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phantomchick · 1 year ago

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Naruto and being the Underdog

Okay so recently I was discussing naruto's characterisation in the comments section of a fanfic and the author was explaining that they don't like/never vibed with Naruto's character (which is totally fair). But then they explained how they felt the supposed underdog setup was contrived and didn't really work because Naruto never actually starts at zero thanks to his jinchuriki powers and being the yondaime's son. (And so here I am, on my soapbox to discuss how Naruto and the concept of being an underdog relate.)

On a physical level perhaps this applies, but Naruto places an equal (if not larger) amount of focus on the emotional action as it does on its plot action.

On an emotional level he has to work for each and every one of his personal relationships.

He wants to be hokage a role he can only take if he is both respected by his village and powerful enough to protect it. It''s a twofold goal. And in terms of the social aspect this is clearly stacked against him due to the hatred and exploitation of jinchuriki as well as shinobi in general, achieving emotional connection and dialogue between people who are used to might makes right or who are pre-disposed to look down on him or want to kill him puts him firmly at a disadvantage narratively.

With the notable exception of Hinata whose love is unconditional, whether it's Tsunade, Neji, Sasuke or Gaara or even Kurama the respect and attention that naruto craves are things he actively pursues in both good and bad ways and he earns them through his own effort.

He does this both by striving to understand these very different people and where they're coming from as well as surviving all the shit the world throws at him. Emotional and physical tasks.

In terms of being a jinchuriki and getting the rasengan easily thanks to his shadow clone bullshit / birthright connections to the yondaime It must first be acknowledged that the jinchuriki power is more of a disadvantage than a boon to him at first. First, because of kurama actively going out of his way to mess with his chakra control as a kid while doing the leaf exercise he was unable to learn the regular clone jutsu; it also results in him experiencing the trauma of discrimination and isolation from a young age which could easily have led to festering self-hatred and alienation if not for Iruka's intervention, it results in multiple S ranks who are fully capable of killing even shippuden level Naruto targetting him, and while the trade-off of boundless energy and survive-ability is immense those same boundless resources have the potential to burn him alive if he loses emotional control/gives into his most negative emotions - that's basically making the subtext text at that point, the story is about his emotional development and growth, something his "OP buffs" don't earn for him. Let's talk about boundless chakra resources for a moment. At the end of the original series, he only knows the rasengan; the rasenshuriken, the shadow clone justu and sage mode/yinyang mode by the end of the series and that's like 5 justu tops if we're counting yin/yang/bijuu mode and sage mode as jutsu. The majority of what he learned from jiraiya for three years seemed to be taijutsu only with a side of failed bijuu control. Naruto has his jinchuriki chakra from the start but that doesn't translate to an ability to use it, he has to spend hours working out how to do the shadow clone, he did not figure out how to do the jutsu because of his chakra even if that was the reason he was able to use it at all, and when it comes to the rasengan I will cite [someone who deleted their reddit account] here:

Naruto completed the first stage in three days and one night. He figured out how his chakra needed to move to burst the water balloon (thanks to a cat) but because he didn't have the necessary chakra control, he improvised by using another hand. He completed the second stage in three weeks or so. The next day(?), Jiraiya gave him a hint to improve his focus which allowed him to finally complete it. And the third stage was completed seven days later to win his bet with Tsunade. Once again, Naruto didn't have the control to focus his chakra the correct way despite his continuous efforts. It wasn't until he came up with another improvised method by using a shadow clone to focus the chakra that he was able to complete the final stage.

Meaning he is the one who comes up with unorthodox methods, such as also using his other hand, or using a shadow clone to focus the chakra, to learn it in four and a half weeks but he still had to figure out how to do it all himself. The shadow clone would've been useless without his understanding of the jutsu or his ability to do the individual parts of the jutsu. He earns the jutsu and could conceivably have learned it the old fashioned way were he not under an artificial time limit as both Jiraiya and Kakashi, both without jinchuriki power, know it and can use it.

