Author's Note: It's me again! I know it's been a long time and I'm very sorry for making some of you wait. And I haven't been updating my other stories, which I sincerely apologize for! But I promise I'll get to them one day. I'm just hoping I will have more time to work on them soon.

Anyways, I'm excited about this story and I hope you guys will love it!

Chapter 1: The Winter Encounter

Sakura's POV

"I'll never trust men again!"

That was what I said when my boyfriend of three years, Neji Hyuuga, broke up with me out of the blue a month ago. With a reason as vague as 'I'm too busy', he ended everything and had blocked off all our contact points.

I was desperate for answers but had no ways of reaching out to him. As much as I wanted to go to where he lived and worked to lash out at him, I couldn't, because our relationship was supposed to be a secret and only our closest friends knew about it.

Neji rose to stardom six months ago when his debut as the main actor of a drama was a huge hit. At just 23 years old, he became one of Japan's most popular young actors and has landed leading roles in various TV drama.

I, on the other hand, had nothing to do with the entertainment industry. I was a 21 years old undergraduate student of Tokyo University's medical school, who still had about two more years before graduating from her Bachelor's degree. Besides having a higher than average intelligence and looks, I would say I was just your average young adult trying to find her life purpose.

I knew Neji for the longest of time since his cousin, Hinata Hyuuga, was one of my childhood best friends. I never exactly got along well with Neji, who had always been cold and almost expressionless. When I was younger, I had always tried to be friendly with him, but he would give me the cold shoulder. At some point, I just stopped trying.

I never blamed him for being that way though. The first time I met him, he was a rather cheerful and friendly child. Everything changed when his parents tragically passed away from a car accident. Since then, he moved in with Hinata's family who had always taken good care of him.

Although he stayed distant and cold for many years, we started to get closer when I was in high school and Neji was already in film school at that time while starting to land small roles in TV dramas. He moved out of Hinata's house and started living in an apartment which was closer to where he studied. And since his apartment was close to where I lived, I offered to help him move in. Surprisingly, we had a pleasant conversation that day. From that day onwards, I visited him often and before long, we started going out.

But things changed, and he changed too. And there was nothing I could do to bring him back. At some point, I'm not even sure if I wanted him back anymore.

It had been three months since Neji broke things off. Do I still miss him? Perhaps. Was I still mad? Very much so.

But was there anything I could do about it? Sadly, no.

Sasuke's POV

"Sasuke-teme! Why are you always landing yourself into troubles like these?!"

I ignored Naruto who had barged into my apartment and was being louder than usual. I glared at Kakashi, showing my discontent for not listening to me when I asked him not to open the door for the annoying blonde.

"Say something!" Naruto yelled once again and Kakashi had to ask him to lower down his voice, so my neighbours wouldn't hear the idiot.

"I have nothing to say since everything written on those articles weren't true." I knew I had to say something to shut Naruto up. I continued reading the magazine on my hands, which had an article about my 'relationship' with my female co-star in my latest drama and how I was an abusive boyfriend. I sighed at how ridiculous it was and threw the magazine aside.

"If you have a better personality, maybe there won't always be people who's trying to frame you!" Naruto grabbed the magazine I was reading earlier and grunted angrily. "These things are happening way too many times. This is the second one in this month alone! Even though our agency and Kakashi always managed to prove that these are bullshit, something has to be done to stop this."

"Naruto's right, Sasuke." Kakashi took the magazine from Naruto's hands and threw it onto the table beside me. "As your manager, I must say this is getting out of hand and your reputation is already close to being fatally destroyed. I'm meeting the agency's director in the evening today to discuss this matter. In the meantime, please stay out of trouble. Also, I can't believe I'm saying this but learn a thing from two from Naruto about being well-liked. He seems to be doing a better job at that."

With that said, Kakashi left me with a shouting Naruto who demanded our manager to explain what he meant by what he said. I had to admit that Naruto, who was also an actor managed by Kakashi, had a better reputation than I did. We were childhood friends and went through film school together, so I knew just how unpopular Naruto had always been. But times sure had changed and now I was the one with the popularity issue.

"I need to leave for a photoshoot now, you better behave yourself, Teme!" Naruto punched me on the arm before leaving my apartment in a rush, obviously running late for his schedule.

I sighed once Naruto closed the door behind him. I might seem like I don't care about all the scandals I got into these days but that was far from truth. Even though I had been a prominent young actor who had been in the spotlight for the past year, the latest scandals had caused me to lose some important acting opportunities.

