#credit to kishi too

[ct-1477]

[avengernomore]

But anyway, I’m here for headcanons! One of which would actually be beneficial to a character other than Sasuke!

Considering that Sasuke was at Konoha, and Sakura was aware of this, she would have no issues with stabbing and poisoning Sasuke.

I’m not sure if she'd be able to take out the Zetsu clone on her own, but she definitely wouldn’t hesitate to stab him. Might even have more motivation to stab him, considering they’re imitating Sasuke after attacking the Kage summit, and murdering Danzo. Who, while he's an asshole, was still the Hokage at the time.

[madelinesnarutoblog]

I don't really know what to say to the scene with Dark Naruto, but I will try to put this in a context that could make some sense of this scene...

Kishi refers to both Naruto and Sasuke as Yin & Yang. They progress as a pair. And they are both out of balance at this point of the narrative and leaning into their extremes.

Sasuke is in such a state of deep pain that although his feelings and most of his actions are justified, he is really forgetting how gentle his heart is and doing stuff like hurting Karin.

If we take the progress as a pair thing then at this point Naruto is in such a state of I guess people-pleasing and being a superhero, that he is forgetting about himself and his own pain.

Before the shit talking arc, the whole pain arc actually showed him, that through his pain he gained better understanding of everyone. Even if it hurt, even he hated, in the end it gave him empathy. So the pain around his heart is actually making him a better and more understanding person altogether. He was never consumed by hatred, so there was no need to just like, make his hatred disappear?

I guess Kishi is just leaning into the extremes here. I know Sasuke comes back into balance when Itachi tells him that he loves him. So I guess, for Naruto, that would be Kushina he is about to meet... Let's see...

But no kids, bottling up your valid pain, because you want to be the person other's see in you is not worth it. It's self-betrayal. Naruto's dark part deserves as much love and understanding as everyone else, and I hate that Naruto just makes it disappear to be able to continue to burden himself for others. My boy needs to give himself some love and credit, too.

[neuvifuri]

sharing my neuvifuri playlist! cover art by @kingskyless ⚖️💧

the playlist roughly follows an interpretation of their relationship from focalors/furina asking neuvillette to be iudex as part of the plot to make him love humans, the beginning of a romantic relationship during their co-reign of fontaine, the trial and focalors death, furina leaving, and then reuniting 💕

i’d also like to give credit to whoever it was who suggested evermore as a neuvifuri song, but i believe the post was deleted :(

EDIT: i found the post! thank you @cinnamonbirb534

tracklist:

Beauty Will Save the World by Dirt Poor Robins

Come into the Water by Mitski

Remember My Name by Mitski

Come Alive by Rachel Taylor

Deep Water by American Authors

13 Beaches by Lana Del Rey

Me and My Husband by Mitski

C’est La Mort by The Civil Wars

Geyser by Mitski

All This And Heaven Too by Florence + The Machine

Gravity by Sara Bareilles

Intertwined by dodie

Dancing With Our Hands Tied by Taylor Swift

Curses by The Crane Wives

everything i wanted by Billie Eilish

The Sword & the Pen by Regina Spektor

I’m Your Man by Mitski

Inkpot Gods by The Amazing Devil

What The Water Gave Me by Florence + The Machine

Dance Me to the End of Love by The Civil Wars

Maybe by Lily Kershaw

Death Stranding by CHVRCHES

Bigger Than The Whole Sky by Taylor Swift

All Things End by Hozier

In Our Bedroom After The War by Stars

Heavy In Your Arms by Florence + The Machine

Evermore by Josh Groban

Her Embrace by Jeremy Jordan

Castles Crumbling ft. Hayley Williams by Taylor Swift

Marigolds by Kishi Bashi

World Spins Madly On by The Weepies

The Night We Met by Lord Huron

Who We Are by Hozier

Love Love Love by The Mountain Goats

Old Gods by Emily Scott Robinson ft. Alisha Amador and Violet Bell

peace by Taylor Swift

Francesca by Hozier

This Is A Life by Mitski, Son Lux and David Byrne

This Love (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift

Fair by The Amazing Devil

[denjirv]

დ .•*””*• Cold Early Morning •*””*•.დ

A rough night with Kishibe and you're banter seemed to be overheard from a third party

CW// Suggestive dialogue and moments, no smut!, AFAB!reader, reader is a fiend, Kishibe and reader's relationship is left ambiguous ofc

☆A/N: First fic of the year and credit to @tukangcilokberflower for the fiend reader AU stuff!!

Early in the morning one of Kishibe's students was sent to give him a report. The sky still bright as the cold winter wind blew against the young student's face. He heads to the captain's residence with file clutched in hand, he double check to see if this was the right address before stepping towards the door

You, though just barely getting up, slumped your arms around the older man's neck as you smiled. "Must you be so hard with me last night?" in your usual sleepy but gentle tone you looked up at him with that blissful look in your eyes. Kishibe couldn't help but rest his hands on your waist, the fabric of your satin nightgown folding against his big hands as he pulled you close.

