Same Anon as before. Do you have any unpopular opinions about certain characters?
A lot even but i will only talk about my opinions regarding the characters from the Naruto manga that I appreciate - if I expand, we'll be here tomorrow - .
Firstly, let's start with Sakura.
I don't understand why some—actually, many—of her own fans say she is poorly written.
She isn't...?
Sakura has issues concerning her character, but it has NOTHING to do with bad writing but more about her role in the story and how she was used. As for her character itself, she-is-not-poorly-written.
Honestly, I hate this claim because it gives the impression that her character is bad when that's not the case at all.
Coming from the antis, it's not surprising —they can't even understand the character of their own favorite, so understanding Sakura's character would be a miracle— but from her "stan"?
Just...no.
She is not poorly written, and that's my final word on it. I'm more than tired of hearing this nonsense. Yes, the narrative failed her many times— like many other characters, for that matter —but it's not the "bad writing" of her character to blame, but rather Kishimoto's inability to focus on characters other than Sasuke and Naruto.
Another unpopular opinion about her is that I HATE fanon versions of Sakura (and when I say fanon, I also mean popular headcanons about her circulating in the fandom).
It may sound extreme, but you'll quickly understand why:
Initially, it was actually the opposite. I loved it because I enjoyed seeing the different iterations of her that fans could create. It was always refreshing to read other versions of Sakura in fanfic—that admittedly had little to do with the original—growing and experiencing incredible things. I liked that.
And then things got worse.
For some reason, many of her fans —and antis as well— started confusing her canon version and her fanon version (some takes on her are so OC that I sometimes wonder if we're talking about the same person), while others began to claim that she should have had techniques like mokuton in the canon.
... What do they think Sakura is?
Naruto and Sasuke?
If they want their headcanon to be somewhat plausible in the context of canon, at least give her something that aligns with his philosophy of hard work.
Mokuton, from what I know, only manifests through the Senju lineage. If she had it in the canon, she would have to be descended from a Senju —naturally or artificially, it doesn't matter— and honestly... I disagree.
That's not Sakura.
This girl is a titan of her own making, partly thanks to her courage and hard work, and then thanks to Tsunade and Shizune -bless these ladies-
I would never want her to have power-ups like Naruto; it would negate everything she has done since the beginning of the manga, and that's just a big no.
I can understand her fans being upset about her treatment by Kishimoto —I am too, a lot— but that doesn't mean we should change her character to fit a shoddy female version of her male counterparts; that's just rude.
It wouldn't even be the same person anymore.
My last unpopular opinion about her (I have many more, but I'll just stop here) is that she deserved better.
... I classify this as an unpopular opinion because what I mean by that is not: "she deserved better than Sasuke" or "she deserved to be with Naruto" or AGAIN "she should have gotten over Sasuke" or some other thing like "she should have had some super powerful ability."
No, what I mean is that Sakura deserved her own arc.
An arc in which she wouldn't have to carry the weight of the shinobi world's guilt on her shoulders as usual - if Konoha is messed up, it's not her fault-
An arc in which we could see her actually experience her other skills, have other epic battles, build other relationships, break free from the grip of Team 7 in general.
She's supposed to be the heroine of the manga, but Kishimoto treated her like a supporting character with way too much screen time.
Damn, we don't even know what her home life is like.
We don't even really see her parents in the manga, and why is that?
Because she doesn't have an overly tragic background to make Hades pale?
Because she doesn't have balls?
Compared to her teammates, she doesn't matter, is that it?
The only thing we see her do again and again is blame herself for things beyond her control.
Like...why?!
Kishimoto made her some kind of martyr of pain, and it infuriates me every time I think about it.
The worst part is that many of her own fans sweep this under the rug and prefer to argue about who "deserves her."
Sasuke here, Naruto there... is she a piece of meat?
It's almost taboo to talk about the real problems surrounding her character in this fandom without someone mentioning how "Sasuke doesn't deserve her, and Naruto is much better" or how "Sakura is obsessed with Sasuke's dick."
...
Lol.
Next, Sasuke.
Sasuke deserved better...
and
Sasuke was wrong...
are notions that should more often go hand in hand.
His redemption journey was a good idea because, no matter what his most zealous fans say about it, Sasuke needed that journey.
Konoha hurt him, and it's easy to become an apologist for his character given all the crap he went through, mainly because of the incompetent authorities of this crappy village, but... that doesn't change the fact that he is not without blame and that he also did messed up things.
