one more thought: Since I'm thinking about my unwritten Naruto fics, I'm now thinking about Sasuke pairings. I've never really liked him for Sakura (I think she's gotten over her crush) and I think someone like Hinata he would just dominate. But... Ino could work, in my fanon headspace.
Particularly Sasuke/Ino. I like the idea of them, but only my fanon Sasuke and my fanon Ino. How depressing is that? I could seriously be into that pairing if only the mangaka had let Ino live up to her potential we saw in the first two arcs, and if only Sasuke was not quite so angry at Konoha right now. I do like this older Sasuke (except for his anger/idiocy being a plot device) generally better than the Sasuke that ran away, mostly because he's less annoying outside of the village.
But I can only see putting him with Ino if she's advanced to the point where he could take her seriously. She can probably never be better than him, but if her mental powers were a specific skill that she excelled at, that's a kind of individualism and power right there. (That is what he looked for in his own team--specific abilities.) Which is why it crushes me that Ino has this huge potential talent in the manga but all that happens is her doing low-level medic stuff. Blah! The psychic stuff is so much cooler. Plus, I love the idea of Ino getting better and better at mental techniques, thus getting better and better at reading people and possibly manipulating them, while it also helps her understand and mature, grow as a person. Some of her "vanity" washes away as she learns what people are really like inside, and she gets the insight that lets her understand and even accept someone with as much anger as Sasuke.
Plus, I like the idea of her liking him as a child for shallow, spiteful reasons that really have more to do with Sakura than with Sasuke himself, to actually having real feelings and understanding for him as an adult. Of course, the same argument could be made for Sakura and Sasuke, but I rather like Sakura with Naruto in canon and Kakashi in my head, so that's not happening any time soon.
But, like I said, that's my fanon mental universe. The real story is somewhat different, sadly. I've never even really looked for Ino/Sasuke fanfic. But I do like this fanart for cute genin factor. (http://suppai.deviantart.com/art/Stump-colored-28772030)
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Particularly Sasuke/Ino. I like the idea of them, but only my fanon Sasuke and my fanon Ino. How depressing is that? I could seriously be into that pairing if only the mangaka had let Ino live up to her potential we saw in the first two arcs, and if only Sasuke was not quite so angry at Konoha right now. I do like this older Sasuke (except for his anger/idiocy being a plot device) generally better than the Sasuke that ran away, mostly because he's less annoying outside of the village.
But I can only see putting him with Ino if she's advanced to the point where he could take her seriously. She can probably never be better than him, but if her mental powers were a specific skill that she excelled at, that's a kind of individualism and power right there. (That is what he looked for in his own team--specific abilities.) Which is why it crushes me that Ino has this huge potential talent in the manga but all that happens is her doing low-level medic stuff. Blah! The psychic stuff is so much cooler. Plus, I love the idea of Ino getting better and better at mental techniques, thus getting better and better at reading people and possibly manipulating them, while it also helps her understand and mature, grow as a person. Some of her "vanity" washes away as she learns what people are really like inside, and she gets the insight that lets her understand and even accept someone with as much anger as Sasuke.
Plus, I like the idea of her liking him as a child for shallow, spiteful reasons that really have more to do with Sakura than with Sasuke himself, to actually having real feelings and understanding for him as an adult. Of course, the same argument could be made for Sakura and Sasuke, but I rather like Sakura with Naruto in canon and Kakashi in my head, so that's not happening any time soon.
But, like I said, that's my fanon mental universe. The real story is somewhat different, sadly. I've never even really looked for Ino/Sasuke fanfic. But I do like this fanart for cute genin factor. (http://suppai.deviantart.com/art/Stump-colored-28772030)