#sasori really was a tragic character

[noxxha]

Chiyo and Sasori - She neglected him out of guilt and fear

Sasori is a character who was introduced early in the first part of Naruto Shippuden. His parents were killed by Hatake Sakumo when he was young, and he was consequently under the care of Chiyo (and her brother - and his granduncle - Ebisu, most likely…yet their relationship is not shown on-screen), his grandmother.

Chiyo, however, does a grave mistake when it comes to Sasori’s parents. She learns of the fact that they were killed, and…

She keeps this information from Sasori, believing him to be “too young” to know about their death. On one hand it is considerate of her to do so, on the other hand she put herself in a very uncomfortable situation emotionally.

Not only because she had to lie to him every time he asked about his parents (and I can imagine that he asked ever so often), but because she probably had no true idea what to do the moment Sasori might/would figure out the truth.

Instead of telling him the truth she tells him that they are away on a mission (or that they were given a new mission, as stated in ep. 27) and that they will eventually return. Even worse, the one scene we get to see Chiyo says “well, they’ll be gone a little bit longer…”

They will be gone a little bit longer.

The lie itself is a terrible thing, but to phrase it the way she did - a little bit - makes it taste even more bitter.

That is giving Sasori a hope that does not exist.

She keeps him waiting, and Sasori obediently does just that. Growing up very lonely - and impatient (not liking to keep other people waiting, nor liking to be kept waiting) - as a consequence.

Look at him - he’s so sad…

While Chiyo did her best to be there for Sasori, her constant lies were actually cruel.

What is the greatest insult to Sasori, however, is the fact that Chiyo treats him as if he is stupid. He might be a child - and of course it would have hurt him to know that his parents were dead - but he is not stupid. Far from it.

He was hailed a prodigy in the art of puppetry, after all.

And…

He created puppets in the likeness of his parents to not feel so lonely. And yet they could do nothing to ease the emptiness within him. They could not replace his longing for his real parents.

“Sasori had already figured out, that his parents were dead.”

Chiyo actually hurt Sasori more with her lies than if she had just told him the truth from the beginning. We do not know for how long the lie lasted either, but she probably lied to him for 1 to 2 years at best…and quite a few years at worst.

Chiyo was put in a very painful position, but her way of handling it was certainly not the best. Not only was she grieving the loss of her son and daughter-in-law, but Sasori was a constant reminder of her loss. Not only was he the child of her son, he looked just like him (but with his mother’s brown eyes).

But what she ends up remembering the most is the sorrowful - empty - gaze upon which he gazes at the puppets.

Ep. 319 (filler - I am aware of such and yet I, for one, appreciate some of the fillers that the anime team gave us - this is one of my absolute favourites) expands on Sasori’s past. After the above scene we are shown how Sasori works on his puppets. The peace and quiet is being interrupted by Komushi - a young boy who is shown to treat Sasori like a friend. Komushi asks Sasori about the puppets requested by Chiyo (The Crow, Black Ant and Salamander), and this implies at first that his role is more than being just Sasori’s friend - he acts as a messenger between the two of them. This is later plainly stated by Chiyo herself.

“Oh well, I might as well wait until hell freezes over to get a response from you.”

One thing that is of interest is the fact that Sasori ignored Komushi for a long while. Only when Komushi mentioned that he “has a message from Granny Chiyo” did Sasori stop his tinkering and listen. The message in question was about the above mentioned puppets, and that they were needed quicker. Sasori only points towards said creations, resuming his tinkering near immediately thereafter, while also mentioning that he “does not like keeping people waiting”.

That Komushi acts as a messenger indicates that the relationship between them is strained. Extremely so even. But does it come as a surprise?

Not really.

Chiyo could have asked about Sasori’s invention herself, no? He is her grandson after all. But that she did not.

And the proof just how strained their relationship is follows the above mentioned scene. Komushi mentions that Chiyo wonders about the poison for the Crow puppet, and Sasori hands him a sheet of paper with the formula for the toxin he intends to make. The toxin in question must be approved, however, by his superior - who is Chiyo herself.

Komushi tells Sasori that he will negotiate with Chiyo about the toxin - and to give him “some time”. Sasori turns away from his friend and immediately tells him that he does not want to wait. Komushi grins - tells him “then let’s go!” - before rushing off. Sasori merely watches him in silence - looking mildly dumbfounded at his friend’s suggestion.

Now, while Komushi urged both of them to go - Sasori could have remained in his workshop and let his friend handle something that Sasori himself could have done…and yet…

This particular scene showcases just how little Chiyo understands her grandson. And it also showcases how she pushes him away - intentionally even.

This scene was a bit tricky to capture in a still frame. At first Chiyo only sees Komushi and so she asks him if he has “relayed her message” - and then Sasori appears. She becomes quiet, looks a tad surprised - apprehensive even - at the sight of her grandson. This indicates that he probably spent most (if not all) his time in the workshop and seldom showed himself. And that him being here now was quite the exception.

One could say that Komushi had a knack for persuading people to do his bidding, but considering Sasori being the way he is…he had probably another reason to appear before his grandmother.

Chiyo reads through the formula, and mentions that “there is not much I can say without knowing the blending ratio of the mixture”.

It is here that Chiyo makes another grave mistake.

Having read through the formula she looks at Sasori - remembering his empty gaze that gazed upon his father and mother puppets - before approving the request without asking for specifics. She could have asked about the mentioned blending ratio - Sasori stood right there in front of her - but she spoke as if that was not the case.

Sasori is shown to be a very tacit individual - he barely speaks and would probably be lost in his own world (creating puppets) if not for Komushi. When it comes to the toxin, Sasori went there personally (with some slight urging from his friend) but nevertheless…he followed him. The relationship between Sasori and Chiyo is shown to be terribly strained, even cold, so why would Sasori go to the person that lied to him for (presumably) years?

Because she was the only family he had left at that point. And he cared about her, deep down. He mentioned in ep. 27 that he would not care if Chiyo would die…and that alone indicates that there was a part of him that still cared about her. If he truly did not care about Chiyo’s fate, he would not have wasted breath mentioning it. He would have just gone ahead and killed her like he was capable in doing.

It is while Chiyo is healing Sakura that we get the clearest indicator that Sasori cared about Chiyo despite everything that had happened since he left the village 20 years prior to their reunion.

“It’s a jutsu I spent originally years creating for you…one that only I can use. With this jutsu life can even be breathed into puppets…In exchange for the life of the caster, that is…But in hindsight, it’s a dream that won’t be realized…”

Sasori, hearing these words, is visibly shaken. And there is a symbolic tear in the form of blood falling from the corner of his mouth.

While he probably resented Chiyo for lying to him - a part of me thinks that he could forgive her for that - as he sought her out (as shown in ep. 319) in an attempt to get an interaction between them, after all.

Him going to see his grandmother was Sasori’s subtle way of trying to mend a relationship that (not yet) was beyond repair.

But Chiyo - by approving the toxin immediately- denied Sasori the interaction he could not state plainly because he was extremely stunted emotionally and socially. He probably wanted her to ask him questions, show interest in him and his inventions (she was a toxin specialist when young and she was the one who taught him the art of puppetry in the first place) - but instead of threading on the path of reconciliation, she pushed him away. Intentionally.

Once the toxin was approved Chiyo near immediately dismisses the pair because she is “in the middle of research” but whether entirely true or not is hard to say. She was seen reading a document before Komushi (and Sasori) disturbed her, that’s true, but is it “reading” or “research”? Both most likely. It does not change the fact that she asked them to leave, though.

While Sasori hoped that Chiyo would understand the unspoken in him appearing before her, she misread the situation entirely.

Or…on one hand she did, but on the other hand she probably thought that she would make Sasori’s life easier if she just agreed to his request - she had denied him the most important “request” of all, after all (an answer/the truth). Agreeing to his request was partly done out of guilt I can imagine - so to ease her own consciousness. And part of her - as much as she tried to not show it - was terrified of that empty, haunted look in her grandson’s eyes.

Because she knew that she shouldered most of the blame for Sasori being lonely, for him feeling empty and trying to fill the void within him with his puppets.

She tried to cheer him up, but completely neglected the fact that Sasori needed human contact rather than only his puppets. He needed her.

This scene follows immediately after the above mentioned scene. He looks so sad, disappointed even that he did not get the result he had hoped for.

It had to hurt having Komushi mention that Chiyo had to be “so proud of you” and that she was “always worried about you” - because from Sasori’s side he probably felt that the complete opposite was the case, as Chiyo did not talk to him. They did not speak with one another (if it was not absolutely necessary), she did not praise him (at least not in person)…he must have felt like an orphan despite having family left.

Did they live together? That is not made clear. If they did I can imagine that they both (perhaps Chiyo more than Sasori) went out of their way to avoid one another.

Chiyo approving the toxin - without questioning Sasori about details - would end up having severe consequences the moment Komushi was wounded during his guard duty - losing part of his arm.

He was given a puppet arm by Sasori. It was shown to be quite the invention, with a blade and the ability to release the very toxin Chiyo approved without much hassle.

She is terrified of her own grandson. Of his empty gaze and his mind that was creating puppets terrifyingly close to real humans.

Now, whether Sasori wanted to murder Komushi intentionally or not, is up for interpretation. If we take Chiyo’s words at face value she is convinced that Sasori tried to get his only friend killed intentionally - that it was not just a “coincidence”. I personally do not believe that Sasori wanted Komushi dead, it was all just a terrible accident.

Komushi - knowing that blame would fall onto Sasori - mentioned that he “is not to blame”. That it was he (Komushi) who ingested the poison by accident.

But whether it was murder or not - Komushi dies under Chiyo’s care, as she does not know the blending ratio of the poison Sasori created, and therefore there is no antidote at the ready. What is even more chilling is the fact that Chiyo mentioned that she would clear it with the “Pharmaceuticals Division” and when Komushi is dying she asks about Sasori and if “we have the blending ratio for the poison yet”, this implies that either she did not speak with the division about the poison (perhaps because the toxin was too complex to find an antidote for?), or she did and Sasori later tweaked the ingredients.

