So I didn't know when I was gonna say something regarding the ending. I took it pretty hard. Everyday and night I'm losing sleep over this and when I do wake up the first thing I think of is the ending to this once great "masterpiece". I'm still quite depressed, I haven't been eating as much, my sugar levels feel low and I've actually thrown up a few times. I didn't think some fictional story would affect me this deeply. I really need to get this off my chest and I feel obligated to contribute as I also want my voice to be heard as to why "Naruto" deserves a more justified ending.
Apparently development means "meaningless space" to fill up the manga. Kishimoto built up 698 chapters of development and derailed it all in just 2 chapters. I honestly don't know whether to be impressed by that or not. It does however make me sick to my stomach however as this type of writing is just absolutely horrendous.
There was no clarity on the love triangle in Team 7. In all that development, nothing was addressed. No "Promise of a lifetime" no "Bench scene" no "Kushina's motherly advice" no "Sakura's fake smile" nothing shown on Team Taka, Orochimaru, Kabuto, yet they make Sakura's kid look exactly like Karin!? No traits from Sakura whatsoever. What was Kishimoto thinking? That he despised this ending and tried to explain he originally had ending that made more sense and had more clarity through subtle character references?
Sasuke has quiet literally tried to kill Sakura on multiple occasions. After putting her through a genjutsu he says to Naruto: "You want me to play at romance? I have no reason to like her and she has no reason to like me." Then in 699, out of the blue Sasuke suddenly returns Sakura's feelings and Kishimoto writes off all of Sakura's development and continues the abusive infatuation she has for Sasuke. In those whole two chapters, Sakura didn't even say anything to Naruto! The Hero and the Heroine! No interaction! The most developed pairing in the story and Kishimoto just swept it to the side unresolved hoping nobody would notice or would ask: "WHY?"
And to add salt on the wounds. Kishimoto made chapter 700 out to be like a horrible fanfiction written by some armature teenager who tried to pair up every single character up with someone else! A lot of the characters didn't even look happy! A lot didn't even accomplish their dreams. The children had really odd character designs to the point of looking like aliens. There was no explanation other than popularity as to why Naruto settled for Hinata. Even if "The Last" explains this, it only enforces the fact that Hinata's impact on the original story was miniscule! If Hinata was not as popular as she is today. I seriously doubt that Kishimoto would have ended this way. This just gives the impression that he sold out his manga to please the fans which is something both an artist and writer do when they lose respect for their own creation and fanbase.
I found the worst part of the ending was how Kishimoto depicted Sakura. Her very last scene. As a housewife.... All that training, she worked under Tsunade, One of the Legendary Sanin and even surpassed her. The best medic of medics. She's arguably one of the strongest kunoichi in "Naruto" And she's at home dusting away like everything she had previously done before had not mattered whilst raising a child by herself. Yeah great work Sasuke! You get points for being a great dad and husband. Then again Naruto didn't seem like much of a father either. Scolding his son and telling him to "suck it up, I'm the Hokage!" Minato was Hokage and he still had time for Kushina! Speaking of Kushina, Sakura in her getup in chapter 700 was depicted like Kushina, the hair clip and apron. More messages from Kishimoto? Either way, it doesn't excuse the fact of how misogynistic and sexist it is. Sidelining the heroine and female characters as always. Was Kishimoto always this bad at writing female characters or is this truly how he sees women in society? Regardless, its still disgusting! Sakura deserved way better than this. Same with Naruto, hell given that all development was destroyed in two chapters, EVERYONE deserved a much better ending.
I cannot fathom that Kishimoto had originally always intended to have an ending like this. Its almost as if chapter 699/700 were written by someone else. I had always heard rumors that Kishimoto's assistants were pushing for an ending like this? If that were true then they've just destroyed an artist's creative vision to suit their own tastes without caring whatever everyone else thought. Maybe Kishimoto thought people would only like his ending is NaruHina was end game. In which case he DID become a sell out. But if Kishimoto wanted ending like this since be began "Naruto" then why didn't he develop the story so the ending would actually make sense? Why not make Hinata the heroine and actually give her more development? Why make Naruto continue his romantic advances on Sakura when the were unresolved in the end? It doesn't add up. That fact that Kishimoto got to direct the movie "Road to Ninja" personally because he could "do things in this story that he wouldn't be able to do in the manga" just enforces the fact that NaruHina was a forced ending and was never actually intended to be the end game pairing.
This is the epitome of bad writing.
The worst part about all this is that we still don't know why it ended like this. I cannot bare to stomach or even hear about Naruto losing his affectionate feelings for Sakura in "The Last". But I'm assuming we have to wait for this movie to be released to hear anything from Kishimoto. I'm desperate for some clarity.
I know this may seem pretty pathetic, getting so invested in fictional material. The story meant a lot to me. I honestly didn't think it would ever end like this. With all that NaruSaku development, Minato confirming the Kushina parallel, I thought was endgame for us. I've never been so disappointed in my life.
Sorry if this is also late to the storm that's been going on. Its all just been really hard to swallow lately.