Before we get into this chapter, (again, sorry for interrupting) I wanted to give a big shoutout to those of you who have been so supportive of me (with your lovely comments) and this story (by continuing to read what I feel is an absolute train wreck). This is my first attempt at writing something a little 'bigger' than a snippet or one shot and although I have been feeling a lot of negative feelings with it (as of late) and haven't been wanting to continue with it, I will persevere for those of you who are still reading this; though it may not be as good as I would like for it to be. I hope that one day, I feel up to going back and doing some more editing with it by maybe adding some more chapters to it or some more depth to the story itself; but for now, I must say that I'm not up to it. I apologize for that.
Again, I just wanted to take a second to thank all of you for the wonderful support while I hopefully progress with my writing skills. You will probably never understand just how much it actually means to me and how much it truly helps to keep me motivated when I read all of the nice comments!
Now onto chapter six!
The deep conversation from the night before had definitely helped to improve Sakura and Sasuke's relationship drastically; even if it was in such a short span of time. Sakura felt much happier and lighter than she had in a long time when she was around him now and Sasuke seemed to be much more relaxed and at ease. His posture wasn't so rigged and the once sharp lines on his face were not as pronounced as before. It may have been just one night and it may have been just a single conversation; but it was enough for the both of them; for now, anyway. It was such a wonderful feeling that Sakura never wanted it to end. The pinkette felt that she could now pursue a relationship between them if she so wished; now that they've discussed the past, she felt much better about their future. Sakura would probably worry about things still for a while but she didn't get the impression from Sasuke that he would do anything like what he had in the past again.
She knew that the Uchiha was a changed man and she wanted to learn more about just who he had grown to be; found herself wanting to spend more time with him instead of pushing him away like she would have done just a few years ago... and since her parents had both seemed to make themselves scarce for the majority of the time that they had been there so far; it made things a little easier for her. Though, she assumed it was her mother's doing more than anything else as to the reason why the two of them were getting to spend so much alone time together. Sakura was secretly grateful to her mother for that; she probably wouldn't admit that out-loud however. As she moved through the same routine from the previous morning with Sasuke; Sakura felt jittery with excitement to see what this new day would bring for them.
'Christmas is the holiday season for forgiveness and I'm ready to give Sasuke a second chance... to give the two of us a second chance. I'm ready to be happy once again; with him... with Sasuke. I just hope that he doesn't disappoint me, again.'
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Snow.
Mother Nature's thick, white powdery substance could be considered, by some, to be one of the most beautiful sights to behold in the entire world. One person who thought this way, was Sakura. The pink-haired woman absolutely loved how it clung to the thick branches of pine trees, leaving a soft, white blanket in its wake. Sakura loved how it covered the icy, cold landscape with its powdery goodness; giving the surroundings an almost magical appeal when the sunlight hit it just right. She also found it to be...
...fun to play in; even at her age...
...fun to munch on; when incorporated into an ice cream like blend...
...and she simply enjoyed looking at it as it fell to the ground in thick, white flakes; the sight always seemed to give her a sense of calm and peace.
It was one of her favorite things about winter; but definitely not one of Sasuke Uchiha's, if Sakura could remember correctly; and based on the look that his face was twisted into when she glanced over at him; it still wasn't. "Oh, come on Sasuke," she teased as she elbowed him playfully in the ribs before she returned her gaze, once again, to the large, slightly foggy, picture window that the two of them were currently standing in front of. "It'll be fun. I promise." She was eager to go out into the crisp morning air and was attempting to entice the Uchiha to join her. So far... it was an epic failure on her part but she wasn't giving up that easily.
"How Sakura? How in the hell is this idea of yours going to be fun for me?" The deeply set scowl on his handsome face was prominent as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and glanced out the window in mild discussed while his nose wrinkled as if he was smelling something rather fowl. He wasn't in the mood to be out in the cold, but he also did want to spend time with Sakura so...
'Ugh, this is all very... annoying.'
