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Alternative Canon Ships

I think something that annoys me and a lot of other people about the canon ships is that they weren’t the only options by a country mile. So I wanted to finally put my money where my mouth is and take a crack at pairing the Konoha 12 without changing the manga.

Anyone I didn’t mention here should be presumed single in my AU because I either think they’re better single or I don’t care about who they end up with.

Option 1

Naruto and Sasuke - The entire series is about them learning to understand each other and ending the cycle of hatred by coming together (in holy matrimony). Naruto wouldn’t have a character arc without Sasuke and Sasuke’s character arc is incomplete without Naruto. I don’t think I need to explain how they act as foils and compliments for each other or how they’re willing to go to great lengths for each other or how they show time and time again how much they value each other.

Sakura and Rock Lee - We really went through the chunin exams for nothing. They have very little screen time together, but what we have is good enough for it to at least make sense. Rock Lee is clearly willing to both wait and die for her and Sakura has a mini arc about learning not to judge people on appearances and to respect him that culminates in her giving him flowers in the hospital. Worst case scenario it needs to get the NaruHina treatment and have a movie made about why they came together in the end.

Shikamaru and Choji - I’ve already said that I don’t care for any of the inter-Ino-Shika-Cho ships, but they interact with too few characters for me not to bring them up here. They’re childhood friends, they obviously care for and respect each other, they have complimentary personalities, and Shikamaru stands up for Choji on multiple occasions. They don’t get too much attention in shippuden because Choji and Ino were shafted, but they at least continue to support each other when they are shown interacting.

(This is where we start losing a sturdy foundation because the characters don’t have enough screen time spent interacting with anyone unmentioned. From here on out the bar is in hell and I’m only pairing the characters off because it would’ve been expected.)

Ino and Sai - A lot of people shit on this ship and I get why (Ino is caught in Sakura’s shadow and Sai was literally Sasuke’s replacement in team 7, so it’s easy to see them as discount SasuSaku). However, the ship isn’t the most unbelievable in canon. Ino has shown that she has genuine feelings for Sai and they at least interact with each other.

Hinata and Shino - Hinata would make sense with either of her teammates, but I’m choosing Shino because he makes more sense. They’re similarly introverted types, they get along, Shino has been shown to have faith in her abilities (I’m not saying Kiba doesn’t, but Shino’s more consistent about it), and I think it would be fitting for Shino (who’s insecure about being unnoticeable) to end up with someone who would prioritize him if he ends up with anyone at all.

Option 2

Naruto and Sakura - These two would’ve made more sense, “red herring” and “pursued her for rivalry” my ass. Both are ready and willing to make sacrifices for each other, they interact a lot and most of it is positive (we aren’t mentioning the slapstick because I’m not having that asinine argument), there were hints throughout shippuden of Sakura returning his feelings, they have complimentary personalities, Sakura ending up with Naruto is beneficial to her character, Naruto ending up with Sakura is in-line with his character arc and theme, both stop to consider each other’s feelings on multiple occasions, Sakura attempts to help Naruto in any way she can on a regular basis, (even if I hate how often this is mentioned) Sakura is explicitly compared to Kushina, there are more hints at their relationship than I care to list here, and there’s symbolism for a flower under the sun/heaven and earth.

Sasuke and Karin - SasuKarin is the sister ship to Naruto and Sakura because of its parallels (the Uzumaki has feelings first, the girls are both compared to Kushina, the girls both act as support and medics to the boys who take on leadership roles, the Uzumaki wants to protect/see their love interest’s smile, etc). As for reasons: Sasuke has been shown to respect Karin and her abilities, Karin loves Sasuke because he was the first person to show her kindness, Karin has put her life on the line for Sasuke on multiple occasions, both are willing to go to great length for the other, and both unlocked abilities for the sake of saving the other.

Ino and Sai - I’ve already explained this.

Shikamaru and Temari - This ship isn’t perfect, but I think it makes enough sense for most people to not be upset (the only people I’ve seen complaining about it are people who hate Shikamaru or ship something else). They always share at least one scene when Temari enters the story, there are hints about it being romantic, and makes more sense in canon than many of the other options.

Choji and Hinata - This is, admittedly, a stretch, but it isn’t as much as a stretch as ChoKaru so I’m considering this still in the safe zone. The two both have shy and sweet personalities that make it easy to imagine them getting along, both struggle with overcoming their low self-esteem and taking action themselves, both care deeply for their friends, Hinata fits with what Choji wanted romantically in his infinite tsukuyomi dream, and both have the shared idea of maintaining kindness even in a ruthless shinobi world.

Bonus

Naruto and Hinata - This ship was fine, even with its lack of screen time, but the Last and Boruto ruined it, so we’ll just pretend that didn’t happen. Naruto learned to not judge and respect Hinata, Hinata has multiple scenes where she snaps Naruto out of spiraling (the proud failure speech is still peak NaruHina), Naruto stands up for Hinata, Hinata takes a lot of inspiration from Naruto and his determination, and Hinata cares about Naruto’s wellbeing and feelings so much it’s a near irrevocable part of her character. With nothing changed it would still be just as flawed and clumsy as in canon, but it wouldn’t be unforgivable.

Hinata and Rock Lee - Again, I’m stretching canon for a Hinata ship, but I think there’s enough ground to stand on to at least mention it. That ground being a weird amount of parallels. They both have experience being in Neji’s shadow, both of them are untalented and make up for their shortcomings through hard work, both care about the people they love to a self-sacrificial degree, both are true to their word, both of them admire Naruto (join the club), both of them has a teacher that acts as a parental figure, and both of them have unrequited love because the target of their affection has feelings for someone more conventionally attractive than them(though Hinata gets more conventionally attractive as the series goes on so…).

Ino and Choji - It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done. They support each other as teammates, Ino could help Choji be more confident, Ino getting with Choji could symbolize her getting past her superficiality, and they don’t have opposing personalities or beliefs as far as I can tell.

Sasuke and No One - I’m just putting this here to remind everyone that there’s an argument to be made about Sasuke being better off without a relationship. I absolutely get why he was paired off and I probably would too if I was in charge of the epilogue (it can be an indicator of him and the clan healing, plus an Uchiha child/the sharingan is a fun idea to mess around with), but him remaining single also makes sense. He states how he’s disinterested in romance and he just doesn’t have that many working potential love interests in canon. Yes, there’s Sakura but more than a movie could cover would have to change before the two of them could reasonably work together and it might still ruin her character.