I've made this essay as a encounter of HatakeKelly's ANTI NaruHina/SasuSaku essay. How she has doubts that these pairings are canon: http://hatakekelley.deviantart.com/journal/11163513/

I am only writing the NaruHina part since I don't have much experience on SasuSaku ^^' . Now, am I saying Kelly is wrong? Am I writting this to convince others that this pairing will be canon? No-just showing this from a NaruHina shipper's point-of-view. If you have the urge to flame this essay, don't even read any farther. Now-ON TO THE ENCOUTER! XD



No, it is not a fact. It is certainly a possibility, but I doubt that she has romantic interest in Naruto. Hinata has only used the words "admire", "role model", etc to describe the way she feels about Naruto. Not once has she ever used the words "love", "romantic interest", "crush", or the like. For the second databook, Kishimoto had created a relationship chart for all of the characters of part 1 Naruto. In this chart, he placed a little heart above four of the relationship lines to denote a crush. He included a heart on the lines connecting Naruto to Sakura, Sakura to Sasuke, Ino to Sasuke, and Lee to Sakura. There is no heart on the line connecting Hinata to Naruto
..
If Hinata loved Naruto, then why didn't Kishimoto include a heart in the line connecting Naruto and Hinata, while remembering one for Ino and Lee? Are Ino's crush on Sasuke and Lee's crush on Sakura that much more important than Hinata's presumed "crush" on Naruto? Ino and Lee have even dropped their crushes in Shippuuden.
Kishimoto has planned the end of the story from the beginning (so he has said in an interview). If NaruHina was going to be important at all and if Hinata's crush is such an important part of her character, then why did Kishimoto neglect to include a heart? He drew a line from Hinata to Naruto, so he consciously reviewed her relationship and feelings for Naruto, and he did not put a heart there.

Besides, in Japanese manga, it is a common theme for characters to blush around their role model. Examples of this are Mint blushing around Zakuro (Tokyo Mew Mew) and Miyako/Yolei blushing around Mimi (Digimon). These are examples of "admiration," not "crushes."

It is odd that there isn't a line, possible a mistake. But in the databooks, Hinata's feelings for Naruto is more than admiration. Note that Kishi labels NaruHina as the "Up and Down LOVE Story", not the "Admiration Story".  Databooks are part of the manga, therefore, Hinata's love for Naruto is a fact.

Other possibilities: Hinata has already told Naruto that she admires him. In Ch. 282, Hinata is gathering the courage to tell Naruto something, twice! Why is it neccessary to tell him that she admires him again? Is Naruto that dumb? Also, Hinata has been keeping this crush for nearly 3 years; unlike Lee's and Ino's, her crush have not faded. If Hinata's feelings for Naruto are meaningless, Kishi would of made them faded, but didn't. So, he has big plans for this pairing.



Naturally trusting Hinata? Well, there are a couple points that I'm going to make. The first is that Naruto didn't naturally trust Hinata. He spent a few panels thinking that she was trying to trick him before he blurted out his suspicions. It wasn't until after she assured him that her intentions were good that he decided to trust her. My second point is that Naruto has trusted MANY people, almost all of them right away. He trusted Kabuto, a trust that Kabuto later shattered. Naruto trusted that Sasuke would not leave the village (and he told that to Sakura twice), and Sasuke broke that trust as well. Naruto trusted Sai as well. After learning of both "betrayals" by Sai, Naruto insisted that Sai couldn't have possibly betrayed them.  I'm not saying that Naruto's trust in Hinata is misplaced, but it would go against Naruto's nature to not trust her. The trust he put in Hinata is not special.

Why? Because she's not part of T7? Because it doesn't have a "big dramatic scene" ? The scene may not be a huge thing, but indeed special. It an opportunity for Naruto to get to know Hinata more, that she can be at least a friend to him. And the series is about friendship, right? Also, don't you think that Naruto needs to know Hinata before getting into a serious relationship?



