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lionbarrage-a · 7 years ago

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itachi

make me write about this au | accepting always

wow we really just are… diving right in aren’t we??? in all seriousness, thank you chai, for both forcing me to write this headcanon / meta that i’ve been avoiding doing for like a week now and for walking me through itachi’s role in it. this will contain major, MAJOR developments for my au and how it effects shippuden so please read it!

warning under the cut for mention of death, eye trauma, etc – you know, standard uchiha bullshit :))))))

let me begin with this, as i haven’t yet spoken in detail about it: but a major, major focal point in not letting hatred —- or the curse mark — consume him is letting go of, not what happened to him, but his revenge path. this does not happen over night.

sasuke has years, years, and years of anger built up inside him, an obsessively one track mind, and a deep ache for power that, if you ask me, started before the massacre. no doubt is the massacre what sets his tunnel vision, but he’s shown to be obsessively training even before that in order to gain approval of his clan ( specifically, fugaku, which, by the way, fuck that guy ) and ‘catch up’ to his prodigy of a brother who is, frankly, out of sasuke’s reach. sasuke, in canon, still doesn’t graduate from the academy until he’s twelve, despite genius like abilities and endless work on his part to reach unattainable status as per what’s possible for himself.

don’t think for a second he ever forgets about how far behind itachi is from the get go, and his inability to stop comparing himself to his older brother is absolutely what holds him back for so long. my point comes back to that while the catalyst of his tunnel vision - like obsession begins with the massacre, he already was halfway there. it really comes as no surprise to me that he turned out the way he did in canon, but i rest my case on this part.

in my au, and i’ll give this a proper spiel in another meme ask i need to answer, his path is set by a very small margin, by the doubt that is shown at the valley of the end. he stops fighting, he comes back. he spends the following years regaining trust among the village, with his superiors and peers alike, and manages to rise in the ranks pretty fast as a result of both his abilities and his emotional growth. i can’t stress enough how far he comes, and how much it takes out of him to get to that point. like, it’s the only way this au can work.

i’ve said it before, but kakashi is a focal point in his emotional progression. in his training with him, they work out a lot of that anger and kakashi shows him sides of himself that he doesn’t really show others, shows them how alike he actually was to sasuke, and shows him that he can overcome it, even if their motives were quite different — it’s the first time someone really tries to reach sasuke deep down, and it works. in conjunction with naruto and all he’s done for him, for the experiences sasuke gains in this two year period, and his own mental legwork, he gets there.

i should note something, though, and it’s that i don’t think sasuke can not have tunnel vision on a goal — his mindset is a set routine, it’s why he’s so stubborn, in my opinion, and it’s why he’s so (unmovable object).png. you know? so, instead of his tunnel vision focusing on killing itachi, he shifts it to re-establishing the uchiha, the uchiha name, and growing stronger without influence of his brother, on his own terms. i’d say this is firmly set in by the time he’s a chuunin, and it’s why he’s able to prove himself further, in missions, etc, as worthy of being a jounin by the time shippuden starts.

his biggest emotional trial, or one of them, is when he runs into ‘itachi’ during the gaara rescue arc, in chapter 256, and is told by kakashi to go onward. this leaves the battle virtually unchanged, and right here, kakashi says he would send naruto onward but needs him for backup. sasuke, however, can go forward — he’s both fast enough and also, it’s the right move. a show down with itachi is the last thing he needs, and it takes all his willpower not to crumble two years of progress to go ahead and focus on the mission. he goes ahead. i haven’t worked out the exact details of his role in the rest of the mission yet, but my point is: by this time, he’s able to do something he wasn’t when he was twelve, and that was charge right at itachi, regardless of if he was ready or not.

god… that’s just all the basics too… okay. saddle up because this is where it gets real ( yeah, i know, “reid we’re on paragraph fucking eight” but we haven’t even started on the truth and itachi, which are two whole sections frankly )

so… fated battle between brothers. it’s still going to happen. initially i wanted it not to, but after talking with an itachi about it, ahem, chai, we decided that itachi would absolutely create a situation closer to the end of his life to make sure it still happens —– the exact mission is up in the air until i can talk to a naruto about it, but we were thinking a diversion including him, which would be super believable given the ninetails and all. the platoon that goes out definitely includes kakashi, sakura, sasuke, and whoever else might be available. from the beginning, they know to expect itachi. this is… harrowing, to say the least, especially for sasuke who seems to have settled upon not seeking revenge, but in the event he goes up against itachi, he knows that as a leaf shinobi, it’s his duty to stop him. to save naruto. to protect naruto. to protect konoha.

