Chapter 36 Discovery

Honestly, she wasn't sure what she planned to do. It had been instinct that led Mizuko to latch herself to the snow mobile and now that she was here, she wasn't sure what to do next. In had been almost half an hour and her arms were getting numb from both the cold and the fact that she hadn't moved for a while. Now thinking about it, Mizuko felt dumb for putting herself on the back of this thing. She, someone who couldn't take the cold as well as a normal human being, was pulling heroic stunts at the wrong time. It was ironically funning in a morbid sense. She almost laughed.

Then the laugh was caught in her throat as Mizuko caught sight of what began to form in front of her. Large dark walls faded out from the foggy air and snow. Spires like the surrounding pine trees pierced the sky. It took a bit for her to take it in but Mizuko found herself starring at the most menacing fortress she had ever seen. It was huge and completely black and, from her perspective, it looked as though the whole structure was built from metal. And the snow mobile was headed straight for it. Mizuko felt as though her situation had dropped from bad to worse.

When the vehicle came to a stop in front of the massive structure, Mizuko quietly dropped into the snow and began to access her situation. She could try to run back and tell the others so they could all attack at once but getting away would not be easy, especially in a place as open and white as this. She rubbed her gloved hands together.

"Are you coming, Tai?" One of the shinobi called.

"Yeah," Came a response. "I have to take care of something really fast, though."

Mizuko positioned herself to peek over the edge of the mobile to see what the shinobi were talking about but the moment she did, a hand came down and grabbed her by the back of her vest, hoisting her into the air.

"See?" Said the shinobi named Tai. "We picked up a hitchhiker."

"Let go of me, you fugly douche bag!!" Mizuko cursed, kicking out her legs as she struggled.

The shinobi laughed.

"Guess we didn't need to capture somebody, one of them handed themselves right over." Said on of Tai's companions.

"Aisuji-sama is going to want to see her." Commented another.

Mizuko pulled at the collar of her vest, her fingers finally finding the zipper. With a single downward motion, she was free from the clothing and hitting the ground. She scrambled up and began to make a run for it. From her hip-pouch she pulled out one of the letter bomb kunai Karasu had made for her and tossed it over her shoulder. Mizuko allowed herself a glance back, a mistake she realized too late. The moment she looked away, a presence appeared behind her and a sharp pain formed in her stomach. She buckled over, coughing, before quickly loosing consciousness.

*~*

My eyes shifted from Sasuke's face, to Hiko's, to Yukimaru's. In doing so I noticed the way their eyes darted around as well. Our wounds were tended to but not healed, I had never realized the danger of not having a Medical Shinobi placed in a squad. My thigh had been re-wrapped and my shoulder as well while I was passed out. Thanks to Sasuke, Himoru had been able to make it through the fray with nothing more that an ankle sprain.

I felt my hand clench into a fist and I clicked my tongue sharply. Our cover had been blown and one of the team's members had disappeared. I wanted to believe in Mizuko but we had no knowledge of out enemies. From the fight ealier, they proved not the be much in combat but they were smart, and sometimes that was the more dangerous of the two. It had taken nearly four hours for us to tend and gather ourselves, it was impossible to guess out friend's situation. We had been caught off guard with hardly any weapons on hand, we would not make the same mistake. I lifted my eyes up to my teammates once again.

"We'll travel in two groups." Hiko said. "Yukimaru and I will be one. Sasuke and Karasu, the other."

Just my rotten cliché luck.

"Wouldn't it be better for Sasuke and I to split up?" I asked. "That way both teams would have a sharingan?"

Hiko shook her head.

"I thought the same too, but Yukimaru is long distance and I am a close range fighter. Sasuke is mid range and you are close range as well." She explained. "My skills and Yukimaru's are compatible with one another, while you and Sasuke have worked together for a long time, so you know each other on the battle field well."

An argument from me would have sounded stupid, so I kept my mouth shut. I could have worked with Yukimaru but I had little to no knowledge of his fighting style and I hade never worked with someone who used a bow before. Hiko and I were both close range and it made no sense to work with one another. I sighed and offered my partner a glance.

Hiko pulled out headphone sets from her coat and held them out for each of us to take.

"Sasuke can find us with the scanner used to track our Rai rings if something happens to Yukimaru and myself."

"What about us?"

Hiko shrugged. "I have no worries for you safety if you're paired with Sasuke, but if something comes up, light a flare and send it up somehow."

I nodded.

"Himoru should be safe." Sasuke said. "He's now aware of the situation and can hide in the cellar under the house if anything comes up. He claims he can handle himself."

Hiko smiled slightly, pulling on her hood.

"Then," She sighed. "the search begins, we head towards the mountains. Let's go!"

We followed her example and a headed off into the snowy forest.

------

The trees and snow seemed never ending and the mountains grew closer only so steadily. The tracks of the snow mobile had been mostly been covered by four hours of snow so the four of us followed them until they disappeared completely, before splitting up. No traps had been laid out which told us that the enemy was either unaware of Mizuko or busy with their new captive. Sasuke and I had come across a couple animals and had stopped to consult a map Himoru had given us, but other wise, little words were exchanged between the two of us. Hours passed and the gray sky steadily grew darker and darker, forcing us to spend the rest of the fading daylight looking for shelter. We happened upon a cave that was more like a crater in the wall, you could easily see the back from the outside. At least it provided a place to get out of the snow.

