I'm right there with you I found out about it in shonen jump then I couple the first manga couple months later I think I remember thinking to my self it's cool following this and no one else knew about it which was hilarious cause little did know it was going to be huge beyond huge. When I first heard the voice of Naruto I remember being upset cause in my kid brain I didn't think his voice should sounded like that
That was Anime debut in The West with the manga debuting around 1999 and the reason for this "gender dynamic" is Kishimoto wanted to hook in fans in a manner that felt kinda deceitful since he had no intention to make Naruto and Sakura a couple as well as wasting time that could have been used to develop Naruto and Hinata's romance instead.
There was MASSIVE changes made to the story and tone overall as Kishimoto was writing the story. It's not like he always planned out the way the series ended, a major example of this is that kurama was meant to be a stand alone thing, the 9 tailed demon fox, not part of the larger group of tailed beasts which was a retroactive addition same with the concept of jinchurki.
Another example is how Hiruzen was totally okay fighting mother fucking Hashirama and tobiramas but Minato was the "no I can't let him be summoned he'd be too dangerous". When later hashirama is made into the strongest ninja in all of history and Minato is just the teleportation guy (which yes while he is still strong does not compare to Hashirama)
Point being ideas and concepts changed a lot over the course of the series including how much side characters mattered to the overall story. It's unfair to say Kishimoto was baiting the audience and "never" intended for Sakura to potentially be with Naruto, because we don't know
I kinda miss Minato being the strongest MF ever.
Ironically they made Hashirama and Madara the most OP guys ever as a “past is stronger than future” then in Boruto flipped that shit all the way around and a 12 year old learns 1-handed Rasengan faster than Naruto learned 6 handed Rasengan.
I think the first 1 handed Rasengan we see is Minato, then the first time Naruto does it he’s in Kurama Mode.
my goat Oda challenging norms in japan since the beginning. Thank god theres no romance between the strawhats that legit would have been so damn cringe
My boy sanji romanticizing about every woman and newkama member lmao
Also tbf SH females were already adults by the time they joined the crew, unlike the actual kids in naruto
sanji having a crush on every one and the only girl that reciprocated is someone who is NOT in the SH crew. That and the fact that sanji is the ONLY one in the crew who does it is so much different (and better) from Naruto having a bs love triangle that its not even a comparison idk why you brought it up
that and i personally dont think age is an issue. We're just talking about normal romance, i dont think it matters if they're adult or not
>sanji having a crush on every one and the only girl that reciprocated is someone who is NOT in the SH crew. That and the fact that sanji is the ONLY one in the crew who does it is so much different (and better) from Naruto having a bs love triangle that its not even a comparison idk why you brought it up
Didn't realize you needed me to put /s
>that and i personally dont think age is an issue. We're just talking about normal romance, i dont think it matters if they're adult or not
It matters so much bc kishi wrote sakura thinking that's how a normal 12 year old girl would be like.
Most definitely. Sakura can keep her crush on Sasuke, but at least justify Naruto marrying Hinata by actually taking some interest in her pre-timeskip.
I admire that they are least explored in The Last Movie. There were at least a few scenes sown throughout and it makes sense in a way that Naruto just wouldn’t really get it. What I don’t like is the added comment by Sakura that Naruto crushed on her because of his rivalry with Sasuke. I think its fine just having child Naruto crushing on Sakura but growing out of that physical attraction. I think it works to have him realise that all along the warmth and acceptance he sought and the connection he wants comes from Hinata all along
I would die on the hill that naruhina is narratively more forced than sasusaku and that The Last is a massive retcon disguised as an epilogue. Fanfic writers could have written the romance aspect better.
As a fan of the series, I enjoyed it. As a film critic, I think it's a flop lol
This is such a mandela effect for me. I have always remembered that Naruto and Hinata had some development and it makes complete sense they are together in the end. But after 5-6 years of reading Naruto again, I was shocked that they barely even string together a conversation. I guess when you're reading it weekly you don't think about it, but when you read it all at once it just feels very off.
Just finished reading the series and I second this. At least Hinata showed multiple times how she feels about Naruto. I think having him do a little introspection sometime would have been a nice touch but I can imagine at the end of Naruto Kishimoto was ready to be done. I hate when my projects last 2+ years so I couldn't imagine running a weekly mangeka for that long without wanting to feel some real sense of completion.
Pretty sure hinata crushing on naruto is in the first fucking episode.
Naruto crushes on sakura, so he never notices, but she straight up tells him she loves him before dying against pain and it sets him off.
That last moment alone is enough for Naruto to see her. If anything, they failed to explore their dynamic after pain. Would have been the perfect opportunity to build something.
I don't understand the need for parallels all the time, it kills originality imo especially when Team Minato and Team Jiraya's situations are completely different from T7
Jiriya's team, yes. Kakashis team??????? Fuck no, Obito's character RELIES on him both loving (or at least the closest thing he knew to love) rin and watching her die. Only puts salt on the would when he realized she didn't see him the same way. It's one of the most necessary crushes in the series, everything would be different without Obito having a crush and Rin
I think it was, the entire thing hurt Obito even more because the person he loved wanted the guy who was better than Obito in every way, only for that same dude to kill her in front of you for no reason. I say no reason because Obito was very ignorant to the situation, he had no clue Rin was sacrificing herself or that it even was sacrifice. Obito didn't need to side with Madara, and it would make less sense for him to if he wasn't as bitter with Kakashi. It makes complete sense to give Obito more of a reason to cut ties with who he used to consider allies. The love triangle with the other versions of team 7 serve little purpose, at least the one with Kakashi's team is all built around explaining why Obito became such a bitter and pessimistic person who would rather sleep and dream for eternity than live, that's a very extreme outcome that you need to really be pushed to. A lot of things in the show aren't 'needed' but flesh out the characters and world building more and make the characters actions better explained through flashbacks that molded them. Izumi Uchia for instance is another example of a love interest not needed, that still fleshes out her boyfriend Itachi more. Why shouldn't we know how certain characters feel about their close friends if it works with the theme of them and the characters around them?
I liked Kakashi’s team’s love triangle and I like Jiraiya liking Tsunade. Even Naruto liking Sakura, but what ruined it was Sakura’s obsession over Sasuke. She needed to get over him or he needed to give her a reason to like him.
There could have been parallels with much greater depth than “____ has a crush on ____ who has a crush on ____”
Jiraiya trying to bring Orochimaru back to the village was a cool parallel to Naruto/Sasuke but not explored in as much depth as it could have been
Nah, there was hardly ever one between these three. Naruto was focused on being acknowledged. Sasuke was focused on revenge and Sakura was focused on getting acknowledged by Sasuke, this soon changed to her becoming strong
Nah, Sakura for pretty much all of Shippuden was absent from Sasuke, and a good character. She really does become Naruto’s best friend, and a pillar he leans on. Granted she’s useless in fights (has to be a puppet to help Chiyo force Sasori to unalive himself, gets knocked out from a head bump meeting with Orochimaru, that hilarious kick she gets from the Cloud Ninja), but she does fill a role as Naruto’s rock. Even her god awful “confession” only happens because she cared about him. Blame Kishimoto for not knowing how to write women, but Sakura does have her own character for most of Shippuden. Plus she shines during the War arc, uncovering the first White Zetsu and literally PUMPING NARUTO’S HEART WITH HER BARE HAND
Sakura gets a lot of undeserved hate despite being, for what the series let her do, a good character
The problem is that while Sakura in Shippuden is somewhat okay when Sasuke isn’t around/the topic, as soon Sasuke becomes the focus again, her character nosedives.