"You did ask for me to go harder on you. You needed that much stress relief didn't you?" he raised a brow, causing you to giggle as you kissed him on the cheek. Soft lips pressed against his rough stuble, you find yourself leaning close to his lips. "After that day, I needed someone to help me to relax."

Huh....

The student stood there frozen as he listened to what obscene things were being said in the home. He knew about Kishibe's interest in women but did he came in the wrong time? Should he have left the file on the doorframe? No, he can't he needed to be professional about it. That's until he heard you squeal

Kishibe had started to tease you with his lips pressed against your neck as you squirm. "Kishi! I'm still sore from last night, you did leave me restless the whole night you know?" You tried pushing him off playfully as a hand goes further down your back. "I can still barely feel my legs, you were so rough with me" You pouted but all was left was a gruff chuckle

This was insane, the male student thought as his face turned beet red from these words. He had to get the awkward moment over with as with a deep breath he knocked three times on the door. Suddenly the voices stopped but not before footsteps heading close. They weren't heavy, but rather light.

"Oh hello?" you opened the door seeing the nervous student with the files clutched against his chest. Your bed head hair covering your face as the straps of your nightgown fell. Before eyed could wonder for too long Kishibe leaned against the doorframe by his forarm, forcing the attention now on the older man. "What did Makima sent me now?" he sounded not as playful before with his voice rough and deep.

The poor student froze up as he quickly gave him the files of the report. "Ms Makima wanted me to give you these!" he then suddenly bows, refusing to look at either one of you. "Apologizes for interupping your moment!"

You looked rather confused. "Moment? Ohhh wait! You thought we did it didnt you?" Your brutal honesty didn't help as the student straighted himself back up as he looked at you in surprise. "No! I mean yes- I meant no no I would never imagine such a lewd act!"

"Cut the crap kid, it ain't like that" Kishibe was blunt enough to keep the miscommunication long enough. "He gave me a massage! He went a bit too rough though" you smiled as you leaned against Kishibe. It seemed the clarification was enough for the student to calm down as a small "oh" left his lips.

"So this all or are you gon' stand there?" Kishibe was getting impatient, his morning with you wasted on one of his students coming at such a early morning the student apologizes. "Forgive me Master Kishibe! I will be going now see you at work!" before rushing away from the door you looked up at Kishibe rather confused

"What odd behavior... I suppose we do sound like that huh?" you giggle before Kishibe pulls you back inside. Closing the door behind him. "If you think then fine by me" Although a important figure of the division team he threw the file to the side before pulling you back on his lap

"Maybe today I should give you that proper massage you wanted, hmm?"

[renaerys]

This is just for fun, but how do you compare Sakura and Ino characteristics and personalities in your writing? Do you ever found them to be overlapping or do you consider them to be opposite or both?

I think they're very different but complementary characters. These are my personal takes under the cut, since it's a bit long.

To preface, I base everything on the original Naruto manga. I don't read Boruto, don't care about it, don't want to know anything more about it beyond what I've been forced to absorb through cultural osmosis. My takes on Ino's and Sakura's characters are probably going to be different from others who do subscribe to Boruto.

Ino

Ino would have followed in Inoichi's footsteps to become the prime Yamanaka mind reader for Torture and Interrogation post-war. She'd be a top Sensor type, would have worked closely with people like Ibiki and Anko and Shikamaru, and become a high ranking member of Konoha's tactical division. Those interactions would influence and augment certain aspects of her personality and proclivities quite a lot, and they inform how I see her in a post-war world.

I talked a lot about Ino's personality in this post. Ino is someone who I see as the better "people person" between Sakura and her. Meaning, she's above average good at reading people and anticipating what they will do or how they'll react in certain situations. Crucially, she's the type of person who will also act on that information if the situation calls for it, such as to benefit herself, her social standing/reputation, her goals, etc. And in that same vein, whether it's these personality traits or straight up shinobi abilities, she's the type to set a goal and get it the fuck done no matter what (remember her badass moment in the 4th war when she telepathically connected to everyone? Queen shit.). The other post I linked goes into this a bit more, so I won't repeat it here.

I see her as someone who isn't afraid to use tactics like lying and manipulation and charms if they will benefit her endgame. She's cunning and crafty and suave, but she's not a malicious person. Rather, she's demonstrated a high capacity for empathy and compassion (the basis of her friendship with Sakura, to name the earliest example of that). But I think she is also the type who is willing and able to get her hands dirty, keep secrets, and condone tactics that other personality types (like Sakura) would deem going too far or would find reprehensible. Two things can be true at the same time, and they make her a really interesting and contradictory person. She's your bitchy BFF. She's the person who will dig too deep into something because she is a dog with a bone, and this makes her capable of hurting people, however unintentionally.

Which is why she really benefits from having a friend like Sakura who will check her on that.

