be that . . . Just like the hope and pain from my father, mother, and brother flowed into me . . . I'd understand your hopes and pain, too, Naruto?

You never tried to cut me off. Instead, this whole time, you kept coming closer to me. It wouldn't have surprised me if you hated me, but you didn't. You kept insisting we were friends. And even that, I nearly destroyed . . . . . . . You saved me. The us that quarrelled over the smallest things . . . are now able to share the pain in each other's hearts. . . ."

And all this is like a revelation. Our understanding is still vague. But even then, it is at this point that we finally understand one thing.

We all subconsciously believed that we were the ones who understood Naruto because we have been accompanying him since the start of the story. For us, Sasuke was later introduced in chapter 3, and that's how we got to know him. But there is one thing many of us realised at one point but didn't understand the actual meaning behind it — that Naruto isn't us and he doesn't have the same thoughts and feelings as us. We didn’t understand him. We wanted him to stop chasing Sasuke because we felt betrayed his actions, and we never understood why exactly Naruto went so far for him. It was because we never knew Sasuke — the real Sasuke. (And the real Naruto too.)

We only saw what we wanted to see and twisted it according to our beliefs, and many of us even ignored the panels, which showed his actual personality just to fit him into our headcanon versions of him.

We only know Sasuke from chapter 3. But Naruto has known Sasuke since he was a child and seen the actual him. It wasn't us who accompanied or understood Naruto, but it was Sasuke. Sasuke understood him when he was just a child, something which even adults failed to do. Sasuke has known Naruto longer than us, knows him better than us. Sasuke was the one who acknowledged Naruto more than anyone else. It was Sasuke who inspired him to become better and became the source of his strength. It was his smile by that lake, which reached Naruto's heart and saved him from darkness. The matter of deserving or undeserving doesn't even come here.

We are outsiders who saw the story only through a certain lens (with our heavily tinted rose coloured glasses), arrogantly thinking we understood it whole. The story, from the very start, has always been about Naruto and Sasuke. Our feelings and thoughts don't matter there. Even if we don't understand it or refuse to believe what is being told, the story won't change, the text won't change, the feelings that are already there between Naruto and Sasuke won't change.

From the start, the bond was never one-sided. It isn't just Naruto who feels pain when seeing Sasuke suffer, but Sasuke too feel pain at Naruto's suffering. He considers Naruto as his own family, seeing how he feels his hope and pain like he used to with his parents and brother.

By this chapter, many of us come to the same conclusion — this feels so gay!! It's not just a vague feeling like before, but it's a thought being supported by the canonical text!!

A personal experience — Due to growing up in a conservative and traditional asian family, for a long time, I never even knew that something like liking the same gender could exist. It wasn't that I was against it or something — I simply didn't know that something like this was possible. It was pure ignorance. My first exposure to homosexuality was the Chinese drama "the Untamed," which was actually portrayed as bromance due to censorship. After watching it, I instantly knew they loved each other because it was so obvious. For some reason (maybe because I was never subjected to anti-homosexuality propoganda), I accepted it really fast despite my earlier ignorance

And then I deep dived into the rabbit hole called homosexuality and from then on my worldview completely changed. I watched Naruto around the same time as Untamed, and even though Naruto gave me heavy bl vibes, I still hesitated to accept it as fact. It was mainly because of Naruto (the Mc) being a dishonest protagonist (with himself and others regarding his feelings) and also because it was hard for me to understand subtext and their underlying meaning.

I'm a person who finds it very difficult to ship two people unless I'm completely sure about their feelings for each other. I'm unable to ship just based on vibes, whether it be hetro or homo couple. I need to be 100% sure that these characters have feelings for each other. It's for that reason that I had to reread Naruto and research homosexuality and queer literature and read analyses to finally understand that Naruto and Sasuke are truly in love with each other.

But wait, in the next chapter, they're shown to be married to Sakura and Hinata??!!

Huh?? What? And they even have children?! We're bewildered by this (bad) plot twist. Naruto never paid Hinata any attention throughout the story. She was so insignificant to the story that many of us even forgot her existence, and neither did she contribute to the plot in any way. And Sakura, okay, she was a part of Team 7 and definitely more important than Hinata, but she was still portrayed so badly that most of us didn't have any good feelings for her. Most importantly, Sasuke rejected her every time (and so brutally later), never once was shown to possess any special feelings for her. Throughout the battle, he was indifferent toward her life and death and didn't care whether she died by falling into lava or not, had his eyes only on Naruto. Heck, even in chapters 698 and 699, where we first time heard his thoughts and feelings, all he was going on was about Naruto.

