A/N: So the exams are done, which is nice. This is the starts of a mini-arc that spans maybe three chapters and will wrap up Arc 2.

Beta'd by the mighty Alice J

Chapter 27 - Metalizing

[Noun: the general name for the technique of coating metal on the surface of objects.]

"This was not how I expected my first mission back to be," I mumbled as I looked towards the empty ocean. We were currently on a ship, in the middle of the sea, sailing to basically the north pole of this world.

"Me neither, but unfortunately, sometimes we get stuck with things we don't want." As usual, Kakashi felt the need to make a completely unnecessary remark without even glancing away from his book, and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Thanks a lot, that did not hurt at all. I just meant that I thought Hokage-sama would send me on some, I don't know, smaller missions that are closer to home, considering all that 'emotional instability' you claim I have." I said flatly as I turned around, eyeing my captain accusingly. Okay, maybe his claims weren't wrong, but it didn't make me feel any less annoyed.

"In case you have been out of the job for too long, this is a smaller mission. Minimal chance of fighting enemies, mostly just investigation and diplomatic stuff. Like the Chunin exam escort mission, just with no escorting involved."

"Yeah, and we all know how that went," I muttered, turning my face back to the view of the ocean again. My mind thought back to the moment when the Hokage-sama assigned our mission. I had been expecting some elimination mission, like the ones I usually took, since our team was built for combat after all. Instead, I got…

'I'm sending you to the Land of Snow. The Land of Snow is known for its cold and harsh climate, however, its metal mining was responsible for a huge portion of Konoha's weaponry. Recently, the Snow Daimyo is refusing to do trades in regard to the metal mines with foreign shinobi villages, and it is causing a metal supply shortage for metal crafting. Objective one: to negotiate a trades agreement in a diplomatic manner. If objective one were to fail, then you are to investigate the reason why they refuse the trade. You are authorised to defend yourself if attacked in foreign lands, but your main mission is to bring information back."

Yes, the Hokage-sama said it so nonchalantly, as if I had any experiences with that. Although it did explain why the metal price kept inflating recently, the law of supply and demand. Still, I had been assigned along with Kakashi, who probably also had the job of keeping an eye on me so I wouldn't do something stupid like last time. Courtesy of the Hokage-sama.

"Why me? I have no diplomatic experience, nor do I have any in-depth knowledge about trading clauses. So, why me?" I asked, and for the first time, Kakashi raised his one eye from the book and looked at me.

"It's your name. Uchiha is such a prominent clan in the village that just your last name gives you enough status to represent Konoha. Besides, you are the only Clan Head in the village with … a low profile, and thus you can also do the investigation part of the mission." Kakashi explained in a serious tone as he pulled out a file from the storage seal.

I narrowed my eyes just a bit the slight pause in his words. A low profile, that's a nice way of putting it. I was pretty sure that the Council threw me out for this mission because being received by a lesser diplomat would make the Snow Daimyo learn his place. In other words - the words that Kakashi was too nice to say - I was the demeaning object of the lower status to humiliate the Daimyo of a lesser country.

"You don't have to worry about the trade clause, Jonin Commander Nara wrote me a detailed report on what not to accept. As for the political aspect of the mission, I believe the Hokage-sama wants you to get an early chance to practice." He glanced over at mission briefing, his eye darting from page to page. After hearing his explanation, I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"There are only two people in the clan, and I'm not even a real Clan Head. The title automatically went to the oldest and I'm just a placeholder until Sasuke is old enough to take the title." I complained. I only took the temporary title so that I could gain Sasuke's guardianship. Now that I thought about it, my father never actually filed the official document for exilement, and I never demanded it. It was mostly a mutual understanding that I was a disgrace to the family. We sort of just let it hang there indefinitely, both too stubborn to take a step back.

"Not anymore. You are the prestigious Uchiha Clan Head for this mission, so at least pretend to be one." Under his serious gaze, I was unwilling to answer. Unconsciously, I glanced down at the Uchiha fan insignia sewn on my jacket, right over my heart, and I knew that there was a bigger fan crest on my back. Sasuke had been ecstatic that I put on the jacket for this mission, so much that he only complained for five minutes about my long absence. However, I couldn't understand the need to flaunt my identity so blatantly out in the open, it was like putting a permanent target on my back.

"Fine. What am I supposed to do?" I finally asked when the silence went on for too long. I didn't really have a choice, did I?