However... I don't like the resolution of his character arc.
Once again, Kishimoto reminded us in the cruelest way possible that Naruto is a classic Shounen, and the protagonist must always be right.
To the detriment of Sasuke.
Attention, I'm not saying that Naruto's view was wrong and Sasuke's was right because that's far from the case.
What annoyed me is the way the author handled it.
It seemed like Sasuke was almost wrong to think the way he did, when given his situation, his reaction was actually expected and normal. I really don't like how he put Naruto's opinions on a pedestal at the end of manga.
He gave Sasuke a completely independent story that didn't revolve around Naruto's sphere of influence -quite rare even today in the Shounen era- .
He endowed him with his own will.
Literally more than Naruto, it was Sasuke who led the dance in the manga, and why in the end?
So that everything would go in the direction of the protagonist?
And that, without even serious questioning of the Konoha system?
What was the point of Naruto knowing the truth about the Uchiha massacre then?
So yes, I don't like what Kishimoto did to Sasuke's character in the end; I find it unfair to him.
I classify this as an unpopular opinion because, even though I'm not a fan of the resolution of his character arc, that doesn't mean I'm "pro-revolution" or that I think Sasuke did nothing wrong, because he did.
This brings me to my second unpopular opinion about this character:
Sasuke is not a revolutionary.
He is not the character built to challenge the system that some of his fans think he is.
Like… since when did Sasuke become someone who could change Konoha's system in the first place?
That was never his goal; the only thing that led him to make that infamous statement was anger and betrayal he felt towards Konoha. It was his obsession with revenge that led to this thought, and nothing else.
Moreover, excuse me, but his plan was crappy.
Eliminate all Kage, okay.
Take the lead of all the villages, okay.
Launch a revolution and change the system...
As if the other shinobi of the alliance would just stare at him and do nothing
-_-
His idea was doomed to fail from the start.
I'm theorizing a bit here, but basically, here's the deal:
Does he really think he can eliminate the entire Shinobi alliance? (because that's what he would have had to do to achieve his goal)
With what help?
That of Team Taka?
Lol.
Yes, Sasuke is powerful, but even he couldn't have pulled off this feat without becoming ridiculously overpowered (even more than at the end of the manga).
The only thing this plan would have brought if executed would have been to alienate all Shinobi nations against him (well, he already did it, but it would have been even worse).
And if, by some miracle, his plan had worked - if he had succeeded in his revolution - it would have just caused decades and decades of war between rebel factions - because there would be if we still follow the logic of the manga - wanting to return to the old times, others wanting power for themselves, and others simply refusing to let power go to an Uchiha (let's not forget the reputation of this clan).
Moreover, to change a system hundreds of years old in a world governed by the law of the strongest, it takes much more than violence and a strong desire for revenge.
He would need many brains at his disposal: tacticians, politicians, doctors, advisers...
In short, he would need allies he could trust and who would not betray him.
Unless he wants to be a bully, which honestly seems more likely to me.
He would need the help of countless geniuses in each field for this revolution to be successful, and from what the manga tells us, all these people are in the alliance.
... Who would want to work for him willingly after all he would have done?
And even if there are people willing to do so, it will always be with the fear of possible betrayal.
If even Madara and Hashirama - alias shinobi gods in their time - needed strong allies to create Konoha and make it a prosperous nation...
(even though it went to hell afterward, but still)
What will Sasuke do with a partially destroyed nation that he will have to rebuild with his own hands?
And let's not even talk about the fact that he was consumed by revenge and half-crazy when he talked about this revolution.
I still can't believe there are people who take these words seriously.
I really wonder what kind of revolution they expected with Sasuke in that state of mind?
If it had happened, it would have led to two possible situations:
The death of the last surviving Uchiha or an even more gruesome massacre than the one that wiped out his clan.
Although, considering those who support this pseudo-revolution among his fanbase, the latter option would have suited them just fine.
Another reason that honestly makes me think this thing is stupid is that it doesn't align with the manga's vision.
Kishimoto, despite the few innovative takes he has made several times regarding the plot and some characters, remains a staunch traditionalist. Sasuke would never have become a villain, and he would never have been killed either; that would go against Naruto's dream.
He would also never have become a "revolutionary" challenging the system.
It's not his role; he's not the protagonist.
