In one word, anon, justice. I really don’t care a lot about everything else. If he marries or has children, if he wins or loses the fight with Naruto, if he goes travelling or whatever. The least he deserved was justice and reparation, and he got nothing of that.
Sasuke deserved an ending where his rage was validated. Where he received a formal apology. Where the genocide of the Uchiha was not swept under the rug (if the wishes of Itachi were to be respected, at least acknowledge the oppression and exclusion that they suffered from Konoha and clear their name from the suspicions raised after the Kyubi attack). Sasuke should have not been forced to show remorse in the end. Remorse for what, anyway? He had nothing to feel sorry for, he did nothing wrong. He didn’t even punish half the people that deserved to die at his hands. What does he need to atone for, when deranged villains went on without consequences? Sasuke was a victim of genocide. The least the perpetrators could do was apologise and be thankful he didn’t materialise any of his threats to burn Konoha to ashes.
Sasuke deserved to see the two counsellors that remained alive fired, prosecuted and punished. He deserved to be honoured and awarded for saving the world and for his crucial role in ending the war, and all he got was ostracism and a condescending scolding from his former teacher.
Sasuke deserved compensation. He deserved to see his clan honoured and remembered. He deserved to get returned any property, document, or information Konoha had gotten from the Uchiha after the massacre or during their unlawful surveillance, including any body parts or any other thing stolen for any of Danzo’s grotesque endeavours. He deserved to see the Root disbanded, any of its willing members investigated and punished, and Danzo declared a traitor, a child abductor, a genocidal trash, a corrupt and a conspirator.
Sasuke deserved to see his friend, his so-called “like a brother” standing by his promises and doing something to change the world for the better. Sasuke did not deserve to be alone and remorseful working for a place that never officially repudiated the darkness and the ways of the past. Sasuke did not deserve to see the enabler of the extermination of his family glorified in the form of a painting in the Hokage’s office. And the same for the fascist that spread racist pseudoscience about his family to justify their segregation and oppression. He did not deserve to see those that promoted the genocide of his clan working as counsellor for his so-called friend, who still hears them in his office.
And, of course, Sasuke deserved Taka, too. He deserved to be with them, to honour the promise he made to Jugo. Their unconditional loyalty and friendship. He deserved comfort in the friends that he chose and that were ready to fight the world for him.
And, I think, anon, Sasuke deserved to pursue his revolutionary ideas to build a new world without the darkness of the Shinobi system. Sasuke did not deserve to have all his personality, his character and his soul killed for the sake of the main character’s victory. We know the main character had to win, still, there was so much potential in Sasuke. We deserved to at least see them improving the world together. Making efforts so the future generations never had to experience what they went through.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant, I don’t think I surprised you with any amazing idea for an ending, as everything I mentioned has been discussed before by many others. I apologise also because it took me ages to answer. I hope you are having a wonderful time, anon, please take care.
Why did Pierrot try to make Taka a background characters? They changed Jugo's facial features, made Suigetsu's eyes very fishy, and THEY TOOK AWAY KARIN LIP PIERCING. They are important characters that will be featured until the last arc, pay a little damn respect >:(
(this post was made just to complain about Karin's piercing, sorry)
would you mind sharing your thoughts on sasuke and his interactions with team taka compared to with team 7?
Right, so. I’ll put the TL;DR at the top, because my post will basically amount to this: Team 7 is bad for Sasuke. Taka is good for Sasuke.
I also can’t promise this post is like...organized lol.
I get why people obsess over Team 7. It’s the team Sasuke was originally in, sometimes they function to do some cool shit, and the fandom (and 3/4 of the team’s members) have an obsession with keeping the original team together. ...Even if they barely function. No, I’m not counting Yamato or Sai* for this post.
The team is grossly overhyped, to the point people try to claim it functions better than the other teams presented in the manga. Yet no one stops to realize that the other teams never had a member bail on them and have never had major issues with getting along and producing teamwork. Team 7 is rife with problems from the very beginning. For one, prior to the team’s creation, Sakura is Naruto’s bully. And Naruto frequently harasses Sasuke. Sakura is also obsessed with Sasuke, a love that is, by Kishimoto himself, described as selfish. And wew, throughout this 700 chapter run this love continues to be just that, selfish.
