i know you feel that way, but I disagree. i've understood sasuke's motivations (except for attacking the leaf after killing itachi) as well as naruto's strong bond with him from the beginning
he's so cool. such a badass ninja. he faltered a for a bit when he decided to hate the leaf for dumb reasons, but everything else about him is godly. XD
i've heard tell that Kishimoto wanted to make sakura more competent but that whenever he sprinkled seeds of that into the story, the manga's popularity plummeted sharply