章 859: 36
Chapter 35: Self-Esteem
As Sandayuu was fretting over Yukie, now definitely ousted as Koyuki Kazahana, and the director was inside alongside his assistant drooling over the action scenes he had shot due to the battle that had just taken place, Sakura was busy trying to get feeling back into Naruto's fingers. The last jutsu that Nadare used against him didn't hit, but the sheer cold it produced from simply being in its vicinity was enough to give him frostbite. Lucky for him he had a medic-nin on his squad or else he might have been out of luck when it came to his fingers and toes, especially since they were in Yuki no Kuni and it wasn't going to suddenly get all warm and pleasant outside in this country.
"Hey Sakura." Naruto said as they sat inside of the main trailer of the expedition through Yuki no Kuni with all of the others. He got a 'hmm' in response letting him know she was listening as she used Shousen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Jutsu), "I know a better way to get my hands warm. It doesn't cost chakra either."
Sakura's head turned up from her work on his fingers, "What?"
Naruto looked away innocently, "You could just let me put my hands under your shirt. You know, body heat."
Sakura gave him an even look with a tick mark on her head, "You're a pervert." Naruto placed his fingers slightly apart and mouthed out 'a little bit'. Sakura's brow twitched as a dark smirk came to her face, "Tsunade-shishou taught me how to deal with perverts like you."
"Please." Naruto rolled his eyes, "Just because Ero-sennin trained me up a bit doesn't mean that I took on his habit of standing still when an asskicking was about to come his way."
Sakura gave him a sickeningly sweet smile, "Maybe, but you are currently sitting here with your hands in my grip." Naruto's face paled as he tried pulling them free only to find them stuck fast, "So watch yourself from now on, okay taichou?"
Naruto gave her a stiff nod, "You got it Sakura."
"Good." Sakura chirped as she tugged on his cheek.
Naruto sighed in relief when she stood up and walked away from him, 'Okay, do not do that stuff with Sakura, she does not find it cute in any way.' He started flexing his fingers out, Sakura did really good work, 'Why did the idea of her pummeling me actually turn me on though? Kami, there's something wrong with me. Ero-kyofu's roots run deeper than I thought.
Naruto's thoughts were cut short when Sai and Tenten entered the room and sat down at the table. Naruto, getting in the spirit of the predicament as team leader put his proverbial game face on, "What do you guys have for me?"
Sai immediately responded, "We didn't find them Naruto-senpai. The glacier sank not long after the ship got out of sight. They weren't there anymore."
Tenten took a seat at the table, "Who were those guys anyway?"
Naruto answered her, "Ninja from the hidden village of Yukigakure. And they're here for Yukie… or should I say Princess Koyuki. And you knew this the whole time didn't you Sandayuu?"
Sandayuu's eyes widened, "How did you possibly know Naruto-san? You couldn't possibly know anything about our country and what has transpired over the years, you're too young."
Naruto crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "It's a story that you don't want to hear right now, but that's not important right now. You had to know that this was totally dangerous bringing her back here at all, identity change or not."
Sandayuu sighed, "You're right, but it was the only way I could think of to get the princess back to Yuki no Kuni." He said despondently.
Sakura looked over to Koyuki who was in the corner of the room with a cold look on her face, "So Yukie Fujikaze is a real life princess of an entire country? And Sandayuu is from Yuki no Kuni as well?"
"Yes." The middle-aged man admitted, "When she was just a little girl I was her aide… before the revolt. I don't blame her for not remembering who I was. It was far too long ago and there were far more important things about than me." He adjusted his glasses, "I served the princess's father, the former daimyo of the country Sousetsu Kazahana. We were a peaceful nation… Sousetsu-sama adored his daughter and was beloved by our people, but then the lord's younger brother Doto staged a revolt. The palace was burned to the ground and I feared the princess had perished with her father and the palace." He then looked over at Naruto, "But how do you know anything about our princess? Konoha had nothing to do with our nation except for the one man that was there for negotiations on the day of the revolt."
Naruto's eyes darted to Sai who let out a near unnoticeable nod, "Fine." Naruto said, "I was there too."
That got a round of gasps from everyone in the room except Sai. Even Koyuki, surprise showed on her face at hearing that her bodyguard had seen her already. Sandayuu almost had a heart attack, "Y-You were there? But that was ten years ago, you couldn't have been any older than five years old!"
"Yep." Naruto said as if it didn't matter, "I was five. Oh don't give me that look, Kakashi-sensei was a chunin at six, is it really so hard to believe that I was training at five?"
"Kind of, yeah." Sakura said matter-of-factly, "What the hell were you doing in this country back then? What kind of training does a five year old do in a foreign country and who the hell sent you out here when you were five?" She and Tenten were both interested in this. It had been years since Naruto had gotten exponentially powerful, but for Sakura especially, after seeing the goofy blonde she had become accustomed to as a child in the Academy it was hard to grasp that he did anything like that before showing up in school.
Naruto had a blank look on his face that could give Sai a run for his money, "I was gathering intel on Yuki no Kuni's situation to take back to my sensei to see if he needed to bring up a point to lend the country assistance. The coup happened when I was still here, there was nothing I could do." His face was somewhat apologetic, "All I could do was make sure that Kakashi-sensei, who was here, could get away with Koyuki."
"Who was your sensei?" Tenten asked inquisitively.
"Don't worry about it." Naruto responded. Sai let on that he could talk, he didn't let on just how much he was allowed to say so he was going to keep Danzo's name out of it. They wouldn't flat out know who he was talking about even if he told them, and they sure didn't need to know.
"How did you help Kakashi-sensei get away?" Sakura tried her own hand at asking a question.
That was apparently the right question to ask as Naruto was willing to answer it, "The team leader that fought us this time, Nadare Roga. Back then I had to fight him long enough for Kakashi-sensei to get away with the princess. If it weren't for my buddy on the inside he would have killed me."
