Gfggh

by Shantal96

Absynt

12. 5 (10-22 14:09:17)

40. Land of Snow: Part 2 (End) A/N: Wow, already on chapter forty! Feels like ages ago I started this. Anyway: the plot twist you'll hate me for (and you will hate me, mwahah) wasn't last chapter. It's more at…the end of this arc? Not the Land of Snow arc, but the section of the story I'm in overall. I'll let you figure out on your own.

For everyone confused about the family tree: I posted screenshots on Tumblr.

"Perfect, perfect!" Makino, the director, called out, framing the scene in front of him with his hands. "Action!"

Naruto rolled his eyes when Yukie brandished a prop sword and pointed it at the movie villain, standing above them on a slope of ice. Sure, he liked her movies, but she was a bit of a jerk…and nothing could compare to the disillusionment of finding out the author of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was a raging pervert who peeked on women at the hot springs (no matter how fond he was of said pervert now).

"You look cold," Izuna pointed out.

Naruto twitched. "That's because it's seventeen degrees out, genius." He rubbed his gloved hands together and blew on them, shivering lightly. As soon as they hit cold temperatures, Squad Seven had changed to their winter clothing; they were dressed in all-white to blend in with the landscape with fur lining their collars and sleeves. Naruto was still cold, as he could only wear a sleeveless coat if he wanted to be able to access the seals on his arms. Kurama was threading chakra through his limbs to keep him warm.

Izuna turned and squinted at him, tilting his head. What with the white fur the boy was wearing, he was beginning to get the strangest sense of déjà vu.

Naruto looked over at Sakura, who stood near the camera crew ready to defend them from any trouble. She wore a lightweight coat he'd altered with fuinjutsu to retain more heat with a thick waist belt and a white version of ANBU trousers. Nearly identical to Sasuke, who looked pleased to be wearing boots instead of sandals.

Kakashi was shivering. He hadn't brought anything out of the ordinary besides a cloak; Rin just shook her head beside him. Naruto caught the barest hint of a smirk on Sasuke's face before his expression went blank.

Rolling his eyes, he formed half the ram sign, as Karin usually did when performing her sensory technique.

"Got anything?" Izuna asked.

Naruto didn't answer for a moment. He opened his eyes and rubbed the plating on the backs of his gloves together, making a squeaking noise. His squadmates casually glanced up at him, giving the tiniest nod before going back to what they'd been doing.

"How many?" Madara asked, gazing up at the slopes of ice and seeming a little put out he couldn't sense on his own anymore. Kakashi meandered over to Makino, muttering in his ear to get the villain's actor down.

Naruto reached up and rubbed his ear, using three fingers to do it.

"Well, I don't see how they expect to take you all down with only three," Izuna snorted.

"All right, everybody! Pack it in, we've got what we need," the director yelled with a nervous lilt to his voice. A crew member shuffled past Naruto as he mumbled under his breath about unnecessary pit stops.

Naruto was unbothered when the ground rocked beneath their feet, a byproduct of the explosion at the end of the line as several explosive-tagged kunai littered the ground. He steadied a cameraman and pushed him towards the ship as the others started a stampede.

"Yukie-san!" he heard Sakura call out. "Retreat to the ship!"

Sasuke leaped forward and intercepted a figure that burst from the snow and darted for Yukie and the other actors. He caught a flash of pink before the woman tried to nail him in the gut, but he'd already been tracking her moves with his Sharingan; he twisted and elbowed her in the back, tensing when a larger figure leaped at him from the side.

Sakura crashed into it- hard, and fist-first. Sasuke saw the man's face go slack, mouth popping open in what he guessed was agony. Sakura's fist had hit his stomach dead center. The armor he was wearing had a large crack in it as it started crumbling away.

"Y-you-" he began in an enraged yell, trying to grab her by the arms. She lifted her hands and grabbed his, resulting in a reverse tug of war as they pushed against each other.

She smirked and pressed more chakra into her arms, pushing him back and making trenches in the snow. "What's the matter?" she taunted. "Thought I'd be easy because I'm a 'little girl'?"

His face turned red. Naruto supposed he'd thought just that. She tightened her grip, eliciting a crunch and a shriek from her opponent.

"I like her," Izuna said fondly, sounding amused as he floated along behind Naruto. His clones were escorting the ship members back, and several had gathered around an unresponsive Yukie.

"Come on, Yukie, snap out of it!" Michy, one of the actors, shook her by the shoulders. Kin and Hidero crouched on either side of him.

Hidero brushed him aside and went to lift Yukie into his arms. "Come on, we have no time."

"Sure you're not related to this one, Sakura?" Sasuke yelled as he sprinted along opposite the pink-haired assailant, blocking her as she tried to get to the male member of her squad.

Sakura laughed and planted her feet on the ground, twisting as she lifted the man by the arms and turned towards an ice formation. He'd completely lost his grip on her due to his hands being broken in several places, and could only scream as she violently punted him into the ice, completely shattering his breaking armor and knocking him unconscious.

"Mizore! Damn you!" the woman hissed.

"Pretty sure I'm not," Sakura called back with a shrug.

"Oh, cool!" Naruto exclaimed when the woman unleashed a group of what looked like swallows made of ice at Sasuke. "She has Ice Release! Haku's a lot better though."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and quickly ran through the required seals for his fire style jutsu, melting the projectiles before they made contact.

"Dodge this!" the woman shouted. "Hyōrō no Jutsu!"

"Oh, hey! Haku uses that too!"

Sasuke dove and rolled out of the way. He jumped into the air to avoid another bout, narrowly avoiding being frozen in a block of ice. The fire technique he attempted next had no effect on it.

Sakura kept an eye on Yukie as the actors carted her back to the ship and absentmindedly stomped on Mizore's hand when he tried to get up, muttering "Fubuki…?" under his breath.

"Let's see your ice stand up to this!" Naruto called from a pentagram in the air, grinning. The woman snapped around to face him, eyes going narrow. "Katon: Gōka Messhitsu!"

Sasuke wisely choice to sprint out of the way before he'd even finished his first sentence, leaving Fubuki at the mercy of a much hotter flame.

Sakura shaded her eyes and watched two large narwhals clash a small distance away. "Why does always take sensei so long to finish fights?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Naruto didn't even have to help us. He was just…overkill." They glanced at the two smoking bodies that lay in the shallow end of a small pond- melted from Naruto's fire jutsu.

"That was awesome!" Izuna shouted, fist-pumping the air. "You're like a little honorary Uchiha!" Naruto grinned in response.

"Damn, I couldn't even ID those bodies in the morgue," Sakura complimented, giving the corpses an appraising glance. She looked up when Kakashi landed in front of them.

"All right, I bought us some-" He paused, staring at the corpses. "-time?"

"What up, sensei?"

"Yeah, what the frick?"

"Why didn't you take that guy out?"

He opened his mouth and closed it before sighing and shaking his head. "Why did I expect anything different?"

Naruto glared balefully in the direction Kakashi's opponent had gone. "Great. He fled. Nice going, sensei."

"Way to mess up the mission."

"Now they'll know we're here."

"You screwed up."

Naruto sent him a sarcastic thumbs up.

A dramatic spotlight fell down on him as he slumped over and wept into his book, a veritable river coming from his visible eye. "My cute little genin haaaate me…!" Rin bit her lip to try and hide a laugh, patting him on the shoulder even if he couldn't feel it.

"We're chuunin, dumbass!" Naruto yelled as they walked towards the boat without him.

Even after hearing Yukie's sob story ("Dramatic backstory!" Sakura corrected), Naruto wasn't impressed or pitying. He was by no means scornful of her grief, but from his point of view, grief was no reason to be an ass to someone only trying to help you.

Sandayu glanced at the door Yukie had slammed on her way out. "I'm terribly sorry," he said, bowing his head as he sighed. "I'd hoped returning home would reawaken the feelings Yukie-san had lost and urge her to take back her country from her uncle. Doto's a cruel man and the people in the Land of Snow hate him. But it seems nothing will get through to her."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "What was that guy's name?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Roga Nadare. Him and those two shinobi you three took out helped overthrow the country from Yukie's fathers rule."

"Well as far as I'm concerned," Makino began with a huff, rocking back in his seat, "shooting will continue. Think of it! A real princess playing a princess!"

Naruto zoned out of the discussion, folding his arms behind his head and kicking back. Izuna leaned on a barrel in the corner and stared out the window in the side of the room, watching the waves go by as night unfolded. Madara sat cross-legged beside him with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. The door was slightly agape after Kin had left, presumably to get some air on deck, and he could see a lightly glowing shape pass by.

After focusing, he could feel a spiritual presence in the hall. As the others continued talking, he slid out of his seat and out the door, following the presence down the hallway.

"Sosetsu-san?"

The man startled, jerking around to look at him with wide eyes beneath his glasses. "You- you can see me?" he asked, sounding stunned.

