The Winter Wonderland Miracle

Jun was a bit hesitant with the whole situation he and the other 3 shinobi were caught in. His head was still dizzy, his mouth was super dry and his head was killing him, and now they had to save Christmas! The young Shibasaki clansman had a 100% completion rate when it came to his previous missions, but doing Santa’s work would be his hardest quest yet.

After Mrs. Clause finished her briefing and the little elves were carrying the sleighs with gigantic piles of gifts, the other Shinobis started to get ready to play Santa for a night: Ban got tired of the elves struggling to palce the gifts inside her sleigh and took actions by her own hands as the Hozuki would grab an empty large red velvet sack of presents and started speed throwing the presents in the bag while the elves watched on her do their jobs much more efficiently. Zunair at first seemed uninterested in saving Christmas, as he started walking around the shop as everyone was getting ready, but his mood improved a lot when he found Mrs. Claus secret vodka stash and returned to the area they were before with a peppermint vodka bottle, ready to make some Christmas Magic.

And his compatriot, Saturn… well, he was just being the same old Saturn. Drinking rum from what appeared to be an infinite number of liquor flasks that came out of his pockets, mind controlling people all around and making erratic and sarcastic comments left and right. But besides being sick and heavily intoxicated, he was also determined to save Christmas and volunteered to deliver the gifts over Fire, and Rice, Tea and Coffee Countries… Coffer? Jun was pretty sure that wasn’t an actual country, but whatever. He hopped on his sleigh with his two puppets/personal musicians and before taking out, threw a rum flask right at Jun.

The young genin’s reflexes weren’t sharp given his hangover state, and he almost fumbled the flask, but manage to grab it with the tip of his fingers. He looked at it, still feeling the effects from last night and wishing to never drink again. On the other hand, he remembered his late uncle’s words, a man who deeply appreciated some sake: “The best cure for a hangover is to keep drinking…”. Jun wasn’t sure if this was actually a thing or if his uncle only made this up as an excuse to drink sake every single day. Nevertheless, Jun needed a bit of courage so he decided to have a little sip. The rum went down Jun's throat like hot lava and landed in his stomach like a nuclear bomb. Jun held the vomit in his mouth and took a deep breath so as not to embarrass himself there in front of everyone.

But, the alcohol did its job like magic and surprisingly Jun was feeling better, perhaps his uncle wasn’t just a drunk bastard and he actually had some useful knowledge to share. Jun’s mind was sharp once again and his head stopped spinning, so he went to the sleigh the elves were loading for him, and hopped on it, feeling anxious to drive it through the skies.

- LET’S FUCKING GOOO – yeah, it only took one sip, and Jun was drunk once again. He pointed at two of the little elves loading his sleigh and shouted at them – I WANT SOME MUSIC AS WELL, YOU TWO LITTLE BASTARDS, WITH ME!


- Sorry sir, or job here is just to make the gifts and prepare the sleighs…

- I DON’T CARE, I WANT MUSIC! CHRISTMAS MUSIC! – Jun now activated his Tengans and made a very serious face towards the elves to coerce them into joining him, which they did, scared by the young genin’s burning eyes

And there he went, with a giant sack of gifts and two elves singing Christmas songs. Jun’s coordinates pointed towards Wind country first, which was a bit far away from the Winter Wonderland. On his way, Jun emptied the rest of the flask Saturn gave him, while doing some pretty dangerous air maneuvers while screaming:

- TODAY, ALCOHOL IS SAVING CHRISTMAS!

And that was Jun’s final memories from Christmas night. He woke up the next morning in an in an unfamiliar horse stable, using Santa's sack of presents as a sleeping bag. He looked around, not having the slightest idea if he had successfully delivered the gifts the night before, and was faced with an absolutely chaotic scene: Santa’s sleigh just went through the stable’s wooden walls, leaving a massive hole behind. The reindeers and elves that had accompanied Jun the night before were sprawled around the place, looking absolutely inebriated as well, and inside the sleigh there was now a pile of empty rum, cider and vodka bottles instead of the pile of gifts from the night before. Jun was realizing that he maybe had a drinking problem…

- What the f….

---

WC: 825
TWC: 2525

The trio was the spitting image of what Ban hated about men. They were loud, and messy, and had the audacity to run their mouth around Ban. Saturn was off calling her a "baka" like a schoolboy. Zunir called Ban "dear" as if he had the right to speak to her. Jun was so flushed with alcohol that it seemed to have gotten to his ears as he shouted every word. The only person in the crew that Ban was beginning to like was the Octopus attached to Saturn, who knocked some sense into his owner/summoner when speaking to Mrs. Claus disrespectfully. Ban was going to do it if the octopus hadn't. Perhaps all those boys need to get knocked up a bit to learn a lesson.

Despite the boy being irritating, Ban continued to carry out her part of the mission. Seeing all the presents loaded up and their plan was settled, Ban would take off to the night sky. She was determined to beat the boys in delivering all the presents and then be the first one back at the warehouse. That way when the boys came back, she could smack them sooner for how they treated her.

Cupid and Vixen pulled the sleigh out from the warehouse and onto the runway. On Ban's signal, the two took off down the runway. As they reached the right velocity, the reindeer and sleigh would start to pick off the ground and into the starry horizon heading east.

The view from the sleigh was incredible and awe-smacking. Ban had never flown before. She had steered a boat most of her life and other than that been on dry land. She could see everything like it were just a topographical map. Vixen and Cupid were gracefully gliding through the sky, adding to a calm and awesome experience.

Once Ban had gotten to the Island country, she would stop at the smaller villages that littered the nation. Using her advanced ninja skills, she would sneakily go into the houses of the children and leave behind their presents. Some of the houses even left out milk and cookies for "Santa" to eat, which she did. Ban didn't have trouble getting into Kiri to deliver the presents either, despite the barrier that surrounded the island. It seemed Santa's sleighs allowed him to bypass the security. Ban was enjoying the job too much to care about the possible hazards of this ability.

