A/N: If you recognise this fic from somewhere, rest assured that I have not plagiarized. This fic is an edited version of Tea Party, which had I posted on my previous Tumblr blog ladynightangel18.
Madness in a Teacup
Summary: In her role as Alice in the malicious Book of Variations, Sakura meets a Mad Hatter unlike any other. And when he offers her a way to escape the hellish world she has been thrown into she dares to hope.
[alice in wonderland au]
[peinsaku]
The Cheshire grin curling his lips had no business being there since, obviously, he wasn't the Cheshire cat. But alas it stayed, and so did Sakura. Strapped to the high chair at his table of madness.
Her scowl was prominent, defined more by the crimson that painted her lips.
"Ya know, I always wondered why they called you mad. Now I know," the words were said with stiltedness, but the Mad Hatter let it pass over his hatless head.
His grin came back with more fervor and the metal on his face glinted when his cheeks reached for the skies, the midday sunlight bounced off the smooth surfaces and landed in Sakura's eyes.
"Is it what you expected?" His voice was deep and not a speck of humour could be discerned, his tone spoke of authority rather than the silly frivolities his role was prone to be associated with.
Sakura had played many versions of her role as Alice but never had she encountered such a polar Hatter. This man in her sight was sly where others had been mischievous and mad. His storm-ringed eyes took in everything whereas she was used to crazed orbs ignoring the world and flitting from one object to another without any consistency. He stood straight-backed where the last few had slouched. He was an anomaly, a contradiction. He was Pein when he should have been joy.
"You have far surpassed my expectations of anything in this book of roles I am subjugated to." Her voice was droll and to her human ears she sounded like the Hatter Sasori she had met two roles ago. He had been quiet and immersed and just as she had thought he was not the Hatter at all, the red-head had started spouting nonsense about the fun of puppetry and everlasting beauty and eternity and what a perfect marionette the pink-haired Alice would make.
"Now now love, let us not rule anything out. I am hardly blue enough to be the worst you have encountered, eh?" He said this with a knowing smirk and Sakura's arms struggled fruitlessly against the licorice ropes that bound her limbs. Oh, how she wished she could reach out and smack him hard enough to slap the piercings off his sharp-boned face.
Of course she knew of whom he spoke. How could she not, what with the nightmares she had suffered after that particular role? Kisame Blue Fin was the absolute worst Hatter she had ever met, and that included the sadistic Hidan. The blue man served shark fin soup instead of sweet tea. And when Sakura had refused to drink her necessary cup to complete her role for that week, the imbecile had bit her. He had actually bit her! She still had the twin slices on the web between her thumb and pointer finger to prove it.
Through her sudden rage Sakura grasped a thought that should have registered first. "How do you know of that encounter? No Hatters are supposed to know what happens with myself and their role-sharers."
He said nothing for moments, letting her anticipation and suspense grow. Sakura only grew more irritated.
"I am the All Seeing. My eyes are part of the sky. I am not like the others."
Sakura's green eyes widened to the size of the saucer she could not reach. Her heart moved faster than the horsefly buzzing around her head.
"Does that mean you are the last one?" she asked with barely suppressed hope.
Pein's stormy eyes tilted up at the corners. "Why do you ask that?" His tone was nonchalant, but the blatant curiosity stirred a warning in her stomach. She eyed him apprehensively as his long legs prowled his lithe body closer to her.
"I've dreamt about you," she blurted out. Shame immediately coloured her cheeks when the Cheshire's stolen grin returned on the Hatter's face.
"After my very first role as Alice, the white rabbit told me the Book of Variations was complete when I met the Hatter unlike any other," she hastily added, hoping his smugness at her previous confession would lessen but knowing it would not.
"And what if I'm not the one you had hoped for?" he asked with arrogance, smile growing wider and eyes narrowing in delight.
"I never said that." Sakura turned her face away sharply. She could not bear to look at him any longer. His hypnotizing eyes were more of a danger than any pair of sharp teeth she had faced.
"Really?" He did not sound convinced. His deft finger lifted her tucked chin to stare at her defiant green glare.
