749 replies to this topic

[Darkness]

You have some good points but I don't think we can conclude that the only thing barring Sakura from being with Naruto is her feelings for Sasuke. It is currently quite ambiguous when it comes to Sakura's feelings towards Naruto, and it seems rather disappointing that a large group of the fanbase are quickly to dismiss her feelings towards Naruto as "purely platonic" because she doesn't fangirl over him.

The one thing we do know is that Sakura can't reciprocate Naruto's feelings because I doubt Kishimoto would want a pairing to be canon until the end or near the end of the manga. Becoming a canon couple is just the end of the destination; it wouldn't be entertaining otherwise.

 

 

One thing we can all agree is that discussing human emotions is not something easy, and whether or not this was intentional, Kishimoto surely did an awesome job "humanizing" Sakura's feelings.

 

I was going to answer your first paragraph but you did it yourself on the second. The only thing besides Sasuke barring Sakura's feelings is her own creator. It doesn't amaze me that Kishi is purposely keeping Sakura from realizing her true feelings given the amount of situations where it was almost about to happen just to be "coincidentally" interrupted by some random factor. His motives are simply to keep the story exciting and the readers engaged until the very end.

 

But in the end of the road it is just plain obvious that Sakura does have romantic feelings for Naruto, however she has yet to uncover them. Be it by asking herself about them, finally giving up upon Sasuke, or maybe witnessing Naruto risking his life, one thing is certain: It is bound to happen.

[morgaine4]

I believe she did, she does have an attraction to him but she has to resolve her issue with Sasuke first

It's not about talking to him but rather realizing what love really is.
She does love Naruto but doesnt acknowledge on a romance level, the question is why?
It's answered on the summit, she bluntly believes she loves Sasuke, she believes she's an horrible person and has a low view about herself.
i believe that NS needs an impactfull moment where she realizes it, Naruto never talked about what he views on Sakura, he doesnt need a confession but he justn eeds to compliment her, or at least fix this low view about herself.

 

She does believe that she loves Sasuke, but remember she believe that she loves who she thought Sasuke was.  IMO, it seems like she doesn't really love Sasuke anymore, but she unable to stop loving who she thought he was and who she hopes he can be once again.  She knows that she doesn't love this Sasuke.  I think that that's an important distinction because it's so often ignored in the West, but it indicates that in terms of moving on from Sasuke --she's more than half way there.

 

 

You have some good points but I don't think we can conclude that the only thing barring Sakura from being with Naruto is her feelings for Sasuke. It is currently quite ambiguous when it comes to Sakura's feelings towards Naruto, and it seems rather disappointing that a large group of the fanbase are quickly to dismiss her feelings towards Naruto as "purely platonic" because she doesn't fangirl over him.

The one thing we do know is that Sakura can't reciprocate Naruto's feelings because I doubt Kishimoto would want a pairing to be canon until the end or near the end of the manga. Becoming a canon couple is just the end of the destination; it wouldn't be entertaining otherwise.

 

Well, I definitely agree the main reason Sakura can't realize her feelings is because Kishi would prefer not to have an official couple till later in the game, not to mention Naruto's feelings for Sakura (and thus his goal of being with Sakura) was mentioned extremely early one.  The three things --becoming Hokage, gaining Sasuke's acknowledgment, gaining Sakura's love-- will have to happen close to the end.

 

I do think if Sakura realized her feelings without getting over Sasuke, and if Naruto believed that she wasn't simply settling for her that they could be together --in real life.  But based on the establishments of the manga, I kind of feel that not only does Sakura have to realize she's over her feelings for Sasuke, but that Naruto either has to succeed in getting Sasuke to redeem himself, or he has to decide that Sasuke is no longer worth the effort (won't happen haha).  With Sakura, her residual feelings for Sasuke seems to mess with her mind/emotions, they seem make her feel dirty, feel unworthy.  I think realizing that she's not dirty/unworthy, or realizing that she doesn't love Sasuke, would help her let go of the guilt/sorrow/negativity she feels because of her feelings for Sasuke and would in turn allow her to explore/realize her feelings for Naruto.  But I'm not sure if that would allow them to be together, Naruto has placed a lot of value on his ability to "bring Sasuke back," I don't know if he (as written) could allow himself to be with Sakura if this were to happen, even if he was made aware of all the smiles and little moments that indicate how Sakura might feel for Naruto.

 

 

For me Ns is inevitable i'm just looking forward to how he will do it, Obi/Rin might play or not nd most important Sakura being Kushina killed off the charade.

 

Since I first started reading the manga, I've felt that the great romantic story wasn't about who Naruto would end up with, but how he would gain Sakura's affections.  And the more I read the more this seemed to be the case because we never saw Naruto's feelings for Sakura fluctuate.  Naruto is the Messiah of this story, the Hero, the Child of Prophecy.  This is the type of story in which the hero gains everything he wants in the end.  After all the title of the story is Naruto, not Sasuke, not Sakura, not Hinata, not Ino, not Shikamaru etc etc...

[rocci]

Naruto there are two door that you need to choose the left one will end this genjutsu and save the world while the right one will save the girl and complete the genjutsu

[HauntedCake]

Yeah Sakura loves part 1 sasuke not the current sasuke.

[Nefertieh]

I think we can all agree that he cant even hold SS anymore after what he've done, showing any kind of SS fanservice would just ruin her character, look at Karin and Ino.

