Naruto loved Hinata from the beginning without realizing it

I was just running through Proud Failure chapter again and here what took my attention.

We all know, that Naruto doesn't fully understand the meaning of love. He admitted that by himself.

Now, you probably definitely know, that love sometimes could be invisible for a person, but still affecting him from the inside for his actions and words. Like if it was an inner force, that you have, but don't know what it is for some time until you get some experience.

What I mean is that why Naruto opened himself first time to Hinata? Why it wasn't Iruka sensei? Why it wasn't Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Jiraya... Why it wasn't somebody he already knew?

I think it's because Naruto already became connected to her, without him realizing it. Even though he don't understand, what love is, love has already existed inside of him and it was towards Hinata. I don't think, that if Naruto had same feelings towards Hinata, like he has for others, he would open only to her - they were absolutely different from anything he feels towards everybody else.

And now some 615 again. "My life was never only one, because you have been by my side this whole time". Naruto literally shared his life with Hinata, saying that it was all from the very beginning. I don't think that I should telling you, what happens, when man is saying, that he shares his life with a woman - he puts a ring on her finger and kisses her.

What do you think? Could it be that Naruto already was in love with Hinata, but just without realizing it until some point? That would explain, why he felt so easy to be himself around her and why he was always serious with her, without need to act like a jerk to gain her attention. That would also explain, why Naruto, from all things, asked Kushina how she and Minato fell in love for each other - he was curious about, what he was feeling towards Hinata this whole time.

I don't know, if it should be in this section of forum, but I think that this is the subject to debate about.

P.S. It's not a rare story, when the girl, which man thought he loves her, becomes his best friend (Sakura), but the one he thought is his friend is actually the one he really loves and loved this whole time (Hinata).

That's something I think too: Hinata was always in Naruto's heart. That's why I had to make a thread about Naruto's crush... and that was after reading some discussions stating Naruto's "love" for Sakura...

If I'm not wrong these discussions took place in the thread dealing if Naruto and Hinata were already secret lovers.

Spoiler:

That's my idea about their connection that I wrote in other threads but I did not quote all of them

Thread: "Is it possible that Naruto and Hinata are really already secret lovers?"

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Thread: "Is NaruHina as one sided as it used to be?"

Spoiler:

I don't think he loved her from the beginning. He introduces her as a shy dark weirdo in Chapter 39. She was really just a former classmate to him and was more of an acquaintance. He was completely oblivious to her feelings for him for the longest. Due to not knowing her well, he was suspicious of her intentions when she tried to help in out.

However I do think Naruto developed a sweet spot/soft spot for Hinata during the Chunnin Exams. He started to realize how nice of a person she was and appreciated her kind gestures such as offering to let him cheat of her answers and giving him some ointment after his match. He viciously defended Hinata and cheered her on against Neji despite not being that close to Hinata at the time. When he was enraged by Neji berating Hinata it was because he related to her, he understood where she was coming from. He too knew what it was like to be called a loser, yet work hard to improve oneself in-spite of that. He could see that like him, Hinata desired acknowledgement. Naruto even kept defending her throughout his fight with  Neji because of that. Through watching Hinata's fight with Neji, he realized how gutsy and incredible she was and how similar they were. He ultimately changes his opinion of her and says "a person like you, I really like", acknowledging her.

During Hinata's confession we can see how deeply he was touched by the look in his eyes. When he saw Hinata attacked by Pain, she was an important enough person to him to automatically transform into the 6-tails for--He's only gone into kyuubi mode out of rage two other times, and both were over Sasuke. When he returned from the kyuubi mode he cried for her safety. And now in this War arc he has been gradually showing more and more that he's starting to explore and develop new feelings for Hinata. Now that he knows she's a romantic option.

Naruto has gone from seeing Hinata as a shy dark weirdo who he didn't notice much, to a person with a lot of guts, to the kind of person he likes, to an incredibly strong person, to some who he's thankful for always being by his side. He's in the process of falling for her. That's the story of Naruhina, patient baby-steps in development, one step at time.

@ Aelita That is a good and realistic point of view but I still disagree with it because that does not match to the concept of "souls's connexion" or soul-mates that imo describes NaruHina.

Just three examples:

1) Naruto is hit by Neji. He's on the ground coughing blood, the same happens to Hinata while watching.

2) Naruto comes back to his normal state after having let Kyuubi take over his body. He realizes that Hinata is not dead and cries, Hinata at the same time is thinking about him, badly hurt on the ground.

3) Just by looking into each others' eyes, Naruto and Hinata can read themselves thus the "it's all in your eyes". There is a sentence which states something like: "The eyes mirrors the soul"...

Except the third point where Hinata and Naruto directly interacted, the two first ones are different. They actually express that even the distance does not forbid the souls to be connected... If that's not love, I don't know.