"Oh, come on." Sakura leaned into him; pressing her arm against his as she looked up at him with a playful smirk. The sight alone caused Sasuke's poor heart or beat faster; though he tried to hide this fact by appearing as nonchalant as possible. "You can't tell me that you've never played in the snow before Sasuke Uchiha. I won't believe you. I distinctly remember that even when we were teenagers... I know you at least went out in it with me a few times."
Sasuke rolled his dark orbs at her; unconsciously leaning his own body into hers. "I was a kid back then Sakura."
The feisty woman crossed her small arms across her chest and chose to glare at him. "Well, you're acting like a complete baby right now. I mean it's ridiculous really. Is Sasuke Uchiha afraid to get a little cold... maybe a little wet; is that it?" Sakura raised a single brow at him as if to challenge his excuse for not wanting to go outside with her.
"I'm not a baby... and I'm not scared," Sasuke insisted. But he only seemed to be pouting like a young child would do as his own arms came up to mirror hers and his previous frown returned as he held her gaze with his own. Sakura tried not to laugh at his poor attempt at looking unaffected; it was rather... cute.
"Then you're a chicken butt." Her smile only grew as she watched, with a deep satisfaction, as his dark, onyx-colored irises widened slightly. She felt a strong feeling of triumph wash over her as she realized she now had him hook, line and sinker. 'Ha, I've got you right where I want you. Just a little bit more and...'
"Why a chicken butt?" His face grew confused as he cocked his head to the side. She did chuckle then and the sound was like music to his ears. He had to wait a couple of minutes for Sakura to calm slightly before she decided to speak again.
"Well...do I really need to explain it?" The pinkette motioned towards him with a single wave of her hand and her green eyes began to dance with mirth. "Your hair is..."
"Don't! Don't you even think about finishing that sentence, Haruno." Sasuke face palmed as he shook his head in surrender. "I have already heard that same exact line a million times." She heard him take a deep breath and watched as he let it out slowly. Another wide, sincere smile grew on her lips when she realizes what he was about to do. She did try to hide it to the best of her ability; but Sakura failed pretty miserably, which he surprisingly didn't comment on. "If I go out with you Sakura," the Uchiha started, looking slightly defeated in the process, "for... let's say an hour, maybe... will you be... satisfied?"
He didn't want to argue with her...
The young man didn't want to take steps back in their relationship as things seemed to be going rather well at the moment...
Plus, he truly wanted Sakura to be happy.
So, he would endure... for her.
"... Sure," Sakura smiled softly up at him as she loosened her arms before taking one of Sasuke's hands in hers; giving it a gentle, reassuring and thankful squeeze. He didn't pull away... Sakura didn't let go.
"Hn. Fine," he finally relented on a soft sigh. "You get one hour from me, Sakura. That's it though, understand. Then I'm coming back inside."
"Okay...," the bright smile on Sakura's face ended up pulling a small one from him, and she grabbed the Uchiha by both of his hands before tugging him towards the front door eagerly. After both of them were wearing the appropriate winter attire, the young couple started walking, hand in hand, for a while through the snow until Sakura decided to let go of his hand in favor of running her own along the snow-covered tree branches before she bent over to pick up a small handful of snow. He watched silently as she formed a rounded ball in her hands before tossing it in the air a few times. When Sakura nearly dropped it a couple of those times; Sasuke smirk at her clumsiness. That is, until...
An icy chill ran down the entire length of his spine the second her snowball hit him... directly in the face. Sasuke scowled at her while the pinkette cackled loudly from a respectable and very safe distance away from the angry male. The dark-haired boy watched as the woman he loves bent over at the waist while clutching at her sides; her bright, green eyes twinkled with uninhibited joy as she slowly began to calm from her almost hysterical state. 'Damn, she's so beautiful. God, I love her so much...'
Sasuke loved Sakura's boisterous and slightly obnoxious laughter.
He loved her warm, kind-hearted smiles.
He loved her joyful, loving, and very forgiving nature.
But... Sasuke Uchiha absolutely hated the snow. "What in the fuck did you do that for Sakura!" He was in the middle of attempting to wipe the snow from his face when...
WACK... THUMP... BOP...
