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rarepears · 2 years

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Forsaken Ninja's Self Saving System.

I will be honest, I almost went feral. The rush of serotonin this just gave me left me lightheaded. Also, I petition for Hatake Sakumo to win OroYuan's hand in marriage. I know SY is canonically oblivious to his orientation but I feel that he shouldn't be /as/ dense. Like, a smidgen quicker at realizing that he likes the guy.

But to counter the fact that he's not in a stallion novel, he's still massively distracted by all his new kids. This sick 20-something, who has likely never interacted for long with babies, now has, like, 20 of them and he's expected to experiment on them.

And on that note, he's desperately trying to figure out a way to rat out Danzo without marking himself for death. Well, more than a Sanin that everyone on the other side would really like to kill off and can be conveniently blamed if OroYuan ends up dead.

If this is during the war, after he's already experimenting, that means Nawaki already died (ps, Oro was his jounin sensei, so extra whump for the Sanins) so Oro was already looking into ways to bring Nawaki back. Maybe he remembers more about Edo Tensei so he can bring Nawaki back sooner so Tsunade comes back. Unless you want OroYuan to decide not to play God. Or make it a System Task since that was one of Oro's life goals, beyond getting his parents back from the Reincarnation cycle.

Maybe he sends a message to Jiraiya telling him to pack up his Ame kids (Konan, Nagato and Yahiko, the OG Akatsuki) and get his ass back to Konoha. Or maybe he tells Kushina that Jiraiya found an Uzumaki and isn't bringing him back to Konoha. That'll fix That problem.

Anyways, for Sakumo. He's pack minded. All those little puppies he can enjoy. OroYuan may have snakes he can summon to babysit, but snakes vs wolves/dogs? (I can't remember which Sakumo had) Scaly vs fluffy? Sakumo is the favorite. Plus, Sakumo's summons are happier puppy sitting than OroYuan's snakes are to watch the hatchlings. Also, I really ship OroSakumo. OroYuan's main hangup in this (beyond having to accept he's at least bi 🙄) is he's a single father of 20. Sakumo thinks this is fine. He's a dying clan anyway, new blood welcomed. (Same for Oro) Anyways, OroYuan is very pretty and tries his best with his new orphanage (that can be the cover story OroYuan is rolling with).

Also, I really want him to set things up to fuck over Danzo and Sarutobi. I know Oro wanted the Hat but OroYuan is like, Dictator with 20 kids and having to do research to help improve Konoha? Hahaha, no. Minato can keep the Hat. In fact, OroYuan is /invested/ in keeping Minato in power. After all, Minato purged (to an extent) Danzo's ROOT program. OroYuan just has to point out a few hidden bases here and there. Plus making sure Minato knows about whatever Danzo's using to keep his agents quiet. I forget if it's the tongue seal at this point. (An argument was made that Oro also had a seal put on him and that was part of why he went crazy, since it wasn't perfect and Oro was already mentally and emotionally unstable after losing his parents as a toddler, his jounin sensei losing trust in his humanity (that no one nurtured), his best friend runs off during the war and vanishes, his genin all die in the war, Tsunade leaving him after he let (couldn't save) her brother die, being overlooked by his sensei for the Hat when he's been the only one of his team who stayed for Jiraiya's student, and the civilians (and some other ninjas) are scared of his looks so he's always isolated) Anyways, his time at Konoha is not fun. But Sakumo takes care of all of his teammates, which is what was used to kick off the 3rd War. So he would be accepting of Oro/OroYuan.

If OroYuan wants to improve everything (if the System let's him) he could do "recon" and find out that there's a captured Uchiha and Konoha should rescue them ASAP. If Obito is in the Mountains Graveyard, I believe that it's close enough to Konoha to make them worried so twice as likely to actually do something. Hopefully, that can derail Tobi. But that's for future OroYuan to worry about.

Right now, Minato and his generation are probably chunin or thereabouts. So OroYuan can't even count on Minato to take over yet. Maybe he can install Sakumo as the Yondaime. After all, he was in the running before Danzo sabotaged him and he killed himself. So OroYuan still ends up as a dictators husband. Just one that is actually like by his people and probably doesn't blow off his work so much.

Shen Yuan quickly learns and masters Kage Bushin No Jutsu - one caretaker for every wailing baby, naturally. Oh and a clone to help him wash all that long silky black hair so that it remains silky.

(No, you don't want to know how much conditioner and shampoo he goes through every month to wash out all that baby drool.)

And well, this is a ninja village who does notice Orochimaru's increase in shampoo and conditioner purchases... and they spy on his baby supply shopping spree.

The ninja-moms quickly rope Orochimaru into their mother association meetings. Some people even come up to Orochimaru, un solicitated, to give him well intended baby care advise.

As Shen Yuan is already extremely overwhelmed about babies... he's very grateful for all this unsolicited advice because he's starting from like. Step -100.

Ninja-babies are HARD to take care of, okay? He has to deal with baby chakra monsters and bloodlines popping out at inopportune times. Especially when one baby start throwing tantrums and sobbing like the world is ending, a chain reaction begins and now Shen Yuan has a whole orchestra of screaming babies to handle.

And with chakra comes a whole new set of autoimmune disorders (related to chakra) that Shen Yuan gets to explore and learn about. First hand. Yippee /s

He's also busy trying to figure out more about Orochimaru's backstory since he didn't read that much of Naruto. And, like, this is the prequel and stuff. So many strange faces and unknown names floating around that he doesn't recognize as being in canon timeline.

Plus all the experiments he's running. He's got a lot of ideas of trying to recreate a lot of modern medicine techniques and technology into this world.

Anyways, this is to say that Shen Yuan is very appreciative of the support he's getting from the village and it shows... so people are now less nervous about going up to the snake sanin. This does wonders for Orochimaru's reputation in the village.

It also uh... starts a Orochimaru fangroup.

Anyways, with 20 kids on his hands and being an introvert surrounded by just too many fucking people day in and day out, Shen Yuan isn't going to be hunting down Jiraiya anytime soon.

Out of sight, out of mind, and Shen Yuan doesn't like perverts around him. Or influencing his kids.

Baby minds are much too malleable and can learn bad habits early on after all.

He doesn't mind Jiraiya's kid hanging around though. Minato makes a great assistant, fetching groceries and putting in orders for more baby supplies.

And then there's the really nice ninja who keeps bringing his large dogs over to cuddle the babies.

For all that Shen Yuan feels overwhelmed, he feels quite supported by the group of people he has around them. They are even helping him with naming the babies!

Oh Shen Yuan...

(Just wait for him to realize that those large dogs are, in fact, wolves. Oh and both Minato and Sukumo have crushes on him. But that's not happening any time soon.)

[More in the #shen yuan transmigrates into orochimaru's body and the naruto universe instead au]

#sukumo #minato #minato namikaze #svsss au #svsss #svsss ideas #scumbag self saving system #shen yuan #orochimaru #naruto idea #naruto #shen yuan transmigrates into orochimaru's body and the naruto universe instead au

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sirylin · 1 year

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I really want a naruto/bnha crossover fic but it's just aizawa being snatched into the narutoverse somehow and he looks around and sees a bunch of tiny baby murder ninja walking around with their Itty bitty hands and extremely sharp objects and he's just. No. Immediately no.

So he becomes like an academy teacher or jounin-sensei or SOMETHING and he teaches these kids how to Not Die but mostly he teaches them how to handle their emotions. How to deal with it when a teammate or comrade dies. And of course, deep down, Aizawa is still a Pro Hero, fighting against all odds to protect and save as many as he can, and he never really cared about what the government thought anyway. So what's a couple well-placed rumors here and there, whispers to henged shadow clones (oh and wasn't that such an interesting discovery. Chakra. It's like a Quirk except mostly everyone uses it and you can invent new Quirks and something something his Quirk translated into a shiny new dojutsu that blocks people from using their chakra. Understandably, he kept this to himself... aside from the couple of ninja ((hatake and tenzo)) who just happened to be the object of his ire when he first popped up in this world and had no idea what was going on, but they didn't say anything. Yet.) in front of the older Clan members picking up their kids from the academy, maybe some simple poison in a select few's tea; It didn't take Aizawa very long from being isekai'd into a random stranger that somehow looks remarkably like him and also just got back from a five-month-long mission outside of Konoha (so of course it makes sense if his personality was a little different than before... besides, it's not like he was anything special before he came back to Konoha) to figure out that something very suspicious smelling was going on in the underbelly of Konoha, and he was going to figure out what it is. So.

He does a little sniffing around, a vague inquiry here and there, and surprise surprise, Konoha's Roots are infected. So. What does Aizawa do? Well, what any reasonable, logical, rational person would do in that instance.

He kills some people.

And yeah yeah, he's a Pro Hero, he shouldn't be killing people, but this is a different world. It's kill or be killed and he just so happens to have a bunch of very impressionable young brats to teach. He can't exactly go around accusing council members of treason, no, he'll leave the evidence behind to speak for itself after the body is discovered. So.

Shimura Danzo is dead.

Aizawa Shouta is alive and very very regretful that he took his jelly pouches and coffee (oh sweet, sweet coffee) for granted. He's not quite sure how Iruka does it, dealing with all the rambunctious brats without a single drop of caffeine. If Aizawa were any more a reasonable human (let's face it, he's utterly insane at this point), he'd probably chalk it up to:

Iruka: relatively normal Chuunin, seen some crap, unexpected genius in the form of dry wit and a sharp, calculating gaze. Also a little too used to baby murder ninjas waving sharp pointy objects in the air like they're pencils. Or suspiciously shaped chopsticks.

Aizawa: perpetually exhausted jounin (apparently), not from this world, definitely traumatized, not quite as unexpected genius in the form of sarcasm and glares that could make hell freeze over, may or may not have killed a councilman to protect his brats (but it's not like anyone else knows that).

Out of the two of them, clearly one is more capable than the other at dealing with baby ninjas.

Then again, Aizawa had to deal with the infamous Class 1-A, trouble magnet extraordinaires and professional problem children designed to make his hair go grey and his eyes to fall out from Quirk overuse before he's fifty. So, maybe he shouldn't he as surprised about baby murder ninjas as he is. Hm.

Either way. Aizawa is definitely not letting a bunch of twelve year olds run around ill prepared to do what it takes to survive. And also help people. Because he's still a Pro Hero (even if he doesn't feel like one).

I HAVE NO IDEA why I suddenly transformed into some writing genius when I genuinely haven't written in YEARS bc I can never get the flow and pacing and dialogue or whatever right... but take this! And enjoy! And PLEASE!! write it!! Take my ideas and use them!! Also please tag me if you do I am starved for good dadzawa content and also some good old naruto rewrites. I hope you enjoyed this little idk excerpt snippet plot bunny whatever it is. Please reblog and also comment! :)

#dadzawa #aizawa shouta #aizawa #naruto #uzumaki naruto #haruno sakura #umino iruka #sasuke uchiha #bnha #mha #bnha crossover #naruto crossover #bnha/naruto crossover #idk what to tag this one really #i really hope this was enjoyable and made sense lol #my cramps are kicking my butt rn #anyways. have fun #dont do anything dadzawa wouldnt do #and maybe some things he would

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breithenua · 6 months

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Note: this post is very much inspired by a brilliant character analysis of Senju Tobirama by Sage's Rain on YT.

Gonna keep this short but I think that part of the reason some people still defend Tobirama's treatment of the Uchiha is that they don't realize the difference between outright bigotry and hatred for the sake of it, and less outright variants of bigotry one justifies to oneself by saying to themselves "It's better for our society as a whole if x group is excluded/shunned/oppressed/kept from gaining too much power/etc". Most people think they're in the right, and believe they're doing what's best. A lot of people are either unwilling or incapable of considering they might be wrong, too. They're incapable of or unwilling to see past their own emotions, biases and assumptions. Many reject the possibility of being wrong because it means a significant portion of their lives, beliefs and way of life is built on lies and self-deceit.

This applies to Tobirama. Tobirama was unfairly biased against the Uchiha. Was this more understandable in his case than a lot of examples of real-life bigotry? Yes, he watched many of his comrades, family members and other loved ones die at the hands of the Uchiha during the Warring States period. Some unresolved trauma and PTSD was probably part of the problem there. But regardless of the reasons, he was unfairly prejudiced against the Uchiha. He took his fear of Madara specifically and the fear of another man like him someday rising up to attack Konoha and lead an Uchiha rebellion, and applied it unfairly to the entire rest of the clan. Marginalizing them from the center of village power, treating them as separate from the rest of the village, making up his mind that the Uchiha were naturally predisposed to evil due to their power being directly linked to their emotions, and by extension, their hatred, etc.

Ironically, it was his own actions that led to the Uchiha planning a coup d'etat years later. This isn't a new thought, the aforementioned Sage's Rain channel made that same point. But that's besides my point.

Tobirama may have been acting out of what he believed was in the best interest of the village, but that doesn't mean he wasn't bigoted and prejudiced in his actions against them. That doesn't mean he wasn't wrong, or undeserving of the label of oppressor of the Uchiha. He is a racist when it comes to his treatment of the Uchiha, and his actions in that regard led to more harm than good, regardless of his intentions being to protect the village.