"Now that he knows that she's a romantic option" reduces Hinata to a second choice and that feeling that she was a second choice I never had while reading Naruto. And that's actually one of the NS argument that I hate, stating that if Hinata ends up with Naruto, it would be because of an eventual rejection coming from Sakura as if Naruto had none other choice and would be somehow forced to end up with Hinata.
So Hinata as "option" or "second choice": oh no! I don't subscribe to it.

Regarding the nature of the soul, I admit that everybody, cultures... have their own beliefs about that.

I agree there was a connection between Naruto and Hinata that developed during the Chunnin exams, but I'm hesitant to call it love because love is a strong word. I'm also the type who doesn't believe in things like "love at first sight", that you have to grow and develop with a person before you know you're truly in love with them, so that might contribute to it lol. I do believe they're soul-mates and that they're spirits are connected, but I still believe Naruto's in the process of exploring these feelings and falling in love with Hinata. And after he falls in love with her, he'll realize that they're soulmates (not the other way around).

I don't know how to explain it haha. They're spirits were connected, but he didn't realize it. He wasn't in love with her at the time, as she was originally more of an acquaintance and he hardly noticed her. But after interacting with her for a bit, he gained respect for her and developed a soft-spot for her. But he lacked the emotional maturity to explore these feelings beyond that. I didn't mean it like he views Hinata as a second choice. I meant it in he didn't even know she was an option at all. He didn't know how Hinata felt about him, and brushed off all her shy behavior as weird. He grew up unloved. He was the one always chasing someone so the concept that there was someone out there who loved him was new to him. I don't think he ever imagined himself as her type, based on how shocked he was when she confessed to him. But now that he's aware that she's in love with him, he is now more likely to explore his feelings (the soft-spot he had developed) for Hinata.

Here's how soulmates are viewed where I'm from: Unknowingly you're spirits are connected from birth, but you are completely unaware who this person will be. You go through life exploring romance with other potentials until you find "the one". When you find your soul-mate you don't realize that this person is "the one" right away. But after you spend time with them, develop feelings and fall in love, you realize how you're spirits are connected, and that you're soul-mates. Spirits connected =/= already in love, you fall in love first and then (or while you're falling for them) realize that you're spirits are connected.

(Basically replace "was always in love with her but didn't realize it" for "developed a soft-spot for her but lacked the emotional maturity to explore it beyond that" and we'd basically be saying the same things)

@ Aelita Thanks for this great post . You cleared up things and the way you described it just motivates me to give you a +1 Rep.

@Aelita
I think along the same lines as you in this.

Yes there is a deep connection between them but it cannot truly be called "Love" during the Chuunin Exams. Maybe now, but that early on?

What I believe a soulmate is, is that there is a strong mutual empathic response to each other in every moment they interact no matter how small or how short that moment lasts. They are someone who with one look, one phrase can totally change you and make you understand yourself better because they are reflected in you, and you in them. They "click" basically.

Whether or not this type of relationship develops into a romantic/sexual one is totally dependent on many factors. "Love at first sight" can happen in these types of relationships (especially in fiction) but in the case of NH, I think Naruto had a lot more growing to do before he could truly start exploring the full breadth of "Love".

So yeah, I believe he has a connection to her and it's slowly maturing into Love rather than him being in Love without knowing and slowly realizing it. It's a "chicken or egg?" type deal here lol.

At that time (Chunin exams), both of them did not know what love was.
But they already felt it. Hinata said during the "Proud Failure" speech something like when she looks at Naruto, she has an "intense feeling" in her heart and Naruto said "someone like you, I really like". Both were too young to know what love was, but it was actually not a matured love.

Hinata was aware of her feelings and could express them because she had become mature in that field earlier than Naruto. The latter for all the reasons written before (grew up as orphan etc.) needed more time to identify what love was, thus his question to someone more experimented than him: his mother.

Now that Naruto and Hinata are older, new aspects of love might come into play (sexual desire...) which were not there when they were younger.
But that does not mean that love was not around. It just evolved and it evolved accordingly to the characters' development and own experiences.

Pein was a challenge for Hinata. If Hinata had only superficial feelings for Naruto, she would not have run the way she did and fought with everything she had to protect him. Naruto on the other hand is a boy and boys need more time in love's matter to express themselves (Sasuke too by the way) but the "It's all in your eyes" moment show imo that he is now more aware about that now.

He might not express it with big declarations etc. but only his attitude at this moment shows that he was happy and proud to be the hero of the lady. That's why Kiba had to tease him not to "act tough in front of Hinata" afterwards.

Naruto didn't love Hinata from the very start, however after seeing her basically get the "your a failure/your trash, you suck at everything in your life" speech from Neji, Naruto went off about how wrong he was because he had deal with that his whole life. He started too understand her more after seeing her, dispite being hardly able to do any damage against Neji, that she was fighting just as hard as himself was to try and prove people wrong. Add on that Sakura and Lee basically told him that "she is just like you/she is always watching you." Naruto then started to see her differently and told the ref to not stop the match because he began believing in her.

