--So yes, a new story and this time it's a one shot
--For my loyal readers/reviewers/followers/fans, I am so sorry about Tabula Rasa. I know you're all awaiting for the next review, but Chapter 15 is quite length and even now I haven't finished it. Don't worry, I'm getting around it and once I have my free time I'll finish it. Right now, however, I only have enough time to write a one-shot and add a paragraph or three into Tabula everyday. I beg for your forgiveness and plead for your patience xD
--Please enjoy Winter Wonderland for the moment :3 It's SasuSaku, but I hope ItaSaku lovers and AkaSaku lovers will still appreciate it somehow. Well, technically it's also kind of Anti-SasuSaku.
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Winter Wonderland
~A SakuraXSasuke One Shot~
~Maybe if we were in a different life, we could be together.~
Loud beating echoed throughout the frozen panorama. Snowflakes fell from the sky like fluttering white butterflies, drifting and falling with the pull of gravity. A lone tree stood on top of a nearby hill. Its dead branches, once filled with the color pink, now covered with white crystal precipitates. Icicles hung desperately onto the branches like fragile bells, so delicate, they could fall and shatter at any moment. The wind whipped past the tree, gently caressing the icicles, but slapping hard with its chill anything else in its way. But, in one place, it could not get any colder. Red tainted the virgin snow below. The crimson seeped through the surface and spread to the other areas of the snow. In that desolate white wonderland, there existed a place where it inherited the traits of the 9th circle of hell.1
The earlier loud beating had faded into soft irregular pulses. However, these pulses were no longer the sounds of one, but two weak hearts. "Sakura…"
"Sa….ke…." Once cherry pink lips were now a pale bluish color—like the snow where they laid on, "It was…the…only way…" A thick annoying feeling in her throat forced Sakura to cough and spurt out more blood onto the snow. "I…"
Big, rough, pale hands reached out and caressed her bloodied cheek. Charcoal gray eyes stared intently into her dilated, whitening, emerald eyes.
What had happened in this barren snow world, no one knew but they alone. Nothing but the tree, the wind, and the snow knew that a fierce fight to the end had taken place moments ago. Blood pooled and seeped into the snow below them.
Everything was white, like an encapsulated world that knew only ice and snow. Her blurring vision held nothing but the pale color that contained all colors save for the blackness of his raven hair and two crimson red orbs that hovered in her vision like crisp red vortexes with black streaks that swirled fiercely. Sakura let out a silent gasp as she saw the black streaks swirl even faster—then everything went white.
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Silence filled the eerie space until silence became a loud thud, then into a chain of loud thuds: heartbeat. White flooded her vision then disappeared like a veil slowly uncovering itself. She found herself staring straight into a mirror, vibrant green emerald eyes meeting vibrant green emerald eyes. She sat in shock, unsure of how to react. Where was she? For a moment, she let her eyes linger elsewhere as she searched her thoughts for an answer. The last thing she remembered was seeing blood-colored orbs taint black and then everything went white, but that was all.
Slowly crawling out of the covers, she went into a daze when she realized what she was wearing: A maroon red kimono-like Chinese influenced dress with cherry blossoms embroidered at its hemming. It was similar to her childhood outfit except that it had a satin cloth wrapped around the waist area that was a shade of light pink and she no longer had tights below her outfit.
She turned to her side to examine herself, but was caught by surprise when she noticed the biggest change of all. The longest she remembered her hair had been was half way down her back. However, that was no longer the case. Instead, it was the length she now had. Long cherry pink locks cascaded down her back and curved with her bottom—a length she could never imagine possible for her. But this was indeed suspicious. She remembered her hair being only an eight of the length she had now. In fact, everything seemed suspicious.
Sakura scrutinized the room. It was simple: its walls were painted a cream color, a bed for two in the center of the room, a dresser across the bed with a mirror beside it and two doors that led to the bathroom and the other to the rest of the house. One window was all the room had to let the sun's rays enter the room. Speaking of the sun's rays from the outside, where was she?
