Will Naruto eventually get with Sakura?

[Luminion Lancer]

Uchiha Rave: "If only Naruto was this simple". If it was so simple we would already have all the answers and Naruto would only have a fixed amount of chapters and episodes. And when was anything (especially love) a simple thing. Unless you were to go to the prehistoric eras where cavemen made love to as many women whenever they felt like it. That was a simple time but we've come a long way since. These days relationships are so complex they make your head spin. But you got a point, it would be nice to have a definate answer to this thread's question "Will Naruto eventually get together with Sakura".

[AIKakashi]

Everyone is concerned about how poor Hinata will feel if Sakura and Naruto get together, what about poor Rock Lee? Doesn't he still have feelings for Sakura too? maybe he and Hinata can get together and forget about both Sakura and Naruto. lol

[Syaoran]

Rock Lee already accepted the fact that he wouldn't get Sakura during the Chuunin exam. He'll do anything to protect Sakura as a close friend and let her go her own way.

Hehe Tried your little test AIKakashi and came up with her:


That's not to bad. One of my favourite female nin's ^^

[Luminion Lancer]

Originally Posted by AIKakashi

maybe he and Hinata can get together and forget about both Sakura and Naruto. lol

Haha , what an intruiging thought. One specializes in bone breaking taijutsu and the other in chakra demolishing taijutsu (Juuken). But then we'd have to get into genetics and hope that the offsprings don't get the father's shall we say "eccentric" looks. Can you imagine a Hyuuga decendant with a bowl cut and bushy eyebrows as well as those eyes?

[Oberon]

I followed the thread for some time now and decided to share some of my thoughts on that subject and how I got them, since I have nothing better to do atm. To back my statements up a tiny bit, I went over all the chps from the beginning until now to see how Sakura's perception of Naruto gradually changed during the course of story, including how her crush on Sasuke developed, culminating in her midnight outburst to hold him back. You are welcome to disagree with my take on it or the conclusions I drew from various scenes, but here's how I see things at the moment. BTW forgive me if some of my conclusions may be stated like fact, since I don't want to go over everything and rephrase it so nobody goes postal on me for it.

The setup in the beginning is fairly clear. Naruto has a crush on Sakura, who has a crush on Sasuke. Sakura percieved Naruto even as annoying, as seen in chp3 but this began to change within the same chp, when she was chewed out by Sasuke and during the following adventure in wave country. In the course of the chuunin exam her respect for him grew and they were firmly planted in friendship territory. Notable examples of the change on Sakura's side were seen when she was willing to sacrifice her advancement in the written exam for Naruto's dream (chp43) and later on when she cheered him on both during his preeliminary fight (chp77) and then versus Neji (chp105). She was proud of him as a friend and his achievements, but not much more at that point.

Let's switch over to Sasuke for a bit and see how her feelings for him developed by then. In chp54, during the forest of death part, we learn that she had a crush on Sasuke since some few years before chapter 1 began. This crush was further fuelled by her rivalry with Ino, as we learn in a flashback (chp71), so it was also a matter of competition. Though the rivalry aspect would soon take a step back for something that will influence her emotional attitude towards Sasuke for a very big part of the story to come: concern and worry. When Sasuke recieved the curse seal, she went into permanent worrywart mode. The boy she had a crush on now had a dark secret that threatened his life and she couldn't do anything about it nor talk to anyone (also due to Sasuke's intervention). At this point, Naruto was just the genki friend who wants to be a great ninja, but Sasuke, he needed help and care, including hospital visits etc. This 1st "worrywart phase" lasted right until Kakashi calmed her down a bit during the main chuunin tournament (chp111).

Back to Naruto's side. After the big fight with Shuukaku/Gaara, one of the first great turning points occured. In chp144, during a flashback sequence, Sakura wants to thank Sasuke for her rescue, followed by Sasuke revealing to Sakura that Naruto "risked death to save you". I think this is the first time that Naruto actually appeared on Sakura's radar. There's no conscious decision like "I'll give him a chance", but a realization how far Naruto is willing to go for her and what kind of character he has. Let's call it a foundation.

