19964 replies to this topic

[Transformers03]

For the past 4 years or so, no. Well I haven't track a long time ago. That said the fact that NS event is happening this year where, well you know, "in danger zone", is really nice. It goes to show you the support. I wonder how well it will do in there. I mean look at those goodies. It's incredibly large.

Four years ago......
1) What kind event was it, and how big it was?
2) Where did it take place?
3) Wasn't four years ago when the NH fandom was in "the danger zone", during Sakura's confession to Naruto?

[TouKen4Life3g]

True....
Then again we haven't been given any NS moments in the manga for a long time, and chapter 615 did.......
Nah, I'm just kidding, you're right. It would be awkward if NS doesn't happen, seeing how most of the outside media seems to support it (I'm looking at Road to Ninja, and some of the Naruto videogames).

Mind you that I still doesn't mean that NS will for sure happen.
It just shows how poor of job that nearly every other media made sure to keep in canon with manga, both in past and future of events of the manga.

The thing is that if the main pairing is not canon, but no other pairings are canon at all, then they can still have fun with the one that most likely will be if the author actually wrote romance. Side pairings like Shikamaru with whoever don't count but they can have fun with it and pretty much like what I said, go for the most likely one. In this case, Kishi has dugged a hole to fill in with a canon romance. He made emphasis on it so much, so it's given. If not happen, then that's just sad. Then again, another way is getting canceled.

You going to buy me a ticket?

If you live in Japan, sure. Otherwise, I can wish. I really want someone to report it. Sigh, Japan get the good stuff.

Four years ago......
1) What kind event was it, and how big it was?
2) Where did it take place?
3) Wasn't four years ago when the NH fandom was in "the danger zone", during Sakura's confession to Naruto?

I said there weren't any. I don't know anything else beyond that.

Edited by NaruSaku4Life3g, 07 March 2013 - 06:24 AM.

[Transformers03]

I said there weren't any. I don't know anything else beyond that.

Oh, sorry.

[TouKen4Life3g]

Oh, sorry.

It's ok. Just be happy that the NS event is actually happening at the time where NS is in "danger zone", even though I don't think so, but let's just go with it.

[Transformers03]

It's ok. Just be happy that the NS event is actually happening at the time where NS is in "danger zone", even though I don't think so, but let's just go with it.

Not only that, but it seems pretty legit in a way. It's doesn't seem like a very small "event" that a couple of friends decide to create a webpage, it actually seems like an actual real event that multiple kinds of fan can go from across the country. The website is nice and colorful, and it seems to be passing out a lot of stuff. I wonder if Kishi or any of the Naruto editors would hear word of this.....
Probably not, but an interesting thought nonetheless.

[Rozette]

Basically, it did more damage than being neutral. So you can say English translation just hurt more than the original.


I don't think it's just the event that will make them feel awkward. Try every media known to man. It's just too much NS direction and seeing it not being canon will be incredibly awkward to rewatch everything.

Thank you, Foolish Youngling and NaruSaku4Life3g.

But.. I'm a little confused also.. sorry.

What does Viz's official translation say? What would be the proper translation to go by?

[xxRomanceGirlxx]

Wow, a lot of my day was eaten up. O.O I meant to respond to that NaruHina post earlier but I got so busy. xD Hope any of you don't mind if I respond now, I know a lot of you are talking about other topics. Bad timing lol!

Okay then. Let's start one of my LAPs that are often full of win. Not to sound arrogant. xD This is my longest one yet, unfortunately. I'm very sorry everyone! I don't really have a limit for my posts. I promise next time I'll make it shorter.

Actually, Naruto's love for Sakura is still present realistically. The last confirmation of his feelings was during though Kage Summit, first by Sai and then by Naruto himself during her confession. Noted it was indirectly but it was fairly obvious he still loved her through his reaction to the entire thing. Naruto's expression was originally a shocked type of happy, blushing and everything. But the important thing was that when Sakura asked him angrily if he still liked her, Naruto completely avoided it. This is crucial because Naruto can be very blunt and he believed 100% that she did not love him so he wouldn't be worrying about hurting her feelings and would straight-up say he no longer felt that way. That's just his personality. Some might argue it's invalid because Sakura hurt Naruto by lying or that too many chapters have passed but both those arguments fail because a). Naruto is very forgiving. Sasuke has hurt him far worse and he still loves him. This is an even more questionable anti-argument when Sai told him she was only thinking of him. Naruto dropping his romantic feelings? Plz. b). The "It's been over 100 chapters!" fails miserably and is probably one of the worst. We think in their time, not ours. Only two or three weeks passed since the confession. Tell me: Is that enough time to fall out of love with someone? Of course not! It's even worse since Naruto has trouble letting go of important bonds like that. With Sasuke, despite everything, he still views him as brother. So I have reason to believe that, despite everything, Naruto still loves Sakura with all his heart. The question should not whether or not he still loves Sakura, we already know this if you read neutrally. The real question is if he's developing feelings for Hinata. Realistically, if he is for some reason, then Kishi's just creating another triangle. That's the only way to put it.

Lol, before claiming something, this person should double-check to make sure the source is fullproof. Databook 3 actually reveals to us two interesting pieces of information related to Sasuke and Naruto. There was an added relationship chart with it that had an arrow pointing to Sakura to Sasuke with the caption "in love with". As for Naruto, the caption just says worries for him. However, this was released with the Sakura's character profile that explained her own feelings for Naruto are a mystery. Given how not much time passed since then, she probably still feels this way. Loves Sasuke, but is confused over Naruto. When she said she loves someone, she was referring to Sasuke. But why on earth would Naruto show up in 540 when she's still completely confused over if she loves him or not? It's out of place. She doesn't know if she loves him so she wouldn't think of him in this. And if she did, then it means NS will be canon. Sasuke's gone, Naruto's here. Really not that hard to figure out. Sasuke wouldn't have a hope in hell to put it bluntly. Also, I'm sure this is because Kishi is playing with the ambiguity concept. Before the Kage Summit, NS was getting too obvious. Because Kishi's a troll who likes to build suspense, he throws a wrench in proverbial pairing fire. It's just like the Tobito thing, seriously it's the same. And it's getting towards the ending, so he wants to keep readers guessing. Not enough to destroy NS, but enough to question his motives. Dat Kishi and his predictable patterns.

This person sure about that? Why Sakura was depressed in 540, I believe it's both. She's sad at what he's become but she's equally as upset that she still loves someone like Sasuke. The ashamed argument is not BS, it's practically confirmed in the Kage Summit. Sakura tries to logic herself into how terrible a person Sasuke is and that's why she shouldn't love him, but it's hard to really feel like this when she just recovered from her semi-wake up call about him being in the Akatsuki and now an international criminal. Sakura states it herself: " I don't know why I liked someone like that ... he's a rogue shinobi. A criminal! [...] "All Sasuke does is get further away from me and break my heart." -->Does this sound like someone who wants to still be in love with Sasuke? This is solid, especially the 2nd verse when she sounded particularly pained. Then Sasuke tries to kill her ... twice. Pretty sure any sane person would not want to love someone like that and I'm pretty sure Sakura's sane so. This is supported even more when she now sees the Sasuke in darkness, not the good Sasuke she knew. Her idealistic image is shattered completely now, but she's still struggling to fully remove her love. So yeah, she's ashamed. Why does this matter, this person asks? Well, being ashamed and hating the way you feel over someone means you want to move on and get over it. She already tried this during the Summit Arc. This is why I see 540 as the second to last stake in the SS coffin. It foreshadows Sakura overcoming her major weakness (Sasuke. He always has been), having her development come full circle, and falling in love with someone else who treats her right. "He must be a great guy if you love him!" --> Naruto Uzumaki everyone, the guy who's her best friend and the one she's been developing feelings for all along. Kishi's not that hard to figure out sometimes, y'know. xD

What this NH fan is talking about is the "pairing wrench in pairing fire" scenerio. Quite obviously, the confession. It seems anti, but it's actually very pro for a number of reasons if you analyze a little bit instead of accepting everything at face value IMO. Correction: Sakura didn't get rejected, her confession did. For Naruto to reject her or "friendzone" her you could say, he would've said this: "I don't like/love you anymore, Sakura! So enough of this! I don't get what you're trying to do here." Instead, his feelings were very clear. He was angry, upset, and confused but he still wanted Sakura to love him. He just wouldn't accept a lie, it's not much of a balance or very fulfilling for him. Ironically, it just showcased indirectly how much more serious he takes his love for her than he did in Part 1. It matured, not diminished. Lol, troll? What right does a NH fan have to call the confession a "troll" when their own pairing has been trolled many times over, more recently 616? The irony of that sentence, I'm sorry. Maybe because it was for Naruto's well-being. But I'll get to that later.