"Can't help you with that, I have no experience whatsoever; the Hatake stopped being a clan two generations ago. There was no detailed report from Commander Nara about 'how to act like a Clan Head'. However, Sandaime-sama did leave you a note." The ambiguous smile he gave me as he handed me a folded note made me wonder if he was joking or not, but like always, his mask prevented me from reading his expression. Nevertheless, I took the note and read it.

'Don't worry about it too much, just go with your instincts and follow your gut.

- Sandaime Hokage'

"What the hell is this …" I was going to say 'half-assed', but then I remembered that this was the Hokage's note "... vague note from our esteemed Hokage-sama."

"Your only advice. So ponder over it for the next three days before we arrive at our destination. You don't want a failed B-rank mission on your record now, do you?" The moment he collected the note from me, he stuffed everything right back into the storage scroll. He was right, I didn't want a failed record on my mission. Despite all the 'extra records' that happened on my missions, I managed to complete every one of them, and I don't plan to fail now of all times.

While we were talking, the sky darkened as the night fell. The temporary darkness draped over the sky and the sea alike, dyeing them in shades of navy blue. With one look at the darkness, Kakashi stood up and prepared to leave, but before he walked out of the door, I just had to ask him about something that was plaguing my mind.

"What happened to Orochimaru?" My question was vague, very vague. I remembered everything I could, the Kannon Bosatsu, the Amaterasu and the silver giant I never got the chance to figure out about. But I wanted to know the aftermath, I wanted to hear the consequences from someone else.

"He escaped, presumably having already taken a new body. Our Intelligence Division lost track of him right after he appeared." He tried really well to mask the hesitation, but I knew he didn't want to tell me. Did he think I would go off and do stupid, impulsive things again? Probably, my actions didn't really offer him another impression. But still, he could have a little faith in me…

I nodded, not to anything particular, because I didn't even know why I was nodding when Orochimaru was clearly not dead. Thankfully, Kakashi seemed to find my nod good enough so he left, leaving the cabin door slightly ajar.

I will kill him one day, just because he threatened my brother. Although, next time, I would prefer to stay alive after it. It was not only that I had something, someone to live for, but more so that I wanted the chance to live for something.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

My first impression of the Land of the Snow: it was mesmerizingly familiar.

When we first stepped off the vessel onto this northern land, I could see the enchanting kingdom, forever frozen within the ice and snow. Layers of white, pale blue and grey, covered the landscape, adoring the traditional castle rising on the mountain. However, this serene image was broken by something I was quite familiar with because, in a way, it was the idea of modernity

Metallic railways stretched from the harbour all the way deep into the mountains; the black soot from the train stained the white image in a darker grey much like the image of the industrial revolution; the sleek shape of snowmobiles provided the sharp lines that broke the harmony of this snow-buried kingdom. It was like the winter city of Harbin, the mechanic modernity of the land even made the century-old castle seem foreign.

"Two tickets please, to the capital," I said politely to the women in the ticket booth. She eyed me with curiosity and suspicion, I imagine we probably looked quite out of place. I was wearing a black cape to keep out the cold harsh wind, and it was sticking out like a burning candle at night in this world of grey and white. Slightly behind me, Kakashi was wearing a pale grey cape, it was the same colour as his hair, and the collar of the cape made the image blend together right into the white background.

"Identifications." I handed in our shinobi identifications. This time, we used our real names; Uchiha Maiko, Hatake Kakashi, and we didn't plan to hide it. The women took our IDs, and with a quick glance at the word Konoha, she frowned. She cast us a critical glance before walking off, leaving us standing in front of the ticket booth.

We waited, patiently. There weren't a lot of people around the train station, and despite the technological advancement, it didn't seem proportional to the population of this land. After ten very silent and long minutes, she returned with an emotionless face.

"Here are your tickets. Please have a safe journey, we hope you enjoy your stay in the Land of Snow." I took the tickets and returned her professional voice with a polite smile. It was all politics now, the first one to speak the truth loses.

The train departed shortly after we got on. It wasn't as fast as the bullet train since it mostly ran on coal. However, it was still quite impressive compared to the infrastructure of the rest of this world. If this world did not have any chakra, or ninjutsu or shinobi, the Land of Snow would have been the pioneer of this world, just because it recognised the great value in metal and transportation.

"Now that they have been alerted to our presence, I imagine the negotiations will have to come before the investigation. You might as well read the manual on the trading clauses." My travelling companion threw me the alleged detailed manual from the Jonin Commander himself, and I caught it with ease.

