Chapter 25 - Journey to the Hidden Frost

For the past month and a half, Team Konohamaru stayed very busy. They had captured a total of nine cats, rounded up four stray dogs, cleared over a dozen of gardens of weeds, wiped clean two vandalized rural sites, (one of which Bolt had vandalized personally) and made sure the village's park was clear of any trash.

By genin standards, Team 49 was on fire. Unfortunately, Bolt wasn't much a fan of genin standards.

"Konohamaru sensei, how long are we gonna keep doing this junk?" he finally asked.

He and his team were returning from another mission that afternoon. Konohamaru, who was walking next to him, glanced down.

"What do you mean? The mission's already over, Bolt," he said. "We caught the cat."

Hana, raised above his head. "This makes our tenth successful capture!"

The cat meowed and rubbed its head against his hand. Much different from its reaction when Bolt held it. Currently, he had more scratches on his face than whiskers.

"All we've done it look for lost pets and clean up the village," he complained. "Nothing, but a bunch of community service crap. We aren't doing anything real ninja do..."

"You're a trio of fresh genin. Just what type of missions were you expecting to get?" Konohamaru asked.

"He can't help it, Sensei," Sarada said while tightening kitten's collar. "He's just looking for a chance to prove himself. Whether that challenge is out of his league of not – that idiot care less."

Bolt snarled at Sarada who just dismissed him as the kitten was licked her fingers.

She was right. Though, Bolt hated to admit it. He did want a chance – a challenge to prove what he was made of. A challenge he would never get from chasing loose pets and plucking weeds. He would never get his face on the monument at this rate.

Team Konohamaru stopped at a nearby dango shop for an after-mission snack. Sarada stopped Hana from trying to feed the kitten dango while Bolt sat cross-legged next to their sensei.

He stared at the plate of dango croquette in his hand. "Konohamaru sensei, can't you get dad to give us a tougher mission? I know the dumbkage listens to you."

"Probably because I don't call him dumbkage," Konohamaru said before biting in.

"Come on, Sensei! You know we're good enough! Just ask him..."

Konohamaru peered down at his anxious pupil, chewing while he thought. After swallowing, he gave a halfhearted "Fine..." Bolt's face lit up. "Don't get too excited. It's almost guaranteed the Hokage will say no."

"Sure," the Hokage said.

Konohamaru gazed at him with disbelieving eyes from the other side of his desk. "Are you serious, Nar-I mean, Lord Hokage? It hasn't even been two months since they graduated."

"Yeah, I know. They're probably bored out of their minds already with all the menial labor they've had to do. That's how it always is with students fresh out of the academy – community service until you pass the Chunin Exams, pretty much."

"Don't tell them that!"

"Come on, Konohamaru... You hated these D-rank missions just as much as Bolt, didn't you?"

Bolt leered up at Konohamaru who dodged his eyes.

"So... we're going on a C-rank, this time, Lord Hokage?" Hana asked.

Naruto nodded. "A very imperative one. In fact, the fate of an entire village pends on whether or not Team 49 can complete this mission successfully."

The room suddenly went dead silent. The tension got much heavier, as the Hokage's expression grew stern. A bead of sweat dripped from underneath Bolt's headband, but he kept grinning. This was everything he asked for. The excitement boiling inside of him could barely be contained.

"What's the mission?" Sarada finally asked.

Naruto closed his eyes. "You four will be delivering an extremely important item..."

The word 'dumbkage' kept running through Bolt's head while he stood at the village's gate the following morning. Hana looked at him innocently and asked "What's wrong Bolt?"

"What's wrong...?" Bolt turned around and showed his teammate the large brown box on his back. "This is what's wrong! How the hell is this an extremely important item?!"

The label on the box read, in bold letters, SHIMO WATER FILTER.

"I'm sure the villagers of the Hidden Frost think it's extremely important. Lord Hokage said their old filter broke a couple weeks ago. If we don't deliver this new filter soon, they'll exhaust their water supply."

That was what Naruto meant when he said the fate of an entire village pended on their success. It was much less dramatic than Bolt would have preferred.

"Alright, you guys. Let's get a move on," Konohamaru ordered.

He trekked ahead, Sarada and Hana behind him. A certain blonde stayed behind, however.

