Authors Notes: Well, I am happy to see a few who got the reference I was implying.
For those wondering, or missed it; the reference was a simple line used in The Princess Bride movie. That line being, "As you wish.", in which Naruto tells Koyuki when she wanted to take the long way back to the convoy.
So, as a quick recap of the previous chapter.
Koyuki had a dream/flashback of her father and her dreams of the future. Essentially the same dream she had in the movie, just all at once to give a more complete picture. Then she woke up, and found herself naked with Naruto, much to her embarrassment. Once they got under way to return to the convoy, Koyuki asked Naruto to be in the movie, which we all saw that coming.
On that note, I will openly admit and give credit to VFSNAKE for the idea of Naruto starring in the film with Koyuki, due to their story 'The Heir to the Title of Big Boss' (Chapter 4 if you're wondering). A very good Naruto/Metal Gear Solid cross over, so feel free to give it a read.
Moving on, we saw a bit of planning on Kakashi's part to try and push the Uchiha towards the princess in an attempt to try and divert his favorite student away from the path of revenge. Of course this won't work, as our lovely young princess already has her heart set on our favorite blonde hanyou. Poor Sasuke, well, not really.
And lastly, poor Jiraiya learned that his movie got canceled. As well as our perverted sannin tipping his hand that he had mismanaged some of Konoha's resources for his own perverted gain. Wait until he sees his own godson in a love scene with the princess.
Review Corner
CrimsonStarBlade – Sadly, I plan on both Kakashi and Sasuke to be completely absent while Naruto films his parts for the movie. Hence his request to the Hokage for the 2 week extension for him and Sakura.
Biob1 – You are correct, and Sasuke is losing his support among the Civilian Council. The only ones currently supporting him are a handful of the Civilian Council, and the Elder Council in a misguided attempt that the last 'Loyal' Uchiha will return the favor, at least between two of them. Danzo is being Danzo and is plotting to manipulate the boy for his own agenda.
No surprise that the old War Hawk knows that the Sharingan can influence the tailed beasts, and he plans to use that to his advantage when Sasuke's eyes mature enough. Too bad our resident Emo King will abandon the village before that.
Neo-Shepard – Exactly, love that movie!
3headed-dragon – Next up is the completion of the Land of Snow arc and some Koyuki and Naruto fluff. Soo, any chance to see an update for Yami's Favorite Ghoul in the near future? Really wanting to see some flesh munching soon. Though in all seriousness, take your time. You do good stuff!
Insanemaelstorm – Yeah, Koyuki is not in the mood for any of Kakashi or Sasuke's shenanigans, and this chapter we will see Koyuki's affections towards our favorite blonde culminate into the start of their official relationship, so enjoy!
Harem
In a relationship - Anko*, Ayame*, Fem!Haku*, Fem!Kyuubi*, Hana*, Hanabi, Hinata*, Mei, Sakura*, Tsunami*, Yugao*
Has yet to court - Ameyuri, Fem!Hidan, Fem!Jashin, Fu, Fuka, Hokuto, Ino, Izumi, Karin, Karui, Kin, Konan, Koyuki, Kurenai, Kurotsuchi, Kushina, Mikoto, Natsuhi, Pakura, Rin, Ryuzetsu, Samui, Shion, Shizuka Shizune, Tayuya, Tenten, Temari, Tsume, Tsunade, Yakumo, and Yugito
Those with * next to their names have been marked and completely mated with Naruto.
Alright, enough rambling. On with the show!
Darkness Falls
Chapter 25
It had been nearly two days since Naruto and Koyuki had rejoined the convoy, and it had gone about as well as the blonde hanyou had expected. Throughout the day, Sakura would watch over and converse with the princess, telling her further embarrassing stories about Naruto, much to the blondes dismay. Kakashi continued to assign Naruto to other sections, away from the princess and had at least one more time, attempted to assign Sasuke to her. Which had backfired spectacularly in the masked perverts face when the princess had erupted in another tangent and had not so kindly reminded the man that the brooding emo had nearly killed her with his egotistical rant not too long ago, and that it was only due to Naruto that she had survived. Something the masked jonin did not like being reminded of.
