Prompt # 32

Snow

"You have got to be kidding me!" Small hands hit down on the steering wheel with surprising strength. "What is wrong with you? I gave you petrol an hour ago!"

Drivers of the cars that had been behind her on the dark road lost their patience and steered around the stranded vehicle, the drivers shooting her filthy looks as they went. Sakura sent a choice gesture back and huffed – she was not feeling very patient.

Sakura turned the engine off, gave it a few seconds before trying the ignition once more. The engine just clicked over, the car shuddering in its attempt to start. Sighing , she sat back and glared at the dashboard. There was no light on there to tell her what was wrong with the car – it looked like her faithful rust bucket had finally confounded the universe.

Jabbing an angry finger in to the button for the hazard lights, Sakura was relieved to find that they were working at least. The dark lane was filled with intermittent flashes of orange and Sakura grabbed her bag off the passenger seat. Digging around the text books and notepads she had with her, she finally found her phone. She pulled up her father's number and called it. She listened to it ring a few times before her father's voice sounded in her ear.

"Hi there!"

"Dad, thank god. I've broken down and-"

"You've reached Kizashi Haruno. Unfortunately I can't get to the phone right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you."

Sakura groaned but waited for the beep before speaking again. "Dad, it's Sakura. I've broken down just outside of town. I'm going to walk in to town. Please ring me when you get this so you can come and pick me up." Sakura paused and then decided to add, "And turn your phone on dammit!"

Sakura ended the call and immediately dialled her step-mother's number. It was to no avail however, and she was reduced to leaving another voicemail.

There was of course one other person she could call but Sakura would much rather get frostbite than call them. With no other plan of action, Sakura knew she would be walking in to town.

She grabbed her coat and scarf from the backseat and her bag from beside her. Turning the car off, Sakura pocketed the keys – she would have loved to have been able to move her car further on to the hard shoulder but with the roads as icy as they were she knew she had no chance.

She stepped out of the car and shrugged her coat on before wrapping the long scarf around her neck a few times. Retrieving the warning triangle from the boot of her car she backtracked down the road and placed it on the road – best not to have someone crash in to the back of her car after all.

Bag slung over her shoulder and hands stuffed deep in her pockets, Sakura began her trek in to town. She glanced at her car longingly as she passed it, clicking the key in her pocket to lock it and hurried onwards. The sign she had seen just before her car had broken down had let her know she was about two miles from where she needed to be and, with the first flakes of snow drifting from the sky, Sakura was eager to eat up that distance.

She made good progress to the town and was happy to see the bright lights of bars and restaurants loom in to view. Sakura was glad as the snow was getting worse and she had no real clue where she was headed – she knew her father's address and that was about it.

Sakura pulled her phone from her pocket and tried her dad once more as she walked but it just went straight to voicemail this time – no rings at all.

The main street in the town was quite empty, with people either hurrying back home or in to the shops that lined it. She spotted a taxi a little further down the street and did an internal happy dance. She knocked on the passenger side window and the driver looked at her curiously. Sakura cursed under her breath and mimed rolling the window down.

"Hi," She smiled, well she tried to through her chattering teeth. "I need to get to get to Millbrook Lane." The driver nodded and pointed straight ahead. "It's another three miles that way until you get to the edge of town and then a mile and a half up the hill."

Sakura eyed him dubiously – why was he telling her that? "Well can you take me?"

"Sorry Darling, I'm not driving anywhere until the snow clears a bit."

"Are you having a laugh?" Sakura frowned. "The whole point of cars is they get you where you need to go fast and keep you warm and dry while doing it."

"Look Lady, I know these streets and I'm not risking driving until the snow either stops or starts settling. Last thing I want is to hit some black ice. Look, why don't you go get a coffee over there and when the weather clears a little I'll take you wherever you need to go."

Sakura had to bite her tongue and settled on giving the man a fierce look instead. He had a point though – there was nothing she could do until someone gave her a lift to her father's. It would be risking it to try and walk, and even if the weather wasn't so horrible there was still the fact that she didn't know how exactly to get to get there.

Sakura headed towards the coffee shop the taxi driver had pointed out and pushed the door open. She was greeted with a gentle tinkling noise and a blast of warm air.

The cafe was quite full, quiet conversations barely heard over the softly playing Christmas music. The place itself was welcoming; the walls painted a duck egg blue with squishy looking sofas and arm chairs in white and cream colours and coffee tables in dark walnut.

Sakura eyed the welcoming looking fireplace sending out warmth at the far side of the shop and approached the counter.