when they approach the uchiha hideout, i imagine something much different is anticipated. they’ve probably been led on a fucking wild goose chase. naruto is somewhere different entirely, and like in canon, kisame allows only sasuke to pass. sasuke goes in, like in canon. once he goes in, the game changes for the platoon, and their focus remains on recovering naruto. how exactly all that goes down is dependent on kisame’s role and naruto’s respectively so i won’t talk too much about that quite yet && i have several people i wanna consult on that matter so yeah waiting. shifting back to inside the hideout

we haven’t worked out all of the details, or done a battle breakdown, but at some point we’re planning to collab on a drabble and post that and it’ll walk through the major points. what to know for now is that the dialogue will be much different, and sasuke’s focus is completely on 1) getting information and when that inevitably fails, 2) stopping itachi, by any means necessary. 3) surviving the fight. itachi doesn’t go easy on him, and at some point, it’s not about his motive, his revenge, etc, at all anymore. it’s about getting back to the platoon. it’s about finishing the mission. the too long, didn’t read version is that itachi doesn’t let him not kill him, as he’s dying anyway, and he’ll only have it be by sasuke’s hand. remember – itachi, all along, wanted sasuke to be renowned a hero for killing him, and wanted himself reviled.

in a real, real fucked up way, he gets that.

side note: we still havent worked out every detail but i also just noticed itachi gets rid of sasukes curse mark here :)))))))))))))

sasuke passes out at the end of their battle, and itachi does his thing with the fucking goddamn eyes and putting them in sasukes head before keeling over and fucking dying. he wakes up with tobi, as in canon. i can’t say this exchange is much different from canon, aside from sasuke being less reactionary? he’s already feeling really… i don’t know what the word is. killing him is all he wanted, for so fucking long, but there’s nothing satisfying about what he’s done here. he sees it as a means to an end on a fucked up chapter of his life. however, he does still panic at the initial speech by tobi, learning all this shit about a coup, it’d be too much for him – he still passes out, unable to process everything he’s being told. he wakes up again, probably tied up this time, and listens to the rest.

so, where it gets different is chapter .. 401 / 402. he has his moment of grief before recollecting himself and leaving tobi / ‘madara uchiha’ and, even with all that he’s learned, and in his less than healthy state, he focuses once again on regrouping with the platoon, and ensuring that the original mission has been completed. little does he know, its been about a day, and they surely found itachi’s dead body, but no sign of him. it’s very likely they’re searching the surrounding area for him when he rejoins them, looking… well. calm, but carrying an air about him that is definitely out of character.

he tells naruto that he’s glad to see him, and there’s a few others he may speak to before they get home, but… he otherwise doesn’t say much. there isn’t much he can say in this state. he doesn’t know what he believes – outside of the fact that if itachi wanted him dead, he would be dead. it’s this thought process that leads him to believe that the coup did in fact form. he has a lot of doubts about the man who introduced himself as madara uchiha, at this point in this au, he is after all a leaf shinobi??? and… i think he would, honestly, privately report ( the only one i can see being present for this is kakashi, if anyone ) what he was told to tsunade herself, who would not be aware of the truth. i read that only danzo, the third, and two others were. what the two of them do with this information is beyond me and i’d hoooonestly need a tsunade to work it out with. he’s probably pretty forward in saying he doesn’t know how much of this intelligence can be trusted, but if nothing else, someone claiming to be madara uchiha is a huge fucking red flag, and regardless of how he feels about the coup / konoha’s dealing with it, his loyalty is already where it is.

whiiiiiich brings me to that next point… where he is with it. again, he doesn’t know how much he can trust from ‘tobi / madara / obito’, but if anything, i feel like his image of his clan is very twisted and uncertain from that point on. he definitely feels distrust in the elders mentioned for forcing itachi to do what he did, but not the entire village. in the end, he pays a lot of attention to the part of what was said about itachi wanting him to be renowned a hero for coming back to konoha and being able to say he killed a vicious, serial murderer, missing nin.

so, if it’ll give itachi some peace, he does that. he comes back with his platoon, reports him dead, and what happens, happens. by no means does he consider himself a hero, though, and there’s forever an ache in him that things happened the way they did. however, holding a grudge now would backtrack him too far in his progress, and he’s… brutally aware of his own mindset, his own tendency to tunnel vision. so, once again, he redirects it.

he redirects his will to re-establishing his family name, to bringing peace in whatever way he can, and moving forward. at a later time, probably post - war, his efforts will go towards doing something about that police force. i noticed in the explanation that it was sort of konoha’s way of… making the uchiha think they had some kind of pull in the village but actually keeping an eye on them, and sasuke’s intention would more so be to establish an actual force within the village to protect it’s own. to protect konoha. you know, like itachi tried to.

as he grows older, sasuke accepts what happened for what it is, and he finds most of his anger and sadness directing to one simple fact: that he and his brother were robbed, by circumstance, of having so many years together that they could have been happy in.

that’s all i got for now.

