WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 183, "The Hand," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Many Naruto fans were relieved the series' protagonist ended up with Hinata instead of Sakura. Hinata cared for Naruto since they were kids and constantly defended him, even when his own teammates in Team 7 belittled Naruto. On a couple of occasions, Hinata almost lost her life protecting him in battle as well, so it became very obvious to Naruto she was his soul mate.
Now, Naruto's son Boruto seems to be walking a similar path. Episode 183 of the Boruto anime has given him a similar suitor in the form of Sumire.
Sumire and Boruto have a storied past as he helped her turn away from the dark side when she infiltrated the village early on in the series. She was supposed to use the beast, Nue, tied to her life force, and destroy Konoha as her dad was a fanatic of the tyrant, Danzo. Instead, Boruto convinced her that she could have a family within the village, and find love and peace again.
And since then, as class rep, she went on to work on various missions, helping Team 7 with the Jugo recovery project too. However, she left to join the Science Division as she wanted to perfect her relationship with Nue as she didn't want the beast getting out of control. Now, she's returned to Ryutan as Katasuke takes Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki for a lab visit.
The shocking thing is Boruto and Sumire clearly miss each other. As they blush, it seems like puppy love. Now, admittedly it took some time for Naruto to come around with Hinata, but here, as Boruto's glad to be around her, Sumire's disposition feels just like Boruto's mom. She's wide-eyed, fangirling, always smiling and curious about Boruto's adventures, evoking Hinata throughout the years. It's something that isn't surprising as she also was concerned during the ninja exams for Boruto, akin to Hinata whenever watching Naruto fight.
Also like Hinata, she's a timid science geek and kind, gentle soul as well. She'd honestly be a perfect fit for a relationship with Boruto. Just like how Hinata related to Naruto over their family issues, Sumire can relate to Boruto's struggles with the mark Momoshiki left him on his arm and his own abilities. They share common ground in that both know they could be weapons of mass destruction.
It comes full-circle here when Boruto expresses uncharacteristic excitement when she says she's coming back to Konoha to work with Katasuke's team. Apart from that job, she's really glad she'll be seeing more of him and clearly, the way he reacts, he has a crush too. It reminds us a lot of when Naruto realized Hinata was the one and that his future lay with her.