Aside from that, the blonde had continued to plan for the inevitable ambush. Though he could see that both Kakashi and Sasuke were not taking his warning seriously, prompting him and Sakura to plan to pick up the slack so that none had to pay the price for the duos blind ignorance. During his planning, Naruto had also discovered that while Koyuki and himself were in the cave, Asama had sent a scout ahead of the convoy through the snow to gather the rebels from the village, in hopes of creating a counter ambush, having taken Naruto's warning seriously. With the life of the princess at stake, the elder man did not want to take any chances. Though while the man had meant well, that had left Naruto with another problem. How to protect the rebels as well?
Naturally, he knew Kakashi would refuse to aid the rebels, citing some bullshit that it was not within their mission parameters, and technically he would be correct. However, Naruto would not allow others to suffer if he could do something about it. It was only a matter of determining how the ambush would happen. Imagining a multitude of scenarios that could happen. Everything from the snow shinobi attempting to overwhelm them with sheer numbers, triggering another avalanche to bury the convoy in the snow, or use of technological superiority; judging by the armor that the three snow shinobi had worn during their first engagement.
But, he had settled on one plan that should cover all angles. He just hoped it would work.
"It's about to happen any moment now, isn't it?" Sakura asked, as she came up beside the blonde who was staring out through the window at the snowy mountainside, snapping the teen out of his thoughts.
"Yeah. Be ready for anything, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied before turning to face her, a true look of concern in his eyes. "And above all, be careful."
"I will, Naruto-kun." She replied as she leaned into the blonde and laid her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes as she fell into her mates comforting presence.
From the corner of the cabin they were in, Koyuki could only mentally sigh to herself as she peered over the script she was pretending to read, as the couple consoled one another before the upcoming ambush. Like her producer, the young princess and also taken the blonde hanyou's warning seriously, and was intent to do her best to not be a burden. As she watched the couple, she couldn't help but think back to how it felt to be wrapped in the blondes embrace while they were in the sleeping bag, a small blush creeping across her face, which deepened even further as she recalled the lack of clothing neither of them had.
"Koyuki-hime!" The director of the film shouted as he swung open the door of the trailer they were in, allowing a burst of cold air to invade the warm interior. "We need to find a male lead for the film!"
The young princess could only sigh as she knew this was going to be brought up eventually, since she had not notified any of them that she had requested Naruto to take the role. Though before she could respond to the director to reassure him that she had already secured a male lead, the masked jonin stood up and places his hands on Sasuke's shoulders in a manner to present the arrogant Uchiha as a candidate for the role.
"I am sure Sasuke here could handle it no problem." Kakashi gave his trademark eye smile to the director.
The director was silent as he looked the raven haired boy up and down, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Can he act?" The man finally inquired, still unsure of the young teen being presented to him to be considered for the part.
"I am sure he can pull it off." The masked jonin responded, giving another eye smile. "With it being an Icha Icha film, I don't think too much will be required."
At this, Koyuki couldn't help herself but to giggle at the silver haired mans statement. At first, Kakashi thought that she was giggling because she was considering the idea of having Sasuke star in the film with her, however that quickly changed when he saw her narrow her eyes at him.
"I'm afraid you are behind in current events, Hatake-san." Koyuki responded with a clipped tone, though still flash a malicious and almost gleeful grin as she continued. "That trash got canceled before we even left port."
Despite himself, the masked jonin couldn't help but flinch as the princess called the smut he loved so much, trash. Mentally, he imagined himself rubbing the favored orange book as if he were consoling it from the hurtful things the young actress had said about it. Even more so, the perverted man felt absolutely crushed that the Icha Icha movie had been canceled.
"And don't worry, I've already talked with someone I trust to take up the male lead for the film." She continued, turning her attention towards the director. "However, he will not begin filming until all this is sorted out."
"What do you mean, sorted out?" The director asked. "And who did you get to come play the male lead?"
"It is clear that we will not be able to film while my uncle is sending shinobi forces to kidnap me, and no doubt, to kill anyone who is with me." Koyuki stated. "So until my uncle is no longer a threat, all filming is to be put on hold."
