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[fanmix/fst] naruto/sakura: excuses for friendship
HOLY SHNIKES, I'M A REC LIST. AND NOT JUST ONE STORY, LIKE, FOUR OF MINE. *DANCES* I'M IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS DARLING ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acaciabrown AND...UM...SOME OTHER PEOPLE I USUALLY FANGIRL OVER WITH UPDATES. :D
acaciabrown AND...UM...SOME OTHER PEOPLE I USUALLY FANGIRL OVER WITH UPDATES. :D
don't worry
we'll be the heroes of the
sidewalk in our town (two hours traffic)
ZIP AT THE END, + INDIV FILES AVAIL.
01 doubting confidence clever little pun
02 telescope eyes eisley
03 3 libras perfect circle
04 girlshapedlove drug gomez
05 everything you want vertical horizon
06 love is a losing game amy winehouse
07 excuses alanis morisette
08 heroes of the sidewalk two hours traffic
01 doubting confidence clever little pun
02 telescope eyes eisley
03 3 libras perfect circle
04 girlshapedlove drug gomez
05 everything you want vertical horizon
06 love is a losing game amy winehouse
07 excuses alanis morisette
08 heroes of the sidewalk two hours traffic
VOLUME ONE/THREE: PART ONE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP: TOO ALIKE TO LIKE YOU, FREAK
I'm definitely not knocking off Sasuke (hellooo, retarded); this is simply focused on Naruto and Sakura's friendship: there are so many outside factors, and it's -because- of that....I mean...in real life how many have seen relationships like Naruto and Sakura's turn ugly? But if anything, it only gets stronger: he still puts her and Sasuke first before himself, and she does the same. They're both these hyper, slightly messy preteens shoved onto the battlefield...and they really come to care about each other, for who they are. Sakura at first couldn't stand him. Naruto was interested in her, but he didn't know why: unlike Sasuke (he always knew, despite his denial over it, why he liked him) he couldn't initially explain his attraction to Sakura. It hits him during the henge, quite like how he realized why he couldn't hate Gaara: they are the same. It's not just about wanting to be acknowledged; it's being insecure, using loudness or brashness to cover it, and working hard and acting with your heart first and your mind later because nothing matters as much as protecting someone you care about.
They didn't start off friends; the whole first part is a huge development of them reaching a dynamic that is never really labeled. Most of Naruto's relationships can be interpreted as ambiguous (why else is he shipped with EVERYONE?), and watching this grow was so slow, and so nice to see. Because who Sakura is in the two parts, and because of how Naruto and Sakura regard one another changes so much, it's in two. AND BECAUSE GOD KNOWS MY LOVE FOR THIS PAIRING KNOWS NO BOUNDS. <3
------------------
doubting confidence by clever little pun
i've got to make my way to the other side of the room
just got to say one word but i don't know what i'm doing
i know she's looking down at me and i haven't even talked to her
i want to tell her i love her pretty little red dress
but she's probably heard that already
has compliments in excess
i'm sure she knows she's pretty but
she doesn't know just how much i agree...
what's the worst that could happen? just step forward and say--
wait that's stupid...
i'm sure there's other girls who would talk to me
but the only one's attention i want is her
OMG, have I -ever- heard of song that just SOUNDED like Naruto was muttering in my head?
LINK: Mediafire
telescope eyes by eisley
i can't be seen with you you freak
but please don't make me cry
please don't make me cry
i'm just like you (i know you know)
i'm just like you (so leave me alone)
Seriously? I can't even meta. This song just speaks for itself: it captures Sakura's insecurity in wanting to be loved, but without someone finding out how dorky she is. And God forbid Naruto step too close and people realize the comparison (or lack thereof).
LINK: Mediafire
three libras by a perfect circle
it's difficult not to feel a little bit disappointed,
passed over.
you don't...see me like him
at all
If life were simple, you could say Team 7 started as a triangle: Naruto loved Sakura, Sakura loved Sasuke, and Sasuke accepted Naruto. Sakura hated that because she wasn't Naruto, and Naruto hated that because Sasuke's attention wasn't Sakura's. This could have kept things stagnant indefinitely if not for the fact it was never really all that simple: Naruto wanted Sakura as his girlfriend, wanted to be her hero but...he's been in love with Sasuke for a long time too, since childhood. She loved Sasuke...but then she loved Naruto too; and Sasuke loved Naruto, but he valued Sakura's life in tremendous regard as well. There's always something more she wished Sasuke would say, but he never does. And no one really knew what to do with that, so...
