I know that Hold the Powder was meant to be a oneshot, but I couldn't resist adding this extra chapter to it. (Even if it is on Valentine's day, which I generally find to be cliche'd crap. And I was really surprised by the amount of people who put it on their favourites list!) So I thought I'd add this one, since I didn't want to leave any loose ends. I'd also like to say thanks to all the reviews I got for this!
Enjoy!
Sakura watched the steady fall of the snow, occasionally tracing the swirl patterns a flake would create with her index finger until it fell and disappeared. Occasionally, she tried to guess in which direction the flake will go and where it will land. It's not a very effective method of entertainment, but it's quiet and peaceful. But slowly, Sakura's thoughts drifted back to when she woke up...
Was she really sleeping in Sasuke-kun's house? Sakura couldn't for the life of her remember. She woke up in her own bed, after all.
Unless Sasuke-kun took me home so Ino-pig and the others wouldn't see me leave the house and make stupid assumptions.
Sakura suddenly thought, surprising herself. The shinobi grimaced to herself just thinking about what Ino's reaction might be if she spotted Sakura leaving the Uchiha manor. More thoughts, prompting more suggestions buzzed through her head. Sakura shook her head, catching sight of herself in the mirror. She looked decent enough, considering the puzzling morning. Sakura sighed to herself.
"I should go for a walk." decided Sakura to herself, picking up a small brush on her mirror ledge and running it through her tangled pale hair. When she was done, she dropped the brush, gave her reflection a once over and left her room, trying not to be too noisy on the stairs so as not to wake up anybody.
Outside, it looked like the entire village of Konoha had been covered in a thick cold blanket. Every surface was coated in the stuff, and there was still more falling. The snow made everything look so picturesque
Sakura smiled in spite of her sleepy, perplexed morning. It was beautiful outside. She spun around in a circle; her gloved hands spread wide, small flecks of snow landing on her palms and quickly melted. Sakura stuck out her tongue, eyes closed blissfully. A small flake landed on the tip of her tongue, and she withdrew it with a small laugh.
"Hey, forehead-girl!"
Sakura turned, surprised, to see Ino running up to her, waving, looking very bright in comparison with the soft, white background.
"Hi, Ino-pig!" managed Sakura, slowly, as she took in her friends exuberant outfit.
Ino herself was looking very winter chic in a fluffy, form-fitting purple dress, complete with matching indigo gloves, hat and scarf. On her legs were opaque black tights and dark green boots. On her waist was a thick black belt.
"What are you staring at, Sakura?" Ino laughed, putting her hands on her hips. (Which seemed to be very pronounced in her dress.)
"You look like a blackberry with a wig on, Ino!" giggled Sakura, saying the first image that came to mind.
"S-shut up!" Ino answered a pink flush on her face. "Anyway, you're one to talk! You look like a strawberry that got gum stuck on it!"
Sakura nudged Ino in the ribs, and the two friends/rivals laughed good-naturedly together. They headed down the street, chatting, Ino telling Sakura all about her latest mission with Chouji, Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei. Apparently, it had been even colder where they had gone then it was in the Fire Country.
"And I had to keep caking on my face powder, you know, because my cheeks and nose go all pink in the cold." Ino was saying loudly, missing Sakura rolling her eyes, "But then Chouji barged into me and I dropped it all in the snow! And it's so white; I couldn't even see it after a couple of seconds! It was so funny after I stopped yelling at him for being a clumsy idiot."
Sakura threw back her head and laughed. Then suddenly an odd noise interrupted the two girls. Sakura looked at Ino, confused. When Ino blushed again, Sakura realised where the sound had come from. Ino's stomach, to be precise.
"I guess I skipped breakfast today!" Shrugged Ino, not sounding at all regretful about it.
"Let's stop and eat." suggested Sakura, pointing to the nearby Ichiraku stall, where the scent of Raman drifted tantalisingly toward them. Ino's pert little nose wrinkled slightly, but she agreed. The snow had stopped falling now.
"Ah, Welcome, welcome!" cried the old man who ran the Ichiraku Stall, recognising the two. Ino smiled flirtatiously at the greeting and quickly engaged him in conversation. Sakura, however, noticed a familiar form sitting at the end of the stall.
"Good morning, Naruto." Sakura grinned at her friend, who had a worryingly large bowl of pork Raman in front of him.
"MMhh! MMmuu-mmff!"
"Sorry?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to one side as she watched Naruto struggle with his large mouthful of food, his cheeks largely resembling that of a hamster. Eventually, Naruto managed to swallow his mouthful and said,
"Hey, Sakura-chan!"
"That's what I thought you said." Sakura sighed, shaking her head at the boy's antics. "Listen, Naruto, I want to apologise."
