A/N: Yay! A winter-themed angst fic just in time for Christmas. I'm such a cold-hearted bastard, I know this lol xD Oh how I long for this to really happen to me someday, in a sick twisted sense, but meh... Also, sorry if they seem a little OOC in this story, I tried to stick with the original character's personalities but idk if it worked... But regardless... enjoy!

Song: A Different Kind of Pain
By: Cold

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song featured in this story.

'I never would have imagined that I would ever be able to love another human being in the way that I loved you...'

Sakura stared out at the landscape before her, the cliff she was resting on, as well as the overall surrounding area, slowly being covered with thick layers of the snow which was gently falling to the ground. She was on a solo ANBU mission, the village having recently heard rumor that Team Taka was spotted within the confines of the Land of Snow. Despite the hidden village having long ago become well known as the Land of Spring, the village still had winter as a tribute to the Snow Village's former purpose, in memory of everything that had once taken place there.

She had been searching the entire snow-filled area for Sasuke and his team for the last six hours straight. Quite frankly, this was the first she'd stopped to rest, and now, she sat on a large rock with her ANBU mask turned to the side of her head, her pink hair flowing freely in the breeze.

Her objective was simple, and it was one she had long-since accepted as a shinobi—assassinate the Uchiha and his team. It was a fate that long ago, she would have never dreamed of performing, far too in love with Sasuke. She would be lying to both the world and herself if she denied having any feelings left for the missing nin, but she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was 20-years-old now, and she knew in her heart and mind that Sasuke's reign of terror must be put to an end. Sakura accepted this, feeling as if it is her duty, as his friend, even though she highly doubts he considers her as such. Yes, if anyone were to eliminate him, it would be either herself or Naruto, depending on whoever reached him first. But she was ANBU and Naruto was just a Special Jounin, so this mission would be up to her.

The feeling in her heart was sorrowful, knowing her objective. She couldn't make the same mistake she did when she was sixteen though; she couldn't allow her past feelings towards him hinder her necessity to kill the rogue ninja. If she didn't do this, too much would be destroyed – everything she had ever held near and dear to her heart, aside from Sasuke, would be destroyed by him, and she couldn't allow that to happen.

'It's ironic, Sasuke-kun, that things are going to boil down to the weakest member of Team 7 destroying the prodigal male of our former Genin team, but this is something I have to do. I've trained for this moment, so where the hell are you? I have been searching for three days now and haven't even caught sight of you...'

Sakura's head tilted back as she stared up at the snowy sky above, the flakes falling down against her face gently, each snowflake instantly melting upon contact. Her expression was so full of hurt and guilt – it mirrored her emotions perfectly. Although Sakura had always been one to openly show her emotions, ANBU had helped her greatly to hide them. Considering the fact that no one was nearby, however, Sakura deemed it alright to openly show how she was feeling right now.

She didn't hear the crunching in the snow until he was about five feet away from her. Immediately, her hand dragged her mask to her face, and she was on her guard, facing the tall, pale-skinned man before her with wide green eyes. He too was dressed warm, and she was alarmed when she didn't see his teammates with him. A kunai was in her hand instantly as she stared at him, her instincts ready for just about anything that he decided to pull.

Sasuke's cold eyes watched her warily. Immediately realizing that she was a Konoha ANBU, it took him no time at all to piece together the fact that HE was her objective, especially due to the fact that the Land of Snow was so far away from Konohagakure. It was a reason he was currently there, and despite him figuring that word would have reached his former village upon his arrival, he never fathomed them dispatching a shinobi so quickly.

His eyes were narrowed slightly as he gently glided his hand to his katana, his stance expectant of a fight as he eyed the apparent kunoichi with... was that pink hair? For a moment, he wondered if it could possibly be her, though the thought was immediately discarded from his head. It was strange that an ANBU would have such a shocking hair color, pink hair being so rare among the shinobi world. He wondered idly if perhaps it were another member of Sakura's clan, someone more powerful than the weakling from Team 7.

