@ChatteGreat well thought out post! I don't agree with everything you say, namely Sakura's chakra reserves theory but you made a lot of good points about the strength of Sakura's character and how she has grown mentally. I honestly have not had a single problem with her character until it seemed like Kishimoto forgot she existed during the war!
If things are great for us this week, I'm wondering if these guys would not even do a review simply if minato makes a notion of Kushina towards sakura. It won't mean ns is canon, just much more potential for it. Yet it would still get lots of Anti ns fans all up in wars and rants and how the series sucks cause of sakura. Hey there is a simple fact to this all, sakura is the heroine, if they don't like it, deal with it. Hinata could have been the heroine but that was a concept and concepts don't always end up used. They are called concepts for a reason, if hinata was originally made to be the end person with naruto but that changed to ns, well same deal, concepts don't always equal the end.
If Hinata had been given the proper development I really wouldn't mind if she had been Naruto's love interest. I have nothing against her, she's just boring. Their interactions just don't make for interesting romance as there is absolutely no conflict other than Naruto friendzoning her. Maybe that would be enough if this were a shoujo manga and she were the main character and her main goal was to get Naruto to notice her.
To be honest Sasuke and Sakura holds more appeal to me than NaruHina. But again for SS to satisfactorily happen the story would have to be told in a very different way. I can see the appeal in never losing your feelings for the one you love no matter what life throws your way.
One way I could see SS happening is if Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura had been developed differently. If Naruto and Hinata had been given sufficient interaction for a bond of love to grow between them, Sakura's reunion with Sasuke wouldn't dominate the romance subplot and look so bad. Naruto would receive proper romantic development as the main character and Sakura could have the man she always wanted.
Yet another way I could see it happening is if Naruto didn't have strong feelings for Sakura at any point or was a few years younger than her and Sasuke. Naruto could still be the main character and do his thing and fans of the type of romance that SS is could get their wish.
Seeing as how Naruto is a manga that is light on romance (or maybe the romance is just more subtle)

the only logical end pairing is for the hero to get with the girl he's always loved. Is it just me or do other pairing fandoms seem to put the interests of Hinata and Sakura before that of Naruto and Sasuke? At worst I see the story left open-ended pairing wise but for some reason I just don't think that's going to be the case this time.
Edited by TrueSacrifice, 19 May 2013 - 10:53 PM.