TouKen4Life3g

Not a joke whatsoever, but they're not together yet. This does indicate that their relationship is exceeding normal friendship and it's still being processed. It's 80% done and we are so close from making it solid. We are near victory.

 
If I can take a random guess, I think that something similar to what happens in another manga many people are familiar with:
 

Love Hina

In this manga, even though Naru has feelings for Keitaro, she does not confirm her feelings until a point where she finds herself about to lose Keitaro (as it seems that he may die while falling of a huge cliff)

Anyway, if someone is reading the Love Hina manga, and does not want to read spoilers, my take is that I believe there will be a time where Sakura will have to face her feeling in a situation where she will have to come to a final decision.

Yeah I can see it happening here. Heck, even the ending could happen the same for Naruto. I do mean the very end. Lol.

There's something I want to share. I just find it interesting. Credits goes to Kronin.

I want just share a little info with the FC that seems perfect for the developments of the last chapter: recently I bought the "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" the light novel written by Akira Higashiyama in 2010 (the same author of the recent novel about Taka Sasuke) and illustrated by Kishimoto (there is an inedite drawing that shown Minato, Kushina and Jiraya, the inside of the dust jacket with the pages of the novel seen in the manga, so like the photo of the author Jiraya and his dedication).

Picture

[Like always sorry for my bad photo skills... :sweatdrop]

Off course the book is so titled because want to represent the first novel written by Jiraya, inspirated by Nagato and in turn a source of inspiration for Naruto (in the name and in the character). The protagonists of the book are Naruto, Tsuyu and Rengi (they are jonin old like Jiraya during the 2nd war) that recall in the characteristics Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke from Team 7 (the similarities with the three Sannin are more in the background/scenario of the story rather than in the three protagonists: for example Tsuyu is quick-handed but also with a flat chest)

What I wanted notice is that, also in the novel, we have a Naruto that loves Tsuyu (half hiding the feeling under jokes), and the girl infatuated of Rengi. The ending of the book is half-open, but it's interesting to notice that in the end Tsuyu reach the conclusion that the person that she really loves is Naruto and not Rengi: in a situation of danger, their master say to her to close the eyes and to view in mind the thing that makes her more happy, doing so she outlines the image of Naruto (in addition previously a character supected explicitely about it because her tsundere attitude).

Off course the book is not related with the manga but seems to me the     
umpteenth parallel for a Naruto and Sakura pairing (in addition directly from a Japanese source).

 

All to true. At least he is polite about it. There are several people on mangafox that literly insult Sakura/Narusaku fans. I sugest for people to stay awy from that forum.

 

In haste I recently created a image with Kushina's words to Naruto and Minato's words to Sakura, and declaring NS canon. In my haste (and joy ) I did it before really thinking about it, and seeing that while NS has the best points for now, it's still not officialy canon. Anyway you can see it here, and also the discusion I have with the other person. Maybe you can join if you want it. :)

 

http://hallow89.devi...set=25#comments

 

And yes I am a NS fan! :)

After checking that link, I don't blame them, but I would say they are missing the point. Yes, I don't blame them for not reading the point of these confirmations. It's not that Minato told Sakura to love Naruto for she is similar to Kushina, rather it's for us to understand that she's similar to Kushina and when you put the puzzle together, you get the message that NaruSaku is meant to be. I'm happy that Minato is not forcing anyone to love for the sake of this or that, rather he only asked the question, like what he saw, and hope for the great future with them. Because if someone forced to love for this sake, it's not real love or at least the proper love development, and that's like I said from Kishi. If Yamato did finish the sentence, it may be a shortcut to NaruSaku, but who knows how the event would be like from that point on. Could it be good, could it be bad, we don't truly know.

 

For what it's worth, they really form a strong bond that nothing will break them. So sit back and wait for the pairing truly becomes canon. I understand you calling them canon right a way and well, I won't argue with that. I would say it's not canon, because they are not together yet or at least confirm it, but since you're new here, allow me to say this:

 

We are no longer on the road to if NS will be canon, we are on the road to how NS becomes canon.

