Chapter One: Snowed In With Nowhere To Go
It was snowing in Konoha. Missions had to be post-ponned and people were staying indoors. The snowflakes had been coming down so big they were practically already snowballs and had been going that way for almost three days straight and showed no sign of slowing.
The only good thing about the snow was that there was no fear of being attacked by enemy ninja. It would take more than Ninjutsu to get anywhere farther than your own front yard in this weather.
You'd have to be crazy to even try.
So of course, Naruto Uzamaki was determined to spend his free time with his friends. If only they shared the sentiment.
Sakura was attempting to spend her "quiet" afternoon working on her meditation and yoga poses.
She was sitting in the lotus position on a red mat in her room when a snowball hit her window.
At first, she assumed it was just an accident, probably some kids playing outside with their parents when it happened again.
And again. And again. And again.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. How long were they going to keep this up?
Finally she couldn't take it anymore and stood up with a frustrated huff.
She marched over to the window, he bare feet slapping against the wooden floorboards as she yanked the window open and stuck her head outside just in time for one of the offending snowballs to collide with her face.
She was so surprised she fell backwards and landed on her butt with a dull thud.
She blinked in stunned surprise and blinked ice out of her eyes as she brushed snow from her hair. She felt the familiar reflex to cry. She brushed that off as well. She was a ninja now, there was no room for her acting like a child.
Sakura finished dusting herself off and returned to the window, a little more hesitantly this time.
She peered around the corner to see a very sheepish looking Naruto staring up at her with a big guilty smile on his face.
His cheeks were flushed red from the cold. He had a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck that seemed to be much too big for him over his orange and black winter gear. He waved one gloved hand up at her.
Sakura blew her bangs from her eyes in annoyance.
"Come on!" Naruto called, cupping his hands on either side of his mouth. "If you come out we can get Saskue next!" Sakura would have denied him, but the chance to spend the day with Saskue sounded a lot more appealing than studying. Sakura had always loved snow anyway….
"Give me a minute!" She shouted back.
She turned away from the window and hurried around her room, changing into thick black winter leggings, her usual tunic, but with a long sleeved dark pink shirt underneath, a pair of dark brown gloves, and a red winter coat. Her mother forced a warm hat over her ears and a pink scarf around her neck on her way out before Sakura wriggled out of her grasp and escaped outdoors.
"Great!" Naruto said, upon her arrival. "Let's go get Saskue."
As was to be expected, the young Uchiha wasn't all that pleased with snowballs pounding against his window. When he looked out he could see Naruto and Sakura waving at him. He rolled his eyes.
Half of him was telling him to ignore them, close the curtains, and pretend he hadn't seen them. But, the other half of him, the one that had been more prominent lately, the half of him that allowed him to talk to his friends, told him to open the window.
Which he did although the other half of him was still nagging for him to ignore his friends. Did this count as a split personality disorder?
Before he could think about it anymore he was about to open the window when a particularly hard snowball that probably consisted of more than a few clumps of ice and rocks smacked the glass before him.
Cracks spider-webbed across the panel. Okay. He did not want to know which one of them had thrown that. Whoever it was had just made snowballs a lethal weapon.
He tugged the window open and dodged another death-ball. "What are you two doing?" Sakura blushed, Naruto just grinned up at him.
"Come outside!" Sakura called. Saskue brushed impatiently at his bangs. "Why?" Naruto scowled. "Because there's nothing better to do? And you like spending time with us?" I'll by the first one. He thought irritably. "Fine. But you're replacing my window!"
He didn't wait around to see their excited faces. Although Naruto was grimacing about having to pay for a new window.
When he opened the door and stepped into the snow Sakura wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "What are you doing?" He exclaimed. He was about to push her off when she detached herself on her own.
Her cheeks were flushed scarlet but whether that was from a blush or the cold, Saskue wasn't sure. Maybe both.
