Title:
Cold nights are the best
Rating:
T
Prompt:
Hot Chocolate
Authors Note: The word prompts here are NOT related to those of livejournal. My good friend and beta D0nQuix0te and I, while talking on Facebook, decided that she needed to have word prompts to write one-shots about. And so I gave her 30 of them. Alas, because I too wanted to write, I requested 30 words from her in return! How nice!
On a side note – she put 'hot chocolate' as prompt to spite me. She knows I want it. This story is inspired by the hour long walk I ended up taking today.
And to clarify any questions: Unless otherwise stated, Sakura is over 18. And clearly, much of what's to come is Alternate Universe (AU).
Disclaimer (because I'm only doing it once):Naruto and all affiliated property belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm merely a fan writing about it :)
It was at least 7 o'clock by the time Sakura made it back to her apartment. She had to walk home from the hospital, and she disliked every second of it. The ground was covered in ice, so she'd had make small baby steps the entire way back. It was dark, which made it even colder, and the wind didn't help when she didn't have a scarf or hat to protect her.
After a minute or so fiddling with the lock to her apartment, Sakura got inside. She relished in the fact that she was out of the harsh winter air and in her apartment.
It was then she noticed the note that was lying on the floor against the wall across from the door. She recognized the stationary. It was the one her landlord used when she left them messages - message that were never, ever good.
She bent over to pick up the offending piece of paper, scared to read what was written on it.
Sakura-chan
Our trusty furnace broke down today after years of faithful service. I'm sorry, but for today, or longer, there won't be any heat. Hopefully you can find someplace to stay while the repairs are being made!
Sincerely, Mikuji.
She crumpled the letter in her hands.
Sakura sighed.
She needed something to drink - something that wasn't tea. She'd had her fill with tea, lately. Tsunade had been bet by Jiraiya that she couldn't avoid alcohol for two weeks. It had been three days, and things were looking good. Unfortunately, Sakura had had to consume copious amounts of tea in the meantime. If Tsunade had to suffer, everyone had to suffer along with her.
She rummaged through her cupboards, pushing back her own little stash of tea, in favour of a small tin container labelled "Instant Hot Chocolate Mix". She could see her breath as she poured the required amount of water into the kettle and plugging it in.
While it boiled, she went to her room to change. Her uniform for the hospital was convenient, but never warm. She threw on a pair of her warmest pants, one of Kakashi's long sleeved shirts, and one of Naruto's thickest sweaters. She had no idea how she'd amassed their clothing over the years. She had taken on the role of "tempered mother" to Naruto, periodically going to his apartment to make him clean, and to take his laundry so it would be washed. If it weren't for her, she knew that he would never own a pair of clean clothes again.
And when Kakashi's clothes started appearing in her laundry basket, she'd never questioned it.
When she heard the kettles boiling screech, she left and walked back towards her kitchen. When the noise simmered down on its own, however, she walked a little faster.
Kakashi stood in her kitchen. In her hands was the kettle, and two mugs were out in front of him – white, one with the Konoha leaf symbol, the other with a cherry blossom petal. She'd gotten four of them specifically for their team.
"Kakashi, what on earth are you doing here?" she asked. He turned to her, mugs in hand, smiling.
"I should ask you the same question. It's freezing in here." He handed Sakura her drink. Her cold fingers felt burned against the hot mug. She turned to go to her living room. Kakashi followed.
"The furnace is broken," she explained as she sat down. She curled her legs against her body, like she always had, her back pressed against the high arm of the couch. Kakashi sat close to her, his ankle resting on his knee.
"So I read. It's really quite unfortunate." Kakashi leaned over and put his drink on the short table in front of them.
"I'll say. I hate this cold! Winter is so awful. You can't do anything in this weather! It's freezing!" She took a sip from her drink, closing her eyes to savour the warmth.
When she felt his hands wrap around hers, she snapped her eyes open. Kakashi was leaning over her – slowing moving so his legs were around her hips – and staring at her with a strange gaze. She hadn't even noticed that he had been moving her curled up legs into a more suitable position.
"There are other things you can do to keep warm during the winter, Sakura," he said, his hushed baritone voice resonating in her ears. She smirked.
"Oh? I didn't know that. Care to show me what you mean?" She could tell that his lips were forming into one of his smirks under his mask.
Within seconds, said mask was pulled down to his chin, and said lips were pressed to hers. Sakura smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened.
It tasted like chocolate – sweet and wonderful.
"We should keep warm like this more often."
"I agree."
End.
D0nQuix0te and I are writing and posting these fics at the same time. If you'd like to read her one-shots, entitled "30 Harry Potter One-Shots", then just search her name and read away!