A few chapters later Sasuke gets himself into a coma with a little help by his brother, which means back into the hospital for him, which in turn sent Sakura again into worrywart mode. It's only slightly lessend when Naruto shows up with Tsunade, as she's sent right back into it by Sasuke's foul mood and the escalating rivalry between him and Naruto. This course of events has then its high point with Sasuke's departure scene. At this point, and as a result of all preceding events Sakura is worried sick about Sasuke, who now wants to join up with the man who gave him the dreadful curse seal. The way she declared her devotion to him was, as sincere as it may have been at that moment, a result of a chain of events which went way over what she could handle as a 13 year old. Furthermore it may have been fuelled to a greater part from desperation in that situation and accumulated worry, than by the pure power of her affections/love/whatever, or as someone else mentioned earlier, a crush that severely went overboard. I'd also wager that here Sakura finally realizes that her love (let's call it that for the time being) is not going to be returned the way she wanted to. Nevertheless at this point she really does care a great deal about his well-being and maybe even himself, but is it enough to last from 13 years to forever? I'm not so sure about that.

As for Naruto, a bit earlier (chp178) there's an interesting bit about how much Sakura believes in Naruto, when he reassures her that Sasuke would never run away and it puts her at ease. This is followed up by her later request to him to bring Sasuke back, where Naruto is acknowledged by her as the guy who's always there and always understands (chp183). Naruto part 1 ends with Sakura's resolve to become an equal to Naruto in their quest to bring Sasuke back and thus she begins to grow up.

On with Naruto part 2, which starts off with chp245. Since there's not enough Sasuke material yet to warrant a seperate paragraph, I'll throw bits concerning him into the Naruto passages. The introductions are more or less what one would expect, including her noting that he has grown a bit. There's certainly a positive reaction to his seemingly more mature appearance at first, but it seems more to be part of the setup for the joke with Naruto's Harem no Jutsu MK2 than genuine signs of infatuation. Speaking of jokes, I found it notable that in chp246 during the 2nd bell test, the emo/sulk reaction of both Naruto and Sakura are shown in a comedic setup rather than sorrowful. Overall, both of them treat each other as good friends would. As we learn a bit later (chp252) there's an important difference to part 1 in Sakura's perception of Naruto now. She knows about Kyuubi and her desire to save and protect now also encompasses Naruto. A point which gets highlighted further in chp 261, where upon hearing about a demon vessel's destiny and seeing what kind of people are after him, Sakura sheds tears of concern for Naruto. So much for Sakuras emotional life during the Gaara mission.

Enter everyones favourite phallus fetishist, Sai. There's an interesting bit in chp285, that I didn't notice the first time around. After Sai managed to piss off both Sakura and Naruto, Sakura mentiones that Sai resembles Sasuke a bit, whereupon still angry Naruto goes on about how much cooler and better Sasuke is. To my surprise, Sakura puts Naruto's comment a bit into perspective and agrees with Naruto by saying that Sasuke is indeed "somewhat" cooler, instead of joining in into his tirade. That's a rather mellow response compared to the raving Sasuke fangirl from the beginning and it seems she's even a bit amused how Naruto puts Sasuke on a high pedestral compared to Sai. Of course, Sasuke still is a very important person to Sakura as she impressively demonstrated by "disciplining" Sai after he badmouthed Sasuke (chp286). We get a nice followup to this scene, when Sai talks badly about Sasuke again. This time though, Sakura's first concern is how Naruto will react and later reveals to Sai that she would have sent him flying again if it weren't for Naruto's self-restraint. Ok, we've almost caught up with the latest chapters now. Naruto turns into 4-tail mode and Sakura shows the same kind of concern as back then when Sasuke first activated the curse seal in the forest of death (rushing in without regards to the danger). After Naruto turned back, there's of course the much discussed scene with Yamato's unfinished analysis of Sakura. As others have stated, we the readers, the characters in Naruto and even Sakura herself already know that Naruto and Sakura are good friends and that she cares about him. The thing that Yamato tried to point out and that Sakura herself seemed to be clueless about, has to be something that goes beyond this common knowledge.