One scene that can be used as an argument for Sasori wanting Komushi dead, is when the latter visits him and mentions that the puppet hand Sasori has created looks “real”. Sasori looks at Komushi’s hand (who moves his fingers to mimic the movement that Sasori made the puppet hand do). To me it looks more as if Sasori is contemplating how to make his puppets more “humanlike”, and it is here (most likely) that he began to contemplate the use of real humans and if it was possible to make them into puppets. But he was probably more inclined to do the opposite still: make puppets into humans so to say.

I honestly believe that Sasori at first had good intentions with him creating puppet parts that were more like human anatomy - but his pure desire morphed steadily into the worldview over which he and Deidara would fight over. Him making more real puppet protheses was very likely the first step into eventually deciding to make himself into a puppet. It was there it began in my opinion - his obsession with preserving “life” and “beauty”.

“Heal him! Please! You attached his right arm, too? Then his left arm can be…His legs, his body…You can even heal his soul, can’t you?! Give him back to me! Heal my Komushi and give him back to me!”

Komushi passes on and with him dies Chiyo’s link to Sasori. She contemplates the situation, before rushing to Sasori’s workshop when remembering how Komushi told her about Sasori creating human parts that looked like “real human hands”.

She finds him there…and she also finds that Sasori has made Komushi into a puppet - like it was “requested” of him by Komushi’s mother.

He has - in a way - restored his soul. Like he was “asked” to do.

The beginning of the Sasori that we got to know in Naruto Shippuden all the way back in Ep. 21 when his real face was finally revealed.

Chiyo admits by the end of the episode that she, indeed, pushed him away. That she made excuses to not be there for him when he needed her the most.

While all he wanted was to be embraced by his parents once more, I think even an embrace from her - back then - would have done so much to keep him on the “healthy” path.

But Chiyo didn’t. And she realized her many mistakes only when it was too late to truly say how much she regretted her treatment of her only grandson.

[narutocharacterpolls]

ROUND ONE

UCHIHA OBITO vs OMOI

Reasons for submission under the cut

Obito

his mental breakdown was cool when he killed the kiri-nins

he looks more beautiful with his scars

the most tragic complexly developed character in the entire franchise

he's an example of how Naruto could have gone if he had all the love and hope twisted out of him

he turned evil because of all of his goodness was manipulated, and he comes out the other side, redeeming himself

Naruto says he's the coolest guy he knows (or something along those lines)

he's silly

his war crimes were funny

he's so misinterpreted, nobody gets him

Obito v Kakashi in Kamui was the best fight in Naruto not only because of the beautiful animation but also the composition and the use of flashbacks…

Tobi was funny and a great bit

Omoi

he has anxiety - is shown to have actual reservations and fears about the world he lives in, which is honestly horrific and terrifying. Everyone elses' lack of worry in the War Arc is more unrealistic

his fears may sound outlandish and they may be played for laughs, but nothing he says isn't unreasonable given the universe he exists in

his teamwork with Karui was great

shown to be very capable and was instrumental in defeating Sasori and later Deidara in the War Arc. If given more opportunity, he could have shined bright.

very handsome. Adorable, even. 10/10

funny. He is usually played for laughs and it works. He plays off Karui and B really well.

is from the Hidden Cloud, the best village. Excellent representative.

was a representative of the Shinobi Union before his promotion, working with and no doubt influencing the direction of the novel organization as it was developed in the fallout of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Trusted to advocate and make decisions on behalf of his village in a time of unprecedented change.

[transgendervelma]

It is truly awful how the fandom at large has made the entire Sasori fight about Sakura when it’s mostly about Chiyo and Sasori’s personal development and the tragic ending of a family line, how the Shinobi system corrupts and destroy the innocence of children and turns them into monsters, and how the elders of all nations have been complicit either directly or indirectly in every bit of chaos that this system breeds weather they like it or not. Sakura is, mostly, just an accessory. She helps contribute to the themes by fighting alongside Chiyo but she is not THE only focus.

She gives Chiyo some hope at the start of the rescue arc but it’s Naruto who really has a drastic impact on her emotionally and we see the same is true vice versa, Chiyo is one of the people Naruto remembers who had a powerful impact on him during the war arc. Like… if it’s only about Sakura then why? It can’t be for character development, we see in the very next arc she goes back to being as influential on the plot as a piece of pink furniture. Her character actually continually gets worse and worse with its crescendo during the Kage summit, wherein she is just plain awful. Why is this arc and all its moving parts and relevance to the themes of the story reduced to just Sakura? Mostly because shippers like her, for god knows whatever reason.



[navigatorsghost]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love ❤ 😊 /// if you want! 🥺👉👈

Thank you! <3 I had a heck of a time narrowing it down to five but here's an attempt, skewing towards my Naruto fic because that's my active fandom right now...

from the hand of god (and into my arms) - Naruto, Hidan/Deidara, the one where Deidara rescues Hidan from being buried alive. I'm just fond of this because, well, my boys, and I was really happy with the end result.

Earth, Wind, Ash, Iron - Naruto, Sandaime Kazekage/Sasori, the one I wrote to get a preliminary handle on this ship and on Sandaime's character in my head but that came out better than I expected. Technically (filler) canon compliant but I rotated it until it turned into tragic romance, nothing graphic but please mind the tags.

Marked - Naruto, various pairings, the one where soulmates are a thing in the shinobi world. This is more of an ongoing miniseries than a completed fic but I'm still very fond of what I've got so far, especially the Jashin/Hidan chapter.

Hearts of Darkness - The Shadow (1994), Ying-Ko/Shiwan Khan, the one I wrote mostly to emotionally process the sheer unbelievable amount of Foe Yay in this godsdamned glorious movie. I'd class this wholeheartedly as a fixit fic, but please mind the tags, it's a bit dark around the edges.

I'll Save You (For Later) - Transformers G1, Galvatron/Rodimus Prime (pre-slash, just about), the one where Galvatron rescues Rodimus from certain death because you can't just let someone else kill off your fated nemesis. This was pretty self-indulgent when I wrote it but I think it holds up well enough that I'm not in the least ashamed of it.

Phew! Thank you again for the tag @lordkuronekosama!

[evilkitten3]

naruto volumes i own rated by how much sasuke is in them

vol 37 - he's mentioned by naruto a couple times. shows up in the preview for the next volume. 0/10 where is he

vol 45 - we open with sasuke! couple pages of naruto, one of some unimportant kumo nin (and jay. dw bby ur important to me) watching sasuke, then it's back to sasuke thinking about all the teams he's been on. cut to naruto for some light reading (books with jiraiya: this time, it's NOT porn!), then back to sasuke. then we cut to a flashback but it's still of sasuke (and some masked guy who's mostly just there for sasuke to angst at (i know who tobi is before anyone @s me). now we jump to the raikage lifting a weight for. some reason, naruto gets a few more pages, and then sasuke returns, bringing with him the panels that got animated and eventually became the Is Nothing Easy meme. cut to jay for half a second before sasuke shows up and kills his lizard (also presumably jay. rip in pieces my guy you will not be forgotten). zetsu and totally-madara-why-would-you-even-ask-get-off-my-dick chat for a panel, and then we get a bit more raikage followed by team samui (i think this is their introduction??? idk i love these three tho). naruto does some more stuff, the cloud nin find jay, and i haven't seen sasuke in nearly 20 pages wtf. the tragic lack of sasuke continues, with the only tagentially sasuke-related thing being the revelation that nobody bothered to change the locks after itachi (officially) went rogue. finally we hit something more direct but it's still just kisame noting that killer bee pulled a fast one on him, followed by killer bee saying that sasuke (or, "that sharingan dude" is probably the toughest opponent he's ever faced (rip to the three other people who were also there i don't think he noticed), and that's the last we see of him. 7/10 strong start but we got offtrack

vol 50 - this time he's in the first panel!!!! and seems to be getting his ass kicked. lots of things are on fire. we have a bit of sasuke vs the raikage until gaara shows up and saves. honestly probably both of them (the other sand sibs are also there), and the raikage hacks his own arm off bc it happens to be one of the many things that are currently on fire. gaara projects on sasuke a lot, his siblings point out that he's kinda wasting his time (temari is the only one with a good argument here ngl), and sasuke doesn't really care about gaara's problems. we get a bit of danzou and some other people who are in the same room as him, and then it's back to sasuke vs the sand sibs (+ darui and sasori's corpse) but susano'o no sells all of them which i gotta say must feel really awkward bc this is three jounin and a kage against a guy who never made it past genin. sasuke gloats a bit bc he's earned it and then sets about destroying some shit having seemingly decided "fuck this building and everyone in it" (karin not included) but somehow no named characters die. there's some more sasuke-less panels and then we finally get everybody's favorite upside down sasuke! he and danzou glare at each other for a bit before some guy (mifune? i think???? idk) attacks him and accomplishes nothing. danzou fucks off and sasuke has to get through the mist nin now. the mizukage hits on him but unfortunately her name is neither Revenge nor Naruto so sasuke isn't interested. for some reason choujuurou thinks sasuke killed zabuza which. ok sure idc, and sasuke puts up a pretty good defense until he gets thrown through a wall and we learn that all his cells hurt (i don't know if that's actually physically possible but i don't care enough to find out). the mizukage seems to be the only person intent on actually causing sasuke some problems but fortunately (?) zetsu shows up to help out (sasuke. to help out sasuke. nobody else is having a good time). the iwa nin decide to maybe do some stuff even though the tsuchikage really doesn't give a shit (and credits sasuke with deidara's death. which. bro he did that to himself). karin thinks sasuke is dead and something maybe happens with kankurou but it's not clear what, but then tobi i mean madara shows up with sasuke's presumably unconscious body (he looks silly. i won't lie). cut to sakura being Up To Something, followed by kakashi on clean up duty, and naruto on sitting-around-thinking-about-sasuke duty. sasuke gets kamui'd, which nobody is happy about, and then so does karin, which nobody but her cares about (sorry bby). obito sits his gay ass down and vents at the assembled governments, call them all pussies for believing in hope, and declares war. lastly sakura tries to balance caring about multiple people and naruto continues to ignore his ongoing bisexual crisis. 9/10 so much sasuke

