What are you doing?

He stared at the sleeping figure in the bed. Not only did he carry the mewling woman here, he even wrapped her quivering form in these garish, orange bed sheets. He asked himself once more, What are you doing?

Had he felt sorry for her? Nonsense, he couldn't remember when he last pitied someone. Orphans who begged in the streets could hardly move him, such was his unfeeling nature. Calculative. Brutal. Killer. These were the cornerstones of his personality. He had long banished delicate emotions in his line of work. Hence, murderous people like him didn't tuck weak civilians into bed.

Then, why did he do it?

Kakuzu growled under his breath, frustrated with his inability to answer. Since arriving here, his behaviour had become unrecognisable. Relying on a civilian and striking deals with said civilian? These were unthinkable given his dire track record with others.

Had he been rattled by Pein's earlier ban on bounty hunting? Was it from being confined to this rural, frigid land? Whatever the reason, the solution was clear as day. He needed to get away from this place.

A decent-sized bounty would clear up this mental fog and return him to his old self.

Ugh, where am I?

Groggily opening my eyes, I found myself submerged under a sea of orange.

Ah right, I'm in my own bed. I was securely tucked under my favourite ochre sheets, although I couldn't for the life of myself remember slipping into them last night. Sitting up in my bralette, a rush of uncomfortable images flooded my brain.

I well and truly slapped my face this time. God, he must think that I'm such a crybaby... My fingertips grazed the sides of my face. I unsurprisingly discovered thick, dried streaks trailing down my cheeks. It was even mixed in with my face powder. Ewwww.

One silver lining was that the previous night's throbbing headache had settled into a dull ache, so I wasn't in too rough shape for the last shift tonight. A quick peek at the room's only clock showed me that it was two in the afternoon now, leaving at least four hours to kill.

That isn't a whole lot of time... The bet with Kakuzu weighed heavily on my mind, the clock was ticking on this six month deadline. Thanks to my bravado (or foolishness), there was scarcely any time to waste.

On an instinctual level, I knew that I needed to leave this house. Sitting at home and twiddling my thumbs until evening would do more harm than anything else. The mounting anxiety and dread surrounding my departure from the inn would undoubtedly bubble to the surface in the quiet of my home.

I quickly scanned my home for any pulse of Kakuzu's chakra . Even if he was suppressing it, our time together now made it easier to sniff him out. My search yielded nothing but I still chose to peer outside of my door and cautiously survey the living room for his hulking figure. Okay, he's really not here, I breathed a sigh of relief.

It must have been years since someone else had last seen my tears fall so freely, it made the fierceness of my embarrassment intensify. Someone had once told me that I was an ugly crier, it made the act of crying all the more horrible.

After a quick dash to the bathroom, I eagerly stuck my head under warm water. I lapped in the shower's warmth for some time before grabbing a scrub to remove those stubborn streaks on my face, similar to how a snake sheds its old skin. After a swift change of clothes and some food, I felt like a new person and there was still no Kakuzu in sight.

So far, it seemed that today would go a little better.

The sky was gloomier than usual today. Thick clouds obstructed the sun's warming rays, the chilly air caused me to shiver underneath my dense coat and layers of clothing. Despite living in near-perpetual winter for the last decade, I still struggled to adjust to this weather. This aversion to chilly temperatures allowed others to quickly discern that I wasn't native to this region.

Once I reached the town centre, I was in desperate need of a hot beverage. Fortunately, there was a quaint, old teahouse nearby. The small space could only host a few customers at any one time. As far as I knew, it was run by an elderly couple. But, only the older woman was working today.

I ordered a cup of fermented tea, it arrived very quickly since I was the only customer. I hungrily drank it in, enjoying the sensation of piping hot tea warming my insides. The earthy tones reminded me of similar teahouses in my former homeland. But I swiftly squashed that sense of nostalgia, those memories were unbearable.

Rapidly drinking the rest of the tea, I thanked the owner before making haste for the store. Upon my arrival, I belatedly realised that I didn't have the key. After spending the first few moments in panic, I reached for the doorknob on a whim.

Thank the heavens, it's unlocked... Rather, it was still unlocked since that night. Fuyuta never did have the chance to lock up the store...

The shop itself was as cold as the outside, forcing me to keep my jacket on. I hastily lit up an old-school kerosene heater in the corner of the store. At first glance, Fuyuta's shop looked like a traditional, slightly diminutive Kampo store. There were baskets of readily available supplies and imported medicinal herbs in the shop's frontage. In the back, there was the cash register and a packing area.

