NaruSaku symbolism is a series of posts that is on my mind ever since I came back. Among other series I want to start. But I’ll talk about those when the time is right. Now the focus is this one.
As you know, one of the things I liked most in the story of Naruto, despite its sketchy execution here and there, was the symbolism Kishimoto used within it.
So I decided to finally write about this. As you know, I loved (and stil love despite everything else) NaruSaku because of its heavy focus within the plot and its symbolism. Therefore, in part one of the series I will be talking about one of the subtle symbolical references the author made regarding these two: the two suns.
When did this start? Why do I call them the two suns? What do I mean about that? Where has the story even implied such thing? Well, let me answer those questions for you down below.
NaruSaku symbolism: The two suns
How did this idea even came to me? Was such thing even present in the story? Well, of course it was. Maybe not that in your face type of symbolism, like it happened in other cases. But it was there. It was subtle and it was done via one of Kishi’s favorite writing devices: parallelism and mirroring. But how? Well, let me show you what I mean by that.
First mention about this concept is presented to us in chapter 544 with the same title: Two suns. When Naruto and Killer Bee head to the battlefield, in their path stands Raikage along with Tsunade.
As you all remember, Naruto and Raikage have a little beef about him and Bee going to the battlefield. Bee explains to his brother that his power doesn’t come from the bijuu only. But from another part, something that shines inside, like a sun. That is when Raikage addresses Naruto the question of his sun and he responds that his two suns are his father and mother.
Now, what does that have to do with the NaruSaku symbolism series, you might wonder? Well, via parallelism/mirroring, Kishimoto made NaruSaku the two suns of the story, like Minato and Kushina. Let me show you how.
The visual symbolism and how it relates to NaruSaku
The visual symbolism started from early days. I would first write about it in my initial theories, like Kishi’s subtle hints one.
Back in the day, like you know, I used to see these subtle connections and it made me wondered what’s with them? It wasn’t until years later, that I finally understood the subtlety of what they meant.
As you know, ever since Sakura was presented to us, on one of the covers for the chapters, she appeared with a certain symbol along with that of the boys.
While Naruto had the swirl and Sasuke the fan, Sakura had a certain circle, which would later appeared on Naruto’s bijuu mode. I kept wondering what was it with that symbol, especially after it was even clearer right after Naruto got his SO6P power-up. It was clearly the same as Sakura’s on clothes symbol.
So what was it, I wondered? What does it mean? Especially after in one of the chapters of the war, Naruto comes and heals Kakashi’s eye right off the bat.
It even has Sakura baffled and questioning. Of course, neither Naruto knows exactly how to respond to this, and the story never goes in too much detail about it. However, it is quite clear if you follow its path. And the symbolism appears to another parallel/mirror character(s) of theirs – Hashirama Senju & Mito Uzumaki.
While with Mito it’s never explained in too much detail, like I showed in my previous theories, the ones where I asked myself if Kishimoto foreshadows Sakura development via Hashirama Senju, we see the same symbol appearing on his forehead when entering Sage Mode.
The story wise symbolism
Now, with this mentioned, we can clearly see why Naruto and Sakura are the two suns of the story. Both of them, in their own respective ways, have the power to give life. That is heavy NaruSaku symbolism right there!
It’s no wonder that when one of the suns of this story was about to die, it was the other one who was near him, giving away her shine to keep him alive.
You might say that no, this is a stretch. And maybe it is. But I’ll say… is it though? The story shows us this aspect ever since its early days. Let me remind you of a certain panel. Be advised, though! It might be a bit sensitive to some.
Remember back in chapter 259 when Naruto fell under Itachi’s genjutsu where from exactly Sakura rose?
Exactly, from his belly area. Pretty crazy, huh? Now, let me get to my next point. Does this even mean something? Well, let me tell you one thing: yes, it does.
Solar plexus chakra symbolism
Now, you see, Naruto is a series that heavily focused on chakra. Now, which chakra do we know resides in that same spot Sakura appeared in Naruto’s genjutsu? Well yes – the solar plexus chakra.
So you see, besides the pretty obvious ways in which NaruSaku was poignant in the story, Kishimoto did it subtly as well. By portraying in a metaphorical manner Sakura as Naruto’s sun. His source of strength.
And it is clear by the guilt displayed, that his solar plexus chakra at that time was unbalanced. As this is one of the characteristics of an unbalanced solar plexus – guilt.
Likewise, more than once in the story it is shown to us that Naruto is Sakura’s strength. I don’t think I need to show other examples, as the manga is filled with them.
Together, however, they are the two suns that illuminate the shinobi world towards a better future. And such thing was clear ever since the beginning of the story. I treated that subject in a previous post of mine.
Conclusion
You might say that well, it doesn’t matter the story ended and he is with Hinata now. Plus, it’s about yin and yang. Well, the Yin and Yang of the story are and always were Naruto and Sasuke.
The same chapter I talked about shows us that.
It is no wonder that before the series went quite downhill and decided to cater more to a more vocal side of the fandom, in detriment of the story’s coherence, things were pretty clear: Naruto was the sun, Sasuke the moon, while Sakura his sun.
And in the war both are instrumental in winning it.
There would be even more to talk about this, but I’ll keep it essential. And its essence is this: that Naruto and Sakura are the two suns of this story.
Now with this being said, I thank you for reading this. Hope you enjoyed!
Yours truly,
Chatte.