P.S. I will say though that however flawed Tobirama was and how bigoted towards the Uchiha he was, Danzo was *so much worse* about it. Danzo literally manipulated the circumstances of the village after the Ninetails attack to ostracize them even further, and then manipulated Itachi to massacre his entire clan, and then stole the Sharingan eyes of multiple dead Uchiha, desecrating their bodies. In fact I believe that was Danzo's intention from the very night of the Kyuubi's attack onwards. But that's a different conversation entirely. TL;DR Tobirama was problematic but fuck Danzo to death with a spiked mace. But anyway.

#senju tobirama #naruto #konoha #he's a bigot

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maryqueenofmurder · 2 years

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Root Sasuke au 2

This was meant to be a commentary on loyalty and a crossover with canon. As a separate universe, it needed a different plot and unfortunately got far less dramatic :(

ALSO! U guys need to know that this is The Bad Ending. None of it really reflects my thoughts on canon. The main idea is that a lot of the Naruto fandom dislikes Sasuke because he puts things above Naruto/the leaf village. He seeks revenge for his families deaths instead of going back to Konoha. He has his own goals outside of Naruto and when Naruto asks him to come back, he’s like i have more important things to do. So here’s a Sasuke that’s loyal to the leaf village! Who doesn’t kill Itachi!

The massacre happens (of course it does)

Left alone in an empty compound with noone to hear him scream… Sasuke is kidnapped by kekkei-genkai thieves looking for some of the only Sharingan left in existence. And a traumatized 7-yr-old is easier prey than S-ranked missing nin Itachi.

The kidnappers (probably land of lightning) don’t know that Sasuke already awakened the Sharingan during the massacre (which is canonical) and Sasuke doesn’t remember either.

So they try and force an activate. Because of course they do.

Itachi learns of his brothers kidnapping. He does nothing. Why would he? Konoha will get Sasuke back, Itachi is certain. He doesn’t leak classified information either. He may have threatened to, but in the end the village is to important.

Newly traumatized Sasuke is rescued from his kidnappers by Root. He’s more malleable in this timeline, as a couple months after an extremely traumatizing event he goes through another traumatic event. The Third Hokage agrees to let Danzo be responsible for Sasuke/train him/protect him from bloodline thieves and so Itachi doesn’t come back.

Sasuke is trained as a Root operative. Instead of doing the standard test of killing his “brother” Sasuke is given the ultimate test of loyalty: he is told the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. Sasuke firmly believes that the clan deserved it for going against Konoha, that they were cursed with hatred, and Danzo has pulled him from the path of darkness.

Sasuke is placed on Naruto’s genin team to keep an eye on him. Oddly enough, things develop a lot like in canon. Naruto remembers when Sasuke was alone, and wanted to talk to him. Hearing that Sasuke was taken away for ~special training~ is the event that makes him want to be better than Sasuke, as opposed to Sasuke being top in the academy in canon.

Sasuke still gets the curse mark, Danzo orders Sasuke to go with Orochimaru, spy on him, and eventually kill him. Naruto is still chasing Sasuke down. Sai is assigned to their team and he does/says things that make ppl or at least Kakashi examine their memories of Sasuke a little closer.

Itachi finally sees his little brother. It’s everything he’s ever wanted, and he chokes on it. His brother is loyal to Konoha!... But only because he’s been manipulated and brainwashed for five years. Sasuke accepts what Itachi has done and doesn’t hate him for, believes he was in the right! And yet, there’s something unsettling about how calmly Sasuke dismisses his mental torture, how he reduces dead children to simply collateral damage.

I heard u were kidnapped “It’s okay! Danzo-sama saved me.” cue everything clicking into place mentally.

Somebody probably asks some pointed questions about when killing for the village is okay. Like would you kill everybody else in the world if it was the only way to ensure the safety of the village. Sasuke comes back to Konoha with Itachi! Naruto gets his friend back! Everybody is trying to encourage Sasuke to grow as a person and not a Root agent and he’s like, No <3.

Obito is NOT having a good time. Wdym the child you were trying to manipulate doesn’t care the government had his brother kill his entire family.

Wdym he already knew???

ask me questions pls. refer to aus by title for example this one would be called root sasuke au 2

#root sasuke au 2 #Sasuke Uchiha #pro sasuke uchiha #naruto #is danzo still around causing problems???#yeah probably <3 #the only au i'll ever have where danzo doesn't end up murked #even if only to highlight how this is the Bad Ending #without sasuke there to go 'hey this is messed up. i want revenge.' danzo is still around #ROOT is still arount #frankly this is probably one of the reasons why sasuke never really grows past being a root agent. hes still one. hes still going through it #theyre all idiots so theyre treating the symptoms of the disease and not the root #get it? the ROOT?#or even more fitting they get him out of root but all the faceless members they don't know stay #nobody ever bothers to think about others the don't know personally

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maddmuses · 2 years

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Itachi Uchiha the 5th Hokage

Aliases: Itachi of The Sharingan, Sword of The Uchiha, Konoha’s Black Flame, Young Hokage, Young Lord, The Vulnerable One, Kin-Killer Current Ranks: Jōnin, Kage, Clan Head Age as-of Promotion: 18 Affiliations: Konohagakure, Squad 2, Uchiha Clan (formerly), Reformed Uchiha Clan, Anbu Black Operations Clan: Uchiha (formerly), Reformed Uchiha

Verse Details The nature of Danzo’s mission was one that Itachi couldn’t stomach, an ultimatum issued to him in a moment when attacking the elder would be fool-hardy. Compounded with the approach of a mysterious masked man who wished for some supposed revenge as a man who was alleged to have been dead for decades by that point, with a grave that people had seen the corpse been lowered into, Itachi was not one so stupid as to simply carry out the death of his clan without thought.

No, he would approach Hiruzen, who was infuriated by how Danzo made the play behind his back, and the two adjusted their plan. No, instead of killing his entire clan, Itachi would make a play for the conspirators of the coup.

Itachi would approach his father and tell him of what Danzo had said, and implicated the elder in the facts of Shisui’s death, which Itachi had uncovered, though keeping the nature of his friend’s actual suicide, and his possession of the other shinobi’s eye, to himself. Telling Fugaku of Root’s intent to eradicate the clan, Fugaku sent out a message to “rally the troops”, even if the coup was ahead of schedule, an attack without the Kyūbi would be difficult, but with Itachi firmly on their side, and two sets of Mangekyou Sharingan, taking his head would be a simple affair.

But when his father was turned, Itachi abruptly took his father’s life, running a blade into his chest, and explaining the reason for his betrayal. Though the sorrow he felt for being killed by his son was immense, Fugaku understood, and even admired, his elder son’s discretion and loyalty to his village, but above all, to his family.

With Hiruzen and Kakashi in tow, a strike-force of three moved out to where the Uchiha conspirators meant to meet, and an intense battle raged. Within a few hours, a wildfire spread across the woods south of the Uchiha village, creating a massive clearing of ash and death, and most of the elders within the Uchiha clan were dead. Putting his blade to his own, and engulfing the forest in black flames, Itachi earned his alias of “Konoha’s Black Flame”. And with the betrayal, a restructuring of the Uchiha clan would begin.

Over the next several years the Uchiha clan would be re-integrated into the village, and the nature of the attempted coup would be kept from those who were unaware of it, or who didn’t need to be aware.

The children should live among their countrymen, and not come to believe that their allies may have wished for their death. But some, such as Sasuke, who lost a parent to the coup, would become suspicious. Particularly of Itachi, in Sasuke’s case, when he was declared head of the clan several years later, despite only being a teenager, and had been declared a Jōnin following the failure of the coup, and several other high-profile missions. This suspicion wouldn’t go unnoticed by powers at-play.

As a Jōnin, Itachi would take the duty of instructing Squad 2 from his previous sensei, and instruct a trio of genin two years prior to his own brother’s graduation. Though he respected his students highly, he refused to allow them to take the Chūnin exams for those same two years. But no significant events would occur otherwise in his career, though his leadership of the clan would earn his other notable alias “Sword of The Uchiha” becoming its leader and protector, acting as the clan’s sword, and cutting down enemies without hesitation. But the reality is, he aligned the reformed version of the clan that he was leading with the interests of the village.

During Konoha Crush is when things would start to pick up for Itachi, though, as this version of the shinobi would not have had to rely as heavily on his Mangekyou over the years, meaning that his condition would not have been as hastened, particularly when working in tandem with his aggressive medications to keep what is essentially untreated lung cancer at-bay. Still, Itachi would prove himself a highly-capable shinobi with a deep and abiding loyalty to the village that had proven itself to the council, aside from Hanzo.

Orochimaru’s plan throughout Konoha Crush is more or less the same, though he would pull on the strings of Sasuke’s distrust of his brother, instead of an outright desire for vengeance, as a way to entice the boy into eventually coming into his fold. And in the aftermath of the battle, in which Itachi intervened towards the end, he would help Hiruzen defeat the two resurrected kage, and keep Orochimaru from carrying out his plans with impunity through the use of his Amaterasu. In his lands moments, Hiruzen would declare Itachi his successor, as hokage and in ideaology.

Of course the council would not initially endorse this choice, initially attempting to choose Jiraiya, though the sannin would naturally defer to a younger candidate, and agree with Hiruzen’s endorsement. And through that, the youngest Hokage would be declared since Minato.

A need for a dedicated medical specialist was still needed, though, and the first mission Itachi would dispatch was Naruto’s and Jiraiya’s to find Tsunade Senju, in-part to help those with permanent injuries from Konoha Crush, but also hopefully to seek treatment for his own condition. After all, his slow decline due to his illness wouldn’t do for a hokage, especially if he hoped to keep the job for a fairly long while.

Under treatment from Tsunade, Itachi would begin a long period of treatment, slowly improving in health, though the nature of his treatment would leave him unable to pursue Sasuke’s retrieval when his brother fled the village, enticed and tainted by Orochimaru’s cryptic hints and promises of power.

During the timeskip, Itachi would continue to receive routine medical treatment which would allow him to actively resume training during his free time from the responsibilities of his new rank in a time period of upheaval. Overall the time skip period would remain largely unchanged, though Itachi would likely be more aggressive in the pursuit of retrieving Sasuke from rogue stats, likely dedicating anbu resources to it, even when the village can’t spare. This, combined with his Uchiha status, would make him a controversial figure among the council.

Over the course of Part II one sees Itachi performing a lot of the same duties and roles as Tsunade does in the mainline plot, aside from training Sakura full-time, which is largely still her role narratively. However, Itachi will occasionally be seen training Sakura into how to perfect various Genjutsu, illusions, complexity, things of that manner, to make her into a well-rounded shinobi, and not a simple medical specialist. Steadily, the audience sees Itachi grow back to his more full potential and ability which (if based on his ability when resurrected through the Edo Tensei) is significant, if his ability to perform high-cost jutsu is somewhat limited by his unimpressive chakra pool, though his treatments will assist his chakra pool further during this period as well.

Ultimately, Itachi would still be less than successful in defending the village against Pain’s invasion as well, though he still requires nearly all of the Pain clones to be defeated. Itachi’s unwillingness to push his Mangekyou too far without having yet saved Sasuke, or rather his eyes for Sasuke, prevented the hokage from being able to put the final nail in the coffin. Naturally, Naruto’s intervention still occurs without much difference.

Itachi would sit out much of the Hokage summit arc, spending a fair portion of it on death’s door, but appearing towards the end, during Sasuke’s assault and battle with Danzo. During the period of recovery, though, Itachi requested his left eye be replaced with Shisui’s, gaining eternal mangekyou sharingan in one eye, as his vision was steadily waning.

Intervening alongside Sasuke, the brothers teamed up to defeat Danzo, with Itachi using his best friend’s eye to dispell Danzo’s attempts at genjutsu. Retrieving the eye, Sasuke would ultimately level his accusation against Itachi, though what Tobi told him, to that point, had allowed Sasuke to come to the decision to destroy Konoha, for taking his family from him.

Shit more or less plays out the same otherwise ig? I feel as if the main differences is that Itachi would completely implant Shisui’s set of eyes and reserve his own for Sasuke’s down the road. The war arc probably plays out more or less the same, same players, though Itachi provides Sasuke his eyes via a battlefield surgery with Sakura or Tsunade likely conducting the transplant and healing him quickly so he can re-enter the battle.

Itachi may or may not lose one of his eyes permanently through the war, in order to duplicate the battle with Kabuto, but similarly in the future Itachi’s eye may be artificially regenerated with Senju cells or some other Kishimoto-esque McGuffin. Either way Itachi would remain Hokage until Naruto picks up the office.

Ability-Differences from canon I more or less feel as if Itachi’s level of power with Eternal MS and actual treatment of his disease paired with remission would probably result in essentially a level of power we see in Edo Tensei Itachi, though his Genjutsu, Amaterasu, and Susano’o would all be more potent.

#Konoha's Black Flame (Hokage!Itachi)

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kabutots · 1 month

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Scenario idea I've been mulling over involving Kabuto and Team Ishi

Remember those 99 babies that Orochimaru killed when he made Yamato? I had the idea that the trees they grew into grew up and out of the base and into the outdoors.

We know Orochimaru and Danzo work together

Kabuto is stationed in Konoha (at least for what I'm doing with the series)

The idea is that those dead-baby-trees are acting up in some way, and so a team has to go deal with it.

