Chapter 6

-Winter Contingency

The unforgiving wind blasts the entire village with gale force strength, bringing swirls of snow along with it. Trees wilt to the side unable to withstand the immense force produced by Mother Nature herself. Houses and small shops creak at the harsh winds bombarding the broad walls. As Shizake steps out into the cold his spiky hair is immediately thrown to the right, almost as if the world's breath was threatening to take him up off his feet and into the sky.

CAW! CAW!

The screech rings out from above. The Uchiha brings his gaze upwards, seeing a hawk fight its way through the tough breeze. It musters up the strength, landing on the railing in front of Shizake. He notices a small container attached to its leg so he proceeds to pop it open and read the contents inside.

Proceed to the Hokage's office immediately

Shizake stuffs the piece of paper in his pocket before gesturing to the hawk to leave. The bird leaps up into the sky and this time uses the wind to head back to wear it came from, disappearing in an instant. The Uchiha lifts his cloak up over his head before jumping on the railing and leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Winds continue to constantly blast him, causing the cloak to whip chaotically. For this meeting, he is joined by no one else. Questions buzz through his head on what this meeting could be for but a million possibilities block him for deducing the correct one. For now he shrugs it off, deciding that he'll just figure out when he gets there.

After fifteen minutes of roof top jumping he lands at the foot of the big round Hokage building. He quickly ducks inside to escape the harsh cold and wind, slipping his cloak off while brushing the bits of ice out of his hair. He skips the registrar and walks up stairs, coming to a hallway the stretches on with the Hokage's office at the end. Taking his time, he drifts down the hallway not feeling any urgency from his summoning. Another figure rounds the corner, brushing by Shizake. The Uchiha catches a small glimpse of silver hair, peeking behind his back to see Kakashi Hatake, his face stuffed in a book. Shizake shrugs it off, continuing down the hallway as to find out what the Hokage wants with him.

With a quick rap on the door, Shizake quietly opens the door noticing the Hokage sitting there with her hands under her chin.

"Glad you could make it." She casually says.

"You called for a meeting lady Hokage?" The Uchiha replies, quickly getting to the point.

"Yes... we've acquired some...information we thought you might be interested in."

The Uchiha stands silently, curiously wondering what information she possesses.

"Some of our agents have possibly located a hide out belonging to Orochimaru...I don't have to say much else since you know what is associated with that name." She explains.

The Uchiha's jaw line flexes

"Sasuke."

The buxom blonde woman proceeds to clear her throat, "So here is what I have proposed... I'll let your team go and find out if this is actually a hide out of Orochimaru's. If not, then head back to the village at once. If it is, then you mark that location and do not proceed any further. But...if you so happen to see Sasuke, then you are given permission to pursue."

A mirrored set of coal eyes flash in Shizake's mind, picturing the only icy stare that is similar to his.

"Yes my lady."

"Hmph. You are unusually calm for something like this..." Tsunade solemnly states.

"I already know where he has decided to put himself. Sometimes the darkness claims and refuses to relinquish those it takes."

"I see. Well. Gather your team and prepare to leave when you feel fit. Also you're going to need this." The Hokage says, handing Shizake a thin manila folder. "Coordinates to the supposed location. Good luck."

Shizake turns around, grabbing the door to leave. He stops though, turning his head to Lady Tsunade.

"Thank you... for telling me about this." Shizake says.

Tsunade grins, "I told you I would keep my word on anything related to your relatives. I intend on keeping my word too."

The Uchiha nods his head, quietly closing the door behind him.

Without hesitation Shizake opens up the folder while continuing down the hallway. He scans every detail, observing the gridded map with the marked coordinates as well. Even though he has pushed Sasuke from his mind, a glint of hope sits hopelessly in the back of his mind. I must not get ahead of myself. Sasuke is gone, I've already decided that. Going after him first will just compromise the real mission, that is, taking down Orochimaru. If we can sever that connection first then perhaps Sasuke will give in... I'll just have to see if he shows himself, for all I know this could be a dead end mission.

"Yo."

