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Lost on the Road of Life (An AU Naruto Quest)

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Interlude: The Day a New Demon was Born
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    • Interlude: The Day a New Demon was Born​



    Shinomori Soichiro, shinobi of the legendary Seven Swordsmen and master of the Kubikiribōchō, gulped down another mouthful of sake as he walked through the evening mists. The Village Hidden in the Mist was aptly named, the land surrounding the village was often shrouded with a dense, cloying fog. Foreigners and small children of the village often found the mists difficult to navigate, but traversing them was second nature to Soichiro. His mighty blade was a comfortable weight strapped to his equally titanic back, and it swung gently behind him with each step.

    He stopped where he'd always stopped the last couple nights. Same training ground. Same tree to lean against.

    There was a youth training there. A chūnin, maybe fourteen or fifteen, but massive for his age. He had to be to swing around the massive greatsword that he was using, even with chakra enhanced strength. The kid moved through a series of training forms, a few dozen, with a slow, methodical precision, counting out every single step with a gravelly grunt. Sweat was pouring off his body, just like it had been the previous nights.

    Kid knew he was there. Didn't seem to give a fuck. Ignored him. Soichiro knew he knew, but then he didn't give much of a fuck about that shit either, so it evened out.

    "One. Two. Three."

    Fucked up your footing slightly on the third count, Soichiro thought.

    The younger swordsman stopped, frowning for a second before repeating the motion. This time his right foot came back an inch farther as he brought the sword up in a sweeping block.

    Hmm.

    "Hey, kid," Soichiro called out.

    The younger swordsman continued on through his current set of motions, and turned to his senior when he was done. Not a second before.

    "Sir?" the kid barked out.

    Kid's voice was hoarse, sounding like he swallowed a jug full of broken glass or something. Smoke inhalation from a Fire jutsu maybe. Or not. Soichiro had learned many times over the years that the shinobi world was filled with endless surprises. Could just be the kid sounded like a sawmill.

    Soichiro took another swig of sake before answering.

    "You think that inch is gonna matter?" Soichiro asked. "I see you practicing here the last couple nights til you look about ready to drop dead. Bad for your mission work if you fall asleep on the job. There's a war brewing too, so there ain't no time to be fucking around."

    "Eh," The kid shrugged, looking uncomfortable and a bit guilty for a second. The guilt vanished as quickly as it came. "I can rest when I'm dead. 'Sides, it does matter. That inch is going to stop some cunt from slicing through my arm or knocking my ass to the ground if I try that block."

    The kid went back to his forms.

    "Heh. Good answer," Soichiro said, "Here, stop fucking around with those for a fucking minute."

    Soichiroi unsealed the training sword from a storage seal he kept sewn onto his pants, right above his thigh. It was slightly smaller, and of lesser quality than he was used to. It wasn't his sword, not the same, not at all, but it would do. He gestured impatiently for the kid to square up on the opposite side of the training field from him. The kid complied, his eyes getting curious. Soichiro hefted his bulky training sword into a ready stance with a single arm. It only wobbled slightly.

    Shit, I need to hit the training ground more. I'm getting soft.

    "Get in a sparring stance, you low ranking little shit. What the fuck is your name, anyway?"

    The youth shot forward and Soichiro blocked a blow. The kid grinned at that. First actual expression he'd seen the runt make all week.

    The two stared at each other around fifty pounds of chakra forged steel.

    "Momochi Zabuza. I'm going to be a member of your little club one day."

    Heh. Soichiro snorted. Kid's muscles must have been screaming at him to go take a hot bath and a nap, but the squirt had come at him like a demon anyway. The clearing was soon filled with the thunderous sounds of blade clashing against blade.

    Yeah. Yeah, I know exactly who you are.



    o-o-o​



    Momochi Zabuza's jōnin promotion was relatively uneventful, as far as he was concerned.

    His promotion was just another in a long series of accolades that came several months after the last war had ended. His teammates (those that survived, anyway) were very gung-ho about celebrating. Izumo even wanted the group of them to schedule some time off so that they could go to the Three Monkeys' Bar in Hot Springs. Zabuza didn't really see the point in making a big deal out of it.

    So he managed to talk them down to a night of food and drinks at the Dancing Swordfish. Even the newly named "Demon of the Hidden Mist" had his limits, it seemed.

    The party had been nice. It was good to unwind (though he would never admit it) and hang out with everyone. It's been so long since they had some time off together…

    He wasn't looking forward to fishing his father out of whichever bar he'd crawled into, come morning. The old man always tended to get shit-faced after a week's worth of work in the logistics department, and it was about that time of week.

    He dallied on the walk home, going to his favorite training spot. There were other areas that he had clearance to use, as both an apprentice to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and now as a jōnin. This spot was his though, and he would damn well keep it that way.

    He considered the clearing for a moment.

    Hmm. Well, I'm here, right?

    Zabuza stopped at the center of the clearing, his feet settling into a familiar stance, easy as breathing. His hand played idly with the hilt of the greatsword on his back, before tightening over the sharkskin leather grip on the hilt. His body and his sword started moving in a familiar dance.

