Five Times the Snowy Fun

Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?:

Snowball Fight!:

Winter Wonderland, land of winter and wonders. And cold, bloody hell was it cold. "By Raijin, it's freezing out here" the Drunken Storm softly spoke under his breath as he made his way through the snowy streets. With each step he took, the Raikage left a crunching sound underneath his feet, prints of his boots marked in the ground. The black armor of Darkened Skies Mk II protected his body and face, both from the harsh temperatures as well as being recognized, allowing him to explore the area unhindered by any means. However, that was until a group of children reached out to him, asking for his help with building a snowman.

Snowman One: "Alright kid, what's your name?" the Kage spoke out, his voice distorted through the mask. The young boy introduced himself as Bobby, hoping to build a snowman that looked like a superhero from one of those comic books people liked to read nowadays. "Hm, let's get to it, no time to waste". Ichigo would let the child form the base and lower parts while he started creating something that resembled a cloak, completely made out of snow. A couple of finishing touches here and there and the first snowman had been successfully made. On to the next one.

Snowman Two: "And who might you be?" he asked a second time. The child was named Timmy, wondering if Ichigo could help with creating a snowman, similar to Santa Claus himself. "We'll need quite a bit of snow, Santa isn't in the best shape". He would begin by repeating the same process from earlier, the only difference being instead of a cloak, he would opt for a white beard completely made out of snow. A big belly, an equally sized nose and a pair of glasses carefully placed on the top which was supposed to be the man's face. "There, all done". Three more to go.

Snowman Three: "Your turn" Ichigo softly addressed the young girl standing in front of him, going by the name of Brittney. The child quickly explained how she wanted to build a snowman, one that made her think of this one boy that kept following her around, listening to everything she said. "Ah, you've got yourself a little fanboy". This time they didn't need that much snow, at least not compared to the two previous ones. Making quick work of it, the Kage aided the small girl, creating a snowman that resembled her boy friend in a way as close as possible. Third one, done. Almost there.

Snowman Four: "Let me guess, Zayne?". Not that hard to figure that out, considering the boy had his name written on his shirt, probably in case he got lost. Not the brightest out of the bunch, that one. "You want to build a bird? Oh, you mean a plane, sure". Not what he expected, although he could hardly be surprised given how the boy had been acting so far. A challenge, but Ichigo would make the best of it regardless. "Close enough, don't you think?". The two of them hardly needed any snow to create what the boy was hoping for, but in the end the only thing that mattered was that the child had fun. On to the last. 

Snowman Five: "You must be Mason". Finally, the fifth and final one. And what the examplar it was. "So you want to build your dream girl?". It appeared love was in the air, not just snow. The boy tried his best to describe his crush to the best of his abilities, the Kage paying close attention and listening attentively in hopes of creating the next best thing, a female snowman in the spitting image of the girl next door. "Don't fall in love with this one, she's not real after all". If he couldn't win her heart, the kid would always have her snowy version to remember her by. 

(WC: 653)

OH, what fun! The snowy province of the winter wonderland was an absolutely delightful change of scenery for Ikazuchi Hozuki, who went by Yukihime in the Red Light District. It was funny how her family always had a penchant for taking on different names besides their own and subjugating them to be their ‘true names.’

Perhaps it was because it ‘came from man’, and she could see it in her time living and watching from her mother’s shadow. Their mother was more brood mother than anything, and her penchant for utter dominion over ‘man’ seemed so organic and natural. Her sisters were too young to remember being a part of the tribe, but Yuki hadn’t forgotten because she had burned the memories she deemed ‘important’ to her. The ones her mother pushed for since before the twins? Yukihime was her mother’s heir and was the pin-cushion for all of her mother’s hopes, dreams, and wishes and her teachings. Their native tongue poured out of their mother’s mouth was warmed honey. Even if the language did not sound appealing, the words, if anyone could understand them, would be just as sweet and honeyed- and overwhelmingly detrimental to one’s health in large doses. Not only that, she watched how her mother worked men because- quiet as it was kept?

