8 replies to this topic

[Inferno180]

Let me start by saying, this is not a topic to prove any pairing, including NaruSaku the main focus of this topic, as canon. Things are only canon when they come. At the same time this is not bashing other pairings, its merely a topic for how some people here feel NaruSaku if it is more developed than other pairings and how we feel about it. I'll start:

People have constantly been saying, how is Naruto's love for Sakura any different than Sakura's for Sasuke's and Hinata's for Naruto? Yes it can be argued in any of these, all were childhood crushes who liked someone else but the difference is each of them had a different reason for their love. However there is a difference for Naruto loving Sakura as I see it, as I see it there are valid reasons why Naruto's love for Sakura is different than Sakura's for Sasuke and Hinata for Naruto.

I'll start with the other pairings:

SasuSaku- To me, this virtually does not exist because well, Sasuke never had any love thought in any part of the manga save for Itachi after finding out the truth. Sasuke only thought of Sakura as a friend, I just can't see it happening, literally he brushed her off in part 1. The only acknowledgement he ever had for Sakura was saying thank you for treating him well before he left the village. Sasuke does not love Sakura, he never did. I don't think he would start now, espcially since he tried to kill her. Yes Sasuke was crazy evil but remember, what did Sakura ever do to him? Sure she annoyed him but he went to finish her with a chidori strike from behind and then tried to slash her with a kunai. Sasuke does not love Sakura, never did, no purpose to suddenly have it later.

Sakura's love for Sasuke well, that's self explanatory, it was an idealistic young girl crush, she liked Sasuke for his looks and talent, she did not really know him or his struggle. Her love for Sasuke could ironically taken off immensely by Naruto when he used Sasuke's form early on. Yes she loved him before they were a team but so did every other girl, there's always one top dog who gets all the attention. Sakura does still love Sasuke as far as we know from 540, but she was saddened about how he became an international criminal and hate driven. Sasuke is driven to avenge his clan for a whole new reason now. Sakura's love to me, is idealistic with only an imagined value. Sakura at this point may be going though something else, weather she still loves him or will let go of this idealist love will be revealed later.

NaruHina- I will admit, this does have some development and it at least has potential but its not grounded enough in my eyes. Unlike SasuSaku it does have the potential to be canon like NaruSaku but just not as much potential even with recent events in the manga. Hinata loves Naruto but rather than it being an idealistic love like Sakura's, Hinata's love for Naruto tends to be more internally symbolic. Hinata's crush is what defines her character and Naruto was more of a symbol, object, and idol to draw some development from. As a character Hinata needed Naruto to develop, she is nothing without him though. Some but hardly any development was on Hinata. Generally for Hinata to develop, Naruto had to be there. Hinata has some good points but mostly needed the support of another character.

For the NaruHina pairing, to me, its just not as well built. Hinata's moments are there with Naruto but are too far and few between. Her only real moments in part 1 were getting steamrolled by neji and encouraged by Naruto, and after she met Naruto before he faced Neji. She learned to be better for herself. In part 2, she practically had nothing in my eyes until pain steamrolled her and recently in 615 when she slapped and talked Naruto back into it. Yet this is just not enough to me, it was development but just too rushed. My problem with this is, its too condensed, to short, and to rushed. Basically to me, it lacks a timely value. Unlike NaruSaku, there are just too many gaps and a lack of space for development. If Kishi made more time for Hinata to talk to Naruto in the downtime between arcs without her fainting, that would have been fine. But he did not, its too late now. All that downtime Naruto spent talking to Sakura or someone else on his team, sometimes usually shikamaru or Iruka. I just don't see this holding as much value as NaruSaku, even with fans going crazy still thinking its canon for a few reasons.

1. The confession was never clearly addressed, yes Naruto remembered it when he saved Hinata but either one of 2 things will come from the confession: Naruto's smile was a way of thanking her or he will do it once there is downtime. The one thing that does not make sense is, Naruto cannot suddenly just love Hinata for this, so he just switches too Hinata after Sakura's fake confession despite knowing her position and why she lied, all for his sake? Its kinda shallow.

2. Hinata's a shallow character, she really is, most development is done in fillers, she had no significant fights until the ten tails, she really has nothing on her own. It always has to have another character to give her something to grow, most other characters, especially Sakura have found reasons on their own to change, Hinata does not have much. One thing that still bugs me about 615 is how she almost glossed over Neji's death in an instant just for holding Naruto's hand.

