Shinobi Turned Goddess
By: Kibou32
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto… don't even own one of its manga…!!
Summary: AU. Set after Orochimaru's invasion to Leaf and before Sasuke's defection. Kakashi finds himself caught in Naruto's web of love and without even knowing how it happened, he ends up falling in love. What will happen now?
Pairing: Fem Naruto Kakashi.
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Part IX
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For all it meant to get over a mission with no catastrophic results… Shino was sure that this was it. They had excelled in managing to stay alive and – even though he was sure that Naruto thought otherwise – did not meet powerful enemies like Orochimaru. Which was why – in a way – he understood Naruto's need to get home as soon as possible. There was no real issue as to why they should jinx their good luck so far. Sure, in his opinion most missions resulted in fighting, there was unknown danger to be had and someone could get badly hurt. So far in this mission things hadn't gone wrong other than a few minor injuries and whatnot.
Furthermore, he got over the thought that his teammate was – for lack of a better word – hot. The clothes Naruto wore now showed off her figure in a way that was not slutty at all, they just made her look attractive to the general male populace – which of course included him as well. He didn't like these feelings, though he understood that he was entering that part of his life as a teenager and before all of this had happened he had been okay with it for the most part. And yet… it wasn't only the physical part of Naruto that had changed. He still couldn't get over the fact that perhaps his previous assessment of Naruto's skills were to underestimate her – regardless the fact that Naruto had proven herself in the chunnin exams to behold more than the eye could meet. Yet, her growth as a shinobi and a kunoichi was so much more than just being underestimated and he wanted to test his skills against her. Still… there was something that remained the same even when Naruto continued to blush against their jounin's taunts: her innocence and naivete.
"Stop it! Mitarashi-san!" – she protested as she tried to go on about her task of getting water from the small spring they had suddenly stumbled upon as they were traveling back to Konoha.
He couldn't decide what was worst. Either it was that Naruto had a well-endowed hour glass figure or that their jounin kept trying to get Naruto to show off her cleavage to him. No.. the worst thing was that Yamanaka Ino – his other teammate – kept encouraging their jounin to do so. He finally filled his flask with water, knelt next to Naruto – whilst she was still fighting their jounin's mischievous hands from her breasts – and took Naruto's flask and filled it with water.
There was silence. Had he done something so atypical of himself that it had made all others go quiet? It seemed so.
"Ah… thanks Shino!" – Naruto sighed happily at him and utilizing their jounin's shock as a way of getting out of her hands' way, she stood up so quickly that it had her breasts bouncing a bit.
Their movement directed Shino's glare to them and when he finished filling Naruto's flask, he stood up trying to not go and turn his head – like an idiot – to look at Naruto's chest. He did it anyway. He was thankful however that his jacket covered half of his face making sure that no one would accuse him of peeking. But he was sure that the other two females knew what had happened. Could the day get any worse?
:-:
They thankfully made it home without it turning out any worse than he had thought it could. Even as he watched the jounin in charge move away to give her report out and Yamanaka Ino say goodbye to Naruto with a cheerful wave, he knew he had to say something before she left.
"…" – was all he could manage and he wondered why of all times to happen, did he had to act like Hyuuga Hinata now.
"Ah.. Shino! I forgot that you were still here. Gomen ne!" – was her response to his non-verbal one.
"You've grown." – was all he managed to say before his voice squeaked out. Why in the world did puberty really have to hit now?!
"Ah. Arigatou!" – correctly assuming it was a compliment on her shinobi skills and not her physical attributes as other girls would have assumed.
"We should spar someday." – he finally managed to say without sounding like a total idiot.
"Hmm. Perhaps we should… but I'm afraid that tomorrow I'll be going on another short training trip, so maybe when I come back?" – she asked him and he nodded fearing what his loss of control over his hormones and the squeaking of his voice might infer to her.
"…"
"So… I'll see you later." – then she turned and walked away.
