#i ended up cutting some stuff that was funny but not related to sasuke which is the point of this post for some reason

[evilkitten3]

naruto volumes i own rated by how much sasuke is in them

vol 37 - he's mentioned by naruto a couple times. shows up in the preview for the next volume. 0/10 where is he

vol 45 - we open with sasuke! couple pages of naruto, one of some unimportant kumo nin (and jay. dw bby ur important to me) watching sasuke, then it's back to sasuke thinking about all the teams he's been on. cut to naruto for some light reading (books with jiraiya: this time, it's NOT porn!), then back to sasuke. then we cut to a flashback but it's still of sasuke (and some masked guy who's mostly just there for sasuke to angst at (i know who tobi is before anyone @s me). now we jump to the raikage lifting a weight for. some reason, naruto gets a few more pages, and then sasuke returns, bringing with him the panels that got animated and eventually became the Is Nothing Easy meme. cut to jay for half a second before sasuke shows up and kills his lizard (also presumably jay. rip in pieces my guy you will not be forgotten). zetsu and totally-madara-why-would-you-even-ask-get-off-my-dick chat for a panel, and then we get a bit more raikage followed by team samui (i think this is their introduction??? idk i love these three tho). naruto does some more stuff, the cloud nin find jay, and i haven't seen sasuke in nearly 20 pages wtf. the tragic lack of sasuke continues, with the only tagentially sasuke-related thing being the revelation that nobody bothered to change the locks after itachi (officially) went rogue. finally we hit something more direct but it's still just kisame noting that killer bee pulled a fast one on him, followed by killer bee saying that sasuke (or, "that sharingan dude" is probably the toughest opponent he's ever faced (rip to the three other people who were also there i don't think he noticed), and that's the last we see of him. 7/10 strong start but we got offtrack

vol 50 - this time he's in the first panel!!!! and seems to be getting his ass kicked. lots of things are on fire. we have a bit of sasuke vs the raikage until gaara shows up and saves. honestly probably both of them (the other sand sibs are also there), and the raikage hacks his own arm off bc it happens to be one of the many things that are currently on fire. gaara projects on sasuke a lot, his siblings point out that he's kinda wasting his time (temari is the only one with a good argument here ngl), and sasuke doesn't really care about gaara's problems. we get a bit of danzou and some other people who are in the same room as him, and then it's back to sasuke vs the sand sibs (+ darui and sasori's corpse) but susano'o no sells all of them which i gotta say must feel really awkward bc this is three jounin and a kage against a guy who never made it past genin. sasuke gloats a bit bc he's earned it and then sets about destroying some shit having seemingly decided "fuck this building and everyone in it" (karin not included) but somehow no named characters die. there's some more sasuke-less panels and then we finally get everybody's favorite upside down sasuke! he and danzou glare at each other for a bit before some guy (mifune? i think???? idk) attacks him and accomplishes nothing. danzou fucks off and sasuke has to get through the mist nin now. the mizukage hits on him but unfortunately her name is neither Revenge nor Naruto so sasuke isn't interested. for some reason choujuurou thinks sasuke killed zabuza which. ok sure idc, and sasuke puts up a pretty good defense until he gets thrown through a wall and we learn that all his cells hurt (i don't know if that's actually physically possible but i don't care enough to find out). the mizukage seems to be the only person intent on actually causing sasuke some problems but fortunately (?) zetsu shows up to help out (sasuke. to help out sasuke. nobody else is having a good time). the iwa nin decide to maybe do some stuff even though the tsuchikage really doesn't give a shit (and credits sasuke with deidara's death. which. bro he did that to himself). karin thinks sasuke is dead and something maybe happens with kankurou but it's not clear what, but then tobi i mean madara shows up with sasuke's presumably unconscious body (he looks silly. i won't lie). cut to sakura being Up To Something, followed by kakashi on clean up duty, and naruto on sitting-around-thinking-about-sasuke duty. sasuke gets kamui'd, which nobody is happy about, and then so does karin, which nobody but her cares about (sorry bby). obito sits his gay ass down and vents at the assembled governments, call them all pussies for believing in hope, and declares war. lastly sakura tries to balance caring about multiple people and naruto continues to ignore his ongoing bisexual crisis. 9/10 so much sasuke

