I recently found info on Road to Ninja on another site.
Its a summary of it.
Bear with me, its long
-The events of the movie take into account all the events of the manga up to when Naruto defeats Kyubi and meets his mother (for some strange reason, Naruto cannot use Bijuu mode due to Madera’s interference and the fact that Naruto hasn’t mastered it yet). After a strange run in with the Akatsuki, who have all been revived (the reason is actually very easy and fitting with cannon), Naruto and his friends return home after a successful mission in which they all walked away unscathed. While the rest of the Konoha 12 is congratulated, nobody is there to see Naruto. After seeing his friend’s parents tell their children they would be recommended for Jonin and after getting chewed out for butting his nose in the middle of heated argument between Sakura and her parents (which he honestly had coming), Naruto is feeling depressed because he has no one to tell him that. He tries to ask Iruka-sensei to recommend him only to be shot down. Iruka tells Naruto that just because he saved the village from Pain, it doesn’t put him above everyone else and if he wants to become Hokage one day he needs to do it the right way and become a Chunin first. Clearly this isn’t what Naruto wants to hear and after a heated argument, he storms off (he even refuses to eat ramen, which goes to show just how mad he is). For the first time we actually truly see that dark and jealous side of Naruto come out and more importantly, just how alone he really feels. While Iruka was right in handing down a verbal smack down and for calling him a brat, t is clear that nobody understands just how much Naruto yearns for his parents to be by his side and more importantly, to know that his achievements mean something to others.
Along the way he runs into Sakura, who is fighting with her parents. Sakura’s parents are presented as extremely overbearing. They want her to become a jonin and make a career in the hospital as opposed to being on the battle field. O course Sakura doesn’t want this because she wants to find Sasuke and drag his ass back to Konoha. After listening to her ranting, Naruto gets angry and tells Sakura off for how much she takes her family for granted. Sakura is surprised by this, but it isn’t long before Madera shows up at this point and after a brief battle, our two heros are thrown into a genjutsu world shaped by their heart’s desires.
This is where things get interesting. In this new world, Naruto’s parents survive while Sakura’s were the ones that died during the resealing of the Kyubi. Sakura’s father was the 4th Hokage. Despite being an orphan, everyone in the village treats Sakura with respect and reverence, which is completely different from how Naruto is treated.
This is where we get to the coolest and the weakest part of the movie: the inverted personalities. Sasuke is a ladies’ man and a serious playboy. Hinata is now a badass who is not afraid to beat the hell out of anyone else interested in Naruto (after suspecting Sakura was on a date with Naruto, she tells pinky just how much she wants to kill her which rightfully scares the crap out of Sakura. She then tells Naruto she will kill him if he even thinks about dating anyone else). Kiba and Akamaru hate each other because Kiba loves cats and smells like one, hence the reason for their animosity. Shino hates bugs; he carries around bug spray and takes several baths a day to rid himself of his clan’s insects. Shikamaru’s a goof, Choji is a serious shinobi and Ino is a recluse. Ten Ten is a diehard Rock Lee like shinobi, Neji is a pervert and Rock Lee, the most serious change of all, is now a girl pretending to be a boy. Kakashi is a serious go getter and Gai is lazy. Tsunade is a studious non alcoholic with little cleavage and Shizune is a well endowed alcoholic. Sai is a crappy overemotional artist. You can see where each character has changed and flipped around. It is really cool, but the problem is Kishimoto doesn’t really take advantage of these new characters. The focus of the story is placed more on Naruto and Sakura, which makes sense, but it is really a darn shame that Kishimoto and the studios couldn’t have given us more time with them.
However, the trade off is the story that he does focus on is really good. The main plot point of Road to Ninja is how Naruto and Sakura react to this world where they get everything they want. Sakura is actually the immature one for once as she revels in her new found freedom. Her parents are no longer begging her so she can do as she pleases and eat all the sweets she could ever want. The village thinks of her as this great ninja. Sasuke is back and more importantly he is flirting with her! How could she not be happy? It of course doesn’t last for long and soon, Sakura comes to understand why Naruto was angry earlier. She realizes just how much she loves her parents and after seeing lover boy Sasuke in action (she catches the bastard with other girls), she comes to understand what really matters. This is actually without a doubt the best character development Sakura has had…well, ever, which leaves us wondering why this hasn’t been anywhere in the manga.
