#naruto meta

and i know that both Kakashi and Iruka (my faves) are very much indoctrinated and therefore hypocritical in the sense that they're both pseudo pacifist but both teach children how to kill people regardless

and i know that in a better ending, neither Kakashi nor Iruka have to forgive the people that hurt them, don't have to love the village that constantly ruins their life, nor do they feel the need to teach their precious little brother/son to also forgive the hand that repeatedly struck him

Because Kakashi really is a distillation of everything wrong about the shinobi system. trained from birth as a ninja, expected to kill at the age of 5, his father, a legendary shinobi, suicide baited by the village he served his whole life for actually adhering to their village's supposed mantra.

Then Minato and Hiruzen, the two men he trusted most in his life(because really, who does he have left?) shove him into black ops where he can kill his emotions and fade from his identity as a human and turn into a tool for use. Used by his teacher, used by his village, even used as a tool for suicide by his last remaining friend. for decades on end.

Which also makes it so when you do see a shinobi with a scar, there's some kind of story behind it. It was too bad to heal or prevent; they didn't have access to the right medic; it was a botched healing job; they chose to keep it as some form of reminder; they were forced to keep it as some sort of reminder

It just opens up an interesting door, I think.

You can see the evidence of hardship in people with scars from the shinobi war or the kyuubi attack; when village resources were stretched so thin they had to pick and choose who to heal, and so many smaller wounds were left to heal without the help of chakra.

Shinobis with unmarred bodies aren't just seen as a mark of skill, but also seen as a mark of value. Their village deemed them important enough of a tool to try and keep them in pristine shape always,,

I like to imagine that, in joining ANBU, you have to go through extensive treatment to try and remove and scars you may have— no matter how big or small —in an effort to make you completely indistinguishable below the mask. Only the face is spared, as if you lose your mask you're fucked anyways. There are probably some things they can't erase anyways tho— really old scars or ones caused by chakra, or something

ANBU agents having some monthly checkup where, along with the usual medical procedures, they're also wiped of any distinguishable scars they may have picked up in the past month

God, imagine tho; Kakashi joining ANBU and having them wipe clean all the little nicks that he picked up during the war. Him staring in a mirror at blank skin where there was once a tapestry of missions written in scars. Now gone, just like his team

Maybe Minato prevented it, intending Kakashi to stay on home guard by his side while he was young and struggling, but then when he was gone Sarutobi was like "oh, right, Minato never put you through a couple of the ANBU requirement classes, right? We should fix that :)" and now Kakashi is also losing whatever scars he gained during the kyuubi's attack too...

Massacre was what happened during wars, in any major battle, be it Minato, Sasori, or even the Sanin. Now, the Uchiha extermination doesn't even come close.

People weren't being killed for being enemies on the battlefield; they were being murdered in the dead of night inside their own homes.

Anyone with Uchiha blood was doomed, whether it was a child who hadn't even gone to the academy or an elderly man who had never set foot on a battlefield.

Because it didn't matter if the individuals were part of the coup or not, whether they had an active Sharingan or not, whether they were civils or not. It was all about having Uchiha blood.

Because eventually, they might have the Sharingan and might, perhaps, develop the curse of hatred and rebel against the village again.

STRUCTURE IN NARUTO

Honestly at times felt we should have seen more of Naruto academy days and think more could have been done showcasing how the ninja system works within Konoha which is a militarized system.

This is essentially apart of my naruto rewrite which creates a system for how ninjas are evaluated and taught within the academy. To start off we’ll start off with the entrance exam into the academy. We know from Shikamaru that you can decide whether or not you want to become a ninja. And also how a lot of ninjas who come from established clans are already taught basic and sometimes advance techniques. So with the idea of an entrance exam it’s meant to essentially evaluate the students ability and place them into the track course that’s fits their skill set.

Entrance Exam: Initial Placement Based on Ability

Purpose: Sort students into tiers or tracks based on their existing skill sets. This allows the narrative to reflect why clan children (like Sasuke, Neji, or Ino) are often more advanced due to family training.

Criteria: Intelligence (strategy, problem-solving), combat aptitude (sparring or basic taijutsu forms), chakra control, and maybe even psychological profiling (to match with senseis later).

Outcome: Students are placed into Track A (advanced), Track B (standard), or Track C (remedial) classes—or more tiers if needed.

Narrative Benefit: Shows Naruto’s underdog status isn’t just social—it’s systemic. He likely tested low due to a lack of home training or emotional instability, so he starts at the bottom tier.