As I flipped through the pages, I saw lines and lines of small words filling the pages like ants. This was completely different from Hokage-sama's half-assed (let's be honest, it's completely half-assed) note, it was probably the epitome of detailed descriptions. Feeling the impending headache and realising the fact that I only had around thirty minutes to memorise this, I activated the Sharingan without another thought.

It took me ten minutes to scan the thirty-page report and process the information. Not that I had any experience of high school life, since being trained in a black ops organization all my previous life pretty much sucked away all the opportunities for career finding, but I suppose this was what Naruto would call 'the cram session before the exam' (although he really only complained about it, so far I had yet to see any academic progress that was the results of these cram sessions he complained so often about. And Sasuke… well, I guess that this was what Sharingans are for).

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the gist of this is that we can only offer twelve percent extra trade wise for the metals, and if they don't accept, we got no deal?" I summarised. I was sure that there were other details, but they could be discussed later.

"Basically. Usually, with smaller countries, they just want more profit in trades. It's very unlikely that they won't agree to the clauses, simply because of the military powers the elemental nations possess." Kakashi explained. I nodded absentmindedly while staring at the passing sceneries outside the window. There were snowmobiles, railroads, soldiers in armours, and…was that…a volley cannon?

"Hey, are you listening?" At the light touch on my shoulder, I snapped my eyes away from the strange machinery and backed into the reality, where I vaguely heard Kakashi mocking me, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head during the last two months?" and I had to re-focus my eyes to get used to the dark shadow inside of the train in comparison to the blinding white outside.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening, keep going." I quickly said to keep his worried gaze off of me. It was just that those 'technologies' seemed… too familiar for my comfort.

There was a long pause before he spoke up again, "I know that this is a lot of responsibility. I'm not going to lie, after this mission, your identity as the new Uchiha Clan Head will be exposed, and there will be a lot of attention placed on you, and it might even affect your future careers. But I need you to clear your head now because this is the Hokage-sama's order and we cannot turn back now." His speech was confusing. His voice didn't sound harsh, it was much more like a senpai reassuring a kouhai. However, the content of his speech sounded like an officer reprimanding a subordinate. It almost seemed like he was stuck between deciding the two types of relationships, wavering between the two different attitudes he should use.

I couldn't blame him, defining connections were complicated, and it was probably the fact that we were both socially aloof that we never bothered to define it in the first place. I never thought that as a problem, it worked best that way. Mysteries didn't work well between us, and a defined relationship had boundaries that erased that transparency, or at least, as transparent as we allowed it.

"I know, and I won't turn my back on it. Like you said, an early chance for practice." I flashed him a small smile before turning my attention back to the document, and he didn't bother me again for the rest of the journey. To be honest, I didn't want to look at the document again, I already had it memorised and looking at the ant-like words crawling on the pages just made me want to shut my eyes in irritation.

Then again, I also didn't want to look outside the window. It was almost ironic, which seemed to be the ultimate theme of my life right now. Now that I have decided to just live in this world, as Uchiha Maiko, this development in technology, this…unusual scenery of modernity. It all seemed too familiar to my past life, and anything related to my past life couldn't possibly be good.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

"Please wait a moment, Daimyo-sama will be here shortly." I resisted the urge to glare at the messenger boy and gave him a perfectly polite smile. How many times had he said that, four? Five? Six? I lost count, but he would be sure to bring it up every ten minutes. Daimyos, they always had the notion that if they made others wait longer, their own pride would be elevated.

"Presenting, the esteemed Snow Daimyo-sama!" With the loud announcement from somewhere in the room, I kneeled to show my respect for the Daimyo. I lowered my legs and dipped my head, but I kept my knee from touching the ground. The Snow Daimyo was not the Daimyo that Konoha swore allegiance to, and as a Daimyo of less status than the Daimyo of the Five Elemental Nations, I did not have to show the same level of respect as I would for the Fire Daimyo.

"Rise." A deep voice called out as I stood up and raised my head, and I saw the Snow Daimyo for the first time. He was not like the Tea Daimyo or the Fire Daimyo, his figure was broad and muscular while his clothes were not fancy or extravagant, and he wore no Daimyo headpieces. He was a warrior, I could tell that much, but it was the condescending and analytical glare in his eyes that alerted my automatic defence mechanism.

Those critical eyes of his thoroughly ran over me first, then they moved onto Kakashi who was standing behind me, slightly to the right. Usually, Kakashi, as my team captain, would be the one standing in the front, and I had absolutely no qualms with that. However, this time, I was supposed to be the lead diplomat, so hiding behind Kakashi's shadow was no longer an option.

