Welcome all! You are not seeing things – NNG is finally updated :D Sorry it took me so long, but these past, few months have been quite... well, I wanna write "pain in the #%^!" Hopefully, with the start of 2013, I'll get more time to actually write and the updates will come more frequent.

For now, I'll just have to make up with this – SPECIALSEASON UPDATE! I got this idea sometime at the start of December (5th, if I recall) and got so determined to do it that I myself am surprised at the outcome :D With this, I'll be updating not only NNG, "Legacy of the Leaf" and "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire" (skipping an update of "Dragon blood" for those who follow me on FictionPress ;)), but also publish a collection of short stories based in NNGverse – Konoha Christmas Carols!

Published as a separate work of mine, it's a gathering of 14, short chapters (all written in the span of 13 days I might add, during which I was also busy AND writing the actual chapters :D) centered on your, favorite, NNG Konoha gennin. It doesn't matter which of the Leaf Ocs you like most – there is a chapter centered on him/her. The genre of stories greatly vary – from simple comedy, through drama, adventure and even poetry! All of them are Christmas-themed, of course, in the spirit of upcoming holiday ;) Do check it out, if you feel like it.

Also: Third Character Popularity Poll has been officially closed! The results are given at the end of this chapter for those who are interested.

With this, lets get to the newest installment of NNG:

Chapter #150: Cold Steel

Title Page: Christmas in the household – Kai is at the piano, trying to sing some carols, while Ibuki is sitting comfortably in a chair, drinking some hot chocolate. Kusari is chasing Kumiko as he holds a mistletoe above his head, while Takaru stands on top of a ladder, ready to place the star of the Christmas Tree. At the same moment, Naruto's head pops out of the chimney, covered in soot

Kusari panted heavily as he held his left arm tightly, trying to keep as much blood inside as he could. The star glittered on the night sky while a crescent moon lit the darkness, but even so the ten-year-old lost sight of the man he was chasing. Standing a top of the wooden roof, he calmed his breath just before the new arrivals joined him:

"Where's the assassin?" an ANBU with a feminine voice demanded, turning towards the youth with her gruesome, demon mask. Kusari only gazed into the night, in the direction of the mountain peaks as he dropped to his butt, exhaustion finally catching up to him.

The masked kunoichi didn't bother to treat his wound, in stead leading three, other ninja in pursuit, disappearing from the boy's view in a matter of seconds. His body managed to calm down somewhat, but the heart still raced at alarming speed. Certainly there was little hope he'll get any sleep tonight.

"Hasaki-san did this" a familiar voice reached his ear. The boy looked to his right, only now spotting Teela, who stood beside him with her usual, emotionless expression. It took him a moment to realize that she didn't ask a question, but made a statement. "He did this and you assisted him" she went on, narrowing her eyes as they set on the boy. "You planned this from the beginning..."

"No" Kusari replied, shaking his head in negation. "I had no idea this would happen... Hasaki acted on his own, I just..." he began, but the words froze in his throat as he analyzed what he was about to say. Letting out a sigh, he lowered his head in stead: "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry will not turn back time" the blue-haired girl responded sternly, her cold exterior sending shivers down his spine even more so then the chilly air of the night. "You had not have intervened. What were you thinking, Kusari? Do you even realize you can be killed for this?" she asked loudly, but her face shown concern as her calm demeanor broke.

The boy diverted his gaze from her, unable to keep eye-contact. Silence fell between them as he stared into the night, finally asking the question that plagued him since earlier: "So... you're gonna turn me in?"

Teela looked to the side at those words, her mind filled with doubt. She had her duties, even though few truly knew of it. In a way she owed it to herself. But this was Kusari after all; it's not like she could just throw what they've been through out the window. Even she had a line she would not cross.

The boy didn't rush her decision, patiently awaiting her response and, eventually, he received it, spoken as quiet as a whisper: "No... I will grant you this, small mercy. But do not think I'll forget what happened here tonight... nor your part in this... even if it was all Hasaki-san's doing, you..." she began, her voice breaking.

"I know" he assured her, looking away. "And I will fix this... I promise..."

-Flashback end-

Horohoro's eyed widen as the third chain shoot from beneath Kusari's shirt, coming straight at the blue-haired boy's head. Unable to dodge, the teen blocked with his knife, yet the impact still pushed him to the ground.

Propping himself with his free hand, he broke the fall, bouncing off the surface as he spun to face his adversary once more. With the target locked, Horohoro released the kunai, aiming at the chain master, who was still trapped in thick ice. Immediately he retreated his free weapon, blocking the projectile with the cleaver blade just before making it smack the solid liquid, cracking his prison slightly.

