Frostbite

Chapter 1: Snowboys

Saying it was cold was the understatement of the year, if not the century. Naruto could feel his lungs burn with every intake of the cold, icy air. It was as if he was inhaling small frozen particles. Basically, he wasn't enjoying himself. And to top it all, he and Kakashi were attacked by a random rogue shinobi for whatever reason.

"Ice Release: Frostbite!" the mysterious shinobi yelled. Icy breath escaped his mouth, fogging the area.

Kakashi observed the fog, trying to figure out what its purpose was. When he saw the trees freezing in seconds when the fog reached them he had his answer. "Naruto! Don't let the fog touch you!"

"Got it!" Naruto yelled and jumped back, escaping from the fog.

Suddenly the opponent shinobi threw three icicles towards Naruto. The blond managed to dodge two, but since he wasn't used to fighting on snow he was slower than usual and the third one hit him directly in his calf. He cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground. Kakashi was next to him in a matter of seconds. "Naruto! Are you okay?!"

"It hurts…," Naruto cried out. He was used to injuries, he's gotten his fair share of them, but this one hurt like nothing he's ever felt before. It was as if his leg was burning and freezing at the same time.

Kakashi looked at the mysterious shinobi and sent him his most deadly glare he could manage. He lifted his hiati-ate and revealed his secret weapon, the one that got him his nickname 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'; his sharingan.

The silver haired male leaped forward, kunai in hand. "Ice Release: Frostbite!" the other shinobi yelled and the icy fog appeared again. But he had a weakness, the fog only appeared in front of him. So Kakashi flickered behind him and swung his kunai, cutting the other man horizontally across the back, causing him to fall over.

Then Kakashi lowered his hand as lightning started coming out of them. "Raikiri!" he shouted and pierced the man's chest. The man fell to the ground, falling into an eternal slumber.

Kakashi quickly hurried over to Naruto, who was still lying on the ground, wincing and crying in pain. He crouched down next to Naruto and examined his leg. The icicle had directly pierced his leg and the skin around it was turning into a purple-ish blue color. That didn't look right at all. Kakashi grabbed one end of the spear and quickly pulled it out. "Aaaaaarghhhhh!" cried Naruto out. It was one of the ugliest cries Kakashi's ever heard come out of Naruto's mouth, and he felt sorry for him, but it had to be done.

Upon further inspection of the wound Kakashi realized there wasn't any bleeding. He was thankful for that, but also confused. This whole injury was one big mystery wrapped in an enigma inside a riddle to him.

"Ka..kashi…se…nsei…," the blond managed to get out, trying to cling into the older man.

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "Does it really hurt that bad?"

"Y-yes…," Naruto answered.

Kakashi dug through his bagpack and pulled out a blanket. He wrapped it around Naruto's leg. "Here, this should keep your leg at least a little warm." He then maneuvered Naruto onto his back, giving him a piggyback ride. "Come on, let's get you to Yukigakure."

So Kakashi and Naruto started going back the way they originally came from, back to Yukigakure. But apparently Lady Luck wasn't on their side, as the weather kept getting worse and worse. The next thing Kakashi knew they were in the middle of a giant blizzard. 'Great,' he thought to himself. 'We can't keep going like this.'

"S-So co-cold…," whispered Naruto. Kakashi noticed this and was determined to find some sort of shelter before his little fox froze to death.

He had no idea where he was going, seeing as the blizzard was making it impossible to see anything, and he was praying to the Gods that his luck would change.

And his prayers must have been heard because not too long after Kakashi found a small entrance to a cave. The cave wasn't too deep and Kakashi sighed in relaxation and happiness. He set Naruto down and walked over to the entrance. He performed the necessary hand signs and placed his hand on the ground. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" he said as a wall rose out of the ground, closing the entrance. "That should do."

The older male then went back to Naruto, who was still winching in pain, but it appeared as the pain was either getting weaker or he was getting used to it. "Are you feeling any better, Naruto?"

"N-not really…," the blond murmured.

Kakashi checked his leg again and his eyes widened. The purple-ish blue color had spread even further. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this wasn't a regular injury. Kakashi used his sharingan and his suspicions were confirmed; the injury was powered by some sort of jutsu. It's going to keep spreading and spreanding until eventually… the scarecrow didn't even want to let his thoughts go down that path.

He used some basic healing jutsu, but he was nowhere near Tsunade or Sakura. He wouldn't give up, though, he wasn't going to let another one of his friends die in front of him. That cycle stopped with Rin. He continued using his healing jutsu, but he wasn't making much progress. Why wasn't Kurama assisting him? Could the fox not heal an injury like this?

Kakashi looked at Naruto's face. The blond's brows were narrowed and his entire face was tense. He gently stroked Naruto's hair, as if that could magically heal him.

Wait…what if he….

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's knee and sent a surge of chakra into it, blocking off the flow. That wasn't going to fix the problem, but it was at least going to give him some more time to come up with a real solution.

"Hey, Kit."

…

"Kit."

…..

"Kit!"

…

"NARUTO!"

"What?!" Naruto frantically looked around. He then realized he was inside his mind, in front of the big old fox. "Kurama?"

"We've got a problem, kit."

"What's that?"

"Your leg," the fox said.

"My…leg," Naruto repeated and remembered what Kurama meant. "But wait, can't you heal me? You always heal me!"

