#he has no idea what kakuzu is thinking at any given time | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonfruitsoup · 1 year

Note

Hi there! I wanted to ask in honor of Sasori'sbirthday(cause it was his birthdayright?): have you ever thought of an alternative AU, where he and Baki switch roles, so Sasori becomes the sand sibs sensei, and Baki would become Deidara's partner in Akatsuki. Like, I like this idea a lot. It would've benefited and given more development to all if them. Sure, we'd lose the likeable, funny dynamic between Saso and Dei, but who says they can't have one as enemies who "absolutely do not like each other" (they actually do). Like imagine, Saso training with Kank. Spending time and guiding Gaara. Underrating Temari (cause I think Chiyo said at some point that Suna is pretty sexist?) During the fight with Sakura against him. Just for her to get super string, shut him up, so now he religiously drinks his respect women juice. And give more development to Baki too, like this dude makes 0 appearances after the Gaara rescue arc, lol. Anyways, I think it's a great idea, what's your opinion?

Pd: and also imagine him and Kakashi interacting. Kakashi's dad killed Sasori's parents I think? So they can't stand each other at 1st, but then they get to know each other, and become friends as a result. That would be cool.

hello friend!

i swear i didnt forget about this, it's just been a heck of a week. it was his birthday! (11/8)

now, i started responding to this and got COMPLETELY derailed so we're gonna try again where i stay on topic haha

i have never once thought of baki joining the akatsuki, but i constantly think of sasori staying in the village and becoming a (very reluctant) teacher/team leader. my man is miserable and i love that for him.

there is this absolutely flawless piece of dialogue & art that lives rent free in my mind and is immediately where i go to any time i imagine sassy remaining in the village.

1- baki

baki with deidara can go one of two ways for me. what we see of baki when he's introduced is that he's clearly managing to wrangle these walking nightmares, with some degree of success. so, like, he clearly has the patience to deal with reckless murder children. although, he could only be dealing with them because they're the kazekage's kids and he doesn't wanna be left to rot in a ditch somewhere....he does murder the fuck outta hayate right off the bat, so like. it's possible he's willing to just dispatch of dei the second the kid pisses him off, but he's also clearly dedicated to his missions, so maybe the kid'll survive.

either way, i think baki and kakuzu get along great in the 'long suffering partner to literal children' club. (kisame, who actually likes his partner, crashes club meetings constantly like 'but did i tell you about the time he...!!!')

2 - sasori

now, if you're chill with my personal little headcanon that sassy is cousins somehow to the sand brats, then i guarantee that he will pull the 'sorry. cant. conflict of interest.' card CONSTANTLY. will claim there’s bias, and we can’t have a case of nepotism. (he says, blank faced, as if he’s not talking about the kazekage’s children)

if not, however, then i'll say i personally can't see him taking on anyone who isnt a puppeteer. he has a brand. BUT FOR ARGUMENT'S SAKE! i want his absolute fumbling on how to teach temari. i am living for this mental image. because, as far as i remember, we never see a single puppeteer use a jutsu that doesn't involve puppets. like. not once. (aside from chiyo's forbidden zombie technique. doesnt count). sassy must know how to do something without his puppets, but does he??? little tem rocks up and demands to use a fan and sassy just stalls like 'how...how does that work???? you mean you want to physically hold that weapon? you dont want to use chakra strings??? whhhyyyy?????' sassy having to learn a whole new skill set because she won't budge and she absolutely calls him a coward who can't do it and like fuck will sassy let that stand. (sand sibs learn very quickly that the best way to get their leader to do something is to attack his pride.)

kankuro is obvious. little genin kank, fresh out of the academy, starry eyed to be working with his idol. completely heckin smitten. and then he realizes this, what, late-20s? early 30 year old? spends most of his time when not training them just hunched over a workbench in the dark, filthy and greasy and gross and completely unable to remember anyone's name if you come knocking at his door. he's brilliant! he's genius! his knowledge and techniques are unparalleled! but he's got classic 'grad student who hasnt eaten anything but coffee or left the library stacks in three days' vibe as soon as he's off shift. kank spends equal amounts of time learning from sassy and bullying sassy into staying the fuck alive because who else is gonna teach him??? this is the best of the best, don't you dare leave me to pick this up on my own! sassy has an obvious soft spot for the kid though. i mean, he'll die before he ever says that to kank's face, but! he absolutely gets called out when the jonins hang out. (if said jonin has to miss their next mission due to mild food poisoning, oh well) likes to challenge kank and pick his brain about puppets. they work well together, when he's not being a pompous bitch.

gaara is probably the one sassy has the hardest yet easiest time with. he's absolutely willing to just let this kid do his thing, but at least leave the bodies intact! (sassy, no!!) if sass stays in the village, he's probably not the one who murdered the third and thus has no experience with sand techniques. like, not even by proxy of using a puppet. and it's not like the kid needs training in it!! the kid's fine! little pisspoot gaara, throwing a murderous tantrum and sass just staring him down, blank faced. kank, pleading, because that's his teacher! his favorite person! don't make him mad! i dont want you to die! and sass just, still deadpan, 'im already dead inside.' shukaku screeching about how he likes this one. the bizarre bonding over nihilism. temari is so gd done with these idiots. gaara, bringing back bodies when shukaku needs to rampage, like a little cat! coming back from the chunin exams like 'how do you get past the intense bloodlust?' and model citizen sassy responding 'you don't. you just redirect it.' sass, utterly fucking deligted to pawn off his tiny brittle garden on someone else because he hates trying to remember to water those fuckers. (sass simultaneously disappointed because now he doesn't have a supply of bodies for his experiments)

now, i think we're losing an absolutely golden opportunity of baki still leading sand brats while sassy has his own team for the chunin exams/invasion arc and the absolute EXHAUSTION that baki is feeling the entire time, but! sassy just letting his team of sand sibs do what they want, he doesnt care, as long as they stick vaguely to the script and then watching gaara get wrecked by lee and thinking 'huh, kid's probs not gonna take that well...' and then watching gaara in his little malted milk ball during the fight with sasuke and thinking 'well fuck, there goes the plan...hope the kage doesnt pin this on me.' AND THEN! watching his team stumble out of the woods at some point, beaten and bruised and clutching each other and sassy having to reevaluate everything he knows about these kids in like ten seconds. sasori, crashing on the sand sib's floor, face first, when he breaks the news about rasa, because gd, now he's responsible for these walking disasters. like. he already was, no one in that room has any illusions about rasa's parenting skills. but gdi, he did not sign up for this.

3 - kakashi

listen. listen. i am LIVING for sasori and his cricket shoulder pads glaring across that funky little shed the first round of the chunin tournament took place in. kakashi is sweating, there is so much going on with his squad, and now he's got some redheaded asshole burning holes through his skull??

sasori and kakashi, who never really meet before the chunin exams because they both pull the ‘i dont want a team’ bullshit. kakashi because trauma and a lack of socialization and sassy, well probably for the same reason, but mostly just because he doesnt want to.

this is, of course, assuming that sasori even knows what kakashi looks like. he's used to granny bitching about this man who killed his parents (valid), but he doesnt know what he looks like. he finally recognizes the name though, when someone (naruto) yells his name and then it's fucking on sight. he knows that's not the man who killed his parents, but, eh, close enough. (figures he'll get him during the invasion, misses his chance. is extremely fucking bitter about this. and then his kid befriends one of kakashi's kids? what??? reluctant guardian hangouts while the jinchuriki dorks go out for snacks and training and play games and just. uuuuggghhhhh. sassy is miserable. kakashi apologizing for sassy's parents one day. sass begrudgingly accepting it because he is intimately familiar with the feeling of losing a parent and fuck, he does not want to trauma bond with his enemy, gdi. he can't believe this is his life.)

here i was, trying to keep this short and i just babbled more haha. sorry bout that! anyway.

#naruto #sasori #sand sibs #baki #fandom time #sassy bat #sand brats #THIS IS A SAND BRAT HOUSEHOLD 😤😤😤#love them #i dont even know if this is an actual answer to your ask but here we are #also i hate editing posts in mobile ugh

8 notes · View notes

tundrainafrica · 3 years

Note

Imagine a chunin exam scenario.In a friendly combat competition who do you think would win?Levi VS.Hanji.Okay,I know the overwhelming answer is Levi because we’ve all seen his action scenes from the anime and manga but Hanji was literally as smart as Levi is strong and lets say she can bring her own inventions and has ample time to prepare for the match?How would it end?

Thank you for the ask anon! Super sorry for only getting into this now.

My life and how I’m going about my tumblr activity is currently a mess now. Slowly but surely though I’m fixing it

Anyway, I was thinking about this for a while and you know what, I ended up comparing this a lot to Shikamaru and Temari’s Chuunin Exam scene. Because if I were going to compare any couple in Naruto to Levihan, I would probably deem ShikaTema the closest to Levihan.

Cause of course, I was a major ShikaTema shipper back in the day. (I mean, I still am, like probably the only reason I still sometimes follow Boruto is because Shikadai has a pretty big part there)

So to answer your question...

Okay ,I know the overwhelming answer is Levi because we’ve all seen his action scenes from the anime and manga but Hanji was literally as smart as Levi is strong and lets say she can bring her own inventions and has ample time to prepare for the match?

If Hange was completely unprepared, I would definitely give the overwhelming victory to Levi. But we all know Hange likes to have 236643 backup plans when it comes to anything. So in an AU where Levi and Hange were ninjas in Konoha, I would imagine Hange to be the type to at least fangirl over a ninja like Levi. And when Hange fangirls she takes notes, and when she takes notes, she knows weaknesses. Hange has that special skill to be able to utilize those weaknesses when creating strategies.

Maybe over the years, before they did become Genin, Hange would actually have an idea of the Ackerman clan genes. She would have a pretty good idea of how quick Levi is, his limits and maybe she does start to realize that even if Levi is quick and stronger in combat, she still wins strategy wise.

She would do something similar to Shikamaru maybe, where she would bide her time, just waiting for her inventions to work. Levi would probably do something similar to Temari where he would try to attack if given openings.

Hange though would probably create a barricade between them, made with grenades and explosives from previous inventions and maybe a few traps which Levi can’t see past so he chooses to keep his distance first.

And with the barricade between them, Hange is able to think of how to lure him in. At the same time of course, Levi would be figuring out on his end how to get past her traps.

How would it end?

They’re both incredibly tenacious as people and they both have incredible pride. Hange would be smart enough to create inventions that last as long as Levi’s endurance. And Levi being stuck outside her barricade trying to find a way behind her trips would tire him out too.

It wouldn’t be completely farfetched for a fight between a ninja Levi and a ninja Hange to end in a draw tbh. Probably they just waited too long under the sun that they just both pass out. Or maybe the audience just gets tired because Levi or Hange don’t give in and maybe they both just kicked out of the arena and the hokage or whatever just forces a draw and drags them both unwillingly out of the arena.

Note: I was thinking about the possibility of a Levihan fight ending like the ShikaTema Chuunin exams fight in Naruto but I realized neither Levi nor Hange would have done what Shikamaru did. But I ended up comparing the Shikatema dynamics a little more to Levihange

Shikamaru and Temari are low key like Levi and Hange in reverse. Shikamaru is incredibly similar to Levi in terms of demeanor especially post Hidan Kakuzu arc Shikamaru but Shikamaru was blessed with wits more similar to Hange than Levi.

Temari on the other hand (who is voiced by Romi Paku btw) was more of the combatant in their relationship yet she is more similar to Hange in demeanor.

And I guess it’s just so cute seeing crumbs of our favorite captain and commander in Shikamaru and Temari and just seeing how some of the Levihan roles are reversed while some are consistent with the ShikaTema dynamic

Thank you again for this cute ask Anon!

#levihan #shikatema

31 notes · View notes

steeltoss · 4 years

Text

Pre Shippuden — Shippuden Era

Ages 16 - 22. This is a continuation of the events in Hokkaido's life.

Age 16

I left off on her six month mission in Konohagakure. Backtracking a few months before she turned sixteen, she worked directly under Tsunade Senju amd had slowly reconnected with her old friends, including Neji Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichi.

That being said, her sixteenth birthday was spent in the Hidden Leaf. The party was small and planned by Ino, complete with a few cupcakes and dango. This was the first birthday she enjoyed after Emi passed away.

Speaking of Emi, Hokkaido constantly worried over Ichika and often wrote letters to the younger one. After all, next year Ichika would start the Amegakure Academy.

Aside from her mission, nothing too big happened this year. Though she found out Sasuke was missing. He had become a Rogue Ninja. Okay that's pretty big but still.

Age 17

Upon her journey towards Amegakure after the six months had passed, the Kunoichi had taken it into her own hands to search for Sasuke. She strayed off the path she should have been taking to go to the Hidden Rain Village.

From here, she runs into some nasty company.

This was the first time she met Pein and Konan. And they looked like they were ready to end her.

Upon activating her sharingan, interest was sparked in her by Pein. She was spared on one condition. Well a few, but one big one.

She was to join the Akatsuki, accept the Rogue life and abandon her old life. This would mean abandoning the Hidden Rain and Ichika.

