So about a year or so ago I wrote up a recap on my view of the Naruto series as a whole and I haven't posted much on the franchise since then.
Buuuuuuut, recently reading some fan works and sticking around this site, it got me thinking about a writing point that I noticed from Kishimoto revolving around NaruHina.
To start off with, nothing about this is bashing or hating based, simply some observation.
Upon looking back on the series, I noticed something about all of the NaruHina 'moments' from beginning to end. It's that they were all very grandiose and were set up to be epic.
The Chunin exam thing with Neji, Hinata saving Naruto during Pein, her holding Naruto's hand in the war arc. All these moments were during huge events, making the scope of NaruHina at the time much bigger.
I'm starting to think this is why Kishimoto (and the fans of that pairing) felt somewhat satisfied with what "development" the pair received.
My problem, and I think it's the same for many of us, is that while there were a bunch of grandiose NaruHina moments, there was never any simple dialogue sequences between the two.
It really goes back to the old saying of less is more. For example, if Kishimoto wanted some solid development, it should have been Hinata who spoke with Naruto after Jiraiya died. Have the two connect and speak with each other. Simple dialogue sequences like that could have gone such a long way.
I think this is why many of us NS people gravitated toward Naruto and Sakura. While NaruSaku had some big moments, (the part where he saved her from Gaara, for example,) there were also a lot of just simple times of them talking or being teammates.
Looking back, I think those simple moments of them eating at the ramen shop together produced a deeper looking connection than Hinata confessing to Naruto during a huge battle.
Do you guys think it's just my NS bias showing or am I not wrong here?