She took a step towards the window, cautious for any signs of danger. A curtain shaded the window and prevented her from seeing anything beyond the blue sky. She was about to push the curtains to the side when a loud rapping on the door came. Sakura whipped around and pressed her back against the window. Suddenly, the door burst open and two blurs whipped past the doorframe. Sakura found herself staring at two children barely the age of 5. The female one, her hair held back by a red headband, had pink locks and charcoal gray eyes. The boy, who had a piercing glare addressed towards whom seemed to be his sister, for she and he had a certain likeness to one another, had raven black hair and green eyes.
"Mom! Onii chan won't teach me how to throw shuriken!" Whined the pink little girl as she waved her arms about.
Sakura stood in complete awe. She was dumbfounded at the sight before her, but what struck her the most was the fact that the little girl had called her 'mom'. It took Sakura a long moment of silence to piece together the facts to make one improbable assumption: They were her children. How was it possible that she had children? She remembered herself to be 16, single and still a virgin! Although right now, it did not seem that way. She let her mouth hang open for quite some time, her words quivering as she was unsure of what to say, "Uh—um…I…" Her stuttering ceased when a shut of the door echoed into the room.
Both children lit up as their heads turned towards the outside of the room, "Daddy's home!" They both yelled and ran out the room. Whereas they were chirpy and excited, Sakura quailed at the impending idea of who exactly was their 'daddy'. She stood there, heart racing and small droplets of sweat trailing down the sides of her face. She felt her heart stop when large hands touched the doorframe and held it. She unconsciously took a step back, eyes fixed at the doorway. Sakura found herself shrieking when someone's head popped out at the door.
"Daddy, mommy's acting weird," The boy with raven hair said as he glanced up at his father who had the same color of hair he did. However, the boy did not have his father's eyes. Instead, he had his mother's. Sakura was at a loss for words because the man standing before her was the last person she thought would be the father of her 'children'—Uchiha Sasuke.
"Is everything alright, Sakura?" His voice was deep, like a mixture of loud thunder and a cascading rumble of a waterfall mingled with a low cello tune—it was beautiful. He looked exactly as she remembered him to be, tall, dark haired, handsome and absolutely perfect. But, this couldn't be right because Sasuke was supposed to be a missing nin with Orochimaru and not her darling loving husband, father of her children. This 'reality' only existed in her furthest dreams—then something struck her. What if this scene before her was a dream? What if she were just sleeping and when she'd pinch herself she'd wake up and everything would be gone? OR what if she were just imagining everything?
Sasuke grasped her wrist tightly, "Oy, Sakura," His grasp was so tight that it stung a little. However, this made Sakura know that this was not just a dream. So this was…real?
"Sasuke…" She whispered to him.
His charcoal eyes stared straight into hers as if he were staring into her soul. "You're pale? Did something happen?" Yet, despite that icy look, that she was all too familiar with, it felt different. His eyes, in spite of the irony of it being an icy glare, held a warmth she could not understand. His grip around her now pale wrists loosened as his gaze turned towards 'their children', "Saku, Miko, go out for a while. Your mother and I need to talk," He said in a commanding tone that Sakura was intimidated with. However, her children were not. As he spoke with a strict tone, the children smiled and ran off with a curt nod.
When the two had left, Sasuke turned to her slowly but it made Sakura's heart skip a beat. How old was he? He looked slightly older than she remembered, 20? 30? But whatever his age was, he was just as handsome as ever. His softened chisel features, his angular muscles hardened just right, hair that was like silk, they had enhanced with his aging. "Now, tell me, is anything wrong, Sakura?"
What was she to say? That she woke up and couldn't believe that she were married to him? That the last thing she remembered was him being a missing nin and that he was out to destroy Konoha? "You…um…"
"Say it" He ordered
"I just woke up," She lied
With a raised brow, Sasuke grunted, "…is that so?"