Sakura's breath hitched, "You mean the-?" Naruto nodded, getting a shiver out of her. Even though Naruto was still Naruto it was hard to imagine such a thing trapped inside of his body. It was a good idea he wasn't in Konoha when Tsunade released that information. It took time for a lot of people to get used to that knowledge that didn't already know. The knowledge that Naruto contained the Kyuubi no Yoko.
"Not your buddy brat." The Kyuubi growled from within him, heard only by Naruto himself, "I still fully intend to eat you once you overstep your bounds."
'Still looking forward to kicking your sorry ass all over the fake Konoha in my head too furball.' Naruto focused back on the real world and his human companions, "Yeah, anyway we fought until I had bought enough time and I got away myself. I never learned what happened to Koyuki after that, it's interesting."
"I should have died back then." Everyone turned to face Koyuki who was looking away lifelessly.
Sandayuu moved towards her, "You shouldn't say such things princess!" He exclaimed, "Everyone feared the worst for you! You can't imagine the panic that went up in your absence, we never stopped praying for your safety."
"Well you can stop praying now Sandayuu…" Koyuki said, "I'm alive as you can see, it's just my heart that's dead." She said solemnly, "That day all those years ago any tears that I had left dried all up."
Sandayuu had to wipe his own eyes hearing his princess speak in such a defeated manner, "Eventually I found the princess under her new identity and became her manager, and have since been biding my time for the day when I could escort her back to her country."
The director's assistant spoke up, "So you've been using us the entire time?"
"I apologize for deceiving you, but it was for the sake of our people." Sandayuu turned to Koyuki and bowed on his hands and knees, "Koyuki-hime please confront Doto and take your rightful place as leader of our land. I will sacrifice myself without hesitation to protect you so I beg you, please take up arms and lead our people!"
"I don't think so!" Koyuki said indignantly, "You've got to be kidding!"
"But, but…" Sandayuu stammered, "What about your people? We need you Koyuki-hime!"
"I could care less about them! Just forget it, you'll only get yourself killed in the end!" She argued vehemently, "Would you give it up already? Don't be stupid, it doesn't matter what you do, you will never get rid of Doto."
"Well…" Naruto said, "We're already here, and we're supposed to stay and protect her until the movie is done… so who feels like taking down a tyrant?" Naruto asked his team.
Tenten smirked and cracked her knuckles, "You know it Naruto-kun, I wanted a second shot at that hulking loser from the glacier anyway."
Sai simply stood in place, "I'm to follow your lead Naruto-senpai. You've got my support."
Sakura smiled, "Yeah, how could we just let things lie the way they are? Of course we'll fight."
"Are you all insane?" Koyuki shouted at the band of shinobi and kunoichi, "Doto will massacre you all! You can't beat him!"
Naruto scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Lady, combat is what I'm good at, sucky odds are just an inconvenience. I'm the best and I specialize in the ridiculous, don't count any of us out. Everyone on my squad is ready for this." He stood up out of his chair, "A little chakra armor isn't enough of an ace in the hole to beat us. Not by a long shot." He looked over at his people, "Can you guys get through it?"
"Absolutely." Tenten said with full confidence, "I was just about to when you called us back to the ship."
Sai nodded his head, "I'm certain I can find a way around it."
Sakura smiled and punched her fist into her open palm, "I'll turn it into scrap if I end up fighting one of them this time."
The director started speaking quietly, "As long as there hope, there is a dream. As long as there is a dream there is a future… This is perfect! What a perfect theme for the final chapter of the Princess Gale Movie!"
Sakura looked at him with a sweatdrop, "Are you seriously going to keep filming after everything that's happened?"
The director nodded with self-assurance, "I told you all back at the glacier, the movie simply evolving. I mean, just think about it; how often do you get to make a movie with real princess? This is the opportunity of a lifetime here!"
"You're right." The director's assistant started liking the idea more and more as the realization set in, "The buzz is going to be enormous! Even the making of- will be a hit, we're sitting on a sure-fire blockbuster here!"
"Hey!" Koyuki shouted only to be cut off by Sai of all people.
"There's only one course of action available to us in the current situation." The usually quiet teen said firmly, "Now that Doto has discovered your identity you will never be allowed reprieve. The only option is to fight to get through this."
Naruto stated the changed status of the mission, "So in addition to keeping the princess here in one piece we also need to finish off Doto, otherwise this thing is never going to end."
Koyuki got progressively angrier listening to everyone, "Stop joking! This isn't some movie, there's no such thing as a happy ending!"
The director shouted right back, his mood noticeably far better though, "Of course there is if you're willing to fight for it!"
Naruto called Sai in close, "Is there any way you can send one of your ink animals back to Konoha or are they not fast enough?"
Sai shook his head, "No, by the time they would manage to get there everything here would be over with anyway. It would be pointless Naruto-senpai."
Naruto frowned but nodded, "Well it should still be just fine. Nadare is Doto's heavy hitter and even he shouldn't be too much trouble once I get past that armor of his. You and the girls are more than enough for this." He then spoke up to Sandayuu, "Well this is seriously stretching the limits of the contract, but I hate leaving business unfinished. You've got us for as long as this lasts."
Sandayuu spoke quietly with tears in his eyes, "All of you, thank you so much."
The director looked at the scene eagerly, "Oh yeah that settles it, we're definitely going along with this picture."
"And you can bet this one will have a happy ending." The assistant said. The entire time Koyuki was looking at everyone in the room with a sense of utter detachment.
XxX
For the next few hours as the caravan traveled, Naruto and his team came up with a plan of action for who would be fighting who in case Nadare's team decided to attack again. Per the requests of everyone else the dynamic didn't change too much. Everyone wanted the chance to finish their own battles from before, especially Tenten who saw the use of chakra armor as a cop-out way to fight, even for a ninja.