Next to that stood the towering apothecary cabinet that Kakuzu had rummaged through days ago. It dominated most of the shop's space, occupying an entire side of the wall. There were sixty drawers in the cabinet, some were marked by heavily faded Kanji characters of popular medicinal herbs. I could only confidently decipher the characters of cinnamon, ginger...and was that ginseng?

It was common knowledge that Fuyuta lived in a single apartment above the flat, but I was never invited over for tea and had zero inkling of its appearance. I made a mental note to check out the space at one point.

The sound of herbs being crushed beneath my feet signalled a new problem. My face twisted into a scowl as I spotted several of the apothecary cabinet's drawers and its contents strewn across the floor, a messy consequence of Kakuzu's fact-finding mission. Cleaning up now jumped to the top of my list of priorities.

Where did he keep the broom? It was probably stored away in the backroom. As I reached for the room's door, an intrusive thought stormed my mind.

Didn't Kakuzu store Fuyuta's body here?

Oh crap. This alone triggered the unwanted memory of Kakuzu strangling and then snapping Fuyuta's neck. My neck broke out in a cold sweat. Though my rational mind knew that Fuyuta wasn't still here, my hand started to tremble.

I cursed at this sudden onset of cowardice. Screw it, you don't have all day! With renewed vigour, I forcibly slid open the screen door. Fortunately, there was no sign or scent of Fuyuta's corpse. However, a new horror was instead lurking behind the partition. This was the point where my earlier optimism took a deep dive. Frankly, it sank like a rock.

Forget the broom, what the hell is going on here?!

The horror in question took the form of an unbelievably cluttered room. Books and various unlabelled boxes were stacked endlessly and nearly reached the ceiling. Fuyuta's workspace, composed of his tools and instruments, had been shoved to one corner of the room, while pots with their unknown contents were sited right next to them.

Papers weren't even filed away, instead forming high, precarious stacks near the door. I was lucky that my earlier clumsiness with the screen door didn't knock down the papers and create a veritable mess.

The state of this backroom revealed that Fuyuta kept an abundance of dirty secrets. He never struck me as a messy hoarder, but then again how well did I really know him? I didn't know that Fuyuta was in debt and I never suspected him of having a hand in the kidnappings. It turned out that no one really knew him at all.

I shook my head in frustration and decided that these memories were awful and unhelpful. A distraction was necessary. My arms still hurt, so it will be just the papers for now.

Taking off my jacket and pulling up my sleeves, I banished the thoughts of Fuyuta and beavered away at the daunting stacks.

Slightly over twelve hours had elapsed since Kakuzu left his newly-minted subordinate. In that entire length of time, he had been running. His inordinate speed and stamina were only made possible by steadily pumping chakra into his legs and gathering greater momentum with every step. Untrained eyes would have only seen a dark, formless blur cutting through the tree line. All his efforts had paid off, he was finally at his destination.

The border between Shimo no Kuni and Kaminari no Kuni was treated by both nations as ungovernable. Shimogakure didn't possess the manpower while Kumogakure had little interest in its western front. The lack of shinobi activity was perfect for the purpose of a bounty exchange point. This specific station was hidden deep underground. Only bounty hunters knew how to find it.

"Welcome back, Kakuzu-san", a bespectacled man of average height greeted him.

"Do I know you?" Kakuzu shot back.

"Not yet, but I have heard about you from my predecessor. My name is Hideki and I am one of the bounty exchange masters in this region", the unfamiliar man replied with a polite bow.

Kakuzu nodded, sensibly wary of the man standing before him. "And what happened to the previous master?"

"He is no longer with us. Captured and killed after a raid on the previous station", Hideki replied in a dispassionate voice, there was no emotion over the mention of his fallen master.

"So hiding behind a public restroom won't cut it anymore", Kakuzu dryly commented. He nonchalantly gestured to the cavern that they were now standing in.

A small smirk appeared on Hideki's face. "Yes, these caverns rarely cross the minds of shinobi villages. Even then, we have safeguards in place", he ended the sentence a tad more sinisterly. Kakuzu grunted in agreement, he was aware of the exploding tags lining the entrance of the caves. The new exchange master was more willing to destroy the place than let the bounties and information fall into the hands of others.

