9679 replies to this topic

[rastaman]

I was just wondering if Naruto still keep his Promise of a Lifetime to Sakura? I re-read chapter 470, on page 4, Naruto specifically said to Sakura: 'It doesnt have anything to do with my promise to you', when he determined to save Sasuke.

Could someone please enlighten me on this? I just feel that it is so not like Naruto to give up easily. If that's the case, then the promise shouldnt be called Promise of a Lifetime anymore so many tears, sweat and blood is wasted for it in the manga...

I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously. Thanks in advance.

Naruto has not given up on the promise, yet. The thing is that Naruto has somewhat changed his deep convinctions.
After hearing about Sasuke's sins he faints, which shows us that his narrowmindedness prevented him from letting go of the naive picture he once had of Sasuke. ONLY because he wasn't able to replace his naivity with possible worst case scenerios, does he seem to be in that shocked state of mind.
After saving Sakura and confronting Sasuke he CHANGES the promise to something that should be MORE likely to have an impact on Sasuke >talking with their fists lol^^
Naruto said they both gonna die and that Sasuke should let his anger out on him.
It's Naruto's way of showing Sakura that he's prepared to fight to the death with Sasuke.
I doubt Naruto would want to become Hokage if he already planned on dying along Sasuke, so his statement is NOT absolute (we all know protagonists don't die too often).
He shows Sakura that there's no way he can convince Sasuke without the use of power. He also tries to cope with the fact that Sasuke is a criminal by now.
I suppose Naruto knows that it's just a temporary solution. Even though Naruto said they are both gonna die, it depends on whether or not Sasuke kills innocent people or tries to attack Sakura again.
Same goes for Sakura, she's already changed her opinion about Sasuke drastically. Naruto shows her how to cope with the facts i.e. not switching from 'Sasuke friend must love! >>> Sasuke evil must kill' straightaway, but creating a temporary solution, which INCLUDES the possibility of them BOTH dying.
And still, Sakura is relieved after Naruto declares a coming all-out fight. That's because Naruto does not go back from his promise but ALSO does not want to chase Sasuke recklessly like Sakura does.
Both Naruto AND Sakura don't have an EXTREME attitude towards the retrieval of Sasuke anymore. It's more down-to-earth.
What's also important is the fact that Sakura tries to kill Sasuke herself AT FIRST, but is ACTUALLY happy that Naruto saves her AND relieves her of her psychological strain.
Naruto does the exact same thing. At first, he is shocked that Sakura talks about being mature and giving up on a criminal.
He even says to Sakura that he hates people who lie to themselves.
But, Sakura is the FIRST ONE to take action, while Naruto is the only one to be affected by Sasuke's behavior in such a strong fashion. So Sakura seems more confident than Naruto to me.
That's why Naruto should be thankful to Sakura for bringing the Sasuke topic up for discussion.

Edited by rastaman, 30 May 2011 - 03:08 PM.

[Outou]

what are you the talking about? the promise was incredibly important to him he said before he was partly doing it for his love for her. they had a heated fight during the Confession, Sakura wanted him to give up. Naruto refused and decided to save Sasuke on his own.

i agree with you completely.

[rastaman]

what are you the talking about? the promise was incredibly important to him he said before he was partly doing it for his love for her. they had a heated fight during the Confession, Sakura wanted him to give up. Naruto refused and decided to save Sasuke on his own.

Agreed, especially the 'I hate people who lie to themselves' part is something which hurt Sakura.
Naruto was actually lying to himself TOO since he didn't approach Sakura before the confession because he was expecting her to be disappointed of him. His pride was a hindrance to his opening up to Sakura.
That's why I consider the conversation between Naruto and Sakura balanced.
Of course NH or SS fans wouln't accept the fact that Sakura's behavior is VERY SIMILAR to Naruto's.
They just call her dumb and intriguing for 'exploiting Naruto's feelings'.

Naruto's pride: >>> wants to make Sakura happy by keeping his promise
Sakura's pride: >>> wants Naruto to change his mind and tries to prove what she says to Naruto in her confession by dealing with Sasuke herself

Edited by rastaman, 30 May 2011 - 03:22 PM.

[tricksie]

what are you the talking about? the promise was incredibly important to him he said before he was partly doing it for his love for her. they had a heated fight during the Confession, Sakura wanted him to give up. Naruto refused and decided to save Sasuke on his own.

