94 replies to this topic

[Nawheetos]

I've seen people talking about a Sakura arc - maybe this is a trigger for some I-must-get-stronger training or mission or something? - either way I'd really like to know what's going on in her head. And she still doesn't know Sasuke is in Akatsuki does she? Can't wait to see that reaction.

I think Naruto's fight has been pretty cool. Will next week be a Big Talk with Nagato? Maybe we'll get some history then.

Plus, Naruto quoting Naruto that was cute

[Sakura Blossoms]

As far as the "mistranslation" goes I don't care either way because I think it will benefit our shipping because it shows Sakura being remorseful, probably because she realizes that she's never done anything for Naruto and she's supposed to be his friend and Hinata a girl he barely knows puts her life on the line for him. Maybe that's just how I interpreted that, I dunno.

Well, your interpretation is a little bit skewered I'm sorry to say, because what do you mean Sakura has never done anything for Naruto?

The amount of times that girl has put herself on the line for him, risked her life, run out into danger to help Naruto, most notably the time he went 4-tails for the first time in front of her, and he unintentionally injured her.

So, I'm really unclear how you came up with that particular statement of her 'not doing anything for him.'

[Jenskott]

Well, your interpretation is a little bit skewered I'm sorry to say, because what do you mean Sakura has never done anything for Naruto?

The amount of times that girl has put herself on the line for him, risked her life, run out into danger to help Naruto, most notably the time he went 4-tails for the first time in front of her, and he unintentionally injured her.

So, I'm really unclear how you came up with that particular statement of her 'not doing anything for him.'

I wouldn't presume from speaking for Ed, but I BELIEVE he mean Sakura's mindset is that, despite all things she's done for Naruto, she has never done something useful or significant for him. Of course that isn't the truth, but she may think that.

[Sakura Blossoms]

I wouldn't presume from speaking for Ed, but I BELIEVE he mean Sakura's mindset is that, despite all things she's done for Naruto, she has never done something useful or significant for him. Of course that isn't the truth, but she may think that.

I don't believe that she's thinking that at all, as she knows that she's done a lot for Naruto. She may think to herself that she has never run out and screamed "I LOVE YOU" randomly at him, but she has no reason to think that she hasn't always tried to help him out whenever she can.

[kage'e shoujo]

I don't believe that she's thinking that at all, as she knows that she's done a lot for Naruto. She may think to herself that she has never run out and screamed "I LOVE YOU" randomly at him, [b]but she has no reason to think that she hasn't always tried to help him out whenever she can.

Sakura, herself, has outright stated what she thinks about this: "I can only do the littlest things for Naruto." She obviously gives it her all, and we readers as well as Naruto see how hard she tries, but to Sakura, her efforts are useless because she saw how Naruto gives more, how he suffers for it, and she can't alleviate that.

This is Sakura's own interpretation of her actions. We readers do not see it as such. Naruto obviously do not see it as such. It is because of her he stopped relying on the dangerous Kyuubi, after all. Unfortunately, Sakura cannot see through Naruto's eyes and so does not realize how important her presence and prowess are to him.

[Sakura Blossoms]

And so the one time that Hinata pulls a kamikaze move out of thin air, while randomly yelling her love at the top of her lungs, is reason enough for Sakura to suddenly start thinking "that Hinata does so much for Naruto, whereas because I haven't pulled a suicidal stunt while proclaiming my undying love, I'm suddenly not worthy enough for Naruto?"

Because that's the general idea that I seem to be getting here from these posts.

That Hinata suicidal/screaming love proclomations = worthy of Naruto suddenly

While Sakura who has stood by Naruto's side, even though she hasn't confessed her love for him yet = not worthy

I understand that Sakura herself may think that she hasn't done enough, but that she isn't so insecure as to think that she hasn't done anything at all for him, in all the years that they've known each other and fought for each other.

[Jenskott]

And so the one time that Hinata pulls a kamikaze move out of thin air, while randomly yelling her love at the top of her lungs, is reason enough for Sakura to suddenly start thinking "that Hinata does so much for Naruto, whereas because I haven't pulled a suicidal stunt while proclaiming my undying love, I'm suddenly not worthy enough for Naruto?"

Because that's the general idea that I seem to be getting here from these posts.