But on the other hand, maybe she could find Sasuke. She had no clue just how wrong she was. But she agreed nonetheless.

So she was taken back to the base, fron there, she met the other members.

Okay don't kill me but here's what happens when she first meets the Akatsuki: [her opinion and relationships will change over time]

Pein: Of course when they first met, she was intimidated and activated her sharingan, but being spared and hopefully brought closer to her brother, she would do anything he asked, for now at least.

Konan: Seeing her special skills, Hokkaido was intimidated but wouldn't admit so. She seems to be the only female here.

Deidara: I'm sorry Dei, but my little angel thought you were a very beautiful lady until you spoke the first time. Needless to say, she was rather shocked but admired his hair and explosives anyway.

Kakuzu: one word. Fear. This man is huge and crazy tall, also his personality reminds her of what its like to bite into a crabapple.

Hidan: she admired his dedication, but didn't like how he greeted her with “Fuck, there's another one? At least this one has a decent rack”. She punched him. And threatened his life only to find out he's immortal.

Tobi: well, he's very hyper and welcoming at least, but she wondered why he wore that mask.

Kisame: is he a man? Shark? Man-Shark? Either way, she kept a distance and admired his strength from afar.

Sasori: puppets are completely and utterly horrifying and she wanted nothing to do with this weird puppet man. Until she saw how red his hair was and her cheeks dusted a pale pink. It reminded her of someone she met a few years ago.

Itachi: . . . Her brother. Her brother, who had killed the clan was in the Akatsuki. Upon seeing him, she wondered if it was too late to leave the Akatsuki. She rurned her nose away and sighed.

Zetsu: “are you a. . . Big, adorable plant man?” i think it's safe to say Zetsu stared at her and quite possibly closed his trap around himself to save himself the embarrassment or black Zetsu threatening to eat her.

Back to Age 17

Sasuke wasn't with them, and she felt like shutting down completely. She was now at square one again. She had hoped this was her ticket to helping her brother, but ahe didnt know he didn't want help.

And honestly, you can't help someone who doesn't want any help.

Aside from her mind overworking, she now had to face Itachi as he was staring her down.

“hey, Itachi... ”

From there, the two walked around as he explained what really happened that day. She was torn. The Leaf had ordered this massacre?

Maybe she wasn't ready to go home after all.

Age 18

On her eighteenth birthday, she had spent her very first one with Itachi in nine years, and she oncr again, was crying those sappy happy little tears.

She never really expected a group of terrorists to the villages to get her gifts, yet they had.

Konan had gotten her a pair of fingerless gloves; Hokkaido appreciated the gesture because her hands were usually cold and Konan usually got things she needed or wanted anyway as the two had become closer.

Kisame had given her her very first katana, which, she undeniably adored the gesture; and she was extremely pink cheeked, she wasn't in love with him but she really liked his caring and understanding attitude.

Tobi had gotten her a mask to match his, which she never would wear; instead, she retaliated with offering to share dango with him instead. Which results in him squealing.

Sasori had claimed he didn't give a damn about things she wanted but still placed a small wooden figure of well, GAARA, in front of her; which led to the idea he had read her diary and had fully embarrassed her. But this little figure was different. Gaara was dressed as the Kazekage.

Deidara had picked her up some paint; remembering she hsd spent endless nights she couldn't sleep to paint her ceilinv and walls, and was out of it.

Zetsu uh, well, gave her a few seeds for flowers. It was for a joke since he figured she would never use them, but she held o to them. Just wait. These gifts will be brought up later.

Kakuzu, and i can't stress this enough, didn't do shit.

Hidan, on the other hand, tried offering immortality if she converted to jashinism.

Itachi had saved his for last. He had gotten her a journal and pens, as well as her stuffed panda from Amegakure.

A part of being an official member of the Akatsuki meant missions. And she had completed several, but what made her panic would be the one where the hunt for Jinchuuriki began.

It was a silent battle with herself. She had already dedicated herself to the Akatsuki but she knew two Jinchuuriki. Gaara and Naruto.

The day Gaara's One Tail was extracted, she covered her mouth upon hearing those certain words.

“He's dead”.

As if she had been hoping her life wouldn't get worse, she had already made up her mind. She really, really despised Deidara now. And she knew she would be killed if she straight up abandoned post.

However, on her next solo mission, she managed to leave a scroll for the Hokage and wanted word passed silently between the Five Kage's. She was playing both sides as of now, but desperately wanted out.

Would they believe her?

No. Not yet at least.

Age 19

Silence. She had succumbed herself with silence, almost like a vow she had taken. Deidara, Sasori, they were dead and war was coming.

She promised herself she would hate Deidara for what he did to Gaara, but she couldn't help but feel pity. Deidara was only a teenager when he died. [I think he was nineteen?]

With the Fourth Shinobi War coming, she was scared. Having no idea what to even do, Hokkaido assumed she would die.

Because I'm a lil bitch, I'm making you wait until she turns 20 for more details.

Age 20

The Akatsuki was no more. Almost all had died, and Hokkaido felt a slight empty feeling in her heart as she sat in front of the Five Kage's.

This was judgement. Would she be allowed to repent and become a better person or be banished forever, or die? Her mind was going wild.

Though, she couldn't help the feeling of ease as she saw Gaara, the Kazekage and boy she used to know, standing and perfectly fine.

“During the time of my extraction, I could see she wanted nothing to do with the Akatsuki organization. She looked almost forced to be there”.

The words Gaara spoke made her face turn pink and look away. Why was he trying to help her when she had fallen into the wrong group of people?

As if she hadn't already felt like she had succumbed herself in a repetitive cycle of falling for Gaara each day she thought about it, him helping her only dragged her deeper into the pit.

And Kami, he was so beautiful.

“and I'd like to offer that if you don't trust her, that's fine. She can return to Suna with me and Kankurō. She can build herself from there”.

So she moves to Suna and begins working on herself as a person, much of the things she had thought about was the very questions Gaara had asked along the way.

“why help me?” she had asked, the gaze he gave her was hard but he responded with: “you aren't the only one who was in the wrong. It would be wrong of anyone to not let you change yourself. I was given a chance and was once feared and hated, so can you answer this for me, do you wamt to live? Do you want to start a new beginning? If so, keep walking with us”.

And so she walked.

Age 21

Life in Suna was much different than the Hidden Rain or Leaf. Not many people would contact her or look her way for the first few days. After all she was an outsider and reformed terrorist.

Hokkaido had grown close to Temari once more, as well as Kankurō. These two, when free, helped her with the adjustment.

Hokkaido had left Amegakure behind, the ache in her heart subsiding as she realized Ichika had grown into a decent young child and chose to not become a shinobi, considering shinobi had too many hardships and heartaches to deal with.

As for Gaara, the two often spent time gardening and cultivating cacti.

Something from the past had finally been planted. The flower seeds Zetsu had given her way back on her birthday spent with the Akatsuki.

The katana that Kisame had given her was placed on a display.

Her Traditional Japanese Sword Display

The katana which is the most recognized full sized samurai sword and is often the first piece in any collection. It sits at the bottom and has a beautiful violet ito handle wrap.

The second would be the wakizashi which is a mid-sized sword that resembles the katana and the ito handle wrap was midnight blue.

Then the third which is a tanto. The tanto is the shortest of the swords or in many examples can be as short as today's standard survival styled knife. The ito wrap is black.

This is an example of how the stand is:

Age 21

The mask Tobi had given her had brought up bitter memories and had long sense been tossed into a storage box.

Her fingerless gloves had been destroyed during the war, but since she used them for swordplay, Temari had gotten her a new pair as a gift.

The wooden figure Sasori had given her of Gaara was more or less embarassing since she lived with the sand siblings and had hidden it away in the storage box.

Her panda sat on her bed, displayed and untouched except for during the night.

Age 22

Upon the next year, Hokkaido watched as relationships blossomed between many people, marriages and children coming into the world, she began wondering if she would ever have something like this in her own life. She highly doubted it.

Having been back and forth from Konohagakure, she grew closer to Shikamaru once more from childhood as she often joined the male and Temari on days they'd spend time together.

Other times, Hokkaido would stick to Kankurō and help with making puppets, she rather enjoyed painting them.

And occasionally, when Gaara was free, the two would still garden together and had began talking more, sometimes the two would even go out to the village and walk around together.

Her feelings for Gaara seemed to only hrow stronger as she had grown older, and she imagined herself having a future with him. It always made her heart hammer and her face turn blood red.

This year, she had cut most of her hair off to her shoulders as it had grown too long. She soon admits her feelings to Gaara, unsurprisingly, he was silent.

She most definitely assumed she blew it, but nearly a week later, Gaara had shyly asked if she would allow him to court her.

This was most definitely the beginning of a new and beautiful relationship.

I'll pick up with pre boruto - boruto era soon. Though im not sure if these are even good. @temarihime @thefifthkazekage @how-troublesome @houndninja

16 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 4 years

Text

FEATURE: The Best Naruto Shippuden Fight Doesn't Include Naruto

This article written by Jared Clemons was originally published on May 22, 2020

If you’ve ended up watching enough Naruto, you’ll begin to pick up on the overall style of the show. The way the characters look, how they animate, the specific colors used throughout the series, there’s a certain way that Naruto and Naruto Shippuden look through their combined first 300 episodes. On rare occasions, that style switches to help showcase a big fight, such as early on against Zabuza and Haku, Rock Lee vs. Gaara, and in Shippuden when the Leaf takes on Hidan and Kakuzu, Sasuke vs. Deidara, and others further in the series. This fluid animation style alters how the characters look and move, while also using more of a muted color scheme. Most notably, this is usually thanks in part to episodes that Hirofumi Suzuki worked on as the animation director.

One episode that Suzuki worked on that sticks out by subverting the regular formula of Naruto is Episode 82 of Shippuden, "Team Ten." It’s not an episode that features any big fights, nor are there really any big conflicts between characters here. Instead, we see the inner turmoil that Shikamaru is facing following the death of Asuma. He’s skipping out on his funeral and just seems lost after the previous mission went horribly wrong. So, instead of creating another episode of Shippuden that is the same formula as everything else, Suzuki and the rest of the production staff decided to go in a different direction — one that is more likely to be seen on the big screen, rather than in television.

Given the highly emotional aspects of where the story is, the episode does a lot to make you feel uncomfortable — to get you into the same headspace as Shikamaru — and at times almost makes the viewer seem like a voyeur. We’re essentially going through the same process as Shikamaru as we see him tell Kurenai about Asuma’s death, relay that to people in town, figure out his own emotions about what happened, and then come back from the brink and find a way to stand tall again.

In order to truly get into Shikamaru’s mindset for this episode, the pacing slows to a halt. Everything is laborious and with a certain purpose to it. This is the kind of pacing and style you’d most likely see from a Naruto film or a more serious drama series rather than what you’d expect from a shonen series. It would be hard to pull off what this episode wants to force the viewer to witness if it was the same package that every other episode of Naruto Shippuden is. In order to pull viewers in and let them immediately know that something is wrong, you’ve got to disrupt their normalcy and their perception of what the series is.

Throughout the episode, if you’re watching for the first time or just trying to pay attention to figure out what’s different, you’ll notice a few things. Most notable to me was the lack of camera movement. Shonen series and anything with action will rely on camera movement to make episodes have a fast pace to them. Instead, here we get only four shots that feature any sort of movement. Each one is incredibly slight as well. They’re not quick but are slow and subtle to where you can easily miss them. In fact, the first bit of camera movement doesn’t occur until nearly halfway through the episode, which seems striking for this series. Instead, we get a lot of cuts and shots that linger long enough that it begins to feel uncomfortable.

One of the more striking shots in this episode is when Shikamaru and his father, Shikaku, play shogi together. There are cuts between the two as they begin to play, but then the camera goes to a side angle of the two playing and going back and forth with their moves. You’d think that eventually there would be cuts to each character as they place their moves and with Shikaku trying to tell Shikamaru why he shouldn’t beat himself up over what happened. Instead, the shot lingers. For two whole minutes. That’s not something that occurs in most series that are relegated to 24 minutes of air time. After all, camera cuts help keep the pace up and give viewers something new to look at. Yet, it fits the overall tone and style of this episode. You start to see Shikamaru’s emotions begin to get the better of him from this shot alone, and it’s able to tell that story in a better way than it would have if it was just the camera cutting between Shikamaru and Shikaku.

That scene, and those two minutes spent looking at their shogi game, leads up to Shikamaru finally being able to break down. This brings up another strange aspect of this episode: This scene is the first time we hear any music in the episode and again, we’re nearly halfway through. Before, you’d hear a lot of natural sounds such as insects humming or the chatter of people in the streets as Shikamaru wanders through the town. Even with the addition of music for this brief instant, it’s again subtle and not overpowering. It’s another aspect of something that you could easily gloss over as it comes and goes very quickly. That might seem as if it doesn’t really fit the emotional nature of this scene given that Shikamaru begins to cry and wail in this room they were playing in, but it absolutely fits because the music is just giving the viewer the slight push to tell them this is emotional. That doesn’t need to overpower the scene when you’ve got a character letting out deep emotional pain at the same time.

