In my mind Kishimoto was forced to do this, how could he ruin his own manga otherwise? As bad a writer as he might be, it's obvious he was building up to a NaruSaku ending.
Hi, I'm also new. I posted this to tumblr a few days ago but couldn't figure out how to make it show up in the narusaku tag even though I tagged it. I'm gonna copy it here. This only applies if after all is said and done Kishi goes for the NH route.
Some of you may be upset about this movie but there is no need to be.
The movie might as well be a NarutoxTenTen movie. Sure it’s canon, but It’s laughable to even take it seriously.
NaruHina is not a rival pairing at all. It has about as much development as NarutoxKisame.
The manga is filled with NS moments and interactions, but what does NH have? Some pages during the chuunin exam and a chapter during the Obito fight? I think that’s pretty much it IIRC.
So don’t be sad. In the end we may not get the closure we wanted but with this being shounen manga it was never going to be more than a few pages, and we still got everything else.