When Hinata got her butt handed to her by Pain, that was a straw that broke the camels back moment for Naruto. Kishimoto could have literally put any character in her place and the result would have been the same; a friend of Naruto's get's taken down by the guy who killed his sensei/godfather and 2/3 of Konoha resulting in too much Kurama chakra coming through Naruto's weakening seal.
(The fact his seal had been in a constant state of deterioration prior to his meeting Kushina often goes overlooked by the NH crowd) When we look at the Shukaku fight, Naruto not only mentions saving Sakura more times than Konoha, he crawls on his chin to make sure she is safe.
The handhold with Hinata served two purposes; to transfer chakra (he also holds Shikamaru's hand in the exact same way as Hinata's, then proceeds to give everyone handclaps - again to transfer chakra) and to give her character closure. Hinata wanted to hold Naruto's hand and stand by his side as an equal. She acomplished that. And really, if a handhold means THAT much, well, Sakura has HInata beat. Many times, Naruto would hold Sakura's hand and vice versa as they hurried each other through towns and trees. And hugs trump handholds anyway. More personal. Sakura has gotten way more hugs than Hinata.
The slap to Naruto's cheek by Hinata is really an epic fail on the part of NH fans. They seem to praise Hinata for her physical violance against Naruto yet they bemoan Sakura for it (forgetting she is a Tsundere type just like Kushina). That is hypocrisy. Ignoring that, Sakura has Hinata beat on firsts with this as well. Long before Hinata, Sakura smacked naruto on the cheek to remind him of who he was.
That's literally about all the "development" between Naruto and Hinata thus far. Now, all Hinata has left to do is make good on her words not to pursue Naruto anymore.
We of course have the parallels that so many NH fans complain about yet use themselves. NaruSaku is a blantant parallel to not only Minato and Kushina but Sakura's parent's as well. Sakura's father is a goofball like Naruto and her mother is more-so serious like Sakura. Of the films done, Kishi had the most creative control of Road to Ninja and he filled the entire movie with obvious examples of the similarities between the couples.
In manga, we have Kushina ask Naruto to stay away from weird girls. Naruto calls Hinata weird. She asks him to not fall for the first girl that comes his way. Hinata is actually the first girl to come his way. All other times, he has gone to Sakura.
Finally, She asks him to find a woman like her to love. (Sorry NH fans but she never said "find a woman like Minato to love" so that whole Naruto=Kushina and Hinata=Minato thing you rant about is really invalid)
Saku and Kush both have the same fiery, caring, hates to lose attitudes. They both use verbal expressive when excited (Dattebane/Shannaro) as well as identical phycial expressions such as the bicep flex. Both fit the scarey mom troups used heavily in the series (Anko, Ayame, Ino, Ino's mom, Sakura's mom, Tsunade, Kurenai, Shika's mom, and so on) Both had physical aspects they were picked on over. The first boy to compliment Kushina's hair was Minato, the first to compliment Sakura's forehead was Naruto. Both womean started out not liking their blondes. Kushina admits to treating Minato exactly as Sakura treated Naruto. She also says he grew on her and she eventually came to love him.
The Iron Country confession shows that Naruto wasn't upset about Sakura saying she cared about him, it was because of what she said about Sasuke. When she tries to kill the Uchiha, she is saved by Naruto paralleling how Minato saved Kushina from the Uchiha trying to kill her.
Other characters have noted the closesness of NaruSaku. Iruka, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Yamato, Sai, and even Sasuke have all made remarks. The most telling though was Minato who asked if Sakura was Naruto's GF. He agreed she was and she didn't deny it. Minato then notes how similar Sakura is to Kushina. Now, Minato knows about medic nins. He also states he knows all of what Naruto has gone through. There is only one reson why he would ask if Sakura is his GF and not just a friend or medic nin. And since Naruto hates liars and those who joke about love, there is no reason he;d lie or joke to his father.
The Gold Saints
Persona 5 hype 