"If I'm not the man of your dreams, who do you reckon is?" His gleaming teeth blinded her, whether with rage or the white of them, she was not sure.
Her immediate retort was anyone but you, but then she thought of pointed teeth and garish blue skin and she reconsidered her words.
If he really was her endgame, the least she could do to finally be rid of this recurring nightmare was lose some of her pride. She could do that. Maybe.
"You..." she took a breath. It was not easy admitting defeat or asking for help. Week after week she had filled the role of Alice. She had donned the apron-dress and blue headband and she had gotten through every darned door and wretched tea party to best the queen of malicious hearts. She had done that for the better part of the last seventeen moon cycles. And now...
And now there was a possibility that she could get out. This world was sinister and unpredictable, it gave her a bottle of blue potion and bid her to drink it, and when she did, it transported her to the gates of the cruel queen's towering palace. A piece of red velvet cake addled her brain and pushed her mental fortitudes until she lost the strength in her legs to run away from whatever creature was chasing her, and when she refused to bite into the poised treat, it was shoved down her throat by gleeful talking roses.
She didn't know how much longer she could endure this. If there was even the slightest chance, she would take it.
"If you can get me out, then name your price." It was a mad thing to do, but since he did not play his role well, she would have to revert back to the naive Alice her role was named after in order to make up for his lack of zeal in his own character.
Pein's eyes lit up and Sakura could not help but lament how his excitement was like flashes of lightning in his twin whirling storms.
He stepped closer and his large palms ghosted over her bare arms for a moment before the licorice ropes turned to sugar. Those same hands gripped her slim waist to lift her from the high chair and settle her on her feet. They cupped the back of her swan neck and brushed a thumb over eyelashes, cheeks, lips.
Sakura's spine tingled and tensed. This. This was his price. A kiss. Her kiss.
Mediocre and unimportant it may have seemed but there had to be more to it than just some curiosity to taste her lips. Or maybe she was overthinking things, as she was prone to do about every step she took in this world.
But there was no more time to think anything because Pein was now gazing into her eyes too deeply for comfort. His mouth opened and hers clamped shut. His ginger brows furrowed.
He touched his forehead to hers, lips a hairs width apart and breaths mingling. "Acquiesce and give me all that you wish to forget," he whispered, the words not sounding like a demand in his lovely voice.
Before she could control her actions her tongue peaked out to wet her bottom lip and she watched as Pein turned his riveting gaze to where he wanted to match himself with her.
He leaned down. Sakura panicked, a soft gasp escaping her – then her breath was stolen.
Colours blurred and blended and vanished into nothing but grey, orange, and stormy ripples.
The kiss was like nothing she had ever experienced before and everything she would never experience again. Then she remembered his demand, to relinquish to him all that she wished had never happened. And so she did.
She poured her desperation, fear and anger into his lips, into his being. Her fingers gripped his locks and tugged so hard their lips melded and she caught the flavour of his ever-present grin. Metal, smoke and danger, but not a hint of sugar.
She moaned into his smirking mouth when his tongue darted out to tangle with hers while his hands roamed in a scandalously pleasing fashion. Her eyes fluttered with every tug and nip but his stayed fixated on her expressive face.
The kiss carried on and on and on until it bordered on euphoric. That was when she felt the pull at the small of her back. It was a tugging sensation, not unlike the one she felt when she stepped into Kimimaro's arch and was deposited back to the waking world. Sakura loosened her limbs until they were weak and whispery and she felt as though she would drift away at any second.
As her hands fell away from his hair, realisation dawned in Pein's whole demeanor. His fervent mouth slowed to caress her throat and face with butterfly lips. He whispered something into her skin, but she was too caught up in the feeling of soft bedsheets to focus on his words. She could almost hear the whirring of the table fan in her room. She could almost smell the rosehips of her scented candles. She could almost feel the warmth of her bedroom.
Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and prayed desperately for the moment to come true, for it to not dissipate into nothingness as was wont in his hellish world she had been thrown into.
With one last peck to the corner of her swollen lips he let the wind carry her out of his arms.
His hands fell to his sides and the smile on his face was solemn. It spoke of many things, but she was only interested in one.
Goodbye.