I'm not too pleased, but even with all this and if it does become the final pairing, I still consider NaruSaku the superior and better developed pairing. NaruHina, with all due respect to those that like it, is a weak romantic pairing. Hinata's "development" is still well, not very developed, and the confidence boost does not make up for all of those chapters where she wasn't by his side; where she didn't develop complex feelings and relationships, where she had little involvement with the main plot of the story. In my eyes she doesn't really live up to this glorification that she's getting now. What she is doing is what everyone else is willing to do. I am very dissappointed that Neji's death was a vehicle for her to reach Naruto and take his hand. It's disturbing that, while I get she was emotionally affected, Naruto seemed more affected by the death of Hinata's cousin than she did. True, it meant that she was able to overcome the emotional hurt and reach out to him, but this is hampered by the fact that once again, Hinata is bringing back the situation to make it about Naruto. There is a war happening where the fate of the world is on the line? Her goal is to take his hand and be by his side. Her cousin died? She uses his death as explaining comradery and how she (and Neji) are going to protect him.
Contrast how Ino's and Shikamaru's fathers' deaths were handled. It was the same thing. They had to pick themselves up and continue on, and the sacrifice of their fathers' lives highlighted what this chapter was already about, and Naruto has already had this speech from Itachi. Naruto knew his friends were in danger of dying, and he's dealt with the insecurities of not being enough to protect the people he cared about most, and Sakura had been the one to snap him out of it before. Yet, he takes Hinata's hand, gives her credit because she was the one who was in the moment, but how does he not get yet that EVERYONE ELSE FIGHTING AND DYING is doing the same? This is not exclusive to Hinata. She is not special because she is the one willing to do this for him above everyone else. All she is doing is stepping up to the bar already set before by other characters. This is why I liked Sakura's internal monologue so much better. She recognizes everyone who is fighting this war. She recognizes his burdens because SHE, not Hinata, was the female who stood by him the most.
Hinata hadn't caused Naruto grief ever, but she wasn't around. She wasn't involved with the complexities of the main plot. Her role was to love Naruto unrelentingly. Sakura on the other hand isn't an automatic love interest. I worry that she is being regressed to loving Sasuke unrelentingly, despite having stood up against him, despite not having been supported or loved by him--despite the lack of development for the two of them to have such deep feelings. They are undeveloped pairings; they are just too easy as well. Hinata loves Naruto all along; Sakura loves Sasuke all along no matter what. The men, in turn, realizing their respective female's devotion, will, despite a lack of proper interaction or reason, in turn realize their feelings for them back. This is exactly the unfortunate romantic cliche that this chapter is made of. A dramatic scene in which Hinata can show off (despite lack of it before) the depth of her feeling and Naruto, inspired, takes it to heart.
The NaruSaku pairing is not without fault, and I actually appreciate that. Whether romantic, canon, or otherwise, when this manga is done and all that we can know is known, I will still read back and be far more intrigued with their relationship than that of Hinata's and Naruto's. You could say that Naruto and Sakura also follow the hope of an unrelenting love (Naruto's) being realized by Sakura and her return, but all throughout the manga this formula has been confounded. Naruto has taken issue with Sakura's involvement and feelings instead of just blindly loving her. He felt the hurt of potentially not being "the one", he went from wanting her acknowledgement to wanting her to be happy (something Hinata has not done, mind you), and he rejected her confession about having 'moved on' from Sasuke as a lie, and had affirmed that bringing back Sasuke isn't just about the promise he made to her. He cares about her, but his motivations and character doesn't revolve around her. Sakura likewise has grown to realize Naruto not for his love for her, but even before that for his resolve and who he is. She wanted to protect Naruto AND Sasuke--and she was willing to kill the person she supposedly still loves so that Naruto could be spared from doing it himself--something that by Kakashi was called suicidal. Something that was already set up when she cried and ran toward Naruto, telling him that "I'll save Sasuke for you! and to be hurt by him. For Naruto to realize that in his drive to get to Sasuke he had hurt Sakura (the scene where in his eyes the two of them were shown), highlighting further the complexity and issues of this team and relationship.
