A FEW DAYS LATER

Team 8 was in the Hokage mansion to report on their latest mission. They had just finished babysitting, walking dogs, grocery shopping, picking vegetables, and of course cathcing that dumb cat Tora.

"So you successfully walked all of Shibuki-san's dogs," said Tsunade. "Shizune, what is their next mission?"

"Well, now they need to help catch a pervert who was checking out girls at the hotsprings."

"No," said Shippuu.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, God, here it comes."

"These missions you're giving us really suck bigtime. Can't we have some better missions?"

"I have to agree with him," thought Kouun.

"You little punk, there's actually a systme to nwork with this. Missions are divided based on difficulty. As new recruits, you are doing D-rank missions. Once you become more experienced or become chunin you'll go on C-rank missions. Then once you become jonin you'll go on B and A-rank missions. Got it?"

"Yeah but—"

"No but's Shippuu Uzumaki."

"But, Lady Hokage, Shippuu does have a point," said Kouun. "These missions aren't adding to our experience as ninja, plus aren't the Chunin Exams soon?"

"So you want, experience, huh? Fine then, you'll see exactly how tough it is to go on a C-rank mission."

"Sweet," Shippuu said, giving Kouun a thumbs up.

"You'll be delivering something to a foreign land."

"What kind of of delivery? Some kind of secret document?" asked Kouun.

"This is a C-rank dipshit," relied Tsubame.

"You could say that it's a secret document. It's actually the manuscript for the story of a famous writer. It needs to be delivered to Koori no Kuni (the Land of Ice)."

"Why can't this writer go on his own?"

"Because something has come up and he's gotten sick. He can't make the journey but he has reached his deadline. So he has hired us to deliver the document. This mission in C-ranked because you will be on a journey to a different country. Good luck."

LATER

The four ninja stood at the Konoha gate and prepared to leave on their "great" adventure to the Land of Ice.

The ninja checked to see if they had all of their gear and then set off to make their deliery.

A FEW HOURS LATER

Our heroes were walking through the forest on a trail in silence.

"So sensei, have you ever been to this Land of Ice?" asked Kouun, breaking the silence.

"Actually yes, it's a nice place but you'll be glad I told you to pack your scarves. The Land of Ice gets its name because it's located in an icy valley, where it is always winter. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice place and very quaint."

"Do they have any ninja there?"

"Actually no, you see not many people know about the Land of Ice because it was created recently, plus it is almost impossible to access due to being surrounded by ice. And finally it neighbors two villages that have ninja so it can just hire from those two."

"I see."

"Hold up guys," commanded Tsubame. "I hear something moving."

The procession of ninja stopped moving to check out their surroundings. Sure enough they could definitely hear someone, or something, moving. Just then a really big guy jumped out of a bush behind them and grabbed Sora.

"What the—" Sora started before being interrupted by the sound of his ribs cracking under the big guy's bear hug.

"Sora-sensei!" Shippuu called after seeing Sora fall limply.

"A sneak attack? That's no fair!" commented Kouun.

"This coming from someone who's supposedto be a ninja," retorted Tsubame. "Anyway let's take these guys down."

"You talk like there's a whole group of them," said Shippuu.

Then a bunch of very scruffy looking people jumped out from all around them and had them surrounded.

Kouun shot a sarcastic look at Shippuu who responded by telling him to "shut his piehole".

"Let's get 'em boys!" one of the punks shouted.

The three genin got on the defensive to not end up dead like their sensei. As one of the thugs jumped at Shippuu he was knocked away by the preteen's foot. Attacks like this continued until evenually only four of the bandits were left.

"Hey, hey, Mugi, Tako, Mame, things ain't lookin' good here," said one of the punks who had a bandana wrapped around his head.

"No worries, Momen, we're the strongest here," said the big one, Tako.

Mugi, who was bald, attacked Kouun with a punch, however the preteen dodged the blow. Kouun then kicked the punk into Mame, who had a scar over his right eye. The two punks were knocked into a tree and fell unconcious.

