19964 replies to this topic

[merryGOflava]

i remember the first time i watched naruto, i never noticed pairings...

i was a narusaku/sasusaku/naruhina fan....

i thought it was cute when naruto hit on sakura
i thought it was cute when sakura fangirled over sasuke
and i thought it was cute when hinata was shy over naruto.....

....those were good times.....


BUUTTT naruto had to go and fight gaara for sakura's sake...and went all out for her.....

then it clicked...."naruto was serious about sakura!!?"

i always thought he was kinda joking with her........

then i became a narusaku fan :3.....and suddenly seeing hinata shy over naruto became irritating....... XDDDD

[TouKen4Life3g]

i remember the first time i watched naruto, i never noticed pairings...

i was a narusaku/sasusaku/naruhina fan....

i thought it was cute when naruto hit on sakura
i thought it was cute when sakura fangirled over sasuke
and i thought it was cute when hinata was shy over naruto.....

....those were good times.....


BUUTTT naruto had to go and fight gaara for sakura's sake...and went all out for her.....

then it clicked...."naruto was serious about sakura!!?"

i always thought he was kinda joking with her........

then i became a narusaku fan :3.....and suddenly seeing hinata shy over naruto became irritating....... XDDDD

Funny how time has changed for all of them. Sasuke is ghost from them, Hinata is too one-sided in terms of love, and Naruto and Sakura are getting closer and closer.

@redragon88: Very interesting. Yeah, that no "-kun" part is a small reason why I think she should be with Sasuke if he has to be with anyone. She is more aggressive and can stand for herself. I do look forward to her confrontation with Sasuke.

[MangaReader]

i remember the first time i watched naruto, i never noticed pairings...

i was a narusaku/sasusaku/naruhina fan....

i thought it was cute when naruto hit on sakura
i thought it was cute when sakura fangirled over sasuke
and i thought it was cute when hinata was shy over naruto.....

....those were good times.....


BUUTTT naruto had to go and fight gaara for sakura's sake...and went all out for her.....

then it clicked...."naruto was serious about sakura!!?"

i always thought he was kinda joking with her........

then i became a narusaku fan :3.....and suddenly seeing hinata shy over naruto became irritating....... XDDDD

That's a pretty interesting coincidence, seeing as that's about the time I started fully shipping NaruSaku. I was only NaruHina for a short amount of time since I figured she could be second best if Sakura ended up with Sasuke

[kidNinja]

You get the wrong idea of what white knights are

According to the MISC on the BodyBuilding website: A white knight is defined as a male that treats woman as goddesses and does nothing but shower then in compliments on how wonderful and beautiful and special they are. Maybe be used as a noun or a verb.
Brah, if you keep white knighting every girl you meet, you'll never get as action.



sakura never treated sasuke like this, actually when she was kind to sasuke, he was rude and told her "this is none of your business"

Gooby pls. I'm aware and DEFINITELY know what WKs are.

[Transformers03]

i remember the first time i watched naruto, i never noticed pairings...

i was a narusaku/sasusaku/naruhina fan....

i thought it was cute when naruto hit on sakura
i thought it was cute when sakura fangirled over sasuke
and i thought it was cute when hinata was shy over naruto.....

....those were good times.....


BUUTTT naruto had to go and fight gaara for sakura's sake...and went all out for her.....

then it clicked...."naruto was serious about sakura!!?"

i always thought he was kinda joking with her........

then i became a narusaku fan :3.....and suddenly seeing hinata shy over naruto became irritating....... XDDDD

That's a pretty interesting coincidence, seeing as that's about the time I started fully shipping NaruSaku. I was only NaruHina for a short amount of time since I figured she could be second best if Sakura ended up with Sasuke

I've become a Narusaku fan at the end of Part 1, after the whole Promise of the Lifetime thing. Primary after Naruto and Sasuke's fight, when Naruto tells Sakura that he will keep his promise to her. I thought it was very sweet, and that moment I wanted Naruto to win Sakura over. But I do admit I was sort of rooting for Sakura to get with Naruto in end since the beginnong, because I hated her crush on Sasuke and wanted to see her get with someone else. However, I didn't really see the series going to that direction, at that time. It was just that they kept emphasizing Sakura's 'love' for Sasuke so much, that, to me, it was the anime's way of telling the viewers that they are going to fall in love. It was stupid way to show love, but hey, it is anime, they can portray love anyway they want, even if doesn't make any sense. Not only that, the anime introduced Hinata a lot earlier then she did in the manga, so it gave me the impression she was going to be important later on (she didn't). Also, at the time, I thought Naruto was better than Sakura, 'cause Sakura......was.......kinda of mean in the beginning. Her annoying obsession with Sasuke also didn't help.

