Sasuke (spoilers)

[Ladywriter]

love him or hate him ne?
I do like the kid, even if he is pretty freekin screwed up in the head. I think that the whole Uchiha massacre gave him a sort of post tramatic stress disorder; how could it not. Seven years old and everyone you care about is slaughtered by the nii san you love and idolize. Itachi goes as far as to show his kid brother the murders reducing him to a drooling ijit flat on his face. That incident had to have caused some very deep psy damage.
Sasuke went on and seemingly put it behind him. He didn't talk about it to anyone about it and even went on living in the murder house. You would think staying there was a daily reminder of the killings. Rather then mourn, he turns his horror into hatred and strives to become strong enough to kill Itachi - which was Itachi's motivation all along.
Itachi saw the clan as becoming too weak, almost passive. At 17(probably younger even) he was the strongest amongst them and it pissed him off. His clan was supposed to be elite, but he saw that it wasn't. There was no one in his clan capeable of besting him and he resented that. So... I guess he thought a clean slate was best for Uchiha. Sasuke was still young enough to get good and he had already shown great potential and determination (he busted himself trying to master katon even suprising his father. You can bet Itachi knew about it) I think Sasuke was probably the only person Itachi really loved enough to spare their life as well. Itachi didnt want to be the last Uchiha alive; he wanted to give someone the oppertunity to kill him and thus prove him wrong about his clan.I think that he showed Sasuke the murders to make the brother who loved him hate him and to motivate Sasuke to live up to his full potential and eventually avange the clan by killing their murderer.
It was a little cruel what he did to Sasuke at the hotel. He did more then just beat his ass, he let him know that he was still nowhere near Itachi's level. After he beat his lil brother he turned his Sharingan on him; I think as a reminder/motivation kind of like saying 'rember this weakling? get stonger and try again'
Sasuke has seen Naruto's skills and abilities take gigantic leaps forward- the Garra fight was pretty much the last straw for Sasuke. He got pissed and resentful that even though Sasuke had all of Kakashi's attention it still wasn't enough to beat fox boy. Kakashi gave him the chidori but it still wasnt enough to compete with Naruto.
The 4 sound took Sasuke down a peg or two and told him if he wanted power then he needed Orochimaru. By this point Sasuke was furious that he was still so weak, insainely jealous of Naruto's abilities, frustrated and fed up w/ Kakashi .... And so he skinned out of Konoha to get power the easy way. He put his desire to be more powerful and his quest for vengance ahead of home and friends.
When he fought Naruto the last time I think I saw him kind of going back and forth with the whole 'kill him/don't kill him' mindset. I think he truely wanted to kick the crap out of Naruto and get the best of him, but the look on his face when Naruto was laying in front of him seemingly defeated and still on fire... I think that was the true Sasuke. He walked away rather then kill Naruto.
So skip ahead 2 1/2 years.... I would assume that Orochimaru has been putting Sasuke through some mad training. A cursed seal dosent necissarily = more powerful. Choji Neji and the Sand nin proved that when they beat the 4 sound and even Kimimaru.
So how strong is Sasuke now and do you think he has mastered his Sharingan yet?
hmmm...

[Sledgstone]

i don't think sasuke has mastered his sharingan yet, but being with orochimaru and the sound ninja, he has probably copied every technique in the entire village.. and considering orochimaru's fascination with techniques, his subordinates were probably loaded with abilities.

[Ladywriter]

oooh I wonder if he has learned any of Orochimaru's genjutsu O_O
Paralize an enemy with fear and catch em w/ the Sharingan.

[Godgrave]

Hmmm Sasuke's not a very confused character. Right at the beginning of the series he makes it quite clear of his main goal in life - to kill a certain someone aka Itachi.

I think you've summed it up pretty much Lady where Itachi's concerned. Ofcourse that dual in the hotel was really cool and it wasn't cruel !! You could easily make out that Sasuke lacked then and Itachi was just re-assuring him so he doesn't get over his own head about himself. What use is the Chidori when you can't hit your target ?

He did break into Gaara's defense during the Chuunin finals with his Chidori, but seeing how Naruto progressed with his summoning tecnique sorta made him feel weak. At that point he relied on his cursed seal for extra chakra, but had used up a lot already.

But the plan was never to get ahead of Naruto, it was almost like - if I can't beat Naruto how could I beat my brother. Even in the end his ultimate goal was to beat his brother, which's why doesn't kill off Naruto when he lays in front of him during their final duel, as Lady said.

That way hats off to Itachi for giving him direction and strength to avenge him. It's Sasuke's fault for going on a destructive path. The path of good is long and full of challenge and it's easier to go on a dark path. Instant power is what's Orochimaru's cursed seal's about, which always fails in the end. I don't pity Sasuke, not so far atleast :happy:

EDIT: The main reason the series has taken a time leap forwards is to come to the point in the story where Sasuke's almost ready to be Orochimaru's next container. He'll be stronger indeed, but power that's shortlived.

[Sledgstone]

good points double g.

as for sauske's power, even tho it'll be short lived, sasuke wouldn't stay with orochimaru unless he was on the path of obtaining a power to kill itachi with.. and if he doesn't have his sharigan complete yet, i bet he'll have picked up quite a few forbidden techniques regardless of the short lived cursed seal power. *imagines sasuke summoning the fourth* :o

[Godgrave]

True, and I also feel that Sasuke's the type who'd walk out on Orochimaru if he feels like he's wasted his time all these years and still not mastered what he'd like to have in order to carry out his primary objective in life.

[cuidado]

I have a feeling Sasuke will eventually learn a lesson about putting all of his eggs in one basket, and will choose loyalty over his mission... but I guess I'm optimistic.