Konoha, a few hours later
Izumi felt bored. With Naruto out of the village for an unknown extended time, and since most of the girls were active shinobi, not to mention Mikoto, who knows what she'd do if she learn about her being on ROOT. Leaving her without much to do until Naruto returns to the village. She couldn't help but feeling of envy, jealousy when she saw the ramen stand girl. While she had no intention to harm her, especially since she was connected to Naruto, the only person in her life who could help her now. Then, an idea to figure out what had happened to Naruto after she joined ROOT, any information would help her.
She knew she should have reported her mission as a failure after Naruto had made her out in the theater, but she had taken the blonde's advice and continued acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Unconsciously, her gaze looked at a reflection of Memories at the same time, reminiscing about how much time they had spent together and a different life where he married her, had three kids, maybe more, their lives until they died, the feeling making her blush as she imagined it. "I am just looking to get more information on Naru-kun, does he still remember this?" She couldn't help but grab a necklace, a gift from Naruto, as she made her way towards the ramen stand. Unaware of the two groups that were tailing her from a distance.
For the past few days, the fallen Uchiha woman would occasionally find herself watching over the girls Naruto was involved with from a distance. Namely, Yugao and Anko. Watching as they would laugh and joke around with one another, and of course, their main topic of discussion would be about Naruto, causing a pang of loneliness and envy to wash over her. Though what she found most amusing was how the two would humiliate another individual, Hayate Gekko. A man who seemed to have an obsession with Yugao, from what Izumi could determine.
Within a few minutes, she found herself in front of Ichiraku's Ramen stand. Taking a deep breath, she entered the stand and took a stool at the counter. She didn't have long to wait as Ayame bounded out from the kitchen to greet her. "Welcome to Ichiraku's, what would you like, miss?" asked Ayame. Izumi frowned slightly, a little embarrassed as her social interaction had been severely limited since she had joined ROOT.
Only going to places operated by those with ROOT connections, and their meals were always the same. So this was the first time that she had to order something herself in years."Forgive me for asking, but what does Naruto-san normally order?" The Uchiha woman asked, though not missing the suspicious look from the ramen waitress. "Well, I honestly don't think you could stomach what Naruto-kun orders," Ayame answered. "So far, he is the only one who can currently eat as much," said Ayame.
"I see." Izumi frowned. "So you know Naruto-kun?" asked Ayame. "We met briefly, and he highly recommended this place." The Uchiha woman replied with half a lie. In truth, she'd seen Naruto coming here frequently to eat and always talking about it. "I see." The brown haired waitress smiled. "Well, if you're interested in trying some of Naruto-kun's favorites, how about what he gets all the time, just a more appropriate size ?" She replied.
"That sounds pleasant, thank you," Izumi replied. With the order received, Ayame disappeared back into the kitchen to relay the order to her father, who was currently tending to the cooking and dishes. While Izumi sat awkwardly on the stool, awaiting her order. She could recount the few times she had observed Yugao and Anko sitting in these exact spots, laughing and conversing with one another, but she had no one. Causing another pang of loneliness.
After a few more minutes, Ayame had returned and placed a moderate-sized bowl in front of her, full of miso ramen with a mixture of pork, beef, and chicken. At the scent of it, Izumi could do nothing to prevent her stomach from growling in anticipation of the dish. Giving her thanks, Izumi slowly began to dig into the bowl, allowing the flavor to explode in her mouth. "Naruto-kun usually has more than one, but for someone regular, this is enough. But he's always ready to try any new recipe I make, and it's just him," said Ayame. "I see," Izumi replied. "So, what can you tell me about Naruto-san? What kind of person is he?"
"Oh, are you interested in knowing how Naruto-kun has been since you last saw him?" The waitress teased, earning a slight blush from the Uchiha girl. "Or, is it for your task given to you by that old fossil?" This caused the Uchiha woman to freeze, mid-bite of her food. Slowly casting her eyes towards the brown haired ramen waitress, who was sporting a knowing grin on her face while she struggled to contain the giggle that threatened to escape from her lips.
"You look surprised," Ayame commented with a giggle that escaped her lips. "You really shouldn't be, Naruto-kun tells us everything, including your past with him. So, of course, we knew you've been tailing him, and we also know all about that old war hawk's obsession with turning Naruto-kun into his weapon."
For her part, Izumi was unsure of what to do. She hadn't expected the girls Naruto was involved with to be aware of her assignment to tail the blonde, as they never showed any signs of knowing who she was or what she was doing. Though she supposed it did make sense, given how close he appeared with all of them. She had observed that much during her encounter with him at the movie theater and the few times she secretly spied on him under Danzo's orders.
"Relax, if Naruto-kun deemed you a threat to him or us, you wouldn't be here right now." The ramen waitress said, breaking the woman out of her thoughts. "As for your mission, afraid there is not much I can tell you that you don't already know. Unless you want some more private information, for that, you would have to ask Anko-chan," said Ayame, watching as the girl in front of her seemed to get angry.
It wasn't until she felt an arm draped over her shoulders, snapping Izumi out of her thoughts, only to see a grinning snake mistress in the form of one Anko Mitarashi. "Was wondering when you were going to finally stop in," Anko stated as she took a stool next to the ROOT member. "The usual, Ayame-chan."
"Coming right up!" The ramen waitress exclaimed before disappearing back into the kitchen. Before Izumi could reply to the snake mistress, another body took the seat on the other side of her. Looking to her right, she could see the purple-haired ANBU woman, Yugao. Feeling trapped, the young Uchiha woman quickly finished her ramen and went to leave the payment for it so she could leave, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. Looking at the offending hand, she saw the person it belonged to simply smile at her.
