Clash in the Snow Country: Legacy Version
Chapter 8–A Warrior Falls
The entire group got off the ship and onto the iceberg in no time flat. Director Makino had started barking orders before everyone was even off the ship and started throwing out wild and crazy ideas that could, should and would happen during the next scene. All his flair, inspiration and improvising was just spelling doom for the cast and crew, specifically a certain three Konoha nin.
Yukie, however, was not feeling the urge of doom coming. Not even that slight, but still very real feeling of nausea she felt due to last night's game made her feel that doom was coming. She was a professional and had worked with the eccentric director long enough to know his habits and what to expect from him. She was very well familiar with his sudden changes with movies and had come to the point where she could adapt on the spot if she needed to. The same could be said about the other four actors for key characters: Burikinto, Shishimaru, Sukeakuro, and Mao. All five of them were able to keep up with Makino's insane movie-making strategies, though the certain young members of the cast obviously weren't.
But just because Yukie was not having feelings of doom for the movie, it did not mean she was eager to participate. Ever since Makino had announced that filming for the next movie would take place in the Snow Country nearly three weeks ago, she hadn't had a moment's peace. Not from the working conditions or expectations, but simply because they were all returning to that place. And with that announcement, the nightmares came. Even now, she could still feel the heat of the burning buildings, or hear the screams of the dying. And especially the corpse of…
She shook her head, not wanting to remember anymore. The dreams had come every night, as if the past itself wanted to mock and torment her. And with every night that came closer to their departure date, the dreams became that much more intense. Several times, she had tried to run away, but she was always found and brought back. Why did everyone want to do this to her? She wanted to forget the past and be done with it!
Her thoughts then turned to the unpredictable ninja: Uzumaki Naruto. He claimed that his life sucked more than hers, saying that the loneliness he had felt was a terrible pain. And curiously, the same night she had talked with the boy, she had been able to sleep soundly, with no dreams of her past to haunt her at all.
She looked around the landscape, breathing in the clean, crisp air that the iceberg had provided. Everyone was busy setting up for the scene… whatever that would be, since none of this had been planned, after all. She saw Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all focusing on their scripts with determined looks on their faces. It brought a brief smile to her face. Determined as they were, it wouldn't help. No amount of preparation would ever be able to prepare them for Makino's constant changes. The only way to really prepare for them was to learn from experience, something that those three did not have, and the best way for them to get that and learn was to let them work it out themselves without anyone holding their hands, like how the mother hawk was known to push her baby chicks out of the nest to see if they could fly on their own or go crashing into the ground.
She briefly wondered if those three would fly or crash today.
"Yukie-sama."
Silently, she turned around and looked at her agent. "What is it?"
"I know that look on your face," Sandayuu told her simply. "Anything you care to share?"
"No," she told him harshly.
"Yukie-sama… I think I might be able to help if…"
"I SAID NO!" she shouted. "What could you possibly understand? You're just a small, little man who happens to be my agent and who likes to butt into my business! So stay out of my way! What would you know about it anyway?!" Without waiting for an answer, she stormed off to the set, leaving Sandayuu alone.
"More than you know, Koyuki-sama… more than you know…" he told himself quietly.
Naruto
Naruto groaned under his breath as he made his way to the starting set, which was nothing more than a section of the iceberg that Makino had randomly pointed at. Currently, he was walking beside Kakashi towards the set.
He – like Sakura and Sasuke – was now dressed for the cold. They all wore those small footwear things on their sandals to keep their feet warm, and gloves for their hands. Naruto himself had just stuck with his usual black and orange jumpsuit since that was adequate. He glanced at Sakura, who was dressed mostly the same but also had a warm overshirt on. Instead of taking Kakashi's advice about pants and keeping little skin exposed, she had just put on leg and arm warmers, as opposed to a long-sleeved shirt and pants. Sasuke had also decided to wear his usual clothes with an overshirt – long-sleeved as opposed to short-sleeved – and had wrapped bandages around his legs. Kakashi just put on a scarf, only with the foot warmer things.
It had been an hour since dawn, and Naruto had spent that time working with Sasuke on the Kisou Karyuu's flaw. Sasuke had told him the details, such as the large amount of chakra control he was inputting, the way he was manipulating the fire, and the various combination of handseals he had used. The current sequence he had down was the best one he had so far because the Kisou Karyuu had gone after the Sasuke bunshin two out of ten times with that sequence. Naruto found himself going over and over the seals again.
Uma. Tora. Tori. Tatsu. Tori. Tora. Uma. Tori. Tatsu. Saru. Tori. Tora.
Horse. Tiger. Bird. Dragon. Bird. Tiger. Horse. Bird. Dragon. Monkey. Bird. Tiger.
Focus. Power. Control. Seek. Control. Power. Focus. Control. Seek. Speed. Control. Power.
He couldn't find anything wrong with the sequence. It had the necessary elements for the Kisou Karyuu: Power, Seek, Control, Speed and Focus. That's the combination he would have come up with: plenty of focus, speed and power with the ability to seek, all carefully controlled so that it wouldn't rebound back at you. Except that's what it was doing exactly. He didn't understand… why was the Kisou Karyuu backfiring so badly? He played the seal combination over yet again and that seemed perfectly fine. What was the stupid problem?
Should Sasuke create his own seal for this? Naruto shook his head. Unless they knew for a fact that the seals were the problem, creating a new one wouldn't make any difference. You only needed to create a new seal if the standard ones weren't good enough, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
Maybe something to do with the chakra control? Should Sasuke use more? Less? This kind of question would be perfect to ask Sakura – a suggestion Sasuke had turned down immediately – since out of the three of them, her chakra control was the best. But seeing how things were between Sasuke and Sakura at the moment, it didn't seem likely that Sakura would be willing to help.