LINK: Mediafire
girlshapedlovedrug by gomez
don't ask me why or how
but that girlshapedlovedrug messes with my mind
don't mess with me, because that girl is a drive in my life
even if we aren't together, I'll still survive,
but don't ask me why: that girlshapedlovedrug really messes with my mind
Most likely if you asked Naruto in part one why he likes Sakura so much, why he's so desperate that she's safe and happy, doing what she says and Sasuke's treating her right, you'd get the reply Naruto gives to most deep, emotional questions on the spot, a well thought out 'Huh?'
This song is mostly from Naruto's point of view, but I found this a song for Sakura herself as well. She is the darned most human and adorable, insecure thing I've ever seen, a completely loving heart conflicted by a slightly selfish mind. And with that is a personality that gets tired of being held back and makes her a girl Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, or anyone, could fall in love with if they aren't careful.
Seriously, I think hating Sakura takes an obscene amount of effort, but that's just me. ;p Actually, it's not just me, and it's not just Naruto either who's in love with her. Ino loved her when she was insecure and picked on; Naruto loved her when she was brash and loud and selfish and Sasuke found the first female to want to be around him--social retardedness and all--since...wow, his mom (*angsts for Sasuke*) (seriously, I don't see him fighting to die for any other girl).
You can't really ask yourself why, because it's not anything in particular: who she became in the forest of death; when she could look in the eyes of Orochimaru with Naruto while Sasuke was still caught up in the intent-jutsu; when she shoved Ino back out of her mind; and didn't think twice about standing between GAARARAGINGPSYCHOPATH and Sasuke with an itty bitty kunai (seriously, WUT, she's got balls)...
She's unbelievably, unstoppably emotional, and she will mess with your head. ;p And she'd die for Naruto too, and support him, no matter how annoying, stupid, and weird she finds him. ;3
LINK: Mediafire
everything you want by vertical horizon
you listen and wait for echoes of angels that won't return
he's everything you want, he's everything you need
he's everything inside of you that you wish you could be
he tries to say all the right things at the right times
but he means nothing to you and you don't know why
This, IMO, is the EPITOME of a Naruto/Sakura song, especially the screaming of slight frustration to the sky: -I- am everything you want, but I mean nothing to you, and I don't know why...
<--dork, STFU.
Anyway, but Sakura...he's just...he'd cut off his arm in a heartbeat. Anyone else first he'd give an optimistic speech about friendship and will power and true strength and more friendship blah blah blah and THEN cut off his arm. xD
And the thing is...Sakura knows that. Because they're kids, they don't understand what it means (I highly doubt Sakura has the self-confidence or entertainment to think Naruto likes her beyond a weird quirk of his in part one; though I find her an underused tool with her perceptive side of Sasuke and Naruto); but Sakura knows there's nothing she could do that could make him hate her, because he's already seen her at her worst and wanted to know her anyway. It makes her cry that he's just always there when she doesn't think anyone else gives a crap. She uses it in part one, but again, how much of this emotional baggage do newly christined teenagers (on the BATTLEFIELD) understand?
LINK: Mediafire
love is a losing game by amy winehouse
Over futile odds
And laughed at by the gods
And now the final frame
Love is a losing game
Losing Sasuke, and just how steep that price was to try preventing it. She initially puts off seeing Sasuke as long as possible, not knowing he isn't there, and goes instead to hear at the door Naruto saying he couldn't do it. And then just seeing him there; she's not listening to his words at first, just the bandages covering every inch of his skin, all of his fingers. And then she sees that guilty look on his face begging for forgiveness to HER when he's the one in a body cast...the absolute horror of realizing she let him go all alone tore her up.
Sakura is someone who grew up leaning on other people (Ino loved her, so she didn't mind; Sasuke slapped her off viciously at points) but with neither of them does she feel guilty for depending on exclusively. It's Naruto and Sasuke as a unit leaving her in the Forest of Death that had her angry, ...and Naruto, Naruto who only wanted to bring their friend back, and the idea that all she did was watch him go like a useless princess had her grinding her teeth and wanting to run out of the hospital without a flying fuck to what Shikamaru thought of her.
