Bail o' Lies

Some news: there will be a 4 week naruto anime which seems to be about naruto part 1 coming in September

Oh did no one post that yet? Yeah they are doing a recap of Naruto in anime form. Think that video from last year. It feels like the rest of the stuff happening recently. That the companies are sick of Naruto-Boruto not making them the money they were promised. So there doing all this stuff to see where they can get money or is Naruto-Boruto just dead.

Its the same reason we got the two side manga and the poll winning one shot. Same reason they are having CC2 do a new Naruto-Boruto game. Same reason why they had Ikemoto speed up his manga to end part one so they could do part two with a new title in hopes of separating it from part one.

I mean think about it: when SP asked Kishi to do a filler arc in the war he came up with that ninja asking Sakura out and him asking if the guy she likes was a great person (and you see Sakura having this unsure expression). I really think he was attempting to show Naruto fans that Sakura loving Sasuke wasn't a good thing. also he spent the rest of the war arc having Sakura have a fake smile when she was around Sasuke to the point where Sai noticed it and on top of that had the part where Karin and Sakura went and saved Sasuke and Naruto respectively and of course the toxic behavior and rejection Sasuke gave Sakura

Kishimoto hates SS so he went on disparaging it until the last minute he was forced to make it the end pairing. Then he continued in the gaiden. He didn't care enough about Hinata to do anything to Hinata other than make her trip. But he still ended up damaging that by not making it perfect like her fans wanted.

Not even sp's normal writer they hired some romance tv person who knew nothing about Naruto

Remember that before writing it he was given the scenes from the anime staff gave them. Which were all the filler Hinata scenes they made in the anime.

That always felt that the staff were trying to protect their movie while letting any of them get the blame if it flop by giving the role to a respected third party writer. Then molding him into their way of thinking. Even then you still have the contradictions and problems the movie had.

Again, I just want to point out that the message Sakura gave in the Last was. "Women are incapable of moving on from their first crush." Also, "Naruto never had any feeling towards anyone until Hinata, and should never have any feeling towards anyone but Hinata; except the children they have together." Now then, remember that the movie was not the work of Kishimoto, but SP, and there is only so much that can be done with a red pen.

Both of these are complete opposite of what is even shown in chapter three. Naruto has feeling for Sakura, and the story of Sakura was a girl moving on from her first crush Sasuke to a guy that loves her Naruto.

Also in, Sakura's false confession she uses the concept of, "women's' feeling changing like the seasons," to explain why she was over Sasuke and in love with Naruto. This is clearly a phrase know and used by the Japanese, so the concept of women moving on from their first crush isn't a foreign concept to them either.

Hullo everybody, its been a very, very long time. Good to see people are still here!

I've been feeling nostalgic recently and I've jumped back into reading about NS. Just some thoughts:

1. I cant help but feel like Sakura's increased popularity was partially because people have become more sympathetic. Her daughter has issues. She's in limbo, both a single mother, but not technically single (so it isnt like shes free to find someone in her life). Naruto lied to her about liking her. She came from nothing and ended up with nothing. Maybe that kind of life resonates with the now older fandom?

Meanwhile, Hinata seems like she's currently living a privileged life with everything. People don't feel bad for her anymore, she's no longer the poor girl in the background. The stuff that made her seem interesting isnt there anymore.

2. There's always been an undercurrent of misogyny, but its more apparent after the ending. Kishmoto saying how a woman who changes who she likes is terrible. Wait, what?

Hello person who hasn't been on since before I joined this site. Did you enjoy the one-shot?

1. Her daughter may have some daddy issues, but she is still the most likeable of the new main cast. Mitsuki, Orochimaru's son is just Sai with worshiping Boruto being his entire character; he is the second most positively received. Kawaki is Sasuke but the author's avatar this time. And, Boruto is a spoiled Naruto with behavior you can see a lot in fanfic that try to 'fix' Naruto and make him better; IE he whines and has hissy fits non-stop while thinking he better and more morally right than anyone else. Comparatively, Sarada is Sakura 2.0  with all her flaws removed (not saying that is a good thing,) her daddy issue are understandable as well as being delt with quickly unlike Boruto's which just drag on, and she has a goal of being Hokage. Compared to her teammates' wants: to be her top enforcer because Boruto thinks Sasuke is cool, Mitsiki's just continuing to worship Boruto, and Kawaki's...something something kill Boruto which if he wasn't so stupid I be very supportive of.

