The Eternal Chimera – Chapter 19
Hi all, sorry for the long delay in updates.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
XXX
"Man, could she have given us a more irritating assignment?" Naruto whined not for the first time.
"You said the same thing about our last mission as well." Jiraiya groused.
"Yeah, but I think I actually mean it this time. The last one was just boring as all hell. This woman may actually drive me insane." Naruto replied.
"I thought you loved her movies, here I thought you'd be ecstatic to be guarding her." Jiraiya reminded him of his adoration of the princess gale movies. "Besides, you're a ninja; if you can't find her then you may need to consider a change of career."
"Oh shut up. One of my clones found her five minutes ago. Finding a drunk civilian, what a challenge." Naruto complained yet again.
"She's drunk?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yeah, found her at the local bar, she's unconscious at the moment." Naruto informed.
"Good. We may as well set out now. If she's drunk she can't resist and once she's aboard the ship she can't really go anywhere." Jiraiya reasoned as he moved off to find the actress' manager.
A short conversation later and the pair along with the actress Yukie Fujikaze and her manage Sandayuu were boarding a ship set for the land hidden in the snow.
XXX
She realised that she'd hit the bottle hard the previous night, but she didn't think she went this far.
"Ungh…shoulda taken it a bit easier last night…it feels like the whole room is rocking." Yukie thought out loud.
"No, it's not your head, the room really is rocking, we're on a boat bound for snow country." Naruto told her. That got her attention; she shot out of bed, only to collapse to the ground, a night of heavy drinking and a rocking room not the best combination.
"Why the hell are we going there?" She demanded.
"To film the next Princess Gale movie. Apparently your manager is worried about hostiles in the area so he hired leaf ninja to guard you. That's how I got lumped into this." Naruto explained.
"You…you got l…lumped! I'm the one stuck with a kid and a lecher as my guard detail." Yukie practically screamed.
"You got a good deal. This is classed as a B rank and you've got one of the sannin as part of your guard. Most people would be elated."
"Sannin?" She asked unfamiliar with the term.
"A title granted to three of the strongest ninja to ever come out of my village. One is the Hokage, one is my sensei and the other became and S ranked criminal wanted in nearly every nation of the elemental countries."
"Even so…we should just turn back. There is nothing there for me. There are other locations that we could film on." She snapped.
"It's not me that you need to speak to about our destination. I'm just being asked to keep you alive through our stay in Yuki no Kuni, Princess."
"You really are just a child, 'Princess' is just a title in the movie, it's not real." She mocked.
"You're right, 'Princess' is the wrong word, isn't it, Daimyo-sama." Naruto retorted, watching carefully to gauge her response.
"What? How do you know that?" Her tone completely changed, her voice now barely above a whisper.
"My sensei is a man of many talents. You called him a lecher and that's more than fair, in fact it's an understatement, but never underestimate his skills as a ninja." Naruto replied.
"Then I assume you know my actual name." Yukie asked.
"Koyuki Kazahana." Naruto responded casually.
"Then I would appreciate if you and your sensei kept that information to yourself." She told him sharply before leaving the room.
XXX
Naruto watched the filming with a keen eye. Before any weapon was used in a scene both he and his sensei insisted on checking it over. It would be a simple matter for any ninja to swap over the props for real weapons. While it seemed a nuisance to the crew, Naruto knew firsthand how ugly a mission could get if one didn't pay attention. His first real mission had been proof enough that inattention could lead to mission failure and death.
During the two weeks at sea all of the filming sequences requiring the boat deck had been filmed ahead of schedule, so most of the filming crew were enjoying some down time. In this time Jiraiya increased his presence as part of Koyuki's guard detail in order to allow Naruto to get some training in, as was the main point of his time away from Konoha.
Jiraiya had seen that Naruto's jutsu repertoire was almost entirely offensive and decided to teach him Doton: Doryuheki, an earth technique particularly useful for defending multiple targets such as a large guard mission or else a team situation. However, Naruto was not allowed to only practice the new jutsu, but still had to work on his physical abilities as well.
More and more Jiraiya had noticed in battle that Naruto was moving away from taijutsu to kenjutsu. It was starting to reflect in his training as well, where Naruto would neglect to practice his taijutsu in preference to kenjutsu. While it was good to master a skill, Jiraiya made sure to drill in that Naruto should ensure that it wasn't his only skill, if ever he got disarmed or he met a better sword user he would need something as a backup.
When the crew heard Jiraiya handing out instructions for the day many of the non-ninja laughed, thinking that the tasks set were impossible. They stopped laughing when they actually saw him complete the water walking exercises on the sea while fighting his clones, and then the same again while practicing kenjutsu.
XXX
"We're here. At long last. Do you see all these beautiful locations? This will surely be the backdrop for my greatest 'Princess Gale movie'" The director cried out in jubilation. Many of his crew failed to share his enthusiasm, preferring to complain about the bitter cold instead.
Koyuki didn't look overly pleased, though that may have been for an entirely different reason.
"I'd rather be dead then back in this accursed land." Koyuki muttered to herself under her breath.
"That can be arranged, Koyuki-hime." A voice called from high on one of the surrounding ice plateaus.
