Naruto: A Red Eye Hidden by Shadow

by Tatanka4Life

On the fateful night of the Uchiha Massacre, a girl of Uchiha and Nara blood is spared and left with no memories of her past. Now she must walk on the path left by her family to help her build a new future for herself. Her path will be hard, full of struggles and pain, but as long as she has her friends and family at her side she will keep forging ahead, even if it was a drag.

72. Chapter 71: To Become Shinobi

Chapter 71

To Become Shinobi: No Mercy Left to Give

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

Every crunch of compacted snow beneath the malicious approaching footsteps tightened anxiety around Amari's heart. Bad enough she could hardly see through the dense darkness overwhelming her vision. Now she had to hear Kōri almost skipping in glee towards her? Amari struggled to keep her breathing even, hoping to not further agitate her wound any more than necessary.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

Step by step, Kōri neared, ready to end her life with the ice spear she brandished in her left hand. Amari gritted her teeth and tried to move. She immediately regretted her stubbornness. Visibly wincing, no one would ever know the ripping pains to tear through her abdomen.

I…can't move.

Warm, crimson blood painted her gloved hand, resting just beneath the wound as it dripped off the ice spear protruding through her stomach and out her back. The icy chill of the spear made her shiver, increasing her pain. Being too slow in the snow cost her.

Looks like I'm true to form today. The Uchiha chuckled then coughed, splattering blood onto the white snow. The warm blood dripped from her lips, long and stringy, slowly freezing as it encountered the frozen environment.

"Ugh," she grimaced. Her vision blurred as she blinked, and it took no small amount of willpower to open her eyes again. It was darker than before. The red patterns tainting the pure white snow continued to grow beneath her—a bad sign. "Hah. Hah. Geh!" Amari's body seized up before hacking up more blood.

Yeah. This was bad.

"Amari, we're on our way back. What's the trouble?" Kakashi's voice entered her ear.

Kakashi-sensei… Amari shut her eyes, this time to focus on delivering pertinent Intel. Even in this deteriorating state, she had a duty as a shinobi to prepare her team. Just…keep it short. To the point. She didn't have the strength for anything else.

"Dotō is…making his entrance via a train. Sandayū ran over the hill. Don't know why," she answered through pained breaths.

"Are you okay? What's your status?" The concern in his voice, she could almost feel him picking up his pace.

"Just a…flesh wound, Sensei. I'll be fine. Just hurry."

"They won't make it to save you, little flower." When Kōri's feet and shins appeared in her blurred vision, Amari struggled to lift her gaze to the grinning green-haired woman. Kōri looked exceptionally pleased with herself. It was annoying.

"I believe this is checkmate."

A bloody smirk graced the Nara's features. "No…it isn't. We're not even close to checkmate, you arrogant fool." Bravado was good. Comfortable. It kept her enemy locked onto her and not her surroundings.

It also irritated Kōri, which was a tremendous bonus. The Snow kunoichi growled nastily, hand clutching her ice spear tighter. "Annoying little pest." Lifting her ice spear back, she drove the spike through Amari's heart, out her back and into the snow beneath her. Her onyx eye widened.

Then the wounded Clone popped.

"What?!"

In an explosion of white, Amari emerged from the snow like a demon escaping the underworld directly on Kōri's left flank, the final painful moments of her clone tightening her chest and leaving behind ghostly aches that weren't hers.

Kōri's eyes bulged as Amari sprang out of the snow, paralyzed in shock by the sudden reincarnation of the kunoichi she believed dead. The pleased look was gone; her features contorted into a concoction of disbelief and frustration.

Kunai held tightly in her hand, she severed the spear with a single, powerful strike then leapt into the air, twirling to gain momentum before Kōri could react. She punctuated her attack with an exclamation point—that exclamation being her foot crashing sole first into Kōri's unprotected face.

The attack sent her enemy sprawling through the snow, rolling head over foot like a snowball rolled down a mountain. Amari felt herself shiver as slick, cold snow melted against her skin, sliding down her neck, back and chest. Lying in wait in the snow, bad idea.

Being cold had spared her from getting impaled, so she couldn't whine about it. It was better than bleeding out or dying.

Kōri rolled onto her feet and scowled at the Nara. How was she being beaten by this child? How was she, a god among mortals, unable to finish this fight with ease? These questions couldn't be clearer in her fierce eyes.

