@SpaceCowboy:
I think Naruto and Hinata went to the same primary school or whatever they call it, and even through Naruto knows who she was, because, well, same class, he never really had any kind of relation with her. It was mostly Hinata that had that weird stalking nature ever since both characters know each other, which she kept for years.
Let me just get this straight, my "half-assed" remark was mostly for the way the author decided to take care of the situation.
It felt forced.
Forced because making the character confess her love on a moment where everything was at stake only served to give me the impression that he had no idea on how to make the confession seem more natural. And this was precisely because both characters never had a simple conversation with each other, or even shared a moment beforehand. They had no relation at all.
The only moment both Naruto and Hinata shared a moment together was during the Chunnin exam, and on that part of the plot Hinata was more of an instrument to drive the Neji plot forward. The focus wasn´t on Hinata, but Neji.
Then they went on some group mission during the post time skip (When they found Tobi), but they didn´t interact at all during it.
The confession itself wasn´t bad, but the timing was. Kishimoto had to drive that plot forward but realized that he didn´t had anything to work with as a basis. So he placed the confession on the ultimate life and death moment. IMHO that is a lazy way to force emotions into the confession. And those emotion didn´t came from the confession itself, but from the moment they were stuck into. The confession was just a secondary plot in the middle of the life and death battle, which took clear priority. That´s why I think it was half-assed. I didn´t felt anything from the confession itself, but from the fact that it was done during that particular life threatening moment.
ANyway, it´s just my take on things. I prefer Ichigo/Orihime because of the interactions both characters had for a while in the series.
Seriously I don't want to be that guy but even if we take into account what you said, Hinata and Naruto still make more sense than Ichigo and Inoue.
You claim that she was a plot device to drive the Neji plot forward without taking into account how pissed off Naruto was when he saw Neji beating her up.
That and the whole reason driving her to fight against someone she is sure to lose and take a brutal beatdown was because she was in love with Naruto being deeply inspired by his way of live. That's a good first step for potential love.
Cue an argument that its just puppy love and stupid because she is just a kid.
Well, not really because Hinata have something called consistency. She fell in love with him and 2 years later she did the same. She would fight for her, much more than Sakura would ever bother or anything she ever did for Sasuke. She was always chasing Naruto since part 1 and has always tried her best despite being one of the weaker characters.
To be frank, I can't argue with you when it comes to how much of a shitfest the Pain arc was. But one thing I had to disagree was the fact that the confession could have been better somewhere else in an already disorganized plot. It made sense where it was placed. Wow, naruto making sense? What a rarity.
Before he went full crazy nine tails, he was so vulnerable Nagato could have offed him, Hinata was still standing and seeing how she loved him it made perfect sense for her to jump in. What would be a better timing for you? If you know the person you admire so much since young was going to die, jumping in would be an instinct, she hardly thought twice about sacrificing her life before being thrown around like a ragdoll. You call it another plot device to drive the drama, but seriously and in all honesty you can say the same shit for almost every single scene when Pain was destroying Konoha. At this point Kakashi was dead, Sakura was there standing like the useless girl she is, Kishimoto had more ways to drive the plot than Hinata. It was a necessary moment for him to go full nine tails. It was the first time someone besides Iruka acknowledged that they loved him and she was killed in front of him.
Although Naruto went to shit after that even I can understand the characterisation of the both of them in that scene. How's that for a secondary plot when it was the main thing that drove him to whoop Pain's ass? How's it secondary when we finally get to see a female character in Naruto shine and she's not even Tsunade or Sakura. How's it secondary when it set a foundation for the ending to be satisfactory because you know, Naruto ending up with Hinata didn't feel like a complete asspull. There were actually moments that validated their relationship from the start of the series, to the middle and all the way to the end.
Look at Bleach. Look at the wreck that is Ichigo and Orihime.
Were there any moments where Orihime actually contributed to Ichigo's growth besides turning him into an insane killing hollow?
Or you know, when Ichigo actually appreciated her and you could see a possibility of love from him?
Goddamnit now I'm talking about Naruto in a Bleach thread, why.
It's like comparing a bad orange to a bad apple, but somehow the bad apple that is Bleach feels way more rotten.
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