This could be regarded as the end of Naruto part I. Starts with Kakashi and Naruto returning to the village. The kid is barely awake, and then members of the medical team of Konoha inform them about what happened to the rest of the team: Shikamaru is ok, Kiba is injured but not seriously, while Choji and Neji are critically injured. When asked about Sasuke, Kakashi simply denies, implying that he's gone for good. Back at Konoha, first is showed how Neji and Choji are treated. Tsunade uses an old medicine book from the Nara's family, and thanks to Choji's family, she manages to create the cure for the red pill, that left Choji close to death. Shizune and a team "operate" Neji for 3 hs and save his life. But the best part of all this is how Shikamaru handles the result of the mission. While waiting, Temari is there with him, and they discuss, he thinks everything is his fault, that he's not meant to be a shinobi, that he should quit. She criticizes him for giving up, saying that he's a man who is not used to fail. Still, he wants to avoid her words, tries to quit, but his father Shikaku manages to comfort him: his teammates will have more missions in the future, and sometimes they will fail, so what does he wants? To quit and leave them like a coward, or to learn from his mistakes and guide them to a succesful mission? When they learn that Neji and Choji were healed, and that Kakashi brought back Naruto safe, Shikamaru cries and finally says "the next one will be perfect". This scene was excellent. The mission didn't turn out well, and was Shikamaru's first as a Chunin, so he felt terrible. But worst because Choji is his best friend, and he thinks that he almost got him killed. He couldn't live with that. Temari wouldn't understand this, and she used the wrong words. She had good intentions, she wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how. It's just a detail, but was good that she was present considering their future together. Anyway, the best person to help Shikamaru was his father, he used the perfect words, with the right tone. Next time, promise it will be different. Also, Tsunade said that the mission was a failure but this is not entirely true. If it wasn't by the team, Orochimaru already would have Sasuke's body. Instead, the delay was big, so the villain used another person. And anyway, if Tsunade decided not to send a more skilled and experienced team, she is partially responsible for not retrieving Sasuke back. Seems like she decided that it wasn't worth it, same as Kakashi, who chose to return instead of continue. Shikamaru did his best, the character is brilliant.
Then, Naruto is visited by Shikamaru, who tells him that the rest of the team is safe. Sakura and Ino visit their teammates. Naruto tells that Sasuke's gone, so when Sakura hears this she stays frozen. Tsunade arrives to check on Naruto, who recovers well thanks to the Tailed Fox inside him. Sakura enters, and tries to ignore Naruto's sadness. He feels bad for the promise, and even Shikamaru tells how hard he tried. But Sakura already understands better than anyone, she saw Naruto in bandages, and wants to release him from the promise. He's sorry and insists but she says it's ok. Sadly, the stubborn kid says he doesn't give up his word, that he'll bring Sasuke back. Everyone smiles. Here there are some important things to note. Shikamaru and Naruto saw Sakura crying the day they left, so they think they failed. Naruto especially (because he kind of loves her), wants to see her happy, so he wants to keep his promise, but also because he's really stubborn. But Sakura saw what happened, it's implied that when she was with Ino, she learned how serious were Choji, Neji, and then she saw how injured was Naruto. She realized that she did wrong, so she intended to take back the promise. She kindly joked to Naruto while saying he looked like a mummy, and happily opened the window saying it's a beautiful day. She was pretending but she was worried about her friend, and she saw the result of the mission. This is important, because this is not the same Sakura. These events made her grow up. As for Naruto, well, a while later, Jiraiya appears and tells him that Sasuke will be safe for 3 years. He also tries to reason with him, Sasuke is not his friend, he left him on this injured state, and left with Orochimaru because he wanted. He has to let it go, forget about him. Jiraiya tried years ago to change Orochimaru's mind, but he never could, there was nothing he could do. Still, the protagonist of this story is an idiot, and keeps saying thay he may be a dumb but he will bring Sasuke back. Jiraiya then focuses on training him when he leaves the hospital, because the Akatsuki will come back for him in 3 years. Sadly, Naruto is still a kid. And worst, he's stubborn. He doesn't understand that he can't change Sasuke's mind. He is not thinking in the position of the Uchiha. He's somehow whimsy. Fortunately, by the end of this part, even if it's not that clear, he forgets about Sasuke, because between this end and the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto clears his mind and thinks about other things. He grows up a little in 3 years. But his obsession, sooner or later, returns in Shippuden. Why?? Kishimoto knows. I mention this, because the promise goes all around too much time during Shippuden, even though Sakura tried to release him more than once. The desire to make things like they were before Sasuke's departure becomes an obsession. Unrealistic. It's not bad that Naruto is persistent, that he usually never quits, but this story should have taught him, and the viewer, that sometimes, things are not that simple. Like in Shikamaru's case, it's ok to fail a mission. But learn from it and try again the next time. Naruto should have learned that too. He failed with Sasuke, well, learn from it, accept defeat, and try to prevent any other person from going through that again. Save the person who wants to be saved. For example, Konohamaru is a character who deserved more time with Naruto on screen. He lost his grandpa, and surely his parents, so Naruto should have become a brother to him. If the anime/manga would have focused more in other things than Sasuke, it would have been more succesful.
