Author's Note: Hey guys, this will be the last part of the movie. After this, things will start to deviate more and more from cannon. I have to say that I've been so unhappy at how short these chapters have been, but because I was, and will be so busy, I couldn't seem to make them any longer. Before you read, I would like to thank all of you for all the support you have given me. A guest reviewer, Shadow Lover, with his amazingly long review made me realize that some of you really like this story and it makes me very happy. If I could thank each and every one of you guy's it would make this such a long A/N so I'll thank you all together. THANK YOU!
Unfortunately, the dreaded time has arrived for the updates to come in slowly. More information at the bottom! Read and review!
Talking "Yo!"
Thoughts 'Yo!'
Inner/Demons "Yo!"
~Sakura's ability Information~
'Peoples thoughts'
"Communicating telepathically"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto just my OC's and plot.
Ninja Clash In The Land Of Snow 4
Normal POV
'Inner, where are you right now?' Sakura asked as she ran alongside the others. They had successfully infiltrated the fortress with ease. Kakashi too, seemed to have finished up Nadare quickly since the group heard explosions not far away.
"Uhm, well we just got out of the cells. Oh, wait, here comes Kakashi!" Inner replied. Sakura nodded slowly and swiftly changed directions.
"Where are you going?!" Sasuke asked as they stopped and looked towards her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder towards them.
"The others are all this way." Sakura responded as she turned and continued to run.
'Keep flaring your chakra.' Sakura instructed as she followed the trail in which led her to Inner.
"Aren't the walls restricting your sensing?" Inner asked in confusion. Sakura smiled and ran through the hallway. She had to dodge and flip over a lot of the ninja protecting the inside of the fortress.
'Not when you're so close.' She answered as she dodged the swipes from the ninja's kicks and punches. She could just let the other's deal with those guys.
She turned to the left and went through the door-less entryway.
"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto shouted in surprise as he turned to look at Inner. She in turn smiled and waved before poofing away.
"It was a clone?!" Naruto asked in surprise. Sakura smiled and nodded as she patted his head when she was at arms length.
"Sakura, where are the others?" Kakashi asked. Sakura smiled and turned towards the entryway she had just came through.
"Right here." Zabuza responded as he finished throwing a guy over the railing. This whole room was huge and spacious and it only had these small bridges to allow passage to the other side.
"Good, now that we're all here, let's go." Kakashi said. Sakura raised her hand and pointed back from to where they had come from.
"Let's go that way." She said and looked over to Koyuki. They held each other's gaze before Sakura nodded and looked over to Kakashi.
"If we go this other way, we'll run right into Dotō." Sakura explained.
"How do you know that?" Sasuke asked skeptically.
"Do you want to find out?" She countered as they began to walk the way they had come from.
"Let's just go Sasuke. It's better to fight Dotō when he doesn't have the advantage." Kakashi said as they all began to run. Dodging ninjas and debris from the collapsing base.
Running through the vast corridor's from the fortress as it caved in and burned, proved to be a nuisance.
"Just a bit more and we'll reach the outside!" Kakashi called out and looked towards Koyuki who was having the hardest time. Naruto ran right by her as did Sakura incase anything went wrong.
The rush of cold air greeted their arrival as they stepped out of the fortress. The wind carried small amounts of warmth as the base burned and collapsed. As they walked away Sakura turned towards the building as she sensed a spike of chakra. Nothing besides the raging fire on the enormous structure could be seen.
"What is it?" Zabuza asked as he stopped a few feet from her. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she looked in the sky for Dotō.
"I thought I felt something." She answered as they continued on their way, away from the fortress.
After walking up a hill that was far away from the base, without even having to look, this time Sakura was sure she felt the chakra spike. She quickly coated her fist in chakra and awaited the moment to strike. Surely, a punch to the face will do good damage to that overly confident man.
Stopping and shifting her upper body, Sakura maneuvered herself to punch him as he approached from behind them. She thrusted her fist forward and widened her eyes as he shifted and completely dodged her punch. With a low swoop, he grasped Koyuki by the arm and pulled her up with him before Sakura could adjust herself.
'Damn it, he's fast.' Sakura thought as she looked at him lower to the ground further away.