Perhaps this is why Suzuki and the rest of the production staff were tapped for this episode. Their style of animation that has worked so well for some of the biggest fights in the series works its magic for truly showing the emotional pain a character is going through. You’re able to see the pain and trauma rise up through Shikamaru’s face and then break through the levy as he’s finally able to let out all of his emotions and cry. His face distorts in realistic ways that wouldn’t have been the same if it was in the traditional animation or style. It’s the same kind of realistic expression that you would also have if you were in his situation, which of course is what the episode is trying to make you do. Become emotional and cry alongside Shikamaru.

One of the biggest takeaways I had from this episode is how much Suzuki and the team’s style reminded me of Naoko Yamada’s way of directing. Yamada’s work on K-ON and specifically Liz and the Blue Bird are very similar to what we see in this episode. There’s a lot of lingering shots, little camera movement, and relying more on cuts to showcase what’s happening — and a soundtrack that isn’t overemphasizing what’s happening. You truly get to see what these characters go through, which is an aspect of directing that Yamada accentuates as she’s said she likes to “watch people” and “get into the minds of the characters.” Those are definitely part of what makes this episode of Naruto Shippuden work so well. You’re truly able to dive into Shikamaru and see what he’s going through, how he’s able to figure out what to do next, and then act upon it.

The rest of the episode sees how Shikamaru is able to find an answer that gives him the drive to go out and finish the original mission and avenge Asuma. The pacing is still slow and methodical, but by the time we reach the end and Team Ten announces their plans to head out on their next mission while Tsunade tries to stop them, we begin to move back into the regular style of Shippuden as the music begins to take hold in a way you’d normally expect. In a way, this episode is able to pump the brakes on the whole pacing of the show, but then softly begins to accelerate by the end that lets you ease back into what you’d expect from the series.

There’s truly no way you could do this kind of episode for a series as big as Naruto every week. Obviously, it’d take too long to maintain this kind of quality for 500 episodes, so you’d have an episode a month at best, but also the charm of these subversions to the series would wear off rather quickly. Instead, you’d have fast-paced, action-packed episodes that would serve as that. “Team Ten” is a special episode and one that rewards people for sticking with the series as it lets you truly see everything from a different perspective, from pacing, style, character development, to storytelling. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t one of the absolute best parts of the series and should be recognized in the same way that the best fights of the series are.

What are some of your favorite episodes that seem to try and shake up the status quo of Naruto? Let us know down in the comments below!

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup where he can be found always wanting to talk about Love Live! Sunshine!! or whatever else he's into at the moment. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

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

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

3 notes · View notes

keepyourpantsongohan · 5 years

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs Naruto Shippuden S20 (Pt. 3)

I wonder if going after Karin’s Tsukuyomi bulb was happenstance or whether Tobirama went “I smell an Uzumaki” and had at it

“Just be quiet for a bit” How dare you speak to your father this way Sasuke, Kakashi does nothing but love you

“EVERYONE WILL OWN A DOG. GO GET A DOG, HOKAGE’S DECREE!“ you’ve got my vote, Kiba

Mirai as a baby is an absolute unit and I love it

Shikamaru, getting down on one knee in front of Temari: Will you not marry me?

You know what. All these dreams are extremely realistic. I buy it. A teenage boy would totally dream about kicking his friends’ asses for fun even if he had the opportunity to do anything in the world. 10/10 believability

Sai dreams about being told he has a nice smile and being twirled around by Naruto my boooooy 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“[My Sasori transformer] will be the guardian deity of the Sand” Kankuro pls

Omg Temari’s dream is so cute she wants her little brothers to need her

God the fact Gaara’s dream is about having a happy childhood PICK UP THE PHONE RASA I JUST NEED TO TALK

“Madara, don’t you dare talk about the Uchiha. The only one who has that right, is my big brother.” But he did... murder them, Sasuke. That is a thing that happened. My dear. My dude. He done did it.

Having read Itachi Shinden none of this should be shocking but FUGAKU REALLY YOUR SON IS FOUR WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

“Listen Itachi, never forget this sight” well he sure won’t now that you’ve given him CHILD PTSD FUGAKU

“We finally have peace, and we must do our best to maintain it” Hmmm.... must you, Fugaku? Is that a thing you must do?

“What is life, anyway?” Damn my existential dread didn’t kick in at least until I was in school, Itachi

Sasuke was such a weird-looking newborn I love him

I wonder how the English dub will deal with the mild implications of inc/est between Itachi and Izumi

Please Mikoto your son is like 6 why are you having him babysit

God I am so used to every version of Itachi having the voice of a grownass man that hearing a child-like voice even when he is 6 is almost off-putting lmao

Full offence Obito but why do you have to be such a little bitch

“Oh good, I knew that you’d be alright” HE’S 6 FUGAKU

Why is Naruto just sitting in a basket on top of his father’s grave??? Who let you do this? Hiruzen what is wrong with you??

“I’m glad that you didn’t die” an accurate representation of Itachi’s social skills at all ages

DFhsdjfhkdsjhfk I love that Itachi has accidentally become these kids’ leader

AHHHHH I guess that’s Hana next to Itachi I wanna see the cat ninja and dog ninja fight

“If the fighting can be stopped, I’d like to stop it” Shisui <3

Itachi’s sweet tooth is so goddamn cute ahhhh what a little nerd

Hhgfkhjfhl SASUKE’S PAW ENCYCLOPEDIA THE PREQUEL THIS IS WHAT I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED

“I mean, [ladies] are clueless” “How dare you insult my woman” Turns out the alcohol this cat was drinking was Respect Women Juice

God I love Minazuki-sensei he’s such a mess

“No they blew away in the wind” guess Itachi hasn’t picked up his snitching tendencies yet lmao

Baby Sasuke has acquired a younger voice too I guess. It is real late in the game to be establishing these lmao

Obito. I’m. Stop???? Please. Is this how Kakashi felt during the war

God I love Shisui the tiny ninja detective they really have left off some of the cooler aspects of being a shinobi in all the wild and flashy jutsu like during the Land of Waves arc when Kakashi kept noticing relatively mundane clues

“Shisui picked up on how I felt right from the beginning” welcome to empathy Itachi

“I’ll hand this intel over to Lord Hokage, and he will deliver a just and fair judgment” I like this ANBU vs. ROOT dichotomy but bold of you to assume Hiruzen won’t ultimately let Danzo do whatever he wants lol

Damn what the shit how does Shisui know who the foundation already isn’t he like 12

The animation of this arc is nice but also so weird they really did make Itachi and Shisui’s eyes like half of their face

These wholeass adults getting between by two prepubescents lmao

“A teleportation jutsu has no mass” wait WHAT I have so many questions Shisui what does that MEAN

“I want to you to think of me as your older brother” HELL YEAH HE DOES

Ffgdfkghkjh what an abrupt voice change between age 8 and 11 Itachi

How many times have they animated these same goddamn Itachi scenes

Holy shit it’s like they tried to tell the story of the Itachi Shinden novels and then got bored halfway through gfkhgfkhgkjh

“I’m exhaAAAUsted from my mission” Itachi pls why say it like that

“You have the Mangekyo as well?” Fugaku had a friend???? Unrealistic. Blocked

THEY KIDNAPPED NARUTO??? I DON’T REMEMBER THIS IN ITACHI SHINDEN

Genjutsu but I don’t remember that either ?!?!?! Doesn’t Fugaku spend all of Itachi Shinden being emotionally distant and sending Itachi mixed moral messages

Who is the Fugaku hater on this storyboard staff lmao I’m crying

I have a lot of thoughts about this art direction honestly why is everything in the shadows why are the character models so weird why is Itachi suddenly outside in the lightning for his murder discussion meeting instead of inside the council room if you had to shout over lightning people could hear you

“I challenge you to the high jump” “You’re no match for me” Sasuke you’re the most obnoxious seven-year-old in the world I love it

“There’s something that I’d like you to help me with” a very casual opener when you’re proposing the murder of your entire clan but okay

They really leaned into the horror movie aesthetic huh fair enough

I have some objections to register about Izumi’s death like both options are weird but at least in Itachi Shinden she wasn’t humiliated by Obito begging for Itachi to save her she had a degree of awareness and it was an impactful if strange scene

FUCK THE TOBI VOICE I KNEW IT WAS COMING BUT I’M WHEEZING

Cute new ED but also the idea of Tobirama giving anyone a fistbump amuses me immensely

“Who would’ve thought that that scuzzy bearded jerk would’ve been able to use a taijutsu like that” RUDE but also ‘scuzzy’ jhfjghkjhfgj

Omg that’s so funny they literally gave the former owner of Zabuza’s blade the same voice

This doesn’t make any fucking sense how could Juzo have the executioner’s blade when Zabuza would be like 21 when Itachi was 13 oh my god

“The Hidden Mist doesn’t keep any prisoners” unsurprising but interesting

Is this meant to imply that Juzo is killed and then Zabuza immediately finds the sword and starts a coup because that’s hilarious

Wait how does them fighting the Mizukage make any sense isn’t Yagura under Obito’s control lmao who wrote this

Did Itachi just.... accidentally cripple the Mizukage omg [Zabuza screams in the distance]

Hahahaha I know it’s supposed to be evil but it’s really funny that Kakuzu killed his partner for being too slow

“I wouldn’t know how to cater to your moods” kjfhgkdhfgjh Kakuzu just got wrecked by a thirteen-year-old LMAO

“I’m not sure what to do with you... whether to kill you right now or find a way to use you” KILL OROCHIMARU, ITACHI, IT’S GONNA SAVE YOU A LOT OF TROUBLE

Why the hell would Kabuto be hanging out near the Akatsuki anyway isn’t he in a long term infiltration of the Leaf Village lmao or can Orochimaru summon him like a snake

On what basis does Pain decide these partnerships did Kisame and Sasori take a babysitting course or smth

The cutaway without the “This... is art” scene is almost funnier because it implies Itachi just had to flash his eyes at Deidara and Deidara was like, “HELLO AKATSUKI I AM HERE”

“I wouldn’t mind giving you a taste of my art” [insert ninja sex joke about Deidara’s mouth hands here]

Deidara really should not be old enough to be here by this point in the narrative but this entire arc has been wacky timeline wise

Man it must be fucked up to fight a puppet version of your own corpse

“What I really wanted... was to get a hold of Itachi’s body” you are the definition of stranger danger Orochimaru

From what I remember the video games had Kakuzu and Orochimaru approaching Hidan and not Konan and Itachi but I’m game for any Orochimaru erasure lmao

I’m pretty sure all of that blood was Hidan’s?? World-building whomst

“He licked Kakuzu’s blood” did he though?? Show me his wound Itachi

OMG they’re really heavy-handed with Leaf!Itachi as if we did not just watch a bunch of episodes of Itachi caring about his village like honestly look at this:

Kisame: So even you have feelings for your birthplace, is that it?

Itachi: No. Not at all. [Sasuke, I hope that you’re safe.]

(Me too Itachi 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭)

“It’s been a long time... Saaasuke” could you say his name a little less weirdly please Itachi

You really can’t get mad at Kakashi for teaching Sasuke chidori Itachi like maybe if you would murder less people Kakashi would feel a little less overprotective

God was the only point of animating and voicing these scenes again so that Itachi could mentally apologize every twelve seconds? You know what fair enough, anxiety and depression be like that sometimes

“You still have people who’ll protect you” Oh plot twist Itachi was actually writing a “Nice” list instead of a “Naughty” list and Kakashi, Jiraiya and Naruto are all on it

Oh yeah I kind of forgot that this was all supposed to be like a 5 minute span for Sasuke’s flashback of Itachi’s entire life lmao

You know.... it’s real unclear to me how Obito wakes up from his trance lmao he may not be in a cocoon but he’s certainly exposed to the light

“Be careful. We’re surrounded on all sides by four of his shadows” “Yeah I know that” Yeah, Naruto knows it, but Sasuke’s warning where the Shadow Madaras are entirely for Kakashi and Sakura’s benefit BC HE WORRIES MY BABY BOYYYY

“This chakra is even way stronger than Ten-Tails” I really heard “Tenten” there and I was like, wait what did I miss with Tenten kfhkjhgkjhg

OH GOOD ANOTHER UCHIHA FLESH MOUNTAIN JUST WHAT WE NEEDED

“They’re turned into White Zetsu” I hate this nonsensical bit of world-building it made more sense and felt less weird when they were Hashirama clones like what the fuck

Oh I can’t believe this is making me feel almost bad for Madara did Zetsu really edit the Uchiha Stone Tablet’s Tsukuyomi section to say “Peace Plans” ain’t that how like the CIA entraps people

“Hashirama... where did I go wrong” We’d need a lot more time than you have to unpack that Madara

“Countless nights passed” I mean. Was it countless nights. Because I think it was. A couple hours. This war arc spans like two days. I have spent more human hours on this arc than they’ve spent ninja hours in this war

