JG111580

I watched the anime of The Devil is a Part Timer and really enjoyed it! (Season 2 please!!!!) It was surprisingly refreshing and really cheered me up after the whole Naruto conclusion disappointment. The thing that drew me in was the humor. The situational comedy is awesome. The characters are interesting, and the action is good too, although there isn't a lot of it. So, me being me, I became curious and checked out if there is more to the story. There is a manga that has released that is currently at the point where the anime left off. However, the light novels go far beyond. I have rooted around for as much information as I can find, and I can honestly say that this story just keeps getting better and better. The second season, if they animate it, will surpass the first in humor and heartfelt story beats. The Emi and Maou dynamic has tremendous potential (for many reasons yet to be revealed)... I swore my shipping days were over... grah!!! I'm dying to discuss the story and it's potential further. Has anyone else here read the light novels? I have some theories about where things are going that I would like to share.    

Stein's Gate 10/10 - I wasn't sure about this one at first, but I'm glad that I stuck it out. It's fun, interesting, and emotionally driven. I really liked it.

I think the simplicity is what I like about it. The humor is rarely missing for long. While characters are added, the core group doesn't seem to lose the focus. The miraculous comebacks are sometimes a little over the top, but I like to see the characters triumph over adversity. It's just a fun story.

I was able to escape the depression that these chapters put me through by writing an alternative ending fan fiction. These two chapters no longer exist to me. I feel cleansed and better than I have in weeks.

Sorry about that. I was so excited to finally be finished that I rushed to post... not really thinking. Thanks for fixing it!

Well, I envisioned Naruto as a story that I wanted to tell my children, whenever I end up having them. Unfortunately, the official ending was so far off the original themes embedded in the story that I won't be able to. For my own piece of mind, I am writing the ending that I had envisioned, one that wraps up the loose ends and doesn't rush things. I wanted an ending that captured the essence of the characters, giving them their moments to shine. I wanted an ending that would leave me fulfilled, not empty and literally unable to sleep depressed. I'm not sure that I will share it here. I'm not sure that posting something like this is even allowed. If, there isn't a problem, please let me know. If anyone is interested, I would love to provide some sense of closure. I also wanted to remove some of the things that were revealed that detracted from Naruto's accomplishments. I intend to pick the story up just after the nine tails is extracted from Naruto. This is where I need your help. I am trying my best to remember all of the loose ends that need to be tied up from that point. Here's what I have so far.

The papers found in Orochimaru's lair

That jutsu

Connection to the 6 paths and destiny of tailed beasts

Madara the main villain, orchestrated everything

Karin's evaluation of Naruto's chakra

Obito's redemption, with real consequences

Sauske's redemption, with real consequences

POAL

Black Zetsu's origin

Orochimaru's fate

Eight gates release

Sakura's talent for genjutsu

... and of course pairings

Please let me know of anything that I am missing. 

I'm extremely disappointed with this conclusion. It glossed over so many things that it is absolutely ridiculous. The whole thing has made me depressed, literally depressed. This was pandering, pure and simple. It was a numbers based means to keep the money coming in after the manga ended. Hinata's fan base was too large, so Kishimoto didn't end the story as he originally intended. I don't understand how Naruto, surpassed his predecessors. I don't understand... I just don't understand... Why sell out? Why do this to a work 15 years in the making? 

I propose we correct this atrocity. How? We have a fan fiction contest. I'm not sure of the how to go about this, but the winner's work would then be drawn by the best artists that we have here to give us the conclusion that we deserve. 

The fact that so many people detest Sauske so much is proof that Kishi has accomplished his goal with the character. The whole point of all of the events of this manga are to have everyone, including the reader, believe that he is not worth saving, similar to the way that he wrote fangirl Sakura in part 1. Even Kakashi and Sakura fell victim to this mindset. Naruto is the only one who will not waiver.That's why he's the hero, child of prophecy and the main character. He will find a way to save Sauske. He will bring peace and help people to understand one another because he will stay the course and never give up. While they may team up to defeat Madara, it won't last. Sauske is Indra's reincarnation, which means that he will naturally crave power and awaken his newly aquired senju cells just as Madara did (maybe with the help of Oorochimaru whispering in his ear). With Sauske awakening the true Rinegan, Naruto will once again be the underdog, as is suited to his character and the story. Naruto will have Asura's powers, not the 6 paths. He will have the help of Bjuus and the alliance. I think what I like about this is that once Sauske reaches this pinnacle of his powers, he will have to choose his own path and not get led around like a dog on a leash. I think that's Naruto's chance for victory. That or another miraculous powerup due to additional unkown lineage (no thanks). The Sage appeared to both, because both were in dire straights. Both could have a profound impact on the future of the world. Both carry the spirits of his sons. But Sauske got a different talk than Naruto and perhaps the the combination of all of the words spent trying to redeem him may finally take hold and force him to make the right choice. His own choice. That's the way I see it anyway. As long as Naruto is the one standing in the end, I'll be happy.