The contingent came to a stop outside of a cave as directed by Sandayuu, "Our hideout is not far from here. It is just beyond this cave. Once we've finished shooting here we will pass through to the other side… and then my people can rest easy with the fact that they have their princess back." He was visibly excited about having Koyuki back in the country.
The director was completely agreeable with this, it would probably bring some good footage, "Alright then people, let's get this show on the road!"
"Director there's a problem!" The director's assistant shouted, "Yukie has up and vanished again!"
Naruto palmed his face upon hearing that, "Stupid bitch… She's seriously testing me here. How do you protect someone that seems to have a death wish?" A small black rat ran up Naruto's leg and into his hand before turning into words, "And Sai is still awesome." With that, Naruto shunshined away from the caravan.
Sakura looked around with her hands on her hips, "Where is Naruto? We need to find the princess."
Tenten shrugged, "He was just here not too long ago."
"Naruto-senpai is handling the situation." Sai said, scaring both girls with his presence on top of one of the trailers. He was drawing absently in his notepad while speaking, "He should be back shortly."
XxX
Koyuki was frantically running through a snowy forest away from her crew as fast as she could, 'There's no way! Absolutely not! I won't go back there!' She was so intent on running she failed to notice herself slip in the snow and fall downhill until coming to a stop. She simply lay down there, unmoving with her eyes slowly drifting closed, 'You lied to me father… there is no Spring in this country.'
After a short while she opened her eyes to the sound of footsteps only to find herself staring at a pair of shinobi sandals. Her vision turned upwards to see Naruto standing over her, "You know I've done my fair share of both and I have to say, it feels better when you face down your problems instead of running away all of the time. Now let's go, everyone's waiting."
Naruto picked her up piggyback and carried her back towards the others, "This has turned into a fine clusterfuck hasn't it princess?" He said in a conversational manner, "Maybe next time you should shoot your movies somewhere like in Tsuki no Kuni or Oni no Kuni. You never hear about this kind of stuff happening there."
"Why did you even bother coming after me?" Koyuki said as she put up no resistance to being carried by Naruto, "And how the hell do you even keep finding me?"
Naruto laughed to himself, "Because it's my job. Even if I didn't want to I would still do it, and I can find you because me and the people I'm working with are good, and I just so happen to be the best."
Koyuki smiled slightly at that, "Modest aren't you?"
Naruto grinned, "Well if you don't believe in yourself then who else is going to?"
Her smile dropped back into her usual cold expression, "Well you can drag me back all you like. All I'm going to do is act in front of the camera, that's all, you got that?"
"Whatever you say." Naruto said as they found themselves inside of a tunnel. Suddenly a train whistle sounded out behind them, "What the hell?"
XxX
Outside of the tunnel the ice melted to reveal train tracks. Sakura kneeled down to inspect them, "There's chakra running through these rails."
Sandayuu's eyes bulged out, "He's here." He started yelling around to everyone in the area, "Everyone hurry! You need to get out quickly, it's not safe! You can't let them find you!" The man started running up a nearby slope.
"Wait Sandayuu!" Tenten yelled, "Where are you going?"
"Tenten don't go after him." Sai said, "We need to protect the princess and that means we have to wait for Naruto-senpai."
XxX
A light appeared behind Naruto and Koyuki. That, along with the whistle and the train tracks revealing themselves told her all she needed to know about what was happening, "It's a train."
"A train?" Naruto repeated in an irritated fashion. The entire tunnel began to shake with icicles falling down from overhead, "Of course it is. And why not?" Naruto said before taking off at full speed before the thing quickly reached his heels, 'Fuck! It already had a ton of momentum!'
"It's no good, we'll be run over!" Koyuki shouted as she held onto Naruto tightly.
"Well excuse me if I don't want to be put down by a train! I've had too much stuff try to kill me to let a giant hunk of metal be the thing that gets the job done! That would be embarrassing!" Naruto bellowed right back.
Koyuki shook her head desperately, "It's impossible!"
Naruto grit his teeth trying to pull every ounce of speed he could out of his leg muscles, "Woman I live the impossible every damn day! Now let me run!"
"Look, there's no way you can outrun that thing!"
"Well I might be able to for sure if I drop a few pounds! Are you volunteering?"
"No!"
"Then shut the hell up and let me save your ass already!" That ended the argument right there, 'Come on Kyuubi, a little assistance wouldn't hurt here.' The feeling of the malicious chakra circulating through his body came forward and drove him faster than he otherwise would have gone at top speed, "We're getting out of here!"
They both finally breached into the light and Naruto immediately jumped to the side allowing the train to speed past them. Naruto stood up laughing at dodging the massive locomotive and helped Koyuki to her feet, "Who can't outrun a train? You need to get some faith!"
"It's been a long time Koyuki." A voice belonging to an older man said.
She looked up at the train as a gasp escaped her lips, "Doto…"
A man with brown hair trailing down to his shoulders wearing an ornate robe was standing on top of the train that had come to a stop, "It's been ten years hasn't it? Don't be shy now dear, let me see that beautiful face of yours."
Koyuki shirked under his gaze, bringing an evil grin to his face until Naruto moved in front of her with his hand on his sword, "So this is the guy I'm supposed to kill? He doesn't look too tough at all."
Before anymore words could be said a mass of logs slid down a nearby slope and plowed into the side of the train. At the top of the hill stood Sandayuu in samurai armor along with many others garbed in the same, "Do you see it men? Our beloved princess is here to watch over us! With her at our side victory will be ours!" As the men all cheered out, Sandayuu drew a sword from his hip, "Doto we have waited a long time for this day of reckoning to arrive Sandayuu Asama and fifty loyal warriors stand before you to avenge our fallen leader Lord Sousetsu! On this day you breathe no more!"
Doto looked at the men distastefully, "I thought that you had destroyed the last of the insurgents."
Nadare appeared at his side, bowing slightly, "My apologies my lord, we will get rid of them immediately."
