The land of snow will be different in my story, it won't have the bs heat generators from the movie since even in Naruto that made no sense. It will just be a place with a royal family and a tiny clan that protects them.

27

Well, Yuzuki was in the artic. That was the best way to describe the land of snow, even as a bitter wind ripped through the area she was in. The boat that dropped her off on the iced land was hurrying back to the mainland, they wouldn't be back for her until it was time for her to go. She brought a hand up and tucked her hair behind her ear. The mission was to keep an eye on the royal family and step in if the current ruler was under attack.

The woman was an actress and had won back her country through force, and the help of a blonde shinobi from Konoha. She sighed at that; she was getting a mission that Naruto himself had once helped on. Well, at least the woman might trust her due to the previous affiliation. It was her best bet in the lifeless world full of ice and snow.

"We should hurry and find the village before it gets dark," Yuzuki informed Kaede before she looked up at the sky, "Well, darker."

The two set off, the freezing air making her skin sting as they quickly traveled across the snow. She was using chakra to run atop of it. Kaede was just plowing through it, her lighter coat was working to camouflage her. The village was further than she predicted and when the wind began to pick up to be even colder than it had been, she started to look for a place to make camp for the night. A small alcove in the side of a high glacier became a place for her to stay to get out of the cold.

"It's strange, the more I'm out in the cold the warmer I get," Yuzuki informed the Ookami as she huddled against the large two tailed wolf for warmth, "That's a dangerous sign, but using chakra to heat up my body through the night would be too dangerous."

A sniff was her answer followed by some low barks.

"Thanks Kaede, I'll be sure not to die on you," Yuzuki huffed in amusement, "I think that when we get back to Konoha I'll apologize to Dad…I miss him."

Kaede gave the girl a look of understanding as a face was buried in her fur. She curled up around the teen and used her chakra to warm up her body. She didn't want her Kunoichi to get sick or die on her. The night would be long and a test for the both of them.

"Huh, I suppose it truly is winter," Yuzuki muttered as the sparse light of morning hit their small hideaway, "Let's push through breakfast and make it to the village before night falls again."

Kaede gave a nod of agreement and they were off once again. It took them four hours to get to their destination. The village was small with a palace right in the center of it. It blended in with the snow around it in an attempt for a natural camouflage that worked. If she didn't know where to look she would've missed it. It was an astonishing work of architectural design, and she wondered if such things could be used to strengthen Konoha.

"Welcome to Yukigakure," A woman with dark hair greeted her and she stood at attention, "I am Kazahana Koyuki, the Daimyo of Yuki no Kuni."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kazahana-hime," Yuzuki bowed in respect.

"I wrote to your hokage because I know that Konoha has excellent shinobi," Koyuki explained, "I'm facing a troubling time right now, my Uncle still has some supporters within the walls of this village and I've been hearing rumors that they are planning another coup d'état."

"I will be acting as a body guard at all times," Yuzuki confirmed for the woman as she handed over a scroll she was told to give to the woman, "This is my Ookami partner, Kaede, she will also be working to make sure that no one attacks you while we are stationed here."

"It says here that you work within torture and interrogation," Koyuki said as she looked through the scroll, "You are here to just protect and not hunt them down?"

"I am at your disposal, while I would be good at hunting down the anarchist," Yuzuki said as she tried to think of the best way to put it, "I am also one of the best bodyguards for you."

"I wish for you to hunt down these anarchist as well as guard me, will you be able to do it?"

"Of course, hime."

"Good, for now you must dress the part of bodyguard to not alert my enemies for what you are here for."

Two hours later, Yuzuki stood beside the throne in a guard's uniform. The woman had allowed her costume designer to design all the uniforms within the village. She was stuck with frills in her sleeves and a hat that tied below the jaw. She looked like a weird Studio Ghibli character, and she hated every second of it. If it was a dress she could forgive it, she had a slight fondness to the Lolita style of dresses due to their different designs, but as it was she wanted to burn the damn hat on her head.

"You look so uncomfortable," Koyuki chuckled.

"I'm not a fan of the hat, hime-sama," Yuzuki quietly admitted as she fought the urge to scratch at an itch caused by said hat.