I really don't care about the Byakugan thing unless it ties in to the Sage's brother.

I think that there has to be a scene between Obito and Naruto before Obito dies. More proof of a successful TNJ and closure for Obito's character. If this happens, Sakura will be right there with them. I believe this would be a good time for a "not having regrets" line. Even if it would confuse Sakura, Naruto would get it because he saw Rin in Obito's thoughts. With what just happened with the Sage, that's about the only valuable thing that Obito can pass on to Naruto before he passes. Or, the comment might be directed at Sakura. Either way works for me. If it is glossed over, it will be a major missed opportunity for development of all three characters.

My comments on this usually get so long that I lose my point, so I'll try breaking it down into pieces.

1. Sakura knew that Naruto really truly cared about her, but Sai made her realize that it goes far deeper than that.

2. Sakura blames herself for causing Naruto pain and proclaims that she will be the one to tell him about the Sauske death sentence. No one else is to speak to Naruto except her.

3. She formulates a plan while traveling to find Naruto. She wants to protect Naruto and no longer cause him any pain.

Plan A: Confess love to Naruto to try and get him to come back to the villiage and relieve him of the POAL. This is a long shot, because as the events of the conversation unfold Sakura was clearly anticipating Naruto's response. If that's the case, then why go to the trouble of confessing in the first place. She could have said a number of things to make Naruto hate her, so why go the route of confessing love? I still believe that this moment shows the actual state of Sakura's feelings at the time. Naruto had presented her with every rational argument for loving him. Sauske had presented every rational argument for not loving him. I think that this part was Sakura trying to push through and convince herself of her feelings for Naruto. However, love is not rational, and therefore her confession seemed forced. Really, all this means is that her character arc is not yet complete. It leaves room for the growth and final revelations that are still coming.

Plan B: This was initialized when Naruto refused to accept that Sakura had abandoned her feelings for Sauske (Naruto was right). The second part of her plan was to make Naruto hate her so that he wouldn't be as distraught if she suceeded in killing Sauske or if he killed her. As others have stated, this is very much like Sakura's version of the POAL. She is taking the burden on herself for the sake of Naruto's feelings. At this point, she thinks that the only way to save Sauske from the darkness is to kill him. She feels that it is her responsiblity because she had loved him.

4. Sakura is unable to go through with it, because of the memories of the old Sauske.

5. Naruto saves her anyway, as Sauske tries to kill her.

6. When Naruto and Sauske face off, she shouts out to Naruto.

7. When Sauske attacks Naruto verbally, Sakura defends him.

8. Naruto gives Sakura hope that he can suceed in redeeming Sauske and that Sauske can be redeemed.

If you look at from this perspective, all of these events turn out as net positives for the development of NaruSaku. However, Sakura's feelings have not come full circle yet. She needs to realize that the bench scene in the beginning of the story imprinted a false version of Sauske in her mind. In that moment, she felt he understood her innermost self. The problem was that it was Naruto all along. Naruto has slowly lifted this veil from her eyes throughout the manga. This is where her final development lies. I think this will only happen either just before or just after Naruto and Sauske face off for the final time. At the same time, Naruto must get it through his mind that Sakura could move on from Sauske and love him. I think that this will only happen once the redemption of Sauske is complete and she can make that choice unimpeaded. I am convinced that we won't have any more confessions, as bad things tend to follow shortly thereafter. Each step in the maturation of Sakura's feelings for Naruto has been accompanied by an action: tender smile after being rescued from Gaara, the offer to feed him after fighting the Akatsuki, the embrace after the Pain fight, the warm smile after the latest confrontation with Sauske. Naruto may tell Sakura his feelings before his fight with Sauske in case he dies, but I doubt he'll let her react to them. When NaruSaku does become canon, it will be because Sakura has become enlightened to the fact that Naruto has always been the one she loved and because she takes action (just like Kurama said Naruto always proves himself through his actions).