I need to close this distance. Kōri preferred long-range fighting, and with those jutsus of hers she could change this scenery into another Ice Spear Trap or a ravine.

Unlike their battle on the glacier, they were at the foot of a mountain; Kōri's jutsus could bring an avalanche down right on top of them, something Amari was certain she'd do if the thought crossed her mind, likely out of spite. She couldn't allow that to occur. But there was another problem she had to deal with.

Tossing her kunai into her left hand, Amari equipped another in her right. With each second that passes, I'm one second closer to being outnumbered by Dotō and his forces. Time was her enemy just as much as Kōri was in this battle. There was only one option: Keep Kōri on her heels until Kakashi and her teammates arrived, and hope she wasn't outnumbered before that.

Amari jolted forward through the snow. Kōri created the Tiger seal. "Ice Style: Tsubame Blizzard!" A cool wind swirled around the Snow shinobi, picking up snow before launching directly at Amari.

Tsubame Blizzard, it was a jutsu Fubuki used against Sasuke. Kōri wasn't launching a few snow particles at her, carried on controlled wind; within the light cloud of snow were ice needles, shaped to mirror miniature swallows. Even with the Byakugan Amari struggled to see them.

Amari evaded to the side then pushed ahead. A second swirl of white wind gusted right for the Nara. At the same time, movement beneath her Byakugan blindspot snapped her head around. Ah, man! The original swallows were charging at her from behind!

Quickly, she created a clone right in front of her. The clone weaved through handseals and expelled a stream of fire directly for the new set of swallows. Using her clones back, Amari launched into the sky, tossing both kunai's at her opponent. The weapons bounced uselessly off the invisible Chakra Armor barrier, but it also freed her hands to bring them into Tiger.

Fire Style…

Amari corkscrewed through the air, twisting upside down to face the needles rapidly approaching behind her.

Fire Ball Jutsu!

Tremendous heat erupted from her lips, burning away the ice needles in a flash of orange and temporarily warming her cold body. With acrobatic flourish, Amari righted herself to land feet first in the snow. Momentum still carrying her forward, she moved into a handspring, channeled chakra to her hands and released it to launch herself into the air again.

Amari dispelled her first clone and created another in midair that mirrored her movements, weaving the handseals for another Fire Ball Jutsu.

Kōri was moving through a new set of her own, her features intense and focused without an ounce of arrogance or fear in her eyes. Finally. Now they were fighting kunoichi to kunoichi. Not so-called god to mortal.

Together, the pair of Amari's unleashed a combined inferno just as Kōri slammed her hands into the ground.

"Ice Style: Ice Column!"

The ground quaked and shook. Chakra surged into the ice all around Kōri. Then, as if being erected by a god, a column of ice surged up beneath Snow shinobi to the height of Hokage Tower. The combined flames blasted the ice column and wrapped around it, but it failed to melt the ice. And it certainly didn't stop her forward momentum.

Crap! Wall!

Amari barely managed to catch herself on the wall with chakra. Her clone was not so lucky; she crashed shoulder first and dispelled on impact. Immediately her feet began to slip on the slick ice. This ice is too slippery for me to run up even with chakra at my feet.

This was becoming a real pain. Fishing into her pouch, Amari procured two kunai and stabbed them into the column, catching herself as gravity took hold. She jumped onto the hilts and turned her gaze upwards. This wasn't the end. Kōri had a plan of some sort, and it wouldn't do well to wait it out when she could change the battlefield like this.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Eight clones formed in midair around her. They immediately pushed off the wall, kunais flying from their hands to create a sturdy path of onyx blade stairs for Amari to climb.

"Ice Style: Ice Spear Trap!" The ice column creaked and cracked; Amari needed no other incentive to move. As she leapt to a higher kunai, icy spears exploded out of the column where she stood previously.

No time to stall. Amari swung herself up to another kunai, scrambling against the wall with chakra on her hands and feet while the murderous spears chased her. Every crack of the column made her heart leap. She had to keep moving. Keep evading. The alternative was a death sentence, and that wasn't acceptable.

"Just wilt away already you disgusting weed!"

A disgusting weed? Amari frowned. That seems uncalled for.

"Ice Style: Tsubame Blizzard!"

From above, a flurry of ice needles flew down the column, intent of buffeting her. Amari, who had her hands full dodging the spears and maintaining her upward motion, could only brace for impact. The swallows cut past her, slicing through her clothing, drawing blood as they cut her to ribbons.

