Don't know what I'm looking at? Ugh...Lemme explain...
(IT'S A MONSTER OF A PM)
What is the base of Naruto character..."Become...Hokage" Why did he want to do this? FROM THE VEEEEEEERY BEGINNING. "So people will acknowledge me! Then everyone will have to look up to me and start respecting me!" I'm paraphrasing but I'm not off. Bottom line...Naruto wants to be acknowledged. It's the reason he started liking Sakura (One of). Or atleast it was stated on episode 3 or the chapter where Naruto turned into Sasuke. Sakura wanted the same thing Naruto wanted. Acknowledgement, although it be it from an indivdual(Sasuke) and not the entire village. So Naruto grew more fond of her. Well...Come chapter 437, for him...To be looking for acknowledgement from everyone...To try to set and retain bonds with anyone you can. Then to find out that someone was only looking for HIS(Naruto) Acknowledgement to form a bond with HIM...Isn't this one of the BASE reasons he liked Sakura all the more? To say Naruto wasn't in anyway shape or form affected by this is simply moronic...NaruSaku fans have become so hot headed after 458 but you can't even see the bigger picture...Naruto has said ANYTHING! Assumption has been tossed around left and right but you are minus FACT.... [1]You are ASSUMING that Sakura has completely dropped her feelings for Sasuke and moved on to Naruto, [2]you are ASSUMING that Naruto was completely unaffected by Hinata words, you are ASSUMING...Far too much...I know what you thinking and I'm not....Naruto does not have to NOR is he obligated to return Hinata feelings. However I for one couldn't see why he wouldn't even want to talk to her/try it. Anyway...Back to my main point...Naruto has not thought of anyone in a "romantic" light in over what? 70-100 chapters? Remember... [3]Those were Sai's flashback and Sai's conclusion of Naruto's feelings. Naruto hasn't said a single thing...So...To be honest... [4]The last NaruSaku moment hasn't happened in over 100 chapters if not more...Translating to...what? 3-5 months? If your trying to bring up the whole "Hinata has been brought up in 20 chapter! >" point...If you think about it...It hasn't been much more than a day or two if not hours after the confession. Lol...another thing...I love how you try to lump Sakura feelings to nothing in part 1 as just a crush of a 12 year old... [5]It's not like she proclaimed her love or anything right xD? Oh wait...She did...and even wanted to leave the village with him...So why not just lump Naruto's feelings in as a crush eh? "But Mike! He is still shown keeping his feelings for Sakura post time-skip bakka!" Yes...[6]As Sakura has for Sasuke...Take off your blinders...And remove the victory flag my friend, it's far from over.
My thoughts on WHY the confession hasn't been brought up and why it won't be for a while.
[7]To be honest...It wasn't important...To anybodies development expect Hinata's. It wasn't...Plot Prorgressive in the BIG scheme of things y'know? Plus...We have bigger things to worry about at the moment. The biggest thing at the moment would be what going down with Sasuke and the Kages. What about Naruto's dad? What Madara going to do with Naruto now that Pain/Nagato was a fall out, and ofcourse the plan that hasn't been mentioned in 20 chapters..."Moons Eye Plan"...Pretty much Kishi gave his try at romance for a few chapters NOW he has to go back to what the Manga is based on...fighting lol. So he's probably got plently planned. I really don't see Naruto confronting Hinata in terms of Chapters any time soon. To get to excited..It will have only translated to a few days in the manga. But as far as ANY MAJOR advancements in romance goes whether it be NaruSaku or NaruHina...Well I don't see it happening soon.
(going back to the my point of Acknowledgment) Lol Spark thought...
[8]So yes...Even playing field...Naruto has every reason to start liking Hinata since he liked Sakura for the same reason. Which kinda trips me up is the reason he started like Sakura xD, Acknowldgement and she was...Pretty...so slightly superficail...Lol and Hinata got a body far beyond Sakura but this could be lumped into bashing which I am NOT trying to do xD Just more or less...Solidifing the fact that it IS an even playing field...
Any thoughts?
1. Except Sakura did give up on Sasuke way back in 236. She told Naruto it was alright. Sure, Naruto did get her to believe in him, but she did come to a form of acceptance about Naruto.
2. It did have some affect. However, he did not fall in love with her.
3. Yes. Sai who knows Naruto. He may not be good at understanding emotions, but he is learning. Also, the fact that even Sai can see says something in itself.
4. Double standard. Why can NaruHina say it hasn't been long in manga time, but NaruSaku can't? Simply put, it much time hasn't passed since in the Naruto world in the last 100 chapters. Chapter 451 shows that the first person he is with is Sakura.
5. And was rejected and came to a sort of acceptance in 236. Just because she believed in and wanted to help Naruto get Sasuke back does not mean her feelings are exactly the same.
