manga chapter 350

[askerian]

http://mangahelpers.com/ for scanlations



-Kishi is still losing his draw-girl-bodies skill. TSUNADE WHAT DID HE DO TO YOUR GLORIOUS FIGURE. ;_;
-... ;_____; awww Naruto and Sakura. *petpetpetpetpetpetpet*
(I would have liked more reaction from Tsunade and Jiraiya over the news of Oro's death, but then he's been obviously irredeemable for years and maybe they managed to let go. Or they had their emo earlier, in private.) (still pretty sure we haven't seen the last of Orochimaru, though.)


-Sasuke is such a woobie ;.; I'm seeing so many echoes from when he was a kid and everything hadn't gone to shit yet. He lets a girl lead him around by the sleeve with barely a "wait, what?", not even just overruling Karin by raising his voice and calling out for Suigetsu -- he just, you know, indulges the crazy fangirl who's leading him by the sleeve with barely a put-upon "what the heck." And then when there's danger, he's all "i'll go first" -- though that might not be caring per se so much as I R BIG STRONG LEADER-GUY, I GET ALL ZE BATTLES.

And he refused to kill all those guys -- and eee for Suigetsu being all "oh, you're such a LEAF" about it, ahaha I love you, man. XD

askerian: and damn but he's just so. at ease with them.
askerian: it's good for sasuke...
sarolynne: But it's sort of sad.
askerian: ;_; team seven nooo
sarolynne: ...It makes me wonder, a little. >.>
sarolynne: How much he actually cares about them. Like, if he really connects with them, and he's grown that way, or if it's just easier for him to be at ease around people he doesn't care about particularly. Less vulnerable, or something.


As for Suigetsu, what kind of ninja doesn't notice he's suddenly alone? XD Maybe they walk just that quietly, but even so, I want to know how they learned to stop their clothes from rustling. Especially Sasuke's potato bags. That must have been some training. XD;;


askerian: ... What I didn't like so much was the beginning, when they leap into the fray! and then Suigetsu and Sasuke are there, in the middle of a pile of bodies... and Karin went and fetched the keys. Wait, what, didn't she fight too? D: She better not have left all the fighting to the OMG MANLY STRONG MEN. DDD:
sarolynne: Meh. Yeah. I notice her ability has to do with finding things. Which is a cool, useful ability, sure, but it's sort of Ino-ish, in a way. Cool, useful, and conveniently noncombatant.
askerian: yeah -__- but then they're getting another BADASS MANLY MAN to fight with them, so they have their three combatants already. nngh.
sarolynne: Exactly. ~_~
sarolynne: ...It's not really entirely fair to the guys, either. Other than Sasuke, it looks like they're mostly about hurting people. Kabuto is the only male med-nin who's at all developed, and he's all mad-scientisty.
sarolynne: You're just not a Cool Guy unless you blow shit up.
askerian: why other than sasuke? ^^;
askerian: his abilities are about hurting people too
sarolynne: XD
sarolynne: His abilities are, yes, but... well. He's being all leader-y. So he gets to be smart. Ish. Suigetsu and Juugo don't strike me as particularly philosophical. I could be jumping to conclusions here, but... mostly just hurt people.
askerian: ahh ok^^. yeah, I can see that too. he gets to be Mr Tactical guy. (except so far he hasn't done much about it, apart from telling Karin to move aside when he goes in first. Sure he's going places and taking them with him, but they're not falling over themselves to obey to him either. XD)
askerian: he let Karin separate them from Suigetsu and man, was that not so smart
askerian: he still has some work to do to be a good leader all the time. So far he's mostly "okay this job is too big for you, so i'll be doing it alone"
askerian: which... he's always done.
askerian: The rest of the time it's like he's going his own way and they just happen to go the same way. XD;;;
sarolynne: ...Yeah, he's not the brightest guy that way. Unless he doesn't really care THAT much about Suigetsu, and thinks he can handle Juugo on his own. Not a great leadership ability though, no. I'll revise that. He gets to be tactical. Not really the same as a good leader.
askerian: But then he's always been "you're weak, i'll protect you, I don't need your help because i'm Just That Good."
askerian: Which ties in with his need to be stronger than everyone around him, because when he's not stronger, Bad Things Happen. ♥
sarolynne: Yeah. Sasuke always seems a lot more stable when he's not being challenged for the role of Uber.
askerian: yeah. XD
askerian: also goes to show that he's at heart a protector. He'd feel damn good if he got to be a cop.
askerian: Got perverted from protector to avenger... Which is like protector, only after the fact. But he still has the "you be nice and sit in this corner and i'll be saving our asses. Okay? Okay."
sarolynne: ...It's almost creepy to think about how NICE he probably would have ended up if not for Itachi going all stabbity kill on the family.
askerian: ;;___;; yeah
askerian: Well he probably would still have been arrogant, with his clan around to reinforce the "well, we ARE better" attitude.
askerian: Which right now is almost as much of a chip-on-shoulder thing than something he really believes.
askerian: If Itachi hadn't killed the clan, he wouldn't even conceive that he can lose, and that would make him a lot more relaxed, but he'd still be kind of haughty and "let-me-do-it-because-you-can't". But he'd be so much more relaxed about it.
sarolynne: XD Well, yeah. A bit. And he'd have still had some issues as a younger brother. But... still. If you take away all of the relationships are scary and can hurt you, and I need to be able to get revenge! stuff. He'd be much more relaxed. And probably not so afraid of forming bonds with the people he wants to protect.
sarolynne: Which... could probably get pretty amazingly overbearing. XD
askerian: He really does show common policeman qualities and faults there. XD