That blonde called out to Konohamaru. "Sensei..."

He stopped. "What's the hold up, Bolt?"

"Um... Am I supposed to carry this thing by myself the entire way?" he asked.

"Of course. You were the one who specifically wanted to go on a tougher mission, so you should handle all the heavy lifting."

Bolt's expression froze like country his team was on their way too. Hana being the only one who gave him a pitying look as he and the others continued onward. With his head hanging like the bolt around his neck, Bolt trudged after them like a sad pack mule.

In the Village Hidden in the Frost, a trio, dressed for the cold, stood in foot-deep snow underneath one of the village's water towers.

"How much do we have left?" the village's chief asked.

"About a week's worth," his adviser answered. "We can tack on an extra four days if everyone reuses their bath water."

The chief's aide folded her arms and sighed. "Well, that's great... Do you have any idea when the part for village's filtration system is going to get here?"

"I just got a call from the Hidden Leaf. They sent a team of genin who should be here within two days."

"Genin? They couldn't have just sent one chunin who was fast on his feet? I don't like our village's crisis being used as a training exercise for some leaf brats."

"As long as it gets here in time, that's all that matters," the chief said.

His aide shrugged. "I guess..."

With the discussion done, the three turned to leave the water tower. Suddenly, a voice called out to them.

"Excuse us. Can we have a moment of your time?"

The three looked and saw two figures approaching them. They wore furred cloaks, very exotic in design. They both wore hoods that concealed their faces, though the shorter of the two had a long brown braid that slunk out. Te taller was the one who stopped closest to the village chief and his staff.

"...I've never seen you two in the village before," the chief said.

"We're from out of town. Anyway..." The figure dug into his cloak and pulled out a photo. "Have any of you seen this girl before?"

The chief looked at the photo closely. "No. We have not."

The figure hid the photo. "I see. Sorry, to have bothered you then."

The pair were already two yards away when Hidden Frost's chief stopped them. "Wait. You still haven't told us why it is you are looking for that girl."

"Why? You don't know who she is, so why should it concern you?"

"We may not have seen her, but another villager might have. Why not allow us to help?"

"...I appreciate the helping hand, sir, but it's unnecessary. We're perfectly capable of finding her ourselves."

The chief stared at him intently. "Didn't you just say you were from out of town? How would you be able to find her in a unknown land by yourselves than you would with our help?"

The figure paused again. "Excuse me, sir... but you ask way too many questions."

He whirled around and sliced his hand diagonally. A glint flashed two yards in front of him, and blood gushed out in front of the chief. Despite being over two yards away, the cloaked figure had left a large gash in his chief's chest. Even the water tower above was sliced. Most of the water flooded over the chief as he fell face-first into the snow.

"Chief!" his adviser shouted while he and the aide rushed to their fallen leader.

The second cloaked figure flickered in front of both of them, placed a hand on both their chests. The two felt a powerful pulse, then dropped like their chief had.

The figure looked back at his partner and removed his hood. "Dammit, Itsuya... You just had to strike first, didn't you? And it was the damn village chief of all people! Do you have any-"

Itsuya was already walking down the street.

"Hey! Stop walking away while I'm talking to you, asshole!"

Itsuya stopped and sighed. "He's not dead yet, Mitamaru. So, stop crying."

"I'm not crying! And this guy's bleeding – in the middle of the snow! If he's not dead, he's gonna be soon!"

"Then treat him so he doesn't die." Itsuya said while walking away again.

"Where you are you going?"

"To meet Miyoji at the village outskirts. Unlike you, she and I don't plan to get spotted until the mission is finished."

Mitamaru ground his teeth while he watched Itsuya stroll off. He then peered at the chief's bleeding body, and sighed. "I'll get him back for this, dammit..."

He put one foot underneath the chief and flipped him over so his bloody front was revealed. He then slapped his hand onto the chest wound, and a green glow emitted from it. Within seconds the wound closed itself.

"That's all the charity you get. You better not die anyway," he said while pulling his hood back up and following after Horitsu."We need to hurry up and find this damn girl. I'm getting tired of this stupid continent..."

By day two of Team Konohamaru's journey, Bolt wasn't sure if his legs were still attached. He was too afraid to look down in fear that they had given up on supported him and ran away.

