#Naruto Uzumaki (sage)

[bl00dalchemist]

I bring you more fuckery

[deidaraswifey]

I miss them sm </3

[perikiro]

I really wanted to draw them in these outfits ♡♡♡

[tastheone]

[natsuzoku]

Kid Naruto: When I’m going to be Hokage, my first order will be to bring world peace, dattebayo!

Kakashi: Good job, Naruto. Everyone will listen to you when you’re Hokage.

*When Naruto finally becomes Hokage*

Naruto: As Hokage, my first order is for Kakashi-sensei to remove his mask.

Kakashi:

Kakashi: Listen here you little shit-

[martialartslover7]

Shippuden Rewrite Idea: What role I would have given to Anko in Shippuden

Let's be real to ourselves. Out of all the characters, who were done the most dirty (leaving the likes of the entire Hyuga clan, Kiba, Sasuke, pretty much the ENTIRE cast of Boruto, and a huge chunk of the female characters aside), Anko is the one, where the bad writing decisions, and therefore downright STAGGERING pile of missed opportunities, really shine through the most. Because, I dunno about you guys, but, the way Sasuke was written in Shippuden, I get it, he is supposed to be this lonely wolf, who is walking his own path, and doesn't take crap from anybody, not even his own team, and considering how corrupted Konoha is, from the ground up, with the likes of Danzo, and the Kage, having practically ENABLED said snake man, his actions make sense.

However, what bothers me, after a few rewatches...

...Sasuke is barely openly humanized, before Itachi's passing. The best way I can describe it, is that, it feels like, the author was just being edgy and angsty with him, for the sake being edgy and angsty. And that was a constant, by the way. Barely reacting to anything, always having this overfixated drive for his goals, and having this attitude of "fuck everyone else, my goal is more important", and yes, I understand. His backstory. But COME. ON. This just looks ridiculous after a while, man. If the only ounce of emotion a character can show, is always the same, stupid deadpan stare, having this "Fuck all of you" face, 24/7, never letting up, always putting on a mask around everyone, wouldn't you assume that, around Team Hebi, Sasuke would definitely show more cracks, as he WANTS to put faith in them, the same way Team 7 did with him, before his departure? Maybe I am misunderstanding something, but whenever I saw Sasuke on-screen in Shippuden, pre-Kage Summit, I just couldn't take him seriously. Tragic backstory or not, this is frankly embarrassing. Even other characters of a similar archetype like Sasuke, in other forms of media, have strong moments of humanity, showing definitive cracks in their facade (best examples I can name, is Shadow the Hedgehog, Jin Kazama, Siegfried Schtauffen, Robby Keene, Anakin Skywalker, Iori Yagami, even they showed emotion and humanity, even in their angstiest of phases), but Sasuke on the other hand, leaving the fight with Itachi aside, he barely ever emotes beyond that deadpan expression and occasional scowling, even during moments of dealing with the antics of his own teammates. And this comes from an unapologetic Sasuke supporter here, before some of you morons in the fandom assume that I am hating on him. I am not. I am calling Kishimoto an idiot here, that's all. Especially for humiliating Sasuke's character, after Shippuden.

So, the question of the hour arises:

How does Anko play into all of this?

Simple. The solution I am presenting here:

Turn her into a spy, that shall not only follow Team Hebi around to find out what Sasuke is really up to, keeping Team 7 up to speed, but to also watch over Sasuke, and letting his teammates know, he is doing OK, because I headcanon that, outside of Team 7, Neji, Shikamaru and Kiba, Anko also deeply cares about him, and with her it's even more special, because, since both had the same teaching figure, she more than understands and sympathizes with his course of action, way more than most people. And she had always been Pro Team Uchiha, even with Tobirama's and Danzo's discriminatory actions committed towards them, as she was one of the few, who NEVER bought into it, because like the Uchiha, she was also tossed aside like trash by both her teacher, and the village. Brownie points are definitely there.

