Kishimoto owns Naruto.
*This has been edited from my original submission, to conclude this part of the story and allow for the sequel to stand alone.
*.*.*.*.*Snow Day*.*.*.*.*
*.*.*Snowball Effect*.*.*
*.*.*A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.*.*.*
- Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
Sarada crouched low behind the tree, her breath coming in quick puffs that bounced off of her scarf to fog her glasses. She pushed her glasses up as she scanned the area, eyes sharp. Something moved, and she quickly pressed her back to the tree, kunai at the ready, and her breathing measured and slow. She felt something begin to press on the gloved hand she had steadied on the tree. She whirled around, kunai glinting in the sun, to find Bolt, eyes wide with panic, flattening himself to the ground.
"What the hell, Sarada?!" he hissed in a whisper. "I'm on your side!"
"Then why are you sneaking up on me," she hissed back.
"I wasn't sneaking up on you," he narrowed his eyes. "I was trying to let you know I was behind you."
"Then why didn't you just let your chakra be sensed," she edged forward.
"Because Mirai and Ino aren't that far away," he clenched his teeth, pushing up until they were nose to nose. "And my chakra is really easy to spot, even in little bits. I have to keep it suppressed."
Sarada's eyes went wide. "Like your dad's," she said quickly.
"Yeah, like dad's." He peered at her, and a slow grin erased any sign of irritation. "You have an idea," he said smugly.
"Yeah," she said slyly. "We need our dads."
Inojin's ink bird fluttered back down.
"How'd it go?" Ino asked.
Inojin rubbed his head and blinked couple of times.
"Ok, I think," he glanced down at the map in his hands. "Can you read it?"
Ino grinned proudly. "Perfectly." She had been working with him and Sai to combine their jutsu styles. He could actually contain part of his consciousness in an ink creature and draw whatever the creature saw. His aerial view had allowed him to create a map, marking out the best route to get to the flag. Ino had already done a mind transfer to a real bird, so she knew his scroll was accurate.
"Alright – one for each of us," Ino said, unrolling two extra scrolls. Inojin's fleet of mice quickly copied the map.
"Remember," Inojin told Shikadai and ChōChō "I used Shikadai's code."
Shikamaru glanced at Ino and Chōji with a knowing and possibly smug gleam in his eye. The kids had come up with this idea on their own; the three adults were just helping them make it work.
ChōChō turned and looked up at the adults. "So how serious do you think these traps are?" she asked, arms crossed. "Like, 'ha-ha-you-got-dumped-in-the-snow' traps or 'we-aren't-playing' traps?"
Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all exchanged glances. Shikamaru calmly pushed away from the tree and sent the shadows winding into the forest. They watched as the very tip of the shadow just lightly touched what must have been a trigger. A massive but contained explosion ripped through the air, and the wind flew past them, knocking the two boys over. ChōChō looked up at her dad – who had caught her, and the two boys scrambled from out of the snow.
Shikamaru looked at them wryly. "Any other questions?"
Mirai looked up sharply at her mother, who in turn looked over to Gai.
"Tenten?" she asked.
"Sounds like her work," he nodded.
"She's gotten better," Kakashi said, rubbing his chin. "And she was already good to begin with."
"Have we decided on our attack?" Gai looked between them all. They all looked to Mirai.
"Your call, Captain," Kakashi said.
Mirai looked uncomfortable. "You guys are the Jōnin," she fiddled with a kunai. "I should be asking you."
"But how else will you blossom, youthful flower?" Gai asked, hand to his heart. "For us, it is just good to
be working together again."
Mirai looked between them all, and something dawned on her. She faced her mom.
"Back then…Dad was part of this team, wasn't he?"
Kurenai held her daughter's gaze steadily. "Yes, he was."
Mirai looked to each of them, something tugging at her. She never got to know her father – he died before she was born. She knew a bunch about him, though, and she knew how much Gai, Kakashi, and her Mom cared about him and each other. They had all been Genin together, and then later Chūnin and Jōnin. She took a deep breath. She had to make them proud.
"I'm not the Captain," she said, eyes bright, "But I am a Sarutobi. I say we get to the west boundary and go for it!"
"Yosh!" Gai punched his hand into the air. "Let's go!"
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "There's just one thing, Gai. How are you planning on getting over there?"
"Fear not, my eternal rival!" his smile became 1000 watt and blinding. "I have a most youthful solution!"