For me Ns is inevitable i'm just looking forward to how he will do it, Obi/Rin might play or not nd most important Sakura being Kushina killed off the charade.

 

I find it a bit perplexing here that people bring up Sasuke as if he was somebody Sakura was actually involved with. orz Don't worry, quite a few of us believe Kishimoto has written Karin so... extreme... to make Sakura look better.

 

 

One thing we can all agree is that discussing human emotions is not something easy, and whether or not this was intentional, Kishimoto surely did an awesome job "humanizing" Sakura's feelings.

 

I was going to answer your first paragraph but you did it yourself on the second. The only thing besides Sasuke barring Sakura's feelings is her own creator. It doesn't amaze me that Kishi is purposely keeping Sakura from realizing her true feelings given the amount of situations where it was almost about to happen just to be "coincidentally" interrupted by some random factor. His motives are simply to keep the story exciting and the readers engaged until the very end.

 

But in the end of the road it is just plain obvious that Sakura does have romantic feelings for Naruto, however she has yet to uncover them. Be it by asking herself about them, finally giving up upon Sasuke, or maybe witnessing Naruto risking his life, one thing is certain: It is bound to happen.

 

The other thing to remember is that Sakura knows about Hinata's feelings; it was given a special emphasis when she healed her. I wonder if Sakura feels like she's obliged to reject Naruto because she knows there is someone else who loves him?

 

 

Well, I definitely agree the main reason Sakura can't realize her feelings is because Kishi would prefer not to have an official couple till later in the game, not to mention Naruto's feelings for Sakura (and thus his goal of being with Sakura) was mentioned extremely early one.  The three things --becoming Hokage, gaining Sasuke's acknowledgment, gaining Sakura's love-- will have to happen close to the end.

 

Exactly. Half of the time I feel like we aren't given an explanation as to why Sakura isn't with Naruto because the plot calls for it. It's already established that she realized Naruto does understand her when she had a flashback during his POAL. I guess all that's missing is the epiphany that Naruto was "Sasuke" all along.

 

 

I do think if Sakura realized her feelings without getting over Sasuke, and if Naruto believed that she wasn't simply settling for her that they could be together --in real life.  But based on the establishments of the manga, I kind of feel that not only does Sakura have to realize she's over her feelings for Sasuke, but that Naruto either has to succeed in getting Sasuke to redeem himself, or he has to decide that Sasuke is no longer worth the effort (won't happen haha).  With Sakura, her residual feelings for Sasuke seems to mess with her mind/emotions, they seem make her feel dirty, feel unworthy.  I think realizing that she's not dirty/unworthy, or realizing that she doesn't love Sasuke, would help her let go of the guilt/sorrow/negativity she feels because of her feelings for Sasuke and would in turn allow her to explore/realize her feelings for Naruto.  But I'm not sure if that would allow them to be together, Naruto has placed a lot of value on his ability to "bring Sasuke back," I don't know if he (as written) could allow himself to be with Sakura if this were to happen, even if he was made aware of all the smiles and little moments that indicate how Sakura might feel for Naruto.

 

Yes, I agree. Naruto said himself that he can't confess until he's shown he's kept his promises -- but I also think he doesn't want to confess to Sakura if Sasuke is still "in the darkness," because then Sakura wouldn't have a fair choice. As in, Naruto knows he will have an unfair advantage: Sakura would be comparing Naruto to not-sane Sasuke, as opposed to just Naruto and Sasuke.

 

With Sakura, her residual feelings for Sasuke seems to mess with her mind/emotions, they seem make her feel dirty, feel unworthy.  I think realizing that she's not dirty/unworthy, or realizing that she doesn't love Sasuke, would help her let go of the guilt/sorrow/negativity she feels because of her feelings for Sasuke and would in turn allow her to explore/realize her feelings for Naruto.  But I'm not sure if that would allow them to be together, Naruto has placed a lot of value on his ability to "bring Sasuke back," I don't know if he (as written) could allow himself to be with Sakura if this were to happen, even if he was made aware of all the smiles and little moments that indicate how Sakura might feel for Naruto.

 

I'm not sure if Sakura feels unclean about liking Sasuke -- but the love-letter nin does clarify that Sasuke is far from the ideal.

 

You bring up an interesting point; I guess it is up to Kishimoto to prove that Sakura is in love or could fall in love with Naruto, even knowing Sasuke was no longer an enemy to the world. Beyond the commentary made by the other characters, ofcourse. My own prediction ofcourse is that Sakura will realize it was Naruto who was disguised as Sasuke from the beginning and confront him about it.

 

All and all, I think it's entirely possible for Sakura and Naruto to be together without Kishimoto writing Naruto as a consolation prize.

Edited by Nefertieh, 21 September 2013 - 09:11 AM.

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

 

I find it a bit perplexing here that people bring up Sasuke as if he was somebody Sakura was actually involved with. orz Don't worry, quite a few of us believe Kishimoto has written Karin so... extreme... to make Sakura look better.

 

 

 

The other thing to remember is that Sakura knows about Hinata's feelings; it was given a special emphasis when she healed her. I wonder if Sakura feels like she's obliged to reject Naruto because she knows there is someone else who loves him?