    One. Two. Three.

    His feet pivoted and his muscles strained. He was "half-drunk as shit", as sensei would say. If it had been the first time he tried this form, he probably wouldn't have been able to manage a single bit.

    It wasn't the first time, though. Wasn't even the thousandth time.

    "Oi, kid. You can't take a single fucking day off in your life, can ya?"

    What!? Zabuza tensed up. He was surprised to see Soichiro-sensei there, on the tree he usually propped himself against. I must be more out of it than I thought.

    Zabuza smiled.

    "Nah, just can't seem to manage time off." Zabuza said.

    "Well, you're going to have to cut it short," Soichiro said. He was fiddling with something in his hand. "We have some places to be."

    Ah, a mission or something. That wasn't that unusual.

    "Ah. Alright, I'll go grab my mission gear." Zabuza said, nodding.

    "No, you dumbass," Shinomori-sensei said. His sensei gave him a look that was equal parts amused and exasperated. Sensei held up a high-priority scroll from the Mizukage's office, and chucked it at his forehead. He snatched it out of the air and unfurled it.

    Momochi Zabuza,

    You are hereby promoted to the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist as Shinomori Soichiro's successor. Pending your survival of the requisite training and trials, which you are to begin two weeks from today.

    Congratulations.

    Karatachi Yagura
    The Fourth Mizukage

    Hoshigake Sandayū
    Leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist

    Shinomori Soichiro
    Sensei


    Zabuza dropped his sword.



    o-o-o​



    Zabuza managed to get through a small nap and a morning of meal preparation before a runner came knocking at the door. He calmly placed the sushi knife down with the rest of his set, before quickly sealing everything up in a storage seal. Wouldn't do to keep good quality fish out too long.

    He walked over, fiddled with an excessive amount of locks,and finally opened the door, coming face to face with a tiny genin grunt that couldn't have been a day older than thirteen.

    "Well, what is it?" Zabuza growled.

    "Gathering in the square, sir," the boy answered, almost stammering. "Lord Mizukage wants every ninja to be present for it."

    Zabuza grunted in affirmation. The kid gulped and pissed off at top speed.

    Well, looks like I won't have time to fish the old man out of whatever ditch he slept in last night.



    o-o-o​




    The grand square before the Mizukage's tower was filled with people. Zabuza was standing on the rooftop of an adjacent building with a few other ninja. A wooden platform had been raised up in the middle, towering over the gathered crowd. He could make out a few individuals in stockades that were lined up to face the rest of the square. Karatachi Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, stood at the edge of the platform, in his kage formal wear. The man had grown into them nicely over the last year—the first few months of the (at the time) late teenager's reign had been a bit awkward.

    Zabuza noticed his sensei landing beside him. He turned to the older shinobi with a raised eyebrow. The question went unspoken, but Soichiro responded anyway. They knew each other well by now.

    "No idea," Soichiro said, shrugging. "Probably just some speech or another, and a few nobodies to hang to make a point." The man took a drink from the ever present sake bottle from his hip. Zabuza had always considered it a small miracle that he hadn't drank himself into an early grave years ago.

    Speech and an execution, huh? Zabuza thought. Such things were increasingly more common, ever since Yagura took control of Mist at the end of the war a year ago. The seventeen year old had been the youngest Mizukage in history, barely older than Zabuza himself at the time.

    You had to give the guy some credit. His institutional reforms put Hidden Mist back on the map after a failure of a war. The T&I department were rooting out traitors and spies by the bucketload, and Yagura's training reforms made sure they had more combat capable jōnin now than ever. The man was a genius. Not to mention combat ability. Nobody was going to question a damn thing the man did.

    Though, having a giant city-destroying demon stuck in your gut probably helps with that one.

    "The world outside this marvelous village is not as it should be, my countrymen." Yagura said. The jinchūriki paused for effect, making a point to pan his vision across the square. "The people there are oppressed by all manners of strife and inequity. Instead of lives filled with purpose and dignity, there is only chaos, fear, and the ever-present threat of meaningless conflict. Chaos stands in the way of civilization and progress. Fear drowns the very fabric of society and rots the souls of those it takes root in. Conflicts without end, that plague the world beyond and threaten to end our way of life from the outside. There is no justice, there. No order, there. No peace."

    The Mizukage glanced meaningfully at the three people in the stockades.

    "And, if the traitors inside these walls would have their way, we would just have to lay down and accept this. I beg to differ."

    The Mizukage walked up to the first prisoner and ripped off the sack from their head, revealing a middle-aged, brown-haired woman that Zabuza didn't recognize. Her hair was disheveled and her face was streaked with blood and dirt.

    "Minami Sui, for crimes of perjury, murder, and high treason against the Village Hidden in the Mist, I hereby sentence you to death."

    Yagura's fingers blurred through some hand seals and a blade of water cleanly decapitated the woman. Her head rolled slowly across the wooden platform, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Yagura turned back to address the crowd.

