The quiet of the Uchiha compound when Sasuke returns after he awakes is what sticks out to me the most.

Sometimes I think about how noise deprived Sasuke was after the massacre. The abrupt silence that suddenly filled Sasuke's life. The absence felt by the noises that were suddenly just not there. Noises of human activity, and talk, and daily living that had been present Sasuke's whole life, gone. In their place now just the noise of silence. A constant oppressive reminder that he was alone. This unrelenting, inescapable silence.

I think about the heavy weight of that oppressive silence. The weight of ghosts. How that unrelenting silence must have pressed down on him. And sometimes when it became unbearable he'd have to leave and take walks around the village, looking for living people and listening to the sounds of human activity around village and, unbeknownst to anyone, feeling like a starving beggar as he took it in. Anything to escape from the quiet for a bit. To reassure him that he was actually still alive himself, and not a ghost. And when their class is given forms to fill out to which will be used to create their profiles asking them to list their hobbies, 'taking walks' is the only thing he puts down because he had to put something and it's the only 'hobby' he has.

I think about how for the first few years he would dream of noise and voices. Because why dream of nightmares if he couldn't imagine anything worse than his actual reality? No, often his dreams were happy and the massacre was just an illusion or trick, and he would hear the old sounds of the compound. Voices greeting him. And he'd be happy. Until he would wake, and the overwhelming silence would be the first thing he'd hear, reminding him of his reality. And those were some of his worst nightmares because they gave him hope and then took it away.

I think about how Sasuke lost his voice as he understood the inadequacy of language. How there were probably days when he didn't interact with or talk to anyone at all when he didn't have school and how the dust and cobwebs would invade and he couldn't actually find any reason to do anything. And how unless it was about fighting, he realized the amount of work of trying to speak was just not worth the effort most of the time. How he realized he could no longer relate to his peers outside of the language of combat. He only could watch them and see them being happy and carefree from within his silence. But could not talk to them because everything they said was now mostly meaninglessness to him. As anything he'd want to say would be meaningless to them. How he discovered he could not understand them anymore. Couldn't connect. And he knew they couldn't understand him. And even if he tried to speak, as he sometimes couldn't stop himself from doing, he found he didn't have words to express himself anyway. Because such words do not exist.

I think the reason why Naruto fans get so passionate and upset about the series is because of how real it can be. Naruto isn’t about paragon heroes outdoing dastardly villains. It’s about human beings fighting tooth and nail to survive in a world surrounded by death. It’s about broken systems made and perpetuated by broken people.

The Hyuga clan isn’t just antagonistic or pretentious, they practice slavery.

The Uchiha clan weren’t just killed by some raging psychopath, they were systematically massacred.

Itachi isn’t just cruel to Sasuke because he’s a bad brother, he’s cruel because he’d been told time and time again that you can only survive by being cruel and he wants nothing more than for Sasuke to survive.

Nagato isn’t trying to take over the world just for the sake of power, he’s trying to take over the world because it beat him down to the point of believing that the only chance at peace there is is the world being forced into compliance through fear.

Iruka isn’t hard on Naruto just because he’s a strict teacher, he’s hard on Naruto because he knows from experience how unforgiving the world is towards orphans.

Kakashi isn’t just some silly and slightly lazy teacher, he’s a contract killer still grieving his loved ones and struggling to do better without knowing how he’s supposed to.

Sakura isn’t just a fangirl, she’s a normal girl in a very dangerous and abnormal world constantly being made to choose between what she’s supposed to do and what she feels.

Sasuke isn’t just some edgelord, he’s a survivor who lost everything then gets repeatedly told that he has to choose between keeping what he’s gained and doing better than his brother.

Naruto isn’t just trying to be the best Hokage there ever was, he’s trying to prove his worth to a society that abandoned him just for existing and, in a way, confirm his worth to himself.

The Naruto story is about humans trying to force themselves into the role of weapons because that’s what they were told they had to be. It’s a story where everyone is a perpetrator but no one is trying to do wrong. It’s a story where everyone is a victim but no one is a perfect victim.

