The Valkyrie of the Hyuuga
Three days had passed since the first nightly raid on the castle. Hinata knew how the group wanted to go out and hunt down those vicious monsters– harming innocent bystanders and Kurenai-sensei. But then, the defenses on the castle would be negligible, as most of the guards have been taken out throughout the nightly raids; the rebel army was much more disorganized than what Asama-san thought.
She forced her lips closed as she saw another passenger, a teenager no less than her age, from the train recruited into the services of the castle. The cries of the child sibling drifted among the general outpour of protest. Some of them were not citizens of the country, yet the army seized them. She bit inside of her cheeks, letting the pain remain her she didn't belong there. A ninja had no rights to interfere with the wimps of lords and their rule in their domain. Ninjas dwelled in the shadows.
She disliked this feeling. She turned around, striding past the gathering crowds. As her feet dragged her away from another forced draft, of a teenager girl a little older than herself, she arrived at her teacher's room. Kurenai-sensei had held back the forces of the top three Yuki ninjas from the first attack. Her teacher endured a feat that lessened the casualties of the civilians trying to take shelter.
Hinata couldn't imagine what would have happened… No, she shook her head. Kurenai-sensei lived, that's what mattered. Lived against trained ninjas with their armor that nullified the use of ninjutsu and genjutsu. When the Yuki ninjas fled that night, it was luck that they were able to capture a few of the Yuki ninjas. With a select few, Kakashi-sensei had used whatever methods to extract information on the captured ninjas. Kiba-kun had wanted to watch, but Shino-kun reasoned with him that Kurenai-sensei needed help. Kiba-kun, even, asked the guards, but they rapidly shook their heads, getting away from Kakashi-sensei.
At least, Kakashi-sensei had been able to secure vital information about the state of Yukigakure. It seemed Yukigakure was recently built with less than fifty active ninjas. The top three ninjas were Roga Nadare, Kakuyoku Fubuki, and Fuyukuma Mizore; Kakashi-sensei hinting their skills put them as average chunin, but with their armor even more so. They were under the command of Kazahana Doto, a trained shinobi as well as the current and recognized daimyo of the land. But thankfully, it was only those four as the rest were mostly trainees with the one exception of a young scientist ninja by the name of Tono Katasuke, who created the Yuki ninjas' chakra armors, a prototype that wasn't refined in the least. The advanced technology of Yukigakure could match Konoha's, despite being a newer and minor village; thankfully, the young scientist ninja couldn't produce a larger quantity of the chakra armor that nullifies both ninjutsu and genjutsu.
So they planned out strategies. Besides the commanders, converse as much as chakra when facing against any Yuki ninjas and stun them unconscious. The rebel army leader ordered them to kill any supporters of Doto, but their jounin teachers disagreed, citing it not in their newly formed contract. It didn't mean they would roll over to let themselves be killed, however.
Still, she felt trembles at facing a recognized leader of a foreign land. She thought of the repercussions of how their mission was dealing with all of this political intrigue. To oust the leader by installing the previous daimyo's daughter, her lessons on the proper way of handling hierarchy positions flew out of her head. It was madness, doing what they were doing.
Still, becoming a ninja and following orders were natural. As Kurenai-sensei wanted her to learn, their personal beliefs might clash against the mission objective, and that was a difference between failure and success. She couldn't think of what they were doing as madness but what was good for the nation.
She tapped on the door with feather pecks, not knowing if Kureani-sensei was sleeping. "Come in," said a voice inside, too deep for her teacher. Hinata twisted the doorknob, the door parting ways as they revealed Team 7's instructor jounin. She looked down at her feet when she had glanced at Kakashi-sensei; he was the silver-haired man that came to their estate. She heard from a group of Hyuuga clansmen: The shadows insider her home bussed with gossip as for why did he come. The shadows whispered about an incident years ago when Kakashi-sensei brought Ko and her father back, from a wild search. She never asked right after her mother and sibling died.
Still, saving the lives of two cherished males in her life, she didn't know how to articulate her gratitude, and she felt her face tingling as she noticed the intimate hold Kakashi-sensei had on her teacher's hands.
As she looked up again, their hands separated from each other. "Good morning, Hinata-chan," said Kurenai-sensei. Her voice carried none of the low rasps from before, and Kurenai-sensei regained her coloring, no longer the pasty pale or gashes under her eyes. The festering wounds on her neck and arms seemed to have faded as well. She must remember to thank Suoh-san and Akemi-san, especially since everyone begged Akemi to rest for the baby's sake. She did not expect doctors to be so effective in their work. She just remembered one of the elders, a grand cousin to her father, how doctors were useless, not comparing to the skill of medic ninjas.
The world was so much more different than in her clan estate or Konoha. As much as she thought of it as just a regular village, it was the Headquarters of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Their hospital was mainly staffed by medic ninjas with nurses being civilians with knowledge of medical jutsu. Their Academy while teaching basic studies such as mathematics and geography, it focused on training ninjas for the prosperity of the village. A lot of the departments for running Konoha were for the use of ninjas, with only certain sections of the village accessible to civilians. Ninja clans had more weight behind than regular ninja family or civilians.
Feeling their heated stares, she snapped back to reality, her face blushing. They stared at her, their eyes brimming with acute curiosity; she felt small under such glances. But she was on a mission, and she had to make the report her teacher entrusted her with.
"Kurenai-sensei, about the report you requested," she said, her nerves swelling. Her eyes honed to the impeccable expression of Team Seven's jounin. While she has gotten to know more about Kakashi-sensei since the training camp, there was something about the man that made her feel tiny, despite knowing his half-sleep eye was a feature he had. But she remembered what Iruka-sensei about imaging people swallowing their lugies when she felt tiny; he had said, it was in her mind. That imaging people in their funny moments would get rid of that feeling of being insignificant.
She tried very hard to imagine Kakashi-sensei swallowing his phlegm wad, but she couldn't.
Her teacher probably sensed her discomfort as Kurenai-sensei let out a gentle smile. "Don't worry Hinata. That grumpy dog won't bite. He pretty much has the same features since he was born."
There, it was.
A spark always happened when Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei were together. An easiness she didn't think existed between fellow jounin teachers. She knew some jounin were friendly with each other, but a special sort of warmness existed between the two. She remembered such warmth coming from her parents. She blinked as she realized the jounin teachers were waiting. "The castle has started drafting many of the civilians as well as closing off more entrances. Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, Sasuke-san, and Naruto-kun are setting up more traps around the castle before nightfall. Sakura-chan is helping out in the clinic."
"How many people have we lost?" The silver-haired teacher asked.
Hinata blinked, her head tilting to the side. Her lips quivered, the words swarming around her mouth. His eyes pierced her skin as she stood there, reminding her of her father's training. Her father wanted her to always answer with precision despite the grave news she would have to bear. A ninja must always be prepared to herald news, he told her once.
Breathing in, she straightened herself in attention and said, "as of last night, we have lost about fifty soldiers and twenty civilians. We have about a hundred injured soldiers with seventy civilians. But Suoh-san and Akemi-san have been instrumental in reducing our losses."