Sasuke was suddenly bombarded with snowball after snowball; though their consistency was beginning to waver and turn more into simple handfuls of snow versus their previously rounded and slightly more sculpted forms as Sakura continuously threw snow into Sasuke's face, onto his arms and chest and even on his back when he turned away from her, on more than one occasion, to try and prevent any more snow from being shoved up his nostrils.
Sakura couldn't stop laughing as she raced around the snow-covered ground to try and avoid his retaliation as he to grabbed fistfuls of snow and began to throw them back at her.
Sakura couldn't stop herself from smiling as they played together; just like they had done in the old days...back when they were both younger.
Sasuke couldn't stop himself from...feeling. All of his growing emotions were welling up within his chest as he chased her through the thick brush with snowballs in hand. His once broken heart felt mended and his decision to make things work with her was firmly set within his mind.
He wanted this...
He wanted her.
It was a fun experience for the young Uchiha but he was somewhat ready for it to come to an end. He was growing colder by the second and was now ready to head back inside with her so that he could sit in front of the fireplace and warm up his chilled bones. With that thought in mind, he shielded his face from her with his arm before finally analyzing her exact location. Almost blindly he ran forward and tackled her; hearing her shriek in surprise as they both went tumbling to the ground; with him landing on top of her.
Sakura was breathing heavily beneath him but Sasuke seemed just as out of breath as she was while he remained hovering above her for several moments as he looked down into Sakura's soft feminine features; the ones that the Uchiha loved so much. Once he had fully realized their current position though, he quickly scrabbled to his feet and brushed himself off before reaching down for her hand; but Sakura simply shook her head in the negative. Feeling somewhat confused, he watched silently as she spread her limbs outwards to make a starfish shape with her arms and legs; then she began to move.
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Thick, clumps of snow clung to Sakura's entire backside as she flapped her arms and legs up and down repeatedly in a very ridiculous looking fashion. The pink-haired female didn't mind how silly she looked though because in that moment, she was having an absolute blast. Sasuke stood beside Sakura, watching her with a look of both amusement and slight disgust; the latter of which was due to the fact that the young woman would willingly allow herself to be that close to one of his sworn enemies; snow... or winter rather. There wasn't much that he liked about the season; he scoffed in annoyance at her childishness. "Come on Sasuke. Do this with me. It's fun, I swear!" Her warm smile was contagious and he felt his thin lips twitch at the corners but managed to will the unwanted expression away... somehow.
"Tsk. No." He crossed his muscular arms over his equally muscular chest and widened his stance slightly; securing his position above her as he continued to watch her with the same amused expression from just moments ago.
"But why not?" Sakura stuck her bottom lip out in a cute little pout as she continued to move her now damp limbs in a wide and erratic manner.
"Because I don't want to," Sasuke's deep tone was somewhat dismissive as he glanced around their surroundings. Realizing it was starting to snow again he frowned slightly before meeting her gaze and stuffing his chilled hands into his coat pockets. "Are you done yet, Sakura?"
Sakura huffed before rolling her green orbs at him and feeling somewhat satisfied with her work the pinkette reached up with one of her hands towards him; silently asking for his assistance. Sasuke eagerly moved to help her by grasping onto it firmly with his own larger hand before hoisting her up and onto her feet. The young man had inadvertently pulled her closer to his chest than he had initially intended to and this action caused Sakura to blush. But before she could get to flustered, he took a large step back; though he remained somewhat in her personal space still, which she didn't mind. The pink-haired woman ignored the renewed fluttering and twisting in her stomach and turned to look at her handy work. The outline of a semi-perfect looking snow angel was now pressed securely into the ground and she smiled to herself as she began to brush the snow off of her back. "I think it looks nice."
"Hn." Sasuke only rolled his eyes at her before helping to brush the remaining snow from the places on her back that she couldn't reach when he saw her struggling to do so.
Sakura gave him a warm smile as a silent thank you before smirking at him playfully. She bumped him with her shoulder gently to gather his focus back onto her when she saw him look back up at the newly falling snow with distain. "Oh, lighten up a little will you, Sasuke. This is fun."
