#THE FACT THAT HE'S STILL COUNTING ON HIM IN BORUTO.. I'M-

[owl-it-here]

Missed Opportunities: Naruto #2

Sasuke should not have been the last Uchiha! And I am not counting our dear villains, because by the end of the story, they have all died.

For as long as I can remember I've always questioned the Uchiha massacre. I understood pretty well why it happened, it wasn't Kishimoto's biggest screw-up in terms of plot either, but I never understood why only Sasuke survived. Ba, to create a narrative in which it would turn out that more people survived, further leaving the plot of Sasuke being the lonely prince, seemed quite simple to me. It wouldn't even have been necessary to change the main plotline, because it would have been enough that Sasuke would not have been aware of it.

Ah and I'm not including the Boruto storyline here, involving the existence of Sarada. I was never convinced about that continuation.

Why is it illogical that Sasuke was the only survivor? The simplest answer: experienced ninjas and a matter of chance.

Without questioning the abilities of Itachi (who, let's remember, was 13 years old) and Obito (who, while a bit older, was not in the best mental state).

Firstly, Konoha has highly developed medical assistance. The decision to massacre was made by three Hokage advisors. Even if he approved it, I do not believe that if it turned out that help had arrived quickly enough and someone could be saved he would not have allowed it. He has plenty of guilt anyway. (I don't deny that Danzo could have ordered his minions to finish everyone off, but well statistically as they say there is always someone.) Plus being in this profession - most tend to learn how to take a punch, and millimetres sometimes mean a lot.

Secondly how come everyone was supposedly in the village on the Uchiha land at the same time (and only Sasuke was returning late from the academy, where did the rest of the students go, were they faster than Sasuke?). I saw a post once that touched on this, but to repeat. It is known that as a result of the repression and resentment of civilians and some of the shinobi, the Uchiha tended to stay on the sidelines, but that doesn't change the fact that some of them were actively involved in missions - not all of them were in the police force. (I still don't believe that only Itachi and Shisui were in the Anbu.) And even if by some miracle no one had a mission outside the village, or Obito managed to kill all the active shinobi on a mission and no one noticed. It is to be believed that just that day, no one had any urgent business to attend to that would knock him out of his planned rhythm from even that morning. Sickness or childbirth that would have required the main hospital. A sudden visit to a further acquaintance, ba a visit to that cat village of theirs. People really are unpredictable and this kind of stroke of luck happens more often than we think. For example, the survivors of aeroplane crashes - the one girl who fell out of the plane, ended up in a jungle and found her way to civilisation.

Third, even persecuted societies are not homogeneous and the proverbial black sheep will be found everywhere. The proverbial considered from various angles. No matter how many times it was emphasized that everyone wanted to rebel against the village authorities, surely if a poll was conducted the results would not be everyone "- Itachi, Shisui and maybe Sasuke". Statistically there would certainly be votes of I don't know, yes but not strongly, or no but not strongly. So there were definitely a few people who had friends of friends or lovers outside the clan.

And this brings up the argument about infidelities, secret lovers and unplanned pregnancies. Regardless of the situation the clan was in and what rules were in place (trying to maintain the bloodline within the clan, etc.) - people are only human. Hence, as far as I remember, a good example is Izumi, who was drafted into the clan with her mother after it turned out that she had a sharingan (or maybe it was a fan interpretation? anyway). You mean to tell me that there were no Uchih children in the village who either didn't know they were Uchiha, or kept it a secret because that's what their parents wanted - so there wouldn't be a scandal. Especially considering that no matter how good a contraption is it's not foolproof. Additionally, from what I remember it was said somewhere that not every Uchiha needs to activate sharingan. Of course, if one succeeds, there is pride and all, but even considering Obito, no one denied that he was one even if they had different expectations of him. So there's probably a chance that the gene responsible for sharingan could skip a generation-which gives even more room for maneuver when it comes to these types of children.

Truly, I think there is a need for people with Uchiha blood who activated the sharingan, and thus confirmed their blood, as a result of the massacre - as they learned of the death of someone close to them. Or during an attack during the third round of the chunin exam. Or when Pain attacked. (Especially knowing that some activated in through Kyubi - Izumi). The chances that someone was pregnant with an Uchiha child and no one knew about it at the time of the massacre may not be that high, but the possibility that it happened a few times in the past is quite high.