"Come on, Bolt! We're almost to the Village Hidden In the Frost!" Konohamaru called back.

As one would expect, the weather had gotten colder and more aggressive in the Land of Snow than the Land of Fire. Fortunately, the team had dressed the part beforehand. Everyone wore gloves and cloaks. Konohamaru kept his scarf up to his mouth almost constantly now. Sarada wore leg warmers and a shirt underneath her vest. Bolt had his jacket mostly zipped up for once, and a muffler that spilled out of it. Aside from his cloak and gloves, Hana only wore a neck warmer.

He barely need this, however. Being a native to the Land of Iron, he was easily the most well adjusted to the cold. He was almost frolicking, in fact. He actually missed the feeling of blood rushing to his ears.

"Hana, this is a mission we're on, not a field trip," Sarada told him when she saw him slush snow between his gloved hands.

He smiled. "Can't it be both?"

She sighed while the team continued toward the village they saw in the distance. Eventually, the four arrived at its gate. It was smaller than the Hidden Leaf's or any of the other five great villages, but Hana and his fellow genin still marveled at it. Though, as they attempted to enter, a duo of frost shinobi flickered out in front of them.

"State your name and your business," one of them commanded.

Konohamaru was a bit off put about the uptight security, but he still complied. "We're Team 49 of the Hidden Leaf. We came here with the part your village needed for their water filtration system."

The two ninja shared a look. After a pause Konohamaru thought lasted far too long, the one who spoke earlier said "Follow us. Be warned though, the entire village is on edge at the moment."

"Why?"

"Our chief and the two heads of his staff were attacked two days ago."

The frost ninja need only to the see the alarm on Team 49's face to know that they got the message. They escorted the leaf affiliates through the village.

The Hidden Frost's chief peered up from his desk when he heard the door open. One of his subordinates stood in its frame. "Lord Hitsugi, the leaf ninja have arrived."

The ninja held open the door as Team 49 entered. Bolt came to a stop when the filter got stuck in the door.

"This stupid thing...!" he exclaimed while trying to yank it through the frame.

"Uh... please... Just leave it in the hallway," Hitsugi said. "I wouldn't want to have to order a second one."

Bolt did as he as the chief advised and pulled his arms free of the box's straps. A loud "thoom!" sounded when it hit the floor.

Bolt saw the looks he received. "What? He told me to drop it."

"Idiot..." Sarada muttered.

Konohamaru ignored his student's typical absurdity and pulled out a scroll for the chief to sign out on.

"So, I heard you and some of her staff were injured?" he asked while the latter signed the scroll.

"Yes. By two unknown characters. They came up to us asking about a girl they were looking for."

"Did you know who the girl was?"

Hitsugi finished signing. "Of course. She's a strange one who mysteriously arrived at the village over eight years ago, and we know as much about her now as we did then."

"So, you don't know what her relationship with those two guys who attacked you is?" Konohamaru asked while rolling up the scroll.

"No, but judging by how they respond to unwanted questions, I can guess that isn't healthy. ...Is there a reason why you're so interested in this?"

"Well, I plan to have my team stay the night here, so I'm just keeping an eye out for what's going on in the village."

"I see. Well, thank you for deliver-Ugh!"

While trying to stand, Hitsugi clenched his chest and sat back down. Konohamaru could see the bandages underneath his clothes.

"Are your wounds serious?" he asked.

Hitsugi sat back down. "Surprisingly, no. I short on blood and freezing when I was found, but the wound I received was already healed by the time I was taken to the village's hospital. Pneumonia was the biggest threat to my life. The one who healed me was likely one of the same two he injured me in the first place.

"That's strange..."

"It is." Hitsugi agreed. "I guess I'll be stuck at this desk for a while longer. Thank you again for delivering the filter."

Konohamaru nodded and left the room, gesturing for his students to follow. Hana bowed and left last.

"But man that's weird..." Bolt said beating his sore back. "Who heals someone after they attack them? Doesn't that make attacking them in the first place kinda pointless?"

"They probably thought that leaving the village's chief and his staff dead would cause a lot of problems," Sarada said.

"The village being on edge isn't a problem?"

"Less than a village-wide manhunt would have been."

"Do you think they're still hanging around, Konohamaru sensei?" Hana asked.

