Strawberry Avalanche

Beta: strawberries and napkins

A/N: This is a story of faeries, how they're born, and how they fall in love. Thank you for reading.

…

He had known that Naruto was special for a while now.

That's why Naruto trusts him so much, because Sasuke doesn't care if Naruto is special. Sasuke forgets sometimes, but what does he care? Naruto is Naruto, and if Naruto sometimes likes to swim through the air, and release crystalline wings that smelled like the sweet flowers, Sasuke wouldn't complain. He likes to watch Naruto smile and laugh and be himself, whatever he is.

But Naruto is still special. Sasuke has to keep reminding himself when he invites himself over Naruto's garden home, with floors covered in pressed petals and leaves, and the atmosphere sticky like a greenhouse. Sasuke finds it hard to do his homework, there are too many bees licking the sweat off his skin, but Naruto doesn't mind them. Naruto takes a deep drink of that milky white beverage and smiles, saying, 'Sasuke, soon I'll be able to take you anywhere, everywhere, if you want.'

Sasuke grunts, because he doesn't know what to say to someone so special, but it makes him stop swatting the greedy insects away. It makes him want to be like Naruto, special. But he is special, in his natural world. Smart, sexy, powerful. But he wasn't special like Naruto was, and could even be envious of it. Naruto doesn't mind it, but Sasuke does.

He doesn't like to talk to Naruto in fear of other people, and when he does he can only say, 'Why are you so special Naruto?'

And then Naruto would say, 'I prefer the word enhanced. It's manlier. But we're still the same, aren't we?'

'I don't have wings.'

'They aren't wings, Sasuke. They're flowers. Beautiful, enhanced flowers. Would you like to smell them?'

Sasuke loves to smell them; there was no other scent like the barrage of suffocating flowery, powerful, flowers. There was nothing like this in a department store, Sasuke had once tried to look for it. The smell is intoxicating, so lovely that Sasuke can bury his face in Naruto's petals forever. But he can't.

He can't get lost in Naruto's world, no matter how much he wants to.

Sasuke satisfies himself by asking Naruto a million questions, about the wings, his flowers, his charm. Whether he was really a human or not, but like Naruto says, does it matter? They are the same. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are the same.

That's what Naruto says one night when Sasuke decides to stay over. 'We're the same Sasuke, aren't we?'

Sasuke snorts, not wanting to say how different from Naruto he feels most time.

Instead he nestles into a crunchy-sounding, half-open sleeping bag on the floor of Naruto's living room, watching the fireflies dizzily spin around the nightlight.

'Yeah, we're still the same, Naruto.'

Naruto burrows closer to Sasuke's heat. Sasuke realizes that Naruto is icy cold, and will probably never be warm. He can't feel any heartbeat.

Then Naruto props his head up, takes a sip of the drink that seems to glow an eerie white in the dark. His wings rustle against the light sheets. Sasuke pulls them off of him. He admires their sparkle and gets nervous when he sees them wilt like this.

He doesn't want to sound too loving, but he can't help himself. 'Sit up, dobe. They'll get hurt.'

Naruto rolls his eyes, but enjoys it when Sasuke takes special care of him. He sways the glass some, pushing it close to Sasuke's face. 'Want some?'

Sasuke smells coconut.

'What is it?'

Naruto rolls his eyes and takes a small sip. For a moment Sasuke thought he saw the strength return to Naruto's withering flowers as they stand and extend toward the fireflies' blinking green light. Sasuke doesn't mean to offend Naruto, but how can you not when you're talking to someone like him?

He hesitates, watching the flowers sway gently from the open window's breeze, as they carry the sweet scent over his nose. Naruto is intoxicating. Slit blue eyes watch curiously as Sasuke's shaky fingers grasp the bottle and take the rest. He swallows it all greedily and licks his moist lips once it's he's finished. It takes like strawberries, coconut, and sugary syrup. Delicious.

Naruto cups Sasuke's face with a Cheshire grin, pinching lightly. 'You like it?'

Sasuke nods, and his eyelids lower in drowsiness. Naruto's smirking face grows fuzzy and he remembers he forgot to tell his parents that he was staying over.

Naruto's smile doesn't fade. It makes Sasuke want to punch it off. 'You tired?'

He nods again, slipping back into the rough, rumpled sheets. They smell like Naruto, like everything that smells exquisite. Naruto moves closer to Sasuke, whispers things that Sasuke isn't paying attention to. He can't stop the room from spinning, the bugs from buzzing, and Naruto from whispering. His head is pounding, but then it fades away. There is silence for a moment. Sasuke is assured that he has fallen asleep.