It also helps that she is the best parent of the main cast, besides Orochimaru: Sasuke literally avoided his family for 12 years, Naruto neglected his to focus on his job, and Hinata passively allowed her family situation to get worse.

Granted Hinata having everything she ever wanted given to her and still does nothing probably hasn't helped her. When her defenders normally relied on pity because she was clearly the most oppressed character ever.

2. I always took that statement to be something his editors and assistance said in arguments to convince him to go with nH/SS. "Kishimoto-sensei, Sakura can't abandon her love for Sasuke or the fans will see her as a terrible woman." Not helped that is also the clear line of thought that exist in the Last. It is what Sakura's speech to Naruto boils down to. He said it in an interview because that's what he was convinced his fans believed, and what the Last was based on. Of course that backfired, especially in Japan. Of course, it not who said it first but is heard saying it that gets the blame, and he really should have never said it in the first place.

That answer that is simple. Kushina and Minato have a happy health perfect relationship made even clearer by the one-shot. That are suppose to foreshadow how Naruto's relationship will end up as well as who he ends up marrying.

There is an old adage that one will end up marrying someone like their parents. Clearly that was at work in Naruto.

Sakura's father was a goofy man so Sakura should end up marrying a goofy Naruto. Naruto's mother was hot tempered, so he should marry the hot tempered Sakura.

MK and NS were both based off Kishimoto's own relationship. MK is just more mature, further along, and doesn't have the conflict Sasuke brought to it. The only problem they have, that was introduced by the one-shot, is that Kushina is trapped in a barrier. Which its implied Minato eventually solved by both strengthen her seal, and getting rid of that law so they could always be together.

So again, 'The Story of Naruto,' implies that Naruto will live a happy life if he gets into a relationship like his parents had. Obviously that being NS, you have to be either an idiot or deliberately refusing to accept that to not know that. So, the nH fans want to convince both themselves and everyone else that, it wasn't NS that MK was foreshadowing and paralleling to but nH. Sarcasm: Because, it so obvious to everyone that Hinata is exactly like Minato and/or Kushina. Also, ignore that fact that Kushina has cease to exist in Boruto to help bury the fact that, Hinata is nothing like her.

So does this manga still make what kakashi said about naruto surpassing the 4th hokage when he learned rasenshuriken true?

Minato made the basic rasengan. But he always intended to add elemental nature to it, Jiraiya mentions this when he does the rasengan in the one shot, but never could.

This is also clearly Minato and Kushina as young adult or very old teenagers. So Minato is stronger in the one shot as Kushina has been teaching him Uzumaki seals and he was able to improve upon Kushina's seal. Naruto... in theory is stronger than him by the time of Boruto. The only problem is how he is treated in Boruto.

 

I had the same reaction, this one shot was high top quality!

 

This writing was not applied by the end of Naruto most probably because he was tired of it all and it did show and not just about the pairrings but everything in general. He had to constantly fight with people working for him that didn't have the same vision with his fight editor and him as well and that pretty much told him their biased views instead of thinking on what would really matter most for the story in general.

 

On that part, I can't really blame Kishimoto for giving up to what these people wanted even if it still regretful that he did gave up.

 

Now, he had long break of writing and drawing so he was really more up to his game, so to speak.

 

If the people pushing him so much would have gave him the time to let's say, grief about his father's passing, maybe he might would have giving us something a little more worth reading in the end.

 

Overall, I'm glad to see him back, even if it's much later then I would have liked and even if it's ''thanks'' to a popularity vote and not because he could have done it in the original story. I guess we will take what we can and hope that if he comes back writing, he'll continue to write as good as that.

Kishimoto is at his strongest in short self contained stories.

I can definitely agree with you on that! 

 

One and done stories does seem to be something that's like Kishi's strong suits in storytelling. 

 

That was definitely also evident when he did The Mario One shot way back when! 

 

Part of me does wonder if this does in a way green light a 10 chapter volume length gaiden spin off... would it be as good?  

 

Since from what  I noticed, MinaKushi is the one pairing Kishi puts all his heart and soul into the most both here and from kushina's flashback in vol 53. 