“I can’t believe such a person existed” neither can I Sasuke it’s almost like she was invented specifically for this arc

For real Obito no offence but like why aren’t you dead it just doesn’t make much sense khkjfdhkjhgkjh

Hmmm not 2 be that gal but Kaguya’s voice is v pleasant on the ears

“Sorry to be so rough with you, Obito” Kakashi. You loving, kind, dumb bitch. He stabbed you THREE TIMES in the past two days you really owe him like -1000 apologies

“This is also one of those times where your body just moves on its own” SASUKE CALLED OUT FOR LOVING HIS COMRADES

“I’ve got to get to Naruto” I love your dedication Minato but I feel as though the loss of both of your arms makes helping more difficult

Kakashi is not NEARLY as surprised about this levitation thing as he should be. I think as this point he’s just like. ‘This might as well happen’

All other things aside Kaguya’s really fun to look at damn

Okay okay okay not to look for too much logic in this ninja show but don’t both Naruto and Sasuke have Six Paths chakra why can only Naruto float is a metaphor for Sasuke’s fall from grace

“I am Kaguya’s child” I can only imagine a Game of Thrones-eque shadow flying out the hooha situation

“Just before the seal took hold, she gave birth to me, in order that she could be restored” I can only assume Kaguya fucked Bitterness and Regret and you know.... fair enough

I gotta tell you Zetsu being the primary narrator of this arc is jarring

Tenji seems kinda nice it’s a shame something terrible will probably happen to him

Say what you will about SP’s animation inconsistencies they can animate some beautiful-ass skies

“Is there anything that you desire” Get u a man like Tenji

Fellas is it gay to sit under the stars with your handmaiden who adores you in comfortable silence

“Even now you’re not scared. That just makes me like you more” take a shot every time a man is Like That (bah dum tss)

“Do Not Touch Me,” wow Kaguya mood

I will clarify I said that BEFORE she exploded the men gkhkjfhgkhh

Tenji, that Aino lady is your subordinate are you really gonna leave her with the creepy That man u are not the man I thought you were

“Just tell him, and I’m sure that Lord Tenji will forgive you” to be fair Aino you could’ve elaborated u were just like ‘yup she killed them’ and left it at that

WOW I RESCIND ALL COMPLIMENTS TO TENJI CALM DOWN DUDE

When life gives u lemons use people as fertilizer for ur infinite lemon tree I guess

Are you telling me 1) Gamamaru has existed since the DAWN OF CHAKRA and 2) He knew all about this Tsukuyomi shit just like. Kept it on the DL. WHAT KINDA WORLD-BUILDING

Okay but for real did the Otsutsuki clan stem like.... all the clans, because there’s the Kaguya clan (through Hamura I guess?), and the Hyuga clan definitely through Hamura, and then the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki through Hagoromo like just how many people did your kids sleep with and for that matter how long ago was this

“A real talking toad! Think people would like it if we caught it and took it home?” Why are Hagoromo and Hamura the cutest things in the world this is the sibling content we deserve

“You’re just a snake oil salesman, and not a very good one” oh I think I love Hamura oh no I would love a character who gets stuck on the moon

Take a shot every time a woman exists to die and make a man sad

“She fell in love with the ruler of this land and in time she became pregnant with the two of you” notice that at no point does Gamamaru say they got married can u believe Kaguya invented premarital sex

You know none of this goes against mine and Sloane’s Kagumo theory

“How can you see so far into a toad’s heart that clearly” Gamamaru and Hagoromo’s interactions are killing me

How much time has passed for Hamura’s hair to grow that long

Hamura @ Kaguya: BROTHERS BEFORE MOTHERS

HOW MUCH TIME HAS PASSED FOR HAGOROMO TO DEVELOP THIS BROW RIDGE SAGE LAND TAKES A TOLL

Tenji doesn’t even appear in this flashback about love and betrayal it’s just Kaguya being bitter bc her gal Aino died they were in lesbians together

Every so often I’m reminded that Kishimoto has a twin brother and I wonder what he thinks about making the twins fight

“You enabled me to awaken the mangekyo sharingan and rinnegan” how do u even have words for those things. Didn’t they just happen right this moment

Wow this is all very Little Shop of Horrors, Momma feeds the tree with people juice and in turn it wants to protect her from harm

“I split the Ten Tails into nine souls” SOULS? HAGOROMO CAN... JUST MAKE SOULS. COULD HE POINT AT GAMAMARU AND SAY “YOU ARE TWO FROGS NOW” AND THAT’D JUST BE TRUE?

“We won’t be that far apart,” said Hagoromo, just as his brother was about to teleport to the moon

Side note: Maybe ur crops were failing bc without the moon the tides are all out of whack and you know, the moon was apparently just invented right now

“Time passed, and so did Hagoromo” I love this particular literary device

“Time after time I’d approach the reincarnates of Indra and Ashura” okay so we’re supposed to be down for not only regular reincarnation in Naruto but Indra and Ashura ONLY BEING BORN TO THE SENJU AND UCHIHA CLANS REPEATEDLY WHAT WHO WROTE THIS

Does this mean that people Naruto and Sasuke every 50 years????You’d think the Land of Fire would just. Get used to it

“Just with that alone, a thousands years passed” well at least we have some idea of how much time it’s been since Kaguya era lmao

Ur telling me that this horseshit happened bc Tobirama doesn’t know to leave dead bodies well enough alone

SHHHHH I PREFER THE ZETSU BEING WEIRD HASHIRAMA CLONES

This montage of Zetsu taking credit for everything Madara and Obito did is not appreciated lmao take some responsibility for your actions!!!!

I’m gonna keep harping on this for the rest of the war honestly like where is the ACCOUNTABILITY

“So your teen rebellion continues” LMAO UR NOT WRONG

“I know that this could be our last hurrah, but we gotta give it our best shot” not much of a plan Naruto sweetheart but fair

Tag urself I’m Kakashi’s look of despair at his hormonal students

“And Sasuke? Sorry that my sexy jutsu didn’t work” I was not prepared for the sincerity with which that line was delivered

The Sad Old Man™ energy radiating off Obito is... Immense

“We’re all ready to die” R U THINKING OF RIN BC SHE WAS READY TO DIE OR BC UR READY TO SEE HER EITHER WAY IT’S SAD KAKASHI

“I want to thank you for helping me out. And for helping Sasuke” “No, there’s no need to thank me” this is the first time Obito has been right about something since the age of 13

“I’m not going to waste time on speeches,” said Obito, in the middle of a dramatic speech

Minato..... how did you chop the branch.... with no hands to pick up a kunai???????? What kind of yoga contortion was involved

What I imagine the subtext of this scene to be:

Hagoromo: New old son!!!! I am dad now

Hashirama, whose dad was Butsuma: [choking back tears] Okay

Tobirama: I also hate our father

They’re all taking to this “demi-god pops out of the bottom half of dead ex-comrade” thing pretty well but to be fair they’ve had a complicated day

#ayesha liveblogs nahruto shipduden #liveblogging #ayesha talks anime #naruto series #long post #cutting it off here bc it got long #free meee eng dub

36 notes · View notes

yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy · 6 years

Text

TBH I think Orochimaru's obsession with developing and discovering new jutsu is just a byproduct of his desire for immortality at any cost, and that his views of self-serving immortality was a gradual logical conclusion for him than an innate one.

Early Years

He was orphaned as a child and showed a desire to see his parents again. Hiruzen commented that the shed snake skin on his parents' graves is a symbol of rebirth and rejuvenation, and so Orochimaru naturally took that to heart and it became a motif of his fighting style and abilities. He grew up to see Jiraiya, despite being a fool, as a comrade, and he greatly respected Tsunade's chakra control and spirited nature (Orochimaru is far from a misogynist in any respect) as well as her ability to put Jiraiya in his place when he got too goofy. Orochimaru took Tsunade's little brother Nawaki under his wing, or at least doted on him as a friend of the Senju family or like an uncle. He was his sensei, so at least in an official capacity he had responsibilities toward him, responsibilities that were not inherently self-serving. And so he had at least four people (Hiruzen included) upon which he could say he was close to.

Nawaki's Death

While Orochimaru was a quietly confident, reserved, and cagey individual in his early years, Nawaki's horrible death shook him as much as it did Tsunade. For the first time since the death of his parents, he felt an emptiness and sorrow that he was unable to properly fix the source of. He was powerless to reverse death then as a child as he was in that moment while watching Tsunade sob uncontrollably over her little brother's body. He was not one for tears, he was not one to feel despair in the capacity that everyone around him seemed freely able to do, but in his own way he felt it. The fragility of life, the ease in which people can pass away, and the finality of mortality -- pointless, it was pointless. And so his heart hardened more that day.

Dan's Death and Tsunade

Upon Tsunade's second tragedy with the death of her lover Dan (during the Second Shinobi World War), I feel like Orochimaru had by then developed his views to the point that love was not enough to shield people from their ultimate expendability in life. Tsunade loved Nawaki fiercely, and he died. Tsunade loved Dan fiercely, and he died. Orochimaru was orphaned at a very young age but he doesn't recall hating his parents, and they were dead.

He admired Tsunade's concurrent crusade to train medical nin and place them in team cells so as to significantly lower the mortality rate during missions--now pushed even more fiercely after Dan's death, but deep down inside he knew it was staving off the inevitable. Still, he did not find her contemptible for such efforts because they were driven by logic and strategy as well as passion.

Ame Orphans

Another thought: Before the Sannin split up to do their own thing (Jiraiya to travel; Tsunade to train medic nin, at least initially; Orochimaru to work with Danzo, I guess), the Sannin met Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato in the Rain village, again during the Second War. Orochimaru's first instinct was to kill them, but the line delivery of his suggestion was not one of malice or sadism but pity, and not even a mocking pity. The war with Hanzo and the destruction that they the Sannin had caused was not unknown to Orochimaru since he had a huge part in it, nor did he feel guilt about it, per se. He was realistic about it, just as he was realistic in claiming that the trio of kids would likely suffer from starvation and disease before dying cold and alone in some burned-down house. This was a very accurate assessment of the situation before Jiraiya intervened and decided to train them for a spell. This was perhaps one of the final times that Orochimaru displayed genuine sentiment at the thought of death as a form of personal loss and suffering rather than the individual as a unit/pawn that can be cultivated, manipulated, and ultimately broken or discarded when it can no longer be used.

Sakumo Hatake and Disaffection with the Leaf

While Tsunade has clearly shown that tragedy and death do not necessarily break an individual, shinobi are successful partly because that is one of their most enduring rules -- no emotion, get the mission done. This is just conjecture, but it is unlikely that Orochimaru had not at least had a passing conversation with Sakumo Hatake, given how much renown he accumulated as the “White Fang of Konoha” during the Second War, and the news of his suicide after being branded a disgrace for choosing to put the lives of his team over the success of the mission may have further solidified Orochimaru’s growing conviction that people fear death so much that they are willing to act irrationally and forego what is logically most beneficial for the group because death’s severing of peoples’ close bonds is more detrimental and dangerous than the potential for failure.

And even though Sakumo succeeded in preventing the deaths of his comrades, his very human decision--a decision he was able to pull off because he was strong enough and capable enough to do so, an ability that Orochimaru did not possess in the moment when Nawaki died, an ability Tsunade did not possess when Dan died in her arms--still led to his death by his own hand. Tragic irony by this point was only becoming somewhat comical to Orochimaru, something that you can't help but laugh at because it is so ridiculous and yet the people around him are so blind. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch that this scandal, if Orochimaru had paid attention to it at all, wouldn’t have furthered his graudal dissatisfaction and contempt of the Leaf for their circumstantial and hypocritical war time politics. Orochimaru always operated in shades of gray, but the Leaf's inability to reconcile the psychological anchors of their soldiers with the requirements of a shinobi must have read to him as being foolish and wasteful and a futile attempt at denying human beings' true nature, a nature that he himself had begun to gradually shed over the years.

Little Side Note of Orochimaru's Ability to Connect with Others

To say "camaraderie" and "friendship" would sound too Shonen, because Orochimaru did not grow up without enjoying the company of his sensei and teammates, but he was someone who either had the willpower to cut those ties and find satisfaction in his own company (like how some people just prefer to be alone and never report feeling 'lonely'), and thus psychically fulfilled with his own person (arguably, like Sasori, or Kakuzu to a certain extent) or he was born with something that allowed him to form bonds with others but those bonds were separate from his Self. He could live and thrive without them, sever them if he had to when he pleased if they furthered his own goals. Opportunistic and self-sufficient, independent but not the point of being incapable of working in tandem with others. Mentally, he was more than versatile and can not be be placed squarely in either the "Does Not Play Nice With Others" or "A True Team Player" boxes. Whatever is best for the situation and the long run is good enough for him, and he is not someone who does not clutch his chest in pain when his actions unintentionally benefit another, unless that benefit interferes with his own net gain.

