CHAPTER 05: WINTER STORMS

Hey everyone, I know I hadn't updated in a year. Apologies... school, work & everything! But hey! We're back baby!

@NANO sorry that you don't like SasukexSakura but expect more of them in this fic! Skip their parts if you'd like! Sorry for you and yaye for the rest of us! ;)

[CANCELLED] Sorry guys I can't make it today, the storm has blocked the roads up here...

[CANCELLED] Me too guys! This storm is very scary, Temari and I are unable to move, the roads are very slippery and dangerous.

[CANCELLED] Update: Downtown right now and some cars are being turned away from entering central, apparently the snow has caused some truck accident on road 47. Stay safe everyone!

[CANCELLED] Let's reschedule guys! The weather is looking risky for us, and we live 2hrs away, I don't think we'd be able to make it.

[CANCELLED] I'll cancel too, it's just not looking good on the news...

Of course the one time I finally decide I'll attend one of our yearly high school reunions there is a gigantic winter storm preventing everyone from even reaching the city...

Winter usually was my favorite season of the year but it was so not fun once the storms started showing up. Especially unannounced... Unpredictable, dangerous and so damn cold. Snow storms always created a list of annoying issues. From cars shutting down, electronics leaving you stranded to suffer in the dark with the cold. To now this...

"No network..." Sakura groaned as I sighed away for the 32nd time.

We'd been stuck in our Uber for 3hrs now. The main road everybody had used to join town had a major truck accident thanks to the slippery roads that then created the longest traffic line ever.

It didn't help at all that no one could see anything as dark clouds and disgusting snow fall invaded everything in sight. That was the perfect embodiment of what a descent to hell would look like.

Lost in thought, the driver pulled her back to reality.

"Ladies the heater is not going to be working for long I fear."

Their Uber driver had been one of the most caring human beings ever since they'd all found themselves stuck in this icy hell. But it had now been 3hrs of snow covering the car and the car was shutting down. They could do nothing else but sit and hope because they couldn't possibly get out of the car.

It was dark and the snow covered so much, the winds were so violent they were bound to just die in under 20 minutes out there in that weather.

"I don't think staying in this car is the solution once the heater goes down though..." Sakura said

Which made Hinata sigh.

She was worried sick. Naruto had not texted at all in the group chat. They had no intel on his whereabouts and were unable to gain information on wether he was safe somewhere or also stranded in a location elsewhere. The day had turned into a nightmare.

Hinata was about to start crying when all of the sudden they heard knocks on their window.

"Is anyone in there ? Officers are guiding the people by rope towards safety. Please answer!"

The Uber driver was the first to react. He lowered his window before noticing there were indeed officers surrounding the vehicle in protective gears.

"Please get down from the vehicle everyone. Hurry as much as you can, the storm will only get worse."

"What about my car?" The Uber asked scared.

"Right now the priority is every individual stuck in the vehicles. Everyone needs to get to safety before we proceed with a recovery of all the vehicles. Please wear this!"

The officers passed three heavy bags through the window. They quickly noticed it was protective gears just like theirs. The man passed the protective gears towards Hinata and Sakura before they all put them on.

In less than 5 minutes they were out of the car and being carried by officers who had tied all three of them to one heavy rope that apparently everyone on the bridge was connected to as a way to not get lost in the dangerous storm.

It was cold... so damn cold. And yet as Hinata was following the orders of the officers towards safety all she could think of was if Naruto was also somewhere safe and also getting rescued.

The bridge was unrecognizable. You couldn't see anything. It was only 7pm and yet it was pitch black and snowy. The wind was terrifying. It held their speed back and the snow didn't help. It felt like they were walking an eternity just to get to the end of that rope.

Eventually though, they made it to the end of the bridge where a huge building was. It was unrecognizable now. As they reached inside she recognized the town stadium. It was huge and was honestly probably the best location for such an emergency evacuation.

"I feel like I'm dying oh my God..."

As they reached inside the stadium she noticed the insane amount of people having found refuge here. The storm was still going strong and it didn't look like it was going to get better any time soon.

Looking to Sakura, she noticed how visibly unwell she was. She was a Spring baby. And she'd never pretended to be anything but. The cold was not her favorite mood at all.

As they reached the end of the line, a lady in a nurse uniform greeted them with a smile and some blankets.

"Hello, please let us know if you're feeling sick at all or have any injuries."

Sakura took the blankets from her hand before handing one to Hinata.

"No injuries but I've been feeling a little dizzy..."

The lady came around the counter to quickly take Sakura's temperature. Shortly after she called for another officer who indicated Sakura to join his counter.

