But if his bond with Sasuke is deeper (and it is, it's the driving force in Naruto's life), and he is capable of distorting and denying the truth, then isn't he more likely to do it with Sakura? After all, isn't Sakura's love of Sasuke part of the Team 7 picture he clings to so fervently.
All this blame is heaped on Sakura, but there is no confirmation of her true feelings towards Sasuke. Only towards Naruto. She may have let go of Sasuke years ago. But the one we are shown still clinging to the past, the one with the image of the shattered picture of Team 7, the one who hyperventilates because he can't handle the truth is Naruto!
The blame of deception is resoundingly heaped on Sakura. But I think it's wrong. I think she went there out of love to protect Naruto, knowing that at least one of their team was going to die. So the path ahead of her was death and/or Naruto's hatred.
But I don't think she lied to him. I think she withheld the truth about the timing. She wouldn't answer "why now" when he asked. But she gave him everything else. And when he challenged her, she stuck to her guns. She knew she was telling the truth, that's why she told him he didn't know what she was thinking. Someone who was lying would have come up with another lie.)
*sigh* I don't know why I'm doing this. I prefer to lurk because I am an outsider here, but after reading pages and pages and pages of exhausting angst about the fate of N/S I'm compelled to chip in what I think -- even if some of it has been said many times before.
Tricksie, I also do not believe Sakura's confession was "fake." I believe she meant most of what she said to Naruto, and wanted to mean the rest. Sakura's heart and conscience were convicted by what Sai told her about Naruto's suffering because of her and Sasuke (Sai confirms this), and I believe the action she took was absolutely meant to be in Naruto's best interest, as well as to prove that, regardless of her past feelings or current confusion, Naruto is her priority. Not Sasuke.
And I really agree that Sakura would have come up with a better lie if she were actually lying. I mean, she had just vowed to herself that she didn't want to get things wrong anymore or make any more mistakes. It would certainly have been a big, stupid mistake to march out into the snow and flat out lie to the guy she had just vowed not to hurt anymore, and then proceed to say she loves him and show him physical affection in front of a group of important witnesses. I know some say she didn't expect to ever have to follow through with a relationship with Naruto, or somehow thought she could cruelly weasel out of what she said later, but that makes no sense when she could have avoided the whole thing with a different lie or just gone directly to Sasuke without confronting Naruto at all. So, yeah, I absolutely believe she meant it when she said she loved him, and that she wanted it said in case things went unrecoverably wrong between them or she was killed by Sasuke.
It was a mistake though, and I think the worst of it was attempting to manipulate the feelings she knows Naruto has for her (after all, she's "the one that idiot fell for") without truly appreciating just how much Naruto loves her, how deeply he is in love with her, and how much Sasuke's redemption figures into Naruto's hope of experiencing that love or his hope of a future in general. While this is labeled by some as cold / selfish / bitchy, I don't see it that way. In my view Sakura had historically taken Naruto's feelings for granted (which Sai confirms and she more or less admits) because he's always been there for her; the guy is nothing if not consistent. But I don't blame Sakura entirely for this. Naruto is also at fault. (More on this later.)
Actually, one of my favorite things about the confession is that it leveled the playing field. Up to that point Sakura had enjoyed the upper hand in the relationship with Naruto since his feelings for her were always on his sleeve for the world to see. But despite his obvious desire to believe she loves him (thinking of the look on his face in those first panels just kills me), Naruto didn't melt into her arms without a thought. Instead he parsed her language and behavior, and realized the timing wasn't right. I loved that Sakura was reduced to saying, "If you don't like me, then just say so!" Naruto didn't deny how he feels about her, but he didn't cave. I think that was really important to put them on a more equal footing in the future.
However, unlike some fans here, Sakura's confession did not sell me on the notion that she is fully aware she is
in love with Naruto at this time. I have no doubt she loves him, and loves him more than she loves anyone else. She admires Naruto and respects him, but the head-over-heels romantic element she felt for Sasuke in the past does not seem quite there for Naruto. She's getting closer all the time, but if I look at the evidence (both confession and post-confession) objectively I don't see all aspects of her love unified in Naruto -- yet.
I say this because, again, unlike some on this board I believe Sakura's conversation with Love Letter-nin (#539-540) unfortunately demonstrates that her ideal of romantic love is still associated with Sasuke.
QUOTE
LL-n: "I haven't been able to get you out of my head. I-I wrote a little love letter... Listen, I don't know whether or not I'll survive this war...so I wanted to..."
Sakura: "Thank you...but...there's someone else I..."
LL-n: "Oh...oh well...I figured as much...well, it'd be pretty uncouth to start prying into who this other guy is, so I guess I'll get going...
Sakura: "I'm sorry..."
LL-n: "Hope it works out for you. He must be a really great guy if you're in love with him."
Sakura: *sad / depressed / disappointed face*
It's a linear conversation in the present tense, so unless we're dealing with a translation issue, I don't see how this can be interpreted any way other than that Sakura thought of Sasuke first when questioned about her romantic feelings. I don't like it, but that's what I get from it. This is why I feel, especially in retrospect, that Naruto was right that Sakura was lying to herself (in part) during the confession.
