askerian | Naruto 538

... is mostly a narusasu flashback of adorable childhood cuteness.

Kinda.

Page one is Killerbee being all "lolyay with naruto around who needs a flashlight this is so cool." Yeah uh, flashlights are yay except when it means ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KIDNAP/STOP YOU CAN SEE YOU FOR MILES. Oh Killerbee. :/

... And then Kyuubi starts bitching because Naruto's wasting his chakra. Surprise! Inner mind visit. Asuka's face: :D

Kyuubi starts bitching out Naruto because he's being naive as he always is, does he really think he can do anything re: the war and take on everyone's hatred without ending up bitter and used like Nagato.

"But if you'd like, i'll lend you my chakra --"
"I'm not falling for that one."
"Hehehee, maybe you *have* wised up a little." ... heee. X333

I have to admit that the page with Naruto going "you need to stop underestimating me" is quite prrt. Naruto looks hot and intense, and Kyuubi is all *clenches claws on the floor in reaction* and mmm.

kyuubi: ... well uh LET ME PRESS THE SASUKE BUTTON. YOU HAVENT MANAGED TO HELP HIM AT ALL. HAH. COUNTER THAT.

*cue adorable chibi flashback of adorableness, where the kids are at the academy, Shika would rather give up than fight CHouji because Chouji doesn't want to spar, Kishimoto is once again taking some random element of his manga and going OH HEY WHAT IF WE SAID IT WAS HIGHLY SYMBOLIC (next up, the lace-thingie on his shoulder. it's, uh, a symbol of the Jyuubi's true allegiance to his ancestor on Minato's side! also the string represents betrothal to some princess or other) and eight year old sasuke making evil faces of evil, complete with cold, dead, "wondering whether to start with your liver or your lungs" eyes.*

I have to admit Sasuke behaving all "i am already hell bent on revenge and nothing shall stop me" and NOTHING ELSE coming to show he was also, sometimes, a sweet or at least prickly but childish kid... it bothers me a bit. :/

it seems like the flashback is saying "even when he was a kid Sasuke was already consumed by hatred and evil" and even though in the end Naruto will prove it's not true, with zero hint like that it seems to damage all of Naruto's good memories of Sasuke by making him seem like he just wasn't seeing it clearly and he was imagining most of Sasuke's care and friendship.

Instead of Naruto remembering one good thing about Sasuke back then to counter Kyuubi's talk, we have nothing but his belief based on blind faith and some stuff ages ago. Problem is that without proof/hints and with more and more evilsuke faces, Naruto just looks more and more like he's deluding himself, and so his inevitable turning Sasuke around will feel like an asspull. It's been so long without reminders that Sasuke is salvageable -- even if we still have the events that happened before as canon proof, and they still exist, it's been years in real life and manga time both and even though we can logically use them as proof that Sasuke was never entirely evil, emotionally it'll make things feel unbalanced.

I Am Hnn.

Aww baby sakura and ino and hinata. (hinata's single panel she looks like she has no eyes at all, just eyelids. XD)

sasuke: *CHIBI-TOPS YOU, BITCH*
(but his eyes are full of hate and not even looking at naruto blahblahblah.)

I feel better if I think that this is happening only a couple months after the massacre, so he's still all raw. >__>

and of course instead of making the hooking-fingers thing that ~~now~~ ALWAYS HAS symbolizeD the end of a spar between allies blahblah no hard feelings, they go for each other's collars and hssss. XD

Kyuubi: see? you never did manage to clear his mind of hatred.

And HERE would have been a perfect flashback to pincushionSasuke. Instead it does leave me with a taste of "shut up I know better. because, I just do, okay." in my mouth, but I have to admit that Naruto just not bothering to answer and being all "c'mere" with his fingers like he's about to pet Kyuubi and be all "aw, i'm sorry you feel lonely" and then surprise!trapping him with that torii jutsu was pretty seme. XD
(just, waugh for a moment my brain jumped to pettins and I WANTED THEEEEEM wauuugh. XD)

I really really liked the moment where Naruto walks up to Kyuubi's eye until he's reflected in that huge pupil and he's all "yeah, i top you hard, bitch." Ngh. X33

still "i'll fix it!" okay, HOW. sasuke hasn't been listening so far. The old "beat him up until he's too tired to go LALALALALA" is getting a bit old. ... then again, i do rather enjoy it anyway. oh well.