"You should stay and chat." Yugao offered, removing her hand from the girl's wrist, earning a nod of agreement from the snake mistress. "I…. very well." Izumi conceded, seeing no way out of this. And so, over the next hour, the four women conversed with one another. At first, Izumi had kept quiet and only spoke when one of the girls would bring her into the conversation, but as time passed, she found herself opening up more and more. Gone was the earlier tension Izumi felt; instead replaced by a sense of companionship. By the time she was ready to leave, she had done something she hadn't honestly done in nearly a decade. She laughed. A true, heartfelt laugh.
Parting ways with the two women, Izumi made her way towards one of the many Root safe houses on the outskirts of the village. While she couldn't say she got any useful information to report on, she did get a handful of embarrassing tales about her target, making her giggle slightly as she recalled the stories both Anko and Yugao had shared with her. As she neared the safe house, she shook the thoughts from her mind and took on a stoic expression before stopping in her tracks, just as twelve blank masked ANBU surrounded her.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded. "Izumi Uchiha, you have been found guilty of treason against Danzo-sama." The leader of the group spoke up with an emotionless voice. "Under what grounds?" Izumi demanded, settling into a defensive stance. "Dining at a non-Root affiliated establishment, conversing with non-Root affiliated personnel, and failing in your mission assigned to you," replied One ROOT member.
"I have already reported that Naruto-san is out of the village on a mission, effectively halting my mission until he returns." The Uchiha woman argued, though not relaxing from her stance. "As for the rest, I was gathering further information," Said Izumi. "Regardless, you have shown disloyalty to Danzo-sama and his cause," The leader spoke once more, drawing his tanto. "And for that, you must be removed."
"Bring it." Izumi challenged, pulling out a pair of kunai. Not waiting for them to attack, the Uchiha woman charged the leader of the group and made a diagonal slash along his chest, before spinning to block an attack coming from behind her, while delivering a strong kick to her first target to knock him away.
Parrying the attack away, Izumi jammed her kunai into her attackers throat before using a subtitution to replace herself with another one of the Root ANBU that surrounded her, allowing him to take the attack meant for her as she jumped back to avoid another strike, that barely just missed her, leaving a small scratch on her arm, causing her to wince slightly in pain. However, she didn't have time to dwell on her pain, as she quickly rolled out of the path of a volley of kunai aimed straight towards her, though one had managed to strike her in her right calf. Severely limiting her movement.
Favoring her injured leg, Izumi stood defiantly against the ten remaining Root ANBU. Going through a series of hand seals before launching a fireball towards the group, though catching none as they quickly evaded the attack and descended upon her. Delivering a brutal kick to her chest, sending her back into a tree, causing her to cough up a small amount of blood and spit before her body crumbled to the ground.
The Root ANBU did not let up, as the ten remaining members sent another wave of kunai towards their target, this time hitting their mark, striking deep into her body, though fortunately, she had managed to cover her vital areas. Wincing in pain that racked her body, she could only look up to see the leader of the group slowly approaching her as her eyesight began to dim.
"This ends now." The leader spoke as he approached the now vulnerable Uchiha woman, bringing his tanto into a striking position. 'I just wish I could have spoken to Naruto-kun one last time.' She thought as she closed her eyes and accepted her fate.
However, the strike never came. Weakly cracking her eyes open, she saw none other the Anko and Yugao taking out the remaining Root ANBU, with the snake mistress using her snakes and kunai to dispatch her opponents, while the queen of blades cut hers down with quick and precise slashes. Within minutes, the two kunoichi had dispatched the Root ANBU. The last thing the young Uchiha woman saw before darkness claimed her was the two women approaching her.
"Anko-chan, take her to the compound. Haku-chan should be able to address her wounds." Yugao instructed the snake mistress, who quickly moved over to pick up the bleeding Uchiha girl. "I'll clean up here." Nodding, the snake mistress disappeared in a swirl of leaves as she shunshined to the Uzumaki compound to get the girl in her arms treated for her wounds.
One Hour Later
Cracking her eyes open, the first thing Izumi noticed was that she was lying on a soft bed, instead of the ground she had blacked out on. Gingerly lifting her arm, she found her wounds were dressed and cleaned, making her wonder who had treated her. The last thing she remembered was the two women from the ramen stand coming to her aid.
"You're awake, I see." A voice sounded from the doorway, prompting the injured Uchiha to glance over a the new arrival, seeing a young woman with black hair standing at the doorway with a tray of what appeared to be food. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit." Was the Uchiha girl's blunt response as she laid her arm back down, though her answer had earned her a small giggle from the young woman."That is to be expected." The black haired beauty replied as she knelt next to the bed. Place the tray of food on the stand next to the bed. "While not life-threatening, your wounds were severe," Said Haku. "Thank you for treating me…." Mumbled Izumi."Forgive me, my name is Haku, Haku Momochi, soon to be Uzumaki." The young woman smiled. "And you are?"
"Izumi, Izumi Uchiha." replied the fallen Uchiha."A pleasure to meet you." Haku smiled as she helped her patient sit up comfortably in the bed so she could eat. Izumi groaned in pain, but was able to position herself, despite her body's protest.
"Thank you." The Uchiha gave a soft smile as she accepted the food tray. "So what happens now?" asked Izumi. "For now, you stay with us," Yugao answered from the door, catching both girls' attention. "I highly doubt you will be welcomed back into Root as of now. The Uchiha is also unsafe as the Civilian council is trying to push for Sasuke into the CRA and would use you are a pawn. Anko-chan has already sent a summons to Naruto-kun to inform him of your stay here."
Izumi frowned at that. Not that she wouldn't be welcomed back, the attack on her was proof of that already. It was how the swords mistress spoke of her now former affiliation so casually. "I thank you both for rescuing me," Izumi said, turning back to her food, though not touching it just yet. "Did you follow me?"