"No, no." Doto said amusedly, "With men such as these there is little that they can understand but total annihilation"
With that and a battle cry, all of the men charged down the hill at Doto's train. Doto nodded and in response Nadare made a hand-seal that opened up the train doors to reveal holes throughout that began to rapid-fire kunai at all of the men, mowing them down in cold blood.
Naruto watched the scene in amazement at the quickly distributed carnage, "They have something like this? As if just throwing the damn things weren't lethal enough." Naruto glared at Doto who was laughing at the violence.
Sandayuu was still standing with kunai sticking out all over his body when Doto signaled for another salvo to go out to finish him off. As the mass of metal weaponry was about to hit him, Tenten jumped in front of him and pulled out one of her scrolls that she used to summon a large iron dome around both of them. Sakura started punching and kicking at the ground at the top of the hill with her chakra enhanced strength technique to cause an avalanche that blocked the volley guns on the train.
Tenten sealed her iron dome and threw kunai with explosive tags attached at the bridge in front of the train, destroying it and almost taking an escaping train with it, however the train car holding Doto detached from the rest and got away quickly.
"Naruto-senpai." Sai said as he saw Naruto walking with Koyuki around the remnants of the massacre, "What are we going to do now?"
The film crew was helping with the dead and wounded, and Sakura was doing what she could for Sandayuu, "This is terrible…" She said as she did her best to heal the man, "What kind of monster is he?"
Koyuki looked around callously, "This is what comes from never giving up. If they hadn't stood against Doto then none of this bloodshed would have happened."
"No." Sai said, "This is also what has been happening to civilians. Women… children… anyone that Doto even suspected of being against him, it made no difference to him. A true tyrant that cares not for the evils he commits."
Tenten looked from the dying Sandayuu to Sai who said that entire thing without a hint of anything in his voice, "Don't you feel anything for all this?" She asked him. She was pissed off personally at the thought of Doto getting away with this.
Sai shook his head, "I don't have feelings."
Sandayuu choked for a moment before looking at Koyuki and speaking, "Princess… please forgive me. I should have never gotten you involved in this. But every one of us all believed in spite of everything, because we knew you were alive. You must believe in yourself… You have always been this country's ray of hope princess, so do not waste your tears on me." With that he let one last breath go.
Sakura stopped her jutsu and looked at the others solemnly. Koyuki simply kept her eyes on his lifeless form, "You are such a fool Sandayuu… I can't cry. You have my eye drops." She then looked at the director and the Konoha ninja, "Are you all satisfied? Let's go back. If you stay here your lives will be in jeopardy, let's just go home."
"Your home is here." Naruto said, "And it's a mission, of course our lives are in danger. You can't just disappear now, Doto knows you and he'll keep coming after you until you're dead. No amount of running is going to keep him away."
"What would you know about it?" She snapped back, "Spring doesn't come to this country. Our tears are frozen over and our hearts are hardened with the cold."
"No." Naruto replied, "That's him." He said as he pointed at Sai, "But you could change this country yourself if you would just face up to what you know you have to do."
Sakura's fists shook in anger hearing Koyuki speak so cruelly, "Sandayuu believed in you. He lived his entire life keeping you safe so that you might come back here and free the country one day. You haven't even shed one tear for his sacrifice because you're a coward!"
"Sakura calm down!" Naruto said. Sakura stopped herself, realizing she was about to walk up to Koyuki and hit her in the face. Her muscles were tensed to deliver the punch when Naruto's voice stopped her, "Hitting her won't change anything or bring anyone back."
Koyuki tried to walk away when Tenten stood in front of her with a firm look on her face, "Sorry, but you can't just do as you like in this instance." Koyuki then gasped at something behind Tenten. A blimp rising up over the nearby cliff. The large man, Mizore aimed his retractable hand at Koyuki from his spot at the bottom of the blimp and snatched her up swiftly.
His female partner Fubuki threw kunai at them that branched out into jagged ice trees that the others were forced to dodge, "Motherfucker!" Tenten shouted, "They have even more of this crap?What do we do now Naruto-kun?" She said, looking at the team leader.
All eyes turned to him as he looked at the blimp flying away, "Sai-kouhai?"
"I have eyes on the blimp Naruto-senpai. Right up there with you." That got a look of confusion from the girls and a grin from Naruto.
"Good." Naruto said, "The real me will be in touch with you soon. Just follow where the blimp went and be ready to fight soon."
XxX
(Onboard the Blimp)
"You have grown beautiful Koyuki." Doto said, "Do you have the Hex Crystal?"
"Yes." She said. For standing in front of her father's murderer her tone was exceptionally even.
"Very good." The man said with his disturbing grin, "It is the sole link to the Kazahana clan and the key to opening its greatest treasure."
"Treasure?" Koyuki said. What treasure? She didn't know about any kind of treasure.
"When I…" Doto stopped, trying to come up with a term for what he wanted to say, "Obtained… control of the kingdom from your father the resources of the clan were all but gone. Sousetsu obviously hid his treasure somewhere so I searched high and low for it before finally finding it, hidden deep within Rainbow Glacier. A keyhole there can only be opened by the Hex Crystal. Once I get the fortune hidden there I can finally gain military superiority over the Five Great Nations."
"Now…" Doto said with his hand outstretched towards Koyuki, "I will take the Hex Crystal now. After all, you don't need it do you?" Koyuki removed the necklace from around her throat and passed it off to Doto who examined it before his face twisted angrily, "What is this?"
"What?" Koyuki said, taken aback by his shift in temperament.
He grabbed her by the collar, "You think that I can't recognize that this is a fake? Where is the real crystal?"
"That's impossible!" Koyuki reasoned before realization hit, "Naruto… The blonde boy. He was the only one that ever could have."
Nadare who was leaning against a wall in the room growled lowly, "Yes, that boy. He certainly grew up to become a thorn in my side on a consistent scale didn't he?"
Fubuki gave a sultry smile, "Do you want us to head out and round it up? We'll find it in no time."