"You'd have to get checked with the medical team in room 201. The officer will guide you, if you could follow him please."

She turned to Hinata with a worried look.

"I'll be fine, waiting for you."

"You feeling alright though?" She asked as she was about sneezing and visibly sick.

"Yeah, I think the network is working here so I'll text you if anything."

Sakura nodded before walking up to the officer and disappearing in another room.

The nurse turned her attention to her again.

"Please join room 210, the heater is on and they will serve you hot drinks and food in a bit. Let us know if you're feeling any signs of sickness."

She nodded

"Any injuries?"

"No, I'm fine thank you. I just have a question."

"Sure."

"Is there any internet? I've been meaning to check up on some of my friends..."

"They will help you in the room"

She called for another lady who invited her to join her at the door.

Once there, she noticed a significant amount of people having dinner, mothers heating up their children, some people asleep on benches, others having conversations in a corner.

She checked the time on her phone and it was 8:30pm already. That was insane. That would mean they'd been stuck for 4 hours.

The officer helped her on an empty table kind of isolated from everyone before handing her a QR code with the wifi code.

"If you need anything please let us know."

"Thank you."

As she connected to the internet, she noticed her notifications go crazy. One after the other messages from Neji, her parents, her coworkers, her friends and Naruto came in all at once.

One by one she reassured everyone that she was fine before finally opening Naruto's messages. She'd been worried sick the whole day to be honest. He lived quite in the inner side of the city. The location of the truck accident had been very close to his end so it probably made sense to assume he would've been one of the first to be affected by this.

Staring at his messages, she almost blushed.

"Hey, hope you heard about the storm. I don't know if you've left yet but hopefully you haven't, it's looking unsafe outside."

"Hey?"

"I hope you're okay, your line isn't going through. There's been a huge truck accident on the bridge and a lot of people are stranded in the snow. Please tell me you're home safe."

"Hinata ? I'm getting worried..."

"I spoke to your brother and he mentioned last you guys spoke you were on your way... God... there's a rescue mission for the people on the bridge, I'm assuming you would've passed this road so hopefully you're at the Sports E Stadium. That's where they're holding everyone for the night."

"Hey... it's been 4hours so I'll just head to the stadium and wait to hear from you there."

"If you do end up here find me in room 32. If you don't end up here though let me know where I can find you. I'm seriously worried."

He was here...

Looking up immediately she analyzed her surroundings like she was going to find him. But he'd said he was in a different room.

Up in a second. People turned to watch her vanish as quick as she'd walked in.

She wanted to see him. He had worried about her, had come all the way to the stadium hopeful that she would be there. Had made calls around to get some news on her whereabouts.

For some, this might've been considered the bare minimum but to her it was everything. People wouldn't understand. She had loved this man since she was young. Had wished for the day he would finally direct his full attention to her and so this ? It was a step in the right direction.

Plus she'd been worried he'd been caught in that drama as well. But he was just fine, thank God for that.

Room 31. She slightly pushed the sliding door open and of course he was there. She could recognize the messy stressed blond hair from anywhere.

He hadn't noticed her yet so she took her time to take him in. That's when she noticed she was heaving hard. She'd been running without even realizing.

Naruto was sitting next to his friend Sasuke. Hands in his hair, head down. The perfect picture of a scared and worried sick person. He was wrapped up in a blanket and that's when she noticed his state. He was soaked. Some nurses were attending to him and his foot was getting some medical attention.

She rushed to them immediately and the first to notice her was Sasuke. He had that same nonchalant expression he always wore on his face but she could see glimpses of a smirk in his eyes.

They never interacted much and to be very honest, she didn't think she liked him very much. Probably bias from her close bond with Sakura. But who cared what she thought? He was Sakura's secret one true love and Naruto's closest friend.

"Are you alright?" She asked

Immediately, Naruto's head went up and he took her in. A heavy sigh of relief left his lungs.

"You're here..."

She came up closer to take in the fresh stitches on his foot.

The man followed her eyes and sighed again.

"long story..."

Sasuke let out a sarcastic chuckle.

"Trust me it's not. The man decided to go on a risky adventure in the middle of a storm to check if you were at the restaurant. Well, horrible, horrible idea..."

She bent on one knee as the medics were packing their first aid equipment. They seemed done with their work. They'd wrapped his foot up really tight and it seemed he wouldn't be able to walk on it today.

"That's awful, why did you do that..."

He looked away.

"I just slipped, they said I'll be fine in a few days."

She sighed and looked up.

As much as he was embarrassed by the circumstances. He looked at her with more relief than anything. That was truly a sight to her. But she hated that he'd put himself at risk like that.

