[[ Just to clarify, Itachi didn’t pick birds because “uwu goth aesthetic”, he picks birds purely because no one expects birds, and a sudden flock of crows in your face is going to confuse you WAY MORE than a substitution log/common replacement item.
It wasn’t about being cool/showing off, it was about effectively confusing his enemy and making them panic through a method no one’s tried before, and no one is generally expecting. ]]
[[ Well, to be fair, I don’t think it was the villagers who thought Sasuke was a threat. And I’d extend that to the council, except for Danzo. If it was up to Danzo, he’d kill Sasuke too. He just waited until he could kill Sasuke and be “justified” in doing so.
As long as Sasuke never actually found out the truth about the clan (eg, had a reason to mistrust/”betray” the village), he was fine.
For the kids, I’m sure a lot of them were never told. Which of course is confusing, like…it’s one of the founding clans of Konoha. Killed overnight. Gone. Except for one kid. You’re telling me now is when the adults decide to be absolutely tight lipped?
Plus there were other children. Children who were likely genin or chuunin, or even still in the Academy. You’re telling me these kids didn’t have friends, that their absence wasn’t noted in class? That’s BS, that’s impossible. I think I remember a panel of a couple of kids discussing it between themselves, but apparently it didn’t spread. It would have naturally spread. There’s no reason for Sasuke’s classmates to not know that he’s been alone since he was seven. ]]
[[ -clears throat-
Itachi realized what he did to Sasuke was fucked up, manipulative, and permanently damaging, and also did not ask for Sasuke to forgive him. If you think Itachi is always loved/excused 100% of the time for what he did to Sasuke, idk what kind of circles you’re operating in. He’s called out plenty for it, especially among anti-ending circles. We can be slightly lenient on Itachi because he realized what he did and refused to do it again, he knew his good intentions meant jack shit, and let Sasuke go free and make his own choices. Itachi was also thirteen when he did it.
Sakura has never realized that her actions, confessions, and guilt trips towards Sasuke were manipulative. She ends up completely getting away with it. People are harsher on Sakura because no one (within the series) calls her out on this behavior, and she works to pull Sasuke back into a relationship he never wanted to begin with. Sakura was sixteen when she did it (and has continued to do it even in her thirties.)
Stop trying to compare them, they’re not the same. Itachi became self aware and stopped. Sakura didn’t, and she never will.
And to the “Sakura was a teen/didn’t know better” argument…. Again. Itachi was thirteen when the massacre occurred and had been manipulated since he was four years old. Sakura was 12-13 during her very first confession. If she gets excused because she’s so young, so does Itachi. Sakura’s behavior hasn’t changed in 20 years. ]]
[[
were the cameras immediately removed out of the district post massacre or did a skeleton crew of ANBU just sit around and watch Sasuke sulk completely by himself in the district?]]Man, this is something I’ve been thinking about for years lmao.
I have a feeling they weren’t immediately removed. I mean I guess most of them would have been, but a few might have been eft behind. Someone had to make sure the kid wasn’t trying to commit suicide or anything – not because they cared about Sasuke, but because they didn’t want Itachi and Akatsuki on their ass in vengeance if something did happen to him. Plus, it would be so very convenient to just watch him from afar without having to go to any trouble of visiting the guy in person and seeing how he’s doing.
…I always wondered why they couldn’t use something like Hiruzen’s mystical scrying ball instead lmao.
But yeah, no idea. Have a feeling they were assholes and left them there for a while? Then again, would they waste resources on a lone Uchiha?
[[ They’re trained ANBU and he’s a traumatized 7 year old who stares at the ceiling while laying on the floor, I’m sure if they got the order to remove them they could do so easily. I’m gonna have to review the novel to be sure.
As far as the scrying ball goes, I was told (again I’ll have to review) that it’s an anime only item used during the show’s early days. ]]
[[ An interesting thought I just had.
Itachi’s own bias for Sasuke soured his own relationship with his Father, harshly criticizing every single ‘mistake’ Fugaku made, even though Itachi made a lot of those same mistakes and made excuses for himself.