Lastly, the argument goes back to our dear "villains", because if I'm already thinking like that, I could go back to them after all. Although their deaths had a purpose, I still think that both in Itachi's and Obito's cases, if they survived by some miracle, it would be more interesting to see them atone for what they have on their conscience. Particularly Itachi who we know was sick and went untreated anyway. Probably even if they had started treating him after the war he would not have had many years to live.

I would really like to see a scene, especially after the final battle with Naruto, where Sasuke learns that he is not the last one and that if he had stayed in the village he would have found out, either as he gained the rank of chunin (if they were untrained adults) or as soon as it became safe again (in the case of children, to help them - especially if any had trained at the academy).

Let's not kid ourselves, Sasuke always wanted a family (or at least when he was younger he certainly would have appreciated it).

[stilldreamx]

Debuting my pentab with a redraw exercise...

Here's to me acknowledging that people change.

For the longest time... I didn't really like Sasuke. I understood why he was an asshole, I knew his pain is valid, but even when I didn't like Naruto himself... I just... didn't like the the Uchihas? Maybe it was the hype? Maybe I just didn't like his broody, emo personality? I'm not sure, but I just kept thinking, that he's "meh".

After what seems like a decade and a half... I finally finished his story with Naruto.

And unlike how I pictured it unfolding, 90% of the time he really was just an asshole. Somehow I didn't really feel sorry for him, which was odd, cos I have a soft spot for "misunderstood" characters, or even just batshit crazy ones. Because they're interesting. But not Sasuke... for some reason.

Unfortunately I caught up with the Boruto story line first before I finished the entirety of Naruto/Shippuden.

Despite knowing the general story for Shippuden since I grew up with it, it was still somehow a spoiler. But somehow I started liking the adult Sasuke in Boruto especially after I rewatched the time travel arc for like... 10 times and counting.

I got swayed by comments I've read that Sasuke and Naruto's friendship didn't make sense. Naruto's over the top efforts to get his friend back was ridiculous. I didn't appreciate it then. But after going through the actual journey... it started to finally sink in.

There was a reddit thread that really had an impact with me. It was discussing how Sasuke was just an asshole all through out. But somebody pointed out that we all know a Sasuke in our lives who are beyond help. Could be drowning in depression, struggling with drugs, stuck with the wrong people... and how those Sasukes need a Naruto in their lives to help them through.

With all these being fictional and laced with out-of-this-world powers and abilities, there was still a big truth to it.

There were times that I was really toxic. There still are. But I knew that I was human and a lot of times I wish I weren't alone. I needed a Naruto in my life. While it's true that the best people to save us are ourselves, we can't deny the fact that there are times that we need someone to lean on and help us. Someone who won't give up, someone who will acknowledge your struggles and not let you drown in your own demise.

And so, when I saw Sasuke tear up after his battle with Naruto, I felt sorry for him. It hurt me so much because it reminded me of the times I was alone and couldn't find a hand to hold when I was actively reaching out. It hurt a lot.

It's just... comforting to know there will be someone always looking out for you no matter how much you fuck up. Not to enable you, but to let you feel valid and real.

Most people would think it's just kid's fiction, but when you realize its underlying inspiration and analogy in real life... it's so much more than that.

The Naruto story will always have a special place in my heart.

[notimeliketoday]

More responses (I'm doing this a lot today) || Reasons

Well, I’m not sure if any of the arguments stated are the ‘old’ ones you mentioned (I haven’t had an argument in a long time, I tend to avoid them), although they are rather common amongst us who don’t ship SS.

My main issue with SS isn’t the fact that Sasuke is away. Far from it. I think that could’ve been worked in his favour. My issue is the lack of communication, which I realise is a common argument. It isn’t necessarily the ships fault though, I acknowledge this as bad writing.

Sasuke didn’t know  what Sarada looked like when he first saw her. He didn’t recognise her. This is such a dick move on Kishi’s part because I’m utterly unconvinced a man of Sasuke’s power and status is unable of communicating with his family because its ‘unsafe’.

He’s the one with the power to travel through space and yet he doesn’t show up even once in 10 years to see his child. 

Surely you can acknowledge how messed up this is? 

And for my personal reasons; well, I believe the key to a successful relationship is communication and familiarity, and I don’t believe the build up towards their marriage was done well or correctly. 

