R.I.P Sakura?

[cynchick]

Nothing like a healthy dose of character assassination to brighten my day.

The NaruSaku? Saw it coming, resigned myself to it, don't really care, it's 92827374 times better than a SasuSaku outcome. I'll still write my fics and draw my arts and ship my ships. That's what fandom is all about. But to completely alter a character's personality in such a regressive, damaging way that continuing to write her as a strong, independent, mature and thoughtful person has instantly become OOC....

Can she be any more of a pretentious, superficial bitch? 

Probably not.

It's like a NaruSaku badfic come true. If I were a NaruSaku shipper I'd be furious that it went down this way.

First of all, I have a feeling she's lying. Based on the flashbacks of "just let me do all the talking" and the very uncomfortable expressions on everyone's faces. Which is seriously fucked up, to play with her best friend's heart like that to manipulate him, even if she thinks it's for his own good.

If she's not lying, it's still fucked up because (aside from the extremely bad timing) it's the most selfish and shallow confession I've ever heard. "You're a hero and everyone admires you now" is NOT a reason to suddenly love someone. "Sasuke is a jerk who left me but you're still here" is ALSO NOT a reason to love someone. That's called settling, Sakura, and it's what desperate girls who have no respect for themselves do. "I don't care about Sasuke anymore so you can stop trying to save him" ...Because Naruto totally doesn't have his own reasons for doing it. It's clearly only ever been about her. "I just said I love you why aren't you jumping for joy?" ...Seriously? Since when did Sakura become a complete narcissist?

Sakura's respectability skyrocketed at the beginning of pt 2 and made most of us who hated her, love her. But that respectability has been slowly beaten into the ground ever since, and now the poor old horse is finally dead.

I just don't know anymore. I'm gonna keep reading to the end because I've invested too much time and energy into this series to not see it through. I guess I will just pretend it never happened, as far as fandom is concerned. I think a lot of people feel the same right about now.

Comments

[sashayaki.livejournal.com]

D: Oh no...

What happened to Hinata though?? I remember reading that she just confessed her love to him and then almost died a while back or something.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Well, Naruto is actually angry at Sakura for the nature of her confession, and he can see right through her and doesn't believe her anyway. He hasn't actually seen or spoken to Hinata since her confession (like 30 chapters ago), which is also a big problem for me because it completely devalues what she did. Whether he returns her feelings or not, the issue needs to be resolved.

Kishimoto just completely fails at any sort of interpersonal interaction, and most especially at anything that even hints of romance.

[thatreevesgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm a NaruSaku shipper and this isn't my dream come true, trust me.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Yeah...its like KakaSaku becoming canon only because Kakashi is a true pervert who uses Sakura's emotional instability to manipulate her into sex...

It completely takes the legitimacy of their affection and replaces it with something cliche and awful that will damage them both.

Do you also think she's lying to keep him from fighting Sasuke?

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Whether her feelings for him are real or not, she is definitely trying to manipulate him through his feelings, which makes her an awful person either way. I don't think there are any NaruSaku shippers who are happy about this, and if Kishimoto cant even please the fans who wanted NaruSaku to happen, then he has truly, majorly failed in his storytelling.

[solarial.livejournal.com]

I think that Kishimoto had fun to ruin Sakura's character. And I'm not the only one to thing in this way. Really thanks Kishi .__.
I'm a NaruSaku shipper but I assure you that I didn't like the way in which Sakura "claim" Naruto's Heart. And, believe me, I'm not the only one. The most part of Italian NaruSaku supporter (and not only them) are definitely disappointed with the way in which Kishimoto drew that chapter. But, In the same way, I think that there is something strange, something else... so I don't think that all Sakura's words are all wrong.
Until the moment in which Sakura says that she loves Naruto, I should believe that she might say the truth. She blush and don't look Naruto in the eyes like she is embarassed. The situation could change when she says "I choose you instead of Sasuke" and is in this moment that I think that she is not sincere with herself. It's something like she want to persuade Naruto that this is the moment in which He can leave the promise made in the past because she loves him and she didn't need of Sasuke.
I don't Know what Kishimoto will do with this whole situation, If he wants to put an end at the NaruSaku to give hope so in the and of the manga there will be the SasuSaku and NaruHina Pairing, or if this is His way to assure people that "voilà, It's the moment of NaruSaku", the only thing that I know is that I don't like all of this, expecially if Sakura is lying the poor Naruto. Sakura isn't so bitch, expecially to Naruto and not in the shippuden.
Naruto doesn't believe in Sakura's words, but i think that this is normal expecially if he continues to believe that Sakura still love Sasuke.

