Damn people, there shouldn't be so much rejection for this pairing here.

Anyhow, I'd like to point out that Karin is not a parallel towards Sakura, she is a parallel towards Naruto:

http://wishgrantingd...lized-something

http://wishgrantingd...aruto-parallels

I believe that Karin is gonna end up with Sasuke as the union of the bloodlines of the Sage give a symbolic meaning to the end of their conflict.

Yeah, I don't understand why SK gets compared to SS so much, if anything, it's a redux of part 1 SN, only difference is, this time the Uzumaki has romantic feelings for Sasuke instead of just platonic ones. 

SK in the Kage arc is almost a direct parallel to part 1's Valley of the End fight. Right down to Sasuke sacrificing the Uzumaki for his revenge. He even failed to deliver the killing blow on both occasions. XD

Seriously, he even looks up at the sky in exactly the same way, with exactly the same expression on his face while contemplating dealing the final blow to the Uzumaki. In Naruto's case, Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when he fell to his knees and started coughing up blood, in Karin's case, Sakura showed up and interrupted Sasuke.

The Rinnegan is only obtained through mixing together Indra and Ashura's chakra. Sasuke's son would have to be an Indra reincarnation and he'd have to obtain either Hashirama cells or Naruto cells in order to obtain some of Ashura's chakra. Given Indra and Ashura's chakra only transmigrates every hundred years or so, that is beyond highly unlikely. 

Wonder if Sasuke's son / Shinachiku's rival will have red hair or glasses.

In my headfic, Sasuke's son has black hair and red eyes. 

Too lazy to check but she was also blushing before she saw Sasuke's appearance which could mean she is the only female on the show to fall for him to for his looks (which is ironic considering that her character is one of the most perverted)

Though I think him should have being overly rushed in that situation is overthinking it slightly (I just count it as an inconsistency, same with him using lion's barrage on the bear despite not learning it until his fight with Yoroi)

Perhaps it is over thinking it. I just really like that Kishi gave Karin a very tangible reason to fall for Sasuke: he saved her life.

During his fight with Yoroi, he never implied he'd never done this technique before, just that it was something he came up with himself. It's possible he uses an unfinished version of Shishi Rendan on the bear when he saves Karin. 

Not only that, he said 'sumanakatta'. It wasn't a simple sorry, Japanese readers understand that he was begging for forgiveness.

 

And Suigetsu said 'we shouldn't get between Sasuke and Karin'. And she was his favourite. And that smile! He hasn't smiled like that to anyone except her after tha massacre.

Very true, the Japanese short hand for that would have been "suman" that's how I'd imagine someone like Sasuke apologizing in a casual fashion. However, Sasuke doesn't give casual apologies. 

Suigetsu's wording is very interesting. He implies that SK is this inevitable thing and only he can stop it.

That smile is very intriguing as well. It's so out of place and out of character for part 1 Sasuke. We'd always just assumed part 1 Sasuke never smiled, so to get canon confirmation that Chuunin exams Sasuke was not only capable of smiling but HAD in fact smiled like that in the past is frickin huge. Then to top it off, the person who draws this reaction from him, without even trying to, is Karin of all people. 

How did Sasuke manage such a gentle expression when canonically, at this point, he should have been in full on panic mode because the test was ending soon and he was no where closer to getting his hands on a heaven scroll. It'd make perfect sense if he'd just gotten pissed she had an earth scroll and left, so why the smile? And why did Kishi draw so much attention to it? I really hope he intends to go somewhere with this. That's a rather shocking moment to just leave hanging like that.

Sasuke apologized to her. That's something Sasuke simply never does. The fact that Karin can make Sasuke do or say things he normally wouldn't, is very telling. 

Do you still think that way for the kage arc.

Nope, I've since made peace with that arc and gained a new perspective. I actually kinda like it now.

I can't imagine a time where you hated Sasuke, I swear :rotfl what was it that made you hate Naruto back then, Yami?

With Sasuke, I just gradually grew to dislike him as he did things that hurt Naruto because Naruto was my baby and I was seeing everything from only his POV and not Sasuke's. I hated Sasuke because I never bothered to try and understand him, all I saw was him making one stupid decision after the next and even though he claimed he wasn't being manipulated, that's exactly what it looked like to me. I didn't start liking him again until he reunited with his brother because Itachi brought out that side of him that makes my heart melt and I really do have a soft spot for their bond.

Oh Naruto, he was such a badass in the Pain arc, I gained so much respect for him in that arc, then what happens afterwards? He lets a cloud nin beat him senseless all for Sasuke's sake. I know that's supposed to be feelsy but I can't see it as anything but pathetic. If Sasuke knew about it, he wouldn't even care so why should Naruto? Then Naruto humiliates himself in front of the Raikage again for Sasuke's sake whom I'm super not fond of at this point in the story. All I can think is, "Why is Sasuke causing Naruto to act like a pussy? This isn't the Naruto from the Pain arc." Then when Garaa forces Naruto to recognize that Sasuke is in fact not the Sasuke he once knew, he starts hyperventilating and passes out. Seriously, how naive/in denial do you have to be for finding out something like that to cause you to faint? It just came off as so pathetic. I know it's supposed to be feelsy but I just didn't feel it. It was just lame the way it was done. I lost so much respect for Naruto in this arc. I frickin hated the Kage arc as a whole. It was poorly done and widely unnecessary. It took Team 7 somewhere it had no business going and just made Naruto look more pathetic than Sakura. 