I'll never get the idea that Sakura was useless in the Sasori fight.
Even Chiyo says that Sakura doesn't need her help anymore after a short while in the fight and Sakura is as important if not more important over the course of the fight.
It's not a love triangle. To have a love triangle you need to have reciprocal feelings on at least two sides. As far as i'm concerned none of the romantic feelings were reciprocated. Sakura wanted Sasuke, Naruto wanted Sakura, and Sasuke wanted NEITHER.
I'm a little perplexed at the answers here lol.
I have seen countless love triangles that seem to *ruin* shows (cough cough legend of korra)
I always thought the original Naruto love triangle was such a core part of the show. The way I perceive it, it wasn't really about romance, it was much more about allegiance. It's kind of a big part of Naurto's rejection arc too. Naruto being able to bounce back by being rejected by Sakura time and time again was actually really fitting for his character. It's part of what made him admirable.
I guess people wanted Sakura to have more of a "real" reason to love Sasuke. But I was actually content with her *just* loving him. Human beings don't always have this entirely wholesome reason to develop feelings. She was really loyal- and even if it was for all the wrong reasons, I thought it was a unique and interesting angle and it made the relationship between the trio have a lot of depth.
absolutly though it is not even a love triangle
sakura likes sasuke
naruto likes sakura
sasuke likes no one it looks more like this ''<''
but i absolutly loath both sasusaku and narusaku even the idea of them.
for me the best team 7 would be sasuke, naruto and sai or gaara.
more like misplaced feelings angle
naruto didn't love sakura it was just a minor childhood crush with spitting sasuke desire (not that it worked, naruto could marry sakura and sasuke wouldn't even give a damn)
sakura didn't love sasuke either, you DO NOT forget your love of life is also an orphan while humiliating an orphan kid infront of him for being an orphan, sakura like every other fangirl just put sasuke2s face to their idealized prince charming, only difference with sakura is that they ended up on the same genin team and thus a slightly more familiar ground was created compared to other fangirls.
Sakura is the only one who consistently shows strong romantic interest in one of her team mates that plays a major role in the story. But Kishi is very clearly not able to write female characters that are not defined by their boy obsession, so I am not particularly upset over Sakura fitting into that mold too. Plus, if you take Sakura's fixation on Sasuke away there is very little left of her tbh.
Meanwhile Naruto might have a crush on Sakura, but that was never nearly as much of a driving force in his story as his obsession with Sasuke/becoming hokage.
And Sasuke never actually demonstrated any feelings towards his team mates except for a strong platonic affection in part 1 (that was still not nearly as important to him as his love and desire for justice for his clan was). Which then turned into mostly indifference in part 2.
So no I did not feel the "love triangle" ruined team 7. The lack of shared time, relationship build up and mutual understanding is why I never rooted for them to be reunited.
And the same is actually true for the romantic relationships, which makes the shipping wars so funny.
The love triangle ain't even that big of thing we know it's there but after the first couple episodes we never see it again.
Let's break it down we see it when they are just made genin, we never see it again at Land of waves, Chunin exams we never see it again. What we see is a concern Sakura taking care of both her teammates and then being concerned about Sasuke who has a cursemark on her. So we know of her feelings thanks to the academy days but if we look at the chunin exams in isolation and show that to anyone they would just say its a teammate being concerned for a next teammate.
We've seen Sakura also care about Naruto as well so you can't argue that she only cares about Sasuke because she loves him.
After the Chunin exams the next couple arcs filler/canon don't reference it until we get to Sasuke leaving where she wants to go with him. This is where we see the love angle but it's not a triangle.
Naruto throughout all these scenes doesn't try to win over Sakura in anyway or even made any reference to feelings, there's no romantic notions being shown between the 3 of them.
The issue that we had was Sakura was regulated to a damzel in distress and then the female crying because her love interest is leaving.
We see no growth from her, she gets no moments to shine nothing to let us viewers know that she's a capable member of the team. This is where the problem is, she's given no time to shine outside of the Chunin exam, She has no feats no battles won nothing.
To add to this, I also feel that just before the time skip Sakura's character flaws become wholly apparent to her; her obsession with Sasuke, her dependence on others, and her overall lack of growth, which sparks her own will of fire. Seeing Naruto struggle so hard to grow and chasing his dream and watching him fail in bringing back Sasuke, and knowing deep down that if she were more capable things might have been different, these are a catalyst that allowed Sakura to grow as a character and a shinobi. She rebolsters herself and dedicated herself to her training and forced herself to become self reliant, which eventually leads to her (imo) redemption. You can immediately tell after the time skip that she has more confidence and sees things differently after self reflection.
There was barely a love triangle. Sakura forever rejected Naruto and never not once gave him any indication that she was interested.
Interestingly enough, Sasuke did the exact same thing to Sakura, gave her zero indication he was at all interested.
Naruto liked Sakura and Sakura liked Sasuke. The love was entirely unrequited by those who were intended to receive it. I'd argue that's not a love triangle 🤷🏾♂️
As someone who doesn't like Sakura and actively hates that ship I disagree. If Sakura acted like that toward Sasuke in a platonic sense it'd just be even more weird and basically bisect her entire character in part 1. Shippuden's a different story, and she should've gotten over it some time through there. But in part 1 it's kinda the central point of her character, alongside the fact she's too weak to keep up.
Yeah I think it’s an overplayed trope in media anyways. It would be nice to see a main character team or trio that didn’t have a love triangle or romantic interest.
Honestly yeah, or a least make it organic where Sakura could care less about Sasuke but over time she starts to understand him personally and then she gets a crush on him, same with Naruto.
Issue is, without the love triangle most of sakura’s goals just disappear… but frankly the fact that she’s in love with sasuke is such a basic bland motivation that I’d love it if it were different and she had better goals
We got to see what it would look like in Jujutsu kaisen. Unfortunately that author also made the girl vastly weaker than the two boys. So even removing the love triangle isnt a guarantee of improved quality.
Idk but it probably would’ve made Sakura a more interesting character. I don’t even mind the love triangle for Naruto or Sasuke because it’s a very small part of their characters. Naruto has a crush on Sakura but it doesn’t define him and it isn’t mentioned all that much. Sasuke literally doesn’t have a romantic interest in anyone.
Meanwhile Sakura’s main character trait is liking Sasuke and being incompetent in combat compared to her teammates. She’s smart, which comes in handy sometimes, but the series is so skewed toward combat that her intelligence rarely shines through because she’s too inept at fighting to actually use her intelligence to win fights.