Yukihime was not born to the same father as her sisters, but they all came from the same woman.

Where was Yukihime’s actual father? Dead. Outside of the village, in the tribe, their laws and rules were different. Men had little to no rights and were meant to be ‘seen, not heard.’ They were property.

So no one batted an eye when U’DaKai lost her temper and crushed his skull in with her bare hands over a petty argument. No one questioned her. Question U’DaKai? One of the tribe’s “shining pillars of morals and code,” their “templar of excellence,” their “dragoon of ideals”? Absolutely the fuck not. No, the tribe just came together and quietly stepped up to dispose of the body in god-knows-where. They omitted him from the records. The tribe claimed she had never married, and Yuki stayed at the family home until U’DaKai selected her Father. Thankfully he took her on and raised her equally with her sisters; that did come, but now was not the time for any of that- now was the time for snow.

She had seen it before, but it was so much more different in person. It was cold and fluffy but also plush. Giddily she continued down the pathways in this merry place that was bustling with life. Families going in and out of stores with happy children. Parents go into shops to try and get the toys their children want without their knowledge. Then there were the parents keeping their children from going into stores or trying to wrangle them from having their temper tantrums at a full-blown level. It reminded her of her own sisters when she played surrogate mother to her twin sisters and tried to calm them as they had their own childish meltdowns. However, here in this land, she was looking more along the lines of something to do.

She saw someone helping a group of children build snowmen and went over to watch a dark-haired man help the children each make their own snowman to their own desires.

For the first snowman, she overheard the boy introduce himself as ‘Bobby’ and wanted a comic-book-hero-based snowman. Yuki smiled as she watched the man struggle to work on the order after the child made the base of the snowman and the lower parts of the snowman. Then he made something similar to a cloak and added it before moving on to the next snowman.

For the second snowman, this child introduced themself as Timmy and asked for a snowman that resembled Santa Claus. Once more, he did his best to start with the base and the initial type of snowman then began the additional requests. The man proceeded to use snow and add on a white beard, then a massive and rounded belly, a large nose, and a pair of glasses.

For the third snowman, it was a young girl named Brittany who wanted a snowman in the form of- someone who followed her around and did everything she said. Yukihime was expecting her to be exaggerating because clearly, it was a stalker or maybe a dog rather than a person, but then she was proven wrong when the man began to make a snowman. In the form of a young man that seemed similar to a boyfriend rather than whatever she was describing.

Up next, the man worked on a fourth snowman for a small boy named ‘Zayne’- his name was easy to know of since it was literally labeled on his shirt. Clearly, the boy was loved by his family since they labeled him so they would not lose him, yet she couldn't see any adults around him that she could identify as parents. The child struggled to decide on what they wanted then they began to just play in the snow and have an excellent time under the attention of the snowman-making man that…clearly, the child was not getting at home.

Finally, she watched the man speak to another, and the last child was identified as Mason, who requested a snowman by made in the image of their female crush, which seemed… to have been done already with a prior child. Did they love each other? Maybe this child was the one stalking the other female child, and Yuki wondered if this was how love stories were made- by mutual stalking and one side feigning servitude. When they finished, Yuki smiled and giggled to herself before leaving.

Perhaps she could have done the same with her siblings in the past if she had the opportunity but thinking about it now- that was probably not an option. Given now that one of her sisters was dead and the other one was…well… beginning to take on their mother’s more vindictive and less desirable traits.

Either way, she scanned the area and noticed a group of children eyeing her suspiciously and she raised an eyebrow then she noticed something. The children kept eye contact with her, but they were aware of bending down and began to grab snow in their hands before they began balling it up. Patting it together and then set it aside and she blinked a couple of times. Were they- making snowballs? While staring her down? It was bold and brave at the very least, but two could play at that game, and she knelt down to the snow and began her own assembly. She didn’t break eye contact with them as both sides seemed to be spending time making their own snowballs, but she took a bit of extra time to round hers out into better-made spheres. She was ready, and she was outnumbered by four other children.

