Written for Day 16 of Sakura Month: Snowball Fight

One of at least three playfighting-in-the-snow stories I'm writing for this event. . . Yesterday's, today's, and a no-pairing with the genin Team 7 (which'll be up on the 21st).

"Hey, Sakura!"

Sakura looked up, though her hands were busy doing something out of sight, and Naruto grinned at her. Then he winged a snowball directly into her face. Sasuke winced, ducking a bit, even though he was far out of range of any rebound spray of snow or sloppy aim.

Sakura went completely, alarmingly still as the snow slowly sloughed off her. Sasuke pressed himself lower behind the bulwark of snow he had been using as cover and edged even further away from Naruto. He did nothing but laugh brightly, one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other hand pointing at Sakura's now-snow-speckled face as he stood straight upright in a patch of snow with zero cover.

Sasuke's lips twitched towards a smile. Some things changed - most things in his life had, really - but in so very many ways, Naruto was never one of them. It was almost reassuring really.

Although another thing little changed in the decade and more since they had first been assigned to a team together. . .

Sakura roared, rising from the snow and throwing up a veritable fountain of it on either side as she exploded out of her position and dove for Naruto. His laughter choked off with a squeak a split-second after she started moving and he yelped as he scrambled to move out of range, but found himself driven straight back into the snow with Sakura on top of him, yelling.

Sakura's temper.

Sasuke laughed softly as he made his way over to them. Past the first explosion Sakura's angry yelling had gentled a bit, interspersed with laughter and teasing as she scrubbed snow into Naruto's already - always - unsalvageably mussed hair. If anything, Sakura was perhaps even fiercer than she had once been, though she was also steadier than when they first trained together, all so young. More confident in herself - and in them - and thus harder to shake.

They were all steadier now, thankfully.

Sasuke eyed the pair, now in the depths of a hole that might have been carved down not only through the snow but into the dirt beneath as well - Sakura took a little less care with holding back her strength when the only ones around were Sasuke and, perhaps especially, Naruto. A further moment of contemplation, looking down at them, then Sasuke huffed and jumped down as well. He landed on Sakura's back, making her squeak even as he quickly stretched out on top of her, crushing her between his body and Naruto's.

Naruto tossed his head, clearing some of the snow out of his face, and laughed as he met Sasuke's eyes. They both ran their hands up Sakura's sides, caressing, tickling, and looking for ways in under her clothes to stroke cold fingers over her bare skin. She shrieked and thrashed as they succeeded, her face flushed, but she was trapped too well to get away quite so easily. Sasuke shoved his hand down under the waistband of her shorts, splaying his fingers over the soft flesh of her bare hip beneath.

Letting out a sharp yip, Sakura elbowed him in the throat, but the blow neither threw him off her nor cracked his windpipe, so Sasuke figured she didn't mind too much. He nipped the base of her neck and laughed softly as she squirmed again and lightly punched Naruto in the shoulder, making his grin widen. "You two are awful!" Sakura scolded even as she settled a little between them, her smile bright when she glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke.

He arched an eyebrow and shrugged minutely. He hadn't exactly ever argued against that accusation. Naruto whined a denial and Sasuke eyed him, then looked up beyond his lover's head. He reached up to knock loose a little snow promontory, sending it cascading down onto Naruto's head. He spluttered under the snow and Sakura burst into laughter, her whole body shaking with it.

Sasuke hummed, nose nudging into her now-messy hair, and his fingers curved thoughtlessly around the delicate slope of her hip. Sakura pushed up into him, probably by instinct, her butt nudging firmly against his hips and. . .

Sasuke should probably disentangle himself - all of them - before too much longer; he did not want to have this reaction half buried in a snow bank.

Sakura flashed him a knowing smile as he began to move away. She caught him with a hand knotting in his hair, dragging him in for a quick, hard kiss. Sasuke stilled immediately, one hand braced and sinking into the snow by Naruto's shoulder, and returned it with a low moan and a fierce heat of his own.

He vaguely felt Naruto squirming under them both, and a little more clearly heard him whining, and broke off with an amused snort. Sakura hummed curiously, sounding a little distracted, and Sasuke arched a brow and tilted his head down towards Naruto.

Sakura glanced at him sidelong and then giggled, slipping out from between them with a teasing stroke over Naruto's belly where his jacket and shirt had ridden up. He bucked under the touch, but Sasuke couldn't tell if it was in reaction to the cold or just an attempt to get closer to her.

Then she was gone and Sasuke was sinking down to rest across Naruto's body. He shifted his left hand - his bones ached from the cold of the snow seeping into them - and cupped Naruto's head, bowing his own for a demanding kiss.

Naruto arched into him, one leg curling up and over Sasuke's thigh to hold him close - not that he had any intention of pulling away, not just yet - and bringing both arms up to wind around Sasuke's shoulders. He was thoroughly chilled from their time out here in the snow, but his mouth was warm and eager. Sasuke purred softly as he tipped his head and deepened the kiss, shifting one knee to let himself sink a little lower against Naruto.

A soft rustle half caught his attention, but Sasuke pushed the thought aside, determined to enjoy-

Sasuke jerked, throwing his head up with a sharp curse as Naruto yelped, their bodies squashed together even more from the weight of the snow Sakura must have just thrown down on them. "Sakura!" Sasuke bellowed, struggling to disentangle himself from Naruto, still holding him close with both arms and one leg.

