~Chapter Thirty-Four~

Winter sat lotus style on her couch, a couple pieces of paper spread out on the coffee table in front of her. She pressed her fist to her mouth, examining the letter for any sign of fraud. The words had been had written with a swooping pen, the ink smooth and standing out against the white paper.

There was even the small heart after the writer's initials, something another person wouldn't have thought of doing. If the contents of this letter are true, then Winter had a lot to think about and not that much time to make a choice. Her eye skimmed over the letter once more, the words already imprinted into her mind.

Why now of all times?

She had just gotten used to staying in the Leaf Village again, had found her happiness. And now she might not be able to stay. How would Inazuma take this? Her chest tightened and her throat closed slightly, how would Naruto and the others take this?

Rubbing her temples she gets out a sheet of clean paper, spinning the pen around her fingers before starting to write. Her mind was set and she knew that in the long run this was the right choice for her, even if she might regret it at first.

So in the early rays of morning light Winter set out to make her choice, a choice that'd change her life.

***

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

Their cries echoed along the rooftop of the hospital, Sakura dashing forward. "Stop, stop it!" Her shout was lost as she continued to run. The two male Genin were dead set on defeating the other one, each having their respective powerful Jutsu in their hand. The chidori chirped loudly while the rasengan whirled with energy. The sizes of the two jutsu were not the size you'd use for a friendly spar, and this energy was what caught the girl's attention as she left the Hokage's office.

Seconds away from hitting one another with their jutsu, a black and red blur appeared in between the two. Steady hands gripped their wrists as Winter flipped and threw them into the water tanks on the roof top, her hair drifting down as they hit the metal hard. They gasped slightly, the breath knocked out of them but that didn't seem to matter so much when they caught a glimpse of the look on Winter's face.

Her visible eye was narrowed in barely concealed anger, glinting darkly. Her mouth was set into a straight line and her hands curled into fists as she straightened up, her jaw clenched slightly. As she set her sights on the two boys they cringed back slightly into the metal, gulping inaudibly.

"What were you two thinking?" It was her voice that made them hesitate the most, the fact that it was a calm tone. Much to calm the two realized. "You never ever fucking aim a jutsu that kill at a teammate."

Their faces paled at her choice of words as she stalked forward, Sasuke wrenching his fist out of the metal. "I don't care if they pissed you off, if they made you sad or if they asked you to do it. You never do that, understand?"

"Tch, why should I listen to you?"

Slam.

Winter presses her forearm against Sasuke's throat as she pins him against the chainlink fence, making it rattle violently. "Because if you do that again..." She leans in closer towards his face and whispers into his ear softly. "Then you'll be dead to me." She lets go staring at him evenly. "Do you understand?"

He scoffed and jumped off, anger flaring up inside of him when he saw the full effect of Naruto's jutsu. And so he ran off, frustration and pent up energy brewing inside of him, Kakashi following him.

Naruto cautiously steps down onto the roof looking at Winter, "Winter..." She shakes her head and starts to walk towards the edge of the building, "I'm not in a rational state of mind right now so find me once I cool down." With those words she leaps onto a different rooftop, dashing along the shingles until she vanishes out of sight.

A hand lands on his shoulder making him jump and look to the side finding Inazuma Kuro standing there. "I think it's time you completely understand what happened to Winter." She states looking down at the blonde. "But you are not allowed to repeat this information to anyone, do you understand?"

He nods and coughs as she teleports them to a training area in the woods, a soft breeze encircling them. The Jonin leans against a tree and Naruto sits down paying attention to her every word.

"I first found Winter two, almost three, years ago while I was helping Iruka out with a class on a field trip. Neji Hyuga was the first to think that something was amiss and so I went deeper into the woods to check it out. That was the first time I saw her. She was a disaster, a little girl covered in dirt, grime, blood and leaves as she stumbled along. I was still wary seeing how I could sense a wild amount of chakra in her but I did recognize the headband she held clutched in her hands.

The symbol was three diagonal claw marks, the official headband of a Storm ninja. That was when she collapsed, so I scooped her up and ran back to the village after informing Iruka that I found an injured girl. She was in the hospital for a week before managing to be fully healed, during this time the Hokage informed me and a select few ninja which were mostly Anbu, that she was an Ookami and was most likely the last Storm Ninja alive.

