@Crow T Robot:
Sorry for interrupting, but I have something to say about the execution of the love triangle and the whole "silver medal" argument. I have a somewhat different viewpoint about 540 and how it affects NaruSaku than most of the people you've been debating with and I'd like to see if my POV will help you any. 
Firstly, I understand how I feel. Nearly every NS has been thrown by 540 at some point. It's confusing. Everything we've been saying, no matter how different the individual argument is, aren't any more right or wrong and than what you and me are saying. That said, I think it's important to consider multiple interpretations for 540. Here's my take.
Yes. It is strongly implied---both through Sakura's actions & Naruto's reaction to her confession---that she was still romantically conflicted. She was just recovering from the revelation of Sasuke a criminal on top of Naruto's feelings for her, given absolutely no realistic time to absorb all that, and acted out a confession she was far from ready for. Kishi supposedly said she was being honest in her confession ... yet also stated vaguely "Still ... Sasuke." (implying unresolved Sasuke issues from her end) Contradicting, isn't it? Kishimoto says one thing and says another. What are we supposed to take from that?
However, even if Sakura was referring to Sasuke in 540, you have to understand her rejection of the love letter-nin wasn't a dazzling proclamation of Sakura saving herself for Sasuke. SS had nothing but negativity before this: murder attempts, shame, distrust. Now wouldn't it make sense for Sakura to feel ashamed of her feelings, especially considering how miserably her confession to Naruto and killing Sasuke failed?
Sakura DOES NOT want to be with Sasuke. She doesn't spend 24 hours a day mooning over him, spending time with Naruto, comparing him to Sasuke romantically, and then wishing that was Sasuke instead. That would be a "silver medal", forced by circumstance. Sakura has evolved past that and with all the development of NS plus Sakura's clear unhappiness having feelings for Sasuke, this idea is inefficient to say the least.
But this must be said too. Kakashi implied Sakura as over Sasuke in 675, but it goes back to 540. Now this may be grossly misinterpreted by me or not, but here it goes.
Sakura doesn't love Sasuke anymore. Sakura hasn't gotten over Sasuke in a day or two either with how the recent the Kage Summit Arc was. And Sakura's line in the anime that she used to love Sasuke is filler and her manga declaration is under intense ambiguity. So ... here's a halfway:
Sakura doesn't love Sasuke, but is still blind to the true nature of feelings for Naruto. She thinks she still loves Sasuke, blinded by previous conceptions (Part 1: loving Sasuke, not liking Naruto) which is all caused by lack of closure from Sasuke himself. Sasuke has been gone for years and no matter how dark he became or close she is to Naruto, she can't distinguish what's real and what isn't; in a way, you could say she associates Sasuke with love because she doesn't know anything else. She's frozen in the middle, unable to figure out her feelings. That's what Sakura's confession didn't always seem sincere. That's why 540 happened. That's why NS still isn't canon.
I think this conflict for Sakura is realistic. Plenty of girls in fiction and real life have gone through this with exes after entering a bad relationship and that they get so caught up in it, they don't always pick up on falling for another. This can also happen with friends who develop feelings for each other over a long time period because you grow so used to that easy friendship your mind can't see it changed as easily as your heart can (IMO, yet another wall of Sakura's for NS).
Naruto is not a silver medal. Not Sakura's heart and not even in her mind. Thinking she loves Sasuke doesn't mean she rejects the possibility she likes Naruto too. Sakura's confession showed this. She's just confused and needs closure with Sasuke first before she can break that stubborn part of her brain that can't readily believe loving Naruto.
While Sakura would love to love Naruto ... there's still that unconscious part of saying "Love Naruto? No way ... how?" It's not because she thinks he's unworthy or that there's no way she can like him. It's more a reflex of how it used to be, maybe even a fear of change. Loving Naruto and being with him is a unfamiliar concept to her, even though she really does love him. Sakura needs to take a chance Naruto doesn't screw up again and realize that what she thought was too much change wasn't as hard as she first thought.
540 & 675 seem contradicting, but they really aren't. Though I won't argue Sakura's conflict on the Sasuke front hasn't been dragged out for far too long when her love had no real foundation in the first place. The realism aspect of her romantic conflict between Naruto and Sasuke ends there.
Edited by xxRomanceGirlxx, 31 August 2014 - 03:58 AM.