Wonder what Kishi is gonna name Sasuke's son

(considering in the recent RtN interview he implied Naruto will have a son by the end and we all know how much Kishi loves parallels)

I can see Kishi giving Sasuke a daughter if he gives Naruto a son. 

I bet it'd be rather horrifying for them if their kids ended up getting together. 

 

Many on this thread have said that they took SK seriously because of the comparisons between SK and NS. Your individual position on SK doesn't counter all of them. It may not be the case for you but SK is NS's pity ship for many.

 

SasuNaru shipper and Sakura hater? Not surprising in the last. That's another thing to chew though.

When did I say my opinion overrode the majority? I was just giving an example of that over generalization being wrong and offering a different perspective. 

Yes, I used to be incredibly biased and close-minded with regard to SN. Yes, my close-mindedness caused me to not give Sakura a chance. I'm not proud of my past self, but that's what I was. Heck, despite being a shipper of SN, I used to hate Sasuke, too. There was even a point in the story where I hated Naruto.   

^Kishi's portrayal is just all over the place at the moment, I don't really blame you. I'm holding out hope for the next arc to be better.

Wow, that escalated quickly. We went from calm and peaceful discussion with an open-minded outsider to an outright debate which included grossly inaccurate generalizations, no less. *sigh*

As someone mentioned, there ARE shippers who went from shipping SK to shipping NS. I'm actually one of them. I went from shipping SasuNaru to shipping SasuKarin to shipping NaruSaku. 

NS had zero influence on me picking up SK. What I liked about SK was the similarities it shared with SN. Karin looked down on Sasuke and berated him much like how Naruto would trash talk Sasuke in part 1. They both would act like they hated Sasuke, but they both secretly liked and admired him. Naruto even idolized him to a degree. I also love the profound effect both Uzumakis seem to have on Sasuke. They both can bring out Sasuke's more human side, if you will. Also, both Naruto and Karin can understand Sasuke through shared life experiences. Naruto understands the loneliness part and Karin understands the pain of loss part. If SK is a redux of anything, it's part 1 SN. 

Shipping SK taught me a lot about how Kishi develops relationships in the manga and it made me come to respect ships like NS. Eventually I started shipping NS in its own right, but that was much later down the line after I'd convinced myself to take another look at a ship which I'd previously completely disregarded. (I knew it was probably endgame due to being genre savvy but beyond that, I just didn't care because I hated Sakura.) Did I mention how falling in love with Karin made me come to respect Sakura whom I used to hate and found annoying?

Don't tell me SK is just an NS pity-ship, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for SK.

My only problem with SK is that by the end of the series Sasuke is just too much of a wildcard he's easier to influence to the other side than most fictional characters I've seen, and him having children just seems like something that threatens the shinobi world (well I mean if the shinobi world is still going to be around given that Kishi is foreshadowing Naruto creating world Peace and all that business)

That's true, but let's keep in mind that Sasuke is still a young, impulsive teenager. It's difficult to judge how he'll be as a grown adult so it's not really fair to say whether he should or shouldn't have kids. Also, no guarantee his kids will be anything like him given that his kids will inherit traits from Karin as well. Kids aren't necessarily doomed to become their parents. 

^I've long since stopped caring how the general audience perceives Kishi's story. Let them think what they want, I'll be over here enjoying the author's work, thank you. 

^I do believe he realized he went too far and will make up for it by giving us the drama we desire all in due time. 

His portrayal is about as polarized as the tsundere trope itself. I get the feeling Kishi believes that a well-rounded relationship can be portrayed in both a comedic and a serious light. However, comedy is all about timing, and his timing has been really inappropriate and poor lately. I can get that he wants to lighten the mood a bit given the depressing atmosphere of the war, but his execution completely misses the mark and just makes us question his sensibilities. What's probably supposed to come off as well-rounded/versatile, just comes off as bipolar. 

Is it wrong to hope Naruto has more than one kid?  Like seriously I'd love to see three NS babies with son and daughter thrown in there somewhere. Picturing Naruto dealing with a daughter is just really hilarious to me somehow lol.