Tanzaku Town and the Offer of Resurrection

When Orochimaru and Tsunade finally met again in Tanzaku, I honestly don't think that Orochimaru was kidding when he said he would resurrect Tsunade's loved ones in exchange for her healing his arms. He had been working on this technique for a long-ass time, upgrading it from Tobirama's original jutsu, and he was more than willing to show it off and give her a taste of it in return for her services. This here is where Orochimaru's demented way of thinking seems to reveal itself most clearly, though: For Orochimaru, the most powerful driving force that can encourage or break someone is grief and love. He saw how Dan and Nawaki's deaths ruined Tsunade for a time and changed her to the point that she developed a severe phobia of blood after the former died of blood loss (something he used to shake her up to compel her to agree, what an asshole). Playing with her head aside, I think that in that moment, him offering her her loved ones back seemed logical to him. She had been pining for them for so long beneath all that brassy exterior and gambling and medical ninjutsu, so why would she not jump at the chance to see them again?

But he underestimated Tsunade's grudge factor and her own maturity. She was able to throw away the ability to see them because of what he had done to the Leaf Village, the place that all three Sannin had grown disillusioned with in their own way, and that surprised him big time because on top of him having been one of her closest companions for a long time and seeing how their deaths wrecked her he had also become a master at manipulation and human psychology to Hannibal Lecter-like levels.

Aaaand that's all I got. At what point he went all Dr. Machiavellian Mengele, I have no clue, but he wasn't a completely heartless bastard in the beginning.

Edit: Added a few more ideas cuz my thoughts were running in every direction when I first wrote this and I wanted to get them down as soon as possible. P.S. If you have any more insights or want to debate with me on any of the characters or backstories I have mentioned, please do. I am not an Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Sakumo stan, so any of your insights would be coolio. Also, apologies for long-winded sentences. I don't breathe sometimes when I'm trying to make a thought and it reflects in how I write :O

#orochimaru #character analysis #tsunade #jiraiya #sakumo hatake #jesus i'm going all in here #it's not as cohesive as i would like it to be but i'm not completely dissatisfied :X #konoha

309 notes · View notes

crackuzuarchived · 5 years

Text

@Soliamurr // Akatsuki Gift Exchange

@soliamurr // @akatsuki-gift-exchange I decided to do a Kakuzu fic, highlighting his life after he failed to kill Hashirama - all the way until he is recruited by the Akatsuki. I hope my Secret Santa giftee enjoys reading this! It was a joy to explore Kakuzu’s life and write it!

// 1439 words. Thought I had way more but ohwell-

Well, this is it. I’m laying in the ground. There’s someone in front of me, but I don’t have the energy to look him in the eye. My body is weak and beaten. My chakra points have been obliterated by some explosion. That’s as much as I can recall while the man spouts on some nonsense about being taken over or replaced by the younger generation. What idiocy. Does that mean no life is worth living because it’s inevitable, you’ll just become redundant over time?

I close my eyes and I welcome death. I’ve escaped it for so long, it seems just like welcoming an old friend. Though I wouldn’t know how that feels, either. I’ve lived such a long and lonely life. I was alone in my childhood years and even as a teen. But I never felt more alone than when I was put in prison.

I’d worked hard to be an elite ninja for Takigakure. I was recognized as a genius and was given the task to kill the first Hokage. Even as a professional in my class, I was still alone. I was tasked with the assassination alone. But back then it’s what I chose. It was just easier. I’d successfully entered the village unheard and broke into his house. But I hadn’t any idea he lived with a sensory type ninja for a brother. How annoying. I’d been caught but the first Hokage demand I be let go free. Suppose he took pity on my age, the bastard.

I begged for him to take my life. I couldn’t stand the idea of going back to Takigakure. But my pleads went on deaf ears. the Kage simply waved me off and sent me on my way. So much for taking pity on me. When I returned, with no scars and not wounded in any way, the village thought I was a traitor. They punished and branded me with tattoos. Gave me scars I knew I’d never forget and threw me in prison.

There I remained for years. I forgot how long exactly. But I stay, festered in my anger and resentment.

Finally I broke out. I waited for the guards to feed me, and there was a new one I decided to take advantage of. They underestimated my abilities, such a grave error to make. I took them hostage and used their body as a shield when the others started to attack. It didn’t go exactly as I’d planned it, because I’d been captured again and taken to the village elders, but with some quick thinking, and even faster movements, I could grab the guard’s wrists that held mine and snap them.

I spun on my heels and gave them a swift kick in their jaw to send them to the ground. After that, I was able to get to the elders and gave them what they deserve. At this point, I was a fugitive already who’d broken out of his confinements so what harm is it? It was perfectly justified anyways. I stole their precious Jutsu that they kept secret, from who I don’t know, and fled. I wasn’t going to stick around to be thrown in prison again.

Living in the world was tough for an outsider. You had to kill or be killed. Hunt or be hunted. Luckily for me, when I was banished, there weren’t many villages and hence, not that many ninjas roaming. I managed fine just killing animals and sleeping where I could, but still I wanted more. I needed some control in my life and control is so hard to come by when you have nothing to control. I barely could control when I ate, I left that up to chance.

I’m trying to lead in to how I got so attached to money, as that’s the only thing in my life now that I could control. And in a world where you’re seen as a traitorous monster, it’s hard to settle down and find a stable job. Until I found out about the black market.

I’d seen a few guys lurking around when I was out trying to find some berries or suitable fruit for an afternoon snack. They were talking, but too far for me to decipher each word. Someone said kill. That’s pretty common these days. Someone else said organs, then money. Bounty.

People have bounties? That should have been obvious to me, People of importance or who are a threat would need to be taken out. Fuck, I was ordered to kill Hashirama. I should have seen this coming. Maybe he had a bounty. What if I kill him and get the money on his head and return to my village a hero? I could.. Yes, I’m not a teenager any more, I could take him on.

I waited for the people to pass and followed them from a safe distance so I could find the collection office. Though, I didn’t want to go in while they were cashing in their catch. I waited outside for at least three hours before they left and a suitable time had passed for me to enter. “Humph, you’re a new face.. I can’t even see your face, what’s the idea? You some sort of undercover?”

I shook my head as he started talking. “No, I’m not a Shinobi from any village” I’d forgotten I took off my forehead protector so now nobody could see where I’m from, but it’s probably safe that way. “I wanted to ask about the bounty system. How do I join?”

“It’s not a club, you don’t join. You simply kill someone with a high bounty and bring them to a collection office.” He sounded sarcastic. Perhaps he thinks I’m a moron.

“Sir.. I’m an outcast. I’ve been on my own and living without a home for decades.. Please explain a little better. How do I know who has a bounty and who doesn’t? How do I find these offices?”

He understood my predicament and apologized for his roughness. He said it was hard nowadays, but I’ve had it harder. He explained everything to me. There are bingo books that every village has, but he had an old one spare for me. They’re updated each week with new or old criminals. I had a flick through, but I couldn’t see the first Hokage in it. What? I man of his prowess and celebrated as the god of Shinobi, he should have the highest bounty? Why wasn’t he in here? I asked the man who handed the book to me and he told me the news of Hashirama’s death.

“Damn..” There goes that idea, but at least now I could strive for something in this unforgivable world.

And so I left and started my new goal. As before my goal was just to survive but now I could actually fight for something. I fought for decades and collected a reasonable stack of money. My hidden face was helpful as I was known as a killer, but nobody could identify me, nobody even knew my name. That was handy. It was amusing to see me in the bingo book with no name and no information. But I had a bounty of roughly 65 million ryu. Impressive. I’d probably have to kill myself in secret so nobody could touch my bounty.

I kept going until a man in a strange cloak had approached me. His hair was orange and he had piercings all over his face, disgusting. He asked me to join an organization. Pitiful. I’ve been living on my own my whole life, and now I’m being sought after to work in a team. Then he threatens my bounty and says he could kill me. How dare he. I should kill him now, to hell with the bounty, if he even has one.

Unfortunately he defeats me in a fight, but spares my life. God damn it, how did I let myself get spared a second time. Very well, a deal is a deal. He defeated me and now I join him in his mission for world peace. I try explaining to him that world peace is unachievable. In a world where people are cast aside and forgotten about. A world where people are raised for one specific job and when they can’t do that job, they’re considered useless or a traitor. A world like that can’t possibly be peaceful, and he agreed. This world first needs to be destroyed to start over.

Hm... Now I have a new goal to fight for. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of my bounties.

#AkatsukiGiftExchange #Akatsuki Secret Santa #soliamurr #Kakuzu #EVEN HELL RUNS ON MONEY (Kakuzu)#This could serve as a #DEAR DIARY (Headcanons)#post too #lmao #but I hope you enjoyed reading!!#I tried giving it the same kinda vibe as the book called 'Z For Zachariah'

11 notes · View notes

fuckishimoto · 7 years

Text

Reasons The Hidan And Kakuzu Arc Sucks

Here’s the third one.

HIDAN AND KAKUZU ARC:

01. Shikamaru finally gets some decent amount of time in the spotlight, but at the expense of everyone else, Choji and Ino both get sidelined, Sakura, Sai and Yamato show up at the end, only to do nothing, so pretty much, Shikamaru and Kakashi do the bulk of the fighting against Team Zombie, at least, Until Naruto shows up.

02. Thanks to the previous arc making anyone who isn’t a Uchiha Clan Member look like a pathetic weakling, Naruto spends a bulk of the time in this arc training to learn a Jutsu he already should’ve known coming back from his training with Jiraiya, also he learns how to use Wind Style, but doesn’t bother to learn any other Wind Style Jutsu besides Rasenshuriken.

03. Four entirely new concepts are asspulled out of nowhere…..

A. The 5 Chakra Natures and their Janken-esque relationship with one another.

B. The Elemental Affinity Test (With the piece of paper).

C. The method of combining 2 different Chakra Natures to create a new one.

D. The Kage Bunshin Jutsu being a method to greatly enhance the speed at which a shinobi can learn new jutsu.

04. Sakura and The two new characters all do pretty much nothing, Sakura does pretty much nothing else besides be her usual catty self, Sai does pretty much nothing else besides be joke fodder and Yamato does pretty much nothing else besides babysit Naruto while he learns a Jutsu that he should’ve already known after the timeskip, oh and the three of them contribute little to nothing in the fight against Team Zombie.

05. Hidan and Kakuzu are moderately wasted…..

A. Two of their fights were off-paneled.

B. They were both woefully underdeveloped in terms of powers/abilities and backstories.

C. They both conveniently lost 60 IQ points so Naruto and Shikamaru could finish them off with simplistic trickery.

06. It’s contradictory of the message that revenge is wrong, this was a message that was made crystal clear at the end of Part I, where Kakashi trapped Sasuke against a tree and told him to get over it, yet in this arc, he’s perfectly fine with helping Team 10 exact revenge against Team Zombie, and now revenge is apparently okay so long as there’s a practical reason to justify it, even though Sasuke was chasing an S-Rank criminal that betrayed his village.

07. Kakashi’s idiocy…..

A. Prior to this arc, he completely neglects to mention the 5 chakra natures and the paper test, as well as the fact that the Kage Bunshin can basically be used as a cheat mode to speed up training, that’s pretty dumb of him.

B. He spams multiple High Level Jutsu in this arc, despite the fact that he was out of commission for the entirety of the last arc for going overboard, yet he thinks it’s smart to basically make the same mistake again, and he only seems to be saved by the fact that he apparently now has unlimited stamina and chakra reserves.

C. He makes the statement that Naruto apparently surpassed him simply because he learned an improved version of Rasengan, Given what Kakashi’s backstory is and what his primary ability is, that’s a pretty idiotic statement for him to make.

08. Tsunade’s continued idiocy…..

A. The fact that she thought it was smart to send 5 Chuunin, 2 Tokubetsu Jounin, and a Jounin who is unfocused and emotionally weakened due to a recent personal loss to take on 2 possibly SS-Rank shinobi without any intel with the intent of killing 1 and capturing 1 for intel on the Akatsuki, and the fact that after the mission went horribly awry and failed, she apparently had no issue with the fact that the team chose to split up into two groups prior to their encounter with Team Zombie.

B. The fact that after the disastrous first attempt, she decided that intel didn’t matter anymore and that Team Zombie apparently had to be killed/permanently incapacitated, and that trying to keep Kakuzu alive to take back to Konoha for intel, or digging up Hidan, piecing him back together and taking him back to Konoha for intel couldn’t be done.

09. Shikamaru’s idiocy…..

A. He built his plan around Naruto showing up to help with his new jutsu, which is irresponsible, since not only is it an uncertainty that he would finish it in time, but uncertain that him or his jutsu would be powerful enough to be of any help.

B. He built his whole plan around the idea that he apparently already knew everything he needed to know about Hidan and Kakuzu’s abilities, which is pretty bold, since he only met them once before, an encounter that went horribly awry for him and his team.

10. The fact that they destroyed Asuma AND Kurenai in a single arc…..

A. Asuma, a character who had barely any screen time or development throughout Part I or II, was killed off pointlessly, Partly because of Tsunade’s idiocy, and partly because of the idiocy of his own team, who thought splitting up in a blind fight against two possibly SS-Rank shinobi was a smart idea.

