Chapter 66: new arc.

A few weeks had now passed after the incident with the Raikage. Thankfully nothing had come from it, and as far as Fuyōna was concerned, no news was good news. Although he wouldn't hold his breath as he was sure something would happen eventually.

On the other hand, Kimimaro's body had taken to containing the three tails better than expected, with the seal doing its job. Fuyōna had been right, thanks to the sudden vast amounts of chakra that had been sealed inside of his body, along with the three tails chakra steadily mixing with his own. Kimimaro's illness had started to reverse, making him healthy once again.

Once he was able, Fuyōna had both him and Haku training again, as he knew that Kimimaro would have to overcome the challenge of taming Isobu to control its power once he was ready. Something he wasn't worried about for now.

The boys had come so far in their training and even with the time Kimimaro had taken off due to his sickness, he was still showing huge improvements as always.

Also now that he was back up and fit, he would be able to go back out on missions with the others, and Fuyōna had received the perfect one to get him back into the swing of things.

Fuyōna summoned Haku, Kimimaro, Koyuki and of course Kaga, who was still their squad leader and sensei to his office to give them their new mission in person.

"Alright you three, I've got a new mission request that I feel will suit you perfectly," Fuyōna said with a smile.

The three genin looked at him eager to know what it was, waiting for him to tell them the details of the said mission.

"We have received a request from a noble of the land of snow. He has decided to request a bodyguard escort to a party which will be held at the daimyō's, Lord Sōsetsu's castle."

Haku had a questioning look on his face, which Fuyōna noticed, allowing him to speak.

"But why would a noble from the land of snow hire shinobi from another nation when they have their own shinobi?" The boy asked, showing his knowledge of the world.

"That's a good question Haku. Sometimes these things happen, either due to price, or anything as far as political arguments and trust issues within one's own nation." Kaga said, answering his question.

"All that matters is that we have accepted the mission and placed it as a rank C. It should provide you all with some good travelling experience and shouldn't be anything to worry about." Fuyōna then said, giving Kaga a nod before he threw him a scroll with the documents in.

"Besides, I hear the land of snow has an impressive level of technology that other places in the world don't have access to yet." Fuyōna then added.

"This way, we might be able to form a friendship with them and perhaps gain in more than just a new client."

The team nodded and started to get excited at the prospect of the new mission.

Fuyōna couldn't help smile as he watched them become excited and wished them luck, dismissing them from his office. Kaga and his team bowed before they headed out, leaving Fuyōna with his advisors, who looked at him unable to hold their thoughts back.

"Is it really a good idea to send three children on such a mission? Would it not be better to send more experienced shinobi to ensure the success of the mission?" One said.

Ao also couldn't help but in.

"I had heard that the land of snow was currently in a particularly tough position and on the brink of a possible civil war." He said as he stroked his chin.

Fuyōna nodded, listening to their thoughts and concerns. However, he already knew what was going to happen, or at least had a good idea from his knowledge of the world during his previous life.

"Don't worry. I'm sure with Kaga there, nothing will go wrong." He said with a large grin on his face, trying to put the others at ease. However, they simply frowned, not seeing the funny side of things.

"You are the Mizukage... We follow your orders." The head elder then said as he and the others bowed before taking their leave, leaving Fuyōna and Ao in the office alone.

"I can't wait to get to the land of snow! I hear it's so pretty there, covered in snow all year round!" Koyuki said, getting excited about their new mission.

Haku agreed with her as the two of them jumped around happily and full of energy before they turned to Kimimaro.

"Hey Kimimaro, what's the matter, are you feeling ok?" Haku asked, noticing he seemed lost in thought.

"It's nothing," Kimimaro said as he looked up and smiled at Haku, reassuring him he was fine.

Kaga noticed Kimimaro seemed troubled but decided he would address that later. As first thing was to head over to the docks and board the transport that was waiting for them. Since Fuyōna had become Kage, the land of water had started to open its borders and become involved in heavy trade with as many lands as possible, opening up its waters and travel restrictions. This allowed them to travel between other lands more easily for missions and vice-versa. This was why a new guard and border patrol force unit had been created, helping to protect the village and the land of water. The mist even had shinobi who monitored the sea, guarding against pirates and those who might try to sneak into their lands.