Team Ishi is assigned, but Danzo uses his influence with Sarutobi to swap Kiku out for Kabuto.

Kazumi, as savvy as she thinks she is, is too busy being a teenager in love to notice anything is up. Suto doesn't notice anything. And Ishi is just glad Kiku isn't coming.

Kabuto is being sent to collect any data and/or files that may still be lying around.

Fast forward, they find the base, yada yada yada, and Kazumi finds the files before Kabuto. And she's in tears because, of course she is, she adores children, and these weird trees were just these innocent babies.

Team Ishi comes to the conclusion that they have to be destroyed/killed.

I feel Kabuto would go 50/50 at this point in the story. He might agree, but he does see merit in the experiment in Part II. But this is Part I Kabuto who thought Sasuke would be better off dead than Orochimaru's pawn. So 🤷‍♀️

Kazumi is the only one with fire style in the group. And, God bless, she tries, but she just can't do it.

Ishi would try to step in, but Suto takes over because he knows dead babies hit too close to home for Ishi. But Ishi still goes with Suto to help him through it.

But the trees/children are put down.

Does Kabuto accomplish his mission? Probably. In a "give me those files and I'll destroy them" then he turns them in kind of way.

I dunno, I just think the idea is neat

#my writing #I SWEAR I have other characters 😭#kabuto #team ishi #ishi #suto ogi #kazumi ogi #naruto #kabukazu

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uchihashisui-kun · 2 years

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Last thought before I go to bed, but I love that Shisui's hair canonically looks like this

Which doesn't really look all that curly, if maybe just a little wavy on the tips, but we as a fandom collectively agreed that he has beautiful curls that are incredibily soft and also Shisui clearly passes hours worth of expensive hair products to keep them as gorgeous as they are

It also makes me laugh that, if you look at it for a canon standpoint, Ace has clearly curlier hair yet often people write him up as having soft gentle and straight hair

And the only thing that connects these two characters is that they're both my comfort characters and they both had a short life and died in front of their best friend slash little brother and also Ace clearly never saw a hair product in his entire life and Shisui would probably faint knowing he never took care of his amazing curls even tho sea air is a bitch on hair

All I'm saying is, Naruto×One Piece crossover where Shisui and Ace somehow end up being best friends and getting together like a house on fire is one of my secret dreams

Itachi and Marco somehow end up sharing stories about their disaster friends and getting surprisingly well together

Thatch is just along for the ride and is also clearly taking lots of pictures and videos for later blackmail use

Izō is trying to force onto Kakashi's depressed ass some sort of fashion sense, meanwhile Kakashi just wants to go home

Gai absolutely adores the general energy of the Shirohige Pirates and finds himself right at home in the midst of completely unchecked chaos

Something might or might not be on fire in the background

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panharmonium · 3 years

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the other thing that i keep thinking about, especially now that i’ve been knee-deep in conversation about kakashi’s father for the last couple days, is the amount of politically/socially-charged context kakashi must be constantly navigating as a leaf shinobi, even though we don’t get to see much of it.

the transformation of the hidden leaf village is obviously still a work in progress, and society never changes overnight. we’ve heard at various points in shippuden about the still-present divide between hardliners like danzo and the (somewhat) more moderate senju line, and it’s clear that there are still plenty of reactionary/conservative forces at work in the shinobi world, which means there are absolutely still segments of the population who would view the kind of challenge that kakashi and his students pose to traditional shinobi values as a threat. and back when kakashi first chose to reaffirm his father’s principles, i’m sure it was much worse - the way minato tells it, the entire village and the land of fire turned on sakumo, and it’s not like all those people just disappeared when kakashi finally allowed himself to recognize that all of them were doing something wrong. they were still there. they were his neighbors. they were his colleagues. he had to live with them. he had to work with them - he had to work FOR them, even. to this day, he still does.

like. i am FASCINATED by the complexities of this situation, even though we barely see any of it. just...thinking about thirteen year-old kakashi being a member of the Jonin Assembly alongside all of these grown adults who persecuted his father until the “great man who everyone looked up to” couldn’t survive it any longer. thinking about teenage kakashi lost and “waiting to die” in the anbu black ops, but still breaking every rule to rescue little tenzo from a hardline conservative who tried to have kakashi assassinated. thinking about adult kakashi, still a member of that same Jonin Assembly, still working alongside people he can clearly remember harassing and attacking his father for saving their lives, being asked to serve as a clandestine hokage under danzo’s nose, because foreign nations trust kakashi where they don’t trust the actual nominee, and then being nominated for real when danzo turns up dead (and having his nomination approved, i might add, by the land of fire, whose government officially blamed kakashi’s father for the damage that resulted from that abandoned mission years before).

we only get hints about the lingering controversy surrounding kakashi and his family via danzo and, occasionally, the village elders, but like. kakashi occupies such a complex place in the hidden leaf village, because he’s become incredibly respected and renowned by many (if not most) of its residents, but he also spends every day of his life moving within a community where many (if not most) of the older people around him participated in a campaign of vicious harassment against his father, one that ultimately led to his death. some of them may have had changes of heart after sakumo’s suicide - that seems like the kind of thing that might have shocked some people into reevaluating their positions, particularly given how respected sakumo was prior to that time - and some of them probably died later in the war, but we know there’s still a conservative faction active in the hidden leaf village, and some of those people are always going to be who they are. and even the people who aren’t - even the ones who regret how they acted - it’s still so complicated! how do you continue to live and work in that environment? how do you navigate a history of being harmed in that way, when you still have to collaborate with and/or serve the same people who did the harming, some of whom likely view you with the exact same disdain they had for your father?

kakashi manages it, somehow, though i’ll bet he has complicated feelings about it, even if he keeps them to himself. and that’s yet another reason why (if i can just take these thoughts on a slight detour to the present) i think kakashi’s relationship with sasuke is so vitally important, especially moving forward. sasuke’s family was wronged by the village too, in horrific, unforgivable ways - the shinobi system swallowed itachi whole and sacrificed the entire uchiha clan on the altar of a mission, in exactly the kind of evil, inhuman decision-making process that sakumo and obito and kakashi said could never be justified. the uchiha were victims of the same shinobi system that drove kakashi’s father to his death - the one that said “everything is acceptable as long as the task at hand is accomplished. people are disposable in service to a mission.” both sasuke and kakashi’s families fell to a cultural context that refused to acknowledge that it is never okay to sacrifice your comrades for a mission, a cultural context that embraced this belief to the point where even literal genocide became excusable.

if sasuke is ever going to really and truly Come Home, he’s going to need to learn how to navigate this situation. not to excuse the wrong that was done, and certainly not to give up on getting justice for himself and his clan, but also to figure out, in conjunction with these important tasks, how to continue existing in an environment where so much officially-sanctioned harm was done to his person, and where so many people around him have at least a little bit of history of being suspicious of or uncharitable towards the uchiha clan, even though they obviously didn’t know about the impending coup or danzo’s extermination order.

it’s an incredibly complicated situation, and even if kakashi doesn’t have all the answers, he can at least understand what it feels like to be in that kind of position. he’s been navigating something like this for many, many years. he’s the precedent, someone who can help sasuke wrestle with the perhaps unanswerable questions of how am i supposed to dedicate myself to a place that wronged me like this? why should i protect people who hurt me so badly? is there even a way for me to move forward here, if i can’t forgive the ones who took my family away from me? can this actually be my home again, when i know what it did to my people?

kakashi has obviously managed to come up with answers to these questions that enable him to stay integrated in his community and keep building a future he believes in, though I doubt any of his answers are simple, and i’m sure there are some things that he’s just had to accept will never be fully settled in his heart. it’s like what he says to obito in an episode i watched recently: “i don’t know anything for sure, either...i’ve thought that this world is hell, too...but...” it’s the but that matters. even in the face of confusion and complexity, kakashi has found a way to keep moving. he’s learned to co-exist with the uncertainty and discomfort surrounding him, and to make his own meaning out of this life, regardless of how complicated his internal relationship with the village might be. he’s found a way to keep his eyes trained on the light, whatever that light might look like for him, and even if said light is only, as gaara says, “the faintest glimmer.” he has so much to teach someone like sasuke, who up until recently was responding to that same plea of gaara’s with a fatalistic “i shut my eyes a long time ago. the things i seek now lie only in the darkness.”

anyway. i am just having Many Thoughts currently about the intricacies of the political and social context that kakashi is always navigating, even though he never says a word about it. and i’m curious whether this family history will ever come up again in the last fifth of this show. if i were going on instinct alone, i’d suspect that we weren’t quite done with sakumo yet - i feel like we barely even started with him, to be honest (and also - whatever happened to kakashi’s mother???) - but i should know better at this point than to try and predict what this show is going to do, so i’ll just wait and see.

#naruto #meta #pan watches naruto #i got lost on the path of life #this is something i've always kind of wondered about in the back of my mind #but i started really focusing on it recently because of the conversations i've been having with dreamersscape about shikamaru and kakashi #because the other thing i think about in conjunction with this topic is how the kids have absolutely zero clue about any of this #sakumo's story seems to be - at least from what i've seen so far -#something that the entire leaf village just decided to never discuss again immediately after it reached its horrifying conclusion #whether out of shame or whatever else #it's buried history #even in the immediate aftermath - obito only knows the white fang as 'that hero who died protecting the village'#the rest of the story seems to have become That Of Which We Do Not Speak #and naruto's generation is even further removed from the history than obito was; so they just have no idea #like - naruto once asked kakashi who lady chio meant by 'the white fang'; and when kakashi uncomfortably answered 'my father'#naruto was so shocked by the concept of kakashi having parents that he never even asked any follow-up questions XD XD XD #so anyway i'm just thinking about how much the younger kids are going to start learning after they come home and start climbing the ranks #eg shikamaru shadowing kakashi in jonin circles and starting to pick up on dynamics he hasn't been exposed to before #bc i'm sure kakashi's philosophy for preparing jonin aspirants will be just as stubbornly renegade as his process for genin #and i can imagine there are certain tasks he'll set or standards he'll outline that might stir up some muttering #at least among the old guard #anyway. i think about this stuff a lot #the kids starting to learn all of the things that everybody else already knows about kakashi but nobody ever talks about #including kakashi himself #sasuke got the cliffsnotes version the day he left the leaf village; but there is still SO MUCH he and the other kids aren't aware of #they know nothing about kakashi's history with obito or rin or yamato or itachi; or what happened to his father; or how he got his sharingan #or that he was targeted for assassination by danzo as a teenager #they have no idea what his life was like AT ALL; and honestly i think kakashi wanted it to be that way #but that bubble has to pop eventually; and i can only imagine the kids' faces when they start to discover just how much they never knew.

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captnjacksparrow · 3 years

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if you had to rank your fav naruto characters how would it go? love your blog btw!!

Hmmm... Complicated ask, anon.😂

[My personal life would be splashed here and there. Please bear with me]

Before 5 months, if you asked me about Naruto, my response would be ‘What the fuck is that?’. I absolutely had no idea such a treasure existed. For me, it started out like a blockbuster movie for the sheer variety of fights and the resulting emotions it brought within me.

However, there was a point I stopped and thought, ‘Wait a fucking second. This resembles my family dynamics. This person is speaking the exact same lines I spoke to my parents few years ago. This person’s situation resembles mine. Did this creator a time traveler?’. Naruto is the only piece of media that gave me such feel. Am not even exaggerating, believe me.

I really liked so many characters very much but am going to try my best to list just 10.

The only characters I hate in this series are Danzo, Sakura and Hinata in no particular order. Meaning, I absolutely cannot see any positives in them. They are crassy, cringey and completely detestable.

FAVOURITE NARUTO CHARACTERS

10. Killer Bee

HaHaHa :-) Just seeing this character makes me smile and light-hearted.

It’s a pity that he is the only character who don’t belong to Konoha in my Top 10 rankings who was developed well apart from Gaara.

I loved him from Frame 1 onwards and I sincerely wished Team Taka should be packed up with their ass beaten up mercilessly. And that’s what happened.

Despite being a Jinchurikki, he never bothered to mind his surroundings and filled his heart with love from his over protective Brother alone was nice to watch.

He makes a great Tag Partner with Naruto next to Sasuke. No doubt.

The way Killer Bee treated Team Taka like some annoying flies and his cool and don’t care attitude was top notch. It’s not just with Sasuke, Bee treated Naruto with the same IDGAF attitude at first.

Best Moments:

Lariat punch to Sasuke (TBH, Sasuke deserved it. LOL)

Blasted off every member of Team Taka like a doll

His entire conversation and fight sequence with Kisame (Their banters and exchanges are way too hilarious)

His dynamics with his Elder Brother (God!!!! Whenever Raikage gives him an Iron Claw.... What a hilarious duo!!!!)

9. Hatake Kakashi

Kakashi was my most favourite character when I started the series for simply being ultra-cool with the way he conducted the Bell-Test and taught a valuable lesson for those bratty kids in Team 7 called ‘Team Work’.

Best Moments:

Kakashi vs Obito Hand-to-Hand Combat (the best in the series)

Kakashi in the Gaara retrieval arc (His fight with Itachi & Deidara gave a good start to the shippuden series. His Mangekyou reveal was surprising).

