A note from the wolf:
Just a side note about the ships: Unfortunately I can't use InoSai as a pairing because Sai wasn't introduced to Team 7 in the pre-Shippuuden years! Oh and Neji is paired with Tenten... (sob!)
Declaimer: The characters in this story belong to Masashi Kishimoto, but this plot is rightfully mine.
Summary: A SasuSaku Christmas special. Sasuke won't attend the Academy Christmas Party but Sakura is determined to keep him company on Christmas Eve... even if it takes getting lost in a blizzard. Can Sakura melt his heart of ice for this one special day of the year? Warning: This story will make you feel warm and fuzzy.
Let It Snow – Part II
An incredible sight waited behind the Academy doors on Christmas Eve. Now the school gymnasium had always been significantly grander than the average gym since it hosted ninja rather than typical school-aged children. But today it was so grand that even ninja jaws dropped.
The floor was a marble-white to match the lace table cloths. Small tables to seat four were lined up on the far side of the gym, and a sitting area with deep red couches was in the far corner, facing a large window draped with matching red curtains. In the center was a tiled dance floor, equipped with a DJ, flashing lights and a bar. On the right-hand wall, there was a mini café selling hot chocolate, tea and Christmas treats. Mistletoe hung from the ceiling, among the white and blue streamers and lights and a large sign supported the words Winter Wonderland. On the far wall facing the door was an enormous Christmas tree with white lights and tinsel.
Sakura felt her jaw drop. This event was way more formal than she'd anticipated. She second-guessed her choice of attire (a red knee-length skirt and sparkly, black V-neck) and realized that she probably should have grabbed that diamond bracelet she saved for special occasions.
"Sakura!" called a cheerful voice. Sakura turned and was relieved to see her best friend Ino tottering over. Her hair was up in her signature blonde pony-tail, and her blue eyes were sparking with delight and she had her usual skip in her stride. But there was a twist to her appearance: She was dressed as Mrs. Clause. A scandalous one. She was wearing a far more fitted and revealing version of Sanata's red coat as a short dress. She also had high-heeled black boots on, and red, dangling earrings. She shot Sakura a grin which she willingly returned. "How do I look?" she asked, spinning on one of her toes before continuing towards Sakura.
"You look great!" she replied. "Er… were we supposed to dress up or something?"
Ino shook her head. "Nah. Only me and the lucky guy who gets nominated to be Santa. I'll make sure it's Sasuke," she added with a wink, fully aware that the comment would tick Sakura off.
But instead of growling, as Ino anticipated, Sakura sighed. "I'm afraid you can't. Sasuke's not coming to the party," she said sadly. But she couldn't help feeling a small rush of relief that she wouldn't have to compete for his attention tonight.
Ino tilted her head to the side and pouted her red, sparkly lips. "Oh," she said, twirling a strand of blonde hair around a finger. "That's too bad. I guess I'll have to find another cutie to take his place." Ino wasn't taking it as badly as Sakura thought she would. "Well anyways, come on! Let's go have some fun!" She grabbed Sakura's wrist and dragged her into the expanding crowd on the dance floor. The opening song was an upbeat remix of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Bodies were jumping and swaying to the beat of the song, making it difficult for the two girls to maneuver through the crowd. Once they emerged on the other side, Ino asked "So where should we go first?"
Sakura's eyes darted around. "I don't know! How about we find the other girls?" Ino agreed and the two of them started their hunt. They soon spotted HInata, Tenten and Neji sitting at one of the lacey, white tables with steaming mugs of hot chocolate. "Hey guys!" Sakura called out.
The trio looked up. Hinata and Tenten, like Sakura, wore outfits that were more conservative than Ino's. Neji, Hinata's cousin and Tenten's date, was suited up and was even wearing a bright red tie for the occasion. Sakura and Ino pulled up a couple of chairs and joined them in an enjoyable conversation. Neji then swept Tenten away onto the dance floor and Sakura couldn't help envying her. Neji used to be nearly as cold-hearted as Sasuke, but something in his heart had softened.
Ino soon left to get herself a hot drink, leaving Sakura alone with Hinata. Hinata had short and layered black hair. Her pale complexion and silver-white eyes were illuminated by a modest amount of makeup. Sakura always enjoyed Hinata's company. Her politeness and patience made her easy to trust and confide in. A few minutes passed when suddenly Hinata gasped. "Oh! It's him!" She scrambled out of her chair and ducked behind Sakura's back.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, then glancing in the direction of Hinata's fixated gaze. "Hey, it's Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. "Over here!" she called, waving him down.
