Sakura was intrigued.
Her two companions had started to act strangely, well, Sasuke, since the blonde had always seemed strange in her eyes.
But now both of them were extremely strange.
A few weeks ago, they were training, Sasuke with Naruto and she with Kakashi-sensei; that day they were only doing taijutsu. They had been at it for several hours until they decided to take a break. Sasuke, as usual, sat at the edge of a tree and rested his head against the trunk.
What really intrigued her was that Naruto sat next to him, and they stayed there. Sasuke didn’t growl or say anything to the blonde; instead, he took his hand and traced circles on Naruto's wrist with his thumb.
The second time:
After returning from a mission, Sasuke was talking to Naruto, and he responded with a smile. Sakura caught a glimpse of how the Uchiha returned the smile—small but still a smile.
She felt a pang of sadness; he had never smiled at her or spoken to her beyond mission-related topics. Seeing him so open with Naruto was like a direct stab to her heart.
That day, she sighed heavily and let it go.
The third time:
They had decided to go eat ramen at Naruto’s request; the blonde had been singing all day about wanting ramen. And Sasuke agreed.
Naruto was happily eating, so much so that he hadn’t noticed he had ramen smeared on his cheek. Sakura was just about to hand him a napkin when she froze with the napkin in hand.
Sasuke had his hand on the blonde's cheek and was wiping away the broth with his thumb. Naruto remained calm while being cleaned up, and the Uchiha was focused on his task.
You might call her crazy, but Sakura clearly saw how Sasuke left a small caress on her blonde friend's cheek.
Yes, that sent another pang to her heart, and that night she couldn’t stop thinking about it over and over again.
The fourth and final time:
She began to see them walking toward the forest; Naruto was smiling while Sasuke maintained his serious expression. But occasionally when the blonde said something, he would give a half-smile.
From that moment, she thought about following them to see what was happening. And that day was now; she concealed her chakra and began to search for them.
"Sasuke, let go of me!"
"No, not until you let go of me first."
She was somewhat shocked by the sight: they were leaning against the same tree, but Sasuke had one of Naruto's cheeks in his hand, and Naruto was also holding onto him.
"Alright! On the count of three, we let go, okay?" Naruto spoke.
Sakura saw Sasuke nod in agreement; then Naruto began counting down, and when he reached three, they released each other. But Sasuke grabbed Naruto's cheek again.
With glassy eyes, Sakura could see how Sasuke reverently caressed Naruto's cheek; his wounded eyes looked at the blonde with adoration. And Uzumaki smiled back at him with equal affection.
And with tears streaming down her cheeks, Sakura watched as Naruto gave Sasuke a gentle kiss on the lips before resting against the Uchiha's chest, who wrapped him in his arms.
She closed her eyes tightly and wiped away her tears; she had to get out of there. She needed to understand that Sasuke only wanted her as a friend; she had to accept that Naruto deserved Sasuke; she had to acknowledge that no one else could make Sasuke happier than Naruto could.
She had to let her best friends be happy together.
With that thought and a trembling smile, she left the forest and headed straight home; she had a lot to think about and process.