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Posted by Hey everyone. It's been 3000 six, almost seven, years. Only had the courage to come back now, expecting that I'd find a "domain for sale" page. Glad I was wrong. Though it's mightily cliche, perhaps the real good ending out of the conclusion of Naruto is the friends we made along the way. I recognize a lot of the same names here as it was in 2014. So, about a particular question...
So, how did YOU react to the ending?
Short answer: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Long answer: I felt empty, betrayed, conspirationally hopeful. Then I turned angry and disgusted with the antics of the more-angry NSers and gloating NH/SSers. It happened at a relatively mentally low time for me. I remember the following weeks and months doing the motions, eventually cloistering myself from everyone, not touching Naruto/much of fiction and social media with a ten-feet pole. Little did I know it would prepare me for how things in general will pan out from 2015-2020.
Naruto's ending also shattered my expectations of what a writer will or will not do. One of my last posts here is a proclamation of how sure I am that NS will be canon, a celebratory and ultimately foolish statement. Chapters 699 and 700 did an about face in Sakura's characterization and destroyed all my assumptions behind me supporting NS. Now, I still ship it conditionally. Their dynamic from the start of Shippuden up to 698 is beautiful and I maintain that it was most likely to be canon. I will be anti-NS (and also anti-NH/SS) for stories set after that.
That it took something like 699/700 for it to not be canon proved me right that it is what it will take for SS and consequently NH to work. I respect Kishi's prerogative as the author there, and at the same time, I'll say it is extremely poor writing. It ended up doing all of the Big Three pairings a disservice there in their different ways. For NS in particular, it is the disservice of missing a great potential story there.
I've been on the other side of similar shipping debates wars before (I also ship Harry/Ginny which is Harry Potter's equivalent of Naru/Hina there). The big difference was that the writing and the character development in making them canon is more competently handled. Not so much the case in Naruto.
I dunno what Kishi really thinks, and I continue to smell BS on him saying that NS is a red herring or whatever. If it is, I'd rather have the red herring, thank you. It was better written anyway. But! If it is not a red herring (which my gut feeling agrees with), he made Road to Ninja to be the closest thing to how he really wants Naruto to end: he was already aware at the time that he has to conclude it a different way.
As for Boruto, I was burned enough by the events that I couldn't bring myself to read/watch/follow it. I'm aware Boru/Sara is one of the popular pairings of the next gen. All I see, even if it becomes canon, is discount/consolatory NS. I'll leave it for newer fans to appreciate it in its own right.
Back to shattering my assumptions on how an author will progress a story, the aftermath of Naruto's ending gave me a very important rule regarding shipping.
"I'll only ship pairings if (a) I'm sure they'll not be canon or (b) the story has concluded."
And since it brought me a mindset that in fiction, anything goes, it paved the way for me appreciating the likes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Meanwhile, the fans can argue about who has the more canon pairing or healthy relationship all they want while I enjoy the latest JoJo memes.
Anyways, if you have AU/point of divergence fanfic recommendations of the below types, I appreciate it!
1. NS-fanon alternate ending
2. Alternate ending with the canonical pairings but with better writing and character progression.