Yuki paused when she had made her pile of snowballs, and then they did. There was a long moment of silence before she grabbed one and saw a couple of the children each grab a snowball, and both parties rewound their arms. “Nothing personal, kids.” Yukihime would say from a good ten meters away, and one of the kids yelled,

“Get the old lady!” Before they started throwing their snowballs at her. Thankfully their aim wasn’t the best, their accuracy was laughable, and Yukihime had practice on her side from years of throwing things at her siblings. She tossed one snowball, pelted a kid in the face, and laughed as he hit the snow, and his teammates looked at him in horror-

“Snowball fight!” Yukihime yelled excitedly before she continued her blatant assault on these young children.

[ WC: 1300 ]

Claims:

Approved

Isaribi didn't find this wintery landscape particularly stimulating. Oh, to be sure, old people could talk on and on about nature, and the value of being outdoors in such weather like this, blah blah. But the sun in the sky told Isaribi that this was the dawn of a new day, and she'd be damned if it wasn't HER day. Besides, there were other reasons why she preferred the bustling, densely populated village to this shithole. If she was going to die anywhere, it was going to be in a village, surrounded by people. Even if those people didn't know she was there, she didn't want to spend her last seconds bleeding out miles from others.

She looked down at the checklist she'd scribbled down, and decided to get started. This whole snowball fight thing sounded like a huge pain in the ass, but she started rolling up some ammunition anyway. Fuckin' kids, always getting underfoot and whatnot. The most annoying part was, of course, that she could probably stay hidden from them, but risked getting attention from the other shinobi in the area. Meh, forget about it, removing their sight was definitely the best option. With a few practiced handseals, Isaribi turned invisible and got to work building invisible snowmen. It wasn't hard for her, at her level of training, to turn living beings invisible, which meant that turning non-living shit invisible was even easier. So it was no surprise that the snowmen she fashioned here were completely unseen as well, though no doubt people could see the tracks she made as she trudged through the snow, rolling up these giant snowballs to use in the construction. Maybe the invisibility wasn't such a good idea after all. Oh well. At least nobody from her part of town was around to watch her engage in these frankly embarrassing activities.

A snowball nearly missed her, and she turned, activating her sharingan as she did. She resisted the urge to go over there and yell at the kids to look out where they were throwing shit, but instead decided to roll up a snowball of her own and lob it, underhand, into a slow arc through the air. It fell with a splat on one of the brats' heads, and Isaribi had a silent chuckle has she watched the kid look around bewildered before joining the fray again. Stupid lil' fuck. Isaribi turned around and got back to work.

In her part of town, parents tried their best to keep kids from playing in the snow, and she, of all people, had the common sense to listen when they spoke. During the winter, the badlands got cold, REAL cold, and during wet years, snowfall blanketed Hoshigakure. As a village that had only recently seen the arrival of heavy industrialization, a lot of the snow in certain areas of Hoshigakure was became contaminated. Black spots on snow, chemical stains on white flakes, so on and so forth. The first few years, it wasn't so bad. People just sort of tended to ignore the problem, as they did when it didn't bother them personally.

Even when children started dying, people didn't really give a shit. Kids had been dying for years, gutted by shinobi or disappeared by the church, or whatever else. The phrase that encompassed all the worlds evils, "children are dying", was something only invoked by the rich and powerful, by the movers and the shakers, when it was THEIR children who were dying. And so it was in Hoshigakure, When the death rate started to tick up in the upper class neighborhoods, the outcry started to appear in news media, and on the outraged faces of councilmen.

She didn't remember reading anything in the paper about it at the time, mostly because Isaribi couldn't fucking read. Nay, that was entirely the reason. While she was still struggling to understand her own lambent, latent anger, the big brass in the marble halls were debating what to do with all the dirty snow. In the end, deals were struck and it was decided that the snow would be disposed of, in the middle of winter. After all, waiting too long would be as pointless as just leaving it there to begin with, so disposal would have to be done promptly.