That Hinata suicidal/screaming love proclomations = worthy of Naruto suddenly

While Sakura who has stood by Naruto's side, even though she hasn't confessed her love for him yet = not worthy

I understand that Sakura herself may think that she hasn't done enough, but that she isn't so insecure as to think that she hasn't done anything at all for him, in all the years that they've known each other and fought for each other.

I don't think I was implying that.

[kage'e shoujo]

And so the one time that Hinata pulls a kamikaze move out of thin air, while randomly yelling her love at the top of her lungs, is reason enough for Sakura to suddenly start thinking "that Hinata does so much for Naruto, whereas because I haven't pulled a suicidal stunt while proclaiming my undying love, I'm suddenly not worthy enough for Naruto?"

Because that's the general idea that I seem to be getting here from these posts.

That Hinata suicidal/screaming love proclomations = worthy of Naruto suddenly

While Sakura who has stood by Naruto's side, even though she hasn't confessed her love for him yet = not worthy

Uhm... Huh? I tried rereading the posts but I don't get that feel at all.

While I can't speak for other people, I never stated that Sakura thinks Hinata's stunt made her suddenly worthy of Naruto while Sakura suddenly becomes unworthy. There really isn't any talk of worthiness or lack thereof at all. Naruto isn't a prize. He's free to be in love with whoever he feels for and being worthy or not has nothing to do with it. If Sakura actually start thinking like that, this OTP will suddenly disappear from my list of pairings because that's just a douchy thing to do.

What I was trying to say though was that Sakura already has deep-rooted insecurities regarding her capabilities to be helpful to Naruto. And Hinata succeeding in helping Naruto while Sakura is already feeling this way compounded her sense of worthlessness. It doesn't have to be Hinata because it's not about Hinata. It's about Naruto and how other people succeed in helping him while she's there thinking she can't. It's about Sakura being too hard on herself, maginalizing the things she's done and amplifying the things she couldn't do.

It's about Sakura as a character, as well as her relationship with Naruto. Romance wasn't the focus at all.

I understand that Sakura herself may think that she hasn't done enough, but that she isn't so insecure as to think that she hasn't done anything at all for him, in all the years that they've known each other and fought for each other.

I don't know. Sakura has always been a very, very insecure person to me. Ino gave her confidence, but just like Sasuke was to Naruto, Ino was also a source of inferiority for Sakura. If Inner Sakura is anything to go by, Sakura has had to surpress a part of her because she thought she could fit in better with the persona she was outwardly portraying, meaning she had thought before that the person she was does not fit into whatever mold she thinks is the norm. It was so convincing even Ino bought it and was surprised to see a tough, determined, fiery personality under all that whimpering facade Sakura used to portray. Obviously, she's change. She's more confident, more secure in her sense of self. But given her doubts and deprecating view regarding being helpful to Naruto, I'm inclined to think she's not all that over being the insecure little girl she was. Less insecure than before, but not completely free of it.

Sakura line was, "I can only do the littlest things for Naruto." It's not that she thinks she hasn't done anything for him at all. It's just that her sense of self-worth is on the low side of the scale and to people like that, anything they do is inconsequential. Whereas to Naruto, her mere presence is already a comfort, Sakura is honing in on the fact that Naruto is a jinchuuriki and she cannot change that. That he allowed himself to be consumed so thoroughly to be powerful enough to bring Sasuke back and she was no help at all. That the Akatsuki is after him and she's not powerful enough to fight against them. The things she does that she consider "little" are actually a big help to Naruto but she doesn't see it that way. Which is why she marginalizes them and focus on what she couldn't/failed to do.

[Sakura Blossoms]

I don't know. Sakura has always been a very, very insecure person to me. Ino gave her confidence, but just like Sasuke was to Naruto, Ino was also a source of inferiority for Sakura. If Inner Sakura is anything to go by, Sakura has had to surpress a part of her because she thought she could fit in better with the persona she was outwardly portraying, meaning she had thought before that the person she was does not fit into whatever mold she thinks is the norm. It was so convincing even Ino bought it and was surprised to see a tough, determined, fiery personality under all that whimpering facade Sakura used to portray. Obviously, she's change. She's more confident, more secure in her sense of self. But given her doubts and deprecating view regarding being helpful to Naruto, I'm inclined to think she's not all that over being the insecure little girl she was. Less insecure than before, but not completely free of it.