Naruto grinned. He hopped up onto the railing and swung his legs over, balancing so he could use it as a seat. "Yep. Didn't you see the three ghosts in the cabin?"

"Oh, well, yes, but I didn't assume anyone could see them…"

"Well, I can. Have since I was a kid. I guess you're depressed about your daughter?"

Sosetsu sighed dejectedly and slumped over onto the railing, staring out at sea. "Yes. My poor Koyuki. If only my brother hadn't betrayed me, she would have grown into the princess I knew she would be."

Naruto softened some when he saw the man's abject air. "She still could. What's this spring I've heard her mention?"

Sosetsu smiled. "I promised her spring would come to the Land of Snow and turn it into the Land of Spring. My greatest treasure would bring spring to the land. That same treasure is what my brother was after when he killed me."

"Is it actual gold or something else?"

Sosetsu turned, a lighthearted glint appearing in his eye. "I'll tell you," he began conspiratorially, "if you promise to help Koyuki."

"I'm surprised the Land of Snow has such advanced technology," Sakura said, hauling herself into the van and taking a seat. Naruto ducked in and looked around curiously, pulling aside the curtain over the window by the table to peek out.

"Is this one of those 'vehicles' you were talking about?" Izuna asked, floating in through a wall.

"Yeah. This looks like some sort of camper van," Naruto replied. He sat down by the window, leaning back on folded arms. Izuna and Madara settled on the seat opposite him.

Kakashi went to sit down. "Occupied," Naruto said in an offended tone, giving him a mock glare. Kakashi rolled his visible eye at him and chose a different seat. He was thinking of different ways he could train on his own when they returned to the village- to be entirely honest, he'd slacked off a bit in the past years, but he was sure he could drag Asuma into this with him. For some reason, he felt like if he could get the other jounin to put in more time on the training field with him he might help him dodge a bullet someday.

The van started to move. Both Madara and Izuna jumped- it was slight, and hardly noticeable if one wasn't looking, but Naruto grinned nonetheless. "This feels unnatural," Izuna said, eyeing the interior suspiciously.

"It's not much different from riding a horse."

"Except the horse is a gigantic metal death machine."

Rin giggled. "As long as the driver is a good one, it seems fun to me."

"Exactly." Naruto smiled smugly and closed his eyes.

"I wonder if these could be mass-produced on an economically sustainable level," Sasuke wondered, staring at the driver seat.

Sakura huffed. "Could you imagine civilians and shinobi with trucks and vans, though? The ANBU would be overrun with accidents and incidents."

"True." He would have to section off a whole group of the Police Corps just to deal with traffic.

"Always so ambitious, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said cheerfully, flipping the page in his book. He suddenly dipped sideways across the aisle, wrapping his arms around Naruto's shoulders with a rivulet of tears running from his eye. "Isn't this fun? Just me and my cute little genin on a mission just like old times!"

Naruto's expression was dull as his sensei hung off him. "We're chuunin."

"Just like old times!"

"Get off me, sensei. You're an embarrassment."

Kakashi slammed to the side like he'd hit him with an anvil, huddling in the aisle and sniffling as a depression cloud surrounded him. "So mean…" Rin just laughed at him.

Naruto looked up only to find Madara and Izuna staring at him with weird looks on their faces. "What?"

Izuna jumped. "Oh, nothing, just…the weirdest sense of…"

"Déjà vu," Madara finished, narrowing his eyes at him before diverting his attention elsewhere.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before shrugging to himself and letting it go. Hey, Kurama, he said, poking his roommate. You awake? He tapped the seat beside him anyway.

"I am now," Kurama yawned, appearing in a puff of smoke. He jolted when he'd fully woken up, hair standing on end. "What the hell, brat? It's cold!"

"That's because it's, like, five degrees out."

Kurama growled at him. "And you couldn't have brought anything?"

Naruto's eyebrows drew together as he squinted at the fox. "Can't you just keep yourself warm with your chakra?"

Kurama paused. "Oh," he said, sounding embarrassed as he turned away and covered his nose with his tail, curling up in the seat.

Naruto snickered. Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned over from his seat on the other side of the aisle to speak. "You're not one to talk. You once forgot to eat for four days straight out of sheer airheadedness."

Sakura burst into raucous laughter. Naruto pouted and turned away from his pseudo brother, his own depression cloud slamming down over his head. "Whatever…"

"When we get back to Konoha, I'm going to look up your hospital record," Sakura snickered.

"Oi! Stay out of my files, Haruno!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at her and scowling with a vein pulsing on his forehead.

"You know," Izuna whispered to his brother through a grin, amused, "sometimes he reminds me of Tobirama, sometimes of Hashirama, and sometimes of you when you were a kid." Madara's cheek twitched slightly as Naruto and Sakura continued yelling at each other over Kakashi's head.

The van came to a screeching halt. Kakashi's overdramatic weeping cut out as he turned and caught Naruto before he completely tumbled out of the seat he was standing on, while Sasuke braced himself against a table and Sakura steadied herself against the back of the Uchiha's seat.

The door flew open. "Yukie took off again!" Kin yelled into the car.

Sakura groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. "Seriously? We just took out two people trying to kidnap and/or murder her, and she runs off into freezing temperatures."

Naruto leapt up and to the door. "I'll get her!" he called, disappearing down the steps and into the snow.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his back, wondering at his sudden enthusiasm. He'd repeatedly called Yukie a jerk before. "He must have decided to talk-no-jutsu her," Sakura said with grave seriousness. He twitched at her.

"You know, it'll be less stressful if you just get it over with."

"What do you know? There's no way they can overthrow my uncle. This is a fool's mission."

Naruto sighed. He'd found Koyuki fallen in the snow, with Sosetsu anxiously hovering over her, and was carting her back to the group on his back. "Look, I'm not saying you have to stay and be the daimyo. Do whatever the hell you want with your life. But there are people who've given up their whole lives for your life and the hope that this land would be free again. Are you telling me you honestly don't care a single bit about all their efforts? About Sandayu's?" Koyuki narrowed her eyes at the ground, but didn't say anything. "Look, I don't claim to know anything about parents because I never had any. But I don't think your dad would want you to live like you are."

He felt the actress stiffen in surprise. "You know nothing of my father," she returned in the same monotone she always used, sounding as if she hardly cared.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to glance at Sosetsu behind them. Izuna was making conversation with him, though Madara was just ignoring him. "I know he was a kind leader everyone in this country loved. He wanted to bring spring to the Land of Snow."

They'd entered a long tunnel. "What do you know of that?" Koyuki asked with a frown he couldn't see. "There is no spring in the Land of Snow."

"He was creating one."

Her grip on his shoulders tightened. "What?"

"Like I said, he wouldn't want you to live like you are," Naruto said with a shrug. "He'd want you to see the spring."

"What're you talking about? You aren't making any- … do you hear something?"

Izuna paused and glanced behind them. "Uh, Naruto?"

"Don't tell me," Naruto said, turning slowly and narrowing his eyes.

Madara frowned and squinted into the darkness. "What…is that?"

"Well, guys, on the bright side, you get to see a train for the first time."

"Naruto," Izuna said, one eyelid twitching. "RUN."

His yell echoed through the cave; Madara glanced at him in alarm as Sosetsu fretted and Naruto knelt down. He channeled chakra to his legs and kicked off, taking off at a breakneck speed. Koyuki shrieked in surprise and grabbed onto him tighter.

"THE WONDERS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY," Naruto screamed, still, somehow, in his tour-guide mode. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE IT, IZU-NII?"

"NO," Izuna screamed right back, sprinting beside him. "It's an even bigger giant metal death machine!"

"What is that?" Madara yelled over the noise at the same time Koyuki shouted "Who are you talking to?"

"A train!" Naruto boomed.

"You're not going to make it!" Koyuki exclaimed, wincing and ducking down. The cold ground zipped by beneath his feet as he gained ground, slowly but surely distancing them from the front of the train. If he hadn't been so cold when he started, he could have outrun it easily.

He burst into the sunlight and leaped to the side. They tumbled into the snow as the train shot by, producing a startled Sosetsu from its side, as he hadn't been able to keep up.

"I-I can't believe it," Koyuki stammered, sitting up and leaning on her hands as she stared at him with wide eyes. "Did you just-"

"Outrun a train?" Naruto asked, giving her a double thumbs-up. Panting lightly, he summoned a grin. "Hell yeah. Way to get the blood pumping!"

The train came to a stop. Naruto got a sinking feeling in his stomach when the sides opened up, leveling what looked like spears at the mountainside; now, he could see the soldiers lined up at the top. "Yuh-oh."

"That man," Koyuki whispered, expression unreadable. "That's…my uncle."

Naruto followed her gaze to the man standing atop one of the train compartments. "The nerve of him," Sosetsu said angrily, hands clenched into fists. "Koyuki nearly died!"

