@Tsuchirinhon:
Then again, this entire series is about birth-given abilities that nobody works for, so the whole manga is just shitty.
That's what I was thinking.
It perplexes me that people stereotype Rock Lee's motivation (a now dropped subplot?) on everyone else in the manga. And when I say everyone else, I mean just Naruto.
I'd much enjoy just watching Naruto use the tool he was given (the Kyuubi) to accomplish something, rather than 'get stronger'. He's gotten stronger in every arc and it means absolutely nothing because he's accomplished NOTHING. Even if he was weak, if he'd save the village he'd have been one step closer to being Hokage, and would have changed the villager's view of him as a monster.
Naruto isn't as much a "grind" series as Bleach or Negima! but I am sick of watching the protagonist fail at everything he does. Even when he starts to do something interesting, like training, the end result is usually underwhelming.
Naruto's undergone three training regiments since Part II began and all three thus far haven't done much long term good for him.