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Naruto, Sasuke, and Heart Symbolism

Sasuke got his 2nd tomoe because of Naruto.

Narrative Impact: Established Naruto as someone with unique importance to Sasuke outside of Team 7 and someone who could change his heart. Set up a subtle juxtaposition between Naruto and Itachi with regards to Sasuke ("I swore I wouldn't die... until I killed him... my older brother... thought the oath would save me... but... don't you dare die.") which established the tension that would have to be resolved in Sasuke's arc regarding whether he should solely follow in his brother's foorsteps or choose the comfort of his emotional connection with Naruto.

Naruto clutched at his chest above where his heart would be when he grieved over the loss of Sasuke. The mission wasn't the only priority that Naruto carried in his heart.

Narrative Impact: Established Sasuke as someone entrenched in Naruto's heart, despite Naruto's tsundere posturing. The first major instance of Naruto's feelings for Sasuke conflicting with what was expected of Naruto as a shinobi.

Kishimoto explicitly emphasized Sasuke looking at and reacting to Naruto 3 times with his heart beating in response, thus establishing a metonymic relationship in which Sasuke's heart beating represented Naruto having an effect on Sasuke's heart. Naruto was the only comrade Sasuke's heart beat for. When Sasuke finally decided to wholly reject Itachi's words, Sasuke's heart beat again, symbolizing Naruto connected to Sasuke's heart changing.

Narrative Impact: Reinforced Naruto as someone who had a significant effect on Sasuke's heart and foreshadowed Naruto being the one who would have an effect on Sasuke's heart post timeskip. Continued the Naruto vs. Itachi element in Sasuke's by having Sasuke reject Itachi's negative words as a result of Naruto's influence. Also built upon Sasuke being moved by Naruto's fortitude.

The aforementioned reading was confirmed when Orochimaru, who Kishimoto used frequently as a reliable exposition tool to comment on Sasuke's state of mind (see exhibit A) thinks about the moment Sasuke finally decided to fight Orochimaru and attributes this change to Naruto's impact.

Narrative Impact: Provided explicit proof of Naruto being a threat to people that desired to negatively control Sasuke. The first example of Kishimoto using Orochimaru to comment on Naruto and Sasuke's bond.

Naruto's heart beat in positive excitement when Sasuke explicitly acknowledged Naruto as a rival and equal.

Narrative Impact: Showed how crucial Sasuke's validation was to Naruto. Laid the groundwork for a crucial core motivation that Naruto mentioned in his rooftop fight with Sasuke, his inner monologue during VOTE 1, and his 5 Kage Summit reunion with Sasuke. This core motivation also helps undercut the idea that Naruto's desire to connect with Sasuke were solely rooted in altruism.

Gaara directly compared Naruto to Kimimaro, who stated that he would forever remain in Orochimaru's heart because he was not alone, which was obvious foreshadowing for Naruto and Sasuke's bond.

Narrative Impact: Highlighted Naruto's utter devotion to amd belief in Sasuke. Kishimoto's use of comparatives (the more precious your idol is to you... the harder you fight for him) in foreshadowing Naruto's feelings for Sasuke helped undercut the "Naruto would do what he did for anybody" argument. Kishimoto could have easily made Gaara say ("If someone is precious, you'll fight for him) and the core meaning would have more or less remained the same, but Kishimot was specific with his words. Sasuke was put in this role precisely because Naruto cared about Sasuke the most, along with Iruka.

Sasuke recognized Naruto as his closest friend and the one that he needed to kill in order to get the Magekyou Sharingan.

Narrative Impact: Reaffirmed Naruto's status as someone Sasuke had a unique bond that was bolstered by, but not limited to Team 7. Also used comparatives to situate Naruto at the top of the hierarchy of importance when it came to Sasuke's comrades. Kishimoto's choice to have Sasuke kill his closest friend over say, a close friend in general — which would give Sasuke another option besides Naruto — is telling.

Sasuke got his 3rd tomoe because of Naruto confessing the weight of his feelings.

Narrative Impact: Highlighted just how much Sasuke valued Naruto, and more specifically, hearing Naruto talks about how much Sasuke meant to him. Naruto provokes strong feelings in Sasuke.

Sasuke asked Naruto if he could read what was inside his heart (his deep inner feelings).

Narrative Impact: Established the "fighting as a means of communication" motif that repeatedly cropped up in Sasuke and Naruto's dynamic post timeskip.

When Naruto and Sasuke's jutsus clashed, a childhood dream of Sasuke and Naruto's arms being linked in the unison sign was shown.

Narrative Impact: I mean the pictures say it all. Despite the harshness and the violence, they truly did desire to connect with eachother deep down. Also showed how Naruto and Sasuke could coat the humanity out of eachother even in strong power forms that amplify aggression.

Naruto clutched his chest above where his heart would be when he saw a shooting star and then thought of Sasuke.

Narrative Impact: Built on visual motif of Naruto "clutching his heart" because of Sasuke. Reinforced Sasuke as Naruto's motivation and the one who gave him strength given that immediately after this scene, Naruto got up and successfully achieved his training goal. A moment further supported by Kishimoto using Kakashi to point out that Sasuke was Naruto's driving force.

Naruto clutched his chest above where his heart would be when having a panic attack over thought of Sasuke being killed.

Narrative Impact: Reinforced the heart clutching because of Sasuke motif that was established in Part 1. His devotion to Sasuke was not a matter of mere pragmatism and devotion to perceived ideals regarding what it took to be a Hokage, and it's bizarre that this is still an argument. Sasuke is someone who is deeply entrenched in Naruto's heart.

Naruto and Sasuke clashed fists, entered their shared mindscape, and Naruto opened up about how much Sasuke meant to him.