Darn... I wasn't going to write much this time, but 45 minutes later...

Side note:

I agree that the intent of the fodder ninja moment was intended to show Sakura's regret for caring for such a bad guy. It was not elaborated on and left open ended, so the readers could draw their own conclusions. Very much a SS red herring.

Another side note:

I read the english translation of volume 64. I read 615. I read it again. Either my emotional reaction has subsided since first reading it, or the official translation has far less romantic inuendo than the unofficial translations. Instead, it read like the close of the Hyuga story arc for the manga.

I agree with those that say the act of the CPR in and of itself is not romantic. However, I do think that it is symbolic. It's been mentioned before, but you can't get any further into someone's personal space. Her lips are on his and her hand is on his heart. Nuf said there. I think the more telling portion of the chapter is the blending of his and her dreams and how desperate she is to keep them alive. It's not just for Naruto, but for herself too. Plus, these thoughts are not complete, so we could get more as the situation becomes more desperate. Probably not a coincidence that Gaara was present when Naruto risked it all to defend Sakura and is here again in this situation.

My ideal scenario from this point is Gaara Sakura and Naruto reaching Kakashi Minato and Obito just before Madara. Obito throws in a Sakura/Rin parallel. Madara arrives and wants the other eye. He notices Naruto, still tended to by Sakura. He notices the other half of Kurama in edo Minato. He decides not to take any risks and finish them. Sakura uses her own body to shield Naruto. Kakashi and Gaara create a diversion while Minato uses FTG to take Naruto and Sakura somewhere secluded to create the seal. We get a Minato/Sakura moment, maybe another mention of Kushina. Or Minato gives Sakura a message to pass on to Naruto. Minato creates the seal and heads back to help Gaara and Kakashi. Even with the new seal it takes awhile for Naruto to recover. NaruSaku moment... Dark Kurama has learned the secret of FTG from Minato. 9 tails charkra is the key because Naruto can jump to anyone who has a trace amount of his chakra. Naruto heads back to the battle. In strength Naruto can't compete with Madara, but if he masters FTG, he could use it to deliver lightning fast blows without getting touched in return, weakening Madara enough for another game of tug of war. Maybe Sauske recovers and provides a distraction that leads to end game victory.

I'd also like to know Bee's status, if word of Naruto's condition is spreading on the front line and how it is affecting everyone, and if Karin might be Naruto's first cousin due to the similarity of her abilities to Kushina. They are rare and valued afterall and Oorchimaru probably recognized that. Or she is a Kushina replica as Yamato is a replica of the first hokage.

If anyone is interested in foreshadowing of the events of the manga up till now, take a look back at chaper one. There is an image of the leaf village with Naruto in the foreground surrounded by flames. To his right is a toad (Gambunta?) blowing smoke that is also wrapping around Naruto. Kakashi is standing on the toad's head with arms folded. The two things I find most interesting about this image are how Sakura is depicted and how Sauske is depicted. Sakura is actually tucked into the toad's robe directly over the his heart. She is looking in Naruto's direction, shielding her eyes trying to see him more clearly. I think this speaks to where Kishimoto has intended to take Sakura's story all along leading up to the current event. Sauske is the only figure to Naruto's left. He is alone, aloof, and riding atop a hawk. I guess that one's pretty self explanitory. Anyway, thought it was interesting.  

On the subject of where Gara is headed, I only see two options. Both could be related to what Kurama told Gara.

A. Finding Minato - this would be the most obvious option and whatever possible plotholes that might arise could be explained away by Minato himself, or if Minato can't do anything, maybe Naruto actually does die and Obito uses the remainder of his lifeforce to revive him. Then we get the Obito/Rin parallel with Sakura present and a Naruto's death scene with Sakura

B. Tomb of the Sage of the Six Paths - instead of just to a remote location to recuperate, which would negate the conversation between Gara and Kurama, maybe there is some connection that could be made to the 6 paths and revive Naruto, maybe we finally get to meet the sage himself in one form or another - this option would be less obvious but cool

I like the previous posts saying that Naruto might meet Jiraya. That too would be very cool.

My only problem with the current situation in the manga is that Bee's state has not been addressed. He is not an Uzamaki, so is he already gone?!

And finally, seeing as how I am a long time NaruSaku supporter, the coolest part of all is that when the next chapter is released, I will be in Japan for the first time.