"Koyuki-hime, does that mean…" Asama approached her, hopeful.
"I will be taking my throne back from my uncle, and free these people from his oppressive rule." She replied to the unasked question, earning a nod of approval from both Naruto and Sakura. Meanwhile, the elder producer had tears running from his eyes at the princesses proclamation.
"I don't care who you have called in, there is no way he is better then me, a Uchiha Elite." Sasuke stated as he moved towards the princess, causing her to scowl, whilst Naruto and Sakura poised to react if need be. "You should be honored that I would even consider being in this film."
"Listen here Uchiha, and listen well." Koyuki narrowed her eyes at the arrogant raven haired emo. "You may flaunt your Uchiha arrogance within your village and get your own way, but you are in Yuki no Kuni, and your name is worthless in these lands. Further more, I feel absolutely disgusted to have you within my presence. It is only because of Naruto-kun and Sakura-san that I even tolerate your foul stench."
Kakashi, Asama, and the director could only stand there and gape at the princesses words, while the Uchiha seethed in anger that the young woman had dared to talk down to him as if he were below her, like some lowly peasant.
"Now you listen here, bitch!" Sasuke exclaimed as he moved towards her in an aggressive manner, intent on putting the princess in her place beneath him.
However, before he made it half way, Naruto had flashed between them. Holding his Dark Blade in a reverse grip position, with the point aimed directly at the Uchiha's throat. Shocking both Sasuke and Kakashi, as neither had seen Naruto move. Just behind him, Sakura was beside Koyuki, gently pulling her back out of harms way, in case the arrogant duck ass attempted something.
"I believe that is quite enough." The blonde stated in an even tone, his piercing blue eyes staring directly into the Uchiha's, causing the raven haired boy to flinch slightly at the coldness of Naruto's voice.
"Naruto…" Kakashi began, only to be interrupted.
"Hatake-san, I strongly suggest you put this arrogant fool on a tighter leash." Koyuki stated, with a cold edge to her voice from behind the two hanyous. "Lest he finds his head on the gallows once I claim my throne."
The masked jonin gulped at this and silently nodded before he placed a firm hand on the Uchiha's shoulder to pull him back. Once the raven haired emo was a satisfactory distance away, Naruto canceled his blade. Though kept an eye on the two Sharingan users, in case the Uchiha attempted something else.
"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto spoke up, catching the masked jonin's attention as the blonde hardly ever called him by his name unless it was absolutely serious. "Perhaps you should take Sasuke-teme outside for a bit to cool down. It won't do us any good if he is set on attacking our own client."
As much as the silver haired jonin had wanted to chastise the blonde for essentially taking over, he knew Naruto was right. Sasuke was already treading in dangerous waters with his latest actions, and the masked pervert was sure that his favored student was going to have to face some sort of punishment when this was all over. Either from the Hokage or from Koyuki herself. The latter having already threatened execution, in which the council in Konoha would have no jurisdiction over to get their beloved Uchiha out of it.
"Come on, Sasuke." Kakashi stated, leading the raven haired teen out of the cabin. Leaving those remaining to breath a sigh of relief.
"Are the rebels in position, Asama-san?" Naruto turned to the elder producer.
"They should be by the time we reach the pass you suspect the ambush to happen." The man replied. "But why have them so far away? They are eager to fight for Koyuki-hime."
"I know, which is why I've asked you to have them stay back." The blonde stated, earning a confused look for not only the elder man, but also Sakura.
"Naruto-kun, what are you planning?" The pinkette inquired with a small frown.
"Something that will save a lot of lives." He sighed.
Truth was, he wasn't sure if it was going to work, but it was a chance he was willing to take. Given that it had consumed nearly three quarters of his chakra reserves to initiate his plan to begin with. Still, the blonde hanyou had a feeling in his gut that Doto was going to attack them with something so brutal, it would crush the rebellion in a single stroke, and the best way to avoid that was to not have the rebels there at all. Hence why he had replaced their entire ranks with Shadow Clones he had sent ahead to henge as the rebels, with the actual rebel army hiding well behind the fake army.