I just can't break up this panel. It just IS...love as a game where no one wins, when you fall too deep into it without even bothering to understand it. It's scary and it hurts and they just look so very young with their innocence gone (their best friend just went with a terrorist and one of them nearly died...again)....
Even though they've seen the other at their worst, most tactless moments, there's a sweet loyalty and quirk to their friendship that can make you laugh...or make you cry, because the power their words have over the other can either make them self-destruct completely in their mourning of Sasuke...
Or get up again.
Sakura: I'm sorry Naruto. You had to wait a while...
Naruto: ...?
LINK: Mediafire
excuses by alanis morisette
These excuses how they're so familiar
They've kept me small
They've kept me blocked
They've kept me safe inside my shell
Bringing this into the light
Shakes their foundation
And it clears my side
Now my imagination
Is the only thing that limits
The bar that is raised to the heights
She ran out of excuses for not gravitating towards Naruto and his way of never giving up a long time ago.
-----
Naruto and Sakura both realize what it will take to get Sasuke back, and they act accordingly. Naruto refuses to follow after Jiraiya in personality and succeed where he failed when it came to your heart, and Sakura will succeed where Tsunade gave up and NEVER give up on trying to protect/save either of them.
It's a mutual, unspoken thing again: they will be there for each other and work for a future where they can be happy. Sakura never wants to see Naruto dressed like a mummy for something that she felt was her fault, she never wants to send him out alone again.
Naruto never wants to see that hopeless sob in her voice like she was being ripped apart, and...
She said he wouldn't be alone next time.
Sakura and Naruto are both honest so much with their most vocal announcements it sometimes gets them hurt or in deeper trouble. Because when they reveal themselves damn, do they let themselves be vulnerable; but with each other it doesn't matter. Naruto tried with all his might to bring Sasuke back, Sakura knows that. Now she'll try with all her might to be useful enough to bring him back next time. And so will he.
No more excuses.
LINK: Mediafire
heroes of the sidewalk by two hours traffic
fill our bags up with booty
they won't know what to think about us, cutie
we'll be the heroes of the sidewalks in our town
you're my idea of a lady
hold onto my bootstraps baby
and drag me around, we're on the road tonight
we'll be the heroes of the sidewalks in our town
Again, what I love about them is how optimistic they make each other. They don't let the other stay down at all: and their words do affect each other. What Naruto says Sakura takes as the truth, it's a mutual, unspoken knowledge he would never lie to her intentionally unless it was for her. What Sakura says is always blunt to him; she's herself and it doesn't matter how long she stumbles over the words, for her he'll wait. He's an impatient ADD guy with an EXTREMELY intimate knowledge of the female anatomy, but his attraction to her is anything but shallow or perverted; it's almost a point he treats her like a lady/equal teammate than the loose woman he's often seen changing into or drooling at with Jiraiya. Without Naruto there, or had Naruto died, she'd have given up. Without her support, he'd have left with Jiraiya...but probably self-destruct under the guilt he piles on himself unnecessarily. Their friendship in part one is a small, awkward, subtle thing you can miss if you aren't careful; Sasuke and Naruto have a relationship nothing can ever break...
But Sakura is slowly, steadily creating her own. And one of them happens to be with a boy who's contradictions of shy and loud, selfish and passionate, brash and focused...are just like her.
They'll become the heroes of the sidewalk.
Take a good look at their backs.
LINK: Mediafire
I'm definitely not knocking off Sasuke (hellooo, retarded); this is simply focused on Naruto and Sakura's friendship: there are so many outside factors, and it's -because- of that....I mean...in real life how many have seen relationships like Naruto and Sakura's turn ugly? But if anything, it only gets stronger: he still puts her and Sasuke first before himself, and she does the same. They're both these hyper, slightly messy preteens shoved onto the battlefield...and they really come to care about each other, for who they are. Sakura at first couldn't stand him. Naruto was interested in her, but he didn't know why: unlike Sasuke (he always knew, despite his denial over it, why he liked him) he couldn't initially explain his attraction to Sakura. It hits him during the henge, quite like how he realized why he couldn't hate Gaara: they are the same. It's not just about wanting to be acknowledged; it's being insecure, using loudness or brashness to cover it, and working hard and acting with your heart first and your mind later because nothing matters as much as protecting someone you care about.
