Chapter Text
The return journey to Konoha passed in relative ease. After that night, Sakura seemed to be back to her usual self. She smiled and chatted with the rest of the team. When Naruto or Sai did something stupid, she reacted just as she always did, with yelling and perhaps excessive violence. Naruto wasn't exactly pleased with his most recently acquired head injury, but he and Sai were relieved to see Sakura back to normal. Seeing her upset had been unpleasant for all of them.
They reached the main gate to Konoha at about midday. As soon as the gates opened, Hinata stepped through with a bright smile. Naruto called out a greeting before rushing to her side. He babbled about something as Hinata scanned him up and down, searching for injuries. Finding none, the smile on her face grew even broader. Within moments, his arms were around her waist, and her arms had twined around his neck, in a gesture Sai now recognized as a hug.
He turned to Sakura, dark eyes betraying only a hint of the confusion he felt. "Is Naruto upset?" he asked, thinking back to how Sakura had explained that hugs were used as comfort.
"No," Sakura responded, not quite understanding where he was going with this.
"Then Hinata-san is upset," Sai stated, though his voice still held a slightly questioning tone.
Beginning to realize what was going on, Sakura fought back a smile. It was always nice to see Sai figure out a little more of what it was like to be a normal person. "I don't think so, Sai."
"Then why are they hugging?" Sai asked, confirming Sakura's hunch about his line of questioning.
"A hug isn't just to comfort someone when they are upset. There are a lot of reasons for a hug." It still amazed her that Sai hadn't known what a hug was. Surely he had seen them before. Perhaps he had just never been curious about it, until now.
"What purpose does it serve here?"
"They missed each other, and Hinata is happy to see that Naruto is home safe," Sakura explained.
"Oh. But the mission was very low risk, and we were only gone a few days." Sai said this with a trace of irritation, because he still wasn't quite getting this. Sometimes he feared he would never really understand any social situation, no matter how many books he read or how much Sakura helped him.
"She's still happy that he's safe," Sakura said with a laugh.
"So the reason for the hug is relief and happiness that the other is unharmed?" Sai asked, wanting to be perfectly clear.
Sakura nodded. "Exactly. Plus, among close friends, there doesn't always have to be an actual reason. Sometimes people just want to hold someone and be held."
Sakura was about to go join their friends when Sai pulled her into a tight hug of his own, mirroring what Naruto had done. One arm was around her waist, hand resting in the small of her back, holding her to him. His other arm was around her as well, encouraging her to move closer. Sakura took a small half step closer, arms looping around him. His heartbeat thudded in her ear as her cheek pressed against his chest, and the medic part of her brain that never really turned off noted it was slightly elevated.
Although Sai worried social situations would never come easy to him, Sakura had always tried her best to be patient with him. That type of support, filled with friendship and a legitimate desire for him to be happy, was something he hadn't been able to find in Root. In fact, he hadn't been able to find anything quite like it anywhere. It was true he had other friends. For all their arguing, Naruto did seem to care about him, and through the blonde idiot and the pink haired medic, Sai had gradually been finding acceptance in other social groups. Despite that, there was just something special about his friendship with Sakura. He couldn't pin it down, couldn't for the life of him put it in the plain, straightforward terms he so enjoyed. All he knew was that extra little something made holding Sakura something he truly enjoyed.
A moment later, Naruto spotted them, blue eyes going wide. "Whoa, Sai, what's that all about?" he asked, releasing Hinata.
Sai turned to Naruto, still holding onto Sakura. "I am showing our teammate that I am happy she has returned home safely." This declaration was met with silence.
However, that silence included Naruto, and so could only last a few moments. Naruto put a hand behind his head, expression more than a little confused, though he still smiled. "Yeah, but our mission wasn't dangerous or anything. And you were with us the whole time anyway. So what's the big deal?"
"Sakura has informed me that hugs don't always have to have a reason, beyond that you wanted to hug someone."
Naruto continued to look baffled, but Hinata gave Sakura a knowing look. "Come on, Naruto-kun," she said, tugging lightly on his hand. "I thought it would be nice if we went to Ichiraku's now that you're back." The ramen lover didn't have to be told twice.
"That's awesome!" he said, nearly dragging Hinata in the direction of the restaurant. When he was about to be out of sight, he looked over his shoulder at Sai and Sakura. "When you're done being weird, meet us there, okay?"