#in comparison to naruto for example

[witchandhuntress]

I hate to be that person, but IH's are even real fans? Because they completely invalidate Ichigo as a protagonist:

For all they care Orihime could be the protagonist instead of Ichigo or better yet Orihime is the protagonist of bleach.

Ichigo decided on his own to go and save Rukia with or without his friends support.

Ichigo went to Hueco Mundo not only to save Orihime, he's the son of a Shinigami and is in his nature to fight he seeks for it and enjoys it.

Orihime is not the only one who saved lives, the story begins with Rukia saving Ichigo. In fact Rukia and Ichigo saved her first from her brother.

She's an irrelevant character that didn't add too much to the story and her criticism is justified and you can't just call it hate because you don't like it.

[teamsasukes]

Was Itachi's forehead poke to Sasuke a sign of distancing himself and not wanting Sasuke to get involved, rather than just a mere sign of affection? I saw a few people talk about that and how it's weird that Sasuke does that to his family considering the original meaning.

yes, you've got an accurate handle on the original meaning of the Forehead Poke. fundamentally it is an expression of distance that itachi wields at times when he cannot be with sasuke. and it seems to be a throughline of his childhood: sasuke asks itachi to do something as mundane as train together but itachi continually refuses on account of his duties as a shinobi.

it is not a gesture devoid of love -- it's not as though itachi ever delights in dismissing sasuke (on the contrary, he is always regretful). but there's a cruelty in the uncertainty of it all: the most direct translation is "maybe next time", so itachi fails to provide even an assurance that they can, like, hang out next week or something. this chasm between them is then widened by itachi promising, on the night of the massacre, that he might allow a final battle between them if sasuke ever proves competent enough to bother fighting, leaving sasuke in protracted pursuit of the looming specter of his older brother.

this distance is really only bridged (barely) in their final scene when itachi lays bare the truth of his motives, his regrets (which are lacking, to put it mildly, but for sasuke this is nonetheless momentous), and his unconditional pride in and love for his little brother. the Forehead Poke is notably absent here because textually, the enforced distance wrt sasuke is framed as itachi's greatest wrong. (seriously, itachi says something to the effect of: i shouldn't have done All That because maybe you, my 7-year-old brother, could have brought change to our clan... thereby reducing inconvenience for konoha, of course. the paucity of virtue in massacring the uchiha doesn't really register for him even during this reconciliation, and it's deliberate... because the author doesn't see it as much of an issue either!)

anyway, it might seem odd for sasuke to repeat this gesture with sakura in chapter 699, then, particularly because it seems to be invoked in a manner identical to itachi in his neglect. kind of an odd way to signify a happy ending for these characters, right...?

well, it works for me solely because it is not identical! and naruto's english dub is my worst enemy. i would grab a couple of manga panel screenshots in the original japanese to prove it, but it's easier for me to just plug these scenes from the anime. here is an itachi Forehead Poke (0:51) and here is sakura seeing sasuke off at the konoha gate (0:33). there's a subtle but meaningful distinction in the phrasing: "mata kondo da" vs. "mata kondo na". which, in effect, alter the meaning from "maybe next time" to:

(there's an excellent tumblr post from years ago which performs a substantive analysis of the japanese in both contexts, but eludes me now. pls send if any of you have a link to it!)

so personally i adore its inclusion in chapter 699 specifically. it obviously carries a great deal of weight for sasuke and it's meaningful he chooses to express it to sakura specifically despite leaving the entire team behind -- in lots of ways, and more than any other character, i think for sasuke, sakura is the anti-itachi. (that would require another post to elucidate.) so not only is it an expression of regret at unintended distance, but, more crucially, it's a promise of return. i think it's incredibly sweet that sasuke can repurpose the gesture from something soul-rending to something hopeful.

(also deserving of another post lol but this scene also achieves a neat and, crucially, subversive callback to sakura's foundational insecurities... it's like poetry it rhymes)

all that said, i understand why it reads as something different once we are then given the context of chapter 700 and gaiden... i dislike both of these installments, primarily for the implication that distance becomes a love language, so to speak, between sasuke and sakura/sarada. these relationships are ruled by distance and sasuke accepts it. it's disappointing! his journey to learn about more of the world in chapter 699 jibed with the character's arc until that point. this does not.

my unpopular take is i think this has just about nothing to do with sakura or the sasusaku relationship and everything to do with authorial outlook on sasuke's actions in part 2. and for the record, i maintain that these crimes ultimately amount to very little -- violence and death are occupational hazards if one is a shinobi. konoha is also foregrounded by a cold calculus on the worth of human lives; i'm sure sasuke's indispensable role in saving the world outweighs the killing of a few samurai. i just think kishimoto needs sasuke to atone, somehow, forever, via endless service to the village. and he also cannot sensibly write a kakashi- or naruto-headed government that would impose any meaningful punishment, so sasuke is relegated to a state of permanent rootlessness in some dumbass quest. it's a sacrifice on his part, but contrived for a number of reasons, chief among them being that the sasuke we came to know in the original series would literally never internalize konoha's ideals in this manner. so even though the Forehead Poke in gaiden and boruto retains the elements of promise and anticipation of eventual reconciliation, it feels kind of... lame and weightless. there is a superficial signal at growth but materially, for the parties on the receiving end of the Forehead Poke, very little seems to change.

frankly, i think we are meant to view sasuke's love as noble (and sasuke himself as penitent, suggested by the ascetic quality of his life). sasuke is still doing things differently than itachi, insufficient though it may be: he is honest about the reason for his travels, he does not rush to dismiss sarada when she needs emotional support, his motives are selfless rather than selfish (sasuke guards against the threat of the otsutsuki; itachi... wanted sasuke to kill him, in no small part as a desperate ploy to end his own suffering, notwithstanding the subsequent damage that would be inflicted on his thoroughly traumatized little brother). gaiden is surprisingly candid about the distance as a source of distress for sarada, sakura, and even sasuke, but by the end everyone understands why it must be as it is. the state above all! (you'll notice even itachi's apology to sasuke held this precept intact... there is a reason the series closes with sasuke accepting his old hitai-ate.) it is admittedly vexing, considering the totality of evidence here, to see sasuke's nomadic status in boruto pinned on how much he hates his dumb bitch wife and not, you know. the shockingly bad politics underpinning the narrative.

i appreciate the attempts of sasuke enjoyers to explain his distance as natural aversion to konoha, but this isn't canonically backed by any interiority (which seems to be absent in boruto-era team 7 at large) and moreover it requires miscommunication between sasuke and sakura (or even naruto) so great as to be unbelievable. i've accepted that post-pt2 sasuke is an unfortunate victim of kishomoto's nationalist views. his weird takes on how a man like sasuke would behave in a loving relationship and likely desire for a continued revenue stream don't help either. yes i will weep forever...

