(I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, blah, blah, blah. So, don't sue.)

(Also, this is my first fic. No flames please!)

Sakura ran her fingers lightly through the snow covering the railing of the stone bridge. She shivered as frigid white clumps clung to her hand and lifted her fingers to eye level to observe the sparkling flakes as they melted on her warm skin. The wind was freezing…so cold it chilled her to the marrow. Yet, somehow, she felt a savage pleasure in the miserable conditions.

Is this how Sasuke feels? Does he always feel this cold?

She let her gaze linger on the icy pond for a moment before turning with a sigh and pulling her coat tighter. Some errant snow flakes drifted from her pink hair onto the red wool of her jacket. Leaning against the rail, Sakura looked out over the sleepy village of Konoha. It had been a long time since she had seen Sasuke. It had been even longer since they had been in Team 7 with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. The years since then had both crawled and flown by at the same time. She was no longer the useless little girl that tagged along after Sasuke and Naruto. After Tsunade's training, she was now a skillful young woman, who knew her place in the world and how to help the people of her village.

Yes, she had changed. She felt that now more that ever…looking at the peaceful village…everyone else had forgotten about him. Everyone except her…and Naruto. Sakura smiled. She didn't often admit it to herself, but she was so glad Naruto was back. The three years that he'd gone away to study with Jiraiya were harder on her than she had believed possible. She'd never realized how much she'd grown to depend on Naruto as a friend. Having both him and Sasuke gone…it was a nightmare. Not even Kakashi- sensei was around much. However, Sakura realized that she would never have been able to mature as much as she did or grow into her new powers if any of them had been there.

She still missed Sasuke with a dreadful dull ache in her chest that never quite went away, but some things were able to take the edge off of it occasionally. Like Naruto, for example. Yes, he missed Sasuke terribly as well…in some ways probably more than she did, but he was always there to cheer her up. In those rare times when he couldn't cheer her up, he'd grieve with her. Grieve for the friend they had both lost…the friend who was as good as dead. There were times when they would just sit together in silence, both knowing whom the other was thinking about, but both content to let each other mourn and take comfort in each other's company.

Sakura shifted her eyes to the side as she heard a slight movement of leaves in a nearby oak tree. It was barely noticeable, but the faint rustling sound of snow falling to the ground confirmed in. Someone was watching her. She closed her eyes and tried to sense the chakra of the intruder.

Naruto, of course.

Amused in spite of herself, Sakura decided to let him come to her. She pulled up the collar of her coat and rubbed her arms for warmth, turning again to stare out at the frozen pond. It rarely snowed in Konoha, and everyone was taking advantage of the break by curling up in front of their fires at home and drinking tea. Sakura, and apparently Naruto, were the only ones silly enough to be out in such weather.

It was so cold. What was he doing just sitting up in a tree and watching her in weather like this? She grew tired of waiting.

"Naruto, come down here," she called out to the empty air. He appeared by her side a split-second later, clad in his usual orange and black jacket.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said, leaning on the rail in the opposite direction. She saw his eyes soften as he looked out over the village and smiled. That was cute.

Cute? What?

"What were you doing in that tree?" she asked, glancing at him from under her eyelashes.

"Just watching you," he replied simply. "You looked sad…"

Sakura didn't reply, but continued to stare out over the black ice of the pond.

"But you looked so pretty out here in the snow, I didn't want to mess up the picture by coming to talk to you."

Sakura giggled. A couple of years ago she would have punched him in the face for a remark like that, but such things never really bothered her anymore. She supposed it was because he always complimented her in such offhand ways. However, he was always sincere, whether he was complimenting her on a new dress or a new jutsu.

"Why are you out here in this stuff? Do you like cold weather?" he asked, his face screwing up in that curious expression he got whenever he questioned her.

"Kind of," she replied, turning to face the village as well. "But it wears on you eventually."

"Yeah, I hear ya. There's no point in being out in this when you could be someplace warm."

He turned and swept an armful of snow from the railing before jumping up to sit on it.

"Well, if you don't like it, why are you here?" she asked, jumping up next to him and crossing her legs.

"I don't have anyplace warm to go," he said simply.

Sakura felt pity swell in her heart and tried to keep it out of her eyes as she gazed at her friend. She thought of her family sitting at home eating dinner. Her mother always made hot cocoa when it snowed. When she looked at this boy…the one who had grown up alone and feared throughout the village, she realized once again that she would never be as strong as him. She thought about him returning alone to his empty little apartment…

"But I'm okay if I'm here with you," he said, grinning that huge grin he always reserved especially for her.

She smiled at him and brushed off some of the snowflakes that lingered on his unruly blond hair. He made a face and looked for all the world like a little boy before his eyes changed for just a moment. It was so fast she almost didn't see it, but the blue eyes that were squinted in a comical expression all of the sudden softened as they looked at her. It was almost…intense…and frightening. The emotions she glimpsed in those eyes, even if only for a few seconds, scared her.

She jumped off the railing.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto ventured, jumping down after her. He put his hand on her shoulder which she involuntarily jerked away.

She turned to face him and was alarmed to see the hurt in his face. He tried to hide it quickly, but she felt like a monster. Why couldn't she just treat him with the same compassion with which he treated her?

This needs to stop. He's always there for me…tonight, I'm going to be there for him.

"Naruto?" she asked, arming herself with one of her brightest smiles. He turned to her cautiously, as if expecting a smack in the face.

"Yeah?"

"Want to go get some ramen? My treat?"

Naruto looked dumbfounded for a moment. He swiftly recovered, however, jumping up in the air and whooping.

"Yessss! Ramen! RAMEN! RAMENNN!"

"Naruto, you're gonna wake the whole village!"

Sakura giggled as they strolled down the street to Ichiraku's.