I didn't really cared for pairings at the time, mainly because it was a shojen manga about ninjas. Though I thought it was pretty simple, and obvious, at the time who was going to end up together (Naruhina and Sasusaku). But I didn't support either of those pairings, because I felt it wouldn't make sense that those characters would get together. Sasusaku didn't make sense because Sasuke was, and still is, a jerk (though I thought Sakura was one to, in the beginning, but I really only had a problem with Sasuke), and Naruhina didn't make sense because we hardly got to see Naruto interact with Hinata (Though admittedly, they did have the blood vow and their conversation together before Naruto's fight with Neji. Those two scenes happen before any significant Narusaku moments, so I thought they will end up together, but it still wouldn't make sense to me).

Naruto's fight with Gaara got me confused, mostly because Sasuke told Sakura that he fought Gaara for her sake. To make things worse for Naruhina, is that we hardly got to see Hinata anymore after the chunin arc. Then we get the whole Promise of the Lifetime thing, and then I find myself truly invested into seeing them get together. It wasn't because I didn't want to see them get together with Sasuke or Hinata anymore, I just wanted to see Naruto win. Now I want them to get together because ever since Part 2 started, I always thought they had the best dynamic. To me, they got great chemistry, and never seemed forced, unlike Sasusaku or (I would argue) Naruhina.

[MangaReader]

I've become a Narusaku fan at the end of Part 1, after the whole Promise of the Lifetime thing. Primary after Naruto and Sasuke's fight, when Naruto tells Sakura that he will keep his promise to her. I thought it was very sweet, and that moment I wanted Naruto to win Sakura over. But I do admit I was sort of rooting for Sakura to get with Naruto in end since the beginnong, because I hated her crush on Sasuke and wanted to see her get with someone else. However, I didn't really see the series going to that direction, at that time. It was just that they kept emphasizing Sakura's 'love' for Sasuke so much, that, to me, it was the anime's way of telling the viewers that they are going to fall in love. It was stupid way to show love, but hey, it is anime, they can portray love anyway they want, even if doesn't make any sense. Not only that, the anime introduced Hinata a lot earlier then she did in the manga, so it gave me the impression she was going to be important later on (she didn't). Also, at the time, I thought Naruto was better than Sakura, 'cause Sakura......was.......kinda of mean in the beginning. Her annoying obsession with Sasuke also didn't help.

I didn't really cared for pairings at the time, mainly because it was a shojen manga about ninjas. Though I thought it was pretty simple, and obvious, at the time who was going to end up together (Naruhina and Sasusaku). But I didn't support either of those pairings, because I felt it wouldn't make sense that those characters would get together. Sasusaku didn't make sense because Sasuke was, and still is, a jerk (though I thought Sakura was one to, in the beginning, but I really only had a problem with Sasuke), and Naruhina didn't make sense because we hardly got to see Naruto interact with Hinata (Though admittedly, they did have the blood vow and their conversation together before Naruto's fight with Neji. Those two scenes happen before any significant Narusaku moments, so I thought they will end up together, but it still wouldn't make sense to me).

Naruto's fight with Gaara got me confused, mostly because Sasuke told Sakura that he fought Gaara for her sake. To make things worse for Naruhina, is that we hardly got to see Hinata anymore after the chunin arc. Then we get the whole Promise of the Lifetime thing, and then I find myself truly invested into seeing them get together. It wasn't because I didn't want to see them get together with Sasuke or Hinata anymore, I just wanted to see Naruto win. Now I want them to get together because ever since Part 2 started, I always thought they had the best dynamic. To me, they got great chemistry, and never seemed forced, unlike Sasusaku or (I would argue) Naruhina.

Oh shoot this is long... well I'll respond anyway

POAL was probably the super defining moment of Naruto truly falling in love with Sakura, but I still feel that vs Gaara was a glimpse of said feelings. One thing about the anime though, we all know they blow things out of proportion. Didn't exactly help that the dub voice of Naruto like(s/d) NaruHina. :/ But I guess I did notice that they over did the whole, "Oh Sasuke, your soo cool" thing with Sakura. I pretty much covered you first paragraph, yet I'm no where the length you somehow made yours...dang it XD I don't remember Hinata all that much, but low and behold, I don't care since she's not from team 7. As for Sakura's behavior...I can't exactly remember what I thought of it, I think I wanted Naruto to get revenge against her (back then), but now that I see a few drawings of that happening (not exactly Naruto doing it) I turn away in disdain...how can people seriously be so rude to a female protagonist?

