#chiyo naruto

Kankuro, about Chiyo: Why can’t you accept that she might be living a good, honest life? That she’s an attentive teacher and a good person?

Sasori: Because I wanted that Chiyo! I wanted the Chiyo who made me afternoon snacks, instead of leaving me to do everything myself. Why does Sakura get that Chiyo?! If my grandmother has truly changed, then that means she was always capable of change! …That I just wasn’t worth changing for.

—•—

Rin and Kushina jinchuriki double attacks: what's better than one amazing jinchuriki? TWO amazing jinchurikis. It'd be cool to see Rin and Kushina controlling their powers and fighting together. Also? Kushina being Rin's shishou is such an interesting concept. Yes, teach your local medic nin some sealing <3

Konan and Karin paper chains inferno: we have two sensors blessed with beauty and power... If they decided to set a trap together, I imagine there won't be much to save from the poor soul who's their target. They can also bond about being fucked over by one of the sannins... You know.

Anko and Ino purple fangs special: capture and torture the enemy, cracked the secrets on their minds and put a stop to their acts. Anko and Ino are both sure of themselves and their abilities, they are not afraid to show off and more than anything, they are every bit as capable as they say they are. The danger of sending them together in a mission...

Chiyo and Tenten army of two: one puppet master and one weapon master together? As long as Tenten is armed to the teeth, Chiyo would have the time of her life controlling a flying arsenal. Let's not forget that Tenten was trained by Gai, so she surely knows how to evade and be fast when she wants to.

Sasori is a character who was introduced early in the first part of Naruto Shippuden. His parents were killed by Hatake Sakumo when he was young, and he was consequently under the care of Chiyo (and her brother - and his granduncle - Ebisu, most likely…yet their relationship is not shown on-screen), his grandmother.

Chiyo, however, does a grave mistake when it comes to Sasori’s parents. She learns of the fact that they were killed, and…

She keeps this information from Sasori, believing him to be “too young” to know about their death. On one hand it is considerate of her to do so, on the other hand she put herself in a very uncomfortable situation emotionally.

Not only because she had to lie to him every time he asked about his parents (and I can imagine that he asked ever so often), but because she probably had no true idea what to do the moment Sasori might/would figure out the truth.

Instead of telling him the truth she tells him that they are away on a mission (or that they were given a new mission, as stated in ep. 27) and that they will eventually return. Even worse, the one scene we get to see Chiyo says “well, they’ll be gone a little bit longer…”

They will be gone a little bit longer.

The lie itself is a terrible thing, but to phrase it the way she did - a little bit - makes it taste even more bitter.

That is giving Sasori a hope that does not exist.

She keeps him waiting, and Sasori obediently does just that. Growing up very lonely - and impatient (not liking to keep other people waiting, nor liking to be kept waiting) - as a consequence.

Look at him - he’s so sad…

While Chiyo did her best to be there for Sasori, her constant lies were actually cruel.

What is the greatest insult to Sasori, however, is the fact that Chiyo treats him as if he is stupid. He might be a child - and of course it would have hurt him to know that his parents were dead - but he is not stupid. Far from it.

He was hailed a prodigy in the art of puppetry, after all.

And…

He created puppets in the likeness of his parents to not feel so lonely. And yet they could do nothing to ease the emptiness within him. They could not replace his longing for his real parents.

“Sasori had already figured out, that his parents were dead.”

Chiyo actually hurt Sasori more with her lies than if she had just told him the truth from the beginning. We do not know for how long the lie lasted either, but she probably lied to him for 1 to 2 years at best…and quite a few years at worst.

Chiyo was put in a very painful position, but her way of handling it was certainly not the best. Not only was she grieving the loss of her son and daughter-in-law, but Sasori was a constant reminder of her loss. Not only was he the child of her son, he looked just like him (but with his mother’s brown eyes).

But what she ends up remembering the most is the sorrowful - empty - gaze upon which he gazes at the puppets.

Ep. 319 (filler - I am aware of such and yet I, for one, appreciate some of the fillers that the anime team gave us - this is one of my absolute favourites) expands on Sasori’s past. After the above scene we are shown how Sasori works on his puppets. The peace and quiet is being interrupted by Komushi - a young boy who is shown to treat Sasori like a friend. Komushi asks Sasori about the puppets requested by Chiyo (The Crow, Black Ant and Salamander), and this implies at first that his role is more than being just Sasori’s friend - he acts as a messenger between the two of them. This is later plainly stated by Chiyo herself.

