i dont really mind the "arc filler", once the series gets back on track and its done very well i'll be happy. as far as the story is going, i watched a-h 103 at my friends house and when it got to the scene where sakura got all crazy strong it said at the top something about tsunade training her or some crap. from what im seeing the naruto, sasuke, and sakura are very similiar to the jiraiya, tsunade, and orochimaru team. unlike shikamarus team where they all resemble their parents, narutos team has no parents to compare their skills too. so most of their techniques and stuff will mainly be coming from the sannins. as for sasuke, how is he related to orochimaru you say? the curse seal oro gave him.

im actually seeing some progress in the story, the scene with sakura, it just goes to show you that a lot more surprises are going to come a long with all the other characters as well and i for one am very anxious to see them progress their skills.

last thing i'd like to comment on is...the "lucky team" (hehe, which i like to call them), the guy this time said "double lucky" hahahaha....cuz its his 2nd time on the show again, he's just happy to be back...hehehe