"You're an athlete... you can't be reckless like this you know..." she added as she stood up.

Sasuke laughed again before standing up as well, showing her his seat.

"Tell me about it... have a seat, I'm gonna go for a smoke." He said before slowly walking away.

Hinata looked back at him before letting it out.

"How long have you been here Naruto? Been here 40mins with Sakura, she's in room 201 getting medicine."

She had said it to Naruto but they all knew she meant for Sasuke to hear that.

"Woh what? Is she alright?" Naruto asked, genuinely upset.

"The blizzard did one in her, she's never been one for the cold. She was feeling dizzy earlier so they're checking how bad it is..."

Sasuke was still there. Very still but in pure Sasuke fashion he didn't show them any sort of sign that he'd heard her or that he cared at all. And actually, wether he did or didn't did not matter to her. If he cared at all about Sakura he'd act accordingly. And little did she know... she was absolutely right.

SAKURA

- How are you feeling now? The nurse asked her as she put the medication back in her first aid Kit.

Sakura sighed before laying more comfortably in her assigned bed.

- Less dizzy but I'm feeling very cold, I guess this fever is only getting worse.

- Alright, I'll get you some food first. Then we'll get work with the fever medication. You will need to have some food in your system for that one.

She nodded before watching the lady disappear behind the door.

She hated the cold and she certainly hated being sick. There wasn't much she could do at all whenever she was. And that was the worst feeling ever.

Being powerless and vulnerable was not her cup of tea. At least not anymore. She'd grown out of it. But life just wouldn't stop throwing it at her huh? Because why was the door opening again to none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

She almost cursed out loud when she noticed him quietly walk in and close the door behind him.

She hadn't seen the man in so long... scared of looking too obvious she looked away from him.

He looked good. The demon always did. His hair was wet and longer than the last time she'd seen him, held back in a low ponytail. He wore a fitted suit that he proceeded to remove the jacket from.

And as he sat down in a chair he'd placed very close to her bed she groaned. Today was not the day... she didn't want to deal with him and his bullshit today.

She hadn't even expected to see him at all had the reunion still taken place. The man was a ghost these days. And even though he'd always kinda been that way, she knew him a lot better than others might think. She knew what it meant when he isolated this much.

Slowly turning to face him, she immediately knew. The man was using again.

Whipping her head back away from him, staring at the tv screen displaying cartoons in low volume. He suddenly made his presence harder to ignore by speaking in that voice she loved but hated so much.

- I didn't know the next time I'd see you you'd look such a mess superstar.

"Super star."

He called her that to mock her endeavors. She wasn't stupid. The man always thought of influencing and being a creative as a huge waste of time, resources and energy. It would be pointless to argue with him about how cool and interesting it actually was to be able to make a living in such fashion. Sasuke was an arse, wasting your breath was useless so she continued to ignore him.

Wrong move. He hated that the most. Especially from her.

In a second her arm was in his hand and he pulled her just enough to entice her to look at him. Which she did.

Words were not needed. Their stare translated whatever words could not be spoken between them. He knew she hated him and had not and would never forgive him. And she knew he hated her for not worshipping him as she did before.

The man's ego was out of this world. He was selfish, vindictive, egotistical and so so full of himself. Especially when it came to her. To him? There was no way he could allow her to put him in a shelf and never look back like she had. That was a crime in his book. And she'd always pay for that, at least until he was done feeling salty about it.

- You still can't look at me superstar? He teased her with a provocative smile on his face but his eyes were on her lips.

She shrugged to get his hand off of her and he let go without a fight.

- Why are you even here... she started, staring back at that old toxic obsession of hers.

They were alone. It was dark and dead silent. The only thing they could hear was the heater blasting on hot air and the television. Where was this damn nurse at?

- You not happy that I'm safe and sound here? I could be out there, in the cold, forgotten, slowly dying.

Red. That's all she saw. She knew he was aware she cared a lot about him. That's the whole reason they had a falling out. Because she just couldn't stop caring so much. And now he was throwing that in her face? Disgusting.

- I don't give a single fuck actually. Can you just leave? Not in the mood to deal with you today.

He simply stared. She could see the hidden playfulness in his eyes. He loved these. When she gave him anger like this to him, in his own twisted logic it just proved to him that she still cared about him. The man was a masochist. It was truly terrifying.

He was standing very still. Hand in his pocket. Seeing Sasuke was always a very intense experience. She actually didn't like dealing with it, and never felt embarrassed to openly avoid him. Everybody knew it, and of course he absolutely did as well, so why was he still here ?