Naruto patted the snow, missing whatever their resident villain was saying as he summoned Kurama. "You ready?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks for ditching me at the van."

"Not my fault you have short legs."

"What?" Koyuki asked, comically confused.

"-For Princess Koyuki!" Sandayu screamed; he was leading the charge, apparently. The men started barreling down the hill like sheep to the slaughter.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Kyuubi!" Naruto performed his summoning again, just as Sasuke leapt over the mountain ridge with his largest weapons scroll already unfurled.

Looking back several weeks later, Naruto's favorite part of the Land of Snow mission would be the expression on Doto's face as Sakura punted a large slab of rock right into the volley of projectiles heading for Sandayu's men, Sasuke and a shadow clone nailed them to the ground with deadly accuracy using the hundreds of weapons in his scroll, Kakashi cut through his own portion with a Raikiri, and a large fox the size of a small house landed violently on his train and began chomping down on his minions.

Koyuki looked on with a blank expression, mouth hanging open.

Kurama, overjoyed with his newfound size, tossed a shinobi into the mountain and let loose a cackle. "I'm coming for you next, worthless meatbag," he yelled.

"Now, now." Naruto patted his head. He wore a serene smile, riding along with long orange fur for leverage. "Not too much bloodlust."

He could see the rage building on Doto's face. "Shouldn't've messed with Konoha ninja," he called politely. "You've only got, like, three, and we burnt two of them."

"A change of plans is required, then," Doto hissed at him in typical villain fashion, unveiling some weird sort of armor beneath his robes and blasting off from the ground. An airship rose from below in the canyon, lowering a ladder for him to latch onto as he aimed a grappling hook at Koyuki.

Sakura extended her hand dramatically as she withdrew a device from her pouch in sync with Sasuke. "Sensei," she said in a serious tone.

Kakashi's eyebrow rose in fear. "Um?"

Naruto and Sasuke aimed their devices at the ship. Metal hooks shot out and spiraled into the sides, complicated fuin spreading out under their grips to solidify them, connected to the boys by sturdy chain. Kakashi began to sweat as Sakura grabbed him around the chest, aiming her own hook and letting it carry them from the ground- leaving Kurama to guard Sandayu and his men.

Naruto kicked open the doors to what he guessed was Doto's evil monologue room with a loud bang, tossing explosives into the second level where his shinobi were lurking without pausing. The whole room rocked with the force of it, nearly making Koyuki fall to the floor while Doto himself spun around with a miniature seizure going on near the face area.

"You," he began, a vein pulsing on his forehead. "Have-"

"Yeah, yeah, thorn in your side I've heard it before. Are you going to let me arrest you or are you going to be a jerk about this?"

Doto grabbed Koyuki and yanked her closer as a hostage, readying himself to do something- attack, probably- as Sasuke speed-walked through the doors, kicking a shinobi in the face to keep him from getting up. "Surrender now and we won't kill you," he said, expression stony.

Doto's scowl deepened. "As if I would surrender to a group of Leaf brats," he spat.

Why is our age relevant? Sasuke thought with a frown.

"Naruto, don't," Koyuki said with a mildly concerned air, frowning. "You can't fight him."

"Did you not see us just demolish his train?"

"We're here on a body guard mission," Sasuke replied in an even more impressive monotone than hers. "Nothing keeps us from completing our mission."

"And overthrowing dictators. Because that's what we do, apparently."

"Enough!" Doto yelled, aiming his hand at the ceiling. "It's time for this to end once and for all!"

Naruto and Sasuke simply hefted their grappling hooks, unconcerned, as they knew he wasn't about to kill Koyuki yet. They aimed as he blasted through the ceiling, firing just as he burst into the open air. The seals on the sides of the hooks glowed as they zeroed in on him and attached, making him glance back with a scowl and try to shake them off.

"Isn't this fun?" Naruto yelled as they were rocketed into the sky, grinning at his companion.

They passed the ghosts on the way, making Izuna shriek in indignation. "Oh, come on! We just got up here!"

"If your idea of fun," Sasuke yelled back over the wind, "is flying on the edge of death."

"This is totally safe!"

"We would die if we fell."

"We have trees to catch us!"

Doto was looking a little disturbing when they landed in the snow mere yards behind him. "Disturbing" because his face had turned an unholy shade of red and his jaw was trembling something fierce.

"You've interfered for the last time," he said darkly.

Naruto paused and glanced at Sasuke. "Where's sensei and Sakura?"

"Mopping up the ship," Sasuke shrugged. "Sensei's having a rematch with that ice ninja."

"Ah. Good."

"Do not ignore me!" Doto screamed, making Koyuki, who he'd dropped in the snow, wince. She quickly scrambled up and sprinted across the valley to Naruto, who was rather impressed she hadn't lost her lunch even once.

"You all right?" he asked.

She stared at him with something akin to stunned silence. "Naruto, you…why've you come this far after me?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'll keep chasing you forever to get you out of this funk. It'd make your dad happy."

"How do you-?"

"You're too late anyway," Doto interrupted, making Naruto cast him an irritated glance. He truly is just a walking cliché. The man's back was to them as he slotted Koyuki's necklace into a device in the center of the glacier, smirking. "This treasure belongs to me now."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the chakra he could feel thrumming in the land beneath them. In an instant, the landscape began to change as large structures rose into the air above them, melting the ice and snow until nothing but grass and wildlife was left in its wake.

"It's-"

"Spring," Koyuki finished in awe, stumbling back and falling to the ground as she stared at the meadows with thinly veiled shock.

"No," Doto hissed, eyes going wide in realization. "This is that damned fool's treasure…?!"

"Well, I guess that rules out Rasenshuriken," Naruto said, sulking. "And my bombs. I can't destroy the machinery."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You just want to be destructive."

"Being destructive is fun."

"What is this?" Doto fairly shrieked.

"Okay, that's it, dibs on this guy," Naruto said, cracking his knuckles. "He's irritating the hell out of me."

"You!" Doto howled, turning and pointing at him. "This is your fault!"

"My fault? How the hell-"

"Hyōton: Kokuryū Bōfūsetsu!"

Sasuke grabbed Koyuki and leapt out of the way. Naruto was surprised Doto knew a technique like that, but the black ether-like dragon he'd unleashed wasn't exactly hard to dodge. He flipped around it and sprinted in closer, readying one palm as an orange tint appeared on his eyelids.

"That armor absorbs chakra, right?" he called with a trolling grin. Doto narrowed his eyes at him.

The dragon came back around for another go. Naruto tossed a bomb into its face and used the explosion to propel himself into Doto, enhancing his arms with Kurama's chakra to hold down the fist Doto threw his way and place a palm over the armor.

"Let's see what this does," he smirked, genuinely interested as to what the answer was.

"What are you doin-" Doto cut off into a yell as the armor began cracking.

Naruto's tone was innocent. "I guess it doesn't like sage chakra so well," he smiled.

He flipped back and drove his foot into the center of Doto's chest, shattering the armor. It had taken on an ugly green hue, mottled with the original black. A Rasengan formed in his other hand; he didn't even notice the rainbow color.

And, as such, Team Seven took down their second dictator.

"Least it's not so cold anymore," Naruto said cheerfully, glancing at Sasuke's purple arm warmers and wondering where they'd come from. He held a drink in one hand and a kabob of various meats in the other. "Where'd you get those?"

"Get what?" Sasuke replied, confused.

"Those."

"What, these? That shop over there."

"I didn't know you liked purple."

"Why would I not?"

Sakura let out an exaggerated sigh and nudged Naruto with her elbow. "Just let it go. We shouldn't question 'Suke's strange fashion choices."

"It's not strange!" Sasuke defended, voice rising a notch while they snickered at him.

"I'm just so happy," Sosetsu wept in the background. Izuna awkwardly patted him on the back, muttering a half-hearted 'there, there' while Madara stared in the opposite direction.

"Naruto." Naruto glanced up at Koyuki, clothed in daimyo's robes as she strode towards him with a smile.

"Yo. What's up?"

"I just wanted to thank you."

Naruto's brow creased. "…for what?"

Koyuki and the rest of Team Seven sweatdropped. She cleared her throat. "You were right. I wasn't living the way my father wanted before. I had lost so much that I thought being cold was the only answer to keep it from happening again. I suppose that happens when the person you love most dies. But you showed me how to live again, and for that I thank you." With a smile, she ruffled his hair.

Izuna stared at them. "Wow. She was such an asshole before." He sighed. "Talk-no-jutsu strikes again."

Naruto turned to raise an eyebrow at him, unaware of the pensive expression that had appeared on Madara's face. "Talk-no-what?"

"I've been meaning to ask about that, too," Koyuki said, drawing his attention again. Looking uncertain, she glanced at where he'd been staring. "Naruto, you…mentioned my father a few times, and- I saw him in the crowd. Do you…?"

With a grin, he rocked forward on his heels and lowered his voice to a whisper. "See ghosts? Yeah."

