#i would've gotten this out a hell of a lot earlier but i was struck by The Horrors

[tenebriskukris]

Oshi No Ko Chapter 163 - My Thoughts/Analysis

Three chapters before the end. I don’t expect anything more than a horribly written, badly paced mess of a final few chapters by this point, but maybe the manga will surprise me. By being even worse than I’ve come to anticipate.

Interesting way to start off the chapter. We’re back with Goro for some reason? And Sarina after what is likely some surgery? This definitely didn’t actually happen. It almost reeks of a happy “what-if” scenario right here.

The next few panels seem to solidify that. It’s some sort of delusional happy ending for Sarina and Goro. Neither of them were so lucky in their fates so as to almost get everything they wanted.

Sarina recovering and becoming a B-Koamchi idol alongside Ai…it’s cute and all, but I’m more interested in the why this is being shown rather than marvel at this pitiful attempt at moving the reader’s heartstrings. I’d be more willing to engage with the narrative and have more sympathy for everyone involved here except for the fact that all these recent chapters have just eroded my ability to care with some of the worst writing that I’ve seen in a piece of media since the later seasons of Game of Thrones. Actually no, that’s an insult to GoT—at the very least the earlier seasons of that show were actually good, while as much as people harp on about the earlier parts of OnK, that much is mostly because the anime carried its mediocre story.

Is this a dream? And now we’re back with Aqua and Crow Girl. Are we deus ex machena-ing now?

The world is a virtual image created by observation. Not everything is true. It’s like the world looked completely different before and after you were reborn. Crow Girl is Literally Just Saying Words. It’s so unsubstantial that it feels like I’m chewing on air. These words don’t even fucking relate to this entire dream sequence at large!

In the end, who was I? Are we going to finally get the nail in the coffin for people who don’t want to believe that Aqua=Goro?

Was this actually the wrong choice? AQUA YOU LITERALLY HAD TIME TO CONSIDER THIS POSSIBILITY WHEN YOU PLANNED THIS DOUBLE SUICIDE BULLSHIT. If you were hesitant in leaving everyone else behind, you could’ve, you know, not fucking went after Hikaru after Nino was captured? If he feels sad over leaving people behind there are so many ways for him to survive these contrived series of events that I’m sorry, Aqua you’ve done fucked up. He’s had more than enough time to plan out a series of events that doesn’t end with him dying, so Aqua “regretting” that he might’ve caused more trouble with his actions is just so stupid that it kills my suspension of disbelief faster than Goro falling to his death in the first chapter. 

Through reincarnation, you possessed Goro Amamiya’s memories and will [...] however within your body there are genetic factors that were inherited from Ai and Kamiki. Interesting that she doesn’t mention the concept of a soul here, but everything related to Crow Girl is just a nonsensical thematic mess half the time. Considering that she said that Ai’s children were soulless in one of her first appearances I’m surprised that people take these words to mean that Aqua=/= Goro when the rebuttal to that argument is given so early on in the manga.

This entire bit of Crow Girl hugging Aqua and holding his face and such…I dunno. I don’t quite know how to feel about it? What’s with all this sympathy for Aqua when she was sitting on the fence and giving out breadcrumbs to Aqua and Ruby? If she cared enough to stop this scenario she could’ve easily pulled enough strings as a fucking god to save him, since she is Right There to keep Aqua from dying. I would say that it’s almost out of character, but that gives this series too much credit because Crow Girl is more of a plot device rather than an actual character.

The rest of these scenes are nice except they feel too much like throwing a pity party when Everything that came before it was just so shite that this payoff tastes cheap. I’m supposed to feel emotions coming from this scene, but all I can think of is how fucking stupid these last few chapters were if this was the end result of that entire clusterfuck. It doesn’t hit its mark by a long shot. 

That was all of you, Aqua Hoshino. And with that, all that is left is the keychain. I’m sure that Ruby’s going to be holding onto that keychain for dear life alongside Aqua himself soon enough.

That’s it??? There are—were—four chapters in this blasted manga to get through and THIS is one of those chapters??? As heartbreaking and or heartwarming as this chapter was, it could’ve easily been folded into the last one simply because there wasn’t much substance from this chapter or the last! Hell, even putting that aside, with only a handful of chapters left in the series this chapter should’ve been focused on something more substantial rather than deal with character beats that should’ve been very well established beforehand!

Let’s get down to business. Do I think Aqua is going to live after this chapter? My answer hasn’t changed since the last chapter, but I do have more thoughts to give on it now that this chapter’s dropped.

