Quote Originally Posted by FireEmblem
I don't see what's the big deal with some of the other characters having comparable powers to Naruto/Sasuke. That's the way it should be. Obviously not the same tier, but not way worse. I've already given up hope for a character like Tenten, mainly because she's a snoozefest and I don't like her, but other characters can definitely step up in the future. A couple of the original Genins clearly possess immense talent and Naruto alone will not be able to save the world or w/e when they grow up. Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru come to mind as the three that stand out the most. I mean just look at it this way with Shino. Place any of the already dead (sans Itachi) Akatsuki members in Madara's position during that encounter and you can easily see why Shino is a problem and is definitely somebody that could be a useful ally for Naruto in the future when he's warring with Sasuke's Village Hidden in Gayness or whatever winds up happening.
numbers, they don't lie. (I do, but that's not the question)
9 genins from Naruto's class made it to be Chunin level (Naruto and Sasuke, who haven't, are special cases). if his old class consisted of 30 students, it's a reasonable number.
1 out of 3 being promoted is a legitimate 'statistics' in most army units, lets run with those numbers...
9 chunin level ninjas at Naruto's age, meaning three of them would advance to the next level...
Shikamaru is a jounin, Sasuke is definitely at that level, even naruto can count as one. also, there's sakura, who is probably somewhere between.
another step up, we're going to have Naruto and Sasuke (who have to chase each other).

in order to support an hierarchy, the pyramid must have a wide base, so if Naruto and sasuke are destined to meet at the top, they must be there alone.

that was some technical mumbo-jumbo, so here's some more:
the only way for Naruto to come out as awesome (anytime now.. seriously, kishi, we've been waiting for so long!), he has to be better than the rest, if Neji turns out beating an akatsuki, then what's so great about Naruto doing so?

if we're speaking of Neji... he's dead.
remember, spider guy impaled a spear through his gutts, and neji went out with a blaze of glory (at least that how i've been telling myself), he made peace with the main family, he stopped being a jerkface, he learned to trust the heart of the cards. he doesn't hold any relevance to the story anymore.

Shino I won't dignify with a response, other than saying he's the most useless character in the series, and that even when the manga is awfully bad, I take comfort in the fact he didn't show up to ruin the day. Shino is the most boring character in existence.

letting every character fight will turn the manga into bleach, where we waste gazzilion of chapters on no name fighting other no names...