Intro:
Coming up on 10 years since the original Naruto Manga ended. I have not really posted on here since then. Been in and out of the Naruto fandom, focusing on Naruto/Sakura fanfics sporadically. Definitely been binging the last two months and it's part of the reason why I wanted to post this.
I thought time would lessen the disappointment but unfortunately it has not. The sting and hurt is still there. I figure sharing my experience here might help me find some catharsis and resolution. A lot of my thoughts here are from my recollection as they happened and the series playing out in real time.
Recap:
As a kid, I always rooted for male and female protagonists to get together because their supportive relationships were often the most developed in fiction. I still enjoy exploring this dynamic in my reading today.
I first began watching the OG Naruto anime as a young teen, Wave Arc/Chunin Exams on Toonami (post DBZ).
Naruto was my favorite character. I was rooting for him the whole time, wanting him to be better, and seeing him overcome every obstacle was something that made me happy. I saw myself in Naruto, I always considered myself not talented, I was never popular and considered myself a sort of outcast, and I could never “get the girl”.
I did not like Sasuke’s character, I thought everything came to him to easy. I did not get the fascination of his appeal, and I just did not like his arrogance. He came off as conceded, and ungrateful. I thought he was a jerk.
Sakura was my favorite female character in the series, even though she may not have been the one I found the most attractive initially (had a huge crush on TenTen as a kid).
I liked & understood Naruto’s crush on Sakura, although I did not like her crush on Sasuke, especially in the early parts. I was rooting for Naruto to win “the girl” over.
I definitely felt sympathy for Hinata and her character. Although I never really liked her, I thought her eyes were weird, I didn’t like her original haircut (much better in Shippuden), and furthermore, I did not like her stalker-like behavior. I just found it unappealing. I did however see her potential as a character, especially during her conflict with Neji, and the Hyuga clan storyline (unsure if that was ever resolved in any way post-ending).
If you asked me as a kid who just watched the OG anime in the west, who would get together. I would have probably said Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Sakura. I wasn’t happy about it, and I shipped NaruSaku back then, but just the way the anime came across, it emphasized NH/SS. I did not get the appeal of either ships however.
I began to read the manga around 2007-2008 and became a regular every week, reading all the newly released chapters. The most apparent thing that I noticed in the Manga, especially in the early post-time skip period, was that the dynamic of Naruto & Sakura’s relationship had shifted. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but they just both seemed to grow closer. I began to actually have a lot of hope that they would end up together.
I first became convinced of the chance of them being together by being pointed to the most obvious parallel at the time, Jiraiya/Tsunade. It was apparent and obvious. Further exacerbated by the fact that at the time of Jiraiya’s death, he considered one of his greatest failure’s to be not winning over the woman he loved. For a work of fiction that consistently preaches surpassing the next generation, I was taken in hook, line and sinker of how NaruSaku was endgame.
The peak of Naruto in my opinion was always the Pain arc. The absolute tragedy of Jiraiya’s death, Sasuke’s descent into complete darkness and wanting to destroy the leaf village. Naruto’s sage mode training and success. Sakura calling out to Naruto as he arrives. The parallel of Naruto/Nagato. Sakura’s hug. It definitely seemed like a hard peak to top and felt like the climax of the story. In my opinion it set up Sasuke as the perfect “final villain”.
I didn’t pay much attention to Hinata’s confession, as she put it, it was quite selfish. In the manga, she only got a few panels, and she was completely blown away & outmatched. I’m aware the anime drew out her fight, which I thought was cheesy. Naruto himself instructed everyone to stay out of the fight for a reason. Whether it was Iruka, Sakura, Neji, or Shikamaru, seeing any of them being killed by Pain, would have set Naruto off the same way. Naruto just didn't want his comrades to die for him.
Post-Pain attack, when Sai revealed Naruto’s feelings for Sakura, I really, really thought this was it. She returned his feelings and now it was time for them to get together, and then deal with Sasuke, rescuing him or eliminating him, I didn’t mind either tbh.
Sakura's confession was a mixed bag for me. I wanted to believe her. At the time I convinced myself her feelings and what she said for Naruto was true. Naruto calling her out on lying was a gut punch. I was following many different forums at the time and the reactions were mixed. NH/SS fans were obviously saying Sakura was lying about her feelings for Naruto and trying to manipulate him. Myself and many NS fans believed her feelings for Naruto to be true however she had unresolved feelings for Sasuke, and but wanted to relieve Naruto of the burden of the PoaL.
I think 469 was an inflection point for many things. Kishimoto himself at the time even said, he said Sakura was an honest girl, and I felt it was appropriate to believe him. Many people around Kishi commented on how taken aback he was by the vitrol directed towards Sakura. I thought the chapter was not well written then and I still do now. I wish it was resolved differently.