 

 

 

Exactly. Half of the time I feel like we aren't given an explanation as to why Sakura isn't with Naruto because the plot calls for it. It's already established that she realized Naruto does understand her when she had a flashback during his POAL. I guess all that's missing is the epiphany that Naruto was "Sasuke" all along.

 

 

 

Yes, I agree. Naruto said himself that he can't confess until he's shown he's kept his promises -- but I also think he doesn't want to confess to Sakura if Sasuke is still "in the darkness," because then Sakura wouldn't have a fair choice. As in, Naruto knows he will have an unfair advantage: Sakura would be comparing Naruto to not-sane Sasuke, as opposed to just Naruto and Sasuke.

 

 

That would be stupid because she made a confession right after that, i think it only served for the purpose that Naruto can be seen on a romantic light, that it's possible to have this kind of relationship with him, if i remember well Sakura on part 2 always thought that Naruto was a kid and when they come back she even say "after the first meeting on part 2" that he still was the same, i mean it's typical with tsunderes and the heroes, she viewed Naruto as immature.

Seeing Hinata and witnessing that, there's people who loves him on that way.

It was mostly for her, funny that he kind of used NH for that purpose.

 

Half of me thinks that way but the other half is cling up to his flashbacks about SS, i mean Naruto witnessed almost every Saku > S moment on the manga, hugs, she smilling, and even she running desperately to Sasuke(Bridge) i cant help but to feel really weird about Naruto and his desire to confess, will he confess just to say that he loves her to not have regrets because how can he do this when he strongly believe she loves Sasuke but to a point that he feels she cant love him.

 

I mean i would not confess to a girl when i strongly believe she loves another guy.

Edited by Dαrkrєrsŧ, 21 September 2013 - 10:11 AM.

[Nefertieh]

That would be stupid because she made a confession right after that, i think it only served for the purpose that Naruto can be seen on a romantic light, that it's possible to have this kind of relationship with him, if i remember well Sakura on part 2 always thought that Naruto was a kid and when they come back she even say "after the first meeting on part 2" that he still was the same, i mean it's typical with tsunderes and the heroes, she viewed Naruto as immature.

Seeing Hinata and witnessing that, there's people who loves him on that way.

It was mostly for her, funny that he kind of used NH for that purpose.

Yes, I know she confessed not long after that -- but remember she confessed to relieve his burden, not because she suddenly came to terms with her feelings. Sakura did not fall in love with Naruto after seeing Hinata, and certainly not because of Hinata.

 

I'm not sure what you're quoting. When did Sakura break the fourth wall?

 

 

Half of me thinks that way but the other half is cling up to his flashbacks about SS, i mean Naruto witnessed almost every Saku > S moment on the manga, hugs, she smilling, and even she running desperately to Sasuke(Bridge) i cant help but to feel really weird about Naruto and his desire to confess, will he confess just to say that he loves her to not have regrets because how can he do this when he strongly believe she loves Sasuke but to a point that he feels she cant love him.

 

I mean i would not confess to a girl when i strongly believe she loves another guy.

 

Maybe because he's also seen every moment Sasuke's rejected her, humiliated her, or made her cry? Naruto has never said he didn't think Sakura was incapable of loving anyone else. He only reacted the way he did because it seemed odd for her to suddenly declare her love for him out of the blue.

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

Yes, I know she confessed not long after that -- but remember she confessed to relieve his burden, not because she suddenly came to terms with her feelings. Sakura did not fall in love with Naruto after seeing Hinata, and certainly not because of Hinata.

 

I'm not sure what you're quoting. When did Sakura break the fourth wall?

 

 

 

Maybe because he's also seen every moment Sasuke's rejected her, humiliated her, or made her cry? Naruto has never said he didn't think Sakura was incapable of loving anyone else. He only reacted the way he did because it seemed odd for her to suddenly declare her love for him out of the blue.

I just said that she realized that there's people who sees Naruto on that way, something that she didnt before, only on moments were she shows some attraction but it's just for comic purpose and doesnt have any effect on later scenes.

 

Also about Hinata there's no logic on this, because doenst change the fact she did the confession without taking HInata's feelings into account this is just an argument to say that she's relevant to the love triangle when for me is not, NAruto didnt take her confession into account when he called Sakura his girlfriend.

 

Maybe because everytime he thinks about Sakura's feelings he comes with "She loves him too much" and stuff liek that and to make it worse he brings those SS moments and for the last the POAL and Sakura's strong words, where she begged for Naruto to bring Sasuke back

Which is why i dont understand why he wants to confess when he believes that she loves Sasuke "too much".

 

There's no logic behind this.

Edited by Dαrkrєrsŧ, 21 September 2013 - 12:14 PM.

[Psychox]

 

On the one hand, I think it would be really interesting if Naruto is forced to kill Obito, but I'd honestly be surprised if he were forced to do so this late in the game.  Kishimoto has tried very hard to give Naruto extreme powers, while also making it so that Naruto never directly killed anyone.  He's almost killed someone (Kakuzu), but even then Kakashi technically dealt the killing blow.  Naruto is supposed to be special, he's supposed to do something to change the Shinobi world, something to end the cycle of hatred and violence that's bred into the ninja, so how would his killing Obito be different?  Having said that, we already saw him "hug" dark Naruto, so does this mean that this time he'll be forced to kill this dark Naruto?  We also know that he'll guide Sasuke to his own redemption (Naruto won't fail), so will he succeed in guiding Sasuke to his redemption after failing to guide Obito to his own?  It really depends

 

 

The notion that if Sakura does indeed love Naruto on some level (even unbeknownst to herself), she would not need development presumes that Sakura cannot love multiple people, and presumes that Sakura is aware of all of her feelings, that she's given actual thought to her feelings for Naruto, when in fact Kishimoto seems to have avoided having the character actually ask herself and think about "how do I (Sakura) feel about Naruto."  During the Kage arc, we saw her think about old Sasuke, but we didn't see her actually think about Naruto.  Every time someone seems to hint at Sakura's potential romantic feelings for Naruto (Yamato and Sai), they're interupted, the conversation isn't finished.  Sakura looks confused, almost scared, and then moves on; refuses to think about it.