What I've tried to show in my rather longwinded post is, that there are a lot of little pointers that Sakura's feelings towards Naruto are changing ever so slightly and even she herself doesn't notice how much she's influenced by him. Naruto began to take a very important place within her by continously being there when it counted and this place is built on very solid ground. As for those feelings of love that Sakura declared on the night Sasuke ran away, currently I don't think they'll stand the test of time. It was an extreme situation back then, with lots of stuff building one upon another and I wouldn't be surprised if after those 2 years friendship and the need to save that friend is what remained of those past feelings in her heart.

Well, that's it so far. More than likely I've put too much thought into it and Kishimoto will go an other way than what I think was implied throughout the course of the story. If I had to make a guess how Kishimoto will actually continue the story, I'd say he wont resolve anything, but continue to drop hints here and there and let the fans sort things out. But in case he will make the characters choose, I'd say the overall course is slowly but steadily pointing towards NarutoxSakura. As for Hinata, somehow I don't see her getting together with Naruto. She's too passive for anything to happen. Especially with that idol worship thing she has going for Naruto. I can't see her getting on stage as an equal in love with the way things are going now. She seriously needs more spine for anything to happen. That shyness character trait is cute and all, but ultimately it'll get her nowhere with Naruto. He doesn't even know she is interested at all. Furthermore for a relationship to form she needs to be at least somehow a part of his life, so he has a chance to get to know her. If she confessed now it wouldn't have any effect, because that wouldn't make him fall madly in love with her all of a sudden. Feel free to agree, disagree or dismiss my post entirely. Hopefully I've at least given someone some food for thought or new ideas.

[Syaoran]

Oberon, that is a fantastic post \(^_^)/
I couldn't find the time and energy you had to make a point. I do agree on what you say, as it's the same point of view I have. Honestly, I'm happy with this ^^

(PS: did you search through all these chapters O_o? )

[Rurik]

Originally Posted by Syaoran

Oberon, that is a fantastic post \(^_^)/
I couldn't find the time and energy you had to make a point. I do agree on what you say, as it's the same point of view I have. Honestly, I'm happy with this ^^

(PS: did you search through all these chapters O_o? )

I’m quite impressed also about the Chapters references.

Seen that You (Oberon) made a very insightful and logic analysis on the matter, I agree with you, (really who would not agree with this post?) but I think in the end, The Mangaka would not go too deep regarding this heated love triangle.

[Integra]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Rurik

I’m quite impressed also about the Chapters references.

Seen that You (Oberon) made a very insightful and logic analysis on the matter, I agree with you, (really who would not agree with this post?) but I think in the end, The Mangaka would not go too deep regarding this heated love triangle.

I have to say the same... Oberon made a brilliant analysis, somewhat i wished i had the pacience to do the same, because i always had the almost same line of thoughts that he had... But as i always get to heated on this kind of post, i'm not always a good analyser as he was
Really liked what you said, Oberon... Finally someone that gives more thought than the whole "love forever" of Sakura towards Sasuke... (although Uchiha_Rurik is kind of right... don't think the mangaka gave or will give the same amount of thoughts in the psicology situation as you had... shame...)

[KanaKaishou]

Wall. Of. Text'd.

Still, it's quite the post...literary analyisis+naruto FTW.

[eLcHaKeTeRo]

I usually dont even attemp to read post that are even a couple paragraphs long, but since you got some serious kudos for your analisis of the Naruto + Sakura friendship I had to read it. Its really REALLY good and detailed. I just started reading the manga again and i picked up from chapter 240 and i also noticed everything that you said. I completely agree with you on that. Wow.

[EadTaes]

Yeah great analasys Oberon. I agree with you 100% of the way and it seems you finaly managed to put an end to one track minded people arguing other wise. Thanks alot. Althout i still have my preferences of NarutoxHinata. How ever she won't be anything more then a side act like Shinobu in Love Hina.

[Ryuujin]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Furthermore for a relationship to form she needs to be at least somehow a part of his life, so he has a chance to get to know her.