In the end. Sorry for mistakes. English isn't my language ç_ç so I hope you understand what I write :)
Kiss Lucy^^

[downjune.livejournal.com]

I haven't kept up with the latest chapters, but as a committed Sakura lover, is it possible that she is trying to protect Naruto, trying to get him to finally abandon Sasuke because it's become too dangerous, and she's just doing a poor job of it? I mean, we know she's a spaz when it comes to romance. I'd hesitate to take any hint of romance in the manga as genuine. Poor Kurenai lost Asuma, like, the second they were officially together. Naruto's parents were killed off... Kishi just doesn't do romance. Is anyone in the manga officially together? I guess the rookie 9's parents, who we never see.

I donno, it sounds like a desperate attempt on her part to keep Naruto safe. But, that is entirely a stab in the dark.

[inniyah.livejournal.com]

First, I want to tell you, that I agree with you. I think that your insight in Naruto has always been pretty good, and I have always (since before "Percetion", I remember that when you write that you were thinking of create an Itasaku, I was really happy, and I write my first Lj comment to encourage you) admire you character analisys.


I know Sakura doesn't have an excuse, but I also know that we, the fandom, have made assumptions on her character (things that maker her more interesting), that in a lot of ocassions have no fundaments in the manga (or the basis are really small). Fanfiction is usually created on the basis that Sakura is older, wiser, prettier and smarter.
For example, when I read the new chapter, I was waiting for Sakura to poison Naruto when she hugged him and tell the others "Ok guys, time to return him to Konoha, mission accomplished".

When I read about Sakura's crying in the other chapters, i thought "Hey!, WTF!, Sakura doesn't cry... she is better than that, she is not THAT emotional and weak... she is a soldier, almost and ANBU!!" then I had to remember that that was my interpretation of the character... not the character.

I have always thought that in the bottom of our hearts, we are not completly different that when we were cildren (Yeah, we are less innocent, we learn to lie, we harden our hearts and put walls and barriers and masks to hide the softest parts or the nastiest parts), but by the time we are 7 years old (even before), our personality is already formed and when we are aldults, can modify just certain attitudes (and even just if we agree with that).

I am a Narusaku, Sasusaku, kakasaku, itasaku (and so on), fan...

What Sakura did is wrong (so wrong that I am pissed off about it, and she is not even real), but well, a perfect character that doesn't make mistakes, that is admirable and always in the right, is not a Mary Sue? and are not Mary Sue's the worst in fandom?

Sakura IS selfish (when she is consoling Naruto and is thinking that the one that needs to be comforted is her, is not that selfishness?), Sakura is shallow and sometimes has missplaced pride, Sakura is a sixteen years old girl... She is not yet the formidable and admirable woman you write about (Maybe she is never going to be quite like her, but well, I think she is going to be great, and this is the road that follows her growth)


The things that we really know about her are that she is brave, she is loyal, she loved Sasuke (because even if we don't like it, the author has said that she really loved him, that it was not a crush nor just an obsession) "so much", that she wanted to betray Konoha for him, and that even know, she likes him enough (mybe as a friend, maybe eve more that that) to punch teammates that bad mouth him.

But in this chapter, we see a Sakura that is willing to betray him, to badmouth him, to avoid a war, for Konoha. A Sakura that is willing to do things that her younger self wouldn't dream on.

And we see Sakura exposing the most common "arguments" of narusaku shippers, and Naruto turn them to shit. Naruto doesn't want to be the "chosen one", because he has always been near her, supporting her. We also saw Naruto's maturity.

In part one, if Sakura would have said this to him, he would have probably accepted. But now he loves himself more than that. if he is going to be the one she picks to be with her, then she is going to do it with good reasons.

Maybe is a way the writer has told the fandom off. (Have you read some of the arguments for Narusaku? a good portione of tem, are exactly what Sakura said).

Now, we don't really know what Sakura is thinking (maybe is a different ploy that what we are thinking, maybe she wants for him to hate her, you know manga, it's an usual plot). I think is fishy we don't know what she is thinking since several chapters ago.

I am optimist about the chapter. Every time that Sakura is punched in gut, she matures a bit more, if she was as stupid as we are thinking, then something good is going to happen to her charecter.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Oh I think its totally an act. She's trying to keep him from running to his death by fighting Sasuke...AND shes forcing herself to be with Naruto because she feels hella guilty for using & overlooking him all these years. She's settling, and its wrong in so many ways and will hurt them both in the end. Its the way she's going about it (the butchering of her character) that pisses me off, and I'm glad Naruto called BS on her. Honestly I don't think she loves either one of them.

[inniyah.livejournal.com]

Oh! I forgot something!, Sakura is shit at romance. She is inexperienced (That's why i have always been a bit wary of fics that portry her as a sohisticated woman with lots of experience). She was absurd and stupid, when she was following Sasuke around... so this is not a surprise.

