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• While you were writing the manga, were the characters’ romances also decided in advance?

They weren't particularly at the top of my mind... I thought I'd let the story take its natural course. I wrote the story while thinking 'Will Sasuke and Sakura end up together, and how will it happen?'. That's because I didn't put Sakura in the position called 'heroine'. Being the protagonist, Naruto was of course a special case - but the others were pretty equal, and I didn't think of them as either main or minor. I decided (on the romances) based on how the characters would act as the story went. Though on the way, I also thought that Naruto and Sakura wouldn't really be right (romantically). One way or another, I decided (on the romances) at a fairly early stage.

 

• So you left it to the characters themselves, is that right?

For me, how should I put it... I try not to be too aware of how (the characters) started their relationships. I get embarassed writing these things, and to be perfectly honest there are also some parts that I don't want to write about. (laugh) In 'The Last', Naruto's love story was written by someone else - and I'm glad that in the movie you can watch things that I couldn't write myself.

credit mezzomarinaio