Thanks for waiting, everybody! I hope this chapter was worth the wait!

Disclaimer: This story has multiple mentions of trauma, death, and blood. Today there are more than the usual forms. So if it's not your cup of tea, please use discretion.

As a clarification, I do not own Naruto in any shape or form. However, I do own the plot so :D

Word count: 2837

'Thoughts...'

"A physical speech..."

"Kurama talking..."

"Past memory..."

Enjoy!

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Flashes of black sprung through the trees, a tint of red among them. Their dark colors deeply contradicting the soft winter white that covered almost every inch of the winter wonderland. There was not a sound but the soft crunch of their feet that filled the air, yet the afternoon chill melody warmed their hearts.

Still, despite the snow, the fire border was in no way pure or clean. Splatters of deep red laid splattered against the pure white specks, leaving poor Kakashi dripping with sweat. He only had a sliver of hope to assume that they weren't the blood of the innocent.

Mouse let out a small sneeze, rubbing the residue with the back of her hand before covering her nose with her scarf. It was cold; freezing cold, no matter how hard they tried to deny it. Freezing wind and dusting snow flowed freely from the trees, hitting the team's light but bulky jackets with the power of three men. It was an eternal struggle to jump from branch to branch with a harsh hinder to your step.

"Anyone got a tissue?" Mouse asked the team quietly while taking another calculated jump onto a dry branch.

Sloth pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to the younger while she held her nose by the bridge under her mask. She blew softly, letting out a mumble of gratitude. There were only a few minutes left in their journey if the short stone walls signifying the border were any indication. The pillbox should be just a few feet on the other side.

Aka stopped sharply, raising a hand at just about shoulder level. The silver-headed teen looked down, almost slipping when he sees the A-class Iwa fugitive, one that managed to escape a high-class prison just months ago. Scars marred his arms and face and desperate bloody gashes appeared on either side of his muscular frame. He was wounded and yet, he stood proudly, unaffected by the inevitable pain he must have. Around him, high-level chunnin held themselves high with fear as they took silent steps around the man.

Aka thought for a moment. Attacking him meant extra income and protection of future shinobi but was it really a risk he wanted to take on Kakashi's first mission?

"Fall back, kit," Kuruma warned him, letting out a soft whistle. "Spare the young newbie for now."

The redhead allowed his hand to drop, turning his gaze towards his team and motioning his head towards the opposite direction. They retreated to higher ground silently, away from the villain's near-deadly glare.

Despite her deepest efforts, mouse let out a small muffled sneeze, her eyes widening, before ducking towards the trunk of the tree to avoid being seen.

The rest of the team followed his lead, trying their best to stay in the cover of the thick snow-covered branches. Kakashi held his mouth with the palm of his hand, shivering slightly but not letting his head rise from the cover of the trees.

The jail escapee held no indication of hearing anything, ignoring them entirely while continuing to limp forward, giant sword in hand.

When the crackling of footsteps ceased, the young teammate let out a breath of relief, pressing his scarf to his face to his forehead to wipe beads of sweat.

Aka rose his hand once more, swiping it forward before jumping out of the cover of the trees and onto the ground. He let out a soft chuckle when he felt his boots sinking into the puree of ice. Taking large quiet steps, he placed a foot over the stone wall that reached just above his knees, before starting back towards the trees, his eyes continuously scanning the perimeter. Behind him, his team followed, kneading their feet into patches of thinner snow before climbing the tree with minimal chakra.

Aka eyed fox, watching his feet before whispering to the younger. "Were almost there, don't give up now, ok?"

His large poofy grey-haired nodded, gazing past his leader's blank mask to see deep, caring blue irises staring back at him. He felt his hair twist and turn as his hand shock through his frizzy locks.

"You're doing great."

Fox smiled behind his own mask. Minato-sensei used to do that. A sinking feeling fell through the teen's stomach, his mind immediately pushing towards what Obito told him hours ago. Was he really betraying his team?

No, of course not. They should be proud of him for moving forward at such a fast pace, his achievements outweighed every shinobi! And yet, the sinking feeling remained.

"There!" Mouse cut off his thoughts as he picked up his head to see past the trees and towards a run-down looking box. Just as the younger was about to jump down from the trees, Sloth grabbed him by the back of his jacket, one eyebrow-raising to his hairline.

"Traps." He said to the boy simply, pointing to the dozens of landmines placed among the path. Black marks scratched the area which they could immediately assume to be defused explosions, causing harm to every man who dared move even close to it.

