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If a critical analysis of the SasuNaru pairing is going to bother you, then you probably shouldn’t read this. I am not bashing SasuNaru. What I am attempting to do is criticize the feminine portrayal of Naruto in typical SasuNaru fan works, and to use that critique to explain why some fans prefer the NaruSasu dynamic. Again, if this sounds like it will insult you, then you probably shouldn’t read it.


“Why NaruSasu?”

I’ve seen a lot of people asking this question lately, and while I can’t speak for every NaruSasu fan, I can at least give my take on why I, personally, prefer this version of the pairing between Sasuke and Naruto.

A lot of my reasoning comes not so much from Sasuke’s character, but from Naruto’s. I was, admittedly, at first equally fond of the pairing either way. I love both characters, I love the interesting relationship that they develop over the course of the series, and any fan fiction or fanart which competently shows that relationship developing into something more is something that I will enjoy.

Notice, however, the word ‘competently,’ and take into consideration the fact that I don’t consider turning either one of the characters into a girl to be competent. The reason I was pushed away from SasuNaru is because every fanfic that I read with the pairing done that way turned Naruto into a weepy, whiney, and most importantly weak girl. So, to start off, I’ll go into Naruto’s character and explain why I think this portrayal of him butchers the actual character that Kishimoto created.

Naruto’s Character

Naruto is, first of all, very male. I have three younger brothers, and I can promise you that as the series starts out, Naruto is the epitome of a typical twelve-year-old boy. He is loud, obnoxious, and has no concept of politeness or manners. He knows what he wants, and shouts it to anyone who will listen. Whether it’s his dream to become hokage, to make Sakura his girlfriend, whatever, he’s not at all shy about it. As the main character of the series, Naruto obviously develops into a very powerful individual. I fail to see the weak, needy creature portrayed in fanart and fan fiction.

Fandom’s Portrayal

You’ll notice, both in Naruto’s description in typical SasuNaru fan fiction and his portrayal in SasuNaru fanart, that he seems to be an overly thin, feminine, large-eyed, limp-haired individual. This change should be even more obvious than the change that takes place with his personality. Just one look at Naruto in the series shows that he is far from ‘overly thin.’ Let’s face it, guys, his face is downright chubby before the timeskip, and personally, I find it adorable. I wouldn’t change it for anything. Which brings me to Naruto’s eyes.

Yes, Naruto does have larger eyes than Sasuke. However, I don’t equate this with meaning that he’s a ‘wuvy wittle uke boy who needs his Sasuke to save him with his love!” I take this more to indicate Naruto’s innocence, in many ways. He’s spent his life shunned by the village, but he’s also been very sheltered in a way that Sasuke has not. He doesn’t really understand the world for what it is, which is a very simplistic view, but, again, does not make him feminine in any way; it makes him childish. It allows him to be the boyish hero that the series needs.

Continuing on the concept of his eyes, but from a more superficial standpoint, while Naruto’s eyes are bigger than Sasuke’s, he squints them quite a bit, especially before the timeskip. I’ve always found that to be one of Naruto’s most likeable traits, and was incredibly disappointed when I saw a thread in another guild suggesting that he not do it so much, because it ‘hides his gorgeous eyes!’ It was, to me, just another attempt to turn Naruto into what the fan girls want him to be, as opposed to what he is, the character that Kishimoto created.

Okay, we’ve gone over the eyes, let’s move to Naruto’s hair. This is, aside from Naruto’s weight, the most obvious physical change that I see to his character, most noticeably in fanart. Naruto’s spiky, boyish hair becomes somehow flat and silky. The one and only time we see Naruto’s hair like this is when it’s wet, and even then it’s not to the degree that it is done in fan fiction. While artistic license is fine, the problem is, again, that fans start to believe that this is what Naruto actually looks like. They push the fan-altered hair, along with the other previously mentioned, fan-altered physical attributes, onto the actual character and use them in arguments as to why Naruto is a ’girly uke.’

If we’re looking purely at the physical, Sasuke is the one with the more feminine attributes. The longer, more ‘flowing’ hair, the pale skin, the way he’s more precise and has less of the typical, almost clumsy nature usually attributed to men. He’s also often shown in more stereotypically ‘feminine’ poses than Naruto is.