Doto grinned again, "No that will not be necessary. Why bother chasing after it when the group will show up for their princess of their own volition. All we have to do until those rats stumble upon us is to just wait." He never took notice of the actual rat, in black and white, scuttering across the corner of the floor.
XxX
(Doto's Fortress – Prison Level)
Koyuki sat by herself in a cell with her knees up to her chest. Every few seconds two armed guards would walk past her cell as they kept watch over her. As they walked out of sight she heard sounds of struggling followed by complete silence. A matter of moments later, Naruto appeared in front of her cell with a kunai in his hand, "Well look at you. Prison doesn't suit such a pretty face, would you like to leave?"
She looked at him in shock, "How did you get here? How did you even find this place?"
Naruto picked his ear, "I was on the blimp with you the entire time. It's not that hard to hide from these guys. Take away that armor of theirs and their practical skills suck."
"Why the hell didn't you get me off then if you were there the entire time? Or better yet why didn't you just defeat them all and end it there?" She hissed lowly with a tick mark having formed on her head.
Naruto gave her a deadpan look, "Yes, because you and me jumping off of a blimp at least a thousand feet in the air would have ended well. And then if I had killed everyone on board the blimp I'm personally trained to safely land it and make sure that we all survive instead of die in a miserable, fiery crash in middle of a winter wasteland." He said sarcastically before poking at the lock with the kunai, "Goddamn it." He cursed lowly when it proceeded to shock him.
"Just quit." Koyuki said, "You can't win all by yourself against all of Doto's men."
"You really don't know me very well." Naruto said, "This is just a setback. And what is your problem with having faith in something? You're so cynical I was this close to letting Sakura clock you."
Koyuki fixed Naruto with a stare as she watched him examine the lock probingly, "My father always told me that Spring would always come. To imagine myself in a field full of flowers, running through it. He always said that if I never gave up, always believed, then Spring would come to Yuki no Kuni. But this place has no Spring. My father died, I was forced to flee, and I stopped believing. I began to run away and lie to others, but to no one more than myself. I told you that I deal in lies as an actress and I'm the best at it, but that's because my entire life is one huge charade."
"You done?" Naruto said as he pulled out a slip of paper and a brush and began drawing on it, "Because if you are I'm going to tell you a little story while I work on freeing your pessimistic ass. You say all of these things about your life being a charade and everything but you chose that life. Yes you were worked into a corner and had to run as a little girl, but eventually you quit, you quit without ever trying."
His eyes flickered to hers before getting back to work, "I was worked into a corner too, right from the start. I have within my person a murdering, malicious, palpable mass of living chakra in my head… or belly… one or the other, I never really figured it out. Either way, it was placed there moments after my birth by my father, to protect a village that spited my existence all throughout my childhood, that refused to acknowledge me as a child. So do you want to know what I did?"
"What?" Koyuki asked.
"I worked my ass off. I underwent detestable training for years and became a ninja for my village. I fought and bled for that place in far away lands that most of them will never hear anything of to keep them safe. I did all of this before I became eight. I wanted to be the best, because if I was the best ninja in the world there was no way that they couldn't recognize me as a person. Do you want to know how long it took? It took eleven years and things are just now getting to where I wanted them to be. And now I have a group of superpowered criminals coming for the demon locked inside of me and my life, so I've got that going for me too. So do you know what I'm going to do about that?"
Koyuki shook her head, bringing a grin to Naruto's face, "I'm going to kick their asses. I'm going to beat them all they're not beating me no matter what I have to do, and that's going to get me where I want to be. And I'm going to show you that right now because this seal is done!" Naruto stood up making one-handed seals, "Fuuinjutsu: Genso Kyuushuu (Sealing Technique: Elemental Absorption)!"
He slapped the finished seal tag on the bars and held his hand to it. As the electricity from the trapped cell coursed, Koyuki turned her head away so that she didn't see Naruto die of electrocution. After a few seconds when she didn't hear his body hit the ground she opened her eyes to see electricity coursing around Naruto's arm that was stuck to the seal. The electricity faded and Naruto then proceeded to rip his seal off of the door and pick the lock open.
"How did you do that?" Koyuki asked when the cell door popped open.
Naruto ripped up his used seal into bits, "That seal takes the element of whatever it sticks to and converts it to chakra… but if the element isn't your affinity then your coils are going to get destroyed by whatever the element actually is. Good for me my affinity for lightning is strong enough right?" He held out his hand for her, "Now let's go."
Koyuki gave him a smile and took his hand before they ran out of the prison area of the fortress. They eventually came upon a group of Yuki ninja when Naruto prompted Koyuki to stop, "Hello you guys. Good to see your ink rat made it back to you in one piece."
Sai and the others got rid of their disguises, "Yes Naruto-senpai and to you as well." He had his signature smile on his face, "You've got the princess. Do you want the crystal you gave me back?"
"Give it to her." Naruto said, pointing at Koyuki, "Because I'm about to raze this place to the ground and beat Doto's skull in, and I might destroy it if I have it on me. Now get out of here so I can finish this."
"I'm not leaving Naruto-kun." Tenten said, "Why would we leave you alone like that?"
Sai echoed her sentiments, "I am here to ensure your safety, I'm not leaving Naruto-senpai."
"Someone's got to heal you when you get yourself busted up you idiot." Sakura said, but she had a smile on her face.
"Fine…" Naruto grumbled, "I would write you all up for insubordination in my report, but I'm on probation and that might make me look bad."
"We need to move now." Koyuki said, taking the Hex Crystal back from Sai, "I can hear the guards coming. Follow me." She said, taking off with all of the Konoha ninja following behind her.
She led the team into a room where Doto's voice sounded out in laughter, "Well done Koyuki." She ran towards him standing atop his throne area and before any of them could stop her, Nadare, Fubuki, and Mizore appeared ahead of them, cutting them off from intercepting her.
