Chapter Four; Gone

"Really? What are you going to get him?" Sakura wondered.

"I'll tell you later. Right now I'm going to go bundle up and go outside and smoke a cigarette." He told her as he started walking away but little Hiro raced after him.

"Wait Daddy!" he cried as Sasuke glanced over at him and smiled as he reached his little arms up towards him. "Up! Up!" he exclaimed.

"What? Don't you want to help Mommy decorate the Christmas tree for Santa Claus?" he questioned him.

"Up!" the little boy repeated before Sasuke finally decided to give in and hoisted him up inside his arms. "Tell you what, do you want to go play out in the snow and build a snowman?" he asked him.

"Do you want to build a snowman? Come on let's go and play,.." Sakura sung as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Ha, ha very funny. But you seriously don't know how many times I've heard that song. Our daughter is literally obsessed with that movie." He said before he gently kissed the top of his son's head. "Come on Hiro, let's get you all bundled up." He told him before he turned around and carried him down the hallway.

…

"Alright so the cookies are baking in the oven." Naruto began as he walked into the living room and looked over at Sakura. "Huh?" he questioned while he looked around the room. "Say, where's Sasuke and Hiro?" he wondered.

"They're outside playing. I promised them that as soon as they came back inside I would make them some hot coco." She replied while smiling warmly at him before all of a sudden both of the boys came through the door.

"I'm not sure whether or not it's my imagination but it seems like we brought more snow inside with us then we left outside." Sasuke said while he stomped and shook the snow off his boots.

"Hey Sasuke, as soon as you and Hiro have your coco do you want to go to the store with me? I figured that I would go pick up a new gasket for you and then we can go to the mall and put on our Santa Claus and elf costumes." He said.

"No, not tonight Naruto. It's getting way too late. Pretty soon we'll have supper and then Sakura and I got to put the kids to bed. That means that you will have to get lost so Sakura and I can have some time to ourselves. As in completely alone." He told him while he removed his hat and gloves and then bent down to remove his son's scarf and hat.

"Well,.. alright." Naruto began. "Maybe I'll just go to the store by myself, and then we both can go to the mall tomorrow together." He said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I heard on the news that the roads are pretty bad." Sasuke told him.

"It's alright Sasuke I'll be fine. It's only a ten-minute drive anyway." Naruto reassured him.

"Well,.. alright. Just promise me that you'll be careful." He said while he finished removing Hiro's coat and gloves and then started untying his boots.

"I will." Naruto told him with a nod. "I'll see you in a little bit." He said before he turned around and after snatching his car keys off of the coffee table.

"Love you and be careful of the dog on your way out." Sasuke told him as Taki entered the room.

"Oh no you don't, you're staying here with them." Naruto told him before quickly hurrying out the door before the German Shepherd mix laid down with his head upon his paws.

Sakura giggled. "I don't think that Taki really wants to go anywhere anyway. Now that he's gotten older, he basically wants to laze around and sleep. Ah well, that gives us less things to worry about." She said.

"I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about Naruto." Sasuke began. "Do you think that I should have tried to stop him? After all, I saw the roads when I was out there and it was pretty bad." He told her.

"Oh come on Sasuke, you worry too much. It's just around the corner. I'm sure that Naruto will be back here annoying you before you know it." She reassured him with a rather warm and affectionate smile, but Sasuke wasn't so sure.

"Yeah." He responded before he picked up Hiro and then carried him away.

…

About twenty minutes or so later Sasuke stood by the front door staring out the window while Sakura cooked their supper in the kitchen. Sasuke took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Where are you Naruto?" he questioned himself while he continued watching the snow falling from the sky. That's when suddenly Sasame walked over to him.

"Papa, when is Uncle Naruto coming back?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure but I'm really starting to worry about him. He should have been back by now." He said before he turned around and walked into the kitchen. "Hey Cherry can I borrow your car? I'm going out to look for Naruto." He told her.

"But Sasuke you can't go out there! Have you seen what it's doing outside? It's a blizzard." She told him.

"Exactly. And Naruto's out there. That means he's in danger. I have to go after him. He's my brother." He told her before a few moments of silence passed between them and then slowly Sakura nodded in realization.

"Okay Sasuke. Just be careful. I love you and I expect you and Naruto to come back home in one piece safe and sound." She told him.

"I love you too. And we will. I promise you that." He told her before he walked over to her and tilted her chin back before giving her a slow and passionate kiss on the lips and then took his car keys off the kitchen counter.

Sasame started racing after him as he headed towards the front door and burst into tears. "Wait Papa! No! Don't go!" she sobbed before Sasuke turned to her and then squatted down in front of her. "You just can't go and leave us so close to Christmas!" she cried while quickly shaking her head at him.

"What if you and Uncle Naruto never come back?" she questioned him while tears spilled out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Sasuke placed a tender hand to her cheek and rubbed away her tears away with his thumb.

"We will." He assured her. "Listen, I understand you're upset but you just have to trust me and have faith in me." He told her before he poked her in the forehead with two of his fingers. "Now be a good girl and stay here with your mother and brother. I'll be back as soon as I can." He told her as she gave a sniff and wiped her nose on the back of her hand while watching her father go out the front door into the storm.

…

"Oh great! How am I ever going to find Naruto in this mess?" Sasuke questioned himself while he drove down the icy road and desperately tried to see in front of him while the windshield wipers constantly swayed back and forth. "It seems like every time the window clears, more snow comes down." He said when all of a sudden he gasped and slammed on the brakes as he caught the sight of Naruto's car on the side of the road out of the corner of his eye.

Sasuke quickly put his car in park and removed his seatbelt before scrambling out of the car as fast as he could. As he hurried over to the car he expected to see Naruto in it calling for a tow truck, however his brother was nowhere in sight. Sasuke felt his heart starting to pound frantically against his chest. "Damn it!" he exclaimed. "Where is he?" he wondered aloud to himself before he turned his head and looked into the storm out in front of him. "Naruto!" he hollered before he glanced down upon the ground and saw a set of footprints and gasped suddenly realizing that his friend must have went to go and find help. He looked up again and saw that the trail of footprints led into the woods.

Before even stopping to give it another thought Sasuke started running faster than he ever had in his life, for he knew that if he didn't hurry up there was a high possibility that Naruto could freeze to death. "Naruto!" he screamed again on the top of his lungs before skidding to a stop in the snow in the middle of the woods. "Naruto!? Answer me!" he cried while he stood there for a moment and listened for any sounds of movement. However, when he didn't hear anything he started panicking more inside the silence. That's when all of a sudden a pile of snow fell on top of his head from one of the trees. As he quickly turned his head to look at it his heart stopped.

For there, underneath the tree curled up inside a little ball trying to stay warm was Naruto. "Oh my God." He said to himself before he quickly hurried over to his lifeless body. "Naruto?" he questioned while kneeling down beside him. "Naruto, are you alright?" he asked him but he didn't reply. "Answer me damn it!" he snapped before he reached his hand down to him and touched his face. He was as cold as ice. Sasuke gulped. He knew if he started panicking now Naruto would die and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"It's alright Naruto, I'm here." He said. "If you can hear me I'm going to get you all warmed up and back to Sakura so she can give you some medical attention." He told him when all of a sudden Naruto slowly lifted his head and open his eyes.

"Sasuke." He managed to get out in a hoarse whisper before letting his head collapse back on the ground as Sasuke scooped him up inside his arms and then planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You're going to be alright. I promise you that. Alright?" he questioned him before he kissed it again and then turned around and started carrying him through the snow.