vol 51 - i'll cut to the chase this is basically sasuke the book the movie the tv show the bible the play. there's so much happening here it's a sasuke soap opera inside a sasuke soap opera. sasuke's replacement tells sasuke's boyfriend that sasuke's girlfriend is planning to kill sasuke. sasuke's teacher and sasuke's teacher's kouhai are also there. sasuke's boyfriend envisions the polycule shattering and sasuke's boyfriend's other sandier boyfriend shows up with his sibs to drop some hot info at the worst possible time. meanwhile sasuke's abductor/helper/cousin/uncle/guy who helped sasuke's brother kill sasuke's family talks to sasuke's current murder target. sasuke's target and sasuke's target's brainwashed minions attempt to fight sasuke's least/most helpful family member. sasuke's boyfriend dumps sasuke's boyfriend's other sandier boyfriend and sasuke confronts sasuke's maskiest relative and demands to be released (along with sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo). sasuke's target shows off the result of sasuke's mutilated family members and sasuke demands confirmation on sasuke's brother's true mission. sasuke's boyfriend thinks about sasuke and has a panic attack. sasuke's target accuses sasuke's brother of treason (the one crime sasuke's brother objectively didn't commit, for better or worse), and we go into eyeball battle while sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo tries to figure out wtf is happening. also sasuke has a hawk now. sasuke's target manages to piss off sasuke even more by having an open mouth with words coming from it, and sasuke's brother shows up to jumpscare him but it's actually just an illusion. sasuke gets trapped and sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo tries to help but unfortunately she's a girl in a shounen manga so that's illegal. we learn that sasuke's worst chemistry teacher was working with sasuke's target at some point bc friends who war crime together win together i guess. sasuke's personal exposition machine exposits izanagi which he totally won't use to be a jackass later haha don't worry about it. sasuke's target also has a summon (@ english manga that is a fucking baku not a tapir good grief). sasuke tricks sasuke's target into thinking his eyes were still open and sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo lets him chormp. sasuke's target isn't dead tho and manages to take sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitaloo hostage but sasuke really wants him dead so oops surprise break up via stabbing i guess. sasuke's evil senpai cheers him on, sasuke's target has a flashback and kills himself bc fuck you, and sasuke's girlfriend knocks out sasuke's girlfriend's sasuke hunting team to go on alone. sasuke's (ex) girlfriend two electric bitealoo has a flashback about a bear and sasuke's boyfriend tricks sasuke's teacher's kouhai and chases after sasuke's girlfriend. sasuke and sasuke's girlfriend try to kill each other but sasuke's teacher steps in. sasuke's teacher decides to try to kill sasuke himself and tells sasuke's ex girlfriend to kidnap sasuke's other ex girlfriend. 10/10 lots of break-ups but plenty of sasuke

vol 53 - ok this is scary bc more than the first half of this volume is naruto and he doesn't think about sasuke even once. is he ok. did he hit his head. what's going on buddy you can talk to me. but anyway kushina shows up and through the power of flashbacks we are given baby sasuke! who kushina thinks is a girl at first. he's only there for like three panels but ch 501 has a cover of baby sasuke and baby naruto, so there's that. we then get some more baby sasuke with pre-bad decisions itachi who makes a very sweet promise that he probably shouldn't have kept as hard as he did oops. 5/10 there was some sasuke but not very much. extra point for cuteness tho

vol 54 - naruto thinks of sasuke as a friend he's "not getting along with right now" which is a very interesting way to describe their past few interactions but alright. he's not mentioned again until deidara yells that he killed sasuke and the tsuchikage realizes no one bothered to tell him that sasuke is not only fine but probably forgot about that whole encounter three seconds after having it. 2.5/10 it should probably be a 1 bc sasuke is barely even mentioned but kisame is my favorite character so i'm giving this volume a bonus sasuke point in his honor, and a .5 for konan

vol 56 - the only sasuke is the ch 531 chapter cover. unacceptable. 0/10

vol 58 - naruto acknowledges that "madara" is influencing sasuke's hate, which seems to be the biggest reason why naruto knows he's a bad guy (also the nagato thing). he's only going to try talking to him after he's been stopped. sure naruto whatever you need to tell yourself. we get a cover for ch 548 with all three of the team seven teens (poor sakura is trapped in the middle and barely shows up in tankouban volume format... kakashi's stuck in the background too but at least i don't have to practically flatten the book to see him...) itachi shows up and is shocked to learn that his plan to give his little brother as much ptsd as possible left him ever so slightly not ok. itachi has an excellent response to this, by which i mean he tells naruto to buckle down on the lie so the uchiha family name isn't tarnished (...buddy.) and then says that he actually had a backup plan in case the first plan (traumatize sasuke -> die -> hope no one ever told sasuke the truth and also that no one immediately went back on their word and killed him anway) went to shit. of course this other plan happened to be "just strip him of his free will and force him to do what i want bc there's no way this could possibly backfire", which is now also no longer an option bc he just used it on himself. remember that whole "itachi loves sasuke more than the village" thing? yeah that's maybe not quite as true as he'd like it to be. luckily for itachi naruto sees blind loyalty enforced through brainwashing as a good thing (if it benefits him. if, say, someone had a secret army of brainwashed children and sent one of them to kill sasuke, that would be bad. but if itachi does the same thing it's good bc naruto gets to have him where he wants him regardless of sasuke's personal opinion on the matter. this is a healthy and normal way to react to this sort of thing). itachi tells naruto to never forget his friends (which i mention bc he immediately thinks of everyone except sasuke (and the sand sibs. rude)) and then destroys shisui's eye bc he can't use it against sasuke anymore. itachi says that he isn't going to talk to sasuke bc last time he tried that he failed (which. does not remotely cover the scope of his fuck-up but all right). finally we hit some actual sasuke in the form of zetsu carnage so he can have some practice with his eyeballs. it only lasts a couple seconds but he seems to be having. some kind of time. 3/10 not enough sasuke too much of the walking bad life choices zone (i'm sorry itachi i promise i really do love you i just can't go five minutes without giving you shit about literally your entire life)

vol 60 - first we see sasuke (and the rest of og team seven) in a commemoration by sato atsuhiro. then we see the boy himself cutting up... rocks i think? idk it looks like rocks. cut to suigetsu and juugo talking about sasuke and karin. there's another (chibi) sasuke in the 5th commemoration by taira kenji, and another sasuke in the 6th commemoration by itakura yuuichi. he gets another mention by kurama and then by yagura, both in reference to the kissing incident. we briefly cut to sasuke standing alone in the rain before he turns and smirks at... presumably nothing? idk. it also definitely wasn't raining before so maybe the rocks he attacked earlier were anti-rain shields or something. cut to karin fangirling over sasuke except plot twist she's actually about to break out of prison. yasss queen weaponize those assumptions. suigetsu and juugo continue to do... whatever they're doing (i can't tell if suigetsu is trying to get sasuke and karin together, thinks they're already together, wants to break them up, or wants to get them together for the purpose of breaking them up). anyway they get in a fight and suigetsu finds [undisclosed information] that he absolutely has to get to sasuke. who, as it turns out, is having some fun playing whack-a-clone with the zetsu gang, one of whom he keeps alive for the purposes of intel before beheading once he's done with his internal monologue about his ongoing divorce with naruto. he thinks about his eyes and also his brother and also his brother's eyes which it turns out are giving him (more) depression. after a brief flashback and madara unveiling his boob tattoo, we cut back to sasuke just as he runs into itachi. 7/10 he's mostly just in the latter half of the volume but he makes good use of his screentime. and who doesn't love disposable clone carnage?

that's all the volumes i have at present. if you read through all of this: why. why would you do that to yourself. do you have better things to do. i don't that's why i'm here. see ya

[lavender-long-stories]

Nari's Feral on Display Part 3

spoilers for Lavender Clouds

I can be your personal clown

And then they were. You are adorable Nari.

If I was in Hinata's position I would just leave Hidan be. Leave him screaming and crying and throwing up until death takes pity on him. Leave him outside in the cold for all that I care [...] I vibe so much with Kisame when he “I would have at least tortured him a little. Maybe put his legs where his arms go.” I feel you, bro.

Nari… please never become a prison nurse. 

I'm pretty sure the last time Itachi felt taken care of was when he was a literal child. 

I think people forget that the massacre happened when he was 13, and he had already been a working nin for a while at that point. It’s likely that he just acted like an adult from that point on even when he needed a guardian because he is actually a kid, can you imagine a 13-year-old taking care of themselves regularly on their own let alone to the level that Itachi was?

Hinata mothering the fuck outta [Deidara].

Hahahaha I love this line so damn much.

Can you imagine how much it meant to [Sasori] to have someone caring? 

I think that this is what really made this story heartfelt is that most of the antagonists had tragic backstories that made them fully dependent on themselves they either went rogue because they were misunderstood, demonized, betrayed, or unloved.

Giving them someone who sees through their facades, sees them as people, trusts them and expects them to trust her, and genuinely gives the care and affection is effective on almost all of them because they don’t realize how starved they all are for it.

She's not only their medic, but she gets attached and they know it, they can feel it, they can fucking see it.

Her getting just as attached to them as they are to her is the final nail in the coffin for some of them for loving her because it’s one thing to trust someone it's another to have the trust returned.

Reading about her time with them is so funny because, at times, it just feels like a really tired kindergarten teacher dealing with super powerful toddlers.

Now that is a fun fic concept. Hinata runs a daycare and all the kids are the Akatsuki? 

I would exchange an arm to read more about Sasori all nervous around Hinata. 

🫣🫣 I should work on that SasoHina if I want that arm shouldn’t I?