"Is this supposed to be the Uchiha Clan Head I was promised an audience with? Run home, girl, and get me your father." He laughed mockingly as he waved his hand at me. Already starting? And here I thought he at least had some manners as the Snow Daimyo.

"Rest assured, Daimyo-dono, I am the current Uchiha Clan Head," I answered while keeping my eyes to his without any hesitation or wavering of confidence. I was being defiant, but I needed to keep a strong presence in front of the other negotiating party, I needed to establish my own standing.

"Oh, is that so? Then tell me…Lady Uchiha, is it true that the once mighty Uchiha Clan has fallen so much that they would choose a measly girl as the Clan Head?" That was a low blow, and he knew it. But then again, it was nothing I haven't heard before so I kept my composure and smiled at him.

"Thank you for your concern, Daimyo-dono, but the Uchiha Clan is well and the internal affairs are none of your concerns. Shall we begin the negotiation process, I'm afraid I don't have much time and I wouldn't want to intrude your land any further," I picked my words carefully. If Father were here, he might be a little bit proud of the Uchiha arrogance I was currently imitating now.

"You speak well and arrogantly for a little girl, but first, I need to see the proof that you are indeed who you say you are. Show me your sharingan, the so-called legendary dōjutsu." He said with mockery and confidence alike, and I mentally frowned at his request. Isn't he afraid of the genjutsu I could cast on him? He is either very stupid or very confident in his abilities.

Still, I activated my prided kekkei genkai, showing the blood red eyes that determined my status. I could see greed and avarice in his eyes, like so many before him, the lure of power was endless for the human. However, what alerted me was the chakra flow I was currently seeing: the Snow Daimyo had the flow of chakra on his body, but I could see the unknown mass on his body that seemed to block my vision. Whatever it was, it was effectively protecting his chakra from the outside. No wonder he was so confident, my genjutsu would not be effective against him when I could hardly disrupt his chakra system. As soon as my eyes returned to normal, he clapped his hands very slowly, almost in a rhythmic way.

"Very well, let's begin the negotiations, what does Konoha want with the Land of Snow?" He asked while keeping his eyes on me, pressuring me with his gaze.

"Konoha would like to continue the trade in metal with the Land of Snow. Our Hokage-sama believes that it would be of our mutual interest to do so; putting a stop on such activities would not benefit either party." I answered, remembering one of the lines in Commander Nara's detailed report.

"Oh, and how does this benefit us? The Land of Snow is thriving in the economy, and what can Konohagakure offer that would be of my interest?" the Snow Daimyo said with skepticism.

"We could offer you more profit. Konoha would be willing to retain the old shipment rate while elevating our payment for eight percent of our current price, but of course, with constant supply rate guaranteed." I didn't start with our maximum limit because that would just be stupid in negotiation.

"Only eight percent? You must know that Konoha is not the only shinobi village that wants our metal supply, don't you, Lady Uchiha?" He said the last two words with such mockery that my father would probably accuse him of defiling the Uchiha name.

"Of course, Daimyo-dono, but you must also know that the Land of Snow is not our only source for metal supplies. The Land of Iron and some eastern territories would also happily supply Konoha with metal mines. Compared to Konoha, the Land of Snow would have more to lose if the trade is stopped." He narrowed his eyes at me as if he were scrutinising every single one of my words, looking for any weakness in my argument.

"Twenty-five percent increases on the prices, and I will think about the continuing the trade."

"Ten percent, Daimyo-dono, you know full well that no one will pay for the metals at that price."

"Twenty percent." He haggled persistently, and I hardened my eyes at the unreasonable Daimyo in front of me.

"Daimyo-dono, perhaps you do not understand the situation. Konoha is offering you more profit than before, and no other shinobi village will be compliant enough to do so," I said with a newfound coldness.

"Sunagakure and Iwagakure are closest to the Land of Iron, and they will not bother to seek your country out for negotiation. Kumogakure can obtain their metal from the eastern territories, and they are not generous enough to pay what we are offering. Kirigakure is in a state of civil unrest and they will not have the time, nor would they want to, negotiate the trade for more metals to produce weapons that will fuel the unrest even more. Even us, Konohagakure would get a steady supply of metal just from the Land of Iron and the eastern territories, but our Hokage-sama was generous enough to offer you a situation that both of us would benefit from. Surely, Daimyo-dono, you would be sensible enough to see the worth in Konoha's proposal?" I gave him a fake smile. Most of the information I had just spouted were in the Jonin Commander's notes, and I may have exaggerated a bit about Kumogakure. However, the speech was good enough to keep the Snow Daimyo silent for a moment.

