Naruto Fandom - Blog Posts

SAKURA’S CONFESSION

Honest to god, I hate that the Sakura confession scene has been so hated. I never thought it would be so controversial.

But one take I haven’t seen and maybe I’m alone on this was that, when I first watched the scene, I honest to god that it was a test run from the authour’s side to see how fans would ACTUALLY react if Sakura did develop feelings towards Naruto.

I truly do believe even though the writer had his planned final pairings, that he still did test around with toying with the idea of different pairings like Naruto x Sakura.

Remember when Yamato during the bridge arc made a comment towards Sakura about her care towards Naruto? I think the bridge arc was when someone said in one of the databooks, Sakura was noted to be confused about her thoughts on Naruto. It was implied that she was maybe developing feelings towards him post timeskip.

As a NaruSaku shipper, I see the confession scene was the ultimate acknowledgement of the slow romantic tension that had built around the two. I know this is super subjective but still.

Anyway, during her confession, I remember she was blushing and shit, honestly I took that initially as her admitting to herself that “yeah I guess I’m saying something I kinda been feeling lately out loud and it kinda feels good”. I don’t know why so many people took her confessions as super evil and manipulative. Again, I know I’m being bias but my girl isn’t a good liar come on. When she lies, she does that closed smile thing with a voice crack.

Also, remember when Naruto rejected her confession and they started arguing about the validity of her confession and she was like “why are you telling me I’m wrong” moment. To me, that means it was more genuine and if anything she was shocked that Naruto thought she was lying.

Now, I’m not saying she didn’t have ulterior motives or anything. She of course did but I think that she honest to god was okay with “settling” with Naruto. Like at some point in early Shippuden, she started to like both of her comrades.

I know people like to sanitize the romances between the characters because it’s cleaner that way. It is messy if characters marry their partners but the story also acknowledges that they crushed on other people before then. I’ve seen people purposely not acknowledge his long term crush on Sakura because well, he’s married to Hinata but like cmon guys - let’s not do that because that is a narrative change and something you can really downplay because there are 200+ episodes of the guy liking another girl who isn’t his future wife.

I feel like the Naruto fandom refuses to acknowledge that during the first time Kakashi preformed 1000 years of death on Naruto, our kid main character blushes. Like the punchline of the joke was that Kakashi fingered a boy and said boy liked it. What the fuck was the authour thinking?

Also like in the sports OVA, Sasuke “accidentally” shoves a baton up Naruto’s ass when he was racing and was fighting the urge to shit his pants. Naruto literally had to pull the baton out of his ass and continue the race. Again, what the hell.

I know people aren’t going to like the truth but Naruto canonically liked having Kakashi’s fingers up his ass and there have been too many instances of something up our main character’s butt.

Honestly when I found out that Sakura x Sasuke became canon by the last chapter and read up on the lore, the entire time I thought may this love never find me 🫡

*at the cost of sacrificing the plot, world building and pacing*

Yes pretty much. I get it’s a reactionary response but as I mentioned, let’s try to avoid thinking black or white on a fictional character that has lots of screen time and made various decisions throughout the show/story. I agree with you that her heart was in the right place despite it completely backfiring on her. As the episode showed later on, she def needed a second opinion on more than just that (you know the who I’m gonna kill Sasuke by myself thing?).

Side note!

Sai positioned himself as a third party with a more grounded/earnest opinion on the situation but he admitted that he shouldn’t had told Sakura his opinion on their relationship because it caused Sakura to make ultimately an oopsie decision that upset Naruto. It’s messy but hey, there is a reason why Shippuden was 500 episodes lol

The issue I have with Sakura stans as another Sakura fan is that some have a tendency to think black or white. I’m unsure if it’s because of how much hate a character who really didn’t deserve it got during the Naruto heyday.

Regardless, if you have an opinion that isn’t 💯 positive all around, a subsection of fans will attack you. Like you can literally say nothing negative about the character and people will act like you do.

Maybe it’s a ESL thing. I find that if I’m having a discussion with someone and it’s clear to me that we are talking about two different things, the miscommunication is from a language barrier, people can’t read well or it’s anger issues that makes people skip words.

For example, I had a discussion about Sakura and Naruto’s dynamic with Sasuke. I said that Sakura is the more reasonable one as Naruto’s constant defending for Sasuke even though he’s technically wrong is absurd. But that’s just Naruto. He sees the good in everyone, even people who genuinely don’t deserve it at times.