Her face slackened in shock. "You do-"

"Ah, Squad Seven!" Sandayu boomed, Makino right behind him as they whirled through into the group. Sakura looked up from where she'd been stuffing her face and Sasuke from speaking to Kakashi. "I'm glad I caught you!"

"I'll need you to sign these papers," Makino said, stuffing a clipboard into each of their hands with little explanation. All four of them sweatdropped.

"Um." Sasuke squinted down at the clipboard in his hands, unsure. "What's-?"

"Just need a signature to use your parts in the movie, of course!"

"T-the movie?" Naruto squawked.

Sandayu whipped out four long tubes and uncapped one, shaking out a poster for them all to see. Somehow, he'd gotten a shot of Naruto showing Sasuke and Sakura his seven-colored Rasengan, and edited in Sasuke and Sakura behind him. The three ice ninja they'd fought were realistic, well-done illustrations, not that noticeable considering they were standing in the shadows on the poster. Kakashi, Doto and Koyuki were there, too, along with Sandayu and his makeshift soldiers in the corner.

"What is that?" Sasuke said, twitching.

"We're in the movie?" Sakura asked at the same time, mouth hanging open.

"Of course! You gave us some of our best footage!" Makino spread his hands, grinning. "I can see it now. Tickets will sell out at a record rate! Princess Gale saves the day with the help of three young ninja and their slightly incompetent sensei!"

"What?" Kakashi squeaked out, dismayed.

"Don't worry, you have a nice scene near the end with that ice ninja."

Sasuke opened his mouth to politely decline. He was a clan head, not a movie star, and he doubted it would look professional. Before he could say a word, Sakura shoved through and spoke up. "We're in."

"What?" Sasuke and Naruto demanded.

She snatched their clipboards and forged their signatures almost perfectly. "You saw nothing," she said with a sweet smile as she handed them to Makino.

He grinned at her. "I like the way you think."

"Sakura!" Sasuke hissed.

"Don't worry," Koyuki said with a hand on his shoulder, "you looked great on camera." The helpless look on his face just screamed That's not what I was worried about. She turned back to Naruto as Makino laughed. "Naruto, can you tell me-"

"He's been watching over you since he died, he isn't disappointed at all, he's really proud," Naruto said, ticking the items off his fingers. "And- oh, yeah, he says as long as you take sake night on Sunday being the daimyo is easier. 'Specially if you wanna keep up with the acting thing."

Koyuki stared at him for a moment before grinning and drawing him in for a hug. "I do. In fact, my next role-"

"Is confidential!" Makino boomed.

Kakashi caught sight of the script in her hand and went still. "Wait," he said, eye widening, "th-that script-!"

Koyuki spotted a crowd of kids waiting for her and pulled away with a wave. "I hope you'll visit again," she called, "when this is the Land of Spring."

"Have fun!" Sakura called gleefully.

"S-she's perfect," Kakashi went on, making Izuna pull a face.

"Will that man ever stop his lecherousness around children?" he complained.

Madara looked up and opened his eyes; he'd been ignoring basically all of them. "What script is he speaking of?" he asked with a frown.

Izuna froze. "Um…" Glancing around, he stepped closer and covered his mouth with one hand. "You…you remember those erotic novels we found in our aunt's room one time?" Madara's frown deepened as he nodded. "Well, that type of…literature…really caught on. It's a whole market now. And the movie is…well…"

Madara gave him a scandalized look. "Are you telling me they're going to act it out?"

"Yep."

"Act what out?"

They both jumped, almost guiltily, and stared down at a curious Naruto. "Um," Izuna repeated.

Madara's face went blank again. "Ask Izuna," he said, turning and disappearing into the crowd.

Stunned, Izuna stared after him. "You bastard!" Unseen, Madara struggled to control a grin.

"Ah, darn!" Naruto exclaimed, drawing his squadmates' attention again as he slapped his fist against his palm. "I forgot to ask for a picture." And an autograph, he thought with a small sigh of disappointment.

"Hn." Sasuke withdrew an envelope from his pocket, holding it out to him. Sakura and Kakashi raised three eyebrows in total.

Naruto took it and flipped it open. "Eh?!"

Someone had caught them just after the battle, apparently, as a newly emotional Koyuki was coming over to check to see if he was hurt. She looked concerned, a strange look on her, with her hands on his shoulders like a worried mother. Sasuke had gotten her autograph on the corner.

Sakura burst into giggles. "Aww!"

"Shuddup," Naruto muttered.

With an eye-smile, Kakashi leaned over and ruffled his hair. "My cute little genin are so adorable."

"Shut up, sensei. You've been slacking off."

Rin looked over from where she'd been chatting with Sosetsu, only to find Kakashi on the ground in a funk again. She sweatdropped.

41. What A Mess "Well, that's that," Kakashi said cheerfully, tossing the mission scroll to Shizune. Tsunade nodded at them, pausing when she saw them still as statues.

"…are we just going to stand here in awkward silence because you tried to be dramatic with our promotion decision…?" Naruto wondered. Dan covered his mouth to keep from laughing as Tsunade started twitching.

"Whatever, brat. Yes, I made a decision." They stared at her. "God, you three are creepy when you do that."

"Do what?" Sasuke asked with a frown.

She squinted at him. The three stood in a straight line, mere inches from each other, with almost disturbingly similar blank expressions. Naruto had his arms folded, while Sakura and Sasuke clasped their hands behind their backs. They were like identical little robots.

She sighed. "I've decided you'll all be promoted on the first of next year, just after these next chuunin exams."

Sakura's face split in a grin. "That leaves me enough time to train Ino!" she chirped.

Naruto yawned. "Great. S'at it?"

Tsunade scowled at him. "You little brat."

He grinned shrewdly. "Would you rather me act like Sasuke?" They both eyed the Uchiha, who tried not to look insulted.

"Touché. Whatever, just get out of here."

Kakashi eye-smiled as he watched them go.

"Are you sure you aren't pushing yourself too hard?" Asuma asked with a frown, briefly taking his cigarette from his lips to address his student.

Ino paused and took a deep breath before answering. "I'm fine, sensei. Really."

Beside her, Choji groaned and flopped to the ground. He'd taken up her offer to do pushups together, but his arms had given out, eventually. Shikamaru was there, too, but he was laid out on the ground under the guise of cloud-watching with numerous leaves and various objects stuck to his body.

Ino lowered herself again and ignored how her muscles screamed and her abdomen strained. Her arms were shaking, and there was a damp spot in the grass beneath her where her sweat had dripped. For all intents and purposes, she looked ready to collapse, so Asuma's concern wasn't misplaced.

The first day had been the most difficult. With Sakura gone, she was tempted to skimp by on her training exercises, but she kept telling herself over and over she wouldn't be a burden any longer.

It had only been a few days. She spent little time in her home, so she didn't see either of her parents much; it wasn't as if their whole family was going to split apart, it was just…awkward. Ino had never really had problems with her parents before, but as Sakura had told her, it was a symptom of growing up. Her pinkette friend had given her one piece of advice: just give them space to grow accustomed to her finding her own path and time to realize she wasn't a little girl anymore.

"I'm fine," she repeated shakily, progress slow but steady. Asuma's brow creased.

A whirl of leaves exploded in the clearing Team Ten occupied. "Good afternoon!" Sakura called cheerily, skipping towards them and passing Asuma, who only blinked in confusion. "How's it going, Ino?"

"G-good," Ino stammered out, pushing herself to her feet. "I just…finished…forty-five."

"Ooh, that's great! You're ahead of my schedule." Sakura had assigned ten-pushup sets for the first day, fifteen for the second, and twenty-five for the third. "How many laps did you run this morning?" 'Laps' being laps around the whole village.

"I did one and had to stop on the second," Ino admitted, a tad embarrassed. "My legs were starting to hurt really bad."

"Don't worry, that's all right. You're just starting. You been keeping your diet and exercise journal?"

Ino nodded vigorously, taking a small leather-bound journal from her pouch. It was covered in seal work Naruto had done when Sakura had asked for it. Asuma's mouth opened, but no words came out.

Sakura skimmed over the first few pages and snapped it shut with a beam. "You're doing great. Do you mind if we go train together, Asuma-senpai?" she asked, glancing over at the jounin.

"Uh. No, go right ahead?" Asuma tilted his head at them, unaware that Sakura had been helping Ino train.

"Bye, Choji, Shikamaru."

"Ma," was all the Nara said, lifting one hand lazily.

"Bye," Choji panted out, waving from the ground.

Sakura placed a hand on Ino's shoulder, and the next moment, they were gone in a swirl of leaves.

"Ah, there you are, Asuma," Kakashi called out not a minute later. Asuma got a very, very bad feeling as he turned around to face him. Choji went back to pushups and Shikamaru didn't even look up.

Kakashi strolled up to him with a cheery eye-smile. "Are you busy? I was thinking we'd train together."

