The Invasion of Pain. I skipped a few panels because it's long.
What happens in this scene? Pain attacked Konoha and blew it up with a powerful jutsu. Sakura appears from inside a fragment of Katsuyu and is horrified at this course of events. She screams Naruto's name in desperation. The battle with Pain ensues, you know how it goes. Kishimoto goes out of his way to show that Sakura doesn't know what's happening with the battle. Hinata confesses. Sakura is dismayed when she hears of this. Naruto defeats Pain and returns. Sakura hugs him to show her gratitude and affection for him.
Why wasn't Sakura the one to help Naruto instead of Hinata? Sakura did not attempt to assist Naruto directly because she's not that kind of ninja. Hinata is, or rather, Hinata doesn't have any useful application as a ninja other than direct combat, despite the fact that she's not particularly good at it. Also she can't see what's going on. It is telling that Kishimoto chose to establish this fact so clearly. Why is it even important if Sakura doesn't and will never love Naruto? Kishimoto did that because at this point, he cared about what he was doing. He wanted to make sure that Hinata's confession wouldn't make Sakura look bad. This sounds so ridiculous to say when you consider what happened later.
Why did the knowledge that Hinata loves Naruto hurt Sakura? There is only one possible interpretation. Let's talk about an interpretation that doesn't make sense first. Sakura feels bad for Hinata because Hinata failed to really help Naruto and she was forced to reveal her likely unrequited feelings in this way. This would require sympathy on the part of Sakura towards Hinata. However, if Sakura felt this way, why then would she go and hug Naruto in front of Hinata? Wouldn't this make Hinata feel left out or even make her think that her and Naruto are together? Couldn't this really hurt Hinata or at least give her the wrong idea? So that doesn't work, at all. Not that it was very credible to begin with.
What's the significance of the hug? Sakura hugs Naruto because he's her hero and she wanted him to know that. She was terrified about what was happening in Konoha. This is evident from the panels showing her trembling with tears in her eyes. She screamed Naruto's name despite the fact that there would have been no way Naruto could have heard her. She was desperate. She felt hopeless and had no idea what to do. But Naruto did in fact arrive. He came and saved her and everyone else like the true hero that he was. The impact that this would have had on Sakura would have been immense. If the manga hadn't gone in such a screwed up direction, I think that her heart would belong to Naruto forever after this moment. It's the most likely result given who Naruto and Sakura were to each other and what happened.
The intimacy of the hug is an attempt to reflect this. It's a display of vulnerability on the part of Sakura towards Naruto. Because she felt horribly vulnerable and helpless throughout this whole situation until Naruto showed up and protected her. So after the obligatory punch, she bears her heart to Naruto for the first time. The incidences of Sakura's care for Naruto in the story usually had something else going on. They would be interrupted, there would be something more important going on, or Naruto wouldn't be aware of Sakura in the scene. But the hug is a pure moment. It's a naked display of emotion from Sakura. She's saying that she feels grateful towards Naruto, she trusts him completely, and, well, she loves him. I usually don't put this much of my own subjective interpretations into this, but this moment is so powerful that it can't really be overstated. Moving on.
So what does this mean for NaruSaku? It should have been the realization of NaruSaku. Instead, Kishimoto shot it in the foot with the "fake" confession later, because he wanted to keep pairing wars going. But seriously how is this not NaruSaku already happening? Naruto loves Sakura. Sakura has feelings for Naruto. She expresses them. Naruto is shocked and happy. End scene. The only way that NaruSaku doesn't end up being canon is if you later backpedal and say "Hey wait, maybe Sakura didn't make the decision that she clearly made here!"
Which is exactly what happened.
Did Naruto love Sakura at this point? Yes.
Did Sakura love Naruto at this point? If the manga had ended here, then yes. Absolutely.
Sasuke is not mentioned at all, nor does he matter at all. Nor does what she feels for Sasuke even matter. She can have feelings for both, but obviously she's picking Naruto, considering she just shut down Hinata in the way that she did. To do what she did if she really still loves Sasuke and doesn't love Naruto would be absurd. If Sakura risked alienating Hinata in this way when she doesn't even want to be with Naruto, she really would be a terrible woman.
Rating: 5. Because f*** what happened after this. This was perfect. Why did you have to screw up something good? The hug was very intimate. Naruto was heroic. Sakura was so in character with punching him and then holding him tenderly. It almost couldn't have been done any better. Hinata was also resolved by the fact that she smiles afterwards. She is happy to see that Naruto is going to achieve his dreams. This is the end of the Hinata crush subplot. She went outside her comfort zone and told Naruto how she felt in a dangerous situation. It's off her chest and she can move on. Instead, people whined and complained and the diamond that was NS was swapped out with a crappy cubic zirconia of NH/SS.
And Sakura was made into a terrible woman. She wasn't interested in Naruto, but got territorial with him in the face of a girl who just almost died confessing to him. A girl who is shy and has basically no confidence in herself. She decided to rub the fact in Hinata's face that she could take Naruto away from Hinata whenever she wanted to, even though she really only wanted Sasuke as we can tell by the ending. If you think I'm making too much out of this, think about it. Hinata had recovered by that point. If Sakura had not approached Naruto, Hinata would likely have gotten an opportunity to speak to him about her feelings. An opportunity she ultimately never got. So if Sakura doesn't really want to be with Naruto, she's horrendous for doing this. This is not disputable.
So Sakura looks awful in retrospect. But Kishimoto wasn't fair to her. Her feelings for Naruto were real and she had the courage to act on them because that's the kind of character she was. If someone tries to tell you otherwise, they don't know what they are talking about. If they try to tell you that the hug doesn't mean she has feelings for Naruto, they don't know what they are talking about, plus they're lazy, stupid, and they're overlooking the presence of Hinata. Which is ironic because Hinata is the most important character in the world to anyone who would try to argue this.
So Kishimoto completely f***ed up his life's work when he sabotaged this moment later on for the sake of pairing wars and ultimately ruined the moment with the ending.
Look at the way Sakura is holding Naruto. This is not a hug that you would see between two friends. She has a hand resting on his neck and collarbone and an arm around his shoulder and back. She then pulls his head and torso towards her, pressing her own upper body against his. She whispers "Thank you" with her eyes closed. It's an extremely tender and heartfelt gesture on her part.
Sakura wanted to be close to him. She did in fact get so close to him that Naruto was too shocked to even react. He never thought something like this would ever happen.
Too bad Kishimoto ripped it away from him in the cruelest way possible.
Edited by DrK, 30 November 2017 - 04:26 AM.