ship_manifesto

Title: A Dangerous Affection
Author:

kanae_mizuhito
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke/Karin
Spoilers: Spoilers for the series as a whole, up to Chapter 459 of the Manga.
Credit: Sasuke's DB profile was translated by tora-chan and Karin's by Gottheim.
Notes: I still blame the codes and how much I suck with them.

- Go back to A Dangerous Affection, Part I (Index, Character Introduction)
- Go back to A Dangerous Affection, Part II (Development, the Similiarities&Differences between them)
- Go back to A Dangerous Affection, Part III (Their Bond, The Unkown, Kishimoto's writer intent)

COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST THEM

a) Sasuke just wants Karin for her abilities!1!1!

This would be a fair point alright—that is, if the story had stopped right at chapter 348. But when we have chapters like 415, where Sasuke shows clear, palpable, obvious, undeniable concern for Karin’s wellbeing and safety—meaning, for her persona; the argument crumbles on its own.

So no, Sasuke doesn’t want Karin just for her abilities. He cares for her as an individual, and as a valuable member of his team; as one of the people who saved him, risked herself for him, and helped him realize that he was not alone.

That seems, to me, like a lot of caring, actually.

b) Sasuke hates her!1!1!

Well, hello there! Chapter 415 begs to have a word with you. It isn’t enough, you say? Sasuke risking his life, his teammate’s lives while he’s at it, too; freaking out, and unlocking a new ability just thanks to his care for Karin, isn’t enough?—Ah, overused, you say?

Alright, then why don’t you check chapter 414, where Sasuke clearly realizes and acknowledges that he cares for his team—Karin included? Or chapter 413, where when Sasuke realizes that the Hachibi was going in the direction Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu were in, he is clearly worried and hurries to go towards them, and asks them if they’re alright; it’s actually worthy of mention—again—how when Hachibi had previously attacked Juugo and Suigetsu, Sasuke didn’t react in such a way. And that this is the first time during the battle that Karin is clearly in danger.

If you think that’s a stretch, then check chapter 412. When Sasuke stays there with her as she catches her breath, there’s nothing even barely resembling even slight contempt in there.

In fact, there’s nothing resembling such a thing anywhere. Because if you actually read things through, you’d realize that there’s only 3 moments where Sasuke hasn’t been perfectly pleasant—or as pleasant as Sasuke can be—to Karin.

Those are: Chapter 348, where she was getting in his personal space and Sasuke tells her to move back a little, because the original Japanese dialogues aren’t as rude as back off is. He could have reacted like this instead.

Then comes Chapter 355, where the team was supposed to go and fulfill their mission, but Karin couldn’t help herself and tried a move on him—it’s completely understandable that Sasuke, who is completely focused on his goal, would tell her to get moving—because that’s exactly what she was supposed to be doing in the first place. Once again, he could have reacted like this.

The last one is Chapter 380, which I’m sure not many remember, but I’ll bring it up anyway; Karin tells Sasuke that it’s crazy to go and fight Itachi on his own, that the three of them should go and do it—and Sasuke tells her to not even think about it, because it was his battle. Which is, of course, completely true and understandable coming from him. Yet again, he could have reacted like this.

I’m sure that some people might try and bring up Chapter 404 or recent Chapter 457, to try and backup their offhand claim; but those wouldn’t back up anything, either. In Chapter 457, there’s really nothing to say about it as far as “Sasuke hates her!” goes, but since some people love to stretch it, I thought I should address it, too; Karin has logic, even the Databook describes her as brilliant. So without a doubt, her plan and words are completely right. And from what Sasuke tells hers—“Just focus on tracking the enemy’s chakra positions for now, Karin”—he knows that, too. It’s simply a matter of “We’ll see as it comes. For now, let’s just focus on the main objective: identifying Danzou”. Chapter 404 features Karin butting in a conversation where she shouldn’t have interrupted; Sasuke was in the middle of bluffing with Madara, after all. And again, it’s worthy of notice how Sasuke could’ve told her to “Stay out of it”.

And like in the previous instances of, he could have—he didn’t.

So the point is, that he could have reacted way more negatively to her—but he never did such a thing. He’s always been respectful to Karin, and the amount of times that he has answered to her less ‘nicely’ than he usually does, not only have perfectly logical explanations as to why, but they’re also far-and-few in-between and completely outnumbered by the amount of times Sasuke has shown that he cares.

c) Sasuke rejected her from the start!1!1!

Well, what exactly did you want him to do? Allow her to kiss him right then and there? Are we talking about the same Sasuke? Sasuke isn’t comfortable with people invading his personal space, and he doesn’t respond nicely when people do it; besides, he has no experience whatsoever with women, and he has never shown any interest on anything related to the subject either, because of his focus on vengeance.

So had Sasuke reacted in any other way, the apocalypse would’ve come, for sure.

But to address the statement more directly; yet again, this would hold some weight if the manga had stopped at chapter 348. But since it didn’t, and we did get chapter 412 and chapter 415—just to name the more obvious ones, since people love to be spoon-fed by obvious proof—this amounts to nothing.

Because let’s face it: Sasuke wasn’t interested in love back then and he may not be interested in love now—but who says he won’t be later? And that is where trivial stuff like these is worth nothing, and everything I’ve mentioned before it’s worth it all.

d) Karin just has the hots for Sasuke and wants to ravage him! It’s nothing but lust! She’s a perv1!1!

