When Fire Meets Water 2
The Sword of Destruction
Chapter 03
The next morning, everyone was ready and at the Main Gates at 6 AM sharp. Asahi had stayed with Sakura, since she was the only one with a proper family. Once Kakashi made sure everything was set, they were off on their way.
The six were headed towards the border of the Fire Country. From there, they would aboard a ship that would take them to the Land of the Snow, after that, they would continue their journey by foot. Four hours soon past before Naruto and Azumi started getting on everybody's nerves.
"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined for the nth time that day.
"NO!" Sakura hollered, giving him a hit on the head. "We are not there yet!"
"How much longer?" Azumi groaned.
Kakashi looked at his students. "About two hours at this pace," he answered.
To skip time, he pulled out his perverted book and began reading, earning him a look given by Azumi before she turned towards Asahi.
"So, Asahi-hime, tell us more about the Crystal Kingdom," she said, trying to start a pleasant conversation.
Asahi smiled at her before answering. "Well, it snows just like the rest of the Snow Country. My castle's structure is made entirely out of crystal, and it's pretty large, I suppose. My mother, father, and little brother, Hayate, live there with our loyal subjects. Well, that was until Ryoga attacked."
"What happened to your brother, hime?" Sakura inquired.
A look of sorrow appeared on Asahi's features. "Ryoga captured him as a prisoner and he won't let him go until he gets what he wants," she replied back sadly.
Everyone remained silent after that, but Naruto spoke up to break it. He gave her one of his infamous smiles and a thumbs up.
"Don't worry, Asahi-hime! We will definitelysave your brother and kingdom!" he promised before turning to Azumi. "Right, Azumi-chan?"
The white haired kunoichi nodded with a determined smile. "That's right!" she agreed.
"Don't worry," Sakura joined in, "it'll turn out all right. We have Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei after all!"
Asahi gave them all a warm smile. "Thank you, everyone."
The atmosphere then livened up and the next two hours passed by quickly due to their humorous conversations. Asahi had began growing more comfortable with her bodyguards; but she had to admit, the one that really caught her eye was the quiet shinobi named Uchiha Sasuke. While Naruto, Sakura, and Azumi were talking ahead of the group, she snuck back and attempted to make the Uchiha open up.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun," she said.
The dark haired shinobi looked down at her considering she was shorter than him but remained silent.
A blush slowly crept up her face. "Tell me about your life," she said softly.
Sasuke broke eye contact and looked straight ahead with a hard gaze. "There's nothing to say," he replied bluntly. To be honest, he had no interest in talking to her, even if she was a princess from a faraway kingdom. Sure, he had to admit she was one of the prettiest girls he ever met, but looks didn't matter as much to him.
Unless . . .
The Uchiha let out a 'tch' but the princess didn't notice.
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" she asked when he didn't say anything back.
"I'm fine."
From in front, Azumi laughed at the sight of Sakura punching Naruto for complimenting a girl he saw at the hot springs. Suddenly, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched, but when she turned around, all she saw Sasuke talked to Asahi – well, kind of. He looked disinterested but the royal girl didn't seem to notice.
Azumi then turned back and sighed unconsciously. Kakashi, who was walking beside her, looked away from his book and down at her.
"Is there anything wrong?" he asked, seeing the troubled look on her face.
The kunoichi looked up. "Huh? Oh no, it's nothing."
She could have sworn she heard Kakashi mumbled something under his breath, but she let it slide. Something wasn't sitting right with her, but what?
The Harbor
"Yes, we're finally here!" Naruto cheered they passed a sign that read "Fire Country Border Harbor".
Unfortunately, his excitement didn't last very long. Everyone was shocked when a windmill shuriken suddenly flew out from the trees but Naruto was able to dodge it, though barely by an inch. Three ninjas suddenly emerged.
The first was dark-haired man with a grin that practically yelled out he was trouble.
The shinobi beside him was a blonde male in his early 30's or so. He had a strange hairstyle that was slicked forward at the front of his head but fell loose at the back. In his hands were two long, silver chains that he twirled.
The third was a redhead kunoichi in her late 20's or so. Her hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and her dark eyes shown with malicious intent. But the thing that stood out the most was the giant forest-green snake slithering at her heels.
Kakashi tore his eyes from his book and looked at the trio. "Who are you?" he questioned as Sasuke stood protectively in front of Asahi who shrank back from fear.
The woman smirked. "Hand over the girl unless you want to die," she stated.
"You're going to have to get through us first, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled.
Azumi smirked mischievously as she stepped beside Sasuke to guard the princess. "Unless you're too scared," she challenged.
The dark-haired man smirked. "Don't say we didn't warn you," he sneered before disappearing from his place beside his teammates.
Azumi blinked. "What? Where did he—"
But before she could finish her sentence, the man materialized in front of her before landing a kick on her stomach so strong that it sent her slamming into the tree two yards away. Azumi coughed and slid down onto the dirt, causing a puff of dust and particles to surround the air around her.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Azumi-chan!" he shouted. "Teme, what did you do to—"
But he was interrupted when a chain shot out and attempted to capture him. His attention was averted to the unknown blonde shinobi with the strange haircut. "Oh no you don't, pretty boy," the man purred. "You're mine."
The woman petted her snake before locking eyes with Kakashi. "Looks like I will be your opponent then," she announced.
Sasuke watched all of this and gritted his teeth as Naruto and Sakura engaged in combat with the blonde man and Kakashi with the snake woman. His hands slipped into his pouch before pulling out a kunai. He then focused on the dark-haired man before him.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The man leered. "I'm Kairo," he revealed. "And I'm the fastest person you will ever meet."
Updated: 7/25/13
