Posted 04 November 2009 - 04:16 AM
Well, I doubt I can articulate any truly unique feedback, as this topic has been covered quite extensively already, but as a fan (albeit a lurker), I feel I must give my thoughts as well.
Reading this chapter by itself over and over admittedly got me discouraged, as the "confession" seemed to feel less and less authentic every time I went through it. However, something I did afterward which I would encourage everyone who feels the same discouragement I did, is to go back through and re-read your favorite handful of NaruSaku moments (the ones I would recommend off the top of my head would be the bench scene in chapter 3, the PoaL, the scene afterward in the hospital in chapter 236, chapters 296-297, and the feeding scene in 343). These scene provide an enlightening context that in my mind reiterated the development of the pairing and made me a little more optimistic for the future.
A major thing I noticed is how the PoaL has evolved, at least in Sakura's mind, over time since Naruto gave it to her. It went from "Please save Sasuke, you're the only one who can do it," to "We'll save him together," to "I'll save Sasuke for you," and finally, "You don't have to save Sasuke for me anymore." This is significant, because it shows her increased consideration for what Naruto has gone through, from physical to emotional hardships. At each instance that she makes these changes, she is thinking about the pain that Naruto is in, and what she can do to alleviate it.
Putting the authenticity of her statements in 469 aside for a moment, the determination she shows as she prepares to tell Naruto these things seems to imply that she is prepared to accept whatever consequences arise should her requests be followed. We often hear of people doing the "right things for the wrong reasons," but in this case, I believe Sakura is doing the "wrong things for the right reasons." her request to Naruto to essentially "give up Sasuke" was spoken with Naruto's well-being in mind. I am actually reminded of when Jiraiya tried to do the same thing at the end of Part I, since he knew through his ordeal with Orochimaru the extent of what Naruto could go through. What Sakura is essentially trying to do is to take her feelings (at least, any feelings she feels for Sasuke) out of the equation, and only focus on Naruto's. To me, this is actually a very noble thing Sakura does, but she fails to fully understand is that Naruto has already been doing the same thing for her through the very thing she is asking him to forget about--the PoaL. This is the tragic paradox of self-sacrificing love. Even if you ignore your own feelings for the sake of someone else's, that person's feelings are already dependent upon yours, and thus you only end up hurting them.
Perhaps the reason Naruto finds it hard to accept that Sakura's feelings have changed is because he has always seen much of himself in her (exhibit A: chapter 3), and the bond that he has developed with Sasuke hasn't changed, at least on Naruto's end, despite all that Sasuke has done.
On the bright side, I do think that there is a positive solution that still allows for NaruSaku, but I don't think this can occur until Team 7's bonds have been solidified, and that is going to depend on the actions and feelings of Sasuke. Only then can the "particulars" of those bonds be made known. As far as whether or not her feelings about Naruto are genuine, I believe that Sakura's self-sacrificing mentality serves at least as another brick in the foundation of a romantic relationship. We know she wants Naruto to be happy, and is prepared to reciprocate his feelings to that end, but what I believe is also important is what she feels when she no longer has to force herself--or in other words, what she feels on reflex. This will be determined largely in part by her actions in the future, which are going to have a much more lasting impact and are going to reflect her feelings much more accurately than her words alone.
Sorry for the long post. I hope someone found it at least partially insightful.