TLDR: i think the Forehead Poke fits in chapter 699 precisely because it diverges from itachi's. i resent its recurrence suggesting distance from loved ones is an inevitable condition of sasuke's life to which he's stoically acquiescent.

[bright-hope-spot-19]

Another similarity is also how both Obito and Shirakumo turn out to not be really dead, and they were just manipulated by a bigger villain to use them on the villains' side of the conflict. Also, if I remember correctly, Shirakumo's powers and even his name are all based on clouds? Obito joined Akatsuki, the organization that has a RED CLOUD as its logo on their cloaks. Both Kakashi and Aizawa have eye powers, too. Now, I really can't help but think Horikoshi was seriously inspired by Naruto while creating some of his characters.

The emo friend. The loud friend. And the friend who died a tragic death at a young age who's first name starts with the letters "Ob" and is 3 syllables long.

(the Shirakumo screenshot is from a reedit by @jutsuuu since I prefer my boy's sun-kissed skin tone)

[team7-headquarter]

People who deny the romantic dynamic of the OG Team 7 are so funny, because implying they are only friends make them MORE INSANE.

Okay, let's erase the fact that Kishimoto wrote them as a love triangle that even parallels many other love triangles— that never happened.

They are still each other's priorities. Half the angst in Naruto related storylines points out how much they suffer when they're apart: because they are missing each other, they are worried about each other, they are miserable without each other, etc. When it's not that, they're hurrying to become stronger to protect, bring back or help each other.

That's why many of the relationships they have with other people pale in comparison with their devotion to their original Team 7 teammates!!!!

Naruto is the obvious example. You know why his relationship with Hinata feels underdeveloped??? Because compared to Naruto's focus on bringing Sasuke back and protecting Sakura, Hinata feels like an afterthought. Naruto is normal about her.

He wouldn't go swearing over and over how he'd die with her if that's what it took, like he did with Sasuke. He wouldn't spend every minute looking at her like she's the only woman who has ever mattered in the world like he did with Sakura.

Sakura spent the entire manga fed up with the fact she was so weak and could only throw herself like a human shield in front of them— 'cause even if she was completely powerless, she'd rather die than let them die. The other half of the manga was about her crying out wondering when they'd be happy at last. Friends, family, teachers, they're all on the sideline. Naruto and Sasuke are and will always be her main worry.

And Sasuke? You know how his relationship with Itachi is filled with trauma, torture, manipulation and multiple layers of fucked up shit? And that's why his obsession with Itachi goes above and beyond? The only other two characters he was (almost) that abnormal about were Naruto and Sakura. Genin Sasuke became a voodoo doll to protect Naruto and almost killed someone for hurting Sakura. Shippuden Sasuke was about to die and it was their faces behind his eyelids. The only two people he cared enough to say goodbye to before leaving the village (again) were them.

Now, take the romance out there. Even then, it means that none of them will ever be as crazy for a romantic partner as they are crazy for their og genin team. The world was ending and they were together. The world was ending and they could only think about protecting each other.

Anyway, that's all. Crazy people.

[badgalsasuke]

Naruto vs Sakura as ninjas in Pt. 1

I've been intending to make this post where I discuss how Kishimoto juxtaposes Naruto and Sakura when it comes to their skills as ninjas (Kishimoto juxtaposes both characters in multiple ways but this is the one I'll be discussing here).

Sakura is presented as a booksmart girl, she's a girl that definitely did good in school unlike Naruto, who was dead last in his class, almost didn't graduate and struggles focusing during lessons. Sasuke is, to put it simply, the prodigy of the group. It's even stated clearly during the chuunin exams, Iruka makes a contrast between Naruto and Sakura's skills as ninjas, Naruto lacks book/traditional knowledge and Sakura lacks the power and strenght.

However, what's interesting here is how once they're both put out in the field, Sakura struggles during missions and exams whereas Naruto demonstrates extraordinary strategic and battle skills. We'll see several examples on how Kishimoto establishes the type of ninja they both are throughout the entire series, but in this specific post only from Part 1 of the manga.

The first time we see them compared to one another is in ch. 18, during the Land of the Waves arc where they're training chakra control by attempting to climb trees. Sakura is the first to achieve the goal. Kakashi points out Sasuke uses too much chakra and Naruto uses too little. However, it is also pointed out that the reason why Sakura has much better chakra control than the boys is because she has nowhere near the same amount of chakra they do.

Something that's also pointed out right from the beginning is that Sakura being a natural talent doesn't train, unlike Naruto who we constantly see training for days to master a skill. Then there's Sasuke, a natural talent that also trains for days to no end.

But when we're really starting to see this comparison between Naruto and Sakura as ninjas is during the Chuunin exams arc.

First we see a scene where Sakura is aware that there's a genjutsu other ninjas are putting the genins through as a small test before the real one begins. Naruto, on the other hand, was oblivious to this until both of his teammates pointed it out.

Then we get to the written exam, which is comprised of two parts. The first part were the first nine questions, the purpose of this was for genins to showcase their information gathering and retrieval skills without being caught (or at least not be so blatant about it), neither Sakura nor Naruto understood this, only Sasuke was able to decipher the true meaning of the test.

The purpose of this test is simple, these kids are all preparing to become ninjas that will eventually have dangerous missions outside the village where the goal is retrieving information from the enemy, to avoid unnecessary losses, they'll try retrieving whatever information they need without getting caught using their ninja skills. This is what Sakura failed to understand. In the real ninja world she won't know the answers beforehand like she did in this test, she will encounter dangerous situations where she'll need to not be caught stealing information but she didn't prove the proctors she possessed such skills, hence why she failed the test. It's a pretty good example from Kishimoto in showing us how she's a booksmart girl but not a cunning kunoichi.

When it comes to Naruto, although he didn't understand the test, he intended to cheat but ultimately didn't because he felt he'd be caught, either way he also failed this part of the test.

Then we move to the second part of the written test, the tenth question. This question is disguised by the proctor. He makes it seem like it'd be another question of knowledge like the prior nine but in reality he's already giving it to the genins. You're willing to accept whatever mission you're assigned trusting your teammates or you're not.

Once again, Sakura is unable to read between lines and thinks is a question of knowledge but more importantly, she also shows us the she actually has no faith in her team, thinking Naruto won't be able to answer and would have the whole team fail the test, so she decides to tank the team herself "before Naruto does it" because in her mind she's sparing him the humilliation and "protecting his dream".

But to Sakura's surprise, Naruto does believe in himself and although not quite sure on what's the trick of the tenth question he accepts it anyway because he has guts which is what the proctor wanted to see. So Naruto shows during the written test he has what it takes to be a ninja in the real world, while Sakura fails to do the same.