But she wasn't alone. While Kōri focused so single-mindedly on Amari, her clones ascended to the top of the column, and their arrival at the top ended the attacks. Aches wracked Amari's entire body. A passing breeze of frigid temperatures did little to help; the stinging attack on her newly open wounds left her wincing.

She could hear her clones fighting the kunoichi in an intense clash at the top of this summit. One Clone was sent careening off the column before popping. The others, she learned through their memories, were being taken down by Kōri's new ice spear.

It was a duel then.

It took a few more jumps, but Amari finally landed on the flat plane of ice at the top, right hand holding the hilt of her tantō. From the top of the column, her breath was momentarily stolen as the vast mountain range surrounding them greeted her vision. It was hard to see the beauty of this frozen land down below, ankle and sometimes knee deep in snow. But from up here…

What a wonderful world we live in.

She wished the circumstances were better. But down below was the train, and at the mouth of the cave were Naruto and Yukie lying just adjacent to the tracks in the snow.

Traces of Nine-Tails chakra lingered in his system; he must have channeled it to outrun the train. No sight of Kakashi, Sasuke or Sakura, though.

The Nara returned her narrowed eyes to her enemy. Kōri kept her final clone pinned back first to the ground beneath her boot, planted heavily on her chest. Her clone punched at the boot and squirmed, to no avail.

"You just don't know when to quit, little flower," Kōri fumed somewhat calmly. She stabbed the spear into her clone and brought her irritated gaze to the real Genin. "No matter how many times I pull you out from your roots, you persist in returning to my beautiful garden, bringing weeds that choke the life from it."

"Heh," Amari breathed out a laugh. "When are you going to realize I'm not some little pest you can easily get rid of? I'm a kunoichi from the Leaf Village and inheritor of my cousin's Will of Fire. Don't underestimate me!"

Kōri snarled viciously and lunged after the Leaf kunoichi. Steel and ice clashed. Unlike the previous spear, this one was sturdier, flowing with chakra and wielding an even sharper point at the end. Kōri stabbed repeatedly at Amari, but found only empty air as she evaded. Then she switched grips, doing a quick flourish of the spear before attacking with it as a staff.

The fancy gesture hadn't fooled Amari. Her eyes were sharper than her enemy's, and reflexes in close-quarters combat faster. However, Kōri's footwork was good. Not perfect, but good enough to reveal she once trained with weapons before the Chakra Armor. Before she believed herself an undefeatable god.

But her skills were rusty. Nowhere near as fluid as Amari's, and that was the price of her arrogance.

The Uchiha blocked a series of fast strikes then dodged back. Her heels slid to a stop at the very edge of the column, where she stopped her backwards momentum and took up a firm stance. Kōri slid her hand down the spear, gripping it at the bottom, then gracefully spun on the ice, extending her spear to its max length.

The Leaf kunoichi quickly crouched beneath the strike. She hissed. Kōri's second strike was already coming, seeking to impale her just like her clone. Amari sidestepped the attack, but grimaced as the point of the spear grazed through her clothes to the cold skin beneath.

She's using her position in the center of the column to keep me stuck on the outskirts, furthering her advantage by ensuring I never get close enough to strike. Internally, she couldn't help but smirk. I admit, I'm impressed. She's starting to use her head instead of relying on the Chakra Armor's power and her arrogance.

Of course it wasn't completely one-sided. Agility and flexibility were her greatest weapons here. Amari snatched the spear before Kōri could pull it back and vaulted over it, pushing the weapon away with a kick then dashing in. Her tantō struck the thickest part of the spear as Kōri managed a last second block; they were so close, the condensation of their heated breaths floated around their vision.

With a growl of effort, the Snow shinobi pushed back, but Amari predicted the action. Drawing on her one experience of ice skating, she channeled chakra to her left foot, imagining it like the blade of an ice skate.

By pushing with her right foot, firm on the ice, she glided like an ice dancer around Kōri, twirling low beneath her strike on one foot. At the end of her spin, she canceled the chakra at her foot, planted her legs and rose to her full height, swinging her tantō with the momentum of her body, cutting open a surface wound along her back.

Kōri arced her back and hissed in agony. "You pest!" she cursed as she swung around with a high staff strike.

