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-coughs- Have an easier romance with Naruto!?Let's get one thing straight, no romance is easy, ever!They'd both have to make cometments, besides, Sakura most likely wouldn't be willing to.Sasuke and Sakura would possible have it rougher,but at least Sakura would be cometted.I'm sure Sasuke would to when he sees that he really loves her.Sakura will most likely never love Naruto in that since, nor should she.Everyone that can see knows that Naruto is like a non-blood related brother to her.In lamanse (Sp?) terms there is no possible way Sakura would fall head over heels for him.Yeah, she went on dates with him,but that was to try and get her mind off Sasuke, to stop crying for a minute and live life again.Not because she had any real affection of that sort for him.Also, just because she kissed him (If she did....) doesn't mean she honestly felt "love" for him.You people need to look at the big picture, Sakura will always love Sasuke.Not matter what.Yes at first it was an obsession, but now it is true love and affection.Not lust, nor like a fangirl.Actual L-O-V-E!

Which is the ESSENCE of NaruSaku - trust and friendship. You can't base love on personality-- just because Sakura and Naruto are alike in terms of character, doesn't mean they'd have an "easy romance." It'd be quite the opposite, especially when Sasuke plays such an integral part of their lives.

Here's my other reason as to why I believe NaruSaku romance would be artificial:

The bond that developed between Naruto and Sakura was never one of romance. Naruto had a crush on Sakura, yes, but it has always been played off as a joke; i.e- she has smacked him or punched his lights out everytime he has done something that particularly irritated her. SasuSaku, on the other hand, was developed into something serious. In the beginning, all I saw was Sakura's crush on Sasuke. But the difference from her crush and Naruto's crush, was that her's grew in deep affection, devotion and admiration. Love, essentially. All those scenes --where she stayed at Sasuke's bedside when he was hospitalized, where she stepped in between Gaara and Sasuke, and where she declared to Sasuke that she "loved him with all her heart!" (or "I really really like you to death!" LOLZ)-- indicated a growing romance.
I admit, I COULD have seen Naruto's feelings for Sakura developing into something more, but he has shown little to no interest as of late in becoming Sakura's main love interest. I think it was particular scene in the hospital, where Naruto sees Sakura hugging Sasuke, that changed Naruto. He acknowledged Sakura's feelings, her true feelings. This again was portrayed when he made his "promise of the lifetime to bring Sasuke BACK."

This is still the case, as he appears to be more big on bonds and friendship than love.

Ditto to all that. v.v

I believe Naruto does care for Sakura deeply, but I also don't think he loves her. He has done nothing to win her heart. He knows that Sakura's feelings for Sasuke are too true and deep that he'll never make her change her mind about that. Besides, if he did love her he would've tried to make a move at the time-skip.

I don't think it would be easier for Sakura to admit that she loves Naruto; in fact, I think it would be much harder. She's been adamant about loving Sasuke for so long that suddenly realizing her first crush was superficial would be overly confusing for her.

Because let's face it - she's fourteen, there's no way she's going to understand what she really wants yet.

Most kids her age go through an identity crisis - you know, "Who am I? Do I really want to be this way? Am I good enough for my parents? Are they proud? Am I fitting in? Is there spinach in my teeth? Do my shoes match these spandex shorts?" - but Sakura's ahead of the game because she's already figured out what was wrong with her and fixed it. She was weak and trained diligently for YEARS to become stronger.

To save Sasuke, yes, but also for Naruto. So he wouldn't have to keep his 'promise of a lifetime!' alone.

Currently, I think Sakura may in fact be realizing, "Hey, I have feelings for the loud orange one." Because she's mature enough to step back and understand that what she felt for Sasuke may never evolve into anything. And Naruto has been there for her, bled with her, cried with her...he's always supported her as loudly and as adamantly as he could - because she was one of the first people to accept him, but also because he loves her (and you can take that as you want).

If there were to be a SasuSaku relationship, it would depend on Sasuke's return to Konoha. They've both changed drastically over the years, and they'd have to get to know one another again before anything could ever happen.

Just because I like SasuSaku, doesn't mean it's going to happen in the manga. I'm not saying Sakura would, snap, loose her feelings for Sasuke. I'm saying hey, she may realize he's nothing more than her first crush - yes it evolved into more, she DID get to know him and she did understand him better than his other fangirls - but that doesn't mean he has feelings for her.

Sasuke is a bitter, misguided, selfish young BOY. I love him despite and because of it, but face it - he's not fluffy rainbows and happy smiles. He's messed up; Itachi screwed him. SEVERLY. That's years of mental trauma that everyone just seems to skip over; could he ever really have a healthy relationship?