Somehow someone took that and responded with I’m calling Sakura a whore, bitch and dumb and that I’m sexist. If Sakura did it she’s that but when Naruto does it it’s endearing LMAO.

Me dunking on Naruto and saying Sakura is more reasonable is apparently swapped in that person’s mind.

Honestly there is a reason why people don’t like Sakura fans because some of them took the hate that her character got and took it in the wrong direction.

I think Boruto era Naruto x Sasuke shippers need to understand that Sasuke won’t be a better partner if he’s with Naruto. It doesnt matter if he secretly elopes with Naruto, he won’t be staying. He has commitment issues and literally can’t stay in one place for too long. I know he loves his brother still but his brother is the sole reason why he’s an incredibly damaged individual who literally will never recover from his trauma. I get that it’s super complicated but it’s one of those things that are indescribable. His brother fucked him over when he didn’t need to (the 518400 times thing) that he fundamentally changed his brain chemistry.

Additionally, I feel like he can’t handle the responsibility of his personal life. He’s the kinda guy who will leave people on read or delivered for months you know? It’s the emotional baggage and genuinely wanting solitude even though he knows it’s not the best path for him. It’s almost like a bad habit, constantly wanting to be alone even though what gets you through the day is knowing you have loved ones waiting for you at home.

Romance does not factor into his character, he’s barely involved with his family because his trauma and baggage goes beyond that.

In canon, it’s because of his job and his past actions that make him feel unwelcome in the village sure. But why should he care about people he doesn’t know? The people he knows want him back more often. He just doesn’t want to for his atonement. He does prioritize Naruto over his family but he still sees the guy like every few years for half an hour before he teleports away again. He doesn’t even hang out with him when he’s back.

What I’m trying to say is that he would 100% treat Naruto the same way he treats Sakura as a romantic partner. Which is find excuses to not hang out and immediately leave after work is done.

People write fanfics about them owning an apartment or whatever, divorcing their partners to be with eachother, etc. yes it’s fanfic lol people can do whatever they want but I would love to read a fic that explores what I’m talking about here.

Something from my notes while I was watching Shippuden

It’s weird that Naruto married a woman who is quiet, introverted and has special eye powers. During my time watching this god forsaken show, I noted down that Naruto seems to attract introverted shy downer boys like Gaara and Sasuke. I guess there is something about that type of personality he likes in dudes. I am still very doubtful that he would like that personality in a woman because he criticized his future wife who had the same personality but in the end, he seemingly married her. It’s like he married a female-ish Sasuke. Like someone who superficially sounds like him on paper.

For Sasuke, he doesn’t seem to like a lot of people outside of his family. He tolerated Naruto’s extroverted, loud and confident behaviour. He was annoyed by his obsession with chasing after him though. I don’t blame him he gets it from both sides and it’s not like he has a mentor to ask for advice on how to deal with it. Anyway, I’ve seen him ignore Sakura who has a similar personality to Naruto at times. She’s tomboyish and has the former traits. He low-key criticized her for being obsessed with him. He also doesn’t seem to visually like pushy women, but it might be because every woman so far has been pushy in their advances and flirty towards him. There is no shame for whoever has a crush on him. But he doesn’t seem to mind it as much when Naruto does it. I mean he does mind it but he didn’t say it’s disgusting or anything. It’s again weird that he married Sakura because I always felt like he didn’t like that kind of woman but he’s okay with it when it’s a guy to a more tolerable extent.

Those two really did marry the female version of their “type”. But again, the impression I got so far was that they didn’t like that personality if it was the opposite sex for whatever reason.

I know I just finished the show but I feel like LITERALLY everyone married the wrong person. Everyone should swapped partners. More people should be single, some people shouldn’t be dead while others I’m shocked they survived (looking at you KIBA AND MIGHT GUY) and others who aren’t married yet for some reason.

Sakura and Naruto, I love you both dearly but you both married the wrong people in my eyes. But this also applies to everyone else so don’t come for me (this wasn’t in my notes but I have to put this in here - I’m just copying pasting my immediate thoughts I wrote in my notes lol)

It’s just weird. I followed a strict anime filler guide and it makes me feel like I missed something.

