First off do you two even know what the definition of emo is? I ask because the way you guys label Sasuke is incorrect. Listen, maybe if I define it for you both you will see what I mean. "Emo" is short for emotional and it is a state of mind. From the music with strong emotion and feeling, unlike hard rock as this is more of an alternative way to let their feeling be known. Emo is not only a classification or a type of music it is also taken over the way one expresses themself by dressing. It includes the tighter fitting pants to the dyed-black or dark hair with it covering your face. Emo is more emotional and harder to fake. Yes, some emo people cut themselves but there is more to it. Emo people tend to be hated because they are viewed as suicidal, cry babies or just weak. That's NOT what emo is. It means being comfortable with oneself and is a more direct way of altering the feelings one has without words, just emotion. In other words, "emo people" are usually teenagers, who usually love music, are not all suicidal and they do not always slit their wrists. They may however be very emotional and sensitive. I am not denying that Sasuke has had his own emotional moments but from the start of the series up to current manga he has mainly had a stern visage and seemed to be nonchalant with minor moments where emotion was ever shown. Besides, this term does not fit Sasuke. If there is anybody who is emo at times that would be Naruto with the way he has recently carried himself around due to lack of Sasuke and at least Nagato had the emo appearance going on. Sasuke shouldn?t be classified emo because that is where he lacks but rather under insanity as his mentality had been gradually shattering.
To expand on that:
Emo is a style of rock music typically characterized by melodic musicianship and expressive, often confessional lyrics. It originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement of Washington, D.C., where it was known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore" and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. As the style was echoed by contemporary American punk rock bands, its sound and meaning shifted and changed, blending with pop punk and indie rock and encapsulated in the early 1990s by groups such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate. By the mid 1990s numerous emo acts emerged from the Midwestern and Central United States, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the style.
Emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s with the platinum-selling success of Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional and the emergence of the subgenre "screamo". In recent years the term "emo" has been applied by critics and journalists to a variety of artists, including multiplatinum acts and groups with disparate styles and sounds.
In addition to music, "emo" is often used more generally to signify a particular relationship between fans and artists, and to describe related aspects of fashion, culture, and behavior.
On-topic: I'm of a similar viewpoint to Nanaki. While I agree with you that the mental trauma inflicted upon Sasuke in his troubled childhood has had a huge part in reducing his psyche to its current almost emotionless state, I'm not sure I agree with your inability to label him as "evil". The simple fact is, every villain in both fiction and history, always has, and always will have some sort of past experience, or motivation, that drives them to commit the wrongs that they do. Murderers have a motive, perhaps a cheating partner, or a vengeance killing. Paeodophiles can have had similarly disturbing actions done to them as children. Thieves may be trying to supply a drug addiction, that was born out of a neglectful upbringing, and poor neighbourhood. Genocidal maniacs may have been brain-washed by the war propoganda of a previous generation.
It isn't enough to justify Sasuke's actions. We're able to "understand" him, (a key phrase here, in the very same way Naruto was able to examine Nagato's past and reach a similar conclusion), but that doesn't justify wrong-doings. In truth, there's no such thing as darkness. Only white and grey. Black doesn't really exist.
Personally, I'd still like to see Sasuke die at the end of the manga (preferable at Naruto's hands, but maybe in a sacrifice against Madara). This isn't because I dislike Sasuke, I find him to be fantastically written, but it would be nice to have the message in the manga that sometimes we have to grow up, and be realistic. It doesn't matter how strong a bond of friendship you have, sometimes you have to sacrifice that for a greater good. Even if Naruto loves Sasuke as his own brother, the safety of Konoha and the ninja world, will always have to come before the saviour of his friend. It is in my opinion, an immature and selfish cause that he will eventually come to realise.
Please note that when I say immature and selfish, it isn't as a critique of Naruto's behaviour or intelligence, but rather, me noting that he's only 16, it's a very complicated, adult situation to be in.
And there are fair differences between the situations you referenced for other characters. Gaara was a lot younger when Naruto encountered him. 12, the same as him. He'd been brought up in the same way as Naruto, shunned by the village, with the difference, that sometimes the ninja in Suna would actually attempt to kill him. There was little so suggest he had ever inflicted harm other than in self-defense, until that adult he trusted so deeply, acted against him. Also, at twelve years old, a persons perceptions, and opinions are far more malleable than those of someone on the brink of adulthood (Sasuke). Gaara encountered Naruto and saw that things didn't need to be the way they were. Naruto had gone through a similar childhood, but he wasn't a bad person. He was strong, determined, and loyal to his village.
Suna hadn't really started accepting Gaara until he demonstrated his loyalties to the village, and the effort with which he protected them as Kazekage. It's going to take a lot for Sasuke to do that. Especially if he's planning to destroy Konoha. I can't see that the Hidden Leaf would have been able to forgive Nagato. Naruto was, yes, but the rest of the village? I struggle to believe that.
The thing is, Sasuke has already seen these qualities. Both in Gaara and Naruto. But his stance hasn't changed.
As for Konan, she always struck me as more of a "follower" anyway. I never got the impression that she was anything but a good person, caught up in Nagato and Yahiko's dream. She was just a young girl, sticking close to the only two people that really looked out for her, and one of them became "Pain" after the other's death. She just chose to remain loyal to her friend. And in fairness, there's nothing to suggest that the Hidden Rain had any idea about Akatsuki's involvement in their governing. Konan never comitted any crimes against them. It's difficult to see why they wouldn't accept her.
The difference between Sasuke, and Naruto & Gaara, is that while they were more broken from the beginning, they were built up into heroes. Sasuke, however, was a child prodigy, an Uchiha, a skilled ninja. Bit by bit he's been broken down further and further.