vol 51 - i'll cut to the chase this is basically sasuke the book the movie the tv show the bible the play. there's so much happening here it's a sasuke soap opera inside a sasuke soap opera. sasuke's replacement tells sasuke's boyfriend that sasuke's girlfriend is planning to kill sasuke. sasuke's teacher and sasuke's teacher's kouhai are also there. sasuke's boyfriend envisions the polycule shattering and sasuke's boyfriend's other sandier boyfriend shows up with his sibs to drop some hot info at the worst possible time. meanwhile sasuke's abductor/helper/cousin/uncle/guy who helped sasuke's brother kill sasuke's family talks to sasuke's current murder target. sasuke's target and sasuke's target's brainwashed minions attempt to fight sasuke's least/most helpful family member. sasuke's boyfriend dumps sasuke's boyfriend's other sandier boyfriend and sasuke confronts sasuke's maskiest relative and demands to be released (along with sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo). sasuke's target shows off the result of sasuke's mutilated family members and sasuke demands confirmation on sasuke's brother's true mission. sasuke's boyfriend thinks about sasuke and has a panic attack. sasuke's target accuses sasuke's brother of treason (the one crime sasuke's brother objectively didn't commit, for better or worse), and we go into eyeball battle while sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo tries to figure out wtf is happening. also sasuke has a hawk now. sasuke's target manages to piss off sasuke even more by having an open mouth with words coming from it, and sasuke's brother shows up to jumpscare him but it's actually just an illusion. sasuke gets trapped and sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo tries to help but unfortunately she's a girl in a shounen manga so that's illegal. we learn that sasuke's worst chemistry teacher was working with sasuke's target at some point bc friends who war crime together win together i guess. sasuke's personal exposition machine exposits izanagi which he totally won't use to be a jackass later haha don't worry about it. sasuke's target also has a summon (@ english manga that is a fucking baku not a tapir good grief). sasuke tricks sasuke's target into thinking his eyes were still open and sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitealoo lets him chormp. sasuke's target isn't dead tho and manages to take sasuke's girlfriend two electric bitaloo hostage but sasuke really wants him dead so oops surprise break up via stabbing i guess. sasuke's evil senpai cheers him on, sasuke's target has a flashback and kills himself bc fuck you, and sasuke's girlfriend knocks out sasuke's girlfriend's sasuke hunting team to go on alone. sasuke's (ex) girlfriend two electric bitealoo has a flashback about a bear and sasuke's boyfriend tricks sasuke's teacher's kouhai and chases after sasuke's girlfriend. sasuke and sasuke's girlfriend try to kill each other but sasuke's teacher steps in. sasuke's teacher decides to try to kill sasuke himself and tells sasuke's ex girlfriend to kidnap sasuke's other ex girlfriend. 10/10 lots of break-ups but plenty of sasuke

vol 53 - ok this is scary bc more than the first half of this volume is naruto and he doesn't think about sasuke even once. is he ok. did he hit his head. what's going on buddy you can talk to me. but anyway kushina shows up and through the power of flashbacks we are given baby sasuke! who kushina thinks is a girl at first. he's only there for like three panels but ch 501 has a cover of baby sasuke and baby naruto, so there's that. we then get some more baby sasuke with pre-bad decisions itachi who makes a very sweet promise that he probably shouldn't have kept as hard as he did oops. 5/10 there was some sasuke but not very much. extra point for cuteness tho

vol 54 - naruto thinks of sasuke as a friend he's "not getting along with right now" which is a very interesting way to describe their past few interactions but alright. he's not mentioned again until deidara yells that he killed sasuke and the tsuchikage realizes no one bothered to tell him that sasuke is not only fine but probably forgot about that whole encounter three seconds after having it. 2.5/10 it should probably be a 1 bc sasuke is barely even mentioned but kisame is my favorite character so i'm giving this volume a bonus sasuke point in his honor, and a .5 for konan

