If reading anti-SasuSaku or anti-NaruHina comments bothers you, then please don't read any further. I'm not obligating anyone to read this, but I just really want to express myself before I lose it. I have never flamed any SasuSaku or NaruHina fanart, clubs, or fans, and I have never tried to convince them not to like the pairings of their choice. I, for the most part, have kept my feelings to myself, and I have been respectful of other opinions. This is my page, and this is the only place where I will express such feelings, unless I am challenged to a debate.

I am NOT saying that fans of SasuSaku and NaruHina should stop enjoying the pairings. I would never say that to anyone. I just want to state my own opinions.

Table of Contents
My Counterarguments to Common NaruHina Arguments
1. Hinata's crush on Naruto is a fact
2. Naruto naturally trusted Hinata
3. Naruto doesn't cheat off of Hinata during the first exam because he didn't want her to get in trouble
4. During the preliminaries for the third Chuunin Exam, we learn that not only does Hinata share Naruto's pain, she understands it
5. Hinata is still quite capable of helping Naruto with his pains and problems. Kishimoto can tie Hinata in to Naruto’s situation, even if he has yet to do so
6. Hinata offers Naruto medical cream after his fight against her teammate
7 and 8. Hinata follows Naruto's example and quotes him
9. Lee points out that Hinata is a lot like Naruto
10. Naruto made a blood oath in Hinata's name
11. Hinata was the first to see a quieter, calmer side of Naruto
12. All the fillers that Hinata played in were clearly NaruHina episodes. Now some people tend to think that fillers are noncanon, but that is wrong. Naruto STILL belongs to Kishimoto and he says what can be done and what cannot
13. Naruto likes Hinata for the same reason that he likes Sakura: the desire for acknowledgement
14. How Naruto's feelings have grown for Sakura does nothing to say why the same couldn't happen between Naruto and Hinata
15. It's possible that Naruto may be a quiet type like Hinata deep inside
16. Hinata was placed on the same team as Naruto for the current arc. There's bound to be NaruHina development.
17. In Konoha Gakuen Naruto and Hinata went on a date. Kishimoto even drew it.
18. Any advantage Sakura has over Hinata when it comes to relating to/helping Naruto stems purely from circumstance
My Counterarguments to Common SasuSaku Arguments
1. SasuSaku fits well into to team 7 dynamic: Naruto, the "brother" to Sasuke, and Sakura, the "lover" for Sasuke
2. Sakura's crush on Sasuke was not childish in part one, and it certainly must have grown into love by now
3. Sakura is still in love with Sasuke in Shippuuden
4. The story cannot be complete until all three of them achieve their goals. Naruto wanted to be Hokage, Sasuke wanted to kill Itachi, and Sakura wanted to win Sasuke
5. Sasuke could return Sakura's feelings, and he does care about her
6. Sasuke has to reciprocate the brotherly feelings of Naruto and the romantic feelings of Sakura
7. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto parallel Tsunade's relationships to Dan and Nawaki respectively. Naruto has a "brother" relationship with Sakura, and Sasuke will be her lover.
8. Sasuke was right to criticize Sakura harshly
9. Sasuke complimented Sakura's genjutsu talent
10. Sasuke had seen Sakura's severe injuries in the Forest of Death, and he decided to punish the Sound Trio for what they had done to her.
11. Sakura's hug and compassion caused the curse seal to recede
12. You give Sasuke no credit
My Counterarguments to Common Anti-NaruSaku Arguments CLICK HERE!
1. I hate NaruSaku for the same reasons that you hate SasuSaku. Sakura was too mean to Naruto.
2. Sakura hits Naruto. He deserves someone who won't hit him.
3. Naruto represses his personality around Sakura. He'll yell at Gamabunta for not respecting him, yet he lets Sakura beat up on him.
4. Naruto and Sakura would not have been friends if Sasuke had not yelled at Sakura in the beginning and left the village. Their relationship was pretty weak in part one.
5. Naruto's crush on Sakura is just as shallow as Sakura's crush on Sasuke. He only likes her because she is pretty.
6. All I see is a lovely friendship. Going beyond that is OOC
7. Sakura still doesn't respect Naruto's silliness and perverted side, but Hinata does.
8. Yamato wasn't going to say that she loves Naruto. He was going to talk about her confidence issues.
9. Yamato doesn't know about Sakura's feelings and history with Sasuke
10. This doesn't prove that NaruSaku will happen



My Counterarguments to Common NaruHina Arguments


1. Hinata's crush on Naruto is a fact.

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."