 

We also have to remember that there are different types of love, and romantic/sexual love isn't always the most important.  Sakura loves Naruto, there's no doubt in my mind about that and there's not doubt in my mind that when push comes to shove Sakura will choose Naruto over Sasuke --she already has.  It is for Naruto that she got out of her funk (after she and Sasuke tried to kill each other) and stood up against Sasuke, the majority of her actions (ill thought out or not) were done in order to protect Naruto, relieve his burdens, and act in such a way that if there was success in "operation kill Sasuke," he could still have his friends, he'd only have to hate Sakura (hence why she knocked the boys out).  My only question is are those feelings or could those feelings become romantic/sexual in nature.

 

We also have to remember that even romantic/sexual love can be very different, it can be more or less sexual/lustful, it can be based in reality, it can be based on a fantasy.  Sakura is really loyal, and we've seen that often genin teams become a sort of new family (though Team 8 seems to be an exception), so there's no doubt in my mind that Sakura loves Sasuke but just like we have to explore what the nature of Sakura's feelings for Naruto are, we need to explore what the nature of her feelings for Sasuke are.  What does she really know or understand about Sasuke?  What are her feelings for Sasuke based on?  We saw in her confession to Sasuke that even though she began to understand that loneliness drove him (and Naruto), that she really didn't understand what loneliness is.  We know that to some degree she began liking him because he was some sort of stepping stool, a way for her to show that she has surpassed the females in her class.  We know that she had a fantasy about a guy complimenting her forehead, and that that did happen but she believes that it was Sasuke when it was in fact Naruto.  To me that indicates that her while her love, her loyalty, and her desire to see Sasuke redeemed is very much real, the romantic nature of her love, the intensity of the romantic nature of her love is based on a fantasy and is largely based on some sort of internal build up.  Sakura's feelings are very much like the feelings that many people, especially teenagers, can have when they like someone from a far, when they idolize that person, when they attribute certain qualities to that person that might not be real --might never have been real.  Then let's compare that to her feelings for (and relationship with) Naruto.  What's the difference?  At this point in the story Kishimoto has worked hard to illustrate that Sakura knows Naruto (and even understands him) more than anyone else, in some ways even more than Sasuke.  The last barrier to this was in Sakura's ignorance regarding Naruto's romantic feelings, but once she found out about those, things changed.  She's now able to speak for him, explain him/his feelings to the rest of the world, she's able to relate to his feelings/realize that she's entered his heart even without his needing to think of a regret/an event that relates to her directly.  Everything she feels for Naruto, the feelings she's aware of as well as the feelings she's incapable of admitting to herself at this point, are based on who he actually is and who she actually is (while the majority of her dislike of Naruto was based on who she incorrectly thought he was, and an image of herself that she was trying to convey).

 

But does that mean that she absolutely loves Naruto in a romantic/sexual manner already?  No, but I do think Kishimoto seems to be striving for the possibility that she does but cannot realize her feelings because she's still hung up on Sasuke, because she has a low self confidence when it comes to romance, and primarily because if she realizes her feelings for Naruto and moves on from Sasuke too soon, the romantic plot would be finished.

 

What good would Obito's death by Naruto's hand do ? Hm, i think this is a part of being a ninja as well, yes he is the savior and so to say he should avoid violance at all costs . But is it possible at point? He was ready to kill Nagato despite the reasons that bond him to do those acts . He was so angry ,but the difference was that Naruto could relate to Nagato's pain . He still doesn't now what drives OBito and even if he was aware , what good would it do ? Yes, he can relate on some level to his previous situation with Sakura not returning his feelings . But i can tell that he thinks differently since 16 chapters ago he called Sakura more or less  his GF. He doesn't have that blockage as he did  before . That said , what is he gonna tell Obito to change his mind ''There is a lot of fish in the see?'' or '' i  know the feelings of somebody not returning yours'' and that will stop Tobito's rampage ? Hm, i don't know , we had TNJ last time , this time with so many dead people who acknowledge him is gonna be different , if you ask me . Imagine he attacks Sakura then we'll get the Rin parallel , Naruto wont hold back that is what i think . I could lead to his hesitation and then Madara would end him , but that's an assumption. Obito has taunted Naruto a lot and made fun of him not only once , so maybe this time the resolve is gonna be another.Back during the Pain arc , Naruto thought that no one acknowledges him beyond Team 7 ,Tsunade,Jiraiya and Iruka . The other rookies were his friends ,sure , but they were alive and well, except for Hinata who almost died back then and he went insane , now everybody recognizes him and is ready to do almost anything for him.So maybe it will go differently ..