Thing about Sasuke, he was just using that as a way to get stronger and because he didn't mean it, that's why Naruto was able to do what he couldn't, because Naruto was dead serious about saving Sakura and everyone else. He did admit though that Naruto was the one who saved her, Thank God!!! Part 2 really has change a lot of mines, I can see why NaruHina fans convert to NaruSaku fans, but I don't exactly get why the reverse happens, clearly they shouldn't label Sakura as a tease

[KnS]

(Though admittedly, they did have the blood vow and their conversation together before Naruto's fight with Neji. Those two scenes happen before any significant Narusaku moments, so I thought they will end up together, but it still wouldn't make sense to me).

Am I the only one who thought Naruto's blood vow had nothing to do with Hinata herself and everything to do with his disgust over Neji's narrow view of her and the world?

What I saw was Naruto making a vow to support the weak, and to break the cycle of oppression, judgment, and condescension of the Hyuga. To say it was a NaruHina moment (romantic or otherwise) based on it being Hinata's blood is a major reach, in my opinion.

If Naruto's outrage over Hinata's treatment meant romantic potential, then Naruto had equal romantic feeling for Haku.

[MangaReader]

Am I the only one who thought Naruto's blood vow had nothing to do with Hinata herself and everything to do with his disgust over Neji's narrow view of her and the world?

What I saw was Naruto making a vow to support the weak, and to break the cycle of oppression, judgment, and condescension of the Hyuga. To say it was a NaruHina moment (romantic or otherwise) based on it being Hinata's blood is a major reach, in my opinion.

If Naruto's outrage over Hinata's treatment meant romantic potential, then Naruto had equal romantic feeling for Haku.

I debate that with Hinata fans all the time and every time it's ends with them calling me a dumb@ss for not reading what they're posting. And then when I talk about the name calling, they say NaruSaku fans always act butthurt. =.= They say we're pointless to argue with? Still, I rather we just settle our difference's

Edited by MangaReader, 03 August 2012 - 04:52 AM.

[Derock]

Am I the only one who thought Naruto's blood vow had nothing to do with Hinata herself and everything to do with his disgust over Neji's narrow view of her and the world?

What I saw was Naruto making a vow to support the weak, and to break the cycle of oppression, judgment, and condescension of the Hyuga. To say it was a NaruHina moment (romantic or otherwise) based on it being Hinata's blood is a major reach, in my opinion.

If Naruto's outrage over Hinata's treatment meant romantic potential, then Naruto had equal romantic feeling for Haku.

Nope, you're not the only one. The main purpose of the blood vow was for Naruto to teach Neji a lesson about his views (and give him another lesson about changing one's destiny). Yet, the NaruHina fans was so focusing on Hinata, thinking it was all about her and considering it as romantic. Wonder why the spotlight was on Neji though?

And here's something I would like to add, remember Naruto's quote of him of being Hokage, and he said he will help change the Hyuga family. They believed that Naruto will do that by marry into the family with Hinata as his bride. Don't they think that will messed certain things up, like keeping traditions of the Byakugan?

[catsi563]

I wanted to show the Databook info on Karin to point some things out:



1) It pretty interesting that the giant quote used to introduce her character in this page is one in which she reprimands Sasuke. It immediately sets her apart since she's one of the few people (and the only girl) to ever lash out to Sasuke. It shows she considers herself equal to him. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Karin is also the only girl who refers to Sasuke without the "-kun", which means she establishes good familiarity with him.

2) In her paragraph description it says that she was never loyal to Orochimaru but kept on serving him because of her love for Sasuke. Then it ends with the question "Why is she so obsessed with him?" as if her dedication to Sasuke is for something beyond her attraction to him. It will be interesting when Taka encounters Karin since Ororchimaru is also with them, but most of all because of what's happened between Sasuke and Karin.

3) At the bottom left it mentions how Karin conceals a dangerous love for Sasuke. This makes her different from other girls since it means that her style of love is open and aggressive instead of being meek and submissive (Sakura) or just of simple idolization (Part 1 Sakura and Ino, random girls).