Sakura dumbly nodded. She took a step back because their closeness was giving off tension. She expected him to further interrogate her, but he decided to let the issue go and instead change the topic.
"The Hokage wants to see us later. It's about the festival tomorrow." With that, he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.
The Hokage? Tsunade sama? Maybe Sakura would confide in her later. Perhaps Tsunade sama would have an answer as to why she had no clue of what was happening to her. Sakura had wandered into her thoughts again when Sasuke called out to her.
He had an outstretched hand towards her and beckoned her to come to him. Reluctantly, she accepted and took his hand only to find her self wrapped into his arms, his mouth on hers. At first, she did not know what to do or how to respond but soon unconsciously responded. Their lips locked, Sakura felt his hands travel down her back. Chills ran down her spine as his fingers traced her backbone's curve. Was this for real? Was the Uchiha Sasuke kissing her?
"ngh…Sasuke…!" She felt him nibble on her bottom lip. She, by reflex, pulled away to come face to face with a disappointed, disgruntled Sasuke.
"There is something wrong with you." He said bluntly, as if it were a long known fact to man.
"It's just…" She had to find a way to quell at least some of the questions in her head to clear her clouded mind.
"Just?"
"I—I mean you…years ago," She assumed it was years ago, "you didn't even like talking to me, and you found me annoying. So it's hard to believe that now, we're…like this."
"You really believe that?" He looked up at her, his hands fixed onto her waist as she sat on his lap, "You really believe that I hated you before?"
"Well it seemed like you liked Naruto more than you liked me." She had noticed this some time ago. If she were not at the same level of liking as Naruto, then she were below him. Often times, she would hear some of her batch mates spread rumors about Sasuke being gay, but she would always refuse to accept this.
"He was my best friend. You, however," One hand entwined with the locks in her hair a faint blush on the corner of his cheeks, "were different," He said as he leaned up to peck her lips. "I never really found you annoying—never did I hate you for a second,"
Charcoal stared into emerald as both found themselves at a loss for words. But then again, who needed words? Silence was everything they needed. But Sasuke couldn't take the silence. With one fluid movement, Sasuke pushed Sakura against the bed and nuzzled her neck—a feat Sakura only imagined in her dreams. His breath tingled down her neck as he nibbled on her ear and bits of her neck. She could not help but giggle at his unexpected actions and the tickles he made her feel.
Calming down, Sasuke pulled away and stared straight into jade eyes. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear,"I love you".
Those words struck her harder than any punch Tsunade sama gave her. It made her insides churn with an excitement she could only remember as a child—pure unadulterated happiness. Reeling in her mind, Sakura felt Sasuke's weight as he collapsed on top of her. But, Sakura didn't mind. She was too happy to think about anything or worry about being crushed throughout the rest of the day. She stroked his hair, smiling to herself. His sleeping face was the cutest, next to his embarrassed face. She couldn't believe everything, then again what did it matter? She was happy and would rather stay in this life then return to wherever she was supposed to be. Because, as she slowly lulled herself to sleep, she felt like she would have nothing to return to in the 'other world'.
She was happy…she was in paradise.
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The harsh wind blew. Snow had never been fiercer and the temperature had never been that low. Sasuke stood over the snow, feet plunged some distance below it. His Katana had been sheathed already and his bloodied white robe was loosely hanging on his waist. It was a wonder at how he did not shudder at the intense cold. But, maybe, it was because he was incapable of feeling anything at the moment. His crimson eyes stared at something unmoving…something dead.
"I meant what I said, Sakura. I loved you…but in this world, we can't be." He turned around and walked away leaving the frozen corpse of Sakura Haruno sprawled in the snow.
Be happy in the world I have created for you. And, maybe one day, I can follow you into the paradise you are in now…
1 In Inferno by Dante Alleghieri, the 9th circle of hell was thought to be frozen, cold and made entirely of ice. It was contradictory to the traditional image of hell which was of fire. I suggest you read the book, it's hard to understand at times, but it's a good read once you get the essence of it. =3