There are only three more chapters left in this bloody series. Three chapters to wrap up the story as we know it so far. As much as I greatly dislike the way Aqua’s revenge plot has panned out, with Hikaru pretty much down for the count as of this chapter, I think plotline that much has been dealt with. That only leaves a couple of loose ends to wrestle with. If the manga is keeping up this breakneck pace to the end, then I do think it’s possible to wrap this whole mess up. It won’t be the best way to do so by a long shot, but it’ll certainly end. There’s just one thing that I think has to be addressed in the span of these final chapters.

An author has a responsibility to wrap up loose threads when a series inevitably gets closer to the ending. While this series has dispensed with many, many small plot threads that have headed nowhere in order to sprint towards the end of the manga, there is one plotline that I believe needs to be dealt with before the series concludes. The issue of Aqua and his love interests. For better or worse, this plotline has defaulted to one of, if not the main hook of the series since the revenge plot has been so shallow throughout a good majority of the series.

There needs to be a clear “winner” for the Aquabowl, so to speak. 

While fans on all sides will point to various chapters and say, Aqua has romantic feelings for Kana, or, Aqua wants to rekindle his relationship with Akane, or Aqua loves Ruby, the sheer fact that multiple of these interpretations exist within the context of the series itself this close to the ending needs to be addressed. Love triangles often soak the reader with intrigue and suspense before being dispensed of later down the line after it has served its narrative purpose. If the series isn’t going to pivot towards an open ending, then that needs to be addressed before the end.

Killing Aqua off here would render all that utterly meaningless. It would be unsatisfying in a way that would forever damn it simply because of the fact that it’s the equivalent of pushing the reader’s face into a plate of shit and the author saying, “Wow! That’s a good ending because it made you feel bad!”, when after such an event the reader would like nothing more than to refund the time investment they had in said media. It’s daft. It’s insulting. It is essentially telling the fans that all of the time they spent with this character and the romance angle—doubly so because of the fact that this little romance angle had little to no plot relevance for the vast majority of the series—was worth less than nothing because Aqua was going to die all along—and he even didn’t die dramatically, either, though maybe that would’ve softened the blow, but he died in a horribly executed confrontation that culminated in a half baked dream sequence where there were more than a handful of ways for him to come out of it alive.

While there are media that can intentionally make an unsatisfying ending work, with how these past few chapters have been, such an ending would likely fall flat for an abundance of reasons—but since we’re just talking hypotheticals, I won’t make any sweeping statements just yet.

Of course, all of this assumes that the authors are, you know, making good narrative decisions. The buckshot pacing and flow of the last ten, twenty, even thirty chapters have just been a complete garbage heap in quality. There are many things I can feel in predicting within a series that’s still ongoing thanks to performing enough media analysis and understanding how stories like OnK are structured as well as the tropes therein.

What I cannot predict are the authors making irrational(read: BAD) decisions and or torching the media and running. It’s why I was so vehemently against the idea that Akane wearing a fucking wig and disguising herself as Ruby to fool Nino. It’s why having both Aqua and Akane independently coming to the conclusion that Yura was murdered was such a surprise to me. It’s why Aqua meeting Crow Girl offscreen wasn’t something that I’d seriously considered before I read that chapter.

These are, quite frankly, objectively bad decisions. I’d made my disdain for these narrative beats known many, many times throughout my various analyses as well as given my reasoning for Why these decisions are bad, so I’m not going to go over them again, but suffice it to say that these are the type of plot beats that high school teachers tell their students what NOT to do. And yet they happened nonetheless.

I can only predict what a competent author that tries to give payoff to the various plot threads in a piece of media can attempt to do next. What I cannot predict, however, is someone who is haphazardly throwing plot threads and beats around like crumbs throughout the manga with little to no intention of following them up satisfyingly or has any desire to actually pace these chapters with any degree of competence. It’s the equivalent of asking a sane person to try to wrap one’s head around the mind of someone that’s on some of the hardest drugs in the world. There’s literally no use in doing so because both parties have fundamentally different thought processes. The fact that this slop is being published must mean that the editors for this literal godforsaken series must be high, drunk, or are being blackmailed. It’s an insult to all of the actual good manga writers out there that don’t even get a speck of popularity that this series has garnered.

That leads me to my next point. It’s also completely possible that Aqua just fucking dies here. It’d be a horrible decision, don’t get me wrong, but it'd be completely on brand for the series which has already made so many poor choices this close to the end. It’d just be one final shit pie to eat after the author cooked a buffet of garbage.

If that’s the case, I’d expect Ruby following Aqua soon after. Sad, I know, but that girl literally made it her mission to kill Hikaru after she found out that Goro was dead and was willing to go to lengths that Aqua just wasn’t in order to get her revenge. Losing the person she cares about most after finding out he was alive all along only for him to fucking die again??? I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruby just walks into the sea after she hears the news.