"Twelve percent, that is the limit to Konoha's offer." I let the words out slowly, putting our final offer on the table. The Daimyo was still silent, but I could hear the wheels in his head turning, trying to decide on his next move.

"I will have to think about it," finally, he answered, "The Land of Snow would like to offer you a night's stay at the castle, and I shall discuss the offer with my advisors." With a wave of his hand, the servant boy rushed to his side. We waited as the Daimyo whispered a few words into the boy's ear, who nodded quickly. When he was done, he stood up with regal posture and everyone in the court kneeled again except for us.

"My servant will take you to your residence. Tomorrow morning, I will reach my decision. Until then, the Land of Snow offers you our hospitality." As soon as he finished his words, he walked away from the court and disappeared from our line of sight. The servant boy meekly approached us as the court emptied out, all following the departure of their Daimyo-sama.

"Please follow me, Lady Uchiha, I shall take you to your chamber." I followed the servant boy as he led us through the halls and stairs, turning left and turning right like we were navigating the complicated alleyways. I had to admit, the inside of the castle did not look like the outside at all. From the outside, the Kazahana Castle was elegant and sophisticated, while the inside looked more like an abandoned military fort. The building was well kept and everything was expensive and clean, yet there seemed to be no decorations, nor were there any warm lightings. It looked like everything was trapped and kept together by iron-clad chains.

"The Castle has been under renovation lately, and Daimyo-sama regretfully informs you that this is the only room we can offer. He hopes that you will understand, ambassador from Konoha." The boy quickly said and scurried off, leaving us in front of a small and darkly lit room. Really, Snow Daimyo, really? Is this how you want to play? Well, good for him, since I really couldn't care less about where in the world I sleep, it was not like I had never slept in the jungle or anything.

I stepped into the room without hesitation, but my Sharingan was already activated to detect any hidden traps. There weren't any I could see, no wire traps or chakra detection ones. Then again, I was no expert, so our best bet was to not touch anything unnecessarily. Behind me, Kakashi closed the door lightly, isolating us from the rest of the creeping castle.

'What's next?' I flashed the hand signs quickly, the room was dark and my movements were discreet, but I knew that Kakashi could see it, with his Konoha headband already lifted and Sharingan exposed.

'Leave a shadow clone here first, we will talk about the rest after we are out of the castle.' He flashed back a string of hand signals and I nodded. With a few quick hand seals, two shadow clones appeared beside us and I immediately felt the drain of half of my chakra. Shadow clones were good for infiltration and a whole lot more, but I could never get used to the fact that half of me was split and the clone could move and talk just as I could. Now that I thought about it, I should maybe teach Naruto this if he was still having trouble creating a clone. The last time we tried, he managed to make the clone blow up because he put so much chakra into it. However, with the shadow clone, the chakra would split in half evenly and he wouldn't have to worry about chakra control.

Without another word, Kakashi jumped out of the window and I followed him. We slid down the castle walls, coating our feet with chakra and body flickered away from the castle as we approached the bottom of the wall. Honestly, I would never jump out of a building like this in my previous life if I weren't forced to by rounds of gunfire, there was always some form of escape plans that retrieved the agents. OLYMPUS might have been ruthless in exterminating the agents who were 'not needed' anymore, but they cared far too much for their resources invested to abandon a well-trained agent. However, this world had chakra, and I had been trained for another eleven years in shinobi arts, so some laws of physics were bound to be thrown out of the window and I didn't even bat an eyelash as I jumped out of the castle with such carefreeness.

It wasn't until we were at least a few kilometres away from the castle that he slowed down his pace. At this point, I could only see the vague outline of Kazahana Castle obscured by snowstorms and white mountains. The snow plains we were walking on were much like the desolated deserts in Suna. I had already changed my obnoxious out-of-place black coat for a pale grey one just like what Kakashi was wearing. With the hood pulled over my head, the last sign of my raven black hair was obscured and the image of two lonely travellers blended seamlessly into the white kingdom.

"Do you think the Snow Daimyo will agree to our terms?" Kakashi suddenly asked as we trotted through the plains. We were following the network of railroads from far away, but nevertheless, it was a guidance towards one of the biggest mines in the Land of Snow.

"I don't know. He seemed reluctant to agree, but I don't know why he would stop the trade in the first place." My voice just barely reached him over the howls of wind, but he still nodded thoughtfully.