Dispite still not knowing her that well (understanding her, yes) he opened up (toke the macho-macho-man mask off) too her and showed his true self. Hinata had always saw through the mask and told Naruto how she viewed him (gave some hints on how she felt but more of how she viewed him). This cheered him up and once again changed of his opinon of her and used her as motivation to help him beat Neji.

Narutos understanding and opinion of Hinata came full circle when she protected him from Pain. She knew that she couldn't defeat Pain (as her sneak attack failed). She said her original reason for being there (which Naruto called BS on), then she gave the real reason: She loves him, uncondintionally and gave reasons as too why she loves him. Of course Naruto never thought that a girl would love him this much as too give her life to protect him, as the look on his face after she confessed.

Now Naruto fully knows and 1000% understands Hinata. He views her as a caring, supportive, strong, fearless, tough, honest, smart and most importanly, a person a who loves him for who he is and is willing to give everything she has for him. And that out of all the people in the village, she was the first person to support, care and love him. I will not say he fully "loves" her yet, but he does deeply care about her, enough to admit that seeing her get hurt made him go 6-tails and thanked her for "always being by my side."

Now i do believe Hinata loved Naruto in part 1 but do who she was back then she couldn't come out and say it. However, he feelings were very deep for him. Just her shyness and admiration of him prevented him from knowing sooner.

I agree with GreatKungLao, I think Naruto had been in love with Hinata since the start. But seeing as how he had absolutely 0 love his entire childhood, he didn't realize those feelings. And he had to have SOME sort of respect toward her the entire time, as she was literally the only person who didn't berate or laugh in his face. As thick as Naruto can be at times, he was fully aware she wasn't a bad person.

Yeah, he thought she was weird and gloomy and all that, but I think he had a special place in his heart for her. And it wasn't until the chunin exams that he discovered they had so much in common. And I think once she was willing to let Naruto cheat off of her, and especially during her battle with Neji, Naruto came to understand that there was more than meets the eye to not only Hinata, but how he felt about it. And with the Proud Failure speech, when he was walking away, I believe he felt a unique bond between them, like an invisible thread connecting them. At that moment, I believe he realized she was special and there was something extremely potent about her and their chemistry. But duty calls and he had to fight Neji and work on getting stronger.

I don't he came to UNDERSTAND this connection til Hinata confessed, though. You can see in his eyes how his world had just been flipped upside down. That's when I believe he finally knew he had genuine romantic feelings to her and was aware of their connection. And from there, he's slowly strengthening it and understanding it more and more.

I'd have to disagree with this. I don't think Naruto was in love with Hinata since the beginning

I don't know how someone loves another person without knowing it, to me love is a consensual notion, it's something you feel or don't.

They were friends since the beginning, there is clear evidence of that, but there was no romantic feelings on Naruto's part. (to be honest there still isn't clear evidence of that) Naruto cared for Hinata as a friend throughout Part 1 and Part 2.

If 615 implied anything it was that Naruto realized that he was never alone because of Hinata's feelings for him. He realizes what he should have realized almost two hundred chapters ago in 437.

I think it's premature to imply that he's loved Hinata this whole time when there's no formal proof that he loves her at this point in the manga. We see that he cares for her, but that has always been the case. 615 simply demonstrates that he realizes the depth of her feelings and what they mean to him.

engetsu wrote:I don't know how someone loves another person without knowing it, to me love is a consensual notion, it's something you feel or don't.

How about unconscious love? Naruto said by himself, that he doesn't understand love literally, but love is a feeling. Naruto could feel something towards Hinata, but he didn't know what it is exactly, because he didn't knew the meaning at all untill some point in his life.

"Naruto seethed with the worst emotions he would ever" said the ending of chapter 437. Could friendship or comradeship cause this? I think not, because even Jiraya's loss, Kakashi's death, village's destruction, Fukasaka's death right in front of Naruto - all of it didn't made him explode. But Hinata's "death" did. Naruto said, that when Pain attakced Hinata, his heart automatically connected to Kurama and the anger, that he never felt before consumed him entirely - all of it because there was uncousious love for Hinata, which Kurama was aware of and that's why it was so easy for him to consume Naruto at that moment - because it was Naruto's greatest weakeness.

At least that's how I think.

Hand holding is a romantic jesture. Humans have been doing it as long as history as recorded it.

Naruto didn't have too hold her hand, he chose to hold her hand. And he held her hand for quite some time i might added.