Many of us, at this point, not exactly understanding the deep bond between Naruto and Sasuke, try to accept sasusaku and naruhina. Maybe some of us even tried to validate them on social media, but inside, we're still very insecure and uncertain about those ships.

We try to validate ss and nh, and we try to find canon proofs for ss and nh (which aren't there). Even Boruto and Naruto Gaiden just prove how miserable their marriages are. Or maybe some of us completely reject nh and ss and try to prove that sns is canon. But still, things like "they're canonically married and have children," "Naruto called Sasuke brother," "they have the reincarnated chakras of brothers attached to them", "it's a shonen story", becomes barriers in our way.

Social media, flooded with heterosexuality propaganda, doesn't help.

Overall, most of us go through a lot of internal and external struggle because of this. (Us who's never been exposed to gay media before).

But it's then we find like-minded people. Our mind matures, and worldview expands. We reread the manga, research homosexuality and queer literature, and read analyses. Maybe not all of us reach the same conclusion regarding the whole Naruto, but none of us can deny the presence of blatant homosexual subtext in the story. It doesn't matter whether we think it was written unintentionally or intentionally (although I strongly believe it was intentional), none of us can deny the presence of special feelings between Naruto and Sasuke.

This time, while rereading the manga, we notice how Naruto, who claimed that he liked Sakura, looked completely unbothererd when Lee confessed to her but showed jealousy whenever someone paid attention to Sasuke. His Sexy no jutsu, always had the female version of his face, but his Reverse harem no Jutsu (which he practised more than Rasengan) had the faces of males he met throughout the story. During the fight with Gaara, it was only after being inspired by Sasuke that he was able to bring out his Kyuubi chakra (something which he wasn't able to do even after seeing Sakura's life in danger). After the rooftop fight between Sasuke and Naruto, he, instead of apologising to Sakura for almost killing her, told her, 'Don't interfere between us'. Naruto, on multiple occasions, said that he didn't understand the interest in women. When in the hot spring bath with Yamato and Sai, he looked embarrassed and shy, and his body posture was very contained, unlike the other two who looked entirely at ease. And then, as if to deny something about himself, he immediately tried to spy on women's bath.

Naruto's double suicide confession to Sasuke, his possessive behaviour toward him, the way Sasuke occupied the entirety of his thoughts, him thinking of Sasuke under a shooting star and then developing Rasenshuriken because of that feeling, hyperventilating just from thinking of Sasuke's pain and suffering, being ready to give up his dream of being Hokage for him, wanting to save Sasuke because he couldn't let him be all alone in that hell and many many more incidents all point to one thing — Naruro is in love with Sasuke.

Trying to see Sasuke's feelings are more easy after reading chapters 698 and 699.

Sasuke, in the very first chapter he was introduced, was shown defending him and getting angry for his sake. Even when Naruto kissed him (he didn't know it was accidental), tied him up and transformed into him, he just searched for him and teased him by saying, "Real shinobi know how to untie ropes. Remember that, dobe." Then, during the bell test, he saw him hungry, and without a care about his career as a shinobi, he instantly offered him his own bento. In Land of Waves Arc, "his body moved on its own" to save Naruto. Now, we understand what this means and know that your body only moves on its own only for someone whose life you consider more important than yours.

Even in the fight against Gaara, Sasuke's body (which was completely battered and should've been unable to move) moved instinctively to protect Naruto's fall (which wasn't dangerous). When he found that Itachi was after Naruto, his first thought wasn't to take revenge or anything but to protect Naruto. During their fight in Valley of the End (first), his sharingan matured due to the pain and despair he felt from breaking his bond with Naruto. After the fight, he leaned closely over his face as if he was entranced or captivated. When they met after three years, Sasuke (as if unable to control himself) got really close to Naruto as if hugging him one sidedly. Sasuke desperately tried to kill him numerous times because Naruto was his only weakness, someone who made him feel love and warmth, someone who still made him believe that he wasn't alone. But he failed because he couldn't bear to kill him, couldn't bear to kill the person he loved the most, even for the sake of ideals and ambition.

One of my favourite panels has to be the one when Kushina meets baby Sasuke and says, "I hope they become friends."

Another is when Itachi entrusts Sasuke to Naruto.

We all have come really far from where we started — from not understanding anything, trying to find validation for nh and ss and being confused and frustrated to completely believing that Naruto and Sasuke were in love throughout 699 chapters of the manga and understanding the queer subtext in the story mixed with realism.

And we all persisted this far only because of our shared love for Naruto and Sasuke.

For those who want to read analyses of them, I suggest these — [Link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]

I ended up adding a lot, but these are really good. I wanted to add more, but then that would be a lot of links.

#essay on our feelings on sns #sasunarusasu #sasunaru #narusasu #sns #not an analysis