Karin is the only girl who's not afraid to stand on equal grounds with Sasuke. She insults him, criticizes his decision, doesn't care to use the suffix -kun with his name, and can take the initiative with him if necessary. She's the kind of girl who isn't afraid to butt heads with him even if she loves him, that's why she's the best suited girl for Sasuke.

1) Correct Karin is the only Gal Sasukes age in the series With a direct connection to him that does not use the Kun prefix with Sasuke.

2) part of this we see explained by the FOD flashback where Sasuke saves her but also the look he gave her didnt hurt. He smiled at her and it was a fairly genuine smile suprisingly. But its still signifigant that she takes a position when Sasuke first arrives to recruit her that she has no reason to leave or betray Orochimaru. Its Sasuke who takes the initiative to recruti her by having Suigetsu free all the prisoners thus ending her obligation.

3) It is definately open and agressive but a caveat should be made that she is only this way when with Sasuke alone, or when she is thinking privately. With others around she is more reserved not showing her affections so openly and maintaining a discrete distance.

Karins strikes me as the type of person who would be professional in public but when alone would show her full affections and feelings.

[Traci]

Based on what I've seen in the Naruto fandom, I've always assumed NaruHina was the most popular pairing, followed by SasuSaku, followed by NaruSaku. Also, I assumed that SasuSaku was only 2nd most popular because it allowed NaruHina to happen. This thread reinforces it, although SasuSaku is definitely not far behind.

However, when I go on FanFiction, SasuSaku has 24,000 stories, NaruHina has 8,900 stories, while NaruSaku has 4,300 stories. By the way, I used "romance" for genre, "Naruto" for the anime/manga, and the male character in the pairing was character A, while the female was character B. Also, NaruSasu and SasuNaru have 15,600 stories. I tried both combinations and the number of stories was the same.

Does this mean SasuSaku is more popular, and just that the NaruHina fans are louder or something? Or does it mean SasuSaku fans are more likely to write romance fanfics? It doesn't really matter anyway, lol, I was just curious.

[Sakamaki Izayoi]

Nope, you're not the only one. The main purpose of the blood vow was for Naruto to teach Neji a lesson about his views (and give him another lesson about changing one's destiny). Yet, the NaruHina fans was so focusing on Hinata, thinking it was all about her and considering it as romantic. Wonder why the spotlight was on Neji though?

And here's something I would like to add, remember Naruto's quote of him of being Hokage, and he said he will help change the Hyuga family. They believed that Naruto will do that by marry into the family with Hinata as his bride. Don't they think that will messed certain things up, like keeping traditions of the Byakugan?

Why he would need to marry when the clan's already changed, naruto changed the way of the hyuuga clan after the battle against Neji when the elder talked to neji about his father and other things, neji became more fond of hinata, plus in this war it is neji along with hinata that are leading the clan in this war, when the elder meets neji's father they have this talk.

[4000TMNT]

I wonder do you guys remember chapter 481, when Lee told Sakura that she should've told the truth to Naruto and Kiba stating that she underestimating Naruto way too much. That chapter told me that Naruto & Sakura still got more development between them in the incoming chapters.

[redragon88]

I wonder do you guys remember chapter 481, when Lee told Sakura that she should've told the truth to Naruto and Kiba stating that she underestimating Naruto way too much. That chapter told me that Naruto & Sakura still got more development between them in the incoming chapters.

I think Sakura's underestimation might've been resolved when she saw Naruto's unwavering resolve to deal with Sasuke at the end of the Team 7 reunion. She even said the she now believes in both of them to solve things.

But still, I do think that they have some sort of final development that will be addressed in the near future.

[kirabook]

Based on what I've seen in the Naruto fandom, I've always assumed NaruHina was the most popular pairing, followed by SasuSaku, followed by NaruSaku. Also, I assumed that SasuSaku was only 2nd most popular because it allowed NaruHina to happen. This thread reinforces it, although SasuSaku is definitely not far behind.

However, when I go on FanFiction, SasuSaku has 24,000 stories, NaruHina has 8,900 stories, while NaruSaku has 4,300 stories. By the way, I used "romance" for genre, "Naruto" for the anime/manga, and the male character in the pairing was character A, while the female was character B. Also, NaruSasu and SasuNaru have 15,600 stories. I tried both combinations and the number of stories was the same.