It seems her Chakra Armor has another disadvantage, the Nara thought as she rolled her upper body under the attack. She came out of the dodge and caught Kōri's spear in a quick parry. Then she swiftly vanished in a Body Flickered to her enemy's opposite side. Again her strike met ice, but only narrowly. That was fine. She hadn't intended them to land, only to distract.

Kōri struck at her center mass, but the spear phased right through the Uchiha. "Wha— ahh!"

The afterimage faded as Amari cut a deeper wound into Kōri's side, between the gaps of her armor where it was weakest. The cut confirmed the Nara's theory. The barrier is designed to deflect projectiles, not directed strikes of a sword.

The Snow shinobi grunted but recovered quickly, spinning the spear with finesse around her body after the Leaf kunoichi. Blade met the middle of the thick ice again, but the strength and sturdiness of the attack pushed her along the ice.

This armor of theirs is really suited for long-range overpowering destruction, not short-range combat where they are unable to use their jutsu. But…

As she neared the edge of the column again, she created two clones, who rushed her enemy with their tantō's. Kōri shifted her spear to fend off the two clones, striking them both down and refocusing her attention on Amari as she charged back in for battle.

Despite not being made for short-range combat, they still enhance the strength and chakra of the wearer. This Column Jutsu and the Ice Spear Trap would take a toll on a normal ninja's chakra, but hers…it's still strong as ever.

Amari dodged two spear strikes aimed for her head, cold wind whistling past her ears, then went low to cut the thigh of the Snow shinobi. Fresh blood coated her blade. She slid behind Kōri, turned on the ice and landed a kick in her back. Kōri stumbled forward but recovered before reaching the edge. Amari leapt in but felt the air eject out her lungs as Kōri's foot caught her in the stomach.

Landing on the ice, she lifted her blade up quickly to block her enemy's strikes, sucking in cold air to replace the ejected air.

Which means the longer this battle continues the higher chance she has of overpowering me as I get tired. I can't let it come to that. I need to finish this.

Unfortunately, as if she didn't have enough on her plate, another problem emerged: Sandayū had returned with members of the resistance on the top of the hill overlooking the train, prepared to battle Dotō and the Snow shinobi he brought with him.

Amari parried two strikes then gracefully spun on the ice to dodge a stabbing attack. What the hell is Sandayū doing? She couldn't hear him at this altitude or through the intensity of this battle. From what inflections of his voice she could pick up, it sounded like he was rallying his men to attack Dotō without the shinobi he hired.

It'll be a bloodbath. I need to get down there. This fight no longer mattered as much as stopping Sandayū and the other men from making a terrible mistake. She kicked Kōri away and rushed to jump off the column in the direction of the train, but her opponent hastily moved right back in front of her.

Kōri's arrogant grin was back as she kept her weapon at the ready. "Going so soon? But the slaughter is about to begin!"

Amari let out an agitated growl and charged at the woman again. "Get out of my way!"

Her blade met the middle of the spear in a deadlock, one that Kōri intended to hold as long as possible. "Ah ah ah, little flower. It's time to watch the show."

The show? What was she talking about?

Against her better judgment, Amari's Byakugan pierced through the woman and down to the train, where Sandayū and his men were charging down the hill. Their war cry echoed across the mountainside and up to her ears. Naruto and Yukie were still at the mouth of the cave, out of the way, watching on in apparent awe at the scene of fifty-one men charging the train.

"Any second now you will witness a true massacre, and then you'll realize how hopeless this battle really is!"

The men reached halfway down the hill when Kōri's prediction came true. Hundreds of kunais, fired from hand cranked mechanisms of war, were launched from the sides of the train cars in large bursts. Right at the armored samurai. Armor which wasn't meant to protect from blades being hurtled at speeds humans couldn't throw at.

Amari felt her eyes bulge in horror. Blood flew in all directions as horrid screams reverberated over the mountainside, the men who once charged down the hill without fear now impaled by dozens of kunai.

One by one she watched their chakra signatures die out, some slower than others and some instantaneously. It was like watching the lights of a tower go out one floor at a time; only with each light that faded, someone was killed.

All those people…

Kōri, who had begun to laugh, shoved the blade of the shell-shocked kunoichi away and used the blunt end of her spear to hit her right in the sternum. The air was taken from her as she fell to her knees.

All those people…dead.

Flashbacks of the Invasion peppered her mind. The horrible screams of terror. The fires. The smoke. The death.

