I thought that was what Sasuke was up to as well, but he said to Naruto that he didn't particularly care if Orochimaru took him over (at least I think so...I might be mistaken) so long as it made him stronger. Unless he was also just acting for Naruto as well. Hm.

Haha, actually you're right. She didn't start being awesome until the Forest of Death, but I suppose what I meant was that she was showing potential pretty early on. She was flat-out useless during the Country of Wave arc, aside from revealing her chakra skills. But I suppose as an influence on Naruto and Sasuke, and as always being the one who had to watch as they fought (and thus feeling useless) she was pretty awesome. It's all kind of suckage to feel useless (especially when you actually are, lol), but she stuck it out and kept trying. Which is why I'm so happy she met Tsunade.

And yeah, Ino and Tenten are lose. The others are pretty awesome.