Before any of the civilians had a chance to react, the voice's owner went through some swift hand seals before six ice stalagmites shot out of the ground at Koyuki. Naruto had seen the hand seals and made to protect the in disguise Daimyo. When he saw the jutsu's effect he had a split second to pick Koyuki up and perform a chakra enhanced jump out of danger.
Midflight he was intercepted by another ninja, with Koyuki in his arms there was no way for him to dodge or perform jutsu when the man came at them with a kunai.
"Gotcha." He called as he made to stab Naruto. Naruto made the next most viable option and dropped his objective. Koyuki free fell for five metres before she was caught by another Naruto.
The ninja in the air stabbed at Naruto, his aim true, striking him in the heart. Naruto just smiled for a moment longer before exploding in his adversary's face.
"Mizore!" A third voice called, this time, moving to meet with their teammate who had been sent flying.
"Hold your ground Fubuki!" The first person called.
"Rouga, the chakra suits don't protect against co..." She started.
"SHUT UP! Do you want to give us away?" He demanded, cutting her off from revealing the suit's weak point. However it was too little too late, Jiraiya had put two and two together.
"You can wrap an egg in cotton wool all you want, throw it hard enough and it'll crack. Concussion. That's the weak point." Jiraiya said with a wry grin.
"Fubuki, take the brat, get the treasure when you're done then report to Dotou-sama. Mizore and I will take the old man." Their apparent leader Rouga ordered before crafting his own justu.
"Hyouton: Ikkaku Hakugei." He called, a massive ice narwhal leaping out of the water and set to crash between Naruto and Jiraiya. Naruto had other ideas and quickly began crafting his own jutsu, pumping so much chakra into the jutsu that there was almost a risk of overloading.
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" Naruto held the jutsu for as long as there was a white whale left to be melted.
"That's not supposed to be possible.' Fubuki cried in disbelief.
Jiraiya took her moment of distraction to get in close behind her and land a powerful high thrust kick to the back of her head with his geta sandals. She skidded across the ice before getting up groggily, Jiraiya was about to press his advantage but was stopped by a wall of ice.
"Fubuki, Mizore, we're pulling out." Rouga called out. He was already helping up a very groggy Mizore and Fubuki was crafting hand seals before she disappeared under the ice.
"AND CUT!" The movie director called out. "Tell me you got all of that." He called to his cameramen.
"Yes sir, every single detail." One called out while another just gave the thumbs up.
"Excellent." The director called out, rubbing his hands together, likely from glee, rather than trying to warm them up.
XXX
The filming crew had some travelling to do and rather than travel through the night, they decided to camp out for the night.
"Will someone go and get Fuji? She can't sit in her tent all day and sulk, she needs to eat." The director called out to the crew in general.
There was a murmur of dissent as many of the crew members would rather not go and have their heads bitten off. One brave soul eventually moved off to find her. He came back calling to the group.
"She's gone. I can't find her anywhere." He cried out frantically.
"Relax; she left camp a while ago. I think she's trying to see if she can escape somehow." Jiraiya said to the group.
"Relax, she could be in serious trouble and you're just sitting there." Sandayuu retorted harshly.
"Both myself and my student, Naruto, are with her. I'm simply a clone. If this group is attacked then when I'm dispelled the real me will know about it and I'll be able to come back and help." Jiraiya replied pleasantly.
"I'm sorry. I appear to have underestimated you." Sandayuu apologised.
"It's not the first and hopefully won't be the last." Jiraiya responded; though for the life of them, the crew couldn't work out why he wanted to be underestimated.
XXX
Elsewhere
"Why are you following me?" Koyuki demanded. Naruto had followed Koyuki inside a cave that was currently providing them some protection against a bitter snow storm.
"Because I'm being paid to." Naruto responded.
"Then your services are no longer required, you can go now." Koyuki ordered.
"Unfortunately our contract is with Sandayuu and not you." At Naruto's response Koyuki just growled in frustration.
"Why are you so against returning to you country." Naruto asked. At first he thought that he wasn't going to get an answer or that she might even be building up a rage over such an intrusive question, but she did respond eventually.
"Years ago my father was the Daimyo. The Daimyo was trusted with the secret that would lead to the prosperity of Yuki no Kuni. Supposedly this treasure around my neck is the secret to bringing spring to this land of everlasting winter, though no one has ever actually tested it out. There was a civil war more than ten years ago, lead by my uncle. He killed my father to gain possession of this trinket." Koyuki answered as she palmed the octagonal necklace.
"You hate this place because of what you lost here?" Naruto asked to confirm.
"Yes, the last time I was here I was being whisked away by a boy with silver hair and a team of dogs he had summoned." Koyuki confided.
"Nii-chan?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Your brother?" Koyuki asked.
"Yes, no, yes. Kakashi-niichan adopted me when I was five." Naruto responded.
"When you were five? But you're what 13 now? Kakashi couldn't have been very old himself when he took you on."
"He wasn't. I think he was about sixteen or seventeen." Naruto replied.
"That's some responsibility. Surely someone else could have adopted, why did he feel so compelled?" She asked, not realising that she'd just stepped on a minefield of village secrets.
"I can't tell you that." Naruto answered.
"Don't know, won't or not allowed?" She pressed.