She hated saying the words 'our losses'. They were human lives that perished, not because they were ninjas but because they were caught in the crossfire. When she arrived at the clinic with the rest of the genin, they stood still, their eyes not turning away from the scene. It was hard to see the loss of life among the people they were trying to help out, but she would not turn her eyes away. The people deserved respect, deserved to be noticed in their times of need, not to be ignored as if they were someone else's problem.
"Thank you for the report, Hinata," said Kakashi, his eyes honing onto her. "Tell the others that we will have a meeting later."
"If I may ask for discussion of what matter?" Hinata said, her words getting out before her mind could process the meaning. She shot her lips into a tight line as she felt her fingers wanting to do their familiar dance with each other.
"Of course, it's the counterattack. We need to stop the siege before more of causalities come out," said her teacher. "I'm feeling well enough, as it is."
Hinata nodded, as for the past days, she overheard how some of the nobles distrusted the newly restored Princess. She knew the train fiasco didn't improve her relations with the nobles, but Hinata felt the deeply rooted belief of a female ruler frightened their minds more. Why should the nobles support someone like her when they have her own uncle?
If only the Princess would get out of her room and lead. Lady Koyuki hid behind her guards while her citizens were caged and forced into slaughter. Even if others forced her into her position, she needed to accept the fact she was born into a ruler's family. Show the rest of her people in the Land of Snow why she was going to be the greatest leader.
Hinata knew her weaknesses as the next leader of the Hyuuga clan. She knew her father had been protecting her from the manipulations of some of the cadet branch and main branch members, her kin no matter how far the relation was. Being born into as the first-born child of an ancient bloodline that existed since the eon of ninjas, she knew she wasn't the worthiest heir. But as a direct descendant of the Founder of the Hyuuga clan, her position gave her a limitless amount of enemies, enemies that would use her because she was female.
She poured her all into wanting to show she could lead the Hyuuga after her father. The incident with the main family clansman just one of the many incidents she was going to have to face, in order to get recognized as the leader of the Hyuuga clan.
"I'll report to the others."
Yelling echoed through their room. "Doto and his ninjas are invading the castle!" One soldier shouted into their room, and the Konoha ninjas bolted into position.
The Maelstrom Beast of Konoha
"Alright, guys. That's enough work," said Naruto, smiling at his clones. Faster the work, faster the outcome, Naruto thought as the crumbled walls of the castle laid before him. They had to isolate themselves to the barest comforts of the siege.
The hairs on his body rose, feeling the cryptic hall he had to bury with traps. The haunting smell of drying blood lingered in the air. He shook his head as the images of soldiers that once defended the castle butchered by the ninjas that came back. He remembered the guards the leader of the rebel army, Heki, sent to help with the traps. Some of the guards vomited just standing moments in the hall, so Naruto sent them away. He shook his head, the smell of blood no longer bothering him as much.
He cracked his fingers, their noise resounding back in the hollow hall he was in. It was a habit he picked up when he worked with his plants. "Dude, dat's nasty, yo," said the rowdy voice of Kiba.
Turning around, he saw the hooded hound-user, his arms stuffed into the pockets, with Akamaru's head hanging out of the zipper. Naruto grinned, his eyes glinting while he said, "Yo, what up, wet prevented puppy?"
He got the reaction he wanted, with Kiba's eyes widening like Iruka's 'Big Head' jutsu, the gathering sweat ready to slide down, and the scarlet glow that could match Kurenai-sensei's dress. "How the freak did ya know about dat?" Kiba's voice broke a little bit, the high-pitch that even Akamaru covered his ears with his paws.
"Ya just prove it. Heard rumors about a genin with a hound going the women's bathhouse recently from Ayame-nee. She –"
"Bro, you can't tell Ayame-chan about this! Or my mom or sis, they would kill me and find a way to resurrect me to kill me again. It was Kurenai-sensei. For our genin test, I had ta do it, you gotta understand."
"Dude, relax. Ayame-chan was just warning me never do that sort of thing, and I swore not to. But for the record, if you do it again, don't tell me," he said, failing on holding the sides of his stomach as he laughed. Seeing the bashful grin from Kiba, Akamaru and him joined in the laughing; something he needed to indulge more right now.
After seeing the way some of the civilians were being treated, he snuck into Lady Koyuki's room. At first, he felt wrong since this was one of his most favorite actresses. When he had found out Shino and Sakura watched her latest movie, he rectified by dragging Iruka to the theaters. Fuun-hime was amazing, but Lady Koyuki was an emotionless doll, that Heki and the rest of the rebel army were using. How could she not see that? She was only called a daimyo, not because of any merit but because the rebel army wanted a puppet to control.
She had slapped his face, but he told her the truth of the matter. She was selfish and arrogant, even more so than Sasuke as she left the victims – her people – to starve and shiver in the bitter cold. With the Konoha team, they had chakra to help regulate their body heat, but what do the people without chakra control have or significant chakra? Layers upon layers of blanket and furs, while trying to drive out the permanent chill sinking to their bones. He wanted her to become like Fuun-hime, a caring woman, a warrior leader who rose for the betterment of the common people because they needed hope to survive. Yet, she played her profession well. He didn't expect the smiles she did with the rebel army or with the old man Asama was just another façade of hers, the gestures she did with Konoha team another layer of protection for herself.
"Yo, you okay?" Kiba snapped his fingers while Akamaru yelped, the pup's barking cuter than Kakashi's ninja dogs.
Focusing his attention back to Kiba, at the corner of his sight, he noticed a figure coming to the hall. Wearing the gray overcoat since he known Shino, the bug user sauntered – something felt off with Shino. With his hands in his coat, Shino lifted his mouth away from his high, upturned collar, a thin line in his mouth. Shino said, "There is trouble brewing with some of the nobles."
As if picking up the bug user's odor, Akamaru growled, his light brown furs rising up. Naruto turned towards Kiba. "Who the hell are ya? You aren't Shino," said Kiba, pulling out his hands, already positioning his claws towards the new invader. Akamaru jumped down from his bundle of warmth to the cold floor, barking even louder.
"Damnit, thought they're just kids," said 'Shino'. With a puff of white smoke, the features of Shino disappeared replaced by a female ninja with a skin-tight, white-grey uniform marking her as a Yuki ninja. With a flicker of yellow hair, the kunoichi sneered at them "Tough luck, huh, Captain Fubuki."
Another kunoichi stepped out of the shadows with cold, pale green eyes marking her face, her pink hair stuffed inside the grey helmet. "At least we have two cuties to make us warm at night. Don't disappoint me, Ami."
Their laughter made his skin crawl. He pulled out Baba's scroll from his leg-pocket. He bit his thumb, the red blood chilled the air before pressing on the storage seal. Weapons littered on the floor, from projectiles to the bows and blades, on his feet was the iron pole he was most familiar with. "Ohh, kinky," both the Yuki ninjas said, their eyes narrowing while placing a finger near their mouths, not the least seductive like Kurenai-sensei's natural movements.
Not wanting them to take the preemptive, he formed the seal for his favorite technique. "Shadow Clone." An eruption of swirling smoke filled the hall, ten clones roared, his extra bodies arming themselves with the laid out weapons and tools.