“Oh well, I might as well wait until hell freezes over to get a response from you.”

One thing that is of interest is the fact that Sasori ignored Komushi for a long while. Only when Komushi mentioned that he “has a message from Granny Chiyo” did Sasori stop his tinkering and listen. The message in question was about the above mentioned puppets, and that they were needed quicker. Sasori only points towards said creations, resuming his tinkering near immediately thereafter, while also mentioning that he “does not like keeping people waiting”.

That Komushi acts as a messenger indicates that the relationship between them is strained. Extremely so even. But does it come as a surprise?

Not really.

Chiyo could have asked about Sasori’s invention herself, no? He is her grandson after all. But that she did not.

And the proof just how strained their relationship is follows the above mentioned scene. Komushi mentions that Chiyo wonders about the poison for the Crow puppet, and Sasori hands him a sheet of paper with the formula for the toxin he intends to make. The toxin in question must be approved, however, by his superior - who is Chiyo herself.

Komushi tells Sasori that he will negotiate with Chiyo about the toxin - and to give him “some time”. Sasori turns away from his friend and immediately tells him that he does not want to wait. Komushi grins - tells him “then let’s go!” - before rushing off. Sasori merely watches him in silence - looking mildly dumbfounded at his friend’s suggestion.

Now, while Komushi urged both of them to go - Sasori could have remained in his workshop and let his friend handle something that Sasori himself could have done…and yet…

This particular scene showcases just how little Chiyo understands her grandson. And it also showcases how she pushes him away - intentionally even.

This scene was a bit tricky to capture in a still frame. At first Chiyo only sees Komushi and so she asks him if he has “relayed her message” - and then Sasori appears. She becomes quiet, looks a tad surprised - apprehensive even - at the sight of her grandson. This indicates that he probably spent most (if not all) his time in the workshop and seldom showed himself. And that him being here now was quite the exception.

One could say that Komushi had a knack for persuading people to do his bidding, but considering Sasori being the way he is…he had probably another reason to appear before his grandmother.

Chiyo reads through the formula, and mentions that “there is not much I can say without knowing the blending ratio of the mixture”.

It is here that Chiyo makes another grave mistake.

Having read through the formula she looks at Sasori - remembering his empty gaze that gazed upon his father and mother puppets - before approving the request without asking for specifics. She could have asked about the mentioned blending ratio - Sasori stood right there in front of her - but she spoke as if that was not the case.

Sasori is shown to be a very tacit individual - he barely speaks and would probably be lost in his own world (creating puppets) if not for Komushi. When it comes to the toxin, Sasori went there personally (with some slight urging from his friend) but nevertheless…he followed him. The relationship between Sasori and Chiyo is shown to be terribly strained, even cold, so why would Sasori go to the person that lied to him for (presumably) years?

Because she was the only family he had left at that point. And he cared about her, deep down. He mentioned in ep. 27 that he would not care if Chiyo would die…and that alone indicates that there was a part of him that still cared about her. If he truly did not care about Chiyo’s fate, he would not have wasted breath mentioning it. He would have just gone ahead and killed her like he was capable in doing.

It is while Chiyo is healing Sakura that we get the clearest indicator that Sasori cared about Chiyo despite everything that had happened since he left the village 20 years prior to their reunion.

“It’s a jutsu I spent originally years creating for you…one that only I can use. With this jutsu life can even be breathed into puppets…In exchange for the life of the caster, that is…But in hindsight, it’s a dream that won’t be realized…”

Sasori, hearing these words, is visibly shaken. And there is a symbolic tear in the form of blood falling from the corner of his mouth.

While he probably resented Chiyo for lying to him - a part of me thinks that he could forgive her for that - as he sought her out (as shown in ep. 319) in an attempt to get an interaction between them, after all.

Him going to see his grandmother was Sasori’s subtle way of trying to mend a relationship that (not yet) was beyond repair.

But Chiyo - by approving the toxin immediately- denied Sasori the interaction he could not state plainly because he was extremely stunted emotionally and socially. He probably wanted her to ask him questions, show interest in him and his inventions (she was a toxin specialist when young and she was the one who taught him the art of puppetry in the first place) - but instead of threading on the path of reconciliation, she pushed him away. Intentionally.

Once the toxin was approved Chiyo near immediately dismisses the pair because she is “in the middle of research” but whether entirely true or not is hard to say. She was seen reading a document before Komushi (and Sasori) disturbed her, that’s true, but is it “reading” or “research”? Both most likely. It does not change the fact that she asked them to leave, though.