Completely unsubstantiated thought that just crossed my mind. Calling it now. Aqua and Ruby both die in the next handful of chapters before they reincarnate once more and then meet each other. It’d be almost an inverse of that whole, “two lovers that committed double suicide get reincarnated as twins” Japanese superstition that I’ve seen talked about. That’d be a godawful ending but we’re already scraping the bottom of the bucket with this series. I wouldn’t put it past this series. It is on the table, after all.

Three chapters left. I’ve lost all hopes for a good ending for the series for some time now, so I’m just sitting on the rollercoaster waiting for the ride to finally come to a close.

[reignstormz]

|ROMAN REIGNS & SASHA BANKS|

✨THE STORYLINE; SHORT STORY ✨

Bio; Since WWE may or may not give us the Roman and Sasha interaction some of us want, I decided to write a little short story of how I sort of envisioned it going. This story will have three parts to it, hopefully you guys like it enough so I'll continue it! Feedback would be great. I also got a little inspiration from @haharollins someone had asked her to write a quick storyline between them and she wrote down a lot of great ideas I loved. Also @moxley-leakee from the head cannons she write. :)

Cast; Roman Reigns/Sasha Banks/Jey Uso etc. Everyone who has basically been involved with them as of late and a little bit of last year.

Warnings; Reminder, this is just a made up storyline! It has a bit of a romantic angle to it as well but this is not to disrespect their spouses in anyway, this is just for fun. If you don't really care for them to have that type of interaction, then this isn't the type of story for you. No sexual content involved either, just a regular storyline between the two.

|PART ONE|

November 13, 2020

Survivor Series was slowly approaching. The faces of SmackDown knew what was coming their way; Roman would be facing Drew McIntyre, and Sasha would be facing Asuka. However, the sudden, yet "untouchable" thorn in Sasha's side had attacked her after successfully retaining her championship against Bayley. Carmella's eyes were on the title, and even though Sasha was aware after last week, she had no idea who else's eyes were on her.

Earlier tonight, Roman had an intense interaction with Drew. During that time, Jey had gotten involved, and entered himself in a match with him. Roman was furious, and after scolding Jey at the top of his lungs, he had trouble calming down for the rest of the night. He stayed in his private locker room for a minute before deciding to take a walk in the hallway on his own to think. The camera's were on him, watching his every move. Roman stared at the ground as he walked in deep thought until he came across the television that was on the wall, and the blue-haired woman had caught his attention.

Sasha wore a cheetah print body suit that had blue accents all over it, and it hugged her body like a glove. Her blue hair beautifully cascaded down her back, while the women's title sparkled on her shoulder. As she continued to gloat into the microphone, Roman couldn't help but smirk to himself. He crossed his arms and licked his lips, taking notice of how gorgeous she looked. Roman always had a soft spot of Sasha; He always admired how confident she was, and she was one hell of a woman to him. Sasha had it all, and she was not the same girl he had tag-teamed with four years ago. He never would've thought that there would be a day they would be champions at the same time, but he never complained. If he could have it his way, he would keep it this way; It wasn't like he was going to lose his title anytime soon, and neither was she. Roman knew he was the best of the best, including her. He believed in her.

All of a sudden, Bayley's theme had interuppted Sasha. When Sasha wasn't looking, out of nowhere, Carmella had turned her around and super-kicked her in the face. Roman's smirk fell from his face and a slightly angered expression appeared as Carmella continued to beat her down. Carmella stood tall against Sasha; The camera switched back onto him and Roman sighed, looking away from the TV briefly.

"And there's the Universal Champion--Wait, What is he doing?" Michael Cole confusingly questioned into his headset.

"I don't know, Cole." Corey Graves replied, confused as well.

Roman's eyes wondered around in thought until he got a bright idea. He slowly looked back at the screen, watching Carmella leave Sasha alone in the ring. He unfolded his arms, biting his lip from holding back a smile, then he walked away from the television.

The cameras switched back onto Michael Cole and Corey Graves, and they stared at each other with a weird look. Then they looked back at the camera.

"It looks like the Universal Champion, Roman Reigns has something up his sleeve for the Women's Champion, Sasha Banks?" Michael Cole in a curious tone,

"Am I the only one that's still confused?" Corey Graves adds, "What is he thinking? And why would he want to have anything to do with Sasha?"

Michael Cole shrugs, "I guess we're going to have to find out next week." Then they moved on to talk about the other matches and segments.

