Chapter 1: Winter Wanderland
by Emstar
Hatake Kakashi was late.
No one was waiting for him. He had taken a solo mission to Snow Country, as far away from Konoha as he could possibly manage, specifically so that time wouldn't matter. He wasn't secretly dragging out the hours, waiting for the right moment to arrive to maximize someone's frustration without compromising the mission success. No, this time, he was actually, truly, late. The deadline that he had set himself had come and passed, and he still hadn't left the Village.
His winding, hours-long stroll took him from his apartment (cleared of anything sentimental, but left just as messy as always) down through half of the districts of the village. He visited the biggest bookstore in the village, and pre-ordered a storage scroll worth of novels that he would never actually get to read. He stopped at the Academy, and filed the paperwork for a week-long instructional series that would take place months after he was long gone. He visited all twenty-three of his favorite restaurants, storing an ample amount of food for a mission to the frozen ass-end of nowhere— he would have to make it last. He walked through Gai’s favorite training grounds: all of them.
He found himself on top of the Hokage monument for the latter half of the night, smelling the smoke from the hearths and stoves and forges of countless buildings below.
The Leaf would be the greatest place in the world if it weren’t for the secret cabal of traitors trying to assassinate him.
Kakashi knew he had to leave for the good of Konoha. He had to grow stronger, smarter, wiser. He had to piece together the hints that had been left behind -- the plant creatures, the Demon Fox, the masked man, Minato's last technique. He had to find a way to root out the evil within Leaf that grew undetected, and do it all without putting any more people in danger. No, he couldn’t risk it all being for nothing...
He uncovered his right eye and stared at the quiet movement of tiny specks below, attempting to burn the image into his mind forever with his borrowed Sharingan.
It didn’t work like that, but he tried anyway. Eventually though, he had to walk down from the village’s iconic landmark and start walking away. Start leaving.
He had long since come to terms with the facts, of course, but he still felt his heart tearing apart in his chest with every step he took towards the Leaf's Great Northern Gate. He would step out of those gates in thirty-five, now thirty-four steps, and he would never return.
The gate was staffed by some green-eared genin — the village was that pressed for manpower. Kakashi hesitated for a moment at the threshold, a minuscule balance in his step that none but a jounin could have noticed.
He took his last step as a ninja of Leaf, and his first as a missing-nin.
Hatake Kakashi would keep Konoha waiting for a long, long time after this mission. But no matter how late Kakashi was, he always arrived in the end. One day, he would find his way back to his home.
----------------------------------------
“Hey, are you alright in there? You haven’t left the room since we boarded in Iron, sir.”
Second mate Shinohara Shiro knocked on the door again. He heard some movement behind the door, a frustrated muffled yell, and a sound that sounded like a mountain of falling papers and luggage crashing about.
“I’m fine, just a minute,” a voice said. “Just busy with work.”
Shiro paused. It wasn’t unusual for some of the higher class passengers to keep to themselves for long periods of time, but four days was excessive. That was half the entire journey. Still, rich merchants were eccentric at the best of times, and this fellow was from Wind country. Maybe he just wasn’t dealing well with the cold?
“The captain sent me to check up on you. If you could open the door, please.”
The door creaked open at the third round of impatient knocking. Shiro blinked as the glare from the candlelight...
He rubbed his eyes. He was tired and his eyes were sore, it happens from time to time when you have the midnight shift.
The passenger, Mr. Tominaga Toru, stood next to a mountain of loose paperwork propped up on his trunk. He was bundled up in what looked to be half of all the clothes he owned. The man was shivering like a bilge rat in the ice box.
“Sorry, sorry,” Mr. Tominaga said. He gestured to the pile of papers with ink-stained hands. “I just need to get all of these ledgers sorted before arriving in Snow country. Big opportunity for my business, can’t be slacking off. Hmm.”
The bundle of clothes in the shape of a man stroked the bit of scarf where his chin would be, before diving into a pouch and producing a jingling handful of coins. He unceremoniously thrust the sum into Shiro’s hands.
“Would you mind grabbing me a few meals worth of bread and something nice to drink? Maybe some dry rations or something smoked if the kitchen has any. Set it down outside the door, and I’ll pick it up when I’m done for the night.”