"Why'd you accept a mission so far away from your village?" Koyuki questioned.

"I messed up a relationship with my father figure and I might be forming feelings for a man eight years my senior and who was my first teacher," Yuzuki stated and the older woman blinked at that, "It makes sense now, huh?"

"How the hell did your life get so convoluted?" The woman muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose in disbelief, "You're only fifteen for kami's sake."

"I'm very aware of that, hime-sama," Yuzuki sighed, "I have a bad habit of staying inside my head and overworking when I shouldn't, it's not the first time that it's caused me troubles."

Koyuki couldn't help but see why. The teenage jonin was quiet, very few emotions slipped through the carefully weaved mask she wore and tended to think before acting. She wondered if the life of a shinobi would do that to someone. An interrogator would need to be aloof if they were to seem normal to those around them.

"Is the man at least good looking?" Koyuki questioned and the strangled sound she got from the teen caused her to grin.

It seemed she hadn't lost her ability to make the shinobi from Konoha flustered. The teen had such a blush on her face that it could possibly melt the snow outside from the heat that radiated from it. It was hilarious watching the girl try to formulate something to say in response to that.

Yuzuki covered her mouth with a hand as she looked to the side where Kaede sat. She couldn't believe the Daimyo! Of all the things she could've been asked, she just had to ask her if she thought Hayate was good looking. She didn't have an answer to that, for one he had been her teacher at some point. Lastly, she didn't want to give that information away.

"I think he is."

She did anyway. She felt the urge to slam her head into a wall for speaking her mind for once. She felt her blush growing worse, and her ears began to burn. This was something she would never put into her report when she finally gave it to Tsunade. The older woman would no doubt find it hilarious, just as the Daimyo was.

"I think we'll have a fun time together," Koyuki stated, "You'll still be here until next year, I now know the reason why your Hokage asked that you be allowed to train here."

Yuzuki sighed at that and let out a soft breath as she got her emotions under control. She wondered why she found it easier to talk to someone like Koyuki or Genma than someone like Kakashi or Hayate. She looked to the side as Koyuki talked to some of her people, she hadn't seen Kakashi in a while as well. Just what was the silver haired jonin doing? She hadn't heard of any matches against him and Gai, which was quite sad she enjoyed hearing about those.

She reacted when a man charged at Koyuki. She easily stopped him with a smack of her sheathed tachi. He went down with a surprised expression on his face and she sighed as she placed a pair of chakra suppressing cuffs on him. He was escorted away by one of the real guards. She took her place back next to the Daimyo who looked at her in surprise before smirking.

A kenjutsu master was in their midst, and no one was the wiser. The teen didn't look like a swordswoman, but the way she had handled that allowed her to see the way she could move. The strike was precise and hit a major area to make the man go down without much of a fight. It made her glad that the problem was already showing itself. An hour after she was done speaking with her people the jonin had informed her of some good news.

"Well, I now know where the rest of the anarchists are," Yuzuki informed Koyuki after she had gotten done with interrogating the prisoner, "I just need your approval to discreetly arrest them, or remove them."

"You have it, make sure it doesn't get back to the government," Koyuki affirmed, a slight frown on her face.

She was popular in her lands, the only reason why there were anarchist was because they wanted to go back to the old ways where the clans ruled everything, and the civilians were terrorized. She couldn't do that to her people. She wanted both to work together to help make the land strong. She was brought out of her thoughts by the teen bowing before vanishing from the room. She'd love to know how they did that; it was one of the few things that shinobi did that seemed fun.

Yuzuki stared down at the village from her vantage point on the tallest glacier outside of it. Kaede was sitting next to her and tilted her head in slight confusion. She let out a soft breath and white clouds billowed out. She had to liken what she was doing to the drug bust back in Konoha, this time it was people who wanted to remove the daimyo. She didn't like shutting people up when they had an opinion, but she didn't know why they wanted to remove the woman.

She cared about her people and it showed. She guessed that she didn't understand the way people thought sometimes, sure she "knew" how they thought but it was different than that. There was no logic to the idea of removing a daimyo who was good for the people. It just didn't read like a logical person, but then again what human was truly logical. Even she was completely illogical at the best of times.