As for Sakura's feelings for Sasuke , its absurd by this point , the guy has done  nothing so that Sakura would  fall for him , except that forehead scene, its unexplainable and unreasonable. It doesn't matter how faithful and loyal she is , they've had no interaction or at least Sasuke wasn't  reciprocating anything she did , quite the contrary he was indifferent and obvious to it all. That's why i can't accept statements like ''Then their relationship was on a platonic level , but later it grew'' Huh?   When did it expand?I must've missed it ..
 
She has no reason to stay loyal or keep those feelings, so why?They are not married nor there is something that grounds them. That relationship has crap written all over it . What do they share? Sasuke tried to tell her that loneliness is a terrible thing via the phrase'' You make me sick'' and that's it . Even it the baddest shojos the bad boy and good girl share those ''secrets'' , so its not special at all

-Naruto and Hinata share a nindo.
-Sasuke and Naruto can communicate on a level without words.
-Sakura and Sasuke  have ? I got nothing .

So Sasuke hasn't done anything to influence those kind of emotions on her, or did he ? Her love is based on fantasy that she herself created of ''Sasuke'' did ? hm...
As for the redemption part , she wants that , but what made her think that he will return something to her when he was the one who rejected her confession ? What made her think that after all he said/did he will start behaving differently ? Because i can't find an answer. why she held those feelings for him and dodges the fact that she hold something more powerful full of potential and selflessness? It makes no sense. She may have low self confidence in terms of romance , but behind it stays what? Her forehead insecurity or the way she acted around Sasuke and pushed her real feelings down? Hm , yes she was full of insecurities when her character was introduced , but at this given point most of them should be dismissed from Naruto's presence, but that's just me ^-^.

 

 

That's not the point. Understand that Naruto still wants to kill him but sparing is the answer because what good would it do to kill him. For Obito, this is Naruto's greatest challenge yet for coming around. What makes it a point to do it twice you asked? Say if the tree is impossible which Madara sure made it seem like. What good is killing Obito? Will it stop? Will it bring anything but "Hooray..."? There's a reason why Obito is getting many flashbacks and such, because as we despise him, we wonder if there's a good ending for him. He's Nagato but on hard difficulty level. He's too once a human. Not only that but Naruto sensed that Obito is in dark pain.

As you may not be aware but Naruto is supposed to be like "Jesus" (no religion talk please). If you heard many stories, no matter how bad it is, you always seem to forgive. Why else you see many stories that don't kill the villain, rather the villain takes its own life, good or bad. Let's not forget that Kishi is a fan of those animated film, which most likely we will see a somewhat fantasy ending. Other characters go on different paths but not Naruto. That said it's best to keep Sasuke the one with kill is the solution as Naruto is "Must be other way" solution.

 

That's true and i totally agree with it, i was just thinking if the story will take a different toll this time ..
 

 

Maybe because he's also seen every moment Sasuke's rejected her, humiliated her, or made her cry? Naruto has never said he didn't think Sakura was incapable of loving anyone else. He only reacted the way he did because it seemed odd for her to suddenly declare her love for him out of the blue.

 

He saw it through when they were about to fight in the chuunin exams and he called Sasuke ''teme'' . He didn't think it , but witnessed how much Sakura loved Sasuke , so he couldn't bring himself believing her just like that , but the problem is that he remained oblivious to her affection and didn't witness the warm smiles/looks she gives him. Not to mention what she tried to do for him..

 

Edited by Psychox, 21 September 2013 - 01:44 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

^Yeah, well, the last thing I need is to have Sasuke being right. Sasuke is always meant to portrayed the wrong direction. Naruto is made to be a role model, so agreeing with renegade side would be disappointing. Nothing wrong going very far as in close to killing, but never reach to 100% done.

[rocci]

All naruto enemies that he fight always get tnj, and the bigger his similiarrity with naruto, the bigger the chance to get tnj.

[LuckyChi7]

All naruto enemies that he fight always get tnj, and the bigger his similiarrity with naruto, the bigger the chance to get tnj.

 

Well that's not entirely true, he actually defeated Kakazu without getting tnj.  

[T XD]

If we think about Obito's death, well, he's going to die eventually. I don't think Naruto will kill him. I think it's one of those possibilities:

 

1- Sasuke kills him by surprise, and we know how that will reflect on Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Minato and possibly the others as well.

 

2- Madara kills him without Obito noticing either from the first time or the second time. But, the thing with this possibility is that Madara already had made a deadly attempt at him before Obito transforms into the Juubi's vessel, so I think if this possibility happened, there will be an add to it from Kishi.

 

3- Obito sacrifices himself for Naruto's sake from whatever he learned about/from him and to save the world also from Madara's next turn.

 

4- Although I think Naruto won't kill intentionally, it's possible that he will have to kill him despite he doesn't want to.

 

5- There's that they will think Madara killed Obito, but will turn out that Obito is still alive and he will do something to help and succeeds in it, but Sasuke afterwards kills him.

 

I think they're all equally possible except the 4th which is less possible than the others.

Edited by T XD, 21 September 2013 - 02:13 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

If we think about Obito death, well, he's going to die eventually. I don't think Naruto will kill him. I think it's one of those possibilities:
 
1- Sasuke kills him by surprise, and we know how that will reflect on Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Minato and possibly the others as well.
 