Click here to see the whole chart.


2. During the first Chuunin Exam, Naruto is suspicious of Hinata's offer to help him cheat. However, he quickly shakes this off, almost naturally trusting Hinata.

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. [link] 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. [link] [link] 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.


3. Naruto is about to cheat off of Hinata's test, but he notices Izumo watching him like a hawk. Naruto realizes that not only could he be disqualified for cheating, but Hinata could be disqualified as well. Naruto says, "Hinata...you don't understand. An incredible ninja like me doesn't need to cheat. Plus, because you helped me cheat, you could get in trouble too." Some may argue that Naruto was just trying to be "cool." If Naruto were just trying to be cool, there would be no need for him to have said anything about Hinata getting in trouble for his sake.

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".


4. Hinata shares Naruto's pain, and she understands it.

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. [link] However, Naruto's most fundamental pain in part one is that of loneliness, which he relates to Gaara. [link]

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.


5. Hinata is still quite capable of helping Naruto with his pains and problems. Kishimoto can tie Hinata in to Naruto’s situation, even if he has yet to do so.

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.


6. Having spent all of her willpower on saying Naruto's name after his fight against Kiba, Hinata shyly offered him some medicinal cream, and Kurenai immediately picked up on Hinata's feelings for Naruto.

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. [link] 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.


7. Neji accuses Hinata of entering the Chuunin exam unwillingly, but Hinata says, "I...n...no...I...just wanted...wanted...to change myself..." These words resonate inside of Naruto as well as a few others.

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. [link] Man, EVERYONE is just joining the bandwagon now! XD


8. During her fight with Neji, Hinata brings herself to her feet saying, "I...don't...go back...on my word... That is...also my way of the ninja!" She recovered from what was considered a finishing blow and quoted Naruto.

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. [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] "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 [link] and uses it to his advantage as Naruto often does. [link] He has many more flashbacks of Naruto [link] 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". [link] Kidomaru asks incredulously "How... that should have killed you instantly. Why are you still alive?" and Neji goes on to quote Naruto some more. [link] [link]


9. "I never knew Hinata was this incredible...," Naruto says.
"She's very similar to you...," Rock Lee tells him.
"Oh yeah...She was always watching you," Sakura adds.

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 [link] and "Look at Sakura go! She's awesome!" in the official American translation. Naruto also talks about Shino's impressive strength. [link]

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


10. Naruto made a blood oath in Hinata's name

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.


11. Hinata was the first to see a quieter, calmer side of Naruto.

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. [link]


12. All the fillers that Hinata played in were clearly NaruHina episodes. Now some people tend to think that fillers are noncanon, but that is wrong. Naruto STILL belongs to Kishimoto and he says what can be done and what cannot.

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.


13. Naruto likes Hinata for the exact same reason he likes Sakura: desire for acknowledgment.

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.


14. How Naruto's feelings may have grown for Sakura does nothing to say why the same couldn't happen between Naruto and Hinata.

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.


15. It's possible that Naruto may be a quiet type like Hinata deep inside.

Naruto is only quiet when he is particularly depressed. When he is content and happy, he is loud and energetic.


16. Hinata was placed on the same team as Naruto for the current arc. There's bound to be NaruHina development.

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. [link] 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 [link] 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.


17. In Konoha Gakuen Naruto and Hinata went on a date. Kishimoto even drew it.

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.


Kishimoto never shades trees with screentone like in this picture. He ALWAYS uses hatching.