See...I'm not saying, "OMG SASUKE AND SAKURA WILL NEVER GET TOGETHER," I'm saying, "Umm...maybe she's moved on."

It's two years they've been apart; seven hundred and thirty days. It's a rather long time, and she may have realized that Sasuke is not the right person for her. MAY HAVE. Not, HAS.

Did I say get over? No. Moving on and getting over are two very different things. Moving on is loving someone but realizing that in the end, it may never have worked out.

Getting over is accepting the fact that you may not have loved someone as strongly as you thought and letting it go peacefully.

This is the distinction I make, having had experience with the former. First love doesn't have to be your only love: sometimes it can be a stepping stone to something greater.

Naruto isn't bringing Sasuke back just for Sakura, he's doing it for himself as well. Sasuke, in all rights, is his brother, his first "equal" of sorts - he loves Sasuke just as much as Sakura does.

You're right; Sakura has grown up. I've said it, too. And if she's had time to think about Sasuke, she's had just as much time to think about Naruto. I'm not saying it's instant burning love, but she can see that maybe something could be there. That maybe Naruto is just as important to her as Sasuke is.

Sasuke protects Sakura. Yes. He does that a lot. He takes care of her, encourages her when she's down at the chuunin exams; but he's a Konoha ninja, she's his teammate. It's his obligation if nothing else. I'm sure he feels inklings of friendship - that he appreciates her presence as a mediator when Naruto's being particularly dense, but that doesn't constitute love. Not yet anyway. Saying "Thank You," before he leaves could mean any manner of things,

"Thanks for attempting to human-ize me."
"Thanks for deterring Naruto all those times."
"Thanks for trying to take care of me."
"Thank you for caring enough to understand me, to see that I'm going to leave and for trying to stop me, even though you know I'm going to go anyway."

If he loved her then, he would have stopped, he would have hesitated slightly, but he didn't. He was firm in leaving. He gave her the time to voice her feelings and then knocked her unconscious so she couldn't stop him/go for help.

He's selfish to me in this regard. He never paused to think of Naruto and Sakura's feelings; to think of Kakashi or KONOHA, and how his betrayal as the last of the Uchiha clan would hurt their standing as a strong ninja force. He could have realized that he has allies now, and taking down Itachi didn't have to be done on his own.

He was doing for his own pride as much as for his family.

And, for the record, I'm not saying SasuSaku has no basis. Absolutely not! If Sasuke were to remove his head from his a**, he'd see he has two wonderful people very much in love with him, and that he doesn't have to isolate himself to achieve his self-imposed goals. I'm just saying maybe it's a little one sided, and maybe, NaruSaku has some basis, too. ^^

Phweet. What a hot debate we have here. Let me mediate, then. (I'd rather not dispute between two great debaters.)

Firstly, everyone's, not just Sakura's, romantic feelings are quite unclear as of the moment. Sakura doesn't seem to be in love with anyone, though I'm inclined to think she still has those painful-first-love-ish feelings for Sasuke, but she doesn't want to be serious with anyone right now (as implied by Chap 312).

Naruto seems to be just playing around, and even though he asked Sakura out on a date, I think he may have meant it playfully, since he has something bigger to think about. Both of them do, and he knows it. Perhaps he did this to remind both of them what used to be when Sasuke was still in Konoha.

Sasuke, obviously, has had this big thing on his plate since he was 8, and I don't think he's going to let go of the matter any time soon - not until he kills Itachi anyway. He's too busy to be thinking about love, but if he is, then he must be pushing them away in favor of completing his goal.

Now, if you take away all their problems, and place them all back home in Konoha, how would their relationships go?

I think that's how SasuSaku would be proven. In a situation wherein they're just boy and girl with a few big and painful experiences, they would most likely get together, given the fact that whatever lessons they've learned in those experiences would help the other grow more.

If NaruSaku was the case, then that would mean Sasuke would be out of the picture. Sakura would have to let go of her obsession to find Sasuke for herself and instead do it for Naruto. Currently, that's not the case. She wants to save him because she still believes in Team 7. She's doing it for herself, as well as for Naruto, and also for Sasuke's humanity.

If NaruSaku were to happen, Sasuke would have to become unsaveable. Meaning Sakura would completely give up on Sasuke. This is one of the possible outcomes, though not too high in probability, and I'm not too keen on it. If this happens, then NaruSaku is inevitable.

Both of you guys have great points though. I feel like I'm just butting in. sweatdrop

(Yes, I'm obsessed with SasuSaku and quite neutral for NaruSaku. It's the fangirls of NaruSaku that depresses me.)