B. Kurenai, a potentially interesting female character who specializes in genjutsu, also gets no decent amount of screen time throught Part I or II, now ends up being turned into a pregnant widow who will probably be nothing more than a single mother for the rest of her career.

11. The fact that not one, not two, but three potentially interesting fights were off-paneled…..

A. Team Zombie V.S. Yugito Nii

B. Team Zombie V.S. Chiruku

C. Tobi and Deidara V.S. Isobu

#anti kakashi #anti naruto #anti kishimoto #anti shikamaru #submission

107 notes · View notes

thottyimagines · 3 years

Note

Whats something very cringy each akatuski member did that makes them want to bang their head agianst the fridge... or just curl into a ball and dissapear👀

wakin’ up in the morning...thinkingaboutsomanythings...i just wish it would get better...

Pein thinks constantly about the time he realized his main original body needs like...attending to...and had to ask konan to please help him (a) clean the husk that is him and (b) please acquire adult diapers because he will be left unattended for quite a while.

Konan went through like...a poetry phase when she was a teen? And one time a random person in the village caught her reciting some limericks to a stray cat and they looked disappointed that it wasn’t better. She would have been okay if they clearly disliked it, but she is haunted by the fact that they clearly expected more.

Itachi joined some big boy ninja teams as a child, so he wasn’t expertly socialized or anything. And no one tried to break him out of any habits so long as he did his job. So anyway, an enemy nin asked him why he had a finger shoved up his nose at the big age of 8 whilst on some mission and Itachi never really got over it.

Kisame once lied so hard that he believed it when he told all of his academy classmates that he was actually a merman prince and his royal family would claim him upon graduation. They did not, and his peers remembered and made fun. He killed them.

Hidan didn’t always embrace his illiteracy. He used to pretend he could read, actually, and tried bluffing a full mission report to Pein. He was given a thorough beatdown in front of the rest of the Akatsuki for not simply informing the leader that he can neither read nor write. Kakuzu laughed and laughed.

Kakuzu once placed too much stock in the idea that he would catch this one dude with a bounty on his head during the course of a mission. He and his then-partner did not manage to find the person, so Kakuzu was a bit short on cash. His partner offered to spot him for dinner, and Kakuzu was so humiliated, he murdered him on the spot and stole all of his money.

Deidara is a sensitive soul and is easily embarrassed. He is constantly haunted by things, but one in particular has got to be when he wildly lied to Sasori and told him he could sculpt with his regular mouth, too, and blow him away with his art. He could not. He took a big chunk of clay in his mouth and gagged when it hit his uvula. Deidera had to spit it out.

Sasori has a private moment that haunts him, and it is when he asked his grandmother if, theoretically a living being occupied a puppet body, would they need an asshole carved out?

Tobi oooo he’s soooo embarrassed of the time he tried to square up with kakashi to fight for rin’s affection and made THE most dramatic speech imaginable...but kakashi did not want to fight him, nor did he want her affection...and he just gave him a good shove to the ground and stepped past him

Zetsu is incapable of feeling shame. He kills all witnesses.

#naruto #naruto headcanons #akatsuki #pein #konan #itachi #kisame #hidan #kakuzu #deidara #sasori #tobi #zetsu

426 notes · View notes

vesperlionheart · 7 years

Note

i love your work so much ! honestly you improved my whole world of fanfics by bounds and im so thankful

Space!Angel

She was a lot smaller than he expected, prettier too.

Kakashi glanced up over the top of his clipboard. She was right where he left her, smack dab in the center of the room with her hand on her hip and a devil may care gleam in her eye. The standard navy colored space suit he saw sold in malls all along the space colonies was zipped down to her hips, the top half being tied messily around her waist.

Behind her sat the dull red head who followed her around. Gaara had been what she called him. The rest of her crew waited elsewhere, less concerned with sticking to her side.

“So,” Kakashi cleared his throat. “You’ve done this sort of work before, I see. Why chose to go at it alone? It’s much safer and far neater to go through the system as an agent of a larger entity.”

“I’m aware of that. I never had a problem getting work when I had Konah telling me what to do, but I like calling my own shots.”

“Is that for any particular reason?”

She shifted the weight of her body from one leg to the other, but the gleam in her eyes didn’t change. “I don’t like people telling me what to do. That’s how I choose to live my life.”

“Even if that means extra danger?”

Sakura laughed prettily and Gaara looked up. “Kakashi san, nothing about the bounty business is safe, regardless of who backs you or doesn’t.”

“I suppose so, but every precaution counts if it keeps you alive.”

“If that’s what you call living.”

Kakashi glanced back down at the papers she had given him. Listed up and down where the ranks and details of missions she had completed on her own. It said she started young, at twelve, but the lowest she listed was a C mission. There were plenty of B and A ranked missions that sounded challenging, but it was the handful of S class missions at the top that made him stop and look at her twice.

She was young and a beauty. There was no way he would have pegged her as an assassin skilled enough to survive suicide missions. Before defecting from Konah for a solo career she had been ANBU class. It was hard to picture her with blood on her face, especially when she smiled so easily.

Kakashi felt like a dirty old man when his thoughts started to wander before he reminded himself of the age difference. Also he was a professional contact. Relations with work people was a no-no. He knew that.

“I’m sorry to say this, but you’re jumping in at the worse season for this sector.”

“Really? I thought with the tri gate races there would be plenty of traffic and plenty of criminals. It’s such a seedy sector to begin with…”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong, but the Dawn Guard work in this sector during the races. Other bounty hunters and agents can try and do business here, but the Akatsuki don’t leave a lot to the competition and can be even worse than the scum you’re collecting. I’ve heard stories.”

Sakura snapped her fingers and nodded. “I thought that name sounded familiar. Dawn Guard….back in Konah we called them the Akatsuki exclusivly. I’ve run into them before on my own.”

It wasn’t lost on Kakashi how her companion tensed at the mentioning of the name. From the looks of it, Sakura wasn’t the only one who had tangoed with the deadly organization.

“Don’t think lightly of them. They’re financially unmatched and rumored to do dirty work on the side. Each and every one of their members has a reputation that stands on its own, but together they have the equal power of Konah.”

“That’s debatable.”

“No, it really isn’t,” Kakashi murmured, reaching up to touch the end of his mask below his left eye. His hair hung down over that side of his face, but Sakura could see the raised flesh of a scar traveling straight up through the place where his eye should have been.

“You were from Konah, weren’t you?” she asked after a moment. Kakashi blinked.

“Retired.”

“Son of the white fang, if I recall correctly. They spoke well of you.”

“Ah, I would imagine ANBU like to tell stories of past. While not the most talkative, they could always be counted on for a good story when it came down to it.”

Sakura smiled again, and this time it was wide and bright. “I liked the stories they told about you. They always came out great.”

Kakashi vaguely recognized her manipulation. She was feeding his ego in hopes of getting the work she wanted out of him and it was working. He liked being smiled at by pretty young girls, and Sakura was both.

Inwardly chiding himself for what he was about to do, the older man reached down and pulled out a binder before selecting a folder to hand over to her. He picked two more and turned those over to her as well.

“Here. These are cases you could work in the area. The last two are easier and likely not something the Akatsuki would wast their time with. But the first one is the one most suited to your particular skill set. I…wouldn’t encourage you to pursue it, since it is a case they are most likely already working.”

Sakura ignored the latter two files and went straight for the S ranked mission. A wicked smile spread across her face to match her dazzling eyes and Kakashi knew there was no way she would head his advice. A moment later she chuckled. “Yes, I can see exactly what you mean. This is something Deidara san would be good at, and the reward is exorbitant. I can’t see Kakuzu not wanting that.”

There was something relaxed about her tone, as if she were speaking objectively about friends and not deadly rouge operatives who would likely kill her if ever they crossed paths.

Kakashi closed his binder and returned it to the alcove under his desk before coughing to gain her attention. “You sound familiar with the Dawn Guard. When did you first hear about them?”

Sakura looked up, her smile still in place. “We’ve crossed paths a few times. The first time was when I killed the main android body of Sasori the scorpion, and then we met again when their leader Madara Uchiha decided it would be a good idea to skewer me on a stick, so yeah, I’m familiar.”

The way the word familiar rolled off her lips sounded so suggestive it almost made the old man blush. Without much trouble, Sakura took all three files, bowed, thanked Kakashi for his time, and then left with the red head who had remained silent all throughout the meeting. Sakura paused in the doorway to wave and smile, to which Kakashi waved and smiled back. Once the door fell closed he sagged down into his seat and sighed.

“I hope they don’t kill her, she seems nice.”

Sakura drifted with the gravity turned off around her quarters, taping down photos and downloading information stolen from larger archives onto her mobil device. Paper was such an archaic thing that no one ever saw off the home world, but Sakura liked visuals that never turned off when having to drift through monitored zones in occupied space.

She paused to push down the curled edges of a photo of Sasori of the Red Sand, AKA Sasori the scorpion. A man who was no longer as human has he once was. Still, he was deceptively handsome, and if the rumors were true, he was still using his original human body while his android army worked on building up a replacement vessel.

“Good,” she chuckled, kissing her finger and then pressing the digit to the photo where his lips were. “And they call me an angel.”

Pushing back, she twisted on herself and grabbed onto the back of a magnetized chair that sat in front of her large screened computer. She was trying her darnest to get past Shikimaru’s firewall and the only reason she had as much luck as she did was because the lazy bastard never bothered to keep security up to date. She knew how to get around his usual traps. She had helped him with half of them for the longest time, after all.

“Sakura chan!”

She didn’t bother looking up from the screen as she taped out access codes and passwords with her second hand keyboard. A moment later the banging on her door shook her whole room and she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Returning her room to normal gravity levels, she skipped over to the door and dragged it open with a groan, allowing the obnoxious blond entrance.

“Gaara said we were going up against those bastards! What do you mean we have to fight with them so soon?”

“Naruto, everyone is a bastard according to you. Who are you talking about?”

“You know who I’m talking about, those red clouds. The Akatsuki! What are we doing messing with them when they’ve been nothing but bad news?”

Sakura reached out and ruffled the blond’s hair making Naruto cry out and pull away. “Because we’re better than them and we don’t have to be afraid of them when we do our job. What’s wrong with you? You’re never the one that wants to back off from a fight. You don’t think we can hold our own?”

Naruto reached up to push her hand away and pouted. “You know what I mean. The last time you crossed paths you got seriously hurt. What if this time you didn’t come back?”

Sakura laughed. “Who do you think you are talking to, Naruto? Maybe I did get banged up, but they always left worse off than me. Have a bit more faith.”

“I…just don’t wanna see you get hurt. Ino would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

“That’s a problem, though. You see yourself as everyone’s shied, but you’re not. You’re you, Naruto. You aren’t responsible for anyone than yourself. Don’t think you’re my keeper. I’m okay with taking on my own danger.” Sakura moved back to pull her door open wider. “Speaking of danger, your cousin should have some ready for me by now.”

“Sui-buttface just dialed in and said he was done with the one mission you assigned him. That’s the only thing she’ll tell you,” Naruto grumbled, throwing his hands behind his head and following her out.

“What about Jugo?”

Naruto shrugged. “He should be done soon, but he did leave later.”

Sakura dropped down into the common area, skipping the short ladder Naruto used. Gaara looked up from the control panel he had been working with. Karin didn’t move from he spot in front of a star map. Winking to Gaara, Sakura slid up beside Karin, throwing an arm over the red haired girl’s shoulders. Karin didn’t react or try to shove Sakura off, but she did frown.

“Do you have anything for me?”

Karin shifted her eyes over the star map. “I have a pattern, but it’s not viable until I can have it confirmed.” Karin clicked through a few buttons on the control panel and a red line bled through the stars, showing the activity of their bomber. Gold halos pinpointed areas where the supplies he would need to build his bomb were located. There were not a lot of halos.

“He’s been planning this a while, it seems.”

Karin’s face was still sour looking. “The Tri Gate races only happen every four years. He had a lot of time to get his shit together.”

Sakura climbed onto the control panel, careful to avoid stepping on the buttons, and reached out to pass her hands through the lights that made up the star map. “Can you tell me where we will be able to find him?”

Karin didn’t move. A little stunned, Sakura turned back to see her friend glaring up at her.

“Okay, what did I do? First Naruto and now you, the both of you need to cool your jets. I’m not being irrational here. It’s just a job.”

“The Akatsuki bomber should be left to handle this job. We could do it, but we’re not the ideal team. Aren’t you being a bit too…cockish with this whole move?”

Sakura bent down, but didn’t get off the ledge. “You don’t think we should be working here?”

“Not this case in particular.”

“Why?”

Karin sighed and flipped a switch on the control panel. The star chart shrunk away and was replaced with an image of what looked like a reactor. Sakura recognized the toxic warning signs easily enough.

“Part of the mission requires that the core be deactivated, but that’s not something a human body could do thanks to the weird ass star radiation.

“There’s UV and Gamma radiation on this tank,” Sakura explained, pointing out the symbols.

“Both of which we can’t get close to, so while Deidara would be ideal for finding this guy-tracking him down and bringing him to justice, Sasori would be the one who would have to go in and defuse this bad apple. The two of you have history.”

