A/N: Still thinking if I should make this a two-shot. Hmmm. Anyways, enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Twenty Seven Winters

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They crossed paths when the wind would howl in the cold;

two; deux.

Melbourne, Australia, 1997.

It was rather chilly, the wind biting at bare skin mercilessly as it paraded the announcement of winter's arrival. A young girl was clinging tightly onto her mother's arm, her little footsteps stepping only on the ground her mother had stepped on brief seconds before.

Her petite figure wrapped beneath layers of wool and the thick clothing made her look almost- almost, like a chubby child. When in reality she was too thin, wrists a little too bony, hair a little too messy and personality a little too introverted.

At least to her worrisome mother.

"Sakura, don't walk behind me," her mother coaxed gently, guiding the child to walk alongside her instead. "You'll bump into me and fall."

They were taking a stroll at the boardwalk by the beach, and while it was winter, they were not the only ones there. In fact, there was quite a huge crowd bustling about, and the woman didn't want to lose sight of her daughter among the sea of people.

"But momma-"

"Come on, dear," the beautiful woman chided gently, stopping in her steps. "You can't avoid people forever."

She crouched down to her child's eye level, and laid a hand gently on the girl's pale white skin. She ran her slender fingers through the choppy, long pink bangs that tickled her daughter's lower lash line and pushed them up with a swift motion, revealing a pair of rich, emerald green eyes.

"Momma!" the young Sakura whined in protest, slightly scared at her face being exposed.

"You're absolutely beautiful, darling," the woman said, a hint of sadness laced in her tone upon seeing the low amount of self confidence her daughter bore. "There's nothing to hide."

Sakura pushed her mother's hand away from her forehead, the chilly wind cooling the previous warmth of her mother's touch.

"You only say that because you're momma," Sakura murmured, eyes downcast. She pressed her bangs down with one hand, effectively hiding her green eyes once more.

Her mother sighed. "Where's your ribbon then?" she asked, knowing of the only red ribbon her daughter would use to tie her bangs back.

Somehow, Sakura was much more comfortable with the ribbon atop her petal pink mane. Her little girl was so attached to the ribbon, something about it gave her the confidence she needed.

"I left it at home," Sakura pouted.

The woman shook her head in slight resignation at the fascinating childish innocence, taking her child's little hand in her own once more. "Come on, let's go," she smiled warmly.

The young girl's somber mood disappeared at once. Sakura grinned toothily and nodded, skipping merrily beside her mother.

"Mother!"

A loud wail stopped Sakura in her tracks. The cry was helpless and in panic, which somehow was intriguing to the young girl. She craned her neck to get a look at the upset child among the view of many pairs of legs, and finally spotted a small, huddled figure in a distance.

"Momma," she tugged on her mother's long sleeve and stretched her hands out to point out the location. "Someone's shouting there."

Her mother inclined her head, eyes darting around to see what her daughter was referring to.

As mentioned, there was a crying child not far away from them. It was a little boy around Sakura's age, no more than 10 years old. His ebony black hair spiked up in weird angles and contrasted against his pale skin, and he was trying his best to keep his tears welled up in his eyes. Sniffing, he turned around and shouted out for his mother once more.

"He's lost, momma," Sakura observed, head cocked to a side. "And crying."

"Yes, dear," her mother agreed. "Shall we help him find his mother?"

Sakura looked up at her mother, emerald eyes blinking in thought. "Yes!" she smiled, nodding eagerly after a while. Her mother ruffled her hair affectionately and set to slip between the crowd in order to reach the little lost child.

The young boy rubbed his eyes with his hands, sniffing once more. He was clearly in distress, being apart from his mother among the sea of people. The boardwalk was neither a small nor quiet place, and was rather bustling with life. His onyx eyes were darting everywhere in search for figures that resembled his family, but dared not stray too far from his spot in case they couldn't find him.

"Mother!" he cried again, voice hoarse. "'Tachi!"

He didn't mean to wander, he was just surprised and momentarily let go of his mother's hand as he drifted with the crowd.

If only he didn't stop to stare at the strange little girl with that strange pink hair…..

"Sasuke!"

