A/N: This is an AU. I got inspired by Akagami no Shirayukihime. Check out the complete cover on my Facebook Page: Manikaonawhim
Summary: Fate has brought together an exceptionally skilful shinobi and an ordinary girl with extraordinary features. What will be the outcome of this encounter?
Sasuke Uchiha, the son of the head of the Uchiha Clan encounters a civilian girl names Sakura Haruno during a rescue mission. Their different perspectives about life attract them towards each-other. But will the difference in their social status allow them to have a relationship?
Chapter 1: Fated Encounter
The mission that has been appointed to his team is quite an easy one. Truth be told, an extremely easy task to be put under the category of an S-Rank mission. Rescuing the Konoha civilians who have been captured by Orochimaru's henchmen is not supposed to be an S-Rank thing. Perhaps it is the name 'Orochimaru' that has increased the rank of this mission to that of an S? But seriously, how strong can the guy really be? He may be one of the three legendary sannins but he sure as hell cannot be stronger than an Uchiha. 19-year old, young Anbu Captain Sasuke Uchiha thought this all to himself whilst running and bounding-off trees to reach the assumed location of the nearest lair where the captured civilians may have been taken.
At maximum it will take a group of trained shinobis about three hours to reach the spot. But since his squad consists of only the elites, they will arrive at their destination within an hour and a half. They will infiltrate the base as soon as they arrive and rescue all their village's people. And if by chance, any misfortune befalls them, then they may even run into Orochimaru. Yet even that won't be much of a problem as he'll handle that snake-lookalike paedophile in no time.
And this is exactly how it happened. Every single thing occurred in the same sequential order that he had guessed on his way. Everything..except for one part that is...
The minute they entered the lair, they were not met by the sight of a small bunch of shinobi guarding the place. Instead, a huge wave of sound ninjas surrounded them from all sides. The whole thing turned into a long boring procedure of fighting off the sound shinobi and helping the Konoha civilians escape at the same time. In the midst of all the gruelling actions, someone bumped into him— a woman to be specific (he guessed by the body shape). However, the whole exchange seemed very weird as the woman had covered every single part of her body by a huge, white cloak, obscuring all of her features from the eyes of this harsh world. She apologised and ran out of the underground base, leaving him behind to take care of the sound small fries. Well, it's not like he cares...
As he craned his neck back to face the battle zone, he saw the actual reason for the lady's hurried run. There in the centre of all the commotion stood the leader of those dirty henchmen— Orochimaru! With his hands folded across his chest, he smirked like the Cheshire and looked directly at him. He accepted the challenge expressed by the older man's eyes and charged at him. It turned into one of the best and the worst fight that he has ever had in his life till date. At one point, the sannin began shedding his skin and took the form of a huge, white snake that was constructed by numerous smaller white snakes. The whole appearance was really ugly and disgusted the young captain to no end. The humongous snake even tried to use some unknown genjutsu on him that made him feel as if he were swallowed by the snake. But still..he is an Uchiha and all Uchihas possess the formidable sharingan which proved to be a powerful asset in this battle and Sasuke managed to defeat the snake.
Later on, he exited the lair with his best friend as well as the vice-captain of his team, Naruto Uzumaki. The ex-root member who goes by the pseudonym of Sai followed them along. His battle with Orochimaru had left him badly injured but at this point, it hardly matters. What's most important is the safety of these citizens of his home village. He asked for everyone to gather around before him and when he was sure that people were standing in proper rows, he began speaking.
"Alright! I'm Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan and I'm also the captain of this anbu team. Not only have we successfully freed you from that scoundrel named Orochimaru but also killed him. We'll make camp in this area as it will soon start getting dark and leave for the village right at dawn. In the meantime, I expect each and everyone of you to co-operate." He commanded the small crowd firmly, no signs of nervousness or hesitation in his tone.
"Sai, take three more members with you and examine the base again. Just in case we might've missed someone still trapped in there." He ordered, to which the stoic guy nodded and turned to take his leave.