"Look at that, Captain Fubuki. A boy harem! We gotta get that boy." The younger kunoichi clapped her hands. Her pale eyes honed onto him, before licking her lips with exaggerated tongue movement.
Another puff of smoke emerged, Akamaru transformed into Kiba. "I knew that boy had something unique." The older woman smirked. "Twin wild boys and a kinky boy harem. I can't wait for tonight."
Kiba jerked for a moment before leaping to the side, his fingers completing his technique. Akamaru, following his master, mirrored the actions on the opposite side. "Fang Passing Fang."
His clones held back their attacks as two huge cyclones of destructions hurried throughout the hall, puncturing holes in the walls. Tilting their heads, the younger girl giggled before jumping behind the older woman, the one with the chakra armor. From the information, Kakashi-sensei had gotten from the captured Yuki ninjas. This woman was the top kunoichi of the village, who was also in charge of their Torture Department.
The younger kunoichi took out a volley gun and shot kunai at the windows lining the walls. Snows crashed into the hallway, the icy wind gnawing at his skin. With her pink pigtails sticking out from her helmet, she, as fast as Kakashi-sensei does his handseals, finished her technique before Kiba and Akamaru made their way to her spot. Her smirk was prominent even from his distance. "You Konoha ninjas shouldn't underestimate us Yuki ninjas. Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm."
Quicker than the Inuzuka's jutsu, a whirl of swallows swoop in front of the Yuki ninjas, the perfectly shaped creatures made of sharp ice and hardened snow. "Kiba, stop!"
His shout came too late.
The two cyclones clashed against the whirling dance of the ice swallows. An earsplitting grind came out, making him and the clones covered their ears while he saw the subordinate kunoichi aiming her gun at him.
He ducked. Two kunai cut the throat of two of his clones, their weapons dropping to the floor. With the ringing in his head, he narrowed his eyes. Akamaru was slouching on the floor, his transformation waning off while Kiba tried standing from the aftermath of the collision.
Grabbing his pole, he body-flickered to Kiba and Akamaru, leaving behind a trail of leaves. Going into a defensive stance with his pole, he eyed the movements of the two kunoichi. Some of his clones got into position: the bowmen bending the bow and the blade users molding their chakra. "Get up, Kiba. It's not the time for you to rest, you know."
Hearing the affirmative grunt, he felt the Inuzuka members bouncing back up. "That's it now. It's no fun when little boys tire so easily. They should have much bigger stamina than that," said Fubuki, her laughter pointing towards them. She snapped her fingers. Another flock of swallows appeared beside her. She gestured towards them, her ice birds hurling themselves.
Tightening his hold, he thrust his pole, breaking three birds like a mirror cracking on the concrete floor. He swung. Three more scattering sounds erupted. He leaped up, letting go of his weapon. Repositioning mid-air, his hands seized his side holsters. Fanning the kunai between his fingers, he rained down iron onto the Yuki kunoichi.
With his launch, his clones attacked as well. The bowmen clones released their hold, the arrows sniping through the air. The other clones formed Baba's techniques, the flames causing a sphere of heat to come out.
A thick wall of ice appeared making contact with his clone's jutsu. On the slope of the wall, the teenager Yuki ninja gloated. "You really think I'm going to let you hurt my captain. Dream on, cutie!"
Not thinking it through, the younger Yuki-nin charged recklessly at his clones. Good, divert the attention of the support. With their coordination improving due to his mastery, his clones were a well-sync team as they led her attention away from protecting the greater threat. Except, Fubuki shrugged when Ami gave chase, placing a hand on her hips after dodging his projectiles with smooth backward hops. "You ninjas really hail from Konoha? You must be joking."
As if reading his mind, Kiba dashed to the woman, clawing with irregular movements. Kiba spun, kicked, feinted and yelled. But the difference in skill was apparent; the woman twisted her body, her actions effortlessly while making Kiba's hard breathing a joke to behold.
Landing on the ground, he pushed his fingers together. "Shadow Clone!"
"Are you ninjas just a one-trick pony? Such a shame, you had to face me." She kneed Kiba in the chin before somersaulting into the air. She threw several kunai with blue orbs attached by a string on the handles. "Will show you how to work real ninja tools."
She snapped her fingers. The blue orbs detonated. Ice spikes flung everywhere. Akamaru yelped. Kiba trundled. "Fire Release: Spark Flyer." The fickle embers couldn't quell the spikes. He crossed his arms over his chest and face. The spikes stabbed his arms, making him tightened his eyes. Letting go of his guard, he felt two hands squeezing his head. As he opened his eyes, he saw pale green eyes before a smirk.
She pushed his head down. Smashing his face with her knee, she kicked him squarely in his stomach. He coughed out some wads of blood, his body rolling over the clawing cold floor. The woman raised her hands, jolting them together like she was just waking up in the morning. "Our Yuki ninjas will soon be feared all over the world. Konoha is no longer a superpower in our world."
"That's where you're wrong, lady!" Both Kiba and him howled out. Kiba popped at pill over to Akamaru, crashing the pill like a snap of a twig. Akamaru's once shaggy brown fur turned bright blood red like his name. The duo transformed into identical twins, their posture more savage. They slapped their claws against the floor before wailing. Spinning, they turned back to twin cyclones, their deadly trail on a singular point – the Yuki kunoichi. Their speed was fast, much faster than when they first revealed it during the training camp or earlier.
It affected the head kunoichi, whose hand started glowing with blue chakra. She inserted her hand into the core of her chakra armor, the circle lighting up with activity, as a buzzing sounded off throughout the hallway. A miniature dome surrounded the woman, her smirking almost plastered permanently on her face.
Kiba and Akamaru, their twin cyclones, like the black storms that raged the Konoha forests, rammed into the dome. Not stopping but not pushing through, the attack and the defense evened out, just a crackling fight for dominance.
Naruto rushed forward, not caring for the uncontrollable jutsu from the Inuzuka members to stop. Her eyes not focused on him as her chakra flared in her hand. The dome became opaque while his teammates' technique was waning down.
He pushed through his hesitation. Pulling the kunai with wires attacked, he hurled them to two points on the wall facing the Yuki ninja. The traps he set sprung forward, more kunai with wires shrieking out in all directions. A tight-wired net captured the Yuki, her eyes narrowing as if she wanted to vanquish their beings while she sneered, growling like a wild beast.
'If ninjutsu or genjutsu won't work, freakin' use traps.'
Her stance seemed to relax as her features started returning back to normal. She did not act like the raging Yuki ninja that the information spoke of; she seemed just like Ayame-nee. A wavering doubt slung over his hands, the feel of sharpened metal on his fingertips.
She pulled on the wires, her suit receiving lacerations. "You little boys think you got me? Man enough to do it? Bet you'll wet your pants, boy. Dream on, you Konoha punks!"
She smirked.
She made a mistake.
She didn't think he saw the sleight of her hand.
The kunai she slid on her palm.
He saw specks of red in his vision, the animalistic savageness he felt from the Kyuubi dwelling up to the surface. Making a mistake was something he was not going to do again, not so soon after Haku.
With a flicker of his hand, her mouth barely opened when the woman collapsed, her body getting dyed by her blood.
