Yeah, I just wanted to do some commenting on the latest Naruto chapter. Of course a zillion other folks on DA do it, but since some rather interesting things went down this chapter, I thought I'd provide some feedback, most of which is my reply copied and pasted from a Naruto thread on another forum.

The Kage's are arguing amongst themselves. A lot of eyebrow-raising stuff gets said and while the feuding was enjoyable, what did it for me was Sai's speech to Sakura.

He just comes out and says that he knows Naruto loves Sakura. Why is this girl really surprised? Really. I mean, it was painfully obvious that Naruto liked Sakura since day one. Well Sai did say "love" and not "like" so I guess that's shy she looked shocked. Of course Naruto knows how she felt about Sasuke. Does she still feel the same? He's still trying to keep that promise, but, and this is where Sai really rips into Sakura, this promise that Naruto is trying to keep for her is causing him an ridiculous amount of agony. Of all the promises Naruto has made, this is, by far, the most difficult one to keep.

I love Sai. He's MVP of the year for that little speech he just laid on Sakura. Thank you, Sai. Thank you for coming out and saying what Naruto would ever admit: that Sasuke is causing Naruto pain and by extension, Sakura is also causing Naruto pain. DANG, SON! He kicked her when she was down! He was like *Sai slices her open* "Here, you pink hair-haird, breastless, violent psycho! Here's a big old bag a salt to go with those wounds. Let me rub it in for you. Get it in with those tears too."

And I'm with the rest of SRK. I don't outright hate Sakura, but screw her. Girl does not deserve Naruto. Hinata since day one has recognized Naruto for the worthwhile human being he is. It took Sakura YEARS to see that.

Now as for Naruto not approaching Hinata yet after her confession, in his defense, he may not know what to say to her. Remember when Gwen kissed Peter at the end of season 1 of Spectacular Spider-Man and he was dumbfounded? He felt so awkward around her that he had a hard time just speaking to her the way he used to. Naruto may feel uneasy around Hinata now as well.