sasuke uchiha

Sasuke Uchiha (うちは サスケ Uchiha Sasuke?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the beginning of the story, he is member of Kakashi Hatake's Team 7, which, at the time of his membership, consists of himself, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno, making him an original member of the Rookie Nine; Sasuke later leaves the team.

Personality

At the start of the series, Sasuke's desire to get stronger is the dominating factor in his interactions with others and takes precedence over all else. As such he is initially unconcerned with the concepts of socializing, be it with his teammates or the many girls in his age group vying for his affection. Likewise, Sasuke is uninterested in working with Naruto or Sakura for the good of the mission, believing himself to be much more talented and that working with them will only make him weaker. Soon after the three set out on missions together, however, Sasuke begins to discover that these perceptions are inaccurate; Sakura is a valuable source of information, and Naruto is an effective ally and incentive to get stronger. As a result of these revelations, Sasuke begins to value his teammates more than he did during their first meeting. While he tries to deny this, his willingness to risk his life to help them even if it could mean never getting a chance to kill Itachi slowly begins to manifest, although this is partly influenced by Sasuke's belief that if he cannot fight in [this] battle, he will never be strong enough to face Itachi. In Shonen Jump's June 2006 edition, Masashi Kishimoto (in Kakashi's voice) remarks that while Sasuke is a genius, he is a little dull to teach because he learns techniques easily compared to the less predictable Naruto.

During the second phase of the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru notices this change in Sasuke's ideals, witnessing first hand Sasuke's valuing of his teammates' safety over his own. Having need for Sasuke's craving for revenge, Orochimaru brands Sasuke with the Cursed Seal of Heaven to give him a taste of the power he can have and steer him back towards the more "favorable" path of vengeance. Although Kakashi does what he can to weaken the cursed seal, discourage its usage, and give Sasuke other means of getting stronger, Sasuke comes to realize the potential the seal allows him. To test his newfound power, Sasuke begins to seek out strong opponents that he can fight, believing each victory he obtains to be an indicator of his growth. As time goes by, however, Sasuke becomes dissatisfied with the progress he is making in getting stronger, largely a result of his quick defeat by Itachi during their brief encounter. All the while, Naruto, someone he finds to be of lesser skill, continues to surpass him in ability, creating a sense of envy within Sasuke.

Ultimately, Sasuke decides to abandon Konoha in order to seek out Orochimaru and gain power. Naruto, sent to stop Sasuke from escaping the country, eventually catches up with him and pleads for him to return. Sasuke, believing Naruto to be his closest friend, decides instead to use the last bit of advice Itachi ever gave him: in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, the highest power of the Uchiha clan, one's best friend must be killed. No longer valuing his teammates over his own self-betterment, Sasuke tries to kill Naruto and meets him in battle. Naruto, unwilling to let Sasuke go, fights with equal earnest, now willing to break Sasuke's body to bring him home. As the battle concludes, Sasuke attacks Naruto with his Chidori first while Naruto cannot make full contact with his Rasengan and merely scratches Sasuke's headband (in reference to Sasuke's claim that he couldn't scratch his forehead). As Naruto lies unconscious, Sasuke considers killing him, though upon realizing that that is what Itachi would want, decides to spare Naruto to find power in his own way. He goes to Orochimaru, ready to do whatever is necessary to gain the power he desires.

In Part II, Sasuke sees little change from his personality and mindset at the end of Part I, still craving power above all else. His lust for strength is such that, during his reunion with Naruto and Sakura, he claims to be willing to give his body to Orochimaru if it means killing Itachi. Sasuke has at least changed to a point that he no longer cares for his former teammates' well-beings, being more than willing to kill them since neither is of any use to him. His relationship with Orochimaru shows a similar lack of loyalty, as during their time together he applies no honorifics to Orochimaru's name, is somewhat rude to him, and does not express his allegiance with Otogakure by wearing a Sound headband. Of the loyalties Sasuke has, the only one he displays is that of the Uchiha clan, the symbol of which he wears on his back collar. Despite this lack of allegiances to those close to him, Sasuke seems to be unable to bring himself to needlessly harm those he has never met before, and makes it a point to prevent their deaths when possible.

Plot overview

Sasuke and his quest to kill Itachi are recurring themes in the overall plot, and as such much of the story is built upon and shaped by his actions that will make this task easier. After first meeting Orochimaru, Sasuke attempts to continue to get stronger while in Konoha, though he believes that he is slow in accomplishing this task in comparison to his peers. When Itachi arrives in Konoha to kidnap Naruto, Sasuke tries to use what he has learned to kill his brother, though Itachi is able to defeat him with little effort and taunts his inability to get stronger. This, coupled with Naruto's rapid increase in strength (further enhanced by his learning the Rasengan, a jutsu stronger than the Chidori), convinces Sasuke to abandon Konoha and seek out Orochimaru as a way to get stronger. While Naruto and four other Konoha Genin mobilize to stop Sasuke, he is still able to escape after narrowly defeating Naruto. Because of this, many of the people he leaves behind in Konoha resolve to bring him back, creating a number of future attempts to accomplish this task.

In Part II, one such effort proves successful in at least finding Sasuke, though Sasuke's rapid increase in strength allows him to quickly defeat Naruto, Sakura, and the newer members of Team 7. While he attempts to kill his former comrades, Sasuke is persuaded to spare them in case they can defeat more members of Akatsuki, an organization which Itachi belongs to, and therefore make him easier to kill. Soon afterwards Sasuke turns against Orochimaru, feeling that he can learn nothing else from him and that Orochimaru is unworthy of having his body. Although Orochimaru attempts to take his body by force, Sasuke is able to turn the process against him, later reporting to have simply retained control of his body. With Orochimaru gone, Sasuke recruits Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo, former subordinates and experimental subjects of Orochimaru, to help him in finding and ultimately killing Itachi. After naming their group "Snake", the group sets out find Itachi. After learning of an Akatsuki lair nearby they go to investigate where, after going in alone, Sasuke finds Itachi. After a brief scuffle Itachi remarks how much Sasuke has grown, and then tells Sasuke to meet him at the Uchiha hideout so that they can finish their dispute.