So now we move onto the Forest of the Death section of the Chuunin exams which is a simulation of a dangerous mission outside the village. Each team is supposed to have an Earth scroll and a Heaven scroll to pass to the next part of the test. Because they already have one scroll, the idea is that they avoid having their information stolen while at the same time succesfully steal the other scroll from another team, the practice test of the theory from the written test basically.

In this part of the test is where Sasuke excels the most, but there's still an insteresting contrast between Naruto and Sakura's skills, as well as between Sakura and Sasuke's.

Once they're in the forest Sakura is unable to recognize that the enemy has transformed into Naruto after he left to pee.

Because we already know that Sakura doesn't bother to get to know either of her teammates she's is unable to detect when there's something odd about them. Sasuke, on the other hand, knew there was something wrong with Naruto simply because he wasn't wearing his equipment the way he usually does (and was before he left to pee)

Kishimoto reaffirms this once again when he introduces Orochimaru. Sasuke had come up with a plan where if the team got separated again, when they reunited they'd have to say a very long password to prove they're the real ones.

Sakura, once again, is not only unaware there's an enemy eavesdropping, but she's unable to clock Sasuke's plan: Naruto is too dumb to remember such long complicated passwords, the enemy wouldn't know this since they don't know the real Naruto, but she should because he's her teammate. But because she's too busy dunking on Naruto, she doesn't realize this.

Once Orochimaru appears disguised as Naruto, he's able to say the entire password, Sakura is even relieved by this, not once considering she had just called Naruto a dunce because he said he wouldn't be able to remember such password, that's how little attention she pays to her team. It wasn't until the enemy revealed themselves after Sasuke attacked them because he knew Naruto would never memorize the password, that Sakura finally understood that Naruto couldn't have memorized the whole password and would have said something else.

But in this fight against Orochimaru we also see a juxtaposition of in the team's skills, as rudimentary as they were by this early point in the story.

Naruto was swallowed by a snake Orchimaru summoned when he was trying pass off as him. But with his never ending creativity, he remembers the time during the mission at the Land of the Waves where he and Sasuke puked after eating too much.

So it occurs to him he can create a similar effect where the snake is so full of Naruto clones it makes it explode. He escapes and runs to his teammates position to help them fight.

At the same time, Sakura and Sasuke are facing Orochimaru who puts them both under a genjutsu.

Despite both of them having great skills to detect and repell genjutsu as we previously saw, only Sasuke is able to react and save himself and Sakura, who's become paralyzed in fear, once again unable to do anything. This is another instance of Kishimoto showing us how Sakura knows the theory but in practice, she fails to act in battle.

We see Team 7 fighting Orochimaru. They're all overpowered by the enemy, although Sasuke is the one that manages to stand his ground the best. Naruto is at a disadvantage for not knowing how to control the Kyuubi chakra and this makes Orochimaru quickly defeat him and Sakura is just there shouting.

With Naruto and Sasuke unconscious after their encounter with Orochimaru, this is Sakura's chance to show her ninja skills in a real life scenario without a sensei to tell her what to do or teammates to rely on.

Exhausted after taking care of her teammates all night without sleep, Sakura has to then face the ninjas from the village of the sound. They're able to spot her booby traps right away because Sakura didn't conceal them properly as she didn't take into account her surroundings appearances and chose hid her traps with some generic techniques.

But Sakura had another trap prepared clearly in case the first one failed. Unfortunately, Sakura's traps are clearly rather a lower level for the what the Chuunin levels require and her enemies quickly overcame her second trap as well.

Because Sakura had no plan beyond these two traps we see her begin to cry once both of them had failed to protect her and her teammates. To her luck Rock Lee appears to save the day and he notices Sakura's exhausted state

Sakura then tries to help Lee, she throws a single kunai at her opponent, failing to hit him but at least Rock Lee with his inhumane strenght pulls a root out of the ground to repel the attack.

After Rock Lee is immobilized by the enemy, we get what is supposed to be one of the most important moments in Sakura's development as a character. She gives us a small monologue on how she doesn't want to be behind her teammates anymore and this time she will be the one protecting them.

So let's see what she does on battle

It becomes apparent that Sakura doesn't have any outstanding skills when it comes to close distance fighting. She can do the replacement jutsu that was necessary for graduation from the Academy and she can also throw kunais (not always hitting the enemy) but other than that she doesn't showcase any special taijutsu skills.

Important to note she hasn't learned any complex jutsu like her teammates either. Naruto has learned & mastered the kage bunshin no jutsu and Sasuke the the Katon: Goukakyo no jutsu, both far too advanced techniques for their ages. So while Sakura manages demonstrates bravery during this fight, more out of pride than anything else, she also very clearly needed help because the ninja from the sound was very much about to kill her.

After Sasuke saves Sakura from the ninja sounds, they get his curse mark under control and Naruto wakes up the team moves to another location. Because the time to obtain the scroll they're missing is coming to an end, team 7 decides they will steal it from another team near the tower they're supposed to go at the end of the examination.

Near the tower team 7 encounters another enemy that traps them in a genjutsu. Sasuke is the one that realized this. Naruto is the one that comes up with the strategy of attacking all clone illusions of the enemy with the kage bunshin jutsu and at the same time use them as a distraction to turn some of his clones into his teammates and deceive the enemy, allowing the rest of his team to sneak behind them. Sakura didn't do much here except comply with her teammates' plan.

So we move onto the duels of the chuunin exam. We'll skip Sasuke and focus solely on Sakura and Naruto and see how they both approach hand to hand combat.

Sakura must fight Ino and because of their past, Sakura feels like she needs to defeat Ino to prove to herself she has surpassed and is no longer the crybaby she used to be.

Sakura fights Ino the same way she fought the ninjas from the sound. She uses a couple of clones and her great chakra control to do a few tricks against her opponent but Ino quickly goes toe to toe with her because Sakura skills have not grown from her Academy days.

Sakura doesn't have any strategy beyond punching Ino and because they're basically on the same level of skill taijutsu wise, this only drags the fight. Eventually Ino gets tired of fighting that way and decides to use the shintenshin no jutsu against Sakura.

What's interesting here is how arrogant Sakura responds to Ino. We had already seen her being arrogant when Naruto stated he couldn't memorize such long password and she bragged she could, not understading Sasuke's plan with the password. So Kishimoto is establishing Sakura as an arrogant girl that doesn't really have the skills to back her up.

Sakura knows Ino's jutsu can only work if her opponent stays in the same position, so rather than conclude Ino might have come up with a plan to make her stay in one place, Sakura simply assumes Ino is stupid and all she has to do is move around to dodge her jutsu. Unfortunately for her, Ino manages to trick her, keep her in one place and use her jutsu on her. The only reason why Sakura managed to get Ino out of her head was thanks to Naruto, something she acknowledged herself and even then, the best result she could achieve was a tie.