"Probably. They want that girl for whatever reason, and I doubt they're going to just give up that easily. The chief probably has heavy security around her now, though. I doubt anyone will be able to touch her so easily."

"I hope so..." Hana murmured.

The team kept walking. They were only a block away from the hotel they were planning on staying that night when Hana noticed the smoke.

"Is that a fire?" he asked.

"Maybe," Konohamaru answered. "The village's ninja take care of-"

Hana was already gone. He scaled a building and hopped from roof to roof on his way to the smoke's origin.

"Hana!"Konohamaru yelled. Bolt went after him. "Bolt?!"

The jonin looked down at his only obedient student. Though, he could tell what she was really thinking from the anxious look in her eyes.

He sighed. "Go on. I meet you three at the hotel."

Sarada gave a guilty bow. "Sorry, Sensei..."

She followed her two teammates and made her way toward the rising smoke. Konohamaru scratched his head. He started for the hotel again. 'These kids are going to be a handful...'

Sarada eventually joined Hana and Bolt on the roof of a building right across from where the smoke coming from. It was a fire, and even worse, a apartment complex fire. Judging from how the shinobi present were trying to urgently extinguish the fires around doors first, it was obvious they were trying to rescue people still inside.

Leaving things to the Frost ninja may have been for the best, but watching the complex burn brought back some unsavory memories that wouldn't allow Hana to stay still.

"Bolt, can you use your Byakugan to see how many people are still inside?" he asked.

His blond friend nodded. He folded his hands together and put one finger up. 'Byakugan!' The smoke, flames and walls of the building all became transparent to Bolt as he scanned to the complex. He pointed.

"That last apartment on the second floor – somebody's still inside there!"

"Alright! Sis, please help me with this!" Hana exclaimed while jumping down from the roof.

Sarada didn't understand why Hana was so possessed all of the sudden, but she personally had no desire to let someone die in a burning building. She stood and approached the roof's edge as Hana ran past ninja toward the complex.

"Stop calling me, Sis..." Dragon Horse Tiger. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She exclaimed while spewing a ball of flames from her mouth.

The Frost ninja were confused and alarmed about the fireball, but not Hana. When collided with the door that still had a civilian behind it and blew it open, he hopped up to the second floor and rushed inside. He couldn't make out who the figure was in all the smoke, but he could tell they were light enough for him to scoop up in his arms.

He felt the room shake. 'That fireball must have been too much for the apartment's infrastructure to take.' Just as the roof over began to collapse, Hana yelled "Windmill Style: Striding Step!"

He and the person he held disappeared and reappeared outside the complex in midair, exactly ten yards ahead of where he was standing in the apartment. It bellowed debris as its roof fell. Hana gazed back at it.

"My home... What happened to it?" the person in his arms asked.

"Uh... It's kind of... gone?" Hana said guiltily.

"Oh... Well, that sucks."

The person he held was girl, presumably around his own age. She had light blue hair, and blue eyes to go with it. She also had a frown stretched over her soot-covered face. Hana assumed it had something to do with her home burning then falling.

A duo of medical ninja came to pick the girl up with a stretcher. Hana nodded when they told him and placed her on the stretcher carefully.

"Wait. What's your name?" she asked.

"Hana Fujikaze."

She breathed heavily for a moment. "I'm Khaori... Thanks for saving me." She glared at him. "I'll get you back this one day..."

Hana made a confused face as the medical ninja flickered off with her. Bolt and Sarada eventually descended to his level.

"Hey, is that girl alright?" the former asked.

"Uh, yeah. But..." Hana smiled nervously. "I think she hates me."

His teammates both cocked their heads.

A few miles from the Hidden Frost Village, three figures sat at the height of a tree, gazing at the village in the distance.

"So... the target has finally been located?" an authoritative sounding one of them asked.

The only girl of the group nodded. "Yes. The target is in the Hidden Frost Village, undoubtedly."

"I see..."

"Hey, hey, hey!" the third figure yammered. "Does it matter if it any of the people on this continent finds out who we are?"

"No."

"Yes~"

The authoritative one stood, and so did his two companions.

"Alright. Let the operation: Kill the Traitor, begin..."

They flickered away at once, leaving only falling leaves behind.