"Hey there Sweetie, what can I get you?" The cheerful looking woman behind the counter smiled.

Sakura glanced up at the board behind her before shrugging. "Something with a lot of caffeine please?"

"One of those days huh? You look frozen."

Sakura brushed at the top of her head and quite a lot of snow fell to the floor and the woman laughed.

"You go take a seat by the fire and I'll bring you a nice hot drink straight over."

Sakura smiled thankfully and did as she was told. The area around the fire was surprisingly empty with the sofas directly in front of the hearth occupied by a single man with dark hair, his face buried in a book.

Sakura opted for the other side of the sofa and shrugged off her pea coat and unwound her scarf, shaking them out a little before laying them across the back of the sofa to dry. She smoothed down her knitted dress and took a seat, sighing as she sank in to the soft cushions.

She was aware of the man further down the sofa giving her an odd look but she ignored it, choosing to pull out her phone and check for messages – nothing. Fabulous.

"Here you go sweetheart." The waitress came and placed a large steaming mug on the coffee table before her. "I put an extra shot of espresso in for you. Milk, sugar?"

"Ah no," Sakura smiled. "This is perfect." She reached forward and scooped up the mug, noticing a deliciously indulgent looking muffin on the table. She looked up at the beaming woman. "I didn't order-"

"On the house." The lady cut her off. "You look like you could us a treat."

Sakura smiled widely. "That's very kind of you." Observing the woman now without the counter between them she could see the noticeable swell of her stomach. "You look like you're close to the end now."

The woman put a hand on her stomach and smiled softly. "I am, and very pleased about it. I seem to have dropped a little lately."

"You might be expecting a Christmas baby then." Sakura laughed. "It sounds like the little one is getting in to position."

The woman tilted her head to the side. "Are you a midwife?"

Sakura shook her head. "Medical student. I recently did my OB/GYN rotation and found it fascinating."

The waitress eyed her curiously. "Are you Kizashi's daughter?"

Sakura blinked. "Yes, I am."

"He never shuts up about how much of a genius his daughter is."

Sakura groaned lightly. "He never changes."

"He has reason to be proud." The lady grinned and held out a hand. "It's good to put a face to a name. I'm Kurenai."

"Sakura."

"Well Sakura, after all these years we finally get to meet you."

Sakura suddenly felt guilty for never visiting her father before now. She had always been insistent that Kizashi make the journey to see her. She had been angry with her father for leaving her mother for another woman and in her mind her mother needed her presence more than her father did.

"Yeah," she laughed awkwardly. "I was running out of excuses I guess."

Kurenai seemed to realise she'd hit a sensitive subject and patted her shoulder. "You get that hot drink down you and warm yourself up. Just give me a call if you need anything else."

She swept away before Sakura reply and the girl shrugged. She settled back in her seat, crossing one leg over the over and breathing in the heavenly smell of quality coffee. She barely heard the door jingle as someone entered but she couldn't fail to notice the yellow blur that launched itself over the back of the sofa and landed in between Sakura and her silent dark-haired companion.

The sofa bounced violently and the drink in her hands moved violently. She held her cup out in front of her to avoid the coffee hitting her clothes. There was no saving her hands from the fallout however and she hissed as the hot liquid splashed her skin.

"Ah I'm sorry!" The blonde cannon ball apologised loudly, grabbing a stack of napkins off the table and, taking the mug from Sakura's hands, wiping her hands off with them.

Sakura stared, confounded, at the man as he wiped down her hands, words spilling out of his mouth non-stop.

"I'm sorry! I wanted to scare the bastard here and I didn't spot you though I suppose I should have considering you have pink hair and all. Are your hands hurt? Do you think you should run them under cold water?"

Sakura brought one of her hands up and placed it on the man's own. She offered him a weak smile. "It's fine. I'm fine. Really."

The man smiled, blue eyes twinkling. "Great! I'm Naruto."

"Sakura." She returned, slightly shocked at the man's abrupt change of emotion.

"And this is Sasuke." Naruto pointed at the ebony haired man who had watched the whole exchange.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded at Sakura who smiled back, unable to ignore how handsome he was.

"So, I've not seen you about before Sakura. And everybody knows everybody in this place. You just moved here?" Naruto asked, throwing the soiled napkins on to the coffee table.

Sakura shook her head. "Just visiting."

"You meeting someone here?" Naruto asked, glancing around the shop.

"Ah no." Sakura sighed. "My car broke down a couple of miles out of town. I can't get in touch with my dad so I decided to walk in and well here I am."

