COUNTDOWN
Present Day – December 31, 2020 – 23:58
It will be another year in less than two minutes and it took Sasuke even less than that to fall in love with Sakura all over again.
The smell of sweat, booze and excitement fill the entirety of his best friend's living room. Glitters are all over the floor and there's a bottle of expensive champagne spilled on it; Sasuke bets it's Minato's. He smirks when he heard Naruto's shriek somewhere.
Above the sound, there is a melodic laugh he knows by heart. Even with his eyes closed, he will recognize the timbre of it. His eyes scan the place, quickly passing on to another face when he couldn't see sparkling green eyes and megawatt smile. He fiddles with his red cup full of bitter alcohol when his eyes land on such a sweet sight.
Sakura fills his entire vision and everything else turns to a blur, just like it has always been. Her red dress hugs her form that he knows so well. He must've been staring too hard and too long because the next thing he knows, their eyes meet from both ends of the room and she is giving him that private smile of hers—like she knows his secret ogling. Well, he is.
With that connection comes a wondrous caress; a silent plea to come closer, and he is and will always be at her beck and call.
His legs move towards her awaiting smile and warmth from this chilly New Year's Eve in the middle of their drunk best friend's fancy living room, and Sasuke is back to the beginning—back to where he first loved Sakura.
January 6, 2020 – 07:43
Sasuke was sleepy and bored—a bad combination for the college junior, really—until his morning back to school was invaded by a pink-haired girl in the library. No one ever comes here this early except him, so this was an annoyance he never knew he had.
His routine was supposed to be starting his early reading in the library, alone, and go to class after a half hour. He then will spend this monochromatic day until it ends either inside his dorm reading some more or some bar where Naruto is passed out and hauling his ass back to their room.
It was that morning when Sakura Haruno walked casually into his life and blew all of his plans by adding her obnoxious color palette into his black and white world.
'Who the hell has pink hair? A bad dye job, maybe?' Sasuke thought.
He decided to not dwell on her any longer and just focused on his book. Sasuke can hear the faint sound of his wristwatch from the silence of the library and Sasuke almost felt alone, until he heard a soft voice from where the girl was sitting. It seemed that she was on the phone.
"Well, you should've told me before I woke up this early," she whispered but loud enough for Sasuke to know she was pissed. "If I didn't love you so much, I would've murdered you when you were asleep."
Sasuke looked around to see if the strict librarian heard her. He wanted her out; he couldn't focus because of her melodic voice. 'Even her voice annoys me as much as her hair,' he mused silently.
There was a nagging feeling in his gut; a feeling he never experienced before. It was almost similar to adrenaline, but not enough to make him go fight or flight. He knew something was coming but he didn't know what it is. Sasuke shook his head a little and just blamed it on his lack of sleep because of Naruto's loud snoring.
There was a sliver of sunshine on his face from the great window of the library when it was obscured by a lithe figure that passed by him. A split second passed and he looked up when he learned that the pink of her hair isn't exactly a bad dye job, unless the tiny rose hairs of her eyelashes were dyed too.
'Who the hell has pink eyelashes? And too green eyes?'
There it was—the thrill on the back of his spine, the tingling in his veins. When he looked back at her, Sasuke watched as she went out of the library, as swift as her arrival in his life.
He didn't know it back then, whatever it was, but he will.
/
February 12, 2020 – 14:14
It was only Wednesday and he felt like wanting to end the week already. His brain couldn't decipher any words anymore from Austen and with the way Sakura was falling asleep in front of him, at least he knows he wasn't suffering alone.
The pink-haired girl from the library finally has a name, and she already made her way into his personal space in more ways he could've imagined. Her name is Sakura Haruno, a senior biology student that was also Naruto's girlfriend's best friend, and she looked cute as she tries not to fall completely asleep against the tree they were under.