Let’s now proceed with how these classes are leveled and the overall structure. There would be general classes such as history or math it makes sense in the grand scheme seeing the amount of propaganda that takes place within Konoha. But also these general courses would be utilized in strategy, mission planning and so on.

* side note Iruka would be placed as homeroom teacher who looks over all the students files and handles their evaluations *

now onto the tracks.

Shinobi Skill Tracks (Specialized Tiers)

Based on entrance exam results and ongoing evaluations, students are placed into Skill Tracks, each one tailored to their progress:

Track A (Advanced): Clan kids or prodigies like Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, etc.

Track B (Standard): Average students like Kiba, Hinata, and Choji.

Track C (Remedial/Development): Students like Naruto, who struggle with chakra control or combat due to a lack of prior training or trauma.

Track A: Advanced Track (Clan Prodigies & High Aptitude)

Track B: Standard Track (Average Performers with Growth Potential)

Track C: Developmental Track (Late Bloomers & Undertrained)

* side note Tenten was originally placed in track c but after further evaluation felt Track B was more suited for her but i have yet to make that adjustment cause i be working a lot *

One thing I plan on implementing into the academy would be practical mission simulations centered on team work, problem solving, leadership, stamina, and emotional maturity.

The format is basically three students, one from each track placed into a group with a professor often times Iruka to evaluate their teamwork skills mainly.

Always felt like these missions worked based for the academy as practical missions centered around teaching team work and so on.

Narrative Use:

Naruto repeatedly fails missions not because he’s uncooperative, but because others sabotage, ignore, or abandon him, reinforcing his isolation.

Iruka could witness this firsthand, shifting his attitude from skeptical to supportive.

Also for further clarification when it comes to the Track courses it’s a flexible system, students are able to “test into” specific Track A classes while still being officially enrolled in Track B or C. This allows for strength-based specialization and highlights individual talent rather than purely clan status.

How It Works:

Access Type | Requirement | Example Classes

Full Track A Enrollment

Consistently high evaluations across all areas

Sasuke, Neji, Shino, Ino

Partial Track A Access

High scores in specific subjects (written or practical)

Sakura (Genjutsu & Strategy), Shikamaru (Tactics)

Audit Access

Permission from the instructor + a qualifying project

Rock Lee (Taijutsu Theory), Hinata (Chakra Control)

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Lastly how the students are evaluated and how they graduate.

For this purpose there are three evaluations, the first being one that’s done to permit you into the academy and see where your skill set lies. The second being the mid academy evaluation.

Mid-Academy Evaluation: Class Advancement or Early Graduation Eligibility

Purpose: Assess progress and see who is eligible to move up a class tier or skip ahead to graduation training.

Example: Itachi likely tested into Tier 1 from the start, and during his Mid-Evaluation, his Genjutsu proficiency and advanced battle sense flagged him as ready for early genin status.

This also adds stakes—students who don’t progress may be held back or even washed out of the Academy.

Pre-Graduation Evaluation: Readiness Check

This could be the equivalent of what Naruto kept failing—not the final “you pass or fail” moment, but an indicator of whether you're ready for the true graduation exam.

It would include:

Teamwork simulations

Mission mock-ups

Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu grading

Chakra nature, aptitude or potential

Graduation Exam: A Cumulative Test

Each class has a specific "Final Jutsu" (like Naruto’s class using Shadow Clones). It allows the exam to vary depending on the needs of the era, the teacher’s design, or even the village’s political state.

For Naruto’s class:

Passing would mean being able to safely and successfully use a multi-clone jutsu and complete a small mission simulation (like rescuing a “hostage” or retrieving a scroll).

Naruto fails this not just because he struggles with the technique, but because of chakra control and inconsistency, again reinforcing why the "failures" are more holistic than just one jutsu.

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Word count: ~1,800+

Back then on my analysis on why Sasuke’s character is extremely anti-self-insert, I wrote, [The magnitude of Sasuke’s trauma—losing his entire family, community, and sense of security in one single night by the hand of the person he loved and admired the most—is incomprehensible to most readers, whose lived experiences rarely approach such extreme loss. The human mind struggles to empathise with trauma that exceeds everyday understanding.] Today’s analysis is to dwell deeper into the whys: Why is he so misunderstood? Why can’t most people emphathise with his pain? Why was his trauma often dismissed as “just another sob story, many others had it bad and still remained on the good side (of the narrative) unlike him”?