"Now Kakashi Hatake, if you want her alive, hand over the crystal." Dotō said with a hurtful grasp on Koyuki.
"Let her go!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards him, intent on getting Koyuki away from him.
"I will, after I get the crystal." Dotō repeated. Naruto growled low in frustration as he watched Dotō pick up Koyuki by the neck.
"Sensei, just give it to him." Sakura called out as she noticed Koyuki's frail skin already turning a darker color. Kakashi searched in his pocket, and pulled out the necklace. With a toss, Dotō snatched it before it fell in the snow and pushed Koyuki away.
"I have no use for you any longer." His winged armor unfolded and he quickly flew away. Sakura and Naruto were the first to move over to Koyuki's side. Healing her minor injuries, Sakura sighed and looked at the direction where Dotō could still be seen flying towards.
"Why did we just hand over the crystal to him?" Sasuke asked with a frown and crossed his arms.
"What he wants to do with it is find a treasure; but there is no treasure. At least not the type of treasure he's looking for." Sakura replied and avoided their gazes in order to avoid more questions.
"Let's go. We still need to apprehend him." Kakashi instructed, wanting to change the topic for her sake. After all, he swore to the Hokage that he along with Zabuza and Haku would keep her secret safe.
Sakura and the others quickly nodded as they too began to run after Dotō. The last fight about to take place as soon as they reached his location.
~*oOo*~
"Do you feel that change in temperature?" Haku asked as the air around them wasn't so chilly anymore.
"It must be from whatever Dotō's doing." Sasuke commented as he breathed out and noticed the absence of the white puff.
"Hey you! What are you doing with Koyuki's necklace?!" Naruto shouted as he ran further ahead. Sakura's head snapped forward towards Dotō as a massive buildup of chakra was sensed. With a shout of anger and annoyance Dotō initiated the battle out of anger for his unfound treasure.
"Ice Style: Black Dragon Blizzard!" Dotō shouted out.
"Move out!" Kakashi called out and Sakura quickly grabbed Koyuki under her arm and charged up her empty hand with chakra. As the swirling black dragon approached, Sakura moved over towards Naruto and gripped his jacket. She knew he would try to face it head on. With an enhanced hand, she lifted him up and threw him high above the dragon. She moved aside before they themselves could get hit with the Jutsu. Koyuki's screaming doing nothing but causing Sakura's adrenaline to rise. She could not afford to get anxious over all the negative possibilities. She needed to stay calm and one step ahead.
"W-Where's Naruto?!" Koyuki asked as Sakura adjusted her hold on her and held her securely in her arm.
"He's fine." She replied as she pointed up at Naruto's direction. She jumped and Body Flickered away from Dotō and his jutsu. They saw Naruto land a few feet away from Dotō. He crouched and glared at him with chakra steadily flowing out. The negator on his stomach was flashing red along with his eyes.
"The Kyubi!" Inner stated in surprise. Sakura frowned and hoped he wouldn't go on a rampage here of all places.
"I promised Koyuki that I wouldn't give up!" Naruto growled out through clenched teeth.
"How is it possible that the chakra is leaking out?!" Dotō wondered in disbelief. Shaking his head from any further thoughts, Dotō rushed forward towards Naruto.
Before Naruto's chakra could be overtaken any more by the Kyūbi, Dotō managed to land his punch. It broke through the ice and sent him diving into the ice water down below.
"Naruto!" Kakashi and Koyuki called out. Sasuke's activated Chidori turned their attention on him.
"Sasuke wait-!" Kakashi voiced out Sakura's concern but with her hands full and him charging after Dotō, there was little for her to do.
"Koyuki-san, you need to let go. You won't be hurt if you stay here." Sakura said as she gently set the princess down and tried to get her hands off from clutching onto her. Koyuki hardly clung onto someone, but the extremity of the whole situation must be crashing down on her. Her hold on Sakura was like her momentary life-line.
They watched as Sasuke's Chidori hit the orb on Dotō's armor, cracking it in the process.
Sasuke's shout as he hit the ice boulder from Dotō's retaliation, seemed to snap Koyuki out of her daze. She let go and placed her hands on the ice to help support her.
