History Analysis / Naruto

!!'''Why Sasuke Went Off The Deep End''' by Raven Wilder

This is a turning point (in a later deleted tweet, [[WordOfStPaul Kishimoto's assistant]] mentions that "Naruto has stopped chasing Sakura since [that arc]"). During the story phase following this episode, the manga blatantly pushes Hinata as a love interest for Naruto, and downplays Sakura's prospects in that regard. As Sakura is running to aid Naruto in his final battle, she thinks "I will be there for you - [[LoveYouAndEverybody not just me, but everyone]]"; earlier, but more significantly, in [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim a move which she figures will cure Naruto of his destructive obsession with Sasuke]], Sakura confesses her love to Naruto with a speech that is a verbatim readout of the favorite talking points of the people who [[{{Shipping}} ship]] them together -- except Naruto calls her out for "Lying to Herself", in what suspiciously looks like a blatant TakeThatAudience. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata get cheesy scenes involving the phrase "[[EyesNeverLie I can see it in your eyes]]", and as ''she'' runs to aid Naruto in his FinalBattle, Hinata vows to walk beside him after the war and hold his hand. During the war, when Naruto is on the brink of despair, she gives him a nice pep talk and [[HoldingHands they actually hold hands]] -- which is an ''incredibly'' romantic gesture in Japan. OK, so it's obvious where this is now going, right?

'''Epilogue:''' A month or so after this essay was written, Kishimoto finally confirmed its conclusion, and he has been consistent with his response even years afterwards. "Naruto ending up with Hinata was decided in the very early stages of the manga," he has reiterated several times, and then added the aforementioned final piece of the puzzle: "So Naruto and Sakura being close was a deliberate mislead, a RedHerring, from the start. That's why scenes like Sakura being compared to Kushina, Naruto's mom, were introduced." He has also repeatedly stated that Sakura was never really intended to be Naruto's love interest, and she kind of naturally fell into the role of one-sided love interest (presumably to aggravate the rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke). Given all the above, Kishimoto expressed regret for creating "the messy LoveTriangle" between Hinata/Naruto/Sakura in the first place, and making a big deal of it as much as he did. The TrollingCreator theory, which many fans had called - and which Wiki/TVTropes had also called - has been finally confirmed by WordOfGod.

When the resolution was finally published, all hell broke loose. Some fans of the option that didn't happen, that have been strung along all those years only to be ultimately disappointed, went as far as to say [[FanonDiscontinuity "the manga ended 200 chapters ago"]] and [[HateDumb start a petition]] for banning ''Naruto'' in the US unless the ending was changed. And then, inevitably, some even went as far as to respond like [[http://i.imgur.com/Yv0gUdw.jpg this]]. If you've ever been to a really long-running [[ShipToShipCombat Shipping War]] before, and particularly if you're generally a fan of big damn coming-of-age stories, [[Franchise/HarryPotter all of this may seem oddly familiar to you from somewhere]].

** Umm, to be fair to your review, which I do understand and think was for the most part accurate, Kishimoto had, yes, decided long ago what the couples would, but in the moments that he was "on the fence", he didn't decide it was because it would make it "too absurd". Kishimoto himself stated that he decided against it because he thought having Sakura move on from Sasuke and fall in love with Naruto would make Sakura a [[InformedWrongness "terrible woman"]].

Note: This may come off as InsaneTrollLogic , but since this was removed from the Wallbangers page, I wasn't gonna let this observation die.

Then Tobi drops TheReveal about how the Leaf Village ordered the slaughter of the Uchihas and how Itachi, forced to commit such an atrocity against his own family, still loved Sasuke, tried to protect him, and was ultimately driven into suicice-by-proxy. Suddenly Sasuke is given an explanation for ''why'' Itachi's death brings him no joy, because, even if he could only guess at the truth through little hints (Itachi's tears after the massacre, his dying words to Sasuke), on some level he knew that Itachi wasn't the person he should be angry at.

Another factor fanning the flames was the various scenes and interactions introduced by the adaptations (such as {{Filler}} in the anime adaptation). The people behind those adaptations would blatantly [[ArmedWithCanon take sides]] on this whole issue, and their conflicting pushes would get the various shippers, like clockwork, to shout "oooh my feels" from one side and "lol this is not even canon" from the other. Both the anime team up until mid-Part II and CyberConnect2, responsible for the ''Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm'' video games, were very clearly hardcore Hinata fans and kept introducing arcs and interactions that put Hinata in the spotlight and portrayed her relationship with Naruto positively, especially during the hundreds of chapters where Hinata would up and disappear as she is wont to do. In contrast, during late Part II the anime team seemed to lean more towards Sakura, and kept inserting reminders that Sakura is still "the girl that Naruto loves" late into the game, during stretches of plot that in the manga failed to re-assert any such thing.

