Chapter 23 – Bait and Switch

"ANBU?! Hokage-sama has sent ANBU?"

The look on the jounin commander of the border outpost's face seemed to match his tone in terms of incredulousness. He was a stocky, dark man, still holding on to some semblance of authority by holding his arms akimbo, though despite his attempt to make himself appear larger, he had inadvertently shifted slightly to one side instead of directly facing the five masked shinobi standing before him.

"A full squad has gone missing while searching for your lost border patrol," Itachi said. "Hokage-sama does not take such things lightly, and in any case, it's none of our business to comment upon his decisions," he finished diplomatically.

"Yes, of course," the commander said, showing discreet signs of submission. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Forgive my surprise. It's just that your reputation precedes you, and I've never dealt with your kind before."

Tsume's eyebrow twitched. Shisui refrained from rolling his eyes only because it would have been visible through the holes in his mask. Their kind? As if they were not even human, but apparitions come to steal the good shinobi away into the night. Secrecy often bred speculation, it seemed. The darker the shroud, the more outlandish the stories, and their line of work did not lack for darkness. Shisui would have loved to hear what this jounin thought he knew about the ANBU, but Itachi was all business today and did not seem in the least bit put off by the man's demeanor.

"We operate based on the same principles as everyone else, up to a certain point," Itachi said. "Which means I would like to ask you some questions. I assume the initial search team did the same."

"Well, yes. Not that it helped them much in the end, I suppose," he muttered as he led them inside the surveillance tower which served as the border outpost.

Itachi wasted no time and started asking the jounin questions about the missing patrolmen, seemingly trying to correlate the information they had received from the Hokage with the commander's own. Establishing a rapport and verifying the accuracy of that information at the same time – Shisui found himself agreeing wholeheartedly to his cousin's approach.

"He almost pissed himself," Tsume said under her breath, taking advantage of Itachi having successfully drawn the jounin commander into an in-depth discussion, out of a whisper's earshot.

Shisui snickered, and was even more amused by the disgruntled sound Tenzo made beside him. There was a fire crackling in the room at the base of the tower, where the four of them stopped to warm up as Itachi conducted his interview. Tsume squatted by the fireplace to warm her backside, stroking Kuromaru, whose fur was cold and wet from the sleet falling in sheets outside.

From the other end of the room, they could hear the lengthy discussion continue between Itachi and the jounin commander, even as they pretended not to listen. The commander was now going over the workings of the border outpost and the setup of their shifts. Border patrols consisting of two chuunin left the tower at regular intervals, headed for the next outpost. The alarm had been raised when the missing patrolmen had failed to check in for the night at the other tower. The commander had first initiated a local search before sending word to Konoha the very next morning, having found no trace of their comrades. So far, nothing illuminating, Shisui mused as he stared into the fire.

"There was a storm that day, which raged throughout the night," the commander went on. "We thought it might have been bad enough for them to take shelter somewhere, although it's not exactly standard practice, and they would have at least sent word. We're used to storms here, being so close to Ame, but the weather's been weird."

"Weird how?" Itachi asked.

"Whimsical, that's how it is during the cold season. Like one day you get this hell of a storm and two days later it's all sunshine and warm, like spring is coming, but you can't see the mountaintop from the mist."

"Which mountain?"

"Hakuzan. It's the tallest one around these parts. On clear days, you can see the temple at the summit all the way from here. The monks there specialize in exorcisms, or so I hear. They're supposedly guarding this holy purifying stone or something. Probably a load of horseshit, if you ask me."

Itachi had not, and he refrained from making any comments himself, opting to steer the discussion back on track. "What can you tell me about the squad that came from Konoha?" he asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid. One jounin, three chuunin. They came, they asked their questions, and we never heard from them again. Next thing I know, I get word another team is on its way and you lot show up. I never expected ANBU. Didn't think you guys got involved with such menial things, to be honest. I always pictured you as the ones who… you know," he said, making a suggestive gesture by drawing a thumb across his throat.

Tsume scoffed. "And here I thought a modicum of intelligence was a jounin prerequisite," she commented in a low voice.

