Naruto Sasuke Doesn't Leave Konoha

[Knyght]

This seems to be coming up more and more lately so I decided to make a thread for it. All the ideas here are meant to follow the same theme; Sasuke stays in Konoha. This could be a result of him choosing not to leave, being dragged back after defecting or because defection was never a problem. The ideas would include divergence points that lead to him staying, events that develop Sasuke's characters in a better direction and the consequences of him staying Konoha.

Some divergence points that come to mind:

- Naruto defeats Sasuke at the Valley of the End. (I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen this as the starting point for a fic.)

- Sasuke learning that Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside him in the FoD so he understands why Itachi was looking him.

- Sakura convinces Sasuke to stay in Konoha during their late night confrontation.

There are probably ideas in the New Divergence Points thread and two of my own tie in with this (Triumvirate and Bros on the Road). Now discuss.

 

[ankokudaishogun]

- Naruto defeats Sasuke at the Valley of the End. (I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen this as the starting point for a fic.)

because you're repressing all those banished Naruto fics

 

[Dunstan]

- Sakura convinces Sasuke to stay in Konoha during their late night confrontation.

I'm..... Having a real hard time seeing how this one would work. :mellow:

 

[Shirotsume]

A Sakura with enough backbone and sense to throw a fucking exploding tag to get attention, then stall him.

 

[Dunstan]

A Sakura with enough backbone and sense to throw a fucking exploding tag to get attention, then stall him.

He said "convinces" not "tricks".

You'd have to go very "diverged" on one, if not both of them for that to work, as while he was "happy" she tried, he wasn't even close to being "convinced" by what she said, and likely wouldn't of been by anything she could of said.

 

[mortalone]

The most likely possibility for Sasuke staying in Konoha is if the relationship between him and Naruto grew closer. Finding out about Kyuubi could be tied into that but is not the only way.

 

[Knyght]

A Sakura with enough backbone and sense to throw a fucking exploding tag to get attention, then stall him.

He said "convinces" not "tricks".

You'd have to go very "diverged" on one, if not both of them for that to work, as while he was "happy" she tried, he wasn't even close to being "convinced" by what she said, and likely wouldn't of been by anything she could of said.

She probably would have done a better job if she'd taken a logical approach instead of just begging him i.e. pointing out why he should stay and why leaving would be a mistake.

 

[ankokudaishogun]

Problem is, personal happiness aside, at that time there were more reason for Sasuke to than to stay. And Sakura didn't know of Orochinpo's body jacking habit.
"Sasuke, don't go the super strong ninja who killed the hokage and gave you power. Stay here where you can study under a vastly weaker ninja while the stronger ones favour Naruto "

she would have more chances detailing him how Tea country has shitty tomatoes and importing is very expensive and still low quality stuff.

 

[Knyght]

There's a number of arguments she could make that have fuck all to do with his happiness and she could reasonably bring up based on the knowledge she has:

- That he was being influenced by the cursed seal to leave just like how he acted when he first got it.
- Orochimaru only wanted his Sharingan and was tricking him so he could steal it.
- Why would Orochimaru even want him to be strong and kill Itachi?
- How will he bring back his clan if he runs off and becomes a traitor?
- He's bringing shame on his entire clan, leaving Konoha just like his brother.
- Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and Suna so he'd betray him too.
- STFU and train as hard as Lee before bitching about being weak.
- There's two Sannin in the village. Why not ask them for training?
- He's just being a coward who's running away because he lost.
- Teamwork kicks ass. Take advantage of it.

 

[Wildfeather]

There's a number of arguments she could make that have fuck all to do with his happiness and she could reasonably bring up based on the knowledge she has:

- That he was being influenced by the cursed seal to leave just like how he acted when he first got it.
- Orochimaru only wanted his Sharingan and was tricking him so he could steal it.
- Why would Orochimaru even want him to be strong and kill Itachi?
- How will he bring back his clan if he runs off and becomes a traitor?
- He's bringing shame on his entire clan, leaving Konoha just like his brother.
- Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and Suna so he'd betray him too.
- STFU and train as hard as Lee before bitching about being weak.
- There's two Sannin in the village. Why not ask them for training?
- He's just being a coward who's running away because he lost.
- Teamwork kicks ass. Take advantage of it.

Are you serious right now? The manga has consistently shit all over this idea up to this point, with the exception of Naruto and Sasuke vs. Zabuza.

Here's a list of the major battles I recall up to this point:

Demon Brothers: Sasuke does all the work and Kakashi finishes.

Zabuza pt 1 Actual teamwork triumphs

Zabuza pt 2 Kakashi keeps Zabuza busy while Haku kicks the crap out of Sasuke, then Sasuke and
Naruto until Haku decides to "kill" Naruto but Sasuke intercepts and Naruto goes berserk.

Gaara fends off both Sasuke and Naruto who are trying to save Sakura's life until Naruto has a big damn hero moment.

Some combination of Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi fail to fend of Kisame/Itachi (not sure Sasuke knows about this encounter in great detail).

Itachi and Kisame (a team) when confronted with the idea of facing Jiraiya in combat back off.

