[fic] Anesthetized

[kathy20121]

Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke
Prompt: Birthday
Word count: 4,447
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto
Warnings: Explicit sexual situations.
Summary: He had come to understand that just as alcoholics craved for liquor and canvas needed brush-strokes, Naruto would always long for Sasuke… The war is over. Naruto

Comments

[kathy20121]

Thanks so much for such a complete review, really, it's good to have pointed out what you're doing wrong in order to grow as a writer.

Yeahh, and you're more than right about Naruto, he's very innocent, that's why I decided to have him older (though I think I didn't make that point across)and I really think that one day he'll wake up to that kind of feelings. But I agree that SasuNaru allows writers to keep them as in character as possible. And don't worry, I think that us, fanfiction writers, should do our best to keep the characters as much in character as we can since we're taking them from someone else's is the least we can do =)

Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's just I think that would sort of be the logical way to go, everyone always likes to have a name and person to blame for the bad things happening and I honestly didn't think/know it was such a recurring theme, I haven't read much Naruto fanfiction to be honest (class and life are keeping me away) and I just read the manga back in January this year, so I'm really new to the fandom, but thanks so much for pointing out. =)

because i've just seen this argument too often.

[transient_words]

I'm sorry. I'm going to chime in here, and I didn't even read your fic (though you seem to be a decent writer and all).

I don't think Naruto is that innocent. A bit oblivious when it comes to Hinata’s feelings yes, but he’s also shown a surprising amount of emotional maturity when it comes to Sakura, his reactions to Sasuke and a lot of other canon events. He’s a dolt and trickster, but he’s also shown a surprising amount of intelligence and sharpness (it’s just that Kishi can’t seem to decide how smart or dumb the boy lastly is).

He's fairly well-versed when it comes to porn (he's read Jiraiya's porn novels), and he did invent the sexy no jutsu, which proves that he’s - when it comes to sex and all - he’s not ignorant at all.

I don’t why the other person seems to think he wouldn’t initiate physical contact. I don’t think there’s any canon evidence for that. If anything, I think Naruto is a very physical person; he’s become better in Shippuden, but he’s still more of the “charge forward and think about the consequences later” guy.

So I could see him initiating physical contact. At least when it comes to Sasuke. He wouldn’t shy away from that. He’s not scared of Sasuke at all.

Moreover, he’s not that sweet. Kind? Yes. But he’s not the sappy shoujo wimpy kind of sweet. He’s not afraid of using violence, and will punch you in the guts if he feel it’s justified. And I don’t see how sweetness is a criteria for being seme or uke.

Lastly, I don’t see why Sasuke can’t be uke. I really don’t. In fact, the boy is so emotionally stunted in canon that I believe you’d have to make a move on him first to start anything. Not that he can’t top either.

I would say more, like how these two boys are fairly equal in terms of the whole (stupid) seme/uke debate, but I’ll let it be.

But really. NaruSasu is not any more OOC than SasuNaru. I’ve seen garbage fic for both.

IC Sasuke and Naruto fic is the sort that acknowledges their deep bond in canon, the fact that they’re both terribly stubborn in their own ways and that, despite their differences, they’re lastly very similar to each other.

Re: because i've just seen this argument too often.

[kathy20121]

Ok, let me rephrase that 'cause I really think I used the wrong word. Oblivious does fit better, but when I used the word innocent I meant sexually, not otherwise, but either way is wrong (I'm going around in circles, sorry) is not that he's innocent, it's that it seems as he's a bit uninterested, I mean, he did create the sexy no jutsu, but if I recall correctly, when he gives the book to Kakashi at the beginning of the second part, he said something like he didn't understand it or found it boring, idk.

I said my Naruto!seme is sweet, but not that kind of sweet (I've used all the wrong words, I need to write the author's notes better xD), but gentle, even when he's in the dominant position. And I was just making the comparison because this is my second SasuNaru/NaruSasu fic, and in the first one, Sasuke was seme and he was too demanding, sort of speak.