"If I don't do something, my career will be ruined."

I decided to take a stroll despite knowing that there were paparazzi downstairs, waiting for their chance to get something out of me. I went to grab my coat and wore a mask to hide my face. To avoid the nosy paparazzi, I took the backdoor and left my apartment building, walking towards a nearby park.

Sakura's POV

"Let's go to that ice-cream store you love, Forehead! It's been a while since we went there."

I was on the phone with Ino, who called right after I finished my lecture. I was aware that she had been trying to cheer me up, but I simply wasn't in the mood to hang out. I felt bad to have made Ino worry so much, so I tried my best to appear alright in front of her.

"Sorry, Ino. I have something to attend to today. Let's go next time." I wasn't speaking the truth, but I didn't know what else to say.

I heard Ino sigh and I had a feeling she knew I was lying, "Alright then. Call me if you want to hang out!"

With that said, I hung up the call and started walking towards the main gate of the university. There had always been a place I would go whenever I feel down. And without anything planned for the rest of the day, I figured it was a good idea to head over there.

There was a park near where I used to live, which I would still often visit even though my family moved out more than ten years ago. It was a quiet and peaceful park, where the sound of rustling leaves was always soothing. Even though it was currently winter, it still had that calm warmth surrounding the place.

There weren't many people at the park when I arrived. I sat down on a bench, facing the snow-covered trees. I stared into the far distance, allowing my mind to wander to the painful parts of my memories.

I was reminded of the first winter I spent with Neji. He might not be the friendliest person you would meet, but he had his soft side too. Every time I would start to feel cold, he would keep me warm with his coat or scarf. It was a small action indeed, but it meant a lot to me.

As my mind was filled with thoughts of wanting Neji back, my tears had blurred my vision and started falling onto my lap. I cried at how pathetic I was, crying over a man who no longer gave a damn about me.

"It hurts."

Sasuke's POV

I was stopped on my tracks when my eyes caught sight of her tears.

I was walking around aimlessly and ended up in a snow-covered park. There weren't many people around, so a woman with pink hair caught my attention. She was sitting on the bench while staring into space.

And she was beautiful.

The winter sunlight made her skin vibrant and the gentle breeze was softly blowing her long hair. I was mesmerized by how calm she appeared to be, hence, was caught off guard when I saw tears falling from her green eyes.

Knowing that I should stay out of trouble, I figured it was the better alternative to not approach her. But there was a voice inside me asking me to go to her. I took a step towards her but was once again stopped when I heard a scream.

"Thief! That thief has my wallet!"

The screaming lady, who was probably in her 60s, was frantically trying to catch up with a man dressed in all black, who was running much faster than her. I was about to step in to help the lady out when the pink haired woman stood up from the bench and chased the thief with no hesitation.

"Hey, stop right there!"

She caught up to him easily and took him down with a punch. When the thief tried to push her away, she grabbed his arms and threw him onto the ground, knocking him on the head. The stolen wallet fell onto the snow and the owner came running to thank the surprisingly strong woman.

"Thank you so much, young lady!" The older woman thanked her continuously, while catching her breath after running so much.

"You're welcome. Please be careful!" The smile of the pink-haired lady was beautiful and sincere, it almost seemed as if she had not just cried. And the way she took on the thief with both grace and strength was admirable. "I'll help you call the police."

While the two women were speaking and dialling the police, they weren't aware that the thief was regaining consciousness and was getting up from the ground.

Without a second thought, I ran towards the man and grabbed onto his arm, just when he was about to land a punch on the woman who had subdued him earlier on. The thief grunted in pain as I held onto his wrist tightly before bringing it to his back.

"Thank you." The woman who had caught my attention for the past few minutes gave me a small smile, and for once in my life, I felt a weird tingling feeling inside me.

"Hn, no worries." I mentally scolded myself for sounding cold but when was I ever not?

The police came a few moments later, taking the thief into custody. The old lady left with the police to file an official police report.

Then it was just her and I, standing in the middle of the park as snow began falling onto us.

Sakura's POV

"Oh, it's snowing."

I looked up to the sky as snow slowly fell onto the ground. It was starting to fell cold too as the sun began setting into the horizon.

I looked to my side, where the man who helped me earlier stood at. He was looking up at the skies as well, seemingly admiring the beauty of the falling snow. He took off the mask that was partially covering his face to take in a deep breath.

