Tis' the Season to be Freezin'

Yamato took a deep breath. ‘This should be the final one.’ he thought to himself, and he knocked three times. Some snow fell from the top of the decorative clan symbol made from branches and leaves hanging on the wooden door. Yamato was standing in front of the nice little hut on the outer part of Tanbogakure’s residential area, waiting for an answer. He eventually heard a feint voice coming from inside the house, but couldn’t make up any words. A few more seconds later, a woman in her 40’s answered the door. "Is this the..." Yamato checked his notes to confirm the name, "Suzuki Household?". The woman nodded. "Is there something wrong? How can I help?". Yamato shook his head with a smile, "I’m just here to deliver a package.". A slightly older woman’s head entered the frame from behind the half-open door. "From who?" the second woman asked. The two seemed vaguely similar, so Yamato assumed they must be family. The Yamanaka checked his notes again before answering, "Aiko Suzuki?". Yamato held the package up towards them. When they heard the name, big smiles appeared on both of their faces. The first woman who opened the door took the package and rushed back in. Yamato had the other sign for the delivery, and they shut the door. Yamato took a second before he moved on.

He walked back down the short set of stairs that led to the front door, and walked out of the porch back into the snow-covered streets of Tanbo. A few blocks down he noticed his colleague returning from delivering a letter. The younger man had short brown hair and wore his headband on his forehead. He smiled and waved at Yamato. Yamato softly waved back. The man approached him. "So you’re done with yours?". "Yes." Yamato answered, "It’s a half-day, so I’m gonna go home now.". "Oh you have plans or something?". Yamato sighed. "No, Reiki, I don’t.". "Oh well. Don’t forget to take your own letters!". Yamato took a few seconds to answer the cheerful young colleague of his. "I don’t have any.". He started walking. "Oh!" Reiki said to his back as the blonde man left. "Sorry! I didn’t mean to-”.

A few minutes later, Yamato was home. Snow had gathered in front of his door that he had to clean before he could get in. He took a few more seconds. He put his key in the lock. It stuck. He tried it a few more times. Finally, an air of heat from inside greeted him. Some snow still managed to get inside and wet the wooden tiles of his apartment. Yamato was gonna rush in to clean it as fast as possible, but something caught his eye. A letter. Sitting perfectly centered in his hallway. Shivers went down Yamato’s spine. Moments ago he had felt some sadness about not having friends or family caring about him, wondering about him. But this? Somebody from his past knowing he was here, without Yamato knowing about it? The idea frightened the Yamanaka. ‘It must be from the Kage.’ he told himself, ‘He must finally be inviting me for a one-on-one meeting, to get to know the man who’s saving his village.’.

Yamato stepped in. He closed the door. Without taking any of his clothes off, he bent down and took the letter. There were no names on it. The sigil on the front seemed immaculate, but at the same time, unfamiliar to Yamato. In this case, unfamiliar wasn’t bad news. So, maybe it wasn’t the Tanbo village leader sending him a hand-written invite for afternoon tea. But this also meant it wasn’t Kiri or Suna. No news was good news. Still, this was curious. He checked the outside of the letter one last time before finally opening it and reading its components.

‘Dear Yamato Tanaka, Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sincerely, Yoi.’

Who was Yoi? And this seal that Yamato had no way of confirming was a teleportation seal to begin with, let alone safe? This was surely either a trap or a prank by one of his less serious colleagues. Yamato sighed. He went inside and poured himself a cup of tea. He sat next to the front window with the radiator in front of it. He had a book sitting on a coffee table, with a small piece of paper marking where he had left off. ‘The Best of Times, The Hearst of Times: A King’s Self-Biography’ the title read. It was an okay read. It didn’t capture him at the moment though. He looked around. Nothing did. He had no paperwork. He looked outside. Kids were playing with snowballs and building snowmen. He saw the last few packages get delivered. As the person delivering the post passed through the houses around his, he still held out a little hope that his door would be knocked on as well. He watched the letters get delivered for a few more minutes, sipping his tea, pretending to focus on reading his book. The delivery never arrived.

Yamato picked up the letter once again. He read through it. He checked out the seal, as if he could confirm what it did with certainty if he just stared long enough. ‘Best case scenario…’ he thought, ‘It’s just more work. Today, the one day I have the afternoon off.’. He sighed. He looked around. What was the worst that could happen? It couldn’t be much worse than his current situation, surely? ‘Still better than nothing, I guess.’. He sighed, closed his eyes and activated the seal.