“Has he recovered enough to sustain a second android body?”

“That’s what it sounds like. You would have to fight him again, and it won’t be like last time. He’ll know you better and you might not get out with a simple puncture through the liver.”

“I thought you were going to say something scary like Madara san or Itachi kun, but I think I can handle the puppet boy.”

Karin huffed. “You’re not going to take this seriously, are you?”

“I’m always serious.”

Before anyone could say anything more, the signal for a transmission cut through and Gaara moved to answer it. Jugo’s face came on screen and Gaara took the call, recording the information details and signing out. When Karin turned back to say something to Sakura, the pink haired captain was gone. Left in her place was the floating star chart.

“I want that pattern in an hour, Karin. I plan on beating the scorpion to the goods before it comes to a fight, comprende?”

Karin tisked loudly, before jabbing at the buttons with her nails more violently. Naruto squeaked and slowly backed away.

Gaara wasn’t so timid. “How long will it take you to confirm the pattern?”

“It’s nearly done, but I won’t tell her about it for another twenty minutes.”

Gaara nodded. “Naruto and I will be dispatched to deal with Deidara. Let Suigetsu and Jugo know where they should meet us for backup.”

“We’re not sending anyone in for Sakura?”

“We can’t. She’s the only one who can withstand that sort of radiation without protection. That’s her speciality.”

Karin jabbed at something and the panel beeped angrily. “Some days I just want to kill her! Does she know how much of an ass hero she’s trying to be?”

“She can do it.”

“I don’t care!” Karin screeched. “She shouldn’t have to. We should just take the easy jobs and live as peacefully as possible in another sector where-.“

“Is this about Sasuke?”

Karin stilled, frozen stiff by Gaara’s words. Her hands were slack over the buttons and her throat was dry. She hadn’t been expecting Gaara, of all people, to be the one who brought it up. Maybe Sakura, but Gaara was the last person who could be counted not to mess with a person’s sourest wounds.

Gaara didn’t wait for her to recover. “We will not have contact with Itachi, but there is a chance Sasuke could cross our path on this mission. If you feel like you can’t operate under the-“

“I’m fine!” Karin was pure venom as she hissed out the words. “Don’t you ever bring up his name again as a means of devaluing my capabilities. I will do what I have to do and we’ll all be fine.”

Gaara didn’t move for a while, but then, hesitantly, he nodded. “Very well then. I’m going to prepare the fliers and make sure Naruto is ready to be deployed.”

Gaara got up and walked away, his footsteps fading the further he traveled, but somehow his presence never left Karin. It was as if his words were a physical force that hung over her, slowing her fingers and weighing down her breaths. She couldn’t let them do that to her. Not Gaara with his judgments, not Sasuke with his treachery, not even Sakura with her pity.

Swallowing his discomfort, Karin returned to the control panel. She would do her job and everyone would come home, safe and sound. She would bring them back home.

Such an old piece, from 2013/4 I think. I’ve no idea where it was going tbh, I just wanted an android Sasori and space angel Sakura showdown…in space.

#my writing #Sakura #writing #fic

36 notes · View notes

shannaro-kamo · 7 years

Text

O—->>Naruto Tag Game <<—-O

thank you for the tag, @flirtsuke ! <3 I tag @ravenaveira, @team7fangirl, @sasu-thirst, @gaara-nara, @roraewrites, @its-naruto-universe, @starvingbloom, @omgsakuraqueen, and @mikayuuxzeki :)

F A V O R I T E

Female Character: Sakura

Male Character: Sasuke

Team: 7

Sensei: Kakashi

Hokage: Tsunade

Kage: Gaara

Village: Leaf or Sand

Akatsuki Member: Itachi

Jutsu: Byakugou seal

Episode/Chapter: the Sakura chapters in FOD, hands down

Fight Scene: Sasori fight and Haku & Zabuza, I guess? there are so many

Fanfiction: I don’t read much fanfic

Story Arc: chuunin exams

Filler: Kakashi’s mask

What is your…

OTP (explain why): SasuSaku, because her love for him is so genuine and selfless; she spent like all of her time after the curse mark just being worried sick about him. Sakura is really the only girl Sasuke has shown a soft spot for, and his regard for her feelings despite his volatile state speaks volumes to me.

NoTP (without being a dick, explain why): SNS and SK, because SNS is not about romance, and Karin said she was “done” with Sasuke--Sakura never truly did so. Karin also never tried to save Sasuke, and that alone makes me favor SS.

Crackship/s: KakaSaku lol

BroTP: SNS and NaruShika and NaruGaa

OT3: NaruSasuSaku. My blog is called team 7 orgy lol

Crossover ship: ummm never thought about it lol, the only real crossover I’ve considered is May from Pokemon + Sakura BrOTP because they’re my top tier waifus. I’ve also always liked the idea of a Pokemon-ninja verse because I’m not original!

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Do you have any headcanons? - Sasuke was a soppy mess when Sarada was born lol

Are you happy with the ending? Would you have done things differently? - I am very happy with the endgame pairings, but I definitely would have developed them more. I would’ve done Kaguya / Madara differently, and I would’ve had some sort of mutual official apology between Konoha and the Uchiha take place after the war.

How do you feel about the Next Generation? - I love Sarada, but I feel that Boruto is too much like Naruto and Konohamaru rolled into one. We already know how Naruto responded to Konohamaru not getting enough attention. I’m not in the camp that says Naruto is a bad father; I feel like saying he’s a bad father is totally unfair.

Say something about your favorite character. Good and bad. - Sakura earned her damn stripes. Most of the stuff people criticize her for was stuff that happened when she was a child, and I ain’t about judging children because I’m not stupid lol. I suppose I would’ve liked to see her apologize to Naruto for the fake confession; we do see her thinking of how sorry she is, which is good, but a verbal one would have been good to see. I also think she should apologize to Sasuke for trying to kill him, but obviously he needs to do the same on a completely different level.

What would a child between your OTP look like? How would they behave as parents? - Sarada is gorgeous. I don’t think it’d be possible for SS to have kids with pink hair and green eyes, unfortunately. There are some inconsistencies with the timeline of Gaiden / Sasuke coming back to the village but not seeing Sarada while seeing Sakura, but I’m not gonna get into that. Kishi done goofed.

Say something genuinely nice about your NoTP. - SNS is beautiful regardless of whether you see it as platonic or romantic. SK is also a lovely bond.

Say something negative about your OTP. - Sasuke needed to be more remorseful to Sakura. More development from Sasuke’s side in general would have been great, I won’t deny that.

Is there anyway you could be convinced to ship your NoTP? What would make you change your mind about the pairing? - Nothing could really make me get on board with SK, lol. In terms of SNS, idk, maybe I’d ship it if that fandom would stop shitting on Sakura and her feelings all the damn time.

What makes you mad about the series? - pretty much just the fandom lol

If you could see anything happen in the series, what would it be? - SASUSAKU TRAVELS AND RELATIONSHIP CONCEPTION AND MARRIAGE AND SARADA’S BIRTH MOTHERFUCKER. Also I’d love to see Kishi illustrate Sakura running a clinic.

What would you say to Kishimoto if given the chance? - Kishi, please explain the timeline inconsistencies in Gaiden. Was Sarada having a flashback to Sasuke and Sakura holding her hands in Gaiden? Did Sasuke communicate with Sakura via hawk in Gaiden? Did Sasuke distance himself from his family because he was afraid of being a dangerous/controversial presence around Sakura and Sarada? Is Sasuke home much more after Gaiden, as indicated by the Boruto movie?

In your opinion…

Most attractive male? - Sasuke

Most attractive female? - Sakura, Hinata, Tsunade

Most overestimated? - hmmmmm, maybe like......Hinata by her own fandom lol

Not appreciated enough? - S A K U R A

What is the greatest thing about Naruto? - The diversity of the cast and the characters loving each other

The worst? - Naruto getting too much focus, Sakura getting a little shafted in terms of screentime, Hinata’s entire character being centered around Naruto, girls in general getting shafted, also Hidan, Kakuzu, and Deidara, I hate them for taking up screentime because they have no legit backstories or development lol

The saddest moment? - Sasuke finding out about Itachi

The most defining? - Defining is a broad term, maybe I would say 685 when Sasuke catches Sakura, it just really showed what he was really feeling about her deep down

Rant about anything…

GO! - This fandom has truly infuriated me more than pretty much anything ever has, lol. I am so fucking sick of the Sakura hate, the misogyny, the jealousy, the hypocrisy, all of it. It’s ridiculous, it’s petty, it’s bandwagon hate, and that’s the absolute worst kind of hate. This fandom claims to be so feminist, but I’ve seen fujoshis time and time again belittle any girl who gets in the way of their OTP. The double standard setting is ridiculous. People need to stop fucking saying “you can’t be a Sakura or Sasuke fan if you ship SS” like seriously shut the fuck up. We all have different opinions about what’s right for the characters. Also, it should tell you something that SS shippers’ views align with Kishi’s. I really haven’t seen the SS fandom say “you can’t be a Sakura or Sasuke fan if you don’t ship SS.” Hopefully I haven’t seen it because it never happens. Just some food for thought. My anger with this fandom really started back in summer 2015 when Gaiden was being released. I made ONE post about people needing to respect Kishi, and people told me I needed to “get my sanctimonious opinions out of the SNS tag.” After that I really lost my shit with this fandom lmao. Many people, including myself, have owned up to various things, but there is still way too much toxicity and bullshit that needs to just stop. Luckily things are more calm than they used to be, but there is still improvement to be made. Sorry for the long rant lol but yeah I’ve been wanting to say all this at some point anyway so might as well bury it in a long-ass post. *stomps away to a beanbag chair*

12 notes · View notes

akatsuki-no-tsuki · 5 years

Text

Proposed Timeline for the Akatsuki

Alright, so I’ve had a bit of a nap since this- so it’s onto the promised part two~

The Akatsuki, according to everything I’ve ever been able to find on it, was supposedly founded after the Third Shinobi World War (which we have already established ended a maximum of 1 year before Naruto was born and was definitely over by the time Naruto was born). That basically gives us a general starting point for when it makes sense for the civil war in Amegakure to break out.

In my opinion (though it is certainly just a single possibility) I think Nagato spent the 3-4 years between Yahiko’s death and the war’s conclusion to hone his abilities as Pein (Pein as an entity was likely conceived more around the time of Yahiko’s death as Yahiko is one of the Pein bodies.) This time period gives Nagato a chance to adapt to his new way of life, develop his warped ideals into the new Akatsuki, gather the other five who would become part of his Six Paths of Pein, and perfect his usage of the abilities he unlocked. How much Obito is involved in this is a little questionable, but we do know from flashbacks and statements that Obito and Zetsu are involved with the Akatsuki from a very early point.

Basically, my personal theory is that within a time period of less than a year after the Third Shinobi World War (when Hanzō‘s forces would still be weakened from the war) Pein launched his civil war and effective take-over. How long this war lasted isn’t something I am too confident about, but I do believe Pein had won the civil war in Amegakure before the Akatsuki started operations. It makes more sense for Nagato and Konan to finish one war before preparing for the next and also offers Amegakure as a sort of base of operations for the Akatsuki to fall back onto. In addition, I think the potential protection of a country is something that adds to the Akatsuki’s appeal- If they planned to recruit criminals from the start then the promise of protection (despite not being from a major shinobi village) is something extremely valuable.

So then, the question begins: When did the Akatsuki form?

The furthest bookmark we have is when Orochimaru is stated to have left the Akatsuki 10 years ago during part 2. The problem isn’t so much that it makes no sense for Orochimaru to have been involved with the Akatsuki then (assuming the civil war in Amegakure was launched soon after the Third Shinobi World War concluded and was won not long afterwards, we have the Akatsuki potentially forming as early as the year Naruto was born, or six years prior to this date of Orochimaru supposedly leaving the Akatsuki. The problem with this time frame is rather the fact of Orochimaru leaving the Akatsuki as a result of his loss to Itachi.

With Itachi, we know his joining of the Akatsuki is linked to the killing of his clan. At the time Itachi was 13 years old, which places this event as 8 years before the Orochimaru statement was made. In order for Orochimaru to have left 10 years ago, and to have fought Itachi leading up to that point, Itachi would have been 11 years old at the time. Which um... Doesn’t make sense. Itachi’s backstory is something rather extensively known, so I am fairly confident in stating that the earliest Orochimaru could have left the Akatsuki is 8 years prior to that statement being made.

In Naruto “10 years” pretty much never means 10 years. It’s like a rough estimate for anything that happened in a period of time that was long enough to be history but recent enough not to be ancient. However, just for the sake of fun- What if that statement was meant to be more of an’ Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki 10 years ago? Assuming that ends up being a vaguely accurate statement (and knowing Orochimaru leaves Konoha at 1 year before Naruto’s birth at the earliest thanks to Minato having been installed as the fourth Hokage instead of him at some point prior to Orochimaru’s leaving) We get a bookmark of the Akatsuki being a thing 6 years after Naruto’s birth with Orochimaru leaving circa 8 years after Naruto’s birth.

