Actually, I've been thinking about how vastly different the ending was from the beginning. And that if Kishi had it to do over again (and still chose the same ending) — like if he was able to retcon the whole series, starting with where he is now — would he even chose Naruto and Sakura to be the leads? Or would it be twin stories about Sasuke's struggle and Hinata's timidity, with Sakura and Naruto just being the secondary characters to fulfill their storylines?
If Kishi had it to do all over again, would he even set the story about Naruto and Sakura? Or would it straight up be about Sasuke and Hinata?
Let say this involves time travel and sending kishimoto straight to the past, because now a days I don't think he will want to redo Naruto all over again as much as he would just wish to leave. It depended on when he decided to do it all over again.
If he was sent back right before or after the ending he would probably have made Hinata the third teammate since she was so popular, and what apparently the fans wanted. Which I did a post about that sometime ago exploring the possibility. The main problem with this is it immediately breaks the narrative that Naruto was ever alone because the third most important character in the story would literally be his cheerleader from the beginning.
If he went after the last but before the Boruto movie. I imagine that he would try to improve both Sakura and Hinata, then let the fans decide which one ends up with who. This would be even worst since this expands the pairing conflict that really only heated up after the pein arc and to a boiling point in the war arc to throughout the entire story.
Now a days? He would probably just get rid of hinata because of all the hassle she cause. He can't get rid of Sakura since she is based off his wife, and she clearly liked that.
throughout all those i do see him general trying to improve the story and where he think he could have made it better, which includes that Naruto Sasuke rivalry.
That's one of the fault of changing the entire tone. It's like part 1 was easier to follow. I'm not saying it has to stay focus on Naruto forever. I'm saying the rest didn't feel like fun anymore. It's like we're stuck in serious arc without cracking jokes. It's different to say the least.
The chunin exam railroaded Kishimoto's manga. Once Sasuke got the curse seal, it was only a matter of time till he left the village. So then part 2 became Naruto chasing after Sasuke for the rest of the manga.
Yeah, I've been busy but I never forgot about this place <3. I think I just needed a little bit of time to accept this terrible ending to a series I've been watching since I was...11 or 12? Yea. Might be younger than that tbh.
Honestly, and this might be me personally, but like I said before actions speak much louder than words. To say that it's because he's emotionally/socially stunted is just an excuse to me. Know why? Look back at the Sasuke we got to know in part 1. He was all about getting stronger to avenge his clan...yet he almost died protecting a friend (Naruto). In other words, despite it being a part of Sasuke's character to be serious and focused on what he must do, he has shown that he can show how much he cares about the ones he loves when it comes time to do so, even if it means not accomplishing whatever goal he has in mind. Following from this, surely he would be able to tell and feel, as you say, that he's abandoning his family in the process of doing his mission and at least, AT LEAST, show that he's thinking about them in some way. The problem is...he hasn't. Because, unlike Naruto, Sakura and Salad are not a priority to him. He.just.doesn't.care.on.the.level.he's.supposed.to. I think that's the more accurate way to put it. I'm not trying to say if either of them were in danger he wouldn't help if he happened to be there or something like that.
He was married to Sakura to make a daughter for nH's son to marry. Kishimoto doesn't like the parring in part on how he originally wrote the pairing -that it was incredibly negative and wasn't suppose to happen-, and in part because Sakura and Sasuke are based of his wife and brother.