"Won't mostly, though I don't think my sensei would like me to either." He responded.
"Could your sensei tell me?" She asked, wondering if it was a clearance thing.
"He could, but he would be branded a traitor." Koyuki gasped at the statement. "Without giving too much away, if anyone other than the Hokage, our village leader, or myself told anyone, they'd be executed for treason." He saw the wonder in her eyes; she was looking at him as though he was a puzzle waiting to be solved.
"If you really are that interested, hit me up when I'm Hokage. I might be allowed to tell you by then." Naruto told her, something that she took to heart. She decided to change topic slightly.
"So is that why you try so hard? To repay what Kakashi has done for you?" She asked.
"Sort of. I want to protect all my friends. I will defend my village, and one day I will be Hokage, and I'll have the responsibility of looking after the entire village as though it was my own family." He said after a moment's thought, deciding how best to sum up his feelings.
"I see." Was all she could manage, though for what was possibly the first time, he saw her truly smile.
"Do you have a large family at home?" She asked.
"Sort of. I have someone that could be a distant cousin that I met only within the last year. Other than that, my family consists of people that inserted themselves in place of regular family members. Tsunade acts as a mother, her apprentice Shizune is like a big sister. Then you have some of the other jounin that were around when I was younger...I suppose that you could consider them crazy aunts and uncles. And then there's Haku-chan and Rei-chan."
"Who are they substitutes for?" She asked, recognising the look that came across his face when he mentioned them.
That made him stop and think for a moment before he answered.
"They don't replace anyone. But they're still very important to me." He responded softly.
XXX
While Naruto was talking with Koyuki in the cave the very people were going about their lives in Konoha, lives that had become considerably duller since Naruto had left on his training mission.
Tsunade was currently talking with Shikamaru.
"That's really as far as you had to push her to get to this state?" Tsunade was amazed. Understandably there were emotional pressure points for every shinobi, when pressed the right way could leave them distracted in battle, but to get this response from a person with what seemed to be such little pressuring; more over from one of Orochimaru's elite guards who would have seen countless horrors while in the snake's servitude.
Tsunade had managed to heal some of the physical and emotional scars that were still present, but there was much that only time could deal with. For now, the fact that she could respond and hold simple conversation was a vast improvement to the monologues she previously held, talking to her long dead mother and continually apologising.
Tsunade walked into the room, it would be the second time that she had tried to interrogate Tayuya. The previous time Tsunade grew frustrated with the girl's foul language; she warned the girl several times that she would wash out her mouth with soap if she refused to stop swearing. Of course Tayuya adamantly refuse to listen, so midway through Tsunade ordered an ANBU to bring her some soap and water. Tsunade kept washing until Tayuya stopped swearing. She felt a little regret that she'd had to waste two bars of soap that day.
As Tsunade approached Tayuya glared at the woman but wisely decided to keep her mouth closed.
"The last time we tried this it didn't end so well. I'm willing to give you a second chance. I wanna know where all of Orochimaru's hidden bases are." Tsunade offered.
"I'm not telling you anything. I do and I'm dead. If I keep my mouth shut then he might just spring me from this joint." Tayuya told her. Tsunade wore a small grin before answering.
"I think you're missing the point. If you don't tell us then you will die. Moreover, to Orochimaru you are dead. At least for now any way. If he did discover you were alive he would have sent some one by now to assassinate you, so you couldn't pass on any information." Tsunade clarified.
"Execution?" She asked.
"Well, yes. After all, you did assist in the assault on the previous Hokage. Believe me if that assassination had succeeded you wouldn't be sitting here, you'd already be dead. Not to forget to mention that you were part of the team that kidnapped Sasuke Uchiha, a clan heir. And finally there is the fact that due to your efforts he was able to abduct Naruto Uzumaki for a time." Tsunade pointed out the litany of crimes against her.
"If you've got all that against me then why even keep me alive?" Tayuya asked.
"Because the councils deem that the information you contain is worth keeping you alive. If the information is valuable enough and accurate it may even see you to an acquittal and a life as a Konoha citizen if you so wished." Tsunade laid everything out on the table.
"Wait, what? You're not going to kill me after you get your information?" She was shocked. Once a person had outlived their usefulness then they were killed swiftly unless Orochimaru had interest in keeping them as a test subject.
"Before I answer and give anything away, can you be certain of Orochimaru's actions about me?" She tried.
"Sure, it helps when you knew him as a genin; the only three people that would know better are Jiraiya, Sarutobi-sensei and Orochimaru himself." She confirmed.
"Sarutobi-sensei? What is your name?" She asked, finally piecing things together.
"Forgive me I haven't actually introduced myself have I. Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage." She announced.
Her name announced, Tayuya seemed to be viewing the elder woman in a new light.
Outside Shikamaru watched as Tsunade managed to get the information out of Tayuya with little effort. A little leverage, a decent deal and it was a simple issue.
After an hour Tsunade walked out knowing a great deal more about the secret locations of some of Orochimaru's bases, sadly she didn't know all of them, but what she had provided was sufficient. Moreover, she had not just provided locations of the hideouts, but the types of traps inside, what to look for and how to disarm them.
While she walked to her next engagement she was joined by Haku and Sakura, who she was actually meeting up with to oversee both their training and Shizune's mentoring abilities.
