reading pro-sasuke metas literally changed my views towards itachi and to an extent, naruto. like damn. they actually give solid facts as to why they believe itachi doesn't deserve the huge amount of praise he gets. must be hard to be on the minorty side of opinions since 90% of the naruto fanbase love itachi and see him as a legend. it makes me feel inferior but at the same time it also makes me feel smart? bcoz it takes a great deal of patience and letting go of subjectivity and bias to accept critiscm towards your fav characters.
granted, some pro-sasuke people can be scary but i've come across blogs that are nice enough to state facts objectively without insulting characters and their supporters.
...interesting how a lot of people who hate sasuke and lloooooovvvvee naruto write dark!naruto as someone who gets angry at what happened to him, leaves the village, goes out, gets stronger, comes back and basically razes konoha to the ground one way or another...you know, basically sasuke in naruto’s body.
The problem Sasuke has with the Village goes way deeper than power-abusing elders and children soldiers. Konoha, while at the beginning built by both Uchiha and Senju, almost immediately became overtaken by the latter. Look at the Hokages:
1 - Hashirama Senju,
2 - Tobirama Senju,
3 - Hiruzen Sarutobi (taught by Tobirama),
4 - Minato Namikaze (married to an Uzumaki, as well as taught by Jirayia, a student of Hiruzen),
5 - Tsunade (a Senju again),
6 - Kakashi Hatake (taught by Minato and only a brief exception to the rule),
7 - Naruto (Uzumaki, son of Minato, taught by Jirayia).
It's a web of people, masters choosing their students as the next Hokage as well as manipulated village proudly welcoming another Senju. While for characters such as Naruto or Kakashi exceptions could be made, it's still absolutely shocking. There's a world used to describe such situations: nepotism. Pure, unaltered nepotism.
Not a single Uchiha, not a single person that would fight for their rights. They had no power and were pushed out by Tobirama and Hiruzen into an absolutely awful position. What Danzo did was an solution to a "problem", problem that was already there. Caused by how dominated by Senjus Konoha was, even if they were long gone.
I wish Sasuke did became Hokage. Because he'd change things, he'd deal with the awful past Konoha tries to hide. Naruto is great but, just like Minato, he will be only temporary solution. And the moment another Hokage takes over, everything will start again.
there’s a belief that Sakura only cared about an idealized Sasuke and that the CoH Sasuke was his true self (and that the CoH was just a way to antagonize him in favor of Naruto, but that’s not exactly the topic of this post). believers of said belief defend Naruto and Karin as being people who didn’t idealize Sasuke and accepted the Sasuke who wanted revenge, and that’s silly if I may say so
Naruto sought to understand Sasuke on a deep level, but he still didn’t recognize the hateful Sasuke as Sasuke’s true self. this remains true throughout the duration of the series, and we’re reminded of it again in 696:
Where is this ‘acceptance’ that antis rant and rave about? Naruto is ‘idealizing’ Sasuke exactly according to their definition.
People love to claim that Karin ‘understood and supported’ Sasuke’s revenge, and didn’t ‘idealize’ him, but as soon as he hits rock bottom, this is what she has to say:
again, where is this unwavering ‘acceptance’ of vengeful Sasuke?
Then there are the Sasuke fans who claim that Taka was better for Sasuke than 7, because apparently Taka uNderSt00d & sUpp0rt3d Sasuke, even though
literally none of the members really knew shit let alone cared about Sasuke’s goal. there is nothing to prove that Karin really knew about or understood Sasuke’s vengeance on any deep level. her reason for supporting him comes down to this:
so sure, she wanted him to be happy, but did she really know about what he sought, and think about whether it was best for him? no. she was just along for the ride, pretty much pursuing her infatuation, and, yes, ‘idealized’ the kind genin Sasuke.
Sakura did show a constant desire to understand Sasuke, and she did know a lot about him.
in 181, she asks why he never lets her, someone who cares about him, in, and shows that she specifically empathizes with the pain of loss, because it would hurt her to lose him. Sasuke fans often ridicule Sakura, and even Naruto, for talking about ‘their feelings’ while simultaneously demanding that people empathize with Sasuke...which requires comparing one’s own feelings to another’s, lol. no, Sakura doesn’t state or even imply that her loneliness upon losing him would be the same as his from losing his family. she only states that it would make her feel lonely on a discernible level. she makes no quantitative or qualitative comparison to what he felt because of the massacre, only that she can feel and understand loneliness. he fills a certain role in her life that no one else does. not to mention that she reminds him that he’ll only be alone again if he leaves the village.
unlike with Naruto, Sasuke doesn’t become angry with Sakura’s attempts to empathize. he thanks her instead, showing he doesn’t consider her statements to be self-centered or out of touch.