Especially, if we keep in mind how knowledgeable Anko is about her former sensei, considering that, after learning of how Sasuke "killed" Orochimaru, Anko should know that, he cannot be killed that easily. And as we saw later, during Sasuke's fight with Itachi, that death was FAR from permanent, since he revived himself through Sasuke's Curse Mark. Which, by the way, has the exact same bodily line pattern as her own Curse Mark. That thing could function as her personal radar to track him down, as Orochimaru's influence did cause her major discomfort, as her Curse Mark was reacting to his presence, whenever he was closeby. So yeah, she is what Sonic saw in Longclaw. A guardian angel for Sasuke.

They have the same flame-like pattern.

And to be absolutely foolproof, knowing how unpredictable Sasuke has become, Anko decides to master the arts of Sage jutsu. And to do this, she ventures to the Ryūchi Caves to meet the White Snake Sage, and attain Snake Sage Mode, something that not even Orochimaru was truly capable of attaining on his own time, because his body wasn't cut out for the final task. But Anko succeeds, because the Curse Mark he gave her, functions like a "tunnel" of sorts to make the absorption process of the Sage chakra a lot more palpatable and bearable. And there you go, what do we get? This.

For anyone interested in wanting to see, how I would have written the process for Anko on how she ends up attaining Snake Sage mode, take a look here:

Now, much like Orochimaru, Anko is practically semi-immortal, Sasuke can dish out any fatal blow that he can think of, it's no use. She cannot be killed that easily anymore, and because she is very stubborn and persistant, essentially making her Naruto, if he was female, NOW ON STEROIDS, BECAUSE OF SNAKE SAGE MODE, I doubt she would ever leave, well enough alone, when she got an edgy dork like Sasuke on her radar.

In fact, I just realized, Anko's role here would also provide genuine comedic relief, that also humanizes Sasuke in the process, to make us, the audience, and Team 7 understand that, at the end of the day, much like Naruto, Sasuke didn't exactly change in those past three years, as she would spill the information to them on what she saw. Even after departing from Konoha, he still remains the same brooding, emo Uchiha dork, who keeps unintentionally hitting all of the checkmarks for being a drama queen. Oh, those Uchiha and their knack for loving Shakespearean dramatics. Let's not lie to ourselves, even with this traumatic shit he had to bear witness to, deep down, he had always remained that lonely, angsty wolf in Shippuden, even if the story would not dare to show, because "it would take away from the immersion", whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. Because I don't see how openly humanizing an edgelord character accounts for "taking away from the experience", since stuff like this, gets really tiring after a while, especially if this the ONLY thing you see with them. Most unnecessary melodrama is removed, because Anko provides us with important info, and keeps the team up-to-date. Win-win, if you ask me.

But, since Anko does strike me as a woman, who would go there...

...in order to get the information out of her, she is more than willing to openly share it with Kakashi...

...under the condition that...

...he is man enough to listen to her sultry voice and pervy scenarios, that she forces upon his Icha Icha Paradise-ridden mind. Even flirting with him on the phone, as she takes a hot bath, teasing him by telling him to join her, if he is man enough to get... the real thing, instead of being stuck to his pervy romance novels. She can be his romance. This woman knows her business.

And because she is a little bit of a sadist, she may end up trolling Sakura about Karin, making her initially believe that "Sasuke might be taken", before then reminding her: No, he is not. In fact, he always seemed openly uncomfortable being touched by Karin, due to her unhinged Uzumaki attitude, being a whirlpool of emotions, and pervy thoughts. I just find this hilarious, Anko has all of Team 7 in a chokehold about Sasuke. And once they learn, he hasn't exactly changed, they might comically grow very disappointed about him...

...and even from far away, Sasuke will FEEL their disappointment, it's just a goldmine of genuine comedy, mixed in with wholesomeness from genuine bonds being kept alive, and new ones being formed. All thanks to her.

Yup, Kakashi and Anko shippers, you can have a field day with this one, too.

And well, through Anko, we can even learn more about Sasuke's teammates, because she can dig up information about them, and feed them to Kakashi, just in case. Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo are all in the same boat as Sasuke and Anko. I swear, am I the only one who thinks:

Anko must become the sensei of Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo?

Imagine that for a minute. It makes way too much sense. And since she is a good person with maternal instincts, she would definitely treat these three like family, unlike what Orochimaru merely viewed them as: Assets.