"You walked in those?" Naruto pointed to the heeled boots she was wearing and Sakura grinned.

"Good purchase on the ice."

Sasuke snorted at her teasing tone but didn't say anything.

"So you're visiting your dad?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. He moved here years ago with his wife."

"And you haven't visited him before?" Naruto queried.

Sakura sighed and smiled at Naruto. "No I usually spend Christmas with my mom."

"Why didn't you this year?"

Sasuke smacked Naruto across the back of the head. "You're being rude, idiot."

"It's okay." Sakura assured. "Well my mom is not a lover of winter so she decided to take a winter break and is most likely sunbathing on a beach somewhere."

"You didn't want to go?"

Sakura shook her head. "It's not Christmas without snow. Besides I couldn't get that much time off work, I'm lucky I got this week off. Besides, it's been a while since I saw my dad so I thought I had best come and see him."

"Important job?"

"I'm a medical student. I'm doing my rotation at hospital so it's been busy."

"Hey check it out, Sasuke. We've got a genius sat here."

Sakura shook her head in amusement. "If I was such a hot shot then I would have been able to afford a better car than the one back there that's probably been crashed in to by now." She glanced at her phone again but there had been no messages or calls.

"Isn't there someone else you can call?" " Sasuke spoke this time.

"I've tried my dad and stepmother but they must both be out somewhere. I didn't tell my dad what time I was getting here to surprise him but that's not worked out in my favour."

"Is there no one else?" Naruto piped up.

Sakura pulled a face. "My step-sister but I would rather eat my own face than call her."

"Ah evil stepfamily?"

"My step mom is fine but her? Well she ticks all the clichés in the book."

"What does she do?" Sasuke asked.

"She's 'finding herself' at the moment." Sakura sniffed.

Sasuke smirked. "Unemployed?"

"Yep."

"Well," Naruto grinned stretching his arms along the back of the sofa. "You definitely have one up on her there."

"But she has an amazingly handsome and rich boyfriend. So I'll get to spend all of the holidays hearing how sad it is that I'm single."

"She sounds like a real piece of work." Naruto frowned.

"Hey, you probably know her. You said that everyone knows each other here."

Sasuke's face was pensive and he turned more in his seat to face Sakura before Naruto could reply. "Didn't I hear you tell Kurenai that your father is Kizashi Haruno?"

"You did."

Naruto grimaced fiercely and shuddered. "Oh man! Then that means your step-sister is Karin?"

Sakura nodded and Naruto erupted in to laughter. She looked past him and saw Sasuke with an odd look on his face as though he had just smelled something unpleasant.

"What? So you do know her?"

"Know her!" Naruto chortled. "Karin's 'boyfriend' would just so happen to be Mr Tall-Dark-and-Moody over here."

"Eh?" Sakura looked as Sasuke. "You and Karin?"

"No!" Sasuke bit out and turned his head away. Sakura blinked in surprise.

"Ha! She wishes. Karin follows Sasuke around like a little puppy... ever since we were kids. She's terrorised this git here for years."

Sakura's face scrunched up in confusion. "I don't understand. The last time I spoke to her she said that she was sure she'd be engaged by New Year's."

Naruto's face was bright red from laughing as he held his stomach and gasped for breath. "Whoo! Let me be best man, Sasuke."

Sasuke scowled and shoved Naruto's doubled over form from the sofa. The blonde took no notice and continued to writhe around on the floor.

"Well," Sakura murmured, glancing over at Sasuke. "I think this week will be very interesting." She paused in thought for a moment before a devilish smile spread over her face. "I think I have another phone call to make."

Sakura was stood at the counter, getting another coffee and talking to Kurenai about her pregnancy again.

"I know it seems scary but more babies than you would think are in a breech position. They usually have this amazing knack for turning themselves the right way just before they are due."

Kurenai smiled. "Thank you, Sakura. I can't help but be a little scared."

"First baby - you'd be crazy if you weren't scared."

"You always have to show off don't you?"

Sakura stiffened at the voice and pulled a face at Kurenai. The older woman smiled and the sneering voice sounded again.

"She's not a doctor so I wouldn't listen to her."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Not a doctor yet although you wouldn't know it, she's very knowledgeable."

Sakura smiled thankfully at the woman and picked up her coffee. Turning she faced her step-sister and forced a smile. "Karin."

Unsettling red eyes narrowed behind glasses. "Are you ready to go? I've got better things to do than taxi you around."

Sakura brought her mug up to her lips to hide the smirk she was fighting. "Have a hot date?"

