I've lost a lot of faith in Naruto, and the characters don't need to be older to have a darker/more serious story, see Full Metal Alchemist as an example. (once you get past the 'fun' in the first few episodes of FMA, it gradually gets darker and darker, great stuff [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] ).

Naruto just seems to drag the stories out more and more, if you guys are reading the manga, you'll what I mean in the current story arc. (as all of the others tbh). I'll keep reading it though.