"Let's start the hunt."

It took her less than two hours to hunt down all those that would oppose the Daimyo and take care of them. The majority were able to be taken in as conspirators to overthrow the Daimyo and charged for treason. She didn't know what they did for those that performed treasonous acts, but she remembered what they used to do back in the states. They hung them for such acts, and in France they used to use the guillotine, though that had been used during the French revolution.

Those that refused to come quietly were taken care of quietly. Poison that couldn't be detected was used, it was fast and made for a peaceful death. No one could get a true immunity to such a poison, but one could be safe from it for a day if they were immune to other poisons. She felt as though it was such an underhanded way to take care of someone, but she was a shinobi and she needed to ignore such thoughts.

"That was…quick," Koyuki stated as she sat back in her chair, her arms crossed over her chest, "Your hokage wasn't kidding when she said you were efficient."

"It's one of my specialties," Yuzuki admitted.

"I can see why you said you get caught up in your head and overwork yourself."

Yuzuki nodded at that and gave a short bow before heading to her guest room for the entirety of her stay. The bed was too plush, and the sheets were too soft. She wasn't used to such luxury, Genma and her had splurged on a nice couch for their apartments but never something that would cost too much to replace if it got ruined. She hadn't had such nice items around for over fifteen years.

She shook her head to ignore that thought and looked inside the drawers of the dresser she was told to use. Nightgowns upon nightgowns sat inside of it and she wondered if they thought that she could fight in a dress. She didn't know how, but she supposed there was no time like the present to learn how. She grabbed one, the heavy silk reminded her of the kimono she wore during her assassination mission, and quickly changed out of the white clothing she was wearing to blend in.

"Already ahead of me I see," She sighed as she spotted Kaede sleeping on the bed, "Goodnight, Kaede."

She smiled softly before climbing into the bed and curling up under the blankets. They were warm in the cool air and gave her some kind of peace. She stared at the lace cuff of the nightgown she wore and gently picked at it with her scarred fingers. Such fineries did not belong to a shinobi.

"You look like shit." Koyuki informed her the next morning as they both ate breakfast.

"How the hell do you sleep on such soft mattresses?" Yuzuki fired back with a frown, "I felt like I was drowning the entire night."

"You get used to them," The woman replied with a shrug, "You going to train?"

"Yes, I think I'll try training in one of the dresses your designer seems to think I need," Yuzuki sighed, "I might be able to move in them…is she aware that I'm a shinobi?"

"Oh yes, she even put the konoha symbol on it to replace your hitai-ate," The woman sighed, "Ignore her for doing that, I know how you guys feel about them."

Yuzuki gave a thoughtful nod at that and finished her breakfast quickly. Kaede met her outside after she was dressed. She smoothed down the front of her skirt and wondered if Lolita was getting popular, it seemed to be in Yuki no Kuni. She found that she did like the added petticoat, the frills made the skirt flow and gave it some style. She had to remind herself that it was a test to see if she could fight in the damn thing.

She was going to ignore the fact that the thing was made out of heavy-duty cloth that would withstand kunai attacks. She could even feel the metal plating inside the top of the dress that acted as a dress shirt. She ran a hand through her hair before pulling it up. She turned to Kaede and the Ookami gave her a wolfish smirk.

They were going to have a fun time training in the snow-covered glaciers away from the village. The took off, a few of the villagers watching them with slight trepidation, and hurried away. They didn't want to scare anyone with Lupa, the large Ookami could scare anyone to believe that the tailed beasts were on their way to destroy their village.

"Think we're far enough from the village?" She asked Kaede and got a bark, "Good, now let's summon Lupa-hime."

She bit her thumb and quickly called forth the leader of the Ookami. Lupa didn't seem surprised to see the teen, but was a bit amused to see the dress. She brought her head down and gently pressed her nose against the girl's face. It was a motherly action, something she did to all Ookami pups when they were near her.

"Why have you summoned me?" Lupa questioned.

"It's a long story, do you have time?" Yuzuki asked.

