Chapter 1: The Mission

Author's Note: Another story I'm working on, this one takes place in the Naruto universe. This is a sister story with Demigod567's story, "Kazuma's Story: The Black Flash". It's a good read, definitely recommend you check it out.

Here's his link if anyone needs it:

/ s / 13877771

Drop a follow if you guys like this story, and don't forget to review! I eat those for motivation to continue!

It is a fair-weathered day in the Hidden Frost Village, a rather unusual occurrence as this village has the infamous reputation of having notoriously cold temperatures, with most of the residing shinobi being equally as cold towards their contemporaries. A teenage boy was seen walking down the streets of his village, deep in thought on a certain manner when a girl around the same age as he was walked up to him.

"Hey Yorukō-kun," said the girl, "haven't seen you in a while since our last mission together!"

Yorukō, a rather tall and dark-skinned shinobi, was wearing his civilian attire, a grey t-shirt with his clan's emblem on the back, a circular vine pattern with blue ice flowers on each vine. Accustomed to his village's cold temperatures, he wore knee-cut shorts, showing his impressively toned legs. His hair, much to his mother's annoyance was styled in twists, the majority staying in the back with some in the front of his face, covering a good portion of his right side, hiding his vertical scar and one of his stunningly blue eyes.

"Yuina," said Yorukō, noticing the girl, "what's up?"

Yuina was an endowed girl for her age, wearing a dress with cold petal print which hugged her features well. Like Yorukō, she was also accustomed to the cold weather of her village, her dress cut open on the shoulder area. Her hair was let down, reaching all the way to her back which revealed her light purple eyes and matching purple lipstick to accentuate her beauty. Although Yorukō would not completely admit it, he had to agree that is a very beautiful girl.

"They sent me to look for you, Yorukō-kun," Yuina said, "something about a mission to capture someone, I don't really know. I left as soon as they asked me to find you!"

"Oh really?" asked Yorukō, a bit of confusion on his face, "It's been a month since our last mission, so I wouldn't think he would send me out that quickly."

"Me too," replied Yuina, before dragging him by his arm, "but we can't dwell on it too long! Let's go, Yorukō-kun!"

"Agh! Let go of me!" said Yorukō, who noticed some of the civilians began to watch them.

After a while, Yuina let go of Yorukō, much to the boy's relief. They continued to make their way to the Taiyōkage's office, with Yuina sneaking glances at Yorukō. These two had been friends since their days in the academy, with Yuina sitting next to him in all their classes together. After a certain incident with some of the upperclassmen and Yuina, the former trying to bully her out of some ryō, as the girl was known to be shy and easily persuaded, just wishing to do what anyone says so she doesn't get in any problems. During this time, Yorukō went to use the restroom where he saw these events unfold, enraged at the act, he charged at the bullies, effectively scaring them off with a few…tactics to say the least. Since that incident, Yuina considered Yorukō to be her hero, someone to look up to. Since that incident, her feelings towards the boy only grew, hoping to emulate his way of living, being fearless to anyone.

The two teens finally made their way to the Taiyōkage's office, walking inside and being greeted by three other shinobi, two of similar ages and one older. The Taiyōkage himself was in his late forties, his messy hair black with strands of grey, the stress of the job (mainly the hell of paperwork) catching up to him. He wore his blue robe, his hat hanged up on a hook near the door.

"Good, you're all here." said the Taiyōkage, grabbing a scroll from the desk and threw it to the older shinobi who deftly caught it.

While the older shinobi read the contents of the scroll, the Taiyōkage looked at the three young shinobi. "While he's reading the scroll, I figured I'll tell you the gist of the mission." They all listened attentively for what he was about to say next. "This is a capture mission. There has been rumors of this cult following that is supposedly obsessed with spreading the 'truth' of the shinobi world, only that their version of the truth is seriously warped. We located one of these fanatics not too far from the land of lightning. Find that person and bring them here, preferably alive. If you must kill that person then…" said the Taiyōkage, intentionally finishing off in that manner, with all the shinobi present understanding the subtle message: if you must kill, kill.

"Understood, Lord Taiyōkage," said the older shinobi, "When do we leave?"

"Preferably today. The land of lightning takes about two weeks on foot to get there," said the Taiyōkage, "the faster you leave, the faster we can learn more about this cult and how to properly prepare ourselves against it."

"You heard our leader," said the shinobi, "I expect everyone here to be ready in the next hour." The three teens nodded at the order and began making their way to the door to leave.

"Yorukō-kun, if you don't mind, could you stay back for a few more minutes, I need to speak with you about your 'request'." Yorukō nodded, staying behind after the rest left the room, closing the door once everyone had left. Yuina overheard this and decided to stay outside to hear what this mission could be.

The Taiyōkage stood up from his chair and walked over to Yorukō, handing him a bronze scroll before heading back to his seat. "You understand what this means if I allow this request of yours, right?"

"Yeah," said Yorukō, "It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time now."