Underestimate? Again, does he/she really not see the double standard? Look at half their ship. Hinata never believes in his abilities, she usually goes all overprotective/worrying over the slightest things. Naruto vs. Kiba: Naruto-kuning in worry the entire time, not even believing she had the chance. Ironically, Sakura did. Mini Tobito vs. Naruto (One hit): Hinata loses focus and freaks out. Sakura wasn't phased and scolded her, saying "Stay focused Hinata! Naruto doesn't go down that easy." Naruto vs. Pain: Hinata guessed he would lose before even whipping out her Byakugan. Sakura believed in him and his abilities the entire time, even calling his name to come and save them. Following this pattern, it would seem like the one who underesitmates him more is Hinata. I don't think that's very flattering for a future wife of Naruto. :/

True, Sakura can underestimate him. I'd say the confession was only underestimating him to an extent. She knows what he can handle and what he can't handle; that's because she knows him well. She knew Sasuke being eliminated by the K11 would kill him so she was protecting him from that kind of pain. Sakura's expectations of Naruto are more realistic. Turns out she was right about this when Naruto hypervenilated from the pressure and stress of possibly killing Sasuke. That alone proves Sakura wasn't that far off in her reasoning.

For someone who apparently doesn't blame Sakura for her confession, he/she certainly seems that way. Um ... what? Sai knew he was wrong? He didn't seem that way to me, he still believed what he said was the truth. Sai just felt regret for telling her the truth because he knew that it was what lead up to all of this. He blames himself for it and realized it IHO would've been better if he said nothing at all. Not really. The only person who expressed it being portrayed as a lie entirely was Naruto; his denseness and PoaL Wall are what he carries so he's not solid proof. Sai apparently disagrees with the NH fan as well: "She thought she would lessen your burden by coming here and confessing her love for you." He's implying she loves Naruto, but loves Sasuke too (based on Naruto's words). Not that this means much, it's just another 3rd party, not Sakura herself but it does denote the fact that everyone saw it as a lie.

And ... how did Sakura confirm indirectly she was lying? He/She is taking her entire anger state out of context. Correct, she did say that but I fail to see how this confirms she was lying. As soon as Naruto said she was lying and he hated people like that, she immediately got furious. Too furious for someone who was lying. We know Sakura. If she knew she was lying about loving Naruto, she would have looked guilty the minute he said that. She's caring like that. But there is a noticable absence of guilt here. Instead, she responds and defends her feelings, hotly telling him many things that could support she was telling the truth about how she felt. Let's look at the complete dialogue, not omitted with bias shall we? "Just?! You think it's easy for a girl to come her to confess her feelings?! *slaps his hands roughly off her shoulders* "I'm the only one who knows what I'm feeling! If you don't like me, then just say so! Don't you dare make excuses ...!"--> Does this sound like a girl who doesn't love him? I still believe she was confused here, but her anger does support unconscious feelings of love for him. It also supports that she didn't like Naruto acting like he was so right about how she felt for him when she hasn't even figured it out yet. Sakura did not come there, knowing she didn't love him. She came there, still blind over what she felt for him.

Sakura was still defending what she felt for him, she was just enforcing it with how she wanted to protect him and get him to think more about himself than others. This was purely for Naruto's sake, she was getting nothing out of it other than his safety. That's why she was thinking about Naruto. Does he/she really believe Naruto hating her forever would not be terribly painful and heartbreaking for her? He's her best friend, she'd be losing his friendship (which she cherishes and values greatly) and be alone. That has got to hurt, especially considering how strong her attachment and feelings for him are. She put Naruto and Sasuke on a set of scales: Which is more important, allowing Naruto to continue his crusade to bring Sasuke back and possibly kill himself doing so or have Sasuke killed so Naruto would surivive. To Sakura, it was Naruto and his safety. She was willing to bear his anger because it didn't matter to her as much as if he was alive. So no, she did not choose Sasuke over Naruto. Quite the opposite, her motives say it all.

I beg to differ. That flashback was there for a reason, not to completely erase a future Naruto confession. Notice the main character is the only one who has not told the person he loves how he feels. It's very obvious it's Naruto's turn at some point, just not now. Positive? Actually it did in a roundabout way. Sai's little confession proved a few things that support NS: 1). Sakura values Naruto's feelings and welfare above Sasuke and her own love for him, showing that she loves him more than Sasuke. Doesn't matter if it's platonic or romantic, it's still true. 2). Naruto takes his feelings seriously. 3). Sakura's willing to give him a chance in a relationship, even though she's confused. 4). NS can argue like a real couple and Naruto is not an entire doormat. 4). Sai thinks Sakura may love Naruto. 5). Sakura would rather love Naruto than Sasuke. Doesn't seem that anti anymore, now does it? Again, this argument is flawed. Naruto never told her the promise is off, he just explained that's not the only reason why he wants to save Sasuke. It's for his own sake as well, something Sakura knew he would say. It's also something all of us already knew, so what's this NH's point? Uh ... Sai was entirely wrong? Not at all, he was almost 100% accurate. Let's recap. Naruto loves Sakura; true. The promise motivates him to go beyond the limits more so than if it was just for himself because he wants Sakura happy; true. The promise and Sakura's love for Sasuke in general creates angst and strain on him; true. Sasuke hurts him; double true. What exactly is off in this? For someone who is socially awkward, he was hauntingly accurate in this. Nothing false here.

Naruto would like to confess his feelings for her someday when he feels he has the right to, but what makes it selfless is that he doesn't expect anything from it. He doesn't think she'll fall in love with him or intends to force his feelings on her. He is still putting Sakura's happiness before his. What he wants to see is if Sasuke comes back, will Sakura truly go back to the way she was? He doesn't want to be 2nd and if he tells her he loves her now, he'll feel like he is. This isn't selfish, not if he doesn't expect anything. To Naruto, she will always love Sasuke. But he can bear it because he'd rather have her happy then himself. That's why his love is the most selfless and pure out of the Big 3. SS & NH got nothing on Naruto. Then apparently Naruto as a character doesn't make sense to he/she. Lol, okay.

