Of course Kakashi would be late to his own coronation, thankfully he didn't make the entire village wait too long so it seemed he would at least put effort into his new position.
After the coronation was over his first order of business was to get promotions out of the way, Team 7 had earned theirs and all three were now chunin, which meant Haku was allowed to be considered a full fledged genin.
The other thing he had to deal with was Sunagakure, they'd had Kankuro until recently, Kakashi had ordered the boy released home to show how forgiving they could be, the boy was unharmed. Many disagreed with this sentiment, but Kakashi was Hokage now.
If he was honest the Hatake wasn't even sure why he'd been made Godaime Hokage, it had been mostly Tsunade's idea. Kakashi wondered what her angle was, it was surprising she'd agreed to return to iryonin duty if he became the Kage, and he hadn't wanted to deny the village such a boon. Jiraiya seemed as lost as he was.
The main issues now were Otogakure no Sato and Akatsuki. Jiraiya insisted he should take Naruto on a training trip and wanted Kakashi to help him convince Haku to be separated from the blonde. He could see why but the silver haired man knew neither of the kids would go for it.
What was worse is that Kakashi could tell Sasuke wouldn't take well to Naruto getting advanced training out of the village, the Uchiha wanted to practice against another Sharingan wielder and now Kakashi was Kage and would be too busy. The man was simply not interested in splitting his team up, he worried they may become like the Sannin for real.
Orochimaru was using Otogakure, and according to Jiraiya had been a member of Akatsuki until he'd been driven out in an altercation. The idea that the Akatsuki was made up of shinobi on Orochimaru's level was not a good prospect, Konoha didn't have many shinobi on that level and Tsunade seemed reluctant to return to the field. Kakashi resolved to spend his free time training so he wouldn't make the village look weak.
They were still spread thin even with Tsunade healing many injured, including Rock Lee who had been considered a lost cause by basically every doctor that examined him. It had done a lot for morale to have the Senju healing people, and Kakashi himself was well respected enough to pull off being the Hokage without issue. Konohamaru had refused to come out of the office but Tsunade had given the boy a talking to and he seemed to have calmed down some.
"Jiraiya-san," Kakashi began and the Sennin wondered when Kakashi had taken up smoking a pipe, how he smoked with the mask on, or if he intended to light it, "I'm thinking of sending Team 7 on an A rank mission, we're spread thin so I can't afford to spend a jonin on them." he began and Jiraiya realized the pipe was empty which explained why the fresh Hokage seemed unconcerned with his mask being up, "I want you to try and figure out when Akatsuki will move next." Kakashi said and steeped his fingers, "This mission should be far enough away to keep them guessing."
"It sounds like you don't want to rebrand them," Jiraiya noticed, "they're chunin now, you can't let them keep Team 7, it's a genin designation. If Haku goes with them, and you know he will, then the four of them should be able to handle an A rank."
Kakashi stared blankly at Jiraiya, "I can't think of a better name and it seems weird to designate them Team Kakashi since I won't get to lead them." he said and Jiraiya sighed, "I considered letting them name themselves." he added.
The Sennin shook his head, "Don't, if Naruto manages to convince the other two of a name he wants you'll regret it." he warned and Kakashi nodded, "Ask them to nominate a team leader out of the three of them and name the team after that decision." he advised.
"Alright guys, who in your team would you trust most with your life, not including Haku." Kakashi asked his team, the three of them had chunin flak vests over their outfits, and the Godaime gave a pointed look to the blonde boy at the last part, "The three of you should generally trust each other, but say you had to pick one or the other to save you from some unspeakable monster."
Sasuke shrugged, "Naruto." he answered simply, choosing not to verbally expand on that, Naruto had his eye and limitless stamina so it made sense to him.
Naruto frowned and thought about it, Sasuke took offense but tried not to let it show, "It's hard to say, Sasuke is stronger so I guess him if it's something scary like that." he said finally.
Sakura was frowning too, "Naruto." she said after thinking about it, hoping Sasuke wasn't upset but knowing that the blonde really was becoming powerful.
"Alright then, Team Naruto I have an A rank mission for you." Kakashi said and the three chunin blinked owlishly as they realized why Kakashi had asked that. Haku just smiled since he was already used to doing what the blonde boy wanted.
Sakura paled as she realized she'd nominated Naruto to lead their team, she really hoped the blonde didn't do something stupid. Naruto was grinning at the turn of events, "What's the mission, sensei?" he asked after he took a moment to enjoy the moment. Sasuke tried not to roll his eyes.
Kakashi smiled, "Escort Yukie Fujikaze to Yuki no Kuni for the filming of a new Fuun Hime movie." he said. Haku had heard of those movies, he wanted to watch one with Naruto but hadn't figured out a way to ask the blonde. Sakura had heard of the movies too and seemed taken with the idea of guarding a movie actress.
"Team Naruto is on it!" Naruto declared happily, clearly pleased with his new role of squad leader as he accepted the mission scroll. Kakashi wondered how many high rank missions were done with teams of three chunin and one genin, and figured the team make up would maintain for a while if he could help it.
"We should inform Karin-san that we will be away." Haku advised as they left the mission office, Naruto nodded in agreement as he read over the mission scroll a few times, then once with Sasuke's eye just in case.
"I'll go pack for a cold weather mission, where should we meet?" Sakura asked, figuring that since she nominated him she'd give Naruto a shot at leading them. Sasuke remained silent but waited for the answer to Sakura's question.
"Meet at the docks as soon as you're packed," Naruto said after a moment, "it sounds like we can go meet our mark and employer there." he explained, stowing the mission scroll in his equipment pouch.
Sasuke frowned, "The mark and the employer are different people?" he asked and Naruto nodded so the dark haired boy shrugged and left to go pack up. Sakura ran off too, although Haku noticed she went to the shops instead of her home.
Naruto and Haku went home to pack and alert Karin to their absence. Haku packed his turtleneck but didn't put it on and Naruto packed a pair of beige coats. The blonde also pulled on dark blue gloves.
"You guys get to escort an actress?" Karin asked, "I never got cool missions like that." she grumbled jealously. Haku stashed extra senbon and shrugged, not overly concerned with the details of the mission.
Naruto just grinned proudly, "It's an A rank, they aren't usually given to genin." he pointed out, Haku decided not to point out that Team 7 had technically done more dangerous missions as genin.
Karin sighed dramatically, "I know, but still you guys get to go on a romantic journey and I can't even do D ranks." she complained, not giving up the opportunity to tease the two.
Haku frowned, "It's a mission not a vacation!" he insisted, his cheeks pink despite his denial. Naruto nodded in agreement with a surprisingly serious expression on his face.
"Your team is going to Yuki no Kuni without adult supervision," Karin pointed out with a sly grin, "how dangerous, no one to stop poor innocent Naruto-nii from falling to your predilections." she added and Haku turned a deeper shade of red, "Well at least you'll be out of town so I won't have to hear when you-" she tried to continue her teasing but was cut off by the subjects of her teasing running away.
"Okay bye Karin-neechan!" Naruto called out as he fled the scene, Haku following after him. Karin smirked as they ran away flustered.
Naruto managed to compose himself by the time they reached the docks but Haku couldn't stop thinking about what Karin said, he knew the younger girl had been about to say something horrifically indecent. The dark haired boys cheeks were still pink by the time they caught up with Naruto's teammates.
Sasuke had gone back to his blue shirt but had a longer sleeved purple shirt on under it and had included leg warmers with his shorts. Sakura had put on leg and arm warmers the same shade as her red dress and had pulled her forehead protector back up to the top of her head to use it as more of a hair tie again.
"I told you," Sasuke began speaking to Sakura as the two boys approached, "Naruto just lives further away. He's not copying Kakashi or doing anything weird with Haku." the Uchiha said and Haku turned brighter red yet again.
"What's weird about Haku-chan?" Naruto asked, clearly misinterpreting what his teammate was saying, Sakura seemed embarrassed to have her theories about the blonde and his vassal revealed.
"Sakura thought Haku had you tied up in bed," Sasuke began and Sakura looked ashamed of herself, Haku tried to glare at her but was too flustered to be intimidating, "but I suppose that might not be weird to you at this point with your weird blood thing." the Uchiha finished to the embarrassment of the blonde.
"What blood thing?" Haku asked, suddenly curious despite himself.
Sasuke didn't hide his smirk, "The proctor of phase two of the chunin exams was this older kunoichi named Anko who went on about how sexy and single she was, she cut his cheek with a kunai," he began and Haku didn't look happy about that as Naruto's cheeks deepened in shade, "then she licked his cheek." he added and Haku's jaw dropped, "I think it gave Naruto an awakening or something, he even seemed relieved to realize he was still into girls." the Uchiha finished.
