Kishimoto made use of the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this.[5] When Kishimoto was creating the primary setting of the Naruto manga, he concentrated initially on the designs for the village of Konoha. The idea of the setting came to him "pretty spontaneously without much thought," but admits that the scenery became based on his home in the Japanese prefecture of Okayama prefecture. Since the storyline does not specify when it is set, he was able to include modern elements in the series such as convenience stores.[12] He considered including automobiles, planes and simple computers, but excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the plot.[12][13]
ConclusionEdit
When serialization began, Kishimoto decided the ending would feature a fight between two characters: Naruto and Sasuke,[14] which would end with Naruto forgiving Sasuke as he had forgiven Nagato. Kishimoto chose Hinata Hyuga as Naruto's romantic partner from the early stages of the manga, since Hinata had always respected Naruto even before the series' beginning, and Kishimoto felt this meant the two of them could build a relationship. This decision annoyed his wife because she wanted Naruto to marry Sakura Haruno,[15] but Kishimoto viewed Sakura as Naruto's friend and teammate, rather than a future wife. When Hinata first appeared, Kishimoto thought of forming a love triangle among the three characters, but because he decided that fighting was the main focus of the manga, there was little room for romantic plotlines.[16][17]