He sighed feeling happy and at the same time a bit exasperated that he had managed to not embarrass himself in front of a girl. He should go and talk to his father about this… he hoped that his next meeting with Naruto would prove much more satisfactory.
:-:
Sure enough… when Sakura returned to the village with Kakashi – exhausted beyond belief – but much more happier than before she left and feeling ready to take on Naruto for a spar, she was disappointed to learn that she wouldn't be meeting her anytime soon for she had left for a training trip with jounin Mitarashi Anko that would last 4 weeks at least. Both she and Kakashi decided to meet up the day afterwards to see if they were about to be sent on a mission together.
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(A month later)
"Remember!" – Anko shouted after the energetic blond as she left for Kurenai's house.
"Hai!" – she said as she waved back to the jounin.
And Anko was left to ponder why on earth was she just waving away when she had better things to do.
:-:
Naruto met Sakura the next day on her way to her usual training grounds. Godaime Hokage had given her two days off since even an energetic brat like her needed time off or she'd burn out before too long. She stopped in front of her as she saw that Sakura was at first unaware of her appearance or that she seemed to be waiting for someone she didn't think it was her.
"Yo!" – she called out smirking when Sakura jumped out of fright.
"Naruto!!" – Sakura yelled looking like before Sasuke's defection, when she used to think that she was a he bent on spelling out trouble to her.
"What are you up to Sakura?" – she asked evading the punch that Sakura sent to her head.
This seemed to get her out of the usual ritual and instead she started to look insecure and like she was about to apologize.
"I wanted to…" – she started but was stopped by Naruto putting a finger softly on to her pink lips.
"Shush. Now don't go apologizing to me… if you do then I'll probably loose whatever faith or respect I had in you. Neither of us want that, do we?" – she asked smiling softly and Sakura's heart lightened.
"Would you spar with me? I've been training, but Ino said she was tired from her last training spree with her father and I've got no one to judge my growth with." – she challenged Naruto willing her to pick the bait, although she was still unsure of her response.
"Of course… let's go then!" – and then she disappeared in a swirl of leaves much like Kakashi's entrance.
"Naruto no yatsu!" – she yelled out frustrated that she had been left behind seeing as even training three weeks with Kakashi, she hadn't been able to learn the transportation jutsu as it was a higher ranking technique.
:-:
While they were engaged in light sparring, Kakashi sat on a tree slightly away from them watching their fight with his sharingan opened. More to follow their movements from afar – he was afraid of being caught peeping by Naruto knowing he still hadn't been able to get back in her good graces and he feared that if she knew he were watching, she'd misunderstand it – than anything else. In a way, he was proud of Sakura. She had improved a lot in the three weeks they had trained. They had trained from dawn to sunset and while he cooked their food – he acknowledge the fact that while she could do it, he needed her advice on dealing with a girl her age more than her cooking – she explained her views on what he was doing wrong in handling Naruto.
In the end, he figured that all he had going for the moment was getting Naruto to at least acknowledge him as a friend. If he got that much, it was a start in the right direction. At least until she grew up and he could pursue a more serious relationship with her. Despite the fact that Naruto was quite mature for her age and she should be considered as any other kunoichi in the village, there were certain things she wasn't ready to acknowledge and some things he had taken for granted. In short, he was really too old and she was really too young. The age gap defined their future too well for him to make himself make a move and she was really untrusting of men despite her outgoing nature to get along with men and women alike.
In spite of all this.. he didn't regret knowing her intimately before. He wasn't sure if he would've fallen in love with her later in life… but he knew without a doubt that when she returned from her three year long training regimen with Jiraiya, he'd still gravitate towards her. For now however, he would have to be content to just watch her continue to grow up.
:-:
He didn't think he'd get the chance to see her this soon. He was looking to her from the corner of his uncovered eye as she stood up straight in front of their Hokage just besides Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji.
"I've called you all here because this is a special mission." – she said quietly. She looked at all three of them and then sighed. "Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi… I'm giving you an A-class mission."