Temari was eyeing the monitors thoughtfully. This was actually turning out to be an interesting, well thought out exercise. It looked like each team really was letting the kids call most of the shots – helping them put their plans into play, rather than taking over. She blew on her hot chocolate and let the warmth slide down her throat and seep into her bones. She and Sai were discussing different tactical angles while Karui asked Yamato and the other Chūnin some more general questions – having not been familiar with the Konoha of her husband's youth.
Hanabi looked over to Yamato. "Can we see the moderators, too?"
Yamato looked up at the bank of monitors.
"Depends," he said. "Anko isn't one for hiding, really. She'll hang out and ambush but she isn't usually hard to find. Kiba tends to be on the move so he can be hard to pinpoint. Shino just…"
"Appears?" Hanabi asked wryly. "He tells me it is because he is generally overlooked."
They all exchanged glances at that one – they were used to Shino's laments of being ignored.
"What about Tenten?" Hanabi asked. "It's been ages since I saw her in action without..." she paused, and swallowed the comment 'Without her team' and instead said "Without Lee or Gai-sensei."
"Her traps are longer range," Sai offered. "She'll monitor the situation, but there is probably little need for her direct involvement, unless she actually plans on launching weapons at the teams." Sai looked to Temari. "Does she plan on doing that?"
"A gauntlet seems like her style," Temari blew on her refilled drink. "She will take the kids into account. I don't think we have to worry."
"So," Konohamaru clapped his hands and rubbed them together with a knowing grin. "Bets on who's gonna cheat?"
Everyone looked at him with varying degrees of confusion and interest (or in Sai's case, with a polite, blank smile).
"Oh, come on," he rolled his eyes. "Anko LOVES ChōChō – Kiba will happily do anything that makes Naruto or Sasuke grimace, Shino will help Mirai if he can," He looked over to the older shinobi. "I don't know about Tenten. Will she help Lee? Or Gai?"
"No," Temari shook her head. "Because they wouldn't want her to."
"Tenten will have the most fun making it difficult for all of them," Sai said, fake smile in place. "She has been experimenting with explosives more lately, and different kinds of seals for her weapons."
"Shhh!" Karui hissed. "Listen."
They all quieted as Yamato turned up the volume from the Moderator's communicators.
"What was that, Anko?" Kiba's voice came over the radio.
"I asked, if you guys want to mix it up a little bit."
"This can't be good," Yamato grimaced.
"Are you kidding?" Konohamaru beamed. "This can be GREAT!"
"What do you have in mind, Anko?" Kiba replied.
"Anything to make this less boring," she groaned.
"That is not necessary," Shino intoned. "Why, you ask? That is because considering the cast of characters involved, this will not remain a boring exercise. In fact,-"
"Shino's right," Tenten cut him off. "Just be patient."
"Yeah," Anko drawled. "I don't really do patient."
"There's the understatement of the year," Kotetsu chuckled, elbowing Izumo who clearly agreed.
"Besides," Anko continued. "This is a training exercise, isn't it? We've got to keep it educational. You know. For the kids."
"I'm pretty sure your wait is up, Anko," Tenten said. "I just saw a fleet of Bolt and Naruto clones henge and go flying into the forest. Shino, do you still have a bug on all of the originals?"
"Yes."
"Why'd you do that?" Anko asked. "It isn't like they are going to get lost, or anything."
"Just a precaution," Tenten replied, offering no further explanation.
"I just saw Naruto's team come through," Kiba offered.
"So did I," Shino replied dryly.
"Same, here," Anko mused. "Wonder what they are up to?"
"Um… guys?" Hanabi looked nervously at the monitors. "You might want to see this…!"
Everyone came over to the bank of monitors, where chaos had broken out.
"What the…!" Konohamaru's eyes were wide. "No way!"
Three or four copies of the Team 7+ Team Lee group came flying at each of the other teams engaging them directly. Traps were going off, kids were getting snagged in nets, minor explosions detonated throughout the entire training ground, and at least five Bolt clones were now climbing all over Kakashi.
The former Hokage batted one of the clones away unceremoniously, watching as it flew off of him, turned back into a Naruto clone, and was then dispelled by a kick from Mirai.
"Their chakra is everywhere," Mirai called out. "I can't get a read on who is who."
On the other side of the training ground, Shikamaru was helping Shikadai make his own net of shadows to hold the clone barrage in place.
"A team got away," Ino said, watching Inojin sweep the minds of the clones they had caught. "No telling if they were clones or originals, though."