Food for thought

Oh also Sasuke totally gives off I have commitment issues, bachelor vibes and just lone wolf identity. Kinda like Jiraya but not a pervert or a writer. More like he just wants to be alone even if it meant being away from society. To me, he will always prioritize himself above everyone else because he has way too much baggage. He just comes across as someone who wants to be in solitude. It’s unfortunate because he had such a bright future when he was a kid but in canon, he seems to be married while living his bachelor lifestyle from the ending.

I finished all of Naruto + Shippuden in two weeks. Yes I’m crazy and I binged all of the canon episodes.

Anyway - I took notes on my thoughts before, during and after every single arc.

In terms of Sasunaru, I had some inklings about the pairing during Shippuden, none pre-time skip but what really made me fully believe at one point Naruto was maybe in love with Sasuke, was early Kage Summit arc.

I just didn’t think Naruto would handle Sasuke’s absence so poorly when I started Shippuden. I completely misjudged his character. I didn’t think he would be so clingy. It was like baby’s first breakup with him. It was genuinely like watching someone experience a breakup, get depressed but instead of getting over it in half a year, it was 500 episodes or 10 years of anime. He literally was not the same character anymore. Yes he got older but he was just such a downer compared to pre-time skip because he was depressed about his man.

I fully believed he was in love with him until the whole reincarnation brother stuff. 

So many ups and downs with Naruto but I love him. I can’t believe I’m saying this in the year 2024, almost 2025 but Naruto is one of my favourite anime characters ever. Maybe I just don’t watch enough shounen but I’ve really come to like Naruto. He’s so endearing and him recovering over his breakup was one of the most cathartic things ever. Literally more cathartic than 99% of the anime fights. My biggest takeaway from watching the show and how I remember it, was Naruto’s coming of age story from his career to his interpersonal deeply complex relationships he has with people, especially Sasuke Uchiha. Take that as you wish.

Random Orochimaru thought

Really like his character. Reminds me of the other mother/beldum from Coraline for some reason. Similar vibes I guess.

Despite all efforts, Sasuke is still the one who got away in Naruto’s mind but he made peace with that fact decades ago.

This is an old throwback to that one frame during their first final valley fight. The one the animators kept redrawing for some reason.

Anyway looking at Naruto’s expression, I can tell that all those years/episodes of putting his life/goals at the time on hold and most importantly the potential world building, plot, konoha 12 and almost everything part 1/classic Naruto set up hostage JUST so Naruto can chase his man was worth ALL the pain and hardships - that him and the viewers both endured over 15 years.

Despite some “opinions” that perhaps obsessing and chasing a guy who publicly was too proud to admit he was Naruto’s friend, may not had been worth the countless tears and blood shed, Naruto doesn’t give a fuck and clearly feels so giddy and euphoric - because at the end of the day, he mostly got what he wanted and that’s Sasuke with him.

Naruto’s new official art?!?!?

WOAH

NARUTO STANS I NEED YOUR HELP

I finished watching Naruto + Shippuden a few weeks ago and I’m so sad I put the show off for DECADES. I never watched it growing up despite watching a lot of anime and all my friends talking about it.

The only thing I knew about Naruto was that it was about ninjas and there was some bad guy with long hair.

Now that I’m into the fandom, I really wish I was in the loop while the show aired. Naruto seems to be forgotten by the general public and the fandom spaces seem really small. I vaguely heard all of the online discussion back in the day was on facebook or Naruto forums which are hard to access now.

I NEED THE KNOW THE TEA, EVERYONES THOUGHTS OF ANYTHING WHILE THE SHOW AIRED. Like what were the biggest theories, discussions, discourse, what did people think about the story, plot, characters, dub vs sub, anything. What were the community memes back in the day? What were peoples reactions to the arcs or major or minor plot lines.

Like what did people think about Sasuke ever changing outfits, or the five Kage summit arc, or the MEMES BACK IN THE DAY?!?!

I truly missed out and now no one really discusses this show outside of nostalgia because of Boruto. Oh also what did people feel about Boruto? And also the Naruto movies because there are like a dozen of them and the show aired for 15 years. What did people feel about the filler and flashbacks? How was the fandom like during anime cons or during the school yard/water cooler breaks with your workers if you were working when it aired?