The young Sasuke spun around immediately upon the call of his name. He broke into tears at once when the sight of his older brother entered his view. A boy in his young teenage years sighed in relief at seeing his younger brother and brought him into a brief hug. After releasing the now sobbing child, he crouched down and put on a stern mask as he stared into the pair of onyx eyes that mirrored his own.

"Don't wander off like that, Sasuke," he chided good-naturedly. "Mother was so worried."

"I'm sorry, 'Tachi," Sasuke hiccuped as he wailed, tears unstoppable and there was even a dribble of snot running down his nose.

Itachi could only chuckled in helplessness while shaking his head, his similar ebony locks falling into his face. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and began to clean his younger brother's red, splotchy tear-streaked face.

"Come on," he stood up and dusted himself, extending a hand towards his younger sibling. Sasuke desperately clung on to it, grip tight in fear of being separated once more. "Let's go back."

"Let's go," he echoed, nodding furiously.

Itachi let out an amused smile. "What made you let go of mother's hand? That's unlike you."

The younger boy blinked, mouth shaped in an 'O'. "I saw this really weird thing, 'Tachi!" he exclaimed, his earlier distress forgotten.

His older brother raised a brow gracefully. "And what is that?"

"I saw a girl with pink hair! Pink, 'Tachi!"

In a distance, Sakura's mother smiled upon seeing the older boy coming to fetch his brother. The two raven-haired boys were currently conversing animatedly while the older one was leading the younger brother back to their awaiting family. She and her daughter were a few feet away when the teenage boy appeared, and she felt relieved upon seeing that he was reunited with his family.

"He's gone, momma?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, dear. His brother has found him," she explained. "You were very kind to want to help him."

Her young petal-haired daughter nodded, seemingly wise for her age. "Thank you, momma. That's good then, he's safe now. How curious."

"Oh?" the woman chortled at the young girl's selection of words. "What's so curious about it?"

Sakura looked up and met her mother's eyes, her own emerald ones dancing with mirth. She pressed a small hand to her lips, giggling behind it.

"Oh momma, didn't you notice? The back of his hair looked like a chicken's butt."

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They would meet again when winter announced its arrival once more in the midst of cheers.

three; trois.

New york, U.S., 2016

A woman dragged herself out of her messy bedroom as she yawned loudly, the dark circles under her eyes indicated at a horrible lack of sleep. She casually put on a jacket over her top and jeans before wearing her boots and leaving the apartment, locking it behind her.

As she descended the stairs, she wrapped a red scarf around her neck. After the red ribbon worn out and snapped apart when she was younger, she had desperately tried to find something red to replace it. A scarf became her next option when her grandmother noticed how she was sentimental over the torn ribbon and knitted a red scarf for her. It became a habit to keep the scarf on since then, and she saw no point in breaking it anytime soon.

Red, exactly in the shade of vermillion- just like she liked it.

"Stupid Ino…" she grumbled under her breath. "Honestly, it's my day off since forever and she's asking me to meet her to shop. I get that I owe her but seriously..."

She ran a hand through her long, petal pink hair, turning around the corner hurriedly.

"Oof!"

She had her eyes trained on the ground as she scurried through the crowd. Thus, not seeing where she was heading, she ended up colliding into a wall. Embarrassing much. She placed a hand on the wall as she steadied herself, a string of curses escaping her coral lips smoothly.

"Hn." There was a low rumble from in front of her, and she could feel the wall vibrate.

Blinking in confusion, a realization made its way to her clearing mind. A wall did not feel warm, and most certainly did not feel taut.

"Shit!" she retracted her hand quickly as if it had landed on a hot surface, and her emerald eyes darted upwards to meet a pair of onyx ones staring back at her instead, a brow arched gracefully.

She could only gawk. The man standing in front of her was utterly gorgeous and- as Ino would so eloquently put it every time- "that pretty pretty stud muffin, what a blessing to the human specimen."

His ebony black hair was mostly unkept as it spiked up at the back of his head, and contrasted against the paleness of his smooth skin. He was dressed casually in a black jacket and a grey high-neck paired with dark jeans, which fitted him quite snugly and showed off his lean figure. His features were aristocratic with a tall nose and a chiseled jawline, his onyx eyes glancing lazily down at her.

