Oh this is nice, I didn't know a SasuKarin thread was made here. I feel silly for not thinking about it myself. This is a nice opportunity to openly talk with people that like both NaruSaku and SasuKarin. In other sites there are either fanclubs exclusive to one pairing so you can't really bring up you preference for another since not all members like the same couples.
At the beginning I didn't really care about SasuKarin at all. I just took Karin as a girl that Sasuke needed for help and that she just happened to like him. I didn't give her any more relevance then what I did with Suigetsu and Juugo. However, I did notice that just because Karin also liked Sasuke that didn't mean she was just a bad copy of Part 1 Sakura, as many make the mistake of assuming, especially with the way she tries to deny her feelings despite it being obvious to everyone (although I'm not sure if Sasuke's aware she genuinely likes him).
When Karin had the flashback of meeting Sasuke as a kid, that caught my attention since it felt so random, but I still didn't give it much thought afterward. I even thought Karin might fall for "Naruto's chakra" when they brought her to Konoha. I wasn't until the middle of the war that the thought of them together came to my mind randomly, maybe a saw a fanart or a comment about them, I don't really remember. But as I kept thinking back in retrospective to all that happened between Sasuke and Karin it started to click in my mind how Karin, in her own twisted way, seems to be the perfect match for Sasuke since she has a strong personality that can keep up with his aloofness.
Then by chance if found a SasuKarin manuscript, which I didn't completely read but saw important tidbits here and there about their interactions from the moment they met until the present time, and they all made sense to me.
I also admit that a good motivation for me to like SasuKarin has to do with NaruSaku itself. The stories of Naruto and Sasuke in this manga are meant in certain ways to be parallels to one another. They have gone through their progress and key developments at nearly the same time. So if they're meant to reflect on each other then maybe the same could be said with the type of love interest they have. Of course since Naruto is still the main character he'll get the more significant development with his girl, but in way it can somehow reflect with Sasuke as well.
- Naruto has Sakura, who's the healer in charge of taking care of Naruto when he get injured. She has also been witness to his hero journey and how it has progressed in the light.
- Sasuke has Karin, who's the healer in charge of taking care of Sasuke when he get injured. She has also been witness to his anti-hero journey and how it has progressed in the darkness.
Even the Summit arc parallels both couples having conflicts with each other. On one hand, Naruto with his rejection of Sakura's confession, and on the other, Sasuke with his betrayal of Karin's trust. It goes with how the Summit arc was one of the most emotionally painful ones in the series.
I don't even know if Kishi really plans to have Sasuke and Karin together by the end, it still feels weird to imagine Sasuke being in love, but if there's a girl that has the best chance to be with Sasuke that is definitely Karin. Maybe the epilogue will just show them going on a journey together or something that simply implies they got together without actually mentioning it in the story. We'll see.
Anyone in H&E who likes SasuKarin are welcome.