There's far too much screentone in this picture to be Kishimoto's. He rarely uses it.


Kishimoto rarely does this. Only a couple times has he drawn the "overlarge angry head", and it certainly wasn't in this style.


Kishimoto almost NEVER uses screentone to shade in characters (only twice in the whole manga to my knowledge). The artist who drew these uses screentone much more frequently.


Again, it's the screentone. Kishimoto has never used screentone to color someone's outfit. It's always black or white.


Kishimoto has never drawn multiple hits in such a way.


Well, this just screams crack fanservice. KakaIru is the most popular pairing in Japan.


I am 100% certain that Kishimoto would never portray Orochimaru in such a way (except maybe to mock fandom), and he certainly wouldn't draw an interested Sasuke. Besides, Kishimoto draws hands differently.

On Naruto Forums, even confirmed that the artist was not Kishimoto. He thinks that it was the anime's Hirofumi Suzuki and Tetsuya Nishio who drew it all. Kishimoto had nothing to do with Konoha Gakuen. Kishimoto is not involved with the anime and does not approve of everything that the anime does. In an interview, Kishimoto said "Gunpowder is used in the anime, though I don't think it should be there." [link]

Besides, there was NaruSaku in Konoha Gakuen anyway. Ino teases Sakura for falling in love with Naruto and knitting a sweater for Naruto. Sakura tries to say that she hasn't, but if you watch Sakura in the Hinata date scene, Sakura is obviously jealous and even angry. It was just a fanservice special.


18. Any advantage Sakura has over Hinata when it comes to relating to/helping Naruto stems purely from circumstance.

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.


My Opinion of NaruHina

Back in the Chuunin exam arc, I liked it. I had always preferred NaruSaku over NaruHina, but I felt that if NaruSaku didn't happen, I would be satisfied with a NaruHina/LeeSaku combination. I don't hate this pairing, but I do dislike it. I am against opposites pairings, so I would hope that supposing it happened, Naruto somehow mellows out. In the case that it does happen, I hope that it actually get relationship development, rather than depend on the one arc connection development that on which it subsists. If I was a NaruHina fan, I would be highly disappointed if it happened without development. It wouldn't have done the pairing justice. However, I highly doubt that this pairing will happen though. There isn't much to bring Naruto and Hinata together romantically.



My CounterArguments to Common SasuSaku Arguments


1. SasuSaku fits well into to team 7 dynamic: Naruto, the "brother" to Sasuke, and Sakura, the "lover" for Sasuke.

So the manga will soon be renamed Sasuke I take it. The manga is about Naruto and the bonds and relationships revolve around Naruto. It seems more reasonable to me that it will be Sasuke the brother and Sakura the lover for Naruto. Those are the two main relationships that the hero of the story is pursuing. Naruto's relationship to Sakura is far more important to Sasuke's relationship to Sakura. Many SasuSaku fans also argue that Naruto and Sakura's relationship revolves around bringing back Sasuke. That is not true. They have been brought closer in their desire to reunite team 7, but their is more to their relationship than that. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are the focus of the manga, and a romance/stronger relationship between Sasuke and Sakura takes focus away from Naruto and places it with Sasuke. Of course, then SasuSaku fans tend to argue that Naruto can then have Hinata as a lover. The Sasuke and Sakura relationship would still trump Naruto's romance because Hinata is not involved in the main focus of the story.

~White-Heron had made a great point that team 7 was already unbalanced. "Team 7 has Never been a stable 3-person formation. Whenever two of the sides stood out, the third side got left out: Sakura was helpless faced with the confrontation between Naruto and Sasuke, Naruto was saddened by Sakura's sadness due to Sasuke, and Sasuke got jealous (though in my opinion not romantically, but power wise) when Naruto upped him against Gaara and got even Sakura to look his way."

Again, Sasuke, Sasuke's revenge, and Sasuke's relationship to Sakura would not matter AT ALL in they story if it weren't for Naruto. It is because Naruto values his bond with Sasuke so much and because Sasuke was on a team with Naruto that Sasuke has any relevance to the story whatsoever.