The increase in trade had even lead to the development of the village, which had started to grow in size, eventually spreading all the way out to the ocean where the old shipping yards had been. Now they were a thriving port in which all trade and travellers arrived and checked into the village hidden in the mist.

Kaga and the others arrived at the port and could see many ships of various sizes that had docked. Cargo was being hauled on and off of the ships and checked by mist shinobi who were part of the border force.

Kaga found the port where their transport was waiting and the four of them made a move towards the boat. It was a trading ship that had been given permission by the noble who hired the hidden mist to be used to transport their team into the land of snow, with the added bonus of protecting the goods on board.

"Welcome!" A large man with a wooden leg shouted as Kaga and the others walked up the wooden plank onto his boat.

"You must be the mist ninja who have been hired by lord Hogi!" The man said greeting them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Peggy! Due to my leg." He said as he pointed to his wooden leg.

Haku and Koyuki couldn't help but stare as Kaga cleared his throat.

"Nice to meet you, Peggy... I'm Kaga. This is Haku, Koyuki, and Kimimaro." He said making the introductions.

Peggy raised an eyebrow at Koyuki as he heard her name, giving her a smile.

"Koyuki you say?"

Koyuki nodded as Peggy looked at her with a smile.

"That's the same name as our beloved princess of the land of snow! You'll be getting extra special treatment onboard me-lady!" Peggy said as he gave her a large smile.

Koyuki blushed a little while the others simply smiled, with Haku laughing.

"T-Thank you," Koyuki said not sure what else to say as she punched Haku in the arm.

"Alright, how bout we make a move, it's a good weeks journey to the land of snow from here, let me show you where you will be staying," Peggy said, nodding at them to follow him.

They all followed him to the inside of the ship seeing the small cabins where they would be sleeping. The deck of the ship was quite large and the inside had a seating area where you could relax and eat with the engine room below that.

Kaga had already counted about 30 other crew members aboard the large ship and once Peggy left, he asked his students how many they had counted and tested them on the layout of the ship to see how observant they had been.

"I counted 30," Haku said.

"No way! I got 28!" Koyuki said, certain she was right.

"30." Kimimaro also said.

Kaga nodded.

"30 is correct. Koyuki I think you missed the two chefs that were chatting in the kitchen as we passed it." Kaga then added, filling her in on what she had missed.

Koyuki went a little red and crossed her arms angry at herself for losing to the others.

"Alright you two, why don't you go and explore the ship, get some food and report back to me with anything you find. Understood?" Kaga said to Haku and Koyuki.

They both nodded, standing to their feet before they left their cabin, leaving Kaga and Kimimaro alone.

"Why don't you tell me what's on your mind Kimimaro?" Kaga then said, knowing that the boy was still troubled.

Kimimaro wasn't surprised that he had caught on and sighed.

"it's nothing sensei..." He said clearly not wanting to share.

Kaga raised an eyebrow as Kimimaro stood to his feet and excused himself from the conversation, leaving Kaga in the cabin alone.

"Well, that went well... I guess I'll give him some space for now. Fuyōna did say he was struggling to come to terms with the three tails that was now inside of him." Kaga thought as he crossed his legs, remembering what Fuyōna had told him before the mission.

The first couple of days passed by without any issue for the group. Kaga had made them practice their chakra control by running on the surface of the ocean, following the boat for a good hour as they ran along the water after it. Haku and Koyuki had taken to it rather well, however, Kimimaro seemed to be lacking focus in his training, something that had not gone unnoticed by Haku,

After that he had them go over team battle formations and tactics that would utilize their abilities strengths and weaknesses so they could face different opponents in all sorts of situations. Once that was complete, it was time for food and after, Kaga let them work on whatever it was they wanted to do.

Kimimaro was still quiet and Kaga knew that he had not been sleeping much. Even Haku had noticed that something was wrong now and had decided to ask him what the matter was after training one day.