3. The events of 615-617. Yes Hinata had a good moment with speaking to Naruto and it was a NaruHina moment, but it was that a moment, Hinata's speech and line did not refer to anything romantic, they refereed to the current battle, how everyone was fighting for each other, naruto is not alone, people are willing to die for him to save the world. Naruto's my life was not mine, you have been here the whole time beside me line was widely taken out of context by some crazy fans. The context of this line was referring to how Naruto saw Obito was wrong and acknowldgeing Hinata's statement, that she was evidence as one of many others who are willing to fight, the "You've been by my side the whole time" line is not refering to him acknolging Hinata's crush on him, he is refering to how that Hinata was by Naruto the whole time during the current fight. Even with fans freaking out over this, it was that a moment, she had her speech, its done. She tested the power of the chakra on the ten tails with a weak attack, nothing major. She fixed naruto's shoulder, no big either, I can say the way naruto and sasuke assisted each other when they faced Zabuza and that imply NaruSasu, but it does not, its just assisting each other in battle. If Hinata has some moments like these, its nothing much, she lacked development but she finally got it, she won't get a major speech again anytime sure. Hinata is just a support character, once enough time has passed its back to the central group, team 7. Hinata is not a main character and never will be, even if NaruHina is canon beginning at 615, it changes nothing in importance, she was not there for the main crisis with Sasuke, she is not part of team 7 and never will be no matter how much some wish she was.

Biggest reason i cannot see this pairing happening, she is not bound to the main story in importance, one of the central plot divices is the promise naruto made to sakura, that binds team 7 all 3, this lies there along with other major story elements, the senju-uchiha rivalry, the sage of the six paths, the child of prophecy, the tailed beasts, all of these include naruto and sasuke but one of these is including sakura. Sakura is the least important of the main characters but she is still in the same role as them. Hinata is not included anywhere in any of these situations or plot devices. Not even the hyuga for that matter. I just can't see the ending in a nutshell being naruto becoming hokage, getting sasuke back but then just going over to Hinata with very few purposes, it would seem forced rather than a love or relation earned. It would be like NaruHina and SasuSaku come true for all the wrong reasons. Even with the hand holding, as far as I see it, it was a way for Naruto to similaniuously thank hinata for snapping him out of it, consulting her with Neji's death, and intially testing the tailed beast chakra for everyone. It was nothing romantic on naruto's side, it was for hinata but naruto is not thinking about romance in the middle of battle. Fans can argue that it was the real Naruto holding her hand or it lasted longer but thats just not enough, how many times has Naruto held Sakura at this point? Naruto let go of her hand really quick and that's that, it was a moment, moments pass. The whole shoulder fixing thing, its nothing to be hyper excited about. Just tell me this, whats going to happen once the chakra runs out and the ten tails enters its perfect form? The alliance will get battered again. (I would find it immensely great if this happens and Sakura comes in to save the whole freaking allanice with some massive healing technique, that would be a great moment for Sakura to actually play a heroine role even if it was just healing)

Now why I see NaruSaku as the most potential pairing. The main difference between these and NaruSaku, NaruSaku has interaction, growth, and there is actual meaning behind it. At the start Naruto's love for Sakura was the same as Sakura's for Sasuke, but Naruto eventually got over the ideals and did it rather for the meaning. Sakura hated Naruto but learned that Sasuke was not perfect and that Naruto was not a full failure. She only thought of him as a slight friend but that changed as the series went on. Sakura sees him as one of her best friends like Ino. The whole NaruSaku point developed because of their interaction. Sakura hated and put naruto down but naruto improved and she resolved to get better herself and developed a better outlook on him, after facing the forest of death, she never wanted to end up in an uncontrollable situation again and was willing to risk her life as her teammates did. When naruto faced gaara and won, when Sakura found out about naruto saving her, its at this point she saw him as a good friend, she was wrong and admitted it several times. He was not an idiotic troublemaker, she only hated him because she was influenced by the adults but found they were wrong and naruto was a good hearted person even if he did annoy people.