Kakashi & Guy teaming up with Naruto to reveal Obito in a twisty and tragic way. (Kakashi couldn’t handle the truth at all and neither did I)

Kakashi vs Zabuza (That’s when I realized that the series was getting real serious)

8. Jiraiya

Jiraiya was my next favourite to Kakashi during my Part 1 days. His open perversion and his entire dynamics with Naruto was one of the best things during the Chunin Exams arc. Taught Naruto about Chakra Control and about the way of a shinobi by just enduring. Naruto follows this even today.

Best Moments:

Kuchiyose No Jutsu training (Man, I never expected him to push Naruto off the cliff)

Rasengan Training (One of the best arcs in part 1 and it was soo satisfying to see Naruto punching his first Rasengan on Kabuto, He also acted like a quasi parent to Naruto... heartwarming)

Jiraiya Vs Six paths of Pain ( 6 vs 1 was always doomed but still he had the guts of a shinobi and plunged ahead)

7. Uchiha Madara

Geez. What is there to not like him??

Everything he did was absolutely wrong ever since he broke up with Hashirama in a romantic way much similar to how couples break up in my country.

I am an Uchiha. You are a Senju. I wish it had been different.

This roughly translates to how 75% of lovers break up and marry someone else from their own clan in my state. (Duh!!!)

I am from XXX clan, you are from XXX clan. So we can’t love each other and my parents won’t accept this relationship. So let’s break up.

Alright, my first shipping couple in this series is HashiMada for this exact reason. (I started shipping SNS only after episode 478).

Just like Hashirama, Madara had an extensive build up right from episode 1 where Kurama compares Sasuke with Madara. And flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi spiked my curiosity and I wanted to see his face so badly ever since.

But the moment he landed gracefully like a diva in episode 321.... Woaahhhh!!!! He literally danced in the battlefield and ate up 100′s of guys with just a fucking Sharingan.

Best Moments:

Going Shirtless before 1000′s of people with Hashirama’s face, no less (Well, I literally went heart-eyed for 5 minutes. Sorry Sasuke, your ancester was way much sexier than you in the Orochimaru hideout and beats you by a million points).

Screaming Hashirama’s name like a cockatoo for 300 times even till the very end (Sorry Naruto, your obsession towards Sasuke for about 6 arcs is pale in comparison to Madara’s obsession which was established in just 6 or 7 episodes.)

I have 25 clones now. Do you want me to put Susanoo or not? You can’t answer. The answer is yes. (Man, his I don’t give a fuck attitude is just an alien level thing)

Openly admitting Only Hashirama Can Beat Me (Say what you will about Sasuke, Madara has no qualms about accepting his inferiority in terms of power. An absolute Straight Forward diva-queen)

Awakening Sharingan for breaking up with his ‘friend’ rather than for his 3 dead brothers. (Geez, Poor Soul. He is the forefather of a Romantic Uchiha. That romantic blood still flows in Sasuke)

6. Senju Hashirama

Man, I would have placed him somewhere in top 5 if only he was introduced early or had more scenes. I started watching Naruto only because of this very name. There is a local podcaster in my state who goes under the alias of Senju Hashirama and in his podcasts, he hinted about this character and how he was inspired by his ideals. I just googled and saw that this character belonged to Naruto series and I considered watching it. Here I am, making analysis on that very series.

There was this excellent build up for him right when we got introduced to Captain Yamato. He was constantly referred in flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi especially.

But the moment he was reanimated again..... Geez..... It was an hilarious ride all throughout. Out of all the flashbacks we got from this series, Founders Era flashback was my absolute favourite.

From where I come from, we are still under the stupid influence of Clan infrastructure and are not growing up in many aspects like people in western countries do. For me, I hope, one day, someone like Senju Hashirama appears in our state and change our lives for better by uniting all clans as one and treats everyone equally without the shitty favouritism for their own children, friends, parents, siblings.

That’s why this dialogue struck a thunder in my heart

“Be they a friend.... Be they a sibling.... Be it even my own child. I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village.”

Because the clan leaders in our place are absolutely selfish, trash bastards who serves their own needs with no regards for other people from other clans. For a person like me, Hashirama is not just a fictional hero, he is someone who many aspires to become. No wonder that podcaster chose this name as his alias.

He rightfully deserved the title ‘God of Shinobi’. And no one can surpass him, not even Naruto.

Best Moments:

Wood Style vs Eternal Mangekyou sharingan + Kurama powered Madara (He just beats Madara’s ass by a wide margin. This shows he was a whole fucking different level than Naruto + Sasuke combined. In terms of strength, nobody surpassed him YET. Sorry Naruto and Sasuke, you guys are no match even now with your Rinnegan and Kurama lost forever).

His entire banters with Madara (ROFLLLL. Without him, it would have been just another lifeless arc.)

5. Senju Tobirama

Hmmm, let me tell you something about him.

First off, he is not a racist or fascist as many hardcore Sasuke fanatics claims. He is one of the best hokages according to me. He is abso-fucking-lutely practical, rational, logical and holds no grudge. And Sasuke resembles Tobirama with all these characteristics as compared to soft and naive Naruto. If only he had more screen time, he would be easily in my top 3.

Just because he didn’t lick the boots of Uchiha (many people’s favorite clan or may I say the only clan that was given any shit about in this series), it doesn’t make him a racist or fascist.

No, he never persecuted the Uchihas. Danzo, the crass bastard, driven off the Uchihas only after the Kyuubi incident. It was explicitly mentioned in the databook and was clearly explained in the series.

He literally gave the highest position in the village for the entire clan. That is, a military power inside a military village. ‘Shinobi who can cause crimes can only be stopped by shinobi who are even better’. In my state, if a powerful clan decided to persecute another clan, they simply start by cutting off basic amenities like Water and Electricity. Compared to what I’ve seen, Tobirama did nothing but given the Uchihas, the highest position in their village.

Orochimaru only said giving such a power made them conceited (arrogant). Tobirama had a trusted subordinate called Kagami, an Uchiha in his team. He suggested Kabuto to help Sasuke and even teleported him on his request. He even spited Madara for killing Sasuke, an Uchiha. He openly claimed Uchiha clan exceeds Senju in terms of Love. He openly appreciated Itachi and Kagami as someone who sees beyond their clan. In what world, would a racist or fascist do all this for a clan he hates???

Yes, he was cautious of Sasuke at first because he saw him with Orochimaru and even went full-on battle mode because of Sasuke’s carefree threat to destroy the village. But once he decided to go to the battlefield to fight Madara, he simply forgot everything that happened before and started to work with him as a comrade, and even helped him twice. In which world, a racist or fascist behave this way?

Believe me, a person like me who was grown with these clan politics surely can say who is a fascist. He was not. He was just cautious of them because of their ability to attain superpowers with just emotions alone. Let me ask you all this, ‘Would you be okay with people getting crazy powers whenever they are depressed?’. Being cautious is not racism. It really disrespects people who faced real oppression under fascism.

What Madara and Danzo did was a classical example of fascism.

And No, Izuna didn’t die only because of Tobirama. He died because Madara was too arrogant to instigate war with Senju clan. And this was way before forming Konoha. If Tobirama killed Izuna after the alliance between Uchiha and Senju, I would agree that he was a racist. Izuna lost his life just like any other Uchiha and Senju soldiers in that battlefield.

Just because he shitted your beloved ‘Sasuke-Kun’ doesn’t mean he is a racist too. Tobirama saw Sasuke along with that scoundrel Orochimaru who once used this very two hokages to destroy the very village they strived hard to create and protect. What will you do, if you were in his place?? Please don’t lie and say ‘I wouldn’t be judgemental’.

And Imagine you are Tobirama, Sasuke is threatening to commit genocide against the entire village who had no idea about this coup detat instead of going against those old hags. Will you sit quiet as a Hokage??

He was the first person to suggest his brother, Itama, that Revenge against Uchihas are futile. All we need is an agreement to make truce. That gave the idea for Hashirama to pursue his dream. And Tobirama was happy to follow that dream and very supportive.

It’s because of all these reasons I placed him above Senju Hashirama.

Best Moments:

Amazing power display against Sasuke & Co with just an index finger (It was a pleasure to see everyone’s face trembling with mild sweat including Sasuke).

Acted as a decoy to save his young subordinates. (The way he sacrificed his life saying young wills of fire must be protected is just Woow!! I wish his subordinates listened to his words and passed the mantle to the younger ones rather than playing game at such an old age and screwed up many lives. Pfft!!!)

Any time he says ‘Shut Up’ to Hashirama (ROFL)

His absolute ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude to Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Minato and Madara (He trolled them all mercilessly and I love it)

4. Senju Tsunade

It hurts me to say that Tsunade is the only female character in my list because every other female characters were written in a much more piss poorly way. Only Konan came close to Tsunade but her role was very short.

Despite her character’s purpose revolved around another male character (Dan) and a blatant objectification of her breasts, I liked everything about her other than those mentioned above.

She is the Second Best Hokage who took Konoha right after the destruction made by Orochimaru, excellently handled the aftermath by making friendly relations with Suna (Sand village), provided her best medical support to Konoha in the Pain Arc and successfully handled the fourth Shinobi world war.

She is such a badass who developed her own original jutsu called Byakugou no Jutsu, which can heal herself.

She is just way too amazing and it’s a pity that we got very less scenes in Shippuden.

Best Moments:

Took 25+ stabs from Madara’s Susanoo like a piece of cake (Man, I simply couldn’t describe that scene. All the other Kages were shocked and even Madara too)

Lifted her advisors like a cabbage sack (Those fucking old hags deserved it. Those shits should’ve died)

Her index finger flick assault on Naruto (Aww, Naruto was definitely bratty in his first meeting and Tsunade didn’t hold back at all)

Played Orochimaru like a basketball (In that same arc, she fought Orochimaru mercilessly like a devil left and right. Someone who claimed to have surpassed Tsunade never even dared to fight Orochimaru’s student and crying for his attention after just receiving one stab from Madara. Just saying)

3. Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto is the titular character and your emotions evolve along with him. He surely deserves a spot in Top 3. The only reason I didn’t place Naruto even more higher is because he didn’t experience something very important which many characters in this list faced. That is, Losing a loved one before his eyes. Every villain in this series became what they are because they lost someone important before their eyes like Nagato, Obito. (Nope, I don’t count Neji as his loved one). I think this tests the mettle of any character and Naruto failed to experience this. The only person he ever lost was Jiraiya and that too from off-screen. That’s why I felt his journey to his dreams seemed little easier compared to the rest of the characters.

His best block of episodes will always be the part 1 Episode 1, 2, 3. Episode 1 is the character defining episode for Naruto and what he learned there will be applied everywhere till the very end of the series. He learned 3 things

Forgiveness, Empathy and Acceptance

Talk-No-Jutsu

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

From then on, this boy wins many friends to his side, not only from Konoha but from other villages too and even made them to acknowledge his strength only through his sheer hard work.

However, there is this person, whose acknowledgement he wants the most. That person is his most important bond along with Iruka Sensei. He is none other than Sasuke. One day, Sasuke left him alone for some unavoidable reason at the end of part 1 which left a huge scar in him and he vows to bring him back to the place where he belongs. That becomes his ultimate goal rather than becoming an Hokage.

The way he goes to any extent to protect the people he cares about is just simply entertaining to watch.

Every time he makes an heroic entry to save the day was never boring, not once.

Best Moments:

Sobbing from his heart after hearing Iruka Sensei acknowledging him (It just makes me feel heavy for no reason. The anime team did an awesome job to capture his emotions convincingly)

Awakening Kyuubi Mode for the first time after seeing Sasuke die in his arms (Man, out of all the collective hatred he got from the villagers, this moment affected him a lot speaks volumes)

Punching Neji from the underground to win the Chunin exams (God, I honestly believed Naruto lost but he just surprised us heavily from nowhere. And that failure speech was just pure bliss to watch even today)

Pain Vs Naruto (One of the best arc for Naruto. Because unlike other arcs, where Naruto fought with a team, this arc he was all alone fighting a person with Rinnegan. Be it the exuberant landing from the frogs with a dramatic kabuki music, creating multi-step attacks, coming up with novel solution in that difficult situation, finally ending the conflict without killing the enemy, becoming an hero. Superb journey. The only thing I didn’t like in that arc is some shitty selfish proposal. PUKE!!)

Bearing the burdens of his most important person and die along with him (This boy always shouts he will never die until he becomes an Hokage. But for Sasuke, he was ready to die along with him in order to not leave him alone proves how much he loves him. This shows his emotional maturity rather than shouting at Sasuke like he always did before which never reached his ears. This time it did)

Final Good Bye to Minato (Honestly, I was bawling just like Naruto in that scene no matter how many times I watch it. It started out slow but as he speaks more and more, he simply couldn’t hold back and wept a sea of tears 😭😭😭)

2. Uchiha Sasuke

One of the well written characters in this series, with all the flaws and positive stuffs which makes him more of an Anti-Hero. He always subverts my preformed opinions and never ceased to surprise me.

Despite being aloof and cold, his warmer side will always be exposed towards Naruto. This is evident by many things he had done for Naruto which he don’t have to or no reason to. Starting right from roasting Sakura, offering lunch, asking for tips, enquiring about breakfast, protecting him many times and dying for Naruto.

