#kakashi you are a hypocrite

[shyflowerhologram]

The double standards Konoha and fandom generally has when it comes to Uchihas, for example - Asuma’s death. Apparently, Shikamaru is allowed to grieve over his teacher’s death and be unreasonable and lead Choji and Ino against the people they had no chance against. Shikamaru may have had plan against Hidan, but he had no idea about Kakuzu’s abilities. Sure, he planned to get Hidan’s jutsu to kill Kakuzu, but without Kakashi, who got added to his team on last second, Ino and Choji would be long dead before Shikamaru’s plan came into action. Everyone supports and understands him. But now, when Sasuke is grieving over his family and wants a revenge, whole village (and fandom) is calling him a wuss. Where was Kakashi’s famous speech about how he had it worse when he offered his help to Shikamaru’s team? He never showed any intention to support Sasuke about killing Itachi, like he did with Shikamaru. He literally said: “Sasuke quit seeking revenge, even if you success, you’ll be left with emptiness in the end,” of course, it sounds wise, but then Kakashi goes and offers his help to other team for a revenge mission. Why? Itachi was a criminal just like Hidan and Kakuzu, member of Akatsuki. Did Itachi cause less grief for Sasuke than Hidan did for Shikamaru? Why was it so wrong to go after Itachi like they did with Hidan? There is no arguing that Itachi is worse opponent, but that had never been anyone’s point. The only thing everyone droned about was that Sasuke had to give up on revenge, forget about his massacred clan and play house in Konoha like nothing bad had ever happened. Another example would be how everyone says how Sasuke doesn't deserve forgiveness or happiness after everything he had done. What had he done so bad actually? Are we still going on about killing few samurai in a battle? Well, remember Gaara, who used to kill everyone simply for the sake of it. He wasn't on his right mind? Surprise, neither was Sasuke at kage's summit, he was finally going to face man who had ordered his family's death, too bad he wasn't all logical. Gaara could be redeemed for his killing spree, but not Sasuke. Sasuke, who got rid of two akatsuki members, sealed Orochimaru and put end to his experiments and torture (until konoha embraced Orochimaru back, because he was bad but at least he didn't kill samurai). Not to forget how Sasuke did Konoha a huge favor and got rid of Danzo, and I'm not gonna talk about how helped Naruto to save the world, but who says thank you? Nope, no one.

[the-real-sasuke-uchiha]

Sasuke, you are so brainwashed, genocide is good, you are totally the one in the wrong here.

[teatitty]

Straight up if you get Kakashi's order wrong he just won't say anything meanwhile Iruka is "HE ASKED FOR NO PICKLES!"

[nohara-rin-dot-mp3]

He's running through the woods, heart pounding, electricity spasming through his twitching fingers. He has to reach the clearing. He has to find Rin so that he can kill her.

It's the logic of dreams- a mixture of foreknowledge and complete helplessness that strings him along to the inevitable ending of his memory-flashback-nightmare: Rin, dead at his hand, staring at him as the last sparks of life fade from her eyes, expression twisting into-

something.

It's haunted him for years. Kakashi doesn't know what she was thinking or feeling during that last moment, but his unconscious mind is always willing to provide a few helpful suggestions.

He moves forward without moving, limbs that are too small following the script without his input, with the ease that comes from dreaming. The world tunnels forward- deposits him into-

"Kakashi," she coughs.

Blood drips out of her mouth, an off-red that is so jarringly wrong that he pauses, leaving his hand extended through her chest. Awareness of his nightmares has never helped him before, but tonight, for some reason, something shifts. This is not the same dream anymore. The forest fades away, and Kakashi soldiers past the script.

"Rin," he breathes. He didn't get to say it, the first time.

She closes her mouth and examines him. The sparks of that thing that he has never named lingers in her eyes even as she smiles softly at him.

"You really..." she says, tone stilted and dull in grating contrast with her expression. "Hah. I always hated you, you know."

It's too absurd, even for a dream. Kakashi draws his arm back, ignoring the sticky, cloying blood that flies free as he does and plants his feet, reeling from the absurdity. "You wouldn't say that."

Rin pauses.

"She wouldn't say that," Kakashi says. "The real Nohara Rin wouldnt say that. It's true that I'm trash... but she still wouldn't say that."

Rin hums, rocks back on her heels. "The real Rin... ha! I guess that's true."

She smiles bitterly.

"I am sorry," Kakashi says. The words are salty-sweet; an apology he has never given, constrained to relive the same fate as he usually is. It might be selfish to take this moment to give it- but-

"I should be saying that," Rin counters. "I shouldn't have jumped."

"No!" Kakashi protests. "No, you were just- you thought you needed to. I could never begrudge you for that."

"It wasn't that," Rin frowns. "It was... well, I wanted to... be known, I guess."

Kakashi shakes his head. It doesn't make sense. It's not the strange, unravel-able logic of a dream, but it's not true. That can't be true.

