Uchiha Sasuke - Tumblr Posts
More Shisui headcanons
Because there's not enough stuff about him
Masterlist and rules - Shisui hcs - Itachi and Shisui hcs
Shisui is a serious person
He swear he is
But then he saw Sasuke talk with a plant
He lost it
Every inch of his seriousness was gone
Oh, the way he teases the kid
Someone save Sasuke, please
Every time Shisui is over at their house he just goes "how is your... little friend?" And then he wheezes
Itachi is always so confused by him
But neither Shisui nor Sasuke is willing to explain
So he just goes on with his day
As I said in Kakashi hcs, Sasuke loves plants
And when Shisui found out about it, he decided to buy him one for his birthday
And one for Christmas
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Shisui seemed to decide to buy him one every year, twice a year
Now he has a lot of cactus and some tomatoes
It got to the point where he needed to put some plants in Itachi's bedroom because he had no more space
Shisui was stopped just by Itachi, because Sasuke didn't have the heart to tell him
Shisui is a sucker for romance movies
Itachi is the one who has to endure that
Shisui cries every time
And Itachi has to hug him and pass him the tissues
He secretly still wonders how a full fledged, serious ninja like Shisui could be such a crybaby
So...
Do you know those colourful hairpins that you get for like some cents?
Yeah, those are Shisui's drug
He likes to keep them I his hair at home and sometimes he brings them with him so he can put them on Itachi
Itachi blushes every time
But he secretly likes it
Kisame still wonders why Itachi has a sparkly pink pin hidden in his hair
Masterlist and rules
More Shisui headcanons
Because there's not enough stuff about him
Masterlist and rules - Shisui hcs - Itachi and Shisui hcs
Shisui is a serious person
He swear he is
But then he saw Sasuke talk with a plant
He lost it
Every inch of his seriousness was gone
Oh, the way he teases the kid
Someone save Sasuke, please
Every time Shisui is over at their house he just goes "how is your... little friend?" And then he wheezes
Itachi is always so confused by him
But neither Shisui nor Sasuke is willing to explain
So he just goes on with his day
As I said in Kakashi hcs, Sasuke loves plants
And when Shisui found out about it, he decided to buy him one for his birthday
And one for Christmas
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Shisui seemed to decide to buy him one every year, twice a year
Now he has a lot of cactus and some tomatoes
It got to the point where he needed to put some plants in Itachi's bedroom because he had no more space
Shisui was stopped just by Itachi, because Sasuke didn't have the heart to tell him
Shisui is a sucker for romance movies
Itachi is the one who has to endure that
Shisui cries every time
And Itachi has to hug him and pass him the tissues
He secretly still wonders how a full fledged, serious ninja like Shisui could be such a crybaby
So...
Do you know those colourful hairpins that you get for like some cents?
Yeah, those are Shisui's drug
He likes to keep them I his hair at home and sometimes he brings them with him so he can put them on Itachi
Itachi blushes every time
But he secretly likes it
Kisame still wonders why Itachi has a sparkly pink pin hidden in his hair
Masterlist and rules
More Shisui headcanons
Because there's not enough stuff about him
Masterlist and rules - Shisui hcs - Itachi and Shisui hcs
Shisui is a serious person
He swear he is
But then he saw Sasuke talk with a plant
He lost it
Every inch of his seriousness was gone
Oh, the way he teases the kid
Someone save Sasuke, please
Every time Shisui is over at their house he just goes "how is your... little friend?" And then he wheezes
Itachi is always so confused by him
But neither Shisui nor Sasuke is willing to explain
So he just goes on with his day
As I said in Kakashi hcs, Sasuke loves plants
And when Shisui found out about it, he decided to buy him one for his birthday
And one for Christmas
Unfortunately for Sasuke, Shisui seemed to decide to buy him one every year, twice a year
Now he has a lot of cactus and some tomatoes
It got to the point where he needed to put some plants in Itachi's bedroom because he had no more space
Shisui was stopped just by Itachi, because Sasuke didn't have the heart to tell him
Shisui is a sucker for romance movies
Itachi is the one who has to endure that
Shisui cries every time
And Itachi has to hug him and pass him the tissues
He secretly still wonders how a full fledged, serious ninja like Shisui could be such a crybaby
So...
