Paptala

I got to disagree with Hinata's part in your post, Paptala. For Pain Arc, it was all about the village association to Naruto, so we got to have how Naruto changes to many of them, with the village as a whole, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Hinata, Tsunade, Konohamaru, adults like Shikamaru's dad, and of course Sakura.

As for 614/615, while we didn't get much of buildup, hence rushed, we did have her talking about once and for all, standing same ground aka hand holding, so that must be dealt with. Luckily, we did. Now then, what is it that she wants from him? Easy: nothing. Sakura still have few more to deal with Naruto and this is one of them. The most Hinata can get is grouped up with others as in supporting.

Not quite sure what you're disagreeing with - the possibility of Hinata getting more moments in the future regarding her feelings for Naruto?  If so, I'm not saying its likely at all.  But I've thought that Hinata's feelings were done and closed twice now, only to be proven wrong both times.  Heck, look at Karin - she said she was done with Sasuke (which many took to mean as SK being done with) only for her and her feelings for Sasuke to come back later.  I'm not ruling anything out anymore, even if I don't think its all that probable.

Yep. I think we're going to see at lest few more NH/SS moments, especially when we don't expect to see them at all! Kishi loves this kind of trolling. It's always HN/SS followed by NS followed by NH/SS and so on..... the tension will grow as we move to the end of the series.

I'm pretty sure that we're going to have a NS moment soon, but I don't think it will be something super big. A lot of things still need to be explained/dealt-with until Kishi reveals the final pairing.

If anything, I think we'll see the girls' dealing with their feelings, rather than interactions between them (though there's likely going to be at least one significant interaction b/t Sasuke and Sakura resolving their bond at the very end no matter what note it ends on).

I don't know, I think this is the second to last arc personally (and also that we're close to this arc's end), so Kishi could definitely make some big moves with NaruSaku.

Yep, completely agree. Kishi has a pattern going. NH and SS aren't done yet not because of the feelings of the characters are resolved, but because Kishi still has a need to drive up reader suspense. The pairing strife will continue until the very end for suspense purposes, and I'm fully expecting an all-is-lost moment for NS before Kishi resolves it.

These are pretty much my thoughts as well, though I honestly hope that Kishi doesn't drag out the resolutions until the very end.  I'd hope to get some resolution at least before, such as getting Hinata's feelings for Naruto out of the way before the original Team 7 love triangle is tackled/resolved in the final arc.

 

SS definitely needs to get resolved, but what more is there for NH?

 

Chapter 615 was literally the climax of Hinata's desire when it comes to Naruto. She was of help to him and holded his hand. She can't go any higher than that. It's not about pretending to be confident, it's that literally there's no more foreshadowing regarding her importances.

 

In the beginning it was all about Hinata wanting to confess, after she confessed it was about Naruto addressing her actions, after he addressed them it was about Hinata wanting to be there for Naruto, after she was there in 615 there was no more build up implied. It ended right there.

 

Now the only thing Hinata wants is to be by his side, which as we say with Shikamaru saying it too, was not meant to be taken romantically. Hinata wants to support Naruto, just like everyone else, and she liking him is her own problem.

I'm kind of this mind set as well, but as I said above, I've already thought twice now that Hinata's feelings had received closure and were done only to be proven wrong.  Logically, I don't think there's anything more to do with her feelings other than show her being happy that Naruto is happy with Sakura at the end, but I have been wrong before so I'm keeping a more open/wary mindset when it comes to Hinata and the pairing subplot in general.

i just watched Konoha Gakuen Den (ova based on naruto shippuden ed 2) and saw this. Is this funny to you guys?

why sakura cut her hair in that ed

hinata asks why sakura cut her hair, on behalf of the viewers.

ino then shows these picture to explain

i didnt find it funny   maybe im too defensive of her.

 

and i always thought this is fanart, but lol studio pierrot, shouldnt expect any more of them and their bias.

hinata and naruto on a date

I didn't find the gum in Sakura's hair to be funny, but I wasn't bothered by it either.  I didn't get the vibe that they were trying to cast Sakura in a bad light or anything - they were just trying to give funny and silly moments to pretty much all of the characters (look at Kabuto and Orochimaru, for instance).

As for the rest, I actually found that particular special to be much more favorable to NS than NH. 

The dialogue and scenes leading to the moment you posted above is all but shouting that Sakura has fallen for Naruto:

Sakura:  "Well, I guess Naruto has his good points too."

Ino:  "So you fell for him?"
Sakura:  "No way!  Why would I fall for a coarse, clueless guy like that?!" (said in classic tsundere fashion, juxtaposed with an image of Naruto cluelessly holding a sweater Sakura made (not just gave, but made) for him, Sakura turned away from him blushing,

NS

and then another image of Naruto and Sakura standing in rain, their eyes hooded, and Sakura asking why he always has to be so reckless)

NS

[The NH "date" scene]

Sakura (to Hinata):  "I don't know what you see in him"

Ino: "Whoa! You're jealous!"

Sakura's facial expressions (and the dialogue before) fully support Ino's statement that Sakura is jealous:

And to add to that, Naruto is not phased at all - no blush, no awkwardness, nothing to suggest he sees her as anything more than a completely platonic friend or little sister.

Maybe some people don't like how Sakura is characterized/presented, but there's no question that Sakura is pretty blatantly implied to have romantic feelings for Naruto, and that Naruto has no such feelings for Hinata.

 

Terrific post, as usual.  

 

The only thing I'd add is that, depending upon the translation, three people have indicated Naruto loves Sakura.  This panel is from volume 1, chapter 3 from the official English version:

 

 

He was henged as Sasuke at the time, and didn't say it out loud, but Naruto is pretty clear on what he feels. ^_^

Thanks!    Ah, how could I have forgotten that Naruto himself said it - and he used the same term Sai and Sakura used in 457/459 ("suki") so I think its pretty safe to count it.  Of course, detractors always argue that it's outdated but when those same detractors twist 457 into Naruto letting go of his romantic feelings for Sakura and 631 into a joke, I really can't take them all that seriously.

Now I got NS feels again...

Heehee   I'm getting all sorts of NS feels from all of the NS 2014 buzz on tumblr

I actually find it somewhat ridiculous that Naruto is the only character with an interest in someone (out of Sakura, Hinata, etc.) that fans try to claim is not in love simply because he's never said it. It's been developed the entire course of the manga. Actions can speak louder than words, he shouldn't need to. It's going to happen at some point in this manga, it was foreshadowed. But it doesn't mean it isn't already obvious. Fans argue "Hinata loves Naruto" "Sakura loves Sasuke" so why is it that Naruto is suddenly the exception? He's the main character. His romantic attentions should be clear at this point.

