Chapter Nineteen: Land of the Snow
The standard shinobi issued cloak did little to keep the cold out. Goosebumps crawled all over her skin as a gust of wind blew aside the flaps of her cloak, the cold air hitting her bare legs. Perhaps she should have worn shinobi pants on this mission. At least she brought extra clothes, sealed away in one of her many scrolls, and among that included pants and a long sleeve shirt. And closed toe shoes...because the shinobi sandals did little to keep her toes from freezing.
Rin trudged forward, sending chakra to her feet to keep them warm as well as keep her walking on top of the snow, rather than sinking in.
Since she stepped foot within the borders of Land of Snow, there hadn't been a single soul in sight. In fact, it was eerily quiet, devoid of any sounds of human life. Just the sounds of an unrelenting snowstorm that never seemed to die down. And according to her map, the nearest point of civilization happened to be closer to their southern borders rather than the northern border where she had entered.
As she continued to trudge through the snow storm, Rin occupied herself with debating whether travelling through the Land of Wind was better or the Land of Snow. Both were equally annoying in terms of their unrelenting sand storms and snow storms, respectively, but the sand storms did eventually let up after a few days. The desert was hot under the brutal sun, but alarmingly cold during the nights. And it took a good two days to cross the desert to reach Suna.
And well, maybe she preferred the Land of Snow. At least she would reach civilization within the day as the territory was nowhere near as vast as the Land of Wind. Even if snow landed all over her hair, got stuck between her toes, and all over her clothes, at least it would melt and turn into water. Sand, on the other hand, remained stuck there, clinging onto her until she had the opportunity to take a shower to flush away all of the grainy particles.
That and, the town in the Land of Snow was surrounded by walls of ice, keeping the worst of the winds away. Rin briefly wondered if she would need to scale the icy wall to reach the village, but her question was answered as she saw a small, dome shaped entrance. Two men were stationed there, dressed in a full suit of armor.
The taller of the two noticed her presence first, pointing the sharp end of his staff at her. She stopped moving.
"State your name and business."
Rin pulled out her mission scroll from underneath her cloak, tossing it to the taller man. He caught it one handed, handing it off to his partner to unravel the scroll.
"Rin Nohara, a medic from Konoha. I am here upon the mission request."
His partner's eyes roved over the scroll, angling it so the taller man could read it as well. The two of them exchanged head nods, the partner closing the scroll once more and tossing it back to her. She caught it, tucking it into one of the pockets of her flak jacket as the taller man jerked his head sharply, indicating for her to follow him.
His partner's chakra spiked as she walked past him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the man a second away from reaching the various weapons hidden among his armor. She relaxed her own chakra, hoping to indicate to him that she wasn't going to attack. He didn't let up until she was no longer within sight.
Although the worst of gust winds didn't reach the village, layers of snow still coated the ground. Drops of snow still fluttered to the ground. Surprisingly, there were no footprints to be seen, even as Rin spotted the many homes and shops that lined up on either side of the street. All the windows were boarded shut. Through the cracks of the boarding, Rin spotted lighting. A small shadow appeared briefly, but was quickly pulled away by a much larger shadow.
A town? It seemed more like an imprisonment to her.
Still, Rin wasn't graced with much time to sightsee as the tall man demanded for her to keep up with his long strides.
Did hospitality not exist in the Land of Snow because they were paying a handsome sum for her services? Just from first impressions, Rin resolved that she would finish her mission as quickly as possible so she could leave this dreary place.
The tall man led her to the steps of a palace made of ice. The tall man began to climb the long staircase rapidly, often jerking his head back to look over his shoulder as if he expected her to fall behind. Rin rose to the challenge, always keeping two steps away from him.
First impression of the palace: prim and posh. And surprisingly cold on the inside.
Practically everything seemed to be made of ice. From the ice statues that lined up against the wall, the doors, the chandelier shaped structure that hung from the ceiling, the columns that held the entire structure up, the stairs inside of the palace, and even the throne that the King sat in.
Upon entering the room which Rin figured was the King's abode, at least three spears were pointed in her direction, five millimeters away from piercing her body. With a snap of his hand, the King called off his guards. All of them retreated to their position next to the door, allowing her entrance into the room.
