SASUKE’S DESCENT VIA THE CURSE OF HATRED, AND HOW KARIN AND SAKURA’S PRESENCE AFFECTED IT
I’ve talked about a lot of this before so rest assured there will be rehashing involved my apologies in advance bUT there’s some new stuff too
alright this is more speculative and I am using my (as unbiased as possible but we obviously know what I favor) powers of observation to come to these conclusions, but I’d like to know what you all think so I’m sharing
so I ranted (and so did a few other insightful tumblr users) about the Curse of Hatred here (HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/64644647035/THANKS-FOR-ANSWERING-MY-QUESTION-MORGAINE-I-HAVE-ONE): how it was activated in Sasuke, how Karin was the medium through which its effects were conveyed and described, etc. Karin was basically Kishi’s mouthpiece for explaining how far Sasuke had fallen, because unlike anyone else in T7 or Taka (except Naruto, but he doesn’t comment on it during the Kage Summit) she knows and understands his chakra very well. She explains that it had become “dark” and “cold” the minute Susanoo was activated, which was not “normal.” It was then and only then that Sasuke broke his earlier promise not to kill bystanders when he slaughtered the Kumo samurai and went on a rampage. He then abandoned Suigetsu and Juugo (which he had refused to do in the Hachibi fight) and ultimately stabbed Karin. She later tells a distraught Sakura,“He’s not the Sasuke you knew anymore” because “his chakra is colder than ever” - since he activated Susanoo it has gone from normal, to dark, to darker than black.
Let’s take another look at the panels chronicling Sasuke’s betrayal of Karin and the way he literally tried to stab Sakura in the back - how did the presence of these two girls - both precious people to him - affect his descent?
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Okay so first there’s this panel (HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-46287-12/NARUTO/CHAPTER-480.HTML) in which Sasuke’s eyes are drawn in the same way that Naruto’s were drawn a) when he fought Gaara to save Sakura (and that fight was mostly about her; he continually says it’s for “Sakura-chan,” Gamakichi makes the “she’s his ‘this’” comment, etc.) b) when Naruto saves Sakura bridal-style and c) when Minato saves Kushina bridal-style.
Sasuke deliberates, and in his unstable state, decides sacrifice is worth it. Prior to his decision, we are given reason to be uneasy/suspect something involving Karin may go down, and it won’t be good. Obito warns her to stay away, but she does not - she risks herself to protect Sasuke when Danzo used a binding jutsu on him, running head-on toward him with no jutsu whatsoever, and Danzo says he won’t need any jutsu to defend against her. She comes from a civilian village without any ninja, after all, and is thus physically limited (aside: there’s a good explanation on the nature and extent of her abilities here: HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/33252816059/A-SMALL-APPRECIATION-POST-FOR-KARINS-BADASSERY). Moreover, while watching Karin aid Sasuke in terms of sensing and healing ability, he remarked on how good it was of him to bring her there, and that it was not surprising because she is his favorite (HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/45986397350/THOUGHTS-ON-OBITOS-COMMENT-THAT-KARIN-IS-SASUKES).
So Karin and Sasuke’s interaction is highlighted by this commentary and thrown into sharp contrast with what happens next. Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship, on the other hand, is not discussed in this way prior to what transpires at all (and unlike SasuKarin and NaruSaku, does not have third-party commentary involving both parties - neither at this point in the manga, nor at any other specific point). Sakura had the Iron Country confrontation a while before the Kage Summit, and her love for Sasuke as well as her compulsion to protect Naruto at all costs were discussed, by Sai in particular. But no one has ever said that Sasuke favors Sakura in any way, unlike what’s been said of what he thinks of Karin (which is underpinned by him risking everything for her during the Hachibi fight, acknowledging her as “the strongest kunoichi,” etc.).
Then Sasuke makes the face HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-46287-14/NARUTO/CHAPTER-480.HTML and stabs her. Seriously, look at this panel. That is by far the most extreme Sasuke panel in the manga, and as subsequent chapters will inform us, this is what happens to the Uchiha when they slip into absolute despair (think of Obito’s face when he lost Rin, Madara’s when Konoha turned on him, etc. - Tobirama explains this to Sasuke in chapter 619 and you can read more about this and its significance here HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/64644647035/THANKS-FOR-ANSWERING-MY-QUESTION-MORGAINE-I-HAVE-ONE, REEVALUATING THE STAB SCENE IN LIGHT OF CHAPTER 619, A BIT MORE ON CHAPTER 619). When Uchiha reach this point, it is practically impossible to help them - it’s important to note that Sasuke fell into darkness in a matter of hours and that his descent was sudden and impossible to prevent (which is why none of Taka could help him) - and Karin’s near death by his own hand is what precipitated his final descent, while the inception of his descent was the development of Susanoo. Hashirama himself could not prevent Madara’s fall, and we all know how Obito turned out. Ultimately, Itachi's "I will love you forever" at least partially salvages Sasuke’s sanity and he decides to change the village. We’ll see if that sanity lasts.
