Here’s 8 Times Naruto Proved He Loved Hinata

Love is really important in the Naruto series. Brotherly love, treasured friendships, and respect are staples of the whole Naruto storyline, also presented in the Boruto series. However, when it comes to romantic love, Naruto, or maybe a lot of shōnen of the last decade, don’t necessarily display main characters seeking romantic partners since they are usually busy achieving their ultimate goal – their dreams. In the Naruto series, the titular character is shown having a happy ending with Hinata Hyuuga, a supporting character who has always displayed feelings for Gutsy Ninja. 

Now, the creator of the Naruto series, Masashi Kishimoto, created a great world and storylines of the characters but failed to write the romantic feelings of his characters properly. It seems harsh, but Naruto fans universally agree with this notion. This is why the likes of supporting characters like Hinata ending up with the main character like Naruto confused some people – Naruto never outrightly showed signs of loving Hinata, at least in the Naruto series. We are here to list a few instances when Naruto showed his love towards Hinata in the Naruto series. 

We will also include ‘The Last: Naruto the Movie’ and ‘Boruto: Naruto Next Generations’ since it is closely connected to the canon of the main Naruto series. If you are interested in this topic, stay with us until the end of the article.

The short explanation of Naruto’s and Hinata’s relationship in the Naruto series

We know that Hinata has admired Naruto since their childhood – she would always watch him from a distance and admire his passion and drive to become the Hokage and protector of Konohagakure. Being an heiress of the Hyuuga clan was too much for young Hinata, but seeing Naruto struggling without any family and village resenting him for something he couldn’t control motivated Hinata and her way of Ninja.

She fell for him and showed throughout the series that she always harbored feelings for the boy. On the other side, Naruto always had feelings for Sakura, who never returned his feelings (because of Sasuke). Why is this important? Well, the series’ romantic dynamics were never made clear. That was Masashi Kishimoto’s “fault” because he didn’t write romantic relationships properly – the same goes for female characters in general.

Sakura seemed like an endgame partner for Naruto since they were together nonstop, while Hinata was “shoved” to the side. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Hinata and Naruto shouldn’t have been “an endgame” pairing of the series – on the contrary, some fans brought up some really good points regarding Naruto’s feelings towards Hinata, which were truly represented in ‘The Last: Naruto the Movie.’ The subtle signs of Naruto’s love for Hinata that made sense after the series, in movies and short manga, will be displayed in the rest of the article.

1. Naruto turns into Six-Tails after seeing Hinata sacrificing her life for him against Pain

One of the series’ most epic fights and conflicts is Naruto against Pain of Six Paths, also known as Nagato, an original member of the Akatsuki organization. Nagato, using Six Paths of Pain, attacked Konohagakure and destroyed it to the ground. When Pain attacked Konohagakure, Naruto was away from the village, training his Sage Mode. The fight started when Naruto arrived at the village, but Pain quickly overwhelmed him and pierced him with black receivers that prevented him from moving.

Just before Pain could kill Naruto, Hinata came to defend him and stepped in front of the scariest shinobi of all time – just because she loved Naruto. When she confessed her love, Pain struck her, and the Hyuuga heiress died, which triggered Naruto’s Six-Tailed Beast Mode, which almost let Kurama take over his body. 

This situation was surprising since no other dangerous or overly emotional situation triggered him that much, and it showed that Hinata touched Naruto’s heart.

2. Naruto saves Hinata from disguised White Zetsu

The Fourth Shinobi Great War story arc was tense and quite long in the ‘Naruto’ series and ‘Naruto Shippuden’ anime, but it confirmed that Naruto cares about Hinata somehow. Naruto was a dense boy who only thought about ramen, his friends, saving Sasuke, and becoming a Hokage. However, after leaving for the war with Killer B, Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode senses that some shinobi are compromised by White Zetsu and saves Hinata after one attacks her.

This event was the first real encounter between Naruto and Hinata after the Pain assault on Konoha, and after helping her, Naruto tells Hinata that she can take care of herself and that he helped her for all the times she helped him. 

3. Naruto lends Hinata his Tailed Beast Chakra after she offers him some encouraging words in the aftermath of Neji’s death

Ten-Tailed Beast is in “full swing mode,” and it already struck us with one of the saddest deaths of the series – Neji Hyuuga sacrifices himself to save Naruto and Hinata. Both of them are devastated, but even in her grief, Hinata tells Naruto that the whole world has his back and talks him out of giving up. 

