Dearest, Diary
Chapter 1: Red Snow

Knock, knock, knock. The sounds pounded on the door to Naruto's house.
"I'm comming!" The blonde haired boy dashed toward the door, his torso covered by a red sweater. He grabbed the knob to his door, and turned it quickly. As he opened the door, a crunching sound was heard. It was snowing outside at the moment, and Naruto was not pleased with opening the door, allowing the weather outside to enter his home. It was three o'clock, a bit warmer than a normal winter's day, but still below freezing to most people. A foot and a half of snow even covered the roads! This had better be worth it! Naruto groaned to himself. He looked outside to see the one and only Sakura Haruno standing right out on his door step, It's worth it! Inside of his mind was a rather large smile, and his door was instantly open all the way, his hands and chest now feeling hot, "Hey, Sakura! Didn't know you were comming!"
"Yeah, hey, Naruto!" She gave a grin, approving friendship, and allowing herself inside, "Mind if I stay in here for a moment? I need to talk to you about something."
"Absolutely!" He stepped aside. Sakura took off a large brown coat, revealing her normal choice of clothing, only her shorts were replaced with a pair of jeans,
"Thank you." She had responded. Walking inside, Sakura motioned for Naruto to follow they walked into his kitchen, sitting down.
"Pretty cold out." Naruto gave a tiny bit of small-talk. He entered the section of his kitchen and opened a cabinet, "Want me to make you a drink? Hot chocolate?"
"No thanks." Said Sakura, raising a hand and smiling, "Though, pack a couple of packets of the stuff."
"Huh?" Naruto tiled his head, "Sakura, what are you talking about?"
"She hadn't told you?" Sakura looked at Naruto, who only remained confused
" . . ." Naruto took a pause, "Um, could you PLEASE tell me what you're talking about?"
"Geez, give me some time." Sakura spat. Naruto took a step back in shock. What could he have done? "Sorry, but I thought Tsunade told you. We need you to pack a few days of clothes and food."
"Mission?" Naruto instantly assumed. Sakura nodded, "Oohh! What for?"
"Traveling. She wants us, and Sasuke (Naruto gave an annoyed twitch at his name) to take a trip to the Snow Country for some work."
"Shouldn't be too bad." Naruto shrugged, "I mean, anything to get out of this place at the moment is good for me." Sakura shot Naruto an annoyed look
"Naruto, haven't you been listening?!" She lectured, "I said SNOW Country! Unlike here, it's constantly winter and guess about the weather there!" Naruto moaned. He's had enough cold weather for the next five years or so
"I'll meet you by the village gates in thirty minutes . . ."

After giving a temporary good-bye to Sakura, Naruto had instantly dashed upstairs. Despite the cold, he was feeling hot again. He's been looking forward to adventure. He didn't care if it was bad weather for him to be outside, he didn't care for traveling once more with Sasuke; at least he was with Sakura. That's what mattered to him. Jumping down the stairs and out the door, Naruto was fully dressed in a jacket and an orange hat. A heavy backpack also trailed along on his shoulders, loaded with clothes, food, and supplies for the travel. Full speed ahead he approached the exit to the Hidden Leaf Village. A pink-haired girl and black-haired boy waited for him, one actually excited to go, the other couldn't care less that he was standing in such weather.
"Ready!" Naruto waved as he made his path, "So," He looked at Sakura, her attention focused on Naruto; and also at Sasuke, his attention setting at 'Attempting to give a damn', "Sakura, you know about the mission. How far away is the place?"
"Um," Sakura suddenly entered shock. Unknown to her, she had no idea where the Snow Country was! She looked down at the ground, attempting to dawdle
"One-hundred miles south-west." Sasuke chirped in, "It's a travel, but we might be able to get before tomorrow if we take our time." He placed a hand in his pocket and walked away, "Let's get moving."
Naruto and Sakura nodded. Sasuke jumped high into the air, his partner's following in suit.

Oddly to Naruto, he wasn't feeling cold physically at all. Perhaps it was the workout he was getting from the straight forward traveling. But whatever the case, it was a true workout on his part. The nightlight was shining, and the wind blew. But, Team 7 refused to stop until they knew it was a good point. You could hear the team panting from a block away, their lungs were working their best just to keep breathing. Naruto was particularly interested in stopping, even the littlest bit, just for a breath. Eyes and ears keeping his sences active, he heard some rustling. Could have been a bird, but there's such a thing as caution in the ninja world. Naruto sharply moved his hand to his right leg where his weapon pouch sat. He flipped open the pouch, and lifted out a kunai. With the knife infront of him, he felt a bit more secure as to what the sound could've been. He then heard it again, and looked to his right. Out of nowhere, three snowy owls flew out of a tree. Naruto let out a sigh of relief, but that was when he let his guard down. Landing on a tree branch, he slipped on a sheet of ice. He swung forward, and let go of the kunai. The blade was flung on a collision course- with Sasuke
"Sasuke, watch out!" Naruto immediately got back to his feet and yelled a warning. Before Sasuke had any reaction time, he fell to the ground, into a deep pile of snow.
"S-Sasuke!" Sakura screamed, jumping down to Sasuke's aid, "Sasuke, hold on!" She keeled down next to Naruto who had jsut arrived, "You ass, Naruto!" She gave Naruto a swift hit across the face, "The kunai hit him directly in the back!" She gripped the blade and slowly began to extract it. As soon as she finished that, she placed a hand on Sasuke's back as a faint green aura glew around her hand, "Here, the wound's temporairily healed, but not for long. Naruto, we need to get to a doctor and quick!" She motioned for Naruto to grab Sasuke. Naruto did as instructed, and grabbed Sasuke, holding him on his back after throwing his backpack to Sakura.

They dashed off, the Snow Country nearby.