"Which is why we are investigating in the first place. The Snow Daimyo's actions are suspicious. If he is really aiming for more profit, he would have agreed to it by now." Beside him, I tilted my head and looked at him in confusion, silently asking him to elaborate. With a small sigh, he continued.

"The current Snow Daimyo, Kazahana Dotō, staged a coup against his brother seven years ago. He murdered his brother and ascended the throne as the Snow Daimyo. He is a dictator, who is strong enough to keep the country within his grasps. He may have advisors, but they are just titles to keep the appearance up. If he really wants to make a decision, he wouldn't need others' approval, and he certainly isn't the type to listen to anyone else." He explained as we followed the speeding train. He kept his voice flat, very emotionless indeed. Yet, I could faintly hear the faint hint of regret in his voice, so faint that I would not have picked it up if not for the long period of time I have known him.

"You've been to the Land of Snow before?" I asked, but it was more like a statement.

For a while, he didn't answer me. I suppose he didn't have to answer me, I was probably breaching the protocol and boundaries anyway. This transparency thing, it only worked with glass panels separating us. We gain information off of each other, because, let's be honest, we were both so perceptive that no one could win this game of 'who's the better liar'. Yes, we saw each other, but we didn't reach out. He had his past that I couldn't change and I had my secrets, both in this life and the one before that he couldn't understand, nor would he ever. We didn't reach out, we couldn't reach out. We wouldn't reach out.

"That was a long time ago on a mission." Somehow, he answered me, albeit with a vague and superficial reply. As I kept my mouth shut, he continued, "The mine is around ten kilometres away. We will be infiltrating without alerting anyone. Keep your Sharingan open in case you need to cast genjutsu."

The entrance to the mine wasn't hard to find: it was the brightest scene in the snow plain, lit up by shining lamps in the middle of the night. The Land of Snow really took mining seriously, the campsite for the workers was arranged much like a military fort, organised and compacted. There were even some soldiers walking around holding weapons - not swords or lances, but volley guns.

"Well, as our only Sharingan expert who can keep her eyes open without getting a chakra exhaustion, why don't you go take the camp, while I go and scout the metal transport chain or whatever they do at the railway." Even though he had posed the words as a suggestion, I knew that it wasn't really negotiable. "And, don't ―"

"Don't kill anybody in a foreign territory, got it." I finished the sentence for him, earning me a look of warning.

"I was going to say don't take too long, but sure, that's a concern as well." He waved his hand and shooed me towards the brightly-lit campsite before he disappeared into the direction of noisy railway that was covered by the black soot.

I observed the camp for a while, registering all the little dots that were giving off chakra signals. Based on the scattered presence of developed chakra systems (at least to some extent), I'd say that the Snow Country wasn't very concerned with their main source of income. But then again, in this isolated island nation all the way at the North Pole, foreign threats were rare.

Lightly, I sneaked up near the two rare shinobi who were standing guard at one of the camp entries. To be honest, 'standing guard' was a strong expression, considering the fact that both of them were sitting down by the fence, burying themselves with a particularly unpleasant scent.

Alcohol. Drinking on the job, what a surprise. My sense of smell was never very good, but with the stench of alcohol, I could smell it a mile away. I let out a small breath against the strong smell, at this moment, I had no quarrel about finishing this up quickly.

"Oh, what did we do that got us in this Kami forsaken place. There's nothing here save for the blasted metal for who knows what!" One of the guards lamented loudly as he took a large sip of liquor. His weapons slipped on the ground, out of his sight in the shadow.

"You said you want an easy job, well, here's the easiest job," The other one mocked. The first guard jokingly threw the canteen at him, he caught it then took a large drink as well.

"Yeah, I suppose that you have a point. No life is better than an easy life!" They both laughed loudly just when I had felt like I was done being surrounded by sake stenches. Quietly, I stepped out of the fences and none of them noticed me until I was right in front of them.

They never really had the chance to get sober, because the moment they saw the spinning Sharingan, their mind went dazed again. Their bodies relaxed on the ground, the canteen of alcohol slipped between their fingers and the alcohol splashed all over the cold icy ground. By the time they woke up, they would probably assume that they had drunk themselves to sleep the moment they saw the empty canteen.

