Peeking through the shapes of the mountains, the sun gleamed its marvelous light. The air remained cold as winter lingered along the massive terrain of the Land of Fire. It was hard to get up from one's slumber because the weight of the cold hung on the eyelids of human beings and animals alike. Despite the cold, hardworking individuals managed to fight the temptation of staying under their covers and began to prepare for the work of the day.

Unlike these individuals, ninjas donning black with animal masks leap from one building on to another. They were as swift as shadows and as invisible as the wind. Left unnoticed, the ninjas soon reached the Hokage's office where Jiraiya sat on his chair awaiting their arrival.

Though early, the man was wide awake and alert. It's been nearly two months since the leave of the samurai. He regretted not sending shinobi to watch her from the distance. But the blizzard was aggressive and may only hinder the investigation. He's been eagerly waiting for the report of the Anbu, the covert operatives of Konoha. Jiraiya prepared plans while he waited for the report of the four-man squad he had sent. He even had his selected teams wait on stand by. His curiosity and sense of wariness disturbed his line of operation. Imagining what Yoshie might have gone through was more than enough to convince him that something was going on.

Even Orochimaru agreed with the Hokage. And he wasn't the only one either. For the past so many days Naruto kept visiting the white-haired shinobi to consult about the samurai. Just like whoever took the samurai easily, the thought of the stone-turned heart occupied their minds.

Standing in a straight formation, the Anbu kneeled in respect of their Hokage after greeting him good morning. They waited for Jiraiya's instructions, but while waiting they remained silent. The Hokage sensed a grim report.

"Your report?" he finally asked.

Without hesitation, the man at the front stands up and hands the Hokage a scroll. Jiraiya instantly reads the report, and his eyes widened from shock. They narrow afterwards as beads of sweat roll down his forehead. He couldn't believe what he had read. Orochimaru felt anxious seeing his friend's reaction.

"So you managed to travel to the Land of the Rising Sun?" Orochimaru asks as Jiraiya pondered.

The squad leader nods.

"It was troubling because no one knew such a land existed. But we managed to associate ourselves with a village far south from here. They were the only ones who seemed aware of such a country. We investigated a little and we learned that a samurai recently set port there," he explained.

Jiraiya gulps.

"Could you tell me what you've seen. I can't imagine from reading the report. Every detail possible."

Immediately the squad leader began explaining what he had seen. At first, the villages seemed relatively alright. The people were living their normal lives with no apparent awareness of what the samurai had told them. But as they traveled southward towards the east, they saw villages that were completely eradicated. They had become a massive graveyard that stenched of death and rotting flesh. The villages that were close by were terrified of what had happened. When asked about the cause, they simply shook their heads and said that speaking of it was bad omen.

The Anbu continued their investigation further down, and the number of annihilated villages increased. Some villages were completely burned down and were turned into a mountain of ash. There was no sign of life. Not even animals dared to live in the barren villages. The ninjas were left dispirited at the slow progress of their mission.

But soon enough, an elderly woman who lived alone in a forest close to a village told them her superstition. She explained that the burned down villages were cursed by a great evil that wanders around restlessly. She claims to have seen it, a samurai donning an armor of ebony. He rides on a stallion as black as his armor, and its fierce some breath is like that of a dragon. It is as hungry and bloodthirsty as its rider. The samurai also carries a black katana which he uses to cut down the living. And his face was of a demon's.

When the woman continued on to explain, she began to tremble from fright. She explained to the Anbu that the samurai's face red and full of rage. He was dubbed as the 'the black reaper' or the 'ghost samurai' as he had already demonstrated immortality and ruthlessness. He doesn't appear frequently, but when he does appear everyone in the village he visits is at his mercy. Other samurai have tried to hunt him down, but they leave without a trace. It is probably that their lives were taken from them.

The Anbu explains that there was no evident sign of the strange stone that Yoshie had shared with the Hokage. They didn't bother digging up the graves either because it would disrespect the dead. But when they reached the central village of the east, they decided to dig up some bodies for the sake of their mission. And hat they found dumbfounded them all: the corpses were all stone if not part flesh. The village the Anbu were in was called Taiyogakure.

