Alright, I was thinking back to the Wave Country arc, and realized that during that time, this series was deep. It was just starting out and Kishimoto had a lot going in regards to the plot, even though it was not really all thought out yet.

The relationship between the 3 Gennin and Kakashi was very well done. Naruto being jealous of Sasuke, Sakura having a crush on Sasuke, and Sasuke's mysterious motives were yet to be fully revealed to us, so he was/is damn cool.

Then their is the whole thing with Kaiza saving the village, then Gatto really tearing him up to make an example out of him. We haven't seen anything that [i]demented[/i for quite some time.

Then their is the friendship between Naruto and Inari. It wasn't very complicated, but tell me you didn't almost shed a tear at the conclusion of the Wave Country Arc, especially when you saw it animated.

To top it all of we have the entire Tool Called Shinobi thing between Haku and Zabuza. A complicated and a bit confusing relationship which Kishimoto has still not come close to developing again.

I am not sure if anyone else is with me, but I think he wussed out on us.

Their are times where he has come close to this level of manga quality like:

Tsunade's Phobia
Itachi/Sasuke Flashback
Sandaime's Family Speech while fighting Orochimaru.
Chouji's Sacrafice-Shikamaru's friendship
Neji's hatred for the Hyuga

All good storylines, but I don't feel the same way for them as I do for the stuff that happened in Wave Country.

But really, I still don't think that the depth of this series is up to par with the Wave County Arc.

Especially the recent "Lets chase Sasuke in a barrel through the woods for 4 months" thing. Sure people are going all suicide and stuff, but it just seems like taking the easy way out.

I don't know, perhaps this is just because the Wave Country arc was the first, it will always be the one to top in my mind.

Let me know what you think.