The domesticity of everything is what hits harder for me. The normalcy of having a home to come back to, the will to come back home alive, having someone who simply wants you as you are and wouldn't change you (because of something as irrelevant as murder). 

Some people really hate all the little slice-of-life moments that I put in and think I am just dragging out the plot, but all those little moments are why the characters feel human, why they feel like people. Kisame isn’t just the aggressive shark man, he can’t cook, but he would try. He’s not got at medic work, but he will hold Hinata all night to make her feel safe. Hidan is a psycho murderer but leaves his things around where he shouldn’t and will playfully make you admit that he won. Sasori doesn’t need to eat, but he will have a cup of tea. Little details you don’t think you need for the plot, but I think are the key to making the plot hit.

I remember back in the day there was someone very upset that most of the Akatsuki were getting a happy ending because they were ‘bad guys’ and yes but what story did you think you were reading??? Everything is pointing to I am completely ignoring atrocities for my fluff-found-family fic.

I also love how they get to know Hinata. How every little thing is mutual, like when Itachi noticed the clothes around the house weren't hers. This is such a small detail, but it shows that they cared to learn about her as much as she did them.

I love it when people notice the little details. This whole comment could just be this and I would still die happy.

No, really, I want a whole soap opera on Gaara's point of view. The person he loves fucked off to be a terrorist and was siding with a guy he not only despises but looks a lot like him. HMMM. Jokes aside, I think it broke him when she said “he left me here”.

Not me breaking his heart every way to Sunday throughout this fic and only being okay with it because I was writing Lavender Sand to heal the damage I was doing to my own soul.

And Hinata was so worried about being a failure and facing Sasori... but he was so tender.

Hinata so desperately wants to be useful to them. She didn’t want to be what she thought she was, useless, a burden. But in this moment she almost wants it to be confirmed that this is the final straw because then she doesn’t have to find out what is worse in their eyes. My heart. T-T

I can't even imagine how they felt when they found out what happened in Suna. 

Head cannons on what they thought while she was still there? Kisame freaking out Sasori and Deidara came back without her? Plans to get her out if they didn’t let her go? Worrying if she would even choose to come back? (Mainly Sasori because he’s always worried about Gaara)

How hard did it hit everyone thinking that they almost lost her that really cemented that they didn’t want to, that they couldn’t bear it.

Now... Sasohina. Sasori already knew about Gaara, and Gaara found out about Sasori. 

Really would have been amazing to end this wonderful love triangle with Hinata ending up with Sasori, wouldn’t it? This is the problem with soft harem is that you just want her to end up with everyone separately, but she can only end up with one of them. T-T

Lavender Clouds

Pairing: Sasuke x Hinata Rating: T

Description: Hinata runs away from home into the arms of the Akatsuki. Bonds with Itachi. Saves his brother. Learns to reverse Gentle Fist. Raises a demon baby?

Tags: Adventure  |  Fluff and Angst  |  Romance  |  Slow Burn  |  Happy Ending  |  Akatsuki Hyuuga Hinata  |  Hyuuga Hinata-centric  |  Akatsuki Uchiha Sasuke  |  Canon-Typical Violence

@nikandrros

[sunny12th]

no you are right! obito should’ve gone a little more unhinged, he’s a devastating character and a naruto foil to sasuke’s kakashi. speak more, who’s your favorite antagonist? both major and minor? favorite team (gai? and why?) also what’s your thoughts on the ame trio, i made a joke once on how they parallel team 7, and what do you think of the teams 7? (obirinkaka and narusakusasu)

I would've LOVED to see Obito decide him and Kakashi needed to kill each other or die together, in the end. Really would've been the cherry on top to the fucked up parallels between their dynamic and Naruto and Sasuke's.

This got kinda long lmao

My favorite minor antagonist is probably Hidan. His power was so cool and devastating when we first see it, different from anything we'd seen before. He's also like a figurehead to a cult and gets his power from some sort of deity, but that is literally never explored lmao. There could've been an entire arc dedicated to him, the cult, Jashin, etc. but we didn't get any of that. Regardless, his fights were always entertaining, and sometimes I love a character that's evil just to be evil. No tragic backstory here, just an insane blonde who has some weird connection to a deity. There's a theory that Jashin is actually one of the ninja aliens that come up in the end and that's why Hidan has such an insane power. I feel like there was a lot of potential in his character that was just brushed over. How did he get that power? Who the fuck is Jashin? It's a cult, so where are the cultists? What are their goals? Was Hidan like a vessel for Jashin? Is the cult performing human sacrifice rituals (seems like something Hidan would do)? Shikamaru should've been determined to kill every last Jashinist there was, and I would've loved to watch that play out.

All the Akatsuki members are pretty cool, I also really like Sasori. First, his fight with Sakura was her one big moment in all of Shippuden which is pretty lame, but it was still really fun. Just the mentality behind turning his dead parents into puppets that he can keep forever, then turning himself into a puppet - a body he has total control over. Turning people into puppets, so he can make them "perfect." Serial Killer Mentality for sure!! It's so fucked up. I wish Naruto was darker sometimes, so we could've gotten the full horror of the Akatuski members being completely wild and unhinged.

Itachi is another antagonist that I, and everyone else, go insane over. I do think Kishimoto went a bit overboard with trying to redeem him and make him sympathetic. Like, yes he was a brainwashed child soldier that was forced into following the order to massacre his entire family. But then, he was also apparently a double agent and was STILL LOYAL TO THE LEAF VILLAGE?? If he was spying on the Akatsuki, then why do we still know literally nothing about them by the time his double agent status is revealed? Was he passing along information or not? Genuinely, I think Kishimoto was not planning a lot of this shit out and was just making stuff up as he went along.

I think it's a necessary part of Itachi's character that he did break under the pressures of being a child soldier and that contributed to why he went through with the massacre. Instead, he turns out to be the Perfect Soldier who would never betray his overlords. OTHER THAN THAT, he's a really cool character and his antagonist status works so well for Sasuke's character. He also works as a great device to show the depths Konoha will go to maintain its power structure. If Konoha would order the massacre of a founding clan, what's to stop them from massacring the other clans or civilians? The entire point of the Village was to stop in-fighting between these clans. That would have been a really fascinating political point to explore if Kishimoto had wanted to. Also, the poison within the Uchiha clan ... when Itachi's dad took him to that battlefield (I think he was 3?) and Itachi killed someone for the first time, the pressures of being the heir and firstborn son, etc. The violence inherent to being born in this society that values violence above all else. I also love sibling relationships and the dynamic between him and Sasuke is so rich. There's no Sasuke without Itachi and vice versa. There's no Naruto without Sasuke. Itachi is one of the tragic characters of all time!

Also, to be clear, I don't hate that he was still loyal to Konoha because it contrasts to where Sasuke went. I hate that he was supposedly still a double agent, working for Konoha, on their orders to join the Akatsuki because it felt like a random choice to further redeem him and just didn't make sense with the story. If he had just stayed in that broken soldier mentality of remaining loyal to Konoha because he doesn't know any other way to live rather than having him literally continue to supposedly work for Konoha than it would've made more sense to me.

My favorite team has to be Team 7, my beloved garbage fire of a team. They all need therapy so badly. Team Gai, however, is what Team 7 could be if they got therapy and had a mentor that was significantly less toxic. Team Gai is just the happiest of vibes (minus Neji being a literal slave to his clan). We really should have seen Team Gai demolish the Hyuuga for Neji. I refuse to believe Gai would not have challenged the Hyuuga Clan Head to a fight to the death, politics be damned. Gai wouldn't give a shit about the politics. Lee and Tenten? Ride or die, they'll tear the Hyuuga compound to the ground with their bare hands. Team Gai chooses violence! Naruto is also there to help, of course. Team 7 was taking too damn long to start a revolution so Team Gai had to step in! I like Team 7 and Team Gai pretty equally, I think. They work well together, ya know? Not just because both team's mentors are literally married and retired now in Boruto.

The Ame trio absolutely parallels Team 7. Just like how Team 7 parallels the Sannin trio and Kakashi/Obito/Rin. The Ame trio is like the most tragic outcome that Team 7 could've been. The parallels are especially blatant since one of them has some funky eye jutsu lmao. They're also another sign that Jiraiya is THE WORST. Godfather that can't raise or even check in on Naruto, mentor that raises three orphans of war (trains them to be soldiers too) and then abandons them when they're still preteens, like!!! Jiraiya can't do anything right! Dude is somehow the worst deadbeat dad around and he's not even a father.

Kishimoto makes narsakusasu and obirinkaka parallel each other for sure. Rin, unfortunately, is barely a character and exists to be a tragic footnote in the backstories of Kakashi and Obito. Sakura, well, she's got more going for her than that, but she still isn't exactly a well-written character. I think Obito is very much what could've gone wrong with Naruto, had he experienced something similar. It does make you wonder how Naruto would react to seeing Sasuke kill Sakura. Because, uh, Naruto claims to have a crush on Sakura but Sasuke means way more to him than Kakashi meant to Obito. That's not to reduce what Kakashi meant to Obito (or what Sakura means to Naruto), but Naruto is straight up obsessed with Sasuke. It's literally revealed later on that they are soulmates. Sasuke did hurt Sakura a few times too and Naruto would get pissed, sure, but it'd just harden his resolve to "bear the burden of Sasuke's hatred and die with him." Which is such an INSANE thing to say, literally can't think about that moment for too long or I'll suffer physic damage.

Something I always hated about both Team 7s is that the female character clearly is there to build the bridge between the male team members. Rin was expected to bring Obito and Kakashi together. Sakura was expected to do the same but, hilariously, she didn't because Naruto and Sasuke were already tied together just in the most antagonistic way possible. This leaves Sakura as the 3rd wheel, in the team and the narrative.

[mediocre-matsunaga]

Sasori and Orochimaru: The Akatsuki Pair that doesn’t seem to be.