#konosight #god chai #( ; * headcanons. ▹ in little ways. )#( ; * ooc. ▹ answered. )#at some point i thought i might die in this meta ask #THIS IS LITERALLY LIKE 20 PARAGRAPHS #eye trauma tw #death mention tw

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stormears · 8 years ago

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Naruto Meme

Nobody tagged me for this. I do what I want.

F A V O R I T E

Female Character - Sakura Haruno.

Male Character - Kakashi, Gaara, Sasori or Madara.

Team - Team Kakashi. Or New Team Kakashi, since that version doesn’t have Sasuke in it.

Sensei - Kakashi

Hokage - Tobirama.

Kage - Tobirama! Gaara is a close second.

Village - I guess Konoha since most of my favorites are from there and it has pleasant and predictable sunny spring weather 95% of the year.

Akatsuki Member - Sasori has been my fave for years, but I also really love Kakuzu. I have a Kakuzu rubber strap thing on my keys.

Episode/Chapter - Shippuden episodes 25 and 26, these are the well-animated Sasori vs Sakura episodes that highlighted one of Sakura’s best accomplishments across the whole story. I also liked that two-minute sequence in 322 where Edo Tensei’d Madara decimates the Shinobi Army. There’s a two-second shot in it of a female soldier holding a cross to her face and praying before the fight begins, which I think is one of the absolute best visual reminders that people are terrified of Madara. It had a much stronger impact than the endless power gimmicks or characters’ repeated poorly scripted exclamations of “wow he/this technique is so powerful.”

Fight Scene - Sakura vs Sasori! Or Kakashi vs Hidan and Kakuzu.

Fanfiction - I love so many fanfictions. I’ve been creepily attached to fanfictions since I was 12. If I had to pick a favorite I gueeeess I’d go with He Had No Fingers by Gleam. Kyuubi is a monstrous, conscious-less god whose influence eats away at child Naruto easily. He takes over Naruto and then Konoha and the world is next. Made me woozy reading it the first time, I’ll never forget.

Story Arc - Rescue Gaara Arc, I guess, but I don’t enjoy whole arcs as much as I do small, separate moments or scenes or even just manga pages in the story.

Filler - Aren’t the movies filler? I kind of enjoy the third movie where Lee, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi act as bodyguards for a fat, lazy prince, his son, and the son’s saber-toothed circus tiger.

What is your…

OTP (explain why) - I’m a crackshipping freak who builds 30k+ long stories and worlds to support romantic scenes of my weird ships, don’t ask me this.

NoTP (without being a dick, explain why) - I do not like like Sasuke or Karin, and seeing them romantically together is not any improvement to me. I think that Sasuke never went through emotional growth or recovery and only changed his loyalties near the end of the war because Kishimoto was desperate, overworked, and weakly reaching for finish line, and many characters and story events reflected that reality. I waited years’ worth of manga chapters and episodes for him to change and by the time he did, I was long past buying it. Karin was a screechy, annoying brat from Day 1 and never improved her attitude or personality, but I didn’t enjoy seeing her used as a meat shield by Danzo, either. In short, two bad characters don’t make a good pairing.

Crackship/s - My worst and favorite offenses are probably SasoSaku, since 2007-ish and MadaSaku since 2010.

BroTP - This is barely present in my writing, but, kinda, Ino and Sakura. Maybe Kakuzu and Konan.

OT3 - I don’t know what this means besides 3 characters I want to see having an orgy or engaged in a polygamous relationship? I guess I could be coerced into reading/liking those but there’s none in particular that I like consistently or remember offhand.

Crossover ship - I don’t crossover ship. Not opposed to it, the examples I’ve seen talked about briefly on tumblr (mostly in anime confession blogs) are intriguing, but I don’t have a ship like this myself.