Now I'll talk about his supposed privilege as the yondaime's child: Sasuke gets chidori and later kirin thanks to HIS connections but that's never remarked on in the same way. And in fact most people in the naruto-verse learn a big jutsu from their clan or parent; see Might Gai, the genius of hard work, learning the eight gates thanks to his father. The rasenshuriken is something he's only capable of learning thanks to his chakra and shadow clones I hear you quote Kakashi, but it's again, something he couldn't do without actually putting the work in to learn the jutsu. Naruto is on a time crunch because of Akatsuki, the fact he is capable of learning the jutsu once he has advice on wind chakra from Asuma and has practiced forming the rasengan and doing windblades enough means he didn't need the extra chakra to do it, having the chakra didn't automatically make him capable of the rasenshuriken all it did was speed up his chakra control practice exponentially, it would have taken him more time practicing but he could have learned the jutsu eventually even if he wasn't a jinchuriki. Now summons. Being the Yondaime's child might get him an in with Jiraiya to let him have the toad contract, but Sakura and Sasuke also get summoning contracts thanks to personal connections with Tsunade and Orochimaru and Jiraiya only gets him the opportunity. It's Naruto who has to use his willpower to stay on Gamabunta's back and it's Naruto who has to form relationships with his summons like Gamakichi, (a bond that becomes instrumental toward the end of the 4th war). Additionally learning Sage mode wasn't just a result of Naruto getting the contract because neither Sasuke nor Sakura achieved it despite both having contracts (and despite Kabuto managing it where Sasuke didn't) Sasuke with the Hawks as well as the Snakes. And importantly Naruto was unable to use clones or his extra chakra to speed up his training in this. In fact the clones only come into it after he has successfully mastered sage mode and function as a limited extra resource that's can't go beyond three shadow clones meditating and this doesn't function as more sage powah but as a means of extending his sage modes duration, a workaround that's only needed because his being a jinchuriki gets in the way of him gathering sage mode in real-time with the toads on him. In conclusion while his chakra lets him practice jutsu to learn them faster, this is not the case in either his sage mode or the yin yang release and only applies to the shadow clone, rasengan and rasenshuriken - all of which he had to actually learn and understand the mechanics of otherwise the jutsu wouldn't have worked no matter how many shadow clones he had try it and that with the exception of shadow clone he demonstrably could've learned them without being a jinchuriki. And in the case of rasengan and rasenshuriken he is under artificial time-limits imposed by Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.

So that's shadow clone, rasengan, rasenshuriken and sage mode covered but what about bijuu mode. An overpowered special mode he only gets for being a jinchuriki, that B only bothers to teach him because he's a jinchuriki, surely that's LEGIT op bullshit. No? No. At least not in comparison to the Sakura's forehead seal from Tsunade, Sasuke's Mangekyou abilities like izanagi, giant purple warrior and amaterasu, Obito's mokuton, Madara's sage of six paths abilities or the rinnegan's everything, anyway. Not to mention what the edo tensei are capable of.

The only reason bijuu mode works is that he earns Kurama's regard on an emotional level, it's not something which being a kage's kid or having jinchuriki chakra levels actually does fuck all to contribute to. He was that all along but Kurama still hated him and tried to take over his body. It's Naruto himself who has to reach out and make that effort to understand this person who he's always seen as a burden or a curse or an annoying tenant who doesn't pay rent, a monster who tries to kill him and take his body. It's Naruto who has to put in the emotional labour and see Kurama as a person, no matter the harm he's done.

Naruto is the underdog in spite of being "the chosen one" and having the strongest bijuu and a kage father because emotional labour is never easy and in a world like his it seems insane to even try. It's why everyone except him was prepared to give up on Sasuke, Naruto recognises his anger at Itachi and desire to avenge his family as valid, Naruto when he finds out the truth about Itachi from Danzo tells Sasuke he gets it, why he wants to destroy the village, why he's so angry, when Sasuke changes his mind and decides to become hokage instead of destroying it so he can change it, Naruto understands WHY even if he still wants to be kage himself. The problem with Sasuke is that his anger is self-destructive and self-isolating, not that it exists, it's when Naruto fights him one last time and makes Sasuke realise that he's only hurting himself and his loved ones at this point, that "talk no jutsu" finally works and Sasuke is able to listen to Naruto and come home.

