What you've all been waiting for – the start of my next Hotaru story. And yes, Chapter 2 is already in the works, so hopefully it won't be forever and a year before I update again. I'll do my best.
Hotaru heads to Konoha in this story, so expect plenty of fun interaction with canon characters
Without further ado…
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Snow in the Trees
Chapter 1: A Name from the Past
Dawn brought orange light through the trees to light the way, and Katana and Garuki, my team, appeared finally at the far end of the path. Visible through the leaves where I hid, the small, hunched elderly lady, Tanuki-san, walked between my companions.
Our client's request was simple – escort the lady, his mother, to the farthest border of Snow Country, the corner where it met with Rain and Waterfall territory. Our client, like the Yukikage's parents a renegade from Hidden Rain, was concerned Rain would target and capture his mother on her way home to Waterfall Country, to be used as a hostage against him. We had no guarantee Rain knew where he or his mother had been hiding, nor that this would be a strategy they'd be likely to use if so. But it was possible.
At the border, a guard of Waterfall nins was to meet us for the hand-off, to take Tanuki-san the rest of the way. That saved us the trouble of needing to cross the border, a process which was time-consuming and full of paperwork even with allied nations.
It was a C-ranked mission.
'Do you think you're ready, Hotaru?' the Yukikage had asked me in her office several days before.
'Of course,' I replied easily, shifting from one foot to another. 'We've taken on B-ranked missions since before I became Chuunin. No problem.'
'Yes,' Yukiko-sama offered. 'However, up until now Sutiibu-san has always been with you.'
'What?' I stopped fidgeting.
'I've sent Sutiibu-san out on an A-ranked rescue mission with a few other Jounin. He won't be available.'
'Are there no other teams with all members available?'
'Team 6 is in…however, I believe your team is better suited to this particular mission, so I've chosen you.'
'You mean…'
'You've been a Chuunin for six months now, Hotaru. You've already taken over much of your team's training drills so I see no reason I shouldn't make you the team captain for this mission. That's what Chuunin do, after all, isn't it? Lead missions?'
'Well, yes, but…'
'If you do well, there is another mission of sorts I'd like to consider you for.'
I stood there, stunned.
'Let's have tea when you get back, all right?' she said politely, dismissing me.
Now I was in the trees at the border of Waterfall, about to complete my first mission in solo command, without a hitch.
"The Waterfall team is up ahead," I whispered to seemingly no one. "All three are waiting in plain sight on the road, exactly at the designated point. Their numbers and appearances check out."
A small flutter beside my ear was my only indication the moth was still present; he blended in perfectly with the trunk of the pine.
Down the road, my Kokugan caught the small flare of chakra from Garuki's right palm, a signal only I could see which indicated he'd heard me.
Six months before, at the Chuunin Exams, Garuki had overworked one of the two species in his double-contract summon, the butterflies. About two months back, finally, a clan of moths had agreed to take their place and honor the contract, seeing as they were somewhat related. I had to admit, the moths seemed to be an improvement; they were certainly sneakier than butterflies, and seemed to be more loyal to Garuki as well, since he'd had to win them over himself.
Slowly, the old lady limping slightly behind, my friends approached the border and the small Waterfall patrol.
"Greetings from the Yukikage," Garuki said officially, though waving as he said it.
All three Waterfall ninjas bowed stiffly, the tallest, in the center, doing the talking. "And from the head of Waterfall Village." Then, "May we see your transit papers please?"
Garuki reached for his jacket pocket.
"No!" I whispered urgently to the moth.
Garuki covered by acting as if he'd forgotten where the papers were.
Of course we carried transit papers, in case of an emergency in which the other team never showed, where we would be forced to carry out the second half of the mission ourselves in the interest of the client's safety. But the mission clearly stated we were not to enter Waterfall territory at any time; that was the only reason it was only a C-ranked mission. Based on the agreed mission parameters, Waterfall ninjas would have no reason to believe we carried any papers, let alone bother to ask for them.
Unless they weren't aware of the mission parameters.
For the sake of expediency, I merely relayed to Garuki, "It's a trap. Probably Rain nins in disguise. Don't let them know you know until they make a move, and don't give them the papers!"
Transit papers would give enemy ninjas access into the entire Waterfall territory.
Garuki's chakra flared again in acknowledgement. "I can't seem to find them," he finally said, sounding foolish. "Shall we just leave the client with you? Don't need papers for that."
One of the lesser nins nodded and moved toward the lady, but the main ninja held him back. "Sorry, but we need those papers."