"Like the rest of the villages, no one was left alive."

* * * * * * * *

"Are you seriously commencing a mission now?" Orochimaru asks Jiraiya when the Anbu left.

Jiraiya nods his head as he folds his arms across his chest.

"If they had seen many villages turned into graveyards, we should take action," said Jiraiya. "In the report it's said that the shogunate is merely treating it as a supernatural phenomenon so they're using their priests and priestesses to deal with the matter. But because of the sporadic visits of that samurai, they are unable to get any leads. Also, they're regarded as simply an epidemic."

As soon as the Anbu had left, the Hokage had his reserved teams called by 8 o'clock that morning. It was still much too early to suddenly call the selected nin, not to mention that the sun had just risen up. For this journey, there was much preparation needed.

But what confused Jiraiya was the black samurai the Anbu had reported. Yoshie had left that part out, and didn't even explain that it began in the eastern side of the country. The information she gave them was too little and too vague. Compared to what the Anbu had told them, Yoshie's explanation only sounded like a rumor. It was no wonder Sasuke waved her off. But even then, Yoshie seemed restrained and failed to say anything more. Putting that aside, Jiraiya finally had information to base  their mission from.

"Hokage-sama, is it safe to send a team to the Land of the Rising Sun?" Orochimaru asks. "We have no map whatsoever, thus traveling there would be like a walk in the desert. We may have sent Anbu but they took two months back and forth."

"That's the Anbu for you."

"What happened was pure coincidence," Orochimaru insisted. "Sending a team is ridiculous and might as well be regarded as a suicide mission."

"This is why we need Yoshie. She would be their guide to speed things up, that is if she's more than meets the eye. Besides, wouldn't be interesting to see how things develop with her and Obito? I hear he's taken liking to her," replied Jiraiya as he pulled out his pipe. He lights it with his match and puffs out smoke, then he turns to Orochimaru with a grin on his face. It perplexed the other man.

"Don't tell me you're trying to pair the two together," scoffed Orochimaru. "You and your fantasies."

Jiraiya guffaws in laughter, slapping his friend hard by the back. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as Orochimaru slaps his hand away. He felt disgusted to be treated in such a rough and uncivilized manner. He hated it when Jiraiya just acts without regard of his position. Did people really pick the right choice of a Hokage?

"It wouldn't hurt to imagine good stuff. Might be useful to my upcoming book for the series." Jiraiya clears his throat. "Well, don't take it seriously. There are things we should prioritize right now."

Orochimaru shakes his head from disbelief.

Within the village, Naruto snores loudly in his bed, sleeping away into his wildest dreams. He was barely under his bed covers: his leg stuck out of the bed, his body position situated comfortably, and he could just slip out at any time. But his face was expressive from the mirages of his dreams, and he was completely unaware of the time. Dressed in his undergarments, the boy could have continued his slumber if only his sleep wasn't interrupted by the loud and eager knocking by the door.

At first the boy didn't pay attention to it; he was too indulged with his slumber. Groaning loudly, he turns about and embraces his pillow. He snuggles his face into it and continued on with his dream. But as he continued to ignore the banging sound of his door, he jolted up when he hears a loud crash. Naruto leaps out of his bed with a kunai in hand, and the boy rushes to the front door to confront his attacker.

But he soon realizes that it was no one other than Sakura herself, standing by a broken door. The girl chuckles as Naruto struggles to process what had just happened before screaming his misfortune.

"O-Ohayo, Naruto," said Sakura, suddenly reverting to her fierce, angry mode. She cracks her knuckles and angrily walks towards her friend. "Do you realize how many times I knocked on the door?! I swear, Naruto, you're always like this when we're about to embark on a mission!"

"Mission? I'm not assigned to any mission!" cried Naruto who was now fully awake.

The pink-haired kunoichi moans loudly.

"Of course, you wouldn't know!" she yelled angrily. "The summons is placed at the front door and you're still busy sleeping! Jiraiya-sama has assigned us on a mission to track down Masashi-san and return to the Land of the Rising Sun with her!"