It’s Sasuke that originally introduces teamwork to the team. Sasuke forfeits his lunch to Naruto first, Sasuke prepares himself for Kakashi to come down on them. Sakura is aghast, why would he disobey!? Turns out Sasuke’s kindness passed them the test. But even after that, their teamwork is basically non-existent. Prior to the Land of Waves mission, Naruto is absolutely obsessed with the idea that Sasuke is out to make him look stupid or weak, when Naruto is the one absolutely fucking up every D-rank they go on. Even Sakura is preferable here, she’s actually working with Sasuke like a platoon should. Sasuke is more than willing to work with Naruto if Naruto could let his freak complex go for five minutes to do something as an actual squad.
Now-- this post isn’t to claim Sasuke doesn’t care for Team 7; specifically Naruto, and Sakura. He does, and I won’t claim otherwise. It’s just in Sasuke’s nature, he can’t help it, he isn’t a hateful/spiteful person by nature, and feelings like that he has to actively work to maintain. So despite both of these people being unhealthy for Sasuke, he grew to care for them anyways. This is highlighted when he’s willing to sacrifice his life to save Naruto from Haku. His body moved on its own-- his instinct to protect people is just that strong. And again during the fight with Gaara. He expresses he doesn’t want to lose people close to him again, and he is willing to use his body to break Naruto’s fall.
It’s possible to care deeply for people who are bad for you. This kind of stuff happens all the time.
When Sasuke leaves, the worst traits of T7 come to play. This unending, absolute obsession with bringing Sasuke back and completing the team. To complete the “nostalgia.” Sakura sings her own number when one of her selling points to Sasuke is how it would make her feel. And again in 693 this argument is presented;
“If we’re together again, I’m sure we could go back to those days...” What days? Genin days? Days that were apparently hunky-dory for you. Not a single thought to how those days were for Sasuke. It’s ALL about the nostalgia factor and how she felt during that time in childhood. It’s all about bringing him back to complete a set.
Naruto is his own set of problems. He feels dangerously entitled to bringing Sasuke back. He sure gets pissed off about Orochimaru claiming Sasuke is his, for a person who also considers Sasuke his. How about Sasuke doesn’t belong to anyone? Nah, that’s not something Naruto is going to consider. Everything is about bringing Sasuke back. He’s willing to break bones and beat him to a pulp and drag him back. What a nice friendship.
Naruto consistently claims Sasuke as a friend; “because i’m YOUR friend”, lording that over Sasuke, he’s decided apparently and Sasuke has no say in it. And in fact, the only times Sasuke says it back is when he’s about to kill him. Naruto seriously fucked up the definition of the word friend for Sasuke, there’s a scary reason why Sasuke won’t call anyone else that specific term.
It’s worth mentioning in both Sakura’s novel and Sasuke’s novel, Sakura decides the proper way to get Sasuke into a relationship with her is by chasing him and continually confessing until he’s too exhausted to say no. His no is irrelevant anyways, she won’t listen.
I probably missed some stuff, but now I want to talk about Taka.
The first big difference in Taka vs T7 is that Sasuke chose Taka. He personally chose these people himself, and not even on a whim. He’d planned these specific people for a very long time. Sasuke has a level of agency here, in that he chose who to surround himself with, as opposed to people being selected for him. Taka has issues in the beginning, sure, but no member feels dangerously entitled to his feelings or time.
“but Karin!”
Karin’s attracted to him, and would rather have him alone, sure. But Karin knows when to back off from Sasuke, and doesn’t spent her time wailing to him about how her feelings matter over his. She doesn’t ignore his agency in a dangerous manner.
Taka starts off rocky, with Suigetsu warning Sasuke about Karin, and then both of them warning Sasuke about Juugo. But once the team is together they know how to communicate and work together. They have scrolls to warn each other something has happened, as shown when Sasuke fights Deidara and has to summon Manda to survive. They take care of Sasuke when he is healing, and then effectively lead the Leaf village shinobi astray as Sasuke moves to get Itachi’s location. They also stay together during that fight, and quickly come back to Sasuke’s side after Itachi is killed.
Sasuke originally said his goal was to kill Itachi; that being the team’s only reason to stay together. Yet....Taka remains a group even after Itachi is dead. They still want to remain by Sasuke’s side, and help him in his endeavors.
