A little behind schedule (what little I have) but I couldn't update yesterday, sorry.
"Naruto?" asked Sakura hesitantly. She wasn't sure if she should be overjoyed that he was alive or horrified that he had experienced their betrayal and become this monstrous being before her.
"Once." Admitted the war machine, turning his attention to the tiny girl. "But he died last week, blown up with exploding tags and left to bleed out in the snow. I am Botsuraku."
Walking over to Koyuki, he helped her up, before moving over to Doto's corpse, digging through the armor and crimson snow until he found what he was looking for; a blue crystal.
"Ah, here we are." He exclaimed, holding the gem to the light. "So much trouble caused by such a small thing, curious, is it not?" the question had been directed towards the princess, and she nodded shakily in agreement.
He gave her a small smile. "You have nothing to fear from me, my dear, I'm only here to see your father's deal is not broken."
"And what was the deal?" she asked curiously. He was obviously a warrior and, if she had heard correctly, that blonde boy who had been on her boat. She had cried privately for hours when she heard that not only did he die, but he had fallen due to the cowardice of his teammates, those he had trusted his life to. It was so like her own situation that she had immediately turned herself around. She would not be responsible for the deaths of the people whom had sworn themselves to her.
He chuckled as he strode over to the control panel, his large feet crunching in the freshly fallen white powder. "You don't need to know that, as he has upheld his part, now I only need to keep my own."
Instead of inserting the crystal, as they all had expected, he simply placed his finger in the keyhole, activating a large holographic monitor.
"Status."
'All systems operational, commence production?'
"Yes, proceed."
'Activating'
He walked away from the screen, which shut down at his departure, and the sound of heavy machinery filled the air. It was mere moments latter that hot air began to pour out of nearby vents, slowly melting the snow.
"A-amazing." breathed the princess. She had always dreamed of spring and now, because of him, of Botsuraku, she would not just see it, as she had in other countries, but share it with the people of Yuki.
Her people.
Approaching the metal giant, she kneeled at his feet, her forehead touching the damp earth. Earth! Soil! Dirt! And in Yuki no Kuni, no less! She was overjoyed.
"Thank you!" she declared happily. "Your actions mean much to me and my people, I can never sufficiently repay you. Please, do not hesitate to call on me or my people if you find yourself in need of anything."
The new, unofficial, Daimyo felt a warm, metal finger cup her chin, bringing her head up to look at the one who had done so much for her country. Not only did he kill Doto and bring spring, but he also helped her realize the ruler she needed to become.
"Thank you, princess. I will remember your words when I find myself in need of aid." he smiled warmly at her. "Now, please, get of the ground. It wouldn't do for a princess to be dirty when first meeting her people."
Blushing slightly, she took his offered hand and allowed him to pull her up to her feet, noticing that he was starring of into the distance. She was puzzled until she heard a noise similar to that of his vehicle but less harsh. Less than a minute latter a gray vehicle, hovering above the ground, arrived.
It was about seven meters in length and possessed two seats, one of which, obviously the driver's, was occupied by a tan metal humanoid, the upper torso decorated with blue paint.
"This is an OOM pilot battle droid, I have tasked him with taking you back to your new castle." explained Botsuraku.
"And the vehicle?" inquired Koyuki. "I have never seen something like it."
"Just a basic Landspeeder, designed for civilian transport, it's perfectly safe." he assured her, helping her in. "I already have various droids stationed throughout the castle, they will allow no harm to befall you."
"Thank you, Botsuraku-kun." she said, blushing. "I hope to see you in the castle soon."
He gave a slight bow, almost impossible to see because he was already hunched over. "Of course, Daimyo-sama. I will do my best not to keep you waiting." sending a command to the pilot droid via his helmet, it took of at speeds nearing 100kph, the princess laughing in delight at the new experience.
He gave one last smile at her retreating form before his name- his old name- was called, bringing his attention to the silver haired jounin.
"Naruto? Is it really you?"
"Hatake, you fool. If you listened as well as you ran you would know the answer to your question." The acidic venom dripping from his tongue melted the ice faster than the ventilation shafts of his droid factory.
"What happened to you, dobe?" Asked Sasuke. He probably couldn't have asked something worse.