Ban spends the whole night going to the house, island to island, delivering presents under trees before returning to Winter Wonderland and the warehouse. By then, twilight was just coming and the rest of the crew should've been returning soon. Ban would get outside of her sleigh and wait for the drunken shinobi to return back. Maybe they would get lucky since Ban was now in a good mood.
WC: 478
TWC: 2101

Saturn had his own ideas on how to set things right. Jumping onto the edge of the sleigh, he took aim at the cart of the bandit. Mimas in his grip throbbed desperately, pleading him to think of something else, but the fortuneteller had already made up his mind. Peering over the edge, he saw two bandits on the other sleigh. Taking aim, he flung Mimas at the head of the second bandit.

An audible shrill scream could be heard from the purple sludgy blob as it morphed back into its original form in time to wrap its tentacles around the head of the bandit. Octopus Suction no Jutsu, they called it. As for Saturn, he turned around to face Dunder's sleigh  as he leaped. He signed Rat, then Monkey, and sent an orb of space time energy that struck the vehicle and shifted its mass directly backwards at a speed of 80, setting it back on a straight line course a few meters behind the falling sleigh of the bandits. Upon landing on the bandit's sleigh, he was quick to throw hands with the assailant, exchanging blows until the scarred man grabbed his skull and slammed him into the floor of the sleigh with enough force to set it back on a straight line path as well.

The intense battle between Saturn and the bandit was one for the books. As the bandit relentlessly pummeled Saturn with his fists, the Genin fought back with all his might. The bandit's strikes were strong and spilled the Genin's blood all over, but Saturn was determined not to be defeated. He fought with all his might, using his fists and legs, he landed a punch in the bandit's face, breaking his nose and making blood pour out. The bandit was not done yet, he fought back fiercely, but Saturn was not one to be underestimated.

Saturn had an ace up his sleeve, his trusty black tanto. The sword could not be seen in dark conditions. He reached for it and before the bandit could land a devastating blow to his cranium, he plunged it into the bandit's chest with Sacred Spear, a chakra extension of his blade that pierced his heart. The man would be launched several meters into the air before falling off the sleigh, ending the fight as Saturn stood up victorious and wiped the blood off his face. 

But the fight was not over yet, as he turned his attention to the second bandit who was still struggling against Mimas, Saturn's octopus companion. "Mimas, use throat chop!" he commanded, and Mimas knew exactly what to do. With a swift strike of its tentacle, the bandit was knocked out cold. Next to them, Dunder and Comet neighed loudly to grab his attention Their fight had irreparably damaged the bandit's sleigh, and one of the reindeer who piloted the vehicle was hanging by its ropes. It had been pierced by Saturn's blade inadvertently. He hastily grabbed Mimas and the unconscious bandit, and used instant transmission to teleport quickly back to Dunder's sleigh. 

 The musician duo by this point were completely quiet. They were visibly traumatized, and so was Mimas, and so was Saturn. When the walkie talkie rang again, he picked it up immediately.

"Are you alright?" Father Time asked in a calm and patient voice.

"What the fuck?! What the fuck was that?! We almost died! I've killed a man. And a reindeer. And Mimas almost died. And Shigeo, and Takashi, and Dunder, and Comet! You'll answer for th-"


*BLEEP*



"AAAAAAGGGGHHH!!"


He then received a text message from Father Time on the same device. The others would receive an identical message on the devices on their own sleighs if they checked. It read as follows:

"Dear {USERNAME],


Sorry about the bandits, my bad. They tracked you by your walkie-talkie and now the rest of your crew is in danger too. But don't worry, we'll catch those bandits faster than a Ninja Santa sliding down the chimney (with your help).


By the way, we need you to find Ureshii, the Baby New Year. He's been kidnapped and we need him back ASAP.


Late but never too late,
Father Time"

"What a deadbeat! He didn't even bother editing the typo!" Saturn muttered, and threw his hands up, flailing them in despair. It became apparent that Father Time had signed them up for the task already, and the bandits seemed to have some solid intel. Perhaps there was a snitch within the workshop. With this in mind, Saturn placed his hand on the unconscious bandit's forehead to use Psycho Mind Transmission, in an attempt to read his mind. He couldn't learn anything about the source of the bandit's intel. However, he gathered that Ureshii was being held captive on the highest mountain peak within Winter Wonderland, and only Santa's Sleigh - with all four of its parts put together into one piece - can travel there safely and on time. The trek was too long, and it would take too long for the crew to reach the top by foot, since New Year was just around the corner.

---

---

Approved

While Zunair did enjoy, and was, drinking at the moment, he didn't necessarily feel drunk. He still had about three-fourths of a bottle left and was almost finished with the volcano country. The horrible terrain and the unbearable heat from the volcanos were undeniably uncomfortable, especially to the set of two, reindeer. Zunair didn't know how any human could live here. He doesn't even know if these creatures were even human. They looked humanoid enough, but their soulless skin and blood-soaked eyes gave an indication they were something otherworldly. He remembered a story in Konoha's library describing these walkers of the night, a gruesome event of how they came to be was written in one of the oldest tales. Devouring one of the Chinoiki gave them unnatural long life and the thirst for blood.

As soon as Zunair arrived, he wanted to leave. Everything here made his skin crawl; not because it was disgusting but the fact that mystery and horror lurked around every corner and onto every rooftop. Not only was he on alert, but so were Blixen and Dasher. The trio proceeded with caution and swiftness to every 'child's' home. Most if not all, entire families were still awake at the ungodly hours of the night, he should've known that too. The most sleepless race. Fortunately, Zunair was well versed in space-time ninjutsu, just like jolly ole' Santa Claus, so could teleport into the homes, with the help of his Byakugan, unseen and unheard.