Haku was stunned at the news and Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, so Sakura tried to focus the mission, "So who are we meeting where?" the pink haired chunin asked.
"Sendayu Asama." Naruto answered, "Yukie's manager, he should be waiting for us near the boat we'll be traveling in to Yuki no Kuni." he said, looking around the docks for the boat that was listed. His team fell into line smoothly as he took them to a boat that was being loaded with costumes and camera equipment.
"Ah, shinobi!" A man with small glasses said as they approached, moving to greet them, he had short grey hair with a beard and mustache, "I am surprised to see such young ninja, are you the squad leader, young lady?" he asked Haku, much to the annoyance of Naruto.
Haku smiled, "Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to shinobi, sir," he began, "for example I am a boy, I am actually the only genin on this squad, and Naruto-kun is in charge." he finished with a gesture to the blonde who puffed his chest out.
The man seemed startled, "Oh, terribly sorry, shinobi-san!" he said with a bow, "My name is Sandayu Asama, I'm the one who payed for the mission." he introduced.
Naruto accepted the apology, "Naruto Uzumaki, chunin and future Hokage, y'know." the blonde said with a confident nod.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, chunin." The younger of the dark haired boys spoke up as Sakura bowed.
"Sakura Haruno," The pink haired girl introduced as she straightened out of her bow, "I'm also chunin." she added, to the surprise of Sandayo.
"Haku," The older boy spoke up, "genin." he finished simply, seeing no need to elaborate further.
"Well, I'm glad to have the assistance." Sandayu began, "The ship should have a room with four bunks for you if that is fine, Yukie-san is currently confined to her own room under guard if you'd like to meet her before we cast off?"
"You hired us to escort her right?" Naruto asked, "So sure, we should meet her." he said without waiting for an answer, seeming excited, probably to be meeting someone like a famous actress.
Sandayu lead the team onto the ship and below deck, nodding to some guards before knocking on the door, "Yukie-san, would you like to meet the shinobi who are here to watch over you?" he called out, frowning when there was no response, "Yukie-san? I'm coming in." he warned before opening the door.
The sheets for the bed were torn up and turned into a makeshift rope that slid out the porthole. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked around the room as Sandayu panicked.
"The porthole is small, even I'd have trouble slipping through it." Sakura pointed out before Sasuke walked over to the bed and crouched down to look under it. The Uchiha caught the shoe that came at him in response and stood up.
"Found her." Sasuke said, dropping the high heeled shoe as he stood up.
"I apologize for Yukie-san, she's usually a bit more co-operative with the directors but she seems to be pretty heavily against going to Yuki no Kuni." Sandayu explained.
"Why?" Haku asked with a frown, "I heard it was a romantic country." he added, remembering what Karin had said and realizing too late he should not reiterate Karin's words.
Sandayu nodded before Sasuke and Sakura could speak up, "It is a lovely country," he agreed, "a beautiful land if you like snow." he added.
"So why wouldn't she want to go?" Naruto spoke up, crossing his arms and frowning in confusion.
"Mind your business!" The harsh voice of their mark, Yukie Fujikaze, called out from beneath her bed, "Get out!" she added.
Sandayu looked concerned for the actress, far more than was normal for a manager, and Sakura pulled in the torn sheets before shutting the window, "We'll greet you properly when you're dressed." Sasuke commented on his way out the door. Yukie didn't respond and the implication hung in the air for a moment before everyone else swiftly left the room and shut the door as well.
Sakura couldn't believe Sasuke had seen the actress naked, with his dojutsu no less. The Sharingan was said to give photographic memory so the thought the Uchiha could conjure the image of a naked actress on command bothered her, she wanted to be the one being conjured by his mind.
The pink haired girl wasn't going to act on it, but she was annoyed, and her aggravation to obvious to the team. Sasuke wasn't concerned and didn't see what had her so bothered, Naruto decided not to make himself into a target for her to vent on, and Haku resisted the urge to get revenge for the teasing given her sour mood since Sakura was usually mild and only went along with teasing rather than initiating it like Kakashi, Sasuke, and Karin would.
The room they'd been given on the ship was small and had four hammocks, it was enough for the ninja and Haku had dealt with much worse lodgings before living with Naruto. Sakura wanted to complain but knew they had a mission to do, the weight of her flak vest reminding her that she was being trusted with more responsibility and made her feel like she had to act more like an adult. Sasuke dropped his pack under a hammock and reclined in it, claiming the spot as his with his usual devil may care attitude.
"Haku-chan could you find out when we're casting off?" Naruto asked as he put his own pack down under a different hammock, Haku nodded and dropped his pack under the hammock closest to Naruto's, leaving the one near Sasuke free.
Sakura claimed it eagerly as Haku left to perform Naruto's wishes, "So, Sasuke-kun," she began and the boy winced at her cooing tone, "since we're going to be on this long cruise together, shouldn't we get to know each other a little better?" she asked slyly, trying not to stutter and ruin the boldness and confidence she was trying to exude.
Sasuke just rolled his eyes, "Honestly, I miss when Naruto would distract you from me by asking you on dates." he said coldly and the pink haired girl pouted as his casual dismissal of her feelings for him.
Naruto realized he hadn't done that in a while and tried to think of the last time he had, "Oh yeah, I haven't asked Sakura for a date since-" he began, reminiscing a little before he realized with wide eyes that it hadn't been since the mission to Nami no Kuni. His two teammates noticed his pause and surprise, wondering what had him so stunned as they were unaware that he was only just realized he had been more invested in hanging out with Haku than asking Sakura on a date.
"Guys," Naruto began, sounding worried and concerned, his team were on alert now, "I think I might be gay for Haku-chan." he finished, sounding genuinely surprised by the revelation.
Sasuke and Sakura sighed in unison, "We know." they said, surprising the blonde who had turned pink in the cheeks.
"Alright, direct order from the team leader," Naruto said with a hint of panic, "don't tell Haku-chan I said that." he ordered, actually sounding serious despite it having nothing to do with the mission.
Sasuke stood from his hammock, approached Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder, "Naruto," he began in an almost brotherly fashion, "there is no need for that order, you dense fool, he's already back." he finished and the blonde jumped and looked over his shoulder to see Haku standing just outside the door with bright red cheeks, refusing to meet Naruto's gaze.
"So they're going to kiss now, right?" Sakura asked in a tone that sounded way too eager for Sasuke to be comfortable with and had Naruto even more flustered.
"No!" Naruto spoke up against the kissing, "I'm not going to order Haku-chan to do anything weird with me!" he insisted, seeming to think he was in trouble and his fears were not assuaged by Sakura's smirk.
"Haku," Sasuke addressed the older teen, "if you don't spell it out to this knucklehead right now and I have to put up with you two tip toeing around it after the moron finally became self aware I'm locking you both in a closet until you do." the Uchiha threatened in a flat tone, Sakura nodded to show she'd help.
Haku glared at Sasuke but the Uchiha met his stare calmly so the older teen turned to their blonde squad leader, "Naruto-kun," he began, trying to think of how to word it, "I would be honored to be of such intimate use to you." he finished, chickening out of a real confession with a bow that was too polite.
"Wow, that sounded even dirtier than I expected." Sakura was stunned as Naruto sputtered, Haku didn't rise from his bow so he could hide his red face.
"I don't want to use Haku-chan like that!" Naruto denied and Haku's posture slackened a bit in response, the vassal tried not to be disappointed.
Sasuke groaned, "If you don't tell him for real he's not going to get it!" he scolded the fidgeting genin. The Uchiha found it odd to be scolding someone older than he was but he had military rank and the older boy was not acting like an older and more experienced shinobi right now.
Haku closed his eyes, stood up straight, and took a deep breath, "I want to be used by Naruto-kun." he tried again firmly, Sakura and Sasuke both pinched the bridges of their noses at his choice of words as Naruto turned bright red, "I like being a tool and vassal," the older boy continued.
"You're not my tool!" Naruto interrupted, startling Haku into opening his eyes, "You're way more than a tool, you're my precious person!" he insisted as the ship started moving.
Haku liked those words and it showed on his face as he steeled himself, "I'm trying to say," he began when he noticed Sasuke was still glaring at him and Sakura was grinning, "that I enjoy being precious to you." he decided which only intensified Sasuke's glare, "And I suppose I wouldn't mind indulging your blood fetish." he finished swiftly with a blush, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch the reactions.