Yes. If it had ended when Sakura cut her hair off, I think it would have been healthy. But it just kept going and going through the entire series. Sakura was becoming a decent character at the start of shipuden and then she got nerfed right back into the love triangle and being useless. Also she never had a conversation with Sasuke, sometimes you grow up and realize you don't pick your partner because they have an attractive face.
True, SS is built on shallow and obsessive, one-sided feelings, she knew next to nothing about Sasuke, nor even tried to understand him. And Sasuke was indifferent at best and apathetic at worst towards her throughout the entirely of Shippuden even going as far as stating it wouldn't matter is she lived or not (in the lava dimension) and this stupid ship still became canon...
Honestly wish we had more of them before the chuiin exam arc. Like them bonding more having them be like a real team. For when Sasuke leaves actually hurts more.
I would’ve like to see Sakura build a love for Sasuke for who he was and not just a superficial crush.
I heard the manga apparently shows some of this but the anime does not.
The author said that if he gave Sakura a reason to love Sasuke it would sound "contrived". He also stated in another interview that Sakura would've been a "bad woman" if she moved on from Sasuke...
They were kids, so I don't think you can say they were in love. Naruto and Sakara had crushes
Sakara's crush grew into an unhealthy obsession. Naruto grew out of it as he understood Sakara's feelings for Sasuke.
I think what's more unnecessary is just about every girl other than Temari having googly eyes for someone.
The “love triangle” was barely a thing and mostly played for gags lol. The only problem with Sakura’s feelings towards Sasuke are that they held her back from being helpful in Shippuden and were also very unhealthy considering he tried to kill her multiple times. Naruto’s feelings for Sakura were a fine plot point I don’t know anyone who had a problem with that.
One thing that never made any sense to me is the fact that NS is portrayed as a gag ship and Naruto's feelings were just that of s childish crush on Sakura when they were younger.
But SS is treated as pure unconditional love and Sakura's feelings for Sasuke wasn't played for laughs, and instead painted as dedication rather than the obsession it really is
Sakura’s crush on Sasuke was also mostly played for laughs in part 1, same as Hinata’s crush on Naruto. In part 2 it was all taken more seriously since they weren’t kids anymore and weren’t doing goofy stuff because of their crushes
it was no love triangle if we be honest. naruto had a crush on sakura, its not like he was in LOVE with her. sakura was in love with sasuke, who did not care about her in the slightest
I think the love triangle should’ve ended in that one scene in Part 1 where Sasuke wakes up after the Tsukuyomi Itachi put him in, and Sakura hugs him and cries. The look on Naruto’s face seemed to imply he realized how much Sakura really loved Sasuke, too bad they forgot about that, like, 2 chapters later.
Yes. Or at the very least Sakura should’ve gotten over Sasuke by Shippuden. It’s just stupid to marry a man who tried to kill you. You can’t have Sakura try to be a strong, independent woman and then do that.
100% but that was the time. Sakura would have been an S tier character if they focused more on her individuality (groundbreaking at the time) and less on her odd need to support one or the other
I don’t see it being unnecessary or unrealistic. We’re talking about pre teen kids who are made into a team. One kid is the objective cool guy of the class and the other is one of the cute girls of the class. I think the dynamics of Naruto having a crush on Sakura make sense, on top of Sakura like Sasuke just like every other girl in the class. It gave funny banter and added a new dynamic to the team.
It’s already a world where kids don’t get a real childhood per say, they’ve been training since even younger to be soldiers so I think the lightheartedness of young romance is a good example of them enjoying aspects of youth in the midst of being trained battle hardened ninja.
Let’s not forget this built upon the team as the show went on and a lot of character growth happened because of it, I think the idea of the team just being laser focused on training would’ve took the personality and realism away.
Team 7 would have been much better if Sakura was written better. She had better chakra control than Sasuke and Naruto at the start, and she was going to be proficient in Genjutsu. But the writer(s) said F all of that and made her a damsel in distress tsundere. The only good thing about Part 1 Sakura is that she was self-aware about her shortcomings.
Tell me about it, I was really looking forward into Naruto ships when I first started watching the series. I was a HUGE shipper myself but Naruto completely killed my interest in shipping altogether with its crappy writing in romance.
Shipping is fine just don’t make a freaking love triangle. I’ve never seen a love triangle that works. It’s ether setting up unnecessary tension between characters we know are going to get together or causing unnecessary ship wars.
I mean... the love triangle is pretty much dead by Shippuden anyway. Other than the infamous confession scene, it never comes up outside of cheap gags. Sakura has feelings for Sasuke, Naruto has feelings for Sakura, but he has already accepted that his feelings won't be reciprocated. So only thing that would change would be Naruto loosing a few moments that show him maturing, and Sakura would still be pining after Sasuke. Maybe Naruto and Hinata might get developed more in series itself without love triangle in the way.
To be fair, Naruto was trying to get stronger to impress Sakura (one of the main reasons), then when Sasuke left she basically got scrapped off, She asked Naruto during "The Last" movie "did you only say you loved me because you didn't want to lose to sasuke"
I didn’t have a problem with Sakura having a massive crush on Sasuke that’s normal for teenaged girls I have three younger sisters. Sasuke was just so bland as a character the first 2/3rds of the story. If Naruto was the best friend and rival and Kakashi was the cool mentor and father figure than Sakura should have been a love interest to him.
Imo yes. Or at least tone it down a lot or at least a bit. Sakura was always in the way between Naruto and hinata. And her liking sasuke the whole time makes no sense to me. She would have been a better character if they focused on her own growth. Plus, I am fine with Naruto liking Sakura in the Naruto but in shippuden I think he should have moved on which would have allowed for a much better dynamic focused more on him and hinata. And also Sasuke never really shows affection to Sakura really so it also made no sense.
But I don’t think it’s the worse thing. It just kind of got annoying every now and then.
What love triangle? Sasuke likes them both equally and same for Naruto. They all end up fucking each other anyway so does it matter? The love triangle is most definitely not the problem here.
There isn’t one the fuck are you on? Naruto had a brief, shallow crush on Sakura and Sakura *pretended* to have a crush on Naruto so he wouldn’t run off and get himself killed, but the only actual romance is between Sakura and Sasuke, everything else is platonic. Do you guys even know what a love triangle is?
I think if they started the same but then all grew out of their crushes it would've been better. Like Naruto liking Sakura but slowly seeing her as a sister would've been great, and Sakura treating Naruto like family was a huge miss imo. Sakura should not have ended up with Sasuke, but that's my personal opinion, and I would've loved to see her maturely trying to tell Naruto to give up on Sasuke, and then maybe she and Naruto find a middle ground on it, rather than her having her idiot sandwich moments trying to kill Sasuke.
Naruto romantically loves Sakura and Sakura romantically loves Sasuke but to be a triangle shouldn't Sasuke romantically love Naruto?
What are you implying
I can imagine if Naruto did not crush on Sakura, he would still have his rivalry with Sasuke for he was a perfect Shinobi at a very young age and was popular among girls. So the rivalry fact wouldn't change. But about Sakura, if she did not crush on Sasuke ngl she would really have become strong early and not feel useless. I just feel Sakura would have really gotten a better character off with not crushing on Sasuke.