What are you talking about?

My post said his response was OOC and enigmatic. Not that I was unclear about what was happening in the scene.

Again, about the promise, he tells Sai it is important 30-ish chapters back when he explains why he can't say he likes her. But when Sakura confronts him he just drops the promise out of hand. It's out-of-character for Naruto.

The confession is not a love fest on either part. Sakura has an agenda and Naruto is withholding info. But the things he says in response to Sakura are extreme.

What was he expecting? To have Sakura say, "Oh of course you're right! I love Sasuke. I'm so glad I had to come and hear what types of people you hate before I could open my eyes to that!"

On the flip side, I think Sakura's pissed off response was apropos to the situation.

[ciardha]

I understand. This little facet of the confession has never set well with me either.

Naruto says "This isn't about that promise," and "It doesn't have anything to do with my promise to you."

So it would seem that even before Sakura confronted Naruto, the promise had diminished in importance for him — that he was going to save Sasuke for his own reasons now. He just had never mentioned that the promise took a back seat in his reasoning when he learned the truth about Sasuke. If this is the case then it kind of sucks for Sakura, who had Sai laying a guilt trip on her for burdening Naruto.

He says it so easily and decisively. No nice speeches to never give up, no cheering Sakura on not to lose faith in him. Just a quick, direct, "Oh yeah, that promise? I'm over that."

Such a big deal is made about him never going back on his word. But he just did, without blinking an eye.

Shoot me, but his behavior in the confession has always seemed OOC to me. He told Sakura he "hates people who lie to themselves." What? Where the hell did that come from? When does Naruto hate anyone, and when has he had some negative experience with someone lying to themselves? It doesn't relate to any relationship he's been shown to have in the manga. (And if someone can correlate it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.)

She says the nicest, most openly supportive things that have ever been said to him in the whole of the manga, and he comes back with a "hate" statement. He says nothing about her, or her feelings or how he believes in her or how she feels about Sasuke. Just that he doesn't accept what she's saying. And the reader is left to color that as he or she chooses.

If I were Sakura I'd have smashed his foot instead of Kiba's.

*ahem* didn't realize I had such a strong opinion of the confession until now....

Thanks, I had much the same reaction for the same reasons. I recall even saying while so many others were jumping on the Sakura bashing bandwagon in their reactions to chapter 469-70 that Naruto was the one acting like a complete jerk, it just felt "wrong" as a reaction. Here Sakura is saying she loves him and praising him in ways that should have felt absolutely felt wonderful to him, but all he focuses on is the part that is separate from her feelings for him- ripping into her because she's in a bit of denial that she's completely over Sasuke.

His reactions could only make Sakura feel that Sai was wrong, Naruto isn't in love with her, he actually is in love with Sasuke and took her words as the greatest insult to the guy he loves. I know I don't recall him going off at anyone else for being in denial either. And Naruto was being hypocritical there too- he was in full on denial about what Sasuke had become and full on denial of how Sakura had changed from the Sasuke fangirl box he had mentally locked her into in his mind.

Now this leads to why he was acting like such a jerk to her- Naruto does have a less than pleasant side of sometimes acting like a jerk when someone challenges his assumptions about things or something happens that changes his world- but we really hadn't seen much of this reaction in part 2, it was much more common in part 1. Tsunade is about the only other person he's lashed out that way to in part 2- when he was in raw grief over Jiraiya's death. He says some ugly things to her that weren't really true about her. (And felt guilty about after he had processed his grief more, as note his depressed look when Tsunade was in a coma after the destruction of Konoha, and he said he wanted to talk to her about some things.)

Naruto, in his mind, had built up these whole rigid images of Sasuke and Sakura. Thus what comes off in chapter 245 as just a funny line about Naruto not picking up on Sakura flirting with him, is actually a reflection of how he was in full on denial that Sakura is not "exactly the same" as the unattainable Sasuke fangirl as he mentally pictures her all the way up chapter 474 (although Sakura does finally make a crack in that image in 470 by her angry insistence of being in love with him now, enough that we can see from Naruto's calm reactions to her angry insistence of being in love with him (even including the flippant reaction that he was giving up on the POAL- it was a jerkish way of putting it that he accepted her feelings, but it does show she made some headway in changing his mental image of her), and his reflective expression when Sai reinforces that Sakura is indeed in love with Naruto, and note for the first time in 474 he briefly mentally pictures her as she is now as Sai lightly admonishes him for not seeing the that Sakura is in love with him and has moved on from Sasuke. Naruto doesn't accept the later but he does finally accept Sakura is in love with him, he just decides she is in love with both of them, still clinging onto his image of her as a Sasuke fangirl, until Sai forces that image to shatter- causing Naruto to start hyperventilate and once Gaara tries to kindly get Naruto to see Sasuke is not saveable Naruto passes out from having to process his most rigidly held assumptions are both wrong.