Now let's compare Sakura's fight to Naruto's duel against Kiba. Throughout the fight, Naruto is constantly outsmarting Kiba and Akamaru, letting himself be hit to get to know his opponent and then using whatever knowledge he gains to his advantage. Naruto by this point has also become a master of clone jutsus and constantly uses them to deceive his enemy. But contrary to Sakura who uses the same justsus in very similar ways she becomes predictable, Naruto always comes up with new ways to use his signature jutsu that continue to catch his opponents off guard.

Another aspect we observe in Naruto's strategic skills is how he's able to use his environment at his advantage even in unorthodox ways. No only is he able to trick Kiba's smell by making him think he got him when he had actually hit his ally Akamaru but he even manages to *accidentally* find a weak spot fo Kiba's olfactory super power by farting in his face, Kiba becomes overwhelmed and oversensitive. This gives Naruto enough time to use his signature clone jutsu and hit Kiba with a final strike, thus winning the match.

This is technically where the juxtaposition of Naruto and Sakura as ninjas ends. Sakura doesn't compete in the final duels so we can't draw a comparison in how she fights there vs how Naruto fights. However, I've written about Naruto and Neji's fight if you're interested in reading it [LINK] I'm also running out of space for images on this post so bear with me with all the text.

During their fight against Gaara, Sakura demonstrates her bravery when she stood against Gaara's attack to protect Sasuke. She was quickly defeated because she's not a remarkable ninja but that paired with Sasuke's words "I already lost everything once... I don't want to watch my precious comrades die in front of me" awaken in Naruto the will to fight with all his might. He summons Gamabunta and even uses the Kyubi chakra, saving both of his teammates himself. By this point of the story Naruto is the most powerful member of team 7.

Later on in the series Jiraiya and Naruto embark on a mission to find Tsunade. After an encounter with Itachi, Sasuke is induced into a coma and we don't see much of him until he leaves the village. Sakura is just there looking after Sasuke but that's it, she doesn't train or learn any new skills, even though we have a scene of Naruto asking Kakashi to teach him chidori we never get a scene of Sakura asking him to train her as well.

During this arc Naruto learns a new jutsu: Rasengan. Paired with the Kagebunshin no jutsu, this will too become his signature jutsu. But because my goal with this post is to pin point Naruto's fighting style in contrast to Sakura's I'll add one final example; Tsunade and co. VS Orochimaru and Kabuto.

During Naruto's fight against Kabuto (ch. 167), Naruto intends to use the rasengan against Kabuto, however, due to his lack of experience using this jutsu and not having yet mastered it, Naruto fails to hit Kabuto.

Kishimoto allows us to see Naruto's strategic thought process during the fight. Naruto realizes it's much harder to hit a moving adversary than an static object (like the trees he'd been practicing with) plus it takes him too much time to create rasengan because he needs both of his hands giving Kabuto enough time to move.

So Naruto comes up with his strategy that includes the use of a clone. Jiraiya had previously told him in the previous chapter (166) to not use Kage Bunshin because he would exhaust his chakra. Tsunade, as we can see in the panels also believes is not the best idea.

But what neither Tsunade nor Kabuto anticipated was the use Naruto would give his clone. They both thought Naruto would repeat his signature move of creating several clones and attack all at the same time, but he didn't.

As we can see, Naruto stops Kabuto with his hand and keeps him in place so he wouldn't move like in the previous attack and only then, uses his clone to aid him make the jutsu and that's how he now manages to strike Kabuto, thus defeating him.

So far, we've seen the type of unorthodox ninja Naruto is compared to Sasuke and Sakura. He trains and works hard, perhaps more than any of his teammates but he's also the most creative strategist in the team.

Sasuke is a natural talent, he still works hards, we know how much it took him to achive the Katon fireball and the Chidori, his signature jutsus but although he's smart and cunning as a strategist I wouldn't say he possesses the same level of creativity as Naruto.

Then we have Sakura, by far the weakest not just physically but also in terms of strategy. She becomes quite predictable very quickly so the enemy knows how to strike her right away, she's also very dependant on her teammates & sensei when she has to act, but to her credit she's still a brave girl that will attempt to do something every now and then. Her biggest flaw as a ninja is, at least from my point of view, how much she plays by the book (what makes her a predictable fighter), it's clear that she was a good student during her academy days, doing all assignments & jutsus expected from her but she doesn't grow from there and unlike her teammates, she lacks the ambition to get better. Every single jutsu she uses in the battlefield is something that was taught to all genins so she'd hardly surprise them during battle. She's also unable to think outside the box so of course all her opponents are able to read her and easily defeat her.

In another post I'll continue contrasting Naruto and Sakura as ninjas but from Part 2.

[zuzu-fairys-tail]

An analysis on Natsu and Gray’s rivalry in comparison to other anime

Since i talked about Erza and Lucy’s relationship last time, which is probably my favorite Lucy friendship besides Natsu and Happy cuz they’re her husband and son (obviously), this time i’ll talk about my favorite friendship in the whole anime and that is Natsu and Gray :D

Look, i usually hate anime rivalries like Naruto and Sasuke and Deku and Bakugo cuz they’re all like so intense (?) and also i hate them as a ship.

For example, Bakugo’s and Deku’s wasn’t even a rivalry, just straight up bullying until deku got his quirk (i love bakugo, this is a fact, don’t kill me) and i’m not even gonna start on Naruto and Sasuke rn.

Basically, in comparison to both the “rivalries” i mentioned, Natsu and Gray are the healthiest main rivalry (also the healthiest i’ve seen in shonen imo).

They knew each other since they were kids, just like all the others yet still Natsu and Gray cared for each other a lot since the beginning and would do anything for each other if they needed to (besides anything involving their girls lmao)

LIKE LITERALLY THEIR SCENE IN THE FINAL ARC, MIGHT JUST BE IN MY TOP 5 FAVOURITE SCENES IN FAIRY TAIL.

Mashima made them so healthy with like no toxic-ness that honestly, if i wasn’t the no.1 Nalu and Gruvia fan, they’d be my favourite ship.

Like they’re just perfect, imo they’re how every rivalry should be.

[irukasito]

Following the idea that Kakashi gave up parts of himself while in ANBU, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone talk about how and when he and Iruka came into each other’s lives. I mean, you start off thinking that Naruto is the only link between them, but once you get to Shippuden it’s revealed that they took a mission together before Naruto was a student to either of them. And this turns their dynamic on its head, because suddenly they exist outside of the co-parent dynamic they get put into and become more three dimensional as characters because of how they influenced each other.

We don’t know much about the mission itself, except that Iruka was hurt because Heart Too Big™️ and that Kakashi tried to take responsibility as captain when questioned by the Sandaime (which probably poked at his own trauma around letting comrades get hurt but thats beside the point). While I do wish we could have gotten an episode or two about that mission, we know all we need to know from what we’re given, specifically that the versions of Kakashi and Iruka that went on that mission were unevolved versions of themselves (compared to how they’re portrayed in the present) and that the versions of them that came out of that mission were changed, or would be changed.