Well, that was a great read. Man, I wonder how that felt when it happened. It must be the most "WTF" childhood moment when it comes to romance. Well, I wish I knew how that felt.

That's true, but still. Well, I mean yes they aren't really working together together, but you'd think Sasuke would step on someone's toes just to get in on the action. You know what I am saying? After him not working with the team in a while, you'd think something would conflict.

Oh ok. Well, who knows. I don't see anything teamwork related yet but when it comes, then we'll see. I can picture it though.

Sakura: Ah! You bastard! You stepped on my toe.
Sasuke: ...
Naruto: Haha, at least I don't hurt my teammate!
Sasuke: Shut up. I'm still better than you for not even being distracted by a small thing...
Naruto: You just step on my girlfriend! Well, more or less for now, but that's not the point!
Minato: Um, guys...
Sasuke: Kyuubi is not that impressive.
Naruto: More I can say than your puny fire!
Juubi setting up Bijuu bomb.
Minato: Ah sh--
Explosion. Series ends with Madara regenerating.
Madara: So...about that fight, Hashirama.

Sorry if something along these lines have already been said and I was late to the party, but I have a feeling that NH fans and/or Anti-NS/Sakura Haters will try to over-hype Hinata's scene as her being more powerful and more deserving of the heroine title, but I'm pretty sure that Sakura summoning Katsuyu is much more impressive by far. And yet Narutopedia still hasn't listed the Summoning Jutsu on her list of Jutsu. Granted, the chapter was just released and they did finally list her seal in her technique list, but you'd think Sakura summoning a Slug would be straightforward enough to list that technique as one she knows how to do right away, right? 

 

And while we're on the subject of Narutopedia, I saw that in Sakura's trivia section they listed the supposed "fact" that Sakura being the main heroine herself, Kishi said that "Hinata" would make a better "heroine" than "Sakura" would. Does everyone in the fandom actually believe he said this? It's times like this that I wish all interviews done with Kishi where translated by official professionals instead of fans that could take advantage of the language barrier in their favor. 

 

Going back to the topic of this chapter, Kiba was awesome with his new Jutsu. Though I wish Kishi would've actually made a shout-out to Greek Mythology himself instead of calling the Technique "Three-Headed Wolf" or whatever that misspelled text on that page of the mangapanda scan was supposed to be. Also, Formation E is definitely an epic team collaboration technique. 

Sad thing is that the translation about heroine is wrong. He only said that people tell him that Hinata is the actual heroine while he disagreed entirely, along with the infamous, "You say 'Hinata, Hinata'. I say 'She's not Hinata'". I don't like talking about others, but just give up, she won't be stronger than Sakura from this point forward. She only show a little of her power in the last chapter, so they're only asking for correction. Right now, before Naruto gets his power back, Team 7 is essential to this battle and summons show.

Why would you want the war to be over when it FINALLY got to the good part?

 

EDIT:typo

I did write in quote. I'm not talking about the manga war. I'm talking about the fan war.

Funny i thought Kishi wasn't pushed around by his editors, someone said he fired lots of his editors?

He has fired about 5 times from what I heard. The problem is that Kishi knows his main plot point, but don't know how to get to it such as fighting, which is why at some points seem to drag on. He also said that he has a habit of filling every holes he left, which again leaves him dragging on. He said these in the latest or 2nd latest interview. Funny how he didn't think it was cool to have digital Shounen jump magazine in USA. He didn't advertise it much like how people tends to use authors to do it.

 

The flaw in Ino's mentality that she is attracted to a man for reasons that are completely shallow in nature. There is no expressed desire to understand who Sasuke is psychologically or even to try and vindicate his name as Naruto has been attempting to do. Has there ever been an inkling from Ino that her sentiments have any altruistic qualities? Does she value Sasuke's opinions on herself or matters in general? At least with her teammates there have been some insinuations that they may see her as more than a friend. One example of this being Ino's conversation with Choji at the beginning of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc when she was playfully teasing him about his weight and stating that he should change his appearance if he wants to acquire the attention of any girls, this is with a suggestive look on her face and I believe Choji may have been blushing during this moment.

