--Epilogue--

A Month Later…

Konoha was covered in snow.

While that wasn't unusual around this time of year, what was unusual was the sheer quantity of the stuff; great piles of white and cold settled on anything that remained stationary for a long enough period—to the point that stores and schools were closed and homes and cars made inaccessible.

In short, the residents were trapped.

Not that that was a problem for some—Temari Kaze and Ino who had been abandoned by the Kaze brothers, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga who'd been snowed in while visiting the puppies, and Anko Mitarashi and Tayuya Uta to name a few.

The latter had realized that the bed was much warmer than the rest of the house and were taking advantage of that little fact.

"Ko…" Tayuya whined, clutching at her lover as she slid out of bed, a sheet wrapped around her more to keep the warmth in than to preserve her modesty. "C'mon… it's too cold to be getting out of bed!"

The purplette laughed, waving away questing hands. "I'll be right back. Geez, it's just a phone call!"

Though the pout the red-head sported (and Tayuya would deny ever wearing such an expression) made her want to claim those full lips, Anko made her way over to her cell phone.

She deserved to know read a text from Kurenai. Before she could make heads or tails of the cryptic message, her phone went off again and she answered it without checking the caller ID, "Yeah?"

There was a pause. Then, "Hey, Anko." The purplette stopped breathing. "Please don't hang up," the speaker said quickly, a pleading not entering her voice. "I just need to straighten out some things then you never have to talk to me again, okay?"

Damn if she wasn't curious now. She glanced to the side, chocolate-toned orbs alighting on Tayuya. The red-head arched a questioning eyebrow and she shook her head in response. "I'm listening."

"Could you come over? I want to talk to you in person."

"Sakura—" At the name, chestnut orbs snapped to her, widening almost comically "—it's snowing like Hell."

"And that can stop you? I'm pretty sure you still remember what my room looks like." It was that kind of closeness—that knowledge of what she could do—that Anko had once treasured. Now, it just made her bristle defensively. The pinkette did have a point, however: the two had spent quite a bit of time in her room together.

"What about your parents?"

Tayuya was moving towards her, the thick comforter draped over her shoulders.

"They're holed up in their room; they won't even know you were here."

Anko sighed, smiling affectionately when her girlfriend cupped her cheek, expression adorably questioning. "Fine. See you in a few."

As she hung up, Tayuya asked, "Sakura? As in Sakura Haruno?"

"Yeah… she wants to talk to me about something."

"Now? After all that time trying to make your life Hell?!" The incredulity borne from protectiveness in her voice made Anko's smile grow. Noting the expression, the red-head sighed. "You're still going, aren't you?"

She didn't need to answer that.

Sakura didn't move from the center of her bed as her ex appeared next to it, choosing instead to try her hand at a smile. "Hey."

Predictably, the purplette's face remained a blank mask. "Hey."

She bit her lip. "Umm… I heard about Sasuke."

Suddenly, Kurenai's text made sense; Anko tensed, fully expecting to be snarled at or assaulted. Thus, she was surprised when thin arms—too thin—had Sakura been eating?—went around her neck without the intent to harm. "Thank you."

She was trembling and Anko found that she was completely and utterly confused. Hesitantly, she brought her arms up, noting with a pang that this was not unlike her make-up with Tayuya. "I'm kind of lost here, Sakura," she said—more gently than she would have thought possible considering what the girl had put her through. "Why are you thanking me?"

There was a beat of silence. Then, "He threatened to kill my parents."

The purplette frowned. "Who did?"

"Sasuke. He told me that if I didn't do exactly as he said, he would kill them." Anko recoiled, dark eyes searching Sakura's face as the pinkette sighed, "That's why I broke up with you—I had to."

There was no deception in her tone or on her face… but that was impossible, right? There was no way. None.

Anko took a step backwards then another as Sakura reached towards her. "I never stopped loving you, Anko," the girl murmured, expression hurt.

The older teen shook her head slowly. "Is there no end to your cruelty?"

Green eyes—bright green eyes that she had loved—that she still loved—sparkled with unshed tears. "What do you—"

"Why are you telling me this now?" Anko demanded. "Did you think I'd come running back to you? That everything would be hunky dory between us?"

They stood there for what felt like forever in a deafening silence, one pair of eyes dark with hurt and anger and the other glistening with sadness and guilt.

Finally, Sakura whispered, "Kurenai was right. I hurt you far worse than you ever let on."

Kurenai… it felt like a betrayal. "Since when does Kurenai talk to you?"

