An adorable Sasori and Sakura fic I wrote. It's platonic and not meant to be continued so I hope you enjoy it!
No warnings needed this one is super cute
She hadn't been older than five when her mother would let her out alone into the yard. Not noticing her mother watching from the kitchen window, Sakura relished the lack of hand-holding and gentle pushes to play gently with dolls. Tucking her ragdoll under an arm, the child hiked up her dress and ran further into the yard. To fresh eyes, it seemed like an open plain that was hers only instead of a slightly overgrown lawn.
Soft grass tickled her bare feet and cushioned her tumbles as she chased after the spring butterflies. Tiny seeds stuck to her hair and dress like stars and tasted fuzzy on her tongue when she ate them. As Sakura went on further, she would often glanced back at the cottage to see if her mother was there. Each time, there was nothing and it emboldened the girl.
Enough so, that she reached the line between yard and woods where the little odd stones sat. Mama had said they were older than all of them and just marked territory. Papa said little tiny fae lived inside and left treats for good child. Sakura believed neither; there wasn't a fence and the stones had no windows nor doors. Who would want that in a house?
Leaning against her favorite, the largest and most bulbous, Sakura propped her doll up against her stomach and fed her the sticky star seeds. It was a very good girl-doll and ate dinner without fuss. Therefore, Sakura stood and promised to go get some dessert for it.
Dessert was a twist mass of grass and seed topped with a few pink hairs. She had tried to use dirt, but it proved too dry and crumbled apart.
When she turned back, there was a man crouched and looking over her doll.
No one else was supposed to live nearby and Sakura was always told to stay away from any strangers. Still, mama would see the man and call Sakura back in a hurry and that would just ruin any chance of being alone again! Puffed up with righteous fury, the girl strolled up to the man and demanded he leave. This was her family's land and he wasn't even invited!
The man just lazily looked up at her and the girl took in a sharp gasp at his face. Smooth and soft with large doe eyes and a rosebud of a mouth; just like those beautiful dolls in the windows that Sakura dreamt of owning. Even the shock of red hair only made him seem more of a toy than anything else.
Ah, but toys didn't make her feel so terrified as this man did. His face was like a painted angel and nothing seemed terrible about his gaze but…
The sleeves of his robe only covered up to his wrist and what she saw was twisted up and dead like an old wasp nest. When his fingers curled out she heard them snap like dry kindling on fire and Sakura was so close to running back to mama for safety. But, her doll was still there and if she lost it then she would be in so much trouble and never get a new one!
Frustration made tears well up as she demanded the man leave again. And once more with a stomping foot to try and frighten him off. When Sakura took a breather from the ordeal, and sucked in a few tears, while the man only blinked before a dead finger brushed against her doll.
Sakura did scream then, out of pure anger because /that was hers/, but it got stuck on the lump from the crying and came out as some weird hiccup. Fully set on pummelling the man now, she had only just balled up her fists when her little cloth doll moved. The legs were full of only batting, yet they stood strong and never even trembled as a first few steps were taken. Then the doll dipped into the most graceful of cursties and Sakura almost returned one just from the politeness drilled into her.
Under the dappled sunlight, the two of them watched silently as the doll started to dance. It wasn't anything like Sakura had ever seen at the few gatherings she had been too. This dance instead was so fast that the doll almost became a blur. Even leaves were kicked up just from the sheer force behind the moves.
Each leap made her gasp as the doll seemed to defy gravity with every one. Alas, the end came too soon and the doll sunk gracefully into a heap on the forest floor. Sakura quickly gathered it up to her and turned to thank the man with a grin.
He was gone and she was alone.
That night Sakura dreamt of being older and dancing with that odd man. Kicking up leaves and spinning just like her doll had.
Never again did he visit.