Kawaki: Lord Seventh, just kill me. I did a big mistake. I sealed you and Hinata, left Hima alone, tried killing Boruto many times. Konoha should kill me.
Naruto: Nope. I wont. You are staying alive. And no, you can't kill yourself either.
Kawaki: Let me leave the village then. Excommunicate me.
Naruto: No.
Kawaki: Let me leave the family. I'll give up the Uzumaki name.
Naruto: No.
Kawaki: Oh COME ON! Give me some punishment.
Boruto: Uh... we got broken photoframes, a vase, some glassware from the time when you sealed my parents. Fix them.
Kawaki: . . .
Kawaki: ISTG I should try killing you again. NVM Lord Seventh, you can actually kill me after this.
Naruto: Kawaki, NO!
Now that I really think about it, Naruto is the only guy among his peers to give a damn about Sasuke.
Sure, girls were crazy about him and were interested in Sasuke romantically, but they didn’t really care about being friends with him, or care about his wellbeing or struggles until much later.
And it’s only Sakura that began to deeply empathise with him later on and to never give up on him (and Ino to an extent but not as much as Sakura).
I used to find the devotion and faith that Naruto and Sakura have in turning Sasuke around, quite unbelievable and hopeless, almost pitiful. Especially after all the violence and hurt Sasuke caused in those vengeful years. It was so futile amid everyone’s fear of Sasuke, after the crimes and murders he did - everyone else was giving up on him. The entire shinobi world was against him.
I don’t know what melancholy opened my eyes, but recently the more I reread Naruto and think about it, the more beautiful Naruto and Sakura’s devotion and faith becomes.
Amid all the SasuNaruSasu memes, I only start to realise it now.
They never gave up on Sasuke. Because who else is going to have his back, if not his teammates.
One more thing. It would also shatter Naruto and Sakura’s spirits permanently, forever leaving a hole of regret in their hearts, if they ever dared have the thought of giving up on Sasuke and letting him go and become the rogue ninja he sought to be.
All three of them would have grown up so much more bitter if that happened. Naruto might still have become Hokage, but there will forever be that wound in his heart, that he couldn’t save his most important friend.
When Naruto is old and gray, Kawaki is going to be there by his side.
If Naruto ever had to be bedridden or in a wheelchair, Kawaki is going to be the one carrying his Nanadaime to wherever he needs to go.
Tending to his every need. Gently feeding Naruto should he ever get weaker, nursing him back to health, fluffing his pillows and making sure he’s as comfortable as possible.
Dutiful and devoted, Kawaki only gets stronger as he grows into adulthood. Strong enough to take care of the one that took care of him. The physicality involved with carrying Naruto around, he can do it easily.
I need to know what’s going to happen to Kawaki. So invested in this boy’s wellbeing and his relationship with his adoptive father. To the point that it feels like he’s my own son and I only want the very best for him in life.
I just want this poor boy to be happy and get to live life normally. Finally be free of pain and suffering.
If he was my son, taken from me and gone through all those things he went through - the abuse, torture, experimentation- of course I’d be so livid on his behalf and would want justice be done, would want to hunt down whoever caused him such pain. That’s why Naruto’s anger on behalf of Kawaki, Naruto’s care and love for him is so valid, so powerful, so healing.
Even after Kawaki goes to extremes - this is something that happens in reality too. Don’t need to call them children, because grown adults do such things too. They are all acting out of fear and love. To think people would abandon Kawaki or hurt him after that, after all we know about Kawaki, it pains me.
Even though there are so many characters in the Naruto series you could have this feeling for, I have never felt the depth of it like this for any of the other Naruto characters. What is it about this angsty boy that resonates so?
Maybe it’s only because after Naruto concluded, that the the relief settled in - Naruto and Sasuke were always going to be okay no matter what madness they got put through. They are strong and they grew up to be even stronger. Even though fate and destiny were at play, their motivations and dreams were their strength. Most of all, they had each other. They are (were) the main characters of the Naruto series after all. Throughout the story of Naruto, Sasuke was in the most danger emotionally and psychologically, consumed by pain and revenge. But Naruto actually did achieve his goal of saving his friend, and brought him back to the light.
Meanwhile, Kawaki has just gotten out of the unique brand of madness that was forced on him from his father, Jigen/Isshiki, everyone in Kara - Delta, Code, Amado, Boro… and the 3 years where he watched over Konoha, making Boruto the enemy for the convenience of eliminating Momoshiki inside him, did no favours for him to all. Living in fear and vengeance, all the while faced with people around him treating him undue sympathy, so far from the truth. It’s true that the effects Omnipotence is the hardest on those immune to it.
The issue is I don’t know if Kawaki is really going to turn out alright or not. He only just found someone in his life to live for and find his purpose, a hyperfocused one.
Boruto is strong, and has always been strong. He has his family and friend’s love as his strength and armour.
It’s different with Kawaki.
Kawaki’s circumstances, all the good and bad, has struck a chord within me that I can’t shake.
For all his tough exterior, he’s fragile inside. Inside he’s just hanging together by a thread. The thread is his love for Naruto. But what happens when Naruto is threatened or hurt? If Naruto dies, it can’t really aly be said that Boruto, Himawari or least of all Hinata could fill that void in Kawaki.
Worse is, if for whatever circumstances, Naruto were to betray Kawaki or hurt him, I think it truly would break Kawaki.
I just want my boy to be alright. Please let him be alright.
Do you know any good kawanaru featuring an obsessive kawaki??
HI THEREEEE
On AO3, anything by:
spirt_anniemal
bombax
There’s a lot more but those are the 2 standout Authors on AO3 atm!
bombax writes mainly KawaNaru.
I found that even spirt_anniemal’s fics in Russian, the fics are so enjoyable to read with using Google Translate on the page. Their NaruKawa fics are my absolute faves too. Like really AWESOME.
It’s crazy how accurate the character energy is. How is this possible.
Maybe with the exception of law and Luffy. Luffy is more of the airhead on the surface, whereas law is more of the serious and focused type.
Ok Dragon is also a Libra (fits very well with his theme of liberation and revolution) and we don’t know enough about Dragon yet but I’m sure more about him coming in about 5 years of so. Looking forward to him and Luffy actually finally meeting face-to-face.
All the others tho. The dynamics are on point and just insane.