Naruto in the meantime is determined to get out of this illusion. He is pissed off that Madera is using his own insecurities and his own desire to be with his parents against him. Even when Minato and Kushina enter the picture, Naruto is quick to be on the defensive. He treats Kushina and Minato with such anger and contempt that the parents don’t have a clue what is wrong with their son. He knows that this isn’t real and wants to deny it even though his heart wants to give in. It isn’t until a near fatal mission to retrieve the last intel from Jiraiya (who has a brief role before dying once again) that Naruto begins to let down his guard and embrace the illusion.
That of course leads to a conflict between Sakura and Naruto. After seeing Naruto happy in a way she has never seen before, Sakura feels terrible about what he has been through and despite knowing that this new world isn’t real or that she might be alone forever, she also doesn’t want to take all this away from Naruto. It isn’t a romantic development, but for the first time you actually do get the feeling that she does care about him. Of course Naruto is so busy and happy that he doesn’t want to be around Sakura because it makes him feel guilty about living his life for once. All of this is the major highlight of the film.
Of course, all good things cannot last as the mysterious masked man who is mentioned throughout the film finally shows up and lays waste to Konoha Shinra Tensei style. While it isn’t Tobi or Pain behind the mask you should be able to figure out who it is the first time you hear his voice (and if you don’t want to wait, you can likely figure it out without me spoiling it). With a group of nine mysterious beasts at his command, the masked man kicks some serious ass before sneering at Naruto about how weak he really is despite possessing such power. After Sakura is kidnapped, Naruto finally comes to his senses as his parents beg him not to go after her. He understands that despite the fact that he never got to be with his parents and experience all the loving memories that his friends received, their will exists within him and helped him become the man he is now. Just because they weren’t with him all the time doesn’t mean that he was ever truly alone. After saying his goodbyes, Naruto dons a very familiar haori and goes off to kick some ass.
I won’t spoil much of the rest because I want to leave some surprises. Naruto fights the villain with some help of some unexpected and truly awesome allies (hint: they used to be his enemies in the real world) culminating in a tailed beast battle that is on par with the recent chapters. After this, we get to see a taste of things to come as Madera engages Sakura and Naruto in a two on one battle that is actually not to be bad (Sakura is decent, but nowhere near as cool as when she fought Sasori). Then after returning, we see Naruto and Sakura make amends with the people they hurt earlier in the film.
Its a summary of it.
Bear with me, its long
-The events of the movie take into account all the events of the manga up to when Naruto defeats Kyubi and meets his mother (for some strange reason, Naruto cannot use Bijuu mode due to Madera’s interference and the fact that Naruto hasn’t mastered it yet). After a strange run in with the Akatsuki, who have all been revived (the reason is actually very easy and fitting with cannon), Naruto and his friends return home after a successful mission in which they all walked away unscathed. While the rest of the Konoha 12 is congratulated, nobody is there to see Naruto. After seeing his friend’s parents tell their children they would be recommended for Jonin and after getting chewed out for butting his nose in the middle of heated argument between Sakura and her parents (which he honestly had coming), Naruto is feeling depressed because he has no one to tell him that. He tries to ask Iruka-sensei to recommend him only to be shot down. Iruka tells Naruto that just because he saved the village from Pain, it doesn’t put him above everyone else and if he wants to become Hokage one day he needs to do it the right way and become a Chunin first. Clearly this isn’t what Naruto wants to hear and after a heated argument, he storms off (he even refuses to eat ramen, which goes to show just how mad he is). For the first time we actually truly see that dark and jealous side of Naruto come out and more importantly, just how alone he really feels. While Iruka was right in handing down a verbal smack down and for calling him a brat, t is clear that nobody understands just how much Naruto yearns for his parents to be by his side and more importantly, to know that his achievements mean something to others.
Along the way he runs into Sakura, who is fighting with her parents. Sakura’s parents are presented as extremely overbearing. They want her to become a jonin and make a career in the hospital as opposed to being on the battle field. O course Sakura doesn’t want this because she wants to find Sasuke and drag his ass back to Konoha. After listening to her ranting, Naruto gets angry and tells Sakura off for how much she takes her family for granted. Sakura is surprised by this, but it isn’t long before Madera shows up at this point and after a brief battle, our two heros are thrown into a genjutsu world shaped by their heart’s desires.
This is where things get interesting. In this new world, Naruto’s parents survive while Sakura’s were the ones that died during the resealing of the Kyubi. Sakura’s father was the 4th Hokage. Despite being an orphan, everyone in the village treats Sakura with respect and reverence, which is completely different from how Naruto is treated.
