Thanks man, you have good points yourself. People can say what they want about how Naruto freaked out and let the kyuubi take over during Pain's fight, and how that means he loves her, but I really really don't see it that way. Naruto would have let the kyuubi take over if any of the Konoha 11(or 10 whatever it is) died. It was about friendship for him. Yeah Hinata told him she loves him, that doesn't mean Naruto suddenly loves her. And to the person who said the kyuubi likes Hinata better than Sakura because he led Pain away from Hinata when the kyuubi took over, and that the kyuubi hit Sakura so he doesn't like her....there is ZERO proof of that. Those two incidents are not proof, it's speculation. The kyuubi didn't even notice Hinata there probably, and it wasn't the kyuubi who led Pain away anyway, Pain ran away to get closer to Nagato so he could use Chibaku Tensei, and the kyuubi chased after him. And him attacking Sakura is nothing either, its been said many many times that Naruto attacks anybody in that form because he can't control himself, the kyuubi has control. Kyuubi was still evil at that point remember? He attacked Jiraiya and nearly killed him, does that mean he hates Jiraiya? No.
People can debate all day and night about whether Naruto loves Sakura or Hinata or whatever, the fact of the matter is Kishi wouldn't make Naruto be with Hinata after 12 years of developing his and Sakura's relationship. Yes Hinata was there since the beginning to you could say, but he hasn't been developing their relationship nearly as much, not to mention Hinata has been in the manga a lot lot lot lot lot LOT less than Sakura. That's because she is a secondary character and Sakura is a primary character, you just have to accept the fact that it would be terrible terrible writing for him to all of a sudden be with a secondary person when he's been developing the primaries for this long.
You have some good points as well, and in the end you may be right. However, if I may, let's go over a few points please.
1 - Sakura has been appointed as Naruto romantic interest since almost day 1;
2 - Sasuke has been Sakura's romantic interest since day 1;
3 - Naruto has been Hinata's romantic interest since day 1;
4 - Both Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are the main characters in the manga;
5 - Eventhough Hinata is not as present (let's consider that she is not a member of team 7 and the manga is basically about team 7), she has appeared more than other characters;
6 - Sasuke became an S class criminal and Sakura still loves him;
7 - Naruto became the Village's Hero and Hinata loves him all the same;
8 - In the past chapters (war time) Sakura showed she still loves Sasuke despite all else;
9 - For the first time ever, I saw Naruto conforting someone (Hinata) other than Sakura in the manga;
10 - Sakura has shown no interest in being together with Naruto;
11 - Hinata has finally made the decision to be with Naruto.
So, regarding you comments you have many valid points, and well reasoned too. If you were talking about any other secondary character I would be the first to jump ship with you and say "he must be with Sakura", however even you must admit that Kishi has shown Hinata's interest over and over and over, so if Naruto changes his heart ( or just think "I will be with someone who actually wants me") and shifts his feelings to Hinata, it will be consistent with the development. Yet again, if he decides to stay with Sakura, or alone if Sakura doesn't take him, it will also make sense.
I understand all of us (me included) prefer one over the other, but because of our own feelings we must not exclude the other option saying "it can never happen" because that would be a lie. Nothing is set in stone, and if we analyze it with a clear view, we will see that Naruto has not yet trully decide who to love. He cares about Sakura deeply and wants to be with her ( love her), but knowing she loves Sasuke and respecting that decision, he will never act on it, therefore he may decide to move on. Also, Sakura has never taken any action either other than trying to bring Sasuke back, so she may still shift her feeling to Naruto, and Hinata just now decided to act on her feelings, so it's a wait and see techinique.
So, let's all hold hands and wait and see.
PS. I still want Jiraya to be with Tsunade, even if Jiraya comes back as an Edo...
Sakura was never develop as Naruto's lover Kishi said He wanted Hinata to be the love interest but at the time Kishi was single Himself, Now He is married and has a Child and they now influence Him. Kishi admitted before He did not know how to handle in manga a love story, now He knows from His family.
Good point. Plus it seems Kishi is leaning towards Hinata, but I may be wrong...
/Cheers
