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So now returning to the theme of love, the question becomes of how important is love to Naruto, both for the character and for the story. Will the realism, the level of detail be ruined if love is but a minor part of the story? Can Naruto's character be properly portrayed without much of this theme? If you were to write Naruto's story, is love required?
I can't see any way to write Naruto and not include love into the equation. Well, let me backtrack on that, I can't see any way to write Naruto, not include love and have it be
good. I don't usually like shonen. I'm not interested in ball measuring contests and who has the most flashy and ridiculous attack, and who's the strongest. Naruto is not about these things, even though it does have them.
First off, the manga basically centers around the fact that Naruto loves Sasuke. This is kinda amazing (or completely justified depending on how you view it) when you realize where Naruto is coming from; For a long time, no one has ever shown Naruto love. It's crazy how he is able to find it in himself to love Sasuke so much.
It's also somewhat tragic, because I think with Sasuke, Naruto imprinted like a duckling. He's so crazy over getting Sasuke back as if he's in danger of losing something that can never be replaced.
While a lot of this is post timeskip, pre-timeskip Kishimoto repeatedly beat into readers that true strength comes from protecting the people you love. Naruto was able to defeat Gaara because he wanted to protect Sakura (and Sasuke).
Speaking of Gaara, he's also suffered so much because of love. His mother doesn't love him, she hates him so much that she wishes a horrible life upon him and names him after a perversion of love. The villagers treat him as a monster, his father treats him as a double edged sword, and his siblings are too scared to be in his presence. When you think about it, I think all Gaara wanted is something, someone to love. The one person he opened his heart to, the one person who treated him like the human he is, the person who told Gaara that love would heal the pain he feels, betrayed him. Gaara was utterly destroyed by this.
Gaara tries to kill Lee after he sees how much Gai loves his student. And one of my favorite parts in the manga ever, is the whole surgery process with Tsunade, Lee and Gai. It still chokes me up whenever I revisit it.
Jiraiya spoilers ahead:
Hell, Jiraiya listed love--Tsunade never returning his feelings--as one of his major failures before he died. Also, see Tsunade and Jiraiya's conversation before he left to fight Pein. Look at how Tsunade promises to open up to Jiraiya if he returns from his battle. I believe that when the news drops, we're going to see Tsunade hurting because another man in her life died.
For me, what is the most telling of Naruto (the series) is when I read the pilot a while back. There was very little action, and there was only one offensive jutsu outside of henge. There was no ninja academy, no chuunin tournaments, no measures of strengths. The village elder feared Naruto would become just like his father (the Kyuubi) if he continued on the path he was on. Naruto's "mission" was to find a human friend.
Romantic love may be subtle so far, but its impact is still significant. I do not agree with people who think we won't see a definitive Naruto pairing by the end of the manga. I'm a NaruSaku fan because of the way Kishimoto has developed the pairing from the very beginning to where we are now. There's still a ways to go, but I'm pretty confident that that's where it is going to end up.
So, when I think about it, love is nowhere near a minor point in Naruto. I don't think Kishi ever intended it to be that way.