"Stay with her." Sakura instructed as she ran over towards Sasuke. Kakashi and Zabuza moved out with her to watch her back as she healed Sasuke. Haku stayed behind with Koyuki and immediately set up an ice dome to protect them.
"It's useless!" Dotō shouted as he sent two Black Dragons. Kakashi quickly parried the attack with his own Black Dragon, having copied the previous one with his Sharingan. Zabuza, as usual took out his sword and went off to face the Dragon away from everyone else.
"Stay awake Sasuke. Don't close your eyes or you're dead." Sakura stated as she set about to healing him.
"Don't say it like that!" Inner shouted as she fidgeted from inside. Ignoring her at the moment, Sakura sent out chakra to her hands that shifted from blue to green after a second of concentration.
'Damn it, his arm is broken and one of his ribs is cracked.' Sakura said as she worked on healing the outer most minor cuts after numbing his pain. She made sure to check for any brain damage from the collision and was relieved to find none.
"Sorry Sasuke, you'll have to bear with some pain for a while. Your arm is broken and a rib is cracked. I can't fix those yet, but I'll help you through the pain." Sakura informed as she got done healing most of his injures.
'Just a bit more and we'll hopefully be learning from Tsunade soon.' Sakura thought with a sigh as she held his arm carefully. He seemed to be taking things well, since he had yet to retort about her skill or lack thereof as usual. She didn't mind, since she was just glad he was okay.
"That dobe is really taking his time." Sasuke mumbled and Sakura swirled her head to a sudden chakra burst from under the lake. One after the other, until no one could tell how many, clone's of Naruto popped out of the water and into the air above Dotō.
Kakashi and Zabuza quickly moved out of the way so Naruto could finish him off, they busied themselves with the remaining dragon. And with Sasuke's attack, Naruto and his vast chakra would be able to finish him off easily.
The ice beneath everyones feet shook and trembled from the burst of chakra. Naruto was such a wasteful ninja, when he performed jutsus. All that excess chakra leaked and spread all around.
"It's payback time!" The multiple Naruto's shouted from high above in unison. Their voices creating an echo-like affect from the vast number of clones and the spaciousness of the area.
"Come on you little half-wit! Twin Dragon Blizzard!" Dotō cried out as he went through the hand signs and spread his hands out. Two Black Dragons appeared out of his palms and rushed towards Naruto. It's massive size made it easy for him to take down more than one Naruto at a time.
They swirled around until they united to create a black icy hurricane. It twisted and spun rapidly while contorting from its gained speed and length. It sucked in all the Naruto's and threatened to absorb anything in its path.
With a quick glance in Koyuki's direction, Sakura was assured that she would be fine. Haku's ice dome seemed to be fine and stable enough to withstand the air pressure around them. Everyone on the outside however, weren't so lucky. The hurricane pulled on their clothing and hair towards its direction harshly. Their cloaks and hair whipping around and lashing out at them from the intensity of it. They had to apply more chakra to stick to the ice or else they would be sucked in too.
"It's over...This ridiculous little farce is over!" Dotō exclaimed with a followed laugh of victory.
"Sakura, go and stop him. I'll be fine on my own." Sasuke stated once the roaring winds died down some. Sakura smiled down at Sasuke reassuringly.
"No. Naruto's got this one covered." Sakura responded as she raised her head and looked behind Dotō. The steaming white smoke from the previous jutsus and the ice steadily melting covered her view from Naruto. But without needing to see, she knew by the chakra build-up, that he was preparing his Rasengan. The sheer power in his direction was enough to reassure her that she had chosen well to allow him to finish Dotō off. She was, after all, merely here to help them grow into the great Shinobi she knew them to be.
With a dejected sigh, she looked from Naruto to Sasuke.
'Hopefully, I'll be able to help you walk down the right path.' She thought and looked up to see Naruto's grand finish.
"It's not over yet! Not until we have a happy ending!" Naruto exclaimed with a happy grin plastered on his face.
"Naruto! I believe in you! You are by far the strongest ninja, I've ever known!" Koyuki shouted from her spot near Haku. He had released his ice dome, realizing that the end was drawing near. Sakura chuckled to herself at how Naruto could be so...awe inspiring. Koyuki seemed like a completely different person.
"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked from his sitting position. He stiffly leaned on the boulder he had crashed into.
