Walking along a snowy path, Naruto looked up to the sky above him. It was a grey winters day, those kind that you had no other choice but to curl up in a blanket, have a fire, and make some tea. Unfortunaly that couldn't happen today.

Beside him, he saw Sakura gripping her right arm.

"Sakura-chan are you sure your going to be ok?" Asked Naruto

"y-ya...it's just a flesh wound from a shuriken..i'll be fine," she answered.

They had just completed a C rank mission and were walking back from the hidden village of ice towards Konoha. They were to deliver a message to the fire embassy in the ice village. It wasn't a dangerous mission but there was the possibility of rogue ninjas so it was deamed suitible for two chuunins, and thus Naruto and Sakura were chosin.

Naruto, trying to get her mind off the pain, changed the subject.

"Hey Sakura-chan...," he said

"What?"

"Do you realize that in just under a week it will be Christmas?"he asked, even though he already knew she did.

Suddenly Sakura's face lighted up and she grew an excited smile.

"Ya I can't wait! Each year my dad and I decorate the tree and house with those cornny Christmas crafts we made in preschool. Then my mother and I would make shortbread cookies and decorate them. We would have so much fun spending Christmas together, and..." she stopped

She looked across to Naruto. His head was drooped and his pace slowed, he had an almost expressionless face except for the loss of altitude in his no longer existing smile.

"Oh...N-Naruto...I'm so sorry...I just forgot tha..."

He interupted her, "It's ok...I'm used to bieng alone this time of year." He then faked a very believeable smile. It would have fooled even those close to him, everyone except the one closest to him - Sakura

The wind was picking up and the snow was getting heavier. Sakura was worried

"Naruto," she said. "I think we should set up camp here. It's the end of the forest and the field of snow up ahead goes on for a couple miles, and we need the trees for shelter in case there's a storm."

"Uh...ya i was gonna say that to," he lied

They set up their tents and got to work making a fire. they were fairly big tents, enough to easily fit two even though they each had there own.

By the time they were finished supper the storm they had expected was in full force. The snow became very heavy that it was impossible to stay outside and keep the fire alive so the two decided to retire to their tents.

Sakura slipped into her cozy sleeping bag and tried to get to sleep. But alas, she could not she layed there wide awake. She thought about her family, how they were probably getting the tree ready, sending gifts away, and getting their special Christmas sweaters out of the box in the basement.

"I miss home," she whispered so quietly she couldn't here it for herself. She suddenly felt cold. She missed her mom's hugs. She started feeling homesick and lonely. She could see the eerie silhouette of the leaveless trees through her tent, and could hear the howling wind outside, the snow hitting her tent. She pulled the quilt up to her nose.

Naruto awoke to the sound of the zipper of his tent comming down slowly he jumped into a crouch and grabbed his kunai just like he'd practiced in the academy he tensed his leg muscles, ready to pounce when he saw the attacker's face, he could feel the blood rushing through them.

Sakura poked her head into his warm tent. Naruto relaxed and put down his weapon.

"Oh..Sakura it's only you...is something wrong?" he asked.

"No," she replied." I was just wondering...could I come sleep with you in your tent?

Naruto's face turned beet red.

"Well?" she asked.

"Oh...uh...ya I guess..." he replied.

Sakura unraveled her sleeping bag next to his, got in and fell asleep instantly. Naruto's mind became a whirl of thought. This was just like fantasy #34 he had thought up a while ago when he was absolutely crazy for her, Soon after a while of no progress with her he had to come to his senses and realize that it would never work between them , he had to keep telling him self that for about a year and finally his feelings died down.

But now with what had just had happend, Naruto had to keep telling himself that to keep his feelings at bay it was the only way he would fall asleep knowing that the apple of his eyes was sleeping next to him.

The next morning there was a foot of fresh snow on the ground. They packed up their things and headed towards the sheet of white that stretched on for miles. They still had a full day of walking in order to reach home so they had to keep up a fast pace to get them home before night the next day.

Naruto didn't bother asking about what had happened the night before because he knew he wouldn't get the truth.

About an hour into their trip they heard a large crack. They both looked at each other not knowing what to think. When they did they noticed that both of them were covered in snow and forming ice on their jackets. That was when they realized how cold they both were.

"We should keep going to keep our body temperatures up," said Naruto.