"Hello you two." She greeted.
"Good morning, Hokage-sama." The girls responded in unison.
"Been keeping busy? Balancing missions, training and a social life isn't all that easy." Tsunade enquired good naturedly.
"No missions for me, but the hospital work has been keeping me busy. At night I normally get to see Rei-chan before we both collapse." Haku offered.
"When did you two start living together? And what is Rei-san doing these days?" Sakura asked.
"She's working at Ichiraku's ramen. She wants to learn how to be a good housewife and that starts with cooking. She wants to learn how to cook ramen to start with." Haku informed, a slight smile about her face as she remembered how terrible Rei had been on her first try.
"Practicing for the future?" Tsunade joked.
"Yes, that's why we started living together." She replied, missing the jibe. Sakura missed a step after hearing that and face-planted into the ground, Tsunade just sweat dropped and elected not to say anything further.
At the same time Rei was currently in the kitchens of Ichiraku's calling out to Ayame.
"Ayame! I think I'm getting it! That small device on the roof sounds like it's cheering me on." Rei called to Ayame.
"That's not cheering you on, it's a smoke alarm. I thought I left you to start boiling the water, where is the smoke coming from?" She wondered. Haku had warned her that she as bad, but surely burning water shouldn't even be possible.
"It did boil. It's evaporated away." Rei retorted. All Ayame could muster was a face palm and ground out 'Mendokusai'.
XXX
Jiraiya received a sudden influx of information as he realised that his clone had just dispelled. Nadare, Mizore and Fubuki were attacking the filming crew, demanding Koyuki. He cast a quick glance at Naruto and Koyuki before deciding to leave a bunshin to help Naruto and inform him if this was a ruse.
Naruto and Koyuki were still talking in the tunnel an hour later. They had sat and talked about anything and everything that came across their minds. Their conversation came to an abrupt end when the ground suddenly started rumbling. There was a light at the end of the cave that was slowly starting to get more intense. Naruto could also hear something rushing towards them that sounded rather large. Rather than wait for the thing to be upon them with limited space to manoeuvre, he picked up Koyuki and began running.
"You'll never make it!" She cried in desperation as she watched the massive contraption close in on them.
"Like hell!" Naruto called back taking chakra out of his bracers and pumping extra into his legs in order to increase his speed." He could see the end of the cave in sight. With one last ditch attempt he really began pushing it, diving off to the right as soon as he was clear of the cave's mouth.
When they both came out into the light it became apparent that the snow storm had ended, and with the sunlight filtering through the still grey sky they could see the train that had nearly ended their lives. The machine was starting to slow down as it turned a U-bend. It finally came to a stop. Without warning one of the cargo carriages opened its shutters revealing a multitude of small compartments, each just big enough for a child to place its hand inside. The next thing that was head was a mechanical clicking before hundreds of kunai came whizzing out at high speed, right at them. Naruto's body reacted almost automatically, using the jutsu that came to his mind first.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" He exclaimed. The wall went up not a moment too soon, the kunai colliding with it with enough force to embed up to the hilt. Neither of Naruto's elemental affinities were earth and having only just learnt the technique, he decided it was nowhere near strong enough to survive such an onslaught decided to create a clone to pick up Koyuki and get out of there.
As he expected as soon as he jumped clear of the wall he was immediately targeted by an ice jutsu.
"Hyouton: Tsubame fubuki." Fubuki called as swallows made of ice flew directly at the clone and Koyuki. Being in mid air they had no way of dodging so Naruto made a clone which threw him and Koyuki right at the ground. Clear of the swallows the clone and Naruto stood upright, only to be targeted by yet another jutsu, this time ice spears coming out of the ground.
The clone picked up Koyuki again an began bounding away when it realised that it had been played like a fiddle, right in his path was Nadare, the leader of the Snow team. Naruto saw the predicament and moved to Koyuki's aid, but realised that the Ice swallows that had missed his clone on the first pass were now wheeling around and cutting his access to the clone and Koyuki.
Back in the camp Jiraiya had encountered Mizore, who was using nothing more than clones to portray his entire team being there. When he saw Jiraiya he didn't bother to conceal his location, rather rushing out to meet the toad nin in a taijutsu match.
"You're not gonna get the one up on us this time, you old fart." He called out as he rushed in.
"Where are your teammates?" Jiraiya asked.
"Taking care of the brat and getting the necklace off the girl by now." He called casually, there was no issue, he would win this time, he was just playing around before.
"Then it seems as though I can't waste any time with you then if my pupil is dealing with two against one odds." Jiraiya announced.
He saw the leading punch and slapped it aside, Mizore may have had raw power but he had no finesse, being on a team with Tsunade meant that he was more than adequately prepared. His strike parried Mizore made to follow up but received a powerful strike to his chest with the heel of Jiraiya's palm. The strike might have cracked an ordinary man's sternum, but with the protective armour in place all it did was send the man flying before shaking him up when he came to a sudden stop on a rocky out crop.
'I don't have time for this crap. Naruto'll be fine but if they kill Koyuki while he's preoccupied then it'll be mission over.'
"Sorry, I really can't play around today. Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari." Jiraiya called. Both warriors were now inside what appeared to be fleshy corridor.