Do you know those colourful hairpins that you get for like some cents?
Yeah, those are Shisui's drug
He likes to keep them I his hair at home and sometimes he brings them with him so he can put them on Itachi
Itachi blushes every time
But he secretly likes it
Kisame still wonders why Itachi has a sparkly pink pin hidden in his hair
Masterlist and rules
Naruto characters x things I said pt. 7
Warnings: some swear words, mention of crying, I guess some of this could be interpreted in a bad way, but I swear I am mentally stable I'm just weird
Part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6
Masterlist and rules
This actually seems pretty therapeutic to do, so here a seventh part
Naruto, crying over his paperwork: stop. Please stop bringing this. I just want to go home. I just want this to stop
Kakashi: I should teach you this, but I don't want to, so we're just gonna chill (this was actually my teacher, not me smh)
Sakura: why do you have such large clothes? You seem skinnier than this
Hinata: *waves hands to show she has boobs*
Lee, bouncing on his seat: I'm exited. I don't know why I'm exited, but I am.
Neji, waving the cat in the air: stinky cat
Shisui: I want a crow, then I'll name it after the first person it remind me of.
Itachi, crying: I'm fine, just give me a minute
*30 seconds later*
Itachi, looking perfectly normal: Ok, what were we saying?
Shisui, horrified: that you should show more your emotions
Itachi: Nah, I'm good.
Shikamaru: If I do this I won't need to get up again. But am I willing to do that now? I still need to set the alarm, so I should probably get up and do both
Shikamaru, in his bed after he set the alarm: Fuck I forgot to do that, now I have to get up again.
(I know some of you said the same thing one way or another. We all lazy)
Gaara: bottle up my emotions was probably the wrong choice. But I'd do it again
(For my italian people... Me ne pento? Si. Lo rifarei? Probabile. Conoscete benissimo questa meme e mi viene in mente ogni volta che ripenso a ciò che ho detto)
Gai: How can you be scared of this little, sweet ducks?
Tenten: keep those demons away from me
(No, I don't like ducks)
Shino, after being forgotten again: Don't worry, I'm used to the pain by now
Deidara, to his friend: ehy, if you want we can go to your teacher's house and burn it down
Konan, entering an akatsuki base: I haven't even stepped in and I already want to go home
X: Why do you want to be perceived like wonder woman? There's no need for you to have such high standards
Sasuke: glad you asked, it's called inferiority complex
Sasori: wish I could be a puppet. They don't have emotions. They don't have to care about anything
Temari: this hairstyle is really masculine, but do I like jt? Do I hate it? Does it suit me? What was I thinking before?
Kiba, searching for Akamaru: where are you? I want cuddles you little shit
Kankuro: Ehy, do you think someone could die from drinking water?
Garaa: dunno, why you asking?
Kankuro on his 4th litre of water of the day: No reason
(Yes, if you drink too much water in a really short time you could die and the adviced amount of water is from 1,5L to 2L)
Naruto characters x things I said pt. 7
Warnings: some swear words, mention of crying, I guess some of this could be interpreted in a bad way, but I swear I am mentally stable I'm just weird
Part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6
Masterlist and rules
This actually seems pretty therapeutic to do, so here a seventh part
Naruto, crying over his paperwork: stop. Please stop bringing this. I just want to go home. I just want this to stop
Kakashi: I should teach you this, but I don't want to, so we're just gonna chill (this was actually my teacher, not me smh)
Sakura: why do you have such large clothes? You seem skinnier than this
Hinata: *waves hands to show she has boobs*
Lee, bouncing on his seat: I'm exited. I don't know why I'm exited, but I am.
Neji, waving the cat in the air: stinky cat
Shisui: I want a crow, then I'll name it after the first person it remind me of.
Itachi, crying: I'm fine, just give me a minute
*30 seconds later*
Itachi, looking perfectly normal: Ok, what were we saying?
Shisui, horrified: that you should show more your emotions
Itachi: Nah, I'm good.