Sasuke left on his trip to redemption right after the war, and somehow decided he could just return, marry, procreate and then leave? Isn’t that selfish? If he believed he didn’t deserve happiness like you put it, then why? Why did he do this to Sakura? I don’t think it makes her happy to be a single mother whose husband is never able to be home for a reason or another. And what about Sarada? I would think he out of everyone would understand what its like to grow up without a father, and yet he’s never there to train her or impart traditional uchiha secrets on her.

This is all keeping in mind it was his choice to have her before finishing his journey. 

Old me that used to ship them hated this so much, she couldn’t stomach it and moved on to more fulfilling ships.

And gods, I was so bitter! For a while I hated them so much just seeing art of them made me cringe and would ruin my day. I’m doing better now though, I’ve learned to stomach the fanon version again through reading the amazing fic A Twist in Time by the lovely wolf08. 

So I reiterate; my problem is canon and kishi, not the people. Not the fandoms. Fanon SS is brilliant, well written, well plotted, well delivered. 

Canon? It’s trash. Bad writing. How I wish Kishi left the ending at 699. That there was never a sequel. He’s ruined his own work and I don’t say this because I dislike the ships but because he ruined so many other things.

I don’t care that Sasuke has to be away, or that this was as much his choice as it was hers, all I know is this is their story and it’s sad, unfulfilling and makes me more miserable than happy. I can’t ship this, and I can’t for one second imagine Sakura could be happy with this. 

And if you’ve read this, and you feel like I’m still irrational? I’m sorry, but this is just how I feel. You said you didn’t ship KakaSaku and I don’t even require reasons to understand that it’s perfectly okay for you to dislike them. I know what set of problems accompanies my ship and how some people tend to view it and I accept its not everyone’s cup of tea. I do stress one fact though, because people assume this all the time, I DONT ship underage KS, I don’t support it, I can’t stomach it, all the obvious reasons. So if you shall state your opinion like I stated mine, please avoid the common misplaced accusation of pedophilia. Because then I’d be inclined to disregard everything else you’ve said.

Good day.

Submitted by @bouncyirwin

My main issue with SS isn’t the fact that Sasuke is away. Far from it. I think that could’ve been worked in his favour. My issue is the lack of communication, which I realise is a common argument. It isn’t necessarily the ships fault though, I acknowledge this as bad writing. 

I have to make it clear that although we are shown in Gaiden that they did not communicate because Sarada believes it is so, it doesn’t mean that they really did not communicate at all. Gaiden is written in Sarada’s perspective as the protagonist of that story. Obviously, we are only shown what she believes to be true.

I can’t blame people for reaching the conclusion that they did that Sasuke and Sakura didn’t communicate at all but I wished that they wouldn’t have just jump straight into believing things without considering what we did get in canon (unless you’re delusional antis).

Now we know that Sasuke at least communicated with Naruto as part of reporting his findings to the Hokage. But what people didn’t consider is that just because only Naruto is stated to be the one he keeps in contact with doesn’t mean that Sakura herself is out of the loop like Sarada does. If you pay attention to the first chapters of Gaiden, Sakura is acting secretively and her answers are vague as if she’s hiding something. Many people believe it has something to do with the truth regarding Sasuke during his stint as a missing-nin but I believe it overlooks another obvious reason stated by Sasuke himself.

When Sasuke volunteered to search for entities like Kaguya, he wanted no one who was not present during the Kage meeting to know what he was doing. Sakura is very much present in this meeting so she is not part of those who are excluded from knowing Sasuke’s mission.

That is why it is more probable to say that while Naruto is the one to keep correspondence with him, the former will update Sakura of his latest movement. With Naruto as the medium, they can easily write to each other. She in turn will try to satisfy her daughter’s curiosity for as long as she could without spilling the whole truth.

Sasuke didn’t know  what Sarada looked like when he first saw her. He didn’t recognise her. This is such a dick move on Kishi’s part because I’m utterly unconvinced a man of Sasuke’s power and status is unable of communicating with his family because its ‘unsafe’. 