The other vague bookmark we are given in this direction is Sasori’s leaving of Sunagakure. He is stated in the beginning of Shippuden to have left Sunagakure 20 years ago- Which actually makes me realize a flaw in my age system...Naruto’s group is 15 at the start of Shippuden and if Sasori was 35 at the time of his death then he is actually closer to 20 years older than Naruto. This means Sasori left Suna around the time Naruto was born and the war had concluded. We can assume from a lot of things that Sasori was one of the first members recruited, but that doesn’t help narrow down the Akatsuki’s formation date much more than ‘after Naruto was born, but before Naruto was 6′.

Konan, Nagato, Zetsu, and Obito don’t have any good landmark points for this time period either... With Deidara all we know is that Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori were already members by the time he was recruited and Orochimaru had presumably left already as Deidara was to be his replacement. (Which, once again, doesn’t narrow things down much more than Deidara joining some point after/during the time Naruto was 8 years old). Hidan is pretty useless too since he is the last member to join the Akatsuki and depending on media referenanced potentially doesn’t even join the Akatsuki until after pre-shippuden. Kakuzu doesn’t offer much help either since he was imprisoned after fighting Hashirama who had died years before this Akatsuki was even an idea in Nagato’s head, and left Taki after escaping from that.

Which leaves our only hopeful marker (that I am aware of) as Kisame’s joining. Now this in itself is going to be problematic since he is recruited into the Akatsuki after killing Fuguki and taking Samehada- But I’m not sure how to place it... We know Yagura was the acting Mizukage at the time and that Obito had him under his control. Yagura’s rule was largely marked by the “bloody mist” but even pinpointing that is hard... In part one Kakashi states that Zabuza forced the bloody mist into an end 10 years ago (and remember that 10 years ago thing?) when he was still just a kid who hadn’t yet entered the academy himself. Problem is that Zabuza is 26 at the time this statement is made, so either Zabuza’s age is a mistake or 10 years was meant to mean 20. [Personally, I’m not sure which to give more credit to]. Soooo if we move on to Yagura himself- He was the three-tails Jinchuriki after Rin (supposedly) which would mean he was not a Jinchuriki until around the time the Third Shinobi World War concluded. Since extracting a Bijuu from a Jinchuriki results in their death, this is really the only time frame that works? If we assume the bloody mist era did, in fact, end around 10 years prior to part 1, then we get the rough estimate of the bloody mist coming to a close around the time Naruto is 2. Trying to narrow this down further, we know Ao recognized that Yagura was being controlled with the Byakugan he obtained during the Third Shinobi World war- Though I am not sure if we have any other details. So trying a different angle, Mei is seen as a marker of change for Kiri- Given that she, herself has kekkei genkais, she’d likely end the war on them. So in we usher Haku and Kimimaro- Haku is 3 years older than Naruto, while Kimimaro is (i believe) 2 (though it could possibly be 3 years as well, I don’t remember when the Chunin exam arc takes place). Haku and Kimimaro were both children when this kekkei genkai war was going on- And we know Orochimaru found Kimimaro while Zabuza found Haku... That means these events have to occur after Zabuza kills a graduating class but before Mei becomes Mizukage- And, it is also likely Orochimaru takes in Kimimaro prior to his own joining of the Akatsuki. Guessing Kimi might have been 5 when Orochimaru found him- That would give us the marker of around 3 years after Naruto was born. To give more wiggle room let’s go with Kimi being 8 and this marker being 6 - it still theoretically works with Orochimaru joining the Akatsuki around then. Essentially, we can narrow Kisame’s joining down to some point after the third shinobi world war and probably around the time Orochimaru possibly joined- (ugh. so much for that bloody mist end thing being helpful).

Basically all we know for sure from this:

* Nagato, under the alias of Pein, launches a civil war in Amegakure after the Third Shinobi World War

* This war is won some time between the war’s conclusion (12 years before the series’ start) and when the Akatsuki is formed.

* The Akatsuki’s exact start-up date is unknown. Nagato and Konan were members from the previous Akatsuki, with Obito and Zetsu essentially supporting and sparking the new one (The Akatsuki, to this extent, could have potentially formed before or during the Amegakure civil war).

* Going off of rough estimates, Orochimaru and Kisame might have joined the Akatsuki around 6 years prior to the start of the series- Sasori and Kakuzu, who had left their villages years prior to this point, were also likely recruited around this time. (There is circumstantial evidence (such as Kakuzu not being present at Deidara’s recruitment, and non-manga media not showing him in most early-Akatsuki flashbacks) however, to make Kakuzu’s joining date closer to that of Deidara’s.

* If nothing else is true, we know that Itachi joined the Akatsuki 8 years prior to the start of the series.

* Orochimaru gets into a conflict with Itachi and leaves the Akatsuki at some point after Itachi joins, assuming this is somewhat immediate, he leaves 8 years prior to the start of the series. Orochimaru’s leaving means he needs to be replaced and Deidara is recruited (8 years prior to the start of series at the earliest)

* Kakuzu has numerous partners before Hidan, and Hidan is mentioned to be the newest member of the Akatsuki during Shippuden- Manga canon potentially indicates that Hidan was not a member until during the gap between part one and part two, but even if this is not the case he is recruited at some point during or after 8 years prior to the start of the series at the earliest.

* The start of the Akatsuki was likely rather hush hush, it was probably not until a full 10 member list (or 9, rather, with Orochimaru leaving) was created that the Akatsuki made enough moves to be noticable, making this time frame approximately 8 or so years before the series starts.

* By the series start, they are well-known enough for rumors to be circulating about them; by the start of Shippuden their existence is practically common knowledge.

1 note · View note

fuckishimoto · 7 years

Text

Reasons The Itachi Pursuit Arc Sucks

Here’s the fourth one.

ITACHI PURSUIT ARC:

01. Tsunade’s continued idiocy…..

A. The fact that she went along with Naruto’s idea to get Sasuke back, with the hopes of killing two birds with one stone by capturing Itachi and getting some intel, because she apparently forgot about the possibility of digging up Hidan for intel.

B. The fact that she decided to ban Naruto from using a jutsu he worked his ass off to learn because it was quote on quote “too dangerous”, making his time spent for most of the previous arc a giant waste.

02. Sasuke beating both Orochimaru and Deidara single handedly makes no sense at all, these two were S-Rank criminals, yet Sasuke conveniently wins both times because DAT UCHIHA POWER.

03. The fact that once again, just like in the last arc, not one, not two, but three potentially interesting fights were off-paneled…..

A. Sasuke V.S. Orochimaru

B. Itachi and Kisame V.S. Roshi

C. Kisame V.S. Suigetsu

04. Kabuto giving Naruto a book of intel on the Akatsuki, this was merely done as a plot device to introduce his new appearance and goals, and not only is this book given to Konoha too late to potentially save Asuma and Jiraiya from death, but it contributes nothing useful down the road that helps Konoha on the remaining members of Akatsuki, not to mention, it’s just the first sign of Kabuto’s new character development that ends up being completely wasted.

05. The Great Snake Escape, somehow in a matter of milliseconds, while Sasuke is low on chakra and heavily injured, he summons Manda, a boss summon that requires a MASSIVE amount of chakra, then re-activates his sharingan, genjutsus Manda, and reverse summons him out of the range of Deidara’s 10 KM blast….. after it already started….. just a few meters away from him.

06. Jiraiya’s Idiocy…..

A. The fact that he decied to train the Ame orphans to make them strong enough to fend for themselves….. and then abandon them in a war torn country instead of taking them back to Konoha where they could’ve been a heavily useful asset, a decision which allows Akatsuki to be formed.

B. The fact that he asspulls a new Jutsu called Sage Mode….. something that is never mentioned at all before and also something that could’ve been very useful in his fights against Itachi and Kisame or Orochimaru.

C. The fact that he chose to die a pointless death when he could’ve reverse summoned himself out of there and get fixed up and give Konoha the intel he managed to gather.

07. The Itachi Retrieval Squad parts were pointless…..

A. They hardly do anything useful, they just simply show up too late to get Sasuke back not once, but twice, the first time being some pretty clever tricky by Hebi/Taka but the second time being an overly long and frankly embarrassing “fight” scene where the combined forces of Team 7 and Team 8 are made to look like pathetic weaklings against Tobito because DAT UCHIHA POWER.

B. Naruto and Hinata are in close contact with each other, yet no attempts at developing their relationship are made.

C. If they had simply attempted to keep Kakuzu alive or dug up Hidan, they wouldn’t need Itachi for intel on the Akatsuki.

D. Kakashi feels a connection between his and Tobito’s eyes, yet he doesn’t put 2 and 2 together and think this mysterious masked man might be his “dead” best friend Obito Uchiha.

E. Sasuke has shown he won’t come back until he completes his goal of revenge, so why don’t they just let him kill his brother and come back willingly, which could’ve happened if Itachi wasn’t ret-conned as a good guy.

08. The Sasuke V.S. Itachi fight kind of sucked…..

A. Roughly half the fight was Genjutsu, not to mention a lot of it was Sasuke trying to get info out of Itachi in between the action scenes which ended up killing the pacing.

B. Itachi pulls a brand new overpowered Jutsu out of his ass to save himself from Kirin, when there was basically no buildup or foreshadowing of this at all, and not only does it save him from Kirin, but it also has a sword that can seal anything it touches and a shield that can deflect any attack that hits it because…..DAT UCHIHA POWER.

C. Orochimaru re-appears when Sasuke runs out of chakra, and instead of putting up a decent fight against Itachi, he gets beaten easily and sealed all within a minute because DAT UCHIHA POWER, making his re-appearance seem like nothing but an excuse to wank Itachi and the Uchiha Clan even more.

D. Because of the Susanoo asspull and the events that follow, the ending of the fight is an anti-climactic farce that is reminiscent of the ending of Rock Lee and Gaara V.S. Kimimaro.

09. The Itachi Retcon…..

A. Itachi Murdered an ENTIRE CLAN, including women, children and the elderly, can it really be believed that killing EVERYONE but Sasuke was really necessary, and that taking out the ringleaders wouldn’t be more than enough to quell a potential rebellion, or at least delay it for the time being.

B. Back when Itachi and Kisame tried to kidnap Naruto, Kisame suggested that they cut Naruto’s legs off so that it would be harder for him to get away and Itachi’s reaction to this suggestion was nothing, which made it seem like he was okay with doing something that barbaric instead of suggesting a nicer alternative.

C. When all of the Akatsuki members were meeting and discussing what to do after Team Zombie met their ends, Deidara heavily implied that he planned to kill Sasuke, and once again, Itachi said nothing, when he could’ve told Deidara that Sasuke is personally his problem to deal with, but nope, no reaction, which made it seem like Itachi wouldn’t care if Sasuke got killed by Deidara.

D. Itachi the double agent apparently couldn’t be bothered to stealthily slow down the Akatsuki’s attempts at capturing all the Bijuu or feed any useful intel on the Akatsuki to someone within the Konoha government, intel which could’ve prevented Asuma and Jiraiya from meeting unfortunate and untimely demises.

E. Itachi the Konoha loyalist couldn’t be bothered to kill the traitorous child killer Orochimaru when he attempted to steal his eyes when they were both in the Akatsuki, he instead let him go, which led to Orochimaru’s failed invasion which wiped out over half of Konoha, including the Third Hokage.

F. And the “best” of all, his “wonderful” treatment of Sasuke, such as telling Sasuke to kill his best friend to gain power, beating Sasuke into a coma and putting Sasuke through Tsukuyomi, a 72 hour mind rape….. twice.

10. Hebi was moderately wasted…..

A. They’re nowhere to be found when Sasuke fights Deidara, which allows Deidara to have a 2 v 1 advantage by having Tobi as support and their lack of help also allows Deidara to blow himself up and nearly kill Sasuke.

B. Kisame doesn’t “allow” them to go with Sasuke to fight Itachi, and instead Suigetsu fights Kisame while Jugo and Karin merely watch, which also sucks for 2 more reasons…..

1. First of all, it could’ve been a 3 v 1 match so that Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin’s abilities could be fully or at least partially showcased.

2. Second of all, it ends up being off-paneled when it could’ve been a back and forth between that and Sasuke V.S. Itachi.

#anti itachi #submission

83 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 4 years

Text

The Best Naruto Shippuden Fight Doesn't Include Naruto

There’s truly no way you could do this kind of episode for a series as big as Naruto every week. Obviously it’d take too long to maintain this kind of quality for 500 episodes, so you’d have an episode a month at best, but also the charm of these subversions to the series would wear off rather quickly. Instead, you’d have fast-paced, action-packed episodes that would serve as that. “Team Ten” is a special episode and one that rewards people for sticking with the series as it lets you truly see everything from a different perspective, from pacing, style, character development, to storytelling. It’s hard to argue that this isn’t one of the absolute best parts of the series and should be recognized in the same way that the best fights of the series are.

What are some of your favorite episodes that seem to try and shake up the status quo of Naruto? Let us know down in the comments below!

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

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

0 notes