The biggest and still most important reason I see narusaku happening is because of the promise, when it was made it was orginally for Naruto just to get Sasuke back for Sakura but it gained so much importance after he failed and still stands, its become the thing binding team 7. Naurto feels he cannot become Hokage or confess to Sakura because of it, Sakura wanted to become useful (and she did with Tsunade's training) but like Naruto has a goal of wanting to help him in some big way, she still fails like he did, yet she still strives to help him. As far as the war, Sakura is determined now, this time she wants to do something till the end. The promise is important to both of them for reasons beyond these, its for team 7, Naruto saw Sasuke like a brother and rival, Sakura loves him and views him as an important friend. He is important to their family, team 7 in a sense is a family for many reasons. Naruto did not make the promise because he loved her, he did it for the team and also for the reason that he knew she loved Sasuke and would get him back even if she never paid attention to him, but in the hopes that she would see him in a different light sometime.

The whole development has taken off much more, both have benefited and grown and been harmed by each others actions. Sakura was hurt when she discovered Naruto's status as a jinchruki, the akaskuti, and saw his 4 tailed form, even trying to snap him out of it even though she could have died. She was also hurt when she found out about Naruto's devotion to her and how she caused him pain. Naruto likewise was hurt when he found out he slashed Sakura, he was ashamed of this, he was likewise hurt when Sakura was going to try and take care of Sasuke herself. Naruto did not want either Sakura or Sasuke harmed because they are the 2 first real friends he had. Heck on major reason for the confession event was how both Naruto and Sakura hid info from each other, Naruto found out about Sakura's motives but Sakura does not know about Naruto's motives for Sasuke beyond the promise only that there is a truth about Itachi, something only she knows unlike the rest of the uninformed kohona 11. She has a clue the rest don't and she will find out later.

As I see it, when many say NaruSaku is dead cause of 469, I doubt that very much, in 457, just 12 chapters earlier, we get a flashback of why Naruto can't confess to sakura, its because of the promise, he feels he does not deserve her. Why and just why would Naruto dump this 12 chapters later? Just so soon? He finds out his love is a lie? What sense would the purpose be? Get rid of an important story device and just set it up for NaruHina which still has hardly anything? I just can't see the logic here, there has been nothing showing he is over Sakura, hell we know he still loves her as far as the anime goes, he says he loves Sakura in ep 235 yet even though its filler, we have nothing else showing anything otherwise, its filler but we can assume because at least their is an acknowledgement of this, and this occurs after the 5 kage summit.

Why I see narusaku as the best possibility and still able to happen is, we have not been told otherwise and it would make no sense or feel as right with anything else. Sakura still loves Sasuke but was ashamed with what he became as of most recently we have no idea what she reacted too during Hinata's speech, Sai is nowhere in recent chapters after 615 too. Sakura as a main character is sitting a few chapters out but there is an important reason for that. I just don't know if Sakura really intends to still love Sasuke but she may be reaffirming her priorities, I mean its not like she has shown periods of intrest in Naruto, namely during the Yamato bridge talk and her seeming depressed that Hinata loved Naruto. I could imagine this as her being unsure of Naruto, she frowned, she could have been jealous with what Hinata did. If she was not, she could have simled and said, I'll protect naruto for you, that would have given NaruHina much more of a competitive area but sakura seemed sad and it had to be for a good reason.

I don't even need to get into Kushina or relation parallels Naruto and Sakura have with others, the main reason for this one aside from MinaKush, well its the cycle of failure, one thing I see naruto obviously doing to succeeding where his precesseors failed (SOT6P, Madara, Harhirama, Jiryaia, Obito, Minato, and Kakashi) All who failed in one way with peace, hokage, the prohpecy, and love. I see Naruto succeeding. Why should Naruto only succeed where his predecessors failed and yet still fail in love? Why can't he be the one to get the girl on his team? Why should he just be another one to succeed but only get a side character who is almost out of nowhere with little development? At this point Naruto is a hero of breaking cycles, if he could get kurama on his side, how can he fail with Sakura's affection? The role of a hero is to accomplish their goals, naruto had many failed ones set out before him, he will succeed so why can he not succeed with Sakura? The whole relation and bringing of it would be an honestly earned one, naruto and sakura would have gone through so much good and bad, it would be a pairing which was honestly earned in my eyes.

Only wherever the story goes will we see what happens but this is why I still see NaruSaku going in full force, the design of the story and how both Naruto and Sakura have gone with each other throughout the series especially in part 2.

