4869 replies to this topic

[gamerman_007]

After reading the posts on naruto-as-sasuke henge i must agree. I will not hesitate to say that if that moment never happened, i think sakura would have stopped crushing on him long ago. But i doubt sakura actually thought back to the henge scene and realized it wasnt sasuke. I doubt she has thought about it at all. But it'll pop out in the chap to come.

Narusaku: her knight-in-shining-armor is denser then the metal he's wearing.
I had to do this.

[MBKon]

Oh? And might your 'personal translator' be a NaruHina? Well, I'd love to see the romanji of it so that i can translate it. We'll see if your 'personal translator's' name isn't Clouded Judgement.

[Smiter]

I never like those arguments that claim to have an unnamed third party source. It's amazing how some people will try to change the words so that they reflect their own personal view of the manga.

For the record, all the official translators are correct - Naruto says "people", not "girls". If it were the case that Naruto said "girls", then at least a couple of translated mangas would have picked that up. I'm not sure what the official Viz manga says (has it even got that far yet?).

Anyway, I'm really excited that we may get some new material for debate soon. The current manga arc is pretty juicy and we could see some revelations.

Click For Spoiler

Sakura seems to be seeing how serious Sasuke is about killing Naruto. I don't know exactly how she feels about the angster, but there is definitely a noticeable absence of romantic hints. Of course, the situation isn't exactly romantic...

I think this fight is definitely going to spell the end of SasuSaku somewhere along the line. Sasuke's become even colder than before, and Sakura has her emerging feelings for Naruto. I don't think she's going to just stand by and let her old crush kill her favourite blonde.

Gah, my post is a bit thin on the ground, but I do hope we'll get some meaty stuff in the manga soon.

[Nick Soapdish]

Viz hasn't gotten that far. They just released volume 9 which goes through Neji's fight with Hinata.

They better start picking up the pace soon or the anime is going to pass them.

[gamerman_007]

Really? im outta date.

Though with recent developments in the manga, The image sakura created of sasuke will hopefully shatter in the next chap or 3. This then sets us up for narusaku. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

[MBKon]

Reffering to
this post. And the other comments.

I usually always tense up when i read NaruHina or SasuSaku arguements. And boy did i tense up a sec ago. Which was followed by a howling laughter that earned me three hits on the head by my sleeping sister. That is just WAAAAAAAY to funny! They think LeeHina isn't weird but NaruSaku is farfetched! Ah well, gotta love those NaruHina's, always make me go "Awwww! What a cute wiwlle baby!" when i read their posts.

But seriously, i always wonder how the pairing that has less evidence than ShinoIno is almost considered canon . Maybe it's an American thing, or Japanese, i can't understand any of 'em. Luckily lots of europeans are NaruSaku !

[gamerman_007]

really? Bloody sweet! Let's get 'em to sign up and bulk our numbers.

anyways i need some help, im debating wit a naruhina dude.
Click to help me!

He makes some good points, but they seem easy to shoot down. but i could always use some help!

[MBKon]

Points? What points? Those so called points are a few pics that have no use. I don't understand that guy, he clearly didn't read the manga and yet he states that NaruHina is the most possible... You know what? I give up on NaruHina! It seemed cute for about... half an hour, but no. NaruSakuInoTenTemAyame is my drug!

[No WhereMan]

Points? What points? Those so called points are a few pics that have no use. I don't understand that guy, he clearly didn't read the manga and yet he states that NaruHina is the most possible... You know what?  I give up on NaruHina! It seemed cute for about... half an hour, but no. NaruSakuInoTenTemAyame is my drug!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree Gammerman. That whole forum have a bunch of idiots that spent 5 posts defending pictures that are just fanart. No one has made any solid points pointing towards a why Naru/Hina would be valid. Plus bringing up Neji/Ino was just fawkin retarded.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

On second thought I might jump on this. *rolls up sleeves* I like picking a good intelligent fight. *smirks* And that guy will be defenseless.

[gamerman_007]

Thank you! Im like the very few narusaku's up in there. Everyone else either is a sasusaku, naruhina, or dont really give a damn.
But he posted the fanart for sharing, not to make a point.

btw, something i found

Sasusaku

[surlymoogle]

Once again, people making the argument that Naruto will automatically fall in love with Hinata just as soon as she gets around to confessing. It's quite sad they can't do any better than that.