"Naruto, that's what. Even though he's seen as Konoha's unpredictable ninja, he's so very predictable at times." Sakura answered.
"Che. He's still the same dobe as always." Sasuke mumbled and Sakura caught the slight smirk upon his face. With a quiet snicker, she turned towards Naruto.
"You remember what the director's assistant said about Yukigakure's 'Rainbow Glaciers'?" Sakura asked and waited until he nodded. With a tilt of her head towards Naruto, who was charging at Dotō, she smiled at him knowingly.
"Well you better get a good look at it, because it doesn't happen so often." Sakura responded as realization dawned on her from her own words. She chuckled and quickly un-sealed her camera.
'I almost forgot about my camera.' Sakura thought as she waited for the magical moment to begin. With a continuous clicking of her camera, pictures were taken of the Legendary Rainbow Chakra.
It was a breathtaking moment, even for its certain circumstance. Naruto's Rasengan swirled with the same colors of the glaciers around them. It was a dangerously beautiful jutsu and even though it was only because of the location, Sakura couldn't help but be mesmerized by it.
The jutsu only enhanced the power it held by the explosive outcome from the collision onto the chakra armor. It sent Dotō spiraling high up to the glaciers, impacting it with enough force to create a mass of cracks all around his beaten form.
Sakura watched as the cracked layer of ice Dotō had crashed into, shattered and allowed the Generator's walls to melt the remaining of the ice in Yukigakure. It was almost unbelievable how fast the speed of the ice melted. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see went from an icy wonderland to a country full of spring wonders.
A variety of flowers were scattered around in abundance. Green and lushes grass covered everything around them beautifully. Sakura had to blink her eyes to get rid of the surprise. She had to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness shining down upon them and the splash of color.
She craned her neck to look up as a huge projection of Koyuki when she was younger appeared between the generator walls. Her father's voice was heard and soon he too appeared.
"Believe in the future. If you do, the spring will surely come. What will you do when it comes Koyuki?" Her father asked curiously.
"Uhm...I'm going to become...a Princess!" A kid Koyuki responded happily.
"Oh? What sort of Princess?" Her father calmly asked.
"Hm, let's see. One who's strong...kind, and most of all, one who fights for justice!" Koyuki answered with childish glee. Her father's warm, and deep laughs were heard throughout the area.
"That's some dream. But if you believe in your dream, and never give up, one day you'll be that princess." He said as he placed the Hex crystal around her neck.
"But...I have a problem. There's something else I want to be." Koyuki said unsurely.
"Really? What is it?" Her father asked patiently. With a wide grin and expression full of happiness, she answered.
"An actress!" Their laughs, filled the surrounding area and caused the listeners to give a chuckle of their own.
With a smile as Sakura heard Koyuki's chuckle, she snapped a quick picture of her.
Sakura's POV
'Her first real laugh since she was with her father.' I thought with a relieved smile. Everything worked out well in the end.
"Finally, this mission will be over." Sasuke said with a sigh. I looked over to him and tilted my head and got a better look at him. With a snicker, I lifted my camera and snapped a picture of him. He had his usual frown on his face as usual but his injured and weakened stated made it appear less intimidating.
"What...did you just do?" He asked rather calmly, though it was laced very thoroughly with annoyance.
"Oh you know, just adding to my collection." I said with a casual shrug.
"What?...What kind of collection?" Sasuke asked with his voice clearly expressing his irritation. I chuckled and patted his head slowly.
"You don't really expect me to answer that, do you? Don't worry though, Kakashi's in it too as well as some others." I replied and to my amusement he actually managed to glare at me so intently.
"If I could move right now, I would take your camera away from you." Sasuke said. I rolled my eyes and poked his broken arm a few times. From his deepened frown, I knew he was holding back a groan.
"Good thing you can't move, huh? And even if you could, you wouldn't be able to." I said and raised up two fingers.
"One, you wouldn't be able to catch me. Two, it's sealed away." I said as I promptly sealed the camera back into the scroll. That's why I was particularly fond of scrolls. There was so many types that the possibilities of their usage were endless.
Low level ninja scrolls could be opened by anyone as long as they shot in a small burst of their chakra.