"I expect to see the three we fought before to show up." Naruto continued. "When they do, I will square off against Fubuki, the pink haired one."
"What, my hair isn't pretty enough for you?" Sakura teased, causing the blonde to chuckle slightly.
"Don't be jealous Sakura-chan. You'll always be my cherry blossom." He teased back, earning a blush from his pink haired mate. "But in seriousness, I want to talk to her and ensure she is safe. Because one way or another, this ends today. Either they manage to wipe out the rebellion, or we take them out and go after Doto himself."
"Please, be careful." Koyuki said, concern laced in her voice. "Both of you."
"Don't worry." Naruto winked at her, causing her to blush. "We won't leave you alone with that arrogant duck ass."
This of course, caused both Sakura and Koyuki to laugh softly at the absent Uchiha's expense. Allowing a sense of levity to fall between the three.
Half an Hour Later
Silence passed between the occupants as they continued on their way towards the village that they were set to arrive in within the hour. Sasuke had opted to stay on the far end of the cabin, mostly due to Kakashi's insistence that the young Uchiha not cause further trouble for himself. Though that didn't stop the raven haired teen from casting angry glares towards the princess and Sakura. The two had noticed this, but had ignored the brooding emo, which only infuriated him further.
Meanwhile, Naruto had taken position on top of the truck to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Stretching out his sensing capabilities as far as they could go, picking up locations of the various wildlife in the immediate area, and of course, the awaiting forces of the Snow Shinobi just a bit further up the road way. Closing his eyes, he focused on the enemy forces. Aiming to get a more accurate reading for what they were about to encounter. Among the forces, he could feel the chakra of the three snow shinobi that had attacked them on the boat.
However, as he focused on the enemy forces, he noticed something that caused him to frown. While they were a considerate size, it was nowhere near as much as he had expected Doto to send. It was as if the tyrant had something else planned. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto began to speculate what the mad man's plan could be.
'Guess we will find out soon enough.' The blonde thought to himself as he jumped down to let the others know. 'Be ready for anything, Ahri-chan.'
'Right, Naruto-kun.' The kitsune girl nodded.
'Better let the others know of what's about to happen.' Naruto mentally commented as he pounded on the roof a few times with his foot, to give Sakura the signal to get ready.
Inside the cabin, the occupants all looked towards the source of the pounding before looking amongst one another. Nodding to one another, Sakura and Koyuki moved over to where Asama and the director was, earning a questioning look from the masked jonin.
"What's going on?" Kakashi inquired, looking up from his orange book.
"Naruto-kun is warning us of the upcoming ambush so we can get ready, and keep Koyuki-hime and the film crew safe." Sakura replied, earning a scoff from the brooding Uchiha.
"The dope is probably just faking it to make himself look better then he actually is." Sasuke commented dismissively.
"I highly doubt an ambush will happen." Kakashi mildly agreed with the Uchiha. "If anything, we will only see the three that attacked us previously."
This of course prompted both Koyuki and Sakura to roll their eyes, while Asama frowned at the masked jonin. The elder producer for one was glad that at least two of the Konoha shinobi he had hired were capable of doing the job. One of which that had even gone well above and beyond what was asked.
"If you do not trust Naruto-kun to relay accurate information about an impending attack, then why assign him to keep a look out if you will just ignore his warnings?" Koyuki countered, causing the masked jonin to sigh and relent to the princesses reasoning. However, Kakashi didn't get much time to dwell on it as the truck and the convoy came to a sudden halt.
"It's happening." Sakura stated as she looked to the film crew and princess to issue instructions. "Everyone outside, but stay near the trucks for cover."
"Sakura, wai…." Kakashi's words fell on deaf ears as everyone aside from himself and Sasuke had exited the truck, prompting the masked jonin to sigh as he jumped out as well with the Uchiha behind him, becoming a little frustrated that both Sakura and Naruto had essentially taken over this mission.
Once outside, he was greeted with the sounds of a massive battle as shouts and screams echoed from just beyond a large snow bank that now blocked the path of the trucks. Three familiar forms standing atop them, sneering down at the Konoha shinobi.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it. Hatake." Nadare greeted sarcastically, earning a chuckle from both of his team mates.