I just don't think Naruto was even thinking about the veracity of Sakura's confession while she was talking to him.
Sakura was pouring her heart out, and I think Naruto had mentally raced on ahead to the changes that accepting that love would make.
So when he says "I hate people who lie to themselves," he in fact was the only one still lying himself. Everyone else had moved on to this bitter new reality.
I can agree that Naruto was lying to himself, but not that he was the only one. I can agree that he was clinging to his image of Team 7, and lying to himself about how things have changed... lying to himself that it was impossible for Sakura to want her feelings for Sasuke to change, much less in favor of him. I don't think Naruto could see any of that.
But if the layers of Sakura's feelings during the confession are separated -- the feelings she has for Sasuke and the feelings she has for Naruto and his goals -- I think she was lying to herself too. Loving Naruto? True. Naruto being her priority? True. Knowing Naruto is more worthy of love than Sasuke? True. Really being finished with Sasuke? Untrue. Able to let go of her feelings for Sasuke? Untrue. I believe Naruto instinctively and intuitively found the lines that separate her feelings better than she did, and his reading of her feelings seems persuasively proven accurate by her inability to kill Sasuke, Kakashi's comment that she'd seen she "couldn't handle" what needed to be done regarding Sasuke, and later by the conversation with the Love Letter-nin.
The idea that Sakura's love is not yet unified -- that she may mostly love and consciously choose Naruto while still harboring some confused feelings for Sasuke -- is how her confession can be true and untrue at the same time. It's how Naruto can appear to accept some of her confession and not the rest. I strongly believe Sakura will realize that her feelings for Sasuke are those of a teammate and friend, that it's okay to have those feelings, and that they're no longer romantic. But until she does, they stand in the way of a complete love for Naruto.
However, accepting the possibility that Sakura retains some romantic confusion over Sasuke is not the death knell for N/S. In my view, it's the opposite. Sakura is the only lead character whose feelings have not been static. Sasuke has no significant romantic inclinations toward anyone. Naruto has consistently loved Sakura throughout the story. (Hinata's feelings also have been static, but she is an underdeveloped tertiary character who I believe will ultimately be irrelevant to the resolution of shipping in this story.) Meanwhile, Sakura's feelings have been divided between the guys on multiple levels (team bond, as individuals, as love interests) all along, and it is the aspect of her character growth that remains to be resolved. I believe she is the tipping point for the romantic resolution, and Kishimoto is (for obvious reasons) saving it for the end.
I think everything about the way Sakura's feelings have been developing is good for N/S. The whole problem with her love for Sasuke was that it was not based on reality. It was a crush initially formed on perceived qualities that have no value in a real relationship -- not to mention her interest was never returned. By contrast, the elements necessary for a loving, equal partnership based on respect, integrity, and personal character have been slowly building between her and Naruto. They're stumbling down the road toward true love together, as it were.
Of course, it would have gone faster if Naruto hadn't spent years enabling Sakura's unhealthy attachment to Sasuke, but that suited Kishimoto's pace and intended development. As I have said elsewhere on this forum, Naruto should own his love for Sakura and realize that his love for her doesn't have to be dependent upon Sasuke's choices or even his redemption. However, I don't expect him to do that until the end, because it's in his nature to never give up until he accomplishes what he believes is right even if it's at great personal sacrifice. It's difficult waiting for it, but all this development has been necessary and it's a testament to Kishimoto's cleverness that it's been so involving. (It would be boring if we knew for sure what and how things were going to happen.
)
I think the acceptance of her feelings comes when he rescues her. Her surprise and his physical closeness would all be nice indicators if we didn't have the bang-over-the-head scene of Sasuke in the same strange pose as Madara had all those years ago when Minato rescued Naruto as an infant. It goes to show, unequivocally, that Sakura is Naruto's most precious person, and he knows it now. To compare the love of a parent for a child to his rescuing of Sakura is a bigger, weightier declaration than a simple "I love you" in front of their peers.
I can agree with this too, but again, only if the layers of Sakura's love are separated. I don't believe that scene is proof that Naruto believes/unquestionably accepts that Sakura is in love with him. I think Naruto may well have accepted that Sakura wants to be over Sasuke, and that it's in her best interest to be over him (considering Sasuke's intention to kill her), but that's different than Naruto believing Sakura's feelings for him are everything he wants them to be or that they should be.
I have a question, though. Somewhere above you say that Sasuke represents Naruto's deepest bond, but here you say the scene of Naruto rescuing Sakura from Sasuke shows "unequivocally" that Sakura is Naruto's most precious person. I don't disagree, but I've read the above sentences several times and I'm not 100% sure what you're saying about the parallels with Madara and the love of a parent, etc. Could you elaborate?
Sorry this is such a long post. Yikes.
Edit: I realized I had mistyped the chapters on the Love Letter-nin quote. Sorry!
Edited by KnS, 08 April 2012 - 04:25 AM.
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