NikFromTeamRocketSep 14, 20213 replies119 viewsIs it just me or does the relationship between Naruto & Iruka feel forced? I feel like Jiraiya was there for Naruto more than Iruka ever was, hell even Kakashi. While Iruka was present in Naruto’s early years & was first to recognize him I don’t see anything between them that indicates a strong connection. The “bond” feels forced on by the anime overall. Iruka barely had screen time & the moments the 2 did share didn’t seem to stick out much to me. Jiraiya was like a father figure to Naruto & there were moments between them that felt cute & special actually. The weight of their bond was even more apparent after Jiraiya’s death. I feel they leaned more towards him being this father figure towards this section of the series because maybe even the animators began to think it made more sense. The Iruka thing felt tacked on from the start. At least they built upon Naruto & Jiraiya’s relationship. But I felt like they didn’t illustrate Naruto’s love for him until now… What do you guys think? I’m not done with shippuden yet I’m in the 150’s so I don’t know if this is a permanent change in the atmosphere or not but it seems to be since they connected Jiraiya to Naruto’s father & to prophecy & all that. Just wish they would have acknowledged this earlier on instead of making Iruka Naruto’s favorite person to speak on.
Iruka was a fatherly figure to Naruto, there was a Naruto isekai where Naruto and Sakura go in a dream world and after returning to normal world, genins' parents had to recommend them to be jonin and Iruka does it for Naruto and even prepares a cake for his birthday
Start of the show, Naruto is tricked into stealing the ninja scroll, that dude who tricked him is about to attack and take it from him, Iruka steps in without hesitation not caring about what happens to him. Their bond seems pretty strong to me.
Maybe you feel like they don't have a lot of moments, but it's just a thing with Naruto that a lot of side characters don't get a lot of screen time, some more examples being Rock Lee, Neji.
And its good that you mentioned that you're still in between Shippuden, i was about to point something out that would be a spoiler, when you get towards the end of the show you'll see it and understand their connection more
I kind of have to agree with Nik. They’re relationship feels very forced, and most of the time Iruka doesn’t even talk! He just listens to Naruto complain while he eats ramen! I mean, really, if Kishimoto wanted to make a good father figure for Naruto, he should have given him more screen time. Sorry if that’s offends anyone, that’s just how I feel.
