For years, one of the big questions forNaruto’s devoted fanbase waswho Naruto would wind up with, and it turns out that for series creator Masashi Kishimoto, the question was just as pervasive.Narutois the kind of story where every character ends up with somebody, and a lot of ink has been spilled ranking its relationships. For its main character,Hinata HyugaandSakura Harunowere the two main love interests. FollowingNaruto Shippuden’s climactic ending,Naruto marries Hinata while Sakura marries Sasuke Uchiha.
Not everybody is happy with how things played out. Naruto has always had an open interest in Sakura, while showing little in Hinata. Considering Sasuke’s outright villainy duringNaruto’s second part, for a while, evidence seemed to mount that Sakura might turn away from Sasuke towards Naruto. At the same time, Hinata started doing more to show her affections. But many fans would hold onto the hope that Naruto would marry Sakura until the very end, andNaruto’sRoad To Ninjahas fanned the flames by showing Naruto and Sakura together.
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Fans Weren’t The Only Ones Objecting To Naruto & Hinata’s Relationship
NarutoCreator Kishimoto’s Own Wife Wanted Naruto And Sakura To Be Together
Naruto’s creator has given illuminating insight into his decisions behind the pairing—and its effect on him personally. Kishimoto joined his translator, Masashi Morimoto, and editor, Jo Otsuki, foran interview with Anime News Network at 2015’s New York Comic-Con. The interview covers a lot of ground aboutNaruto, its universe, and its projected future at the time. One of the most interesting bits, though, has to do with fan reactions to Naruto x Hinata:
[Interviewer:] Did you expect such a divided reaction (in the U.S. at least) when you revealed whom Naruto marries in the future?
[Interviewer:] Really? You had no idea?
[Morimoto]:So the fans wanted Naruto to get together with Sakura?
[Kishimoto:] I almost caused a rift in my own household too, because my wife was very upset also that Naruto didn’t get together with Sakura. In fact, she complained quite vehemently to me!
While Naruto x Hinata has always been a divisive pairing, it’s nonetheless surprising to hear thatKishimoto’s own wife was so deeply invested in Naruto x Sakura. Joking that he would defuse the situation by assuring his wife that she was the model for Hinata, Kishimoto reflects between the lines on how emotionally invested fans of the series could become in Naruto’s eventual lover. The fact the “Hinata or Sakura” debate even penetrated Kishimoto’s own household demonstrates just how deep the divide has always been—and for good reason.
Naruto’s Anime Made Naruto x Sakura Seem Much More Likely Than The Manga Did
Changes Between The Manga And Anime Made Naruto x Sakura Seem Inevitable
NarutoandNaruto Shippudenshifted Kishimoto’s narrative,making Naruto x Sakura seem more likely than he probably intended. These can be mainly broken down into two categories: fillers and scene changes or exclusions. Between these two overarching factors, anime-only fans became attached to the pairing, and they had plenty of reason to root for it.
Several fillers inNarutoandNaruto Shippudenbuild out the bond between Naruto and Sakura.Filler interacts with the source narrative in complicated ways. In the context of Naruto and Sakura, there are many moments pitting them together and forcing them to rely on one another, or highlighting the other’s absence. ConsiderNaruto Shippuden’s “In Naruto’s Footsteps: The Friends' Paths” (episodes #394-413) and “Three-Tails Appearance” (episodes #89-112) arcs, where their bond and mutual reliance are highlighted.
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While it’s clear that they share a deep bond, filler can raise questions and tease Naruto x Sakura in ways that the source material doesn’t. This is also evident in some differences between the anime and manga. In many instances, the anime plays up a dynamic that isn’t as present in the manga. After Naruto uses the Rasenshuriken,Naruto Shippudenepisode #89 has a scene where Sakura is distraught in the hospital warning him not to use it again—a scene not even present in the manga chapters (#342 and #346) which the episode adapts.
The matter is worsened bythe exclusion of manga-only scenes where Sakura and Sasuke interact. From very early on, the manga peppers in moments that project their eventual pairing, but these aren’t always adapted in the anime. Sakura’s dynamic with both Sasuke and Naruto changes significantly. It’s well-known thatNaruto’s anime changed Sakura drastically, and exaggerating possible feelings between Naruto and Sakura is one way it did so.
As Much As Fans May Have Been Surprised, Naruto Was Always Going To End Up With Hinata
Hinata’s Devotion Would Become Unconditional and Self-Sacrificial
Hinata has a storied relationship with Naruto, revealed as having been saved by him when the pair were both very young. After this encounter, Hinata has an unwavering fascination with the feisty jinchuriki—despite opinions from the others in Konoha. The crush was one-sided for a long time, but in the same interview, Kishimoto says that he decided to have Naruto end up with Hinata about halfway through the manga. Explaining himself, he says:
I think what made me realize it was partly because, if you really look back and think about it, Hinata always supported and acknowledged Naruto, even before Master Iruka. She had the ability to see beyond his reputation and see the true person inside. I think I started realizing that they were meant to be.
Naruto and Hinata’s relationship is cemented asNaruto’s second part, which would be adapted asNaruto Shippuden, carries on. Kishimoto had written Hinata from the start as a character with an obvious and inexplicable (at the time) crush on Naruto, and over time, the rationale would become thatshe saw the good in him when nobody else would do the same. This devotion carries forward, with one of the most decisive displays being her decision to recklessly defend Naruto during Pain’s assault on Konoha inone of Naruto’s most emotional episodes, announcing her love for him.
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Whether Naruto Married Hinata Or Sakura, It Would Have Always Been Unsatisfying
Kishimoto is clearly a writer who wants to emphasize how love can be deserved. In fact, when writingNaruto, Kishimoto actively considered children who didn’t have traditional families. Likewise, its romances reflect that earnest effort and sincere care for a person will be repaid, regardless of their history or circumstances.
If Naruto and Hinata got together, Hinata’s sincerity would be rewarded; if Naruto and Sakura got together, the same would be true for Naruto.
Regardless of how noble his intentions were,Naruto’s depiction of relationships has arguably been troubled. The way that Kishimoto would write Naruto’s character development would lead toboth Hinata and Sakura being unconvincing partners for the Seventh Hokage. Each pairing has its own flaws.
With Sakura, there’s the problem that she has always professed a preference for Sasuke. This is so significant that,in the Five Kage Summit arc, one of the reasons Naruto didn’t believe Sakura’s false confession is that she had always openly fawned over Sasuke. Sakura had never shown a clear interest in Naruto beyond deep friendship. Granted, this arc also seems to come after the halfway point where Kishimoto claims to have cemented his decision for Naruto x Hinata.
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On the other hand, the pairing with Hinata has many problems itself. Kishimoto himself would say in another interview that the reason he put Naruto and Hinata together was thathe would feel bad should Hinata not be rewarded for her efforts. The fact that she had seen past Naruto’s surface for so long is very sweet, but it also doesn’t indicate any romantic inclinations on Naruto’s side. Kishimoto’s approach to the pairing was heavy-handed,like killing Neji to put Naruto and Hinata together, and fans were left blindsided.
However, both pairings also have their bright spots. Naruto x Sakura and Naruto x Hinata fans each have points in their favor, and there’s plenty of narrative evidence that could be pulled out to support either. If Naruto and Hinata got together, Hinata’s sincerity would be rewarded; if Naruto and Sakura got together, the same would be true for Naruto. There’s also the outside option: that Naruto would be with neither, providing opportunities for a new character. The flip side is that Kishimoto wrote himself into a corner where neither option would provide a completely satisfying end toNaruto.
