I recently read the manga chapters where Sakura confessed to Sasuke, the Promise of the Lifetime and the last few chapters of Part 1 (I never read those parts in the manga before, I remember watching them solely on the anime, but it has been years). Reading those chapters made me reconfirmed certain things that I already knew, and KIND OF proves, or at least supports, certain speculations I have.
1) Sakura really DOES love Sasuke, and I still think she does. I kind of figure it was a no brainer, but I see people arguing about Sakura's feelings about Sasuke. Reading her confession to him made realize that she did love Sasuke, as she says she was always happy around him (though I think she was talking about being a part of team with him, and may have been talking about Team 7 itself, but she singled him out). Like what Sai told Naruto after he figured out that he loves Sakura ("You always smile when you're around her..."), and what Hinata said to Naruto during her confession to him (something about always being happy when he's around, didn't reread her confession, though I think I should read all the 'potential' pro-naruhina moments). But during that whole confession, she never gave me a good reason why she should be in love with Sasuke. At least for Naruto it has been IMPLIED he had other reasons to like her, other than her looks, and Hinata fell in love with Naruto because of his determination. Which leads me to my first speculation...
2) The bench scene IS important, and it CAN be the reason why Sakura is in love with Sasuke. They were at that bench when she caught him leaving, and she brought up the time when he called her annoying. She also mentions that that was the day they became Team 7, but weirdly doesn't mention the part where 'he' (really Naruto) comments on her forehead and they nearly kissed. But what was sad to me, what really got me, was that she claims she will be alone if he leaves and tells him that she'll make him very happy if he chooses to be with her (it didn't matter if he left the village or not, she was wiling to go with him). It really got to me because I felt incredibly bad for Sakura, as she really believes that she will be alone without him. This actually reminds me about the average teenage girl, who feel like having a boyfriend means everything, and, for those who felt lonely, made them feel less...alone. But if you think about it, she was actually being incredibly selfish in her confession. She didn't want him to leave not because of his own sake, but for her own. She didn't want to be alone again, so she begged him not to go so that she wouldn't lose him and to not feel lonely again. That made me sad too, not only does she believes she's alone, but the fact that she believed that Sasuke was the one that prevented her loneliness. But I believe if you ask most fans, especially fans on this website, about who was more there for Sakura, they'll say Naruto. Oh, and the bench scene could still be very important in how Naruto can win her over. Cause if that whole day, where they first became Team 7, was really important to Sakura (and she even mentions SPECIFICALLY the time Sasuke called her annoying), then won't it make sense that it will still be important for her for other reasons (like the day she believed she started loving Sasuke). Naruto even remembers that time he pretended to be Sasuke, as it was shown, in flashback, that Naruto was recalling the time when Sakura told him (Sasuke) that she wanted him (Sasuke) to accept her during her confession to him. And if you believe it has been to long for that to still be important, remember that Sakura's confession to Naruto was in the 470s, and recently Kurama joked with Naruto about the time he kissed Sasuke, which happen in the same chapter (3). The joke happen around 570s, and if we are lead to believe that complimenting the aspect of a girl that even she doesn't like is ONE of the things that will make her fall in love with you, then would it make sense that Sakura fell in love with the wrong person because she believed he was the only to like the aspect of herself that she hated the most (her forehead).*
3) The Promise of the Lifetime was to sort (remember it being longer in the anime), and doesn't really sell the fact to the audience that Naruto is in love with Sakura. Don't get me wrong, it was implied, STRONGLY implied ("I understand how you feel about Sasuke, I feel it too."). But it wasn't as emphasized, nor as obvious, as Sakura's confession to Sasuke, in which she yells at him that she loves him and doesn't want to see him go. And even though Sakura's crush on Sasuke was selfish (or "naive"), at that point we, the audiences, figured that Sakura has grown to really love Sasuke (evident when she cried for him when she saw him in the hospital, and later made more obvious in her confession). We weren't, at that point, have been given a good reason of how or why Naruto is in love with Sakura. We know what he will do for her (save her from Gaara, and then make the promise), but we haven't been reasons, or at least not obvious reasons, of why he should been in love with this girl. So really, when he makes her that promise, I can see why people may not believe he did it because he loved her. But because she was his friend, and couldn't keep his original promise that Sasuke will never leave. Though you can see there is sadness coming from Naruto, not only on the fact that Sasuke has left and Sakura is begging him to bring him back, but he actually does seem little bit sad about the whole Sakura loving Sasuke thing. But really, even though I understand people missing that the first time, by the time summit arc hit and Sai tells Sakura that Naruto loves her I think people should have realized it by now.
