Continuing with my ramblings on pairings, I've decided to cover the mot extensive topic of all - crack. There are many more crack pairings in Naruto than there are cannon (well, that's not hard as the only cannon pairings I know of are AsuKure and ShikaYosh).

Still, there are varying degrees of crack, from the slightly-odd-but-well-loved KakaSaku, to the more disturbing HakuTobi. I'll try to cover the middle ground, the pairings that could happen, but won't without some odd circumstances or a lot of time.

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First, some yuri:

SakuIno. Not very crack in some people's minds, but in cannon they do appear straight, so it's a pairing that takes some thought. There's a lot going for them though - childhood friendship, rivalry, mutually attracting personalities (hence why they don't just ignore each other after becoming rivals over Sasuke), and mutual respect. The past they share can be interpreted in many ways, and puberty can lead to many new discoveries about sexuality. Attraction is achievable, and experimentation likely.

Too often though, they're paired up just for the sake of making a yuri pairing, and somebody wants to draw/write boobsquishies without thinking too hard about the characters. I find that sad, because I think this is a pairing wit a lot of potential, and depths that rarely get explored.

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Next, SasuHina

This is a popular pairing, oddly. The most common logic behind it (apart from the fact they look pretty together) is, firstly, that Sasuke has a clan to revive, and the Hyuuga is related to the Uchiha clan. There's also the rivalry-with-Naruto to factor in, and the fact that Hinata is one of the few girls who never chased him.

Occasionally, other reasons are used to pair them, and I generally prefer those because they tend to be thought out more carefully. Plus, the argument that the Hyuuga and Uchiha bloodlines are similar is not a pro in my book - I think Sasuke would rather not have his bloodline competing with a second. That logic concludes me to think Tenten is the most likely choice for him, but that's an argument for another day...

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Moving on to yaoi, we have SasoDei.

It's very hot, and it's well loved. But what's the reasoning behind it? Well, for one thing, they're 'artners' in Akatsuki, so they clearly spend a lot of time together. Also, though they disagree about the expression of art, they are both artists, and have respect for each other in that capacity. Their personalities clash, but they haven't killed each other yet, so there must be something going on, right?

Personally, I think this is a very interesting pairing to explore, because of the differences in their natures - One wants to be immortal, the other to go out with a 'bang'. One cannot feel pleasure or pain, the other lives from impulse and emotion. One destroys, one preserves. One controls and plans; the other tends to wing it. Plus, there's the way Deidara calls Sasori 'danna' (master).

Again though, this pairing is sometimes used just for the sake of pretty-boy yaoi, or sometimes to have yaoi that looks like het (admit it, Deidara looks like a girl). Still, I think most fans of this pairing like them for more than just their pretty faces.

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Anyway, I'll be back another time with more pairings...feel free to mention any you particularly want covered!

Coming soon in this series (after at least a couple more posts on crack pairings):

Threesomes - the good, the bad, and the downright disturbing

Incest - taboo, but...

Underappreciated - those amazing pairings everybody forgets about

Akatsuki - even S-class criminals need a bit of love