Diadochi

Here's the main number-one problem with Sasuke Uchiha: contrary to popular belief, his overall worth as a character to the entire story is extremely miniscule at best. Let me explain.

Firstly, he is very one-dimensional and lives for only one purpose - to kill Itachi (he even said so himself). Now, people can make the argument that other characters like Rock Lee and Neji are one-dimensional as well because they too only strived for one purpose: to prove that someone can be a splendid ninja with taijutsu alone and to rebel against the idea of subservience. But this is where they're wrong: even though Lee and Neji's goals can be viewed as being straight-forward, the very essence of their objectives coincided with one of the overall themes of the story itself (perseverance). Sasuke's one goal, vengeance, does not coincide with any of the values that the manga tried to push. Basically, not only was Sasuke one-dimensional, but his only goal didn't contribute anything to push the story forward.

Secondly, Sasuke is very unoriginal. He is supposed to represent an "arch-Naruto" had Naruto internalized his pain of loneliness and festered it into hatred. The problem with this lies in the fact that it's already been done with Haku first, then Gaara (the best "arch-Naruto"), and lastly Obito. The other reason why he's unoriginal stems from his newly formed desire to destroy Konoha after Itachi's death. Again, we've seen other characters strive for the same thing: Orochimaru and Pain (who actually succeeded, thus making Sasuke's mission void of any validity). Once Itachi died, Sasuke's journey was over. He had no purpose left within the story. If I was Kishi, I would've had Sasuke die together with Itachi. But by forcibly extending his worth past it's expiration date, not only does the story suffer (repetition of generic goals), but other characters suffer as well (the return of Sakura's infatuation).

A bit off topic, but this is just awesome: NS + Baccano! = Pure Epicness (plus it'll help lighten the mood)

 

It won't like you.... (taking momentanealy a break from the forced pause of translating anything regarding Naruto world for this stupid answer from the king of retcons).
 
Q: Although it has been suggested there are two children that he had from Hinata in the last story, I wonder when it was been decided more or less the marriage between Naruto and Hinata?
 
MK: I chose Hinata for a long time. Even if I had a period where I was hesitant about whether or not exchange her with Sakura, she would be a woman too sever, as might be expected (ahaah). Moreover, Sakura actually loves wholeheartedly Sasuke.

Everytime Kishi is interviewed, whatever he says doesn't match what he's done in the manga. Lol, it's really weird. Not too long ago, he also said that Sasuke was pure... Sasuke is not pure. He's been corrupted by a world system that forced his brother to kill their family. He hasn't been "pure" since childhood. And now this thing about Sakura being too severe. In my mind, a manga-ka can do whatever he wants in his story because, I don't know, it's his own story. If Kishi thought Sakura was too severe, why not change her? He is the creator. Plus, it wouldn't feel like an asspull or look OOC for Sakura to change because "a violent woman being tender to the man she loves" has already been built upon. When Kishi says stuff like this, I get the feeling his fans know more about his characters than he himself.

Ever since their "cigarette kiss", I knew Revy and Rock were going to be a done deal. 

 

I knew it would end with kunoichi becoming housewives, NS or not  Sakura was bound to be a housewife. LOL

Maybe so, but better to be a stay at home mom for someone like Naruto than for Sasuke (even if Sasuke is my favorite character). And you should be able to have whatever signature you want and shouldn't have to change it for anyone.

I said I wouldn't participate anymore, but as expected I love this place too much. So I'll just stay to give my input. 
And here is something I've noticed. Since the chapter was released I read several times here how Naruto doesn't trat his son well enough, not happy etc.... And the same for Sasuke who leaves his kids and all. 
Well here is something that proves that theses kids are well cherished by their parents: 
I saw the raw of some pages and:

• Boruto calls his father 父ちゃん"tou-chan" which is a very affectionate way to call your father, like Naruto calls Minato. 
• Himawari calls Hinata ママ"mama" which is an even more affectionate to call your parents. 
• Sarada, she calls her parents ママ"mama" and パパ"papa" as Himawari, it proves that she loves very much her parents and that she's very attached to them. 