"After you left, we noticed the two groups following you, so we tailed them." The sword's mistress replied, stepping fully into the room. "I see, thank you once more," Izumi replied. "When Naruto-kun gets back, he will take a look at those seals on the back of your neck and probably have them removed. Shouldn't be too hard, it looks like they were incomplete the last time they were reapplied."
Izumi narrowed her eyes at this information. Danzo had denied having any seals placed upon her, stating that her promise to serve him was all he needed. In exchange, he would help her track down Itachi. Something she had come to learn he had neglected to do, stating one reason or another. However, what troubled her was when the seals were placed upon her, and why were they incomplete? Worse yet, what would have happened if they were complete?
"After all, he did the same for Yakumo-san." Yugao continued, causing the Uchiha woman's eyes to widen. "Yakumo-san is here?" She asked, concern laced in her voice. "Yes, Naruto-kun was able to get to her before that old war hawk could finish the seals placed upon her. Is there a problem with her being here?"
"No," Izumi replied softly, looking down at her food. "But there may be a problem with me being here," she admitted. "Why is that, Izumi-san?" Haku inquired."I-I was the one who henged as Kurenai-san to isolate Yakumo away from everyone for Danzo-sam…. Danzo's purpose." She admitted to the shame of her past actions. Silence emanated through the room before Yugao walked over and knelt next to the bed. Placing a comforting hand on the former Root's shoulder.
"I am well aware of how Root operates, and I am positive that during that time, you were acting under the seal's influence," Yugao reassured the young Uchiha. "As I said, only the current application of the seal looks unfinished. I do not doubt you had a complete seal at some point," she said, remembering the time she studied fuinjutsu, becoming quite adept in it. "Besides, everyone under this roof is to be treated as family." Haku smiled. 'Family?' A long forgotten concept for the Uchiha woman. A simple concept that brought tears of joy to her eyes, despite her fighting them. "I… thank you." She smiled.
Land of Snow Forest
Kakashi groaned as he listened to the princess protest his assigning Sasuke to watch over her. It seemed that the last Uchiha had been a bit too overzealous in his flirting with the young actress, so she refused to have him anywhere near her. Forcing him to assign Sasuke to watch the film crew, have Sakura watch over the princess, and keep Naruto on lookout. This seemed to calm the princess down, though it seemed to upset Sasuke. Though it was clear to the masked jonin that Koyuki had wanted Naruto to be assigned to her. He knew they had something going on, but he made sure not to intervene.
As team seven helped the film crew disembark as they landed on the Land of Snow, placing it into the cargo carriage, they also took out about three transport carriages that they had brought on the ship. Both Koyuki and the filming staff were transported inside the carriages while Team 7 and a certain lazy jonin who was reading his orange-covered book, said the group would be split into watching the film crew, the princess, and the lookout. Kakashi and Naruto had also deployed several shadow clones to help ease some of the crew's worry.
Several hours later, both Team 7 and the production group stopped and set up camp because the sun had already set. Team 7 each set up their tent and assigned times to keep watch. "Excuse me, Kakashi-dono, do you have a moment?" said Sandayu, who approached the group and stood in front of the lazy jonin, who dismissed his team as they went to do the assigned tasks. "You see, it turns out we had a small mishap," said Koyuki's representative a little nervously. "One of the actors was injured in the attack and will need some time to recover and we thought that since you are shinobi, I don't know if you will have a technique to replace him, it will only be a few small scenes," said Sandayu making the jonin look at him for a second to return to his reading.
"There is a technique for that, but I think I should ask someone else to do the job," Kakashi said, still looking at his book. "Because I'm not a person who's interested in acting, Sakura, I'm not very sure since she doesn't have much training in that field, and I think Koyuki-sama didn't want Sasuke near her, after several 'incidents" said Kakashi, making the gray-haired man nod. "On the other hand, Naruto seems to already have some chemistry with Koyuki-sama, and his acting is good, managing to deceive most of the village. He might be your best option." Kakashi said, eye smiling, glancing at the actress/princess representative. Who nodded at the Leaf shinobi's proposal. "Thank you very much, Kakashi-dono," said Sandayu, bowing slightly in front of the aforementioned. "We will start in a few hours, if possible," said Sandayu.
"It's no problem, I'll inform him," said Kakashi, approaching where Naruto was mentally chuckling 'I can already see his face,he's not going to like it, but he'll do it' thought Kakashi as he watched Naruto leave his camping tent.
Two hours later
' How did I end up like this? ' Naruto mentally wondered as he stood on a stage, which was outdoors, while the Hanyou was using a Henge to resemble the actor he was going to play, who was one of the princess's generals, looking at the script and learning it. 'Just wait Kakashi-nii, you'll pay for this,' Naruto thought as he planned how to hit back at his teacher. After a while, and stopping planning against his team leader, the Uzumaki heads towards where the scenes were going to be filmed.
Naruto was transformed into a man with black samurai armor with red phoenix engravings on his back; he had loose black hair that reached the middle of his back, a pair of coal-black eyes, and two swords tied to his waist. "All right, everyone ready?" the director said through his megaphone. "Ready, Scene 9 'The Preparations,' everyone in place, lights, camera, Action," the director said as the entire crew began filming. "It would be best if you left. This meeting could easily turn into a trap, Hime-sama," Naruto said, assuming his role as he looked at Koyuki's outfit.
She had a white battle kimono with red parts with a tiger pattern on the back, she had her hair tied in a ponytail, she had a little makeup on her eyes, and she had red lipstick on her lips. Koyuki, with the princess, approached a white horse that was currently riding on a saddle. The princess had a quiver of arrows on her back, along with two knives in their sheaths placed on her waist. Naruto, who was following the script, took Koyuki by the shoulder so they both looked at each other.
"You know this could easily be suicide, right, Hime-sama?" said the transformed blonde, looking at Koyuki, who continued without saying anything. "You know that if you fall, it will all be over, right?!" said Naruto, raising his voice.