"Guess it didn't work, huh?" Rin says, voice faux-light. "Ah, well, it was my fault in the first place. For wanting it. It was the wanting that made me deserve it."

"It was my fault-" Kakashi starts.

"Make up your mind!" Rin laughs. "Either I made a noble sacrifice and you were the tool I wielded for it, or I chose to end things in the worst way possible, and caught you in the blast radius. The decision was good or bad- you can't pick or choose the blame."

Kakashi chokes on relief and guilt- this is absolution that he does not deserve, not from her, not here, when she is less real than ever. He holds it close to his heart, anyways, because he is selfish, because he wants to believe her.

"You were always such a hypocrite!" Rin says. "I don't know why I expected that to change."

"This isn't you," Kakashi says. "This isn't Rin."

The unspoken but hangs in the air. The specter tilts her head.

"Thank you," says Kakashi.

"Yeah, yeah," says Rin. "Don't thank me. I only wanted to see how things turned out."

"And how are they?" Kakashi asks. He knows what she's going to say- but even still, he hopes-

"Terrible," Rin says. "I'm really disappointed."

It's exactly the condemnation he deserves.

"No one bothered to try and remember me," Rin adds, shaking her head, tone wistful.

"I remember," Kakashi offers, desperate. "Sometimes it feels like all I do is-"

"You remember the real Nohara Rin!" Rin corrects him. "Not me. Never me. I thought you'd figure it out- but I guess you were never all that interested in looking beyond the basics of your self-flagellation. If you really want to honor my memory- stop using me as an excuse. I only did it because i was mad, anyways."

She catches his eyes, gaze suddenly, startlingly piercing. Kalashi takes a step back, propelled by some deep, primal fear. That's not right- this should be wrong, but he gets the feeling-

Had her eyes always been like this?

"This hole has always been here," Rin says, gesturing down at her missing heart. "I thought people might realize, but you're all stupid, self-absorbed idiots, so none of you thought to look."

This isn't what she's supposed to be mad about. Kakashi has done wrong by her- but not like this. The accusation feels oddly distant, because this wasn't his sin. This wasn't his sin- but guilt crawls up his throat, anyways.

"You just tore down the curtain," Rin says. "So it's not fair that you got credit for for the entire thing. Friend-killer Kakashi? Tch. All you did was look in the box. I was dead the whole time."

He doesn't understand.

The moment begins to unwind. He's waking up- but he has to stay here a little longer, because the one question he never got the chance to ask- the one thing he's always wondered-

"What was wrong?" Kakashi asks in a rush, as the ground falls out beneath him. "Why were you different? What were you feeling, when you died?"

What was that thing in your eyes?

Rin smiles, perfect and angelic, and then her eyes open again, and he sees it- that spark that he has never deciphered. She opens her mouth-

And he wakes up to sweat and dog hair and kunai-patterned sheets, the memory of the dream fading fast.

"It was different this time," he tells Pakkun, when he lifts his head questioningly. "It was... there was something..."

He can't figure it out. His hands are clean, skin an unhealthy white, but utterly untouched by blood. He feels worse than usual- he feels like-

Kakashi lays back down and closes his eyes again.

[sweetkakashihatake47]

Kakashis smile is legendary .....and I want to bite him too! 🥰

[maoam]

Naruto most likely sees how the world around him works, and it affects his behaviour, especially since he craves for acceptance.

Notice the difference in his reaction when another guy says he likes him in part 1 vs part 2.

(Sorry for a bit poor quality, it was difficult to find an accurate translation, most were viz translations which didn't convey this convo very well). In part 1 he's just annoyed, because he doesn't like Kankurou as a person. He didn't even think about that "I like you" could have certain other implications. But in part 2 he's straight up creeped out by Kakashi saying the same thing, eventhough the meaning and intention is the same in both.

Naruto's reaction to Kurama mentioning his kiss with Sasuke was also way too over the top. Like really comical. Naruto was putting on a show in front of everyone. But whenever he's with Sasuke, he forgets all about this, he is fine with waxing poetry to Sasuke, or Sasuke being close to him...

My guess is since he went through puberty he also learned things about himself and thus started to become more sensitive to such things. Thus internalized homophobia.

Take this scene for example. He seems a bit uncomfortable being there. Sai was probably made to be like this (inappropriate, talking about p*nis all the time, being compared to Sasuke, challenging Naruto about his fixation on Sasuke) so Kishi could introduce more such themes into the manga. He's rather clever about this.

Another guess (it could be both combined) would be that since Jiraiya is so aggressively straight man (to the point he has to introduce himself by saying he's not into men lol) living with him for those years during the timeskip could have affected Naruto's mindset even more. But it's funny how Kishi keeps stressing over and over how Naruto finds Jiraiya's er*tic books boring. Also unlike Jiraiya who peeps on women for p*rverted reasons, Naruto does it as a prank, and in order to practice his oiroke no jutsu. Kishi is trying to show how they are different. I remember on one discussion forum one guy actually brought up he noticed Naruto's changed behaviour after he came back with Jiraiya! Like that he was even more gay and more sensitive to gay things. See, other people notice too.

