TiMER
theeflowerchild
chapter 5
Sasuke rolls out of bed the day after Thanksgiving with a start. He stretches, and yawns; he groans, and wiggles his toes on the cold, hardwood floor. He hears his mother giggling downstairs, talking to his father about something frivolous, he's sure. His mother is the type of woman who likes to keep silences filled. His father is the type of man who likes to keep silences just that. He takes after his father.
Without sparing his bed head a glance in the mirror—it's not like he has to go anywhere today, anyway—he makes his way down the stairs to greet his parents. He raises a brow at the garland already delicately wrapping the banister, a pretty gold that will be twisted with Christmas lights soon, if his mother has anything to say about it. He smells cinnamon and potpourri before he steps into the living room.
"Mom," he greets her. His father's hand is massaging his temple, an exasperated look on his face while he sits on the floor. His mother is grinning from ear to ear, on the tips of her toes hanging garland from the fireplace. It nearly makes him smile. "Dad."
"Sasuke!" she cheers, ignoring her work for a moment to greet her son with an excited hug. "It's Christmas!"
"Not quite," he says, but he pats her back, anyway. "Do you need help?"
She feigns a gasp. "My son wants to help with Christmas decorations? Are pigs flying, too?"
"I always help," he grumbles, and takes the garland right out of her hands. He begins stringing it across the mantle. "Is Itachi coming?"
"Of course!" She begins fishing in the boxes on the floor, the ones his father must have gotten from the attic while Sasuke was still asleep. His father is detangling lights on the floor, mumbling something under his breath that Sasuke is sure isn't in the Christmas spirit. "And I was thinking we could invite somebody else…"
He grimaces. "Who?"
"Our Sakura, of course!" she states the obvious. Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Can you call her? I'd love for her to help decorate the tree."
"She might be busy," he says.
"I doubt she's too busy for her soulmate," she muses. "And for sugar cookies!"
"Right," he sighs. He takes a moment to run his hand through his knotted hair and realizes he'll have to shower, after all. "It's still early."
"It's never too early for Christmas," she chirps.
"Tell that to Dad," he says, nodding toward his father who's started on an entirely new string of lights, having given up on the prior once he plugged them in and only half turned on. Sasuke thinks he hears a profanity that his mother swings a hand at.
"Call her," she says, final. "And Naruto, too, if you want."
He perks up at that, and says, "fine." Two hours and a long shower later, Naruto and Sakura are ringing his doorbell, one with a shit-eating grin on his face, and the other twirling her newly short hair in her fingers.
"Good morning, Sasuke," she says with a cheery smile.
"What's up, bastard!?" Naruto jibes. "Merry Christmas?"
Sasuke rolls his eyes, stepping aside to let them in. "Whatever."
His mother puts them to work before they even have a chance to take their shoes off. She hands Naruto lights to string on the banister, and Sakura more garland to hang around the beams. Sakura happily takes on whatever role his mother assigns to her. He can feel the excitement in the room, and it takes him a moment to realize that excitement is Sakura.
It takes him by surprise, the warm feeling in his chest. It starts as a little tickle, but in a moment swells into something sweeter, and more addictive, cloying. He stops stringing garland for a moment to watch Sakura; she's twirling around the beams in his living room, laughing with his mother, dancing to an old Christmas song everybody knows the words to. Her pretty pink hair is in her face and her smile is beaming and charming and kind. He's never had this feeling before. It's something so much more than empathy that he can barely focus.
He only realizes he's staring when Sakura does. Her cheeks, already rosy from laughing, and dancing, heat with an adorable blush. She smiles, just for him, and Sasuke has to look away. This feeling, he doesn't know if it gets easier, but he can't take it: this heat, this softness, this unadulterated fondness he finds himself having for her, probably always had for her. He knows feelings for soulmates are always strong, but his feelings for her feel painfully intense. He continues to find himself feeling more and more for her.
The more time passes, the more he doesn't want to be apart from her. It's a feeling he barely understands himself, so he can't imagine how it must make her feel. He's not even sure what to name this feeling, even though there's a four-letter-word on the tip of his tongue he can't yet form.
It's not attraction, while he finds Sakura to be quite adorable. Sakura is pretty, and pretty young. Sasuke doesn't find himself dreaming about her in that way just yet, even if hearing that might hurt her. She's fifteen and he's twenty-one; they have a long way to go before Sasuke would even consider thinking of her in that way—even though he doesn't think of other people in that way, either. He doesn't dwell on what that means for them, yet.
"Sakura, dear, help me make cookies!" His mother beams.
Sakura's soft laugh makes Sasuke melt. "That sounds like fun!"
When he's sure she's not looking, he peaks again. Her eyes twinkle like Christmas lights, and her smile is electrifying and precious. Just to see her like this is enough to make him glad he invited her.
