[theory] why I think Sasuke is not quite aware of Karin's feelings for him - yet -
I believe it’s not an understatement to say that most of the naruto fandom tends to assume Sasuke knows about Karin’s feelings for him (or at least the majority I’ve come across), and I definitely understand why that is. Since Karin’s feelings are so obvious to us as readers, one tends to assume Sasuke can see through her rough exterior, too. I did the same thing myself for years - until I actually stopped to seriously think about it sometime during my Naruto-fandom hiatus two years ago.
Really, does Sasuke actually know?
I’m in the camp that thinks odds are he is not aware of her feelings for him. At least not entirely. I believe that even if he does have at least an inkling about Karin’s feelings, he is for the most part clueless about the fact that Karin is in love with him. My reasons for thinking as such are as follows:
- The ways in which the manga itself seems to suggest Sasuke’s cluelessness.
- Kishi and his writing style. To put it simply: at this point in the story, given that Karin’s feelings for Sasuke have yet to be directly addressed, Sasuke being either completely clueless or at least not entirely aware makes for a more impactful revelation, IMO.
I’ll use this post to properly explain my perspective on both ends (because people have asked me why I feel this way before, so having a post ready to be linked seems more useful haha). But I’ll also address two other things that in theory should hinder this train of thought:
- Sasuke has been present in two of the times wherein Karin’s feelings for him have been directly alluded to.
- Sasuke was Mr. Popular back in Konoha. Shouldn’t he know, by experience alone, when a girl is interested in him?
To do so, I’ll gather some of the things I’ve posted in the FC concerning this subject, but I’ll also write a few extra things to (hopefully - as always -) tie everything together. Granted though, this is just my personal take on the matter! Even those who are also on the same boat as me and believe Sasuke’s probably not aware yet may have different reasons to do so, haha.
So if the subject catches your eye, by all means! :D
1. I’ll start by the manga itself: does it back-up the possibility of Sasuke being clueless?
I do believe it does. The first (and most) obvious evidence being, of course, Chapter 348. Sasuke does not blink an eye at Karin’s rough and bossy behavior (meaning: he is used to it - Karin refuses to go and flies off the handle yet Sasuke does not look surprised in the slightest. He most likely already expected she wouldn’t agree to it so easily). At one point Sasuke even relents and accepts that Karin simply does not want to go: in other words, he did buy her act.
As such, he is genuinely puzzled when she suddenly changes her tune:
He does not understand what has prompted her change and shows as much by outright asking her.
So we have that Sasuke is confused even though Karin’s reason is obvious to the reader by her behavior alone: him. There are two important factors to take notice of here: the first is what prompts his confusion (Karin “changing her mind quickly”). The second, that Sasuke did not doubt Karin when she showed she was “very much against” going with him.
The first goes to show that Sasuke is thrown for a loop when Karin pulls one of her tsun to dere switches on him. And in my opinion, the second alone suggests that Sasuke does not suspect that Karin has a personal reason for wanting to go with him.
Same-wise, he is also shown to be confused when Karin hurries to deny that she agreed to go in the first place:
Now, one could say that in this case, what baffles Sasuke is Karin lying to Suigetsu. Except that’s not the case, because three chapters later, we find out Sasuke did take her words at face value and fell for her excuse. Again:
In other words, in both instances of Sasuke’s “?”, I believe what puzzled him was most likely Karin’s sudden behavior shifts. This is important for reasons I will get to in a bit; but also because the truth is, Karin’s attitude shifts can be easily understood if one either a) realizes she has feelings for Sasuke b) knows about her feelings for Sasuke beforehand.
Example Suigetsu.
Let’s compare Sasuke’s previous reactions to Suigetsu, who does know about Karin’s feelings for Sasuke. Nothing Karin says or does is able to throw him off-track; he does not buy her excuses and is perfectly aware of why Karin is tagging along because he does know that Karin has feelings for Sasuke:
So, I believe that the fact that there is a clear difference between Suigetsu (who does know) and Sasuke, seems to suggest the manga does imply that Sasuke is not quite aware of Karin’s feelings for him -yet.
That said, as I mentioned at the start, there are two pressing matters that should, in principle, shoot this theory down:
2. How can Sasuke possibly not know when people have alluded to Karin’s feelings right in front of him?
First Suigetsu on the above page; second, Orochimaru in Chapter 627. That’s a fair point indeed, and logic dictates that Sasuke should have at least some sort of awareness about her feelings thanks to these two instances.
