MistFlower

Hey so I don't know really where to post this but I found a kickass NaruSaku fanfiction that hasn't gotten much recognition for how good it is.  All the characters are really in character and so far they've really done Sakura justice in this.  It also gives the spotlight to other characters.  Check it out! 

 

Link:  https://www.fanficti...60/1/Burning-On

The ending to me was terrible, and not because of the pairings. I would've been totally fine with Naruto getting with Hinata if it had been developed properly and done well, like Naruto and Sakura almost was. My problem is with the lack of character consistency and the utter disappointment Naruto as a characer became.

The overall biggest problem I have is how Kishimoto decided to portray Naruto as a parent. Naruto, having suffered a tragic and lonely past, would no way in Hell ever had "been too busy" for his children. He never would've neglected them, to the point that Sasuke, SASUKE becomes the parental figure. That's just asinine and completely ridiculous, and it's just appalling at the amount of people who have accepted that. It's so out of character and it goes against everything he ever stood for.

Also, just about every relationship that was ever significant to Naruto in the series was completely sidelined for the sake of Hinata's happiness. Where were the moments with Iruka, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sai, Yamato, Sakura, and Sasuke that should've taken place post war?? Where the heck did all the development between the main character and all those ones go? What became of those relationships?? Oh, don't worry. You won't find them in the last chapter, or in the Last movie. Instead, you'll find Hinata knitting a scarf, and all the evidence you'd need of "what was clearly the most important relationship in the series, NaruHina, even though it was never developed".

Last but not least, I have to mention the plot holes. Dear Lord, there were more plot holes than there were kids in this ending. So many threads were not connected and so many things were just...left. Team Taka just...died. All the resolution that was supposed to happen between Team 7, which is arguably the emotional heart of the series, was nowhere to be found. All the post war recovery and reconstruction was gone. The last we saw of a bunch of the characters at the end was them in freaking cocoons...agh. There's so much more I can't even list. It feels incredibly incomplete, and I am still incredibly disappointed after investing so much into this series.

I'm sorry if I sound incredibly salty with this, I just never got to express this when the final chapter came out and I guess I'm just sad because it ruined one of my favorite anime characters ever.

I'm waiting for all of that to get exposed actually.  Because I honestly don't think that NH/SS was planned from the get go.  There is SO much evidence against that BS.

I think the NH damage is already done.  I just question what really happened to this manga.  Because I'm not buying the thing about NaruHina being planned early, because, c'mon, we all know that's a load of crap.  I honestly think something fishy went on...because even after everything I still want to believe that Kishi isn't as despicable as it seems like he is right now.  I want to believe that I haven't been reading this wrong for so long.  I don't know, maybe it's just me being immature.

My problem with this all is that the manga has become focused on Naruto and Sasuke, despite the name of the series being Naruto.  Sasuke has always been an important piece, but Naruto used to always take center stage, mainly in part one.  It was the story of the underdog, knucklehead ninja that we could all relate to.  And while I liked Naruto's maturing in part two, the story became a lot more focused on Sasuke's affairs.  Not to mention that I kind of feel like Naruto is having hardly any character development in this overly drawn out, slow paced arc.  I don't know, it's just like the series has derailed from it's original roots and become a "Naruske overpowered sage fest" in complete disregard for the other characters.  I still like the series, but that just annoys me.

I am actually quite disappointed.  Not in the quality of the chapter, which I thought was decent, but the whole thing with Sakura.  I know it's pointless to talk about this because there's no way what I think could influence future events in the story, but I just can't think of a good reason Kishimoto would have to keep Sakura the way she has been the past few chapters.  I mean, all she's been doing is charging at Madara (which was brave, don't get me wrong, but kind of rash nonetheless) and crying about Sasuke.  What happened to the Sakura that was pumping Naruto's heart with her own hand? What happened to the Sakura that was healing the entire Shinobi Alliance?  What happened to the Sakura that asked for Naruto to not treat her as if she was less than him and Sasuke?  What happened to that confident Sakura?  I love her, I really do, but I really don't like what she's been doing lately.  I obviously don't hate her, but I can kind of see why people are starting to hate on Sakura's character.  I realize that she's much more than her haters see, but Kishi has been providing the haters with way too much fuel to their fires.  Like, come on.   

I really used to think that he might bring up the bench scene, but considering the fact that Kishi didn't even have a wake up scene in chapter 672, I'm really starting to doubt that.