He may be able to make this or continue it to a ten chapter gaiden. But its best as a oneshot as it allowed Kishimoto to focus the story into one chapter instead of expanding it into ten or continuing it. He would need an editor that actually helps him for that.

Because MK is him and his wife and they are already together. He didn't have a problem doing this with Naruto and Sakura till he got new editors. Before that their only problem was they weren't together yet. If NS had happened then it be the same as he did MK in this chapter.

Right. For some reason he is just comfortable writing Minato and Kushina.

Compare this one shot to how he wrote Sarada Gaiden (I think it was his worst performance as a writer) and the difference is astonishing.

From reading it, you can tell he was very happy with being able to write MK, call back to events from Naruto, and generally did what he wanted.

While in the Gaiden, he hated SS (and nH) and it felt that in the last few chapters the editors became in charge of where the story went; so he stop caring.

Maybe sakura getting so high in the poll gave kishi some motivation?

It probably gave him some confidence back and proved that he was always right that he shouldn't have done the last minute switch.

Lucky. That "amnesia at the start of part two" is a terrible idea. After a time skip you want to assure that readers they are still dealing with the same character but older. A radical change will cause disconnect like Anakin in Episode 2 or Naruto in the Last. You are trying to deal with the chase after Sasuke by either getting rid of it or putting it on the back burner. When the correct answer is always just to resolve it sooner.

Right. Again, Kishimoto works best in one and done storylines. The longer it is and or if he tries to continue it is where he has problems. So one-shots plays to his strengths. 

You can tell he wanted to make sure none of the pairings can be upset over this story. So, he pulled from all three: Hinata's general stalking behavior, Sakura trying to calm down Naruto when he went four tailed, and the hospital hug scene with Sasuke. I will say their interactions are most NS-like: as they actually interact, Minato is fond of his girl, and Kushina will criticize her man. Which is not the case for either nH or SS.

Like Lucky said its on mangaplus. So if you want to add to its viewing stat.

Summary Time: One-Shot

The chapter begins with Minato and Team Jiraiya facing down the two Iwa Jinchuriki the Fourth Tail and the Fifth Tail. They are preparing their Biju Bomb attacks while Roshi of the Fourth Tail taunts, 'that if they want to fight them they should have brought their Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails.' Jiraiya is forced to orders a retreat. They use the flying thunder god jutsu to escape. We get to see Minato's two teammates, which we haven't seen since Hiruzen's death. A dark skinned guy named Denki and someone that looks like an Uchiha; could be why he had Obito on his team. Minato is stunned at the power of the Biju and thinks of the fact Kushina has one inside her as well.

We see Kurama try to tempt Kushina to release him in exchange for her freedom in her sleep. She wakes up and we see how she lives with two anbu constantly monitoring and guarding her. She confirms that her schedule today is seal training with Minato, when she notices a butterfly trap in the window trying to escape. She frees it and while watching it flutter away, she is lectured about not leaving "the barrier." She wonders, if she can ever be alone with Minato. Meaning she never has alone time with him and those two anbu are again, always watching her. She is eager to teach more Uzumaki sealing jutsu to him and gets upset (probably because training him is one of the few reason she even allowed to spend time with him) when he says he wants to work on another jutsu. Oh when she gets upset her hairs starts floating.

Minato's teammates call over to him that they need to report to the Third, and there is also a team called Team 6 that is composed of three girls gushing over Minato. Showing that Minato is popular with the ladies and could easily find another girl that isn't confined to a small area. So Minato leaves. Kushina tries to follow but is stopped by the Anbu as she was about to leave the barrier. That is in the form of the Uzumaki Symbol. Oh there is also a young Asuma and Kurenia nearby. So this probably only a few years before Naruto's birth.

So far I guess one changes Minato did once he became Hokage was he removed all these restrictions so Kushina could do what she wanted. This was originally just for Kushina's benefit but affected Naruto as well. Which I guess one should question? Was it better for Naruto to be left alone with his freedom or be trapped with the two faceless jackasses?

Kushina remembers, which is a callback to the conversation she had with Naruto, the teachings Mito taught her. That the Jinchuriki should be filled with love to counter Kurama's hate. Having enough, she binds up her two wardens in her chakra chains. So can spend some time with Minato. When she leaves the seal Kurama starts breaking through. So the area seal was made to help suppress him. Which means either Naruto's seal was much stronger or he wasn't trying as hard to breech it. She tries to suppress him while she goes to Minato.