 

Ino's "love" for Sasuke is practically just as lustful in nature as Karin's. It's unhealthy and she needs to understand that there are reasons for becoming involved with someone apart from leacherous desires or because of some twisted concept of what is a good personality. When hearing these other fans argue that Sakura's "love" has been rekindled by Sasuke's appearance I can't help but think how hypocritical or dismissive that notion is because they seem to be under the impression that Sakura is the only one with these "feelings" for Sasuke. Well what about Ino and Karin? If we use their logic then would it not be impossible for those two to remain forever bound emotionally to Sasuke? Or can there be resolution to these girls' feelings? Can they not move past their childish infatuations and understand what true love is? That's my question to these people.

 

The SS fandom needs to consider all possible angles to this predicament of theirs because Sakura is not the only one who must contend with their feelings for Sasuke. Although I don't believe either Sakura or Ino will remain with him. The most likely candidate for that position will be Karin and you know... At least Sasuke has shown concern for her wellbeing in the past. With Karin there is/was at least some resemblance to positive emotional dedication from Sasuke. SK does have its many flaws but they aren't as severe as the alternatives.

I know what you mean. It's funny that everyone is showcasing their feelings one last time before the conclusion. Only problem is that Naruto got the escape card because of Minato, so he's not changing for anything. I wasn't aware of Ino's feelings for Sasuke until the last arc, which same can be said for Sakura. It's as if this arc is like a thank you gift from Kishi with all characters being their old days before their closure, with few exceptions of Team 7, who are getting their developments.

 

That said is it possible that Sakura can move on here? Possible, but NS won't be canon until they both come in terms. The first step is to move on. Then either feel sad that there's no love in you or already found a new person. So yeah, it's possible that it could happen when we least expected, but I wouldn't count on it. For some reason, the fact Ino has feelings for Sasuke makes me think Sakura's feelings for Sasuke is not so special, rather a place holder for the true love that is yet to come. The funny thing is that Karin didn't see her love as negative when we saw her in 574, rather very pissed that he did that to her, but again, it's not depression, rather a bit of revenge. As for the other two, well yeah they are negative.

 

You know, if it wasn't for the last arc, I wouldn't think Karin is somewhat compatible for Sasuke because of her just being typical fangirl. But the more I see her in that arc, I actually don't mind it at all, hell even her first meeting is more legit than Sakura and Ino. I mean it's understandable to have interest with a guy who just saved you, let alone smile. It reminded of a cartoon, where the girl is like suffering until that one boy was very kind and helpful, so she fell in love. I will be damned that all it takes to love is appearance. Now I think about it, I guess Naruto does need to say the forehead comment because Kushina was changed forever when Minato said that about her hair, so if Sakura is truly parallel, which she is now, then does that mean a forehead comment will seal it? Wow, that just occurred now. Not getting hopes up. I'm going to let this slide for now.

 

Bottom line, we have to hope Kishi knows what's he doing in terms of this and if you asked me, well, SS vs. NS has begun and we could be in for some surprises. I don't know what that will be but we will see.

 

Honestly I felt like that whole scene with Sakura saying his name first and Naruto pouting was just to show that team 7 is back, what better way to do it then to have them  interact in a similar way like back in part 1.

Indeed.

Just the fact Naruto reconfirms his feelings make NaruHina and SasuSaku impossible, the rival is not going to end up with the protagonist's love interest so I am not afraid of SasuSaku. The way I see it the panel in 540 was foreshadowing of Sakura getting over Sasuke and it will happen indepently of NaruSaku.. I do think we are getting closer to the end of SS so the more SasuSaku's interactions the best it is. I tend to agree with StriderC"s list of Sakura possible development, she has a lot of development ahead. All of the latests developments remind me of the last movie, in the end there was some foreshadowing in this movie of things to come and like in the movie Sakura's love for Sasuke will vanish slowly but surely.

