tesk

Case in point: Uchiha Sasuke


I have to warn some of you. This piece is meant to voice my personal POV regarding the anti-hero of Naruto. I approach him differently and this is why the interpretation of some issues will seem too simplistic and the rest, on the contrary, too complex.

I shall, however, start with the most general things.
What is young Uchiha like?
Is he the brooding, inconsiderate, pseudo-confident and ill-bred young man we have seen since the very beginning of the series?
Sadly enough, I can not tell. I know that very many people have problems with what he is.
Then again, I have rather problems with what he seeks. Or to be precise, what he thinks he is seeking. But this is going to be explored later.
So, he may seem to be everything I mentioned above. Still, it is not in his nature and everyone knows what has made him the way he is. Which leads us to the next question: what was he like?
Well, everyone knows that too. He was a cute kid, now was he not?
Of course he was, as well as a very trusting, too naive for his own good, jealous (now this trait will probably never disappear) workaholic. It is probably just me being foolish but I do not (and will not) get how anyone could claim he is a genius who has never worked to be what he is. First, he is not a genius. He is merely slightly above the average, but that, in everything. Which was the reason for his good grades when he was studying at the academy. He has no extraordinary talent in any particular area and neither(which is even more important) does he have any major weakness. We are talking about ninja skills, of course, not the personality. In this he is different from many other characters we have seen so far.
Second, we are talking about a person, who snapped at a fellow teammate just because the latter had wasted a couple of minutes to have a meal and to exchange a few words with him.
Young Uchiha told the fellow teammate that she should be training instead. Excuse me?
I agree that when a stupid girl is talking rubbish about how great it is to be an orphan (puh-leese!) she should be bitchslapped. To be honest, in my opinion Sasuke was incredibly patient and delicate when he told Sakura off.
But what was that training-thing for?
Who is he to tell his teammate (not a subordinate) what to do during their leisure?
Correct me if I am wrong, but last time I checked their teacher was Hatake Kakashi.

And still I would not claim that Uchiha Sasuke is arrogant. He IS ill-bred, but he really does not think that much of himself (later about this).

So, he has never been a slacker. When he was a kid he went out of his way to be recognized (no one gave a shit, though). So what did he do to get the recognition and attention? What do kids normally do? Well, you do not want to know (or if you already do you do not want to be reminded). Sasuke, surprisingly, just worked really hard. He was a little kid and yet he trained incessantly. But then again, it is the shinobi-world we are talking about.

Now, the naivetè and blind trust. As a kid he was very fragile. Now he is just weak. In fact, I can not recall any other character who was so weak (mentally and especially emotionally). And this is not meant to be a negative comment. The trust was abused, nothing less and nothing more than that.

And I still have not explained what he is like. I am not able to. There is that supposed goal of his life that leaves any other side of his personality in shadow. Apart from jealousy and a huge inferiority complex, that is. A poster from livejournal named cephiedvariable noted with, in my opinion, pure brilliance that „Sasuke,---, has an inferiority complex about as wide as Russia”.
Excluding these not very flattering traits Sasuke does not seem to have any personality, because his obsession(with everything related to his brother) and shallow goal overshadow everything and just do not allow him to be what he really is. I cannot tell what he is, but I can tell what he is not. He is not an avenger. And I know that I will get shot for this statement, most likely. I shall explain why I am making it anyway, but I would like to finish with the complex-issue first.

He feels like crap, all the time. Partly because almost every time Team 7 has a fight Sasuke is the first one to damage the opponent and then he is defeated and remains knocked out for some time. Naruto is probably the one ending a confrontation and he does it usually successfully. Of course, he can do it due to the fact that Sasuke has already done a great part of what needs to be done. What is regrettable, now, is that Sasuke does not know this. Because no one bothers to tell him. And this is a mistake. Here is the point at which Sakura and Naruto’s brains fail them miserably(to be truthful, Kakashi is not a shining example of emotional intelligence, either).

He feels like crap partly because he cannot feel his progression in the ninja field. It is because, as I already mentioned, he needs to train very much to improve. Yes, co-students were impressed when his taijutsu improved greatly during only two weeks after he had seen (with his Sharingan) Rock Lee fighting. And compared to the other teams of Rookie 9 it is certainly an achievement.
Too bad he is in a team with Uzumaki Naruto. Two weeks is not an achievement anymore. Naruto can learn Rasengan in a very short amount of time. Sakura’s chakra-control is amazing but luckily enough she is so spoony on him that she is not capable of “shining” in his presence.

However, this is enough to destroy any self-esteem that Uchiha Sasuke had.

Now let me present:

Sasuke’s goal or how much of an avenger he actually is.

