It seemed like it was the anime vs. the manga for me. If you watched the anime only, then it was all Hinata, all the time. Naruto had an unrequited crush on Sakura, and she was always mean to him, picking Sasuke over him. Even when Sasuke was gone. And then again...Hinata.....
But if you read the manga, then it was like you got an entirely different story.
They may have both been Naruto branded, but only one of them Kishi wrote. The anime went off on its own time and time again. Those creators shipped NH, and so they frothed up a legion of fans who wanted the same thing.
It's not like we were all reading the same thing and came out with a very different response/viewpoint. One group is reading, another group is primarily watching, and believes that to be the canon source.
You can't read the manga and come away with 'Hinata is our queen.' She simply not in there enough! lol
I think some of the fan issues stem from the fact that you had two very different Naruto stories out there in the world, running at the same time. One of them pushed for a different ending. And they got it!
You know what? I'm actually see that.
Over the years, I thought that certain scenes were remade because artists couldn't get the angle right or provide better flow.
In here, there were too many stuff that were deleted or misinterpreted. Biggest example was the events after the hospital fight scene with Naruto and Sasuke.
Manga: Sakura was worried so she and Naruto went out (almost like a date). They talked about Sasuke with his issue and Naruto reassures her that he would be okay. It was a little flashback while Sakura was looking out of her window which ended her smiling.
Anime: How cow, depression galore! Naruto was walking around town like a depressed zombie after the fight. He was about to walk pass Sakura, who was also depressed, so they eventually went out to Ichiraku together. Then when she was about to leave, Sakura was like a "deer seeing head lights" at the full moon, leading to her infamous confession scene with Sasuke.
You also can say the NaruSaku reunion in the beginning of Shippuden was changed too. It had similar dialogue but Tsunade wasn't there.
Not to mention, Part 1 had all of those fillers, that did not help Naruto and Sakura's (and Kakashi's too as he went missing in majority of them) development as main characters (except the first one) and focusing on unnecessary stuff (Hinata waterfall scene, the pointless comedic plotlines, certain character that need the spotlight were OOC). Hell, Part 2 made it worse after the Pain arc, adding more Part 1 flashbacks that wasn't even necessary. It was a reason I stopped watching Shippuden because they added stupid stuff, like redoing Episode 3 of Team 7's formation. Really, it made Naruto worse than before.
And yeah, Hinata got fans because of those fillers writers made to get Naruto's attention to her. (Need I need to say more about that infamous episode of "Sailor" Hinata, her "gorgeous" animated hair, and that damn flashback that was reused for The Last?)
Viewers took it, thinking it is canon and the manga followed suit. On the other hand, Hinata isn't shown that much in the manga because she wasn't a major character to begin with and fans (and people at SP) were mad that Masashi did not do anything with her (duh, obviously!). Possibly because after the stunt with Road to Ninja, SP decided to take matters to their own hands, resulting the franchise's fate.