Pleased that his resolve had not changed since his initial period asking this request, the Taiyōkage smiled at the boy, remembering their previous discussion one month earlier…

Flashback: One month earlier…

"Good job on finishing your hunting mission, you guys will receive your payment in a day." Said the Taiyōkage, "You guys are all free for the next two months, unless something important comes up."

"Thank you, Lord Taiyōkage," all four shinobi said in unison. They all left the room excluding Yorukō, who seemed to be deep in thought about something.

"Is something the matter, Yorukō-kun?" asked the Taiyōkage.

"It's about me, my lord," Yorukō respectfully replied, "I'm not sure this is the life for me anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"This!" Yorukō exclaimed, dragging his right arm in a sweeping motion across the room, "I want to travel, write a new chapter about myself, something I can't do while I'm in this village!"

"I'm sorry you feel this way, young Yorukō," said the Taiyōkage, "but you know the policy here. Only way for you to really achieve that is to desert the village, and you and I both know how your mother will feel about that, and the measures I'll have to take to bring you back."

"If I leave this village, you will do what it takes to bring me back, right?" asked Yorukō.

"Precisely. However, there may be a way for you to do this 'journey' of yours, so to speak."

Yorukō was all ears.

"You would actually have to defect the village." the Taiyōkage said.

"What do you mean, 'defect'?" Yorukō asked, confused.

"It's what I meant. You would need to do something drastic; something so evil to want to leave and not be punished for it."

"I…I'm starting to understand what you mean," Yorukō said, concerned of the choice he has to make, "What would you want me to do?"

"Whatever your next mission with your team is, you will have a new mission that takes precedent over it: kill all of your teammates." said the Taiyōkage, his expression shifting from relaxed to a more serious one.

"What?! All of them?!" exclaimed Yorukō, "Let me leave one alive at least!"

Yorukō was shocked to say the least. His one desire to wander the shinobi world and learn new things at the steep cost of killing his comrades. What will he do? Wander around at the cost of having literally cutting your ties with your village, your comrades, dealing with constant enemy and hunter ninja after him, or stay in the village and feel stagnated, his progress stunted?

"You make a valid point, Yorukō-kun." replied the Taiyōkage. "Very well, spare one person. That way, it'll make the story more believable."

"What do you mean, 'more believable'?" interjected Yorukō.

"Understand that this is an assassination mission, one to grant what you want, against your teammates no less. This is in no way, shape or form going to go unnoticed. If you do this, know that there is no going back."

"Think about it, Yorukō-kun," the Taiyōkage said, getting up from his chair and walking to the boy, standing directly in front of him, "you'll get what you want, at the cost of great dishonor."

The young boy did not respond, choosing to walk to the door instead.

"If your answer doesn't change when I summon you again," the Taiyōkage spoke up, watching Yorukō walk away, "I'll allow your request, but you will have to do it how I explained it."

Flashback end

"Very well, Yorukō-kun. Inside that scroll is your new mission, the very same one we discussed a month prior."

"I see," replied Yorukō, "I spare one as agreed. The rest must die for me to become a nuke-nin (rogue ninja), correct?"

"Yes. If you still undergo this," said the Taiyōkage, "I can't protect you anymore, but you are a competent ninja, a rather skilled one at that."

Outside the Kage's office…

Yuina was frantic. She could not believe what she just heard – Yorukō was willing to become a nuke-nin! She was strongly tempted to bust in and try to stop this meeting from happening, but it would see her in massive trouble if she did as she would be interrupting a private conversation, one with the kage no less! She quickly left the scene, hoping no one saw her in the process.

Inside the office…

Yorukō placed the scroll in his pocket and began to make his way to the door. Watching the boy leave for probably the last time, the Taiyōkage could not help but feel pride and sadness towards him. "I hope you find who you really are on this journey, my boy, because if you don't, I shudder at what will happen if you get caught."

It did not take Yorukō to get ready for this mission. After leaving the office, he quickly went home via a smokeless shunshin and changed into his battle gear, a grey long-sleeve shirt and matching pants, putting his light blue flak jacket with the village's symbol on the back over his shirt. He grabbed his cat mask which hung on a hook next to his door and hooked it onto the side of his pants. He grabbed his two katanas from the back of his room, placing them on his back. Finally, before he left, he wrote two notes, one to his mother and one for his father, placing his chakra seal on them where only the two can read their respective notes and placing them on his bed. With another smokeless shunshin, he vanished from the room and appeared at the gate, where he was greeted by his teammates.

Noticing his attire, the older man said, "I wasn't aware you were in the ANBU, Yorukō. I should've known based off your fight style."

"Sorry about that," Yorukō sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm not all that good at it, so I tend to keep it a secret."

Yuina looked at the boy with tears in her eyes, no one seeing it except him. He made a mental note to ask her what's wrong at a later note.

"Can we go now?" a boy asked, wearing a similar outfit like Yorukō's, only that outfit was white and wore a grey flak jacket, something chūnins wear in the Hidden Frost.

"Yeah, let's go team," said the older man, "we're running out of time. Let's go!"

With that, the four ninjas dashed out of the village.

Next Chapter: Betrayal