4) I understand why people may believe that series will end Naruhina and/or Sasusaku, because I PROBABLY would have also believed that the series was going to that direction. Now don't get me wrong, at that point I would prefer Narusaku being the endgame, cause of the whole Promise of the Lifetime thing. But that's the direction was heading to because 1) Sakura's crush has been a lot more emphasized and she did seem to love him, and 2) Hinata still has a crush on Naruto, and was the last one to see him off. At that point, it seemed like an all win situation, Naruto just needed to let go of his feelings for Sakura, or for those feelings to never be brought up again. Also, like I said above, Naruto's crush has never seemed as obvious as Sakura's "naive" crush on Sasuke, nor as Hinata's crush on Naruto. In fact, in Part 1, the main character traits for both of those girls was their crushes. People (me included) saw Sakura as a Sasuke fangirl, thus those people would have believe that Sakura will become his girlfriend. Hinata was introduce as the shy girl with a crush on the main character (and she still is that), thus people would assume she will get her shyness and end up being Naruto's girlfriend. Naruto was NOT introduce as the guy with a crush on Sakura, and people seem to always want to be reminded about his crush for them to believe that Naruto is in love with Sakura (or for him to still be in love with her). Actually though, if it was just the love triangle between Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke (it's not really a triangle, more of a line), then I don't think there would have been so much debate about Narusaku becoming cannon, because it was just the triangle then it would be obvious that Naruto will win. But no, we have the Naruhina possibility, which will provide an all win situation where everyone gets paired together. Oh, and Hinata became stupidly popular afterwards.
*I felt kind of silly typing that down, because I didn't want the bench scene to become important in how Naruto wins her over, but I'm cool if it only leads her in realizing that she never really loved Sasuke romantically. At that point I want her to be already fully in love with Naruto (meaning she has no doubts), and the bench scene will just make her let go of her feelings for Sasuke.
Great post.
The thing is about Sakura is that Kishi made her as a character who needs to grow up from fantasy. Kishi intentionally made her unlikable at the start because she wasn't even focusing on being a ninja, her likes and dislikes shows it. Naruto needs to grow up, but not in the same level from Sakura. He only has to mature it. Otherwise, his dream to be Hokage is going to be considered "impossible." Kakashi likes his determination, which separates from Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto's ideas and dreams were set on stone in chapter 3. He wants to surpass Sasuke and he wants Sakura's love. Nothing is going to change him ever. He matures it, not change them. Like he won't go from "I'm going to be a Hokage" to "I don't need to be Hokage, because I got acknowledged." Heck, even in the latest chapter reminds us that he's not giving up on ANYTHING.
Sasuke and Sakura is proven to be a hard task for him. Obvious reasons for Sasuke. As for Sakura, he has a crush with her from the beginning; unfortunately, she loves Sasuke. That sounds like a hard task for all of us to do when facing that situation. Naruto is proving that you don't force the girl to like you, you must prove yourself with actions and words. Naruto started off immature by trying to make Sasuke look bad and stealing the kiss. The good side is that he learns that he is in love with her. Again, his action was immature. Now fast forward to the hospital scene. Naruto, if still immature, saw Sakura hugging Sasuke, he would have go mad or comedy routine would happen. Instead, while broken, he left them alone and that shows his maturity. Again, he still loves her, but now, he's matured. The promise of the lifetime shows how much he has matured and how much he loves her so much, that his happiness will be hurt for the sake for her to be happy. Sakura realized that everything she thought of Naruto was completely wrong. At the exact same time, she realized that the man that really cares for her was Naruto. So, without Naruto realizing, their love affection was beginning to come closer. They were not friends thanks to Sakura, then good teammates, then good friends, and lastly, close friends. She knew Naruto went to too much trouble, so she tried to tell him to stop, but Naruto wants to see her smile, so he keeps saying that he will not give up. She saw his damages, so she decided to train to help him to save Sasuke.