Even though Zunair felt like his area of coverage was the deadliest and furthest away, it was also the smallest number of civilians and area to cover, since it was just one big island. It didn't take long for the trio to finish. Once completed at the last house, Zunair teleported the group back to Mrs. Claus's shop instead of flying back, easier and quicker than the latter.

The warm embrace and sweet scents surrounded Zunair's entire figure as he stepped out of the sleigh. Unlike before, Mrs. Claus was actually a lot calmer. Maybe stress and chaos effected even the most joyous of auras. However, it seemed that a few, if not all, has returned yet, so Zunair's reward will still be waiting until the other finishes the job. He understood and he hoped the others had a more relaxing journey then he had. Zunair watched as the littles but the sleigh away for it be merged with the others, unaware of the message that popped up onto its screen.

Quickly telling Blixen and Dasher farewell, he began his journey towards town. Even though it was still late or early, parties and events were still going on. He assumed that since the gifts were being delivered the townsfolk were actually happy. He was glad to see them happy again, maybe without the help of Saturn. Candy cane lanes and kaleidoscopes of colors resonated off the snowy village, giving it that color it needed.

Walking up to a stand that was popped up on the street, he saw they were offering an assortment of goods and hot chocolate. Yum. While Zunair much desired to drink the rest of the contents in the peppermint vodka bottle, he figured he would save it for when the others got back. Taking a pastry and cup of hot chocolate, Zunair continued on his merry way down the street. The garnish was filled with a strawberry flavor with white cream drizzled over the top of it. It did wonders to the Hyūga's tastebuds, plus with hot drink, Zunair was in a state of euphoria.

As Zunair wondered, his travels led him inside the town's library, 'Winters' Wonders'. The building inside had a rustic feel to it but also an inviting aura, almost like going to your grandmother's house. There was only one other person in the building beside the creation rebirth user and that was the librarian, who was sitting at the front of the building. Giving a warm smile and a nod, Zunair began his descent down the aisles and rows of books, looking for anything that piqued his interest.

Nothing really had alerted Zunair's intention to read, so instead of continuing to look through the rest of the aisles, he just activated his byakugan to read the rest of the room. Once doing this, something did catch his eye. Behind one of the bookshelves, was a secret room with a book sitting upon a peddlestoll. Now, Zunair with his curious nature was definitely intrigued by it, so doing what he does best, he teleported himself into the room.

Looking upon the book with his normal eyes now, the book was bound by a strange leather material that almost resembled...dried human skin. Walking forward, he picked up the rather heavy book that titled 'The Trails of Minaguya' and opened the pages. Horrifying pictures or dismembered victims and blood rituals filled the pages. Strange markings appeared on pages throughout the book. They were, what appears as, some type of summoning contracts but nothing like he has ever seen before as they need an actually living body to be summoned. What is this book? He could feel a dark energy radiating off of it. Turning the page, it seemed like it was another ritual. However, this time, it had an actual target named, apparently the baby new year, Ureshii, a portal should open. The page says nothing after that other than that when Santa is out sick, they'll get the baby. Santa sick? He's sick right now? So, is the kidnapping underway right now?

Turning to another page, what he saw was a picture of a familiar face. Similar eyes to Zunair but unnaturally white skin, and almost an alienic form. Where has he seen this person before? Person was as a stretch; creature should be more befitting. However, he was certain he has saw her before. Spending a few moments studying her face, he come to shocking realization, the face resembles Mrs. Claus! It can't be, can it? Maybe they just have similar features. No, Zunair was certain that their faces were the same.

Closing the book and putting it back on the peddlestoll, he teleported back outside. Was that book in there even real? Those pictures were definitely real, was Mrs. Claus behind all this? He didn't even want to know, he just wanted he money and to leave. He wondered if the others got back as he ran towards the shop, hoping someone from the group was there. 

"Rats shouldn't be lurking where their nose are not wanted," an eerie voice whispered seemingly into his ear as he turned to look where the voice was coming from. An entity, the one similar to the picture, was floating above him.

"M..Mrs. Claus," Zunair stuttered as he witnesses that she was holding one the elves by the throat.

"Tell anyone what you saw, I'll burn this village to the ground and start killing your actual friends, do not get in my way, this is your only warning," the woman in white said before seemingly disappearing from view but not after she snapped the elf's neck, killing him and taking him with him. What the fuck did he just witness, what did he get himself into? Whatever the case maybe be, he took off back to the warehouse.

Activating his Byakugan, he saw that Ban and Saturn was there. A sigh of relief waved over Zunair's entire being as seeing some sort of comrade calmed his nerves. Suppressing his nervous emotions, he entered the building that held Ban and Saturn. Should he tell them what found? Maybe not? He didn't know what to do. But for now, just talk. That's when he heard Saturn ask Ban where the others are, "I'm right here, miss me?" Zunair tried to flirt but his words more so fumbled out of his mouth with nervousness.

TWC: 4,198

If Jun’s hangover from the night before Christmas was something else, today’s hangover was just colossal. The young genin was still a lightweight when it comes to drinking, as he just started during his stay in the Winter Wonderlands, so after a wild night of non-stop drinking followed by a second ever wilder one in the company of Santa’s elves and two reindeers while riding a flying sleigh absolutely destroyed the Shibasaki clansman. His memory was blurred, and Jun could remember only flashes of moments from the night before, which usually involved dangerous air maneuvers with the sleigh, Jun throwing presents down chimneys, and stealing booze from the houses he visited.    


After waking up, he was still processing the chaotic scene around him. Where was him? Whose stable was that? How things got to that point? Who will pay for the hole in the all? Without being able to answer any of this questions, Jun decided to ask one of the elves about their adventures last night. He went at the one sleeping nearby the sleigh and poked him, trying the awaken the clearly wasted elf.