"Finally something smart out of you," she giggled. with that she took a step foreward, only to have the ground crumble under her foot. The crumbleing spread out in a circle under them both. Then it gave way, plunging them both into deep icy water. Their heads went under the surface and after a few seconds they re-appeared.

"Sakura!" he yelled.

"Naruto!" she shouted. We need to get out of the water, we must be on a frozen lake!

They both tried to swim to the sides of the ice but found it very hard because of cold shock and freezing muscles. it took them almost half a minute to get out. When they did they were both shaking and soaking wet which with the bitter wind would turn to ice in no time.

"Naruto...(puff)...are you...(puff)...ok?" she tiredly asked.

"Well...(puff)...for now...(puff)," he replied."You?"

"I don't...(puff)... know I feel...(puff)...ki...nda...,"she collapsed.

"Sakura-chan!" he shouted. He rushed over to her side. She was still breathing but unconsious.

"If I don't get you some warmth soon you'll die from hypothermia," he said incase she could here him.

He picked her up, her soft skin cold to the touch, and put her around his back like they did when they were young and Naruto would give Sakura a piggy back ride around the village. But unlike then this was serious not playtime and this time naruto had to play as a hero.

Naruto had been carrying her for about half an hour. His clothes completly frozen, his lips blue. But never once did his state cross his mind. All he could think of was protecting Sakura, getting her to warmth so she could live. he didn't care if he died in the process.

He had been carrying her for about three hours now and had walked almost 5 miles, although now he was walking at the speed of a slug, barely moving. the snow was like a blanket covering the sky and it had blurred vision like fog nothing to be seen but white and grey. that was all he could see.

Then suddenly something blurry appeared far ahead, it was unidentifieable, just a brown speck.

"(Maybe i'm going crazy from the cold.)," he thought. "(But if I want Sakura to live I have no other choice but to check it out.),"

He got closer and closer to the brown speck and it came more into view. Naruto stopped, managed to smile, and ran. he ran until he reached his goal.

"A cabin!," he roughly whispered.

He pushed open the door and closed it behind him. The cabin was clearly abandoned because of the dust and cobwebs. There was a couch near the door which Naruto gingerly layed Sakura down upon. There was a fireplace across from the couch, this was good he could make a fire and nurse Sakura back to health.

He took a couple of logs out of the bin and managed to make a small fire, he then took Sakura's sleeping bag and sprawled it out across the floor so he could put her in it and get warmed. he then turned to Sakura and realized something, his eyes wide open. He realized he had to get Sakura into dry clothes and to do that...he would have to take her wet clothes...off.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for what he had to do. In any other situation this would have been a dream come true, but he knew she would wake up and wonder how she got into pajamas and then Naruto would have to explain. the only thing that made him able to do it was the fact that he could say it was a life saving job

He got her into her pajamas never once opening his eyes, at least he could use that in his defence. After that he searched the rest of the house.

The small cabin didn't have electricity but it did have lots of candles that would need to be lit in a couple of hours to bring light to the cabin. In the bedroom he found a heavy blanket which he put on Sakura for extra warmth. There was a big propane tank outside so the stove worked.

Naruto made some tea with the bags he found in the cuboards. There was also many jars of preserves so food wasn't a problem.

He brought the tea over to Sakura who was looking much better, the colour was returning to her soft cheeks and her pulse and breathing returned to a normal rate. He sat there admiring her for some time before he relized the tea was getting cold.

He propped her head up and poured the warm liquid into her throut, she didn't cough it up, that was a good sign.

For three days sakura slept by the fire and naruto kept making her tea, switching the washcloth on her head, and changeing the bandage on her arm.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurred. she saw the fire to her right. the last thing she remembered was swimming out of the icy water.

She sat up and looked around,the fire was making her cheeks rosy.

"Hello sleepyhead," said a voice behind her.

She darted to look back, and saw Naruto.

"Here," he said as he handed her some warm soup. She cupped her hands and took it in confusion.

"Thanks," she said, takeing small sips. "Soooo...where are we?"

"Well, you went unconcious from the cold and i carried you for hours until I found this abandoed cabin," he replied. Sakura looked at him with sleepy suprise.

"If you need anything just ask and i'll be there," he announced.

"Hey Naruto..." she said. " Thanks for saveing and takeing care of me...you really must care about me,"

"Well your a really good friend of mine and I don't want to lose you," he said as he headed toward the bedroom.

"Oh and Naruto..."

"Hmm?"

"How The Hell Did I Get In My Pajamas!!"