so. i think for starters what is most interesting about the sasuke and shikamaru dichotomy is that shikamaru has almost everything that sasuke doesn't and is essentially a projection of the sasuke that could have been had he been born into a normal life

shikamaru is part of a normal clan, that clan has no kekkei genkai, shikamaru has a father who puts time into his emotional well being, a father who doesn't push him to be the best but also nurtures him as a person, shikamaru has a mundane and normal life growing up

and this is essentially a complete antithesis to how sasuke grows up. sure, sasuke grows up in a loving household, but that household also exerts immense pressure on him esp since he's a second child, and the son of a noble clan. there are so many things that mold him to be worse

i think where they crossover is in the idea that they're cynics, but at the same time, sasuke is a cynic to the point of anarchy whereas shikamaru acts more as a critic within the system and as such that's why he's set up to be an advisor. he's still just a little more grounded

and i mean, obv, why wouldn't he be. he didn't lose his family traumatically like sasuke did. but it's very striking the way that he kills hidan bc we see that if given the reasons and the leniency, shikamaru has as much a potential to act on coldhearted killer instincts

i think bc we see so little inside of shikamaru's head that we're not fully inclined to how detached he can become from reality, but i still think it's a cusp that's there. it's a cusp he has to fight to bring himself back from every day

he's smart enough to take down ppl if he feels wronged. he's coldhearted enough if need be and brutal in the way that he can inflict pain. but he doesn't. he fights back relentlessly against the concept of reckless abandon, and i think that's exactly why he comes off so detached

imo that's also why his relationship with naruto feels more plausible than naruto's relationship with sasuke. he's a little more grounded, a little more insistent about fighting back against that potential darkness, and it brings him just a little closer to naruto's idealism

naruto and sasuke are such polar opposites and i think that's why they work well as a tragedy. they're on either extreme end of a spectrum in terms of political philosophy. but naruto and shikamaru balance each other. shikamaru grounds naruto and naruto makes shikamaru have hope

i don't think naruto doesn't make sasuke have hope, obv he does, we see that clearly. but i don't think naruto will ever really understand just how far off the deep end sasuke is in his head. like to an extent sasuke will always be unreachable, while shikamaru's a little closer