- Yo, little one… did we finish the job last night?

Without even opening his eyes, the elf just nodded and gave Jun a “thumbs up”, before turning around and falling asleep once again. Well, at least they did their part in saving Christmas. The young Kumon genin thought about going back into the gift sack to get some extra sleep as he was still stunned by the hangover, when suddenly he listened to someone knocking the stable’s front door. “There is a hole in the freaking wall… why there is someone knocking?”. Jun walked over to the door looking like a zombie, just trying to survive and just opened it… BANG!

Jun was sent flying halfway across the stable to the opposite direction of the door with a powerful front kick as he opened it. The young genin had his eyes barely open and could only see a strange shadowy figure before receiving the powerful strike and being launched across the stable. It was indeed a very strong blow, hitting the hangover genin without he could even react, causing a lot of pain on the left side of his midsection, most likely having his ribs cracked as he was having difficulties in breathing and was coughing some blood, and he could sense 4 figures approaching as he was still trying to get back on his feet. The young Shibasaki clansman was caught far from his sharpest state of mind and was an easy prey for his assailants.

What followed was a barrage of kicks and punches to the helpless genin on the ground, ho could only try to protect his head and injured ribs as he kept being beat up. After what seemed from Jun's perspective an eternity of strikes, his aggressors suddenly stopped and silence took over the stable, until then the noise of a katana being drawn echoed through the room.

- It’s over now, little Santa wannabe… ha ha, what a joke of a Ninja - said one of Jun's attackers before letting out a grim laugh, being then joined by the other men who attacked the young shinobi, laughing at the fallen shinobi before executing him.

The Shibasaki clansman had already accepted his fate, that’s how it would all end after all… in an unknown stable, assassinated by unknown assassins in an unknown village, knowing that the only reason he was in that state was because of some heavy drinking. “After all, my mother was right when she told me to never start drinking…” thought the genin while waiting for the final blow.

But instead of the sound of a striking sword slashing through the air, all that Jun could hear were screams. Yes, screams, loud ones, coming from the man that was about to execute Jun. “GET HIM OUT OF ME” screamed him repeatedly. The young genin was able to lift his head for a bit, only to see one of the little elves, riding on the back of one of the men while biting his neck and pulling his hair, as A he moved frantically trying to fend off the elf. While chaos ensued and his aggressors were distracted,
Jun started to slowly get back on his feet.

Unfortunately for the little one, he was no match for the 4 attackers, and after causing some havoc, one of the bandits was finally able to grab him from his partner’s back and threw him hard on the floor, knocking him out by the impact. The one holding the katana seemed really mad at the elf, with his neck bleeding all over, so he just impaled the poor creature with his katana, before removing the sword from his small torso and kicking him at Jun’s direction.

- NO, LITTLE ONE! – screamed a now almost back to his feet Jun Shibasaki.

This made the young kumon really, really mad, which made him snap out of his hangover state and, besides all the damage he endured, being covered in blood and bruises, he was back at his normal state of mind.


- NOW YOU WILL PAY, BAKAS! – screamed again Jun, before activating his Stage 3 Tengan, the mighty burning eyes of the Shibasaki clan.

Witnessing the bright orange flames coming out of Jun’s eyes, the bandits seemed to hesitate for a moment, and that was all that Jun needed. “Serpent→  Ox → Tiger → Hare → Ram → Dog →  Dragon” Jun swiftly formed those handseals, before his eyes would start to glow even brighter than before.


- TAIOYOTON: REZAAIZU!

After shouting this words, Jun fired a huge, cylindrical beam of pure Solar Chakra from his Tengans, that quickly reached and engulfed the 4 bandits, absolutely wiping they out of existence in a matter of seconds as they were turned into ash. With his eyes still extremely heated, with some smoke still coming out of them, Jun could see that he erased half the stable, and at the background of the destruction path left by his jutsu, the Winter Wonderland’s colorful houses, about 500m from their location, as it seemed that he landed at the city’s outskirts last night.

He looked at the wounded elf with his Tengans and could detect that his body was still pretty warm, so his heart was still pumping blood. He rushed towards him, taking the little elves into his shoulder, being able to feel his frail heartbeat, and ran as fast as he could back to christmas village. Perhaps his teammates would have already returned the workshop… and Jun knew Zunair was a medical ninja and could perhaps heal his savior. That was his best choice in saving the little one.

Pumped by adrenaline, Jun quickly arrived at the workshop and slammed the front door open, entering the place with the little injured elf at his shoulder, all beaten up and covered in blood.

- HE NEEDS A DOCTOR!

---

WC: 1165
TWC: 3690

Despite the joyful nature of christmas, there was something devious in the air. Unknown to Ban, there was something sinster watching closely. Saturn arrived on his sleigh shortly after Ban. When he arrived, Ban noticed that he was panicked. Soemthing happened to him while on his journey that got him spooked. "I haven't seen the others-" just as Ban replied, Zunir walked through the entrance. He also sounded odd, instead of panicked, Ban could feel his nerves. "Why are ya'll acting so weird?" Was delivering presents really that difficult for these shinobi? Ban wondered.

Suddenly the large pine doors slammed open. Jun was carrying a bloodied elf body, requesting help immediately. "What the hell is happening?" Ban was so shocked with the number of weird events going on. She had no idea what was about to come next. As the crew was addressing the needs of the injured elf, the lights in the warehouse flash off, leaving them all completely in the dark. Ban pulled out her kunai and stayed close to the others, making sure to cover their backs.

"It seems you've completed your mission of delivering all the presents. Santa would be very thankful." The voice sounded like Mrs. Claus however much colder and sharp. "I promised you all a reward, didn't I? Well now you're all here to receive it at once!" The voice cut off and disappeared. Faint foot steps could be heard by the trained shinobi. About a dozen thugs surrounded them, all armed and ready to finish the job.