Shikamaru: If I do this I won't need to get up again. But am I willing to do that now? I still need to set the alarm, so I should probably get up and do both
Shikamaru, in his bed after he set the alarm: Fuck I forgot to do that, now I have to get up again.
(I know some of you said the same thing one way or another. We all lazy)
Gaara: bottle up my emotions was probably the wrong choice. But I'd do it again
(For my italian people... Me ne pento? Si. Lo rifarei? Probabile. Conoscete benissimo questa meme e mi viene in mente ogni volta che ripenso a ciò che ho detto)
Gai: How can you be scared of this little, sweet ducks?
Tenten: keep those demons away from me
(No, I don't like ducks)
Shino, after being forgotten again: Don't worry, I'm used to the pain by now
Deidara, to his friend: ehy, if you want we can go to your teacher's house and burn it down
Konan, entering an akatsuki base: I haven't even stepped in and I already want to go home
X: Why do you want to be perceived like wonder woman? There's no need for you to have such high standards
Sasuke: glad you asked, it's called inferiority complex
Sasori: wish I could be a puppet. They don't have emotions. They don't have to care about anything
Temari: this hairstyle is really masculine, but do I like jt? Do I hate it? Does it suit me? What was I thinking before?
Kiba, searching for Akamaru: where are you? I want cuddles you little shit
Kankuro: Ehy, do you think someone could die from drinking water?
Garaa: dunno, why you asking?
Kankuro on his 4th litre of water of the day: No reason
(Yes, if you drink too much water in a really short time you could die and the adviced amount of water is from 1,5L to 2L)
Shisui headcanons
Masterlist and rules
Naruto hcs - Shisui hcs - more Shisui hcs - more itachi and shisui hcs
As requested from @seikohatake
Shisui falling for a shy person
(Sorry it's so long and it doesn't have a "cut". I don't know how to put one)
Shisui isn't your typical extrovert
He's more on the introvert side with new people, but after a few encounters he's over the silent treatment
He's used to Itachi, so he doesn't really think about people as shy
More like silent
Took him a good four hours to realise you weren't just silent, but shy
Look, man has priorities in his life
You can't ask him to always be smart
He met you at the library
Not really his go to place, but Itachi's birthday was coming close, so...
Yeah, he doesn't have much creativity with gifts
Why do you think he gifted Sasuke plants two years in a row? (Both on Christmas and on his birthday for both years)
Ok, back to what we were saying
Dude saw you and said "why not"
He knows he's cute, so why not try to flirt with you a bit?
Maybe he would get a date out of that
And oh boy was he wrong
The moment he talked to you was the moment you realised no matter how far in the library you go, people will always found you
Now, you didn't hate talking to people. Au contraire, you actually liked it
But it was difficult. Really difficult
The hardest thing was looking someone in the face
So, for the first half hour or so, you just kept your face on the books
Shisui was actually quite nice to talk to
He didn't pressure you or anything really
But you couldn't help but feel bad
You couldn't stutter out a full sentence even if you wanted to
But he didn't seem to mind?
It confused the shit out of you
So, after another half hour where he spoke almost none stop and you answered in sentences composed of like three words, you managed to ask a few questions
In the end you guys passed a few hours together and you actually managed to talk like normal people
That didn't mean you managed to not stutter or not blush, but eh, it was a start
So. Shisui didn't get his date
But he got a friend
When he told Itachi, he had to explain you weren't really silent
Shisui stared for like a good minute before the information clicked in his mind
He got to meet you a few more times and he managed to get a date out of you
Well, not really a date, but in his head it was
And that's how you began to fall for the guy
But Shisui. Oh Shisui
He fell hard, really hard
And not just when he opened the non-existing door for you
It began with your hair
The way you touched them when you were nervous
How you styled them
The way your cut framed your face
Then it was the little things
He was a ninja, so it wasn't surprising that he would notice tiny little things you never thought about
He saw how you would fidget with your fingers
The way you smiled with your head down so he wouldn't see you
How you closed your eyes for some seconds as you walked, just enjoying the breeze
And when he was on mission he would think about nothing if not you
Well, Itachi was also in his mind, but that's beyond the point
It was a noticeable change in his behaviour
He would hold your hand when he saw you fidget with your fingers
Brush your hair out of the way when they got in front of your eyes
Give you his jacket (that actually didn't do much since it didn't have sleeves) when he saw you cold
But the smile he gave you after all these thing was what actually made you blush
Oh the way he made you stutter and smile and blush
He knew you wouldn't reciprocate his actions immediately
ESPECIALLY if you guys were in public
So he settled for your little smile and the thanks said with a really low voice so that only he could hear
And boy was it enough
For some reason he didn't mind how you acted so differently in public than in private
Of course it took time for you to be completely comfortable with him, but when you did, he was so surprised
You were actually really funny (something he couldn't see before since you didn't like showing it), you would always laugh out loud and joke with him
Even though you actually felt comfortable, your shyness wasn't gone
You would blush profusely at every compliment
Stutter when he was too close
Keep silent when you knew you weren't going anywhere with your words
And the part that shook you was that he was fine with it
You never found anyone who would wait for you to find the right words
Or that wouldn't tease you when you blushed and stuttered
But Shisui was patient
He knew you hated when people laughed at you or pressed you
So he would wait and comfort you
Never tease you (unless you were alone, so he wouldn't draw attention from other people on you)
they were such good friends.
