Now I get that some people just don't like Sakura and probably never well. But that's not going to stop me from liking her just like me talking about her probably won't make you like her. To each their own, right? I also get that there are SasuSaku shippers and NaruHina shippers. But I have some valid reasons why Sakura and Naruto should've been endgame. Obviously, this isn't a jab at Naruto and Hinata or Sasuke and Sakura and nothing really changes with the ships at the end of the day. Still, the immense development and time between Naruto and Sakura are what makes this superior to NaruHina and SasuSaku.
Naruto and Hinata lacked in many areas.
For one, it didn't close the Sakura door properly while insulting Naruto in the process. They chose to write it off as Naruto being a dense guy that only wanted to be with Sakura because of Sasuke. And to add more insult to injury, they said that Naruto didn't know what love is.
It's a little late to disclose that, isn't it?
Especially when Naruto was supposedly in love with Sakura since he was 12 up until 19. Why not make that clear from the start by having him not show interest in anyone? Why make him show interest in someone for so long, and even have other characters like Sai notice Naruto's feelings, just for Naruto's feelings to supposedly be invalid? I'm sorry but I'm not buying that Naruto was never in love with Sakura. It should have been written off in a more logical and believable way.
Like maybe Naruto realizes that Sakura will never love him the way she loves Sasuke and DECIDES to move on. Or have him move on out of respect for Sasuke. Then let him be heartbroken for a while but then he genuinely gets over it.
Naruto is not the type of character to give up and I think that includes his feelings. He's been saying he wanted to be the Hokage since he was 12. He said he was going to bring Sasuke back (at the age of 12) and did, since when was Naruto NOT a man of his word? Now all of a sudden his words can't be trusted when it comes to his feelings for Sakura?! Now obviously, this case would be different regardless because Naruto and Sasuke are buddies.
Thus Bro Code!
If that still exists.
Anyway, Naruto was fighting a losing battle with Sakura and Sasuke and he acknowledged that but let him acknowledge it on a deeper level as an adult so that he can finally move on. Don't make up some BS excuse about how he never loved Sakura and discredit Naruto in the process.
The second area NaruHina lacked in was time. They didn't spend enough time with this couple. It's too harsh to say there's no development when I think about it longer, but they rushed it. After the War, they should've really explored Naruto and Hinata's relationship and smushing them together the way they did in the Last, was not the way to go. Maybe show Naruto and Hinata going on missions together and getting closer together naturally. And then maybe the movie would have been okay - after a few things changed.
Now let's briefly get into Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke and Sakura also lack time but not to the same extent as NaruHina. Sasuke was on his revenge journey for the longest and they definitely had interactions here and there at the beginning like NaruHina, but some things need to be cleared up first. It's OK that he went on a journey to redeem himself, but make him EARN adult Sakura's love and work for it. Just like Gajeel did with Levy from Fairy Tail. Maybe after the journey, he decides to spend more time with her when he gets back and that's when he falls in love with her.
He's no longer clouded by revenge and hatred and let him admire Sakura and how different she's become. Make him see that Sakura is no longer annoying, but a powerful woman that's intelligent and now has a lot going for her.
Now I don't really hold the fact that he tried to snuff Sakura against him because he tried to snuff out everyone. Literally everyone. Doesn't make it right. But they're ninjas and he was in a dark place. A lot of people say that's reason enough for Sasuke and Sakura to not be together but I disagree just for that reason. Sasuke definitely let Sakura get away with a lot more compared to Ino so I think something was there, they just needed to clean up the corners.
After all, in the War, Sasuke had just said that he had no reason to be loved by Sakura or anyone. So they needed a little bit more of development.
Now for Naruto and Sakura.
Let's get into the first reason.
Naruto and Sakura had the development AND the time.
Sakura did not like Naruto at first. But their relationship slowly evolved. It went from Sakura not really liking Naruto like that and being annoyed by him to being more accepting of him, thanks to Sasuke, and then becoming friends with him. Sakura genuinely grew to care about Naruto and I think that's more realistic than SasuSaku and NaruHina. If she didn't care about Naruto, she wouldn't have protected him in the forest of death, she wouldn't have defended him against Sai's insults nor would she have tried to stop him when he was in Kyubi mode against Orochimaru.
More importantly, she wouldn't have manually pumped his heart for him.
Sakura definitely cared for Naruto
Plus we can't forget that Sakura lied in order to protect Naruto; now she gets a lot of heat for that. But in her eyes, she was trying to remove the burden she put on Naruto with her promise. Great intentions, but delivered poorly.
Second, Sakura was the girl Naruto wanted.
And I don't know about yall, but I supported Naruto in every way.
Not just with his dream.
But with the woman that he wanted as well.
So while maybe supporting him with Sakura from day one wasn't the route that everyone took; it was the route that I took because I wanted to see Naruto succeed in every way. This also fascinated me because this would be yet another challenge for Naruto and it would be interesting to see how he overcame it. Love wouldn't just fall at his feet. He'd have to work for it and I think that's more interesting than having someone already in love with you from the jump.
Third, I feel like their personalities matched a little better than SakuSasu and NaruHina; it feels like they have actual chemistry. Maybe it was from being around each other so much, but you can tell that they really got to know each other. It felt like they were really being themselves with each other.
SasuSaku and NaruHina seem both calm - which isn't a bad thing. I just had more fun watching Sakura and Naruto interact a lot more. Maybe it's due to the fact that they're adults now and have matured, but I'm not sure.
Fouth, I don't think Sasuke deserved Sakura and it would have been great development on Sakura's end to let him go. Don't get me wrong, Sasuke and Sakura would be a better ship in my eyes if he earned her love, but Sasuke clearly has a lot going on and a lot he feels responsible for.
In Boruto, he's not even home much.
I personally think he's better off alone.
And lastly, I think Sakura and Naruto went through a good bit together. They were always there for each other. When Sasuke was on his little journey for revenge, this was something that both Naruto and Sakura could relate to.