"You know very well that they could kill you and still do it!!" he said furiously, seeing how Koyuki continued to look at him. "Why, why do you keep doing it!!, Hikari!!" Naruto growled in frustration, making it seem as real as possible.
"I know, Yoshio," said Koyuki in her character, holding Naruto's hand, who felt a strange sensation when he felt how Koyuki seemed to be feeling excited. "But I have to do this." Koyuki, or in this case, Hikari, looked at Naruto's hand for a few seconds.
"Why if I don't do it all, this fight would have been in vain, both you and the rest of my people have fought in this conflict with so much blood, sweat, and tears," said Hikari (Koyuki) to look directly at the Jinchuriki in his Henge with a kind smile. Naruto saw the look full of determination and decided to go off script a little and improvise a little, although it seemed more like he was making a statement.
"Very well, if that is the case I have no other choice, if I can't convince her to leave" he said looking at her with a smile looking at 'Hikari' getting a little closer to her "I have no choice but to accompany her, in this madness and I will stay by your side to protect her at all times Hikari-chan" Naruto declared so naturally. This brought a slight red tinge to the woman's cheeks, but she quickly controlled it and smiled at the Uzumaki.
"I couldn't ask for anything more, Yoshio-kun," the woman finished, as the two looked into each other's eyes. For no reason, both parties were so lost in each other's gaze that they didn't notice that they were both closing the distance between them. "Cut, stay" said the director taking them out of their little world, both realized what they were about to do and stepped back a little with a blush present on their faces "Oh boy, are you by any chance looking for work in the acting business? I think you would do very well" said the director with a smile at the opportunity.
"No, I'm sticking to what I know and trained for being a shinobi," Naruto said, undoing the Henge, though he failed to notice Koyuki's small sigh at the blonde's statement. The director just nodded in understanding and left, looking at the actress. The jinchuriki had a foxy smile and looked at the woman. "So, how did I do?" the Hanyou asked his client. "Well, you certainly are a barrel of surprises, Naruto-ku… Naruto-san, I didn't expect you to know how to act so well," said the actress, smiling back, making the blonde scratch the back of his neck, chuckling.
Koyuki said to follow her, when they arrived at her tent, the black-haired girl told her to wait a while which the blonde did, after a few minutes Koyuki left her tent with winter clothes and they both began to go a little deeper into the forest, until they reached a clearing where the clear sky with several stars in it could be seen. But before the blonde said anything, he looked at how the woman was looking at the starry sky, he settled next to her and stared at the stars with her for a while.
"Koyuki-Hime," said the blonde. "Please don't call me that, I haven't been crowned yet, although…" she laughed at the irony of the situation. " I'm not sure I even deserve to be crowned," the actress/princess thought a little sadly. "Well, in that case, how are you, Koyuki-chan?" said the Uzumaki jokingly to try to release some of the tension in the environment after having felt the sadness emanating from the black-haired girl. The actress blushed at the Uzumaki's words.
Pouting slightly, hearing the small laugh of the shinobi, who was slightly covering his mouth, Koyuki decided to return the joke. "Only if you let me call you Naruto-kun in return," Koyuki said with a mocking smile on her face. "Then it's a deal, Koyuki-chan," said the Hanyou, bringing his face closer to hers, causing her to blush heavily and look away.
After calming down a bit, Naruto decided to talk a little. The Uzumaki soon felt something emanating from the woman again. "You're scared, isn't it?" the blonde asked/affirmed, causing the princess/actress to be a little surprised by the statement, but nodding at the same time. "I just don't know what to do, that place hasn't changed, it's the same place that stayed with every tear I had, a part of me wants to run away from this place," said Koyuki, hugging her legs.
"But on the other hand, I don't want to leave the people suffering under my uncle's rule, no matter how hard I try, I just can't help it," the Kazahan said as she took the necklace from around her neck and looked at the crystal in her hands. "I know what I have to do, but I'm scared," said the actress as she looked at the jinchuriki for a moment and looked back at the frozen forest that was adorned by the stars of the night, at which the black-haired girl laughed a little. "You must think I'm pathetic, I bet my father would be disappointed in me," Koyuki said with a little regret.
"He was always a kind and generous man, who brought prosperity to his village and even tried to bring spring to his village," Koyuki said as she remembered every moment she had with her father when she was little. Moments in which he played with her, taught her different things, they ate different dishes of food as a family, small moments so sweet that the brunette knows they will never return.
"Your father was a great man, someone who gave his life so his daughter could live," Naruto said in a calm voice. "And I'm sure he still loves you no matter what," the Uzumaki said.
Those words calmed the Kazahana a little, but again, confusion and helplessness assailed her mind as she remembered that several people depended on her. "But I don't know if I'll have the strength to face my uncle. So many people have their faith in me, but at that thought, I start to tremble, and I don't know if I can do it," said the blue-haired woman with bitterness in her voice.
"Then I will lend you my strength and help you defeat Doto and save your people" said Naruto standing up and extending his hand for her to take it "So don't worry if you want me to help you just say so and I will protect you" said Naruto, this caused the princess and legitimate Daimyo to look straight into the eyes of the jinchuriki. Koyuki looked at the hand for a few seconds and debated what she should do, a part of her told her to simply escape from the place and run as far away as possible to never return, but the other told her to accept the blonde's hand, this while she felt her heart beat faster, her eyes darkened with her hair and she seemed to be biting her lips.
