SkyStrider

Nah, it's alright. I think we know we we each stand, and there's not really much that we can say that hasn't already been said at great length, nor do I think there's anything new to say that can change the other's opinions.

SkyStrider

I don't see what flummoxes you about it, and I never have. A person who does the things Sakura's done to Naruto and has gone to those lengths to willingly show her lack of appreciation for him and what he's worth to her (regardless of whether or not she had the entire picture on the issue) can not and should never even consider calling that other her friend at that point in time. It utterly insults the meaning of the word.

The fact that she later became his friend does not change this in any way, and I honestly think that a lot of people here are using Sakura's attitude and persona in Part 2 to justify such a change. Frankly, it's a train of thought I cannot begin to comprehend. It would be like saying that Ty Cobb's achievements on the baseball field should make us disregard the fact that he was one of the most notoriously outspoken racists the sports world has ever seen. It's the classic case of people allowing a person's positive changes and achievements to diminish and disregard their past faults and crimes as less than they were. And I, for one, refuse to engage in it.



It's not about Naruto looking for thanks, and it never was. The entire point behind thanking someone who does you a favor is not giving them what they expect, but rather showing your appreciation for what they've done for you regardless of whether they were looking for or not. To thank someone for risking their life in order to save yours is to show appreciation of both them and the act. To fail to do so is a clear sign of showing a lack of such appreciation. And someone who sees a person they consider a "true friend" risk their own lives to save them would never show such a lack of appreciation. Yet Sakura, despite every little supposed display of "growth" she showed up to that point, clearly couldn't be bothered to respect their relationship for even that much. Therefore, she's doesn't consider Naruto a friend. It's that simple.

SkyStrider

Right...

I've gone over this countless times, and I think I've proven why Sakura DID NOT consider Naruto anywhere close to a good friend or comrade until long after the preliminaries. Good friends or comrades don't forget to thank each other for saving their lives, and they most certainly don't consider each other to have such little worth that they'd betray and abandon them with little more than a passing thought. Yet Sakura did both of the above in regards to Naruto. With friends like that, you don't need enemies.

Why this is so incredibly difficult for anyone to see, I have no idea.

SkyStrider

(P.S: Any by the way, the scene in which Sakura makes fun of Naruto for being an orphan in Part 3 happened after Team 7 formed. And she didn't come close to even thinking about changing her views until Sasuke woke her up with his rant, which not coincidentally also happened after Team 7 formed)

NoWhereMan, I see that situation a lot. The thing is, I personally have no problems at all with people who portray 12-year-old Sakura as a cold, snobbish, heartless b*tch without compassion for Naruto. Because to tell you the truth, that's EXACTLY what she was in the beginning. According to the manga, it's completely IN CHARACTER for her to be that way. And personally, I cannot in good faith bring myself to objectively defend her treatment of him throughout the majority of Part 1. And furthermore, I cannot begin to understand the reasoning of anyone who does (though heaven knows others have tried).

My problems come when people try to portray Sakura as that same b*tch after the Promise of a Lifetime scene whilst retaining that scene in it's entirety, or try to portray her as being such a b*tch after the timeskip. That's when I see people engaging in complete OOC treatment of her character. The way I see it, you can make Sakura as much as a b*tch as you want before the Promise of a Lifetime scene, and I'd honestly find little wrong with it. But it's when you try and maintain this view even after retaining her epiphanies and understanding on the worth of Naruto and her other companions that I strongly begin to object. To maintain this view, you have to completely change the PoaL from what it is to make it something else altogether, or completely erase the PoaL from history. The original Promise of a Lifetime can't happen in any plausible story in which Sakura maintains her negative views on Naruto beyond Sasuke's betrayal. It's the fulcrum upon which the tide first turns in the favor of NaruSaku, and the foundation stone upon which her willing acceptance of Naruto, their openly wo-sided relationship, and her Part 2 character are all built. That's the reason why I can see myself enjoying a fic in which Sakura betrays Konoha by going with Sasuke to Sound, and yet generally don't like those fics that have Sakura punishing Naruto for hurting Sasuke at the VOTE. It's a matter of understanding what type of person she was at a certain time, and showing that period of her character in the appropriate time and place. Sakura is a character who's undergone some amazing development from Part 1 to Part 2. People tend to forget this.

And that, to me, is where I see many fics failing. They give no logical reason as to why Sakura would believably insist on refusing to be Naruto's friend after his promise, or even so much as a reason as to why she would still treat him like dirt past that point. And furthermore, they play off of this idea in their attempts to make Naruto magically fall for whatever girl they choose, who conveniently just happens to be able to "give Naruto everything that the pink-haired b*tch won't". :shamefulcry0js: It's ridiculous, to tell you the truth. And it's even worse when they try to use this same storyline in the sense of having Sakura suddenly ignore Naruto once he gets Sasuke back, as if they think she'll go back to her 12-year-old self the moment he comes back. :headbash:

I do think it's possible to make a fic in which Sakura stays in-character, and still has Naruto falling for another. But I haven't found many of them at all. Just goes to show you the sad state of Naruto fanfiction today: the majority of it is made up of people who disregard the manga and don't think their stories through. Hence, you get the garbage you often see.

SkyStrider

Oh, I remember now.

I guess I was thinking of a "kiss" in the sense of guy-on-girl or girl-on-guy, not yaoi or yuri...

SkyStrider