Lupa sat down and Yuzuki did as well. She quickly delved into the past two years and her training, her promotion and the falling out with Genma. Lupa listened as the teen tried to work through the heavy emotions that came upon talking about Genma. It was easy to see that the girl missed her father, more than anyone would ever guess.

"You can use one of the messenger Ookami to deliver letters to him," Lupa informed her, "But your crush on your former teacher is something you'll have to figure out, if you allow it to grow you might find problems in the future."

"Unrequited love, I know," Yuzuki sighed as she ran a hand down her face to get rid of the frozen tear tracks, "But I think it might be worth it, I could possibly dazzle him at twenty."

"You are a strange pup," Lupa informed her with a sigh, "You'd chance the pain of not having the one you love, love you back just for the one percent chance that he will."

"I'm stupid like that," Yuzuki nodded, "I guess some part of me is a hopeless romantic, but that's five years into the future, my feelings could change before then."

"Human emotions are so fickle," Lupa agreed, "But you know that an Ookami summoner feels deeply, that is why the Inuzuka have such deep bonds between each other."

"So, they are a branch of Ookami summoners," Yuzuki grinned at the fact that her theory had been right.

Lupa lightly pushed the girl over and she allowed herself to fall back into the snow. She was glad that the leggings she wore completely covered her skin and hid everything from sight. Her skirt had flipped up at that.

"There is a skill that you might be able to possess with your chakra control," Lupa informed her, "It is our sage mode, just as the frogs have theirs we have ours."

"Sage mode, huh," Yuzuki muttered, "It'll take over a year to learn, won't it?"

"Yes, and it isn't something to use without one of us, or Kaede, around," Lupa warned, "The Ookami sage mode must have one of the Ookami around to use sage mode, if not then the one attempting will either fail or die."

"Right, not trying to do the second option," Yuzuki grumbled as she scratched her head, "I'm willing to learn, but I also want to see if I can fight in this dress."

"You have more of them, don't you?"

"Koyuki-hime's designer made me thirty, it'd be a bit discourteous not to wear them."

"To even begin the training for sage mode one must train with the Ookami to learn how to fight as one, Yosuke must be summoned and then you will fight us with Kaede."

She did as the Ookami requested. Good news, she could fight in a dress with ease due to how it was designed, bad news is that she lacked coordination with Kaede. They fought for the entire week and they were still having trouble fighting as one, something that seemed to amuse the Ookami leader. She didn't see that the more the two of them got frustrated the more they worked in unison.

It was like a reverse her and Sakura. The two of them could work wonderfully together without being frustrated but when they fought they had trouble guessing what the other was going to do. Kaede and her were in harmony while calm but they couldn't fight. It was such a strange bond between them, but Lupa was going to fix it before she even thought of starting the two of them on Sage mode.

There hadn't been an Ookami sage since the time of the Nidaime, it was a strange thought to see one in the modern age. Lupa didn't want to inform the girl that if it got out that she could perform Ookami sage mode, then the Hime tacked onto her would be cemented and any of her kids would be called as such. She would become a celebrated figure within her village, and it was something that the others of her generation were going to have.

The blonde boy Naruto that Makoto had sniffed out during the invasion, she believed that he would become the greatest of them all. That Uchiha boy that Yosuke had heard the teen grumbling about was going to be second. Yuzuki and Sakura would be third. The two of them were going to become the well-oiled machine that Tsunade was pushing them to be. Two talented medics that could terrify those that would dare defy them with a backing in torture and interrogation. No one would want to mess with them. The idea that small women could destroy a mountain with a single punch was a terrifying thought.

They kept up with the rigorous training for a month, and Yuzuki was finding out a way to make time to spend with someone. Koyuki was slowly becoming one of her closest friends, though no one could top Ino -and Sakura as loathe as the Yamanaka was to admit- and Genma, and was teaching her different ways to accessorize that was tasteful to her features. Ino liked to put her in outfits that she would wear, and Hinata was in the same boat as she was of not knowing trendy fashion. Koyuki even pierced her ear, she now had a long earing that dangled from her right ear that had genjutsu seals etched into its surface.