Sasuke and Sakura could be heard slapping their hands over their faces and Naruto blushed deeper red, "What!?" the blonde was shocked by the last statement.
"Damn it, you're both dense." Sasuke complained as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Haku is trying to say he likes you too." Sakura finally spared the two awkward teens, Naruto blinked owlishly and looked at Haku, who hadn't opened his eyes but nodded in agreement with Sakura's statement.
"Oh," Naruto said, realization finally dawning on the blonde, "that's good." he finished rather anticlimactically, surprising Haku.
"Now kiss!" Sakura insisted only for Sasuke to cover her mouth and start dragging her out of the room.
"Finally, if you two share a hammock then put a headband on the door or something, Sakura and I are going to double check the ship for anything out of the ordinary." Sasuke declared as he dragged his protesting pink haired teammate out of the room.
Naruto and Haku were left alone in the room, unsure what to say to each other after that, "Uh, now what?" the blonde asked, seemingly at a loss for what to do.
Haku was partially grateful to Sasuke and Sakura for pushing them, and hearing Naruto's words had the older shinobi feeling almost giddy, but the boy still felt awkward since he was older than the blonde and didn't want to force the younger ninja to do something he wasn't ready for.
"Please feel free to treat me like you would a girlfriend, Naruto-kun." Haku told the blonde and they both remembered all the teasing they'd gotten.
Naruto surprised the older boy by grabbing his hand, "Alright, sorry if I get something wrong then," he apologized with an embarrassed grin, "I've never had a girlfriend, so I'm glad my first is as pretty as you, Haku-chan." he said earnestly and Haku almost did an impression of Hinata fainting as the blonde dragged the older teen to catch up with his two teammates.
Sasuke and Sakura were talking with an elderly man in a brown cap and blue glasses in an orange turtleneck and and brown pants on the deck when the two boys approached. Sandayu and some other crew were standing around them.
The elderly man seemed less than pleased, "Damn, even the oldest among you is a brat." he grumbled, looking up and down Haku, "Can she even fight?" the man asked, noticing that Sakura had least had shuriken holsters.
"Haku-chan is a genin, but he's still really strong," Naruto explained and the entire crew did a double take at the pronoun, "don't let the lack of visible weapons fool you." the blonde finished with a grin.
"This is Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke spoke up, "he's the squad leader." he didn't elaborate on that and the elderly man in the hat seemed like he didn't believe it, "Naruto, this guy is Makino, the director of the movie." the Uchiha introduced the man in the hat.
"We nominated him by accident," Sakura explained, earning an offended look from the blonde, "our sensei tricked us by asking who should be most trusted to deal with an unspeakable monster!" she excused herself of any blame with that and caused Makino to raise an eyebrow.
"It was completely unfair," Sasuke agreed and Naruto turned his offended look at the Uchiha, "we've already seen Naruto defeat an unspeakable monster." he finished, remembering Gaara.
Makino raised his other eyebrow in a look of shock, "The blonde shrimp?" he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"Naruto-kun has more chakra than the Hokage." Haku spoke up with a smile to hide his malice towards the words of the director, "As a result of this and his Uzumaki blood, Naruto-kun has not only more power than most shinobi his own age, but also the stamina to throw that massive power around all day, and sometimes all night." the vassal was thinking about how much the blonde liked to train but Sakura thought that sounded like something else.
Makino thought it sounded like something else too, "Aren't you all a little young for this?" he asked with some concern.
Naruto laughed, "Nah, we become adults of the village once we put the forehead protectors on." he said proudly, misinterpreting the concern as being towards their choice of career and still not doing much to assuage the concern.
"The village tries to keep child soldiers to a minimum," Sakura assured suddenly, surprising Naruto and Sasuke, "normally genin are stuck with D ranks with some C ranks to get them ready for being chunin, but we advanced to chunin really young considering there isn't a war." the pink haired girl explained, "As genin we had two C rank missions, and both were elevated to A rank missions in the middle of it, so the Godaime Hokage trusts us to deal with an A rank mission as a chunin team. Even if some enemy shinobi do show up we've proven we can hold our own." she finished, deciding not to mention the other reasons they were doing it without a jonin, namely that their sensei was now the Hokage and the village was spread too thin to spare anyone else for this mission.
"Haku is a genin and even he could take out an A rank shinobi by himself." Sasuke pointed out, deciding to spare Sakura the embarrassment of pointing out that Haku was technically stronger than the pink haired chunin despite their ranks.
"Well, I'll take your words for it," Makino decided, "our stuntmen turned bodyguards have been having trouble keeping Fujikaze-san on the boat at all, it was a nightmare getting her into her room." the director confessed with a sigh, "I don't know what's gotten into her, she's usually a good actress, a real natural, but ever since she found out we'd be filming in Yuki no Kuni it's like she lost her head."
"Yuki no Kuni is a long way to go to shoot some scene in a movie." Sasuke pointed out, not sounding too interested or impressed, viewing the entire thing as wasteful.
"Yukie Fujikaze's manager, Sandayu-san, recommended it." One of the crew spoke up, "Apparently they have this amazing natural wonder, the Rainbow Glacier, that turns seven different colours during the springtime." the man explained and Sandayu simply nodded, remaining silent.
Sasuke found it odd that the manager suggested going somewhere the actress clearly didn't want to go, "I heard the nation is pretty poor too." a new voice spoke up, causing Sakura to suddenly whip around and stare at the speaker star struck, "Actually, the story is their former lord had a thing for gadgets and squandered all the wealth his clan had on useless gizmos." the man explained.
Sasuke recognized the look on Sakura as the one she usually gave him when he did something she liked, which was disturbingly often, "I just hope they have heating, I can't deal with the cold." another crew member spoke up.
"Maybe you should make like Yukie-san and run for the hills too?" Another suggested with a wry grin and a few of the crew chuckled at that.
"We'll check on Yukie again," Sasuke spoke up, "to make sure she didn't make it to the hills while no one was looking." he explained as he started back below deck. Sakura, Haku, and Naruto followed him, although Sakura seemed hesitant and kept glancing at the male actors.
This time Naruto knocked on the door, "Hey, Fuun Hime, your shinobi guard would like to meet you properly!" the blonde called with a grin. A dark haired woman with blue eyes answered the door in her pajamas.
"I'm not actually a princess, you dumb kid." Yukie said, her voice sounding slightly slurred, Haku could smell alcohol and frowned.
"You think I don't know that?" Naruto asked, "I get that you're a high and mighty actress but chill out, I'm just trying to keep the mood light." the blonde said, surprising his team, Sasuke wondered if that's why Naruto was always so annoyingly cheerful.
Yukie just laughed at him, "High and mighty? Yeah right!" she snorted, the rocking of the boat causing her to stumble as she braced herself against the door frame, "Acting is just lying, we're the lowest of the low." the way her mood shifted suddenly was disturbing to Sakura in particular, who frowned and looked to see what Naruto and Sasuke would do.
"Fujikaze-san," Haku spoke up, "you should probably lie down." he advised, "I don't know why going to Yuki no Kuni distresses you so much, and it is not my job to pry, but is there anything you think we as your guards should be aware of?" he asked, Yukie looked uncertain but eventually shook her head and closed the door in their face.
"Man, what a rude lady." Naruto grumbled under his breath as his team went back to their own room on the ship, but even he was aware that the woman was hiding something now.
Back in their own room the chunin swapped out their ninja sandals for closed in shoes of similar material and design, packing the sandals away and getting the shoes ready for when the weather changed. Haku just put his usual sandals down and climbed into Naruto's hammock.
"Oi, you two stay in your own hammocks," Sasuke began when he noticed, "we're all sharing a room here." he scolded.
"Aw come on," Naruto complained, "Haku-chan and I had different beds the entire time we were looking for Tsunade-baachan with Ero-Sennin." the blonde griped and Sakura still wasn't sure whether to be impressed that the young shinobi was actually allowed to call two legendary shinobi by such familiar terms, then she remembered the Sandaime and wondered just how well connected her teammate actually was.
Haku sidled up behind Naruto on the hammock, putting the blonde between himself and Sasuke, "We won't do anything indecent," the brown eyed boy promised, "we just sleep more comfortably like this." he explained and Naruto nodded in agreement.
Sasuke realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with them and thanks to Kakashi he couldn't even pull rank, he technically could pull rank on Haku but Naruto would just overrule him and Haku clearly knew it, "Fine, but if I see anything I'm telling Kakashi," he said with a glare, knowing their sensei would tease the two every time they got a mission, "and Karin." he added, remembering the red haired girl seemed to like riling them up as well.
