SK appreciation #2; Sasuke's partiality
aka: why I totally understand where Suigetsu’s coming from.
Alright, let’s give this a shot again! I’ve picked this theme for the 2nd one because, if you ask me, I personally believe that -
All Obito really did was state the obvious.
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But I’ll get back to Obito’s comment in a different post. For now, I just want to appreciate the fact that:
Even before Kishi had Obito state it outright, there were (IMO) tell-tale signs that pointed towards Karin being Sasuke’s favorite all along.
From the very first moment, actually. But I’ll leave the subtleties for later and focus on the obvious stuff instead:
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His choice of words is even more peculiar because she wasn't actually necessary. If you recall, Sasuke’s reason for rounding up Hebi was the following:
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In other words, a task that was suited to people with raw power. IE: Suigetsu and Juugo. So all Karin would’ve done is - hopefully - make the tracking of Itachi somewhat easier, but Sasuke’s goals, nor the reason for Hebi’s existence would have been compromised regardless of whether she went or not. (Something Sasuke himself knew).
In other words: she was just an asset. Much like Suigetsu and Juugo.And yet she is still the one he valued as “essential" though I’ll go deeper into this in another post.
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And if we keep on track with the obvious stuff, then there are things like these:
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That was actually pretty fair, because even though Karin was the one to react violently (so a "stop it, you two” would’ve been in order); Suigetsu was the one to start.
Oh, but what happens when Karin starts?
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Either Suigetsu gets a warning, or Sasuke doesn’t intervene at all and lets it slide.
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And when Karin reacts so violently that Suigetsu might as well basically been asking for help?
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Sasuke simply watches Karin do her thing (he doesn’t even ignore it - he watches). Even though - as I’ll never get tired of pointing out - Sasuke himself actually got splashed by the ruckus she was causing. Yet, he just lets her be. I bet he thought Suigetsu had it coming to him lol.
THEN even among the obvious stuff, there are details like these (and be prepared guys because I’m doing these posts mostly to indulge my inner shipper, so there’s no holding it back here haha):
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Or how she can badmouth and question him all she wants:
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But poor Suigetsu does as much as a grumble and he gets this:
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And - heck, let’s just keep going, because this is pretty funny.
She brings him no useful information at all? Let’s let it slide.
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They’re about to go into battle? She’s the one he trusts his back to.
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Suigetsu and Juugo just got hurt? Let me step in and be a badass.
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Sorry guys got no time to spare for even a glace least of all an are you alright the little ass
But wait. Now it’s not just Suigetsu and Juugo but Karin also happened to get caught up in the fray?
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What do we have here?
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What a coincidence! Now he does have the time for that glance (he actually runs all the way towards them) AND that are you alright
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(which is not to say he wasn’t also concerned for Sui and Juugo when he asked that - I personally take it as a Nakama moment; it’s the difference between his reaction to each occasion that makes it noteworthy to me SK wise)
Suigetsu and Juugo just helped him? Touched Sasuke is touched; but as we know only too well, he has never really been a man of many words or good at expressing his appreciation.
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When Karin does though?
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And of course: if staying for Karin (who was for all intents and purposes, a goner) means risking his, Juugo’s and Suigetsu’s lives all in one go?
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Yep; he’s staying.
And after taking into account all that, I think it’s easier to notice the subtleties I mentioned above. Tiny details like these, for example, that could be considered meaningless but - again, considering all the aforementioned stuff - might not be as coincidental as one might think:
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Compare Sasuke’s expression when Suigetsu and Karin question him about recruiting a team / Juugo respectively, to when Suigetsu asks him why Karin while sneaking in some thinly veiled insults at her:
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So, all in all, if you ask me: it was pretty obvious Sasuke is partial to Karin.
And though we’ve barely gotten to see them interact recently, it manages to remain obvious even now:
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Considering all THAT… it’s no wonder that someone who has been getting the short end of the stick more often than not AND reacts like this when one so much as interrupts his conversation with Sasuke:
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Feels like this about the whole thing:
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I can’t blame him, I really can’t lol
So, like I was saying: in my humble opinion, Sasuke has been partial to Karin all along. All Obito did was state the obvious.
And I love it.
Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out that while some of these (the detail of Sasuke’s expression, for example) could be dismissed as meaningless details, or reading too much into it, or mere coincidences - the truth is that it is the consistency of it all that makes it relevant to the pair. The fact that Sasuke does consistently show a different reaction when it comes to Karin in comparison to Suigetsu and Juugo to the point that there’s an aggregate of circumstances illustrating it, turns it into a pattern.
And in that pattern lies Kishi’s writer intent.
And patterns like these become even more important when you take into account the kind of character Sasuke is, IMO.
LASTLY! Have some Taka appreciation, because while Sasuke might play favorites, at the end of the day they’re all important to him and he’s bound to acknowledge it sooner rather than later~
Plus: it goes without saying that all this was just my personal opinion!
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