Medium leveled scrolls could be opened with only the chakras that it could identify.
High leveled scrolls are somewhat different. With these, one had to send in chakra in different intervals of ones choosing. Anyone could open it if they knew the sequence. However, that was close to impossible since you couldn't possibly guess it right without the 'password'. One could modify their password however the owner wished.
"I know how to un-seal your camera Sakura. As well as all your other things." Sasuke said and I raised an eyebrow.
"What? When did you find out?" I asked with a tilt of my head. I tried to remember when I had ever told him the sequence I used on my scrolls.
"When you carried Kakashi away on our first mission." He answered and I finally realized that he was correct. I had made him take the picture.
"That's right...Shoot, I'm gonna have to buy some new ones." I jokingly said and watched him glare at me. I chuckled and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"I was kidding Sasuke. Come on, let's go to the others." I said as I stood and reached down for him to take my hand. He sighed in exasperation but took my hand anyway. He avoided my gaze throughout the process, my guess was that he didn't like the fact that he was unable to do things on his own.
"Naruto you loser. I thought you had died drowning in that lake." Sasuke stated as he kicked Naruto's foot. I rolled my eyes at him and let go of him so he could fumble around on his own.
"Don't listen to him Naruto. That's just his way of saying he believed you could pull through. But Naruto, that was a very impressive jutsu." I said as he grinned up at me. I returned the smile and hovered my green colored hands on his chest.
"Thanks Sakura-chan! That's the new jutsu I was talking about! I couldn't do it on my own very well, but when you gave me that idea of the clone, I tried it out. I can't wait to show Pervy-sage!" Naruto exclaimed and even though he must be sore all over, he still managed to grin.
'He really doesn't know when to quit.' I thought with a small smile. This jutsu...he's not ready to fully use it. His feelings must have fueled him enough to successfully pull it off. I will need to speak to Hiruzen and Jiraiya about forbidding him from using it for the mean time. At least until Jiraiya helps him perfect it.
I looked over to Koyuki who kneeled on the other side of Naruto. She had tears freely running down her eyes, and her expression wasn't stoic anymore. Too many emotions went through her eyes for me to describe them all, but I was happy with what I could see.
"Hey! You guys alright?!" We all turned towards the voice. The director and his assistant along with his camera man were seen stationed up on top of a hill.
"Hey! We're all more than alright! We're great!" Naruto shouted. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He was all immobile and injured and yet he considered this 'more than alright'?
"Oh?! Naruto is that you on the ground?! Stay put and we'll give you a lift back to the others!" He exclaimed with a wide reassuring grin. I smiled and stood once the healing was done. It was no surprise that most of his internal injuries were already healing by the Kyūbi. All that was left was for Naruto to rest up. Though I do believe he will not stay put, even when we force him to.
~*oOo*~
"Dotō, what will happen to him?" I asked as I looked down to the man face first on the ground.
"He will be in Yukigakure's prison." Kakashi answered from his crouch beside the man.
"Are you sure he's not dead?" Zabuza asked as he stood beside me lazily leaning his weight on his left leg. I nodded and pulled on the turtle neck. After realizing that it was too hot to be wearing such clothing, I began to take the cloak off.
"Yeah, I'm sure." I said and draped the cloak on my arm. After a few second's I had it sealed away into my scroll.
"We should hurry and catch up to the others." Haku suggested. I nodded and unsealed a big scroll. I frowned as I looked at it.
'I'll need to get more of these. Stupid Orochimaru took the other two I had.' I thought as I remembered the invasion. With a shake of my head, I went through the required hand seals for the sealing and kneeled down to place my hand on Dotō's armored back. I sighed and sent in my chakra inside the scroll in intervals that it registered.
It unfolded and I quickly activated the Fūinjutsu to seal him up.
"Good, now let's get going." Kakashi said which I fully agreed to. I slung the scroll onto my back and followed after them across the platform.
We began to walk in the direction in which the others were in, but a sudden sound piqued my interest. I turned back in order to locate where the electrical sound was coming from. Firstly, I checked all around the generator, and found it to actually come from the middle of the platform. A bright twinkle was seen where the generator activated.
"Sakura? Something wrong?" Haku asked. I turned back to answer him and noticed the other's had also stopped not too far away.
