Board Thread:Naruto Gaiden/@comment-26904721-20150819175325/@comment-4503935-20150820031339

Oh, WTH.

Despite Sakura saying that Naruto's feelings for her in the past was just a indirect attempt to compete with Sasuke, knowing Naruto, it' likely that there's more to it than that. Sasuke, being Naruto's rival who was superior to him in practically every aspect, was a complete natural girl magnet with ladies seemingly of all ages attracted to him, leaving guys like Naruto single and lonely. Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke may also have been a key part in his search for his own true soulmate, thinking that if he can show that he could be Sasuke's equal, and by extension like him, maybe he'll stand a better chance of finding his one true love, which he somehow thought would be Sakura, since he grew to believe that girls would only notice and care for him if he was more like Sasuke in a sense or the very least get enough of their attention to stand a chance. What he doesn't realized is that there was already a girl who would love him, simply because he's Naruto, not because he's Sasuke, Hinata Hyuga.

Also, not only does he know that Sakura would never see him like she sees Sasuke, he seems to be a supporter of her and Sasuke's relationship. Deep down, it is possible that he see them as inspiration, a source of hope that he too could one day have something like they could have, more or less.