 

At this point, I really don't know how he's going to go about making NS canon.  I definitely thought that Sakura would realize her feelings when Naruto was on his deathbed.  That, to me, was a logical assumption, because his potential death always has seemed to bring extreme emotion from her.  Examples of this are the 4 tails scene, the Pain fight, the confession, which all were instances of Sakura showing extreme care for Naruto, and, IMO, coming closer to the realization of her feelings.  This newest chapter was the golden opportunity, and Kishi didn't take it.  I'm really hoping Kishi has something good in mind, and I hope he executes it really well.

I used to think that this recent flood of hatred from Sakura was due to the fact that Sakura is getting screentime and powerups instead of characters that some fans would prefer.  I mean, I've always thought that people had a very skewed view of what Sakura was really all about, and that she got a lot, and I mean A LOT, of unnecessary hate over the years.  But now, I think a lot of this is just personal bias against her.  I mean, think about it, what were the main reasons people hated her?

 

1) Being useless. This one has no merit anymore. She has taken over Tsunade's "top medical ninja" position, which was very important when Tsunade did it, yet it is suddenly "less" important when Sakura does it.  She has developed the seal on her forehead, which provides her with more than her regular strength, which is already quite frightening in itself.  She gave a speech on helping Naruto, and again, when it is done by Hinata it is the most useful thing in the world, even promoting Hinata's status up to "Maine Heroine", yet when Sakura does something similar it becomes "completely unnecessary and useless".  She has also assisted in healing Naruto, Kakashi, and many other Shinobi, and this is all just in her recent developments in this war arc, mind you.  So, clearly, she is not useless anymore, so that should not be a reason people hate her, right?

 

2)Sakura's irrational feelings for Sasuke.  With this one, I can actually see the dislike.  Granted, I have never disliked her for this, but I can see where it is coming from.  It is not the reason for hating her for this, per say, that it ridiculous, but rather the double standards involved.  People seem to "hate" her for holding onto these feelings for Sasuke, when he has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever, and he tried to kill her on multiple occasions.  And I admit, it does hold her character back a bit.  However, people cant stand that she might be getting over him, either, if you see what I mean.  Sakura getting over Sasuke can be linked to her acting on her feelings for Naruto, which also exist.  What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that people hate her for her feelings for Sasuke, but also hate it when there is evidence that she is moving on from Sasuke.  It's a horrible double standard, in my opinion.

 

3)Sakura's development of romantic feelings for Naruto.  This one is directly linked with Number 2, and I think its a killer.  In my opinion, nothing but good would come out of Sakura falling for Naruto, which I believe she is doing/already has done.  Sakura would be happy, and so would Naruto.  And since she would have already been in love with him, he would not be a second choice.  Well, for some fans, it seems that seeing both Naruto and Sakura happy is just unbearable.  I mean, the slightest indication of romantic intentions from either side is constantly rebutted against, normally with remarks that hold no water.  This is just another example that people will hate her no matter what she does.

 

4)Sakura treats Naruto terribly. Oh for sure, had to include this one.  She heals him, cries for him, tries to protect him, defends him against Sasuke, tells the alliance to help him, runs to him in his K4 mode and gets injured, worries about him, hugs him, smiles at him, believes in him, defends his goals, fights to defend him in the Shinobi War, thinks of his feelings, and tries to comfort him when Jiraiya dies.  But yeah, she's a horrible person all the way.

 

5)Not as strong as Naruto and Sasuke. This is really the only other reason that I can think of that's worth mentioning, and I can't help but think, really?  No one, in the entire manga at this time, is as much of a powerhouse as Naruto and Sasuke.  And these people expect Sakura to be on par with them? No offense, I love Sakura, but that is not possible, for anyone, except maybe the Edo-Hokages and Madara, maybe.  Sakura is now one of the strongest in the K11, but she's not OP like her teammates.  This is so unjustified...ugh.

 

Well now that these reasons are listed, it seems as though all of them are either double standards or innacurate.  There are other reasons why she's hated, but I didn't feel like listing them, because they're kinda....pointless.  This is why I think that most of her hate nowadays stems form more personal bias against her character.  People can't seem to find really legitimate reasons to dislike her character anymore, other than the pairing-related petty stuff, so they look to bashing her.  This is just what I've seen lately, I'm not saying any of this is fact, heck for all I know, it could all be wrong.

 

Oh geez, I'm sorry this has gotten so long, I kind of ranted.  Heh, I'm still a newbie, so what do you expect?