Without another thought, the boy hurries back to his room to change into his shinobi outfit. He felt intrigued to finally solve the samurai's case after so long. After the incident at the festival months before, how could he rest peacefully without thinking about the troubled woman? He couldn't forget the hurt look in her eyes when Sasuke brushed her off. The memory troubled him even more since Ino and Sakura told him that Yoshie left without a whisper of goodbye.

He could see it: her good heart. She may be stoic, but Naruto was sure that the samurai was a woman with a pure and kind heart. She was merely showing her strength through her stoic expressions.

At least Naruto hoped that was the case.

Together with Sakura, Naruto travels to the Hokage Residence where Jiraiya awaits them for instructions. He made sure he was fully equipped with all his necessities. The Hokage would give them time to prepare after the briefing, of course, but Naruto felt like he might not want to go back to his apartment. So, he made sure he already wore the right outfit that was suited for the cold weather.

In no time, the two found themselves rushing to the office, and realized that they were the last ones to arrive. They saw their sensei, Kakashi, and Sasuke in the room. Team Kurenai was there as well, consisting of Kiba, Shino, and Hinata, but their teacher could not be with them; and finally, there was Team Obito, which consisted of Obito, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru. Those were their old team names from their younger years but they would do. They were all as eager as Naruto now that they know they would be traveling into a different country.

But more importantly, the teams were eager to engage with the issue at hand.

"Well, finally, all the teams are assembled," coughed Jiraiya, eying Naruto. "Okay, I know it's strange to assemble three teams at once, but traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun takes too long, not to mention this terrible weather."

"So you've found some information we could work on?" Kakashi asks.

The Hokage nods.

"The shinobi I've sent returned this morning and what they find leaves me baffled," Jiraiya replied. "I think the problem is serious."

"So people turned into stone?!" cried Sakura, gripping her hands together. "Then what Masashi-san said was true?"

Her remark perplexed the newcomers, consisting of Hinata, Shino and Choji. They asked the other with them to fill them in, and their friends only explained what they had learned from months before. They quickly explained what they knew. The two managed to understand what they were told, but it perplexed them. Once they were filled about what had happened, Jiraiya took his turn to explain to them what they had found out. 

The revelation of the country's mysterious epidemic stunned the young shinobi and their captains. Their eyes trembled at the sound of details, and wide from shock. They couldn't believe their ears though they were sure they heard things right. Indeed, they weren't hearing things. Something horrible was happening in another country.

"From what we got from the info, down the east is a massive village which the villagers nearby there claimed to have been the start of the phenomena," said Jiraiya as he crosses his arms across his chest. "I want you to go there and see what is really going on and think of a strategy to fix it if possible. And don't hesitate to ask for back up if necessary."

"Is Gai and his students the team on standby?" Obito asks.

"But their team specializes in close-quarters," Gai points out. "Wouldn't it be better if they already join us?"

Jiraiya nods.

"Indeed, they are on standby. So until you send us a report of the situation or request for back up, they won't be going to any mission. They may specialize in close combat, but we can't have everyone run to some country we don't know," Jiraiya calmly explains. 

"U-Um, why is Kurenai-sensei not here?" Hinata asks.

"She has a mission of her own, dear," Orochimaru answered for Jiraiya. "Captain Yamato will be her stand in."

"C-Captain Yamato?" stammered a shocked Naruto. "*Sugoi!"

Sighing, the Hokage places his hands together and pondered quietly for a moment.

"Yes, I did," replied Jiraiya. "I figured that it would be too much of a waste to let a kunoichi of her calibre retire right after the war. And now that we have this issue to deal with, I have to say that it was a good thing I didn't accept her letter of resignation. If you think carefully about this, whatever happened at the Land of the Rising Sun involves us as well. If whatever happened there crosses the sea to here, the Land of Fire, then we would all be in danger. So we have to deal with it now before it gets anymore serious."

With that no one bothered to ask anymore questions regarding the matter. It seems that they were all able to assess their current situation. With determined looks on their faces, the ninjas awaited for the Hokage's final instructions which made Jiraiya smile gleefully.

