Daybreak | Kakashi Hatake

13

The sun hadn't even begun to rise whenever someone knocked on Mare's door. She furrowed her brows and slipped from bed. She opened the door and saw a vaguely familiar face.

The young shinobi in front of her bowed respectfully before speaking in a fast whisper, "I'm sorry for coming so late, but I thought you should be the first to know. I'm sorry if you were sleeping."

"I wasn't," she answered evenly, keeping a cool eye on the kid. "What's going on?"

"There was a sighting of Ezume Nakagawa in the Land of Snow outside of Hyougagakure."

"The Land of Snow?"

The shinobi nodded. They dropped their eyes before replying, "I know you look for your brother still. A lot of the others, they say you're crazy for looking for a traitor, but..." they trailed off.

Her head tilted to the side as she asked, "But?"

"I know what it's like to lose everyone. If I wasn't certain of their fate, I would look forever for my siblings."

"I'm sorry for your losses," she spoke quietly, before adding with a faint smile, "Thank you for telling me."

The shinobi nodded, whispered "Good luck, Mare," and then quietly bounded away.

She stood on the threshold, her mind racing with thoughts on what to do next. She had to go to Hyougagakure. It didn't matter if only one person saw Ezume, that was enough to light a spark under her. She quickly ran into her room, changed clothes and readied her things before jumping into the night. Her heart raced as she ran in the direction of the Land of Snow.

The sun had started to peek from behind the mountains and glaciers in the distance, but she wouldn't be in Hyougagakure until the next day. She had been smart enough to throw on a thick cloak before leaving, but the sharp wind was still whipping across her bare face. She pulled the wool tighter against her face and yawned deeply. She couldn't rest, not yet, not until she found Ezume or at least gave it a good shot.

Mare continued racing towards the village, praying to every god she could think of that she would find her big brother this time. There had been so many failures, surely this time would be successful. Right? After all, someone had seen him in Hyougagakure, so he had to have at least been there at some point, even if he wasn't now.

Her heart pounded as she began working herself up. She had to stop. There was no point in getting ahead of herself. She had broken her own heart so many times while searching for him; she had to keep her head on her shoulders and think clearly. There was always a chance she wouldn't find him. She had to keep that in mind.

The day passed uneventfully. She thought about the book Kakashi had given her and how she had yet to finish it. It was in her bag, she would read some of it later, after looking for Ezume. That was her first and only priority.

She had never been this far north and took a moment to soak in the beautiful white landscape. Snow had begun slowly falling around her, sticking to her cloak and getting mixed in her dark hair. Mare stopped and held her hand out, letting snowflakes fall into her hand. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into a memory.

"Jiro!" she squealed. "Stop!"

The little boy threw a snowball that hit her in the face. She brushed the snow away and scooped a big handful of snow to throw back at him. As she reared her arm back, a hand caught her forearm and she snapped her neck back.

"We don't have time to be messing around," Ezume spoke. His blue eyes were a reflection of Mare's, but they were weathered with the responsibility on his shoulders. His siblings were under his care and he would be damned if anything happened to them.

He wanted them to understand the seriousness of their situation without scaring them and he knew Mare understood far more than Jiro. After all, the youngest boy was still young and innocent. He had been spared the gruesome details of his parents' deaths at the discretion of his older brother.

"Come on, Jiro. Let's go," Ezume called out.

The little boy trudged through the snow and asked, "How much longer until we get to that big village you and Mare keep talking about?"

"It shouldn't be too much farther."

Her eyes snapped open at the low rumble of something falling. She watched as the toe of a glacier gave away and ice began slipping down the face and crashing into the packed snow below.

"It shouldn't be too much farther," she repeated to herself as she picked up her pace getting to the village in the glaciers.

She arrived the next day, early in the morning whenever the sun was tinting the sky light pink. The village was already busy and she looked around in awe at the beautiful white buildings against the bright white landscape.

Mare went into the first shop that caught her eye and went up to the counter. A young woman was standing there with a big smile on her face as she greeted Mare. She managed a weak smile and asked if she could ask her a couple questions.

"Sure," the woman answered with a smile.

"Have you seen a man around here that looks kinda like this?" Mare asked as she held up the photo of her, Ezume, Jiro, and Ao. She pointed at Ezume and held her breath waiting for an answer.

"Hmm," the shopkeeper hummed before shaking her head. "I'm sorry I don't think I have, but you should go to the Royal Palace and ask for Kazahana Yuki."

"The Royal Palace?" Mare tilted her head a bit.

"It's the huge castle built into the glacier. You can't miss it, with all those huge icy spikes and waterfalls. Go there and you'll find an answer. Kazahana knows everything!"

Kazahana knows everything? Let's hope so.

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