‘Naruto’ Creator Explains How Its Couples Came To Be

Naruto never pretended to be more than a shonen, but fans couldn’t help but hope for some romance to pop in every once in awhile. For much of its run, the series only touched upon its unrequited crushes, but Masashi Kishimoto eventually came down on its canon couples.

But, if you were wondering how those romances came to be, you shouldn’t get too worked up. It seems Kishimoto let his ninjas own their love lives.

In the past, the creator of Naruto spoke with Cinema Today about the series, and it was there Kishimoto confessed its endgame couples simply fell into place.

“I wasn’t very conscious of it,” the artist said, nodding to the series’ developing romances. (via Honyakusha)

“I thought I would leave the course of it up to them. I wrote it while wondering if Sasuke and Sakura would get together and how it would be. I didn’t write Sakura in the position of heroine. Naruto was special because he was the main character, but all other characters were equal, regardless of who were main or side characters,” Kishimoto continued.

“The characters would decide based how it would work in the story. But along the way, I thought that Naruto and Sakura were different. I somehow decided [their romances] at a pretty early phase.”

The creator stressed he only did what felt natural for his characters, even if that meant writing some embarrassingly mushy scenes.

“In the same way that the beginning of romance is not very conscious, you might say it was not very conscious for me. I’m embarrassed to write it, so in truth, there were parts that I didn’t want to write,” Kishimoto confessed.

For fans who’ve finished Naruto, they will know how its main couples all panned out. Sakura and Sasuke ended up together to the girl’s delight, and Naruto came to realize his own feelings for Hinata. The rest of the Konoha 11 also found love as Shikamaru shacked up with Temari. Ino shocked everyone when she revealed her relationship with Sai, and even Rock Lee found a girl since he has a son named Metal these days. Now, fans are just waiting for the likes of Kiba and Tenten to find their shinobi soulmates.

So, are you happy with how Naruto handed out its love stories? Or did your ship get holes blown throught it? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto:Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.