veil_of_dreams - An Enduring Faith, part 1

06:24 pm - An Enduring Faith, part 1

EDIT: Livejournal was giving me a lot of grief when I posted this essay. For some reason, it liked to randomly decide whether or not it centers images on the page even when I used the same method of centering for all of them, so I had to rely on horizontal alignment as a substitute. As such, this essay is optimized for viewing in a 1024x768 resolution; if  the alignment of images looks funky, and that's not your resolution, that's probably the reason. I'll work on fixing it later.

Special thanks to Darkhope, Kubik, OniRaitei, and Phoenixblood for proofreading this essay and offering their own suggestions.

“An Enduring Faith”, A.K.A. “Why I dislike Mizura’s reasons for disliking Naruto/Hinata as a Hinata fan”

Up to date as of manga chapter 336

Basically, I read through Mizura’s essay and disagreed with a great deal of it. Even worse, when I read through the comments, I found myself increasingly annoyed at every person who raved about how great and amazing the essay is at proving why Naruto/Hinata shouldn’t happen, and I found myself thinking “I could do better.” when reading the comments of those who argued against the essay.

However, a comment is a terrible place to try and write a comprehensive counter. Thus the anti-anti-Naruto/Hinata essay was born.

This essay has only minimal quotes from that which it counters. To fully appreciate my counter, you’ll want to read Mizura’s essay alongside it: http://heronite.livejournal.com/3227.html

If your browser of choice is capable of tabbed browsing, open Mizura’s essay in another tab. If you don’t have tabbed browsing, well, why not? Eh, I guess a second window will suffice.

BE WARNED: All told, this essay weighs in at just over 13,000 words (12,000 if you don’t count the extras at the end). And that’s only on this side of the fence; Mizura’s essay is almost as long, giving the two a combined total of nearly 26,000 words. For those with an aversion to too much reading, I’m considering making a ‘lite’ version of this essay with a quote/paraphrase of each argument used in Mizura’s essay along with my associated counter. It might be a while before that gets made, though.

Before I get started, I’ll go ahead and answer these potential questions before they’re asked:

Question: “The essay you’re countering is against Naruto/Hinata, yet you mention Naruto/Sakura multiple times. Why are you bringing Sakura into this?”

Answer: If you read Mizura’s essay, you’ll notice that she often tries to point out flaws in a Naruto/Hinata relationship by comparing it in a negative light to Naruto/Sakura. Since this is a direct counter to Mizura’s essay, it’s only natural that I would fight on the same battlefield.

Note that any apparent "attacks" on Naruto/Sakura in my essay are made in context of how I see it measuring up against Naruto/Hinata on the same scale. They're not meant to be attacks on Naruto/Sakura, they're meant to be attacks on Mizura's reasons for disliking Naruto/Hinata.

Question: “Why didn’t you just quote all the relevant parts of Mizura’s argument for your counter-essay?”

Answer: Because both Mizura’s essay and my counter-essay are simply beastly. Trying to combine the two would create an internet consuming behemoth of literary terror... Or something. I tried to make it clear what my different arguments are referring to in each part, and I think I did a decent job.

Question: "You speculate a lot in your essay. A whole hell of a lot, actually."

Answer: That's not a question. :/ Either way, I'll be the first to admit that my speculation may be reading too much into things, but it's still worth considering.

Question: “So why did you decide to call this essay ‘An Enduring Faith’, anyway?”

Answer: My decision to use this title was made in light of two facts about my opponent, Mizura:

1)      She claims to be a former Naruto/Hinata fan, but now she (obviously) hates the pairing.

2)      Mizura’s current Narutofan.com forum avatar, which she has been using since the first time I saw her, has the words “All out of faith” written down the right side of the image.

The tie-in was just too much for me to ignore. ;)

Without further ado, allow me to present “An Enduring Faith”, an anti-anti-Naruto/Hinata essay.

I.1. Hinata has other means through which she could and probably will get resolution. She isn't a mere love interest.