Does this mean SasuSaku is more popular, and just that the NaruHina fans are louder or something? Or does it mean SasuSaku fans are more likely to write romance fanfics? It doesn't really matter anyway, lol, I was just curious.

Based on NH fics I've accidentally come across -because NH authors rarely even state that their fic is NH or ends with NH, but usually at some random point in the story, they blast it suddenly- the fics are rarely labeled Naruto and Hinata as the main characters. For example, I had started reading a fic about Minato suddenly arriving in the past/coming back to life or something like that, and drama was to ensue because Naruto didn't take the news so well. -in the fic, he didn't know that that was his father until he came back to life-. So instead of focusing on the relationship with his son, Minato started participating in little plots to get Hinata with Naruto because "they were so cute together" I was so annoyed that I even made a thread about it: http://www.narusaku....showtopic=12016

From my experience, NH fans can't write a convincing romance. Many NH fics make the romance sudden, unnatural, and random within stories that aren't even focused on Naruto and Hinata. *like the example above*

I don't really read straight out SS fics, but something I have noticed is some SS fics start off with SS and end with NS. Also, SS is the kind of pairing that can fit into many... "worlds" (Highschool, IRL, supernatural, ninjas of course, etc). SS is bound to be full of drama, there is a lot to write about if someone really wanted to. I also noticed that when there is an SS fic, it often doesn't even occur within any plot line, the story is usually always focused on SS rather than trying to fit it into the canon plot. Or if it is in the canon plot, they skip over Sasuke's redemption and go straight into romance. -not always the case of course, there's also ones with Sakura being a major reason for Sasuke return- SS is more easily written since Sakura and Sasuke's personalities are more known and... 'strong'

NH doesn't really have that edge due to Hinata's reserved personality, which is why some NH people can't write it very well I think. They have to OOC often if they want to make it interesting. They often put it into plot lines where Hinata shouldn't even be involved so that they can make their own romantic build up and make NH more plausible in their minds. Also, NH fics usually always have a severe lack of Sakura. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are good NH fics out there, but the ones I've stumbled across are usually terrible. -Though there are some with very subtle NH that I don't mind, as long as they aren't stuffing it in my face-

As for NS, well, we are in the minority on the internet, so it's no surprise there are less of them. And NS kinda does the same thing as NH by writing the pairing into a plot line that isn't necessarily focused of Naruto and Sakura's relationship. The difference is that said romance within other plots are usually slow, just like in the manga. XD A lot of NS fics also contain SS in them and turn into NS at the end. Also, I have noticed that if I randomly start reading some NS fic, it is more likely to be well written compared to some random NH fic that I accidentally come across. -of course, that might just be my luck-
SS and NS intertwine a lot in fanfiction. NH is always out alone I feel (not always, but rarely do the other pairings other than SS surface).

Well, I blabbed on a lot. I... hope what I was trying to say is clear.

[redragon88]

^ I think the reason SS fics are done more often is because it has the ability to create a lot of drama between Sasuke and Sakura. When a story involves the romance of the cool bad boy and the brave cheerful girl it can easily better create drama.

SS romance is built to create tension and angst, which are themes a lot of people are attracted to. That could be the reason as to why SS is so popular among some people, since it gives the opportunity imagine the drama between them. On the other hand, NS is meant to be a more natural and realistic development which is meant for stories that aren't romance focused. And since Naruto related fanfics are probably mostly created with romance as its focus point they probably prefer to use SS since it would have more tension, therefore being more appealing to people who love complicated romance stories.

It is true that among the people who voice their opinions on the internet SS is more popular, but you have to remember that not every fan goes to write what they think. For all we know those on the internet might just be a small portion of all the fans.

[MangaReader]

If were talking about fanfiction a bit now... I did stumble across this really dumb one before. So the whole thing starts as NS, but it turns out Sasuke regrets that he didn't return Sakura's feelings. So he does this whole time travel business (I don't even remember how) and goes to the past to correct his mistakes. Somehow the Kyubii of the past is smart enough to realize that Sasuke traveled back in time. IIRC, Naruto then sends him back and the future is still NS. Wait though, here come's the really stupid part... Sasuke feels that he can't go on living and commit's suicide. I think he left a note for Sakura (even though she's been living with Naruto this whole time). The only reason I think he left a note (because I read this 5 years ago) is because she ends up killing herself just to be with him. WTF!!!! She's dating Naruto, but the writer clearly favored SS the whole damn time and it ruined the story to no end by having the two kill themselves. Naruto finds out and decides (He's Hokage) to make the day Sakura Day (I don't even know what to say about this)