Narrative Impact: Visual imagery of Naruto and Sasuke reaching out to eachother connected with the dream Naruto and Sasuke held during VOTE 1 regarding their desire to emotionally connect with eachother (represented by them doing the unison symbol). Represented Naruto coming closer to Sasuke's heart. Displayed Naruto's emotional growth and maturity when he managed to speak aloud the words that he kept confined to his inner monologue in VOTE 1.

Naruto made a callback to what Sasuke asked him in VOTE 1, pointed to his chest above where his heart would be, and asked Sasuke if he could read what was inside his heart.

Narrative Impact: Naruto acknowledged himself and Sasuke as equals who would die if they faced the other which put a qrench in the plans of people who wanted Naruto to dominate Sasuke in battle. This scene also led to Naruto making a proposal that significantly resembled the structure of shinju (double suicide), (a concept that has great significance in Japanese and Western popular culture and is significantly linked to romantic love — hello Romeo and Juliet) a concept that was invoked by Omoi at the beginning of the volume that Naruto's proposal was in.

Tobirama confirmed that the transformation of the sharingan reflects the heart, reaffirming the importance of Naruto to Sasuke.

Narrative Impact: Debunked the claims of antis that Sasuke's sharingan transformations weren't tied to Sasuke's fear of losing Naruto. Established Naruto as someone who was a great love and reaffirmed the importance of Naruto and Sasuke's family to Sasuke's arc.

Bunpuku, the Shukaku host before Gaara, stated that people's hearts fundamentally wished to connect with and accept eachother, foreshadowing Naruto and Sasuke's reconciliation. This reading was reinforced by 1. Kishimoto repeating the "No distinction between man and beast" motif present in Bunpuku's statement through Kurama's confirmation that just like Naruto was the one and only for Sasuke, Naruto was the one and only for the tailed beasts (exhibit A) 2. The Sage of Six Paths indicating that the battle between Naruto and Sasuke would be a reclamation of love, which was linked to Bunpuku stating that love was a manifestation of accepting someone's true heart (exhibit B), and 3. The visual imagery of Naruto and Sasuke's blood connecting metaphorically representing their hands meeting and the realization of the dream that they held in their hearts during VOTE 1 to connect with eachother (exhibit C) [and this also indirectly reinforces the "No distinction between man and beast motif because the unison symbol between Naruto and Sasuke is similar to the fist bumps between Naruto and the tailed beasts (ie. Chapter 572)]

Narrative Impact: Provided the fact that contrary to the antis desires, Sasuke was never going to merrily kill Sasuke so that Sasuke could embody the political ideals people pushed onto him. His need to cut Naruto was a matter of duty and self harm rather than something that would make him genuinely happy.

The above analysis was also linked to Sasuke explicitly mentioning that the outcome of his reconciliation with Naruto was that their hearts could now connect in their shared feelings of pain and empathy for the other.

Narrative Impact: Wrapped up the subjects of The Heart and Pain that Kishimoto devoted attention to throughout the manga, most significantly through Naruto and Sasuke's bond. Explicitly established an intense and deep mutual level of intimacy, care and understanding in their bond that was hard fought but successfully achieved through hard work.

Madara explicitly confirmed ninshu, the means through which Naruto and Sasuke entered their unique mindscape to communicate with eachother, was a religion that was originally created by the Sage of Six Paths in order to enable people to understand eachother's hearts — a fact confirmed by the Sage himself.

Narrative Impact: Finally gave an explanation for Naruto and Sasuke's mindscape. Highlighted that even amidst violence there was a desire to understand eachother and be connected at it's core. Explicity linked Naruto and Sasuke's bond to a religion, something that was only previously implicitly hinted at (eg. Naruto sitting in front of a temple and thinking about Sasuke)

Sasuke told Naruto during VOTE 2 that they both knew eachother's hearts.

Narrative Impact: Represented the development of Naruto and Sasuke's bond. They no longer had to ask the other if they understood matters of the heart, because they developed to a point where the understood the motivations of the other. As Sasuke said, they were different from the two boys who fought at the final valley long ago.

Naruto and Sasuke connected in their shared mindscape, which reflects the heart, and Sasuke reaffirmed the fact that he needed to kill Naruto to fully be alone and Naruto recalled the words Sasuke said to him in VOTE 1.

Narrative Impact: Reinforced Naruto's level of signifance in Sasuke's heart and again solidified that Sasuke needed to cut off Naruto to achieve his goals and enter the hell of loneliness. It was a classic "perceived need" vs. want conflict.

Sasuke stated that Naruto kept coming closer to his heart all the time.

Narrative Impact: Helped bolster the arguments of SNS fans who pointed out the fact that it was Naruto who Sasuke was connected to post timsekip rather than Team 7. You'd think it would be obvious since Sasuke himself said Naruto was the only one he needed to cut off to be alone and he also stated he still considered Naruto to be his closest friend but the level of denial and refusal to engage with what the text presents is significant in this fandom. It was also significant that Sasuke mentioned Naruto (alone) came closer to his heart the whole time meaning the entire post timeskip.

Bonus: Kishimoto drew from the romantic philosophical tradition of shinju. Shinju originated as an outward expression of "what was in the heart" and was meant to be an expression of gay love but transformed into an expression of heterosexual love, which can be seen in the example of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's famous love suicide plays, the same Chikamatsu Monzaemon that Kishimoto has referenced explicitly in the manga.

Narrative Impact: From the repeated "what was in the heart" symbolism to the amputation of Naruto and Sasuke's arms to Naruto's proposal that resembled love suicide in the same volume where Omoi talked about shinju, the level of romantic references and coding escaped plausible deniability. At the very least, it established that Kishimoto was not ignorant about what he chose to put into his manga and the way he chose to portray Naruto and Sasuke's bond.

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