With a fire built, Sasuke and I made camp, cooking some simple soup for our meal. I enjoyed the warmth it brought to my body as I gazed out through the trees as the snowy landscape continued on a good hundred feet before dropping into a canyon. But once the soup was finished, I found the cold embracing my body, even through the thick blanket I had draped around myself. I shivered, winter being such a foreign season to me.

"You know the fastest way to heat up two freezing bodies?" Sasuke asked.

I turned to him, his words having been the first thing he had said in a while.

A mischievous smile peeked out across his face. "By putting the two bodies into a sleeping bag, naked."

I flipped him the bird silently with a frozen hand.

"I take it they didn't teach you that in Akatsuki." A sour note entered his voice.

"I was never in the position of freezing my ass off." I answered.

There was silence between us. A lump of snow slid from a tree branch and hit the ground with a soft thud.

"I know," Sasuke began. "that you're avoiding me…in a sense."

I looked back to him.

"I can tell you're trying to forget what happened, and put it behind you." He continued. "You're hoping it was all a mistake, some sort of impulse, and that maybe I'll choose to let it go, just like the way you're trying to do the same."

I looked to the snowy ground, my face beginning to burn.

"After what you went through, I can understand that then wasn't the best time." He paused. "But Karasu…"

Sasuke looked at me but I refused to raise my eyes.

"I don't forget things like that, and I never will." His voice was firm and absolute. "It wasn't a mistake, Karasu, or an impulse."

I looked up slowly, peeking at him through a layer of sandy blonde bangs.

"I also don't give up easily."

I turned my back to him, feeling something hammering against my chest, along with a nauseating feeling welling up in my stomach. I felt like something was building up in my throat.

Two arms folded around my huddled figure and Sasuke's body heat quickly began to warm my cold skin. But the nauseating feeling grew more powerful and made it impossible to pull away from the embrace.

"Do you like this?" Sasuke's voice said quietly into my hair. "Are you warmer?"

I shook my head.

Still he stayed still and I could feel his breath heating up my neck.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said defiantly.

I heard him sigh and the arms retreated, taking the warmth with them. I waited until I heard him shuffle back to his spot in the other side the fire before I glanced over my shoulder. Sasuke had laid down with his back to me. I leaned against the cave wall, starring out at the snow before drifting off to sleep.

*~*

The first thing she felt was the ache of her head followed by a chill shivering over her skin. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was foggy steam rising in front of her face. It took Mizuko a couple of seconds to realize it was her breath. Her vision allowed her to see the iron bars as they came into focus a few feet before her. Sitting up steadily, holding her head, Mizuko looked around her. Behind her and on both sides we solid, thick, stone walls and in front of her were the bars of her cell. Ice hung from the ceiling and coated the walls and floor.

After rubbing warmth back into her nose, Mizuko removed a glove and called upon her ability to manipulate water. The liquid formed in her hand and curled up wards for a mere three seconds before it froze and cracked. The ice continued down from her creation and began to spread across Mizuko's hand, freezing it almost as thoroughly as the water. She gasped sharply and pulled her glove back on quickly before breathing on her hand until the numbness subsided. It wasn't until she rubbed her face that she realized that, it too, was beginning to crystallize.

"Hey!"

Mizuko looked up to see one of the Kyu starring at her through the bars. She offered him a glare.

"You're not freezing. I mean, literally, freezing in there, are you?" He asked.

"Damn straight I am!" She responded, practically throwing herself at the bars, causing the Kyu to stumble back.

"If I'm some god damn hostage, than you better make sure I don't die on you!" Mizuko continued angrily. "So you better warm me up, dammit! Or you'll get no information!!"

The poor Kyu had a look on his face that told that he was a bit scared of Mizuko and unsure of what to do. Looking around, he found a fellow guard and called out to him before speaking to him in a strange language Mizuko had never heard. The two argued before the second guard unlocked the cell and grabbed Mizuko's arm.

"Come with me." He said harshly.

"Doesn't look I have another option."

The Kyu snorted at the remark and continued to drag Mizuko, who could already feel the cool air beginning to freeze her muscles. Each step was more painful than the last, feeling like her legs were shattering with each movement. She continued hobbled along side her captors none the less.

Mizuko didn't know where she was being taken but hopefully it was warm. Either way, it couldn't be good. She had practically given away her weakness back there. If she refused to spill information, they might just get rid of her and try to get a hold of someone else. Though, she was pretty sure no one would give up information, Mizuko didn't want the situation to end up with everyone dead because she had let the thought of a frozen death get the better of her. She could try to stall but who knew how long it would take for the others to find her. She sighed.

I shouldn't had chosen to hitch a ride on the snow mobile.

Author notes: Wow, haven't typed anything in a while. I hadn't been feeling it but I just sat down to type and it kind of helped me get back into it, I guess.

Anyways, I hope Sasuke doesn't seem to out of character in here. He's a difficult character to work with but part of Karasu's creation was to give me someone to pair Sasuke with, because, surprisingly, I like coupling (to an extent). I just never liked any of the Sasuke pairings, so I was like "the hell, I'll just create somebody for him!"

XD lol

I have weird logic.