Redemption

"Kill me, and become a hero, or die at my hand and become another one of my victims!"
~Sasuke Uchiha.

Redemption. Something that tends to be important.
Very important.
It has a huge role in the superfamous manga/anime Naruto, from which the above quote is featured (chapter title: Near... Far... episode name: Two Fates).
Naruto believes in redemption. It's what saves him, and what drives him to save others.
(For those of You familiar with Naruto, You may skip this next paragraph)
Naruto, from a young age, is despised in his village of Konoha because he is the container of a sealed demon (i highly recommend learning more, this is a short summary. Naruto is an excellent series). His youth is lonely, but he begins to form bonds with people when they see how strong he truly is. He is, in his own words, the number one hyperactive loudmouth knuckledheaded ninja. He dreams of being the Hokage, or head ninja in his village. Despite the fact that many hate him, he continues to be a bright cheerful person.

Naruto understands pain. He grew up with it. It's ever present in his world. But, through his bonds with others he was redeemed. Instead of hating everybody back, he set out to prove them wrong (see; Subaku Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke).
And prove them wrong he does. There are various times that his philosophy of life, and his understanding of pain allows him to redeem his opponents, instead of killing them (for notable instances see; Momochi Zabuza, Haku, Nagato, Konan, Hyuga Neji, Subaku Gaara). This culminates in his saving of the village, when he becomes a hero. He continually gathers more friends, and does his absolute best to save them, sacrificing everything he can. That's why Sasuke will always be his greatest failure.

Uchiha Sasuke. The most dynamic character of the series, he began as Naruto's teammate, willing to give his life to save him (example: within Haku's icemirrors) and ends up swearing to kill him (see above quote).
While Naruto relies on his bonds for strength, Sasuke relies on his hatred of bonds. (To be honest, i believe Sasuke is truly insane at this point int the manga). Sasuke's world revolves around avenging his slain clan, of which he is the sole survivor. He has an extremely high body count at this point, and is known to attack ally and enemy, even betraying his own team Taka to get closer to his revenge. When Sasuke first left the village, Naruto swore to bring him back, to save him. Every time Sasuke delves deeper into the dark, it just hardens Naruto's resolve to save him. He will stop at nothing to save him.
"Kill me... or become another one of my victims..."
To that, Naruto only has to say, if we die, we go together (paraphrasing). He continues to state that they are at a level where they are the only ones who can battle each other, and at the end of that battle, either both or none of them will die. Sasuke's response? 'You're the only one who will die at that battle'.

The point of this long winded monologue? Redemption. Everybody, everybody else has given up on Sasuke. Except for Naruto. He will never stop trying to save him. But... is that the right thing to do? Every moment between their final confrontation and that moment is another moment he could be damaging another's life. Is it right that Naruto allows him to live? Is it? Can Sasuke be redeemed, or is Naruto just prolonging pain by staying in a state of denial? i don't know. i suspect that only Kishimoto Masashi, the author of Naruto knows.

To tie this in with my own story, there are several characters in need of redemption. The question of "can they be redeemed" stands just as validly for them as it does for Sasuke. The main candidates in the redemption catagory are Sparrow, Sanyuta (when living(i do sweem unable to decide if he's dead or not. Your opinion?)) and Irakura. Each has positive and negative things going for their odds of redemption.
Sparrow: He was a hero. Then, he became a terrorist. It's hard to say he can be redeemed, because of how he fell. It's his mentality. Yet, at the same time, having been a former hero can help him on his path to redemption. It's really all about if he thinks he's fallen or not. He doesn't think so. Convincing him he's one of the bad guys is the first step to saving Sparrow.
Later, i'll discuss Irakura and Sanyuta in depth.
Chow!