"Oh! And be careful. There may still be some of those sound lackeys alive." He warned, earning another nod from the ex-root guy.
"And you better take care of those wounds!" came Naruto's high pitched yell, making him snarl in irritation.
"I'm fine." He stated boldly.
That hit a nerve in the blond's head and he shouted, "What the hell! Sasuke! Learn to take proper care of-"
"You! Stop right there in your tracks." Sasuke cut-off his bestie when he noticed one of the civilians scurrying away silently in the middle of the dispersing Konoha citizens. It was that same veiled lady from before, he noted and began walking towards her now trembling form.
"And where exactly were you heading off to?" He asked making her flinch.
"Oh! I..I just realised that I have some work in the village nearby so I decided to leave. I know you saved us all. Thank you for that and-"
The concealed woman stopped speaking when she felt the Uchiha put his scabbard under her veil. Sasuke didn't quite enjoy the idea of talking to someone who's trying to conceal their identity. It makes them look hideous. And so in one swift motion of his scabbard, he lifted her veil to reveal the true self of the girl he was conversing with. Immediately his determined onyxes clashed with a beryl shade emeralds and he gasped, for her eyes weren't the only mesmerizing part about her. There was also this unusually entrancing shade of pink locks covering her head. The young lass had features that made her far too beautiful to be considered normal. She didn't look like some ordinary citizen of Konoha.
"What an unusual hair." Sasuke couldn't help himself from admitting the fact.
She lowered her lashes at that, "Oh, I get that a lot."
"Are you really a Konoha citizen?" He questioned suspiciously.
"Oh my!" She gasped, making Sasuke quirk his brows, "You are injured."
"It's fine." He muttered.
"You're lucky. I'm a nurse. I used to work at a local hospital in Konoha so I know the right medicines to treat these injuries." She mumbled, searching for the appropriate bottles of medicines in her pack.
"No thanks. I can't just accept anything from a strange looking girl who hasn't even admitted about her citizenship of Konoha. And besides, what if you are someone who actually used to work for Orochimaru? And maybe what you are truly trying to give me is poisoned!" He spoke, giving her a look of distrust.
"But I-"
"Trust is something earned! Uchihas don't give it away like that to just anyone." He ignored her and added.
Momentarily, she pondered about his words and thought that he is actually right. Even she wouldn't blindly trust someone she has just met. She squared her shoulders and took off the cloak covering her form. And as the white cloth was tossed carelessly to the ground, Sasuke took note of the beautiful, ankle-length, red cheongsam with a pattern of white rings embroidered over it that she was adorning with a pair of fawn-colored, short-shorts and black, heeled-sandals. Releasing a breath, she grabbed onto his scabbard and yanked it out of his grasp. And before the young Uchiha could even put a finger on her actions, she cautiously unsheathed his sword to reveal the shining blade of the Kusanagi and with an extreme finesse sliced her left wrist to create a wound exactly the same as that on Sasuke's right arm.
"Are you insane?! What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelled, snatching his sword back and sheathing it again.
The pink-haired beauty however, ignored his words and rummaged in his bag, pulling out a small green, bottle of ointment. Then, by the use of a sanitary napkin, she wiped the blood oozing out of her freshly-carved wound and carefully applied the ample amount of ointment over the effected skin. Once done with that, she smiled up at him and spoke, "Sorry to disappoint you but I don't usually loiter around poisoning people. And I really am a Konoha citizen."
Sasuke was so taken aback by the daring act that she pulled off that he completely tuned-out the hysterically laughing Naruto in the background. Impressed and also amused, he kneeled-down before her and brought his right arm out.
"Well then Doctor..help me with my wounds." He ordered softly, all the while staring at her calculatively.
.
.
"Are you sure that you're not a medical ninja?" Sasuke asked uncertainly.
"If you say it like that then I'll feel offended." She uttered, wrapping a bandage around his injured arm.
"Well then..atleast tell me who are you?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Sakura Haruno." She stated simply.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He returned the gesture out of habit.
"I know." She nodded.