So yeah, here you go. Not only did I just make Anko a heck of a lot more interesting, and a proper lense for the viewer to closely observe Sasuke, behind the scenes, where she closely observing his quirks and eccentricities (until the fight with Itachi, at least, where she may lose his trail completely, because of Obito using his Mangekyo to teleport Sasuke out of there), but also mended an issue that was plaguging early-Shippuden Sasuke. Making him less of a plot device that just drives the plot forward, and more of a guy that is merely trying to do his best, unable to move on from his old teammates. It makes it way easier to root for, and understand him too, even early on (even while keeping the stuff with the elders and Konoha in mind).

I hope you have a great day, now go on. Let me know what you think.

PEACE.

[puddingueu]

WIP I’m too busy to finish it rn but here it is so far

[suika-suigetsu]

Okay, guys, wait, wait... Jugo's "problem" is that he's constantly absorbing energy from nature, and so he transforms without choice. This is like Naruto having to be careful not to be transformed into a frog during his training on Mt. Myouboku.

This monstrous transformation of Jugo is literally his "sage mode".

So with training like that, couldn't Jugo also learn to control the transformation...? Please, I need your opinion... I don't want to believe that the solution to his problem is actually so simple and Masashi just didn't want to solve it...

[elirium]

froggies!

[vxmpire-vxlle]

Team Frog.

[phantomchick]

Naruto and being the Underdog

Okay so recently I was discussing naruto's characterisation in the comments section of a fanfic and the author was explaining that they don't like/never vibed with Naruto's character (which is totally fair). But then they explained how they felt the supposed underdog setup was contrived and didn't really work because Naruto never actually starts at zero thanks to his jinchuriki powers and being the yondaime's son. (And so here I am, on my soapbox to discuss how Naruto and the concept of being an underdog relate.)

On a physical level perhaps this applies, but Naruto places an equal (if not larger) amount of focus on the emotional action as it does on its plot action.

On an emotional level he has to work for each and every one of his personal relationships.

He wants to be hokage a role he can only take if he is both respected by his village and powerful enough to protect it. It''s a twofold goal. And in terms of the social aspect this is clearly stacked against him due to the hatred and exploitation of jinchuriki as well as shinobi in general, achieving emotional connection and dialogue between people who are used to might makes right or who are pre-disposed to look down on him or want to kill him puts him firmly at a disadvantage narratively.

With the notable exception of Hinata whose love is unconditional, whether it's Tsunade, Neji, Sasuke or Gaara or even Kurama the respect and attention that naruto craves are things he actively pursues in both good and bad ways and he earns them through his own effort.

He does this both by striving to understand these very different people and where they're coming from as well as surviving all the shit the world throws at him. Emotional and physical tasks.

In terms of being a jinchuriki and getting the rasengan easily thanks to his shadow clone bullshit / birthright connections to the yondaime It must first be acknowledged that the jinchuriki power is more of a disadvantage than a boon to him at first. First, because of kurama actively going out of his way to mess with his chakra control as a kid while doing the leaf exercise he was unable to learn the regular clone jutsu; it also results in him experiencing the trauma of discrimination and isolation from a young age which could easily have led to festering self-hatred and alienation if not for Iruka's intervention, it results in multiple S ranks who are fully capable of killing even shippuden level Naruto targetting him, and while the trade-off of boundless energy and survive-ability is immense those same boundless resources have the potential to burn him alive if he loses emotional control/gives into his most negative emotions - that's basically making the subtext text at that point, the story is about his emotional development and growth, something his "OP buffs" don't earn for him. Let's talk about boundless chakra resources for a moment. At the end of the original series, he only knows the rasengan; the rasenshuriken, the shadow clone justu and sage mode/yinyang mode by the end of the series and that's like 5 justu tops if we're counting yin/yang/bijuu mode and sage mode as jutsu. The majority of what he learned from jiraiya for three years seemed to be taijutsu only with a side of failed bijuu control. Naruto has his jinchuriki chakra from the start but that doesn't translate to an ability to use it, he has to spend hours working out how to do the shadow clone, he did not figure out how to do the jutsu because of his chakra even if that was the reason he was able to use it at all, and when it comes to the rasengan I will cite [someone who deleted their reddit account] here:

