lmao guys Gaiden was fine
Gaiden was more of a family comedy than a heart-wrenching drama tbh.
Here is 11 year old Uchiha Sarada (a fifth grader equivalent) who has not seen her father in 5+ years and therefore has lost most of her memory of him to the shock of literally EVERY character in the short sequel (if that doesn’t tell you something, idk what does).
She freaks her mother out, freaks her auntie Shizune out and then freaks herself out into thinking that her true biological mother is a woman photographed wearing glasses next to her pubescent father.
She then meets him after these 5+ years right in the middle of a minor crisis and their reunion is not exactly what she expected. Then her “maybe mom” gets kidnapped. So after externally freaking out, she internally freaks out too.
Sarada ends up in an ex-international criminal’s hideout where her supposed Uncle Suigetsu unknowingly runs a DNA test against her own umbilical cord.
(She also asks Orochimaru how children are naturally made and we catch Sasuke’s side-eye.)
Then she reallyyyyy freaks out. As much as an 11 year old Sharingan wielding Uchiha descendant can.
So Uncle/ Probable Godfather/ Hotkage-sama Naruto steps in (after mildly freaking out himself because after all these years, he still just doesn’t get Sasuke on some levels ie. not realizing his brother from another mother was about to drop the village like a hot potato) and gives his future daughter-in-law a talk about how facts means absolutely nothing as long as feelings are real.
(And thereby fueling Western antis for the next century.)
Note: Sarada uses the strategic plot-device to find her life goal later on.
Anyways, after those almost traumatizing fifteen minutes of her life, she rejoins the Uchiha Sakura retrieval group to save her totally-not mom (that is drawn with the exact same features as her ON THE SAME PANEL). She also notes that her papa is quick to defend his wife, her not biological-but still real-mom.
The Uchihas reunite and even with the subtle actions, Sarada is able to pick up on the couple energy/ affection just by seeing her parents stand next to each other. And that totally confuses her.
A classic Naruto fight happens and our old heroes display their prowess to add a nostalgic touch to this mini-sequel. But the defining moment where Sarada, with Sharingan eyes ablaze, finds an inherent (inherited) strength to protect her mother. Woops, she pauses looking at the palm that literally shattered the ground, Uncle Suigetsu may have made a mistake…
Climax comes and she asks her papa if his heart is connected to her mama’s. Then in a typical Sasuke but heartfelt manner, her papa basically replies that in order for her to exist, he had to be in love with her mama (aka Sasuke is an emotional connection –> physical connection, one woman type of man).
After the longest day ever (school –> adventures with Naruto –> screaming at Papa plus mini battle –> Orochimaru’s hideout –> Shin’s hideout and resolution –> STILL DAYTIME??) Team 7 plus Sarada and ChouChou return home for some quality fam time.
The forehead poke cycle continues and Sasusaku leave off with some kind of bedroom game. Oh, plus BoruSara and the continuation of the Will of Fire.
Can’t believe I am the only one who found the ten episode sequel adorable and comedic (come on guys, she is 11!).
Before you comment on this post, let me just tell you that my mother is Japanese (I spent six years of my life in Japan) and my father is Irish-American. He served in the US military for most of my early childhood (which I don’t even remember now that I am a young woman) and some years I only saw him once or not at all. I think I missed him deeply maybe once or twice but was perfectly fine for the rest of his tenure in the military. Tbh now that all of those childhood years have blended together, his absence doesn’t even seem like a big deal. My brothers and I always felt loved and what I remember more than anything now is his presence during my teen years (probs because I was a brat lmao). Sasuke was obviously not gone for 10 years and Sakura is by no definition a single mother, although she did a few years raising by herself.
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