vol 56 - the only sasuke is the ch 531 chapter cover. unacceptable. 0/10

vol 58 - naruto acknowledges that "madara" is influencing sasuke's hate, which seems to be the biggest reason why naruto knows he's a bad guy (also the nagato thing). he's only going to try talking to him after he's been stopped. sure naruto whatever you need to tell yourself. we get a cover for ch 548 with all three of the team seven teens (poor sakura is trapped in the middle and barely shows up in tankouban volume format... kakashi's stuck in the background too but at least i don't have to practically flatten the book to see him...) itachi shows up and is shocked to learn that his plan to give his little brother as much ptsd as possible left him ever so slightly not ok. itachi has an excellent response to this, by which i mean he tells naruto to buckle down on the lie so the uchiha family name isn't tarnished (...buddy.) and then says that he actually had a backup plan in case the first plan (traumatize sasuke -> die -> hope no one ever told sasuke the truth and also that no one immediately went back on their word and killed him anway) went to shit. of course this other plan happened to be "just strip him of his free will and force him to do what i want bc there's no way this could possibly backfire", which is now also no longer an option bc he just used it on himself. remember that whole "itachi loves sasuke more than the village" thing? yeah that's maybe not quite as true as he'd like it to be. luckily for itachi naruto sees blind loyalty enforced through brainwashing as a good thing (if it benefits him. if, say, someone had a secret army of brainwashed children and sent one of them to kill sasuke, that would be bad. but if itachi does the same thing it's good bc naruto gets to have him where he wants him regardless of sasuke's personal opinion on the matter. this is a healthy and normal way to react to this sort of thing). itachi tells naruto to never forget his friends (which i mention bc he immediately thinks of everyone except sasuke (and the sand sibs. rude)) and then destroys shisui's eye bc he can't use it against sasuke anymore. itachi says that he isn't going to talk to sasuke bc last time he tried that he failed (which. does not remotely cover the scope of his fuck-up but all right). finally we hit some actual sasuke in the form of zetsu carnage so he can have some practice with his eyeballs. it only lasts a couple seconds but he seems to be having. some kind of time. 3/10 not enough sasuke too much of the walking bad life choices zone (i'm sorry itachi i promise i really do love you i just can't go five minutes without giving you shit about literally your entire life)

vol 60 - first we see sasuke (and the rest of og team seven) in a commemoration by sato atsuhiro. then we see the boy himself cutting up... rocks i think? idk it looks like rocks. cut to suigetsu and juugo talking about sasuke and karin. there's another (chibi) sasuke in the 5th commemoration by taira kenji, and another sasuke in the 6th commemoration by itakura yuuichi. he gets another mention by kurama and then by yagura, both in reference to the kissing incident. we briefly cut to sasuke standing alone in the rain before he turns and smirks at... presumably nothing? idk. it also definitely wasn't raining before so maybe the rocks he attacked earlier were anti-rain shields or something. cut to karin fangirling over sasuke except plot twist she's actually about to break out of prison. yasss queen weaponize those assumptions. suigetsu and juugo continue to do... whatever they're doing (i can't tell if suigetsu is trying to get sasuke and karin together, thinks they're already together, wants to break them up, or wants to get them together for the purpose of breaking them up). anyway they get in a fight and suigetsu finds [undisclosed information] that he absolutely has to get to sasuke. who, as it turns out, is having some fun playing whack-a-clone with the zetsu gang, one of whom he keeps alive for the purposes of intel before beheading once he's done with his internal monologue about his ongoing divorce with naruto. he thinks about his eyes and also his brother and also his brother's eyes which it turns out are giving him (more) depression. after a brief flashback and madara unveiling his boob tattoo, we cut back to sasuke just as he runs into itachi. 7/10 he's mostly just in the latter half of the volume but he makes good use of his screentime. and who doesn't love disposable clone carnage?

that's all the volumes i have at present. if you read through all of this: why. why would you do that to yourself. do you have better things to do. i don't that's why i'm here. see ya

[forallyourikemensengokuneeds]

Blind Date Chapter One

The two cousins sat on the patio of the little café as they finished their meal. Once a week you could find these two having lunch in the city. It was a shock to both of them when they jokingly called each other a cousin only to find out they were in fact distantly related. Somehow despite the differences between them, they made a friendship through it all and dropped the extra terms from the relationship. They were simply cousins. 

The older of the two, Kit had pursued a career in research for a medical company that was based not far from where the two were eating. Lisha, who was a few years younger than Kit, had been accepted to graduated school. They were attending the university not that far away in a nearby town. They both knew the demands of school would slightly alter their weekly lunches, but they were willing to work around their busy schedules to make it work.

“So I found someone,” Lisha said at the end of the meal as the two sat back and sipped on their coffee and tea.

“Oh, you did?” Kit asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not funny,” Lisha said as they both knew that Kit was referring to another long-time friend. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you we are just friends.”