 

I've always found the most obvious piece of evidence that is undeniable was his reaction to Sakura's confession. He for a slight second did believe her words until he started adding the weirdness of the situation up and then denied her  loving him entirely. Naruto was not uncomfortable or even calm in sorting out her true intentions. As Sakura continued to express she loved him, Naruto got angry at her "lie". He had no reason to be angry at her unless he felt some extent of romantic love.

 

In reality, fans will believe what they want. But at least when Naruto confesses his love to Sakura they won't be able to deny the truth anymore.

I completely agree - Naruto's feelings are obvious, always have been since chapter 3.  I think the "Naruto's not in love with Sakura unless he flat out says it!" argument to be laughable, especially when these are almost always the same people arguing Naruto is clearly in love with Hinata now from his actions.  So, he only has to say he's in love when it comes to Sakura, apparently

If and when Naruto does confess to Sakura, you can bet people will still be trying to twist it into something platonic (I can see comparisons to Kushina telling Naruto "I love you" or Itachi telling Sasuke, "I love you").

good points . Humm i think we have flashbacks of narutos crush on sakura havent we. So we cant say its 5 years may be he had a crush before that.

I ve tried that they say then why did kishi bring hinata in to it why give her special moments like in chunin exam,pain arc, even in the recent war . As kishi has given her those moments the resolution would be nh canon. I said that was just to make the story more dramatic. But they didnt agree. I said that narutos feelings for sakura is far more devloped but they didnt agree so i left the conversation

Thanks - and we know he liked her upon her introduction, but I don't think there were any flashbacks of Naruto crushing on her before that.  The only NS flashback we get is during the Gaara fight and that was after they had joined Team 7.  All we know is that he liked her sometime before they graduated from the academy.  Hopefully, we'll get a flashback of little Naruto and Sakura at some point - I would love to see the origin of Naruto's feelings for her!

 

I don’t think Kishi made all those Hinata moment in the war to bring more drama in her character. He did that to close her character as a side character in my opinion. If you look the War Arc in an objective view, you will see that Hinata is not the only one who got the spotlight. Every side character got its closure. Ino, Shikamaru and Choji with Asuma and their father, Neji with Naruto, Hinata and his uncle (somewhat), and Hinata with Naruto and Neji. You see the common point between those closure, each of them concern the most important bond in their side character story. During her important moment in chapter 615, it wasn’t a romantic moment, it was her closure moment, she wanted to be useful to Naruto (chapter  559) and what did she do in 615 ? She helped him when he was on the verge of surrender.

 

I really don’t understand all those proclamation of romantic chapter for 615, the only thing that could have been romantic was the handholding, but even there, we see at the end of the chapter that Naruto is transferring his chakra to Hinata and in the next chapter, he instantly release her hand and began to grab every character’s hand to do the same. So at the end, it wasn’t romantic, at least on Naruto’s side, it was just a friendship moment.  

 

So my advice is to not pay attention to those who say the War Arc was focused on Hinata. It was focused on side character with a little more on Hinata and InShikaCho.

But next Arc will surely be focused on Team 7, which means Sakura (and Naruto and Sasuke), and I’m sure that at this point the Hinata deal will be over. I don’t know why but I smell a rejection coming at the end of this War Arc, and it’s on our favor. 

I agree - Hinata was certainly not the only side character getting spotlight during the war - a lot of them got moments, including Sai, Team 10, Neji, and Tsunade.  The only thing Hinata has left to resolve with her character is the romance thread, so of course that's what Kishi is going to usually focus on when she's shown in part 2.  I've always thought that NH and SS were about developing the girls' characters rather than developing a romantic relationship between the two, and the focus Hinata's gotten in the war just seems like Kishi tying up loose ends with her character in order to finish her development.

Though of course its just speculation at the moment - this could be building up to NH canon, but at the same time, I find it less likely than the alternative given chapters like 631 and 635.

I meant what if we see Hinata next chapter... Pain Arc v.2

While NS stuff seems far more likely given the build up from the Rescue Gaara arc (among other things), I'm not ruling out this possibility either.  There really wasn't much buildup for 614/615 or 437.  But at least with 437 we got her constantly worrying before throwing herself in (and this time, we've seen Sakura worrying more about Naruto, both during the war in general and about the extraction in particular before), and with 615 there was Hinata's speech from 573 to foreshadow it.

I don't really see anything to foreshadow major involvement from Hinata here this time, but who knows with Kishi - Hinata's gotten involved majorly when Naruto's life has been in danger the last two times.

I happen to read something from another site/ forum and it made me think if how can we say that naruto really loves sakura and it is not just a crush? I just want to ask...but I will always be a NaruSaku fan! 

Typically crushes are short-lived in duration, and Naruto's has had romantic feelings for Sakura for at least 5 years now (12 - 17 years of age).

• Naruto risked death to save her
• Sakura is the only individual (rather than a larger group) that he has sworn to protect, physically and emotionally.
• Naruto looked incredibly pained at seeing evidence Sakura loves Sasuke.
• Naruto put Sakura's feelings before his own in order to make her happy, despite it breaking his own heart to do so.
• Naruto indirectly told Sai that he has romantic feelings for Sakura and that he wants to confess those feelings to her once he fulfills the promise he made to her.
• Two people, one of whom is Sakura, has said Naruto is in love with her.
• Naruto told his dead father, one of the people he respects and loves the most, that she was something like his girlfriend

Naruto has done everything Sakura and Hinata have done to show they love their respective love interests aside from actually confessing (but we know he wants to), throwing himself in front of an attack for her (but he still risked death to save her, so this is just a technicality), and crying over her (which he's never had a reason to, since he's never thought she was dead and she's never betrayed him in a manner that Sasuke did).

There's no question that Naruto's feelings for Sakura are love and not a crush.

You made a very good point. I didn't really thought of that. Now I'm curious on how it works this whole thing. I hope it's "fair enough" not asspull. That goes to Sasuke. Hahaha. But seriously, I am curious. One thing I want to know is if Minato does give the other half for power sake, will Minato disappear? I never seen an extraction from an Edo. Too much to think over.

I hope its not as asspull either, haha.  I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto's gift was the other half of Kurama, but the consequences of Minato extracting it from himself and giving it to Naruto are unknown.  I could see it going either way - he's technically a zombie, so I would buy if it didn't make him disappear, but I would also buy it if it did end his resurrection.

Naruto's process is different, he already has the kyuubi sealed on himself if Kyuubi left behind just a tiny part of it and Minato replenishs it by giving Naruto the other half.
This chapter messed up with the bijuu's standards.

Madara didnt took Kurama's body from him but only the chakra, it's something really confuse and i wont theorize on this any longer.