I agree and disagree. While Hinata is not a mere love interest, she needs more than one resolution to ‘wrap up’ her character. Instead of "Hinata has other means through which she could get resolution", it would be more accurate to say that she has "multiple aspects of her character in need of resolution".

Hinata’s rejection from the Hyuuga clan needs to be resolved, likely by her father acknowledging her (And the Hyuuga clan as a whole, but her father is the central point of this aspect of Hinata’s character. His acceptance could count for the entire clan’s acceptance). Though Hinata becoming clan head is a possible conclusion, it is not necessary to fulfill this part of her character. So long as Hiashi acknowledges her as a changed person worthy of the Hyuuga name, preferably by mentioning/implying that she would make a worthy clan head at the same time, this part of her character will be resolved even if she doesn’t actually become the Hyuuga leader.

Her desire to change, while partially resolved back in part 1, should be completely resolved with her achieving a truly respectable victory, preferably with Naruto as a witness (Explained in the next point). This would fulfill her theme of change by demonstrating that she now has outer strength to match the inner strength she developed in part 1.

Hinata needs to know Naruto acknowledges her, so she can achieve her goal of being someone who stands at Naruto’s side, instead of merely staring at his back and feeling like she doesn’t measure up. This would remedy the issue of Hinata’s idolization of Naruto. It’s quite likely this resolution will take place at the same time as the resolution of her desire to change. NOTE: Despite what you say otherwise later in the essay, Naruto can and already has acknowledged Hinata, though she probably doesn’t know Naruto respects her as one of his peers.

“But wait! Maybe Hinata already knows Naruto acknowledges her, but still idolizes him anyway!” Like I said, probably not. If you’ll notice, during the Naruto v. Neji fight, Hinata becomes unable to watch the match right before Naruto defends Hinata’s efforts to change herself, which would have made it quite clear to Hinata that Naruto respects her. Why would Kishimoto have Hinata miss out on a scene that could play such a strong role in her character development? Perhaps since Naruto/Hinata had already received a good deal of development during the chuunin exam arc, Kishimoto decided to save it for later?

And yes, her romantic feelings for Naruto need to be resolved (I hesitate to use the word crush. Though it likely started as such, her feelings have received a significant amount of development and have persisted for 4+ years. I doubt the word crush effectively describes her affections for Naruto at this point). This resolution will likely be achieved by her confession followed by either Naruto’s acceptance, or Naruto’s rejection and Hinata’s recovery. Considering the theme of part 2 is “People accepting other people”, which do you think is more likely?

“But wait! Naruto really hasn’t known Hinata for that long, and there’s no proof Naruto could develop feelings for Hinata. Wouldn’t he avoid a relationship with Hinata because of that?” My response to this can be found in part 2, section I, point 1.

On top of this, I personally would like to see Hinata play an important role in uniting the Hyuuga clan, whether by becoming the Hyuuga head to repair the clan, or by some other means, such as developing a method to remove the caged bird seal. However, it is not required for Hinata to play a central role in this matter, though it would certainly be strange if Hinata did not. Hinata’s character concept has been focused more on personal growth/changing herself, whereas Neji’s character concept has been focused more on defying his would-be fate as a member of the branch family. As such, while Hinata ties in to this plotline, Neji is most likely to be the central figure for when it is resolved.

For those who care about my stance on resolving the Hyuuga family, I’ve included it in its own section, “The Hyuuga Clan Conclusion”, at the end of the essay.

By the way... You really shouldn’t accuse others of simplifying Hinata’s character when you’re guilty of the same thing. Throughout your essay, you keep saying you want Hinata to focus on more than just love, more than just romance, and then you try to rationalize why Hinata’s character should end up without the romance, which would mean Hinata’s character would have less. Where some people try to simplify Hinata by focusing on her affection, you’re trying to simplify her by removing it.