“I don’t know maybe a thousand times more.” Kit said as she laughed softly.

“So this guy is great. He likes the wildness and what not. Sometimes I think he is just like me but others he can be distant and has lots of stuff on his mind.” Lisha said.

“A wild Lisha and this guy. He sounds good for you. I happy for you, cuz.” Kit said.

“He has tons of friends,” Lisha said, and Kit started shaking her head.

“Not gonna happen.” Kit said.

“Why not?” Lisha said. “You need to find someone too.”

“Men only cause problems, Lish.” Kit said.

“I am sure I could find you a girl if that’s the case,” Lish said.

“And they cause even more problems.” Kit laughed. “Thanks, hun but I am fine sitting in my lane alone.”

“Kit,” Lisha said.

“Lisha.” Kit repeated in the same tone, and they knew the conversation was almost completely over. Neither was willing to back down though as they knew what the other needed more than themselves. It was their way. Instead of fighting or pushing each other too far, they would go silent and wait to see what the other would do.

The nice weather of fall had held out so far. Though it was a bit chilled in the air, it was still livable. Watching people bundled up while the two were in their work clothes was amusing to both of them. Lisha broke the silence. “So Masamune has a wedding to go too in four weeks.”

“Masamune that is his name?” Kit asked.

“Oh yeah, Masamune Date,” Lisha said with a half-grin forming on her face. “The wedding is for their own clique’s leader. I am going with him, but not all of his friends have dates or partners. It is a wedding, and some of them want to go but don’t want to go alone. I mean these guys have been friends for twenty plus years. They need to go.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kit asked as she took another sip of her coffee.

“Kit I think it would be good for you to get out,” Lisha said. “Look of it as we get to have fun at a wedding where we don’t know anyone.”

“Lish.” Kit said with a sigh as she looked into her cousins face that surprisingly looked like her own.

“Kit please?” Lish said. “Just think about it. I mean you will go on a blind date beforehand to see if you can stand to be near each other.”

“A blind date?” Kit shuttered in her seat. That idea alone was enough to make her want to pick up and run. Nothing good ever came from a blind date.

“Maybe a meet up in a bar or something. An easy in and out if you don’t like him.” Lisha said with a grin.

“So what is his name?” Kit asked as she eyed her cousin.

“Masamune has twelve friends and the one getting married. I need to ask him which he thinks would be good for you.” Lisha said as Kit eyed her younger cousin.

“So you want him to pick the guy?” Kit asked.

“Something like that. We will go over the qualities of them all and match you.” Lisha said.

“Why do I feel like an experiment now?” Kit asked out loud though she meant it for herself.

“I will call you and set the whole thing up,” Lisha said as she stood up and smiled down at her cousin. “Thanks, Kit. Call you in a few.”

“Bye.” Kit said as she stood as well and put her jacket on and started walking in the opposite direction back to her building. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a royally bad idea. However, by the time she got to work, she forgot all about the idea of going out. The whole building was in chaos.

“What happened?” Kit asked her supervisor as she neared him in the lobby.

“Rats.” He stated and looked at her like she was supposed to know what that one word meant.

“What?” she asked as she looked up at him, confused.

“It seems someone or some group thought that we used animals for testing and decided to free the animals.” He said.

“But we don’t use animals.” Kit replied.

“So when they realized their mistake, they decided to then hinder us by releasing hundreds of rats in the building.” He said, shaking his head.

“That makes a lot of sense.” She said, also shaking her head. “When will the building be cleared?”

“No one knows yet.” He replied.

“So another waste of a day.” She said, and he nodded.

“I can do my research from home. Am I still needed here?” she asked as she looked at him.

“A hot date or something?” he asked.

“What the hell is it with you people.” Kit said under her breath as she shook her head no.

“I don’t see why not but the police want to talk with everyone so you will have to wait here until they do get to you.” He said.

“Wonderful.” She said as she sat on the edge of the fountain.

She was sitting there waiting her turn to tell them that she knew nothing and was not in the building at the time. She started thinking about anything and everything other than the blind date that her cousin was going to set up her up on. Or the fact there were white lab rats running all over the place including over her foot. She looked down and then reached down and picked it up. While the other people in the lobby were screaming, she went one by one and picked up four of them that were by her feet.