Minato is training with Jiraiya to create the rasengan. He is having problems kneading the chakra. So as a call back to him training Naruto. Jiraiya looks at the swirl of Minato's hair. Apparently, it mostly considered a folk tale but Jiraiya says it helps him. Problem is, for a joke, Minato has two hair swirls in opposite direction. Also another call back with the ice cream bars. Jiraiya makes a comment that both bars are the same which inspires Minato two make it using both directions. Apparently, another folk tale is the having two swirls is a sign of a genius.

Minato has perfected the basic Rasengan...or what he originally calls it: "Ice Pop-Inspired Nimbus Jiraiya Twin Whorl Sphere." ...So, it wasn't a joke that he has horrible naming sense. 

While Minato is either packing away or setting up his lunch he notices Kushina staring at him from the trees. The Hinata inspired moment. Minato ask if she allowed out. He seems more confused than happy which means he is very used to the idea she is stuck in the area seal's domain. Kushina lies that she has special permission. Then, she apologizes for yelling at him before. He is stunned, thinks it over, then says that he should be the one to apologize as he is the one who broke his promise. Kushina asks about the Jutsu, and Minato explains he has been developing it for her. Since, a war is going on and he doesn't know when or if she will be sent to the from lines to fight other Jinchuriki. The jutsu was made to help combat them while working with her Biju power, and he made that because he doesn't want to lose her. Which stuns her. Which in a moment of weakness allows Kurama to push through.

He demands her to release his seal or he will kill her. But he is stopped by Minato augmenting the tetragram seal with his own adjustments. Which causes Kurama to praise him as a ninja on the Level of the First Hokage. Kurama asks why Minato cares for her so much. Minato says he likes people stronger than him and he loves Kushina.

This causes Kushina to have another Mito flashback. Mito laments that their clan has been scattered and are being used as fodder due to their abilities. She shows the area seal that suppresses Kurama, but she really wants to show what is above the seal a spiral staircase and the roof of the building holding the seal. So there is a speech about the Uzumaki spiral becoming a helix that reaches the heavens or 'Rasen.' This inspires Kushina to uses her chakra chains to try sealing Kurama on her own. He tries pushing through, goes to that stage two, and stabs Minato. So pulling from the Four tailed Sakura scene. Somehow, Minato able to come into the seal and help Kushina. They beat back Kurama and seal him.

And here is the scene that calls back to the SS hospital scene. Minato wakes up with Tsunade, Jiraiya and Kushina watching him. When he wakes up Kushina hugs him which he returns with a smile instead of staring blankly. 

After getting out of the hospital, Kushina asks about the jutsu. Minato tells her the name. She hates it. She asks if she could name it. She brings him to the same place Mito gave that lesson and tell him of the name Rasengan. Minato repeats the name and for some symbolism he is in front of the Hokage monument right where his head will be. While Kushina looks at the first hokage Mito's husband.

Reflecting on the pairing and on how Naruto's final couples turned out a bit. I really, truly could have lived with NaruHina if there had been any effort at all in the last stretch of the manga to solidify it. In a way, I feel like that pairing may have been done even dirtier than NaruSaku. That ship was realized, only for it to have been realized in such an underwhelming way. It just feels hollow, empty. A shell of a shell.

 

For NaruSaku's case, I remember people here defending this scene to death, but...that false confession scene, in retrospect, really was the overture to NaruSaku's downfall. Not because it made the ship impossible, or even because it was a bad idea or strategy (Sakura's motivation behind it makes perfect sense, as does Naruto's reaction), but because Kishimoto just did not handle it with tact. And the fact that he didn't communicates something in its own, I think. In execution it came off much more as emotional manipulation than it did a desperate (and maybe even a little honest?) play, the latter of which being the more compelling and sympathetic way to write it. And the follow-up on Sakura's end from that point onward left a lot to be desired.

 

Sakura was done so dirty. This subject has been beaten to death, but god, it's true. I think the biggest reason I would say I'd ship NaruSaku now would be that the further Sakura is from Sasuke, the better. I could have lived with NaruHina, but SasuSaku? No. That's the ship that stung the most. And while I've grown numb to it now, with Boruto becoming as much of a meme presence as it has, that ship and the way it was forcibly made canon, barging on through every toxic wall it could on its way there... it'll always astound me.