Sakura line was, "I can only do the littlest things for Naruto." It's not that she thinks she hasn't done anything for him at all. It's just that her sense of self-worth is on the low side of the scale and to people like that, anything they do is inconsequential. Whereas to Naruto, her mere presence is already a comfort, Sakura is honing in on the fact that Naruto is a jinchuuriki and she cannot change that. That he allowed himself to be consumed so thoroughly to be powerful enough to bring Sasuke back and she was no help at all. That the Akatsuki is after him and she's not powerful enough to fight against them. The things she does that she consider "little" are actually a big help to Naruto but she doesn't see it that way. Which is why she marginalizes them and focus on what she couldn't/failed to do.

Then I think that I'm giving Kishimoto way more credit where Sakura's character is concerned then, because I want to believe that he has given her a strong core of belief in herself, and won't make her feel like a completely insecure, useless person to Naruto. I just don't like those kinds of characters, and that was always my main issue with Hinata. She had no backbone where it came to Naruto, and always looked down on herself and her abilities. And I'm not bashing her, just stating why I don't really like how her character was developed by Kishi. I don't want Sakura to think of herself in that light. Naruto certainly doesn't. And so, I guess it's just me who hopes to see Sakura not feel useless and worthless since she saw what Hinata did, and instead take strength from it, and think that if someone so shy and introverted as Hinata can confess her true feelings for Naruto, it will make her examine her own feelings for him.

[Mik3]

I agree with Sakubloss, I don't think she suddenly questions herself in regards to being helpful to Naruto. Shes been there for him and remained his friend for a long while now. Its not something the suddenly gets topped

[Derock]

Well, maybe she's having self-doubt. Hearing Hinata trying to save and risked her life to save Naruto, it brings to the reason why she done the little things for Naruto. Right now, I think its the best way to start the Sakura arc (before Danzou -yes he's still alive- manage to take over the now destroyed village). The arc can focus on more development for Sakura and help her answer her question about her feelings for Naruto.

[Sakura Blossoms]

Well, maybe she's having self-doubt. Hearing Hinata trying to save and risked her life to save Naruto, it brings to the reason why she done the little things for Naruto. Right now, I think its the best way to start the Sakura arc (before Danzou -yes he's still alive- manage to take over the now destroyed village). The arc can focus on more development for Sakura and help her answer her question about her feelings for Naruto.

It's such a cliched way to do it, but I guess as long as the end result is NaruSaku, it's all good

[kage'e shoujo]

I'm not gonna touch your comments on Hinata because we see her too differently to come to a discussion but being insecure doesn't really equate to being useless. Hinata's problem, besides the timidity ingrained within her by the societal expectations her rank and status suffocated her with, was her tendency to give up, which she's been striving to change from the moment we see her. Sakura, ever since, has been as determined and stubborn as Naruto. Therein lies the difference.

Then I think that I'm giving Kishimoto way more credit where Sakura's character is concerned then, because I want to believe that he has given her a strong core of belief in herself, and won't make her feel like a completely insecure, useless person to Naruto.

Again, let me just say: insecure != useless. It doesn't really go hand in hand with not having a core of belief in themselves either. I mean, Naruto? Naruto's a pretty insecure person himself. I doubt you can say he has a lack of belief in himself, don't you?

Being insecure means a person lacks confidence in certain areas of themselves. For Sakura, it used to be different things (her forehead, being inferior to Ino, not being able to help Sasuke pre-timeskip). Right now, it's that her capacity to help Naruto is limited. Inner Sakura should have been enough to let us know that Sakura has confidence in other areas that she knows she excels at. Her control, her intelligence. She works hard for these things and she's proud of what she accomplishes. Unlike Hinata who used to give up a lot, Sakura is exactly like Naruto in that she works harder on what she knows she's bad at. So I don't really see why her current sense of low self-worth is a bad thing when it's often been the prelude to great things from her.

[kawarimi]

Well, your interpretation is a little bit skewered I'm sorry to say, because what do you mean Sakura has never done anything for Naruto?

The amount of times that girl has put herself on the line for him, risked her life, run out into danger to help Naruto, most notably the time he went 4-tails for the first time in front of her, and he unintentionally injured her.

