So, there have been a few posts that have perfectly summed things up for me. Konohakitten's comment that she can't even like Naruto's kids, and MissSoupy's comment that she can't find joy in Naruto's being hokage really hit home. After looking forward to the final resolution for so long, I'm robbed of even that. I can't be happy for Naruto. Which made me think....
Who's really was the main pairing? Was it truly NH, just because Naruto is the main hero and the title character?
Or was it SasuSaku, and the NaruHina pairing happened because that's just the way it had to be?
Bear with me here....
Sasuke is the only one that didn't express a desire for someone or a hope for a future life. He didn't care. Not once. Yet in the end, he is awarded Sakura. The ending revolved entirely around Sasuke's redemption, his voice was carried over the timeskip images and his meagre acknowledgement of Sakura was the only romance that was shown in the manga.
Naruto's last words in the manga were "Sakura-chan." No matter what happens in the movie, it will never exist in the books. Ten years from now, 20 years from now, libaries and used book stores will still have copies of the series. Naruto and Sakura's build up will be there, but never Naruto and Hinata's supposed romance. Just a head-scratching ending that's feels nothing like the rest of the series.
So if Naruto's romance, Naruto's storyline was the most important of the book, why wasn't it shown and justified instead of Sasuke's? Sasuke's lack of a prison sentence is explained. His decision to continue wandering is show and justified, and his returned interest in Sakura is shown. And then it's the end. Naruto is shown as a rather stern hokage and father, and Hinata is shown as his docile wife. No explanation.
So I've thought about it over the last day and a half:
Sasuke got someone he didn't want, and didn't work for.
Naruto didn't get who he wanted, though he'd worked his hardest.
Who's was the most important pairing? Was it NH, and then SS had to happen? Or was it in fact another tip to Sasuke in a long line of thing's going unfairly in Sasuke's direction, and then pairing Naruto and Hinata is just the natural consequence?
It's just a thought, but I'm curious, in the end, looking at it as a whole, who was the more important character here? Sasuke's story is fully resolved, but Naruto's story ends with the audience (well, me at least) unable to take joy in his future.
So who got the relationship of their dreams, who saw the fulfillment of his heart's wish? Sasuke or Naruto? Or neither? In the end, which was the main pairing? NH and then SS? Or was it SS which opened the door for NH?