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sonorous-cicada · 3 years

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Breathe Part 4

The water was quiet as the oarsmen slipped through to the land of Waves. Kakashi could feel himself on edge as well as the genin under his command. Chizu Uchiha was rarely wrong when it came to intuition.

“Kakashi-sensei, do you think we should have abandoned the mission?” Sakura whispered.

“I don’t think it much matters now that we’ve chosen to go ahead with it.” He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and she settled herself on the seat.

Sasuke crossed his hands over his chest. He just couldn’t help shake the unsettling feeling that something was wrong. It wasn’t even their current situation that felt that wrong. When he closed his eyes he thought of his elder sister. Lately, she had been acting a little strange. Secretive, even. It was very unlike her and more similar to Itachi than anything.

She’d sit in the living room and knit quietly, that was normal. What wasn’t normal were the hidden papers that she put underneath her thigh when he entered. What wasn’t normal were her shouting matches with Hana-chan that were steadily becoming more frequent. Usually, he rather liked the Inuzuka, but she’d been upsetting his sister. And that could not stand. Especially when his sister became sicker the more stressed that she was.

Two years ago had been stressful on the clan in general. One of the former elders had attempted to steal Shisui-nii’s eye. The clan went into lockdown and had only calmed down after Minato swiftly executed the man responsible and disbanded ROOT. That was about the same time Chizu had started acting oddly. Like she knew something. It didn’t make sense because civilians aren’t supposed to know anything.

But she was there that day. She refused to leave Shisui’s side when he met with the elder. Chizu was the one that alerted the clan and the Hokage. Though, Sasuke never found out just how that happened. Chizu was the one who dragged Shisui’s half-dead body to the clan clinic--almost dying herself in the process. Shisui was many things, but lightweight, he was not and Chizu maxed out at forty pounds, normally. Dragging a grown man that weighed one hundred and fifty-two pounds through the Mokuton woods was beyond her ability. She was hospitalized for two weeks after that!

Then there was the creepy genin that hung around her shop some days. The one that was way too interested in her lung disease. She kept telling him that Rin-sensei was her physician but he wasn’t having any of it. He’d just lurk. Sasuke was grateful that Hana-chan had left Hai with Chizu for protection. He was easily the biggest of the triplets.

At least some things about her had stayed the same. She still made him and his team bentos every day when his mother couldn’t. He still got a handknit sweater set for New Years'. And she was the one that took him shopping when he graduated. Apparently, the small knitting shop was doing quite well. Even Itachi was happy about his investment.

Whenever Sasuke thought of his sister he could picture her long dark hair, usually singing, if her lungs were up to it that day. She loved to sing. He could sing every classical song by heart because of her. Her fingers were always intertwined in wool or cotton yarn. When their grandmother was alive, they would sit and knit or crochet for hours on end. It’s not like they ever ran out of things to knit, either. There was always someone in the clan that was having a baby and needing layette sets. Shinobi were also hard on their gear, sweaters, scarves, and gloves included. That was what Chizu made the most of--shinobi-grade gloves. Every winter there were at least two hundred pairs of hand-knit gloves in a huge box, waiting to be given to the Uchiha shinobi. They were made with fire-proof yarn and always had Uchiha steel wire embedded in it. Chizu had to wear special gloves herself just to make them so she didn’t cut her fingers with the tension.

Sasuke could think back to the last tea festival. She went absolutely insane, dragging him from stall to stall. She bought so much tea that she made him put it in a storage scroll and run back home to get another storage scroll! That’s what she always smelled like. Fresh wool and green tea. That always smelled like home.

“Sensei, may I ask you a question?”

“You can ask,” Kakashi replied with that annoying eye smile of his.

“Is my sister acting… oddly to you?”

“Chizu-san? I can’t say I know her well enough to spot the difference. You might try asking Hana-chan when we get back to the village.”

“I can’t ask Hana-chan, Sensei. I think they’re breaking up.”

That caught Kakashi’s attention. When Chizu had threatened him she had smelled like she had just been intimate with Hana. There was no way that they were breaking up. Well. Unless it was breakup sex, his mind unhelpfully brought attention to the latest edition of ‘Icha Icha’.

‘I wonder if that’s where he got the inspiration from? The story is remarkably similar, a kunoichi falling in love with a civilian woman.’

“I haven’t noticed her acting any differently,” Naruto piped up.

