Notes: I almost ran around my city in excitement the day Alice in Wonderland came out. And that alone says how much I love Alice in Wonderland. Also, I am well aware that the White Queen is good. i like making twists.


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One hundred years ago.

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"You're such a pretty, pretty girl, Alice," The White Queen crooned. There was a smile on her thin lips; it was rather obvious that it did not reach her eyes, because in her eyes there was a heavy hatred that chilled one to the bone. She was such a lovely looking woman-girl. Porcelain skin, bleach-blond tresses, ice-blue eyes and she wore a crown. Every girl would love a crown. She was a Queen, at the age of seventeen and she ruled the lands.

"Very, pretty – why can't I be pretty like you, I wonder."

Her head tilted to the side and her eyes narrowed. She took a couple of steps closer towards her. Her steps were as light as a feather and her gown danced around her legs as she continued to watch the other girl. She smiled again – a sinister smile as the other girl began to squirm in her confinements. The White Queen chuckled as she circled the body laying on the ground. She was gagged, hands tied behind her.

"Are you scared, Alice?" She feigned shock and then sudden sadness, "Don't be, sweetie – we're best friends, aren't we?"

She crouched down and undid the cloth that gagged Alice.

"W-why are you doing this?"

The White Queen raised a thin eyebrow and let a blank expression come to her face. She stared at Alice and she tried to wonder what He saw in her. Why did he choose her? She couldn't take it – watching him look at her with hidden-soft eyes. How he would change his answer if it made her sad-mad-worried. It disgusted her – it made her sick! He was supposed to be like that with her! Not Alice!

"Because you have something that belongs to me."

Green eyes widened and The White Queen's anger rose.

"Don't act as if you don't know! You do! You do! I hate you, Alice. I hate you! I despise the day you stumbled into The Valley of The End. I abhor the day He met you! You don't belong here – you just waltzed in here and took everything that was mine! Well," ice-blue eyes narrowed into slits and her rage only grew as she hissed through her teeth, "now you're going to pay."

"D-don't do this," Alice rasped out through her tears, "P-please. White Queen… I…. Please… I…"

"It's too late, Alice." The White Queen turned to The White Knight and outstretched her hand, "Give me your blade."

The White Knight hesitated for a millisecond before he did as his Queen told him so. She took the Vorpal sword and held it in her grip and a dark, wicked grin appeared on her lips. She took the steps needed to stand right in front of Alice. She kicked her until she was lying on her back instead of her sides and The White Queen laughed as she saw the tears spilling the green eyes that belonged to Alice.

"Good-bye, Dear Alice."

And the Sword was arched and pinned into Alice's heart.

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When He found her, she was dead.

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Always
Running
Out
of
Time

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Present time.

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Sakura stood there, baffled at the sight of such a... a gorgeous being standing before her.

He was gorgeous, yes, but also weird. He appeared weird, at least to her. He was gorgeous because he had these obsidian black eyes that shimmered with mischief yet he managed to look bored, too. His hair, a striking black so dark that in the light it looked as if he had natural blue-violet highlights. His skin was pale, a total contrast to his eyes and hair, making his features all the more alluring and entrancing.

And he had cat ears and a tail.

Weird, don't deny it because it is.

He stood there, slouching in his stance, hands dug into the pockets of his slacks, dark button-up shirt riding up at the intrusion of his forearms resting in its place. Since he practically pounced out of nowhere, he has not moved, nor made a move to speak.

Sakura was baffled indeed.

"Um..."

He stared at her, blinking slowly and lazily that it almost looked as if he was sleeping. Sakura had the decency to wonder if he ate catnip or fish or if he ate like a normal human being... Did he demand milk?

She giggled at that.

"I find nothing to be utterly humorous."

Sakura sucked in air through her teeth. His voice was low and deep and smooth and silky. She's read about a guy with cat-ears and a cat-tail ― he had been pretty.

"Well, if you were able to dwell in my mind, or so much as read it, you'd know exactly why I was laughing," She crossed her arms in front of her chest, bloating her cheeks and darting her green eyes away from him and to the large oak-tree they were standing by.

"Know, I might. Agree, I might not." Behind him, his tail twitched around in a manner that Sakura found completely cute.

Sakura made to mimic him, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. She knew she was being childish, but it's not every day you see a cat-man-boy stand in front of you while you were on your merrily way towards your friend's house.

"How childish," He said.