Sasuke is obviously not away for 12 years. Let me just say this first. At the very least, he was still present when Sarada was 4-5 years old (a bit before the flashback scene of her asking her mother where her father was). However, you fail to consider that as Sarada grows older, she no longer looks the same as she once did. There are actual cases where children don’t look anything like how they used to back when they were still very young. So it’s also very much safe to assume that he didn’t recognize her at first because she wasn’t how he remember her to be. I very much believe this is the case, since he also didn’t know who Boruto was the first time he saw him. Knowing Naruto, he can’t not show his child to his most precious people, therefore Sasuke had seen Boruto as a young child, regardless if Boruto remembered their encounter or not.

Aside from that, he also expects Sarada to be inside the village and not wandering around. Couple that with the threat of the Shins, Sasuke is on high alert for possible clones. Sarada unfortunately gets caught in the crossfire.

Now why didn’t they send pictures to him?

That is what made it unsafe. It should be obvious right?

He’s the one with the power to travel through space and yet he doesn’t show up even once in 10 years to see his child.

Surely you can acknowledge how messed up this is?

You fail to grasp the gravity of Sasuke’s mission. You are only looking at how it affected his relationship with his family but you did not look at the bigger picture.

Kaguya’s presence threatened the existence of the entire humanity. It did not only involve shinobi, it involve all beings with chakra. Imagine finding the possibility of an even more dangerous entity than the one who already managed to put the entire world to near extinction. He simply cannot afford to slack and getting distracted when the fate of the entire world, as well as that of his own family, is at stake.

By focusing his mission above anything else, Sasuke did nothing wrong especially since it is directly stated in the Shinobi Rule #4: A shinobi must always put the mission first.

Sakura understands this. Didn’t she recite the shinobi rules while crying over Sasuke’s injured form during the battle with Zabuza and Haku? Then it stands to reason why Sasuke never visited even once and she no doubt don’t resent him for it when she saw firsthand how dangerous Kaguya was and how crucial it is for him to focus on his mission above his need to see his family, as well as her own experience. You’re acting as if Sakura is not a ninja and unfamiliar of how they work.

This is not messed up. This is Sasuke putting the safety of his family and the world above his desires to be with them. After all, it is worth sacrificing all he had just to ensure their safety. He can easily make up for the lost years bonding with them after the mission right?

The only drawback is he didn’t count how Sarada would be affected by his decision to hide things from her. That is why he didn’t allow Sakura to apologize for her behavior because he knows that he is more to blame than her.

And for my personal reasons; well, I believe the key to a successful relationship is communication and familiarity, and I don’t believe the build up towards their marriage was done well or correctly.

Now this is one of the reasons I hate antis. You only place things in realistic standards only when it concerns Sasusaku. Stop with the double standards please. Naruto was never a realistic show with its themes and concepts. You should not apply your own standards to it. Not only that but they showed understanding, familiarity and successful communication be it only with their body language, eye contact (eye smex) or words as far back as part one and continued in their marriage. Sasuke’s departure for the mission did not hinder their relationship as husband and wife at all. There was no problem with their bond. Only Sarada’s doubts made people believe otherwise.

Sasuke left on his trip to redemption right after the war, and somehow decided he could just return, marry, procreate and then leave? Isn’t that selfish? If he believed he didn’t deserve happiness like you put it, then why? Why did he do this to Sakura? I don’t think it makes her happy to be a single mother whose husband is never able to be home for a reason or another. And what about Sarada? I would think he out of everyone would understand what its like to grow up without a father, and yet he’s never there to train her or impart traditional uchiha secrets on her. 

And do you think it would be ideal to their relationship if Sasuke just up and proceed to enter in a relationship with Sakura while carrying heavy emotional baggage? I don’t think you paid attention to details but the reason Sasuke could not fully give in to the feelings of love he already harbored for her and fall for her completely prior to his defection was because his revenge and emotional turmoil was hindering them. He could not enjoy life at all not until he fully avenged the clan and fulfilled his goal. Instead, he went to believe that bonds made him weak.

Now once again he was saved from this but instead, is now atoning for his sins. If he just ignored the impulse to go on a journey of atonement, he would be unable to reciprocate her feelings in full once again. That would be detrimental, and something anti sasusaku fans wants to happen right? He would be almost like how you people see him: an uncaring husband and father who can’t stay for no reason at all other than his own conflicting feelings, except that he does care about them but doesn’t have the heart to stay out of guilt.

Kishi made the right decision to make Sasuke go on that journey and later implied that they traveled together afterwards and build their relationship even further. That way, their relationship is much healthier as we actually do see in Gaiden.

