I've noticed a lot of people are really angry about Sasuke's sudden appearance and seeing it as Sasuke getting equal importance as Naruto despite all of the crap he's done and how everything comes easy to him. That Naruto and Sasuke are the Children of Prophecy and now suddenly Naruto's basically not as special. Let me tell you why I'm extremely apathetic of that.
Sasuke is not the other Child of Prophecy. Naruto is still the main one as far as we know. So Sasuke was talked to by the Sage as well and he said it's up to both of them. So? Think of it this way.
Yes, Sasuke was given more importance and every Sasuke hater has the right to be pissed off about it but it still goes back to Naruto. Sasuke can't change the cycle and the legacy of Indra's reincarnations by himself. He's not going to make a choice without any other influence to end Indra's "peace through power" complex. Naruto needs to be the one to change him in the final fight. He's still the key. Without him, Sasuke would still go down the wrong path. That's why it's not Naruto and Sasuke equally. Sasuke needs to be guided so it's really still about Naruto.
I believe the Sage's faith in them is mostly along the lines of "I believe Ashura's reincarnation will at last change Indra's so I put my faith in Indra's to see his 'brother's' way of doing things." Very much like Sakura's "I'll just believe in them" line. It's not like either of them believe Sasuke will see the light on his own, but it gives him some credit to finally listen to Naruto and change. His choice will change the cycle but it only happens because of Naruto. So it's still about Naruto.
I wasn't angry at all that Sasuke got that speech. In a way, it makes sense. Why would Hagoromo just single out Naruto and once again show favoritism to him instead of his other son? There's no way that's going to help things, even if you hate Sasuke with a passion it only makes sense.
And honestly, all this rage on Sasuke getting everything the easy way is done on purpose for a reason. You can hate it, but it has a point. Naruto getting everything through hard work despite all the odds stacked against him and still choosing the right path puts him in a better light than Sasuke. His story is a direct contrast to Sasuke's and I'm not irritated by it too much because I understand where Kishi's coming from. I love Naruto ten times more than Sasuke, but I'm not going to dwell on those things when I see the message behind it.
The only thing I'm really irritated about is how much obsessive focus Kishi puts on Naruto's bond with Sasuke. It's not that I have anything against the bond. It's just SasuNaru is so ridiculously tied into the plot, it eclipses or shafts every other bond Naruto has. It shouldn't just be about Sasuke. Kishi has written Naruto's character focus so much on Sasuke, you'd think nothing else mattered to him but his 'brother' when we know that's not true. Naruto's other relationships and the meaning he puts into those is terribly inconsistent because SasuNaru overruns this story since Part II.
It really wouldn't kill Kishi to have Naruto single out his other friendships instead of having them grouped together in group shots while Sasuke is always, always singled out like he's so much more special to Naruto than them. This is a issue with NS too IMO. We know Naruto loves Sakura, but she's rarely singled out. It's always Sasuke at the front of his thoughts and Sasuke given those meaningful scenes when you just know how much he means to him.
I don't know if this was talked about already (I realize there are a few pages to go by the time this will be posted) but there is one silver lining! The reason why Naruto even bothers saving the world is because of his friends--that was his reason. We can question why Naruto believes that Sasuke is part of this, let alone a great friend at all, but maybe he's just irrational in the face of cosmic sibling forces and he was destined to love Sasuke...in a brotherly sort of way. Admittedly, I love my bro to bits and pieces but I'd still get very, very, very angry and hold him accountable to his actions.
Is Sasuke held to a greater pedestal? Oh yeah, and I think other people have summed up why this is a bummer and just... ugh, but at least at the heart of Naruto's character it's his connections that define him, and they go beyond Sasuke. Naruto has an army of friends, literally.
Also, @redragon88 the same can be said conversely, how can you like (as I take from your signature) SasuKarin and yet criticize NaruSasu's bond? I mean it's kind of a matter of personal preference, interpretation and bias there.
You really can't take the two as equivalent. In the case of the originally posed question and feeling like a hypocrite, yeah, it happens that you can acknowledge the issues in a relationship and still like it anyways. What I may understand in NaruSasu's bond, I may not understand in SasuKarin's. What works for a person in one, may not in another. I mean, how do you feel when someone says, "How can you ship SasuKarin and have a problem with SasuSaku?" To you, they are not the same, even if I would argue they're faaaaar more similar than NaruSasu --> SasuKarin
and I know--I do question that a lot, except I'm with Nate where Karin's handling has just been.... ridiculous. In a really sad way; sometimes, I can't bring myself to hate her because it is such an injustice how her character was treated with that one comment. I can't say the same about Naruto and Sasuke's relationship---not to that extent, no.
Edited by Broken Figurine, 05 April 2014 - 05:17 PM.