    "Within these walls, we will have justice!" Yagura called out to the crowd. A chorus of cheers answered him. The Mizukage walked up to the second prisoner and ripped off the sack from their head, revealing a pale man that Zabuza didn't recognize. The man's face was heavily bruised, his mouth was dripping blood, and he looked like he'd been beaten to within an inch of his life.

    "Kuramoto Naozane, for crimes of espionage, theft of clan secrets, and high treason against the Village Hidden in the Mist, I hereby sentence you to death."

    Another blade of water came down.

    "Within these walls, there will be order!" Yagura yelled. The response echoed across the square and rebounded across the many buildings.

    Yagura walked to the third prisoner and revealed their —

    Wait that's —

    "Momochi Kaido, for the crimes of perjury, aiding the enemy, and high treason against the Village Hidden in the Mist, I hereby sentence you to death."

    —Dad, Zabuza thought.

    Yagura took his right hand and punched through Dad's head.

    "Within this country, we shall make peace!" Yagura screamed, raising a bloody fist to the sky.

    …

    …

    ...

    Zabuza didn't hear the yelling. He didn't hear anything, just blood rushing through his ears and a ringing noise. He stared at the execution platform. He could feel other people on the rooftop looking at him. Zabuza was vaguely aware of sensei's hand coming down over his shoulder. Soichiro-sensei was saying something in his ear, but he couldn't make out the words. His vision swam.

    Blood dripped out of his father…

    ...

    His father's…

    ...

    Zabuza's eyes darted over to the Mizukage.

    He just killed the old man, said some portion of him.

    Yeah, he's gonna die for that, answered the rest.

    He's the Mizukage, said one tiny voice in his head.

    Fuck that, yelled the rest of him.

    Zabuza took a shaky step forward, and another. He growled and before he knew it Soichiro-sensei picked him up like a newborn and dragged him to the usual training spot to cool off.



    o-o-o​



    People asked him later, what it felt like, in that moment.

    There was no answer that did the reality justice, but this is the answer he would give them.

    This is what it was, to be Momochi Zabuza, on that evening, in that place, on that fateful day.

    As Soichiro-sensei attempted to console him (or give him support? Offer him considerations? Point out his idiocy? It didn't matter) the storm raged inside him. As his sensei went through speech after speech and promise after promise, Momochi Zabuza was busy in another place, struggling to put together the words that he knew he must say next. Struggling, because he couldn't even remember his own name. Even as his killing intent sputtered and flared, turning the clearing into an icy nightmare of death and roving devils of hate and pain, his mind raced. Raced, because he needed thoughts to form to put all of the things he was feeling into action.

    "Soichiro-sensei, would you just shut the fuck up for a minute?" another voice asked from what seemed like a world away.

    The master stopped, and the two stood there in silence.

    Silence, or so it appeared on the outside. Inside him a hurricane of emotion whirled, and raged, and howled, before flattening out into something else. Something entirely new yet as familiar as the mist that he stood in.

    Through it all, he felt himself go still. Deathly still.

    The words formed.



    o-o-o​



    Shinomori Soichiro, shinobi of the legendary Seven Swordsmen and master of the Kubikiribōchō, watched on as his apprentice became a different person in front of his eyes.

    One instant, the boy stood there in that clearing. The next instant, a demon stood in his place.

    The man that used to be his apprentice raised his head and met his eyes, unflinching. His killing intent spread out and sharpened, becoming something that filled their surroundings with a dread pressure.

    The demon raised his arm, hand outstretched, towards the massive blade on Soichiro's shoulder.



    o-o-o​



    This is what it was, to be the Demon of the Hidden Mist, in that place, on that fateful morning.

    "Give me my fucking sword so that I can murder that cunt."

    Zabuza began the trials the next day.




    AN:
    As is tradition, could probably use another editing pass by me before posting for some copy edits or consistency things, but you have waited long enough! (Much kudos to @Paperclipped for helping edit some today, though. Certain bits would be much more awkward and inconsistency filled were it not for his mighty intellectual thews! )

    Spoons are low, so take this interlude. NB: This was already (mostly) in the interlude bank, so I have been squeeing a lot every time someone mentions Mist or the Seven Swordsmen.

    Kakashi has a factual understanding of the basic gist of the public events that happened here, which occurred about a month ago on November 13th and which mostly amounts to "There was a public execution that happened and the Seven Swordsman trainee Jōnin, Momochi Zabuza, had a family member involved." He doesn't know any further details.


    Voting remains closed.
     
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    • MMKII said:
    "Minami Sui, for crimes of perjury, murder, and high treason against the Village Hidden in the Mist, I hereby sentence you to death."

    Yagura's fingers blurred through some hand seals and a blade of water cleanly decapitated the woman. Her head rolled slowly across the wooden platform, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Yagura turned back to address the crowd.

    "Within these walls, we will have justice!" Yagura called out to the crowd. A chorus of cheers answered him.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Y'know, this reminds me an awful lot of Hazou's "speech and an execution" in marked for death, down to the fist-through-head part. Precocious young leader, rhetoric against pointless violence, the whole nine yards. Just, you know, presumably evil.
     