Then he calls Konohamaru's boy-on-boy jutsu "nasty". Naturally, it's a shonen, Naruto can't have a comically interested reaction like Sakura to something like that, it wouldn't fly. Thus the internalized homophobia. But I also think he didn't want to see Sasuke who he's possessive over being with Sai like that lol. And Naruto really isn't one to talk considering what he came up with later.

Look how proud he looks. Little hypocrite. He's been working on those twink bods more than rasengan lol. Kishi wasn't very subtle with that comment. Also Kishi fought for this moment with his editors for YEARS because he just really needed to write this down. It was just that important to him...

Of course Naruto's repression comes up when it comes to Sasuke as well. Here he admits Sasuke is attractive, but then immediately backpedals on it. His real feelings just slipped.

Later, he was thinking about Sasuke, his mind consumed by Sasuke, but when Sakura and Sai appear his whole body language changes and he immediately claims he was thinking about a date with Sakura. He didn't want to be vulnerable nor let anyone know about his real feelings at the moment. He is hiding behind a heterosexual facade.

But sometimes Naruto doesn't even think of backpedaling on it. He is with his supposed "crush" yet unlike anyone else who would try to get closer or maybe flirt, he is just thinking about Sasuke. This is actually a moment that made many people raise their eyebrows. Including people who didn't like narusasu, or people who didn't ship anything. Specifically because it's written like a clickbait, as in Naruto says "he is happy" and Sakura going "huh?" and because she's his supposed crush who is taking care of him as I said most readers would expect next page have Naruto say something that would emphasize his crush on Sakura. But no, he goes on about Sasuke. No matter how much ss/nh insist we see gay everywhere, many other people picked up on Kishi's writing at many points during the story. But anyway, even with the internalized homophobia, Naruto's love for Sasuke is so strong he can say crazy things about Sasuke to other people and to Sasuke himself that things like "I'm starting to like you" (a completely average thing to say to another person) can't compare to, and still be unbothered by it.

Finally there is the interaction with Minato. Naruto wants to look good in front of his dad so he hesitantly agrees Sakura is his girlfriend, despite how in the previous arc we were shown that Naruto knew Sakura still likes Sasuke, and was angry at her when she tried to confess to him. So he is obviously not serious about Sakura being his girlfriend, but he is saying it to Minato hesitantly. Yet when his dad is leaving he doesn't want to lie anymore.... but he's also hesitant about admitting he hasn't found a girl like his mom wanted.

About the last part, I think it's referring to the armadillo scene? I think it was Kishi's typical humour, like how Naruto saw Haku in makeup and feminine clothing, and assumed Haku was a girl, but then was told Haku is a boy and went "oh okay, I didn't know that kind of thing existed". Here there was instead an armadillo that somehow looked like it was wearing makeup (??? idek or at least looked feminine) and since Naruto needed to write down whether the animals were boys or girls (a ridiculous cover up mission they made up to hide the war was going on from Naruto lol) but then it was flipped over with everyone else and Naruto saw its p*nis and went "even if heaven and earth switched places, a male is still a male". I guess Kishi likes this kind of thing lol... his d*ck jokes...

I know it says "the world might flip over" here but I know it's actually that proverb "even if heaven and earth switched places" that's often used in Japanese.

EDIT: this got flagggged by tumblr so I had to edit sus words.

[doroooooooo]

The way characters behave at the Kakuzu and Hidan arc (idk if that's the proper way to say it) just shows how many of them is a hypocrite. If they catched a random ninja instead of Shikamaru going like "I want to take revenge, to bury alive an immortal, and kill a guy who never had a minute of comfort in his 91 years if living" THE WAY they would stop them.

But we'll, since it was their precious friend, of course it's justified!

Kakuzu was betrayed horribly by his own village. He didn't have his kinjutsu when he was sent to fight Hashirama. He didn't care about money yet - meaning he accepted the mission out of loyalty, just to be punished for failing to do what motherfucking Madara Uchiha and the rest of the shinobi world also couldn't.

And Hidan is literally a confused kid. He has no concept of how normal people function. He grew up seeing "neighbor kill neighbor", so he thought that was normal. He says peaceful shinobis don't exist, because they would chose fight over death. HE IS LITERALLY A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A NEURODIVERGENT PERSON GETTING EASILY BRAINWASHED BY A CULT.

They are BOTH easily redeemable characters, compared to Gaara, or freaking Orochimaru. Mind you, Orochimaru never regretted what he did, never even stopped, he just found a new thing to work on.

Also Asuma's death was NOT personal. Hidan had no reason to attack before they did, and Kakuzu wasn't even there when it started. Asuma died because he started a fight he couldn't win.

