in defense of naruto (and i honestly can't believe i'm doing this but here goes) he didn't have any support from anyone for the majority of his life. he was rejected and shunned just because he had the nine tail fox sealed in him. i find this to be a very real situation for a person to feel/want/need acceptance from their peers and the search to be loved for who they are. and as the story progresses it seems that naruto is slowly realises that acceptance needs to come from himself first despite what others may think, he is who is he is and works hard to prove this to himself and to others i dont necessarily see it as trying to prove he is better just that he is equal. yawara on the other hand seems well loved by everyone, has a loving, albeit crazy/eccentric, grandfather and is good at what she does (truly she has a gift) but takes it for granted. eventhough she has now set a goal for herself, she really isnt working all that hard to achieve it. instead of practicing hard for her events (which is supposed to be her passion..frankly i've seen doorknobs exhibit more excitement about being turned than she has about judo) she is spending the majority of her time, losing precious hours of sleep to study for an exam so she can to major in..homemaking? wtf is THAT about? she isn't the best at what she does. she is a big fish in a small pond and soon she will be a small fish in the ocean once she trys to compete at a world level and not concentrate fully on judo and give it her all. this is accurate of people in real life as well. heck, i did it in highschool with my studies and went on auto pilot and did not make an effort to learn more, do better. i still graduated with honors but i realise now that that can't happen all the time. i'm just waiting to see if yawara will find that out.