Naruto completed the first stage in three days and one night. He figured out how his chakra needed to move to burst the water balloon (thanks to a cat) but because he didn't have the necessary chakra control, he improvised by using another hand. He completed the second stage in three weeks or so. The next day(?), Jiraiya gave him a hint to improve his focus which allowed him to finally complete it. And the third stage was completed seven days later to win his bet with Tsunade. Once again, Naruto didn't have the control to focus his chakra the correct way despite his continuous efforts. It wasn't until he came up with another improvised method by using a shadow clone to focus the chakra that he was able to complete the final stage.

Meaning he is the one who comes up with unorthodox methods, such as also using his other hand, or using a shadow clone to focus the chakra, to learn it in four and a half weeks but he still had to figure out how to do it all himself. The shadow clone would've been useless without his understanding of the jutsu or his ability to do the individual parts of the jutsu. He earns the jutsu and could conceivably have learned it the old fashioned way were he not under an artificial time limit as both Jiraiya and Kakashi, both without jinchuriki power, know it and can use it.

Now I'll talk about his supposed privilege as the yondaime's child: Sasuke gets chidori and later kirin thanks to HIS connections but that's never remarked on in the same way. And in fact most people in the naruto-verse learn a big jutsu from their clan or parent; see Might Gai, the genius of hard work, learning the eight gates thanks to his father. The rasenshuriken is something he's only capable of learning thanks to his chakra and shadow clones I hear you quote Kakashi, but it's again, something he couldn't do without actually putting the work in to learn the jutsu. Naruto is on a time crunch because of Akatsuki, the fact he is capable of learning the jutsu once he has advice on wind chakra from Asuma and has practiced forming the rasengan and doing windblades enough means he didn't need the extra chakra to do it, having the chakra didn't automatically make him capable of the rasenshuriken all it did was speed up his chakra control practice exponentially, it would have taken him more time practicing but he could have learned the jutsu eventually even if he wasn't a jinchuriki. Now summons. Being the Yondaime's child might get him an in with Jiraiya to let him have the toad contract, but Sakura and Sasuke also get summoning contracts thanks to personal connections with Tsunade and Orochimaru and Jiraiya only gets him the opportunity. It's Naruto who has to use his willpower to stay on Gamabunta's back and it's Naruto who has to form relationships with his summons like Gamakichi, (a bond that becomes instrumental toward the end of the 4th war). Additionally learning Sage mode wasn't just a result of Naruto getting the contract because neither Sasuke nor Sakura achieved it despite both having contracts (and despite Kabuto managing it where Sasuke didn't) Sasuke with the Hawks as well as the Snakes. And importantly Naruto was unable to use clones or his extra chakra to speed up his training in this. In fact the clones only come into it after he has successfully mastered sage mode and function as a limited extra resource that's can't go beyond three shadow clones meditating and this doesn't function as more sage powah but as a means of extending his sage modes duration, a workaround that's only needed because his being a jinchuriki gets in the way of him gathering sage mode in real-time with the toads on him. In conclusion while his chakra lets him practice jutsu to learn them faster, this is not the case in either his sage mode or the yin yang release and only applies to the shadow clone, rasengan and rasenshuriken - all of which he had to actually learn and understand the mechanics of otherwise the jutsu wouldn't have worked no matter how many shadow clones he had try it and that with the exception of shadow clone he demonstrably could've learned them without being a jinchuriki. And in the case of rasengan and rasenshuriken he is under artificial time-limits imposed by Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.

So that's shadow clone, rasengan, rasenshuriken and sage mode covered but what about bijuu mode. An overpowered special mode he only gets for being a jinchuriki, that B only bothers to teach him because he's a jinchuriki, surely that's LEGIT op bullshit. No? No. At least not in comparison to the Sakura's forehead seal from Tsunade, Sasuke's Mangekyou abilities like izanagi, giant purple warrior and amaterasu, Obito's mokuton, Madara's sage of six paths abilities or the rinnegan's everything, anyway. Not to mention what the edo tensei are capable of.

