Accidental kisses are a common trope in anime, to the point where it’s almost a cliché. It’s the age-old “Oops, I tripped and happened to fall on your mouth.” Usually, these are reserved for romantic shoujo or yaoi anime, wherein the viewer demographic is almost always rooting for that kiss to happen between the main leads. You don’t see it happen as much in shōnen anime, you just don’t expect it to. For those who watched Naruto for the first time with no prior knowledge, with almost 100 percent certainty not only did they not expect a kiss to happen within the first handful of episodes, but they surely did not foresee it happening between the blond hyperactive protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, and his brooding rival, Sasuke Uchiha.
What not as many Naruto fans may know is that the two ninjas actually kissed, not once, but twice. First, in the first few episodes of the original series, and hundreds of episodes thereafter during a fun Naruto: Shippuden filler episode.
Kiss number 1
Most Naruto fans will most likely have the first-ever kiss in the whole series burned into their minds. It happens in episode three in front of everyone in their class at the Academy. A recently graduated Naruto squats on the table in front of Sasuke and the two glare intently at each other, sending sparks of lightning flying. While engaged in their stare-down, a random classmate sitting in the row in front accidentally pushes Naruto, who loses his balance and falls forward toward Sasuke. Although it technically wasn’t his fault, Naruto is afterward left to face the wrath of Sasuke’s fangirls.
In an old data book, it is revealed that Sasuke thinks Naruto kissed him purposefully, and that the orange jumpsuit-wearing ninja tasted “more like miso…”
The rest is history. As a fan on Reddit wrote: “So many yaoi fans were born that day…” This sentiment even reached the voice actors. When asked in an interview nearly a decade ago how she would like the Naruto series to end, Maile Flanagan, Naruto’s English voice actor, said: “I mean, I hope Sasuke and Naruto run off together and start a family.” To which, Yuri Lowenthal, Sasuke’s voice actor quipped back: “That’s really what caused all the pent-up anger and frustration in Sasuke.”
Kiss number 2
History tends to repeat itself, and sometimes, in the best way possible. Not as many people are aware that this other kiss between the rival/best friend duo happened, but I’d argued that this second one happened under even more hilarious circumstances. Unlike the previous public accident, this time no one was there to witness it except for Naruto, Sasuke, and the viewers, of course.
It happens in one of the dozens of filler episodes featured in the Naruto series, episode 194 of Naruto: Shippuden, titled “The Worst Three-Legged Race.” The episode is told in the form of a flashback, after a comment from Sakura on how the two currently estranged Team 7 members used to be inseparable prompts Naruto to harken back to a mission they were tasked with in their younger, genin days, wherein the two became literally inseparable. Although getting their hands stuck together might’ve been an unpleasant experience for both young ninjas, it certainly made for some quality bonding time between the two as well as some epic fighting choreography.
“I don’t think I remember this filler,” wrote a fan on Reddit, “I think that means the healing has begun…”
That being said, this is one of those filler episodes, like the one in which we get the long-awaited Kakashi face reveal, that’s totally worth watching instead of skipping.