Naruto listens to her encouraging and motivational words, takes her hand, and shares his Kyuubi Mode Chakra with her, showing her and the rest of the Ninja World he’s not alone in this epic battle. 

4. Naruto saves Hinata from Toneri Ōtsutsuki

We are moving from the Naruto series to ‘The Last: Naruto the Movie’, where the story of Naruto’s and Hinata’s relationship moves on. After the War, Naruto is a respected and loved part of Konohagakure, and being a twenty-year-old attractive young adult, he attracts many girls his way. During the Rinne Festival, where young girls bring boys presents to confess their feelings for them, with Sakura’s encouragement, Hinata decides to knit Naruto a red scarf and confess her long-lasting love for the Gutsy Ninja. It’s the same as the one Naruto wore when he met Hinata for the first time when they were young. 

Of course, Naruto is receiving presents from admiring girls left and right, and when Hinata sees that, she gives up and walks away. However, Toneri Ōtsutsuki attempts to kidnap her, but Naruto saves her. This situation was the start of Naruto slowly realizing his affection towards Hinata.

5. Naruto realizes his feelings for Hinata after falling under the genjutsu that prompted his memories with the Hyuuga heiress

After Naruto saves Hinata, but her sister Hanabi is kidnapped by Toneri, Konohagakure dispatches a rescue team to save younger Hyuuga. The team includes Naruto and Hinata, and the former slowly realizes his feelings for the latter. In one instance, the rescue team falls under genjutsu, where Naruto is hit with memories of Hinata and realizes he has feelings for her.

Meanwhile, Hinata speaks with Toneri’s clone, and Naruto vows he will keep her safe and look after her, which is the first true instance of Naruto actually expressing romantic interest towards the Hyuuga. In this instance, Naruto realizes that, despite his tries to “win over” Sakura, he always harbored feelings for Hinata but didn’t realize them because of his duties as a world savior.

6. Naruto confesses his romantic feelings to Hinata, and they share a heartfelt kiss after defeating Toneri

Of course, fighting with Ōtsutsuki is always hard, and Naruto and Hinata literally move the moon to defeat the cosmic threat. After combining their powers and love for each other and beating Toneri (saving the Ninja World), Naruto and Hinata share a heartfelt kiss after Naruto tells her he loves her.

The kiss and scenery were beautiful, and it showed Naruto genuinely expressing his feelings toward other people, besides Team 7 and Iruka-sensei, for the first time in the Naruto series. Of course, the difference is in romantic love, but the intention stays the same. Naruto loves Hinata.

7. Naruto and Hinata get married and have a family together

Before the conclusion of the Naruto series, we got a glimpse of the future and destinies of our heroes. Ninja World finally lives peacefully, and Konoha 11 are considered legends. Of course, part of their happiness is new romances, and we see Sakura and Sasuke, Shikamaru and Temari, and Sai and Ino being together, but most importantly, the savior himself finally got the girl. Naruto and Hinata get married and are together, and the ending of the ‘Naruto’ series shows a wedding between two people who now love each other immensely.

Naruto is shown as a man in love with Hinata, and his usual boyish charm is constant around her. They build a beautiful family and get two children together, Boruto and Himawari. As shown in the ‘Boruto’ series, the Uzumaki family is happy, and the relationship between Naruto and Hinata is full of love and respect toward each other.

8. Regardless of the situation, Naruto always loves and respects Hinata and their children

Every family has their problems, and Uzumakis are no different. In the ‘Boruto’ series, Naruto fulfilled his dreams and became the Seventh Hokage, but as with most things, this came with a sacrifice. Naruto is struggling to juggle Hokage obligations and time with his family, which is frowned upon by his son Boruto.

In Boruto, Hinata is seen as an understanding partner to Naruto and tries to support him in leading Konohagakure, and the Seventh Hokage always returns his affections towards his wife. He always respects her, loves her, and understands her, which makes their marriage strong despite Naruto’s absence. Naruto loves Hinata very much in the ‘Boruto’ series, and that is always shown when they are together.

Despite discussions on Naruto forums of Naruto’s and Hinata’s love being rushed and confusing, there is still proof of them being romantically attracted to each other, especially in the post-Naruto series. Post-Naruto series content, like movies and ‘Boruto’ series, is all canon and has close connections to the main series. Masashi Kishimoto never knew how to write a proper love story, so it’s not surprising some fans were skeptical about this pairing. In the end, Naruto and Hinata are together, and the affections are definitely not one-sided – Naruto shows many times how much he loves Hinata.

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