I felt my face burning up a little when I saw the handsome face of the stranger I happened to crossed path with. His onyx eyes were fixated onto the darkening skies and I was captivated by his strong jawline.

My face burnt more with embarrassment when he turned towards me and had caught me staring at him. I looked away instantly, failing to pretend that my attention was on the clouds instead of him.

"My name's Sasuke. What's yours?"

I turned back to him and was trying not to be intimidated by the intensity of his gaze.

"Sakura Haruno." I was beginning to feel glad that it was a cold evening, at least there was a chance he would think the blush on my face was due to the weather.

"Sakura." My heart skipped a beat upon hearing his deep voice calling my name. I stood in silence for what felt like a long time before the cold air got to me, making me shiver.

It didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke, who immediately took off his red scarf and put it around my neck.

"It's getting colder, do take care." I just met him, but I can see that he was not a man of many expressions. Despite his gentle act of care, he wasn't smiling at all.

Though that somehow made him even more charming.

"I will." I watched as he began walking away and I found myself captivated by his strong shoulders and back. Once he was far from sight and I held onto the warm scarf on my neck, a thought came to mind.

"How will I return his scarf?"

I found myself smiling as I secretly hoped we would meet again.

Sasuke's POV

"Teme!"

I received a call early in the morning the next day from Kakashi, who told me to head over to the agency headquarters immediately. I wasn't given much details, but I could sense it was an urgent matter.

And I had just stepped into the building where I was greeted by Naruto's yelling.

"Didn't I ask you to behave yourself yesterday?! We can't leave you alone for even a second, can we?"

I rolled my eyes upon hearing Naruto's words as I began to think what could be the latest 'scandal' I got myself into. Ignoring Naruto's nagging, I walked to the conference room where Kakashi said he was at with the director.

I was met with a mix of frustration and relief when I entered the conference room. There were several magazines and newspapers on the table and Kakashi handed one of the magazines to me.

The headline read, "Who is Sasuke Uchiha's mysterious and gorgeous girlfriend?"

But what shocked me was not the headline, but it was the woman I was pictured with.

It was Sakura.

"Someone has taken a picture right at the time when I wrapped my scarf around her. Ridiculous coincidence."

"The picture didn't capture the woman's face, which made the paparazzi go crazy with their speculations. There are too many variety of stories surfacing from this single picture. So, I would like you to tell me what's going on." The director, Tsunade, looked at me while massaging her head, showing her troubled expression over yet another scandal.

"I was at a park yesterday evening and there was an old lady whose wallet was stolen. The woman I was pictured with caught the thief and I saved her when she was about to be attacked by him. I handed her my scarf because it was snowing, and she was cold. End of story."

Naruto was going through the articles on the table with Kakashi and seemed unusually less agitated over this matter.

"This is probably the only scandal in which Sasuke wasn't portrayed as an abusive lover or a cheating bastard." Naruto's statement caught our attention, and I saw the eye contact made between Tsunade and Kakashi.

I knew what that look meant.

"Kakashi and I were discussing about what we can do to restore your reputation before it becomes unrepairable. We couldn't come up with a good solution but seems like an opportunity has fall before us." Tsunade smirked as she went through several newspapers, seemingly liking her new plan. "What do you think, Kakashi?"

"I think this might work." Kakashi seemed pleased with the idea as well and I could see the smile beneath his mask.

"Wait, I'm a bit lost here. What is this plan you guys are talking about?" Naruto, being as slow as always, looked at us with apparent confusion.

"We're thinking of having Sasuke go public with his 'perfect relationship' with this beautiful young lady to prove that he is not an evil and abusive man. Gosh, isn't it obvious?" Tsunade sighed as she explained things to Naruto, who was finally keeping up with our conversation.

"That might actually work, Teme! You're in some serious need of restoring your reputation. The romantic and sweet boyfriend image could help." Naruto's excitement was replaced by a slightly worried expression as he turned to Tsunade and Kakashi. "But he has always been so cold. Will the public believe the act?"

"The cold-hearted Prince turned into a romantic man after falling in love with a Princess. That's exactly the kind of stories the public would love." Tsuande's wide smile reflected her confidence regarding the plan.

Although I knew the whole idea had a high chance of saving me from the mess I was in, I had to point out the biggest problem.

"How are we even sure she'll agree to this?"