Naruto had even volunteered to let Sasuke try it on him once (though he had a Suiton jutsu ready to go just in case it did work) to see if using the Kisou Karyuu on the Kage Bunshin really was messing up the seeking ability. The result was the same, however. Halfway towards Naruto, the attack suddenly stalled and went right back at the Uchiha. It seemed that the Kage Bunshin wasn't the problem.
But then… what was? What was left? Something with the fire portion of it? Or could it even be Sasuke's Curse Seal messing up things somehow? But that didn't make any sense. None of any of Sasuke's other jutsus were affected, after all. What could it be?
Naruto shook his head again. Then he stopped abruptly. He took a couple more deep sniffs. Slowly, he looked down at the area. There was a lingering smell – no, smells… at least two – around that part. Smells that he didn't recognize. Suspicious now, he walked over to the spot and took a few more careful sniffs, but he didn't get anything more. He then scanned the horizon with his eye, searching.
"Hatake," Naruto called out.
Kakashi stopped and looked at him. "You smell it too, don't you?"
Naruto felt his eyebrows rise. "You can track by scent as well?"
The Jounin smiled underneath his mask. "My own nose isn't half bad." His voice then grew serious. "Can you detect anything specific?"
Naruto shook his head. "No. Scent's too weak, and the cold doesn't help matters either. Best I can say is that there are at least two different scents and they once stood here. Where they are now, or if there's more, I can't say."
"I thought as much," Kakashi replied. He paused and looked at their surroundings and all the people. "We'll let Sakura and Sasuke know about this, but we'll keep it between the four of us for right now. I'd rather not cause a needless panic, especially if these scents turn out to be false." He then looked at Naruto. "And for future reference, be mindful of the cold. As you noticed, it hampers the scents. Adjusting to it is something that only experience and time will be able to help you on. You have to be able to focus on the smallest trace you can find, and stay on it. Not easy to do at first."
Naruto merely nodded in response.
"Also… I picked up three individual scents."
Twenty minutes later…
The film crew and cast were nearly ready to start filming again, despite the fact that many were acting very sluggish and looked like they were ready to pass out right then and there. The actors gathered at a spot on the iceberg, directly below a large pile of ice where Mao would be standing. Ken and Michy didn't look too much better than the camera crew themselves: Ken had thrown up a total of twice so far, and Michy was quite dizzy. Kaijo – who now wore sunglasses due to his complaining that it was too bright – held up the snapshot again. "Alright, scene 36, cut 22, take 1! Action!"
Immediately, Mao began laughing sinisterly. "FWA HA HA HA!! So you've arrived, Princess Gale!"
"It's you… Mao!" Yukie/Gale responded as everyone drew their weapons. Michy/Sukeakuro held up a hand in her direction. "Princess, please stay back!"
"We'll handle this!" Ken/Burikinto promised.
Sasuke looked up. "So… that's the man." A small grin appeared on his face. "We kill him, and this whole 'thing' is over, right?" 'Mao' heard that and noticed that all three genin were grinning madly at him and had a small twinkle in their eyes. He gulped loudly as he imagined the unspeakable horrors they would do to him just so they could 'finish the movie', but he continued on regardless. "Did you really think you'd seen the last of me!? I…"
He was interrupted when a kunai – with an explosive note attached to it – blew up on the ice behind him. It had been thrown by Kakashi of all people. "Um… you could have at least let me finish…" he told the jounin.
The scripts these days were becoming less and less direct. Instead of having all the lines, acts and reactions down, they were becoming increasingly vague. For example, if Naruto was supposed to talk to another one of the actors, the script would merely say 'Naruto talks to Burikinto', instead of having an actual line down. Other times, such as this scene, were filled with one-liners for the shinobi, the most common one telling them that they just comment when such and such happened. Important scenes and lines, such as the current one with Mao, were the few times that everything was written out, though any improvisations were taken as well.
"I wanted to do that," Naruto and Sasuke whined together, while the crew muttered about just what Kakashi was doing, though Makino looked excited that the copy nin was living a little, since he usually didn't.
"Everyone get back," Kakashi ordered in a loud voice. "Return to the ship now!"
At that last statement, nearly everyone started muttering in confusion. Just what was the jounin doing?
The answer came almost immediately. Right beneath where Kakashi had thrown the kunai, a figure stood up and tossed his white covering. It was a man in a strange outfit with chunks of metal in various places. His long purple hair was tied in a ponytail and he wore a hitai-ite on his forehead, with four specks on it in the shape of an angle.
A Yuki-nin.
"Greetings, friends. Welcome to the Snow Country," the man greeted them.
Kakashi's eye widened. "You're…" He cut off when he detected a second chakra signature. On top of a large ice mass, another person was there. She too wore the same style of uniform and hitai-ite as the other one did, though her pink hair stuck out on the sides of her helmet. "I welcome you, Princess Koyuki. I hope you brought the Hex Crystal with you."
Kakashi visibly flinched at the name. He looked at Yukie and repeated. "Princess Koyuki… you?"
Koyuki? PRINCESS Koyuki!? Naruto repeated to himself. He too found himself staring at Yukie, or Koyuki, or whatever the hell her name was. These nins are definitely talking about her. Are you trying to tell me that this whiny actress is a real princess!? NO FUCKING WAY!!
A ways to the group's right, another mound of 'snow' erupted, revealing a large man. He also wore the same metallic uniform and headband that the other two did. Unlike the other two, his left arm was an immense mechanical arm, as opposed to the normal flesh and blood one might expect. "You're as good as they say, Hatake Kakashi," the man said. "We couldn't get any closer to the famous copy nin than this."
"Sasuke! Naruto! Sakura!" Kakashi barked. "You three protect Yukie and cover the crew's retreat back to the ship." Then, in a louder voice, he yelled "EVERYONE BACK TO THE SHIP!!"
