Sasuino - Lay Me To Sleep

Sasuino - Lay Me To Sleep

Video by Chanteara Mystel

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unpopular opinion: nh deserves the same criticism ss has.

"how can you hate on hinata while being an orihime fan, they're the same type of character" SHUT UP!!! *my mind powers throw everything across the room*

Sasuke/Ino things

• Sasuke loves Ino’s hair and he has this sweet habit of stroking it subtly while they both are relaxing at each other’s house, especially when he’s reading on the couch and Ino is lying next to him with her head resting on his lap. *update: Sasuke keeps doing it even now that they are married. 

• Speaking of which, the rumor that Sasuke likes long hair turned out to be apparently true. Also, Ino secretly always kept her hair long bc it reminded her of him since she was a child. Still, Ino never knew if it was true or not until one day when they were both grown up Sasuke confirmed it to her.

• The Uchiha adores Ino’s warm personality but he doesn’t tell her directly. Instead he simply observes her and smiles internally when she’s highly focused talking or doing something while they are spending time together.

Unpopular Opinion: SasuIno could have worked

Like the title says, this is an unpopular opinion but I believe this paring could have work out. Now this isn’t from a shipper point a view. This isn’t showcasing an otp. It’s simply a look at a pairing and seeing how it would measure up in canon.

With all that out of the way, let’s have a look shall we?

Chemistry.

Naturally looking at the relationship between these two it’s obvious that one could argue that it’s just trying to mimic SS. This is definitely not the case, and let me tell you why. Motives.

Time and time again we see the motives and reasons as to why Sakura and Ino have feelings for Sasuke. Sakura’s stems from a selfish and self-serving desire. Her attractive to him, ergo she wants to be with him. Plain and simple. 

Ino’s stems from a desire of companionship. Sure, she too may indeed find Sasuke physically attractive like Sakura, but that’s not her driving motivation. When they were young, Ino wanted to be his friend, even going so far as to offer him a sunflower; a symbol of friendship.

Another instance is when Ino cried for him, when the others told her not to. And let’s not forget Inoichi’s “Positive Love” panel. 

So Ino’s reasons coupled with her personality of wanting to help others, does hold up. She’s not a mindless fan-girl, she doesn’t just want to be with him for the sake of being with him like Sakura. Sakura is always seen forcing herself on him to get some kind of reaction out of him and that’s not a sign of a healthy relationship: Ignoring her, trying to kill her, rejecting any romantic advances she makes and so on. When in a relationship, you don’t do the things Sakura has done you just don’t it’s unhealthy.

Whereas with Ino, she never forces anyone to love her. She doesn’t need to. Were it Ino in Sakura’s place, Ino wouldn’t need to constantly try and be physical with Sasuke. Why? Because Ino understands how people are. Ino would understand that Sasuke simply isn’t this lovey-dove, romantic man that Sakura keeps forcing him to be. Ino would be patient and kind with Sasuke, letting him choose when they want to be intimate or not. 

Marriage.

We get a hard look through multiple outlets on Sakura and her fake and failing “Marriage” with Sasuke. (Its fake don’t argue with me on it)

Now let’s flip the script and see how Ino would fair in a marriage with Sasuke. One of the main things, as mentioned before Ino does not force herself or her feelings on anyone. So she surely wouldn’t force Sasuke to do anything he doesn’t want to. If they got married, it would be a mutual bond between them. Ino definitely wouldn’t feel the need to chase after him for months. There’s simply no need. Because they share mutuality, Ino can find a way to keep in touch with Sasuke and vice versa.  

With this mutuality established between them, it completely obliterates the need for things like Gaiden, Retsuden, and the trash novels. 

They, in short, simply have a stable relationship and marriage.

Family life.

Now because Ino and Sasuke would have a stable relationship and marriage, let’s talk about family life. 

Ino would definitely want to start a family with Sasuke, so the two would most likely have the conversation about it. And unlike Gaiden, Retsuden and etc, there’s no baby mama drama surrounding Ino. 

There’s also the fact that Sasuke would actively try to be in touch more often because again- they have something solid. So when their child comes of age and starts asking questions, Ino can answer them with ease:

“Mom where’s dad?”

“He’s out traveling but he’ll be back soon. You can write to him if you’d like.”

Ino doesn’t have to hide anything because there’s nothing to hide. There’s no questions of valid marriage because there would be proof of them being married. And even when Sasuke’s not there for the younger years of the child’s life, he is made aware of who they are and can better form a relationship with them. It’s not this awkward struggle for him like in B*ruto. 

So that pretty much sums up my little essay here.

You said NH is more toxic than SS hwo!?!? SS literally can’t be more toxic than any other relationship I’ve ever seen in media Sasuke is never home or looks miserable and Sakura is just creepy and childish. At least Naruto and Hinata just seem to be a bit more normal like a family as Hinata takes care and Naruto does too. Sasuke doesn’t give a shit about his wife and leaves Sakura in dirt. No way NH is more toxic. Explain im curious please Love your art tho

Exactly. "Seem to be." And that’s why. 

Toxicity is a relative thing y’know? 

Meaning with anything, the dose of it matters.

Some poisons aren’t lethal until its breathed deeply into the lungs, for others mere skin contact is already fatal. Some people burn off their hair by bleaching it once, others, like ..myself can bleach it 3 times, but still can’t get the damn green hair dye out 😑 though still have soft hair luckily (my secret is a diet of chocolate milk and chicken nuggets. I keep telling people- science is wrong). It’s also possible to die from drinking too much water as it can poison your brain. (Again, chocol- nvm.)