As I say, I'm a baby to the whole Naruto fandom, but I'm seeing there's this whole debate about who's seme and uke. I personally love them both, but I think Sasuke's demeanor is that of getting what he wants and given his personality, I think he would want to be very dominant in the situation, nevertheless, I agree that someone like Naruto (who he shares with something deeper than anyone in the manga, besides Itachi) could lead and try to make him feel better someone as emotionally scarred as Sasuke through intimacy or even physical contact and be perfectly believable.

Either way, I think they both care about each other in their very particular way, and they're an amazing couple no matter who tops.

PS: Is that Lelouch from Code Geass that I see in your icon?(and... Suzaku?)

Re: because i've just seen this argument too often.

[transient_words]

I’m sorry I didn’t mean to come across as attacking you; I was just commenting more on the review you got. I didn’t even read your author’s notes (I might have been rude for chiming in like that, sorry again).

I do agree that Naruto is inexperienced, but then he’s 15-16 in Shippuden, so that’s neither rare nor something that stands in the way of him initiating physical contact. I think he said boring, which I think can be interpreted differently. Either he’s already read too much porn to the point that it bores him (because it does get boring after a while, believe me) or Jiraiya doesn’t write particularly good porn. I don’t think it means that he’s not interested in sex, and him not being too perverted right now is because his mindset is pretty much focused on getting Sasuke back. And a lot of other things. But I’m sure he does think about it once every now and then.

Ah, I see Naruto … he could be gentle and rough. It depends. If you push the wrong buttons, he could be a bit rougher and Sasuke is not a delicate doll. I think Naruto would be gentle if he were with Sakura though or a girl; he tends to treat Sakura especially with a lot of respect and gentleness. So he’s really sweet when it comes to that. With Sasuke, he always tends to be a bit rougher and more honest? But yes, I don’t’ think he’d be all sadistic or anything of the sort. I could see Sasuke being a bit rougher, since he’s got this whole power and control issues of his, but I don’t think Naruto would cry and break for him.

I see it like that too, yes. I think Sasuke would dominant too. And so would Naruto. I mean, they’re both very competitive. But Sasuke more so than Naruto. But I just don’t like the fandom cliché of him being all sadistic or … you know those terrible manga where the seme is all “I’ll hurt you” and so forth.

YES. Again to that.

PS: It is. They’re pretty much my OTP these days, after my having left Naruto fandom. A lovely couple <3

Again, sorry for barging in like that. And thank you for replying in such a mature and elegant way.

Re: because i've just seen this argument too often.

[kathy20121]

No, it didn't, believe me! It's just that you referred to her use of the word 'sweet' and I think she got that from my author's note xD

Either of the reasons you exposed is perfectly possible, I mean I do believe that even if right now he's not interested due to the shenanigans going on, once it's all over, he is going to be interested in the future.

Sure, I think he can be rough, but I wanted to make him gentle towards Sasuke 'cause it was their first time and Sasuke was in a fragile mental state (I'm a helpless romantic, I can't help it! xD)

Yeah, I don't like Sasuke being completely saddistic, a bit rough yeah, but not that saddistic.

PS: Aaaw, that's absolutely awesome, I recently finished watching Code Geass (this saturday) and I absolutely loved it, though I honestly spend my fair share of episodes hating Suzaku for always being against Lelou, but the ending's amazing, it redeemed them for me! xD

And don't worry about it, it's nice to read other people's opinions and having a healthy debate =)

[kathy20121]

Thanks so much for reading, commenting and the welcome! I appreciate of you making that remark, I'll take it into account for next fics =)

I agree with you that being uke doesn't render a character as weak. I'm not a sex expert or anything of the sort, but I think sex should be about giving and receiving, so under that belief, even if the couple is yaoi, the roles can be interchangeable and the person to take the initiative can change from time to time. That's how I see Sasuke and Naruto, do I think that Sasuke has a more dominant personality to be the regular seme? Yes, but I also think there can be occasions when Naruto takes the initiative. Besides, even if right now he's a bit dense about it, he does know that sex exists, and I guess those feelings are awakened, especially when you're with the person you love (on the supposition that their relationship could reach that level, since speaking in canon this is shonen)

And maybe it's not that's the same pairing 'cause from a yaoi perspective it sort of changes, but it involves the same two people, I mean, I've always liked the couples that aren't the most popular and that the other side (the other pairing that involves one of the elements of the pairing I ship) is always trying to tear apart, so this couple is sort of a breath of fresh air 'cause they're practically canon (Ok, I'm going way too cracky there xD), so we should enjoy them as the great couple they make either way.