"Does that mean there's more to this mess than meets the eye?" the commander asked Itachi, blithely unaware of an audience.

Shisui smirked behind his weasel mask. "Perhaps he's not entirely as obtuse as he lets on."

"I assume the patrolmen have lodgings here," Itachi said, choosing not to answer the man's question. "Is there any chance some of their personal effects have been left behind?"

The commander appeared puzzled by the question, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, they left some stuff behind."

"May we have a look?"

The jounin's eyes drifted to Kuromaru, who was sitting on his haunches by the fire, and realization settled on his face. "Of course."

Tsume wrinkled her nose as they stepped outside the tower, where the sleet had at least downgraded to a cold drizzle. Kuromaru padded quietly beside her, turning his snout up to sniff at the air before lowering it to the ground.

"Fat chance we'll be trailing them too far," Tsume said. "It's wet and it's been a while."

"We'll exhaust this lead before we move on to the next, regardless," Itachi said, betraying nothing of his relief to be out of the tower and away from the jounin commander. The man was a walking headache.

"Hai, hai, this way, then."

They followed Tsume as she made for the woods to the south. The drizzle gradually seeped through their cloaks, their clothes, and ultimately reached their skin as hours went by, unchecked. Once or twice, the scent became too faint for her to track, but Kuromaru took the lead, treading lightly through the sodden carpet of dead leaves and constantly sniffing about. By the looks of it, the border patrol had followed their route without fail, so far.

Dusk fell. The weather had not improved, and although they were all soaked to the bones and they had not had a proper break all day, Itachi did not call for a halt. Delaying any longer may well cause Tsume and Kuromaru to lose the scent altogether. Not one of them complained, out of respect for their comrades who were still at work.

It was sometime after sundown when Tsume stopped, bringing the rest of the team to a halt, as well. Kuromaru seemed at a loss himself, darting left and right, and back again, sniffing at every tree, twig, bush and leaf in between. Itachi knew well by now what that meant.

"It's gone," Kuromaru said, confirming his suspicion. "I've lost the scent, captain."

Itachi nodded thoughtfully. There would be little point in pushing this any further for the time being. "Tenzo, put up the Rakuyouan," he said.

"Yes, captain."

Tonight, the space around the fireplace was mostly occupied by drying racks of clothes, which they had all peeled off the moment they had walked in, with little thought given to the cold. It took from the light of the fire, as well as its warmth, so they huddled together beside what little opening to the fireplace was left, shivering.

"Does anyone have anything to eat?" Tsume asked, curled up into a miserable heap beside Kuromaru.

"Soldier pills," Akane said.

"A ration bar," Tenzo added to the offer.

"I suppose it would be too much to ask for something warm," Tsume said despondently.

"How about some cup o' ramen?" Shisui asked with a wide grin, already up and rummaging through his backpack. "I only managed to fit three in my backpack, but we could heat some water over the fire and…"

"Marry me," Tsume said, successfully bringing tears into her eyes for the dramatic effect.

"… share?" Shisui finished, his voice gone down to a whisper in embarrassment.

Tsume's stomach growled rather loudly in the ensuing silence, to everyone's amusement. "What?" she asked with a mischievous grin. "My mother used to say that if a man can provide, he's fair game. Besides, the younger, the better, I'd say."

Shisui cast a glance at Tenzo, who had shriveled into a sullen silence, and smirked. He was clearly clueless about the show Tsume was putting on. "It's just instant food, I couldn't cook for the life of me. I just carried it. If anything, I miss the fish Tenzo-san used to catch for us, which we cooked on the spit."

"Well," Tsume said, her smirk softening at the edges, "he built the house for us tonight." At the sight of Tenzo's lips twitching into a smile, she quickly added, "perhaps I'll marry you both."

"Double K.O.," Akane whispered to Itachi, at the sight of the two men's red faces.

"Definitely," he whispered back, returning a wan smile.

The room filled with laughter, Tsume's being the loudest. For a time, while they saw to it that their bellies would be filled for the night, they forsook all thoughts of work. Even ANBU needed a clean break from it during their off hours. Besides, for all of Tsume's frequent, inappropriate advances, Shisui knew she still wore her wedding ring on a necklace. Everyone knew.

