While this may be redundant since other members of the forums have answered this question in their own arguments, I would like to address and analyze what Naruto's romantic desires are and illuminate how they tie into how both Hinata's love mirrors that of his own parents.
Due to being the host of a demon fox, which had on at least two separate occasions caused widespread devastation to the Hidden Leaf, Naruto was marked as a pariah whose existence was held in contempt. Orphaned, unacknowledged, and unloved Naruto found himself facing an existential crisis in which his only escape was to somehow gain the recognition of the villagers. Naruto's solution to this dilemma was to become Hokage, one of the most respectable and renowned positions within the shinobi world.
While Naruto's desire to be acknowledge is one of his primary character traits, it is not exclusive to just his character. The desire to be acknowledged is a prevalent theme found throughout the story since this trait is also found in the portrayal of characters such as Gaara, Sakura, and Hinata. Due to Naruto's understanding of the pain of being unacknowledged and alone, he is sympathetic towards others who have faced the same plight He demonstrates this type of sympathy towards Gaara in
138a/
138b. This sympathy towards others seeking acknowledgement also causes Naruto recognizes why he liked Sakura in
chapter 3. Unfortunately for Naruto his friendship with Sakura would never blossom into romance since Sakura only wishes to be acknowledged by his teammate Sasuke, which despite Naruto's best efforts it is something beyond his capabilities.
Following this trend of wanting to be acknowledged, Hinata was introduced as a shy and meek character who was burdened by her failure to meet her clans expectations as it's heiress. Like Naruto, Hinata was put into a situation in which she questioned the worth and meaning of her life due to being a failure. What saved Hinata from this despair and
inspired her to change was observing the tenacity and courage of another failure known as Naruto Uzumaki.
Ignoring her own welfare, Hinata was portrayed to be
more concerned with demonstrating the depth and scope of her change
to Naruto than actually winning her hopeless fight against her cousin Neji. It is during this fight that Naruto realizes how incredible Hinata actually is and Lee and Sakura point out
how similar the two of them are to one another. Immediately preceding this event Naruto meets Hinata before his match with Neji and inquires her about the strength of her cousin. Hinata's initial response only reaffirms Naruto's self doubt and he proceeds to use his typically
chest pounding rhetoric in front of person who had previously demonstrated profound courage and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. Following this exchange, Hinata reveals to Naruto that
he was source of her strength during her match against her cousin. While initially flattered at the remark, Naruto decides to be sincere towards Hinata by asking her if she would still believe her own words in light of the fact that his tough guy persona is merely a defense mechanism to mask his frustration at his own failures. To his surprise he learns that Hinata believes that
he too is an incredible person due to the strength he demonstrated by not letting himself fall into despair because of his failures. In gratitude for her words of encouragement and in admiration of her own strength, Naruto states that
Hinata is someone whom he really likes.
Naruto's and Hinata's initial talk before the Chunin finals is one of the earliest instances in which a third party intervened to dispel Naruto's doubt, restore his resolve, and set him upon the path that continue his character growth into a person who would not only gain the acknowledgment of his peers, but become a messianic figure whom they would like
to walk beside. But before Naruto took the mantle of becoming a messianic figure, his primary concern was obtaining the acknowledgment of his peers since his
personal hell was the loneliness he experienced throughout his childhood. But by forming bonds to save himself form this hell Naruto exposed himself to a new form of suffering, which is the pain of having those bonds severed. Upon learning of Hinata
love for him and then seeing her supposedly killed, Naruto entered into a state of uncontrolled rage due to pain he felt for failing to save her.
In chapter
431 Naruto's acute sensing capabilities made him aware to the fact that his mentor Kakashi was amongst the village's casualties when he arrived to the battlefield and in chapter
435 he personally witnessed the death his mentor Pa toad. Even though both of these characters had fairly close relationships with Naruto, he still didn't consciously or unconsciously give into his hate and use Kurama's power. In light of the evidence mentioned above, promoting the idea that Hinata's near death was the metaphorical feather that sent him over the edge is a weak argument since Naruto admits in chapter
490 that seeing Hinata attacked by Pain filled him with so much rage that he let Kruama's malice take over without even thinking about it.