It's also why Naruto earns being hokage; in a world full of killers, someone who is capable of acknowledging the harm done and not ignoring or forgetting it (like how he tells pain he can't forgive him), but who is also capable of looking past that and understanding the motivations and feelings of the person he's dealing with and talking to them on that level as equals hits so hard. It just felt like a fantastic set up for a diplomatic hokage capable of dealing with other kages and achieving a peace in spite of the fact they're all to the last, untrustworthy ninja mercenaries who are generally very ends justify the means. In a world of kill or be killed Naruto is still willing to kill, but he's also willing to understand and to talk. And he wasn't born with that, he worked for it and failed often, especially with Sasuke, it was never easy, it often appeared hopeless but he kept trying.

And we rooted for him because of it.

#naruto #naruto meta #meta #naruto is the underdog stfu #read critically damn it #naruto shippuden #naruto analysis #uzumaki naruto #sasuke uchiha #kyubi #kyuubi #kurama #sage mode #yin/yang release #rasenshuriken #rasengan #overpowered naruto #underdog naruto #shadow clone jutsu

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cut-aare · 9 days ago

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Sketch I did the other day

#naruto #naruto uzumaki #sketch #sage mode #he’s so fine bro I’m trying to nail the look I want #naruto shippuden #my art #me things

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comikas-fandom-dump · 5 months ago

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What is the reason for Jiraiya have toad features while using Sage Mode?

Some people say that is because he was unable to perfectly balance his own chakra with natural energy but others say that is because his reserves of chakra were not big enough to prevent it.

So, what is the truth?

To prevent gaining toad features, the user must have huge reserves of chakra to counteract the effects of senjutsu (toad features)? Or just has to be able to perfectly balance his own chakra with natural energy?

Once again, I'm not the best with these types of questions, but my personal guess is that it's both.

Fukasaku explains that, in order to acquire sage mode, you need to balance your own chakra with nature energy. If you gather too much nature energy, you will turn into a frog. Even if the scales are just ever so slightly off, the user will gain toad-like features, such is the case with Jiraiya.

But then Fukasaku also explains that without enormous chakra reserves, there is no point in training for sage mode. The nature energy would just overwhelm the user in an instant.

So what is it? Did Jiraiya fail because of poor control or insufficient chakra reserves? I think we need to differentiate between training and mastery.

First of all, nature energy is literally everywhere except it doesn't enter a user's body unless they actively draw from it (compare chapter #409, page 13-15). Fukasaku goes even further and tells Naruto how, besides collecting too much, you can also collect too little nature energy. All of this strongly suggests that the user can limit and stop the influx of nature energy.

Secondly, when Fukasaku explains that large chakra reserves are a prerequisite, he does so not in reference to sage mode itself but in reference to the training that precedes the true acquisition. As we see in the case of Naruto, even individuals with massive chakra reserves will start out struggling to counter-balance the massive influx of nature energy, both with and without the use of toad oil. This means that the training itself is extremely risky to everyone who dares.

In conclusion, large chakra reserves are only the prerequisite for training in the use of sage mode. But when it's about mastery, it all comes down to balancing.

So does Jiraiya just have poor control over nature energy and/or his own chakra? Not quite.

When balancing your own chakra with nature energy, there are mostly three different outcomes:

Too little nature energy (no sage chakra acquired)

Perfect ratio (sage chakra acquired)

Too much nature energy (user turns into a frog)

For obvious reasons, sage mode users will try to hit that perfect ratio, as both the "too little" and the "too much" ends of the spectrum lead to unfavorable results. However, for users like Jiraiya, who struggle to maintain the perfect ratio, there is also an acceptable alternative by drawing in just a little too much nature energy, hitting a nearly perfect ratio. It does have reversible drawbacks (gaining toad features) but it gets the job done and expands the margin of error for the user by not confining them to a metaphorical tightrope.

Now, Naruto, of course, is not forced to make use of the imperfect ratio. This is where my personal theory comes into play: I believe that this difference between master and student is primarily caused by the size of each of their respective chakra pools. With a larger chakra pool, minor fluctuations of influx may not have as much of an effect as they do on smaller chakra pools, giving them greater error margins. If you need a mental image, imagine seasoning your food. The bigger a soup, the less of an effect a spoon of salt will have on the taste.

