So, many of us have speculated about what happened behind the scenes of the manga, and wondered if Kishimoto will ever redo it if he was forced previously, or if someone else will adapt it into a different story, how should they approach it?
Let's face it, if any change was made, lots of fans will be mad (especially on Youtube). Then again there will be many who would be happy, they have to be careful, otherwise it could blow up in their face.
If Kishimoto was indeed forced to give us the ending he gave us,I believe he will have to explain that, and apologize for inconsistent interviews. From there, I think his safest bet would be to explain that both endings are canon and to think of them as branching timelines. If it's just the final volume that was the problem, he should probably expand on the final battle to give some good action, and from there feature his intended ending. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the same pandering conclusion we got before but with NS. After that, if I were him, I wouldn't bother with a next generation sequel. Just show the kids, and end it there.
Now if Kishi DID do what he intended or doesn't care to fix what he made, it's possible someone else could adapt their own version. This one would be a bit tricky, given how most fans respond positively it the original creator is somehow involved. Again, this could be a new OVA attached to some other form of Naruto media. Or they could maybe make a mini-series. If such a thing were to go this route, the creators of this version would have to pitch it as an alternate universe made for fun, and maybe even address the controversies.
Both of these would be for the ending itself. But what if the series were to be redone entirely? I guess they could DBKai it, and simply edit the last episodes of the adapted manga into something else. If they were to redo it into something different entirely, I think they would have to market it the same way an Alternate Universe Gundam would, and keep the length reasonable (if paced right, I think 100 episodes would be good).
What are your thoughts? IF we get the ending we want, how should the producers handle the potential fallout, or even prevent it?
Where do I start? Well, to scratch the surface, make Kakashi a better teacher. Tone down Sakura’s cruelty, even if by a little bit. Don’t touch the Zabuza and Haku arc, at least don’t do any major changes. Have Sarutobi actively doing something. Let Sakura keep her long hair (just a personal preference, I really like her with long hair), change EVERYTHING involving Obito, change the shinobi system in the series finale. Give Shino more screen time, keep the “hard work beats talent” mantra alive instead of this prophecy kitten.
There’s a lot of things to change, although some are worthy of keeping.
Interests:Likes Kentucky Basketball, NaruSaku and Godzilla.
Dislikes Sasuke SasuSaku NaruHina and the Louisville Cardnials.
Posted 19 March 2018 - 02:40 PM
Make Hinata a more interesting character. Make Sasuke like Riku, no war arc and make Mandara the final antagonist but most importantly, make Sakura a head doctor and not a friggin housewife.
- each of Team 7 would have to have a cohesive arc of their own. One where they had stated goals, evolved as a character, faced a challenge, then achieved those goals.
- the ending would involve the three teammates using their respective skills or achieved goals to unite together, making them stronger together than along, and battle the Big Bad.
- there would be a love triangle, but it would not undermine any character, just become a natural progression of character development, until the end, where the end of the suspense just confirms what we already knew (that Sakura loved Naruto all along, basically!). lol
Redo the ending, starting from the end of the manga:
- have them one by one wake up from the Obito's dream state. Then it's basically a reset of the whole story.
- It could be a happy ending, everything's fixed, yay. Or....
- It could be a leveled-up arc about how they're going to cope with reality, not the super-easy dream world. Could have the set-up for darker, more threatening enemies, and their adult relationships. Like Naruto realizing that if he doesn't pursue Sakura, he'll lose her for sure. He can't just sit back anymore.
- Could have Sasuke come back and want to be Hokage. So it's not just a petty fight, it's a fight for Naruto and his very goals.
- All of this set against the backdrop of how much each character stands to lose in the real world, how big and bad the new enemies are, and how right or wrong their dreams were in the Obito's dream state. Do they still want the fantasy? Or does it show them what they stand to lose? (ie, Naruto and Sakura's love.)
- basically, the wake up from the fantasy dream into a nightmare of real life. how do they cope with that.