If NaruSaku was endgame, I definitely felt like this is where things changed going forward. Although at the time I just brushed it off thinking that there was another layer in his writing. Kishi and the whole apparatus surrounding him did not help by throwing out all the “red herrings”. I was still a big believer post confession.
I thought Sai’s explanation of Sakura’s decision to kill Sasuke was stupid. “She loves him so much, she wants to kill him. She’s ok with Naruto hating her.” That never sat well with me. At the time I spun it as, her feelings for Naruto being so deep, she was willing to endure Naruto’s hatred, in order to protect him from himself.
I obviously enjoyed Naruto saving Sakura from Sasuke, I truly thought that would have been a turning point in whatever feelings Sakura had for Sasuke.
When Naruto met his mother, and she stated “Don’t find a weird one, find a girl like me”, I was beaming as mom had given her approval. Naruto himself thought Hinata was weird. Everything about Kushina and Sakura were similar, I thought it was a no brainer. The unique hair color, the hated forehead, their temperament, even their facial expressions. The one they loved complimenting their most hated feature. Minato complimenting Kushina’s red hair (Naruto, as Sasuke, complimenting Sakura’s forehead). THE SAME DAME POSE AND GLARE after saving their loved one.
I remember the stupidity of the love letter snippet and chapter 540. “The guy you love must be really great”. I look at this chapter, and just thought it was unnecessary, and why was Kishimoto going so far in order to convey SS. I remember people on here were puzzled, but we stuck through, thinking there was more planned.
I remember the stark contrast of when the Allied Shinobi force was rushing to Naruto and Bee in chapter 573. Hinata was focused solely on Naruto, and her journey with Naruto, I found it quite selfish. She wanted to stop chasing him and hold his hand by his side. Sakura, in contrast, voiced how Naruto is always taking on the burdens alone, and how they are going to be together, not just her but everyone.
I always think an author’s message that is being conveyed is important. I perceived both Hinata and Sakura very differently when reading their inner thoughts.
Hinata was very much “I, I, I”. She was focused on herself in relation to Naruto. Everything was about her, and her feelings. How she wanted to be by his side.
Sakura was the exact opposite, “We, we, we”. She took the approach once again of what’s best for Naruto, not herself. She understood the burdens Naruto bore and wanted to help him, alongside everyone else. She always had.
Selfishness (Hinata) vs Selflessness (Sakura). On the forums here, people were rejoicing at the line “but no matter what you say this time… we are going to be together…. Not just me…”, as a stark contrast to Sakura's thoughts in 540.
The Tobi/Obito revelation was pretty meh. I remember people thought it was contrived that Obito basically wanted the world to end because his love interest died. Fittingly, I thought another parallel played out here. Obito and Naruto commented on how they are both alike. Sakura reminded Obito of Rin against Kaguya.
615-616 Hinata had her critical moment after Neji's death. She helped Naruto recover from his funk, holding his hand, etc. While I am biased, I did not view this as romantic gesture. I thought it was closure for her character arc. Obviously, later interviews revealed it was meant to cement the romantic nature of NH, with Neji as a sort of "cupid." What frustrates me are the other misleading moments and red herrings that followed.
631, and 663 for me were the peak of NaruSaku in the manga. We had confirmation of Minato asking Sakura if she was Naruto’s girlfriend and Naruto responding “sorta”. The symbolism of Sakura having Naruto’s heart in her hands, was fantastic. The action of saving his life and supporting his dream, and how she won’t let him die. Peak Sakura and the absolute epitome of their relationship. Everyone could no longer deny the symbolism, and parallels between Naruto/Sakura & Minato/Kushina. I truly thought that this was ball game.
I still had hope, even during 693, the symbolism of Sakura pleading with Sasuke that she loves him, and him stabbing her through the heart (genjustsu). I figured the symbolism was of him “killing off” her feelings towards. Sasuke. Obviously, the pairings were set at this point due to production of The Last, etc.
Parallelism:
The concept of parallels in Naruto was a MASSIVE THEME. Naruto/Jiraiya/Hashirama, Sasuke/Orochimaru/Madara, Sakura/Tsunade. Team 7/Team Sannin/Team Minato. But yet the pairing parallel was the red herring. How each team was cut short or unable to be reconciled. It was a big part of the journey.
Parallels really told the story of Naruto/Sakura in my opinion. It was actually quite beautiful to see in real time play out as the Manga was ongoing. Jiraiya/Tsunade, Minato/Kushina, Obito/Rin. Each pairing did not materialize or was cut short. For me I thought that Naruto/Sakura was the culmination of being successful where their past predecessors did not.