The moment she crossed the threshold of the door, the heavy doors were closed behind her, the guards moving to put the heavy locks back into place.
If it was even possible, this room was even colder than the rest of the palace.
The King motioned her to come closer to him. Her feet padded quietly along the length of the red roll of carpet that ended at the steps to his throne.
Contrary to what she imagined him to look like in her mind, the King was surprisingly young. A man in his early thirties if she had to guess, with midnight dark hair and equally dark eyes. His complexion was pale, so pale that he could blend in with the ice and snow.
The scar on his right cheek tipped her off that he might have been a shinobi. The clothes that he wore solidified the notion. Loose fitting, non constricting. While the guards wore the armor over their normal clothes, the King had chosen to wear it underneath his clothing. A metal pad…
And if that didn't do it, the glint of reflection from the unsheathed sword propped against the backside of his throne caught her eye.
Yuri wasn't known for having shinobis, so it was entirely surprising to find that the leader was one himself.
Rin stopped a respectable distance away from the throne.
"My wife is ill," the King told her, his voice devoid of all emotions. "I trust that your medical prowess will be enough to save her."
With that said, the King waved her off, handing her off to one of the guards to escort her to his wife. To Rin, it seemed like he didn't even care about the wellbeing of his wife, so why bother asking her to heal her? Why bother at all?
The thing that pissed her off the most was when the guard led her down into the dungeons of the palace. To the jail holdings. To one of the cells where a dark haired beauty was lying face first onto a thin blanket that did little to prevent the cold from seeping through.
The guard unceremoniously shoved her into the jail cell before locking it behind her. His footsteps faded off into the distance. Maybe she should have been concerned that she was locked in...but she was more worried for the woman lying in front of her.
Who in the world kept an ill woman locked in a cell? His own wife, nonetheless.
Rin dropped her backpack onto the floor, unzipping it and fishing out her thick sleeping bag. Spreading it on the floor, Rin unzipped it, then began to maneuver the woman into the bag. The woman stirred lightly, eyes fluttered open before closing once more. She murmured something incomprehensible. Her skin was cold to the touch, a lot colder than Rin would have liked.
Unclasping her cloak, Rin draped it over the woman as well before heading to the corner of the cell. Unsealing her extra clothing, Rin began to change, donning the traditional jonin wear: long navy blue pants and a long sleeved shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the sleeve. Shrugging on her flak jacket once more, Rin went back to the woman's side, lamenting the fact she didn't know any fire jutsus.
What she would give to have any of Team Ro with her right now…
She placed the back of her hand to the woman's forehead. No fever, that was good news at least.
For the next few hours, Rin managed to get the woman to take a few sips of water as well as nibble on a piece of bread. The woman continued to murmur things in her sleep, but this time Rin caught a couple of words. Most of them were in relation to complaining about how cold she was.
At one point, Rin heard the name Yuki slip from her mouth. Perhaps that was her name?
An unknown amount of time later, right as Rin was about to drift off with her back propped against the freezing wall, the woman's soft voice floated through the cell, jerking her awake once more.
"Thank you," the woman told her, moving to climb out of the sleeping bag. Rin immediately moved to her side, instructing the woman to stay in her position. It wouldn't do her any good to have her half freezing to death once again.
The woman smiled at her softly. "At least take your cloak back. I can see that you are freezing as well."
Rin did as she asked, grateful to have the warmth of the white cloak around her body once more.
"Konoha, huh?" the woman whispered softly, eyes fixated on the swirl pattern on her forehead protector. Her fingers reached to brush the engraving lightly before her hand fell back down to her side.
"You know of Konoha?"
"My Queen was once a Konoha nin," the woman answered. "She fell in love with my King."
Rin was confused. "Your Queen? Are you not the Queen?"
Sadness was visibly written all over the woman's face. "I suppose I am married to Hiroto, but I am nothing more than a captive. Nothing more than a tool."
A captive? A tool? Rin pressed for more details.
"My name is Ichika, child. I hail from the Land of Ice."
"Didn't the Land of Ice perish a long time ago?"
Ichika nodded grimly.
"Seventeen years ago, my village fell under attack." At this, Ichika let out a soft sigh. "Before that, the village was thriving and flourishing under my King's leadership. We had been a struggling nation before the King met the Queen, but the Queen's vast knowledge helped our village to thrive. She taught the villagers how to hunt for fish through the ice holes and proposed the idea of a greenhouse could grow our own crops.
