User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 428: When We Take Different Paths, Review and Commentary/@comment-26263257-20150413113803/@comment-26263257-20150414105343

@NoNickNeeded

I agree that Sasuke and Gray's characters are not pure parallel... and I don't see Sasuke in Gray either. What I don't agree with you is on the viewpoints regarding their paths to "darkness". Before I explain, let me just tell you that I STILL HOPE Gray is just pretending to go dark.. and that Avatar is Makarov's elaborate ploy to rile things up and lure out big bad Zeref.

Okay... I understand Sasuke's path to darkness. He saw his family wiped out... and he saw the man who did it as the man who he looked up to the most. Losing you entire clan in the hands of a brother... a beloved, respected brother. All because the higher-ups in Konoha are scared shitless of the Uchihas. I UNDERSTAND THAT. From then on, Sasuke became Sasuke. The times with Naruto and the gang was just an experiment... or a "time-out from the darkness" at best. It was never an issue for him that Naruto was improving and catching up to him. The issue was that Naruto was treating it as some sort of rivalry. I think Sasuke was just pressed to accommodate that rivalry thing. He knew he was going to beat him anyway. Blondie was a nuisance to him because he had to lower himself for him. I doubt he was seriously seeing him as a rival (or even a friend). Naruto is phony. I never liked him. At least I can understand Sasuke's melancholy. Naruto was okay with you for as long as he was better than you... Once you are above him, he would devote time and effort and even sacrifice the team performance and chemistry just to get one over you. As for Sasuke, he was never okay with anyone... whether you are above or below him in level. To him, that time with Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and all the others was just a pleasant dream before he wakes up and resumes his path to vengeance... He never cried in a corner and left... He realized that the fates have begun weaving the destinies as Sarutobi died, Orochimaru emerged, once again saw Itachi... when he saw all that, he knew that he had to pursue the path. Beating Naruto is just a step in the ladder for him... and he really is a nuisance because he's always bugging him about fighting him WHEN he is deep in thought of how to pursue his path for vengeance. Besides, even in real life... I DON'T LIKE people who "befriend" people they see as rivals JUST TO OVERTAKE THEM. I see those people as lowly people because they do not know what friendship is. I see them as people of weak character because they had to use "friendship" in order to protect their desire to overtake their rivals. You can be firends with your rivals, but you can't use the word "friendship" just to get ahead.

Gray is different. He lost his mum to Deliora... and lost his dad to Tartarus. Deliora is a closed book with Ur's sacrifice. Defeating END is a dying father's last order to his son. Yes, I get that... BUT why would you get consumed by vengeance? Most of your childhood trauma have been resolved in one way or another, and all that's left is END. You moved on and joined FT... made friends and rivals... made a family in FT... SO WHY does it have to be a dark path towards END's destruction? I don't get Ga=ray's Sasuke-mode, because hr had a different experience from Sasuke. He treated Natsu as a real friend... and a rival. He sees everyone as such, simply because THEY ARE FAIRY TAIL. There is genuine respect and friendship in FT... as there is genuine competitive atmosphere and rivalry... AND THERE IS NO phony "we got to stick together to save the world, kill this, kill that, and bring peace" pretentious shit in FT. ...and this is why I say the chapter has gone full Naruto.