Iruka, for example, realizes and passionately proclaims that he now understands his role as a shinobi is not in the field, but in the village as an instructor passing on the will of fire to the next generation. This clarity changes and sets him on a path toward teaching Naruto later on. Kakashi is changed by virtue of witnessing Iruka’s commitment to not just the will of fire/the village but to future generations. 

The Naruto timeline is a mess, but I do think that the Kakashi watching Iruka and the Sandaime talk is the version of Kakashi that was recently discharged from service as an ANBU (the ages line up well enough). This Kakashi is still jaded and disconnected from his purpose as a shinobi/person after years of working as a weapon for the village in its shadows. You get the idea from the Kakashi ANBU arc that, for all that time, he ran missions like a machine and lost sight of what it was all for. 

(This is also when it becomes clear that they’re foils for one another. The version of Kakashi on that roof was still functioning in the same ways he used to in ANBU, exceptionally skilled and emotionally distant, just under a different title/command,and Iruka, in comparison, was just a chuunin, too emotional and immensely dedicated to the village and its people/will of fire.) 

The scene on the roof is a wake up for Kakashi in terms of reminding him why he does missions, what he’s protecting, etc— it’s sort of a redux of Obito’s speech about comrades and Asuma’s king allegory, which is why I think he (as its alluded) attaches himself, trusts, and seeks out Iruka so often throughout the series and bonus materials (at least in a way he doesn’t for anyone else, that we can see). Iruka, and his dedication/essence/drive, is something he recognizes as invaluable and worth preserving because Kakashi understands that’s what preserves the village, ultimately. Not war, not missions, not killing, but protecting the people in it and a vision for the future. (Sidenote: this is also why Iruka is there in the early seasons when missions get handed out.)

I’m rambling, but to reiterate, hearing Iruka talk about the will of fire and the future pulled Kakashi back into his body after so many years of being in fight or flight, his humanity pushed aside. In fact, the passion Iruka showed made enough of an impression on Kakashi that he remembered it and noted its absence years later when they were on the bench (“there’s no spark in your eyes”/ “your eyes had a spark back then”). I don’t doubt he committed the moment to memory, sharingan be damned. 

 I say this alot, as a proud Iruka supremacist, but Iruka is the will of fire. The Sandaime recognized this in him and nurtured it. Kakashi recognized this too and helped/protected him throughout the story by listening to him (the bench), assuring/comforting him (regarding Naruto in the earlier seasons), encouraging him (the vice principals exam), and saving his life even if it meant putting his own in danger (the 3 kunoichi from Takigakure, Pain). 

And if Iruka is the will of fire, then Iruka is the personification of Kakashi’s purpose and a major facet of his humanity. And while the jokes are funny, their relationship goes far beyond just being co-workers or co-parents to Naruto. Iruka helped turn Kakashi from a blade to a shield-- something that gets underscored in Kakashi Retsuden when he shows Kakashi the non-lethal way to restrain enemies, as Konoha implemented different measures under him-- and Kakashi helped him stay on the path he was meant to be on. Not to mention they grow so much closer as time goes on, taking care and confiding in one another in different ways. It’s a really beautiful relationship, whether you see it as romantic or not.

[carmenserenity123456]

Madara kind of acknowledged Sakura's Strength of a Hundred Seal and Hashirama said she is strong.

Is it some kind of troll? Madara just saw her mark because she rushed at him and she was in his face. It was a war! Of course he was going to notice something like that but it does not mean that he acknowledged her in any way. He did not even notice her at all and look how he stands when he stabbed her. He is just unmoved because she is no danger to him. Her act was even more pathetic when two guys had to save her.

Madara himself said that weak people are ugly and he told it to Tsunade who is much stronger than Sakura can ever be. Tsunade broke his Susanoo and here we have Sakura who immediately got stabbed, could not break his barrier and then she was sad because Sasuke did not care about her. Also I think Madara pointing out her mark to himself and remembering Tsunade was some kind of comparison to him because it looks like he wanted to see what this girl with the same mark as Tsuande would do and she did nothing. She was no fun to him basically. The only people that Madara ever acknowledged was Hashirama, Guy, Itachi and Naruto. Not only Sakura is weak in his eyes but also ugly. Another proof that Uchihas look at skills and talent. Sasuke thinks she is annoying and useless, he also never prioritize her even after marriage and he would always choose Naruto. Itachi never looked at her in any romantic way. if any other girl was in her place he would also stopped them and just like Sasuke he would never prioritize her. He killed his whole clan and his beloved parents just to keep the peace. He would also kill Sakura if he had to.

When it comes to Hashirama I think that a lot of Sakura and SS stans cannot read with understanding at all. Yes Hashirama said that she has great strength because she has but still she does not use it in a good way. She punched just one time and that's it... Why could not she contribute more to the war with her strength? Because beside hitting Naruto she does not know hot to properly use it and against such people like Madara or Shin her strength is not enough. Not to mention that she cares for her life and that is why she stays useless all the time and when she wants to do something it is because of Sasuke or to feel better about herself. She is just selfish and acts like a hero when she is not. Lastly a lot of SS stans say that Hashi means that she is stronger than Tsunade which is wrong. He said that she might be stronger but not that she is and also looking at the whole manga she is not stronger than Tsunade and she will never be and example with Madara shows it. How can you throw away the whole evidence in the story which points out that Sakura is weak and take just one dialogue that does not even state what SS think and take it as an absolute truth about her. It is just beyond me.

Question for Sakura stans, why do you want her so much to be always noticed by Uchiha guys? You do not care about other guys noticing her but only Uchiha. Is it because they are handsome and only that counts for you?

[sannin-three]

Yet another example of how the anime changing small details can completely shift the vibe of a scene. In the first comparison, Orochimaru goes from passive to smiling and enjoying himself. The second is even more egregious, as the anime has him still smiling, while the manga shows him as frowning and apprehensive.

This changes the scene from Orochimaru being neutral (or even sympathetic) towards what's taking place into "lol this orphan kid giving himself up to help his foster mom is so entertaining". The latter reaction would certainly be in-character for a Naruto-era Orochimaru, but this was a flashback set before he went totally off the rails so showing them questioning their actions would have felt more realistic and would better show how much their personality changed over time.

Again, it's a small thing, but it ruins the subtle complexity that the manga version had.

[obitoslover]

Thinking. Thinking about how Hashirama is always shown using his clan's clothing in (almost) every non-fight flashback

Even at the first Kage Summit is shown him using them

Tobirama too, btw, which makes me think 2 things:

1. Iirc it's the second time we see him using another clothing (as well as adult Hashirama

maybe they used these for training? Who knows)

2. This kimono probably can be used more for diplomatic occasions? I mean, it can make sense; just bc the Uchiha clan uses theirs more commonly it doesn't mean the Senju would do the same...

