Winter descended on Konoha, cloaked in frost.
The Uchiha Clan.
A cold wind swept fine snow past the eaves of the Uchiha Clan Compound. Uchiha Ao pushed open the window.
Cold air flooded the room at once. The white mist of his breath formed tiny droplets by the window. Just as he hesitated over whether to go out, light footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.
"Little brother, what are you looking at?" Uchiha Izumi wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder.
Then she gently breathed against her little brother's ear. Uchiha Ao felt a tickling sensation.
"Quit it, Sister Izumi," he said helplessly.
"No. I like it." Uchiha Izumi naturally wasn't about to let her little brother off, and continued breathing by his ear.
What could Uchiha Ao do? He could only let Sister Izumi have her way.
Looking at the thick blanket of snow outside, he suddenly had a brilliant idea. Reaching back, he tucked a strand of Sister Izumi's hair behind her ear.
"Sister Izumi, it's no fun just looking at the snow through the window," Uchiha Ao said, turning around to meet her gaze. "How about we go outside and have a snowball fight?"
It was a somewhat childish idea.
But at his age, in his previous life, he would have been out making his way in the world!
"Little brother, did I hear that right?" Uchiha Izumi sounded incredulous, her amber eyes widening slightly. "You actually suggested a snowball fight?"
She studied Ao's serious expression, then suddenly reached out to feel his forehead. "You don't have a fever. You've been saying things like this are childish lately..."
Ao batted her hand away. "What, I can't have a snowball fight? Your dear little brother is only ten, you know."
Uchiha Izumi froze for a moment.
Oh, right. Her little brother was only ten. It was perfectly normal for him to play something like this.
Why did it seem so strange to her?
"It's all your fault, little brother. You're always so serious now!" Uchiha Izumi put her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks in mock anger. The pendant at her neck swayed gently with the movement. "You're only six, but you talk and act just like Fugaku and Tekka. You've almost made me forget you're still a child!"
She suddenly walked out of the room, bent down, and packed a snowball. Narrowing her eyes, she took aim at Uchiha Ao. "Today, I'm going to turn you back into a kid if it's the last thing I do!"
Before she had even finished speaking, the snowball came flying with a whoosh.
To him, that speed was no different from a tortoise's. Dodging it would have been effortless.
But Uchiha Ao deliberately slowed down and let the snowball smack into his chest. Snowflakes sprayed across his face. He staggered back two exaggerated steps, clutched his chest, and shouted, "Sister Izumi, you're trying to murder your own little brother!"
"Still trying to dodge?" Seeing that she'd hit him, Uchiha Izumi laughed so hard she doubled over, then quickly packed a second snowball.
But Uchiha Ao suddenly rushed forward, reaching out as if to snatch the "weapon" from her hands.
The two tussled in the snow. Sister Izumi's scarf was pulled crooked, and Uchiha Ao's hair was speckled with snow.
Whether he could dodge didn't matter anymore.
After all, the important thing wasn't the snowball fight. It was spending time with Sister Izumi.
Uchiha Ao lay in the snow, unmelted snowflakes still clinging to his face.
Uchiha Izumi sat on a snow-covered stone bench in the yard, playing with a pine branch. Snow dusted from its boughs and fell into her lap.
The setting sun stretched her shadow until it overlapped with Ao's as he lay in the snow, sketching a warm scene across the white ground.
After resting for a while, the two went back inside and changed into dry clothes.
Uchiha Ao casually picked up the sweater lying on the table nearby. Sister Izumi had knitted it for him herself a few days ago, its crooked stitches holding a lopsided warmth.
He slipped the sweater on briskly. Amid the soft rustle of wool fibers, he didn't notice a thin piece of paper slide from the sleeve and silently drift into a crack in the floorboards.
When he opened the door, he saw Izumi retying her hair ribbon into a neat bow.
"Let's go, Sister Izumi." Uchiha Ao smiled at her, snowflakes still clinging to the ends of his hair.
Izumi hurried over and took her little brother's hand with practiced ease. Her orange-red ribbon brushed the back of his hand, carrying a faint scent of soap.
The two walked toward Konoha's streets, their footsteps crunching through the snow.
Not long after they left, a figure appeared at the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
Hyuga Hinata was wrapped in a thick white cloak, snowflakes dusting her hair. She hugged a neatly folded light-purple sweater to her chest, her fingers reddened from clutching it for so long.
"Hehe, Ao-kun definitely won't expect me to come see him out of the blue." Hyuga Hinata walked through the Uchiha Clan Compound, but no one came out to stop her.
Her wooden sandals made faint tapping sounds on the thinly snow-covered stone path, while her heart beat so fast it felt ready to leap out of her throat.
She pushed open the half-closed wooden door of Uchiha Ao's home. Inside, it was so quiet she could hear only her own hurried breathing.
"A-Ao-kun?" she called softly. Her voice sounded especially thin in the empty room.
Her gaze swept over the untidy tatami and the half bowl of cold red bean soup Sister Izumi had left on the table. Only then did she realize there was no one in the house.