"Even during the Great War, the Queen spoke to the neighboring, smaller nations to propose a trade treaty. The concept of trade was so foreign to us at the time, but it worked so well. Our speciality in making the most beautiful jewelry was in high demand and as a result, merchants from all over the world came to us to trade for it. Never like before, we were able to enjoy the simple commodities and even could afford some luxuries.
"Only those who had the King's bloodline were able to wield their powers to make the jewelry. Still, the King was a kind man and shared his wealth with the entire village.
"One of their trading partners was the Land of Snow. Perhaps they were jealous of our prosperity, but they wanted the power for themselves. Hiroto's father, the King of the Land of Snow at the time, invaded the village, threatening my King to give up his children in exchange for the safety of the village. My King didn't want to give up his children, his son was only two and his daughter was newly born, but he came to a compromise. He would agree to a marriage between Hiroto and his daughter when she came of age. That way, the daughter would learn to wield her powers before she was married.
"However as the Princess grew older, my King grew more attached to her. The entire village was attached to her. The Queen couldn't bear to send her daughter to the Land of Snow, after hearing of the rumors of how poorly they treated their own citizens. So the King and Queen began to devise a plan to send her away to safety.
"To my understanding, there was an insider who leaked the information to the Land of Snow. To prevent their plan from succeeding, the Land of Snow devised a plot to attack the village. The village was full of civilians. Few knew shinobi arts and the ones that did were no match for the Land of Snow. Only the Queen could stand her ground against them. The King's powers had only ever been used to make jewelry or shape the architecture, but never for combat.
"They burned the village to the ground and killed everyone. They took a few captives, the ones who could wield the power of ice, but most of the captives have already died. In fact, I am the only captive who is still alive. The King and Queen's heads were placed on a spike at the ruins of what once was their home...I don't know if the Princess survived or not. Or the Prince."
"So the palace…" Rin began. "You built it?"
Ichika nodded. "To sustain this palace and the walls that surround the village puts a great strain on my body. All of the captives used to chip in and share the burden, but as they died from the pressure and living conditions, all of the burden has shifted to me. My bloodline isn't as strong as the King's so my powers have slowly waned over the years. In fact, I don't think my body can hold out much longer."
"How do you have enough chakra to sustain this for so long?"
"Hiroto would order his guards to channel their chakra into my body, but I think the process of doing that has burned some of my chakra networks. Recently, Hiroto has gotten frustrated since my body is rejecting all foreign chakra. As soon as my chakra runs out, this palace will fall."
"I think that's why he sent for you," Ichika added. "Perhaps he thinks you are a miracle worker, but for my sake, please allow me to die. I wish to serve him no longer. I suppose my only regret is not being able to die in my homeland."
Rin's heart felt for her and she silently vowed that she would take her body away from here if it was possible. However, Hiroto wouldn't let her go peacefully, not if Ichika died.
Rin frowned. The mission had been a trap. No matter what she did, Ichika would die unless she was able to break the ice jutsu. The best that Rin could do was prolong her death, but that would be cruel to the suffering woman. Yet if she allowed Ichika to die, Hiroto wouldn't let her leave alive.
This was one of the times that Rin wished she had ninken or crows as a summoning so she could send word to the Hokage. Katsuyu's speed was too slow for the Hokage to receive it in a timely manner. It was the only way.
Biting down on the pad of her thumb, blood trickled from the wound as Rin performed the necessary hand seals to summon Katsuyu. A small version of Katsuyu appeared and Rin quickly relayed her information, instructing her to leave as soon as possible.
Katsuyu slid out of the cell, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, Ichika was fumbling with something underneath her shirt. Her hand latched onto the item, sliding it over her hand. Ichika extended her hand forward, palm open to reveal a necklace.
"You should have it," Ichika told her earnestly. "It's called Ice Crystal, a memento from the Land of Ice, so you'll always remember me. The King designed it for the Princess."
Rin's fingers moved instinctively to pull out her own necklace from underneath her shirt. Her stiff and cold fingers rubbed against the white crystal, running along the sharp edges. Completely identical to the crystal that Ichika held before her.