Ban weaved some handsigns and the air of around the crew became dense with moisture. Water style: Water Dragon Bullet!  A serpant began to form around the crew, protecting them from any of the thugs getting closer. Then Ban launched her jutsu at the warehouse doors, blasting through and creating and opening out of the warehouse. The light poured into the warehouse and Ban could see again. "Let's go!" She commanded as she launched some shuriken at anyone who got to close.

The crew was able to get out of the warehouse. Ban was fuming with rage. "Alright, finish taking care of that elf and those thugs. I'm going after Mrs. Claus." Ban leaped off to the top of the warehouse before anyone could respond. Ban noticed a small elderly figure heading into a seemingly normal elf home. "Too slow." She grinned as she pulled the massive maul off her back and  dashed after Mrs. Claus.

Easily breaking down the poorly reinforced door, Ban found the imposter trying to sneak into a hidden entrance. The older woman gasped as she realized she was caught. Ban brought her might down at Mrs. Claus. The woman was able to dodge but quickly realized Ban's real target was the exit as the Hozuki caved in the walls. "Damn you, it wasn't supposed to end like this. She promised me it wouldn't end like this." Mrs. Claus tried to backway from Ban and escape through the front door but it was too late. Ban grabbed the old woman by the front of her clothes and rose her off the ground with a single hand.

"Why did you try to kill us!" Ban spat at her.

She struggled in vain, "you guys were getting too close. Shinobi are always too nosey. Of course this would've never happened if that made up backup plan hadn't shown up. I had to improvise and some how get you all killed in an accident."

Ban growled, "How dare you, I looked up to you." She slammed her against the house walls, causing the old woman to panic.

"You aren't going to kill me, are you?" She pathetically pleaded.

Ban paused for a moment, keeping her up against the wall. There was no reason to kill her now, her mission failed and her hired thugs were beat. But there was still one mystery. Why did she want them dead? What was she hiding. Ban placed her down and tied her up with her hands behind her back. "I won't kill you, but there's some more questions I need answered from you." She would drag Mrs. Claus back to the warehouse where the other were.

"I'm in a pissy mood." Ban threw her on the ground in front of the crew. "Why the hell did you try to kill us? What are you hiding?" Ban wasn't aware that Zunir had already found out what she was up to. The next thing they needed to find out was who was she working for? Mrs. Claus had already told Ban that someone had planned this out. Who was the mastermind behind all of this?

WC: 780
TWC: 2881

"What was that?" Saturn raised his brow and asked Zunair whose words were barely audible due to the way he was muttering his flirtations with his shaky voice. "Are you alright? You sound like you just saw a ghost. Wait, where's Jun?" He was quick to comment on the Hyuuga's tone before he realized that his compatriot was missing in action.

Just as he was about to panic, Jun barged into the workshop carrying a bleeding elf, who looked like he had just been through a battle with a cheese grater. He himself seemed bruised and beaten up and Saturn was sure that the same group of bandits that attacked him were responsible for harming his friend.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alive! We're all well and good. Here, fuel up, medicine for your hangover!" He pulled out a black bag from his sleigh, filled with bottles of booze that he picked up on his way back, and handed them out to the boys if they obliged. He wouldn't care much for the elf himself, but if Zunair attended to the pointy-eared creature, he would make a sympathetic face and watch him work, with a bottle of rum in hand while he got the group up to speed. 

 "Listen up.." The bandit that Saturn brought with him was still knocked out cold in the sleigh. He reached over his unconscious body to grab the walkie talkie on which Father Time had contacted him. "I don't know if you guys checked your walkie talkies, but here's a message from someone claiming to be Father Time. Frankly, I believe him." He stated before clearing his throat, and reading the message out aloud. 

"Dear {USERNAME], - He did not bother to correct this typo here -

Sorry about the bandits, my bad. They tracked you by your walkie-talkie and now the rest of your crew is in danger too. But don't worry, we'll catch those bandits faster than a Ninja Santa sliding down the chimney - in brackets - (with your help). - This fucking guy -

By the way, we need you to find Ureshii, the Baby New Year. He's been kidnapped and we need him back ASAP.

Late but never too late,
Father Time"


"I was attacked on my sleigh on the way back. I managed to interrogate the one bandit I managed to save, and he told me that Ureshii is being held captive on Winter Hill, the highest mountain peak in the outskirts of Winter Wonderland. The roads up there are ragged, and the only way to get there before New Year is on Santa's Sleigh, with all four of its parts put together. Now me, personally, I don't wanna do that." The walkie talkie beeped again, and he muttered, "Oh, he sent a follow up text.."


 It was a brief message, only three letters long. "12k" It read, and Saturn choked, coughing while he said it loud himself, "12k." He stopped to read the room before trying to sell them on the idea. To him, twelve thousand ryo meant at least twenty four after all.


 "Come on, guys, it's going to be fun! It's going to be a wild ride, like a rollercoaster made of ice with reindeer as the engine. It's gonna be epic, like a Christmas action movie where you're the heroes and the bandits are the bad guys. And we're gonna save Ureshii before the clock strikes 12, like a New Year's Eve heist movie! Now Jun, where's your sleigh?"


 Before he received an answer, the lights went out making him shriek and drop his bottle of rum, shattering it on the floor. Acting immediately, Saturn signed the ram hand seal to activate Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and with it he was able to sense his surrounding and identify the locations of the twelve bandits around him, along with Mrs. Clause. Staying close to the others to cover their backs, he listened to the words that echoed in the workshop. 