"Chotto matte!" – the Nara kid said but was ignored.
"You're to protect Fuji Kaze Yukie as she makes her way to Snow Country. They're finalizing the last part of the Fuuin – hime movie and well… as explained by her manager Sandayuu, Fuji Kaze-sama is very particular."
Kakashi couldn't understand – well he could in a way – why it was needed for two chunnin and a jounin to travel together. Then it hit him… there was a mischievous look in the Hokage's eyes. Oh no! Don't tell me that she's on a matchmaking fase! – he thought even though only his one uncovered eye showed it: The horror! Then he narrowed his eye in thought. Just who was the Godaime matchmaking with who… there were three guys and one girl. This was no different than the usual way teams were made of – except usually it was a jounin sensei and three genins (not a jounin, two chunnins and one genin) – and the girl was no other than Uzumaki Naruto who by default was an unpredictable variable in matchmaking. He hoped the Godaime wasn't playing a prank of some sort over him. Did he deserve it? Probably. But that didn't mean he had to like it.
"So… basically. We're going to babysit a movie star?" – Naruto called out.
"That's the reason. Except… Snow Country is under a dictatorship and the people in it are fighting it. Which is why is better to be safe than sorry. I think sending two chunnins, a chunnin-level genin and a jounin is a good choice. Are there anymore questions?" – she asked before sending them out.
:-:
They – that is Shikamaru, Neji and Naruto – were told to meet Kakashi outside the abandoned lot behind a movie theater. Naruto – knowing Kakashi's ritual tardiness – decided to arrive at the appointed time, meet with the other two and convince them to go see a movie who just happened to be the last Fuuin-hime movie that was out there. Shikamaru would've said it was all too coincidental to be true, but as usual he kept his mouth shut. There was however, something different in the way they went in.
It was not unusual for a guy to pay for a girl's movie ticket, but it was unusual for Hyuuga Neji to do so for Naruto – although she kept protesting that she had the money to pay for it – and Shikamaru felt like he was somewhat the third wheel or something. But he negated that when they approached the food stand and he decided that he might as well be chivalrous enough – he usually did this anyway when he went to the movies with Chouji – and buy Naruto some food.
That left the girl in question exasperated at them both, but she said nothing in return. She didn't think she'd want to have trouble this early in the day. And she had packed the night before… she just didn't think that this was going to happen now of all times. Why were her friends behaving like this?! She just couldn't clue in to the fact that both Neji and Shikamaru knew that she could defend herself pretty well, but that didn't stop them from feeling like they had to protect her a bit. Especially the way – she had missed this part – the ticket selling guy had leered at her.
:-:
Kakashi was unamused. His team was not where they were supposed to be. He had in fact come in earlier than usual – only twenty minutes late – and wanted to see if he could be friendly enough to Naruto without having to deal with the other two boys. Sigh. He was sure things weren't going like he wanted them to be so. He settled down onto a log and decided to wait. Sometimes… karma was a bitch.
:-:
When they finally made it outside – Naruto could seriously be in accordance with the other two that it wasn't that bad to go to the movies with a few of her friends. Shikamaru on the other hand decided that this could be considered as a first date – even if he had had to share it with the Hyuuga – and could determine that next time he would ask Naruto to go dutch. It wasn't as if he was cheap, but by luring her into the seeming thought that—wait a minute! Was he already strategically forming a plan to take Naruto out on a date?! It took him a minute before he could find that the answer that sprung into his mind was a resolute 'maybe' and that he didn't actually like it. On the other hand, Neji thought that this was the first time he didn't feel like he had to act like a Hyuuga to prove something to a random girl. In fact… this was the first time that he had felt this relaxed about going out to the movies with a girl. But further musings were stopped when they encountered their jounin for the mission: Hatake Kakashi.
"Kakashi?" – Naruto asked wondering why did he look like he was that bored out of his mind.
Both Shikamaru and Neji looked at each other in amazement when Naruto didn't add the 'sensei' part to Kakashi's name. Something weird was going about.