Three times– two times specifically directed towards his Father, Itachi’s opinion of Fugaku grows worse as Fugaku does things Itachi perceives as insulting or damaging to Sasuke. Itachi doesn’t care much about how his Father treats him, (at least, not on a level that Itachi is acutely aware of), but when Fugaku does something that upsets Sasuke, or something Itachi thinks will disrupt Sasuke, Itachi grows angry.
The first instance is when the district is being built. All the adults are unhappy because they know why. They’ve been accused of the attack and are being sequestered to a corner of the village, forced to all live together. Itachi, child that he is, doesn’t understand why the adults can’t be happy their homes are being built first. The district, from Itachi’s point of view, will provide safety and peace where Itachi can raise Sasuke. Because Itachi perceives it in such a way it can benefit Sasuke, it’s not a bad thing and the adults are just “dumb.”
The second instance (and these last two may be out of order) is when Fugaku raises his voice at Itachi concerning his position between the clan and village. Itachi is angry– not because Fugaku is screaming at him, not because of the pressure, but because the noise level might wake Sasuke up. He has a thought in which he accuses his own Father of not caring for Sasuke at all, because as far as Itachi goes– if you cared, would you not let him sleep in peace? Once more, anything he could misconstrue as hurting Sasuke counts against his Father.
The third is when Fugaku says he won’t be available for Sasuke’s entrance ceremony, because of the importance of making sure Itachi’s entrance into ANBU goes correctly. For a third time– Itachi believes that Fugaku doesn’t care for Sasuke, because caring for Sasuke means putting him above all else (even if Itachi is guilty of contradicting himself of this. He has a special excuse for himself so he can believe he doesn’t do this.) Itachi goes as far as to outright try to cancel the mission, to manipulate his Father into going to the ceremony and appeasing Sasuke.
Now, as far as Itachi’s excuse goes… Itachi himself believes his work will benefit Sasuke in the end. It’s why he believes he can get away with putting Sasuke off or cancelling things he previously promised. The end will justify the means to him, and in the end it’s for Sasuke. Not truly logically sound, but this is how Itachi thinks. ]]
Does this look like the face of a man who’s happy to go “home”
just sayin’These are caps of Sasuke’s reaction to the message saying he needs to come back to Konoha. You’d think there’d be a small smile or maybe neutral but there’s only sadness, I really don’t think he wants to return to the village who drove Itachi to madness and ruined his life. There’s nothing there for him and they’re only calling him back because he’s all they have. He’s a weapon, a tool to be used, like his brother.
He looks so sad on the second panel, who would ever think this is a face of a happy man going back to his own village, where his “friends” are.
He looks dead.
Like he’d rather be somewhere with his pet cats sipping some lemonade and eating some cherry tomatoes. But nah konoha is always cooking up bullshit
Honestly the reason I don’t talk much about SasuSaku on my blog is because I feel like so many people already talk about it. I hate it for pretty much the same reasons most people who hate it do. This is a really great post by @renaerys on it, though I don’t agree with everything in it.
I guess without getting into too much detail these are my main reasons for disliking SS:
- Sakura doesn’t respect Sasuke’s wishes in the context of their relationship
- Sasuke isn’t really what Sakura wants in a partner (and this was true since they were twelve. Her ideal Sasuke was Naruto-disguised-as-Sasuke.)
- I think a lot of Sakura’s growth centred on moving on from Sasuke, which isn’t something she was able to do within the series. TBH none of Sakura’s relationships with Team Seven are particularly healthy; Sai and Ino are better friends for her.
- Sakura uses a lot of emotionally manipulative language when she speaks to Sasuke about her feelings
- Sasuke isn’t particularly receptive of Sakura’s feelings nor does he give many indications that they’re reciprocated (I will acknowledge that in part one this is debatable; personally I think he cared for her as a dear friend, but I’m not going to get into semantics about whether his feelings toward her were platonic or romantic. Either way, I think his behaviour in part two and onwards is decidedly not romantic, including his behaviour post-ending)
- Sakura’s feelings for Sasuke make her miserable?? The way she talks about it, especially in part two, you’d think she’s shackled to an anchor. It doesn’t make her happy, it weighs her down. And while some amount of that isn’t unusual, that misery defines her relationship with him for such a long time. It’d be so much healthier for her to move on.