Part I shortly dabbles in the Sakura option by introducing Naruto's one-sided crush on her, having a moment between her and Naruto where Naruto says to her exactly the romantic nothing she had always fantasized about hearing from Sasuke (except she doesn't know it's him; fans of the pairing spent years obsessing about that precious moment where she would finally find out). Later, Sakura blushes at seeing Naruto display his increasing strength, which signals that the "Sakura likes Sasuke and that's it" equation may not be so set in stone as previously suspected. Then the Hinata option is introduced properly in an arc where Naruto sees Hinata almost killed by her homicidal cousin, and sympathizes with her plight so much that [[BloodOath he swears on her blood]] to kick his ass. He almost falters due to self-doubt, but she gives him [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre a very nice pep talk]] (this is kind of a running theme) and he succeeds. Looks nice, except that at this point Hinata [[OutOfFocus disappears off the face of the storyline]] and is not heard from again for a few hundreds of chapters (this is also kind of a running theme).

Part I shortly dabbles in the Sakura option by introducing Naruto's one-sided crush on her, having a moment between her and Naruto where Naruto says to her exactly the romantic nothing she had always fantasized about hearing from Sasuke (except she doesn't know it's him; fans of the pairing spent years obsessing about that precious moment where she would finally find out). Later, Sakura blushes at seeing Naruto display his increasing strength, which signals that the "Sakura likes Sasuke and that's it" equation may not be so set in stone as previously suspected. Then the Hinata option is introduced properly in an arc where Naruto sees Hinata almost killed by her homicidal cousin, and sympathizes with her plight so much that [[BloodOath he swears on her blood]] to kick his ass. He almost falters due to self-doubt, but she gives him [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre a very nice pep talk]] that kick-starts a genuine friendship between them (this is kind of a running theme) and he succeeds. Looks nice, except that at this point Hinata [[OutOfFocus disappears off the face of the storyline]] and is not heard from again for a few hundreds of chapters (this is also kind of a running theme).

Those few hundreds of chapters do contain a final relevant moment in Part I where Naruto witnesses Sakura's reaction to Sasuke being hospitalized and waking up, and sees them metaphorically drifting away from him, signifying his feelings that Sakura's feelings for Sasuke are so intense that they're a barrier between him and the two of them. As a curious aside, the very last time we see Naruto in Part I, it is Hinata who is shown watching him leave the village to train with Jiraya, while she promises that she'll also do her best to get stronger. But that's it for Part I, and come Part II begins the golden age of the Sakura option: Hinata, as mentioned, is MIA for arcs upon arcs; Sasuke, who was previously the lightning rod for all of Sakura's romantic affections, has [[FaceHeelTurn defected to the side of evil]] and become a massive douche; and the story becomes largely focused on Naruto and Sakura as main characters, and starts being coy regarding the possibility of Naruto's feelings for Sakura being reciprocated. Sakura asks Naruto whether she has become more "womanly" during his absence, their new sensei tells Sakura in regards to Naruto that "I can see that in reality, you..." and lets the readers fill in the blanks, and Naruto decides to never rely on his SuperPoweredEvilSide again, because it made him hurt Sakura.

Looks nice, except at that point Hinata returns for another OneSceneWonder (this is kind of a running theme). She gives a despairing Naruto a pep talk, confesses her undying love to him and performs a suicide charge at an apparently invincible villain because she absolutely can't stand aside and just let Naruto die; and for her trouble she is unceremoniously stabbed in the stomach, apparently to death. At this point [[DespairEventHorizon Naruto loses all reason to live for the first time ever]] and goes on his single most over-the-top [[UnstoppableRage berserk rampage]] in the series, which is supposed to result in a RocksFallEveryoneDies scenario, but [[DeusExMachina doesn't]].