"What happened to me? What happened? You know very well what happened!" he released a dark, hollow laugh. "But I suppose that without you precious Sharingan you can't remember anything."
"You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you." instinctively, the three ninjas knew they weren't going to enjoy this.
They were right.
"It was about a week ago, and I was on a mission to protect a beautiful actress," he began. In the speeder Koyuki suddenly felt the need to blush and on a distant ledge Fubuki felt unexplainably angry. "We were attacked while filming on an iceberg, and the actress was rushed to the boat."
A feeling of dread began to gnaw at their insides.
"I was there with three teammates, the exact same number as enemies, so one of us was tasked with assuring the safe evacuation of the civilians. I fought the single kunoichi in the team of snow ninja that had attacked, leaving the leader to my sensei and the other to my teammate. While fighting the pink haired one I was forced to call upon the power of a demon, and her teammate soon joined in, notifying me that my comrade had been defeated.
"I overpower the kunoichi and quickly dispatched her teammate with the aid of the demon before turning to support my sensei. What sight greeted me was not of my sensei fighting, but of his opponent sending a deadly attack in my direction because the one tasked with leading me had left with my two teammates to the boats, casting off and leaving me stranded on an iceberg with hostiles a jounin deemed too dangerous to fight.
"A kunai entered my shoulder, disregarded like the many others, but this one was different. Covered in high-powered explosive notes, it had enough force to rock the entire iceberg. But I wouldn't have focused on that, would I? No, I'd be too busy having my limbs torn from my body due to the complete cowardice displayed by my team, a team that swore to never abandon their friends. Obviously I was not considered a friend.
They flinched at the jab.
"I was found, by whom I will not reveal, and they helped heal me. There was little they could do, however, for my lost appendages, so they replaced them with mechanical ones, a medical breakthrough long since lost to the ever-flowing sands of time. While recuperating they taught me much and granted to me that which belonged to their previous master.
"Using that which I had been given, I killed a tyrant and restored the rightful Daimyo to the throne, earning the gratitude of an entire country."
He gave a mirthless chuckle. "It looks like I'll finally get that acknowledgement I had always desired, and all it took was for me to lose my limbs."
His frozen eyes peered into Sasuke's soul. "And that is what happened to me, Uchiha."
The group was rendered speechless, which Botsuraku took advantage of. "If that's all, I'll be going. It's been a tiring day and I need to rest." boarding his Tsmeu-6, he took off, leaving those he used to consider precious behind him.
"Finally!" shouted Fubuki, standing up and walking towards her own speeder. "Master certainly took his damn time." she'd been squatting in the cold-ass snow for upwards of ten minutes and wanted nothing more than to go snuggle up to her master.
Carelessly tossing her borrowed binoculars into the speeder she hopped in the passenger side. The assassin droid soon followed, carefully packing up its rifle and placing it within the speeder before entering themselves.
"Step on it, my nipples are as hard as diamond and my ass has frozen." The droid obeyed immediately, but if it could've it would've no doubt sweat-dropped.
Just as he had promised, Botsuraku immediately sought out Koyuki upon reaching the castle, her castle. The cyborg found her sitting on her bed staring at a picture of her father on the day he became the Daimyo of Yuki no Kuni.
"Princess." he called out upon reaching her doorframe. Noticing her tears, he walked over and sat next to her on the bed. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned for her wellbeing. She was an ally, and as such he would make sure she was taken care of.
"I-I'm fine." she sniffled. He didn't buy it.
"Tell me what's wrong." he ordered. She just smiled sadly.
"Am I that easy to read?" she asked, looking up at him. His lips quirked into a smirk.
"Maybe, but then again, your tears really weren't helping you hide it." She laughed slightly, but it was obviously lacking in heart.
"It's just that I've only returned and they expect me to lead them. I don't know anything of this place, how could I possibly do a good job?" she began sniffling some more. "I don't want to fail them, to fail him."
Ah, so that was why she was upset.
"I think that this shows that you're perfectly capable of leading a country." at her confused gaze he continued. "You care for the wellbeing of your subjects and question your own competence. You are but one, inexperienced person, and you would do well to remember that. Do not be afraid to gain aid from those who have more experience and knowledge, they are a valuable recourse that shouldn't be wasted.