Even if it's used only in these type of situation or not, Hashirama using it almost all the time (unlike Tobirama, for example, who is shown using the clothing shinoni wear below the armor

here's an example) gives me the impression/feeling he's above the fighting, he doesn't need to be prepared for an attack 24/7

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into things and Kishimoto only wanted to keep the kimono in old times to symbolize how traditional things used to be in comparison to the og Naruto's folks

@narutobrainrotstuff @anubisthe1 @r--kt @evilkitten3 @fire-eyed-raven

[madara-fate]

I really don't understand with antis from Naruto fandom because they complaining about the female character in the anime wasn't well written, then they also complaining about how the manga the female character is badly written too. I read the manga and honestly sakura wasn't badly written infact i would say her character in the manga is pretty likable. They also claim Kishimoto hated Sakura then i was confused because never once in his interview he ever said that he hated sakura infact he actually adore her

I read the manga and honestly sakura wasn't badly written infact i would say her character in the manga is pretty likable

For me, Sakura wasn't very likeable in the beginning, but she grew on me, because character development is a thing. I wouldn't say she's badly written either, but I would definitely say that she was underutilised. However, this criticism isn't exclusive to her; because I can say the same thing for many other male characters too. It's just that because Sakura is a main character, the criticism is more noticeable and detrimental for her.

They also claim Kishimoto hated Sakura then i was confused because never once in his interview he ever said that he hated sakura

Yeah Kishi has never once stated that he hated Sakura in any way. I don't remember him explicitly stating that he adored her, so if you have examples of that then please do tell. However, I do remember him being full of praises for Sakura, and expressed how joyful and proud he was when she placed 3rd in that popularity poll from 2023:

So if anything, he was was very joyful of how far her popularity had come, in comparison to when he was receiving the messages of Sakura hate while the main manga was still being published.

[bright-hope-spot-19]

You know, I find it funny how Kankuro sometimes gets hate thrown at him cause he supposedly 'stole' Sasori's puppets, and all he does is rip off Sasori's work and never invent anything new himself. This idea not only shows that people who believe that don't even understand Sasori's character and he's not even that complex (worse when they're Sasori stans hating on Kank. Yay, good job hating on the 17 year old). Sasori wanted for his puppets, his legacy, to be inherited and passed down so that his name would never be forgotten, making him eternal, in a way.

It also ignores the fact that almost none of the kids have invented their own techniques and jutsu. I think, barring Sasuke, all the others just copy their clan's, parent's, and teacher's techniques. Of course, only comparing the kids here. There is no point in making comparisons with the older generation. That's what clans in hidden villages also depend on: to keep passing their techniques and jutsu to their members, more specifically the clan heirs (and most of the konoha rookies are clan heirs). That's how they keep their legacies: as long as there's still at least one member of said clan carrying said clan's legacy and techniques, a part of the clan will always live on. I'm not diminishing the Uchiha massacre in any way, shape, or form, I absolutely loathe the hidden Leaf for their actions. That's not what this post is about any ways, I just don't want people to misinterpret my words and put false accusations in my mouth.

The point here is that legacy is a very important part of Naruto. Characters inheriting and using the techniques and abilities of their ancestors isn't uncommon. Almost everyone does this. The Rasengan being the clearest example. So, I don't understand why only Kankuro gets hate for it and is accused of stealing another artists' work? Is it just because him and Sasori aren't actually related by blood? Would it have made it okay if the sand sibs were blood related to Sasori and Chiyo? Is that the only instance in which inheritance becomes acceptable? The answer is a big, fat, resounding: No. If memory serves me right, Minato created the Rasengan, (rn I don't remember exactly, if Rasengan also belongs to the long repertoire of jutsu created by that pos Tobirama, but I think Minato was the og user) yet both Jiraiya and Kakashi can perform it, too, and they're in no way related to Minato. Legacy literally just refers to things transmitted by either ancestors (so, family) or predecessors (not precisely family). That can be knowledge, feelings about a certain subject, material things, etc.

Let's just look at Naruto since he's one of the most memorable characters. Almost none of the techniques he mainly relies on, he invented himself. The only exception is Rasen-Shuriken, and even that uses Rasengan as a base. The Multi Shadow Clone jutsu was a forbidden one created by Tobirama, I'm sure. Rasengan by his own dad. Sague mode isn't even something regular shinobi can attain. He had to be taught how to use it by the Toads cause it's ridiculously hard to absorb natural chakra. Then, everything he gets from controlling his tailed beast, he got Bee's tutoring for it cause Bee was the 1st instance of a jinchuriki truly getting along with their beast and taming their power at will. The same can be said about all the other kids: none of them are original. I think Sasuke's the only one who created his own techniques.

Another point to keep in mind is that we don't know what Crow, Black Ant, and Salamander first looked like when Sasori created them. For all we know, the versions of the puppets we're introduced to in canon and that Kankuro uses are modified versions of their original forms to better suit his style. We know that must be true: after all, the whole reason Kanks gave up vs. Shino in the chunin exams was because he didn't want to reveal the new weapons and improvements attached to Crow that it didn't possess previously. Up until that point, we'd only seen Crow crush a guy to near death in its grip. It's only in the fight with Shino in the forest that all the needles and poison launchers and re-attachable head are revealed. This means that all these features were added by Kankuro himself, at 14 years old. Sasori laid the puppets' bases, and Kankuro added on them by modifying them to suit him. That's something all artists do. It's not theft it's inspiration. That's why you always gotta attach any references you used in your research and studies, and you can't erase an artist's name or signature when you reblog art, or else it would be considered theft. Kankuro knows that. It's the reason he never attempted to get rid of the red scorpion insignia on his puppets, indicating Sasori is their original creator. He never, at any point, claims to be the person who made them either. In fact, he acknowledged Sasori's greatness in the field of puppetry. That's...... as far from theft as an artist can get, lol.

Also, look at it this way: Sasori deserted the village before Kank was even born, and he left these 3 puppets behind, meaning he didn't want them. They weren't important to him anymore. So, they were either left in the care of Chiyo (his only other living relative) or conserved by a bigger group like the puppet core of Suna. Then, because Chiyo also didn't give a fuck either way, they were reserved for Kankuro. Now, this could've either happened because 1- Rasa vouched for his son to inherit Sasori's puppets, so they couldn't say no to the Kazekage 2- Kankuro was simply the most skilled puppet user of his generation, so he was the most worthy heir 3- a combination of both factors. Kankuro was the most skilled to get them, and his dad allowed for it to happen. Either way, it's not like they could've asked for Sasori's permission cause he was, you know, fucking gone, and Chiyo didn't give a shit. Thus, making Kazekage Rasa the maximum authority on this decision, and it's very obvious he gave the green lights for the puppets to be passed down to Kankuro. Kank was also probably way too young to have a real say in the matter anyway.