Redo the ending, starting before the end of the war arc:
- have there be real fallout from the end of the war. Alliances broken, new feelings revealed.
- Hinata wants to pursue Naruto
- Sasuke is returning home to pursue becoming Hokage...and Sakura
- Sakura moves on to become a medic/sage/nin, and she has to come to terms with her immature feelings for Sasuke (who's pursuing her) and her mature feelings for Naruto (who's not yet pursuing her).
- Naruto has to look long and hard at what he wants, and if he's strong enough to go after it. Does he want to be Hokage, enough to fight Sasuke for it? Does he want Hinata and the immediate benefit of a large family? Will Hinata's family still want him if he's not Hokage? And is he willing to pursue Sakura, or will he let Sasuke take that too?
- all of this would be set against a backdrop of broken alliances, new missions, and new enemies sliding into the power vacuums left behind by the war
Interests:Spending time with my husband and sons of course. Playing video games, drawing, writing fanfics, reading, watching crime shows, and paranormal shows.
Posted 19 March 2018 - 04:36 PM
There is a never ending list of things that could be done so much better in the manga, but if I had to narrow it done it would be as follows....
Don't glorify Sasuke so much, especially in the beginning. Doing that had a horrible domino effect on other characters, and it made Kakashi weak as a teacher since he flat out decided to train Sasuke one on one over Naruto and Sakura because he was a "prodigy". Remove, or at least, really push back the Sasuke retrieval arc. This happened way to soon for me and I never personally understood why Naruto's bromance with him was so strong especially when Sasuke was antagonist for the rest of the story. Time they spent together as "friends" was slim to non and for a manga that was supposed to be about bonds Naruto's and Sasuke's was more then lackluster.
Remove Sakura's inner Sakura and overall fangirl tendencies towards Sasuke especially in the beginning. She could still like him without being obnoxious you know. This leads to my second biggest fix and that is work on Sakura from day one. All Kishi did is ruin her, give her a few great moments, ruin her again, and rinse and repeat. He never kept anything about her consistent and that hurt her character so bad.
Make Hinata someone we actually care about. As the years have gone by my bitterness towards everything is pretty much meh by now. However I would have gotten over things way faster had Hinata been someone I actually liked. If she was so important then we should have known that from day one, and stalking doesn't count.
No super Ninja Jesus powers for Naruto and Sasuke....it took away from all the hard work they did. If he was going to add them he should thought differently on how to do so.
Lastly, make Naruto the main focus of his own manga. Even though the damn thing was named after him we could go several long drawn out chapters without seeing him, and the Uchiha just stole the show. It was more then clear who the author really wanted to write about and it wasn't fun reading something that had it's hero on the sidelines most of the time.
Consistency and try to make sure everyone really has some good growth. There could be good moments of it, but some of it feels like it is just for the wrong reasons now and then for the development.
Interests:I love anime. I am also a football geek and video game nerd.
Posted 19 March 2018 - 06:06 PM
Completely remove the War arc or at least remove the horrible filler from it. Sakura would get over her crush in part 1. Also I would want some of the side characters to be more fleshed out and not have them be placed holders. To me the biggest mistake of this manga was have it like DBZ at the end so I would want it to focus more on the ninja aspect of the story.
Completely remove the War arc or at least remove the horrible filler from it. Sakura would get over her crush in part 1. Also I would want some of the side characters to be more fleshed out and not have them be placed holders. To me the biggest mistake of this manga was have it like DBZ at the end so I would want it to focus more on the ninja aspect of the story.
Ditto! I wouldn't mind some of the crazier Jutsu, but not to go as absolutely over the top as the series had done with the War arc and such. I also would have developed a bond between Naruto and Kurama sometime after Naruto first taps into his chakra, and that we get to see them slowly form a bond of trust to make it feel more natural than it came off in the War arc.
Edited by Bryon_Konoha_Ninja, 19 March 2018 - 06:36 PM.