At this the blue-haired gennin began a new set of seals, making ice form upon his back. In a blink of an eye a thick layer of solid liquid spread to the sides, shaping itself into wings as icicles grew from its edges: "Hijutsu: Tsubasa no Mitsukai!"

Instantly the wings flapped, pointing at Kusari as the released the icicles at a blinding speed. Luckily for the younger leaf-nin, his weapon finally managed to break the ice which trapped his left arm, allowing him to unleash his thump card. Without delay he moved his triple-ended chain to smash the projectiles as the cleaver blade began its work on the right side of his body.

As the ice spikes shattered, he three weights lunged at Horohoro, making the teen drop to all fours as the wings shielded him from above. Bouncing off the hard, slippery surface, weights raised to the sky, only to dive the next moment with a swooshing sound. As the noise reached their target's ears, the leaf-nin strafed right, dodging the assault, which dug deep into the ground on the very spot he occupied a second ago.

By then Kusari freed himself completely and threw his scythe blade at the older gennin, yet the ice user easily blocked the attack, covering himself with his left wing. With the weapon stuck in the crystal layer, Horohoro spun on his foot, making the second flank point at the young ninja, releasing another barrage of icicles.

Surprisingly, he didn't dodge, in stead pulling his entirely body forward with the use of the scythe-ended chain. Flying towards projectiles, the rookie shinobi had his cleaver blade out front, putting it to a spin. With a buzz the massive nib formed a barrier, which effectively smashed all the spikes, clearing the way to the blue-haired gennin.

Horohoro reacted immediately, making his wings spread to the sides, the sudden movement yanking the chain out of its trap and throwing Kusari slightly off course. Unfazed by this, the chain user had the scythe dig into the ground in stead and still using it as center, he put his body into a spin, aiming a kick to the other Leaf's face.

With no, other choice the blue-haired teen ducked under the assault, allowing his opponent to fly above. In a flash the chain master flipped his arm, repositioning his body to drop to the ground right behind his adversary, all the while aiming his cleaver blade to fall straight into Horohoro's spine.

Spotting the massive nib that came from above, the ice user dashed forward, barely dodging the attack. But he didn't manage to make even ten steps as he spun on his foot, avoiding one of the round weights that suddenly blasted from the ground, going for his face.

With a rumble, the second weight erupted from his back, forcing the teen to lean left, narrowly eluding the blow. He was, however, unable to escape the third ball, which bolted from the front, smacking him right in the cheek.

The impact send Horohoro flying back, yet the young gennin managed to break the fall once more by propping his arm on the ground and flipping, creating distance between himself and the chain master, much to Kai's excitement: "Way to go, Kusari! Kick his ass!"

"Looks like Kusari has the upper hand" Ibuki noted, making Senkou rise his eyebrow in surprise as the tone of her voice made it seem like she was disappointed at the outcome.

Horohoro rubbed his aching cheek, feeling one of his teeth slightly loose. With emotionless exterior, he glanced at his opponent, readjusting his jaw with a quiet crack: "Now that really hurt... that chain of yours is quite a bothersome weapon to deal with..."

"Well, the same can be said of your ice" the younger gennin shoot back with a smirk.

"Point taken" his adversary nodded, this time cracking his back. "I will admit that I didn't expect you to give me that much of a challenge. I'm rather happy that you proved me wrong though. I am honored that it was me who got to fight you. But now this match is over. I am giving you a fair chance to surrender... this next technique of mine... you cannot avoid..."

"Thanks for the heart" Kusari responded, waving his hand. "But I think I'll take my chances."

"Don't say I didn't warn you" the blue-haired boy replied, performing another chain of seals as the wings on his back melted away. Noticing the symbols, Taki's eyes widen as her face paled: "He's... gonna use that?" she shivered as Funbo smirked under his nose.

Meanwhile Horohoro clasped his palms together as a dome of chakra erupted from his body, forming a small sphere that surrounded him. Immediately sweat started covering his face as the dome extended, covering the ground inside with ice, much to Kusari's shock. The boy took a single step back as the strange bubble grew in size, freezing all within its reach, excluding the young gennin that stood in its center.

"What the heck is that?" Tsume asked herself, bolting from her chair, while Rei's arms slipped, making her wobble to keep balance. Even Ibuki gulped quietly at the sight as Kogane started panicking: "Did that guy just... form a freezing barrier?" she questioned, looking around her companions nervously, yet none was willing to reply as they all stared in disbelief at the turn the battle took.

"Neat trick" Kusari admitted, making one of his weight ends spin, prepared for counter. "But you forget I don't need to come close to attack you" he added, sending the wrecking ball at his opponent. The instant the steel entered the dome though, it froze on the spot, breaking to pieces a second later, unable to handle the extreme temperature: "Wha...?"