This would also explain why sage mode training is better suited for individuals with large chakra reserves. Since the early training stages are the most dangerous (as the user still has no control over nature energy), individuals with larger chakra reserves (and therefore bigger margins for error) are less likely to turn into frogs right at the start. Their large chakra reserves are like metaphorical support wheels for learning how to ride a bike.

So yeah, if Jiraiya had a larger chakra pool, he'd probably have an easier time maintaining the perfect ratio for sage mode. Alternatively, if Jiraiya were to train more/harder, he wouldn't need a larger chakra pool. It's not like he physically cannot achieve a perfect ratio, it's just that it'd be harder for him to maintain a perfect balance than it was for Naruto.

Anyway, please keep in mind that this is my theory rather than proven fact.

#more for me to talk about this one than with sakura since there are actually some solid statements on the matter haha #naruto #naruto ask #naruto discussion #anon #anon ask #ask #jiraiya #sage mode #naruto analysis #naruto theory #naruto headcanon #naruto lore #naruto worldbuilding

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no-nic · 8 months ago

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the people have spoken [original post]

but tiny sakuras are still objectively funnier ✌️😔 (around 100 of them to reach the size shown here harassing kakashi)

#nic art #naruto #naruto fanart #sakura haruno #katsuyu #sketch #sage mode #queen of compartmentalizing #take me to slurch (slug church)#slugs #assuming 161 cm tall sakura (shippuden) -> number of 35 cm short sakuras

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martialartslover7 · 8 months ago

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Anko awakens her Snake Sage Mode

Ever since Sasuke's departure from the village, one year had long since passed. And the former Anbu member, Anko Mitarashi, has ventured into the mountains to reach the feared and infamous Ryūchi Caves. Completely on her own, needing to complete her training, as she planned on unlocking the Snake Sage mode. On her own volition.

This decision came with many contributing factors.

For one, she blamed herself for Sasuke leaving in the first place, because she knew how her former teacher, Orochimaru, ticked. She knew him, almost TOO well. The warning signs were all over, especially after Itachi's return into his younger brother's life, and now, she bore the guilt of feeling as if she didn't do enough to help. Made even worse by how attached she has grown to the young Uchiha, especially during his rehab after the first rounds of the Chunin exams, while training with him, with Kakashi playing a big, supporting role, while she did her best to keep the Curse Mark in-check, even with the applied seal. Making her feel like she hadn't just lost another loved one, but a part of her soul with him, too. The irony of that last phrase still left her stunned, given how she and Sasuke had shared the exact same Curse Mark. It feels poetic, in a morbid way.

For another, she made a promise to Kakashi. A blood-driven vow, to be exact.

Having worked in the ranks of the Anbu for years, much like him, she is more than aware, of the pure, unfiltered misery of those, that had joined this organization, in hopes of embracing said misery to use it for the greater good... ...or at least, that's what they all told themselves.

In the end, she and the Hatake are one of the same breed: Tormented souls, haunted by the judgmental voices of those, who had wronged them, for things they had no control over.

Essentially, much like Kakashi, at one point, she had also taken a look, at least once, deep into the abyss, and worst of all, being more than aware, of him having not only lost his father to slander and public scrutiny, but also his best friend, the love of his life, and his sensei. And as such, Anko made him a promise, one that shall last for a lifetime:

...She will never leave his side. She will defeat Death himself.

And the only way to keep her end of the bargain, is to attain the Snake Sage mode. Which is exactly why she just arrived at the Ryūchi Caves, to prove herself worthy of such immense power.

Thick fog enveloped her, as she entered the tunnel, her eyes closed, feeling more than ready to outplay Death himself, by "following in her teacher's footsteps", except...

...she is not going to fail.

She thought to herself:

"This is it... If I succeed at the trials given to me, and survive the bite from the Snake Sage, then I should be golden... Heh, I can't fail now, can I? After all..."

She began caressing the Curse Mark on her neck, smirking to herself, by thinking:

"...just this once, my former teacher shall prove himself useful for SOMETHING. His DNA may give me the edge I need, to bust out of this joint with flying colors."

