For the first time in his life, Haku felt cold. Incased in a gigantic iceberg, drifting in and out of consciousness, he smiled. He had finally achieved it.


1 month before...

After parting with Jiraiya, Haku headed north into the Hyofu mountains in search of the wolf summons' secret summoning grounds. Haku assumed from watching the anime that summons preferred to have grand and luxurious summoning grounds (like the toads) so he immediately went to the highest mountains in the area to search.

Unfortunately, he couldn't catch a single trace of them, and even the howls he heard at night were so faint that they might as well have been his imagination.

Haku didn't want to give up, yet he also felt that he was wasting his time doing nothing but wandering around the snowy mountains.

On the bright side, the abundance of ice and the cold weather in the Hyofu mountains made it the perfect place to practice his more chakra consuming Hyoton Jutsu, and Haku was making good progress on a new Hyoton technique that could create a golem made of ice, similar to Hashirama's wood golem.

After a little over a week of searching, Haku still hadn't made any progress, and he knew that he was doing something wrong. Haku pondered to himself, deep in thought, wondering just what concept he hadn't quite caught on to yet.

Suddenly, he came to a realization. "I'm such an idiot! Wolves are nocturnal animals, so of course, I haven't been able to spot them at night! Every single day I've been going to sleep early to save my energy, while in reality, I should've been staying up as late as possible." Armed with his new realization, Haku came up with a plan.

"As long as there have been sightings of wolves outside their summoning grounds, there must be a secret pathway that lets them enter and exit. A wolf that enters and exits in the night will not be on guard, as humans cannot see in the dark. However, my ice release should be able to sense its tracks, as its paws will make indentations in the snow"

That night, Haku cloaked himself in a genjutsu and waited near the foot of the largest mountain in the mountain range. Focusing heavily, he broadened his senses and channeled hyoton chakra to sense any shifting in the snow. Eventually, he felt a significant shift in the snow on the top of the mountain and realized that a small avalanche was falling down the mountain. Expending a ridiculous amount of chakra, he was able to sense a line of small indentations on the mountain's snowcap.

The following day, Haku hiked all the way up the mountain, eventually discovering extremely faint wolf tracks so faint that he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking for them. He followed the tracks all the way up the mountain. As the cold wind roared in his face, Haku eventually reached the very peak of the mountain, but the tracks had abruptly vanished as if they had never existed at all.

Exhausted and confused, Haku sat down on a large rock on the mountaintop.

he promptly fell right through it.


When Haku awoke, he found himself in a small stone room, lying in a distinctly old fashioned bed. Groaning softly in pain, he sat up, sorer than he had ever been in his life.

"Wait a minute, if that rock was a genjutsu, then I must be..."

Suddenly, he heard a noise to his right, and when he turned, an incredibly large wolf, 2 meters tall at the shoulder, was staring at him.

"There is no need to be alarmed, young shinobi, for I mean you no harm. I have been assigned as your nurse and caretaker after you fell through the illusion."

"how long have I been unconscious, wolf-san?"

"You may refer to me as Chiaki. You have been asleep for 5 days, shinobi-san." "It is truly remarkable that you can move and talk after only 5 days of recovery."

"T-thank you?", Haku stuttered, still trying to process his current situation. He swung his legs out of bed, attempting to stretch his sore body, only to lose his balance and fall back into bed.

"Please do not strain yourself. Your body has not adjusted to being awake yet, and you will need another 2-3 days of rest to return to your original condition."

Haku, embarrassed by his previous loss of balance, obediently laid back down into the bed. He decided to focus on recovering first, rather than bombarding his caretaker with questions.

"Good, you must be quite hungry after not eating for so long. I or another summon will leave food by the bedside when you awake", she said as she exited through a stone-carved hallway.

Haku, confused and exhausted, drifted back to sleep.


Haku had learned a few things throughout his 3 days of recovery.

1. Inside the largest of the Hyofu mountains is a gigantic cave system, able to house a civilization of over 200 wolf summons.

2. All exits and entrances to the mountain are hidden using genjutsu, and most are additionally protected by a wall of snow.

3. Chiaki, his caretaker, is the daughter of the Winter Wolf Sage, a leader similar to the great toad sage of the toad summons.

That being said, he still had a few remaining questions. Still, he had made a near-full recovery, and would soon meet the Winter Wolf Sage, who would most likely answer his remaining inquiries.

The sound of soft paws tracking against the ground caught Haku's attention. Looking up from his book on chakra control exercises, he turned around and saw a messenger wolf summon sitting obediently on the ground, waiting for him.

"Sage-sama is waiting for you, Haku-san", the wolf said.

Not even bothering to ask how the messenger wolf knew his name, Haku stood up from his chair, ready to meet the White Wolf Sage. "Lead the way please."

Haku followed the wolf, walking through and observing the underground cave system for around 20 minutes. After leading Haku to a towering set of doors, the wolf politely bowed his head and quickly scampered off.

Suddenly, a booming voice echoed through the hallway. "You can come in, I have been waiting for you."

Haku cautiously opened the door and was immediately face to face with a gigantic wolf, possibly 20 meters at the shoulder, peering down at him. Shrouded in natural energy, Haku could tell immediately that the Winter Wolf Sage was far above a simple boss summon.

"Please do not fret Haku-san, for I do not wish any harm upon you. If you have any worries or concerns that need to be taken care of, we will see you off immediately. I only wish to converse with you for a little while."