Knowing what was about to happen, Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan eye, and braced himself for the inevitable attack from the three snow shinobi. Meanwhile, Naruto jumped down from the roof of the truck he was standing on, causing the larger of the snow shinobi to flinch slightly at the sight of the blonde, causing the hanyou to chuckle to himself.
"Heya big guy." Naruto stated with a sadistic grin, zeroing in on Mizore. "How's the ribs?"
Once more, the large snow shinobi flinched slightly, unconsciously bring a hand up to cover his barely healed ribs that had been cracked from the mans earlier encounter with the blonde.
"Alright, pleasantries are out of the way." Fubuki commented as she crouched down, ready to leap into action. "Let's take care of these assholes and bring the princess back to Doto-sama."
"Fine fine." The lilac haired shinobi shrugged. "Mizore you take…."
"I got the pink haired bitch." The larger shinobi stated. He absolutely refused to fight Naruto once more.
"Pfft, whatever." Fubuki shrugged. "I'll take the handsome one."
"Flattering, but you're not my type." Sasuke retorted as he readied himself with a kunai.
"I was talking about the blonde one, you duck ass emo." The pink haired snow shinobi scoffed. Though she didn't miss the blonde in question as well as his pink haired team mate chuckling to themselves at the Uchiha's expense.
"What ever, just kill them!" The lilac haired man ordered as he moved to engage Kakashi.
"You will not take Koyuki-hime!" Asama exclaimed as he came running up to the group, dressed in a traditional Samurai armor, signifying the elder mans former position of the royal guard for the princesses father, and by extension, the princess herself. Stopping atop a hilltop not to far from where Team 7 and the Princess were.
Behind him were a large contingent of rebel troops, all equipped with various make shift armors and weapons. Very few actually held any thing that could truly be considered as armor, or weapons as most of them were just leather hides with fur and various farming tools to use at weapons. However, there was determination in their eyes, telling those before them that they would not yield, even if it cost them their last breath.
"Aww look, the farmers wanna play soldier." Mizore scoffed at the rag tag group.
"Good." Nadare stated with a malicious grin. "We can crush these pathetic ants in one swift stroke. READY THE KUNAI LAUNCHERS!"
All the Konoha shinobi, including Naruto's eyes widened at the lilac man's last orders. None of them liking the sound of what a kunai launcher could be. Immediately on the mountain side, multiple snow piles exploded, exposing small groups of snow shinobi standing behind what appeared to be a weird canon of some kind.
"FIRE!" The lilac haired man shouted.
'Shit!' Naruto mentally cursed as he quickly ran towards the princess and tackled her down to get her out of harms why. Ensuring that his own body shielded her from any potential threat from the launchers. Grunting slightly as a few stray ones struck him in the back.
Without hesitation, Sakura went through a series of hand seals to summon a large enough earth wall to protect the film crew and the director from the volley of kunai that now rained down upon them. While Kakashi did the same to protect Sasuke from the onslaught.
The rebels however had no such fortune as the kunai tore through their ranks. Eliciting screams of terror and pain from the ragtag rebellion forces. Even the elder mans armor proved useless against the onslaught of blades that tore into his chest and stomach, with one even wedging itself into the mans knee, causing him to crumble down to one knee. Using his sword to keep him steady as he stared up at the snow shinobi.
"You… will not… win." He rasped out, before collapsing onto his back as the hail of kunai ceased as the launchers ran out of ammo.
"I think we already have." Nadare laughed as the Konoha shinobi began to emerge from where they were hiding.
As they did, a snowy field of bodies greeted them of what was once the rebel army that retaliated against Doto and his rule. Kakashi silently lowered his head in mourning for the fallen before turning his attention back to the lilac haired man that had ordered the massacre that would be forever etched into his memory due to his Sharingan being active at the time of the massacre. For his part, Sasuke remained quiet, completely apathetic to the fallen rebellion.
On the other hand, Koyuki let out a sharp gasp, bringing her hands up to her mouth to cover a silent scream that threatened to erupt from her throat. Tears forming in her eyes. What made it even worse for her, was knowing that they had all laid down their lives for her. Turning to the blonde in front of her, her eyes widened as she saw four kunai embedded into the blondes back.