Not sure if Sasuke knew this either but Sarutobi singlehandedly fought off and won a battle against the two previous Hokage and Orochimaru.

I don't see how you can even make the case that teamwork is amazing in the Naruto world. Every major battle we have both pre and post time skip basically boils down to: two characters go mano e mano and the strongest one wins or one much more powerful person beats a team of weaker people (where in this instance power also includes things like intelligence and foreplanning).

And your other points in no particular order:

What, Sasuke can't revive the clan in someplace that isn't Konoha? A womb is a womb.

Not sure if you think that "at all costs" should for some reason not include the honor of the Uchiha clan or the shaking of it as a price Sasuke is willing to pay for revenge. As a general point against all of your points actually, this stands alone. Sasuke is willing to do anything to beat Itachi, and I'm sure from his perspective if he is strong enough to beat Itachi, he can handle Orochimaru.

Oh Lee? You mean that guy who Sasuke learned to rival in speed in the time between the preliminary and stage 3 fights in the chunin exam, and whose moves he can copy instantly? That isn't a shining example of how to go far as a Konoha shinobi.

If I were trying to convince Sasuke to stay I'd point out that Itachi is afraid to fight Jiraiya with backup. Who better to learn from than the man who singlehandedly terrifies two high ranking missing ninja into not fighting?

 

[Knyght]

You're missing the point here. They aren't meant to be completely bulletproof arguments but the kind of arguments that Sakura could reasonably come up with based on her knowledge of the relevant characters and events. Given the situation, where she's coming up with ideas on the spot and desperate the convince Sasuke to stay, she's not gonna be be looking for every possible hole in her logic. And Sasuke isn't necessarily going to find the holes in every one too.

 

[Dunstan]

You're missing the point here. They aren't meant to be completely bulletproof arguments but the kind of arguments that Sakura could reasonably come up with based on her knowledge of the relevant characters and events. Given the situation, where she's coming up with ideas on the spot and desperate the convince Sasuke to stay, she's not gonna be be looking for every possible hole in her logic. And Sasuke isn't necessarily going to find the holes in every one too.

Thing is, he's already made up his mind at that point, and she's just not important enough to him to change it, hell, I think what she did say likely itself moved her up a little on his "important" list.... Fuck lot of good it did her.

It's not just about what's said, it about the fact that at that point, he doesn't want to listen.

So like I said, you'd have to change thing at some point before that, in order for her words to hold more weight with him, or nothing shed say is going to get through.

 

[ankokudaishogun]

Have Sakura confront Sasuke in his apartment before he takes down the Team 7 photo. That's pretty much when his resolve hardened to actually leave the village.
After that, only Jiraiya or Tsunade telling him one of the is going to train him personally might have some effect... and even then, it would be limited: Sasuke already decided severing bonds is the best way to gain more power, because of what he witnessed.

 

[ttestagr]

The answer is simple. Sakura tells him he's being an idiot because the Leaf is still at war with Sound. One of these is a great village, the other... is not. Tell him he's going to the losing side and everyone there is going to get murderfucked in the next year. She's bookish, I'm sure she had the general info on how the great nations and villages screwed the smaller repeatedly.

This is actually the biggest plot hole in the series. Sand surrendered and restored their alliance. Sound did not. That the Leaf didn't wipe it and its nation off the map for daring to invade one of the great villages is just idiotic writing.

 

[DaJuggernaut]

The answer is simple. Sakura tells him he's being an idiot because the Leaf is still at war with Sound. One of these is a great village, the other... is not. Tell him he's going to the losing side and everyone there is going to get murderfucked in the next year. She's bookish, I'm sure she had the general info on how the great nations and villages screwed the smaller repeatedly.

This is actually the biggest plot hole in the series. Sand surrendered and restored their alliance. Sound did not. That the Leaf didn't wipe it and its nation off the map for daring to invade one of the great villages is just idiotic writing.

Wasn't sound actually a bunch of bases hidden that were across the continent? If they were, then good luck finding them all. I don't think any of the other major hidden villages (at that point timewise) would appreciate a bunch of leaf ninja barging into their territory and wrecking shit because "supposedly" Orochimaru's forces may be there.

 

[ttestagr]

The answer is simple.? Sakura tells him he's being an idiot because the Leaf is still at war with Sound.? One of these is a great village, the other... is not.? Tell him he's going to the losing side and everyone there is going to get murderfucked in the next year.? She's bookish, I'm sure she had the general info on how the great nations and villages screwed the smaller repeatedly.

This is actually the biggest plot hole in the series.? Sand surrendered and restored their alliance.? Sound did not.? That the Leaf didn't wipe it and its nation off the map for daring to invade one of the great villages is just idiotic writing.

Wasn't sound actually a bunch of bases hidden that were across the continent? If they were, then good luck finding them all. I don't think any of the other major hidden villages (at that point timewise) would appreciate a bunch of leaf ninja barging into their territory and wrecking shit because "supposedly" Orochimaru's forces may be there.

No, Sound was based in a single minor country. Jiraiya could wipe it on his own.