So yes, Naruto could have easily talk no jutsu-d his way out of this one.

And don't even get me started on Kakashi's little speech when Kakuzu died. Darling. It's NOT your space to give a speech, when the only thing that saved you was someone literally backstabbing your enemy. We all know how that fight would've ended if Naruto didn't show up.

My freaking overthinking roman empire is the way Hidan still cared about Kakuzu, despite them not getting along. Bless his soul that yelling when Kakuzu got hit. Also the way Hidan behaves at the beginning of the fight.

So yeah, little rant. In a way I find it awesome writing tho. Showing even generally good hearted characters to be a hypocrite when the victim was someone they knew, and turn completely OOC.

Or at least I would, but there we got Obito who Naruto had no problem with.

[notsorryiml8]

In an "OMG, wow, it just dawned on me" moment, it just occurred to me that Kakashi was literally half-blind/visually impaired throughout the whole series and not just because he kept his eye covered. How he asks Itachi if his vision's been going...then by the time the war rolled around, he legit COULD.NOT.SEE! out of his left eye (I will finish this re-watch one day, I promise. Have been on the war arc for a year because...well, life). Madara ripping out that eye was a blessing for him. Sure, it must have hurt like crazy to get it ripped from his skull and he missed the Sharingan, but what, he had like maybe a good week year or so left with any sight in that eye. Then he'd be completely blind in that eye and might as well have lost the eye, anyway. Madara kinda, sorta, weirdly did him a favor...

I just find it interesting because it was something he never really complained about. Never let Team 7 know - did let Itachi know and then Minato , Gai, and Gaara know during the war, but never let on that he was slowly going blind from the start and thinking the MS and training it really messed him up. I'm thinking those closest to him knew...possibly.

Did he think people'd see him as weak? As less than because he had an actual disability? I don't think he would because he didn't think of Gai as "less than" with his injured leg. Maybe he was a hypocrite. Maybe he didn't see it as a disability, but how could he not? He was in the hospital half the time because of that eye. A lot of thinking going on here and a lot of "maybe" and now, I'm just rambling bc it's 1AM and I should be sleeping. 🤷🏾‍♀️

He really did stay true to the lupine/canine theme in that a wounded wolf/dog/animal will never let you know it's hurt because then the predator becomes prey.

[olderthannetfic]

You know, I've always said that there're major problems in how female characters in battle shonen are written, but after going through the Naruto manga again, I'm a bit conflicted, especially with Sakura. I neither like her nor dislike her as a character, but some people critique her too harshly on some things. I think she's poorly written, but only in terms of narrative themes, mostly because she's (almost) completely thematically irrelevant. I think she's fairly well-written in terms of character; she just has an unlikeable personality. Non of the major themes apply to her (No, not even the "new generation surpassing the old" theme. She never surpassed Tsunade. With the later knowledge of how important bloodlines and clans are, she was never going to surpass a Senju, much less a Senju who's always in Hashirama's shadow in terms of legacy). Out of all the main cast, if you remove her from the story, nothing drastically changes, which can't be said for Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi. This is bad writing, imo. Haku and Zabuza have more thematic weight than her, and we hardly see or think of him past the beginning. A main character shouldn't just exist without adding anything to the story thematically or in action/wish-fullfillment. I can see this being a drawback for readers who want to self-insert or want to see action-packed scenes for everyone because she's full of contradictions. A character who is capable of combat, but in a team is more suited to being a healer and taking direction from a superior. Someone said to be booksmart but seldom able to use her knowledge in the field, getting caught in the minutiae of facts without being able to properly ably it to being a shinobi like in the chunin exams and later her failed assassination attempt on Sasuke. She tries to use her booksmarts to answer the questions and prides herself on not cheating, but the point is to cheat because they're shinobi. Ibiki later reveals the questions are nonsensical with no correct answers. The only ones who truly "pass" based on being ninja are Sasuke and Naruto because Sasuke understands the real purpose and completes it successfully, and Naruto has really good instincts for the field. I actually like how she fits within her teammates here. It's something that continues for them until the end of the series (Part 1).

--

Her personality is just unlikeable for a lot of people, but that's not necessarily bad writing. She's catty, prideful, arrogant, sheltered, and often overestimates her ability, a lot like Korra tbh--especially the sheltered part. She's portrayed as a normal, boycrazy, studious teenage girl, a wallflower to balance out Naruto and Sasuke's dynamic. She never had to travel or experience the hardships of their world to see how even her own village fails them all and is hypocritical to its own conception/foundation. She's never had to carry out a mission for the state or a client she deeply disagreed with. She can't understand characters who are the thematic cores of the story. So, when she tries to kill Sasuke, she can't even fool him because her espionage skills are subpar, and at her core, she's just a teenage girl who doesn't want to hurt her crush and go back to the past. She's fairly normal but still manages to improve her skills as much as the themes/worldbuilding will allow. By the end, she's nowhere near as strong as Naruto and Sasuke, which was never going to happen, but she's as strong as Kakashi but not as good of a shinobi. The only thing holding her back is her brashness, need for external validation at inopportune times, overestimating her ability, and lack of comparative experience (She's 17. He's in his 30s and has had to navigate more of the undesirable parts of their societies, like Naruto and Sasuke. Again, she's like an average teenage girl). She came a long way in terms of ability. She just comes off as a really unlikeable kid, which, as a result, doesn't allow the audience to properly self-insert or use her for wish-fullfillment/escapism. But I absolutely believe a girl with a personality/character like her can exist. The character writing is pretty strong, I think. It just gets overshadowed by the rest because of the medium, genre, and demographic. Bad writing ≠ likeable (Part 2).

