Hi Ramen! Good to see you again! Congrats on life, marriage and a daughter! That's wonderful!
I think every NS fan understands where you're coming from. Not pathetic at all. It was incredibly disappointing. And I'm sure lots of people walked away from the series/fandom feeling completely used, if that makes any sense. Like they put in all this time and hope and energy into this story, and it ended so unsatisfactorily for every ship, and for the characters themselves. I mean, it's not like we're all on this site saying 'Yeah, I guess I could see NH happening. And Naruto wanted it too, so I'll go along with it.' Lol - that didn't happen!! So I'm sure there are lots more people who left the fandom the moment they read the last page, and in anger, just never came back. Not to any NS forums, not to finish stories or art, not to anything. They just dropped it. Remember that guy who burned all his Naruto manga? lol Ouch!!
Anyway, it was terribly disappointing. It still is. I just think of it as an unfinished story. Naruto's journey never came full circle, let alone the pairings just turning into a joke. So I think it's completely natural that writers have to wait till they have some distance from the series before they start back on their own stories again. And yeah, life definitely can overwhelm writing time. Especially with a job and a child!! I feel ya!
On the flip side, there are still people coming here, there are still people talking about Naruto, and there are still lots and lots of people reading the ffs. Even creating new ones! So that makes me feel better, that there are a lot of people still around that are like me, thinking of Naruto as an unfinished story. And now it's up to the other creations ffs, fan comics, and art to become the ending of the Naruto series for me.
It's so good to finish your stories. It's hard to move on to others when you still have them open. So I whole-heartedly support you finishing the ones you still feel strong about, and doing it for yourself. And you'll probably be surprised how many fans are still lurking around, rooting for you to finish too.
Hang in there! Glad to see you back!
Thank you for your kind words.