The cold, the darkness and the danger of being detected were giving Naruto's clones a hard time. If the normal storms weren't enough then now the blizzard ones had joined the party.
"See anything ahead, Zero?"
Zero, Ace, Chase, Trial and Phoenix had been their names since the day Naruto stopped abusing this technique, stating that they shouldn't rely too much on brutal force.
"No..." The one called Zero said. "Not even a single sight of a dead bird."
"We should find some place warm." Ace suggested. "The cold's gonna shut our senses."
Everyone seemed to be thrilled with the idea, they had been moving blindly through the storm for a little too long.
It only took them less than 5 minutes to dig up a cave and have roasted fishes to chew. Chilling by the fire, they began discussing their plan to track the enemy's trail.
"Unless an Iwa nin came patrolling around, it'd be impossible to find them in this state."
"You mean..." Phoenix stopped his meal. "We set up an ambush and hope for the best?"
"Yeah, pure luck." Zero said casually, using the tip of a bone as a toothpick. "Or we could just go solo and maybe come across their trail. Yeah, maybe."
"Damn, we need more people to do this." Trial snorted. "Sigh...We have to think of something, our base cannot affort to wait for us."
"Well, any idea Chase?" Asked Zero.
"...How about making a ruckus on one specific area? The kind of thing that makes the commander order his grunts to investigate?" Said Chase, gutting another fish.
"Hey, that works! We gotta try one." Ace stated. "So what kind of damage should we do?"
"Uhh..." Phoenix stopped eating once again. "Make a loud noise, that'll keep them spamming their clones."
"...At least we got a clear plan on this. The rest is up to us." Trial finished.
All five clones nodded, each one quickly devoured their fishes.
"Stuffed yet? Let's get moving." As in order, they all threw the leftovers into the pitfire.
Dusting off the last bit of ashes, Naruto's clones made their way out of their place.
"Let's search for a higher place, we need the blast to be heard by all."
"...We're really not good at this. I wish clones could use their jutsus."
Meanwhile, on a road leading to an iced bridge. There was a fair number of shinobi clothed in white going with their groups through the cold storm, each one shivered as the wind started to decay their revealing skins. Running between them was a red caravan, hinting there was something or someone precious to them hidden inside.
BANG!
The sudden noise immediately ceased their advance. Every single one tensed up and made their fighting stance.
BANG!
"A rifle's shot?"
"Keep a look out! Everyone remains your positions and protects the caravan."
The tone most likely belonged to the leader called out. After everyone was in a defensive formation, he gave in a breath before doing the handseal.
Four clones appeared right by his side after the call, waiting for order.
"You two, search the area! And you two, investigate the sound!"
They all gave a gesture before disappearing into the smoke field.
"Set the camp! Alert the others if you see something suspicious!"
"Yes! Kizya-sama!" The Iwa nins replied with as much enthusiasm as they could get.
Little did the young commander know, the Winter breeze was going to give him and his small army a hard time staying still in one place...
"Are we just gonna wait?" Buried himself deep under the snow, Zero asked his companion.
"Depends...Sigh, I'm going to have a cold tonight." Chase said with little air he could manage to let out.
"Hey hey, steady yourself! We haven't even gotten a report yet."
"As if I could forget. Hah...You see anything?"
"Two shadows in the distance, coming from the North. Seems like they went together towards this way. Should we move into another place?"
"The others three should take care of everything. You and me, we should just chill out here and stay comfortably close to each others...forever."
"Is that supposed to be a joke?."
"Heh...Better than your toys for sure. My ears are getting penetrated with snow."
The team had agreed to let two of them stay behind to create the distraction and cover their tracks while the rest prepared to reveal the enemy's trail. After they got the right path, all five would regroup and track the foes down.
BANGGGG!
"Uhh! FUCK! This way, come on!"
"We're not gonna make it...The air is frozen around us..."
...The Iwa clones were right, they weren't made to withstand the harshness of nature. The dispersion soon followed.
"Goddamn it! Waste of fucking time!" The commander for some reason couldn't hold the anger in his voice. Because of his clones' failure? Or would it be the fatigue and shakiness that he fought to keep his stance against the storm had driven him mad?
Maybe it was the time that gave him most of the rage, his troop had been standing guard for nearly an hour. Even with the fire going strong through the deadly weather, their legs somehow showed the poor example of an ice cube and they crumbled everytime the wind passed by.
Unfortunate for them to be a simple escort, the perfect target for the enemy.
"Get a move on! *cough...Cough* We...c-can't just stay here forever..."
His command now was like a salvation to them. Slowly, the colors began to return to their faces and everyone released the tension that had been going crazy inside their mouths. They'd give anything to be able to move their blood vessels.
On the hill miles away from their place, Zero and his comrades were observing their movement.
"Hmm...I wonder what's inside that vehicle..."
Author's note: I think I'll end the chapter here for a good time skip. In case you are wondering why the Iwa didn't send out a proper escort for that caravan, everything will be clear in later chapters...
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.