The world and the characters aren’t simple and trying to simplify them only takes away from them. So of course we get passionate about showing off all the reasons why they shouldn’t be simplified and all of the ways they’re complicated. Of course we get upset when we see others simplifying them or selling certain aspects of their characters short. Of course we get upset when the series itself simplifies them. Of course we get upset when the series chooses to abandon them. Because it not only feels like the characters are giving up, it feels like the series is betraying anyone who chose to get invested in its complexities.

now would be the most hilarious time for some ao3 author to write their otp being stuck in the submarine

Naruto has a good heart

So many people misunderstand Naruto's character. Let's look at some of the absurd claims;

"Naruto only wanted his face on the mountain, he wants people to worship him, his goal is selfish"

When Naruto made this goal for himself, he was younger than 12. As an orphan child who is ostracized from society, this was his way of trying to become liked, so he could become part of the society. Aside from hermits, most humans desire connections with other humans. It's normal. And Naruto being a child sees that the Hokage is someone who people approve, and becoming Hokage would be a sure way to have such connections. It makes sense for a child to rationalize it this way. People completely forget the context, many other characters also desired connections such as Haku, Kimimaro, Gaara etc. It's a common theme in the manga. Kishimoto wrote neglected children very believably. So to write this off as "Naruto just wants people to worship him like he's God, what a narcissist" is dishonest and poor reading comprehension.

Not to mention, Naruto's mentality changed pretty fast, and he wanted to become someone who saves and protects people, someone people could rely on.

Already in the first arc he had that desire to help others. He's always been a good boy. Eventhough Naruto was pissed off at Inari's comments and wanted to tell him off, he realized there's a deeper reason for Inari's cynicism. So he decided to help him instead of starting a fight.

In Part 2, Naruto's responsibilities grow massively, especially after the Pain arc. In the end, everyone ends up putting all the burdens on Naruto's shoulders. Everyone expects Naruto to protect them and basically do all the impossible things.

His goal to become a Hokage started out as a need for acknowledgement, yes. But his transformed drive to become Hokage and bear all the responsibility in Part 2 came from his need to fulfill everyone's expectations for him and also him thinking he owes to the people who support him.

It's not that Naruto never had any resentment for how everyone treated him. He just repressed it.

And in the end, he put it all aside, in order to become the hero for everyone. No I don't think it's entirely healthy. But it's not selfish that's for sure.

"Naruto is shallow, selfish etc."

Naruto was always grateful for the connections he was able to make and treasured them heavily. His relationship with Gaara gives even more insight to that.

Naruto acknowledges Gaara was alone for longer than him. How can you call him a narcissist? Naruto is shown to be upset at the fact Gaara was viewed as an undesirable and a tool.

He always had genuine empathy and care for others. To claim otherwise is just bizarre. He blames himself too a lot of times. Then there's his relationship with Sasuke.

Unlike certain Naruto stans who hate Sasuke, Naruto himself has enough empathy and humility to consider he could have ended up the same as Sasuke, if some things would have been slightly different.

A lot of people also complain about the way Naruto behaved in Vote1, eventhough that was Kishimoto's plan, Naruto was supposed to not understand Sasuke fully at that point (and still his behavior was understandable, considering Orochimaru is a predator who wanted to wear Sasuke's skin). Naruto himself acknowledges he didn't. Naruto always tried to use his own experiences to understand the world and others better.

"Naruto just projects onto people because he wants to talk about himself"

Actually no. Pain and Obito both projected onto him first, and told him they were similar, which is also why Obito wanted to convince Naruto to join him. Naruto responding to them and trying to show he understands them to a degree is not a crime. It's basic empathy. I don't think I will even bother explaining it further than this.

My point is, Naruto is a good boy/man. There's no need to twist him into a narcissistic sociopath just because you don't personally like him.