"Alright! So, you shall leave the village asap and find the samurai and head to the Land of the Rising Sun!"

"*Hai!" everyone declares and disappears to prepare.

* * * * * * * *

It was still snowing as they were traveling. The white color of snow covered everything as far as the eye can see. The land has become a land of snow and cold with the cold breeze from the mountain hummed. Though the sky was dark and gray, fortunately the snowfall had slowed down to a minimum so the ninjas would be able to travel with ease in the snow. The twelve shinobi were already hours away from the village. It was already out of sight, thanks to the blizzard.

The day was just beginning, but the ninjas were already beginning to feel the pain of hunger. It made the forests seem bigger and wider than they actually seemed. Leaping from one branch to another, the warriors from Konohagakure ventured far into the land southwards. 

Earlier on, Orochimaru gave them a map of world they knew. It included all the islands any Leaf member has visited, only that it didn't have the map of the Land of the Rising Sun on it. "If they happen to have a map of the country, see if you can obtain a copy," Orochimaru told the team. "It would be an essential addition to the maps we have now. Traveling to an unknown place is like expanding the world we know. Don't you agree?" 

No one could have agreed more to what he said. Who would have known that a country like the samurai claimed existed? And why didn't they know anything about it at all. What was more surprising was the fact that the Anbu managed to find it. It was indeed a strange world.

Sakura and Ino were eager to see Yoshie again. After reading the poem she left, it left the two devastated. The samurai didn't seem much older than them compared to Kakashi, in fact, she looked pretty youthful. Both wondered why the woman wrote such a depressing poem, and why she left it at the inn. Did she anticipate their arrival? If she did, how can she be so sure? The woman was as mysterious as the moon in a starry night. But she seemed to emit the vibe of a battle veteran.

"Hey, Hinata," said Ino as she leaped alongside the black-haired kunoichi. "What if Masashi-san has a long lost lover?!"

She said this with sparkling, imaginative eyes. 

Hinata's eyes widened at the thought.

"That's amazing, Ino!" cried Sakura. "Maybe she's looking for him, and maybe he's caught up in it so that's why she's holding back information about it?!"

"*A-Ano," Hinata stammered. "I-If we're talking about Masashi-san. . maybe her lover caught up on something like. . maybe he tried to rescue her. . *eto. . but he failed? So now she's trying to rescue him. . ?"

The two other girls instantly gawked in awe.

"Yes, yes! That is a possibility!" cried Ino, giggling.

"Amazing, Hinata!" Sakura's eyes sparkled, making her friend blush from embarrassment.

"You know, I wonder if Masashi-san has a family who's waiting for her back at her village," said Sakura. "It would be cool wouldn't it? She left on a long journey and left them behind to save her village. She should be honored."

"I'm sure she would be," said Ino.

Even Hinata agrees. "Yes!"

The boys close by couldn't believe they were hearing the fantasies of their friends. Though they were war veterans, they were still women with light hearts. It makes them look pure despite having the physiques of warriors. The three team captains didn't stop the girls from their hunches. They felt that there was no problem with it; they barely knew the samurai after all. Although Obito couldn't help but feel a little anxious as he listened to the girls. Kakashi sensed his discomfort, and it puzzled Kakashi.

The other boys wondered why the girls, especially Ino and Sakura, felt a strong connection to the samurai. They barely spent time together. Was it because the girls finally found someone they could help who happened to be a warrior? Or merely because the samurai was a woman? Whatever the reason, the girls continued sharing their own strange fantasies until one of the boys couldn't take it anymore.

"I believe it's about time you stop," scolded Shikamaru, sighing loudly. "No matter what happened to that samurai, it's stupid to giggle about some tragedy she went through. For all we know, she might just be a samurai doing their duty as a warrior."

This possibility silenced the girls.

Shikamaru was right and the other shinobis agreed with him.

"Neh, Captain Yamato," says Naruto a moment later. "What do you think about all this?"

The discreet Captain was a man with short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes. Like the other captains with him, Captain Yamato wore a variation of the standard attire of a Konoha-nin, with a flak jacket. 