I.2. In fact, "love" has never been a motivator for her character growth. "Admiration" (like with everyone else) was

Hinata’s feelings of admiration and affection stem from the same source, and both influence her actions. In other words, Hinata’s thoughts and actions concerning Naruto are influenced by her feelings as a whole, not just admiration or just affection.

Plus, since Kishimoto has demonstrated that Hinata’s romantic feelings for Naruto are still present post timeskip, that is still an aspect of her character that needs resolution. At this point, simply ignoring Hinata’s affections and never bringing them up again would leave a loose end. Besides, why would Kishimoto keep Hinata’s affections after the time jump if he didn’t plan on resolving them?

Also, I don’t see how the other characters Naruto has inspired factor into this, since they never had any romantic feelings for him. Of course they wouldn’t lose relevance/leave a loose end if they didn’t pursue a relationship with him.

I.3. How others have fared in the name of admiration: in short, how her crush really doesn't seem to have added anything more.

Whether or not Hinata’s affections have been a positive influence on her actions thus far is beside the point. The fact remains that it is still an aspect of Hinata’s character, her feelings (yes, both her admiration and affection) have received attention in the manga, and her affection still exists and has yet to be resolved. Besides, the negative side effects will fade as her confidence builds up and she grows more comfortable around Naruto. This would be the natural progression considering her core theme of change, as well as her databook entry which also specifically called out her desire to change those aspects of herself.

From databook 1: “The reserved and shy Hinata. She freezes and can't do anything in front of the one she likes, Naruto. She's always thinking of how she wants to change that part of herself.”

From databook 2: “She wishes that she could move even one step closer towards the back of Naruto, her idol...”

Also databook 2: “Hinata, always feeling the same towards Naruto. Will the day come when she can face him directly?”

Remember: While Hinata’s affections have made it difficult for Hinata to interact with Naruto under normal circumstances, they have not stopped her from acting when it truly matters. After all, Hinata was able to do her best while fighting Neji even with her well aware of Naruto watching her every move, and she was able to talk to and encourage Naruto when he was dreading his upcoming fight with Neji.

As for the character comparison, Hinata is worse off for being ‘just’ a chuunin? Even though Sakura, who is foreshadowed to eventually surpass Tsunade, is currently ‘just’ a chuunin herself? So if Sakura, who has the potential to become legendary, is currently on the same level as Hinata, is that a boon to Hinata’s character, or a blow to Sakura’s?

I.4. But having a crush on Naruto is a fundamental part of her character!

Hinata’s feelings and Ino’s crush aren’t even near the same level. Hinata’s feelings actually received focus and explanation for why she feels the way she does about Naruto, whereas Ino’s explanation was... uh... Sasuke is hot?

Though Ino’s crush was mentioned multiple times, Ino’s crush was never explored/elaborated on like Hinata’s feelings were during Naruto v. Kiba, Hinata v. Neji, and on the training field before Naruto v. Neji. Trying to lump Hinata’s affections together with Ino’s (Or Lee’s, for that matter) is laughable.

If Hinata’s feelings were only meant to be an instigator for change and if having stood up for herself in the chuunin exam had brought her resolution, they most likely would have been dropped like Ino’s and Lee’s were during the time jump. Instead, we get reminded that Hinata's romantic feelings are still present.

As such, suddenly dropping Hinata’s feelings at this point would be bad writing, since they received so much attention, whereas Ino and Lee never got any development beyond “I have a crush on person x.”

Also, Hinata was not ‘just fangirling’ like Sakura or Ino (Though Sakura’s feelings developed into something deeper during part 1, that’s a different subject entirely). While it’s true all of them had crushes, Sakura and Ino simply tried to make themselves look pretty to attract Sasuke’s attention. Even with Sasuke verbally beating Sakura over the head with the reason he didn’t respect her, it took Sasuke betraying Konoha and Naruto returning near dead for her to truly dedicate herself to improving.