November 20th, 2020

After getting attacked by Carmella, for the hundredth time, the boss finally began to feel defeated; This wasn't like her at all, and she was so confused. She was humiliated week after week, and now she was taken down in front of Asuka right before Survivor Series. What if the locker room thought she was weak? Or that her title reign would be shorter than all of her others combined? She was the boss but it didn't feel like it at the moment to her. She wondered if Carmella came to her like a real woman, then this would've went differently--but, it was clear that she had time and time again to put a stop to her surprises, and she didn't. Sasha knew that Carmella was after her, but she didn't have confidence in herself that she would be victorious in this fued when it was over.

The camera shot was back on the Women's Champion after Roman and Drew's contract signing was over. She said in the trainer's office, sitting down with her title lying next her. Her head was laid against wall in pain, and the trainer gave her an ice pack to put on her head for the time being. She sighed, quietly thanking him. Then, without a knock, the door opened. It revealed the Universal Champion along with his special counsel and his cousin, Jey Uso.

The two made eye contact with each other in an instant, and silence lingered in the room. Sasha slowly brought the ice pack down from her head, and she experienced a tingly feeling in her stomach. Despite her hidden enjoyment of seeing the Samoan, her eyebrows furrowed a little bit; What brought him here? The pair hadn't interacted in a long time. Not intentionally either, but time passed and they of course went their own separate ways after they had last been together. It might've been awhile, but the chemistry was still there. It never left; It was more than evident at this moment. Even though they knew each other, they were two totally different people than they were four years ago.

Roman switched his attention onto the trainer, giving him an intense expression before looking straight ahead, "Paul.." He said in an awaiting tone. Sasha looked between Paul, Jey, and the trainer. Paul nodded his head politely, signaling Jey and waved his hand over at the trainer to leave the room. The trainer nervously exited the room in fear, Paul and Jey followed behind him, closing the door shut. Roman and Sasha were left alone. Not being able to hold his gaze any longer, she looked down embarrassingly. He probably saw what happened, she thought.

Roman walked further in the room an stopped in front of her, but not too close to where it would make her uncomfortable, "May I?" He asked calmly, and his deep voice made her even more nervous by the second. She nodded, refusing to look at him still.

The head of the table set his title down onto the seat not too far away from him, and sat down next to the beaten up woman. He closed his hands together, resting his arms on his knees and he turned his head to look at Sasha, "I've been in your shoes."

Sasha played with her fingers while she listened to him speak. Normally, she probably would've had a rebuttal, but she felt so broken down that she had no choice but to stay quiet. Roman's attention stayed solely on her as he continued, "I can read you like an open book, Sasha. I know you."

His words replayed in her head like a broken record player; It struck a cord within her and she felt lost. What did he mean by that? What was he implying?

She finally stopped playing with her fingers and their eyes met. Roman could see the sudden confusion yet sadness right through her, which made him even more determined to get his point across.

"I know you've been beating yourself up, and I know that you've been doubting yourself, but this isn't you." Roman paused, "I know what you're going through. I've been through it all, seen it all, and heard it all. I know that people have been tearing you down for being champion; Bayley has said countless times how much you don't deserve it, and Carmella hasn't wasted any time in making sure that you lose your title. But who gives a damn about what they think? Or what they want?"

Sasha's confused facial expression turns into a softer one as she listens to what he's saying. She took in everything, paying close attention.

"The boss I remember, would prove everyone wrong regardless of the hate. You're stronger, bigger and better than any of those people. None of these women can hold a candle to you, and that's exactly why you're champion, because you're the best. You make the title, the title didn't make you. You've come so far and busted your ass for this company way too hard for Carmella, Bayley, or anyone else to take that away. Make them understand who runs this division."

Sasha realized that he was completely right. During this time, she cared way too much about what other people thought which led her to become an easy target, and the boss was never an easy target. If she was, she wouldn't be where she is right now. She had finally remembered who she was, and what she stood for, and no one was going to take that away from her. Sasha softly smiled a little bit, and nodded, understanding where he was coming from.

Roman recognized the smile on her face; It ended up making him grin a tiny bit, and he felt butterflies in his stomach which was a feeling that was mutual to Sasha as well. He gently patted her knee, getting up from his seat and slid his championship on his shoulder. Before he left, he looked down at her one last time and said truthfully, "I believe in you."

Sasha and Roman exchanged looks of admiration before he left the room, leaving her on her own. She smirked shyly, looking down at her lap. Soon enough, SmackDown went off air.

November 22, 2020

The score was so far 2-1 between Raw and SmackDown. The Raw men had successfully beaten the SmackDown men; The Street Profits beat the New Day and Bobby Lashley had beaten Sami Zayn. So far, it wasn't looking good for SmackDown. However, Sasha was determined to make the score even and hopefully Roman and the SmackDown women would be the ones to take it home.

