Sure, having people die for him is hurting me (I love Chouji and rest damn it), and I -really- don't see why Tsunade even bothered sending a team to chase after Sasuke when it should be pretty obvious that -these- children aren't gonna stand a chance.
I don't hate Sasuke, I may be highly annoyed and even angered that some of my fav characters are probably dead, but I don't hate Sasuke. I do, however, think it is not worth the sacrifice going after Sasuke when the boy has already DECIDED to go to Orochimaru.
YES. Decided. Free will. You know, decisions that impact on an individual’s life based on his/her own choices.
So, I don't see why the hate should be coming from the deaths, as for the other reasons... Sasuke is not a whinny little, stupid, snot-nosed kid. Sasuke is an angry, probably at times borderline insane -child- who is trying to fulfill a goal that will likely destroy him. But Sasuke doesn't care, because to Sasuke, his chance at a normal life ended when Itachi decided to massacre their clan.
So, Sasuke has to be strong, and cut all emotions, except the anger, the hate, and the determination to kill Itachi. Except Fate is a bitch and the best-laid plans never survive beyond the planning stage. Instead Sasuke meets his Team, and somewhere along the way realised 'Hey, I have way more emotions than I thought I did.'
And somehow (because Naruto, by existing, changes people, and Sakura loves him unconditionally), somewhere along the way he began to care. Not only that, Sasuke began to hope, to hope that it might be okay to have a life outside of anger and hate, because he has his 'precious people' to protect now. Not saying that Sasuke doesn't want to kill Itachi anymore, it's just that maybe he can become strong at his own pace, try the normal way, learn the chidori, and becoming stronger with Naruto, because hey, Naruto exists for Sasuke to measure against, to be -stronger- against, to protect.
See, this would have been fine except Naruto is the MAIN character, and Naruto is STRONGER than Sasuke now. You know what they say, when it rains it pours. So, Itachi, the cold reality, comes along and completely destroy Sasuke, demolish the little bit of healthy, normal living that Sasuke had began to build, and Sasuke realises.
Our little avenger realises that there was no way in hell that he can beat Itachi the normal way. Never. And really, what the fuck has he being thinking about, why the fuck has he been wasting his time? Reality isn't nice, and Sasuke got a wake up call. Somewhere along the way Naruto became so much more powerful than Sasuke, to the extend that maybe Sasuke can't catch up to anymore, at least not in the normal way, and if Dead Last Naruto, his rival has left him so far behind, and his brother can throw him around like a rag doll, what the hell was one emotionally screwed, psychologically fucked up kid meant to do?
Orochimaru enters stage left. The snake can give everything to Sasuke. Power, power, power. So much power that Sasuke can kill his brother, and hey, who cares what happens afterwards? Sasuke never planned to live beyond Itachi anyway. So Sasuke makes a decision, Sasuke chooses his vengeance over his precious people, Sasuke chooses Itachi over Naruto and Sakura, and seriously people, were any of you surprised?
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chasethestars
chasethestars
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Oh yeah, McDohl could kick his ass to hell and back.
Well duh, McDohl can kick anyone's arse, even with one arm tied behind his back. *waves TIR flag*
bikepantsshorts in Sui4, I gotta admit. But he has ,um, overshorts, if there's such a thing.McDohl is the shitznitz yeah!
And.... bikeshorts.
*giggles madly*
YES. WE LOVE McDohl!!!!!!!!!
It isn't particularly reasonable to assume that Itachi has just up and vanished from Sasuke's calculations, but all the reasoning you cite is left implied rather than stated. And I've noticed that US fans, in particular, seem to have some difficulty catching implications that I suspect the writer thought were obvious.
I did feel a powerful urge to thwap Sasuke for rushing in like that, rather than pausing to ask what's up with this Orochimaru yo-ho, and with Naruto too, but, as you say, that's Sasuke.
And the adults deserve some serious thwapping, too, for not telling him straight up without being asked, once they knew he was targeted.
But you're right, US fans do have a tendency to not pick up the subtext that most mangaka seem to -not- say.
You're not the only one. I wanted to kick Sasuke and Naruto's arse many a time, but the one that I really want to strangle is Tsunade. Sure, she's awesome, she kick arse, but what the hell was she thinking letting a bunch of genins go after Orochimaru's chosen?
Also, as you said, what the hell are the adults thinking? It's perfectly all right to send children to kill, but it is obviously a no, no to tell the truth. If they are prepared to let children die, than the least they can do is tell the truth to a -child- when the child is emotionally damaged in the first place.
Hate cloak and dagger when it isn't needed.
Yeah, and I don't see why Tsunade sent the genin to do it. Seems misconceived, but of course they need to send someone, even if Sasuke left of his own free will, because he does have an advanced bloodline.
Revenge for me is a funny thing. I change my mind based on the context and the character involved. See, if this was boti I'd be first one to tell Rin to let go of Revenge and just live, go away, find someone she loves, hell stick with Manji, and just leave the whole mess. Rin has a chance to live and be well adjusted.
But Sasuke... Sasuke is different, Sasuke will never be a poster boy for the mentally balanced. What Sasuke is now is so mixed with his sense of purpose, of who he is, that the only way Sasuke can go on, to live a normal life, to have a family, is to kill Itachi. And that sucks, because we get to see that Sasuke can be normal (if bratty) teenager, when Naruto is there.
And ditto to the advanced bloodline.