The three of them had just spent an hour running along the ever-changing surface of the ocean, using a lot of chakra concentration before they climbed back up the ship and onto the large deck. They were all out of breath now and Kimimaro was about to walk off when Haku stopped him, pulling him to the side for a moment.

"What's the matter Kimimaro?" He asked bluntly, his soft features fading for a moment as he pulled his arm.

Kimimaro was shocked that Haku was taking time to ask him like this but he simply shook his head.

"it's nothing Haku. I'm fine." Kimimaro said pulling his arm free of Haku and walking away from him.

Suddenly Kimimaro couldn't move and looked down to his feet, seeing they had been frozen over, trapping him in place.

"What are you doing Haku?" He asked, looking him in the eyes.

"You're not going anywhere until you talk to me Kimimaro," Haku said as he lowered his hands.

Kimimaro wasn't happy and frowned at his friend.

"I said let me go Haku," Kimimaro said in a more serious tone this time.

Koyuki noticed what was happening and could see that things were growing heated between the two of them. Of course, Kaga had also noticed this but decided to let them carry on thinking that maybe Haku would be able to get through to him.

"No," Haku said, looking Kimimaro in the eye as he too grew serious.

Kimimaro grit his teeth as he let bones grow from his feet to shatter the ice, freeing himself from Haku's grasp.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said as he turned his back on Haku again.

Kimimaro suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and turned around, using a quick bone blade from his arms to block a handful of senbon needles from hitting him.

Kimimaro was shocked that Haku had attacked him out of the blue like that and with intent to harm him too.

"What the hell!" Kimimaro said as he looked at Haku with anger on his face.

"Why won't you talk to me? I've been watching you Kimimaro... You won't talk to anyone and I know you are suffering. Why cant, you trust me?" Haku said in a hurt voice.

Kimimaro could see the hurt in Haku's eyes and it seemed to hit a soft spot inside of his soul.

"I... Haku... I'm..." He started.

"Look out! We're under attack!" A voice suddenly shouted, alerting everyone to a surprise attack of kunai with paper bombs that hit the deck all over the ship.

Kaga hadn't even seen the attack coming as he had been too focused on Haku and Kimimaro, making sure they weren't going to try and kill each other. Koyuki had also not seen anything and she froze as the kunai with paper bombs landed all around her on the deck, not knowing what to do.

"Get to cover!" Kaga shouted, getting everyone to move.

Haku could see that the paper bombs were about to explode and quickly made a hand sign letting ice form all around Koyuki, Kimimaro and anyone else on the deck to shield them from the explosion.

-BOOM!!!-

All of the paper bombs exploded and caused massive damage to the ship, blowing holes in the deck and the side of the ship, letting water from the ocean suddenly spill in.

"ATTACK!" A voice suddenly shouted as groups of pirates boarded the ship, all armed with swords as they stormed onto the ship, attacking anyone in their path.

Haku had saved everyone on the deck with his ice and quickly looked at Kimimaro and Koyuki, who nodded, taking action.

Kaga had also jumped into battle, saving two members of the crew as he quickly cut down a group of pirates that were about to kill them.

"Haku, use your ice to fill the holes and stop water leaking into the ship! Kimimaro, take the offensive and eliminate any and all enemies you come across with me! Koyuki, gather all of the survivors on the deck and protect them no matter what!" Kaga suddenly shouted, forming a plan in a split second before he vanished into action.

The others all nodded and Kimimaro looked at Haku, smiling before he dashed off to attack some of the pirates that had climbed onto the deck. Haku also smiled and flipped over the side of the ship, forming hand signs and using his ice style to freeze all of the water around the base of the ship, stopping any more water from leaking into it.

Kimimro dashed at the group of pirates and let his bones suddenly expel from his body as he jumped towards them, forming a spiral of razor-sharp spikes, killing any and all who dared get too close to him.

"Look out he's got some crazy ability!" One of them shouted, trying to warn the others.

But it was no use. Anyone who tried to attack Kimimaro was skewered by his bones as he ran through the group, slashing and thrusting, cutting them down one after the other like they were nothing.