Akamaru barked, his tiny form shivering back to the feet of Kiba. "Dude, you…"
"Watch out!" He said, the memories of his clones flashing through his mind. The younger kunoichi pulled out two volley guns, in his clones' dying memories.
"You fucking Konoha murderers!" The girl yelled out with polluted hysteria, her fuming form appearing as she emptied out her kunai from her volley guns. Each kunai flew in each direction, without an actual source to target; she kept pulling the trigger but nothing.
She blinked before ramming her body into the nearest person– Kiba. She punched his chin. Her elbow gashed his face. Riding Kiba's body, she closed her hands together. She attempted to bring it down.
But Kiba stabbed her with his own kunai.
Her body fell down on the cold floor like her captain, her eyes still full of hatred, as if her feelings crystallized into her eyes for them to look at.
"I– I." Kiba started stuttering his words, while Akamaru bit into the sleeves of the coat and tried dragging Kiba out, nearly ripping the fabric.
"Kiba, there's no time. We gotta help the others."
"Y-yeah, you're right."
Shadow Forest's Reaper
The ever-growing snow stormed outside the castle. Melding his chakra to circulate around the warmness, the beige overcoat adding another pocket of heat while his kikaichu faltered inside his body. With the amount of snow, he was nearly useless; his insects would die out before making a mark against any enemy ninjas. As he glanced at the girl that reminded him of cherry blossoms in their peak, he was reminded they were the only ones who could stop machine causing the strange blizzard.
When the Yuki ninjas attacked, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura, Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and him gathered in the main entrance, where the flock of ninjas terrorized the cowering civilians. Fortunately, the Yuki forces were much less than what was reported, just five Yuki ninjas, with the jounin teachers reducing the casualties when they arrived. The uncle of their client came, accompanied by his right-hand man while donning black chakra armor, even his creatures buzzed, almost quivering at the chakra radiating off the man. There was something about the man's chakra his glutton insects wouldn't want to touch.
Like any good villain of a movie, arrogant while gloating to them about his master plan about purging the Land of Snow into a perpetual frost, his first test would be the Kazahana castle, a building first built by the person who unified the tribes around the Land of Snow. It was one of the oldest castles in the world; something not even their capital of the Land of Fire could bolster. That was one of the reasons why the rebel army took the castle easily: Doto did not care for it, not for its cultural value. He heard the man burned down several parts of the castle to kill the former daimyo; the nobles and people offered repairs to the castle. Attacking the train, cramping nobles and the rebels alike, and using a device affecting the snow, Doto would stop at nothing to obtain absolute dominance in the Land of Snow. He wanted fealty, anything less was deemed a nuisance.
Their jounin teachers flanked Doto, their assault swift. But the man was still a still shinobi; a person who created the Yukigakure was not a person to be trifle with. He launched his counterattack.
"Search out and deactivate the device," said Kurenai-sensei, jumping while forming her handseals.
They did not need to be told twice; however, he noticed the Uchiha disregarding the order, before being focused on his teacher to move. As a group of four, they spread out, their eyes seeking on the main entrance of the castle.
Before they could reach the threshold, Roga Nadare sprung forward, his teal eyes hounding them like flies and his body language not needing an expert to know he believed he got the easiest job. Living in the frozen northern sphere of the world, the ninja would not know flies carried poisons behind the common belief. The first person to take action was the Uchiha, casting out his Great Fireball towards the man. The Yuki ninja simply gestured, the effect of his chakra numbing the fire technique. The rest of them channeled their kunai and shuriken, his preferred throwing weapon, but as expected of a ninja with more battle experience, the Yuki man jumped before he got surrounded.
He summoned his bugs, waving the sleeves of his coat and his swarm appeared, only ten percent of the total kikaichu in him. They buzzed, their flying form beautiful inside the ancient castle with the blizzard trying to cave them in. He controlled his clan's insects, weaving like a black mist. With a gesture of his hands, they pushed to the Yuki man.
Rising ahead of his insects, Sasuke formed his clan jutsu again while Sakura released a water technique he didn't recognize. One advantage they had the chakra armor was the Yuki ninjas needed to inject chakra into core; they couldn't mold or form any jutsu. Their jutsu formed the man supply his armor; his insects swarming pass the barrier with ease.
"Are you done playing? Seal off the entire castle," said Doto, his voice not strained as Shino imagined fighting against two jounin teachers. It was at that moment Nadare disregarded his chakra armor and favored ninjutsu, cutting up several of his kikaichu, but not all, their tiny bodies landing inside the folds of the suits.
The Yuki formed one unique seal. He saw the mirrors gracing the castle walls getting covered with ice, the thick seal forming on the entrance.
"You four, get to the device," said Kakashi-sensei, his voice losing the deadpan tone.
They obeyed his command, three pairs of feet rushing to the main entrance. Sasuke threw a punch towards Nadare, who hopped backward while holding onto the last seal, his brows narrowing. The Uchiha member became their distinction; they must not let his efforts go to waste. "Let us move forward because Sasuke-san is fighting the Yuki-nin from completing his jutsu."
The formation of the ice on the entrance grew slower, but not enough for any of them to be safe. Molding a bit of his chakra, he dashed forward with Sakura following behind him. As they crossed the threshold, he looked back to see Hinata, her eyes blazing with the Byakugan, the ice sealing her petite silhouette with three shadows lurking behind her. "Hinata-san! Behind you." Sakura yelled out, her voice like back in their academy days, her fists pumping on the blockage
The three trainees would not stand the chance. "Sakura-san, it'll be fine. Hinata-san knows what she is doing because she is a ninja. Now we need to deactivate the device before it's too late."
Thus, their search for the device began. It was fairly simple to know where the device, the vortex of snow flurries caving upward in the east behind a hill. They moved. Out in the unknown terrain, their feet dashed on top of white dust that covered the majority of the smaller buildings in the area.
"There is likely one of the commanders there, Fubuki or Mizore or both. I do not doubt Doto would spill his plans without any guards because while he seemed to be arrogant, being a daimyo for ten years in this place needed astuteness. We need to prepare."
Sakura gave no other indication other but a grueling nod of her head. He saw her fidgeting underneath, her countermeasure against the chakra armor when she told him last night. It seemed after returning back from the Land of Waves, she became noticeably different from their academy days; he should know he, at least spend, an hour after their individual team training, or group training, with her and poured over various subjects, going behind the general knowledge any genin ninja should reasonably know. 'If my intelligence is lacking, I need this, Shino-san. Maybe, I could have avoided the situation with Haku, if I had known more about the Land of Waves, the Land of Water.' She told him once when they busied themselves in the library far too long.
"Are you going to be okay, Shino-san? Your insects aren't freeze-tolerant."
"It will be fine. This is the situation Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei have been training us for. And I do have some secrets because I knew this situation would be coming for me."
As he said those words, the hairs on his forehead stood up. Before they rolled in the unforgiving snow, his eyes spotted a metal ball with finger-like appendages slaying through the air. A massive pillar of snow surged upward to where the metal ball landed. Scrambling up to their feet, they saw a large man, buffer than the typical Akimchi adult male he saw, with a crop of purple hair, nested back with the Yuki forehead mask protector. He scanned around his narrow eyes hidden by his glasses, but no flying ninja swarmed around them, before turning his attention back to the Fuyukuma Mizore of Yukigakure.