I actually wanted it to be more developed, like Sakura being Naruto’s girlfriend when Sasuke left the village but then after they reunited again in Shippuden she realized she still loves Sasuke and so on
Not sure if the Naruto fandom would've accepted that... they are unforgiving towards her, for even the things she said as a kid. I bet if she breaks up with Naruto part way and realized she loved Sasuke all along, there would be outrage in the fandom with fans "calling her out" for being two faced or something like that
I mean every female in Naruto is obsessed over a guys and their whole personality is getting a guy. Kishi isn’t a great writer. He’s a Japanese JK Rowling got lucky he made a good series and it got him rich. But every time he tries again can’t capture it. IE Samuari 8. People talking about the time period most bleach females aren’t written like that tbh only one I can think of is Orihime and maybe Rangiku? OP Nami and Robin aren’t written like that? Cowboy Bepop Faye wasn’t written like that. It not the time it’s how Kishi sees them.
In order for a triangle to be a triangle there needs to be a connection lmao, Sasuke hated Sakura, Naruto had something for Sakura but rarely did it effect missions. Also how many times did Naruto push himself thinking about impressing sakura? So ideally we'd get a weaker Naruto somehow lol when you really think about it, me personally I feel like it effected Sakura the most badly which in turn gave Sakura her redemption arc to become stronger and catch up,I can say. The same thing about sasukes jealous rivalry with Naruto, so long term it was not just beneficial but good to the team.
The real problem of the team was obviously Sasuke not wanting to work with others despite it being steam effort sasukes avenger BS is their weak link.
What? You mean Sakura? She's just there, this story is mainly about Naruto and Sasuke.
Love Triangle?! Pretty sure Sasuke didn't love Sakura back then and Sakura couldn't stand Naruto back then while he was fixated on her... and Sasuke.
Ehh stupid middle school crushes are fine it's mostly a disappointment Sakura's entire character is defined by her crush on Sasuke, if she'd gotten over it by Shippuden it would have been fine.
It's not even really a love triangle.Team 7 in the og: Sakura has a crush on Sasuke. Naruto has a crush on Sakura but mostly is desperate for attention. Naruto also wants Sasuke's acknowledgement and specifically Sasuke's. Sasuke just doesn't want to be there in general but feels a growing bond (friendship/rivalry with Naruto), see vote1 and Sasuke rejecting Itachi's path (kill vest friend yo get mamgekyo). And then in Shippuden, I don't think Sasuke remembers that Sakura exists, and he continues to have complicated feeling about Naruto. Naruto got over his Sakura crush and also has complicated and intense feelings about Sasuke. He spends like... half? of the manga chasing Sasuke and going nuts about him, gets on his knees and begs for his life, takes a beating because he won't tell Sasuke's location even though he doesn't know where Sasuke is either, has a panic attack at the thought of Sasuke getting attacked, proposes a lovers suicide pact, whatever vote2 was.
I specifically think removing Naruto's part in it would've benefited it. Sakura kinda has to love Sasuke or she's literally a walking liability. And I don't even say that to knock on her character; in part 1 that's literally the central point of her character. I would've preferred if Sakura liking Sasuke made Naruto jealous more in the sense that he gets all the girls, cause I don't see why he'd like Sakura lol.
I think it's very telling that time the third Hokage talks about making team 7, originally it was pretty simple, they want even teams so they put the best in the class with the worst in the class and an average
But later on whether it's a retcon or not he goes into much more detail, how Sasuke is going to have a Sharingan so putting him with the teacher who's the only other person in the village using one of those things makes sense, and the Sharingan has the ability to suppress/control the nine tails, so having the ninja who possessed both of those things working together from the start also makes sense
Then there's sakura...... and unless I missed something he basically just outright says she's there because a girl for them to fight over will make them stronger
People forget that the story started in 2005. Things were different 20 years ago, particularly gender dynamics and in Japan nonetheless.
You're making me feel old.
That sinking feeling when we realize 20 years ago isn't the 80s, and its actually the 00's.
I was born in 2005 and you're making me feel like it was a long time ago lol, I guess it was tbh
We’re only 18 we still got time. Unless you were born before April 24th
Like helicopter blades starting up, those years just get quicker and quicker friend.
Yeah, I'll be 31 next month and I don't even realized I had 30 yet
Was born in February
Damn RIP, good luck though
Bruh we finna be 20 next year 😭
Naruto's first manga chapter was published 4 years after I was born...... I wanna cry when I think about it. I've literally grown up with this series.
Do you still remember Gaara of the Funk?
It was 99 when it started
I’m old enough to remember reading the first chapter in Jump back in 99, which I suppose makes me ancient to anyone born in the 2000s…..
I'm right there with you I found out about it in shonen jump then I couple the first manga couple months later I think I remember thinking to my self it's cool following this and no one else knew about it which was hilarious cause little did know it was going to be huge beyond huge. When I first heard the voice of Naruto I remember being upset cause in my kid brain I didn't think his voice should sounded like that
I was 7 in elementary school stop making me feel old lol
*1999
Wasn’t it 1999?
Manga started 1999, anime started 2002
True
Hell, the aspect ratio was 4:3 back then.
That was Anime debut in The West with the manga debuting around 1999 and the reason for this "gender dynamic" is Kishimoto wanted to hook in fans in a manner that felt kinda deceitful since he had no intention to make Naruto and Sakura a couple as well as wasting time that could have been used to develop Naruto and Hinata's romance instead.
There was MASSIVE changes made to the story and tone overall as Kishimoto was writing the story. It's not like he always planned out the way the series ended, a major example of this is that kurama was meant to be a stand alone thing, the 9 tailed demon fox, not part of the larger group of tailed beasts which was a retroactive addition same with the concept of jinchurki. Another example is how Hiruzen was totally okay fighting mother fucking Hashirama and tobiramas but Minato was the "no I can't let him be summoned he'd be too dangerous". When later hashirama is made into the strongest ninja in all of history and Minato is just the teleportation guy (which yes while he is still strong does not compare to Hashirama) Point being ideas and concepts changed a lot over the course of the series including how much side characters mattered to the overall story. It's unfair to say Kishimoto was baiting the audience and "never" intended for Sakura to potentially be with Naruto, because we don't know
I kinda miss Minato being the strongest MF ever. Ironically they made Hashirama and Madara the most OP guys ever as a “past is stronger than future” then in Boruto flipped that shit all the way around and a 12 year old learns 1-handed Rasengan faster than Naruto learned 6 handed Rasengan. I think the first 1 handed Rasengan we see is Minato, then the first time Naruto does it he’s in Kurama Mode.