"Why!! Because you support me, because you help me!!" Koyuki shouted, frowning at the jinchuriki, then stood up from her spot and stared at the blonde. "Can't you see the kind of person I am, I'm someone despicable, what good can you see in someone who abandoned their people, I'm a coward for not being able to help their people because of the fear I have, I'm just someone who runs away and doesn't look back, so, why are you helping me, WHY!!?" the Kazahana shouted while hitting the blonde's chest as tears began to flow from her eyes.' Because when I'm by your side, I feel safe, because I feel hope every time you talk to me, because ' Koyuki mentally asked herself with a tired voice, so that soon after her knocks slowly lost strength until she stopped. But at that, the black-haired girl's mind calmed down as she felt the Hanyou's hands begin to wrap her in a hug, making the Kazahana look forward where she met the Uzumaki's blue eyes, who was giving her a calm look.
"Because I see someone who needs help, because I see someone who life played a bad trick on" said the Hanyou gently caressing the woman's back "I see a person who no matter how much he said he was a horrible person, in the end he is a generous and kind person who cares about others" said the blonde. "And even though you've abandoned your village and its people, you still want to help them, and what I see in you is a person who dares to admit their weakness and I'm going to help them so they can move forward," said the jinchuriki, hugging the actress again, who without thinking twice hugged the blonde and buried her face in his chest.
Naruto felt anger and confusion leave the mind of the heir to the throne, who felt as if a great weight was lifted from her shoulders after calming down she didn't realize that the minutes were passing since she didn't want to move away from the source of light, which was the blonde's body. "We'd better get back to camp before they start worrying," Naruto said as he broke the hug, much to the woman's chagrin. She reluctantly accepted the idea, but she lost strength in her legs before she could take a step forward and had to lean on the Hanyou.
"I think this talk was too much, I'm so tired", Koyuki said in a worn tone,.She looked at the boy to then had an idea, and at the same time blushed."Could you carry me again, please, Naruto-kun"? said the Kazahana, a little embarrassed. Those mentioned above only sighed.
"Well, if there's no other choice," said the blonde, bending his knees a little to carry her. Koyuki just wrapped her arms around his neck to be safer. The blonde began to walk towards where the camp was, while the actress just accommodated me on Hanyou's chest, giving him a look, she closed her eyes, and formed a smile. "Thank you, Naruto-kun," the blue-haired girl whispered in a low voice to avoid being heard. Naruto brought his mouth closer to the woman's ear. "Well, Koyuki-chan," said the Uzumaki as he continued his way towards the camp.
The next day
The whole group was walking through the mountains while it was snowing, and clouds blocked the sky. Because the terrain was not very suitable for the group's carriages, they decided to opt for a walk. They headed along a path through the mountains, which would give them a shortcut to reach the snow village.
Koyuki was escorted by the entirety of team seven choosing to safeguard and next to her was Sandayu who was by her side, soon the entire group could see the village from the mountain, but it could be seen how a large part of the place would seem as if it were in a civil battle, since there were a few fires in the place. Sandayu looked for a moment and then looked at Kakashi, who nodded.
"Kakashi-dono, we'd better take the long way around," the representative said. "It will be best, Doto's forces must be very alert at this moment" said the ex samurai as the entire group began to mobilize, the group moved through the mountains, as they passed through a pass, Naruto felt something and moved his head in different directions, Kakashi looked at his student and understood what was happening. "We're being followed," said Naruto, suddenly making everyone look at him. "How many and ranks?" asked Kakashi, already ready for a fight. "25 at the most, the highest is high chunin level from northeast, t minus 30 seconds before interception," said Naruto.
Soon after Naruto said that, a group of 25 ninjas appeared who did not have the armor that their former opponents wore. The said group of Shinobis began to surround the group while Team 7 got into position. "If you surrender and hand over the woman to us, we will let you get away with this unharmed; otherwise, all of you will be killed in the name of Doto-sama," said one of the enemy ninjas. Without receiving any response from the other group, the same ninja sighed.
"Okay, let's get to them!!" said the leader of the group as the entire group of ninjas threw several Kunais with explosive notes in them. "Sakura with me," Kakashi said as the pink-haired girl nodded and got ready, both of them starting to make the same hand seals. "Earth Style- Earth Dome." Both the Student and the teacher said as they put their hands down to the ground, and then seeing how a large dome was created that covered the entire group, all the kunais exploded on the dome and raised a cloud of dust.
"Fire Style- Blazing Arrows," Two voices said at the same time from the smoke and seconds later 8 arrows made of fire were shot towards a group of snow shinobi, who jumped to dodge the attack, managing to damage them a little by burning those who were closest to the range of the attack.
After the cloud of dust cleared, Doto's group of ninjas watched as the entire filming group, along with a few Naruto clones, were heading towards where the fire arrows were fired, moving a little away from the combat zone, but before the group leader could react to stop the filming group.
Both he and the rest of Doto's shinobi group dodged several kunais that were heading towards where they were.
Then they would see how Team 7 approached them to confront them, clicking his tongue with some annoyance, the leader of the group soon sent a signal for the entire group to divide into different groups to overwhelm the Konoha team.
"Forward," said the leader of the group as he addressed and confronted his opponents.
With Kakashi
Kakashi had his Sharingan eye uncovered and was making some seals. "Water Style; Pressure Bullets," said Kakashi, firing about 6 water bullets that began to freeze from the cold and hit a group of 3 shinobi, who fell after the hit.
Kakashi saw a new group of enemies approaching, so by making a few hand signs, he covered both hands with electricity. "Raikiri," said Kakashi, sending his attack against the group of enemies that headed towards him, who threw several shurikens and kunais at him. Kakashi quickly began to dodge all of his opponents' attacks while catching a Kunai with his hand that had his electric jutsu.
With great speed, Hatake went ahead of the group and using the kunai he caught, he imbued it with chakra and then pierced the chest of one of his adversaries, then took it out of his opponent's corpse and threw this same kunai at another of his enemies, managing to stick it in the chest of his second victim.
The silver-haired man traced another pair of seals on his hands. "Lighting Style; Lighting Hound" said Kakashi creating two canine figures made of electricity and then sending them against his opponents, the jonin ran forward while dodging several jutsus from his opponents.