2. Sakura's crush on Sasuke was not childish in part one, and it certainly must have grown into love by now.

Hmm, I'd say that Kishimoto disagrees. He has said in interviews that he has had the ending planned out all along, and in volume three, when describing Sakura's character he says that he thought that "her pursuing a selfish love is pretty realistic" (online Shannaro translation [link]) and Sasuke is her "entirely arbitrary choice of love object" (official American translation). Furthermore, in this interview ([link]), Kishimoto says that Sakura is energetic and wants to be a leader, but becomes childlike in front of Sasuke. He had done another interview (posing as Kakashi), in which Kakashi says that "stalking Sasuke" is one of Sakura's flaws. [link]

Why exactly does she have a crush on Sasuke? She liked him because he was good-looking, talented, and "cool". Those were the only qualities that Sakura had praised out loud and inwardly. Was he kind to her? Did he make her feel like she was significant, competant, or worthy of praise? Did he smile at her to wash away her fears and insecurities? Did he ever talk to her out of enjoyment of her company? The answer to all of the questions is a resounding NO. He was rarely kind to her, and he often put her down and made her feel insignificant, incompetant, and unworthy of praise. He never smiled at her and only once did he do anything that washed away her fears and insecurities (he usually just increased them). In their goodbye scene, Sakura reveals that Sasuke "never says a word" to her. [link] As a genin cell, they trained together and completed missions together. They were frequently around each other, and he "never" spoke to her? She was probably overexaggerating, but it still speaks volumes. SasuSaku has not had any relationship development, and I can't see where Sakura's "selfish" and "arbitrary" crush could have developped into love and understanding. It was still "selfish" and "arbitrary" at the end of part one.


3. Sakura is still in love with Sasuke in Shippuuden.

Maybe, but we don't know for certain. Not once has she explicitly expressed her feelings as "love" or "romantic" in Shippuuden. About three years have gone by since Sasuke left, and a lot could have changed. The last time that she saw him before Shippuuden, Sasuke said that he had forgotten their first real conversation, Sakura reminded him of all of the good times that team 7 had, Sasuke told her that he is on a different path and that he will never be like her and Naruto, Sakura told him that she will be lonely if he leaves, Sakura confessed love and rambled on about how desperate she was for him and how she could help him, Sasuke told her that she was annoying, Sakura threatened to scream and alert the village of his betrayal, Sasuke then said "Thank you", and Sasuke knocked her out and left her overnight on a bench outside. It's entirely possible that Sakura may have dropped her feelings after all of those events. It seems that she may be desperate to bring Sasuke back for team 7's sake and because she still has a strong connection to him. In the goodbye scene, she first talks about team 7 and the memories there, and in Shippuuden, she is shown to be crying over a photograph of team 7. [link] I'm not discounting the possibility that she still has feelings for him, but we still don't know. There are several reasons why she could be crying. She misses the old team 7, she is heartbroken that Sasuke refused her feelings (she said that she thought that he hated her in the goodbye scene [link]), she is frustrated that they repeatedly fail in bringing Sasuke back, or maybe she was sad that Sasuke had tried to kill her the last time that she saw him. Kishimoto left that scene completely ambiguous, and her feelings have been left ambiguous in Shippuuden.

One thing that I have noticed is that Naruto's bond with Sasuke has been given much more importance than Sakura's. Sakura talks of Naruto's feelings about Sasuke to Sai, and not hers. [link] The page before when Sai is trash-talking Sasuke a second time, Sakura thinks "...Naruto" and instead of getting angry herself, she watches Naruto brood over Sasuke. [link] They discuss brotherhood before Sakura reminds him that she would have punched him for bad-mouthing Sasuke if it had not been for what Naruto had said. When they confront Sasuke later, Naruto's reaction to Sasuke is given more importance. [link] Of course, it fits. Like I said earlier, Naruto's bonds and relationships are the focus of the manga, not Sasuke's or Sakura's.