This was to be kept a closely guarded secret for her life could be in danger if any Shadow Ninja found out of her existence before she managed to learn how to defend herself. However there was still the possibility of one or two other Storm Ninja being alive, meaning we kept an eye out just in case.

She came up with an alias, Winter, and was sent to the academy for a year. She was a put a year ahead because she was at that level. Over the next year she trained hard, and I was her guardian so I watched over her. During this time she became very close with two twin brothers name Ryu and Riku, both hailing form a powerful yet small clan. Eventually they all moved in together into the cabin she lives in now, thinking of each other as family.

It was no surprise when they became a team, and it wasn't a shock that I became their sensei either.

The next year was spent doing teamwork exercises, missions that were usually D rank with the occasional C rank, and the three trying to perfect this Ultimate Jutsu that required the three of them to do. I had seen them use it once and it was very impressive though it wasn't quite complete.

So one day, about five months or so ago, I got assigned to an S Rank mission. I obviously couldn't take my team with me so I gave them the week to do whatever they wanted in the village while I traveled to complete my mission.

Supposedly they worked on that jutsu day and night the entire time I was gone, but the day of my return was when everything went wrong. I am not stupid, I know that I have enemies out there that want my head, I know I have a bounty on my head even if it's not a super big one. But not once did it cross my mind that they'd target my Genin team."

Naruto's eyes grow wide and he stares up at the purple haired Jonin. Her eyes flicker with sadness and she pauses before continuing, her voice bitter.

"The three were all very promising ninjas, their strengths and weaknesses being balanced perfectly in that team. Ryu and Riku were both prodigies in their own right, Winter being a paradox and always managing to come out on top with her strategies. But none of them could take on an S rank criminal and his followers.

By the time I got back they'd been gone for a half hour or so and Winter... poor poor Winter, she summoned her fastest summoning to take them to the hospital and thought they were still alive when she woke up. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, to tell her that they had passed on. She was in denial for a while until she broke down, that was the night of the thunderstorm many were surprised about.

Winter was the cause of the storm, her sorrow and sadness so great that it influenced the weather. She started training every single minute of the day, not stopping to rest unless she passed out. Yes, she did grow stronger, but she also locked away her heart and herself behind steel walls so high most didn't bother to try and climb over them.

We took on missions together, helping keep the other out of the darkness. But then she was finally reasigned to your team and well, you know what happens from there."

Naruto blinks in shock, soaking in all the information. "Naruto..." Inazuma crouches down in front of him, "Do you know why I told you all of this?" He shakes his head slowly looking at her. "For three reasons." She holds up one finger, "Reason number one, because you were the first person that managed to get behind those great walls of hers."

She holds up two fingers, "Reason number two, she is going to be going through a lot in the next couple of years and she's going to need someone to watch out for her, to support her even if you don't approve of what she's about to do."

She finally holds up three fingers, "And the third reason must be kept a secret from Winter at all costs, understand?" He nods, his face serious. "I am a ninja, I go on missions and I put my life on the line almost every day. It is inevitable that I will die. And when I do, not if, when then you need to be there to be someone Winter can confide in. It doesn't matter if you find out I died later on, but I just need to know that there is someone looking out for her."

"Can you do that for me?"

He nods and smiles at her a little sadly, "I promise!" She laughs softly and ruffles his hair before standing up. "Good, now why don't you go find her? I bet she's cooled off by now and eating at a restaurant called Suki's." He hops to his feet and dashes off yelling behind him, "Thanks a lot Inazuma!"

"Now, do you want to explain why you were eavesdropping on our conversation?" The black haired Genin walked out, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Is the reason she got so mad at us, because she lost her teammates then?"

Inazuma turns around and looks at Sasuke Uchiha. "That is a big part of it... the only small portion was the fact that she was scared for your well being. She may not show it but she cares about you two quite a bit, as well as the pink haired girl on your team."

He scuffs his shoe on the ground and looks at her, "And you believe you might die soon?" She walks forward and taps his right arm, "Oh yes, and I know how... it might not be apparent to others but I'm a very observant person so I notice little things. I wish I could change the future but even I will not mess with the fabric of time."

"Until we meet again... Sasuke..."

So I wrote this chapter instead of writing my essay for school, so feel special! (though let's be honest I'd much rather write this than work on summer homework... this is just so much better)

Fun( eh not really ) Fact: After Itachi deflected from the Leaf Village he went to visit Winter only to find the Storm Village in ruins.

Also thank you for almost 800 votes!