"They shouldn't send kids in the battlefield. Young boy, young girl. Go back, you'll not defeat me." He lifted his hand and the strange tool hurled back to its place while a red snowboard lay on the ground.
He furrowed. His insects told him the waves of chakra embedded in the snow around the Yuki ninja, buzzing to feed on the energy source. He dug his heels into the ground pulling out his shuriken, five between each finger.
Yuki man stood there, his eyes watching them, not flailing out the strange tool nor releasing his jutsu. There was patience within the man, besides the confidence of his skills and armor, much more different from the other commanders, who were said to be confident but cruel in their methodology: they were the attack-first-second-and-third-and-ask-questions-fourth type of people.
"You don't know that," said Sakura, her voice fluctuating but she held her ground.
"I do not wish to harm children. But it is the command of Doto-sama, which I must protect this device. Whoever goes towards it must be dealt with."
"So it that why you have killed Kazahana Sosetsu?" On the orders of Doto, he didn't need to say those words, digging his heels more into the ground, until he felt the mud. Cold mud, but mud the very least, not a hardened crust of ice.
"Aye, Sosetsu-sama was a benevolent ruler, but madness took hold of him. When his father had sent him to travel the southern lands, it was not to obtain a fruitless dream of changing the foundation of our land."
"What?" Both Sakura and he probed out.
The Yuki man was still on guard, the source of his chakra not dispensing. Perfect for his insects that could travel underground could use the signal. "Sosetsu-sama wanted to turn our Land of Snow into something it was not. A land of spring, he spoke of it to his father when he returned. A foolish dream even I knew as a young guard. Of the countless years of being a Land of Snow with trade routes established with several nations, the people stayed in this land. They had pride of being forged by northern winters. Sosetsu-sama had forgotten that."
He heard the leather grind from Sakura's gloves. "It didn't mean you had to murder him!"
"What could the people say when your lord is fixated on a dream without a real solution. Did that old fool Asama tell you Sosetsu-sama had no plan once he turned our beautiful country? What of the trades we established? We were bankrupt, but Sosetsu-sama kept insisting on building a machine for his dream. What sort of daimyo trades the welfare of his citizens to chase a fruitless dream?"
Doto might have sealed the information of him murdering the former daimyo, but at least Doto represented the traditional way of life familiar to many people. Koyuki represented an unfamiliar factor, a girl who grew up under the dream of her father, who for the past ten years lived in exile away from the Land of Snow. There was little wonder why many nobles preferred their chosen daimyo, he reasoned.
People dwelled on certainty, never risking for the unknown.
"What of Kazahana castle? For your talk of pride, burning the castle must have hurt your pride and the people's. But what of your so-called leader's?" Some of his insects should have already snuck onto the snowboard.
"Enough talk on this battlefield." He stomped his foot, the snowboard spinning into the air before the Yuki ninja aimed his strange tool towards them. They moved, splitting off in different ways. Feinting, the Yuki grabbed his snowboard and rushed to Sakura's side, the kunoichi had already strung a wave of kunai. Mizore reflected the weapons. He roared as he shot his arm towards.
Not dodging, he threw his shuriken to the source. Ordering some of his insects, he pulled up his arms. With a crashing crackle, the metal hand pushed him off, his creatures sneaking to the cracks of the hand.
"Shino-san!" Sakura pulled another series of kunai, the pieces of metal scattering on the white snow. He grunted as he stood up, feeling liquid at the edge of his mouth. Metal black on a fading white field, he threw another slew of shuriken at the man weaving through the snow, denser than the Konoha forest grounds.
Restrict the man's mobility; their planning came to his mind. In the open plains, wires were useless but creating a field of weapons, not an issue. As more and more weapons littered the snow, Mizore maneuvered away, shooting just his metal arm. Stalling for time, the man's urging them not to fight came back to his head.
Forming handseals, he followed the movement of the Yuki ninja. "Water Release: Water Bullet."
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave," Sakura added her technique with his, spreading throughout the snowy area. Uneven gushes slicked the snow, forming tiny rough patches. A sheer glossed out. The water turned to ice.
Not like the rest of Yuki commanders, details of Mizore's ninjutsu were nonexistent, as if he barely used a ninja's common skills. Mizore jumped with his board. He kicked it away. Its spinning length heaved Sakura's frame, the sound of sudden loss of air emerging. A kunai flung to Mizore's face. He pushed his metal arm in front. His eyes glazed at him. The metal arm pushed him again.
More of his insects crawled through the cracks. Shino glanced around, Sakura recovered, breathing out white vapors. As her emerald eyes stared at him, she said, "I'm ready, Shino-san."
He tussled his sleeves, and a throng of his colony came forward, the breeders still inside him. Several of his insects would die, but the colony would thrive, the teachings of his clan came in these moments.
"A bug-user in these parts? Konoha surely sends their ninjas –" The man paused, as his eyes widened when black dots started brimming his white and grey suit. His colony rose, darkening the white terrain. Like black thunder, his insects sought out their objective. Mizore jumped while glazing his arms and legs.
Still, he controlled his creatures like a black mist. Dividing formations, more and more of his insects latched at him. He would lose more of his insects, but he pushed on. "You realize the weakness of your chakra armor."
The Yuki ninja groaned, his dark eyes booming against the circling black mists. Mizore sped down, his unwieldy legs storming through the snowfield, unlike their clumsy attempts at walking.
Cherry blossom petals rained down on the field. White, black and pink merged together. "Petals won't stop me!" Mizore roared.
"They're not meant to," Sakura said, "Take a closer look at the petals." As the Yuki man honed on her words, his narrow eyes widened as tiny explosive tags distinguished themselves. She threw a kunai with a lit explosive tag. They jumped away from the Yuki man, as her tag explored. As one tag lit up, one by one the others followed. A chain reaction captured the man in an explosion; his insects were just collateral damage.
The hive and colony thrive, its part not as important, the tiny unfiltered voice rung out in his head.
"Yeah, calling that Sakura Blizzard." His eyebrows rose. A flash of red came across her face, appealing contrast with the whiteness of the background. "It fits." She tried saying, waving her hands.
A gust of chilled wind took away the smoke. They saw the man unconscious, alive but severely wounded. He unfolded his fingers, a sphere of insects beckoning to his call. Sakura quickly pulled out thick wires, before they tied his arms. His insects swamped around the knots, theirs bodies digging into his arms.
"Shino-san, are you sure about this?"
"What I believe Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei want is for Yukigakure to be faithful towards the daimyo. If it's only the rebel army, Heki-san will have most of the control," he said, not bothering to hide his distaste for the rebel leader. "Kazahana-sama deserves to prove her worth to her nation without worry."
Sakura folded her arms, the slight furrow in her brows told him she was considering his words. "But he's still part of Doto's regime."
He tucked his mouth into his top collar. Her eyes took a glint, when she looked down at the Yuki man. "He is a prideful man, a nationalist as well. If Kazahana-sama manages to persuade him, he won't be Doto's underling but a foundation for Yukigakure."