Being confronted with the same hatred that perpetuates the endless cycle of retaliation and retribution, Naruto found himself incapable of answering Pain's question, and would have given into his despair and accepted Kurama's offer if not for his father's last minute intervention. Like his conversation with Hinata before the Chunin exams, Naruto expresses doubt over his own strength but is reassured by his father that he would find an answer.
The next instance in which Naruto's resolve was broken was in his confrontation with Kurama. Prior to this event Naruto expressed doubt over whether the village truly viewed him as comrade and not as a monster. During his fight with Kurama, the Bijuu exploited Naruto's doubt that nearly caused him to be consumed by the hatred that wished for his existence to be extinguished. Naruto is pulled back from the abyss of his own doubt by his mother who assured him that he had a place and purpose within the world.
In chapter 504 Naruto recognizes depth of his parent's love and how it illuminates his world by calling them his "two suns". Up to chapter 615, Naruto's motivation and confidence stemmed from his parents' love and faith in that he would succeed in finding a solution towards ending the curse of the shinobi world, the endless cycle of hate. It is not surprising that when Obito attacks Naruto's resolve for saving the world he makes sure to remind him that his "two suns", the source of his motivation, were dead along with his godfather and that his own worst fear of loneliness would be realized in the cursed world they live in. The intention of Obito's previous assault against the alliance was to show Naruto that despite his parent's faith in his words and strength, he is incapable of protecting his comrades from the carnage to come. Obito symbolically reaches down and offers to release Naruto from this future hell by ending his existence while another hand reaches up. In the proceeding panel he is snapped out of dwelling on Obito's words by the hand of a girl whose very name mean "sun". Hinata places her hand on Naruto's face as a gesture to show that he isn't alone and that she is right by his side ready lay down her life for the one whose words and strength saved her from the self-doubt that would have otherwise shackled her to the fate of being a failure. She reminds Naruto that his words and tenacity inspired people, like her late cousin, to change for the better and fight in earnest to protect one another as comrades.
Back in chapter 504 Naruto mentions that his "two suns" filled him with love before sealing Kurama into him and that it was this love that motivated and encouraged to take up the mantle of being the savior of the shinobi world. In chapter 544 Killer B provides further context to this by illuminating how his true strength isn't the Bijuu inside of them, but the sun within.
"Becoming a jinchūriki, you can lose a lot, and your heart goes hollow, but if you got things you don't want to lose, they become a light to follow! The tailed beasts aren't our only source of strength! What was inside our hearts before the monster... shines like a sun, powers us to any length! That's where our true power comes from!"
In the previous page Killer B mentions that despite the heartache he experienced from the losses he incurred when he became a jinchūriki, he learned to see what he still had, which was physical presence of his brother's love. While Naruto parents loved him dearly, their death has prevents them from saving Naruto from the hell known as loneliness. But as Naruto
comes to realize in chapter 615, his life wasn't just connected to his deceased parents, but also to the life of a girl who would have experienced a similar fate if not for her cousin's intervention. The love of this girl whose very name translates to "sun" is the very same love as his "two suns". It is the same love that saved him from his doubt in the Chunin finals, in his fight against pain, in conquering Kurama, and his confrontation with Obito. Naruto has always longed for someone to not only acknowledge him, but also give him the love that has saved him from his doubt and fear of inexistence. Naruto recognizes and acknowledges Hinata's love for him and
takes her hand into his own. What is truly touching about this moment is that despite the overwhelming monstrosity before them, they both draw strength and courage from the other.
This is seen in Hinata's comment about how Naruto conveyed a sense of safety towards her while Naruto grips her hand as his resolve is rekindled.
While neither Naruto nor Hinata can see their own worth, they can see it in the other and because of this each serves as the others guiding light through life.
/>