"Uh, I-"

"He's not busy," Shikamaru and Choji said in unison.

Asuma sweatdropped. "Great!" Kakashi exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. "I think we've both been slacking off a bit, don't you?"

"Well, I suppose a little extra training never hurt anyone-"

"That's why I asked Gai to train with us."

"Wait, what-"

Shikamaru opened one eye to watch as Kakashi dragged a suddenly protesting Asuma away, smirking slightly. "Looks like they've infected their sensei, too," he said with a yawn.

"And he's going to infect ours, too," Choji chuckled. "How many leaves you have on you?" he asked, pausing in the air with a curious air.

Shikamaru slowly raised one hand and unzipped his flak jacket, revealing too many leaves for Choji to count stuck to his chest and abdomen. The Akimichi sweatdropped. "It's a little straining," he grunted. Choji just shook his head.

There was quite a buzz going around when Naruto returned to the village.

Sakura and Kakashi ran off to find Team Ten as soon as they'd given their mission report. Sasuke muttered something about paperwork before disappearing, leaving Naruto to wander around.

"What'cha think they're all riled up about?" he asked, withdrawing a pair of aviator sunglasses from somewhere on his person to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun.

Izuna shrugged. "Hell if I know."

Naruto's ears perked when he heard a quiet snippet of a whisper between two Senju ghosts. "They said that boy is…"

"Who said?" he asked, startling them.

"Nothing," the woman of the duo said quickly, grabbing her companion and zipping off through a building.

Naruto and Izuna glanced at each other. "Know what this sounds like?" Naruto began, a grin on his face.

They both pointed finger guns at each other. "Senju problems," they chorused.

A passing ghost looked as if he'd spasmed. "You are a-" His wife slapped a palm over his mouth and pulled him away.

Izuna frowned. "I'm getting a little concerned."

"Boy."

"Hm?" Naruto turned and followed Madara's gaze. The man stood, arms folded, staring down the street at the front of the Hokage Tower.

Mito and Tobirama were both chastising someone. Toka was there, too, looking fairly pissed off. Naruto pitied the fool who'd stirred their ire. Now that he looked closely, however, he recognized who they were ganging up on; while the Senju ghosts weren't as close-knit as the Uchiha- who generally stayed together and acted like a clan- they usually did refer to an informal leader. Well, most of them did. Toka didn't care what her clan did or didn't do; she was older than most of them, and they were mostly from two generations. One group comprised some Senju who'd still been alive during the Yondaime's era, as well as their parents, and the other group comprised the Senju who'd been alive during Hashirama and Tobirama's rules. The Senju in the street being berated had served under Hashirama and had become said informal leader after the Senju had passed on. He and Izuna avoided each other, as they tended to butt heads, with Izuna being the de facto leader of any Uchiha ghosts.

"Is that Hiroto?" Izuna asked, squinting.

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "Wonder what he did."

Hashirama emerged from the tower. He was frowning, nearing a scowl, and Naruto had never seen the expression on his face before. "I'm just gonna go with 'not my circus, not my rodeo'," Naruto said, whirling around and skipping away as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Well it might very well be your circus seeing as they all seem to be gossiping about you," Izuna snorted.

"Yeah, well, my drama meter's all full. Let's go destroy some trees."

Izuna rolled his eyes. He paused when he noticed Madara wasn't following, twisting around and frowning at his brother. "Madara?"

Madara looked away from where he'd been staring at the top of a building; he wasn't so much as staring at the building itself as just staring. There was a feeling in the back of his mind he recognized; he'd gotten the same feeling on each of the days his brothers had died. If the stereotypical 'bad feeling' shinobi got when they thought something was about to happen was akin to a frantic heartbeat, then this feeling was a lead weight in his feet, grounding him as he walked through the world.

He looked past Izuna to Naruto, walking towards the forest without a care in the world, and frowned.

"Nothing."

He floated past Izuna and subconsciously decided to follow more closely to them anyway, just in case.

"Honestly," Mito hissed out, tapping her closed fan against her arm. They were both folded tightly against her chest, a symbol of anger rather than apprehension.

Hiroto winced at her tone. A few passing ghosts unaware of the latest drama in their community glanced between them, wondering what the Shodaime and his wife and brother could have found out within the last few days that would anger them.

Toka's expression was stony. She hadn't pulled her punches when she was throwing her clan members under the bus.

Hiroto hadn't seen the shinobi in front of him in decades. It was more than a little intimidating, having both the Senju brothers and Mito, with her famed temper, call him out to the Hokage Tower to dish out a verbal punishment on him. He felt like he was nothing but a young soldier in their command again, not an old ghost with age lines on his face. "I apologize, Mito-sama, for all of us."

"You're really telling me none of you even tried to look out for him?"

"Well…I…"

"Naruto-kun was much like a tumbleweed when he was younger, Mito-sama," Toka interrupted. Hiroto would have given her a dirty look if he didn't know Tobirama would see. "Drifting from place to place with no home, but looking just normal enough that most passersby didn't notice if something was wrong. However," and here came the part deserving of his dirty look, "the Senju as a whole generally ignored him, despite his Uzumaki blood and Jinchuriki status. A few of their members occasionally looked out for him-" She was just set on his humiliation, wasn't she? "But it was the Uchiha who truly took him in. Some Senju even looked the other way when very…undesirable events took place." Hiroto honestly had never told any Senju to treat the Uzumaki boy badly; he just hadn't told them to look out for him, either.

"Undesirable events?" Tobirama questioned with a frown.

"I would suggest looking through his hospital records and asking Izuna, Tobirama-sama," she replied vaguely, making the man's eyes narrow. "He knows much more than I do."

"I would never suggest to my clansmen to abuse the boy," Hiroto defended, and not untruthfully. "We simply-"

"Didn't think it was your responsibility to take care of him."

"And then, of course, he took up with the Uchiha," Toka said innocently. Mito's eyes narrowed.

Hiroto swallowed thickly. "I do admit," he said, raising his hands in a placating gesture, "that after he did the Senju tended to ignore him. He almost always had that Uchiha hanging around with him-"

Hashirama looked pained. "'That Uchiha'? You still treat each other so negatively?"

"Well- not every Uchiha is bad, we all know that. But everyone knew the village had their eyes on them." Tobirama seemed to grind his teeth some at that, rubbing one temple as he sighed. "And then with the coup…"

"My main question is why one of yours didn't take up a role similar to Izuna, and why the Senju clan did not welcome him in like the Uchiha clan did," Mito went on, eyes sharp.

"No Uzumaki have come around either," Hiroto countered, "not even the boy's parents!"

"Do not speak of his parents," Mito snapped harshly, making him flinch. Hashirama placed a hand on her elbow, but the frown was still on his face. She breathed in deeply.

"I apologize. But- besides his status as a Jinchuriki, you couldn't have expected the Senju to take such large notice of him as if he was one of our own, or the last Senju alive in Konoha," Hiroto said, inwardly cringing. "We honestly expected Uzumaki ghosts to congregate to watch over him. It's not as if he is a Senju."

"Yes, he is," Tobirama corrected, with more than a little irritation.

This made Hiroto pause. "I…I was not aware he had any connection to the Senju clan other than being related to our cousins, the Uzumaki," he said, tone full of uncertainty. "Did a member marry an outsider and have a child that was his parent or grandparent?"

"He's my grandson," all three of them said at the same time. They paused and glanced at each other for a brief moment before turning back to a gobsmacked Hiroto, who looked ready to prostrate himself on the ground.

"O…Oh," he stammered, suddenly feeling as if he'd made a very, very bad mistake. "I…I...offer my most humble apologies. Please forgive us. I…think I need to sit down."

A prime location, a solid foundation, and soon enough strong fuinjutsu to offer support; Sasuke couldn't think of anything else he needed to build the Police Corps besides shinobi to run it.

He would need desk workers and guards. Only a few; it wasn't like the jails would be that full, and even if they were, it would be mostly petty thieves and thugs- serious crime committers got picked up by ANBU and taken to the Konoha prison, which had undergone a serious fuinjutsu upgrade by Naruto after their breakout. The blond was still agonizing over the fact that he hadn't thought to pass his bombs off as candy and get the Legendary Stupid Brothers to eat them when Kiba had pointed it out afterwards.

So, a few chuunin to work inside the building and do paperwork; a few more to work on shifts. They would be easy to recruit.

Then there was the bomb squad. There had been a remarkably few amount of bomb threats to Konoha in its time, but he wanted to be prepared in case. Naruto, of course, would head up that division. Karin so far was his only recruit; Naruto was teaching her the various arts of bomb-making and disarming, but Sasuke was sure they could find other shinobi in the village with an interested in explosives.

He wanted Sakura to teach the medics they'd have on hand. First responders needed to know medical ninjutsu; all the police staff needed a more in-depth training course on first aid.