Why I placed him above Naruto is because of his unavoidable decision to tread in a complicated dark path primarily due to the trauma he carried and was stirred up again by collective factors such as Orochimaru’s cursed seal, Itachi’s arrival and Naruto’s growth. Compared to Sasuke, Naruto had an easier path because he never saw anyone die before his eyes and hence he don’t carry any trauma which can divert his path.

Even after watching his entire clan and family members murdered before his eyes at an age 8, he managed to pull himself and never snapped out like many other good characters does. But the moment when he found out that Itachi was good all along, he simply couldn’t tolerate the truth and gave himself to Vengeance. Because, he loved his brother more than he hated him all these years. This shows he loved his brother more than his parents. His resolve to destroy Konoha was perfectly understandable. But is it good? Nope. He can kill Danzo and those old hags but killing other people was never justifiable.

But still, his resolve to have his vengeance was diverted by Naruto and weakened by Itachi, at some point. So, he decided to know the truth and when he heard it, he understood the Hokages also sacrificed many precious things to protect this village just like his Brother Itachi. He understood the mistakes of his clan and decided to protect the village which he swore to destroy. [Many Sasuke fanatics think that he succumbed to the Government and Kishi wrote Sasuke to bootlick them. Their idea was to tackle genocide with another genocide. What a stupid idea!!!!]

And No, I don’t consider him trying to kill Sakura, Karin and Kakashi as his bad moments (though I feel bad for Karin). For the simple reason being, he became a monster by losing himself in the darkness who lost the rationality to differentiate friends from foes. Much similar to how Naruto lost himself to Kyuubi’s hatred against Orochimaru and in Pain Arc. It’s so hypocritical to ignore Naruto and accuse Sasuke here. Plus, Sakura had no business to be there otherwise Sasuke would not have tried to kill her.

But does it mean Sasuke did nothing wrong???

Nope.

He definitely shouldn’t have joined Akatsuki and hunted Killer Bee like an animal. Because, he knew that Tobi was the one who helped Itachi massacre the clan. When fighting Itachi he specifically vowed to kill Madara (Tobi). On top of that, Itachi passed on Amaterasu in his eyes specifically to stay away from Tobi. Why did he ally with him? Plus, Sasuke was one of the few characters who was exposed to the name ‘Akatsuki’ in part 1 itself. He clearly knew that this organization targets Naruto, his closest bond. Why did he join there? This is where the stupid part of Sasuke came out. I was grunting... ‘Oii Where did that clever Sasuke, who faced 1000 soldiers without killing any of them, went??’.

And his plan for Revolution???? I thought it would be reasonable. But his vision was eerily similar to Danzo’s vision. Grrr..... Danzo also wanted to create his ideal village by destroying the current Hokage. He wanted to unite the Five Village and put himself on top of everyone as evident from the Kage Summit arc.

I appreciate him that he finally adopted the Will of Fire, by wanting to protect the village at all costs just like Itachi and Hashirama did. But his methods are not very democratic. Plus, he wanted to do it alone. I was screaming at him... ‘Grrr, Sasuke, did you listen to Itachi at all???. He failed because he did everything alone. Why can’t you understand????’ This is also another instance, Sasuke’s stupidity glanced out.

I am happy Naruto knocked some sense into him by telling him not to do it alone but together.

Many fanatics also ask, ‘What did Sasuke do wrong to atone for his sins at the end?’.

I was like ‘Reallly????’

He joined Akatsuki, an organization which terrorized all the 5 villages and he hunted someone like an international criminal.

He spoiled the Kage Summit and attacked Raikage who lost his arm because of him. I know what happened over there is not Sasuke’s fault. But these are the kages who was loved by many people in their own villages. How can the world forget it and simply let him go?

It’s exactly because of all those lovely stuffs he did in Part 1 and all these mistakes he did in Part 2 but willing to correct his mistakes by sharing the burdens of his other half in the end made him more interesting, complicated and exciting and that’s why I love this character.

I also have a personal bias to love this character sooo much because of the character on top of my list.

Best Moments:

Defending Naruto before Sakura (Awww!!! Such a good boy he was. Eventhough I thought he was a typical arrogant K-Drama hero, he just subverted my opinion in that one scene. I always have a thing for people who stands up for someone even though they don’t have to. This is where I started to like Sasuke)

My body moved on its own. (Is there anything that trumps this scene in terms of emotions and love in this series?. This moment is where I understood the depth of Sasuke’s emotions towards Naruto).

What is a Clan? What is a Village? What is a Shinobi? (I was really hoping for Sasuke to question himself something similar to this. Because he was so self-absorbed in his hatred and failed to look outside him ever since he left the village. It was so gratifying that he did that)

Killing Orochimaru (I always thought Sasuke will kill him only after he tries to take over the body. Never imagined that he will strike the snake first)

Killing Danzo (Man, what an amazing battle!!!. It was so gratifying to see such a crass bastard die many times over and over).

His dramatic confession through his monologue (After the mystery of Who is this Tobi, Sasuke’s obsession towards Naruto remained a mystery for me. Why did he listen to Naruto under the bridge? Why did he protected Naruto in the War? I got the answer only after this confession. It was so heartwarming to see this mellow side of Sasuke)

1. Uchiha Itachi

I could write pages about him. The foremost reason I like Itachi and earns the top spot in my rankings is because he shockingly resembled me in many ways. As I already said, I come from a place where clan politics plays a major role and when I see Sasuke’s flashback in part 1, I was simply dumbstruck by such a detailed similarities.

Elder child of the family - ✅

Have an adorable younger sister who loves me more than my parents - ✅

Same age gap (5 years) with my sister as Itachi and Sasuke - ✅

Parents paying total attention on me while ignoring my sister completely - ✅

Parents constantly comparing my achievements with my sister - ✅

A sister who bear hugged me every time I entered the home after returning from my school - ✅

Despite my mom being a teacher, my sister always prefers me to teach her stuffs as she considers me to be way too better than my mom - ✅

Love my sister more than my parents - ✅

Clan-Obsessed parents - ✅

Used me as a tool for the benefit of the clan - ✅

Sending another person from my clan to spy on me - ✅

Strained relationship with my parents - ✅

Disgusted with my clan - ✅

Most importantly, this dialogue from part 1 episode 129,

Clan? Clan?

Obsessed with the organization, Obsessed with the clan, Obsessed with the name, that’s merely the detestable action that restrict yourself.

I have given up all hope in this worthless clan

Because, people obsess themselves to their clan, a thing so petty, they lose sight of the things that are truly important.

A real change cannot occur under restraints and controls

I confronted my parents with the exact same dialogue (almost 98% similar) in my own native language some years ago.

I didn’t even know the existence of Naruto series at that time. I was simply shell-shocked by all these similarities with this character.

And Yes, The moment I heard these dialogues, I knew Itachi, was a good guy, who had a very strong reason for his actions and I instantly knew Sasuke’s revenge will not bear him any happiness.

It is exactly because of all these striking similarities of myself with Itachi, and my lil’l sister with Sasuke, my family dynamics with the Uchiha family.... I could understand the magnitude of Sasuke’s love towards Itachi.

And precisely because of that, I could understand Sasuke’s love towards Naruto is not fucking ‘brotherly’ one but something that leans towards Attraction.

No wonder, Itachi left Sasuke in Naruto’s care.

Anyways to speak objectively,

Itachi is an extremely self-sacrificial person whose life is full of pain and miseries but never blames it on the world unlike other Uchiha members like Madara, Obito and Sasuke to an extent.

He did things considering the bigger picture which never benefitted himself in anyway and was willing to go to any extent even at the expense of his own family and his brother’s happiness. That is, Uchiha Clan Massacre and Joining Akatsuki. None of this benefitted him in anyways but he did it anyway, for the village of Konoha.

His ideals are shockingly similar to Hashirama, Which Sasuke pointed this out and Hashirama acknowledged that Itachi was a better shinobi than he was. ❤️❤️❤️

Now, does this means I support Uchiha clan massacre?

No way. Even Itachi didn’t.

This massacre happened because of the huge clusterfuck from Hiruzen’s incompetence, Danzo’s paranoid arrogance, Uchiha clan’s devious plan to over throw the government by force rather than approaching it in a peaceful way, say, a peace talk or a protest.

All these people acted on their own self-interest. Itachi and Shisui caught in their whirlpool, bear their burdens and paid for it with their life. Sasuke suffered for it.

But, it’s not the only reason I love this character. It’s because, the moment he decided to massacre everyone, he marked his own death by the hands of his beloved brother. I love people who owns up their mistakes and face the consequences rather than making excuses (even though it’s not entirely his mistake).

Itachi is also the only character in this series who realized his failures on his own without anyone’s interference or Naruto’s Talk-No-Jutsu.

And he apologized for everything he did to Sasuke.

Again, some hardcore Sasuke fanatics criticize/hate him for torturing their poor ‘Sasuke-Kun’ with his Tsukuyomi. I was like ‘Hmmm...What?’.

First off, Itachi apologized to Sasuke for not thinking out from his point of view and also for not telling him the truth earlier.

Second off, Sasuke never even blamed Itachi for anything (even he didn’t hold him for killing their parents). If Sasuke himself, forgiven Itachi... Why are his fans being so rabid?

Third off, for all of his supposed ‘crimes’, he paid for it by dying as a disgraceful Madman rather than a Hero who really saved the village. He is someone who should be celebrated like Naruto but instead died proudly as a Traitor of Konoha.

All in all, One of the wonderfully written character I have ever seen in the media.

Best Moments:

Itachi vs Sasuke (That battle was a pure brilliance and highly emotional especially after knowing the truth. When Sasuke released his Kirin, Itachi showed off his ultimate armour Susanoo like a badass. Seeing Susanoo for the first time gave me chills. No, Sasuke didn’t kill him. Itachi died on his own)

Itachi vs Orochimaru (Man, Itachi may look mellow but when it comes to Orochimaru he is a pure Sass. He screwed that snake up both the times by a wide margin. It seems Uchiha brothers like to fuck up Orochimaru, LOL)

Talk-No-Jutsu’ing Naruto (Geez, Naruto was being completely bratty and was full of saviour complex like he was going to bear everyone’s hatred by himself. I was almost annoyed. Thanks to Itachi, he realised. Probably he is the only character to shut Naruto using his own jutsu)

Izanami’ing Kabuto (Other than Naruto, he is the only character to go out of his way to empathize with a villain and put extreme effort to change him. I think this is why Sasuke loves Naruto, for seeing these similarities??? ).

Goodbye to Sasuke (The first time when he said ‘Forgive me, Sasuke. This is the last’ by poking his forehead and finally closing the distance by butting with Sasuke’s head softly saying ‘I will love you always’.... It always evokes uncontrollable tears in me, no matter how many times I watch it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭)

HONOURABLE MENTION

Uchiha Obito

God, Am such a sucker for Uchiha guys individually, though collectively as a clan they fucked up big time. I simply couldn’t find the place for him in the top 10. He is a classic example of What Naruto will be like if he becomes a villain?

However, all those horrible stuffs he did just for a girl whom he had a crush on which was never reciprocated seems childish. That’s why I couldn’t put him in Top 10.

And his understandable but weird obsession on Naruto was always enjoyable to watch.

One cute thing I liked about him was, whatever criminal stuffs he may have done, he was never a cheapskate though. He had every chance to take back Kakashi’s Sharingan to activate his own Susanoo. But he never even thought of such an idea. He was a bad guy. But a good friend, no matter what.

Pure Baby!!! But lost his way!!!