My sense is that in plenty of shonen series, major female characters not tying into the main themes all that well is more of a feature than a bug for a lot of the target audience.

[appleyass123]

Kakashi Hatake is a bad teacher to Sasuke Uchiha

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Kakashi but there are some moments where I question his leadership and how he teaches his students, especially regarding Sasuke.

Firstly, let's talk about this conversation with Sasuke when he finds out he plans to leave Kohona to take revenge on Itachi. Here we see him trying to talk Sasuke out of it and explain why revenge is a bad way to get justice.

Now I do admit this is really good advice because revenge truly isn't the answer to solve your problems and quench your hatred but then you remember that Kakashi had no problem helping Shikamaru with getting revenge for Asuma when he was murdered.

Not only is it hypocritical but it just goes to show just how dismissive Kakashi is towards Sasuke's suffering. Sasuke is clearly unstable and needs help from not only his friends but his teacher but Kakashi hasn't provided any help from him or tried to understand his trauma.

And don't get me started on this scene right here. Kakashi saves Sakura who nearly gets nerfed by Sasuke and instead of worrying about Sasuke he claims that Sasuke is being brainwashed by Madara when that clearly isn't the case. Sasuke has been mentally unstable for a really long time, from the moments his clan was murdered he changed and became unwell. Sasuke has long planned to take revenge and yet Kakashi thinks that Sasuke is being brainwashed by Madara is COMPLETLY delusional as well as uncaring as this further proves his lack of care for Sasuke's well-being.

And this scene, boy do not get me started on how hypocritical and biased Kakashi is being right here.

At this point, Kakashi is basically projecting his own self-hatred and trauma on Sasuke by claiming that Sakura suffers from her love for Sasuke and that she only wanted to save him claiming her to be the kind and selfless girl for trying to save Sasuke. This is definetly a call-back on how Kakashi failed to see how much Rin loved him and died because of him but that doesn't mean that he gets to project that on Sasuke. This is also a HUGE insult towards Naruto too who has been risking his life to bring Sasuke back and yet this is how Kakashi sees it?

Since when did Sakura attempt to bring Sasuke back? And wasn't she the one who tried to kill him? Sasuke was only defending himself so why is Sasuke the only being treated like he's the wrong person here?

It almost seems like he's trying to force Sakura's feelings onto him and that is not OKAY!

Sasuke isn't obligated to love Sakura if he doesn't want to and all Kakashi does is coddle Sakura whenever she gets rejected by Sasuke and it's clear Kakashi doesn't care about Sasuke's well-being and feelings and honestly I can understand if this is why Sasuke doesn't like Kakashi that much because honestly, Kakashi was nothing but a dick to Sasuke. He failed as a teacher to Sasuke, I'm sorry but it's the truth.

[cloudysky-930]

I REALLY dislike the whole conversation between Kakashi and Sasuke in part one of Naruto.

Point 1)

"Sasuke, forget about getting revenge."

I'm sorry, what? Aren't you the same guy that helped Shikamaru get revenge for Asuma? Is it because you personally knew Asuma and not a majority of the Uchiha or is it because you're a hypocritical bitch.

Asuma died FOR konaha on a mission and got a funeral. Why was revenge even needed? What about all of those innocent Uchiha who were slaughtered in their homes? They didn't even get a funeral! Or do you just not care about them because the Uchiha thought for themselves and, because of this, were killed to further konahas' interests.

Point 2)

Like, good job trauma dumping on an obviously traumatized pre-teen instead of talking to him about his feelings and trying to emotionally support him. Instead, Kakashi tries to guilt trip Sasuke by saying that he has it just as bad and basically Sasukes in the wrong because he didn't respond to his trauma the way Kakashi did by submitting to konaha.

Like, look at this

This POOR CHILD is tormented and torn between staying and leaving, and instead of helping him, Kakashi basically just tells him to suck it up, which is a HORRIBLE way to help a CHILD or ANYONE deal with trauma. It honestly just makes it worse.

Not to mention, one of those "precious friends" is only friends with him for a superficial reason. Sakura would never even spare him a second glance if he wasn't good-looking. Like for what other reasons has she stated to like him for.