Sasuke and Naruto’s Relationship

I often hear the argument that Naruto would be more willing to let Sasuke top him simply because he’s the more emotional of the two, the more willing to let his love for the other overcome his need for dominance over him. This is really untrue. Sasuke is very emotional. He is affected by his emotions in a way that no one else in the series is. His emotions are what Itachi uses against him. His emotions are a big part of what drove him to leave Konoha in the first place. Sasuke even makes efforts to suppress them-giving him the emotionless appearance that people refer to-because they are so strong and control him so completely, and it’s a ‘weakness’ that he recognizes.

Because of the emotion that Naruto shows (and, like a true little boy, he's rather loud about it), many fans take it to mean that he'd be willing to just... take it in the name of true love or something, just so that he could prove to Sasuke that he really loves him. Well... this analysis of Naruto is a bit confusing. While he is a very empathetic person (which is what drives him to help Gaara and Haku), he's also a very single-minded character at times. He doesn't really see things in the same perspective as everyone else. Like when it came to Sasuke in the VotE battle, Naruto wasn't quite able to comprehend anything aside from the fact that Sasuke was leaving the village, and that all of his friends had put their lives in danger. Naruto thought it was all about power, when in actuality, it was about revenge. Or when it came to Neji, for example. All Naruto really understood was that Neji had been screwed over by his family. There was no way he'd be able to understand the complexities of the Hyuuga clan. So he just let it go. And he can get away with that, because he's a little boy. That's just the way it works.

So when saying that Naruto would give everything to Sauke in the name of TRU LUV or something, keep in mind that Naruto would probably never just give himself to something so... frivolous. I also don't think there are any girls who would do that in Naruto-verse, seeing as how in a ninja village, there would just be so much more to worry about and to deal with in general, I doubt they would have time to ponder the complexities of TRU LUV. In fact, that sort of thing doesn’t often come up in the series. It’s there, like with Zabuza and Haku, for example, but it’s never able to be what we think of as true love. It’s often in the background, because there are life and death things going on (think of Asuma and Kurenai, here).

Also, one has to take into consideration that Sasuke has had a rather messed up childhood, what with Itachi and everything. I mean, even to non-ItaSasu fans, it's easy to see the child that Sasuke was: easy going, cheerful, eager to please. It just seems that after everything he's lost (whereas Naruto had nothing to begin with), he'd do whatever it took to keep something that he'd gained (obviously so long as it didn't interfere with Itachi-hunting). Sasuke is very developed as a character. He's very well-rounded, intelligent, and more mature for his age than most kids (even though his behaviour at the VotE is a little... touch and go; he often lets his emotions get in the way of his common sense). I believe that he, with very little effort, would be able to comprehend the way a relationship really works between two people. In the bedroom and out of it. Which is why I think he'd just let it happen and go with it (and this isn't even counting the fact that TJ!Sasuke would probably think that he OWES Naruto for what happened between them), accepting the fact that Naruto would be unwilling to show 'weakness'.

Sasuke’s personality aside, though, Naruto’s main drive with Sasuke has always been to be seen as his equal or better. That’s basically what the entire first part of the series is about. Allowing Sasuke to dominate him would shatter that. Naruto is in no way submissive- I honestly do not believe that he could be the main character of a shounen manga if he was. He works for what he wants, and growing up the way he did, he understands that he cannot expect help from anyone. He’s very independent, in that sense. His relationship with Sasuke reflects this: he doesn’t want Sasuke to coddle him or treat him like a weakling. Naruto could never be happy being treated as inferior to Sasuke in any way; especially sexually, I think.

Also, along the same basic train of thought, Sasuke is psychologically more mature than Naruto is. Whereas Sasuke would probably be more likely to understand that the bottom in a relationship is not necessarily the weaker partner, but actually has more power in the relationship and control of the situation, Naruto simply wouldn't get it. It's just something that to him would symbolize a weakness that he'd think would force Sasuke away from him.

Typical Arguments:

"But look at this scene of the anime! Look how pretty Naruto looks!"



Yes, Naruto has his pretty moments. But if having a few pretty moments makes a character girly, then we have to go find a decently sharp knife and chop off Sasuke’s p***s right now. And Itachi’s. And Deidara’s. Hell, let’s girly-fy the whole cast and give them boobs to match!

