Edited the day after the posting. Thanks to Kaikouken for spotting some mistakes.
Why Sasuke Likes Naruto
Of course, these reasons were reasons that Sasuke himself would never admit to having but he did have them because Sasuke would always be an organized prick and would always think up of reasons why he did this and that. Though it was already a given that he would ignore this list of reasons. After all, he would never willingly admit that he actually liked his idiotic, blond teammate.
Well, to start off these twenty reasons, Sasuke liked Naruto because Naruto was powerful. Uchiha Sasuke just didn't pay attention to people who weren't powerful, much less like them. If anyone wanted his gaze on them, they would have to be someone who was as strong as Orochimaru or those other two members of the Densetsu no Sannin or as strong as Itachi or they had their own little bijuu inside of them.
The second reason why Sasuke liked Naruto was because Naruto had a real goal. That goal, of course, was to become Hokage. It was a nice goal in Sasuke's opinion. It was something that really had to be worked on and it was tons better than wishing to be someone's... wife or life partner or whatever domesticated job in the future.
The third reason was because Naruto didn't fawn over him like most of the people in their village. No, Naruto usually wanted to beat him into the ground. And, no, he was not a masochist. He just liked the idea of someone not liking him or kissing the ground he walked on or making him do whatever he wanted to do. It was getting old and... and sometimes, Sasuke wanted to be treated like a normal person, too.
The fourth reason was because Naruto was determined. Foolishly determined. Once he set his sights on something, he would do anything and everything to accomplish whatever he wanted to do. Of course, this was done without harming people... much. It wasn't as if the villagers didn't escape with perfect hearing after hearing his infamous "I'm gonna be Hokage dattebayo!" proclamations every single day.
The fifth reason was because even though he was loud or wore blindingly bright clothes, Naruto was still alive. That, of course, would mean that the boy had some talent. It was either that or he was lucky. And even Sasuke had to admit that luck was also important if you were a ninja.
Sasuke also liked Naruto because the boy would risk everything for his friends. Now, Sasuke knew that maybe he shouldn't admire this particular trait, but he found himself liking it even more because he knew that he shouldn't like it, that it was something so stupid. He then began to think that maybe he was mocking himself. But, hey, it wasn't as if Naruto was going to find that one out ever.
Naruto was also not quite like anyone Sasuke had ever seen before. The boy was... refreshing, exhilarating. He was new. He was in a totally different league (no, Sasuke was not saying that Naruto was more powerful than him). Sasuke didn't know if that was a trait that could be attributed to the Kyuubi or if that was just the... Naruto inside of Naruto.
That reason – if Sasuke just didn't deny that he did make up reasons as to why he liked the annoying bouncing, blitzing (well, Naruto did sometimes attack out of the blue; in reality, Sasuke was just going for the alliteration) blond boy – also made Sasuke think that maybe he had pondered far too much on Naruto's name. Perhaps Uchihas or, well, him in the very least were very vain people. It seemed as if he had taking a liking to verbally bitching about Naruto's name in his head.
Another reason why Sasuke liked Naruto was because Naruto could somehow relate to his own kind of loneliness. Having no parents, having no family at all. Though he would like to digress that the key term in the first sentence was somehow, meaning that there were still some differences between the two of them. Like, oh, say, Naruto had never really had a family in the first place.
The ninth reason why Sasuke liked Naruto was because Naruto was paving his own way. He wasn't going to follow someone's footsteps. He wasn't going to follow what was said to be The Ninja Way. He was going to do His Way. And obviously, nothing was going to deter him from doing that.
Sasuke was also at a loss whether or not he should like Naruto because of that trait. The boy often blindly went into battle because of his stubbornness to try and save everyone and everything that he could. He didn't want to kill people. Only the weak did that. That was what Sasuke had learned from Itachi. But then, why was Naruto so strong? Itachi had told Sasuke that he didn't need friends to be strong. Rather, it would be much better if he didn't care for anyone, thus he wouldn't feel the need to protect them. But why... why was Naruto so strong? He had friends and everything that Itachi said were forms of weaknesses.
The tenth reason could be associated with the ninth reason. Naruto constantly proved everyone wrong and that was one of the reasons why Sasuke liked him. It was as he was programmed to surpass everyone's expectations or to surprise them.
Of course, this also meant that Naruto had a bit – more than a bit, really – of a rebellious streak inside of him. That was not a good ninja trait. Ninja were supposed to follow the orders of their superiors. It then occurred to Sasuke that he, too, had a rebellious streak – more so than Naruto's – and decided that perhaps being rebellious wasn't at all that bad of a trait. More determination and all of that. Yes, definitely not at all a bad trait.
One of the reasons why Sasuke liked Naruto was because the boy was so easily riled up. Even Sasuke had to admit that somewhat mocking – Uchihas didn't use the word tease; it was unbecoming – the other was fun. Very fun indeed. He had so much fun in doing it that he might as well call it a hobby of his, but he couldn't since the only hobbies he should have was training and fighting and all other ninja-related things. Verbal banter wasn't one of those hobbies.