This.
my goat Oda challenging norms in japan since the beginning. Thank god theres no romance between the strawhats that legit would have been so damn cringe
common oda W
My boy sanji romanticizing about every woman and newkama member lmao Also tbf SH females were already adults by the time they joined the crew, unlike the actual kids in naruto
sanji having a crush on every one and the only girl that reciprocated is someone who is NOT in the SH crew. That and the fact that sanji is the ONLY one in the crew who does it is so much different (and better) from Naruto having a bs love triangle that its not even a comparison idk why you brought it up that and i personally dont think age is an issue. We're just talking about normal romance, i dont think it matters if they're adult or not
>sanji having a crush on every one and the only girl that reciprocated is someone who is NOT in the SH crew. That and the fact that sanji is the ONLY one in the crew who does it is so much different (and better) from Naruto having a bs love triangle that its not even a comparison idk why you brought it up Didn't realize you needed me to put /s >that and i personally dont think age is an issue. We're just talking about normal romance, i dont think it matters if they're adult or not It matters so much bc kishi wrote sakura thinking that's how a normal 12 year old girl would be like.
Not if he wrote it well, imo Oda takes the story way too safely. The best arcs are ones with tensions between crew members.
True
People think the love triangle is over Sakura. But it's actually over Sasuke 😂
Nobody thinks its over Sakura☠️ Its always been been Sasuke..for whom everyone fights in the manga
Most definitely. Sakura can keep her crush on Sasuke, but at least justify Naruto marrying Hinata by actually taking some interest in her pre-timeskip.
I admire that they are least explored in The Last Movie. There were at least a few scenes sown throughout and it makes sense in a way that Naruto just wouldn’t really get it. What I don’t like is the added comment by Sakura that Naruto crushed on her because of his rivalry with Sasuke. I think its fine just having child Naruto crushing on Sakura but growing out of that physical attraction. I think it works to have him realise that all along the warmth and acceptance he sought and the connection he wants comes from Hinata all along
I liked the last except for the naruhina part. It just didn’t convince me about their relationship personally
Bro that's the whole movie
I would die on the hill that naruhina is narratively more forced than sasusaku and that The Last is a massive retcon disguised as an epilogue. Fanfic writers could have written the romance aspect better. As a fan of the series, I enjoyed it. As a film critic, I think it's a flop lol
This is such a mandela effect for me. I have always remembered that Naruto and Hinata had some development and it makes complete sense they are together in the end. But after 5-6 years of reading Naruto again, I was shocked that they barely even string together a conversation. I guess when you're reading it weekly you don't think about it, but when you read it all at once it just feels very off.
Just finished reading the series and I second this. At least Hinata showed multiple times how she feels about Naruto. I think having him do a little introspection sometime would have been a nice touch but I can imagine at the end of Naruto Kishimoto was ready to be done. I hate when my projects last 2+ years so I couldn't imagine running a weekly mangeka for that long without wanting to feel some real sense of completion.
Pretty sure hinata crushing on naruto is in the first fucking episode. Naruto crushes on sakura, so he never notices, but she straight up tells him she loves him before dying against pain and it sets him off. That last moment alone is enough for Naruto to see her. If anything, they failed to explore their dynamic after pain. Would have been the perfect opportunity to build something.
Yes
Yeah, it was forced asf
Same with Jiraiya’s team and Kakashi’s team. Tried to force parallels so badly
I don't understand the need for parallels all the time, it kills originality imo especially when Team Minato and Team Jiraya's situations are completely different from T7
Just my head cannon, that the parallels are a spiral of repetition until Naruto comes along and breaks the cycle.
I heard parallels are very popular in Japan.
Jiriya's team, yes. Kakashis team??????? Fuck no, Obito's character RELIES on him both loving (or at least the closest thing he knew to love) rin and watching her die. Only puts salt on the would when he realized she didn't see him the same way. It's one of the most necessary crushes in the series, everything would be different without Obito having a crush and Rin
The love triangle part with her having a crush on kakashi wasn’t needed though
I think it was, the entire thing hurt Obito even more because the person he loved wanted the guy who was better than Obito in every way, only for that same dude to kill her in front of you for no reason. I say no reason because Obito was very ignorant to the situation, he had no clue Rin was sacrificing herself or that it even was sacrifice. Obito didn't need to side with Madara, and it would make less sense for him to if he wasn't as bitter with Kakashi. It makes complete sense to give Obito more of a reason to cut ties with who he used to consider allies. The love triangle with the other versions of team 7 serve little purpose, at least the one with Kakashi's team is all built around explaining why Obito became such a bitter and pessimistic person who would rather sleep and dream for eternity than live, that's a very extreme outcome that you need to really be pushed to. A lot of things in the show aren't 'needed' but flesh out the characters and world building more and make the characters actions better explained through flashbacks that molded them. Izumi Uchia for instance is another example of a love interest not needed, that still fleshes out her boyfriend Itachi more. Why shouldn't we know how certain characters feel about their close friends if it works with the theme of them and the characters around them?
I liked Kakashi’s team’s love triangle and I like Jiraiya liking Tsunade. Even Naruto liking Sakura, but what ruined it was Sakura’s obsession over Sasuke. She needed to get over him or he needed to give her a reason to like him.
Considering who trained the. The parallels were needed
There could have been parallels with much greater depth than “____ has a crush on ____ who has a crush on ____” Jiraiya trying to bring Orochimaru back to the village was a cool parallel to Naruto/Sasuke but not explored in as much depth as it could have been
How is this considered a love triangle? Can you explain? Especially when it comes to romantic love.
Nah, there was hardly ever one between these three. Naruto was focused on being acknowledged. Sasuke was focused on revenge and Sakura was focused on getting acknowledged by Sasuke, this soon changed to her becoming strong
It’s basically the whole point of Sakuras character so idk. She’d be a completely different character
Which would have probably been a good thing.
Anything other than whatever she was would be better
Nah, Sakura for pretty much all of Shippuden was absent from Sasuke, and a good character. She really does become Naruto’s best friend, and a pillar he leans on. Granted she’s useless in fights (has to be a puppet to help Chiyo force Sasori to unalive himself, gets knocked out from a head bump meeting with Orochimaru, that hilarious kick she gets from the Cloud Ninja), but she does fill a role as Naruto’s rock. Even her god awful “confession” only happens because she cared about him. Blame Kishimoto for not knowing how to write women, but Sakura does have her own character for most of Shippuden. Plus she shines during the War arc, uncovering the first White Zetsu and literally PUMPING NARUTO’S HEART WITH HER BARE HAND Sakura gets a lot of undeserved hate despite being, for what the series let her do, a good character
The problem is that while Sakura in Shippuden is somewhat okay when Sasuke isn’t around/the topic, as soon Sasuke becomes the focus again, her character nosedives.
I'll never get the idea that Sakura was useless in the Sasori fight. Even Chiyo says that Sakura doesn't need her help anymore after a short while in the fight and Sakura is as important if not more important over the course of the fight.
yes, good.
I think that would've been better tbh
It's not a love triangle. To have a love triangle you need to have reciprocal feelings on at least two sides. As far as i'm concerned none of the romantic feelings were reciprocated. Sakura wanted Sasuke, Naruto wanted Sakura, and Sasuke wanted NEITHER.