"Where were you guys?" – he asked instead of the usual teasing stuff he wanted to say. He had almost hung his head at the fact that his cute little ex-student had called him by his first name instead of sensei. Well… at least it wasn't that bad that she would have called him by his last name instead. But it still hurt.
"We went to the movies. Since you're always late at least an hour or so before meeting who you have to meet, I decided on spending my time evaluating Fuji Kaze-sama's acting skills. Just to see what I could gather from her… I didn't know you'd be early." – she bowed in apology but didn't say anything else.
Meanwhile the other two boys were amazed that Naruto had thought that far ahead. Neji thought that perhaps they didn't know Naruto that well in the end. As it were, they learnt that the actress had gone missing in between filming. She was obviously dead-set against going to Snow Country. Kakashi sent them out to look for the actress. Shikamaru suggested they split, both Neji and Naruto agreed.
:-:
Naruto managed to find Yukie-sama sitting on a bar stool in a seedy bar that gave her the creeps.
"Why don't you people leave me alone?!" – she cried out and Naruto sidestepped a quivering punch.
"Yukie-sama… you're acting like a child." – said a voice from behind her and Naruto was surprised to see that only Kakashi was there standing slightly behind Sandayuu.
After the whole bout of chasing said 'Yukie-sama' had put her through, Naruto was ready to slap her into oblivion. A slap mark was easily hidden under make-up – so had Ino told her once – rather than a fist mark. But she was glad that the actress's manager was there. She figured he could handle things much better than her. It was Kakashi rather than the manager that managed to hypnotize Yukie-sama into sleep.
:-:
This was the first time ever that Naruto got to go on a farther abroad trip to another country. Usually… her trips entailed a lot of walking to get there to and fro and rarely did she manage to get to go to colder weather. Kakashi however calm that he appeared to be – continued to watch her from the side and Naruto could not for the life of her understand why. Instead of trying to puzzle that out, she took her sight towards her teammates and laughed quietly to herself as to how to pass time Neji was staring at the clouds from one side whilst also doing his job of taking care of looking around. She was glad he had come with them.
It was when 'Yukie-sama' woke up that the tranquility of the ship they were on was lost.
"Sandayuu!! I told you I didn't want to come!!" – she seemed to pout.
But alas she didn't get to pull out a full temper tantrum when the director said that they were ready to start shooting.
:-:
Naruto could admit to herself – and not to the actress herself – that she was a pro at her job. Nevertheless… when she stopped the filming due to her lacking tears, Naruto scowled thinking that if the actress needed artificial tears to cry then she wasn't that good at all. She turned away from the proceedings and took out a small scroll. The only one she had deemed good enough to bring. It contained information on the phoenix contract. Depending on what she needed to call the bird out, the amount of chakra involved in it wasn't that big a deal a waste. But she had to be careful as to how many times in a fight she'd use this summoning contract or otherwise she'd end up dead without any chakra to use up for defense.
It was while she was reading that she detected someone staring over her shoulder at the scroll she was so intent on understanding. She turned around and found Kakashi – of all people – behind her.
"Nani?" – she asked while she rolled it up again.
"Iie. It's nothing. I was just wondering why you weren't looking at the great actress at work." – he said in a quiet voice.
"Oh. Well… I got bored." – she said at first but seeing as he didn't look satisfied with that one answer, she shrugged and went on: "Truthfully, at first I did like to watch the proceedings but after awhile I figured it wasn't that big a deal. I… I usually don't care for movies and whatnot. The only reason I went to the movies at the start of our mission was because I didn't want to look like a fool not knowing who she really was… I had never seen or heard of her before the movie… so…" – without anything else to say she looked up (she had looked down before feeling a bit embarrassed for sharing this much information with him of all people) and was surprised to see him very much attending to her like he would do for Sakura.
"I see. It was a good idea for you to do some research. It was even better since in the end you were the one to find her." – he said in an undisguised proud voice.