 

I think the last fight between Naruto and Sasuke will be like Madara and Hashirama albeit with a different ending where everyone is happy. I don't think Kishi is going to throw away 400 chapters of development like that, there's more to Sasuke, he even said himself he doesn't care about other's opinions, doesn't sound to me he wants a democratic process. Also we have to remember Naruto said he will die with Sasuke if they ever fight and Sakura commented on it, all of this will come into play no doubt about it. I don't know how the events will play out but now I begin to see what the big picture is looking like.

Well said. Glad to know I'm not the only one thinking this.

 

NS is going through one last hurdle with SS, though I'm pretty sure that we will be just fine. Honestly speaking, Kishi messed it up by having Kushina being parallel so early in the series (yeah I said it). That's not what killed NH to me, though it's more like an overkill. It's what Naruto reconfirm of his feelings for her. The parallel is what created a time bomb on SS and it's pretty much irreversible. Again, we may have to go through what we went through with NH, but now with SS. That said we almost home free. Just hang in there.

 

I'm telling you man, people know NS is happening, it's just that they're desperate for the bragging right. But we won't get those until much later.

 

Any SS/NH moment is a step back from the bragging rights, and that's why there's issues with any of those moments.

 

I mean, I even said before 631 came out that if Minato made a parallel with Sakura/Kushina that the pairing wars would be over. I didn't think Kishi had the balls to pull such an obvious stunt so early on so I just laughed it off and thought it was just the stuff of fanfiction. And lo and behold it happened exactly like that, to the letter.

 

Kishi might want to portray Sakura with ambiguity but he's being plain obvious about where things are supposed to go. Even if Sakura still doesn't fully love Naruto we are meant to encourage for that love to be, just like we are meant to encourage Naruto to become Hokage. It's all in the story.

Well, the whole love aspect is on hold, but I will say that yes, Kishi pretty much made the pairing endgame obvious. That said we are in the road to how it becomes canon, not what if. It's no longer that case and honestly, since Sasuke is planning/thinking something, this does tell me that this is our only shot of Team 7 being reunited, which is why Sai is out of the picture as well as Kakashi. It's beginning to feel that Team vs. Team may happen, but not in this arc.

 

It's funny, I went to this chapter as a Team 7 moment and am I the only one that liked how the transitions went. I like how Naruto came late and Sakura pretty much told him, "Well yeah, but if you are going to be late, who knows, I will be Hokage in the end." That's chemistry dialogue. The fact they exchanged a lot of words in that small time, which I can say more for Sasuke, which he basically talks to Naruto instead. It's like matured Team 7, where Sasuke do his thing, talks to Naruto in a rival way, Naruto talks to Sakura, Sakura joyfully plays with him, and yeah, this was a nice Team 7 chapter. But no, people with shipping goggle, beware. Sigh. Anyway, I am wondering what's Sasuke thinking. That got me worried.

So guys, I was lurking around the Japanese forums and there were many opinions and comments about Sakura in the upcoming chapters. 

The most common opinion is that her new power-up was going to be the Slug Sage Mode.

The second most common opinion is that if she can master the Slug Sage Mode, that has probably only been passed to the Senju Clan, then she is most likely a Senju and Kizashi and Mebuki aren't her real parents. 

 

What do you guys think of this? The above opinions were not brought up by Sakura fans, but by normal readers. If the usual readers who are neutral think like this, I think it is worth considering....

Well, I wouldn't go that far about her being adopted by Kizashi and Mebuki. I think Kishi is going to keep her a normal shinobi who really tried so hard to go far to help her team, even if her team are like supernatural. It's funny, I think I remember an argument that Hinata is best for Naruto because she's a Hyuuga and such, but really, this makes the story better with him going with Sakura. I mean he's like a new God of shinobi, yet he chooses a normal person in Konoha that is Sakura. It's always nice that a person chooses his/her mate not because of status but because of that person's character.

Hooray for me! Finally, now I know New Yorkers are at least on my side, let alone it came from a really smart newspaper. If it was like Daily News, yeah...Damn, how I missed that, my college offered them for free. Thank you.

Oh hell yeah! I can't wait! First one was so good. No wonder Kishi loves it.