Fashionable and practical. That's how Koyuki described it, and Yuzuki had to agree with her.

The boost in confidence had helped with learning how to fight with Kaede, that's where she had truly struggled. She had confidence in what she could do and not in herself. It even helped her to draft a letter to Genma and send it. She was still waiting to hear back from him, but she felt better at sending something to him.

She even got used to the bed, and that had helped to improve her mood considerably. Now she had elven more months to go before she could go home and face everyone. She stared up at the canopy that covered her bed and hoped that Genma would understand, and forgiver her. A letter was impersonal, but she liked being able to say her thoughts, and genuinely think them through. She closed her eyes and hoped that the next eleven months were just as productive as the first.

Genma looked at the small Ookami pup that had decided to slam into his stomach at four in the morning. He gave it a half-awake glare before noticing the small scroll it held in its mouth. He slowly took it out and the small thing curled up in his lap to sleep. He sent it an unamused look before opening the scroll. He almost closed it at once before noticing the crossed-out words and ink spills on the scroll. It was the first draft of a letter, something that wasn't usually sent. It wasn't like Yuzuki to send something like that, and it caused him to read it.

Genma,

I know I messed up, trust me if I could get out of my head for more than five minutes and take a break it would've made everything different. But for some reason once I get into that mindset of always working, it is impossible to get out of. I should've told you that I was planning on taking the Jonin exams, but I didn't want to worry you even if it does sound like a really lame excuse, it's the truth. You are one of the few people whose opinion of me is worth something and matters to me. If I had failed I don't think I could've faced you, and no it's not because you have one of the best disappointed mom looks I've seen in a long time.

(There was a large ink blot next to a word that was crossed out that he couldn't read) I'll be in Yuki no Kuni for the next year, it's a long mission that's mainly training. I don't know if you care that I left, but I thought I could tell you. Tsunade said not to say goodbye to anyone, but she didn't say anything about sending a letter (ha ha loopholes for the win! he could read that through the line through it and it brought a small smile to his face). I understand if you don't send anything back, but I want to say that I'm grateful for the time we spent together. I'm still proud to call you Father even if I am a pretty shitty kid.

I never really got to have the whole family thing with an adult, my older brother didn't really count seeing as he was a giant man child (though I did love him dearly he snorted at that). Rose was more of my kid than anything and I got the chance to help raise a young mind, and hopefully she doesn't go down my line of work. I never really got to be a kid, and I didn't even take the chance to be one in a new life. That's on me, no one else.

He stared at that last paragraph and noticed the way the ink had blotted up. There was evidence that she had been crying and he felt guilty. The kid was beating herself up over something that could've been talked about. He shook his head and continued to read as he tried to push the guilt down.

So again, thank you, Genma. It was nice to have someone there at my chuunin promotion that was proud of me. Even during my promotion to officer in my previous life no one had been there, Connor had been working and Rose was at a day care. I never knew that I wanted to make someone proud of me like that, and it was nice to have done so.

I may have ruined everything, but I hope that if anything that we can still be friends.

Eternally cold,

Yuzuki & Kaede.

P.S no I'm not being factitious it's fucking freezing here, Yuki no kuni indeed.

Ah, he wanted his kid back. He set the letter down and ran a hand through his hair. They were both at fault for pushing each other away, every time she got ready to talk to him he would find a reason to put it off. She would do the same when she lost courage when he wanted to talk. They really were father and daughter sometimes, the both of them were idiots when it came to talking their feelings out. He gently woke up the Ookami pup and was welcomed to bright blue eyes staring up at him.

"You'll deliver my response, yeah?" He questioned.

He got a bark in response and he hoped that was a yes.

"You're lucky that I know how to make sealing scrolls," He muttered as he thought of something to send the kid to keep her warm.

Maybe a scarf or cloak, he knew she didn't have either of those. He smiled slightly; it was a step in the right direction to make up between them. He was safer asking Tsunade or Anko what the kid would like they were around her more often than he was. He still needed to make up for her birthday after all. Hell, he could ask Ibiki of all people.

He was totally going to ask Ibiki.