Itachi did...fucking what?!
AN: I've heard that AO3 loses money if you engage with the site (as clicks cost them money); so they require donations to work. It's pretty reliable information, so I'm going to post here for now as I haven't finished updating my writings on squidgeworld. (You can get more details on this from the previous chapter.)
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Dramatic title, but it's got to be this way as click-bait titles are all the rage these days. You know the drill by now, and here it goes: the more I think about Itachi, the more silly he seems. Yes, I've stated that a million times on here, and it does sound woefully tedious at this point (you might have felt a strong urge to roll your eyes, but that'd make me sad); but believe you me, you've probably never thought of what I'm about to confess. I don't think I've ever commented on this part of his character. In fact, I've never come across this criticism of him. Very strange.
The problem goes as follows: Itachi's character doesn't even take off from the narrative ground, let alone work into his later disintegrations that are this fandom's very beloved, though comical, shonen stereotypes and shipping cliches. (Because what is Itachi without Sakura wankers defending him with all their might as a spare instrument for their lonely self-insert's slot? One that Sasuke brutally rejected? Rise up, pop feminists; it's time to end Sasuke's patriarchal assault on Sakura's womanhood!) How, you might ask? Why did Itachi torture Sasuke? Yes, I'm aware that he wanted to make a "hero" out of him—whatever the fuck that means; but what does the idea mean? Have people never thought about this, even a little? (Colour me shocked.) Why would you want to create a hero out of a Genin who's only 7 at this point and 12 later?
No, I'm serious. Ponder on this for a moment: why would you want to create a hero out of Sasuke? Is his reputation at stake? No. Is the Clan's reputation at stake to the point that their honour needs to be restored? The massacre and Itachi's failed stint as an Akatsuki spy wouldn't have been kept under the rug if that was the case. What sort of stain does Sasuke have to wash from his clan's history to regain his honour? Sasuke's desire to get back the honour is rooted in injustice, a personal journey as he felt that his honour was ruined, not that his family was a dishonourable one. That was a personal quest he undertook. That had little to do with Itachi's rationale.
The issue is that there's nothing in regard to honour that's got to be regained as Sasuke hadn't lost that, not in a sense of public perception. (The discrimination is a different discussion.) In fact, Itachi was considered a criminal; and not even a "we'd look the other way when it comes to this fucking fodder" kind; no, he was the S-rank kind. That gained sympathy for the clan from many, something which we witnessed in the Kage Summit (KS). Sasuke's personal vendetta doesn't have much of anything to do with Itachi's brutality to make a hero out of him.
Again, think on it: why? Sasuke isn't a criminal at this point as per the decrees of Shinobi Law. In fact, Itachi forced Sasuke down that path through relentless tortures, coercions, and intimidations. He wanted Sasuke to attack the Jinchuriki, defeat him (Itachi), and then come back home as a hero. His head held high, because, somehow, Itachi's defeat will magically make Konoha forgive Sasuke for obliterating their functioning nuke. (Great going, Solo-King, fucking arse.) Again, my argument remains the same: what sort of heroism was missing from Sasuke's life that he had to take this bleak, arduous, and tragic path to wash this unshakeable mark off himself that he was…no longer a hero; hence, the only way to return to the path of herodom was to defeat his devil of a brother and become, err, great again? Fucking what?! It's a miracle that Sasuke didn't lose his fucking mind and stick his dick into Garuda. The kid had the patience of a saint!
Remember, Sasuke's resolve to end Itachi had nothing to do with him becoming a hero for the masses. He had no fucking clue at this point about the discord between Leaf and the Uchiha, so what sort of honour was Itachi prepping him for? The kid wanted to become a popo like his pop. Come on, use your head! This only works if Itachi had laid out his personal disdain for the clan before Sasuke because, in Itachi's tunnel-visioned eyes, their honour had to be restored as their redemption was that requirement that'd integrate them back into the village at last in the shape of Sasuke.
You'd have to recall a crucial detail that I've talked about before that Sasuke was meant to be Itachi's replacement as he himself was dying a slow and painful death, and the village, in his humblest opinion, required a strong vestige of his labour; implanting KA (with the "protect Konoha" command meant for Sasuke) was that fail-safe plan; that, in Itachi's twisted view, was his greatest sacrifice at Leaf's alter, his brother as compensation for his demise, a brother that he, in his own absurd way, adored; so Itachi truly felt that that would be his greatest, hardest, and most painful sacrifice, in that he was giving away Sasuke over to Konoha in his place, someone he loved the most. It's very much like that "sacrifice what you love the most to get this", and that this to him was world-peace or something. It's the most basic mythical tale acted out through the utterly fucked up dynamic Itachi had created between Sasuke and himself.
This part...believe it or not, works. Surprise-surprise! It's probably the only portion of Itachi's nonsensical characterization that works. You have to understand that violence is all Itachi knows, and he does everything to legitimize it; its hegemony defines his nature; so his cruelty towards Sasuke makes sense (save for the times when he almost killed him, but I've talked about that before) within the context he's created for his own world; and we all see things through our world, our nature; and damn if Kishimoto didn't almost get it right; but that's a topic for another day.