When her features relaxed, he knew she took his reasoning. As much as she changed from their school days, it was nice to see she didn't need to mask her expressions. "We should get going."
Lifting the man, who wasn't as heavy as he thought, they neared the device. A bulky structure, not as refined as the chakra armor's designs, a rough cube sat on the open plain, iron rods on three sides, with a glowing orb on top, a hole opening on one side. There were no other signs of anyone in the vicinity.
They trod to the machine. Each step they took, the glowing orb's features become more prominent. He saw written seals woven throughout the shape. He didn't know any sealing techniques or theory, as he turned his head, with her shaking pink hair, it seemed unlikely for Sakura as well. As they trooped to the opening, he gasped.
That white coloration of perfection, with the slender blue stripes around its abdomen, its prolegs well defined with stubbed feelers, the sections in its bodies were clearly distinct. Polypod larvae of an insect once extinct, he couldn't believe his luck.
"You know this?"
"They're larvae of Korichu. I've seen pictures of it. But the Kuroyuki clan had been wiped out since the middle days of the First Shinobi War. Never would I have thought there were remnants."
"So you can stop this machine?"
With her eyes like the Konoha leaves, he smiled, not like the stiff actions from before.
The Demon Hunter of the Flames
He chased after the annoying fly.
After one of the cowards in the fleeing nobles spoke of the princess in the deep ward for the clinic, he was forced into a cat-and-mouse game with Nadare. As he sprinted down one of the many hallways of the castle, he hissed when he felt the presence of Hyuuga girl behind him.
A voice echoed. "Ice Release: Tearing Dragon Fierce Wolf." The sound of icicles breaking accompanied the voice. Like jagged pieces of steel, the sounds headed towards them. The air chilled, like a haunting beast.
No matter what that Yuki ninja hurled at him, he was never going to be afraid. After that night, nothing would make him be that boy again. Weaknesses should be cleansed away.
A tiger of ice leaped from the dark cover. With hollowed eyes of ice and fangs, the beast rumbled as it hazarded their way. Moulding his chakra, he focused on the hotness in his stomach, the burn coursing through his Uchiha blood. "Fire Release: Great Fireball."
That ice tiger was made into a kitten puddle. Nothing would stop him. After awakening his birthright, strength befitting the Uchiha swelled in him. Water gathered at the back of his throat. A step closer to vanquishing that demon, to hunt him down and bathe him with the might of the Uchiha. That was his only goal.
The fly outran them, his body knowing the structure of the castle more than him or the Hyuuga, even with their bloodlines activated. It was only when a couple of useless guards got in the way did the fly stop. With a ruthless guide of his hands, the guards soon collapsed on the floor, blood spilling through the stone cracks.
Using that time, he threw his shuriken, dispensing his quantity in his holsters. No longer feeling the slick edges, he rushed to the side of the fly, to see the widening eyes. A tug came to his face. The fly underestimated him. He would make that fly regret his actions. Kneading the burn, he rested on the last seal of the new technique he learned. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire."
The volley of fireballs burst through the area. Their heat as strong as any fanned flames, his fire seeking to destroy the fly. With his lavender ponytail whirling in the air, he inserted his chakra into the core, the chakra dome flaring with a purple hue. His volley slowly crumbled under the effect.
"Don't stop, young ninjas. It's not going to make a difference," the fly said, his teal eyes wallowing in his gimmick of a machine. "Come Konoha ninjas. Let's see what you shall do. Would your ninjutsu rival the genius of Yukigakure?"
The fly made no other move. His hand rested on the core. The fly's mouth tugged into a smirk.
As he glanced around the room, he frowned. Gold decked out, gold leaves and snow scenery fluttered throughout the walls, cravings of the famous historical folklore carved in each side, crystal ornaments and boxes fitted. White gemstones cut with precise hung down the ceilings.
The Hyuuga strode in, her eyes evoking the Byakugan, the way her body positioned her stance in her Gentle Fist was natural, hours of practice emitting from her. With the kick of her heel, her body went to strike. Her open palm halted as the same barrier prevented her going forward. It seemed like the Aburame was right; being a chakra-based taijutsu, the Gentle Fist was useless.
The fly's smirk widened even more. His eyes shone as it caught the luster of the gold. He backslapped the Hyuuga, her yell echoing. Her body rolled before stopping at a porcelain vase. As she got up, her body hit the vase, a slightly swinging that made the fly move.
Calling his chakra to his eyes, he felt the power of his Sharingan. With just one tomoe, he saw the nervous twitches the fly did: the way his fingers curled to his palms, the way his feet sway to the nearest entrance, his eyes watching the vase. This room meant something to the Yuki ninja.
"Hyuuga. Attack the everything in the room."
It felt good, ordering one of the Hyuuga. He heard the people in the village talk about the greatest clan. The Sarutobi, the Aburame, the Akimchi, the Nara, the Yamanaka, the Inuzuka, and the Hyuuga, the villagers agreeing the Hyuuga were the greatest clan. No, the Uchiha will always be the greatest; his clan would not fold over just like the Senju.
With her strikes honing on one object at a time, he mustered chakra for another volley of his Phoenix Sage Fire. Each fireball landed, torching the room. Its embers spread high and low, narrow and wide. Unlike the pitiful attempts of the Hyuuga, his clan technique made the fly made tizzy, veins popping out of his neck.
"NO!" The Yuki man barked, like the stupid mutt the Inuzuka carried around. Fashioning a rapid sequence, his eyes locked into his. "Ice Release: Wolf Fang Avalanche."
Shaking erupted. The glass windows shattered. Snow caved in. The sound of wolves beckoned. The fluttering paws rushed in. The brunt smell stopped. He looked around; the snow from outside covering the room while a pack of snow canines readied at the side of the Yuki ninja.
The fly snapped his fingers. The wolves circled around once, before turning their white eyes at him. He jumped back, as fangs came at him. The wolves gave him no time. He dodged while swirling around as the fly used another technique. "Ice Release: Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger." From the white covered walls, the figure of ice leaped out, its claws itching close.
He spun in the air, putting his arms up. He hissed. Sharp icicles gashed his arms. Cold and hot combined, his forearms throbbing.
"Do not worry, Doto-sama. I shall right my mistake," the fly said, his face convulsing towards the ceiling. Crazy fanatic, he thought. He grunted when another animal of ice came behind him.
Thrusting forward, he locked his feet together. As a trio of wolves came, he flipped, pushing his weight up. He only needed a moment. Going through the familiar jutsu, his voice rung out. "Fire Release: Great Fireball."
He blazed through a scorn of snow figurines. The puddles had no place in his fight with the Yuki man.
The fly clutched his teeth, redness of his mouth showing. "You shall not stop Do–"
He saw how the Hyuuga anchored herself at the base of the fly, her frame daintier. Without a second word, her open palm plunged up, using the momentum from her dash. A satisfying slap resonated out, with the ruined metals harmonizing the tone. The girl wasn't finished. With a fast but calming sigh, she kicked off, still in the circle of the fly. He saw the flicks of chakra possessing her fingers. Instead of the wide force she used to do, her chakra was a needle, pointed and harassed with precision. She drove to her stance, making two strikes, before another and adding more. "Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms."
