A note from the wolf:
I am now proud to present the fourth and final part of this story! This is the best one yet, in my opinion, so I hope you enjoy it! :)
PS – Don't you just love the SasuSaku family portrait that was displayed at Jump Festa in Japan? :'D I reblogged it, so you can check it out there!
Declaimer: The characters in this story belong to Masashi Kishimoto, but this plot is rightfully mine.
Summary: A SasuSaku Christmas special. Sasuke won't attend the Academy Christmas Party but Sakura is determined to keep him company on Christmas Eve... even if it takes getting lost in a blizzard. Can Sakura melt his heart of ice on this special night? Warning: This story will make you feel warm and fuzzy. COMPLETE.
Part IV theme song: Let It Snow!
Let It Snow – Part IV
"Would you pass me the brown sugar?"
"Er where-"
"The far left cupboard," Sasuke answered before Sakura could finish the question. He was pounding away at the contents of a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. "And please measure out two cups of it."
Hold the phone. Why was Sasuke asking Sakura for brown sugar? Well. Sakura stumbled upon Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutters in Sasuke's box of decorations and was immediately inspired. She begged and pleaded with him to make cookies with her, and he didn't budge until she threatened to sing Christmas songs at the top of her lungs until he caved. And he did, precisely two lines into Sakura howling Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.
He made a grumbling fuss out of it until they started flipping through an old recipe book from one of his dusty shelves. He remembered the brown sugar cookies his mother made when he was a kid, but he never bothered making them himself since he started living alone. The instructions were easy and he had all the ingredients. And next thing he knew, he and Sakura had all the ingredients for two batches in a mixing bowl. He also realized that the process of fitting the dough into cookie cutters wasn't as tedious as he thought it would be. In fact, it was meditative and a little (dare he say?) enjoyable.
Sakura was humming along to the radio, now playing a jazzy version of White Christmas. "That was fun! I hope they turn out," she said as Sasuke placed the cookies in the oven. "This definitely beats hiding from Rock Lee's attempts to catch me under the mistletoe for the entire night."
Sasuke cringed while he was setting the timer. "I would have left the party too," he said seriously. Sakura wasn't sure if he was even trying to be sarcastic, but she laughed anyway. That was when she noticed something on his collarbone. A vibrant purple bruise. "What?" he asked, noticing her staring.
"Is that... from the hail?" she asked, reaching out and pulling his shirt collar down to fully expose the bruise. And then she spotted another bruise above that one. And another. "You're covered! Do they hurt?"
"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "Not as badly as the ones on my back though. And if you think I'm covered, you should see yourself."
"Eh?" she said in surprise. She pulled the collar of her shirt away from her shoulder and gasped at how discoloured and bruised her skin was. The pains she'd been suppressing suddenly became salient again. "Ow, you're right," she said with wide eyes. "Maybe I should borrow that ice from you again."
He shook his head. "No, I have a better idea. Go back to the fireplace," he said, turning to leave the room. "And your shoulder is hardly as bad as your forehead," he added before disappearing from sight. Sakura's stomach churned at his comment. That sure hit a sore spot. Well I guess that bruise on my hairline looks as bad as it feels... she thought with a mortified groan before returning to the living room. She sat herself down on the rug before the warm fire. The Uchiha blanket was still draped over her shoulders.
Sasuke arrived with a small container in his hand. "This is better than ice," he said, setting it down beside the rug.
"What is it?"
"It's a chakra-infused ointment," he said, unscrewing its cap to allow her to see its contents. It contained a pale blue oily gel that was emitting a soft glow.
"How does it work?" she asked a little skeptically. She read up on medical herbs and drugs on her spare time, and she knew the first rule in the book was not to trust just any medication she was offered.
He exhaled slowly through his nose and Sakura could tell he was annoyed. "Alright, I'll show you," he said, pulling his shirt off over his head in one, swift motion.
Sakura jumped back. "W-what are you doing?" she stammered, feeling her cheeks darken.
"Showing you," he answered simply and crouching in front of her. He put a small dab of the ointment on the bruise on his collar bone. His skin glowed a pale blue and then the bruise disappeared. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply with relief.