Sakura makes perfect cookies, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. They all devour them while they put the tree together, post by post. His father does the lights and grins proudly when his hours of untangling makes the tree glow like a star. Itachi insists that Sasuke put the angel on top and Sakura squeals when it twinkles, too.
"It's perfect!" his mother cheers, and wraps her boys in a hug. "I couldn't have done it without you all."
When Itachi hugs her tighter, Sasuke gently removes himself from the embrace. He looks over at Sakura, distracted by the twinkling Christmas lights with a perfect, little smile on her face. Naruto seems deep in a conversation with his father about the perils of mold that grow in real Christmas trees. Moving toward her, he carefully wraps an arm around her shoulders, and says, "thanks for coming today."
She leans her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for inviting me. I love Christmas."
He chuckles. "I can tell."
"I had a lot of fun," she says.
Sasuke releases her gently, before anybody can see them, and ruin them. "Me too."
Wrapped in his heavy coat and a thick, crocheted scarf, Sasuke wanders through the mall kiosks with looks of confusion and concentration on his face. "What does Sakura even like?"
Naruto shrugs. "How am I supposed to know? She's your soulmate."
Sasuke scoffs. "She's your sister!"
He sighs, rolling his amused, blue eyes. "Her favorite color is blue, she likes to read, she doesn't wear makeup, she likes to bake, and she hates celery."
"That narrows it down," he grumbles. He stares at a blue, glittery phone case at a kiosk before passing on with a huff. "What about a calendar? Does she like… calendars?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention, she hates months," Naruto jabs with a snicker. "What the hell do you mean, does she like calendars? Who cares?"
Sasuke wants to yell, and rip his hair out, but he settles for a thoroughly annoyed groan. "Why is this so hard?"
"Get her more books," he offers.
"I always get her books," he counters.
"She likes books." Naruto runs a gloved hand through his messy, blonde hair. "She'll like whatever you get her. She just got her ears pierced, what about earrings?"
Sasuke remembers quite well that she just got her ears pierced, because she came home whining about the pain, Karin and Ino flanking her and laughing. Sasuke knew it didn't hurt that badly, but he also felt that she was immensely upset. He wanted to hug her more than anything, but Karin already had that under control. He thinks Sakura wanted him to hug her, too.
"That's actually not a bad idea, moron." Naruto trails after him leisurely toward a jewelry kiosk, twinkling with stones and silver; large discount signs blaring with sales. Sasuke calls over an older man that isn't busy with a customer. "Can you help me?"
"Of course," he says with a friendly smile. "What are you looking for?"
Sasuke stares longingly at Naruto, who rolls his eyes and answers, "Something for my fifteen-year-old sister. She just got her ears pierced."
"What does she like?" he asks, and begins walking them around the kiosk toward the earrings.
"Her favorite color is blue," Sasuke offers.
"She likes flowers," Naruto adds.
Sasuke frowns. "You didn't tell me that."
"Every girl likes flowers," he simply replies, and Sasuke can't argue with that.
"Nothing hanging since she's newly pierced," the man tells them. He opens up a locked case and pulls out a dainty pair of floral earrings. "It's aquamarine, and white gold."
"What does that mean?" Sasuke asks.
The man laughs amiably. "It means she'll like them, and her ears won't turn green."
"Right," Sasuke replies, unsure why he'd ever need to worry about Sakura's ears turning a different color. "What do you think?"
"I think she'll like them," Naruto says with a grin. "Especially if you give them to her."
Sasuke nods his head, and asks, with a sigh, "do you gift wrap?"
Sasuke rolls out of bed on Christmas morning with a small smile on his face. His clock reads seven AM in bright, red font. There's something about Christmas morning that wakes you with warm happiness, that presses you to start earlier than you normally would; a biological clock that reminds you that you're ready to spend time with your family, smell cinnamon pine cones, open gifts and eat your mother's fluffy pancakes.
He already hears his mother humming downstairs, likely plying his father with coffee and sweet smiles. He smells pancake batter sizzling on the skillet, his mom's hot cocoa boiling on the stove. He makes a show of walking down the stairs so he doesn't have to walk in on his parents doing anything he'd specifically not like to see.
"Sasuke!" his mother cheers, wrapping him in a hug as soon as he enters the kitchen. He rubs her back fondly. "Merry Christmas, my love!"
"Merry Christmas mom, dad," he says. His father grunts, but he smiles. "Everything smells good."
"All for you, sweetie!" she claims sweetly. "Itachi is on his way!"
When his brother finally arrives, they all sit to breakfast with gusto. Sasuke eats far too many pancakes and when he's sated, and near bursting, he finishes his hot chocolate with a small smile. Itachi manages to finish off even more than him.
"You're amazing," Itachi quips, patting his mother's head.
"Oh, Itachi!" she gushes, and hugs his waist. "Anything for my boys."