Currently, Sasha was in a match with Asuka. The match was very intense, and it had everyone who was watching on their toes. No one was sure who would win since it was close. Sasha was close to winning multiple times, but it wasn't enough to defeat Asuka.

Asuka kicked Sasha in the chest, knocking her down roughly. When the opportunity was present, Asuka went for her finisher but when she least expected it, Sasha caught her right in the middle of it and kept her shoulders down long enough so she could successfully win the match. Sasha let go of the empress and took a deep breath while there was shock written all over Asuka's face.

"The boss has beaten the empress!" Michael Cole exclaimed. A wide smile grew on Sasha's face and she punched the air in happiness.

"And you're winner, The SmackDown Women's Champion, Sasha Banks!" The ring announcer says with his chest. The ring announcer gives Sasha her title, and helps her up so he could raise her hand. Sasha smiled brightly, feeling over the moon proud of herself that she had won.

A backstage camera showed a shot of Roman and Paul watching her victory from his locker room. He smirked, feeling just as proud. Roman turned his head to look at Paul, and he gave him a look of approval before they both turned their attention back on the screen before he started to prepare for his match with Drew later that night.

➰

Even though the score between Raw and SmackDown was now 3-2, Roman still brought it home for SmackDown and won against Drew McIntyre. After the low blow Roman had given Drew, Jey still came to Roman's aid to sneak a kick at Drew's face so it could put him down for the count for good. After Roman squeezed Drew in his submission, another referee had come out to declare the match. He had proven to Drew, and everyone else, that he was the champion.

As Roman walked out of the ring and up the ramp, he noticed Jey at the top, cheering him on even though he ordered him to leave the building after losing his match against Raw. Once he reaches the top, Jey and himself stare at each other. Jey looks at him nervously, wondering if he'll get angry meanwhile Roman decides to let it slide for the night, and let the consequences come later. He nods, opening his arm up so he could hug him and Jey doesn't hesitate to hold him tight.

When they pull away from the hug, Sasha's theme music plays, surprising everyone who was at the announce table and through the screen virtually.

"Is that who I think it is?" Corey Graves questions.

"It's Sasha Banks!" Michael Cole says in a excited yet confused tone, once again.

"What the hell is she doing?" Samoa Joe asked at the announce table.

As Sasha walked out from the gorilla with the title wrapped around her waist, Paul and Jey turned around to look at her. Paul proudly smiled at her, giving her the nod of approval while Jey wasted no time in clapping, hyping her up from her win earlier tonight. Sasha softly grinned at the both of them, and instead of dancing her way out like she usually does, she walked out more calmly since she was coming out to congratulate Roman, along with showing appreciation to him after encouraging her.

Roman didn't turn around right away, but couldn't help but smirk at the sound of her music. He licked his lips, and turned around to see her approaching him. She stood right next to him, and a small smile grew across her face as he looked down at her, admiring her beauty. He couldn't of been more proud of her. Roman switched his title onto his other hand, and held his hand out to her. Sasha looked down at his hand, and gently took a hold of it. Roman brought her hand to his lips, kissing the top of it softly before saying, "I told you, you could do it."

Sasha swooned on the inside by his sweet gesture, and she lightly blushed while she stared at her tribal chief, "It was all you."

Roman gave her hand a soft squeeze in reaction of her reply, winking at her and his strong--tattoed arm brought her into his side. Jey stood close to Roman while Paul watched in amazment. Meanwhile, Drew sat in the ring, looking at Roman and Sasha with a lost facial expression on his face.

Roman looked down at his title in his hand and said, "This is ours, and this stays with us for the near future. We'll take down what we want to." Then he raises his title above his head proudly, and Jey wraps his arm around Roman's shoulder. Roman looks down at me, and nods, signaling me to do the same. Sasha unbuckles her title from her waist, and holds her title above her head as well as Roman's theme music cues shortly after.

"Wait, does this mean that the head of the table has formed an alliance with the boss?" Michael Cole says in a surprised tone.

"This should be good." Samoa Joe adds, speaking what everyone else might've been thinking. After a lingering silence from the announce table, the program cuts to commerical.

➰

Tags; @haharollins @dilfmoxley @sassymox @reignsbanks @wwzentertainment @darksinandmadness @reignsprint @nianotjax @cptcharisma @grandslamstandard @likesummerrainn @brookethegamer @notoriouscrown @flawlessglamazon @roderickstrong (I'd tag more but I can't remember a lot from the top of my head 💀)

hope you guys liked this :)

[shybre22]

Okay so I wanted to do a few posts in defense of my favorite pairings Sasusaku, Ichihime, and Todomomo, because I've seen them get bashed quite a lot. Today I'm starting with Sasusaku.