"Crap, Tako, go nuts!"

Tako's eyes rolled back into their sockets and he went berserk. He charged at the three heroes but they all jumped out of the way. He turned around and charged at Tsubame. Tsubame threw a few shuriken at him. The shuriekn connected to the big man but he continued to charge at her. However he was intercepted by Shippuu's fist. Shippuu expected him to fall back but it seemed as though his bulk absorbed the impact of Shippuu's punch. He was then about to grab Shippuu but he was sucker punched by Sora.

"Sora-sensei, how are you…"

"What, you didn't really think I was that weak did you? I did a replacement jutsu, I had already sensed those guys hiding."

As Tako fell to the ground unconcious, Momen asked, "Why did you let these kids fight then?"

"Well, I wanted to test them to see what they would do in case of a real fight. Frankly, I'm impressed at their growth. But I digress, you're going down, too, you know."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Momen yelled, throwing a smoke bomb.

Sora then disapperaed and reappeared about ten seconds later holding Momen in his arm.

"Did you…"

"No, he's still alive. I wouldn't kill an innocent person just like that."

"Innocent my ass," thought Shippuu and Kouun.

"Anyway, they'll all be unconcious for about a day. Let's keep going though."

"Sensei, what's the real reason you let us fight?" asked Tsubame.

"So you could tell?" asked Sora.

"That was a definite lie, judging from how well I know you, you wouldn't give us training that is that reckless."

"The real reason was to see if they were hired to take away the document or if it was just a random attack. If it were a random attack then we could continue but if they were hired then they would have to send a ninja next and we would be forced to go back to make this a B-rank mission."

"So based on what you were saying before, I'm guessing the mission is still on?" asked Kouun.

"Yes, Kouun it is, but that's probably the most excitement that you will have on this mission."

"Alright what are we waiting for!? Let's get going!" called Shippuu.

"That big guy, there was something strange about him. An ability to go berserk like that…I haven't seen a move like that in a long time. He must have been an ex-ninja of about chunin rank or a ninja exiled from his clan. It's probably nothing to worry about but still…I have a bad feeling about this."

ELSEWHERE IN AN ABANDONED TOWN

"What did you just say!?"

"Mome and his group have been defeated, sir."

"Are they dead?"

"We don't know."

"This calls for revenge, send in the Executioners."

"Are you sure about this, sir?"

"Are you questioning my authority?"

"No, sir, Daisuke-sama."

BACK TO OUR HEROES ABOUT A DAY LATER

Our four ninja were at a picnicking area by a huge waterfall with a gorgeous view of a meadow below it that gradually became a tundra.

"Alright guys, let's take a little break, we're close to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Ice. More than half of our journey is done already."

"So Kouun, what kind of food did you pack with you?" asked Shippuu.

"Just a couple soldier pills. Why, did you forget your own food or something?"

"Nah, it's just that I only packed soldier pills, too. I was looking for something with flavor."

"You guys are being babies, just eat the damn food and stop complaining," snapped Tsubame.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of—"

"Shut up Kouun! Do no invoke her rage, man! She friggin scares me."

"To be honest, me too…but…I kinda like that."

"…"

"…What?"

"…Freak."

"Damnit Shippuu, I'll kill you!"

"Shut the hell up already!"

"Sorry Tsubame," the two "intrepid" preteens said, cowering in fear.

"Breaktime's over guys!" "Man, I have my hands full with these kids."

The four ninja began to pack up but a kunai came out of a nearby tree. Shippuu was able to dodge the kunai, which was aimed at him, and threw his own. Then a ninja from Takigakure came out and attacked them.

He had long, shaggy black hair that reached his hips, an unzipped blue zip-up shirt, black pants, and bandages wrapped around his ankles.

"Get ready to die!" he said to them.

END CHAPTER

Ooooooooo a new foe, and this time it's a ninja. find out what happens next time okay by staying tuned, okay?