Not Hinata. She was amazed and motivated by Naruto’s inner strength, and used his example to work and earnestly try to change herself. She admired and developed a crush on Naruto for good reasons and used his inspiration toward constructive ends to improve herself. Then during the Hinata v. Neji fight, she wanted Naruto to see and respect her for her abilities and willpower, instead of just trying to make herself pretty and hoping Naruto starts drooling over her.

Hinata’s affections do not have a comedic basis. Though some attempts at comedy stem from it (Hinata’s over-the-top blushing and fainting), Hinata’s feelings were explored in a completely serious manner multiple times during the chuunin exams. Saying Hinata's feelings have a comedic basis because of these moments would be the same as me saying Naruto/Sakura has a comedic basis because of Sakura's over-the-top punching of Naruto.

Lastly, it’s unfair to say that Hinata’s feelings are ‘static’ when she hasn’t had a significant appearance in the manga in such a long time. But likewise, I’ll cover this in part 2 of my counter.

I wouldn’t describe Hinata’s romance aspect as comedic or tragic; however, it is serious. Like I said earlier, there have been serious scenes for her feelings, because you can’t simply assign a single feeling to all of Hinata’s actions. All her thoughts and actions that involve Naruto are influenced by her feelings for him as a whole, not simply admiration or simply affection.

Hinata’s feelings for Naruto are deep and the potential for a relationship between them has been developed quite a bit considering the relatively small amount of interaction they’ve had. I trust you are familiar with this recent manifesto?: http://community.livejournal.com/ship_manifesto/157549.html

As for Naruto ending up with someone else... While I don’t doubt that in ‘the real world’ Hinata would get over it and move on, this conclusion would make for one hell of a cop-out resolution to her feelings in ‘the manga world’. “I never got the courage to tell Naruto how I feel, and now it’s too late... Oh well, that sucks, life goes on.” Uh, no. That’s not going to cut it.

Hinata will grow out of her idolization of Naruto when she knows he acknowledges her.

II. How as a Hinata fan, I'd Also rather if her character focused on more than just love

And I, as a Hinata fan, would rather focus on her entire character, instead of ignoring or trying to remove any part of her I didn’t like.

II.1. Forging her own path, like all the others who have been inspired by Naruto have been

And as I said, I view her admiration and her affection for Naruto to be two different aspects of her feelings as a whole, and it is her feelings that influence her interactions with Naruto. Whether or not Hinata’s affections have been a positive influence thus far and the general lack of romantic feelings among the other people Naruto has inspired are irrelevant to the matter at hand, and once again, her romantic feelings for Naruto haven’t prevented her from doing her best when it truly matters.

As for each person setting off for a path independent of Naruto...

Are you kidding? All of the people you mentioned have grown closer to Naruto’s path through his inspiration. It only takes a glance at each character’s history to realize that.

Neji had more or less resigned himself to his ‘fate’ as a branch house member, believing it was impossible for people to change the lot life gives them. Naruto pummeled him off that path and now Neji is on one of Naruto’s own paths: the path of never giving up, of constantly struggling against your obstacles to overcome them.

Sakura rarely concerned herself with anything beyond Sasuke, and constantly moped about how useless to the team she was without ever really doing anything to improve her situation. But now she, like Naruto, is constantly pushing herself to grow, and is determined to take an active role in saving Sasuke.

Gaara had built his existence around killing others, and rejected the concepts of friends, family, and love. Naruto’s influence brought Gaara onto two paths extremely similar to Naruto’s central paths: The path to Kazekage, and the path of a man willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. Gaara even said himself that he’s trying to become like Naruto.

Tsunade had spent who knows how many years drinking, gambling, and drifting around without any purpose in life, mourning the loss of those close to her. Naruto’s inspiration took her off her aimless path of cynicism and depression and set her on the path to Hokage, which is one of the exact same paths Naruto himself is on.

Konohamaru was a brat who wanted the respect of a Hokage without actually earning it. Naruto taught him that it was impossible for that to happen, and now Konohamaru actually is on the path to Hokage as well, instead of that simply being a dream he didn’t have the maturity to reach.