"These are all clones," Inojin nodded to the assorted Narutos, Sasukes, Bolts, Saradas, and Lees and students in the shadow webbing.
Shikadai gave a nod, and closed the net jutsu, dispelling all of the clones. Chōji dropped back to not-giant sized, and ChōChō hopped off of his shoulder.
"Well, at least one of the teams has a map and is following it," ChōChō said. "So that's good."
"Assuming they don't know how to decode it," Inojin frowned.
"They don't," Shikadai shrugged. "Let's just hope that is the real team and they are headed the wrong way for the flag."
"Very clever," Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "A couple of those clones were Sasuke and Sarada's, but most of them were Naruto and Bolt's henged to look like the others. They sent a whole blanket of chakra signatures out through the forest, making it a waste of time to track their chakra signatures."
"We'd better get going to the flag," Chōji said, reaching into his pocket and opening a bag of chips, holding it so ChōChō could take a handful. "I think they are intentionally setting off traps, too, to add to the confusion."
"This is a bother," Shikadai sighed. "Guess we might as well hurry, though."
The monitors showed that several Naruto teams and the Ino-Shika-Chō trio were closing in on the wide clearing where the flag flew proudly at the top of one, lone, gigantic, tree.
"That was awesome, Sarada," Bolt rubbed his head, assimilating clones. "Now we know where everyone is, where the rest of the traps are, and no one is sure where we are!"
"I wish I had come up with as youthful a solution," mini-Lee lamented, "but I shall do my best to make sure we execute your plan to the fullest, Sarada-chan!"
"Thanks, guys," Sarada pushed her glasses up with a blush, and Sasuke looked sharply at the two young men in fatherly warning. (Which wasn't that much different than a 'make-one-wrong-move-and-I-will-end-you' warning.)
They all skidded to a halt at the edge of the clearing – a giant open area with a lone tree, dead center. At the top of the monstrous tree, the flag snapped boldly in the wind. They all surveyed the unfettered clearing surrounding the tree; it was completely still, save for the odd burst of wind that kicked up small gusts of snow. Random explosions in the distance aside, it was eerily quiet.
Sarada's sharp eyes snapped around the battle ground. "Open area," she muttered. "It will be a free-for-all."
"What are we waiting for?" Naruto asked. "Let's go!"
Sarada started forward, but stopped when her father's hand landed sharply on her shoulder. "Let the dobe go first," he muttered, and they watched three or four clones run forward only to either trigger a mine, slide on previously hidden ice, or run into something invisible and bounce off.
Narutro stood opened mouthed before narrowing his eyes at Sasuke.
"You saw it with your googly eyes, didn't you?" he asked accusingly.
"They are not googly, eyes," he ground out, "and yes. There are traps all over this field."
"But I don't see any," Bolt grimaced. "Can you see them all?"
"No, he can't," Lee said matter of factly, "Sorry, Sasuke," he added at the man's sharp look, "but Gai-sensei made a life-study out of figuring out how to counteract the Sharingan. Tenten set these traps, and I am sure she has used some of his methods."
On the other side of the clearing a detonation blasted an ink creature into nothing more than a spray of black snow.
"The other team!" Bolt cried out. "We have to hurry!"
They watched as Chōji rose to giant height, only to duck sharply. There was something preventing him from getting any bigger – some kind of canopy that would keep him from just walking over and plucking the flag from the top of the tree.
"Man, they thought of everything," Naruto whistled. "Anko is in on this, too," he looked over to Sasuke. "Make sure you are looking for sneaky snakey things, too."
"What do we do now, Papa?" Sarada asked, analyzing the battle field in her mind.
"We assess the situation," he said smoothly, "and then plan the best course of –"
"YAH-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lee's ears perked up. "That's Gai Sensei!"
"DUCK!" Naruto yelled, and either he or a clone shoved each of them to the ground. Something flew overhead, battering them with a barrage of snow.
"What the heck, Dad?!" Bolt sputtered, popping up from the snow. "What are you…. Whoa…
There, launched from the sharp slope of the hill above them to rocket into the sky overhead, was a gleefully bellowing Gai with a pale Kakashi clinging to the back of his wheelchair.
The wheelchair slammed into the ground about fifty meters away, immediately detonating an explosion.
"Sniff out the traps!" Pakkun called from Gai's lap. "Get us to that tree!" Kakashi's team of ninken surged forward, pulling Gai and Kakashi through the snow in a crazily zigzagging route and at breakneck speed.