 

[Dunstan]

The answer is simple.á Sakura tells him he's being an idiot because the Leaf is still at war with Sound.á One of these is a great village, the other... is not.á Tell him he's going to the losing side and everyone there is going to get murderfucked in the next year.á She's bookish, I'm sure she had the general info on how the great nations and villages screwed the smaller repeatedly.

This is actually the biggest plot hole in the series.á Sand surrendered and restored their alliance.á Sound did not.á That the Leaf didn't wipe it and its nation off the map for daring to invade one of the great villages is just idiotic writing.

Wasn't sound actually a bunch of bases hidden that were across the continent? If they were, then good luck finding them all. I don't think any of the other major hidden villages (at that point timewise) would appreciate a bunch of leaf ninja barging into their territory and wrecking shit because "supposedly" Orochimaru's forces may be there.

No, Sound was based in a single minor country. Jiraiya could wipe it on his own.

No... I'm pretty sure he's right, and that we've seen it's bases all over the place, including the land of fire itself.

If they ever did have a main base in the land of rice, they seemed to of abandoned it.

 

[ttestagr]

The answer is simple.á Sakura tells him he's being an idiot because the Leaf is still at war with Sound.á One of these is a great village, the other... is not.á Tell him he's going to the losing side and everyone there is going to get murderfucked in the next year.á She's bookish, I'm sure she had the general info on how the great nations and villages screwed the smaller repeatedly.

This is actually the biggest plot hole in the series.á Sand surrendered and restored their alliance.á Sound did not.á That the Leaf didn't wipe it and its nation off the map for daring to invade one of the great villages is just idiotic writing.

Wasn't sound actually a bunch of bases hidden that were across the continent? If they were, then good luck finding them all. I don't think any of the other major hidden villages (at that point timewise) would appreciate a bunch of leaf ninja barging into their territory and wrecking shit because "supposedly" Orochimaru's forces may be there.

No, Sound was based in a single minor country. Jiraiya could wipe it on his own.

No... I'm pretty sure he's right, and that we've seen it's bases all over the place, including the land of fire itself.

If they ever did have a main base in the land of rice, they seemed to of abandoned it.

No, such a thing does not exist in the manga.

 

[Prince Charon]

Depending on what she knows of Konoha's/Orochimaru's history that we haven't seen her learn onscreen by that point, she could point out that Orochimaru only wants him for his body (to experiment on), without needing to know about the impending body-swap. If she phrases it right, and combines it with other arguments, that might convince him.

 

[mortalone]

Why do so many people seem to think Sakura talking to Sasuke is the correct moment? Even if you assume Sakura is the correct person?

 

[Knyght]

No-one's saying it's the correct moment. It's just a possibility. It's a potential divergence point where the girl who is probably Sasuke's second most important person by that time convinces him to stay with a proper argument instead of just begging.

Though I don't see why people are so hung up on this one since it's probably one of the least interesting divergences for keeping Sasuke around. It's something I'd expect to see in Sakura/Sasuke romance rather than anything, y'know, interesting.

 

[Dunstan]

Though I don't see why people are so hung up on this one since it's probably one of the least interesting divergences for keeping Sasuke around. It's something I'd expect to see in Sakura/Sasuke romance rather than anything, y'know, interesting.

Mainly we just found the others a lot more believable, and so were wondering your reasoning behind it. :huh.:

 

[mortalone]

I don't think it's a serious possibility unless you're writing Sasu/Saku. Sasuke has already hardened his resolve to leave at this point. I believe the only person who can connect with Sasuke's feelings enough to sway him is Naruto.

I personally think that the best possibility is if the Itachi fight goes differently, or if Sasuke never realizes Itachi knocked out Kakashi, avoiding the fight altogether.

 

[Knyght]

I don't think it's a serious possibility unless you're writing Sasu/Saku. Sasuke has already hardened his resolve to leave at this point. I believe the only person who can connect with Sasuke's feelings enough to sway him is Naruto.

I personally think that the best possibility is if the Itachi fight goes differently, or if Sasuke never realizes Itachi knocked out Kakashi, avoiding the fight altogether.

That's the most ideal divergence point, imo. :sisi:

He'd probably still learn about it but after some time there's little chance of him meeting Itachi even if he goes chasing after Naruto. In which case, he'd just be relieved that Naruto's safe and wouldn't realise just how outclassed he still is. He'd also be awake for the next month or so instead of waking from a mindfuck-induced coma on the same day the Sound Four arrive.

 

[Shirotsume]

There's so much that went wrong in that hotel hallway.

Hell, maybe if Sasuke announced himself differently, Itachi might not have seen the 'need' to mindrape him again.

He came running to save Naruto, after all.

After all, he shows up, shit, Itachi's already here... let's see how we fare.

If he could keep his head for a moment, even just be like "Naruto, don't look into his eyes. Kakashi-sensei is down." or something... maybe Itachi wouldn't be so completely disappointed with Sasuke that he feels the need to mindrape him. Because that second mind rape made everything go wrong.

Hell. I'm probably not making much sense. I've been debugging for the past 11 hours, just say if you can't decipher this.