What does young Uchiha wish to achieve?
Seems like an obvious question, does it not? Well, I never said it was a million dollar one.
So I shall gladly answer it.
First, he wants to understand what the hell is wrong with his brother.
Itachi acted like an idiot and excused himself with saying he wanted to test himself, or, to test whom, really? There is that stupid confusion with the first and the second person anyway in his statement, not to mention that “utsuwa”(the word he used) can mean about four different things.
And everyone should just believe him? Oh really? You know, even Sasuke, who regards every piece of bullshit that happens (not so rarely) to come out of Itachi’s mouth as the holiest truth ever uttered, said it was total crap. He only later reconsidered it (and thought up some really stupid things) because it was too difficult to cope with the ignorance. With suffering from not knowing and not understanding.

Second, he wants to “cure” his dear brother, whom he, yes, still loves. Nothing strange there. A bit twisted in a sense, but hey, Itachi was a really lovable person in the past.

Third, he wants to have the warm tenderness he (and only he!) once was treated with by Itachi and which he cherished the most(even more so than his father's attention). He wants his brother to smile at him, he wants to feel loved again (Itachi really did love him, I believe he still does. He has no reason not to) and by this particular person.

He wants everything to be the way it once was. Because it was the only happiness he had in his childhood*.
He himself admitted as much. He said he lives in the past. Okay, I am fine with that, it is obvious. He said he now has only the bond of hatred with his brother. And then we saw, as a flashback of some sort, young Itachi smiling and piggybacking a really happy Sasuke (one of the sweetest moments in the whole series).
Now what are we supposed to think of it? That Sasuke shares only the bond of hatred with his brother? No, thank you very much. He may say whatever he wants, but he is clearly delusional. It is ironic that he does not understand it himself. Then again, not many people are able to understand what goes on in their sub-consciousness. And Sasuke is still emotionally stuck in his childhood so it is understandable why he has been so successful in convincing himself of the necessity of the revenge.

He decided that Itachi left him alive (which is also uncertain yet…) to get killed by him later. Logic fails me, I have to admit. If Itachi wanted to die he would have committed suicide long ago. I would say, Sasuke has a really weird way of thinking. Itachi mentioned Sasuke killing him, but he never, never-ever uttered a single word about dying. And he mentioned the revenge only in a statement with “if”. If Sasuke wants. Sasuke definitely had too much time to think stupid thoughts during his years alone.

What is strange about the whole thing is that in the end Sasuke has to get what he really wants.
Not that stupid revenge on Itachi which I even called shallow. It is shallow because it is not real.
He has to get the three wishes I listed and he is going to have them because otherwise he is just going to wither. His life is Itachi and his life is those three wishes. If he does not get them he will not survive. And if Sasuke dies, Naruto will cry his eyes out and jump off a cliff. And this is never going to happen.

What is strange, is that according to all appearances Itachi’s chances of surviving are not high.
Makes one wonder, what is going to happen.

*I, as a person with very happy childhood and fairly normal surroundings would say that Sasuke’s childhood was dark, lonely and not happy. Well,Itachi seemed to really try to improve things for him but he was not particularly successful.
Children like Sasuke always appreciate what they never had. Sasuke says he lost everything while I would say he never even had that much to begin with. By ninjaworld standards he had an exemplary family, but by our standards the household was seriously disfunctional.
*

Oh, and one more thing. The revenge is bound to fail for another reason as well. Not just because I say that brotherly love ftw and that Itachi and Sasuke(even more so) are nice lads who would never be able to hurt one another out of their inner goodness. Before I am going to deal with such a tricky business as morals of any kind I have to deal with the metaphysical issue.

The revenge is bound to fail because it is, in essence, an intended murder. Yes, it is, my dear friends. Which makes it morally wrong. It does not matter what the person (who is wished by some others to be executed) has done, Sasuke is a human being and human beings do not have any right to decide who of those that live deserve to die. Because no human being can bring back the dead. By committing a murder Sasuke would be earning no brownies, in fact, he would get some really bad karma. Orochimaru has already done it and it is rather sad. But then, Orochimaru is a villain so he can afford himself things like that.
Sasuke, however, is an anti-hero, a positive character and positive characters do hold the morals that the creator is intending to rub our noses into.

Just a while ago I was afraid that Kishimoto does not give a damn about this issue. That perhaps he, like so many people in the real world, thinks that Vigilante Justice(what revenge essentially is) is right and Sasuke would be doing world a favor when he committed a murder. And that it is right to do so according to the laws of the ninjaworld. And that it is not a bit disturbing that kids in this world who have not even reached their teens work as assassins and die randomly. And that killing is a great business and a way to make money.

