CrabappleRed
Frankly, I'm disapointed at them both, and at Kishi, but I can see why he would set things up this way. Naruto is the hero, and heros aren't generaly supposed to kill people. Cuz that's Bad. And Sasuke can't kill people for Orochimaru, because that is also Bad, and Sasuke is supposed to be a Tragic Dark Hero Who Avenges His Familly, but not a murderer. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke ever gets ahold of Itachi, he lets him walk. And Itahci commits seppuku because he's finally found someone stronger.
In fact, I'm calling that now for the ending of Naruto. Everyone take note! Sasuke will get Itachi at his mercy, and let him walk.
If Kishi was realistic, Naruto would get blood on his hands. I understand if he didn't want to go through the whole, "Omg-This-Is-My-First-Time-Killing-Someone and I'm-Going-Through-a-Phase-of-Shock-and-to-Come-To-Terms-with-my-Situation and that I-must-kill-sometimes" for Naruto, but come on. Naruto could have(Should have) killed people during his training, unless Jiraiya was coddling him. Which he shouldn't be. It wasn't all nice 'let's train in a nice, warm, safe dojo', it was more life-threatening, ne? So Naruto SHOULD have killed SOMEONE if this was more realistic.
But you make a good point of the ending. Sasuke'd 'come-to-terms' with revenge and crap, like Kakashi tried to teach him pre-betraying-Konoha, and he'd let Itachi go. Itachi would, Iuno, go into a limbo or something o.0 Who knows, he might commit seppuku like you said, or something. Somehow, I just can't imagine Itachi committing seppuku...and I still can't imagine Sasuke defeating him either. I still get this image of him as a little boy, attacking his older brother in rage, not calm and collected like he is now. Huh, maybe instead of Sasuke defeating Itachi and Sasuke going through a whole phase of I-Finally-Beat-Him, maybe Itachi will die or something in some other way and Sasuke will not be able to defeat him and 'avenge' his clan. Sasuke would then go through a "He's-Gone-and-It's -not-through-my-hands" thing and a "I-must-live-life-through" crap. I dunno. Kishi's unpredictable, but lately, I get this feeling that he's been reading fanfiction...first Oro-chan's death, then Karin? Sheesh...
And you know, Kishi's interpertation of 'ninja' has gone way off the chart. At the beginning, it made it seem like he made an effort to keep it along the traditional ninja way- you know, all that 'self-sacrifice' and 'committing yourself to the mission'. That's how it was with real ninja. But real ninja do NOT wear bright orange or had bright pink hair (inconspicuous, see?) or showed THAT amount of emotion, or were found that easily and for such mundane chores. Kishi's term of 'ninja' has been twisted to his version. Nothing wrong with that, but it just isn't ninja strictly. The only plausible theme is the jutsu, and even those have gone awry. At first the bunshin jutsu, body replacement, ect, those were traditional, but now 'rasengan', 'chidori', 'kuchiyose', ect.
Wedding ring, wedding band, engagement crap, whatever the term, she was clearly involved with Asuma, and yes, it's his child. Fighting about it wouldn't change Kishi's mind, or the manga that has already been released out into the wild.