And Hinata was a weakling with no faith in her self worth. Naruto’s inspiration took her off of this dead end path and now she, like Naruto, is working tirelessly to prove that she’s not a failure, and can be someone worthy of respect.

I think I may understand what you’re really trying to say when you claim Hinata should be on a path ‘independent of Naruto’. If you’re trying to say Hinata should be capable of growing stronger and fighting on her own power without requiring Naruto’s inspiration and encouragement to keep her going, I agree. However, this is likely already the case; after all, Hinata became a chuunin during Naruto’s two and a half year absence.

Even so, remember that a big message in the Naruto series is that it is because of and for other people that one becomes strong.  People grow and become truly strong because they realize their interdependence. Wanting her to shine on her own is good, but viewing someone as an inspiration is hardly a step down in this series.

As for the Hyuuga clan, I agree that Hinata should play a significant role in repairing the Hyuuga clan (Though as I said before, it isn’t required for her resolution, strange as it would be for her to not have a large role in it). But that doesn’t mean Naruto can’t help as well, especially considering he did promise to change the Hyuuga clan personally, just like Hinata is still capable of helping Naruto with ‘his current pains’, as you like to call them. I’ll discuss that more thoroughly when you bring it up in part 2, though.

Remember that it is Neji’s character who is primarily focused on the Hyuuga division/his ‘fate’ as a branch member, whereas Hinata’s character is primarily focused on changing herself/personal growth. If Naruto fixed the Hyuuga problems himself while the Hyuugas sat on their thumbs, it would be a blow to Neji, not Hinata.

Also, Hinata very likely does need to achieve the resolution to her personal growth through Naruto, because he’s the one she has measured herself by all this time. She doesn’t need to meet or beat Naruto’s ability to achieve this; she simply needs to prove herself as a ninja worthy of respect. By saying Naruto won’t acknowledge Hinata, you’re saying he won’t acknowledge people like Lee, Shikamaru, Shino, or any of the other ‘mere’ chuunins in the series. Hell, despite Sakura’s potential, she’s currently a ‘mere’ chuunin, and Naruto acknowledges her.

REMEMBER: Naruto already has acknowledged Hinata once before. Back during the Hinata v. Neji fight, Naruto did acknowledge Hinata’s strength (“I never knew Hinata was this incredible...”), even though the Hinata who lost to Neji likely would have lost to Naruto as well. As far as we know, Hinata simply isn’t aware that Naruto already holds her in such high regard.

Saying Naruto would never acknowledge someone who can’t meet or beat his power is saying Naruto is an elitist bastard, which he isn’t.

Also, even if Hinata does compete with Naruto on “his own turf”, keep in mind that Hinata’s byakugan and vastly different fighting style makes her capable of feats Naruto is unable to duplicate, and the reverse applies when considering Naruto’s impressive strength and stamina. Why wouldn’t they respect and admire each other for their unique capabilities in combat?

And even if Naruto is overall better than Hinata at straight up combat, what makes you think Hinata wouldn’t outshine Naruto in medics and intelligence? After all, Ino knows medical jutsu despite (probably) never being tutored by Tsunade, and the chakra control required to effectively use the Hyuuga techniques means Hinata would make a respectable medic. And we all know how much better Hinata did on the academic part of the chuunin exams. Granted, it’s possible she could have used byakugan to cheat, but she was never shown doing so. Besides, it’s already established that Naruto was at the bottom of the class academically, and Hinata wasn’t.

II.2. More panels in the manga? Quality over quantity. Actually, quality over Lack of quantity anyway.

Considering this is a shounen manga, Kishimoto probably isn’t going to give romance tons of screen time.

As for Hinata’s brief post-timeskip appearance, it just wasn’t her time to shine. It’s likely Kishimoto pulled the ‘fainting’ card as an excuse not to elaborate on Hinata’s feelings, because it would have been awkward to switch the plot’s gears from "Naruto has to find help for saving Sasuke" to "Naruto and Hinata have a heart to heart... Right in front of Shino and Kiba o_O" Kishimoto’s main goal for that chapter was likely to show off all the new character designs before jumping into the next arc, ‘Rescue Sasuke, take 2’. Hinata’s feelings will most likely have to wait for the (hopefully) soon team 8 arc.