    Taijutsu_ said:
    Y'know, this reminds me an awful lot of Hazou's "speech and an execution" in marked for death, down to the fist-through-head part.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It's a relatively memorable way to punctuate things, if you have super strength and a seemingly massive pile of expendable traitors(?).

    I've seen enough "villainous speeches amidst a public execution" that I'm pretty sure it's a specific trope by now.
     
    Chapter 7: The Snowstorm Approaches
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    • Nadare Kimiko perched atop the golden monument that marked the center of Hidden Glacier and surveyed the town. The civil war had left massive scars in the village, with its various small homes left in all states of disrepair. For all its abilities, the Snow Release didn't offer any way to quickly rebuild, so the hard work of raising buildings from the earth and scrubbing the blood out of packed snow fell to the hands of the village. A few of the civilians had survived the war, and they were being put to good use, yet their lack of physical ability meant they spent most of their time checking traps and fishing for sustenance, while the ninja did the manual labor of reassembling the broken village.

    Kimiko shuddered. So many dead… The bodies of their allies in the revolution had been given burials of honor, but the ones that opposed Rōga were now being used for hunting bait. Hideo… She had offered Hideo the chance to join them, even after he killed little Shoji. He refused, and Kimiko killed him. Now, her one-time best friend's body was being chopped up into pieces and dropped into holes in the ice below. She closed her eyes and grimaced as the image from her nightmares came into her thoughts once more -- Hideo's severed head sinking into the blackness of the ocean, mouth moving in a silent condemnation moments before he was consumed whole by a giant walrus.

    When she opened her eyes again, the sun had moved somewhat, intensifying the whitish-blue rays streaming through the ice sheet overhead. Just below her, kicking his legs out over the roof of the Nadare Clan building, her brother Rōga sat.

    She slid down the golden-capped spire and pulled herself to a seated position next to him. Rōga looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, then looked out to the city. He said nothing.

    "What's on your mind? Did you need me for anything?" asked Kimiko.

    Rōga stayed silent for a moment longer. "I'm worried. I've been rereading some of our oldest records, and it seems like we're at the lowest population that Hidden Glacier has ever seen. Fifty ninja… It was eighty that accompanied Megumi to the far north to found this place, and it was a hundred when our noble ancestors carved out the village as we know it now. Worse, our population of civilians has never been lower." He shook his head. "We'll be out of food before spring comes. It might be worth raiding some civilian towns for their stores and their people."

    Kimiko considered that. When their father had died, Rōga stepped up to lead the Nadare Clan, and took his position as leader very seriously. Every one of his words seemed so reasonable, but looking back now… could it really have been the right decision? Even now, he made plans that overlooked the simplest solution.

    "Rōga, why don't we reassign the genin to hunting? Then-"

    "No, Kimi." He turned to face her, his face deadly serious. "I'm learning more from the records. Elder Romi's description of the sun at the shrine suggests that the tunnels facing it were largely heading west, and definitely rising higher than the depths. The information that the scouts gather gives me more to work with when it comes to wrangling the scrolls, and that in turn helps me guide their exploration. We're getting close, I can feel it."

    Kimiko felt her face growing hot. "You're complaining about not having enough ninja, but you're throwing away manpower into the tunnels. They're genin! You heard what Yukio told us, there are beasts down there that reduced one of the search parties to nothing but bone and steel." She turned to face him, leaning in. "Let them do something useful for now and let them hunt. We'll solve our food problems, they'll gain experience, they'll stay alive! We don't even know what's down there!"

    Rōga smiled back at her, a sad, infuriating smile across the inches that separated them. "You know what it is, Kimi. You could feel it too, that soft hum in your chest, if you would only listen to your heart. Our ancestors, the great Nadare of old, made that place to call to us, to tell us of our heritage and our destiny. What we find there will not let us survive the harsh winter the way that food can. But food is easy to acquire, and the secrets of our bloodline hidden there will help us not just for a winter, but forever."

    Kimiko looked in his eyes for a moment longer, then looked away before she got too angry. He never changed. No matter what she tried to tell him, no matter how unreasonable his great plans were, he never changed. Worse, over the course of weeks or months, he always convinced her and everyone else around him that he was right. The rest of Glacier was eating out of the palm of his hand.

    She huffed, letting the steam of her breath dissipate for a second. "I don't suppose you would let me try to go down there and find it myself? If it really calls to me, then maybe I can find it."

    He shook his head. "If I couldn't do it, why should you be able to? No Kimi, we need an easily deployable force if any of the escapees return, and if Koyasu or Himura fail their tasks, we'll need you to resolve their mistakes while I guard the village."

    Kimiko sighed. "I suppose that's why you wanted me?"

