Plot twist: Mitsuki's real mother is Sakura. Sarada and Mitsuki got switched at birth when Sarada was born in Oto. Sakura actually does have a umbilical cord in her possession... except she doesn't know that it isn't a match with Sarada (or maybe she does know?). Later down the line, Sasuke faces Mitsuki and goes Darth Vader on him:

Sasuke: "Mitsuki I AM your father."

Because Orochimaru in a woman's body + the Mitsuki clones are red herrings. Totally.

People were blinded by the Team 7 nostalgia. This is why they hated even poor, gentle Juugo, whose backstory was just like Naruto's and Gaara's (except he dealt with his situation in a surprisingly mature way).

@Bail

 

Okay, just to recap:

 

I claimed that because of IC character interactions between Team 7 in chapter 693 and above (including The Last, which is chapter 699.5), Sakura was once again shown pushing away Naruto in favor of Sasuke, and thus NS wouldn't have made sense IC from that point on.

 

Bail, you said that "SS happening after 693 didn't make sense because sasuke bluntly pointed out her had no interest in her and had no idea why she had any in him." which to me is an acceptance of what I claimed previously since you didn't refute it. Also you brought up a point that I never mentioned.

 

So I claimed what you quoted in your post above.

 

And then you say that the editors are at fault.

 

 

Which is why, I ask you now:

 

 

What were we arguing about again? Are we talking about IC (in-universe, thinking of the characters as people with free will)? Or are we talking about OOC (any outside forces that could have influenced the story, regarding characters as tools to tell the story)?

 

o_0V

 

Uhhh. I'm legitimately confused, and I cannot respond because I don't know what we're arguing about anymore.

It not that he ignores it, rather he has acknowledged it a long time ago like many of us. That said of course, guys' feelings can change as well, we are all human. That said Naruto never really have a moment of doubt because of that circumstance that the movie made up. The story shouldn't have him kept that feeling for Sakura till the end, especially when it was clear that NS was the path by the time Pain Arc happened.

 

Fair enough. Then I bring up my other argument:

 

I argue that Sakura clearly didn't care about Naruto, the exact same way Sasuke didn't care about her in chapter 693. She yelled her disgusting confession right in front of Naruto and Kakashi.

 

If we're arguing that NS "should have happened" because of their manga interaction with each other, then I also claim it "couldn't have happened", also because of their final manga interactions.

 

I also amend the word "disgusting". It was simply "desperate", and whether or not I found it disgusting - or something equally negative - shouldn't have appeared in my statement.

@skarrow
Sasuke poke sakura forehead is the reciprocate

 
...You seem really insistent on this. Which translation of chapter 699 should I be looking at to understand Sasuke's (Kishi's) intent?
 
I noticed you ignored the rest of what I said. My argument hasn't changed at all. I shall repeat it.
 

However, it doesn't change the fact that somehow or other, in the future, they have a kid together.
 
Many people on this forum disliked what Sakura said about a girl's feelings never changing, because human feelings CAN change.
 
So surely a boy's feelings could change overtime as well?

EDIT:


To clarify, Sasuke's forehead poke is something that symbolizes his irreplaceable bond with Itachi. Regardless of what he meant to convey to Sakura IC with it, he was still sharing with her something that had extreme importance to him.


And despite his refusal to take Sakura with him on his journey, he actually deigned to explain his motivations for wandering the Elemental Countries to Sakura, when in the past he would leave her to fall into lava and shut down any questions she had during their final battle,


IC, his feelings changed from complete disregard and derision of Sakura's existence to... neutrality.

@skarrow
Actually NS could happen even after all of that if sasuke doesn't reciprocate in 699 and naruto make his confession while sakura accept it.

I don't see Sasuke reciprocating Sakura's feelings in 699. He gave her a brotherly poke on the forehead, which was obviously something that she didn't understand.

 

However, it doesn't change the fact that somehow or other, in the future, they have a kid together.

 

Many people on this forum disliked what Sakura said about a girl's feelings never changing, because human feelings CAN change.

 

So surely a boy's feelings could change overtime as well?

 

SS happening after 693 didn't make sense because sasuke bluntly pointed out her had no interest in her and had no idea why she had any in him.

I didn't say anything about SS in my previous post. But alright, let's talk about it.

 

I argue that Sakura clearly didn't care about Naruto, the exact same way Sasuke didn't care about her in chapter 693. She yelled her disgusting confession right in front of Naruto and Kakashi.