Another reason was because Naruto was almost always more than often the unwilling decoy that their team used. Less damage on the rest of Team 7's part and the blond had always thought that he had done something heroic and had one-upped the bastard, not knowing that it was the other way around. It was Sasuke who often conned Naruto into decoying, whether consciously or not.
Related to that reason was the thirteenth reason which was the fact that Naruto was Sasuke's test subject for all his new jutsu. The two of them were sparring partners, after all. It would only be right that Naruto was the receiving end of all of Sasuke's latest jutsu. The dobe should be flattered, not annoyed or angry. Oh, well, Sasuke would always be Sasuke.
Another one of Sasuke's grounds for liking Naruto was that the other boy was quite adept at fighting and quickly adjusted himself to Sasuke's new jutsu. That meant, of course, that Sasuke really got his training which was something good because he couldn't grow powerful without his training. And if he didn't grow powerful, Itachi would forever remain to roam around the earth.
The next reason was something that could be connected with the above-mentioned reason. Since Naruto quickly adapted to Sasuke's new jutsu, Sasuke would be forced to make a new one which the dobe would inevitably lose to. He did not like it when someone got used to his jutsu and would actually nearly beat him in a match, despite it being only a sparring match. He was an Uchiha. Losing at anything was unacceptable. It was taboo.
Naruto – whether or not it was subconsciously done was something beyond Sasuke – also pushed Sasuke to do better in whatever he did. He saw this as a reason to like Naruto because Naruto was making him get one step closer to Itachi.
Another reason why he liked Naruto was because Naruto healed quickly, therefore, he wasn't berated at all for hurting the blond. In fact, Sasuke had a feeling that their revered Godaime Hokage liked it when the blond was being hurt, but not enough to cause any lethal damage, of course. She probably saw it as a way for punishing the boy for being so insolent towards her.
That, of course, led Sasuke to wonder why the Godaime didn't seem to mind it when he, Uchiha Sasuke, was insolent towards her, albeit in a more silent-treatment-but-I'm-really-listening-to-you type. Perhaps the Godaime was picky with those she would want divine punishment to be placed upon. Or maybe it was because the sparring matches with Sasuke was Naruto's divine punishment of sorts.
Sasuke really couldn't understand that Hokage of theirs, but that didn't mean that he wasn't happy that he didn't get admonished whenever he hurt his sparring partner. Naruto, of course, was not happy about that and always complained about "baa-chan" – Tsunade almost always heard him call her that and if whenever she heard him, she would relentlessly do unspeakable and horrible things to him that made Sasuke inwardly cringe – playing favorites.
The eighteenth reason was something Sasuke wanted to deny as much as the fact that he had a mental list of why he liked Naruto.
Naruto made him remember the times he had with his older brother before Itachi turned against the clan and decided to go on a killing spree (Sasuke only regretted that Itachi hadn't killed him or that Itachi left him, though he, of course, refused to come to terms with those).
Naruto... was family. Though, of course, Team 7 was, Sasuke reluctantly admitted, his second family. But there was just something different about Naruto. The boy was his brother, which Sasuke felt was the title the person he valued the most in his family deserved, and his best friend. Naruto... Naruto was on a whole new league from Kakashi and Sakura.
Sasuke would die before admitting those things. He felt like such a sap. Then again, even he didn't admit those things to himself.
Of course, Sasuke knew that he liked Naruto because he had to. Naruto was ultimately the key to beating Itachi. Naruto was his passport to Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke was, in more ways than one, a manipulative bastard and had no qualms – no, none at all; the thrumming of his heart whenever he thought of that reason meant nothing at all, he was just excited at the prospect of beating Itachi, that was all – about doing what he did.
The last and most important reason why Sasuke liked Naruto was something contradictory to the nineteenth reason. It was also the reason that he desperately tried to hide and deny from himself the most. But this reason meant a lot to him and so he was still unable to completely disagree with that reason.
The foremost reason why Sasuke liked Naruto was because Naruto made him feel these emotions he had never felt before, because Naruto made him feel everything else that everyone – and more than often, everyone in Sasuke's mind was the Uchiha Clan and Itachi and perhaps Kakashi and the not-so-doting part of Sakura – made him feel.
Naruto made his heart beat. Naruto made him feel as if he had taken a mouthful of air for the first time. Naruto made him real.
Naruto didn't make him feel complete (that was something Itachi and only Itachi could do), but at least Naruto made him feel more than anybody could ever.
Naruto made Sasuke feel the most whenever he centered his attention, his world, on Sasuke. Whenever he glared at Sasuke. Whenever he shouted at Sasuke. Whenever he fought Sasuke... Whenever he protected Sasuke... Whenever he... whenever he had a smidgen of a smile on his face because of Sasuke.
Sasuke himself didn't know why he noticed these things. But he did. And he didn't know why, but his heart fluttered whenever Naruto did those things – anything – for, to, with, and at him.
It made him feel like he was just Sasuke, nothing more and nothing less.
Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Why Sasuke Hates Naruto. And also the people who put it in their faves and the person who put it in their alerts.
Thank you also to everyone who read this installment.
Comments will be much appreciated. Please to tell if I've made a mistake. I'm still trying to improve myself and each comment helps a lot.