Because I thought it about so much, and probably want to write an AU SI fanfic were I really want to explore this pair. I wonder why for a canon Akatsuki pair very little is touched on them, especially when I think their a better duo than even Sasori and Deidara. It’s a hill I will die on and be Edo Tensei’d on if necessary. 

Sasori and Orochimaru have is a potentially much more meaningful bond, with more ways to challenge and confront each other more than simple art differences. Especially when Sasori finds someone who is in many ways like him despite from the village that killed his parents, while Orochimaru sees someone perhaps much like himself. Both men are orphans of villages that basically enabled them to become the monsters they are today because they exist in a system that generally saw no problem in using children as potential soldiers and could be dehumanizing to those who participated in it even if meant the encouragement of some unsavory practices as arms races. They both either seek or have gained a from of immortality, are mad scientists of sorts, and deeply miss their parents that kind of motivated both their desire for immortality and willingness to go down the paths they went. Although in terms of differences Orochimaru still has a philosophy that differs from Sasori in both desiring active change and experimentation, and even gets to the point where he changes forms while Sasori looks the same. You also get a reverse of of Sasoir and Deidara with one being much older than the other, but it's Sasori as the younger one with Orochimaru as the older ninja .There's more you can do with Orochimaru being from Konoha and Sasori's parents being killed in a war against Konoha.

The fact that all of this could have happened in canon and isn’t touched is kind of infuriating because it seems like a lost chance to flesh out both characters. Anyway rant over, even if I do enjoy Deidara as one of the few purposeless Akatsuki, without a tragic backstory.

[josecariohca]

Op I’m going to go on a bit of a tangent, I hope that’s okay. I’m just so ridiculously fond of this character that I have to chime in. It’s a bit all over the place, but just roll with me here.

Like this was the Tsuchikage’s own student, and while Onoki is a great character, the dude is objectively a dick. And we have no idea how long Deidara actually trained under him for, or how the two met in the first place.

Deidara is so, SO insanely intelligent, he has an absurd pain tolerance, and he worked closely with bombs and explosives--this is very clearly not a kid who was raised delicately. He had MAYBE all of one friend in his life (who was also directly related to his teacher) (and he seems indifferent to grumpy with her at best) (but he’s also dead and captured at the time, so, ya know) (I’d feel hostile in that situation too).

He was likely raised in an environment where he was killing people before he actually knew what that meant, and doing so in a very violent, horrific way. I cannot imagine what that would do to his psyche, let alone adding the pressure he likely faced from the head of his village, AS WELL AS the social isolation he likely experienced. 

But this guy really just got screwed over and screwed over. ALL he ever wanted to do was be an artist, he wanted to appreciate art, and have his appreciated in return. He was taken in the Akatsuki when he was 14 and he was appreciating architecture, and he SAYS he just wanted to appreciate the architecture, and then he got bodied by a pair of eyes and he comes out of that experience SEEING IT AS ART. Like he is such an open and perceptive character!!! He sees art in everything (whether he sees it as good art or bad art is another conversation, but I digress).

And he gets paired up with the one other person who could possibly understand where Deidara is coming from, who also had trauma in his life and used art as a means of coping, and of course he has the entire opposite viewpoint. Deidara is vocal about how much he respects Sasori. He’s vocal about how he sees Sasori as the better artist. And because of that, he is constantly asking for Sasori’s approval. And that’s not to say Sasori is cruel to him, there are some examples of Sasori either flattering Deidara, defending him, or giving him credit, but damn near every conversation they have is either bickering on what art is or Deidara asking for Sasori’s opinion on something he did.

What part of any of that reads as traumaless? To me, it reads as a desperate, frustrated child who so aggressively craved validation (and who wouldn’t?) that it caused him irreversible damage, so much so that he didn’t care if he used his own body to blow a 10 km crater into the Earth, as long as it meant somebody would appreciate it. And that seems pretty tragic to me.

deidara is not traumaless

i keep seeing people say that deidara is the one akatsuki member without trauma for some strange reason. couldnt be farther from the truth considering how he acts + his backstory, so im going to sum up his personal issues real quick.

deidara grew up with absolutely none of his peers taking him seriously or giving him any kind of respect or recognition for what hes passionate about. he was basically the laughing stock of his village. eventually it caused him to develop such a deep inferiority complex that it pushed him into pathological narcissism.

his personal issues are fairly obvious because he yells about them the entire time, but what he seeks is recognition from his peers that he simply never gets. he was pushed to join the akatsuki at a very young age and partnered with sasori, who did not take him seriously whatsoever, but at least was an artist himself and shared many of deidaras beliefs. alas deidara had someone to talk to about his passion, albeit in an argumentative manner (which was just a bickering ritual at some point). when deidara fought itachi and lost he saw "true art" in his sharingan that defeated him, he recognized itachi as superior in his internal hierarchy and became fixiated on that narcissistic wound. he worked on creating a gadget for his eye that would counteract the sharingan.

he developed suicidal fantasies at some point when he created the C0 last-resort technique. those were less about the genuine wish to end his life, but once again about the need for recognition by blowing himself up in a cataclysmic explosion and hoping that someone would notice. nevertheless he pulled it through when he fought against sasuke, who once again completely dismissed him. during the fight the old wound by itachi surfaced again and he went haywire trying to disprove the uchihas superiority over him.

deidara is a tragic character, he unfortunately never met his goal even in his death. so yes, he is definitely deeply traumatized, like the majority of akatsuki members.

[thefairyletters]

Could you answer this question? I went through a bunch of Sakura fics, many recommended by yourself (many good ones, thanks for your excellent taste!) but I also explored on my own, which is how this question spurred. I was wondering why so many ppl want Sakura to have wood release? &, because it's been a while so my memory's foggy, wasnt wood release sort of a bloodline thing? They had to infuse Hashirama's cells w/ Yamato for him to use it. It seems a little...I guess radical to give it to her? I LOVE Sakura, which is exactly why it kind of throws me off. I think she's already strong as is, & I think being able to utilize genjutsu & slug sage mode are logical expansions of her abilities, so wood release seems very...Idk how to put it but it seems like erasing Sakura. I'm discovering that I truly really dont think I like BAMF Sakura fics a lot bc it just doesnt read AS Sakura. It's like the author's are ashamed of her. Also I dislike when they use Strong!Sakura as a tag on ao3 bc she IS strong that HASNT changed & there's a canonical version of BAMF!Sakura in everything before the Pein arc. Everything after the Pein arc turned the entire series in a bad fanfiction for everyone in itself.

Thank you, I'm happy to know you enjoyed my recs!

That's a good question.

This is what I think makes Sakura badass ➡ here

I love Sakura the way she is, as well. Her development, however, is lacking not in terms of her personality but her skillset. She has impressive chakra control, monstrous strength and is one of the two frontline medics and one of the best healers in the world. She has impressive feats under her belt as well, two of the most remarkable include her byakugo seal and her fight with Sasori alongside Chiyo. But it pales in comparison to her teammates, including Sai and Kakashi. I don't mind that too, because her journey is different than others, excluding Lee and possibly Tenten. She isn't seen much involved in fights, her attacks are repetitive in the show, she isn't bestowed many techniques under her belt and her best moments are in games and novels. It is not her character's fault but Kishimoto who just doesn't use her strength and intelligence which he (and other characters) have mentioned she has.

She is genjutsu type – but has she ever performed one, or even gotten out of one easily? Whats the use of such information if Kishimoto doesn't use it?

She has near perfect chakra control – she should be easily able to perform many techniques and practice different elements, especially water, but earth style and cloning is what we mostly ever see her use.

She has good foundation in Taijutsu – and that should increase her stamina and therefore her chakra coils, and that in turn will ensure she is able to use many techniques.

Her medical and research skills are only next to Tsunade – and we wish to see her revolutionize the medical field which she has but in Borutoverse. That is time skip. That doesn't really relive you much.

She has resistance to mind jutsus, thanks to her inner personality – and theoretically she should be able to even evade strong genjutsus like she did Ino's clan technique (something never been done before) but Kishimoto only used that incredible ability once. ONCE.

She has massive chakra storage and exceptional chakra control and sensitivity – she should be able to master Senjutsu, a field which is all about chakra. Anything that has to do with chakra control is Sakura's playground.

She is more or less an unofficial poison expert – but we didn't see her playing with poison expertly (a poison that even Suna's poison experts failed to break) after Gaara's retrieval arc.

She is the smart and responsible one of team 7 – but Kishi often makes her look both stupid and selfish. We don't see her use her intelligence much. I hate that more than her lacking in the expansion of the skills.

She trained under a political leader – that itself makes her and Shizune great administrators and governors. So, out of everyone, Sakura is the one of the best Hokage material. Hokage is said to be the strongest fighter of the village but that requirement failed us when Tsunade became the fifth Hokage.

She has yin seal – the strongest seals one can make, in their own body no less. It also shows her expert control of her chakra. She can summon one of the big 3 summons. Sealing is more or less code that requires high intelligence and great chakra control that can be fused into the ink. As far as I can tell, she is one of the best candidates to learn Fuinjutsu.

With all these possibilities of her growth – because it is not something we make up but something Kishi has implied she has but never explored – how can one not exploit it? It doesn't mean one doesn't love Sakura for who she is but that its because they love her that they want to give her what she has the right to. She doesn't have to be expert at something to be powerful, just her putting her skills to best use is admirable as it is. I love Sakura for who she is and who she could be.

Now, onto the question as to why people seem to favour giving Sakura wood release, this are the following reasons that I think could be it:

Does it have to be bloodline limit?

Kishimoto gave Hashirama a unique bloodline limit that apparently cannot be inherited by any other Senju. That defeats the purpose of bloodline limit. What makes Senju clan so different? Without Hashirama in the picture, you cannot distinctly identify a Senju clan member aside from their strong chakras. Tobirama is identified for his water techniques. Tsunade has perfect control of her chakra that allowed her to exhibit monstrous strength and incredible healing abilities. How come wood release is a bloodline limit but is not passed down the line?