 

About the life transfer technique, it's a advanced medical ninjutsu, Sakura wasnt dead when it used, it only managed to heal the fatal wound(which she can do it with her medical ninjutsu enhanced by the seal) she received but Naruto's case is different, i dont know what kind of sorcery is this but i think medical ninjutsu is not capable of healing this. 

How is Naruto's process any different (aside from it being one person doing the extraction instead of many)?  Yugito seemed to have mastered her bijuu as Naruto and Kirabi did when the Niibi was extracted from her and it didn't make a difference.  Again, its never been indicated that the absence of bijuu chakra is what kills the jinchuuriki rather than the process of extracting said chakra from their bodies.

There is no indication that any portion of Kurama remained in Naruto - recall that when Ichibii was extracted from Gaara, we never saw a physical manifestation of Ichibii - we only saw the bijuu's chakra leaving the jinchuuriki's body, same as here.

The life transfer technique is not a medical jutsu - Chiyo flat out says it isn't:  "I have already stopped emergency medical treatment.  What I am doing now is not medical ninjutsu.  I am giving my own life energy.  A tensei (life-transfer) ninjutsu."

http://www.mangapand...hapter-274.html

Sasori also said right before that that Sakura's injury was incapable of being healed with medical ninjutsu, so clearly, a life-transfer can "heal" fatal states to an extent beyond any medical jutsu.

http://www.mangapand...hapter-274.html (bottom panels)

Maybe you are right. I could see Sakura using Chiyo's technique without dying. The reason I say Minato could save Naruto's life by giving him the rest of Kurama is because Naruto needs the Kyuubi to defeat Madara and the Juubi, and yes Naruto does have sage mode but there is no way sage mode can defeat such powerful opponents. Another reason is the fact that Minato said he has a gift for Naruto which technically that would mean Kurama. And the last reason we don't really know what exactly would happen if a tailed beast is put back in its host. We know that Kushina wanted to seal the Kyuubi back inside of her and die thus taking the Kyuubi with her but we don't know exactly what would happen. It was never stated what would happen to an Uzumaki if the tailed beast is extracted then put back.

I agree that Naruto probably will need Kurama's power to defeat Madara and that that's probably what Minato was referring to when he said that had a gift for Naruto as well.  He is perfectly capable of being given this, however, after he is saved.

Its true that we don't know what will happen if the bijuu is resealed in the jinchuuriki, but it doesn't seem like its ever been presented or set up as a method of reversing the fatal effects of extraction.  Who knows though - perhaps it will be the key to saving him.  I'm not discounting it - I was just confused on why so many people assumed that would save Naruto when I've never seen evidence that it would in the manga.

Paptala, what if a life-transfer technique will only kill the caster if you're performing it on an already dead person? If the person is still alive, you would likely not need to give your entire life-force to them. Seems logical. That's what you meant, isn't it?

Yes, that's what I meant - but we know this can be done, since Chiyo did it for Sakura during her fight with Sasori:

http://www.mangapand...hapter-274.html

I agree, about the technique it doesnt do anything different than Sakura is capable off with her seal if she doesnt give up her life to Naruto.

 

I understand the desire for Sakura somehow save Naruto's life because it's one of the things she wants to, be capable of helping Naruto.

But once again, i feel like Kishi hasnt setup the scenario if he does i'll be surprised since he's pulling a lot of asspulls lately.

 

But also i'm also guilty of this, i wish Naruto dies and Kakashi revives him later, Sakura doenst have any development in terms of losing someome important and could even push her to realize her feelings for Naruto off losing him, and also push towards the fact she experience the same problem Tsunade had.

The technique is clearly capable of more than medical jutsu, as demonstrated by Chiyo in saving Sakura during the fight with Sasori.

I think Kishi has set up a scenario for Sakura to play a huge role in saving Sakura, if she is capable of performing the life-transfer jutsu in the manner Chiyo did for her in the Sasori fight.  She was there when she and Naruto learned he would die if Kyuubi was extracted from him, her reaction to this news was emphasized, she wants to be able to help Naruto shoulder his burdens more than anything, and Chiyo foreshadowed that Sakura would later risk her life to protect someone precious to her next time (as she was performing the life-transfer technique on Gaara).

If you believe differently, however, than that's perfectly fine.  It's not a given Sakura will play the role I'm hoping she will, I just think that there is enough to evidence to suggest that she might.

 

Paptala, about 1, yes its true depending on how much of a life transfer is done, one could do it endlessly if they dont go all out in needing to do a life for a life. But as for Sakura or even Kakashi doing the revival of naruto, again, stamina will let naruto survive, he gets patched up in a bit and is fine, a villian like madara would just more likely gloat and watch everyone in despair. Other than that, Sakura could not have learned the technique and with kakashi, remember there are limits to the sharigan. The limits in the copying power are obviously, the eye can never copy kekkei genkei, this includes techniques like shadow possession, mind transfer, etc. Only certain elemental techniques at best could be copied but even the ability is limited to only the pure single elements. The second case is the physical condition and affinities of the user, kakashi is trained well in lightning, and earth. He has fire based on just being a leaf ninja, he has water from his old fight with zabuza. The deal is, kakashi is normally skilled in fire and water compared to his better skill in lightning and earth. He cannot use medical techniques though, its like when sasuke tried to simply copy lee's hidden lotus, it didnt work as well for him because he wasnt used to the physical stain like lee was. I mean if kakashi could use limited medical techniques, he would be better than he is. Lasty the sharigan cannot copy any summonings, summonings are all bound by contracts ninja make with some animals, in rare cases, other prerequistes are needed like having the strength of 100 seal like sakura, tsunade, and possibly Mito.

 

The other deal is, say the night naruto was born, instead of minato dying, lets say Hiruzen was faster to react, and used the reaper death seal on himself and used minato and naruto as the sealings for both chakra halves, kushina would have been able to recover, she just would have been very very very weak, kinda like tsunade after burning out healing everyone from pain.

Obito's words, however, as well as Minato and Kushina's, imply that Kushina was still going to die eventually from the extraction.  after all, as sushi said, Obito said he was impressed that she didn't die right away.

I think Naruto will be in the same state next chapter - slowly dying, but still alive for the moment due to his Uzumaki stamina.

Why couldn't Sakura have learned the technique?  She heard Chiyo explain what she was doing twice, was the recipient of it once while being conscious, is highly intelligent and is adept at researching.

The life-transfer technique, as I mentioned to Darkrerst, is not a medical-ninjutsu - Chiyo said this flat out.  Therefore, there is nothing in the manga to suggest that he was incapable of copying the technique.

