I by no means am a sasuke fangirl- but honestly i think you're only focusing on sasuke's bad qualities
Well Sai didnt even know what emotions were, he was just an empty walking vessel. Sasuke on the other hand knew what emotions were since he had a normal life before everything went down hill for him. Yes Itachi had a part in that but it's like I say pain is inevitable suffering is optional and Sasuke clearly chose to suffer silently. The result was him being the type of person he was to Sakura and Naruto. Plus I think Sasuke thirst for power and never being able to keep up with Naruto is what caused him to be the way he was. Yes at one point they became friends but only for Sasuke to break the bond. Also I feel that Sasuke spent most of his time thinking of himself. Once he actually thought of others his character was already annoying to me. Oh and yes Sai is good as well XD
maybe i'm getting something wrong here in what you mean- but I don't think Sasuke had an ulterior motive in befriending Naruto and Sakura- if it was- it would have been a damn stupid move for him to jump infront of naruto in the wave arc:
That's true alturisim no matter how you cut it- he'd gain nothing from potentional death. It was only when he decided he needed Orihimaru's help that he'd cut his bonds- he didn't make bonds to cut them o.o.
As for only thinking of himself- i'd say that was 80% times true. But in his own priggish way- he did think he did think of the team- like he might have put down Sakura here after the wave arc:
but he bounced back when felt that she was acting weird:
and even comended her:
So yeah- he's a jerk- but it wasn't like he didn't care at all about his teammates- he did to an extent. I don't know how it is that him having some decency is annoying :?
Upon thinking things over I found that me using the word jealously in my first post wasn't the word I was looking for. I talked it over with my hubby and we both agreed that envy is a better suited word for Sasuke's feelings. Despite what ppl think jealously and envy dont mean the same thing. Jealously is the fear of losing someone or an object someone is attached to. Where as envy is the feeling of resentment usually because another person has superior qualities or has completed more achievement then the person that's envious. Perhaps Sasuke was jealous at one point because he never really saw Naruto as a rival, however as soon as he saw that Naruto wasn't a nobody and was much stronger things changed. As for Lee and Naruto neither one of them showed the anti social traits that Sasuke did. Instead of getting upset and shutting down they saw their moments of jealously as a way to work harder towards their goals. For Naruto it was to be Hokage, and for Lee it was to win Sakura's love. I never saw them dwell on it or become bitter either.
I'd like to thank my husband and wiki for the proper definitions XD
okay machinations of words aside. Yes Sasuke's jealousy/envy was bitter- the thing is that what he's been
turned bitter. its a combination of the uchiha tragedy, Orichimaru's curse seal and his own kitten- baggery personality. Both Naruto and Lee had their teacher's encouragements, as well as a natrual spirit they cultivated into working hard towards their respective goals.
Sasuke did not have either of those things (or rather one got in the way of the other), he doesn't have a positive attitude because of the masacare he's seen his brother do. I don't think its possible to be optimistic about anything after something like that, Itachi's betrayal was a betrayal of everything Sasuke believed in pre-massacre: things like how his brother was what he wanted to grow up into, that the Uchiah was a strong and prestigious Clan. He still tried to hang onto some things though (pride for his name, because of His father's pride in him), but others he's had to abandon to pick up something new:
- that's how he co-oped with living alone- he didn't know anything better:
He might have had Kakashi, but his own personality made it so that he wouldn't open up to the dude, because it'd be another
percieved weakness.
Which is a dumb way to think- but that's the way the brat thought- He wanted to kill Itachi that bad. The thing about obsession though- is that you have to
recognize it as
wrong to get yourself out of it- and you can't if you don't see it as bad thing. Sasuke in that perspective didn't see chasing after his revenge
dream as bad,
just like naruto and lee did not think their dreams were bad. He's more of a fool than someone who honsetly hated Naruto:/ (the person he actively hated was his brother).
I totally agree with you, I feel that Kishi has really gone out of his way to make a good amount of ppl despise Sasuke, myself included. I think what gets me the most is that he's had plenty of opportunities to change but he hasn't taken any of them and that just makes him look even worse. So words are words but I agree that he is a self-absorbed jackass.
I don't think a writer makes a character just to piss readers off. If a story could be analogous to chess. the Setting would be the game board, the characters would be the chess pieces, and the game play the plot.
The thing is though- characters don't work like chess pieces-they can be killed and brought back, talk and have convictions, act as foils, communicate themes, behave ironically, and they can switch sides between Antagonism and protagonist. The point of a story is to tell a story, and I don't think Kishi is trying to tell us "HATE SAUCSKE!!!!1!!!", with the themes he's tried to bring up, hardwork, achieveing dreams, war and akatsuki, Jinchuriki and Bijuu, it's that animosity can't be solved with more animosity. Success is determined by a positive attitude and willingness to work towards a positive goal. Sasuke has to fail, and he's in the wrong, but whether you hate him or not- that's what you feel as a reader.
Anyways i'm sorry for the big wall o'text- you can still dislike sasuke- I know that when I first read the ending of the Vally of the End arc, I literally hated the brat. Its part of why I still voted for Sai in this poll, because Sai's behaviour has improved as the story moved forwards- Sasuke has moved backwards in developement. I just wanted to explain that part I sasuke wasn't this evil little kid bent on his teammates suffering and why people still like him
like the sasusaku'rs *sigh*.