It is complicated because Tsunade is also renowned for her perfect chakra control just like Hashirama. So, some stories make Sakura a secret Senju clan member because of her uncanny resemblance to Tsunade and Senju clan in general. Pink hair can be a diluted version of Red (Mito) and her chakra control originating directly from Hashirama's lineage.

I personally don't like this because I love Sakura being a civilian child.

It's not a bloodline limit:

So, assuming wood release is not a bloodlimit but a very hard technique requiring precise chakra control and mastery of dual elements Earth and Water, then it is possible for Sakura to practice same technique because of her prodigious chakra control. By that logic, we can also assume that Tenzo inherited Hashirama's unique chakra control to use wood release. Because Orochimaru could have used Tsunade's DNA too if it was only about clan blood. So that rules out bloodline limit.

I love the idea of Sakura practising wood release because it is possible for her to do so. So if an author gives Sakura wood release that she hones with practice and control (ref. fanfic: Labyrinthine) instead of having been gifted with it, I'm digging it.

Nature chooses the wood user:

Naruto universe has many references to spiritual entities such as gods/goddesses, reincarnation and celestial bodies. It is conceivable to make nature an ethereal entity that has its own will. Sakura looks like the embodiment of spring with her petal hair and green eyes, and Hashirama can be compared to wood with his warm personality and appearance, these attributes can make them look distinctly attractive to nature. No other characters remind me strongly of nature than these two so I suppose they can be uniquely selected to be blessed this ability. Tenzo's abilities is the result of human experiment by Orochimaru who always cheats on nature so he is an exception.

I only like this because I like the idea of Sakura being Nature's child.

Most stories that I love don't give her a special edge and only give her more techniques under her arsenal. It is very rarely that I love an OCC Sakura who has a bloodline, a clan or godlike abilities.

After Pein's arc, Naruto turned into a joke. Everyone in team 7 (barring Sakura, Sai and Yamato) and long list of antagonists seemed to get power ups left and right. Sakura got hers in the last moment as a last ditch effort to reunite team 7 as one, a moment that felt so hasty that I couldn't take the show seriously at all. I was so disappointed with the whole war arc. I cringe just thinking about it. I sometimes think if it would have been better for everyone to just die with happily ever after in their mind. That would be tragic but a fitting end because Madara became too OP and Kaguya ridiculously so.

The reason people add 'Strong', 'BAMF', 'Smart' prefixes before Sakura is the reason why people add extra qualities to Sakura's character. They are not satisfied with how Sakura handles herself in fights and many base her fights with the one she had with Sasori. After that, did you see her actively participating in any major fight, barring her attempts to make a score on sidelines? Usually, these fanfictions also justify why she is Tsunade 2.0, something the Naruto failed to show.

By the way, many stories have BAMF tag for Shikamaru, Naruto and Sasuke as well. Are they not already strong af? They don't use Strong tag for them though, and that's because their fighting prowess is already seen. Shikamaru is not much of a fighter as much as he is a strategist and a leader. He is a cool and sly character. Naruto and Sasuke have flashy moves with flashy names under their belt with absurd power levels that puts them in god tier. Sakura has none of that – no signature move that is uniquely her, no clan to back her, no move with a name (barring game moves) – and she is seen useless because she is a healer which is a non-offensive, background job even if it is the most crucial and taxing job. It's significance is even more reduced when people point out how her work is futile because they are again sent to the fight/missions once they are up to go. Most fans only care for visual aesthetics, regardless of how rare and in-demand medics are because of the lack of qualified people who can muster and use medical chakra properly.

Sakura is more than just a healer but in canon she is more or less reduced to that. To make things worse for her, both Ino and Hinata are also shown to have healing techniques. They both also have clan techniques (vastly unknown) with them which makes them appear more 'useful'. Sakura is literally in the shadow of her mentor and her friends.

In Boruto, she is said to be the most powerful Kunoichi of her generation and quite possibly the greatest medic in the world but in Shippuden it is severely undermined. This is also why Boruto fans love Sakura but a bunch of Shippuden fans don't.

I mostly don't judge BAMF/Strong Sakura fanfictions, but I mostly avoid Anbu Sakura fanfictions if I can because I personally don't belive Sakura to be an Anbu material.

.

I want to add more, but I think I got my point across. Thank you for reading this far. I hope I answered your question adequately.

[sasodei-is-real]

Today is Sasori Akasuna's birthday💙 I am very glad that this wonderful character exists. He's not just a character.

It's hard for me to explain what he and Deidara mean to me. Together they concentrate in themselves the most fragile and internal issues of man and his interaction with the world. But Sasori himself is also a conuentrate of the most beautiful, tender, dear and fearful emotions.

This is one of the deepest characters from the Naruto universe. This is one of the best anime characters. And not only from anime. Sasori has one very valuable feature. So,I really love Russian literature. And Russian literature is mostly VERY tragic. So the reader wants to sympathize all the heros. I read Armenian literature, whose characters raise familiar life questions to the reader. Due to the fact that I had a good art history teacher, I am very familiar with cinematography. I've been watching anime for a long time. And in all these directions, I met a lot of symbolic and interesting characters. BUT I have not felt such attachment to any character.

And this is very interesting.This is where Sasori is unique. He was shown to us VERY little. All philosophical questions about the essence of man, which led his fragile soul to the current end, were not disclosed with all their potential. And perhaps this is also his charm. In the case of Sasori, we are not poked into our face with subjective and too personal and fragile thoughts for discussion. Sasori is as silent as his essence. But he's the whole universe. There is one very good Russian saying - "An empty cymbal makes the loudest sound." Sasori is silent, but once you look inside, you can explode from overflowing feelings.

And he has the same relationship with Deidara. They are silent. They don't scream about their affection and feelings. But at the same time, only they are able to understand each other. Inattentive or tough people will not see this. It is like a thin, lightweight but very strong thread that you can only feel.

And that's the whole Sasori.

I came across in the fandom with people who call him not interesting, not deep. Well, good. Sasori is the case that I'm even glad that I can share him with fewer people😂🌚 After all, he is exactly the phenomenon that affects the personal aspects of everyone.

His relationship with Deidarai is a separate art form. I want to have the same relationship. Understand each other without words. To have someone who knows how to approach me in any situation, like Sasori to Deidara. Have the one to whom you always run first to show off your creation, like Deidara. I am an artist myself and believe me, this is the most honest and sensual declaration of love. Treat a person in such a way as to sincerely wish to show him what is part of you, what is your portrait and your emotions. Your work and your life.

Sasori for me is something very important, warm and valuable. So is Deidara. I would like to have the same for myself that exists between them in the canon. Something silent, but sensual and fragile. Do not scatter words, do not need it.

Seeing him disappear during edo tensei, in the background Deidaoa shouts in hysterics - I was crying. Sasori disappeared, and his body fell to pieces like the pieces of pain and lies in which he was immersed.

He disappeared, to the heartbreaking cries of the one who understood him more than anyone else and who accepted and loved him as he was in his worst form. Sadist, controller, paranoid and just a difficult person.

When, like his own grandmother, she was afraid.Relationship with Chie is a separate topic. Grandma loved him. And Sasori her too. But this is something so painful and so poisoned by resentment and misunderstanding that it hurts to talk about it.

He surrounded himself with puppets and respect from others. He despised and did not want to accept death. all his life he lived in scenery and in lies.

And it is interesting to watch his unnatural behavior and how his mask of indifference shatters to smithereens next to Deidara. At such moments we see the real Sasori. I wish they did have enough time. Once they stopped hiding their excitement and concern for each other, they were torn apart again.

I'm glad he exists. He is more than a character. He is part of me. Part of you and the one who feels this connection with him.

Congratulations tDeidara! Today is the day when you acquired your only soulmate🐥

Congratulations, we have acquired someone who has become an important part of our inner world💙

Happy birthday Sasori❤

[chattegeorgiana]

Hello! It's been yrs & I still feel totally disrespected by how Naruto declined after/during the Pein arc. I thinking everything including & before Jiraya's death was 👌, but after it just spiraled down like a bad fanfiction. Everyone's character suffered tremendously. Of the things I wished happened: 1) I wish Naruto made a personal mistake. He had protag protection that prevented him from his personal wrongs & flaws from having real damaging affects & consequences, like Sakura's confession. It made him a bit 1D & predictable (aside from god power ups w/ his reincarnated brother but who would have guessed that...). His personal growth felt lacking bc the story didnt show the flaws in his personality as real consequential flaws. 2) GOD I WISH OROCHIMARU RETURNED AS/REMAINED THE MAIN VILLIAN. Orochimaru was absolute top tier antagonist & was genuinely terrifying & unsettling. And, most importantly, he was bad almost just for the sake of being bad. They didnt try to soften him to the audience with an overtly tragic backstory (not that a tragic backstory SHOULD redeem his honestly autrocious crimes, esp in a shinobi world where tragic backstories are as common as weeds) & I just really, really appreciated that.

Ooh there's something else I rlly miss: 3) Intelligence in battles. Genin!Sakura & Shikamaru fights were my favorite to watch, even in filler movies, bc they utilized much more clever thinking. The Sasori fight was a great balance between intelligence & action & we see it again...never? I'm bitter about the missed genjutsu too but moreso what happened to my girl who worked her way through an impossible chunin exam test filled with college level questions requiring critical thinking, understanding & application of theorums, & proofs? & Even tho they were just filled movies from SP of all ppl, where's the girl who thought to lure a wolf beast woman to a natural (?) applifier so that her howl would cause the pillars to collapse on herself in Stone of Genele? And where's the girl who took a few seconds to calculate the flight pattern of an enemy snow ninja to such precision it was like she had clairvoyance in Clash in the Land of Snow? I KNOW studying medicine is HARD, those 7-12 of school required to be a medical practitioner are no joke. We know Sakura is intelligent, I wish we saw that intelligence & clever thinking used more often in a combative situation. Not just with Sakura fights, but in general. (2)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wholeheartedly agree with what you said! The only good thing about Naruto after the Pein arc is his mother’s arc. After that?