Comparing him to his sibs, it's not like they invented anything? Temari is a very special, mysterious case cause we know squat shit about tessen-jutsu, so we can't say with certainty whether her jutsu she invented on her own or were made by someone else. But seeing as the war arc revealed, there's also a core of tessen users in Suna, similar to the puppet users, I'm gonna assume she was not the first to do it, and most of her techniques already existed. All she does is wave her fan around anyway, like that's the only thing we've ever seen her do in battle. I don't wanna sound patronizing, but what Temari does really doesn't look like it takes much skill. I can't remember a single instance of her doing anything other than opening her fan and moving it pro and fro like a baseball bat, always performing the exact same technique but apparently with differing names every time. Gaara controls sand, and he wasn't the first either. There was already Rasa and the 3rd Kazekage who also had control over other varieties of sand, so what Gaara did must've not been any different from what they did, the only difference is the sand's color. At least Kank had his own style of puppetry: his secret black technique, which entails that the way he uses them is specific to him, and only him. Sasori has his secret red technique and Chiyo the white one. Kanks focuses on trapping and delivering poison, while Sasori's technique revolves around turning the dead into puppets, the same way he did with the 3rd. Yeah, all puppet users rely on poison in some way, but in general, poison is Kanks technique cause we don't see Sasori rely on it as much. Kanks whole technique revolves around confusing his opponents to lower their guards, to then trap them and inject poison, to deliver a slow death via toxins or a quick one via iron maiden. Sasori doesn't do that. He relies more on overwhelming his opponents with sheer numbers cause he could control 100 puppets at a time from his literal titty window.

So, in short. This is all to say: people who hate Kankuro for being a thief are not only wrong but dumb too. End of the story here.

[primnroses]

Hello! I’m resending this question because I’m not sure if my prior request sent– You’ve stated in a post of yours before that Sakura is a taijutsu master/master of taijutsu. Can you provide canon evidence for this? Whether it be from the novels, manga, databooks? And also, would you say Sakura has the best taijutsu (out of women) within the Konaha 11/12? Thank you!

(Yes I received your ask but it's been a while since I opened Tumblr. I'll try to be more active.)

Can you provide canon evidence for this?

If you're looking for a explicit text saying "master of taijutsu" then there is none. I believe you can find more information here with more examples.

The closest thing I can offer you is the Boruto manga stating she has a 5/5 stars in "unarmed hand-to-hand combat", which is taijutsu without weapons. That's a perfect score.

Now in the manga, it's never explicitly said, but her proficiency in alluded to several times.

There are two types of taijutsu in Naruto: Strong Fist and Gentle Fist. Sakura's taijutsu is considered Strong Fist because it inflicts visible and physical damage.

Now her taijutsu isn't just external damage, it's complete destruction, that's why it's called "monster strength". She relies on one-shotting people or things, and defeating her enemies with a single blow.

This is from the first databook.

Sakura's taijutsu has proved to be one of the most effective in the series together with the Gentle Fist via Neji's proficiency and the 8 Gates.

Her strength made it possible to destroy Hiruko, destroy the third Kazekage's puppet, several other puppets and manhandle Sasori during their fight. It's not just thanks to her medical ninjutsu and poison knowledge that they defeated Sasori, it was also Sakura's combat skills.

Her punch destroyed a Pain's summon in one blow and saved Tami.

It was her strength that broke Kaguya's horn, to this day the only female character that punched a goddess and destroyed a body part.

Her combination of dodging and successive moves defeated Toneri's crab and his multiple puppets.

Her combination of taijutsu and medical ninjutsu defeated Kido Tsumiki, a man with jinchuriki powers.

She destroyed Shin Uchiha's organs with one hand, and later she fought him in a 1vs1 despite having multiple MS that can read and predict her moves. The fight didn't last enough to proclaim a victor.

Her punches are so accurate by adulthood that she can send a shockwave to shatter structures to pieces.

All this ignoring that Sakura has never fought going all out. Never fought with the seal active which enhances her moves and provides instant regeneration from any blow, or used Katsuyu in battle with the acid.

I'm also ignoring that she fought 3 Oto-nin at the same time, alone with no sleep and later fought Ino knowing she was the weakest kunoichi in the room and actually got advantage in hand-to-hand in the first couple moves.

Her signature jutsu is a taijutsu move that requires precision to be effective, otherwise it won't work. But taijutsu isn't just punching, it's also being able to block opponent's attacks and counterattack. Sakura also learnt evasion skills by dodging the world's strongest kunoichi's fist. That's impressive. She also demonstrated that skill.

You have all these facts in the Sasori fight plus the statement of being stronger than Tsunade.

Would you say Sakura has the best taijutsu (of the women) within the Konoha 11/12?

Yes. Unlike the others, Sakura has fights and moments to back this statement that the rest don't. It's because Sakura has effective taijutsu that has defeated, destroyed or damaged people or objects I mentioned before that proves it.

There really is no room for comparison.

Hinata has Gentle Fist, but we only see its accuracy with Neji, and those are feats that can't be applied to her. TLF never once was effective, her Air Palm was only effective with Neji's aid and with KCM cloak, and her 8T64P can only take one enemy (all these examples happened during the war when everyone was at their manga prime). No feats during TL movie, she dodged a couple of puppets but didn't fight anything. In Sasuke Shinden she took down one of those zombi humans brainwashed by Chino that couldn't fight back, and it's said taking one down was too hard on her. She is later stated to be a "master of the Gentle Fist" by adulthood when she's retired.

Tenten is a weapon-based taijutsu user that actually uses her aim and proficiency in armed hand-to-hand to fight, but she had no screentime to back these claims. She basically uses weapons to land attacks. No fights in the BP or adulthood. The only problem with Tenten is that she has significantly less exposure that the others, but has combat and defensive skills.

Ino has zero individual combat skills in 1vs1 even stated by herself. Her taijutsu went from 1 to 1.5 in the timeskip and that was the level she had in the Chūnin Exams when she fought the weakest person in the examination. The only one worth mentioning would be when she used two Zetsu to distract Asuma, but 2vs1 couldn't entertain him for long. In Sakura Hiden it's said she backed Sai up with taijutsu but it's not described what she was doing exactly or if she actually hit anyone, only that she quickly got overwhelmed. I think there's an episode of Boruto where she literally kicks and punches the air that people interpret as being proficient in taijutsu. She's a support-type.

[bliss-in-the-void]

*manga spoilers*

I just like how Gege straight up gave us that panel where Shoko goes “hell would freeze over before I fell in love with either of you two” about Suguru & Satoru, blatantly denying any allegations of those pairs being a possibility…

And there’s been nothing to dispel SatoSugu as an actual romantic relationship. Like, take another ship from a different anime. NaruSasu for example, which I heavily ship & support, but there have been numerous times in the story where they state that Naruto sees Sasuke as a brother, which is why he goes so far for him.