Dotō and his men…they slaughtered Sandayū and his people without mercy. They were laughing at their deaths. Because they saw themselves as gods who got to pick and choose who lived and who died.

Fire sparked in the Uchiha's heart. Black fire.

"Now you die!" Kōri's spear was instantly stopped by Amari's blade, now glowing with green chakra, black tips flickering on the ends. "What the?!"

"I…" The Uchiha child slowly lifted her head, the strands of her hair darkening her face. Then, from beneath the shadows, the red fire of the Sharingan beamed to life. "I'm going to kill you!"

Kōri retracted her spear and went for another strike, but all she found was air. Amari reappeared standing to the side of her previous position. Her tantō cut straight through the spear. The red eye remained locked with Kōri's shocked pair; although protected from genjutsu by her armor, Kōri could see the visage of the demonic dragon behind Amari, hear its nostrils flaring with furious, sharp breaths.

And in the reflection of Kōri's eyes, Amari could see it, too.

She would kill them all. Every. Last. One.

Kōri hastily activated her wings and dove off the column in retreat, whether it was because of the killing intent or the explosions hitting the train, dropping an avalanche on her allies would never be known. It didn't matter.

Amari was right behind the Snow Ninja, sliding down the side of the column with chakra glowing on her hands and feet as she locked her eye on her new target.

I'm going to kill you, Dotō.

Amari hit the ground sprinting. The train had lost half of its cars due to the explosion, but Dotō and his comrades continued their retreat. It wouldn't matter how far they ran or where they hid themselves. She would find them and obliterate them!

As she neared her prey, Kakashi appeared in front of her with his back to her and his arm extended out, stopping her from proceeding in her hunt. "Wait, Amari! Don't be so hasty."

She and her dragon snarled angrily. "They slaughtered them like cattle and laughed about it as they did! We can't just let them get away with that!" Amari argued.

"I know." Kakashi turned to her and met her Sharingan eye with his calm and commanding eye. "We will put an end to Dotō, but not here. Not now. We need to get the movie crew to safety, take care of the dead and handle your wounds first."

Amari breathed heavily for a tense set of seconds. Slowly, the rational side of her regained control. Crimson red cooled into onyx as she deactivated her dōjutsu, and as it faded the heat of her adrenaline faded, too, replaced by the chilled air and aches of her wounds. So…cold.

Amari hugged her arms around her stomach to fight the cold and to cover the spear wound on her side, sullen features taking hold. Sandayū, his people…

"I was supposed to protect him," she said quietly as she stared out at the mountainside. "But all I could do was watch them fade away in my Byakugan. I…couldn't save them."

Just like the people in the Invasion. Those innocent people, they must have been so scared. So frightened by the destruction and war breaking out right in the center of their peaceful lives. And she, a Leaf shinobi, couldn't be there to protect them. She and Mimi could only listen to their terrified screams as they…

Kakashi closed the distance and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His eye and voice became softer. "It's not your fault, Amari. Sandayū and his men would have made the same decision if Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura or I were left to guard them. Don't let their decision weigh heavy on your heart."

It was a sound rationalization of the circumstance she faced, but Amari wasn't sure she believed it. Her duty had been to protect their client, and she let him get out of sight. She let Kōri separate them.

Whether or not the same result would have happened with anyone else didn't matter. She was the one left to guard Sandayū and the movie crew. And in her absence Sandayū, alongside fifty innocent people she would never know the names of, died. But she would remember their agony and horrified contorted faces, along with their fading chakra networks.

Amari nodded mutely regardless and followed him back to the others. Sasuke met them halfway to give an update on the situation. Besides the obvious tragedy, the movie crew managed to stay hidden without sustaining any casualties—a small bright note in this hell.

While the dead were collected, Sakura helped to treat her wounds.

Her immediate rage had been quelled by the end of the fight…yet Amari couldn't see any other way this ended without killing Kōri and Dotō. Unlike with Haku and then Zabuza, she felt no good in any of them.

"You are right, though. I believe you and I share the same interests. I apologize for what I must do."

Haku… Even before they entered full-fledged battled, they could sense they were two sides of the same coin. They both knew deep in their hearts they didn't want to hurt or kill each other. You even apologized for what we both knew was inevitable…but even then you fought to spare us.