"Enjoy your last moments of life as you become food for the Iwagama." Jiraiya said calmly as Mizore was slowly engulfed by the rock that had turned into a fleshy wall that he was leaning against. As Jiraiya walked out he tried to ignore the look of abject terror as well as the cries of horror from his opponent. Deciding to show the man some mercy and give him a swift end before he walked out he threw a kunai into his head, aiming for the eye socket, the only place on the man that was truly left exposed.
Once out of the toad's stomach Jiraiya rushed off to aid his apprentice. As he rushed to his apprentice saw Nadare rising into the air on a line coming from a blimp from over head, an unconscious. Naruto was trying to reach the tail of the rope before is rose out of reach, but being held at bay by relentless attacks from what could only be the remaining member of the snow team, the kunoichi Fubuki.
Jiraiya new that Naruto could hold his own, so he discretely tried to reach the rope undetected, but was swiftly noticed by Fubuki in the open field. She quickly used a wind jutsu, but instead of aiming at Jiraiya, cut the bottom of the rope off a short way under where Nadare was holding on.
Naruto cursed, before turning to his sensei.
"I can still pursue if you cover me." Naruto called.
"Don't bother. That thing won't be landing anytime soon. The only reason we captured Koyuki was because Dotou-sama ordered it. Once he has from her what he needs, she will be killed." Fubuki told him.
Both Jiraiya and Naruto ignored her, Jiraiya giving Naruto the nod telling him that he was ready.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu." Naruto intoned after going through the necessary hand seals, summoning a large phoenix. He climbed on its back before they both set off to the air ship at his command. Fubuki was momentarily stunned by the boy for the second time.
"Ero-sennin, try to find out how they are able to combine chakra to make the hyouton. If it's natural, then they might be relatives of Haku-chan." He called as he flew away. As he flew away Fubuki tried to intercept him with her ice swallows technique again, but was forced to abandon the jutsu when Jiraiya threw a kunai at her, quickly multiplying it as he used the kage kunai technique.
"So. Wanna tell me what the idiot was raving about as he left?" Fubuki made small conversation, she couldn't reach the boy now, nor would she herself be able to reach the airship unless it landed or it picked her up.
"There is a girl back in Konoha that has the natural ability to combine fuuton and suiton into hyouton. If it really is a natural ability then you may well be her relative. If not, then there is no need for me to hold back. I can kill you as well." Jiraiya explained.
"As well? So you got Mizore?" She calculated.
"Yes. I killed him before coming here to help Naruto. I had no choice, I was worried that he'd try and kill the camera crew." Jiraiya explained. It had long been the teachings of his sensei to show mercy where possible. It was for that reason that Jiraiya chose to kill Mizore swiftly.
"He would not have harmed them. We have received no orders regarding them so we leave them alone. A shinobi of the snow always follows whatever the Daimyo's orders may be." Fubuki explained.
"And if I were to tell you that Koyuki is technically the Daimyo of Yuki no Kuni?"
"She isn't. Actions speak louder than words, or in this case, titles. Even though Dotou-sama's methods are questionable at times, he still acts to ensure the best interests of the Land of Snow." Fubuki argued.
"You say that you follow the Daimyo's orders then you attack the woman who is by technicality the true Daimyo, before arguing that she isn't due to her cowardice as a child." Jiraiya reasoned, though his opponent would have none of it.
"Say what you will. The fact still remains that my loyalty remains to the one who will lead Snow, not to the one who makes excuses and runs away from her duty." Fubuki said with finality, blind to her own self contradictions.
"Well, let's get this started. I have a pupil to assist and you have a master to serve." Jiraiya mentioned with a light voice.
Fubuki didn't bother responding, the simply launched into her trademark attack, ice swallows.
The swallows were easily avoided by Jiraiya, but on the second pass, instead of just striking at him, they surrounded the sannin. As the encompassed Jiraiya Fubuki changed her hand signs, the ice swallows exploding and sending razor sharp ice shards in every direction.
She smiled when she saw her attack hit, being scratched by this particular attack resulted in frostbite within minute, then eventual numbness and loss of movement, her smile disappeared when she saw the shinobi disappear in a puff of smoke to be replaced with a giant snow man. He was simply playing around with her, and it made her furious.
"You'll have to do better than." Jiraiya taunted from behind as he kicked her again, the same way he had the first time. This time however, instead of crashing into and ice outcrop she crashed straight into a snow hill, a considerably softer landing.
She formed an ice katana in her hand before pursuing him with kenjutsu. She was really starting to get frustrated with this old man.
"You know, you're actually fairly good at kenjutsu. Unfortunately so are my pupil and my ex-teammate, Orochimaru." Jiraiya taunted again.
She ignored the compliment as her she finally recognised who her adversary was.
"Jiraiya of the Sannin?" She tried, realising if he really was her enemy, then he could have easily killed her by now.
"So one of my loyal readers? Or perhaps you'd like to pose for one of m upcoming novels?" He continued joking. "Now that you know who I am, why don't you just let me pass? It'll make both of our lives easier." He requested.
"Not a chance. As long as there is a threat to the Daimyo's life a snow ninja will persist in their defence until either the threat or the snow ninja is dead." Fubuki cried out, renewing her efforts.
