"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"Demon/Summon"
"Jutsu/Technique"
"Writing"
mooman23: Thank you for the constructive criticism.
PredatorPuck: Thanks for all the reviews!
Cerulean Knight: Possibly, after all he did help Gaara so she will like him no matter what.
InARealPickle: I'll try to work on those things.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Gamaran.
Ino was on a mission; after having a talk with Asuma about her future, she remembered she had yet to hear from Naruto about his mindscape. She was even more curious about it now, as she had absently mentioned it to her father and he had been quite shocked. Not shocked about Naruto having one, but that Ino knew about it. She also noted that he grew very worried when she talked about Naruto's mind and the clouds, only calming down when she admitted that she didn't know what it was. The whole exchange made her want to know even more about Naruto's mind and she was not willing to wait another minute.
Arriving at the compound, she tried the door and when it didn't open pushed the intercom. "Hello?" She heard Naruto's voice after a second.
"It's Ino." She replied.
"What's up?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Can I come in?" Ino asked impatiently. "We have some things to discuss." As he wasn't there, she settled for giving his intercom a stern glare.
"...come on in." Naruto said quietly.
Ino quickly walked through the gate and towards the house, pausing a bit to glance around the yard since she had never been there before for more than a few seconds. Naruto leaned against the door frame waiting for her, wearing a black t-shirt and baggy sweat pants. "Hey." He gave her a small wave.
"Were you asleep?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow. "It's the middle of the afternoon."
"Some of us have walked a couple dozen miles today, so excuse me." Naruto replied. "Come on, let's get this over with." She watched as he spun and walked into the house. She wasn't sure why, but he seemed depressed about something. Walking in, she found him sitting in a chair by a couch. "Have a seat, Ino."
She nodded and moved to the couch, plopping down and staring at him for a second. She had envisioned multiple versions of this conversation before today, but now didn't really know where to start. "So, how long have you had a mindscape?"
Naruto had been having a great day; he had been promoted and helped bring in the new Hokage. Really, the only bad thing was the prospect of having to possibly marry someone. He knew that eventually word of his little friend would make it to his age group, but he had been hoping it wouldn't have to be him telling people. "Might as well get it done quick and to the point, like ripping off a bandage," he thought with a sigh. "Ino, what do you know about the Fourth Hokage and the Kyūbi?"
Ino furrowed her brow in confusion. "What does that have to do with this?"
"Just humor me please," Naruto sighed audibly.
The blonde girl huffed and crossed her arms as she sat back. "The Kyūbi appeared outside of the village and the Fourth killed it." She summed up quickly.
Naruto stood up. "That's what we're told but actually it's impossible to kill a bijū- they are made up of chakra, not flesh." Ino's eyes went wide.
"Then… Wait, why were we told lies?" Ino sat up. "And how come you know this, if it is true?"
"The reason I have a mindscape is tied to all of that." Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "See, the only way to stop a bijū is to seal it away- the Fourth Hokage decided to do that." Naruto took a deep breath and rolled up his shirt so Ino could see his stomach, then channeled chakra so that the seal glowed. "He sealed it in me."
Ino's jaw dropped as she looked at Naruto's stomach, then his face; she thought this was a joke, and that any second, Naruto would start laughing at her. The two blondes waited, neither making a sound or moving as Ino let everything start to sink in. As it did, apparently inconsequential small things about Naruto and people in the village started to make sense: how people were rude to him when they did D-rank missions, how Asuma stared down waiters when they saw him, and so on.
"I." She wasn't sure what to say; of all the things Naruto could have told her, this was not what she expected. Part of her still thought this was a lie, but the look on his face and the glowing seal on his stomach made it hard not to believe him. Finally, she did the only thing she could think of- she stood and quickly made her way out of the house.
Naruto sighed and dropped his shirt as Ino ran out of the room. "At least she didn't look horrified," Naruto thought, as he went to close the door.
"Someone lose a friend?" The Kyūbi asked with a dark chuckle.
"Fuck you, Kyūbi." Naruto muttered as he slammed the door shut and headed back towards his room- he suddenly just wanted this day to end.
