I really don't think thats what was trying to be said....the one comment is being taken COMPLETELY out of context. And just to add...I think CSA is the most horrific thing that can happen to a person...so if I thought thats what he was saying I'd be all over that.

For Sure Mana Mihara's In Anger and Affection

The only thing I can think of that paralyzes is damaging your spinal cord...but I could be wrong.

It's been a while since my Anatomy and Physiology class...but if I remember correctly there's actually a pretty large artery in your tongue. I think I remember my Anatomy Proff saying you'd bleed out pretty fast if it was cut.

It's totally crack but I personally like it as well. But yes...Sasuke's spiral into crazy land kinda makes him pretty much incompatible with anyone.

I agree wholeheartedly. I think you can tell which parts of the confession she faked pretty easily...and it's the parts where she's confessing romantic love. But Kishimoto drew her face a lot differently, and with a lot of sincerity, in some areas of the confession...which are the parts where she's telling him how much she appreciates him as a person. I think she's really confused though, on one hand she's got this great guy who she pretty much adores, he's always been there for her, he makes her smile, etc. Except the little hitch is she still has feelings for Sasuke. It's one of the reasons I LOVE that set of chapters because Sakura's character felt very real to me. You can tell she feels like she should like Naruto romantically...she's practically trying to convince herself along with Naruto when she's confessing. But feelings just don't work that way. It's the little moments where she has that fond smile on her face about him that make me think she's got the beginnings of romantic feelings for him. But her feelings for Sasuke are still greater in comparison to what's maybe small, new, and not clearly defined. Theres probably a little confusion going on there. Poor girl.

I think you guys have all made good points! Although I admit I skimmed a lot so I may be doing a lot of repeating of whats already been said in this discussion.

I think there are a lot of reasons SS and NH are so popular. Someone mentioned the whole Sasuke's "bad boy" or "emotionally tortured boy" appeal earlier and I totally agree. And to expand on that theory, a lot of women have a savior complex when it comes to guys. I have friends who struggle with this in reality, and on the page it can come off as the most romantic thing to ever to a lot of girls. I've even seen story lines where I enjoy it in a guilty pleasure sort of way. Which is what a lot of the love for these pairings boils down to in the end. I think a lot of people are putting themselves in the place of these characters. Many (I can only speak for girls on this matter...) WANT to believe that they are appealing enough (ie. pretty, smart, witty, unique, enough, etc, etc) to "save" a guy from his pain. And so people identify and root for SS because they see or wish this to happen in their own lives on some level. Or at the very least admires the prospect, even if they know it's unrealistic.

I think the same goes for NH. A lot of people (especially teens) are shy. Hinata is easy for them to identify with, and then it's the same old story. Every shy kid has had a crush on someone where the other person may have hardly known they existed...I did it too back in my shy days! Everyone of those people has fantasized about the day where that person admitted to them that they've been admiring them all along and "lets live happily ever after". I'm not saying this to be jeering or cynical. It's a natural part of reading, and if we didn't identify with the characters then Kishi wouldn't be doing his job very well. There are a lot of "Hinata's" out there, and I think thats why she's so surprisingly popular despite being a secondary character!

I may be staunch NS but I DO see where they're coming from. In the end though I think a well written, healthy relationship is far more romantic than whats been described here as a fairy tale. Ultimately what I described above may be romantic in a dramatic, desperate love affair sort of way but I would never describe those relationships as healthy. I think THAT is the appeal of Narusaku and also why it is far less popular. Healthy and romantic do not go hand in hand in a lot of readers minds...especially young readers (although if you examine the twilight fandom you could argue being young is not a requirement). Even still, I'd be curious to know the general age range of each pairings most hard-core fans!

Pairing analysis aside, everyone's different and perhaps the reasons we have for liking something don't matter. Expecting everyone to have the same taste in pairings, or anything for that matter (despite how logical the argument seems) is about as realistic as I feel SS and NH are. If we all felt the same way about everything where would things get interesting? How would we know what we liked if we didn't know what we didn't like? In the end I'm glad for the pairing competition, it makes me appreciate the awesome-ness that is NaruSaku even more!

Actually red is a primary color so it can't be created by mixing two colors! Pink + Orange is just going to create a more pinky-orange. It would look a little like Salmon Pink probably, which is my favorite color so I'm pleased with the narusaku color!