I think BotI handles this ambiguity with revenge. Revenge for the sake of family is something sanctioned in that society, I get the impression. And thusly, if Rin doesn't take her revenge, there will never be any justice for her parents. And so that makes things very different, IMO, because if society says it's okay for Rin to be a vigilante, than that gets rid of many of the traditional arguments against vengeance.
Sasuke: Yes, I agree, that Itachi has made it impossible to get rid of his duty to slay him.
Maybe Tsunade is also afraid of what Orochimaru might be capable of if he got hold of Sasuke, not just what would happen to Sasuke. After all, who should know Orochimaru better than Tsunade? These are other motives we do not know of and neither do Shikamaru. He's risking his life and that of his team to bring Sasuke back simply because Sasuke is One Of Them. Is that not reason enough?
Why did Tsunade send the genin? From her own words, she had no one else to send. All the other chuunin and jounin were out of the village. Remember, they suffered heavy casualties too in the last battle. I think Tsunade knows how good these kids are, despite overwhemling odds, and is willing to give them a chance and the credit they're due. After all, look at what they've achieved compared to the other chuunin who stood in the way of the four Sound ninja. Or perhaps, she thought sending the genin after One Of Their Own may stand a better chance of turning Sasuke back.
Now, Sasuke left the village for the sake of his vengeance. When Kakashi warned him not to. When Sakura begged him not to. But, Sasuke is stubborn and refuses to see rhyme or reason. All of this, I can forgive and understand because his vengeance is so strong. All of this, I am not surprised. But, when he's forsaken his people, those who risk life and limb because they considered Sasuke as One Of Them, then, I'm sorry, nothing can forgive Sasuke for that in my eyes.
However, I dont' see why the hate, why the hell would Sasuke think Tsunade would care enough to send people to get him back? I don't for a minute believe that Sasuke ever thought of himself as One of Them, maybe as One of The Team, but never as One of the Village, that is Naruto. And even then, Sasuke has always made it extremely clear that he would do anything to get revenge.
I just can't hate him. I can't hate Sasuke when he knows he won't be able to return to the village, and he probably doesn't expect anyone to come after him. I just can't. Sasuke had a goal, and Sasuke is going after the goal, and from what I have seen the only people Sasuke ever cared for were Naruto and Sakura.
Having said that, I still don't think the deaths of Chouji and possibly Neji is worth Sasuke's life. Sasuke has chosen, and whether one think it is a betrayal, a stupid choice, or the right one, he still chose. And sending the team after him pissed me off, because some of them will die, and what for? To bring back someone who no longer want to be part of the Village.
Let Sasuke go, and if people hate him, then hate him, but damn it, let him make his own fecking mistakes.
You say that Sasuke doesn't consider himself as part of the Village. But, it's clear the Village consider him a part of them. So, just as you can't blame or hate Sasuke for making that choice, how can you blame or hate Tsunade for making HER choice? Both sides have their justifications and reasons. It's just that one feels right to me, and the other not. All I'm doing is explaining my reason.
I don't hate Sasuke. I don't even blame him for the deaths/injuries of those that have fallen for his sake because he didn't ask them to; they made their choice (Tsunade's choice). I simply do not approve of his choice to leave the village long before any of them went after him. Freedom of choice, perhaps, as you say, but some choices are selfish. And I think Sasuke's choice was very selfish.
I hope you're not offended by my post and my apologies in advance if you were.
I am sorry though if sounded like I was offended. I'm not offended by you. Hell, you are one of the very few people on lj who doesn't say anything without proper logic and reasoning.
It is just that I tend to dive into debates with way too much aggression at times (and much personal bias), but no you didn't offend me. Stating your reason is perfectly fine, just try to ignore me when I go on and on without actual proper reasoning backing me up ^_^
I can see why you'd be annoyed with Sasuke, because no matter how much I adore him, sasuke can be a little twerp that need to be smacked, and be told in small words that the world doesn't revolve around him. That was why Naruto was good for him.
I don't hate Tsuande for making her reasoning, and perhaps blame is too strong a word, and to a certain extend I can even understand why she made the decisions, I think what really get to me is the whole damn situation. The more experienced Jounin are away on missions, and it just isn't right to send genins on the damn mission (see, personal bias rearing its ugly head). And to tell the truth I didn't even think too much on the reasoning of Tsunade's decisions (too damn focused on Sasuke), which was completely my own fault. Foot in mouth syndrome.
I'm a bit different, I don't think I'll ever forgive Sasuke for abandoning Sakura (yes she might be annoying, but she loves him, and it's proven that Sasuke does care for her), even if I can see where he's coming from. I love the boy, I don't hate him, but forgiving him for abandoning people who really do care about him is going to be harder to do.
And I agree with you. Sasuke's decision is selfish, but it doesn't irritate me. Because when I began liking Sasuke (it took a several volumes) I had to sit back and say, "See, the boy is going to go over the deep end, and is going to hurt a ltos of people he care about. And be realistic his decisions will be selfish. Remember Griffiths. Are you prepared to emotionally invest in him?" And I thought, yes I am. So, I suppose while I won't be able to forgive Sasuke on some of his decisions, I jssut can't hate him because I understand why he chose the path he did.
And I'm not offended by you, on re-reading what I wrote I must say I should be one doing the apologising, I tend to go over board at times, and my reply did sound more aggressive than I want it to. So, don't apologise, and don't stop replying back if you want to express your opinons. I'm fine with that.
I do, however, feel stupid at present time for sounding like a complete twerp. Sorry ^^;;;
I know it's hard to go back on your feelings for a character when you've invested so much time and emotion on him. ^^ Stubborness or whatever, I think it's cool to stick up for him. XD So, yay!