Sakura

Sakura is very much what you see is what you get. She's not cunning or crafty or manipulative the way Ino is (she can be those things insomuch as any person can be those things, but I wouldn't call them defining or key traits like I would for a character like Ino). Sakura wears her emotions on her sleeve, is straightforward and to the point, and highly determined. Like Ino, her personality is complemented by and reflected in her abilities and fighting style. She is front line, in your face, honest and unsubtle and no bullshit. The opposite of Ino in many ways. I think Kishi made those choices purposefully (although, I always hesitate to give him too much credit considering his track record with women).

Sakura has protagonist-chan vibes, which makes sense considering that is who she is in the manga. She gets the underdog story, the smurfette "I can keep up with the boys and I'll prove it to you" story, and that makes her relatable to literally anyone who grew up with insecurities and worked to overcome them. (Crucially, Ino doesn't have that arc because she never had those same insecurities or competition with her boys.)

All of this makes Sakura a lot less complicated and more vanilla than Ino. I don't mean that in a bad way at all, I just mean that given her standing in the manga as a deuteragonist, she is THE female character and therefore much easier for people to project themselves on to. That's why there are so many more fics and fanworks centering her than Ino. Sakura is hashtag relatable to so many people, and that's her main appeal and why she's so successful as a female character. But, unlike a lot of cardboard female protagonists in other media, she's able to be those things and have a distinct personality and unique traits, and I really like that about her! Ino is a harder pill to swallow because her personality is messier, rougher, more jagged than Sakura's. Again, none of this is bad! It's just the way a lot of archetypes go. Think about any of your favorite media. The relatable "everyman" protagonist female character usually has a "sassy best friend" type who doesn't share her insecurities and, instead, acts as a cheerleader to help her move past them. That's how Sakura and Ino are set up in the manga. It's a very traditional and oft-used archetype, which doesn't make it bad. It just is.

That archetype dynamic makes them great together, which is kind of the whole point of characterizing them in that way. Ino is often the sassy BFF in fics about Sakura, but I really love to see Sakura has her very important BFF in Ino fics too. I think it's an underutilized dynamic (just purely from a statistical standpoint since there are exponentially more Sakura fics than Ino fics). But if we consider that they are best friends, it stands to reason that they have a lot in common too. You can't tell me Sakura is best friends with someone like Ino and is just vanilla protagonist-chan a la Hallmark rom coms. Nah, that girl is some bless-this-mess chaos. Her bull in a china shop tendencies make her such a great complement to Ino. Sakura can be hilarious, chaotic, and weird and keep up with Ino's sharp wit and unapologetic judgment. They're like a comedic duo where one of them is the "straight man" and the other is clown shoes, but the fun twist is those roles are seamlessly interchangeable between them. I write them this way in my fic The Heiress and the Hierophant.

Sakura and Ino both are fantastic characters with plenty of room to build upon their canon foundations if you put in some work. I do wish more people would give Ino a fair shake as main and let Sakura live that fun BFF life. She's excellent as the BFF. And I haven't even touched on the excellent InoSaku romantic dynamics that exist! There's so much there between them, and all of it is good.

[sonicrainbooms]

N, T and U for the fandom ask thing if that's not too many :)))

Thanks for the ask! (ask game)

N - Name three things you wish you saw more of in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

Main fandom right now for me is Star Wars/TBB I guess, so I'm going with that.

I wish I saw more trans!Hunter art! I headcanon Hunter as trans and I really like seeing art of it- if anyone has any, feel free to share it! I love seeing trans hc art in general, but trans!Hunter is very special to me, I really am attached to that hc lol.

I would love to see more redesigns! Not in a selfish way, I know they're very hard to do, but I LOVE seeing how different people interpret characters/stories, and how they would've reflected that in a design if given the chance. Especially if not confined to the limits of animation, or (lets be honest) sub-par live-action/cgi. I love seeing redesigns of clones with traditional Maori style tattoos, translated to work in the SW universe. I really love AU redesigns too! like that Apocolypse one floating around lately. I really love seeing the numerous ways the same character can be changed!

Lastly....this is gonna sound so silly. The long-time MLP/FNaF fan is going to jump right out. But I wish there were fanmade SW songs. I still listen to classics like Discord (this one is my alarm sound <3), Rainbow Factory, Five Nights at Freddy's (I will NEVER forget seeing the advanced screening of the FNaF movie and hearing this during the credits for the first time!) and countless others. I think SW has a LOT of untapped fansong/fan music potential.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Hm...I don't think so? I tend to be understanding when people don't share headcanons. That being said.... Hunter is trans and is a cat person, you can't change my mind. I don't care that he canonically has a dog. He wants a cat. And every ninja in Naruto is bisexual. All of them!! And I think Wrecker intentionally went bald! Kakashi is trans too, Kishi told me himself.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

(This will surprise 0 people.)