"Physical attacks has become useless, now that Horohoro went Shinsei Shimo" Akira thought to himself, sensing what has happened. "The temperature within the dome is simply too low for any, material body to handle – it freezes instantly and its molecular structure gets damaged from the sudden drop... in most cases it won't even manage to deal with the pressure and explode. Unless you use ninjutsu... there's no way to break through that..."

The sphere extended again as the blue-haired boy's body shook from exhaustion, his breath quickening at alarming rate. He glanced at his adversary, who had no choice to to back away as his attack spread. Still, Horohoro could do no more then narrow his eyes as the vision blurred.

"There's no way Kusari can win" Takaru noted, lowering his head. "By the looks of it, his usual style of fighting will be fruitless and if he won't give up, he'll end up as a pop-sickle... he should surrender."

"Really?" he heard a familiar voice, which made him look over the shoulder to see Kumiko slowly making her way towards the rail, her face serious as she sent him a stern gaze. "Then answer me this – if you were in his place... would you give up?" she questioned, making the son of Tsunade glance to the side with a frown. Meanwhile, the kunoichi settled her sight on the chain master as a smile made its way to her face: "Besides, I know Kusari... above you, Ibuki, even myself... he's a lot smarter then he lets on. And, if he hadn't forfeit yet... that means he still has a trick up his sleeve..."

And as on cue, the chain master clenched his fists, while his eyes narrowed: "I wanted to save this for the second match" he cursed in his mind, allowing the arms to come together in a seal: "But there's no helping it now... if I am to win... this is my only chance!"

-what is it now?-

And this concludes this chapter. Hope you found it worth waiting for. If you're gonna read the rest of SPECIAL SEASON UPDATE, I'll see you in my, other chapters and, if not, I hope to see you here in 2013 at the next installment of NNG series ;)

Konoha #7 (Naruto): Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai

Konoha #3 (Shikamaru): Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru

Konoha #4 (Hinata): Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu

Konoha (Shino): Hamano Taki, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro

Suna #1 (Temari): Aoru, Torune, Tarakudo, Takai

Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Karame

Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi (currently in medical wing for treatment), Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku

Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Kihako Tasuki, Chishio Kumo, Chishio Nobu

Kane (unknown): Futatsu

Kumori (Tategamaru): Saiken Tenma

Fight 12: Horohoro (23) vs. Hagane Kusari (24)

Fight 13: Aoru (25) vs. Hamano Taki (26)

Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)

Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)

Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)

Fight 17: Takai vs. Wanabi Hizoku

Fight 18: Tanken Funbo vs. Gekido Takaru

Fight 19: Benda Kokoro vs. Tarakudo

Fight 20: Manako Akira (automatic win)

Fight 21: Sabaku no Sabure vs. Debano Kitsune

Fight 22: Kanraku Nezumi vs. ?

Hijutsu: Tsubasa no Mitsukai (Secret Skill: Wings of an Angel)

Hijutsu: Shinsei Shimo (Secret Skill: Frost Nova)

Now, before going, here are the promised results of the popularity poll. I gotta say that, when I presented them to the characters, some were quite... eloquent about it ^^' As usual, the numbers in brackets are the number of votes first and then voting points:

Kusari Hagane (5/20) - "Like it could've ended any, other way..."

Ibuki Tanken (4/13) - "Second, huh?"

Akira Manako (4/13) - "I don't see what the big deal is..."

Kai Haisha (4/12) - "Fourth? Fourth! What the hell? I smell a rat! And demand a recount, dammit! There's no way those guys could get such a high score!"

Takaru Gekido (4/12) - "Who cares..."

Takai (3/11) - "..."

Kumiko Murasakki (3/9) - "Oh well, better then last time, at least..."

Senkou Hatake (1/5) - "Just one vote? Dammit, I'll show you what I can do!"

Hizoku Wanabi (¼) - "It's an honor to be included" bows

Tenka (¼) – shrugs

Rei Konpaku (1/3) - "Zzzzzzzz..."

Dekai (1/3) - "I got in this time?"

Kokoro Benda (½) - "I shall do my best to prove worthy of this..."

Aoru (½) - "Next time, I'll do even better!"

Sabaku no Touba (½) – yeah... no comment, him being dead and all ;P

Funbo Tanken (1/1) - "A complete waste of my time..."

Toku Amagasa (1/1) - "Thank you."

Tarakudo (1/1) - "I got in, I got in... I mean: whatever..."

And, as a special bonus, two more characters that technically received a vote, but as 6th and 7th from the same person, so I officially couldn't count them into the list:

Teela Junsei - "..."

Sabaku no Sabure - "How come niisan gets a higher spot?"

And this truly concluded this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and, before I sign off, one, final thing: MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you in 2013!