Best Moments:

Importance of Team Work (’In the ninja world, Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum’. This very legacy he left to Kakashi came to defeat him later. And Naruto follows this motto even today)

Sacrificing his Sharingan (’I am giving you my Sharingan. No matter what the villagers say, you are a great Jonin. Please take it’. Awww!!! Obito. He left his Sharingan which helped Kakashi to complete a jutsu called ‘Chidori’, which is a go-to jutsu of Sasuke)

Thanks for the ask, anon. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. ❤️

#ask #itachi #itachi uchiha #sasuke #sasuke uchiha #naruto #naruto uzumaki #hashirama #tobirama #hashirama senju #tobirama senju #madara uchiha #madara #killer bee #kakashi #jiraiya #tsunade #obito #obito uchiha

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chojuuro · 2 years

Note

do you like or hate kabuto?

short answer: yes

long answer: also yes.

i have what may seem like conflicting feelings toward him, but understand that a) my venus placement is in aquarius and b) he deserves a little throttling as a treat

let me explain (under a cut because i got Started)

kabuto is someone who is SO interesting and weirdly personal to me. a kid who grew up with no identity of his own, who's trying to find his place in this world the way he knows best. which, i mean, he's been kinda fucked since day one and it DESTROYS MY ASS and not in a fun way

he was, i think, 7 when danzo picked him up, after 3 years in an orphanage where they just. gave him a name. because he had amnesia and DIDN'T. KNOW. HIS BABYHOOD. boy didn't know his NAME or his parents or anything

and THEN danzo got his grubby hands on him when he was SEVEN. worst part is he went willingly because he wanted to help the orphanage with the funding that danzo cut.

and THEN THE OROCHIMARU SHIT ASLKFJ and then when kabuto killed nonou unknowingly and then had his entire identity crisis, probably his first real one. hm. HM.

at which point orochimaru showed up, ensnared the poor boy with promises of identity, of finding out exactly who he was, of making a name for himself.

kabuto has been a spy his entire life. dozens of different hats, of different identities, of different masks to hide the kid who never really got to explore or figure out who he is. orochimaru died, and kabuto spiraled.

orochimaru was his only constant. the only thing he could come back to, that he knew, vaguely, would always be there. that he knew he always had a solid place with.

after the amnesia, after the orphanage, after ROOT, the spy work, the death of his mother, orochimaru's slimy grip, after trying to deal with the aftermath of everything? dude is a fuckin shell of the man he never got to be. and it KILLS ME.

don't get me started on how he's a fucking nun now. i do not perceive nunbuto. but i can't help but feel like maybe he wound up running the orphanage because he literally had no idea where else he could go. ROOT doesn't exist anymore, also FUCK that place. orochimaru is doing whatever That era of orochimaru is doing and i imagine part of kabuto wants to distance himself from them, at least for a while. no way the hospital would trust him enough to work there, even though his medical ninjutsu is SO strong and he could be licherally one of the best medics in konoha. he probably IS. but will konoha give him the chance to prove himself for it? not in a thousand years.

and maybe im biased bc little 11 year old me simped for him really hard. maybe im biased bc i can totally get the loss of sense of identity, the identity crises, the wanting to be better. the internal struggle of not knowing who you are, of having other people tell you who you are for you.

he's done a lot of really fucked up shit, obviously. he's literally a criminal. brought souls back from the dead just to fuck around and find out during the war. shows up uninvited at ALL TIMES. he's pretentious and he's smarmy and he's an asshole who worked under orochimaru for a huge chunk of his life, so you KNOW that he's been On Some Shit and honestly? to little fault of his own. he's a victim of circumstance, of grooming on multiple accounts, of his own mental health and the lack of care that konoha takes in anybody's psyche. good thing i have an oc to fix that for me aha

let me be clear that this does not excuse any of his actions. but it does explain them.

anyway *climbs off my soapbox* i love He but i kinda wanna beat him up sometimes

#taking deep breaths #i did not mean for this to get long #don't Get Me Started on kabuto yakushi bc i will never shut up about him #ANYWAY #hi anon! sorry for the delayed response to this lskdfjf i was stuck on mobile all afternoon/evening yesterday #i wanted to originally leave my response with short answer/long answer but #i ALSO wanted to do my stupid little glasses doctor man a little justice #time to spiral and not stop thinking about how FUCKED UP HIS BACKSTORY IS #it destroys me #yeah anyway i started to read thru it for proofreading sake but i started getting ANGRY AGAIN SALKJFSF #I WILL PROTECT THIS SHITTY NERDY GLASSES DOCTOR MAN UNTIL THE DAY I PERISH #anyway thank u #anon #ask #desposting #kabuto yakushi

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zooloy · 3 years

Text

Is Sakura a bad character?

As far as I’ve seen Sakura Haruno is one of the most hated characters in Naruto, right behind Danzo and Black Zetsu. But Sakura unlike the other two is a protagonist and the female lead of the series. So why is a character we’re all supposed to be rooting for, so hated in the fanbase.

Before I start, I would like to mention this post is neither attack nor defend Sakura, and I’m going to look at her completely objectively. I would also like to mention I am neither a stan nor a hater, and am going to give a mostly if not completely unbiased opinion

I’m going to look at both sides of the argument.

Why people like Sakura:

· She’s strong

· She has had good character development

· She’s a good kunoichi

· She good person and a caring friend

Why people dislike Sakura:

· She’s weak

· She’s useless

· She’s annoying

· Her harsh treatment of some characters

· Her obsession with Sasuke

Sakura Stans:

· She’s strong

This either refers to Sakura’s physical strength or her mental strength, both of which are very strong. I don’t think I need to explain why people think she is physically strong, but her mental strength is debatable to say the very least. There are times where she has proven that she’s not weak-willed, but there are times when she crumbled under the pressure.

· She has had good character development

This is true, Sakura may not have had the best character development but she definitely had some development. She went from being a total b*tch, who only did something if she benefitted from it to someone who does things because it benefits others aside from her.

· She’s a good kunoichi

A kunoichi is a female shinobi or ninja. I believe Sakura at many points in the series has proven her worth as one with her medical and battle feats.

Medical feats:

o She made an antidote to Sasori’s poison

o She’s saved Kankuro’s life

o She’s Naruto’s life by keeping his heart beating.

o During the war she, along with Tsunade, summoned Katsuya and healed most of the shinobi alliance.

Battle feats:

o She helped defeat Sasori

o Unlocked the Byakguo Seal

o Was able to go toe-to-toe with Shin Uchiha

· She’s a good person and caring friend

I am going explain my thoughts on this statement in the conclusion, because I think it would be mor fitting that way.

Sakura Haters:

· She’s weak

This is true for OG Naruto or Part 1 as Sakura was definitely one of if not the weakest ninja in all of Konoha 11. She didn’t have any Justus or techniques in her arsenal, and was more of hindrance then help in most of the battles she was in.

It is however nonsensical to claim that Sakura in Shippuden or Boruto is weak, Sakura is the strongest ninja in the Konoha 11 excluding Naruto, with her Byakugo Seal and her amazing taijutsu skills.

· She’s useless

Again, this is true for most of Part 1, and she was definitely dead weight for team, however as Shippuden came out she started to become more useful, as she proved in her battle against Sasori and in the war, and medical feats speak for themselves.

There is another meaning to this statement however, that she is useless to the narrative and plot of the story, and this is partially true, as she should have achieved more in ratio to the amount of screen time given to her, and her almost irrelevance to the plot.

· She’s annoying

This honestly completely subjective as some of the thing she does may come of as annoying to some people, but this is matter of personal opinion.

· Her obsession with Sasuke

This is probably one of the biggest reasons as to why people hate Sakura.Now I don’t personally have a problem wit this as seeing character who revolves around d a man isn’t unheard of in Naruto, and I’m not talking about only women. There are plenty of male characters who revolve around men:

o Naruto’s whole character revolves around Sasuke. And this evident even in Part 1 with their rivalry, he was more obsessed with Sasuke than even Sakura. Everything he does all of his motivation is in some way linked to Sasuke

o Sasuke’s character revolves around Itachi and Naruto, Itachi because of his revenge plot and whatnot, and Naruto in the same Naruto’s character revolved around Sasuke.

o Gaara’s character after the Chunin Exams existed to win Naruto’s approval and friendship

o Nagato started the Akatsuki because he couldn’t get over Yahiko’s death

So, there are plenty of male characters who revolve around men, so why is it that Sakura and other female characters are the only ones who get called out for this? Is it misogyny? I don’t think so, I think it has more to do with how the narrative handled, all these characters had given reason and rhyme that was thoroughly explained to us, and thus we are able sympathize with these characters. However, the plot doesn’t care enough about this “obsession” to give it a root, like how Naruto’s obsession stemmed from his loneliness, Sakura’s obsession is given no roots no reason. If the narrative didn’t care enough about why and how Sakura fell in love with Sasuke, why should we as the audience be bothered with it, and I can see why not a lot of fans like this aspect of her character.

Some even say she would have been better out without her silly crush, I don’t completely agree with this sentiment, because Sasuke affected Sakura just as much as he affected Naruto, similar to how Sasuke was the root of most Naruto’s motivation, he (Sasuke) was the root of most of Sakura’s motivation. She wanted to become a ninja because of him, she wanted to participate in the Chunin Exams because he believed in her, she defeated Sasori to find him and the list goes on, taking away her crush directly (contrary to common belief) strips her of her agency, it was HER choice to chase Sasuke and to be with him ignoring this is ignoring her wishes, Sakura stans are always talking about her wasted potential because of SS, when its really not. Sakura never attempted to move on from Sasuke so there was never any potential to begin with. If this was such an important part of Sakura’s character, why do so many people hate this aspect of her? This is again the narrative’s fault it never did anything to contradict that Sakura’s crush was superficial, it never gave them actual development as a couple, most of their interaction seem so shallow compared NS and SNS.

· Her harsh treatment of some characters

o She broke of her friendship with Ino over a boy

o She has bullied and demeaned Naruto on many occasions

o She drugged her teammates to try and fight Sasuke alone

o Her fake confession to Naruto

o She made fun of an orphan in front of another orphan

I think these are the major one’s people mean, when talking about her “cruelty “, and while I agree, these are somethings she’s done that are really hard to look past and forgive, and I’ll provide the rest of my opinion on this matter in the conclusion.

Personal Thoughts:

I don’t like Sakura because she’s an admirable person or because she’s a good friend, it’s quite the opposite. Sakura is character who has more depth than she may appear to have at face value. She suffers from an inferiority complex and deals with this by demeaning and bringing down other people to uplift or boost her own ego, this is major reason as to why many people hate her, but I find her interesting because of this.

She was a callous person who didn’t want to do something unless it benefitted her in some way, and I think her development was to come out of this mindset and do things because it’s the right thing to do. Contrary to common belief Sakura has in fact faced repercussions for her horrible actions, maybe not all of them but most of them.

She made fun of an orphan in front of another orphan, and her crush (the only one cares about at this time) tells her she makes him sick, which make her rethink her actions and she becomes nicer to Naruto.

There many more moments where Sakura got a taste of her own (usually because of Sasuke), but there is one moment in particular that I want to talk about, her fake confession, I think this was excellent character development for her. Earlier she did stupid sh*t for herself, but in this moment, she was doing stupid sh*t for others, she had nothing to gain by “confessing” to Naruto, by doing this she was entering into a loveless relationship with a guy she had zero romantic interest in, now I think we all know where she was coming from, she thought Naruto loved her and confessing to him would make him happy. She had nothing to gain from doing this, in fact she had something to lose if she did this. By confessing to Naruto, Sakura would have to give up on Sasuke, and I’ve already explained what a big deal Sasuke is to Sakura. She was giving up on one of her lifelong dreams to (in her mind) do something for Naruto.

I am in no way trying to defend or justify what she did. Her confessing to Naruto and in using him is just plain wrong, but it was more character development for her when she got rejected and put in her place.

I don’t understand why people can’t appreciate Sakura for who she is instead of completely changing her into something she’s not. We are given a three- dimensional morally complex character, who does not fit into any female archetype or stereotype, and people (especially Sakura stans) are trying to make her fit into the female archetype or stereotype.

Sakura is not a token tsundere, a tsundere is who acts cold and harsh to their love interest to hide their true feelings, Sakura is not this. She is a straight forward person and will show if she likes or dislikes you. There may other archetypes into which people try to fit Sakura into, to the point they have to change her entire character to make it work.

Another thing I dislike about the fandom is how most of them link Sakura’s negative characteristics as the author’s misogynistic views instead of the character’s flaws. If this is so, why don’t we link things like Sasuke’s arrogance or Naruto’s rude behaviour to the author’s misandrist views.

Conclusion:

I don’t think Sakura is a good character nor do I think she’s a terrible character, I think she’s a decent character at the very least, she has many things going for her to be a bad character, but also has many things holding her back from being a good character.

#sakura #sakura haruno #naruto shippuden #naruto #pro sakura haruno #anti naruto fandom #anti sakura fandom #anti sakura stans #anti sakura wankers #anti sakura haters #pro sakura

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depressedhatakekakashi · 3 years

Text

Hokage Sakumo Au

During the faithful mission, Sakumo still chooses to save his friends over completing the mission, leading into the third great Shinobi war. A mistake he has to live with, and that still earns him the ire of his superiors and other shinobi.

Except, this time, everyone’s smart enough not to shun one of their best shinobi. They recognize Sakumo allowed his emotions to affect his mission and that’s not ok, but to lose someone as strong as The White fang when a new war has just started would only end in further disaster.

While Sakumo is scolded for his actions on that mission, he is not shunned and made to feel like a complete failure. Sakumo continues to take missions going forward, being relegated to solo missions to avoid any further incidents.

Kakashi still has to hear villagers and Other Shinobi’s judgments of Sakumo when he’s out in the village, but being able to go home to his father and learn from him slowly makes him hate his father and the choice he made less over time. Sakumo is also able to talk to his son and explain why he made the choice he did. How important his team is to him, and how he believes protecting his teammates is just as important as completing the mission.

Able to still do missions, Sakumo slowly makes his name back. He's still a feared shinobi around the world, and he's capable of taking care of a lot of missions on his own.

He's also able to be there for Kakashi when everything goes wrong in his life. After the Kanabi bridge, Sakumo's there to see his son come home with a new scar over his eyes and a Sharingan where his old eye used to be. As well as a broken tanto gathered up in his extra shirt, and heavy guilt weighing down on his heart.

Sakumo takes days off from missions to be there for Kakashi. He knows his son needs him at that moment and nothing else comes before him. No one can convince him to leave Kakashi alone during this time, no matter how important the mission is.

It's even worse when Kakashi comes back home with Rin's blood still staining his uniform and a haunted look in his eyes. Sakumo is certain he has never seen his son so broken before, and he refuses to let Kakashi be alone after suffering through such a huge trauma.

This is good because this also happens to coincide with the time Hiruzen decides he wants to step down.

