She would’ve turned away, any other day on the calendar, but today was different. Today, Naruto hadn’t smiled at her.

Sakura couldn’t recall a day, ever, when Naruto hadn’t acknowledged her. Even after Sasuke’s departure, he’d made a point of smiling at her. It went arrive at bridge, smile at Sakura, yell at Kakashi, train, go home. There had once been a time scheduled for arguing with Sasuke, right between grinning at her and scolding their idiot sensai, but Sasuke had screwed up yet another routine by leaving. He’d screwed everything up by leaving. Each time Team 7 got together, there was a gap. A hole. Kind of like the hole in Sakura’s heart.

Maybe Naruto finally realized he had a hole, too. Maybe that was why, this stifling July morning, he seemed almost broken. . . almost like her. Maybe that was why he’d walked past her (all the way to the other end of the bridge, and it was so far that it felt like hours until he got there) and dropped to the ground in silence. Not even a glance her way.

Sakura knew, of course, that Naruto’s abrupt disinterest in her was a good thing. She also knew that the telltale clenching of her heart was not. This, not even a glance her way, was something she’d been pushing for since Sasuke’s departure and maybe even (unconsciously) before that. Worrying was useless.

Another clench of that fragile heart. Useless, just like me.

For a moment, however brief, Sakura knew she wasn’t useless because she couldn’t stop Sasuke from leaving, or Kakashi from wasting away in front of the memorial stone. She was useless because she could fix Naruto, fill the emptiness of his heart like water filling a vase, but she didn’t.

It would be easy, to just reach out and touch him, to be whole again. But anything the old Sakura had done was shunned by this newer version of herself; easy was no longer an option. Wasn’t it obvious? Didn’t he see?

She would’ve turned away, any other day on the calendar, but today Naruto didn’t smile at her, today he was so far from her it felt like they were miles apart. So she picked herself off the ground and tentatively settled herself near him, facing his back.

Sakura’s throat felt dry and nervous; the irony of the situation did not escape her. How many times had Naruto faced her back, fumbling to grasp a subject that would interest both parties? Sakura had never even tried, because the silence would only last a little longer. . . just a little–

“We need to talk.”

Her voice came out hoarse when she said those words; whether it was because they felt out of place on her tongue or she just wasn’t used to talking at all, Sakura didn’t know. Her only concern was that she’d waited too long to say them, too long to say anything at all. Her only concern was that he was so completely gone from her she had no chance of getting him back.

Naruto’s eyes, those beautiful eyes, were swirling with emotion but somehow unreadable when he turned to face her. Sakura could always read his expressions. Except this once. Except this one time. . .

“I– I need to ask you something.”

Naruto flinched at her words, but this time there was no pain in his eyes, secret or otherwise. Simply that darkness, simply darkness that Sakura could not understand. What was wrong with him? Where was the Naruto she knew yesterday, who was pure and kind and not broken?

Her voice was shaky, but she managed to speak. “You’re– you’re not my friend, are you?”

She felt a stinging sort of numbness when he soundlessly shook his head, and all the words she’d kept at bay came rushing up her throat like a hundred pigeons loosed upon the world, wings beating against the grey sky, so eager to be freed.

And the words may have rushed up her throat but she could only let go of a select few, melting into those beautiful eyes of sky. “Then what are you?”

He was quiet, it was so quiet, until she finally lost it. All those tears, like all those words, were suddenly racing towards the surface, turning her inside-out so that anyone could see her pain, anyone at all. But just when she was about to break, just when she was about to let go, she felt steady arms around her and gentle hands on her back, hands so gentle they could never hurt her like he did. He was holding her down, not holding her back. And when he whispered into her hair, “I’m so much more,” Sakura knew he was here to stay. Here to hold her.

The odd broken-heartedness of the moment seemed empty, but Sakura could feel the fragments of their friendship rearranging into something new. Maybe they weren’t so broken-hearted, so empty. Maybe they had just never known that they weren’t complete unless they were together.

But there was still one more question she had to ask, one more issue to confront. Before she could stop the words from surfacing (she knew she would never be able to hide from him, never again) she asked, “Why have you always been here for me, Naruto?”

And he knew now that he could say it, that he could always say it. “Because I love you.”

--

A/N: I did it! I have now been successful in updating two stories that I said were complete and not updating my multi-chapter. Oh, well. I’m glad I did it anyway. As for further updates on this story, I’m not planning on it, but obviously that’s not too reliable. Let’s just say I’ll think on it.

So, I hope you liked this new addition. Not only did I use references from the previous chapter, but I also added quite a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) references to my other stories, which I guess you would have to read to understand. That’s unlikely, I suppose, because the pairings are different for each of my stories, but whatever. So, review if you feel like it. I’m not sure but their might be a connection between me updating stories and the stories with the most reviews. Or maybe my muses are on drugs. Anything’s possible.

-Mere Anarchy