She began to feel butterflies in her stomach. Despite not wanting to feel them, she couldn't stop to wondering if maybe Tsunade-bacchan had lied to her about the heat being once in lifetime
:-:
The next morning was a bit of a headache as she was quite snug and comfy in her own futon. It was a very very cold morning and she really didn't want to get up. She grumbled inwardly that now that she didn't have the male henge on, the cold seemed to bite her nipples – although she did wear a bra now (at Kurenai's insistence) – and she had to rub her hands together to produce heat that she could transfer to her chest. In the end… she managed to get up – although she felt really cranky at the direction her thoughts had taken when the kitsune no baka had suggested that there was a way to feel warm: i.e. having sex with a tall and grey haired shinobi who would be willing to do anything if only to get back into her good graces – and visited outside to find that there was a huge iceberg blocking their way.
"Neji!" – she cried out breathlessly and watched as the director and the camera guy discussed the situation from the corner of her eye.
"Good morning Naruto." – he said cordially and she smiled knowing that wearing a winter jumpsuit and a windbreaker with wool acrylic mittens was a good idea to bring.
"You're not cold?" – she asked him wondering why he wasn't wearing a jacket, although his usual attire was no longer brown shorts and a khaki shirt. It was a dark blue long sleeves shirt (or it could be a sweater as well) and dark brown pants.
"I'm okay. I've been out here for awhile practicing a bit. That warmed me up." – he smiled gently towards her and that was enough to bring out some warmth into her cheeks.
"You're wearing white?" – came the drawled out question from Shikamaru who turned up wearing blue. An all blue ensemble that made her raise her eyebrow at him. Underneath the blue parka he was wearing, she could see the green chunnin vest. She could have been wearing her chunnin vest too… but it made everything else too bulky.
"What's wrong with white? A good shinobi wears clothes that can be used to hide from the enemy!" – she exclaimed.
"It's just that Shikamaru expected to see you – we all did – in an orange jumpsuit." – came the answer from Kakashi and she frowned a bit at the response.
"I see." – was all she deemed to say, but her tone was light and Kakashi sighed inwardly in relief that she wasn't angry at him for saying something like that.
"I thought that since you were a girl… you'd be wearing red gaki-san." – came the snort from across the ship and Naruto bristled at the not so subtle jab.
"Just because I'm not wearing pink doesn't mean I'm not a girl. I'm here to work 'Yukie-sama' unlike others I know." – Kakashi sighed knowing that the only reason she had bothered with a jab of her own was due to the cold weather.
Shikamaru shook his head in response to that and Neji watched amused as their charge flushed out in annoyance. It seemed that once again Naruto had gotten under someone else's skin. Neji wanted to see what would happen to this woman in the end… would she change for the better or for the worst after the tragic event of meeting Naruto.
:-:
Despite everything… such good fortune could never last and whilst the director was filming on the iceberg… they were attacked by Snow country shinobi.
A white haired guy with pale features and striking cat like eyes said: "Oh… if it isn't copy-cat Kakashi! I thought you'd be dead by now." – he taunted back at them.
Immediately they set themselves to action… Naruto immediately moved to cover their charge while Neji and Shikamaru placed themselves in front of the other two Snow Country shinobi. The first attack came from a snow kunoichi with pink hair and weird looking gray eyes who tried to attack Shikamaru but was met with a low level fire technique.
"Hyouton: Tsubame Fubuki!" – the kunoichi cried out and soon there were ice birds making their way into the air trying to hit towards Shikamaru who blocked the way from her being able to reach Naruto.
"Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu." – Shikamaru responded knowing that his special kage-mane jutsus would not work as their were no real shadows about.
Whilst they were fighting, Naruto turned to see Neji in combat with a very tall and fat guy who gave her the willies. She really wanted to go and help her comrades, but her duty also entailed that she stay with her charge to protect her from harm. When she saw that the fat guy had evaded Neji's tri-pentagram attack, she turned to the actress and said…
"Oi! Nigeru! Go back to the ship!" – she expounded before she noticed that the guy was a moment away from hitting them with his fist.