He sighed in confusion and passed a hand through his unruly hair, "How come I've never noticed you in Konoha?"
She snorted, tying the bandage properly before answering, "Maybe you were too lost in becoming perfect?"
He wanted to glare at her for her bravery at talking to someone like him in such a casual manner. But..well, she is not completely wrong. Being born in a renowned clan is no fun at all. Especially if you happen to be the son of the clan's leader. Both your parents and the other clansmen have high expectations from you and you are left with no choice but to focus on gaining nothing less than perfection. Sasuke has always had to suffer because of being born as the second child of the leader. Everyone literally wanted him to outshine his brother and well..he is doing a good job of atleast keeping-up to his brother's level of skill.
A pair of soft yet scrutinising palms touching his stubbled-jaw pulled him out of his world of hard thoughts and he looked down at the pinkette who was busy examining his face for any injuries. There was a minor cut running down from his left jaw towards his throat. She quickly cleaned and disinfected it, followed by putting a band-aid over it. Suddenly, he caught her slowly receding palms and began stroking them with his fingers. No common girl has ever fascinated him before. Heck! Not even a girl from some prominent clan has ever caught his eye. She is the first one and he is enjoying his newfound interest in her.
"I have to agree that I was too blinded by my duties but leaving that aside, you have really fine hands." He commented.
She blushed furiously; maybe at their presently entwined fingers or maybe at his compliment about her hands. He shook his head and spoke again to clarify what he actually meant. "I have a lot of experience as a Shinobi and I can tell that your hands are perfect for the task of a Medical Kunoichi."
This time, she shook her head too, "I'm just an ordinary girl."
"With extraordinary features and talent." He added for her.
When she didn't speak anything in response, he began to talk again, "Listen, if you meet our village's best medical ninja, Tsunade Senju and talk to her then she will allot you a place in her academy as a trainee in medical arts."
"Who knows? By the looks of it, she may even take you in as her apprentice." From behind him, Naruto announced to the girl with a smile.
She freed her palms from Sasuke's strong hold and waved them in his face, "No no! I can't do that. I'm not anything special. I don't even have any big title or surname. I don't think this can ever happen."
The young Captain scoffed, "Don't you realise this? Everything happens for a reason. You bumped into me because this is bound to happen."
Naruto stepped closer to the two and bent down to their level. "You know this is the first time that I have seen Sasuke expressing a genuine compliment for someone. And a girl at that. You really are special."
"Special?" She laughed bitterly, making the two men stare at her in confusion, "It's not easy being a part of one of the strongest villages when you have such distinguishable features. Orochimaru captured me for this very reason, thinking that I might be someone special when in reality...I'm just an ordinary Konoha civilian. I cannot change my fate..."
For some reason, the Uchiha stood-up and gazed sincerely in her drowning emeralds, "Fate, you say? Well..I really do believe that Fate has brought us together for some good reason. So why don't you just stop being annoying and take my hand? I would seriously like to have someone like you on my team of elites someday."
The way he thinks..is so inspiring... She thought.
"So..what do you say..Sakura?"
With one look into his deep onyx pools, she nodded her head, "I..I accept my Fate, Sasuke-kun." He was surprised by her sudden address of his but he really did enjoy the additional honorific that she attached and he smirked smugly at her.
She ignored his cockiness and smiled back. It will be hard but...hey! What's life without risks? And if someone with such a strong determination and broad perspective is willing to help her out then there's absolutely no harm in accepting what Fate has in store for her. He sure is one hell of an arrogant bastard but his faith in her is what is giving her this strength to believe and charge forth. And so, she brought her hand out and placed her small palm in his awaiting, open one and decided to walk with him towards a much more promising future...
A/N: Okay so..I was watching Snow White with the Red Hair and the encounter between Shirayuki and Prince Zen gave me the idea to write this one. Hehe XD
However, now that I've written it, I would really like to take this forward into a full-fledged, multi-chaptered fanfic.
Oh! And please review this story if you enjoyed reading it...:3
~Manika