[narulsaku]

inforno great post and thats the longest post i ve seen reapet i ve seen. and i agree too! but i think this should be in icha icha narusaku. however narusaku is still focoused and this post proves it,

[jworks]

To me, the most profound thing that will ever be useful in predicting NaruSaku is to look at the entire world of fiction.

As my general observation of all narrative fiction, the romantic and truly deep relationships of characters are between the two characters who have been the most influential to each other's development. it's that simple and a steadfast convention of the narrative. It certainly makes the most sense and makes for a genuine feeling relationship.

Understanding this, then I can go look at the manga and see the evidence. Look at all the character development Naruto and Sakura has had with and because of each other.

Hinata has used Naruto as an idol to develop quite a bit. But she has offered Naruto no development.

Sakura perhaps grew some because of Sasuke. But again Sasuke has not drawn development from her. Hell, he hasn't from anyone, he is on his own weird plane of existence!

And yet, Kishi will still make whatever writing decisions he deems appropriate. But it's the most likely bet that in the end we will have our beloved couple of Naruto x Sakura

Edited by jworks, 07 February 2013 - 05:31 AM.

[Chatte]

Ah, such a nice read.
Great effort you put there.

[Inferno180]

Well NaruSaku is not canon (yet to be seen) but there is just so much more of a possibility for it. I mean NaruHina can at least happen, but it won't be anywhere near as much in terms of development if it did. I mean if NaruHina happened just for the possiblity of SasuSaku, it would be for all the wrong reasons. Kishi or rather any writer cannot just make sudden changes of heart without proper reasons. Naruto can't just go loving Hinata unless he really was ticked off about what Sakura did and would need closure with her before getting over his crush on her, as far as we know and assume, Naruto is the kind of guy who forgives so much, why would he just abandon his crush on her in 1 act after so much and this be the only thing he never really forgives? I mean Naruto had to talk Nagato about his reasons for revenge and though Naruto sympathized with Nagato and how his village and friends were abused, Naruto told him that its not the right way for peace and the real way for it was to let people realize it themselves. This had meaning for Nagato's sudden change of heart because they both had a source of their emotions Jiriaya. Naruto had the good from Jiriaya but Nagato had the bad. Naruto had to face a situation in which he could get revenge but he did not, unlike Sasuke who was so focused on killing Itachi, once Itachi died he ultimately lost sight of who he was. Sasuke can be on the same path for a realization but he is not going to suddenly be good even after the talk with the 4 hokages. It would take some other small events and such to make him at least co-operate with Naruto before the ten tails destroys the world. Even then he still has the right to his own ideals because the will of the village and his clan is a path he must choose now just like Itachi.

NaruSaku has the chance to happen but I think at this point, its just a matter of Sakura realizing the difference between an idealistic crush and liking someone for who they really are. I mean Sasuke will have to realize soon that it was Obito who basically had the hand in the uchiha clan massacre, Sasuke had no ill will towards the 3rd since he knew he at least tried to get peace and some understanding between the clan and village but it was Danzo who ordered the strike before the 3rd could do anything. The 3rd was forced as a result to "brand" Itachi a traitor but at the same time if he protected Sasuke then Itachi would serve as a spy in the Akastuki, we could expect that even if Naruto was captured by Itachi and Kisame in the return of Itachi arc, Itachi would have had some backup plan to protect Naruto, he played the villain perfectly.

For NaruSaku to happen, I would not mind if there was some tension between Naruto and Sakura since the 5 kage summit but unless we get a flashback or future event when the reasons are clear for Naruto telling the truth about Itachi, Sakura would see why he would not give up and it would be better to have some sort of internal struggle with both of them. Sakura can't just suddenly love Naruto all at once but there is potential now considering she was saddenend by what Sasuke became, seemed jealous of Hinata, and during the 615 speech, we have no idea what she reacted too. There is a lot to still fill in with Sakura, we just need to see where it goes.

[HauntedCake]

Let me start by saying, this is not a topic to prove any pairing, including NaruSaku the main focus of this topic, as canon. Things are only canon when they come. At the same time this is not bashing other pairings, its merely a topic for how some people here feel NaruSaku if it is more developed than other pairings and how we feel about it. I'll start:

People have constantly been saying, how is Naruto's love for Sakura any different than Sakura's for Sasuke's and Hinata's for Naruto? Yes it can be argued in any of these, all were childhood crushes who liked someone else but the difference is each of them had a different reason for their love. However there is a difference for Naruto loving Sakura as I see it, as I see it there are valid reasons why Naruto's love for Sakura is different than Sakura's for Sasuke and Hinata for Naruto.