But then (and I am positively rubbing my hands now) Akatsuki’s leader presented his goal. And the goal is to make sure that this exact structure of society will never perish. And no matter how sympathetic some of the Akatsuki members may be, the leader has been presented to us not like a White Hat. Of course, the leader may be lying (rather likely), but this is not the point. He has presented something he supposedly wants to achieve and he has done so in a way a villain would.
And after all this it suddenly makes sense. Namely, Naruto’s promise to Haku, that he, Naruto WILL change the shinobi society. He gave another hint of that when he told the Hyuuga that their disgraceful family traditions will be changed when he, Naruto, finally becomes Hokage.
True, he has forgotten about his promise, but I am quite convinced now that he will eventually remember it.
He will ensure that the system will be reformed. Which actually means that ninja as a status will also disappear. Because there will be no need for that kind of a status. Or at least, the protagonists of the Narutoverse should work to achieve it.

Some are saying now that Akatsuki’s leader wants to reform the shinobi society. He does not. He wants to eliminate all the changes for good that have happened and to create a military empire that the society was not so long ago.

Naruto is the reformer.


Next topic: Sasuke’s relationship with Sakura and Naruto.


The funny thing here is that I very often hear people saying that Sakura is just an appreciated teammate for Sasuke whom he treated like shit and whose girly behaviour he hated.

Reality check: Sakura put up a tantrum to sit next to Uchiha Sasuke in the class. He acted indifferent, even a bit annoyed.
What people fail to notice is that Sakura did get what she wanted and Sasuke voiced no objections at all. Mind you, he did not do anything to Naruto, who had just kissed him (in public), either.
But seems he rather liked Sakura from the beginning, for during their very first lesson together he confessed his darkest secrets to her, he admitted having cried, out of blue. He did not to Naruto. Just a bit, when he was "dying" later.
The scenario occured again in the forest of death (the name is embracing the cheese....Valley of the End? Give me a break) where Sasuke did not care about Sakura seeing him weak, defeated and miserable (the second case already. Seems like he trusts Sakura. Strange, that, when you keep in mind his past).
He forbade her from telling Naruto of the outcome of the incident with Orochimaru. While Naruto may understand Sasuke better, he does not accept what Sasuke is doing. So Sasuke would rather not entrust him with things like that. Besides the whole rivalry issue, of course.

While Sakura may not be able to grasp the degree of Sasuke's loneliness (because I think she does grasp the level of his suffering), she accepts him for who he is (currently a monstrous jerk) and supports him. While this is not perhaps the most right thing to do, it (to be accepted unconditionally) is most essential to any human being from their own personal perspective.
And Sasuke is thankful.

[He did not treat her badly, either. He is just ill-bred and inconsiderate, he treats everyone like that. What is notable, he treats Sakura much better than anyone else in general.]


The little blonde one can be considered even more important to Sasuke than the little pink one. Many fans do think so. However, while fighting with Gaara he demanded that Naruto save Sakura at ANY cost. But this issue of importance can be approached from different POVs. So I will not bother.
It is still rather ironic that both boys have naturally very high moral standards (except the one thing regarding Sasuke which I have already dealt with).

It was Sasuke who initiated teamwork. Usually Sakura is seen as the one smoothing conflicts between the other two.
But I would like to point out that Sakura and Naruto did not get along all that well in the beginning. Sasuke had to defend Naruto from Sakura's stupid accusations.

It just plain cannot be claimed that Sasuke is an arrogant prick and Naruto is a fluffy bunny.
I already explained why the former one is untrue.
And Naruto, well, is sometimes an ass (although I really like him personality-wise).
Did he really have to kiss Sasuke so disgracefully, now, did he? Jokes aside, he really should not have picked fights with Sasuke. And how about this: I shall beat you senseless, because you are mine, all mine!!!!!!!

One can argue, though, that later Naruto and Sakura's levels of acceptance and persistence have switched.

Now I have reached the final point.

Why I think that even if not effectual, Sakura's way of dealing with Sasuke leaving Konoha was appropriate and Naruto made a(nother) stupid mistake.

Because I believe Naruto could have managed to keep Sasuke from going. But again he picked up a fight (I am not saying that Sasuke acted reasonably, but Naruto should have been wiser than the most common sense-lacking boy in the whole Narutoverse) and threatened to beat Sasuke up. He of course failed. And not only because Sasuke was not in the mood of losing at that time. Because he, Naruto, chose the wrong way to approach Sasuke. He chose violence but he should have known by that time it was never going to work with Sasuke. And it is never going to work from the metaphysical POV either. Because it is morally wrong. We should try better. And Naruto has to understand this, if he does not, he will never justify his Hero-status in this story.

Imagine this. What if Naruto, at VotE, had just said a few supporting words to Sasuke and just hugged him gently. Like a friend. Do you think Sasuke would have left?
I am not sure, but I am inclined to think he would have not.