The week after, the great and mighty awoke to find that the tainted snow around industrial centers had been swept and carted away, by a new task force. Jobs to the impoverished, and cleanliness to the city. Sounded like a pretty good deal, right? Everyone thought so, too. Then, suddenly, symptoms started appearing among the very poor. Now, her kind weren't educated, not often anyway. But that didn't mean they were stupid. Pretty quickly, folks started figuring out what had happened, and it horrified them, though it didn't necessarily surprise them.

Indeed, the village had decided to simply dump the snow into poorer neighborhoods. Piles of the filthy, frozen stuff now cluttered areas that the rich didn't even want to acknowledge existed, so therefore it was nobody's problem. Nobody who was real to them, nobody who was human. The dehumanization was a sting to the gangs, who tried to devise a process to rid themselves of the snow. When simply pushing it back across the street failed, due to suspiciously new municipal laws, they tried melting it, which worked at first, but started to have... disturbing consequences. The water froze over, causing roads to become more dangerous, but more importantly, it seeped into the soil and the often faulty mainlines, causing even more poisoning.

At their wits end, the local gangs turned to the Jaws of Grima, who possessed ninjutsu users. With jutsu that affected water, snow, and flame, they gradually removed the tainted snow, though at a great cost. Though the Jaws didn't represent what the people there wanted, they had to accept their help. After all, the shinobi were too busy waging a covert war against various enemies, the council was the cause of all this and the church certainly was no help.

Where could they turn BUT the Jaws? So, in the end, they ceded power to an extremist group of terrorists, because the village had left them no good alternatives. Because the Jaws could save them, no matter what they had to pay to do it. Because for people in their situation, there were no easy choices. Sometimes, you just had to make a bad decision and just move forward, and never look back. Fuck the choice, fuck the past, and fuck the people who forced you into a situation like that. Put your head down, keep going, and get them back when you can, however you can. That was how things were done, for her, until she entered into the Jaws and directed her rage more effectively. To this day, though, snow still carried that connotation of death and sickness and humiliation.

She wasn't particularly proud of what she'd made, having more practice with wood and brick than with this slush, but it was serviceable. Well, for her purposes, anyway. She could imagine Baliquis facepalming at what she probably considered to be a sloppy result. While Isaribi herself was typically more driven than this, she was growing to genuinely hate the snow. Cold weather was all very well and good, but snow was a whole other matter entirely. With the last snowman built, and her interest in further snowball fights utterly squashed, Isaribi was happy to get the fuck out of there.

Claims:

Approved Isaribi's claims

Winter snow had much versatile potential for being a natural production of this time of year. They are a beautiful source of poetry, writings, and novels. They are a great source of water for the ecosystem that can be stored and used during spring when it melts into life bringing water. They are a natural cover for some animals too, with white pelts that allow snow to be a source of a home. But, strangely enough, when it's wet and sticky humans have made an interesting source of snow. Fun.

Jun took full advantage of the fun aspect of snow. Ever since she was little, her family would go out and shovel since they weren't able to farm during that time. Grandpa and her father would turn the chore into a game, chucking massive snowballs at themselves and Jun. The adults had a size advantage for a long time, meaning Jun had to use her speed to get the heads up on them. Grandpa always teased her that it was those snowballs fight growing up that helped her become a great shinobi. Unfortunately, as they've all gotten older, games have happened less. But that didn't stop Jun from trying every once in while.

It was warm in Winter Wonderland, a magical place full of snow and winter cheer. The warm sun would make the snow sticky enough for a massive amount of fun potential. Jun knew it and so did the kids in Winter Wonderland. The perfect recipe for the chaos of winter.

By the time Jun got to the town center, the largest open area filled with thick snow, children were already starting to make snowmen. The Raikage was judging a couple of the kid's creations. It was pretty funny to see a massive man criticizing and helping kids with their snowmen.