This is a turning point (in a later deleted tweet, [[WordOfStPaul Kishimoto's assistant]] mentions that "Naruto has stopped chasing Sakura since [that arc]"). During the story phase following this episode, the manga blatantly pushes Hinata as a love interest for Naruto, and downplays Sakura's prospects in that regard. As Sakura is running to aid Naruto in his final battle, she thinks "I will be there for you - [[LoveYouAndEverybody not just me, but everyone]]"; earlier, but more significantly, in [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim a move which she figures will cure Naruto of his destructive obsession with Sasuke]], Sakura confesses her love to Naruto with a speech that is a verbatim readout of the favorite talking points of the people who [[{{Shipping}} ship]] them together... except [[FalseConfession she genuinely doesn't mean any of it]]. Naruto easily sees right through her, [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out for lying]], in what suspiciously looks like a blatant TakeThatAudience,
[[ShipSinking rejects her outright]] by telling her that he '''hates''' people who lie to themselves, and then he renews his "promise of a lifetime" from Part I not for her anymore, but for [[TrueCompanions his own reasons]]. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata get cheesy scenes involving the phrase "[[EyesNeverLie I can see it in your eyes]]" to each other and as ''she'' runs to aid Naruto in his FinalBattle, Hinata vows to walk beside him after the war and hold his hand. During the war, when Naruto is on the brink of despair, she gives him a nice pep talk and [[HoldingHands they actually hold hands]]--which is an ''incredibly'' romantic gesture in Japan. OK, so it's obvious where this is now going, right?

ButWaitTheresMore When everyone (except Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi) is shown falling under the influence of the [[LotusEaterMachine Infinite Tsukuyomi]] one by one, Hinata is the last person shown, and she mentally calls out to Naruto, [[MindlinkMates who hears her]] and immediately tries to rush to her aid. Then - in a final grand act of muddying the waters, and what may be seen as the author accepting and embracing the degree to which he had strung fans along - Naruto actually recalls the aforementioned conversation he had with his mother, talks about each and every point of the conversation one by one, and then when he reaches the part about finding a girl like her, he [[{{Beat}} gives a little pause]] and goes "Well! Anyway...", elegantly neglecting to address the issue at all. To further appreciate this nugget, this comes exactly ten chapters after he told the BigBad that "A mother should be happy when her sons become independent!!" But, of course, every final grand act requires an encore, which the author provides in the form of Sakura confessing her love to Sasuke ''again'', which he blows off ''again''. Was this the final cue that she will never stop loving him, no matter what? Was this the final straw before her finally deciding she is fed up with Sasuke and moving on? Better wait a few chapters to find out!

To make matters worse, the meta-text - the ''mythology'' of where the two characters came from, what influenced their beginnings, and what the author had to say about them in interviews - was equally suggestive and confusing. Hinata was a very early character thought of at the pilot stage, before the plot was even about hidden villages and ninjas, to serve a purpose that fans could only guess at, before her role was rewritten to be one of Naruto's ninja classmates. The author, when blatantly told that fans were hoping she would get her chance with Naruto, answered [[ShrugOfGod "I hope so, too"]]. Sakura, meanwhile, was known to have been introduced explicitly as a target for Naruto's romantic affections when the rest of the story had already more or less taken form; this was specifically due to advice from Kishimoto's editor, who took the same opportunity to suggest that Naruto should have a rival, thus leading to the creation and introduction of Sasuke. The story spared no opportunity to stress the strong parallelism between Naruto and Sakura and their previous-generation counterparts Jiraiya and Tsunade, who in turn drew heavy inspiration from their married namesakes from ''The Tale of The Gallant Jiraiya''. [[GodNeverSaidThat Insistent rumors]] were circulating that Kishimoto drew inspiration for Sakura's design from his wife, and that the love story that led to his own marriage was very similar to Naruto's parents' and what would be Naruto's and Sakura's: she was a "popular girl" who never gave him the time of day, but in the end, she learned to appreciate him and fell for him.

Another factor fanning the flames was the various scenes and interactions introduced by the adaptations (such as {{Filler}} in the anime adaptation). The people behind those adaptations would blatantly [[ArmedWithCanon take sides]] on this whole issue, and their conflicting pushes would get the various shippers, like clockwork, to shout "oooh my feels" from one side and "lol this is not even canon" from the other. Both the anime team up until mid-Part II and CyberConnect2, responsible for the ''Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm'' video games, were very clearly hardcore Hinata fans and kept introducing arcs and interactions that put Hinata in the spotlight and portrayed her relationship with Naruto positively, especially during the hundreds of chapters where Hinata would up and disappear as she is wont to do. In contrast, during late Part II the anime team seemed to lean more towards Sakura, and kept inserting reminders that Sakura is still the girl Naruto has a one-sided crush on late into the game, during stretches of plot that in the manga ''failed'' to re-assert any such thing. However, after the HoldingHands moment towards the end of the manga, the anime team gradually switched back to Hinata.