Humor, though often times either inappropriate or even dark (an occupational hazard, really), was always the trademark of a well-bonded team, Shisui had discovered throughout his years an ANBU team captain. That Itachi had learned to work with it, rather than against it, spoke volumes of his development.

"I won't ask why the hell you'd think to bring cup o' ramens on a mission, but thanks," Tsume said, rubbing her stomach as she lay down in her bedroll. "That hit the spot."

"They're light," Shisui said with a shrug, setting down the last cup, which was now empty. "If I have the extra space left after packing everything else, why not?"

"You're a godsend, kid," she said drowsily, and her hand shot up in the air in salute before dropping down. "Tsume over and out."

Itachi pulled up a knee and propped his forearm on it as he stared into the fire. He wondered how Sasuke's training was going, and what Kakashi was planning on teaching his little brother, although he had an inkling. Whatever it turned out to be, he trusted Kakashi's judgment in this. At the moment, he had more sway over Sasuke than him, however much it pained him to acknowledge that truth. Better for someone he trusted to be there for him than no one at all.

The forest kept its secrets. Whatever the trees had seen, they could not share. Whatever had happened to the border patrol, there was not a single trace left of their passage through those woods. Cold. Tired. Wet. Those words became the norm of each day for team Yon as they combed the area between the two border outposts. By the third day, however, the patrol-men's scent had vanished altogether, washed away by the constant rain.

Tenzo sneezed and turned in his bedroll, going back to sleep. Itachi paused at the sound, then resumed his work on the report he would send to Konoha in the morning. Would that he had something to put in it. He massaged his forehead with the blunt end of the brush, pleased that at least the activity had beaten his insomnia into submission. The cold and humidity, on the other hand…

"Itachi?" Akane asked softly, holding up her hands in a self-explanatory gesture.

"Yeah," he said, setting aside the brush and paper and readjusting his position slightly as she knelt down beside him.

Akane brushed his ponytail over his shoulder and placed her hands on his back. They were warm, but the chakra emanating from them was almost cool as it seeped through his flesh, into his lungs. He would have likened the sensation to opening a window after a long time and finally getting a breath of fresh air. It was the same every night, which he took to mean his condition was not improving. Not that he could muster the courage to ask Akane, in light of their argument over it, so he merely thanked her when she finished.

"So, what's next?" she asked. "Because you don't seem inclined to give this up just yet, even though we have nothing left to go on."

"There's something the commander of the first border outpost said… it's been on my mind since, and I'd like to check it out before we call it quits."

"Mist and sunny days don't mix, is it?"

Itachi made a soft sound of approval in his throat. His eyes darted to her, looking for the signs of distress he would have expected to see there, only to find none. Her gaze was lost in the crackling fire, her face alight with a golden glow. "It could be nothing," he said, if only to break the silence.

"Of course," she replied, flashing the ghost of a smile at him. "We should both get some sleep, regardless. Climbing mountains isn't for the weary. Good night, Itachi."

He nodded, watching her as she tiptoed across the room and slipped into her bedroll. Though he hoped otherwise, he doubted she would have the luxury of a restful sleep. As for him, he still had a report to finish, so he pulled up the writing instruments and resumed his task.

Hakuzan rose before them, clad in a shroud of ghostly white. Snow crunched under their feet as they began the ascent, their breaths misting in the frozen air. The forest was suffused in heavy silence, as if winter had smothered it under its blanket. With no path to follow, they trudged on as they could among the tall evergreens.

"You'd think a bunch of holy exorcists would be inclined to pick a less creepy place for their temple," Shisui commented as he paused on a rocky ledge to catch his breath. His eyes drifted up to the top, which for all their efforts in the past few hours, seemed just as distant.

"Do you believe in that stuff?" Tsume asked, cocking her head and placing a hand on her hip.

Shisui grinned, and though it was lost on her because of the mask, she caught it in his tone. "Holiness or exorcisms?"

"Hardy-har-har."