Sasusaku common hate: Sasuke treated Sakura like garbage,why does she love him,Sasuke never cared about Sakura, sasusaku is sooo toxic.

" Sasuke treated Sakura like garbage" Ok Sasuke never treated Sakura like garbage where are they even getting this from?!... are they referring to when he called her annoying? Because he was right..he wasnt being a jerk, she was basically bashing naruto for have no family and remember Sasuke also had no family either so she was also indirectly making fun of him too.. as much as I love Sakura everyone could agree she was being a brat, she didn't know better sure..so that where Sasuke comes in. Sasuke just told her that her making fun of someone for being all alone in the world made her annoying..and it did! No one can argue that. He wasn't trying to insult her.. Hell if that was an insult it was super weak and he could've called her something worse if that's what he was going for..like a snobby privilege brat.. for example..but he didn't..he was just trying to explain loneliness to her and when she didn't get it her called her annoying.

Maybe their referring to when he said she needed to stop flirting with him and hone her ninjutsu..and told her she was worse than Naruto in that respect. Again not treating her like garbage he was telling her the truth! She needed to focus on her skills to improve their team dynamic not her crush on Sasuke! He was just being truthful, bluntly yes, but it was needed. Because after both of those instances..it made Sakura rethink her actions..ie inciting character development. After he called her annoying she thought about how Naruto felt and wanted to be nicer to him after that. And after he said she was worse than naruto she reflected on it. Also he made up for it later on during the chunin exams when he cheered her up

Sasuke Uchiha, the aloof guy who doesn't play nice with others and the guy who "supposedly" treats Sakura like garbage..not only noticed her being upset, where even Naruto (the guy who likes her) didnt, but Sasuke went out of his way to pay her a compliment to make her smile and bring up her confidence! I mean look at his smirk in the bottom panel...oh yeah he so doesn't care.

Oh yeah let's not forget the Forrest of Death..when Sasuke wakes up and sees Sakura hurt.. I mean he must dislike this girl strongly right..its not like he almost killed the people responsible for her beating her..

Yeah because when you treat a person like garbage and dislike them..you care if they get hurt and beat the dog snot out of the ones who did it to them..right?

Did the antis maybe mean when he knocked the apples out of her hands?? Firstly you have to think of the frame of mind he was in..he had just had an encounter with Itachi, you know the man who responsible for his suffering in the first place, and pounded him into a pulp and taunted him about not being good enough and not having enough hate. Remember what he was thinking about as Sakura cut the apples??

He was thinking about how he couldn't do anything to stop Itachi from trying to take Naruto and how he couldn't save Sakura from Gaara but Naruto did..he was feeling powerless and frustrated. Besides if he really didn't want Sakura there or to cut apples for him..he would've told her to get lost and that he didn't want her there but...

He let her hug him and stay in the room with him while she peeled apples for him. Sasuke wasnt being an ass to Sakura. He was frustrated and angry in general at that moment he felt so far away from his goal it hurt, he had trained so hard for years and for what? To be no closer to his goal..his reason for living..letting all that hate and feelingings of uselessness fester and fester until it boiled over and Sakura, at that exact moment, happened to push an apple in his face like he was a baby who couldn't do it on his own.. and the result..

The bottom image even parallels his expression with Orochimaru, showing he wasnt in his right frame of mind at the moment and he was being overcome with vengeance and Orochimaru's influence, the curse mark. I feel this also is seen from Sakura's point of view not just the readers..its foreshadowing his descent into darkness.

Getting back to my point.. He wasnt treating her like garbage! He frustrated at his own lack of power and just so happened to take his frustrations out on the nearest person...Sakura.. and dont forget Naruto, he fought him to appease his inferiority complex at the time. Let's not forget he was a pre teen boy who was dealing with so much for a someone his age and to have your lack of power rubbed in your face by the very person who took everything from you would have made anybody lash out...and let's be real here..how many times has any person lashed out at even people they love because of anger? Not saying it's right, but it happens.🤷‍♀️

Plus after Naruto and Sasuke's fight Kakashi comes in and lectures Sasuke about having new precious people..and guess who he thinks of along with Naruto..

SAKURA! Imagine that the girl he supposedly doesn't care about and treats like garbage is on his list of precious people..

I wonder if Antis mean when Sasuke thanked her and knocked her out so she wouldn't follow him or scream for help to stop him?🤔

Okay so I always say this..if Sasuke treated her like garbage or didn't care why would he stand and listen to her confession..not only that but he actually spoke back to her..explaining his reasons for leaving.