Point is, Itachi's just pompous, and his self-righteous nature is what programs him to judge his clan. Judge everyone against this "lawful and dutiful jingoist/soldier" that he's created, one he strove for all his life, one that he failed to attain in his own words (he didn't get the Hokage definition right, poor thing). A mould for everlasting peace. A loyalty that's a prerequisite, an imperative for the world to usher into a peaceful age. And without that course, people are without honour, one that his clan refused to engage in, an ever-lasting source of his chagrin and disdain. One that he wanted them to accept. So he came to this simple conclusion that the Clan, thus, naturally lacks honour, so it has to be judged; and after judgement, there has to be a rehabilitation, a reboot of its tarnished image; and Sasuke, Itachi's most cherished possession (yes, Sasuke's less of a person to Itachi and more of a concept of love that has to receive his every whim and exhibit gratefulness), would be just that, a symbol of his clan's redemption! (Remember, Itachi confessed as an Edo whilst he was getting booted back into Yomi that Sasuke could've changed the clan whilst it was alive; in death, Sasuke, one that would abide rather than dissent, would be that change, the clan course-corrected through Sasuke.)
There's just one problem: it only works in isolation, not once you bring all the aspects together into a whole. That whole doesn't have to make the character coherent for it to be considered good (in writing). Coherence has nothing to do with characterization; and what's more incoherent than a fool of a boy who believes himself to be judge, jury, an executioner and a martyr and pacifist soldier-at the same fucking time? That's mental incoherence, and I've said it time and time again, fucker's just crazy; but the writing fails to reflect that; and that's the problem with Itachi as, in between the portion that works, you've got a mess with no hope to validate it in any manner.
My point being, clan's honour? It being in shambles? The redemption that was nigh in the shape of Sasuke? It's all in his fucking head. There's not even any material to vaguely infer anything from the chaos and lend it a chaotic spin that makes it tick. Sasuke doesn't know. The people at large don't know. What's the use of this restoration that's, and I repeat, all in someone's head? You see, Sasuke waxing lyrical about the restoration of his and his clan's honour are contextualized by the cultural complexities of where Naruto was written: he can't rest till that humiliation isn't returned back to the aggressor beat for beat, the clan's souls avenged, whatever the ethos of filial piety dictate; however, what's in your head requires an outlet for it to find its way on the…ya know, panels. Sasuke had these moments (his mental breakdowns, rash, and at times cruel actions fired up by grief). We don't get that with Itachi, so you have to take what you're given.
Sasuke didn't read the script, so this makes no sense, anyway. What sort of honour is being restored when it hasn't been lost in a manner that it needed to be repaired? It's almost as if Itachi was so incredibly dull, narrow-minded, and foolish that he took everything Shisui said to heart, who took his own life for no fucking reason, without acknowledging the context at hand. (I maintain the fact that Itachi was the one who took Shisui's life as that's the only reality that makes canonical sense, because Itachi is defined by lies; and many a time, that's been used interchangeably with Genjutsu and illusion in canon; I might write out a post on this as to why Kishimoto left these bizarre caveats in Itachi's character, but let's leave it at that for now.)
In order to accomplish that, he'd have to defect, kill Naruto (whichever comes first), and then go on this wild goose chase to get even with Itachi. That wouldn't be heroism that's enshrined and/or understood in the Shadow Villages and endorsed by Itachi as the "divine code" for peace; it's a comical contradiction that's never reconciled within and by Itachi in any reasonable manner; anything could've gone terribly wrong, and Sasuke, for all intents and purposes, would've ended up as a lifelong criminal, forever hunted down for putting down the state's WMD. (I've already commented on as to why Itachi wanting to commit suicide by Sasuke's hand as some twisted sense of justice in another post, so I wouldn't repeat myself here.)
Think on it some more as Itachi wanted to make a hero out of a child whose reputation wasn't at stake in any way; and in order to do so, the said child had to go through the trials and tribulations of a standard shinobi-criminal (his high S-rank in the Bingo Book makes him more susceptible to state-sponsored hunting campaigns, not less, campaigns which can take place with the blessings and cooperations of other states, as well); gain notoriety along the way as a Missing-Nin due to the fact that he can kill Shinobi that get in his way from other villages, who're always itching to kill missing-nin for shinobi glories (Bingo-Books are international kill-lists in canon, not local material), thereby inviting their scorn, as well; end the brother and then…claim herodom? That goes against everything Itachi believed in; against his "master plan" to create a replacement out of Sasuke; and against the fact that, if Sasuke's caught in the clutches of the "protect Konoha" command after crossing the thickest red line in the sand (Leaf's WMD destruction), along with some other "international incidents", he'd just walk off to his death in Konoha. Only now, he's be happy about it, I suppose? Then what was even the point of any of that? And there and then, Itachi's entire character crashes and burns before it even attempts to take off into the ether of greatness that his wankers would have you believe. (Kishimoto, my man, I love you, all the hetro; but your terrible schedule, fandom screeches, and Shonen Jump's pressures did you no favours.)
Has no body ever discussed this? Thought of this? I'm sorry, but this group called Itachi fandom is very funny, rather stupid, too.
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