DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or Splinter Cell...
[NARUTO PoV]
The Clock Seal wakes me up at eleven o'clock. Because i can fix my organism to make me fall asleep at command, the Clock Seal, wich increases my heartrate, is quite useful. It's silent and it doesn't wake you up all of a sudden like all normal alarm clocks.
Outside the tent, The wind howls through the trees. The weather forecasts had warned that a snowstorm would hit before midnight, and seems to be initiated. Incredible. The temperature outside below zero would have turned me into a popsicle already by several hours, if i wasnt wearing the Thermal Uniform -almost like a second skin- developed by the KSA "Fire Tree" Staff, which protect my body even in the most extreme conditions. It doesn't only protect me from excessive heat or polar cold, but the Chakra Fibres, inside the uniform fabric, serves as damage-proof coating. At a certain distance it works pretty well, but I'm not too curious to test the resistance closely.
I leave the tent on all fours, i stand up and still a moment to observe the surrounding forest, plunged in darkness. There is no noise besides the wind that hisses through the trees. Ibiki-sensei warned me about the possibility of encountering wolves that live in these forests, but so far I was lucky. If I were a wolf, I'm not even going to leave the den with this cold. I don't think there are a lot of prey to hunt with a temperature of twenty-three degrees below zero, except for a heavily armed human.
I fold the tent quickly. Thanks to the special camouflage cover, when it's mounted, outside it looks like a rock covered with snow.
It should be examined closely to determine what it is really. This is also a pleasing gift from the KSA (Konoha Security Agency), Thanks guys.
Is rather ironic that in the KSA, very few members of staff are aware of the secret department called "Fire Tree".
I carry out an activity so special to the Hokage and the government that you can count on the fingers of two hands the number of people able to define what is a "Ghost Leaf".
And I'm certainly not allowed to reveal their names. Besides my direct supervisor, Ibiki Morino, current commander of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Division, along with the handful of people working in the anonymous building, separated from the headquarters of the ANBU and KSA in Konohagakure no Sato, I do not know how many advisers, Jonin and ANBU members have heard of "Fire Tree" Department.
I am almost sure that the Hokage is aware of our operations, but even he may appeals to the "Protocol Six" if I were captured on a mission. This means that I would be renegade, they would deny my own existence.
I put the tent in my backpack and lower my ANBU mask. It is not a normal ANBU mask. Mine is equipped with a special jutsu that allows me to see infrared or night mode. Ijust send a small amount of chakra in my eyes and then the mask does all the work.
The infrared mode gives the best of himself in the middle of a storm in Shimo no Kuni(Country of Ice). I can look like a yeti but at least I will not go crashing into a tree.
Shimogakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the ice) is almost ten miles to the south. I am more or less between the village and the border with the Fire Country, where I started the mission. The movement across the territory are not a problem and it was not difficult to recover my equipment at the secret outpost at the border and to get a horse to reach Shimogakure.
When I saw it I burst out laughing, it was an almost mangy old albino, a horse that may have ridden all five elemental Countries fifty times in a row. But it does his duty. This morning I came out from the village and I walked through the woods, then I put the tent in the forest. The Fire Tree have confirmed information that the third refuge used by Orochimaru as a basis for the "Team Melody", defeated a few months ago in Otogakure (the replacement for the "Quartet of Sound",also defeated years ago in the chunin exams), is still active and used as a laboratory.
Informants revealed occasional movements of sound ninja entering and leaving the property. I have already dealt with one of three refuges, close to the Sand Village. A team of ANBU has destroyed the other in Amegakure. Now my job is to inspect thethird refuge to find out what kind of activities are held inside. Orochimaru and his forces are in disarray after the events last year in Iwagakure. We have inflicted seriousdamages to his weapons trafficking ninja secrets, but he and his staff are still on the run. Among these Sasuke. Much of the information in our possession indicate that Orochimaru has moved his headquarters out of Oto, perhaps in or near the Wind Country.
In recent months, a priority of the Fire Tree has been to trace the military commanders of Otogakure and bring them to justice. Or kill them.
The key figure is Orochimaru. He is on top of list of priorities. The other great leadersare his "right hand man" Kabuto Yakushi, and finally, Sasuke Uchiha, who fled from Konoha years ago .. If I can find some information on them, I can declare mission accomplished successfully and return home.
-I see you're into action, Naruto- Ibiki Sensei speaks to me through the radiocommunication systems that Tsunade Obaa-Chan transplanted into my ear and throat during the surgery after I have joined KSA. When reception is good I can communicate with the rest of the team in Konoha. I answer by pressing a point on the throat, where the transmitter is located.
-I'm getting closer to the structure. What are the informants saying? -
-There are no activities in progress since last week. Green light to infiltrate-
I move quickly through the woods, my sandals produce a "squish" in touch with the snow. I can't do anything with it. I have strong doubts that there are guards in this part of the forest. I will pay more attention when I'm near the refuge. I can see it ahead me, where the trees begin to thin out.