 

If we're arguing that NS "should have happened" because of their manga interaction with each other, then I also claim it "couldn't have happened", also because of their final manga interactions.

I heard that supposedly a bunch of Naruhina fans kept bullying and threatening Kishimoto's family because they wanted Hinata to be the main heroine and stuff.

Is that true? or just a rumor "made up rumor"? altought It wouldnt surprise me really.

 

Every fan following has their bad apples. Don't make the same mistake Tobirama made in regards to the Uchiha.

 

 

 

Having characters interact, regardless of genre, and regardless if it's romantic or just friendship, is absolutely key in developing any relationship.

 

And as the 4th war showed us, through the interaction of characters, Sakura is still desperately "in love" with Sasuke. Chapter 693 was NS's grave, The Last being announced as chapter 699.5 was the final nail in the coffin. NS happening after Sakura's chapter 693 confession (and her plea to travel the world with Sasuke) wouldn't make sense either.

Can someone explain to me the problem behind Sasuke getting a lot of attention in part 2?

 

 

[...]"Log", a ninja that has a Samurai build that can steal memories[...]

 

We had the Matrix, and now we've got Inception. Kishimoto is clearly desperate to work on his sci-fi manga

 

 

BTW, where was Jugo in all of this

 

He ran away to Disney and became a Disney Princess so he could spend time with all of the animals he'd befriended before, oblivious to the destruction of the old franchise he was once a part of. Or maybe he isn't oblivious and saw it coming right from the start, so he wisely chose to bail.

 

Orochimaru used to be the best damn villain in the series. Now he's a stay at home mom.    

Even if he was originally male, as long as he's in a female body, not even Orochimaru can escape from Japan's the Elemental Nations' antiquated marriage ideals for wives.

 

So his plot in bolt will revolve around getting close to Bolt? So he can become orochimaru perfect creation? I'm guessing? So this is this is basically just to set up the SNS clone MitsukixBoruto.

 

I predict an explosion of mpreg fanfiction

I know this is usually 4life's little style, but I'm gonna borrow it just this once...  

 

 

If Naruto: The Last was a story about the sisterly bond between Hinata and Hanabi  kinda like Frozen and it focused on that as it's primary plot,  and the NaruHina  romance was a subplot to the film instead, then it would make the film better. 

 

 

Agree or Disagree? 

 

Definitely agree. The Last was what made me stop supporting canon NH in the first place.

 

They shouldn't just make the romance a subplot. They should fix a lot more things about the movie's actual plot. If I was at home right now, I would list these things down, but instead I'll talk about one thing they shouldn't have done:

 

Hinata's bullying scene existed not only to create that stupid red scarf metaphor, but also to highlight the Byakugan. If they wanted to give attention to the Byakugan they should scrap the scene entirely (seriously, trash that scarf metaphor) and replace it with an in-depth look at Kumo's attempted kidnapping of Hinata, which will not only give the audience an idea of how prized the doujutsu is, but will FINALLY explain how an ambassador from Kumo managed to infiltrate a clan compound full of ninjas who can see through walls. Then they should follow this flashback with an explanation of the different levels of Byakugan, contrasting it with the Uchiha's Sharingan. And finally they should talk about the Hyuuga clan in general, and their relationship to Hamura.

@skarrow
The only time Hinata become main character is in the last which is the movie dedicate for her.

 

 

I never claimed otherwise.

 

Sakura got replaced by Hinata as a main character in The Last.

 

and

 

Sakura has potential but kishi never live up nor fulfil it.

 

I said that too.

 

 

Sakura has the same relevancy with kakashi. The difference is one of them is fan favorite while the other is fan hate character who I think the hate is as big as jar jar bink.

 

We're essentially saying the same thing, but from two opposite sides of the situation.

 

 

 

Oh Hinata background only interesting for her fan.

 

I don't know what you're trying to argue here.

 

I know it's frustrating, but now that Hinata is officially the heroine, her background is relevant to the story at hand.

 

Except, they make no mention of it in The Last and just focused entirely on her feelings for Naruto. And then make her irrelevant in the Bolt movie and in Naruto Gaiden.

Tbh I think it could have been much, much worse than ch 699-700 and The Last.

"Hiruzen Obito Uzumaki, you were named for two Konoha shinobi. One of them was an Uchiha, and he was probably the coolest man I ever knew."