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Do you have any headcanons? All sorts of assorted things. Ino’s mom is a civilian. Itachi WISHES he was a civilian or could retire and live a peaceful domestic life. Shino likes art and would read art/art criticism magazines if Naruto-land has those, and could be friends with Sai. Kisame loves boardgames and is a good sportsman in any game or sport he plays. Sakura likes to read non-fiction/informational books more than novels. Tenten loves horses. Kiba is really close to his sister but doesn’t want people outside the family knowing that because he’s scared other guys will make fun of him. Civilian children stay in school till roughly age 16, compared to the Ninja Academy graduating age of 12.

Are you happy with the ending? Would you have done things differently? I’m not happy with it, but I’m also not invested in it enough to really care. It was always the characters, not the story, that drew me into Naruto (maybe just the basic skeletons of the characters at that, skeletons I could build onto and “fix” in fanfiction). To “do things differently” I would fix a lot more than the ending, though if I could erase ONE thing from the ending it would be the sudden prevalence of modern-day technology like skyscrapers, laptops and handheld video games.

How do you feel about the Next Generation? Shrug. Boruto and Himawari are cute and remind me of me and my big brother a bit. I kinda liked the first few weeks of the manga’s ending, when there was still confusion about whether to call him Boruto or “Bolt,” because I was rooting for Bolt.

Say something about your favorite character. Sakura Haruno had huge expanses of room for improvement in her ninjutsu, tactics, and respect given to her by other characters and by viewers and all of this was squandered by an author who had many other, bigger problems to deal with and was probably indifferent to her at best. She is safer in the hands of fans, of artists and writers, who treat her better and create better content about her than her creator did. She has been adopted by several thousand loving moms and a few dads and will be well cared for.

What would a child between your OTP look like? Going for my crackships here again. SaoSaku child has red hair, but Sakura’s face and her mom’s outspoken attitude and a talent for musical instruments. MadaSaku child, lord, I don’t know. I like to think the pink or at least reddish hair would prevail but all laws of the universe say Uchiha black hair always wins. The child would, at least, have the thickest and most gorgeous head of hair in town.

Say something genuinely nice about your NoTP. Some people out there really like it, and it and content about it makes them happy in the way that my favorite ships make me happy, and that’s good stuff. Glad for them.

Say something negative about your OTP. They’re groundless nonsense pairings that I would be embarrassed to ever acknowledge outside my tiny internet circles and both the men involved in those two pairings are canonically horrible people who ought to be stabbed.

Is there any way you could be convinced to ship your NoTP? I would need a fanfic, 5k+ length minimum, but I could go up to 20k, allowing time and space for them to calm down and recover from their respective traumas and get over their respective dumb bitch attitudes, and then slowly build a friendship that becomes a romance, ideally with a storyline and theme and a writing style that I could get behind. Not to mention the time of day to read a doorstop novella like that.

What makes you mad about the series? The War Arc’s need to make every important character as powerful as possible crushed any sense of threat or disbelief. The constant upping of the stakes was annoying and came off as desperate (though I strongly believe that behind it was an overworked zombie Kishimoto mindlessly trying to fill that week’s page quota and wondering if he would ever have an actual life again).

If you could see anything happen in the series, what would it be? The final arc is the Akatsuki invading Konoha with the intention of kinapping/killing Naruto, but the entire village has rallied and is prepared to fight. The story cuts between three or four fights between Akatsuki and Konoha ninja till all Akatsuki are defeated. Maybe reveal Madara as the secret leader of the Akatsuki and defeat him here, too. During the conflict, Naruto has proven himself for the final time, is adored by the village, crowned Hokage within a year or so, happy ending. Pairings left undetermined or hinted at vaguely. Fin. (Other possible ending at bottom of post)

What would you say to Kishimoto if given the chance? I’m so sorry for the hardship and stress you endured all these years, all that time away from your family. I still have to thank you for all the joy your story brought to me. It allowed me to get closer to my friends, make new friends, even start to tap into my own writing ability. You did all that for me without even knowing it. I’ll always be grateful to you!

In your opinion…

Most attractive male? Sometimes I think it’s Madara, and sometimes I’ll see some screenshot of a poorly animated episode and think he looks awful and I’m embarrassed that ever liked him. Sasori has this unjustly beautiful face that I love but definitely a few shots in is episodes where he looks kinda...off. Kakashi’s pretty unarguably attractive, though, so he’s a safe bet for most attractive.

Most attractive female? Lol depends on the fanartist, I’ve seen gorgeous art for almost all female characters. In the manga or anime, I don’t really find any of them attractive.