Shiro gaped at the sum of money. It was more than he’d earn on this whole journey. He tucked it into his trousers hastily.
Tominaga waved absentmindedly, already sitting back down and peering over an inscrutable pile of accounting work and maps.
“Let me know if that doesn’t cover it. Oh, close the door on the way out? Thank you.”
Shiro almost skipped down the hall on the way to the galley.
----------------------------------------
Kakashi sipped a bottle of wine and reread his favorite part of Icha Icha: Star Crossed Lovers.
Tominaga wasn’t his favorite disguise, but it certainly was the easiest one to pull off with the right demeanor and by flashing some ryō around. It worked wonders in cold climates too. The sailor hadn’t noticed the Shadow Clone that he had ready to kill any potential assassins coming through the door. Note to self: train that technique so he could keep it up longer in situations like this, would certainly come in handy.
Kakashi turned the page and silently giggled.
Oh, Yūta, you tricky devil, you.
----------------------------------------
The gambling den was a high class establishment, but it was far from the fanciest establishment Kakashi had ever been in. It was located in the largest room in the basement of the only noteworthy hotel in the port city of Kushiro. The floors of the room were a polished blue wood (some sort of local pine, if he had to guess) and they were dotted with all manner of rugs and animal furs, the largest of which was the pelt of a great horned chakra rhinoceros that spanned the empty space in the room’s center.
“Are you betting, sir?”
Kakashi turned to the well-dressed gangster running the table, and gave him the eager nod of a rich man willing to part with his wealth for no good reason at all. It was a funny question, since he was the only person at the table. Besides the staff, and the man with the bloodshot eyes nursing a hangover at the dice table plus his three lady companions, he was the only person in the place. The winter solstice was a big deal in the Land of Snow, and everyone would be passing right through the port instead of stopping to smell the roses. They probably made most of their money off of merchants passing through, or rich and important travelers stopping here for a quick vacation while on the way to a warmer piece of hell to stay.
Kakashi eyed the rhinoceros pelt, signature twin horns still attached to its forehead. Such things weren’t cheap, so that meant that this gambling hall did fairly well for itself, and had enough connections to outsource dangerous hunting missions for mere decorations.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Which meant that he was in the right place, and hadn’t spent all morning losing money for nothing.
“I’ll put fifty thousand on 9.”
The man paused, before turning the roulette wheel and flicking his wrist. A smooth metal ball shot out of his hand and began spinning around the perimeter. “Mr. Tominaga” watched on. He would change into proper ninja attire after arriving at the capital and assessing the situation. Until then, it still had many uses if he wanted to find out some information.
The ball clicked and clattered to a stop on a 27. The pit boss leaned to peer at the table from over Kakashi’s shoulder, and frowned at the result. The younger one in charge of running the roulette table itself turned to face the disguised shinobi.
“I’m sorry Mr. Tominaga, that’s another loss for you.” he said politely.
Kakashi gave an exaggerated cough that morphed into a nervous laughter.
“Yes, yes,” Kakashi said, “Quite the run of bad luck. Still, here’s what I owe.”
Kakashi pushed a bag of gold across the table, which the young gangster began counting patiently. A hand clamped onto his shoulder, and Kakashi would’ve had to clamp down on the instinct to break it in half if he hadn’t already seen it coming.
“Sir, you have spent a significant amount of time at our lovely establishment today,” the bald pit boss drawled. “You seem to have hit a serious streak of misfortune this afternoon as well. Please, join us in the back for sake and refreshments. It is the least we can do to balance out your luck today.”
Kakashi nodded and was quickly led to the back of the gambling den. It was a common tactic used to manage rich or well-connected patrons who seemed to be losing a bit more money than they should be. It wouldn’t be good for some rich daimyo’s jilted son to feel cheated and spread accusations along the rumor mill. Bad business. Far better to invite him to the back and hand half of what he’s gambled away back to him, while raising a few cups of sake in the name of friendship and luckier days.
The small back room was filled with a simple desk and two fancy cushioned chairs. The chair opposite him had a black haired man with a medium build in an absurdly gaudy purple coat. The shelves along the walls were dotted with expensive bottles of liquor, and a fireplace crackled steadily behind the desk.
“Ah, Mr. Tominaga. I’m Tanaka Shinji, the overseer of my organization's operations in this city. Please, take a seat.”