Before I read the ending, I was actually kinda digg'in the theme, it was new and it was interesting. Sure Sasuke was way OC, but that time travel thing was pretty inventive. Never really gonna understand the point of killing off him and Sakura... I think there was a sequel, but I'm not sure and I almost certain it wasn't finished. It had something to do with Naruto trying to revive Sakura (and maybe Sasuke as well) Only good thing that came out of this mess, Hinata wasn't even mentioned once to my knowledge or at least play a significant role

Edited by MangaReader, 03 August 2012 - 04:41 PM.

[redragon88]

An interesting thought occurred to me. Remember when Sai was explaining Sakura's motivations to Naruto after her confession? There's this one part where he talks about how she's prepared to kill Sasuke because she loves him. Many people take it as Sai saying that Sakura went with the purpose to kill Sasuke because she loves him so much, but that might've been a misinterpretation.

It has been discussed before how Sakura's prime motivation for assassinating Sasuke was to atone for the burden she imposed on Naruto, sadly many people like to forget that fact in favor of Sakura feeling angst for Sasuke's darkness as her main motivation to kill him.

I think what Sai explained was simply a counter argument to Naruto since he was insisting that Sakura wouldn't be capable of killing Sasuke because she loved him. Sai in response says that Sakura loves Sasuke enough to not want him to sink any lower, which makes her prepared to kill him. Sai simply explains how Sakura's love for Sasuke is not gonna stop her from killing him for Naruto's sake.

In other words, Sai wants Naruto to understand as to why Sakura is indeed capable of trying to kill Sasuke even though she loves him. Naruto's happiness and peace of mind is what motivated Sakura to take action and Sai simply explains as to why her love for Sasuke would not stop her from doing this for Naruto.

Naruto though Sakura could only envision killing Sasuke as a negative thing to do, but Sai counter by explaining why Sakura saw it as a positive thing. Sai wasn't explaining that Sakura came there to kill Sasuke because she loved him, he was explaining how Sakura's love for Sasuke mentally prepared her to kill him for Naruto's sake.

[naruto-z]

When I think about Karin and Sasuke I can't help but think about Uchiha+Uzumaki

[ramenanmitsu]

An interesting thought occurred to me. Remember when Sai was explaining Sakura's motivations to Naruto after her confession? There's this one part where he talks about how she's prepared to kill Sasuke because she loves him. Many people take it as Sai saying that Sakura went with the purpose to kill Sasuke because she loves him so much, but that might've been a misinterpretation.

It has been discussed before how Sakura's prime motivation for assassinating Sasuke was to atone for the burden she imposed on Naruto, sadly many people like to forget that fact in favor of Sakura feeling angst for Sasuke's darkness as her main motivation to kill him.

I think what Sai explained was simply a counter argument to Naruto since he was insisting that Sakura wouldn't be capable of killing Sasuke because she loved him. Sai in response says that Sakura loves Sasuke enough to not want him to sink any lower, which makes her prepared to kill him. Sai simply explains how Sakura's love for Sasuke is not gonna stop her from killing him for Naruto's sake.

In other words, Sai wants Naruto to understand as to why Sakura is indeed capable of trying to kill Sasuke even though she loves him. Naruto's happiness and peace of mind is what motivated Sakura to take action and Sai simply explains as to why her love for Sasuke would not stop her from doing this for Naruto.

Naruto though Sakura could only envision killing Sasuke as a negative thing to do, but Sai counter by explaining why Sakura saw it as a positive thing. Sai wasn't explaining that Sakura came there to kill Sasuke because she loved him, he was explaining how Sakura's love for Sasuke mentally prepared her to kill him for Naruto's sake.

hmmm...I always love your theory

I saw it as that Sakura felt it was her duty to kill Sasuke because 1.)she loves him 2.) she wanted to protect Naruto. She thought her love for Sasuke was strong enough to go through with the act of killing him. But in the end she couldn't. Her love wasn't strong enough to give her the final resolve to kill him(=save him). Sai said, "Because she loves him, she wants to save him from darkness even if it means to kill him." In other words Sai's words could be turned around like this: because she didn't love him enough she couldn't kill him, even if it means that he could be saved from darkness.

That's what I thought....I don't know if my theory clashes with yours or goes along with yours