The man cleared his throat, snapping her out from her thoughts. To add on to her previous embarrassment, she had been staring at him shamelessly and possibly- almost, but not really- drooling out of the corner of her lips. Fuck. Was she that tired that her mind wasn't functioning at all?

"Sorry, I wasn't-"

"Clearly," he replied brusquely. He then spared her only a dirty glare before he turned away and walked on. Sakura fumed at his better-than-thou attitude, all apologetic feelings gone. "Hn."

"Excuse me?" she snapped. The man ignored her as he went on his way. She cursed and caught up with him, her footsteps pattered across the cement roadside quickly beside his timely, large strides.

"Oh no, sweetheart. Just because you undeservingly got blessed with a good-looking face doesn't mean you can walk away from me after that!" she hissed angrily.

"After what?" he asked coldly. "You bumped into me."

"Well, I apologized! You didn't have to be so rude about it!" Sakura flailed her arms around.

People were beginning to stare at them, and some even muttered something about annoying public couple fights. The petal-haired woman could feel the heat rise in her cheeks as the man stared at her as if she were mad and their onlookers whispered loudly amongst themselves.

"Do me a favour," he said after a while, taking large strides away from her. "Stop embarrassing us, Pinky."

"Pinky!? What the fu-" she screeched. "Fuck you, chicken ass!"

A snarky laughter echoed as he walked on. "Try harder!" was his mocking reply, lifting a hand to wave at her without looking back.

"Wait! You-" she cursed again when he crossed the road and disappeared from sight among a sea of people.

Blinking, she finally registered her surroundings and saw she was the only one left being encircled by the crowd of busybodies, all staring at her. Head ducked low in discomfort, she hurried away the other direction without looking back even once.

What a great day. Sarcasm intended. Really, she blamed Ino.

.

"Fuck."

Sakura felt dead on her feet. She knew she'd regret spending her day off with Ino- and she was right. Her over enthusiastic blonde best friend had dragged her all over for her last minute Christmas shopping and proceeded to bring her to a newly opened bar by Chouji, their childhood friend. Her protests had fell on deaf ears as Ino merely hushed her but Sakura knew that she meant well.

Even if it was in her own typical Ino fashion that never actually went well.

"Come on. You're almost thirty and you don't have much of a life outside the hospital. When was the last time you even dated a guy? Live a little, Sakura. Oooh, here try this! A mix of vodka, gin and rum! Should be great."

Needless to say, Dr. Sakura Haruno had been suffering from a humongous hangover when she arrived for her 11 a.m., 12-hour-long shift that morning.

She finished the rest of her coffee and dumped the styrofoam cup into a nearby trash can. Christmas was a few hours away, and she could almost hear the celebration down the streets. Yesterday's shopping trip was actually compensation for missing out on her blonde best friend's countdown party that night.

She was sure Ino's party was a blast, it always was. It was just too bad she wasn't able to join that year.

Yawning, she checked her watch and saw that it was fifteen minutes to eleven, meaning she was ending her shift in fifteen. Sighing in relief, she decided to make her rounds before she got off and shoved her hands into the pockets of her white cloak.

While being a doctor was ridiculously taxing as it took up most of her time and her life, she didn't regret the decision one bit. She had been rather ardent about going down the path of medicine ever since she was a child. That passion bloomed further when she met her mother's friend Tsunade, a famous cardiologist who was also one of the Head of Departments in the hospital she worked for.

Pushing open the doors to one of her fellow doctor Shizune's patients, she realized the patient was sound asleep, covers pulled up to his head, only exposing a mop of dark hair. She instructed the nurse to follow silently as she crossed the room and picked up the chart by his bed and read it. Apparently the patient works in the police force, and received a gunshot to his abdomen. She checked his drip and was contemplating on awaking him to inspect his healing wound when a voice suddenly spoke.

"Who are you?"

Sakura jolted in surprise. "Hello, Mr…." she looked down at the chart. "Itachi Uchiha. My name is Sakura, and I'm just here to check on you."

"Hn." Itachi observed her with his onyx eyes unnervingly calm.