"No! Don't call him over!" Hinata squeaked.
"Why not?" Sakura asked, peering over her shoulder at the terrified girl. "I thought you liked him?"
Hinata immediately tensed up. "I d-d-do," she gushed, her face flaming red. "It's just… he makes me feel so nervous."
Sakura chuckled. "Nonsense! Have some courage Hinata! That's all you need!" she said, giving Hinata an encouraging pat on the arm. "Just treat him like you would anyone else." Hinata nodded shyly and returned to her chair as Naruto arrived at the table.
"Ladies!" he said with a wide smile. "Wow, do you girls ever look great tonight!" he added with a wink.
Hinata's face darkened but, taking heed of Sakura's advice, said "Thanks Naruto! Y-you look great too!"
Naruto stared at her in surprise for a few moments before his smile widened. "Thank you!" he said, sitting down next to her. "Well Sakura, as I'm sure you've heard, it's still not snowing!" he suddenly fumed, pounding his fists onto the table and causing everything on it and Hinata to jump. "The freezing raining is coming down hard and we're apparently getting a huge storm tonight, but it's just not the same! Tomorrow is Christmas and we need snow!"
Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but Hinata beat her to it. "You're disappointed about that too?" she said. "I was complaining about it to Neji but he told me to stop fussing because it just wasn't going to happen."
"You're kidding!" Naruto said, his eyes lighting up. "That's exactly what my team said to me!" He was staring at her like he'd never seen her before. "Hey… um… do you want to dance with me, Hinata?" he asked, catching both girls off guard.
Hinata blushed deeply. "Oh… s-sure!" she said. She followed him onto the floor where the DJ now playing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause – Candlelight Version. Despite her shock at how easily Naruto asked her to dance, Sakura was feeling very excited and proud for her friend. But the bubbly feeling slowly drained away when she realized that she was now sitting alone. She stood and wondered what she should do next.
Sakura stretched her legs and took a brisk stroll around the gym. She spied Ino sitting awfully close to her teammate, Shikamaru, who had just been nominated as Santa Clause. Temari, the girl from the sand village, was standing on his other side, glaring taggers at the blonde Mrs. Clause. Sakura thought it would probably be safest to keep her distance from that situation.
Then she ran into Rock Lee, the wearer of revolting green jump-suits. Sakura cringed but greeted him all the same. His shiny mop of black hair was topped with reindeer antlers tonight. "Where's my rival, Sasuke?" he asked, raising one of his enormous, bushy eyebrows.
"He's training," she answered with a frown. "He said he was going to a remote location on the outskirts of the village." She wondered why Lee would bring Sasuke up at a time like this. But then she spotting the mistletoe he was leading her towards. "I have to g-," she started, but a voice interrupted her.
"This is a very important announcement!" rang out the Hokage's voice over the intercom system. "There is an extremely dangerous storm starting outside. In ten minutes, the front doors of the Academy will be locked and we will enter a lockdown until the storm passes. In the meantime, carry on with the party! Merry Christmas!" And then the intercom shut off.
People started gathering around the window to peer out at the brewing storm, but otherwise, the atmosphere remained relatively upbeat. But Sakura's mind started racing. Sasuke was training on the outskirts of the village, which was quite far from where he lived in the village's core. Did he know how bad this storm was going to get?
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Lee asked. "Do you want to grab something to eat?"
"No thanks, Lee," Sakura said, staring out into the crowd in a trance. "I have to leave."
"What, already?" he whined. "You haven't been here for very long! And it's not safe out there!"
"I know!" she said, making her way back to the entrance of the gym. "I'm going to beat it home!" She knew where he was training. She could make it there in ten minutes if she pumped enough chakra in her legs. She arrived at the coat check and asked for her coat, explaining that she was going home before the storm got much worse.
While she was waiting for her coat, she noticed that Lee had run off to join his mentor, Gai, in a conga line on the dance floor. While she was throwing on her coat, Tenten came bursting through the crowd.
"You're leaving?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Sakura said. "I'm going to try to get home before the storm gets too rough."
"Oh," Tenten said, approaching her. "Well, sorry to break it to you, but I think you've missed your chance. Shino just arrive and told me it's a blizzard out there. You sure you won't stay a little longer and wait it out?"
"I'm sure!" Sakura said with a smile. "I'll be fine."
