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Sharingan - Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha Clan Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan - The Advanced Form of the Sharingan Rinnegan - Known as the ‘Eye of Six Paths’

New year 2022: New Boruto Official art.

proud parents 😊

The 4th Databook didn’t call the forehead poke a sign of distance and rejection, nor did it state that it made Sasuke feel lonely. On p.49, it says…

Around 12 years ago: Nostalgic memories with Itachi. Every time Sasuke remembers when he was poked in the forehead by his older brother when he narrowed their distance he feels a tinge of loneliness.

Do you know what “nostalgia” means? It means to have a sentimental longing or affection for a period or memory from your past. It connotes a wistful desire to return to a former time in one’s life, and a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

That’s what Sasuke was feeling when he remembered the times Itachi used to poke his forehead, it evoked feelings of nostalgia and affection as he remembered the happy times with his brother, and that’s why it made him feel lonely now. It wasn’t saying that Sasuke felt lonely in the past because of the forehead poke, it’s saying how Sasuke reminiscing about those happy times made him feel lonely now because Itachi is no longer with him. My god, it’s not fucking complicated. Look at the faces below of the people who had just been given the forehead poke, do you honestly believe that they look in any way lonely? Or rejected? Or sad?

Sarada becoming a chunin :

The Uchiha Fam making a Sasuke snowman in Sasuke SD :

SasuSaku cameo in Fortnite :

Sasuke Retsuden Manga announcement :

Sasuke calling Sakura his home :

SasuSaku scenes from the play :

Announcement of SasuSaku poster for the New Year :

Blank period Team 7 picture :

Uchiha Fam Christmas poster :

I know right? I mean, her entire speech was filled with very explicit indicators of how she wanted to be able to fight alongside them on the battlefield. How she hated whenever she was made to hide behind them while they protected her:

And how Tsunade made it clear to her that she had no excuse to not be able to at least fight and defend herself on the front lines:

The image of her at last reaching her goal, and fighting side by side with Naruto and Sasuke on the battlefield, with their backs to each other, rather than with her watching them from behind is telling:

A talking point I’ve run across in all my years in Naruto fandom is that if Naruto or Sasuke had been a girl there would be no question – NaruSasu would be canon. It’s often said in context of how bad a canon pairing is. I’ve always found this really odd when it comes to NaruSasu because of the nature of their relationship, which is canonically violent as hell.

Let’s also assume, for the sake of argument, that if one of the boys were a girl they’d be equally popular as they are now and thus the editors would allow for Kishimoto to spend so much time on their characters. And let’s also assume Kishimoto would feel comfortable enough writing a female character enough to make them either the first or second most important character in the narrative.

If you don’t think that Naruto, as a girl, wouldn’t get mocked and bashed for his devotion to his rival love interest who tried to kill him more than once – I don’t know what to tell you.

There would be so much outrage that Naruto is sending a bad message to girls for falling for such an abusive and toxic man. Alternatively, Naruto would be bashed as terrible Female Character because so much of her character is tied up into a male character who is her love interest. In addition, despite how much there is in the narrative exploring and explaining his feelings for Sasuke, her feelings would be dismissed as ‘just a crush’ and she would be called ‘a stupid fangirl’.

Think, for a minute, about how early manga Lee’s feelings were treated in fandom as compared to early Sakura’s. Both Sakura and Lee’s feelings started from a similar place: cute person they found attractive and a crush formed. Lee’s feelings were generally accepted as genuine love while Sakura’s were dismissed as just a fangirl crush. Male feelings are almost always more validated than female ones. Girl Naruto’s feelings would be dismissed as shallow at best and abusive at worst.

But I honestly think the more ‘problematic’ relationship would be Naruto/Girl!Sasuke. Naruto is canonically possessive, threatened to break all of Sasuke’s bones for not listening to him, is quick to dismiss what Sasuke clearly says he wants (which, often, is leave me the fuck alone you nut), and there are pages dedicated to how only Naruto can fix Sasuke – who called is a blank slate that can be fixed by a man who knows what’s best for her.

Sasuke, abuse victim, would end up with a man who threatened to break her bones and consistently acted like he knew what was best for her. The narrative would have completely supported Naruto’s goal in dictating how Sasuke lived her life.