Sakura is pouring her heart out to him and it does affect him..make no mistake, at the bottom it shows Sasuke with a blacked out pannel..which shows the impact that Sakuras words had on him. In fact he cares about her enough to say he doesnt remember calling her annoying..because at this point in time she is no longer that loud, bratty girl she was when they first made genin..she was a precious friend and comrade to Sasuke. Then we find out he does remember because what does he call her after she asks to help him with his vengeance and abandoning the village and her family and friends with him and confessing her undying love to him.. he says "you're still annoying" showing her he does remember.. so why did he call her that after saying he didn't remember calling her that only minutes earlier? Maybe because..it was the only way to deter the current conversation so he didn't have to answer her..or maybe because she had gotten to his heart through her words so much..that it almost made him falter.. and that annoyed him..maybe both.

Then the fateful Thank you..

Honestly if Sasuke didn't care he wouldn't of had this little heartfelt goodbye with Sakura..he would've knocked her out the second she tried to talk him out of it and left her there...but no he let her say her piece and he said his..even kishimoto mentioned this felt like a conversation between lovers.. Sakura confessed her love and while Sasuke didnt confess back he also didn't say he didn't feel the same either..I feel at this point not only was he still too young but he was still too goal oriented and scarred and hurt to except her love or even explore if he felt the same way about her, which is why he probably didnt deny or comfirm. Sasuke knocks her unconscious gently and then carries her to a bench..if he didn't care or treated her like trash he wouldn't left her on the ground and knocked her out long ago.

Now shippuden is a crazy roller coaster for Sasusaku fans..but even so I still dont feel he treated her like trash..

The first reunion is rough..Sasuke has been isolated for two years letting his hatred burn with no distractions so he's obviously colder. Now I hear antis all the time swear that Sasusaku is an abusive relationship.. Now my favorite rebuttal is " How can their relationship be abusive when their not even in a relationship"! At this point in time Sasuke and Sakura are technically enemies..now Sakura and Naruto may still see him as a friend but..they still know to be cautious around him as if he were an enemy..they even know they might have to fight him and drag him back by force.

Antis also love to use the "Murder" attempts to trash the ship. I use quotations because like I said earlier they are technically enemies at this point and it was Sakura who initiated combat each time and Sasuke literally just defended himself..Sakura and Naruto..as far as Sasuke was concerned were just in his way of vengeance and trying to get involved in his business and stop his goal..so of course he tried to stop them by any means necessary. At that point he didn't see them as friends anyway

Now during the land of iron Sasuke had fallen so victim in the curse of hatred ( yes it's a real canon thing so dont try to write it off) but even at his lowest he still didnt hurt Sakura at first sight..he attacked when he knew Sakura was there to take him out when she hesitated to kill Karin. We know this because if Sasuke really just wanted to kill everyone in his path he would've tried to kill Sakura on sight..I mean after all he did hate the village and everyone in it at the time right? He did express his desire later to kill Kakashi right? Didnt he boast about how he'll turn everyone's laughs into screams of anguish?

Yet he didn't try to hurt Sakura until he learned of her motive.. he saw her hesitate.. then he tried to kill her..because there would be no reason to come up behind her in a sneak attack..to trick her so he could kill her while her back was turned as some antis say..no Sasuke was way stronger than her at the point..stronger than most jonin and even took on all five kage and didn't die..there is no reason he would need to trick Sakura to kill her.. so he did want her to join him at first then he saw her true motive and struck before she could.

Again he wasnt treating her like trash she was just in the way of his goal and tried to stop him with deadly force...plus he was so twisted by hatred and Obito that nothing really mattered to him at that point not even himself really. Like I said these are the best times for the ship but we have to think of everything Sasuke endured. Especially mentally.

On a side note..

I think i need to point out that Sasuke treated Naruto far worse than he treated anyone else in the series,calling him names, expressing the wish to kill him a few times, and actually attempting to kill him more than a few times ..and he called him his best friend so if you wanna get on a ship for being toxic or treating the other like trash..look at that ship before you point fingers at Sasusaku..

Also for the antis who complain about Sasuke or Sakura being terrible characters and hating them..remember Gaara is a very beloved character and great kage and he use to kill people to make himself feel alive so much in fact his sand reeked of blood but the fandom let it go..Neji almost killed Hinata over something that wasnt even her fault and talked down on others telling them they were born losers and they cant change that.. but he changed and all is forgotten..the fandom forgives.. Obito is literally responsible for Naruto being an orphan and ostracized by the village but he changed and helps out a bit in the war..Naruto forgives him..the fandoms applauds it.