"Your kind has been incredibly hospitable to me, Sage-sama. The least I can do is have a conversation with you."

"You are wise for your age, not jumping to conclusions or running away. Though I am sure you also have questions you wish to have answered."

"You want to know our reason for taking care of you, I assume?"

Haku nodded, surprised at the sage's insight.

The sage sighed. "I suppose it is your right as the last of the Yuki clan to know, so I will tell you what I know."

"Back when I was only a newborn, the 5 great villages had just begun to form. Kirigakure was made up of many different shinobi clans well as ordinary civilians. Of all the clans that remained independent, the Yuki clan was the one the Mizukage wanted to recruit the most. At the time, the Yuki clan's leader and the leader of us wolf summons had signed a contract, that any shinobi of the Yuki clan would be allowed to obtain the wolf summoning contract, and in exchange, the Yuki clan would only summon wolves."

The sage paused, taking a deep breath before continuing onwards.

"However, when the first Mizukage's successor, Gengetsu Hozuki, realized this summoning contract could eventually let the Yuki clan surpass the Hozuki clan in strength, he insisted that no member of the Yuki clan would be allowed to hold a summoning contract, should they wish to join Kirigakure. The Yuki clan had no choice but to agree, as they did not have the power to fight off Kirigakure alone."

"Every Yuki clan member since then has had their ability to summon wolves sealed off at birth, and in combination with their earlier contract that would only let them summon wolves, the Yuki clan had the path of summoning completely blocked."

"Although the Hyoton is a fearsome bloodline ability, it only manifests in a small fraction of the Yuki clan. Combine that with the disadvantage of not being able to summon, and the Yuki clan was slowly beaten down, and eventually, only one member was left."

"This final member being me, then?", Haku whispered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"That is correct. As the last of the Yuki clan, we couldn't possibly let you die. A seal that seals off a single summoning contract is not hard to create, but a seal that blocks summoning altogether, however, would be impossible to create. Because of our leader's foolishness, we doomed your clan to destruction. We owe the Yuki clan great compensation, and even if you will never be able to become a summoner, I will do anything in my power to help you.

Haku, reeling from the massive exposition dump, knelt onto the floor in shock. A good few minutes passed before he was ready to stand up.

Although he was extremely distracted by the news, Haku forced himself to think rationally. As much as Haku wanted to force Orochimaru to revive Gengetsu purely so he could smack him in the face, Haku knew he would have to focus.

A large chunk of his plans had just gone down the drain, but he still had a chance to gain something for his efforts. The Wolf Sage was a sage after all, and learning sage mode would more than compensate for the lack of a summoning contract.

After thinking for a good while, Haku asked the Wolf Sage a question. "Could you teach me how to enter sage mode, then?"

"How exactly do you know of that technique, Haku?" Now it was the wolf's chance to be surprised. "It doesn't matter, I suppose. After all, I always wanted to stop that old geezer and his constant boasting about Hashirama."

"Are you referring to Hashirama Senju, Sage-sama?"

"That's right Haku, if I'm going to train you to become a sage, I might as well train you to surpass even Hashirama himself!"

"I don't think that's possible for me, Sage-sama."

"I'm not talking about surpassing him in power, Haku! All Hashirama was able to do was create a single elemental nation. As long as you can achieve something beyond that, then it's our win."

Haku giggled to himself, happy that his sage wasn't as insufferable as the Great Toad Sage. "Well, if I'm going to surpass Hashirama in anything, I better get started soon, huh?"

"That's right Haku. In fact, let's get started today!"

"OK!"


Back to the present...

In the anime, the traditional method for entering Toad Sage Mode is to remain perfectly still, balancing the perfect amount of sage chakra throughout the body.

Winter sage mode, Haku quickly realized, would be a lot more painful to learn.

To become a Winter Sage, the student must participate in it a dangerous trial. The student would spend 7 days and 7 nights encased in a gigantic iceberg infused with sage chakra. The ice would suck all heat out of the user's body, and eventually, the body would be able to collect the incredibly cold sage chakra surrounding it.

This method was developed because wolves, as mammals, could regulate their body temperatures far better than reptiles and amphibians could. After spending a week in the ice, wolves would still be able to recover, while amphibians and reptiles would simply die.

Haku had spent a week preparing his body for the Trial, and with a winter sage by his side to assist him, as well as the inherent cold resistance in his bloodline, he was able to withstand the trial and become a Winter Sage.

When Haku awoke the next day, he found that he was able to enter sage mode at will, and when he did, dark blue markings would appear near his eyes like when Naruto used his sage mode.

Still, there was much more to be done, and Haku stayed with the wolves for another 2 months to learn how to use winter sage mode.

Soon after, it was time to leave and go meet Jiraiya. Still, Haku felt in his heart that he would soon return.

Authors note:

I didn't really have a good place to fit information about winter sage mode in the chapter, so here's some info. Winter sage mode isn't all that different from other sage modes. Heightened senses, better taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, are normal for sage mode. Winter sage mode is unique because you can enter it instantly, but after using it for 7 minutes, your body becomes colder and colder. Eventually, after overusing winter sage mode too long, the blood freezes in your veins, and you can die.

Additionally, just like how snake sages can manipulate their surroundings through natural energy and Toad sages can use natural energy as an extension to their bodies, Winter sages can use natural energy to manipulate the temperature of anything around them, although Haku won't figure this out until much later in the story.