"Well, we're sorry too," Garuki stated, staring the "Waterfall" nin down, "but we don't have them." Pulling his hand out of his pack, where he had been faking his search, his hand full of kunai came into view.
The middle ninja charged, his flunkies holding Garuki and Katana at bay while he raced for the old woman. She held her arms up in futile defense, but the ninja got a hold of her anyway –
– and then she exploded into a cloud of black moths.
Nice one, Garuki, I thought. You and the moths sure have gotten good at transformations.
In the chaos that followed, nothing could be seen on the tiny battlefield as the moths swallowed the group in blackness with their sheer numbers. When the cloud dispersed, Katana had two ninjas incapacitated with wires, and Garuki held the claws of his transformed fists at the leader's throat.
I hopped down from the tree and stepped out of the bushes, signaling the real Tanuki-san, who had been under my watch all along, to follow.
"Good work," I said to my team, keeping an eye on the chakra levels of all three Rain ninja just in case one of them tried to pull something.
"What do we do with them?" Garuki asked, looking to me for direction now.
I considered. "Interrogate them, then knock them out," I decided. "They won't give us any more trouble once the old lady's safe at home."
Beside me, Tanuki-san snorted at my rude treatment of someone of her superior age, but she couldn't deny the service we'd just done her, so she declined to comment.
Garuki and Katana nodded, and within moments we had the information we needed – the Waterfall team had merely been delayed inside the border, not killed as we'd feared. Clearly these Rain nins were only Genin, to rely on trickery and delays rather than outright murder. Within a half hour, we located the Waterfall ninjas just within the border ("Good thing we brought transit papers," Garuki commented) and were on our way back home to the Hidden Village of Snow.
Mission success.
Traveling unburdened by our elderly charge, we arrived in Yukigakure early the next afternoon, having taken the time to rest in shifts overnight. Sutiibu-sensei was on Gate duty, and greeted us as we approached.
"So, how'd it go?" he asked jovially, as if he already knew the answer.
"Well," I reported. "We delivered Tanuki-san to our Watefall counterparts yesterday at noon."
"Excellent!"
"Yeah," Garuki added, "but it wouldn't have been if Hotaru hadn't suspected the trap and set us up for it ahead of time."
"Trap?" My teacher crossed his arms and leaned back against the gate wall to listen.
"A group of Rain nins ambushed us, pretending to be the Waterfall party," Katana explained. "Hotaru-san expected it and set us on alert, so we were well prepared."
"It seemed the likeliest and safest place for them to make a move," I said humbly, noting, not for the first time since I'd become Chuunin, Katana's use of the honorific "-san" after my name. She was still protective of me, but no longer treated me like a child – instead, like the team lead I'd become. I appreciated the show of respect, but her deference still felt awkward at times.
Sutiibu nodded my direction. "Good work. Now you should hurry along to the Yukikage to make your report. I believe she's wanting to talk to you in particular, Hotaru."
We bowed our heads politely and made our way through the open gates, into the bustling village streets. As we rounded on to the main street which led to the Yukikage's residence, a pink-haired blur collided into me.
Jomei got up and dusted off his well-worn, long outgrown pirate outfit, grinning ridiculously.
"Jomei!" I said, ignoring the way he'd run into me; it was a usual enough occurrence. "What are you doing back so soon? Is the Exam over already?"
"Yep!" Jomei practically yelled. "And guess what – I'm a Chuunin!"
"No way," I said conversationally, although I didn't seem nearly as surprised as my two teammates, whose jaws hung open.
Jomei may be a goof, I thought, but he shouldn't be underestimated.
"And Mika, and Nari's boyfriend Tomeo-san too," he added as an afterthought.
Silence from my two friends. I knew what that meant. They both now remained the only rookies from their respective years not to have achieved Chuunin rank.
I knew it was largely due to Sutiibu's rule of two years between tests. I felt strongly that now, even only six months after our exam in Konoha, they would both pass with ease. But I'm sure that didn't make it any easier on them.
Jomei pumped his fist in the air, oblivious. "Our team rocked! Anyway I'm going to the ninja clothes designer to pick out a new outfit, something good for a Chuunin!" He took off in the opposite direction, mumbling something particularly ill-omened regarding yellow pleather pants.
"Don't let it get to you," I said quietly.
Garuki shrugged his shoulders, letting it go the same way he'd always done so well, but Katana stared after Jomei with an odd, unsettled gaze. Still, she said nothing.