Fubuki blatantly winked at Sai who simply raised an eyebrow and Mizore made a lewd tongue gesture at Sakura and Tenten who simply started radiating killing intent. Nadare simply had a victorious smirk on his face as he looked at Naruto, "It looks like you lose boy. You still can't beat me after all these years."
Naruto's face went stone cold, "I'm going to enjoy shutting that mouth of yours with my sword." He turned his eyes up to Koyuki who was standing next to Doto, "What do you think you're doing Koyuki?"
The princess gave her necklace to her uncle and looked down at her hired team, "This shouldn't be any surprise to you. I am an actress after all, aren't I?"
Doto laughed triumphantly, "Yes, another magnificent performance from the great Yukie Fujikaze!"
"Yes… it was all an act." She then revealed a tanto hidden underneath her clothes and stabbed Doto, "I told you didn't I? I'm an actress."
Naruto had an interested look on his face, "Well that's taking things into your own hands I guess. Good stuff."
"Why you little…" Doto grabbed Koyuki around her throat.
Naruto cursed and made a move, but the other group of ninja stopped him and his own team before they could try anything. Koyuki grabbed Doto's arm, "I always knew Naruto, that I was going to die if I ever returned to Yuki no Kuni… At least in the end I could."
Naruto grit his teeth, "You'd better survive damn you! It's an empty victory if you die achieving it!"
Koyuki smiled weakly at Naruto while still in Doto's grip, "It was thanks to you Naruto that I was able to face my home in the end…"
Naruto's eyes flickered red, "Nadare get out of my way or I will rip your head off!" Naruto barreled into Nadare suddenly, shoulder-checking him out of the way as he ran towards Doto and Koyuki who both fell off of the throne area.
'I'm sorry father… Sandayuu…' Koyuki thought to herself as Naruto reached her side.
"Koyuki, you'd better be alright damn it!" Naruto said as he kneeled down at her side. While fretting over Koyuki he didn't notice Doto reach his feet and that gave the man the opportunity to kick him away from her.
Doto untied his robe and revealed advanced looking black chakra armor, "You really thought that little toy could kill me?" The knife had left a mark, but had not pierced it, "The latest prototype of our chakra armor. Worth every bit paid." He grabbed Koyuki and laughed when she tried to struggle against him, "Stop wasting your time. Every ounce of your chakra is being taken from you, you're powerless." She continued to fight in vain as the ceiling broke and Doto shot a line up to escape, "Come Koyuki, let us go beyond the rainbow."
Naruto seethed in anger as he watched them escape. Naruto formed a blue ball of chakra in one hand to make an improvised exit, "Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!" Naruto destroyed a nearby wall and got outside to see Doto and Koyuki flying off, "Northwest! Get moving now!" He shouted to his team that immediately went out through the hole he made and gave chase. Naruto was prevented from proceeding by a series of kunai keeping him there.
"Let's finish this shall we little Naruto? No running away this time eh?" Nadare said tauntingly as they both stood on the cliffside surrounding the fortress.
Naruto glared darkly at Nadare, "I don't have time to play with you Nadare so I'll make this quick and brutal." He threw a kunai right down the middle at Nadare that simply bounced off of a chakra shield, "You should know by now that it's pointless! Now it's time to show you my original jutsu, Hyoton: Roga Nadare no Jutsu (Ice Release: Wolf Fang Avalanche Jutsu)!"
The snow gathered at the top of the fortress spilled over and raged towards Naruto in the form of a pack of wolves rushing right at him. Naruto made hand-seals and stopped his movements with his arms in an 'x', "Fuuton: Senpuu Kakasui (Wind Release: Whirlwind Pyramid)!" A violent wind whipped around Naruto's body, most prominent in the area that was facing the avalanche of wolves.
The ice jutsu smashed into Naruto's wall of wind, kicking up a blur of powder as it flowed down over the cliffside. Nadare laughed loudly at disposing of Naruto in such a manner, "Your weak little jutsu couldn't stand up to the power of my chakra armor! You were still ten years too young to put me down brat!"
"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Jutsu)!" Naruto's hands wrapped around Nadare's legs and pulled him underground. After a short moment Nadare found himself driven out of the cliffside he had been standing on with a pair of explosive notes, one on his forehead, the other on his back.
"Damn you boy! You aren't better than me, my armor is invincible! You can't do this!" He said as he fell down the sheer drop, raging with lunacy.
Naruto stood at the edge of the hole he had pummeled Nadare's body through and placed his hand in a half-tiger seal as he looked down on his enemy's descending body, "Invincible huh? Let's see it survive a thousand foot fall. Boom." Naruto said just as his tags finished burning down and detonated, consuming Nadare's body in an explosive fireball. He then took off to chase after Koyuki and Doto.
He circled around the front of the fortress when he heard someone calling out to him and saw the director on a mobile trolley of sorts. Naruto smirked, he wondered how fast that thing was.
XxX
(With Sai)
Sai flew through the trees of a snowy forest dodging a series of ice pillars forming up and crashing through the branches he leapt to and from, "Choujuu Giga (Super Beasts Imitation Picture)!" Sai drew up a flock of birds to fly off at his enemy to buy himself some space.
"Aww come on sweetie, don't you want to chill out with me for a bit?" Fubuki said as she saw Sai's birds incoming and allowed them to bounce off her chakra shield from her armor, "You should know that won't work by now."
Due to the destroyed birds a mist of ink surrounded Fubuki that she came out of looking around for Sai, "Come out wherever you are!"
"Alright then… peek-a-boo!" Fubuki turned to see Sakura leap out of the ink mist and drill her straight in the face with a hard right hand. Her body was sent flying through the forest, taking out trees that crashed down all around her.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief and wiped her brow, "Finally! Thanks for that Sai! That bitch was getting on my nerves!"