I'll start with the other pairings:

SasuSaku- To me, this virtually does not exist because well, Sasuke never had any love thought in any part of the manga save for Itachi after finding out the truth. Sasuke only thought of Sakura as a friend, I just can't see it happening, literally he brushed her off in part 1. The only acknowledgement he ever had for Sakura was saying thank you for treating him well before he left the village. Sasuke does not love Sakura, he never did. I don't think he would start now, espcially since he tried to kill her. Yes Sasuke was crazy evil but remember, what did Sakura ever do to him? Sure she annoyed him but he went to finish her with a chidori strike from behind and then tried to slash her with a kunai. Sasuke does not love Sakura, never did, no purpose to suddenly have it later.

Sakura's love for Sasuke well, that's self explanatory, it was an idealistic young girl crush, she liked Sasuke for his looks and talent, she did not really know him or his struggle. Her love for Sasuke could ironically taken off immensely by Naruto when he used Sasuke's form early on. Yes she loved him before they were a team but so did every other girl, there's always one top dog who gets all the attention. Sakura does still love Sasuke as far as we know from 540, but she was saddened about how he became an international criminal and hate driven. Sasuke is driven to avenge his clan for a whole new reason now. Sakura's love to me, is idealistic with only an imagined value. Sakura at this point may be going though something else, weather she still loves him or will let go of this idealist love will be revealed later.

NaruHina- I will admit, this does have some development and it at least has potential but its not grounded enough in my eyes. Unlike SasuSaku it does have the potential to be canon like NaruSaku but just not as much potential even with recent events in the manga. Hinata loves Naruto but rather than it being an idealistic love like Sakura's, Hinata's love for Naruto tends to be more internally symbolic. Hinata's crush is what defines her character and Naruto was more of a symbol, object, and idol to draw some development from. As a character Hinata needed Naruto to develop, she is nothing without him though. Some but hardly any development was on Hinata. Generally for Hinata to develop, Naruto had to be there. Hinata has some good points but mostly needed the support of another character.

For the NaruHina pairing, to me, its just not as well built. Hinata's moments are there with Naruto but are too far and few between. Her only real moments in part 1 were getting steamrolled by neji and encouraged by Naruto, and after she met Naruto before he faced Neji. She learned to be better for herself. In part 2, she practically had nothing in my eyes until pain steamrolled her and recently in 615 when she slapped and talked Naruto back into it. Yet this is just not enough to me, it was development but just too rushed. My problem with this is, its too condensed, to short, and to rushed. Basically to me, it lacks a timely value. Unlike NaruSaku, there are just too many gaps and a lack of space for development. If Kishi made more time for Hinata to talk to Naruto in the downtime between arcs without her fainting, that would have been fine. But he did not, its too late now. All that downtime Naruto spent talking to Sakura or someone else on his team, sometimes usually shikamaru or Iruka. I just don't see this holding as much value as NaruSaku, even with fans going crazy still thinking its canon for a few reasons.

1. The confession was never clearly addressed, yes Naruto remembered it when he saved Hinata but either one of 2 things will come from the confession: Naruto's smile was a way of thanking her or he will do it once there is downtime. The one thing that does not make sense is, Naruto cannot suddenly just love Hinata for this, so he just switches too Hinata after Sakura's fake confession despite knowing her position and why she lied, all for his sake? Its kinda shallow.

2. Hinata's a shallow character, she really is, most development is done in fillers, she had no significant fights until the ten tails, she really has nothing on her own. It always has to have another character to give her something to grow, most other characters, especially Sakura have found reasons on their own to change, Hinata does not have much. One thing that still bugs me about 615 is how she almost glossed over Neji's death in an instant just for holding Naruto's hand.