"Yukie-sama!" – she heard Sandayuu yell out to them, but she took no mind to it noticing that her charge was stuck where she was by pure shock. She grumbled inwardly and prepared to defend.
"Fuuton: Ookii Kabe Booei!" – she yelled and pushed out her two palms outwards protecting her and the woman behind her from a potentially ice technique.
"Hyoru no jutsu!" – came the attack from the fat guy and soon they were thrown back.
The actress was pushed back and saw how a couple of icy pillars ejected from the ground and encased the blond kunoichi in front of her.
"Naruto!" – Kakashi called out worried for his ex-student and before he could go and help her out, he was stalled by the shinobi in front of him.
"You didn't forget about me, did you Kakashi? Hyouton: Haryuu muuko!" – the white haired shinobi yelled out and Kakashi was forced to defend himself…
"Suiton: Suiryuudan!" – as the two dragons faced off, Kakashi knew then and there that he couldn't go over and try to save Naruto from the icy prison.
:-:
She raised her hands out and closed her eyes. She asked for a little bit of chakra from the red fox and then called out…
"Katon: Ryuuken Endan no jutsu!" – she yelled out and was surprised when the ice melted leaving her with steam surrounding her completely.
By this time, she quickly let go of her shock to fill her fist with her own chakra and hit the guy square in the chest. But nothing happened. In fact, he seemed to have gathered that hit and swallowed it as if he was eating a prized meal! She split away from him wondering why on earth had this happened but before she could do anything else she felt the ground they were on tremble and she knew without a doubt that the iceberg was going to break apart in a few minutes. She thought to think a quick strategy but Shikamaru beat her to it by saving her from receiving a hit by using his kage-mane technique to hold the fat guy still from her. It only lasted a few seconds and then she managed to form the right seals for another technique.. which she never got to use when there was a dual cry from above and from the side…
"Hyouton Itsukaku Hakuegei!" – and a huge whale made of ice with one horn on top of its head emerged from the icy water and met another into close combat. The iceberg began to fall apart under the combined stress created by the two whales locked in combat.
The crew, the director along with the actors and Yukie ran towards the ship and began to turn the ship away from the melting iceberg. Naruto stopped herself from releasing a fire jutsu when the three snow country shinobi retreated on their own. She was almost about to jump into the water and run towards the moving ship, when her foot caved in and she felt like she was about to submerge into the icy water since her foot was caught.
She was saved however when Neji and Shikamaru grasped each of her hands and lifted her off the hole. Then when the ice finally began to crack, they split and Neji lifted her into his arms as he would a damsel in distress and jumped into the ship.
They exhaled. They had made it off the iceberg before it got destroyed completely. Neji gently put her on her own two feet and smiled when she smiled at him gratefully all the while not knowing how Kakashi was really annoyed at not being able to save Naruto instead of them.
:-:
It was revealed when they finally docked into Snow Country that Fujikaze Yukie was actually Kazahana Koyuki – the only daughter of the deceased Kazahana Souset who used to be the ruler of Snow Country. Shikamaru and Neji had seen this coming, but knew it was too late for them to turn back now as they had already reached Snow Country. Naruto was too incensed with Yukie/Koyuki's response towards Sandayuu's efforts in getting her to take over the Snow Country's dictatorship by her uncle Dotou that she lost her composure and slapped her hard.
Kakashi shook his head once and Koyuki just said that it was a stupid idea since how could she do anything if it was only her against a whole bunch of people her uncle no doubt had at his command. Neji stated that even if everything seemed to be impossible, there was always a way to be had.
"Really? You all nearly lost your fight with those shinobi at the iceberg! What makes you think that next time you'll be able to win a fight against those guys!" – she cried out frustrated at their lack of understanding to what she meant.