Once again, you trivialize Sasuke’s mission as something to be dismissed in the guise of him as a husband “ who is never able to be home for a reason or another” when he was away not because he wanted to but because he had to. There is a difference.

Sasuke doesn’t care about clan traditions, not when he already vowed during the final battle in VoTE that he will destroy and rebuild everything as well as cast off the past. I don’t see him changing that soon when he still fulfills his idea of “ruling in the shadows” to an extent.

This is all keeping in mind it was his choice to have her before finishing his journey. 

Sakura wanted to go with him during his first ever journey but he told her “you are not part of my sins” and poked her forehead instead as a promise. He did not make any move without her consent. When he did get back, they travel together and get married in the process and gave birth to Sarada in Orochimaru’s hideout.

Now take note: Sasuke haven’t yet discovered the existence of the other Ootsutsuki headaches out there when they went on this journey together as they traveled prior to Naruto’s inauguration as Hokage. It can be sure that the situation is far different that is why they can afford to get married and have a child at that point in time.

Old me that used to ship them hated this so much, she couldn’t stomach it and moved on to more fulfilling ships.

And gods, I was so bitter! For a while I hated them so much just seeing art of them made me cringe and would ruin my day. I’m doing better now though, I’ve learned to stomach the fanon version again through reading the amazing fic A Twist in Time by the lovely wolf08.

Yeah, because if you actually took the time to think more critically, you would have seen what we loyal Sasusaku fans still see until this day. And if you actually did look at Kakasaku more critically starting their genin days and not because Kakashi actually supported Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke (SS ship captain right there), you would’ve seen that Kakasaku is actually worse in comparison.

But that is a discussion I will put on a separate post.

So I reiterate; my problem is canon and kishi, not the people. Not the fandoms. Fanon SS is brilliant, well written, well plotted, well delivered.

Canon? It’s trash. Bad writing. How I wish Kishi left the ending at 699. That there was never a sequel. He’s ruined his own work and I don’t say this because I dislike the ships but because he ruined so many other things.

To some extent I acknowledge bad writing. But give Kishi credit. After all, the reason why Sasusaku is so popular is the complexity of their relationship. You can literally fit Sasusaku in all genre and still make it in character. You can even easily find many songs, poems, and scenes that will bring you back to them.

That is how well-done their love story is.

I don’t care that Sasuke has to be away, or that this was as much his choice as it was hers, all I know is this is their story and it’s sad, unfulfilling and makes me more miserable than happy. I can’t ship this, and I can’t for one second imagine Sakura could be happy with this. 

It’s funny, because Sakura didn’t show she is actually unhappy in Gaiden. Sure, she misses her husband but she was able to smile and assure her daughter of their bond. I’m not sad at all, for while Sasuke did went back to his mission once again, he was finally back for real. The Boruto movie and novel went so far as to imply that they had sex when he got back for real and Sarada teased her mother about it in a subtle way.

What’s there to be sad about?

And if you’ve read this, and you feel like I’m still irrational? I’m sorry, but this is just how I feel. You said you didn’t ship KakaSaku and I don’t even require reasons to understand that it’s perfectly okay for you to dislike them. I know what set of problems accompanies my ship and how some people tend to view it and I accept its not everyone’s cup of tea. I do stress one fact though, because people assume this all the time, I DONT ship underage KS, I don’t support it, I can’t stomach it, all the obvious reasons. So if you shall state your opinion like I stated mine, please avoid the common misplaced accusation of pedophilia. Because then I’d be inclined to disregard everything else you’ve said.

Why yes. With how your line of reasoning fared against mine, it’s unfortunate but sorry YOU. ARE. IRRATIONAL. I don’t care much about the age gap Kakashi and Sakura are supposed to have when you ship it or whatever realistic standards it broke. All I care is how their relationship was shown in the series from start to finish. I’m sorry to tell you because I found them lacking no matter how aesthetically pleasing the two of them are.

I’m even disgusted why this ship gets a pass just because Kakashi supported Sakura’s feelings. But did he actually cared about her as a person and not just a former member of his squad? That is the question

Other crack pairings are forgivable because they’re crack and already impossible to begin with. (not counting the mess that is SK)

You will know my point why I never considered Kakasaku at all. But that’s for later.