Sakura was never his goal, true. But that still doesn't change the fact that giving up on her and instead going to the easy, less challenging route would be a betrayal to his entire character. Hinata is the easy way out, Sakura is the challenge that you have to work for. How does this not only follow his characterization to a T, but the story theme as well? Naruto never gets anything nor likes having things handed to him. It loses it's value and sense of accomplisment to him. He's all about "never giving up." Since when has a stable Naruto on normal circumstances given up on anything? Why is Sakura a different matter, when she's increasingly closer to being in his reach and her love for Sasuke has not erased his feelings in the past? It is practically his nindo, his determination and refusal to give up is a large part of his characterization. And I already see two double standards in this post, let me point them out: "Sakura moving on from someone who doesn't love her and discovering that there was always somewhere there who you can grow to love like Naruto is good progression. Life is good. She should enjoy it." And here's another one. The NH fan argues Naruto never goes back on his word yet claims the promise was trashed. If he gave up on fulfilling the promise, he would be going back on his word, a betrayal of his nindo. What does Hinata having the same nindo have to do with anything? Naruto's feelings matter, not if they share the same nindo. Does not help NaruHina at all, there's no point in arguing that.

That is such a bold statement: NaruSaku has had it's resolution, it's dead now. And it's very naive to jump that conclusion, it's only going to hurt more when he/she is likely proven wrong on this. See, the Kage Summit is far from the resolution. Naruto claimed she was lying, but Sakura protested. Sakura thinks of him in 540, but has not figured out her own feelings for Naruto. How is this a resolution? If anything, it's just one step closer to the climax to NS and then the resolution. The Kage Summit has more questions than answers, it needs to be brought up again for there to even be any form of resolution, positive or negative. And as for NH, I think he's closer to her but there's no indication he has romantic feelings for her. Still seems entirely platonic through and through. All I'm seeing his Hinata development as a side character and then more side characters being developed. NH development? Maybe friendship but she's IMO going to fade into the background again soon enough and Naruto's not going to treat her any differently or mention her much; worse for the NHers if his love for Sakura is reaffirmed. I'd brace myself fo this probable possibility. SS got negative one-sided focus, NH got one-sided focus.

Well, some NH fans consider Hinata saying "Let's do our best!" and Naruto saying "Yeah!" as a "moment" so I don't see why we can't count NaruSaku talking to each other. Lol, kidding. We don't need to, they talk on a regular basis. Um ... Naruto never said "HELL YEAH!". He actually ignored Hinata's question which is why Kiba teased him about acting tough. And then Naruto was again general, not showing much of a reaction that he took the comment to heart. He didn't even get embarrassed by it, like he would if someone said that about Sakura. Kushina's teasing NS comment in RtN says hello.

Yeah, another pep talk. Real romantic. /sarcasm He didn't even have any flirty or romantic vibe there, it was just Naruto being a friend/coach to Hinata's confidence level. And the "it's all in your eyes" was a figure of speech, not literal. He was just encouraging her, like he does to many of his friends. No romance here. Does this person wonder why NS are being separated since the confession? Doesn't that seem "odd"? Given how Sakura still hasn't sorted out her feelings, it only means something big in store for NS. The side characters are getting in spotlight for development and a final showdown so obviously Hinata's has to involve Naruto. He still doesn't show much feelings for her outside of friendship so I really don't see the big deal.

Funny. I burst out laughing at the obvious NH troll in 616, no joke. That was so ironic and hilarious. xD It's because it probably was, just not for NH development. Hinata's character needed work so make her do things is pretty much what I'm seeing so far. It's the "arc of the side characters" after all. The Pain moment ended in disaster and made things worse, Naruto hasn't reflected on her confession much so far. The cheering up moment wasn't crucial, it was never brought up again and Naruto still liked Sakura. And finally, Hinata didn't fully convince him, Kurama did. She was just involved for forced development and to enforce it, given her connection to Neji. Where was Hinata when Jiraiya died? Where was Hinata when he lost Sasuke? Where was Hinata when he realized the Akatsuki was after his tailed beast? Where was Hinata when Naruto saw Obito's speech about Sasuke? Sorry, she was hardly in his most crucial and important moments, she barely knows him and what he goes through.

Damn this is ridiculously long, I can't even believe this post length. O.O I just kept in typing my thoughts and then this happened. Really gotta stop with these insane lengths, it's really too much. I hope you guys enjoy my points anyway, though!

Edited by xxRomanceGirlxx, 07 March 2013 - 07:18 AM.

[PhenixElite]

The thing is that if the main pairing is not canon, but no other pairings are canon at all, then they can still have fun with the one that most likely will be if the author actually wrote romance. Side pairings like Shikamaru with whoever don't count but they can have fun with it and pretty much like what I said, go for the most likely one. In this case, Kishi has dugged a hole to fill in with a canon romance. He made emphasis on it so much, so it's given. If not happen, then that's just sad. Then again, another way is getting canceled.

Agreed, if we look at how the manga progressed its pretty much impossible to end it without a canon pairing.
But i dont know what you mean with: "another way is getting canceled".

[Master_Naruto]

Well explained, Romance Girl

[六道仙人]

I would like to think that those fan translations are true to the original Japanese text, but how exactly do we know that they are?

100% true

About this infamous sentence translated by Viz Media, I believe that Shueisha told to the translator to make more neutral this statement from Kushina cause, you know obviously it, the anglo saxons NH fandoms are really great in this lands.

I know, it would seems absurde but it's possible. Even the version of my country, the planet manga in italy, trasnlated in a similar way making that more neutral than original. I believe that Shueisha told them too to make that sentence more neutral because Italy also is an huge hideout of NH fandom sadly.

[Codus N]

Not sure if I read this right, but it has the same meaning, but more simpler by saying someone coming to you. So, it's rather more damaging than the actual translation. That said yeah that's why we all thought it was more worse in English version because it literally points to Hinata. So um, ouch?


If we hear a report of him being there, well damn.

I don't mind the neutral translation. I'd rather have that than translations biased towards any one pairing at all. 'Cause the way I see it, it puts all fandoms on even ground.

[PhenixElite]

I don't mind the neutral translation. I'd rather have that than translations biased towards any one pairing at all. 'Cause the way I see it, it puts all fandoms on even ground.

Well the "try to find someone like your mother" still stands and isnt fan neutral in any way.

[redragon88]

100% true

About this infamous sentence translated by Viz Media, I believe that Shueisha told to the translator to make more neutral this statement from Kushina cause, you know obviously it, the anglo saxons NH fandoms are really great in this lands.

I know, it would seems absurde but it's possible. Even the version of my country, the planet manga in italy, trasnlated in a similar way making that more neutral than original. I believe that Shueisha told them too to make that sentence more neutral because Italy also is an huge hideout of NH fandom sadly.

And here I thought Italians would be more into tsunderes. My mistake for stereotyping.

[Codus N]

Exactly. And that's all we need.

[六道仙人]

And here I thought Italians would be more into tsunderes. My mistake for stereotyping.

Whaat? We're a people of chumps AHAHAHAH -.-"

[Chatte]

As I see, my Tumblr has on what to feed on.
NaruSaku4Life3G and RomanceGirl, you guys are awwwweeeeesome!
Just that I need to find the original NH argument.

[Baguette]

@xxRomanceGirlxx
Gotta be honest, I've been anticipating your post all day.
And oh boy, you did not disappoint.
You pointed out and every single flaw I could see in her arguments, and so much more.

And no kidding lol, this is probably one of the longest posts I've ever read in this forum.
For anyone who might have some trouble remembering/following along, I tried matching each general argument with each response. (I'll delete it should xxRomanceGirlxx decide to do the same in her post)

Wow, a lot of my day was eaten up. O.O I meant to respond to that NaruHina post earlier but I got so busy. xD Hope any of you don't mind if I respond now, I know a lot of you are talking about other topics. Bad timing lol!

Okay then. Let's start one of my LAPs that are often full of win. Not to sound arrogant. xD[/s] This is my longest one yet, unfortunately. I'm very sorry everyone! I don't really have a limit for my posts. I promise next time I'll make it shorter.