Actually, Karin is not the only girl who’s a perv in Naruto—and she’s not even much of a perv, really. She’s simply sexually interest in the guy she happens to like; big deal. Every girl her age is and has entertained the thoughts of getting sexual with the guy they like; and Karin actually has only thought about it, in-panel, once.

But why, Karin does happen to have the hots for Sasuke and has entertained the thought of ravaging him—a moment that, by the way, was added for something called comedic-relief. Interesting, isn’t it? NaruSaku has Sakura’s violent reactions, SasuNaru used to have their usual bickering, NaruHina has Hinata’s constant fainting and stuttering, LeeSaku had Lee’s boisterous approaches and Sakura’s reactions to them, and SasuKarin has Karin’s sexual approach to Sasuke.

But that’s not all there is to it.

Karin has shown that she cares about Sasuke’s wellbeing—Chapters 351, 363, 364, 380, 411, 412 etc, just to name a few—in fact the only times we see her lose her composure for anything outside of anger, is casually out of worry for Sasuke. Chapter 363 was the first, really clear instance of this, since her expression shows fright as she realizes that she cannot sense Sasuke’s chakra. Chapter 414 was also quite clear, with Karin thinking “Thank God, you’re okay” as Sasuke opened his eyes after being healed by Juugo.

She has also shown that she likes his personality, like in chapter 411 where she marvels because she “knew you’d never stop as low as to being someone else’s errand boy!” which goes to show that she recognizes that he is a person who yields to no one—just like her, and she’s lured in and attracted by that fact.

Hell, even the Databooks helpfully describe her feelings for Sasuke as “suki” (love/like) here and here, and her feelings for him are also a vital part of her background.

-But even as Orochimaru's underling, Karin feels no obligation towards him. Karin still fulfills her duties out of affection for Uchiha Sasuke. Then Orochimaru dies, and Sasuke stands before her. She sees something in Sasuke... Just what would that be...?
- Underneath a facade of aloofness and irritability, she bears a dangerous attraction towards Sasuke...

I’ve already commented about what I think that “something” she sees in him is, so the bottom-line here is: No, Karin’s feelings for Sasuke aren’t just related to lust. She genuinely has feelings for him and she’s also sexually attracted to him. It’s a healthy combination, if you ask me.

In fact, that much is proved by the triangular theory of love, which is a theory of love developed by psychologist Robert Sternberg; in it, we see that:

Romantic love: Intimacy + Passion.

Where Intimacy: Encompasses feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness.

And Passion: Encompasses drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation.

Getting that Romantic Love bonds individuals emotionally through intimacy and physically through passionate arousal.

e) Karin is just a fangirl!1!1!

No. No she isn’t. She doesn’t idolize Sasuke, and that alone separates her from the fangirl stereotype.

And to demonstrate this as good as I can, I’ll illustrate it with comparisons between the two girls that Sasuke has been in a team with; I’ll use solely (99.9%) pre-haircut Sakura for these comparisons, because we all know that that Sakura is the definition of a fangirl (God bless her development. God bless it). Let’s take a look shall, we?

When Sasuke says something they don’t agree with;

This is a fangirl -------------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke does something cool,

This is a fangirl ---------------------------------This is Karin.

Mentioning any feelings for Sasuke,

This is a fangirl ----------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke gets beaten up,

This is a fangirl --------------------------------------This is Karin.

When they don’t agree with Sasuke’s plan of action,

This is a fangirl --------------------------------------This is Karin.

When they’re with Sasuke,

This is a fangirl ------------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke is about to go and kick some ass,

This is a fangirl ----------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke gets hurt,

This is a fangirl ------------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke, after being hurt, regains his conscious,

This is a fangirl -----------------------------------This is Karin.

When Sasuke does/has something they like,

This is a fangirl -----------------------------------This is Karin.

See the sole similarity (meaning, that Karin also happens to think he’s cool) and the huge amount of differences? Fangirls have the following traits:

-They openly praise Sasuke and every little thing he does.

-They try to make themselves look good and appealing in front of him; whether it’s physically (like going through diets, growing their hair long) or inwardly (hiding their real thoughts, not wanting to say things he might dislike).

-They see him as someone who’s better than themselves, and they treat him as such, instead of treating him with equality.

-Thinking/Fawning over him is the only thing they do, to the point where that gets in the way of their personal prowess or even, the mission they’re in.

-They’re more or less blind to his faults.

Now, see why Karin cannot be considered your usual fangirl, and even less, just a fangirl? And now, I’ve seen some people claim that how Karin doesn’t openly fawn him makes her an hypocrite; and I just have to give my two cents about that, because that’s a ridiculous claim. Who says that she has to be a cheerleader? Why in the world should she openly show her feelings for Sasuke? She’s simply behaving like every single one of us has done in the past; she’s not comfortable showing that she has a crush on someone, so she doesn’t show it. Big deal. Plus, it’s not as if she was putting up a façade or creating a new personality either, everything she says she means. If anything, her personality is really genuine, she’s simply not afraid to show herself to him like she is—what she feels though, is a different matter but she’s under no obligation of showing it in public. She has no reason to wear her emotions on her sleeve.

By the way, another thing I’ve noticed that antis love to bring up lately is “Karin is in love with Sasuke’s chakra but not with him!” which is based on an anime-only moment, therefore filler, therefore not canon, therefore it’s absolutely meaningless. And I’ve already disproved any variation of it, anyway.

Go forward to the Final Part of the Manifesto, "A Dangerous Affection: Part V"