Interests:I love anime. I am also a football geek and video game nerd.
Posted 19 March 2018 - 07:09 PM
Ditto! I wouldn't mind some of the crazier Jutsu, but not to go as absolutely over the top as the series had done with the War arc and such. I also would have developed a bond between Naruto and Kurama sometime after Naruto first taps into his chakra, and that we get to see them slowly form a bond of trust to make it feel more natural than it came off in the War arc.
I know I complain alot about that War arc but my gosh. The power levels were DBZ ridiculous that most of the ninja felt like Yamcha. The ninja war arc should have been strategical like with espionage and taken out enemy bases like a true war. Honestly it felt like it was just one big battle than a war.
Can you believe all that kitten happened in one day? Naruto's birthday. That girl you like doesn't love you, she only loves the guy who constantly tries to kill you, her master, and everyone else. Enjoy your life with a pale-eyed stalker. Happy birthday!
Interests:Spending time with my husband and sons of course. Playing video games, drawing, writing fanfics, reading, watching crime shows, and paranormal shows.
Posted 19 March 2018 - 08:02 PM
Can you believe all that kitten happened in one day? Naruto's birthday. That girl you like doesn't love you, she only loves the guy who constantly tries to kill you, her master, and everyone else. Enjoy your life with a pale-eyed stalker. Happy birthday!
Thankfully her knitting skills just null everything XD
50% Of what i want to say is pretty much already been said by all comment here. I like to add few more stuff :
1. Completely remove/delete Sasuke from the story , his existence in the story is nothing more than favoritism from the author , he also 100% born from nothing more than a copy cat idea from Kurapika ... so base on that it's already wrong and a disaster when the author can't produce fresh and balance idea. Every other character got less while this character got fed everything ... even the main character is being cannibalize by Sasuke.
2. Give Sakura much development , it's been foreshadow from the beginning that she will eventually grow up , get over her fangirl mode and toxic obsess over Sasuke and learn Genjutsu ability. Be more consistence with her character , like @Konohakitten has said , her character is like a light switch that the author constantly turn off and on , off and on.
3. Scrap/drop the war arc , know your limit. You know you have this huge favoritism to Sasuke and his clan , so introducing too much character is just going to be doomsday , because they all going to be cannibalize by Sasuke and his clan.
4. Drop the child of prophecy and god reincarnate story , that is the worse thing that ever happen in the manga. It goes against what have been establish in part 1.
5. Part one Naruto vs Sasuke ended up with Sasuke win , and part 2 Naruto vs Sasuke end up with draw. There's no point of this fight if Naruto never gonna win , Naruto have to win against Sasuke to prove that what he believe is right , he needs to prove that sasuke is wrong , he needs to prove that dropout can win against a genius with hard work , he needs to prove that revenge is wrong. By making Naruto can't win mean everything hes been fighting for and everything he believe is wrong , in the end dropout can't win against genius even with hard work.
6. Stay to the core theme of the story. Ninja battle should be clean stealth battle , not evolve into dragon ball style battle. Keep the power level bar in the botom , just like Samurai-X staying true to the meiji era fighting style up until the end. Make ninja tools more relevant , bring more legendary ninja tools/weapon like the one the seven shinobi swordsman use.
7. If you mess up something don't try to find a way out if. Don't write romance if in the end the author gonna say "Hey i'm suck at romance". Don't ever say "Ninja must be able to see underneath the underneath" if in the end you gonna say you purposely mislead the fans. That is so unprofessional , take responsibility and just accept and admit your mistake.
An out of control man needs a strong woman to control him. And even a violent woman will become soft and tender to the man she love.
A lot of the improvements could be done in part one while completely redoing part two from the ground up.
Aside from what was mentioned, have them continue to actually be ninjas and have strategy and tactics allow weaker ones to overcome stronger ones, not just poor man Dragon Ball stuff.