 

I don't know if NaruSaku's positive elements as a ship were accidental. If Kishimoto accidentally wrote a healthier partnership than the obvious side ones he'd been bluntly, one-sidedly teasing. Part of me thinks it might have been. Considering how Kishimoto wrote many female characters, and how the writing of the romance in all aspects turned out... maybe NaruHina and SasuSaku had been the intention all along, and he'd written them the only way he knew how. One-sided crushes. Re-emphasized, over long periods of time. Maybe we were looking for a nuanced romantic relationship in a series that was determined to have superficial ones. Maybe we were hoping for too much, and the series had been more honest than we wanted it to be.

 

I'll always long for what NaruSaku could have been - scratch that, what Sakura could have been. We'll never get it. But what a nice dream it was. What a nice dream it will be for us, forever, somewhere buried deep in us.

 

The real NaruSaku was unironically the friends we made along the way.

nH as a concept isn't that much of a problem a shy girl gets with the boy she likes. The major problems with it were. 1) It was too underdeveloped to become the main pairing more importantly to become the focus of the ending and there after. It just never had the build up that would allow it to handle the burden. The Last and how they handle and presented the pairing to the audience was the biggest mistake they could have done. 2) NS was too developed and integral to the story in comparison to just be thrown away like that. For example, the only way Naruto's forgiveness of Obito can make any sense is because he understand Obito's reaction to Rin's death as he loves Sakura just as much as Obito loves Rin.

Kishimoto handling of the false confession and apparently how his editors told him how the fans reacted to it. Damaged NS chances of happening but it would have likely still happened if not for an additional 6 years of gaslighting to convince him to drop her in favor of Hinata. Ideally, after the arc Naruto and Sakura should of had a conversation where they talked about their feelings and made it clear to both themselves and the audiences. Naruto loves Sakura, but is willing to step aside to let her be happy with Sasuke. Sakura cares deeply for Naruto, but she still has strong feelings for Sasuke despite all that has happened due to the forehead comment.

Sakura has been in an awkward situation since they tried to throw her away. As they quickly realized that Hinata is not popular enough to hold up the franchise. So they have to use Sakura despite a lot of people working on Naruto-Boruto hating her. But, she also has to be kept as far away from Naruto as possible so no one notice how they have such natural chemistry. Now its known she is the third most popular Naruto character, most popular main character, and most popular female character in the world. As for SS what you didn't see their side manga? Where we learned their relationship can be summed up as Sakura: "Sasuke, you will love me or I will use edo tensei on you."

The thing is, Kishimoto didn't realize he was even teasing. Since, he never interacted with his fanbase till maybe after the ending. NS was always what he intended, while SS was a relationship he hated, and he barely knew nH was even a thing.

Thank you so much Bail, I really love your response!

 

What you said is true, For the longest time I was probably the most well known NaruSaku Shipper on Youtube, and I am truly honored in dedicating the time I spent on those videos I did over the years in terms of the "canon" prior to the ending.   

 

I can totally understand the concern about me being converted again after what happened last year due to the life crisis I went through, but believe me when I say this.... I'm not gonna get swayed again when it comes to the canon pairing of NaruHina. 

 

I should've been a little more clear about this in the video when talking about NaruSaku fan projects, but  I will discuss about NaruSaku fan projects on my channel like Chatte's manga adaptation of Kaika Saisei each time she releases a chapter.  

 

I also plan on doing a breakdown analysis of the fan animation of Naruto Alternative The Last at some point either by the tail end of this year or the beginning of next year.

 

I knew that was the one missing piece I forgot to dive into in the video, but I will address it in the  comments section.       

 

I've thought about doing that, but honestly the comments section don't necessarily bother me too much as it does give me a chance to interact with the viewers.   

 

Truth be told NaruSaku isn't necessarily the only aspect of my youtube channel,  since Naruto ended I have been branching it out with like other anime/manga content over the years such as Fairy Tail, Edens Zero, Attack on Titan, My Hero, Black Clover, etc..    

 

I just won't necessarily be making videos regarding what could've been versus what we ended up with. 

 

Again, thanks so much for the comment I really love that you took the time to give me your honest thoughts on it. 