1.  Using a life-transfer technique does not always cause the caster to die - recall that Chiyo also used a life transfer technique to save Sakura after she was stabbed through the sword with a stomach.  The wound would have been fatal, untreatable by any medical jutsu but because Sakura wasn't dead yet, Chiyo was able to transfer enough life energy to save her and keep herself alive.  Since Sakura was conscious during the time that Chiyo explained this to Sasori, saw her perform the technique on Gaara, is intelligent and more than willing to research and learn things on her own time in order to help her teammates, and was specifically very worried about Naruto getting Kurama extracted, I think it would be perfectly reasonable if Sakura reveals that she has been researching the technique in the meantime.

Since Kushina did not die immediately from the extraction, I think its likely Naruto will not either, thus allowing Sakura to use the life-transfer technique without loosing her life in the process.

2.  I've seen a lot of people theorize that Naruto will be saved by Minato sealing the other half of Kurama in him.  But where was it ever established that sealing another (or the same bijuu again) in someone will save them?  I always thought it was the extraction process itself that strained the jinchuuriki's body so much that it resulted in death, not the mere absence of the bijuu's chakra.  After all, Kushina was planning on resealing Kurama inside of herself and dying.  If putting bijuu chakra back in the body would save the jinchuuiki, then Kushina's plan should have saved her, but no one said that it would.

This is why I think a life-transfer technique is the most likely thing to save him (unless Gaara learned some alternative method of saving him from Kurama), which either Sakura or Kakashi (who was watching Chiyo perform the technique with his Sharingan) are the most likely candidates to perform.

To be honest, it's not needed for Naruto. It's one of the stated obvious and pretty much something that is known in story, not in a databook. Databook is telling you the chance and summary that is done, not that it's already established as well as ongoing. Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is always ongoing because they are ongoing. Sasuke's databook 3 got little to no Sakura, because his side of his story with Sakura is pretty much done. Why you think we never see anything new with him and Sakura? Because he's done. You can only go to "Yeah, we're friends now" but it falls under others (K9) as one. Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is the real story for Sasuke.

 

Let's not forget the most important part of this: Sakura is supposed to be the "not lover" person for Naruto. If it's questioned, then surely Naruto and Sakura will be together. This is not the same as Naruto being questioned as well as Sakura, rather it falls under Naruto loves Sakura as she is being questioned. I did explain a while back this, so I will do so again.

 

Character A and Character B shows no sign of romance: little to 0%

Character A being questioned as Character B shows none: 25%

Character A being questioned as well as B/Character A loves B, but no sign from B: 50%

Character A loves B as B is being questioned: 75% or more

Character A and B love each other: Close to 100%

I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree.  Both Hinata and Sakura's romantic feelings are just as obvious as Naruto's yet they are still mentioned in both of their profiles.  Naruto and Sakura's relationship is just as, if not more so, ongoing that Naruto and Sasuke's.  There is no reason to not give Naruto's section at least a mention of Sakura, if just as his teammate, if not as his love interest.

Though I do agree with you about the significance of Sakura's feelings being questioned - hers are the only ones Kishi wants the readers to question, both for Sasuke and for Naruto.

I disagree, I don't see why it should be mentionned when it's not necessary. His character is not about his love for Sakura, It's just a characteristic that will never change, so there is no need to remind it in every databook or to put an emphasis on. It's ike his love for ramen, I know it's totaly diffrent but it's just an example, it's a characteristic that is part of him, it is inked in his personnality.

So the only times, a book would talk about his love for Sakura are when the love section is involved. For example, there was the chart where Naruto was linked to Sakura with a "suki" next to the arrow. Or the Love Section in the Kizuna Books.

 

Yous see, I view it as a trait of personnality, not as his main plot, while the main aspect of Sakura's plot revolves around Love. That's why the only time his love was represented in a databook, it was about the POAL, because it moved the main plot which is about Sasuke by putting an emphasis on Naruto's feelings for Sakura. Well at least in my opinion. 

I don't need an emphasis on it - I fully agree that Naruto's story is much more focused on his relaitonship with Sasuke and that his character has much less to do with romantic love than either of the girls' characters do.  I'm just a bit annoyed that there isn't even a mention of it in a single databook.  Sakura is one of Naruto's most important relationships in the series, and that its not mentioned in his profile at all seems to downplay his bond with her.  Not to mention that as far as important events to recap, I think the POAL was one of them and should have gotten a mention in his databook, especially given the role it plays in influencing both Naruto and Sakura and the plot later on in part 2.  But just as you said, these are just opinions on both sides.

At least we can all agree that Sakura's profiles are always a lovely source of NaruSaku, and we do get some nice mentions in the Kizuna books. 

Yeah, that's something that's always bothered me. Others are saying that it's not really important or necessary, but I agree with you. It's not like I want a section reserved just for Sakura and his love for her, but like you said, I do think it's significant enough to warrant a mention of it, especially since, as you said, there's quite a bit about Sakura in Sasuke's databook 2 profile. Maybe a mention of his love for her in the second databook when talking about the POAL? I know Naruto's databook 2 profile is focused mainly on Sasuke, but I think that would have been okay.

Also, was the POAL really mentioned in the second databook? I just took a look at Naruto's databook 2 profile and I didn't see anything on it (unless the translator took that part out?). It was mentioned in his databook 3 profile, I know that much. It says stuff like, he has to keep that promise and all that. Unless you mean it was mentioned somewhere else, then never mind, heh.

Exactly - just a mention of it in even one of the databooks would suffice for me. 

Yeah, I was just talking about it making mention of keeping his promise.  As I said above in my reply to 咲耶姫, given the impact the POAL has had overall, I do think it was more than significant enough to get mentioned at the very least.

It is what it is though.  I'm very happy with what we got from Sakura's profiles and the Kizuna books at least.

 

It's really interesting that when she initially tells him that she loves him, and when she's talking about Sasuke she looks nervous.  But after she asks if he wants her to explain why, after she walks up to him, hugs him, and starts talking her expression is very different.  She's calm, confident, at peace.  It's like she knows what she feels but only subconsciously.

Precisely!  Her initial expression when she tells Naruto that loves him could easily go either way - its not as forced as the expressions she makes when talking about Sasuke or how she just switched from Sasuke to Naruto, but its not nearly as at ease or as natural as when she's hugging him.  It definitely comes off as Sakura's subconscious romantic feelings for Naruto coming through near the end, and that she was cut off by Naruto seems to suggest even more heavily that she was getting close to broaching her genuine feelings for Naruto.  Kishi has always interrupted Sakura when her true feelings for Naruto are broached, and he purposefully does this to raise questions about Sakura's feelings for the reader, to tease and build up to a final reveal (which I'm fairly confident will be a romantic epiphany on Sakura's part that she has been in love with Naruto for a while now).

Since this is a visual medium as well as a textual one, I think its rather dumbfounding how the stark differences in Sakura's expressions and body language are completely overlooked and dismissed by so many, especially when facial expressions are one of Kishi's strengths as an artist imo.