but really like she was 12 when she said all of this, yet it still reaches a mature level of empathy on such an upsetting subject
also sometimes you just remember the absurdity of comparing these things to real life so keep that in mind lol
in terms of her deepening her understanding of Sasuke, she learns all she can about Orochimaru and Itachi, and disdains Itachi for hurting Sasuke (and Naruto) in early Shippuden. when she tries to resolve to kill Sasuke, it’s not even really her decision, and she ultimately fails because she can’t actually give up on him. Sasuke screams at her and Kakashi to bring back his family, including Itachi, so she knows that he considers Itachi his beloved brother again. then Naruto arrives:
she hears Sasuke’s feelings about Naruto’s efforts to empathize, and stands up to him. (and yet she’s a doormat?)
after Sasuke and Naruto communicate with their fists because #healthymalerelationships, Sakura more or less cements her feelings about the situation for the rest of Shippuden:
she sees that Naruto, Sasuke’s best friend, someone who like Sasuke spent much of his life alone, can’t even get through to Sasuke at that point, so she steps back and decides that there is nothing she can really say or do. Naruto, who had more information than she did, still could not change Sasuke’s trajectory. she knows that Naruto empathizes with Sasuke the best of anyone, and that Sasuke’s pain is unfathomable to her. she doesn’t try to combat this, so of course she was going to behave this way again later on in 693, when Naruto and Sasuke are again arguing about logistical bullshit in front of her.
even before that, when he first arrives on their side of the war, she immediately asks Sasuke what he’s doing:
gee wow, there she is asking him to explain himself and trying to understand him!!
in 693, she hears everything Sasuke has to say about his plans, etc. etc. so there is literally no reason for her to ask any further questions. she expresses frustration about her inability to do or say anything to help him other than appeal to the kind part of him that thanked her in 181, because yeah, he was literally just going to kill everyone. people are like “ugh but like she could’ve asked about his reasoning more and offered other ideas ! :(” like boo hoo lol she already heard what she needed to hear, he was clearly in the wrong, and he clearly wasn’t going to change his mind regardless of any other ~creative revolution ideas~ anyone had. she already agreed with Naruto, who was saying everything that needed to be said. the only thing left was for Naruto and Sasuke to fight because that’s how the series was always going to end. Sakura with her comparatively mild background doesn’t get to be the hero, oh well. it doesn’t diminish her.
in terms of her frustration with her perceived inability to do anything, she says “I can’t exchange blows with you, all I can do is sit here and cry,” and I think it’s safe to say that she meant that both physically and emotionally. back after Danzo’s death, Kakashi told her that she’s seen she couldn’t handle facing Sasuke, and that remained true through the series. she could never bring herself to kill him in the first place, and she likely wasn’t skilled enough to do it anyway. the threeway deadlock of team 7 is more or less overshadowed by the fact that Naruto and Sasuke are reincarnates of Indra and Ashura. that’s probably the only real reason Sakura can’t believably stand up to her OP teammates.
and of course we know that she only had selfless intentions contrary to the insistence of detractors:
basically this is all anyone needs to know about the ending
I don’t understand how can someone who claims that he/she is pro-Sasuke but then hates on and disses his wife when Sasuke himself was always the one who defended her against the bullshits directed at his wife...?
Honestly, the fandom Sasunaru and Narusaru are Sasuke’s biggest haters. They call Sasuke the abuser and aggressor of women (but to Naruto he is a prince lol). I would never say that about Sasuke. Why? Because he’s nothing like that, just a kid who lost his family and was influenced by the wrong people. The real Sasuke loves his family (Sakura and Sarada) and protects. Sasuke is pure. Sasunaru only sees Sasuke as a fetish, that’s the truth.
How would you have ended the manga? What pairings would you have made endgame?
I replied to a similar ask here.
(under the cut: anti-ending, anti-SS, anti-S*kura/Naruto/Kakashi/kishimoto/SP. It’s properly tagged. Read at your own risk.)
More analyses (some are old, some are not) in my pro-Sasuke tag, anti-pairings and characters tag, bonds and relationships tag, scenarios and headcanons tag, general meta/analyses/rants tag.
First of all justice for Sasuke. No guilt tripping, no emotional manipulation, no jail and no lectures. No brainwashing, because that’s what they did to him. His “crimes” being pardoned instantly because everything he did was a direct consequence of what Konoha made Itachi to do the clan, using him as a leverage, so not only they should pardon him but also admit their crimes and make amends, from publicly admitting what they did, setting up a memorial to the their victims: the clan and Itachi himself.
Tsunade used to be against Danzo and the elders so she should have supported Sasuke’s cause. So should have Kakashi, who was happy that his precious students were together again during the war, and who was ready to die shielding Sasuke from Kaguya. SO SHOULD HAVE NARUTO, who should have helped Sasuke making the truth public, telling everyone about it and using his position to defend Sasuke and support his cause. And once he got justice, Sasuke should have left with Team Taka, keeping Konoha as a base, doing missions for them, often visiting but not tightly bound to that village, at least for a while.