"Did…did he…?" Naruto sputtered.
"Attach skis to his wheelchair and effectively turn it into a sled?" Sasuke asked dryly. "Yes."
"And are those…?"
"Kakashi's dogs pulling him."
"He looks like a deranged Santa Claus," Sarada muttered.
"We did mention," the amused voice came from beside them, "but there was no stopping him."
"Kurenai-sensei!" Lee shot up. "Why aren't you with –mphg!"
"Sorry," she shrugged, "but I can't let you get in the way of Gai's head start." Kurenai melted into one of the trees, leaving the others to struggle in her genjutsu of plant vines.
"Oi, Teme!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke. "You're s'posed to be resistant to all genjutsus! Get us out of this!"
"He can't hear you," Sarada sighed, looking at the small dart at the back of her dad's neck. "She must have launched that when Gai went flying overhead. It won't keep him down long, but-"
"Man, she's good!" Bolt laughed. "Is it true she even gave your Uncle Itachi a run for his money with the genjutsu thing?"
"That's what I heard," Sarada mumbled. She closed her eyes and tried to focus.
"Are you zoning out on us, Sarada?!" Bolt kicked his legs and wiggled his fingers, trying to break free from the plant vines wound around his middle.
"KAI!"
Bolt and the others crashed to the ground, and Sarada stood with hands on hips. "Dad isn't the only one good at getting out of these things," she huffed.
"Like mother, like daughter," Naruto grinned. His smile only widened when her mouth twisted into a carbon copy of Sasuke's signature smirk.
"Hn," Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck and plucked out the small dart. "Kurenai?"
"Yep," Naruto dusted himself off. "Time to get serious. Kage no bushin jutsu!"
A wave of Naruto clones appeared. "CHARGE!" Naruto yelled, and they went flying after Gai and Kakashi, taking out the traps and clearing a swath for them all to run.
Another series of traps detonated from the other side, and a geyser of ink splattered the snow.
"Looks like Inojin has the same idea," Bolt, grimaced.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Sarada asked, exasperated and already running after the wave of Narutos. "Let's go!"
Something admiring lit up Bolt's features as he took off after her, punching the air. "Alright!"
"It is time for our youth to flourish!" Lee declared, and his student's eyes widened as his master took off the insanely heavy layers of leg weights. "You, too!" Lee instructed. "Our speed will win the day!"
"Yosh!" they chimed together, and were soon running past Bolt and Sarada. "We'll scout ahead!" Lee called over his shoulder.
"Papa!" Sarada called. "The clones! Can we use your eye powers? Keep switching places with them until we are at the front?"
"No," Naruto's voice was firm before Sasuke could even answer. "We are keeping those kinds of powers out of this. It is up to you kids."
Sarada looked like she would pout, but Naruto continued. "Your Papa is still one of the fastest shinobi in Konoha – with or without his extra powers. Go ahead, you two – we'll keep the ruckus going!"
Sarada looked hopefully at her father, who had the barest hint of a smile on his face.
"Keep them busy, dobe," he said smoothly before hoisting Sarada onto his back and hurrying forward in the snow.
"We've got to protect our comrades, Bolt!" Naruto said seriously. "Our job is to hold the others off – are you ready?"
"Like I'd ever let anyone hurt my comrades," Bolt scoffed. "We'll win this thing, dad – believe it!"
Inojin soared overhead on an inkbird, but an explosion from one of the detonated traps incinerated the bird and started his free-fall.
"Gotcha!" ChōChō grabbed him tightly. Inojin looked up at her with surprise. "You got your chakra wings to work!"
"Well I can't have your sorry butt become an inkblot on the snow, now, can I?" she grumbled. She felt Shikadai's shadow tether wrap around them both and yank them out of the path of another explosion before bringing them safely to the ground.
"No more flying," Chōji said. "I think the traps were made to keep that from happening." He looked at his daughter proudly. "That's my girl."
ChōChō nudged her dad with a cheeky grin. "So is the game over when we get the flag or when we bring it back to the clearing?"
"The clearing," Shikadai said, bored. "Weren't you paying attention?"
"So why don't we let the sensei's deal with the other team and then get the flag from whoever gets it down from the tree?" she asked. "We're already between them and the starting point."
The adults looked at each other. They actually didn't have a counterargument to that.