Taka all have something in common-- people used or otherwise abandoned by the system, and taken advantage of. Karin was orphaned when she alone could detect her village’s oncoming massacre, Suigetsu was kidnapped to be tortured/experimented on by Orochimaru, Juugo could literally not find help for his condition anywhere else and turned to Orochimaru. We all know Sasuke’s story too. And of course, by the look of the post-ending material, literally no one wanted anything to do with Taka’s members, forcing them all to go back to Orochimaru.
The main takeaway from this is that Taka’s members don’t feel as if their own desires supercede Sasuke’s in such a manner that it’s harmful to Sasuke. They are a cohesive unit, where as T7 only works in pairs, IE, Naruto/Sasuke will occasionally fight well as a duo, Sakura/Naruto fight well as a duo. Instead of wanting and demanding something from Sasuke, Taka stands up for him and helps him. Suigetsu thinks VERY highly of Sasuke, telling the prisoners he’s freeing in Orochimaru’s lair that Sasuke is here to bring justice and peace to the ninja world. Juugo wants nothing more than to stay by his side and support him, and Karin, while attracted to him, is more than happy to step down and let Sasuke fall in love with someone else, because him being able to be happy is more important. (This isn’t me saying I like SS or he’s happy in SS, just Karin’s logic.)
*I consider Sai a part of T7, purely because Sai actually wants to be in it, and he cares for both Naruto and Sakura’s well being. Too bad Naruto and Sakura could give less of a shit about that, because dragging Sasuke back into a team he doesn’t want to be in is more important. Again....nostalgia factor.
You mean, if I like comrades that show loyalty and friendship with no limits, that stay by your side at your lowest, that won't give up on you even when you are insane, unfair and even mean to them?
Friends that will trust you and cherish you regardless of the darkness that consumes you, that will go with you to the end of the world, that will not run away from danger to protect you?
Friends that are ready to be your partners in crime, that would go burn the world by your side? Are you really asking me if I like them, Anon?
I love them. With all my being. Team Taka forever.
Say you managed to finally get justice for the massacre. How would you want to rebuild your clan? Would the rest of Taka want to/get to join the new Uchiha Clan?
My dear mutual, the Uchiha Clan is sadly no more. There is no way to rebuild something that does not exist anymore. The Uchiha is not a name you identify yourself with just because, or a crest that you exhibit proudly in your back with no notion of its meaning. The Uchiha were a people, their culture, their traditions, their vision of life and the world, their voices, their stories, their knowledge, their techniques, their secrets, their prayers, the teachings of their elderly, their recipes, the games their children played, the lullabies they sang to their babies... it's all gone and forever lost. Everything that made them a specific group of people, a family, it all disappeared. There is no rebuilding something that is extinct. You can only hope to restore their name and honour, to bring justice to them and to fight so nobody has to go through the same pain. That is how terminal, irredeemable and tragic a genocide is.
I am not very fond of this "found family/power of friendship" stuff that they try to feed you in Konoha so you just accept when they take your family from you and move on. Not because I don't believe in friendship or I don't consider Taka my dearest friends, please don't get me wrong. But I can't pretend they are my family or that they are Uchiha. As Itachi said to Kabuto, the Uchiha name has a meaning, and it is meant to designate those with a particular origin that the Uchiha shared. It means nothing to anyone else. The Uchiha don't exist and won't exist anymore, and I don't want to pretend otherwise. I don't want to replace them. Taka are Taka, and by being Taka they are enough. They are the best friends you could imagine and friends can be like family (even better than real family for some people), but they are not family, no matter how we put it. Even if I would burn the world for them, of course.
I don’t hate Taka. I honestly like them more than I’ve ever liked team 7. I honestly don’t even hate Orochimaru. IMO, he was the best villain in Naruto. He’s totally underrated.
I don’t hate Gaara, Akatsuki, Minato, Hashirama, Izuna, a majority of the Uchiha clan. TBH, I’ve always had a love-hate feelings towards Sasuke. Sometimes I love him, sometimes I wanted to slap his pretty face.
I actually don’t mind Lee much either or team eight (minus hinata). And then there’s Team Gai, there probably the best team in Konoha. (rip neji)