They all started muttering amongst themselves, wondering just what was going on. But they weren't moving. "MOVE NOW!!" Naruto roared at them.
THAT got them moving.
It did the three Yuki-nin as well. "Fubuki. Mizore," the first enemy nin called out as he jumped towards the group. "I leave the princess to you, then."
"Whatever," the kunoichi, Kakuyoku Fubuki, replied as she jumped down as well.
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ran forward and surrounded the actress as Kakashi sprinted forward to engage the first Yuki-nin. They both stopped mere meters away from each other and just looked at each other. "It's been a long time, Kakashi. I hope you're not planning on running away. Like the last time."
"Rouga Nadare," was Kakashi's only reply. Instantly, both ninja leapt forward and starting exchanging a series of punches and kicks. Both separated, then launched themselves at each other, clashing each time. They continued doing this as they moved higher and higher on one of the icebergs.
The Yuki-nin, identified as Fuyuguma Mizore, reached behind him and took a snowboard from his back. He jumped on it and snow began flying everywhere. The nin then shot down the snowy slope at an incredible speed.
Naruto couldn't help but be in a little awe at that little stunt. That actually looked like fun! He made a mental note to try that himself someday. He was about to spring forward when he noticed that someone else had already started running at the enemy.
Sakura.
This day so far was proving to be quite eventful, especially since she had woken up before dawn for some odd reason. Seeing how she was already up, she grabbed a certain item, had a quick breakfast and headed towards the back of the ship, where she started practicing with it until she heard Kaijo's loud voice about some large iceberg. A short while later, she and everyone else were brought to the iceberg, ready for another day of torment. She wondered why her incredible acting skills were wasted with the likes of the bastard director.
Then these unknown hostile snow nin appeared, and Sakura suddenly found herself feeling something she hadn't really felt before. It was that feeling that caused Sakura to act first against them.
She wasn't feeling what you would call impatient, hopeful, or even eager. None of those were what caused Sakura to take on the enemy first. If it were to be defined as a word, the closest would be: need. It was more of a feeling of needing to know if all her effort up until now was really paying off, if she was truly becoming stronger in her own way and not just fooling herself. Had she really improved, not just in the shinobi arts, but mentally as well? Truly ready to face an opponent head on for the mission, rather than just staying on the sidelines and watching?
She wanted to proudly know that she could help her teammates, fighting by their sides. Not as their burden or someone who needed to be protected, but as an equal. A fellow shinobi.
And this is where she would make her stand. Right here. Right now.
She took three kunai and threw them at the enemy Yuki-nin. Once the knives got close, they seemed to shatter, and Mizore didn't so much as flinch. He just kept boarding right near her, yelling "YOUJO!!" as he attempted to smack her head. She ducked as the man slid right by.
The man quickly made a one hundred eighty degree turn on his board, while Sakura started performing several seals. Before she was even halfway done, Mizore jumped off his board and came right at her. Sakura was surprised by the move and was forced to jump back, which also made her stop her seals temporarily (she wasn't experienced enough to continue to making seals while moving quickly, like Naruto and Sasuke could). Mizore's metal arm crushed the ice where she had just been standing. He then attempted to swipe kick her, causing her to retreat more. Again, Mizore didn't stop. He did a quick knife edge kick at her, followed up by a fierce left hook. During all of this, Sakura was barely able to back away, let alone block or counterattack.
That's when several shuriken collided with the man. Like the kunai before, they too had shattered. Both shinobi looked at the thrower. It was Sasuke, who didn't hesitate as he threw a windmill shuriken in response. It also broke against the man, but that gave Sakura an opening. She ran forward and hit the Mizore squarely on the face as hard as she could. The big man's hands went flying to his face as he began screaming, leaving Sakura a tad bit confused. Sure, she had beaten on Sasuke and Naruto plenty of times during this mission but did her punches really hurt that much?
"MI DOSE!!! MI DOSE!! YU BROKE MI DOSE!!" Mizore shouted through his hands. He slowly brought his hands down and Sakura saw that his nose looked like it had been squashed flat, plus there was a considerable amount of blood all over his face now. And Mizore was now thoroughly pissed. "YU BRAT!!"
As for Sasuke, the other Yuki-nin was going after him now. "Now, now," she critiqued as she ran through her own seals. "Don't get involved in another's fight when you have ME to deal with! Hyouton: Tsubame Fubuki!"
Sasuke jerked in disbelief. HYOUTON!? These nin could perform the same techniques as the one called Haku could do!? He quickly activated his Sharingan. He watched as many swallow-like birds formed out of ice and came directly at him. There was no doubt now. It was the same!
No… not the same… Sasuke corrected himself as he dodged the swarm of birds flying at him. Haku had been able to create ice with pure ease. It had been no more difficult for him to do so than it was for him to breathe. Yet this shinobi had to concentrate just as hard as with any other element. In addition, the ice was very roughly formed, while Haku's had been so smooth. The difference seemed to be that these shinobi manufactured ice, rather than naturally allowing the ice to form as Haku did. He then noticed that the birds suddenly turned around and came back at him.
If Sasuke had been anyone else, he would have gawked at the injustice of it all, but instead he immediately started preparing his jutsu. This Yuki-nin was able to perform a seeking jutsu!? One that didn't backfire on the user!? How!? He cried out "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He blew out a fireball which collided with the birds. To his great relief, he found that he could melt this ice.
As for Naruto…
"WHY AM I ON GUARD DUTY!?"
He was currently whining. He then looked behind himself and saw Sandayuu running towards him. Now why was the old man running in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be going? "Princess!" he shouted. Curious, Naruto looked farther to his left and saw that Yukie… er… Koyuki… hadn't moved at all. Naruto swore to himself about letting her fall into his blind spot. He quickly promised himself to seriously work on that later. "Yo! What are you waiting for!? Move it! As in NOW, not LATER!" he yelled.