6. Anything that can't be taken as Team 7 moment?
7. This would be an entirely valid argument. Except a romantic relationship was brought up. Kishimoto could have easily handle those things without NaruSaku.
8. One problem with that though. Naruto has had 450+ chapters to get to know Sakura better and love her for reasons beyond that. Yes, he could possibly find a connection to Hinata through that. However, he has many other connections with Sakura. I doubt his only reason for his love of Sakura is because she sought acknowledgment.
The poster didn't really make a good case for NH. He used the same old arguments. That Naruto will automatically fall heads over hill in love with Hinata even thought he loves Sakura. He obviously hasn't read the manga so far read 457-458 imo. Naruto's feelings for Sakura have in fact increased so I really doubt it on a even playing flied.
The poster did and mentioned. However, double standards are no problem for this poster.
Hinata acknowledged him; okay, cool. Does that mean all that development with Sakura's instantly gone, like nothing ever happened? You think Naruto's shallow enough to be like, ''Whoa, Hinata acknowledges me! Cool! Later, Sakura!'' because Sakura's neeeevvver acknowledged Naruto, right?!
And it's not like Hinata was the only one to ever acknowledge him. We he came back from his fight, the whole god damn village had acknowledged him.
Let me bring up an arguement NaruHina's use alot: Hinata was the first to acknowledge him.
Uh, no, she wasn't the first. Sasuke was the first; and if you don't like THAT reasoning, then there's Iruka, too. Oh, and don't forget Konohamaru or the 3rd Hokage.
And so what if Hinata acknowledged him before Sakura? It's not like Naruto's love is ''first come, first serve.''
Maybe be did like Sakura for shallow reasons at first. Don't you think he's matured? If you guys are so adamant on insulting Sakura, saying she's ugly, hideous, ugly, then STOP using the ''Naruto only likes her cuz shes pretty'' arguement. It's hypocritical.
Now his feelings for Sakura are rooted in a deeper place. He understands her pain - losing Sasuke - and he appreciates that she's gotten stronger. I'm not saying they're madly in love at age 16, but they're getting there.
And if Kishi doesn't want it to be known that Naruto still has feelings for Sakura, then WHY WOULD HE HAVE SHOWN THAT PANEL IN THE FIRST PLACE? If he was planning on covering it up and changing Naruto's feelings suddenly, he would have just dropped it and let it die, using the panel for something else.
But. He. Didn.t. See my point?
...Oh, my... I've ranted again Sorry XP
You bring up a good point and made me think of something else.
Hinata may have acknowledged him a long time ago. But it did Naruto NO GOOD. She never told him when she could have really helped him. Sakura has been there for him constantly.
And her acknowledgment/confession didn't do Naruto really any good. If anything it was bad since it sent him Kyuubi. She also admitted her confession was *selfish. So, I do not see this as "being there" for Naruto in any Sakura hasn't (I could probably Sakura's support for Naruto has been better by far, but I do not feel like gathering the manga facts).
*This isn't a bash on Hinata's character. What she did was commendable and her selfishness was actually one of the good kinds. I'm simply arguing that it was not enough to destroy all of Sakura's acts for Naruto (like running to the Kyuubi or the tears she shed for the fate of the junchuuriki [which Naruto told her to stop and acted like he didn't know they were for him, but like Yamato said, it's her feelings for Naruto that are important]).
As a maturing individual, Naruto has also come upon this so his desire for acknowledgment has changed. As a child, he saw the position of Hokage as one that was surrounded by acknowledgement and power without understanding the responsibilities behind it. Much in the way he didn't recognize the real significance of the memorial stone. The Wave Arc was an awakening for all of Team 7. Look at how with his accomplishments throughout the manga, he has had opportunities to declare his accomplishments to the world, and yet he has remained silent. This is quite evident after the Gaara fight.
You do not accept acknowledgement for the sake of acknowledgement. You save someone because you want to save them; not hoping for the reaction they give you after the fact. Looking to be a hero does not make you a hero. Naruto is no longer the scared, compensating child leper who must cling for everything. Besides, isn't Konohamaru the first person to directly state he wants acknowledgement from Naruto, as a rival in the title of Hokage? And that was way before Hinata was even introduced in the manga.
And that is also a significant difference in the crushes between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata. Sakura's and Hinata's crushes focused on respective traits they lacked and that the male boys had.
Naruto ---> Sakura: The same desire for acknowledgement
Hinata ---> Naruto: The difference in strength and never give up attitude
Sakura ---> Sasuke: The status and popularity
And if you think physical attraction should not be a part of it, looks do matter. Not to the same extent for every person, but it exists nonetheless. If physical attraction was obsolete, we wouldn't be having debates and arguments with homosexuality and heterosexuality.
QFT
But yeah, what ^ said.
Sakura's ugly is stupid argument because Naruto thinks she looks attractive. That's really all that matters.