Phantom_999

I think the opposite, Naruto and Sakura would have had a better chance if Sasuke did stay in the village. Most of the drama surrounding the three of them after the time skip is due to Naruto and Sakura  having regrets about not stopping him. I have a feeling had Sasuke not left Sakura would see more and more that Sasuke is not prince charming and how exhausting it is to chase Sasuke when he is not reciprocating like he did(Naruto) on their first day as a team. Long story short anyway.

What bothers me about neutrality with fictional romance and taking it for as it is that viewers often forget the context of such things. Yes Naruto is a shonen battle manga that does not focus on romance as a theme per say but again there always that difference from other shonen manga that don't care about romance and make couples last second or treat it as a joke at best. Naruto has ALWAYS had feelings for Sakura and it is not a silly childhood crush or a fleeting feeling that he was not serious about or else there would never have been a POAL in the first place. Naruto shows complete selflessness towards Sakura and maturity in putting her happiness above his own. Sakura in turn shows that in her worst circumstances when she is most vulnerable and lost and upset and powerless it was Naruto that comforts her and listens to her problems. that lays the very foundation of how close they become throughout the story. I'm not going to repeat the moments they have together because it would just be redundant at this point. Think of it like this, What if Rurouni Kenshin remained unchanged in it's story and plot but Watsuki decided last second that Kenshin is would be happier with Megumi as his wife because she is more feminine and does not emasculate him, or maybe she looks more like his first wife and chucks all that development with Kaoru out the window. That is essentially what Naruto did at the end, it chucked the development between Naruto and Sakura out the window for a side character that has no real importance to the plot and for the main character in general. What if Slam Dunk resolved the love triangle with Kaede getting together with Haruko despite not showing any affection for her and doesn't care about romance in general and Haruko saying Hanamichi was only shallowly interested in her? Again That is what Naruto did. Naruto is not like other shonen series in that there is not romantic development at all and the author can slap together couples however they feel last second and whatever pleases them. Naruto had a love interest and they developed together progressively throughout the series and they owe a large part of their growth to each other. Typical romance writing in fiction, even if there is not an emphasis on it. This is different from Dragon Ball where Goku had no such moments with Bulma so who cares if he married Chichi? 

I know I haven't posted for a while But I just want to put that out there. In terms of Neutrality, context is very important if not everything

I haven't thought about Dragon Ball for a while now But I'm extremely sad that this legend passed away this year on the month of my birthday. Rest in Peace Toriyama-sensei, you were part of my childhood and many successful Shonen manga owe their being to you.