Yep, I'm one of those people who will be announcing their departure from this site.
But this is not one of those rage quit/abandon ship farewells that some people are throwing around.
Actually, as sad as it is to admit, I'm not even in the Naruto fandom. I was once. But after a few months, maybe a year after joining this forum my interest in this series began to gradually drift away, until it reached the point where Naruto didn't even matter to me anymore. When someone would bring it up, I would just be there there thinking, "Goddamn, I'm just not that interested."
So no, I'm not leaving because because of NaruSaku being sunk, the jossing of particular characters' development throughout the series, or the random asspulls Kishi made in just two chapters out of 700. Those things don't affect me one bit.
I've chosen not to stay here because of the attitudes of many of this site's members. Before you all jump to conclusions, no, I'm not blaming any of you for feeling the way you did about the conclusion of the manga. I'm very sure Naruto has had a substantial impact on our lives, in the sense that it has become an integral part of our childhoods. I'm in the same boat. It's the sole reason I became interest in anime when I was a kid and in turn, introduced me to manga not too many years later.
You guys all have every right to feel that way about the last two chapters, so don't ever think for a second that I'm personally mad at all your emotions and opinions. My reason for leaving is a more somber one.
As someone who is not a fan of Naruto anymore, I really believe that this turn of events shouldn't even be making me feel stressed. But it does. It's stressing me out because while I'm no longer a member of the fandom, I'm still a member of this community. That's why I kept coming back here. Somewhere along the way, it became less about trying to fit in as a Naruto fan and more about cherishing this awesome family we have here.
And to see my favourite community falter to such a low point makes me physically shake while I type this. Seriously. People are literally crying, threatening to boycott, throwing insults at Kishi (understandable I guess), wanting to burn/destroy their merch, and so on. I've tried to slightly lift up the spirits of everyone here. Granted, it was only a single attempt, but I at least tried to do something. I had to do something.
But no. Everyone here is totally broken. Rightfully so, but in turn, it has broken me as well. I can no longer take any of this that's happening right now. I don't want to see any more of it, because it's getting to the point where I want to cry and scream and set everything on fire as well, and I'm not the type of person who gets this emotionally unstable over something fictional.
Maybe if this all happened at a different point of time, I would be able to handle this much better, and it would be easier for me to try and cheer everyone up, because let's face it, there's more to life than some overly long manga series. But I actually can't bring myself to do that, because as I speak of life, I've hit the most stressful point of the year. It doesn't help that emotionally, I'm not feeling well right now either. I've been feeling like a pile of horse kitten for quite a while now, for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with this site, so don't go blaming yourselves.
I guess I just hate the drama. It's simply too hard for me to deal with. This whole situation shouldn't even matter to me, but it does because I love all of you guys, and it causes me so much pain when I witness my beloved community hit rock bottom.
The only real way for me to deal with this is to avoid it all together. Even if it means having to leave this lovely place. Will I ever come back here? I really hope I could say yes, as I'm sure many of you will get better in time, and I'd really like to talk to all of you again, old members and new. But I don't know. Maybe I'll come back, maybe I won't. Who knows. But for now, it's all over for me. If I wanted to, I could have just left without a word, but I wouldn't dare to do that.
On a more positive note, it was a great experience, from getting into deep discussions about Naruto with like-minded people to pissing about in the Fun Cafe and on each other's blogs. There's not much I could say without sounding overly cheesy about it.
There's one thing I want you guys to do. Promise me that you'll never give up, just like Naruto himself didn't until now. He may have now gone against his main principle, but that doesn't mean you guys should. Just remember that you guys are shipping what is pretty much the most logical ship in the entire series. You might want to give in, but don't give up.
And with that, the curtains fall, and I bid you adieu! Maybe I'll see you all in another life.