Joking aside, my point is that there are plenty of pretty male characters in the series, but that doesn’t make them girly in any way. Neji is a great example. When I first saw a picture of him, I had not yet seen him in the anime or the manga. When he did finally show up, based on his appearance, I was expecting a very feminine character. I got instead… Neji. Who, while not as obviously boyish as Naruto, has a more mature masculinity about him that is still not feminine in any way. Naruto, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a ‘pretty’ look all the time. It happens in rare moments, more in the anime than the manga, which fan girls (including me) like to screencap and squee over. The typical Naruto, however, has a boyish look about him: short, spiky hair, tanned skin, etc. It’s almost as if Kishimoto was trying to push the fact that Naruto is a typical boy… who just happens to have a demon sealed inside of him. It makes for an interesting contrast, which is what I think he was going for: to avoid the usual anime representation of what a ‘demonic’ character would be like (probably closer to Sasuke’s personality).

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is not how Naruto always looks. Hell, it's not even how he usually looks. This appearance is very rare for Naruto, and it's unfair to characterize him based purely on one or two instances of physical appearance while leaving the entire rest of the series-and how he looks in it- out. It's actually very superficial, don't you think? Kind of like picking and choosing very miniscule things that you like about him, and disregarding everything else as irrelevant.



Actually, let's start with the sexy no jutsu, because that's a misconception that annoys me more than most others xD; I should have put that in the essay itself, but it completely slipped my mind. The sexy no jutsu does not make Naruto feminine anymore than doing the male/male version of the jutsu to impress Sakura made Konohamaru gay. It makes Naruto smart, and it makes him perverted. It is in no way feminine, it is actually very masculine to know what sort of woman other men will like. Again, if you were going along that train of thought, you'd also have to assume that because Konohamaru did the SasuSai version, that he's gay. But Konohamaru at least at one time had a thing for Moegi. So no, the sexy no jutsu does not make Naruto feminine in any way. It makes him a smart guy who knows what kind of woman he and other guys would like to see naked ^^;

The whining thing? You would be right, except that you're looking at twelve-year-old Naruto. Notice that older Naruto stops a lot of that, after the timeskip? In assuming that it's a feminine thing to do, you're keeping in mind older boys/men, and not taking into account that the Naruto you're talking about is twelve. I have three little brothers, trust me, twelve-year-old boys are very whiney. It doesn't make them girly, it just makes them annoying.

As for Naruto's power, I don't really see how the way he fights makes him girly. He's actually very boyish in his fighting style, as well, in that he just throws himself into a fight with no real regard for what he's doing. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata aren't like that, they just lack the brute strength (before the timeskip) that the male characters have. Naruto is in no way lacking in brute strength (can we say Kyuubi? - he's probably one of the most overall powerful characters in the series), just in tactical skills. Sakura is actually a very tactical fighter, so there's not really any similarity between their fighting styles.

Sooo... while you can continue to believe that Naruto is girly if you want to, you're going to have to provide some better proof in order to convince me. xD Thanks for trying, though, you're one of the first people who has bothered and I was really looking forward to more discussion with people.



I didn't bring up the SasUKE thing in the essay because, while it might be amusing to joke about, like the 'SasuNaru sounding better than NaruSasu' thing that someone else mentioned, it has no place in a serious discussion. It would only hurt my argument to use pointless things like that. Which is why I kept what little joking I did use to the "Just For Fun" section, to emphasize the point that none of that was honestly a part of my argument for NaruSasu.

I can't really respond to what you said in the second paragraph, because Selenai and I already basically refuted that in the essay. If you want to look over it again, feel free, I don't really have the energy to go over all of it again at the moment xD; *writing a paper for class*

As for the rest, I don't think Naruto has shown a more 'warm' side of himself at all. He was always very empathetic, if you'll remember things like the Zabuza and Haku arc, as well as the way he got so upset about the treatment of Neji and other Hyuugas by the main branch. Those are only two examples, but I'm fairly sure there are other times as well. Naruto is a lot less likely to burst into tears after the timeskip, and he seems a bit more... cold, at times. I think that's all a part of growing up, though, and also a result of some of the things he's been through. Keep in mind, as well, that while yaoi!anime and manga may sometimes make it seem this way, being dark and brooding is NOT a requirement of topping in a relationship xD; Just for a personal experience reference: my first real relationship with another girl was with a girl who was smaller than me, and very happy and hyper (while I am tall, pale, with long dark hair, and have a tendency towards being quiet and rather cynical), and she was definitely the more dominant of the two of us xD;