4. The story cannot be complete until all three of them achieve their goals. Naruto wanted to be Hokage, Sasuke wanted to kill Itachi, and Sakura wanted to win Sasuke.

That is an excellent point! I agree completely. However, those who use this argument fail to realize that Sakura did not say a goal. [link] She didn't even begin to say her goal. She decided against sharing it at the last minute. Sakura has been indecisive for a lot of part one. She didn't even really know why she wanted to be a ninja. Sakura doesn't have a specific goal that she is pursuing. Some would argue that her goal in life is to marry Sasuke, but she hasn't said it, and her actions are not governed by her "goal" like with Sasuke and Naruto. In almost every fight, Naruto thinks of or mentions his dream of becoming Hokage, and Sasuke thinks of his goal of killing Itachi. Sakura does NOT have a such a goal that stands out like this. Well, one could argue that rescuing Sasuke is her lifetime "goal", but Naruto seems to be even more obsessed with rescuing Sasuke than Sakura, and he certainly doesn't have romantic feelings for Sasuke. She doesn't have to be in love with him to want him back.

We could further this notion that the story of Naruto was foreshadowed in the beginning with Kakashi's analysis of team 7. To Naruto, Kakashi says that he was just running around by himself, and to Sasuke, Kakashi says that he just assumed that Naruto and Sakura would get in his way and tried to do everything himself. To Sakura, Kakashi says "instead of Naruto, who was right next to you, you were only thinking about Sasuke, who was far away". [link]


5. Sasuke could return Sakura's feelings, and he does care about her.

I don't entirely disagree here. Sasuke is fully capable of falling in love with someone, and he does care about Sakura as a part of team 7. However, how Sasuke feels about Sakura has largely been unimportant. Kishimoto has shown us Sasuke's thoughts plenty of times in part one, and not once has he shown him thinking about Sakura as an individual. If he ever thought about Sakura alone, Kishimoto did not think it important enough to show us. Everytime that Sakura has entered his mind, he was thinking of team 7 as a whole. Sasuke's relationship to Sakura is unimportant compared to both his relationship to Naruto and Naruto's relationship to Sakura. Sasuke expressed a desire to protect his "precious comrades while fighting Gaara, but before leaving the village, he thinks of team 7 and what it meant to him but then dismisses it as less important to him. [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] Sasuke speaks of his bond with team 7 as weakening him, a trait that makes that bond undesirable to him. He chose to end that bond. Sai spoke with Sasuke, who told him that he doesn't care about Naruto (Sai didn't ask about Sasuke's relationship with Sakura). [link] When Naruto asks Sasuke in their reunion why he didn't kill him at the Valley of the End, Sasuke says that he "simply did not want to give [Itachi] the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans." [link] This matches quite well with his first coherent thought after the big fight [link] so I highly doubt that he is bluffing to safeguard Naruto and Sakura in any way. Sasuke then tries to kill both Naruto [link] Sakura [link] and everyone at once with *that* jutsu. [link]

Some people try saying that Sasuke wouldn't have killed them or that he still cares about them, but that is assuming far too much when everything that has been explicited stated proves the opposite. Besides, Sasuke had already proven in part one that he is fully capable of killing Naruto, his closest friend. [link] [link] Sasuke no longer cares about them, and I hope that eventually Naruto will turn Sasuke around as he has nearly every character in the entire manga.


6. When Sasuke left, he met with both his teammates; to each he tried to leave quickly, and in the end gave a concession - for Naruto, not killing him; for Sakura, saying “Thank you”. Naruto and Sakura also each made a confession of what Sasuke means to them – for Naruto, it is brotherhood; for Sakura, it is romantic love. This was the context of Sasuke’s relationships with Naruto and Sakura at the time of his departure – to neither of them could he reciprocate (not clear whether he would have had he not felt obligated to fulfill his revenge by such means). But while it should be fairly predictable that by/before the end, Sasuke will accept and proclaim Naruto as his brother; and if the parallel holds, he will likewise reciprocate Sakura’s feelings.