Obito is pleased that Karin’s near death pushed Sasuke over the edge and says “That’s it/That’s my boy…” HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-46287-15/NARUTO/CHAPTER-480.HTML Take that as you will, but I see it as Obito being pleased that Karin’s near death by his own hand brought Sasuke to his breaking point.
In consequence, Sasuke’s attitude has changed entirely. Whereas before Taka was definitely in his circle of precious people (HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/36770049474/WHY-TAKA-IS-SEPARATE-FROM-AND-WHOLLY-UNRELATED-TO-TEAM), with Kishi having paid attention to his relationship with Karin in particular (HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/33931999186/TOP-10-SASUKARIN-SCENES), he now callously casts Karin aside (HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-46747-2/NARUTO/CHAPTER-481.HTML). The same girl he risked life and revenge for before. Now would be a good time to address the oft-vaunted "just a tool" argument. What would have been the point of writing Sasuke as desperate enough to risk revenge on Konoha for the sake of a girl whose abilities, while unique, were abilities he could have done without? When he asked her to come with him and she initially said no, he was okay with that and did not press her further. So he didn’t want her for her abilities alone, clearly, and she was not just a tool to him or her name wouldn’t have been the one he cried out in his mind and awakened Enton Kagutsuchi for. When he stabs her, Karin wonders, “Is this all I was to you?” At this point, we don’t know the answer to this question outright, but based on what we do know about his treatment of her prior to the Curse as well as the effects of the Curse itself, we know she was indeed precious to him.
This part is all the more interesting because when Karin thinks, “Sasuke, is this all I am to you?” all she says out loud is “I…”But Sasuke answers her aloud, seemingly because he’s justifying his own actions aloud to himself at the same time she’s trying to understand them
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Then there’s these panels. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47008-9/NARUTO/CHAPTER-482.HTML I’m not even totally sure what is going on here. Sasuke said earlier that the “minute she became a hostage, [Karin] was of no further use to [him].” Now, Obito says that, if he “has no further use for that girl,” that he should kill her because she knows too much (later on, even while subject to Konoha Interrogation, Karin divulges nothing about Sasuke but instead tricks her interrogators into thinking she’s nuts and also makes them feel sorry for her by lying to them). It would logically follow that Sasuke would kill her, if what he said earlier about her being useless to him were true, right? But that’s not what he does. He looks into the sky and seems to consider things with an enigmatic expression on his face.
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So he’s standing there, and he does the “…” thing which Kishi only includes when characters are thinking hard about something, and on the very next page is the flashback, which ends with Karin thinking of him saying “See ya” and he says it at the same time. It’s as if they were on the same wavelength, remembering in tandem.
It’s actually a rather similar expression to the one he makes here:
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While he’s hesitating, we get Karin’s infamous flashback - the nearly half-chapter long flashback after which this chapter is named - “Once More.” We see one of Sasuke’s two genuine smiles in the manga, the other having been for Naruto. The initial reason for Karin’s love, as well as her selfless desire to see him smile again, are revealed, and Sasuke says “Ja ne” to her just like before, whether because he’s remembering too or because Kishi simply wants to drive the contrast home - this Sasuke is *not* the Sasuke Karin loved, nor is it the Sasuke who cared for Karin. Sasuke has fallen entirely from grace.
Sakura shows up and Sasuke regards her warily. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47008-16/NARUTO/CHAPTER-482.HTML Wariness is the only emotion I personally see here. His eyes look tired because he overused them as Danzo pointed out when he took Karin hostage - you can see that they appear fatigued in earlier panels (HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47008-9/NARUTO/CHAPTER-482.HTML).
And Sakura knows this. She wonders if this is a “different Sasuke.” Karin already knows the answer to this due to her understanding of his chakra (more on that here - HTTP://HOMUSUBI.TUMBLR.COM/POST/33754369910/A-COMMON-MISCONCEPTION-OF-KARINS-UNDERSTANDING-OF), and later, she explains to Sakura that he’s “no longer the Sasuke you knew.”
