Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi
Originally posted by: Suzu
In my opinion the only reason Naruto can become better is the fact that he's the main character and they want o drive home the message that hardwork can overcome any obstacle. In a real situation there is no way that Naruto would ever become as good as Itachi. But i agree that the chakra is there if Naruto could develop the skill that Itachi naturally had when he was born. Wasn't he the leader of an Anbu squad at like 11 or something?
That's a really bad comparison. Itachi became strong because the Uchiha Clan helped train him. Where is the Uzumaki clan? Where was Naruto's mother or father? How do you know he couldn't be anbu leader by age 11? How do you know he couldn't be hokage by age 13? He easily could have been.

As I have stated before, in terms of sheer strength, Naruto is stronger than Itachi. The definition for strength is "the capacity or potential for effective action." Keyword is "potential." Naruto has more potential then anyone who has ever lived in the manga because he has kyubi.

People do not use the excuse that Naruto's body can't handle all of kyubi's chakra. What the hell does he need all of kyubi's chakra for? Ebisu explained that you only need x amount of chakra to perform each jutsu. He complained that Naruto was using too much, uneeded chakra. What would he need to use all of kyubi's chakra for? A jutsu that uses that much chakra doesn't exist, because Naruto is the first person that has ever been in his type of a situation.

In terms of skills, Itachi hands down will beat the crap out of Naruto. Naruto lacks the necessary training because he was an outcast since his birth. No one took the time to train or help him.

In short, Naruto is the strongest character introduced. Itachi is just a extremely skilled fighter, not the strongest.
You make some good points but i think you are ignoring some facts. Itachi was naturally gifted in all aspects of being a Ninja even without the training of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke had the same training (but for a shorter time because Itachi murdered his parents) but did not progress as fast as Itachi. Itachi also showed a creativity and inventiveness that was unparalleled. For instace, in Sasuke's flashback how he wanted Itachi to teach him shuriken techniques instead of the academy because the way Itachi did it was different and better.

Sure Naruto has Kyuubi but if you take that away from him he's a second-class ninja. He didn't have a family, but for a long time Sasuke didn't have one either. Naruto DOES NOT have natural talent, he doesn't think rationally and thereforehe tries to make up for this he trained twice as hard as everyone else. Once again, the hero complex of many Anime comes into play where their shear determination to become the best or whatever drives the story. Not to hate on Naruto he's one of my favourite characters ever, but he really is nothing without his given advantages: Kyuubi, reading the forbidden scroll of seals when other's have not, and Jiraiya as a teacher. If Itachi or even Sasuke don't use their Sharingans they are still top rate Ninjas.

So as the climactic arch of Naruto approaches we will see Naruto in the ultimate fight against Itachi, where Itachi beats him up really badly but because Naruto "believes in himself" he'll get up and then unrealistically beat Itachi. So in strength of Chakra Naruto wins hand down, but realistically will he ever be as good as Itachi, probably not.