[MBKon]

Well, that guy/girl has made a good essay. Though, SasuSaku is exactly the OPPOSITE of a despised pairing! It's one of the most popular pairings,(sadly). And even though nNaruSaku and SasuSaku were about even before Hinata showed up, it was very popular and atracted many shy and (sorry for the lousy expression) loser-ish girls. They put themselves in Sakura's mindset wishing to be so pretty and being able to express herself to their dream boy. And they want Sakura to have Sasuke so they could enjoy the very thought of being Sakura. And when NaruHina came... oh god. It was a huge disaster! Fanboy's swarmed everywhere! And not. a. single. decent. debateur(sp?) was there. That was in '99, 7 years ago. And not much changed, but at least there are some good debateurs like that guy.

...

rant end.

[gamerman_007]

it doesnt help much that many fanboys are 12 yrs old.

[surlymoogle]

Yeah, for a pro NaruHina/SasuSaku essay it's surprisingly well written and coherent. As is the SasuSaku official ship manifesto. Although this part (from the latter):

Naruto tenderly comments that she "really like Sasuke-kun" there is no bitterness in the remark, he has become a SasuSaku shipper just as us. Welcome, Naruto.

Yeah, that's taking it a bit far. Naruto's resigned to the situation, he's not happy about it. He wants what Sakura wants, but it ain't what HE wants.

Other than that it's mostly the same tired old talking points you see at NarutoFan, but presented in a much more organized manner.

I love how they refer to Sakura peeling the apples as such a romantic moment, but never mention Sasuke knocking the plate at her.

[No WhereMan]

More helps a coming Gamer! *rides in on a bucking mustang!*

[blessed_devil]

I was VERY tired of seeing people go "ANTI-NARUSAKU 4EVAR! SAKURAS JUZ A BEEYOTCH N SHE'LL ALWAYS LOFF SASUKE!" So I wrote this. To the old members, there's probably nothing new to see here. I have just combined everything I read in the past into a 3-page essay.

Click For Spoiler

Sakura’s gradual acknowledgement of Naruto

People have always been saying that Sakura did not care for Naruto at all, but the truth is, she has been gradually acknowledging him ever since the beginning of the series.

At first it was just Naruto’s crush on Sakura, a girl who didn’t care about him in the least, and maybe even hated him. Sakura kept putting Naruto down and pining for Sasuke instead. Her opinion on Naruto was that he was a guy who didn’t understand her at all, and was just annoying. Although she hated him, we see in Episode 3 that Naruto is almost perfectly fit to be Sakura’s “dream Sasuke”, when he Henge-ed into Sasuke to get closer to Sakura. Sakura wanted Sasuke to complement her about her forehead, and Naruto-as-Sasuke did so in the exact words she wanted it. “You sure have a large, charming forehead. Makes me want to kiss it...”

At the same time, this is the scene wherein Naruto realized just why he liked Sakura so much. When Sakura uttered the words “All I want... is for you to acknowledge me,” he saw kindred spirits in them. They were two people who would do everything in their power for acknowledgement. Sakura, on the other hand, saw warmth in Sasuke because...he was actually Naruto. In a way, she fell deeper for Sasuke because of Naruto. Later on, the real Sasuke appeared and, much like Sakura to Naruto, insulted her and made her shrivel up. To me, this symbolizes why I am against SasuSaku. While Naruto has always made Sakura stronger, Sasuke made her weaker.

While Sakura hated Naruto in the beginning, there had been a lot of instances wherein she was starting to care for Naruto a lot.

When Kakashi got trapped in Zabuza’s water bubble and Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones left to rescue their teacher, Zabuza removed Naruto’s forehead protector. When Naruto got it back, Sakura was blushing fiercely saying “What’s this feeling...? Naruto is so...”

During the chuunin exams part 1 (the written tests), when the tenth question came up, she was faced with the possibility of Naruto failing permanently. She was thinking, “But that silly dream of yours... I don’t want to see it crushed.” She was willing to let her whole team fail in order to protect Naruto’s dream (I’m not entirely sure if she was doing Sasuke any favors there, since there weren’t any mention of him).

