Snow was rare in the Land of Fire, at least in Konoha. They had the same seasonal shifts as the rest of the continent, but they were far more mild than other countries. It snowed every few years in Konoha, but even then there was never much accumulation and often melted before the afternoon.
This year was clearly the exception. A series of storms over the last few weeks had dumped nearly two feet of snow on the ground. The temperature had stayed rather low, so the snow didn’t melt off right away. The first day the young children had been out on hastily constructed sleds; then as the snow accumulated the older children and teenagers had come out over the week. The beginning of the next week had brought many adults out into the deepening snow.
Sakura wanted to enjoy the rare weather, but she didn’t want to look like a child out frolicking in the snow. Most of her peers were busy training or doing missions these days so when she asked around, only Lee, Ten Ten and Ino were available. Lee and Ten Ten weren’t interested in enjoying the snow as much as using it to train. That left her with Ino.
She and Ino had grown closer during the time they spent training as medical ninja, they’d even grown friendly. Since Naruto returned, both of them had been pretty busy, so they hadn’t had much time to get together casually. Even when they did have a few hours where they could hang out, Ino often had plans with Shikamaru and Choji. Sometimes Sakura thought that Ino was avoiding her, but the two of them were so busy that she couldn’t confirm her doubts.
She was a little surprised when Ino agreed to come play in the snow with her, but really pleased. She spent a few hours digging through her clothes to find a cold weather outfit from one of her foreign missions. She pulled them out and beat the dust out of them before donning the thick woolen pants and large puffy jacket. When she walked outside to find Ino leaning on a building across the street and discovered that the girl was wearing similar cold weather gear.
She pulled on a hat and her gloves while she walked across the street to greet Ino. “Not many people are in the forest because the snow in there is all drifts.” Ino said. “We could go there and not be disturbed by the kids and the adults.”
“Okay.” Sakura wrapped her arm around Ino’s. “So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. This is the first time that we’ve had this much snow in Konoha. I don’t know what to do with it. I guess we could make snow angels or something.” Ino answered.
“This is only the second time I’ve seen more than four inches of snow in my life. I wonder how it is to live with the stuff. It must be beautiful all the time.”
“It might be, but I don’t think I’d want to. I like the winter flowers that we get, if we had snow all the time the flowers wouldn’t grow. I think that the life of the flower is much more beautiful than the cold white blight of snow.”
“I guess you have a point. We can have both though.”
“No, once snow freezes the plant it dies and no more grow until the next winter unless we get another gold snap. Though we get to see the flowers all the time, and it’s fairly late in the season, so the snow is a nice treat. I don’t think it’ll stick around long after this. The weather reports say that it’s supposed to heat back up.”
“Good thing too, the stores and kiosks’ have been closed since the snow began. Old man Ichiraku spends a lot of time playing with the kids now. Yesterday he crafted a giant bowl of pork ramen with the help of a bunch of junior academy students in front of his shop. I think he’s going stir crazy.”
“Doesn’t surprise me, he’s such a weird old man. He gets along with Naruto so well, don’t get me wrong, Naruto is really admirable, but he’s still pretty strange.”
“Yeah, that’s just a mark of greatness. I mean look at Kakashi, he’s pretty strange too.” Sakura chuckled.
“We could make snow sculptures like that though.”
“What would we make?”
“I don’t know. Something simple but elegant, like a dog or a cat.”
Ino giggled at her, but didn’t make an unkind remark. They were nearly at the entrance of the forest, so the hubbub of the town was fading quickly. Inside the forest they could hear people moving around the trees and generally having fun, but there really weren’t that many. When they stepped into the forest, a snowball came flying at Ino’s face. Luckily Sakura pulled her out of the way, so it smashed into the ground behind them.
“Hey!” Ino called. Lee poked his head up from behind a tree and Ten Ten dropped from the canopy of one of the larger trees.
“Sorry, Ino!” The two of them called in unison.
“We’re having a snowball fight! It’s fun, keeps us active and trains us to dodge and use improvised projectiles!” Rock Lee exclaimed.
Both medical ninja were taken aback. Both of their comrades were dressed in their normal clothes, but neither seemed to be showing any sign of cold fatigue. When questioned they laughed it off with a quick explanation that if they kept moving they wouldn’t get cold. It forced them to adapt to moving quietly in a snow covered environment.
“We’ve learned a lot already. You want to join?”
Sakura and Ino looked at one another before they grinned. “Sure.” Answered Ino.
“But only if we get to be a team.”
“Oh, that’s great! We can practice tactics as a unit now.” Lee agreed. Ten Ten shrugged.
“Okay, I’m down for it.”