kakashi knows that wearing a mask keeps others safe!
also this is my new comic style so you can expect something similar to this in future comics (whenever I feel like putting effort into making one)
Sasuke and Hinata ranked 3rd and 6th respectively in the AnimeAnime poll entitled
"Which character has the most memorable eyes?"
"He shows off a wide variety of eye techniques, including the Sharingan and Rinnegan, and plays an important role in the story," & "Even among the many characters in NARUTO whose eyes have special powers, Sasuke's eyes are particularly memorable. I admire the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, even for its name." - Comments on Sasuke
"Hinata's pure white eyes are rare, and they combine with her boldness and ability to make her really cool." - Comment on Hinata
Ranking:
Source:
New illustration of Naruto and Sasuke for a special event entitled: "Friendship of Blue Storm."
Description:
"After fighting Zabuza and Haku, Team 7 returns to the Hidden Leaf Village. With the Chunin Exams approaching, it's time to hone their teamwork, but Naruto and Sasuke just keep fighting. Meanwhile, Kakashi gives them a special mission. What awaits the two as they take on the mission despite their differences?
The long-awaited latest installment of the "NARUTO & BORUTO Shinobi Village" special mission is finally here! Join your teammates in this special mission that unfolds an original story from the early days of Team 7, when the bond between the two characters first began to form!"
https://nijigennomori.com/en/2024/09/18/naruto-boruto-503/
New ilustration of Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Itachi and Sasori
New Naruto illustration ✨️
They're so beautiful
New Uchiha brothers card
"Shikamaru gets a free pass on his revenge while Sasuke doesn't. Konoha was unfair to Sasuke."
What are your thoughts on this claim by some Sasuke Stans?
Is that Konoha or Kakashi??
Usually they would always blame Kakashi for this because he actively discouraged Sasuke from pursuing Revenge but volunteered himself for Shikmaru's Revenge. They literally call him an hypocrite.
Anyways, Let me explain for both.
Sasuke revealing his life-goal of Killing a certain man (Read: Itachi) during Team 7 Introduction. Kakashi was kind of expecting it rather than opposing or discouraging it.
"In that case, You can never defeat Itachi"
During his Chidori Training, Kakashi was asking Sasuke to not give into Hatred or otherwise the Cursed Seal would flare up and due to that, his growth would be stunted. He doesn't seem to be discouraging Sasuke's revenge in this instance. In fact, he is actually guiding Sasuke.
"I was trying to honor this boy's feelings"
Here, Jiraiya (Just like Kakashi) seems to respect Sasuke's revenge and his valid feelings... So, he let Sasuke to fight Itachi (which ended up in a situation where Sasuke got hurt. For which Jiraiya regrets a lot).
"That's divine punishment! The destiny of someone who accomplished such evil deeds!"
Some random Konoha shinobis are grateful about the fact the Itachi got his punishment from his own little brother.
I don't think this Argument of "Konoha was unfair to Sasuke's revenge" holds any truth. In fact, everyone (Kakashi, Jiraiya, Villagers) were validating Sasuke's actions/feelings in a positive way. Until they don't. Well, to be specific.... Kakashi.
