Okay, quick response before I go catch a bus to the airport! I actually was thinking somewhat about the politics of the situation when I wrote More Sins Than Condemnation, which is a sidefic explaining how Iruka got assigned as Sasuke's parole officer.
I agree with you that Sasuke himself would not think sideways about his situation -- he's stuck in a violence-or-nothing mindset. He's an unreliable narrator through most or all of "What Isn't Broken (Can Still Be Fixed)," and there are quite a lot of things he doesn't just misinterpret but simply fails to see. But I think that other people around him would be aware of the possibility of changing the political structure of the village rather than either allowing the status quo to continue or tearing the village down entirely. In fact, I have Kakashi making a start at those internal changes, and threatening to tell Sasuke how to apply more political pressure unless Kakashi gets his way on a certain point. Iruka is also aware that Konoha's internal politics are dangerous and coercive.
It is quite likely that Kakashi (or Sakura, or Iruka) will drop hints to Sasuke at some point about how to subtly lead his students to expect more openness from and, I dunno, civilian oversight for Konoha's government. But I think they wouldn't risk that until Sasuke conclusively proves his intent to stay in Konoha, which means that conversation can't happen until after "What Isn't Broken (Can Still Be Fixed)" -- and now I have another sidefic idea, argh.
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Re: Really long comment, pt2
Date: 2010-06-11 06:02 pm (UTC)I agree with you that Sasuke himself would not think sideways about his situation -- he's stuck in a violence-or-nothing mindset. He's an unreliable narrator through most or all of "What Isn't Broken (Can Still Be Fixed)," and there are quite a lot of things he doesn't just misinterpret but simply fails to see. But I think that other people around him would be aware of the possibility of changing the political structure of the village rather than either allowing the status quo to continue or tearing the village down entirely. In fact, I have Kakashi making a start at those internal changes, and threatening to tell Sasuke how to apply more political pressure unless Kakashi gets his way on a certain point. Iruka is also aware that Konoha's internal politics are dangerous and coercive.
It is quite likely that Kakashi (or Sakura, or Iruka) will drop hints to Sasuke at some point about how to subtly lead his students to expect more openness from and, I dunno, civilian oversight for Konoha's government. But I think they wouldn't risk that until Sasuke conclusively proves his intent to stay in Konoha, which means that conversation can't happen until after "What Isn't Broken (Can Still Be Fixed)" -- and now I have another sidefic idea, argh.
Anyway, thank you for such a thoughtful reaction!