What was the moral of Sasuke and Orochimaru's arcs across the Naruto series? Was there any?

Question

So Naruto Gaiden has concluded, and it featured both Sasuke and Orochimaru in his latest iteration. Which again raises the question, what exactly was the moral of the story for these two?

The Naruto series excelled at emphasizing certain moral behaviors to its readers/viewers: e.g., with hard work, determination, self-confidence, and a will to succeed, even a loser or social outcast can reach the top; love and understanding each other on a deeper level can solve any problem and bring out all you're actually capable of; kindness and compassion towards wild 'Beasts' can lead to positive results; it's important never to abandon your friends and family; etc etc. All very good, solid shounen values!

So what do the lives of Sasuke and Orochimaru teach us (if anything) from their character arcs? By the end of Shipuden neither has really repented or shown remorse for their bad behavior (simple "sorries" do not cut it), both have done horrible things (murder, hideous human experimentation, etc) for which they are never punished (Sasuke is pardoned, Orochimaru's 'imprisonment' in Gaiden is pretty milquetoast, and he's even allowed to continue researching with his assistants!), and it is implied that they got a free pass for the simple reason that they joined forces with the Shinobi Alliance to destroy a common threat that was even worse (and one which was against their own interests to see succeed anyway!). Even then, Sasuke attempted to hijack things at the last minute and take over the world, only relenting when he was soundly defeated (i.e., he stopped when it was no longer possible for him to achieve his ends!). Yet both are still allowed to do pretty much whatever they please for the next decade or two. So what are we to make of all this? Do whatever you want and if you have powerful enough friends, you can get away with it, and keep on doing whatever you want?

Answer 1

Though walking the line about the possibility of this being opinion based, I feel we can answer the question based on the good ol' "Shounen Virtues" you aptly described. Let me know if you want to expand/limit the answer.

The main two according to me are:

• No one is completely bad. However in the darkness you may be, you always have that small little goodness inside of you. Be it Anti-Villains, Not Evil but Misunderstood or another common Trope. Other examples include Zabuza, Haku, Kimimaro, Itachi, Kisame, Nagato, Konan, and Obito. This also goes very nicely with the Whole Yin-Yang symbolism.

• Everyone deserves forgivness/second chances. There is nothing you can do that can/should/will not be forgiven. True redemption however takes sacrifice. I really liked the panel where Orochimaru saves Tsunade's life and then they talk about Jiraiya's death. Sasuke undertakes a journey of self discorvery post the events of 4th Great Ninja war. This is a true Shounen value in the sense because if they regret their past actions they are excused.

Other small values I feel were discussed are

• Morality of Revenge - Sasuke's journey from Itachi to hidden leaf and finally for World Domination. Also subverted by Naruto by forgiving Pain. Shikamaru meanwhile is still laughing at Hidan
• Bonds of Student and Teacher - Fights between 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Pain, Kakashi and Sasuke, 4th Hokage and Obito we see recurring instances of Sensei's love.

Answer 2

Not really, it was just to show what the hell Sasuke was doing with Orchimaru, and how Sasuke obtains the powers he does. Naruto is kind of a split story between Naruto and Sasuke. But we see Naruto's side more often than Sasuke's.