Jun needed to get in on the action. There was a group of really small kids that were working together to make a massive base for their snowman. Jun came over and helped them get a couple more good rolls in before they needed to get the torso of the snowman. The kids laughed and giggled as they rolled the ball of snow in small bursts before falling over and having to change after the growing snowball. Jun would help them get the torso and then the head onto the base snowball. By the end, the snowman was about 6.5 feet tall. Jun had to actually toss the head on top of the snowman to get it up there. They all cheered and hugged the massive snowman. One kid even had small buttons to use for eyes and a mouth. Because the head was so wide, the snowman ended up with a tiny face. They named him "Jeff," one of the names Jun suggested.

Just as Jun was admiring their work, a snowball smacked into the snowman's head. Luckily, since the snowman was very bulky, and didn't get knocked over. Jun turned around to look at who threw the snowball. A group of kids was making a bunch of snowball ammunition. Some of them were already using the balls to get the attention of the other kids. Jun devilishly grinned as she noticed that this could turn into an interesting game. She instructed the kids that she helped make much smaller balls for ammo while she set up a fortress wall for them out of snow.


WC 569

The cold would warm his heart, quite contradictory yet that didn't make the statement any less true. Battling it out in Winter Wonderland through nothing more than a simple snowball fight never sounded so appealing, a nice change of pace and perhaps even a getaway from the serious shinobi world where only war and politics mattered. After spending a couple of hours building many different versions of a snowman, one more unique than the other, it was finally time for Ichigo to engage in a little bit more action. "Alright kids, don't hold back". One against five, this was going to be interesting.

Snowball Fight One: "Don't underestimate me" his voice would boom, the Raikage lowering his body in a crouching position as he grabbed some of the snow nearby. His eyes would lock onto a target, the first victim of the battle already decided. Ichigo charged the chakra in his right arm, allowing the energy to crackle along the bone until it concentrated on his clenched fist before firing it by throwing a punch in the direction of one of the children in his line of sight. "Bullseye!". The snowball hit the boy right in the face, the impact so big it made him fall over with his back on the ground. One down, four more to go.  

Snowball Fight Two: "Close, but not quite". The second target decided to try and take matters into his own hands, launching a snowball in the Raikage's direction. Hardly impressed Ichigo activated his core, a spherical area of effect spreading around his body. The physical barrier successfully blocked the incoming icy projectile as it soon fell down on the ground harmlessly. "Try again" he provoked the child, causing him to lose control of his emotions as he threw another, only this time Ichigo decided to redirect the snowball right back where it came from, hitting the boy right on the nose.

Snowball Fight Three: "You're next" he spoke with a smirk on his face, pointing at the young girl a couple of meters in front of him. It appeared this one couldn't wait either, gathering some snow before launching it in his direction. Little did she know Ichigo had something interesting planned for her. The moment the snowy projectile left her hand the Kage immediately pulled his arm towards himself, causing great sundering in the atmosphere around them. The result? The young girl crashing into her own snowball before it could even reach him. "What can I say, I'm full of surprises". Almost there.

Snowball Fight Four: "Same strategy as the others?" he sounded surprised, yet in a sarcastic manner. This time as well another child thought they could catch him off guard by going on the offensive, alas. Simply swiping his hand he destroyed the icy projectile the second it came into contact with his arm, quickly taking care of the cold threat. "My turn". The words hadn't fully left his lips before he hurled a snowball in the direction of his fourth victim as it crashed into them. "Huh? Am I sweating? No, it's just rain. These fools could never make me sweat" he couldn't help but jest. 

Snowball Fight Five: "The last one standing, consider me almost impressed". Wasting no time Ichigo concentrated extreme amounts of power into his muscles as he would now be moving at an astonishing speed. He would continue forward, crashing into anything they threw at him. Aware of how dangerous it could be if any of the children got caught by him, Ichigo made sure to avoid running into them, instead opting to launch a couple of snowballs in their direction. "I guess the winner is decided". Even though it was hardly a challenge, he still ended up having more than enough fun. 

