*Hands you a box of tissues*

Here you may or may not need these.

*Shrugs and walks away*

~Chapter Thirty-One~

"Die!"

Winter's yell is very straight forward and blunt as she dashes at the two women, her face contorted into one of anger. Her moves were smooth and her fighting seem to be on a whole other level, which made sense since she was near the source of her power. But Hakuei wasn't the leader of small village for nothing.

Misaki lay in a pile of growing blood off to the side, the only sign that she was alive was the rising and falling of her chest. Lighting sparked around Winter as her hands firmly grasped the blade of a sword once belonging to a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Her visible eye was darkened with bloodlust and sorrow, her pent up emotions spiraling in a downwards motion; out of control describing her perfectly.

She swung the massive blade with precision, the edges of Hakuei's hair being cut off and drifting down to the ground. Their weapons clashed, sparks generating as metal grinded against metal. A horrible screeching noise was produced and the two were swept off their feet, flying back several feet from the force.

Winter snarls viciously as Hakuei staggers to her feet, ignoring the approaching chakra sources. "Poor little girl, never strong enough to save anyone." Hakuei hisses brandishing her spear, "Your mother, your father, your older brother, your old teammates, your clan and even that worthless pink haired girl."

"Shut up!" She screams dashing forward and swinging the head cleaver like a maniac. "Ah I hit a nerve did I?" The woman smiles cruelly, "I bet that they are all disappointed in you. In fact once I kill you here why don't I visit the Leaf Village and pay your sensei a visit? What is her name again? Oh yes Inazuma Kuro."

If Winter had snapped before than she had gone over the edge, lighting striking closer and closer to the two. "You'll die before you ever get the chance." She hisses un-summoning the blade and crouching, her eye narrowed into a slit. Her shoulders hunch forward, her left leg spread out in front of her while her right leg was bent. Her entire body shuddered before relaxing as her gaze locks onto Hakuei.

The woman stiffens as the dark haired girl stares calmly at her, too calmly. Her hair hangs tangled around her face, blood dripping all over. Her hands curled into fists and a feral smirk settled on her lips. She looked wild and dangerous, like a predator about to kill its prey.

Sprinting forward, the ground cracks underneath the sheer force that Winter puts into her kick as she hits Hakuei in the jaw making the women's head snap to the side. Her staff clatters to the ground snapping in half when Winter steps on it. Leaning down she grips Hakuei's throat in her hands, her eyes cold.

"Winter!" Her back stiffens and her head slowly turns to the side, shock flashing through her at the sight of Sakura and Sasuke sprinting up the mountain towards them. "Sa...kura?" Her grip loosens slightly and Hakuei gasps for air. "But I saw you, you were dead." She murmurs confusion making her drop her guard.

Hakuei bolts up and grabs Winter's hair, bringing her head down so their eye's were level. Hakuei smirks as her eyes flash pink, a sick feeling settling in the pit of Winter's stomach. "Let's see how much you lose it, when you realize you're the reason your friends are dead." Her whisper is oily and smooth, a hint of sadistic laughter detected as Winter's body shudders and her eye starts to glaze over.

The two genin skid to a stop, wariness flashing over them as they watch Winter swing her head towards them. Her visible eye was glazed over, lighting still flickering around her as she slowly walks in their directions. Hakuei's smirk grows as she flicks her wrist lazily, "Kill them for me dearest." Winter's body shudders and she stares blankly at the two. "After all they're the reason your brother is dead."

This seems to snap Winter out of her daze, a low growl rumbling in the back of her throat. "They're Shadow ninja?" Even her voice had changed to a hollow, marionette tone as she stares at them. "Yes dearest."

Her body moves jerkily at first, as if she's a little kid getting used to running, before she appears in front of them within seconds. This close they can see the slightly hint of pain in her eye, the only sign that she was fighting whatever control Hakuei had placed over her. Sasuke moves to block her moves as she tries to punch the shell shocked Sakura, wincing as lighting races up his arms and shocks him.

He is pushed back a couple feet and he flips out a few shuriken making Sakura gasp quietly, "Sasuke..." "Think Sakura, this is Winter. She'll dodge them." He murmurs throwing the deadly objects. Hakuei laughs, "Nah I think I'll let them hit her." Winter's muscles tense as if she's about to jump but she never does, the weapons meeting their mark.

The horror is apparent on both genin's faces as they stare at the woman. "I don't care what happens to the Ookami anymore, I just want to see her suffer." She hisses venomously, "Then when she dies the world will finally be free of the monsters that clan produces."

"Winter isn't a monster you old hag!"

An orange blur dashes between the two genin, punching the woman in the jaw. "She's a hero, a shinobi of the Leaf village. If anyone's a monster it's you!" Naruto Uzumaki screams as his shadow clones descend upon the woman who was too shocked to move. "She may not be the nicest person at first but I've never met someone braver or more loyal than her!"