“You haven’t really seen her in the last six months,” Sasuke argued back.

“Have to! She helped me with some reading assignments before the graduation tests. Looked perfectly normal to me. Ma didn’t say anything either. Although, I did notice her handing some papers over to ma.”

“Wait what? You don’t think that’s noteworthy! You’re such a dobe!”

“Quiet,” Kakashi reminded them.

“Why would that be so important? It’s probably just recipes or knitting patterns.”

Kakashi smacked his forehead. There was no way that someone who graduated third from the top of the class could still be this oblivious. Kushina was Konoha’s sealing mistress, which meant she was also in command of Konoha’s protective barrier seals. If Chizu was gathering intelligence that would affect the seals… then that would mean this sickly little civilian woman was an agent of the Hokage. It was perfect, really. No one would suspect someone with a chronic illness as serious as hers to be capable of being an internal spy.

#itachi uchiha #shisui uchiha #uchiha clan #hana inuzuka #original character #chizu uchiha #naruto fandom #naruto fanfiction #breathe drabble series part 4 #cross posted on ao3 #cross posted on ffn #wlw fanfic #breathe

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ice-ice-taeyong · 7 years

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Terushima Week-Days 4&5

Day 4: Trust/Captain

Day 5: Fantasy/Sci-Fi

I may have decided to skip a few days due to the inability to find motivation, so here’s a make up. This one is a lot longer than the other three I’ve posted. I may or may not have fallen into the endless pit that encompasses Naruto, and, because there can never be enough of my love Genma, so here’s a Naruto au that features very little Haikyuu and a lot of Terushima regretting his choices. And fight scenes cause I’m like ultra weak for that stuff.

Let it never be said that Terushima Yuuji backed down from a fight. Seriously. If it’s ever said and goes uncorrected the shinobi will surely turn in the grave he’s about to land himself in. It wasn’t his intention to pick a fight with one Shiranui Genma, he just rolled his eyes a few too many times at Namiashi’s scars and then laughed a touch too hard at one of Yamashiro Aoba’s jabs. So now he sits, a captain of an ANBU team for Christ’s sake, in an empty training field, in full gear-mask and all, about to face down Shiranui-san. While Kakashi-san watches-slash-proctors, really only there because he’s easily one of the strongest of their age, if not the strongest. Kuroo Tetsurou, Daishou Suguru, and Bokuto Koutarou, his squadmates, also watch on, all sporting varying grins of amusement. Well, to be fair, they had warned him about Shiranui-san and his downright creepy knowledge of when someone disrespects his partner. Terushima sighs and turns to his squadmates, the recruits he was given to lead, mess of a group that they are, and nearly pleads.

“Just burn all my effects. All of them. And tell Daichi’s squad that I was thinking of them in the end.” He grins a little cheekily at them and tries not to swallow too loudly when he sees Shiranui-san’s careful look of disinterest. He highly respected the other ANBU, honestly Shiranui-san, Namiashi-san, Yamashiro-san, and Gekkou-san were one of the most terrifying teams in the organization. With the exception of some veteran members, Uchiha Itachi, and Hatake Kakashi they are probably the most powerful. High chakra reserves, stellar control, an assortment of weapons and specialties, really, Terushima is brilliantly screwed.

He hadn’t even meant to fight the other ANBU. He just got a sharp, witty, stinging comment from the hazel-eyed man telling him to “knock it off, please, Terushima-kun, you aren’t as funny as you must think you are in your head.” In that smooth, velvety, deep voice of utter boredom. And he’d been so disappointed and embarrassed he’d just sorta shouted “FIGHT ME!” in a panic because Shiranui-san still had those eyes fixed on him, daring him to say something. Okay, so Terushima might adore his senpai a little too much, but the man and his teammates are all just so freaking strong. How does one not just want to--- he’ll stop. He gets the same way about Kakashi-san. He shakes his head slightly, clearing it of useless thoughts just in time to see the moody silver-haired teen barely break monotone as he explained the rules to the “spar.”

“This is a standard type 3 spar. All weaponry and jutsus are allowed, but no fatal hits. If your jutsu only has a fatal outcome, then don’t do it. Aim your weapons lightly and far from vital organs. In the event of accident, a draw is called and medical attention will immediately be sought. It ends when one party can no longer get up or calls a submission. Or if myself or Raidou calls the match as over.” He explains dryly and then steps back. Shiranui-san chews on the senbon he has between his teeth as Terushima frantically thinks up a strategy. He’s about to settle for the classic “Run for the Hills and Pray to Kami” method when his opponent speaks.