Then the room turns pink.

A bright, intensely-colored pink.

A vivid, dazzling, and brilliant pink.

Sasuke hates pink.

Now Sasuke doesn't feel like sleeping anymore. He looks down at himself. There are no sheets, no floor, nothing that looks like Naruto's apartment. Nothing of familiarity.

He looks up above him. The sky is pink. It makes Sasuke angry. Pink is Naruto's favorite color.

'You're silly for thinking you weren't special, Sasuke.' Naruto whispers throatily in Sasuke's ear, making him shiver. He snaps at Naruto, demanding to know where he is, where this place is, why it smells so good, and why it feels like he's floating on cotton candy.

Naruto smiles, and Sasuke realizes that Naruto is naked. Naked, except for a thick, loose robe strung around his bony, adolescent hips. It reminds Sasuke of a toga. If Sasuke weren't so angry, he'd blush.

His voice is deep and resounding. 'You wanted to be like me, right? Now you can, Sasuke! We're the same!'

Sasuke opens his mouth to protest, angrily, with a few choice words, but there's a flutter on his back. He stutters, and tries to feel it…this growth. The more it flutters, the more butterflies explode in his chest. It feels like silk, and now Sasuke gets it…even if he doesn't want to.

Sasuke has wings. Sasuke is special.

In response to his anger, they flutter angrily, whipping wind against his ears. He stands on two shaky feet and grabs Naruto by the wrist, twisting painfully. 'What did you do to me, dobe?'

'Sasuke, stop…' is Naruto's reply. His husky voice turns into a whimper, but there's a sneaky smile on his face. 'Don't pollinate me, please.' He wretches his arm free and rubs it soothingly.

Sasuke observes his own hand, covered in pollen from touching the petals and realizes that he was about to pollinate his best friend, and Sasuke knows very well what pollination is.

'You're dreaming, I'm sure. But you're here, and I'm here, with all the others. I live here, in Avalanche.' He says it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Strangely, Sasuke buys it. He takes a moment to observe his surroundings. The sounds of landing airplanes assault his senses, and there's a constant stream of pink bubbles floating away in the sky. The air is filled with sparkles. He's wearing one of those robes too, only it's black. It's like something out of a young eight-year-old girl's fantasy.

But the wings…the flowers are connected to him, flowing seamlessly into his back. He touches them again and then faces Naruto with panicked eyes. He's always wanted this, and yet…

'You'll wake up soon, so…' Naruto licks his dry lips. 'So spend some time with me okay, Sasuke?'

There's a crease in Sasuke's brow even when he nods his agreement. He assumes everything will be all right when he wakes up, even as Naruto scoots closer to him and wraps his arms around him, lifting them both off the ground. Sasuke is flying in Naruto's arms.

'You see that rainbow, Sasuke? I made that. I made that just for you. I told you Sasuke, I'll take you anywhere. Anywhere you want to go, just you and me,' Naruto says loudly over the screeching noise, as they fly over the cotton-soft ground and Sasuke can see other 'specials', just like Naruto, flying in all different directions.

Sasuke's 'rainbow' is made out of orange and pink hues. Figures.

Sasuke sees others, just like Naruto—just like him— that act like Sasuke is one of them. As one male passes by them through the air, a bit of pollen is splashed on his nose. He sneezes.

'Don't get mad. It's because you're so beautiful.' Naruto says, reassuringly and then wrinkles his nose uncomfortably too.

Sasuke begins his barrage of questions. What are they? Where is this place? How does he get back? And most importantly, is Naruto coming back with him?

His blond companion only sighs and wraps his strong-arms around Sasuke's lithe frame, in a low hushed tone. 'Trust me, will ya? Jeez, Sasuke, you make a horrible faerie.'

'A fairy?' Sasuke snorts.

'Faerie.' Naruto corrects him.

The proper name for what he is sounds weird coming off of Naruto's tongue. Sasuke tries it himself a few times trying to warm up to the idea of being like this, just like Naruto is.

Sasuke hesitates, and seriously regrets not calling his mother before spending the night. He briefly thinks about the two essays due the next morning in History class. Then his mind goes blank again.

'Where are we going?'

'Cherry's Fountain. Lots of newcomers go there first,' Naruto replies smoothly, taking a deep dive that makes Sasuke inhale sharply. His mouth fills with the smell of breathtaking strawberries, so clear that he can taste them. Fresh, plump, and juicy strawberries.

