descentfighter

Goodness, I would like to say I was one of those people who "knew all along" from taking away from the events in Chapter 3, but although I started to think about it then, I really didnt care or even like the pairing for a period of time, mostly cause for awhile Sakura's obsessive fangirlness and uselessness, as well as Naruto being a little too annoying for my taste at the beginning really turned me off to thinking about it. I became a huge NaruSaku fan basically during and after the Chuunin exams. Seeing Sakura's growth an development, inspired largely by Naruto's encouragement and actions as well as the realization of her own worth were truly a sight to behold. That she could be motivated to call Sasuke a coward because of what Naruto did basically sent a jolt of realization up my spine that maybe this friendship/relationship could happen.

I became super-obsessed of course after the whole business with Gaara and seeing Naruto's determination to save her during that fight. I began to admire Naruto more as a character because of his iron willed determination to protect his friends and those he loves (which for him can be argued are largely the same thing). I really relate to him on this point more than anything else as I have always been very close to my family and have grown up with 3 friends who have basically been like brothers to me. All of us for different reasons have had very difficult and troublesome times growing up and in many cases only the fact that I was there for others without fail, and that they were there for me kept us from giving up, making bad decisions, or in one case possibly dying. My father has always been the kind of person who said to me that family and not friends or anyone else is the only relationship that can last a lifetime. Given the people that I have lived with over my young but rather eventful life, I have in many ways made it my life goal to prove him wrong. My friends and of course my family are everything to me, and I will always give my all to help them in anyway I can, regardless of the cost to me, because at least the way I have grown up to see the world everything else it truly worthwhile in life if you can die knowing that there were people who you truly loved and trusted, and who wholeheartedly returned those feelings to you everything else is worth it. My friends inspire me, challenge me, and push me to do my best in everything, and I loved the way that Naruto and especially Sakura felt inspiried to do better and become stronger because of their friends.

I have also loved the way their relationship has developed since then. It was a great day for me reading Promise of Lifetime and watching Sakura finally truly understand and acknowledge Naruto for the kind of person he really truly is, especially in relation to her. All the moments since then have been pretty much priceless for me and it has been great to see their relationship develop especially post TS where they have both matured and their relationship, deepened by the common cause that drives them, as well as a healthy dose of typical adolescent flirtatious (some would say perverted to most ) moments. I love the progress of their relationship now because it has become of kind of deep and caring friendship, where love is not something being actively sought by either party but rather their love is something that is developing and growing out the way they interact, understand each other all too well, and how deeply they care for each other and their common friend. To me it is the description of how and what true love should be (at least the best you can get from a manga source), when two people accept and care for each other for exactly what they both represent and find reason to be together because of those very feelings. I will be a NaruSaku fan till the end, and can only hope that a Shonen weekly publication gives the author the ability to give us fans at least one truly meaningful and touching scene by the end between these two, in addition to the great moments of insight into their feels we have seen post TS. Sorry for it being so long lol

I can definitely understand the appeal of the whole forbidden and/or very difficult love, and thus the popularity it receives, and it can be understood that many people are looking for or enjoy seeing this when it comes the Manga stories they read. Thus, I can understand why there is such a prevalence of fan fiction for these pairings. The lack of actual material pointing to SasuSaku and especially any Yaoi pairing allow for much more freedom and room for imagination when writing stories. I mean sure fan fic authors can pick and choose cannon content when writing but honestly for those with a real creative imaginations and who are aware of everything in the story till now, how many of those people want to write about what is probably going to happen in some shape or form as evidenced by the story. Alot of people wont see the fun in that (although I sure do ). NaruSaku definitely wouldn't be bucking any trends in being a relationship that is different, unanticipated, or "out of the blue" but for a Shonen Manga Series I feel it breaks new ground among most popular series in providing a well done depiction of the development and maturation of lifelong friendship and love between two very well made characters (and yes I hated whiny, do nothing early volumes/eps Sakura a lot, I'm not too biased ) that when(if) the realization of their true relationship comes to pass it will be an enjoyable and pleasant experience for the readers rather than something that was expected and predestined like a lot of hero gets girl stories can be.

Again just my opinion, go easy on me

Sakura trying to bring back 4tail Naruto was truly a special moment for me as well, although I'm hoping my favorite moment is yet to come.

I think we all have to admit though that in terms of factual proof (not, but still funny), NaruSaku gained a major victory at the end of shippuden 48 in the post credits, where Naruto is carrying all of Sakura's purchases. Once the guy is getting dragged into shopping torture like that is pretty much a done deal .