Ichika came to the same realization as her eyes registered the Ice Crystal, the original design - there was no hole that ran through the middle of the crystal as it did with hers. The original Ice Crystal...the owner…
"Princess Yuki," Ichika whispered. Her eyes took in the young girl before her and lamented at the fact she didn't notice that the medic was almost a carbon copy of the Queen. Take away the purple markings on her cheeks, the hair, the eyes, the nose, the facial structure, and just about everything was so similar to her Queen.
Ichika felt like she was looking at her Queen when she had been younger.
Rin still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact. Did Ichika call her "Princess Yuki?" Wasn't her mother a Konoha nin, then how…?
Her train of thought halted as she recalled sensei telling her about her mother's story after he caught her stealing Konoha's bingo book as a chunin.
Your father was the ruler of the Land of Ice.
Yua decided to leave to join your father in the Land of Ice.
My Queen was once a Konoha nin.
Her affinity with both water and wind nature chakra type...the two needed to form ice. She...was the Princess that had escaped?
A surprised gasp escaped her lips as all of the pieces began to fall together. Hiroto must have figured out her lineage and lured her here under the guise of requesting for her medical services. Rin wasn't here to heal Ichika; she was her replacement.
"My Princess, you must leave now," Ichika told her, the urge evident in her voice. "You must leave before Hiroto finds out. Don't worry about me. You must live, for the sake of our land."
Through teary eyes, Rin resolutely nodded. Ichika pressed her Ice Crystal into Rin's hands and Rin immediately put it around her neck. With one last look at the closest person to family she had, Rin began to channel chakra into her hands. With the help of her chakra, Rin used her boosted strength to pry the bars of the cell open. The bars did bend, but hardly large enough for her to climb through.
She squatted down, bending the bottom of the bar as well. Then she performed the transformation jutsu, changing her form into a cat and nimbly leapt out through the cells.
Rin stayed in her tiny form as a white cat, nimbly escaping under the numerous guards' feet. The guards shouted, yelling at each other to catch her, but Rin escaped from their grasps every time. At one point, she even scratched away a hand that came too close to her. From that point forward, the guards made a point to use the blunt end of their spears to try to knock her out.
Once she was surrounded, Rin morphed back into her original form, easily taking out three of them out of surprise. As for the rest of them, a quick genjutsu later, four more bodies crumpled to the ground, joining their unconscious comrades.
More guards met her halfway down the hallway. Without stopping, Rin charged at the group of five, grabbing the tip of the spear of the first man's. She easily snapped it in half, flinging the tip right at the man. He moved to dodge it, but that was enough for her to kick at his torso. Climbing atop of the man as he fell, Rin propelled herself to the shoulders of the second man while her hand gripped on the staff of a third's, swinging him and sending him crashing into the fourth and fifth man.
A hit at one of the many pressure points on the second man's neck knocked him. Jumping off of his shoulders as he fell, landing on the first man who was still recovering, Rin dove towards the third man, who was still slightly disoriented, and rammed a senbon into his neck as she passed.
Two more senbons and a genjutsu later, all five men were down, unmoving.
She continued running, ducking and dodging as the guards launched projectiles at her moving form. Reaching to her holster for a kunai, Rin shot it with enough accuracy and force, knocking the staff out of a guard's hand. His now free hands moved to form hand seals, a wind jutsu if Rin's senses were correct. A senbon pierced cleanly through his hand, stopping his jutsu. Another senbon to the neck and the man was down.
Constantly sparring with Shisui, who was ridiculously fast in his own right, had honed Rin's senses a lot better than she had thought. And improved her reflexes.
She flew past the next guard, jerking her elbow back to knock him back on his feet. A chakra charged kick to the chest, the man flew across the room, back hitting the wall before he slumped down, unconscious.
Ten more chakra signatures heading her way, she better move.
Ten more unconscious bodies splattered all over the floor of the palace, Rin finally reached the front door. The two guards at the door had already reached to subdue her, but she had been prepared. One hand snapping the staff into two and the other jabbed at his pressure points. The second guard earned a kick to the chest, followed by a triple layer genjutsu, knocking him unconscious.
It wasn't over yet. Rin still had a whole village to cross followed by the Land of Snow territory.