For some reason, if it’s confirmed Naruto still likes Sakura (which it hasn’t been), that apparently means NaruHina is dead. Yet it IS confirmed that after 620+ chapters and screen time with Naruto, Sakura is still very much in love with Sasuke and somehow NaruSaku still has a chance? This boggles my mind. Really. By that logic, NaruSaku is dead. We got a case of double standards here.

Actually, Naruto's love for Sakura is still present realistically. The last confirmation of his feelings was during though Kage Summit, first by Sai and then by Naruto himself during her confession. Noted it was indirectly but it was fairly obvious he still loved her through his reaction to the entire thing. Naruto's expression was originally a shocked type of happy, blushing and everything. But the important thing was that when Sakura asked him angrily if he still liked her, Naruto completely avoided it. This is crucial because Naruto can be very blunt and he believed 100% that she did not love him so he wouldn't be worrying about hurting her feelings and would straight-up say he no longer felt that way. That's just his personality. Some might argue it's invalid because Sakura hurt Naruto by lying or that too many chapters have passed but both those arguments fail because a). Naruto is very forgiving. Sasuke has hurt him far worse and he still loves him. This is an even more questionable anti-argument when Sai told him she was only thinking of him. Naruto dropping his romantic feelings? Plz. b). The "It's been over 100 chapters!" fails miserably and is probably one of the worst. We think in their time, not ours. Only two or three weeks passed since the confession. Tell me: Is that enough time to fall out of love with someone? Of course not! It's even worse since Naruto has trouble letting go of important bonds like that. With Sasuke, despite everything, he still views him as brother. So I have reason to believe that, despite everything, Naruto still loves Sakura with all his heart. The question should not whether or not he still loves Sakura, we already know this if you read neutrally. The real question is if he's developing feelings for Hinata. Realistically, if he is for some reason, then Kishi's just creating another triangle. That's the only way to put it.

And I must stress this. Sakura is not kittening confused. That quote from Databook 3? Yeah, that was before it was confirmed she loved Sasuke still. Sakura has found her answer, and that answer is not Naruto. It’s Sasuke. Always has been, and chances are it always will be at this point. Speaking to that Fodder Lover Nin - Sakura states she already loves somebody. Not two guys. Just one. Naruto is no where in her thoughts. Kishimoto and the manga have made it completely clear - Sakura loves Sasuke. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t look happy. The god damn point was that she still loves him. Of course she would be sad that the person she loves isn’t that “great man” the Fodder Lover Nin said he was. That’s the reason why she looked sad - Because of who Sasuke turned out to be. Not because she still loves him.

Lol, before claiming something, this person should double-check to make sure the source is fullproof. Databook 3 actually reveals to us two interesting pieces of information related to Sasuke and Naruto. There was an added relationship chart with it that had an arrow pointing to Sakura to Sasuke with the caption "in love with". As for Naruto, the caption just says worries for him. However, this was released with the Sakura's character profile that explained her own feelings for Naruto are a mystery. Given how not much time passed since then, she probably still feels this way. Loves Sasuke, but is confused over Naruto. When she said she loves someone, she was referring to Sasuke. But why on earth would Naruto show up in 540 when she's still completely confused over if she loves him or not? It's out of place. She doesn't know if she loves him so she wouldn't think of him in this. And if she did, then it means NS will be canon. Sasuke's gone, Naruto's here. Really not that hard to figure out. Sasuke wouldn't have a hope in hell to put it bluntly. Also, I'm sure this is because Kishi is playing with the ambiguity concept. Before the Kage Summit, NS was getting too obvious. Because Kishi's a troll who likes to build suspense, he throws a wrench in proverbial pairing fire. It's just like the Tobito thing, seriously it's the same. And it's getting towards the ending, so he wants to keep readers guessing. Not enough to destroy NS, but enough to question his motives. Dat Kishi and his predictable patterns.

This person sure about that? Why Sakura was depressed in 540, I believe it's both. She's sad at what he's become but she's equally as upset that she still loves someone like Sasuke. The ashamed argument is not BS, it's practically confirmed in the Kage Summit. Sakura tries to logic herself into how terrible a person Sasuke is and that's why she shouldn't love him, but it's hard to really feel like this when she just recovered from her semi-wake up call about him being in the Akatsuki and now an international criminal. Sakura states it herself: " I don't know why I liked someone like that ... he's a rogue shinobi. A criminal! [...] "All Sasuke does is get further away from me and break my heart." -->Does this sound like someone who wants to still be in love with Sasuke? This is solid, especially the 2nd verse when she sounded particularly pained. Then Sasuke tries to kill her ... twice. Pretty sure any sane person would not want to love someone like that and I'm pretty sure Sakura's sane so. This is supported even more when she now sees the Sasuke in darkness, not the good Sasuke she knew. Her idealistic image is shattered completely now, but she's still struggling to fully remove her love. So yeah, she's ashamed. Why does this matter, this person asks? Well, being ashamed and hating the way you feel over someone means you want to move on and get over it. She already tried this during the Summit Arc. This is why I see 540 as the second to last stake in the SS coffin. It foreshadows Sakura overcoming her major weakness (Sasuke. He always has been), having her development come full circle, and falling in love with someone else who treats her right. "He must be a great guy if you love him!" --> Naruto Uzumaki everyone, the guy who's her best friend and the one she's been developing feelings for all along. Kishi's not that hard to figure out sometimes, y'know. xD

What this NH fan is talking about is the "pairing wrench in pairing fire" scenerio. Quite obviously, the confession. It seems anti, but it's actually very pro for a number of reasons if you analyze a little bit instead of accepting everything at face value IMO. Correction: Sakura didn't get rejected, her confession did. For Naruto to reject her or "friendzone" her you could say, he would've said this: "I don't like/love you anymore, Sakura! So enough of this! I don't get what you're trying to do here." Instead, his feelings were very clear. He was angry, upset, and confused but he still wanted Sakura to love him. He just wouldn't accept a lie, it's not much of a balance or very fulfilling for him. Ironically, it just showcased indirectly how much more serious he takes his love for her than he did in Part 1. It matured, not diminished. Lol, troll? What right does a NH fan have to call the confession a "troll" when their own pairing has been trolled many times over, more recently 616? The irony of that sentence, I'm sorry. Maybe because it was for Naruto's well-being. But I'll get to that later.

Underestimate? Again, does he/she really not see the double standard? Look at half their ship. Hinata never believes in his abilities, she usually goes all overprotective/worrying over the slightest things. Naruto vs. Kiba: Naruto-kuning in worry the entire time, not even believing she had the chance. Ironically, Sakura did. Mini Tobito vs. Naruto (One hit): Hinata loses focus and freaks out. Sakura wasn't phased and scolded her, saying "Stay focused Hinata! Naruto doesn't go down that easy." Naruto vs. Pain: Hinata guessed he would lose before even whipping out her Byakugan. Sakura believed in him and his abilities the entire time, even calling his name to come and save them. Following this pattern, it would seem like the one who underesitmates him more is Hinata. I don't think that's very flattering for a future wife of Naruto. :/

True, Sakura can underestimate him. I'd say the confession was only underestimating him to an extent. She knows what he can handle and what he can't handle; that's because she knows him well. She knew Sasuke being eliminated by the K11 would kill him so she was protecting him from that kind of pain. Sakura's expectations of Naruto are more realistic. Turns out she was right about this when Naruto hypervenilated from the pressure and stress of possibly killing Sasuke. That alone proves Sakura wasn't that far off in her reasoning.