She didn't respond to him, but she did seem to hear Sandayuu. She was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time. "Sandayuu… you…"
"Hyourou no Jutsu!" Fubuki yelled. Immediately, several large ice columns began erupting towards Sasuke, who was forced to leap back from each one. He quickly ran through the seals, fifteen in all, and yelled "Katon: Karyuu Kyuuzou!" He blew out the fire and it rapidly stretched towards the kunoichi, who merely smirked as another ice column emerged in front of her for protection. As soon as the fire hit the ice…
KABOOM!!!
The ice shattered and Fubuki was sent rolling across the ice and crashed into another ice mound.
Now it was Sasuke's turn to smirk. Finally, something that went RIGHT! This jutsu worked out and didn't backfire on him, or electrocute his throat. It worked out almost as a miniature version of Naruto's insane Katon that he had used against Shukaku Gaara.
As it should have, since Sasuke had modeled it after the Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou itself.
He could still remember when he saw it in action. How Naruto, engulfed in what he now knew was the Kyuubi's youki, bloody and quite injured, had used that jutsu on the large sand demon and how it OBLITERATED not only the sand demon, but an entire section of the surrounding forest! Nor did Sasuke forget his first reaction to seeing such a destructive jutsu that the blond wielded.
POWER!!!
His Sharingan had been on, and Naruto's Oboro had not. Thanks to the hawk-like vision the Sharingan granted him, as well as the fact that the Kyuubi's youki was not as dense as the Oboro, Sasuke had seen it. The seals used, the chakra control and precision that was required, exactly how to manipulate the fire to do his bidding, he had seen all of it. And it was now engraved into his memory. And being the arrogant, hot-headed, must-have-strength-at-all-costs attitude, idiot self – OK… that's enough, Sasuke thought to himself – he had been, how could he not be tempted to try it for himself?
And while Sasuke had been all those things and more, he was certainly NOT stupid. He knew that if he actually attempted to use the Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou, he'd probably kill not only himself, but everything else within a couple hundred meter radius. Rather violently too.
So he went for the next best thing: recreate it from scratch.
He had started out simply: using the Goukakyuu and applying changes as need. He went slowly, applying careful adjustments as he did, experimenting with everything he could think of, from playing with the jutsu's power, to how fast it would move, to how much to manipulate the fire, to whether he should blow it out of his mouth or create it in his hand, always in small increments. It was during this time that he made an interesting discovery: he was better at controlling the fire in his hand, rather than blowing it out of his mouth. Whether it was because the hand was the easiest place to mold chakra, or if he was simply talented at that – or even both – he didn't really know. But with that discovery, he put the recreation of the Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou on hold and began focusing his efforts into his hands.
This eventually led him to the creation of the Gouka Tenohira.
Then when he had 'returned' to Konoha, he began reworking on the recreation, eventually achieving the current result: Karyuu Kyuuzou, during this mission. Though it was nowhere near the power of its predecessor, it would suffice. Besides, he had a feeling it would be his work with the Gouka Tenohira that would lead him to his ultimate potential with fire, not the Karyuu Kyuuzou. It was more appropriate that way, since he would become stronger through his own creation, not by mimicking someone else's jutsu.
He saw the enemy kunoichi slowly start to get up from where she had crashed. Can't have that now. He flipped out three pieces of wire, two in his hands and one in his mouth, and hurled it towards her, tying her to the ice mound securely. He then made several seals, ending with the tora seal, mouth wire in-between his fingers. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" Immediately, the wires were aflame and went streaking towards the enemy, striking home.
When Koyuki/Yukie saw all that fire, any desire that was left to move was now completely lost. She could see the fires of her home once again, more clearly than ever! She could see a younger version of herself in front of a mirror, and then saw that mirror shatter! Then the body… She fell to her knees and grabbed her head, trying to force out those memories!
"Princess!" Sandayuu tried desperately. "We must get back to the ship, or you'll…"
"I DON'T CARE IF I DIE!!" she shouted. "I… I WON'T GO BACK TO THE SNOW COUNTRY!!"
"We can argue about this later!" Naruto yelled, frustrated as well. He hadn't been able to fight anyone and needed to vent some LONG stored up frustration! He hated watching on the sidelines! "Get your ass on that ship right now, or I'll drag you there myself!" he said as he ran towards her. Unfortunately for him, because of the memories, she could no longer control the nausea she felt from last night's alcohol. The second Naruto touched her… she vomited right on top of him.
"GROSS!!!!" Naruto yelled, desperately wiping himself off. "NASTY!!! I! HATE! GUARD DUTY!!!" In response, the actress passed out.
Meanwhile, at the fights, Sakura had just narrowly avoided Mizore's strings that had launched out from his hand. Once she cut them with a kunai, she threw the said weapon and began the seals again. Must finish this time!
"Ive hud emough, YOUJO!!!" Mizore sneered, rushing her again. "It's tme…"
"Aikurushii Sakura no Jutsu," Sakura muttered very quickly under her breath, just barely finishing the seals. To her complete surprise, her genjutsu seemed to disperse and vanish! And Mizore didn't even do ANYTHING!
"…fo yu…" he continued, bringing up his left arm up. Sakura's eyes went wide. Her confusion allowed him to get close to her! She had no choice but to block this time around. She brought her arms up and crossed them…
"…TU DIE!!!" He brought his arm down hard. Sakura's feeble defense did nothing to stop the metal from hitting her. It plowed right on through and struck Sakura hard in the head, drawing everyone's attention. Her mouth was wide open, as were her eyes, and she seemed to be in shock. All that she could think about was the PAIN soaring through her head!