They'd only have one division to start, but hopefully, as the village grew, they'd acquire more. He'd appoint captains to look over them, and lieutenants to watch over each shift of officers; he'd grant Naruto and Sakura the rank of captain even if they wouldn't be watching over any one division. He was hesitant to call himself the chief of police- that had been his father's rank- but there was no one else for the job.

There had been far too many incidents involving singular officers being ambushed or overrun. The plan was to instate partners, so no officer was out on his or her own. He wanted a wide range of talents- he was hoping shinobi from each clan would volunteer or answer Tsunade's invitation.

At first, he'd been planning on scrapping the old Uchiha crest, but Naruto- a few months before, when he first mentioned wanting to revive the police corps- told him he should preserve history. Now, the new crest was the same emblem overlaid over the Uzumaki spiral.

With a pensive expression, Sasuke flipped through the shinobi files Tsunade had given him. A wide range of chuunin and a few tokubetsu jounin lay before him from various clans and of various ages.

"Whatcha got there, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke looked up and raised an eyebrow. Kotetsu had his whole hand in a jar of syrup on the sofa opposite him; Izumo looked to be trying to ignore him. Even if no one knew the Corps would be reinstated soon, he saw no reason to keep it a secret from them. "Chuunin profiles. A few tokubetsu jounin."

They raised their eyebrows in sync. "Why in the world would you have those?" Izumo asked.

Sasuke returned to his files. "I'm deciding who to invite to be instated as an officer at the new Police Corps," he replied. "It has to be the right kind of shinobi; someone who doesn't mind being in village more than being out on missions, and someone who won't show partiality or prejudice to any villager."

Izumo leaned over and snorted, grabbing a file and tossing it. "Well that guy's out, then. That one's a good guy, though."

Sasuke made a note on the page. "What do you think of these two?" he asked, spreading two files out for the duo to see.

Kotetsu spoke around a mouthful of syrup. "The Aburame's nice. Real level-headed. Dunno about the other one."

Nodding, Sasuke shifted the stack so they could see them all. "If you know any of them, any comments about their character would be extremely helpful." He tried not to wince when Kotetsu pointed at a file with his syrup-covered hand, a thick drop just barely conforming to the other syrup and not splatting onto the pristine white paper.

"And THAT," Gai finished, nearly screaming, "is why doing twenty laps around the village each and every morning is of the utmost importance!"

Asuma hoped Kakashi was suffering. He really, really hoped Kakashi was suffering. He couldn't really tell going by the man's expression- or lack thereof- but he had to have been suffering. At the very least, he saw his eyebrow twitch every once in a while.

Faintly, he wondered why Kakashi seemed so dead-set on putting them through the torture of training with Gai. The man had left his own students to train on their own when Kakashi showed up with Asuma in tow, overjoyed by having two new training partners to tortu- er, exercise with.

"I'm getting you back for this," he grunted, reaching for a handhold on the Sandaime's cheek on the Hokage Monument. Two small boulders were tied to his feet.

Kakashi smiled and let out a chuckle. "You'll thank me later."

Naruto was elated to find that snow had come early in the southern forests of the village, slowly spreading towards the heart of Konohagakure itself. He was still in his winter clothing, but had snagged a pair of bicep-length gloves on his way past the Uchiha compound to leave food out for Tatabi. She'd started roaming the compound and making friends with the foxes that hung around; one of her favorite spots was a small rug Karin had set out on the railing of her porch. The cat usually got up early in the morning to slip out of Naruto's window and finish her nap on the rug, greeting Karin when she left early for the hospital or training.

Most civilians avoided going this deep into the woods. The shinobi had no real reason to come out if it wasn't for a mission, so he was surrounded by calming quietness with the wildlife making up the background noise.

"Hey, Naruto."

Without stopping, he looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Izuna in reply. The Uchiha opened his mouth before frowning, turning to Madara to ask a question.

Now both Naruto and his brother were staring at him with raised eyebrows. His question died on his lips; as they walked through the quiet forest, holding a strange yet comfortable dynamic, the question he'd been wanting to formally ask his brother had popped up in his mind again. While he had faith in Madara, he'd yet to say the actual words- I won't help Akatsuki; I won't betray you; I won't leave. He didn't want to think his brother would ever hurt Naruto; he wanted to believe he'd truly changed for the better.

It seemed unnecessary to ask now, though. He shook his head and shrugged, going back to observing the wildlife, and let them fall back into their quiet dynamic. "What're we doing out here?"

"Looking for an herb," Naruto replied, face hidden in a book he'd produced from who knew where. "Grows in winter. Supposed to be good for cats."

They entered a clearing. "You ever had any cats before?" Naruto asked.

Izuna grinned. "The Uchiha's always had a relationship with nekonin, but if you mean pets, we had a cat once when we were children. Remember that?" he asked, glancing at Madara.

The elder snorted. "The one we had for dinner?" Naruto made a face.

Izuna rolled his eyes. "We were starving. But before that, it was fun."

"If you call 'fun' waking up to a shredded tent flap. Father nearly skinned it alive."

"Well, technically he did anyway eventually."

"Gross," Naruto said, wrinkling his nose.

Izuna huffed out a laugh. "Cat meat doesn't taste good," he said. "Remember when you found it hanging around camp? It was skinny as a stick; you could see its ribs."

"It scratched up my face," Madara said, slightly sour.

"Yeah. That was a good day."

Naruto snickered. "Just be glad you didn't see the days of Tora the cat. That thing's from hell. It's the bane of every genin's existence."

Izuna laughed, picturing the time Naruto had nearly frightened the poor thing to death with his explosives. "I'd almost feel sorry for it if it weren't so-" He stopped, nearly running into Naruto. "Hn?"

The boy had come to a halt in the middle of the clearing, posture tense. "What is it?" Madara frowned.

"You hear that?" They both only needed to listen for a split second. "Silence."

The forest had gone quiet around them. The birds had stopped chirping; the insects had stopped buzzing; the leaves were no longer rustling. Naruto took a step, pausing when he heard a minute crack.

He glanced down. A tiny crack had appeared in the ground, a single black line in a field of white. "Naruto," Izuna warned, "I don't think this is a field."

"Yeah, I figured," the blond said, slowly raising one hand and summoning a pentagram to jump onto. He began to bend to jump, but froze when the crack became larger- he didn't know why it seemed so fragile, but if he mistimed it, he'd be in a pinch. The silence was becoming louder, and he didn't want to be stuck in a vulnerable spot.

He motioned the pentagram towards him to grab onto.

Before he could do anything, a presence permeated the air, making his body seize up.

It was worse than any poltergeist he had ever encountered. The bulky weight of its presence pressed down on him like someone shoving him towards the ground, its energy- fouler than any he'd ever felt- pulsating like a beacon of darkness with claws and talons in a world of bright white.

"Naruto," Izuna whispered, "Hiraishin to the village."

"I-" Naruto spoke in a creaking tone, barely able to do even that. "Can't."

He couldn't even move.

The ice exploded. Hands dragged him under before he knew they'd grabbed him, pulling him deeper and deeper into the cold lake as Izuna screamed after him.

Kurama was trying to talk to him, but he was scared, too.

Naruto had partially retreated to his mind to escape the horror of the thing, something he'd never done before. He'd never run away, no matter how gruesome the beast or how horrifying the spirit he was facing. It was similar to being half asleep and half awake, caught between the waking world and a nightmare; he was aware of what was going on around him, how his body was struggling against what had ahold of it, pulling fruitlessly at the appendage around his neck, but part of him wanted to go to sleep and ignore the nightmare.

"I-it's so dark," the Kyuubi whispered. His mindscape was nearly pitch black in the halls and corners; the main hall where the cage had used to be was swathed in shadows, leaving them in a monotone world. The fox's form was hunched at the back in the grass of his meadow, while Naruto was sitting cross-legged in the water of the sewer that had returned. He'd thought he fixed that problem.

"Naruto!" Izuna howled on the outside. His voice was muffled slightly, like he was hearing it through water.

His mindscape shivered. It didn't tremble, or shudder, or quake; it shivered, just slightly, like his body was doing to try and fight the cold.

Back when he'd redone his seal, rearranged the lines and symbols that kept Kurama in his body and himself alive, he'd encountered a strange, foreign chakra. In a way it felt familiar, but he'd been half-asleep at the time- another late night- and so he cornered it off to deal with later. It didn't feel dangerous, but the idea of a stranger's chakra in his body for no particular reason threw him for a loop, so he'd trapped it in a part of his mindscape he could find it again and left it alone. He'd promptly forgot about it the next morning in his excited buzz to finally summon Kurama outside the seal for the first time.

His mindscape shivered as the ties on that chakra started coming loose.

Naruto gasped for air, body violently spasming as he was pulled out of the water.

"Naruto! Come on, snap out of it!"

He gulped in as much oxygen as he could, blindly grasping for something to hold onto. He found fabric, cool to the touch somehow even in the dipping temperatures of winter, and focused as much as he could manage so he wouldn't lose his grip and go right on through.