3. The events of 615-617. Yes Hinata had a good moment with speaking to Naruto and it was a NaruHina moment, but it was that a moment, Hinata's speech and line did not refer to anything romantic, they refereed to the current battle, how everyone was fighting for each other, naruto is not alone, people are willing to die for him to save the world. Naruto's my life was not mine, you have been here the whole time beside me line was widely taken out of context by some crazy fans. The context of this line was referring to how Naruto saw Obito was wrong and acknowldgeing Hinata's statement, that she was evidence as one of many others who are willing to fight, the "You've been by my side the whole time" line is not refering to him acknolging Hinata's crush on him, he is refering to how that Hinata was by Naruto the whole time during the current fight. Even with fans freaking out over this, it was that a moment, she had her speech, its done. She tested the power of the chakra on the ten tails with a weak attack, nothing major. She fixed naruto's shoulder, no big either, I can say the way naruto and sasuke assisted each other when they faced Zabuza and that imply NaruSasu, but it does not, its just assisting each other in battle. If Hinata has some moments like these, its nothing much, she lacked development but she finally got it, she won't get a major speech again anytime sure. Hinata is just a support character, once enough time has passed its back to the central group, team 7. Hinata is not a main character and never will be, even if NaruHina is canon beginning at 615, it changes nothing in importance, she was not there for the main crisis with Sasuke, she is not part of team 7 and never will be no matter how much some wish she was.

Biggest reason i cannot see this pairing happening, she is not bound to the main story in importance, one of the central plot divices is the promise naruto made to sakura, that binds team 7 all 3, this lies there along with other major story elements, the senju-uchiha rivalry, the sage of the six paths, the child of prophecy, the tailed beasts, all of these include naruto and sasuke but one of these is including sakura. Sakura is the least important of the main characters but she is still in the same role as them. Hinata is not included anywhere in any of these situations or plot devices. Not even the hyuga for that matter. I just can't see the ending in a nutshell being naruto becoming hokage, getting sasuke back but then just going over to Hinata with very few purposes, it would seem forced rather than a love or relation earned. It would be like NaruHina and SasuSaku come true for all the wrong reasons. Even with the hand holding, as far as I see it, it was a way for Naruto to similaniuously thank hinata for snapping him out of it, consulting her with Neji's death, and intially testing the tailed beast chakra for everyone. It was nothing romantic on naruto's side, it was for hinata but naruto is not thinking about romance in the middle of battle. Fans can argue that it was the real Naruto holding her hand or it lasted longer but thats just not enough, how many times has Naruto held Sakura at this point? Naruto let go of her hand really quick and that's that, it was a moment, moments pass. The whole shoulder fixing thing, its nothing to be hyper excited about. Just tell me this, whats going to happen once the chakra runs out and the ten tails enters its perfect form? The alliance will get battered again. (I would find it immensely great if this happens and Sakura comes in to save the whole freaking allanice with some massive healing technique, that would be a great moment for Sakura to actually play a heroine role even if it was just healing)

Now why I see NaruSaku as the most potential pairing. The main difference between these and NaruSaku, NaruSaku has interaction, growth, and there is actual meaning behind it. At the start Naruto's love for Sakura was the same as Sakura's for Sasuke, but Naruto eventually got over the ideals and did it rather for the meaning. Sakura hated Naruto but learned that Sasuke was not perfect and that Naruto was not a full failure. She only thought of him as a slight friend but that changed as the series went on. Sakura sees him as one of her best friends like Ino. The whole NaruSaku point developed because of their interaction. Sakura hated and put naruto down but naruto improved and she resolved to get better herself and developed a better outlook on him, after facing the forest of death, she never wanted to end up in an uncontrollable situation again and was willing to risk her life as her teammates did. When naruto faced gaara and won, when Sakura found out about naruto saving her, its at this point she saw him as a good friend, she was wrong and admitted it several times. He was not an idiotic troublemaker, she only hated him because she was influenced by the adults but found they were wrong and naruto was a good hearted person even if he did annoy people.

The biggest and still most important reason I see narusaku happening is because of the promise, when it was made it was orginally for Naruto just to get Sasuke back for Sakura but it gained so much importance after he failed and still stands, its become the thing binding team 7. Naurto feels he cannot become Hokage or confess to Sakura because of it, Sakura wanted to become useful (and she did with Tsunade's training) but like Naruto has a goal of wanting to help him in some big way, she still fails like he did, yet she still strives to help him. As far as the war, Sakura is determined now, this time she wants to do something till the end. The promise is important to both of them for reasons beyond these, its for team 7, Naruto saw Sasuke like a brother and rival, Sakura loves him and views him as an important friend. He is important to their family, team 7 in a sense is a family for many reasons. Naruto did not make the promise because he loved her, he did it for the team and also for the reason that he knew she loved Sasuke and would get him back even if she never paid attention to him, but in the hopes that she would see him in a different light sometime.