 

Yes, they are from VIZ. But the accuracy of the translation doesn't change my point, Sakura's profil is about her feelings for Naruto, while Sasuke's one is about his story with Sakura. That's what I wanted to point out.

I tried so many times to find the raw version of databooks; but I failed. Now, even the VIZ version of databook 3 isn't findable anymore. 

Here are links to the raws of each databook:

Databook 1

Databook 2

Databook 3

I was going to say it too, i mean databook 3 states it, but it's kinda different because on the summit she did thought about her feelings for Naruto but unfortunately she wasnt in love with him despite realizing she should be with Naruto(because of the things he did to her) and because Sasuke is trash.

But that's just it - we haven't seen Sakura think about what she feels for Naruto.  At the summit, we only saw her thinking about Naruto's feelings, about what was best for the village as a whole, and then near the end her feelings for Sasuke.

At worst, Sakura's confession reveals nothing about the nature of her feelings for Naruto, and at best, it drops more hints that her feelings go beyond friendship.  For example, look at the stark contrast in her expressions when she is trying to convince him that Sasuke means nothing to her, that she's just switched to him, and when she is hugging him and talking about how he's been by her side encouraging her and how he makes her feel safe - she couldn't look more fake and forced in the former, where she is smiling softly and blushing in the later.  I see that as her subconscious romantic feelings for Naruto shining through with her realizing it.

Sakura lied in her confession, but not because she knows she doesn't love Naruto, imo.  I think it was a lie because she didn't know what she felt for Naruto at that time, and was too busying worrying about easing Naruto's burdens and making up for the inadvertent hurt she caused him to actually stop and think about what she feels for Naruto.

I honestly don't see the reason for the stark difference in Sakura's facial expressions otherwise.

It's surprising how close the poll is. Granted her contender is nowhere near as prominent in the manga as she is (with a smaller amount of characterisation), but considering the stigma that Sakura's name has in the West, it comes as a pleasant shock to see her doing so well. From reading some of the comments one of the focal points of appraisal seems to be physical appearance. Is the poll supposed to be like a beauty contest? Either way, my vote would go towards Sakura. 

It's supposed to be about physical appearance alone.  

With all due respect to Shizune, who I like, but in a way, this poll can tell you the hatred on Sakura.

 

Well, there are users in the comments that have admitted to voting for Shizune out of spite for Sakura. I dislike it when people let their hatred for her drive their actions because it takes the fun out of these events.

The ridiculous hatred for Sakura on NF is one of the major reasons I barely go anywhere outside of the NS FC on that site.  It's not surprising in the least that people are taking the excuse to bash Sakura, and vote for another person simply to ensure that Sakura won't win.  

 

Also just everything on Sakuras end to a bigger degree. She thought naruto was a pest but later saw everything he did. If anything, kishi writing events like her coming to completely trust him during the POAL and Sai's reveal only adding more of a revelation to her, theres got to be another event in which something big happens between them. As Naruto fell in love because of who Sakura was, he didnt care about her imperfections he came to love her as he liked her for who she was, Sakura on the other hand learned a lot more about naruto over the entire series.

 

Sakura is simply growing up, what she does next involving sasuke, well its not going to be love oriented, she doesnt trust him. This was sakura, the girl who was always said to love him endlessly, well she doesnt trust him and still has the shock of what he tried to do to her. If anything, Sasuke almost killing her was in a way a form of emotional development on her, she saw the guy she loved and even admitted to loving him go as far to kill her without hesitation or remorse. Basically at this point, she can always be happy with Naruto involved but have some negative impact with Sasuke.

I agree - it definitely fits just as well with Sakura > Naruto, since both of them have spent significant time interacting with one another, allowing their relationship to deepen as a result over the course of the series to the point we see now.

Kishimoto said himself that Sakura needs to grow up just as Naruto and Shikamaru did.  Since Tsunade and Kakashi are not likely to die at this point (given their numerous and incredibly close calls with death in this Arc and the Pein Arc), I feel it inevitable that her growing up will center around Team 7, and include her reevaluating and moving on from her romantic feelings for Sasuke (since I think she's already grown up in all others areas at this point).

 

But that disregards what Naruto said back in Chapter 3 about understanding why he started to like her.

 

At the start of Chapter 3 it does imply that Naruto simply had a typical crush ("A cute girl that I like a lot"), but as the chapter progressed we found out that Naruto actually had a reason beyond the superficial to actually like Sakura. It's just that previously he wasn't sure of what it was, like when you have a feeling in your gut. Only after Sakura talked about wanting to be acknowledged is that it finally clicked inside Naruto's mind ("I finally understand why I like her").

 

Did Naruto fall even more in love with Sakura as time went on? Definitely. But to say that in the beginning it was just a typical crush is to disregard what Naruto said back in chapter 3.

I wasn't saying that Naruto didn't have a meaningful reason for liking Sakura in chapter 3 - I agree, it wasn't superficial at all.  When I say juvenile, I am referring to the fact that chapter 3 Naruto was perfectly okay with transforming into Sasuke to trick Sakura into thinking less of Sasuke, into telling her personal information she would not have otherwise given him, and to even get a kiss from her (probably her first) that was never intended for him.  He was focusing far more on his own feelings, and not really taking into consideration or respecting Sakura's feelings at all in that instance.  It's in that aspect that I feel Naruto's crush on Sakura was initially juvenile.

I both appreciate and feel that it was necessary for Kishi to do this, since it allowed us to see just how much Naruto's feelings for Sakura and Naruto himself have matured over the course of the part one.  By chapter 183, he is willing to place Sakura's feelings before his own in order to make her happy, despite it breaking his heart to do so.  In this way, we get development from both sides of the relationship (Sakura develops a strong foundation of friendship from her end, and Naruto's crush develops into genuine romantic love, both based on them getting to know one another better).

 

 

 

If it was like this then Sakura would be in love with Naruto since the PAIN arc, the manga states a combination of both, what they do for you and what they are as individual.

Personally, I think that Sakura has been in love with Naruto since chapter 296 where she dashes at Naruto in his 4 tailed state and that she just hasn't realized the nature of her feelings for him yet.  Even if she wasn't and still isn't in love with Naruto, this still fits because she is still coming to learn more about him - her realizations regarding Naruto haven't stopped after the Pein arc.  Heck the events right before and during the summit are chock full of her coming to learn more about Naruto's feelings, both in regards to her and to Sasuke.  Then in war we see her being able to see Naruto's memories, and feel his heart.

I agree it could be a combination of both, but I personally don't feel that what a person does for has anything to do with falling in love with them (for example, I think Sasuke should have been in love with Sakura by the end of part one if this was the case, given she said she'd do anything and had risked her life to save his numerous times and stayed by his side despite him being an ass to her).    I respect that you feel differently however, and that your interpretation is possible as well.

