Maybe Naruto could have spoken to Nagato if there had been real trials and tribulations that separated him from the group in the manga. Like if his happy smile really hid a dark-Sasuke-like interior, where he was seriously in trouble of falling into that dark role. But...at no point is he ever in danger of becoming like Sasuke. Sure he says he understands him, but how can he really? At no point in the manga was he like Sasuke and going to leave, throw over his whole life for some personal goal.
Exactly. You can understand Naruto to a certain degree. He was a child who just didn't know why he was hated and ignored, and he came to the conclusion that he needs to 'do something' for it. So thats why he did these pranks, and wore flashy clothes to attract attention. That wasn't/shouldn't be his personality, just a pro-active behaviour to gain something he wants. After he got told the true secret to why they ignore him, there is litteraly no need to continue his acting. Because he should realize by now that its pointless. No pranks or loud-mouth-talking will distract anyone from the fact that he bears the 9-tail.
Thats him, one chapter after being told the secret.. just continuing his pranks infront of the Hokoage (who MAYBE ist the perfect person to ask about every question he 'SHOULD' have). There is no curiosity, no desire, no innocenct reflection. They never told him anything, not about his parents, not about their attitude towards him, why he has to live alone.. and mostly about his fate. That place should be 'hell' for him, and he should been gone years before sasuke even considered to leave. As a Protagonist you have to deal with the fact that the audience is trying to empathize with you, and you are not doing a good work if you ignore the questions and the situation around you.
So yeah, how can he relate to Nagato, Konan, Obito, Sasuke or anyone else...and then be expected to change the ninja world as the chosen one? He's 16 with very limited life experiences.
Yea, he shouldn't be able to do it. Just because someone struggled in his life, doesn't mean he knows how to deal with it or give advice to others. Naruto did nothing about his problems, besides doing pranks or being a loud-brat he never really tried to take care of his situation.. he just accepted it and the author managed it for him to have a successfull storyline. His development isn't working around his narrative timeline.
That might have been different if he'd taken a closer look at the situations around him and people who were supposed to care for him in Konoha. If he'd questioned or even seriously rebelled, outside of some juvenile graffiti.
It wouldn't be just a different character then, it would be a different story overall.
Its kinda funny how he praises friendship over everything, and tries to chase a guy who doesn't seek his friendship... but on the other hand he takes the people who a real friends to him at risk for this said guy. He doesn't even think about consequences. What if Sakura really managed to die because of sasuke ? There was a fanfic i recently read, where sakura becomes blind because of sasuke for the rest of her life, it was a good story, but i cringed so damn much about the phrase "i think i can't hate Sasuke". Its just the same as in the canon-plot. Sasuke could have killed Jiraiya, and naruto wouldn't change his mind. I mean Obito, who was the source of his fate and the death of his parents, manages to befriend with Naruto.. i dont know... there is just zero grasp of Narutos mind, its impossible for the audience to understand this character at all... unless you are as ignorant his him.
But its not only him, it everyone around him.
Over and Over again they fail to chase him or bring him back, and no one (not even the hokage, who should stop him) is doing anything. Jiraiya mentioned about his seal weakening [Tsunade: "go and catch sasuke if u want :-)"], Sakura who nearly died because of Sasuke ["he is our friend! i need to support naruto on this way!"].
This is exactly the moment where i started to hate this character, where i was like "**CK YOU Naruto!". The same thing could have happened to Sakura, Yamato, Sai, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji if it wasn't for (cough* Author cough*) lucky outcomes after your whole damn Sasuke-chase. Atleast Jiraiya tried to take care of Akatsuki, atleast Asuma tried to stop Akatsuki taking more and more Jinchurikies while you were busy RISKING your friends by chasing Sasuke who was 000000 threat to Konoha at that point.
But he never does. And yeah, he chasing Sasuke (at the peril of everyone he knows) to force him to come home to a place Sasuke should rightfully hate is veeerrrry different than Naruto have a parallel life experience then understanding him because he lived through his own hell. But by the time the manga starts, we are told to believe that the worst part of Naruto's life is behind him in his childhood. But this is always that part he draws on when he tries to relate to every other bad guy in the series! wtf?
Its just kishimotos logic: Naruto can't hate the bad guy, he can't kill the bad guy, in fact.. he will manage to relate and be a mature response for all big problems because he is Naruto with the sad past.