Kishimoto gave Naruto a dark side by adding tragedy to the character's past.
Naruto met his parents, and learned of their sacrifices in order to help him to control the Fox inside him so that he could protect their world.
This had a major impact on the writer, and he decided to have Naruto forgive Sasuke during their final fight in a similar manner as he interacted with Nagato.
Olympic medalist has also shown his love for Naruto and the Naruto series several times through Instagram posts.
Kishimoto took inspiration from the games' presentation of these forms, imitating one of them for the manga cover of volume 26.
In regard to Naruto's growth Takeuchi was happy with the story and had hoped that Naruto would end up in a relationship with Hinata.