Of course, that’s not to say I wouldn’t love for Hinata to have more screen time. However, her relationship with Naruto has progressed well for the time she’s had, and I, for one, don’t feel their relationship is unnatural or rushed thus far. I’ve already linked this once, but I’ll do it again anyway: http://community.livejournal.com/ship_manifesto/157549.html

II.3. Unless something happens, she'd do nothing but agree with him. And well...

Unless something happens, Hinata would never disagree with Naruto... Something like changing her nature, which is the core theme of Hinata’s character?

Like it says in databook 1: “The reserved and shy Hinata. She freezes and can't do anything in front of the one she likes, Naruto. She's always thinking of how she wants to change that part of herself.”

Hinata not changing is the least likely problem to come up in a Naruto/Hinata relationship.

Besides, Hinata already has disagreed with Naruto. When Naruto said that he was weak, she quickly denied that, and told him why he was wrong.

Claiming that she’ll remain silent and submissive while Naruto goes around being an idiot is to deny her core character theme of change, especially considering Hinata has been the one to initiate conversation with Naruto before (During the chuunin exam written test).

Hinata will grow out of her idolization of Naruto when he makes it known to her that he respects her. This will finally place her at Naruto’s side in her mind, making her feel as one of his peers instead of an inferior.

Hinata has already proven she can focus on other matters (Without blushing, stuttering, or fainting!), even when Naruto is watching her like a hawk. Ironically enough, the ‘other matter’ in this scenario just so happens to involve her clan. Hinata has already proven that she has what it takes to say her piece when it matters, and she intends to get even better from there.

As for the ties to Naruto, I find it depressing that you seem to think Hinata needs to have suffered as much and/or in the same way as Naruto to be a viable partner for him. Nevertheless, I’ll bite:

- the pain of loneliness

Just because you’re surrounded by others doesn’t mean you’re not lonely. After all, Naruto was surrounded by the cold, contemptuous (towards him) people of Konoha, and he was lonely. Hinata was surrounded by the cold, contemptuous (towards her) members of the Hyuuga clan. Wouldn’t she be lonely as well? Granted, her loneliness likely didn't measure up to Naruto's; the cold eyes directed at a failure ninja in a harsh, prestigious clan probably aren't as painful as the cold eyes directed at someone regarded as a monster in human form.

“But wait! If that’s true, why didn’t Hinata relate to Naruto on the pain of loneliness?” For three reasons:

1)      Kishimoto was already using the “training field” scene to relate Hinata and Naruto’s mutual desire for acknowledgment.

2)      Doing so would mean Kishimoto would have to explain how Hinata knew Naruto was lonely, which she probably doesn’t (See part 2, section I, point 2 of my counter).

3)      Having Naruto and Hinata relate on loneliness right before Naruto was supposed to relate to Gaara (Probably the person who has suffered the most from loneliness) would have weakened the emotional impact of the Naruto/Gaara scene and likely trivialized the Naruto/Hinata scene (At least as far as relating on loneliness goes). As I said before, though I do believe Hinata has suffered from loneliness, it was not to the degree Naruto did, and certainly not to the degree Gaara did.

Though I have no concrete proof otherwise, I wouldn’t make this conclusion so quickly. Though it’s possible this may simply be another case of ‘missingus parentitis’, it is likely that Hinata’s mother is dead (Perhaps during childbirth with Hanabi or shortly after). Why is Hinata’s mother not present or mentioned during Hiashi’s abandonment of Hinata? I have a very hard time believing Hinata’s mother would have no important opinion or say regarding that matter. And again, why isn’t Hinata’s mother there when Hiashi and Hanabi were watching Naruto v. Neji? Wouldn’t she want to come with her husband and younger daughter to see the tournament? In light of these observations, it’s possible that Hinata does understand the pain of losing a loved one, through the loss of her mother.

