Broken Figurine

So I was on the anti-SasuSaku tag on tumblr because I was curious, and I ran across some rather... disturbing things? Sasuke fans, even those against SasuSaku (or SasuKarin) basically blame Sakura for being stupid enough to be in a relationship with him. I would agree to this to some extent, but the overall tone is victim blaming and while they can say vile things about Sakura being weak, overzealous with affection, and even going so far as to say Sarada is incompetant as a daughter, just will shrug and be like yeah Sasuke's a jerk not like anything's new.

Sasuke has always been the character that has been bad for others. He's always the one hurting people around him, and for some inexplicable reason people care about him. It doesn't matter if it was Naruto, or Karin, or Sakura. Sasuke is bad news. 

Then there's people who are pro-Sarada and anti-Sakura because they feel that she's being an abusive mom for hiding things. While I can agree somewhat that I have no idea why Sakura would hide these things and live this way, I feel like we need to at least wait for some explanation why before casting her into the abusive/horrible mother trope. Sasuke however, he has a terrible track record and I can believe he's out there being unfaithful, neglectful, or whathave you. He's the one who has been absent this whole time. He's the one who left Sakura in the situation that she's in--for whatever reason she's in it. 

I'm not saying that one needs to support Sakura and her horrible decision to be with Sasuke and live a lie. It's just baffling that there are people who are against the pairing, but supporting Sasuke. Whatever issues they take with Sakura, I can't take their arguments seriously if they don't offer the same scrutiny to him. Whatever she's done, she hasn't been nearly as much an antagonist. Even if she's a terrible mother, how can you defend the absent father any more?

So in lieu of this terrible ending emerges certain headcanons and stories about what Naruto is moving forward from the epilogue. I've seen stories with affairs, with alcohol abuse, with parental abandonment/neglect and over-all unhappiness. I don't think I feel any which way about these themes, because I think in some respects it reflects the unhappiness of the fans and how... out of character this version of Naruto feels that they attribute themes related to adult despair. I don't think any fix-it fic should involve any of these, since even if it's Sasuke and Hinata I don't really condone--or think the characters should cheat on their spouses, but as a topic to explore in fiction or an alternative interpretation of the epilogues characters it's viable?

There is certainly this... bittersweet element in the canon where not everything is idyllic. The world is changing and the ninja lifestyle is dying out for our heroes, the children have absent fathers who are too busy to be around, and our main character has lost some of his charm--heck, a lot of the characters have. One way of putting it is that this is the more 'realistic' ending where growing up means letting go of some of the things, and facing challenges of responsibility, a changing society and family. If we're considering that this was a sincere ending that Kishimoto intended (however bad it might be) then I don't think that the canon supports that Naruto is that unhappy with his life. Maybe he does love his wife, his children, and he's just struggling to balance it all. Maybe this element of Naruto is inspired by how Kishimoto himself might feel with his obligations as a mangaka and obligations as a father. 

For me, acknowledging that it's a terrible ending, and reconciling what the author might have wanted to say with it can be a bit tricky. I find greater enjoyment in creating my own endings, some of which completely disregard the last two chapters, and there is some feeling of vindication in the unhappily ever after scenarios of the epilogue that highlight some of its problematic...ness... So I suppose what I'm trying to say is I'm juggling multiple scenarios and trying to distinguish what is a rewrite, what is a twisting of canon, and what is true to canon. 

I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are on different takes of the ending? What elements of "ever after" fiction do you enjoy? Are you more in the camp where you just want nothing to do with the ending and go for NaruSaku from the get-go? Do you work within the realms of the epilogue but have your own character interpretations--and if so, what themes are you comfortable with and what would you prefer to avoid (if anything)? I hope I'm making sense as I pose my questions XD

For myself, I'm still not sure. Like I said earlier, I think as a 'fix it fic' where an author tries to offer a 'better' solution to the manga, I don't like the idea that it would include cheating. More of an inner-turmoil and dissatisfaction leads to characters making honest decisions moving forward kind of thing for me. It's still a bitter pill to swallow because as much as I hate those poorly designed children, I don't want to see a Naruto that would hurt them, and divorces are messy...though they do fit with reality. I think that's kind of what I DIDN'T want from this manga. I wanted to see the characters happy. Sure, it doesn't have to be perfect, but I wanted some togetherness and not just hey look--children! No, I don't care that a movie will be filling in that hole.