And starting from part two, have Naruto actually be grown and improved with actual training from Jiraiya and not solely Kurama chakra training that got dropped as soon as the four-tailed incident happened. Have him actually matured from seeing a bigger world beyond just his own mind and Konoha, widen his arsenal, learn actual chakra control, and so on.
A lot of the improvements could be done in part one while completely redoing part two from the ground up.
Aside from what was mentioned, have them continue to actually be ninjas and have strategy and tactics allow weaker ones to overcome stronger ones, not just poor man Dragon Ball stuff.
And starting from part two, have Naruto actually be grown and improved with actual training from Jiraiya and not solely Kurama chakra training that got dropped as soon as the four-tailed incident happened. Have him actually matured from seeing a bigger world beyond just his own mind and Konoha, widen his arsenal, learn actual chakra control, and so on.
The last part you said about Naruto actually growing, man, that's something I am working SO hard in my fanfic, Naruto: The Demon Within, and honestly, it is what I feel shoulda been done by Kishimoto, considering that Naruto should have had so much better stuff and control going for him, rather than just being pumped with power because Jiraiya had wanted him to control his power better, BUT forgetting that he had his own strength to use as well.
Speaking of which, this is what Naruto says to Jiraiya in response to Jiraiya suggesting focus on power for their training, and how he retorts about the idea;
"Alright, kiddo, if we're gonna get you strong enough to do what you want to do as well as keep you safe from the Akatsuki, there's only one real course of action we're gonna need to take. And that's to get you used to your power with the Nine-Tailed Fox." Said Jiraiya, as he lifted up his left hand and held up his index finger with his other fingers forming a ball. "Basically, you will need a good bit of power to combat your opponents, and it is a power that can---"
"FORGET THAT!!!" shouted Naruto, surprising Jiraiya at this. "I... I can't just rely on that alone... power isn't enough... I've seen how power is good and all, but it can't be, SHOULDN'T BE, the only thing that helps me. You said to me once I was weak, but I'm not! I mean, sure, I can be but... but if I have to not rely on myself as well as whatever else I got, what kind of ninja am I!? Could I even say I could be Hokage... or even protect everyone that way?"
"Naruto... you..." Replied Jiraiya, surprise in his face.
"How can you so nonchalantly say power...? You saw as well as I did when those Akatsuki guys, Itachi and Sharkface, came after me. I tried to use the Fox's chakra... but it didn't help! It didn't even help when it was given to me when I fought Sasuke both of those times, because I couldn't even really help him." Lifting his head straight up to gaze at his mentor, Naruto then spoke up again. "So don't say I need to be using the fox's power only! If I'm gonna get stronger, I wanna learn MORE than just powerful stuff like the Summoning Jutsu or the Rasengan! I need to refine who I am as a ninja from the ground up on top of getting stronger!"
You can just tell the fact Naruto is seeing his weakness in one aspect, and that he needs to broaden who he is to be able to to stop anything bad from happening again, since in the story of TDW, he barely squeaked by against Sasuke, but he also got hurt pretty badly, and his drive to becoming stronger is to protect what is important to him, so he doesn't see anyone suffer, even wanting to try to reach out to Sasuke because regardless of how far Sasuke is in the beginning, Naruto still sees him as his friend, and he feels that even if Sasuke got his dream, he'd still be alone and regret it, so he can't let him do that. I am still working on the third episode, at a real snail's pace, but... I feel like I can be satisfied with the result.
Interests:I love anime. I am also a football geek and video game nerd.
Posted 20 March 2018 - 12:45 PM
The last part you said about Naruto actually growing, man, that's something I am working SO hard in my fanfic, Naruto: The Demon Within, and honestly, it is what I feel shoulda been done by Kishimoto, considering that Naruto should have had so much better stuff and control going for him, rather than just being pumped with power because Jiraiya had wanted him to control his power better, BUT forgetting that he had his own strength to use as well.