I’m not blaming it all on Sakura though. She was heavily guilt tripped by Sai. And Sai knew he messed up, hence why he told Naruto the truth. You can’t nit pick at which parts of the confession were real and fake. The entire thing was portrayed as a lie. You cannot sugar coat it. The fact that Sakura herself basically admitted she lied indirectly. Naruto says he hates people who lie to themselves. Sakura replies “You think I’m lying to myself!? If you don’t like me/hate me then just say so!” So yeah. Indirectly, she admits shes lying. She also proceeds to tell Naruto about why she really came out there anyway, which was not to confess but to bring him home. That was still only half the truth - she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about Sasuke. Still want to argue Sakura was only thinking of Naruto? Kay. But you can’t deny she was willing to risk Naruto hating her forever. Therefore, no, she did not choose Naruto. She ultimately chose Sasuke in whatever way you take it.

For someone who apparently doesn't blame Sakura for her confession, he/she certainly seems that way. Um ... what? Sai knew he was wrong? He didn't seem that way to me, he still believed what he said was the truth. Sai just felt regret for telling her the truth because he knew that it was what lead up to all of this. He blames himself for it and realized it IHO would've been better if he said nothing at all. Not really. The only person who expressed it being portrayed as a lie entirely was Naruto; his denseness and PoaL Wall are what he carries so he's not solid proof. Sai apparently disagrees with the NH fan as well: "She thought she would lessen your burden by coming here and confessing her love for you." He's implying she loves Naruto, but loves Sasuke too (based on Naruto's words). Not that this means much, it's just another 3rd party, not Sakura herself but it does denote the fact that everyone saw it as a lie.

And ... how did Sakura confirm indirectly she was lying? He/She is taking her entire anger state out of context. Correct, she did say that but I fail to see how this confirms she was lying. As soon as Naruto said she was lying and he hated people like that, she immediately got furious. Too furious for someone who was lying. We know Sakura. If she knew she was lying about loving Naruto, she would have looked guilty the minute he said that. She's caring like that. But there is a noticable absence of guilt here. Instead, she responds and defends her feelings, hotly telling him many things that could support she was telling the truth about how she felt. Let's look at the complete dialogue, not omitted with bias shall we? "Just?! You think it's easy for a girl to come her to confess her feelings?! *slaps his hands roughly off her shoulders* "I'm the only one who knows what I'm feeling! If you don't like me, then just say so! Don't you dare make excuses ...!"--> Does this sound like a girl who doesn't love him? I still believe she was confused here, but her anger does support unconscious feelings of love for him. It also supports that she didn't like Naruto acting like he was so right about how she felt for him when she hasn't even figured it out yet. Sakura did not come there, knowing she didn't love him. She came there, still blind over what she felt for him.

Sakura was still defending what she felt for him, she was just enforcing it with how she wanted to protect him and get him to think more about himself than others. This was purely for Naruto's sake, she was getting nothing out of it other than his safety. That's why she was thinking about Naruto. Does he/she really believe Naruto hating her forever would not be terribly painful and heartbreaking for her? He's her best friend, she'd be losing his friendship (which she cherishes and values greatly) and be alone. That has got to hurt, especially considering how strong her attachment and feelings for him are. She put Naruto and Sasuke on a set of scales: Which is more important, allowing Naruto to continue his crusade to bring Sasuke back and possibly kill himself doing so or have Sasuke killed so Naruto would surivive. To Sakura, it was Naruto and his safety. She was willing to bear his anger because it didn't matter to her as much as if he was alive. So no, she did not choose Sasuke over Naruto. Quite the opposite, her motives say it all.

And as for Naruto, there’s nothing for him to confess. Sakura already knows of his feelings via Sai. What did that accomplish? Nothing positive. That chapter 457 flashback? Something about Naruto confessing after he keeps his promise? That very promise was trashed by Naruto himself. There is no more promise. And we already know Sai got a bunch of crap wrong. Another hypocritical flip flop I noticed NaruSaku likes to do is that they claim Naruto is so selfless, that he is sooo in love with Sakura and will put her happiness above his own… So he is letting her go… YET TURN AROUND AND SAY “He will confess after he brings back Sasuke”. Uh… hello? That completely contradicts the first statement! What is he, selfless or selfish? Please, just pick one! Not that either makes much sense, but goodness.

I beg to differ. That flashback was there for a reason, not to completely erase a future Naruto confession. Notice the main character is the only one who has not told the person he loves how he feels. It's very obvious it's Naruto's turn at some point, just not now. Positive? Actually it did in a roundabout way. Sai's little confession proved a few things that support NS: 1). Sakura values Naruto's feelings and welfare above Sasuke and her own love for him, showing that she loves him more than Sasuke. Doesn't matter if it's platonic or romantic, it's still true. 2). Naruto takes his feelings seriously. 3). Sakura's willing to give him a chance in a relationship, even though she's confused. 4). NS can argue like a real couple and Naruto is not an entire doormat. 4). Sai thinks Sakura may love Naruto. 5). Sakura would rather love Naruto than Sasuke. Doesn't seem that anti anymore, now does it? Again, this argument is flawed. Naruto never told her the promise is off, he just explained that's not the only reason why he wants to save Sasuke. It's for his own sake as well, something Sakura knew he would say. It's also something all of us already knew, so what's this NH's point? Uh ... Sai was entirely wrong? Not at all, he was almost 100% accurate. Let's recap. Naruto loves Sakura; true. The promise motivates him to go beyond the limits more so than if it was just for himself because he wants Sakura happy; true. The promise and Sakura's love for Sasuke in general creates angst and strain on him; true. Sasuke hurts him; double true. What exactly is off in this? For someone who is socially awkward, he was hauntingly accurate in this. Nothing false here.

Naruto would like to confess his feelings for her someday when he feels he has the right to, but what makes it selfless is that he doesn't expect anything from it. He doesn't think she'll fall in love with him or intends to force his feelings on her. He is still putting Sakura's happiness before his. What he wants to see is if Sasuke comes back, will Sakura truly go back to the way she was? He doesn't want to be 2nd and if he tells her he loves her now, he'll feel like he is. This isn't selfish, not if he doesn't expect anything. To Naruto, she will always love Sasuke. But he can bear it because he'd rather have her happy then himself. That's why his love is the most selfless and pure out of the Big 3. SS & NH got nothing on Naruto. Then apparently Naruto as a character doesn't make sense to he/she. Lol, okay.

Never give up? Sakura was never a kittening goal of Naruto’s in the first place. In fact, his feelings for her aren’t a major part of his character. Moving on from someone who doesn’t love you and discovering there was always someone there who you can grow to love is good progression. Life is good. He should enjoy it. And before you start with your “Never give up” kitten, do re-read the manga because “never give up” is NOT Naruto’s nindou. It’s “I never go back on my words”. Naruto has never stated he would be with Sakura or win her over. Some people forget that Hinata and Naruto share the same nindou. Hinata DID state she would be with Naruto, and she never goes back on her words apparently. So if the nindou argument is played it certainly isn’t in favor of NaruSaku. Quite the opposite. It helps NaruHina more so than anything!

Sakura was never his goal, true. But that still doesn't change the fact that giving up on her and instead going to the easy, less challenging route would be a betrayal to his entire character. Hinata is the easy way out, Sakura is the challenge that you have to work for. How does this not only follow his characterization to a T, but the story theme as well? Naruto never gets anything nor likes having things handed to him. It loses it's value and sense of accomplisment to him. He's all about "never giving up." Since when has a stable Naruto on normal circumstances given up on anything? Why is Sakura a different matter, when she's increasingly closer to being in his reach and her love for Sasuke has not erased his feelings in the past? It is practically his nindo, his determination and refusal to give up is a large part of his characterization. And I already see two double standards in this post, let me point them out: "Sakura moving on from someone who doesn't love her and discovering that there was always somewhere there who you can grow to love like Naruto is good progression. Life is good. She should enjoy it." And here's another one. The NH fan argues Naruto never goes back on his word yet claims the promise was trashed. If he gave up on fulfilling the promise, he would be going back on his word, a betrayal of his nindo. What does Hinata having the same nindo have to do with anything? Naruto's feelings matter, not if they share the same nindo. Does not help NaruHina at all, there's no point in arguing that.