To finish, the episode ends with the Akatsuki. Deidara and Nagato appear, along Itachi, Kisame and the rest. They mention that Sasuke went with Orochimaru, but for some reason, Itachi is not worried. And they tell they look all of them, obviously referring to the 9 tailed beasts including Gaara's Shukaku and Naruto's Kurama. Not a bad way to end this part, it shows the main enemy of Shippuden.
Then, Naruto is visited by Shikamaru, who tells him that the rest of the team is safe. Sakura and Ino visit their teammates. Naruto tells that Sasuke's gone, so when Sakura hears this she stays frozen. Tsunade arrives to check on Naruto, who recovers well thanks to the Tailed Fox inside him. Sakura enters, and tries to ignore Naruto's sadness. He feels bad for the promise, and even Shikamaru tells how hard he tried. But Sakura already understands better than anyone, she saw Naruto in bandages, and wants to release him from the promise. He's sorry and insists but she says it's ok. Sadly, the stubborn kid says he doesn't give up his word, that he'll bring Sasuke back. Everyone smiles. Here there are some important things to note. Shikamaru and Naruto saw Sakura crying the day they left, so they think they failed. Naruto especially (because he kind of loves her), wants to see her happy, so he wants to keep his promise, but also because he's really stubborn. But Sakura saw what happened, it's implied that when she was with Ino, she learned how serious were Choji, Neji, and then she saw how injured was Naruto. She realized that she did wrong, so she intended to take back the promise. She kindly joked to Naruto while saying he looked like a mummy, and happily opened the window saying it's a beautiful day. She was pretending but she was worried about her friend, and she saw the result of the mission. This is important, because this is not the same Sakura. These events made her grow up. As for Naruto, well, a while later, Jiraiya appears and tells him that Sasuke will be safe for 3 years. He also tries to reason with him, Sasuke is not his friend, he left him on this injured state, and left with Orochimaru because he wanted. He has to let it go, forget about him. Jiraiya tried years ago to change Orochimaru's mind, but he never could, there was nothing he could do. Still, the protagonist of this story is an idiot, and keeps saying thay he may be a dumb but he will bring Sasuke back. Jiraiya then focuses on training him when he leaves the hospital, because the Akatsuki will come back for him in 3 years. Sadly, Naruto is still a kid. And worst, he's stubborn. He doesn't understand that he can't change Sasuke's mind. He is not thinking in the position of the Uchiha. He's somehow whimsy. Fortunately, by the end of this part, even if it's not that clear, he forgets about Sasuke, because between this end and the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto clears his mind and thinks about other things. He grows up a little in 3 years. But his obsession, sooner or later, returns in Shippuden. Why?? Kishimoto knows. I mention this, because the promise goes all around too much time during Shippuden, even though Sakura tried to release him more than once. The desire to make things like they were before Sasuke's departure becomes an obsession. Unrealistic. It's not bad that Naruto is persistent, that he usually never quits, but this story should have taught him, and the viewer, that sometimes, things are not that simple. Like in Shikamaru's case, it's ok to fail a mission. But learn from it and try again the next time. Naruto should have learned that too. He failed with Sasuke, well, learn from it, accept defeat, and try to prevent any other person from going through that again. Save the person who wants to be saved. For example, Konohamaru is a character who deserved more time with Naruto on screen. He lost his grandpa, and surely his parents, so Naruto should have become a brother to him. If the anime/manga would have focused more in other things than Sasuke, it would have been more succesful.
To finish, the episode ends with the Akatsuki. Deidara and Nagato appear, along Itachi, Kisame and the rest. They mention that Sasuke went with Orochimaru, but for some reason, Itachi is not worried. And they tell they look all of them, obviously referring to the 9 tailed beasts including Gaara's Shukaku and Naruto's Kurama. Not a bad way to end this part, it shows the main enemy of Shippuden.