Naruto was trying to act cool and save his own butt. In the professional American translation, Naruto turns away and thinks "Great. She believed me. Now I've got my honor... trying to be a big shot. And I'm screwed!"

Of course, I'm sure that he didn't want Hinata to be caught. Naruto does care about the welfare of others, but his thoughts clearly show that he said that "to be a big shot".



Naruto is dumb, but not heartless. He has learned his lesson from Kakashi's exercise to help others-no matter what. This includes Hinata.

Yes, she does relate to ONE of Naruto's pains: the pain of being a "dropout", "failure", or "underdog." However, Hinata is not the only one to share that pain. When Naruto thinks of his pain of being a "loser", he thinks of both Hinata and Lee, who shares this pain as well.  However, Naruto's most fundamental pain in part one is that of loneliness, which he relates to Gaara.

In Shippuuden, Hinata does not relate to any of Naruto's pains. Tsunade already speaks of Naruto as a future Hokage, and Kakashi has acknowledged that Naruto will surpass both himself and the Yondaime Hokage. Naruto is no longer the "underdog" or the "loser". His pressing pains now are the loss of Sasuke and being a jinchuuriki, one of which Sakura shares. Sakura is relevant to Naruto's pain of being a jinchuuriki because she is well aware of it, she accepts him as a jinchuuriki, and she wants to help him.



If Hinata doesn't understand, why did Kishimoto even bother writting it in her databooks? Hinata can relate to Naruto more than being a "failure", she can relate to him through lonliness and regret of existance.



Lonliness: So far, Kishimoto has not revealed that Hinata had any friends until she joined T8, and does not have a close relationship to Hiashi (her dad), Hanabi (her sister), Neji, or anyone from the Hyuuga Clan. And what about Hinata's mom? She might be dead, and Hinata may never had a chance to be close to her either.



Existance: Everyone knows that Naruto was born in the day of the Kyuubi Invasion. But, in Hinata's 3rd birthday, is the day the Hyuuga Clan split up. (What a great b-day present! -___-' ) Hinata may regret being born since the drama started on her brithday. And maybe the Cadet Branch blames her as much as the Main Branch looks down on her for being weak.



In conclusion: Hinata DOES understand Naruto's pains. Sure, this also implies to Lee and Gaara, but Kishi said that Hinata's feelings are relative to Naruto, not anyone else.



But there's one thing Naruto has that Hinata doesn't-family experience. Naruto didn't have a family growing up, but the people in his life treat him as their own:



Kakashi, Jiraiya, Iruka-Father figures

Sasuke-Brother figure

Sakura-(in my opinion) Sister figure



The Hyuuga Clan is not a close family, so Hinata doesn't know what a warm family is like.



Yes, that is right. She is capable of helping Naruto, but there are several people who are more capable. By "more capable" I mean to say that said people are already aware of his pains and are in a position to help him. Sakura is the most aware of his pains and problems and has the strongest connection to them. Sakura can help Naruto. Kakashi is a witness to the growth of the team 7 relationship and its deterioration. He also has an emotional connection to the pains of team 7 and knows that Naruto is a jinchuriki. Kakashi can help Naruto. Yamato/Tenzou witnessed the four-tailed Naruto and saw Naruto's pain and Sakura's pain (Naruto being a jinchuuriki IS one of Sakura's pains). He also witnessed their pain of not being able to bring back Sasuke. Yamato can help Naruto. Sai actually made efforts to understand Naruto's brotherly bond to Sasuke. Sai can help Naruto. For Hinata to be able to help Naruto, she will have to witness his pains and come to understand them. Why would Kishimoto take the time to make Hinata, an outsider of Team 7, aware of Naruto's pains when so many others are more than ready to help Naruto.



Gaara and Lee aren't part of T7, and they understand, what makes Hinata any different? Also, Lee's not a jinchuueriki either, but still understands. You don't have to be part of a team to understand someone. Like I said, Hinata relates to Naruto in many ways and you don't need a mountain of screentime together to prove it.