In the end, in the epilogue, Kishimoto finally laid all the commotion to rest. Naruto's true love interest, the one he ends up marrying and having two kids with, is Hinata, and [[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie the aforementioned movie]] is set to properly tell the story of how they fell in love and [[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds how the other option was laid to rest]]. But throughout all of this, fans went completely bonkers trying to make sense of all the subtle little pushes that way and the other. What matters more - who the hero had a one-sided crush on in the beginning, or who has always genuinely loved him? Parental parallels, or {{Unstoppable Rage}}s? Trailing comments, or {{Blood Oath}}s? CPR, or HoldingHands? [[FalseConfession Fake love confessions]] that the hero rejects outright, or [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove sincere love confessions]] that the hero doesn't directly respond to? The girl who, as [[BrutalHonesty brutally pointed out]] by [[JerkassHasAPoint her other teammate]], causes the hero a lot of emotional pain and actually has little in common with him outside of [[HotBlooded their similar personalities]], or the girl who [[YouAreNotAlone makes the hero feel better]] and [[BirdsOfAFeather has a lot in common with him]] despite their different personalities?[[note]]In retrospect, all of these comparisons make it clear that Hinata was pushed towards Naruto more than Sakura was.[[/note]] Priority in the creative process, or similarities to the cherished love story of the author actually doing the writing? Many fans were under the impression that the pairing that happened in the end was planned from the start, that the evidence and emotional pushes for it were all along more significant and treated as more of a big deal, that the other one was written as just a RomanticFalseLead that the author had just a little ''too'' much fun toying with. Other fans would have it that the author had no such plan at any point at all, other than the plan of profusely, earnestly {{troll}}ing the shippers on whichever whim caught him.

'''Epilogue:''' A month or so after this essay was written, Kishimoto finally confirmed its conclusion, and he has been consistent with his response even years afterwards. "Naruto ending up with Hinata was decided in the very early stages of the manga," he has reiterated several times, and then added the aforementioned final piece of the puzzle: "So Naruto and Sakura being close was a deliberate mislead, a RedHerring, from the start. That's why scenes like Sakura being compared to Kushina, Naruto's mom, were introduced." He has also repeatedly stated that Sakura was ''never'' intended to be Naruto's true love interest to begin with, while Hinata ''always'' was. He also stated, "I think Sakura has always been devoted to/had her mind set on Sasuke," verifying that [[SingleTargetSexuality she always loved Sasuke]] and [[LikeBrotherAndSister never loved Naruto]]--both of which were made patently clear many times throughout the manga anyways. Finally, he later regretted creating "the messy LoveTriangle" between Hinata/Naruto/Sakura because he ''never'' thought about making Naruto and Sakura a couple; in his own words, "it was all about Naruto and Hinata getting married from an early stage." The TrollingCreator theory, which many fans had called - and which Wiki/TVTropes had also called - has been finally confirmed by WordOfGod.

'''Epilogue:''' A month or so after this essay was written, Kishimoto finally confirmed its conclusion, and he has been consistent with his response even years afterwards. "Naruto ending up with Hinata was decided in the very early stages of the manga," he has reiterated several times, and then added the aforementioned final piece of the puzzle: "So Naruto and Sakura being close was a deliberate mislead, a RedHerring, from the start. That's why scenes like Sakura being compared to Kushina, Naruto's mom, were introduced." He has also repeatedly stated that Sakura was ''never'' intended to be Naruto's true love interest to begin with, while Hinata ''always'' was. He also stated, "I think Sakura has always been devoted to/had her mind set on Sasuke," verifying that [[SingleTargetSexuality she always loved Sasuke]] and [[LikeBrotherAndSister never loved Naruto]]--both of which were made patently clear many times throughout the manga anyways. Finally, he later regretted creating "the messy LoveTriangle" between Hinata/Naruto/Sakura because he ''never'' thought about making Naruto and Sakura a couple; in his own words, "it was all about Naruto and Hinata getting married from an early stage." The TrollingCreator theory, which many fans had called - and which TVTropes had also called - has been finally confirmed by WordOfGod.

[[ShipSinking rejects her outright]] by telling her that he ''hates'' people who lie to themselves, and then he renews his "promise of a lifetime" from Part I not for her anymore, but for [[TrueCompanions his own reasons]]. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata get cheesy scenes involving the phrase "[[EyesNeverLie I can see it in your eyes]]" to each other and as ''she'' runs to aid Naruto in his FinalBattle, Hinata vows to walk beside him after the war and hold his hand. During the war, when Naruto is on the brink of despair, she gives him a nice pep talk and [[HoldingHands they actually hold hands]]--which is an ''incredibly'' romantic gesture in Japan. OK, so it's obvious where this is now going, right?