Naruto #98

[timepiececlock]

Oh my poor, poor, Naruto... you save Sakura from Gaara directly, you save the village from Gaara indirectly, you beat everyone else in the chunnin finals, you save future Hokage, you earn apprenticeship from one of the greatest teachers alive, you stand up to the traitor, and you bring back with you someone who will heal your friends and your teacher.

You bring her the world.

And Sakura still doesn't even see you in the room.

My poor, poor Naruto. ::hugs baby-ninja fiercly:: It will be okay. It will be okay.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nepthys_/]

I'm open to most Naruto pairings, but that scene was the one thing that make me think Naruto/Sakura is really a lost cause. It makes me hurt for Naruto's sake, since he's tried so hard all along to make her notice him.

*hugs him and feeds him ramen*

Oh! And did you notice? The Naruto movie special just came out on http://a.scarywater.net. I forget which group, but it should be there among recent releases. I'm bittorrenting like a madwoman right now. :)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I am not ready yet to concede defeat... I want my babyninja to get the girlbabyninja that he wants. It's an underdog thing.

It really looks like Naruto was giving up there in a way. Without knowing the future I'll hazard a guess that either now or soon he'll start to lessen his fervency in trying to attract Sakura, and anything that develops will have to start from her. Which isn't something I think would happen anytime soon.

If the show does completely kill the Naruto/Sakura potential, I hope they don't go more into Naruto/Hinata. That's just one pairing that irritates the heck out of me. I mean, it's cute and I feel for Hinata, but if Naruto went with her because he couldn't get Sakura... it would seem like settling to me. (that's extrapolating a lot into the future, I know, but anyway...) Because given the choice Sakura is the one he wants, and ironically his want of Sakura has been consistant and loyal and real... as has Sakura's want for Sasuke.

If Sasuke would just made a big announcement one way or the other to his feelings or not for Sakura, then this could all be solved very quickly and neatly. Someone would get a broken heart, but at least it would clear the air.

Oh well, they're only 12. Sakura and Sasuke or Hinata and Naruto could fall passionately in love, then both couples break up in high school age, and then Naruto and Sakura could date as adults in twenties and have a happy life together.

Naruto/Sakura/Sasuke 4-ev-a!

[octopedingenue]

As I have found myself saying often lately, I'm all about the OT3, dude. (I didn't even know I HAD polyamorish tendencies until I started watching anime...)

Naruto obviously loves Sakura, and Sakura obviously loves Sasuke. Just from what I've seen in the manga, I think Sasuke does love Sakura, but he's refusing to admit it because A)he's intent on his mission of revenge and can't allow any 'distractions', and B)he thinks he's OMG SUPERIOR TO EVERYONE INCLUDING SAKURA because he's a tiny, sulky, fluffy-haired, snobby-bitch-drama-queen. *loves him and hugs him and ruffles his hair*

Sakura and Sasuke both need to grow the hell up (how sad it is that Naruto is probably the most mature of any of them at this point). Sasuke needs to realize that he is Anakin Skywalker and not, in fact, Yoda (or even Darth Vader, you sulky puffed-up little brat *pets Sasuke*). And Sakura, who could be the best badass ninja and best leader of other ninja of all of them, is going to continue to be useless to a degree until she realizes that her "OMG SASUKE-KUN IS SO COOL! AND INFALLIBLE!" attitude often puts her and people around her into actual physical danger.

And of course they both need to stop underestimating Naruto, but I do not think they are going to until they find out about the demon fox (and even then it could be something along the lines of "aha! so that's why he kicks ass! he's not HUMAN!"). Oh, my poor babyninjas. *snuggles them all*

This is why I adore them all, because they are so very flawed and irritable and lovable and real. And because while they have grown up so much, they are such a loooong way from being grown up that the series can obviously continue for a Very Long Time, and as a girl who Kills Her Fandoms, this makes me Very, Very Happy. *bouncewrigglesquee*

Re: Naruto/Sakura/Sasuke 4-ev-a!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I had this great long reply but my comp restarted in the middle of it.

I'll try the bits that I remember:

I think Naruto *is* more mature than both of them at the moment... and definitely more stable than Sasuke. I love how much Naruto has matured since becoming a genin... and how fast and harsh it's been. His academy teacher taught him not to trust adults to behave like they should (even though he was ostracized and didn't *like* a lot of adults he still had the kid belief that the adults around him would do the right thing and he could trust in them.) Haku and Gaara taught him a lot about himself... but they reinforced the black hat vs. white hat rule, as did the Third's noble death. Now Tsunade has tempered Naruto's naive belief the sacredness of the Hokage title (he still believes in what it stands for, but he knows now that the Hokage is only human, not perfect or entirely noble). And it's Kabuto that's broken his naive beliefe in the sacredness of the village. Here is somebody who willfully, for no real reason Naruto can see, betrayed the community that Naruto believes in and wants so badly. By taking Naruto along, Jeraiya has introduced a lot of Grey Area Adults to Naruto's little verse.

I'm wary about them finding out about the fox demon because you can just bet that unlike Kakashi and Jeraiya, most of the kids will assume that Naruto is strong because of that reason, and they won't realize that Naruto has called on the demon only like 5 or 6 times in his LIFE, and that 98% of the time the power and endurance is his, not the fox demon's. Sasuke's probably shrewd enough to realize it, but I doubt Sakura has paid enough attention to how Naruto fights to know the difference, much less the other young teams.

And because while they have grown up so much, they are such a loooong way from being grown up that the series can obviously continue for a Very Long Time, and as a girl who Kills Her Fandoms, this makes me Very, Very Happy.

It makes me very very happy too. I would continue with this for a long, long time.

Has there been in the manga anything to describe when Naruto first started liking Sakura? We saw through the Ino flashbacks during the exams that Sakura was in elementry school when she met and started to like Sasuke.