"You guys go on ahead. I've got to get something." I said and threw the scroll to him. He caught it in his arms without effort and had a questioning look upon his face, as did the others.
"Don't worry about it. Ah, maybe you guys should go ahead and grab Mizore and Fubuki." I said and waited until they nodded to turn and run down the hill.
I approached the necklace and noticed how its many facets refracted the light shining down upon it. It beautifully created its own array of dazzling light spectrums. I stopped a few feet before it and just took a moment to admire my surroundings. It simply never ceased to amaze me, how wonderfully similar yet strikingly different my two worlds could be.
I took in a deep breath as I looked up to the fluffy clouded blue sky. I turned my eyes onto the generator wall's as they continued to light up in seven different colors.
"This place is really amazing!" Inner stated in awe and I nodded agreeing wholeheartedly. I looked back down to the necklace and finished walking the last few steps.
"You know what I just noticed?" I spoke up absent-mindedly.
"What?" Inner asked with a tilt of her head. I chuckled and gently grasped onto the purple crystal.
"We just completed a successful mission, without going into some sort of devastating situation ourselves." I said and pulled the key out.
"Well, maybe you didn't, but I did! It freaken hurt trying to open those cell doors!" Inner ranted. I chuckled and looked up for the last time.
I froze in place and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing correctly. What looked like the huge holographic image of Koyuki's father stood...or floated up above me. He looked down in my general direction, and had this very kind and gentle smile upon his face. It was a very tender image of a loving father and benevolent Daimyō.
"Whoa...Hey! Don't drop the crystal!" Inner shouted and I quickly looked down and grasped the necklace before it could slip between my fingers.
"Phew, that was close." I said and pocketed the necklace. I looked back up and my automatic apologetic smile was in place only to realize that he could not see. I was starting to doubt that thought as he seemed to chuckle with a knowing look. I narrowed my eyes and wondered if he was even a hologram.
"Thank you." Was the last thing I heard before he vanished. His image blurring and drifted along with the wind.
"You don't think...that was a, ghost?!...Do you?" Inner asked as she looked around, looking very paranoid. I smiled at her silly worries and looked around at the legendary 'Rainbow Glaciers' for the last time.
"Who knows." I said with a close of my eyes. As long as it wasn't a vengeful ghost, there wasn't really anything to worry about. I chuckled and opened my eyes.
"I mean you exist. Surely ghost can too." I said and heard her predictable rebuttal of the subject not being remotely similar. She was in denial.
~*oOo*~
When I finally arrived to the location in which all the had others gathered at, I found them near the train track. As I moved further from the generator, I noticed that it had done its job, however it was yet to be perfected. Some places further away were still covered in ice, but if they studied what they have now, they'll get far for sure.
"Come on! Move it! We have to get the Princess to her people!" The director exclaimed as he ordered his staff around.
'He's still as energetic as when we met him.' I thought with a shake of my head.
"How long do you think we'll stay here?" Inner asked as I made my way to the car I shared with Koyuki.
'Surely not much longer. Hiruzen only gave us a week with Haruki; and I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke won't want to stay here much longer.' I said with a sigh at their predictability. Why couldn't they take things slowly and calmly?
I opened the door to our car and found Koyuki already sitting on the edge of her bed. Blinking my eyes a few time's, I cleared my throat softly and stepped inside. With a close of the door, I went to the chair I had previously taken up as my spot and sat on it.
The inside of the car was silent, and it was starting to get awkward. The outside however, was flaring with noises. The car's engine started up and the sound the tires made could be heard from inside. It would also get bumpy from the new road we were taking since the bridge was bombed.
"I want to thank you for all that you've done..." Koyuki spoke up quietly. My eyes widened at the sincerity in her voice.
"I also want to apologize...for my behavior and not taking your work and my situation seriously." She said with her head bowed. I cleared my throat and rubbed my arm nervously.
"Well it's about time!" Inner exclaimed as she crossed her arms and nodded her head in approval. I ignored her and focused on the expectant woman bowing in front of me.
"Um, it's okay. I was sure you would pull through." I said and watched as she sat up straight.
"But I-"
"It's fine. I wasn't the only one to believe that you would take up your rightful place." I said cutting her off and with her puzzled expression, I proceeded.