Speaking of which, this is what Naruto says to Jiraiya in response to Jiraiya suggesting focus on power for their training, and how he retorts about the idea;
"Alright, kiddo, if we're gonna get you strong enough to do what you want to do as well as keep you safe from the Akatsuki, there's only one real course of action we're gonna need to take. And that's to get you used to your power with the Nine-Tailed Fox." Said Jiraiya, as he lifted up his left hand and held up his index finger with his other fingers forming a ball. "Basically, you will need a good bit of power to combat your opponents, and it is a power that can---"
"FORGET THAT!!!" shouted Naruto, surprising Jiraiya at this. "I... I can't just rely on that alone... power isn't enough... I've seen how power is good and all, but it can't be, SHOULDN'T BE, the only thing that helps me. You said to me once I was weak, but I'm not! I mean, sure, I can be but... but if I have to not rely on myself as well as whatever else I got, what kind of ninja am I!? Could I even say I could be Hokage... or even protect everyone that way?"
"Naruto... you..." Replied Jiraiya, surprise in his face.
"How can you so nonchalantly say power...? You saw as well as I did when those Akatsuki guys, Itachi and Sharkface, came after me. I tried to use the Fox's chakra... but it didn't help! It didn't even help when it was given to me when I fought Sasuke both of those times, because I couldn't even really help him." Lifting his head straight up to gaze at his mentor, Naruto then spoke up again. "So don't say I need to be using the fox's power only! If I'm gonna get stronger, I wanna learn MORE than just powerful stuff like the Summoning Jutsu or the Rasengan! I need to refine who I am as a ninja from the ground up on top of getting stronger!"
You can just tell the fact Naruto is seeing his weakness in one aspect, and that he needs to broaden who he is to be able to to stop anything bad from happening again, since in the story of TDW, he barely squeaked by against Sasuke, but he also got hurt pretty badly, and his drive to becoming stronger is to protect what is important to him, so he doesn't see anyone suffer, even wanting to try to reach out to Sasuke because regardless of how far Sasuke is in the beginning, Naruto still sees him as his friend, and he feels that even if Sasuke got his dream, he'd still be alone and regret it, so he can't let him do that. I am still working on the third episode, at a real snail's pace, but... I feel like I can be satisfied with the result.
That is why I wanted to have it more ninja based instead of who can make the biggest crater or not. The story would have been more interesting and would have alot more twists. The ninjas should be able to succeed with skill and brains and not just by power level only. Unfortunately Naruto strayed away from that path.
That is why I wanted to have it more ninja based instead of who can make the biggest crater or not. The story would have been more interesting and would have alot more twists. The ninjas should be able to succeed with skill and brains and not just by power level only. Unfortunately Naruto strayed away from that path.
This is why I loved Shikamaru vs. Tayuya where it was much more a battle of brains rather than brawn.
Or how Itachi or others like Madara, the Sannin, the other Kagem etc. were well-known for their SKILL, not just pure power. Like Jiraiya vs, Pein was a show of Jiraiya using his brain as well as power with Sage Mode, allowing him to actually do "damage" to Pein during the fight despite getting heavily injured himself. Even Nagato himself admitted that it was due to the surprise and Jiraiya's lack of knowledge on the Rinnegan that he managed to beat Jiraiya and that if Jiraiya had prior knowledge of it, he himself would have lost. Or back in part one where Kisame admitted that even if he and Itachi were to fight together against Jiraiya, their best hope would be that they ALL die. This coming from someone who could easily beat a seven-tailed Bee single-handed.
It just became annoying how those (of previous generations) who have been boasted to have such high power AND skill were beaten and/or "surpassed" by Boruto's dad's generation (really, just Boruto's dad and Sasuke) largely because of just pure power.
This is why I loved Shikamaru vs. Tayuya where it was much more a battle of brains rather than brawn.