How did he end up spending his day with this girl, you ask? From his customary schedule of libraries and dorms and occasional bars, how in the world was Sasuke Uchiha reading Jane Austen under a cherry tree with this cherry blossom-haired girl?
To be honest, Sasuke didn't know as well. He may know how to translate three different foreign languages and ace them four different ways but there are things he doesn't know. Or at least, still learning to know. One of those is Sakura.
She was an enigma, that was all he can tell you. With the way her button nose scrunches up from a corny joke or the way she squeaks sometimes when she laughs, you'll never know she can annihilate a person in a political debate and can carry her liquor more than any other dude he knows.
The more he looked at her, the more he got confused. Or maybe confused wasn't the right term—more like fascinated. 'Yes,' he thought. 'You fascinate me, pretty girl.'
He didn't know it then but one day, he will learn that she can sleep anywhere and that she was a light sleeper at the same time; she can read books as long as they're medical ones, and she thinks English majors like him are pretentious as fuck. He will learn these things soon.
Naruto's teasing voice suddenly reached his ear, "Stare longer and she will evaporate, I'm sure."
The blond's loud exclaim of hurt woke Sakura up from her slight slumber and Sasuke was able to turn away in time to hide his burning cheeks.
/
March 27, 2020 – 23:30
30 minutes before her 22nd birthday, Sakura had a bleeding nose and a busted lip.
The store attendant and the two customers inside the 24/7 convenience store were looking at them with apprehensive eyes. With his tall frame and intimidating eyes, Sasuke was aware of his effect on people. But Sakura? The tiny, bubblegum princess Amazonian Sakura? She who can throw a punch like she can throw back a shot of vodka?
He can see where the concern was coming from. Sasuke slightly passed a look on the teenage cashier behind the counter and offered a silent apology for the bloodied tissues on their table and the way Sakura was swearing like a sailor at almost midnight.
"That stupid Regina George-incarnate," she mumbled with some tissues up her nostrils. Her eyes were still blazing emeralds under the cheap lighting of the store and Sasuke couldn't help but be thrilled. He learned that she was an even more interesting sight to see when she was angry.
'Hot, even.'
He swallowed his thoughts and instead blurted out, "You didn't have to go that far."
Her green eyes flashed, "Yes I did! She deserved it!"
"Yeah, let's say she did. Still, it doesn't matter. You drew first blood."
Sasuke saw her smug smirk that split her lip even further, "Fuck yeah, I did. No regrets."
"Sakura..."
"Have you seen her face? Good luck fixing that. And good luck fixing her garbage attitude too while she's at it."
All he did was sigh and opened the cream he bought for her lip, "Yamanaka will kill you when she learns you're celebrating the eve of your birthday swinging your monster fists."
He waited for a reply as he twisted the cap off the tube he was holding. When no answer came, Sasuke took a peek at her face. There was this small smile on her face.
"You remember my birthday," she softly said.
Her voice was soft and a little incredulous as if surprised he remembered. Sasuke felt annoyed and exclaimed, "Why did you think I wouldn't?"
She shrugged nonchalantly, "Everybody forgets me in the end."
He wasn't aware of her history yet—that her parents left her when she was young, that she was bullied in middle school until high school just because she was the smartest of them all, that she was led to believe a boy likes her until it turned out to be a stupid bet, that her only friend before she met Ino left her in a party where she was almost violated.
Sasuke still wasn't aware of her demons, but he will.
For now, he settled with grasping her chin softly to apply the ointment on her busted plump lip. His eyes were trained on them and remained on them when he whispered, "I'll never forget you, Sakura."
When midnight came and Sakura turned 22, his fingers were intertwined with hers as he walked her home. And when he greeted her happy birthday (he was the first), she squeezed his hands as thanks with tears in her eyes and Sasuke fell deeper.
/
April 1, 2020 – 09:00
Sasuke walked inside the first class of his senior year and saw the pink eraser being used by their professor reminding him of Sakura and the smell of her hair. That's when he knew he's fucked.