It’s sprinkled with good moments here and there, but the plot overall and its mechanics? An absolute mess! It defies its own logic and it becomes more fantasy than fantasy itself.

One thing that the story did wrong is like I said, being too fantasy. And when you’re writing a fantasy story, in order to not overbear the reader is recommended to add realism into it.

And that’s why Naruto was so successful back in part 1.

Because despite the fantasy lore he was built into, it brought a lot of realistic elements into it. Like you said, in Sakura and Shikamaru’s battles we had peak display of what truly meant to be a ninja: a combination of brains, techniques and body capabilities.

All those things went down the drain after the Pein arc and that’s where the story fell flat, sadly... And it’s a shame because it was what drew us all into it back in part 1.

The fact that even if they lived in a fantasy world, we had elements of realism that we could connect to. We had mechanics that made sense and functioned within the established rule, not outside them.

And about Orochimaru, OH MY GOD YES! For me he was the epitome of villain. I don’t see Pein as a villain, more like a political antagonist. But Orochimaru?

Orochimaru was pure evil and that is what I loved most about his character. Because in the real world that’s what happens with some people too: they are pure evil. They don’t care.

I get that Kishimoto wanted to explore the path that gets some people evil but like you said, at some point that shouldn’t even care. A sobbing story shouldn’t excuse your actions though?

And that’s a major problem this story had: accountability. It lacked a great deal in this department and gave people motives to excuse every shitty action of every villain. And that’s not ok.

We could’ve had medicine being explored from both povs: that of a mad scientist like Orochimaru and that of a normal doctor like Tsunade & Sakura.

But sadly we also missed that opportunity. We also missed the opportunity to see WHY it’s so hard to train a medical ninjas. Imagine the mechanics we could’ve had there.

The story just tells it to us, but never really shows it. Which is so sad.

But yeah, like I said, I wholeheartedly agree with you 100%. I think this is a subject we could talk for eternity lol.

But at the end of the day, they did it the way they did so eh, what can we do?

[mysterylover123]

My Top 10 (current) Villain Crushes (male)

#10. Greed/Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

OK Greed is about as nice a character as you can get and still technically be a villain. But hey, still part of the Homunculi, still kidnapped Alphonse. Definitely the sexiest and coolest of the Humunculi. Arguably the best character in FMA, and that’s no mean feat. Especially when he’s possessing Ling, who is already a hot anti-hero.

#9. Obito Uchiha from Naruto

Naruto is chock full of pretty boy villains. Like, literally every single one of them. But Obito really takes the cake for both pretty and tragic/lovable. He’s the perfect villainous foil to the protagonist, and also super shippable with Best Boy Kakashi due to the whole “used to be his friend” thing.

#8. Norman Bates from Psycho (1960)

My first ever villain crush - actually my first movie character crush in general. Interestingly, Hitchcock deliberately made sure audiences would have this reaction by casting handsome rom com leading man Anthony Perkins to give the performance of a lifetime as the broken serial killer.

#7. Harvey Dent/Two Face from Batman

Batman villains definitely have a massive following for their sex appeal. Harvey/Two Face has always been my personal crush out of the group. I’m actually really partial to both Comics!Harvey and 1990s Animated Series Harvey, though Dark Knight Harvey is certainly handsome too. I love me some half-faced, conflicted split personality villains.

#6. Spike (and Angelus) from Buffy

Buffy has some of the sexiest villains ever, both male and female. Angel is mostly a hero throughout the series, and his villain counterpart is hot but also really evil. Spike is a bit more redeemable, dumbass writing choices in Season 6 aside. Spike is another villain who is just made by the actor’s performance. James Marsters (who also plays crush-able villains as Brainiac and even live-action Piccolo in that terrible movie) just makes him.

#5. The Phantom of the Opera/Erik

Yes, I too had a Phantom Phase. Most (straight) girls do. And I think we can all connect to being isolated organists dwelling in the Opera basement these days. I’ve seen every Phantom film and three different actor performances of the stage play. I’d say the appeal rankings are something like this: Phantom ’98, Phantom ’89, Phantom ’04, Phantom of the Paradise, Phantom ’25, Phantom ’43, Phantom ’62 (hammer), Michael Crawford, Ramin Karimloo

#4. Dabi/(SPOILERS) Toya Todoroki from My Hero Academia

I mean, I always noticed he was hot, but I didn’t develop a hardcore crush on him until these recent chapters. But hey, come in swinging with a gleeful dance as you reveal you’re secretly the tragic long lost brother of Human Cinnamon Roll Shoto? Spilling your whole tragic backstory while shirtless over the air? Pleading for understanding while showing us all your cute baby pictures? Yeah, that’ll do it.

#3. Loki  from MCU

Yep, every (straight) girl also has a Loki phase. Specifically of course Tom Hiddleston’s Loki from the MCU. Doesn’t need much explanation. The good looks, swagger, badassery, and for me especially the dorky hilarious comedy (I love me some funny trickster villains); the eventually redeemable nature. The guy’s just a magnetic, impossible to hate and inherently lovable baddie.

#2. Zuko from ATLA

Duh. Though admittedly Zuko is a lot sexier when he redeems himself and goes all adorably dorky in Season 3. Though Part 1 Season 3 is Zuko at his most evil and antagonistic and also at his second most sexy, so they count. The lovable, best redemption arc ever having, tragically sympathetic and victimized Deuteragonist of ATLA is a big part of the reason why ATLA works as well as it does. Great character and irresistibly hot.

Hon mentions: Ulquiorra Cifer from Bleach (he might make the official list once I get to know him better), Sylar from Heroes (trashy show but almost worth it for Sylar), Amon/Noatak from Korra (the reason I started watching LOK), the Once Ler  (yes I was one of those) Luke Castellan from Percy Jackson (best homme fatale) , Sasori from Naruto (not terribly complex but sexy as hell), the Count of Monte Cristo (best villain protagonist), Michael Myers (the prettiest slasher villain)

#1. Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z

There might some day be a sexier villain that Vegeta. It’s conceivable. But I doubt it. The Saiyan prince turned servant of Frieza, the truly unstoppable villain of the first arc of DBZ; the best redemption arc in the series (aside maybe Android 18), the future DBZ  Best Boy who goes from caring only about power to fighting to protect wife and kids to the death…and of course the deep, throaty voice, skintight spandex, Saiyan physique and cocky smirk don’t hurt him any.

[sasorikigai]

BLOOD TIES - Prelude Meta

Years ago, a great war between realms brought the universe to the brink of destruction. In their most desperate hour, Earthrealm's champions rallied in strength and spirit—saving their world from the forces of evil. In the years that followed, there existed a peace between realms for the first time since the Mortal Kombat tournaments began. But peace did not last for long...

The story begins in the Himalayan wilderness with Kenshi Takahashi battling infamous Red Dragon member Hsu Hao and other Red Dragon members with Takeda Takahashi, his son. While Kenshi is quick to attempting to subdue his enemies in order for Takeda to escape, Kenshi incites by trespassing the Shirai Ryu Territory, which smoothly transitions forth Hanzo Hasashi’s abrupt intervention, which quickly disposes of Hsu Hao by a skewered kunai to his chest, with a flaming fist impaling the Red Dragon’s head. 

Even in this brief fighting scene, it could be referenced that Kenshi and Hanzo has been close friends, who would reciprocally save each other’s lives, and acting not only on vengeance, but justice (but this parallel and ongoing concept when it involves Hanzo will come later on, repeatedly, in fact). 

"Good is not nice, polite, well-mannered, self-righteous, or naive, though good characters may be some of these things."

Hanzo Hasashi may be a redeemed character who has gone through hell and back to experience growth and redemption, but he is a natural loner - a lone wolf throughout the franchise, ever since he lost his family, his clan, along with his life. His senses of duty may force him to perform heroic acts, but he does not consider chitchat or politeness to be parts of their obligations, lest someone really deserves it through mounted trust and reciprocation as it is extremely hard to downright trust anyone. Also, he may want to be an affable person, but Hanzo believes that being nice does not always get things done, and that doing good requires them to be harsh and cruel, particularly if he has to teach something. This may be an intermittent effect, applied only when necessary; to train Takeda, who wasn’t obviously handpicked by Hanzo himself, but taking care of him on Kenshi’s behalf. 

Hanzo may be no longer an Anti-Hero, nor Vigilante Man, but he still harbors that significant dualism in a sense that he could be a genuinely friendly, sociable, caring person, always looking out for his friends and family and trying to do the right thing. It's just that this niceness doesn't extend to giving free passes to the truly vile and horrific among his enemies (Quan Chi in canon, Havik in the comics). They are the reason why the villain should Beware the Nice Ones, especially since Hanzo is not gonna wait to be angered or snap before the inevitable beatdown/killing begins. Hanzo will find them, will stop them and (if they're lucky) will kill them before they can hit that Berserk Button (where Hanzo fails, which will come later on with Hanzo vs. Havik fight). 

The Shirai Ryu Temple is full of Shirai Ryu warriors who lost their families in the Netherrealm War, sole survivors like Hanzo Hasashi himself. It’s a jarring reminder of his death, and resurrection as Scorpion, as he would serve as the Enforcer of the Netherrealm on Quan Chi’s leash... With all things past him, as Kenshi Takahashi helped Hanzo to get him out of the darkness, Hanzo reciprocates the good deed upon them. Kenshi has his own vengeance as Kenshi was performing a deep covert cover mission to eradicate the Red Dragon’s cult leader, Daegon. When his cover was blown, his son living in Thailand was also blown and Suchin (Kenshi’s wife) was killed in gruesome matter before Kenshi could get there, but Suchin was smart enough to hide Takeda in the next town, to escape slaughter. Hanzo takes him in, as he sought revenge and find death. Takeda fears and resents Hanzo, because he is a wraith from hell. Kenshi, intimately knowing of Hanzo’s demons, tells his son that Hanzo conquered his own years ago. When Hanzo catches Takeda running away from the Shirai Ryu Compounds, he catches up to the boy and tells him. 