Also, this is just my opinion, but being an empathetic person =/= "I'm a girl!" or "I bottom in bed!" It = "I'm a decent human being! icon_biggrin.gif" xD



I actually answered this in the essay, too, so I won't go entirely into it again. All I'll say is review what was said about Naruto's personality, and question whether them both being loud is enough to qualify their personalities as the same. Most guys that I know are loud (especially younger ones, like Naruto), that doesn't make them anything like Shuichi, and it doesn't make them ukes. Or, you know, gay at all. Also, Shuichi is more of the flamboyant, stereotypically gay kind of loud, while Naruto is a 'young boy, yelling every idea that comes to him' kind of loud.

Yuki and Shuichi may be the most famous yaoi couple, but it's honestly not one I particularly like. I won't go into that, because I don't want the angry yaoi mob to come after me xD The only thing I can really say is that Naruto's only similarity to Shuichi is that they are both loud. Why does one character have to fit into the uke role? Because all that role is, in most fanfiction and even yaoi manga, is the female role. Why does it have to be that way? I like yaoi because it's two men together. Why can't the relationship be something new, that suits both characters' personalities without turning one of them into a girl or shoving them into that role?

All that aside, your argument is based on stereotypes. Sasuke is cool and quiet like Yuki, obviously a top. Naruto is loud like Shuichi, obviously a bottom. I think we should look more at the character's actual personality, and decide for ourselves whether, as a character, they would prefer to top or bottom during sex, if that is our focus. The focus of my essay, though, is more on exposing the portrayal of a 'girly' Naruto when canon Naruto is not girly at all, and explaining why that OOC portrayal pushes some people away from SasuNaru. Even if you hold that Naruto's loudness makes him Shuichi-like, do you honestly see him as being canonly girly, as fanfiction portrays him to be?

I intended to have more in this section, but I was finishing this thing up really late at night, and my brain just refused to work… If anyone has anything they’d like to add to the Arguments Section, whether it’s your own argument for SasuNaru, or one you’ve often heard, post it and I’ll add it here in the first post, with a response if you don’t already have one.

Conclusion

My point here is not, by any means, to down the SasuNaru fandom. Not at all. We’re all Naruto yaoi fans, and we get enough s**t from anime fans who have jumped on the “hate Naruto” bandwagon, not to mention those who just hate yaoi in general. My aim is to simply answer the “Why NaruSasu?” question, while at the same time explaining that while there is nothing wrong with preferring fan works featuring the feminized version of Naruto, he is the not the actual Naruto created by Kishimoto. He is the fans’ representation of Kishimoto’s character. I only insist on making this distinction because so many fans have seen this version of Naruto so many times that they actually begin to believe that this is what Naruto is really like, and that is why I think they have so much of a problem understanding why someone might prefer NaruSasu. Therefore, pointing out the distinction is necessary in explaining NaruSasu. You see, those fans are right, to a certain extent. The feminized version of Naruto is so popular in fan fiction that it’s hard to find anything else - as someone who has been a NaruSasu fan for about two years now, that problem is all too clear to me. If I had seen and read that version of Naruto so many times that it became real to me, then I’d definitely have a hard time seeing Naruto top a cupcake, much less Sasuke, which is why I decided to write this. If you’ve forgotten Naruto’s true character, then it really is going to be impossible for you to understand NaruSasu.

Neither Sasuke or Naruto is weak or girly. The reason why I like yaoi is because it is two men together. I think that the problem with SasuNaru many times is that people are so used to heterosexual couples that they want to find a character in a yaoi pairing to push into the typically feminine role. However, in a pairing where both characters are masculine, this can only be achieved by changing one character’s personality. This is fine in something like Gravitation, where Shuichi naturally accepts the feminine role in the relationship, or in yaoi involving original characters, where you might have a more typically submissive or feminine character. However, when neither character fits easily into this role, as with Sasuke and Naruto, instead of forcing one of them into it, I think it’s better to envision an entirely new kind of relationship that doesn’t fit into society’s typical idea of a heterosexual pairing. After all, isn’t that what yaoi’s supposed to be all about?

