Ryouma’s scent wasn’t here.

There was no scent here, beyond stone and mold and the edge of lightning long burned out. Dead seals, old chakra. Nothing living.

It had been a faint hope, Kakashi told himself.

There were still more places to check. The village. The other trails. Beyond the boarder of Lightning, where the Kumo-nin that had flayed Ryouma’s dragon came from. (Intel had tortured Shiki to death, but Kumo could be stupid enough to start a war over one ninja.)

(They wouldn’t be.)

Kakashi gritted his teeth. There were still options.

“Yeah,” he said, when Ginta tilted his masked head questioningly. “Is there room for the dogs? It’s too cold for them out here.”

“In the main room, definitely,” Ginta said. “I don’t know if this place still has any lights, though.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Kakashi held up one gloved hand, calling five bright points of chakra to his fingertips. It cut hard shadows against the snow.

Ginta raked his ANBU mask aside, trading bright monkey colours for flat black cloth and horrified, furious eyes. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded. “Don’t waste your chakra.”

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. “This nannying habit of yours is getting old, Sakamoto. Knock it off.”

Ginta inhaled deeply, scent flaring with restrained temper, and slipped a hand back into his belt-pouch. He withdrew a glo-stick and snapped it into sickly green life.

Pointedly, he handed it to Kakashi.

“Smartass,” said Kakashi, after a beat. He let the chakra in his hand die and whistled the dogs, taking the glo-stick. Baji scraped himself up with a groan, limping forward. Pakkun was still riding on his shoulders, hunched small against the wind.

“Boss?” said Pakkun quietly.

“We’ll take a break here,” Kakashi said, nodding at the yawning door. “Rest up a few hours, then head on to the village.”

Baiji huffed weary agreement and shouldered carefully past Ginta, pausing briefly to nose through Ginta’s bright hair before he disappeared into the dark. Kakashi followed him, leaving Ginta to seal up the Buddha behind them.