Sakura..said something rude once when she was twelve, and had a super crush on a boy when she was twelve that turned to genuine love that she never gave up on, was kinda annoying because she was twelve.. wasnt that strong because she comes from civilian parents and had no one to teach her anything at a young age like her peers..she changes all of those (minor) flaws..fandom never forgives..wont forget hates her.

Sasuke..one of the most tortured souls of the series..was made to watch his family get murdered by his own brother over and over was now alone and wanted vengeance..achieves it find out his brother was ordered to do it by his own village everything he knows is a lie..a higher up stole all his clansmen eyes and ordered the slaughter on his family.. kills him and attacks everyone out of pure rage because basically his own birthplace and the whole government system screwed him over.. he seeks vengeance for said screw over..finally comes to his senses..again..no one forgives..fandom: he needs to suffer more.. 🙄

Anyways back on track in the war arc antis love to say Sasuke didn't care about anyone but Naruto.. first off..there's a literal war going on so he's kinda busy trying to keep the world from ending and not dying so.. yeah. But we find out later he does still care on some level.

When Naruto calls him out when he said he only saved Sakura and Kakashi because they were next to Naruto.. then Naruto counters and reminds him of the bridge when they were fighting Haku..when his body moved on it's own.

Then Sasuke got real quiet and his eyes are blocked by his hair so we cant see his expression..telling us..Naruto was right!

I also knew it was BS because if he only wanted to save Naruto he would've and knocked everyone else out of the way.

Another thing antis spout is he was mean to Sakura when she asked what was going outside the susanoo to which he replied " why do u wanna know you cant do anything".

Again I'll admit it was very blunt..Sasuke needs to work on his tone yes..but again..he wasnt wrong.. he wasnt treating her like garbage..he was bluntly telling her the truth in a very dire situation. They literally, at the time, were the last four people on earth..so his bluntness was understandable.

There is another scene before the infinite tsykoyomi that shatters the illusion Sasuke doesnt care once again.. when he first told Sakura to be on guard when she was healing Kakashi's eye..then later when Naruto pops back up and Sakura is asking Maruto a qu6about how he restored Kakshi's eye he yells " I told you to be on gaurd....Naruto" obviously he didnt tell Naruto..which he himself points out he didn't tell him..so it lead you to believe he was talking to Sakura again..since she was the one distracted again.😉

Now when the second confession happens you can see Sasuke obviously was impacted again by Sakura's words..so much his foot was shaking and we get a full panel of it shaking. Then the infamous " You're Annoying" again with a different face..almost a pained fake smile. Then he puts her in a genjutsu.

Now most Antis say he denied her when he said he didn't know why she loved him and didn't have a reason to love her..but Kakashi jumps in and says the line " you only need a reason to hate someone"..which is true. Sasuke even says he knocked her out so she would follow and get in the way like last time..last time they almost killed her remember.. and he admitted that her feelings are chains from a failed past..and even thought of his family while talking about Sakura..

So Sasuke again listened to Sakura confession..acknowledged her feelings..even thinking about his family as he did acknowledge her love..and he admitted he knocked her out so she wouldn't get between him and naruto..knowing last time she almost died...hmm weird for Sasuke considering he was still under the curse of hatred and he apparently doesn't care about Sakura..

Then lastly Sasuke's apology.. every anti said it was too simple and Sakura gave in to easy. Firstly even though Sasuke probably only indirectly hurt Sakura by going down the wrong path and leaving her and the village he actually never hurt her intentionally like he did Naruto..Kakashi..The Five Kage..Hell even almost killing Karin,then giving her a half assed apology,imo she definitely deserved more than a sorry js.. but he felt the need to sincerely apologize to Sakura..and Sakura even egged him on saying "sorry for what" and he replied with everything I've done until now..

Out of everyone he apologized to Sakura..he hurt her yes..but even Naruto..his best friend, the one who got his arm blown off by him, didn't get an apology. Or Kakashi the man who was his teacher and mentor who he tried to avidly kill, and helped get him outta jail and wonder free didn't get an apology...but Sakura did..and idc who says otherwise..that means something

Sasuke even shared a forehead poke a special gesture shared between him and his once beloved older btother.. just with her.

Everyone can say what they want about this ship but I know Sasuke always cared to some extent and he never treated Sakura like she was garbage. Sasuke had problems yes..anyone would in his situation..he made bad choices..turned his back on his home and friends but he never really stopped caring and so many scenes in the manga obviously show that. After all no one valued love more than the Uchiha right. Sakura's unwavering love, I feel is also something to be admired not mocked.. she went from a young girl with a shallow crush to a woman who never gave up on the one she loved and it played off in the end and that's powerful..honestly the world needs more love like that...this world is so full of pettiness and hate that unconditional love is refreshing.