While his Sharingan eyes helped him prevent several of the attacks and then dodge them, only to counterattack by cutting and piercing several of his enemies either with his jutsus or his kunais. For a few moments, the Hatake turned his head to one side, where he could see how Sasuke was fighting against a group of enemies to and the silver-haired man noticed how his student had his Doujutsu activated. But he stopped thinking about that when he saw another group of enemies heading towards him.
"It seems they still want to continue" said the Hatake moving his hands in several hand seals "Very well let's continue" declared the Konoha jonin as he ran towards where his new opponents were.
With Sasuke
The raven-haired avenger was smiling as he dodged and punched another enemy that had approached him. Since he obtained his Sharingan, the Uchiha has been able to improve in Taijutsu, since at this moment he was fighting with the intercepting fist style.
He could feel how it was easier to use that style of Taijutsu with his Sharingan active, which gave him an advantage while dodging his opponents' wind and water attacks. "Fire Style Great fireball" fired the fireball that managed to hit a few of his enemies "You should feel honored to have fallen by my hand, scum, because you are the first of many who will fall before me," Sasuke said with a psychopathic smile on his face as he looked at his blood-stained hands.
' I don't care what I have to do or who I have to sacrifice, to become stronger,' thought the Uchiha while his eyes seemed to have a slight red glow.' Because only the strong can survive in this world.' thought the raven while looking sideways at the Uzumaki.
Who had just eliminated another Doto ninja. ' Whoever gets in my way is nothing more than a simple step, which I will overcome, while that obstacle will die,' Sasuke thought while laughing mentally and then looking ahead and launching himself against another group of snow ninjas.
With Sakura
"Earth Style Earth spikes," said Sakura as several sharp objects formed from the ground and shot out towards the group of shinobi. "Ha, that's easy," said one of the chunnin while dodging and looking out of the corner of his eye, seeing how his companions who were behind him did the same, the chunnin ran towards where Sakura was and stuck a couple of kunais in her stomach and head.
"That was easy," said the snow chunin, then felt something warm coming out of his lips, wiping it with his hand, only to notice it was blood. Then he looks forward again and sees how the whole world distorted only to realize that he was standing in the same place where he had previously dodged Haruno's attack, but at the same time he felt like he couldn't move his body and looking down he saw with commission how several earth spikes were stuck in his chest.
"But *Cough* how" was the last thing he said before falling and Sakura saw how the rest of the group also fell to the ground with the same injuries as their leader, the pink haired girl suddenly felt nauseous for what she had done, but managing to hold back her desires she managed to calm down. "Breath, Sakura, Breath," said Haruno as she took a few breaths. "Now is not the time for this," the pink-haired Kunoichi told herself as she managed to recover from her little moment of guilt, thinking of asking Naruto or Kakashi for advice on how to handle the guilt. Then she looked forward and continued.
With Naruto
Naruto was using his sword to fight some shinobi while occasionally throwing kunais. This limited his opponent's movements, taking the opportunity to finish one and move to the next one."Now," said one of the snow ninjas while a group of 5 people threw several kunais towards the blonde, who, using his sword and chain kunai, managed to deflect the kunais. Before throwing his kunai with the golden chakra chain, as it wrapped around a shinobi's neck before Naruto pulled him towards himself, before punching him with so much force that it broke his neck.
When he noticed the other five shinobi of the group were tied with explosive tags to kunais. Before throwing them, Naruto quickly sheathed his sword and dodged and weaved between the other kunais, using both his bloodline and slowing them down. Grabbing the last two as he lands closer to the group, he throws both kunais forward with great force towards two chunnins who were in the middle of the group that was fighting, the kunais stuck in the throats of both snow ninjas, who upon feeling this tried to formulate some word while trying to withdraw or stop the bleeding from their necks, but the only thing that could be heard were high-pitched noises as the blood came out of their mouths.
A few seconds later, the paper bombs explode, damaging several of the enemies who were facing the blonde in the process.
With the film crew
Even despite the situation, the director was more excited than he should be. "Splendid, this will be a work of pure art," he said with a sparkle in his eyes, which made several members of the production team shed a few drops of sweat. He quickly managed to get the camera crew to film the entire fight from various angles, which in a certain way was impressive.
While this was happening, Sandayu headed towards where Koyuki was. "I'll go ahead and bring help, Koyuki-sama," said the representative, causing the woman to nod and watch as her guard took out a scroll and was accompanied by one of Naruto's clones.
Sandayu ran up a hill alongside Naruto's clone, and after reaching the top, Koyuki could no longer see them. Sighing a little, she turned her gaze towards where the fight between the leaf ninjas and the snow ninjas was taking place.
After about 20 minutes it could be seen that Team 7 was the only one standing on the battlefield, Team 7 approached the filming crew with Koyuki at the front of the group, while the group received a few praises from the director for giving them good footage, Koyuki was talking about how Sandayu had gone ahead to get some help.
"Is anyone hurt?" Kakashi asked, receiving a refusal from the Kazahana.
"No, everyone is fine. Some suffered a few falls from having to carry cameras or other things, but generally, nothing is worrying," said the actress/princess, to which Kakashi nodded.
"Kakashi-sensei," the aforementioned turned his head to find Naruto frowning as he looked at him, gripping his katana. "Something is approaching at high speed," said the Uzumaki.
But before anyone could say anything else, everyone present began to feel a slight vibration in the ground that gradually became more noticeable, only for a large armored train to emerge from one of the seemingly solid walls of the mountain.
"Everyone move," shouted Kakashi, taking Sasuke and Sakura and jumping with great force.
While Naruto did the same, with Koyuki, soon everyone as the train had swept away all the snow that was in the place, revealing the tracks of a train.