Keeping that aside for now (will come back to that later),
Let's look at Team 10's Revenge. Not going to explain much. Just few panels.
I think this is very self-explanatory.
Shikamaru lost his sensei. He devised a plan and a smart plan at that. He let Kakashi to act as Captain, then He got his Revenge. Over.
It's very simple.
Now, How did Sasuke conducted himself when Itachi came to the Village?
Firstly,
Firstly, he didn’t let anyone in his Revenge... Not Jiraiya... Not even Naruto. He was even being very dismissive about Tsunade’s help. As well as other Konoha Boys’ help.
Whereas Shikamaru was glad that Kakashi Joined them.
Well, you could say, “Itachi must always be dealt by Sasuke alone... No one has any business in it. Whereas Kakashi, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji were all related to Asuma in some way. Like they all have a stake in this Revenge and hence Shikamaru allowed everyone”.
If that’s the case, Why did Sasuke formed Team Hebi to achieve his Goal???? Instead, he could’ve killed Orochimaru and looked out for Itachi, Right????
So, Sasuke did know it inside him that he needed a 4-man cell to catch a strong opponent like Itachi.
Secondly,
Sasuke after meeting Itachi, he straight up attacked him out of pure impulsiveness. There was no plan or tactics... On top of that, he doesn’t want help from any of them either.
Whereas Shikamaru was explicitly mentioning to his teammates (including Kakashi) that they have to do the Simulation in their mind for atleast 3 times. So, there was already a clear and formulated plan that was laid out by Shikamaru.
Why couldn’t Sasuke do that???
If Naruto acts on his impulse, it’s totally understandable... Because that was his inherent nature. But Sasuke???
During the Bell Test, Sasuke was so smart to observe Kakashi’s abilities first rather than straight up fighting head on like Naruto....
During Chunin Exams, Sasuke was so clever enough to create a lengthy password in order to draw in that Snake monster...
Why didn’t Sasuke do the same here??? Like being clever, patient and take the help from other people... And then fight Itachi with a clear head????
Well, That’s why he formed Team Hebi
Where is that calculative Sasuke who analyzes the enemy before plunging into the fight????
Oh, That’s why during Itachi vs Sasuke Battle, Sasuke was very calculative without letting his emotions get the better of him.
=====
Anyways, the comparison (Shikamaru Vs Sasuke) I made above has nothing to do with why Kakashi discouraged Sasuke from pursuing Revenge... Because Kakashi was already knocked out by Itachi’s Tsukuyomi and hence, he weren’t there in that Kidnapping scene.
I made this comparison to simply show that in Part 2, how Sasuke became level-headed in his battle with Itachi after got easily defeated by him once in Part 1. (Point to note: Sasuke also learnt how to overcome Itachi’s Tsukuyomi in Part 2 after receiving a cruel one in Part 1)
=====
The Real Reason why Kakashi discouraged Sasuke from pursuing or obsessing with Revenge was
1. Sasuke starting to Hurting Himself
Right after he pinned Sasuke to the tree, his first gaze was towards his Cursed seal.
Didn’t Kakashi advised Sasuke earlier that to not succumb into Hatred and not to depend on the power of the Cursed Seal???
Gaara taunted Sasuke with his Lack of Hatred
And he ended up succumbing into Hatred that led the cursed seal to flare up at the wrong time and rendered him immobile throughout the Battle. And the source of all this inconvenience was his Hatred and Revenge....
This is exactly what Kakashi wanted to prevent from happening to Sasuke. To not let his student to get hurt and lose himself in Revenge.
This is also the reason why Naruto confessed Sasuke about feeling Pain whenever Sasuke was hurting himself in Chapter 698.
Shikamaru never hurt himself for the sake of Avenging Asuma. Even Kakashi said that he was going with them to not let them do unreasonable things...
“This way, If I go with them, I can keep an eye on them... I won’t let them do anything unreasonable”
The other reason why Kakashi discouraged Sasuke was
2. Sasuke started to Hurt Others.
Naah, I am not talking about feelings getting hurt.