I say this before anything else. I do not blame you, nor should anyone else, for having a life crisis that made you question NS and switch to nH. Your life is your life, as are your own personal issues. But, I feel even at the time you should have kept it private and offline. Because, the nH fans would obviously use you as a cudgel in any stupid internet arguments from then on, not caring about your own well being, and if you only changed your opinion because of that life crisis, if once you dealt with it when went back to NS. They would not stop harassing you in order to make you re-covert back to nH.

From what I recall, you were like #4 or #5 on the nH's enemies list around the time of the ending after: Chattle, LadyGT, and that one anime director that was doing NS filler after the pein arc. Granted I always thought it was concerning they had an enemies list for an online disagreement over parings. So you were high on their list of people that needed to be punished or converted for not worshiping Hinata. From what you or anyone else is now? I don't know, I stopped dealing with Naruto debates beyond this site and few people in my personal life years ago.

I keep forgetting to read Kaika Saisei. There is a manga adaptation?

As for your channel. You are lucky in that you channel does have an identity as they give your viewers an idea of what you are going to produce. All you need to do is expand what you cover and gradually shift your audience's expectation.

Sighs... ya know this has been on my mind since the tail end of last year, and I'm finally ready to move on from the pairing drama that goes on in the Naruto community for my channel: 

 

The problem is that you are probably the "most well known NS supporter on Youtube." Which means people that both want to talk about NS because they hope for a "safe space" and nH fans who want to convert people to the true pairing are going to your channel. Not help when you had the life crisis that made you switch to nH last year. Which made them seem like they won, probably leading them to double down due to the victory, and if you changed your mind since. Well, you converted once; they just need to push more to convert you again.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

The only way to get them to stop is to either just block any discussion of Naruto in your comment sections which will likely just drive away your viewers or changed the identity of your youtube channel; which will take time.

According to leaks, that girl in the trailer is an Uchiha (yep another one) named Nanashi and is from the online game Boruto plays. She is able to mind control people and some new evil organization wants to use it to brainwash the world by using her eyes to create a reflection off the moon, or something like that...

So not anything remotely interesting.

...The Blond hair green eye girl is another uchiha...and she some dimensional traveler from an online video game Boruto plays? OK, what else can one say to that other than, "this game's plot just got dumber." How did she come out of the video game? Is this some Otsutsuki karma seal kitten or something else? Nanashi can mean "nameless" in the Japanese, so is she someone player character or an npc? Is she Boruto's secret Online female player character? 

She still feels like bait, and hoping people would buy it without knowing.

So, the story of the game is, that cult leader is doing some IT repeat and he needs Boruto's online player character to do it? ...I think they were better off just doing the Boruto manga story instead...I can't believe I had to type that.

As much as one might want to point the finger at SP this is likely CC2 doing. Its not like they haven't done nH moments before.

The companies are very reluctant to abandon nH/SS entirely as it would also mean abandoning Boruto, and I'm guess there is some suck-cost going on with that as well being uncertain if NS would solve their issues. They keep doing these checks to find out what's popular to keep the lights on, but they are unlikely to fix the real issues.

Honestly, a moment that doesn't get talked about enough is when she first showed signs of an unconscious, burgeoning attraction towards Naruto when he showed his determination to take on a missing-nin like Zabuza and began strategizing on how to defeat him with Sasuke. This is arguably the first time that she seriously acknowledged that he was more than just a class clown and an idiot, which caused her to blush and her heart to skip a beat, with her pondering what she was feeling in that moment.

She in the manga was also impressed when Naruto launched his Shadow Clone Surprise attack against Kakashi.

The impression I have of Sakura is I feel she likes cool/calm confident capable men. In other words, the opposite of her goofy father. This is why she likes Sasuke, as she likes his cold attitude as he is less likely to be goofy, and he normally only doing something when he can succeed which makes him seem very confident/capable. She normally has a fond or swooning expression when she sees Naruto is doing something impressive: the shadow clone against Kakashi, getting his headband back from Zabuza, and being informed by Sasuke the Naruto was the one who rescued her from Gaara. But, Naruto being Naruto he does something stupid that ruins the moment and she thinks of him as an idiot. The first time she was ever critical of Sasuke while praising Naruto, was during the fight with Orochimaru. Where Naruto was fighting, while Sasuke was cowering. Which she chastised him into action...of course this finally impress Orochimaru enough to give Sasuke the curse seal.