This is where we get to the coolest and the weakest part of the movie: the inverted personalities. Sasuke is a ladies’ man and a serious playboy. Hinata is now a badass who is not afraid to beat the hell out of anyone else interested in Naruto (after suspecting Sakura was on a date with Naruto, she tells pinky just how much she wants to kill her which rightfully scares the crap out of Sakura. She then tells Naruto she will kill him if he even thinks about dating anyone else). Kiba and Akamaru hate each other because Kiba loves cats and smells like one, hence the reason for their animosity. Shino hates bugs; he carries around bug spray and takes several baths a day to rid himself of his clan’s insects. Shikamaru’s a goof, Choji is a serious shinobi and Ino is a recluse. Ten Ten is a diehard Rock Lee like shinobi, Neji is a pervert and Rock Lee, the most serious change of all, is now a girl pretending to be a boy. Kakashi is a serious go getter and Gai is lazy. Tsunade is a studious non alcoholic with little cleavage and Shizune is a well endowed alcoholic. Sai is a crappy overemotional artist. You can see where each character has changed and flipped around. It is really cool, but the problem is Kishimoto doesn’t really take advantage of these new characters. The focus of the story is placed more on Naruto and Sakura, which makes sense, but it is really a darn shame that Kishimoto and the studios couldn’t have given us more time with them.
However, the trade off is the story that he does focus on is really good. The main plot point of Road to Ninja is how Naruto and Sakura react to this world where they get everything they want. Sakura is actually the immature one for once as she revels in her new found freedom. Her parents are no longer begging her so she can do as she pleases and eat all the sweets she could ever want. The village thinks of her as this great ninja. Sasuke is back and more importantly he is flirting with her! How could she not be happy? It of course doesn’t last for long and soon, Sakura comes to understand why Naruto was angry earlier. She realizes just how much she loves her parents and after seeing lover boy Sasuke in action (she catches the bastard with other girls), she comes to understand what really matters. This is actually without a doubt the best character development Sakura has had…well, ever, which leaves us wondering why this hasn’t been anywhere in the manga.
Naruto in the meantime is determined to get out of this illusion. He is pissed off that Madera is using his own insecurities and his own desire to be with his parents against him. Even when Minato and Kushina enter the picture, Naruto is quick to be on the defensive. He treats Kushina and Minato with such anger and contempt that the parents don’t have a clue what is wrong with their son. He knows that this isn’t real and wants to deny it even though his heart wants to give in. It isn’t until a near fatal mission to retrieve the last intel from Jiraiya (who has a brief role before dying once again) that Naruto begins to let down his guard and embrace the illusion.
That of course leads to a conflict between Sakura and Naruto. After seeing Naruto happy in a way she has never seen before, Sakura feels terrible about what he has been through and despite knowing that this new world isn’t real or that she might be alone forever, she also doesn’t want to take all this away from Naruto. It isn’t a romantic development, but for the first time you actually do get the feeling that she does care about him. Of course Naruto is so busy and happy that he doesn’t want to be around Sakura because it makes him feel guilty about living his life for once. All of this is the major highlight of the film.
Of course, all good things cannot last as the mysterious masked man who is mentioned throughout the film finally shows up and lays waste to Konoha Shinra Tensei style. While it isn’t Tobi or Pain behind the mask you should be able to figure out who it is the first time you hear his voice (and if you don’t want to wait, you can likely figure it out without me spoiling it). With a group of nine mysterious beasts at his command, the masked man kicks some serious ass before sneering at Naruto about how weak he really is despite possessing such power. After Sakura is kidnapped, Naruto finally comes to his senses as his parents beg him not to go after her. He understands that despite the fact that he never got to be with his parents and experience all the loving memories that his friends received, their will exists within him and helped him become the man he is now. Just because they weren’t with him all the time doesn’t mean that he was ever truly alone. After saying his goodbyes, Naruto dons a very familiar haori and goes off to kick some ass.
I won’t spoil much of the rest because I want to leave some surprises. Naruto fights the villain with some help of some unexpected and truly awesome allies (hint: they used to be his enemies in the real world) culminating in a tailed beast battle that is on par with the recent chapters. After this, we get to see a taste of things to come as Madera engages Sakura and Naruto in a two on one battle that is actually not to be bad (Sakura is decent, but nowhere near as cool as when she fought Sasori). Then after returning, we see Naruto and Sakura make amends with the people they hurt earlier in the film.