"Inojin can keep sending ink beasties into the fight while Shikadai keeps it up with the shadows. Papa and I can go set up at that narrow part of the path – they have to pass by there to get back to the starting point – you can meet us there."
"That… that's actually a really good idea," Ino admitted.
Ino and Shikamaru did a mutual shrug then nod. Chōji already had his arm extended to his daughter. She fist-bumped him proudly, and turned to watch the fun.
Anko was sitting in one of the higher branches of the giant tree in the clearing. She looked up into the canopy, where she could see Tenten, and beyond where the flag flew several meters past her. "This is awesome," she beamed. "Your sensei sure took 'Dynamic Entry' to a whole different level.
Tenten gave a hint of a smirk, but her eyes were trained on the open ground. She was detonating some traps, and activating others. She actually de-activated several that could have caused serious harm, had they been triggered together.
"So who do you want to win?" Anko asked, curiously.
"Don't really care," she said absently, keeping track of her traps. "I just like to see a good skirmish."
"Well then, you are in luck," Anko snorted. "Although it doesn't seem like any of them are really getting any closer to the flag."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Tenten said cryptically. She pulled a bow out of a scroll and sent an arrow sailing over the heads of the others to sink into the snow. Seconds later, a series of small explosions began to move through the ground, forcing everyone to scatter and regroup. She kept this up for another ten minutes – this was a training exercise, after all – before letting the natural chaos resume.
"I like how you work," Anko chuckled.
"You girls okay up there?" Kiba's voice sounded in their earpieces.
"Are you kidding?" Anko answered. "We have the best seat in the house!"
"Incoming," Tenten warned, and she and Anko crouched on branches, ready to get out of the way.
"Hi, Tenten! Hi, Anko!" Bolt said as he ran past them and hurriedly brought down the flag. Stuffing it in his jacket, he ran back past them again. "Bye, Tenten! Bye, Anko!" he waved, and raced back down the tree high-fiving Sarada at the bottom.
"Looks like the race to the finish is on," Anko grinned wickedly.
"Looks like," Tenten shrugged. "You go ahead. I'm going to wait for them to clear this area and then disable some of the traps. I don't want to be stuck here all night doing it."
"Just set them all off," Anko rolled her eyes. "That's more fun."
"I still have plenty set to make their lives interesting," she said dryly. "You won't want to miss the last batch – they are between here and the start point."
"Then I will see you there," Anko's eyes sparkled with mischief. Tenten watched as she hurried her way down the tree and into the forest.
The sea of Bolts and Narutos, the Gai-Kakashi sled team, a whooping Lee and student, and a lighting fast Sasuke carrying Sarada, went racing back to the start point, and toward the Ino-Shika contingents of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
"Flag's been captured," Tenten reported to Yamato. "Looks like all teams are headed back to the start."
"Roger," he answered, and the line was silent again. Tenten leaned her back against the tree and took in a deep breath, listening as the ruckus moved farther and farther away and into the surrounding forest.
She flicked off her earpiece and took a moment to bask in the relative quiet.
"Yo!"
Tenten looked down to seek Kiba quickly jumping up the limbs of the tree to her level.
"What are you doing?" she asked, idly pulling out a few more arrows from her scroll.
"Checking in on my way through from my sector. Do you need anything before we head to the finish line?"
"I'm just going to dismantle the remaining traps," she nodded to the field. "It will save me time later."
"That's no fun," Kiba grinned, his fangs glinting at the corners of his smile. "You don't want to miss this ending. I'll come back and help you when we are done. Akamaru and I are fast at locating and dismantling traps."
Tenten weighed the option. She did want to see the rest of the skirmish, even though she had a pretty good idea about how it would go down and who would win.
"C'mon," Kiba's grin widened as his eyes danced with mischief. "You know Naruto isn't done doing insane Naruto-y things."
"Fine," she half grinned. She shot off three arrows in rapid succession. Setting off three different sets of explosions. "But if you cut out on me, you won't like the result."
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said firmly.
in the distance, a geyser of snow shot up in the air, and three or four Naruto clones went sailing into the sky before dispelling in puffs of smoke.
"Looks like they found the return-traps," Tenten's smile was creeping into something that might even be called smug.
"Return traps?"
"I activated them when they left this battle ground. It is a series of traps between here and the final point that weren't active on the way out from the start point."
"Sneaky," he grinned. "I like it!"
"Let's go," she kept her eyes on the forest head. "And, you might want to follow me, this time."