First of all, Hinata also gives the cream to Kiba and Akamaru right afterwards. The gift was not that special, since she committed the same act for Kiba. As for Kurenai noticing Hinata's feelings, Tsunade did the same for Naruto as well, seeing his expression after Sakura hugs Sasuke. However, there is one crucial difference between the reactions of Tsunade thinks "Naruto's more sensitive than he looks," whereas Kurenai merely thinks "Hinata. . ." Naruto's crush on Sakura has been explicitly expressed throughout the manga, but Hinata's "crush" on Naruto has never been explicitly expressed. Kurenai's thoughts could indicate her surprise that Hinata has offered medicine to her teammate's victorious opponent. We don't really know.



Maybe be a NaruHina hint, maybe not. Either way, Kishimoto drew Hinata giving Kiba and Akamaru cream to show that Hinata does not favor her crush over her teamates/friends, unlike some of the Naruto girls.



Exactly. "As well as a few others". Naruto has this connection with others as well, like Lee, Gaara, Tsunade, Neji, and later Sakura. Why does the connection to Hinata trump the others? In reality, it doesn't. Let's compare the people who have been influenced by the model of change and determination set by Naruto. Gaara was influenced by Naruto, and it helped him become Kazekage. Tsunade was influenced by Naruto, and it helped her overcome her paralyzing fear of blood and become Hokage. Neji was influenced Naruto, and he is now a jounin with hope of changing his fate. Sakura was influenced by Naruto, and now she is on the path of surpassing the world's greatest medic nin. All of them wanted to change themselves, and all of them were able to do so with Naruto's help.

It seems that Kabuto now wants to be like Naruto too.  Man, EVERYONE is just joining the bandwagon now! XD


True, everyone else does connect to Naruto, but Hinata connected to him first, before anyone else (except Iruka) see how special Naruto is. And to us NaruHina fans, that's special. ^^



Of course, and I cheered her on as she did that. Naruto is an excellent role model, and Hinata is not the only person to realize that.  Tsunade watched Naruto as he took severe damage from Kabuto and was inspired to fight like he had and make assertions very similar to Naruto's. "I'm going to protect him no matter what." "Why are you wasting your time protecting a worthless brat?" "To protect the Hidden Leaf..."

In his fight against Kidomaru, Neji outshines everyone in quoting Naruto. Neji has flashbacks of Naruto's words to him and wonders "Naruto, what would you do in this situation?" Neji takes a "fatal" hit  and uses it to his advantage as Naruto often does.  He has many more flashbacks of Naruto  and charges towards his opponents saying things like "I cannot lose no matter how much stronger the opponent is or how battered my body gets".  Kidomaru asks incredulously "How... that should have killed you instantly. Why are you still alive?" and Neji goes on to quote Naruto some more.

Like I said, Hinata realized it first.

This was a great moment for Hinata (I am a Hinata fan), but it was not a NaruHina moment. So many other characters have been said to be just like Naruto. Tsunade thinks that both Dan and Nawaki are incredibly similar to Naruto. Sasuke notes three times that Sakura is just like Naruto (then again, he means it in a more insulting manner). Lee is said to be just like Naruto, and Gaara says that Kimimarou is just like Naruto. For Hinata to be compared to Naruto is great, but it does not support a romance between her and Naruto.

Furthermore, Naruto has said that others were "incredible" that same day. During Sakura's fight against Ino, Naruto shouts "Wow! Wow! Sakura-chan rules!" in the Shannaro translation  and "Look at Sakura go! She's awesome!" in the official American translation. Naruto also talks about Shino's impressive strength.

Naruto has been impressed by Sakura at least three other times: during the tree-climbing exercise  during the Shippuuden bell exercise  and while she is healing Kankurou


Not proof that Naruto loves Hinata, but NaruHina developement notheless. If you haven't noticed, there isn't any NaruHina moments lately other than in the Chuuin Arc. Kishimoto choosen this time to make sure Naruto gets to know her first. Kishi wouldn't waste his time if this isn't NaruHina developement.