She is smart, in a "Rght side brain" smart.. IQ smart. She is not really emphatic.

Naruto is "brain left side" intelligent.

[solarial.livejournal.com]

Yes, It is what I think. Whether she is in love or not with him, the medium used was wrong, because it's like if she had taken advantage of the weakness of Naruto to manipulate him so she can avoid the worst and protect Him from Sasuke.

Ps: Sorry, I deleted the post but I was wrong and I had copied the text twice. I'm so baka XD

[saturdaymorning.livejournal.com]

I sort of look at it like this.

I see that she's been told that the only reason Naruto is still looking is because she asked him to.
http://www.onemanga.com/Naruto/458/16/


http://www.onemanga.com/Naruto/459/14/

[saturdaymorning.livejournal.com]

Crap, sorry, it posted by accident.

Okay, so I was saying, After what Sai says, Sakura basically feels it's all her fault that Naruto is killing himself to go and find Sasuke for her. He loves her, but he's still willing to go and get the man she loves for her. Sai was pretty clear that Naruto feels anger when he thinks of Sasuke, but he'll go to the ends of the earth to retrieve him because she asked him to.

I think that she doesn't mean her confession, but is totally willing to follow through on it with Naruto if he accepts her. I think she's decided she's going to shoulder the responsibility of her actions, and stop Naruto in any way she can. Granted, her wording is a little stupid (Kishi) and it does sound like she's saying "every thinks you're great so I'll like you now" but I think it's meant to be like that for 1) so that Naruto will feel he met his ultimate life goal of being recognized and 2) so that he can see through her obvious transparent half-heartedness.

I don't hate her for it. I imagine that it's hard for her to give up as well to save Naruto over the man she loves and has been waiting for for years, but she'll do it. I think it makes her strong in will - just maybe goes against her intelligence.

I think Kishi is bad at romance, like some others said. And I also think that he's never made Sakura into a decent character - that's been left to fandom to do, I suppose.

Don't get me wrong, I adore her, but I can't count how many times she's been knocked out, cried or had to have help to do anything. Kishi gave her so much potential, but only talked about how good she was. I would have loved it if he showed it more.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

I agree that we often see Sakura as having so much promise to be awesome, we see the great place she is headed, and then we become so frustrated when that image of her future self is derailed by Kishimoto's constant genderfail. Canon!Sakura is not quite where we want her to be, and I believe its because she is written by a very sexist man. But most of us (who are in their 20's or older) would look back and say the person they were when they were 15-16 is definitely not a person they would want to be again. Often we are embarrassed by our younger selves and think "man I was naive/dumb/lame!"

Even so, its true that some people never change all that much...IF nothing traumatic and life-altering has happened to them along the way. Sakura has had a lot of things happen that could and would change her drastically: being abandoned by her team (closest friends) being recognized for her own strength and encouraged by a very strong, capable, admirable female rolemodel. There's just no way she is the same girl. I agree she IS selfish, and a bitch, and still somewhat judgmental/superficial. I still see a slight insecurity in her as well. She is very flawed, and that's what makes her identifiable to all of us. She's probably still too young to realize that what she felt for Sasuke, while genuine, was tied to those weaknesses in herself and was therefor unhealthy and not true love. As someone who, at age 16, once loved the wrong guy for the wrong reasons, I know this. But I didn't know it back then. However, Sakura DOES know what she's pulling with Naruto IS wrong, and that's why she's SO uncomfortable with it.

I really hope we're right and Sakura is lying about all of this, just putting on an act. Yes it makes her a bitch, but its better than being a fickle trophy-girlfriend.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Like I said in another response, I think our hopes for Sakura are often derailed in canon because she is written by a sexist man, who is additionally from a culture that is very uncomfortable with intimacy and romantic interaction. He totally fails at this sort of thing.

And yeah, I really do think she's faking it to save Naruto from pain of 1) fighting Sasuke again, and 2) being rejected. She feels terrible for her oversight of his feelings, and is trying to make up for it in the worst way possible. I think its an insult to her intelligence and the sense of self-worth she's worked so hard to acheive.

[saturdaymorning.livejournal.com]

True that. I wish there was a little shoujo in it.

I was thinking about Sakura recently and I do feel he's neglected to expand her character. Every once in a while, he'll throw in a panel of someone saying she's good, or her doing something like bringing the fish back to life, but he's never used her properly in any situation aside from the akatsuki fight.

She's just crying all the time now. ;_;

[inniyah.livejournal.com]

Yup! And, well, this (in case Narusaku is still an option), makes things different than in other shows (Harry potter, The last airbender). Naruto is not going to settle for less... so, Hinata is not going to settle for less either (maybe that explain why Naruto has not talked with her...), and Sakura is going to grow.