Regardless, why should Sasuke listen to you unquestioningly and submit to konaha like you did, Kakashi?

Especially when you had an entire lesson for team 7 about not following you like mindless little drones.

What a hypocrite.

[theheirofthesharingan]

sasuke really suffers from everyone, especially the people who are meant to care about him, seeing him as more of a symbol than a person. even itachi, for all his love, still reduces him to a symbol of new life. sasuke is never seen as a whole person and is too easily dehumanized by those around him because of it.

This is something that doesn't begin and end with Sasuke's victimhood actually. Because, he too goes on to doing the very same thing to the other people who care about him and he is supposed to care about as well.

Team Taka, primarily. They were taken by Orochimaru when they were young, who then put their trust in Sasuke, only to be used and thrown at the end.

I'm not saying that to blame Sasuke, but to explain that Sasuke had an understandable reason for the way he acted. And if you look at other characters who did that to him, they also had the similar understandable reasons: trauma, desperation, social and psychological conditioning, and lack of better judgement in the given circumstances.

Naruto, for example, gets blamed for seeing Sasuke as a goal mostly who doesn't care for Sasuke's well-being, and who thinks that once Sasuke is back, all his problems will get solved. This is one of Naruto's biggest flaws in the story.

But Naruto is also the same person who has severe abandonment issues, who's been seen as a monster his whole life, and found meaning in Sasuke's presence. So, he wants to preserve that, especially when Sasuke is heading right towards the strongest villain we've seen in the story so far. How Naruto does things can be criticised, but his intent is understandable.

Kakashi gets hated for seeing Sasuke more as a reflection of himself rather than an individual. That, too, is a fair criticism, but then you look at Kakashi's psychology, his life, and this too begins to make sense. Kakashi lost everyone in his life when he was young. He carried a lot of guilt after everyone he loved was dead. When he became Team 7's sensei, he was still carrying a lot of unresolved trauma, and it all reflected in how he saw the kids, Sasuke especially.

I've written a lot on Itachi and his feelings about Sasuke, and no one — I repeat no one — was ever placed in the kind of circumstances he was. So, whether as a child or as a teen or his couple of years of adult life, what he saw and did was a reflection of what he lived and saw.

The common denominator in all these characters is their trauma. And I find terribly unfair and hypocritical to blame one and defend the other, although I like Sasuke (and Itachi) a lot more than Kakashi and Naruto, but I don't think their trauma is invalid. It's mostly how the Shinobi world is.

[sapphic-agent]

Bro, Aizawa can go kick rocks. That last ask you posted got me so mad about him all over again.

I have no clue how Hori meant to write Aizawa. On one hand, he admits he really has no idea what the fuck he's doing as a teacher, doesn't actually teach his students anything, lets Bakugou do whatever the hell he wants with no consequences, and was wrong to treat Izuku the way he has been since day one. He even admits that he has no clue about his students DESPITE THE UA TRAITOR BEING ONE OF HIS STUDENTS.

On the other hand, he's arrogant enough in his teaching abilities to get offended when Mic calls him out for being a terrible teacher, doesn't say shit about Ida's internship choice despite knowing how suspicious it is, only gives ONE "I'm sorry, Izuku" with ZERO reflection or introspection as to why he hated Izuku so much, and hypocritically accused All Might of favoring Izuku despite not just blatantly favoring Bakugou and Shinsou, but shutting down Mic when he brought up said favoritism.

Worst thing is, everything in the second paragraph is to be taken at face value. We're supposed to see him as Kakashi 2.0 and this amazing teacher, but really he's just an arrogant asshole who if he were a real teacher, would have gotten MANY students killed due to his negligence and love of dishonesty.

Exactly, he's so inconsistent. I suspect this is due to his role as Horikoshi's mouthpiece. Isn't it a little suspicious that both times that Bakugou faced criticism from the public, Aizawa was conveniently placed to shut them down? Because the heroes at the Sports Festival and the reporters at the press conference are supposed to be us. Horikoshi, through Aizawa, is telling us how we're supposed to be regarding Bakugou, despite the fact that Bakugou's actions completely refute what Aizawa's saying.

(The worst thing about this is that it works. I suspect a big reason why people are so convinced that Bakugou's character arc was good is because of what Aizawa says. It's easy to buy into something if it's being told to you directly)

It's actually a shame because Aizawa didn't have to be a bad character. He's actually a pretty good hero, and his attitude towards Izuku's ideals wasn't exactly wrong. His execution absolutely was and he's really shitty about it, but I can understand the fear that someone who's self-sacrificing with a quirk he can't control will get himself killed.

The issue is Aizawa didn't care enough to a) actually understand what was going on and b) make the effort to teach Izuku better. So everything about him- his background, intention, trauma, beliefs- means nothing because he's not actually taking the steps to address and amend them.