Mizore didn't stop. He reared his arm back. This time, there was an erupting noise and the arm suddenly moved nearly four times as fast as normal, striking her right in the stomach. She gawked while coughing up blood and went soaring into the sky. He pressed yet another button on his arm and the entire thing launched itself after her, grabbing her ankle. Immediately, he retracted his arm and jerked the pink-haired girl right back at him. Seconds later, she was right back with him and his right fist slammed into her face, ironically missing her own nose.
"SAKURA!!!" both Naruto and Sasuke shouted as Sakura flew through the air once again. This time, Mizore didn't try to catch her since she crashed into another piece of ice landscape.
Both boys paled slightly when they realized that Mizore still wasn't satisfied, because he was running straight towards her again. In response, they both ran in her direction, both preparing another jutsu.
For Sasuke, he was halfway through his own when he noticed something bad out of the corner of his scared eye. It was the place where he had blasted Fubuki… except she wasn't there! What was there was what looked like a melted basic ice sculpture, with the kanji 'LOSER!' on its forehead.
Kawarimi!? he thought at once. Immediately, he began looking for the Yuki-nin. Where was she…?
Soon after, he detected her chakra signature again… right behind him and coming fast! He barely had time to look over his shoulder to see that Fubuki had activated some kind of glider on her back and was soaring straight at him at a rapid pace. Her right hand was what got his attention: it looked like ice and snow was flying at furious speeds around her right fist. The chakra emitting from it was so intense, Sasuke mentally wondered how the hell he missed it!!
And the worst part was she was about to hit him with that thing in LESS THAN A SECOND!
Fubuki grinned as she saw the kid's panicked face. This would be sweet payback indeed. As she prepared to strike him with her Shimo Arashi on his exposed back, the raven-haired brat pivoted at the last possible moment, making her just strike lightly against his back tearing both shirt and flesh as she flew on by, though not before she felt his fist slam against her back, not that it did any good. Afterwards, she took the sky again and looked at her opponent, who was moaning in pain and constantly rubbing his back where she had it.
This brat is good. That took some serious skill and timing to be able to dodge like he did. If he did it too soon, I would have noticed and adjusted. If he did it too late, I would have been able to land a direct blow, rather than the glancing blow I managed. He even managed to sneak in a back-knuckle as I flew by. Fubuki allowed her grin to bloom into a full-blown smile. Oh yes… this brat is definitely good.
She saw the boy struggle up and glare at her, much to her satisfaction. Curiously, he made a half tora seal with his left hand. Now what could he possibly be thinking… NO!!! Fubuki's eyes went wide as she quickly looked at her back and her fears were confirmed.
There was an explosive note there.
KUSO!! Panic swelled up inside her. HOW!?!? WHEN!?!? Then hit it her. DAMN BRAT!!! THAT WASN'T A BACK-KNUCKLE! IT WAS HIM PLANTING HIS BOMB!!!
Sasuke's face was impassive as he said, "Boom."
The note exploded and Fubuki went spiraling out of control and crashed into the ground, squealing like a newborn, landing in a rather uncomfortable position. "Hmph," Sasuke snorted. "That armor protected her from the worst of the explosion. No matter." He took off running again, trying to ignore the newfound agony on his back.
As for Naruto, he managed to finish his seals, took a deep breath and shouted "FUUTON: KAZE OSHIYARU!" He blew out a fierce wind out of his mouth. A split second before it slammed against the snow bastard, it suddenly lost all its power, becoming a pathetically weak breeze. WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!?!?
He didn't know what was worse, the fact that his new jutsu had utterly failed, or that Mizore didn't even stop on his rampage. Desperate, Naruto created about two dozen Kage Bunshins, activated his Oboro and ran as fast as he could at the Yuki-nin. But it wasn't fast enough. He was too far. All he could do was watch what happened next.
Sakura was breathing heavily on all fours when Mizore finally came up to her. In one swift motion, he delivered a devastating kick to her chin. For the third time, she was launched into the air, though this time she let out a painful scream. She hit the ground back a ways and went rolling about twenty meters before she finally came to a halt.
"DAMN YOU!!!" Naruto roared as he rushed towards that bastard. Large amounts of youki exploded all around him and his left eye snapped open. This bastard was going to pay dearly!!
The new foreign chakra alerted all the remaining combatants. Mizore froze in place and looked at the horde of blonds coming right at him. What… what is that chakra!? And what's with that strange glow around him!?
As for Kakashi and Nadare, they stopped in mid-exchange. As one, they both looked in the direction where that chakra was coming from. Nadare actually looked rather spooked. "What? Is? That?!"
Naruto… Kakashi answered silently. Something was very wrong over there. He had heard the two boys' angry shouts, but had been too busy with Nadare to look. After finally looking and understanding the exact nature of what was going on, he took off in that direction as well.
The Narutos ran towards Mizore, who grabbed the first two by their heads and smashed them together, making them vanish. He swung around with a right roundhouse kick and destroyed a third one, while simultaneously grabbing another Naruto. He threw that said Naruto, which collided with two more, making them all vanish.
No less than four Narutos came forward, all making the tora handseal. A Katon jutsu? Mizore thought as a smirk appeared on his face. That'll be worthless.
The four Narutos took a deep breath and then exhaled, blowing out a dense cloud of smoke, to which Mizore began chuckling to himself. This brat couldn't even do a… he stopped as a fist struck him in the side of the face. He then felt another Naruto's drop kick on his back. Mizore hissed under his breath and smashed his left hand on the ground as hard as he could. The sheer force of the blow pushed away the smoke and several of the clones.
Only to realize that there was another blond-haired shinobi right behind him, his arm encased in that deadly wind again. Mizore was aghast. Was all that up until now just a distraction so that this one could sneak up on him!?
"GOT YOU!" Naruto yelled, his Kaze Kiwa striking the base of the bastard's left arm. Before he even made contact, the Kaze Kiwa died and scattered. WHAT!? Naruto mentally shouted. There was no way that he would have messed up on this jutsu, so what the hell went wrong!?