2- Madara kills him without Obito noticing either from the first time or the second time. But, the thing with this possibility is that Madara already had made a deadly attempt at him before Obito transforms into the Juubi's vessel, so I think if this possibility happened, there will be an add to it from Kishi.
 
3- Obito sacrifices himself for Naruto's sake from whatever he learned about/from him and to save the world also from Madara's next turn.
 
4- Although I think Naruto won't kill intentionally, it's possible that he will have to kill him despite he doesn't want to.
 
5- There's that they will think Madara killed Obito, but will turn out that Obito is still alive and he will do something to help and succeeds in it, but Sasuke afterwards kills him.
 
I think they're all equally possible except the 4th which is less possible than the others.

One thing I would add is that when Sasuke planned to kill Bijuus along with Juubi, Naruto and Hashirama were the only one that didn't like what Sasuke was about to do. It's understandable that others didn't understand and thought finishing it off would be the end of war. The point is when Naruto gets to the point of not killing Obito, people would at first think it's incredibly bad move for not killing him or Bijuus, but after it's done, they will respect Naruto much more. Sasuke on the other hand won't like it because he's all about what's right in merciless way. Being proven wrong by Naruto would be the last thing he wants in him. That's where their fight comes in but not exactly now.

[T XD]

One thing I would add is that when Sasuke planned to kill Bijuus along with Juubi, Naruto and Hashirama were the only one that didn't like what Sasuke was about to do. It's understandable that others didn't understand and thought finishing it off would be the end of war. The point is when Naruto gets to the point of not killing Obito, people would at first think it's incredibly bad move for not killing him or Bijuus, but after it's done, they will respect Naruto much more. Sasuke on the other hand won't like it because he's all about what's right in merciless way. Being proven wrong by Naruto would be the last thing he wants in him. That's where their fight comes in but not exactly now.

I didn't thought much yet about Sasuke's reaction at the end of the war from what happened while they were fighting Obito and Madara, but what I think is that Sasuke's priority, despite what he got influenced from the way Obito dies or what will be his reactions and thought about Naruto when they finish, is to kill Naruto by himself and wants to put his ideal view on this world into work.

 

What comes from this battle afterwards will influence him in a way that he wants badly to prove otherwise to Naruto more about ideals and power comes along as well from what reactions he had shown when Naruto is fighting in this battle.

Edited by T XD, 21 September 2013 - 02:24 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

I didn't thought much yet about Sasuke's reaction at the end of the war from what happened while they were fighting Obito and Madara, but what I think is that Sasuke's priority, despite what he got influenced from the way Obito dies or what will be his reactions and thought about Naruto when they finish, is to kill Naruto by himself and wants to put his ideal view on this world into work.
 
What comes from this battle afterwards will influence him in a way that he wants badly to prove otherwise to Naruto more about ideals and power comes along as well from what reactions he had shown when Naruto is fighting in this battle.

Well we got the power level that got him upset, so now, we will get the right way for peace that will get him upset. That's two things that will motivate him to kill Naruto and hastily go after him once this is over.

[Darkness]

The other thing to remember is that Sakura knows about Hinata's feelings; it was given a special emphasis when she healed her. I wonder if Sakura feels like she's obliged to reject Naruto because she knows there is someone else who loves him?

 

This is unlikely since she decided to confess anyway even after Hinata's little sacrifice. Even though she was not completely honest and had not realized her feelings yet during that confession, she was really trying to convince Naruto.

Half of me thinks that way but the other half is cling up to his flashbacks about SS, i mean Naruto witnessed almost every Saku > S moment on the manga, hugs, she smilling, and even she running desperately to Sasuke(Bridge) i cant help but to feel really weird about Naruto and his desire to confess, will he confess just to say that he loves her to not have regrets because how can he do this when he strongly believe she loves Sasuke but to a point that he feels she cant love him.

 

And there you have it again folks, Kishi showing one more time how he wants to keep the fans on speculation mode. Everytime Sakura has shown affection towards Sasuke, Naruto was very well positioned where he could witness it and even more importantly, he could understand what was going on. That's one of the main reasons he was not ready to accept Sakura's feelings, he very well remembers how Sakura used to be around Sasuke and how she likes him.

 

And the fact he was able to figure out her feelings so early is something to highlight. He could continue to be his oblivious, hyperactive self and continue to chase Sakura no matter what. But he knew about everything already and, at that time, he was indeed right.

 

 

This was the first time where we could see a very mature Naruto putting her feelings above his own. However it can't be helped, it's just too much of a coincidence. Not only he witnessed and understood Sakura's feelings, but several times where he could have shown how strong he'd got and how badly he wanted to protect her (against Gaara-Ichibi at the Chuunin Exam finals / that Ninja encounter right before the fight against Sasuke on the roof), she was "somehow" unable to see it. it's a rather unpleasant feeling we got when reading such plot: a feeling of anguish because you so badly wants Sakura to see Naruto's efforts and how strong are his feelings, but instead all you got is the opposite. Every time is Naruto instead who sees Sakura fangirling Sasuke, or whatever other term you wanna use, and Sakura keeps being restrained from seeing anything coming from Naruto, except some moments where he is acting stupid.