MLP - Rarity! I love how she is always defending herself and her work. She defies every stereotype her archetype has, and does so with grace and poise. Most of the time. I love how she isn't afraid to let loose when she has to. Sure, she'll complain, but can you blame her? She's a dramatic business owner who knows her own worth and I LOVE her!

TBB - Wrecker. hnngg. Hrhrnrnrr!! hutuggggrrhhet!! Hot man. Big man. Hot. But seriously, I love how kindhearted he is. I love how he always tries to see the bright side of things, and tries to show that bright side to others. I love how he's so full of real joy, all the time, he is the glue of the Batch (before Omega, and without her, too.) and holds them together. He is not only the most emotionally intelligent clone but also one of the most emotionally intelligent SW characters ever imo. He's so smart with his weaponry expertise too, and I'll always be bitter we never saw more of that in canon other than the 3 or 4 small scenes we did get (and were forgotten. Seriously, where did his tank go?). He is the most suited for civilians life, he integrates and participates in every culture they come across with ease and its evident literally everyone likes him. He is aware of his own faults and limitations, and will apologise if he causes harm. He never once hesitates putting himself in harms way for his family. He is everything to me.

Naruto - Sakura! Sakura, my beloved. I love it when females characters get to be angry. We need more of that. She is stubborn, she is fierce, and she still isn't afraid to love or be loved. From the GET GO she was dedicated to Team 7 (I admit it was more evident in the manga than the anime) and was willing to put herself down to elevate Naruto's goals, despite them not really getting along super well at the time. Her devotion to her companions despite everything they've all been through as shinobi, as individuals, is nothing short of admirable. Her dedication to herself to improve, to do better, was so exhilarating to see in action the first time, and every time since. Kakashi used to be my favourite character, and I still love him a lot, but over time the Sakura brainrot has set in. I wish Kishi and the wider fandom liked her as much as I do <3

[roobylavender]

i'm sorry but i think sasuke fans give him too much credit lol that kid was never an anarchist 😭 after leaving the village, he first wanted nothing but revenge and then he wanted to establish his own calculated system on the world. as its leader. the very opposite of anarchy. naruto and sakura never had to help or understand his agenda which was either utterly worthless or simply detrimental to their personal dispositions. as for them being sell-outs… well, that's quite literally everyone in naruto, especially the uchiha who went an entire millennium doing black zetsu/kaguya's bidding. the shinobi code literally states that they are tools who are meant to repress their emotions 💀

i mean i don't really pay much attention to what other sasuke fans do so ig i'm kinda confused what i'm supposed to do with this.. like i agree but also i don't think i've ever posited him as a master revolutionary anarchist and i think it's hard to expect that of a sixteen year old who is for the most part reacting on impulse due to being subjected to traumatic violence. like it definitely puts him on the path to the right realizations about village leadership and the facetious excuses made for maintaining "order" but no sixteen year old is going to have a coherent political philosophy at his disposal regardless of his own intentions. had the existence of naruto's post-canon not been so much about continuing to supply kishi with a source of income (and had the series in general not had so much of its foundations in nationalism) i like to think in some imaginary world we would have gotten a sasuke with a now more mental and emotional clarity certainly maintaining his grievances but also learning to navigate the solutions to them more practically and with the input of more people around him etc. i say this quite often but naruto to me is a series where every character starts way under the x-axis on a line graph and steadily makes their way right up to it by the end. by the time the war is over they're in a place to look back and assess and understand how the system they've been subjected to for millennia is severely flawed to the point they need to uproot it and start fresh. but that's a zero-line they'd be starting from and obv the only really revolutionary progress they'd be making along those lines so they could start a path upward from that x-axis is probably in fanfic bc you'll never lose the overwhelming nationalism element from the original series (which sasuke is right to oppose regardless of his actual means of doing so). and after fiteen grueling years of publication kishi is not going to go to the trouble of completely breaking down the exploitative inter-village structure maintained by the various daimyo that enforce the military industrial complex's existence despite every part of his narrative logically taking him there. but we can do that as fans and i know it's something i personally wanted to do with a fic series i started writing a couple of years ago (where ironically enough i did begin to address what you're talking about re: sasuke's immature political philosophy)