Sai landed from the trees next to Sakura with his smile placed on his face, "No problem u-." Sai caught himself before he could call Sakura 'ugly' due to Tenten's advice, 'Names based on amassed traits of the people they're intended for.' He tried again, Blossom-san."
Sakura gave him a small smile, "Blossom huh?" She shrugged, "It's damn better than being called ugly, isn't it Sai?" His smile was the only answer she got.
XxX
(With Tenten)
Tenten stood in place as her opponent Mizore flew through the trees surrounding them swiftly on his snowboard, "What are you going to do little girl? You still can't do anything to me!" He threw out his cable retracted arm at her.
Tenten dodged it and pulled out a scroll, "Eat this then, Bakuryuugeki (Exploding Dragon Strike)!"
A large flame dragon emerged from the scroll that Tenten opened and unsealed, sending it right at Mizore, melting the snow as it came right at him. The fire bounced right off of the shield produced by the chakra armor, "Ha ha! You can't even touch me!" His snowboard slid along the rough, course ground where there he ended up tripping over something stuck in the ground, "What the fuck?" He said to himself as he picked himself up, rubbing his injured body, and looked where he fell. He shouldn't be this hurt just from a simple fall, "What is this?"
Tenten smirked, "I knew you were coming after me. Didn't you notice me waiting for you? I set tons of those things all over this area and you stumbled right over them jerk." Mizore looked down at them and saw that she had planted tons of spiked metal balls beneath the snow, and he had fallen on and slid all across them, his snowboard was mangled, "Now let's see you block this." Tenten took the large scroll from off of her back and threw it into the air over him, "Sougu: Tensasai (Manipulated Tools: Heavenly Chain of Destruction)!"
He couldn't dodge with the metal of his snowboard mangled around his feet due to Tenten's trap so he simply prepared his chakra armor to take the shot. He realized something was wrong when he tried to put his shield up, but it simply fizzled out. He looked at his armor only to find that a vital part that converted chakra into the shield was broken from the unprotected fall, "No!"
Tenten's mid-air scroll started bombarding him from directly above with countless tools of all sorts. Kunai, shuriken of all sizes, fuuma shuriken, broadswords, large spiked iron balls, anything that could be sent at someone. Mizore quickly found himself impaled with multiple weapons of all types throughout his body.
Tenten looked at him and all of the weapons surrounding him, "Yep, that armor of yours… something that strong would have to have a weak point. I saw you touch a certain place on your armor repeatedly during the last fight… an accident and something like that could get really messed up huh?" She looked around with a sigh, "Do I have to pick all of this up now?"
XxX
(Rainbow Glacier)
Doto looked around frantically. He had used the Hex Crystal, and nothing was happening. There was no secret passage revealed or anything at all, "Where is it? Where is the treasure? The Kazahana fortune?" Hissing sounds rang out and the frozen ground began to melt, "A heat generator? This is the hidden treasure that I've spent so much time looking for?" He said, outraged.
"It's so warm…" Koyuki commented to herself quietly.
"Raiton: Kaminari Shuriken (Lighting Release: Lightning Shuriken)!"
Lighting struck from overhead from a single shuriken positioned directly above Doto who automatically responded by turning around and forming hand-seals, "Hyoton: Kokuryuu Boufuusetsu (Ice Release: Black Dragon Blizzard)!" He shot off a dragon formed from the ice around him by him arm at Naruto who was standing not too far away. The dragon hit him, launching him into the air where he burst into smoke, "What?"
He turned around to see that the princess was no longer there and was a ways off with Naruto who had her in his arms and put her down. Naruto faced Doto and cracked his neck, "No skill, all power… and not even that much of that really."
"Who are you boy?" Doto asked, nearly frothing at the mouth at the current turn of events. Everything he had done, it was all for nothing.
"Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto replied with his arms crossed, "ID number 012607, jounin-level shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, and the future Hokage… nice to meet you."
Koyuki looked at Naruto with his game face on, "Naruto… please, don't die."
Naruto gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to Doto and walking out away from Koyuki, "The day I get finished off by a guy like this… Well, let's just say I'll be fine Koyuki. Just believe in me."
Koyuki let him walk out into the open ice to face Doto, "Naruto! You are by far the strongest ninja I've ever known! I believe in you!"
Naruto smiled to himself as he continued to walk forward, "It's about time." His smile dropped once he looked back at Doto, "Now let's finish this."
"My sentiments exactly." Doto said, "Hyoton: Souryuu Boufuusetsu (Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard)!" This time he released two black ice dragons at Naruto that quickly merged into a large black tornado, "Now die!"
Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet to loosen himself up, 'So Kyuubi… how should I handle this one? Any ideas? Subtle or Loud?'
"Oh for Kami's sake kid, just take some chakra and blow his ass away. Asking me what to do like you didn't already know…" Naruto smirked at Kyuubi's outburst.
Naruto's eyes flickered red as a one-tailed cloak emerged around his body, "It's going to take a lot of chakra for this one, but since you have a tornado I might as well show you how strong the wind can really be!" Naruto rolled through a long chain of hand-seals as the black tornado came ever closer. He finished his seals and inhaled deeply as his chest expanded, 'I may not have had the finesse for any of Danzo-jiji's wind techniques, but I do have this…' "Fuuton: Hirogari Tei Ihen (Wind Release: Spreading Air Disaster)!"
Naruto exhaled full force and unleashed a terrible blast of wind large and wide directly at the black dragon tornado, tearing up the ice plates on the ground and ripping up the landscape. The high-speed wind hit the tornado and ripped it to black snow, scaring Doto shitless when he saw it coming his way. He turned on his chakra shield but that only protected him, not the ground beneath him, which ended up getting torn asunder by Naruto's jutsu.
It picked him up off of the ground and threw him backwards across much of the tundra, slamming him into a wall of ice hard, back first. The force of the hit should have killed him, but his armor proved exceptional when compared with the rest as the impact left him with internal injuries, coughing up blood, but otherwise alive.