He didn't even have time to activate his sharingan before he found himself dueling with this pink haired woman, his sword immediately blocking all of her attacks as she shoved him backwards, her fists and legs swinging in several punches and kicks aimed in his direction. For the most part, he was able to dodge her attacks, until she had landed a chakra-fueled kick to his abdomen, causing his body to skid several meters behind in the snow.

Taking advantage of their distance, Sasuke immediately activated his sharingan, and the two shinobi fell into the familiar dance of trading kicks and blows, their strength matching one anothers evenly—a fact that ticked him off to no end. But being an Uchiha, it didn't take him very long to gain the upper hand in this fight. It only took one misplace kick to the side of her face to shatter the porcelain mask, a particularly large shard cutting the kunoichi's face as the glass mask slowly fell to the ground.

Through his sharingan-blazed eyes, Sasuke watched as the mystery shinobi's face was revealed to him, her eyes widening in horror as she stared at him.

'Shit! Shit! Shit! He's going to know who I am!'

Sasuke's own expression grew shocked as he realized exactly who this kunoichi was, her face staring at him intensely. It wasn't another Haruno, and it wasn't a coincidence—it was the pink-haired girl turned woman from his childhood. It didn't take her but a minute to lunge at him, her objective and desire to eliminate him growing urgent as she swung at his throat with her kunai, only to be dodged by his smooth back-bending, which was soon followed by a leap backwards before the actions were repeated. She couldn't land a hit on him now, and it pissed her off greatly.

'Fucking bastard Uchiha...'

Somehow during their battle, he had ended up deathly close behind her, his sword behind her neck. Immediately, Sakura was filled with a sense of deja vu as Sasuke stood but a breath's length away from her. This was it, she knew. He would finally end her once and for all, and she had failed her mission. Sakura let out a long sigh, wondering when he would finally just deal the last blow, but Sasuke just held the sword in place, making no indication of moving.

"Sakura," he said, her name rolling off his tongue with as much ease as it always had. Sakura closed her eyes, another sigh escaping her lips before she spoke to him.

"Looks like you've won, Sasuke... just as always..."

Her words were filled with defeat, and Sasuke eyed her from a side angle, his cold expression never faltering. He was curious about a lot of things—why she was here, why she was an ANBU member, what her objective was despite him knowing deep down that it was him... But he couldn't find the words or energy to voice them. He didn't want to kill her because of their bonds, his heart screamed at his head to spare her life, though the battle between her life and her death was slowly being over-ruled inside of him.

Sasuke let out a sigh of his own as he started to speak, his words coming out as a means of saving a little time and adding onto her life. His sword was pressed so tightly against her neck, it was only a matter of one movement before she would be killed.

"I take it you don't love me anymore, Sakura?" he asked with a tinge of amusement in his voice. Truly, seeing her with the familiar Konoha ANBU garb on came as a shock to him, and the fact that she was here in the Land of Snow alone only added to his amusement of the situation at hand. Sakura closed her eyes, snowflakes still falling from the heavens and landing against their bodies.

"My love for you... doesn't have anything to do with my duty, which is to destroy both you and everything that you have come to ever stand for." Her words were firm, level-headed. To say that he wasn't impressed by her decision, to put her duty as a shinobi ahead of her own feelings, would be a complete and utter lie. But he would never tell her that – he was far too proud of a person to do that. And so, he gave her a typical Sasuke response.

"Hn... So you do still love me, Sakura?" Her name rolled off his tongue with ease yet again, and it caused a familiar knot to form deep in the pit of her stomach. Sasuke's red eyes looked down between their forms only to see a kunai in her hand lodged at a particular section of his thigh. Feeling the shift of his eyes, Sakura smiled the bitterest smile as she began to speak again, leaving his question completely discarded.

"From where I am standing right now, the moment you try to kill me, I can have this kunai lodged into your artery." Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, the grip of his blade against her throat lightening ever-so-slightly as he stood there. Her body was still closely pressed up against his as he tried to figure out a way to escape from her grasp scratch free.