They fly through a barrage of stars that swipe at Sasuke's skin like paper shurikens. Naruto grunts and then they land, with Naruto dropping Sasuke unceremoniously on his side. The ground quivers beneath him, like a waterbed.

The stench of cherries is overpowering.

Sasuke blinks twice, brushing his bangs out of his face. The fountain is bigger than anything he's ever seen, pumping out blood red juice that spills over the edges and gets absorbed by the hungry ground. Equally red tulips have sprung out everywhere.

Red tulips mean undying love. Naruto taught him that once.

'Would you like to sit here and talk to me for a while? So we can figure out what's going on. Your circumstances, and what's next.' An unknown force drives Naruto's eyes. It makes Sasuke shiver.

'We don't need to figure out anything. I'm the lost one here.' Sasuke points out, and tries his best to look unamused. Naruto turns on his thousand-watt smile. It fails.

'I mean about us, silly.' Naruto smiles and crouches down to the shifting ground, entwining his fingers with Sasuke's. 'You and I. Remember, we're the same.'

A huge chunk of cherry pops out of the fountain and lands a few feet beside them, only momentarily distracting Sasuke. Naruto's next sentence brings him back.

'I really like you, Sasuke.'

'…Dobe.' It feels like the most natural thing in the world to say. Of course he loves Naruto. Naruto was his weird, beautiful, abnormally…special best friend. Of course he loves him.

Sasuke's wings quiver uneasily when Naruto's shoulders droop in disappointment. They let the subject pass them by anyway. He pushes his naked toes into the mushy ground. It feels like jello, and his toes only make small indents before the ground swells back to life again. Sasuke likes this place. A lot.

Naruto lays back on his hand, and swallows the stray piece of cherry with a grin. 'Having fun?'

Sasuke nods. It doesn't answer the one question on his mind: Will we have to leave soon?

'Mmm! It tastes like winter…' Naruto closes his eyes and purrs happily, licking his fingers. Sasuke swipes his fingers across the ground and licks the clear substance. Winter isn't a flavor, he realizes, but it's the only word that can describe what it tastes like. Snow, mint…and winter.

Sasuke pushes his drooping flower wings upwards. Naruto tilts his head, and then closes his eyes. 'Want to see some more of Avalanche?'

Sasuke nods again. A bit too eagerly.

'Great! You can fly now, you know.' Naruto says with a pointed look. Sasuke stands, growling at the smug look. Another large chunk of cherry pops right out of the fountain, and smacks Sasuke in the ear. He watches it fall to the ground, and then greedily picks it up to taste it on his tongue. The flavor surprises him.

It tastes like sweet red grapes. Even better than winter.

Sasuke tries to angle his head to see his wings, and gets a flash of red for his troubles. He frowns and turns back to Naruto.

'Mirror.' He points to his hidden back.

Naruto stretches on the ground and yawns. 'Mirror? Oh, then let's travel to the Iceberg Division.' He says this as if it's supposed to be the simplest thing in the world, which to him probably is. Sasuke grimaces, chastising himself for being overly accepting of his situation, but the deep gaze of Naruto's crystal eyes change his focus. He outstretches his arms to the expanse of land around them.

'This is your place. Lead the way.'

'Our place,' Naruto insists. Then he does that thing that makes Sasuke's heart beat slow. He closes his eyes, bites his lips with a soft grins and his arms waves around him, then he lifts up. Slow, and simple, like it was just that easy. Naruto's wings flap slowly, creating a gentle breeze that tousled Sasuke's hair. Sasuke still finds Naruto's scent was powerful.

He waits for Sasuke to try it. 'C'mon, I know you can,' he chants over and over again. Sasuke can't seem to get his feet off the ground. They feel like slabs of iron compared to Naruto. The sounds of popping cherries begin to irritate him, and the streaking sound of airplanes only make him want to jump out of his skin.

Naruto sighs, with a tired smile. 'C'mere…' He eyes Sasuke's body, floating over to Sasuke and picking him up gracefully, bridal style. Sasuke doesn't like the feeling of his cramped wings being crushed against Naruto's chest, but he doesn't say anything. He's only relived that he's able stop trying to fly.

'If the noise bothers you, you can fall asleep in my arms, you know. I'll protect you. Promise.' Naruto's voice wavers on the last word, making Sasuke worry for a moment. Then he groans.

'I'm already asleep. What good would that do? Just…hurry up.' There's irritation in Sasuke's voice.

'Ah. Always the charmer.' There is none in Naruto's.

They dive past the scratchy paper stars that look hand-strung in a rosette-colored sky, and then to Sasuke's amazement the sky changes colors to a deep black, and suddenly Naruto is diving in-between large meteor rocks. One flies past his nose. It smells like buttery baked bread.