sarolynne: ...I wonder if he'd be as popular with the girls if he weren't all traumatized and mysterious? He's still got hot going for him, but you know. Without the shell to get under and fantasies of healing sex, he might not have almost every single girl his age fixated on him. XD
askerian: *snerk* Oh yeah.
askerian: though I don't know about that, Sakura didn't seem to really know he was an orphan at first, or she wouldn't have said that about Naruto.
sarolynne: XD
sarolynne: One hopes she wouldn't have, at least. That would have been the stupidest thing since the history of stupid.
askerian: She wasn't that oblivious, was she? XD
askerian: Seriously I really wonder how she could not know.
askerian: It's only the most important thing about her crush ever.
askerian: Maybe her parents weren't part of the gossip circles, or she arrived in Konoha after that -- and then she didn't have many friends...
askerian: *ponders*
sarolynne: And it's not exactly like it's a secret that the Uchiha were all killed. I mean. That... has to be common knowledge.
askerian: Yeah. I really wonder if perhaps people just didn't talk about it.
sarolynne: Probably not. Particularly not with their kids. Still... you'd still think she'd know that. Just. Somehow. Jeez. XD



ANYWAY. The big question for me is still "is Sasuke so relaxed because he honestly likes them or because they provide a familiar cadre for his adventures and apart from that he doesn't really care?" I could see it going either way.

Comments

[book-people.livejournal.com]

...Hmmm. Well, it's always been hard to tell with Sasuke. I mean, he has this tendency to be kinda "yeeeeeeah I could really care less" until you're in danger, at which time he does stupid things like throw himself in front of you *was of the opinion that that, while extremely sweet, was one of the stupidest things in the history of stupid*. I guess we won't really know until any of the three of them are actually in danger. Though, quite frankly, I think the fact that he actally admits to needing them is rather telling. The Sasuke I remember would have choked on his own tongue first. >D

Adi

[yira-heerai.livejournal.com]

Sasuke is one of the best actors ever in my opinion. Cause I was kinda wondering about that too. "Waiiiiit. He didn't care so much about that sort of thing before."

I think... I think maybe a lot of it has to do with the fact that we, you know, missed two and a half years of their lives. Sasuke has probably had time to think and compare things. Leaf is not all he knows now. He can compare and contrast and come up with his own thang. Vengeance is still is top goal, but maybe he doesn't have to kill lots o' people to get to it.

I dunno XD; Sasuke's hard to read, man. It's kind of like he's trying to resurrect what he remembers of Team 7.. or maybe just a bit of the Rookie 9. I'm eager to see what happens. Juugo's supposed to be the "monster" of the group. It...

Wow. XD I'm jumbled. PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I GROVEL AT YOUR FEET.

[alienyak.livejournal.com]

Well, he and Suigetsu both seemed to hate Orochimaru, so common ground there. Karin is a more useful and confident (according to his memory) Sakura who happens to look like an Uchiha? And they do have the fighting for his attention vibe that Naruto and Sakura sort of had.

If hypothetically Sasuke met Karin and Suigetsu early on in his apprenticeship to Orochimaru, and interacted with them a lot, then he would've spent MORE time with them than with Team 7, and under more stressful circumstances. It's not too difficult to imagine him getting close to them so I'm going with genuinely like, unless future chapters prove me wrong.

Heh heh, I THOUGHT Sasuke would get a girl-friend-ish figure from Sound. The fanboy's definitely a nice touch though. *Has well and truly been hooked back into Naruto* Think there could be a Naruto fanboy vs. Sasuke fanboy showdown?

[meritjubet.livejournal.com]

I think it's a little of both. Ssauke tried so hard to be self sufficient, but he still ends up relying on some people and using them and liking them. But I don't think that could ever be the same as with Team 7, things go back and deeper and Sasuke doesn't open enough to have bonds like that with anyone else.

