JULY 17TH, 2012 · 94 NOTES 475Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM45WiLqWXW
KARIN SASUKARIN SASUKE SASUKE X KARIN UCHIHA SASUKE UZUMAKI KARIN KARIN UZUMAKI SASUKARIN SASUKE UCHIHA UCHIHA SASUKE UZUMAKI KARIN KARIN UZUMAKI SASUKE UCHIHA FYSK: LAP FYSK: POINTERS MANGA SASUKE'S CHARACTER THE BOND! SK MOMENT MISCONCEPTIONS
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ONE ARGUMENT THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN USED AGAINST SK IS THE CLAIM THAT SASUKE REGARDS HER ONLY AS A “TOOL.” SASUKE’S BEHAVIOR DURING THE FIGHT WITH KILLER BEE SUGGESTED THE OPPOSITE, BUT THEN HE STABBED HER AND CALLED HER AN “ENCUMBRANCE”. SO, DOESN’T THE LATTER CONFIRM THAT HE NEVER CARED ABOUT HER?
No, the latter does not confirm such a thing - if anything, it confirms that Sasuke did care about her, back when he had not let himself be consumed by darkness.
Why?
The reason for that is fairly simple, and Karin puts it best right here:
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“[…] Sasuke’s… not the person… you used to know”
Sasuke’s character has always been made of conflicting natures; his thoughts and emotions, the drive behind each one of them. His humanity and his forced carelessness. They are all sides of the same character; and so far, we had seen a Sasuke that despite everything, still retained a part of his humanity and morals; as evidenced by his refusal to kill people unrelated to his revenge, or by his obvious inability to not bond with his Teammates. So, we can look at that as side a) of the coin called Sasuke.
From Chapter 460 onward though, Sasuke begins a steady (and sudden) down the spiral. The slimmers of light that reflected onto side a) of the coin were discarded, and the coin plunged into pitch-black darkness. This brings undeniable change to Sasuke’s character; not only his actions but his essence - as reflected by his chakra. It is under these circumstances that we get to meet side b) of the coin called Sasuke.
Sasuke is responsible for every single thing he did and every decision he made while being in his Darkness mode, but these actions do not negate everything that transpired before it [his Darkness mode].
So, while keeping in mind that Kishi is showing us a clear-cut contrast between the old Sasuke and this new (and terrible) side of him:
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It is only natural that his interactions with Karin are meant to show the same thing. Contrast.
Here is an example of this, from Karin’s side: the first time we saw Sasuke showing murderous intent (which was real, as stated by Suigetsu in the panel below) was HERE. And what was Karin’s reaction to it?
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Compare it with Sasuke being murderous HERE and Karin’s reaction to it.
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The contrast is clear as day. But it goes both ways, because a bond is formed through the interactions of both sides of the equation. As such:
The way this Darksuke behaves around her is not the same way the old Sasuke behaved around her (note: more about this tomorrow~!).
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“Sasuke… what happened to you?”
As such, the words and actions of a Sasuke that Kishi has continuously stated to be different from the usual Sasuke do not indicate that Sasuke never cared about Karin.
If anything (like I mentioned at the start) they confirm that why; he did care. Because otherwise, there would be no contrast to be showcased through his interactions with Karin.
If Sasuke did not care about Karin, then Sasuke stabbing her and discarding her would not have been such a big deal. It’s simple as that.
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Just mere moments before that, Sasuke had actually thought that he had beat Danzou. And what was his reaction, then?
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He focuses on his wounds. But once Karin is taken hostage, things change. This is the girl Tobi himself had realized was Sasuke’s “favorite.”
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As such: Tobi himself wonders what Sasuke would do. Tobi would not have wondered such a thing if Karin were just a ‘tool’ to Sasuke; because there would be no conflict whatsoever for Sasuke if that were the case. Instead, his question implies that Sasuke would hesitate when faced with the fact that Karin’s well-being was standing in the way of his revenge.
Why would he do such a thing if he did not care? And this isn’t a matter of Tobi thinking that 'Sasuke is too kind to sacrifice an innocent person’, because this Sasuke is no longer that way and Tobi knows this; Tobi himself was the one who pushed him to be this way back in the Kage summit.
This was about whether Sasuke would be willing to sacrifice Karin or not, period. And that’s the reason why the focus of the chapter (and the side-text, and the chapter title, and etc) was set on the fact that 'Sasuke stabbed Karin!’ rather than on 'Sasuke fulfilled his revenge! Sasuke took Danzou down!’ (or even, 'Sasuke stabbed a teammate!).
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^ Compare this freaking face to the expression he has when he first thought he had beat Danzou. The difference is glaring.
tl;dr Kishi would have not chosen to showcase Sasuke “entering true darkness” through Sasuke stabbing a mere tool. Fiction just does not work that way. Moreover, Karin wasn’t used to showcasing this contrast solely through the stab; she was the narrator of the whole process, and ultimately, we see the Sasuke we know and the one engulfed by darkness through her eyes. More on that HERE.
Posted by Kanae @ the Ice&Spice FC back in April 2012 in reply to a Devil’s Advocate question.
The meaning of Sasuke’s actions in Chapter 415 (as well of the SK during the fight against Killerbee in general) were left out from this LAP because everyone in the FC had already wonderfully covered them ♥
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