Sakura was trying very, very hard to concentrate. She was extremely passionate about medical practices, and especially how chakra could be used to eradicate wounds. She also took pride in her ability to analyze the human form from an objective standpoint. But for some reason, seeing this boy undress himself in a dark room, lit only by firelight and Christmas tree lights, alone with her, suddenly put her interest in medicine on the backburner. Thankfully he didn't notice her gaping at him because he was now busy dabbing the bruises around his neck. A minute or so later he finally opened his eyes.
"Oh, sorry," he said. "I'll stop. I can't reach my back anyways. Do you trust it now?"
Sakura nodded but didn't motion to take the container. He looked so relieved each time he put the ointment on a bruise. "Do you... want me to, er... your back," she spluttered. She cleared her throat and started again. "I can do your back. "
He blinked at her several times. "Uh," he said, seemingly lost in deep though. "Fine."
And then the two of them were sitting in front of the roaring fire, Sakura treating the bruises scattered across his shoulder blades and upper back. Soft Christmas music could be heard from the kitchen and the smell of their baking cookies was wafting into the room. With each dab, he flexed the muscles in his back and sighed with relief. Sakura, whose emotions were running high, was using every bit of her willpower to stay focused and, well, conscious. She realized that those twinkling white lights appearing before her eyes may not be coming from the Christmas tree.
Within minutes, he was fully healed. "Done," she said, immediately withdrawing her hand from his skin and trying to stop her heart from pounding so strongly.
But then he glanced at her over his shoulder and said, "How do I look?" The light of the fire flickered across his face and reflected in his eyes. Now Sakura felt like she was melting.
"Amazing," she said, more breathlessly than she intended. "Um, a-all healed," she hastily added.
"Alright," he said turning back to face the wall in front of him. They didn't move for a few minutes. All that could be heard was the soft tap-tapping of a tree branch on the window and music playing in the kitchen. "Well," he said. "It's only right of me to offer to return the favour."
She froze. Was he really asking what she thought he was asking? "I-it's okay," she started, her face flooding with colour. She was very thankful his back was facing her. "I'll just apply it to the places I can reach."
"Oh, I have plenty of the stuff," he said, finally turning himself around to look at her. "So don't worry."
And that was how Sakura ended up topless in Sasuke's living room on Christmas Eve.
Her shirt and bra were sprawled on the floor beside his Christmas tree and she was clutching the blanket tightly to her front, right up to her chin. She sat on her folded legs with her bare back facing the Uchiha who was now reaching two fingers into the container. She was feeling extremely warm, and she wasn't so sure it was only because of their close proximity to the fire.
"This is going to feel cold," he said to her back. "But try not to jump or flex." He gently dabbed the ointment on a spot directly in the middle of her spine. She inhaled sharply when the spot instantly became ice-cold, but that was followed by tingling sensations and relieving warmth. "You're pretty tense," he noted.
"Well it's kind of hard not to be," she answered quickly, squeezing the blanket even more tightly to her chest.
"Relax," he ordered, carefully pushing her hair away from her right shoulder blade and rubbing more ointment onto her skin. For the next ten minutes, he applied it to her back, shoulders, upper arms, and neck. She shivered with relief when he got rid of a particularly painful blemish on the tip of her shoulder. His fingers were very gentle, and he let his hand linger on her back to steady it while the cold sensations caused her shake. "Much better," he then said with finality and withdrawing his hands. Sakura couldn't help feeling disappointed. Despite the uncomfortable hot-and-cold sensations, she couldn't complain about the feel of his hands on her bare skin.
He stood up and, to Sakura's surprise, walked around and crouched in front of her with the container in his hand. She couldn't look at his face. Or his still-shirtless body, for that matter. She could sense his intense stare trained on her face, and all she could think about was how, if it weren't for this blanket she had a vice-grip on, there would be absolutely nothing between her body and his.