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Kakashi looked up from the report Tsunade had given him. "I see. I accept Hokage-sama."
"Good." Tsunade said with a nod. "Your team will be Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi cocked an eyebrow. "Due to the changes recently, and the weather in the Land of Snow, it was decided to change up your team."
Kakashi nodded; he was actually happy to be working with Naruto and was going to use the mission as an excuse to get to know him better. "Very well, when will the film crew be arriving?"
"Tomorrow." Tsunade said as she looked down at her desk for the specifics. "You will meet up with her assistant, Sandayū Asama, he is the one hiring us and will give you more details."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied. "I will gather the boys after talking to Asama-san and figuring out a schedule."
"Very well, dismissed." Tsunade replied.
"Hai." Kakashi said before disappearing.
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"Well, that was interesting." Naruto said as he exited a movie theater with Shikamaru and Sasuke. "The fight scenes were kinda lame, but I liked it."
"Hn." Sasuke replied.
"So why did we have to go see that again?" Naruto asked as they stood in the street.
"Kakashi said it was preparation for a mission we were going on." Shikamaru answered. "My guess is we're going to be guarding the star, Fujikaze Yukie."
"Seems logical." Sasuke said absently. "Anyone else hungry, and not for ramen?" Naruto started to smile but pouted as Sasuke finished.
"Aww, come on," Naruto whined, but the argument quickly died as they heard a bunch of people yelling. The trio looked over towards a crowd of people, but what was odd was that there were men in samurai armor mixed in with the normal civilians. "What's that?"
"No idea." Shikamaru replied, and he let out a groan of annoyance as Naruto and Sasuke moved towards the crowd. "Troublesome," he muttered as he followed after the duo.
As they got closer, they heard whispering about movies, actors and other things that made them even more curious. It took some effort, but eventually the shinobi were able to push their way to the front, where more men in armor stood, along with Fujikaze Yukie, a man with long grey hair and glasses, and Kakashi. "Ah, it seems the remaining members of our team have arrived." Kakashi nodded to them as the man and Fujikaze turned to the trio.
"Why does it matter?" Fujikaze said with a frown. "I'm not going, so there's no point in meeting them." The three boys cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Please, Fujikaze, you have to." The man with glasses begged. "You can't pull out of the film this late."
"Why not, actresses change for sequels all the time." She huffed and crossed her arms.
"If you do this now, you'll never work in this business again." The man almost shouted at her.
Fujikaze rolled her eyes at him before looking off to the side. Kakashi sighed and walked forward. "Seems we have no choice." Fujikaze turned just as Kakashi lifted his headband, his sharingan spinning as he did. Fujikaze stared at him for a few seconds before her eyes rolled back and she fell limp, with Kakashi catching her before she hit the ground. The armored men all seemed confused at what had happened, but Kakashi turned to the brown haired man and held Fujikaze bridal style. "I am sorry Asama-san, but you did mention time was of the essence."
"Yes, the ship will be leaving this evening." Sandayū said as he adjusted his glasses and looked Fujikaze over. "Can you take her to the room until we are ready to go?"
"Hai." Kakashi said before turning to the trio. "You three go and gather your things and meet me at the Golden Leaf hotel before we head out to the boat. I will go over our mission there; make sure to pack for cold weather."
While they were confused as to what was going on, the trio nodded and quickly headed off towards their homes.
"Come, I will take you to the rooms." Turning toward the others, Sandayū called out to the actor/bodyguards in the armor, "You men can head back to the set now and thank you for the assistance."
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Naruto arrived last to the hotel, having taken a minute to put on a long-sleeve blue shirt instead of his usual ¾ sleeve one, and packing other winter clothing. Sasuke and Shikamaru were both leaning against the wall opposite of Kakashi, who stood in front of a door. "Ah good, you're here." Kakashi said as he snapped his book closed. "Now, I'm sure you all are wondering what is going on." The trio nodded. "Our mission is to escort Fujikaze Yukie to the Land of Snow for the movie she is starring in, and then back home."