Literally opening this discussion for word vomit and any and all thoughts.

IM JUST SO SAD AND HAPPY I WATCHED NARUTO AFTER IGNORING IT FOR SO LONG 😭

♡Regressor! Sasuke headcanons ♡

(The og naruto series) part one 🖤

🖤 Sasuke is suchhh a trauma regressor

♥︎ Whenever he felt unsafe or a bit too scared, he would regress almost instantaneously

🖤 Sauke’s a real sweetheart when he’s regressed

♥︎ He’s still a bit of a grumpy baby but he’s so much nicer when he’s little

🖤 Baby regressor!!!

♥︎ He regresses pretty young about 0-3

🖤 Sasuke rarely gets past 3 when he regresses

♥︎ He would never admit it but he actually really likes regressing

🖤 It makes him feel safe and he doesn’t have to worry about his brother or avenging his clan or closing himself off in fear of being abandoned again

♥︎ Sasuke’s almost always nonverbal when he regresses

🖤 He’s a bit of a crybaby when he regresses

♥︎ He’s such an emotionally sensitive little

🖤 The smallest thing could send him into a fit of tears or just teary-eyed pouting if you're not careful with your words

♥︎ Don’t even think about bringing up his brother or the clan, he would be absolutely Inconsolable

🖤 Aside from that he’s a pretty happy little

♥︎ He actually lets himself smile and laugh and acts really similar to his baby/younger self before the massacre

🖤 He really likes to go outside and play in the grass or just sit out there and stare at nothing with his favorite stuffies

♥︎ He likes to enjoy the silence of his mind when he’s regressed

🖤Surprisingly, Sasuke lets his defences down and lets himself feel his emotions when he’s regressed

♥︎ Not that he has much of a choice because his regressions brings the emotions out of him whether he likes it or not

🖤 Sasuke is really selective on who he allows near him when he regresses and who can know about it

♥︎ He’s really embarrassed about his regression, no matter how many times he’s told it's nothing to be embarrassed about and that a lot of ninjas use it as a coping mechanism

🖤 The only people who know about his regression are team seven and even then he was really hesitant to tell anyone

♥︎ Especially Naruto he didn't want him to try to make fun of him for it

🖤 Thankfully Naruto didn’t he surprisingly just didn't care

♥︎ He only really cared about having Sasuke as a rival still

🖤 Sasuke mostly only trusted one person to be his caregiver

♥︎ He definitely didn’t trust Naruto take care of him while regressed

🖤 Sasuke thought Naruto might try and feed him spoiled cup noodles on accident

♥︎ Sakura was still way too much of a fan girl and a bit annoying to Sasuke so he took her out of the equation and the only semi-competent person left on the team was Kakashi

🖤 Kakashi didn’t mind looking after regressed Sasuke even if he had initially not really known what to do

♥︎ Eventually he got better at the caregiving stuff and he really cared about Sasuke

🖤 In a way he saw himself in Sasuke that feeling of yearning to be cared for, the wish to not be abandoned anymore

♥︎ Sasuke is definitely a baby with abandonment issues

🖤 He never wants to let his caregivers or babysitters out of his line of sight

♥︎ If his caregiver is gone for a bit too long he will absolutely start to cry thinking he’s been left alone again

🖤 Even though he complains when he’s big about Naruto always being around him when he’s little, if he comes around while Sasuke is little he will not be able to leave

♥︎ If Naruto tries to go after he’s shown up already, Sasuke will cry and make sad faces at him while doing grabby hands until he stays

🖤 His being so young when regressed means he’s very caregiver and babysitter dependent

♥︎ He might act like he minds but deep down he likes being able to rely on others for a change

🖤 Sasuke nearly refuses to eat anything without tomatoes in it or isn't a tomato when he’s little

♥︎ Kakashi had no choice but to try to get creative with food options for Sasuke

🖤 Trying to fit in tomatoes in a lot of dishes with limited knowledge in cooking isn't easy but Kakashi makes it work

♥︎ However he does convince Sasuke to eat a few other things besides tomatoes when he’s little

🖤 He also likes to eat rice cakes, pretzels, string cheese or apple sauce

♥︎ Anything that's not super sweet and things that are kinda savory

🖤 These things may not be meals but it's a start

♥︎ Kakashi my favorite single mother ♡

@keykirin359 is at fault