Karin sniffed imperiously. "As a matter of fact I do."

"Well I want to finish my coffee first. Hey, I don't think you ever told me your boyfriend's name before."

"Why do you want to know?" Karin asked suspiciously.

Sakura shrugged. "It's just weird that you've never used his name." She looked at Karin with sympathetic eyes. "Does he have a stupid name?"

Karin bristled. "Sasuke does not have a stupid name thank you very much."

"Oh Sasuke? Okay that is a good name." Sakura conceded. She heard Kurenai cough to disguise a laugh behind her and bit the inside of her own mouth to hold the façade together.

"Look I want to go so can you hurry up and finish your drink?" Karin sneered.

"Sure." Sakura shrugged. "Just let me say goodbye to the new friends I made."

"You've been in town for like an hour. How many people could you possibly have met?"

"Kurenai here," Sakura smiled over her shoulder. "And just two other people. You probably know them. Come on."

Sakura headed back to the fireplace and heard Karin groan but follow after her regardless.

"Hey guys, do you know my step-sister?"

Two heads – one blonde and one ebony – turned around at Sakura's voice and the girl grinned as Karin screeched to a halt beside her.

"Sasuke!" Karin gasped.

"Oh this is your Sasuke?" Sakura said with feigned astonishment. "Well, Sasuke why didn't you say you were practically engaged to my step-sister?"

Sasuke raised a dark eyebrow and Karin was frozen for a few excruciatingly long seconds before an unintelligible squeak escaped her and she turned tail and fled from the café.

Naruto snorted and even Sasuke looked amused at the turn of events. Sakura on the other hand was looking in the direction Karin had ran, the smile slipping from her face a little.

"Hey, why the long face?" Naruto chirped. "That was brilliant!"

"I just feel like it might have been a little harsh." Sakura worried her lower lip between her teeth.

"Are you kidding me? You said that Karin loves to make you feel bad about yourself."

"It doesn't mean that I should have done the same to her."

"Hey." Sakura started at the quiet voice and looked over at Sasuke. "We know Karin well enough to know that this won't put even a dent in her armour. Don't worry."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "I'd best go after her at any rate. She is my lift home after all."

Sakura was surprised when Sasuke stood and picked her coat up from the back of the sofa and helped her in to it.

"If you need a personal taxi service while you're in town, just let me know."

Sakura felt his hand slip in to her coat pocket and glanced at Sasuke through her eyelashes, her lips twitching. "Sure."

Naruto appeared at her side then, her bag and scarf clutched in his hands. "Maybe we could do something tomorrow? We definitely have to meet up again before you go."

Sakura wrapped herself in her scarf and took her bag from the blonde. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Catch you later."

Sakura found Karin stood down the street, leaning against the shiny cherry red car that her mother had bought for her.

"Karin?"

Karin stiffened but did not look at her step-sister. "Are you ready now?"

"Hey." Sakura reached forward and grasped Karin's arm before the girl could climb in to the car. "I'm sorry."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "Sorry?"

"Yeah. I knew Sasuke wasn't your boyfriend. I wanted to take you down a peg."

"Take me down a peg?" Karin shrugged Sakura's hand off her arm.

"Yeah." Sakura shrugged. "You always flaunt how in love you are… or I guess were. I was sick of being jealous."

Karin blinked. "You were jealous of me?"

Sakura laughed awkwardly, leaning on the car and rolling her eyes. "Well you told me enough times how sad and single I am."

Karin gaped for a moment and shook her head. "Well it's fair play. Do you know how often I have to hear mom and your dad sing your praises?"

"So you thought it would be best to lie? Karin, I don't care if you have a good job or a fiancé." Sakura realised how dangerously close to mushy this scene was becoming and she cleared her throat. "I'll always think you're an evil cow."

Karin smirked and adjusted her glasses. "Good because I'll always know that you're an annoying know-it-all." She opened the driver's side door and glanced at Sakura. "Don't think that this means we understand each other now or something. I still don't like you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Sakura replied, moving around to the passenger seat. "Besides that's what Christmas is about – spending time with people you secretly can't stand, right?"

But, mused Sakura, in the interest of keeping Christmas as conflict-free as possible, she would not be telling Karin about the phone number folded up in her coat pocket.

So this was going to be a Christmas chapter but then I was as bad a procrastinator as ever and it was suddenly Easter. No idea how that happened!

Even worse, I have just checked Doc Manger and realised that even though I uploaded this chapter three months ago, I never posted it. I fail on so many levels...