She threw out two kunai, each with an exploding tag attached, ignoring convention of not using such jutsu in such an area for fear of avalanches. The kunai landed in front and to the left of Jiraiya, yet he had already jumped out of harm's way. As soon as he was clear he was being chased yet again by her ice swallows jutsu. Fubuki tried and tried again to his Jiraiya with the technique but to no avail.
Then it just stopped, the swallows had settled for keeping him on the one place by circling around him. While maintaining her concentration on the swallows, she used what she hoped would be her winning jutsu.
After a few quick hand seals she plunged her hands into the now loose snow.
"Hyouton: Ice tornado no jutsu." The wind whipped up around, and the soft snow that his feet had sunk into had hardened into a thick ice and was now growing up his leg finishing at his knee. Finally, the ice swallows exploded, but the shards were caught by the now cyclonic winds whipping around Jiraiya.
She had played her cards well, against most others and she would have had a victory, but against one of Jiraiya's calibre it was nowhere near. Jiraiya just smiled as he used his Hari Jizo jutsu, this time using enough chakra to cover his face as well as the rest of his body. The ice shards that promised to tear him to shreds did little more than bounce harmlessly of his now rock hard hair.
Fubuki was now panting, she'd expended a decent amount of chakra with her other techniques, but that manoeuvre was essentially three combined into one, making it all the more taxing. When she ended her jutsu, she saw a spiny white mass. The mass slowly shrank until it was back to Jiraiya's regular hair length.
"A good technique, but easily guarded against. And by the look of it you've used almost all of your chakra." Jiraiya observed as the ice around his leg started to melt rapidly, with no chakra to maintain the jutsu.
"I can still fight, even if I can't use nin or gen jutsu, I can still use taijutsu." She declared as she ran at him rather sloppily due to fatigue, unfortunately she wasn't fast enough to avoid his next jutsu.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Jiraiya called after going through the necessary hand seals. A horse sized toad appeared, lashing out a long tongue before taking Fubuki into its mouth.
"You can stay in there for a while. That toad's saliva is like an anaesthetic to its victims. You stay there. I'm gonna go help Naruto." Jiraiya called to her, already moving to where he had seen Naruto disappear.
XXX
Naruto had landed on top of the airship. It had been tempting to bring the thing down by simply bursting the air inside, but decided against it, not knowing the exact reaction and possibly jeopardising Koyuki's life. He resolved to find a way into the ship, he managed to find the occupants box on the underside of the balloon and let himself in through the window. Little did he know that his movements were being watched in the helm of the air ship. Dotou Kazahana and Rouga Nadare were watching him as he moved through the air ship looking for Koyuki. Unfortunately he was slowly making his way to the front of the ship, where the controls as well as Dotou and Nadare were located.
"Shall we prepare a welcome for him?" Rouga asked his master.
"Yes, let's. I would like to try out that chakra syphoning tool we developed." Dotou replied.
Naruto opened the door to the next room, and walked through. He was immediately slammed against the wall before a strange device was attached right where the core of his chakra would be. The device started immediately, siphoning his chakra at an incredible rate.
"You really should be more careful. Carelessness could mean the end of your mission and your life as a ninja." Nadare taunted.
Naruto just smiled at him before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Nadare just cursed, he was truly getting sick of all the clones the boy could make as the device that was attached clattered uselessly to the ground. Naruto streaked into the room, picked up the device tried to attach it to Dotou. Unfortunately his efforts were for noting as he heard a dull clink; Dotou himself was also wearing chakra armour. Before Naruto had time to react he was slammed into the wall, the device reattached, this time to the real Naruto. The drain was noticeable immediately, but it wasn't paralysing, after all, the thing could only absorb at a certain rate. None the less, Naruto slumped over, pretending to grunt in pain.
"Take him to the holding cells. He can join my niece." Dotou ordered, Nadare moving to comply immediately.
Naruto was taken to the holding cells, where he was kept across from Koyuki.
"What have you done to him?" She demanded.
"Your body guard isn't as good as he thought he was." Nadare said as he placed Naruto in chains before walking off.
Naruto waited a full two minutes slumped on the floor before jumping off the floor to his feet.
"You're ok? You made me worry for nothing." She sounded genuinely offended.
"Well if I hadn't faked he never would have been brought here." He responded.
"What is that thing?" She asked, wishing to be able to point but unable as her hands were in chains as well.
"It's absorbing my chakra." Naruto explained before going silent, focussing even more chakra on the device. It gave a burst of electricity before it fell to the ground.
"What happened?" She asked amazed.
"I overloaded it. Took more chakra than I thought it would, that thing is damn good at what it does." Naruto explained.
"Impressive what you ninja can do with your chakra." She said, slowly gaining more respect for the genin.
"Don't be fooled. If any other ordinary ninja tried that they'd be dead. I just have massive chakra reserves." Naruto explained.
"Still, impressive." She pressed. She watched as he made a bunshin without the use of hand seals, the jutsu so familiar by now that it was second nature to mould the chakra that way. The clone then pulled out a kunai before using it to pick the lock. While Naruto gathered himself after being freed it started to work on the door. When the door had swung open it dismissed itself as the original walked out, and performing the same process in reverse on Koyuki; the door first, then the manacles.