She's grown, I thought. We all have.
Moments alter we arrived at the Yukikage's office, and her assistant, Kumiko, let us right in. "She's been expecting you," Kumiko said, not surprising me at all.
We entered the offices, bowed, and stood in a line facing the desk behind which Ginkaze Yukiko sat. She wasn't wearing her official hat today, and her silver bangs fell into the sparkling purple eyes staring back at us, highlighting her youth.
"Report."
I gave a detailed account of the mission, and once again Garuki and Katana filled in the part about me suspecting the ambush. The Second Yukikage seemed pleased.
"Well done; it was a complete success. Garuki-san, Katana-san, you are free to go. I'll give you two days' leave to rest up. Hotaru-san," she said, turning to me, "if I could have a word?"
I nodded stiffly, the child in me automatically cringing under the fear of inevitable chastisement which would follow such words. But there was none apparent in the Yukikage's face, and she examined me kindly as my friends left the room.
"A chair?" she offered, but I chose to stand. I only sat with Yukiko-sama when she invited me for a meal; this felt different.
"Hotaru-chan," she began, informally, "I have to say I'm quiet impressed."
I blushed.
"Truly. The brilliance you've shown in the training programs you developed for your team shows clearly in your leadership and your team's strength in the field as well. I am curious, though," her eyes leveled at me, "why you chose to remove yourself from combat."
So she noticed. But, of course, she would.
"You don't think it was a wise tactical decision?" I tried.
"Oh, it was that; it gave your team a distinct advantage to have you spying ahead in the trees, able to give directions quickly and without being noticed. But I don't believe that's why you made the decision."
I looked at my feet.
"Hotaru, you displayed your strength fiercely at the Chuunin Exam, and that was six months ago. You alone of your team were promoted. Yet you still feel inferior to your teammates?"
When I said nothing, she continued.
"If that's the case, perhaps we should focus on rectifying that."
"Excuse me, rectify?" I asked.
"How about some time to perfect that Bloodline of yours? I note you've taken to using Kokugan quite efficiently. Why not Hibana?"
I gaped.
"You don't think it would help?"
"N – no," I stuttered. "That's not it." I'm just shocked you knew all that, I thought, although I shouldn't have been surprised, I suppose. "It's just, even if I did nothing else it would take ages to master…"
"A year, perhaps?"
"Longer, certainly, and I…" I trailed off. "I don't think I can do it anyway, Ni-daime-sama," I finished, using her formal title. "I don't have the resources."
"But Konoha does, do they not?"
I blinked. She knows that, too? "Well, yes. If anyone, they do…"
"A new opportunity has opened up," Yukiko said, leaning back in her chair. "In the interest of promoting relations between the Allied Villages, especially given Snow's excellent performance in the recent Chuunin Exams," she nodded my direction, "Konoha Village has proposed a Chuunin Exchange."
"What?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. One Chuunin-level ninja each from Snow, Waterfall, and Sand will switch places with a Konoha Chuunin for one year. You'll train with their masters, stay in their homes, become members of their teams. In short, you will belong to Konoha for one year, and your Konoha 'replacement' will belong to Snow."
"That's…unheard of."
"Yes," she allowed. "There will be limits, of course. In the event of a war involving either Snow or Konoha, you're each to be sent straight home. Also, each village will handle it as they will, but I'm certain you'll be closely watched, and barred from certain sensitive information." She handed me a scroll listing several of Snow's greatest advantages, location-based, jutsu or otherwise. "For example, you are barred from sharing any of that with Konoha, in case necessity should ever force us to war."
"Really?" I asked, scanning the list. "Chakra Warmth no Jutsu?"
"Think. Ninjas unable to adjust to the extreme cold stand out here, ineffective as spies and unable to fight their hardest."
"That makes sense."
"Other than that, though," she pointed to the list, "the idea is to exchange training styles, ideas, culture, and information on enemy villages – things like that. It promotes the Alliance highly to have friends in foreign villages, as well."
"Hostages?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"Perhaps. But if you can get what you need from it, and build relationships in the process…"
She's right. It's worth it.
"When would I start?" I asked.
She handed me another scroll, containing details on the program. "You would leave later this week."
"So soon…"
"But you want to go?"
I opened the scroll and let my eyes scan down the page, glancing at the details. They came to rest on the name of the Konoha ninja with whom I was to change places.
Hyuuga….Hinata?!
I looked up at the Yukikage, eyes firm.
"I'll go."