During the chuunin exams part 2, Sasuke was about to give up their scroll until Naruto snapped him out of his thoughts. Sakura told Sasuke that “Naruto may be an idiot, but at least he’s not a coward like you!”

After Sakura’s fight against Ino, Sakura told Naruto “Thanks. If it weren’t for you yelling like an idiot, I would’ve lost.”

In Naruto’s fight against Kiba, she was thinking “I used to make fun of those words, but I was wrong”. After that, she said “Naruto... Tell everyone...” and then Naruto finished her sentence by saying “Don’t underestimate me!” showing yet again how the two think alike. As explained in Episode 3, they are kindred spirits. Their personalities match well with one another (which will be explained in the ‘Naruto and Sakura’s relationship’ part).

In the chuunin exams part 3, Sakura was thinking “I’m kind of jealous of you. When I watch you fight, I feel like I have to do my best, and that is an incredible thing,” and later on in Naruto’s fight against Gaara, Sakura was Naruto’s motivation to win. For me, this is one of ‘The Great NaruSaku Qualities™’. They motivate each other, learn from each other, and grow stronger with one another. Following Sakura’s line, “that is an incredible thing.”

In Sasuke’s fight against Gaara, however, Sakura showed no cheering, no self-narration, none about Sasuke except for asking Kakashi about the Cursed Seal and probably being gloomy when Sasuke wouldn’t show up.

After the fight against Gaara, Sakura thanked Sasuke for defeating Gaara for her. Sasuke honestly told her that it was Naruto who did the job, and instead of being disappointed, she smiled for Naruto in a surprisingly warm way – a smile that she had never given anyone else. Not even Sasuke.

Sakura asked Naruto on a date later on, intending to tell him about the Sasuke. This one is noticeable. Sakura could’ve just told Naruto that she wanted to have a word with him privately, but no. She asked him out on a date. Although it doesn’t scream out “OMG SAKURA TOTALLY LURVES NARUTO!!!11”, it shows just how far their relationship had gone. Sakura was now comfortable with going out on a date with Naruto. And Naruto, in turn, didn’t go all “OMG SAKURA’S ASKING ME OUT!!!!” but instead took everything seriously as he could tell that Sakura had bad news. And when Naruto comforts her, she smiled truly. And nobody else could’ve made her smile like this in the time of her darkest.

Later on, Sakura went to see Team Shikamaru. Naruto tells Sakura that he understood her pain – the pain of loving someone who can’t love you back. Naruto looked sad, trying to smile because he didn’t want Sakura to cry anymore. Hugging herself, Sakura thought back to the early days of Episode 3, and realized how wrong she was. All of her first impressions of Naruto were washed away by this. When she thought Naruto was someone who didn’t understand her at first, she now realizes that he was the only one who really understood her. She thought that he was just annoying at first, when in fact he was one of the most trustworthy people of all. She said “Thank you!” with all sincerity and emotions. Because Naruto was no longer an annoying bugger, but an important friend. After that, Naruto made a promise that he’ll bring back Sasuke for Sakura, because he loved her enough that he would sacrifice his own happiness for her. He didn’t want her to feel his pain, because he could feel how much it hurt. He wanted her to be happy, even if it meant that she wouldn’t be with him.

When Naruto failed to bring back Sasuke, Sakura tried to act happily, even making jokes about Naruto “looking like a mummy”. She didn’t want Naruto to break down because of his failure, and she didn’t want him to overwork himself, all because of her. And so she tells him that it was okay that he didn’t fulfill his promise. She wanted him to stop. Yet Naruto persisted that he never backs down on a promise. There was no way she could prevent Naruto from going all out, and so the least she could do was look out for him. She asked Tsunade to make her an apprentice, and vowed that next time, she and Naruto were going together.

After two and a half years, Naruto came back after his training with Jiraiya. The first thing that Sakura asks is “How do I look? Have I become more womanly?” Then, when Naruto brushes off Konohamaru’s thoughts of performing the Sexy no Jutsu, she admired him for it, thinking that “More than just his height had grown........ Naruto, you’ve become an excellent man.” After that, Naruto says that he has a new ultra-perverted jutsu, and Sakura, still caught up in the moment of admiring him, says “Yeah, your new ultra-perverted jutsu...” Two seconds later, she comes to realizations and punches Naruto saying “Where the hell do you expect me to put the way I felt about you earlier?!”

