In the Haku fight, if Naruto was able to deflect ice spears (or kunai, cant remember) with chakra at a subconscious level, there's no reason why the same shouldnt happen when Sasuke is about to land a punch on him. If his Kyuubi powers were consistent (seems to be more of a storyline inconsistency), it shouldnt matter that Naruto didnt see the punch coming.

And Sidnne is right, Sasuke's taijutsu shouldnt even phase Naruto let alone require Kyuubi to transform him so he can stay in the fight. The only thing different about Sasuke is the third comma. As mentioned earlier he didnt get physically stronger so how ridiculous is it that Naruto got rocked so hard?

It seems like they're dumbing down Kyuubi Naruto for storyline's sake so Sasuke can go even w/ Naruto for most of the fight.