Most overestimated? Plenty, especially given the war arc. Sasuke or Itachi? At least years ago when I actually followed forums and manga review blogs (not on tumblr) there seemed to be a consensus that Sasuke could do anything, by kicking up enough notches on his Susano’o, and later some said that for Itachi, and then Madara showed up and could rarely be actually overestimated, and then Kaguya was a literal god and, ugh...

Not appreciated enough? Tobirama!

What is the greatest thing about Naruto? It’s brought me a lot of personal happiness.

The worst? How the quality of its writing drifted from “meh” to “ugh” over the years.

The saddest moment? There’s a few pages in the manga that show Naruto slowly gaining more friends as he gets older while Gaara stays alone in a space of empty desert that gets wider and wider as he goes to his knees. A strong and painful reminder that while one person may be smiling and enjoying life, simultaneously another is being strangled by the crushing misery of their own life. I’m so glad for Gaara finally fixing himself and finding real happiness. He’s the character who went through the best development and most change in the story, bar none.

The most defining? The Chuunin Exam Arc is what most people remember, in my experience. But to me the first opening song of Shippuden “defines” it in my mind.

Rant about anything…

GO! I never once imagined that this could happen in canon/reality, but I think the greatest way to end the story would be for Naruto himself to have to kill Sasuke. This would hammer in a message to the story that I think it could really use: despite Naruto’s hopes and good intentions, despite all his hard work, he cannot save everyone. And it would give a real sense of consequence. I never once felt that the main cast was in danger from all the fireballs, summoning animals, 10-ton rocks that hit them in the fucking face and never left more than a light scratch or dust mark on their steroid Hercules bodies. Even in a war the likes of which Ninjaland has never seen, bringing more and more godlike charcters together whose powers could end thousands of people in seconds, Neji seems to be the only notable casualty (lol bye Neji) and for all the good guys to make it out of such a conflict alive and well is absolute horseshit and not worthwhile storytelling of a war. Somebody important has to lose a battle, or lose someone they love, or lose a limb, something! Let me believe that any of these fights matter! Let me really feel that this conflict, this battlefield is dangerous and people are scared for their lives and hurt but fighting anyway, let me see something besides this gross, hollow shonen movie poster of good guys overcoming bad just by virtue of being good guys with dumbshit magic powers that the author-god gave them for free. Let me take these characters and put them in the hands of some fanfic writers who could write better fights than these in their sleep. Let me read fanfic instead.

#Naruto #Naruto meme #personal #self

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recentanimenews · 4 years ago

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FEATURE: The Saddest Moments In Naruto

A series about an outspoken orange ninja shouldn’t be such an emotional rollercoaster, but life isn’t fair and doubly so if you choose to relive any of these scenes from Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. As far as long-running series go, there are few that can compare to Naruto’s epic saga of trial-by-error and redemption. Featuring everything from tournament arcs, tragic flashbacks, and unrequited love — Naruto has never failed to offer something for every kind of anime fan.

But when was the last time Naruto made you cry? The real answer to that might be whenever you last felt teary-eyed — or at least had powerful urges to make a depressing AMV. That being said, Naruto has never failed to deliver, even if it's raw shinobi tears after a long, hard battle. Sometimes all it takes are the small things, like powerful dialogue or a uniquely composed scene. From the very beginning to the tail-end of Shippuden, the following three moments are some of Naruto’s most unexpected emotional highlights, in no particular order:

"An Invitation from the Sound"

Naruto: Episode 109

Sakura finds Sasuke leaving Konoha Village

After battling against the Sound Four sent by Orochimaru, Sasuke is invited to join the Sound Village to become more powerful. Deciding the offer will help him on his path of gaining revenge for the Uchiha clan, Sasuke attempts to leave Konoha Village alone at night. However, he’s unexpectedly caught by Sakura, who pleads that pursuing his revenge isn’t the right path in life.

What makes this minor scene so provocative? It might be Sakura’s earnest attempt to meet Sasuke eye-to-eye. Despite being brushed off countless times and never being accepted as a peer, Sakura is unwavering in her support for Sasuke to stay. Before Sasuke leaves for good, she asks him "I ... make you dislike me all the time, don't I?" when it’s apparent he’s no longer listening. Whether he likes it or not, Sakura has something to say.

"I ... make you dislike me all the time, don't I?"

Why would Sakura even say something so self-deprecating? She's desperate, not because of selfishness, but because she knows the path Sasuke's taking has no return. If Sasuke leaves, there are no guarantees he will still be the same person ever again.