"Naruto for one, believed in you. So have I and the others. Sandayū and his companion's have believed in you since the event happened and there's one more. Someone who knew even before the event ever occurred." I said.
"Who?" She asked with interest. I smiled and shook my head as I reached inside my pocket.
"Your father." I said and lifted up the necklace for her to take. Her gaze flickered from me and then over to the crystal at eye-level with her. The light that filtered through the window behind her hit the crystal and refracted light upon her.
"I see now...Thank you." She said and gently grasped a hold of the necklace. She clutched it close to her chest. Her hair covered her face from my view but I knew she was crying by the soft sounds of droplets hitting her lap.
"Is she going to be alright ruling this place?" Inner asked.
'She'll be fine. She has Sandayū and the others after all.' I replied and leaned back on my chair. I looked at her as she curled into herself to find solace with her dead father and upcoming responsibilities. It'll take time and effort, but she'll recover and we won't have to worry about Yukigakure's recovery with her around.
~*oOo*~
"Koyuki-san, I'll go check out what's going on." I said as the car stopped moving. Everyones chakra signature bunched together further away near the first car.
"Okay, and you can just call me Koyuki. You've done more than enough to stop being formal." She said.
"You will soon be Daimyō soon. You should get used to formality." I said and saw her shake her head and look at me with a smile.
"Even so, you are still my friend." She said and I smiled back to her with a nod.
"Alright then Koyuki, I'll be right back." I said with a wave. She was seriously starting to change, and I could see her desire for it.
After exiting the car, I noticed that more and more chakra signatures kept bunching up together.
"What are you guy's doing?" I asked and watched the sea of staff part ways and allow me to see what was the spectacle. In the center, I could see a car that had its tire stuck in a ditch alongside the road. Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku were seen grabbing ahold of the car while Sasuke looked on with annoyance.
"I don't think I need to explain." Sasuke muttered and I nodded. The car that was stuck had unfortunately been the biggest car that carried most of the props and equipment.
After a few more seconds of watching them fail at moving the car, I sighed and stepped up.
"Here. I'll do it." I said and pushed Zabuza out of the way. He grunted but moved aside for me to stand near it.
"Wait a minute! Should you really be letting a girl do that?! I know she's a ninja, but not even you three guys could move it!" The director's assistant stated nervously. I smiled over to him reassuringly as I jumped down in the ditch.
"Don't worry." I said and grabbed ahold of the bottom supporting frame of the car.
"Are you sure about this Kakashi-san?" The director asked.
"Ah, well you see, she's got a particular skill we can't use." Kakashi reassured and I shook my head. Of course they couldn't. Even with their good chakra control, to enhance one strength one must have perfect control over it. I had to practically surround my desired body part and insert the chakra within them to enforce and enhance one's capability. The whole process was a bit difficult to achieve, but after a few practices, it wasn't that hard with Inner's help. Once we got it down, we could use this skill separately. Though it was still nowhere near Tsunade's mountain crushing strength, I'm still glad I got the gist of how it works.
"Alright, I'll be moving it now, so watch out." I said and pushed up the undercarriage with ease. I moved it out of the ditch and stood up straight when I finished.
"Now, please make sure you don't get stuck again." I said with a smile. I couldn't hold in the chuckle that burst out from their surprised expressions. It shouldn't have been that surprising.
"Wow...You're stronger than you look." The assistant commented.
"Just another advantage over my enemies." I said and looked over to Koyuki's shocked expression.
"You took a while, so I came out to see." She explained. I nodded and got out of the ditch to walk over to her.
"Everything's good now right? Come on Koyuki, let's go back to the car." I said with a mock salute over to Kakashi. I was trying to internally calm Inner who was laughing up a storm. She seemed to have enjoyed the flabbergasted looks that we received. It had been funny, but what I found even more hilarious were the looks on our teammates faces. They had knowing, irritated looks and I could only assumed that my performance had hurt their man pride. The thought simply worked to fuel Inner's laughter even more.
~*oOo*~
Arriving had been more of a warm welcome than I had anticipated. Koyuki was received with open arms and belief that she would bring peace to Yukigakure.