The whole development has taken off much more, both have benefited and grown and been harmed by each others actions. Sakura was hurt when she discovered Naruto's status as a jinchruki, the akaskuti, and saw his 4 tailed form, even trying to snap him out of it even though she could have died. She was also hurt when she found out about Naruto's devotion to her and how she caused him pain. Naruto likewise was hurt when he found out he slashed Sakura, he was ashamed of this, he was likewise hurt when Sakura was going to try and take care of Sasuke herself. Naruto did not want either Sakura or Sasuke harmed because they are the 2 first real friends he had. Heck on major reason for the confession event was how both Naruto and Sakura hid info from each other, Naruto found out about Sakura's motives but Sakura does not know about Naruto's motives for Sasuke beyond the promise only that there is a truth about Itachi, something only she knows unlike the rest of the uninformed kohona 11. She has a clue the rest don't and she will find out later.

As I see it, when many say NaruSaku is dead cause of 469, I doubt that very much, in 457, just 12 chapters earlier, we get a flashback of why Naruto can't confess to sakura, its because of the promise, he feels he does not deserve her. Why and just why would Naruto dump this 12 chapters later? Just so soon? He finds out his love is a lie? What sense would the purpose be? Get rid of an important story device and just set it up for NaruHina which still has hardly anything? I just can't see the logic here, there has been nothing showing he is over Sakura, hell we know he still loves her as far as the anime goes, he says he loves Sakura in ep 235 yet even though its filler, we have nothing else showing anything otherwise, its filler but we can assume because at least their is an acknowledgement of this, and this occurs after the 5 kage summit.

Why I see narusaku as the best possibility and still able to happen is, we have not been told otherwise and it would make no sense or feel as right with anything else. Sakura still loves Sasuke but was ashamed with what he became as of most recently we have no idea what she reacted too during Hinata's speech, Sai is nowhere in recent chapters after 615 too. Sakura as a main character is sitting a few chapters out but there is an important reason for that. I just don't know if Sakura really intends to still love Sasuke but she may be reaffirming her priorities, I mean its not like she has shown periods of intrest in Naruto, namely during the Yamato bridge talk and her seeming depressed that Hinata loved Naruto. I could imagine this as her being unsure of Naruto, she frowned, she could have been jealous with what Hinata did. If she was not, she could have simled and said, I'll protect naruto for you, that would have given NaruHina much more of a competitive area but sakura seemed sad and it had to be for a good reason.

I don't even need to get into Kushina or relation parallels Naruto and Sakura have with others, the main reason for this one aside from MinaKush, well its the cycle of failure, one thing I see naruto obviously doing to succeeding where his precesseors failed (SOT6P, Madara, Harhirama, Jiryaia, Obito, Minato, and Kakashi) All who failed in one way with peace, hokage, the prohpecy, and love. I see Naruto succeeding. Why should Naruto only succeed where his predecessors failed and yet still fail in love? Why can't he be the one to get the girl on his team? Why should he just be another one to succeed but only get a side character who is almost out of nowhere with little development? At this point Naruto is a hero of breaking cycles, if he could get kurama on his side, how can he fail with Sakura's affection? The role of a hero is to accomplish their goals, naruto had many failed ones set out before him, he will succeed so why can he not succeed with Sakura? The whole relation and bringing of it would be an honestly earned one, naruto and sakura would have gone through so much good and bad, it would be a pairing which was honestly earned in my eyes.

Only wherever the story goes will we see what happens but this is why I still see NaruSaku going in full force, the design of the story and how both Naruto and Sakura have gone with each other throughout the series especially in part 2.

Very good post. couple of sceario's i've though up:

1) Would you think that Sakura maybe would have to chose between them at the end?
2) What would sakura do if Sasuke was about to kill Naruto?
3) Would they become like Nagato, konan and yahiko?

Edited by HauntedCake, 15 February 2013 - 12:38 PM.

[kirabook]

Simple, thus far, my reading comprehension tells me that Naruto's love for Sakura is selfless and not as shallow as it might have been in the beginning. Although it's not as clear as it could be (the reasons why), Kishi has depicted Naruto's love for Sakura to be subtle. It's something he's willing to hold back because all he truly cares about is making the one he loves happy. Even if that means giving her back her lover that never loved her.