 

However as soon as we move to part 2 the plot begins to shift. Naruto is now trying to save his lost friend by any means necessary and because of that there's not much time left to try and impress Sakura. But now, what we so badly wanted to see in part 1, is finally taking place in part 2: Sakura is finally seeing the real Naruto in a way she had never imagined he could be like. The very first time she set her eyes on him she already looked amazed, and with so many events taking place (the battle against Orochimaru, Pein, Sai conversation) it's Sakura who is now beginning to usderstand Naruto and everything he went through during his life. Except Naruto cannot see it because no matter what, he is too attached to his part 1 team. He strongly believes Sakura still loves Sasuke and perhaps because of it he feels she can't love him and is not ready to accept it. Considering how the story has been written so far, we can't blame him.

 

However the end is pretty much settled on stone. Kishi already mentioned he is not changing the end and after all these plot twists and foreshadowing moments, it cannot and will not go to waste.

About Naruto's possible confession, he will not do it unless he really feels it's highly necessary, on the verge of death maybe, or perhaps after saving Sasuke. Even though it's hard to imagine it while he still believes Sakura is in love with Sasuke, so hopefully Sakura will get the chance to prove otherwise. 

Edited by Darkness, 21 September 2013 - 06:09 PM.

[morgaine4]

Yes, I agree. Naruto said himself that he can't confess until he's shown he's kept his promises -- but I also think he doesn't want to confess to Sakura if Sasuke is still "in the darkness," because then Sakura wouldn't have a fair choice. As in, Naruto knows he will have an unfair advantage: Sakura would be comparing Naruto to not-sane Sasuke, as opposed to just Naruto and Sasuke.

 

 

And, I like to think that Naruto doesn't want to be 2nd best, he doesn't want to a face a situation in which Sakura might be with him, and then change her mind once Sasuke has redeemed himself.  It's super interesting how much Naruto's obliviousness plays into his weird "acceptance" of SS, he seems to think that Sakura actually understands the "old" Sasuke and that's why she has feelings for him (even though her feelings were initially based on the supposed "hotness" factor, and later based on Naruto's own lie that gave her a "false hope"), and he's so oblivious that to some degree he doesn't understand/think about the fact that Sasuke might never want to be with  her.  Naruto is so convinced that "Sakura-chan" is someone to be adored, that I bet he thinks "of course the real Sasuke would want to be with her, it's Sakura-chan."  It's silly, it's adorable, and since becoming a shipper it's something that gives me major feels when I think about it.

 

 

I'm not sure if Sakura feels unclean about liking Sasuke -- but the love-letter nin does clarify that Sasuke is far from the ideal.

 

You bring up an interesting point; I guess it is up to Kishimoto to prove that Sakura is in love or could fall in love with Naruto, even knowing Sasuke was no longer an enemy to the world. Beyond the commentary made by the other characters, ofcourse. My own prediction ofcourse is that Sakura will realize it was Naruto who was disguised as Sasuke from the beginning and confront him about it.

 

All and all, I think it's entirely possible for Sakura and Naruto to be together without Kishimoto writing Naruto as a consolation prize.

 

Unclean/dirty might be too strong, but it seems that she's not happy that she's unable to let go of her feelings for Sasuke.  It's just knowing how emotional and melodramatic Sakura can be, I could see her feeling as though she's dirty in specific moments, if that makes sense.  When she's being really down on herself.

 

As to the bolded, I agree, and I hope he chooses such a route (and I don't think it will be hard thing to do, and considering how slowly and gradually Kishi built NS up as a potential couple, there's no reason to imagine that he wouldn't do a decent job).

 

 

As for Sakura's feelings for Sasuke , its absurd by this point , the guy has done  nothing so that Sakura would  fall for him , except that forehead scene, its unexplainable and unreasonable. It doesn't matter how faithful and loyal she is , they've had no interaction or at least Sasuke wasn't  reciprocating anything she did , quite the contrary he was indifferent and obvious to it all. That's why i can't accept statements like ''Then their relationship was on a platonic level , but later it grew'' Huh?   When did it expand?I must've missed it ..
 
She has no reason to stay loyal or keep those feelings, so why?They are not married nor there is something that grounds them. That relationship has crap written all over it . What do they share? Sasuke tried to tell her that loneliness is a terrible thing via the phrase'' You make me sick'' and that's it . Even it the baddest shojos the bad boy and good girl share those ''secrets'' , so its not special at all

-Naruto and Hinata share a nindo.
-Sasuke and Naruto can communicate on a level without words.
-Sakura and Sasuke  have ? I got nothing .

 

Ohh, I have no idea, other than the scene with Naruto transformed into Sasuke, I got nothing.  Anything that borderline not horrible about SS happened in part 1, and even those things were pretty terrible.  When it came to Sasuke in part 1, Sakura was selfish, materialistic, single minded, and tried extremely hard to change herself.  When it came to Sakura in part 1, Sasuke was rude, cruel, (at least borderline) emotionally abusive.  SS was never all that, if Sasuke had shown to returned her feelings at the end of part 1 or at some time during part 2, it would be understandable.  Honestly, I think what's keeping SS alive isn't even Sakura's remaining feelings for her ideal vision of Sasuke, but Naruto's reluctance to confess/seriously try to woo Sakura.  Naruto is already Sakura's priority at this point, that's been evident since the events of the Tenchi bridge, but she doesn't know it, Naruto doesn't know it, and Naruto hasn't yet acted in such a way to get Sakura to think about her feelings for him (he's been holding back).

