Sakura is More Important To Naruto Than Hinata Is

This pairing war against the NaruHina shippers had to be one of the most obnoxious things in a very, very long time.


Since the Radical Naruto/Hinata shippers extremist are being so smug, here's a reminder: you guys enjoy but a hollow victory. You can't read back over the manga and ignore the fact Naruto loved Sakura for 699 chapters out of 700. Hinata was pairing fodder than never got much development, and neither did the relationship. You were "right" in the end, and yet Naruto/Sakura was the intended endgame pairing before Kishimoto capitulated. The manga reflects that fact, and the necessity of a movie to justify this BS pairing reflects that. You'll never be able to ignore that.



IMO the truth is that Hinata and Sakura were underdeveloped and poorly written. Hinata was almost never around Naruto for about ¾ of the story, even though it was clear what her feelings were. Sakura started out as a naive love struck girl who then kicked ass physically and mentally shortly after the time skip (Sai intro/Sasuke search arc) who then devolved back into a love struck teenage because…? If team 7 had 4 people in it including Hinata and she went on all those adventures with Naruto less people would give a fuss (I think).



Sakura became the worst character in the series IMO because she reverted back to her old self. I remember the first episode of Naruto I ever saw (Kakashi telling new Team 7 to steal bells). All 3 failed that “ninja test” for different reasons. Naruto failed because he never thought before he acted. At the end of the series he matures by becoming a more calculating person in his words and actions. Sasuke failed by taking independent actions without his teammates. He matures by realizing that he can’t accomplish any of his goals in life without support. Kakashi failed Sakura because she needed to get her head out of the clouds and stop obsessing over Sasuke so much. She matured in the end by…. Ohhh wait she didn’t.



With that said, people who say there is was NO evidence/foreshadowing for Sakura/Naruto to end up together must be dreaming. There is about as much evidence for Sakura as there is for Hinata, which confused the crap out of me when the series ended as to why Naruto and Sakura didn’t have any closure in the end (which not is properly addressed in the Last Naruto the movie). The evidence IMO pointed to Naruto confessing to Sakura in the end once he fulfilled his “promise” to her.



1.In the beginning of the series, it is revealed that Naruto has feelings for Sakura.
-Sakura knows of these affections (unbeknownst to him) thanks to Sai, but her feelings for him (according to the Databooks) are confused and unspecified.


2. Kushina's dying wish was for Naruto to find a girl like her so that Naruto can receive her love even when she was gone. Sakura was compared to Kushina by Naruto's father, noticing their striking resemblance in personality.


3. After Kaguya is defeated, Naruto talks with Minato, asking him to tell Kushina that he is keeping all her wishes. Kakashi and Sakura are shown staring at him blankly when he says that his feet aren't always properly washed. He eventually remembers his mother's wish for Naruto to find a girl like her, but starts stammering and eventually says that he hasn't quite fulfilled everything Kushina asked.


4. Throughout the series, Naruto and Sakura have been shown to share mutual admiration and strong respect for one another.


5.In Iruka's lesson of Heaven and Earth, he makes a real-world example of Naruto and Sakura, showing that each of them can't survive without the other.


6.Sakura has been shown to get angry and yell at people who insult Naruto, such as Sai and even Sasuke, who was her crush.


7.Sakura has been teased and/or pointed out as Naruto's girlfriend by Konohamaru, Gamakichi, and Minato respectively, among others.


8.Despite having feelings for Sakura, Naruto acknowledges her feelings for Sasuke. He also made a "lifetime promise" to bring Sasuke home, which is seen as both a positive and negative element of their relationship.


9.Sakura has shed tears for Naruto on numerous occasions whether due to his life being in danger or simply due to his commendable words and actions.


10.Naruto has been shown to recklessly save Sakura numerous times when her life was in danger, likely more than anyone else has


11.Sakura is shown to be openly protective over Naruto and constantly concerned for his well-being.
Additionally, Sakura realizes that Naruto has done a lot for her and wishes to repay the debts outside of "small and insignificant" things such as healing him.


12.Sakura greatly admires Naruto, particularly after he defeated Nagato.


13.Naruto and Sakura are known to constantly bicker, often ending with Sakura comically punching Naruto for being stupid, although they quickly get over each one.


14. When healing Naruto after he turned kyuubi against orochimaru, Sakura expresses her desire to be useful to Naruto. Despite her wound, she continues to heal the Uzumaki and soon asks Yamato to teach her the technique to stop Naruto's Kyubi form. She is quickly saddened when he tells her that he was the only who had this ability, saying that, as usual, the things she can do for Naruto are small and meaningless. Noticing this and her wound, Yamato claims that the important thing is Sakura's strong feelings, causing her to look up in confusion. Smiling, Yamato tries to say that he can tell she likes him by just looking at her, but he is quickly cut off as Naruto begins to awaken.


15. At the end of the Sai/Sasuke arc, Naruto complains he can’t eat because of his broken arm and Sakura, seductively moving her chair and leaning in closer to him, gives him a flirtatious look and offers to feed him, which leaves him happily surprised and blushing.


16. Naruto who is still walking through the village has a flashback about the encounter he had with Sasuke and just as he snaps out of his trance, Sakura and Sai arrive to see him sitting on a bench. Naruto then questions Sai's presence and complains that both Sakura and Sai interrupted him while he was devising a plan to go with Sakura on a date.