Or how Itachi or others like Madara, the Sannin, the other Kagem etc. were well-known for their SKILL, not just pure power. Like Jiraiya vs, Pein was a show of Jiraiya using his brain as well as power with Sage Mode, allowing him to actually do "damage" to Pein during the fight despite getting heavily injured himself. Even Nagato himself admitted that it was due to the surprise and Jiraiya's lack of knowledge on the Rinnegan that he managed to beat Jiraiya and that if Jiraiya had prior knowledge of it, he himself would have lost. Or back in part one where Kisame admitted that even if he and Itachi were to fight together against Jiraiya, their best hope would be that they ALL die. This coming from someone who could easily beat a seven-tailed Bee single-handed.
Sage Mode really gets usurped. It was supposed to be such a big deal. He could use it without being ugly like Jiraiya had to be and he had his own way to be still and gather energy. It was the only real type of finesse that Naruto even had since he just uses Rasengan, taijutsu, and shadow clones. But he doesn't even do that much with it. He doesn't fight Sasuke with it because he refuses to fight Sasuke.
Honestly the only good part of the manga even continuing after Pain is when Naruto gets to meet his mother. But the fact that he got to do that only shows how kittened up the ending was. If he never met her the ultimate downfall of the romance subplot would be a lot less poignantly miserable. So it was the best part, but it made everything else even worse.
Sage Mode really gets usurped. It was supposed to be such a big deal. He could use it without being ugly like Jiraiya had to be and he had his own way to be still and gather energy. It was the only real type of finesse that Naruto even had since he just uses Rasengan, taijutsu, and shadow clones. But he doesn't even do that much with it. He doesn't fight Sasuke with it because he refuses to fight Sasuke.
Honestly the only good part of the manga even continuing after Pain is when Naruto gets to meet his mother. But the fact that he got to do that only shows how kittened up the ending was. If he never met her the ultimate downfall of the romance subplot would be a lot less poignantly miserable. So it was the best part, but it made everything else even worse.
Yeah, I know what you mean, DrK, I also loved Kushina explaining to Naruto about the night that he was born and Kurama was unleashed on the village. Getting the kind of depth of love that Minato and Kushina had for each other, their village, and their son makes it more painful when you know they're gonna sacrifice themselves and seal Kurama into Naruto... :(
This topic certainly took a turn I wasn't expecting. Most everyone here has valid points, but I am asking, how would you SELL this? You could go on all you want about how you've "fixed" things from the original, but fans react badly to change. You would very much want to avoid a fallout similar to what happend with DmC or the new Ghostbusters. So, how would you advertise it and address the changes?
As far as the action goes, I would be open about my criticisms from the original; I'd say almost every fan agrees that the battles should have been more strategic.
As for the issue of pairings, I'd take inspiration from Robert Cargil, who co-wrote the Doctor Strange movie and addressed the casting of the Ancient One, saying "There was no way to win on that one."
Go to 18:00 to see what I'm talking about.
This would be my version of that:
Interviewer/Fan: May I ask, why'd you decide to pair up Naruto with Sakura in this series, where in the original he was paired with Hinata.
Me: I could tell you. What I will tell you is how every decision we could have made in regards to Naruto is a bad one. I understand and respect that NH is a fan-favorite, but Kishimoto created a lot of controversy going with his pairings, and for good reason. He deliberately mislead his fans on what the conclusion was going to be regarding this plot point, and in doing so I believe he created a lot of anxiety and even animosity within the fandom. To this day, they are still arguing, and even many non-shippers are bothered by how this issue was approached. We could have cut out all to most of the NS interactions from the original and gave NH more screentime, but then we would be disrespecting the history of the original canon. Kishimoto himself admitted he hinted at them becoming a couple to mislead the fans, and no matter how much you may like NH, that does make it difficult for others to enjoy it when it's development is side-lined for a red-herring.