The only reason bijuu mode works is that he earns Kurama's regard on an emotional level, it's not something which being a kage's kid or having jinchuriki chakra levels actually does fuck all to contribute to. He was that all along but Kurama still hated him and tried to take over his body. It's Naruto himself who has to reach out and make that effort to understand this person who he's always seen as a burden or a curse or an annoying tenant who doesn't pay rent, a monster who tries to kill him and take his body. It's Naruto who has to put in the emotional labour and see Kurama as a person, no matter the harm he's done.

Naruto is the underdog in spite of being "the chosen one" and having the strongest bijuu and a kage father because emotional labour is never easy and in a world like his it seems insane to even try. It's why everyone except him was prepared to give up on Sasuke, Naruto recognises his anger at Itachi and desire to avenge his family as valid, Naruto when he finds out the truth about Itachi from Danzo tells Sasuke he gets it, why he wants to destroy the village, why he's so angry, when Sasuke changes his mind and decides to become hokage instead of destroying it so he can change it, Naruto understands WHY even if he still wants to be kage himself. The problem with Sasuke is that his anger is self-destructive and self-isolating, not that it exists, it's when Naruto fights him one last time and makes Sasuke realise that he's only hurting himself and his loved ones at this point, that "talk no jutsu" finally works and Sasuke is able to listen to Naruto and come home.

It's also why Naruto earns being hokage; in a world full of killers, someone who is capable of acknowledging the harm done and not ignoring or forgetting it (like how he tells pain he can't forgive him), but who is also capable of looking past that and understanding the motivations and feelings of the person he's dealing with and talking to them on that level as equals hits so hard. It just felt like a fantastic set up for a diplomatic hokage capable of dealing with other kages and achieving a peace in spite of the fact they're all to the last, untrustworthy ninja mercenaries who are generally very ends justify the means. In a world of kill or be killed Naruto is still willing to kill, but he's also willing to understand and to talk. And he wasn't born with that, he worked for it and failed often, especially with Sasuke, it was never easy, it often appeared hopeless but he kept trying.

And we rooted for him because of it.

[thottyimagines]

Still thinking about Naruto in the year of our lord 2024 so I was wondering what your take would be on a Sannin swap, meaning team seven has different mentally unstable mentors from canon so they can be traumatized/educated in new and exciting ways <3

I've written a few about the potential dynamics between Naruto/Orochimaru, Sasuke/Tsunade, and Sakura/Jiraiya, but let me tell you about the different iteration that really and truly is my favorite:

Sakura/Orochimaru

Mad scientist, came-from-nothing ninja with insane chakra control reporting for duty.

Orochimaru takes one look at this pink-haired freak with a puddle of chakra who thinks she can stand side-by-side with the kyuubi and the last of one of the great dojutsu and says, would you like to live deliciously?

And Sakura says, of course I would.

It is not enough for her to succeed, others must fail. And Orochimaru loves and appreciates this about her.

Sakura runs away from Konoha with the promise of having a mentor who will teach her, who will focus on her, who will believe that she's more than her pitiful background and more than her overwhelming teammates.

She is, at first, foisted onto Kabuto. She frightens Kabuto.

When she gets good enough to replace Kabuto, which happens in a very alarming two years (max), Kabuto suddenly gets to live with the ever-present threat of becoming an experiment.

Orochimaru adores her and encourages her to steal any and all clan techniques and kekkei genkai that she can. Why should she be barred from knowledge if she yearns for it?

Sakura is the most learned woman in the elemental nations. She has figured out Orochimaru's Body Problem. She's replicated the Strength of a Hundred seal Tsunade uses. They are a plague unto Konohagakure.

She's gene splicing like nobody's business.

The only people who care that Sakura up and left are Naruto, Kakashi, a bit of Sasuke, and Ino. Except for...well, no one has that manic desire to bring her back, the way Naruto did when Sasuke went missing nin. They kind of view her as a failed experiment, though Ino misses her and thinks of her a lot.