    He nodded. "We need to get the heart from Kazahana. Koyasu should have gotten it out of him by now, but if he's still stalling, you need to get it from him at any cost. It should be a small cylinder," he indicated the size with his hands, "finely etched in order to unlock the shrine. The more I read, the more I suspect it'll help us find the shrine as well. Be careful if you do manage to get it though, the texts indicate that carrying it is dangerous in some way. It's described as bringing the owner bad luck of some sort."

    Kimiko angled her head in acceptance, and he continued. "Once you've got that, or at least bagged Kazahana, check in on Himura and his team in Sōnai. Get back here as soon as you can. I really feel like we're getting closer. Perhaps once you return, we will have found the lock to match the key."

    Kimiko nodded, and leaped to the ground. Within seconds, she readied her clothing and pack and was moving towards the tunnels heading towards the surface. She emerged out into the afternoon sun, re-concealed the entrance, and started heading south. After a moment, she turned back towards the hidden location of her village and whispered. "Rōga, I pray to the Sage that this is going somewhere. This has to be worth it."

    o-o-o-o​

    Kakashi decided to be a little more polite to the Daimyo today and agreed to meet him in the main hall of his castle. As he arrived a mere two and a half hours late, jauntily strolling in through the front doors and rows of bowing civilians, the Daimyo turned to him with a fraction of annoyance on his face. Kakashi grinned internally.

    Somehow, Daimyo Kazahana refrained from pointing out the obvious. Instead, he said, "Thank you for your service these past few days, honored Hatake. My family is safe and the plot on my life has been thoroughly foiled. Hidden Glacier will certainly think twice before attacking me once again, and if what you claim is true, my brother has lost his leverage over them. I cannot imagine a way in which this mission could have gone better. I have prepared your payment in full."

    Kakashi's internal grin dropped off his internal face. He probably should have done a worse job of the bodyguarding to keep the Daimyo scared. He needed the eight weeks of getaway that Hiruzen had so generously offered him, and the Daimyo needed to be on board for that. Leaf's spy network didn't reach this far north, but even if news took a month to travel, adding another two on top of that would make things so much easier.

    Kakashi responded, "Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Glacier, surprisingly, may not be as cold hearted as you think they are. Your info's out of date, and their new leader Rōga will probably want your blood once he figures that you're responsible for the death of one of his jōnin. I've got plans to protect you and handle him but…" he shrugged, "well, if you want to dismiss me, I'll take the money and go."

    The Daimyo inclined his head in agreement. "As I said, and as I continue to say, the safety of myself and my family is paramount. If you think that such safety is better assured with a longer stay, then you should be welcome to do so. As I have mentioned, I have come into sufficient money to pay for this mission regardless of its duration. With how quickly you have acted thus far even with the constraints of the festival, will an additional week suffice?"

    Kakashi looked to the side. "Ehh. Unexpected things happen, and I'll need to travel a fair ways while I'm working this job. May as well plan for the full duration."

    Daimyo Kazahana blanched a bit. "Ah... yes, the full eight weeks. Well, if you intend to be taking that long on the mission, it should give me plenty of time to pull the required ryō together. Even if you don't use the entire time, perhaps it would be good for me to remind some people that they do in fact need to pay me..."

    He trailed off, clearly thinking about the prohibitive cost that Leaf charged for a jōnin's full attention.

    Kakashi waited for a moment to see if he had anything more to say, then continued on with a hint of cheer in his voice. "Well, thanks for waiting for me. I'll go have a quick chat with your brother now and see what he can tell me about how he was trying to kill you. Say, are there any body parts of his that you're not particularly attached to?"

    o-o-o-o​

    Kakashi patiently did not move as Watari applied the thin, faintly urine-smelling wax around his face. Kakashi had refused at first, but Watari claimed that it would keep the squirrels away, and that settled any internal debate.

    Watari finished off the wax and started retouching the paint over Kakashi's cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi could see Yaganita, still as stone and waiting against the trunk of a nearby tree. Watari had already concealed him, and he was invisible at a glance, though with careful observation Kakashi could pick him out by the way his half-open eyes ever so slightly broke the pattern of the snow-crusted tree bark. Watari finished off Kakashi's hiding place and moved to his own, slowly enclosing himself in a branching formation of needles and snow that made him nigh invisible.

    Rōga was supposed to arrive sometime today to the dead drop. If Dotō had the right info, he would then go into town to check the status of his allies, then would come after Dotō to get the little emerald that he had been promised. They had set up an ambush around the dead drop, the only place where they knew he would be for certain. Kakashi had walked up to it like a civilian and dropped some papers in the covered hollow of the tree to keep him distracted while they attacked from above. Ideally, Rōga would die almost instantly, and they would be able to follow his tracks back to Glacier, where they could pick people off one by one at the entrance to the tunnels.

    However, they first had to catch him with their stakeout. Watari and Yaganita stayed still as the sun moved through the sky, signalling hour after hour passing, and Rōga refused to arrive. This was supposed to be his first point of contact into the city, so he shouldn't know that Kakashi had already taken out an ally and now waited in ambush. Dotō had claimed that Rōga had been punctual the previous times they had met, but their meet-up was only supposed to be tomorrow, long after Rōga explored the city and learned of the new threat to his life. He could be arriving any time today… unless he had already passed through the dead drop and left it undisturbed yesterday, and they were waiting here for nothing while Rōga freed Kakashi's hostages in the city.