Statement: In the very early stage of the series (before chapter 100), Kishi didn't have any set pairing in mind. Instead, he only has standby and see who works. For example, he only tested waters to see if NaruHina would be ideal, but maybe due to reasons, he didn't continue on; thus, start testing with NaruSaku.

In other words, he only testing these potentials and had no intention to make anyone canon.

Agree or disagree?

 

Disagree. Kishimoto just wanted to write about a boy who ate at a ramen stand and solved other customers' problems by talking to them. Other people told him to add in more stuff, and thus we got a cool elite rival, and the token love interest in chapter 3. Sakura literally exists just so Naruto would focus on Sasuke and introduce him to the readers, because he dislikes Sasuke so much that if it weren't for Sakura prompting him, he'd never look at Sasuke, period. Proof? Well, I could probably let it slide if chapter 3 was titled "Sasuke and Sakura!" but it's titled "Uchiha Sasuke!", making it clear who's of real importance here. Heck, the reason why Naruto likes Sakura? It's because she wants acknowledgement from Sasuke!

 

And Hinata was just one of many characters who got created on the fly just to fill in the numbers for the Chuunin Exams arc. Her role was the same as Sakura's: to put the spotlight on Neji.

 

If he was testing out a pairing, there's no question that it's SNS

What ultimately disappointed me about Sakura was the fact that she was one of the four main characters of Naruto (that's Team 7, basically).

 

People would claim in the past that "Hinata makes a better heroine than Sakura" but these are the shippers talking. Anyone who seriously compared the two of them before The Last had their shipper goggles on full power, fighting over whether Naruto should father Hinata's babies or Sakura's babies. Other than Uzumaki Naruto, they had nothing relevant to compare with each other.

 

Because Sakura was a main character, and Hinata was a side character. That's all there is to it.

 

Hinata was a side character, so expectations for her were relatively low.

 

Sakura on the other hand was a MAIN character, and her character development and relevancy to the plot was supposed to be keeping up with Naruto's, Sasuke's, and Kakashi's. Or at least keeping up with Kakashi's development/relevancy because one of the major focuses of the manga was the Naruto/Sasuke rivalry.

 

Her development in part 1 was... okay. She started out as a noisy brat who didn't understand orphans. Then she had the scene where she was unable to keep from crying when Sasuke was presumed dead in the Waves arc. She then protected Naruto and Sasuke from Sound ninja in the Chuunin Exams. Her fight with her rival Ino in the prelims was a moment of strength for her. POAL happened. And then she goes up to Tsunade and asks for training.

 

At the beginning of part 2 her development/relevance skyrocketed so much, fans were going crazy. She singlehandedly saved Kankuro from death by poison, a poison that no one knew how to treat, with the skills she'd picked up during the timeskip. She teamed up with Chiyo to fight with Sasori and beat him, when in the past all she could do was just act as a meat shield with a kunai.

 

Expectations of Sakura were hyped up like crazy... and Sakura herself just stopped. She was just there. Or used as a device, like a side character. She failed to live up to the weighty expectations that had been placed on her. In comparison, Sasuke and Naruto's characters got loads and loads of attention and relevancy. Kakashi faded from the spotlight for a while, but bounced back when Obito's identity was revealed. But Sakura's development/relevance just came to a halt after the Gaara Rescue arc. Worse, her development/relevancy took a nosedive during the Kage Summit arc.

 

The Kage Summit arc was arguably one of the worst arcs of part 2 and the entire series, because while the War arc created plot hole after plot hole, the Kage Summit arc gave all four main characters negative character development. Sakura got hit by it the worst, because up until then her relevancy/development had been completely static. I'm not talking about her confession to Naruto. I'm talking about when she had the chance to kill/seriously injure Sasuke, and didn't take it.

 

We already know about how her spine had been ripped away from her and all she began to focus on was Sasuke, resetting any development she had left, so I won't talk about it here. I think everyone would agree that Sakura was beyond saving when Sasuke told her "sorry" and she replied with "for what?".

 

Sakura had the potential. Kakashi had pointed out in part 1 that Sakura was intelligent, had a talent for chakra control and genjutsu, and was "the same as Naruto" in the sense that she hated giving up and refused to go down easily. In part 2 Kakashi also noted that at the rate of her development, Sakura would soon surpass Tsunade herself. Chiyo commented that Sakura had a noble heart, which was rare (among kunoichi). Ignoring the slight sexist undertones, Chiyo was referring to Sakura's strength of character as a person and as a shinobi. Sakura had the potential... and she failed to live up to everyone's expectations.