Yeah, Kishimoto is sexist by our standars... but I would like to know, is he sexist by Japanesse standars?

And well, even if everything was a lie, It was nice to read about Sakura badmouthing Sasuke, and prefering her team and her village for the very first time.
On another side, I know I wouldn't have acted like her, but how do you think Naruto would have acted if Neji, Shikamaru, Lee, TenTen, and so on told him "hey dude, Sasuke is going to be dead meat, for the village well being, so stop looking for him" (I think it would have been really interesting).

And, about manipulators, I also think that SHikamaru was one of them, he got advantage of Sakura's feelings, to make his job easier (He knew what Sakura was plotting, I am sure). In the same way that Sakura is taking advantage of Naruto's.

Thank you for you answer :)

[saturdaymorning.livejournal.com]

Oh! I just read the chapter and I have to revise my comments. I was just going by the spoilers. :P

I think it was all right. I think she was fairly convincing and doing her best to sound convincing. Naruto saw through it of course. Something else must have happened at the village before she left when the whole group were talking.

But...

Is it me or did Kakashi look jealous when he's thinking "Sakura.... You...." lol. I totally see that.

[inniyah.livejournal.com]

I agree with all you said :D Sakura is trying to make him free. I think it was (if we read the flashbacks pannels, with Sakura saying that only thing she wants in this life is Sasuke), is one of the most unselfish things she has done. She is puting Naruto and the village first (Maybe, in the way that Naruto, she feels, was puting her and Sasuke first).

... except on the shoujo part... I would like Jossei to be added, because shoujo is sometimes as sexist as shounen.... (And, by shoujo stantdars, This would be "Parfait Tic", but with ninjas, the girl who has to decide between the brooding, cool, intelligent guy or the sunny, silly one... and she would be more stupid).

I remember my brother once read a shoujo I was reading and went all "But, do you understand that there are not guys that act like this?, This is offensive to me".

[thatreevesgirl.livejournal.com]

yeah, I do. I think she is being a bit honest with her feelings. I think she's confused about sasuke. I have this fear that the rookie nine are trying to keep naruto away from sasuke in order to go after that damned Uchiha. The next chapter hopefully will reveal the bullshittery.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

I think her character has been neglected except in passing mention because its a shounen series, for boys, written by a very big boy, from a culture that centers around boys where females only matter in their relation to the boys. Sometimes I wonder if her character development was only so we would like her more and agree with Naruto's (the Hero) choice of Eventual Trophy Girl for Saving the World. Its the same with Hinata, or Ino, or even Temari. We see nothing of them except for how they relate to the men around them.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Well, she's choosing this moment to put on the act because the village (and other rookie 9) have decided Sasuke can fuck off, and they plan to kill him when they see him. To spare Naruto from having to deal with this, she's trying to get him to back off for her sake.

I would be happier if she honestly loved him, because what she's doing is so awful not just for her, but for Naruto who sees what she's doing (though he doesn't know why) and probably feels like shit right about now. If I learned someone I loved for years (who happens to be my best friend) only wanted to be with me out of pity...yeah I would be pretty devastated and angry.

Lol, if only that were true. I could be totally crazy here, but he did check out her ass that one time.... XD

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

I think the same thing. I think the 9 devised a plan to prevent Naruto from confronting Sasuke so they can get to him first, and Sakura is the key. In fact it looks like it was her idea. I think she is telling the truth about her opinions of Sasuke, even if it hurts--she cares for him, but realizes what he's become and what he's doing to Naruto/Konoha/the world and needs to be stopped, not "saved". If Naruto knew he would flip a shit, so she's trying to get him to go along with her by playing on his feelings. Its true kunoichi behavior, but not something that should be used on her best friend. :/

[saturdaymorning.livejournal.com]

Omg, did I miss Kakashi checking Sakura's ass? Some little bell is ringing but I don't recall if I saw that.

Well, she's choosing this moment to put on the act because the village (and other rookie 9) have decided Sasuke can fuck off, and they plan to kill him when they see him.

The way you phrased this made me inexplicably excited. I don't know why the idea of the rookie 9 being pissed and deciding to kill him turns my crank but yeah! I would pay to see that.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

Haha, I don't think it was in the manga, but there was a part in the anime during the rescue Gaara arc where they're running through the trees. Sakura pops a soldier pill and Kakashi remarks that eating to many of them will make her fat. She tells him to shut it and moves ahead of him. Then, if you look closely, as she passes him his eyes fall down to the level of her ass. Temari is running nearby and sees this, and says to Kakashi "that's sexual harassment you know..." I don't think she was talking about the fat comment. XD

I would like them to go after him too. Somebody needs to, at least.