"Why are we doing this when she seems so set on not going?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi shrugged. "We were paid for a mission by her assistant Sandayū Asama, the man with me earlier. He claims that she is just nervous about the film; either way we have a mission and will see it through." The others nodded. "Right now, the crew is preparing to head out for the ship, I want you three to go and meet them. Help wherever you can, I put Yukie-san in a genjutsu and it will last until tomorrow, so I will transport her." Kakashi studied them for a second. "Naruto is second in command for the mission, so you two listen to him until I meet back up with you."
Naruto looked surprised, as did the other two, but they nodded again and headed out. Naruto actually thought it would be pretty cool to be on a movie set.
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"Everyone wake up, we have a problem!" Naruto bolted up and almost fell out of his hammock as he heard the shout. Kakashi moved with amazing grace as he flipped out of his hammock and was out the door in a second. The sound of a thump made Naruto look over to see Shikamaru on the floor, groaning.
"Come on, Naruto," Sasuke said as he ran out the door, Naruto nodded and moved after his friend. The two shinobi arrived on the ship's deck where the rest of the crew had gathered, and saw a large island of ice in front of them.
"This is perfect!" The director yelled as he spun around to face the crew. "Gather all the equipment and get on the island, I don't want to lose the light!" Looking past him Naruto saw a large island of snow and ice in front of them. In the middle were two large ice forms, while around them were mounds of snow.
While the crew scattered to get their jobs done, Kakashi came over to Naruto and Sasuke. "Get dressed and be ready to move out." He looked back at the island; his gut was telling him something was wrong and he wanted to be ready.
It took almost two hours for them to unload the right gear and get all the actors in costume and make up, but they finally started the filming. Naruto watched in interest as the villain began a monologue about how he would destroy the princess, when suddenly there was an explosion. Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke all quickly went on guard as they saw Kakashi standing in front of Fujikaze, with his arm extended like he had just thrown something.
"What are you doing?" the assistant director yelled at Kakashi.
"Everyone get back!" The Jōnin yelled back, never taking his eye off of the area where the explosion happened.
As the smoke cleared, a figure rose up from under a white blanket and smirked down at them. He wore a greyish-white body suit, although his right arm was in a black arm sleeve, and metal devices adorned his left shoulder and right forearm. He had dull light blue hair pulled into a ponytail, except for one stand that arced over his face, and his headband had flaps that came down to his neck, Naruto figured they kept his ears warm in the cold weather. "Welcome everyone, to the Land of Snow." He said with a dark chuckle.
"You." Kakashi said aloud, then turned his head as he spotted another shinobi.
To the side of the actor playing the villain, a woman, wearing similar clothes as the other man, appeared on an ice spike. Her only distinguishing feature was two short spiky ponytails that came out from under her headband. "Greetings, Princess Koyuki, I do hope you're still wearing the hex crystal."
Kakashi's eye went wide and he spun to look at Fujikaze. "Princess Koyuki?" Sandayū gasped and took a step back as he heard the woman, making the three younger shinobi stare at him confused. Before Kakashi could say anything, he spun again as he sensed another person and was confirmed as correct by a third figure rising from under the snow.
"You're as good as they say, Kakashi." This man was larger than the other two, but unlike them his left arm was mechanical and he wore a strange red and purple board on his back. "Unfortunately, it's not good enough."
"Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru." Kakashi called out as he spun around. "Protect Fujikaze, everyone else get back to the ship!" While everyone looked around confused, the first shinobi chuckled.
"Fubuki." The woman turned to him. "Mizore, I'll leave the Princess to you." The first shinobi said before leaping down the cliff towards the group.
"Very well." Fubuki replied in a bored tone before hopping off the ice spike she occupied.
Kakashi immediately ran forward and leapt up the ice like mountain to face off against the leader. "It's been a long time, Kakashi." The man said as he and Kakashi meet half way up. "I hope you're not going to run away like the last time." He shot the Konoha-nin a smirk.