Tanaka extended his hand, and Kakashi shook it. “It’s come to my attention that you’ve lost a… considerable sum of money at our establishment today. Unfortunate. Perhaps there is something we could do about that? We wouldn’t want you to feel cheated, after all.” The yakuza lieutenant leaned forward with a wry grin, and lowered his voice to a downright conspiratorial whisper. ‘’Between you and me, I might even be able to refund you a large portion of your losses…”
“Ah, I couldn’t possibly accept that.” Kakashi raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
“Oh?” Tanaka’s eyebrows raised a bit. “Forgive me for being forward, but why not?”
Because I’m bribing you to get an introduction to your boss, so that I can exploit your entire organization without having to deal with two bit-thugs all afternoon.
“You see, I’m headed to the capital city, Shibetsu, later today.” Kakashi said. “I have some business there at Daimyo Kazahana’s solstice celebrations. I deal in bulk quantities of certain exotic spices as well as… well, let’s call them ‘spices’ too, if you catch my meaning. I would appreciate a letter of introduction to certain officials in your organization there that could discuss some propositions with me.”
Tanaka’s expression shifted into a thin smile.
“Such things do not come cheaply, I am afraid, Mr. Tominaga.”
Kakashi lifted an index finger.
“Ah, but I have been paying you all afternoon for the privilege of asking!”
Tanaka snorted. Kakashi slowly and clumsily dug out another satchel of money from underneath his coat and Wind country garb. One thing about this disguise that he liked was the thick wool cloak; it concealed things really well. Warm too.
He placed the money down on the table with a thunk.
“Five hundred thousand more. For your trouble.”
Kakashi inherited enough from his father to buy half of the port city they were standing in, and the average jounin salaries could be called moderately extravagant. The money didn’t matter, but the contacts it might buy him could be priceless. Especially once he officially went on the run.
A couple more minutes of pretending to be some socialite merchant, a few cups of strong liquor and toasts to friendship, and Kakashi left the place with a letter of introduction to Goda Jin, Oyabun of the Chivalrous Organization of the Land of Snow.
----------------------------------------
They arrived at their destination early in the morning.
The snow leopard sled stopped at an animal pen not far from Shibetsu’s gates. Kakashi paid the handler and threw a few buckets of honeyed pork shanks at the four felines. Apparently, you had to feed them heavily after embarking and disembarking, otherwise they would stalk you through the tundra for dozens of miles and rip your throat out in your sleep after you passed out from exhaustion.
He wasn’t worried too much about that, but fighting a bunch of cats would be a complete waste of a morning. He would miss out on so much reading, and his disguise would be ruined.
Shibetsu was built into the side of a mountain range, adjacent to a river and a small lake that were both currently frozen. Castle Kazahana towered over the city from the closest mountain peak, its towers and walls highlighted by the ethereal glow of an aurora painting the sky.
Kakashi paid the requisite fees at the city gates before touring the city. They were three days away from the winter solstice, and every district was bustling with people preparing for the holiday. He found a high-class inn to rent a room in, and after thoroughly casing the place unsealed his orders from the tiny green mission scroll he had been carrying in his breast pocket. A formal piece of paper came out, as well as a second note that was written on a napkin dusted with crumbs.
Kakashi,
You are to report to the daimyo, Sōsetsu Kazahana, upon arrival in Shibetsu on the 20th. You will be guarding him and his family for the duration of the winter solstice celebrations. The daimyo suspects some group or another will attempt hostile action towards his family around the solstice. He has bought the right to extend your stay there for up to six weeks should he deem it necessary. This was extremely costly, but you have the authority to deny him this option should you deem it sufficiently superfluous.
Standard protocols otherwise.
The Third Hokage
Sarutobi Hiruzen
He threw the orders into the fireplace and watched as they turned to ash, before turning his attention to the napkin.
P.S. You might have noticed that you have arrived two days ahead of schedule. Joke’s on you boy. Enjoy the sights, and don’t hesitate to abuse the rich noble’s paranoia for a small vacation. The mammoth steaks up in that country are excellent.
-Hiruzen
Excellent. Pretty thoughtful of his great-grand sensei as well. He could probably leverage this somehow, and the Leaf village wouldn’t figure it out for months—
Wait.
...
...he was early!?