[Namaenash]

 

This is unlikely since she decided to confess anyway even after Hinata's little sacrifice. Even though she was not completely honest and had not realized her feelings yet during that confession, she was really trying to convince Naruto.

 

And there you have it again folks, Kishi showing one more time how he wants to keep the fans on speculation mode. Everytime Sakura has shown affection towards Sasuke, Naruto was very well positioned where he could witness it and even more importantly, he could understand what was going on. That's one of the main reasons he was not ready to accept Sakura's feelings, he very well remembers how Sakura used to be around Sasuke and how she likes him.

 

And the fact he was able to figure out her feelings so early is something to highlight. He could continue to be his oblivious, hyperactive self and continue to chase Sakura no matter what. But he knew about everything already and, at that time, he was indeed right.

 

 

This was the first time where we could see a very mature Naruto putting her feelings above his own. However it can't be helped, it's just too much of a coincidence. Not only he witnessed and understood Sakura's feelings, but several times where he could have shown how strong he'd got and how badly he wanted to protect her (against Gaara-Ichibi at the Chuunin Exam finals / that Ninja encounter right before the fight against Sasuke on the roof), she was "somehow" unable to see it. it's a rather unpleasant feeling we got when reading such plot: a feeling of anguish because you so badly wants Sakura to see Naruto's efforts and how strong are his feelings, but instead all you got is the opposite. Every time is Naruto instead who sees Sakura fangirling Sasuke, or whatever other term you wanna use, and Sakura keeps being restrained from seeing anything coming from Naruto, except some moments where he is acting stupid.

 

However as soon as we move to part 2 the plot begins to shift. Naruto is now trying to save his lost friend by any means necessary and because of that there's not much time left to try and impress Sakura. But now, what we so badly wanted to see in part 1, is finally taking place in part 2: Sakura is finally seeing the real Naruto in a way she had never imagined he could be like. The very first time she set her eyes on him she already looked amazed, and with so many events taking place (the battle against Orochimaru, Pein, Sai conversation) it's Sakura who is now beginning to usderstand Naruto and everything he went through during his life. Except Naruto cannot see it because no matter what, he is too attached to his part 1 team. He strongly believes Sakura still loves Sasuke and perhaps because of it he feels she can't love him and is not ready to accept it. Considering how the story has been written so far, we can't blame him.

 

However the end is pretty much settled on stone. Kishi already mentioned he is not changing the end and after all these plot twists and foreshadowing moments, it cannot and will not go to waste.

About Naruto's possible confession, he will not do it unless he really feels it's highly necessary, on the verge of death maybe, or perhaps after saving Sasuke. Even though it's hard to imagine it while he still believes Sakura is in love with Sasuke, so hopefully Sakura will get the chance to prove otherwise. 

 

+1 and a very well written argument, Darkness. Kudos to you.

 

Personally, that feeling of anguish is what makes NaruSaku the best pairing in Naruto universe for me. You sort of emotionally involved and keep hoping that Sakura would know what Naruto truly went through, and Naruto would see beyond the shadow of the past. I see this pattern all over NS, as depicted in various posts in the past.

 

That moment where Sakura jumped to save Naruto in Zabusa fight, when Sakura was ready to sacrifice the team to protect Naruto's dream during the exam... when Naruto fought Gaara head over heel to save Sakura... when Sakura run towards Naruto during Tenchi bridge scene and lied to Naruto that she was attacked by Orochimaru, (since she didn't want to make Naruto feel guilty)... Or during Pein invasion where she desperately called Naruto to come home, and then he appears right in the next panel. Even the surrounding of Land of Iron scene, where Naruto was beaten and told Sai not to tell Sakura, and Sakura was ready to make sacrifice to lift Naruto's burden.

 

Those moments just makes you think.. if only Sakura know what Naruto has done for her and if only Naruto know what Sakura has done for him. There's just so many moments where you witnessed those two in this situation. No other pairings in this manga have it.

 

I cant blame Kishi for dragging this too far. I only wish that he will keep the consistency with this approach, that he used for over than a decade now. It makes Naruto a big title and it keeps the loyal fanbase reading his work. So far, as shown in Road to Ninja, this has been consistent though... 

 

As for the chapter, I personally think it reinforces the idea that Naruto may die or close to death in the future. It will be very poetic albeit sad. The fact that Kishi chose to relay Naruto's flashback of the past --his memory of regrets to all the alliance, and many other foreshadowing, has lead me to believe that Naruto's death or near death is unavoidable. A tragic hero's death to be remembered as a legend. As for Sakura, so long as she realized her true feelings (that her true love and her heart belongs to Naruto all the time), is a good enough conclusion for me.

 

Of course, happy ending where Naruto and Sakura lives happily with their children is a big plus as well (:

[Darkness]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed. 

 

Those moments just makes you think.. if only Sakura know what Naruto has done for her and if only Naruto know what Sakura has done for him. There's just so many moments where you witnessed those two in this situation. No other pairings in this manga have it.

 

You grasped the concept perfectly. The best way to put this is that the two were made for each other. I mean, literally. The moment they realize how each other feels, I can't see NS not happening. 

Naruto's death or "apparent" death will very likely have a huge impact, which was even foreshadowed in one of the OVAs, I do not remember exactly which. All I can say is it is possible. But if he does die, man I'll feel bad for Sakura.

Edited by Darkness, 22 September 2013 - 06:01 AM.