True to their promise Naruto and Haku only slept in the same hammock, Sakura noticed that they didn't change much at all but they couldn't really get much closer than they already were. Haku seemed more comfortable standing closer to the blonde, and Naruto had never been very aware of personal space anyway, and the pink haired girl had no idea if the cuddling in the hammock was normal for before or not. If that was how they cuddled before being open about their feelings she would be very concerned about how dense Naruto actually was though.
There was some filming during the cruise, it was a new and interesting sight for the chunin, Haku and Sasuke seemed less interested but they were all impressed with the actors. Yukie had done an amazing performance at one point, which had been almost immediately ruined by the fact the actress needed eye drops to fake crying. Sakura and Naruto seemed disappointed and disillusioned by the actress by this point.
Haku noticed watching a Fuun Hime movie with Naruto would probably be a bad date after a mission like this. The pale boy wasn't even sure what would constitute as a good date, he considered Ichiraku but realized they ate there all the time anyway and the blonde would have to pay for whatever they did if he picked something that cost money since the dark haired boy was just a vassal. The hot springs came to mind but they already did that too. He was starting to realize why everyone had already assumed they were dating, they had acted like it for a while.
One morning they had been awoken by one of the crew freaking out and showing the director, who was still in his pajamas it was so early, a mass of ice had risen in their path. Haku found this odd as while they were getting closer to Yuki no Kuni a massive ice flow like the one ahead shouldn't be here.
The director seemed to think it was the perfect scene and insisted the 'movie gods' were smiling on them, no one seemed to agree but no one argued with him as he ordered the cameras to set up and the actors got costumes ready.
Haku was already wearing his turtleneck and would be fine with the cold, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all put their coats on and the four ninja moved onto the ice flow with Yukie and the rest of the crew. Haku looked over the ice field warily, the frozen water not giving him as much calm as he'd expected.
During one of the scenes the crew were filming Haku noticed movement where there should be none, a bit of snow shifting in the distance so subtle he almost missed it. The boy knew it wasn't an animal and wondered how many enemy there were.
Naruto noticed Haku tense up as the older boy stepped closer to him and looked around for what had his vassal so concerned. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and swept it over the landscape, narrowing his eye after he did.
The Uchiha was the first to move and stepped in front of Yukie mid scene, "Contact, three unknown enemy." he declared, taking a defensive stance. Sakura palmed two handfuls of shuriken and Haku palmed his senbon in his right hand.
Naruto raised his headband to reveal the other Sharingan of the pair, "Alright all civilians back on the boat!" he ordered, confusing the crew until one of the hidden shinobi stood, meeting Sasuke's glare with a smirk.
The man wore strange armor and had a happuri style forehead protector with a symbol none of the Konoha nin recognized, his light purple hair pulled back in a ponytail and his teal eyes had purple markings under them, "Interesting, I hear you three are students of Kakashi Hatake." he said, "Welcome to Yuki no Kuni." he greeted sarcastically.
Another voice spoke up, "Greetings, Koyuki-hime. I do hope you're still carrying around that crystal." the woman said, in similar armor to the first man, her pink hair poking out of the top of her helmet like pig-tails, she'd appeared on a nearby pillar of ice and was looking down on Sasuke as well, but her gaze was clearly on Yukie Fujikaze.
A third, deeper voice spoke as a large figure popped out of the snow, "Students of Kakashi? They're good to have noticed all three of us, but it won't be good enough." he said with confidence, the man was also armored and even had a strange gauntlet on his left arm, the man had a square jaw and short purple hair.
"Sakura," Naruto spoke up, "protect Yukie." he ordered, getting the feeling these opponents were not chunin level enemies. The pink haired girl nodded, trying to keep her eyes on all three enemy shinobi as the crew pulled back to the ship.
The first of the enemy ninja to be revealed spoke up, "Fubuki," he called and the kunoichi looked up, "Mizore," he continued to get the attention of the square jawed man, "I leave the princess to you." he said as he jumped down towards Sasuke.
"With pleasure, Nadare." Fubuki responded, jumping at the stunned group of actors as Mizore jumped on an odd snowboard.
Sasuke jumped up to meet Nadare, tossing a kunai at the man and frowning as it was deflected off of a barrier that his eye noticed was coming from the armor itself. The Uchiha met the older shinobi in taijutsu in mid air and winced, each exchanged blow felt like a hammer blow to his bones.
Haku landed in front of Yukie and tossed senbon at Fubuki, frowning as they were deflected off a barrier, practically destroyed before the twisted metal was tossed aside, "Hyoton:" to the surprise of everyone that was not Haku, "Tsubame Fubuki!" Fubuki finished and sent a hail of swallow shaped frozen projectiles.
Naruto noticed with surprise that he felt like he could copy that jutsu and landed next to Haku running through his own hand seals, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he declared, breathing the ball of flame into the ice. The older shinobi recovered and ran through his own hand seals.
"Futon: Toppa!" Haku declared, empowering the blondes fire with his wind and concealing the enemy kunoichi in the inferno, steam rising from the melting ice around the attack.
Sakura tossed her shuriken at the large snowboarding shinobi, frowning at the barrier and trying a fuma shuriken, she was surprised that even that was destroyed. The pink haired girl internally wailed over her expensive weapon being destroyed again and picked up the still shell shocked Yukie to jump back to Sandayu, away from Mizore.
"Princess!" Sandayu exclaimed, surprising the pink haired girl and getting Naruto's attention, but he swiftly turned back on the fight as Mizore came at himself and Haku next.
Sasuke broke off from his taijutsu battle with Nadare, the Uchiha knew that he had the guy beaten in taijutsu but that armor wasn't easy to fight against so he fired off a Gokakyu, which the man blocked by raising a pillar of ice between them.
Fubuki had blocked Naruto and Haku's combination the same way and smirked as she watched Mizore barrel down on them. The blonde created kage bunshin and one grabbed Haku and jumped as the remaining five Naruto rushed Mizore. The larger shinobi plowed through the bunshin and caught the real blonde in the stomach with his left fist, sending the boy flying into a snowbank.
In the distance Haku could hear the director was apparently still filming the fight and tried to use Toppa against Mizore to keep him off Naruto. The blast of wind halted the shinobi but didn't knock him back as the barrier from before flared around him.
Sasuke landed near Naruto as the blonde stood out of the snowbank, "What the hell is up with their armor?" the blonde asked, noticing with Sasuke's dojutsu the way the chakra flowed.
The Uchiha frowned, "I'm not certain, but it seems to be like a second set of chakra." he said, really wishing he'd gotten Gai to show him how to open Hachimon. Naruto scowled since he really didn't want to use the kitsune but knew he would if he got angry enough.
"Oh your eyes noticed did they?" Nadare asked, "This chakra armor is quite nice isn't it, it strengthens the wearers chakra, useful for more intensive jutsu, and generates a helpful barrier against ninjutsu and genjutsu. Top of the line stuff." he explained arrogantly, before going through hand seals, Sasuke copied them with his eyes as Naruto tried to copy them on the fly, "Hyoton: Haryu Moko!" the enemy declared, shocking Haku again as a tiger made of ice leaped from the surrounding landscape at the boys.
"Hyoton: Haryu Moko!" Naruto called back and to his own surprise pulled it off, the two ice tigers crashing in mid air and cancelling each other out. Nadare seemed surprised that the blonde had that kind of chakra without any armor.
Mizore sped past them, going after Sakura and Yukie, Naruto scowled and broke off to chase him. Nadare moved to stop him and Haku intercepted by using shunshin to appear in front of him and making a hand seal.
"I don't know how you shinobi are capable of hyoton." Haku told Nadare as the Makyo Hyosho rose up around them, "But I can see it isn't Kekkei Genkai." the boy sounded relieved and Nadare's eyes widened as he realized what was surrounding him just before Haku stepped into the mirror and reflected around the man.
"So, you're from that cursed clan?" Nadare asked, "I confess I have always wanted to fight one of you." he said with a smirk.
Fubuki went after Sasuke with pillars of ice, the Uchiha dodged but knew he couldn't afford to make this an endurance battle with that armor. He used Kawarimi no Jutsu, allowing a log he placed an exploding tag on to be caught and used the resulting explosiong as a smoke cover to perform hand seals for his next jutsu.
Mizore shot ropes out of the strange left arm he had at Yukie, tying her up briefly before Sakura cut them with a kunai and turned to face the man down. The shinobi smirked as he prepared to crush her before Naruto crashed into him fist to face and knocked him from his snowboard.