Itachi made his way up to the rocky ledge Shisui was perched on like a hawk, panting. "I don't see any recent signs of passage," he said, in between puffs. "Do you?"

"Nope. Although the snow might have covered them, if there were any to begin with. Are you alright?" Shisui asked, noticing that he was having a harder time than usual recovering from the effort. "Maybe we should stop for a few minutes. The temple isn't going anywhere."

"I'm fine. Let's keep going."

The sun was a pale orb, barely visible through the clouds above. A little after noon, it vanished from sight completely, and the temperature plummeted. Snow began to fall, scarce snowflakes dancing lazily in the air to an unheard tune of their own. The seemingly never-ending slope grew steeper, forcing them to send chakra into the soles of their feet to get a better grip.

"This is a nice hike, but let's do it in summer next time, shall we?" Shisui said.

"Wait 'til we go down. We can ask Tenzo to make us a sledge," Tsume said in good humor.

"I won't be responsible for any broken bones," Tenzo quipped in.

A cold wind blew down the mountain, dusting the snow from the trees in their faces. Kuromaru stopped. Tsume's laughter broke all of the sudden, and she turned to her ninken, a cold shiver running down her spine. The rest of the team was quick to notice the look which passed between them, and came to a halt.

"What is it?" Itachi asked.

"I smell blood," Kuromaru said in his gruff voice. Tsume nodded wordlessly, confirming that she could sense it too.

"There's bound to be mountain lions chasing deer, even in this weather," Shisui said.

"Unless your mountain lions slaughtered an entire herd, no."

Kuromaru's reply set them all on edge. Itachi's eyes rose to the summit, where he could see the manmade structure, nestled between giant rocks. He swallowed the knot in his throat and instinctively changed his step to a quieter, more cautious one. The others followed suit, and they became white shadows, moving unseen and unheard through the woods.

Shisui and Itachi were the first to stumble upon the snow-covered steps carved in the mountainside. They waited for the rest of the team to catch up and advanced as one, shifting their positions to battle formation when Kuromaru confirmed the smell of blood appeared to be coming from higher up.

The wind howled distantly in the grey sky above, but only sighed as it passed through the temple's red gates, which were wide open. Itachi was the first in line as they filed through, regrouping into their formation once they were past them. They passed under a covered arch and stepped into the temple's courtyard, where the past rushed to meet them.

Itachi halted, the breath caught in his throat as his sharingan took in the familiar, nightmarish sight. His heart picked up its speed, and though it sent blood rushing through him, he could not feel it for the cold. His eyes drifted over the wires, then over the frozen blood smeared against the white wall and inner row of columns lining the courtyard. Under the fresh layer of snow, there would no doubt be more. He began to count, almost mechanically. One, two, three…

Shisui felt something twist inside his stomach. He had seen Juri's wire trap, recreated by Itachi on the training grounds. With a stretch of his imagination, he could have seen it at work on a human body, too. But even if imagining it was not the same as seeing it, it was plain to him that Suisen had loosened his partner's leash. The Spider of the Mist had outdone herself.

…fifteen.

The monks hanged in Juri's net, with their bloodless faces frozen in agony. The wires were set all around the courtyard, wound around the columns, fixed with kunai to the wall, or the ground itself. A thin layer of snow clung to them, making them easier to follow for the naked eye. Itachi gritted his teeth. He expelled a breath through his nose and looked up at the sky, watching the dizzying flurry of snowflakes coming down, as if it could somehow cleanse his vision of the horrible sight.

He heard movement behind him, and a pained gasp that immediately drew his attention. Itachi spun on his heels, a kunai already in hand, though he had sensed no other presence beside their own. A scream tore through the silence, bone-chilling and heart-rending.

Tsume was clutching at her chest, eyes wide open, staring at the scene as she kept on gasping for breath. Her whole body was trembling like a leaf in the wind. She stumbled backwards until she tripped and fell in the snow, her breath coming louder and faster each time. Before any of them could figure out what was happening, Akane crouched beside her.