'Your imagination…is beautiful, Sasuke. Almost everything about you.' Naruto laughs, and it echoes through his empty chest and into Sasuke's cramped bones. Sasuke wants to hear him laugh again, but he refuses to say anything in response. He doesn't understand what Naruto means.

They dip lower to the ground, and the scenery changes again, confusing Sasuke. The sky turns a cerulean blue that reminds Sasuke of Naruto's eyes. White petals hail down from the sky, coating the ground like snow. He would've confused it for snow if he hadn't smelled it first.

Jasmines. Jasmines mean grace and elegance.

They glide down to the bottom. Naruto sets Sasuke down gently, his cold fingers lingering on Sasuke's cheek. He tells Sasuke that he loves him again. Sasuke tells him to shut up.

They start moving. The ground, unlike the first, is slippery, like he was walking on ice. A few times Naruto slips and falls, and they both laugh. A few other faeries pass them both by, with wide stares and waving hands. Naruto waves back, excitedly. Sasuke is too embarrassed.

'I said I wanted a mirror, why did you take me here?' Sasuke fights the blush down on his face when a female faerie strolls by them, with a giggle and a wave. Unlike the two of them, she wore nothing, exposing her bouncing breasts and other parts to the world. Well, Naruto's world.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror and he looks around. 'Sasuke, don't be mad. You like this place, don't you? I can—'

The screeching sound of radio interference blurs his eyes and makes his brain throb painfully. Sasuke doesn't get to hear the rest of Naruto's sentence.

His eyesight returns to him slowly, like somehow had been pressing down on the sockets of his eyes. He inhales sharply. 'Naruto?'

The blonde doesn't respond for a moment. 'You okay?'

Sasuke nods limply, not entirely sure if he is okay. He feels Naruto's warm hands wrap around his hips, protectively. He immediately leans back into the touch. 'Follow me, okay? The icebergs around here are made of glass, so you can see your wings.'

Sasuke mumbles, only able to see the outline of Naruto's tan body. His bright hair is being drowned out by the darkness. The start walking; slowly for Sasuke's sake.

'Your flowers smell great,' Naruto's voice is slick with hunger and the faint scent of pollen drifts by his nose. He pulls away from Naruto a little.

Then he allows himself to blush and say 'Thank you' wondering just how beautiful his wings…flowers…really are. They move slowly, Sasuke rubbing the temples on his forehead for his vision to return slowly.

When it finally did, he gasped. The temperature dropped desperately and an unbelievable force of wind gushed by them, making Sasuke shiver so violently that Naruto became alarmed, wrapping his cold arms around him. It didn't help.

'N-Naruto,' Sasuke teeth chattered violently. Naruto smiled softly and nudged them forward. 'The iceberg, is right here, you see it?'

Sasuke squinted through the clouded air full of rapidly falling petals. They smelled less like jasmine and more like gardenia, with their puffy, pristine petals.

Gardenias' mean purity, joy, and sometimes hope.

Sasuke remembers the one time Naruto flew around too much, got dizzy, and crashed onto his desk lamp, and one single flower fell off his wing. Naruto cried, as clear liquids poured out of the open space on his back. Sasuke stuffed the flower away in his backpack, and breathed the fragrance in all night before he went to bed.

Now, Naruto had long since stopped holding Sasuke steady, and stopped walking so that Sasuke could travel ahead. His bare feet slid across cold, solid ice, covered in fallen petals. Made of glass, Sasuke thought as he traveled further on. Behind him, Naruto cheered behind him, calling out things of encouragement. Things that were friendly and loving.

Sasuke flushed, trying desperately to see out in front of him, farther than just a few feet. He nearly smacked into it—the iceberg.

His freezing fingers trailed across the ice—the glass—and his reflection. The image was clear but his eyes were fuzzy. His feelings didn't match his expression, he looked scared, frightened, but in actuality, he's never been in more love with his reflection.

Sasuke felt like a narcissist. But he couldn't help it; he couldn't stop looking at himself…his wings.

More like flowers than wings, Sasuke will admit. They looked like branches that were tied seamlessly to his back, with mountains upon mountains of flowers that Sasuke would never be able to count. He only had three colors, black, red, and white, but in so many varieties…black tulips, irises, and pansies. Red roses, azaleas, poppies, geraniums, and hibiscuses. And then the white flowers, the most populous of them—white daffodils, star magnolias, daisies, orchids, and lilies.

It was breathtaking. He was breathtaking. He did a quick spin around, inhaling his own spicy aroma, and thought that he might even smell better than Naruto does.