"You damn punk!" Mizore snarled, throwing his left fist at the boy, Naruto caught it with his right hand as he stood so the man threw his right fist, Naruto caught that with his left hand. Mizore realized something was strange about the blonde shinobi's chakra as the boy lifted his head and a pair of red, feral eyes glared at him.
Nadare didn't even dodge the senbon, his armor was dealing with that just fine, "Really, this is sad," he said confidently, "you don't actually have the raw power to deal with me at all do you. I'm assuming my armor completely negates your greatest strength." he guessed with a laugh. Haku didn't respond, but knew the man was right.
Sasuke shot a Ryuka at Fubuki, trying to figure out if there was some weakness to the armor, he knew he was spending chakra on big techniques, but he couldn't afford to limit himself to taijutsu against enemy shinobi of this caliber. He assumed there was a limit to what the armor could handle, since so far they'd blocked his Katon with pillars of ice.
Yukie was apparently having a panic attack, Sandayu was trying and failing to get her to move, "I don't care if I die! I won't go back to Yuki no Kuni!" she cried out. Sakura frowned but didn't turn away from Naruto and Mizore in case an opening presented itself.
"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Naruto shouted back at Yukie, which was all Mizore needed to switch leverage and hook the boy with his left arm before shooting the hand at Yukie, the grabbing appendage connected by a length of cable.
Sakura jumped in front of the attack, trying to block it but just ended up being tossed over the enemy and sent rolling through the snow. The girl noted that the snow did not feel as soft as she'd been told as a child as she struggled to catch her breath.
Haku dropped the chakra flow to his jutsu and rushed to Naruto's side as the blonde stood, "Trying to run away?" Nadare asked, "We aren't done here! Hyoton:" he began and Naruto quickly turned to watch the hand seals, "Ikkaku Hakugei!" he finished and called a massive whale shaped structure of ice with a horn that rose up out of the ice to stop Haku reaching the blonde, the dark haired teen narrowly dodging the massive ninjutsu.
"Haku-chan, get them out of here!" Naruto called, running through the same hand seals Nadare had just done. Haku understood and leaped down to pick up Yukie and Sandayu, rushing them back to the ship with shunshin. Sakura and Sasuke pulled back behind Naruto as the blonde finished his hand seals.
Nadare ran through them again, "Still copying me? You really are Kakashi's brats," he snarked as Fubuki landed next to him, "but that won't be enough to finish the fight!" he declared as two massive horned whales made of snow breached the ice flow and smacked into each other.
Naruto grinned, "I'm not finishing anything but this battlefield!" he corrected, jumping back to the ship with Sasuke and Sakura, the twin Hyoton no Jutsu destroying the ice flow under their weight. The two were impressed Naruto had developed a plan that involved retreating since the blonde usually hated running.
"Cut!" Makino called after the ice flow was fully destroyed and the ship was pulling away from the scattered blocks of ice remaining. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and slumped against the mast, not feeling like he won that at all.
Naruto kept his eye uncovered to watch the water for a bit as they pulled back, "I thought Hyoton was a Kekkei Genkai." the blonde mused, remembering that he'd almost effortlessly copied three ninjutsu that manipulated ice.
"That seemed different from Haku's ice." Sasuke pointed out, "We were able to melt some of their attacks with fire, Haku's ice completely resists my Katon last time I checked." the Uchiha explained what he'd noticed.
Sakura took Yukie from Haku to help Sandayu put the fainted woman in her room, "Haku-san, do you know anything about their ninjutsu?" the pink haired girl asked before descending below deck.
Haku shook his head, "I've never seen or heard of anything like it. I think they're manipulating existing ice with chakra, so it must be a ninjutsu developed in Yuki no Kuni." the bearer of the Kekkei Genkai mused, concerned about such techniques.
"That explains why I was able to copy it." Naruto said with a nod, "It did still seem like a mix of water and wind chakra though." he added as Sakura escorted Sandayu and Yukie under the deck. Haku was still concerned about the enemy having their own form of Hyoton, he remembered that his mothers maiden name before marrying his father was Yuki, the clan his cursed blood had come from. The boy wondered about his connection to this land since as far as he knew the Yuki clan had been natives to Mizu no Kuni.
As the ship pulled into dock there was a meeting between Sandayu, Makino, Makino's assistant, and Team Naruto. They were all sitting at a table next to a board holding up a map of Yuki no Kuni.
"I'm sorry," Sandayu began, "I knew it would be risky, but this was the only way I could think of to get the princess to return to the land of snow." he apologized, keeping his head bowed as he did.
"I was wondering," Naruto spoke up as he leaned back in his chair, "but you just called her princess while no cameras were rolling." he pointed out and the grey haired man nodded.
"Yukie Fujikaze is just an alias for Koyuki Kazahana-hime, the rightful ruler of Yuki no Kuni." Sandayu confessed, "I am also originally from this land, I served her father, the former leader of their clan Sosetsu Kazahana-sama." he began his explanation, "Yuki no Kuni was never large, but it was peaceful. Ten years ago, using shinobi from Yukigakure no Sato, Sosetsu-sama's younger brother Doto instigated a revolt! It was a coup." the man said bitterly, "I thought Koyuki-hime died that day, but Kakashi Hatake apparently escaped with her." he added and the shinobi were surprised to learn their sensei had rescued the young princess in his youth, "When I discovered our beloved princess was alive, I was beside myself with joy." the man finished, starting to cry.
The man was unaware of the princess now standing in the door, "I should have died back then." she said coldly, getting the attention of those present.
"Koyuki-hime you shouldn't say such things!" Sandayu protested, "We never stopped praying for your life, we were frantic!"
"I'm alive," Koyuki agreed, "but my heart is dead." she corrected, "Ever since that day, my tears are completely dried up." she finished.
"Well," Sandayu said, drying his own tears, "that's how I became the manager of Yukie Fujikaze. I bided my time, waiting for the opportunity to guide her back to Yuki no Kuni." he finished the tale with a sniffle.
The assistant director seemed bothered by the tale, "So you've just been using us?" he asked suddenly, Makino didn't stop him or show any reaction so far.
"I apologize for decieving you," Sandayu apologized, standing up, "but it was for the sake of Yuki no Kuni and her people!" he insisted as he went around the table to kneel before his princess, "Koyuki-hime, please, confront Doto and become the rightful ruler of our land!" he begged, bowing his head completely to the ground, "I will sacrifice my life without hesitation in order to protect you, so please take up arms and lead your people!" he begged desperately.
"I don't think so," Koyuki said after a moment, "you've got to be kidding." she spat dismissively, "I don't give a damn about this place or the people here." she said and Naruto narrowed his eye at her, "So just forget it, give it up, you aren't getting rid of Doto, okay?."
Naruto slammed his hand onto the table, startling the attention onto himself, "That's enough!" he declared as he stood, "You think he should just give up? Can't you see this poor man has given his entire life to realizing this dream!? Have a heart!" he demanded angrily, Haku found it admirable and Sasuke wondered if there was a limit to how idealistic the blonde could be.
"As long as there is hope," Makino spoke up to the surprise of everyone, "there is a dream, and with dreams the future comes." the man said, it was sort of poetic, "I like it!" he declared, ruining the effect he'd built up, "It's the perfect theme for our new Fuun-Hime movie!" he decided with a grin.
They were all surprised he was still talking about filming at this point, "You can't be serious?" his assistant director asked, "You still want to film after what happened?" the man asked dubiously.
"I told you, the movie is evolving." Makino said with a smirk, "Just think about it, how often do you get to make a movie with a genuine princess? We're looking at the chance of a lifetime." he man pointed out, seemingly genuinely happy, Haku was surprised at the lack of greed the man was displaying.
Naruto had to respect Makino for sticking to his passion and spoke up as Koyuki tried to protest, "So we don't know how many shinobi this Doto guy has," he began, "but we know at least three are roughly, uh, Sakura?" he asked and his team sighed.
"They were at least A rank thanks to that armor, lowest estimate would still be high B rank." Sakura spoke up, having tried to analyze them already, she was glad Naruto wasn't just guessing at least.
"Typical, we take a C rank mission and it becomes an A rank," Sasuke spoke up, "we take an A rank and it becomes an S rank." the Uchiha pointed out how dangerous this was for a group of chunin to take on.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah," he agreed solemnly, "and this Doto guy probably won't let us go now that we're here." he added before grinning, "So it's a good thing you guys hired Team Naruto!" he declared proudly.
"We're getting way too used to fighting enemies that outclass us." Sakura groused as she pulled her forehead protector back down over her forehead.
"No surrender, always complete the mission." Sasuke said with a smirk, "There's a reason they call us the Nidaime Sannin." he added with pride as he adjusted something under his left arm warmer.