Even if that’s not the case, there is another bond Hinata likely lost: A father-daughter bond. Do you think Hinata wasn't upset when her father called her a failure and abandoned her?

Perhaps you might argue that because of the problems in Hinata’s relationship with Hiashi, they never truly formed a bond to begin with. If that’s the case, Hinata should be able to relate to Naruto even better, considering he never had parents at all.

Hinata had the will to risk death fighting for change when facing Neji, yet you think she doesn’t have the will to risk death for those precious to her? A trait that is prevalent in the Naruto manga? Hell, I’m hard pressed to name a good guy/girl who doesn’t have this quality. Even Shikamaru and Chouji have put their lives on the line for the sake of others. I’m honestly shocked you wrote this, especially considering your comment near the end of your essay: “Hinata’s still my favourite character.” If that’s the case, then why do you have such a disturbingly low opinion of her?

This argument weakens even further if we take your own preference (Naruto/Sakura) into account. Sakura only ties into the bottom two of the five mentioned aspects, whereas Hinata ties into 3 and possibly 4. And yet you try to use these points against Naruto/Hinata, even when your preferred pairing is worse off when it goes up against the same argument?

As for your little picture, what happened to “Hinata isn’t a mere love interest”? We’re not discussing “simplified fandom Hinata” at this point; you’re supposed to be talking about the actual storyline Hinata, but you’re painting her as nothing but a love interest yourself. I thought you had been trying to argue that she was more than that, that she does have her own defining characteristics outside of Naruto?

Just as you initially claimed to be saying, Hinata does have her own problems to deal with, independent of Naruto: Everything involving the Hyuuga clan. While Naruto promised to help with this, he’s not really in a position to do much aside from influencing members of the Hyuuga clan (Which he has already done so, through Hinata, Neji, and possibly Hiashi), unless he becomes Hokage and thus gains the political leverage necessary to fight on that kind of battlefield. Even then, he probably wouldn’t be able to change the Hyuuga clan all by himself; he would need to work cooperatively with members of the clan that agree with him.

“But wait! If Naruto helps with the Hyuuga clan, wouldn’t that count as tying into that aspect?” Maybe. But by the same logic, Hinata is capable of tying into Naruto’s struggles with Sasuke and being a jinchuuriki, even if she isn’t directly connected to those issues.

That said, if you compare Sakura to the same scale, she once again comes out worse than Hinata does. What does Sakura have to her character outside of Naruto? If you count her relationships with other people (her other team members, Ino, and Tsunade), then you have to count Hinata’s other relationships (her other team members, Neji, and Hiashi) as well. If you count Sakura’s training regimen, then you have to count Hinata’s training as well. The other aspect of her character (her desire to rescue Sasuke) ties directly into Naruto’s character. As I see it, this leaves Sakura with nothing else to add to her character that counts as ‘not a part of Naruto’, whereas Hinata still has her family matters going for her (Even if Hinata isn’t required to solve them, she still ties into the matter as a Hyuuga). So it seems Sakura has less to her character outside Naruto than Hinata has.

Once again I’ll ask: Why are you using these arguments against Hinata when Sakura has just as much trouble (if not more) fighting them?

II.4. In the meantime, do I hate her now for fainting?

You said it yourself: Hinata is capable of overcoming the negative side effects of her feelings (The excessive blushing, fainting, and shyness) through being in a relationship with Naruto.

And once again, Ino’s feelings were never developed as much as Hinata’s.

II.5. In the end, also a problem for me of acknowledgement.

Wrong. Hinata desires acknowledgment from Naruto, Hiashi, and her family as a whole (However, Hiashi is in a way the embodiment of ‘the clan’, so his acceptance could count for the entire clan’s acceptance). Naruto is the one trying to prove himself to all of Konoha, not Hinata. If Hinata receives acknowledgment from the ones she cares about, then who cares what the rest of Konoha thinks? Besides, it’s likely Hinata will receive these resolutions to her character before Naruto becomes Hokage.