I never understand how part 1 can be disregarded by fans. To say she was nothing more than a complete arse to him is wrong and to say that their relationship was nothing compared to say SS and NH is just plan wrong considering everything that happened in Part 1. I always see a lot of people claiming Sakura was a b*tch because she didn't return her feelings or show romantic interest but Part 1 wasn't about that IMO. It was a slow progression and yes, it was progression. From Chapter 3 onward, Naruto and Sakura have continously gotten closer and got to know one another. He encouraged hee, inspired her and went all put for her. Just because a lot of the monents wity Sakura were inner moments don't make them any less meaningful because it built her relationship with him up to now. Look how she views him, and the risks she's willing to take for him. This didn't start at the end of Part 1.

Meh, lol. Sorry for rambling. Haven't really posted here in awhile and just thought I'd get that off of my chest.

Well said - I couldn't agree more.  People seem to forget that Sakura had zero clue of what Naruto had gone through or who he really was before joining a team with him.  Heck, she thought he enjoyed seeing her struggle (she probably felt his romantic advances were simply him making her the butt of his jokes and preventing her from getting any closer to Sasuke).  And despite the fact that I adore Naruto, he WAS annoying, especially in early part one.  He was deliberately acting out to get attention, even if it was negative attention - Naruto flat out says this in his talk with Four Tails, so how can people blame Sakura for being short with him at times?  When he did something impressive, she never hesitated to let him know.  When he was in danger and when he seemed upset, she showed concern and tried to help him.  When he helped her out, she acknowledged it and thanked him.

Naruto wouldn't have thought of her as one of the people who saved him from the hell of loneliness if she was the heartless b*tch people so often make her out to be.

I fully agree that there it was a gradual progression in their relationship that carried over into part two, where it continued progressing from both sides.

Don't mean to butt in, but I just wanted to say this:  You don't fall in love with someone because of what they do for you - you fall in love with someone based on who they are as an individual.  Naruto was able to learn more and more about who Sakura was as a person, and that's why Naruto's love for Sakura is more believable than Hinata's for Naruto.  Naruto actually got to know Sakura as a person, so I can believe that he started out with a rather juvenile crush in chapter 3 that grew to genuine and selfless love for who she was in chapter 183 (since part one spanned about a year in Naruto's world, and he interaccted with her a lot in that time).  Hinata barely interaccted with Naruto (just in one arc in part one), so I have trouble believing she knows him well enough to actually love him the way Naruto does Sakura.

I care because this is official merchandise, and you would think they could present something neutral, or at the very least, something that accurately reflects the story.  I'm well aware its not from Kishimoto, and that its irrelevant to the story.  It still annoys me.

Could someone tell me what chapter/where the picture of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have their headbands like Kakashi is from? I have not seen that before. 

 

 

 

I completely agree. Not only that, but.. there are three pictures of Sakura on Sasuke's portion of the calender. Two of them suggesting romance between the two, which is hilariously biased, considering she is completely missing on Naruto's portion, while Hinata is  conveniently there as well.

 

Perhaps instead of putting the panel of Sakura about to kiss Naruto (in Sasuke's body) to make it look like something it's not, they should have placed the panel of Sasuke about to stab Sakura through the heart. It would have made more sense that way. 

 

Anyways, not that it matters, but I just hate bias, especially from an official company. That's quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Agreed on all counts.  I can understand if they want to show the SS bond (he did consider her one of his precious people and a freind after all), but Naruto henged as Sasuke with Sakura is not showing the SS bond.  At least put in scenes where its actually Sasuke.  It is laughably biased, and not so much towards NH (as I earlier presumed), but more towards SS with NH thrown in as an afterthought.

It's even more ridiculous, if you think about it, since Sasuke really couldn't care less about romance (and of the characters involved in the romance subplot, he is easily the least involved), while Naruto is the one wanting to know how his parents fell in love, the one with established romantic feelings since chapter 3 which he just recently reaffirmed.

As for the headband images, I'm afraid I don't know.   I think it may have come from one of the early chapter covers, maybe during the Land of Waves arc.

I'm legitimately annoyed that there is zero Sakura in the Naruto portion.  As was already said, I don't care if they like or support NaruSaku.  What makes me frustrated is that they are refusing to acknowledge Naruto's bond with Sakura at all when it is one of the most important and focused upon bonds he has in the story after his bond with Sasuke.  She is absolutely the female character he is closest to, romantic feelings taken into consideration or not, and vice versa, and the heroine of the series on top of that, so what the heck?

I wouldn't care if Hinata was there along with Sakura, but that Hinata made it in there when Sakura didn't is just rridiculous and makes it even more annoying since her relationship with Naruto pales in comarison to the NS one.  I really just cannot with the NH/Hinata bias in some of these derivative works anymore.

Some of the others don't make sense either - Madara and the Geo Mazou are not that tied to Naruto's character, so why bother putting them there?

In general though, I wouldn't have spent my money on this anyway, even if it did have Sakura.  I've seen far better graphics from fan edits (Chatte's edits, for exaple, look far more professional than any of these do).  The layouts are poor and jumbled and honestly just a cluttered mess. 

I agree. It's more of a "see the world yourself with your old self" than "we have pizza!"

Haha, that's a unique way of putting it.

Disagree with you, he's not telling him to come back to konoha but rather going back to his side when he was a shinobi of the leaf and the whole "compensate for the things you did" is in a way to tell him that he should do the right thing.(Defeating Madara, Edo tensei, or even killing Orochimaru i dont know).

However i do agree that he's not offering forgiveness.

Naruto cant bring him back to the village for him to be in a jail forever or be executed because it goes against his ideals when on the Pain's arc he let him go.

 

The consequences that Obito is facing is the fact he betrayed his own desires and the fact Rin would not back up what he's right now, he doesnt care about the others, Naruto's TnJ is not telling him that he should care about the others and the village, in fact he's just telling him that he should not give up just because kitten happened on his life.

Bolded #1:  Looking at it again, you're right - he's not telling him to come back to Konoha specifically, just back to the Shinobi Alliance's side as a Konoha shinoboi.

"Compensate for what you did" could be "do the right thing," but I still read it as more, "Make up for what you did/face punishmnet" - but its not too big of a difference in the end anyway, I suppose.

Bolded #2:  I guess I agree that executing him does seem to go against what Naruto wanted to prevent (killing other shinobis for what they did), but life in prison certainly doesn't.  No death there.  We don't know that Naruto was going to let Nagato go - he said he wasn't going to kill him, and then Nagato gave up his life.  We know for sure that Naruto said he didn't forgive him at that point.

Bolded #3:  I don't really agree with this - I don't think he's trying to tell Obito either of those things.  The main point is trying to make Obito realize he's deluding himself about not caring about anything anymore, and to make him face reality about how he feels and what he's doing.  I don't really see where he's telling Obito not to give up - I see more along the lines of him saying, "don't take out your problems on everyone else."