Someone- not naming names- tried to make the argument that Eri ruined Aizawa's character. But honestly? She's the only reason I like him even a little bit. If we discount the light novels (and we should because from what I can tell they're awful), their relationship can be cute, even if we only ever see him escorting her around. Those little moments make him more human. It's not great (because again, they're barely together), but it does endear me towards Aizawa, if only a tiny amount

[maoam]

What do you think of this post

https://www.tumblr.com/saski-uchis/740996293540954112/an-analysis-on-sns-and-their-fans-treatment-of?source=share

I stopped reading when op brought up "the truth about itachi?" panel as proof that Sakura can't be judged for not knowing. But okay, I will explain this in more details AGAIN.

1. The difference in how Kishi portrayed Naruto/Sakura reasoning with Sasuke

Naruto's reasoning why Sasuke shouldn't go to Orochimaru: "He will kill you." Naruto is concerned for Sasuke's well-being.

Sakura's reasoning why Sasuke shouldn't go to Orochimaru: "Revenge won't make you... ME happy." And Sasuke says "I knew it (yappari)" because he realizes Sakura is making this about herself. That's why that line is isolated with Sasuke in the background.

She specifically claims she understood what Sasuke meant yet she compares her pain to Sasuke's entire clan being massacred and taken from him, and takes her own parents for granted.

Then when it doesn't work, she starts to confess her feelings (why the hell she always looks angry when she confesses?).

And then she completely flips on her arguments. So much for "revenge won't make you happy" like she cares about Sasuke's happiness. Unlike with Naruto, whose arguments were very simple, Kishi chose to portray Sakura in this insincere and hypocritical manner. This is a writing choice.

He actually says in Japanese "I knew it (yappari), you really are annoying." Notice how Sasuke always uses "I knew it" with Sakura, it's because his first impression of her being ignorant, selfish and childish was correct. So despite him giving her chances his first impression continues to be right.

2. Naruto's reasoning stays the same

Kishi acknowledged that Naruto didn't quite get Sasuke yet at this point, but his intentions were good nonetheless. He just didn't want Sasuke to die/throw his life away.

3. Kage arc and how Kishi again portrayed Naruto and Sakura differently:

Yes, Naruto reacts like this at first.

Kishi showed that Naruto did care and did understand Sasuke's love for his clan. He also showed Naruto was completely fine with letting the massacre be exposed. He did not care about how it would make Konoha look, even when he didn't know it to be true yet. Kishi wrote this for a reason. Kakashi then stops Naruto.

Sakura, who supposedly "loves" Sasuke, heard how much Sasuke loves his clan, was aware that Itachi had been killed, yet she didn't bother to ASK Sasuke, something Naruto was planning to do, why he is now acting the way he is since Itachi had been killed. She just didn't want to feel guilty about the promise between her and Naruto (because her ego really made her believe Naruto was only chasing Sasuke for her). So she decided to kill Sasuke.

Sakura then hears all this (after her failed attempt to kill Sasuke) which means that there is more to Itachi's case than meets the eye, and that Sasuke thinks Konoha is responsible for what happened to his clan. Yet she still doesn't ask anyone what all that was about because she does not care. Her main motivation was always to get into Sasuke's pants, she never cared about Sasuke's feelings or him as a person, that's how Kishi wrote her. The fact op used this last panel to defend Sakura is baffling to me. She was specifically given an opportunity here, and she just shrugged it off.

4. Portraying Naruto and Sakura differently yet again:

Sakura is given the chance to understand Sasuke wants CHANGE and yet does she care?

Nope, she starts yapping about her feelings and how things can go back to the way they were if Sasuke just stays with her, completely discarding Sasuke's desire for change. Which mirrors the confession she made in part 1. Kishi was showing how she has not changed in ways that matter. She is still selfish, and she still doesn't listen/nor care about Sasuke's feelings. This is why Sasuke calls her annoying yet again.

But Naruto, regardless of the shitty ending, does want change. He was shown over and over again to want to change things for the better. You can't possibly use Boruto to deny this part of his character.

Guess who again discarded what Sasuke wanted and asked to come with him on his journey he wanted to take alone, just for romantic purposes? Guess who later CHASED Sasuke just to be with him, once again discarding his wants?

"Naruto forced Sasuke to come back to Konoha" no he didn't. At no point did Naruto say Sasuke needs to live in Konoha. He let Sasuke leave at the end, and didn't force himself with him because Sasuke wanted to go alone.

People who act like Sakura would be revolutionary when Kishi over and over again showed that not only does Sakura not grow as a person, she also does not care about Sasuke's feelings or change.

Same way, Kishi had Shizune tell Sai that Naruto is not chasing Sasuke only for Sakura's sake. Yet Sakura still thought it was just for her, and thought her confession would make Naruto stop chasing Sasuke, and was shocked when Naruto said the promise doesn't even matter. Sakura constantly discards the information she receives because she just does not care if it's not about her relevance or her being together with Sasuke.

"People celebrate Naruto for doing the same things they hate Sakura for" no we don't, we just read the manga and understand what Kishi was trying to tell, hope this helps.