Naruto and Sasuke were immediately taken to the hospital. Unlike Konoha, it wasn't very advanced in Medical Ninjutsu. Naruto wouldn't be a problem since he had the Kyubi. Sasuke, however had it worse. The doctors did a great job on his cracked rib since it wasn't broken. His arm, however would have to heal on its own until we got professional Medical Ninjutsu assistance.
The ceremony for Koyuki's induction as Daimyo was done almost immediately. It took her all day to get that settled, but had been fairly interesting to watch. She was after all royalty, so the ceremony was done grandly.
It was decided that we would all stay for the night in a hotel, and leave tomorrow after the her welcome party. Everything was being prepared, even Dotō and his rogue ninja's had been taken care of. Sandayū had also helped us with the men that had attacked him and his group. I was unaware but was quickly filled in and glad that they were okay. The day had been busy, but we managed to accomplish a lot.
The night had quickly passed, since all of us were dead tired. Waking up to a cheerful crowd wasn't as irritating as I thought, considering we only got some few hours of sleep. The ceremony had carried itself well into the night and Koyuki just wanted to visit Naruto.
Instead of Sasuke getting her autograph for Naruto, she initiated it herself. While someone took their picture, I took some of my own. I was sure some had come out a little bit more...presentable than the last. She quickly signed it after it was developed and set it by his bed.
A very good feeling blossomed in me when I heard the crowed cheer for Koyuki. It was a nice feeling and strengthened my thoughts of her future achievements.
After she presented herself in front of the crowd, a buffet reception was held. Their was color everywhere in the decorations, and food in abundance. The movie staff where all present and the guest were all mostly well dressed, besides us. We simply wore our normal ninja outfit's since the weather was looking better and we were soon to leave.
I turned my attention away from Inner, who kept on insisting we eat more, and focused on the conversation. We had already eaten our fill and the tea I was currently drinking was more than enough.
"So, now that you're the Daimyo, you won't be making any more movies will you?" Naruto asked. Koyuki raised an eyebrow and brushed off his concern.
"Ruling over the Land of Snow and acting, I think I can handle both." She said confidently with a smile. I nodded and took a sip of my tea. The new color splash of green near her attire, that was anything but green, made me do a double-take. I coughed out in shock as I pointed to her, not realizing that Kakashi was copying my actions almost perfectly.
"Sakura-chan?! Are you okay?!" Naruto asked and started patting my back in an attempt to stop me from chocking on my tea. Koyuki laughed with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes before running off.
"T-That script!...She's perfect for it!" Kakashi mumbled which only Zabuza and Haku chuckled to. Sasuke merely stood in all his normal grumpiness while Naruto didn't seem to understand what was going on. I shook my head and ran after her, but not before I gave Kakashi a good punch to the arm for his comment. I didn't add any chakra, but figured by the wince I heard and a grunt from Zabuza who he had rammed into, it had done the deed perfectly.
"Koyuki wait! You should really think about not doing this next job!" I called out after her. Ignoring the prickling feeling of eyes on my back. This was far more serious. Koyuki should definitely rethink about accepting a role in one of Jiraiya's stupid Icha Icha books!
Okay guys hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry it wasn't posted on Sunday for all of you who worried. Something came up in the last minute and had me occupied.
Anyways, here comes the sad news. School is starting in a few weeks and I must have everything prepared by next week. It's such a pain! I wanted to say that I will not by any means abandon this story! The updates will just be slow. I will post the dates of when I will update on my profile, since I can quickly type it up there to let you know. I sincerely apologize for your future wait, especially when I have exciting things coming up *cough* *cough* You didn't read that. Okay, maybe you did, but it's to keep you on your feet for the upcoming chapters.
Here's some hints for what to expect.
~Heritage
~Sudden Reunion
~Unexpected Betrayal
~The Start Of A Journey
Yes, I did just give you the titles of the upcoming chapters. I'm so evil I know, however be angry with school and life. If it were me, I would type a chapter a day, but that's not gonna happen any time soon or ever. If I had to guess and don't get too hopeful, I might have a chapter up in two-three weeks. Depends on my new schedule; but hey, it might not be so bad, and updates may not change so much.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy and review! Even though I will be busy, I will always have enough time to read your reviews and . and keep them in consideration.