It's nothing but a bunch of meaningless, empty words to me. He didn't offer the same to Nagato. Moreover, Naruto is never going to have to put meaning to those words because Obito will die anyway. This is one of my core complaints with how Kishimoto handles these things, but as I said before, it's a little late to attempt that now. Until Naruto has to do that, I'll continue being skeptical.

But then, my last three posts weren't directed at Kishimoto. I have issues (mentioned above) with Kishimoto's approach, but it's better than some of the stuff I am seeing in the thread (James and Phantom, specifically). They were directed at those agitating for Obito's salvation. One the great boons of the 4th Great Ninja War being nothing but s Great Mook Massacre (+ Neji) is the audience can render them to a pile of statistics that they never had an attachment to and don't care about. Kishimoto's mass death count really is just a number. Consequently, I see all these words spilled about poor Obito and how much it sucks for him. Not too many seemed too concerned about those that died or even that bothered that he's about tear apart everyone else's lives because turned out poorly.

I don't get the impression (correct me if I am wrong) that those posters would be satisfied with him be executed, which is what I imagine would be the normal method for someone like this, at least in this universe. Nor do I see how what they ask for is possible if he lives out his life in jail.
 

Sasuke only works if I am willing to presume that this is the predominate feeling from going so. It's a popular theory in literature, but I suspect it's far less universal than Kishimoto suggests that it is. Moreover, understanding itself is a crap shoot. Contrary to the portrayal in this series, not every one has a "good" or "tragic" reason for why they harm others. And even if they do, as I said before, there comes a point where I simply do not care.

Obito is a prime example. Obito's a mass murderer and at heart an massive authoritarian. I find his objective grotesque and his crimes even more so. Kishimoto has spent all this time trying to get the audience to understand him, and as I said to James, I cannot overstate how little I care. It's so puny in comparison, that I have little interest in even knowing it. I understand him and I still think he deserves to die and not by his own terms like Nagato. But, that really isn't the core my complaint with Kishimoto. My complaint with his is the sidestepping of the complications behind Naruto's approach. As far as the story is concerned, I'm not arguing based on what is moral, but from what is practical. To me, doing this only to execute him later seems to run counter to the message being sent and given the logic underlying the "cycle of hate" I'd be at a loss to see how that would be acceptable under those rules.

So lifetime incarceration? Given the things you can be killed for in Naruto, I have doubts that such a result would be universally well-received. And I agree with Darkrest, I'm not sure this is what Naruto has in mind either.

I can't speak for any other posters here - I can only give you my own view on things.

I get where you're coming from, even if I don't really share the same mindset.  Obito has done a lot of terrible things, and the reasons that Kishimoto has been throwing out are not nearly strong enough to justify his actions in anyway, or even bring all that much sympathy for him, if any.  So its incredibly hard to swallow (and distasteful) to see Naruto forgive him for him atrocities, and by extension, essentially force others to forgive him as well.

Personally, I don't really care for the whole, "No killing, world peace" thing Kishimoto is having Naruto shoot for (or more accurately, how he's handling it).  I didn't care for Nagato's TnJ - Naruto's answer was unsatisfying to me and didn't feel like it was really answering the question at all (how are you going to confront hatred - simply by not killing?), and Nagato's change in mindset came about way too quickly for me based on that unsatisfactory answer.  And I hated the mass revival - it was cheap and a cop out to boot.

For me, Obito's TnJ is much more palatable in comparison - its been going on essentially ever since Obito's identity was revealed, Obito didn't give in quickly and fought back some (if he has in fact actually given in now), and Naruto's words seem much less idealistic than what he was telling Nagato.  This isn't about everyone understanding everyone, its just about stopping Obito from taking his issues out on everyone else and making him face reality in the process.  At least, that's how I see it.  Though I think Nagato had immensely better reasons for his actions, I think the actual TnJ itself is being handled better here.

Bolded #1:  We don't know what he was going to offer Nagato, IIRC.  All we know is that Naruto wasn't going to kill him, that he hadn't actually forgiven Nagato, and then Nagato sacrificed himself for the mass ressurection.

Though I agree Naruto is not likely going to have to put meaning to his words, as I agree Obito is most likely going to die in a similar manner to Nagato (or there's always the chance that Madara will kill him).

Bolded #2:  I disagree here - I don't think understanding is a crapshoot, I think it's pretty significant.  Though this is purely a personal opinion, and I completely respect your right to believe otherwise. 

I do agree that not everyone has a "good" or "tragic" reason for what they do, but at the same time, I think that oftentimes they do.  I think the people who are just naturally that selfish and uncaring that they commit the sort of attrocities Obito did, born psychopaths, are rare.  I think most people have some sort of enviornmental influence that led them to being the way they are, especially younger people - which is why juvenile court systems are designed more for rehabilitation than punishment, and why rehabilitation is still an important public policy goal overall in the criminal justice system.

Though it doesn't absolve them of their crimes, I think this is where understanding comes into play in an important way.  If you can understand the causes of certain criminal behavior, you can work on addressing problems before they lead to the creation of these sorts of people and try to lower crime rates.  Addressing the underlying problem is the better long term solution - understand why Nagto or Obito or Sasuke have turned out this way and maybe you can have less of those kinds of people in the future.  Which is exactly what Minato was telling Naruto back in the Pein arc.  The current ninja system does not work and leads to the creation of these mentally unstable people, either directly from its teachings or indirectly by being victims of people who are indoctrinated with these teachings.

On the other hand, I do feel that Kishimoto has brought up a lot of heavy issues and doesn't really handle or resolve them well at all (Nagato and Obito both being good examples, imo).  As you said, execution would seem to go against Naruto's ideals at this point, which, while it doesn't seem realistic in a world of shinobis, is not too unrealistic since from what I can understand most developed countries in the world don't publicly approve of capital punishment anymore

In the end though, Naruto is an idealisic story rather than a realitisic one, so I tend not to dwell on these sorts of short comings from this manga.

Just wanted to add my two cents in to the discussion regarding Naruto and forgiving Obito.

Naruto isn't telling Obito, "Come back to our side and everyone will forgive you and it will rainbows and butterflies."  He isn't trying to give forgiveness on everyone's behalf - he isn't even really trying to give it on his own behalf.  He didn't say anything about forgiving Obito that I can recall.

Look at these two panels, the second one in particular:

Naruto is saying, "I get you're hurting a lot, and that you have serious issues.  But I can't let you continue this method of dealing with those issues when it involves everyone else.  You need to come back to Konoha to face the consequences of your actions/to make up for what you've done."  And I don't think that's unreasonable or unfair to anybody.

