Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-4704473-20140611055649/@comment-17623-20140611105028

Which is why Naruto is the hero. Kakashi and Sakura are a burden and he knows it. He will not just say "Too bad, too sad." with them either and will make due with what he has. Hence why he took the third option and taught himself how to fly so he could save everybody's ass, including the bird.