That's one thing the fillers seem to be doing fairly well. Pity they're, you know, filler...

[Missilebuster]

hmmm i seem to remember somting about naruto (in sasuke form) saying someting to sakura like youre annoying. It was one of the first anime episodes, but i cant remember if it was naruto shaped like sasuke or sasuke. If it was naruto did those feelings suddenly go away?

[Rachy]

hmmm i seem to remember somting about naruto (in sasuke form) saying someting to sakura like youre annoying. It was one of the first anime episodes, but i cant remember if it was naruto shaped like sasuke or sasuke. If it was naruto did those feelings suddenly go away?

That wasnt naruto it was the real sasuke, naruto was going to say mean things to her though so she would hate sasuke.

[AMS]

I would rather Naruto X Hinata

[Mr. Johnny 5]

If you think about it...it's a very stupid and terrible thing to fall for your comrade...or be jealous at your comrade.

Afterall...in a battle these emotions can kill you..what if naruto thought for a moment (while this dude is killing Sasuke)....if i wait till Sasuke dies...Sakura is all mine!!??

If Naruto didnt thought about Sasuke as a brother...they might've let eachother die already..

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Syaoran

(PS: did you search through all these chapters O_o? )

More or less, but it goes relatively fast when you're just looking for specific events.

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Rurik

Seen that You (Oberon) made a very insightful and logic analysis on the matter, I agree with you, (really who would not agree with this post?) but I think in the end, The Mangaka would not go too deep regarding this heated love triangle.

I agree, somewhere through the writeup I also thought "would the mangaka really plan things out this much?", but then again, I wondered about the same thing in school when I had to analyze normal literature and poems. Anyways, it seems Kishimoto managed up to this point, either by design or sheer luck, to write a plausible course of events as far as Sakura's emotional development is concerned. Another example I just thought of, I remember how frustrating it was to see Sakura being "weak and useless" throughout part 1, while Naruto and Sasuke went on their respective power trips, which I wrote off as the usual shounen manga paradigm. Looking back now it seems quite logical, since Sakura didn't have the same kind of fundamental reason (Sasuke: revenge, Naruto: search for acknowledgement) to drive her to higher levels. This changed with Sasuke's defection, where she wasn't strong enough to do anything and Naruto almost died to grant her request. The events in part 1 changed her far enought to send her on a similar quest for power as Naruto and Sasuke. Hmm, might be interesting to reread Naruto and pay attention to that kind of stuff with other characters as well. Especially now where I can judge the story and chapters in context, without the impatience of waiting for the next chapter coloring my judgement.

To all who replied, thanks for sitting through the earlier monstrous post. Maybe it can prove to be useful in future discussions until Kishimoto proves me wrong with new story developments.

[-=Itachi=-]

Oberon, I just have to clap for that massive post you did there... its almost 1800 words long... that was longer than most of the essays I had to write, I would give you a A+ for the references if i was an teacher...
You wouldnt mind writting one of my assignments would ya?

[Luminion Lancer]

Hmm, I agree that Kishimoto-sensei will keep droping little hints here and there. While it would be nice to have a definate (concrete) answer to our questions and interpetations I have come to believe that if Kishimoto-sensei made an official pairing it would simply complicate things.

Unless...

The pairing itself became an important aspect of the story. I know that this will sound sooooo cliche but if it happened that say Sakura got kidnapped by the Akatsuki and demanded Naruto in exchange. Judging from Deidara's actions when he fought Gaara (he threatened to attack the whole villaga) I'd say that the Akatsuki aren't above such cowardice (though Itachi and Kisame might be an exception). That sort of situation would be a good opportunity to establish the pairing. But then again I am not Kishimoto-sensei or his twin brother so I wouldn't know.

[AIKakashi]

Originally Posted by -=Itachi=-

Oberon, I just have to clap for that massive post you did there... its almost 1800 words long... that was longer than most of the essays I had to write, I would give you a A+ for the references if i was an teacher...
You wouldnt mind writting one of my assignments would ya?

did you actually had count each word? lol braver than I am. I'd lose count after 10.