"Nadare Rōga." Kakashi said, as he quickly studied the man before they leapt at each other. Nadare went for a spear strike but Kakashi blocked with his left arm and threw a punch with his right, Nadare blocked Kakashi and then flipped to kick the Jōnin in the chin. Kakashi flipped as well to avoid the strike. As the two landed, they kicked off the ground and began a quick strike assault as they climbed the ice and rock around them.
Naruto and the others quickly ran forward as Kakashi ran off, with the blonde unsealing Yukiko and drawing her quickly. "Two versus three, I like those odds! Shikamaru, you cover Fujikaze-san."
"Got it," Shikamaru replied, as he pulled out a kunai.
Mizore pulled the board off his back and tossed it to the ground. It unfolded as it fell and made a large board. Stepping on to it, he leaned forward and snow kicked off the ground as he rocketed towards the group.
Naruto's eyes widened at the fast-moving man. "Sasuke, he's all yours!" Naruto called out, knowing Sasuke was faster and better equipped to fight the man with his sharingan.
The Uchiha nodded and activated his eyes as he ran forward, his hands already going through seals. "Katon: Dancing Snake" After taking a large breath, Sasuke blew out, and as he did a large snake made of fire flew from his lips and raced along the ground towards Mizore. The large man paid the attack no mind and met it head on. Sasuke was surprised when instead of burning, a purple barrier appeared around Mizore, protecting him from the flames. "Naruto, they have some kind of barrier jutsu protecting them!" Sasuke yelled, as he pulled out kunai and threw them.
Naruto had turned his attention to Fubuki as she approached and went through some seals. "Hyōton: Swallow Snow Storm" She unleashed a large cluster of ice birds towards the blonde.
Naruto grabbed Yukiko with both hands and swung vertically at the birds. "Grand Flying Swallow," he grunted; his massive chakra wave meet the birds head on and broke them apart.
"Impressive," Fubuki called out, as she went through more seals. "Let's see how you handle this: Hyōton: Ice Prison." As she touched her hand to the ground, spires of ice shot up in a trail towards Naruto.
"Not good enough." Naruto slashed horizontally at the approaching ice, "Flying Swallow!" Not wanting to waste chakra, Naruto sent a smaller blade of wind out, smirking as it did the job and cut through most of the spires. Unfortunately, they kept coming, so he created a clone and leapt back, watching as the trail of ice hit his clone and suddenly encased it in ice.
Sasuke realized weapons and jutsu were having no effect, so he ran towards his opponent, figuring with the man's size that he could take him. Mizore smirked as he saw Sasuke run towards him and pushed off his board, flying through the air and bringing his arms down in an overhead slam. Sasuke's sharingan easily saw this and he leapt to the side avoiding the direct hit, but the force of the blow pushed him back and forced him to flip in mid-air, sliding him back as he landed as well.
The Genin barely had a second to gain his footing before he looked up and saw Mizore bearing down on him, his robotic arm pulled back ready to strike. Sasuke could only throw his arms up in a cross and pump chakra into them to absorb some of the blow; as Mizore hit Sasuke's guard, steam shot out the back of his arm and Sasuke flew back.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled as he back flipped towards the ground and went through some hand seals. "Suiton: Water Dragon!" As he ran towards Sasuke, a large dragon rose out of the ocean and flew over Kakashi's head, it's maw opening wide as it fell on top of Mizore. The man jumped back as the purple barrier flashed around him, protecting him from the water.
Sasuke grunted as he stood and shook his arms, now numb from the hit he took, but still usable. "You alright, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he landed next to his friend, with his eyes not leaving Fubuki.
"Fine." Sasuke replied, as Kakashi landed next to both of them. "Sensei, what's with their barriers, I can't see any seals with my sharingan!"
"It's their armor." Kakashi answered as he looked up at Nadare. "It's called chakra armor, it creates the barriers. But it's a lot stronger than it used to be."
"So you do remember," Nadare said with a small smile. "Our chakra armor increases the chakra in the wearer, strengthens some of our more powerful jutsu, and creates a barrier to protect us from our opponent's chakra." All three of the shinobi smirked. "It renders ninjutsu and genjutsu useless."