The first trial came up. And normally, Anko would be cracking jokes to ease the tension, but just this once, she couldn't afford to. This will become the ultimate test of all her abilities. And she knew these tasks will be relentless.

She could hear the White Snake Sage talking to her through the fog...

"Are you an intruder...? Or shall you prove yourself worthy of the trials, lying right ahead? One shall test your mind and body, one shall test your mental fortitude, and the last... shall be a test of faith... ...are you up for the challenge?"

This challenge caused the serpent lady to smirk, as she was more than ready. She knew this wasn't going to be a walk through the park, but, she came into this, knowing full well, she may never make it out alive. But the thought of mastering what his own teacher couldn't even accomplish, and returning home, being finally capable of maintaining that promise given to the one man she cherished so deeply...

...it gave her a level of courage she had deemed impossible. In fact, it would seem, Naruto's attitude was starting to rub off on her too, as she cracks her neck, and allows her trenchcoat to fly right behind her, telling the sage:

"...I have never felt readier. I know someone came before me, but unlike that waste of space, I shall ace these trials! Bring it on, ya old hag!"

"Very well. You have been warned..."

And though the fog made it difficult to make out, Anko could definitely sense the chakra signature of one giant serpent approaching. She knew of it, because this was the same snake that Orochimaru once summoned to fight the other Sannin...

...Manda.

The ill-tempered, purple-black serpent approached Anko, sensing his summoning master's chakra signature inside her body, through the Curse Mark.

Needless to say, this battle ended up demanding way more of Anko than she initially bargained for. Manda repeatedly managed to land destructive hits on her with his sturdy form, but thanks to a blood injection that she got provided with by Tsunade, she could heal up immediately, with enough time to spare and put this giant reptile in its place. But it took quite a while, and time and time again, she ended up struggling to gain the upper hand...

...until she grabbed Kakashi's katana, which she had borrowed for this mission, needing something to defend herself. And though he hasn't used this blade in forever, it still did its job quite reliably. It hasn't gotten dull yet. As they fought for what felt like days to her, in the end, by a hair, she managed to land fatal cuts on the snake, forcing it to retreat.

"I am impressed...! You shall have this victory, but rest assured... it won't become any easier from here on... until we meet again...!"

Said Manda, as he retreated back into the tunnels, leaving a badly injured Anko behind, who was covered in bruises all over, her shin protectors being badly damaged and scratched, and her having needed her trenchcoat to create a diversion, leaving her in only her fishnet shirt.

But she was alive. That was one trial down, and two more to go...

As she ventured deeper into the caves, a Genjutsu was being cast by the fog, as she heard all the voices of those she had failed in her lifetime, ranging from Hiruzen, Kakashi, Rin, Sasuke, Naruto, Kurenai and one voice came forth the loudest...

...Orochimaru. Who would taunt her by speaking to her through the fog, his silhouette following her with every step:

"Anko... My poor, dear Anko... You really shouldn't have betrayed me. You were meant for greatness... And now, look at you. You're a shinobi, without purpose. Without goals. Or ambitions. You are living an existence that is not even worth calling a "life". Drinking yourself to sleep, every night, just to silence mine, and the voices of all those kids you had witnessed becoming mutated weapons for my cause... What a shame. You could have become my best asset. I could have given you more power, and now, you are being outdone by an Uchiha... How does that feel to you? Having outlived your uses?"

But Anko's mind was still very much sound. She wasn't ready to give up just yet. In spite of her glaring injuries, and her gradually depleting stamina, she couldn't stop. She had to put an end to her training. This goal was way too tempting for her to reach, nothing else mattered. A special type of feeling, indeed. And as such, her only response to these taunts were:

"Oh, put a sock in it, Orochimaru... You know what sets us apart? ...I didn't sell my soul to the devil, unlike you. You gave up your humanity, knowing full well, that "life means nothing". Then allow me to do the honors for you... I shall become the antithesis to your nonsensical "ideology"... That, for all I care, shall leave an everlasting reminder on your personally carved tombstone, carved by yours truly, that: Abandon your morals, and everything you hold dear, you lose, before the fight even starts. I freed myself... and when the time comes, I will gladly be there, when it means bringing Sasuke back home, where he belongs. And if not that, at least... I will ace this test, unlike you... How about that...?!"