Sakura settled for pulling at his black gloved hand. "Come on!" He allowed her and Naruto to lead him across the red painted bridge where they always met Kakashi-Sensei and into a snow filled meadow beyond it.
Instantly, Naruto began rolling up a huge snowball. Saskue watched as Sakura joined in by helping to push the ever growing snow boulder. Eventually they seemed to realize that their third teammate hadn't followed their example, because they both looked up.
Naruto's orange mitten waved in front of Saskue's face. "Hello? Saskue? Are you in there?" Saskue swatted his friend's hand out of the way. "Back off, loser!"
Sakura frowned. "Saskue? Don't you know how to build a snowman?"
Saskue did his best attempt at a scowl but it turned into more of a pout.
"Of course I do!" A faint blush dusted his cheeks. "I just haven't….done it in a while."
"Well when was the last time?" Naruto questioned. Saskue sighed and found something very interesting to look at on a nearby tree. "I-I can't remember.
Naruto and Sakura stared owlishly at their friend. Naruto burst out laughing. "Naruto!" Sakura scolded. "Leave Saskue alone!"
Saskue scowled, but the truth was, he was embarrassed.
"Sorry, sorry." Naruto apologized, although he was still chuckling.
Sakura was a little more sympathetic. She placed a hand on Saskue's shoulder. "Come on." She placed a snow ball in Saskue's hand. "I'll show you." Saskue would have protested, but his dominant arguing half won over and he let her show him how to roll the snowball in the snow until it grew big enough.
Then the three of them lifted the snowball onto the one Sakura and Naruto had already made. It only took Sakura a few minutes to create another smaller ball to use as a head for their snowman.
"There." Sakura said. "It looks great." Naruto handed her some black pebbles to use as eyes. She pressed a carrot into Saskue's hand. "Here" she said. "Use this for the nose."
Hesitantly the young Uchiha stuck the carrot where the snowman's nose would be. Naruto added a smile of black stones under it to act as a mouth.
The three of them stood back and gazed at their work.
"It's missing something." Naruto said. "Any ideas, loser?" Saskue questioned. "It needs a scarf or something." Sakura suggested, she began to remove the pink scarf around her neck when Saskue put his hand on her arm. "Wait."
He unwound the blue one he wore. He looped it around the snowman and tied it in a knot so it wouldn't blow away.
"Perfect!" Sakura said. She smiled at Saskue and he returned it with a tiny one. It was a poor excuse for a smile, but Sakura would take it.
Suddenly, a snowball smacked Saskue in the back.
He whirled around, hand instinctively reaching for the kunai in his weapons pouch. Then he saw it was just Naruto, who was tossing a snowball up and down in his hand with a grin plastered all over his face.
"Oh you are so dead Naruto!" Saskue's eyes flashed red with the Sharingan in a silent warning. He gathered snow in his hand and shaped it into a ball. "And trust me, I know how a snowball fight works."
Naruto did the smart thing.
He turned, and ran.
As the two boys chased each other around, Sakura watched with a fond smile on her face.
When she had first been put in a group with Naruto Uzamaki and Saskue Uchiha, she had never really thought about how their relationship as a team would develop. Now she could see that they had become friends. And she was relieved.
A snowball colliding with her shoulder pulled her from her thoughts.
Naruto grinned sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his head. Saskue tossed her a snowball which she caught easily. "Wanna get him?" Sakura was shocked for a minute, before she broke into a smile. "After you."
"Guys!" Naruto exclaimed nervously, backing up with his hands up in the universal sign for surrender.
"It was an accident!"
Sakura and Saskue exchanged looks. "Get him?" Sakura questioned. "Get him." Saskue agreed and with that they charged.
The snow didn't stop falling until almost a week later when everyone got snowed in at Naruto's house, but that was a story for another time.
A/N: Hey guys! This is my first time writing something for Naruto! What do you think? Any suggestions for future chapters are always welcome and don't be embarrassed or shy, any ideas are great! I'll write about any of the things in the summary. And if you want I could branch off into a few other things as well I guess. Please review!