The differences between his attire and that of the standard one is that his does not have the crest on the shoulders of the sleeves, and the neck of his navy-blue shirt is form fitting and goes up to his chin. He also still retains two hip pouches strapped to his lower back instead of just one. In addition to that, he has a happuri-style head protector that frames his face. But like the rest of the team, he wore a winter cloak to protect himself from the cold. 

"Hmm, don't you think you're overthinking about this?" the man asked. "It's not like you know the samurai that well."

His remark made Naruto silent, leaving him to ponder about his thoughts and actions. His pensive demeanor was quick to catch Hinata's eye, and the girl just so happened to be right behind him along with the other girls. She sensed his sincere feelings of concern.

Naruto glances at the captain and replied, "After hanging out with her in the village, it seemed like she was estranged to the companionship of friends and loved ones. Well, of course, she wouldn't open up that quickly, but I haven't seen anyone with sad eyes like hers. I want to help her!"

His answer left Yamato unsurprised; it wasn't the first time Naruto was acting like this either.

The shinobis of Leaf continued on their travels. They ran through vast forests under the branches of massive trees. They ran through the valleys that carved deep into the land. They dashed past frozen lakes and rivers as the sun gleamed on crystals. 

By the time the sun began to disappear by the horizon, the twelve soon reached a village at the bottom of a snowy mountain. They could hear the wind howling like a hungry wolf in the wilderness. Though snowy and cold, the villagers continued conducting their businesses normally. Businessmen sold and bought to earn for their livelihood, the farmers bought food for their families, and the young children played in the snow. It was quite a lively village.

"I believe we should find shelter and rest for the night," said Obito as they walked through the village entrance. He pats Kakashi on the back and grins. "I'll go get us a place to stay, so why don't you guys find food?"

Kakashi nods in approval.

"Sounds like a plan," he replied.

"A good one you mean!" Obito adds.

"How about we visit a restaurant, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaims gleefully. "I'm starving!"

"Me, too," Choji adds. Shino, Kiba, and the girls all said the same thing to their captains, leaving only Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji professionally silent.

Obito merely grins at his friend while Yamato only shrugged to leave the decision making to the gray-haired shinobi. Backed against the wall, Kakashi sighs knowing that he didn't have much of a choice.

"How about you three?" He asks, turning to the other shinobis. "Restaurant for dinner?"

"It's all on you then," replied Shikamaru, grinning victoriously. "Kakashi-sensei."

* * * * * * * *

Finding a restaurant to fill their empty stomachs didn't take long; Kiba and his best friend Akamaru, a massive dog, showed their friends the way to the most attractive smelling food in the village. Everyone was excited, while Kakashi said his prayers. It was a simple restaurant, but the smell was the most tempting. The others could smell it as well. Instantly the young shinobi fancied themselves a couple of seats before the captains could react. And before they knew it, they were enjoying themselves a meal. A meal to warm one's soul for the bitter cold of winter.

Their laughter was the warmth of the night. Though warriors, they didn't bear the hostility of murderers or thieves like the men who walked into the restaurant. The waiters instantly cowered in their midst, and the other customers lost sight of merrymaking. Five men, donned in winter cloaks, takes their seat close to where the shinobi were seated at. They glared at the poor waitress who courageously approached them.

"U-Um, may I take your orders, sirs?" the young woman asks, trying not to tremble.

"Tch, just the usual woman," snapped one of the man.

The Konoha nin didn't like what they were seeing before their eyes: bullying the waitress, rattling the other customers, and basically causing terror amongst the people in the restaurant. However, they looked like they've been through a little bit of a beating. One of them seemed to have broken their arm, one had a nastily bruised face, and one seemed to have lost a leg.

Apparently they seemed frustrated—frustrated at the fact that some people could sit back relaxed at their presence.

"Shit," growled the apparent leader. He slams hand against the table, making it shudder under the weight of his strength. "I can't stand this humiliation!"

Even his companions were terrified of him.

"B-Boss! Please calm down!" One of the men cried as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

"Shut up!" His companions quickly shut their mouths at his command.