The gaze of three pairs of eyes went straight towards me, as if I had just said something ridiculous.

Tsunade was the one who broke the silence as she spoke with her signature smirk.

"Well, that depends on you, Uchiha. We are expecting the answer to your question by tomorrow morning."

Knowing that there wasn't exactly a better idea, I excused myself and left the conference room to get to work. I only knew her name, so I would need to get some investigation done quickly if I wish to find her by today.

"Sakura Haruno. Looks like we'll be meeting again soon."

Sakura's POV

"Ino's probably calling me to hang out with her again."

It was Saturday afternoon and I just finished washing the dishes when I noticed the tons of miscalls I had received from Ino. My parents had just left for their business trip and I didn't have my phone with me throughout our lunch, so I can focus on having a conversation with them. But knowing that it was Ino, I didn't think it would be anything serious. I picked the call nonchalantly when she called again.

I had never been so wrong.

"Sakura Haruno, where in the world are you? You have a lot of explaining to do!"

Ino was yelling so loudly that I had to put my phone away from my ears. She was speaking so fast that I wasn't even sure if she was angry, over-excited or just plain crazy.

"I'm sorry for not picking up your call earlier, don't be so mad." My words were ignored and Ino continued speaking.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this! And I didn't expect you moved on from Neji this fast too. I had been really worried since you kept on refusing to go out with me. Now I know why you're so 'busy'. Gosh, Sakura, you should tell me about th-."

"Ino Yamanaka. I have no idea what are you talking about." I was beginning to get really frustrated over Ino's nonsense and had to cut her off before she went on and on.

Ino was silent for a while and I assumed she was starting to get confused too. Her next words messed up my mind to another extent.

"You're dating Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you? It's all over the internet and news!"

"Wait, who am I dating?!" I yelled in complete shock over what I had heard over the phone. Ino, who figured out that whatever was going on wasn't true, hung up after quickly saying she was heading over to my house.

"Sasuke Uchiha." I repeated the name of my rumoured 'boyfriend', trying to figure out why it sounded so familiar.

"My name's Sasuke. What's yours?"

I screamed once again when my mind wandered to yesterday's events. I remembered the gorgeous man whose dark eyes had an unbearable charm that made looking away much too difficult. And I hated how my face would blush at the thought of him calling my name.

I quickly bring my mind back to the right path and went online for some answers.

"What in the world is going on here?" I mumbled to myself in disbelief as I browsed through the internet, scrolling through different articles on my phone. When I saw the picture of Sasuke and I as he wrapped me with his scarf, it became obvious how the misunderstanding happened.

"Wait a minute, who exactly is Sasuke?" I was about to search about the handsome stranger I met yesterday when the doorbell rang. Thinking that it was probably Ino, I ran downstairs to open the door.

But the person on the other side was not my blonde best friend.

It was him.

"Sakura."

The beautiful way he called my name, without a doubt, it was the same person from yesterday.

"Sasuke." Still not knowing who exactly he was, I was at loss of words. But that didn't stop me from admiring how good he looked.

And the way he was staring at me was not making things easier.

"I'm sorry to visit you abruptly like this but I have something to discuss with you."

"Perfect timing, I have some questions for you too." Thinking that staying outdoors might not be a good idea, I invited Sasuke into the house. As he went to take a seat in the living room, I quickly sent a text to Ino, asking her to come over later in the evening instead.

And once I turned to where Sasuke was, my heart skipped a beat in what seemed to be nervousness.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

Sasuke's POV

I told Sakura everything she had to know. Who I was, the recent issues I encountered and our unexpected scandal. All the while she listened attentively as I tried not to get distracted by how good she looked in a ponytail.

Though truth be told, I was a little bit disappointed to know she didn't know who I was. But I knew better than to be bothered with that at a time like this.

"And besides apologizing for causing this trouble, I am here today to ask for a favour."

"What is it?" Sakura looked at me with a mix of curiosity and uncertainty.

"I am not expecting you to agree to this easily. But I'm going to ask anyways." My words made Sakura even more anxious as she waited for me in silence. I took a deep breath before finally bringing up the main point of my visit.

"Are you willing to be my pretend girlfriend?"

Author's Note: That's the end of chapter 1! Please leave a review to tell me what you think. I haven't been writing so I figured I must have become rusty. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this new story! Click the follow and favourite button as well. And I will try my best to continue with the updates. See you next time!