Since then, NaruSaku has not gotten anything. Why? Because the Kage Summit was it’s conclusion. It’s resolution. There’s nothing left here to be resolved. Sakura loves Sasuke. Naruto accepts it. He’s growing closer to Hinata. It makes sense for Kishimoto to conclude NaruSaku before moving onto NaruHina. Even SASUSAKU got something in the war. NaruHina has been heavily pushed in our faces all throughout this war. News flash! Naruto and Sakura talking to each does not make it a romantic moment. The one-two times they did talk in the war; oddly enough, BOTH TIMES WERE OVERSHADOWED BY NARUHINA. For example when the alliance arrived and NaruSaku claims “OMG they read each others minds! Naruto told Sakura to heal Kakashi!” Lol, wait Sakura was doing her job. That compares to Hinata asking if Naruto was okay, him saying “HELL YEAH!” and Kiba teasing Naruto about Hinata? No, seriously? And of course there’s chapters 558-559. Here’s something I made:

Because “Are you ok, Sakura-chan?” “Naruto?” “You don’t seem hurt!” compares to “Sorry I’m late… Everything’s alright now!” “It is Naruto-kun! You can tell by his eyes!” “It’s all in your eyes, you’re strong, don’t get yourself down, etc….” So yeah. After Sakura is confirmed to be in love with Sasuke, NaruSaku has gotten close to zero. Meanwhile, NaruHina gains even more spotlight. Hinata is there in the most crucial moments. (Cheering him up before his fight with Neji, saving him against Pein, speech in chapter 615/stopping Naruto from going with Obito) Hell she even Jyuukened Naruto’s dislocated shoulder back in place. Gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting that and I even laughed when I read the chapter. It was like the whole point for Naruto to dislocate his shoulder was for Hinata to freaken fix it. What else did it do? It could have easily been forgotten about or not happened at all.

That is such a bold statement: NaruSaku has had it's resolution, it's dead now. And it's very naive to jump that conclusion, it's only going to hurt more when he/she is likely proven wrong on this. See, the Kage Summit is far from the resolution. Naruto claimed she was lying, but Sakura protested. Sakura thinks of him in 540, but has not figured out her own feelings for Naruto. How is this a resolution? If anything, it's just one step closer to the climax to NS and then the resolution. The Kage Summit has more questions than answers, it needs to be brought up again for there to even be any form of resolution, positive or negative. And as for NH, I think he's closer to her but there's no indication he has romantic feelings for her. Still seems entirely platonic through and through. All I'm seeing his Hinata development as a side character and then more side characters being developed. NH development? Maybe friendship but she's IMO going to fade into the background again soon enough and Naruto's not going to treat her any differently or mention her much; worse for the NHers if his love for Sakura is reaffirmed. I'd brace myself fo this probable possibility. SS got negative one-sided focus, NH got one-sided focus.

Well, some NH fans consider Hinata saying "Let's do our best!" and Naruto saying "Yeah!" as a "moment" so I don't see why we can't count NaruSaku talking to each other. Lol, kidding. We don't need to, they talk on a regular basis. Um ... Naruto never said "HELL YEAH!". He actually ignored Hinata's question which is why Kiba teased him about acting tough. And then Naruto was again general, not showing much of a reaction that he took the comment to heart. He didn't even get embarrassed by it, like he would if someone said that about Sakura. Kushina's teasing NS comment in RtN says hello.

Yeah, another pep talk. Real romantic. /sarcasm He didn't even have any flirty or romantic vibe there, it was just Naruto being a friend/coach to Hinata's confidence level. And the "it's all in your eyes" was a figure of speech, not literal. He was just encouraging her, like he does to many of his friends. No romance here. Does this person wonder why NS are being separated since the confession? Doesn't that seem "odd"? Given how Sakura still hasn't sorted out her feelings, it only means something big in store for NS. The side characters are getting in spotlight for development and a final showdown so obviously Hinata's has to involve Naruto. He still doesn't show much feelings for her outside of friendship so I really don't see the big deal.

Funny. I burst out laughing at the obvious NH troll in 616, no joke. That was so ironic and hilarious. xD It's because it probably was, just not for NH development. Hinata's character needed work so make her do things is pretty much what I'm seeing so far. It's the "arc of the side characters" after all. The Pain moment ended in disaster and made things worse, Naruto hasn't reflected on her confession much so far. The cheering up moment wasn't crucial, it was never brought up again and Naruto still liked Sakura. And finally, Hinata didn't fully convince him, Kurama did. She was just involved for forced development and to enforce it, given her connection to Neji. Where was Hinata when Jiraiya died? Where was Hinata when he lost Sasuke? Where was Hinata when he realized the Akatsuki was after his tailed beast? Where was Hinata when Naruto saw Obito's speech about Sasuke? Sorry, she was hardly in his most crucial and important moments, she barely knows him and what he goes through.



Damn this is ridiculously long, I can't even believe this post length. I just kept in typing my thoughts and then this happened. Really gotta stop with these insane lengths, it's really too much. I hope you guys enjoy my points anyway, though!

[Tokura Misaki]

RomanceGirl

What a post!

Edited by sakutonaru, 07 March 2013 - 02:03 PM.

[pharix]

Am I the only one thinking that Mito actually liked Madara because of his stronger personality at first?? we can see from these flashbacks that Hashirama is apparently a big wimp when he was a child. That would've given Mito a reason to look down on him, much like Kushina did with Minato.

@Kira: To be honest, the HashiMadara brotherly relationship, to me is soo much better developed compared to SasuNaru. And I wish Kishi didn't rush it and force it down our throats.

that would be a giant wood style nail in the coffin of NaruHina

[StrikerTheNoble]

Wow, a lot of my day was eaten up. O.O I meant to respond to that NaruHina post earlier but I got so busy. xD Hope any of you don't mind if I respond now, I know a lot of you are talking about other topics. Bad timing lol!

Okay then. Let's start one of my LAPs that are often full of win. Not to sound arrogant. xD This is my longest one yet, unfortunately. I'm very sorry everyone! I don't really have a limit for my posts. I promise next time I'll make it shorter.

Actually, Naruto's love for Sakura is still present realistically. The last confirmation of his feelings was during though Kage Summit, first by Sai and then by Naruto himself during her confession. Noted it was indirectly but it was fairly obvious he still loved her through his reaction to the entire thing. Naruto's expression was originally a shocked type of happy, blushing and everything. But the important thing was that when Sakura asked him angrily if he still liked her, Naruto completely avoided it. This is crucial because Naruto can be very blunt and he believed 100% that she did not love him so he wouldn't be worrying about hurting her feelings and would straight-up say he no longer felt that way. That's just his personality. Some might argue it's invalid because Sakura hurt Naruto by lying or that too many chapters have passed but both those arguments fail because a). Naruto is very forgiving. Sasuke has hurt him far worse and he still loves him. This is an even more questionable anti-argument when Sai told him she was only thinking of him. Naruto dropping his romantic feelings? Plz. b). The "It's been over 100 chapters!" fails miserably and is probably one of the worst. We think in their time, not ours. Only two or three weeks passed since the confession. Tell me: Is that enough time to fall out of love with someone? Of course not! It's even worse since Naruto has trouble letting go of important bonds like that. With Sasuke, despite everything, he still views him as brother. So I have reason to believe that, despite everything, Naruto still loves Sakura with all his heart. The question should not whether or not he still loves Sakura, we already know this if you read neutrally. The real question is if he's developing feelings for Hinata. Realistically, if he is for some reason, then Kishi's just creating another triangle. That's the only way to put it.