Naruto is so rigid in enforcing that unattainable Sasuke fangirl image up to 474 that he forgets every single moment that Sakura showed her love for him, even ones that he reacted to at the time. (343 being the most clear example of that.) Naruto does finally process the reality of Sakura's feelings by the time he goes to rescue her- note how he says nothing about Sakura having feelings for Sasuke when he shouts at him, it's all about the Team 7 bond. Note as well the way he tenderly continues to touch her after he sets her down, and most overtly his new mental image of her in chapter 505- he sees her as looking at him openly in love with him. Naruto knows and has accepted that Sakura is in love with him.

It's Naruto that has to clear things up with Sakura. All she knows right now is that he doesn't hate her and has some kind of feelings for her. I think that we'll get Naruto giving her a forehead kiss (finally doing what he said he wanted to do way back in chapter 3. And clearing up the mistake he made back then that gave Sakura a grossly mistaken image of Sasuke- that we see from Kushina parallel reaction to Minato praising her hair, had major repercussions. We see from that scene Naruto will have to confess to Sakura what he did back then.)

Edited by ciardha, 30 May 2011 - 04:13 PM.

[Living Lavish]

I wouldn't say that was OOC for Naruto. He saw right through Sakura, he said it himself 'I know you better than that'(or something like it). She was obviously trying to stop him from chasing Sasuke all of a sudden and when she said she didn't like him anymore he knew something was up but couldn't exactly put a finger on it. We all know POL isn't his only reason for trying to bring Sasuke back so I think what he basially said to Sakura is 'I'm gonna keep going because I want to, don't think it's you making me do it'.

Naruto's promise is still important to him, no doubt about it. We saw it in his talk with Sai, but it's integrated with his own wish and hope.

exactly spot on.

[bthug]

I was just wondering if Naruto still keep his Promise of a Lifetime to Sakura? I re-read chapter 470, on page 4, Naruto specifically said to Sakura: 'It doesnt have anything to do with my promise to you', when he determined to save Sasuke.

Could someone please enlighten me on this? I just feel that it is so not like Naruto to give up easily. If that's the case, then the promise shouldnt be called Promise of a Lifetime anymore so many tears, sweat and blood is wasted for it in the manga...

I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously. Thanks in advance.

Yep it seemed that all of Part 1 after sasuke leaving, was about him keeping the promise....and he in part 2 he told Sai that he can't tell her that he loves her, because he can't even keep a promise to her.

But then out of nowhere he says he hates ppl who lie to themselves, they made it seem as if that was his nindo, which made no sense.....and he said he is not doing it for the promise anymore which also makes no sense, i guess he just wants to save sasuke, becuase everyone has given up on him.

Maybe all this is Kishi's way of ending Narusaku

Naruto's promise stops him from telling Sakura he loves her
Naruto not wanting to keep the promise, maybe means he's not in love with Sakura anymore.

[Living Lavish]

bthug

Naruto loves her why do you keep saying that hes not anymore? when theres nothing that says otherwise. im sick and tired of it.
he wants to save Sasuke for himself, hes brother.. not only for the promise.

Edited by Living Lavish, 30 May 2011 - 04:31 PM.

[bthug]

bthug

Naruto loves her why do you keep saying that hes not anymore? when theres nothing that says otherwise. im sick and tired of it.
he wants to save Sasuke for himself, hes brother.. not only for the promise.

Well I'm sick of you calling me out, that's all you've done since you got here and not just to me.
Besides all I'm doing is looking at it from all angles, playing devils advocate, and keeping the DEBATE up.

[Paptala]

I was just wondering if Naruto still keep his Promise of a Lifetime to Sakura? I re-read chapter 470, on page 4, Naruto specifically said to Sakura: 'It doesnt have anything to do with my promise to you', when he determined to save Sasuke.

