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Gentle gentle gentle.
Naruto was always gentle with Sasuke.
For all the shouting and claws and pain. For all the glares that dared judgement to escape from people’s mouths. For all the aggressive mess of feelings Naruto harbored and embraced so fully they became an integral part of him, he was always gentle.
Gentle in tone and gentle in action.
“Sasuke! Sasuke!” It felt like he yelled constantly until the moment Sasuke came within hearing range and suddenly the howls of mourning became gentle connection.
Sakura didn’t need to understand the bond, the connection, the history, or any words said because none of it spoke as much as that tone.
That tone that called out “I understand,” that tone that sang “It will all be okay,” the one that whispered “go at your own pace” and the one that promised “I won’t give up on you.”
Sakura wasn’t sure anyone alive would be able to make heads or tails of the relationship but she was sure that that tone rang clear as a bell.
She wasn’t even sure if Naruto knew he was doing it. She wondered how Sasuke could resist such a voice. How he could act so cold in the face of it.
And she wondered how it felt when all the emotions you possess spill out into your tone and still lead to rejection.
At first it wasn’t logical.
That kind of rejection should be end-of-the-world levels of pain. There shouldn’t be second chances after that kind of interaction. That voice should have died the moment team seven did.
But again and again it rang out.
“I’ll meet you halfway.”
“We can figure it out together.”
“I still have faith in you.”
And it must have hurt. God, it must have hurt.
Everything, every single thing that made up Naruto was contained in that simple soft tone and it got beaten down again and again. Sakura wondered how much a heart must have already suffered to endure a pain like that. She was afraid of the answer.
And it made everything difficult. How can she not hate someone capable of that kind of attack? How can she stand to watch it happen?
She wanted it to be done and she wanted to give up on everything involving him.
But every once in a while the slightest leaks of emotion began to show in Sasuke.
And suddenly, a single glance over became an “I miss this,” and a hesitant departure became “I don’t really want to leave.”
And every lingering presence echoed the message contained in soft tones.
It took Sakura ages to notice it, and she wondered how quickly it took Naruto. He was probably much faster than her. Though, to be fair, she didn’t live and breathe for Sasuke the way he did.
She didn’t need to spend years clinging onto every micro expression and every breath.
Every person in the village lost something when Sasuke left, whether it be as painful as losing a close friend or something as trivial as losing entertainment. Sakura found it unfair that the one who lost the most was one who barely had anything worth losing to begin with.
And she ached from the situation.
She ached for them and she ached for herself too.
Because for all that she was grateful to have a glimpse into a relationship so vast and so full. For all that she now knew to strive for more in her own life. For all that she thanked every being she could think of everyday that they had each other. For all of it, she still ached to be left alone.
She ached from being on the shore of their ocean, but at the same time feared the depth. It wasn’t something she wanted to get too close to.
She wasn’t meant for world-saving dependency. Her love was softer and more subtle. Her love was in small moments and steadfast friendship. If they were the roaring oceans and tsunamis, she was the comfortable backyard pond - steady and easy but loved more than one could say.
So, while she was often overwhelmed by the sheer everything of Naruto and Sasuke she was content to find her own everything.
Her tone might not ache and yearn and echo the gentleness of Naruto’s but it would sing the same level of love all the same. She might not physically gravitate and orbit the way Sasuke did but her touches would linger long enough to make up for it.
She loved Naruto and she loved Sasuke. But she wasn’t in love with them because her ways of loving were different from theirs.
Their love was explosive and too large to quantify; at times seeming to extend beyond the word “love” into something deeper and unnamed.
And Sakura’s love was something she hadn’t completely figured out yet.
But she knew that it started with blonde hair and a flower shop.