She repeated the question in her mind about a trillion times, giving him every opportunity to speak up or something. But of course this hateful man stayed quiet. Just stared at her head on, his face that same blank expression she absolutely loathed. So then she snapped.

Getting up from her bed she walked past him towards the door, ready to run away again before she heard him speak.

- That again?...

Sarcasm... Oh how she hated him. He knew, he absolutely was aware of how much she hated when he called her out on avoiding him, especially using that very distasteful sarcastic tone. It just made her feel small, cause she knew... Deep down inside she knew he was still aware he remained in her veins... And now staring back at him with the most hateful eyes ever, noticing his disgusting smug, she simply snapped.

- Go fuck yourself Sasuke.

He didn't react. He never did. So she headed straight towards him, only stopping when they were nose to nose, his black eyes void of thoughts, feelings, empathy or love for anything but himself, looking down at her all judging and all mighty. And right there she repeated it, returning that smug smile he flashed at her.

- You heard me? Go fuck yourself. Sasuke.

Before she knew what happened she found herself pinned against a wall. Her back flattened against the cool surface, his weight pinning her in place. He held her jaw tightly as he stared wildly at her.

A reaction? From Sasuke? That never happened. So she let it be, staring head on, wanting to see what exactly it was he wanted walking in here and provoking her.

As expected he didn't say word. Eyes wild, breathing hard, other hand holding them in place while the other maintained its hold on her jaw.

Getting impatient, she tried pushing him back, but he didn't move. She pushed again, same thing. So again... she snapped.

- GET THE FUCK OFF ME SASUKE, I'M SICK OF YOU AND YOUR STUPID FUCKING GAMES ! GET OFF-

Then he spoke, the most disgusting words she had ever heard in years.

- How many morrons are you gonna keep letting fuck you sideways until you realize I'm not going anywhere from that little heart of yours huh?

Shocked out of her mind, she couldn't react but he wasn't done. His face came in closer, his breath fanning over hers, his eyes were livid. That look... was nothing but pure hate... This was new. Jealousy? Impossible... right?

He continued:

- You can fuck the entire male population Sakura, but everytime you go to sleep you go fantasizing about me fucking you. You day dream about how we could've been if I wasn't such a fucking asshole. You hate yourself for still wanting me 10 years later.

Hitting too close to home, tears threatened to show up so she pushed harder. She needed to get away from him. He had no right to do this and didn't deserve to see her so flustered.

- LET ME GO!

- Stop believing this bullshit storyline you've put into your head that this is you being powerful Sakura, you're just letting anyone touch you to forget about me, that's not power. You're a coward, you can't face me and everything that I come with because you know I could ruin you, you're too scared & weak to afford that so you run. You're constantly running. Nothing but a weak and proud bird.

She didn't notice the slap until it happened.

His face turned away, he looked back at her slowly, that hate in his eyes gone. He just looked blank again. That hateful and quiet Sasuke was back in a second. And she loathed everything about this, so she started balling.

Pushing him away from her until he finally let go of her, she ran back to her bed to pick up her stuff before running to the entrance.

She turned to him who was now staring at the ground, completely silent. So she vomited everything she had to say.

- You're a piece of shit Sasuke. You ruin everything! You constantly push people that love you away because for some reason you've convinced yourself that you deserve nothing other than misery. And those drugs you keep using will be the death of you if you don't freaking stop! Look around you?? You're losing it! Everything, one day after the other... And you know what? You won't drag me into that misery of yours with you! I'm sick of you! I'm sick of caring about you more than me so I choose not to anymore, go to hell.

She turned to walk out, but as she was about to open the door she felt her hand being pulled back. Sasuke pulled her towards him, his eyes wild like never before. And before she knew it, that toxic obsession of hers was kissing her. All in, all tongue, all breath, all him. And she hated that she allowed it, even worse that she loved it.

He picked her up by the thighs, threw her onto the bed and kept kissing her. Without any embarrassment or shyness she kissed him back. She knew she would regret this right after but she she couldn't control herself.

The man was everything she had always wanted, everything she'd daydreamed and obsessed over. And he was finally touching her today. Finally showing her just how much he could feel. And that's all she could feel. This kiss was free. It was freeing him.

After a few out of breath moments and intense quiet stares, the man lost his hands under her dress and that's when she started panicking.

He was toxic, unreliable, a known liar and extremely territorial... They had so much of nothing to do with each other...

And yet they did, so much.

So she pulled him closer for another kiss, wrapping her legs around him as he started grinding his heaviness at her, arousing her immediately. He wanted her, and he wanted her right now. And it was hot.

- Um excuse me...

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- Jawrell 3