Just for Fun!

First, a chronicle of Sasuke’s epic amounts of gay. (Keep in mind that these are just for fun. I don’t see canon!Sasuke as all that much girlier than Naruto, he’s just amusing to make fun of.)


How could we forget curse seal Sasuke? He comes with lipstick and hair extensions.


Limp-wristed. Or asking Kakashi if his nails are dry yet- following in his big brother‘s footsteps.


The flute is a phallic symbol. <3


…There’s really nothing to say here.

And finally, a little Naruto to finish things up.


Naruto seems to be hiding something rather large under there. Seriously, guys, he should be putting that thing to good use.



Co-written with Chieira.

^^ i never really thought of NaruSasu like what you said......I almost started the "naruto's weaker than sasuke" thoughts in my head because of all the fanfiction and the natural want in my own head. But you've made me think a little out of the box and im glad. Now i wont be stuck in the loop with all the others. lol XD -huggless- yay for people changing my thoughts!!

xD Exactly. The problem is, though, it's distressing that people automatically see blond hair and blue eyes and think, "Girly uke!" without bothering to even consider the character's personality. Besides the fact that Naruto's seiyuu doesn't make him girly... the fact that he has a female one means that his voice is the closest, out of all the male characters' in the series, to what an actual twelve-year-old boy's voice would sound like. Lots of twelve-year-olds haven't had their voices change yet xD; I always thought it was strange how deep Sasuke's voice sounded. As much as I LIKE his voice, it belonged with an older character xD But then, anime does that a lot.

Okay, I LOVE myself some NaruSasu. I totaly agree with everything that's been said but I do want to add some of my own comments.

Naruto (as stated earlier) is the epitome of the typical boy. Now we all know that Naruto CAN'T be normal but he tries so hard to be. I don't think Naruto would be able to stand being on bottom just beause he tries SO hard to be masculine. Most people think the uke as a weakling who cries a lot a.k.a. a girl. Naruto tries his absolute hardest to try to seem manly and cool. He likes Sakura, (a complete girly girl.) he wears bright orange and blue (can't pick out clothes {So many people think that just because you're gay you have an awesome fasion sense. Can you say stereotype?}), and he pulls lots of pranks (another trait mainly given to guys.). if Naruto were to be on bottom I think he would tink himself unmasculine and weak.(But when you think about it, guys on bottom have to be strong.)

Also Naruto has confidance issues. He seems extremely confidant and arrogant to strangers but you see that behind closed doors he used to not believe in himself. He would probably feel horrible if he let anyone into him. Especially as early as some fangirls have him and Sasuke doing it.

In the end, I don't think that Sasuke and Naruto's relationship is black and white. In most gay relationships there isn't just one on top and one on bottom. It's a give and take relationship. Literally.

xD;;;;; Wow. I think I have to say that I agree with some of what you said in your post. I mean, obviously I ship NaruSasu since SasuNaru is just... I dunno, some kind of alien thing, but I don't know if I entirely agree with what you said closer to the end.

I believe, and I'm fairly sure it was canon, that Sasuke left the village because of what Itachi did to him. It was his fight with Naruto on the rooftop of the hospital that made him realise, in his mind, that he wasn't getting any stronger, and that he'd never be able to get revenge on Itachi for what happened to his family.

That's Sasuke's biggest problem (or not, for me, since ItaSasu is my OTP)- Itachi. Sasuke is so consumed and obsessed with Itachi that he's willing to sacrifice anything to destroy him. Although he hasn't shown any inclination to kill Sakura (he knocked her unconscious and left after saying thank-you), and when it came to Naruto... well, I think Sasuke knows that Naruto can take care of himself. I mean, at first he obviously went at it with an intent to kill (the fist through the chest, yeah.... xD; Not nice.), but at the end of their battle with Naruto the way he was... Sasuke could have killed him. But he didn't. And even with Orochimaru.... Sasuke won't kill ANYONE. He thinks it's too primal for him. Thinks it'll make him too much like his brother.

Anyways, I was going to say that while I do know a few gay men who do switch in the bedroom, and an equal amount who prefer it one way or another, I find that I, personally, prefer there to be one dominant partner. And when it comes to Sasuke xD; I prefer him to be bottom to anyone he comes across.