Madara pulled him onto the bank and leaned him against a tree, crouching at his side as Izuna hovered over him anxiously. Naruto opened his eyes and, for a moment, had no idea where he was. His recollection came rushing back to him in a flurry of thoughts, leaving him cold and confused.

"What- what was that?"

"I don't know," Izuna said, searching his face urgently. "You were under for seven minutes."

"How did-?" He finally noticed they both looked more exhausted than he'd ever seen either of them. They were pale, providing little contrast to the snow itself, and putting even the usual Uchiha complexion to shame. They had to have used up nearly everything in them to both fight off whatever had dragged him under and bring him to the surface; he could still see grey Amaterasu flames flickering on the surface of the lake, slowly diminishing.

Even Madara looked freaked out. Naruto caught sight of a dark shape in the trees across the lake behind Izuna's back, and promptly lost what color had returned to his face. Madara and Izuna both snapped around to face it, staring at the shadow lurking between two trees.

There was a flash of light, and it was gone. His senses lightened and the heavy weight on his chest disappeared.

"What?" Naruto said, unable to get out anything else. "Kurama? Kurama?"

I'm fine, he whispered back, still shivering.

"He was scared," Naruto breathed out, trying to collect himself. "He was really scared."

The two Uchiha shot each other concerned frowns. "We need to get back to the village- now," Izuna pressed, standing and glancing around the forest. "It's still too quiet."

"Right." Naruto went to perform the Hiraishin, and stand, but his chakra was slow and sluggish, unresponsive to his demands. He dug his heels into the ground slightly, but didn't move. "Right."

He felt as if he had a headache and a pain in his chest; he recognized it from whenever a poltergeist managed to strike him. The thing- whatever it had been- had managed to harm his spirit, in the same way it could harm another spirit. Too much of that and he'd be gone to the afterlife. He reckoned that would take a few days to heal over.

Izuna spotted something in the trees. "Dammit. Naruto, Hiraishin. Now. I can't possess anything right now."

"What?"

"In the trees."

Naruto shook himself harshly and clambered to his feet. Shapes darted down from all sides, and he knew he was too exhausted to teleport. One thing he could do, however, was keep them away from his equipment.

He pressed his right thumb into his left palm, activating one of his failsafe seals. His explosive pouches, katana, the Raijin no Ken, and everything else besides the clothes on his back disappeared.

He tried Hiraishin for the hell of it. He ended up a few yards away with a bloody nose; easy meat for his attackers, really.

Sasuke didn't think anything of it when he strolled by Naruto's room and saw the Raijin no Ken hanging on a hook by his desk. He didn't often go out without it, but he still occasionally did.

He frowned when he walked by again and spotted his explosive pouches in a pile by the bookshelf. He stepped into the room this time, and saw the gunbai and fan like Temari's leaning against the wall.

He knew something was wrong when he noticed The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi on the desk. Naruto didn't go anywhere without it, not even into battle.

With a shrill burst of whistles, the pattern Naruto had taught him, he burst outside with one of Naruto's jackets in hand. The foxes congregated around him in a pack, rushing for the jacket as soon as he tossed it into the dirt. They took turns sniffing it before darting in different directions.

He scooped a mewling Tatabi up and deposited her into his jacket pocket, taking off for the Hokage Tower at a sprint. He followed Tsunade's chakra to the missions room, throwing open the door and interrupting her mid-sentence.

"Naruto's gone," he said, speaking in a clipped tone. "I need a tracking and retrieval squad. He's in danger."

The air of the room had been relaxed before his outburst. Some of the color drained from Tsunade's face; she stood up so fast her chair scraped on the wooden floor, waving at Team Eight. "Out. No more missions will be issued today," she snapped.

"What?" Kiba demanded, stepping forward. "But-"

"Come on, Kiba," Kurenai said, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him out as he protested.

"But Naruto-!" The door closed on his shouting. Tsunade motioned for the ANBU in the corner to gather what jounin were in village; she'd only had chuunin and genin around for Sasuke's retrieval, but she had more at her disposal now.

"When did you last see him?"

"Earlier this afternoon, after we left after delivering the mission report," Sasuke said. Shizune began writing down everything he said on her clipboard. "I headed over to the jounin station to go over files. Naruto said he was going to look for an herb of some sort for Tatabi."

"What was its name?" Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes.

Sasuke frowned, rifling through his memory. "He didn't mention the botanical name. It's called cat grass."

"I know that herb, and where it grows," Shizune said. "I'll have the squad start in that direction."

"How'd you know he was in trouble?" Tsunade asked, steepling her fingers together and trying to think analytically. The brat was like a nephew to her; she couldn't handle it if he died like Dan and Nawaki.

"His equipment and gear appeared in his room. He has a failsafe seal that transfers everything he has on him back to the compound," Sasuke explained. "He does this sometimes, but The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy shinobi was on his desk. He would never leave it behind anywhere, and even if he did, he would hide it in a safe or somewhere secure."

The title of the book reminded Tsunade of the boy's godfather, making her grimace. Jiraiya was going to throw a fit, and with good reason. "All right. Is there anything else important to know?"

"I've sent the foxes out to search for him. I have clothing the Inuzuka dogs can use to track his scent. I suggest adding a security detail to Karin."

"All right. Shizune, go get me a few chuunin. I have messages to send out."

Before Shizune could leave, the Sandaime came through the door, raising an eyebrow. He had a scroll in one hand. "What's all the hullabaloo about?"

Tsunade and Shizune shot each other a grimace. "An unknown party's abducted Naruto," Sasuke explained, scowling.

The old man choked on his pipe. "Excuse me?"

Tsunade nodded. "I just sent word out."

Sarutobi matched their grimaces. "Well, that dampens the positive news I had, but I need to deliver it anyway. It's relevant to this."

"What could be so-" He placed the scroll in her hands, making her frown. After reading for a moment, she paused. "Shizune, get the chuunin and then get me clan heir paperwork."

"Wh-what, milady?"

Tsunade wasn't going to screw around. "Naruto's part Senju. Specifically, both my grandfather and Tobirama-oji's third great grandson." Shizune's mouth popped open. "That gives him quite the status, hmm? The village will be able to spare no manpower in retrieving someone of such stature."

The Sandaime could see her point very well; he'd been anticipating she would make it. As a clan head and Jinchuriki, Naruto was already a high-status target, but if he wasn't found in a timely manner, persons in power could start to complain about expending manpower if they had a hand in his disappearance. Danzo, specifically; and as much as he would like to trust his old friends, he couldn't know the extent that Koharu and Homura would work with Danzo. As someone related to four out of five Hokage, however, Naruto was practically royalty, and Tsunade could spare no expense in finding him. Anyone who complained about trying to find Senju Hashirama's grandson would make themselves look suspicious, not to mention like an unpatriotic asshole.

"I do hope you won't mind an old man helping out this retrieval squad," he said, wearing a thin smile.

"And you're sure about this?"

"It is the only plausible conclusion I came to," Shibi said, withholding a sigh. "I brought this to you because, if I am to acquire proof of this accusation, I will require assistance-"

"Aw, that your fancy way of asking for help?"

Shibi cast his old teammate a blank stare, suddenly reminded of why he didn't spend much recreation time with her.

Tsume grinned, rocking back on the hind legs of her chair and taking another sip of her coffee. "Relax, I've got you. Danzo's a shady fucker, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did pull something like that. I didn't exactly get along with every Uchiha I ran into but they didn't deserve that. So if Danzo did? Hell yeah I'm up for taking him down."

Before he could respond, someone knocked on her door. "One moment," Tsume said, jumping out of her seat and ducking into the hall. He heard the door open.

"Inuzuka Tsume? The Hokage requires your presence. You're to be on a retrieval squad."

"Retrieval squad? What, someone get kidnapped?"

"That's what she thinks as of now. Uzumaki Naruto has disappeared-"

"Wait, who?"

Startled, Shibi stood from his seat and walked into the hall. "Ah, Shibi-san!" the chuunin standing in the doorway exclaimed. "It's good you're here. You're needed, too."

"We will be there presently," Shibi said, nodding at the chuunin. Tsume ground her teeth together and motioned for the chuunin to leave, slamming the door.

"Hell no. Hell fucking no. I swear, if Danzo's behind this-"

"We need to keep a cool head," Shibi intoned. "Danzo has always expressed interest in turning Uzumaki-san into a weapon, but he may not necessarily be behind this abduction. I advise you go get your ninken."

"Right," she snapped, though not at him, and stormed down the hall to the back door.

Karin adjusted her medical bag and waved to the receptionist as she exited the hospital, sighing as she imagined going home, heating up leftovers, and settling in for a night of television. She stepped into the street and paused when she saw three ANBU waiting for her.

"Uzumaki Karin?"

"Um, yes? Am I in trouble?" she asked, worried.

