Yeah, after they revealed the bijuu have to be sealed in a certain order, I wondered why Itachi went after Naruto when he was supposed to be last. Like, were they going to keep him in their cave of weirdness? Still, what excuse did Itachi use to go to Konoha if he wasn't supposed to pick up Naruto yet?

Oh my god. This is too fucking cute. He has fucking blocks and a dinosaur stuffed animal.

I think Itachi had the best death (well, first round) of the series. I wonder how long he spent thinking about what last words to say to Sasuke.

Seriously though, terminal illness? That was not on any of our lists on how he'd die. I wonder what he had.

And Sasuke finally gets his own Bronx Science Eyes.

Who would've guessed some promise he made in front of Haku and Zabuza's graves would become to important.

I dunno. The fact that Sasuke had already released his sharingan but forgot how to seems to debase that moment he had with Haku and Naruto.

Kisame reminds a bit of Largo from Tales of the Abyss: A huge guy whom you would initially expect to be just the strongman that other people manipulate, but actually turns out to know more than anyone else in the group.

Yeah, I can't believe they went down so fast either. I think I've said this before, but remember when Akatsuki was the baddest shit on the block and we all had theories about them? And then they all just died. I think you can compare this to Full Metal Alchemist's homunculi. To the end that group was freaky and awe inspiring. No death there felt like a waste. I wish Akatsuki would've been like that too, but I guess the homunculi were the end game. There was no one beyond them and their father, so they could be the craziest fuckers all the way to the end. Kishimoto designed Akatsuki as a jumping pad for Madara, much like how Orochimaru became a jumping pad for Akatsuki. But then you have to wonder whether it should've been that way. Clearly we were not pleased with how the series progressed.

I make fun of Iruka in the popularity contests, but he really is a good man. He only pops up once every hundred chapters or so in the second part, but when he does you remember what a great influence he was on Naruto and how important he was to his development. (I freak out when I think I'm older than him now...)

I love how he remembers this conversation verbatim years later.

Shikamaru, you're supposed to be the smart one. Why would you think that was a nine? Literally every reader knew that was a ta the moment we saw it.

Seriously though, how the hell do you remember the first word on each page of your book is of the top of your head?

We all make fun of Sasuke, but then there are moments like this that give flashes of subtlety to his personality. Although he says and definitely acts like he's cut all ties, he does at times recall the moments of truth and friendship he had in the past. If only he could stop being stupid for about three minutes.

Can I just say I fucking love how the first time we meet A he's doing a bicep curl with a weight meant for bench pressing?

Definitely something Kishimoto came up with later. You have to wonder maybe if they had the Third's crystal ball whether that would be a better defense method. (How the fuck did that thing work??)

Fuck, I really wished they had to fuse that way. It would seriously make the fights for the rest of the series hilarious.