Annoyingly, Masashi Kishimoto ("the guy who writes the manga") doesn't even care about Hinata, despite her being frequently in the top 10 most popular characters (usually just a place behind Sakura). I mean, we all know she's Naruto's designated love interest, but (anime filler aside) look at how much she actually appears in the story: she offers to help Naruto cheat on the written part of the chuunin exam, she gets the living crap kicked out of her by Neji and she gives Naruto some encouragement before he goes and flattens Neji in return. Since the second half began she has appeared in TWO PANELS in the entire series, and all she does is hide when she realises Naruto has come back and then faint when he pops up next to her. I was convinced that after Asuma died there would be something with Hinata and Kurenai (Kurenai giving her some advice about the dangers of hiding your feelings when you're in love with a ninja, perhaps?) but so far, nothing.Ivvan Cain wrote:Fine, the guy who writes the manga doesn't care about Ten Ten.
Either Kishimoto is REALLY saving her for later, or he simply can't be bothered with her. Even the anime staff realize she's worth more than that (look at how much she appears in the filler) but Kishimoto just won't do anything. Which is a shame, because I like her too.