“Terushima. You aren’t scared, are you?” he taunts casually, raising one slim brow into the bandana that is his hitai-itae. Terushima takes a short breath and summons courage like a nin-pet.

“No. Shiranui-san--” he’s immediately cut off by the man opposite him.

“Please, call me Genma. I’ve told you this before.” He almost sounds friendly, which means that he’s actually being super friendly to the bottle blond. Terushima nods his head slowly in apology.

“Genma…-san, I’m perfectly ready. The nin from Suna were far more terrifying.” He brags, trying to bluff his way through the exchange. It must show, he must have some tell that Genma picks up on because after one last soft look to Raidou-san the senbon Genma constantly has between his lips is spit out towards him, aimed at his neck, moving with considerable speed. Well shit, he barely has the time to think before he abruptly leaps back and pulls his katana out in one, not-so-smooth motion.

It is at that moment he realizes how poor of a match their skill set is. Terushima specializes in his swords, both long like his katana and short like his tanto, and is good with genjutsu of the sensory kind, meaning he has to get close enough to his opponent to touch them. He fights up close and dirty, his fights are in short, explosive bursts. But Genma, see Genma fights with senbon almost exclusively. Senbon almost always work at a distance and he knows from a mission completed together that all of them are coated with at least a mild sedative. Genma himself is immune or very, very slightly affected by almost all poisons found in Fire country and a few from Suna and Iwa. So you put a distance fighter up against a short range fighter. This won’t end well. Couldn’t he have picked a fight with a Hyuuga or someone who he’d actually be able to get close enough to strike at least one hit on? Of course not. Whoever he pissed off in a past life wasn’t done tormenting him yet.

Terushima whirled into action and pulled his other katana from the crossed sheath he had attached to his back. He was wearing his porcelain mask and Genma slipped his on as soon as the senbon had left his mouth. Terushima’s eyes flashed behind his mask of an orca. Genma’s wasp stared back at him, carefully watching his every move, every twitch catalogued and analyzed. Genma flicked his hand and another senbon flew at him. He deflected it with his sword and then he shunshinned to directly behind Genma, not using handsigns. The one thing his mother taught him was how to control his chakra with enough accuracy not to need the signs for basics. He sent a thanks to her soul and then slashed at Genma’s arm. He dodged the blow and kicked back and turned in a mildly impressive taijutsu combo. Terushima used the broad side of his sword to deflect the sandal and he launched into a flurrying combination of short slashes, aimed at Genma’s arms and legs. Using two swords at once meant there were a lot of blows and he felt a ring of satisfaction when he lands a glancing blow to Genma’s thigh. Even if he very nearly misses getting hit by a senbon in a place that would most certainly hurt very much and that senbon is probably laced with something that would knock him out or eat his chakra or something else equally nasty.

Genma pulls a kunai out too now and Terushima switches to defense as Genam throws it and uses the distraction to pull back, out of range and Terushima curses fiercely under his breath, he had a chance to cast a genjutsu but he chose instead to attack. Well nothing to do now but defend until a good moment comes along to fly forward again. He really wishes he could use the Hokage’s Flying Thunder God technique, it would be useful, but he hasn’t quite mastered it. Not enough to use in a fight like this. So he swipes away senbon and long flying kicks and a few kunai here and there, desperately scraping along, looking for an opening. There! As Genma shakes his sleeve to dislodge the senbon hidden there. Terushima slides one sword away and mentally visualizes the genjutsus he wants to cast as he shunshinned behind Genma again and grabs the wrist about to flick a senbon into his shoulder, sending Genma reeling into whatever dream he had the night before. He steps back to let it really take effect before he attacked. If only to regain his balance. Two jutsus back to back always left him shaky for a beat.

“Rai~” Genma practically moaned out and his eyes closed slightly, head tipping back. Terushima raised a brow before swiping a kick to the back of Genma’s knees and the man went crashing down, waking from the dream. Terushima manages to straddle him quick enough that by the time Genma sticks a senbon into his thigh, Terushima’s sword his pressed to the wasp-masked man’s throat.