Mizore quickly recovered and threw a left punch, followed by a very quick right jab at Naruto, who calmly caught both with his own hands. For a split second, they merely struggled to get the upper hand… until Naruto's Oboro began to flicker, then it completely shattered as easily as glass.
"WHAT!?!" Naruto cried yet again. How the hell did his OBORO fail!?
Mizore acted immediately. He knocked Naruto's arms aside, then brought his hands together, with Naruto's head right in the middle of that painful slap. Naruto moaned as Mizore kicked him away. "Get yu laler… kill youjo firs."
A split second later, Naruto heard "SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU!!!"
Naruto almost didn't recognize the voice. A split second later, the large water dragon slammed down right in front of Mizore, causing water to splash everywhere around him. Mizore grunted as he desperately tried to slap the water away. He couldn't see anything!
The next thing he knew was Kakashi's very violent and powerful kick to his face.
Now it was Mizore's turn to go flying through the air, though when he landed he actually bounced a couple of times before finally crashing into his own ice mound, all of which collapsed on top of him.
As for the movie staff, they were continuing to run to the ship. Most of them, anyway. Makino had refused to get out of his chair, so both he and his chair were being carried by Kaijo and Hidero. "Keep the camera rolling even if it kills you!" he was shouting. "Show them the resolve of the cinematographer!"
Naruto rubbed the sides of his head to fight off the migraine he was getting. "Hatake… what the hell is that armor!?" That had to be it! There was no other explanation for three of his jutsu to fail completely, two of which were his best ones! He noticed that Sasuke had caught up to Sakura. He put her arm around his neck and began supporting her as they both made their way back to the ship.
"Yeah, I know," Kakashi said sternly. "Just be careful, it's chakra armor, created by the ninja here in the Snow Country." His eye darkened. "But it's a lot more powerful than it used to be. And to make matters worse, only Jounin are allowed to wear it." Though Yukigakure's standards for their shinobi are not even close to par with that of the other Shinobi villages, much less Konoha itself, he added to himself. But that's all a moot point for now.
"So… you remember," came Nadare's voice. Both Konoha nin looked up at the sole Yuki-nin standing. "The armor increases the chakra within one's own body, strengthening the various jutsu. A chakra barrier gathers around us as well, creating anti-chakra which is able to distort and cancel out the chakra of our adversaries. As a result, ninjutsu and genjutsu are useless against us."
If Naruto wasn't already pissed, he certainly would have been now. Couldn't anyone have bothered to mention that fact EARLIER!?!
As for the other two genin, Sakura looked up at Nadare. "So… that's way my genjutsu… was useless…" They both watched as the Yuki-nin cried out "Hyouton: Haryuu Mouko!"
"Suiton: Suiryuudan!" they heard Kakashi counter. They watched as Nadare's ice tiger and Kakashi's water dragon raced towards each other. Nadare's jutsu then spiraled around Kakashi's Suiryuudan, freezing it completely and shattering it. Sakura gulped slightly. "Is… is that…" There was a touch of fear in her voice as she watched Nadare's attack slam down near Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto was currently in awe of what just transpired. What kind of jutsu was that!? That wasn't any of the five elements, yet it was clearly an element of some kind. He shook his head as he made several seals. No time to worry about that now.
"If you're asking if he's using Hyouton like Haku did, then yes," Sasuke finished for Sakura. He then noticed that the other two Yuki-nin were starting to recover now. He grunted as he swept Sakura off her feet into his arms, bridal style.
"Hey!" she said, mostly out of surprise more than anything else.
"This is taking too long," he snapped, a tad bit more harshly than he meant but now was not the time to worry about such things. He took off running to the ship. "We need to move faster."
As for the other two, Naruto finished the seals for his jutsu. As the ice tiger crashed in front of them, he leapt into the air and shouted "Suiton: Booruban Mizu Dangan!"
A column of water rushed up and headed for Nadare, who noticed that the tip of that column was quite sharp and rotating intensely. But even that attribute paled in comparison to the speed at which this jutsu was traveling. Nadare smiled in spite of himself. The brat didn't listen, did he?
That's when the jutsu collided with Nadare's footing, boring through the ice as if it were merely paper. And it didn't stop there, as it kept going and going through any and all ice in its direction. The entire iceberg seemed to shake slightly. Nadare began fumbling his way down, trying not to lose his balance and fall. Not an easy feat, but he managed.
That is… until about ten Narutos appeared around him.
"What!?" He shouted in surprise. When did that brat make these!? He suddenly remembered that the brat had made around two dozen of them the first time… he quickly tried to remember how many Mizore destroyed… but even so… Don't tell me… did he send these ones after me from the VERY BEGINNING!? He didn't know what was worse: the fact that the blond had planned that from the beginning, or the fact that he didn't notice because he was too focused on Hatake Kakashi.
The Narutos began pummeling the living daylights out of Nadare as they all fell.
Kakashi nodded at Naruto's handiwork. "Fall back, Naruto. I'll cover you."
"Hai" was the reply as Naruto took off. He quickly created two Kage Bunshins to help him get Yukie/Koyuki and Sandayuu (who was currently fumbling something in his hands but he didn't give it a second thought) onto the ship as they were the last ones on the iceberg now. Seconds later, Nadare crashed into the ground as the Narutos poofed out of existence. "You're not going anywhere!!" Nadare shouted. He was enraged! He couldn't believe he allowed some stupid little genin to catch him, Anarisuto no Nadare, off guard. "Hyouton: Itsukaku Hakuegei!"
An enormous whale made of ice emerged from the ocean and slammed down onto the iceberg, narrowly missing Naruto. Naruto quickly turned looked back at him and patted his rear, followed by a quick face. "You MISSED!!" He was slowly powering down at the moment, his eye already shut again. Nadare roared in rage. The other two then joined him and all three charged as one.