    The sun continued to dip in the sky, closer and closer to the horizon before it was swallowed up by incoming clouds to the west. From his hiding place, Yaganita spoke. "Clouds coming. Looks like a blizzard. Should cover our tracks nicely."

    Watari immediately shushed him, and they continued to wait as the light of the sun started to fade.

    Just before night embraced the forest, Kakashi heard movement. The Yakuza lackeys stiffened a moment later as they too heard the sound of careful leaping across the snow-covered earth. The movement was quick and precise, distinctly that of a Snow ninja. At first, Kakashi had moved through the forest by leaping from tree to tree and shaking snow out of their branches in his wake. Yaganita had quickly told him how the Snow ninja moved -- on the ground rather than in the trees, with quiet, quick steps moderated by chakra repulsion.

    Kakashi waited as the footsteps slowed, approaching the dead drop, finally to a stop. With how dark it was, perhaps they wouldn't read the papers. A fractional sound of moving branches filled the air, and Kakashi quickly looked up to his allies to signal the start of the fight.

    Yaganita thankfully had the sense to prepare the explosives ahead of time. Their timers were already counting down as he silently dropped the tagged kunai over the edge of his branch. They fell, and Kakashi winced slightly as he heard the attached papers rippling faintly in the wind. He started to weave hand seals as Watari did the same.

    "Fire Release: Flame Shuriken Duplication!"

    As Watari twisted out of his hiding spot and hung to the underside of the tree with chakra adhesion, his hands started to glow. He drew six shuriken from his pouch, and they started to spark as he threw them. Kakashi moved into position. "Chidori."

    Down below, the ninja jumped, immediately starting to move as the explosives went off. It wasn't Rōga, Kakashi realized, as he saw the distinctly female figure start to speed through the forest, backlit in the night by the flames from above. She moved fast. She had to be Rōga's sister, the jōnin, but she struggled to dodge Watari's attack. Each of his shuriken duplicated again and again as it flew through the air, one becoming two becoming four becoming eight, their stark orange light illuminating the forest. They were too obvious to make a real attack, yet the area that they covered made it impossible for her to continue her escape. Watari slowly and carefully corralled her, moving her away from the raining flames and the steam rising from the evaporating snow. She dodged the hail of fire, leaping off of stones and tree trunks only to stop, suddenly looking up Kakashi's tree like a deer in headlights as she saw him running vertically down it, arm covered in shimmering blue electricity.

    Kakashi opened his left eye and felt time slow to a crawl. He could see her moving, somehow both lightning quick and slow as molasses at the same time. He could see her future, a dodge-roll to the side that wasn't going to be fast enough to dodge the razor's edge of lightning that coated his right arm. He looked in her face for a second. No anger, no fear, no hate, just shock. He readied to push his hand through her neck as she desperately threw her body to the side, a slow-motion move not fast enough to save her from the three feet that separated them.

    He cut through a boulder, sending a spray of dust and stone everywhere as he jumped back, head swiveling to try to spot the place where the jōnin had Substituted to. He spotted her a scant fifty feet across the forest floor, crouching to the earth. She finished a chain of hand seals and her chakra twisted into the ground beneath her as she called out "Snow Release: Caribou Stride!". The chakra moved underneath her feet as she fled, and everywhere she stepped, that chakra bulged out of the ground in domes and spikes of snow that threw her across the forest floor.

    Kakashi shook his head to dispel the rush of adrenaline that Chidori always brought, then turned to his allies. Yaganita was fleeing, the coward, but Watari jumped across branches, glowing shuriken held in his hands. He paused for a second above Kakashi, looking down for instruction. Kakashi moved to trail the Nadare with Watari following close behind.

    That ninjutsu she cast had made her fast. Almost too fast to follow over any long distance, but she stopped her flight when she saw them close in on her trail. She turned and started to make hand seals, causing Kakashi and Watari to quickly dive in opposite directions to escape whatever ninjutsu was coming. "Snow Release: Enshrouding Blizzard!". The snow on the ground around her whipped up into a maelstrom, forming a massive dome centered on her. Kakashi could barely see the Nadare woman waiting for them to make the next move from within the storm's center, apparently unharmed.

    Kakashi wasn't enough of a fool to go into a new technique without knowing what it did. He approached slowly and cautiously, signalling to Watari to ready an attack on her as soon as he got in range to flush her out of her self-made blizzard. The blizzard grew and intensified, obscuring her within its movement. Though the distance was great, Kakashi thought he saw the hints of shaped chakra within. Either the blizzard had numerous secondary effects, or she was casting more techniques within.