17. After Karui beats up naruto after he wouldn’t give any information on sasuke, Sai asks Naruto if he likes Sakura (Notice this happened after the Pain arc, wherein Hinata professed her love towards Naruto) Naruto said that he couldn’t because he didn’t keep his promise with Sakura (to bring Sasuke back).



In conclusion, based on this evidence, I can see why many people Including myself believed that Naruto would end up with Sakura (and were disappointed in the end), just as I can see how kitten the minimal evidence that caused Hinata to end up with Naruto in the end. I just wish Kishimoto hadn’t turned Sakura from IMO the worst to the best and then back to the worst female character in Naruto, and Hinata from an undeveloped minor secondary character that is not in most of the story to the main character’s significant other without having a more concrete visible relationship in the end. Ultimately I think Kishimoto just didn’t know how to develop female characters in the series which was a factor in my disliking of the pairings in the end.



Hinata's "love" to Naruto... well minus how unlike naruto, Sasuke tried to kill Sakura multiple times. But then also in that sense, naruto never gave up on Sasuke even though he tried to kill naruto multiple times. It's sort of unfair to glorify how Naruto never gave up on his 'brother' while Sakura is always viewed as someone who can't get over an infatuation.



In the second part of the series, you get lost on her true feelings. At one point, it seems like she's in love with Naruto and now just views Sasuke as a teammate she wants to save because she's loyal to him, just as Naruto is loyal to him. She even tried to kill Sasuke herself because she wanted to free both of them of this burden... though it can also be viewed as selfish since she tried to get mixed up in something she doesn't understand (my understanding was that team 7 kept her out of the loop A LOT; e.g. her not knowing how strong the bond between Sasuke and naruto was, as shown at the end before the time skip, and her believing that naruto was just trying to save Sasuke because he promised her.)



It's hard to say why Sakura still loves sasuke, though it's for sure that she's loyal to sasuke AND naruto. During the war, you don't know if she still loves him since she just remembers him when she got that love confession from the shinobi soldier. It's never really explained and kishimoto never really tries. He just always makes hint in their relationship. Even during The Last, he doesn't even touch their relationship. For all we know, the time between when sasuke left and when they had Sarada, it took quite a while for them to actually get together.



Sakura's love for Sasuke never had a chance to develop, hence her inability to let go. Not to mention, as she states in the last movie, a girl never gets over her first love... which is actually true for a lot of people in reality. You can't blame her for something that makes her human, especially when there are so many things left unspoken.



The fact of the matter is that kishimoto never expands on sakura's feelings that much that it's unfair to say she has some sort of 'undying' love for sasuke. You can tell she's sad about how life was so cruel to him and wants to help, just like how any good friend or teammate would want to do. Just because she had a crush on him when she was TWELVE, people forget that she's also a kunoichi and a friend. Her bond with sasuke may not be as strong as the bond shared by Naruto and sasuke (especially since sasuke only viewed her as an annoying girl who'd never understand him, so he never gave her a chance to let her in, and rightfully at times since sakura was only 12 and still maturing in parts of her personality like any normal 12 year old who hasn't experienced horrible trauma in their life) but I'd like to believe she's a sensitive character who cherishes her precious people.



The direction Kishimoto took in Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata's relationships has been flipped completely if these are indeed the final couples. Sasuke and Sakura is just... Incomprehensible. The man that tried to take her life several times and has never shown an interest in her has become her husband? When I go back and read through earlier Shippuden, as well as the anime, we see Sakura's character development in regards to overcoming her love for Sasuke. We are given heavy hints to Sakura's newfound love for Naruto, something that was never done for Hinata as we outright knew her feelings for Naruto from the beginning, albeit them stemming mostly from admiration than actual personal contact with him. Furthermore, Hinata's character development during the final arc also feels rushed. Killing Neji only to spark an intimate moment with Naruto and motivate him? It does not flow well and seems inconsistent, as we are given only a few lines from Hinata highlighting her passion to fight for Naruto during the war beforehand. If these leaks are true, Kishimoto has missed out on what would feel like a more complete Sakura story: the story of a woman struggling to bring back the boy she loves, constantly being hurt, but then overcoming her naivety in womanhood to love the man that has stood by her side not only seeking the same goal, but protecting her until the very end.



This is indeed a frustrating ship to go down with, because it defies cohesive storytelling. We see two characters constantly finding themselves in conflict trying to bring back a friend they both care about together, and a partnership develops, one in which deep feelings for one another possibly begin to blossom. We see Sakura present during key shifts in Naruto's life, in his self-discovery and struggle. We see parallels of Naruto's mother and Sakura with almost undeniable evidence of their romantic feelings for one another. But now we see a woman fall for the man that attempted to take her life in his indifference, which is not only a huge step back in character development, but just downright creepy. Naruto's relationship with Hinata is similar, and although it may have been forged out of kindness, there really was no deep, intimate relationship that connected these two characters. Naruto has always looked to Sakura when asked about his love, and for someone as stubborn and passionate as him, dismissing his feelings for Sakura is an even bigger step back in his character development.



I could ramble on and on but if this is truly what Kishimoto has finalized, it is possibly one of the most unsatisfying pairing endings I've experienced. Then again, Naruto as a series has never truly focused on strong romantic character development (unless what I've seen leaked is fake and Kishimoto redeems Sakura and Naruto's relationship). The shipping for this story has been a wild ride and it is a really sad defeat, in cohesive logic behind this conclusion is non existent.