"Don't worry Koyuki-hime." He smiled to her before channeling some of his chakra to his back to force the embedded weapons out, allowing them to drop harmlessly to the snow beneath him.
By this time, Sakura had also emerged from the earth dome she had made for the film crew. Closing it behind her to ensure the crew would remain safe until the battle had subsided. Seeing the snow strewn with bodies, she couldn't help but to feel a swell of sorrow for the fallen, turning her attention to the three snow shinobi that still stood atop the snow pile, blocking the path. Her eyes narrowing at the two males of the group.
"Well, that takes care of the trash." Mizore commented, earning a scowl from the two hanyous, and the princess.
"Let's wrap this up." Nadare instructed. "Kill them!"
Immediately the three snow shinobi launched themselves at their chosen opponents. With Fubuki making a dash towards Naruto whom merely smirked and jumped away. Leading the pink haired snow shinobi away from the group.
Meanwhile, Mizore launched himself towards Sakura. Intending on smashing her into the ground as he rose his large hands and brought them down viciously into the snow, creating a cloud of snow and dirt to obstruct his vision momentarily, while Sakura leaped away.
"Stay still, so I can crush you!" The large man exclaimed, trying to find the pinkette in the flurry of snow.
'Yeah sure, let me get right on that.' The pinkette though sarcastically to herself, earning a small chuckle from her inner self.
"You shouldn't waste your time a weakling like her, when you can face an elite like me." Sasuke stated cockily as he landed off to the side of the larger snow shinobi.
'Idiot.' Inner Sakura commented. 'He could have used the distraction to take him out.'
'What do you expect, Taida-sensei has constantly praised him for such actions.' Sakura mentally rolled her eyes.
'We should hang back and see how he does.' Inner giggled, imagining the arrogant Uchiha getting laid out on the ground.
'Agreed, but keep on guard just in case either of them try something.'
In agreement with her inner self, Sakura bounded a fair distance away from the two males as Sasuke charged at the larger man with his kunai. Aiming to disable the snow shinobi as quickly as possible, only for the weapon to deflect harmlessly off the large mans chakra armor.
"What the…." The raven haired Uchiha wasn't able to finish as the Mizore took a swipe at him with his iron gauntlet, forcing the Uchiha to leap back to avoid being struck. Though before Sasuke could counter attack, Mizore had launched the same iron gauntlet into the raven haired teens direction, leaving Sasuke vulnerable in mid air to the attack.
From a distance, Sakura watched as the Uchiha evaded the initial strike from the larger shinobi. Then as Mizore had fired off his gauntlet towards his intended target whom had yet to land before she felt a familiar pull in her gut, causing her to narrow her eyes as she once again found herself in the path of the attack, while the arrogant teen was in her spot. Smirking slightly, she quickly turned the tables and switched herself out with him, allowing Sasuke to take the full brunt of the attack in the chest. Knocking him out cold.
"Not this time, asshole." Sakura stated as she looked down at the unconcious emo, half tempting to spit on him for attempting the same cowardice act he pulled on her in Nami no Kuni.
"Ha!" Mizore laughed. "You got spite, I like that in a woman."
"Not interested, I already have a mate." The pinkette scoffed as she crouched down into a defensive posture.
"You won't have a say in the matter." He grinned. "I'll even let that blonde brat watch as I make you scream. And once I am bored of all of your holes, I will kill him and sell you to a brothel."
Hearing this, Sakura narrowed her eyes as she felt her hanyou blood boil. Screaming out for the arrogant snow shinobi's blood. Slowly, her canines began to extend slightly as her pupils turned to slits. Her fingernails extending into inch and a half long claws. Her raging boiling over, the infuriated hanyou launched herself towards the larger shinobi, whom was caught of guard by her sudden aggressiveness and viciousness. Even more so, when he had launched his gauntlet like weapon towards her, only for her to catch it and crush it within her bare hands.
"What the hell!?" Mizore exclaimed as the pinkette barreled upon him.