- Their relationship is harmful for Sarada
- What makes it the most despicable for me is actually post-ending information, which… I generally don’t take as seriously as stuff that happened within the original series. But honestly, if SasuSaku was just canon and we didn’t know anything about what happens after the ending, I’d be like “That’s stupid and unhealthy" which like, is bad enough on its own but it’s not gonna like, keep me up at night or whatever. The problem is that the extra novels canonized that Sakura goes after Sasuke while he’s still on his journey against his explicit wishes, and resolves that she will no longer take no for an answer and continue to pursue him until he returns his feelings. And that information fills me with a disgust so profound I can’t even articulate it. It keeps me from peaceful sleep.
So… yeah. I really dislike SasuSaku but I just don’t find it worth my time to delve into it very deeply because there’s so many people out there already deconstructing it much more articulately than I could.
I’ve theorised before about something where Suigetsu is actually keeping an eye on Orochimaru for Kiri, but this makes it seem even more interesting. This is the scroll with which Mei confronts the treacherous officials. This is also the scroll Suigetsu gives Mitsuki, letting him expose Shizuma.
We find out later that Orochimaru was nudging the coup plan along (see below, under cut), and therefore that it’s Orochimaru’s plan Suigetsu has sabotaged by giving Mitsuki that information. Did he also cooperate with Mei? Is that how the scroll has been passed around?
It’s clearly not Orochimaru who has his highest loyalty, or he wouldn’t have first tried to dissuade Orochimaru, and then outright sabotaged the plan. So perhaps he really is working for Kirigakure, a double agent seemingly acting for Orochimaru but actually acting for his homeland. (And he does call it home, when he’s talking to Mitsuki. He says he’s returned home for a mission.)
I think it was the other way around. That this was all a scheme on Orochimaru’s part to root out troublemakers and nudge Suigetsu to be more independent and responsible, and less”awful” as Mitsuki put it.
Hahaha no.
Orochimaru’s plan was stirring up trouble for his own ends. And he is not the higher moral influence on Suigetsu. He is not teaching Suigetsu to be better. He is not better than Suigetsu. He never was. And he never will be. Orochimaru has no moral compass and frankly it grosses me out that anyone would suggest he was using this as some kind of ‘teachable moment’ for Suigetsu.
Who, by the way, deserved better than to be working for him at all.
@hotmonkeelove
This was in no way any scheme of
Orochimaru’s to root out troublemakers, and being somebody that has
absolutely no moral compass, Orochimaru is the LAST person to be able to nudge
ANYONE in any ‘right’ path. There has never been any parental role played by this
man towards Suigetsu, and there never will be, because Orochimaru is a
character that is incapable of that kind of feeling. Whatever benevolence he
might show on the outside has always been proved to be a ruse, just a means to
get what he wants. We’ve seen throughout the series how easily he discards
those that are of no more use to him. Mitarashi Anko, the Sound Four and
Kimmimaro are a few.This opinion that he’s a benevolent ‘good’
person now, frankly, does nothing but insult Orochimaru’s character as a villain through and through– a cold-hearted
scientist that sees the entire world as his lab and the people in it as his
experimental subjects. He hasn’t ‘turned over a new leaf’, either. He hasn’t
‘turned good’. No. He’s just allowed to continue doing what he does, because
Konoha figures they could still be able to use him in the future should shit
hit the fan and they need resources. Orochimaru himself explains to Sasuke that
this is the reason they’re keeping him alive.It’s a shame, really. Orochimaru being
the cold bastard he is, who hasn’t really changed after everything that’s
happened, is what makes him a GREAT villain and a GREAT character. Dumbing him
down to being an all-caring fatherly/motherly/parental figure with absolutely
good intentions just because you like him and ship your characters with him and want to justify liking him is
just… awful character assassination of one of the consistently villainous
characters in the series. And one of the best, and most interesting, honestly.
[[ LOL
Alright, let’s destroy you and any future people who still think it’s ok to be anti-Itachi as if he alone caused the massacre. I’m tired of y’all clogging the Itachi tag with your nonsense opinions.
First things first: The massacre was out of Itachi’s control =/= the massacre was okay and a good thing.
