The Sasuke issue had always been something that annoyed me, not because of redemption vs not or whether he is the good guy or the bad guy, but it was his lack of consistency and contradictions that weren't dealt with, in my opinion, properly. Sasuke is one of the most unstable characters within the series, and it all started when he formed team Taka. Part 1 Sasuke I thought was dealt with well, and let me note that I don't have problems with him from a pairing perspective because I liked him despite it, and he is part of the "team 7" focus that got me into the series. He went from being the dark, brooding, troubled good guy to someone that was willing to put everything on the line for his goal. That made total sense to me. Then, when he was reintroduced again in Part 2, he was cold. He was like somebody that had forfeited human compassion and bonds in search of power to fulfill what he wanted. He was able to almost kill Sakura that first time (making it TWO attempts on her life actually) which was a big "=O!" moment because that was how far he had gone.
The Naruto vs Sasuke story became lost with the coming of Team Not Seven, because this person who had sworn off connections with other people suddenly needs someone. First he needed to be saved from Orochimaru, but I didn't mind that he killed him or absorbed him into himself or whatever. It fit with the build-up of his character. He didn't need anyone. He had no obligations to follow after what Orochimaru wanted. He needed something from them, and when the time was right and he amassed enough power, it was kill and goodbye. So this character who is cool as a cucumber, unmoving, and supposedly powerful enough that he took down one of the three sannin by himself (though he was weakened to be fair)...goes off to find these three people to help him hunt down Itachi and provide extra support. Okay. Then we see shreds of his humanity come out around them, when the last scene we had of him was confronting the people the supposedly and SHOULD mean the most to him, but he was unmoved. It was as though Part 1 and any consistency and established character of Sasuke's was thrown out the window and that was when Naruto as a manga became less enjoyable for me and just too convoluted. Messing with the rivalry of Sasuke and Naruto, messing with the big theme of the Team 7 bond of Part 1 cheapens the FOUNDATION of the story. Thus, the matter of the redemption isn't so much "Will he or won't he?" but how much I care. I'm annoyed with how such an important element of the story has been dealt with, and it will take writing I don't think the author possesses for me to be pleased with it.
He was one of my favourite characters. He needed power, so he sought it. He had a point about the problem of bonding with people and the pain of that loss. He had a tragic backstory behind him that made sense why he would forfeit the family in Konoha that he made because his mind was too set on the one he lost thanks to his brother. He was falling into the dark and we didn't need some new team to show us that. It would have been better storytelling, in my opinion, if those shreds of humanity were saved exclusively for team 7, because then it would be AHA. It IS Naruto that he needs in order to be set straight. If he had gone after Itachi by himself. If he then did kill him, releasing that anger and hatred, and then being left empty as he was, we'd be tackling the issue of [i]well what does he do now?[i] It would have been an echo back to what Kakashi had said about revenge. It doesn't give you anything. Tobi steps in, sells that story that he did, and now we have Sasuke's descent into madness which would have been a way of saying that the DANGER of leaving people on this path is that they seek other destructive goals. If Sasuke's goal was to make Naruto suffer and attack the hidden leaf, joining Akatsuki and being taken advantage of by someone who can manipulate him in his grief and emptiness, then that would have been logical progression! Naruto's focus on REHABILITATING people who are revenge bound, who have lost their hearts and minds to grief and power makes sense on a personal level and as someone who wants to be a leader for the future, because it is a societal problem too! It also ties nicely with the macro view with Pain, with the problems of peace in the ninja world, because everyone's solution was basically to kill before being killed. Tobi's goal is to get the world under a genjutsu. Pain's was to kill everyone and go along with Tobi. Naruto's answer to Sasuke makes sense. How can he hope to bring any kind of peace to the world if this one person can't be helped?
DON'T give the rival, then, other bonds. Don't make him between insane and calm, going to take care of the leaf or not. The parts with Sasuke and Itachi are fine, if it is dealt with by removing Tobi's influence on Sasuke, so that he can decide for himself with "The Truth" what path he wants to take--putting him at crossroads again. Naruto's role would be to convince him that what he should do now is move on and come back. To let him step down and finally accept the humanity within him that wants those precious bonds--that wants the family he had back. Rather than this, Sasuke's character has been all over the place. It's really a shame for me because I did like him. Sasuke was one of the first major conflicts in the story, and look at how he has been dealt with. He's whiny and very back-and-forth. A guy who we were all convinced couldn't be with anyone romantically has new Not-Seven who see something in him that makes them like him, giving him that other option and cheapening HIS conviction of leaving too. Thus, his redemption is doomed to disappoint. Kishimoto messed up on this big part of the story. It's why we all want to go back to what Naruto is doing, what he's fighting, because that theme is now the more central and anticipated one. I get the feeling Sasuke's issue is more a feeling of "let's get to it already" rather than the big build-up its supposed to be.
WOW! What a great post! And you're so right! Sasuke's story is a muddle mess.
But I never thought too much about how Team Taka contributed to the haziness of his story. But how true it is. Needing others, connecting and bonding with them does diminish Sasuke's "ninja way" of being the avenger. And more than that — why do Team Taka stay with him? There is simply no reason. Each one is shown as cut-throat and self-serving. (Well, except for Juugo. Some of the time.) Why stay? And why follow Sasuke as he takes on the Kages to defeat the Leaf? That just exposes them to more trouble! With Itachi's death, the reason for their staying together as a band was finished as well. It makes no sense for them to support him in targeting the Leaf and going after all the Kages. This isn't their fight!
And I completely agree about his redemption story. The theme was for Naruto alone to be the one to redeem him. That means that he has to be completely gone. Unsaveable. But here he is going from Team Taka to partnering with Itachi. He's not alone! He's not completely gone! He is still able to work with someone! He still has his humanity. So...what's the point of having Naruto?
And I agree with the distaste at how Team Taka was pushed as the replacement Team 7. After his involvement with them, and after having it work so well, the reader is left thinking..."You know what? This is a better fit any way. Let him stay with them." They are more like the Sasuke we know now. So it diminishes the need for a salvation by Team 7. Team Taka is a better fit for the character he has become.
Sasuke's story has much more depth, more flexibilty, than Naruto's story. However he's neither squarely a villain nor an anti-hero as his behaviors, motivations and interactions bounce around so much.
It will be interesting to see where these chapters go. The only suspense now, to me, is whether Sasuke will stay on this current path with Itachi and go towards the good or will there be something that turns him into a true villain (thus realigning the plot and forcing it to be Naruto alone that saves him).
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