"One more," he said, oblivious to her discomfort, and propping himself onto one knee while reaching up to dab the ointment on her forehead. She flinched at his touch and he immediately pulled his hand back. "Sorry," he said, and placing his other hand around the base of her neck to hold her head still. "It won't hurt for long." He placed his fingers back on her forehead and carefully traced them along the bruise on her hairline.
But, of course, that wasn't why she flinched. He was so close now that she could feel his warm breath on her face. His eyes were glued to her too, and she couldn't help feeling self-conscious. And despite his unfazed reaction to her undressing, she also couldn't help wondering what was going through his mind now. She bravely glanced up at his face. His lips were pierced and eyebrows were furrowed with concentration. Sensing her eyes on him, he met her gaze. He also seemed to realize how close their faces were to each other. His eyes widened slightly and his breathing quickened.
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Tap-tap-tap! went the tree branch on the window.
"It sounds windy," Sakura said quietly, her eyes unwavering.
"Yeah," he said. The bruise was gone, but his fingers were still tracing her hairline, pushing stray strands away from her face. Sakura felt his hand on the back of her neck shift. Her face was probably as red as a tomato, but her mind was too busy wondering whether her grip on the blanket was tight enough and whether it was her imagination that his face was moving closer.
Tap-tap-TAP!
"Annoying," he mumbled, his eyes drifting towards the window. Then his body seized up and he froze to the spot.
"What?" Sakura asked, also turning to the window. Her heart sank. Several pairs of eyes were peering through the foggy glass. Before she could process what was going on, Sasuke had taken hold of the blanket and was wrapping it tightly around her. He picked her up and started carrying her out of the room and away from the window. "Wait! My shirt! My bra!" she cried, finally registering what he was doing. With a rush of embarrassment she realized she knew exactly who a particular pair of the blue eyes belonged to.
"Right," he said, shifting his weight to carry her with one arm, and grabbing their clothing with his spare hand. He brought her down the hall and pushed her through the first open door, which happened to lead to a walk-in closet. He handed her the clothes.
"Well, I guess I'll get -," Sakura started, but she was interrupted by loud pounding on the door and a resounding "SAKURA-CHAAAN!"
Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "I'm going to kill him," he said before slipping his shirt back over his head. The pounding continued. Sasuke turned on his heel and stalked out of the closet towards the front door. Sakura, now in a confused daze, dressed herself as quickly as she could, and then followed him. Before she arrived at the entrance, she could hear the shuffling of many pairs of feet. She rounded the corner to find Naruto launching himself at her.
"SAKURA!" he yelled, grabbing her with full force, nearly sending her tumbling to the floor. "We found you! You're safe!"
"Er, yes!" she said and shimmying herself out of his grasp. "Sasuke rescued me from the storm."
Naruto shot a glare at Sasuke, who was standing in the kitchen doorway with his arms folded. "I know exactly what you're up to, Sasuke," Naruto said while raising his eyebrows and smiling slyly. But before Sasuke could respond, he was interrupted.
"Where are we?" said a voice from behind them. The trio turned back to the doorway where Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Rock Lee, Neji and Tenten were crammed.
"My place," Sasuke said simply.
"Just make yourselves at home, guys!" Naruto called over his shoulder.
"What?" Sasuke said, his jaw hanging open.
Naruto glowered at his teammate. "You aren't really going to send them back out into the freezing rain on Christmas Eve?!" he said with a frown. "We've come so far to find Sakura-chan, and this is how you repay us?" Sasuke was met by stares from the nine others behind Naruto.
Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Sasuke said "Fine!" and led the way into the living room. "Just leave your coats somewhere in the hallway."
Sakura felt sorry for Sasuke, who she knew didn't particularly like having company over, but she was also very touched to see how far her friends had gone for her. That was when the timer rang in the kitchen. The cookies. "I'll get them!" she said, and leaving for the kitchen. She set the cookies onto a large serving tray and put on a huge pot of tea.
