Prompt: Ninja

"You guys act like I'm never coming back," Sasuke sighed.

"This is your first mission without us since you've come back!" Naruto exclaimed. "We don't know these other two guys going with you. What if they just push you down and cliff and keep going?"

"Do you really think they could push me down a cliff, Dobe?" Sasuke sighed.

"You know what he meant, Sasuke," Sakura sighed. Couldn't Naruto have at least put him on a team with people they knew? "Besides, Naruto, you're the one that but him on the same team as them."

"They were the only ones available, and it had to be done!" Naruto shouted. "Just because I assigned it, doesn't mean I like it..."

Sakura let out a long sigh.

"Just come back in one piece," Sakura suggested.

"And in time for Christmas!" Naruto added.

"I told you," Sasuke sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, "I'll be back in time for Christmas."

"You'd better!" Naruto shouted. "This is your first Christmas back, and you aren't going to miss it!"

Sakura laughed and waved alongside Naruto as Sasuke walked out the village gates with two strangers.

Her warmest coat, scarf, and boots didn't seem to be doing their job very well against the increasingly cold weather. The stone bench was generating no heat, and she could no longer feel her toes, fingers, or nose.

It was all worth it thought. Any minute now Sasuke and his squad would be walking through the gates - just in time for a Christmas Even with loved ones. Naruto and her had planned a quiet night with simple food for Sasuke's first Christmas back.

A sound of shoes crunching on the snow alerted Sakura to the squad's arrival. Her ears perked up, and she stood on her tippy-toes to try and catch a glimpse of him

One... Two...

Two? How could there just be two? Where were Sasuke's spiky locks?

The two men came closer and their grim looks caused Sakura's heart to drop

"He's not...?" Sakura didn't have the heart to ask.

The older of the two shook his head. "We were ambushed. He told us to go-"

"So you just left him?" Sakura shouted.

"He forced us to. He said we had families to go home to and he didn't," the second man interjected.

"How could you just leave him?"

"He told us the mission came first. After forcing us to leave he told us he'd catch up, but..."

He didn't have to finish. Looking up at the sky, Sakura knew what he meant. A bad snow storm was coming, and the chances of Sasuke making it back before it hit were slim/

Sakura stared blankly at her fire while cuddled in a warm blanket listening to the wind beat against her window. The snow was coming down in heaps while thunder sounded. Sakura had already heard three trees fall down.

She wiped at her eyes vaguely wondering what time it was. Did it even matter what time it was? Her parents were out of town. She had to convince them to let her stay for Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi who didn't have families, and now she wasn't even sure if any of them felt like celebrating.

A knock on her door broke her from her dark thoughts. The clock read three and she struggled to keep her hopes down as to who could be knocking at three AM. She ran to the door and threw it open breathlessly.

On her doorstep was a very cold, beat up, and tired looking Sasuke. A million questions and greetings flew through her head and she chose the first that came to her head. "Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"I knew you'd be worried," Sasuke whispered weakly.

That was enough to break her. She threw her arms around him and cried into his chest.

"H-how could you say you don't have a family? How could you throw your life away like that? You still have Naruto as a brother, and Kakashi as a father figure," Sakura struggled to include herself in the list. What was she to Sasuke? "How could you do that to them? To me...?"

Sasuke pulled her away from him gently. "It's a ninja's duty to protect his comrades and honor promises. And, I promised you I'd be back in time for Christmas."

Despite herself, Sakura laughed. "Come inside, it's freezing!"

As Sakura sat on her couch healing Sasuke's wounds, she realized it was the little things that you should be thankful for.

Merry Christmas everyone! I decided I wanted to write a sappy Christmas fic and this is what I came up with!

The Fuzz \|/