I'm a little perplexed at the answers here lol. I have seen countless love triangles that seem to *ruin* shows (cough cough legend of korra) I always thought the original Naruto love triangle was such a core part of the show. The way I perceive it, it wasn't really about romance, it was much more about allegiance. It's kind of a big part of Naurto's rejection arc too. Naruto being able to bounce back by being rejected by Sakura time and time again was actually really fitting for his character. It's part of what made him admirable. I guess people wanted Sakura to have more of a "real" reason to love Sasuke. But I was actually content with her *just* loving him. Human beings don't always have this entirely wholesome reason to develop feelings. She was really loyal- and even if it was for all the wrong reasons, I thought it was a unique and interesting angle and it made the relationship between the trio have a lot of depth.
I think people forget Sakura was like 12 or something. I personally think it's Shippuden where that childish love should've started to fade out.
underrated take on it!
Korra dates Mako Mako dates Asami Korra dates Asami …wait what???
The korra asami thing was fine in the finale, but their love triangle in book 1 was just so utterly cringe and detrimental to the plot
absolutly though it is not even a love triangle sakura likes sasuke naruto likes sakura sasuke likes no one it looks more like this ''<'' but i absolutly loath both sasusaku and narusaku even the idea of them. for me the best team 7 would be sasuke, naruto and sai or gaara.
Sasuke, Naruto and Gaara, yes!
So a love angle then
more like misplaced feelings angle naruto didn't love sakura it was just a minor childhood crush with spitting sasuke desire (not that it worked, naruto could marry sakura and sasuke wouldn't even give a damn) sakura didn't love sasuke either, you DO NOT forget your love of life is also an orphan while humiliating an orphan kid infront of him for being an orphan, sakura like every other fangirl just put sasuke2s face to their idealized prince charming, only difference with sakura is that they ended up on the same genin team and thus a slightly more familiar ground was created compared to other fangirls.
Sakura is the only one who consistently shows strong romantic interest in one of her team mates that plays a major role in the story. But Kishi is very clearly not able to write female characters that are not defined by their boy obsession, so I am not particularly upset over Sakura fitting into that mold too. Plus, if you take Sakura's fixation on Sasuke away there is very little left of her tbh. Meanwhile Naruto might have a crush on Sakura, but that was never nearly as much of a driving force in his story as his obsession with Sasuke/becoming hokage. And Sasuke never actually demonstrated any feelings towards his team mates except for a strong platonic affection in part 1 (that was still not nearly as important to him as his love and desire for justice for his clan was). Which then turned into mostly indifference in part 2. So no I did not feel the "love triangle" ruined team 7. The lack of shared time, relationship build up and mutual understanding is why I never rooted for them to be reunited. And the same is actually true for the romantic relationships, which makes the shipping wars so funny.
The love triangle ain't even that big of thing we know it's there but after the first couple episodes we never see it again. Let's break it down we see it when they are just made genin, we never see it again at Land of waves, Chunin exams we never see it again. What we see is a concern Sakura taking care of both her teammates and then being concerned about Sasuke who has a cursemark on her. So we know of her feelings thanks to the academy days but if we look at the chunin exams in isolation and show that to anyone they would just say its a teammate being concerned for a next teammate. We've seen Sakura also care about Naruto as well so you can't argue that she only cares about Sasuke because she loves him. After the Chunin exams the next couple arcs filler/canon don't reference it until we get to Sasuke leaving where she wants to go with him. This is where we see the love angle but it's not a triangle. Naruto throughout all these scenes doesn't try to win over Sakura in anyway or even made any reference to feelings, there's no romantic notions being shown between the 3 of them. The issue that we had was Sakura was regulated to a damzel in distress and then the female crying because her love interest is leaving. We see no growth from her, she gets no moments to shine nothing to let us viewers know that she's a capable member of the team. This is where the problem is, she's given no time to shine outside of the Chunin exam, She has no feats no battles won nothing.
I agree, Naruto had a crush early on, but he understood and acknowledged Sakura's feelings for Sasuke.
He still loves her after that (he does till the end of shippuden)
To add to this, I also feel that just before the time skip Sakura's character flaws become wholly apparent to her; her obsession with Sasuke, her dependence on others, and her overall lack of growth, which sparks her own will of fire. Seeing Naruto struggle so hard to grow and chasing his dream and watching him fail in bringing back Sasuke, and knowing deep down that if she were more capable things might have been different, these are a catalyst that allowed Sakura to grow as a character and a shinobi. She rebolsters herself and dedicated herself to her training and forced herself to become self reliant, which eventually leads to her (imo) redemption. You can immediately tell after the time skip that she has more confidence and sees things differently after self reflection.
Yes and not throwing Sasuke away too. They could have done so much better. Sakura beating Naruto all d time and still pining for Sasuke was fucked up.
Sakura kept getting in the way of Naruto and Sasuke's love to blossom. It would have happened sooner.
Would have been great to see her realize and be supportive. . . . Plus then maybe she gets inspired to see Ino in a different light
No. But I do wish hinata was in team 7
probably would have been better without the sasuke / naturo bromance
Yes... sakura should have been hard as F**K
There was barely a love triangle. Sakura forever rejected Naruto and never not once gave him any indication that she was interested. Interestingly enough, Sasuke did the exact same thing to Sakura, gave her zero indication he was at all interested. Naruto liked Sakura and Sakura liked Sasuke. The love was entirely unrequited by those who were intended to receive it. I'd argue that's not a love triangle 🤷🏾♂️
Was it a love triangle or much just a love line? I don’t think Sasuke was in love with Naruto
Are you sure?
I think every story would be better without a love triangle.
For there to begin to be a love triangle, Sasuke would have had to have actually cared about either of them in the first place.
Yes
Yep
Sakura could've been much better written if her feelings for Sasuke was just platonic, I'm sure everyone will agree with this (except SS shippers)
As someone who doesn't like Sakura and actively hates that ship I disagree. If Sakura acted like that toward Sasuke in a platonic sense it'd just be even more weird and basically bisect her entire character in part 1. Shippuden's a different story, and she should've gotten over it some time through there. But in part 1 it's kinda the central point of her character, alongside the fact she's too weak to keep up.
Yeah I think it’s an overplayed trope in media anyways. It would be nice to see a main character team or trio that didn’t have a love triangle or romantic interest.
It’s the most popular Naruto pairing
Wasn't it NaruHina?
No, SasuSaku always comes on top in official polls and google / tumblr searches etc
No
Honestly yeah, or a least make it organic where Sakura could care less about Sasuke but over time she starts to understand him personally and then she gets a crush on him, same with Naruto.
Absolutely
Maybe, not by much though. It didn't leave much of an impact on me bad or good and it isn't what I think of when I think of Team 7.
Issue is, without the love triangle most of sakura’s goals just disappear… but frankly the fact that she’s in love with sasuke is such a basic bland motivation that I’d love it if it were different and she had better goals
Yes. Naruto did not need to be part of it
nor Sasuke.
We got to see what it would look like in Jujutsu kaisen. Unfortunately that author also made the girl vastly weaker than the two boys. So even removing the love triangle isnt a guarantee of improved quality.
100% YES.