When she entered the living room, she found that the group certainly followed Naruto's directions and made themselves right at home. Ino, Shikamaru and Choji (who was now staring at Sakura's plate of cookies) were huddled on the couch. Tenten and Neji were sitting on the rug by the fire. Naruto was pulling Hinata onto his lap on the easy chair. Shino was inspecting the tree. Kiba was propped up against the wall, playing with his dog, Akamaru. Rock Lee was dancing to the Christmas music that was now also playing in the living room (someone found Sasuke's other radio). And Sasuke was standing, dumb-founded, in the middle of the room. When he noticed Sakura at the doorway, he shot her a wide, pleading stare before approaching her.
"What do I do?" he said quietly and beckoning to all of the people in his room. "I'm not ready for this."
She patted his arm comfortingly. "It'll be fine," she said. "They just need somewhere warm to stay while the rain passes. I'll help you serve them." Then she turned to the crowd. "Who wants cookies?" She and Sasuke served the group cookies and tea. Sakura joined them all in the living room just after Kiba initiated Christmas caroling. By the third song, the entire group was belting out Christmas songs at the top of their lungs. Sasuke busied himself by putting another log on the fire and hanging up all of their coats in his front closet.
As the night carried on, the lighter and warmer the atmosphere became. When the caroling stopped, Naruto pulled out a deck of cards he found on a shelf. "Alright boys, let's play!" he called out. "Sorry ladies," he added, turning to the couch where the girls were now sitting. "This game is going to get intense and I don't want to ruin my chance of going on dates with any of you. And Sasuke!" he added, whirling around to the doorway where Sasuke was hovering. "I challenge YOU specifically to a game of cards!" And then Sasuke joined.
Sakura and the girls were chatting over steaming mugs of tea. "I am so sorry for letting you go!" Tenten said. "I didn't realize how bad the storm was!"
"It's alright," Sakura said with a smile. "Everything worked out."
Ino glanced at Sakura. "You've clearly been having a good time tonight, huh Forehead?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Sakura gulped and wondered just how much the group saw through the foggy window
"Yup!" she said quickly, feeling her face flush. "And so has Hinata. Right Hinata?" she added in attempt to change the subject. It worked, and the girls started interrogating the flaming red Hyuga about her night with Naruto.
After their game of cards, Rock Lee challenged Sasuke to an arm wrestling competition. "Winner gets to take Sakura on a date!" he yelled. Sasuke politely declined and went over to talk to Neji. Naruto, however, accepted the challenge in Sasuke's place, and then an arm wrestling tournament ensued. Sakura, who felt like a host to this gathering, was relieved to see how happy everyone was. Even Sasuke was smiling in his conversation with Neji.
It doesn't show signs of stopping
And I've bought some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Awhile later, when Choji started (reluctantly) passing around the sweets he stole from the Christmas party, Naruto emitted a loud gasp from where he lay stretched out by the fire. "GUYS!" he cried. "GUYS, LOOK!"
They followed the direction of Naruto's gaze, which was trained on the window. And sure enough, in the dim light of the streetlamp outside, they saw the powder-white flakes falling gently from the sky. "Snow!" Hinata exclaimed, rising to her feet.
"Let's go!" Naruto said, pointing to the front hallway and sprinting out of the room. The entire group followed suit, pulling on their coats and boots. Fat snowflakes were falling from the sky, brightening the night air and sticking to their hair and coats. A several-inch layer of snow already covered the ground. "It must have been snowing for awhile!" Naruto said with a huge grin and balling a handful up into a snowball.
Kiba and Akamaru immediately started rolling around and wrestling on the ground. Ino and Choji were catching snowflakes on their tongues. Lee was running and sliding on the slick, snow-covered pavement, nearly crashing into Shino, who was making a snow angel. Neji and Tenten were staring out at the scene with their arms around each other, and Hinata and Shikamaru joined Naruto in creating a pile of snowballs. Sakura helped them out for a few minutes, but then she realized Sasuke was still standing in the doorway.
"Hey!" she said, approaching him and brushing off her coat. "How are you holding up?" she asked quietly when the others were out of earshot.
He shrugged. "It's not so bad," he said, staring out at the others. Sakura beamed up at him. What a transformation for this former-Grinch! Then he turned to face her. "Thanks for, well, helping me out," he said.
"No problem," she said with a huge smile. "I've had a great time!"
