As the Days Pass By
Chapter One: Unexpected Protector
It was December 14th and a sixteen year old ninja with spiked blonde hair and bright blue eyes was walking through his freezing, snow covered village. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and his reason for being out in the c old weather was that his team, consisting of Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and their sensei Kakashi Hatake, were meeting up at their usual meeting place.
Grumbling to himself while glaring at the grey sky, Naruto cursed the too cold weather. He hated the cold, he had a pretty high fever because of it and, as an added factor, didn't have good winter clothes. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt under an orange and black jacket. His pants were black jeans instead of thick warm sweat pants that he wished he had.
Shivering as a fierce wind kicked up, signaling the blizzard that was soon to start, Naruto folded his arms across his chest, trying to stay as warm as possible. The blonde ninja had no idea why his team's sensei would schedule a meeting outside when he could have just used the damn phone to call everyone. Apparently Kakashi just liked tormenting his students for entertainment.
"Damn you Kakashi! Why did you have to make me leave my warm bed you asshole!!" Naruto growled out through chattering teeth.
The cold air blew around the shivering teen making his already bad mood worse. He continued down the deserted streets of Konoha and arrived at the bridge. Naruto noticed his fellow ninja, Sasuke and Sakura, were already there. As he approached, Naruto noticed his team mates had hot steamy cups of tea and he glared at the ground in envy.
Walking over to a railing post, the blonde sat down, brining his knees to his chest. He kept his arms between his legs and chest while he rested his chin on his knees. It was silent except for the frigid winds until Sakura cleared her throat. The way she did it was as if she were getting ready to lecture, or rather irritate the blonde.
Gritting his teeth to keep from snapping at the pink haired kunoichi, Naruto continued glaring at the ground in silence. He heard footsteps coming closer to him and he closed his eyes. Knowing it was Sakura who now stood three feet from him, the feeling of someone else's gaze crept up the blonde's body. He ignored it though.
Naruto had a feeling it was Sasuke who was staring at him. No one else was there at the moment so it was obvious to the blonde. Hearing Sakura shift her weight from one foot to the other made Naruto look up. He immediately regretted it. The pink blob was wearing a look of mock triumph directed towards the still shivering blonde. Naruto groaned to himself, knowing full well what was gonna happen next.
"You look cold Naruto." The kunoichi stated.
Naruto gave the girl no response but glared.
"It's your own fault though. The clothes you're wearing are way too thin for such cold weather." Sakura finished in a satisfied way.
The only reason the pink haired girl even said anything to the blonde was to impress her crush. She figured Sasuke would find her more attractive and likeable if she treated Naruto like he didn't matter. The action had the opposite effect. Sasuke despised her more than he eve has. He couldn't stand how Sakura treated Naruto and if she tried hitting him like she usually does, the raven planned on stopping the pointless attack this time.
Sakura continued on lecturing and putting the blonde down until Naruto finally snapped.
"SHUT THE HELL UP SAKURA!" The blonde shouted angrily, "I don't give a fuck what you have to say so do us all a favor and shut your damn mouth!"
Sakura's jaw dropped. She could not believe what Naruto had just said to her or how ferocious his tone of voice was. The shock was short lived though. The pink haired kunoichi glared daggers at Naruto while stomping over the rest of the way to him.
She raised her fist, getting ready to pound the blonde into the ground. Just as her fist was about to make contact with it's mark though, Naruto disappeared. Confusion overtook Sakura's face as she stared at the spot her blonde team mate had been moment before. As she looked to her left she noticed that Sasuke was also gone. Just when Sakura was about to start freaking out, mainly about Sasuke's disappearance, she heard a noise to her right.
Turning the opposite direction she was just looking, her jaw dropped immediately at the sight before her. Naruto was being held bridal style, face more red than before, by the stoic heart throb of Konoha, Sasuke Uchiha. The blonde ninja had a look of shocked surprise on his face, staring at the raven haired teen who was still holding him.
"S-Sasuke…why are you…why are you holding Naruto?" Sakura struggled out, trying to get a hold of the situation.
"Are you really that stupid?" The raven asked the pink blob before him, "He was sitting down before. How else would he have ended up like this?"
"B-but why?!" The kunoichi asked, still confused.
"What do you think? You were about to attack him, Sakura." Sasuke responded, glaring at the foolish girl.
"He deserved it though! He was-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Sasuke hissed, cutting the girl off before she could finish, "You're the one that provoked him to begin with you stupid bitch!"
"Wha-what do you mean I provoked him?! All I did was-"
"Piss him off by degrading him. You know Naruto hates the cold and it always puts him in a bad mood. Messing with him only makes it worse." Sasuke interrupted again.
Sakura couldn't respond. She could not believe that Sasuke, her Sasuke, was defending and protecting Naruto. As the pink haired menace tried to get a better handle on the situation again, Sasuke carefully let Naruto down but kept an arm around the small blonde's waist.
Naruto, face still red from his fever and blush, looked at his raven haired team mate in uncertainty. Sasuke was still glaring at the pink blob until he felt a gaze on himself. Looking down, the raven saw bright blue eyes staring at him, slight nervousness flashing across the younger teen's face.
"What's wrong Naruto?" The stoic teen asked, concern slipping into his voice.
"Uh…I was…why would you, I mean you hate me right? Why would you keep Sakura from hitting me? Any other time you wouldn't-" Naruto was cut off by a sudden coughing fit.
Covering his mouth with a hand, Naruto turned away from Sasuke. Once the blonde was able to stop coughing he got extremely light headed. Naruto swayed dangerously close to the river's edge and after he lost his balance he fell. Acting fast, Sasuke grabbed the blonde's wrist and quickly pulled the younger teen into his arms.
"Naruto?! Are you okay?!" Sasuke asked, worry in his voice and etched across his face.
The blonde looked up into the onyx eyes of his friend and rival, his vision going in and out of focus.
"Sas.." Naruto, once again, was cut off from speaking as everything around him began to spin. As the blonde collapsed in Sasuke's arms, the world around him went dark.