Yeah, it was a 12-13 year old girl's crush on a boy that she idealized into something he never was. I think she started to recognize this when she made her confession.
Sakura clearly had already moved on from Sasuke and fallen in love with Naruto during the 2 1/2 years they spent apart. A girl wouldn't blush and flirt in such an overt way- inviting him to look at her body in a sexual way- with a boy that she still had only platonic feelings for.
Sakura already knew before she saw Naruto in 248 she was feeling some sort of decidely nonplatonic feelings about him. Tsunade clearly looked aware of this too. So during the training Sakura probably said things about Naruto that Tsunade knew showed Sakura was falling for him. (probably things like fairly regularly asking if she'd heard anything about how Naruto's training was going, and Tsunade noted the tone in Sakura's voice and the frequency of the question.) When we first see Sakura she is looking out a window and Tsunade is coming into the room behind her and says that Naruto is returning today, the next we see them Sakura is walking around town with Tsunade and that's when she and Naruto meet up.
Well, that makes sense. XD I'd thought from the beginning that early on, in spite of her earlier attitude about her superficial crush on Sasuke, even if it became genuine for a time, and even how she tried to be nicer to Naruto but didn't succeed too often, that she had grown some feelings for him by getting to see the real him in action, and not just imagining him like she did as someone who'd give up at the drop of a hat or would have to learn to be a ninja from her and such. You can tell too just by her simple actions early on, as you've said, like when Naruto took on Kakashi and she looked worried before Kakashi did A Thousand Years of Death, and her slight blush of awe when seeing Naruto catch Kakashi off-guard. As well as her blushing badly when Naruto got his headband back from Zabuza, as well as her shock when Naruto didn't give up like she assumed he would when Squad 7 was doing the treeclimbing training, as well as her excitement at Naruto's arrival during the fight with Haku.
I think she just was trying to hide her feelings by acting like she still hated Naruto, besides just feeling she was justified, even when he really wasn't being rude, like with his calling Lee Bushy Brow or his comment at his knowledge of the Hyuga and little things like that. It'd make sense, since Sakura as a kid wasn't very honest with herself and what she really wanted, just because of Sasuke, and her wanting to NOT try to one-up him when she easily had the brains to do so.
I also imagine what REALLY might have culminated Sakura's feelings of possible love for Naruto is when she realized he'd always understood her and how she never understood him before the Sasuke Retrieval Squad set off, and it's reflected in her words. As she said (according to the dub); "More than anyone else... you always understood me... always been there when I needed help".
So that could be a reflection of her realizing that even if she asked something so selfish of Naruto that perhaps she'd misunderstood him and how she felt about him. And we saw too how more concerned she was with Naruto after seeing how hurt he was because of her request as well as because of Sasuke after the mission failed, in spite of her sadness of Naruto not being able to keep his promise. That's probably why she was being so subtle about wanting him to not pursue Sasuke anymore, since she didn't want to see him get hurt like that again.
Bryon
Edited by Bryon_Konoha_Ninja, 09 January 2010 - 06:50 PM.
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Lately, I have been in a debate in the other forums. Most of them are "like that, ignoring the developments of Sakura" and I had a wasted time arguing that first I thought, a NH/SS fan but as expected "trolls". 