Once within melee range, Sakura wasted no time to rain down a flurry of punches onto her opponent, Each strike echoing through the mountain sides, as the mans chakra armor took more and more damage, buckling under the sheer amount of abuse it was sustaining. It was then, that Mizore noticed the pinkette's face, and how demonic it looked, so full of fury.
Vainly, the large man tried to cover himself but to no avail as the inhuman strength broke through any defense he feebly attempted to put up. With one last push, Sakura jumped up and performed a spinning back kick directly into the mans chest, cracking the circle like design the chakra armor had, while sending Mizore a good distance away.
As the large man went sailing back, his chakra armor began to spark and crackle as the overload of energy began to build up in the chest area, causing Mizore to panic and try to rip his armor off in mid flight, though it wasn't to be as the power surge that built up exploded, sending bits of the large man all over the mountain side, and snow covered ground. Effectively knocking the pink haired hanyou out of her blood lust.
'He's dead.' Sakura thought numbly while in shock. Though also a bit disappointed that she wasn't the one to kill him, and that it was due to the damage his armor took. Frowning a bit, she looked around to see Sasuke just now starting to regain consciousness. Frowning slightly, she let out a sigh, knowing she was about to get an earful for returning the favor to the arrogant emo. Still, it felt good to give the Uchiha a taste of his own medicine.
'Better go check on Koyuki-hime.' The pinkette thought to herself as she quickly bound over to where the princess was. However, she was broken out of her thoughts as a scream echoed off the mountain sides, which alarmed the pink haired hanyou. Prompting her to dash as fast as she could to where the convoy was. Arriving just in time to see Koyuki being pulled into what appeared to be a ship in the sky, a rope wrapped around the princesses waist.
"Naruto-kun! Sakura-san!" Koyuki screamed out before she disappeared into the vessel.
"Damn it!" Sakura cursed to herself.
With Naruto
The blonde hanyou leapt through the tree branches, weakly throwing his shadow kunai at the pink haired ice user as she continued to pursue him deeper and deeper into the forest until they were well away from everyone else, which slightly concerned her. She knew what the blonde was mildly capable of, due to the injuries Mizore had sustained after their initial attempt to kidnap the princess, and she was not looking forward to feeling that happen to her.
Without warning, Naruto stopped and turned to face her, causing her to panic and deploy her wings from her pack to slow her down. She would have turned tail there, and flew away if the blonde hadn't spoke up.
"I think we are far enough away from the eyes and ears of everyone else." Naruto smiled as he leaned up against the tree. "Right, Fubuki-san?"
"What do you mean?" She tentatively asked as she landed on a tree branch across from the blonde.
"Well for one, Koyuki-hime would be upset if I hurt her best friend." The blonde shrugged, causing the pinkette's eyes to widen in shock that hew know of her friendship with the lost princess. "And don't worry, only myself and Sakura-chan know that you are a spy for the rebels. Aside from Sandayu-san of course."
"For what good it did, I couldn't warn them about the ambush." The pink haired girl frowned. "Now their all dead, including Sandayu-sama."
"Nope." The blonde grinned, catching Fubuki's attention.
"What do you mean, no!?" She demanded. "I just saw them get massacred!"
"No you didn't." Naruto retorted, his grin never leaving his face. "You saw my Shadow Clones get massacred that were henged as Asama-san and the rebels."
Fubuki could only stare at the blonde in silence in complete shock.
"You see, I theorized countless scenarios of how this ambush would play out." The blonde began, squatting down to get more comfortable. "As I know this place would be the best opening for an ambush, judging by the map. So I planned around it. I also counted on that bastard Doto to want to wipe out the rebellion, though I didn't expect him to employ such weapons."
"But if they were just clones, why didn't they disperse when struck?" She questioned in confusion.
"Chakra reinforced, thanks to a very special girl in my life." He cryptically replied, earning a dumbfounded look from the pinkette. "I'll explain later."
"So what's your plan?" Fubuki asked. "Go and kill Doto or something?"
"That's exactly my plan." The blonde grinned. "And we'll free your parents as well."
However, instead of happiness from the pinkette, he only saw sorrow.
