In Their Shadow

Chapter 35

The moon shined in the sky as three individuals bearing straw hats and red clouded coats stepped over the border that led into the Land of the Frost. A man bearing a large scythe upon his back began to howl with giddy excitement, throwing his arms into the air.

"Oh yes! Finally we made it! Took us three days but we finally made it! Thank you Jashin-Sama!" Hidan screamed with ecstatic cheer, praising his god.

Inari released a sigh of astonishment, looking at the snow covered field before.

"What's wrong kid?" Kisame asked.

"N-Nothing...Its just..."

"Just what?" Kisame asked.

"This is the first time I've ever seen snow..." Inari said, a child-like wonder taking form in his eyes.

Kisame smiled, patting Inari's back. Hidan fell to the ground, making a snow angel.

"Stop acting like a child Hidan. We got work to do." Kisame scolded the maniacal psychopath, watching as Hidan stood to his feet and stuck his tongue out at the sharkish man.

"Whatever! So, how are we going to find the Jinchuriki anyway?" Hidan asked as he grinned maliciously.

"Simple. They're in the frost village, and we know what the jinchuriki looks like. So all we gotta do is search every nook of the village." Kisame responded.

"How far into frost country is the frost village anyway?" Inari asked.

"A day away. Probably half of one if we bust our humps." Kisame answered.

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets get running!" Inari proposed with a small grin.

"Yeah sure. If we did that, you would be left in the dust kid." Kisame said with a dry chuckle.

Inari pouted as Hidan laughed.

"He's right ya know! You have a hell of a lot of training ahead of ya before you can even think of reaching our speed!" Hidan bragged with a smug grin.

"Whatever..." Inari gritted out with a scowl, upset at being looked down on.

'Well...They're not wrong I guess. They are on a entirely different level of strength that I can't even begin to grasp. Compared to them...I'm nothing. I just started my training not that long ago too. I am a total novice...' Inari admitted to himself internally, sighing in defeat.

"Don't beat yourself up over it kid. Many people are weaklings when compared to us. The Akatsuki are made up of the strongest missing ninja in the Shinobi World. At least the main members such as myself and the immortal over there are. Most of the grunts that comprise our small army are as weak as you." Kisame began to explain.

"Really? How strong are you guys compared to other villages and ninjas?" Inari asked, genuinely curious.

"Well...I guess most of us are probably near Kage-level." Kisame said, causing Inari some confusion.

"What's a kage?" Inari asked, having nearly no knowledge on the world of ninja's.

"Kage's are the leaders of the Great Villages of the Shinobi world. Each of them are said to be unparalleled in strength. In their village, they are the alpha. The pinnacle of strength that a ninja can attain. The strongest of ninja."

"Woah...They sound kind of scary. If you guys are almost on their level, then that means you guys must be pretty strong...Wait, does that mean Konan is as strong as one of these Kage people!?" Inari blurted out in shock as Kisame grinned.

"Yeah, she is one of the original three after all." Kisame said.

"The original three?" Inari asked, having no idea what that meant.