i will say i don't think naruto and sakura's position with respect to the shinobi structure is the same as that of people like madara and obito. naruto and sakura are through and through tools of nationalism. i don't think that's so much a personal flaw as it is a reflection of how effective the structure is that it keeps shinobi's loyalties to nations first rather than to people in general bc daimyo and such are always creating petty conflicts which grow into great conflicts by which to continue sowing discord between nations. naruto and sakura in theory are supposed to counteract that long-maintained loyalty bc they are the characters with loyalties to people first as evinced by their relationship with sasuke. but that tension that their love for sasuke has with their own personal aspirations (acceptance by konoha for naruto and success as a female nin for sakura) is never really explored to its fullest extent within canon so you end up having a niche of sasuke fans who call them sellouts as a result. obito and madara in comparison have issues that have nothing to even do with nationalism. they are very blatantly not nationalists. but their problem is that they're so sick of what standards they're expected to live by bc of the senseless violence and such that as an alternative they seek delusional ends of utopian non-conflict as a resolution. that's why i think sasuke is in a way a very cleverly placed character despite his grievances ultimately losing out or becoming irrelevant in the end. he's the only one with a mind to really uproot the system itself (well aside from the og akatsuki but i mean. that's another essay and obv the og akatsuki is donezo by the end of the series). sure his way of positing that revolution is a bit delusional but as i already mentioned what sixteen year old is really going to have a coherent plan in mind beyond starting the revolution in the first place. he's far from perfect but he's important as a figurehead of the change that needs to come bc what madara and obito want isn't change. they want escape. obito esp. and i think that is initially what sasuke wants as well. to simply kill everyone he loves and then die knowing no one else can be taken from him. but ironically finding out the truth about itachi from obito is what makes him change course and recognize that escape is meaningless. and i think there's a lot of directions you can take with that in post-canon divergence as a fan

[sneezemonster15]

Sigh. This is why I spend less and less time on Tumblr, no matter how much you explain things, they keep sticking to their miscomprehensions and headcanons, there is no curiosity, no critical thinking and no accountability. Result is this...just insane theories that hold no water.

You are wrong sweet one. Your shipping lenses have blinded you. You talk as if "Killer Bee arc" was for the sake of developing SK. You give way too much credit to Karin and SK which is hilarious given how much Kishi trolls them and her, like maoam mentioned. You really need to be more objective.

No, it was about development of Sasuke's character arc, where he is showing agency and strategising his own plan in a detailed way, it's about showing different situations which he navigates, which shows to the audience how much he has evolved in terms of power and maturity. He comes off as a potential leader that will revolutionize the world and to achieve that, he doesn't have to relegate himself to the conventional ways, he is an agent of change.

You forget that while this whole "killer bee arc" is going on, on the other hand, simultaneously Naruto is learning to use Nature energy on Mount Myoboku. Just like Naruto is growing and his character acr is seeing development, we see Sasuke's arc being developed as well. Kishi said in one of his interviews that everytime he wrote Naruto, Sasuke was always at the back of his mind. It's not a coincidence that we see Sasuke and Naruto growing up simultaneously. This is Kishi SHOWING US HOW NARUTO AND SASUKE GO TOGETHER. That's the way Kishi has written them. Lol, fans really be thinking killer bee arc is about SK. Girl quit lying to yourself and learn to read the actual narrative instead of cherry picking like a toddler. Learn to read.

Sasuke is growing up and preparing to change the world as we know it. The battle with Killer Bee serves two purposes - To showcase Sasuke's new found strength (his new MS) by making him battle a jiinchuuriki. Secondly, to show that Sasuke has still not forgotten Naruto (team seven but Naruto specifically) because it's his memory with team seven that makes Sasuke feel an intense emotion that makes him evolve his sharingan.

You say that extreme emotions make the Uchihas evolve their sharingan, and you would be right, but in saying that evolution of sharingan was because of SK, you are contradicting your own argument. You see, Sasuke has no emotional connection with Taka, but he does have a very intense connection with Naruto, which we have seen properly established in part one, and he is nostalgic about his team seven days, which is when he grew close to Naruto. That's what it is about, that's what it means. Don't tell us to read the manga, lol, do it yourself, instead of gaslighting us. Don't embarrass yourself.

As you can see, Sasuke thinks about team Taka's efforts in supporting Sasuke in grey panel background, and then team seven, which denotes remembrance. Learn to read panels properly before accusing others. Manga iconography doesn't operate under your whims and fancies, it means something significant and specific. It denotes the author's intent, and there's just no way that you can deny it justifiably. If you still deny this, I can't take you seriously. Why waste time arguing with a kid? Sasuke didn't evolve his sharingan because of Karin. He evolved his sharingan because when he saw Taka members putting their lives in danger for Sasuke's sake, he is touched because it reminds him of Naruto, team seven. Like it says RIGHT THERE IN THE PANEL ITSELF - He didn't feel alone, just like he didn't feel alone with team seven.

He had allies.

And so he gets emotional enough to evolve sharingan.

Also, you guys don't even pause to think about the fact that Karin caught the flames ACCIDENTALLY. It wasn't intended by anyone. She is Sasuke's team mate, he picked her for her special skills and he is a good leader. Well until he gets to know about the truth of the massacre. After that, his justified rage takes over everything. But when he is not overwhelmed with conflicting heavy duty emotions, he will protect his team, like he does, whether with team seven or Taka. A good leader always does. Do you really think it would be in Sasuke's character to let her die unintended by anyone, because of what was mindfully written as an avoidable accident, especially when Sasuke's operation is still ongoing? He is not helpless, neither is he without courage or talent. He has all the reasons to save her. Why wouldn't he protect his team mate? He has also protected Suigetsu and Juugo, and every single one of team seven. Except towards the end, he was pretty blasé about Taka. Except for Naruto, he was indifferent towards everyone. You guys don't understand Sasuke's character. You choose your ship over his actual character, which is sad.