“You are a survivor, Takeda, like me. But Shirai Ryu do not run. We fight.” 

This philosophy, the strong, iron-willed Sasori Hanzo wears will be a continued ouroboros that will repeatedly return as the comics’ events continue. It will also become the catalyst in Takeda’s harbored strength as he grows from a weak boy to a formidable warrior. 

Hanzo trains Takeda, as the young Takahashi battles Forrest Fox, who comes on top as he gets beaten over and over again. Years later, Takeda simply feints using his speed, instead of countering Fox when he attacks. Hanzo immediately calls Takeda out for playing around, even when he could have utilized his advantage to strike at first opportunity given. Hanzo does not hold back with his criticism, be imposing and charismatic when he needs to be, while also offering protection towards Takeda, as he assigns Fox to protect him. 

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

Imposing, intimidating and austere, Hanzo Hasashi, at least before the events of MKX storyline still harbors the duality of his personality (Hanzo and Scorpion), Scorpion being that of vengeance, hatred and wrath, while Hanzo is his humanity and compassion. One of the worst things Hanzo’s enemies can ever do with him is to do something that gets him well and truly furious, because rage makes him close to being unbeatable despite him being a mortal being now. He will go into a frenzy and become stronger, faster, braver, more agile and more indestructible than he has ever been, and he will annihilate anyone who stands in his way. In Takeda’s training, Hanzo is most definitely harsher with him than any of the other handpicked ninjas, for Forrest Fox comments on “If you thought Hanzo was a harsh master before, wait until you meet the real Scorpion.” And Hanzo regards the Shirai Ryu as his blood and family - For Hanzo Hasashi is a Grandmaster, a commander cares deeply about their men and exhibits it constantly. A mentor to the officers (generals and ninjas) under them, Hanzo takes a deep personal interest in their welfare and try to keep them out of harm's way. Even those non-kombatants, who stay behind the front defense line (those that work in infirmary, women who take care of the ninjas, as being a traditional Japanese setting, there still are more women non-kombatants than their male counterparts) will be treated with utter respect and made to feel as valued as the ninjas on the front line.

Hanzo thinks of being abruptly interrupted by Raiden - unexpected and unwelcomed - as the Thunder God warned Hanzo of the Netherrealm Invasion damaging cosmic barriers that protect the Earth from realms beyond. A powerful demon from another realm broke through before Raiden could repair them. Hanzo comments that it is Raiden’s fault, and as he recalls his memory, comments to Takeda that if this demon shows up, warns that warriors don’t dance around it, but kill it before it kills him. Forrest Fox, corrupted with the Blood Code, massacres almost all of the Second Shirai Ryu and takes Takeda to Grandmaster Hasashi, who is in a mental entropy; a state produced by a psychedelic from Hanzo’s own poison collection, reliving old times to stroke the fire until vengeance consumes him. He struggled years to control his vengeful spirit, and now he’s lost yet another family, corrupted Fox waits for what Hanzo will become. 

In his poison-induced delirium, Hanzo remembers the tragic, agonizing event, seemingly from a lifetime ago, Hanzo fights against Lin Kuei warriors, and comes across Harumi (Kana) and Satoshi (Jubei), who are solid frozen with Sub-Zero before him. That day, Hanzo has lost everything - his family, his clan - as he thinks himself becoming Scorpion, the hellfire never being able to burn him whole. Takeda refuses to kill Hanzo, and Fox calls on an occasion where Hanzo has been especially hard on him, considering Hanzo handpicked every fighter he trained, except Takeda, and calls him a runner, not a warrior. Hanzo gives into Scorpion’s persona, burning Fox in hellfire, then Takeda splits him in half, killing corrupted Fox as they burn the Shirai Ryu Compounds, and plans to visit Raiden, to have him beg for mercy. 

Since Hellfire is often explicitly magical in nature, it may also have other affects or the way it does what it does is different from conventional fire. While normal fire might melt something with heat, Hellfire may just disintegrate it entirely, or even go against the annihilative nature of the fire itself, as it was shown with corrupted Forrest Fox under the Blood Code. Maybe whatever normal fire affected will be hot after but eventually the heat will die down but with Hellfire, the object may stay hot or even feel cold. More than that, when used on a living creature, Hellfire might not hurt it the same way as normal fire. Instead of burning the body, Hellfire may burn the soul and physical injuries are the result of a wounded spirit that may never heal. And this also goes along with how Hanzo faced his violence; immoral, thriving on hatred rather than love, not only it destroyed communal sense of his wholeness, it left his world in monologue, rather than dialogue. 

Hellfire itself was a stark metaphor of his violence ending by defeating itself, Hanzo Hasashi’s own triad of body, mind and soul. For it had created bitterness in a sole survivor within him and brutality in destroying them as his cruel madness pulverized so many innocents. 

At this point, Hanzo’s hatred towards Raiden is rampant; for he blames the Thunder God for giving him the Kamigodu Dagger, then having the Second Shirai Ryu massacred, to come close to losing almost everything, save for Takeda and his own life. 

[otterplusharchive]

what's your onion on the other akatsuki duos?

- konan and pein are very tragic with how they founded the akatsuki because of being orphans from a country destroyed in the crossfires of war wanting peace and that idea of peace became completely twisted and peins whole deal of being yahiko controlling nagatos body is completely fuckin wild. i really love konan shes one of my favorite characters in naruto in general and i wish kishimoto actually did his girl characters justice because she shouldnt have fucking died and deserved better. her whole moment of raising her arms up and the rainbow and the quote about being a pillar in the bridge of hope?? it kills me i love her

- hidan and kakuzu are so wild. to be fair all of the akatsuki are wild but these two are literally unkillable and kakuzu is a 90 yr old grandpa having to work with this 20 something year old who stabs himself for funsies. that entire dynamic is so fucking funny a grumpy grandpa and a deity of chaos on a non stop evil roadtrip

- kisame and itachi are very good because theyre the only actual team (not counting pein and konan bc theyre like the fuckin bosses and knew each other from childhood) that actually get along?????? kisame is just like well itachi its another day of going out into the world to capture tailed beasts and makes some joke about sharks and itachi sollemly nods and says some very vague short statement that somehow both relates to his tragic past and also the mission at hand. and then they just go get tea and dangos in konoha without even trying to conceal who they are. theyre just chill dudes who also sometimes are capable of absolute destruction

- zetsu kills me. i never truly appreciated zetsu as a naruto loving 14 year old. im studying plants now in college and i know better now. if i could be a plant man and just photosynthesize every day and have a venus flytrap for a head you bet your ass i would

- sasori and deidara...... are my favorites.. and i wont go into an essay long rant about them altho i could but their dynamic is so fucking funny deidara is this 19 year old living purely on adrenaline and chaos waxing poetry about the fleeting beauty of an explosion and sasori is the crankiest 5 foot 4 inches motherfucker sitting inside a huge puppet that looks like a turtle man while he himself is a 35 year old that looks like a teen. in the akatsuki novel sasori canonically responds to deidara running off from him to talk to someone by saying "you made me wait im going to kill you now". sasori sees lee wearing an akatsuki cloak and goes "obviously this is a new recruit to our organization and not anything shady going on im a genius" i love these dumbasses

- tobi and deidara are so fucking bizarre. tobi is actually obito, a 30 year old man who is putting on this facade of being some happy go lucky weirdo who somehow got into the akatsuki and is literally just doing all of his antics to fuck with deidara. and deidara has just shifted from being in the lower rank of his coworker group to being in charge of tobi after having sasori the ultimate grumpy bastard as a coworker since he was 17. why did this 30 year old decide that he was just gonna mess with this 19 year old non stop until he literally and actually exploded. deidara is so tired of this man non stop and is also just like What The Fuck Is Your Deal Who The Fuck Are You Really Bye Im Done at all times

anyway. thanks for coming to my akatsuki ted talk

[lilac-bramble]

I am absolutely in love with the fact that you wrote that Kakuzu likes Beethoven. I can even see similarities between them tbh-stormy, romantic, tragic (hopefully Kakuzu gets a happier ending), and great hair. So my question is which composers do each of them like, including the quartet and even the likes of Asuma, what the hell. Really though, cannot appreciate enough just how detailed your fics are. I'm addicted to them and they always make my week!

Thank you so much for this! I was honestly feeling quite downhearted and sorry for myself, thinking that maybe people didn’t like the last chapter much (did I go on too much about the Debussy, I asked myself...?) so this has come just at the right time! (To be honest I live on feedback like this for weeks!) The work I put in tonight will be directly because of you!

Beethoven and Kakuzu are just a perfect match in my eyes. And this theme will be developed more! He’s also very fond of Bach. The more complicated the better. Hidan is about to tempt him more into Mozart though!

I see Asuma as being into Brahms in a big way for some reason.

The Akatsuki Quartet argue about what they’re going to play all the time, though they all like the core baroque and early classical repertoire. Deidara gets bored easily and would like to do more post-Romantic and 20th century stuff, particularly Shostakovich and Stravinsky. He’s the one who gets interested in contemporary composers (and indeed composes a bit himself). He affects a hatred of Vivaldi to annoy Itachi (who did loads as a Suzuki Method child prodigy and loves it) though really he’d just like to be on the top part for a change. Sasori likes Bartok but otherwise doesn’t have much time for anything modern. Kisame plays the double bass as well as the cello and does a bit of Jazz on the side...

Incidentally Shikamaru is also very much into his composition. 

One thing I haven’t decided yet is what instrument (or whether he’s another vocalist) Naruto would play... he’d only be a side character, of course, but he’ll certainly be making an appearance so I need to figure it out! Any ideas, anyone? (Also, you might have noticed the newly formed Hebi Quartet making an unnamed appearance in chapter 2 - obviously Sasuke is violin 1 in that! And Karin clearly couldn’t be anything but a viola player.)

I could go on like this all night... but Is it Life or Art? is calling...! Keep letting me know your thoughts! :D