I kneel, and look at what goes into my field of vision. I see a building once used as a laboratory, which stands at the bottom of a clearing. Close by, there is a small building, perhaps the office. Or the barracks for the guards. A fence and a gate surround the perimeter and a road, now covered with snow, run through the forest. The closures scattered around the area have done their duty to keep away curious civilians.
Three horses are standing out of the structure. A lone guard is stationary at the door, smoking a cigarette. Damn. If I neutralize the guard, maybe they'll find out.
A moment. There's someone down the road. I see other horses approaching, I hear voices.
-You have company, Naruto-
Ibiki-sensei says. -Some of our sentries spotted two horses and four ninja walk. Theyappeared out of nowhere-
-Yeah, I see them .-
I moved quickly through the branches to the gate and I lie on the snow. I usually wear ablack uniform, but since it is a model specifically for winter missions, this one has awhite coating and merges with the landscape. I can pull it out at a later time to return to the classical bound, in order to blend in and remain invisible in the darkness.
The gate opens automatically. A Sound Ninja past me and enters into structure. A few seconds later, the horse passed past me with the other ninjas.
I make sure that there is no other approaching, so I roll through the gate which is closing. I remain motionless, making sure no one saw me enter. So far so good. Now it's time to "do the chameleon" and get rid of the external uniform.
After having put the white lining in the backpack, I got up and walked slowly, remainingin the shadows. I position myself to cover behind a well blocked with wooden boards, and watch the new arrivals who stop in front of the building smaller. The guard, which I identified earlier, approaches the building and remove the lock, then the door opens and brings in the ninjas with the horses. A moment later, he leaves on foot and the guard closes the door, without lock. Four men are outside building. One of them, as I suspected, it is Yakoshi Kabuto. One of them could be Sasuke. But if so, he's grown some ridiculous mustaches. The third man...well..I do not know him. It seems a shark, with its sharp teeth and his silver hair. It reminds me Hoshigaki Kisame, Akatsuki member,hidden somewhere. Behind his back he carries a sword.
Thanks to my mask, those of Fire Tree can see what I see through a "magic sphere" similar to the one that used Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, to keep me under control when he was alive and I was a kid. The main door of the building opens, there are two men standing in the doorway. They nod to the quartet as they enters, a handshake and then closed the door. As soon as there is no one in sight, run towards the building where the ninja has parked the horses and i go inside. I cannot find anything interesting, and I leave, not before I placed a jutsu on horses that allows me to track them down, as if I followed a trail of chakra, only felt by me.
Okay, it's time to take action. The door is closed. I knock and whistle loudly. I hear footsteps approaching. As soon as the door opens, I grab the guard and stun him with the butt of my kunai. I hide the man behind a pile of snow and then enter the building.
The corridor was deserted, I hear angry voices coming from a room at the end. I hide in a laundry next to the room and shut the door. I send a bit of chakra to my ears and listen to the conversation. They speak in the dialect used in Otogakure.
-Naruto, I'll try to translate simultaneously .-
Tenten's voice is calm and safe. Like me, she is part of the Fire Tree, but acts as an analyst at KSA.
-In a second step we will provide complete transcription .-
The voices became more angry. It appears that Kabuto is severely scolding someone.
-They say something like "You have failed to do this and that..." -
Tenten tells me, through the earbuds in my ears
-They also speak of a "breach in network security." It seems that "they want to shut down the plant" -
One of the men protest with a scared voice. Perhaps he fears not only of losing his job.
The muffled cries take me by surprise, followed by the sound of two bodies falling to the ground. Kabuto left the room, followed by the guy who seems to Sasuke and the boy with the sword pass through the corridor and leave the building. There is a silence of death now.
I open the door and peer out of my hiding place. Empty. I slip quickly into the next room and, after opening the door, I found the corpses of the guys who had welcomed the four.
-Naruto, you have other company-
Ibiki-sensei breaks in my hearing range.
-A large group approaching. Get out of there, MOVE .-
I look out a window. Shit. There are at least thirty Sound ninja e. .. oh my God .. tw oshinobi war catapults ... they really want to demolish the refuge.
Fuck them all. I turn and run toward the back. I open the door at once, finding a guard surprised to see me. Quickly, I stun him with an elbow, then jump onto the nearby horse and galloped off. Some Ninjas see me and throw kunai and shuriken on me, without success.
I pass the catapults and I leave the gate behind me and I head to the forest. I'm chased by some sound shinobi, but the distance is large enough. Suddenly one comes out and cut my road up. He tries to throw a kunai but I am faster and kill him with a Senbon and resumed running.
Ibiki-sensei orders me to turn twenty degrees right, towards the River.
The river is frozen, but the uniform protects me from freezing. Upon arriving, i leave the horse and launch myself into the water (I make a jump of ten feet).
Two minutes later, the pursuers arrive, but they found only the horse. So they look at the river and think I'm dead. Sure, a jump of ten feet and the icy water can kill anyone. But not me. The thermal uniform protects me from hibernation.
Two Kilometers later, I swim towards the shore and then, head for the village of ice.
This for me is a normal working day.
My name is Naruto Uzumaki.
And I am a Ghost Leaf.
To be continued