Sakura then accepts a date from Naruto! It’s a big change, since this time they don’t really have important matters to discuss (Sasuke’s disappearance didn’t seem to matter at that moment). Sure, Naruto has to pay, but that’s how most dates go, isn’t it?

Fast forward to the later chapters, when they were traveling to Suna, Sakura found out that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. Sakura says that Naruto had gone through a lot, what with the business with Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. She vows that this time, she’ll save both Naruto and Sasuke. This is where we see that Sakura is no longer the Sasuke-tard we once knew. She now views Naruto and Sasuke as equally precious to her.

When Sakura found out that Naruto could die if his Kyuubi is removed, she cries for him. Naruto, thinking that she’s worried about Gaara, tells her that everything will be alright “because [he’ll] save Gaara.” Sakura says “I... Naruto... it’s you that I’m-” and was cut off by Naruto, who said “Let’s hurry!”

When Sai enters the story, Sai says to Sakura, “Sakura-san, it’s times like this that... Hmm... How should I put it... You’re very nice to Naruto-kun. Where those feelings come from is something I don’t understand, but in a book, it said this-” and then he got cut off by Naruto, who said “Everyone, it’s time to go.”

Later on, Naruto goes berserk. He goes into four-tailed Kyuubi mode after hearing Orochimaru badmouth Sasuke. Sakura looked at him with worry, feeling a combination of pity and guilt as Naruto was practically selling his soul trying to get Sasuke back. She didn’t want to see Naruto like this; going way out of his way. And as if her pity and guilt weren’t bad enough, Kabuto furthered her sentiment by saying “Look at him. He’ll even go as far as to take that form. Now even his sense of self has flickered away. What a sad kid.” It was then at that moment that Sakura’s emotions burst out as she recalled the old Naruto. The one who promised to bring back Sasuke. The one who said that he’d never take back his words, because that was his way of the ninja. Tears fell down on her face as she ran towards Naruto, trying to convince him to take it easy. Trying to tell him that things didn’t have to be like this. But Naruto was gone, and Kyuubi has taken over. He hit her with a tail, leaving Sakura on the ground, helpless.

Yamato had managed to seal the Kyuubi using the First Hokage’s power. Sakura wanted to learn how to use that technique. After finding out that she can’t, she said “It’s always like this... The things I can do for Naruto are so small.” Although Yamato had the whole Kyuubi thing covered, although she didn’t have to help, she wanted to do something for Naruto anyways. Because this was Naruto. The only one who understood her. The one who had always helped her. She didn’t want to just wait for other people to come and help. She wanted to do something for the man who had always stood by her side.

Yamato, with a reassuring smile, says “It’s not a matter of big or small. What’s important is the strength of feelings you have for Naruto. Sakura, I can tell by looking at you. In reality, you-”

...And was suddenly cut off by Naruto waking up.

So no, their relationship wasn’t always perfect. In fact, they started from scratch. Or considering Sakura’s apparent hatred for Naruto in the beginning, I’d say that they started from below scratch, just like the whole theme of the series. In the end, they became perfect for each other, just like Heaven and Earth. There were even some parts hinting that maybe, just maybe, Sakura really has grown to love Naruto.

[No WhereMan]

Its funny Blessed_Devil, i've made a lot of those same points, on that forum. Its like SasuSaku and NaruHina people watch the series with blinders on. The reason why I like NaruSaku isn't because I watched the series and declared! That's who i want to be together. I watched, it through once, twice, three times. And I noticed those same instances. I of course I wanted Naruto to get Sakura, I felt sorry for the guy. But it was after watching and reading it so much, I realized that slowly but surely Sakura was feeling the same thing too.

I mean, its like SasuSaku and NaruHina people refused to accept anything else. Because it doesn't fit into their small neat little world where everyone has a relationship and everyone is happy.

[Ani]

That was totally awesome, Devil. And I agree with all your statements.