With hugs all around, his mother drags them to the tree for gifts. She gets them clothes, and all matching pajamas she insists they'll wear to bed, and she gives Itachi a new blender for his apartment, and Sasuke new luggage. His mother gives perfectly sensible gifts, and he loves her for it.
When all the excitement has worn off, and Itachi is done talking about the kinds of soups and smoothies he'll be making in his new edition, his mother's smile turns sly. "So when is our Sakura coming over?"
He rolls his eyes. "I think I'll go there."
"But Sasuke!" she whines. "I want to see my girl!"
"She's no one's girl," he grumbles, maybe a little too sharply, and his mother laughs.
"But I have a gift for her!"
He groans. "Maybe I'll bring her back here."
"Please do," Itachi agrees. "I'd like to see our Sakura."
Sasuke shoots him a glare that only makes Itachi grin. "Can we stop with the our? And the my?"
"Fine, fine," his mother agrees, and then adds with a mischievous little grin, "yours."
Jiraiya greets Sasuke with a firm handshake and a grimace. Sasuke is very aware that over the past few months Sakura's father has not taken well to him as her soulmate. The exact opposite, in fact. Sasuke is fairly certain he's heard the older man growl when he's done something as innocent as ask Sakura about her day.
"Merry Christmas, sir," he says.
Jiraiya grumbles something under his breath and lets Sasuke in, trailing behind him to hang up his coat in the closet and kick off his shoes. Naruto rushes into the foyer with a grin. "Merry Christmas, bastard!"
Sasuke smirks. "Merry Christmas, moron."
"I have your gift for you right here," Naruto cheers, and flips him off with the friendliest of middle fingers.
"Fuck off." He rolls his eyes. He claps Naruto on the back a little harder than necessary, causing the blonde to wince all too dramatically. "Where's Sakura?"
"Kitchen with mom," he says. "Excited to give her your little gift—"
"Quiet," he snaps with a frown. "It's not a gift if you ruin the surprise."
Naruto shrugs. "She'll be happy either way."
"Whatever," he brushes him off with a wave. "I have your gift, too, dumbass."
"Aww, you shouldn't have!"
"Here," he shoves an envelope in his hands, "what you always ask for."
Naruto wiggles his eyebrows, and opens up his giftcard with a yelp. "Fifty bucks to Ichiraku! Thanks, jerk!"
"No sweat, loser. Don't spend it all in one day," he reminds him with a smirk.
He grins. "I just might!"
Sakura interrupts them in a pretty red dress that should clash with her hair. Sasuke can immediately feel her excitement; it vibrates through him and settles deep in his chest. He holds back a small smile; he feels happy when she feels happy, her warmth is so palpable he feels nearly feverish. With the prettiest grin, she says, "Merry Christmas, Sasuke."
He does smile, small and friendly, just for her. "Merry Christmas, Sakura."
"I'll give you two losers a moment." Naruto backs off toward the kitchen with a wicked grin of his own. Sasuke shoots him a glare, and Sakura sighs loudly, but he's truthfully glad to have a moment alone with her.
He can feel that she is, too, with the kind smile on her face, and her little, twitchy fingers that thrum against her thigh in excitement. "I have something for you," she says.
"I have something for you, too," he counters. Quickly, he pushes the box into her hands.
She laughs. "I know you didn't wrap this."
"I plead the fifth." He raises his hands in defense. "Open it, please."
She does, excitedly and unabashedly. She holds the wrapping in one hand, and opens the box with her other with a delighted gasp. "They're so beautiful!"
He smiles, softly. "I'm glad you like them."
"I love them!" He watches her carefully touch them, eyes twinkling with joy. "I'd put them on now if I could!"
"Your brother helped," he admits.
She closes the box with one of the prettiest smiles he's ever seen. "I love them. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Can I hug you?" she asks, and she takes a step forward. "I'm going to hug you," she tells him, without waiting for his answer.
Sakura is much shorter than him, nearly two heads, but she still has time to grow. She always whines that she's the tallest in her class, but she wraps her arms around his waist perfectly. She's warm, and she smells like sugar cookies she was likely baking in the kitchen with her mother. She makes a pleased little sound when she squeezes him. How could he not hug her back?
He wraps his arms firmly around her shoulders and leans his chin on the top of her head. She's so small, and fits so perfectly in his arms. He knows she'll grow taller, and many other things, like curvier and firmer, but for now, she's perfect, soft and small, sweet and splendid.
"I'm glad you like them," he murmurs, and he realizes, when she begins to pull away, that he's not ready for the hug to end, so he hugs her a little tighter.
She squeaks, and it's adorable. She hugs him right back.
Some of the best gifts I've ever gotten: a kitchenaid, a new blender, a $50 taco bell gift card, and luggage. Being an adult can be lit. Anyway, please stay safe in this trying time to you and all your friends and families.