They didn't start off friends; the whole first part is a huge development of them reaching a dynamic that is never really labeled. Most of Naruto's relationships can be interpreted as ambiguous (why else is he shipped with EVERYONE?), and watching this grow was so slow, and so nice to see. Because who Sakura is in the two parts, and because of how Naruto and Sakura regard one another changes so much, it's in two. AND BECAUSE GOD KNOWS MY LOVE FOR THIS PAIRING KNOWS NO BOUNDS. <3
------------------
doubting confidence by clever little pun
i've got to make my way to the other side of the room
just got to say one word but i don't know what i'm doing
i know she's looking down at me and i haven't even talked to her
i want to tell her i love her pretty little red dress
but she's probably heard that already
has compliments in excess
i'm sure she knows she's pretty but
she doesn't know just how much i agree...
what's the worst that could happen? just step forward and say--
wait that's stupid...
i'm sure there's other girls who would talk to me
but the only one's attention i want is her
OMG, have I -ever- heard of song that just SOUNDED like Naruto was muttering in my head?
LINK: Mediafire
telescope eyes by eisley
i can't be seen with you you freak
but please don't make me cry
please don't make me cry
i'm just like you (i know you know)
i'm just like you (so leave me alone)
Seriously? I can't even meta. This song just speaks for itself: it captures Sakura's insecurity in wanting to be loved, but without someone finding out how dorky she is. And God forbid Naruto step too close and people realize the comparison (or lack thereof).
LINK: Mediafire
three libras by a perfect circle
it's difficult not to feel a little bit disappointed,
passed over.
you don't...see me like him
at all
If life were simple, you could say Team 7 started as a triangle: Naruto loved Sakura, Sakura loved Sasuke, and Sasuke accepted Naruto. Sakura hated that because she wasn't Naruto, and Naruto hated that because Sasuke's attention wasn't Sakura's. This could have kept things stagnant indefinitely if not for the fact it was never really all that simple: Naruto wanted Sakura as his girlfriend, wanted to be her hero but...he's been in love with Sasuke for a long time too, since childhood. She loved Sasuke...but then she loved Naruto too; and Sasuke loved Naruto, but he valued Sakura's life in tremendous regard as well. There's always something more she wished Sasuke would say, but he never does. And no one really knew what to do with that, so...
LINK: Mediafire
girlshapedlovedrug by gomez
don't ask me why or how
but that girlshapedlovedrug messes with my mind
don't mess with me, because that girl is a drive in my life
even if we aren't together, I'll still survive,
but don't ask me why: that girlshapedlovedrug really messes with my mind
Most likely if you asked Naruto in part one why he likes Sakura so much, why he's so desperate that she's safe and happy, doing what she says and Sasuke's treating her right, you'd get the reply Naruto gives to most deep, emotional questions on the spot, a well thought out 'Huh?'
This song is mostly from Naruto's point of view, but I found this a song for Sakura herself as well. She is the darned most human and adorable, insecure thing I've ever seen, a completely loving heart conflicted by a slightly selfish mind. And with that is a personality that gets tired of being held back and makes her a girl Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, or anyone, could fall in love with if they aren't careful.
Seriously, I think hating Sakura takes an obscene amount of effort, but that's just me. ;p Actually, it's not just me, and it's not just Naruto either who's in love with her. Ino loved her when she was insecure and picked on; Naruto loved her when she was brash and loud and selfish and Sasuke found the first female to want to be around him--social retardedness and all--since...wow, his mom (*angsts for Sasuke*) (seriously, I don't see him fighting to die for any other girl).
You can't really ask yourself why, because it's not anything in particular: who she became in the forest of death; when she could look in the eyes of Orochimaru with Naruto while Sasuke was still caught up in the intent-jutsu; when she shoved Ino back out of her mind; and didn't think twice about standing between GAARARAGINGPSYCHOPATH and Sasuke with an itty bitty kunai (seriously, WUT, she's got balls)...
She's unbelievably, unstoppably emotional, and she will mess with your head. ;p And she'd die for Naruto too, and support him, no matter how annoying, stupid, and weird she finds him. ;3
LINK: Mediafire
everything you want by vertical horizon
you listen and wait for echoes of angels that won't return
he's everything you want, he's everything you need
he's everything inside of you that you wish you could be
he tries to say all the right things at the right times
but he means nothing to you and you don't know why
This, IMO, is the EPITOME of a Naruto/Sakura song, especially the screaming of slight frustration to the sky: -I- am everything you want, but I mean nothing to you, and I don't know why...
