Up the slope of a mountain where the wind blowing was biting cold, Kakashi was lying down on the hard bare ground, his back leaning on a rock, his open silver eye looking up at the overcast sky. He no longer recalls at what point he lost his gloves, forehead protector and cloak. Exhaustion was taking over his body. He was drifting off to oblivion and knew he shouldn't. Not out here. Not in this cold.
He was on a solo mission to obtain some valuable information for a client he does not even know. All he needed was a sharp memory since there was supposed to be no written evidence about that particular mission. Any intelligence he can gather had to be transmitted back verbally and he was not supposed to leave any trace of being in that place where he gathered the data from. If done without any hang-ups, there was no need to actually harm anyone, no blood needs to be shed. That's why when he got detected by shinobi from the village he infiltrated, Kakashi fled as fast as he could. He was quite sure he had lost those who were pursuing him and he was quite sure those people do not even know what information he was able to get from their village. Still, he needed to get back to Konoha to report what he got.
He knew the risks of going on solo missions. No team mates or back-up (which to him also means no one to look after). One's left with his own devices. If you do not come back, you're considered a goner (which was easy enough to understand). It was the type of missions that are more suicidal. People may think only the truly brave shinobis have enough courage to accept those type of missions. He cannot object to that. But there's a difference when one preferred solo missions. To him, it was foolish and reckless. But then again, he prefers solo missions.
He mentally cursed himself. If he was half as good at protecting people than he was at killing then maybe... maybe she would be holding his hands because they were very cold. Maybe he wouldn't be in this desolately cold place that's draining all the warmth out of him.
From where he was, he could see the valley below. He looked down to the cluster of faraway houses with smoke rising out of their chimneys. He longed for a warm bed, a hot drink, a fireplace. He longed for the warmth of her smile.
Little white things started to float down from the sky. Snow. They rode the wind, dancing gracefully as they slowly fell. When they touched his face, he realized that his mask was down. He moved a hand towards his mouth, bit a finger to draw a drop of blood,dropped the hand back to the ground and summoned his ninja dogs hoping, to his surprise, that doing the technique won't kill him. It felt like he had just about reached his limit. But he still had the will to keep himself awake.
With a puff of smoke, all eight of his ninja dogs appeared. They immediately gathered around him, awaiting his instructions, worry showing in their eyes the moment they saw Kakashi's condition.
"Shelter." It was all he murmured. They understood and darted off at once to different directions with Pakkun and Bull staying behind to guard him. In just a matter of minutes, a howl was heard. Shelter has been found. Kakashi heaved himself up Bull's back and held on to the huge dog's spiked collar to keep himself from falling off. Bull went off to the direction of where the howl came with Pakkun following behind, glancing around the area and sniffing the air to make sure there was no one tailing them.
The other dogs had found a small empty cave, one likely used by animal hunters, enough to keep Kakashi out of the freezing cold. Once inside, he got off Bull, thanked his loyal canine friends and guards and curled up on the floor of the cave to rest his tired bones. One by one, the dogs found a spot beside and on top of him, to help fight off cold. And he finally let sleep take him down.
The first snow of the season. Rin was very delighted to be outdoors when it started.
She had just come from the neighboring houses where she spent the afternoon checking on some young ones and elderly people. She had become the person her neighbors would call for whenever they needed a remedy for any discomfort, be it simple cold or maybe broken bones. Sometimes, just having her for company was very much appreciated by everyone around.
She didn't show her ability to heal. She wasn't supposed to. Luckily, in that quaint little village, she never needed to treat anything serious. She needed to stay low-profile, just someone who knew a little about medicine, not a medic ninja from one of the biggest hidden villages. It's been difficult to be away from her own village. Sadly, she had gotten used to it. But there was still one thing that kept her attached to that place she was from. One person actually. And the snow... It reminds her of the color of his unruly hair.
Rin walked down the narrow lane that led to her humble abode, sat on the doorstep and watched as the tiny cold things slowly adorned everything with a touch of white. There's something about the subtlety of falling snow that she liked. Unlike rain that demands its presence felt by pelting everything with teensy-weensy water bombs and makes such a noise wherever it decided to pour, snow just quietly gives a frosty kiss whatever it lands on. Raindrops are too quick, just intent on reaching the earth that there's barely any chance to even say hello. Snowflakes, on the other hand, glide silently by, sometimes taking their time as they danced around before landing.
She cannot wait for it to have enough snow to make a snowman. Since her first winter in that place, she'd build a snowman on her yard, hollow out the bottom part of it and place a candle inside which she lights up once it's gotten dark. It's an activity that her neighbors had followed. And so on snowy nights, in that tiny village, hulking yet smiling snowmen served as sentinels outside the houses, candles inside them safe from the gusts of wind, the soft glow emanating from them lighting the way for anyone who happened to pass by.
Looking around her, she noticed that her surroundings now has a thin layer of snow blanketing it. From where she was, she can also see the lone mountain on that region, dark and looming. When winter comes and that mountain becomes snow-capped, she cannot help but be reminded of a certain masked guy with gray-white hair.
Rin realized her mind was wandering again. She sighed deeply and decided it's time to go inside. She started a fire, the room becoming brighter and warmer as she stoked more wood into it. Soon enough, she had also prepared herself some hot tea which she was sipping as she sat in front of the fireplace, covered with a blanket, staring at the warm yellow and orange flames as if hypnotized.
Snow continued to fall outside. Tomorrow she'll be making a snowman. Wherever that masked, gray-white haired guy she's thinking of was, she prayed that he's safe. And warm.