Alas, the thing is: we never saw a reaction from Sasuke. In the first instance, Karin hurried to deny it; and given that Sasuke tends to take Karin’s side on her bickering with Suigetsu and buys everything she says, it’s not a stretch to think he simply took her word above his and assumed Suigetsu was simply taunting her (or simply disregarded the comment altogether, knowing him lol).
In the second instance, it’s actually got more to do with Kishi’s writing than with Sasuke as a character. If you ask me, it’s basically the same thing that happened with Tobirama’s comment regarding Karin’s Uzumaki lineage. Orochimaru’s comment was directed to the reader and not to the characters. It was a reminder to us, much like Tobirama’s words; it was bringing something up to our attention, as such it had no impact nor reaction from the bystanders because it is meant to be addressed later.
I mean, not even Karin herself had any sort of reaction whatsoever to Orochimaru’s very direct comment (said right in front of Sasuke, no less), when she did clearly react to Orochimaru merely suggesting that she was annoyed at being separated from Sasuke:
So IMO, both instances are simply two examples in the long list of Kishi making his characters be conveniently deaf depending on the situation lol and unless we see Sasuke being explicitly shown as reacting to comment regarding Karin’s feelings for him, then chances are it is not meant to be taken as Sasuke gaining any sort of awareness.
Another one that ranks pretty high on that list of his characters conveniently not reacting to things is no one having any sort of reaction to Minato, the freaking Fourth Hokage, being Naruto’s dad - even if we do get a reaction later down the line, the fact remains it should’ve been something immediate.
3. That said, a lot of people seem to think: how can Sasuke not know when he had countless fangirls and girls going after him?
That’s another good point. But, ironically, I believe that’s part of what makes him be mostly (if not completely) clueless about Karin’s feelings for him.
The fact that while Karin does show affection to him from time to time, doing things that might ring some bells:
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The vast majority of the time, she is the polar opposite. Sasuke is used to girls worshipping the ground he walks on, ‘Sasuke-kun' to his left and right and 'kya'ing at everything little thing he does.
Karin does anything but. Karin patronizes him, insults him, lectures him, so on so forth. None of this is the sort of behavior Sasuke would have learned to expect from a girl who is interested in him. We have to remember that Sasuke is used to girls making no secret of the fact that they carry a torch for him. As such, Karin’s tsun-ness, IMO, successfully prevents him from figuring Karin’s feelings out.
Continuing with the train of thought I brought up in the first part (“I believe what puzzled him were most likely Karin’s sudden behavior shifts”), if anything if you ask me, this direct contrast between Karin and the girls he used to know only helps to make him more confused about Karin’s drastic tsun to dere changes. Because Sasuke is probably more baffled at the sudden change in behavior than drawing any connections between her antics and those of the girls who have shown romantic interest in him, IMO.
Even if Sasuke at least has an inkling of Karin’s feelings for him. He is nonetheless still unaware of the depth of said feelings; as such, his eventual realization (whether prompted by Karin herself or third parties) would still have an emotional impact on him. The same evidently remains true if it turns out that Sasuke is instead completely clueless about them.
This brings me to my last point:
4. Kishi made Karin a tsundere for a reason and there must also be a reason why she has not addressed her feelings for Sasuke yet
I have to admit that I’m not exactly a fan of confessions; if it were up to me, Karin’s feelings for Sasuke would finally get out in the open through actions rather than words (that has been an intrinsic part of SasuKarin all along in my eyes, after all). Nonetheless, given Kishi’s track-record I would not be surprised if he does have her eventually voicing her feelings in some way, shape, or form.
So for the sake of argument, let’s assume that hypothesis will come to fruition.
Think about it. If Karin admitting to her love for Sasuke will be no news to Sasuke, then why hasn’t she done so yet? Why hasn’t Kishi gotten that out of the way, if it won’t change the state of their bond any?
Why would he spend panels upon panels on Karin adamantly denying any possible feelings she might have for Sasuke if Sasuke were supposed to have known about them all along?
An Anti might say that Karin’s feelings aren’t relevant enough to be addressed. That they’re a non-factor. Alas, why would Kishi continuously bring up her feelings for Sasuke if he is not planning to address them?
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