Also, the evolution didn't happen the way you describe it. Every other time Sasuke evolves his sharingan, it happens without his knowledge, it happens on its own and Sasuke realises it afterwards. In the one case with Itachi, and two cases with Naruto when he evolves his sharingan, it happens without his conscious knowledge. With Karin, it happens because he actively tries to extinguish the amaterasu flames. I have talked about it here in detail.

It doesn't matter whether you agree, nuances matter. That's why the author went to so much trouble to give these scenes so many layers. It takes a lot of effort. It means something significant. Storytelling is about showing, so pay attention to what the author is showing you.

Learn to read, no seriously, don't come with another dumb argument and insult others in the process. As for Sasuke smiling at Karin that you have made to be the fucking gospel of romantic love, lol, read this and stop coming up with a bunch of stupid headcanons. Instead, learn to read. The rest of your arguments are so poorly thought out, counterintuitive and selective, I am embarrassed even to address them.

Triggered? Lol, save that righteous outrage to learn to read. Stop replying to this. If you have any self awareness and self respect, you will stop embarrassing yourself and will go read. Remember, you are more than a SK shipper. You are a person who has a brain and the ability to think critically. Don't sacrifice your integrity in the name of a silly stupid ship. Use your head. Like maoam said, we have written several posts about all the topics that you have mentioned. If you are the type of person who just cares about proving a point, who defies reason and narrative language, just to satisfy your fragile ego, you can fuck off. If you really want to understand how narrative and visual language works, pay attention to what you read and use your brain instead of coming up with dumb petty arguments just so you can get the last word. I have no patience for gaslighters. Stop typing, stop writing. Zip that trap and go learn. I will not engage you any further if you don't, it's a waste of time. Ps - Sasuke loves Naruto. Yeah. Despite it being shounen. How do we know? Kishi shows us many times, sure. But he also tells us. Where? Here.

Can you deny this? What kind of twisted argument will SK come up with to deny something like this? Or do you mean Kishi meant Sasuke threw away Sakura's love? I mean Kishi of course made it a point to mention love and friendship separately. So it means Sasuke has a love interest as well as friends. So Kishi makes a point to differentiate between what Sasuke considers friendship and romantic love. Who is his love interest? Sakura? You would be the first person to deny this, wouldn't you? So who else could it be? Kakashi? Shikamaru? Pakkun? Hahaha.

It's Naruto, sweet girl.

Listen to me - Stop forcing your assumptions on the narrative like you are doing and deduce your information from what Kishi is showing you and telling you. This isn't the first time a character is shown to be gay in shounen manga, neither is it the first shounen manga to have a romance story as its central narrative. Stop wasting everyone's time and please develop your media comprehension skills. Redeem yourself.

Wait, what do you mean when you say Sarada's conceiving was shady?

Hi anon.

Reason one - Sakura looks so damn guilty everytime Sarada asks her about Sasuke.

(Ik, sad looking slides, Canva would probably ban me forever if they saw them)

And even generally, like she really wants to keep the facade of her marriage going. She just gives a strong impression like she is hiding something. She looks guilty, like she is worried the truth will come out as a response to Sarada's queries. And she looks sad, but also conciliatory, just resigned to her fate of being a lonely, unloved woman who is lying to her only child.

If there was such a connection, she wouldn't have looked like this. Instead, she would have been assured and calm, confident in her 'connection'. If you know you are loved, if you are secure in the knowledge that you are loved, you wouldn't be fearful of people pointing fingers at you. And no one exemplifies this better than Naruto.

Reason 2 - Sasuke looks really uncomfortable around her. Like he doesn't wanna be reminded of his miserable life with her. It has always been clear to any reader with half a mind that Sasuke never had any love for Sakura. He never respected her, he never really thought of her as a friend, he is never happy to see her, doesn't even crack a smile. At most, he thought of her as a team member when he was still a part of team seven. However, all his interactions with Sakura clearly show that he has a very low opinion of her. He doesn't even like her or tolerate her touch. She is just annoying as far as he is concerned, devoid of sensitivity, dignity, integrity and concern for others. Especially Naruto.

I really find it hard to believe that Sasuke willingly slept with Sakura. Like hell naw. I have a feeling that she tricked him and trapped him into marrying her. Does she have the kind of duplicitous and manipulative personality to be able to do such a thing? I mean apart from the fact that she used to have an inner Sakura, we also have this among many other examples, among one of the most recent ones. Brainwashing Sarada about Ino, Ino, the first person in school who was kind to Sakura, first person to befriend Sakura. Smh.

I think she masterminded a situation where Sasuke had no choice but to marry her, maybe for the sake of Sarada. Why else would he say that Sarada is the reason for his connection to Sakura?