"Huh? Where's Ao-kun?" Hyuga Hinata wondered. She had clearly sent Ao-kun a letter telling him not to go out today, saying a surprise was waiting for him.
"Why would Ao-kun..." Hyuga Hinata murmured to herself. Her gaze fell on the letter lying in a crack between the bricks, and a sudden pang of sadness welled up in her heart.
"Oh, Lady Hinata." Uchiha Tekka's voice came from behind her, startling her into hurriedly hiding the letter behind her back.
"Lady Hinata, are you looking for the clan head?" Uchiha Tekka asked, looking at the young Hyuga Hinata before him.
Thanks to the alliance between the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan, and the fact that Hinata already knew the Uchiha Clan's head,
Hyuga Hiashi had decided to have Hinata spend more time between the two clans.
As a result, all the Uchiha clan members knew Hyuga Hinata very well.
Many of them even privately believed that Hyuga Hinata would become the clan head's wife.
Hyuga Hinata's fingers, gripping the letter, turned white. She was just about to explain when Tekka continued, "Unfortunately, it seems the clan head just went out. He probably won't be back for a while."
His gaze paused briefly on the light-purple sweater in Hinata's arms, and he added, "The clan head hasn't gone far. If you hurry, Lady Hinata, you might still catch up."
Hyuga Hinata nodded. "Thank you, Big Brother Tekka."
Before she finished speaking, she had already turned and dashed out of the house, her white cloak fluttering in the cold wind.
On the streets of Konoha.
"Little brother, wait." Uchiha Izumi suddenly stopped, her attention drawn to a shop on the corner displaying masks of all kinds.
A vermilion lantern swung in the wind and snow, casting a warm glow over the fearsome Tengu Mask and the endearing Raccoon Mask on the wall.
"Want to buy a mask, Sister Izumi?" Uchiha Ao saw what she had in mind. With a soft laugh, he led her inside.
The warm, steamy air inside enveloped them in the scents of pine resin and paint.
Uchiha Ao looked up at the giant Ghost Mask hanging from a beam when he suddenly heard Izumi cry out in delight.
She was on tiptoe, pointing above her. "Little brother, look! The eyes on this Raccoon Mask reflect the light!" The shopkeeper climbed a wooden ladder with a grin and took it down. Its glazed surface shimmered indigo in the candlelight.
Uchiha Ao smiled helplessly. He didn't know why Sister Izumi liked these masks so much. She bought one every year around this time.
Izumi eagerly put the Raccoon Mask on. Her eyes curved into crescents through the cutouts. "How is it? Doesn't it look imposing?"
She spun around, her orange-red ribbon sweeping past the shelves and stirring up a few tiny wood shavings.
"Everything looks imposing on you, Sister Izumi!" Uchiha Ao replied with a smile, his gaze inadvertently drifting to the corner of the shop.
A wooden mask sat there, shaped like a swirl, with only two eyeholes.
Uchiha Ao found it intriguing.
Its design was almost identical to Obito's mask.
"Boss, how much is this one?"
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together and grinned. "It's not expensive, not expensive! Three hundred ryo. Just think of it as making a new friend!"
He swiftly took the mask down from its wooden stand, but paused as he handed it over. His cloudy eyes shifted between Uchiha Ao and the mask. "But I'll be upfront: once this mask is sold, I don't accept returns."
Uchiha Izumi came over and pinched the mask to test its material, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "It looks like ordinary wood. How can it cost three hundred ryo? Boss, are you trying to rip us off?"
Her gaze turned dangerous.
Seeing that, the shopkeeper hurriedly put on a placating smile, fine beads of sweat appearing on his brow. "Miss, just look at how finely carved the pattern is. The craftsmanship alone is worth the price!"
He carefully pressed the mask into Uchiha Ao's hands. "Besides, this young man has a discerning eye. This mask is meant for him!"
"It's fine, Sister Izumi. If it's three hundred, then it's three hundred." Uchiha Ao's interest in the mask clearly outweighed his misgivings about its steep price.
Uchiha Ao tucked the mask into his clothes and walked out of the shop side by side with Sister Izumi.
The cold wind drove snowflakes into their faces. Sister Izumi put on her newly bought Raccoon Mask, and Uchiha Ao donned the swirl-shaped mask as well. The wooden texture rested against his skin, strangely warm.
Their figures disappeared into the wind and snow, gradually receding along the snow-covered street.
Just then, Hyuga Hinata came running over in her cloak, snowflakes falling from her hair with every step.
Focused on searching for Ao, she brushed past the two masked figures.
Uchiha Izumi noticed the commotion and recognized who it was. Her pupils contracted, and she hurriedly pulled her little brother away.
"What's wrong, Sister Izumi?" Uchiha Ao asked.
"Nothing. I just want some Three-Color Dango."
The two walked farther and farther away.
Hinata stopped and stared at the two blurry figures ahead, murmuring to herself, "That's strange. Why did those two feel so familiar..."
She shook her head, dismissing it as her imagination, then hurried on in pursuit.
Before you continue