It's bizarre to think that, at one point, this series was one of manga/anime's biggest hits.
I actually considered this to be the greatest comic of all time, never mind manga. But now I believe the only title it earns is greatest choke of all time.
And to the 40 guests who are lurking on the forum. This is not bc NaruSaku did not happen. Most hardline NH/SS fans complain that all we care about is NS. But to explain, the series was going downhill long before 693-700.
After the Pain arc and especially the LOI arc I decided that I just didn't care for the series as much as I did before. The series started off strong with several deep messages about war, bullying, destiny, etc. And it was very realistic. Heroes like the third hokage died bc they just don't always defeat the villains. Villains like Orochimaru show how truly sadistic evil men can be, performing human experimentation and murder. Nmd just robbing banks and forcing women to marry them. 
Even heroes like Kakashi and Sasuke were shown to suffer from PSTD. They had been through hell and naturallly there were consequences.
Finally Sakura posed what I believe is how most women truly are for the most part. Picture this, as a child you are constantly told and enforced to act in certain ways. You are told by your parents that you are supposed to play with dolls, fall in love, get married, have children, etc. Than you go to school and you are sometimes separated from the males to learn certain things like cooking and cleaning, gardening, etc.
But then you grow up and all of a sudden this idealistic future doesn't fit. Getting married doesn't seem as easy as you thought bc you find it's very rare to find someone with the right chemistry as you. Then the real world hits and you realize that maybe you want a career where ppl look up to and respect you. Or perhaps you are thrown into a war zone where flower picking and house work aren't very useful for survival.
Sakura intrigued me bc she challenged the typical idea of "Female in fiction." and was semi realistic.
At first she starts out as a typical girl. A little insecurity about her forehead and looks bc in the manga Kunoichi are taught to be beautiful.(Check her flashback with Ino.) She goes after the popular guy bc he's the man and once again socialization. But then she enters the real world, one dominated (mostly) by masculinity and coldness. At first she doesn't do much except what they taught her at the academy. But she sees people like Naruto, Sasuke, Anko, Tsunade, Temari doing these amazing things and thriving in this world. And she decides that she doesn't want to fall behind. That she also wants to thrive in this world and be respected. She doesn't want to be seen as a helpless woman but as a strong person.
Emotionally she matures as well. She learns to treat people better, (willing to sacrifice her and Sasuke's shot at becoming a chunin for Naruto) She begins to separate crushes from true love, (Getting to know Sasuke instead of just blatantly asking him out, giving Naruto a chance, and finally understanding a selfish one-sided love vs. a mutual selfless love.)
In part 2 she finally begins to show progress, defeating Sasori, summoning katsuyu, using the Yin Seal, Punching a shinobi Goddess.
Emotionally she starts to show that she cares more for Naruto than Sasuke, and like previously stated understands that her "Love" for Sasuke is one-sided and selfish.
But this is where the sugar-coating ends. The Land of Iron arc destroys everything that makes this story impactful, meaningful, morally correct, and interesting,
Morals about hard work? Inherited gifts such as eye powers dominate. Instant power sealed within a can in the form of the Kyubi. Forget Hard work, it's useless.
Meaningful deaths that point out the costs of war that while harsh are justified by the gains or reasons for the sacrifice? Nope, instead you have one major death who even the creator admits was sacrificed for the sake of a meaningless side pairing.
Consequences and PTSD of war? Haha NOPE Instead we live in the most perfect and boring society where the Kages gather around to play Yahtzee on saturdays to get away from their families.
True love, development, mutual affection? HAHAHAHA NOPE. Lack of development and abuse is the way to go. If you're relationship is not popular enough or lacks boobz than I suggest you end it ASAP bc chances are it just isn't going to work out. (And guests before you cry pairing goggles, He made a pairing which was called selfish within the story canon. He made a pairing which was called selfish within the story canon!)
Finally, and I will use exact words from the manga. "WHEN YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, IT GIVES YOU THE POWER TO DECIDE YOUR OWN DESTINY." Neji fight remember. Does this one hold up? 
Not only does Naruto not become hokage at the end of his own series, Neji doesn't choose his own destiny and live his life. He ends up dying for the main branch, specifically Hinata who he didn't want to die for as the author's "cupid". Sakura doesn't become a great doctor or even come remotely close to matching Naruto and Sasuke. Tenten does not become like Tsunade who she aspired to match. Temari is no longer a stoic badass, more like a crying mess. Etc. the list goes on and on
But the biggest kick to the "decide your own destiny nads" is that Naruto's son is just like him except worse. Not only is Naruto's lonely and neglected, but he is lonely and neglected with both of his parents STILL ALIVE. Naruto knows how it feels to not have any parents. ALL HE HAS TO DO IS SPEND SOME TIME WITH HIS KID OR EVEN BE NICE TO HIM FOR A COUPLE MINUTES. YET WHEN HE GETS A CHANCE TO CORRECT HIS CHILD HE WHACKS HIM OVER THE HEAD. YOU KNOW THE SERIES IS HORRIBLE IN EVERY SINGLE WAY WHEN AN ORPHAN BEATS HIS SON FOR LASHING OUT BC HIS FATHER NEVER SPENDS ANY TIME WITH HIM.
Naruto is a joke. It starts off amazing only to betray all of it's former morals. The only thing it deserves now is to be spat on.
And the cycle continues
Persona 5 hype 
