Conflict!

I wanted to post this last night, but I got carried away with something else, I'm afraid. There are a lot of manga spoilers in this post. I've decided that I have theories I need to get off my chest, and where better to do so than here? So if you haven't caught up with the manga, I'll kindly ask you to do so before reading this post. Thanks!

I'm feeling colourful.

Today I want to discuss the Team 7 love triangle. Yes, that's right, love triangle. It's been there since the beginning; Sakura obsesses on Sasuke, Naruto loves Sakura, Sasuke's interested in Naruto. Even Masashi Kishimoto has admitted to it. When asked why he added the accidental SasuNaru kiss scene, he replied; "By having this encounter, it was easier to set up the love triangle: Sakura, who had intended to be the first one to kiss Sasuke, has it stolen by her rival Naruto, Sasuke and Naruto are rivals, so there’s added tension there. And so on and so forth."

So there are SasuSaku shippers, and SasuNaru shippers. However, those of us who looked just a little deeper into the canon storyline could see from the very beginning that Naruto was eventually going to get together with Sakura. And post time-skip, predictably, had clear hints of this. Now we come to the conflict of fangroups:

• The SasuSaku fans want nothing more than for Sakura to throw herself into Sasuke's welcoming arms *snerk* and profess her undying love for him.

• Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of SasuNaru fans are quite content (heck, they're delighted) with just hints of SasuNaru love. Like the awkward hug in 307, and the fact that Sasuke is fixated on Naruto. They know it's not canon, but they can still enjoy it in fanon.

• Finally, there are the NaruSaku fans, and while many (myself included) are very happy to see Sasuke again, they are firm in the belief that Naruto and Sakura were destined from the beginning, and that Sakura's feelings have taken a turn. NaruSaku fans don't want Sasuke to do anything in particular...
  

So it's come to this, Sakura is probably going to be the pivotal character in the next few chapters. Will she protect Naruto, even if it means killing Sasuke? Or will she ditch Naruto and run off with Sasuke, even if it means she'll have to deal with him giving up his body to Orochimaru? You figure it out!

In my opinion, there's very little chance of Sasuke returning to Konoha this time. Let's face it, there's going to be big, dramatic scenes with Orochimaru trying to take his body, Sasuke fighting Itachi, and Sasuke and Naruto fighting again. This time, Naruto can't fight. His body is weakened due his earlier Kyuubi transformation. And we all know that Orochimaru is going to show up soon, Kabuto is going to escape, and they're probaby going to run off together, leaving the broken, dispirited Team Kakashi behind.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are obviously similar to their sensei's, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. And the cover of chapter 4:-

To quote Kishimoto: "The triad of snake, slug and frog is from Japanese mythology. The snake is more powerful than the frog, the slug is more powerful than the snake, and the frog is more powerful than the slug, Making a 'rock, paper, scissors' kind of situation. These three are collectively called the 'Sansukumi'."
Could this actually reflect in the story? Sasuke defeated Naruto last time. Maybe this time, Sakura can defeat Sasuke? It's a long shot, I know. But you've got to admit, it would be interesting.

Whew, well that's it for my crazed theories. It's time to move on to other matters. Like how I've added two more AMVs to the AMV Archive. Check them out, if you want.

Oh yeah, I've made a new blog, Nettie's Nook. Basically, I realised that this blog has become entirely Naruto-based. So I made Nettie's Nook for me to share what happens in the rest of my life. Yes, I do have a life. I'm going to keep Naruto out of it, for the most part.

Yesterday I did some research on Kyuubi (Nine-Tailed Demon Foxes) in old Japanese legends. And it turns out the the Shodai's necklace which was given to Naruto by Tsunade is also based an old legend. Apparently, a Fox Youkai's main weakness is the crystal they wear around their necks in human form, it carries a small portion of their powers. If it is taken from them, they will beg for it back, and often grant a favour in return. I think that it is pretty cool that how Kishimoto has incorporated these old myths into his story.

I'm making some minor modifications to this blog. I've gotten into the habit of removing images from older posts, as it just takes longer for the page to load, and the old posts are ignored for the most part. So if you're interested in any images I post, save them quickly, as they may be be gone in a few weeks. I might take down some of the very oldest links too. Now that I have another blog, I should keep this one purely Naruto-related.

For fanart; be sure to check out Weasel Suit by wredwrat. Very random and amusing. Heh heh!

Then there's Behind the Shadows by pokefreak. A very awesome picture of post time-skip Sasuke.

And the fic of this week is an ItaNaru; Winter Release by StarsOfYaoi. I'm really enjoying this story, it actually has a plot! If you read this, for God's sake, leave a review! If you want quick updates to any fanfic, then review nicely. It isn't hard.
Just a simple; "I'm loving this story. I think it's brilliant how you described the emotions in the last scene. Please update as soon as you can, because I am hooked!"
Or even a; "omg i luv ur fanfic! plz update soon!"

Well, now I'm off to watch random videos on YouTube. My next update should be on Tuesday, or Thursday. Geez, I really should work out a schedule for this, I guess.