"No fucking way." Naruto thought as he looked up at them.
Nadare suddenly went through hand seals. "Hyōton: Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger." As he finished, a large tiger of ice and snow shot up and headed towards the Konoha shinobi.
"Suiton: Water Dragon!" Kakashi had quickly sped through his own hand seals when he saw Nadare doing some.
The two jutsu met, but the ice tiger easily ripped through Kakashi's dragon, making the trio scatter to avoid the jutsu. Mizore used the distraction to jump back on his board and rocket towards Shikamaru.
The Nara groaned as he saw Mizore coming; right after Sasuke had used a fire jutsu, Fujikaze had begun having some kind of panic attack. Sandayū was trying to snap her out of it, but he wasn't having much luck. "He's moving too fast for me to use any clan jutsu and I don't know any elemental jutsu." Acting fast, he reached back and pulled out a timed explosive tag and attached it to his kunai, then threw it towards Mizore.
Mizore snorted as he saw the single kunai coming and was already moving to dodge when he caught sight of the explosive tag. The snow shinobi leapt off his board to avoid the projectile, but it exploded. The blast, mixed with his momentum, made him spin in the air and land on his stomach.
Fubuki sighed as she saw Mizore fall. "Must I do everything," from her back two hook- like claws sprang out, with a purple cloth unfolding from them to create wings. Crouching, she shot off the ground and rolled in the air before turning towards Fujikaze and diving.
"Wrong move." Naruto yelled with a grin, quickly sheathing Yukiko he went through some hand seals. "Fūton: Great Breakthrough" Putting extra chakra into the jutsu Naruto sent out a ferocious gust of wind. Fubuki's eyes went wide and she tried to brace herself as her wings caught the wind and she flew back.
MIzore grunted as he stood and glared at Shikamaru; throwing his robotic arm up, he shot out white strands, that resembled spider webbing, which wrapped around Fujikaze. Shikamaru quickly went for a kunai to cut the webbing, but Mizore pulled his arm back and the young woman started flying towards him. "Katon: Great Fireball!" Fire covered Mizore, burning up the webbing and causing Fujikaze to hit the ground; Sasuke landed between the man and the others. When the fire cleared, Mizore was standing unscratched, and Sasuke spied the last flicker of the barrier.
On hearing "Princess!" Sasuke looked back to see Fujikaze had fainted to the ground and Sandayū was kneeling next to her.
Kakashi heard Sandayū yell and turned from Nadare to make his way towards her. "Oh no you don't!" Nadare yelled, as he went through hand seals. "Hyōton: White Whale!" As Kakashi ran, a large spike of ice came out of the ground, forcing him back, and a chunk of the island where the others were broke off, as a white whale of ice came out of the water.
"Impressive." Kakashi said as he turned back to Nadare, his sharingan uncovered and blazing. "Now it's my turn, Naruto get everyone out of here!" he yelled, before going through hand seals. Naruto quickly ran towards the others, creating several clones to grab everyone and headed towards the ship. "Hyōton: White Whale!"
"Still copying my moves, eh Kakashi." Nadare said as he went through his seals again. "Hyōton: White Whale!" You'll never beat me this way!" he yelled, as his whale leapt into the air.
"Beat you?" Kakashi said. "Who said I was trying to do that?" Nadare's eyes went wide as Kakashi's whale slammed into Nadare's whale's belly, pushing it back towards the larger island and slamming into it. Snow was kicked up into the air and the shockwave caused large waves in the ocean.
Kakashi made his escape under the cover of the snow, running along the ocean he saw the ship starting to sail away. Leaping up onto the railing, he saw Naruto and Sasuke ready to strike while Shikamaru stood with Sandayū, who was tending to a still- unconscious Fujikaze. "Naruto, Sasuke, watch our backs." Kakashi said, as he dropped onto the deck and walked over to the unconscious woman. "Shikamaru, help me get her to her bed." He shot a quick glance to Sandayū, and the man understood they would be having a conversation soon.