i think naruto has genuinely, permanently ruined shipping for me because each time i see a pairing i’m like. ok you’re cute but would you shoulder the burden of his hatred and die with him? are you the sun to his moon? the yang to his yin? are you his one and only? are you his soulmate? are you willing to strip yourself of any pride and get on your knees to beg for his life to be spared? are you the one that completes him? are you the wind to his fire? did he feel warm and fuzzy while watching you as a child and considered it a weakness? were you each other’s first kiss? did you unravel his cold heart with said kiss? did he awaken his unhinged eye power to protect you? did he die and abandon the dream he was living for just so you could live on? does his body move on its own disregarding any logic when you’re in danger? is he willing to jump in knowing it was a trap to save you because you’re his precious person? are you each other’s most precious? did he unlock a new level of his crazy eye power when cutting his ties with you because he was writhing in pain over a lost love? did he try to kill you because you are his most important person? did parting from you feel like ripping off half of his own body to him? is he your driving force? were you chosen by fate? did he want to get rid of you because only then he could be truly alone? are you the only light in his darkness? are you the one that saved him from hatred? did he cry when you said you couldn’t explain your feelings for him and only said that when he hurt you hurt so much you couldn’t leave it alone? did he admit he also hurt when you hurt? did you keep an old token he had left next to your half alive body for years just to give it back to him as a token of your devotion and affection? did he say he’d hold onto it and give it back when things between you two were finally settled? did he compare what he feels for you to praying? did he say those feelings of his aren’t just about you two but there aren’t many people like you? does he look at you like you hung the stars? did you stay awake at night multiple times thinking about him and wondering if he was okay and thinking about you too? did you wish for him upon a shooting star? did he hug you and whisper in your ear during your reunion and purposefully make his attempt to kill you slow and drawn-out despite being perfectly able to do the job in seconds? did you curl up in a fetal position and cry your eyes out when he left again? did you have a panic attack that made you pass out when you found out your friends were out to kill him? does he know your heart well and you, his? can he read what is in your heart? how you truly feel? did you lose your arms to each other during your final battle of love and power? did he decide to stay alive for you and you only? did you say you’d rather remain a fool your entire life if being smart meant giving up on him? did you broadcast your feelings for him to the entire shinobi alliance? did a super smart villain who was targeting him say that they needed to keep you away from him because you were changing his heart, soul and goals? did you go insane when said villain called him his? did you openly reject two people because they said you needed to give up on him? does the author necessarily have to think of him when he thinks of you because you proceed as a pair and cannot be separated? did he disobey your teacher and try to feed you his lunch despite knowing that it would make them fail their exam and send them directly back to the academy which meant stalling and coming in the way of his revenge dream simply because you were hungry? does he go out of his way to make sure you don’t skip meals when you stay out training for too long? does he look at you so closely and attentively he could immediately tell somebody was an imposter because they didn’t have a scratch on their face and had a holster on the wrong leg? does he still remember what your lips tasted like after that one accidental kiss? can he get into your headspace and “begone, thot” your demons? if not we can’t do this

Some patooties

Started watching and I actually like it wtf... Idc I'm a Sakura lover. FIGHT ME.

i love how people say narusasu is onesided and sasuke reciprocating naruto at vote2 is retconned when like- in chapter 5 sasuke was risking his entire ninja career and life goal because naruto was hungry

God. The thing abt the uchiha is that. Yes. It was fucked up that no one trusted them and they got pushed further and further from the village center. However. They were also a clan of ninja cops with fucked up magical eyes that they supercharge by getting horrifically traumatized. So like. I also would not fucking trust them.

hmm. ya know. it physically hurts me that ppl vilify sasuke. but sadly I think it’s representative of the bleak aspects of reality we live in (there r good parts ofc). like. i think most ppl do want to conform and belong, it’s a natural human thing after all. but bc of this most are too afraid to have niche opinions now in fear of being canceled or outcasted. i think collectively we’ve slowly lost (or become reluctant to use) the ability to think critically about information and form our own opinions/challenge the obvious narratives/synthesize opposing themes. I’m not trying to be pretentious. but. things that aren’t framed as the obvious “good”, or diverge from the norm become villainized. and I think sasuke rly represents this oddball thing that ppl are too blinded by conformity to truly try to understand and empathize with. he won’t bend the knee. he rly just doesn’t give a shit abt what’s normal and he wants to change the system and literally everything and I think that rly bothers ppl. esp when the narrative of the series pushes the message of le love and friendship solves everything. so I think. it’s sad but this rly is a microcosm for how frustrated and pained I get about ideological and societal issues irl. and it’s hard to have an honest, respectful, and mutually curious conversation these days

The conversation around Sasuke leaving Konoha needs to change. It's true that the in-story narrative by those who don't know Sasuke is that he is a traitor that betrayed Konoha. Unfortunately, too many in the fandom take this narrative at face value. But neither Naruto or Sakura endorse this view. Although they are confused by Sasuke's choice they both know Sasuke too well.