And unpopular opinion but idgaf, I think Sasuke looks uncomfortable around Sarada as well. Like she reminds him of his association with Sakura, a life he never wanted in the first place. It also doesn't help that he dismisses Sarada's questions and concerns quite easily. Sure, he is goal oriented and is focusing on his mission. But this is his child, that he has met after a decade. How come he has so many soft expressions when he meets Naruto but for Sarada he has none? Towards the end, when he hugs her, I got the impression that he just took things in perspective, since he had some time to think about it since Sarada came to visit him, when he was taken by surprise. It's not Sarada's fault that he is in such a sad predicament. But he is still distant with Sakura.

I really wish Sarada had asked Sakura - Mom, why didn't he respond to you? Or at least say something?

I would have liked to see what Sakura would have said. Heheh. But Kishi would never be that explicit. He really wouldn't. How do we know?

So here, Sasuke is about to give some explanation as to why he is never around. It would have cleared a lot of things because Sasuke isn't Sakura. He would not have lied about his reasons, he might have softened the blow for Sarada's sake, but he would have told the truth. Or at least he would have given some solid indication as to their situation. It's even more incriminating that Sakura here looks nervous, as if she is worried about what he might end up saying. The truth.

But it would have been too explicit. So what did Kish do? He justified cutting off Sasuke's explosive revelation with this.

Shin attacks and cuts Sasuke's speech off. Was the timing deliberate? No doubt it was. Very convenient. Very clever actually. Drop the audience a hint but let them fill the empty spaces themselves because he is writing a shounen battle manga. He has been doing shit like this since chapter three of part one. Red herrings, smokescreens, subterfuge, strategic distractions, that's how Kish rolls. At least in Naruto.

Reason 3 - Kishi's repeated allusions that Karin might be Sarada's mother. The way I see it, Karin isn't the mother. Basically I can't imagine Sasuke sleeping willingly with any woman. Because he is gay. And in love with Naruto.

But Kishi really didn't have to drop this angle in here. It is kinda sensationalistic and slightly inappropriate for shounen, adultery being the theme here. But well, he never leaves an opportunity to diss SS. He certainly tried his best to show SS in extremely bad light, like Sasuke and Sakura's so called connection is so precarious (as it's non existent), that even Naruto, Suigetsu and Sarada believed for a moment that Sakura might not be the mother. Makes SS look very sordid, doesn't it? Juxtapositioning Sarada and Karin's faces, dropping veiled insults like Sakura chased Sasuke, he could have just made Karin say that they traveled together. Aren't Karin and Sakura friends? Wouldn't Karin be expected to have a charitable opinion on how Sakura snagged Sasuke? Hehehe. Yeah, things don't add up unless you decode Kishi's devilish ministrations.

Also, the issue of the umbilical cord only serves in making SS and especially Sakura look even more Sasuke crazy. Like she was still traveling with him, living in caves and forests, as she was heavily pregnant? Sasuke wouldn't have returned to Konoha for her sake, but she could have returned for Sarada's. It's a Japanese tradition for the mothers to keep the umbilical cord safely. Many other Asian countries have the same tradition, the idea being umbilical cord is the physical and spiritual connection between the mother and the unborn baby, it's sacred, it's symbolic, it's meaningful. But Sakura didn't keep it, Karin did. So what is Kishi trying to say here? That Sasuke is more important to Sakura than her own child. She would keep an old picture of Sasuke (which she perhaps took from Karin) which doesn't even include her but not the cord. Makes you think. That Sakura is still the same, even after becoming a mother. Addicted to Sasuke. It's just so sad.

Anyway, with the way Kishi wrote Gaiden, since he couldn't write these established dynamics explicitly, he instead dropped allusions, hints, applied visual tricks and narrative devices, he used his personal arsenal of storytelling tools to colour SS as dysfunctional, unpleasant, superficial, a 'connection' only meant as a pretence for Sarada's sake. Including the story of her conception.

[narutobad]

wish i could experience naruto the way harcore sns shippers do yall seem so happy :/

[ct-1477]

[kinomiakai]

What do you like the most about sasunaru/narusasu/sns? :)

OOH. This is such a tough question!! But I love it!!

I’d say--at the end of the day--what I like more than anything else is their understanding of each other. I love that Sasuke gives off this emotionless, impassive persona when in reality he’s exploding with emotion. I love that Naruto is compassionate to a degree that he will shove all his own issues into the abyss before he puts himself before anyone else. I love that their traits are so complicated, and I love that they know that about each other. Naruto refuses to believe that Sasuke has grown completely cold & Sasuke barely has to look at Naruto to see how desperately lonely he really is. There’s a million metas that have explained this better than me, but I really like how they understand each other to that level--and I LOVE how motivated they are to get to that point. They were always...intrigued by each other? When they were kids? Like when you meet someone and you feel that spark of “I really want to know more about you” -- I think that’s a really special feeling. Especially when it’s mutual. It makes for such a beautiful dynamic, and I think that’s why I’ve stuck with this pairing for so long. There’s just so much to explore!