"I need information on high-value bounties in this region". Kakuzu went straight to the heart of the matter. This was the true purpose of his journey.

Hideki tilted his glasses to sit lower on the bridge of his thin, narrow nose. After a minute of studying the clipboard in his hands, he let out a satisfied sigh. "According to recent reports, there might be a 10 million ryō bounty hiding in the northernmost sector of this border."

"Nothing higher?" The bounty wasn't half-bad but Kakuzu wanted more of a fight from his target this time.

"Hm, there might be a 30 million ryō bounty in the desert. However, he might still be there. At best, our intel can only narrow his possible location to a 25-kilometre radius..."

"I'll take the higher one", Kakuzu deftly responded. He wasn't fazed by the prospect of investigating the long list of caves, any time spent away from that town was welcomed.

Upon hearing this, Hideki readjusted his glasses and smiled wryly. He knew Kakuzu by reputation only and previous masters often touted his prowess as an experienced bounty-hunter. No one actually knew Kakuzu's true age, generations of bounty masters had sworn that he hadn't aged a day. If Kakuzu was as strong as legends dictated, then Hideki was in luck.

"Well then, take this for your hunt. We look forward to seeing you soon".

Kakuzu took the pieces of flimsy paper and left without another word.

"Thank you everyone for gathering here before we start dinner service", I started with uncertainty. Barring Misaki's steeled expression, the eyes of the other staff members – which included the cook – glowed with curiosity. I could not remember when all of us had last gathered like this.

"I apologise for the suddenness of this announcement, but some health issues and changes in my personal life have affected my ability to work here", I had rehearsed this line countless times earlier.

"With a heavy heart, I must leave you all in the capable hands of Misaki-san. Thank you for working so hard and let's have a good last shift together!" My voice held a cheerful note, but it was forced. I was already mentally exhausted from trying to decipher Fuyuta's handwritten notes earlier in the day. Despite my best efforts, I barely made a dent in a single stack of papers.

Thankfully, the others didn't notice it. They were shell-shocked from my announcement, their mouths agape with disbelieving expressions. Who could blame them? This was all very sudden and inexplicable.

Before I could be inundated by their questions, Misaki snapped her hands together. The sharp clap caught everyone's attention. "I know that many of you have questions, but we have work to do and our guests demand our full attention", she asserted. Her firmness left no room for argument and I was grateful for her intervention.

And off we went, like ants scurrying and working in tandem to feed the colony. Our inn of twenty rooms was remarkably full today, the dining room was packed to the brim and some of our guests opted to eat in the privacy of their rooms. It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation and I was in-charge of serving the latter. I only had one last room to serve – a young woman travelling with her son.

As I scampered to the kitchen, I picked up on three people in the cramped, cooking space. That's unusual, I paused. Resting my hand on the closed kitchen door, I leaned in curiously and listened to the hushed tones on the other side.

"Are you really surprised? Misaki and Nao barely get along, someone was bound to leave", one voice piqued. That was Mariko, the inn's long-serving receptionist. Her chakra was memorable, I likened the scent to that of an axe that had rusted after years of being exposed to the harsh elements.

"Misaki was here first, it is only right that Nao should leave", the deeper voice asserted. That belonged to their sole male service staff, Toku. Similar to his supple personality, his chakra resembled that of slippery rocks on a river bank.

My face crumpled. Were things that bad with Misaki?

"It was a surprise that Risato even gave Nao part ownership in the first place", Mariko agreed with the younger male.

"Well, Risato was always a little too generous", Toku suggestively implied.

Ouch.

Within the span of four sentences, the two confirmed every doubt that I ever held about my capabilities. Maybe I was as unqualified as they implied.

Moreover, it was difficult to refute that Risato-senpai was a very generous person. Till this day, I didn't understand why she passed on her knowledge and the inn to a stranger like myself. Hell, she even bequeathed her home to me before crossing over into the afterlife.

I considered bolting away in shame before hearing a gruff voice interrupt the not-so-secret gossip session. "If you two are done wasting time, go and deliver the food before it becomes inedible", he harshly admonished them. That was our cook, a heavy-set man in his early forties. Takara had a shorter fuse than most and pointedly disliked anyone loitering in his domain. Our inn's sole sharp-shooter, I admired that.

After his sharp rebuke, the tattling servers hastily scurried away like scared mice. They left in such a hurry that they didn't seem to notice my presence. It was embarrassing to face Takara after what the others said, but I had a job left to do. Serve dinner to our guests.