"To answer your question though," she began, her bitter smile still firmly in tact on her delicate features. "I will always love you, Sasuke-kun. That is something that will never change until the day I die."

To say that he was amazed at her words would be a complete understatement. From where he was standing, he could see just a glimpse of her bitter smile, and in that very moment, he knew she would not hesitate to kill him; her eyes held far too much resolve in them.

"T-Thank you," he shivered out, unsure whether it was the current climate around them or the chill of her words that caused his cold demeanor to falter, though of course he blamed it on the former. The moment the familiar phrase left his lips, Sakura's sense of deja vu increased.

Her green eyes widened as she felt his blade leave her neck, his body shifting behind her. Spinning on her heel, Sakura stared at Sasuke intensely, her eyes questioning. Sasuke's familiar smirk adorned his face as he stared back at her, the cocky attitude Sakura recalled from their childhood being far too familiar, yet out of character considering how he was this stranger that she KNEW he had become. This wasn't that same Sasuke; this Sasuke was heartless.

Her eyes filled with a mournful expression, he noticed and his smirk slowly faded into a purse of his lips, his mouth forming a straight line as he stared at her calculatingly. That bitter smile was still on her face as she parted her lips to speak, her voice coming out far more softly than she had originally intended.

"Did you ever love me back? Even for a minute?" she asked, knowing in her heart what his answer would be—no, he never loved her back.

Sasuke seemed taken aback by her question, his eyebrows raised slightly as he stared at her, unsure of how to answer her question. Did he ever love her back? He wasn't sure, to be honest. Having spent so many years used to not feeling anything for anyone, Sasuke didn't honestly know what he felt towards his former teammate. But he didn't want to be entirely cold towards her, nor did he wish to lie to her about his answer, so as he spoke he spoke in all honesty, figuring he at least owed her that.

"Perhaps... I could have, had I stuck around... But... I haven't felt anything towards anyone for so long aside from hatred; I'm not sure how to feel anymore."

He wasn't sure if she would understand, though judging by her expression, she seemed surprised by his answer. A familiar sadness graced her features after a brief moment of shock, and Sasuke waited for her to say something—anything—in response. And finally, she did.

"I've been so cold for so damn long, Sasuke-kun. It's something that someone will never get used to, as I'm sure you are well aware. I was just wondering... c-can you do me just one last favor, if never again in your life?" she asked, her feet slowly guiding herself towards him. The action caused his slender eyebrows to raise considerably again, his expression curious as he watched her small form approach him.

"And what is that?" he asked softly, his gaze never leaving her form as she continued making her way towards him. Although the kunai was still in her hand, he could clearly hear the handle shaking with her slender hands, and he briefly wondered if it was due to the cold.

Sakura stopped before him just a breaths-length away from him. He stood several inches taller than her, and she had to look up slightly to meet his gaze. That familiar bitter smile once again graced her features as her empty hand reached up and gripped his white shirt tightly in her fist, pulling him down to ear level with her as she whispered in his ear.

"Make this up to me... just... make me feel again?" Her voice was almost hesitant. It was almost as if she was afraid of his response, but she never really gave him much opportunity to respond. Her words left him paralyzed in shock, and he felt her lips gliding along his cheek to his lips, where she gently joined them together. She knew this was dangerous—he could kill her right now, but she would die gladly knowing that she got this one opportunity to show him how she felt, even if he didn't return her feelings.

His eyes remained open, still too far in shock for the moment before he finally nodded slightly into the kiss. His response made her eyes widen in disbelief, having expected his final blow to come towards her at any moment, though it never did.

Before I let you go,
Give me just one more night
To show you just how I feel.

She felt his grip on her wrist, the action causing her to drop the kunai on the ground below them. She felt him applying more pressure to her lips now, and watched him intensely as he tested the waters. His kiss was hesitant, and he seemed so unsure of himself in that very moment. It seemed so damn out of character, that she would have laughed could she regain control of herself.