"You brats can't be serious!" Koyuki sounded stunned, "Stop joking around!" she sounded angry, "Movies aren't like real life, there is no such thing as a happy ending in this world!" she insisted.
"Of course there is if you're willing to fight for it!" Makino surprised them by speaking up again, although Haku suspected the man just genuinely loved the theatrics.
"This Doto," Haku asked suddenly, looking at Sandayu particularly, "is he a Kage level threat?" the boy asked and Sandayu shook his head, "Does he have the power of a Chakra no Bakemono?" the boy asked and again the man shook his head, "Then Naruto-kun had fought worse and come out on top." he directed the last statement at Koyuki, who though she didn't understand much of shinobi knew that Haku was implying that the short blonde boy was capable of defeating Doto alone.
Koyuki looked at Naruto in disbelief so Sakura spoke up, "Hard to believe right? You were passed out at the time but Naruto matched those Yukigakure shinobi for power without even needing that fancy armor they have." she informed, sounding impressed herself.
Naruto preened under the praise, looking proud of himself although he did bashfully rub the back of his head, not used to the positive attention fully. Sasuke decided not to mention the kitsune Naruto had, that secret was not his to give, it was surprising Sakura still hadn't figured it out yet.
"So it's settled," Makino decided, "filming will continue, and this movie will have a happy ending!" the director declared.
Sandayo had agreed to take them to the hideout for those loyal to the rightful heir of Yuki no Kuni, and Makino had hired out tracked vehicles and extra supplies to get there. Haku was again impressed by the director, since the man had far more integrity than was expected or required of one in his profession.
The plan was to get to the hideout and then come up with a full plan of attack once they had a better position and some numbers backing them up. This plan was ruined when Koyuki disappeared again and wasn't noticed until Makino tried to get a scene going.
"Fan out!" Naruto ordered, "Radio in if you find her or an enemy!" he told the team before rushing off himself and the group split off to search for Koyuki. Haku hated being separated from Naruto even for a short time at a short distance, logically he trusted Naruto would be fine and the dark haired boy knew his mindset was becoming dangerous but being apart from the blonde was giving him anxiety.
Naruto found the princess turned actress first, collapsed in the snow, and approached her with a look of annoyed disappointment on his face, "How much are you going to run away?" he asked as she stirred, "Come on everyone is waiting for you." he told her, picking the woman up and lifting her onto his back.
Koyuki supposed she shouldn't be surprised the blonde boy could lift and carry her so easily given his profession and what his teammates said, but she was still thinking of them as empty boasts.
Naruto activated his radio, "This is Taicho," he began, "I've got the package," he let his team know he had Koyuki, "following the trail home." he finished to let them know he was just walking her through the cave with the buried train tracks Sandayu had mentioned.
"Why do you keep dragging me back?" Koyuki asked finally.
"It's my mission," Naruto answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "you can try to hide but I'll just keep finding you." he explained, it wasn't even that good of a reason but it showed he took his missions seriously.
"Whatever," Koyuki scoffed, "you can drag me back but I'm just going to act in front of the camera and that's all, got it?" she insisted, Naruto's response was to scoff back.
Then Naruto stopped as the ice beneath him melted away, revealing train tracks. The blonde boy looked at them in confusion before a rumbling sound began and he saw a light in the distance behind him.
"It's a train." Koyuki said in a shocked tone, confusing the blonde further.
"What do you mean 'a train'?" Naruto asked before seeing the behemoth of metal turn the corner in the distance, following the tracks towards him, "Oh that train!" he realized and started sprinting away.
"It's gaining on us!" Koyuki pointed out fearfully.
"Not if I can help it!" Naruto responded defiantly, "Hold on!" he ordered.
"Are you crazy! You can't outrun this!" Koyuki responded with disbelief.
"Lady I don't care if you want to quit! I'm not giving up!" Naruto shouted back as he pumped his legs, "Now shut up and tighten your legs so I can make a hand seal!" he ordered, letting his frustration grow into anger as he pushed chakra into his legs.
Koyuki was stunned but held on tight to the young teen ninja's shoulders with her arms and his waist with her legs, with his hands free the blonde used shunshin. The princess was stunned at the distance they crossed in seemingly an instant, then Naruto dived to the side, dropping her in the snow as the train sped past them.
The train halted ahead of them, "It's been a long time, Koyuki." a voice called out, sounding amplified by something. The princess sat up at that with a look of horrified recognition on her face.
"Doto." Koyuki said, staring at the back of the train where she could just make out the figure of her uncle.
Naruto lifted his headband to reveal the dojutsu implanted in his left eye as the man continued speaking, "It's been ten years, don't be shy let's get a look at that face."
The reunion was halted by an avalanche of logs sliding down hill to strike the side of the train and Sandayu coming to the top of the hill with fifty armed men, himself having put on some basic armor and carrying a katana and wakizashi. Recognizing their princess the army charged the train.
Naruto watched in horror as the train opened up and used mechanisms he didn't recognize to launch multiple hails of kunai upon the charging infantry. It was a slaughter, by the end only Sandayu was left and he was falling when another volley shot at him.
A fuma shuriken crashed into the snow in front of Sandayu as he fell back, blocking the volley of kunai. Sasuke jumped in between two hiding spots, tossing a kunai with a kibaku fuda at the train. After it exploded another explosion went off to pour an avalanche of snow over the train. As the train moved to retreat the bridge it was on exploded too, but the front carriages released the back and continued away.
Sasuke wanted to give chase but pulled back to Naruto with Haku and Sakura, "That was awful." the pink haired girl commented, looking over the field of dead and wounded.
"That's the price of not giving up," Koyuki said coldly, "if they hadn't stood up to Doto this bloodbath wouldn't have happened." the woman sounded more angry and sad than vindictive about being right. Haku glared at the princess as he tended to Sandayu's dying body, viewing her attitude as insulting to Naruto.
Naruto seemed to take offense too, "If you run away this bloodbath will be the price of you giving up!" he accused, "These people gave their lives so you'd restore their home, and you're going to let them die in vain?" he asked, sounding disgusted.
Koyuki didn't have a response, so she turned away and started walking back, "I already said it's pointless, there is no spring in this land. Let's just go home before more people die pointlessly." she insisted.
"This is your home!" Naruto argued, stomping over to her, "So face Doto and get your damn house in order!" he commanded and grabbed her arm.
"Leave me alone already!" Koyuki demanded, shaking off his grip, Sasuke and Sakura realized the blonde wasn't trying very hard to physically stop her and that this had become a test of wills and ideals to the boy. The princess and the ninja glared at each other for a moment before he heard something.
From below an airship, powered by balloons, rose, flying from below their view off the side of the mountain. Mizore, standing in a doorway on the airship, used his left arm to launch his built in grapple hand at Koyuki, grabbing her by the hip and dragging her to the vessel.
A hail of kunai with strange blue crystals launched at the rest of them, Haku, Sasuke, and Sakura dodged, narrowly avoiding the spiked ice pillars that rose from the crystals as they shattered. Haku wondered at the ice bombs before looking around concerned.
The dark haired boy had managed to grab Sandayu but the man was fading fast, the movement had jossled his injuries and while Haku had done what he could the man probably wouldn't make it, "Where's Naruto-kun?" Haku asked suddenly, looking around in blatant concern.
Sakura looked surprised when she realized the blonde wasn't with them, which shifted to annoyance after she glanced towards the retreating airship, "Oh you're kidding me, he didn't!" she groused, but he already did. Naruto was dragging himself towards the vessel by a rope that he managed to tie by tossing a kunai as a grapple.
Sasuke wanted to activate his Sharingan but he knew he couldn't shunshin that distance, "Damn it!" he cursed, clenching his fists. Haku just stared wide eyed in shock as the blonde he wanted to protect and love dragged himself towards certain danger.
Naruto created a horde of kage bunshin and boarded the vessel, he rushed through, letting his clones fight and distract the lesser enemy while he looked for the princess, "-and I will rule over all the great lands from Yuki no Kuni." Doto's voice carried from a room so the blonde burst in.
"Not gonna happen!" Naruto rejected whatever plan he'd overheard the end up as the Sharingan in his head took in all the shinobi in the room. Koyuki seemed surprised to see him.
"How did you get in here?" Doto asked, also confused to see him.
Naruto just smirked, "Never underestimate a ninja." he boasted before being forced to dodge wires thrown to entrap him and Mizore rushing at him. The blonde was surprised when he realized he knew his bunshin were being defeated by Nadare and Fubuki but shelved it for later.