“Either you are good with rats or?” she heard the voice say in back of her. She turned and smiled at the detective that was standing there.

“Experience with them.” She said. “For the most part, these guys are harmless. They have spent most of their lives being handled by people and whatnot.”

“Detective Akechi.” He said as he put out his hand.

“Doctor Johnson.” She said as she did the same.

“So Doctor where were you when they were released?” he asked as he looked her over.

“I assume they were released in the past hour and a half?” she asked as he nodded. “Then I was out to lunch with my cousin.”

“Where?” he asked.

“The café on fifth and twelfth.” She said as she pulled out the receipt and handed it over.

“Well, thank you for that.” He said. “It seems no one was here when it happened.”

“That might be true, but have you checked with Charles?” she asked.

“Who?” Detective Akechi looked at her.

“The camera system. It logs who enters and exits the building and with what.” She said as she pointed to the mainframe room. “I don’t know who named it Charles, but it seems to know where everyone is when they are in the building. It is supposed to cut down on time of finding people and the security of the research done here.”

“Thank you.” He said as he took off to go find someone who knew how to operate the program.

“No problem.” She said as she looked at him leaving. She wondered if that meant she was free to go. She stayed around though in the lobby with the four rats waiting to hand them over to someone. She was tired, and when the people that were hired to get the rats came by she gladly surrendered her newest friends to them, and they were slightly surprised by the fact she had them at all. Everyone else in the building was cleared to leave, and so she went to her office quickly and grabbed her things and went to her car. She was happy that week was finally over for her, and she drove home without a thought in the world about everything that had happened.

 Detective Mitsuhide Akechi was stumped on the hows and whys of why this building was attacked in this way. It didn’t make much sense, but when his friend had called him about three hours ago saying they had to meet and talk, he wondered if he just needed a break. He walked into the dive bar that he and his friends always met at and saw his friend Masamune Date at the bar talking to a group of young women. Mitsuhide shook his head.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend or something?” Mitsuhide asked as he sat down.

“Yeah. That doesn’t mean I can’t talk to other people, though.” Masamune said in his lazy drawl. “Lisha is great, so I don’t have to worry about her getting upset just because I spoke with someone else.”

“So, what was so important?” Mitsuhide asked as he looked at the bartender who knew them on sight and nodded. He needed a drink after today.

“So Nobu’s wedding is in a few weeks.” Masamune started, and Mistuhide groaned.

“I know that,” Mitsuhide said through his teeth.

“So lish had an idea,” Masamune said, and his own grin came out.

“What was it?” Mitsuhide asked not really wanting to know what Masamune’s girlfriend’s idea was.

“She wanted to set one of you up with her cousin,” Masamune said.

“Let me guess,” Mitsuhide said.

“Actually she thought that Mitsunari or Sasuke would be perfect for the cousin, but something in me said she was perfect for you,” Masamune said.

“So though you are trying to play it off as your girlfriends idea it is really yours?” Mitsuhide asked.

“Don’t use your Jedi mind tricks on me,” Masamune said with a chuckle as he looked at his old friend. “She is more your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” Mitsuhide said.

“Yes, you do,” Masamune said with a wink.

“I don’t have time for this Masa,” Mitsuhide said.

“Come on one date beforehand, and then you will have a date for the wedding,” Masamune said as he looked at the man. “What could it hurt?’

“Why me?” Mitsuhide asked as he looked at the man.

“Because I think the two of you have more in common than the others,” Masamune said.

“Fine,” Mitsuhide said as he shrugged towards the man.

“So I will have Lisha set up the blind date,” Masamune said with a smile. Mitsuhdie though maybe this would end two of his problems. His friends would stop trying to set him up on a date for a while, and he would possibly have a date for the wedding. He was dreading that though he would never let anyone know why. Somehow the idea of blind date didn’t seem so bad. A woman flashed in front of his eyes for a second. The tiny doctor he met during the day. He had no idea why he thought of her.

[recentanimenews]

ESSAY: Dropping The Weights — How The Chunin Exams Define Naruto

  Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto is one of the defining series of both the '00s and the 2010s, the original manga spanning 15 years and the accompanying anime lasting a few years after. It is a touchstone franchise that was often compared by critics and even by some fans to Dragon Ball Z when it reached American soil on the Toonami programming block. Its story of Naruto Uzumaki’s quest to not only become Hokage but learn the secrets of his past are equal parts epic and empathetic. Naruto is relatable to anyone who has ever strived for success while feeling out of place. Heck, Naruto could be a stand-in for anime itself in the 2000s, capable of accomplishing great things, yet treated like a juvenile foreign “other” by mainstream media pundits. 

