The biggest problem is that Naruto was never allowed to express himself. He was never allowed to get angry, or sad, or anything because of the expectations put on him. It goes back to that line Jiraiya said to Tsunade before he died, that rejection makes a man stronger and how a man's only purpose was to be strong. Naruto was never allowed to voice his frustration about his feelings towards Sakura, because in the end, no one ever took his feelings seriously, not even Sakura herself. She tried to, but then reneged on that fairly easily when she looked straight at Naruto in 693 before flushing her character development down the shitter, and then again when she ignored his existence.
That's one of my biggest criticisms of Naruto's character in general, outside the pairings even. Naruto was never able to express himself genuinely, to anyone. I wanted him so badly to get angry at Obito and Sasuke. I wanted him to get angry at the previous Hokage. One of the only times I felt that Naruto showed any real emotion was just after Jiraiya died, but then Iruka shows up and tells him he can't cry.
Another thing I felt that Oda did much better than Kishi when doing his male characters. Shanks' speech to Luffy after Ace's burial was one of my favorite quotes, as he states that it's ok for men to have emotions, which were stripped from the male cast most of the time (not all) in Naruto.
This is an outstanding point and one I've not really considered before. I know I argued with someone on here a few weeks ago about the confession scene, and misquoted Sakura's comments, but I DO think it is possible to interpret her comment that "the fool's in love with me" that she doesn't take his love seriously. I'm not sure I'd necessarily agree, but I wouldn't rule out such an interpretation.
And yeah, I definitely would have liked to have seen Naruto get mad just once. Like when he's talking to Kakashi and Kakashi references Minato. Shouldn't Naruto get mad that Kakashi never talked to him about this? That he knew who his parents were? Naruto almost turns into a caricature.
Both of these posts are great! And I agree completely.
AHK, you're right, Naruto was never allowed to express himself. Not once. He just had to take all this crap hand he was dealt in life, and keep on smiling. And I know he was a fiesty, brawling little kid, but that's not what I mean. Naruto took all of his orphan years, all of that rejection and hardship, and then his crappy relationship with Sasuke and then Obito, yet he never once got good and angry. Not even at Sakura. It's like he always had to be the hero. The only time he shows his frustration was in the ramen stand when someone asked his autograph. And then, getting mad at an anonymous guy, is about like yelling at othe driverrs from your car! It accomplishes nothing! It was the only way he could be angry, but not actually have to be responsible for directing it at anyone!! I would have liked to have seen him grapple with his own anger and disappointment and come out on top. I would have liked to see him emotionally develop farther than just the waterfall of truth (which was really only written to resolve that ramen stand scene).
And Narufan85, you're right, I would have liked to have seen Naruto get mad more too. Why doesn't he get mad at Sasuke for treating Sakura like crap? Why doesn't he call out Minato and Genma and the Third and all the othe people in the village who knew Minato was his father, who would have fought side by side with his mom and dad, and who would have died for them...then just left their only son to believe he's an orphan an treated like crap!?! I would have liked to have seen Naruto take to task those around him, instead of being painted as the great hero who can't get angry.