The character of Sasuke - like all the others, in fact - exists within the limits of the plot; we cannot go beyond and make his character something it was never supposed to be.
Although, for me, it's a good thing that he isn't because his plan was just as bad as Naruto's flawed idealistic vision.
I still think that if Kishimoto had made them talk normally for once, without them having to almost kill each other, if he had made them come to a compromise that would have combined their two ideas, it wouldn't have been as half-baked in the end.
To choose between the plague and cholera, he should have just paired them together -_-
But no, he had to choose nardo's protagonist vision.
Another opinion about Sasuke is his relationship with Naruto, which I find... shaky? overestimated? poorly written?
They share a strong bond, that's an undeniable truth, and you'd have to be pretty stupid to deny that.
It's the main bond in the manga, after all.
But in terms of friendship... I have doubts.
For me, the only reason I believe Sasuke and Naruto are friends is that Kishimoto said so.
We hardly see it in the manga.
Their relationship literally built on years of objectification, selfishness, disdain, rivalry, misunderstanding, resentment, and a huge savior complex.
Naruto made Sasuke his priority not out of genuine concern but because he wanted to prove he was worthy of being Hokage, and for that, Sasuke had to come back at all costs.
That's not friendship; it's selfishness and objectification.
Oh, I don't doubt that he cared, but the problem is that the manga doesn't really show us that.
Moreover, this idea that "Naruto understands Sasuke" is, for me, a bunch of nonsense.
Maybe he does so at a superficial level because of their slightly similar experiences, but if we go deeper?
Naruto doesn't really understand him, and it showed particularly when he learned the truth about the Uchiha massacre.
For Sasuke, it's more complicated.
He has a lot of mitigating circumstances that actually explain his behavior (Itachi being alive, the curse of hatred).
But in general, he played the role of an antagonist for most of Shippuden, and the fact that his character arc didn't revolve around Naruto made him some kind of insensitive jerk to everyone - at least on the surface - .
If Sasuke wanted to take revenge on the world, Naruto wanted to save him.
And neither of them was willing to give in on that.
I'm not going to judge Naruto for not caring about Sasuke's goals after Itachi's death. Who in their right mind would support such a plan?
It was supporting a one-way ticket to self-destruction.
And I'm not going to judge Sasuke for the numerous attempts to kill Naruto because that would be unfair.
However, what I judge is how Kishimoto made their communication impossible.
When they start talking seriously, it always has to end with one of them almost dying at the last moment.
Even Vegeta and Goku had more civilized discussions than these two, and that says something.
I like their relationship, but I sometimes find it hard to label them as friends, let alone best friends.
There's a lot of things that haven't been well-managed in there.
Third opinion:
Sasuke is not evil.
He is not the cold, emotionless individual that more than half of this God-forsaken fandom wants him to be.
I never thought I'd classify this as an unpopular opinion, but considering the nonsense I've seen about him, I had to do it. According to this fandom, both among his stans and antis, Sasuke is abusive, sexist, possessive, indifferent, unfaithful, easily manipulable, selfish, a lousy father, and the list goes on.
Of course, he is none of that, but it's always amusing to see people forcing their fantasies onto his character. This guy has always marched to the beat of his own drum; he has no more official truth about him other than this, and that really irritates a lot of people.
Now, onto his big brother:
Itachi... is not a good person (I still can't believe I have to say this).
He is not even a martyr from my perspective.
I really dislike how his character is glorified in certain parts of the fandom. But at the same time, I don't like how he's demonized among the antis.
Itachi is not an angel, but he is not a demon either.
He's selfish and an unparalleled manipulator, but that doesn't make him evil. He can also be gentle, warm, and incredibly loving - though he has a peculiar way of showing it- .
He's a character with a messed-up mentality, and I love him for that. I hate seeing his character being destroyed by people trying to fit him into boxes he doesn't truly belong to; it annoys me.
In the end, Itachi is a tragic character who found himself forced to make horrible choices. His life was just immensely... torturous.
I love him, but given all the mess he caused, his death was both expected and deserved.
He was tired, disillusioned, sick, and with a list of Uchiha deaths as long as Tobirama's (not to mention what he did to his brother). So no, the idea that he shouldn't have died is truly ridiculous.
Please, let this tormented man find peace in his death.
I'll stop here because at this point, these are not even unpopular opinions but downright diatribes.