"As for your father, well, I think he'd be proud even if you ran his kingdom into the ground. After all, you'd have tried your best and done everything in your power to do well, how could he not?"
As he spoke she had managed to maneuver herself into his lap and was now leaning against his chest, her sniffling had stopped but every so often a rouge tear would fall. One of his hands found itself grabbing a tissue from the bedside table and, in turn, that tissue found itself dabbing away at her tears and gently wiping the makeup from her face.
"There, much better." he declared as she peered up at him. "You look at lot more beautiful without all that makeup" This earned a blush that suited her well, in his opinion, at least.
Blushing even harder, she shyly made a request. "Could-Could you stay here tonight, with me?" In such a short amount of time he had become like a pillar, supporting her while she tried to stand on her own as the daimyo of Yuki no Kuni. Right now the last thing she wanted was to be separated from her source of comfort.
"Of course, Daimyo-sama, your wish is my command." He smiled. "You'll have to get out of my lap so I can remove my armor though." she pouted, but did so, watching eagerly to discover what he now looked like.
Just touching his armor was enough to give it the order to disengage the locking mechanisms holding it together. Piece by piece he removed it, slowly revealing the tan skin beneath. With his torso now bare, he reached up to grasp his helmet which hissed as it was removed.
Gasping in surprise, Koyuki ran her hands over his face in wonder, noticing how much it had matured during the week they had spent apart.
"How?" she questioned.
"A result of my fight, the power I drew on both damages and heals it's user, effectively aging them. The cost is high, but the power is great." he replied honestly. There was no reason for him to lie to her.
"Don't." She ordered, confusing him.
"My lady?" Botsuraku inquired.
"Don't use that power, I don't want you to age to fast, I don't want you to die anytime soon." she said it harshly but he easily identified the worry within her tone.
"Of course, I only use it in emergencies." She didn't seem pleased by that, but accepted it. Once again she pressed her form into his chest and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
"Let's go to bed." He suggested. She nodded happily in agreement. Gently, he directed her to the king sized bed in the center of the master bedroom, rolling into it and bringing her with him. Idly she noticed that his taloned feet had remained on the floor by the bed, but dismissed it as unimportant for now.
She tried to sleep, laying atop his form, but a coldness from his pelvis proved too distracting. Lifting the sheets, the dim light of her room allowed her to see his remaining armor, something not heated by his chakra. Frowning, she asked him about it.
"Why are you still wearing armor?" The answer was extremely simple.
"I didn't have clothing over my torso, what would make you think that down there is any different?"
Blushing heavily, she preformed one of the boldest actions of her life to this point. "You can remove them, I wont be able to sleep with you wearing them, anyway." He quirked an eyebrow.
"Are you sure you want me to do that, Koyuki?" Hesitantly, she nodded.
"If it makes you more comfortable I could remove my own clothes, then it wouldn't be as strange." this earned a chuckle.
"So a Daimyo and her knight in shining armor laying naked together in her bed isn't strange?" he asked.
She only giggled. "Not as strange as you might think." she admitted, causing him to grin.
"Very well, if that's what my Lady wishes, it shall be done." she giggled some more, slipping out of bed and removing the robes she hadn't bothered to earlier. He followed suit, tossing of the sheets to remove the last pieces of his armor and, in the process, revealing something new about him.
"You have feet?" she asked. Yeah, it would sound weird out of context, but earlier he had massive talons. Now, however, he had normal human feet, the same white as the rest of his armor.
"Yeah, I figured they might be necessary so I found a way to combine the two feet types, that way I wouldn't have to carry around multiple." seeing his reasoning, she let the subject drop and returned to her undressing, making as much a show out of it as the possibly could.
Botsuraku wasn't going to complain.
When she was finished, revealing her divine nude form, she sauntered back over to him, taking extra care to sway her hips for him.
Once again, he wasn't going to complain.
Reaching Botsuraku, who had recently finished with his own undressing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed him back onto the bed, crawling up to rest on his lap as she did so. She went in for a kiss and he eagerly obliged, grabbing her hips.
At some point he remembered turning of the light-switch next to the bed, but he was a little distracted with the gorgeous nude woman currently lip-locking with him.
It was a good day to be General Botsuraku.