"Your face is childish," She pouted and flipped her pink hair over her shoulder. "May I help you with something Mister Tom Cat? I'm actually on my way to something, if you don't mind."

"Oh but I do, Sakura." His tone was bored, indifferent and a drawl. Sakura had a hard time deciding if she should be offended, or allured.

That's before she realized he had spoken her name.

"Excuse me? How do you know my name? Are you a stalker? Please don't be a stalker ― I'd feel weird at being stalked by a cat... and bad for putting him in... One of those animal shelter-places." She nodded and uncrossed her hands, settling them onto her hips instead. "I'm all for animal rights and all―"

"Your words are annoying. Stop talking."

Sakura gawked at him, green eyes growing wide, mouth gaping. Seriously? Seriously? Seriously? "Well you stupid little prick," she began, seething and growing red, "if you'd step aside and go meow somewhere else, I'll be on my way!"

Stomping, she made to walk passed him, but the second she did, he was in front of her again.

"Your cat jokes are tiresome," he said, behind him, his tail twitched again.

"You won't have to hear them once you move!"

Sakura was growing angry ― not that she wasn't already... So she was already angry, not growing... right? Gah! She confused herself. She pinned the cat-man-boy with a hard glare, lips pursing.

He didn't budge.

"May I help you," she finally asked with a dejected sigh. She jutted out a hip and placed a hand over it. And because she simply couldn't help herself, she added with a wry smile, "If you're looking for Jerry, he must be in any house. You have your work cut out for you, Tom."

"My name is Sasuke," the cat-man-boy said with an indifferent expression.

She stared at him, ignoring the jolts she got. She was a teenage girl and standing before such a pretty guy was bound to make her swoon. But now she knew his name and he knew hers ― which she still did not know why and how - and... What was there to lose? Ino could wait.

Sakura relaxed and exhaled with an air of cooperation, if needed, surrounding her. "Alright," she said softly, her hand still at her hip. "Okay, Cat―I mean... Sasuke. Okay. What is wrong?"

"Nothing really," he shrugged.

"Okay," she stared at him with an incredulous look. "So before anything, how do you know my name?"

Sasuke shifted his weight from one leg to the other and scoffed. He turned his head to the side, raven bangs shielding his profile and the twinge of rosy-pink that crept on to his cheeks.

But Sakura didn't waver, no matter how much she wanted to smile.

"Well?"

"I know your name because I have been waiting for this moment since the day you were born."

Like earlier, Sakura sucked in air through her teeth. She felt her blood pumping in her ears, her heart pounding against her chest. That's not something you hear every day. Nor something Sakura was prepared for. But she'll admit that having someone say that to her felt good. Scary, but good. It's like one of those things men would say to a woman to make her feel good before she takes it the wrong way.

"U-uh," she stammered and licked her lips, "I'm going to need some sort of clarification."

Sasuke sighed, long, low and slow; but he nodded and with a nudge he disappeared. Sakura was in the process of gawking when he appeared on top of a tree branch, sitting on with his legs dangling in the air and his hands planted on either side of him. It took her around five minutes to try and grasp what the hell was going on before she gave up and just walked over, sitting on the ground criss-cross, her front facing him.

"Sakura Haruno," Sasuke said and that was all before he grew silent again. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His ears were slanted downwards, Sakura figured he was displeased or uncertain. Her cat, Hermes, did the same thing whenever he knew he did something wrong or when he was just upset.

She didn't press him, though. She got him to talk; chances were she could get him to not say anything at all.

"You said," she whispered, mainly because Sakura did not like silence, "that you were waiting for this moment since I was born... What did you mean... How old are you?"

Sasuke perked up, or... well... Sakura assumed. Sasuke seemed like an impassively grouchy person; or well… she was just assuming here. Perking up was something he wouldn't really do. But then again, she hardly knew the guy...

"I've remained seventeen for as long as I can remember." One of Sasuke's ears twitched and flapped around (Hermes' ear did that too!). Sakura had the sudden urge to scratch behind said ear. "I've waited for us to meet, because... It's hard to explain."

"Well, you've grasped my attention; I'm not going anywhere any time soon." Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest again and continued to stare at Sasuke.

He held her stare for a minute, looked over her in discomfort and then stared back at her with renewed resolute. He inclined his head to the trunk of the tree and exhaled slowly. "Sakura, I watched as your mother carried you within her womb. Watched as she gave birth and I have remained watching as you've grown until finally... Finally, you've come back to me."

Sakura looked as if she'd been slapped across the face.

"What?"