“I won.” Terushima said triumphantly, if a little shakily because whatever was coating that senbon started flowing into his bloodstream. His vision started going double but before he can sway to the side to vomit maybe, or just pass out Genma has him flipped, hips pinned by Genma’s own, sword across the field and wrists restrained.

“You were saying?” Genma taunted and Terushima could practically hear the arched brow and crooked smile. He was still very woozy and he distantly heard Kakashi clear his throat boredly.

“Shiranui Genma is the victor.” He says and then Raidou-san rushed forward along with Daishou. They collect their significant others from the ground, and Raidou takes off Genma mask. The man still looks a touch glassy-eyed from the genjutsu.

“Dreaming of me?” The brown-haired ANBU teased, helping the other to his feat. Genma flinches very slightly, ducking his head so his long hair covers his blush. Terushima chuckles until Daishou gets his mask off and he promptly turns to the not-Daishou side and hurls up his lunch. It’s Genma’s turn to chuckle and some of the surrounding spectators offer calls of sympathy for Terushima. Most ANBU in their age group ends up on the receiving end of Genma’s poison at some point and it is not pleasant. Daishou smooths his hair in comfort and helps him stand.

Terushima stands opposite Genma again. They were both faintly smirking and looked a touch unsteady. Terushima bows to Genma, a sign of respect and acknowledgment of superiority. “Good spar, Genma” Genma laughs, flashes that crooked smile of his and ruffles Terushima’s hair when he straightens.

“Yeah, Terushima. It was. You’ll do very well.” The words are fond and Terushima glows.

#terushimaweek2k17 #miss fanfic shakespeare #terushima yuuji #naruto crossover #Shiranui Genma #terushima makes a Mistake

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Goes Hunting in Episodes 134-140

Hello, everyone! Noelle here, and I'm your host for this week's batch of episodes as we all tackle the original run of Naruto! During last week's harrowing stretch, we got started on the fateful match of Naruto vs Sasuke, and the wild moments that came with that. It's the showdown we've all been waiting for, and the general consensus seems to be that it didn't disappoint.

While this time we finish up this great battle, we also transition into the first of the massive stretch of filler, this time in the mysterious Land of Rice Paddies with the all-new Fuuma clan. Sasuke may have left, but Naruto and Sakura are determined to seek him out once again.

Let's get started!

Naruto’s been able to convince a lot of people to see his side of things, but in the end, he can’t persuade Sasuke to return. How does it feel to see Naruto fail at what he set out for, especially for something so important?

Kevin: For me, the more important point is actually the aftermath. Yes Naruto failed, and it was even at something extremely important to the main cast, but no one just moved past the mission. Shikamaru legitimately considered retiring from being a ninja, Sakura is realizing just how weak she is compared to everyone else. Even in Shippuden, several years and at least dozens of episodes later, Naruto keeping his promise to Sakura is one of the driving plot points for at least an arc.

Kara: I kind of suspected it. From a writing standpoint I like it: seeing Naruto’s friendship and determination fall flat sets some new stakes (and fortunately, it just makes him more determined). If he wants to be Hokage someday, he’s going to have to deal with all sorts of people and situations, and a lot of them are going to test his devotion to his own “Way of the Ninja.” From a fan standpoint, it’s sad; from a writer standpoint, it was a very good choice and is going to end up being very rewarding.

David: It would be unconvincing for him to eventually achieve his goal and not fail at points along the way; in that sense, this is one of the best ways to get that across. I think it’s also worth noting how Sasuke also “failed” by not killing Naruto like he believes Itachi would want him to do, though that situation is even more complicated so it’s arguable how similar those situations are.

Paul: I expected Naruto to fail to convince Sasuke, since his failure is necessary to the drama, but even so some part of me wanted to see him succeed. It feels tragic, in the classical Greek sense of the word.

Joseph: It was a really tragic ending to an awesome arc, but I love the way it paves the road for the future of the story. Like Kevin said, the aftermath and the bounceback make it all the more effective.

Jared: Sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed later on. If this was just Naruto being able to achieve whatever he wanted, that wouldn’t make for a good story. It makes me excited to see how he bounces back overall and how he learns from this.

Carolyn: Overall, I appreciate that Sasuke didn’t go back with him. I feel like him going back would be the obvious, expected route to take.

Danni: I don’t know. I kind of feel like he did win, in a sense. While he didn’t manage to bring him back, his fight with Sasuke affected Sasuke’s heart enough to have him reject Itachi’s way of finding power. Sasuke didn’t fall completely into the darkness, and that’s why Naruto will be able to win him back later, I imagine.

