A soft breeze sighed through the dead trees. Snowflakes danced with the wind, falling steadily to the ground. Faint laughter could be heard echoing in the frozen forest.

A warm fire flickered, licking the logs thrown at it. Auburn leaves left behind from autumn blew in from a sudden gust of wind, landing around the fire. Footprints lay in the crisp snow, and, amidst the empty laughter with no origin, a violin could be heard, its strings being repeatedly broken, over and over and over again.

The wind howled and the laughter turned to screams and the fire began to spit embers at the dry trees, turning them into torches in the black night. The screaming persisted as shadowy figures began being emitted from the footprints on the ground.

Elsewhere…

"Hey, see that?" Sakura screeches over the howling wind, pointing towards the orange smudges in the distance.

"What? A banshee?" Naruto screams back at Sakura. Frowning, Sakura hits him over the head. "Owww… Sakura-chan! Why'd you do that for?" Naruto scrunched his face up, pouting, while attempting to look cute with his never ending runny nose.

"Because you're an idiot." Sasuke answered for Sakura, sending Naruto a mocking look.

"Stay out of this teme!" Naruto rammed his forehead against Sasuke's, leaving a red mark.

Slapping his hand to his brow, Sasuke gritted his teeth and grunted.

"Oh will you both just quit it and follow me. I think I can hear something." Sighing, Sakura marched ahead of the group, her footprints quickly being covered up by the constant onslaught of snow.

Getting closer to the blazing trees, the screaming became audible. Covering his ears, Sasuke ran in front of Sakura, activating his sharingan. The trio surveyed the area carefully, their feet rooted to the ground. Noticing a slightly abnormal chakra pattern, Sasuke walked ahead abruptly towards the clearing, pushing branches out of the way.

"Hey Sasuke, what are you doing?" Sakura questioned Sasuke's actions, only to be answered by silence. "Wait a minute; didn't I hear screaming just a moment ago?"

Reaching the clearing, Sasuke saw a small camp fire surrounded by shadows.

"…Oh my…." Sakura's voice was barely a whisper. Naruto ran in front of Sasuke and Sakura, running through most of the shadows at the same time. Turning around to see what had caused Sasuke's face to go so pale, Naruto's cerulean eyes spied the shadows emitting from footprints on the ground.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke snaked around the shadows, the heads seemingly following his movements. Naruto then tried to tiptoe towards Sakura, only to freeze when the shadows began to fade, while laughing blew past team 7 with the wind.

As the fire slowly went out, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other in astonishment.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence. "We can't forget about our mission just because of some freak of nature. Those shadows were probably just chakra imprints. Happens all the time. Right now we need to focus on finding team 8." Sasuke's voice was monotone, his face solemn.

Naruto's face turned grim, pinprick tears falling from his eyes. Sakura walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze while smiling at him warmly. "It's okay Naruto. We'll find Hinata." Her voice was filled with hope, but deep down, Sakura wasn't too sure if team 8 were even still in the land of snow, or anywhere near.

For a while, the only sound that could be heard was the cooing of owls and other nocturnal animals. Clearing his throat, Naruto spoke softly. "How about we find a place to stay for the night… I mean, we've been walking non-stop for two days now, and there's no way we would be able to last the night with this much snow." Sasuke smirked. "What's so funny teme?"

"Oh nothing! It's just that…. that's the smartest thing you've said ever since I returned to Konoha…" Sasuke chuckled lightly.

Naruto growled, but brushed it off, remembering his first date with Hinata.

"Ah man! This sucks… why does it have to rain today?" Naruto bawled, shaking Hinata by the shoulders.

"W-well, Naruto-kun, if I could, I would have stopped the rain, but I guess I can't…" Hinata trailed off, her quiet voice almost being left unheard by the shock blonde. Azure eyes looking at her in awe, Naruto jumped on her, holding her close. Hinata's face turned a deep red. Seeing this, Naruto just laughed.

Leaning in ever so slightly, Naruto timidly pecked Hinata on the lips, only causing her to faint.

"Wow… our first kiss and she faints… I love you!" Naruto sighed.

When they had found an old village just outside the forest, they all struggled to find a place to re-supply, let alone a place to sleep.

"This is hopeless! I mean, this village just seems so quiet and empty… I doubt anyone is even here…" Sakura whispered in an uneven tone.

"That's ridiculous! I just got ramen from over there!" Naruto spoke in between mouth full's, spluttering noodles on Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke grunted. "Hn yourself teme!" Naruto sneered. Rolling her eyes, Sakura split away from the group, trying to find a hotel on her own.

Wandering through the creaking ghost town, she saw a large neon sign ahead of her. Getting closer to read it, Sakura mouthed the green lettering, squinting so she wouldn't blind herself in the process.

"Lime and Coconut Lounge…. Hmm I wonder…."

"Sakura there you are! You shouldn't wander off like that! Sasuke was throwing a fit trying to find you." Sniggering, Naruto nudged Sasuke, obviously hinting Sasuke's little crush.

"Ah." Sasuke clenched his fists, struggling to stop himself from killing the blonde. Shaking his head, he diverted his gaze towards Sakura, then asked, "What is this place?" He pointed towards the tall rickety building.

"I think it's a hotel…" Sakura answered unsure.

"Lime and Coconut Lounge, huh? Well what are we waiting for? Let's get our asses in there!" Linking arms with his comrades, he dragged them into the building with him, unaware of the figure watching them in the shadows…

A/N: Well, as you guessed, this is a horror story. There be romance (naruhina and sasusaku) and the second chapter will only come out once I get chapter 5 of Succubus posted. Thanks for reading, please comment!