Okay, I believe I am still confused. Probably just have to wait for further manga chapters...

[shiryu-yugure.livejournal.com]

Your conversations always make me giggle like a maniac who should be locked up in an asylum FAR, FAR underground somewhere xD

Sasuke lives by some odd rules of conduct. "If you want something done right, do it yourself. And no, I didn't need your help, it was part of my plan the whole time. Yes, that's right..."

He'll act all macho, save everyone else's ass, and then brush his own off. And I somehow end up with an analogy of Sasuke's butt to his own pride. If he lands on his butt, both are simultaneously bruised.

Philosophy can be so very fickle when there's a perverted little voice roaring somewhere in the background...

[proanon.livejournal.com]

Well, you've already heard my waaaaaay too detailed analysis, so... well, on the subject of leadership, he actually seems to be making a good move by not interfering with Suigetsu and Karin. He's staying out of it and letting them work things out. Although I do agree that letting Karin separate them was not the best thing to do. Then again, it's happened before - remember? Locked door? - and, then as now, he kept himself out of it and let Suigetsu handle the issue. Besides - not only would calling out to Suigetsu upset the balance in the group so far, but it would be like saying "I don't trust myself to be able to handle this on my own." And that's a no-no. Particularly with the sort of people who would follow Orochimaru.

Plus, it's established in canon that Karin isn't necessarily combat-oriented. Remember when they were approaching Karin's hideout? Sasuke said that he had carefully picked out powerful ninja over his time with Orochimaru, anticipating when this time would come. Suigetsu says, "Why the heck do you want Karin, then?" Sasuke agrees that there were any number of stronger, easier to handle shinobi, but points out that Karin has a special ability. Implication: Karin isn't particularly strong or powerful; her strength lies in other fields. (Works with the glasses, too - hello, obvious weak point?) Ergo, particularly if you're about to open the door on a loose canon like Juugo, it would make sense to have the better fighter go first.

*coughs* Sorry. I'll stop playing Devil's Advocate now...

[aelinasongmaker.livejournal.com]

It's OBVIOUS that Tsunade's pregnant with Shizune's baby. She's been playing Sakura and Shizune this whole time.

[stripedpetunia.livejournal.com]

Weeeelll, I dunno. On the one hand, he could have spent those two-and-a-half years growing the hell up, particularly because a) those are important formative years; and b) the people he walked past were whispering, 'that's that Uchiha kid!' for different reasons than they had in Konoha. So despite Orochimaru and his sketchy foster dad-ness, it was kind of a freer environment for Sasuke to grow up and figure out what he's all about besides revenge, and to get more comfortable in his own skin. He'd have to be, to parade around so shamelessly in that costume. Also, tiny Uchiha fan ftw.

Another possibility is the fact that he can think of himself as the leader and strongest all-around member of this group without much doubt or contest, and that relaxes him. Back with Team 7, he had no use for anybody else but he was stuck being thought of as the equal of Naruto and Sakura and the inferior of Kakashi. With Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin, maybe they don't necessarily listen to his word as gospel, but HE defeated Orochimaru, HE decided they were gonna join him, and it's HIS plan, dammit. :D Perhaps the prospect of finally doing something about Itachi is loosening him up, too.

Man, it's probably a whole shitload of factors that would have been made clearer if we'd seen those missing years. ^^;

[runespoor7.livejournal.com]

I'm holding to the "Suigetsu and Karin don't get under his skin the way Naruto and Sakura did" theory. In the best possible way.

Unless he's so at ease with both of them because they remind him of Naruto and Sakura, but like they'd have needed to be for him to work with them (?). Like Naruto, Suigetsu tries/tried to challenge his authority, but unlike Naruto, he let go of the issue pretty quickly. The Karin/Sakura parallel is obvious (hallo there fangirl), but unlike Sakura, Karin tries to hide it and she doesn't pull a 181 on him.

Also, I can't wait for more of Naruto and Sakura's reaction. :3

[ryouseiteki.livejournal.com]

I thought about maybe inputting my thought on the matter... but then proanon put my brain in a blender. I totally agree with everything that was said there but... Gah my thought process has been stooooooooolen! *flail* xD

Anyway, now that I don't really have much to say...
JuugoSasuke/JuugoKarin anyone? My prison-kink is going "ping" right about now. *whistles innocently*

[kiwi-socks.livejournal.com]

I'm betting that Karin and Sakura are going to face off sometime (Because it's almost always girl v. girl), Kakashi v. Suigetsu Another mist swodsman bites the dust! and Naruto going against Juugo (Final dungeon boss v. hero go?)