You don’t even have basic reading comprehension. I hate the massacre, it’s awful, but I’m not so much of an idiot I think it’s entirely Itachi’s fault. You’re blaming a thirteen year old who had his fears used against him and was used as a scapegoat so the village could get away with murdering one of its founding clans. Itachi is not at fault for the massacre, he was a pawn. Just as much a victim of Danzo and Hiruzen.
Sarutobi was alive, wasn’t he?
You poor, poor soul. You think he would’ve helped? Do you really trust Hiruzen that much? Let’s go over a list of things Hiruzen has done that are canon.
Your Precious Angel Sarutobi Hiruzen…
And killing entire clan is sort of… not smth Danzo would be able to do and then hide it?
Do you honestly think Danzo was even attempting to hide it? It works in Danzo’s favor if the entire village thinks the Uchiha are dangerous. He already has a lot of the public believing that the Uchiha are at fault. Itachi is bullied in school because he’s an Uchiha. He’s discriminated when he works in ANBU because one of them lost his sister to the Kyuubi, and somehow it’s Itachi’s– and the entire Uchiha clan’s fault. Danzo wants this kind of outcry to be public, he wants to be lauded as a hero for exterminating the Uchiha. He got the best he could, the clan is gone and no-one in the public thinks negatively of him. Danzo is the same man who let out the secret that Naruto was the Jinchuuriki, purely so people would hate and fear him and he could be considered a savior for killing Naruto in the future.
And the worst isn’t even that he betrayed his family. The worst is that he went and brutally slaughtered them at night without giving them any chance to defend themselves. He’s a coward.
You really are, just…missing the whole point, aren’t you? The massacre was scheduled and orchestrated. If it wasn’t Itachi who started it, it would’ve been the ANBU under Hiruzen and Danzo’s command.
There’s hundreds of things that he could’ve done, but he chose mass murder
See, this is what I hate about you anti Itachi people. You always act as if Itachi acted completely on his own, independent of other people’s pressure and manipulation. As if he just up and one day said “yeah, i’ll kill them that’s the only option lol” and planned the whole thing himself.
Danzo has been manipulating Itachi Uchiha since he was seven years old.
Itachi has had an Aburame stalking him since he graduated the Academy and met Danzo. Danzo wanted Itachi specifically. An Uchiha, a clan he hates, but Itachi showed so much skill and promise that Danzo would much rather have that skill be working under his name.
Danzo does everything in his power to speed up the process to get Itachi into his clutches. Itachi’s sensei won’t allow him to enter the Chuunin exams? Go to Hiruzen and speak harshly about the sensei, and convince Hiruzen to not only let Itachi take the exams– but to take them alone.
Uchiha not allowed in ANBU? Well, strike that for this one particular Uchiha. Danzo wants him badly.
Age restriction to join ANBU? Come on Hiruzen please just lower it by one year I really need this Uchiha to be working under me.
Danzo knew about Itachi’s fear of mass fighting and bloodshed. He used it to his advantage, told Itachi the safer option was for himself to murder the clan as opposed to a fight breaking out. The fighting would break outside the clan, spill into the streets…enemy nations would see this and seize the opportunity to attack the Leaf…and Itachi would bear witness to the bloody scene he saw when he was four years old.
Itachi wants more than anything to prevent mass fighting, so to him, scared as he is, it sounds better to be known as the rogue Uchiha who killed his clan, rather than the rest of the village being scared that they’re next. Is it logical? No! But if you actually cared for one second and stepped into his shoes and thought about it from his point of view, you could see how he would come to that conclusion.
So, let’s recap.
Itachi did not choose mass murder. Itachi was manipulated into the ‘choice’ because he was a child who had fears and vulnerabilities that were preyed on. There are people with more power and influence than Itachi and he was merely a victim of them.
Even if he chose to stand with his clan, he simply would’ve been killed along with the rest of them. The massacre would have happened one way or another, Itachi’s cooperation be damned.
So again….the massacre was out of Itachi’s control.
**And a helpful edit by my friend Tai, the village got away with the Uchiha Clan Genocide because publicly, it’s considered it’s Itachi’s fault. A person killing their own family is a massacre, another system enacting a family wipe is a genocide. ]]
UchihaSavior 