What frustrated me is that people down play all these parallels regarding these pairings. Nobody ever questioned Jiraiya and Obito’s feelings. Yet Naruto’s love and feelings were downplayed.
Reflecting:
Looking at all this now, I felt like the latter stages of the manga were a ping pong of “pairing” moments with each fan base claiming victory or defeat. The last 100 chapters I was sort of following along just to see if Naruto and Sakura would end up together. It almost felt like the story at this point was an afterthought. I just knew that Naruto had to fight Sasuke one final time in order for the manga to end.
I am disappointed. I am disappointed with the author. I am disappointed with the story. I am disappointed with the titular character, Naruto and how he ended up. I am ultimately disappointed with myself.
I am unsure as to whether I gaslit myself into believing this ship could sail.
If I take Kishi at his word (canon pairings were always endgame), then he did an absolute piss poor job as a writer to convey those pairings. Ultimately this is what I felt derailed the story in its later stages.
In the Naruto community, on here, on Reddit, on Youtube and throughout, it is quite interesting to see the acknowledgement of how badly the pairing wars messed up the main story of Naruto. It is very telling that the amount of material pumped out (trash spin off, movies, novels, etc) after the series ended in order to paper over the gigantic chasms left by Kishi.
There is a lot of guesswork as to how everything went down when Kishimoto was writing most of the Manga. I do not think it will ever really come to light what decisions were made and why. As therapeutic as it is to type everything out, the ending still stings.
I’d assume most of them were made for money, and engagement. I always found it odd that more people did not support NaruSaku. Naruto's feelings for Sakura were always put on display in the Manga. I always believed in him and never questioned his feelings. I still find it insulting to de-legitimize his feelings for Sakura, as wanting to "one-up" Sasuke, planned or not.
The unanswered question of “well why didn’t he develop the canon pairings more?”. It could simply be that he didn’t know how to. He himself admitted he cannot write female characters or romance. It’s not really surprising in retrospect. I think that is a big reason why he stepped away from the franchise after the manga ended. Funny enough, Kishi wrote the Minato Spiraling Vortex one-shot, and it had a TON of parallels…...
I’m not an author, but I do generally believe any good story always has a “Show, don’t tell”, theme.
Kishimoto's depiction, his views, and his insights of Sakura/Sasuke relationship is incredibly toxic and misogynistic. As a man, who grew up exposed to spousal abuse in my childhood home. Seeing this portrayal of a relationship to a young audience is not ok, and it will never be ok. It can never be sane washed. Their relationship, or lack of one, in Boruto is quite telling.
There were many points in the manga where Naruto & Hinata’s romantic relationship could have been built upon, but it wasn’t for some reason. A movie retconning primary elements of the manga doesn’t change the poor execution of it. Naruto never once expressed in Hinata in the entirety of the manga, full stop.
I like to think that Naruto and Sakura’s relationship was one of maturity, mutual admiration, acknowledgement, understanding, selflessness, and respect. I think there is something to be said about NaruSaku supporters and emotional maturity. I never understood the hate it got, considering that Naruto himself loved her. Sakura had so much potential as a character, I’m a sucker for strong female characters. It is heartening for me to see Sakura’s rise in popularity after some time has passed. Too little too late unfortunately.
From chapter 3 onwards, that was reinforced that they always tried to take care of each other. I took that as true love. Kishimoto showed that either overtly (NaruSaku was endgame but he was convinced/directed otherwise), or inadvertently (trolling). If Kishimoto’s intentions were to troll sections of the fanbase and keep them engaged, then he should rightly be called out for it.
Conclusion:
I still consider myself a Naruto/Sakura fan. My interpretation of their relationship, in the moment when I was in the middle of following the series is always going to ring true. It has always made the most sense to me. I believe I deserve that from Masashi Kishimoto.
I did not mean for this post to be this long; this was just me venting my thoughts. Ultimately my feelings of disappointment, and resentment lies with Masashi Kishimoto. His decisions to misdirect and write the story and his characters how he wrote them should bear the criticism and ire of a displeased fanbase.
Some believe he gave in to external pressure, and for a while I think I did too. However, I think in the back of my mind that gave me some sort of hope. Part of me thinks it is best for me to take him at his word (even though his word changes), for the sake of closure. I have not kept up with every interview since the ending of the manga so I don’t know everything that has come out. As stated earlier the snippets I have heard were mentioned above. Feel free to discuss or correct me if I am wrong.
If you are here with me at the end of this novel stream of consciousness, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m around sporadically, just to see what the community is up to. I’d like to still keep it alive and I hope many others are with me.
You are all awesome!
Best,
Sparty