The meeting is five hours long, with Danzo fighting venomously for Orochimaru to get the spot of Hokage and Hiruzen refusing. Ultimately, a compromise is reached. One Danzo isn't too fond of, but Hiruzen and the two Elders can accept. The new Hokage will be Hatake Sakumo.

Danzo is obviously not happy about this, but if he wants to do something about it he's going to need time. For now, he'll just have to sit back and come up with a plan.

Hiruzen calls Sakumo into his office to give him the news, and Sakumo's genuinely not sure if he should accept the job at first. It's not until he's talking to Maito Dai about it later that evening that he realizes he might actually have a chance to change the system. To make a better future for not only his son but every other kid as well.

The next day Sakumo accepts the promotion, and within a week the Hokage's hat is being handed off to him in a big ceremony. The only problem is that Kakashi isn't enjoying the whole thing. Partially because of his new trauma regarding Rin's death, partially because he genuinely doesn't understand why his father would want to take this position.

the topic of Sakumo moving into the Hokage's residence is of course brought up, but Kakashi shoots that down right away. He refuses to leave his family home for the Hokage's residence. Enough in his life is changing and he's not ready to make that big of a chance along with everything else. Thankfully, Sakumo agrees with him.

It's not long into Sakumo's time as Hokage before Minato informs Kakashi of Kushina's pregnancy. Some pretty big news that Sakumo definitely thinks is worth celebrating. After all, his Son's sensei is going to have a kid. He remembers having all of his students around when Kakashi was born, so there's no doubt he's going to make sure Kakashi's there when Minato and Kushina's child is born.

The events of the Kyuubi attack still happen the same. When Kushina is ready to give birth and the seal is at its weakest, Obito strikes. Obito still faces off against Minato while Sakumo focuses on protecting the village as much as possible. And in the end, Minato and Kushina still die trying to protect the village and sealing the Kyuubi into their son.

Sakumo arrives just in time to hear Kushina's last request for him to make sure Naruto is taken care of, and unlike some people *side-eyes Hiruzen* Sakumo actually aims to keep that promise. From that day forward, Naruto is a part of the Hatake household and Sakumo refuses to allow anyone to hate him for something he had no control over.

Of course, knowing that the Hokage has now taken in the villages Jinjuuriki and isn't dead from the attack, Danzo's pretty pissed. He was hoping at least that Sakumo would parish in the attack as well so that he could gain some control in Konoha. Perhaps take the Hokage's seat for himself. This calls for drastic measures.

Danzo doesn't approach Kakashi at the memorial stone. that would be nothing but a mistake seeing as the Hokage, the man Danzo wants to kill, Is Kakashi's father.

Instead, Kakashi finds out about the attempted assassination of his father by eves dropping. He feels like something is off in the village and decides to follow around the Anbu. He may not be Anbu trained here, but he's good enough to get by without being seen. They don't give up much information, but enough to make him leery. So he goes to his father and explains that he doesn't have any proof, but there's a gut feeling that there might be an attempt on Sakumo's life. Which is how Sakumo and Kakashi come up with a plan. Sakumo isn't the biggest plan of Kakashi taking his place in disguise, but he knows his son can handle himself while he confronts Danzo.

Kakashi still ends up facing off against Tenzo when Root operatives try to attack what they think is the Hokage, and Tenzo isn't sure how he's supposed to deal with this. Clearly, something went wrong if their plan was discovered.

Meanwhile, Sakumo confronts Danzo in the Hokage's office. And Sakumo isn't as nice as Hiruzen. Danzo has committed treason and Sakumo won't stand for that. This is grounds for a fight, and Sakumo has every intention of winning.

The fight ends up being the spectacle of all of Konoha when Sakumo chucks Danzo through the window out of his office, and no one is really certain what they're supposed to do.

One thing of importance does happen. To try and win the fight, Danzo finds himself having to expose at least the one Sharingan in his eye. And upon seeing that, Fugaku loses it. Kakashi getting the Uchiha's Sharingan was a gift from Obito. An Uchiha. But Fugaku would have heard of Danzo being gifted a Sharingan, even if it was after the fact. Knowing he wasn't informed of this tells him that Danzo was not given the Sharingan willingly.

Which instantly pits Danzo vs Sakumo and every single Uchiha plus a good chunk of the village. Even if Danzo was to win against Sakumo, there is no way he'd survive the entire village squaring off against him.

Danzo knows this is a lost cause, and makes's a run for it. Leaving every single Root operative under his command out to dry.

He does try to go for Tenzo, since that's an important power to have by his side, but he's blocked by Kakashi. Someone who would be easy to take on at this point, except for the fact that Tenzo sees this kid desperate to protect him and clearly starts to question his loyalty to Danzo then and there.

So Danzo leaves Konoha, intent on sorting out a plan and coming back to take down Sakumo. This is far from the last the village see's of Danzo, but for now they know they're better off. And Sakumo realizes he has a bit of cleaning up to do in the hierarchy of Konoha.

@loadbearinonion

#Long Post #Hokage Sakumo #Hatake Sakumo #Sakumo Lives

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jacarandabanyan · 3 years

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📚for the fanfic plot ask thing!📚

Okay so- plot of one (of many) fanfic I haven't written (because to be honest, I don't have the skill to pull this off yet) but often daydream about:

I would love to write a This-Is-How-You-Loose-The-Time-War-inspired spy-vs-spy KisaIta fic. It would feature baby ANBU Itachi trying desperately to find a solution to the tensions brewing between his family and the village (massacre was still a few years off when he first joined ANBU, I believe). This eventually leads to him hunting down all reports/intelligence related to the night of the Kyuubi Attack and finding a few small scraps of information that hint at the existence of the Masked Man.

(He is a pre-teen, so he doesn't really *get* that finding a different scapegoat/"revealing the truth of what happened that night" probably isn't going to fix issues that are rooted in three generations of Village Policy and History, because he may be a genius at killing people but his education has not emphasized critical thinking)

He eventually tracks what little (extremely scant) evidence he has to Kiri, where he comes to believe the Masked Man is operating.

He gets himself sent on endless missions to the Land of Water in pursuit of his pet project, gaining himself a reputation in the process. There are no shortage of missions- the Land of Water is rapidly devolving into three different simultaneous civil wars, and resentment over the last Great Shinobi War lingers enough that Kiri and Konoha will likely never be friends in Itachi's lifetime.

(This is gonna get really long, so here's a read more)

At the same time, recently-made-ANBU Kisame has been mostly assigned to intelligence-related missions, as in canon. However, over the course of his first few months worth of missions, he comes to suspect that there's a leak in ANBU, and he sets about trying to find it and silence it. He slowly develops a reputation for ruthlessness even among ANBU, a cut above the normal Kiri ruthlessness, as he secretly works to get his fingers into every hidden nook, cranny, and conspiracy until he finds the disloyal one.

(And maybe he's projecting his issues/self-hatred related to killing other Kiri ninha just. a little bit. on this mysterious leaker. How dare this person sell out the Village? How dare they give out the information that gets other Kiri shinobi killed? It's easier to hate the faceless traitor than it is to hate himself. And at least he still *has* values. He killed the Few to protect the Whole.)

Over time, as the two develop their reputations, their respective villages start pitting them against each other in the field. Konoha has an unofficial policy of trying to off Seven Swordsmen hopefuls before they can get powerful enough to actually get a blade, and Kirigakure knows that the unstoppable Konoha operative is a Sharingan-user, and Obito-controlling-the-Mizukage is always down to take down his estranged family members.

Danzo is less eager to have Itachi take care of the Uchiha for good, not out of any particular maneuvering on Itachi's part, but because he also remembers the last Great Shinobi War, and how brutal Kirigakure was during it. He sees their ongoing civil strife and fears that one faction will eventually WIN and turn their attention on their neighbors. Itachi has made himself the best operative at getting into and out of Kirigakure- if he wants to interfere from the shadows and keep the civil strife going, he needs to keep Itachi in the field. (Don't worry, he finds other ways to be awful/keep the pressure on).

Itachi and Kisame are a good match-up. Itachi might be a natural genius with a fancy kekkei-genkai, but Kisame has way more experience than him. Also, unlike laser-focused Itachi, Kisame is actually keyed into the intelligence world, so he always has more information than Itachi.

They clash over and over again over several years, and slowly learn more and more about each other. They mature into seasoned ANBU operatives, have epiphanies about themselves and their villages. And slowly come to like each other.

Itachi has his sexual awakening when he sees Kisame rise up out of an ocean of blood, shirtless, effortlessly hoisting a struggling Jonin one-handed over his shoulder, big tooth-filled grin on his face.

They infiltrate each others' villages and insert themselves into each others' missions in disguise. Itachi genjutsus a Kiri team to think he's one of their teammates, whom Kisame secretly has orders to eliminate. He feels a surge of relief when the teammate he'd known since his Academy days dissolves into a murder of crows moments before his sword pierces their chest- his teammate is still dead, but at least this time they were killed by an enemy, not Kisame himself.

Kisame knows his mysterious counterpart is a Sharingan-user, so he infiltrates the Uchiha compound to tease out what the situation is with the clan in Konoha right now (and maybe see if he can figure out who his counterpart is).

While he's in the village, tracking kekkei-genkai users, he discovers Root and exposes it. This is both a huge win for Kiri Intelligence and put Danzo in a tricky situation, since he supposedly disbanded it.

Eventually Kisame figures out that some of the leaked information is making its way to Danzo, so he goes to kill Danzo and try and figure out who he's getting his information from. This is right around when Danzo's started making threatening noises towards the Uchiha again, since Root was just rediscovered (by foreign intelligence, no less!) and he needs to redirect attention off himself and onto the Uchiha. He's even considering the total elimination plan again- Itachi's work in the Land of Water is valuable, but not more valuable than consolidating control over the Village.

(Or perhaps he doesn't need Itachi for this- Shisui is also a talented ANBU operative, after all. Sasuke was originally supposed to be the spare Uchiha left alive in the village, so they wouldn't loose the precious Sharingan, but it's becoming increasingly clear that while he's good, he's not as good as Itachi. Why keep the subpar tool and throw away the masterwork?)

Itachi develops a humorous problem where he's leading three different fake lives, and is covering up with by genjutsu-wammying anyone who might notice anything suspicious in the timing of his long absences. He's infiltrated Mei's rebellion as a spy who needs to disappear a lot to go do spy stuff, while at the same time pretending to be an official in the Water Daimyo's court, while also posing as a regular Kiri Jounin.

His Regular Kiri Jounin act is so solid, they give him a genin team. One of the genin is related to the civilian official he's impersonating in the Daimyo's court, and she constantly comes to see him and tell him all about her sensei. On of the other genin on the team is related to a the Mizukage, and Mei orders him to kidnap that genin away from their sensei, which is also him, so that he can be used as leverage. The third genin turns out to be a secret kekkei-genkai user, and actually wants to be kidnapped away to the rebellion so that they won't have to live in fear of being discovered, and also because they hate the current government. This genin who wants to be kidnapped is constantly fighting with the genin he's actually supposed to kidnap, and whines that "Sensei, you're not supposed to play favorites! Why do they get to get kidnapped but I don't? They don't even want to get kidnapped!"

(Itachi the Regular Kiri Jounin, who is Unquestionably Loyal and Totally Not a Radical Who Would Join the Rebellion, ends up dating Kisame, whose identity as an ANBU is technically a secret. This relationship runs on willful ignorance.)

Kisame and Itachi would end up taking each others' places at some point to take down each others' mentors- Kisame walks right into Danzo's office looking like Itachi, and no one blinks when they sense the genjutsu because Itachi is always casting genjutsus. No one even realizes anything's wrong until Danzo's dead and "Itachi" is making his getaway.

Itachi would be approached by Fuguki at some point with an offer to sell information, and immediately realizes that this is Kisame's leak. He argues to Danzo's replacement that the value of Kiri's ANBU turning on each other is greater than the value of having someone willing to sell the occasional nugget of info. He has to work not to laugh behind his ANBU mask, because Konoha nin just don't get how down Kiri nin are to turn on each other at the drop of a hat. "Turning Kiri ANBU against each other" please, as if the Seven Swordsmen don't regularly train their own murderers. As if one of the fastest ways to gain cache isn't by offing your superiors. It's like Konoha Intelligence knows nothing.

He wins his case, and reveals what he knows to Kisame, who goes and kills Fuguki like he did in canon. Obito reveals himself, same as in canon, and Kisame immediately knows how he's going to pay Itachi back. He's still disillusioned with the Shinobi world like in canon, but he had his initial Pit of Despair moment years ago, when he figured out there was a leak in ANBU and that truly there were lies everywhere. He's learned how to compartmentalize since then.

He pretends to join Obito so that he can feed Itachi information. Together they take down Obito, revealing his crimes to both Kiri and Konoha.

It should be over then- Kisame found the leak, Itachi cleared his family's name- but it's been around a decade at this point. Both of them have played so many roles as spies that they don't know how to go back to who they were before.

Itachi's almost spent more of his life in the Land of Water than in the Land of Fire at this point, and he certainly knows more people there than in the Land of Fire. He's passed his twentieth birthday by now, and he's no longer a pre-teen with no concept of the world and his place in it outside of Konoha Propaganda/Brainwashing. He doesn't know how to relate to Sasuke's fierce, uncomplicated desire to grow up to be the best Shinobi, because how can he think that's a good thing at this point?

