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Sakura hates the snow.
She hates it.
Snow is cold mornings, cold days and colder nights. Snow is icicles in her soul as she watches Naruto tremble in front of the Raikage, begging for another’s life. Snow is her own frozen tears. Snow is her march to kill Sasuke Uchiha. Snow is Kakashi and Yamato’s exhausted faces and Sai’s confused stares as he tries to pull himself back together from the barely human mess he was left in.
Snow is Sasuke falling into a pit of darkness that he can’t pull himself out of.
Snow is Naruto’s agony that she swears she can feel pulsing through her own heart.
Snow is everything that has gone wrong.
Tenten wants to drag her to Shimogakure to visit Kiba and Neji, there on an exchange program and Sakura wants to say no. She wants to shut her down right there, hold herself up in her apartment and forget Naruto’s broken face, frozen tears running down her face and the Raikage’s declaration of the kill order on Sasuke’s head.
But Tenten holds Sakura’s hands in her own, her eyes filled with more patience and love than someone with Tenten’s strength and unhindered ferociousness should possess. She looks into Sakura’s eyes with nothing but love in her eyes.
“It’s okay,” Tenten says, and Sakura wants to tear her hands free and run as far as her legs will take her because snow has never brought her a nice memory and this won’t be any different.
Sakura only just got Tenten, and she can’t lose her. Sakura will not let Tenten fall through her fingers. Not when they’re both so happy.
Tenten pulls one of Sakura’s hands to her lips and presses so gently against the back of Sakura’s hand, Sakura’s heart beats furiously in her chest.
“Trust me?” Tenten asks. Her face is tired and Sakura thinks the war did that to all of them, stole something from them that they’ll never get back. Tenten is just not as lively as she once was, Sakura not as trusting.
But, Sakura looks into Tenten’s eyes, takes a shaky breath and breathes out a shaky agreeance and hopes the snow won’t steal this diamond among the rocks she’s finally got in her grasp.
Tenten pulls her forward, cupping her cheeks in her battle-worn hands and their lips meet, sweet on Sakura’s tongue.
The rest of Sakura’s life is full of memories she wants to forget, complicated politics she doesn’t want to think about and too many responsibilities for one person to handle, but this at least, kissing the one she loves all so much, is the easiest decision to make.
Shimogakure stands tall in the mountains of snow and Sakura’s heart hurts and tears, longs for the fresh weather of the Land of Fire.
She squeezes her eyes shut and feels Tenten’s grip in her hand, focusing on that, and nothing else.
“It’s fine, Sakura!” Tenten says and the amount of joy in her voice forces Sakura’s eyes open. Tenten drags her forward, a smile splitting across her whole face, pieces of hair swaying loosely in the breeze and Sakura blearily realises she’s smiling as well.
Snow has brought a lot of pain to Sakura, a lot of bad memories that surface in her nightmares that leave her shaking and wishing for a reality that she can never have.
But snow is also recovery. Snow is Tenten’s smile. Snow is a new beginning. Snow is happiness. Snow is Sakura’s love for the beautiful woman in front of her.
Sakura breathes in the cold hair, feels it’s burn and feels the crushing grip of fear curl around her. But Sakura focuses on Tenten as she pulls her through the snow with a renewed energy Sakura hasn’t seen since before the war.
Sakura quite likes the snow.