The entire iceberg continued to shake and crumble as Kakashi uncovered his own Sharingan eye, though for some odd reason, it seemed a tad bit too cold now. "That was an impressive jutsu. Now… let me show you mine." He quickly ran through the seals. I have to hurry. Thanks to Naruto's and Nadare's earlier attacks, this iceberg is already coming apart. "Hyouton: Itsukaku Hakuegei!"
The three nin came to a halt. "Copying my moves, as usual. You won't settle the fight doing that," said Nadare.
"Settle the fight?" Kakashi shot back. "Sorry, not my intention."
"Nani?"
Kakashi's large ice whale rammed into Nadare's own and they both went crashing down onto the iceberg itself. The iceberg's collapse rate increased dramatically. Kakashi then attempted to move… but couldn't. What!? Kakashi looked down and saw that his feet were encased in ice. When did that happen!? By whom!? Alarmed now, he used his Sharingan to trace the chakra source back to its caster. What he saw astounded him.
IMPOSSIBLE!!
That was Kakashi's only thought as the iceberg collapsed right on top of him.
On the boat
"And cut!" Makino ordered.
"I hope we got all that," Kajio muttered, not wanting to do a repeat of all that. That's when everyone noticed that someone was missing. When they all realized who, it became deathly quiet as they all watched the iceberg collapse into nothing. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were gripping the sides of the boat until their knuckles were white. Disbelief was on all three of their faces. It couldn't be…
"KAKASHI!!!!" all three yelled, even Naruto.
There was no way even the copy nin could survive the entire iceberg falling on him like that…
Among the crowd, though the person's visible face showed the same worry and disbelief as the rest, he was laughing mentally. Oh yes… revenge was sweet. When those Yuki-nin had showed up as early as they did, he felt that his plans and mission might be compromised. Instead, the Yuki-nin's attack had given him the opening he needed at last. Perhaps they could be more useful in the future than he had originally considered.
Finally, the obstacle of Hatake Kakashi was out of the way. Now he could act!
Bakeru allowed a very small smirk to appear on his face. "Sayonara… Hatake Kakashi."
(Author's Note) And so the iceberg battle ends with dire results: not only has Kakashi apparently been killed in the act, but Bakeru now feels that he can act without opposition. This is something I have intended to do from all the way back in the planning stages for this story. Originally, I was going to call this chapter 'The Death of Kakashi', but I decided to change it. Didn't seem really appropriate.
Obviously, given that this story is canon for the Legacy Series (and since Kakashi has made appearances in both Makaze Rekidaishi and Chuuten), Kakashi is not dead. But for the time being… he is out of this story (how long that is, only I know, heh heh). For all intents and purposes, as far as all the characters are concerned, especially Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, Kakashi is deceased. What will these three do now that their strongest member and leader can no longer aid them? Especially when they apparently still have some issues amongst themselves to work out? It's time to sink or swim, you three. Almost literally in this case.
Sakura received a small reprieve in this chapter. Originally, her beating by Mizore was to be a LOT more severe. I don't hate Sakura personally, nor do I feel the need to bash her character any, but when I typically do something like this, I prefer to go all the way and not hold back. I don't mind being 'evil' at times like this. The reason I didn't was simple: if I did, then Sakura would be out of commission for the rest of the story, and to be quite blunt – that was not acceptable. Can't let Naruto and Sasuke get all the show time, she's as much as a part of this story as those two are. So I adjusted her beating to what I felt Legacy Sakura would be able to recover from quickly, while still making it rather intense.
Sasuke using a miniature version of the Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou was done mostly to satisfy my own curiosity. When I was rereading the first story and came to that part, I began wondering just how Sasuke felt and reacted to seeing that insane Katon in action (the next scene that featured Sasuke was him talking to Sakura about how he thought Naruto was a Jinchuuriki, followed by him vented his frustration, nothing about the Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou or his thoughts about it. Merely 'Where had the blond learned those jutsus?'). Now, I could have simply asked Tellemicus about this, but I decided to take a chance and fill in the blanks myself. To do so, I went looking through the story for clues, such as what capabilities Tellemicus had given the Sharingan for his fics.
So… the Oboro also shattered when it came into contact with Chakra armor. I suppose this means it has technically been defeated, but since it's only possible with direct contact, it's nothing to really worry about.
Youjo – little girl
Anarisuto no Nadare – Nadare the Analyst.
Jutsu used in this chapter (I'd figure I'd try and add 'official' definitions for the Yuki-nin's Hyouton techniques. Only seems fair. It should be noted that Naruto completed his new Fuuton and Suiton jutsus during the time after the previous day's filming, but before Operation Pandoranohako, as did Sasuke with his new Katon):
Hyouton: Tsubame Fubuki--Ice Release: Snow Storm Swallows//Allows Fubuki to form many small birds of the ice, each approximately the size of a standard shuriken that are able to hone on their target until they either hit it, run out of power, or are destroyed. The birds can last approximately forty five seconds. The trick to this jutsu is that the user has to be able to handle multiple projectiles at once through their chakra control. If the user messes up on even just one bird, the entire flock will fail. Individually, the damage done by each bird is minimal, but if the target is hit by a sufficient number of them, it can be lethal. (High C-Class ninjutsu) (Fubuki).