There was a soft giggle and Sakura peeked over the edge of the well of snow, down to where they were sprawled at the bottom. "Come on boys, that's not how you win a snowball fight!" she teased, and was gone before Sasuke had freed himself enough to throw a handful of snow upwards, damn her.

"We get her?" Naruto questioned, eyes sharp and mischievous, pulling himself into a crouch almost pressed against the nearest wall of snow.

"We get her." Sasuke agreed, eyes narrowing. He moved to dust snow off his pants, but most of it was already soaking in, melting. He was horribly chilled and he was going to spend at least an hour in the bath tonight. And his lovers had better make it up to him for getting this cold in the first place. He looked at Naruto again and gestured, signalling a formation.

Naruto frowned, cocking his head, then nodded, returning with a couple of signs of his own. Sasuke considered, then agreed to the suggestion.

"I'm waiting, boys!" Sakura teased, and Sasuke looked up. Sakura wasn't slow, and she would definitely have set up something to ambush them when they emerged, knowing they had only one path upwards from where she had left them. He pursed his lips, thinking, but Naruto only charged upwards without apparent care.

Sasuke sighed - Naruto - but followed him. It was only Sakura, not an enemy nin trying to kill them - and he was already soaked and chilled through, how much worse could it get?

A barrage of snowballs somehow caught Sasuke in the face, neck, shoulder, and side as soon as he sprang out of the hole, and he hissed angrily as he leapt higher. Naruto was sprawled in the snow nearby, a snowball having apparently caught him just right to knock one leg from beneath him as he landed.

Sakura was nowhere to be seen, at least not immediately, despite the vivid colours of her hair and dress and the stark monochrome of their surroundings. Naruto hauled himself up as Sasuke landed nearby, shaking off the snow and remaining on the ground only briefly before bounding a little higher, away from the deep hole they'd been trapped in. Sasuke growled, scanning for any sign of her in the snowy field or the branches of the trees surrounding the training ground.

The first sign he had of her was when a snowball slammed into the back of Naruto's head, sending him stumbling forwards. Sasuke whirled and threw the one he'd had half-concealed in his palm, but only barely tagged the hem of Sakura's dress with it as she darted away, laughing. "Too slow!" she called, taunting.

Sasuke lunged, diving into a run straight for her, and she paused to strike a pose, waving to him and then blowing a kiss. Sasuke snarled, making her laugh again even as she took a step back, turning to flee. Sasuke smirked as he skidded to a stop right in front of her, not even trying to take her down.

Sakura froze, eyes widening, and almost in the same instant let out a startled whoof as Naruto sprang out of nowhere - probably the same cover she had been planning to dive back into herself - and yanked her down to roll in the snow. Sakura kicked wildly and then punched him in the side of the head as they rolled over and over in the snow, Naruto laughing the whole way.

Sasuke retreated and set up another low wall to shelter behind, peeking at his lovers - still caught up in their scuffle - and then taking a little more time to make a more elaborate shelter, with a couple of angles. He wished faintly that he had any skill with snow jutsu, but unlike Sakura, who had picked up some while helping with the hospitals in the Land of Lightning, he'd never really had occasion to do so. Nor had he yet been able to sneak copying Sakura's, though he knew if he asked she would likely let him.

Perhaps not in the middle of a battle waged across a snowy training ground, he thought wryly, packing a few new snowballs, but in general.

He looked over the edge of his fortification again and smiled, lightly tossing a snowball in one hand, then scooping up another couple in his free hand as he moved for a better angle. He did aim for Sakura first, hitting her with a snowball to the shoulder and another to the lower back as she tried to get out of the most obvious line of fire, but he also caught Naruto at the back of the neck with one.

Sasuke laughed as Naruto spun to make a rude gesture at him. "No sides!" he called back, loud enough to be heard over Naruto's ranting. "We agreed!"

"We did." Sakura said from right behind him, and Sasuke spun to see her smiling winningly. He flinched. He had stopped keeping track of her - he was used to watching multiple opponents, of course, in any weather conditions, but he was so used to having his lovers at his back, on his side, that it was difficult to bring himself to the same level of awareness when facing them. "I have a plan. . . Want to hear it?" she coaxed, crouching beside him.

Sasuke eyed her warily, then shrugged and nodded. Sakura grinned, resting a hand on his shoulder and sliding a little closer, both of them shifting to watch Naruto and keep him at bay with a steady staccato of snowballs. Sakura quietly outlined her plan as they kept moving, choosing different places around Sasuke's hastily-built fortification.

"We'll have to call the battle after that." Sasuke pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura snorted indelicately. "Like you're arguing against that? We're all cold and wet and you like it the least, Sasuke. We'll get him good and proper, then get ourselves back inside to warm up." She pressed against his side, sliding a hand up his back. "And maybe we'll all squish into that biggest bath together; sharing warmth is the best, you know." She fluttered her lashes. "You can warm that bath for us, right?"

Sharing warmth was best for surviving cold temperatures, but Sasuke doubted it had any bearing when submerged in hot water. Not that he was going to argue. "Yes." he agreed, and kissed her lightly. "Get him; I've got the backup."

Sakura grinned and nodded firmly, and they shot off in opposite directions. Sasuke was a little more cheerful even as he burrowed down into the thick snow - getting himself even colder and wetter in the process - thinking of the biggest bath in the Uchiha bathhouse, full of steaming water and with both his lovers joining him. For that, he could push through rather more snow, wet, and bitter cold.