ShadowWolf

The author splashes us with the cold water of reality in the wake of his life's work. I can honestly say that he stomped out everything that I loved about Naruto in just three chapters.

1. All of our favorite characters have deep regrets about life. Nobody is really happy in the end (including Hinata, who will forever be known as the rebound girl).

2. Sasuke has no home. He is a wanderer. Nothing has changed for him, and his his daughter will perpetuate the stigma as she is almost a bastard child with him gone so much.

3. All women are slaves to men, or at least the idea of them.

4. Bolt, who represents the future, is Naruto's clone. He is wild with ambition now, but will soon become a stagnant, regretful man like his father.

5. I have no idea where all of these couples came from. Crack pairings everywhere that don't make a shred of sense.

Why is Naruto, who aimed to become recognized by everyone, who seemingly thrived on the idea that everyone should be recognized, neglecting his own son? The feelings he had for someone he loved?

Why is it that Sakura, an admirable woman who should be respected and set as a leader in her own right, has been put in a silent position of deference to a man who leaves her to cook, clean, and care for his child? That's disgusting. I really wanted to see her in the hospital again as a lead medic, or teaching other young women such as herself to buck up and take a job. What disturbs me about Sakura's fate is that, in real life, strong women don't settle.

Don't even get me started on the foul odor of sexism that runs thick through this entire chapter. Even my favorite ex-hokage women are complaining about men.

The ending to Naruto is actually really interesting because it reveals something about the character of the author himself. We've engaged ourselves in this so called "will of fire" and rooted for the underdogs all this time, but have just been forced to swallow this large pill of so called "adulthood" of our beloved characters. There is a distinct feeling of regret at the end of Naruto. Nobody is really happy, even though they've been fighting all along for the best world that they can create for the future. They ended up back where their parents started. Drunk old people are drunk. Adults stand around graves. Children pine for love and attention. This isn't the world that Naruto and his friends had set out for when they were young.

It makes you wonder if the author feels regretful about his own life. Maybe he wanted to change so many things when he was young, but the only thing that really changed was his will to fight for something better. He has achieved so much in his life, but sacrificed many things in the end?

Perhaps he had himself a tale of unrequited love, and she still slaves in her absent lover's kitchen today.

Well they have peace and technology to be thankful for. We do, too! But that doesn't stop us from wanting more out of life...Like great manga! I say RIP Naruto. Their world is dead to me. Onto the next story :)

I agree with those that say the act of the CPR in and of itself is not romantic. However, I do think that it is symbolic. It's been mentioned before, but you can't get any further into someone's personal space. Her lips are on his and her hand is on his heart. Nuf said there. I think the more telling portion of the chapter is the blending of his and her dreams and how desperate she is to keep them alive. It's not just for Naruto, but for herself too. Plus, these thoughts are not complete, so we could get more as the situation becomes more desperate. Probably not a coincidence that Gaara was present when Naruto risked it all to defend Sakura and is here again in this situation.

 

My ideal scenario from this point is Gaara Sakura and Naruto reaching Kakashi Minato and Obito just before Madara. Obito throws in a Sakura/Rin parallel. Madara arrives and wants the other eye. He notices Naruto, still tended to by Sakura. He notices the other half of Kurama in edo Minato. He decides not to take any risks and finish them. Sakura uses her own body to shield Naruto. Kakashi and Gaara create a diversion while Minato uses FTG to take Naruto and Sakura somewhere secluded to create the seal. We get a Minato/Sakura moment, maybe another mention of Kushina. Or Minato gives Sakura a message to pass on to Naruto. Minato creates the seal and heads back to help Gaara and Kakashi. Even with the new seal it takes awhile for Naruto to recover. NaruSaku moment... Dark Kurama has learned the secret of FTG from Minato. 9 tails charkra is the key because Naruto can jump to anyone who has a trace amount of his chakra. Naruto heads back to the battle. In strength Naruto can't compete with Madara, but if he masters FTG, he could use it to deliver lightning fast blows without getting touched in return, weakening Madara enough for another game of tug of war. Maybe Sauske recovers and provides a distraction that leads to end game victory.

 

I'd also like to know Bee's status, if word of Naruto's condition is spreading on the front line and how it is affecting everyone, and if Karin might be Naruto's first cousin due to the similarity of her abilities to Kushina. They are rare and valued afterall and Oorchimaru probably recognized that. Or she is a Kushina replica as Yamato is a replica of the first hokage.