Could someone please enlighten me on this? I just feel that it is so not like Naruto to give up easily. If that's the case, then the promise shouldnt be called Promise of a Lifetime anymore so many tears, sweat and blood is wasted for it in the manga...

I'm sorry if this has been discussed previously. Thanks in advance.

What are you talking about?

My post said his response was OOC and enigmatic. Not that I was unclear about what was happening in the scene.

Again, about the promise, he tells Sai it is important 30-ish chapters back when he explains why he can't say he likes her. But when Sakura confronts him he just drops the promise out of hand. It's out-of-character for Naruto.

The confession is not a love fest on either part. Sakura has an agenda and Naruto is withholding info. But the things he says in response to Sakura are extreme.

What was he expecting? To have Sakura say, "Oh of course you're right! I love Sasuke. I'm so glad I had to come and hear what types of people you hate before I could open my eyes to that!"

On the flip side, I think Sakura's pissed off response was apropos to the situation.

Yep it seemed that all of Part 1 after sasuke leaving, was about him keeping the promise....and he in part 2 he told Sai that he can't tell her that he loves her, because he can't even keep a promise to her.

But then out of nowhere he says he hates ppl who lie to themselves, they made it seem as if that was his nindo, which made no sense.....and he said he is not doing it for the promise anymore which also makes no sense, i guess he just wants to save sasuke, becuase everyone has given up on him.

Maybe all this is Kishi's way of ending Narusaku

Naruto's promise stops him from telling Sakura he loves her
Naruto not wanting to keep the promise, maybe means he's not in love with Sakura anymore.

Naruto's view on the promise never changed - it was Sakura who had misconceptions about the reasons why it was hurting him / his intent behind the promise entirely. Though I do believe that her misconception is directly the result of Naruto not talking with her openly about the matter, and Sai for interfering when he didn't know the entire picture.

The promise didn't suddenly become any less important to him either. What he said during the summit held true from the instant he made the POAL. I've been arguing this even before chapter 470 came out :

(http://v-e-m.deviantart.com/#/d27cf5z - if you look at the details, you'll see I uploaded this is August of 2009 - 470 came out in November 2009)

Look at the chapter again - NOWHERE does Naruto say that he is forgetting the promise, that the promise doesn't matter to him anymore, or that he is letting go of the promise - ALL he says is that saving Sasuke has nothing to do with his promise to her, which was obvious as not only was Naruto already going to save Sasuke before Sakura asked him to, but Shizune said it point blank during Sai's talk with Sakura. Sakura was the only one yelling to forget the promise, and Naruto never conceded to doing that. He was telling her that it was irrelevant to the current discussion at hand - wanting to save Sasuke.

470 and 459 --Click here to view--

Not to say that Naruto wasn't being dense and a bit hypocritical himself, but still - the point is the POAL wasn't broken or diminished.

Edited by Paptala, 30 May 2011 - 05:18 PM.

[Living Lavish]

Well I'm sick of you calling me out, that's all you've done since you got here and not just to me.
Besides all I'm doing is looking at it from all angles, playing devils advocate, and keeping the DEBATE up.

lol
difference is your you wanna play devils advocate even when that arguement get debunked you go back to it later.

you question Narutos love. when here hasn't been a piece of evidence he doesn't love her anymore in any witch way.
Naruto giving up on Sakura is the same as him giving up on sasuke. it will never happen. hes the epitome of never giving up.
plus its not the message Kishi is sending out.

[tricksie]

Thanks, I had much the same reaction for the same reasons. I recall even saying while so many others were jumping on the Sakura bashing bandwagon in their reactions to chapter 469-70 that Naruto was the one acting like a complete jerk, it just felt "wrong" as a reaction. Here Sakura is saying she loves him and praising him in ways that should have felt absolutely felt wonderful to him, but all he focuses on is the part that is separate from her feelings for him- ripping into her because she's in a bit of denial that she's completely over Sasuke.

His reactions could only make Sakura feel that Sai was wrong, Naruto isn't in love with her, he actually is in love with Sasuke and took her words as the greatest insult to the guy he loves. I know I don't recall him going off at anyone else for being in denial either. And Naruto was being hypocritical there too- he was in full on denial about what Sasuke had become and full on denial of how Sakura had changed from the Sasuke fangirl box he had mentally locked her into in his mind.

ty, ty, ty! Naruto makes such a sweeping statement about hating people who lie to themselves. Which ironically is where he's at, as it's shown in the next few chapters, and you point out as well. The passing out was a direct result of lying to himself. Whereas Sai says that she knew what she was doing here and was probably going to go take out Sasuke. So she, in fact, was not lying to herself.