But she was lost the moment she heard his katana hit the ground, his hands slowly reaching behind her head and pulling her closer towards him, deepening the kiss. Finally, after about a minute or so, his eyes closed. He owed her so much for everything he did to her. The pain reflecting in her eyes the moment she caught sight of him said it all. So now, he felt as if it was his duty to make it all up to her. Sasuke was never the kind of person to feel guilt about things, especially the people he left behind in Konoha, but Sakura was always different. He would spend his whole life making it all up to her, if he could.

I lost all my control.
If it takes my whole damn life,
I'll make this up to you.

It didn't take long before Sakura felt the rough bark of a nearby tree cutting into her cloaked back, Sasuke's arms firmly pinning her up against the tree. The kiss never was broken, and both their eyes—for the most part—remained firmly closed as both shinobi lost themselves in the intensity of the moment before them. They were crashing and burning—falling against one another like the waves of an ocean; so natural in their movements, it was as if they were born to do this.

Kind of like the waves,
That roll their whole life towards somewhere,
Crashing on the shore.

He was her wish for everything in life—her first kiss, her first time, her first everything. This moment was one she truly had shared her whole life for him, and now, she was finally able to do the things she had always dreamed of doing: kissing him, feeling him, loving him... it all felt surreal. He was her wish, and her wish had finally came true.

It's blown in by the wind,
That carried the clouds to hide
My wish on a fallen star.

Her mind was in a fog as she felt his lips roughly moving against her own, her eyes slightly open and focused on the ground below in thought as his hands slowly snaked along her skin. She knew he was gone forever; knew that he had an entirely different team now, and that he would never be a member of Team 7. Not again, at least. In a way, she felt as if Team Taka had stolen him away from them, and she hated them all for that without even knowing who they were.

A different kind of pain,
Is someone there to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?
A different kind of pain,
Is someone there to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?

She felt his harsh breathing on her neck, and she felt herself get lost in him. He was whispering incoherent words against her, and she finally knew that he too was lost in the moment. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and she held him securely against her body. By now, her legs were wrapped around his waist, held in place by his hands beneath her thighs. She tried her best to focus on his words, and was shocked at the few things she could make him out saying.

"...I'm sorry for everything..."

"...I could have loved you..."

"...I DID miss you..."

"...need you now..."

"...want you now..."

"...I never forgot you, not for a damn minute..."

"...I'm so sorry, Sakura..."

I tried to let you go.
I wish I could turn back time,
And show you just how I feel.

His soft ramblings were interrupted by Sakura's soft moan, Sasuke's lips having latched onto a super-sensitive part of her body—her chest, which right now was only being revealed slightly by her low-cut top. Her cloak had long-since been pushed aside, and the harsh snowflakes continued to fall against her now-heated skin. That alone, combined with the friction of his pelvis pressed harshly against her own, was enough to drive her to moan his name aloud, a thick tension laced in her voice.

And suddenly, his lips were back on her own, his hand snaking its way past the hem of her medical skirt and down the hem of her shorts, his fingers slowly inching inside of her thin panties. The moment was moving alarmingly slow, and slowly, Sakura savored the moment as best she could, expecting everything that would happen soon after.

"I'll make this up to you," he harshly whispered against her lips, the intensity of his words causing her to whimper against his lips.

I needed you to know,
If it takes my whole damn life
I'll make this up to you.

As he sunk two of his fingers roughly into her heat, she let out a loud throaty moan, her hips bucking instantly forward against him as he slowly moved the two digits in and out of her core. She was crashing even farther now, and her muffled moans served as enough motivation for him to move faster, his pace going as fast as the tight space between his hand and her bottoms would allow.

Kind of like the waves,
That roll their whole life towards somewhere.
Crashing on the shore.

It wasn't long before she began writhing against him, her hips alluring his movements to continue as she slowly reached her peak. This didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke, who in response slid his slick fingers back out of the waist band of her shorts, enticing a loud groan out of the pink-haired woman. Her disapproval was short lived, however, as she felt her legs hit the ground, his lower body inching away from hers as his hands slid her shorts and underwear down her legs. Instinctively, she stepped out of the now-discarded garments, and was left with only her medics skirt on.