 
So now, I don't know if it was convincing enough, but the truth is that it shows how these families are happy, at least their kids, but I'm sure that their parents are as happy as them.

I understand where you're coming from Kaguya-hime, and I agree with your mindset: it's better to accept reality and move on. I'll accept the fact that this is the ending that Kishi has chosen and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. But what I won't accept is me trying to convince my better judgement that maybe this was a good ending. It was not a good ending. It was misogynistic and disgusting and I found it degrading towards women. When a person threatens your life and the lives of everyone you love and then try's to kill you on multiple occasions, and regards your entire human worth as useless, you really shouldn't end up marrying that person and starting a family with them. I understand that forgiveness is important, and it's okay to forgive but it's never okay to forget. So what Kishi did to Sakura is disgusting and I'll never accept that this was the right course of action for her. I only wanted the best for her and when I saw her genuinely being happy and smiling all the time when she was around Naruto, I logically thought that they should end up together. So even if Kishi portrays Sakura as "happy" with her new family within the manga, I know realistically she wouldn't be. But it's not only Sakura but all the females have been reduced to nothing but housewives. This is what people mean when they say that Kishi is sexist. I personally don't believe that he's sexist, but just very traditional in the sense of Japanese culture. But that isn't the way things are in Japan anymore. It's 2014 and he should evolve with the times.

As much as it pains me, I handle NH. But anything but SS. NH already crosses the realm of reality, but anything but SS. The misogyny that has run rampant enough in this series borders on the insanity, but to have Sakura end up with Sasuke, the guy who almost took her life away twice, would be the last straw for me. I'd wipe the memory of this series from my mind and forget I ever read it. I mean what kind of message does that send, especially since this is a shonen and the majority of Kishi's readership is impressionable pre-teens.

I just saw the summary about more Hinata wank in the series. And I'm very, very annoyed. Prepare for LAP.
 
The "love" aspect apparently has a lot about Hinata's feelings in this. I was somewhat tolerant at this at first but when I saw to just what extent ... Why? Of all things, why are we getting the last Naruto movie about Hinata's regrets and whining about how she's not closer to Naruto? It's been three year freakin' years. The girl should've moved on with her life after the IT was released or at least stop openly pining after him such like this.
 
All his Hinata and "NH" attention feels so contrived. Hinata gives him a scarf just because she saw he used to have one with flashback that was never in the manga. Not the mention Naruto's weird scarf thing with scarves now ... when the kitten did Naruto ever wear scarves until this movie? Why was Hanabi, a character that was nearly nonexistent, kidnapped by a random villain who also for some reason is interested in kidnapping Hinata? All this just feels like an excuse to make Hinata relevant and pretty piss poor ones at that.
 
Whether NH really is meant to be canon from this or for love triangle drama/giving Hinata closure, either way it is coming off painfully forced. There shouldn't be a "love triangle" anymore. I don't see any reason that Hinata couldn't have prepared to move on after the IT. It certainly would've been better for her character development and for the plot of the movie. Why does Kishi insist on destroying what little potential she has for the sake of pairings? Why does he keep shoving her feelings in our faces when it's never amounted anywhere for  most of the series and probably even more so in this movie?
 
This emphasis on Hinata's feelings is so unnecessary. I am tired of "Naruto-kunning" and tired of her being like a lovesick teenager for absolutely no good reason. I just want Hinata to develop but at this point even when she does get her closure with Naruto it will still look bad. God, does Kishi realize just how repetitive he makes her?!
 
This overblown focus on Hinata's feelings for Naruto in this movie just makes me sick. When I first heard about love, I expected it to be about the main character finally getting the girl he loves. Instead we get a side character's love seemingly at the front and center over Naruto's.
 