The waitress who took their order earlier on soon brought them their meal. She made a quick turn around to leave their side, but she attracted the attention of Kakashi who grabbed her arm and pulled her close to the table he sat by with his teammates.

"W-What is it?" she nervously asks.

"Who are those men?" Kakashi asks. The other captains with him stared at the woman eagerly. It made the waitress even more afraid, but she managed to gulp down her fears.

"U-Uh, they're just some petty gangsters here in the village," she replied. "I don't think mentioning their name is worthwhile since they were humiliated in of the entire village by a samurai."

Instantly the Leaf shinobi gasped and gaped at the waitress with wide eyes. They couldn't believe their luck. Patiently, they waited to hear the story from the woman.

"How did it happen? How did the samurai look like??" Obito quickly asks.

The woman pulls back a little.

"Well, last they were picking on a man in the market. I was there you see. No one was brave enough to stand up to him, but that samurai. She came out of nowhere, and challenged them to a duel. They tried laughing it off because they found out that she was a woman. But she didn't seem to be scared at all. Before I knew it, they were on the ground with bad wounds. She didn't kill any of them, but as you can see, one will have the permanent damage," she explained before turning to leave.

But before she could even turn her heel, another hand grabs her wrist again.

"You didn't say how the samurai looked like," said Naruto.

The waitress looked skeptical.

"But. ."

"*Onegaishimasu!" begged the boy.

"Fine, I'll tell you." The woman sighed. "She was a tall woman with silky black hair that reached below her knees. She was pale like the moonlight and her eyes were like fire. And though I hate to admit it, she was pretty attractive as well."

The ninjas glanced at each other at he sound of these words.

"Did she say what her name was?" Naruto asks again.

Shaking her head, the woman couldn't say anything more and left. She may have left nothing with them, but her words left the shinobis baffled. Although the news of the samurai's recent visitation did relieve the shinobis to get a lead to the samurai. However, hearing that Yoshie passed by the village a more than a month before was rather discouraging.

The ninjas of Konohagakure would have to wait until the first sign of light.

Meanwhile, under the stars of the night sky, the samurai whom Konoha seeks warms herself by the fire in a cave by the side of a mountain. Her mighty black stallions stays with her, whinnying at her to his heart's content. The creature was fond of its rider, and it did all sorts of ways to show its affection. It rubbed its muzzle against her head, making the samurai smile fondly at it. Chuckling, Yoshie returns its affection with a pat on the muzzle and a rub on its forehead.

But afterwards, she gets up and walks away from the fire and to the very mouth of the cave. Yoshie gazes out towards the sky, her fiery eyes out towards the twinkling stars. Under the same night sky, some shinobi of Konoha gazed at the stars who turned out to be Obito, Sakura, Ino, Naruto, and surprisingly Kakashi.

Pulling out a cold leaf from her pocket, Yoshie blows and a song from her heart plays. Its melody captured her heart's sentiments, and it was a beautiful sound to hear. Even her horse kept silent and listened to its master. As dark as the night was the color of the samurai's long locks, and her eyes bright like the flames of fire. She felt her heart on fire, eager for the arrival of the sun's light. As each day passes, the samurai felt the discomfort of danger and death right behind her. But her journey was still far from finished.

~~~

Number of words: 5081

*sugoi (スゴイ) means "amazing" in Japanese.

*hai (はい) means "yes" in Japanese.

*ano (あの) means "um" in Japanese. When you say "ano" it's used if you know what you want to say but you don't want to be so direct about it. 

*eto (ええと) also means "um" in Japanese. When you use "eto" (ええと)  it's usually used to buy you time when you're thinking of what to say next.

*neh or ne (ねえ) means "hey" in Japanese.

*onegaishimashu (お願いします) means "please" in Japanese, the polite way. Onegai (お願い) is the more casual term.

This chapter is dedicated to Leti-Fart who enjoyed the book a lot that it distracted her from her studies. I hope that this chapter could make up for it, haha! ;D

Guys, thank you all so much for reading this. It really means a lot to me, and I hope to read your thoughts on this chapter and perhaps the overall story. Remember best comment gets chapter dedication, and I aim to dedicate every chapter to a reader ;)

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