This confrontation ironically parallels an earlier scene after the two barely met, where Sakura chides Sasuke for being a loner. Having no context, Sasuke tells Sakura that they are, fundamentally, two incredibly different people with almost nothing in common. Barely more than acquaintances. But now, after the trial-by-fire of the Chūnin exams and confronting the terrors of the Sound Village, the dynamics of Sakura and Sasuke’s relationship are at a crossroads.

"You and I were alone for the first time, here at this very spot."

Sasuke’s final words to Sakura aren’t only specifically aimed at her, but at all of Konoha Village and the increasingly strained relationships he’s chosen to leave behind. It’s a bittersweet end to what could’ve been. And as we’ll later see, the beginning of something all-consuming for everyone invested in saving Sasuke.

"The Ties That Bind"

Naruto Shippuden: Episode 364

Neji is fatally injured in combat and collapses into Naruto's arms

Despite being a prodigy gifted with the Byakugan dōjutsu, Neji Hyūga has always been at odds with the hand life dealt him. Born only into a subsidiary house of the powerful Hyūga clan, Neji firmly believes he'll never be able to climb the social ladder or achieve greatness. After his father’s death, Neji is only further troubled by this fact, frustrated that things may never change. That was, until he fought Naruto during the Chūnin exams. Although Neji ultimately loses to Naruto, he's left with a valuable lesson: never let fate or people’s expectations have the final say.

Neji versus Naruto during the Chūnin exams (Naruto Episode 60)

Years later, Neji accompanies Naruto during the Fourth Shinobi World War as part of the Allied Shinobi Forces. By now, Neji has not only accepted Naruto as a comrade, but has recognized the deep bond between him and Hinata. After receiving a fatal blow from the Ten-Tails, Neji thanks Naruto for showing him that he didn’t need to let the establishment of the Hyūga family rule him.

"Lady Hinata ... is willing to die for you."

With his dying breath, Neji finally gives Naruto his own word of advice: that Naruto’s life isn’t just his own, but Hinata’s as well. He doesn’t simply ask Naruto to watch over her, but to consider everyone who has joined him so far — it’s not selfishness but selflessness that will ultimately lead them to victory. In his final moments, Neji peacefully arrives full circle after years of harboring a complex about his identity, confident in the fate he bravely fought for by himself.

"The End"

Naruto Shippuden: Episode 138

Hello darkness my old friend

What happens when you finally get what you want? You get the sound of silence.

After exchanging blows at the devastated Uchiha Hideout, Sasuke and Itachi conclude their final confrontation against one another with a somber end. With no more chakra to spare, Orochimaru’s eight-headed snake emerges from Sasuke’s cursed seal. Face-to-face, Itachi extracts this weakened Orochimaru from Sasuke’s body, finally removing the seal that had been placed years ago. But this is already too much. With both brothers too exhausted to continue fighting, the mood dramatically changes: instead of going out with a bang, this horrible game of cat and mouse goes out with a whimper.

After a long battle, Itachi's body collapses beside Sasuke

Although Shippuden is best known for dynamic, explosive fight scenes, this finale to Sasuke and Itachi’s generational conflict thrives in its silence. Besides Zetsu’s distant commentary, there is barely any conversation between the brothers after Orochimaru has been sealed. The atmosphere is tense and muted, as though words can hardly do justice for the trauma both brothers have experienced in their lifetime. Cornered with his back against the now destroyed Uchiha Hideout, Sasuke is slowly approached by Itachi. With no more chakra to spare, Sasuke does nothing, seemingly ready to accept Itachi’s final blow.

Itachi speaks to young Sasuke in a previous flashback (Naruto Episode 129)

Nothing happens. Instead, Itachi taps Sasuke’s forehead, just like when they were kids. What isn’t said doesn’t need to be said. Itachi leans into Sasuke’s ear to whisper something, but we can’t hear it — although Sasuke hears it, we aren’t privy to Itachi’s final words. Unlike so many battles in Naruto, this one doesn’t end in a bombastic monologue or celebration, but a haunting note. Despite this not being the last time we see Itachi in Shippuden, this is ultimately the final appearance of his original self. As scarred as their relationship may be, this scene ambitiously avoids overexplaining itself in favor of an eerie severity that makes it one of the most moving encounters in Naruto history.

Anyway, that's enough moody ninja angst for today. Please cry some tears of joy looking at Gaara's beautiful flowers instead:

Wow, what a lovely day

Which Naruto moments have moved you the most? Let us know in the comments!

Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. He would like to show you his ninja info cards. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

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