Even without his Sharingan, he could tell her movements were precise; graceful he loathed admitting it. Seeing her dance cornering the fly, a stirring came to him, nothing he felt before. He wiped that feeling; they were on a mission. He had a goal and any feeling was worthless. The Hyuuga heiress was worthless to his cause.
Ending her attack, the fly still stood, his arms limp while his legs trembled inward. The Hyuuga taijutsu was useful in shutting down the chakra system; yet, the girl did not end the man's life.
Kindness and mercy had no place on the battlefield.
His eyes narrowed. He called out to her. "Finish him."
With her Byakugan activated, her pulsating chakra still to heighten, her eyes digging deeper. The girl showed a different emotion besides her nervousness, a wasteful trait for any ninja.
"He can no longer fight," she said, her shuttering not emerging. Like a clean drip on a lake, her voice held her truest feelings, a voice like his brother's. He ground his teeth at the back.
"Our goal is to assassinate Doto," he said, his eyes turning their focus to the fly. He saw the jerks the man did, the fingers clutching as he tried moving his head. It seemed beside shutting down the Yuki ninja's chakra, the Hyuuga knocked the man's pressure points with her needle-like Gentle Fist. "He is the loyalist of the group."
She marched two steps towards him, her fists balled at the side. "He is down. He…"
"Shut up, girl! You don't know anything," the fly said, yelling while his face rested against the floor.
An empty threat was worthless.
As he stared at the fallen man, he imagined that night. It was a much colder night than the days he spent in this land, with the dead leaves withering down to the ground. The influx of dead corpses in the castle did not number the madness of the Uchiha destroyed bodies. Relatives, clansmen, the ninjas, the policemen, and the civilians, dead: they died their eyes torn apart while flames lit the night sky.
The last warm was from his brother's comforting hands, which pushed him away to the Hokage as he fought the demon. That monster disappeared in the night saying it was a mercy for his brother, the only one that matched that demonic strength.
His fingers pushed against his palms. "Move, Hyuuga." He moved past the girl, his feet squarely facing the Yuki man. He lifted his right foot, pressing it against the head. A bug, his foot was going to crash a bug. He needed to feel like that demon, make everyone be a bug. It was the only way for him to reach his goal.
"Sasuke-san? What are you doing!"
Before she could stop him, he already kneaded his chakra. "Fire Release: Great Fireball."
His weal of flames consumed the frame of the Yuki ninja. Unlike his ice techniques, the man was made of flesh and blood. The fly screamed. A smile came to him when the fly's body still couldn't move, yet his mouth continued screaming.
The mouth stopped its yelping. A kunai lodged into the head of the fly. He turned towards the Hyuuga, her hands shaking while exhaling. The white puff of breaths vanished as her eyes hardened at him.
He wanted the loathing. Let her realize he cared nothing, her doubt, and her feeling meant nothing. It was going to be the same, with his team, with his village. He cared nothing but murdering that demon with his bare hands.
"Kindness and mercy don't belong in the ninja world."
The Silver Lighting Ninja
"Lighting Release: White Wolves." His technique burst of the slash from his tanto. Sparks flying off their furs, his wolves raged towards the leader of the Yuki ninjas. The black armor worn by the daimyo was different from the other commanders, the dome surrounding Doto not needing a supply of chakra.
The man laughed. "Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard." Doto spread his arms wide, as dark, long chakra streams came out. At the tip of the streams, dragons' heads formed, roaring as they coiled around the Doto, banishing his lighting wolves.
The dragons dispensed, just like the other times.
Draining, using his White Wolves was draining on his chakra reserves. He had enough for two shots left. As he looked at the twitches on the man's pinkies, his reserves were also reaching their limit.
He moved crossed his middle and ring fingers on his left hand, the signal for Kurenai to take action.
Kneading his chakra, his sole focus was on the ice and snow caving in. "Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm!" A technique he stole from the female captain when she attacked Kurenai.
Without any regard of saving more chakra, Doto released his twin dragon technique again. A show of might, he didn't care as long as the man kept wasting his chakra, the more Kurenai would succeed with their plan.
"I heard from Fubuki and Nadare they faced Kakashi of the Sharingan. One of the finest Konoha ninjas, I've been told. And this very same ninja can't deal with my chakra armor. Yukigakure will be known, once I finish you and your team."
The daimyo laughed harder, as more snow came into the wide great hall of the castle. The chill coming inside the castle was unnatural. Even with the way he was circulating his chakra, he felt the icy bites, the frost that sinks into the body, killing the tissue one by one.
It must be because of that device.
"It's a beauty, isn't it? The creatures in my land are beautiful, powerful! My fool of a brother didn't know what he had. Believing we were weak. Wanting to become like you. Absurd." The man started ranting, his voice getting louder and deeper. "We're greater than you! Brother knew nothing about our lands; discard the lineage he came from. The people of my nation were glad to get rid of him."
At that moment, Kurenai appeared behind Doto, her presence catching him off guard as his mouth hung open. With the stealth of vines, she choked the daimyo; her arms wedging around the wide neck while her legs locked his lower body in place.
With his tanto at his side, his feet gilded forward. Easily slipping past the chakra dome, he slid his blade into the neck. A cut developed with a slow trickle of red blood coming on his blade.
"Dare harm me. You Konoha scum will have war," he said, his eyes heavy. Doto turned his neck, blood gushing as the daimyo stared at him. A creeping smile emerged, the blood seeping deeper into his clothes. "That niece of mine is weak. She will never become the leader of my nation."
Doto's echoing laughter lasted until his last breath.
Seeds for the Demon Beasts
Lady of the Land of Snow
Her fingers curled underneath the sleeves of her dress, resembling her father's with an overcoat bearing the symbol of her family. Smoothed by the maids, her hair was tight, garnered into a flowery bun, the style worn by wives of the daimyo. A golden headdress nested on top with jewels pinned at the side of her bun. The weight was not as uncomfortable as she thought. She was to be the first woman to rule the Land of Snow. As she glanced at the mirror, her makeup styled by herself, the light green eye-shadow highlighting the eyes she inherited from her father. She blinked; she was going to be the daimyo, of a country that let her father die.
Her father wanted the lives of the citizens to be better. With the harsh winters that plagued the Land of Snow, each year the commoners died from starvation and the cold. Father knew with the way the Land of Snow was going; their nation would fold under the rest of the northern lands. Their capital was meager compared to the capitals of the Land of Frostbite and Glaciers.
But her uncle was correct as well.
Father should have changed the thinking in the Land of Snow. They were a prideful lot with a long history. Becoming a land of spring was stripping their identity as a nation. 'Forged by winter.'
This land was going to be ruled by her, a daughter exiled for years.
Tapping her pinky against her lips, the red powder making her lips fuller. A breathed in and out, she imagined the stage: Her in front of an audience of nobles, the rebel army, guards and civilians against the refurnished great hall. She rehearsed the lines she was to say, penned by the likes of Asama-san and Heki, men who she publicly owned her seat.
