Free Step Dodge

Glad to see another one, I'm a lover of this couple me too! =)

Before I say anything, are you caught up to the manga?

Yes, actually I follow Naruto through the manga and I see only certain episodes. Sadly I already know the epilogue of the sentimental matter I was deluded in the beginning but now it's not more a trouble for me even if remained one of the few things that left me unsatisfied (I'm a great fan of the work).

Yeah, but I was very disappointed that NaruHina and SasuSaku became canon. Hinata always fawned over Naruto but he never really reciprocated the feelings. He always loved Sakura, and even though Sakura loved Sasuke, Sasuke didn't give af abouy her or Naruto. :|

Indipendently from my personal preferences, the real reason for my disappointment wasn't that my favourite pairing isn't canon, but that the development of NH and SS isn't supported from the manga. Everything regarding this matter, at least from how I read the manga, is always seemed to point toward a conclusion where Naruto was able to be accepted from Sakura that realized his feelings for him.

To me seems just so out of place to make realize the other couples, and again I don't say it because I don't like them, but just because they have in no way so room in the manga compared to Naruto & Sakura hints and "development" (in the limits of a shounen work, of course).

That bothered me too. I felt like Sakura was finally coming around and Naruto would get his childhood crush, but I guess life doesn't always work the way you want it to. I never liked NaruHina but it's whatever.

I thought (and I still think) that Kishimoto has always got some general lines for the manga and followed them (I could mention various examples). In my opinion he changed his original idea surely in 2 circumstances and one was the pairing matter, very likely because it wasn't a real important thing in a such work (even if IMO influenced the evolution of Naruto and Sakura as single characters before than as couple).

For me the story was thought to end with Naruto and Sakura (the same Kishimoto admitted that originally he considered such idea), but then the editors realized that to create more hints for opposite pairings could be a futher way to incentive people to read the manga, seeing the fanbases around them.

For this reason we started to get real NH hints in the second part of the manga only from the Pain's arc, when before such couple was never mentioned as a possible one.