Now enter part 2. They're close friends. The new situation that the audience starts questioning themselves is the new Sakura's feelings that she has for Naruto. She started off really happy and asked him about her looks. Sadly, Naruto is dense. The audience wants to know what's up with Sakura. So, enter Sai/Sasuke arc. You have two new characters, Sai and Yamato. They don't know the team at all, but they have a good analysis. Sai, who doesn't know emotion, questions Sakura about her kindness to Naruto. He said it was something that he didn't understand, so people would assume something more than normal kindness. Kyuubi was a test to her feelings, and you can see how much it hurts Sakura. She now see how much Naruto suffers having a beast within him. She was hurt so much, that she ran to him and told him that she will save Sasuke for him. Why do something extremely dangerous? Because her feelings for Naruto was in fact so strong, that it caused her to heart break (noticed her hand clutch near her heart). Yamato saw her action and concluded that her feelings was indeed way beyond than normal friendship. Remember the sequences. She felt helpless again after she found out that she can't even learn the technique that Yamato has. She felt like she let Naruto down once again. Yamato corrected her once he looks at her arm. He concludes that her most important support for Naruto is not whether she can do big or small, but it's her feelings for him. She was shocked yet confused as what does he mean. Yamato chuckled as he seems to figure out her feelings. Sakura doesn't know, so Yamato was going to tell her because he can read her heart. AGAIN, Naruto woke up and interrupt. So yeah, that statement holds the biggest support for Sakura falling in love with Naruto. A lot of her actions involved with Naruto. The problem is that she doesn't know how strong her feelings for Naruto. It doesn't help that Naruto doesn't make a move, so it's like she got to figure it out on her own.
As for Naruto, if people questions his feelings for Sakura being immature and young crush, they are mistaken. Again, Naruto doesn't change, he only mature it or evolve it. Doing them only makes Naruto stronger in bonds. Kishi wants us to remember Naruto's desires/dreams/wish/etc from the beginning of Naruto. He wants us to support Naruto and achieve the so-called impossible. Kishi has a reason to place Sai and Naruto conversation in the later chapters, because after Pain arc, it would seem that Naruto/Sakura relationship has reached the limit of best friends. Now, since we're closing to the end, it's time for them to develop further. Naruto has not once drop his love for Sakura. If people thinks that he wasn't serious, read again. He was always by the end of part 1 or even during Gaara fight. If he was joking, then when Sai asked him if he confessed, Naruto would have act really goofy and it will be all comedy. But no, the only funny part was when Naruto was busted that he loves her. Once Sai asked about his confession, you can tell Naruto is dead serious about her. Unfortunately, he is so tied up with the promise because he felt like he failed her a long time ago. He wants to confess, but he must finish those promises in order to get life back in track. While it is nice, it's sad because what if he dies, he will never tell her his feelings. That's why Sai felt like he needs to tell Sakura because if Naruto dies, then she will never know. Remember, Sai remembers when Naruto was so damaged all because Naruto wants to do alone and keeps the promise. He doesn't know the promise, but he sure damn knows that he was in love with Sakura.
Well, I can go on, but I will stop there. My point is that Naruto's love is a serious affection. Sakura's affection for Naruto is growing more and more and soon, she will realize her feelings for him. If Kishi points out that SS is bad for her, especially in a movie, then you know what he thinks about SS.
great posts
you summed up all the important occasions and reasons of the romance side of the story.
naruto needs to talk about bench scene!!!! >:U someone needs to think it up!!
i mean kushina fell for minato because he liked her HAIR!! ( saving her didnt hurt too >w>)
but naruto just HAD to make sasuke say he liked sakura's forehead!!
why was naruto being charming as sasuke!!? what was the point of that! was he trying to make his life harder!!? >:U
sigh..okay...anyway.....
naruto needs to bring it up......
plz kishi make it happen!
i don't think kishi will let it go cause he has to put an end to it and makes sakura know it. i think she will realise it directly or indirectly from sasuke then at the same moment she will realise that she's really in love with naruto or a scene close to this. there's a reason why he did it from the beginning of the manga and left it for now cause it's a way for sakura's real emotions.
Edited by T XD, 15 August 2012 - 09:31 AM.
This topic is locked
, although we can count it put since it's comic relief 