Chakra flared to her left and Rin moved, blocking the sword with a kunai. Wind chakra coated the metal of the sword. Launching a kunai at Hiroto, Hiroto was forced to move out of the way. Taking advantage of his weakened hold on his sword, Rin pushed his sword away from her, backflipping into the air and landing a good meter away from her.
Hiroto's dark eyes flickered to the unconscious forms of his guards before it landed back onto her. He made no move to approach her and even casually held his sword by his side. Like he didn't deem her to be a threat.
On the contrary, Rin gripped two kunais, holding it protectively in front of her. Her mind was whirling with escape strategies. Genjutsu and run? Could she use the snow as a source of water for her water jutsus?
"Impressive," Hiroto said. "I didn't expect you to be able to get past all fifty of my guards."
Rin blinked. Fifty? Had it really been that many?
"Like mother, like daughter I suppose. A formidable kunoichi. Strong enough to kill my father," Hiroto continued. "And what better way than to get revenge by capturing you, Princess Yuki?"
Hiroto chuckled to himself as Rin remained silent. "You won't be able to escape, so just give up!"
Faster than the eye can see, Hiroto crossed the distance between then, raising his sword to slam down on Rin. Whipping out her flute, she was able to partially coat it with chakra as his sword made contact with her flute.
Clang!
Rin dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way as his sword met the snow. Hiroto was still moving...how?
"Measly genjutsu trick," Hiroto huffed. "I'll show you real genjutsu!"
She had only taken two steps when she found herself engulfed in a snow storm. The gusts of wind cut into her skin, tearing her clothes.
She felt a disturbance to her chakra network and quickly dispelled it, but as soon as she did, she was caught in another genjutsu.
Blood dripping down the length of his body. His once white hair was dyed red as his shaky fingers reached out to grab her.
Kai.
Two skulls on spikes. Two pairs of hollow eyes staring at her as her knees gave out in front of her. Her fist slammed against the ground.
Kai.
Smoke. Fire. Burning flesh. Screams piercing into the air. A haunting voice crying for help. She ignored it all as she selfishly crawled her way to safety.
Kai.
"You didn't take care of my son," Kushina whispered. Blood dribbled down her chin. Her blood red hair was flying in all directions behind her.
A kunai to the thigh shattered the image from her mind. A second later, Rin found herself surrounded in a barrage of images, all displaying her worst fears. Distorting her memories so that she had been the one to kill Obito. The one to kill sensei and Kushina nee.
"You cannot escape," Hiroto told her. Her eyes tried to pinpoint his voice, but his voice appeared to deflect off of the walls of the storm, obscuring his exact location. "You may try to break out of it, but it will capture you again and again. My jutsu casts genjutsu through all five senses. You cannot escape. Succumb to your fate."
Rin did, her body slumping down to the ground.
The genjutsu swallowed her whole.
Three year old Yuki Kazikane held tightly onto her father's hand, her small hand wrapping tightly around his pointer and middle finger. Her small feet wobbled as she took every step forward, but she stood straight.
To walk like a lady as her mother had taught her.
Dressed in a flower printed yukata and her hair down in a bun, with senbon made of crystal holding her brown hair in place, the young girl was the epitome of grace and beauty. The bells dangling from the senbon chimed merrily.
Along the way to their destination, many of the adults stopped to coo at the younger girl. With a smile plastered onto her face, the Princess bowed at each and every one of them, at a ninety degree angle that she was taught. Even if she did not like it, the Princess allowed the adults to pinch at her cheeks.
A princess was to be seen not heard.
Her small feet padded softly across the wooden floor as her father continued to lead her to one of the rooms. To meet a special guest, her father had told her.
The special guests were two men, one notably older than the younger, but had similar features. The same coloring of hair and eyes, same shade of complexion. The older had wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. There was a cold look in his eyes that didn't exist in the younger.
Yuki fought to prevent her body from shaking at the palpable drop in temperature.
Her father handed her hand off to the younger. Her hand squirmed in the younger's grasp, hating how cold his skin felt.
Her father knelt down before her, so he could speak to her at eye level. "This is your new family. Be good for them, alright? Practice hard so you can learn our ice jutsus, alright?"
Yuki nodded.
A princess didn't disobey.
Seven year old Yuki Kazikane received a whack to the back of her head from Hiroto as her ice shattered within five seconds of forming.