I bolted through the camp, flickered from one tent to another based and flashed between the miners who had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on. I was quite lucky so far since the number of shinobi here was so scarce. However, if any one of them were unlucky to come in my way, the Sharingan was pretty much a cheat sheet. Oh, how much I had missed my eyes; the two months in the village was boring as hell. It only took mere minutes to reach the mine entrance. But before I could storm in and be done with it, I stopped behind one of the tents when I heard a trail of footsteps coming out of the mine.

"Finally, the shift is done! I thought my hands were going to drop." I heard one of the miners speak up, then it was followed by the clanking sound of metal being discarded into the ground.

"Man, I feel tired, I'm just glad that I wasn't sick like some of the others."

"Ah, it's the poisonous miasma, I tell you. I've been working in the mine for decades, never have I felt so uncomfortable in the metal caves."

"Well, there's nothing we can do, we don't have the shinobi's chakra, and it's not like our Daimyo-sama listens ―" "Shut up! Do you want to die? The shinobis here would kill you on sight!" The voices became silent for a moment before a flurry of footsteps carried all the miners away.

It took me a moment to register that the new information was bad news. Alcohol and poisonous miasma, the working condition in the Land of Snow is on another level. Judging by the unconcerned shinobis at the gate, I was quite sure that circulating the chakra rapidly could help with dispensing most poison, but that would be like waving a flag saying "I'm here! Foreign shinobi here!".

"Move along! Daimyo-sama ordered that the mining should not be stopped at any second!" The shinobi at the front of the ushered along, by the drowsy stench on him, I would assume that he was drinking quite happily as well. To be fair, alcohol was great for warming the body in the cold. Besides, it was definitely easier to make them believe the genjutsu if their mind wasn't clear in the first place.

I snuck up behind the team of workers and entered the mine with them. At first, everything seemed normal, with the dim oil lamps and scattered rocks. "Work quickly! Daimyo-sama wants the production of four carts every shift! I'm sure you all know what would happen if the quota were not met!" Actually, I didn't know what would happen, but I could probably guess. Soon, all the miners spread out into different positions, making the rhythmic sound of metals rattled against each other like a symphony in discord.

Everything was normal, that is until I felt my very own chakra slipping away. Something was sipping out my chakra like a straw. The jittery feeling ran across my skin as mild nausea soaked through my body. No wonder the civilian miners felt sick, with their undeveloped chakra circulation, even missing a single bit of chakra could cause discomfort. But for shinobi, whose concentrated chakra system was often in circulation, there was a constant supply of chakra produced to fill the loss rather quickly. Unfortunately, rapid and concentrated chakra system was a lighthouse for identifying shinobis. Obnoxious Daimyo, alcohol, and chakra eating miasma, I freaking love this country.

I was very curious, as to why the Snow Daimyo wanted all those metals for. Initially, I thought that maybe the Land of Snow had trouble continuing the mining because of this sickly miasma. However, the mining wasn't slowing down at all. If anything, it was only speeding up.

Anyway, I was here to investigate, so I might as well get onto it. Like a crazy person, I kicked a pile of rocks and let the loud crashing sound fill the suffocating cave. If this wouldn't get the shinobi's attention, then I didn't know what would.

"Hey! You there! What the hell! Get to work seriously!" As expected, the shinobi stormed angrily behind the rock where I was standing. In less than a fraction of a second, I grabbed his collar and pulled him down. Against the overwhelming alcoholic breath, I stared into his angry and shocked pupils. Shortly after, his eyes lost focus.

I whispered into his ear, "Now, answer me honestly in a low voice. What's the use of all the metals?" I could see the chakra system in his head going haywire, and it definitely wasn't caused by the alcohol. Under this state of confusion, he wouldn't be able to distinguish anything, let alone remember what he answered.

"Daimyo-sama wants all the metal to be used in the production of chakra armour and some newly developed weapons." He answered me obediently in a small voice, just loud enough for me to hear.

"What is the chakra armour?" I asked again, remembering that black hole that seemed to block me from identifying and accessing Dotō's chakra system.

"I don't know … my access is too low …" Well, of course, you work in a goddamn mine scaring civilians after all. His voice started to sound confused like he was trying to think of something. This was not good, the nausea was starting to affect my own focus as well, and it seemed like the questions I asked were starting to breach a dangerous boundary.

"What about the poisonous miasma in the mine? What is it?" I asked hurriedly as I refocused my control.

"Some miners got sick, but after a day or two to rest, they are well again. I don't know what it is, this mine is new, but Daimyo-sama is especially keen on some of the new mines discovered." Thanks, that was helpful, alcohol breath.