"Got it," Kiba nodded. "Ladies first," he swept a hand in front of him.
"Didn't I just tell you to follow me?" she asked dryly before running off.
Kiba smirked at the off-the-cuff quasi-insult before racing after her.
They were in time to see multiple Bolt clones with flags racing in different directions, trying to get past ChōChō and Chōji. Shikadai's shadows snaked around Bolt's ankles and shook him up and down until the flag fell out of his coat, only to be caught by Inojin's ink animal.
Bolt fell on the ground with a thud, dispelling.
"Oi!" the original Bolt yelled, shaking his fist in the air. "Shikadai! What are you trying to do to me?!"
But the usually slow moving Nara was with the rest of his team and racing for their base.
"COME, KAKASHI!" Gai boomed. "WE MUST GIVE CHASE! ALL IS NOT LOST!"
Kakashi's sleepy eyes widened slightly as the Gai wheelchair/dog-sled lurched forward. "I'll take the trees this time," he called, leaping on a head.
"We can't let them beat us, Lee-sensei!" Lee's pupil cried.
"LET'S GO!" Lee rushed forward.
"Just like the good old days, eh, Teme?" Naruto asked, running beside his long-time friend.
"Hn," was the only response Sasuke had to offer.
Blasts of snow shot up from nowhere, impeding their progress. Projectiles sailed, snares were set off, and geysers of snow continually scattering the groups as they charged through, racing to their respective forts.
"Get the flag up!" ChōChō said, taking a defensive position in front of their embankment.
Inojin hurried to get the flag up and flying and a cheer went up from the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
"Something doesn't look right," Shikadai frowned at the flag.
They turned when Team 7 let out their own cheer, flying their own flag.
"Hold up," ChōChō gaped at the flag. "We have the flag, don't we?"
"Nope!" a voice said cheerfully above them. The flag poofed into Bolt. "You fell for Sarada's plan!" The clone pulled down his eye and stuck out his tongue before dispelling.
"You mean they sent Bolt clones out to be captured with other-Bolt-clones-henged-as-dummy-flags?" Ino gasped.
"Wow," Chōji scratched the back of his neck. "That is really clever."
"Of course it is," ChōChō scoffed. "My girl's got game."
"Guess Naruto wins this round," Ino chuckled.
"I wouldn't count on that," Shikamaru nodded.
They all looked over to the third embankment where a flag waved proudly above Mirai.
Gai skidded to a halt in front of the sensei 'fort', Kakashi dropped lazily behind him, Kurenai materialized, and Mirai beamed.
"You came up with a great plan, Sarada," Kakashi said in his laid-back way. "Unfortunately, Mirai had already gotten up the tree and switched out the flags by the time you guys got to the clearing."
"What?!" Bolt sputtered. "No way!"
"Sorry," Mirai smiled. "But it's true. I was already back here with the flag by the time you started your skirmish."
"But that…that's..." Bolt fished around for a word. Cheating? No fair? Awesome? Brilliant?
"That's my cousin!" Konohamaru called out happily, coming out onto the porch. "Way to go, Mirai!"
Mirai beamed as the other moderators entered the clearing, Shino approaching Mirai with an unusually smug smile.
Mirai jumped down and gave him a hug before high-fiving Kiba, and fist bumping Anko.
"Nice work," Tenten said, watching the flag.
"You knew I was up there, didn't you?" Mirai asked.
"Yeah," Tenten shrugged, "but only because I was tracking the flag, too."
"I didn't even notice you come up the tree," Anko grinned. "Great job!"
The other teams came over to them, and the kids were now either openly or begrudgingly admiring Mirai.
Shikamaru's hands were in his pockets, but his slouched shoulders were a little straighter, and anyone watching could tell he was proud.
"Not bad, eh, Shikamaru-sensei?" she asked impishly.
"No," he shook his head. "Not bad at all."
Mirai soon found herself scooped up by Konohamaru, Lee, and Chōji.
"Three cheers for Mirai!" Gai boomed, and she was tossed into the air, laughing while everyone watched.
Above it all, the flag waved proudly over the new generation of shinobi, and the promise of a bright future for Konoha.
Later that night, worn out from the epic snow battle and the lantern lighting ceremony that kicked off the Winter Festival, Bolt was in bed and seconds from succumbing to sleep. In his last moments awake, a smug smile stole across his face, as he sighed happily:
"Best. Snow Day. Ever."
*.*.*Fin*.*.*
Thank you for reading, friends!