 

So.

 

Sakura got replaced by Hinata as a main character in The Last.

 

Now that the focus was on Hinata and not on Sakura (who was officially a side character at this point), we see the exact same problems.

 

Hinata actually has a workable backstory: her father issues, her self-esteem issues, and the Hyuuga Branch enslavement issues. Mysteriously, they are never brought up, and her shyness isn't acknowledged by the narrative as a character flaw. Instead, it gets heavily romanticized.

 

Hinata is shown to not have changed at all since her part 1 self. She is unable to give Naruto a scarf without some serious prodding from Sakura. Actually, it's even worse because in part 1, Hinata mustered up the courage to give Naruto the medicine herself (and succeeded), but in The Last she was literally unable to talk to Naruto for two whole years, and was unable to give the scarf to Naruto until they were in the middle of dangerous enemy territory, with her own sister suffering from missing eyeballs close by.

 

When she learns about Toneri's plans to destroy the world and what he did to Hanabi's eyes, she keeps the information to herself instead of informing her teammates about it, then proceeds to romantically frolic with Naruto through a destroyed city and fix the red scarf. When she finds out that she is the Byakugan Princess in that very same city, destined to save the world, from Hamura Otsutsuki himself, she again keeps that vital information to herself instead of coming up with a plan together with her teammates and continues to knit the red scarf, then goes off by herself with Toneri without a word. She isn't even shown worrying about Hanabi, her own sister, at all.

 

Despite her newly acquired powers she'd gained from Hamura as the Byakugan Princess, which supposedly makes her stronger than both Naruto and Sasuke, she is unable to follow through and destroy the Tenseigan. Even if her success was dictated by destiny itself. Toneri, who doesn't trust Hinata at all, for some inexplicable reason covers his entire face right in full view of her because the pain of his developing doujutsu is too great, and Hinata doesn't capitalize on it. It's Sakura failing to capitalize on her chance to kill Sasuke all over again, except now it's Hinata's turn to fail.

 

The only important things Hinata got to do in her own movie were: 1) Infiltrate Toneri's castle 2) pluck out Hanabi's eyeballs from Toneri's eyesockets 3) Do a combination attack with Naruto.

 

And then when everything ended, Hinata invites Toneri, the same guy who nearly ended all life as we know it, the same guy who tried to force marriage on her (and most likely rape her later on), the same guy who stole Hanabi's eyeballs, the same guy who destroyed Naruto-kun's red scarf that she worked so hard on since the beginning of this movie, to live with them on earth. Toneri refuses the offer and decides to live alone on the moon to repent. Basically, Hinata did the same thing as Sakura and instantly forgave Toneri for all the atrocities he'd committed, and Toneri pulled a Sasuke by staying away to "repent" but instead of becoming a wanderer, he's on the moon. And thus he got away with everything. Sasuke had the excuse of being one of those who saved the world, what's Toneri's excuse?

 

When the Bolt movie came out, she was made irrelevant again.

 

The conclusion is thus: Sakura failed as a main character, and her relevancy/story arc/character development just went full circle, all the way back to her chapter 3 self. And Hinata also failed as a main character, because she also went full circle by going from being irrelevant, to being a relevant main character and failing to meet the standards placed on her, and then falling quickly back to her irrelevant status. If the title "heroine" means "which girl successfully banged Naruto" and nothing else, then I don't give a damn anymore.

It was obvious by the time Kaguya showed up in the manga that Kishi had like zero f-ks to give. Interviews can't be trusted anymore because he can't stay consistent. Story can't be properly analyzed because nothing is consistent. Retcons, retcons everywhere.

 

 

 

I knew toriyama would be number 1 from the get go BUT I HAD NO IDEA HE WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THE CHARACTER DESIGNS OF CHRONO TRIGGER!! huh the more you know xD

 

LOL I thought everybody knew it just by looking at Chrono Trigger's official artwork? Even if you don't think it's Toriyama's immediately, you can't help but think "these designs looks familiar..."

Or maybe Katic is getting replaced with another actress that will play her role? To my understanding, extending actor contracts can get really expensive.