Since Naruto had not said anything else after the slap she had delivered to Koyuki, Neji took it upon himself to say…
"If there's a way to come out on top, we'll find a way to move on. Nothing is set in stone. In fact… someone once told me that even if fate had been written in stone, our duty as human beings is to defeat and change our fate; because if we just stay there and take it then we're not doing what God sent us here to do!" – he said firmly and Naruto was shocked to learn she had had this much of an impact on Neji's beliefs.
She turned to see Koyuki throwing a temper tantrum and leaving the room in disgust. She made to follow but was stopped by Sandayuu.
"Naruto-kun, leave her be. It is my fault for not educating her otherwise. When we were thrown apart by Souset-sama's death and Dotou's taking over the throne… I did not find her until afterwards and by then I said nothing to her about her being Snow Country's hime. Even so… I've been inspired by your motto and have decided to fight as well." – and with that he left the room. It was when a crew member came in to tell them that Yukie-sama had disappeared that Naruto groaned.
:-:
Finding her was easy. Getting her to go with her – she had twisted her ankle and it continued to throb painfully – on her back was a bit of a problem. In the end they managed to catch up to the convoy and only when they were in a tunnel did she find that they were being followed.
"I don't understand why do you keep doing this!" – she heard the actress tell her when she began to run.
"It's not like I have much of a choice!" – she said back at the actress.
"We're not going to make it!" – she yelled out when it was clear to the both of them what was it that was following them. It was a train. Something that while it fascinated Naruto, she didn't care to find out what would happen to her if she didn't run.
"If I have anything to do with it, we'll make it!" – Naruto answered back and began to run at the top of her speed.
They barely made it when the train split them up in between from the convoy on one side to the director on the other.
Next thing they know, Dotou begins to say some sort of 'welcoming to the princess' and then they watched – Naruto in horror, Koyuki in shock – as how Sandayuu attempted to fight with a bunch of older samurai for the right to change the dictatorship going on about in Snow Country. They were killed.
Immediately after that… one of the Snow country's shinobi send a tri-claw to grab the princess… escaping in a dirigible. All the while Kakashi et al, deal with the aftermath. It was then they notice that Naruto's missing.
:-:
"I don't know why you keep on trying." – she said feeling aloof even though she was at the other side of Naruto in an icy prison-dungeon.
Naruto didn't answer as she concentrated her chakra to surround her whole body, hoping this could work her out of the chains that held her. When it didn't, she relaxed and tried to think up on something else.
"Why do you keep insisting on going against the flow?!" – Koyuki yelled from across her cell looking frustrated due to the fact that for the moment Naruto seemed to be ignoring her.
She thought about some technique or something else that would permit her to break away from these chains when she noticed something… she had to burn them off… a simple jutsu would have worked… but that was something she hadn't learn at the academy and she didn't have enough control to just use it to melt away the binds that held her, she would probably end up being burned too. And then she got it. She gathered a thin layer of Kyuubi chakra around her body and concentrated on keeping it like that. After a few minutes, the chains began to fizzle and melt off her body. Even that chakra-reducing thingy started to melt off, being no match for Kyuubi's venomous and fire-induced chakra.
Then when she was able to free herself from the chains, she jumped down and decided to test the bars only for them to fizzle with electricity at her hands.
"Didn't you hear me?! Going against the flow is fruitless!" – Koyuki cried out in earnest towards her.
She stood up looking at her hands as she watched the Kyuubi's chakra quickly heal her. It was then she noticed that there were sounds of footsteps coming over that she resolved to act like she had fainted. Koyuki would later tell you that she was so convincing even she had thought that she had fainted.
The guard that arrived to take Koyuki away, noticed that their other prisoner somehow – as unlikely as it sounded to him – had broken away from the chains but had fainted under the stress and from touching the electricity laden bars. He opened the door to check up on her – big mistake on his part – and found that the girl on the floor was actually awake. He ended up on the floor unconscious after a high upper cut hit with an open fist found its way to his chin. She then grinned and grabbed the key chain from it.