Shizake looks up snapping out of his thoughts, "Hm?"

As he looks up he meets the gaze of a silver haired man, part of his headband over his left eye.

"Kakashi."

"Hello Shizake." The man lazily says, one hand hanging in the air.

"I thought that was you I saw earlier..." Shizake exclaims.

"Saw you heading into the Hokage's office, thought I would hang back and say hello."

"Oh..."

Kakashi chuckles to him self, deciding to get to the point, "I've been informed of this hideout that could possibly be Orochimaru's."

"What about it...?

Kakashi answers the Uchiha with silence before he clears his throat.

"I wanted to know what you plan on doing."

"Tch."

Kakashi shrugs, "Your answer doesn't matter to me. I'm just curious."

Shizake's shoulders seem to relax, steadily accepting the man's trust.

"I want to make sure the hide out belongs to Orochimaru first. If not, then I turn around and come home..."

Kakashi's right eye squints, preparing for the real answer.

"Finding out if this hide out belongs to Orochimaru is first priority." Shizake begins, "But...if Sasuke does show up... I'm going after him." The Uchiha answers with a balled fist.

Kakashi nods his head acceptingly before pulling out his signature book and waving his free hand in the air.

"Take care Shizake and good luck on the mission."

Shizake watches intently as the man disappears around the corner before returning to his thoughts. I wonder what that was about... I suppose he is trustworthy though. After all, he bonded Sasuke and I in lightning...

*

"All right! Our first mission on the road!" Toshi cheers while jumping up and down.

A playful laugh escapes Shozen's mouth, "Excited eh?"

The young girl begins punching the air, flames of confidence radiating off of her, "YEAH! WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHOW HOW GREAT OF A TEAM WE ARE!"

"Settle down." A voice demands deeply.

The three ANBU freeze up, staring at their captain in the doorway.

"Yes captain!" They yell.

"This mission is important. I need all of you to be focused. Do not get cocky, do not get ahead of your self... we're doing this efficiently and with extreme caution." Shizake sternly puts.

Accepting his conditions, the three squad members slip on their masks, ready for any command.

"Good. Lets move out!" The Uchiha roars.

Team Kari erupts out of the gates, fiery passion burning in all of their hearts. As their first mission on the road, they hope to show the village of their true strength, of their true power and resolve, and most importantly their ability to execute a mission without any faults.

*

Location: Fire Country

Time: 8:32 P.M.

As the wind brushes through their hair, Team Kari seeks to find the hideout as soon as possible. Shizake is in front, keeping the squad in formation and on track to the correct location. Every now and then he glances at his map and adjusts their path according to it. The sun has already dipped below the horizon, leaving the squad members clambering through the forest at night. Shozen leaps past Toshi and Shītto, joining up with his friend and squad captain to discuss the plans for the night.

"Yo." He greets to the leader.

Shizake, completely oblivious and lost in his thoughts does not notice his friend's presence and continues to lead the team to the location, which is still a day and half's journey from their current position.

"Kouen." Shozen says, still trying to get the leader's attention but once again to no avail. "Shizake!"

Finally the leader snaps his head at his comrade, paying attention to what he has to say.

"You alright man?" Shozen asks.

"Y-yeah. Sorry... just. Thinking." The Uchiha replies, pushing away his thoughts and regaining focus.

"You told us to be focused and keep our head in the mission. The same goes for you too."

"Right." He answers with the nod of his head, looking ahead at their path. "Lets find a place to camp out for the night, it's getting late."

The four of them land into a nearby clearing, quickly throwing together a campsite without need of further order. Each of them attends to their own job as if they were assigned without a spoken word. In a mere matter of minutes they successfully configure two tents around a fire, both only big enough for one person.