Today's dinner was exceptionally delectable – there were flame-grilled chicken skewers, a fish and potato soup, vegetable tempura, chawanmushi, and a side of steamed rice. We didn't serve the usual departure gifts today since Takara prepared steamed mochi with a sweet red bean centre for the inn.

There was an awkward silence in the kitchen while I waited for Takara to ladle soup into the serving bowls. Of course, Takara broke it first. "Don't listen to them, Nao-san."

Damn, he was paying attention. This is humiliating. I nodded numbly, unable to find my voice. After everything I heard, it was very difficult to agree with him.

Takara narrowed his eyes and suddenly slammed the lid of the pot shut. I visibly flinched. "I mean it, don't pay attention to that drivel. Mariko is pissed that Risato didn't pick her and Toku is as feeble as soft tofu", Takara continued crossly.

I couldn't help but crack a small smile at the tofu remark. Taking the tray from him, I simply replied, "I'll miss working with you and eating your food, Takara-san".

He huffed in annoyance, visibly uncomfortable with my sentimentality. "We will still see each other around. Now, go. The food is getting cold".

In the hours since he left the bounty checkpoint, Kakuzu had been studying the pieces of paper from Hideki. One provided information on the target and another was a map that marked out the radius of interest.

There wasn't a photograph of the target, only a black-and-white sketch of a man accompanied by a short description. The sketch showed nothing remarkable, except for his shaven head and a long scar over his left eye. It dragged from the temple to the edge of his top lip.

Kakuzu skimmed past the target's name, that wasn't important right now. The target was formidable in earth release, wind release, and kenjutsu. His crimes were equally ferocious. After faithfully serving as a personal bodyguard to Ishi no Kuni's priesthood for a decade, he assassinated his most powerful patrons and their most ardent followers mere weeks ago. Without a clear successor, the small country was still trying to gain some semblance of law and order.

Killing priests typically didn't warrant such a high bounty, but the priesthood's highest echelons in Ishi no Kuni were not your run-of-the-mill priests. They ruled with absolute authority and were the country's equivalent of a daimyō.

The bounty master waged that the target was still hiding out in the western front's expansive desert. It wasn't common knowledge, even among Kumogakure's leadership, but Kaminari no Kuni's western front was not merely desolate wilderness. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of caves. One could stow away for months or even years.

Before entering the boundary, he was already devising a plan to locate his target. It would have been ridiculous to check every single cave in a 25-kilometre radius, so he had a list of criteria. The cave couldn't be too big, otherwise the target ran the risk of being discovered by other missing-nin or shinobi forces. If the target was staying more than a night, he also needed a steady supply of groundwater. Fortunately, Kakuzu's water mask could track the movement of water underground.

Good, this will drastically narrow down the list of options. Even so, he had his work cut out for him. The hunt could last anywhere between a week and month. Maybe even longer if the target was on the move.

Since Pein's only instruction was that Kakuzu stay in the surrounding areaand this left plenty for interpretation. Kakuzu deemed that he wasn't that far away from their new base. Technically, he wasn't defying Pein's order.

Speaking of their new base, Kakuzu had scouted the entire subterranean space and even drew a map. Perhaps that wasn't what Zetsu had in mind when he asked Kakuzu to prepare the base before he returned to bounty hunting. So be it, it wasn't a formal order if it didn't come from Pein's mouth. An earful from Zetsu wasn't going to stop him and his impending hunt.

Since he began his journey, his bloodlust had returned. It took the form of a frightening beast that lurked in the very depths of his being. Always ready and lying right beneath the surface. The promise of a high-powered opponent was enough to awaken the monster and cause it to rear its abhorrent head. Without civilians nearby and that innkeeper, there was no need to hold back this time.

The beast in him rejoiced.

As instructed, I speedily carried the food to its rightful owners. I rapped twice on the door frame to announce my presence, there was no reply at first. Strange, there is definitely someone inside. When I tapped again, a young boy slid it open.

"My mom's busy", the boy remarked before turning around and going back to his position on the floor.

He wasn't lying, his mother was visibly flustered. She was hastily rummaging through their bags, likely in search of something important. I had to meander around the unpacked clothing and supplies before reaching the low, dining table. In contrast to the mayhem surrounding him, the boy was laying on his stomach and serenely drawing on a piece of paper with crayons.

