SUIGETSU (AND SAI) AS ROMANTIC INTERMEDIARIES
mehhhhhhhhhh I don’t like to post anti- stuff in a ship tag but this isn’t really anti- it’s just an explanation of how I view Taka’s dynamics
okay so I’ve seen a few posts recently again talking about SuiKa’s “chemistry,” such as it is, and I get where they’re coming from, I do
but
I really don’t see romance on either side of the ship here.
With Karin, it’s definitely not there as of now and never has been - as I explained IN A PREVIOUS POST, Karin shows romantic attention via her “dere” side. She is a prickly, cold character (“tsun”) who never lets her walls down around anyone but Sasuke, and even then, it’s in secret. This is a behavior ingrained in and constantly exhibited by her until the recent chapter in which she snuggled up to him in front of an audience FOR THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME. As I’ve also explained, though Sasuke is her emotional soft spot (and her only soft spot in terms of showing affection - she cares deeply for Taka and HAS RISKED HER LIFE FOR EVERY MEMBER but she does not treat them warmly - Sasuke is the only exception), he has never caused her to do anything she might regret. Or rather, she is not one to be controlled by her love for another (hence why she has no problem calling Sasuke on his shit at any time, why she warned Sakura that Sasuke was about to kill her, etc.), no matter how deeply she might feel it. She just busted out of jail, has no idea what’s going on, and is torn up over Sasuke, so I hold nothing against her at this point. It’s only been about a week since the stab scene in manga time.
As for not paying attention to the Alliance, she owes them absolutely nothing anyway. Where were they when her village was burned to the ground? Her family had no kage to protect them (Kusagakure has no kage) and was left to fend for itself in the crossfire between Iwagakure and its enemies so I doubt she would give a fuck unless she knew that the world could end because of the war. Suigetsu didn’t care either, and neither did Juugo - none of them have been treated well by the village system. They only went to the battlefield for Sasuke’s sake.
And this is why I don’t buy the poorly parsed argument that Karin is “not herself” around Sasuke but “is herself” around Suigetsu. Karin is a tsundere - neither her tsun nor her dere side is false; both are part of her character, though she occasionally uses her tsun side to cover up her dere side (this is textbook tsundere - if you watch/read any animanga at all, you’ll know this to be true). Sasuke is the only person for whom Karin will show her softer side (though that doesn’t mean she’s indiscriminately cruel to everyone else - like I said before, she saved all of her teammates and she also warned Sakura, who for all she knew had been trying to kill her, of Sasuke’s murderous presence), which means he holds a very special place in her heart that no one else holds. She also prefers to only let him bite her (confirmed in recent chapters when Suigetsu asked her about it when she was reluctant to heal Tsunade) - biting leaves a scar and leaves her temporarily weakened, so this shows the absolute trust and love she has for him. So whatever anyone says about the “sexual tension” between Suigetsu and Karin, Karin is not part of it based on her character makeup and feelings for Sasuke alone.
What about Suigetsu? I can see why people might think he has a crush on her, but I feel like he occupies a position in Taka akin to Sai’s in Team Kakashi - he points out the extant, growing feelings between the team’s main male and female character. And even though I love SaiSaku, I know it’s not going to happen for similar reasons that I don’t think SuiKa will happen. Sai has pointed out Naruto’s feelings for Sakura to him in the same way that Suigetsu has pointed out Karin’s feelings for Sasuke to her (and they even make similar expressions when pressed on the issue lol - gotta love those Uzumaki):
And then there’s NARUTO’S REACTION TO SAI saying that he smiles around Sakura all the time, so he must have feelings for her, after which he explains he can’t confess until he’s fulfilled the Promise of a Lifetime. Sai also points out that Sakura is more “gentle” around Naruto at about the same time that Yamato says that he can tell how strong her feelings for Naruto are in the wake of Naruto’s four-tailed breakdown. I think the reason Suigetsu hasn’t picked at Sasuke about his feelings (whereas Sai has talked to both Sakura and Naruto about the matter) is that SASUKE’S FEELINGS ARE MEANT TO BE AMBIGUOUS. Naruto’s are no mystery, but if Sasuke’s were known outright, it would kill a lot of the romantic subplot suspense lol
Would Suigetsu be this excited to get her feelings into the open if he had a thing for her? Probably not. Orochimaru also pointed out that she still had a “soft spot” for Sasuke in recent chapters, which leads me to believe that eventually, Sasuke and Karin are going to have to deal with whatever exists between them just as Naruto and Sakura will. NS/SK might not be endgame, but it’s hints like these that make it obvious that the relationships will be dealt with one way or another by the end of the manga. SasuKarin did not end with the apology, and NaruSaku did not end with a confession. Hell, Minato just gave it his blessing. Moreover, SasuSaku lacks any third-party commentary.
In the end, if SK doesn’t happen, I don’t really want SuiKa to happen either…because Karin doesn’t have romantic feelings for Suigetsu, and it’s highly unlikely he feels that way about her either and for them suddenly to be together would really bother me because it’d be so last minute. They’d lay down their life for each other, as all members of Taka would do for each other, but that is the full extent of their relationship. Unlike Sakura, Karin only has feelings for one man.
#SASUKARIN#I WOULD TAG IT ANTI SUIKA BUT IT'S NOT ANTI SUIKA IN AN AU OR W/E JUST IN CANON#ALSO NOT TAGGING NARUSAKU B/C THERE'S NOT MUCH HERE#THEORIES
ns 15.158.61.8da2
