Ship Tease / Naruto

Tropes for Naruto
Tropes A to K (Berserk Button, Broken Aesop, Famous Last Words, Hypocrite) | Tropes L to Z (Ship Tease, Shout-Out, Wham Episode) | Anime and Others

Naruto pairings:

Naruto/Hinata

• Naruto and Hinata had a fair amount of teasing. Most of it is confined to the anime Fillers and the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm video game series—the latter of which is preferred by Kishimoto himself—but almost all of their moments are positive and mutual. It starts with Hinata offering to help Naruto during the Chunin Exams written test, Naruto refusing to accept her help because he knows she's too nice to cheat and he doesn't want her to get caught; Hinata adopting his "never give up" philosophy during her "fight" against Neji in the preliminaries, Naruto vowing on her blood to avenge her defeat; Hinata encouraging Naruto right before his fight against Neji in the finals when he is uncharacteristically feeling down, Naruto changing his initial negative opinion of her into a more positive one by telling her that he likes people like her in Chapter 98; Hinata defending Naruto from Pain while sincerely confessing her love to him, Naruto instantly activating his six-tailed state, transforming to his eight-tailed state, and completely losing his will to live and nearly releasing the Nine-Tails after Pain stabs Hinata, and both crying in relief when they learn the other is safe afterwards. Their moments became more significant from the War Arc onward: The look in Naruto's eyes is enough for Hinata to recognize that he is really himself and not a Zetsu Clone, and she berates herself for being useless, but Naruto encourages her by reminding her of her strength, explaining that he can tell by the look in her eyes, and he proudly recalls how she defended him from Pain in Chapter 559; Hinata vows to walk beside Naruto and hold his hand after the War while she is running to aid him in the Final Battle in Chapter 573; Kiba cheerfully ribs Naruto about "acting tough" in front of Hinata, and Naruto does not deny, nor poke fun at, that statement, in Chapter 611; Hinata brings Naruto out of despair after Neji's Heroic Sacrifice, and they hold hands as Naruto thanks her for staying by his side in Chapter 615; Naruto sports a proud smile when he sees that Hinata is leading his defense in Chapter 629; when Hinata is trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi and she mentally calls out to Naruto, he hears her and he immediately tries to rush to her aid in Chapter 677; and finally, Naruto stands by Hinata's side during Neji's funeral in Chapter 699. Eventually culminates into a canonical movie called The Last: Naruto the Movie, the Grand Finale of Naruto, which details how Naruto and Hinata fell in love and became a couple. They are married with a son and daughter at the end of the movie and in the epilogue.
• In one of the early filler arcs of the first series, Naruto and Team 8 go on a mission together. One scene includes Hinata practicing a new move naked under a waterfall at night. Naruto goes outside to pee and spots the girl, who he stares at in wonder until he accidentally scares her off. Naruto never learns that the girl was Hinata.
• Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 has the mission "Super Maiden Showdown''. Ino and Sakura question Naruto on whether he prefers outspoken and confident personalities like them or quiet and shy ones like Hinata's. This'll lead into a two-vs-two battle. If you said you prefer girls like Hinata, then Hinata will thank Naruto afterwards. After Naruto runs off, Hinata monologues that she couldn't say what she wanted to but that she's still happy.
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 has a scene at the hot springs where Hinata gets scared at a mouse. Hearing the scream, Naruto runs in to help. Nothing is shown, but Naruto clearly accidentally saw Hinata in the springs. Hinata doesn't get mad at him. She just thanks Naruto for coming to help a person in need.
• In Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Hanabi fights Naruto to see if he's good enough for her sister. Afterwards, she decides that he's good enough for Hinata.
• The High School A.U. short Shippu Konoha Gakuen Den has Hinata and Naruto going on a date together.
• There is a manga panel that wasn't in the anime where, after defeating Neji in the Chunin Exams, Naruto hopes that Hinata saw his fight.

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Sasuke/Sakura

• Sasuke and Sakura were teased together for most of Part I, most notably in the Chunin Exams arc, where Sasuke activates his Curse Mark and viciously breaks Zaku's arms because Zaku hurt Sakura, and then Sakura is able to calm down Sasuke from an early Start of Darkness with a Cooldown Hug. Another notable moment comes in the Invasion of Konoha arc, where Sasuke tells Naruto to save Sakura and run while he holds off Gaara, because he doesn't want anyone who is precious to him to die before his eyes again. They weren't teased together for most of Part II because of Sasuke's absence. However, once Team 7 reunited in the War Arc, they started being teased together again. First, when Sakura shows the power of her Yin Seal by demolishing a bunch of Ten-Tail clones, Sasuke is shown sporting a proud and flirty smirk◊, while Naruto looks absolutely terrified of her. Then, Naruto and Kakashi individually ask Sasuke if he thanked Sakura for saving him and try to persuade him to think of her unwavering love for him. Sasuke eventually accepts and reciprocates Sakura's feelings. They are married with a daughter in the epilogue.
• Near the end of Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, there's a shot of Sasuke lying in Sakura's lap.