Coincidence, I think not!!! 

Here's the way I see it, and I will try to be concise while summarizing everything leading to this moment, everything that has happened since, and everything that is likely to happen moving forward. 

Early Part 1

Bench Scene - Naruto builds a false picture of Sauske in Sakura's mind. She was infatuated with Sauske like the other girls in their class before this incident. Afterword, she believed that "Sauske" not only reciprocated her feelings, but saw and liked inner Sakura as well. In essence, "Sauske" saw into heart heart and understood her completely. I think that this single event affected her so deeply that she will continue to struggle to let go of the idealized Sauske until Naruto reveals the truth (possibly just before a final battle with Sauske in case he dies).  

Remainder of Part 1

After that moment, Sauske gradually slips into darkness and evil. He never does anything remarkably chivalrous for Sakura and merely thanks her before leaving town. Naruto, on the other hand, starts to open her eyes to him, even in their first training session with Kakashi. She grows to trust and believe in him more than anyone (including Sauske).  

Unfortunately for Naruto, in the moment that he makes the POAL, he is completely and finally convinced that she deeply loves Sauske. This is likely the reason for Naruto's unwillingness to accept her confession in Part 2.

Sakura, on the other hand, has completely dissolved any thoughts of Naruto being an annoyance. She becomes resolved to be able to help him in the future and dedicates the next three years to that end. She is also questioning why Sauske, who seemed to be her soulmate, could abandon her so easily.  

Part 2

The beginnings of a possible romantic attraction are shown at the beginning of part two in the first interaction. Sakura shows a desire to see the idealized Naruto from the onset, lightly flirting with him and thinking of how "mature" he had become. Naruto again is his own worst enemy and immediately attempts to demostrate his new perverted ninjutsu.  

Over the course of the first half of Part 2, Sakura has several moments where she unconciously reveals "more than friendship feelings" for Naruto. While Naruto plays into the "going on a date" thing and other lighter scenes, in moments when her deepest feelings about him come out, he is either unconcious or intentionally oblivious. Probably the biggest moment for me was when Pain destroyed the villiage. She cried out for Naruto, not Tsunade, not Kakashi, and definitely not Sauske. There was little reason other than having faith in him to believe that a short period of training could allow him to defeat Pain. Yet, she cries out for him anyway.There are other moments, like when Sauske is revealed to be a member of Akatsuki for instance, where Naruto sees her sorrow. These moments just cement his preconceived notion that Sakura deeply loves Sauske and there's not much he can do about it unless he can come through on the POAL.

The Confession

I can understand why this moment has caused a lot of controversy, because there were multiple things happening at once. However, I think that it was a net positive in the end for NaruSaku.

Sakura decides to go to Naruto before she even takes much time to process the information Sai provided about his feelings. When she confesses to Naruto she uses logical reasoning. He's the hero etc. Basically, she lists the reasons that any girl would like Naruto. I think this is where she hasn't fully come to terms with her feelings for Naruto, and her idealized view of Sauske is holding her back. She is also is trying to play on his feelings to get him to come back to the villiage. I think this is what made the whole thing feel kind of off to me. However, I have since realized that the primary intention was not to get Naruto to come back. She didn't expect him to. Instead, she was trying to relieve him of the POAL burden. She also wanted to erase Naruto's feelings for her so that if she suceeded in killing Sauske, or if she died herself, the blow would be lessened. Naruto refuses to believe any of it because, in his heart, he believes that nothing has changed her feelings for Sauske. She doesn't make a very convincing arguement on that front anyway.  

Why is this a net positive.

1. Sakura did all of this to try and take away Naruto's burdens beceause she cares about him so much and blames herself for his suffering. Subsequently, Sauske tries to kill her and Naruto appears out of nowhere to save her. He does so even with the bitter end to their previous conversation. Sakura is left to consider her feelings for Naruto.

2. Naruto has now been directly confronted with the possibily of Sakura returning his feelings. He also realizes that all of her actions were meant to protect him.

In the end, nothing will be resolved until the truth about Naruto's feelings is revealed by Naruto himself (Sauske won't do it). More than his feelings though, he must do something to show her that he's the one who she has a true connection with, not Sauske. In this world actions speak louder than words, and Naruto conveys his feelings through his actions. I guess we'll see what happens.

I guess my answer to the question is that Sakura is telling the truth, she just doesn't know it.