The contempt in her voice didn't go unnoticed, but Sakura responded calmly, "Since you sent me to the nurse that one day. She was worried about you because you had never been violent before." She reached out only to have the purplette jerk away again. "Anko…"

"So you're telling me that all this time—all the anger and the hatred between us…" Her voice cracked and she scowled at the show of weakness. "None of that was real?"

Her heart ached; hope tended to awaken feelings and desires that were best left buried. Hope for what exactly she couldn't figure out.

"Did you hate me?" Sakura asked, voice small. "Do you hate me now?"

Yes, she wanted to say. That one little word would have allowed her to walk out of there, head held high, without looking back. "No… I could never hate you, Sakura."

Love made one stupid that way.

This time, when the pinkette reached out, she caught Anko's wrist, her strength surprising for one so slim, and pulled her towards her. The purplette couldn't say she was surprised when soft lips pressed against hers—what did surprise her was her own lack of reaction.

Kissing Tayuya had always sent a spark along her spine that liquefied her brain, rendering her incapable of thinking anything beyond 'Mmm… Tayuya' and weakened her limbs so that she simply had to cling to the red-head.

Kissing Sakura… perhaps it had garnered the same reaction at some point, but no longer. She loved Sakura, yes, but she was no longer in love with the girl.

Tayuya had taken that place in her heart.

Resting her hands on Sakura's shoulders, the purplette gently detached her, smiling sadly. "Sakura…"

The pinkette's expression was serene. "Tayuya's a lucky girl," she said softly.

Suddenly, there was a lump in her throat. "So am I."

"She'd better take good care of you," Sakura continued, lowering her gaze.

Anko smiled a genuine smile as she read between the lines. She had always been rather good at understanding the beautiful young woman she had been privileged to call her own. "I forgive you, Sakura."

And those words—words she had never thought she'd say to her ex—felt good.

Tayuya hated herself for it, but she was worried.

She didn't doubt Anko—no, that wasn't it. But then again… She was alone with her attractive ex and, despite the fact that said attractive ex had hurt her, she had chosen to be alone with the girl of her own volition. That meant she still cared about Sakura. The question was: how deep did that caring go?

The red-head moved into a sitting position as Anko materialized in the room with an unreadable expression. "How did it go?"She started when she noticed the wetness on the purplette's cheeks, rising and drawing her into her arms. She'd been crying…? The thought made her heart clench uncomfortably—Anko had already shed far too many tears. "Shit… What happened?"

Rather than respond, Anko shifted her weight, pushing until Tayuya relented and allowed herself to be propelled towards the bed and lowered onto her back. Only then did the purplette smile radiantly.

Tayuya's heart clenched again—this time in a good way.

"I forgave her," Anko said, nuzzling into the red-head's throat.

"Forgave?" Tayuya echoed.

"Sakura." The surprised exclamation the red-head was going to utter was effectively silenced by sharp teeth against the curve of her neck. "I forgave her. I feel… free."

"That's g-good," she gasped, arching slightly as Anko ran her palms over her bare skin. She hadn't bothered to get dressed after all and the purplette's touch left little flames in its wake.

"Mmm…" Anko hummed, brushing her fingers through wet heat. "And now I need this. I need you."

"You have me," Tayuya responded without hesitation, bucking as those nimble fingers slid into her without warning.

"Promise?"

It was said lightly, but the younger teen knew that Anko was being deathly serious. Forcing her body to stop its lustful, instinctive movements, she locked gazes with her lover. "Forever. I promise."

The purplette's lips covered her, their tongues coming together in a heated tango.

"I love you," Anko whispered as they separated, starting up a quick pace as she attached her lips to the red-head's pulse. Sucking at it; marking her.

A different kind of heat filled Tayuya and she reached out to thread her fingers through the fingers of Anko's unoccupied hand. "I love you."

Then, there was no more need for words.

--Fin--

Man, oh man… Finally finished with this! You—the reader—probably don't agree with me, but I'm glad this is over with It feels good to have finished something this big~

I'd like to thank all my regular reviewers as well as the random anonymous ones! 'Cause, you know, until you've actually written your own work of fiction, you won't understand how much reader feedback contributes to a writer's drive to, well, write! I'd also like to thank my wonderful beta, Benevolent Destruction and DangoKage for being such a sweetheart. Last, but not least, a heartfelt thank you to DrunkManSquakin--the very reason this story exists. Kudos for the pairing idea and I hope this fulfills your request!

And now I can work on other things =D That being said, mosey on over to my profile and you can vote on what you'd like to hear from me next. I'll even include an excerpt so, get to it!

--Distraction