You kidding? If you are talking about Goku and Bulma...Goku had no interest...even if Bulma had slight interest. In DBZ Yamcha was cheating on Bulma, it was implied at the beginning of the Saiyan saga. Vegeta was a much better developed character than Yamcha.
Do not compare the genius of DB and DBZ to...I don't even know what this is anymore.
I'd hardly call DBZ "genius", especially when it comes to romance.
The canon ships in Naruto turned out to be not so great, but make no mistake - the characterization in Naruto is miles above dragon ball and always had been.