<--dork, STFU.
Anyway, but Sakura...he's just...he'd cut off his arm in a heartbeat. Anyone else first he'd give an optimistic speech about friendship and will power and true strength and more friendship blah blah blah and THEN cut off his arm. xD
And the thing is...Sakura knows that. Because they're kids, they don't understand what it means (I highly doubt Sakura has the self-confidence or entertainment to think Naruto likes her beyond a weird quirk of his in part one; though I find her an underused tool with her perceptive side of Sasuke and Naruto); but Sakura knows there's nothing she could do that could make him hate her, because he's already seen her at her worst and wanted to know her anyway. It makes her cry that he's just always there when she doesn't think anyone else gives a crap. She uses it in part one, but again, how much of this emotional baggage do newly christined teenagers (on the BATTLEFIELD) understand?
LINK: Mediafire
love is a losing game by amy winehouse
Over futile odds
And laughed at by the gods
And now the final frame
Love is a losing game
Losing Sasuke, and just how steep that price was to try preventing it. She initially puts off seeing Sasuke as long as possible, not knowing he isn't there, and goes instead to hear at the door Naruto saying he couldn't do it. And then just seeing him there; she's not listening to his words at first, just the bandages covering every inch of his skin, all of his fingers. And then she sees that guilty look on his face begging for forgiveness to HER when he's the one in a body cast...the absolute horror of realizing she let him go all alone tore her up.
Sakura is someone who grew up leaning on other people (Ino loved her, so she didn't mind; Sasuke slapped her off viciously at points) but with neither of them does she feel guilty for depending on exclusively. It's Naruto and Sasuke as a unit leaving her in the Forest of Death that had her angry, ...and Naruto, Naruto who only wanted to bring their friend back, and the idea that all she did was watch him go like a useless princess had her grinding her teeth and wanting to run out of the hospital without a flying fuck to what Shikamaru thought of her.
I just can't break up this panel. It just IS...love as a game where no one wins, when you fall too deep into it without even bothering to understand it. It's scary and it hurts and they just look so very young with their innocence gone (their best friend just went with a terrorist and one of them nearly died...again)....
Even though they've seen the other at their worst, most tactless moments, there's a sweet loyalty and quirk to their friendship that can make you laugh...or make you cry, because the power their words have over the other can either make them self-destruct completely in their mourning of Sasuke...
Or get up again.
Sakura: I'm sorry Naruto. You had to wait a while...
Naruto: ...?
LINK: Mediafire
excuses by alanis morisette
These excuses how they're so familiar
They've kept me small
They've kept me blocked
They've kept me safe inside my shell
Bringing this into the light
Shakes their foundation
And it clears my side
Now my imagination
Is the only thing that limits
The bar that is raised to the heights
She ran out of excuses for not gravitating towards Naruto and his way of never giving up a long time ago.
-----
Naruto and Sakura both realize what it will take to get Sasuke back, and they act accordingly. Naruto refuses to follow after Jiraiya in personality and succeed where he failed when it came to your heart, and Sakura will succeed where Tsunade gave up and NEVER give up on trying to protect/save either of them.
It's a mutual, unspoken thing again: they will be there for each other and work for a future where they can be happy. Sakura never wants to see Naruto dressed like a mummy for something that she felt was her fault, she never wants to send him out alone again.
Naruto never wants to see that hopeless sob in her voice like she was being ripped apart, and...
She said he wouldn't be alone next time.
Sakura and Naruto are both honest so much with their most vocal announcements it sometimes gets them hurt or in deeper trouble. Because when they reveal themselves damn, do they let themselves be vulnerable; but with each other it doesn't matter. Naruto tried with all his might to bring Sasuke back, Sakura knows that. Now she'll try with all her might to be useful enough to bring him back next time. And so will he.
No more excuses.