So, I'm really unclear how you came up with that particular statement of her 'not doing anything for him.'

I just wanted to comment that I've gotten the same impression of Sakura as kage'e shoujo.

You point out that Sakura has most notably helped Naruto when she ran to him in 4-tail mode. And yet it is right after that action that Sakura says the line, "I only do the smallest things for Naruto".

......

[Sakura Blossoms]

I just wanted to comment that I've gotten the same impression of Sakura as kage'e shoujo.

You point out that Sakura has most notably helped Naruto when she ran to him in 4-tail mode. And yet it is right after that action that Sakura says the line, "I only do the smallest things for Naruto".

......

And I already said that while she has said this, I personally hope that she takes strength from Hinata's actions, and not look even further down on herself. I wasn't debating the point any further

[kawarimi]

And I already said that while she has said this, I personally hope that she takes strength from Hinata's actions, and not look even further down on herself. I wasn't debating the point any further

Sorry, my misunderstanding then - it seemed you disagreed that Sakura doesn't have areas of self-doubt. Maybe I quoted the wrong post for my reply. It's been established since the Chuunin arc and it's an obstacle through which Kishi has been developing her character, even to the latest chapter in Part 2. I've seen many posts over the years of people claiming Sakura has no self-doubt anymore, so from your posts, I was under the impression you fell in that camp.

All characters have something they have to overcome in themselves - Sakura's belief and confidence in herself has been hers since childhood. Its these areas that need development in each character that has endeared me to the series in the first place. They all have flaws and they all have to grow in one way or another over the series.

[Chivalrysae]

I totally agree. Sakura has gotten stronger both as a ninja and I think she does have more confidence than before. But I feel that she feels her contributions are less, because she isn't at the forefront of the confrontations. Yes, she does contribute more now than before (which is part of her development), but the stakes for Naruto and the rest are higher as well.

And I do think that Sakura is intelligent enough to figure out Hinata has feelings for Naruto. I think at least half of the rookie 9 were thinking that. The fact that Hinata went out to try to help Naruto against orders just confirmed it for Sakura. Regardless of whether the word "love" was used, she would have know that some feelings were involved. I agree that one act of sacrafice, does not measure up to all the things Sakura has done or tried to do for Naruto as their relationship progressed. But if you care about someone (whether Sakura admits it or not), you never want to see anyone else do something for them ::fuels jealousy::. Maybe Hinata's survival would allow some comedic competition between the two girls. Like who will offer to feed Naruto Ramen when he returns injured.

I do expect Naruto to go in search of Nagato next and I would really like to see Naruto have an answer to deliver him. And you will have to wonder if Naruto will actually pity him once he does see him. With all the coughing up blood and the fact that he could use about 10 bowls of Ramen, maybe Naruto will try to take the higher road. I really don't expect a fight to the death between the two.

[849sgh]

About the color of Nagato's hair being red instead of black, the lower pic of Nagato on the color page is eerily similar to how the sick Orochimaru looked, right before Sasuke confronted him. Perhaps this is why Kishimoto had to change colors, so that they wouldn't be clones. Same hairstyle and all...

Edited by 849sgh, 03 April 2009 - 05:26 PM.

[alucard]

I wonder how Sakura is going to take that Hinata loves Naruto.... I still have faith but does this mean we might see some drama happening? (granted this doenst turn into a love/drama manga ) grrr I wanna know what they will do for the answer to eachother.

*prediction* they move to sand village or something as konoha is rebuilt.

[Chivalrysae]

I wonder if he will be concerned with Hinata once he returns to the village. Maybe running up to her as Sakura continues to heal her. That may help Sakura realize that he may be slipping away from her as well and she would realize she needs to step it up. And maybe a little jealous too.

I really don't think Kishi will have Naruto stay in the village for too long and help rebuild it once the fight is over. The only was I see him staying in the village is if Killer Bee or Sasuke make an appearance in what is left of Konoha. Since Hinata is not a part of Naruto's Team, unless there are a lot of joint missions coming up, I think the long term pairing potential still resides with Naruto and Sakura. There will be more moments for them to have heart to heart conversations (not necessarily about each other, but to discuss how they feel about the events that just tok place). We've seen Sakura warm up to Naruto and how he empathizes with so many people.