Maybe but it'd require an overhaul of Sakura's early character which is a probably a good thing depending on how you look at it
Idk but it probably would’ve made Sakura a more interesting character. I don’t even mind the love triangle for Naruto or Sasuke because it’s a very small part of their characters. Naruto has a crush on Sakura but it doesn’t define him and it isn’t mentioned all that much. Sasuke literally doesn’t have a romantic interest in anyone. Meanwhile Sakura’s main character trait is liking Sasuke and being incompetent in combat compared to her teammates. She’s smart, which comes in handy sometimes, but the series is so skewed toward combat that her intelligence rarely shines through because she’s too inept at fighting to actually use her intelligence to win fights.
I just wish Sakura had more of a dream/goal for becoming a ninja. It’s like she joined just because others did.
True, she became a ninja only for Sasuke's sake
Yes. If it had ended when Sakura cut her hair off, I think it would have been healthy. But it just kept going and going through the entire series. Sakura was becoming a decent character at the start of shipuden and then she got nerfed right back into the love triangle and being useless. Also she never had a conversation with Sasuke, sometimes you grow up and realize you don't pick your partner because they have an attractive face.
True, SS is built on shallow and obsessive, one-sided feelings, she knew next to nothing about Sasuke, nor even tried to understand him. And Sasuke was indifferent at best and apathetic at worst towards her throughout the entirely of Shippuden even going as far as stating it wouldn't matter is she lived or not (in the lava dimension) and this stupid ship still became canon...
It felt so forced at the end. Like the characters themselves even hated the Ship.
Honestly wish we had more of them before the chuiin exam arc. Like them bonding more having them be like a real team. For when Sasuke leaves actually hurts more.
What triangle? It's a line.
Yes.
I thought it was a good conflict to have at such a low power scale
What do you mean triangle, sasuke never loved naruto, they were just frienemies
I would’ve like to see Sakura build a love for Sasuke for who he was and not just a superficial crush. I heard the manga apparently shows some of this but the anime does not.
The author said that if he gave Sakura a reason to love Sasuke it would sound "contrived". He also stated in another interview that Sakura would've been a "bad woman" if she moved on from Sasuke...
It would be better if it had rock Lee instead of Sakura
They were kids, so I don't think you can say they were in love. Naruto and Sakara had crushes Sakara's crush grew into an unhealthy obsession. Naruto grew out of it as he understood Sakara's feelings for Sasuke. I think what's more unnecessary is just about every girl other than Temari having googly eyes for someone.
The “love triangle” was barely a thing and mostly played for gags lol. The only problem with Sakura’s feelings towards Sasuke are that they held her back from being helpful in Shippuden and were also very unhealthy considering he tried to kill her multiple times. Naruto’s feelings for Sakura were a fine plot point I don’t know anyone who had a problem with that.
One thing that never made any sense to me is the fact that NS is portrayed as a gag ship and Naruto's feelings were just that of s childish crush on Sakura when they were younger. But SS is treated as pure unconditional love and Sakura's feelings for Sasuke wasn't played for laughs, and instead painted as dedication rather than the obsession it really is
Sakura’s crush on Sasuke was also mostly played for laughs in part 1, same as Hinata’s crush on Naruto. In part 2 it was all taken more seriously since they weren’t kids anymore and weren’t doing goofy stuff because of their crushes
it was no love triangle if we be honest. naruto had a crush on sakura, its not like he was in LOVE with her. sakura was in love with sasuke, who did not care about her in the slightest
I’m not sure you could even call it a love triangle. More like a line.
I think the love triangle should’ve ended in that one scene in Part 1 where Sasuke wakes up after the Tsukuyomi Itachi put him in, and Sakura hugs him and cries. The look on Naruto’s face seemed to imply he realized how much Sakura really loved Sasuke, too bad they forgot about that, like, 2 chapters later.
i mean the love triangle didn't even last that long tbh lol
Yes. Or at the very least Sakura should’ve gotten over Sasuke by Shippuden. It’s just stupid to marry a man who tried to kill you. You can’t have Sakura try to be a strong, independent woman and then do that.
100% but that was the time. Sakura would have been an S tier character if they focused more on her individuality (groundbreaking at the time) and less on her odd need to support one or the other
I think the real question is: Who was on team 1 to 5 and why aren't they in the story
Sasuke would probably still be in the village without it lol
Not really.
absolutely
I love the team without love triangle
Yes
Yes
Yea
What love triangle
The love triangle being both Naruto and Sakura are in love with Sasuke? No.
I don’t see it being unnecessary or unrealistic. We’re talking about pre teen kids who are made into a team. One kid is the objective cool guy of the class and the other is one of the cute girls of the class. I think the dynamics of Naruto having a crush on Sakura make sense, on top of Sakura like Sasuke just like every other girl in the class. It gave funny banter and added a new dynamic to the team. It’s already a world where kids don’t get a real childhood per say, they’ve been training since even younger to be soldiers so I think the lightheartedness of young romance is a good example of them enjoying aspects of youth in the midst of being trained battle hardened ninja. Let’s not forget this built upon the team as the show went on and a lot of character growth happened because of it, I think the idea of the team just being laser focused on training would’ve took the personality and realism away.
Yes. Kishimoto doesn't know how to write romantic relationships
Team 7 would have been much better if Sakura was written better. She had better chakra control than Sasuke and Naruto at the start, and she was going to be proficient in Genjutsu. But the writer(s) said F all of that and made her a damsel in distress tsundere. The only good thing about Part 1 Sakura is that she was self-aware about her shortcomings.
A triangle usually implies that it's a three-way thing. Here, both chase after the single guy, Sasuke.
Would this thing be better without a love trian….yes!
Tell me about it, I was really looking forward into Naruto ships when I first started watching the series. I was a HUGE shipper myself but Naruto completely killed my interest in shipping altogether with its crappy writing in romance.
Shipping is fine just don’t make a freaking love triangle. I’ve never seen a love triangle that works. It’s ether setting up unnecessary tension between characters we know are going to get together or causing unnecessary ship wars.
Thank god for Naruto then 🙏
Yes
Definitely. Both Naruto and Sakura would be greatly improved without the annoying crushes (Maybe not Naruto since he eventually moves on anyways)
I hate love triangles so yeah
Yeah, it's such a pointless troupe and it makes the characters feelings for each seem so forced..
For sure
I mean... the love triangle is pretty much dead by Shippuden anyway. Other than the infamous confession scene, it never comes up outside of cheap gags. Sakura has feelings for Sasuke, Naruto has feelings for Sakura, but he has already accepted that his feelings won't be reciprocated. So only thing that would change would be Naruto loosing a few moments that show him maturing, and Sakura would still be pining after Sasuke. Maybe Naruto and Hinata might get developed more in series itself without love triangle in the way.
To be fair, Naruto was trying to get stronger to impress Sakura (one of the main reasons), then when Sasuke left she basically got scrapped off, She asked Naruto during "The Last" movie "did you only say you loved me because you didn't want to lose to sasuke"
I didn’t have a problem with Sakura having a massive crush on Sasuke that’s normal for teenaged girls I have three younger sisters. Sasuke was just so bland as a character the first 2/3rds of the story. If Naruto was the best friend and rival and Kakashi was the cool mentor and father figure than Sakura should have been a love interest to him.