  And when you look back at Naruto’s early chapters and episodes, it’s obvious why fans were so quick to latch onto the series. The characters are funny, action-ready, and layered, each one striving for their own brand of ninja greatness and each one devoted to ideals that are desperately personal. As a setting, the Hidden Leaf Village rides the line between fantastical and approachable. The plot from the onset has many working gears, but nothing too overwhelming. Unlike some series that bog themselves down in copious, plodding exposition, Naruto has, well, stuff going on. 

    These strengths of the early parts of the series come to a head with the Chunin Exams, an arc that is not only known as one of the best in the entirety of Naruto, but also one of the best “tournament arcs” in the history of anime. The tournament arc is a lauded staple of the medium, and when done well, like in My Hero Academia’s Sports Festival or Yu Yu Hakusho’s Dark Tournament, they’re a series of memorable contests that accentuate the running themes of the show while also exemplifying the struggles of the beloved characters. However, when done poorly, they mostly seem like an excuse to just get everyone in the same arena, a “Get Out Of Character Development Free” card that can be played when the cast is too big to adequately balance.

  Not only does the Chunin Exams manage to balance Naruto’s burgeoning league of characters, it thrives in the escalating counts and chaos. This is because of its disbursement of goals, a process that ensures that not only does every character have a common quest to conquer (reach the Chunin rank of being a ninja) but side achievements and inner victories. Thanks to Kishimoto’s deft hand, none of these ambitions usurp the others, and none of the characters come off as looking unimportant or especially weak. A side-effect of tournament arcs is often that they wreak havoc on the “power levels” and scales of the series, fixing the rank of characters due to their placement relative to the finals. The Chunin Exams, which starts as a series of tests and challenges and slowly advances to a proper tournament, never lets this happen.

  It’s not enough that I just tell you this, so let’s explore these strengths in play with a look into the four most prominent participants of the Exams — Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Rock Lee.

  Naruto

    Out of anyone, Naruto’s intentions are probably the most simple: He wants to become a Chunin because being a Chunin is another important stepping stone toward being Hokage. He has a rivalry with Sasuke, a tumultuous friendship with Sakura, and is eager to please his team leader Kakashi. He is the main character and the series is named after him, so he constantly teeters toward the precipice of “Everyone stop and pay attention to what Naruto is doing.” But the Chunin Exams doesn’t allow that. Rather, it delights in subverting it. 

  In the written portion of the exam, Naruto doesn’t answer any of the questions. Rather, he makes it clear that failing the test won’t block his ambitions. Along with maintaining a thematic thru-line that was established during the earlier Bell Test in which Team 7 didn’t technically win, but passed thanks to their devotion toward the betterment of each other, it establishes that Naruto is imperfect. He might seem “destined” for the role of Hokage, but the road will not be an easy one.

  This continues with the Forest of Death, in which Naruto and Sasuke face Orochimaru, a villain whose power towers over all of them. Naruto is eager to fight and puts up a valiant effort, but is eventually rendered unconscious. Naruto being taken out allows for other characters to step in and gain the spotlight, but it also shows that this will not be a case of “New bad guy emerges, Naruto gets powerful and defeats new bad guy, repeat.” 

  The after-effects of this battle last into the actual tournament portion where Naruto puts up a poor showing in the preliminaries against Kiba until he literally farts out a victory. He trains with Jiraiya, mid-tournament, to cover some of the weaknesses he’s experienced thus far and he is eventually able to beat Neji using his improved skills. Naruto succeeds, not because he’s able to 100 percent all of the objectives of the exam, but rather because he works to cover his weaknesses. 

  Sasuke

    Sasuke’s intention is to pass the Chunin Exams as well, but this goal is almost over-shadowed by the other things he has going on. His relationship with Naruto is evolving into a kind of troubling rivalry, and his various obsessions lead him to constantly cast a blind eye toward Sakura. He relates to Kakashi in ways that have yet to be fully explored and he harnesses a grudge against Rock Lee, whose strength angers and befuddles him. Meanwhile, he searches for his murderous brother Itachi and his arc involving Orochimaru is set to soon begin. 

