Pairings' discussions.

As some complaints have been expressed (not here necessarily) regarding the way the pairings were done, especially two major ones: NaruHina and SasuSaku, I think it should be clear for everybody to realize that romance was never a main aspect of the story. If pairings which were not developed like Choji x Karui became official, then what about those which already had a potential, like ShikaTema or maybe SaiIno (to a lesser extent), or those which already had some developments, (NH and SS).

I think Kishimoto made sure to show that the one who was going to end up with Naruto really loved/loves him. That's why Hinata's character revolved around her love for Naruto. It was to show that Hinata's love for the hero helped her to develop herself and to support Naruto when he needed love to face challenges.

Sakura's feelings for Sasuke helped her to understand things in a deeper way when it comes to love: not the superficial attraction due to the look but loving someone even in the latter's darkest hours.

Again, Naruto is a fictional work based on actions. There is nothing wrong for a character to maintain her/his feelings for someone else even though they can last forever no matter what. It might be different in real life where people move on... So, if some thought that the story belonged to them, that their fantasies and wishful thinking would come to realization, then just read the story from the beginning (without watching the anime/anime fillers).

Kishimoto said that writing romance was not his thing, so, instead of going into complicated stuffs regarding the pairings, he was clear enough about them from the beginning and that did not stop him to make "surprising" pairings happen a well.

At this point, I ignore complaints about NaruHina or SasuSaku. Look, many people tried to warn how romance works in this series. Both of those pairings are very well developed and it's just a matter of choosing to see what you want to see to not understand how or why. If you wanted "more" romance for them, you're just complaining at this point that Kishimoto isn't as much of a romance writer as [insert whatever name you want]. He did more than enough romance for those two pairings. Sure, some writers do more (some also do a whole lot less), but that's got nothing to do with being able to recognize what was going to happen.

The only surprising pairings were Chouji/Karui and Kiba/Tamaki. They were only surprising because Karui and Tamaki hadn't interacted with them. Both fit the general pattern that Kishimoto follows: opposites go together.

I know some were for ShikaIno or ChouIno, but I saw Team 10 the same way I saw the relationship between Naruto & Sakura... they're all friends, even if they are different genders. Additionally, ShikaTema was blatantly obvious--Temari couldn't stop talking about Shikamaru during the entire War Arc and then Shikamaru's dream couldn't have been clearer.

Ino's dream put her with either Sasuke (Sakura has dibs so that wasn't going anywhere) or Sai (who Ino did consider a Sasuke look-alike).

Chouji had to be paired with someone because of the marriage talk during the war and his dream.

Kiba's pairing came about due to his "rivalry" with Naruto (considering his line was about him turning down becoming the 7th Hokage). There were so many acknowledgements to Part 1 towards the end of the series. ^^

If Kishimoto was going as crazy with the pairings as it was made out to be in some places, there should've been a lot more pairings shown--including Mei getting with someone instead of complaining about not being able to find someone.

Before anyone points out Lee, Lee's fate regarding Sakura was sealed in Part 1 when he chose to save the squirrel over being able to win over Sakura.

I'm actually glad that Kishimoto chose to use characters that we "know" instead of creating characters that had never appeared before.

You can't really tell if Kiba is with the girl in the panel, or if Lee ever married. These two aspects I like. They're more minor characters anyway (I consider Kiba/Choji/Ino/Lee/Tenten/Shino minor supporting characters, while Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and Sai are major supporting characters.)

Naruhina is not suprising at all. It -is- if you have never supported it and held a perspective that never included Naruto ending with Hinata. The argument against it is more subjective than objective. Even without the upcoming movie, it definitely had enough clues and direction to support it. Really, the most agreed flaw of these two being put together was the disappointment they weren't shown in the same panel at the end. A super easy fix, one I bet the Anime will divulge in, but I'm sure the movie will have pleeeenty of make up moments for that. :)

Sasusaku can be suprising. Pleasantly for some, rushed for others, and completely abhorrent to the last. The latter is subjective, while the middle point has some good objectivity. What would have helped in my opinion was one more chapter between 699 and 700 to fill in more details here and there and to give it that little bit more resolution it needed. Another one I think the Anime will help cover.

Choji/Karui is suprising. This could have been fixed with some interaction between the two. It doesn't need to hint towards romance, they can even be arguing. I doubt the Anime will help explain this one much, but it would be interesting if they did.

Shikamaru and Temari is also not suprising. I like this one over Shikamaru's other fanon options; Temari has always been a strong female character, perhaps the strongest in personality in the series, and Shikamaru can find women troublesome.

Ino and Sai had its moments. Nothing really needed to be added with them, though their child could have been prettier. :P I actually liked Choji's child's design, and that she did look less than appealing.

I plan on making essays on main characters of Naruto, and certain story arch's and themes that I'll share here, maybe I'll add my own essay on why Naruhina works well (and how it might have been done even better.) and where SasuSaku worked well and where it could have been done better.

The only way i would have handled NH was after IT was dispelled, Naruto and Hinata have a "emotional" moment. Not a kiss or more then that. Some talking, crying (a hug) and maybe teasing from Kiba (for laughs and at Narutos embrassment).

But i'm ok with how he handled the whole thing with NH and SS.

Mileage will vary.

SasuSaku can only be surprising to someone who ignored the obvious (which Kishimoto was nice enough to remind everyone within the last 30 chapters):

Naruto's dreams were to be acknowledged and become Hokage.
Sasuke's dreams were to kill a certain man (Itachi) and to restore his clan.
Sakura's dream was to marry Sasuke.

It was blatantly obvious that all 3 of them were going to achieve their dreams. Every time their dreams came up, those were the things referenced even when semi-twisted. There was zero chance that Naruto & Sasuke were going to get their dreams and Sakura wasn't going to get hers.

That's why I always felt that anyone truly analyzing the story without their emotions/feelings getting in the way should've always known that there were at least two pairings happening: SasuSaku and NaruHina. The first was a requirement of the plot (SasuSaku) and the second was a requirement of there was zero chance the rival (Sasuke) would get a girl and the hero (Naruto) of the story wasn't.

I don't ever pay attention to what I like or don't like when it comes to analysis. The Naruto series just happens to be the first series in a long while where I actually liked all the pairings that were pretty much destined to become official based on the interactions/developments that occurred as the story went along. That's the only thing that's nice about it all for me on a personal level.

SasuSaku could even have happened a long time ago but got "delayed" by Sasuke's decision to join Orochimaru. In other words, SasuSaku's main developments occurred already in Part 1...

But Sasuke's decision to cut his bonds and so on, brought some tensions into the story, which explains why his teammates of Team 7 kept on trying to bring him back no matter what.