She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

The sun had only just begun to dip below the distant horizon, it's glow streaking the pink sky with orange, bathing the white covered streets of the village in a warm, golden light.

The snow crunched beneath her boots as she lugged the bags she carried up the stairs.

Stairs which seemed a bit more hostile now that they were covered by slick, icy armour.

She fumbled with the key for a moment before it found its home, and she pushed the door open as fast as her trembling arms would allow.

It took all hey willpower to hold the whimper she felt rumbling in her throat when she was met with a burst of warmth.

And by the sound of hushed swearing.

The Hyūga pushed the door shut behind her with a foot and looked to the source of the sound.

Dark hair and darker eyes, pale arms and baggy black pants.

A layer or two of white strips wrapped rather firmly around his abdomen and lower chest.

A patch of the same colour born upon his left cheek.

Sasuke sat cross legged on the carpeted floor, shooing away Kuro as he twisted and snapped and twisted and snapped the limbs of the white Christmas tree that he pulled from its box, piece by piece.

But Kuro only kept coming back, pawing at the box and the tree itself, while Shiro sat, dignified, on the bar.

She felt a smile starting to curve her lips, and was certain that he did, too, because his hands stopped and those dark eyes turned on her.

Hotter than usual.

"I tried to make tea."

He frowned, returning his gaze to the tree and continuing to struggle with it.

"You shouldn't drink it."