I still stand by what i said originally, he doesn't fully "love" her yet but Naruto does deeply care about and respect Hinata. Naruto at first didn't understand what love was, now thanks to meeting his mom and dad and what Hinata has done for him, he now has atleast a decent understanding of what love is. And he has shown that he hasn't rejected Hinatas feelings but rather (sort of) embraced her feelings.

Naruto has also matured alot recently and who do we have to thank for that? Your guess is my guess.  

GreatKungLao wrote:

engetsu wrote:I don't know how someone loves another person without knowing it, to me love is a consensual notion, it's something you feel or don't.

How about unconscious love? Naruto said by himself, that he doesn't understand love literally, but love is a feeling. Naruto could feel something towards Hinata, but he didn't know what it is exactly, because he didn't knew the meaning at all untill some point in his life.

"Naruto seethed with the worst emotions he would ever" said the ending of chapter 437. Could friendship or comradeship cause this? I think not, because even Jiraya's loss, Kakashi's death, village's destruction, Fukasaka's death right in front of Naruto - all of it didn't made him explode. But Hinata's "death" did. Naruto said, that when Pain attakced Hinata, his heart automatically connected to Kurama and the anger, that he never felt before consumed him entirely - all of it because there was uncousious love for Hinata, which Kurama was aware of and that's why it was so easy for him to consume Naruto at that moment - because it was Naruto's greatest weakeness.

At least that's how I think.

He's always cared for Hinata ever since they've been properly acquainted, they were pretty close friends so it makes sense for him to have reacted tge way he did when he thought she was dead, imagine if he had seen Jiraiya get merked in front if naruto, he would have list his shit then too.

I think it's important to make the distinction between romantic live and friendship, and in that situation I think the latter governed his decision making.

engetsu wrote:

GreatKungLao wrote:

engetsu wrote:I don't know how someone loves another person without knowing it, to me love is a consensual notion, it's something you feel or don't.

How about unconscious love? Naruto said by himself, that he doesn't understand love literally, but love is a feeling. Naruto could feel something towards Hinata, but he didn't know what it is exactly, because he didn't knew the meaning at all untill some point in his life.

"Naruto seethed with the worst emotions he would ever" said the ending of chapter 437. Could friendship or comradeship cause this? I think not, because even Jiraya's loss, Kakashi's death, village's destruction, Fukasaka's death right in front of Naruto - all of it didn't made him explode. But Hinata's "death" did. Naruto said, that when Pain attakced Hinata, his heart automatically connected to Kurama and the anger, that he never felt before consumed him entirely - all of it because there was uncousious love for Hinata, which Kurama was aware of and that's why it was so easy for him to consume Naruto at that moment - because it was Naruto's greatest weakeness.

At least that's how I think.

He's always cared for Hinata ever since they've been properly acquainted, they were pretty close friends so it makes sense for him to have reacted tge way he did when he thought she was dead, imagine if he had seen Jiraiya get merked in front if naruto, he would have list his shit then too.

I think it's important to make the distinction between romantic live and friendship, and in that situation I think the latter governed his decision making.

Naruto saw Fukasaku been killed right in front of him. Wasn't he also Naruto's friend at that moment already? Or at least a close mentor? But it didn't made him go even at least 1 tail.

GreatKungLao wrote:

engetsu wrote:

GreatKungLao wrote:

engetsu wrote:I don't know how someone loves another person without knowing it, to me love is a consensual notion, it's something you feel or don't.

How about unconscious love? Naruto said by himself, that he doesn't understand love literally, but love is a feeling. Naruto could feel something towards Hinata, but he didn't know what it is exactly, because he didn't knew the meaning at all untill some point in his life.

"Naruto seethed with the worst emotions he would ever" said the ending of chapter 437. Could friendship or comradeship cause this? I think not, because even Jiraya's loss, Kakashi's death, village's destruction, Fukasaka's death right in front of Naruto - all of it didn't made him explode. But Hinata's "death" did. Naruto said, that when Pain attakced Hinata, his heart automatically connected to Kurama and the anger, that he never felt before consumed him entirely - all of it because there was uncousious love for Hinata, which Kurama was aware of and that's why it was so easy for him to consume Naruto at that moment - because it was Naruto's greatest weakeness.

At least that's how I think.

He's always cared for Hinata ever since they've been properly acquainted, they were pretty close friends so it makes sense for him to have reacted tge way he did when he thought she was dead, imagine if he had seen Jiraiya get merked in front if naruto, he would have list his shit then too.

I think it's important to make the distinction between romantic live and friendship, and in that situation I think the latter governed his decision making.

Naruto saw Fukasaku been killed right in front of him. Wasn't he also Naruto's friend at that moment already? Or at least a close mentor? But it didn't made him go even at least 1 tail.

Fair enough. But I still don't think Naruto loved Hinata from the beginning. They may have had moments of good interaction, but love is way off in my opinion. Their relationship is developing, yes. But love? Not yet.