I disagree a little with you. I don't even think that Sasuke needs to learn that coddling is bad for him, or that he can make his life better, because I'm rather certain that he already knows all of that. What it is is that every single time that Sasuke makes even the smallest breakthrough, Itachi comes back and ******** him up xD; Like seriously messes with his head. In my opinion, having to relive a trauma like that is grounds for feeling the way that Sasuke does.

I also think that Sasuke was advancing at least as quickly as Lee and Naruto. This is obvious by the fact that he got much further with Gaara than Lee did (and made it out a lot less injured), learned how to copy Lee's technique, and was taught a new technique by Kakashi.

I believe that the only reason that Sasuke doesn't see this is because when he's confronted by Itachi and told that everything he's doing is in vain, he just can't see the difference. Itachi always beats him.

Back to Naruto and Sasuke, I agree that Sasuke wants to be with someone who understands who he is, what he needs, and his drive for revenge against his brother. I think that when Sasuke is around Naruto is when he's the most vulnerable, and that's partially what pushes his over the edge and away from Konoha. It's also the vulnerability in Sasuke, and the pure want to prove himself in Naruto, that makes their relationship so fascinating. It's part of what makes me love them for sure.

xD;;; Actually.... firstly, Sasuke doesn't get lazy in his training at all. He's the only one out of team seven that we know of so far that trains on a regular basis.

Secondly, I... am really shocked xD; I had no idea that people... had such a narrow view of who Sasuke is or why he does the things he does. I don't think he's 'emo' at all. I mean, how can one possibly gauge what it would be like to have everything you care about stripped away from you when you're eight years old? And to have that be done by one of the most important people in your life? And... to have to WATCH it? Relive it over and over? xD;;;;; That's not emo. That's rational. I think that he actually handles himself quite well.

With what happened in the VotE battle, even I thought it was terrible, but after everything that happened to Sasuke in his life, one can't expect him to be perfect or absolutely psychologically mature. He's also still only 12 years old, which a lot of people forget all the time. He's going to make mistakes, and yeah, he's going to be rather single-minded in his quest to get to Itachi, but that's because everything he has ever had is constantly taken away from him by his brother, and every time he makes a little headway, Itachi simply messes him up even more. I can't say exactly what he must be feeling, obviously, since I am neither him or Kishimoto, but basically, if you look up in the dictionary under Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, there would probably be a picture of Sasuke.

There's a stigma attached to him that, personally speaking, bothers me a lot. At first I thought the whole 'emo kid' thing was cute and funny, but it actually bothers me that people are SERIOUS about it. Sasuke is just... he's gone through things that are unimaginable. Who does he have aside from the entire clan that was taken from him? And now to fear that his brother is going to take Naruto from him, too? I doubt that I'd be okay with simply sitting back and letting that happen.

So yeah, I think it just bothers me when people rag on Sasuke, because.... I just don't understand how anyone has the right to judge him or his behaviour, when what he's been through is something that's so extreme, so unbelieveably tragic, that I can't even begin to comprehend it.

xD; So I mean, unless someone who has had to live through watching a family member massacre everything they ever knew or cared about decides to say something, well, maybe at that point I'll decide that maybe Sasuke should rethink his motives.

xD; Yeah, well, I'm not saying that what happened to you wasn't serious or anything, but you never had to watch a family member actually KILL the rest of your family except for you. ALL OF THEM except for you. Bad stuff happens to everyone. I've had a death in my immediate family, and stuff like that has happened in my home as well, but I'm still fully capable of telling the difference between that and the death of EVERY SINGLE PERSON I have in my life. Sasuke lost EVERYTHING. So it's a lot more than just waking up crying. He's trying to do a lot more than that, and he's handling a lot better than most people would.

Even that aside xD; There's a HUGE difference between 8 and 13. An eight year old is completely incapable of understanding the things that go in in he world around them. It's just the way children are. So to try to compare the problems you say you've had with something as extreme as Sasuke's.... is incredibly strange. I mean... you've still got tons of things for yourself. And thinking that messing up your menstrual cycle and having nightmares is anything compared to... xD; having nothing left except for the person who destroyed everything else..... I don't even know what to say. It still seems rather ridiculous to me.