All of my analysis for this post is going to be derived from my professionally unlicensed opinion.
And now for the meat and potatoes…
How the hell did Hinata and Naruto end up with two kids? How did Naruto go from puppy love with Sakura to marrying Hinata? And similarly, how did the obsessive and shy Hinata end up a confident woman married to the man of her dreams?
Well… it all started when they were kids.
Ultra shy Hinata, with low self esteem, finally had one person be nice to her one time. That person was Naruto when they were very young. From then on, her feelings manifested as an obsessive adoration. But, luckily for Hinata, that’s not where the development ended. Hinata pushed past this and continued to grow, both confidence and the handle on her unstable passion for Naruto.
Naruto had a crush not on Hinata but Sakura, who was both loud and confident, but also somewhat popular and feminine. Not that this would be a well complimented or stable relationship, but young puppy “love” is not often characterized by it’s maturity and strong foundation.
However, it is worth noting, that Naruto became very impressed with Hinata’s development and strength and ability to push past her self imposed limitations and anxieties. So not only does he mesh with her personality but when Hinata had her sailor moon water dancing moment, Naruto was utterly blown away by her graceful nature. So unbeknownst to Naruto, he had a strong attraction. Basically all Naruto needed was to consciously realize how much he liked Hinata.
But they grew up. To begin with, Sakura never reciprocated Naruto’s affection which allowed Naruto to be available in the first place. Then, while Naruto never quite completely realized his romantic feelings for Hinata, Naruto certainly cared immensely for Hinata and just needed her to take the lead and nudge him.
However, even while Naruto did let go of his romantic feelings for Sakura, it was not as though he was suddenly out hunting for a woman. Rather, he seemed to be more interested in protecting the Earth and his people, too busy to pursue anything with anyone while attempting to fight back the Akatsuki and Obito.
Hinata went from hyper shy and obsessive to a more mature and confident woman. A selfless love where she is willing to sacrifice herself for Naruto and even confessed her love. She becomes proactive with her feelings and takes actions to get what she wants. Even her clothing reflects this growth, instead of wearing a sweater at all times concealing her presence and figure due to low self esteem, she starts wearing more comfortable and feminine clothing. She embraces who she is and what she wants.
With Naruto long over his juvenile attraction to Sakura, those feelings replaced with something deep and platonic, the only thing he needs is to have the opportunity to recognize his own feelings. Being as dense and pre-occupied as he is, it’s really up to Hinata to initiate the romance. But at least Naruto is available, physically and emotionally. That makes Hinata’s job easy, she just needs him to look her way and realize what he already knows deep down.
Once Hinata brings those feelings from the back burner to the forefront of Naruto’s mind… well the rest kind of writes itself.
Hinata stayed dedicated and grew along side Naruto which allowed for something once infantile, superficial, and dysfunctional, to develop into a genuine, competent and mutual romance.
With Hinata’s interest never waning over the years, just intensifying and becoming more mature, and Naruto never really pursuing romance with anyone else and being mostly pre-occupied… seems like a pretty natural and organic development. Especially since Naruto was interested in not only Hinata’s character traits but her appearance.
That is, IF you have seen the new movie. While we all knew where Hinata stood, any doubt about Naruto’s feelings should have been cleared up when Naruto lost his sanity and humanity when he thought Hinata had been killed… it is not as though their pairing came out of nowhere. They were in the middle of a war… not exactly a lot of time for dating. And the last movie, after the war ends and some world stability and peace settles over the village, allows our characters to focus on themselves and developing their bonds and relationships. Which is where Hinata gets to make her move and the rest is history as they say!
A history that I had waited over 15 years for!!
Hell, in the same amount of time I met a woman of my own and I am preparing to have my first kid!
Kind of cool how I got to grow alongside the characters of the show.
This show’s pairing is one of the oldest I remember rooting for in a fun, innocent, angsty way… the pairings between Shinji and Asuka and Guts and Casca are a lot more… REALISTICALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL we’ll call it. A lot less fun and a lot more destructive.
Around the time I began watching Naruto was also when I realized that I PREFER romantic drama brewing on the back burner while the show unfolds in that very “Shonen” way. Missing that romantic aspect of a show, even if it is not completely fleshed out, makes it feel like the show has a hole lol. And since I don’t watch reality tv or invest in popular social media, I guess this is how I get my drama and love triangles lol. We all have our outlets!
I will say I like how Hinata has become bold and doesn’t put up with crap from Naruto or their kids. She has turned out pretty awesome!
Anyway, I’m glad to finally have some closure on this pairing. It was a long time coming!
The only thing left to do is name my own kid Boruto………
LOLOLOLOL. Jokes.
Anyway, I’ll be here living in L.A. for a bit, so we’ll see if I can manage to put out some material.
Welp!
Until Next Time!
-AniSun
P.S. Peach Girl…. you want real teen drama? That’s all I’ll say about THAT.
Anime Sunday 