Do you know why I hate Naruto? Not because of the shit story, or OP characters, but because of Naruto.
What happened to the boy yearning for affection? What happened to the boy always trying his best to be accepted? What happened to the boy who only acted out in the hope for any form of attention?
When did the mask become the real Naruto?
Part I...was amazing. I really enjoyed it. What was Akatsuki? What is Orochimaru truly planning? The Sasuke Retrieval arc was ****ing incredible. Sasuke and Naruto's convo at the Valley of the End still makes me grin like an idiot.
Sasuke: "What...what are you!"
Naruto: "I'm your friend!"
I practically grew up with Naruto, and seeing that determination as he drew upon the Fox's power was amazing. To know that he would dip into the power of a demon to save his friend...
Then Shippuden changed that.
Naruto became a total idiot. He learned practically nothing during the three year time skip. Instead of being wild demons, the Biju became connected. Sasuke became 'lol so stronk', and Naruto and Sakura did jack shit in actually trying to bring him back.
Orochimaru became a total ***** in the grand scheme of things. Oh, you thought the Snake Sannin was top shit? lol no he got neg dif by Itachi and everyone in Akatsuki can kick his ass kek zozzle.
Then the Biju became all secretly good guys, honest, and Naruto and Kyuubi became 'best buds 4ever'. Itachi secretly killed the clan to stop a coup de tat, which, while actually a pretty nice twist, doesn't quite explain why he continuously mind raped Sasuke. I personally prefer the explanation that Itachi never really considered the fact that Sasuke isn't like how he was at that age, and can't shrug off horrible mind rape.
Danzo was introduced, and while a total badass, he's ultimately just Kishi's scapegoat for explaining all the 'bad' (read: ninja) shit Konoha has done.
The entire 'Kumo wanted the Byakugan' is quietly dropped, being only mentioned once by Yamato. Also, for a guy who carries the genes of the First, nobody ****ing gives a shit about him.
What was once a series about following your dreams and never giving up turned into a series filled with lovely messages such as 'You can do anything as long as you're the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and have a loveable chakra entity living inside you'.