It's funny that he absolutely cannot accept the things she's saying. Just like he's shown getting affection and not returning it. Not until his mom and the Waterfall of Truth is he shown moving past those blocks - accepting the bad side, accepting love and returning it.

Now this leads to why he was acting like such a jerk to her- Naruto does have a less than pleasant side of sometimes acting like a jerk when someone challenges his assumptions about things or something happens that changes his world- but we really hadn't seen much of this reaction in part 2, it was much more common in part 1. Tsunade is about the only other person he's lashed out that way to in part 2- when he was in raw grief over Jiraiya's death. He says some ugly things to her that weren't really true about her. (And felt guilty about after he had processed his grief more, as note his depressed look when Tsunade was in a coma after the destruction of Konoha, and he said he wanted to talk to her about some things.)

Naruto does have a rude side. And you're right, it hasn't come out since Jiraiya's death. And the waterfall scene with him really wanting to throw it all back at everyone was a perfect example of how he really wasn't handling being Konoha's hero very well. And what does Sakura say? That she sees him as a hero too. Huh. Maybe the "I hate people who lie to themselves" comment also had to do with the overall view the village took of him, that Sakura saw as well, and that he clearly didn't. She says 'you're a hero — everyone sees it, and so do I.' He says, 'don't fool yourself.' Reminds me of Sasuke looking back at Konoha saying 'they're all laughing.' Doesn't Sasuke hate everyone in the village because they are deluding themselves? So Sakura framing her love for him in terms of his heroism certainly could have struck a nerve that wouldn't be revealed until the waterfall. And if that's the case, then in the confession, Sakura saw him in a way he didn't see himself, and he couldn't accept it.

Naruto, in his mind, had built up these whole rigid images of Sasuke and Sakura. Thus what comes off in chapter 245 as just a funny line about Naruto not picking up on Sakura flirting with him, is actually a reflection of how he was in full on denial that Sakura is not "exactly the same" as the unattainable Sasuke fangirl as he mentally pictures her all the way up chapter 474 (although Sakura does finally make a crack in that image in 470 by her angry insistence of being in love with him now, enough that we can see from Naruto's calm reactions to her angry insistence of being in love with him (even including the flippant reaction that he was giving up on the POAL- it was a jerkish way of putting it that he accepted her feelings, but it does show she made some headway in changing his mental image of her), and his reflective expression when Sai reinforces that Sakura is indeed in love with Naruto, and note for the first time in 474 he briefly mentally pictures her as she is now as Sai lightly admonishes him for not seeing the that Sakura is in love with him and has moved on from Sasuke. Naruto doesn't accept the later but he does finally accept Sakura is in love with him, he just decides she is in love with both of them, still clinging onto his image of her as a Sasuke fangirl, until Sai forces that image to shatter- causing Naruto to start hyperventilate and once Gaara tries to kindly get Naruto to see Sasuke is not saveable Naruto passes out from having to process his most rigidly held assumptions are both wrong.

Naruto is so rigid in enforcing that unattainable Sasuke fangirl image up to 474 that he forgets every single moment that Sakura showed her love for him, even ones that he reacted to at the time. (343 being the most clear example of that.) Naruto does finally process the reality of Sakura's feelings by the time he goes to rescue her- note how he says nothing about Sakura having feelings for Sasuke when he shouts at him, it's all about the Team 7 bond. Note as well the way he tenderly continues to touch her after he sets her down, and most overtly his new mental image of her in chapter 505- he sees her as looking at him openly in love with him. Naruto knows and has accepted that Sakura is in love with him.

It's Naruto that has to clear things up with Sakura. All she knows right now is that he doesn't hate her and has some kind of feelings for her. I think that we'll get Naruto giving her a forehead kiss (finally doing what he said he wanted to do way back in chapter 3. And clearing up the mistake he made back then that gave Sakura a grossly mistaken image of Sasuke- that we see from Kushina parallel reaction to Minato praising her hair, had major repercussions. We see from that scene Naruto will have to confess to Sakura what he did back then.)