Sasuke nodded, "You are Her reincarnation ― you carry her name... Her features ― everything." He looked almost pained, almost delighted, almost, almost, almost. Like he's seen a ghost; but a ghost he would like to see every day, if he could.

"Okay," Sakura breathed out, her voice cracking and becoming a shrill of disbelief, "Let's say I buy this...What happened to me... What happened to your Sakura...?" Because if she carried her name, her name had to be Sakura.

Sasuke hissed and looked away. His eyes became distant, almost as if he were in a trance. "The White Queen killed her." His brow furrowed and he licked his lips. "They had been friends, very close. But the White Queen grew jealous when Sakura had grasped my attention... Or maybe she never liked her from the start; The White Queen…" He trailed off and shook his head. " When she found out about Us, she was furious..."

Sakura's eyes shimmered with sympathy as she grasped at where he was going.

"...I was too late." He looked up at her. "I've waited half a century for her to return... And I will not allow the White Queen to take her away from me again."

"I... I..." She shook her head slowly, "Sasuke, I'm sorry... But aren't you... Are you sure that I am her?" Sakura decided that something was utterly wrong with her. She should be panicking, fleeing - this should not be happening. And yet it all was, and Sakura was taking it as if she was being told that tomorrow it was going to rain.

"I mean..." She waved at herself, "Look at me..."

She was short - just two inches away from being 5'1". She had pink hair that reached just over her shoulders and green eyes. A button nose, pouty lips; her chest was... alright, she supposed, her curves were there but she refused to flaunt them. And from being short, she had short legs.

How can someone like Sasuke... who was strikingly gorgeous... How can he have deep feelings for her?

"You're beautiful," he muttered lowly that, had Sakura not been straining every one of her five senses, she would have missed it. But, as warm as it made her feel inside, she couldn't possibly go along with this… Right? This was wrong… Right?

She shook her head, "I refuse to believe that I am... I am that person that you're waiting for." She smiled sadly, "You're very pretty, Sasuke... I'm sure... I..."

"No, Sakura. You don't understand," Sasuke stared at her long and hard, "You are her. I can't tell you you'd remember, because that's it ―you can't. You look like her... you act like her... you are her. But you do not have her memories."

Sakura stared at him.

"Because we have to create them."

"Why," Sakura was close to tears. To think that when she woke up this morning, she thought it was going to be a normal Saturday. Now here she was, being told that she was the reincarnation of someone that was murdered for being in love. "Why does part of me want to believe you?"

"Because," he said in a heartbeat, looking towards the distance once again, "it's the truth."

He disappeared again; Sakura gulped and looked around the place and almost shrieked when he reappeared right in front of her. And then he held out a hand for her to grasp, his tail flailing around happily behind him. "Come with me, there's a place we got to go."

Sakura bit her lip and hesitated. What was there to lose?

Her parents, Ino... her life.

But... Looking back at Sasuke... Something told her this was all pretend and that her true life might just really begin once she took his hand and really follow him down the rabbit hole, as a figure of speech, of course... Right? And then there was that never-ending curiosity. She wanted to go. She wanted to see what he was talking about. Now that… Now that's he's said this, she wanted to go. Right or wrong, she wanted to.

"I assure you," He said with a devilish smirk, "It's worth your time."

Sakura's nose crinkled, "Will I grow a tail and have cat ears?"

Sasuke snorted, "Of course not, idiot."

Smiling, she placed her hand in his. He enclosed his hand around hers and lifted her up to her feet. They stood there for a second, staring, before he smirked at her and robbed her of her first kiss. A swift, chaste brush of his lips over hers. Yet it did manage to leave her breathless.

"Your hand in mine," he murmured, "What a feeling."

And then he led her away.

To where, Sakura wasn't sure. And though she met him today, and though she might have known him all her life without knowing it, Sakura felt safe. It may have been because of the air he carried around him – sure and without hesitation. And he was pretty. That was ten points.

She squeezed her hand in his. It was stupid, doing this - but it was right. Sakura just felt it being right. Maybe to others it wasn't - but then again, this couldn't happen to many. So to her, it was. And it will be. She looked at him, dark eyes concentrating on their destination. And she smiled.

Whatever it was – wrong or right – she was in, already.

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Alice was coming.

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And, just because people seem to never read author's notes, let me say this one more time and bold it, italicize it, underline it - everything so you guys can actually grasp the fact. I know that the White Queen is a good guy. I switched the whole thing up. Thank you.

review! :D