"Captain," Sloth penetrated the area with his Bakugan. "These are chakra sensing landmines. A believe there are also trip wires hidden by genjutsu."

"Good work, Sloth."

Aka looked toward mouse, telling the other orders without a single word. The girl signed a few seals before dropping to a lower branch. A purple glow rose from the palm of her hands before shooting out in every direction. She nodded toward the captain after long moments and motioned for him to come down.

The redhead jumped a few feet from the closest landmine, signing a few seals himself before placing 2 glowing gold fingers in the air before drawing a strange circular symbol with a jumble of lines. It looked kinda like sensei's doodle but more intricate and scattered. He let his hand drop, making 2 hare seals and a lion seal before pushing the glowing seal forward and allowing it to light up the entire area. The team averted their eyes, covering them with their hands.

When the light dispersed, they heard the creak of the landmine door and watched as their leader waltzed in.

Even using a Sharingan, Fox hadn't the slightest clue what Kinuki just did. He diffused the bombs by drawing in the air like a mad man. Was joining this man's team really a good idea? They found him laying on the ground months ago after all, who's to say that his craziness isn't what led him to all his troubles now?

Little did the younger know that he wasn't far off at all.

Only then did the Hyuga release Kakashi from his grasp and motion him down to the ground. The team took careful steps, placing their foot as far away from the small death-machines as possible.

"There's some strange shit going on here." They heard Aka say as soon as they entered, watching as the man paced around the small area.

The pillbox was filled from side to side with boxes, some with ammo and rations and others some with documents, although the majority were empty. A small table and 3 fold-out chairs were pressed against one of the four walls, a small dusty carpet underneath. But to Kakashi, the most discernible feature was the smell; the smell of blood and rotting food.

The leader swatted at a fly before pressing a large foldout canvas against the small table. Unrolling it, Sloth scanned the item for bunches of chakra, red bouts quickly seeped through the ancient-looking writing.

"Can anyone actually read this?" The kunoichi asked her team, pressing her thumb against the ink only for her finger to come up covered in black slouches. "Aw Naw," she muttered to herself before rubbing it against her pants.

"It's a secret language used among the ninja of the bounder." Aka clicked his tongue." I used to know it, but it seems they switched up the majority of the characters. It's more simplified but still to hard to figure out ourselves. I think the civilians of a nearby village can help us through."

He grabbed a nearby bookbag and began stuffing documents. "Grab everything you can into their baggage, we'll find a man who can provide a translation key and head back to Konoha. Save the old man the trouble of finding new men to send back here and uncover it in the same way."

"Captain." The Hyuga lifted the carpet under the table to reveal an iron door. "There's chakra infused into this door."

"The suicide chamber? I mean we can look but can you guys stomach the possibility of dead bodies." Aka looked mainly a Kakashi, sighing when he saw nods from all three.

An explosion shook the pillbox just as the redhead moved the table to the middle of the shack, sends boxes off counters and papers flying towards the floor.

"Sloth, Mouse, go check that out. Fox cover me while I open the door?"

Without a second, the duo pushed past the door, looking at the crippled and blooded men that took the brunt of the explosion, pools of blood staining pure white snow. Behind them, the same missing-nin before, Shinigami if Mouse could remember anything from her bingo book. He was looking down eyes unmoving and unphased by the booming sound and bloody bodies.

"He's deaf, it seems." Sloth said rather loudly, testing his theory. When Shinigami showed no reaction, his theory was proven correct. No amount of noise could be heard by the villain, meaning they could have as much fun as they wanted.

It was strange that a handicap lad had such a high rank in the bingo book. But if his pain tolerance was anything to go by, he was tough.

The girl grinned. "Let's have some well-deserving fun, ok Sloth."

"Gladly."

Aka placed a rough chakra-infused hand against the lever of the hidden door, lifting it with ease. The smell of rot filled the cabin strongly, forcing the younger of the two to immediately pinch his nose. He knew what it was, no hiding it.

The redhead dropped down near the dead shinobi, his expression unchanging. It had only occurred to Kakashi then that only a shinobi who had been surrounded by death his entire life could hold such blankface near his fellow shinobi. Just who is this Kinuki Totsuka?

Aka, on the other hand, was cursing inwardly at the awful stench. If they had arrived a few days earlier, maybe these men wouldn't have had to stoop to suicide to save their honor. He quietly thanked the fox for numbing his sense of smell momentarily.