"Huh? What for?" Naruto said, about to take another large mouthful of his beloved Raman.
"Well, you know. For slapping you yesterday. I overreacted." elaborated Sakura, sounding embarrassed. Ino, thankfully, wasn't paying attention to the conversation that was going on. Naruto grinned at Sakura and shook his head, saying cheerfully,
"Nah, you don't need to be sorry, Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei said I was getting too excited."
Sakura nodded in relief, and then she suddenly spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She could see a familiar black-haired boy trudging past the Ichiraku stall, looking lost in thought about something.
Oh, that's right! Sakura thought suddenly, ignoring the loud conversation Naruto was having with the old man and Ino, I need to thank Sasuke-kun for yesterday...though he'll probably be embarrassed... "O-oh!"
Turning, the green-eyed girl suddenly found herself face-to-face with Hyuuga Hinata, who was standing just in front of the stall.
"Oh, Hinata!" Sakura greeted, smiling. "Good morning! Well, afternoon, now."
"A-afternoon, Sakura-san." greeted the Hyuuga, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, looking embarrassed. Sakura wondered if she had spotted Naruto sitting just behind her yet.
"Sakura, our food's here!" Ino called to her friend, "I ordered for you, so- Oh, hey, Hinata!"
"H-hello, Ino-san." Hinata nodded, a smile creeping onto her pale face. Sakura and Ino exchanged looks as Naruto suddenly realised that another person had arrived and turned around.
"'Ey, 'Inata-chan!" Naruto waved, a large smile on his face, his cheeks bulging again. Hinata squeaked a 'hello' back, going a steady shade of deep pink. Sakura, who had been absent-mindedly staring at the spot where Sasuke had been suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Listen, Ino, I left my money at home!" Sakura said to her friend, who looked confused. "I'll-uh- have to go home and get it! You can have my bowl if you like, Hinata!"
And before Ino could protest, Naruto could swallow his food or Hinata could speak, Sakura turned and dashed out of the stall, her eyes spotting the trail of footprints that Sasuke had left behind. Skidding around a corner, she followed it up a flight of stone steps.
I'm glad I thought of doing that! Sakura thought to herself, as she ascended the steps, I wasn't hungry anyway, and maybe Hinata could stay and eat with Naruto! I'm sure Ino could help get her to- Then, Sakura suddenly skidded to a halt, her eyes fixed in front of her.
Sasuke was sitting on a wooden bench, staring silently out at the rest of Konoha, as the place he was sitting happened to be an excellent view of Hokage Mountain. Sakura stood there silently for a few moments, her heart thumping loudly against her chest. For some reason, she was suddenly feeling shy- like she had barged in on something private. One foot with lifted in the air still, as though somebody had just frozen her, mid-step. Her mouth felt awfully dry all of a sudden. But her leg was beginning to twinge with pain, and she put it back down with a soft 'thud'.
Sasuke immediately turned around, looking slightly surprised to see Sakura standing there. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, neither of them speaking.
"Can I...sit down?" Sakura suddenly found herself saying, as though somebody else had temporarily taken control of her mouth. Sasuke blinked, then nodded once.
Making her way around the bench, Sakura swept the layer of snow off the other side of the bench before sitting down, trying to ignore the sudden coldness on her legs. Silence fell again, though it was considerably less uncomfortable then before. Sakura chewed on her bottom lip, trying to look at Sasuke without turning her head. His face was quite blank. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. The snow had started again, but this time the fall of it was very slow, with soft, wispy flakes falling down from the grey sky above.
"Um...Sasuke-kun...about yesterday," Sakura managed to say, hesitantly, after what seemed like a long time. "I just wanted to...to say thank you. For the hot chocolate, and letting me stay over and everything."
"Yeah..." was all Sasuke said.
Sakura blinked. That wasn't the response she had been expecting. At all. Swallowing, Sakura tried again,
"I-"
"Ssh."
He was looking at her now, his gaze unexpected and almost...intense. Sakura was now feeling oddly nervous. It almost seemed like he was annoyed with her.
"But-"
And then something else she hadn't expected happened.
He leant forward and kissed her on the mouth. It happened so suddenly, and so fast, that she barely had time to register what was going on until he drew back, frowning slightly.
"You talk too much." he told her. Sakura blushed. Then Sasuke leant forward again, saying in a low voice,
"This is how you can say thanks..."
Sakura felt his mouth on hers again, and closed her eyes, allowing herself to melt into the clear, white background of the snow.
Sakura had made one conclusion.
Snow was beautiful.
Hope you enjoyed this extra chapter. As always, reviews would be awesome!