[socra-time]

Naruto Episode Comments, Ep 21-30

Ep 21:

-wow Gaara is tiny

-Gaara and Sasuke are immediately having an edgelord-off bc of course they are

-Iruka is such a worried dad

-I love Kakashi so much

-I love how Lee talks, it’s so earnest

-I also like Tenten’s voice

Ep 22:

-Lee is so fucking goofy I love him

-also I didn’t know Lee had a giant crush on Sakura

-I do like Sasuke but him getting his shit rocked by Lee was really satisfying

-GAI I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

-Gai’s voice is exactly what I thought it would be and I love it

-I need a spinoff about Team Gai and I need it NOW (yes I know the Rock Lee spinoff exists and I WILL be watching it)

-Gai’s stupid poses are incredible

Ep 23:

-aw Kakashi is so proud of his squad😭

-“Akimichi, more like Aki-munchy” is CRAZY

-Akamaru is so CUTEEEEEE

-anyways Naruto is such a fucking hater to all the other rookies

-I can’t get over Kiba casually walking around with a puppy on his head

-Shino is so drippy. Also his voice wasn’t what I expected

-unrelated to anything in the episode but the sand siblings have such cool designs

Ep 24:

-“I don’t know where the others are sitting!” Naruto says, sitting two rows ahead of Sakura

-shoutout to Sakura for being the only one actually smart enough to take the test without cheating

-respectfully how the FUCK did Tenten not get caught cheating. I can get past Ino and Neji not getting caught (since even though their powers are pretty obvious, they only have to cheat once or twice to get the info they need)- but fucking TENTEN????

-Kiba’s cheating method is potentially okay-ish, since only he seems to be able to understand Akamaru so it may just seem like the dog making little noises instead of passing him answers, but he really shouldn’t have even been allowed to have Akamaru with him in the first place

-also Shino had the best cheating method out of the Konoha kids hands down

Ep 25:

-Kurenai is so pretty and also I like her voice

-I like that Sakura was going to quit the test in order to force Naruto to fail with her and thus prevent him from potentially losing his chance at his dream, you could really tell she does care about him deep down

-aw Ibiki is actually kinda chill, I like him

-I also already like Anko, she has unhinged energy

Ep 27:

-Naruto continues to be a gremlin

-“Survival. What a drag.” So real Shikamaru

-I’m torn between being annoyed that Ino and Sakura are fighting over a boy and being highly entertained by their pettiness

-Hinata sweetie Naruto does NOT give a shit about you right now

-Team 10’s dynamic is really just Ino wrangling Shikamaru and Choji

-Shikamaru is so scrawny-looking lmao

-Akamaru looks so holdable<3

-so like Kiba, Shino, and Hinata totally killed those guys right??? Congrats to them for being the first rookies to kill someone lol

Ep 28:

-okay Sasuke kick-launching a kunai was badass

-I could do without all the tongue shit thank you very much

-I’m glad that even though Sasuke is the cool rival character he’s still allowed to feel fear and desperation, it’s humanizing and reminds you that he’s still a kid (a kid that also happens to have God eyes and shoots fire but yknow a kid nonetheless)

-Naruto getting digested by a snake was not on my bingo card of things that would happen in this arc

-Sasuke stabbing himself was metal as hell

-Jesus fucking Christ snake lady (who I’m assuming is Orochimaru based on what I know about him) is terrifying

Ep 29:

-Naruto really has no sense of self-preservation

-seeing Sasuke so shaken-up is very off-putting but also makes Orochimaru feel like a properly intense threat

-oh so Sasuke is like legit traumatized

-also Sakura was yelling at Sasuke to fight, but she also wasn’t fighting so that was pretty hypocritical lmao

Ep 30:

-I like that Sasuke says the episode title instead of Naruto for this episode

-the animation is popping OFF

-Sasuke continues to be badass and also completely willing to roast someone alive

-EW OROCHIMARU FUCKING BIT SASUKE WTF

-yeah I need Orochimaru gone ASAP

-I noticed that the symbol on Orochimaru’s headband changed to the Sound symbol, which was a cool detail

-respectfully I’m gonna need Sakura to start being more useful to the team. Can this pleeeease be her chance to step up

-I wonder if Anko’s snake shit and Orochimaru’s snake shit are related, since he was apparently her sensei

-Sasuke really cannot catch a fuckin break in this show

[quotablefanfiction]

“He’s killed hundreds, you know,” Kakashi tried again. Iruka stared at him for a long time. “All right, fine,” Kakashi sulked, “I suppose that was a little bit hypocritical.”

Kakashi’s objections to Gaara are a bit nitpicky (chp. 1)

White Wedding by rageprufrock (AO3) Naruto – Teen – Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Uzumaki Naruto/Gaara #Canon Divergent #Relationships #Iruka POV

Sandaime never had to put up with any of this crap.