    He swore. She had been surprised and must have burned a lot of chakra on boosts and techniques and Substitutions, but he was also running low with keeping the Sharingan active. She had barely dodged his first attack, so another attempt might go better for him, but she also had unknown offensive capabilities, and had made herself a nice, prepared chunk of battlefield to fight on. He had backup too, and Watari was quite capable, but if she had the Snow Release, she could be summoning snow golems in there, and those were effective enough to pose a threat to Watari, and could even distract him.

    If she retreated, Hidden Glacier would be ready to present a unified front when he came knocking. She probably wouldn't come after him if he retreated, not with all the chakra she had spent making a defensive formation. If he pressed and got injured while low on chakra, who knew what she might be able to do?

    And, to be honest, dying in some frozen wasteland wasn't on his to-do list today.

    Reluctantly, Kakashi signalled the retreat. Watari nodded and wordlessly started to double back through the forest. Kakashi backed away at speed, turning periodically to watch the miniature snowstorm as it faded away behind them.

    Kakashi and co get a bunch of benefits for their ambush. To start with, Mieko gives them some tips on how to hide. Second, they get 3x AB for time ladder bonuses. Finally, one of them, Watari, is actually good decent at Stealth and provides his AB to everyone else's Stealth checks.

    Kakashi (Stealth): 35 + 4 ("Dummy's Guide to the Tundra) + 12 (Time ladder) + 5 (Watari's help) + 0 (dice) = 56
    Watari (Stealth): 40 + 5 ("Dummy's Guide to the Tundra) + 15 (Time ladder) + 9 (dice) = 69 [NB: nice]
    Yaganita (Stealth): 25 + 3 ("Dummy's Guide to the Tundra) + 9 (Time ladder) + 5 (Watari's help) + 3 (dice) = 45

    Nadare Kimiko gets to make a roll to detect them. Not super paranoid, so just reroll on -9 or -12. She's moving at a quick pace, but slows as she approaches the drop point, so she will have both Supplementals free when the trap is sprung (if the trap were instead along her path, she would only have had one, but Kakashi didn't know which way she was coming from).

    Nadare (Alertness): ?? + ? (dice) = ??

    They're not noticed in their hiding places as Nadare approaches the dead drop point, so we need to talk ambushing rules. In short: In the first round of combat, all the ambushers get to choose their initiative slots, while everyone else is constrained by Alertness, and has a "Flat-Footed" Aspect with one tag that any attacker can take, until their initiative comes up. Every round afterwards is normal.

    In particular, all the Yakuza mooks will go first to (ideally) create Aspects to pass to Kakashi, so he can stomp the jounin quickly.

    Round 1 (Chosen Initiative):
    Yaganita (boost +4, 150 CP)
    Watari (boost +6, 210 CP)
    Kakashi (boost +6, Sharingan, 350 CP)
    Nadare (boost +?, ??? CP)


    Yaganita

    He has basically no way to make a contested Aspect, so he'll throw a couple of exploding kunai. This creates the terrain Aspect "Mini Blizzard" in the Zone.


    Watari

    He has a good shot of actually making a proper Aspect. He'll try to pin her down and corral her towards Kakashi

    Supplemental: Fire Shuriken Duplication (-40; 140 CP)
    Standard: Throw Shuriken

    Watari (Ranged Weapons): 50 + 6 (boost) + 8 (FSD) + 6 (tag "Flat Footed") + 6 (invoke "The Mission Comes First"; -1; 2 FP) + 6 (invoke "Death From Above") + 12 (dice) = 96
    Nadare (Athletics): ?? + ? + ?? (Substitution; -14; ??? CP) + ? (dice) = ??

    Excellent work! She is forced right under Kakashi's waiting spot, with the Aspect "Raining Flames".


    Kakashi

    Kakashi sees that she's dodging really well. With Sharingan and everything going, he realizes that he might not be able to win a battle of attrition. As a result, he is going to try one big Chidori (-72; 278 CP), and if it misses, just scout for abilities and try to get a trail back.

    Strong Fist:
    Kakashi (Athletics): 50 + 6 (boost) + 6 (Sharingan) + 6 (Strong Fist) - 9 (dice) = 59
    Nadare (Athletics): ?? + ? (boost) + ? (dice) = ??
    Nadare rerolls (-1; ? FP)
    Nadare (Athletics): ?? + ? (boost) + ? (dice) = ??
    Alas, no Strong Fist today.

    Kakashi (Taijutsu): 55 + 6 (boost) + 6 (Sharingan) + 6 (Chidori) + 3 (tag "Mini Blizzard") + 6 (tag "Raining Flames") + 6 (invoke "Flat Footed"; -1; 3 FP) + 6 (invoke "Ex-ANBU, Ex-Jounin, Ex-Leaf Ninja"; -1; 2 FP) + 9 (dice) = 103
    Nadare (Athletics): ?? + ? (boost) + ? (Terrain Expertise: Snow) + ? (invoke ????; -1; ? FP) + ? (invoke ????; -1; ? FP) + ?? (Substitution; -14; ??? CP) + ? (dice) = ???

    Just barely a miss, and she had to pull out all the stops to dodge! She's now a Zone away from the action.