He's in love.
/
May 20, 2020 – 23:08
"Have I done something wrong?"
Sasuke whipped his head towards her. He was smoking on the balcony of Ino's flat, away from the drunk college people inside the tiny space and the presence of the girl he likes. 'Loves,' his heart corrected.
She was wearing that dark blue cashmere shirt he likes on her. His heart started to beat twice as much and he hid the shaking of his fingers by turning away from her. "What do you mean?" he asked blandly.
He heard a sigh behind him, "Don't fuck with me. You've been avoiding me for more than a month now."
"I wasn't."
"You're avoiding me now."
"If I am, then I wouldn't be in this stupid party, right?"
"Look at me then."
He gritted his teeth. He exhaled the last of his smoke, "You're being dramatic, Sakura. We're fine."
Sasuke heard a sniff and he stilled. His fingers grip the railing he was leaning on. Sakura spoke.
"Right... Dramatic..."
He turned to look at her the same time she looked down at her feet and whispered, "Of course."
Sasuke bit his lip as he tasted apology at the tip of his tongue. In the end, he wasn't able to because she abruptly said, "I won't bother you anymore, then." She left without looking back.
He didn't know that time and he will never ever know how that moment was the turning point for Sakura. It was the night she realized he was more than just a friend, and him avoiding her for the past month felt like agony. There was no handsome poker face who greets her every morning in the library or a warm hand on her back when they pass a crowded street.
He will never know that he broke her heart that night.
/
June 6, 2020 – 03:15
It was his turn to punch someone in the face, he will say when she asks why. Then, he'll say sorry.
His knuckles were still bleeding when he entered her dorm. His eyes wander around her room full of band and horror film posters. There are little trinkets here and there, and on her bedside table was the picture of them with their blue-eyed best friends. He felt more guilty for staying away from her after learning he more than likes her.
Sasuke sat on her bed beside her as she tended to his bruised fist. The cold of the ice against his skin kept him awake together with the smell of her shampoo and the view of her exposed neck. He was getting distracted when he heard her speak.
"You didn't have to do that; I can take care of myself."
He watched attentively as she finally cleans his knuckles, "I know you can."
"Why'd you do it then?"
There was a challenge in her voice; a simmering threat under it. It says, 'Say the fucking truth, Uchiha.'
He did.
"I don't want anyone touching you," he whispered in the darkness of her room. Few moments passed and he continued, "Is that selfish of me? That I only want myself touching you?"
Sasuke saw her steady hand became unsteady, and the ghost of a smile on her perfect face. "No," she whispered back. "I want that, too."
He never knew of butterflies on stomachs, but ever since he met Sakura, Sasuke found himself growing a monarch of them beneath his ribs, especially when her small hands were between his.
/
July 23, 2020 – 00:00
"Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun ."
He never knew that his name could sound that good and that her lips were like cotton at the corner of his lips. Sasuke burns inside and he can see the same fire behind her eyes, and he continued to boil with love inside him.
/
August 2, 2020 – 08:24
After the lingering stares and the fleeting touches, he said it first—the three magic words.
"I love you."
It came out naturally—six minutes before they left the library towards their respective classes and before they parted hallways. She answered back like they have said it previously a million times.
"I love you, too."
Her blush was the only thing on his mind as he walked through the sea of students and there was a giddy and boyish smile on his face when he sat down beside Naruto. The blond was taken aback by the sight that he muttered a silent prayer for his best buddy.
Sasuke never knew Naruto did it, but it felt extra good when he smacked the blond's head.
/
September 10, 2020 – 21:45
'I love you, I love you, I love you.'
It was a mantra in his head, or perhaps it was said aloud in between kisses on lips. It didn't matter.
You can never really think straight when you're making love to Sakura Haruno. He may not know a lot of things but he was confident he knows how to love her and how to make love to her.