I completely agree with you. I think being hammered by Sakura, then Sai, then Gaara really altered his perception. And the hyperventilating is the metaphor for distancing himself from reality enough to have a personal change (in three easy panels!). Because when he pursues her/them, he is in an entirely different mindset. And the pose of Naruto saving Sakura to Minato saving Naruto reinforces that completely. Sakura is his most precious person, as Naruto was to Minato. The gentle touching, then later the very open flashback of her facing him with Hinata turned away is crystal clear.

So as the reader, we know all this from Naruto's perspective. But Sakura only knows he saved her. It's Naruto being Naruto. It's easy to see if this was the last serious discussion they had why she would be feeling this way about Sasuke now. She would feel like she'd really screwed everything up.

I think you're right about Naruto having to clear things up for Sakura. There has to be a return of affection on his part for this to be the final two-sided pairing. And I think it will come in terms of resolving the bench scene, as well as what he tells his mother about the girl he's chosen (which was conspicuously omitted from the flashback). Anyway, ty. It's easy to loose sight of Sakura's character in these situations, and automatically ascribe all these emotions to her. In that chapter: 'She loves Naruto and he understands that, see?' Me: 'He said what he hates instead of 'Thank you.'' In the current chapter: 'She loves Sasuke, see her thinking of him?' Me (and you!): 'She looks like she ate bad meat.'

[bthug]

lol
difference is your you wanna play devils advocate even when that arguement get debunked you go back to it later.

you question Narutos love. when here hasn't been a piece of evidence he doesn't love her anymore in any witch way.
Naruto giving up on Sakura is the same as him giving up on sasuke. it will never happen. hes the epitome of never giving up.
plus its not the message Kishi is sending out.

I did say MAYBE Naruto doesn't love Sakura in my initial post...and is their any proof ( and I'm asking this question) that Naruto does still love Sakura after the confession?

[Gravenimage]

Especially when Sakura said that she didn't wanted to make another mistake.

[tricksie]

Yep it seemed that all of Part 1 after sasuke leaving, was about him keeping the promise....and he in part 2 he told Sai that he can't tell her that he loves her, because he can't even keep a promise to her.

But then out of nowhere he says he hates ppl who lie to themselves, they made it seem as if that was his nindo, which made no sense.....and he said he is not doing it for the promise anymore which also makes no sense, i guess he just wants to save sasuke, becuase everyone has given up on him.

Exactly, he says he never goes back on his word.... Then he let's that promise just slip away, disregarding it out-of-hand.

@Paptala. I understand what you mean by sayin he didn't break his promise. But by saying "It has nothing to do with that promise" it's a foregone conclusion that he's already diminished it as just another reason for following Sasuke. It's so important to Sakura's development, and their relationship — in good ways and bad ways — I find it hard to believe that Mr. "I Never Go Back On My Word" would just lump it on to the laundry list of reasons he wants to pursue Sasuke. And act as if Sakura should already know about it.

Saving Sasuke was part of the bond they had. And their whole development hinged on them doing it together. And at her confession he simply cut her out of that. If saving Sasuke has nothing to do with Sakura, after all these chapters, then where is the shift in character development? Where is the scene where he puts down his affection for her and simply decides to pursue Sasuke for his own reasons? That's where diminishing his promise to her comes into play.

Edited by tricksie, 30 May 2011 - 05:36 PM.

[Living Lavish]

I did say MAYBE Naruto doesn't love Sakura in my initial post...and is their any proof ( and I'm asking this question) that Naruto does still love Sakura after the confession?

1) Naruto never said didn't love Sakura. He didn't believe her when she confessed to him. There's a difference.
2) Sakura wasn't angry because "Naruto didn't want her"; she got angry because he assumed she was lying. Then after making said assumption, he played off her confession like it wasn't a big deal. Of course she'd be angry.

"It's just weird! You came all the way out here to tell me something like that''

theres nothing to suggest maybe he doesn't love her either. Sakura is the closest girl to him more then anybody.

Edited by Living Lavish, 30 May 2011 - 05:38 PM.

[bthug]

Well he didn't go all gaga over the confession. And so I guess theirs no proof that his feelings havent changed for someone else.
And it's safe to say especially in Sakura's case that she doesn't have to end up with someone.

[Paptala]

Exactly, he says he never goes back on his word.... Then he let's that promise just slip away, disregarding it out-of-hand.