    Nadare

    Nadare has no interest in dying here.

    Standard: Cast Caribou Stride (Effect 1; -26; ??? CP)
    Supplemental: Using Caribou Stride, move two Zones away. Now three Zones away from the ambushers.

    Save a Supplemental for Substitution if need be.


    Round 2:
    Nadare (no boost)
    Kakashi (boost +6, Sharingan, 228 CP)
    Watari (boost +6, 110 CP)
    Yaganita (boost +4, 130 CP)


    Nadare
    Now that she's made some distance, she'll ease off the boost because she's not sure if it'll turn into a battle of attrition.

    Supplemental: Use Caribou Stride again, move two more Zones away, five away from everyone.
    Standard: Cast Enshrouding Blizzard (Effect ?; -??, ??? CP remaining), surrounding her and two Zones in any direction (no one is in the AoE)

    Save last Supplemental for Substitution.


    Kakashi

    She's now five (!!) Zones away, and Kakashi doesn't have a good way of crossing the distance. From what he can tell of her skills, her movement abilities between Substitution and the Snow ninjutsu means that she's basically optimized for this terrain. He wants to scout for abilities, but doesn't want to invite a devastating counterattack. He moves a Zone closer (four Zones away) and takes the Full Defense action, trying to provoke a response.


    Watari

    Keep up with Kakashi and wait for further instructions, taking the Full Defense action otherwise.


    Yaganita

    Run away. This is a jounin and you're not really prepared for this.


    Round 3:
    Nadare (no boost) [1FP]
    Kakashi (boost +6, Sharingan, 178 CP) [2FP]
    Watari (boost +6, 80 CP) [1FP]


    Nadare
    ???????????? (she's in the blizzard)


    Kakashi
    He realizes that she could be doing almost anything in there, and pursuing through it is a bad idea right now. He's going to call it a draw and move two Zones away (six away) with his Standard and Supplemental.


    Watari
    Follows Kakashi's lead.



    Combat is over.

    +1 FP to Nadare for "victory".

    o-o-o-o​

    Yaganita approached the spot where the miniature blizzard used to be. He didn't seem ashamed at all for having run away from his allies in the middle of a battle. When they caught up to him and explained the situation, he merely nodded and offered his help as a tracker.

    The sun had fully set now, and Yaganita examined the area by starlight. Soon, the clouds in the west would approach, and Kakashi would have to make Watari use a Fire technique to make the inspection possible.

    "Here," said Yaganita, pointing to a spot at the far end of the spiral of swirled snow. "She left this way, and she's not particularly good at covering her tracks. We can follow them."

    Watari turned to the west, eyeing the incoming clouds. "They won't last long. Once it starts to snow, these tracks will be gone in minutes. What should we do?"


    Several days passed before the start of the update. It is now nightfall on the 28th, and the festival is over. A snowstorm is coming in a couple of hours, and will wipe out any trail or evidence of this battle. The Snow Yakuza have basically folded at this point, and the Frost ninja do seem willing to go on a trip with you, but probably won't follow you into the tunnels (as that's certain death, they claim) unless you have a tangible reassurance that it's possible. Supposing that you can even find the tunnels, of course.

    Kakashi is down 2 FP from the battle. +1 FP for initiating the conflict, but he didn't achieve any victory condition. Here's a chance to top him up.

    Compel on Sometimes Dead is Better
    Kakashi thinks that if they're halfway competent, they'll turtle up, then hit him with everything they've got. He doesn't really have a chance against three jōnin working together now that they know his capabilities, and he still doesn't know the extent of theirs. It seems foolish to chase after a Snow Release user towards Glacier and into a snowstorm, but Kakashi has backup, and she surely must be low on chakra… right? Accept the compel, and he chases after. Reject it, and he needs to find another way to surmount the seemingly-insurmountable odds.
    [X] Accept Compel (+1 FP)
    [X] Reject Compel (-1 FP)

    Voting Time! What do you do now?
    Here are some options to get you started.
    [] Double back for Mieko and get her to help you track the footprints through the snow.
    [] Move quickly to your best guess location of Glacier, and try to spot where Nadare is coming from.
    [] Set off a lot of explosions around where Glacier is. When people come, use a Shadow Clone to negotiate over the heirloom.
    [] Bail. It's too much trouble hanging around here, just head east while the Daimyo still thinks you'll be around for a while.
    [] Construct a scenario where Nadare Shigeru thinks he's been set free and follow him back to the Hidden Village.
    [] Hunt down anyone who has spoken with Glacier ninja in the past. Learn where they have other dead drops, or gather information about their operations in other cities.
    [] Write-in.

    Remember, we use approval voting, so you can vote for as many plans as you like. Also, feel free to ping @Paperclipped or @MMKII to ask setting or detail questions that Kakashi could plausibly know.

    Voting is open, and closes at 9am London Time, Wednesday January 27
     
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    • DICE GODS: lol 69

    ALSO DICE GODS: But yeah take these trash rolls, we're giving the nice ones to your opponent.
     
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