Right, those are some good points. It's just, I feel like we've put so much focus on the backlash received from NH and especially SS becoming canon, that I feel like, in order to really determine whether or not things ended well 'plot-wise', it'd be good to see just how much was resolved non-pairing wise, and how much was just left floating around for speculation.
If this list becomes a little too large, then it just goes to show that there really wasn't much thought or effort brought forth by Kishimoto to provide an appropriate ending that nicely wraps up any remaining questions about the plot.
And this isn't even taking into account the whole pairing aspect of things, which depending on your point-of-view, is the whole icing on the cake.
Some things I'm left wondering about were:
- What happened with Orochimaru, Suigetsu, and Karin?
- What happened with Kabuto? Including the above, there's these super-dangerous characters just waltzing around. I highly doubt they're just enjoying walks through the countryside, sniffing flowers and what-not. And I doubt world peace is their list of priorities.
- What was the point of Madara 'spitting' out those weird relics? Did the manga ever get into what those things were anyways? And where they actually 'USEFUL' for resolving anything?
- What exactly is Naruto doing as Hokage? Ninjas aren't exactly going out assassinating/attacking anyone anymore, so it's probably just a bunch of details about how to expand the shiny new city they've got. Unless of course, he's still making sure that the city keeps up its defenses from possible attacks. But then, this just goes to show that he never really did end the 'Cycle of Hatred' did he?
- And the Cycle of Hatred itself is another unresolved plot-point. I'm pretty sure Naruto hasn't conquered it yet. In fact, defeating something like that sounds a bit ridiculous and naive, especially since it stems from a certain ideal, a philosophy. Something you can't really rasengan in the face.