Hyourou no Jutsu--Ice Prison Technique//Ice columns erupt from the ground to entrap the target at a surprising speed within a ten meter radius. The size and volume of each column can be adjusted to how the user deems fit. Fubuki can create as many of these columns as she sees fit, provided she has the chakra needed for each one since they must be individually created, but this results at a quick and constant speed, often surprising their target. The catch is that Fubuki must remain stationary during this time. It should be noted that this technique is only plausible under the conditions that the user is in a place with a lot of existing ice. (Low B-Class ninjutsu) (Fubuki)
Katon: Karyuu Kyuuzou--Fire Dragon Explosion//Sasuke's attempt to recreate the Katon: Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou. Essentially, it's an upgraded Goukakyuu, with the principal factor being in its destructive power at a quick speed, though not as fast as the Kisou Karyuu. It requires not only a suitable amount of chakra control, but also suitable talent with Katon type chakra, otherwise Sasuke carries the risk of it literally exploding in his throat. The damage caused by this jutsu is equivalent to fifteen explosive notes. Like many Katon class ninjutsu, the more chakra that is put into it, the more powerful it can become, but doing so also increases the difficulty of keeping it under control. (High B-Class ninjutsu) (Sasuke)
Katon: Karyuu Saikou Kyuuzou--Fire Release: Fire Dragon Supreme Explosion//The second jutsu that Naruto learned from the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. Because of the jutsu's extremely high chakra and precise control requirements, this is commonly considered an S-Rank jutsu. The jutsu is very difficult to control, even for a Kage. Should the user gather chakra wrong, not be able to manipulate the fire, perform the fire conversion correctly, or even something as simple as just overpowering the jutsu, it will backfire and incinerate the user just as easily as it would the user's intended target. Because Naruto's alignment is with wind, he has a harder time than many shinobi in the conversion process. But it is entirely thanks to Kyuubi's youki being the very essence of fire that he is able to wield the jutsu at all. (S-Class Ninjutsu) Original technique created by Tellemicus.
Though not actually used in this chapter, it was included for reference purposes.
Aisushoo Damii--Ice Show Dummy//A decoy dummy made out of ice that a shinobi can switch with when using the Kawarimi, if nothing else is available to switch places with. It's very easy to make this, but one must be quick enough to make it in time to use. Users can leave their own special 'trademark' as an added bonus (E-Class ninjutsu).
Hyouton: Shimo Arashi--Ice Release: Frost Storm//A jutsu that overwhelmingly increases the punching power of the user while at the same time encompassing the entire fist with fragments of ice, resulting in the blow being bitterly cold as well as sharp. While the punching power is increased, the true damage of this jutsu is in the aftermath. A direct hit can result in a severe case of not only frostbite, but also badly cut skin. This, however, is truly a double-edged sword because the user must be able to not only properly control the cold, but also the swarming ice shards. Failure to do so will result in their own hand – or in the worst case their entire arm – suffering the same effects.Even when handled correctly, the user will still feel a small degree of the aftermath themselves, but to those that live in the cold parts of the world, this is hardly a hindrance. (Low A-Class ninjutsu)
Fuuton: Kaze Oshiyaru--Wind Release: Wind Thrust//Naruto gathers a large amount of wind in his throat and then expels it at a violent speed. The wind itself is rather blunt, meaning that when it strikes the opponent, it causes a massive impact on the enemy's body, like being hit by a thrown Tatewaru, though the Kaze Oshiyaru's power is inferior to the Tatewaru by a fair margin. The Kaze Oshiyaru still requires a large amount of chakra and is able to last as long as Naruto is able to exhale his breath, which is approximately thirteen seconds, though it loses power the longer it lasts. (Mid B-Class ninjutsu) (Naruto)
Hyouton: Haryuu Mouko--Ice Release: Destruction Dragon Fierce Tiger//An ice technique created by Nadare to specifically counter Suiton class ninjutsu, in the form of an ice tiger. Nadare must be able to quickly determine how much chakra to put into this jutsu, not only to have enough power to shatter the opposing Suiton jutsu, but also have enough strength left to continue on and strike the opponent, a feat few can do. This means that Nadare must use more chakra than his opponent, or his own jutsu will be overwhelmed, or at the least only have enough power to stop the opposing Suiton. (Typically classified as a low A-Class ninjutsu, but it varies since it depends on what type of jutsu the opponent is using) (Nadare)
Suiton: Booruban Mizu Dangan no Jutsu--Water Release: Drilling Water Bullet Technique// A suiton designed to go at an incredibly fast speed, created by using what Naruto has learned from both Suiton and Fuuton class ninjutsu (Suiton for the fast water, Fuuton for the sharp drill). With the 'sharp drill' at the front, this essentially makes it a water version of Naruto's Kaze Doriru. However, due to the fierce speed of this attack, Naruto has virtually no control over it, as opposed to a jutsu like the Suiryuudan. This results in him being only able to shoot it in a straight line, which means that aiming this jutsu is also rather difficult. All this makes the jutsu a one-shot attempt: hit and the opponent's screwed; miss and it's wasted. Due to its speed and sharpness, this jutsu can easily pierce things such as rocks, trees, ice, even metal if enough chakra is used. (High B-Class ninjutsu) (Naruto)
Hyouton: Itsukaku Hakuegei--Ice Release: One Horn White Whale//Nadare creates a gigantic whale composed of ice, allowing him to smash virtually anything in his path to dust, such as surrounding landscape if nothing else. Due to the sheer size and mass, it takes an enormous amount of chakra to use. Aiming is not really required for this jutsu due to its sheer size, but it is rather slow to move. If an opponent is caught underneath this whale, death is certain. (High A-Class ninjutsu) (Nadare/Kakashi)
Hyouton: Damashikomu--Ice Release: Ensnare//A simple ice jutsu that encases the opponent's feet to the ground, but no more than that. Because of this simplicity, this allows the user to cast the jutsu from a far range, plus being a low powered technique, it is easily missed if the target is not actively aware of it. Because it's so simple, it is quite easy to break out of in a few short moments. It's no more than a mere stalling maneuver to cover a retreat, or in this case, prevent a retreat. (Upper D-Class ninjutsu)
I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Also, any jutsu that Tellemicus created that are used in this story belongs to him.