I agree that this generated a strong connection between them, but it has become irrelevant. When I first read it, I believed that it may open the way for a relationship between Naruto and Hinata, but it hasn't. Naruto has yet to go out of his way to even think about her or even have a conversation with the poor girl. Despite this connection, they haven't formed a personal relationship.

Of course, he wouldn't have made the exact same blood oath for everyone, but his main reason for making the oath was because Neji had insulted "losers" and "dropouts". When Neji asks Naruto why he was fighting him, Naruto does not say "because you hurt/were mean to Hinata". He says "because I was called a loser" and thinks of BOTH Hinata and Lee. He was fighting in the name of all losers.


But still thought about Hinata. In fact, this maybe more about Hinata than Lee. After Naruto beat Neji, he looked around and asked "Is Hinata watching?" If this is equally about Lee too, wouldn't Naruto say "Is Lee and Hinata watching?" I'm not saying that Lee in unimportant in this moment, but Naruto would of sworn in Lee's blood too.

You mean a depressed side of Naruto? She wasn't the first anyway. Mizuki was the first to see that side of Naruto back in chapter one.

Not the first, but one of the few. Not even his own team saw Naruto that depressed, they usually catches him looking upset, or Naruto trying to cover it up with his boasting.

I actually disagree in two ways. Firstly, I saw the Bikochu arc and didn't see much NaruHina development. If I recall correctly, Naruto and Hinata still didn't make a personal connection or develop a personal relationship between them. I saw more ShinoHina. Hinata has a flashback in which she asks Shino to help her train, and it is Shino who tells Naruto that he needs to have more confidence in Hinata.

Furthermore, the filler episodes don't count towards canon. If that "development" was so important, Kishimoto would have included it in the manga, because there are a handful of manga readers (such as myself) that did not pay much attention to the fillers, and there are many who don't even watch the anime. During most of the two years of filler, the Naruto anime was taken off of primetime television in Japan, so it reached a much smaller audience. Too many people would have missed out on this "important development," and the relationship would seem rather out-of-the-blue and sudden.



1.) It's ironically to pair Shino (or Kiba or Neji) to pair with Hinata since they fully know and support her to be with Naruto.

2.) Fillers aren't neccessary part of the manga, but predictions of what "could be" (Sakura crying over Naruto, Akamaru's height, Kiba yelling "Hinata! Why do you always faint when you see Naruto?!" )

That was his initial reasons for his crush. It is quite possible that his feelings have grown significantly for Sakura after all that they have been through. Unlike Hinata, Naruto has spent a lot of time with Sakura, and his feelings haven't wavered. I'm sure he's been adding to his list of things that he loves about Sakura.



Since when does screentime matter? Naruto spends almost as much time as Sasuke, so does that mean Naruto loes Sasuke?! Screentime=/=developement, it's the result of it that counts! Naruto and Hinata haven't interacted much, but, Naruto thought of her from "a shy, dark, weirdo" to "I like people like you" (or "I like you") in a matter of a short time. Hinata doesn't have to spend every waking moment to show how much Naruto could mean to her, it's not her fault that Sakura's Naruto's teamate.



You're right.It doesn't mean that the same can't happen between Naruto and Hinata. However, Hinata is unable to spend a lot of personal time with Naruto, so the odds of that happening are slim. On the other hand, Naruto will continue to spend a lot of time with Sakura, and their already strong relationship will continue to grow even more.

"Unable"? Shippuuden is not over yet, so she CAN spend some time with Naruto.