She kept on walking, fearlessly. Bruised, but not beaten.

The next trial tested her intellect. She stopped in front of a stone gate, with diamond shards lying on the ground in front of her. With the gate itself being locked up with a bunch of holes that needed to be filled with the diamond pieces, close to her feet.

Needless to say, despite being more airheaded than most, she was far from braindead, and surprisingly, she aced this test with relative ease compared to most, who came before her. ...Even at the special hurdle, where she realized, she needed to break a few diamonds in half to make the final symbol come together, in pieces. But that ended up proving to be a piece of cake for her.

And then...

...the final test, is standing right before her. She went up the massive stairs in front of her, gulping along the way, sensing a terrifying, oppressive presence, directly ahead. And once she realized who was waiting for her at the top, being met with the appearance of an old, yet giant white serpent, she could not lie...

...this presence truly made her shiver in her boots. She said it:

"This must be the White Snake Sage... I have actually done it..."

But this wasn't the time to be taking a break. The final test shall be the most demanding of them all. And it became clear, once the snake slithered closer, in a very bone-chilling, almost creepy way, speaking to her directly, piercing through her subconscious:

"Well done. I am surprised you made it this far. But unfortunately for you, your trial isn't over just yet. The final hurdle for you to overcome, in order to reach new heights, a new plane of existence... is me."

Anko made it more than clear, she was ready. She came this far, she won't be faltering now. And the saying goes, "never underestimate someone, who has nothing left to lose". That saying always rang true for her and Kakashi, she is doing all this for him.

"I am still in this...! Bring it, I am ready for whatever you got in mind...! Not like anything else is waiting for me back home, this was my best...!"

"Then, let's begin..."

Her giant snake head leaned towards the Anbu member, driving one of its teeth into her body...

...and the very moment that happened, Anko felt herself going insane. The venom potency in that one tooth was so immense, she felt her body getting crushed half to death, like she was in the middle of a balancing act, on a tightrope, while carrying a mountain on her back. Everything was getting downright chaotic now, she lost all sense of time, or spatial awareness, she saw her own body melting, and all of the absolute worst sensations a human body can experience... She felt it all. In just one brief moment, and it felt like forever in its duration. She burned, she froze, she drowned, all those painful ways a person could possibly die, it all came at once...

...her agonizing shrieks filled the tunnels, and in the real world, the white snake was almost ready to consume her completely...

...but then, just when Anko was about to allow the madness to consume her...

...the seal over her Curse Mark busts apart, as this condensed nature chakra began engulfing her, giving her a whole new surge in strength and resilience, she needed to rely on Orochimaru, just this once, no matter how ill it made her feel to her stomach, using this power...

...But she had to, as, in her mind, all she could see were the memories she had made with Rin, Kurenai, Hiruzen, Sasuke, Naruto and most of all...

...Kakashi.

All those people were her lifeline, the true remainder of her body, mind, soul and... her heart.

She realized, she didn't want to survive.

She wanted to LIVE.

She wants to continue living, for all of them. They are the reason why she is still here.

With tears forming in her eyes, as she allowed the Curse Mark to spread its markings all over her body, she remembered what she had once told Kakashi, not too long after Sasuke left the village:

FLASHBACK

(Image done by wintermaiden11 from DeviantArt)

They were at the riverside in Konoha, as Anko stared into the waters, from the sand back. With Kakashi right next to her, as she tells him, full of sorrow, knowing that Sasuke's departure affected him more than anyone else, and as such, she makes a vow, in that moment:

Anko: "Kakashi... Even with your mask one, I can tell how badly Sasuke's departure is messing with your mind. Don't even start denying it. I am telling you something, I am done. With all of this..."

Kakashi: "What do you mean...?"

Anko stuffs her hands into her trench coats' pockets, looking pretty resigned and exhausted.