 "Bitch are you crazy? You don't know who you're dealing with. We can all see perfectly fine in the dark, you're in over your head if you think you did something. I'll fucking kill you I don't give a fuck about shit!" His words were erratic, but he spoke them with his full chest. The numbers did not matter, and the odds were in the favor of the troupe of shinobi. Trying to fight Jun Shibasaki in a closed room no more than thirty meters wide, and thirty meters across was a death wish. He would be clean and efficient, and the fortuneteller knew this having seen his work. Clutching a kunai in his hand, he parried the first shuriken launched at him at one of the twelve bandits, piercing his throat and nailing him by his vocal cord to a rack behind him. He then threw his kunai to hit another bandit just before he could retaliate to avenge his friend. Killing them should help set the tone for the Sun mage. Before he could get any closer or get to work on the others, Ban had punched a hole in the wall of the warehouse with her technique, and Mrs Clause had slipped out of the building. "Ban, wait!" He warned her not to rush, suspecting that the devious villain may have more backup.

 He contemplated the situation, and figured that in this scenario his most useful techniques would harm his allies and were out of question. Fighting them individually would take too long, and it would be plenty of time for Mrs. Clause to pull some strings. He could, however, save the sleighs. Holding the Ram seal once again, he activated his Mind Body Transmission technique to communicate telepathically to Zunair and Mimas. "Zunair, it's Saturn. Jun can take them out in one go, but we wouldn't be safe next to him. Let's get outta here, I'll save the sleighs. Mimas, grab 'em!" He told the Hyuuga and instructed his octopus, who stretched its tentacles out to plant its suction cups on the three sleighs that were parked inside the room next to each other. He would grab Mimas by the head, and teleport himself, his familiar, and the three sleighs out of the warehouse, a safe distance away from the bandits with his back facing the building. As he sparked a cigarette, he could see the kunoichi from Kirigakure dragging Mrs. Clause back to the warehouse. If Jun fucked them up in a massive explosion behind him, he wouldn't look.

"You crazy girl, she could have had back up!" Saturn told off the kunoichi as he made his way to Mrs. Clause, blowing smoke in her wrinkled face, then planted his hand on her forehead. He could use Psycho Mind Transmission to read her mind, just like he did with the bandit that he captured earlier. "Ew, naw, let's skip that.. Is that a pinata?" He uttered, flipping the pages of her memory. "Minaguya Ōtsutsuki." He produced a name, "That's who put her up to this. That's all I could gather." He would tell the crew, and look around with a serious look on his face before adding, "Oh, and that if we rescue Ureshii, she will find us." He gave them some time to process this, sitting in silence while taking another drag from his smoke. Then he would laugh erratically, with the backup of the squad of Christmas Crusaders, he felt invincible.

---

 With his Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he pinpointed the location of Jun's sleigh to a nearby farmhouse. All that was left to do, was to put the sleighs together and make their journey up to Winter Hill to rescue Ureshii, the Baby New Year. And then guard them for a week. And then fight off that Minaguya woman when she comes for them. And also not let Mrs. Clause out of sight unless one among the crew had the heart to put her down. Then it should all finally be over.

WC: 1335
TWC: 5878

A book bound in flesh, rituals, sacrifices, murder, kidnapping, and betrayal. All those words were pieces of the series of unfortunate events presented to the group. Some more specific to others then each one could realize. Zunair was present in the flesh, but mentally, he was drowned in his own thoughts. You would think someone who has killed before, had seen the strange beasts that walked this planet just like humans, was subjected to paranoia. Spending his time in the Konoha library, he's read fairytales and stories of these things happening, but that's what it was, fairytales. But now it all seems so real, it is real. Those stories weren't fairytales, they were real, and he is living it. 

Zunair doesn't get nervous, even when staring death in the face. He's even been betrayed before, by his own family member at that. But this is different, Mrs. Claus, no, Minaguya Ōtsutsuki was different. Zunair could feel her chakra all around him at the time of the interaction, it was dark and otherworldly, godly if you may. While no one would suspect her of all the things she's been doing, it makes sense once it is all figured out. She was the one able to poison Santa and the workers with the sickness, that led to the town to be infected. While Santa was out of commission and the workers killing themselves to get everything done, it was the perfect time to kidnap Baby New Year for her sick plan. Plus, what she is summoning, he doesn't know what it is but from the look of it, it wasn't anything good. He still remembers looking at the picture of the creature that was bathed in shadows.  



With his thoughts running rampant in his mind, they were soon dispelled by the doors being slammed open with the younger blonde member of their group came barging in holding a wounded elf. It seems that not only Zunair was having his own ordeals to deal with, but so were the rest of the group as per Saturn's basically destroyed clothing, and Jun and the elf looking both horrible with blood and bruises all over their persons.

"Jun bring him here!" Zunair yelled as he quickly maneuvered over to a wooden table with tools scattered on top of it. Quickly clearing the top for Jun to put the elf down. Once the light user did that, Zunair would activate his byakugan, looking into the little elvish body to see if and what damage has been done. While the outside of his body had swelling due to blunt force trauma, what really concerned him was on the inside. He could see where a blade weapon stabbed him, thankfully missing vital organs, but it was the fact that a substance was rapidly filling his body, not only that but his skin was turning purple around the wound.  The weapon that whoever attacked him was definitely poison coated. "He's been poisoned," Zunair said to update the group on his condition.

Quickly grabbing a pan that was fortunately near them and then started to rip the shirt off the elf, Zunair began to perform the Ram > Horse > Horse > Monkey > Ox > Rat hand seals in quick motion. Zunair's hands started glowing in a mint-green aura has he placed one hand on the chest and the other on the blade inflicted wound, using it as an exit for the poison. Zunair began to filter out the poison from the small body and placing the poison liquid into the pan. "Jun? Have you been wounded by the same weapon as this one?" The medic asked because if so, Zunair would need to quickly treat him.