I'll be quite frank with you: I don't like the NH and SS relationships as portrayed. So automatically, I'm not the person you want writing about those relationships. Now, some people are going to say "Well, why don't you just tweak or fix them", and I could. But then they wouldn't be the people fans fell in love with.
Now, I suppose we could have gone with something completely unexpected. We could have done SasuNaru. I know it's a huge deal in Japan, and I do consider myself a progressive guy. Still, if I want to do a yaoi couple, I want to do it right. You can't just throw two people of the same gender together, add in some fanservice and call it a day. You need to treat it like such a thing is the most normal thing in the world. I was afraid I couldn't do SasuNaru justice beyond their close bond, and decided not to.
Some would argue to pair up Naruto with a different or even original girl entirely. Sounds fun. But there's no basis for that in the original. How would a relationship between Naruto and Ino even work? Tenten? I don't know; Naruto never really interacted with either of them to strongly conclude where it would have gone, and we'd probably make no one happy in doing that.
Then, how about no pairings? Sounds like a safe bet, right? Well, we didn't think so. Falling in love is an important human emotion that we just can't omit, You really expect all these young people to continue into adulthood without falling in love, or bringing their romantic life front and center? How are we supposed to tell a story about generations then?
As you can see, there is no way to win on this issue. It's truly a Kobiyashi Maru of shipping. It all comes down to "How are you willing to lose?" In the end, we chose to die on the hill of NaruSaku. Their friendship was implied to become something more in the original canon plus other material (anime, games, merchandise).
We also wanted to improve the character of Sakura. And her main criticism was her feelings for Sasuke, which is a very valid criticism. Throughout the original, Sasuke nearly killed her and put her in a horrifying genjutsu. After they have a child, Sasuke just goes off into the forest with no contact, and as far as I was able to tell, no support. We knew immediately we did not feel comfortable putting her in that situation again, and work on developing her as a kunoichi. Some fans will get mad at us for tinkering with her character, just cause they want someone to hate. It's unfortunate, but there are also many others who already liked her and others that wanted her character fixed.
Some will also cry for Hinata's happiness, but unfortuantely she too is a problematic character. In spite of her popularity, truth is she had no impact on the story; I feel fans liked her personality and were so vocal about it because they wanted her to have a bigger role. Even Kishimoto was baffled by her popularity and intended for her to stay in the shadows. I'd say we've done a good job with her; she's a powerful kunoichi in her own right, has a personality of her own outside of Naruto, and takes he role as the clan heiress more seriously. I assure you, THIS version of Hinata will probably always care for Naruto, but she's strong enough to move on with her own life and be content with Naruto's happiness, no matter where that may lie.
Fan: So, you think everyone will be okay with it in the end?
Me: Well, you can't please everybody. Those that are dissatisfied have a right to voice their opinion. We just have to trust we won most everyone over and move on.
Still, I think the whole fandom has a right to be upset over this. Kishimoto himself said he went out of his way to make the conclusion of the romantic subplot uncertain, and in doing so created a divide that you just don't see in other fandoms. Not only is there controversy on where the evidence leads and should have lead, but in doing so I believe he damaged his own characters in many ways. The only way you could make this more awkward is to have Naruto have some weird, maybe even illegal fetish.
For those who are upset, I'll say this: I get it. I understand you feel betrayed. Many others felt betrayed by the original as well, and unfortunately there was no way of getting around this without hurting anybody. Just rest assured that this is not some form of revenge, nor do we mean this as some sort of disrespect. We only did what we felt was right for OUR story. Naruto and Hinata are still together in the original canon, and I think you will find many things to enjoy in this version as well, even if our cup of tea is not your tea.
Still, I would like to thank everyone on this matter by taking interest. Hopefully this will give other creators food for thought.
Interviewer: If Naruto were to have another alternate universe, would you like them to stick with what you've done or go back to the original?
Me: You know, I think the next one, if it's made, should pair Naruto and Sasuke together. NH had a turn, we had a turn with NS. I think it's fair that another ship got a fair share, right?