His skin felt the air around him change in an instant. He opened his eyes and saw the scenery. He was in a small bakery. There was one other person in the room. "Hi?" Yamato oddly felt like starting the conversation himself, "Yamato Tanaka. From Tanbogakure. At your service. Are you a resident or did you arrive here..." he held the letter in front of him, "...same way I did?". He awaited a reply. On one of the counters, he saw a folded paper with something written on it. Yamato looked more closely. It said:

‘Sorry I can’t be there, setting up the festival. Please protect the shop. -Yoi’

Yamato pointed at the paper sign, then spoke again. "Hopefully Yoi is more trustable with payment than with showing up to meetings.".

Yamato realized the person he thought he was speaking to at first turned out to be a cardboard cutout of a mascot. Luckily, a silver-haired woman appeared shortly so not all of his words would get lost in the empty room. "Nice to meet you too, Hikari. Yamato Tanaka of Tanbo, like I said a second before you arrived.". He looked outside to note the figures that must have been their partners for the mission. A short time later, one of the two figures waiting outside had barged in, addressing the woman as if they had known each other for some time. "You two know each other?" Yamato asked inquisitively, "From the same village? Again...". He turned to face Zunair, "I’m Yamato Tanaka, from Tanbogakure. I didn’t pick up if I’ve heard your name yet.".

The job was already turning out to be a lot more social than the other plans Yamato had: playing chess by himself, playing shogi by himself, reading books, playing go by himself. In fact, if there was one more person after the man still smoking outside, it might have been to much at once for Yamato to handle. He did not manage social situations skillfully, to say the least. "Yes, the summoning letter? I am actually surprised so many others blindly trusted the letter. It seemed really sketchy. It was not a wise decision, perhaps, but I must admit I had nothing better to do anyway. What about you all?". Yamato also asked this to the smoking person, if he had come in at this point, "What brought you all here, during the holiday season? No family to celebrate with, no other jobs? Not judging of course, I’m on that boat myself.".

Yamato had only been in the bakery for a short amount of time, and there had really been no outside danger yet, but even the sudden need to socialize was a little bit too much for him, all at once. He found himself more nervous than when he had actually been under the threat of death on missions. "So… Uh… Weather’s so… Cold… Right?". He then heard Zunair invite the group to enjoy the baked goods, "Um, I don’t think we’re supposed to...". He brought out the letter to read it again. "I… I don’t think they’re meant for us. It would say on the letter, I think, if we were allowed to eat the things...". He looked around at all of the pastries and sweets. "No matter...", the smell filled the air, but all of the subtly different food would create waves in the wind so that Yamato would get hit by a new scent every few seconds, "How tasty… They seem… I’m sure they’re meant for… People… Not on the job...". He was hardly able to focus. This really was like a dream place. One Yamato had taken for granted until it had been pointed out to him. "I think Yoi should let us know when we will be done with our shift… Then we’ll be free to eat whatever we want, I bet… Oh the croissants seem wonderful though...". He turned to Hikari, "What do you think, Hikari? We shouldn’t… Right?".

Yamato was being swept in by the scent of the wonderful baked goods within the store, when Hikari spoke his name and caught his attention. "I hoped you’d agree. The wolf… Your familiar? What’s its name?". The smoking man also seemed to have finally joined the rest of them. He walked in and sat in the corner without saying a word, which irked Yamato. "Yamato Tanaka." he introduced himself yet again, looking at the white-haired young man directly, "What about you? Here for the mission as well?".

Soon after, their employer revealed himself to the group. He looked… Interesting, to say the least. Not like any man Yamato had met before. The Yamanaka appreciated finally being able to put a face on the man offering them money for their services, but the man’s behavior seemed sketchy nonetheless. It seemed this was already a finished job, and Yoi was hurrying them to do another one elsewhere. There would be hell to pay, if the animal-eared man refused to pay at the end of it all. "Very well." Yamato answered, both the mission, and Zunair confirming it. "I’ll be honest, that is the easiest job I’ve ever done since I’ve joined Tanbo.".

Zunair had a warning for the group, it seemed. Yamato took warnings seriously. "Battle might be in our near future." Yamato said. A second later, sounds of crashing and breaking could be heard from within the workshop they were standing in front of. "I think it’s high time we discuss some tactics. Anybody favor being on the front or the back? I have some basic training, and some weapons on me, but nothing too fancy I’m afraid. What do the rest of you offer in combat, if you don’t mind sharing?". He would listen carefully to all of the words being spoken, as their life might have depended on this information very shortly. Yamato took out two kunai, holding them between the fingers of his right hand, which he fashioned into a fist. "Who wants to go in first?" Yamato then asked. He didn’t seem particularly interested in it himself.