Then you take SatoSugu and there’s none of that “I love him like a brother” rhetoric. There’s been confirmation from the director of JJK 0 that Satoru & Suguru “both thought of each other as more than friends/family”…that really only leaves one other option, don’t you think?? More than friends, more than family…

Ships take on minds and worlds of their own, and I’m not here to police anyone’s ships (the ones I used for comparison here) but…

Isn’t that just interesting?

[writingquestionsanswered]

It's very common in animated fiction for characters to have natural hair colors that don't exist in real life (like having yellow hair if they're blond) or having hairstyles that wouldn't work for realistic action (like having some kind of hairstyle like a long untied hair without it being a problem with wind or sudden movements or a shape that defies Physics). Do you think it'd be bad to describe hair in written-only work as if it was like in animation?

Animated Character Hair in Written Fiction

It depends what you're writing, to be honest. If you were trying to pull off written fiction with the feel of animated fiction, and that was clear from the genre, cover, title, setting, character names, and writing style, you could potentially get away with it. You'd probably have to use a lot of comparison, metaphor, and simile to get the point across, though. If I were describing the hair of Kakashi Hatake from Naruto, for example, even if I said, "His mop of spiky silver hair was swept to the left..." a reader unfamiliar with the character would probably be more likely to imagine the hairstyle on the left rather than the one on the right:

So, you'd probably have to do something like:

"His silvery mane was a chaotic cascade of spiky, asymmetrical locks that jutted out in all directions, defying gravity like a lopsided platinum crown of platinum feathers."

That's going to give the reader a lot to work with as far as visualizing the volume, the shape, and the unnatural hold of the hair.

All you can do is try it and see how it works out!

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[philosophicalparadox]

Do you have any insights into how Sasuke changes his speech patterns towards Sakura throughout their relationship in the context of the original language? Particularly after they marry and have Sarada?

Unfortunately I have not watched a lot of Boruto, only clips here and there. I didn’t particularly care for the premise, and though I tried, it just wasn’t doing it for me. I have done a few lore studies on characters in it that interest me, but I haven’t actually watched very much of it. So at large, I’m probably not a good judge of their dynamic post-canon.

However, in the context of Shippuden, the language doesn’t really change a lot from Sasuke to Sakura; he just gets more sarcastic and rude in general, and that applies to Sakura too. (The only person he isn’t AS much of an ass to is Naruto. Sparingly. lol.)

BUT. Sakura does alter — albeit not the way you’d think.

In pt1, Sakura is pretty formal with Sasuke, in a girlish kind of way. She’s putting him on a pedestal as teenage girls are wont to do with their crushes, and that’s reflected in her speech as well, though she’s not actually that crazy about it; she doesn’t insist on calling him -san, for example, just -kun. For kids, that’s appropriate, and normal formality, which wouldn’t stand out so much if Naruto did the same thing— but he doesn’t, lol. First because he’s trying to be rude, then because he’s actually that close to Sasuke.

It’s one of the things that makes her interactions/feelings with him seem less genuine, in my opinion. Yes, it’s pretty “normal” for girls to insist on being polite with their crushes because they’re trying to impress them with the fawning, (which Sakura isn’t the only girl that over-emphasizes it like that, Ino does too. It’s a common anime/manga thing that insofar as I can tell doesn’t reflect reality so much.)

But ironically, when she addresses him in Shippuden, she drops most honorifics entirely. This, in my view, might have been one of the things to seriously annoy him about her while the team was trying to “save” him after the 5 Kage summit. Mind, Sasuke has never really seemed to care how people address him, but it DOES come off a little bit…odd, considering how estranged they are at that point, that all of a sudden she’s “acting so informal” about him, as if they’d been friends the whole time. It’s not entirely rude, per se, but it feels a little disingenuous, especially since she continues, periodically, to use -kun when addressing him in a bid to reinforce the shadow of what used to be there, I.e. her crush on him. Which doesn’t come across as very nice, or very genuine.

To be fair, although the comparison is a little flat, Naruto does still call Sakura -chan, during moments when he’s being cute or trying to make nice with her. It’s something you expect old friends to do. So she’s probably doing it for that reason more than anything — but it feels kinda fakey and hollow, because her actions don’t immediately match up with her words very much at all. Though I will honestly say that her trying to kill him some time afterwards is likely one of the reasons he decided to “forgive” her at all, inasmuch as that forgiveness was necessary, because in that moment she WAS trying to act genuinely as his friend, in Sasuke’s view. (and let’s not forget, he’s a very unreliable narrator) He respected her for putting her duty before her feelings for once. And yes, I’m sure I’ll get heat for mentioning Sasuke’s need to forgive Sakura, but I didn’t write their relationship like that lol.

So, no, there’s not a lot of change per se for Sakura specifically. He just gets a bit more disrespectful with his language while he’s in Mad With Grief Mode, and turns that on Sakura just as much as Kakashi and everyone else, Sans Naruto a bit. That’s not to say they don’t have different “conversations” there; Sasuke makes his annoyance at Sakura painfully , rudely obvious, whereas the attitude directed at Kakashi is more like a teenager arguing with their parent because they think they’re stupid. Which is on point, since Sasuke doesn’t know that Kakashi knew Itachi personally. So his “pontificating” about what Itachi might have wanted DOES come off a bit Patronizing and disrespectful, from his POV.

I know it’s not what you asked, but frankly it’s one of the big reasons I don’t understand people getting their feelings hurt about how much of an ass Sasuke is in that particular scene. Cause from Sasuke’s perspective, they’re the ones being disrespectful as hell — except Naruto, who actually addresses his feelings instead of trying to tell him he’s wrong for being angry. Which is what Kakashi’s argument comes off like, and Sakura inadvertently prioritizing her own feelings there draws attention away from his, which feels invalidating. So like, yes, he’s going to be a Pissy Teenager about it.

If I had to guess, though, from the handful of clips I’ve seen of them from Boruto, Sasuke seems to address his wife a little more formally than normal, but you have to account for the fact that that’s just how his own parents talked to each other; it’s a traditional sort of “casual formality” that’s not seen much except in older or more traditional couples. Shikaku and Yoshino, Shikamaru’s parents, do the same thing, so it’s not too out of the ordinary. Sakura, from what I can tell, still just uses his name or -kun in a teasing-ish way. At a glance it makes them seem comfortable with each other, but still respectful in a way married couples are. But as I’ve not watched many of their interactions in Boruto, I can’t really speak on it at large.

Also, necessary caveat that I am still learning Japanese, so there’s quite possibly something I’ve missed or misunderstood in this, but that’s my understanding of it.

Thanks for the ask!