Kishi has said countless times to support Naruto in his endeavors. While I don't support him going out of his way to get back such a useless 'friend' that wants nothing to do with him and only causes him more pain, I do support him managing to do what he wanted earlier in the series; I want to watch him succeed in working hard and earning the affections of the girl he loves so much. In some cases, Sakura causes Naruto pain as well, but that pain can easily be gotten rid of with a proper understanding for each other. Whatever Naruto wants, as long as it isn't evil, I will end up rooting for him. (I want him to grow up on some things though)

Although Kishi hasn't exactly told us to, I'm also rooting for Sakura. I'm not rooting for her to finally notice Naruto and completely turn his way, I'm rooting for her to at last drop that strange obsessive love for Sasuke and live her life to the fullest. I know some people already disagree with what I'm about to say, but I feel Sakura's love for Naruto is on a different layer than her love for Sasuke. She does not have to stop loving Sasuke to love Naruto, and even if she does stop loving Sasuke, she doesn't have to love Naruto immediately either.


So, the simplest answer is (FOR ME) Naruto is the main character. His love automatically means something more to me, therefore, in my mind, it is better and more likely to come into fruition. I won't go into all the details, the details are obvious (the absolute willingness to sit back and keep your love to yourself so that your lover is happy, Naruto actually knowing Sakura and communicating with her on a normal basis, etc)

[Inferno180]

Very good post. couple of sceario's i've though up:

1) Would you think that Sakura maybe would have to chose between them at the end?
2) What would sakura do if Sasuke was about to kill Naruto?
3) Would they become like Nagato, konan and yahiko?

All 3 are easily answered:

1. No she would not clearly choose. Considering how Sakura herself has changed, Sasuke did try to kill her twice when they last met, she still loves him still last we know of from chp 540, but her feelings for Sasuke could have changed. The main deal with Sakura in the whole NaruSaku is how at times she has put Naruto above Sasuke and even shown hints that she may like him more than a friend. Considering from Yamato, when she healed Hinata, and Hinata's recent speech it is possible Sakura has feelings for Naruto but we have yet to see. We don't know what sakura reacted too in 615 but it most likely was Hinata's speech. Its not so much Sakura will choose but come to realize the difference between an idealistic crush and who actually does something for others. This is one of the things most of us are hoping for with Sakura, that if this is the way Kishi is doing things, he has a story reason to make Sakura go this way and see how Sasuke never really liked her at all, just as a teammate when they were first ninja. Now Sasuke does not give one thought about his old team, only Itachi and his clan and destroying the leaf village.

2. Easy Sakura would protect Naruto, she knows what Sasuke has become, there is no doubt in my mind she would throw herself even willing to give her own life up if it meant to save the bond Naruto has with Sasuke. Its mainly due to how Sakura wants to do something big for Naruto but still has not, also because she knows how insane Sasuke became with Naruto and Kakashi, they understand what he is really up to. Sakura is if anything determined now and in the war resolves to do something for Naruto to the very end.

3. They won't become like the rain orphans. Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko were more or less victims of an era. The rain village was caught between the fire, wind, and earth countries, kinda like 1st world countries in real life exploiting 3rd world countries. The leaf was always powerful and secure, it was fine living for Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke even with the hatred and clan slaughter naruto and sasuke endured. The difference is the rain orphans suffered losses which drove them to become evil after Jiriaya trained them along with the manipulation and beyral of Hazno and Danzo on them. Naruto was miseralbe but filled with joy at his birth which gave him hope, he found a family in team 7 when he became a ninja. Sakura was living normally but bonded with team 7 and learned how Naruto was not a talentless idiot and Sasuke was not a perfect guy. Sasuke was normal at first but turned cold and after Itachi killed everyone. He was sane for a while on team 7 but then went coo-coo. If anything Sasuke is like the rain orphans until Naruto changed Nagato and Konan. Naruto and Sakura always had good people looking out for them and each other. Sasuke left on his own because he wanted to kill Itachi. There is some similarity the outcomes are reversed. Team 7 had some bad stuff at first but it became mostly good, the rain orphans had familes but then lost more and more which drove them to become evil.

[Phantom_999]

If it WASN'T different why would Kishi bother putting so much effort into it?

Edited by Phantom_999, 23 February 2013 - 08:32 PM.