So, I am not impressed by Hinata and this "development" in this chapter. It's just lacking. Once again she brings it back to being all about her place by Naruto. The fact that what she's doing isn't really distinguished from other characters--that the whole point of this arc was being the same thing, and that Naruto has already heard this topic and is being reminded of the message in Hinata's speech is underwhelming. Hinata is one of many who have stepped in before to help him--Sai, Kakashi, his parents, Jiraiya, and everyone who has had that internal monologue and thought about him fighting this war, is doing the same thing. Ino and Shikamaru had their fathers die, and knowing they were in a war and what they stood to lose, did not have to be "snapped out" by anyone. Itachi had warned of the folly of Naruto thinking he could take everything on his own and protect everyone. Sakura may not be standing beside Naruto and holding his hand, but she's there just like everyone else prepared to deal with this reality and lay her life down for the cause. It's a bit insulting, I think, that Naruto didn't REALIZE that on his own. What does he think this is? What does he think he is up against? No wonder Itachi had to lecture him.
I feel like I can't even gather all of my thoughts. I cannot take this chapter by itself and praise Hinata for what she managed to do. I cannot forget the other complex relationships Naruto has and fit her in with them. It's just so... convenient. It's set up too simply and too cliche. It's bad romance. Holding her hand, firing up with chakra, telling her to "let's go" makes me think "power of love" in the most basic shojo-esque of ways. It lacks depth and reason. She didn't build up to this moment and Naruto is still the center of all her thoughts and motivation. I really just don't like it. If they end up together I can concede that it's canon, but I can't concede that it's a good pairing.
Broken Figurine, I've been wanting to get back to this post of yours since I first read it. I know what you mean about gathering all your thoughts; I have the same problem, and that's why I haven't yet been able to form a response that's worthy of what you've written here.
I'm not sure I can offer anything fresh or that goes beyond the other comments I've already made on this chapter, but you have made me think more deeply about a couple of things -- how I feel about what seems to be lacking from the story, characterizations, and presentation, for one -- and perhaps I'll explain if I figure out how.
Either way, I know it takes time and effort to write a post like this, and I didn't want it to be overlooked.
Lol sorry to be vague in the first place. My point is that if people asked him that question, why not Naruto and Hinata? It would suggest that NH is nothing but a short sweet side pairing that's only made to be nice but non-canon. That and suggest that people are really behind Naruto and root for him to achieve his goals/dreams. Even a band made a comment hoping to see Sakura's feelings for Naruto. I'm just saying that perhaps in Japan, what really matters is the love triangle and that we should be rooting for Naruto to overcome the odd.
This is interesting, and maybe even instructive in a way. It seems to me that a lot of the animosity and disharmony within the fandom happens when fans end up caring more about other characters than Naruto himself. He's the hero, and it's his struggle and feelings we're meant to follow and support. But if we take a step back and look at the bigger fandom picture, that's frequently not what's happening.
Naruto's basic goals were set up very clearly from the beginning of the story. We all know what they were: (1) be acknowledged by the village; (2) become Hokage; (3) earn Sasuke's respect as a friend and equal; and (4) win Sakura's attention and affection. I would say it's easy for most fans to support Naruto on goals 1-3. But with #4, support of Naruto and his feelings is fractured. Why? Because when it comes to personal happiness, it seems many fans choose other characters over Naruto.
SS, by definition, excludes Naruto. Think about it. The hero ends up the odd man out on his own team and in his own story, the importance and realization of his personal happiness necessarily falling below that of Sasuke and Sakura. Wouldn't make him end up much of a hero, would it, if his friend/rival and the object of his affection teamed up to trump him on a self-defining goal?
Likewise, NH is based almost entirely on Hinata's desires and wishes. Since Naruto has not confirmed any romantic interest in her yet, much less interest that could be construed as on par with what he has shown for Sakura, in a way NH also excludes Naruto. The pairing is championed mainly by fans who want to see Hinata get what she wants, not necessarily see Naruto get what he wants. In fact, as things currently stand, if Naruto got what he wanted that would mean NH would never happen, so again, there's a specific desire on the part of fans to see Naruto fail at one of his goals.
It seems strange to me that fans of
Naruto would not be fans of Naruto, but I admit it's obviously true.
Speaking only for myself, I try to keep in mind that first and foremost I am a fan of Naruto. I want to see him achieve ALL of his goals, be happy, and get everything he has worked so hard to achieve. That's why if NH should become the final pairing because NARUTO wants it, then I'll be happy
for him. However, at this point I see nothing to convince me that Naruto has moved on from Sakura or that Hinata has any real chance at his heart.
So I'll continue to cheer for Naruto to win Sakura's heart until he convinces me that's not what he wants.
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