"Let's go." Naruto told her.
"Wait, they got my necklace. We can't leave without it." Koyuki told Naruto.
"You mean this?" Naruto pulled her trinket out.
"How did you get that?"
"I switched it while at sea. My sensei asked me to, but no tell you. Sorry." Naruto held it back to her.
"Then the one that Dotou has?" She tried.
"A fake, one of my clones transformed into it." Naruto answered plainly. "More importantly, my sensei says that this is a key. Do you know where he'll be headed to try and use it?" He asked.
"Why." She asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"So we can be the ones to dog his movement for once, rather than let him set the scene every time." Naruto responded.
"I thought we were trying to avoid Dotou." She responded.
"If we could put an end to Dotou's rule, would you do it? Even if it means killing your own uncle?" He asked, not bothering to mince his words.
She remained silent, thinking carefully about what he had just proposed.
"I would. To free the people of Yuki no Kuni from his oppression. I know that my father would have wanted his people to be free of tyranny, I'll just see if I can do it without killing my uncle, that too is something that my father would have wanted." Koyuki spoke, her conviction clear in her voice.
"Well, then let's get started, we have a nation to rescue." Naruto said with a feral grin, before picking her up and running down the corridor. Naruto made his way down to the place where he had first entered into the airship through the window. He carried Koyuki onto the top of the blimp before he set her down and summoned two phoenixes. The first he told to pick up his sensei and meet with them later on, the second both he and Koyuki boarded, after she managed to get over initial shock. She then guided the phoenix to their destination. Naruto hoped that he and his sensei would have time to coordinate a plan of attack before the blimp got to the destination.
XXX
Jiraiya was surprised to see a phoenix coming out of the sky right towards him. He was expecting Naruto to be riding back with Koyuki in tow. He did not expect to receive the report that the 'idiot genin' was going after Dotou and Nadare with Koyuki with him. Surely he would have remembered that the client's life came first?
Regardless he climbed aboard the phoenix, where it whisked him away to where Naruto and Koyuki were waiting. When he met up with them he restrained from chewing Naruto out, deciding that he would get ample opportunity later. Any planning time that they were supposed to have evaporated instantly as the airship loomed into view.
"I'll take Nadare, once I've finished with him I'll help you with Dotou if you need it, Jiraiya muttered to Naruto; whose only response was a quick nod.
The blimp landed, a moment or two later a walkway lowered and the two men aboard casually walked out.
"Well it seems as though we have an unwelcome welcoming party. Let's dispose of them first, and then take our time with the treasure." Dotou announced.
"Uncle, would you consider repenting your ways? Reconcile with me, stop this madness. The only reason you ever wanted this power was to further your own ambitions; you have completely forgotten about the people of Yuki no Kuni." She called to her uncle.
"And what of you? What have you ever cared about the people of this land? If you truly did care, then you would have appeared before now to challenge me. No, I think I'm far better suited to the role of Daimyo than you ever will be." He called back to her.
"You're right, I am no model, but I am willing to change, for the sake of the people I had forsaken. I'm offering you that chance. Repent your sins and free the people from this oppression." She tried to reason once more.
"Foolish sentiments girl, too much like your father. Diplomacy can only get you so far. To rule with an iron fist and achieve true power, this is the way things must be done. I'll start right now, enough words." Dotou jeered, beginning to craft hand seals as he spoke.
"Hyouton: Kokuryu Bofusetsu." He shouted, a giant black dragon composed of snow and ice materialising, charging straight at Naruto.
Naruto crafted his own seals.
"Katon: gokakyu no jutsu!" He called, spewing a massive fire ball, the ball strained against the wind and ice jutsu, but it eventually bowed to the sheer power of the attack, sending him flying a short way, though the brunt of the attack significantly reduced.
Naruto quickly summoned a phoenix and told it to take Koyuki out of the battle area. Dotou didn't even bother t try and stop the bird, he was so focussed on Naruto.
Nearby, Jiraiya was fighting with Rouga Nadare, but he wasn't fighting cleanly.
"Your female teammate, she fought quite impressively, but she really wasn't a match." Jiraiya called out.
"So you killed her." Rouga tried to sound emotionless, but it was easy to hear that his voice got stuck in his throat.
"No, I killed your other teammate, for that I am sorry, according to your female companion it was unnecessary." Jiraiya answered.
"What have you done with Fubuki?" Nadare called.
"I've simply sedated her. As a bargaining chip, if you stand down from this fight and allow me o help my student, I guarantee her safe return. On the other hand..." Jiraiya trailed off; sometimes a man's imagination was a far more potent threat than any voice by his opponent.
"Don't you dare stop fighting. That whore isn't worth a damn compared to my dreams." Dotou commanded, there was nothing else Dotou could have lost Nadare's loyalty so easily.
"You have my word. I will not raise a hand against my master, nor will I interfere in the punishment for his crimes." Nadare bargained before backing down.
Jiraiya did not rush into the fray, but simply allowed Naruto to finish his fight. He would step in if necessary, but the boy seemed to be handling himself fairly well, despite his jutsu being mostly ineffective due to Dotou's chakra armour.
Dotou had attempted another high powered jutsu, but Naruto just avoided it while taunting his foe.