Anko: "I am done... living in fear of my own life... Orochimaru is going to destroy Sasuke's life even further, and even if we find him, what good will it do? His ambitions and personal priorities won't change. I am not saying you should give up searching for him, but all I am saying is: Sasuke didn't leave, because he hated you all. On the contrary, he left, because he loved you all. And I bet, after you told him how much you lost yourself, I think it might have driven him even further to become stronger. Even if it meant approaching the wrong people for that. Remember, you're not the only one who knows an Uchiha, I know how they tick..."

Kakashi: "...!"

Anko: "So, no... Waiting for Sasuke is not optimal anymore. For the absolute worst case scenario, we have to prepare ourselves. Whatever my former teacher has in-store for him, it can't be good, and we cannot get a proper read on him, so I say... Let's have some faith in Sasuke that he will make it out of there, relatively unscathed. I believe in him. He is stronger than most people give him credit for."

Then, Kakashi noticed a tear running down Anko's cheek, from the right, and he felt his heart sinking, knowing she is just acting tough like usual, when deep down, she wants to scream in agony over this loss. She truly loved Sasuke, like a little brother that she always wanted to have. And bearing the knowledge, he is now training under the same man to have ruined hers and countless other lives... It truly messed her up.

Kakashi: "Anko..."

His only visible eye closed, as he truly felt her pain, in that moment. He knew how attached Anko had grown to the Uchiha kid, despite their Anbu lifestyle having clearly prohibited this type of personal connection. He jokingly teases her by going:

Kakashi: "Heh... I never would have thought, the day would arrive, when you actually began caring about something way bigger than just dango... ...well, I'll be damned, even I am quite shocked at myself... For years, I had spent burying those feelings deep inside the treasury, but those damned brats left me second-guessing... ...Why does being human have to be so painful...?"

Anko: "I am right with you on that... And that's why..."

She tenderly caresses his right arm with her left hand, which slipped out of her pocket, before allowing to slowly travel down to his right hand...

...as their fingers intertwined, in mutual acknowledgment of their shared grievances with the family they had managed to garner, even with their past still haunting them. And firmly states to Kakashi, with the tears still running down her face:

Anko: "...I shall become that one person, whom you will never have to fear losing in battle, ever again... ...Kakashi."

The Copy Ninja didn't say anything... His silence was more than clear to her: This promise may have reached him.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Feeling a surge of power and confidence overwriting her consciousness, she breaks free of the poison, and just lets the Curse Mark absorb all this power for her, creating a "tunnel" for her body to slowly draw in the essence of the White Snake Sage. Since the mark provided her with the same DNA layer as that of her former sensei, it should be more than enough to make the absorption process a lot more tolerable. And before getting swallowed whole, she uses her strength to lift up her mouth, using the Curse Mark as a stamina booster, and rolling out of her, as she felt the temporary power surge returning to the mark on her neck...

...but the fact of the matter is: She survived the worst of the trials. And deep inside, she got a very warm, tingly feeling. Meaning, the transfusion proved successful.

The White Snake Sage then turned from her snake form, into that of an elderly human lady, smiling at the young woman, who was still kneeling in front of her, stating:

"Impressive... You actually succeeded in all of the given trials, my child. You gazed down into the abyss, and survived. My deepest of respects to you. From now on, you shall bear my power... And I will see to it, that you are going to tame it for your own. What do you have to say to that...?"

Her chest heaving, with her breathing long and heavy, her eyes ended up remaining obscured by her sweat-soaked bangs, but despite this miserable experience, her lips curled into a smirk. As she states:

"I say... That's good... Why, very good, actually... Do you wanna know why...?"

And once she lifted her head, we could clearly see a purple eyeshadow...

...and once she opened her eyes, her irises having gone from brown to golden, only deepening her own smirk, feeling truly accomplished now.

"...I am a proud, sore loser. Thanks for the gift... "grandma".”

Welp, pardon me for being late, but...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANKO!

This one is for you. And at long last, I finally got the time to be writing something epic for her. And here you go, when she goes Snake Sage mode, this is how she looks like. This is my gift to her. A well-deserved power boost.

Also, while writing this story, I was listening to this. It just fit the occasion, and the situation Anko was in. As she fought, not to survive, to keep on living for both the dead, and the living.

youtube

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