"You've got some impressive chakra kid." Mizore told him, standing between the blonde and Doto.
Naruto grinned at the praise and made another kage bunshin, "I'll show you how impressive it really is!" he declared, focusing his chakra in his right hand as his bunshin concentrated the swirling energy.
"Hah! You fool, no ninjutsu can break through the chakra armor!" Mizore declared rushing at Naruto, then his bunshin made another kage bunshin and the two ran through hand seals as Naruto rushed him. Mizore wasn't sure what to make of that but threw his left hook at the blonde.
Naruto dived under the hook and ran at Doto, Mizore was struck by a Suiton: Suidan, "That didn't even hurt!" he declared, turning to chase the boy only for the other bunshin to trap him within an orb of water. Mizore wasn't halted for long and managed the glancing taijutsu blows required to defeat a kage bunshin as the barrier produced by his armor allowed him to burst out of the Suiro no Jutsu.
Doto was surprised that the blonde was approaching him so easily until he noticed the dojutsu, he was more surprised when the kunai Nadare and Fubuki threw from blindspots when they arrived to help sunk into the boys back without slowing him down. It was impressive that the boy only winced from the sharp metal sinking into his flesh.
The man raised his arm and blocked the Rasengan against one of his black gauntlets, surprising Naruto that the jutsu could be blocked at all before Mizore wrapped him up with wires from the mechanical arm the man wore. Naruto cursed and struggled as the black gauntlet on Doto's now uncovered left arm cracked.
Doto was stunned, his armor should be even more resiliant than the models the Yukigakure ninja wore yet the blonde had actually cracked it, "Well, you certainly do have a lot of chakra." he commented, eyes widening as the boy once again surprised him.
Naruto's blue eye turned red to match the Sharingan, the pupils of both eyes becoming slit and the tomoe of the dojutsu becoming jagged. The kunai were forcibly pushed out of the blonde as his wounds steamed, his canines lengthened, his nails sharpened, and his hair stood on end. Even his whisker markings become deeper as red chakra enveloped him.
Koyuki was starting to understand why Naruto was so confident, his power was frightening to behold. Fubuki, Nadare, and Mizore were all trying to figure out what the hell kind of jutsu or Kekkei Genkai the boy was using as he strained against the wires, Mizore suddenly felt the tension go slack and realized the boy was staring at him.
"Oh sh-" Mizore managed before the blonde rocketed into him, the biju enhanced shinobi slammed the metal of his forehead protector against the larger ninja's nose. The man stumbled back, raising his arms to defend himself but the blonde was no longer in front of him.
Naruto knew Doto was the biggest issue in the room, and performed hand seals as he ran at the man. Doto panicked, the boy was fast, strong, durable, could apparently heal at will, and had a dojutsu that would allow him to predict his moves, so the man did the only thing that made any sense.
A smoke bomb dropped and Doto used the thick smoke as cover to sidestep throw a right hook at where he hoped the blonde would end up. Naruto coughed as the chakra armor boosted man struck his solar plexus, pain tolerance and healing factor or not he was winded from a blow like that.
"Nadare, use the device on him, let's hope it works." Doto ordered, sounding nervous. Nadare wasted no time and landed next to Naruto to slap an octagonal device on the blonde's stomach. The young ninja fell to the ground with a scream as his chakra drained, and Doto noticed the device actually seemed to strain under the pressure.
Naruto could barely maintain consciousness as he heard Doto demand a crystal, the blonde wondered why the hell the guy wanted a crystal as he struggled to remain conscious. The last thing he heard was someone mention Hyoton and he thought of Haku.
Naruto woke up in a cell, shackles on his wrists and ankled, just opening his left eye caused pain to erupt from the devive in his torso so he kept it closed. He was a little annoyed that they hadn't bothered to cover his left eye with his headband.
He hoped his team was okay, he hadn't given them any order when he'd chased after the princess since the idea of failing hadn't crossed his mind. The young ninja frowned as he considered that he was supposed to be leading them, getting rescued wasn't part of this plan.
After some stretching he managed to bring his right shoe up close enough to his mouth that he could pull a small filing tool out of the shoe with his teeth, "Don't those idiots know a real ninja finds a way to win with or without chakra." he grumbled before he heard movement and hid the file in his the collar of his jacket quickly.
Koyuki was being escorted into the cell across from him, Naruto considered that lucky and waited for the guards to leave before he did or said anything.
Koyuki looked up to meet his gaze, "Serves you right." she said coldly.
Naruto almost laughed but huffed instead, "Yeah, you too." he said as if she'd said it was nice to see him, "No spring, you said there was no spring in this place, what does that actually mean?" the blonde asked, curious about their earlier argument.
Koyuki just stared at him for a moment without answering before she sighed, "My father always told me that I'd see in the spring, that everything would be better when spring came. I tried asking him what spring is, know what he said?" she asked rhetorically, "He told me to imagine a field of flowers, and the feeling of running through them." she answered, "He insisted that if you believe and never give up then spring will surely come." she ranted, sounding bitter, "But," she sounded sad as she continued, "this land has no spring. My father died, I ran away, and I lied to everyone and myself. My life became a charade, being an actress was all I was good for."
Naruto scowled and pulled out the hidden tool from his jacket collar, dragging himself up and beginning to grind the file against his cuffs with his teeth, "That's not going to change anything." Koyuki told him after a moment of watching him. Soon the file fell from his teeth and clattered to the ground, "Told you, in the end all you can do is give up." the princess said in a defeated tone.
The young shinobi glared, "Give up? Yeah that sounds easy," he agreed before struggled to pull his chakra, wincing in pain as he pulled against the shackled with all his might, "I didn't have anyone looking out for me growing up," he began, "so I almost gave up once too." he gasped in pain, "If I had given up, I wouldn't be a ninja," he growled as he powered through the device shocking him as it pulled his chakra, "I wouldn't have made the friends I made!" he declared, "Haku-chan would be dead if I had given up!" he snarled that fact and his right eye flashed red before the shackles snapped and he fell to the ground.
Koyuki couldn't believe the blonde had actually done it, and to her continued surprise he stood up, panting breathlessly. Then Naruto grabbed the bars of his cell, was shocked again and fell back to the ground. Koyuki figured that was it and turned away from the blonde.
Haku, Sakura, and Sasuke were staring at Kazahana castle from a distance, "I can't believe that idiot got himself captured." the Uchiha groused, although he was nervous since he knew by know how powerful the blonde could be under the right circumstances.
"It's because we talked up how strong he'd gotten," Sakura said, blaming herself, "he got a big head and tried to take on all of them by himself."
Haku was silent, glaring at the castle, "Sakura-san, please handle demolitions and use your bunshin as distractions." the older shinobi said.
"I'll stick with Sakura, she'll need the back up if any major enemies like those three from before show up," Sasuke spoke up, "you go find your boyfriend." he told Haku and even without a face mask the pale teen was unreadable, but disappeared to infiltrate without further comment.
Sasuke and Sakura shared a concerned look, neither of them wanted to voice the possibility Naruto hadn't been taken alive. Not only for their own sakes or Naruto, but also what it would do to Haku.
Koyuki was startled by the explosion, and glanced up when she noticed some guards running around in standard uniform. The guards stopped outside Naruto's cell, noticing the blonde was on the ground instead of chained up. They unlocked the cell and moved to check if he was alive when the boy leaped to action.
Naruto grinned as the enemy ninja hit the ground unconscious and he twirled their key ring around his finger, looking pleased with himself. Koyuki was surprised to find herself smiling with the boy, and allowed him to lead her out of the place after he unlocked her cell.
The two used an elevator to go up and started looking for an exit, Naruto was unarmed and only had his forehead protector for armor, which he pulled over his left eye for now. The blonde was surprised by a sneak attack and twisted his body as he was tackled by a taller ninja.
Naruto blinked up at his attacker, realizing it was Haku, the older boy was hugging him and crying. The blonde chunin wasn't sure how to deal with this, "Are you okay, Haku-chan?" he decided on his question, hugging the older boy back.
Haku tensed and Naruto got the sense that was not the right question, "Am I okay!?" Haku sounded hysterical, "You were just captured by enemy shinobi and you ask if I'm okay?" the older boy stared down at the blonde in disbelief.
"Well yeah," Naruto answered, "I haven't seen you since I got captured, I was worried you might get hurt." he confessed with a nonchalant shrug.
Koyuki was giving Haku a disapproving look, the boy misinterpreted and clutched Naruto closer as if daring the woman to object, "You switched my necklace out for a fake." the princess said suddenly and his brown eyes widened in realization.
