Could of sworn he said he wanted to end Naruto conclusively. If you are right about a new project regarding Naruto, oh boy.
So this is my problem too. Kishimoto said that apparently, but all this movie hype leads me to think differently. I'll repost what I put in the chapter thread:
After watching the movie trailer and reading some of the buzz about it, I have a feeling next week's chapter isn't going to end as conclusively in the shipping department as we would like.
It wouldn't make any sense at all to wrap every detail up in the manga — Naruto is with Sakura and Hinata is out in the cold — only for them to continue with movies going in another direction.
I just don't think we're going to get pictures of Naruto and Sakura with babies, things like that. I think it's going to be more loose and open-ended, so the possibility of Naruto/Hinata is still out there. After all, the Hinata fans make up a huge portion of the fan base. And the shipping suspense is the only tension left. If Kishimoto wraps up the shipping tension decisively in the manga, then it'll be really hard to raise interest for a movie.
Don't get me wrong — I think there will be a big, satisfying NS moment in the last chapter of Shippuden. However, I think with all the hype for the movie and "New Era Project" going on in conjunction with the last chapter, Kishimoto's not going to end things absolutely conclusively pairing-wise. Kishimoto is, above everything else, a master at multiple interpretations.
Rampant speculation: It may be that Naruto and Sakura fianlly make a plan to go on a date, but that it will have to be some time much later, when everyone has returned home and all the detail work is done. And it may be that Hinata comes to some decision about herself and her clan, deciding that she will lead them the way Naruto would, all the while still thinking that some day, when all the work is done, she will walk beside Naruto.
So NS still is the top pairing, but there is still room for the future of NH.... Which is then explored and exploited in movies or whatever the New Era Project turns out to be.