You can also see it during their reunion at the start of part 2, where Sakura was swooning over how amazing Naruto had become; before he ruined it with the sexy jutsu, 

Honestly, the two event that could be changed that would make Sakura fall for Naruto much quicker is. Remove Naruto transforming into Sasuke to compliment her forehead as that convinced her Sasuke must have hidden feeling for her, and have Naruto not ruin their reunion at the start of part two. Do those two things, and they'd probably be dating by the end of the month.

Ed and Al were not ostracized an in their hometown and there was no "cool sexy bad boy rival" for Winry to drool over at first. I assume at least.

 

Besides overall from what I gather FMA is not as polarizing as Naruto on a fundamental level and the characters are nowhere near as debated. if anything there is just flame wars on which FMA is "better".

 

My problem is the double standard of it rather than there being more reasons for Naruto to sympathize with Obito than just a desire of being hokage.

 

Naruto ultimately sympathized with Nagato for wanting to achieve peace but was betrayed by the very person he was seeking an alliance with and had a sadistic choice to make regarding his best friend which said best friend made for him by committing suicide. Gaara was hated and unloved by his entire village, and unlike Naruto, had multiple assassination attempts on him.

 

Naruto ultimately sympathized with both of them, both of them yet did not call either of them "coolest guy" just because they are similar. And in fact Obito had it easy compared to all three of them, he had a family and a normal childhood but ultimately decided life was worthless because he witnessed the love of his life killed by his (last second) best friend which is completely disproportionate to the actions he responded with yet he is one Naruto calls a "cool guy".

 

Naruto understood Nagato and Gaara when he heard about their back stories but he could not forgive Nagato even then, and threatened Gaara that he will kill him if the former tries to take away those he loves even if he acknowledges Gaara had the harder life. Even if it represents Naruto's character development supposedly the execution of it was just terrible since Naruto said that while the same panel displays a full landscape of corpses in the middle of the war. That completely contradicts the meaning of the message if you ask me.

 

Also again, If Naruto was willing to be all loving and all forgiving to the one that ruined his life and created the very first war he experienced just because he was whiny and petty enough to justify the world is rotten and should be molded in the image he wanted just because he never got to kiss his "unrequited love" (because that is all it boils down to in the end), then Naruto has a poor showing of trying to change anything again now didn't he. Sure we are too caught up on Naruto calling Obito the "coolest guy", but honestly the actions he took and the reasoning for it are hardly justified compared to the above examples isn't it. Oh and Obito as Tobi told Naruto about the the truth of the Uchiha massacre. You don't see Naruto calling Itachi the "coolest guy" either.

I am pretty sure it was stated somewhere in the manga that Obito was an orphan and an outcast in his clan due to his lack of talent.

Anyways. I mentioned dark reflections on another topic. To keep it short and simple. Stories like having characters who represent an aspect of a main character that could have turned them evil. If the final boss is a dark reflection then, they represent the ultimate issue that could turn the character evil.

Nagato, Gaara, and Obito were all dark reflections of Naruto. Gaara was what if Iruka didn't make his speech in chapter one and he gave into hating the village. Nagato is what if Sasuke died and what if he abandoned Jiraiya's teachings. Obito was Naruto's ultimate dark reflection; he was what if Sakura died. Which means as his ultimate dark reflection, the thing that would most likely break Naruto and turn him evil is the death of Sakura. Why? because, he loves her. The story and more importantly, his forgiveness of Obito, doesn't make since if he doesn't love her.

Naruto realizing this is why he forgave Obito. Because, they were so alike, he must have had the same feeling for Rin as he does for Sakura. That is why chapter 652 is so important because that was the moment he had a shift in his understanding of Obito and eventually moved to forgive him. He forgave the man who ruined his life because he lost someone he loved as much as Naruto does Sakura.

The forgiving of Obito turns NS into a foundational part of the story, if it wasn't already, as the story does not work if Naruto doesn't love her. Which is one of the reason it collapsed with the ending. The things you are complaining about the story lacking are there, mind you poorly handled or expressed. Your obsession with the "coolest guy" bit prevents you from seeing what Obito is; another reason the ending doesn't work. As again, it could only possibly work if NS happened. Now, it just another aspect of the story that disconnects the reader from the story.