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He felt foolish, the way he actively had to resist the urge to sneak glances at her. And she, as always, was as oblivious as ever. Sakura sat next to him on the bench, looking effervescent while she watched the sunset, shoulders relaxed and clearly comfortable in his presence. The light from the setting sun highlighted her eyes perfectly and he was tempted to stare at them directly for as long as he pleased.
“Naruto?” She started waiving her hand in front of his face, attempting to snap him back to reality, “Naruto did you even listen to a word I said?” She folded her arms and began to pout her lips in distaste at his attention span. He couldn’t help but think of how pretty she looked like this, and he voiced his thoughts aloud. A blush immediately colored her cheeks, then she quickly jabbed him in the shoulder in response.
He saw it coming, expected it as soon as the words left his mouth, but he didn’t dare try and dodge. He never dodged her. He rubbed his shoulder in pain and whined her name. She rolled her eyes at him and picked the conversation back up. She was babbling on and on about a new antidote she had been testing, one she had hoped would cure all fast-acting poisons.
He’d be lying if he said he understood half of what she was saying, and he was almost positive she knew he wouldn’t. But she told him all the details anyway because he is Naruto and she is Sakura and they tell each other everything, no matter how mundane.
They told each other every secret, every dream, every worry they had. He wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, he knew the absence of a team member played a huge part in it, but at one point or another, Sakura became his most trusted confidante. They learned to lean on each other, and even though either of them would never say it out loud, they found comfort in knowing that neither one of them would ever abandon the other.
Naruto tried his hardest to take in every difficult word she said. He admired the way words he could never even dream of correctly pronouncing, rolled off her tongue so effortlessly. Sakura was the most brilliant person he knew, and it never failed to amaze him.
She must have realized the topic of conversation wasn’t exactly his forte, because she eventually trailed off and began staring off into the distance.
“Is something wrong, Sakura-chan?”
“No, I’m just..I got a letter.” She almost whispered the word ‘letter,’ as if it were classified information and there were people around. She ducked her head shyly, trying to cover to her rose-tinted cheeks with her bangs. Naruto was certain she was the cutest person alive.
He already knew who the letter was from, only one person on this planet could make Sakura so bashful. He wasn’t sure how but the thought of them together made his heart tinge with pain and soar with happiness at the same time.
“So, the bastard just forgot about me huh?” He grumbled, fist forming in the process.
Sakura scolded him about Sasuke being busy, and Naruto shrugged her off but secretly, he was just happy to know that the bastard was doing okay. Naruto knew Sakura would always love Sasuke, the same way that he, himself would probably always love Sakura. He accepted this fact the way he accepted that the sky was blue.
The Kunoichi stretched her legs out below her, then leaned her head backwards, popping her neck, and began standing up. Naruto swiftly put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back down to her previous sitting position. “Naruto, we’ve been sitting out here for a while now,” she groaned but he waived her off. He leaned back against the bench and put his arms behind his head. “Let’s stay out here for a little while longer,” he said nonchalantly as he stared up at the orange sky.
“I see Kakashi is rubbing off on you,” Sakura poked his face teasingly and he could feel his cheeks heating up.
He closed his eyes and protested, “Don’t say that Sakura-chan! I would never be that lazy,” she chuckled at his opposition, and he was pretty sure that her laugh was the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard.
He opened one eye to look at her and she tilted her head, questioning him.
“It’s nice isn’t it, Sakura-chan? Everything is so peaceful now.” He wanted to add how sitting with her, under the beautiful pink and orange hues of the sky, added an extra array of contentment to everything, but he decided to keep that thought to himself.
“Yeah,” she hummed in agreement, “You know, the hospital is running so smoothly now, I think Tsunada-sama is planning on retiring soon and making me the new chief...”
“Huh? That’s amazing!”
Naruto’s heart swelled with pride at thought of Sakura running Konoha’s hospital. He felt lucky to have personally watched her come so far. The blonde could recall a time where she looked to him for help, for keeping a promise. When she didn’t have enough faith in herself and entrusted him with the most important thing in the world to her. He remembers how he would have done anything to fulfill that promise and to stop her tears.
He enveloped her in a hug, and she returned it instantly. An overwhelming feeling of pride surged through him and as he thought of her growth, he wanted to hold onto her forever. He was a little saddened, when she released him.
“Well, it’s not official but..” she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and Naruto spoke up, ready to expel any of her self-doubting. Always ready to voice how amazing she is.
“It will be.”
She gave him a genuine smile and, in that moment, he felt pure happiness. He couldn’t think of anything more rewarding in life than to be the recipient of such a wonderful smile.
Being here, with Sakura, was the most natural thing in the world for him. He knew he had someone waiting on him, he knew that her heart belonged to someone else, yet these little moments felt like pure heaven to him anyway. He couldn’t ask for anything else.
“Yeah..everything is all I’d ever hoped it would be. I’ll be head of the hospital, you’ll be the Hokage, and even Sasuke-kun will be home soon,” she said as she leaned her head onto his shoulder, “isn’t this everything you’ve ever wanted?”
He leaned into her, taking in the slight scent of her hair.
“Almost.”