While Sasori hoped that Chiyo would understand the unspoken in him appearing before her, she misread the situation entirely.

Or…on one hand she did, but on the other hand she probably thought that she would make Sasori’s life easier if she just agreed to his request - she had denied him the most important “request” of all, after all (an answer/the truth). Agreeing to his request was partly done out of guilt I can imagine - so to ease her own consciousness. And part of her - as much as she tried to not show it - was terrified of that empty, haunted look in her grandson’s eyes.

Because she knew that she shouldered most of the blame for Sasori being lonely, for him feeling empty and trying to fill the void within him with his puppets.

She tried to cheer him up, but completely neglected the fact that Sasori needed human contact rather than only his puppets. He needed her.

This scene follows immediately after the above mentioned scene. He looks so sad, disappointed even that he did not get the result he had hoped for.

It had to hurt having Komushi mention that Chiyo had to be “so proud of you” and that she was “always worried about you” - because from Sasori’s side he probably felt that the complete opposite was the case, as Chiyo did not talk to him. They did not speak with one another (if it was not absolutely necessary), she did not praise him (at least not in person)…he must have felt like an orphan despite having family left.

Did they live together? That is not made clear. If they did I can imagine that they both (perhaps Chiyo more than Sasori) went out of their way to avoid one another.

Chiyo approving the toxin - without questioning Sasori about details - would end up having severe consequences the moment Komushi was wounded during his guard duty - losing part of his arm.

He was given a puppet arm by Sasori. It was shown to be quite the invention, with a blade and the ability to release the very toxin Chiyo approved without much hassle.

She is terrified of her own grandson. Of his empty gaze and his mind that was creating puppets terrifyingly close to real humans.

Now, whether Sasori wanted to murder Komushi intentionally or not, is up for interpretation. If we take Chiyo’s words at face value she is convinced that Sasori tried to get his only friend killed intentionally - that it was not just a “coincidence”. I personally do not believe that Sasori wanted Komushi dead, it was all just a terrible accident.

Komushi - knowing that blame would fall onto Sasori - mentioned that he “is not to blame”. That it was he (Komushi) who ingested the poison by accident.

But whether it was murder or not - Komushi dies under Chiyo’s care, as she does not know the blending ratio of the poison Sasori created, and therefore there is no antidote at the ready. What is even more chilling is the fact that Chiyo mentioned that she would clear it with the “Pharmaceuticals Division” and when Komushi is dying she asks about Sasori and if “we have the blending ratio for the poison yet”, this implies that either she did not speak with the division about the poison (perhaps because the toxin was too complex to find an antidote for?), or she did and Sasori later tweaked the ingredients.

One scene that can be used as an argument for Sasori wanting Komushi dead, is when the latter visits him and mentions that the puppet hand Sasori has created looks “real”. Sasori looks at Komushi’s hand (who moves his fingers to mimic the movement that Sasori made the puppet hand do). To me it looks more as if Sasori is contemplating how to make his puppets more “humanlike”, and it is here (most likely) that he began to contemplate the use of real humans and if it was possible to make them into puppets. But he was probably more inclined to do the opposite still: make puppets into humans so to say.

I honestly believe that Sasori at first had good intentions with him creating puppet parts that were more like human anatomy - but his pure desire morphed steadily into the worldview over which he and Deidara would fight over. Him making more real puppet protheses was very likely the first step into eventually deciding to make himself into a puppet. It was there it began in my opinion - his obsession with preserving “life” and “beauty”.

“Heal him! Please! You attached his right arm, too? Then his left arm can be…His legs, his body…You can even heal his soul, can’t you?! Give him back to me! Heal my Komushi and give him back to me!”

Komushi passes on and with him dies Chiyo’s link to Sasori. She contemplates the situation, before rushing to Sasori’s workshop when remembering how Komushi told her about Sasori creating human parts that looked like “real human hands”.

She finds him there…and she also finds that Sasori has made Komushi into a puppet - like it was “requested” of him by Komushi’s mother.

He has - in a way - restored his soul. Like he was “asked” to do.

The beginning of the Sasori that we got to know in Naruto Shippuden all the way back in Ep. 21 when his real face was finally revealed.

Chiyo admits by the end of the episode that she, indeed, pushed him away. That she made excuses to not be there for him when he needed her the most.

While all he wanted was to be embraced by his parents once more, I think even an embrace from her - back then - would have done so much to keep him on the “healthy” path.