Kaga had already finished off the last of the pirates that had made their way inside of the ship and decided it was time to put an end to this once and for all. He dropped the collar of the last pirate he had finished off to look out of one of the windows, seeing the enemy ship that had anchored next to their ship, while more pirates tried to board.

"I don't think so," Kaga said as he quickly made his way to the deck and jumped onto the railing as he faced the pirates.

The pirates could see Kaga standing there as he started to weave hand signs, panicking as they turned to their own captian.

"They have ninja bodyguards!" One of them shouted.

"What the hell! We were told this would be an easy target!" The captain said as he watched in horror while Kaga finished his hand signs.

"Quickly retreat!" The captain shouted.

However, their boat started to freeze over, and the pirate who was steering screamed in pain as his hands froze to the helm.

"What the hell is happening!" The crew screamed in horror as the ice continued to spread.

Kaga could see Haku had already started on his counter attack and trapped all of the pirates on their ship with his ice style.

"Guess it's my turn! It's over for you! Water style! Giant vortex Jutsu!" Kaga shouted as he pumped a huge amount of chakra into the water style jutsu.

Suddenly the ocean started to twist and turn under the pirate's ship, soon turning violent and forming a massive whirlpool.

"What the hell is this!" The pirate captain shouted.

Suddenly the ship was swept up by the powerful vortex that had formed in the ocean, ripping the boat to pieces as the powerful current took a hold of it, shattering the wood and twisting the metal while the crew screamed in horror before they were all dragged to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen from again.

Kaga breathed a sigh of relief as the water started to calm down, meaning he could take it easy from this point. Haku had already sealed all of the holes in the ship with his ice while using his water style to empty all of the water back out into the ocean.

Kimimaro had finished off all of the pirates without a scratch, as to be expected from him after all. Koyuki had also gathered all of the crew onto the deck, keeping them safe and out of harm's way. They had all seen the amazing abilities of the mist shinobi and were amazed they had dealt with the pirates with such ease.

Peggy was most pleased to see that not a single member of his crew had been harmed, thanks to the efforts of Kaga and his squad.

"A-Amazing! Thank you all so much!" He shouted over and over again as the rest of the crew cheered.

Kaga and the others gathered on the deck, telling them not to worry about it, and not long after they were back on track to the land of snow. Thankfully the ship engines had not been damaged and the crew quickly got to work to help try and repair the ship as best they could.

Haku walked over to Kimimaro and punched him on the arm, giving him a playful smile as he did.

Kimimaro returned his smile with one of his own, finally acting like his normal self again.

"Good to have you back with us," Kaga said, also noticing his expression.

Kimimaro nodded to his sensei.

"Yes... Thank you everyone for bearing with me." He said, bowing to them all.

"Alright, that's enough of that. Let's help out best we can with the repairs, alright?" Kaga then said. Getting a nod from the others.

The rest of the time passed without much issue and without any more attacks on the ship and before they knew it the land of snow had come into view.

"Land ahead!" One of the crew shouted as he spotted it.

Haku, Kimimaro and Koyuki all sat on the edge of the deck as they looked into the horizon at the land of snow.

"We're finally here," Kimimaro said.

"I can't wait to get back on dry land again!"Koyuki said having grown sick of the ocean.

"Well I don't think it's dry in the and of snow, Koyuki," Kaga said as he appeared behind his students, surprising them.

Everyone laughed and greeted their sensei, looking back to the land of snow as it came into sight.

"I want you all to be on guard once we arrive, is that understood.

The three of them nodded, picking up on the seriousness of Kaga's tone when he said it.

"Anything could happen here..." Kaga said as he folded his arms over his chest, seeming overly serious.

The three genin all nodded and looked towards the land of snow, preparing themselves for anything like Kaga said, with the sunrise shining upon them brightly as the new day started.

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Ok going to end this chapter here! I do hope you enjoyed it! Also, what do you think is going to happen in the land of snow! Let me know in the comments aha!

Remember if you want more chapter quickly, head over to my P.a.t.r.e.o.n page to check it out!

Link is in the story Bio and description.