What if Naruto had said "Yes" to Sakura at that time?

Fans of the Naruto series are well aware of the protagonist's childhood crush on Sakura, and one episode from the Shippuden series chose to explore it further. It was an attempt to prevent Naruto from heading down a difficult path of pursuing Sasuke, and in that episode, Sakura was seen confessing her love to him.

While the protagonist saw right through her and rejected her advances, the question of "what if?" lingers among the fandom. What might have happened if he had accepted Sakura's proposal, and would they have truly ended up together?

Disclaimer: This article contains speculative theory and reflects the author's opinions.

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Could Naruto accepting Sakura's proposal have started a relationship?

During episode 206 of the Shippuden series, the fandom was shocked when Sakura confessed her love to Naruto. While it was clear that Sakura's true intent was to prevent him from pursuing Sasuke further, the situation surprised everyone, including the other characters. It was all because of a promise he made to Sakura about bringing Sasuke back.

We all know the protagonist saw through Sakura's lie and called her out, but what if he had decided to act on his childhood feelings and accepted Sakura's proposal? First of all, the entire Sasuke storyline after that would have become meaningless.

The whole Sasuke arc after that was about him seeking revenge on Itachi, obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo, and later helping the protagonist in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Without Naruto pursuing Sasuke, the storyline would have gone in a different direction, with Sasuke remaining a rogue ninja and Naruto fighting the war without him.

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In this particular scene Naruto realized that Sasuke and Sakura's feelings were mutual. That "Sasuke you" was enough to prove this. He already knew Sakura loved him but knowing Sasuke feels the same way too, his heart broke twice here.

Additionally, if Sakura and Naruto entered into a relationship, despite Sakura's love for Sasuke, their relationship likely wouldn't have progressed far, ultimately leading to a breakup. There’s also a strong chance that a frustrated and trapped Sakura would have gone rogue and left the village to find Sasuke. That’s another one of our protagonists' allies lost in the Shinobi World War.

The love angle involving Hinata might still have developed later, but it would have been heavily affected by the now handicapped efforts in the war by our protagonist. While the confession from the Shippuden series might seem like a simple yes or no, its impact on the story would have been quite significant, to the point where the entire narrative would change from that moment onward.

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Final thoughts

Still from the Fourth Shinobi World War (Image via Studio Pierrot)

While many fans have taken it casually and failed to realize this, that one yes or no answer from the episode 206 scene in Shippuden defined the entire narrative of the story moving forward. While it would have been nice to see something good happen to the protagonist after this long, what actually happened probably turned out for the best.

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