She blinked at the familiarness of it, but shook her head and said nothing. "Let me help you up," she offered, supporting him as the nurse stepped in and slowly lifted him from the other side, allowing him to lean against the board of his bed. "Here you go."

As Itachi sat up, she could see him wince at the effort. "It must suck to be here," she murmured, not expecting him to let out a deep chuckle. "Especially for Christmas."

"It's a quiet change as compared to pestering relatives," he replied as he slowly unbuttoned the loose top the hospital had, exposing his lean and firm figure with a white blood-stained bandage wrapped around his middle.

"Maybe," Sakura shrugged as she and the nurse worked to undo the white-specked-with-red dressing. "Then unluckily for you, you'll be out in no time!" she teased lightheartedly.

"Hn."

Itachi was frowning now, a strange look in his eyes as he observed the doctor. There was something nagging in his mind, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

"Well, you're healing up nicely," she concluded with a smile, redressing his wound. "I'm sure Dr. Shizune would let you go by this week."

"Thank you," the man was about to say more when a new baritone voice interrupted them.

"You."

Sakura shifted her attention to the new presence that joined them, a man standing at the entrance of the room. A familiar-looking dark-haired pale-skinned gorgeous man that she instantly recognised, and immediately cursing her luck.

She smiled weakly, waving her hand. "Me."

"Sasuke," Itachi cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke blinked. "Mother asked me to bring you food," he said simply. His gaze shifted to Sakura. "Is she your doctor?"

His brother shook his head slightly. "I'm just here to check his wounds," Sakura mumbled.

"Someone as clumsy as you is a doctor?" he asked incredulously.

The rosette took offense in his statement. "I'm top of my class, I'll have you know."

Sasuke was about to retort when Itachi called his name out sternly, dark eyes trained on him. With a sigh, the younger man understood the instruction 'be nice' and complied. "Thank you," he mumbled, slightly unwilling. "For taking care of my brother."

It was like all unpleasantries between them had been cleared up immediately as Sakura's expression morphed into a gentle one, her lips curved up in a breathtaking grin.

"Sure. I'm sorry for yesterday too. Goodnight, and Merry Christmas!"

She motioned the nurse to exit the room with her, leaving Sasuke to stare in confusion, taken aback at the unexpected smile. Itachi watched with mirth dancing in his eyes as his younger brother contemplated his choices, emotions flashing across his face indecisively. Finally, he seemed to have settled on a decision as his expression became firm.

"Have you eaten?" he suddenly blurted out.

The older Uchiha blinked. That was what he was pondering? How... unexpected.

The nurse left quickly after sensing the pink-haired doctor stiffen in shock. When Sakura looked back unsurely at him, he looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable with a light blush dusting his cheeks and even his older brother stared at him strangely at his unforeseen outburst.

"No..." Sakura said slowly.

Sasuke probably decided it was too late to retract any of his words because the next sentence that escaped his lips were much more collected and casual, as compared to the previous rushed question.

"Do you want some?" he indicated to the bag in his hand, filled with containers of food from his family's Christmas dinner.

Sakura looked like she was about to flee the room with the awkwardness hanging above them like a thick storm cloud. Her emerald eyes flickered around the room, her chewing of her lower lip mirroring her hesitance. On the other hand, if Ino were here, the loud-mouthed blonde would have already smacked her for even thinking it through.

'What are you doing not accepting!?" She could almost hear the high-pitched screech she was so accustomed to.

Itachi finally decided to intervene. "I'm sure there's enough," he said, a wicked gleam in his eye. "Come, Dr. Haruno. Indulge us."

"I… Are you sure?" she asked tentatively.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, pulling one of the visitors' chair for her.

"Thanks," Sakura smiled gratefully. "I'm Sakura." She stuck out her hand in a self introduction.

He gripped and shook it firmly with a small tilt at the corner of his lips. "Sasuke."

They conversed easily after that, even the older man seemed pleased at his brother's change of attitude.

As the night was filled with muffled rowdy cheers and dark sky lit up with fireworks, Itachi had a sudden realization at the thing that was nagging at his mind since earlier on. His lips curled up slyly, but neither of them noticed as they were rather engrossed in their conversation.

