It's very clear that Kishimoto never thought about Naruto's heritage beyond '4th Hokage's son' through the 1st part of the story(and even that has some weak writing). Because if he did, there's no way Naruto wouldn't have heard of the Uzumaki Clan, the ally to the Senju, who's symbol all the high ranking ninja uniforms bear as a sign on honor and tribute. Add on the Kyubii host shit and it becomes a super mess.
Why? What's wrong with Kushina? Sure her presence in the story is kind of contrived bullshit, and God knows how she's telling the parts of her story she wasn't there for. It's not like Minato could tell her. However, the genuine heartfelt moments it creates outweigh the bullshittery, at least IMHO.
I only buy it because Naruto is kind of a dumbass when it comes to book smart things. I'm sure having the symbols on everyone's back only muddied the waters for him. Who knows, maybe he knew but simply never cared. We never really got him questioning anything about his parents, ever. Which is probably a bit of a missed opportunity.
It'd be fine if she was just Naruto's mom who he'd partly inherited her verbal tics and attitude from. But all the other nonsense like how she's from a secret uber-clan that was totally involed in every facet of Leaf Village history and nobody talked about them because they were all killed offscreen by wars or Obito's attack on the village or whatever, has a biological advantage of extra chakra, super-longevity and a bloodline technique of giant chakra chains that are super-effective against the Tailed Beasts, and every Uzumaki except conveniently Naruto is marked by having bright red hair which explains why Nagato was specificaly chosen to have Madara's eyeballs stuck in him and why Karin can asspull chakra chains to futilely attack the Gedo Mazo. AND Kushina was also the previous Kyuubi Jinchuriki before Naruto that grew up as a regular kunoichi without any stigma whatsoever, and also none of the villages actually mistreat their Jinchuriki it was just Danzo being evil that caused Naruto's mistreatment and Rasa was totally just practicing tough love and Gaara's mom and Yashamaru loved Gaara the entire time? No, fuck you, stop ruining your own story, why the fuck do we have to be stuck with you Kishimoto?
just disregard everything after pain
It would've been so much simpler if Kishimoto had gone for the justification Itachi used during Sasuke vs Itachi - that he only spared Sasuke so that he could one day steal Sasuke's eyes and obtain an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. But then Sasuke's character had been driven off a cliff ever since his reappearance post-timeskip, so it's obvious Kishimoto had no idea what to do with the most popular character in his manga except completely miss the point.
Nah, Sasuke's always been like that. He had Naruto around to keep him from getting too lost up his own ass. When he was alone with someone who believed in all that Uchiha superiority nonsense, he became full of himself. Deidara points out he shares that with his brother. Even before part 2, you see him all shitty because he wasn't where he thought he was yet. Itachi not even trying when he was almost dead was the funniest shit. He knew his brother would go batshit crazy if he found out the truth and made every precaution to keep him from an Uchiha moment.
Sasuke still had an attitude and streaks of both arrogance and insecurity, though. He didn't just want to kill Itachi for revenge on his clan's honor, he wanted to be just as good as his brother and overcome the inferiority complex he grew up having because of how Itachi and Fugaku treated him like the runt of the litter. The point of VotE was supposed to be Sasuke realizing he should be more than just the traumas and slights he's endured, and even if he's making deals with evil to accomplish his goals, he's decided not to become just another Itachi. Otherwise he would've killed Naruto then and there when he was standing over him contemplating making out.
if he were more than the trauma and slights, he wouldn't have gone to orochimaru in the first place
Yeah I guess Kushina is just another part of cascading issues, I just never had any issues with Kushina herself. She's such a blip on the story's radar and only exists to really milk some tear jerking moments. Other than that, I don't think she was ever meant to have any other role. The Uzumaki clan being granted any spot in the story seems like something Kishimoto kinda ass pulled and never put any thought into. Just like Hashirama cells.
hashirama cells are an active detriment
I didn't really have much of a problem with the Itachi plot twist. I just didn't like how they made him too OP and intelligent.
I really didn't like it when it was first revealed. Something about it didn't feel right to have Sasuke go through all this just to get nothing out of it except the knowledge that he killed his only true family left. Plus, we never get a good picture of what the hell Itachi's plan here was. What is he just supposed to die, send his brother back to the village and expect everything to be okay? Even if it's against his own will? The Akatsuki still isn't dealt with. It'll always be problem, and he knew Tobi would go after Sasuke. Plus, did he really expect Amaterasu to protect him? It's not like Itachi hasn't seen Kamui, I'm sure by now he has. I don't know why he thinks Amaterasu would work on Tobi. For someone so smart, it's a pretty dumb fucking plan.
izanagi saved him
I don't even like Pain that much. The name Pain in general always made me cringe when I was young and first heard it. I remember specifically saying when I first heard it "Really? That's what his name? That's so edgy and cringey.." and for the entire duration of his time in the manga at release, I called him Pein with the Japanese accent just so I wouldn't have to say Pain because it felt embarassing. It didn't help that at the time, the chakra receptors weren't revealed yet so to everyone else they just looked like REALLY 2EDGE3ME piercings.
This would've been 2007. The days when Death Note was one of the hottest things out there and everybody still loved being goth and listening to emo because humanity had yet to ruin the concepts of irony and honesty. Honestly it looks adorable compared to the modern trends of tye-dyeing everything pink and purple to demonstrate "allyship" to trannies.
it was supposed to prove Kakashi's point about revenge. In the end, by doing nothing but pursuing revenge, Sasuke alienated everyone close to him and became a borderline psychopath who views his own friends as expendable. If it weren't for Naruto, Sasuke would've just ended up as Madara 2.0.