We go into the start of a massive stretch of filler after a truly dynamic fight. After such a high-stakes clash, is the tone of the filler too different? Or did you need a break after all the seriousness?

Kevin: Honestly, the break is pretty welcome. Sure, it gets significantly lighter a bit too quickly, but some levity is nice after “I intend to kill you to unlock greater power so that I can kill my brother, the person who murdered my entire family.” Sasuke versus Naruto was the emotional climax of Naruto, and keeping up the more serious atmosphere might’ve been possible, but the longer it went on the more exhausted the audience would get.

Kara: I’m so scared to say anything because I just looked at our viewing schedule and this filler goes on for approximately 87 years. I’ll say that at the time of this writing and speaking for right now, I’m okay with the filler. I reserve the right to become increasingly less okay with it as it goes on.

David: For now they’ve kept it close enough to the tone of the main story while also keeping things light, so I’m still enjoying myself. Ask me again in a few weeks.

Paul: Since I haven't read the original manga and I haven't seen the Naruto TV anime before, I didn't know we were entering a filler arc. In terms of pacing and content, the Land of Rice Paddies seems far superior to the Land of Tea. It may not be canonical, but there's lots of Ninjutsu weirdness and betrayal going on, and that feels like a natural extension of the main story-line rather than a digression.

Joseph: So far I am actually loving this first filler story. Land of Tea was rough, but I dig the character designs here and it’s just enough of a continuation of the story to matter to me, even if a lot of it is illusory.

Jared: I think you need to essentially have this kind of tonal change after an emotionally exhausting encounter like Naruto vs. Sasuke is. It helps too that the transition into this new arc wasn’t as rough as the Land of Tea one was.

Carolyn: I don’t mind the shift from serious to silly, but I can’t really get into the new people. I think after such a big arc featuring the main characters, we need some time with Naruto and Sakura just kinda chilling.

Danni: I like that Jiraiya seems poised to take Sakura under her wing as well now, but it doesn’t seem like she’s getting much actual development in spite of it. I’d really like to see that change.

Before this, Orochimaru’s schemes were more subtle, tending to be a mastermind behind large happenings. Here, we see that his manipulations also heavily affect the villages and land surrounding him. Is this a welcome change?

Kevin: I’d say it manages to be welcome and unwelcome at the same time. It’s welcome because it shows just how much influence Orochimaru really has. If he wants to, he can bend entire countries to his will. It’s unwelcome because by showing that he actually is causing that much change opens up plot holes like how the Leaf can’t find him, when entire clans work for him.

Kara: That’s actually a good point about plot holes. I hadn’t considered that at first. At the same time, I’m always interested to see more outside of our one or two standard settings, because this alternate ninja universe is so wild to me. Anything that lets us see a bit more of what’s going on, how these different situations affect people who aren’t directly involved, is pretty neat. It does give a feeling that All Roads Lead to Orochimaru, though.

David: “Countries” in this context seem extremely small, to the point Konoha is basically just one big city, so I don’t see it as too big an issue that Orochimaru could spread his influence and still be on the loose. He probably has a whole chain of underground tiled showers for every occasion.

Paul: Orochimaru feels more like the genuine article when his machinations warp the entire social and political structure of a small country. To me, Orochimaru will always be the “Dirtbag Jeff” of the Naruto universe, but seeing entire populations made miserable on his behalf at least makes him seem like a more capable villain.

Joseph: If only this land had some kind of police force! The fact that Orochimaru can run so rampant with so many powerful ninja around seems ridiculous when you think too hard about it, so it’s much more fun to just think of him as a standard big ol’ baddie and sit back and observe how sick his actions are in the way they affect others.

Jared: I don’t know if it’s necessarily a change or just more to the fact that villains who have a network like Orochimaru has, tend to be manipulative jerks who push people into awkward situations in order to appease them. Plus it’s a way to show off what he’s been doing outside of just sitting in his chair chatting with Kabuto.

Carolyn: Orochimaru has been shown to be incredibly manipulative. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he could operate on a large scale in plain sight. I actually like that narrative.

Danni: Yeah, like others said before, you’d think if he’s this well known for destabilizing ninja clans and starting new villages, no one would have been surprised when he showed up out of the blue.