Kurama sighed. "Well, this isn't an ordinary injury. It's powered by a jutsu so it should take some time for me to get through it and then start the healing process."

"How long is 'some time'?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, kit. Have no idea how strong this jutsu is. Just lemme do my thing, and you go back to your boyfriend," the fox said snickering.

"Boyfriend?!" Naruto was about to start yelling at the giant snickering fox but he was hurled back into reality faster than he realized.

The first thing that Naruto noticed was that his pain was far less noticeable. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Kakashi looking at him, a slight hint of worry across his face. "Ka-kashi?"

"Naruto, you really scared me there."

"Sorry," the blond said with a light blush. He positioned himself in a sitting position with his injured leg spread out. "Where are we?"

"Some cave," Kakashi answered looking around. "I took us here because there's a blizzard storm raging outside. No sense in catching our death out there when we can wait here."

Naruto looked around. The cave was very small, but the perfect size for the two of them. They were really in luck that this cave was here or else they'd probably froze to death outside. Konoha shinobi like them were just not cut out for extremely low temperatures.

"Nee, Kakashi-sensei, how long are gonna have to stay here?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi scratched his head. "Well, for as long as that blizzard rages outside. Could be a few hours, could be a few days. Maybe weeks."

"Weeks?! I'm not living inside a cave with a hole in my leg for a few weeks! Plus it's freezing in here!"

Kakashi giggle and spread out his arms. "Guess we'll have to share body heat then, huh?"

…

"I'D RATHER FREEZE, YOU PERV!"

Kakashi opened his backpack and pulled out a container scroll. He released the seal and pieces of wood appeared. "Why do you carry pieces of wood in a scroll with you?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. "Because we need to keep ourselves warm with a fire, and the wood outside is covered in snow making it useless. It's always good to be prepared for anything," he finished with his signature eye smile which made Naruto role his eyes.

"Now I'll need you to close your eyes," said Kakashi.

"Why?"

"I want to make a fire and for that I have to remove my mask."

Naruto sighed. "Oh, come on! We've been through so much together! Why won't you show me your face?!"

"Maybe someday," the silver haired male said with a smile.

"Fine," grumbled the blond and put his palm over his eyes. "There, I'm not looking."

"I appreciate it, Naruto," said Kakashi with a smile. He then lowered his mask and performed the needed hand seals then blowing a small stream of fire onto the wood. It started burning the second the flame touched it, heat radiating from it. "Okay, you can look now."

Naruto removed his palm and looked at Kakashi. Yup, the mask was back on. How silly of him thinking that Kakashi would just show him his face like that. Honestly, the man sometimes acted as if his face was the most guarded treasure in the world. Kakashi couldn't be that beautiful, could he? Wait, why was Naruto using 'Kakashi' and 'beautiful' in the same sentence? That was just plain weird.

Anyways, back to reality. The fire was incredibly warm, and Naruto wouldn't mind catching on fire right about now. Every single part of his body was frozen. And with every single part I mean every-single-part.

Naruto was about to say something when suddenly a deep and loud growl was heard. If Kakashi didn't know better he would have thought there was a beast with them inside the cave. But as luck would have it, though, it was only Naruto's stomach.

The blond blushed and grinned, scratching the back of his hand. "Nee, Kakashi-sensei, you wouldn't have any food in that bag of yours would you?"

Kakashi looked inside his bag; a pack of rice cakes, some canned tuna and a half empty bottle of water. And with Naruto's appetite those would last for around 10 seconds. He sighed. They really needed some food, who knows how long the blizzard would rage! And it wasn't because of Kakashi. No, the man had sustained without food far longer than a few days. Make it almost a month! But alas Naruto wasn't trained like he was, and the only worse thing than being trapped inside a cave was being trapped inside a cave with a hungry Naruto.

He checked the other side of his backpack, where he kept all his scrolls. He shuffled through them and sighed in relief. He had his supply scroll with him. "Now, Naruto, listen to me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and started staring at Kakashi, waiting for the man to speak up.

"In this scroll I have about a week's supply of food. I know your stomach is sort of a bottomless pit, but honestly I'd really not like to go without food for Kami knows how long. Because if we run out of food I will have to eat you."

Naruto's eye twitched. "What are you talking about?! Eat me?! You're insane!"

Now that they were both fed tiredness started coming over them. Kakashi placed their sleeping bangs next to the fire, each on one side. Naruto had some trouble finding a comfortable position with his injured leg but eventually managed to drift into sleep. And at least his dreams weren't plagued with icy cold weather.

What do you call ten Arctic hares hopping backwards through the snow together?

A receding hare line!

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii… So, did anyone enjoy this? It's the first chapter of a mini multi-chap fic. Nothing too crazy, like 3-4 chapters.

"But Diemonds, what about your other KakaNaru fics?" shhhhh, young grasshopper. Patience is a virtue.

I promise I'm working on them! My muse for them left me so it's tough, but I'm doing my best! I promise not to give up on any of them. Look at this as some sort of warm up! I need to get my juices flowing again! (did that sound weird?...)

And yes, this will be KakaNaru (if you still don't realize that). A lot of fluff coming up!

Anyways, please take the time to leave a review! It means everything to me, and every other writer out there, when you leave one. Don't be one of those *eyes emoji*

Diemonds, xoxo