Romance has never been at the forefront of Naruto, yet the title character’s eventual relationship with Hinata plays an important role in the sequel series, Boruto. The start of Naruto and Hinata’s relationship and their first kiss was exciting for many fans. Unfortunately for those rooting for that relationship though, the sequel series actually shows just how much the two don’t belong together.
Naruto and Hinata’s relationship was rarely at the forefront of the original Naruto series, yet it was always clear who series creator Masashi Kishimoto wanted his protagonist to end up with. Though the rest of Konoha saw Naruto as a nuisance at best and a ticking time bomb with a demon sealed inside him at worst, Hinata saw a lonely boy who just wanted to belong. The two’s most important interaction came in the series’ second part where Hinata was willing to sacrifice herself to save Naruto. Despite this, her shyness and Naruto’s obliviousness combined to ensure that it took Naruto far too long to realize how much Hinata cared about him. Fans loved the relationship, resulting in it being the primary focus of The Last: Naruto the Movie, which is one of two Naruto movies considered canon. The two eventually end up starting a family together by the time of Boruto, but fans of the popular ship might not be happy with the state of their actual relationship in Boruto.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations primarily follows the titular son of Naruto and Hinata. Fulfilling his lifelong dream, Naruto has finally become Hokage, though the role comes with a wide variety of challenges. More so than the pressure of being responsible for an entire village, Boruto zeroes in on the pressure such responsibility puts on Naruto’s family. As a result, Naruto has become a distant father to his children, even missing many of his daughter, Himawari’s birthdays. This leaves Hinata to pick up much of the slack around their home, almost working as a single parent at times. Things come to a head when Naruto is having dinner with his family in celebration of Himawari’s birthday. Just as he brings in the cake, he disappears, revealing that it was a shadow clone the entire time. Hinata tries to justify it, but Boruto is justifiably furious at Naruto. More than just a one-off occurrence though, this one scene paints a depressing portrait of Naruto’s family.
One of the things that made Naruto and Hinata’s potential relationship so enticing in the original manga was how well they complimented each other. Naruto being a brash loudmouth seemed to fit well with Hinata’s more passive nature. However, adding children in the mix shows just how flawed that pairing is. Hinata defaults to defending Naruto, trying to justify his actions to Boruto. Maybe if Naruto was on an important mission or saving the village, then Hinata would have a point, but he was just filing paperwork. Hinata never confronts Naruto about this. It might seem like a small thing that Boruto’s blowing out of proportion, but this pattern of behavior is clearly causing him distress, and Hinata doesn’t even try to empathize with her own son. Worse yet, this is clearly causing Hinata distress too. All of it paints the picture of a dysfunctional relationship where Naruto isn’t there for his family and Hinata isn’t willing to be honest about how that’s impacting everyone.
None of this is to suggest that Naruto is the worst father. Sasuke and Sakura’s Boruto relationship is arguably worse. Still though, Boruto makes it perfectly clear that Naruto’s relationship with Hinata isn’t exactly the happily ever after fans had hoped for.