I laid out the dishes and tea on the table first before offering my assistance. "Do you need any help?" I asked gently.

She sharply looked up from the bag in her grasp as though just registering my presence in the room. Her cheeks became tinged with pink. "Um...yes. I lost an important piece of paper. I've been searching for the last half hour...".

"What does it look like?"

"It has a picture of fireworks and details about a festival in Yugakure. I know that I brought it here...", she murmured. Her gaze was firmly locked onto another bag. I took a gander at the room. The open drawers and emptied bags on the floor suggested that her search had been very thorough.

I lifted a few items off the floor, hoping to find the elusive poster hidden underneath. No such luck. I glanced at the boy and contemplated asking him if he saw the poster. He was fully engrossed in his drawing. Although he was young, his drawing conveyed a sense of maturity and talent. I peered closer and realised that he was drawing Miyuki Valley and its winter landscape.

No. Could it be that simple?

"That looks beautiful. Can I take a look, please?" I extended a hand to the young boy, he couldn't have been more than five or six. He paused and look at me with some distrust, but eventually handed over the paper. I suppose this was the perk of being an adult.

A-ha! On one side was the boy's artwork. On the other was the difficult-to-find poster.

"Is this what you are looking for?" I gingerly held out my discovery, right-side up of course.

Instant relief flooded the woman's face. "Oh yes! Where did you find it?"

I tilted my head in the direction of the clueless boy, who had inexplicably found another piece of paper for his art.

His mother breathed a heavy sigh. "He's at an age where nothing is safe". I nodded, even though I didn't have much experience with children. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

I felt a tug on my uniform and looked down to see her son's oddly serious expression. "Could I please have my drawing back? It isn't finished".

His mother looked prepared to scold him, but I intervened first. "Could I please hold on to it for a while more? I would like to copy the festival poster's details for your mum."

"N-no need to do that, that's too kind of you," the woman interceded.

I smiled, "It's no trouble at all. That way you can have an extra copy and keep his drawing". The young boy appeared to be mollified by my suggestion and let go of the fabric in his small hand.

"Um, okay...only if it isn't too much work", she caved in after my insistence.

"I only need half an hour, please enjoy your meal in the meantime", I gestured to the food on the table. She nodded and ushered her son to finally partake in their dinner.

While they sat down, I took my leave and headed straight to the office. This wasn't my first time copying details and drawing a map for a guest. Many lost travellers had stumbled upon the inn during an ill-timed blizzard, I usually drew a simple map for them and wrote down easy-to-follow directions for their journeys.

As I copied the details, a postal marking on the poster's far-left corner caught my eye. The mother-son duo had come all the way from a small coastline town in Kaminari no Kuni for a magnificent float parade in Yugakure. One had to praise how effectively and extensively the organisers' promoted their event.

Definitely should keep this in mind for Fuyuta's store. Kakuzu had heavily criticised Fuyuta's business for never venturing beyond our little town. If I wanted to pay back my debt as soon as possible, I should act on his observation.

When I finished my self-appointed task, a wave of melancholy passed though my body. This was probably the last time I would ever help a guest in this inn. Despite the professional disagreements and mild back-stabbing, I would miss this aspect of my work.

The change was bittersweet. With so much uncertainty ahead of myself in the Kampo store, I could only hope for a relatively smooth and uncomplicated transition.

But, I would soon learn that fate had a very different set of plans in store.

A/N:

Shimo no Kuni - Land of Frost

Kaminari no Kuni - Land of Lightning

Shimogakure - Village Hidden in Frost

Kumogakure - Village Hidden by Clouds

Ishi no Kuni - Land of Stone

Yugakure - Village Hidden in Hot Water

(1) Kampo is a type of traditional Japanese medicine, its roots stem from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Supposedly, Buddhist monks carried over the medicinal knowledge from China during the 6th Century. It was then adapted for Japan's culture.

(2) Takara's cuisine is modelled from some foods served in Hokkaido, Japan. I took reference from that specific prefecture because of the similarities in climate.

(3) When I was writing about the festival in Yugakure, I drew inspiration from the Chichibu Yomatsuri in Japan. It is a magical event, please check it out online ^.^

Hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought of the switch from third-person narrative to first-person narrative for Nao. Should I continue it or nah?

Also, apologies that this chapter came out later than expected. Hopefully, I won't take too long for the next one. Spoiler: Kakuzu and Nao will be reunited soon, much to his chagrin.