I’ve already covered how Hinata could be acknowledged by Naruto, and she could achieve acknowledgment from Hiashi in much the same way. Since this is what Hinata wanted in the first place, why should she care if Naruto is more impressive than her if that hasn’t stopped her from getting what she wants? Besides, even if being overshadowed was one of Hinata’s concerns, she could easily distinguish herself by being the one to develop a counter to the caged bird seal. For that, even if she does become ‘the hokage’s wife’ to the majority of Konoha, the Hyuuga clan will always remember her as the one who destroyed the symbol of the clan’s division, making unification possible.

As long as Hinata receives the acknowledgment she wants on her own merit, it doesn’t matter if she becomes ‘the hokage’s wife’. The men in black aren’t going to come to Konoha and mind wipe everyone if Naruto and Hinata get married. Hiashi isn’t going to say “Well, I remember respecting you as a worthy member of the Hyuuga clan before you married, but now it’s obvious you’re just the hokage’s wife.”

I agree that Hinata should not leave the clan ‘for love’. If the clan and her feelings for Naruto come into conflict, then she does need an active role in changing the clan. I doubt Naruto would be very impressed if Hinata ran from her problems instead of facing them.

And by the way, you’re forgetting a very important detail: if not for the light of the sun, you could never see the moon at all. ;)

III. Words on personal misinterpretations of mine, back when I supported NaruHina in part I

Though Naruto has not displayed romantic feelings for Hinata thus far, the foundation for a relationship was established during the chuunin exams, when Hinata changed from a ‘shy dark weirdo’ to a ‘kind of person I really like’ in Naruto’s mind. It’s especially important to note that Naruto likes Hinata for the exact same reason he likes Sakura: Desire for acknowledgment. This counts as development on Naruto’s side of the equation.

Once again: http://community.livejournal.com/ship_manifesto/157549.html

Thus far, romance doesn’t seem to be a high priority in this series. Hinata’s romantic feelings aren’t guaranteed to buy her oodles of screen time.

III.2. My second mistake: thinking that Naruto was deep down the "quiet" type

Uh, Naruto had just returned to his home, Konoha, after being constantly on the move and separated from all his friends for 2.5 years. Naruto wasn’t ‘natural’, he was ecstatic. It was arguably one of the times he was most excited in all of the manga. Notice Jiraiya’s comment? “He’s certainly cheerful today, isn’t he...”

Anyway, as for whether or not Naruto is the quiet type...

Perhaps he still is. It’s quite possible that Naruto’s loud nature is a side effect of his desire for people to stop ignoring him, which would mean his volume level will probably turn down as he matures and earns the respect of Konoha. He’s got a respectable amount of devoted friends, but he still has a way to go before being acknowledged by the people of Konoha as a whole.

Even if that’s not the case, everyone wears different faces depending on the circumstance. While he may wear his ‘loud and confident’ face while out in public, confronting enemies, or making small talk with his friends, who’s to say that his quiet side, which he showed to Hinata out on the training field, isn’t the norm during more personal, private moments?

Also, You speak as though Hinata will remain a static character if she stays near Naruto. Considering that Naruto’s influence is the original and primary driving force behind Hinata’s transformation thus far, this assumption falls flat on its face. To say that Hinata will stay meek and silent while Naruto does whatever goes against her core theme of change.

I don’t think Hinata will become as bright and chirpy as Naruto usually is, but she’ll have enough of a voice to make her opinion known when necessary; after all, she has been the one to initiate conversation with Naruto on more than one occasion. I see an adult Hinata as having a calm, serene sort of confidence, perhaps like Shino, except not so aloof or austere.

I’ve already explained how Hinata can grow out of her idolization, and how she, like all the other people Naruto has inspired, has already left her negative path and chosen one closer to Naruto’s.

Continued in part 2: http://veil-of-dreams.livejournal.com/1018.html