The fillers this time focuses on the Fuuma clan, and their desire to restore their clan to glory. Do you sympathize with their plight? Why or why not?

Kevin: Maybe if we had a little more backstory about the clan showing them when they were prosperous and then their descent into criminal activity and then being tricked by Orochimaru, I would sympathize with them more, but they honestly just seem like pawns in a larger game and as a result are more of an afterthought as Naruto and Sakura try to find Sasuke.

Kara: New villages always take a little time for me to adjust to. We kind of throw all our chips in with Leaf, so when we come to new places, we get a sort of surface-level idea of what’s going on in the first few episodes elsewhere. Also I’m so hesitant to trust anyone or anything in this setting because you never know who’s wearing a mask, who’s a double/triple agent, who’s a resurrected corpse, who’s using substitution/disguise jutsu, etc. Having Sasame as our link to the greater story is a help, though. I like her, and (even counting her attempted double-cross) she seems very straightforward in what she wants to accomplish.

David: I totally agree with the sentiment that it would be easier to get into these kinds of stories if we knew more about the “before” of these families and lands. Hard to care too much about fighting for the status quo when we don’t really know what the status quo was.

Paul: I get where the Fuuma Clan are coming from, but I don't exactly sympathize. As Jiraiya of all people points out, in this world a ninja is “one who endures”, so even though the Fuuma Clan's power and influence may have dwindled, that's no reason for them to work for Orochimaru, who will indubitably only manipulate them, experiment on them, and then cast them aside when they are no longer useful.

Joseph: I didn’t really sympathize with their plight, but I did enjoy their character designs. They were much more interesting than any characters in the Land of Tea, especially Kagero, who I absolutely loved.

Jared: There’s probably a slight bit of sympathy towards them given that we know how Orochimaru can just be and put people into bad situations, although given how their plight is just kind of dumped on you, it doesn’t make you feel entirely sympathetic. Still, this is more of an investment than the Land of Tea arc gives.

Carolyn: As noted, I didn’t really get into their story, I think just the timing of it is off for me. But I do appreciate that Orochimaru has a lot of negative influence that could impact just about anyone who comes in contact with him. I understand where they’re coming from.

Danni: Not really? We know next to nothing about them or the land they served in. Literally all we know about them is Orochimaru messed with them a bit.

Sakura has been in the background for quite some time, and this arc is trying to push her into the forefront. How do you think this is being handled?

Kevin: So far, not very well. Yes, she understands better that she is weak compared to her teammates and that she may be bringing them down. Okay… GO DO SOMETHING. Instead of just sitting around thinking about how useless you are, actually go and learn new jutsu or train or just generally do something to be less useless!

Kara: Okay, just an aside, did Sakura’s face and tone when she said she was going to heal Sasame’s shoulder seem kinda creepy to anyone else? I don’t think it was deliberate, but I swear she looked more like she was going to take a bite out of Sasame’s neck for a second there. That aside, I appreciate what this arc is trying to do, but it’s taking its sweet time to do it. Sakura is smart. We were reminded of this over and over in the early episodes. She is extremely capable and has a good heart and all the other stuff she needs to now start doing things. I feel like right now her role is Person Who Told Naruto To Look After Sasuke and like. I wanna see a bit more than that.

David: What I mainly enjoy is that they are seeding her interest in medicine here. I hope they continue setting up future developments in small ways like that.

Paul: From what little I've seen of this arc, Sakura hasn't been treated very well. After she was left behind in the mission to retrieve Sasuke, I want to see Sakura take the same sort of bold, decisive, heroic actions that her male peers are allowed to pursue. That hasn't happened yet.

Joseph: I think it’s great that she’s being forced into more situations here, but the hilarious side effect is them illustrating just how disconnected she’s been. She’s all THIS IS JIRAIYA? And FROGS TALK? GROSS! Like, alright, hi, welcome back to class, Sakura.

Jared: It’s strange because it feels like the show just doesn’t know what to do with her as I thought we’d already been through Sakura having a moral dilemma of whether she thinks she’s capable or not. Granted, it’s not like she’s gotten to do much of anything in the last, what forty or so episodes? It’s like the show wants you to think she’s just been sitting at home dreaming about Sasuke since the end of the Chunin Exams and that’s it.

Carolyn: Honestly, I still feel like she is being given the short end of the stick. She’s saying she needs to be better like Naruto. To pull her own weight as if she is a failure. I feel like it’s more bad female character writing than Sakura’s established personality being at fault. She’s been proven to be one of the hardest workers in the series.