This is about Sasuke physically starting to hurt other people in order to taste his Revenge.
No matter how much you argue, Sasuke was the first one to instigate that Rivalry Battle in the Hospital Rooftop (not blaming him for doing it but that’s not the right way either) and he would’ve ended up doing something he regret for his whole life if he had his way... Out of sheer impulsiveness.
Sasuke kidnapped Killer Bee.
Sasuke planned to Destroy Konoha.
Sasuke stabbed Karin.
Sasuke tried to kill Sakura by going behind her back while she was making up her resolve to kill him.
Now all of these incidents are something Kakashi knew or saw from first hand.
When his Target was just Itachi... He ended up attacking Naruto.
When his Target was just those 3 Elders... He ended up kidnapping Killer Bee, killing those Samurais, stabbed Karin and planned to destroy Konoha as a whole.
In order to achieve his Goal, he is starting to inconvenience and hurt irrelevant people who don’t have anything to do with his Goal.
Did Shikamaru hurt anyone for his Revenge????
Nope.
That’s why, Kakashi asked Sasuke to stop obsessing with Revenge. Because he is hurting himself as well as hurting other people.
Could all these have been avoided from Sasuke’s side???
Yes, Definitely.
Instead of planning to destroy the Entire Village, had Sasuke decided to confront and kill those Elders... Wouldn’t Kakashi/Konoha have helped him out???
I guess they would.
Here Kakashi was helping Naruto to beg forgiveness for Sasuke’s sake. Even though, Danzo, the Hokage had announced that Sasuke would be executed. He literally gave Jackshit about the fact that Sasuke killed Danzo.
This is what Tsunade feels about that 3 Advisors... Not going to explain any further.
“The Mission Orders are still in effect, Right??”
“The Mission to Hunt down Akatsuki is still going on, Right?”
In both the scenes, Naruto and Shikamaru uses the Mission to Hunt Akatsuki as the reason to fulfill their Goal... In Naruto’s case, it was to bring Sasuke back. In Shikamaru’s case, it was to avenge Asuma.
Don’t you think, had Sasuke stayed in the village... and if he had used the same ‘Akatsuki Hunting’ as the reasoning to pursue his Goal of killing Itachi using a bunch of Good Shinobi from the Village... Wouldn’t Tsunade have allowed it???
She would have.
All the context of Kakashi, Tsunade or his Konoha 12 members helping out with Sasuke’s revenge is right there. It’s just that Sasuke was hell-bent on not taking it. Not only he started to reject/cut everyone but in the process he was starting to Hurt himself and Others... That’s why Sasuke’s revenge was discouraged whereas that’s not the case with Shikamaru.
Okay so I have talked about author's intent before. I am going to expand on that in this post.
Manga is basically a moving picture without the moving in it. It's basically a film with all its features including images, dialogues, narration, sound effects, special effects, and editing.
Just like a film, it also sets up a certain narrative and story with a commensurate pace, mood, context, action (or inaction) and characterisation which then informs its style and visual approach. It's basically a very detailed storyboard of a film. Storyboarding happens at the pre production stage of a film, for ease of the cinematographers, and directors to set up their location and sets accordingly. This is what a storyboard looks like. This is Star Wars btw.
Is Kishi inspired by films? He is a huge fan, it's his favourite hobby. There's a reason his work is considered cinematic by critics.
So for a certain scene or panel to make sense, or for it to stand out, the mangaka will set its background up. And when you look at Naruto manga, the author does everything in his power and uses everything in his skillset to tell this love story. Everything that happens in this manga regarding Naruto and Sasuke's relationship has a certain context behind it, and it's important to notice this, because the information that the author gives you prior to a significant panel or a certain dialogue, or a certain visual, it can be any little thing. But with Naruto, it's everything.
Kishi spares no effort to get his point across. Of course, audience that wants to see it will see it. Those who don't, will prefer their own reading, however lacking, single mindedly ignorant and uninspired.
Anyway.