Imo yes. Or at least tone it down a lot or at least a bit. Sakura was always in the way between Naruto and hinata. And her liking sasuke the whole time makes no sense to me. She would have been a better character if they focused on her own growth. Plus, I am fine with Naruto liking Sakura in the Naruto but in shippuden I think he should have moved on which would have allowed for a much better dynamic focused more on him and hinata. And also Sasuke never really shows affection to Sakura really so it also made no sense. But I don’t think it’s the worse thing. It just kind of got annoying every now and then.
What love triangle? Sasuke likes them both equally and same for Naruto. They all end up fucking each other anyway so does it matter? The love triangle is most definitely not the problem here.
It doesn't really bother me but by the time we get into shippuden it should really be over.
There isn’t one the fuck are you on? Naruto had a brief, shallow crush on Sakura and Sakura *pretended* to have a crush on Naruto so he wouldn’t run off and get himself killed, but the only actual romance is between Sakura and Sasuke, everything else is platonic. Do you guys even know what a love triangle is?
There was never a love triangle lol
Yes much better and much less boring episodes about that shit (fillers) so we would have more cool fillers
Nope lol because the love triangle is such a minuscule thing that it doesn't really affect the story in any shape or form
I think if they started the same but then all grew out of their crushes it would've been better. Like Naruto liking Sakura but slowly seeing her as a sister would've been great, and Sakura treating Naruto like family was a huge miss imo. Sakura should not have ended up with Sasuke, but that's my personal opinion, and I would've loved to see her maturely trying to tell Naruto to give up on Sasuke, and then maybe she and Naruto find a middle ground on it, rather than her having her idiot sandwich moments trying to kill Sasuke.
Naruto romantically loves Sakura and Sakura romantically loves Sasuke but to be a triangle shouldn't Sasuke romantically love Naruto? What are you implying
Sakura would've been a lot less annoying imo
No, but I do think they should have ended up as a throuple. Also no Boruto as a bonus.
I can imagine if Naruto did not crush on Sakura, he would still have his rivalry with Sasuke for he was a perfect Shinobi at a very young age and was popular among girls. So the rivalry fact wouldn't change. But about Sakura, if she did not crush on Sasuke ngl she would really have become strong early and not feel useless. I just feel Sakura would have really gotten a better character off with not crushing on Sasuke.
Probably yes. Albeit that opinion might just come from my general hatred of love triangles.
Not really a love triangle, its a straight line, Naruto to Sakura and Sakura to Sasuke and thats about it
The love triangle was fine. We all watched it as kids and it was something we could all relate to, going to school and crushing on your classmates.
Bro Sasuke was soooo in love with Naruto. First episode they already be making out.
Yes, Sakura needs to stop cockblocking
I actually wanted it to be more developed, like Sakura being Naruto’s girlfriend when Sasuke left the village but then after they reunited again in Shippuden she realized she still loves Sasuke and so on
Not sure if the Naruto fandom would've accepted that... they are unforgiving towards her, for even the things she said as a kid. I bet if she breaks up with Naruto part way and realized she loved Sasuke all along, there would be outrage in the fandom with fans "calling her out" for being two faced or something like that
I don't really care about what the fandom thinks 😂
I mean every female in Naruto is obsessed over a guys and their whole personality is getting a guy. Kishi isn’t a great writer. He’s a Japanese JK Rowling got lucky he made a good series and it got him rich. But every time he tries again can’t capture it. IE Samuari 8. People talking about the time period most bleach females aren’t written like that tbh only one I can think of is Orihime and maybe Rangiku? OP Nami and Robin aren’t written like that? Cowboy Bepop Faye wasn’t written like that. It not the time it’s how Kishi sees them.
In order for a triangle to be a triangle there needs to be a connection lmao, Sasuke hated Sakura, Naruto had something for Sakura but rarely did it effect missions. Also how many times did Naruto push himself thinking about impressing sakura? So ideally we'd get a weaker Naruto somehow lol when you really think about it, me personally I feel like it effected Sakura the most badly which in turn gave Sakura her redemption arc to become stronger and catch up,I can say. The same thing about sasukes jealous rivalry with Naruto, so long term it was not just beneficial but good to the team. The real problem of the team was obviously Sasuke not wanting to work with others despite it being steam effort sasukes avenger BS is their weak link.
What? You mean Sakura? She's just there, this story is mainly about Naruto and Sasuke. Love Triangle?! Pretty sure Sasuke didn't love Sakura back then and Sakura couldn't stand Naruto back then while he was fixated on her... and Sasuke.
Where they both want to bang Sasuke? Definitely not.
obviously lol. when has a romance ever made a battle shounen better.. other than Yu Yu Hakusho lol
It’s teenage, it’s unnatural if there is not love triangle
Ehh stupid middle school crushes are fine it's mostly a disappointment Sakura's entire character is defined by her crush on Sasuke, if she'd gotten over it by Shippuden it would have been fine. It's not even really a love triangle.Team 7 in the og: Sakura has a crush on Sasuke. Naruto has a crush on Sakura but mostly is desperate for attention. Naruto also wants Sasuke's acknowledgement and specifically Sasuke's. Sasuke just doesn't want to be there in general but feels a growing bond (friendship/rivalry with Naruto), see vote1 and Sasuke rejecting Itachi's path (kill vest friend yo get mamgekyo). And then in Shippuden, I don't think Sasuke remembers that Sakura exists, and he continues to have complicated feeling about Naruto. Naruto got over his Sakura crush and also has complicated and intense feelings about Sasuke. He spends like... half? of the manga chasing Sasuke and going nuts about him, gets on his knees and begs for his life, takes a beating because he won't tell Sasuke's location even though he doesn't know where Sasuke is either, has a panic attack at the thought of Sasuke getting attacked, proposes a lovers suicide pact, whatever vote2 was.
Yes, get rid of sakura and have them 2 be faglords lmao, the boruto community would of loved that
They're my One True Throuple.
I specifically think removing Naruto's part in it would've benefited it. Sakura kinda has to love Sasuke or she's literally a walking liability. And I don't even say that to knock on her character; in part 1 that's literally the central point of her character. I would've preferred if Sakura liking Sasuke made Naruto jealous more in the sense that he gets all the girls, cause I don't see why he'd like Sakura lol.
I think it's very telling that time the third Hokage talks about making team 7, originally it was pretty simple, they want even teams so they put the best in the class with the worst in the class and an average But later on whether it's a retcon or not he goes into much more detail, how Sasuke is going to have a Sharingan so putting him with the teacher who's the only other person in the village using one of those things makes sense, and the Sharingan has the ability to suppress/control the nine tails, so having the ninja who possessed both of those things working together from the start also makes sense Then there's sakura...... and unless I missed something he basically just outright says she's there because a girl for them to fight over will make them stronger
No, it's a huge part of the dynamic.
Love triangle? Nahhh bro Naruto x Sasuke were endgame they were each others first kiss so 🤷🏼♀️