Naruto’s main theme is bonds, friendship, comrades, teachers and pupils, makeshift families. The ending should have reflected this. Naruto and Sasuke’s bond, Kakashi and Sasuke’s, Team 7, with Kakashi proud of them and S*kura getting over her delusion and treating Sasuke like a real person, which means a friend and comrade, Sai being included, Team Taka being included because when everyone was against Sasuke (like S*kura), while Naruto wanted him back not considering what Sasuke wanted instead, Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu were there for him, voicing their opinion even when opposite but nevertheless supporting him, risking their lives to protect him and help him with a revenge that didn’t belong to them, “only” to their friend and comrade, who offered them freedom first, and to whom they were bound by gratitude, loyalty and friendship, not a headband or empty rhetoric.
In a way I understand SP adding the jail scene, it certainly adds drama and spices things up in fanservice terms, as it’s a typical fanfic trope (and who am I to deny its charm?~) but that should have been done with Tsunade pleading his cause with the elders, Kakashi visiting him every day, talking to him, not lecturing him but offering him understanding, even talking about his own experience, opening up and letting Sasuke open up to him, something that I’m sure Sasuke would have done in part 1 if only Kakashi had let him. Naruto visiting every day, bringing him ramen and being silly to cheer him up, all the while using his popularity to raise awareness about him, helped by S*kura. Team Taka trying to get him out of there, because of course they would. And finally (after a short time!) him being released and the elders put in jail for good.
l would have made no pairing endgame.
Pairings are personal and subjective. I like pairings, I like deep bonds and extreme actions to protect them, but also possibilities born from a little spark of something, I like noticing little details in interactions and relationships, hints and innuendos, I don’t want pairings to be thrown to my face, especially if written badly and only done to have a new generation made of ugly kids (yes, I think that b*ruto is dull, him*wari is a creepy monster and s*rada is the ugliest character ever, from her horrible hairstyle to her clothes, to her personality and backstory that puts to shame everything Sasuke suffered. Fight me. Or stay the hell away from me with your uncle Itachi and happy ss family). I prefer to see deep bonds and decide if they’re going to become something more, and imagine that something more by their interactions, to what kishi/sp did.
(also a special f*ck you goes to how they made Orochimaru regress to his cruel past self, after having followed Sasuke on the “good side”, helped during the war and treated Team Taka as his equals and not his prisoners. When in Gaiden he’s still doing experiments on people and having Taka and especially Suigetsu, work for him on those…when he was scared of him because HE WAS HIS TEST SUBJECT! I really liked Orochimaru’s change by the end of the manga, so I was very disappointed. But hey who cares, it’s more important that he has kids and is genderless, so nonbinary, much wow)
I don’t think Sasuke can ever be fully happy again, he lost too much for that, but he could be at peace knowing that he got justice, that the world is going in the direction Itachi dreamed of, that nothing like the massacre will happen again. Having loyal and affectionate people around would help him too, people who don’t force themselves on him and respect him for real though. I don’t reason by healthy usually, but in this case I will, and the better and healthiest bonds he can have are with Team Taka members, as much as they seem weird and bickering and whatever. Like, Juugo is the best partner Sasuke could have (he also has bonus darkness points just in case) but also Suigetsu or Karin.
But, if a new generation was needed (and there was no need for one!) I’d have made Narusaku and Sasukarin endgame.
Narusaku has fairly positive development. I’d have liked Sakura to get over her childish crush and move on. Imagine her meeting Sasuke after he’s back from a trip, and tell him that she is no longer in love with him now because she loves a wonderful person, that what she felt for him it wasn’t love anyway and that she’s sorry for having been so embarassingly annoying. Sasuke would say: “hn, sorry for trying to kill you then” and she’d reply: “you’d better be” before leaving. As she’s taking a shortcut, running through a dark alleyway, she’d be scared by someone’s sobbing, only to realize it’s Naruto who was spying on her. After a couple of punches she’d hug him and say: “Tell me the truth, did you think I still liked him?” and he’d reply: “No, I..I trust you Sakura chan, but when I saw you two talking I got jealous and didn’t know what to do so I stayed there and listened to your conversation and your words moved me so much that I started crying and I couldn’t get out like this because I am the future Hokage..”
Sasukarin just makes sense, as Sasuke appreciates Karin’s ability, he sought her out and then protected her, refusing to leave her behind and activating the ability to control Amaterasu’s flames to save her, and she loved him selflessly and just wanted his happiness. They’d be a nice couple, Sasuke detached and kind of lost in his own thoughts, Karin bringing him to reality every time, him protecting her, and Team Taka around.
…Which is much more than SS has, no matter how many times fans gush over them calling the other my husband and wife, not realizing that it’s actually a cold thing, like distancing the other, while calling each other by name without honorific, or calling each other with a nickname or a term of endearment would express closeness instead.