"My apologies," Haku said, sounding much calmer now, "it was Sandayu-san's idea, he knew Doto would want it." the boy explained, reluctantly seperating from Naruto's arms to reach into his turtleneck and return the real necklace.
Koyuki accepted it with a sad look, then another explosion happened, much closer this time, "This place is crawling with guards!" Sakura's voice called as she and Sasuke rushed through the hole in the wall. The five of them swiftly rushed to leave, but found themselves in an open chamber that startled them with lights suddenly turning on.
Doto stood up, revealing himself to have been sitting on a throne atop some stairs, "Excellent work, Koyuki." the man praised, surprising the four ninja as Koyuki rushed up the stairs, Fubuki, Mizore, and Nadare used shunshin to block the path after she passed.
Team Naruto glared and the blonde himself seemed particularly hurt, "Koyuki, what the hell are you doing?" he asked tersely.
"I'm an actress, remember." Koyuki said with a smile as she handed the crystal on the necklace to Doto.
"Yes, a grand performance!" Doto praised with a laugh as he admired the crystal.
Koyuki dropped her smile when she faced Team Naruto, "Yes, it was all an act." she said, pulling out a kunai she'd picked up along the way before turning and plunging it into Doto's chest. The man grunted and grabbed her by the throat to hold her back.
Naruto watched in silence as the young woman managed to push the old man off the raised stairway and they both plunged to the ground. Naruto ran past the three Yukigakure shinobi to check on Koyuki and was knocked back by a back hand from the rising usurper of Kazahana.
"Stupid brat, can't even use chakra right now!" Doto snarled, "And that foolish girl, thought she could kill me with this puny blade?" he asked, sounding offended as he shrugged off his robes, the kunai dropping to the ground as his black chakra armor was revealed to the others.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan, noticing the cracks on Doto's left gauntlet he glanced at the others. The Uchiha figured that if Naruto could crack it then it must be possible, he just hoped the blonde had done it with ninjutsu and not kitsune powered taijutsu.
Haku landed protectively over Naruto giving Doto a death glare, "Ah, and if it isn't the bearer of that cursed blood." the man said as he noticed Haku, "What's you're name, Yuki-chan?" he asked, the name surprising a few people.
"I don't use that name." Haku answered, his voice a surprising calm that juxtaposed with the murder in his eyes, and he didn't seem like he was going to answer the question either.
"You know you can't beat us." Nadare said with a smirk, "Your powerhouse is all out of power." he mocked as Naruto got to his feet.
Sasuke went through hand seals, knowing he only had two shots at it he formed the Chidori and rushed Nadare, the man was surprised but managed to raise his guard. The jutsu pushed against the barrier formed by Nadare's armor and the armor cracked just as the jutsu gave out.
"Impressive jutsu, but it didn't work." Nadare said with confidence as he readied a counter attack.
"Kakashi invented that one." Sasuke said before he disappeared with a shunshin, "The follow up was Sakura's idea." he finished and the pink haired girl made a hand seal with a grin. Nadare saw the glow too late and the ball of kibaku fuda at his feet detonated.
Fubuki and Mizore watched in stunned fascination as the man was launched at the stairs, then to their surprise Sasuke used shunshin again and axe kicked the man into the stairs, splitting the back of his skull against the stone corner.
"In case you forgot," Sasuke began, his Sharingan eye glaring down at the Yukigakure shinobi, "we're ninja."
Doto scowled, sick of the distraction he reached for Koyuki and used the cable in the back of his armor to retreat to the ceiling, spreading the wings of his armor to break through the roof and not noticing that Koyuki had grabbed a cable tossed by Naruto.
Haku chased after Naruto, leaving the other two enemy shinobi to Sasuke and Sakura since they had chakra and Naruto currently did not.
Fubuki took to the air with the wings of her own armor to give chase to Haku but was intercepted by Sasuke, who appeared in front of her via shunshin and kicked her in the face. The kunoichi recovered but Sasuke was gone again. The Uchiha tapped her from behind in mid air and began a vicious taijutsu combo that sent her to the ground.
Sakura pulled out and started throwing hail after hail of kunai at Mizore, the man laughed as debris fell around him, his chakra armor protecting him from the kunai, "Man, you idiots don't learn." Sakura halted his laughter by throwing a kunai with a kibaku fuda at his feet, "Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu." the girl intoned with a grin as the explosion set off the smaller scale kibaku fuda her hails of kunai had been scattering around him.
Doto noticed Naruto hanging on and snarled at Koyuki before cutting the cord, flying away as the blonde fell to the tree line. Haku's eyes widened as he watched the blonde crash into the trees, feeling the panic as he arrived at the crash site to see the mangled trees, then sighing with relief at the sight of the blonde pulling himself out of the lumber.
Haku's relief was short lived as he realized the blonde chunin was still chasing Doto, "Naruto-kun!" he called, rushing to stop Naruto.
"Haku-chan, we gotta stop that guy!" Naruto said it, it wasn't an order, Haku knew he could argue, the boy knew he should argue with Naruto's state, but found himself assisting the blonde anyway. The older of the two took some comfort that they probably couldn't catch Doto like this.
Then his hopes of Naruto not having to fight anymore were short lived by the director showing up on some kind of motorized filming device, "Hop on!" the man said. Haku was stunned the man was still involved and allowed the blonde to get on, quickly getting on as well to not be left behind.
Doto couldn't believe it, "Our clan," he began, "the secret treasure was just some oversized heater!" he snarled, watching the snow melt. He was about to take his anger out on Koyuki when he heard the engine and saw that blonde brat coming at him again, the chakra draining device still strapped to him.
Naruto jumped off the vehicle and sprinted at the black armor clad man. Doto ran through hand seals and released a Kokuryu Bofusetsu at the blonde, the black colored Hyoton startled Haku as it launched Naruto into the air. Haku felt cold when Naruto hit the ground.
The blonde started to get up and Haku rushed to stand between Doto and Naruto, the man charged them and the boy formed the Hyogan Domu. Doto's right hand slammed into the ice barrier, Haku shivered as it cracked.
Doto slugged the barrier again and the boy broke out in a cold sweat when the cracks spread from the point of impact, then another punch and the wind was back on his face as shards of ice crumbled around him. Doto smirked and reared back to punch the stunned boy once more, Naruto lunged and caught the fist against his left arm.
Electricity sparked from the chakra draining device, the melting ice they stood on cracked under the pressure, and the blonde glared angrily at the man, "Don't you dare," Naruto growled, the device glowing red under the strain of a lot of chakra, "touch my Haku-chan."
Doto found it hard to believe the blonde could stand up to him with the chakra draining device on one and prototype chakra armor on himself, the man had never even considered the possibility anyone could have enough chakra to power through such a device, and yet Naruto stood firm and the device shattered.
The transformation was swift this time as the red chakra poured out of the boy, Naruto grabbed Doto by the arm with his left hand and started to form a Rasengan in his right. Haku remembered how Naruto's bunshin had stabilized it and used his own chakra to steady Naruto's Rasengan.
Doto tried to pull away but the boy had a vice grip, so he threw his left arm at the blonde in desperation, attempting to deliver a left hook. Naruto met the punch with the Rasengan, the orb of chakra seemed to absorb the ambient light and glow with a rainbow of light as the pillars around the area lit up suddenly.
Sakura and Sasuke caught up, "Is that rainbow chakra?" the Uchiha asked, surprised this his Sharingan was actually showing him rainbow chakra now.
"Just like in the movie!" Sakura seemed to like it at least.
Doto struggled against the swirling orb of chakra before the armor on his left arm tore, cracking his armor further as his arm was thrown back and Naruto powered the jutsu towards his chest, his armor halting it momentarily before the cracks spread. His armor shattered around him as Doto was blown back by the explosion of power from the Rasengan.
Naruto smiled at Doto's form smacking into one of those giant mirrors, the landscape changing to lush green. Without his anger the kitsune's chakra was gone so the blonde felt the exhaustion by now, he felt himself start to fall and was glad Haku caught him.
Koyuki looked around the new landscape in awe, Yuki no Kuni was not only free, but spring had come. The woman looked over at Team Naruto, the blonde himself was in the arms of the dark haired pretty boy while his entire team fussed over him. Even the other one eyed boy seemed concerned under the glare he was giving the blonde as the pink haired girl scolded his recklessness.
Koyuki decided she wouldn't mind being the Daimyo of Haru no Kuni, and resolved to make sure Team Naruto went down as heroes. She'd have a talk with Makino about the details, she noticed he had been filming the whole thing.