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I just read the chapter and had to flail my way over here to see if you had posted about it yet because I needed to talk to someone about iiiiiiiiiiit.

"It's been so long without reminders that Sasuke is salvageable -- even if we still have the events that happened before as canon proof, and they still exist, it's been years in real life and manga time both and even though we can logically use them as proof that Sasuke was never entirely evil, emotionally it'll make things feel unbalanced."

Exactly.

You're totally right that PincushionSuke would have been a good flashback... God that was so long ago.

Naruto was pretty damn hot in this chapter, but I agree, he needs a new way of thinking or doing things. Maybe he has something up his sleeve? I dunno.

We shall see I suppose... I guess in another too-many chapters. (have been waiting for another confrontation that goes differently or faaaar too long)

the way it's going, it'll only go differently in the very last confrontation, the one that magically ends everything and saves him and stuff. Mergh. T^T

I don't know about you but I'm ready for everything to get wrapped up and tied with a neat little bow. I would like the next confrontation to be super epic and to be the last. I just think that as much as I love the series I'm ready for all of the loose ends to be tied up and for it to be over, you know?

I've... I've stopped reading it *SHAME* ;____;

I just read your posts, so my opinions are moot lol ♥

I actually found Sasuke's yelling match with Naruto to be pretty childish, which I found reassuring. It's kinda fake that Sasuke is either really evil or sacrificing his life for someone like there's no middle ground.

I really liked normal misbehaving Sasuke even if it happened shortly after a flashback. I would have liked a flashback to Sasuke sacrificing himself or otherwise in a really good moment in addition to this spat with Naruto, but I did really like the spat, I kinda thought it was adorable. You're also right, they seem pretty young, so I'd say the whole thing was within two years of the massacre and it did seem a lot like an actual flashback, so I wasn't too bothered.

yeah, childishsuke was also nice to see. It's just that associated with evil eyes of dark doom it doesn't seem very positive. T__T I would have loved a brattypout/sulking but mostly we got cold dead stares, and raeg. Mrgh.

... I didn't think about Sasuke having an actual flashback even as he fights Naruto. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I love this idea. *___*

I liked the chapter, but yes even one frame of pincushion sasuke would have sufficed...plus sasuke being evil? psssh no, just no-if the manga was sasuke centric he'd be the hero cos his reasons for hating are, yeah, pretty good.

And yes naruto is beyond topping hard this chapter (so... teamwork? :P)

"seems to damage all of Naruto's good memories of Sasuke by making him seem like he just wasn't seeing it clearly and he was imagining most of Sasuke's care and friendship."

... Was basically my take. I was like, but wait, Sasuke was ready to DIE for Naruto at one point. But suddenly he was always evil/unchangeable? I was disappointed.

I kind of took it the opposite way - the Kyuubi flashback thing, I mean. 'Cause at first, I was wondering why the hell a big demon fox would suddenly be giving advice on peace and stuff. And then he's all 'Look, you can't manage it with Sasuke, you'll just fail here too', and I thought...but hey, that's exactly what an evil monster would want to do.

I think Kyuubi is just shoving the worst memory he can find at Naruto, in the hope of avoiding all this 'peace' business. Hence why I wasn't surprised that he didn't show Sasuke acting like a human, and why Naruto was all 'Yeah better luck next time with shaking my faith'.

At least, that's what I'm hoping.

Huh, this also makes a lot of sense, i hadn't thought of it from that angle.

though it doesn't change that us, the readers, keep seeing nothing but evilsuke in recent stuff, even when he could be countered with cutesuke, which is where the "intellectually he's redeemable but emotionally it might feel like an asspull" is coming from. T__T

Exactly, we've seen evil!suke now, we get it. Naruto will do something very!difficult when he turns Sasuke back to the good side. But if all flashback's and stuff show the not so nice side one begins we readers begins to wonder if they remember that Sasuke wasn't all evil.
Friendinng you mmkay? Would very much be able to see when you post. ;)

*does the yay!friended dance* ^_____^ hey! glad to have you here.

I will have to admit, while reading this week's chapter I about died of Squee, cause ANY Naruto/Sasuke flashback pretty much makes me dead..

But I do get your point... More glimpses of Sasuke being something other than Evil!Bitch would be nice.

Still though, Flashback ^.^ Also, Naruto/Kyuubi interaction makes my day better lol.

Naruto 538

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