Sasuke/Jiraiya

Such a miserable duo, but they kind of like it.

Jiraiya is strong enough to keep Sasuke safe, and he keeps the kid out of Konoha, which he really needed.

Sasuke takes to everything quickly and antagonistically. Jiraiya hates having such a talented student - he is, perhaps, even more talented than Minato - who is so desperately antisocial.

You know that one post that's like, someone who's objectively attractive but has negative rizz? That's Sasuke, and Jiraiya despairs on the regular, because this student of his should, in theory, take over this position as horny spy master with the way he effortlessly draws in beautiful women who can act as informants. Sadly, due to his personality, no one would ever believe that Sasuke is just charming these (knowledgable) women into bed with him.

Sasuke takes to sealing, and Jiraiya is petrified that he's going to come up with something to, like, replenish his clan at an alarming rate.

Sasuke gets rid of his brother with some sort of homemade seal that traps him in a Matryoshka doll or something. He didn't technically commit fratricide, but Itachi is suffering in that thing.

He comes back to the village looking way better than he did when he left. Jiraiya takes that as his main point of pride.

Naruto/Tsunade

Naruto, should he learn chakra control, is the ideal healer in that he has more chakra than should fit in a human body, even an Uzumaki.

It's the chakra control that is Tsunade's true challenge in teaching. And, good god, is it a challenge. Sasuke is already murdering his brother by the time Naruto can reliably aid in a minor surgery.

But once he finally learns it, Naruto is improving in leaps and bounds, as is his way.

He completes a Strength of a Hundred seal six months after he finally learns chakra control. Sakura has had hers for two years, and he does not know or care.

Naruto is saving people at unprecedented rates. Honestly, Tsunade struggles to justify making him a combat medic, because he's doing so much good in the hospital just staying at the village.

Naruto is Naruto, though, so Tsunade teaches him to brawl using her style.

He winds up on the most dangerous missions, due to the fact that he has a natural healing ability with his Kyuubi, and is now the most talented healer Konoha has (who insists on getting out there).

Honestly, I could see him winding up in ANBU, given those skills and traits.

His true hardship, after mastering chakra control, is realizing that his talk-no-jutsu isn't going to work all the time and that he can't derail missions to attempt it.

Naruto is a better hokage for it, in the end.

[awinterrosesstuff]

Not going to lie, Sage Mode is incredibly powerful. It was essential for Naruto to fight Pain. He mastered it even better than his sensei, learned a new taijutsu style, and enhanced his Rasenshuriken—all in just one week. But there’s one particular skill I really like about it: sensing chakra. While chakra sensing might seem supplementary, it’s incredibly useful for various reasons (like checking if your allies are alive, locating enemies, or sensing danger). It’s a skill I'm really glad Naruto developed. While it’s neither offensive nor defensive, I think Naruto was somewhat "lacking" in supplementary skills, and this ability really filled that gap. Plus, if we look at the last panels, Naruto can not only sense chakra but also get a vague impression of what's happening to the people he's sensing. Although it's blurry, you can easily tell from those images that they're in danger.

That leads me to a question : what’s the range of his sensing technique ? While the village is relatively large, it seems like his range is quite impressive. In the last two panels, the island he was on wasn’t exactly next to the war zones, yet he could sense at least six different fronts. It’s really remarkable, in my opinion.

I’m not a huge fan of Naruto’s ability to sense negative emotions. While it’s certainly useful for the plot (like distinguishing white zetsu from the others), I feel like it wasn’t really necessary for Naruto’s character. It’s hard to explain, but Naruto’s ability to sense negative emotions feels a bit redundant. He already has chakra sensing in sage mode, and his natural empathy is more than enough for him to connect with others. Honestly, sensing negative emotions was never really brought up again after they fought the Zetsu. It's almost like an extra power that wasn’t really needed.

[spacemanandy]

🌿Little Jiraiya painting because I miss him.🌿

[edentimm]

🍥🐸🍜🍃

[hopelessly-politeroad55]

Happy 🎂 birthday lady Hinata! (Dec.27). Voiced by: Stephanie Sheh (dub) & Nana Mizuki (Sub)