It didn't take long for Zunair to extract the poison since the poison didn't spread far and it was the body of a small child. The next step is to heal the inflicting wounds. Performing the hand seal Snake > Ox > Tiger > Ram > Rat, the same mint green aura formed over his hands once again and placing them on the stab wound. Zunair filled the little with rejuvenating chakra, allowing the bumps, bruises, and the stab wound began to heal. Breathing and color began to return to normal as Zunair continued healing him. Thankfully, Jun got him here when he did because a matter of minutes the poison would've killed him.

During Zunair's work on the elf, he intuitively listened to Saturn as he read the message that was apparently sent to them from Father Time, a message that Zunair never got. It seems all too real once the message was read and it confirmed everything that was in that book was true. Then Saturn talked about how he was attacked by bandits, and he got one to tell him where the Baby New Year was. It seems the shinobi's presence was a mere defiance against Mrs. Claus as she had two of them attacked at this point. Zunair felt his resolve finally coming back, they needed to stop the summoning. No telling what could happen to the world, let alone this village if that were to happen. Saturn then continued on, talking about how they were going to save Ureshii.

Before Zunair, any of them could get the chance to answer the blonde the lights immediately went out. The Hyūga finally had finished healing the elf, but he has not woken up yet. He could see that they were beginning to become surrounded by bandits and the bitch herself, Mrs. Claus. More worried about leaving the elf in the middle of crosshairs if a battle were to erupt, it wouldn't be good for him. Performing another motion of hand seals Snake-Tiger-Ram-Rabbit-Dog-Snake-Ox-Horse-Rat and the elf's unconscious body swirled inside a 1-inch, mint-green sphere. Placing the sphere into his pocket, a let the others know that it was his human displacement technique to keep him safe until they all got away safely before Saturn started shouting at Mrs. Claus. Even though it wasn't the most ideal of situations, a smile did form across Zunair's face.

He believed battle was imminent, he could feel the chakra being refined and started flowing through his body. He figured since they were in close quarters, it was going to be hand-to-hand combat, however, kunai and shuriken's were the only things being thrown at this point. Until a bandit decided to try his luck with Zunair but like his comrades, he would soon fall. With Zunair's chakra enhanced strength, performed his cherry-blossom attack on the individual. The force and power behind his attack were so strong, the bandit's body merely blew apart, painting the walls, ceiling, and the ground that were behind him in blood.

After that is when he heard Saturn in his head. It seems that Jun is some force to be reckoned with as apparently none in his vicinity would be safe. Giving them the benefit of a doubt, he left Jun to fight the bandits by his lonesome. As he exited the warehouse, he saw an octopus grabbing the sleighs and teleporting them outside, whereas Zunair just used the door.

Following his exit, he took out his sphere and released the elf from inside it. Giving him a quick shake, the small elf startled alert.

"I-I'm alive?" He shockingly said.

Zunair giggled, "Yes, your friend, Jun, the blonde one you were with brought you to me and I was able to heal you, you should be okay no," Zunair gave off a warm smile as he saw the light begins to form in the little one's eyes. The elf began flurries of 'thank you's' and hugs made Zunair rather sentimental. 

Updating the elf on the current events, then proceeded, "alright, now run back to town, warn them. We're going to get baby Ureshii and stop this whole thing, but make sure you are all safe." Zunair sternly said, he could feel that dark energy inside him becoming more potent. A killing urge started flooding his veins.

"Yes!" The small elf said and ran off to warn the townspeople.

"Saturn, they plan on sacrificing Ureshii to summon some demonic creature. Before you all got back, I was in the library. I found a book that detailed rituals, sacrifices, and inhuman acts. I thought it was just a book until I met her right outside before I got here, she told me not to interfere. Just read my mind, you'll see what I am talking," Zunair said after Saturn read her mind.

While Ban and Saturn didn't have the urge to kill Mrs. Claus, Zunair did. He walked up to the bitch, "you said for me not to get in your way, but I'm here to tell you, you should've never got in my way," the words slipped off his tongue like venom and gave a killer gaze into Mrs. Claus eyes. He put one hand on her shoulder, and another her throat with his chakra enhanced strength, Zunair ripped her head clean off her body. Blood splattered everywhere, coating the ground around her lifeless body and offshoots onto Zunair's person.

Bringing her head up to his eyes, he said one more thing, "there should be no existence of you left," tossing her head on top of her body, he performed the seals Ox > Rat > Dragon > Tiger > Horse > Rat > Dog > Bird finishing with a clap dust release chakra began to form between his palms as he separated them. Then he fired the white beam of dust release at Mrs. Claus body, leaving nothing behind beside the mist from the corpse. Zunair felt good, he fed that hunger that lurked deep inside and now it was sustained.

Looking back at the duo, "So, are we ready to hit the road?" Zunair smiled as he slipped between Ban and Saturn, wrapping one arm around Ban's arm, and another around Saturn's. "Who am I going to get to sit next too, I'll make sure it's worth your time" Zunair smiled, as he began the journey with the other three to save baby Ureshii.

TWC: 5,883

As Jun entered the workshop with the gravely wounded elf, Zunair Hyuuga quickly cleared a wooden table nearby so that Jun could place the little one for the medical ninja from Konoha to heal him. Zunair proceeded to his “surgery” on the little elf, as Jun watched withouth even blinking, still pumped by adrenaline and extremely distressed by the whole situation. First, he removed with some medical jutsu the poison from his wound, and luckily it did not spread much it wasn’t irreversible. When asked if he was wounded by the same weapon, Jun just shook his head in negative.


Then, with a second medical jutsu, Zunair formed a mint green aura over his hands and placed them on the stab wound, which began healing little by little. The medical proficiency of the Konoha ninja impressed Jun, as he never imagined that healing could be so… beautiful. Given his bloodline, Jun was more of a weapon of destruction, using the sheer power of his clan’s element, the Taioyoton (Sun Release), the young kumon genin only saw beauty in burning stuff down. This made him remember of his father, who always told Jun that the Taiyoton represented all aspects of the Sun itself, and while it could be used for destruction, representing the Sun’s mighty, it could also be used for healing, representing the Sun’s moniker of “the source of all life on earth”. Perhaps one day Jun would learn the art of healing.