I've never watched anything directed by Rupert Sanders, and live action-adaptations are hit and miss. And when they miss, they miss badly.

 

Still, I am hyped.

If the point of a tv drama's plot is waiting for two main characters to finally hook up and - later on - get married, and one of the two central characters is getting removed from the story completely, the studio might as well discontinue the series.

 

 

Currently different websites say different things. Some say that she was fired, some say that no one asked her yet to return for another season (other actors have been saying that they haven't been asked either, so who knows).

 

 

Then maybe there's hope. Maybe it's still too early to call foul on ABC. If it's budgetary concerns then maybe the show will be put on hiatus for a while instead, since some other actors haven't been asked yet.

@skarrow
It's the side effect of his bijuu plant on him.
Garra doesn't get the wind attack from the one tail.

He can control the sand through magnetism or wind manipulation or simply by his will. It never get indepth explanation.

 

Thanks. What about the thing with his mother that was revealed in the War Arc? How does that factor into it?

I NEED Minato Gaiden. Or a Warring Clans Gaiden. Or hell, a Gaiden about Kaguya. The strongest woman in the Naruto world needs more backstory that isn't vague and doesn't rely on the audience to logic something up based on what little they have to go on.

 

Not this.

Bit of a stretch to think it was a look of longing. Honestly I think he just looked concerned and it actually reminded me of the old naruto. The POAL one who just wanted what was best for Sakura. In this picture Naruto seems like he just wants Sarada and possibly Sakura to be happy. Compared to how he treated Boruto at the end of 700 and gaiden it is really refreshing.

 

...Looking at the picture again, I guess you're right. Maybe I got the wrong panel/page, then? I never really read Naruto Gaiden myself, I just read various chapter by chapter reviews to get the gist of what was happening.

 

 

 

--

 

 

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but can someone explain to me how Gaara controls sand?

http://www.animenews...d-manga/.101057

 

Viz is licensing Sasuke`s and Itatchi`s novels

 

 

What happened to the rest of novels series?

But who cares. TG!

 

 

Why was Naruto even the main protagonist?  Should have been Sasuke from the get go

 

 

I like Sasuke, but anyone with two eyes and basic reading comprehension would wonder why Sasuke (and Itachi) get all the love and backstory vs the protagonist himself, Naruto. Especially when Kishi himself already abandoned Sasuke's story for good. Abandoned said character story line after spending years on it. We could have at least gotten a single manga panel that talked about its resolution so we could finally shelve it away...

 

And I shouldn't have been surprised. All this retcon/bait-and-switch stuff has been happening for years now.

 

 

They only doing the first 3 of novels. No words on the rest.

 

That would be Kakashi, Shikamaru and Sakura's Hiden novels, right?

i'm mainly here for more fanfiction material.

If I was the writer, I would have picked up from where Sarada was heading (she was questioning the arbitrariness of being a ninja) and finally see development towards a change of the shinobi village system. This may be too much to hope for I suppose, since Sasuke's plotline has long since been abandoned and as for Neji's plotline... well, we've yet to see hide or hair of the Hyuuga Clan.

 

 

 

Are you serious?? Both of his parents are a dropout, he use banned/illegal device and cheating through the chunnin exam, can only make 3 shadow clone, can't make full size rasengan. If i remember he suppose to lose rights to enter chunnin exam forever because he broke the rules and will stay as gennin forever, but who knows if Naruto will follow the tradition/rules or he will let this one slip just because Boruto is his sons.

 

 

Totally serious, he got wanked in the Boruto Movie novelization*. Wanked big-time. He was apparently so skilled that he mastered the Rasengan even faster than Naruto ever had, and Sasuke reflected on this along the lines of '[Boruto] really doesn't know what he's just achieved'. Retcon, maybe?

 

Also, Naruto and Hinata aren't referred to as "dead lasts" or "weak"...

 

 

 

Another retcon, maybe?

 

 

*Let me find the text and I'll get back to you with a link. Uhh. If you want.

Hey there, elisha!

 

In my opinion, it's more fun to hang out with the neutral fans and the anti-ending fans these days because you won't find two people with the exact same reasons and feelings towards the Naruto series, which invites lots of discussion.

 

I'm a fairly new member too, but I hope you'll find lots to talk about here. :)

I like the old fashioned favorites: vanilla and chocolate flavor. Sometimes together.

 

...

 

Just talking about it is making me crave a scoop...