I'm just a guy who doesn't see a reason to give up on NaruSaku and SasuHina given the amount of sense it makes for these pairing to happen and now with the new evidence that gives footing to speculate that they now have a chance to happen in the new (Boruto Manga) which will keep me hopeful from this moment on
I must admit that you are quite the steadfast member. And to be honest, that's not such a bad thing. So I will write this post not to crush your dreams but to explain why must of us will not feel satisfied with NS becoming canon in this new series.
1-15 years of evidence supporting NS went down the drain: A fellow member of the forum (if memory serves, her name was Slextrem) posted an excellent thread showing just how many moments were hinting at NS possibly happening at the manga. From supporting moments, to character growth around each other, and even parallels to some of the known couples or characters who would have been together in the series, the amount of evidence was logical and almost 100 percent accurate of the interactions between Naruto and Sakura eventually getting together. Heck, there was even a newspaper article of an author's opinion on how Naruto and Sakura could end up together. However, after the Pain arc, things started to go crazy and with the last few chapters, all the progress was thrown down the drain, leading to an ending that, apart from the goal of pleasing some fans and "creating" a new generation, it felt completely empty.
2-Character regression: Characters like Naruto and Sakura were iconic to us because we could see them grow not only in abilities, but also in how they could handle their personal challenges. Naruto growing into being someone accepted and recognized by the village and Sakura getting over a hollow tunnel vision of Sasuke to become someone who would improve herself and aspire to be a great medical Ninja. What made them grow so much was the time they spent together, especially during the events of shippuden leading all the way to the Pain arc. However, both of them started to go back to their old habits or even become something completely different. Sakura went back to tunnel vision on to Sasuke, while in the case or Naruto, it felt like he never learned to correct the mistakes the previous generation made. That along with some freebie powerups being given to him made us feel a growing disappointment which eventually led to our hopes getting crushed with a hollow ending. But my next point is probably the most impactful one, at least for me.
3-Insult to injury: What actually sealed the deal for me (and I'm sure that to many of us here) was not the bashing we received from the other fandoms after the ending, but the one we received from the author himself. Not only is the ending a disappointment, but he dares to say that during 15 years he was building NS just to mislead fans. To top it off, they craft a movie only to explain how NH came to happen (because there was no supporting evidence in the manga), and in said movie they make both Sakura and Naruto say some catastrophic statements about how Naruto liked Sakura only because of his rivalry with Sasuke and how Naruto apparently did not know how to distinguish love for a person and love for food. Really? Naruto! The character who has come to love Sakura during the manga all the way to the Pain arc says that? And Sakura, the girl constantly growing of a childish crush and slowly starting to develop such a protective behavior towards Naruto says that? And to put the icing in the cake, the very author of the story insults us by saying that this was all a ruse to mislead us? Well, it may sound unbelievable but that, my friend actually happened (you can actually find the interviews on the internet and watch Naruto: The Last for said references). And when someone insults my logic and sometime later he keeps contradicting himself about what he wanted to do with the story, you can be damn sure that he will no longer have my support.
The only way for Mr. Masashi Kishimoto to fix this is through a 3-step apology that includes the following:
1-A global public apology to Naruto fans, along with an explanation for this disaster.
2-Declare all the Naruto material after the Pain arc Null and Void
3-And a constructive progression of the Naruto manga after the Pain arc which would lead to a satisfying ending.
Am I a conceited fan for asking all of this? No. Why? Because the blunder he made is so great that the consequences are clearly seen today. And second, because an author who dares to insult the fandom like that has to make big amends in order to regain their trust.
But of course, if 15 years of logical evidence are not worth a thing in Kishi's eyes, then I don't think this will matter either. Why? Because he's rich and he probably does not care for us logical fans anyway.
So in the end, if you have your hopes up for couples happening in the burrito manga, then no problem, I can respect that. But do understand that I did not lose hope, Kishi murdered my hopes for Naruto and will not have the guts (to put it elegantly) to bring it back. I'm sure that many other members can also relate to how I feel, but I will not put words in their mouth. I prefer that they themselves give their own opinion on the matter.
Edited by Shadow Wolf, 27 July 2016 - 07:58 AM.