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Cooler Than Me - Chapter 7
Ao3 | FFN
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First Chapter
Chapter 7: Day Two - Sakura
Sakura thinks that Sasuke’s tough guy act is hilarious.
The way he grumbles, pushes at his paperwork, gets real pouty and…
Fuck, it’s cute.
Sakura hates Sasuke’s baby fat. She hates his big eyes. She hates his soft, fluffy hair. She hates the way that even when he’s pouting, he looks good. It’s not fair, not at all. For one man to just be effortlessly pretty—it’s terrible. She hates it and she hates looking at him.
But she likes working with him because it’s her only opportunity to dunk on him.
“This is ridiculous, you realize that don’t you?”
Sakura coughs into her fist, rolling her eyes. “And just what do you mean by that, Sasuke?”
She says it in this sing-song voice that’s annoyed him since they were kids because, at this point, she thinks he deserves to be annoyed by her.
“I mean that this is a waste of time,” he responds, flatly.
“Oh, it’s a waste of time to find out who’s intruding on your girlfriend’s home? Laying traps for her cousin? That seems like a pretty serious issue.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Sakura turns her nose up at his accusatory tone. “This is clearly a prank.”
“I am so sorry, Sasuke,” Sakura laments, very sarcastically, “sometimes us police officers actually have to do work. The worst, isn’t it?”
“Seriously?”
She ignores his scowl. “You pretend like all this is a game, but it’s not! We have serious jobs, I know you spend all your time at the desk, but—”
“Not by my choice!”
“BUT!” Sakura exclaims, stomping her foot to get him to stop talking. “But it’s our job to protect our citizens. Neji is a citizen with a valid complaint.”
“It’s his baby cousin pranking him—”
“So, we should seek out Hanabi and arrest her then? Hinata’s little sister?”
Sakura sneers at Sasuke. She really doesn’t like the way his scowl looks good on him. “We’re not arresting someone for a prank.”
“Only 3 more trips to go!” Sakura darts her eyes up at a familiar voice. Tenten is guiding her marching genin down the road, each carrying a hefty amount of weight. “It’s strength training! You’ll be thanking me later when you get your hands on some amazing sword, like the Executioner’s Blade! Swinging it around like it’s an aluminum bat!”
“Hey, Tenten!” Sakura calls and Sasuke groans next to her. She doesn’t even bother to shoot him a look this time. He does follow her as she approaches Tenten, which she appreciates.
“Ah, what’s up Sakura?” Tenten asks, diverting her attention away from the genin who all are quietly grumbling something about wishing they had Shino for a sensei.
“Have you seen anything suspicious around the Hyūga compound?” Sakura asks. “Or heard from any of your genin about pranks going on there?”
“Pranking the Hyūga?” Tenten asks, tapping her lips. “Can’t say I have. Someone prank Hinata or something?”
Sakura glances at Sasuke who purses his lips, shaking his head. “Hanabi played a prank on Neji.”
“We don’t know—”
“Neji’s back?!” Tenten exclaims, wide-eyed. “Since when?”
“This morning?” Sasuke shrugs. “Or last night? No clue. Hinata never mentioned it, so I assume it’s recent.”
“He…he didn’t come to see me?” Tenten’s upper lip quivers, slightly. Sakura furrows her eyebrows, reaching out to set a hand on her shoulder.
“He’s a busy guy, Tenten,” she tries to comfort. “You know how Lee is, Neji’s probably busy fixing all of the chaos Lee’s unleashed on the village.”
“Chaos aided by a certain someone,” Sasuke says under his breath from beside her. Sakura and Tenten both give him a look.
“Everyone knows it’s your girlfriend’s dad responsible for loaning out piles of cash to Lee,” Sakura quips, and Tenten snickers.
“Not my business.” Sasuke shrugs again.
Sakura knows that it absolutely is his business but decides not to push it. Just looks back at Tenten, who looks like she’s trying not to cry. She just frowns because she doesn’t think Neji is worth crying about, completely confused as to what Tenten sees in him. He’s too much like Sasuke, but at least she finds Sasuke attractive. They’re both hardheaded, snippy and think they’re better than everyone else.
That’s why she’s with Shino, she thinks. He’s softer, more willing to listen, doesn’t talk a whole bunch. That’s the part she likes best, that he’s quiet. Constantly surrounded by people who won’t shut up, Sakura finds peace with Shino. Even if she is a little unsettled when he speaks to his bugs, at least it’s quiet.