Lol, before claiming something, this person should double-check to make sure the source is fullproof. Databook 3 actually reveals to us two interesting pieces of information related to Sasuke and Naruto. There was an added relationship chart with it that had an arrow pointing to Sakura to Sasuke with the caption "in love with". As for Naruto, the caption just says worries for him. However, this was released with the Sakura's character profile that explained her own feelings for Naruto are a mystery. Given how not much time passed since then, she probably still feels this way. Loves Sasuke, but is confused over Naruto. When she said she loves someone, she was referring to Sasuke. But why on earth would Naruto show up in 540 when she's still completely confused over if she loves him or not? It's out of place. She doesn't know if she loves him so she wouldn't think of him in this. And if she did, then it means NS will be canon. Sasuke's gone, Naruto's here. Really not that hard to figure out. Sasuke wouldn't have a hope in hell to put it bluntly. Also, I'm sure this is because Kishi is playing with the ambiguity concept. Before the Kage Summit, NS was getting too obvious. Because Kishi's a troll who likes to build suspense, he throws a wrench in proverbial pairing fire. It's just like the Tobito thing, seriously it's the same. And it's getting towards the ending, so he wants to keep readers guessing. Not enough to destroy NS, but enough to question his motives. Dat Kishi and his predictable patterns.

This person sure about that? Why Sakura was depressed in 540, I believe it's both. She's sad at what he's become but she's equally as upset that she still loves someone like Sasuke. The ashamed argument is not BS, it's practically confirmed in the Kage Summit. Sakura tries to logic herself into how terrible a person Sasuke is and that's why she shouldn't love him, but it's hard to really feel like this when she just recovered from her semi-wake up call about him being in the Akatsuki and now an international criminal. Sakura states it herself: " I don't know why I liked someone like that ... he's a rogue shinobi. A criminal! [...] "All Sasuke does is get further away from me and break my heart." -->Does this sound like someone who wants to still be in love with Sasuke? This is solid, especially the 2nd verse when she sounded particularly pained. Then Sasuke tries to kill her ... twice. Pretty sure any sane person would not want to love someone like that and I'm pretty sure Sakura's sane so. This is supported even more when she now sees the Sasuke in darkness, not the good Sasuke she knew. Her idealistic image is shattered completely now, but she's still struggling to fully remove her love. So yeah, she's ashamed. Why does this matter, this person asks? Well, being ashamed and hating the way you feel over someone means you want to move on and get over it. She already tried this during the Summit Arc. This is why I see 540 as the second to last stake in the SS coffin. It foreshadows Sakura overcoming her major weakness (Sasuke. He always has been), having her development come full circle, and falling in love with someone else who treats her right. "He must be a great guy if you love him!" --> Naruto Uzumaki everyone, the guy who's her best friend and the one she's been developing feelings for all along. Kishi's not that hard to figure out sometimes, y'know. xD

What this NH fan is talking about is the "pairing wrench in pairing fire" scenerio. Quite obviously, the confession. It seems anti, but it's actually very pro for a number of reasons if you analyze a little bit instead of accepting everything at face value IMO. Correction: Sakura didn't get rejected, her confession did. For Naruto to reject her or "friendzone" her you could say, he would've said this: "I don't like/love you anymore, Sakura! So enough of this! I don't get what you're trying to do here." Instead, his feelings were very clear. He was angry, upset, and confused but he still wanted Sakura to love him. He just wouldn't accept a lie, it's not much of a balance or very fulfilling for him. Ironically, it just showcased indirectly how much more serious he takes his love for her than he did in Part 1. It matured, not diminished. Lol, troll? What right does a NH fan have to call the confession a "troll" when their own pairing has been trolled many times over, more recently 616? The irony of that sentence, I'm sorry. Maybe because it was for Naruto's well-being. But I'll get to that later.

Underestimate? Again, does he/she really not see the double standard? Look at half their ship. Hinata never believes in his abilities, she usually goes all overprotective/worrying over the slightest things. Naruto vs. Kiba: Naruto-kuning in worry the entire time, not even believing she had the chance. Ironically, Sakura did. Mini Tobito vs. Naruto (One hit): Hinata loses focus and freaks out. Sakura wasn't phased and scolded her, saying "Stay focused Hinata! Naruto doesn't go down that easy." Naruto vs. Pain: Hinata guessed he would lose before even whipping out her Byakugan. Sakura believed in him and his abilities the entire time, even calling his name to come and save them. Following this pattern, it would seem like the one who underesitmates him more is Hinata. I don't think that's very flattering for a future wife of Naruto. :/

True, Sakura can underestimate him. I'd say the confession was only underestimating him to an extent. She knows what he can handle and what he can't handle; that's because she knows him well. She knew Sasuke being eliminated by the K11 would kill him so she was protecting him from that kind of pain. Sakura's expectations of Naruto are more realistic. Turns out she was right about this when Naruto hypervenilated from the pressure and stress of possibly killing Sasuke. That alone proves Sakura wasn't that far off in her reasoning.

For someone who apparently doesn't blame Sakura for her confession, he/she certainly seems that way. Um ... what? Sai knew he was wrong? He didn't seem that way to me, he still believed what he said was the truth. Sai just felt regret for telling her the truth because he knew that it was what lead up to all of this. He blames himself for it and realized it IHO would've been better if he said nothing at all. Not really. The only person who expressed it being portrayed as a lie entirely was Naruto; his denseness and PoaL Wall are what he carries so he's not solid proof. Sai apparently disagrees with the NH fan as well: "She thought she would lessen your burden by coming here and confessing her love for you." He's implying she loves Naruto, but loves Sasuke too (based on Naruto's words). Not that this means much, it's just another 3rd party, not Sakura herself but it does denote the fact that everyone saw it as a lie.

And ... how did Sakura confirm indirectly she was lying? He/She is taking her entire anger state out of context. Correct, she did say that but I fail to see how this confirms she was lying. As soon as Naruto said she was lying and he hated people like that, she immediately got furious. Too furious for someone who was lying. We know Sakura. If she knew she was lying about loving Naruto, she would have looked guilty the minute he said that. She's caring like that. But there is a noticable absence of guilt here. Instead, she responds and defends her feelings, hotly telling him many things that could support she was telling the truth about how she felt. Let's look at the complete dialogue, not omitted with bias shall we? "Just?! You think it's easy for a girl to come her to confess her feelings?! *slaps his hands roughly off her shoulders* "I'm the only one who knows what I'm feeling! If you don't like me, then just say so! Don't you dare make excuses ...!"--> Does this sound like a girl who doesn't love him? I still believe she was confused here, but her anger does support unconscious feelings of love for him. It also supports that she didn't like Naruto acting like he was so right about how she felt for him when she hasn't even figured it out yet. Sakura did not come there, knowing she didn't love him. She came there, still blind over what she felt for him.

Sakura was still defending what she felt for him, she was just enforcing it with how she wanted to protect him and get him to think more about himself than others. This was purely for Naruto's sake, she was getting nothing out of it other than his safety. That's why she was thinking about Naruto. Does he/she really believe Naruto hating her forever would not be terribly painful and heartbreaking for her? He's her best friend, she'd be losing his friendship (which she cherishes and values greatly) and be alone. That has got to hurt, especially considering how strong her attachment and feelings for him are. She put Naruto and Sasuke on a set of scales: Which is more important, allowing Naruto to continue his crusade to bring Sasuke back and possibly kill himself doing so or have Sasuke killed so Naruto would surivive. To Sakura, it was Naruto and his safety. She was willing to bear his anger because it didn't matter to her as much as if he was alive. So no, she did not choose Sasuke over Naruto. Quite the opposite, her motives say it all.