It had taken him quite the long time to fish out the particular memory. Hm. It must've been the pink hair that finally reminded him, he concluded.

After all, it was always her petal pink hair that his younger brother noticed.

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They first encountered when the snow fell obliquely outside the window, covering the world in a blanket of pure white;

one; un.

Tokyo, Japan, 1990.

The playroom near their house was a marvelous and ingenious creation, and sending her rowdy daughter there to enjoy their facilities from morning to noon was probably one of the greater decisions she made. That was what Mebuki Haruno decided as she watched her three-year-old child waddle across the mats and falling on her face several times, laughed gleefully then proceeded to get up and repeat.

"I wonder did that child hit herself silly," she murmured to herself. "But perhaps it's much better than her doing it on those tiled floors at home, though."

Not many parents were around like her. Most of them left their child there to enjoy themselves while they went off to work. There was always a few, but she was the only one there for now. She took the time to observe the other children.

There was that hyperactive blond one in a corner, shouting nonsensical things as he went around the room and presented his large toy frog to other kids. There was that pair of dark-haired children that were rather reserved, the short-haired girl keeping to herself with a doll and the long-haired boy crossing his hands against his chest, glaring daggers at other children that even dared to go near them.

There was also that fearless little boy that played with the ants in a corner, a spiky brown-haired boy with a white puppy toy accompanying him. Another little girl with two buns perched on the top of her head, throwing plastic knives at that strange boy with a bowl-cut and clad in tight green spandex who shouted "'OUTH!" every time he was hit.

Oh, not to forget the chubby kid that was pigging out on candy and his sleeping friend laying sprawled on the floor beside him.

And that one. Her lips pulled in a small amusing grin.

That boy whom her daughter pestered to no end but wouldn't receive a reaction from. Even the blond kid would pounce on that boy enthusiastically from time to time, shoving his frog in the latter's face, and yet there would be nothing more than a cool glare. What a curious child.

Currently, the toddler Sakura had gotten bored of hitting her head on the soft mat, and was looking for something else to do. Her doe-like green eyes scanned the room and found her unsuspecting victim- the little dark-haired boy in a corner who was colouring with much seriousness.

"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, plopping down next to him.

He gave her a apathetic once-over in response before turning back to his colouring book. Sakura pouted at being ignored. She stretched a neck and reached over to pick out one of his crayons that were laid in an orderly fashion by his side.

The boy frowned, clearly upset. He let out a loud "hmph" and stood up, snatching the crayon from her pudgy little fingers. "No touch!" he barked.

Sakura recoiled in shock and sniffled. Breaking out in tears, she went teetering over to the door to reach her mother who was outside. The caretaker in charge soothed the child as she opened the door, allowing Sakura to enter her mother's warm embrace.

"Come now, dear," Mebuki said softly. "There's nothing to cry about. You took it without his permission."

Sakura paid her mother's words no attention as she continued to cry, fat tears streamed down her cheeks like beads of a broken bracelet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," a beautiful dark-haired woman joined them, looking rather apologetic. "It was my Sasuke, wasn't it?"

"Oh, that's quite alright," Mebuki shook her head with a smile. "Children will be children. My daughter shouldn't have done that, right Sakura?"

Sakura, who had stopped crying briefly, was looking at the graceful woman in front of her with her tears still fresh in her large emerald eyes.

"Sowwy," she sniffed, still unable to pronounce her R's properly.

The woman caressed her head gently. "What a beautiful child. Sakura, is it?"

Sakura nodded vigorously, earning a round of laughter from both women. "You pwetty," she said bashfully, hiding her face in her mother's arms. "Very!"

"Thank you, dearie," the woman chuckled. She shifted her gaze upwards to Mebuki with an outstretched hand, introducing herself. "My name's Mikoto. Mikoto Uchiha."

Mebuki shook it. "Mebuki Haruno."

Just then, another toddler teetered through the threshold, lips pouting and brows furrowing together. "Mama," he said quietly. "Mama."

Upon seeing her child, Mikoto swooped him up in her arms. "Sasuke darling. Apologize to Sakura, would you?" she chided gently. "You can't be so harsh you know."