Sasuke asks Sakura “What are you trying to pull?” when she asks to join him. Karin speculates about her identity - “She’s an old friend…she must love him too, but…” Sasuke’s expression remains deadpan. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47297-4/NARUTO/CHAPTER-483.HTML He asks her to kill Karin as proof that she’ll help him crush the Leaf, what was in my opinion a transparent way of baiting Sakura into confessing her true intentions by hesitating to do the deed. Just look at the cruelty in his gaze. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47297-6/NARUTO/CHAPTER-483.HTML In reaction to this, Sakura thinks, “How heartless, he really isn’t the old Sasuke-kun anymore.” Sakura herself can see what the fandom refuses to believe - that Sasuke hurting Karin the way he did and abandoning Taka and trying to kill all of Team 7 was not something the old Sasuke, unaffected by the Curse, would ever do.
Sasuke then attempts to kill Sakura with no hesitation. He’s already turning to stab her in the back in this panel (HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47297-7/NARUTO/CHAPTER-483.HTML), and then attempts to do so with a blank, mad expression that shows absolutely no sign of remorse in this panel (HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47297-7/NARUTO/CHAPTER-483.HTML).
Why the lack of hesitation in this case? I think it’s not because Sakura means less to him - it’s just that Karin was his threshold. It was his “sacrifice” of her (one does not use the word “sacrifice” unless one is giving up something of meaning to oneself) that led him to break, so I think Kishi just chose to focus on that moment and its effects more. Karin’s relationship with Sasuke was a salient point in the plot for the development of Sasuke’s madness - he was her chosen “favorite,” yet it had come to this and some small part of him was aware of that even in his madness and gave him pause. When Sasuke confronted Sakura, he was already mad, and her presence or absence could not inflame or curtail such madness, unlike Karin’s for the reasons aforementioned. Kakashi says, “He meant to kill [Sakura],” so his intentions cannot be doubted.
Sasuke remains impassive. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47297-13/NARUTO/CHAPTER-483.HTML I find his expressions in these chapters extremely disturbing and uncharacteristic of him; he truly looks mad. Calm, as he usually is, but something is troubling the waters; something seethes beneath the surface. Sasuke laughs maniacally and explains his intentions for Konoha to burn in the name of his clan. The two of them do battle and Sasuke’s Susanoo develops further as his eyes get worse and his madness heightens to a fever pitch. Karin explains what she knows about the connection between Sasuke’s chakra and his madness (which foreshadows Tobirama’s later explanation of the Curse). HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-47597-9/NARUTO/CHAPTER-484.HTML He tries to kill Sakura again, again without hesitation, and it is only Naruto’s intervention that saves her this time. And causes Sasuke’s mad resolve to waver a bit. Naruto is the one who always tries to stop him and causes him to question himself the most, so it makes sense that he’d want to cut out the person who causes him to waver the most often, as he later tells Obito when he requests a transplant of Itachi’s eyes so he can kill Naruto at full power.
I think Naruto is able to affect Sasuke like this because he doesn’t want anything from Sasuke and simultaneously stands for so many things Sasuke is against. This confuses Sasuke and frustrates him - how could someone so mired in the Will of Fire and so dedicated to the village that Sasuke hates so much be so willing to cast aside everything to help him? Sasuke is deeply moved by this, but he doesn’t want to be. It distracts him from his goals.
During all of this, Karin quietly observes. HTTP://WWW.MANGAPANDA.COM/93-48483-2/NARUTO/CHAPTER-487.HTML I imagine Kishi included her as a witness for some purpose. She has a “…” bubble, which Kishi only uses when characters are carefully thinking over something that is often brought up later. Perhaps she sensed a positive change in his chakra? Perhaps she sensed he was lying (a power she has that we haven’t seen her use yet) about wanting to kill Naruto? Only time will tell.
What can we conclude from all this? Karin served as Sasuke’s threshold - her near death at his hand gave him pause. At that point, Sasuke was so against the Leaf that Sakura’s possible death was mere collateral damage. He felt the same way about everyone in T7, but Naruto, as usual, was also able to give him pause when he confronted him with his steadfast friendship.
Obito commented on the nature of Sasuke and Karin's relationship and reveled in its destruction. Karin’s insight chronicled his downfall. And if their relationship begins to mend, perhaps it will chronicle his rise as well. And I fully expect that Sakura will get an apology too. Team 7 and Taka are both numbered among his precious people, as he has risked everything for both.
#HOLY SHIT THIS IS LONG#SASUKARIN#BROTP: BLOOD BROTHERS#THEORIES
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