>>283056047
You're right that Hinata should've had much more pagetime and development, especially if she was always planned to be Naruto's love interest. It wouldn't have even been difficult, because Hinata's problems were well established and there's many ways Kishi could've handled it.
>>283056051
That reminds me, Sakura was in the top 10 in that recent poll of girls being asked which anime/manga characters they'd want most as a girlfriend. So Japanese girls like Sakura more than Western boys at least.