Meanwhile, Kisame still kind of hoped that killing the liars/traitors who had sent so many Kiri-nin to their deaths would make him feel better about all the comrade-killing, but it doesn't. He can't seem to reconcile his absolute loyalty to the Village and its ideals with his disgust at everything they do.

For a brief while, he and Itachi join Mei's rebellion for realsies (Itachi still as one of his undercover roles) and help her topple the Bloody Mist government and install a new one, but it's not enough. What she's proposing is still a Ninja Village. It's better than what there was before, but that's not really a ringing endorsement.

Itachi's the first one to decide to walk away. He lets Kisame "kill" him on a random mission in a way that doesn't lend itself to a body being returned or retrieved, then settles down and builds himself a life as a secret kekkei-genkai child who grew up hidden like Mei, but never learned to be a proper shinobi. He spends his days at a quiet house outside Kiri proper gardening and making jam by the side of a lake Kisame made during one of his fights with Itachi. There's a ghost town near the lake, emptied during the Civil War years. He develops a reputation as a ghost.

Kisame walks away not long after. He can't really leave, of course- unlike Itachi, he has no desire to settle down in a foreign country, and too many people know him here- but he does step away from active duty. He "kills" Itachi The Regular Kiri Jounin-Sensei and takes his genin team for himself. The kids know something's up because their Sensei still visits them sometimes, though he half-heartedly tries to convince them he's a ghost. They help spread the story about the ghost living by the lake anyway, just in case anyone starts investigating.

Kisame quietly moves out of his shitty Kiri apartment to join Itachi by the lake. Some of the seven swordsmen do come investigating then, but when they discover that Kisame's just moving in with his squeeze who he really sexily fake-murdered, they decide not to do anything about it. Besides, they like Itachi and don't want to have to write up a report about how dangerous it is to Kiri security that he lounges around a lake all day, drawing birds and cooking elaborate meals in an attempt to blend the comfort food of his youth with the produce and spices native to Kiri that are honestly more familiar to him at this point than the ones that grow in the Land of Fire.

Itachi sometimes goes and visits Sasuke and Shisui back in Konoha, but mostly he hangs out in his new home and lives out his soft, domestic, non-violent dreams with Kisame and his cute little genin. It's a sappy ending.

#naruto #fanfiction #kisaita #kisame #itachi #This is totally different from my other Kisaita Spy AU because in that one only Itachi is the spy

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avversiera-writes · 3 years

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Some pennies for a few thoughts that may cancel me lmao but Idc .

Ok, so. I've been seeing a lot of blaming Tobirama for the errors of the nart verse and lemme just. I'm not like going to say he is a perfect man, he has a lot of flaws.

However, blaming this bastard for Madara leaving. And blaming him for the downfall of the Uchiha clan.

Ok. First.

An argument: He isolated the Uchiha.

My take: He did not. Danzo and the 3rd Hokage were the ones who decided to put them outside of the village because of the Nine Tails attack.

What Tobirama did, was he gave them important jobs to protect the village, put them in a stress free environment so that they do not have to seek out revenge or get triggered by strong emotions. The Uchiha lived in peace, and they did not have to see bloodshed.

This man is known for his logic. He is willing to work with the Uchiha, he did not oppress them. He kept watch on everyone who seemed suspicious. He was surprised during the war arc when he found out what happened to the Uchiha. If he hated them, I'd think he'd be a little like, idk more chill and smug about it. But no, he took his time to explain his thoughts.

Another one: He made Madara leave.

Uhm

No. Madara left on his own accord bc he had different opinions on how to keep peace. Tobirama did not want him to be Hokage because this man is still looking for a fight. He would have ran the village to the ground if Hashirama let Madara be the Hokage.

However, Madara had no one. He lost his brothers. His own clan didn't even agree with him. Madara was traumatized, he had no one there to help him out and adapt to the changing world, unlike Hashirama and Tobirama who still had each other. So when you have nothing what would you do? You either build something for yourself or you leave to follow your own ideals.

The point is: Tobirama was long dead when the Uchiha started careening towards their fate. It was further exacerbated by Danzo and the 3rd Hokage (who just let it happen, and even sanctioned for it to happen).

Wars are happening again, and the Uchihas have more to lose now. Some, not all, are getting their egos go over their head (like the scene were Itachi was cornered by some Uchihas about Shisui's death, you can tell they were being prideful af). The Uchihas' power turned against them as well.

I am not saying the village was perfect but it was being rotten from the inside bc of Danzo and the elders. They were the ones who adopted these ideals that the Uchihas must be oppressed.

Tobirama lost his younger brothers to the Uchiha, but he knows they were at war. That is the harsh reality to accept, but by accepting it, he and Hashirama were able to move on and work towards peace. Not more war and revenge. They wanted lives to prosper, not get controlled.

Well. Anyways. I'll stop here.

I don't always defend Tobirama bc I ain't no fucking simp that I'm blinded by him but some ppl are taking it too far lmao

Like did we even read and watched the same anime.

Again, the village was all kinds of corrupt but one person is not single-handedly responsible for the Uchiha clan's fate. There are many factors to consider.

Edit: I do not hate Madara. In fact, I understand where he's coming from. (But some of his fans are taking it too far LMFAOOOO)

I feel sorry for him and if he just didn't lose so much or if he just knew how to cope with the changing world and his loss, maybe he'd be in a different path.

#angelica's am thoughts #senju tobirama #naruto shippuden #naruto #uchiha clan #uchiha madara #senju hashirama

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mononoavvare · 4 years

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“why not? what’s in those woods?”

After Sparrow-became-Sai but before he’d been completely cut from Danzo’s influence he’d been temporarily pulled from the Team Seven assignment and sent here-- some backwater little town just southwest of the border of Frost country. He remembers very little of the assignment itself: a courier mission, he believes, delivering some secret report with information that may or may not be helping to fuck them during the war. He hadn’t been bold enough to check back then, even with his heart growing like a living thing.

The mission doesn’t matter. What he’d found in these massive, ancient trees on that mission does. Sai tips his head and considers the path through the forest, the fading afternoon light fading through the tall jack-pine branches far overhead. It’s beautiful. Peaceful. As beautiful and peaceful as it was in the beginning, he imagines, as beautiful and peaceful as it will be in the end. He can’t quite believe he’s back here.

Sai had taken the path through this forest, see. It hadn’t been on the map, this path, but it had pointed south and he’d thought maybe he could cut a few hours from his trip and make it back to the village and his friends just a little bit sooner. The path did not make sense once he was on it, left and right turns through a forest of trees not made for running the way the redwoods were and underbrush that made it just a little bit treacherous to wander. He stuck to it, not turning around. He thinks perhaps it was the first time he’d felt honest curiosity.

The daylight had turned to late afternoon almost without him noticing, the sun hanging low in the western sky and peeking down at him from those dense branches. Pine needles had muffled his footsteps to almost nothing and the ground had felt spongy, dense, rich. He’d noticed immediately with the birds stopped singing, but pausing and feeling for life around him had revealed nothing-- not even deer, not even foxes, not even rabbits. Sai had continued on the winding, nonsensical path.

He’d smelled death first: that particular mixture of fear-blood and torn stomach, and keeping his course had led him right to the source. A pool of blood soaked into the hungry dirt between two massive trees, staining the rust-colored pine needles red and black and when he’d lifted his head he finally saw her. Her, long dark hair spilling over her shoulders and falling into her face. Her, with dull and sightless eyes staring right at him, head tipped down until her chin rested against what remained of her sternum. Her, impaled on the branches several meters above him, her ribcage split open and her entrails hanging out of her, still slowly dripping blood onto the forest floor. Her Kumo headband remained snug around her forehead.

Strange, he’d thought to himself. There were no signs of a struggle-- no broken branches, no tang in the air that spoke to any jutsu being used. And other than the obvious she hadn’t been injured as far as he could tell. Just caked with loamy dirt on her hands and the tattered remains of her uniform, like she’d been rolling around in the dirt before someone had placed her up here and then ripped her open.

He’d peered up at her for a few minutes, probably, except he thinks maybe it had been longer than that because when he heard the twig snap behind him the sun was far closer to the horizon than it should have been. Part of him had wanted to cut her down, though he’d not been sure why at the time. The muffled four-beat footsteps behind him were animal, probably a deer or one of those massive elk or moose that hang around these woods he’d thought, though it was strange that a prey animal would stray so close to another dead thing.

Sai turned around.

The thing’s lack of fear made sense, then, because it was clearly no prey animal. Four massive cloven hooves connected to brown-black furry legs that were too-long and too-lean and too-strong. It was almost twice his height at the shoulder, big-bodied on those spindly legs, its rear hunched but its front straight and proud. He had to tilt his head back to look it in the face, looming over him as it was, even though its head was leaned down on its massive neck as far as it could go.

Its head didn’t make sense either. There was a sense of a massive rack of antlers, of a cervid jaw and a nose of exposed bone. Human arms sprouted where there should have been ears, and from underneath the jaw where it met neck, long and pale things blackened with soot like the antlers and tipped with long and broken nails. Upon its forehead sat a blank mask of a human face with too many glowing golden eyes, and the hands reached down for him with the fingers outstretched.

“Oh,” Sai said, and the thing had stilled. “Hello.”

Its fingers curled into fists but it stayed frozen for a moment, peering down at him with too-many-golden-eyes, and then slowly the head had cocked to the side curiously. Sai mimicked the gesture, and finally the thing had rumbled a curt “hello” in return.

He blinked at it, and then a polite smile fixed itself firmly on his face. His heart beat evenly and his voice was as smooth as glass when he tucked his still hands behind his back and he observed, “it’s quite rude to go around grabbing people without permission, you know.”

The thing gave a massive incredulous snort and crossed the one pair of arms under its chin and the other up near its horns like a fleshy crown, and its voice rumbled like thunder when it replied, “by your standards or mine?”

Sai had tilted his head and conceded the point silently-- after all, he was trespassing on another predator’s territory. That was certainly rude of him, too. The thing watched him for another moment before stepping forward and uncrossing its arms, reaching down to settle two hands on his jaw and one on his forehead, tilting his head this way and that. Its skin felt restless, like if Sai cut it only maggots or poorly packed dirt or a great wall of static might fall instead of blood. He stood still.

“You will do,” the thing had murmured then, absent and nearly fond as it stroked a five-jointed-thumb over his cheek. Its breath was musty and damp against his skin.

“No,” Sai had said, sounding almost apologetic for some reason as he reached up to settle his own hand on its wrist. “I will not.”

The thing had squeezed his head then until he thought his skull might crack, snarling something unintelligible at him that turned into a howl when he’d swiped his tanto across its wrists and lopped off one of the hands completely. When it landed in the dirt at his feet it had dissolved into a hundred moths that scattered frantically into the air between them. The thing had reeled back and he’d taken the opportunity to dart away, far enough to shape three ink clones and drop below the surface of the earth.

It had taken off after the clone heading north with a bellow that shook every branch, and Sai had waited a long while before he’d finally crawled back out of the ground with a sigh. It had caught one of his clones moments after the sun had finally set below the horizon but the other two were still running around out there. He glanced at the woman hanging from the branches, sighed, and started walking south once more, careful to keep his footsteps quiet and light and his senses alert. The forest around him was completely empty of life.

By the time he made it to the edge, the sun had been coming back up. The thing had caught both of his remaining clones in the night, and the less said about the things it did to them in the brief moments before they dissolved the better. He’d been exhausted, and a dozen or so meters from the treeline he’d turned around just to see and there it had been, lingering just in the shade of the trees and watching him. One hand was clasped around the still-bleeding stump he’d made of one of the arms, and the blood was black, and when it dripped to the ground little raspberry vines sprouted from the ground.

Sai had raised his hand in farewell, and the thing had turned its back to him and wandered back into the trees silently, either unwilling or unable to leave its trees behind. He’d gone home, and Naruto had laughed about the perfect hand-shaped bruises on his face and asked what he’d said to piss someone off bad enough to slap him on the forehead, and Sakura had just sighed and settled a glowing green hand to his cheek and he hadn’t flinched because not for one moment was he afraid.

He just didn’t think he had any business killing something he hadn’t set out to kill in the first place.

It’s the same deal now, he thinks. The thing will not be happy to see him again. But the story is long and he doesn’t feel like telling it, even if he knows Hayate has to be curious-- he’d just spent the last few minutes standing perfectly still and staring blankly into the space between the tall-straight tree trunks.

“The path is not actually a shortcut,” he finally says, gesturing to the worn and inviting dirt track that leads weary travelers to their doom. “It is still faster to go around the forest.”

And as for what’s in there? Sai just pats Hayate on the shoulder and starts walking again, tucking his hands into his pockets and keeping an eye out for flashes of movement in the trees. One of the other jounin with them scoffs, but no argument comes. “We should keep moving. There is a lot of ground to cover by dawn.”

@moonsdying /// the flames rose hundreds of feet into the air we stood on the shore watching them burn we stood

#happy halloween folks!#// drabbles #gore /#horror /#the demon in my brain wouldn't let me sleep until i posted it #yes i woke up at 2:30 and couldn't go back to sleep what about it bitch #moonsdying

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