Hmm, but there is a problem with that argument already. Sasuke did reciprocate Naruto's feelings. During their fight, both of them refer to each other as friends, and Sasuke even calls Naruto his closest friend. [link] Sasuke is even the first to say it, and later Naruto mentions their friendship [link] Of course, Naruto tells Sasuke that he sees him as a brother. That is what causes Sasuke to finally (and symbolically) put the forehead protector on and fully develop his Sharingan. [link] Sasuke fully recognizes and shares the brotherhood connection with Naruto, and he realizes that he needs to get more serious about breaking that bond since it is the biggest threat to impeding him in his ambition. Also, Kakashi, after the hospital fight scene, says that more than anything Naruto wants Sasuke's recognition [link] and in Shippuuden, Naruto says that Sasuke was the first person to fully acknowledge him [link] The parallel no longer exists.


7. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto parallel Tsunade's relationships to Dan and Nawaki respectively. Naruto has a "brother" relationship with Sakura, and Sasuke will be her lover.

This is another faulty parallel, and another argument that takes the focus off of Naruto. This time, it focuses too heavily on Sakura. First of all, Dan and Sasuke are nothing alike, however Tsunade finds Naruto to be just like Dan, as well as Nawaki.

The only parallels that I see are the obvious sannin parallel from the beginning and the parallel connecting Naruto and Sasuke to the Shodai and Madara ([link] [link]). We know only a little about the Shodai-Madara relationship yet, but the sannin parallel can't be denied.

Naruto will succeed where Jiraiya failed. [link]


8. Sasuke had every right to criticize Sakura for her faults. He called her annoying for what she said about Naruto in chapter 3 and she deserved it. She called her weak and told her to train because she was useless and she did nothing to improve. She wasn't like Naruto, she wasn't trying to improve but couldn't because she lacked the skill. She was doing nothing other than worrying and crying.

So that makes belittling someone okay? If he really wanted her to improve, why didn't he just spend a little time with his teammate to train with her and help her get better? Besides, his "tough love" did not help her at all. It only made her incredibly depressed. The SasuSaku fan that had said this had also conceded that Sakura has confidence issues. Keeping that in mind, is this is best way to help her or ANYONE for that matter? Sasuke alone never inspired Sakura to improve herself. Watching Naruto in the third Chuunin exam did inspire Sakura [link] and "that's an incredible thing". It is Naruto who inspires Sakura to go to Tsunade for training. In the hospital scene, she sees Naruto's injuries and realizes how far he went, how hard he tried for a promise that he made to her. [link] She smiles and thinks "Naruto... I beg you... I trust you completely" [link] _{And she didn't trust Sasuke}. In the offical American translation, she thinks "I... all I did was cry for help... I just cried and reached out to you". This translation fits better with the scene (and the Chinese translation is practically the same). She goes on to think "I did nothing" before she promises Naruto that next time they will go together. They don't talk about Sasuke, and it is again Naruto who inspires Sakura to work harder.


9. Sasuke complimented Sakura's genjutsu talent.

It was ambiguous to me. Sasuke was born into a prestigious ninja clan and watched as his brother became a chuunin. I'm certain that he was aware of the procedures of the Chuunin exams. Sasuke was well aware that if Sakura withdrew from the Chuunin exams, the whole team would not be able to compete. He saw that Sakura was a bit "off" that day, and competing in the Chuunin exams was very important to him. After making the compliment, he smirks and his eyes are hidden. [link]

Was it a genuine smile and compliment, or does the smirk and hidden eyes indicate to readers that Sasuke had something else in mind? Who knows? That's why I say that it's ambiguous. Kishimoto did not show us what Sasuke was thinking, so we have no way of telling. It's very possible that it was genuine, but it is also possible that it was not.

10. Sasuke had seen Sakura's severe injuries in the Forest of Death, and he decided to punish the Sound Trio for what they had done to her.

