Even the anime has hinted at this when Sakura thought about when Naruto told her he was Kurama's Jinchuriki. She thought back to when she was a kid and seeing Naruto glared at by the villagers because of his being a Jinchuriki, and she seemed sad when pulled off by her mom. So I'd say it's likely even if it wasn't said much, but Sakura felt for Naruto, and in the long haul, Naruto even realized the fact Sakura wanted to be acknowledged by Sasuke, even if it wasn't gonna happen, and that fact made him fall even more head over heels in love with her.
Of course ! Naruto fell in love with her cause she was as determined to be acknowledge by Sasuke.
This love triangle is very reminiscent of another manga called "Slam Dunk".
Spoilers for Slam Dunk. When you are done with Naruto read or reread Slam Dunk ! Its a masterpiece and is consistently good.
There is a very similar love triangle I even think Kishi took inspiration from this manga
Long story short, Sakuragi (the protagonist) falls in love with a girl called Haruko who asks him if he loves Basketball in which he says yes. However, this is a lie he hates cause basketball is symbolically associated with his his 50th rejection with girls of his junior school years (the story happens in high school). To make matters worse she is superficially in love with the high school basket ball star. Logically, the protagonist enrolls the basket ball club to make her happy but little by little starts loving it and becoming good to the point of epicness (he does struggle a lot and in a comical way as well). Much like Sakura, Haruko is starting to fall little by little for Sakuragi and is actually having a real Relationship with him without being obviously love.
In the final climatic game, Sakuragi is seriously injured and is having a flashback of everything that happened since he started playing and it goes back to when he first met Haruko "Do you love Basketball ?" and he gets up and hold her shoulders (it looks like a of love confession) "Yes I love it very much and this time I am definetely not lying". The author clearly thinks that there can no real love birn from lies. Its very reminiscent of Naruto complimenting Sakura's forhead in disguise. I could actually see Naruto complimenting her forehead as a confession in the upcoming chapter and highlighting the fact that he is not lying this time. Sakura (much like in the ova) will realize who really was "Sasuke" or just hug him tearfully in response as a yes. Its the most subtle way she can respond poistively to his confession without compromising the marketing of the upcoming film