Naruto had never left the Hidden Leaf before.
Everything here felt like another world—like stepping into someone else's storybook.
The buildings were too tall, the streets too clean, and the people too quiet. There were no kunai in sight. No mission boards, no ramen stalls, not even a grumpy old man yelling about laundry. Just layers of cobbled stone roads, heavy coats, and voices that echoed between walls like the cold air carried secrets.
[Ding! You have already arrived at the Ice Castle Mission's dungeon: "Frozen."]
[Main Task Unlocked: Melt the Heart of Winter
Time Limit: 6 Days
Difficulty: S]
[Branch Task: Find a person who makes ice.
Time Limit: 2 Days
Difficulty: A]
Naruto blinked at the translucent blue system screen, then waved it away.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get to it. After I check that place out."
The mission could wait. Curiosity couldn't.
He wandered aimlessly, hands tucked behind his head, letting his ears do the thinking.
"Did you hear? The queen's coronation is only three days away—"
"The castle gates will open for the first time in forever!"
"Have you seen the decorations? Her Majesty will be so beautiful!"
Queen?
Castle?
Coronation??
Naruto blinked, puzzled. He'd heard of daimyos before, but this was different. Kingdoms? Royalty? It all sounded like something out of the storybooks Iruka sensei never managed to keep his attention for.
Still… something about it tugged at his curiosity.
He followed the flow of people, occasionally tugging someone's sleeve.
"Hey, what's a coronation?"
"It's when the crown passes to the new ruler, of course," a kind-looking baker replied. "You must be from far away, huh?"
"Yeah…" Naruto scratched his cheek with a sheepish grin. "Real far."
By afternoon, he'd seen the castle up
close. Towering spires, thick gates, and glimmering glass windows that caught
the sunlight like crystals.
"That's a castle?" he whispered, taking a step forward, then another. "And someone lives in it? That's… crazy."
He was going to turn back. Really.
But then someone mentioned that the queen had barely been seen in public. That she'd shut herself away for years.
And just like that, Naruto's curiosity flared again.
What kind of queen hides from her own people?
A hidden queen. A cold palace. A mountain sized mystery.
And Naruto was very bad at ignoring mysteries.
There was only one way to find out.
His attention was locked on the towering silhouette in the distance.
The castle of Arendelle.
----