A NaruSaku Manifesto

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then I would have cleared this up a long time ago

Remember; TRUE pairng fans with NaruSaku will agree and move on. TRUE pairing fans against NaruSaku that disagree will accept our differences, politely say that they do not agree, and move on with their lives.

This is just my opinion. If you do not want to change your pairing ideas, that is fine with me.

I do not believe in love at first sight. I believe that a lasting friendship would be needed for a lasting relationship later in life.

I have studied Naruto and his friends' lives for a very long time. The one thing that caught my eye was Naruto's pairings. At first, I just felt sorry for him and thought it would be nice if he got what he wanted for once. This would be one person at the Part I stage. And that is Haruno Sakura. When Sakura visited Sasuke in the hospital, and ignored Naruto to hug him. He seemed to lose his immaturity for just a moment, smiled, and left. Even Tsunade seemed to notice this sudden change. Later into the anime, you notice things starting to change. That, for me, was the day Sasuke left. Naruto made her a promise to get Sasuke back for her. I think she respected him a little more, even with this simple gesture.

"You're the only person who can get Sasuke-kun back, Naruto. Only you."

"You really like Sasuke, don't you, Sakura-Chan? I know exactly what you're going through. I'll definitely get Sasuke back for you! It's the promise of a lifetime!"

But enough of Part I, let's move on.

Even now, Naruto's promise has not wavered, and he has thought nothing of giving up as far as we know. In the first episode of Naruto Shippuuden, Naruto & Sakura meet up again for the first time in two and a half years. The first thing Sakura thinks is how much more mature he has gotten. That is the time of the first of those two intimate smiles in that episode. The second is when Naruto begins to use his 'new perverted ninjutsu'. This was proof that under that mature demeanor, the old Naruto she used to know is still there somewhere.

"What do you think? Do I look more womanly now?"

Naruto's blunt usage of "It's fine! You haven't changed at all!" Shows that he thinks of her as the same 'Sakura-Chan' she's always been. My guess is that he meant something a bit more emotional, but was too clumsy with his wording, therefore disappointing Sakura.

Some people say that they hate each other, or are 'just friends' and nothing more because Sakura hits Naruto, is logically explainable. The girl hitting the boy happens even in real Japan life, kind of like a boy slapping another on the back. This mostly occurs in reality television shows, though not in such a dramatic manner as that of anime or cartoons.

It's almost the truth to say that Naruto likes the punishment. During their first battle together in Part II, while fighting Kakashi, there was proof of this.

"I shouldn't play around near Sakura-Chan. She could kill me!"

That is what he thinks, but note that he is smiling as he thinks this. It's almost as if he follows her around just to be slapped by her. And altogether, it never changes his opinion of 'Sakura-Chan'. Some might call it thick-headed behavior. But is it not true, that even the most stubborn and thick-headed knows when something is pointless and they are only being hurt?

It's also possible that Naruto hides his feelings to keep her from being hurt further. This is proven during the point when they are saving Gaara from the Akatsuki. Sakura cries for Naruto's problems, finding out that he is a jinchuuriki and will die if the Kyuubi is removed from his body.

"You're always being reduced to tears, Sakura-Chan. Don't worry, I'll save Gaara"

He says this with a slight smile on his face and walks away even as Sakura protests.

Sakura has also matured since two and a half years have passed. She is more able to cope with Naruto's attitude more than anyone else. She is still very protective of Sasuke and will punish anyone who insults him. But there is no absolute proof that she has any feelings for him on a romantic level.

"I love you so much!"

It is more likely that it was a simple childhood crush. When she cried for him and admitted her 'feelings' for him, she was in a state of extreme panic. After all, she was about to lose a close friend. They had basically eaten from the same plate along with everyone else. Like your best friend moving to a different area, school, country, etc.

"I'll go with you! I promise you we'd be happy, and have fun all the time! I'll even help you avenge your clan!"

In a state of confusion, most people would say just about anything to fix the situation. Masashi Kishimoto himself said that Sakura and Rock Lee were to symbolize human weakness. Sakura most likely would have said anything for Sasuke to stay.

If Sasuke had let her come with him, she would probably regret it later in life. Even the smartest don't know the downside until it's happened. And once you do something, there is no rewind button.

"Sakura, thank you."

This is what Sasuke said to Sakura before knocking her out. I think he was either humbled by her attempts to keep him, or was slightly softened by the friendship that he, Sakura, and Naruto had developed over time. It is most likely that Sasuke cared for Sakura and Naruto both as friends, but had a difficult time showing his emotion, and the anger at his brother, permanently etched into his mind, caused him difficulties as time went on. He then became so power hungry, that he accepted Orochimaru's request, therefore giving Naruto's 'Promise of a Lifetime it's meaning.

There is also a chance that the entire problem started when she was young. She was always left out and called 'Forehead Girl' (English dub: Billboard Brow). She wanted to be counted in, so maybe, since she noticed that all the other girls liked Sasuke, she said she liked Sasuke too. After a while, her 'crush' confused her emotions so much, that she actually began to believe that she was in love with him. From there, it just went downhill, ending with Sakura and Ino breaking their friendship.

It's also possible that Sakura's feelings for Sasuke really were on a romantic level. But over time, those feeling faded and her friendship with Naruto began to develop more in turn. When Sakura learned of Naruto's hardships, she became protective of him.

It is not possible, as far as I can logically see, for Naruto and Hinata to become a couple either. Naruto, clueless as he is, still has no idea that Hinata has ever had a crush, or romantic feelings for him.

"I just realized, Hinata. I like...people like you!"

Naruto says, just before the third round of the chuunin exams. Naruto says not that he likes her, but that he likes people like her. There is also a chance that Hinata might be too shy to say anything to Naruto before somebody else does. There is also no guarantee that Naruto has any feelings for Hinata on a romantic level.

I also do not think that Hinata really has true romantic feelings for Naruto. She has watched him as a child, training to pass the academy. She gained respect for his attitude. That he tried as hard as he could and never gave up until the battle ended. She was shy, but said herself that she wanted to change during her battle with Neji in the preliminaries of the chuunin exams. She wanted to try harder and never give up. This, means she wanted to be like Naruto. This respect might have led her to believe that she was in love with Naruto.

As for SasuNaru; Naruto has never shown interest in anyone but the opposite gender. The same goes for SakuIno. Sakura shows interest in Sasuke in Part I, which leads me to believe that she shows interest only in the opposite gender. This basically means that yaoi/yuri is out for Sakura and Naruto.

Some people might disagree with this, but it's logical. Everything is proven fact, if you are attentive to the storyline. Please R&R and tell me what you think.

Mokuze-san