Somebody in here PLEASE explain to me what Kishimoto meant with "shocking" ending. WTF was shocking in his eyes? The absurdity with what Ch.699 rushed through the aftermath of the war, Sasuke's suddenly developing some lovey dovy feelings for Sakura or the sudden introduction of technology and modernization when just some twenty years ago they had to let birds carry scrolls to another country.
I thought the 'shocking' ending was going to be that Sasuke was going to be Hokage, or seriously being considered, and the movie or third series would focus on that final arc, of them fighting over the Hokage seat. But it looks like I was thinking too deeply, caring too much about the storyline.
The 'shocking' ending was the crazy pairings. That's it. Which, if you think about it, means that NS was the OTP all along. The ending can't be 'shocking' if it's something that's been developed and steadily built towards. The only way it's shocking is if it's from left-field, completely out of place and unexpected. So SS and NH it is.