It was a sweltering summer evening. A swirl of orange and pink light painted the sky and casted a warm glow across all below it. The taste of salt carried through the air along with the calming breeze of the ocean. Wind whipped wildly through her hair, sending an array of chills down her spine, as Sakura raised herself onto the train steps. Her eyes were fresh with tears, swollen and puffy, keeping her head down as she set down near the most isolated seat.
She cozied up to the smooth wooden paneling, and rested her elbow against the base of the window. Light chatter carried through the car and it helped to drown out the relentless noise in her head. Couples, both old and young, lovingly held onto one another as they found their seats. She watched a young man, hand planted on her belly, guide his pregnant wife to their booth, and helped her ease onto the seat. As he sat she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, nestling into his side. Another elderly couple walked past her with hands intertwined in each other. They only served to remind Sakura that her marriage had lasted all of three days.
It seemed such a distant memory to her now, her brief fight with Sasuke, despite it having happened only a little more than two hours ago. How am I going to go home and tell everyone it's over? Just like that? Dad's going to have a heart attack. I don't even want to think of what Mom'll say. I just…I was with him a whole year. I can't believe I never knew. I feel so…stupid. She wished for someone to hug and console her, reassuring her that she wasn't an idiot, that it wasn't her fault, that she would be okay. Exactly what Naruto had meant when she had last spoken to him was made adamantly clear, and she felt the same gnawing ache in her heart that she had before.
In her hand she freely held the folded photo of her old team. The edges were crinkled, and the color was washed with a faint orange tint; the lines of her sensei and teammates faces were muddled, only the base outlines of their features remained. It was still her favorite picture. We were so young. Those days were long gone but she thought of them often, remembering her initial joy and dismay over her team assignment and the bonds that she had formed. Each D-Rank mission or training session was tinged with nostalgia, no matter how menial or strenuous the task.
A sad smile found its way to her face as she gazed at Naruto in the picture, scowling with arms crossed, still just a small and rambunctious bundle of energy. She laughed to herself as she thought on every irritating and idiotic thing he used to do, and found herself missing every prank, every scare, and every surprise quite dearly. She remembered sitting in the stands during his chunnin exam fights, cheering loudly, while sitting on the edge of her seat; even when he appeared down for the count, Naruto ceased to give up. Watching the way he carried on through such difficult circumstances with such confidence and vigor had always exhilarated her.
In the two years between when he left and returned from training with Jiraiya he had changed so much; he had become even stronger than he was before, with a new flurry of tricks and techniques up his sleeve, all the while still rattling on about becoming Hokage. He was a force to be reckoned with, surely, but he never lost the tenderness he had for her. Together they were two moving pieces acting as one, and he was always there to encourage her when she needed him to. The nights they spent backpacking from mission to mission, spending entire evenings just looking at the stars and whispering through the dark, sent a whole new wave of sorrow down her back. The look on his face when he would gush about how proud he was of her. The way he never backed down from his promise, even if it meant putting his own life at stake, just to make her as happy as he could. She felt like crying, but was completely out of tears.
As the light from outside disappeared and the boxcar lamps lit up, Sakura thought of that horrible night after the war. Madara ripped Kurama from Naruto without so much as batting an eye. When Gaara finally brought Naruto to her he was already teetering on the brink between life and death, while she used all of her focus and energy to bring him back. Her own heart was fluttering with fear. If she lost Naruto, what did she have? Seeing him taken down in such a swift movement was incredibly traumatic. When he was finally revived Sakura was overwhelmed with emotion, feeling everything all at once as they continued to fight. She couldn't help herself once they were alone. She never wanted to leave his side again, as he had never left hers, and she yearned to be as close to him as she physically could.
It was no longer enough for her to simply be his friend. She had realized her confession to him previously wasn't completely untrue, it was almost as if she was subconsciously trying to accept that she loved Naruto herself. Her skin tingled as she memorized the way his fingers caressed her, how he laid his head against her chest. Neither of them knew what they were doing, but it came as naturally, as clumsily, and as passionately as it possibly could have. Until she said Sasuke's name. It slipped out without her even knowing it until she saw Naruto's face. The mix of shock, horror, and sadness on his face was one she never intended on revisiting. Balling her fist tightly, she pressed her hand to her head. So stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I don't even know why I did it! Could I be any dumber?! I wish I could take that back.
It was as if someone had cast a spell on her for years of her life that had made her unable to see anyone but Sasuke. He, in all his aloof, uncaring demeanor, had cursed her with the inability to see someone who truly loved her, even though he was directly in front of her. Sasuke had shown her his true colors, and they were quite unpleasant. What did I see in him? All he did was treat me like garbage. She stared ahead in the train, counting down the few hours before she would be home. Her eyes fell toward the loving couples holding hands and sitting against each other. She thought of all that Naruto had done for her over the years, and all he had sacrificed to make her as content as he could, and how willing she was to discard all the he felt the moment Sasuke returned. You know what you have to do now, don't you? She stared at the picture once more. I have to get Naruto back.