Soon, everyone, including Kakashi, Koyuki, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, saw how the head of the train had stopped, passing a few meters from them.
So that in the main cabin a huge hatch opened where it could be seen how three people came out of this place, one of which made Koyuki open her eyes, since in front of her she could see her uncle, who was showing an arrogant smile on his face.
Behind Doto were two of the three enemies that the Konoha team had fought, Roga and Fubuki.
"What's wrong Koyuki, aren't you going to give me a hug?" Doto said, extending his arms in a hug. "But just look how much you've grown, it's been a while," Koyuki's uncle said, looking at his niece's shocked and scared face, which made him laugh even harder.
"Now, why don't we do this the easy way and you hand me the hexagonal crystal?" Doto said, holding out his hand. "And I'll give my word that all of you will get out of here alive," the oldest Kazahana said, looking at the actress/princess.
Koyuki gripped the crystal tightly as she seemed conflicted, then looked at the man for a few moments, taking a breath, the black-haired actress began to remove her necklace.
"See it's not that difficult" Doto said with a smile hoping his niece would give him the necklace so he could tell his subordinates on the train to shoot at his niece, but he was very surprised to see how Roga had extended his hand to catch a knife that was aimed at his face.
The fake Daimyo looked with annoyance as Koyuki had been the person who had thrown said knife at him.
This surprised Doto, who looked angrily at his niece, who looked back at him.
"Your word is worth shit!!" Koyuki said, making her uncle snarl. "I will never give you my father's crystal," the actress/princess declared.
"Damn brat, you are as unbearable as your father once was, until I had the pleasure of killing him with my own hands" said Doto making Koyuki look at him angrily, sighing a little to calm down he continued "But since you are my niece, I will make you meet with him as quickly as possible" said the snow tyrant.
"Doto!!" said a voice coming from a hill, from which followed several warriors who were around 70 to 80 people wearing samurai armor and weapons, they were being freed by Sandayu who had the same armor and was with an unsheathed sword "This will be your end with your fall we will avenge Soutetsu-sama, we will free Yuki no Kuni and we will finally be free!!!" said the Ex-Samurai Captain while the rest of his men roared to the air.
"This can't be a better opportunity to eliminate all the crawling rats that had escaped," Doto said while smiling, which was heard by the entire group and gave Koyuki a bad feeling about what was going to happen.
"CHARGE!!!" Sandayu shouted along with the group of samurai who began to run towards where the train was. When it was halfway there, Koyuki's uncle raised his hand, causing one of those operating the armored train to press some buttons, which caused a pair of cylinders to come out of the second car.
Lowering his hand, the subject had a maniacal grin on his face, causing Koyuki to widen her eyes in surprise as she realized what was going to happen.
"NOOOOO!!!" Koyuki screamed. Kakashi, seeing this, began to make seals while Sakura did the same. "Earth style Mud Wall," the teacher and student said in unison, placing their hands on the ground, trying to create a wall of earth large enough to cover the entire group.
"FIRE!!!" Doto shouted, and a second later, thousands of Kunais and Shurikens were shot out in the direction of Sandayu's army.
The earth wall was enough to cover Team 7 and the film crew, but not for the samurai group, who were decimated by the projectiles, which exploded after crashing into something.
Which caused a curtain of dust and snow to rise across the entire place.
When everything was cleared up, several mutilated bodies could be seen all over the place, some of the bodies had their organs outside of the body, and several limbs were scattered all over the snowy field that was stained red.
Koyuki in her desperation ran towards the place, and managed to find Sandayu lying not far from where she was, the snow princess was horrified to see the state of her representative and bodyguard.
Having lost a leg and both arms, and with only one eye, the former samurai captain's breathing was shallow and heavy. Koyuki, seeing how the man was losing a lot of blood, tried to stop the bleeding by squeezing the place where the leg had been severed, tearing a piece of her dress the actress to wrap it over the wound of the dying man in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"Forgive me, Koyuki-sama, I have failed you," Sandayu said in a broken voice as the woman looked at him with a frown.
"Idiot, why did you do this?" Koyuki said as she pressed harder on the bleeding area. "I did it to help you, b-but I see that I f-failed you," said the man with choppy gray hair as he looked at the true heir to the throne. "I-I just ask that you don't c-cry over my stupidity," said the representative as his vision began to blur. "Idiot, my tears dried up a long time ago," the actress/princess said as she watched the light in the samurai leader's eyes go out.
"Hahaha, finally that damn stone in the shoe shut your mouth, now let's move on to the main topic" said Doto so that a large blimp appeared from the sky from which the main door opened and dropped a ladder, surprising the entire group from both Konoha and the filming group, when they saw said machine.
Taking advantage of this, Roga goes and grabs Koyuki, who begins to hit him until her suit shoots a small electric current that leaves her unconscious, then he handcuffs her with a pair of chains.
Before Team 7 could stop them, wings popped out of Roga's back and kidnapped the blue-haired actress. Roga flew off in the direction of the blimp along with the unconscious Koyuki. Doto, grabbing onto the ladder, began to rise into the sky. Fubuki, using the same wings on her back, flew off towards the sieve machine, her gaze filled with guilt as she looked at the bodies of the dead samurai while anger filled her for not protecting them. Before she glanced at something that made her happy inside.
"Damn" said Naruto as lines started to form around his body. As Naruto looked at Kakashi, both their gazes met for a moment, and they knew what would happen next. Both nodded as Naruto made a few seals. "Wind Style Great Wave of the Void," Said Naruto as a strong blizzard shot out of his arms towards the ground, causing the Uzumaki to rise higher off the ground. As he is using a hidden feature of his bloodline to fly, he uses the jutsu as cover.
With team 7
After having seen all that spectacle, the copy Ninja is the first to speak.