:-:
Once on the run, they were discovered by her teammates who were happy to see them once again. Kakashi gave Koyuki her necklace back after a comment about him taking things that were not hers. He had laughed under his mask and Naruto had rolled her eyes at the blush that supposedly spread all over his cheeks. She could tell only because the part where the mask wasn't covered was full of red.
"Welcome Konoha shinobi. Thank you for bringing Koyuki back." – he said laughing uproariously at his own joke. Neji frowned at the bad joke.
"Don't worry Naruto… I'm a great actress too." – she said after she had run over to her uncle to deliver the necklace back to him.
"Neechan! What are you doing you baka!" – she yelled at the actress feeling like there was something so obviously missing.
There was indeed something missing since Koyuki just took out Sandayuu's blade out of its scabbard and tried to stab her uncle in the gut. They went sailing over the tall throne.
Naruto quickly formed some seals and then yelled…
"Fuuton: Makura no Kaze!" – and some wind condensed in the shape of a pillow protecting Koyuki from the fall. Dotou didn't crash into the ground as Naruto would have liked him to. It was shortly revealed as of to why… he was wearing a chakra-enhancing armor.
As soon as he took off with Koyuki in his arms, the others engaged in a fight with the other snow shinobi.
:-:
Naruto was unfortunate enough that Dotou discovered her as she was trailing in the air behind them and cut off the wire that connected her to them.
"NARUTO!!" – she heard Koyuki yell as she felt that she was floating – more like free falling – to the ground at a rapid speed.
She closed her eyes and thought: 'Just a little bit.'. A pair of dark red black malignant eyes flashed before she gathered enough chakra and pricked her finger to summon… her first time using this type of summon.
"Kuchiyose: Fushichoo tori!" – and out of nowhere – before she actually hit the trees – a large fire bird appeared beneath her.
The bird didn't even seem faze out when she landed sitting on its back. Despite the fire, Naruto felt comfortable and calm. The bird responded to that calmness and began heading the way it saw the human go. Communication didn't course through the bird at Naruto's insistence; but both could tell what the other was thinking and Naruto felt at peace at being able to do this.
When they reached the crazed man and his niece, the bird landed softly on the disappearing ice and Naruto jumped off it. The bird cooed at her for a second before disappearing in a burst of fire flames.
"YOU!" – Dotou yelled out to her angry that nothing was going his way.
"Koyuki-hime… do you trust me?" – she said clearly.
Koyuki looked at the blue eyes of the kunoichi in front of her and nodded. Then she saw how her uncle called upon a winter storm followed by two black dragons who assaulted Naruto. She thought that the shinobi was a goner, but was as surprised as her uncle when there was an enveloping smoke around her and what seemed like a clone disappeared into thin air. Then she called out into the air…
"I BELIEVE IN YOU NARUTO!!"
Dotou didn't even know what hit him when Naruto suddenly sneaked into his defenses and scored a rasengan into him sending him spiraling into one of the panels that came out from the heat generator.
An image… as if it were a memory presented itself in front of Koyuki, her arriving teammates and jounin-ex-sensei, the director and the camera man were privy to a memory of Koyuki-hime's past.
Naruto rested in the grass watching the events taking hold in front of her and grinned.
:-:
They said goodbye at the Snow Country's port and Naruto received her first gift ever. A kiss on the cheek from Koyuki-hime and some sort of big fat envelope. The other three males were wondering what had their client given the girl, but she didn't opened it in front of them. As the sun began to set low on the horizon, Naruto went over to her ex-jounin-sensei and sat down next to him.
"I've decided…" – she trailed off waiting for him to turn his attention away from his book.
"Yes..?" – he asked suddenly wary of her decision.
"I've decided we should start as friends Kakashi. You're no longer my teacher, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right?" – she smiled softly at him.
He looked to the side wondering if there was anyone close to them and lowered his legs from their bent position to allow Naruto to rest against them.
"I'd be glad to be your friend… Naruto." – and he smiled when she just sighed as she fell asleep exhausted.