Not because of the grit of Konoha ninjas, not because the backing of the remaining Yuki ninjas, and certainly not to the blond boy who told her, how she was not owning up to her responsibilities.
She stared up at the ceiling; the ice crystals crafted by the hands of their traditionalist smiths. She stroked the feel of evergreen wood of her chair, the local men cutting down the tree while working to create something that would support the leader. The fragrance of the snow flowers graced her nose, a scent she never forgot during her days in exile. She closed her eyes, trying to remember that smile father gave her before she left under the sight of the burning castle.
Be strong. Winter cannot harm a child of Snow.
And she was one, a child of Snow.
Her people needed her, not to be an actress portraying emotions. But to be a leader, a person they could truly look up to. With her hands, she could carve a destiny. Show her uncle that it won't be his name itched as a great ruler, but hers.
She no longer needed the lines voiced by Heki and Asama-san.
She had her own voice to speak to her nation.
"Koyuki-hime," said the new leader of Yukigakure, the rough voice hinting a patience, "have you finish your preparations?"
With a nod of her head, one of the maids opened the door. The man wore a different suit, white pattered as the main with lavender on the arms and legs, the colors of her family. The symbol of the Yukigakure was placed in the chest area. Her ninja village would be under a new leadership.
Holding out her hand, her maid helped her to mobilize up. A slight wobble, she felt the headdress sinking into her hair. Her maids gave her reassuring hands as they steadied her balance. She squeezed their hands in gratitude as she straightened her posture before clasping her hands together.
She walked to Mizore, their eyes locking for a moment before she strode down the hallway, with his taller frame a few steps behind her. She saw the murals of the history of their land every step she took to the end. She saw the founder of the Kazahana, who built the first stone room of the castle, piling more and more stones until it found their castle; not once giving up on making a place in the wildness of the snow.
Her nobility took more pride in the stories of her forefathers than she ever did. She touched the crystal her father left her, a light ember heating her skin. She tightened her hold before breathing out when she reached the end of the hallway.
The guards stood as if the attack two weeks ago woke them up. They pushed through the wooden doors, and she saw the crowding people from the nobles to the peasants and merchants, to the eight Konoha ninjas ready to leave her lands. She schooled her features, not wanting to give Asama-san and Heki time to repose her intents.
Her steps resonated, the only noise happening. "Sit down," she said, her thoughts linking to the man who was the daimyo in her youth. "I wish to say something to my fellow people."
She saw the glint coming from Heki, pulling out his hands to his front while Asama-san, with the virtue of an advisor, waited on her. "I am not my father nor my uncle. But it does not mean I did not understand their actions and inactions; however, I will not let their faults become marks against our great land."
Silence developed in the great room, their eyes solely on her. As she glanced at Asama-san, he radiated that sage aura, one that was needed in these time. She could feel the heated glare marking her way. Heki wanted her to denounce her uncle, make an enemy of the nobles, but she won't. As her eyes scanned through the ninjas that helped her, she focused on the little blond boy with the richest blue eyes she had ever seen. He could change the ninja world she believed, and she would help raise her nation to be stronger than before.
"We shall raise higher than before. We are a people forged by winter," she said, feeling the admiration coming from behind her. "I shall not be my father, but I do wish to bestow his way of thinking to each people. We become a nation because we built a shelter by brick and mason, giving aid to others. I do not want our Land of Snow to lag behind times. We set the movement. We do not need warm springs and summers, just wet falls and winters of the harshest winds. Because we are strong."
Her fingers uncurled, letting the warm blood flow throughout. "We stand stronger together than we do apart. The Land of Snow will have its spring, not because we change our beautiful land but because we make spring come to us."
As she lifted her eyes to the crowd, applause came.
She would become the Lady of the Land of Snow.
A/N:
I know Mizore's personality seemed different, calmer, not as battle driven as his movie part. But like, most of the minor villains in Naruto almost always have the same personality. Confidant, cruel, etc, etc.
And yes, several of the characters have issues.
Naruto: Daddy issues along with a pair of tailed beasts.
Sakura: Daddy issues along with maternal pressures
Shino: Clan issues, brother issues
Hinata: Clan issues,
Sasuke: Clan issues, clan genocide with pyromaniac tendencies
Kakashi: Issues of letting down another team, issues of the past
Kurenai: her issue with Yakumo, her worry about her first team
Hiruzen: Freaking Hokage issues
Again, this story doesn't happen without you guys' support! If you think there are lines that can be improved, please leave a review. If there are grammar corrections, please leave a review. Leave a comment or question! I do tend to write a lot of sections that I do or I don't publish, 'cause I feel like sometimes the sections might be in line with the chapter or what no. Leave a comment if any of the Omitted Sections have a viable slot in any of the chapters.
Omitted Section
Iwa Scion of the Bees
(Had this section planned after the Konoha POVs.)
"Are you kidding me?" If only her eyes could burrow deep into the stomach of the man in front of her, make him suffer from upset stomach or better yet a heart attack, she would be happy.
Again, she was going to be assigned to watch over children– her, the youngest granddaughter of the First Tsuchikage, her mother inherited the Kamizuru Clan from him, among the countless offspring he had.
With the withered movement from the Third Tsuchikage, her lips shut tight. The oldest grandchild of her grandfather sat across her, a man who condemned their grandfather's clan to isolation and mockery. She flickered her sleeves of the kimono dress she was wearing, crossing her arms together. She would not bow to the person in front of her, Mother, from the grave, would haunt her while the rest of her clan would view her as a traitor. No, she would not give respect to the Third.
Turning his big red nose at her, Onoki grunted. For a short and old man, his grumpiness from when she first met him did not change it was more.
Seeing the red-clad armor hand in front of her face, she wanted to slap it away. She glared at the damnable Jinchuriki, her neck feeling the strain when she was forced to look up. "At ease," Han said, his voice deep and ever calm.
At ease! At ease, her foot. She was not going to babysit another genin team. The last one had gotten to her nerves; they had gotten so far as she contemplated on using her bees to harvest their organs and sell it on the black market. It didn't matter if there was jounin accompanying the genin, with only a snap of her fingers, her bees would have left no prisoners while her wasps would erode their flesh. No bodies for her to take the blame.
"Tsuchikage-sama, I do not have the qualifications of leading a genin team." Why was one of their Jinchuriki being dragged into escorting a genin team for a simple Chunin Exam? The Chunin Exams are just a waste; it was only made for the bored daimyos of different lands to wage bets. Why waste the strength of the Jinchuriki?
Han was the only remaining Jinchuriki they have left. Roshi-san left the village, in order to better control his tailed beast ten years ago, when she was a younger and more naïve girl.
Onoki laughed but his eyes chilled harder. "Lad, yer one of my top ninjas. Qualification enough in ma book. Considerin' that stupid Konoha genin formation, the jounin 'spouse ta able ta handle a bunch of brats. Well, not lots of ninjas could deal with my brat of a granddaughter."
"Alright, I get Han's role. What does that have to do with me?"
"Kurotsuchi wants ta learn the Kamizuru Clan. Humor this old timer, Suzumebachi."
Fucking old man and his meddling ways.