Title: Cold
Title: Cold
Author: Asymally
Pairing: Neji/Sakura
Theme: Touch
Disclaimer: Does "Asymally" look like "Masashi Kishimoto" to you?
a/n aww...i nearly made myself cry. (i know, i'm a wimp)
but guess what?? i got two reviews!! i'm spankin proud of myself.
but do you know what would be better? 10. yes. that would be an accomplishment.
this one is a tiny bit longer, so enjoyy!! :D
Being a medic was a horrifically difficult job. It required extreme concentration, amazing chakra control, and knowing the human body inside and out. But most of all, it required a heart made of stone. It needed you to be professional and calm and collected at all times. Sakura was a terrific medic in all aspects but one. The stone heart.
On Sakura's first time on the battlefield as a medic, it is in the winter. There had been an attack on a small village and ninjas had been called to check for survivors. Sakura comes upon a boy no more that five or six, trapped underneath a building in the embrace of a dead older brother. Sakura frees them and is surprised to find that the boy is still alive. Sakura is nearly positive that it is because of the child's brother's sacrifice. Upon further examination of the boy, she finds that he doesn't have much longer. All of his ribs are snapped and his stomach was pierced. Although she knows this, she desperately tries to heal him. She is only able to numb the pain. When he temporarily regains consciousness, she is both overjoyed and heavyhearted.
"What's your name?" Sakura asks softly.
"Yuki." He answers quietly.
"Yuki. Snow. You have a beautiful name." Sakura says.
"I'm cold." Yuki says.
Sakura holds him closely to her body and wraps him in her cloak.
"Are you still cold?" Sakura asks.
"Just a little…it's okay." Yuki replies.
"Yuki-kun, can I tell you a story?" Sakura whispers.
"Okay. I like stories." Yuki says.
"When you die, you are reborn. You can be anything that you want to be. God lets you choose. You can be a tree with huge branches and lots of colors with or a mountain, strong, tall, and proud. Do you know what I would be?"
"….What?" Yuki says in a diminishing voice.
"An angel. I would fly around the world and look for people that have problems and fix it."
Yuki giggled softly. "I'd like to be an angel too."
"Really, Yuki-kun? ...Would you wait for me up there?" Sakura says smiling faintly.
"Yes. And I'd fix problems too, for you." Yuki whispers.
"Thank you, Yuki-kun. I promise that we'll do it together when I get up there too."
"Pinky promise?" Yuki says, closing his eyes.
"Pinky promise." Sakura replies, holding him close. "Pinky promise.."
Sakura sits in the snow for a while, holding Yuki's body close, sobbing quietly. She only gets up twice, to give Yuki's body a proper burial, and to give his brother one too. When she leaves, it is being held close by Naruto, and in spite of his body warmth, she can't help but to be freezing.
When Sakura returns home she is cold. The thermostat informs her that it is a comfortable temperature of seventy-two degrees. Despite this information, Sakura digs out her warmest sweater, buries herself in a mountain of blankets, and promptly shuts her eyes to sleep. She actually lays there for several hours, weeping silent tears over Yuki. When she finally goes to sleep, Neji comes home, exhausted, and climbs into bed with Sakura, gently cuddling her.
The next morning when Sakura wakes up, she finds that she is gently held captive by a man holding her waist. She smiles faintly, and in the midst of a flurry of breakfast and "good morning" kisses, she finds that she is no longer cold.