  In short, Sasuke and Naruto are reversed heading into this arc. Sasuke actually cheats to answer the questions in the written exam, while Naruto passes through a kind of dramatic showcase of his morals. For Naruto, becoming Chunin and becoming Hokage IS the goal, and the rest is leading up to it. For Sasuke, gaining this kind of power is the lead-up to the revenge he aspires for. 

  Sasuke “copying” to progress in the exams comes into play again with his fight against Yoroi, as he is “inspired” by a move he saw Rock Lee use and delivers his own variation. And finally, in his match against Gaara, he unleashes the Chidori, a move he learned from Kakashi. All of these imitations don’t imply that Sasuke is any less of a warrior. Rather, they reveal the cracks in Sasuke’s own delusions (“I don’t need anybody! I can find my brother/beat Orochimaru/do all the cool ninja stuff I want all by myself!”), while hinting at his eventual reconciliation with his friends and the Hidden Leaf Village. Sasuke needs others just as much as they need him.

  Sakura

    Out of anyone, Sakura has the most complicated tie to the exams. Already, Sakura feels relegated to being a supporting player, both by the events of the story and by her own personality. Constantly second-guessing herself and others, she struggles to deliver on her own strengths. So the Chunin Exams don’t just test her abilities, but they also establish what her abilities even are.

  First off, she answers all of the questions on the written test, and then, when Naruto and Sasuke become injured by Orochimaru, she’s quick to provide aid. However, she soon finds herself tangling with Kin of Team Dosu, who taunts her while grabbing her hair. It is here that Sakura surpasses her original conception of herself as she cuts her hair off and turns the tables on her opponent. 

  This kind of revelation of inner strength is on display again during Sakura’s fight with Ino, her rival. While lacking the big “power” moments of Rock Lee and Sasuke’s fights, it brings Sakura’s arc in this storyline full circle. She does not have the combative skill of Naruto or Sasuke, but she is a warrior nonetheless and her double KO with Ino illustrates her willingness to go the distance, just as her peers do.

  In a way, Sakura has the most to gain from something strenuous like the Chunin Exams, which places emphasis on her skills as both a team player and a solo fighter. Naruto has made it clear that his success is outside of the bounds of what any formal examination can provide, and Sasuke has no personal ties to the rigors of the contest. But Sakura needs it, a structured push that ends up with an emotional breakthrough. 

  Rock Lee

    If any character delivers the defining moment of the arc, it’s Rock Lee as he drops the weights in the fight against Gaara. It’s a moment that would go on the Mt. Rushmore of memorable Naruto moments if such a thing existed. And it epitomizes the theme that Rock Lee stands for: That, despite extremely human weaknesses, we’re capable of wonderful, awe-inspiring things. 

  Unlike the rest of the characters here, Rock Lee’s performance in the Chunin Exams is funneled toward one specific moment. Though he is able to compete with Sasuke, his time in the Forest of Death is fairly unremarkable, especially when compared to Gaara, who is the Naruto equivalent of a slasher movie character, easily dealing with anyone in his path. This contrast is built for a reason, and Rock Lee constantly wanting to prove himself matches nicely with Gaara’s feeling that he has nothing to prove.

  The fact that Rock Lee’s Taijutsu stuns Gaara and that he nearly dies in his fight with the sand-controlling ninja is more important than any victory would’ve been. Like Sakura, Rock Lee is searching for a way to affirm his place in the world, but the way he does it calls into question the entire process of becoming a ninja. Is it wrong to push these children this way? How far is too far? Rock Lee’s inability to use any other Jutsu than Taijutsu brings all of these concerns down to earth and reverberates around the other characters. An integral part of Rock Lee’s arc is the sudden realization that the other ninjas aren’t just superpowered anime characters but teenagers trying to accomplish their dreams while grappling with terrifying, potentially deadly obstacles.

  In short, the Chunin Exams doesn’t just provide a series of cool tests and match-ups, but it examines the importance of the main characters’ personal goals. It explores who they are, what they want, and why they want it. And in the end, it reveals that, for young ninja, triumph is secondary, the main mission, often, is to survive.

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

  By: Daniel Dockery

[avenger-hawk]

What are your thoughts on Sakura

That she should stay away from Sasuke.