Winter falters as Hakuei screeches, "Kill them all monster!" A jonin level ninja jumps down in front of her, his pervy book tucked away safely. "Ah I'm afraid I won't let you do that Winter. Don't worry I'll just give you a very good workout, not lethal weapons needed." His eyes close as he gives the unresponsive girl a closed eyed smile, hiding the worry he felt when he saw her state. "Kakashi sensei!" Sakura shouts in surprise staring at the silver haired man.

"Sorry we're late you guys, I'm afraid Naruto and I got lost on the path of life... and also got lost on the mountain."

"Don't think that these are your comrades monster! These people killed your family, your clan and your late team! In fact they also killed your sensei..." Winter's back stiffens as images flash through her mind of the mangled bodies of her loved ones, swallowing harshly when Inazuma's body joins the growing pile.

"Ina... ane*?" Her voice was small and broken making the Leaf Village ninja visibly wince at the tone, sadness flashing through them. "She's alive Winter, she's waiting for you at the village." Kakashi consoles, trying to break through to the girl who didn't appear to recognize any of them.

"You guys killed... her?" The wind picks up once more as a tear shimmers in her eye. For a split second everything appears to go dead silent as that single tear falls from her eye before her expression turns murderous. "I'm gonna kill you then!" Thunder booms as she sprints towards Kakashi, an image of him chidoring Inazuma through the heart swirling through her mind.

She was too confused, too lost, too sad and too broken to try and sort out her thoughts. She was shattered into a thousands of pieces and wasn't sure that anyone would be able to put her back together, not even if they worked piece by piece.

Kakashi fought with the black haired girl, doing his best to try and wear her out. She was a fierce fighter and grew even fiercer when she lost control of her emotions. The tear stayed suspended on her pale face, a taunting reminder of her breaking.

That was what made Naruto snap.

He was mad. First of all he had somehow ended up hurting one of his first friends, someone he had grown to care deeply about. Wither his feelings where platonic or not it didn't matter, he hurt his friend so this woman was going to pay. Then came the fact that she called Winter a monster multiple times, something he had been called before. He would not stand by and let his friend suffer any more. So he did what he first thought of, the first thing that popped into his mind, a total 'in the moment' thing.

He kissed her.

Not on the lips, but on the forehead, a simple and sweet action. He then wrapped his arms around her despite her struggling to get away, ignoring the shouts of his teammates and sensei. "Winter I know you're in there! You have to fight it, I know you are strong enough to beat this old hag. I am so sorry for saying all those horrible things to you, I've been a bad friend but I'm not going to sit back and let you destroy yourself. I know you're beating yourself up on the inside, that you want to break free.

And you can. I know you can. You have all of us here, team Seven is here for you. Kakashi is here for you. Inazuma is waiting for you to return and Lady Tsunade as well. Neji, Tenten and Lee are waiting for you. Heck I bet even Gai is waiting for you. So are you going to keep on blaming yourself or wake up and snap out of it?"

Her struggles ceased to exist as she slowly relaxes in his arms. "You once told me, in the middle of the night no less, that giving up wasn't in your blood. Do you remember?"

Yes, she remembered that conversation. She'd had a bad dream and woke up, staring blankly at her wall for a bit. Finally she'd gone on a walk through the village and started training, punching a tree until her knuckles were raw and bled. Naruto had found her, said he woke up because he felt as if something was wrong.

By then Winter's knuckles were worn down so much he could see part of the bone. It worried him immensely and when he'd finally convinced her to stop punching the tree he'd asked her, 'Why didn't you stop when it started hurting?'

She had looked at him for the longest time before answering, 'Because giving up isn't in my blood.' He took her to the hospital, got her hand healed and they had an involuntary sleep over wearing their matching sleeping caps.

It was a bittersweet memory, something she cherished.

She took a ragged breath, her voice coming out scraped and horse. Her entire body was limp as she stared at the blonde haired boy's shirt who was still hugging her, her arms slowly lifting to encircle him. She hugged her friend loosely before her grip suddenly tightened as the tear dripped down onto his shirt, her eye clearing.

"Naruto?"

Question: In the sequel [which will be set during Shuppiden era] would you guys like to see a tiny bit of romance? Like pair Winter up with someone? If so let me know, and also let me know who you think she'd be a good match for. It could be almost anyone [but I'm not going to do someone a lot older than her like Kakashi for example] such as anyone from Naruto's graduating class, Neji, Lee, Gaara, hell even someone from the Akatsuki.

Also this little ark that I added in is coming to a close! Hope you guys are excited cause some justice is going to be served... 

* ane means older sister in japanese