Jun kept watching santa’s little helper “surgery” when Saturn started reading the message he got from Father Time and the kidnap of Baby New Year… and how the bandits jumping on them was about that. Saturn briefed the rest of the party about his encounter with other bandits and that he captured one of them, which told the fortuneteller’s where Baby New Year was being held captive: at Winter Hill, the highest mountain peak in the outskirts of Winter Wonderland, and how the only way of getting there was by flying with Santa full assembled sleigh. “Shit, mine is at that freaking farm I woke up…”.


The young genin briefly relaxed for a moment as Zunair finished healing Jun’s savior and told the party he was out of danger. His adrenaline started to lower for a bit, and that’s when Jun started feeling the effects of the beat down. His whole body ached and he could feel that his rib was badly cracked, causing an agonizing pain to the Genin. Before he could do anything about that, the lights suddenly went out, as the young genin could sense some chakra presences around the party. “Oh shit… here we go again”.


He quickly activated his Tengan and, with his thermal visual prowess, was able to determine that there were many bandits surrounding them, already inside the workshop, and that there were more at the outside, ready to swarm the place… but what horrified Jun was when he realized one of the persons ambushing them was indeed Mrs. Claus! “What a bitch!”. Jun was in bad shape after the beatdown he suffered, but he could still fight and blow stuff up and he was eager for some revenge in the name of the little one. His teammates were also ready to fight, and each of them took care of some bandits in their own manner: 
Saturn using ninja weapons, Zunair absolutely destroyed some with his taijutsu while Ban casted a pretty cool water ninjutsu that tore the workshop house down while also hitting some bandits.
 
Suddenly the Shibasaki clansman partners saw an opening as Mrs. Claus tried to escape through the blasted door, and also rushed outside, chasing down the traitor and leaving Jun to deal with the rest of the bandits. “Perfect, now I don’t have to worry about casualties…”. Jun quickly formed some hand seals, Rat, Dog, Tiger, Dog, Ox; and as he finished, he created two orbs of pure Solar Chakra above the palm of both his hands with the spheres being no bigger than 50 cubic centimenters. Even if now being big, the spheres were absolutely packed with destructive Solar Chakra and were floating above Jun’s hands as the Bandits were approaching by east and west.

- Looks like you poor bastards are trapped in here with me… what a pity.

And as he finished his sentenced, Jun did a Palm Thrust motion on both ways (east and west), shooting one Blast Sphere at each flank. Upon making contact with the first bandit on its way, the small sphere just detonated into a massive and luminous Solar Chakra blast, engulfing all the remaining bandits in its range and just vaporizing all of them into seconds. Well, not only the bandits, but half the workshop was also absolutely destroyed by Jun’s technique, luckily for them Saturn teleported the sleighs out of danger.

Soon after dealing with the bandits, Ban re-entered what left of the workshop, dragging alongside her the traitor bitch, Mrs. Claus. They were quickly followed by Saturn and Zunair. Jun was mad at the old lady and wanted to vaporize her, but after Saturn read her mind and got only but a strange name, Zunair just ripped her head clean off her body, before using a cool looking Jutsu to absolutely disintegrate what remained of her into a pile of dust, claiming the kill for himself. “It seems that I’m not the only one that can erase people out of existence… was that the legendary Dust Release Style?”.

After dealing with that bitch, the party still needed to retrieve Jun’s missing sleigh, somehow assemble all the sleighs into Santa’s original one, and fly to the Winter Hill in order to save Baby New Year from a demonic ritual of summoning. That’s when the legend himself, Santa, entered the workshop ruins to save the day. Still looking pretty weak and walking with some difficulties, with just a snap of his fingers, Santa teleported the missing sleigh from its crashing site right at their location, before with another snap, casting another space-time jutsu that assembled all the sleighs into one big sleigh, with the reindeers already ready to take off.

- I’m sorry about the mess I’ve put you guys through in order to deal with my troubles… and I’m sorry about Mrs. Claus. It seems that she made a pact with a Demon: to summon the dread creature and in exchange, she would have my place as the face of Christmas… what a jealous bitch. Well, I’m still pretty weak from that illness, so I can’t help you guys any more than wishing you all good luck. Go get’em!


Inspired by Santa’s words, Jun grabbed the flask Saturn handled him before and took a big sip from whatever was on it, feeling ready for some rescuing. He quickly hopped into the big sleigh and called in his partners to join him, already grabbing reins to drive.


- LET’S SAVE NEW YEAR! – shouted Jun, as he shook the reins and made the reindeers took off, flying into the direction of the winter hill.

Santa’s legendary sleigh was way faster than the smaller sleighs Jun and his teammates used to deliver the gifts so in just a few minutes they were already approaching the peak of the high mountain, quickly gaining altitude. With his Tengan still activated, Jun could see from afar the thermal signature of the mythical baby new year, which appeared to be in a circle written in runes, surrounded by what appeared to be some cultists praying.


- Guys, we need to stop the ritual and get the baby… I’ll distract them and you guys infiltrate and save the baby!

As his teammates started taking their course of action, he freed his right hand, while still holding firmly the reins to keep driving the sleigh with his left. With his right hand, he did some handseals:  Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Tiger  →  Horse. Soon, he started expelling from his mouth many Big Fireballs, shooting them around the ritual circle in order to cause havoc and interrupt the summoning, making it rain fire at the ritual site’s perimeter in hope of giving his teammates an opening to save Baby New Year.

---

WC: 1370
TWC: 5060