[j-ecrirai.livejournal.com]

In this case I think Sasuke let himself be led off for a couple of reasons, one because starting a fight with Karin over it would slow him down, two because he's not into mollycoddling these guys, if Suigetsu can't track them down screw him, three he doesn't need them to get Juungo on his side.
Sasuke's started a chain of events which he obviously hopes will draw Itachi to him. Not only has he killed Orochimaru en ex-aka member, but he's going around saying he'll be the one to accomplish the aka mission. Even if Itachi's not really into removing war from the world by controling everything, the other aka members can't let such a powerful loose canon roll around.
I'd agree that Karin doesn't look like a heavy combat fighter, sigh, but that doesn't mean she'll be completely useless, here's me keeping a tiny spark of hope alive.

[inte-grit-y.livejournal.com]

...huh. Good question. *ponderponders* Right now I see it as being more of a "they provide a familiar cadre and apart from that he doesn't really care." But then, that could just be my Team 7 love bias shining through. >.> Not that I don't like Suigetsu and Karin; they seem like interesting characters, their bickering is cute if cliched (Suigetsu/Karin y/n?), and I find it highly amusing that even Karin is able to seme Sasuke so easy. XD

As far as policeman!Sasuke goes, I heartily approve. In fact...do you remember a conversation about a year or so ago regarding Konoha's ninja police and the Uchiha clan's place in them in the Teamwork universe? *grins and raises hand* I was in that. ^___^;;;

[inte-grit-y.livejournal.com]

*pets the tiny spark* :P :P :P

[sienna-maiu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've noticed that myself. I mean seriously, that 'yuri'-scene in 347 was just not as attractive as I was supposed to find it. While the boi-scene was just plain the hawt. And Sakura... there was Sakura too...

So, I think in one chapter Suigetsu had already gained more fans than Sasuke's entire duration, or atleast outnumbering his deserters... Of course, it would be hard to hate somebody who'd had such little screen-time... but whatever.

As for the whole Sasuke-orphan thing, I've wondered about it myself, since those students who sat in front of him were talking about him right in front of him. Of course, it is possible that Sakura would have assumed that Sasuke was atleast been adopted,erego having a parental figure, but I doubt it.
As for her moving to Konoha, I've myself have had a (implausible) theory about that in the past. Of course, she could have just been playing dumb, why... I'm not entirely sure, my mind hasn't gotten that far yet. For the moment, I'll just blame it on plothole.

When Karin did that thing to Suigetsu I was vaguely reminded of Sakura, but I am severely against that she would have ever done something so severe, it's not in her leafy-way. And Suigetsu not realizing he was alone? Well, technically 'sui' does mean 'acid' doesn't it? ... *snrk*

[bookem-dano.livejournal.com]

I'd like to believe it's because Sasuke kinda likes them because I like them- Especially Suigetsu. BUT~ I know that's not how it works ;_; and I doubt it's anything more than Sasuke simply going through a checklist of all-the-tools-I'll-need-to-accomplish-what-I'm-planning sort of thing. So yeah, I'm thinking more "familiar cadre/doesn't really care" as opposed to what I want to believe: After all I'm sure Sasuke would rather it seem like he's building his own little army, than making friends and playing 'nice' XD.


Though he must like them on some level to consider them as his "subordinates" because even if they were really skilled, if he absolutely couldn't stand them, he wouldn't be able to work with them as effectively as he would be able to with ninja he could stand! Right?! *attempts to justify SuigetsuxSasukexKarin(xJuugo?) lovin'* Ahaha Suigetsu and Karin fighting over Sasuke, followed by them just gettin' irriated and molesting each other out of anger makes my brain smile lots *is hopeless*

Subordinates

[(Anonymous)]

I hope you guys don't mind me jumping into the conversation since you all seem to know each other but I was reading and thinking that as a response to Bookem Dano's comment about Sasuke working only with people that he could stand. I'd like to point out that he couldn't really stand Orochimaru and Kabuto but he stuck it out until he got what he wanted (granted he pretty much killed Orochimaru and left Kabuto homeless but whatever). I think that maybe he'll do the same thing here.
As far as him going soft on Karin I agree with the other person that figured he just didn't want to start a commotion with her (Shikamaru must have got to him over the timeskip).
Sorry again for jumping in. But I love the Teamwork fics so freaking much and this is actually a useful discussion. I don't know where else to find a good discussion about character development.
-thanks for listening to my two cents.
Okay well I can't remember my livejournal login stuff since I haven't been on in forever so yeah.

Re: Subordinates

[bookem-dano.livejournal.com]

Lol hun I was being sarcastic to satisfy my SuigetsuxSasukexKarin(xJuugo?) love, hence why in my comment that part was small-y-fied XD - Sorry if you misunderstood. Sasuke could probably work with almost anyone if it's to get what he wants/accomplish something.