@Paptala. I understand what you mean by sayin he didn't break his promise. But by saying "It has nothing to do with that promise" it's a foregone conclusion that he's already diminished it as just another reason for following Sasuke. It's so important to Sakura's development, and their relationship — in good ways and bad ways — I find it hard to believe that Mr. "I Never Go Back On My Word" would just lump it on to the laundry list of reasons he wants to pursue Sasuke. And act as if Sakura should already know about it.

Saving Sasuke was part of the bond they had. And their whole development hinged on them doing it together. And at her confession he simply cut her out of that. If saving Sasuke has nothing to do with Sakura, after all these chapters, then where is the shift in character development? Where is the scene where he puts down his affection for her and simply decides to pursue Sasuke for his own reasons? That's where diminishing his promise to her comes into play.

But he said that "saving Sasuke has nothing to do with that promise" - not that Sakura has nothing to do with saving Sasuke. By saying that he is going to save Sasuke, he is keeping his word to her, not going against it.

I can see where you're coming from, in terms of this flying against those scenes where Sakura promised to help him save Sasuke and that they would grow stronger together - however, Sakura was the first to break away from her role in saving Sasuke herself. She promised to help him with Sasuke twice, and then suddenly tells him that she wants for him to forget about the promise and to give up on saving Sasuke (sudden to Naruto anyway). She is the one assuming the POAL is a motivating factor in chasing Sasuke (or at least making it sound like it is), when in actuality Naruto has his own, separate reasons for pursuing Sasuke and his own, separate reasons for having made the promise.

As my referenced image said before, the promise had everything to do with the Naruto's feelings for Sakura, and nothing to do with saving Sauske. They are two entirely separate issues for Naruto at this point. He is supporting the fact that the promise is not simply being lumped into the laundry list of reasons to save Sasuke. How could it be when he is saying that it has NOTHING to do saving Sasuke, rather than saying, "That's not the main reason I'm going after Sasuke,".

So how is him saying that his desire to save Sasuke has nothing to do with his promise to her diminishing it or her role more so than she has already done herself through her own actions (telling him to give up on saving Sasuke)?

Please note that I'm definitely not trying to bash Sakura or praise Naruto here - Naruto is dancing around the issue of his feelings for her, and Sakura is just now being let into the loop, so to speak.

Sakura wanted Naruto to prioritize himself over Sasuke, and over herself as well (because she was asking him to give up Sasuke for his own safety, and to ignore her own feelings for Sasuke in favor of his feelings for her). She knew Naruto wouldn't go for that (as Sai and Yamato pointed out), but she had to try anyway. She wanted to make sure that she covered all her bases. If she couldn't get Naruto to give up on what she thought was a self-destructive path chasing after someone who couldn't be redeemed, then she would force him to stop that pursuit herself by killing Sasuke herself. Of course, she went after Sasuke because she cares about him too, but killing Sasuke to save him was clearly her back-up plan if she couldn't get Naruto to return to the village with her.

Sakura discovered her desire to contribute to the team and be able to protect them in the FoD. Sasuke leaving crushed her emotionally, and so she went to Naruto whom she had already unconsciously associated with support and comfort. Then when he came back, and she saw how hurt he was, she wanted to drop the quest for Sasuke right there. Naruto's determination renewed her faith in the idea that Sasuke could be saved, and so she promised then that she would help him the next time.

Later, after the first reunion, they are both hurting, but this time Sakura is there to share the hurt of letting Sasuke slip away again, and again makes a promise to help him ("We'll grow stronger together").

Sakura got a glimpse of how the situation was hurting Naruto, during the KN4 scene, in which she first attempted to take the burden of saving Sasuke off of Naruto's shoulders entirely and all on to herself ("that's enough Naruto, I'll save Sasuke for you!")

All of that time, she didn't realize that it could possibly be hurting Naruto in ways that she was unaware of - Sai, albeit harshly, brought that to her attention. Again, the minute she feels that it's hurting Naruto, she wants to drop the quest to save Sasuke.

It's interesting that this has been such a back and forth issue between them, that Sakura has always been prioritizing Naruto over Sasuke and neither of them really realized it (Sakura for thinking she hasn't been doing enough to help Naruto - which is pretty false imo, because really, what more could she have done for him? - and Naruto for not seeing hurting himself to keep his promise for her is just hurting Sakura and for not seeing how important he is to her).

Hope that made even a lick of sense - I think I might have talked myself in circles there

Edited by Paptala, 30 May 2011 - 07:11 PM.