"Are they…." He didn't finish, as he saw the tears leak out of her eyes.
"I-I had to kill them a month ago." She sniffled, curling her knees up into her chest as she leaned against the tree. "Doto was becoming suspicious of me, so to test my loyalty to him, he had me kill my own parents."
With a quick movement, Naruto was on the same branch as Fubuki and brought her into a comforting hug to try and calm her down. Rubbing her back as he did so while she cried into his chest.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"It's not your fault." She sniffled. "My parents were prepared for something like this. They said they would proudly die if it meant that I remained safe."
"I promise you this, Doto will pay for all that he has done." The Uzumaki vowed, now having a new reason to send the vile mans soul to Jashin. "For now, we need to get back to the others. So, please forgive me."
Before Fubuki could question what the blonde was talking about, she felt a chop to the back of her neck before her world went black.
It didn't take long for Naruto to return to the convoy, only to see a distraught Sakura, and an upset Sasuke who was glaring at the pinkette the entire time. Meanwhile, Kakashi was leaning against the side of the truck, reading his orange smut.
"What did I miss?" Naruto inquired, though looking around, he noticed Koyuki was missing. 'That must be why Sakura-chan is upset.'
"Doto has Koyuki-hime." Sakura answered flatly, causing the blonde to frown slightly. He could tell that his pink haired mate was beating herself up over Koyuki being taken.
"Whose that?" Kakashi asked, referring to the pinkette in the blondes arms.
"Fubuki." Naruto simply answered before making his way over to where Sakura stood. "Put her in Koyuki's bed. I'm going to go get Koyuki-hime back."
Nodding, Sakura took the snow shinobi and entered the trailer, ignoring the glare the Uchiha was sending her way.
"We should interrogate her to find where Doto is." The masked jonin suggested as he moved to follow Sakura into the truck.
"No." The blonde stated. "Under International Shinobi Law, she is my prisoner since I am the one who defeated her, therefore she is under my care. Speaking of which, what happened to the other two Snow shinobi?"
"Nadare escaped, and the other one was killed when his armor malfunctioned." Asama stated as he came out of his hiding spot, much to the surprise of Kakashi whom quickly looked over to see the prone body of him laying on top of the snow mound he was killed on. "Your plan worked like a charm, Naruto-san. The entire rebellion is in your debt."
"Wha… how?" Was all Kakashi could stammer out, earning a grin from the blonde.
"Ain't Shadow Clones the most useful technique, especially when you can make a small army of them?"
To prove his point, the bodies of the rebels began to dispel in small sections. Causing the blonde to slightly wince as he experienced how some of them died. Shaking the feeling off, he turned and began to walk towards the tree line.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"To get Koyuki-hime back." The blonde simply answered.
"We need to wait and find out where she is being held before we rush in." The masked jonin argued as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hexagonal crystal on a necklace that had been on the princesses neck, before he switched it with the fake she was now wearing. "Besides, I have what Doto is really after."
This caused Naruto to pause and look over his shoulder back at his supposed sensei.
"Congratulations Taida-sensei." The blonde commented. "You just further endangered Koyuki-hime, without that necklace, Doto has no reason to keep her alive. Good job."
Without waiting for a response, the blonde hanyou took off with renewed speed and disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Additional Authors Notes: Well, I am going to say this.
The battles gave me a really hard time, so I know this is something I need to improve upon in future chapters. So, I shall aim to improve in writing out larger battles. Though I am content with how this one turned out. I was kind of tempted to have Sakura have her first kill in this chapter, but I felt it would have made Naruto look like a dick towards his mate if he took off so quickly afterwards to rescue Koyuki.
So I settled for a compromise. Mizore died due to Sakura's actions, due to the abuse his chakra armor took. However, she didn't get any blood on her hands, thus cheating her out of her actual first kill. So, she gets to have her first kill shortly after she and Naruto returns to the village. Which should be amusing, since I have already hinted at her going into a blood lust a few times.
Also, Sakura got a bit of payback against Sasuke when he attempted to switch places with her to save himself. Perfect justice.
Anyways, hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter and as always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the reviews, or hit me up with a private message.