Immediately, Sasuke pressed himself between her legs again, his hand automatically returning to it's former place, his arm hoisting her skirt up her hips in the process. His hands lifted her thighs to wrap themselves around his hips, his apparent arousal firmly pressing up against her moist core as his lips furiously moved against her own. The wind was blowing a bit more harshly, and goosebumps covered the exposed flesh of her legs.

It's blown in by the wind,
That carries the clouds to hide
My wish on a fallen star.

When he entered her, she screamed against his lips, her eyes darting open as they painfully sought out his own. She was met by his slightly alarmed gaze, having not expected her virginity to still be intact, and thus havin slammed himself inside of her without abandon. The moment he felt her shriek of pain against his lips, however, he stilled, his lips breaking the kiss as he pressed his forehead against her own.

"You were still a virgin?" he gritted out, her tight heat making it incredibly difficult to keep from moving within her, though he had enough self-restraint to do so. Sakura's eyes were full of tears, but she never once cried as she felt his body slam against her own that first time before stilling itself completely. It took her a moment before she gritted out her approval for him to move again.

"I'm fine now, Sasuke-kun..." she gritted, and hesitantly, he slowly began to move, starting a low pace that further enticed Sakura's pained expression. She knew in her heart that he would be the only person she would do this with—her first, and her last—and she honestly didn't care as she felt his pace increase. She cringed slightly in pain as he slowly began pounding himself into her roughly, the pain from her now-broken hymen still lingering.

A different kind of pain,
Is someone there to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?
A different kind of pain,
Is someone there to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?

His thrusts were brutal after a short bit, his breathing increasing along with hers as their lips once again crashed against one another. Sakura's hands slid along the contours of his back frantically, doing her best to grip a hold of this moment because she never wanted it to end. In her mind, however, she knew it would end. Everything must end, sometime...

Before you let me go away
Before you let me go away
Before you let me go away
Before you let me go
I need you to know

A different kind of pain
Is someone there that to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?
A different kind of pain
Is someone there to hold you?
Is someone there to take you away from me?

Sakura was the first to reach her peak before slowly bringing Sasuke down with her, their bodies crashing against one another for one final rough thrust, a muffled female scream following as she clamped her walls around Sasuke's member. After he emptied his seed into her womb and all was said and done with, he re-adjusted his shinobi pants, his body still holding hers in place. Her legs soon were dropped to the ground, Sasuke no longer having the strength to continue holding her up. She still held him against her, however, and she pulled him towards her for one final kiss.

Too lost in the moment, he paid no notice to her pale hand as it slid along the main artery of his neck, a green glow immediately following the end of their climax. She still had her original objective in mind, and it was too late before Sasuke realized what she had done—she had severed his lifeline, and it wouldn't take him long now to die. Sakura choked out a sob as Sasuke broke the kiss, his eyes looking frantic as blood immediately pooled to his lips.

"Sakura... what have you done...?" he said, his body staggering backwards as he slowly felt his life leaving him. Tears pouring from her face, she responded to him with a pain-filled tone as she answered him, his body falling into the snow, twitching as blood poured from his lips.

"I've finally saved you..." there was a long pause between her words before she finished her sentence, adding with another sob as she stared down at the now-deceased man. "...And me."

It's a different kind of pain,
It's a different kind of pain,
It's a different kind of pain,
It's a different kind of pain,
It's a different kind of...

It wasn't but two months later that she received news of her pregnancy, and once again she wept for the only man she had ever loved, as well as the child that he would never get to know. But she knew that this was for the best—because Sasuke would otherwise be the end of everything—the village, Naruto, and herself. But even in death, he haunted her, and soon, she would be faced looking at a replica of the man she had given her heart to. But she knew... it was just as well...

A/N: Sooo yeah... how's that for angst? :3 Feedback would be most appreciated!