The purple-haired one stepped forward and spoke in a placating tone. "No, you're fine. We need to keep you safe. Your cousin is in danger."

"Naruto-sama?! What happened?"

"Uh, Izumo?"

"What, Kotetsu?" Izumo yawned, not looking up from the stack of paperwork he still had to finish. Tsunade was a true slave driver, in his opinion.

Kotetsu grabbed his arm and shook him, pointing. Izumo looked up and paused, staring wide-eyed at the woman with long red hair coming down the road. She stopped near the gate and he instantly felt bad for her, even though he had no idea who she was- she looked at the gate as if it were her very salvation, a single bastion of mercy.

"I-I-I'm U-Uzumaki H-Honoka," she stuttered, arms wrapped tightly around herself to fight the cold. She wore only a short purple tunic, going barefoot in the winter air. "I-I'm here for- for the- cl-clan."

She started to collapse as soon as she got the last word out. They both lunged over the desk and caught her before she hit the ground, worriedly checking her pulse.

"She's alive, but just barely. I can't believe she was walking barefoot in this snow! We have to get her to the hospital!"

"Uh, sirs?" a chuunin called up to them, sounding uncertain. Kakashi peeked over the edge of the railing and waved at the shinobi down the staircase from them.

"Yo!"

"Uh, you're all needed at the Hokage's office," the chuunin shouted nervously, glancing around the Monument. She waved a clipboard at them. "It's very urgent! You're on a retrieval squad!"

"Retrieval squad?" Asuma called back, already starting down the stairs. "Who're we retrieving?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, sir."

Asuma froze. Even Gai, for all his enthusiasm, went dead silent as they both turned to Kakashi, unsure whether to be apprehensive or sympathetic. The eye-smile was gone, leaving only a startled look in its wake.

"Well then." He spoke in a flat tone, the look in his eye going grave and serious. "Let's go."

"…Right." Swallowing the awkwardness, Asuma leapt after his friend, the fun and competitive air that had been between the three jounin having evaporated.

"Hashirama."

"Hm?"

"Look."

Hashirama turned and followed his brother's gaze, tilting his head slightly in a show of confusion when he saw the shinobi leaping over the rooftops towards the Hokage Tower. "An announcement, perhaps?"

"Unlikely," Tobirama replied. "I've seen no messengers and it's late in the day."

Ahead of them, Mito sighed. "I can't seem to find Naruto-kun anywhere." She was using her fan to shade her eyes, perusing the streets. "He was supposed to return today. I saw Sasuke-kun walking about."

"-It's so horrible! His things just appeared, no trace of him. Sasuke ran right to the Hokage."

An Uchiha ghost floated out of an alleyway, followed by a Senju. The two couldn't have been more than sixteen each. The girl who'd spoken looked worried to death, keeping a tight hold on her companion's hand.

The Senju girl gnawed on her lip. "Is that why everyone's heading for the Hokage Tower? Because Naruto's missing?"

"Naruto's what?" Mito exclaimed. The two girls jumped and froze like deer in headlights when they saw them.

"O-oh, you're-" The Uchiha girl looked a little faint.

The Senju briefly let go of her hand to bow. "Shodaime-sama, Nidaime-sama, Mito-sama," she said hurriedly.

Mito stepped closer. Her eyes were worried, and put the two at ease. "What do you know of Naruto?"

"I was outside the house when Sasuke came out," the Uchiha girl said, face falling again. "He threw Naruto's jacket on the ground for the foxes to smell and use to search for him and he ran to the Hokage. My cousin told me he'd found all of Naruto's things in his room, but no Naruto." She looked very nearly ready to burst into tears.

"So that's what they're congregating at the tower for," Hashirama said, dismayed. "This is horrid- we have to help find him!"

"Madara and Izuna were with him," Tobirama said with a thoughtful frown. "If Izuna can possess people, I would think the two of them together would be able to fight any attackers off."

"Unless something happened that weakened the both of them beforehand," Hashirama pointed out.

"Thank you, you two," Mito said to the girls. The Senju wrapped a sympathetic arm around the Uchiha, who was by now sniffling. Hashirama and Tobirama shifted on their feet- a tad guiltily at having not noticed, and uncomfortably, unsure of what to do, respectively. Tobirama had never actually seen an Uchiha be so emotional before.

"You'll find him, right? He's so nice," the Uchiha said.

"Of course we will." Mito didn't miss the way the Senju pressed a comforting palm to her friend's hip. A slight smile grew on her lips, despite the situation at hand. "What're your names?"

"Miki," the Uchiha squeaked.

"Tamaki," the Senju replied, squaring her shoulders.

"Thank you for the information. Why don't you go back to the compound?"

Miki nodded. Tamaki bowed again before she turned and lead Miki away, taking a detour down a back alley.

Mito turned back to her husband and nodded. "All right, let's go." She took off at a fast walk, leaving them both vaguely confused.

"Squad One will be composed of Mawashi Dokuraku, Aburame Shibi, Inuzuka Tsume, and Hyuuga Hoheto. Squad Two will be composed of Morino Ibiki, Hatake Kakashi, and Aburame Muta. Squad Three will be composed of Tonbo Tobitake, Inuzuka Hana, and Hyuuga Ko. As you can tell, the squads are formulated so they can work as a search and rescue tracking squad and an interrogation unit if you find an adversary in the field. It's extremely unlikely we'll find Naruto out in the open; it's probable the enemy had somewhere to hole up, as he's too valuable of a target to travel openly with. They also needed multiple shinobi to take down someone of his level, so it's likely you'll encounter multiple adversaries. Whenever there's a hostage, supplies are needed, so if you can find one of them on their own, interrogate them for more information." Tsunade motioned to a whiteboard Shizune had brought in with a pointer.

"What about me, Tsunade-sama? I'm still full of energy!" Gai said, one hand clenched into a fist.

"I have another job for you, Gai. You'll be on the assault squad for whenever we find their hideaway to hit. You too, Asuma. I've already sent out two ANBU units to start scouting." The rest of the ANBU were stretched thin; those who weren't out on missions were guarding Karin and the mysterious woman claiming to be an Uzumaki who'd collapsed at the gate, as well as pulling village security detail duty. Tsunade doubted the abductors were going to send a ransom, but she couldn't rule out the possibility they didn't even know Naruto was a Jinchuriki and only knew of his blood status, either.

She would have sent ANBU after Sasuke as well, but in the ensuing peace after the invasion, she'd made the mistake of assuming they were mostly in the clear regarding kidnapping attempts, what with Akatsuki having retreated, so she'd sent most of them on missions. As soon as she had them free she'd sent them out after the Sasuke Retrieval Squad, but most of them had been finished with their battles already. On the bright side, they had picked off any Sound nin trying to get away.

The jounin and TI chuunin gathered in the room stood straighter when she raised her hand. "This will come as new information to most of you," she began. "Most of you know of Naruto's status as a clan head and Jinchuriki. I don't need to impress upon you the importance that we get him back." A few people grimaced. "Currently, he's also the Senju clan heir. He happens to be directly related to my granduncle." Expressions went slack with shock; some of the chuunin began whispering to each other.

Technically, she hadn't formally become the clan head yet- she'd had no interest, and by the time the position was open they were all dead and she wasn't in Konoha- but a few pieces of paperwork and it was easy enough. Normally it would take days or weeks, but no one needed to know about shoving that piece of paperwork through to quickly name an heir.

"That piece of information stays confidential. Just so you know, however, there's no room for error. He's a very important person to the village. You all have your starting points. Get out there and bring me results."

"Yes, ma'am'," the room chorused, saluting before they either disappeared in billows of smoke and leaves or exited through the door.

The door swung open. Sakura, with an expression of steel, came in with Sasuke on her heels. "Shishou," she greeted.

"I already know what you're going to ask, and yes, you're on the assault squad," Tsunade sighed, dragging a hand down her face. She would highly prefer avoiding sending her and Sasuke, but she knew they'd go on their own no matter what she did.

Sakura relaxed slightly and nodded. When a chuunin had come and gotten her in the middle of training Ino, she'd left her Yamanaka friend in the dark, not wanting to cause a stir. "Thank you."

"However, I do not want you in the field before that," Tsunade insisted, pointing a finger at them. "It's too dangerous right now. When you get out there you need to be with sensei and Gai and Asuma here, not a tracking squad. You understand me?"

Sasuke and Sakura felt each other's sourness. They nodded, and when she wasn't looking, eyed each other. A four-man squad composed of purely Inuzuka had been sent out as well, but they both knew a certain Inuzuka who'd be willing to help.

"We'll stay here, shishou." Sakura saluted and turned to exit.

Only Sasuke noticed she'd left off the "You have my word" she always used when she promised her shishou something.

"Yo, what's all the ruckus out there about?"

Shizune cringed when Jiraiya swung in through the open window, starting to inconspicuously move away towards the door herself. Tsunade steeled herself and turned around to face him.

"You're not going to like it."