Again, this is incredibly ambiguous. Sasuke wakes up and says "Sakura... who did that to you?" or "Sakura, point to the ones who pummeled you into that state." His focus shifts ENTIRELY from Sakura after that point. He starts talking about how he can feel the power flowing through him, and how it makes him feel great. He mocks Zaku while beating him up and breaking his arms, and then turns to Dosu saying "you're the only one left. I hope that you let me have more fun." Not once does he say something like "how dare you hurt a comrade of mine", "I'll teach you for hurting Sakura", or something like that. Sasuke talks about power, being an avenger, and "having fun" while practically torturing Zaku. He doesn't even talk to Sakura at the end of the fight, ask her how she is feeling, praise her for being able to defend him and Naruto while they were out, or offer her assistance. It seemed like he was testing out his new powers and was being generally cruel (under the influence of Orochimaru's curse seal), and he used Sakura's injuries to justify it.

His intentions again were left ambiguous. We don't know.


11. Sakura's hug and compassion caused the curse seal to recede

I would have agreed, if Sasuke hadn't shown us what really drove back the curse seal the second time that it happened. When the curse seal starts coming out in the Chuunin Exam preliminary matches, it is not thoughts of compassion from someone else that causes the curse seal to recede. It is the fear of having people worry about him. [link] He thinks about BOTH Sakura and Naruto (and Naruto doesn't even know about the curse seal) and then thinks "heh... having them worry about me... I can't let this thing... control me!" [link] The cause the first time is largely ambiguous. This time, the cause is clearly explicit and can apply to both. Of course, we don't know.


12. You give Sasuke no credit.

That is incorrect. It is not I who gives Sasuke little credit. It is Kishimoto who does not give Sasuke enough credit. Allow me to explain. In part 1, Kishimoto had shown us Sasuke's personal, inner thoughts SEVERAL TIMES. The only thoughts that we got to see were Sasuke's thoughts about revenge, thoughts about opponents, thoughts about power and getting stronger (he even thought about how being on Team 7 held him back right before the Chuunin Exams), concern for his teammates (during the fight against Gaara), and his jealousy of Naruto's new power and strength. We don't know if Sasuke had ever thought about Sakura on a personal level. If he ever did, Kishimoto did not include it because HE did not think that how Sasuke feels about Sakura was important. If it was important, then he would have included it. So all we know about how Sasuke thinks about Sakura is based solely on the way he has treated her and what he has said. Sasuke belittled her and has treated her like she was weak and insignificant. He has even glared at her on MANY occasions, even in the goodbye scene. Now based on what he has said to her he thinks that Sakura is annoying, is weaker than Naruto, shouldn't be asking him out when she should be training, should stay out of his business, should leave him alone, is completely different than him, is on a completely different path, just plain annoys him again, but he possibly was grateful for her concern. Kishimoto is the one who doesn't give Sasuke the credit of caring much about Sakura. Based on what Sasuke has said in the manga and what his priorities are, I have given him due credit. Assuming that Sasuke actually harbors great concern or even romantic feelings for Sakura is ridiculous. Little in the manga really suggests it.

Also, I want to make a couple more points about the "You're annoying" line. It seems to me that "you're annoying" bears a much more insulting connotation in Japan than it does in America, otherwise the professional, official American translation would have kept it as "You're annoying". In the English version, Sasuke tells Sakura "You make me sick" in chapter three and in the Goodbye scene, and that's incredibly harsh!


My Opinion of SasuSaku

I really loathe this pairing. I disliked it from the start because of the way that Sasuke treated Sakura, and the pairing just kept getting worse and worse to me. I agree with Kishimoto that Sakura's feelings are arbitrary and selfish, and I can't ever see Sasuke requiting her feelings. Why would he? Why would he suddenly start considering how Sakura feels? He cares about her, yes, but he never takes her feelings into consideration. Like with NaruHina, there's so much foundation to be set for this pairing. In part one, they hardly interacted. They barely had a relationship. Where will Kishimoto fit in the development and romance?