He walked out, still looking ready to fight, but on his last legs with Naruto charging towards him with a blue ball in his right hand. He smirked a bloody smile as he saw that, "I have on chakra armor you fool! You can't harm me with that! It's pure chakra!" He kept that thought up until he didn't notice his chakra shield activating. He looked at Naruto with fear in his eyes as he saw the Rasengan in his hand turn multi-colored.
Koyuki's eyes widened, "Is that rainbow chakra?" She said in disbelief.
Naruto thrusted his hand forward, "Die you son of a bitch, Nanairo no Rasengan (Seven-Colored Spiraling Sphere)!" The Rasengan carved right through the armor like a buzzsaw and pulverized its way into Doto's body as Naruto continued driving forward right into the thick ice wall that Doto had hit after Naruto's wind jutsu. The wall cracked and collapsed on top of both of them, revealing one of the walls of the massive generator.
Quiet reigned over the area as the scenery changed due to the rapid melting of the ice until the voice of the director could be heard, "Tell me we got all of that! Holy shit we're going to need to make this movie 3-D after that!"
"Believe in the future and Spring will surely come."
Everyone looked around and saw a large projection of Princess Koyuki as a little girl. "What will you do when Spring comes Koyuki?" The voice asked her.
The little girl smiled brightly, "I'm going to be a princess!"
"What kind of princess?" The voice said.
"Let's see…" Little Koyuki said, "One that's strong, and kind, and most of all one who fights for justice!"
The man chuckled," That's some dream."
Koyuki found herself tearing up as she watched this, "Did I… really say those things?"
"Well so long as you believe in your dreams and never give up one day you will be that princess." A man then appeared in front of the image and put the necklace around Koyuki's neck, "You can see it right? A beautiful princess standing right in front of you."
Koyuki's tears finally started to fall just before she heard her younger self speak again, "But… there's sort of something else I want to be." She said with uncertainty.
"And what would that be?" The man, her father asked.
"An actress!" She said full of spirit. The older Koyuki began to laugh as her tears fell, tears of joy instead of sorrow.
Over by the generator Naruto threw the slowly melting chunks of ice off of himself and stood up, looking himself over with a disgruntled look on his face as his frame was covered in Doto's blood, "Great… I need a shower now. I guess it's a good thing I didn't blow up that fortress after all huh?"
XxX
(Koyuki's Coronation Ceremony)
Koyuki was speaking to the ninja squad that had helped her country, "The generator wasn't even full developed in the end." She commented as she stood in the beautiful garden where the ceremony had taken place.
Sakura smiled apologetically, "I guess it will be back to winter soon huh?"
Koyuki shook her head with a big smile, "No, not really. If we take what we know and keep researching, before you know it Yuki no Kuni will be Haru no Kuni (Land of Spring)."
Tenten rubbed her own shoulder, "Yeah… but it's a shame though. You're such a big star, are you really going to stop acting now to run your country?"
Koyuki gave a sly grin, "Who said I was retiring? Ruling over Yuki no Kuni and acting, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle them both. I mean I would have to be out of my mind to give it up now." She said as she pulled out a script in full sight of the team.
Sakura blushed at the sight of the heading as she was very familiar with it due to what her first sensei could always be seen reading, "You're going to star… in Icha-Icha?"
Koyuki let out a laugh, "Well I'll be seeing you. And Naruto…" She said, getting the scar-faced blonde's full attention, "I'll be needing a leading man for that role. Do you think you would be interested?"
Naruto's eyes widened before a smirk formed on his face, "Do I need to audition?" He said as a drop of blood came from his nose.
XxX
(In Konoha – Two Weeks Later)
Danzo sat in Tsunade's office as he fished inside of his robe for something as he spoke to Tsunade, "It seems that Naruto is doing a fantastic job. His last mission should get Konoha plenty of new business and publicity."
"Yes I read his report." Tsunade said evenly as she remained suspicious of what Danzo was looking for, "He did wonderful for leading his first mission. And his success could lead to a potential trade alliance with Yuki no Kuni, their technology is something to take note of. But I don't know too much about the publicity."
Danzo pulled a poster out of his robe and set it down in front of Tsunade, "Oh, I believe so." On the poster was Koyuki and a picture of Naruto in a blown up action pose as the title of the new movie was emblazoned above. Tsunade's eyes widened at the sight until Danzo spoke again, "I wonder if Princess Koyuki will ask him to star in her next film if this one is a success?" He then obstructed Tsunade's view of the poster by dropping a script on her desk that made her grab her desk so hard it cracked, "Have a good day Tsunade-hime." The bandaged man said as he left the office.
Shizune entered shortly thereafter and saw Tsunade staring hard at something on her desk, "Is something the matter Tsunade-sama?" She asked.
Tsunade didn't look up even when Shizune came around her desk and looked at what she had her eyes locked on, "I don't know who I should take a certain pressing new issue up with. Jiraiya for signing off on this movie of his… or the brat if he actually ends up being in it." Shizune read the heading and had a small trickle of blood leave her nose.
Jutsu List
Fuuinjutsu: Genso Kyuushuu (Sealing Technique: Elemental Absorption): B-rank Fuuinjutsu. Supplementary. The user uses the seal as a medium to take a natural element and convert it into chakra of said element. Can be used as instant extra ammunition for an elemental ninjutsu of the same element or can simply be dispersed if such a use is not needed. An affinity for the element being absorbed is required or else the user will be maimed by the element they try to absorb.
Fuuton: Hirogari Tei Ihen (Wind Release: Spreading Air Disaster): A-rank Ninjutsu. Long range. The user hones in a great amount of wind chakra within their body. Taking the chakra within their lungs, focusing it and refining the chakra to a much higher level. The users chest expands as they finally then release the jutsu. Sending forth a great and terrible blast of wind. This wind had no cutting power, but has a pure destructive power behind it. Able to tear through a large plot of land within moments and sending even things firmly attached away in its wake.
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