"My future wife is not to be weak," Hiroto spat, angrily shoving the scroll containing her clan secrets into her face. Yuki sat still as he did so. When he was done, the scroll slid down her nose before fluttering to the ground.
The ink was smeared, rending the words unreadable.
"You will learn the ice jutsu. You won't have dinner until you can make it hold for at least a minute."
Yuki practiced for the rest of the night, getting the jutsu to hold for forty eight seconds before she promptly passed out from chakra exhaustion.
A princess kept all her complaints to herself.
Ten year old Yuki Kazikane sat on the throne, looking down at the bound man in front of her. He was on his knees, tears spilling from his eyes as he pleaded for Hiroto to show him mercy. Hiroto deemed the man's case a waste of time and passed him off to Yuki to determine his fate.
Turning to Yuki, the man began to plead mercy once more. He spoke of his ten year old son at home, who was still waiting for him to return. He tried to tug on her heart strings by mentioning his crippled wife and how his family depended on him. He begged for mercy, trying to explain he had only stolen from the palace for the sake of survival. He openly cried when Yuki motioned for him to stand up.
Gracefully, Yuki descended down the throne, her robes trailing after her. At full height, Yuki barely reached the man's chest and craned her head upward to see the hope shining in his eyes.
"Rest in peace," Yuki told him softly.
A shard of icicle appeared from her sleeve, piercing the man's heart. He gurgled, choking on his own blood before his body crumpled to the floor. Yuki waved for the guards to take care of the body, dropping the bloody icicle next to the man. She turned away, her robes swishing behind her.
The Ice Princess, they whispered behind her back. A heart made out of ice.
A princess carried out the will of the King.
Fourteen year old Yuki Kazikane eyed the circle of men around her. Two visibly took a step back upon meeting her icy gaze.
"Who's next?"
To anyone who didn't know, the fourteen year old girl was hardly a threat. Built with a fragile frame, the girl was all skin and bones. Yet the pile of dead bodies in the snow begged to disagree.
Yuki casually wiped her blood stained hands with a handkerchief. The guards audibly sighed; that meant they were done being her target practice for the day. But they were wrong, so wrong.
With a flick of her hand as Yuki left, tendrils of ice formed from the ground, wrapping themselves around the arms and legs of every guard in the clearing, trapping them. No matter how much they struggled, the ice held on tight. Each movement made the ice wrap around them tighter.
By the next morning, all seven guards were frozen to death.
A princess could fight her own battles.
Sixteen year old Yuki Kazikane stared out at the plethora of people seated around the round tables. Whispers erupted at each table, but conspicuously stopped as she neared them. Her gaze met one of a frightened man, who immediately ducked to avoid her gaze.
Her soulless eyes spotted the glass of champagne on the table. Molding her chakra, she made the champagne freeze, shards of ice sticking upward, mere millimeters from the man's face. His head jerked backwards, fear written all over his face. As was expressed on the faces of all of his other companions at the table.
Yuki left them, all of them too scared to utter another word.
With her unnaturally pale skin and gorgeous brown hair, Yuki was considered to be the most exquisite bride that the Land of Snow has ever seen. Yet the whispers of her becoming the Ice Queen dominated the wedding's conversation.
Anyone who dared to utter those words found their champagne spiked, literally spiked, like she had done to the first man.
The whispers died down. The villagers watched the wedding take place, turning Ice Princess into Ice Queen. Hiroto smirked proudly at his wife's intimidating presence...oh she would do well ruling by his side.
A queen...didn't have a heart.
A/N: Hi again!
In canon, Rin's background was never explored, so I took the liberty of doing that because I can see her and Haku being related. :P
As for some of the reviews I got last chapter, no, this story won't turn into some angst love story like Twilight haha. This story will be more focused on the plot line and their relationship development is sort of something that will gradually happen as more time passes. Like I have mentioned, this story will span about two decades of their life (assuming that Kakashi is 33 in Shippuden? I can't exactly remember, but somewhere around there).
They told us to stay home as much as possible, so I guess I'm going to be using this time to write some more. Stay safe, everyone!
Next chapter is called Queen of Ice. It will be a continuation of this arc.
Thank you for reading and as always, let me know what you think. Until next time!
-MM