People talk about Sasuke choosing to leave Konoha...

But no one talks about how Itachi told Sasuke he'd come back to kill him someday. And Sasuke had very good reason to think that Itachi would target anyone Sasuke got close to.

Or how about how the curse seal would have killed Sasuke if it wasn't fully activated?

Or how Orochimaru made it clear he wasn't going to stop pursuing Sasuke? How long do you think it would have been till his patience ran out and he got tired of asking nicely?

Or how about the fact that he was found and targeted while he was in the village. The village couldn't protect him. Kakashi couldn't protect him. It's even the whole reason Naruto left to train, because the village wasn't safe enough. Naruto had people looking out for him. But Sasuke didn't. He is targeted multiple times and the village didn't take any action to protect him.

Yeah, Sasuke did make a choice. The right choice. He made the best choice he could make under the circumstances and no one-- not konoha, not Naruto, not Sakura--no one was hurt more by Sasuke's choice than it hurt Sasuke to make the choice to leave and live with one of his abusers. Yet he was the only person who offered to do anything to help him deal with his other abuser. It was horrible that Sasuke had to put himself through this second trauma... And yet the fandom has the audacity to make Sasuke's trauma about Naruto?? Or about Sakura?? Sometimes it really seems like no one in this fandom gives a crap about Sasuke unless it's to prop up their stupid ships. The fandom literally treats Sasuke like crap. Sasuke didn't leave because he wanted to. He wasn't being selfish or greedy. He just took stock of his situation and made the most viable choice he had. He wasn't happy that it was. He was willing to die for Naruto and Sakura. He valued them more than than his own life. Of course he wanted to stay. But he couldn't.

Ironically the fandom has compassion for Itachi for doing what he felt like he had to do, even though he actually killed people, and when he torments Sasuke, of course even then people actually focus on Itachi. But Sasuke did something that incidentally hurt Naruto and Sakura, do he's a selfish traitor. Sasuke didn't owe Naruto or Sakura. Yes, we see Naruto cared about Sasuke, but to Sasuke's face Naruto had treated him like he was a rival he wanted to overcome more than as a friend. And Sakura? He never started a relationship with Sakura. He may have felt guilty because he was abandoning his duty to Konoha.... the irony.

Sasuke lost everything once, and then he lost everything again when he was forced to leave it all behind. And it killed him. That Sasuke, the part one Sasuke who sometimes acted his age, he died. Sasuke killed him, so he could survive. It was yet another traumatic experience in his life.

That's the conversation we should be having about Sasuke leaving.

Naruto is my absolute babyboy, but my fuck, do I hate who he's become in Boruto, and I gotta hold him accountable.

(Like, the naruto antis are ppl I usually scoff at, but damn do they have points about this)

The reason most of us can't stand this show has nothing to do with something as silly as ships (or at least I hope not)(listen, actually, I could talk about how nh's and ss's relationships negatively affect Naruto and Sasuke, but ultimately, it's really not about that)

It's because it messes with both Naruto and Sasuke, their characters and their convictions. How the fuck did 17 year old Sasuke go from hating the system and all it upholds, from understanding that this shit isn't okay, to someone who is essentially a lapdog?? Um, no

And Naruto? Sweetheart, what happened to the promises to both your friends and enemies? Where did your desire to end the cycle of hatred go? Why are you okay with changing fundamentally nothing after promising that you'll turn everything around? Where did your numerous realizations about the faults of Konoha and the Shinobi world and the cycle of hatred go?

Like, I feel as though through the entirety of Naruto, we were constantly beaten over the head with the fact that nothing is okay about the current way of the world, and in the end, the goal was 'become Hokage to turn these things around' ?

And then Boruto comes, and holy shit, nothing has changed and Naruto has entirely forgotten everything his 17 year old's self had seen, promised and decided.

I feel like Boruto just entirely diminishes everything that happened in Shippuden, and that annoys me.