Some couples (SS) are aware of it’s toxicity- (Sasuke knows, Sakura puts on an act- but knows, Sarada is hopeful- but knows, I know, you know, your first cousins’ best friend from pre-school that smears expired custard all over the place knows) and to a degree have been forced to accept a middle-ground in this environment of toxin overload as there is no fresh air available when it’s all three of them together. That’s why Sasuke escapes from the village for the sake of his lungs so he can start the detoxification process and heal his damaged immune system.  

And other couples (NH), live their lives while their livers, kidneys, lymphatic systems.. you name it, have not been evolved to deal with this growing number of toxins they unknowingly interact with everyday. 

Today we hear health advisers of all kinds talk about ridding the body of toxins. Except, Naruto seems to be displaying similar behavior like Sasuke, perhaps unknowingly listening to his body (or (the ghost of) Kurama) that tells him to get rid of the toxins that linger within by avoiding his wife as much as possible. Experiencing fatigue, memory difficulties, sleep impairment, depression, or “brain fog” without acknowledging/being fully honest as to why this is. When this happens, real damage is imminent and toxicity much, much more fatal. 

All jokes aside, this is of course a biased opinion and an unpopular one, but I will stand by it. I neither like SS nor NH, but NH’s “normal” family faux-facade makes me want to gag. 

But most importantly, SS's turmoil is not only visualized more straightforward than NH, but it’s literally handed to us on a silver platter that in the most confident and convincing manner says: 

Sure, right.. 😂

Anyway-

Even though Sakura knows (whether she admits it in speech or not) how Sasuke feels, she is completely oblivious about something she thinks is the only thing between them that represents something positive. (Apart from Sarada I guess.) I know that a lot of people contemplate what this “thing” is that Sakura has received from Sasuke that is supposed to be better than a kiss (since she hasn’t even received that.. I mean..) (some people say a semen sample, lmao. Letter: “You can do it yourself, eh” “Darling.. thank you” 😂). 

((( context )))

But I’m quite sure she meant the forehead poke: 

Because when Sasuke distanced himself from them again after having been there briefly and poked Sarada’s forehead, she recognized the gesture from the day that Sakura did it to her regarding the question "what's better than a kiss?" But, Sakura never told her more about it. (Why didn’t she? Who knows.) 

And they’re both completely unaware that Itachi used this gesture to keep Sasuke at a distance as his life was tainted with lies and deception which he didn’t want his little brother to be involved in. Until the gesture wasn’t needed anymore and brought him in close finally. Then again, Sakura doesn’t know anything about Sasuke at all. A supposedly married couple that didn’t even share a memory or anything? Physical and Emotional distance. Nice. 

SS just makes it too obvious, Sasuke isn’t hiding much apart from us readers and Sarada not knowing how she’s conceived, because Karin saying “I’m the one who delivered Sarada!” at the end of Gaiden all of a sudden, literally doesn’t explain everything else and it doesn’t convince me. She doesn’t say: “It was between Sakura and Sasuke!” (I know how biology works, okay, but you know what I mean. She chased him and suddenly Sarada was born in “our” hide-out? What’s up with the whole DNA-thing?) Nothing ‘directly’ indicated anything specific. At least not with the translations I have. They might be wrong of course, we'll just have to wait and see.

And "Sasuke leaving Sakura in the dirt".. well-

Sakura knew what she would get herself into and chased after him anyway. Continuously so, regardless- she asked for it and still pretends all is well when its clearly not, just like Hinata, but at least SS feels less fake even when its trying to be for Sarada's sake. D’you know what I mean? It’s hard to explain if I’m being honest. If anything, I can at the very least respect that.

Now.. NH however.. there is a lot to say, but I’ll save that for my Hinata post. We all know how miserable, crushed, mutilated and pulverized our Naruto has become, but even Hinata went from “🥺👉🏻👈🏻” to “:))”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not concerned for her character she may get stabbed by wooden spears for all I care, (sue me) but I can’t imagine a woman so infatuated with another person, to be happy in this situation either. Her plan of forever “yes men”-ing her longtime obsession with (in her mind) positive reinforcement, love bombing him with intended praise or reward type behavior with a newly discovered flavor of tea, but only receiving reciprocation in the form of romantic drama’s as she isn’t getting any in real life- seeing Naruto then being illustrated with such lethargic disinterest … 

.. or emphasized multiple times that he doesn’t sleep next to her at all, but rather on a couch or on a one-person bed:

.. completely backfired. And this is perhaps Naruto’s way to avoid not just his family (which he does painfully often for someone who craved one his whole life), but also conflict. It is impossible to avoid a disagreement otherwise without addressing it, especially in a long-term relationship/marriage.

Ah, but Hinata could never, she is the perfect waifu after all and Naruto wouldn’t say anything to her either, she’s too delicate and he wouldn’t hurt a “wallflower”, she’s too kind. So… avoidance it is.

Hinata Hyuuga bores him to death, literally killing Konoha’s 7th Hokage after having blackmailed him into this garbage marriage. 😂 She may be that strong after all.   

But nah, everything is paradise and sunflowers. Just a “normal” family as you say. 

Naruto: Hinata :) 

Hinata: Naruto-kun :)) 

Naruto: ..

Hinata: ..

Naruto: ..

Hinata: .. would you like tea?

Naruto: oh.. sure. Thank you Hinata :) 

Hinata: :)) 

Naruto: *Zzzz* 

Hinata: *entertains self with drama’s* 

Of course you can never fight or disagree with anything ever if you don’t really communicate. If I HAD to pick one? I much rather prefer harsh rejection than “:))” + this faux-facade that pretends to be that “perfect” and “normal” family when it’s not. Again, they make me gag. 

Personal preference (+ my dislike for Hinata) is all Non.e.