Winter's Fate

Chapter 1

Naruto took a deep breath, wrapped his blue scarf tighter around his neck and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets before exiting the train station. The expected blast of freezing air hit his face with unexpected force and caused his eyes to water. This winter had been rather mild so far with only cold air and light flurries, but that was about to change. A snow storm warning had been issued for the weekend and right on schedule heavy snowfall began to descend with temperatures already dropping.

He buried his face deeper into his scarf and blinked a few times to clear his eyes. There were only two city blocks between Naruto and his destination, but he suddenly wished he had a car. He remembered that conversation he'd had with his parents back when it was warm and the world wasn't trying to kill its occupants with frigid weather. He'd argued that he lived in the middle of the city with everything close by and public transportation readily available should he need it. If the sun hadn't forsaken him, he would have walked to work like usual, but he was only human, and it seemed humans were created to be easily killed off by the cold should they prove to be too much of a nuisance.

Shivers ran down his spine as he walked, and the pockets of his grey fleece-lined coat seemed to have no effect on his poor frozen fingers. He pulled a blue hat out of his pocket and put it on his head to help warm his ears which had turned red from the cold. The matching gloves did nothing to stop the wind from going right through them while his hands were out so he quickly returned them to their rightful place in the pockets at his sides.

While he hated having to walk in the cold, he loved his job. Being a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, or ICU, was a dream come true. He was at the city's largest hospital, which kept him on his toes with all sorts of people with all sorts of problems coming in every day, and he got to help those that needed it the most. Living in the city close to his job had its perks, lots of entertainment, a variety of restaurants to choose from and a nice walk to work every day, but all of those perks were gone with most restaurants and entertainment places closed for the storm. The hospital only remained open because it was needed and there were people, such as Naruto, who were either seriously dedicated or stupid enough to come to work despite the dangerous weather.

Snow was beginning to pile up and Naruto was suddenly thankful that he'd invested in the thick thread sole boots on his feet that kept them dry and warm. He picked up the pace when the revolving doors of the brick hospital came into view, passing the City Hospital sign on his way in with familiar ease. Freezing and tired, Naruto strolled in the door to be greeted by his colleague, Ino Yamanaka. Her long platinum blonde hair was tied in a high ponytail and she wore a long-sleeved black shirt underneath her usual purple scrubs. She could be hard-headed and stubborn, but even she wasn't immune to the cold.

Ino, a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, was one of Naruto's best friends. They were the same age and were sometimes mistaken for siblings. She was petite with platinum blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, whereas Naruto had lean muscles and short spiked blonde hair that looked like bottled sunlight. His deep blue eyes were reminiscent of the ocean and his sun-kissed skin contrasted her pale complexion easily. Still, they really were similar enough to be related, both just as loud and opinionated as the other.

"Hey, Naruto! I see you made it in today. It's a bummer we got called in on our weekend off, but with this storm coming they want to be prepared."

"I don't mind coming in, it wasn't like I was doing anything special this weekend anyway," Naruto smiled as he brushed off the snow lingering on his coat.

Ino sighed heavily, "Well, maybe we can hang out next weekend. We could catch a concert or something. I hear Imagine Dragons are performing and I know where we can score some tickets." She spoke conspiratorially, as though her ticket source was a secret.