I beg to differ. That flashback was there for a reason, not to completely erase a future Naruto confession. Notice the main character is the only one who has not told the person he loves how he feels. It's very obvious it's Naruto's turn at some point, just not now. Positive? Actually it did in a roundabout way. Sai's little confession proved a few things that support NS: 1). Sakura values Naruto's feelings and welfare above Sasuke and her own love for him, showing that she loves him more than Sasuke. Doesn't matter if it's platonic or romantic, it's still true. 2). Naruto takes his feelings seriously. 3). Sakura's willing to give him a chance in a relationship, even though she's confused. 4). NS can argue like a real couple and Naruto is not an entire doormat. 4). Sai thinks Sakura may love Naruto. 5). Sakura would rather love Naruto than Sasuke. Doesn't seem that anti anymore, now does it? Again, this argument is flawed. Naruto never told her the promise is off, he just explained that's not the only reason why he wants to save Sasuke. It's for his own sake as well, something Sakura knew he would say. It's also something all of us already knew, so what's this NH's point? Uh ... Sai was entirely wrong? Not at all, he was almost 100% accurate. Let's recap. Naruto loves Sakura; true. The promise motivates him to go beyond the limits more so than if it was just for himself because he wants Sakura happy; true. The promise and Sakura's love for Sasuke in general creates angst and strain on him; true. Sasuke hurts him; double true. What exactly is off in this? For someone who is socially awkward, he was hauntingly accurate in this. Nothing false here.

Naruto would like to confess his feelings for her someday when he feels he has the right to, but what makes it selfless is that he doesn't expect anything from it. He doesn't think she'll fall in love with him or intends to force his feelings on her. He is still putting Sakura's happiness before his. What he wants to see is if Sasuke comes back, will Sakura truly go back to the way she was? He doesn't want to be 2nd and if he tells her he loves her now, he'll feel like he is. This isn't selfish, not if he doesn't expect anything. To Naruto, she will always love Sasuke. But he can bear it because he'd rather have her happy then himself. That's why his love is the most selfless and pure out of the Big 3. SS & NH got nothing on Naruto. Then apparently Naruto as a character doesn't make sense to he/she. Lol, okay.

Sakura was never his goal, true. But that still doesn't change the fact that giving up on her and instead going to the easy, less challenging route would be a betrayal to his entire character. Hinata is the easy way out, Sakura is the challenge that you have to work for. How does this not only follow his characterization to a T, but the story theme as well? Naruto never gets anything nor likes having things handed to him. It loses it's value and sense of accomplisment to him. He's all about "never giving up." Since when has a stable Naruto on normal circumstances given up on anything? Why is Sakura a different matter, when she's increasingly closer to being in his reach and her love for Sasuke has not erased his feelings in the past? It is practically his nindo, his determination and refusal to give up is a large part of his characterization. And I already see two double standards in this post, let me point them out: "Sakura moving on from someone who doesn't love her and discovering that there was always somewhere there who you can grow to love like Naruto is good progression. Life is good. She should enjoy it." And here's another one. The NH fan argues Naruto never goes back on his word yet claims the promise was trashed. If he gave up on fulfilling the promise, he would be going back on his word, a betrayal of his nindo. What does Hinata having the same nindo have to do with anything? Naruto's feelings matter, not if they share the same nindo. Does not help NaruHina at all, there's no point in arguing that.

That is such a bold statement: NaruSaku has had it's resolution, it's dead now. And it's very naive to jump that conclusion, it's only going to hurt more when he/she is likely proven wrong on this. See, the Kage Summit is far from the resolution. Naruto claimed she was lying, but Sakura protested. Sakura thinks of him in 540, but has not figured out her own feelings for Naruto. How is this a resolution? If anything, it's just one step closer to the climax to NS and then the resolution. The Kage Summit has more questions than answers, it needs to be brought up again for there to even be any form of resolution, positive or negative. And as for NH, I think he's closer to her but there's no indication he has romantic feelings for her. Still seems entirely platonic through and through. All I'm seeing his Hinata development as a side character and then more side characters being developed. NH development? Maybe friendship but she's IMO going to fade into the background again soon enough and Naruto's not going to treat her any differently or mention her much; worse for the NHers if his love for Sakura is reaffirmed. I'd brace myself fo this probable possibility. SS got negative one-sided focus, NH got one-sided focus.

Well, some NH fans consider Hinata saying "Let's do our best!" and Naruto saying "Yeah!" as a "moment" so I don't see why we can't count NaruSaku talking to each other. Lol, kidding. We don't need to, they talk on a regular basis. Um ... Naruto never said "HELL YEAH!". He actually ignored Hinata's question which is why Kiba teased him about acting tough. And then Naruto was again general, not showing much of a reaction that he took the comment to heart. He didn't even get embarrassed by it, like he would if someone said that about Sakura. Kushina's teasing NS comment in RtN says hello.

Yeah, another pep talk. Real romantic. /sarcasm He didn't even have any flirty or romantic vibe there, it was just Naruto being a friend/coach to Hinata's confidence level. And the "it's all in your eyes" was a figure of speech, not literal. He was just encouraging her, like he does to many of his friends. No romance here. Does this person wonder why NS are being separated since the confession? Doesn't that seem "odd"? Given how Sakura still hasn't sorted out her feelings, it only means something big in store for NS. The side characters are getting in spotlight for development and a final showdown so obviously Hinata's has to involve Naruto. He still doesn't show much feelings for her outside of friendship so I really don't see the big deal.

Funny. I burst out laughing at the obvious NH troll in 616, no joke. That was so ironic and hilarious. xD It's because it probably was, just not for NH development. Hinata's character needed work so make her do things is pretty much what I'm seeing so far. It's the "arc of the side characters" after all. The Pain moment ended in disaster and made things worse, Naruto hasn't reflected on her confession much so far. The cheering up moment wasn't crucial, it was never brought up again and Naruto still liked Sakura. And finally, Hinata didn't fully convince him, Kurama did. She was just involved for forced development and to enforce it, given her connection to Neji. Where was Hinata when Jiraiya died? Where was Hinata when he lost Sasuke? Where was Hinata when he realized the Akatsuki was after his tailed beast? Where was Hinata when Naruto saw Obito's speech about Sasuke? Sorry, she was hardly in his most crucial and important moments, she barely knows him and what he goes through.

Damn this is ridiculously long, I can't even believe this post length. O.O I just kept in typing my thoughts and then this happened. Really gotta stop with these insane lengths, it's really too much. I hope you guys enjoy my points anyway, though!

Great post and listen to this. Some idiot in our english class was complaining about the text being to long, so I said: "b*tch please, I read RomanceGirls posts", He had I idea what I was talking about but its true. Completly agreed with your post.

But I would like to add this. When I first saw that chapter I figured Naruto was too kind for his own good. He knew she wasnt completly sure in what she was saying, so he rather took the risk of her telling the truth than force her in a false relationship. Imho that is something that Hinata and the fangirl sakura would never do. They would just jump at the chance of a relationship or in Hinatas case faint. I also find it interesting that when Naruto went afther Sakura he used sage mode. He knew all too well that he might need it if a fight accurs but he rather used it for the speed boost so he wouldnt be too late. As I said once before Naruto trusts Sakura just as much as she trusts him. During the aftermath of the first time he used the rasen shurinken he wasnt worried one bit about the physical consequences. He was completly confident that she would always be there to heal him. Which is more than we can say for Hinata.

Edited by StrikerTheNoble, 07 March 2013 - 03:36 PM.