I can't see any other meaning for "compensate for what you did" other than facing the consequences of his actions.

As far as everyone else having the right to tell Obito to screw himself, that Obito isn't entitled to forgiveness or help from anyone, I agree. However, what good does holding onto hatred do?  It doesn't bring the people who died back.  It doesn't make anyone feel any better either.  Killing him isn't going to make them feel better either - look at how Sasuke was after he killed Itachi.  All it brought him was emptiness, despite having finally killed the person who he thought was responsible for the murder of his family.  Understanding doesn't have to lead to forgiveness, but it can help people get closure and to move forward with their lives at the very least.

I still think Obito is most likely going to be redeemed by sacrificing himself, but I just wanted to clarify that Naruto is not offering forgiveness without any strings attached here.

What’s your opinion about this NH argument :

 

Naruto has never really loved Sakura because :

 

-He didn’t defend her against Rock Lee when he was sending kisses to her at the chuunin exam...

-He let Sakura fighting Sasori alone (even if Chiyo was there) JUSTso he can follow Gaara’s dead body...

-He followed Orochimaru at the bridge, while Sakura was falling in the canyon instead of helping her...

-Naruto never said i twas for Sakura that he wanted to bring Sasuke back...

 

And here’s the best part :

-Sakura is more distant from Naruto in part 2 and even their common will to bring Sasuke back doesn’t make them closer...

 

So ? What can you say to counter this ?

(1)  Why would Naruto bother defending Sakura in that instance?  Naruto knows better than anyone Sakura is more than capable of handling unwanted suitors on her own.  Keyword being unwanted, which is the other reason Naruto didn't bother getting upset or jealous or anything when Lee was first hitting on Sakura.  Sakura couldn't have made it clearer that she wasn't interested in Rock Lee, romantically or otherwise.  She was screaming about how weird looking he was and dodging his kisses.  Notice that once Sakura did start giving Lee positive attention, Naruto was clearly shown getting jealous in that instance.

(2) I don't have much to add to this one outside of what has already been said - it wasn't confirmed Gaara was dead (or at least, Naruto didn't want to believe it, which is why he had Sakura check after they finally retrieved his body), and he trusted Sakura to fight her own battles (though he did ask Kakashi to go help Sakura, he didn't push when Kakashi stayed behind with him).  Besides, its not like Sakura didn't have her own back-up either (Chiyo) and its not like he didn't shown relief and maybe even a bit of pride when they reunited after the fight.

(3) Pretty sure Naruto was consumed with rage and was being influenced by Kurama at that point (he had already grown the chakra shroud, and we saw earlier in the Rescue Gaara arc that he's already a total loose canon under Kurama's influence at that point given the weakening seal).  So really, its more accurate to say Kurama chose to continue after Orochimaru to feed Naruto's anger that was allowing him control and to satiate his own bloodlust/anger instead of worrying about Sakura.  This makes as much sense as saying that Naruto in Kn6 mode chose instead to go fight Pein instead of trying to help Hinata who was bleeding out on the ground.

(4) Kishimoto has literally spelled things out with the POAL and Sasuke and somehow they still do not get it.  It's been clear since the POAL that Naruto was not chasing after Sasuke for Sakura (or rather, not for Sakura alone) since he was already going to save Sasuke before he made the promise, and Naruto's bond with Sasuke was established as dear to Naruto both before and after.  Shizune flat out said that Naruto was chasing after Sasuke for his own sake as well.  Naruto told Sakura that the promise has nothing to do with his personal desire to save Sasuke, which logically means then that he made the POAL was pretty much entirely about making Sakura happy and his romantic feelings for her rather than bringing Sasuke back.  It was the unfulfilled POAL that Naruto said was the reason he couldn't confess to Sakura and the first thing Sakura thought of when Sai told her Naruto loves her.  Obvious it obvious that POAL was romantic in nature, and that it was incredibly significant. 

Naruto and Sakura are clearly closer in part two than they ever were before.  Sakura learns more and more about Naruto over the course of part 2, to the point where she can speak on Naruto's behalf and clarify the intent behind his words to others.  As others have mentioned, Naruto tells her that her support with the quest to get Sasuke back makes him happy.  She is hugging him in public, and Naruto is telling her things he wouldn't have before (for example, telling her directly and specifically that he has Kyuubi sealed inside of him).  If this person cannot even admit that Naruto and Sakura have gotten incredibly close over the course of part 2, even on a platonic level, then there is no point in debating with this person at all since there is clearly either a serious lack of reading comprehension on their part, they are being blinded by their own shipping preferences/character biases, or both.

Lol is this still on topic?

It's useless to debate just going to post here four quotes.

 

"Sakura will never get over Sasuke"

"Sakura will never see Naruto more than a friend"

later ~~

"Make Naruto think twice about her as a love interest  "

"Sakura wont return Naruto's feelings but Naruto will return Hinata's"

*shrugs* It was addressing an argument against NaruSaku, not so much the proponents of the argument (though admittedly I did touch on that a bit).  It was just something I wanted to write about since I've seen that particular argument tossed around with regularity since I became invovled with the online fandom, and it really bothered me.

The above quotes pretty much just all say, "NS is never gonna happen, NH and SS will."  To which I would simply direct them to Selxtrem's build up thread, and some notable tumblr blogs.

I have a question for you peoples, specifically those of you who read lots of other manga/watch lots of other anime ;).  I've read several times that Sakura is a "different sort of heroine" and that "NaruSaku are a different sort of manga couple," and I've read that a few times in this very thread.  Could any of you (or many of you?) explain what makes them different/unique?  Just curious!  =D

Sakura, as others have said, seems like a much more realisitc character than many other heroines.  I think most heorines are a lot more idylic or aspirational characters than Sakura is.  Most 12 year girls with the type of childhood Sakura had would act in the manner that Sakura did in part one.  Except that not many would be willing to recognize and examine their faults and actively work to fix them as Sakura eventually did.  She hasn't succeeded entirely, but she's made massive growth overall, and she continues to keep trying to improve herself.

As for NaruSaku itself, again, it's really hard to pinpoint what it is about it thats so unique, but I would have to go wth the gradual development.  I like that Naruto's crush started out as something more juvenile and immature than what it grew into by the end of series (and even then it wasn't shallow).  I like that we got to see Naruto and Sakura's friendship develop on panel gradually alongside Naruto's maturing romantic feelings.  I like that it wasn't until part two that we saw any signs of romantic interest from Sakura towards Naruto.  Regardless of whether they become canon or not (even though I think they most likely will), I will still adore the strong and close relationship they've grown over the course of story, and just how far they've grown together from where they began.

I really loved reading all the responses to morgaine's question, unfortunately I ran out of likes to give.  Thanks for bringing some much needed positivity to the thread!