Not at all, I have a fun little headfic where both Naruto and Sasuke have two daughters and one son. Oh the hilarity that ensues. XD

I don't get this notion that Karin has somehow forgiven Sasuke. I never saw her get over the stab, she's still quite upset about it, actually. I think the panel where her dere and tsun side are literally warring with each other to the point where she can't even speak properly is what throws people off. That's not supposed to be her forgiving him. In fact, right after the apology, she complains to Orochimaru about what Sasuke did to her and it's Orochimaru, not Sasuke, who convinces her to tag along. If she were over it, she wouldn't have angrily/accusingly brought it up at all. Then she continues to bring it up every chance she can get, even using it to insult Sasuke and call him a 'kittenhead'. Even though the scenes are Kishi's weird brand of humor, her feelings are still genuine, she's still genuinely pissed about it and still very much in denial about her feelings for him. 

I think part of the disconnect is what Kanae touched on earlier, that Kishi doesn't view the Kage Summit arc the same way his audience does. As such, he's not going to handle it to his audience's expectations/liking. I'm honestly not expecting anything to get resolved until after the war. That's why Kishi keeps dropping hints about it. That's just typical Shounen priorities: save the world then get scolded by your love interest.  

I get the feeling Karin's not going to forgive Sasuke until he makes it up to her in some way. In a way, I think that's rather refreshing because I feel Naruto is too forgiving/lenient when it comes to Sasuke. I know Naruto isn't the type to hold grudges, but still, it bothers me with how easily he brushes off the things Sasuke does and just views him as a victim of the system. At least there's one Uzumaki that isn't going to let Sasuke get away with the kitten he pulls. 

Why is Sasuke stabbing Naruto sometimes overlooked as opposed to when he did it to Karin?

 

 

 

If anything when it happened to Naruto it was even more brutal.

 

Nate River once told me that it's different with Naruto since he was fighting Sasuke, but that just feels like an excuse to justify it. I would see it differently if Naruto was also trying to kill Sasuke, but that was never the case.

 

Sasuke chose to kill Naruto when he was already at his mercy instead of just incapacitating him.

 

EDIT:

 

Oh cool you're already here Nate. I look forward to your responses. It's half the reason I made this thread.

Honestly, I tend to think the same way you do Red. ^_^;

In both instances Sasuke made the conscious decision to sacrifice them for his revenge. 

In Naruto's case, he simply couldn't go through with it. He rationalizes later that it was so he wouldn't be Itachi's puppet, but I think he just underestimated how much he cared about Naruto. He wasn't as emotionally prepared to end Naruto as he thought he was. (Much like how Sakura couldn't bring herself to end Sasuke when the moment came.)

In Karin's case, she was pretty much as good as dead. Sure he'd missed her heart, but she was going to bleed out anyway. The Chidori to finish her off was just to expedite the process and make sure she wasn't picked up by the enemy. Even so, he hesitated an awful lot preparing that Chidori, taking up a panel to stare at the sky in thought, you'd think after deeming her a burden, he'd be in a hurry to finish her off. It's because he hesitated that Sakura was able to get there in time to distract him. Had he been really focused on threat elimination, he could have easily ended Karin in one panel. I still have no idea why darksuke hesitated so much especially since killing Danzo made him blood thirsty. 

I remember someone else brought up the point that murder attempts are seen differently in the Naruto world than our world. This is a world where 12 year olds are trained how to kill and people die on a regular basis. They may simply just have a different moral compass than we're used to.

Even if Sasuke did have feelings for Sakura, it's difficult to say whether or not he would act on them. He views such things as a burden and a detriment to his goals. Getting Sasuke to acknowledge and accept platonic bonds is going to be a challenge in and of itself, but getting him to acknowledge and accept romantic feelings? Near impossible.

100% sure.  The way the story has been written it is obvious.  Whatever limited smoke and mirrors Kishimoto has used to feign possibilities of SS and NH, they are just that -- smoke and mirrors with zero substance.

 

Could Kishimoto sacrifice 12+ years of work and his credibility just to taser his reading audience at the last minute?  Yes, but despite how some people trash and revile his accomplishments because they prefer to focus on the flaws he does legitimately reveal at times, I believe Kishimoto has more integrity as a professional and storyteller than to resort to soap opera nonsense to resolve the hero's romantic life -- all in a way that is unfavorable to the wishes of the hero.

 

I don't see it happening.

Heh, "smoke and mirrors" I like that. XD

When someone asks me why all the NH focus if NH isn't endgame, I simply respond, "Of course it's convincing, the author is trying to trick you. He doesn't want you to see the final pairings til the very end. However, he did leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the more savvy fans who are willing to follow them."

People think I'm a troll when I say that but I'm dead serious. It's the same thing that happened with Tobi = Obito. We were so convinced that there was no possible way, the author had pulled the wool over our eyes. I don't see why he wouldn't try that with the romantic subplot as well.

I don't get why this is such an issue for people. I seriously don't get how anyone could even begin to fathom that he's joking with the way it's drawn/presented. When Naruto says he'll never joke around with Sakura anymore, he's not referring to any specific interaction between him and Sakura. His comment does not in any way "confirm" that he was joking because he's speaking in general terms. If he was thinking back to the girlfriend moment, there would have been a flashback of it behind him as he was thinking that.