I'm sorry, but I couldn't care less about Hinata's love problems when we have a MC that still needs more focus on his own resolution. And what makes it worse is their making Hinata's love so ridiculously sympathetic. Seriously, just looking at the summary gives me the impression we should root for Hinata to be with Naruto instead of Naruto winning over Sakura because reasons.
 
I thought we're supposed to support Naruto here, not make it look like a side character's feelings are more important. I guess Kishimoto must've renamed the series "Hinata" and I just wasn't informed.

I feel the same way. What I wanna know is what possibly could have compelled Kishi into making a movie centered around Hinata? For 700 chapters, he's completely neglected and ignored her. In fact, she's MIA even as the story is 2 chapters away from its finale. So why the sudden interest now? I'll say this not as an NS fan, but as a rational person, Hinata's "big role" in this movie is illogical. Proof? What subplot in this story has Hinata been a contributing factor in? Exactly. Now, what subplot has Sakura been a contributing factor in? The Poal - a subplot that has lasted for a majority of the series, which also just recently resurfaced. The thing that bothers me the most though is that, it feels like Kishi did this on a whim. To have an under-developed character (Kishi's own fault) bare no weight to the overall story and yet have them magically become the central character in a movie that functions as an epilogue to a major work is bat-kitten insane.

... Plus I don't like Hinata stealing Sakura's thunder. She could never replace Sakura.

One thing I've noticed is that, Hinata hasn't been mentioned or heard of since 677. That was 20 chapters ago. It would just seem really odd for her to be absent for that long, but still manages to get with Naruto in the last chapter? Even for Kishi, it doesn't seem right. A couple of years from now, some people aren't gonna know that there's a movie that functions as a bridge between 698 and 699, and if The Last is supposed to tell us how Hinata ended up with Naruto, they couldn't possibly comprehend how NH became canon and I think Kishi is aware of this.

yes. it's all possible. Naruto is talking to a his peer or lower person.

When all three quotes were released, I got a feeling that they were all connected somehow: Kakashi saying that he believes in his subordinates (one of them being Naruto), Sasuke saying he has no choice but to protect someone (Kakashi), and Naruto saying he's got something he absolutely must say to someone and to wait for him (Sasuke?). It just seems weird to have two quotes that have nothing to do with romance, yet have one that is? In Japanese, without shipping goggles, did you get the feeling that what Naruto said sounded romantic? I think one of the words Naruto said was omae, and I remember you said that omae is rarely used in Japanese society because it's really rude.

I know we all thought the movie is going to be canon, but the plot really sounds like filler to me. Just like the other movies.

If your looking for something that might lift you're spirits, of if you're just interested in having a good read, I highly recommend you check out KnS' The Wilderness. If by some chance NS doesn't happen, I'd honestly be okay with this as an alternative. That's how good it is.

What Part II needed was balance. You just can't disregard 90% of your cast because, as we all know, it's hard making a story enjoyable to read with just two characters. That's why it's called the "supporting" cast, cause sometimes your main protagonist can't always be in the center of the spotlight, and other characters pick up the slack for him/her. Both Naruto and Bleach suffer from this but in two completely different ways. To some people, the character of Naruto has become rather dull and boring precisely because his presence has been overused, but when the plot shifts focus to lesser characters, like Shikamaru in the Hidan & Kakazu arc, it comes off as a breath of fresh air. But that's the problem. It shouldn't feel like a breath of fresh, it should feel natural to see a supporting character get at least some development.

In Bleach, it's the opposite. Many people find the story enjoyable only when the main character: Ichigo, is in the spotlight because when he isn't, it's supporting cast isn't strong enough to keep the readers interest. They just aren't entertaining. It's all about balance.

I don't get how people think this fight is over. On the last page, the editorial note said that: "the message got across and they both understand, but even so". That clearly says to me that Naruto & Sasuke now fully understand their bond (the bromance was strong in this chapter) nevertheless they'll continue their battle.