So this scene here is an important scene. Why? Because it gives us important information about Sasuke's feelings for Naruto. Trying to protect Naruto here was a really pointless move by Sasuke, given it would have only caused a bruise at most. But Sasuke is so in love with this boy, that he can't see him get hurt, even a little bit. We do have precedents, of course, where Sasuke protects Naruto several times even at the cost of his 'life', he also protects Sakura in the forest of death arc, they are his comrades and Sasuke doesn't want them to be hurt. Naturally.
But why is this particular scene important and how does this scene differ from the others? Apart from the fact that it is extraneous and unnecessary, tbf, Sasuke is almost completely out of juice due to the curse seal. So for him to go so out of his way to protect Naruto from hardly even a bruise, emphasizes just how much Sasuke treasures Naruto and wants to protect him.
Does Kishimoto set up context for it? You bet your ass he does. Starts here.
Naruto gets knocked into a tree by a transformed Gaara and Sasuke's watching carefully. He is aware that something is not quite right with Naruto (because Naruto was apprehensive of fighting Gaara given what he had seen of him earlier, which is unlike him). But the point I am making is one has to pay attention to the visuals and context.
Again.
Sasuke's watching while Naruto gets knocked into trees and bushes.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again. Sigh...
Sasuke's. Watching. Carefully.
So when this finally happens,
It gives the audience a solid context, and brings their attention closer to this panel, and the action that happens in it. It pulls focus to its importance through constant repetition. What does the repetition signify? Author's intent. For emphasis.
Kishi builds up to this moment across three chapters, he is making the audience somehow anticipate some action that would make sense of these repetitive visuals. He is doing everything to make sure that on a subliminal level, the audience knows why this moment is significant and special. And he doesn't stop there. He makes the dog say it out loud.
Pakkun is emphasizing Sasuke's attempt to protect Naruto despite his obvious handicap, as if a thousand visuals were not enough. Yes Kish, we get it. Sasuke loves Naruto, Naruto is his precious, we know. We have known since land of waves arc, you aren't that discreet.
It's really like Kishi doesn't want the audience to be confused as to what's happening, this is in no way being discreet. Like take my word for it, anyone who knows how visual language works, can instantly tell you author's intent here. Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter. Because at an unconscious level, the author has already made you feel that this is an important moment. Whether you consciously realize it or not. That's how visual language works, and this is where author's talent lies.
I know that antis don't see any of it. Or even consider seeing it.
Anyone who ships Sasuke and Naruto, be assured that you caught on the author 's intent, and you were right to trust your instincts. Don't get panicked by whatever the antis say, it doesn't matter, they don't know what they are talking about, just let them be.
And those who say it's all a bait are even sillier. Because at least the others have shipping lenses on, so I get they are affected by their emotional urges. But those who think SNS is unintentional and a total bait are just lying to themselves because they think they are smarter than the whole manga industry, tch, embarrassing.
Kishimoto was pretty consistent towards drawing Sakura’s confessions to Sasuke and Sasuke’s reaction to Sakura. Sakura always whining or snotting it up. He always paid a lot of attention to drawing Sasuke, apparently his favourite character to draw.
The thing to notice here is Sasuke’s body language towards Sakura every time she confesses to him. Always the same.
Sasuke’s stance is always the same. His back to Sakura, telling her off in very straight terms over his shoulder. His expression towards her is always openly insulting, with either a glare or smirk. This is typically the body language for casual dismissal and feeling completely unthreatened. Shown towards someone unimportant and insignificant.
It happens again:
There:
And again:
It also happens when Kakashi is talking to him about Sakura’s confession, but Sasuke doesn’t give a flying fig about Kakashi either. Can’t even bother to turn back and acknowledge the sentiment of these highly emotionally charged words. And so :
But when it comes to Naruto… :
And….turn!
Again :
He would always acknowledge Naruto. No matter how overwhelmed, pissed off or angry he is, he would always listen to what Naruto has to say. He may not agree with Naruto, but he would make time. He would of course lie to himself that it doesn’t matter :
But poor boy just can’t help himself :
And there he goes again..
He. Can’t. Help. It.
He wants to hear him out, no matter how much he might delude himself.
I keep hearing that Sasuke and Sakura’s dynamic was made to look bad in anime, but that in the manga they are pretty romantic.
Are they though? (Shakes head dejectedly..)
Anyway, Kishimoto knew what he was doing.