Would 666 have any meaning to Kishimoto?
You mean apart from it being the name of his twin brothers Manga?
OK I'm going to go out on a Limb here and say I don't think in the first part of the Manga, Sakura loved Sasuke, Naruto did not love Sakura, and Hinata didn't love Naruto. All three of them loved the idea of the other person. The didn't know the other person well enough to really consider it real love. Sakura loved the idea of Sasuke, she saw a cool alpha male type from a prestigious Clan who was lost his family and lived on his own.The complete opposite of what Sakura was, a regular unpopular girl who got teased by other girls and had a regular family that didn't belong to any famous Clan. Sasuke was basically what she hoped to be.
The situation is similar with Hinata, she saw in Naruto a person who even though he hardly ever got any help and failed constantly would still get up and keep on trying and be determined to get better,and not get disheartened by all the knockdowns. Where she on the other hand got all the training in the world yet gave in to her failures and was disheartened by the knockdowns. So again he was everything she hoped she could be.
Naruto with Sakura is the only different one, where he likes her because of who she is, But he is attracted to her for her looks, (maybe personality if he took after his father who got attracted to a strong willed violent person).
After the timeskip, Sakura went from wanting to be him to wanting to save him, Hinata's goal was still the same, she's improved allot, but she has still failed to hold a conversation with him. it's Sakura's and Naruto's relationship that changed the most, they got to know each other better, saw the other person as their equal and encouraged each other....and is the only pairing I'd say where the feelings they have for the other is ACTUALLY for the other person and not the idea of what the other person is. That's not Love, that's infactuation and Admiration.
Edited by harry4e, 24 February 2014 - 05:38 PM.