"Two of us will keep watch at a time while the other two rest. We'll rotate every three hours so that we get adequate sleep." Shizake says, poking the fire with a stick. He slips off his dragon mask finally and runs his hands through his hair, winding down from the day's travels. The other three do the same, relaxing by the warm welcoming fire. Shozen rests his head on a log, keeping his feet close to the burning pile of logs. Toshi lays down near it, absorbing the heat with every inch of her body. Shītto sits opposite of Shizake, on fire stoking duty like the captain. Snow continues to come down but not as heavily as it has been lately. It falls lightly, gently gathering on whatever it lands on. Small piles of snow slip off of what remaining leaves there are on the trees once they gather enough to make the leaf wilt. The tents too collect a thin layer of snow on the outsides, lining it in pure white as well as most of their supplies and backpacks.

Shizake shakes the white flakes out of his hair every once in a while once it gathers up enough to annoy him. Eventually he throws his cloak hood over his head to further protect himself from the annoyance of the bitter icy snowfall.

"We'll take watch first captain." Toshi directs towards Shizake.

"Fair enough. You know the drill." The captain says back, getting up from his log bench and ducking inside one of the tents.

"Ahhh yes. First shuteye. It's the best feeling after traveling all day heh." Shozen jokes aloud, doing the same as Shizake and disappearing into the remaining tent.

Toshi warmly smiles as her head follows the Hyuga boy into the tent before she grabs one of the sticks nearby and begins to poke the fire. After several minutes of silence goes by, she looks up at Shītto whose eyes are lost in the small inferno.

"Do you think the captain is okay?" She whispers to her comrade.

Shītto looks up with a, "Hm?" Snapping out of his thoughts.

The young girl leans in closer, trying to keep her words as quiet as possible, "Sasuke could possibly be where we're going... I'm just wondering if that's affecting Shizake."

"I wouldn't blame him if it did. We'll just have to trust he has his feelings in check. Besides, I haven't seen him display any odd behavior."

"Right... well, I guess we'll just have to see when we get there. "

"If he begins to get out of hand we'll keep him right. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Toshi shrugs, poking the fire with a stick once more. She runs her tiny fingers through her luscious strawberry blonde hair which she has let down from being tied up in a bun. The snow gathers up in it but without bothering her. Focusing on the sounds of the night, she proceeds to meditate to save energy as well as blocking out the cold with her mind.

"If I happen to doze off wake me up." Shītto grunts, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"You better not fall asleep! We're both on watch duty which means you have to suffer the same as me!" The girl yells, annoyed.

A voice erupts from one of the tents, "Will you keep it quiet out there?! Trying to get some shut eye!"

"Sorry Shozen..." Shītto says under his breath.

Toshi leans in closer, her face lighting up menacingly due to the fire.

"If you fall asleep I'm going to drop a hot coal in your cloak..."

Shītto eye shoot wide awake, saving himself from being burned alive by his comrade.

"Good," She says with a large smile, grabbing a stick off the ground and poking the fire some more.

*

"Hmm... it appears they're on to us." A man speaks to no one. His words echo off the oddly designed walls reverberating to only himself.

He stands up, breaking the chakra seal that he was connected to by the pad in the center of the room. The man proceeds to walk to the door of the room, solid metal with a small slit near the top center. He raps on the door three times before leaning against the wall and folding his arms.

Eventually someone on the other side opens the slit on the door, the only visible thing being their eyes.

"What is it Kankaku?" The person asks.

"You told me to alert if you I detected anything..."

"And?"

"Well I've detected something. Four signatures. Faint, but they're on the move headed this direction. "

Kankaku pushes up off the wall and turns to the door slit, staring at the other person eye to eye.

"So am I going to be let out of this cage...?" He devilishly asks.

The person on the other side squints, letting out a chuckle as well.

"Not today, but Orochimaru will be pleased with you. Might as well get comfortable again."

Kankaku snorts, "Trust me, it's pretty comfortable in here already."

"Good. Now, back on the pad. We'll need you to track their movements and alert us when they get close."

"Hmm. Maybe later. I'm pretty tired."

"Whatever, just get back on it."

The slit slams shut, leaving the man known as Kankaku isolated once again. He walks slowly to the cot, lying back with his hands behind his head. Scratching his jet black hair, he smiles to himself, a suspecting plan coming in to his head. If everything goes right, I could win myself more favor with Orochimaru.