Title: Palette
Author: Shadow of Astarael
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing(s): SasuSaku
Summary: Of the shade comprising the perfect ratio of red and white and the shade that springs forth from the lack of any other.
Warnings: Zilch. :/
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is only a temporary arrangement, though.

Pink.

The colour of delicacy, weakness, the need for protection—

LifeistoohardformeohnowhatevershallIdo?

—and of little girls and ballet shoes and tutus and hair ribbons and strawberry lollipops and Barbie doll clothes and fairy princesses and—

.:O:.

She is less than beautiful, with bright pink hair and harlequin green eyes—

strongly reminding him of clowns and their grotesquely cheerful, lipsticked-on permanent grins

—meeting in an uncertain congregation on her otherwise plain face, whereas he is a sculpture without wax come to life, being significantly better adorned in terms of looks than most other men; his beauty is shrouded, but not obscured, by an aura the shade of midnight.

It is the last day of the fair, and she is on the carousel while he is not.

She is less than graceful in her movement: her scuffed shoes chip a little paint off her garishly over-decorated steed as she mounts it, while he walks past at his own pace, serenely ignoring the jostling crowd around him.

The carousel cranks noisily into operation and immediately she joins her fellow carousel-ers in excited squeals and partakes in the bubbly champagne of their joy as it spills over the top of the glass and onto the counter below.

He, unperturbed, does not break his stride and simply throws a careless glance in the carousel's direction.

Their eyes wend through the—

screaminglaughingcryingfeelingliving

—crowd and meet—

himynameis

—in an assembly of raw emotions, the primary ones being confusion and—

lovewantneed

—and in that one fleeting instant—

black and pink converge in a violent eddy of colour, drowning them both in a blinding vortex of black-pink, or pink-black, whichever it is

—his footsteps are arrested and her voice abruptly shuts itself back into its box, and in the midst of the glorious liquid happiness in the air —

they were affixed palm to palm

their hearts connected

their souls fused

their ring fingers came together under a single silver band

and their destinies got tangled up in each other

—before the carousel spins around and whisks her away, her hair flying around the corner and just out of his sight—

please come back into my life

—And suddenly a bit of her pink creeps onto his hitherto unblemished porcelain skin, blend-clashing with his bleak perfection and adding a little colour to his life.

.:O:.

Black.

The colour of toughness, strength and willpower—

Youcan'tbreakmesowhybothertrying?

—and of night and the unknown and mysterious pools with no lack of depth and enigmatic tunnels with no exit and abysses with no bottom and austere silhouettes against a blur grey sky and the endless—

END.

Oh how ironic the last line was. ;D

Thanks to LoveAnimeForever for beta-ing this one-shot 2304982450938 times!

Please review! :D I do accept flames, except that you've got to STATE where I went wrong and if possible, SUGGESTIONS for improvement! :D