(Exit)

(TWC: 1282)
Claims:
- 1125/1125 Vacuum Sword
- Mission rewards x5 for both missions (10.000 + 150.000 Kage bonus + 2500 AP conversion rate ryo, 2500 Winter Equinox Tickets)

With the snow fortress done and the ammo supplied, it was now Jun's turn to show her experience in snowball combat. Some of the other smart kids had also made a fort while others were just running around in the open like cannon fodder. Sure the stakes of a snowball fight weren't serious but if you ended up just getting hit with a bunch of snowballs all your clothes were going to end up wet and cold. Jun wasn't about to let these kids ruin her clothes today.

Jun started by throwing some of the snowballs at the cannon fodder children that were just giggling and barely throwing their own snowballs. Every hit Jun made of them, they would just tumble over and continue to giggle at each other. The other kids with fortresses tried to throw some snowballs at her, but Jun was too quick and they would just fly past her. Jun tried to fire back at them but their fortresses were too strong as her snowballs would just collect on their fortress. "These kids are good. They must've packed their fortress well." Jun informed the kids on her side. They weren't listening as they were continuing to make more snowballs and weakly throwing some of their own.

"Why don't you come at me? I'm not doing anything fun, but you're just standing there! Come at me!" Jun was getting tired of this and wanted to get into the thick of battle. She made a run for the cannon fodder children and she started to charge the fortresses. Her snowballs started to hit one after another and the kids would have to stop firing to dodge them. This was working great until the cannon fodder children suddenly got smarter.

They started to start using a few of their comrades to distract Jun while they would quickly duck behind the fortresses to avoid being hit by her snowballs. Then they would just grab their friends and run away again. This gave Jun fits as she couldn't keep track of what was going on. After a while, Jun eventually lost sight of where they went. "This isn't working! They need to be more obvious so I can hit them!" Jun yelled out loud.

The kids behind the fortresses suddenly popped out simultaneously. Jun watched as they all launched their snowballs at her in the center. It was a calculated attack. She had to retreat. Jun dodged what she could, getting a couple of times in the legs and shoulders as she ran back behind her own cover.

Jun could hear the giggles from the fortresses as she made her way back to her base. She was going to need to think of a better plan. As she was making her way back to her own fortifications she realized that these kids were definitely smarter than she originally thought. They were actually able to coordinate their attacks against her.

She began to ponder why they were so much better than everyone else. They didn't even seem to care about the score. There was probably something different about these kids. They were probably more advanced because of how many kids were there. They had to be smarter than normal kids.

As Jun was thinking, she stopped as she heard someone yelling in front of her. A boy that looked about 8 years old was charging toward her and he was holding a snowball. Jun took a snowball and chucked it at the kid, hitting him square in the chest. The end summoned her extra spiritual arms to help her carry more snowballs. She was going to go behind enemy lines alone.

Jun would run towards one of the fortresses. She jumped on top of the snow wall and used it to propel herself in the air. The kids that saw her were too slow to react as she took the snowballs she had in her hands and threw critical hits on all of them in midair. Jun then collected the snowballs they had made and went to the next fortresses and did the same thing. The kids didn't stand a chance against the advanced fighting style of the Varma Clan.

The fighting was finally done as all the kids were either too tired to continue or admitted defeat. After the snowball war had ended, the kids went back to playing around. Most of the kids were satisfied with winning the snowball war and were more interested in building snowmen and castles. This was the true ending Jun was happy with. It aligned well with the fun of the winter holidays.

WC: 768
TWC: 1337
EXIT
CLAIMING
'Do you wanna Build a Snowman?' x5
5,000 ryo + 2500 ryo for genin
25 ap
1250 event tickets
'Snowball Fight!'
5,000 ryo + 2500 ryo for genin
25 ap
1250 event tickets
1000 WC towards A rank Atman Fighting Sprit
337 WC towards Barrier: Canopy Method Formation M (337/1500)

Edit for Jun: claiming 13 stats

approved for Kealoha