(All this said, I should clarify I have not watched Boruto nor do I intend to. These are just all things I've inferred through seeing clips here and there, and other people's takes on Boruto, so if I'm not getting something right, then oops) (the vast majority of the clips I've seen are sns moments, because somehow we're still getting fed even though they're both married and got kids 💀)

(Antis DNI pretty please)

who do you ship itachi with?!

Forgive me for saying this, but no one.

I didn't know shipping was a mandatory part of the fandoms and writing fics until I joined Tumblr. I do love Itachi's interactions with characters — Kakashi, Shisui, and Kisame are my favorites. And Deidara with his unrequited crush (and obsession) on him is the most relatable thing in Naruto for me, but I don't quite ship them.

Itachi's bondings with these characters are some of the most precious things to me, especially with Shisui and Kisame. Itachi loved Shisui so much that his death awakened Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan. More about Itachi and Shisui here.

There was a veil of lies and distrust between Itachi and Kisame, but also mutual respect for each other. When they go to catch the Four Tails, Kisame offers to do the job alone. It was close to the time Itachi dies at Sasuke's hands. Something tells me Kisame knew Itachi was terminally ill, even if Itachi tried his level best to hide his illness from everyone. Kisame might not have known the full story, but he'd have been protective of Itachi in ways he could.

Itachi and Kakashi are quite similar in nature. It's too bad we didn't get more of them.

Yes, I'm very jealous of Kakashi here.

Obviously Itachi's bonding with Sasuke is my most favorite part and that defines him as a person in a way as well. I've written a lot on that already.

To conclude, I don't ship Itachi with anyone, but their interactions without any romantic undertones fascinate me better, because I don't like sexualizing and romanticizing relationships all that much. Could be more of a cultural thing for me, though.

But yes, I do ship Itachi with happiness. The only valid ship. He deserved better.

Random cute Naruto panels

Ones that make me want to squish him.

He's so cute.

Daww...

That face "....." and his little skip.

Funny but also sweet scene. "I'm not good with these things..."

With his ma. He needed to hear those words. :<

So many soft and happy expressions when talking about his feelings for Sasuke.

Sweet boy.

The Land of the Waves arc is a really interesting one, especially with Haku's character in particular. Haku's arc begins as a heavily parallel to Sasuke's; from the kekkei genkai and the hatred they've faced from it, the inherent loneliness and isolation throughout their entire lives, their loyalty, and regards for having someone special in their life. For Haku it's Zabuza and for Sasuke it's Sakura and Naruto. Although it's more impartial to Naruto due to the whole best friend thing that Itachi told Sasuke with awakening the mangekyou sharingan.

Even during their fight Zabuza makes a comment to Kakashi that's akin to letting their students fight without interruption and their ways of fighting and approaching one are almost identical. Once Haku's died Sasuke is the first one to realise how Haku purposefully kept Sasuke alive and ensured not to hit is vital points; despite the amount of damage he inflicted and how he promised Zabuza ,the man he loves and trusts the most, that he would kill him.

Both parties' isolation is probably the most clear example of a parallel because of how similar, yet different, it is. Sasuke's experiences isolation post massacre mostly and is a family oriented character. His driving force in the series is to get revenge on the man who caused his parents' death and to ensure closure from it. He makes close relationships with those around him at first only to break them in favour of his journey to power so he's able to rival Itachi's. However, Haku's isolation began from birth. Because of the kekkai genkai discrimination faced in his home village he was separated from everyone else. Even his mother forbid him for showing any signs of it for his own saftey due to his father. Haku's lonliness comes to a halt when he meets Zabuza. Even if he knows he'll only be used as a tool ( as Zabuza himself says even if he's disgusing his protective feelings of Haku) he puts his loyalty into the man's hands. He loves him with everyone bone in his body just like Sasuke did with his own family. Their isolative lives happened in opposing ways.

All of this just for Naruto to be pushed as the one who understands Haku the most. Every person in the series who is relateable more to Sasuke ( gaara, neji, haku) becomes mote aligned with naruto..sasuke uchiha i'm so sorry you got framed as a villain despite your higher compatibility with every broken character that naruto ends up 'saving'

convinced that naruto slept in the morning that the rest of the students learned abt gay ppl

so shonen jump released this for sasuke’s birthday and it’s basically his moments with naruto and itachi… almost like you could erase sakura’s entire character and you wouldn’t affect sasuke’s at all