When Does Naruto Fall in Love with Hinata?
Naruto and Hinata’s relationship was definitely a slow burn, some fans didn’t even think that the two of them might end up together. Naruto was focused on Sakura for most of the series, and Hinata was too shy to approach Naruto for a long time. There were many pairings by the end of Naruto Shippuden that you might find surprising but in this article, we are going to explore the relationship between Naruto and Hinata. Let’s take a look at when exactly does Naruto fell in love with Hinata.
There is no exact moment in the Naruto series when Naruto confesses his love to Hinata. It was in The Last: Naruto the Movie when we saw their relationship come to fruition. They started dating each other by the end of the movie, during which they also shared a kiss.
If you found this interesting so far, you should stick with us and keep reading, because we are going to take a deeper look into Naruto and Hinata’s relationship.
When does Naruto fall in love with Hinata?
Even as a young girl, Hinata recognized Naruto as someone who would never give up, no matter what. It’s what initially drew her to him, she felt like she was weak, and as the next-in-line leader of the Hyuga clan, there was a lot of pressure for her to perform well. She would always watch Naruto from the background, and even though her teammates Kiba and Shino tried to encourage her to talk to him, she couldn’t do it.
Her shyness kept her away from Naruto for a long time. They would have some interactions here and there, and there were times that Naruto stepped in to help save her but probably the most impactful moment for Hinata was the fight against Pain.
When she saw Naruto being pressed down by Pain, seeing how he is a lot stronger than anyone expected, she decided she would step in. While the fight is happening we are seeing different flashbacks over time. Hinata always admired Naruto, and he inspired her to become a stronger shinobi. Even after she lost her Hyuga title to her younger sister – she decided to keep training anyway.
The pain was definitely much stronger than Hinata, but she put her life on the line either way. She wanted to come in as a distraction and try to release Naruto at the same time. The fight was very intense and she held out for a really long time. In the end, it looked like Pain had killed her, and when Naruto saw he went into his Tailed Beast state.
This fight revealed that Naruto cared for Hinata a lot, and the thought of her death triggered strong emotions in him. It might not mean that he’s in love with her at this moment, because he reacted in a similar way when he saw some of his other friends lose their life. For example, when Gaara was taken by the Akatsuki, Naruto did everything to get him back.
Naruto was entirely heartbroken when he saw that Gaara didn’t survive the attack, later on, he would be revived by his grandma Chiyo. What we found out about Naruto is that he truly cares for all of his friends that he met along the way. Even though his reaction to Hinata almost getting killed is not necessarily a confession of love but it did show that she meant a lot to him.
It took a very long time for them to truly acknowledge their feelings, for multiple reasons, and probably the most significant one would be the timing. Two of them pursued very different paths and Naruto’s was very difficult and not to mention he wasn’t around most of the time, he was constantly training or going on missions. The same goes for Hinata, but of course, since Naruto was completely oblivious that anyone liked him he never noticed her.
Another element that definitely played a part was Hinata’s shyness, she couldn’t talk to Naruto without fainting. All of this finally changed when in the movie The Last: Naruto the Movie, when the two of the teamed up to save her younger sister Hanabi from getting kidnapped.
How does Naruto realize he loves Hinata?
As we’ve mentioned earlier, there was no exact point where Naruto confessed his love to Hinata, but we could see that the way he looks at her changes after the movie, The Last: Naruto the Movie. Throughout this movie, he is faced with some of their closest moments when he was captured in a genjutsu. He realized then how much he actually cared for her.
Later on, the two of them get married and have two kids together, Boruto and Himawari. You can see their relationship evolve in the Boruto series, but there is also a novel called Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding, where you can see the two get married.
In which episode does Naruto kiss Hinata?
Unfortunately, Naruto and Hinata have never kissed during the Naruto series. Only after the 4th Shinobi War and when the Naruto Shippuden series end, is also when the movie The Last: Naruto the Movie came out. By the end of that movie Naruto and Hinata share a kiss.
Even though we never saw the two of them kiss up until that moment, their relationship grew over time. If you like these types of slow-burn relationships, then you probably like how Kishimoto wrote the two of them. To follow them and where they are now you should check out the Boruto series which is still ongoing and available on different streaming services.
In the Boruto series, we see the two of them settling into their domestic life, and taking care of their kids, Boruto and Himawari. Although Naruto is working hard in his new position as the Hokage, that creates a little bit of a distance between him and Boruto. It’s definitely interesting to see their dynamics, and how they are as a family.