"Alright, we better get on with the plan," Kakashi said to his two students behind him as they told the production group to follow them. "Send the signal," Kakashi said, looking at the Uchiha, who, after a grunt, made hand seals and threw a fireball into the air.
"We have to move quickly, each of you take a soldier pill to recover your energy," said the Lazy jonin, making both he and his students take out said pills and swallow them.
Feeling their strength restored to some extent, the Konoha group moved quickly towards the snow city, while the film crew got ready to go after the Konoha group. Obviously, at a safe distance. "Naruto-kun, be safe," said Sakura, looking in the direction her mate had gone. "Sha, of course he's going to be okay, he's our mate, if it were the Uchiha, I would have been worried," said Inner, taking a jab at Sasuke.
With Koyuki
The actress had managed to wake up from her slight daze, only to find herself standing in front of her uncle, who was holding the crystal in his hands and had a smile on his face, looking down on his niece with superiority.
"And to think I went through all this trouble for this thing," Doto said, admiring the necklace in his hands and then looking at his niece. "You know, Koyuki, this shouldn't have ended this way," the man said in a simple tone.
"Maybe you've finally found your human side and have reconsidered," Koyuki said with a deadly tone. "Very well, it only cost you to have killed so many innocent people for your whims," said Koyuki, who had a murderous look.
"MMMM I would say they were necessary acts, but that is not what I mean," said the snow tyrant, looking away and staring at the village castle.
"No, if only my father, your grandfather, hadn't chosen your father over me, none of this would have happened," the eldest Kazahana said with a neutral face. "If he had chosen me, Yuki no Kuni would be the one leading and crushing the other elemental nations, being the sole voice of command in this world," he said, clenching his fist tightly and showing a maniacal smile.
But from one moment to the next, Doto's expression changed to a frown.
"But he chose your father and ruined everything," the tyrant said with venom in his voice when he mentioned his brother.
"My grandfather was wise to have chosen my father over you. My father loved his village and looked out for its safety, while you only use the village and its people as tools," Koyuki said firmly.
"On that topic, you and I could agree, at least that's what I thought," said Dot,o making Koyuki look at him with doubt.
"What are you talking about?" asked the younger Kazahana.
"It turns out that neither you nor I knew my 'dear' brother either," said Doto. "It turns out that your 'dear and kind' father had created a weapon," said the snow tyrant, making Koyuki have a face of pure disbelief.
"And this weapon can subdue or destroy any of the great nations," Doto said, smiling at his niece's incredulous face.
"And the key to activate it is one that he left to his beloved little daughter, which he used to prevent me from obtaining that power by sending her away, because he knew that you would not leave her side, because she was the only thing he had left of his father" said Doto enjoying the look of disbelief from his niece.
"You, my dear are nothing more than my brother's insurance, which he sent away to fulfill a single objective" said the eldest Kazahana, who stared as the snow princess just stared at the ground, Doto managed to hear some sounds that the woman was making, which he attributed to stifled sobs.
Doto looked out the window and saw that the aircraft was already a few minutes away from the town castle.
"But don't worry, I'll make sure you don't have to be anyone's tool anymore, because-"
BOOOOM!!!
The aircraft shuddered slightly as it felt the impact of an explosion, which seemed to come from the ground. Doto and his two bodyguards looked through the village window toward the town to find the source of the explosion.
"But what?" Doto said, looking in surprise as the barracks where his men were were on fire. Doto looked down through the window and saw several of his men being killed by samurai warriors. Clenching fists in anger.
"It can't be, they're like cockroaches!!!" said Doto, turning around and looking at his two subordinates "Rogan, Fubuki, go down there and destroy them, now!!" shouted the older Kazahana, causing the aforementioned to nod and, opening a door of the aircraft, they headed towards the city.
"Haha," Doto heard a light laugh, which came from behind him, so when the snow tyrant turned around he could see how the laughter came from Koyuki, who began to raise her face to look at him fixedly "HAHA" the woman began to laugh even harder.
While looking at his uncle with amusement and mockery, which confused the latter. "You are an idiot, man," Koyuki declared, looking at the aforementioned with contempt. "My father was always a reasonable, fair, and intelligent person, since he knew that he would only make Yuki no Kuni great through the development of technology, but also through growth and understanding between us humans," Koyuki said as she stood up.
And he confronted his relative. "And that's something that a miserable excuse for a person like you will never understand," said the true princess of Yuki no Kuni, making Doto look at her with fire in her eyes. "You miserable bitch, who do you think you're with—"
"You are nothing but a miserable and pathetic scum that can't build anything, a miserable parasite that only knows how to take and cling to whatever it can to stay alive" Koyuki said with increasing strength in her voice and she wasn't intimidated in the least when she saw Doto approaching where she was.
The latter had gritted teeth and a face that showed nothing but pure anger, but that didn't stop the actress/Princess. "For all that and more, I, Koyuki Kazahana, firstborn daughter of Soutetsu Kazahana and heir to the throne as the thirteenth Daimyo of the Land of Snow, condemn you, Doto Kazahana, to be expelled from the Kazahana house and to be put to death for the attack against the daimyo and his people!!" said Koyuki.
Doto was so angry that when he saw his niece in front of him, he raised his fist to smash it against the woman's face. "And I order you, Naruto Uzumaki, to end the life of this traitor and waste of human flesh," said Koyuki, who didn't blink when she saw her uncle throw a punch towards her face.
But the next second, Doto felt an intense pain on his face and then was sent backwards, crashing against the doors of the aircraft, while Koyuki felt her chains being cut, freeing her.
Only for the Kazahan woman to look with a smile at the blonde's sword in front of her, where the Uzumaki, with his Doujutsu activated, with his sword unsheathed. "Hai Koyuki-Hime," said Naruto, looking at Doto, who was recovering from the blow he sent him and was looking at him with pure anger etched on his face.