(anti-S*kura, anti-SS, anti-Hin*ta under the cut. S*kura’s name is written entirely in the ask, so despite being properly tagged it might end in the pro-tags. Not my fault. I’ll also tag it as anti-N*ruto, in case someone’s salty that I don’t see him as a ball of sunshine, and as anti//sns for the same reason. if you should still have a problem, I couldn’t care less)

I never liked her, she’s boring, her design is dull and her abilities are boring as well. She’s not as boring and dull as H*nata though, and she has a lot of funny moments with N*ruto or Sai so in the beginning of part 2 I kinda liked her, almost. If she existed for comic relief or lighter moments I’d have liked her, like Karin is to Team Taka (not considering that Karin has a tragic backstory and interesting powers that were overlooked).

In every show there is always a very average character, with an average background and no tragedy, for fans to relate to. Also the fact that she grew stronger with her own forces is relatable and admirable, and if she had kept being like that she would have been ok. I kinda shipped her with N*ruto by default, they’re both noisy and egotistical (and obsessed with Sasuke) and their color pattern is too bright for my taste so…idk, I liked her interactions with N*ruto, a lot. Even when they defeated Kaguya and her and Naruto started screaming and panicking because they didn’t know how to get out of that dimension, I liked them together a lot (ok I was actually shipping Kakasasu and Narusaku that moment, the smart silent ones and the funny noisy ones. cheesy? maybe, I don’t care). shipping them or not, I like them interacting and being silly.

Too bad that kishi decided to make her a serious character without giving her actual depth or anything interesting, instead making her worse with every attempt.

She’s extremely self centered and at the same time focused on others, she wants to be noticed by Sasuke, she wants to be acknowledged as equal to him and N*ruto, she can’t stop thinking about her damn self during a world war. It’s annoying and stupid, and not even realistic or relatable, unless one is an idiot. 

She’s so selfish that she decided to kill Sasuke herself when he was judged a criminal, without even thinking about asking Sasuke, or asking herself, if the one she claimed to love deserved that, or what he did to end up like that, so I see her as a narrow minded idiotic and selfish fangirl whose crush is embarrassing for herself and the readers.

Not just that. Her obsession with Sasuke isn’t even a real obsession, more like the fixation of a silly girl with a crush for the boy she sees as cool but never bothered actually trying to know him beyond his looks and attitude. In fact she seems to have lived her own life until Sasuke was mentioned again. Healthy? Nah, just plain boring. I don’t care about healthy anyway. Also, she’s manipulative, but she is terrible at it. She actually fails at it terribly, once again embarrassing herself, like when she lied to N*ruto to make him stop chasing after Sasuke, or whevever she tried to convince Sasuke to stay with her. I don’t bother bashing characters because it’s kishi’s shitty writing’s fault but thinking that he’d stay because she had some kind of relevance for him (that went beyond being comrades) makes her incredibly stupid, shallow, delusional over her own importance and having a really inflated ego, and I don’t want to waste any more time thinking about such annoying character.

On a different note, compare her fixation for Sasuke and N*ruto’s, which is a real obsession, he was constantly thinking about Sasuke, bordering on creepiness and being totally possessive of him when Orochimaru mentioned him, for example, or going berserk when he was hurt. He was also extremely domineering over Sasuke, imposing his will, his idea of happiness which meant being in the village and having friends on Sasuke, openly threatening him to break his bones and beat him if he didn’t return to the village. And using Sasuke’s unstable emotions and state of mind to point out his loneliness and his need for helt, and proposing himself as the help he needed, because he was his friend and wanted his own good. “real” shippers see this as romantic, not my problem. I see it as darkfic nar*sasu material and as canon stuff, and I’m ok with it. 

[godubaidesertsafariii]

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My hypothesis is that Boruto will wind up turning out to resemble Sasuke. A rebel ninja. He turns into a trouble maker which is as it should be. In any case, at long last, somebody thumps sense into him and he winds up turning into a hero.

There are two reasons why I state that. To start with, he expressed in the Boruto film, he "needs to become like Sasuke." This is a metaclue to the destiny of his character. Furthermore, he puts on a temple defender, which we saw, had a long, level scratch cut over the leaf image. For what reason was it so? The sliced temple defender is an awful sign in the sense it's related with hoodlums, which is "an inappropriate nindo" and this proposes Boruto may be on the way turning into a rebel shinobi.

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