 

If anyone is interested in foreshadowing of the events of the manga up till now, take a look back at chaper one. There is an image of the leaf village with Naruto in the foreground surrounded by flames. To his right is a toad (Gambunta?) blowing smoke that is also wrapping around Naruto. Kakashi is standing on the toad's head with arms folded. The two things I find most interesting about this image are how Sakura is depicted and how Sauske is depicted. Sakura is actually tucked into the toad's robe directly over the his heart. She is looking in Naruto's direction, shielding her eyes trying to see him more clearly. I think this speaks to where Kishimoto has intended to take Sakura's story all along leading up to the current event. Sauske is the only figure to Naruto's left. He is alone, aloof, and riding atop a hawk. I guess that one's pretty self explanitory. Anyway, thought it was interesting.  

 

Naruto Chapter 1 Image.jpg

What a great post!

I totally agree on the symbolism. And I love the fact that you thought to go back to look at that artwork from the beginning. So right!

As someone in the same relationship dynamic as NS, I'm just wondering if she knew all along that she would have to save him from the extraction at some point. For Sakura, her way of showing that she cares for people is by making sure that they are taken care of, so it would make sense that she had mentally prepared herself for this moment (although perhaps not emotionally) to save Naruto. Seeing as her emotions are always 4 million steps behind her intelligence and the task at hand, we will finally get to see how she really feels about Naruto after he dies. Which is an intriguing prospect. 

I'm also interested in what Minato has to say to her, considering that he had already broken the ice with Sakura by accusing her of being his son's SO. Will he see that she cares for him? What will he say to her if she doesn't love him? Will he talk to her about being his good friend, instead? I'm pretty sure everyone here at NS would throw up a little if it were the latter.

Anyhow, here's my view as a BME on the ninja CPR:

1. I'm fairly sure that this is obvious to all of you already, but it was out of necessity. Is Sakura so selfish to think that, while he was dying, this was her only chance to kiss Naruto?

2. Because Naruto's body was shutting down, Sakura had to keep his heart pumping to keep oxygen flowing to his brain. I'm pretty sure that grabbing someone's heart and adding electrical stimulation would not help...it kind of reminds me of this game:

3.So his heart is now (possibly) continuing to beat because of her chakra. Now he is running of out of oxygen because his lungs suddenly aren't working..? Okay, so she gives him mouth-to-mouth for more O2. This procedure is meant to stabilize, not keep someone alive for any length of time, so he is still running out of O2 and dying.

4. While he is fading, Naruto's brain is losing oxygen, and his brain cells are dying very quickly. Very soon, if he does not get to safety in time, he will have some major dain bramage. 

5. There is a huge gash in his side where she is sticking her (non-sterile) hand into his body. Now (IRL) Naruto's chances of surviving are slim to none because he is bleeding and becoming infected.

But she's INSIDE of him! You can't get much closer to a man than that. Is she gonna tell her future husband that she stuck her hand in another man's rib cage and grabbed his heart? That's pretty intimate. Gotta do that for my man.

Everyone, please stick to chest compressions (on the outside) and CPR (on THE OUTSIDE) if you are ever in this situation.

Am I the only one who still feels uneasy about this chapter? I feel like NS just had some sort of a cheap victory over NH. Like we're supposed to feel bad for Hinata or something. She hasn't really done anything wrong this whole time. She is really attached to Naruto and has adopted his "never give up" attitude in order to get his attention, but all of this time she's tried to support him, she's been ignored and tossed around like some sort of ridiculous side show. Something just feels off...like at the end of the story he really might feel bad for her anyway. I would be really sad if that happens, for its lack of respect toward women in general and for a beautifully developed story.

I also did not like the fact that, at this point in the story, everyone is in complete despair once again. He's really dragging this battle out...he's making it somewhat insincere after all of the other arcs. Everyone moaning and complaining again, waiting for a savior. The bad guys are talking s**t (literally about pooping) for over three chapters and toying with everyone. Meanwhile, how could Sasuke be so stupid to get stabbed right after he received the gift from Hashi? Adding to his current status as an immortal, Sasuke will rise again. It was probably another plot device to parallel him with Naruto. Wow. Very brother. Both dying. Such passion. Spiritual connections. Wow.

Comparing Karin to Sakura at the end of the chapter felt like a bad soap opera. Why would you do that? We don't know Karin half as well as Sakura. She's kind of a nut case...she pines after Sasuke in the same way that Hinata pines after Naruto. Now that's a comparison.

I am complaining too much. This chapter did have some highlights. Like Hinata falling flat on her face. Honestly, I was a little scared that Gaara would take her, too. I enjoyed the dramatic frames of Sakura and Naruto, because although at first glance they seemed overdone, they were appropriate for the situation. I also like the idea of a Gaarataxi.