[maoam]

To be honest the reason why some sns call Kishi homophobic or say he had no idea what he was doing is because they prefer their own headcanons instead of what he wrote. They wish the series was theirs. So they can rewrite it where Sakura is Naruto’s sassy man-hating friend, Naruto is in general besties with all the girls instead of the boys because they see him as a woman/bottom so he has to be friends with the girls while the guys only exist to pursue and please him. And Sasuke is a mix of a generic shojo protagonist who pampers them (because they insert into Naruto) + sexually aggressive daddy. (I still don’t get what’s appealing about inc3st roleplay but that’s just me)

If they actually gave Kishi credit they’d had to acknowledge he created Naruto to be relatable to an average Japanese boy, and that he also outright said Naruto is partly a self-insert for him (well he has been an average Japanese boy). Does Kishi look like a thotty girly boy like how Naruto is presented in popular sns posts? Do you think he thinks an average Japanese boy would wear makeup... I mean women in general have a hard time shipping m/m ships without making one of them girly and feeble.

All these princess/thot girl/bimbo Naruto posts, like that’s not him lmao I don’t know how anyone can fool themselves to think that. Naruto is like Sai described him, unrefined and loud, and he literally won one of his fights by farting in his opponent’s face. Kishi draws him as a punk (literally, the clothes) with a brash attitude so many times too. People are even scared of his expressive face because they think he doesn’t look meek or dainty enough so they erase his personality in fanarts. It’s weird and sad. Especially since the same cookie-cutter roles are repeated in every other shonen ships as well, because people aren’t interested in the actual story and the unique characterizations, they are only interested in self-insertation where they can make every story about themselves and their wish fullfillment romance. It also makes sns fandom look bad.

[lazuliblur]

Interesting.

Danzou and Hiruzen were both Tobirama’s students. My interpretation has always been that they had each learnt only one half of Tobirama’s lessons and therefore both had incomplete/flawed – if complimentary – world views. Hiruzen: the kindly protector, who studies and plans for the future, aiming to nurture a community and structure a society, perhaps at the expense of taking necessary action. Danzou, the ruthless aggressor, paranoid and solitary, who does not hesitate to take initiative to address a situation before it has a chance to grow into a problem, regardless of how it may be perceived.

This panel is well into Part II of Naruto, though. I imagine Kishi had a pretty good idea of who Tobirama was as a character at this point. For him to mix him up with Danzou like this means Kishi potentially buys his characters’ own irrational bashing of Tobirama. Disappointing thought, but interesting all the same.

Tobirama with an 'x' on his chin, ch. 382

[madara-fate]

Madara there's literally only one person to blame for the events of the manga: the person in charge of it. That's Ikemoto.

Remember that Ukyo Kodachi left and Masashi Kishimoto is NOT writing it, he has been credited as supervisor since 2020 and confirmed in every single Jump Festa: he's the editorial supervisor period. It's gonna be said again this year. The scroptwriter disappeared after chapter 52, nobody leaves author's notes (Kodachi and Kishi used to do it and Kishi used to do it in Samurai 8 too). So blaming Ikemoto is absolutely right because he's the only person confirmed to be in charge of the manga. Kishimoto might not be responsible for people overlooking the work of the medical corps, but at least he showed it, Ikemoto isn't showing anything so it's okay to blame because that lack of presence will be reflected in the anime later.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't blame Ikemoto for the events of the manga, or that he isn't writing it, that was never my point. And for the record, Ikemoto most definitely has shown the work of the medical teams in Boruto. Just because he hasn't shown as much as you'd like him to, does not mean that he "isn't showing anything".

What I'm saying is that firstly, it's utterly ridiculous to accuse Ikemoto of hating hospitals and medical departments, just because they aren't as prominent as you'd like them to be in the plot. That is blowing things way out of proportion. He hasn't demonstrated that he "hates" anything.

Secondly, just because the hospital and medical departments aren't very featured in this current arc, does not equate to their significance in the village itself being diminished.

If people are really so silly as to rate the importance of a person or department to the village, based solely on how often they are featured in an arc, rather than based on what they actually do for the village, then that's their fault, not the author's. I'm not directing that towards you, I'm referring to the post on reddit which was mentioned in the previous ask.

I'll repeat myself on this - I also wish that Sakura and the hospital were featured more in this current arc. However, just because I want them to have more current panel time, does not mean that I've suddenly forgotten everything they do for the village. I know how important the medical teams are for the village, and I don't need to constantly see them on panel to acknowledge or remember this fact, because having less panel time does not mean that your importance to the village itself has in any way lessened accordingly.

[bitcheshelp]

honestly we dont give kishi enough credit on making his protag just an annoying dumb kid. too much media is like "oh the protag can see into the future and is super smart and likeable or cool" no kishi said naruto is dumb he's blonde he's annoying he grew up neglected and around the red light district and you'll love him