LINK: Mediafire
heroes of the sidewalk by two hours traffic
fill our bags up with booty
they won't know what to think about us, cutie
we'll be the heroes of the sidewalks in our town
you're my idea of a lady
hold onto my bootstraps baby
and drag me around, we're on the road tonight
we'll be the heroes of the sidewalks in our town
Again, what I love about them is how optimistic they make each other. They don't let the other stay down at all: and their words do affect each other. What Naruto says Sakura takes as the truth, it's a mutual, unspoken knowledge he would never lie to her intentionally unless it was for her. What Sakura says is always blunt to him; she's herself and it doesn't matter how long she stumbles over the words, for her he'll wait. He's an impatient ADD guy with an EXTREMELY intimate knowledge of the female anatomy, but his attraction to her is anything but shallow or perverted; it's almost a point he treats her like a lady/equal teammate than the loose woman he's often seen changing into or drooling at with Jiraiya. Without Naruto there, or had Naruto died, she'd have given up. Without her support, he'd have left with Jiraiya...but probably self-destruct under the guilt he piles on himself unnecessarily. Their friendship in part one is a small, awkward, subtle thing you can miss if you aren't careful; Sasuke and Naruto have a relationship nothing can ever break...
But Sakura is slowly, steadily creating her own. And one of them happens to be with a boy who's contradictions of shy and loud, selfish and passionate, brash and focused...are just like her.
They'll become the heroes of the sidewalk.
Take a good look at their backs.
LINK: Mediafire
don't worry
next time we'll
do it together. (sakura)
all mp3 zip: hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?4ys249mv1tt
comments greatly appreciated!
part two's relationship will be posted...some other time XD
/edit: ARG, I forgot to credit the artists for the covers. D:
Front Gummis: Amarm (What the hell? I can't find her on DA all of the sudden!)
Back Gummi: Whistine
(You know you have an OTP when you see them in gummi bears)
comments greatly appreciated!
part two's relationship will be posted...some other time XD
/edit: ARG, I forgot to credit the artists for the covers. D:
Front Gummis: Amarm (What the hell? I can't find her on DA all of the sudden!)
Back Gummi: Whistine
(You know you have an OTP when you see them in gummi bears)
Re: PART ONE -- IT'S THAT LONG O_O
Ugh, I know; it's like, some NaruSaku tards are all "sakura's naruto's first
hetereosexual xDlove!" and even though he's DEFINITELY put more into a possibility of a relationship than sasuke, sasuke is SAKURA'S first love. So suddenly the "love changes" argument is fired according to who's side you're on. --;It says in his databook at 13 he thought her a reliable friend. Now at 15 he really meant to kill her (IMO), but he's so fsked up I just take everything with a grain of salt.
Itachi, you remember how cute Sasuke was at 8? What, did you feel some kind of MUST TAINT impulse or something?
Granted I think this Sasuke is also completely adorable in his sociopathic/what-is-sex?clueless-ness...
Re: PART ONE -- IT'S THAT LONG O_O
But I also listen obsessively to the same artists over and over and over until I get sick of them for a while. Lately it's been a lot of Hellogoodbye and Death Cab for Cutie.
I'm not sure I think of Sakura as Naruto's first love, isn't that funny? LOLOL I guess I tend to think of her as his only love
besides Sasuke. When I say Sasuke was Sakura's first love it implies to me that she has or will have others because that first love has been forcibly broken. FIRST love is kind of sad for me, I don't discredit her feelings and she probably still loves Sasuke but I have a hard time believing she's in love with him anymore. She's grown up, accepted that he hurt her and wants to get him back despite it, but not for the same reasons she wanted him back when she was 13 I think. I also know I'm in the minority on this but I just can't believe that Sasuke honestly intended to kill Sakura (or Naruto). A lot of people openly accept that Sasuke wouldn't kill Naruto/was bluffing when he attacked him during their first encounter in Shippuden but even if Sasuke doesn't love Sakura romantically I still think she's an important person and former teammate to him as well and he wouldn't kill her. But yeah, that's just my take on it.Though really he wouldn't even kill those nameless sound ninja Orochimaru had him fighting for training. He's a total softie, even if yeah he's completely emotionally fucked up right now.Sasuke IS adorable, or he was for me anyway. Lately I've been missing the different sides to his personality like his fear during the forest of death fight with Orochimaru, his desperation to protect Naruto when Itachi was after him that first time, etc. I think he's still somewhat the same inside and just denying/hiding everything but it'd be nice if the audience got to see a glimmer of what makes him a good guy every now and then. I kind of miss a little of that in Naruto like the times he was scared of Gaara. Seeing human reactions is always refreshing. Though we get a lot of angsting from Naruto in shippuden so I guess it's ok. XD