Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Forest spirits are sentimental creatures; they trust naively and love purely. They have no need for jealousy or anger, greed nor violence—all they require is a wholesome love that waters their spirits. This love comes from the forest: flowers, birds, plants, and everything it presides over. Their days are punctuated by laughter and smiles, and their evenings are shackled in warm embraces and lovely whispers.
Sakura knows this as well as she knows the hum of the hummingbird and the sigh of a watered blossom; she knows it as well as she knows the curvature of the vines that wrap around her wrists and the feel of small flower buds in her hair.
And yet, knowing this does not stop the horrible plunge in her core when she stumbles upon her silver boy sitting in the company of an unknown human girl.
Horrible feelings surge through her to rattle her bones, and her soul cries out at the sheer wrongness of them. Envy, hurt, possessiveness, and sorrow have no place in the heart of a flower nymph, and yet they consume her.
Sakura doesn't bother hiding herself—they can't see her anyway—and instead sits beside them to form an awkward triangle. Sakura ignores her ever trailing band of butterflies as they flutter close to whisper love in her ears and takes the opportunity to examine this new mortal.
She's pretty enough, she supposes, though the odd purple markings on her face certainly detract from her beauty. Her hair is a plain muddy brown, as are her eyes, and Sakura scowls as this new mousy girl coos at the pretty butterflies that have swarmed around them.
Her silver boy has been gone for over a year by human standards to spend time with this?
A heavy frown tugs on her glossy lips and she ignores the distressed keens that come from the butterflies hovering at her ears. Surely she is better company! She is the one who brings beauty to the clearing for him to enjoy! It is Sakura who rebuilds the earth every time he destroys it with his corrosive powers!
Sakura ignores that pesky little voice in her head that points out that Kakashi doesn't even know she exists. So how could he possibly trade her company for another?
But then Kakashi starts to shakily tell this small girl the circumstances of his father's suicide, of the awful guilt he feels towards his friend's death, and Sakura listens with rapt attention as the girl does the same. The girl reaches a hesitant hand to grasp his own shaking fingers, and Sakura watches with narrowed eyes as they curl around them desperately.
But when her tumultuous eyes dart to the girl's face, Sakura is powerless to the way they soften at the tenderness she sees in the lines of her face. The sun hits her face just so, and suddenly murky brown eyes are warm and kind. Plain chestnut hair has become fine spun copper toned silk, and those odd purple markings curve endearingly over soft cheeks.
Sakura's lower lip trembles, and the dewdrops on her fine lashes quiver as her emerald orbs take in the heartache in both of these mortal's eyes. Her hand rises with the intention to swipe at her silver boy's tears, but Sakura stills her traitorous fingers and the sad whimper that bubbles in her throat when the girl pulls him into her embrace.
Though she wants with all of her heart to be the one he holds so closely, she knows that this girl will take care of him. The vitriolic emotions clenching her heart loosen with a sigh as she observes the way Kakashi holds the girl to him desperately, and her hand withdraws slowly as a soft smile curls her pink lips.
Rising with all of the grace her creatures possess, Sakura leans over to place a gentle kiss on the crown of his head and then murmurs her gratitude into the girl's ear (because she is already turning, Sakura does not see how it twitches or how the girl's back stiffens). Flower nymphs thrive off of the love of others and of their own hearts, and if Sakura is sure of one thing in her life, it's the love she feels for her silver boy.
And as she walks away from the soothing words of comfort whispered into Kakashi's ears as he lays nestled in another's arms, she m muses that perhaps he isn't just hers anymore. But there is love burrowed deeply in the cradle of their arms, so Sakura hums and sings and the buds in her hair bloom.