I was completely open to the idea of the possibility of NaruHina development, but it hasn't happend after so many chapters. He's only said one thing to her so far. When everyone split up and Hinata was with Naruto and Yamato, her purpose was to see how much of Kabuto's body has been taken over. Kisimoto needed a Byakugan to show the reader something like that so he put Hinata with Naruto, who received an important book from Kabuto. Now the group is back together, so Hinata's placement in the same little group as Naruto doesn't seem to have been significant. There has yet to be any NaruHina development in Shippuuden.

Simple:

-Kishimoto says he finds it difficult for him to make romance.

-Focusing on Sasuke first (Year of the Uchiha remember?)

-Planning to resolve other one-sided pairings before making the last one canon.

Let's not forget that Hinata was about to confess to Naruto before they searched for Sasuke.

Saying that a short made by the anime proves a final pairing is jumping to conclusions, especially since Kishimoto has skirted the topic of pairings in all interviews and has been extra careful not to reveal details about how Naruto will end. Do you really think that Kishimoto will have the anime include "canon" romance or spoil the pairing before anything happens in the manga? I would have been skepitcal if there was a NaruSaku date in that fanservice short. It was just a cute DVD special. It's not supposed to be taken seriously, otherwise it wouldn't have been so silly in nature.

Furthermore, those pictures were NOT drawn by Kishimoto. He frequently says that the manga keeps him so busy and that he works late and hard to meet deadlines. When would he have the time to draw the images for that special? Kishimoto does no work for the anime, and it wasn't even in his style.

True, Kishimoto does not take part in the anime, but I think it's far from "cute". Haven't you noticed most of the NaruHina moments are in the anime or video games? Some of it is part of Kishimoto's thoughts. Like I said, "fillers are what could happen". Kishimoto is bad at romance, but wouldn't let his staff mess with his audience with fillers that heavy. It'sv not like Kishimoto haven't thought of NaruHina before (The Marcunator picture he drew for the cover of 297).

Ah, and beautiful circumstance it is (in my opinion). That argument proves NaruSaku more than it defends NaruHina. It was circumstance that put Sakura on a team with Naruto, making it easier for her to form a close relationship with Naruto. And it was circumstance that put Hinata on a separate team, making her separate from one of Naruto's main focuses, team 7. KISHIMOTO creates and orchestrates circumstance, therefore circumstance DOES matter.

I agree with ~White-Heron who said that "Hinata had a lot more circumstances going for her because her entire background centered around [her admiration for Naruto]. By contrast, Sakura took the choice of going by Naruto's side and seeing him through his problems." She has also said that "Sakura's situation is quite different: in a way, you could say she was designed to help Naruto simply because she was designed to be put on the same team as Naruto."

All of Naruto's interactions with Hinata are based on circumstance. Naruto has been shown to have simple conversations and interactions with Sakura, but he has not done so with Hinata. He only talks to her during the Chuunin exams when everyone is brought together, when he runs into team 8, and when team 8 was selected for the current mission.



It's kinda dissapointing to involve Sakura. In the Neji vs. Hinata fight, she knows that Hinata loves Naruto ("Yeah, she was always watching you Naruto"), and so far doesn't have a problem with it. Especially when Hinata was about to confess before searching for Sasuke. If Sakura suddenly dumps her feelings for Sasuke and get between NaruHina, she'll become like she was in P1 (acting immature by fighting over a boy) and would be no different than Ino (her feelings will be shallow). If I was a die-hard Sakura fan, I wouldn't want her attitude to change for the worst for NaruSaku. If Sakura's goal is to change, then she would have to let it go and won't interfere. This is between Naruto and Hinata.

In conclusion:



Do not lose faith in this pairing, NaruHina isn't called the "Patience Love" for nothing. Remember, Naruto is an action/adventure manga, not a shoujou romance, so give it time. I feel, this pairings may happen. Hinata is the type of girl Naruto wants, someone to understand and acknowledge him and Hinata looks at Naruto in the same way, they complete heach other. So far, the following Naruto and/or Hinata pairings know and support this pairing and does not leave anyone out unlike other pairings. So I cannot see why Kishimoto couldn't make NaruHina canon.