"Hey Kuruma." He called into his mindscape.

"What is it now?" The ancient beast beckoned. "Want me to numb your smell entirely?"

"No, but can you read that?" He ran his hand against the wall, rubbing the dust off the blood written symbols. Taking a lighter from his pocket, he lit up the dusty surface, furrowing his brows. "Maybe they're trying to warn us?"

"I don't recognize them, Kit."

"Damn." Aka cursed, trying to plan his next action when he heard a yelp and screech of moving tables.

He threw himself back toward the exit, pulling out his Watanabe from its holster and launching up towards noise.

With a bleeding slash on his forearm, fox held off a man twice his size, his body pressed against the small pillbox walls while twilling seals with short seals. He released steaming water from his mouth onto the man in front of him, hacking and coughing as he watched the man go down.

"Are you-" He began, cut off by another explosion happening outside. "Shit."

Explosions were heard from every side, dozens of charred men shooting up into the sky.

"Gai!" Naruto yelled within the chaos, slashing at yet another enemy. "Where are you!"

He heard a weak mumble come from the right side, his instincts pushing him toward it. He looked to the ground, in hopes that his best friends weren't the one-legged, half handed man that laid before him.

The young man's iconic bowl cut was covered in rim and blood, sticking to his head with a sickening glue. Blood poured out of his leg, cut off at the very top of his thigh and leaving just a stump.

The youthful shinobi grabbed the blond's hand with his 3 fingers, coughing up more blood onto his lips. His words brought static to the world around him, bringing more hope with them than anyone of that field could ever think possible. He spoke softly.

"Youth is a beautiful thing. When you feel it in your soul, in your heart, it projects power and love and hatred and most of all, the ability to protect everyone you love." He coughed again, his eyes slowly losing their gleam. "No one blames you for all this death, don't let that fog your ability to protect the world in any way you can."

He let his hand drop limply, "Live on, youthful one."

The older grabbed gauze from his pants pocket, tying it tightly right above the younger's wound. He felt fox wince and mumbled a small 'try not to move it too much' before walking through the small door himself.

"Captain." Mouse waved from her seat on the ground, right next to a face-down and burnt missing-nin. "This poor ol' man thought he could take me AND Sloth at the same time so we proved him wrong."

The teen withdrew a scroll from his pocket and threw it to Sloth, who caught it with ease. "Good work you two. Grab his head and lets head to safer ground, we can mend any wounds when we head to the town."

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"We have to work to avoid wounds in the future, ok Kashi-chan?" Kinuki as he untied his mask and placed it onto the motel bed before picking a thread he placed on the small table in their room. "Mouse was smart enough to bring a needle and thread so we can patch it up easy."

"Your gonna do it?" The teen asked from his side of the room, sliding his own fox mask into the accompanying bedside drawer.

"Is that a problem?" The whiskered town looked at the younger dead in the eyes. "I-I can call for Mouse or Sloth if you want."

"N-no, it's ok! I just had no idea you guys were medically trained."

Kinuki let out a small hum as he placed the thread through the needle's eye. "You have to be prepared for everything." He lectured as he came closer to the other, unwrapping the dirty gauze from his forearm and rolling up his sleeve.

He pressed a small alcoholic wipe against the cut, the younger hissing as he felt the pain rise through his entire body.

"This is gonna hurt," He warned as he rose a kunai to the younger mouth, "Bite down on this so you don't bite your tongue off, ok?"

Kakashi bit hard, preparing himself for the pain the elder insured. The mind-dulling process lasted seconds but to the new ANBU, it felt as though it lasted hours. Stitch by stitch, the pulled closing of his skin brought shivers to his body even after it was over. He let the Kunai drop to the ground as he panted into the warm room. He moaned as he felt the redhead wrap the wound in gauze before pulling his sleeve down and ruffling his hair.

"You did well today kid." He let out a foxy grin. "Let's go get us some dinner as a reward, Misajii, and Hiashi are waiting for us in the front."

The silver-headed teen grabbed his leader's outstretched hand, standing on shaky knees before exiting the small motel room.

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Hey everyone, hope you're doing well! I have nothing to say but holy shit you guys are crazy. Nearly 500 reads in a span of 7 days. 500!! I love you guys so much! I hope this slightly longer chapter shows some love and I'll make sure to update as soon as I can due to the winter break I currently have.

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