"Maybe it would be... if we were still twelve." His smug smirk afterwards made the Haruno bristle with annoyance. Sakura glared at Sasuke but her reaction and facial expressions only served to amuse the Uchiha further and his smirk widened marginally. She had to look away then and was unable to hide the small, pink blush that dusted her cheeks. She crossed her arms and stomped her foot in a childish manner to show him her disapproval. Sasuke had to fight back a chuckle at her behavior. 'Damn him... I wish it wasn't so obvious to him that he still has this effect on me.'
"Ugh, you're completely impossible Sasuke."
"But... you still love me anyway, right... Sakura." Sakura's pink cheeks deepened to a dark shade of red while she gaped at him. Yes, of course she had revealed to him last night that she still loved him but that didn't mean that she was quite ready for him to speak of it as if he was talking about the weather or something so, mundane. It was still taking her a little time to get used to the fact that Sasuke was actually and truly here with her and that they BOTH still had feelings for each other; that their current circumstances weren't just a made-up fantasy of hers... that it wasn't all just a dream. Wanting to change the topic for the time being, Sakura blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"Would you like to build a snowman with me Sasuke?" He was about to reject her offer as it was his first instinct to do so, given their current situation... Sakura could tell and so she brought out the only weapon she had in her arsenal that could possibly combat his anti-winter ways. It was something that used to work on him all of the time back when they were dating. What was her weapon of choice you might ask... the puppy dog eyes. She could see the conflict in his irises; his need to get out of the snow warring with the need to satisfy her. Eventually though, he sighed, as his want to be with her and spend time with her won out against his hate of all things... cold.
"Sure." Sakura's smile after Sasuke agreed was enough (for the moment) to help ease the ache from the chilly afternoon air.
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"Sasuke...the snowman's head goes over here..." Sakura indicated the spot she wanted it to go by pointing to the area with a gloved finger before she resumed her attempt at pushing a much larger snowball, with both of her hands, towards the center of the small area in which they now stood. They would be able to see the completed figure from the large picture window at the front of the house once he was assembled... 'properly' and be able to enjoy him for as long as they wished... or at least as long as the snow would last.
"This is his head." Sasuke's face was unreadable but she could tell he wasn't happy with being out in the cold for so long. She knew that he was just ready to be done with the whole experience but she wanted to do this right. Sakura stopped what she was doing and stood to her full height before placing her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. One of her brows was raised as she stared at him pointedly.
"If that's the case...why is it bigger than his ass?"
"Sakura..." The Uchiha's thin lips twitched at the corners but she could tell that he wasn't amused.
"What!" Sakura threw her hands up in surrender as she let out a harsh breath. "You know it's true. You made it way to big. Now we have to start all over..." The young woman grew thoughtful before a small smile grew on her lips. "...or we could just build two instead of o..."
"No." His tone was firm and his dark eyes held hers firmly as he brushed his gloves off slightly to try and clear away some of the snow that clung to the fabric.
"But...," she wanted to protest but he wouldn't allow her the chance.
"We will make this work. I'm not staying out here longer than necessary just to build another snowman that will probably melt within the next few days." Sasuke raised a single brow at her as if to question whether or not she would continue to argue with him.
Sakura pouted; sticking her bottom lip out while she gave him a dejected look. Sasuke found the action to be... cute. "You're not being very festive, Sasuke." He sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Let's not argue about this, Sakura. You know how much I hate the snow. You're lucky I'm still out here with you right now... after I said I would only stay for an hour... and it's been what, three? I mean, I can't even feel my toes anymore."
"We can warm up by the fire when we get done," Sakura suggested calmly while shrugging her shoulders as if she was brushing off his concerns for his lower extremities.
"I think I have frostbite Sakura... in places I would rather not have it." He glanced down the length of his body once, slowly, before bringing his gaze up to meet hers. She was blushing slightly as her green orbs shifted away from his. 'Does she think I meant...there?'