And don't worry, it's nice to chat with fellow shippers and know what they think. Thanks a lot! =)

[repanse]

Don't worry, I never said it wasn't plausible. ;)

[repanse]

I think everyone can express an opinion, so I don't see why I should labeled as "rude" only because I expressed mine. I don't think I mortified kathy20121 or her work with what I said and I invite her to say otherwise if I'm wrong. There was already a exchange of ideas between kathy20121 and another reader about this topic, which I commented upon. So, I think that what is rude is bursting in here saying "sorry I didn't read your work but whatever" just to comment what a reader said, like transient_words did.
Also, I would like to point out that I never said nor think that Naruto is some sappy shoujo guy who cries for Sasuke, ignorant about sex and sweet as sugar. I was and am not talking about what fanwriters do, but about canon so I don't see why you're throwing back at me the garbage on the SasuNaru part of fandom, as if saying that in my opinion canon convey a certain idea it means I'm into that. Yes, I think canon justify SasuNaru a lot more than NaruSasu and I don't see why such opinions have to be chastised. This isn't real life and honestly I'm tired of the "it's the same pairing" story....I've been in this fandom for many years and thought the same thing, but lately I've changed my opinion simply because I understood NS fans and SN fans work on very different assumptions, assumptions that in fact make the characters we're talking about different ones. It can't be helped and say "it's the same pairing", well, isn't going to change things. There may be people like you who don't care about what you think is a trivial matter, but there are a hell lot more of people who do and I don't see why this is stupid or shouldn't happen (and of course it is stupid if compared to people dying everyday all around the world, but most probably 90% of what we do everyday is stupid compared to this). I don't like to be hypocritical and with every right I claim that the seme/uke issue is the very foundation of yaoi/shounen-ai/whatever we're talking about, which aren't about about real gay relationships. That, of course, shouldn't keep us from being realistic, but the seme/uke issue is relevant in a yaoi/shounen-ai fandom, you like it or not so PLEASE stop saying it isn't right to talk about these things, because what it's not right is people like you who want to tell others how and what to think.
As for Naruto and Sasuke, I don't get how Naruto can't be labeled as a very physical person when all the manga is characterized by a remarkable reluctance to touch (unless it is about fighting or healing). This is very understandable considering the japanese mentality, in which Naruto fits perfectly. He saw his beloved Sakura-chan and all his friends after two years and he didn't hug them or something. He suffered a lot from Sasuke's departure and Jiraiya's death and still we didn't see him seek the comfort of physical touch nor others giving it to him, not even Iruka. We finally saw him being hugged by the father he never knew, but distances were kept between him and his mother. So I really don't get how Naruto is a very physical person unless we're talking about him punching someone. Actually my point of view is totally different: I think Naruto may be a bit stuck up. Sure, there are gag scenes in which he enjoys to turn himself into a woman or wants to peep the women's side at the bathouse, but we know that he doesn't find porn interesting whatever the reason is and that he used to chastise Jiraiya because of his spying on nude women habit. He didn't call him "ero-sennin" for nothing and that surely wasn't a compliment. He definitevely isn't going to be some kind of funny pervert like Jiraiya or Kakashi. he takes the "three bad habits of the shinobi world" story rather seriously and in fact he wouldn't even drink because he's underage. He enjoys the Sexy no Jutsu but that's because he enjoys to scandalize, to be the center of attention having other men drool over him (and that's pretty gay), but in a naive sort of way.

[repanse]

I guess it's all a matter of opinions. In my point of view it makes a big difference and like I said, I'm tired of people saying "but it's the same pairing" as if they're stating that sky is blue and that's the end of the story. Anyway I apologize too if I misunderstood what you said.

[repanse]

Don't worry, I never said it wasn't plausible. ;)