"Hn." Sasuke turned away stubbornly, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Not you too," the dark-haired woman muttered. "Where on earth do you all even pick that up from? You're going to turn into an emotionless ice cube like your father someday if you keep this up."

"Daddy good," her son merely responded.

"Right," she snorted. "You all idolize your father. I can't say I totally understand why. Really, all he has to do is show a little more emotion and I'll be satisfied. I'm still crying at how Itachi turned out to be emotionally constipated too."

"'Tachi good."

Mikoto let out a sigh as she seemed to give up. She turned to Mebuki, who was wiping her daughter's tear-streaked, snot-covered face. "We have to go now. We'll see you around?" she said with a bright smile.

"Of course!" Mebuki nodded.

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Snow had fallen sometime around the week, and had covered the streets in a blanket of pure white. As Mebuki brought her daughter to the playroom again, she let the cheerful petal-haired child in first before shrugging off her thick coat, the ice crunching under her boots. When she finally entered the warmth of the building, she noticed that the children were already lost in their own little world.

"Hi."

Little Sakura had approached Sasuke again, this time more tentatively than boisterous. He was colouring again, off in his own world, but looked up in response when she greeted him.

"Hn."

She giggled at the sound. Sasuke blinked at her giggle.

"Me- Mewy..." she tried to pronounce the season greeting her parents had taught her earlier that week, her face scrunching in concentration. "Mewy Cwistmas."

Sasuke arched his brow at her attempt, and nodded in response. "You too."

She plopped down on her belly beside him, watching him fill in the black and white pictures with colour in utmost fascination. He didn't seem to antagonize her this time, merely leaving her alone and going on with his business.

Suddenly at one point, he shifted away with a sigh of frustration. Sakura cocked her head in question, not understanding the source of his disturbance.

"Your hair!" he scowled. "Tickle!"

The rosette child twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers, looking down at it. Of course. Her messy locks and long bangs would tickle the little boy's hand when she sat beside him. "Sowwy," she apologized, pouting.

Sasuke sighed, his large onyx eyes darting around the playroom.

"Come," he beckoned towards her as he collected his crayon and colouring book. They moved towards an unoccupied table nearby as he pulled two chairs not too close to each other, but still within an arm's distance. He plopped down on one of the chairs, patting the other one while meeting her unsure gaze. "Sit."

Sakura did as she was told, watching him quietly. He laid out his crayon box in the middle of them, and opened his book. After flipping through the uncoloured pages and scrutinizing each of them, he finally decided on one- a potrait of a beach by a boardwalk.

Carefully, he tore the page out and passed it to the girl without looking at her, a light pink dusting his pale cheeks. After she accepted it with a toothy grin, he pushed the box of crayons near her as a silent offer to share.

The kids that were watching since earlier in curiosity had their eyes widened. Even the blond one was quiet and slack-jawed, which was a very rare sight. While the single thought in their minds at that time didn't manifest verbally, it held the same concept.

Sasuke never shared.

Outside the room, Mebuki had joined the dark-haired Uchiha matriarch and both of them were watching on in glee, gushing at the adorable antics of their children like a pair of teenage girls.

"What's colour d'you like?" Sasuke asked, earning a round of enthusiastic squealing from their mothers.

"Wed!" Sakura answered cheerfully, filling the potrait with a myriad of tones.

Sasuke nodded, storing the information in his childish little mind. As she went back to her colouring sheet, humming a merry tune, she didn't notice him making discreet looks at her out of the corner of his eye, mentally comparing the shades of red that she may like.

Red, a shade darker than her petal pink hair. Red, like the colour of her rosy cheeks.

The next time they met, Sakura was sporting a vermillion red ribbon on top of her head, her pink locks tied back and no longer messily covering half of her face. Her emerald eyes were gleaming in happiness at the little gift from her friend.

Mikoto and Mebuki simultaneously let out a high-pitched "Aww!", smacking each other on the arms excitedly at the gesture.

"No wonder he asked me for a red ribbon!" Mikoto marveled.

Needless to say, Sasuke was smiling smugly beside her when the caretaker praised her and the other kids called her pretty.

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Twenty seven winters later, they would finally unite when snow melted into spring.