Title: Charcoal and Seafoam
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairing: Sai and Sakura Haruno
Word count: 254 words (story by itself)
Summary: Drabble. SaixSaku. Struck by fear of getting hit out of anger; what he at first thought would be memorably painful turned out to be memorably pleasant.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters within the series.
Author's Note: (Advance warning) Major OOCness due to the fact that this particular piece is a very short moment from a story idea I may or may not post later on, which takes place further on in the story.
Charcoal and Seafoam
Her cream-colored hand rose to meet his face, and in that instant, he froze completely, body reacting instinctively from the phantom burning of harsh treatment and bitter pain inflicted by her ill-temper. Memories flashed through his mind of her beating the living shit out of him whenever he called her nicknames opposite of what he thought of her - the borrowed books he had read claimed it strengthened friendships and was a form of endearment, though perhaps it didn't apply to her.
The pair froze in position, her hand hovered centimetres from his cheek and his charcoal eyes shot to her sea-foam eyes, finding hurt and embarrassment reflecting from them as she understood why he had reacted as such. Realisation hit him as she slowly began to retract her hand, and acting on impulse, his hand shot out to grasp hers. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he slowly raised her hand up to the side of his face, before easing his cheek into the cup of her palm.
Closing his eyes, he absorbed the warmth of her presence, relished the feel of her soft skin and inhaled deeply her cherry blossom and white jasmine scent.
Eyes lazily opening, he watched as the slight pink blush that tinted her usual milky cheeks deepened into a vivid shade, giving him for the first time the impression of a shy, fragile, doll-like beauty. His lips curled into a tender smile, and in response, she, too, broke out into a small, yet sweet smile of her own.