Thanks Nick Soapdish. And... I didn't mean to offend you Hopestar.
Somebody asked me to post this up in this topic as
defense to SasuSaku (and partially NSvsSS)

QUOTE (SiretaInDisguise)
Unfortunetly, it seems like a lot of debators for NaruSaku have a problem with giving an alternative pairing a chance. I'm not saying this is everyone-- and I'm not saying that they are flaming or anything. But it seems to me that intelligent debate is almost impossible-- instead of disecting a SasuSaku or NaruHina or any other pairings post, you should be looking at reasons why it is possible-- and then kindly pointing out where there are inefficencies in their post while arguing your own pairings support, not throwing it in their faces with 'You must not have read Part II', 'Naruto deserves Sakura', 'It's never going to happen', 'NaruSaku MUST happen in order for the series Naruto to be the series Naruto', 'SasuSaku is dead', 'Sakura MUST see her feelings for him!', 'Yamato said something about it, and so did Sai'... etc, etc.
I understand many of your points-- and the moments you suggest are evidence are very good possibilities. Unfortuntely, people don't seem to understand that everything part 2 is circumstanial-- Yamato and Sai may say things, but we never see exactly what they are saying-- Yamato is cut off, and Sai's can be interpreted many ways. On top of this, neither of them has been with Team 7 since the beginning-- they have no idea of the history of the team (other than the general 'Sasuke left' part), or their past relationships and development. It's hard to put much faith in people who are stating opinions when they haven't been with the team for more than a few days-- and haven't seen Sasuke before he left for Orochimaru.
Also-- Naruto deserving Sakura just gets on my nerves. I've seen the argument in all pairing arguments, but the point is simpley this-- No one DESERVES Sakura. She is not a prize to be won or obtained. She's not a 'treat' for someone doing a good job or being a good person. Saying that simply pushes her down to being an object instead of a human being. Also, when it comes to love, it doesn't matter if someone 'deserves' someone better or vice versa. The heart decides things-- whether they make sense or not.
Considering we have heard nothing of Sakura's feelings in Part II for either Naruto or Sasuke, everything on either side pertaining to Part II is speculation. Sakura has left much to be wondered for both boys-- her unfinished statement to Naruto ( "Naruto, it's you I..."), and her increased defense of Sasuke ( She punches Sai and says "If I hear you talk bad about Sasuke-kun again, I won't go easy on you." and after discovering Sai's true mission, she shoves him up against the wall and says "What are you really after? How many more times are you going to stab us in the back?!") leaves both sides with lots of questions and speculation.
It is pretty close minded to say SasuSaku is dead-- irregardless of the reasons. No coupling is 'dead' until one of the characters themself is dead. Besides that, I see the argument of 'Sasuke tried to kill Sakura!'. No, he didn't. He tried to kill Naruto. Sai got in the way, and he injured them. Sakura CHARGED at him, and he turned. We see three panels of his eyes before we see him do anything-- which I think shows he's thinking of what to do, and hadn't expect her to come at him. He uses the sword he already has out-- as defense-- but ends up stabbing Yamato who jumps in the way. Instead of going after Sakura then, he goes into Naruto's mind and talks to Kyuubi. The final attack he was going to do, we do not know who he was going to attack, or if he was planning to attack the group-- all we know is that he made no special effort to attack Sakura other than when SHE charged at him and he went on the defensive. That is not him attempting to kill her.
I've seen the argument 'Naruto would not the series Naruto if he doesn't end up with the girl in the end'... which, to be honest, makes not real sense to me. Naruto is not a shoujo manga-- it's a shonen manga, meaning it does not revolve around romantic relationships-- and can easily end without one as well. The story of Naruto follows Naruto's character-- his growth and recognition by the village of Konoha, and his path to becoming Hokage-- not his trials of love. If the girl did end up with another character, we would not suddenly have a manga that makes no sense-- because the manga does not revolve around her. It revolves around Naruto trying to gain recognition and become Hokage. He doesn't need to win the girl to become Hokage, now does he? He doesn't need to have a girl fall in love with him to gain her recognition. This arugment is one of the few that makes no sense. It's like saying we'll have to totally change the name of the series and start focusing on another character if Naruto doesn't get the girl. Why would you do that?
On a final note, the other part that is very irritating is when a fact is 'ignored' or overlooked as 'That was Part 1' or 'Stop saying that, we're sick of hearing it'. Both fandoms use information from Part 1 and scenes from Part 1-- if you want to use that information for your fandom, do NOT disallow it from other fandoms because it threatens your pairing or posts. Do not ignore a fact someone else states-- you can conceded to having no argument if that is why you don't post a response to it, but do not just over look it-- it makes you seem closeminded. Both fandoms do this, and it is very irritating.
All in all, it is possible to debate intelligently with other fandoms, even one that is a huge threat to your own, if you simply OPEN YOUR MIND and look at what other people have to say instead of assuming one pairing won't work because you hate a character, or you feel yours is better. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion, and there is no reason to bad mouth each other. It just makes you seem unintelligent and ignorant, and will just lower others views of you.
*messenger*