"WHOA! EVERYONE LOOK AT SASUKE AND SAKURA-CHAN!"
They spun around to the source of the voice which was, of course, Naruto. He was pointing at the doorway, but not at them but at something above them. Sakura suddenly felt her heart stop when she remembered what she hung up in the doorway. "Mistletoe!" Naruto said, beckoning for everyone to turn their attention to his teammates. "You know what that means, Sasuke? Huh Sasuke?" Naruto asked with a mischievous grin.
Sakura didn't dare look at Sasuke. He was probably so angry. She wasn't even surprised when he slammed the door shut. Yup. He was furious. "S-sorry," she said without meeting his gaze. He didn't say anything. "Naruto sure is annoying, eh?" she tried, nervously glancing up at him.
"He is," Sasuke said with a curt nod. "Of course I know what this means."
And then he kissed her.
When we finally kiss good night
How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight
All the way home I'll be warm
When they broke apart, Sakura wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder, partly because she didn't want him to see how red her face was, and partly because she was going to collapse if she didn't hold onto something. He held her against him. The only sounds they could hear were the cracking of the fire and the Christmas music playing from the living room and kitchen. Until Naruto started pounding on the door for the second time that evening.
Sasuke groaned, releasing Sakura and pushing the door open. "Yes?" he asked slowly.
"He chickened out, didn't he?" Naruto asked, glancing between the two of them.
Sakura shrugged. "Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. You'll never know," she said with a smile, and pushing past Naruto to join the others.
Naruto glowered after her before turning back to his other teammate. "Well, get your coat on Sasuke. It's time for a snowball fight!"
And then one of the most epic snowball fights in the history of existence took place in front of Sasuke's house. The snowball-throwing was enhanced with the help of ninja powers. Tenten embedded a few of her snowballs with weapons. Choji rolled his entire body into a giant snowball. Sasuke breathed fire onto attacking snowballs, which disappeared in clouds of steam. The battle carried out for thirty minutes before the group became tired and decided it was time to call it a night.
Sasuke returned to his front steps, where the group of Genin gathered to thank him. "Well done, Uchiha," Neji said with a small bow before taking Tenten by the arm and leading her home.
"That was fun," said Shikamaru, clapping the Uchiha on the back with Ino and Choji nodding at his side.
"Good cookies," Choji added. Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Rock Lee also bid him farewell, leaving Team 7 at Sasuke's door.
"I'm impressed," Naruto said. "I never expected the old scrooge to throw such a great Christmas party."
"Oh shut up," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "And well... I guess I'll see you both after Christmas then."
"Yeah," Naruto said with a shrug.
"What are you guys doing tomorrow?" Sakura chimed in. "Would you like to join me and my family for dinner?"
"Seriously, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with wide eyes. "You mean it?"
"Yeah, I can work something out with my parents. My mother would be thrilled to have you two over. And... how about you Sasuke?"
Sakura and Naruto stared at their teammate. "I...," he started, glancing between the two of them. "I'll let you know."
"Oh come on," Naruto said. "You can't spend Christmas all by yourself! You had fun tonight, didn't you?"
Sakura stared at him hopefully. He caught her eye and his expression softened. "What time?" he asked.
As it turned out, Sasuke was right about Christmas all along. Christmas came. And Christmas went. And then Team 7 carried on with their training and missions as they always did.
But he was wrong about one thing.
Because deep down in that ice-cold heart of his, he was never going to forget it.
The fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we're still goodbying
But as long as you love me so
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Thank you so much for reading! I would LOVE to hear your final thoughts about the story! So please don't forget to leave me a review!
QUESTION: If I were to add ONE more chapter would you rather see: 1. Christmas Day at Sakura's house OR 2. An epilogue in the future featuring Sasuke, Sakura and their daughter Sarada?
Just in case I decide to add another part ;)
So what is wolf08 up to now? Well I don't want to give too much away but... major changes have been made in A Twist In Time and they will be updated very soon. ;) Check out my blog to stay tuned!
THANK YOU AGAIN AND HAVE A SAFE AND MAGICAL HOLIDAYS! :)