Shikamaru/Temari

• Shikamaru and Temari. Particular tease-worthy are their scenes in Shippuden, where the only member of the Rookie 9 besides Sakura that Naruto sees before leaving to help Gaara is Shikamaru...and all his appearances are partnered up with Temari, and that's not even getting into the actual interactions the two have in those scenes. Naruto even asked them if they were on a date, which they both deny. They are married with a son in the epilogue.
• When Temari rescues Shikamaru during the "Sasuke Retrieval" arc, Shikamaru notes that she's just like his mother. Temari is also there when Shikamaru ends up crying later.

Naruto/Sakura

• There was a fair amount of this between Naruto and Sakura, although, in retrospect, almost all of their moments are negative and not very romantic, largely because they get ruined as soon as they come and are often Played for Laughs for the sake of comic relief. It starts with Naruto thinking that he likes her a lot because she's pretty in her debut, and then realizing during their Almost Kiss (when he's disguised as Sasuke) that the only reason he has a crush on her is because he merely wants to win her over to beat out his rival Sasuke at something for once in Chapter 3; Sakura blushing when Naruto was fighting Zabuza and wondering since when he made her blush; Sakura willing to let her team fail during a test to protect Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage^note That moment is lessened because she calls it an "impossible dream", which shows that she actually doesn't have that much faith in him achieving that dream; Sakura going on a date with him in Part I^note That moment is lessened because the entire time, she speaks about her worries over Sasuke, which depresses Naruto; Sakura blushing when Naruto returns to the village after the three-year Time Skip^note That moment is lessened when he tells her that she hasn't changed at all since he last saw her, and then is completely ruined when he tries to use a new Sexy Jutsu and she angrily punches him as a result; Sakura trying to calm him down when he was out of control by the Nine-Tails and being willing to give up the hunt for Sasuke because Naruto was hurt^note That moment is unquestionably ruined when he smacks her hard enough that he almost kills her, then he doesn't remember that he attacked her, and then he barely reacts when Yamato told him about it later; Sakura going to feed him when he is unable to move an arm^note That moment is ruined twice, when Sai comes along and tries to feed him instead, and then later when Kakashi actually does feed him; Sakura hugging him after he defeats Pain^note That moment is lessened because he does not reciprocate the hug, which, in hindsight, foreshadowed their Ship Sinking in the subsequent arc. There was also a scene in which Sakura laments being only able to do small things for Naruto as she was healing him after he gradually grew into his four-tailed state. Yamato then says what she can do is less important because, according to him: "I can tell just by watching you, Sakura, just how much you—" (Naruto wakes up, interrupting him). Kishimoto has stated in several post-series interviews that all of the above was deliberately written to make their definitive and repetitive Ship Sinking in Chapter 469, the epilogue, and The Last: Naruto the Movie all the more noteworthy.

Miscellaneous

• Rock Lee and Tenten are cruelly Ship Teased multiple times in the anime, games and in Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth. At the end of Part 1 Tenten gets a Luminescent Blush watching Lee's determination during his Training from Hell and in Part 2 she reveals that she admires his hard working personality.
• Then there's Jiraiya and Tsunade. Their last scene together before his death makes it even more evident, as Jiraiya reminisces about Tsunade rejecting him. Tsunade is concerned about the possibility of him not returning from the Rain Village, and seems hurt when he brushes it off.
• Neji and Hinata have this as well. In canon, Neji thought Hinata was beautiful when they first met... when he was 4 and she was 3. It's Played for Laughs in the Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth spin-off, because it's implied more than once that Neji has a crush on Hinata. The most obvious one is the scene where he imagines himself and Hinata in a Romeo and Juliet story. There's also the way he becomes enraged every time Lee and Tenten make suggestions about Hinata and any other guy—particularly Naruto—being involved in a romantic relationship.

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Boruto pairings:

Boruto/Sarada

• In Boruto: Naruto the Movie Sarada compliments Boruto's Innocent Blue Eyes, making him blush. Later he makes a Declaration of Protection to her, which makes her blush.
• In the Anime, when Mitsuki says that Boruto and Sarada make a nice couple, they both vehemently deny it on several instances, but both are visibly blushing in episode 24.^note In the Japanese Dub Mitsuki did not mean a couple in the romantic sense. He said "Kimi-tachi nakanaka oniai no konbida to omotte" meaning "I think you guys are pretty good friends".
• There's this image◊ from the Shonen Jump 2017 calendar.
• On the scene mentioned below between Sarada and Sumire, Sarada is visibly surprised of learning of Sumire's crush on Boruto.
• Played for Laughs when, as a Call-Back to their parents' Accidental Kiss, Boruto falls onto Sarada and ends up kissing... her foot.
• In the final chapter of the Naruto manga (which wasn't adapted into the anime), Sarada follows Boruto around.

Boruto/Sumire

• In Manga Chapter 19, Sumire asks Sarada if she's attracted to Boruto, which she denies, to which Sumire responds that she in fact is attracted to him, and coyly winks at Sarada.
• In Episode 15 of the Anime, the background music when Sumire and Boruto meet again is "Naruto And Hinata" from "The Last: Naruto Movie".
• In the third Boruto novel, Boruto is almost moved to tears when he sees Sumire lying hurt in hospital. He was so eager to see her that he doesn't even notice that he slammed Metal Lee into the hospital wall when urgently opening the door to her room. She tries to reassure him that shes ok, but that only affects him more.

Mitsuki/Chocho

Kawaki/Sarada