The NaruHina Edition!
So this is something I've been wanting to get into for a while. Like this particular pairing overall. Something that always bothered me about the Naruto series would have to be how Naruto and Hinata got together. It's not that I'm completely against it and I'm not saying that Sasuke and Sakura are any better, but I just wish it was done a lot better.
Especially seeing as Naruto is the MC; he deserves that at least.
It just didn't feel as if it was written well and if I had to give good examples of naruto pairings that were written well, it'd be Shikamaru and Temari.
Asuma and Kurenai.
Minato and Kushina.
Personally, Shikamaru and Temari are one of my favorite couples because they felt so natural and we actually saw it progress and develop. Interestingly enough, Shikamaru and Temari started off as enemies and I always morbidly enjoy pairings that have that type of rough, opposing start (GaLe). Now in normal everyday life, I guess it's a tad different because you don't necessarily want to start off as enemies with someone or have a rough start, but you definitely want things to feel natural and smooth.
And even progress.
Background
Naruto:
Now Naruto is our MC. The big hint is that the show is literally named after him, but it isn't always like that. While DBZ might as well be called Goku, it's not. Anyway, Naruto pretty much had a hard life and that was set in stone at birth. Which kinda sucks. If you remember, his mother, Kushina, was a Jinchuriki and that was never an easy path.
Being a Jinchuriki usually never is.
Jinchuriki's are usually treated horribly and ostracized by the villagers.
Which makes sense and then it doesn't.
It makes sense in Naruto's case because their village was attacked by the Tailed Beast the night Naruto was born, so I can see why he would be feared. That's kinda like your favorite spot being attacked and you never see it the same and always wonder if it'll happen again in the back of your mind. If I go to the car wash one day and it gets lit up, chances are I'll never see that location the same and just outright avoid it.
But obviously, you can't avoid your home.
So I guess the villagers' only choice was to be rude and bully a kid - who really had no choice in the matter.
It didn't matter that he was practically an orphan with an angry demon fox inside of him.
Now the part that doesn't make sense is why their feelings towards Jinchuriki never changed over time. Naruto was not the first jinchurriki and seeing as he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, you'd think he would be treated a little better. I really feel like that should've been disclosed.
Maybe it would have made a difference.
Plus, didn't they have Jinchurriki's for the sake of the village?
Poor Naruto really had it rough and his hardship didn't end the night he lost his parents, it began. He had to deal with the villagers and face the fact that he didn't have parents on a daily basis. His story isn't all that dark because Naruto was able to establish a whole lot of other bonds with others: Iruka, The Third Hokage, Kakashi, Sasuke, Jiraya, Gaara, and many others.
As well as become the Hokage later on in his adulthood.
Hinata:
While Hinata didn't have an evil fox sealed into her as an infant, she does have quite an interesting past herself. Hinata belongs to the infamous Hyuga Clan. She's the oldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuga - her younger sister is Hanabi Hyuga. Now because her father was the head of the Hyuga Clan, she was raised to follow in his footsteps.
But that didn't pan out so well.
Not only did she struggle with his training, but her personality didn't seem to suit the expectations he had of her.
It got to the point where Hanabi was thought to be more suited for the heiress position.
Which she actually was.
Unfortunately, Hiashi kinda disowned Hinata and turned her over to Kurenai.
In Naruto The Last Movie, she apparently had a few bullies and was picked on because of her eyes.
How did they meet?
So according to the series, they bumped into each other one day as children, and Hinata was told to stay away from him by an older Hyuga. In the Last movie, they met when kid Naruto saved kid Hinata from some bullies. In the series, they interacted a bit during the beginning of the chunin exams but Naruto thought Hinata was a bit weird at the time.
Then there was the bit where he was going to cheat off of her exam.
And also the bit where she offered Naruto Ointment.
As well as her giving some encouraging words to him before he fought Neji.
And Naruto cheering on Hinata during her fight with Neji from the sidelines.
These are all cute attempts and moments, but they kinda didn't interact much after the chunin exams. If they did, Hinata would tail him and often be too shy to interact with Naruto. And Naruto being Naruto really had no idea of what was going on. I would've thought she was weird too if she was always fainting in front of me. That's not a normal way to express interest in someone.
In his defense, Naruto also had his mind occupied with Sakura at the time.
It wasn't until the Pain Invasion that Hinata finally confessed her feelings, but I think Naruto simply forgot about it. What would have been better here instead and helped this couple develop is if Naruto saw fragments of what happened that day and maybe saw glimpses of Hinata trying to protect him. I don't like the idea of him seeing all this during a genjutsu in the Last because he's not even supposed to be susceptible to Genjutsu with the Tailed Beast.
But anyway, after the Pain Invasion, Naruto and Hinta didn't interact or advance much in their relationship until the Fourth Great Shinobi War. And that's a long time to go without acknowledging Hinata's feelings. They honestly should've just let Naruto remember bits and seek out Hinata for answers. What's crazy is that in this war, Naruto still had the hots for Sakura - so there really wasn't any room for development here.
And that would have been fine if they at least showed us more of them during the Blank Period, but they didn't. Instead, we get a movie trying to bridge their relationship and love together. I don't like it. I also didn't like the BS reason they gave Naruto for not truly loving Sakura.
Verdict
Let's get into my verdict on this ship. This is an OK ship but it could be better. Here's why: I think something that bothered me a lot was how Naruto loved Sakura for the longest of times & suddenly he doesn't know what love is. I think that's kinda BS. I mean sure Naruto and Hinata had a few interactions here and there, but it was always clear that Naruto didn't think of Hinata beyond a friend. Not until the Last Naruto movie. Meanwhile, Naruto has literally been pursuing Sakura since they were 12 and he was in love with her until the War (at the age of 16 or 17) and then two years passed and he was STILL in love with Sakura because again, Hinata wasn't even thought of until the movie.
I really felt like that was an insult to Naruto's character and it regressed him a bit. I also didn't like how they said that Naruto basically only wanted Sakura out of rivalry with Sasuke. I don't think Naruto is that shallow to only want someone because someone else wants them. I do feel like he genuinely loved Sakura. In my opinion, Naruto's whole character is based on not giving up and not going back on his word, so I really feel like Naruto doesn't say anything that's weightless. Sure, Naruto was aware of Sakura's feelings towards Sasuke, but I don't think he chased after Sakura just because she wanted Sasuke.
Again, I don't like how things felt forced. Which is how it felt to me when they used that Genjutsu bit. I think they lost more natural opportunities. Like I said, maybe they could have had Naruto seek out Hinata after seeing fragments of what happened and seeking her out and or gave us more moments of them during the Blank Period.