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Blistering snow flowed steadily from the sky, a beautiful sight prior to the pummeling white just an hour before. The cold fell rapidly, dark, white clouds blanketing the mass overhead. That's how it felt at least. It wasn't truly a snowstorm.
Sasuke made a quick glance over at Naruto, which turned into a long, pondering stare. The blonde seemed too far gone within his own thoughts to ever notice or sense it, and if he did, it was never brought up. Sasuke was thankful.
He wondered what the blonde thought about. Perhaps he was too freezing to muster up the brainpower to speak, Sasuke hoped. It wasn't like the boy to be so awfully quiet on missions. Especially those outside of the village. Even so, several hours into their journey within the Land of Snow and Naruto hadn't spoken more than a few words.
In all of his honesty, Sasuke was unnerved.
Despite the redness of his nose, his chapped lips, and frosted eyelashes and brows, the underside of his eyes were an obviously deathly purple that stood out from the features of his face, caused by the chill of winter. His eyes were dull and devoid of hope. He wasn't Naruto at all. And yet — Sasuke said nothing.
Sakura made remarks of the ever-dropping temperatures every now and then. She never missed the chance to complain, but Sasuke wasn't bothered. It seemed that Kakashi and Sakura were also dealt a great discomfort in Naruto's silence, the three of them — without words — complied to avoid bringing it up to the blonde.
Why? He wasn't sure. Sasuke knew he wasn't familiar with concern for the blonde. He always figured he wouldn't have to ever question Naruto's mental well-being, which left him to guess that Sakura and Kakashi also became used to his happy-go-lucky personality that it didn't ever cross them to try and, well, check up on him. And still, he said nothing. Sasuke told himself he didn't care all that much.
The snowfall steadied greatly over the course of the next hour before coming to a temporary halt at dusk. Sasuke wasn't sure when it resumed to snow at all through the rest of the night, and he didn't bother to check. He was too focused on the warmth of his cot and the comforting blaze of the furnace. It was a small inn, nothing special, but it proved efficient among the frigid weather and Sasuke wasn't entitled to be ungrateful given their circumstances.
Not many groups traveled at the time of year when untamable storms were common, so the owner of the inn was gracious enough to offer the four of them their own rooms. Despite Sasuke's contentness with the privacy, the thoughts of Naruto earlier gnawed at the pit of his stomach. It was never good to place "Naruto" and "alone" in the same sentence, only this instance was far more serious than any pranks or devious tricks could ever be. But he wasn't greatly worried.
Somehow Sasuke still found sleep.
When he opened his eyes, he greeted snow. More snow than he'd seen earlier that day. It was a field of it, stretching miles out and seeming to meet no end. The horizon of snow was invisible, concealed by the rushing of more from overhead, and amidst the whooshing of circulating winds and Sasuke's hair smacking against his ears, he heard sobs in the distance.
Bright orange, yellow hair, dark undereyes, tears.
It was Naruto.
Sasuke remembered calling his name, but the words never reached his tongue. He reached for the blonde, he ached to plant a foot before the other, he wanted so badly to fall in front of Naruto and stop the pain. Naruto wailed louder, and yet, Sasuke never spoke nor moved.
He just stood there, watching him cave in on his own suffering. He did nothing.
The icy cold plummeted down even more rigorously, blocking Naruto's pleading cries from reaching his ears any longer, and Sasuke felt he regained whatever sense of control he lost moments before. If he ever had one. He stepped forward and that one movement took more strength out of Sasuke than he'd expected. When he glanced back over at the blonde, he seemed further away than just seconds ago and Sasuke felt a panic set aflame somewhere in his heart and mind.
Would he ever reach him?
The freezing white began to pile on top of Naruto as he lay, huddled into a ball, in the frigid winds and snowfall. Sasuke tried with all of his might to fight the storm, the strain, all of it. Something yelled at him to just reach him, help him, hold him — do something! And Sasuke had to listen. It was all in vain. His efforts came down to nothing. Naruto wasn't getting any closer, he was only getting deeper beneath the pile of snow. Sasuke collapsed onto his knees as they sank into the white blanket on the ground. Cold surrounded him, and finally, he called his name.
"Naruto."
The raven awoke, calmer than he expected. Even in his exhaustion, that same voice from within the dream yelled at him once more. He needed to see Naruto. Sasuke needed to know he was alright, that he was no longer buried in a pile of heavy cold. He fought his sleepiness and pulled the covers from his cot off of him. Sasuke stood as his aching legs screamed at him to lay back down. He was through the halls as his eyes hardly managed to keep open. Finally, he reached Naruto's door.
Sasuke, to say the least, was unsettled. He wasn't sure why, but something within Naruto's room didn't sit right with him. He pushed it away, casting it aside as him just being tired.
As Sasuke twisted the handle and pushed into the room, the door was unnaturally heavy.
He glanced down. Blood-stained kunai.
Over at a small desk against the far-left wall. A paper with scribbled writing, adorned in water droplets. Tears.
At last, Sasuke looked at the door.
There, Naruto hung, blood dripping from his arms and down the wooden door. His under eyes still purple. Red stains down his cheeks. His nose just as red from the chill before. Sasuke wasn't dreaming for long.
And as Sasuke stood before Naruto's limp body, unable to move, he remembered that he never did pull him from the snow. He was buried beneath it. Sasuke never said anything. He didn't ever move.
Why didn't he?
And at that moment, he let everything go, and he screamed. He screamed as loud as he could for Kakashi, for Sakura, for someone.
He felt the snow begin to pile onto him.