“Anyway, Sakura.” Tenten wipes at her nose, clearly trying to hold it together. It reminds her of when she found out on her 20th birthday that Sasuke and Hinata were an item. Now she’s growing into her 20s and doesn’t think there’s any man worth this reaction. “Uhm, Kiba likes to play pranks. Maybe you should ask him?”
“Aren’t you seeing each other?” Sasuke asks, suspicion in his voice.
“I didn’t know you were the village gossip,” Sakura snaps back. “Maybe we should start inviting you to tea, huh?”
“Yeah, Sasuke.” Tenten laughs a little, eyeing him. His face is the picture of confusion. “Didn’t know you were keeping up on village romance.”
“Whatever,” Sasuke sighs. “Let’s just go find him. Even though it’s not him, you’re going to insist and I’m just tired of it.”
Well, that’s no fun.
“Thanks for your help, Tenten.” Sakura leans in to whisper, “we can talk more about it on Friday for tea.”
“Yeah.” Tenten sighs, waving at them as they begin their trek.
Sakura’s pretty sure Sasuke already knows what ‘tea on Fridays’ means because Hinata probably told him at some point or another, but she must at least try not to let the whole village know that 4 kunoichi (and 1 male shinobi) are meeting weekly to discuss everyone’s business. The only time Sakura feels like she can relax lately is in the comfort of the Akimichi’s Barbeque Diner. For a barbeque place, it’s actually got a fairly modern, hip vibe to it, just with the smell of a smoker. She just hopes after their break from tea brings forth juicier gossip than last time.
“Inuzuka compounds this way.” Sasuke nudges his head while Sakura shakes hers.
“Guess you don’t know as much as you thought,” she quips, feeling satisfied with his frown. “He’s on guard duty ‘til 3.”
“I have never once in my life cared to memorize the schedule of an Inuzuka,” he says, flatly, just typical Sasuke. She huffs because his effortlessly unaffected voice while simultaneously insulting her in an underhanded way really gets under her skin. Thinks that if Shino said something like that to her, as if she was crazy for knowing other people’s daily routines, she’d probably cry. But at least he would care and try to comfort her somehow, not meant for it to be an insult.
“Kiba!” Sakura shouts with her hands cupped around her mouth. See’s him poke his head out from the top of the tower.
“What is it?” Kiba calls back, standing up now to rest his arms on the edge of the fencing. Sakura starts climbing the ladder, looking back at Sasuke expectantly, who is staring off in the distance.
“Earth to Sasuke.”
“I’m not going,” he tells her, coolly. “This is your insane mission. I’m just along for the ride.”
“Lazy,” Sakura spits, shaking her head as she continues up. “Hinata clearly has a type.”
It’s a harsh statement to make and she catches the electricity that sparks between his fingers when she says it. He’d never do anything, so she just hums to herself as she continues up the ladder, satisfied that she finally got under his skin. No one likes to be reminded of their partners’ exes, especially being compared to them. Shikamaru and Sasuke had never been friendly in the past, but since Sasuke and Hinata started dating, things became tense between them. It’s one of the few things Sakura can rub his nose in.
Once she gets to the top, she’s greeted with Kiba leaning on his back against the fencing, hands clasped behind his neck. “What’s up, Officer Haruno?”
Sakura actually doesn’t mind Kiba. He minds his own business, says hi whenever he passes by, and Akamaru being adorable doesn’t hurt either. If she actually thought Kiba had done the prank, she’d feel bad having to confront him right now. Of course, she’s not an idiot. She knows who did it.
“Just investigating an attack,” she says, and he straightens up immediately. She waves her hand. “Attack might be a strong word. A prank, rather.”
“I haven’t pranked anyone,” he responds, quickly, looking guilty.
“It was on Neji.”
“Neji’s back?” Sakura instantly feels a little pang of guilt now, realizing this can’t be good news for Kiba. The little shake in his voice is so pathetic it’s almost cute. She has a hard time feeling too bad, though, because Kiba should know better.
Whatever’s going on between him, Tenten, and Neji, it’s messy.
Tea Friday can’t come fast enough.
A/N: Thanks to anyone patiently waiting for this fic. I'm working on SasuHina month so everything got put on the back burner, but I got a sudden wind of inspiration for this fic so here's Sakura doing her best to ruin Sasuke's happiness.
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