Danni: Quite poorly. Even when she saves Naruto it’s not really of her own doing. Someone else had to come in and say “Hey use this” for her to be able to do anything. It’s a real letdown, honestly.

Lastly, what are your highs and lows of this week’s batch of episodes?

Kevin: High - The end of Naruto versus Sasuke, specifically the look on Sasuke’s face. There are so many conflicting emotions with his character in that scene that I’m honestly amazed anything was able to capture how much he was going through. Low - The majority of Orochimaru’s hideout. Orochimaru himself was actually a pretty good scene, but the traps, psychological manipulation (did Naruto really never tell anyone that Sasuke used his Curse Mark, which would’ve informed Sakura that Kabuto really was lying?) and even some character actions (like Jiraiya sitting down and having a drink while on a mission) didn’t really seem to add up.

Kara: High point was predictably the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke, even with Sasuke’s weird glow-up and back-hands. I also love that this whole thing is a lot more intricate than just “Sasuke kill Naruto” — it doesn’t work without an acknowledgment of their friendship and that’s just so cool. Low point is Jiraiya back at it again takin’ money from kids and sleepin’ around. Although I will give a hand-wave/secondary high point to that scene in the alley where everyone literally drops because they realized they’re messing with the wrong dude.

David: My high is the entirety of episode 139, which had some of the tightest directing and animation I’ve seen from this show so far period. Really wasn’t expecting that out of some random set of filler episodes. My low point is all the weird ways the show kind of infantilizes Sasame when we first see her, but that luckily gets resolved relatively quickly.

Paul: My high point was the conclusion of the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, where after their ultimate techniques have collided and the resulting Chakra storm has dissipated, they exchange a sorrowful look, as if silently questioning how their lives have come to this point. My low point was when Kagero (disguised as Kabuto) re-enacts Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on herself in an effort to stop Naruto's heart. That was super gross, and I'm still recovering mentally from all the bone stuff with Kimimaro.

Joseph: I actually have to also say that, beyond the obvious choice of the end of the real story (for now), episode 139 was a highlight. It had some of the best animation of this batch and some really good comedic smears, and I love trap-loaded hideout hijinks. The low point, I guess, would be the very start of the filler. I couldn’t tell what Jiraiya’s motivation was, and at first I thought he was just tricking Naruto and Sakura to distract them and take them somewhere away from the action. Which maybe he did? But Orochimaru is there? But it’s probably an illusion after all? I dunno, it seemed kind of awkwardly conveyed in general.

Jared: High point would definitely be the end of Naruto vs. Sasuke. Although I wouldn’t consider it a high point, the idea that Orochimaru’s hideout is this strange labyrinth of traps is probably funnier than it should be. Low point would be Jiraiya continuing to be a skeeving creep at times and also the general idea that I’m curious how this show is really going to handle having very dramatic moments moving forward. With us going into filler, all the main players kind of go into a holding pattern since we know nothing is going to happen to them. You certainly can’t tease that Naruto is going to die when it’s obvious he won’t. Maybe the rest of these episodes will surprise me, but I’m very curious about how they’ll handle this with all the filler.

Carolyn: My high and low point would be Shikamaru crying after being told his mission was a failure. Poor guy.

Danni: High point is easily the entire episode concluding the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. I got pretty emotional because of how well-executed it was. My low point would be the continuing casual misogyny of Shikamaru! Stop it, dude!!!

COUNTERS:

Ramen: 1 bowl Hokage: 0 Clones: 90 + 1 variable scene

Total so far: Bowls of Ramen: 45 bowls, 3 cups “I'm Gonna be Hokage!”: 52 Shadow Clones Created: 457

That's all for this week! Everyone's welcome to join us for this rewatch, doubly so if you haven't yet watched the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Here's our upcoming schedule:

- On June 7th, DAVID LYNN will keep foraging into the land of fillers.

- On June 14th, PAUL CHAPMAN will continue on with our filler journey.

- On June 21st, KEVIN MATYI will push onward into what the fillers have to offer.

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! See you next time!

Have any inquiries or thoughts on Episodes 134-140? Let us know in the comments!

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Noelle Ogawa is a contributor to Bubbleblabber and Cup of Moe. She can be found on Twitter @noelleogawa.

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