"Alcohol breath, now remember, you got drunk and started to hear things." As soon as I let go of him, he took a step, presumably to steady himself. However, all he managed to do was to trip on his own feet and had to lean on the rock walls to gain support. Amazing, now he was truly drunk on genjutsu.

Without any hesitation, I flickered out of the cave. I bolted out of the campsite and passed by the guards at the entrance who were still sleeping soundly. When I returned to the landmark fifty meters from the campsite, Kakashi was already waiting for me. I didn't know if I should feel amused or insulted that he had his book open as if I took a really long time to get the job done.

"They are using all the metal for armour and weapon production. Oh, they have some kind of chakra-eating contamination in the mines, but the Daimyo couldn't care less about his citizen's health," I reported in a bland voice. Kakashi closed his book and placed it back into his storage seal in a very slow motion as if savouring whatever inappropriate content he had just read.

"I noticed. Most of the metals mined were the common types used in weapons, however, they were shipped in the direction of the Capital, not the harbour. It seems that Dotō wants more than just money for profit." He said with an unreadable expression, not that I was very successful at reading his expressions in the first place, with the mask and all. However, I did understand the undertone of his sentences. Mass weapon production could only mean one thing: militarization. The Land of Snow was preparing for some armed conflict, and whatever purpose it was for, it was not good news for Konoha.

"But first of all, let's get back to the castle before anyone finds out we infiltrated the mine." Before I could think any further, Kakashi had already pulled up the pale grey hood and walked away, back towards the direction we came from.

"Wait, what? We already got the information, so why can't we just leave? Judging by his intent of militarization, the Snow Daimyo wouldn't possibly agree to the trade clauses we've proposed." I voiced out my confusion as I followed him. If there was the possibility that this country would go to war, I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

"And you suck at being diplomatic." He was awfully blunt today. "What would they think of Konoha's reputation if one their ambassador, a Clan Head no less, left in secret before informing the Daimyo?" That, I didn't have an answer to.

"Shadow clones don't last forever, and just half the chakra won't last us to the border. Calm down, they don't know that we have already investigated their mines. We just have to sit tight and wait for him to reject your offer, then we can officially leave." Kakashi reassured me and I hesitantly pulled up my hood as well. He made a good point and it was not like I could argue with him. I just barely scraped into his good side after the Orochimaru fiasco, and angering my captain again was probably not the brightest move.

Eventually, we started our excruciatingly cold journey back to the Kazahana Castle. Kakashi was right, at the rate I was using the fire natured chakra to keep myself warm, we would not last very long, especially while keeping a shadow clone.

It seemed like my bad luck still hadn't worn off yet, even if I was basically at the North Pole. The journey back was serene, but it wasn't until we were a bit over a hundred meters from the castle that I felt something 'returned' to me.

Suddenly, the memory of something ambushed me while I was sleeping flashed in my mind. My shadow clone popped, and that was never a good sign. Especially when it wasn't an accident. Kazahana Dotō had 'killed' me, or at least he had attempted to.

I turned my face towards Kakashi and he did the same. From our mutually shocked expressions, I assumed that his shadow clone had probably popped as well. The castle in front of us lit up with bright lights all of a sudden and I narrowed my eyes at the small figures appearing one by one on the castle wall. They were all soldiers armed with volley guns which were pointed in our direction.

"Who said that this is a small mission with minimal fighting and that the Daimyo won't do anything to us?" At this point, it was pretty clear that the Snow Daimyo wanted us out of the picture. Whether it was because he had learned of our little expenditure in the mine, which was unlikely, or simply because he was a paranoid bastard, it didn't really matter. It doesn't change the fact that he was mobilising his entire army to shoot us full of holes.

"Not now. This is really not the time to play the 'I told you so' game." Kakashi responded with a scowl, but there were no indication that he was afraid. The soldiers were starting to file out of the castle gate, all uniformly wearing the same pale greyish-blue armour that blocked my access to their chakra systems.

"Your order, Captain?" I asked as a shower of kunais and shurikens rained down on us. They had fired the volley guns. The only course of action seemed pretty obvious as we bolted and ran, dodging and hacking the projectiles away.

"Now, we run and get back to Konoha alive."

A/N: lol, you can't call it a life without being a fugitive at least once. Confession time: I seriously don't know what to say this time. Umm... the date of Maiko's death or rebirth is actually the date I wrote the first sentence. XD I wrote that overly dramatic first sentence because at that moment, that seemed to be the rational course of action when you were an overly dramatic high school student and you just had the exam from hell on June the 18th.