Anyway, I agree with everyone on Sakura deserving to have a moment here. We've seen the path taken by both Naruto and Sasuke, so I think it's her chance to chose her path now.
Speaking about the chapter a bit... I read it again and I find myself curious about something...
On the speech made by Hinata, the only pronoun I see is "I (I've... I'm... I'll...) and when I finally see the other pronoun ("you") is when she says that she'll be walking with him (she's still speaking about herself). So in conclusion, this speech only proves that her kind of love is immature (sorry if this sounds like I'm bashing her, but I believe that's the correct term to describe that kind of "love")
Sakura's speech reflects just the opposite (she uses the pronouns "You" and "We") and puts Naruto as priority. So it's a clear example of unselfish love (which is the mature kind of love).
I guess I worried over nothing XD.
Yes I agree I'm not bashing Hinata either because I like her and all. But it has been prove that Kishi is not interested in the least to develop her character further compared to what he has done with the rest of the rookies. At first he was planning in developing it further with her confession on 437 standing off against Pain, that was truly a turning point in her character development that she will change for the better. However I could be wrong but ever since that interview at Jump Festa 2009 when he was telling the voice cast of Shippuden about how much angry NH fan mail he got bashing on Sakura and eventually he got a bit flustered telling them that Sakura is the heroine and not Hinata (especially the part where she can be a better heroine than her). After that he stopped developing Hinata's character and now from out of nowhere with her speech at 573 it's like Kishi went back with her changing her back into part 1 Hinata being a Naruto fan girl and all and just when we thought that she has gotten over him. It feels like Kishi wants to keep her like this and not develop her character due to the fact of that angry fan mail he received years ago (like I said I could be wrong about this).
A member of this forum TwilightLink stated in one of his review video rants on Youtube that Hinata was "pairing fodder" for Naruto and I agree with him since Kishi has kept Naruto in love with Sakura since she made her debut back at ch 3 and Hinata keeps on thinking about him yet she doesn't do a single thing about it while he keeps been in love with Sakura. Everyone from the rookies have mature becoming better people but Hinata is the only one who hasn't change at all, now let's get to another topic which is the fourth ninja war. Everyone else is fighting in the war with the purpose to stop Madara and protect the world, however I ask you what is Hinata's reason for fighting??? we already know the answer she's only fighting for Naruto, she's not fighting for her friends, or her village or even her clan but only for Naruto (that's selfish). With her it's always been about Naruto nothing else, it's the reason why she's fighting in the war and giving it her all. Now if Naruto never existed I believe she would have quit as a ninja a long time ago due that Naruto is her drive, the one person who has inspire her to do better and be more confident about herself. I'm not happy with Kishi in not developing her character so she can mature still making her into a cute Naruto fan girl who is always hero worshiping him.
Edited by Gravenimage, 13 February 2012 - 08:11 PM.