"Ok," Tenten said, giving her a friendly hug. "Well, Neji's waiting for me, so I'll see you around!" With that, she disappeared back into the crowd.
Sakura exited the gym and navigated through the school hallways to the grand front doors. She pushed her way through them and found herself face-to-face with the biggest blizzard she'd ever seen.
The wind slammed the doors shut behind her. Freezing cold pellets of ice were immediately blasted into her face, stinging her cheeks and ears. She instantly regretted not packing a hat or mittens. The ground was slippery and the wind was fierce, bending and snapping tree branches and sending small objects flying through the air. She shut her eyes and concentrated chakra to her feet.
Well here goes nothing, she thought, bravely taking a step forward with her head bowed low to shelter her face from the falling ice. She started running, but the downpour was so heavy she couldn't see where she was going. Using her ninja instincts to gage her surroundings, she ran through the village streets with her eyes only open a crack. Minutes later she braved looking up, but that proved to be a mistake. The ice and wind entered her lungs through her mouth and nose, preventing her from drawing a breath. She quickly bowed her head back down, gasping for air, and totally unable to see.
What do I do now? She thought, peeking through her bare fingers to look around, but now her hands were beginning to sting. Deciding she would have to bear it one way or another, she forced herself to move onwards for another few minutes, but at a slower pace this time. Her body was trembling and she was starting to feel nauseous.
Then a tree branch narrowly missed her head. Sakura ducked, feeling extremely grateful for her ninja senses, but she was starting to realize that this was all a bad idea. She was getting nowhere. She couldn't see where she was, and at this rate, she could get seriously hurt out here.
That's when the hail started.
Now a ninja is naturally tougher than your average person. But when chunks of ice the size of golf balls are pummeling down from the sky, even a ninja is in danger.
After being struck by several large chunks, Sakura scrambled under a nearby park bench. She covered her head with her arms, and listened to the banging of the ice landing on the paved road. Stray pieces of hail made it through the cracks in the seat of the bench, hitting Sakura's back.
I'm done for.
If only there was snow, Naruto would be having the time of his life.
After all, he was spending the night with a pretty girl with whom he shares several interests, and he was drinking a creamy hot chocolate on a plush, red couch beside her. And to top it off, he looked up and spotted mistletoe. His heart skipped a beat and his mouth grew very dry when he saw Hinata notice it too. He took a deep gulp and started leaning towards her. Slowly... closer... closer...
"Naruto!" cried a voice.
"Eh?" he said, jumping back and spinning around.
Tenten stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what kind of situation she interrupted. "Oh. Oh! I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, putting her hand over her mouth and stepping back. Hinata was swaying on the spot. She looked ready to faint. "Er... I just thought I should inform you that Sakura left the party. And seeing how you're her teammate, I thought I would let you know. It looks like the storm is getting pretty bad."
Naruto stood up. "You let her go out into the storm?!" he yelled, his dramatic flare sparking.
Tenten winced. "No! Well I mean... the storm wasn't so bad when she left. But it got worse. A lot worse. And fast."
"How bad is the storm?" Naruto asked, but right on cue, a car flew by the window. He turned back to the others with a big, false smile. "OK then," he said, then switching back to a serious tone. "Hinata, you go find Kiba and Shino. Tenten, find Neji and Rock Lee. I'll round up Ino and her team. We're going to save Sakura." Their ninja-modes were activated, and after pumping chakra to their feet, they split up, propelling themselves through the crowd with giant leaps and bounds.
The hail wasn't letting up at all. Sakura was curled under the bench, cringing with pain. Her back and head were probably covered in bruises. Right when she was wondering how much more her body could take, she felt someone pulling her out from under the bench.
She started resisting, but the stranger's grip on her arm was too strong. She tried opening her eyes, but the freezing rain pierced them, forcing her to squeeze them shut again. What's going on? she thought. The icy wind prevented her from opening her mouth to speak.
She was pulled under the stranger's cloak. She squinted her eyes and managed to catch a glimpse of a dark silhouette, but nothing more. There wasn't much she could do but let the person drag her on through the storm.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Part III is coming soon! (brace yourself for some fluff)
In the meantime, please leave me a review. :) And if you like my writing, feel free to check out my blog on Tumblr, where I will be posting story updates. The link is at the top of my profile.
On a side note, I live in a city in Canada where we get a LOT of snow and freezing rain, so the storm scene was hardly a stretch of my imagination! :P
See you next time!