And he did. He made love to her with his tongue tasting her lips and his fingers coiling in the spaces between hers. He made love to her by making sure her scent will linger on his pillowcase, on his duvet, on his own skin. He made love to her with stars in his eyes knowing he will never love again.
Sakura looked back at him and he saw everything. His future, his dreams, his fears—all in a sea of seafoam green and rose eyelashes. He drank it all and professed his love again and again until there was only him and only her.
"I love you so much."
/
October 28, 2020 – 11:51
"They love you, too," he whispered against her shoulder when he followed her inside his mother's kitchen. He can feel the nervousness in her stance and the thrumming of her pulse when he kissed her below her ear. "There's no reason not to."
Sakura ran her hands on the arms wrapped around her from behind and whispered a soft, "Thank you for bringing me here."
Mikoto saw them from the door, her youngest glowing with the light of his life within his arms, and she smiled. Sasuke-chan was in good hands; she will worry no more.
Sasuke will know during that brunch that his father can laugh from a corny pun, thanks to Sakura.
/
November 16, 2020 – 02:34
She looks most beautiful like this, he thought—at the height of her pleasure and the calming of her waves.
Sakura smiled up at him, panting and making his dreams come true one smile at a time, and Sasuke couldn't help but kiss his passion on her skin. He painted her with his lips, sculpted her with his teeth. He narrated sonnets on the curve of her hips and the plane of her collarbones, and she quaked in the intensity of his reverence.
He was never one for visual arts, being a literature major and all, but Sasuke has keen eyes—and Sakura is the most beautiful art of all.
Present Day – December 31, 2020 – 23:59
Sasuke reaches Sakura as the countdown started.
She dangles her arms around his neck, tiptoeing to reach his ear and whispers, "Hey, handsome."
54... 53... 52...
"Hey," Sasuke whispers back with his hand caressing her back, lowering himself so she can comfortably press against him. He feels her smile against his neck. "What're you doing after this?" he asks.
41... 40... 39...
Sakura leans back, her green eyes gleaming with mirth. "I don't know..." she trails. "I have a boyfriend so I might make out with him when the clock strikes twelve."
32... 31... 30...
"Lucky man," he smirks. "What's he like?"
27... 26... 25...
She fingers his angular jaw as she answers, "Handsome... smart... hot..."
The tips of his ears threaten to burn and Sakura laughs, "Blushes a lot, too... just like you, sir."
14... 13... 12...
"Most of all," she continues and presses closer. "He loves me... and I love him."
He smiles, the quiet and shy kind reserved for her, and answered back. "Yes, he does... very much."
5... 4... 3...
"Thank you for loving me," Sasuke whispers before closing the distance of their lips. He feels her smile against his mouth and he kisses her deeper, pouring his love and his faith on her—on the two of them and on their future together.
2... 1... Happy new year!
"Happy new year, Sasuke-kun."
"Happy new year, Sakura."
January 2051 – 00:01
With gray hairs and wrinkled hands, Sasuke and Sakura will celebrate the new year together with the family they made. With every countdown comes a new year, and every new year comes a new beginning, and Sasuke knows it now—
Sasuke knows now that no matter what time, no matter what year—Sakura will always be there by his side. Now and always.
~fin~
a/n: hello! today is 12/31/20 and in a few hours, it will be 2021. i want to thank all of you for supporting me for the entire year! it has been a crazy one, and i know that 2021 will be as challenging as this year. all of us face a different kind of struggle, i know; but no matter what it may be, i hope you hold on. it's difficult, but know that you are strong and we will make it through again! I'm so proud of you!
i hope you enjoyed this one. this is supposed to be my fic for the new year zine we have called Beginnings with Sasusaku, but I've decided to make another one for that project. if you're interested to see what our team came up with, please follow me on twitter at thefangirlslair and see my pinned tweet. all proceeds from the zine will be donated to GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund that aids people during this current pandemic.
sorry this took too long. see you on my next fics. long live sasusaku! sending you all warm hugs this holiday season! :)