"Having power is good, but if you can't use it or it's misdirected then it's as good as useless." Naruto taunted before creating five shadow clones.
Dotou tried once again to use a black dragon blizzard jutsu, but this time Naruto was prepared. One clone used a grad fireball technique, while another used the great breakthrough, the wind jutsu increasing the power of the attack dramatically. The attack easily burst through the black ice dragon, barrelling right at Dotou who only narrowly managed to dodge. While he was on the floor the three remaining clones charged in.
"You're taijutsu is practically useless against this armour, you may as well give up." Dotou taunted as he made a sloppy punch at one clone's torso. The clone ducked under the punch before it grabbed Dotou around the midsection in what appeared to be a bear hug.
"What the hell are you doing you idiot?" Dotou demanded.
"Boom." Was the calm response he received from the clone before it detonated around his midsection. The blast threw him back, but he remained mostly unharmed.
"This armour is beyond all your petty attacks." Dotou bragged, failing to notice the hairline crack forming in his armour. Neither Jiraiya nor Naruto failed to notice, and both smiled at the development.
Dotou, confident in his armour's abilities charged recklessly at the clones, not caring if they could detonate, after all his armour was impervious.
He launched a kick at another clone's head. As he was about to land the hit the other clone came up behind him and exploded, propelling him towards the final. As he sailed towards the final clone it detonated just they were about to collide. This time he got up far more slowly, looking as though he was actually struggling. When he faced Naruto a large crack was visible in what appeared to be the core of the armour.
By the time he turned around he had little time to react to Naruto running right at him with an orb of violently spinning chakra.
"RASENGAN!" Naruto roared as he threw his whole weight behind the strike and ploughed the attack into the cracked armour.
The armour could no longer stand up to the fierce assault and shattered, sending Dotou spiralling away at high speed before he crashed into a rocky out crop and was knocked unconscious.
"So what now? Will you kill him? Will you defy our leader, only to leave our country in chaos without a leader?" Nadare asked, wondering what the next step would be.
Koyuki looked at him for a moment before answering.
"No, I meant what I said. I haven't once stood up for the people of Snow, but I'll do it now. I'll make this country great again through my own hard work. It might take a while for me to be accepted, but I'm sure I can do it." She spoke as she walked over to Naruto.
Anticipating what she wanted, Naruto pulled of her trinket and handed it to her. She climbed the rocky out crops that Dotou had crashed into before inserting the gem into a small hole. The effect was near instant. Turbines roared to life and started producing heat. With a few minutes the ice that they were standing on was starting to melt.
"AND CUT!" a voice rang from somewhere within the melting ice. The director's head popped out from over a hill, smiling as he came towards the Koyuki. To think that you were a Daimyo all this time. Who would have ever guessed, eh, Sandayuu?" He called out.
"Sandayuu," Koyuki called as she looked kindly upon the aging man "I'm sorry to have put you through so much over the years. You honoured my father's last orders to you even though I practically hated you for reminding me of my heritage all this time. I'm so sorry. From now on I'll stand up and lead this nation as I should." She vowed to the faithful servant.
Sandayuu's eye's moistened. But he did not cry.
"Come Koyuki-sama, there is much to do. We must officially instate you. Then we shall hold a banquet in your honour."He said.
"Not my honour, but to honour Naruto ad Jiraiya, without them this wouldn't have been possible, she replied as she looked warmly at both student and sensei. Jiraiya actually surprising her and not making any perverted comments or gestures.
XXX
In the weeks to come Koyuki was instated as Daimyo. While she did have to work some to earn approval, Dotou did much of her work for her. Many people willing to accept her, simply as a change from the iron fist that Dotou ruled with. She did prove her worth as a leader, implementing changes that had allowed her people freedom that they hadn't known since the previous Daimyo.
Naruto and Jiraiya remained into the newly made Spring country. Nadare and Fubuki had been assigned roles as part of Koyuki's guard detail as a sign of good faith for any remaining underlings in hiding. Naruto of course had not been allowed to lapse in his training regimen, Nadare and Fubuki exchanging their guard detail with Jiraiya in order to provide Naruto a change in sparring partners for a while.
Their mission completed, it was time for Naruto and Jiraiya to move on to the next phase of Naruto's training. Koyuki Gave Jiraiya a handshake before turning to Naruto."I want you to know. I was you that gave me the courage to stand up and do this. It was your own desire to become Hokage that convinced me to stand up and lead my own people." She said to him before pecking him on the cheeks. Just as her lips made contact a flash went off, Jiraiya passed the camera to Koyuki.
"Write a diplomatic letter to the Hokage and open a trade route between here and Konoha, it will strengthen your position politically. Also write a personal one, include that photo, we can't really write all that much, so would you grant us that?" He asked.
"Certainly." She replied with a smile.
They shared a quiet moment before Jiraiya announced that it was time to leave. With that they disappeared in a blur, Nadare and Fubuki moving forward from their hiding places after giving the three some privacy.
"They were fun." Fubuki observed quietly.
"I think we can expect great things in the future.' Nadare added as the three watched the master and student on their way.
XXX
End Chapter
Sorry for the long updates as well as the delay between updates.
Cheers,
Fish