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I was following a pairing thread on Twitter and saw several fans mocking  NaruSaku  because their relationship blossomed primarily due to Sasuke's absence.

Despite many NaruSaku fans hating Sasuke for being an obstacle to the couple and his return definitively crushing NS's chances.

Ironically, Sasuke was the character who helped NaruSaku the most. Not Sai, Yamato or Minato's comment about Kushina.

it was only during his absence that Sakura and Naruto started to grow closer, with the goal of bringing him back. The Promise of a Lifetime (POAL) was made,etc.

Along with his entire transformation into a major antagonist force trying to destroy the village, including trying to kill Sakura, which gave the NaruSaku fandom hope that Sakura would eventually abandon her feelings for him and fall for Naruto.

However, this wasn't meant to be. Sasuke returned to help during the war, was redeemed, apologized, and Sakura jumped into his arms, effectively ending NaruSaku.

Here's the question:

In a scenario where Sasuke stayed in the village and continued to develop his bond with Sakura without events like the Uchiha clan massacre, Orochimaru's cursed seal, Itachi's mind raping , or Tobi's revelation about the village and the Uchiha massacre.

Essentially, Part 2 without the drama of saving Sasuke and his descent into Darkness.

Would Sakura have still developed some kind of bond with Naruto, with Sasuke closer to her like in Part 1? Or is NaruSaku entirely dependent on Sasuke's absence and actions to change Sakura's feelings?

SasuSaku was a very strong couple in Part 1, while NS was almost nonexistent. It was only in Part 2 that NS started to gain traction in the story and by fandom due to Sasuke's absence and crimes.