"Tsume-san," she said, raising her voice slightly to make sure the woman heard her over the sound of her own, now uncontrollably rapid breathing. "Tsume-san, listen to me." Akane removed first her mask, then Tsume's, revealing a face almost as white as the snow around them, twisted into an expression of sheer horror. "You're alright. We're going to be alright. Nothing bad is happening."

But Tsume could not tear her eyes away from the carnage and could barely hear her over the loud sound of her own, pounding heart. Her muscles spasmed and contracted, cold dread taking over, dragging her under. That blood, all that blood. All those people. Dead, frozen, gone forever. Gone in the mist. Turned to ashes. Crumbling.

Akane's hands cupped Tsume's face to gently turn her head, and she shifted her position so as to block the view behind her. "Look at me, Tsume-san. Look into my eyes. Breathe," she said. "Breathe with me now. Follow my rhythm: in and out, slowly."

Tsume's wide eyes stared into her own, her cold hands holding an iron grip around Akane's wrists, long nails digging into her flesh painfully. Akane did not release her head, forcing Tsume's gaze to remain there as she breathed in, slowly, and out, slowly. She could see Tsume struggling to follow. "That's it, Tsume-san, breathe."

"I… c-can't, I c-can't…"

The words came out garbled, and seemed to take all the strength out of the older woman, because she quickly reverted to hyperventilating, squeezing her eyes shut. Akane looked over her shoulder, at the three men who stood there, staring, not knowing how to help. "Does anyone have a paper bag?" she asked.

Shisui blinked in confusion at the request, but slung down his backpack. "I do," he said, unzipping it and rummaging through it to pull out a brown paper bag. He opened it and upturned it, letting the three-color dango inside fall in the snow before handing it to her. "Sorry, it's…"

"It'll do," Akane said, snatching it. "Tsume-san, I need you to listen to me. I need you to breathe into this, can you do that for me?"

Tsume's eyes opened, glazed over with tears, and her trembling hands reached for the paper bag, which she shakily placed over her nose and mouth.

"Now try to breathe like me, again, please," Akane said, resuming the exercise. "Nice and slow. You can do it. That's it."

It took several minutes before Tsume's breathing returned to normal. The experience had left her drained and her face was now a blank mask, flushed and wet with tears. She was still shivering, but it was as much from the cold and the effort now as it had been from the fear. Akane stood up, and helped Tsume stand on shaky legs, still shielding her from the bloodied courtyard.

"Tenzo-san, could you take her for a little walk, please?" she asked.

Akane remained with the two Uchihas at the edge of the courtyard as Tenzo, Tsume and Kuromaru left through the gates. The snowflakes were coming down in greater numbers now, and it was nearing dusk. Itachi held off his question until he was certain Tsume was out of earshot.

"Is it possible that the dart she got hit with the first time had anything to do with this panic attack?" he asked.

"It's been months, how could it?" Shisui argued.

"It's entirely possible," Akane said. "It was triggered by the sight of this deathtrap, and back then, shortly before getting hit by the dart, Tsume-san had seen a similar sight. If I remember correctly, she didn't react well to it back then, either. The dreamweed could have affected how she processes this whole thing, having latched on to these sensory markers and created a link to her fear center. One that would not have necessarily formed otherwise."

"So, it could happen again," Itachi said.

"Yes, it could."

Itachi sighed. He turned around to look at the scene once more. Juri had gone berserk here, which meant Suisen had allowed it for a reason. This was an invitation. A dare. The missing shinobi may well have been the lure to get them all the way out here, knowing that this kind of handiwork would eventually find its way to them, even if someone else were to stumble upon it first. This wicked game could not be allowed to continue, but he refused to play by Suisen's rules alone.

Happy New Year! I hope 2020 brings you all the best.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a pain to write, for some reason. A few words about it: using a paper bag in a panic attack is a controversial method, especially because panic attacks can be confused with asthma or a heart attack, in both of which cases a paper bag would be a bad thing to use. But I hope no one actually takes medical stuff in fanfics for granted.

As for the previous chapter's "challenge", congratulations to nobodysperfect2133, who pinpointed Yui as the abrasive Yamanaka who works for Ibiki Morino (abrasive is a great word in her case, I loved it).