"You will be just fine Sasuke. You don't need that part of you for anything anyway, right?" Sasuke smirked slight as he realized that his previous theory as to what she thought he meant became apparent with her statement. Sasuke decided to tease her just a little; feeling unusually playful in that moment.
He leaned into her personal space just slightly while his lips pressed closely to her ear. "Sakura, you wouldn't be saying that if we were still fuc..."
"I... I THINK THAT I'M R-READY TO G-GO INSIDE NOW!" Sakura jerked back and away from him slightly as her poor face darkened and her eyes grew wide. Sasuke chunked but relented and let the subject go. "But... I... I want to go ahead and finish the snowman first...okay." She looked up at him from under her lashes and he felt his heart construct slightly; he was only able to nod once as a response.
After they had finished with the 'snowman' (that actually ended up looking more like some sort of mutant being) the two of them headed towards the house but not before Sakura had veered off to the right; towards a small pot that sat on top of a wooden picnic table. Sasuke looked at her curiously as she walked back toward him; pot in hand. "What are you doing with that," he nodded his head towards the object he was referring to; though he knew that she probably already had an idea of why he was asking the question in the first place. 'It's empty apart from some snow. What could she possibly want to do with that...'
"I'm taking this inside of course." She said it as if the answer to his question should have been obvious, and maybe it should have been; but it wasn't, not for him at least.
"...why?"
"Isn't it obvious Sasuke." She turned to him with a curious expression and the dark-haired male simply shrugged his shoulders as he placed his hands in his pockets to try and keep them warm while they continued to hike through the snow-covered landscape towards her parents' house.
"No. That's why I asked."
"Because...," Sakura sighed before continuing; shifting the pot in her arms as she did so to what appeared to be a more comfortable position. "I want to make some snow cream with you."
"Snow...cream?" Sasuke's confused expression caused the Haruno to chuckle softly while at the same time they had finally managed to make it to the front door. She began to kick some of the snow off of her boots before stepping inside; Sasuke followed her lead.
"Yeah," she began again while taking her outdoor attire off and placing them in their respective places. She nodded her head to indicate for him to follow her when he was done as she headed towards the kitchen. "It's just like ice cream but made using snow. It's so delicious! You just have to try some Sasuke."
"Sakura," he gave her a pointed look. "You know I don't like sweets." The Uchiha came to Sakura's side to observe her while she began to prepare the dish after obtaining the other ingredients.
"I won't stop bugging you until you try it, Sasuke." His stubbornness was only matched by her own and so he knew that she was right. He groaned lowly before running a single hand through his thick hair then down the full length of his face before letting it drop back down to his side.
"Fine...," he finally relented after a short stare off. It was pointless to argue with this woman; when she made up her mind about something, nothing could or would stop her from getting what she wanted. Even if Sasuke knew for a fact that he wouldn't like it...he would try it, for her.
He kept making a sour expression as he watched Sakura work on making their 'snow cream' and as soon as she was done, she put a single scoop into a small bowl and then slide it over to him. As Sasuke brought a small spoonful of it up to his mouth, her eyes remained riveted on him. He had to admit that he definitely liked having Sakura's attention centered on him... and only on him. The Uchiha stared at the white substance before him with a look of complete shock and he allowed his spoon to drop back down into his bowl so that he could gather another small bite. Surprisingly... he found that he actually liked this dessert; that's probably because it wasn't too sweet. Sakura had made sure to make it to his liking by putting a little more citrusy flavor into it so that it would help to balance out the sweetness of everything else. He thanked her softly before finishing off his dessert.
Every.
Last.
Bite.
Author's Notes:
(Sasusaku au. Sakura is a very, very forgiving person in this fanfic just a heads up and it is a little fast pace. I hope you still like it anyway. I will most likely go back and improve this short story in the future but for now I hope you enjoy it as is.)
Note: Sakura is very influenced by her love for Sasuke. She is also a very forgiving person so I feel it effects most of her decisions to so readily forgive him; especially since it's not like he cheated on her or anything! That would be unforgivable in my books!
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If any of these sound like your own writing or another you have read I apologize but I didn't copy anyone's work. This is entirely my own writing.