'Naruto…I…I…' Sasuke doesn't remember the last time he was speechless. On the inside, he laughed. Only around Naruto.

The blond gave him thumbs up from the reflection off the iceberg. 'You're a faerie, Sasuke. Just like me. We're the same.'

Inwardly, Sasuke cringed. There it was again. The 'we're the same' speech; it made his skin crawl and his stomach sink, wondering how long he would be able to pretend he was like Naruto before he truly had to go back and admit that he was just him. Sasuke.

Naruto walked up to him, wrapped his arms around his waist and purred softly, 'A beautiful faerie. Of course you'd pick a place like this.' He ran his fingers across the solid glass. 'Have you tried it? It tastes like salt.'

Sasuke eyed it warily, and then gave it a small lick. The taste of salt exploded on his tongue. Then the sound of radio interference drowned out his sight again, and made his limbs spasm in pain. The smell of burning plastic made his eyes water. 'Somewhere else,' he begged. 'Take me somewhere else.'

He couldn't see, but rather felt Naruto embrace him from behind. The smell of coconut drowned out everything else.

'I…can't, Sasuke. You're waking up,' he says with a regretful tone that makes Sasuke's heart race in panic.

He struggles in Naruto's grasp. 'Okay, so I'll wake up. Let me wake up, we have school.' But Naruto doesn't bulge, and Sasuke's wings are fluttering between the two of them helplessly, making him feel more suffocated than ever. It doesn't do anything to stifle his fears.

They only get confirmed when Naruto sighs and says, 'I can't come back, Sasuke.'

Of course Sasuke knows that, knew that all from the beginning. Because Naruto is special, and special people can't live with the ordinary. And that's what Sasuke is—ordinary. The thought frightens him, that when he wakes up, the wings, the tastes, the sights…the flowers, everything, everything would be gone.

It forces his body to accept and even slightly return Naruto's affection, although he doesn't say anything. He waits for his sight to come back, and when he can start seeing traces of the flowing white petals around them, and he can feel the icy coldness of Naruto's body, strengthening him.

Naruto murmurs something Sasuke doesn't hear, and he realizes that his hearing is gone.

His sight begins to re-fade. And the awful smell of some charred water bottles.

It's obvious that he won't be able to get an answer, but he can't help but ask.

'Will I ever get to see you again?'

He doesn't hear anything. But the smell of coconut comes to dangerously close to Sasuke's nose that he swears that he was only mere inches from Naruto's face. He flutters his wings one more time—regrets not being able to feel what flying feels like, before he has to return to ordinary life.

He tries to inhale the fading scent of coconut over plastic before it's all over. The humming in his ear turns out to be the alarm clock a few feet away, and the burning smell is the neighbor grill from outside on the patio. The petals that he thought were adorning his face and surroundings were nothing but the intense rays of light.

Sasuke breathes shakily. Then he turns to his left. Nothing. Then he turns to his right. Nothing still. Naruto is gone, but he knew that before he had even awoken. He sits up, stretches, and looks at the clock. He's late, but it doesn't matter. Sasuke wanted to remember everything about Naruto or else he's afraid the vibrant blond would disappear from memory altogether.

The sheets smell like coconut. He smiles. And then, he flutters. Or rather, his wings flutter. It shocks him, the brilliant red, black, and white flowers. He tries to reach behind him and trace his fingers over them, touching them. Then he gives one a tug, but it stings, so he stops.

Naruto has left him a present. He looks down at Naruto's pillow, where the blond was certainly real several hours ago.

There was a short note, scrawled in Naruto's poor handwriting. Sasuke reads it twice to be sure, and then he places it back where he found it, rolling back over under the sheets.

Don't forget me. Remember, Faeries always know how to find their way back home. Well, my real home.

Naruto.

The note is simple, but it helps Sasuke decide that he didn't want to go to school that day. He didn't want to go home yet, either. After all, he is no longer ordinary. Sasuke Uchiha was special. And so he decided to snuggle closer under Naruto's sheets and forget about it all.

His wings shivered underneath them anxiously, as if they were being comforted. Sasuke smiled again to himself. There were more important things that needed his attention, anyway.

So it's a new thing that's been going on inside my head, I mean, everyone's been doing stories about vampires and other deities right? When's the last time you've read a faerie story? I hoped you liked it, really I do. Thank you for reading this, and please stay tuned by clicking the story alert so that you can read part two. Please review and tell me what you think about it, thoughts, feelings, and what you would like to see in the future, okay? Thank you again!