"You managed to remain compassionate towards us and still mostly kept your dream of protecting Zabuza alive. You found a way to avoid killing us and would have fulfilled your mission had Kakashi-sensei and I not got Zabuza in such a sticky situation where my Sensei was using such a strong jutsu. I can only follow such an inspiring example."

Haku's actions truly inspired her; they helped her to form her nindo. Shisui, too, sought to spare life when possible.

I want to be able to do the same, to spare life wherever and whenever I can…yet even if I spare these Snow shinobi, they'll just keep killing. They'll continue to bring pain to this Land and the world.

There is no getting through to them, not like with Zabuza or Gaara. There are no lights to bring them from the darkness. They relish in their power. They think themselves gods among mortals.

They were as bad as Gatō.

"You don't have the heart to kill indiscriminately, not even to kill Gatō."

"Don't mistake what you can do when lost in your emotions for what you're capable of doing when you're in control of yourself. Don't assume because you have lost people you loved that you know what it means to take a life. You're not ready."

Amari shut her eye and took a breath. Zabuza and Kakashi saw right through her back then. She talked tough, acted like a shinobi, believing herself capable of killing if ordered to…but she couldn't. She believed knowing loss meant she knew how to take a life, but she didn't. Not back then.

However, things were different now. The Invasion changed her. The Akatsuki incident changed her reality. And now another change was happening: Amari was fighting someone she couldn't find the heart to spare. This massacre, her guilt, it pushed her to a line she hadn't ever found herself at.

"We will put an end to Dotō, but not here. Not now."

Kakashi was right to steer her off. It was the call of a seasoned shinobi, wielding the experience to keep emotions from compromising the mission and the lives of his comrades. Other matters required immediate attention before ending Dotō and his regime of suffering.

Soon, though, soon they would put an end to them, permanently.

Enjoy what time you have left Kōri, Dotō, Nadare, Fubuki, and Mizore. By the end of the night you will no longer draw breath. That's a promise.

Privately, Sakura helped her bandage her severe wounds. The cold air on her bare abdomen stung nearly as much as the ointment she applied. Afterwards they joined Naruto to look upon the scene around them, sadness in their eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked softly.

"My outer wounds will be fine…but my heart will take time to stop hurting," she answered truthfully. "What about you two?"

Naruto lowered his eyes. "I…wish I would have been able to save them."

"Yeah…me too," Sakura agreed quietly.

Amari gave a mute nod and watched as Kakashi, Sasuke and a few of the movie crew loaded Sandayū—who barely clung to life—onto a stretcher. The Nara wanted to say there was hope for him, that he could pull through to give her teammates hope…but giving a false hope was cruel.

She grabbed her left arm under her cloak but kept her eyes forward. I saw wounds like his during the Invasion. Mimi did her best to ease their pain…but every single shinobi we found like that left a scar on her heart…because she knew she couldn't save them.

"Reminds me of Konoha after the Invasion," Sakura muttered.

"Yeah, it's awful," Naruto agreed.

Amari couldn't find the voice to agree. She didn't have words to make this any less terrible than it was. Each life extinguished is a set of dreams and futures taken from this world. The only thing the Leaf had holding us together is the circle Iruka-sensei talked about. Here they have—

"This is what happens when you never give up."

Yukie's voice may as well have been nails on chalkboard. Amari bristled, teeth clenching together. Here they have her.

All three turned to face Yukie, who stood behind them, face blank and apathetic as ever. Of course she was. What more did she expect from a heartless coward. Part of Amari's heart wanted to blame her for this; if she hadn't run away, Team Seven as a whole would have been here to defend Sandayū and his people from Dotō.

But that was just the guilt gnawing at her heart. Trying to shove blame onto someone else and vent all these emotions tightening her chest.

"If they had never stood up to Dotō and his men then none of this bloodshed would have happened," she continued.

Amari's hands curled into fists. "Keep disrespecting the dead, Princess. See what it gets you."

Kakashi, Sasuke and the movie crew approached with the stretcher, setting it down in the snow close to Yukie. "My…Princess," Sandayū called weakly. Yukie knelt down next to him but showed no emotion. "Please forgive me. I should have…never gotten you involved in all this." The man took a few rapid inhales and swallowed hard. "It's just… We were able to keep believing in spite of everything because we knew you were alive."

Tears welled in Sandayū's eyes, his voice was ripe with his final emotions—emotions Yukie did not mirror. "When you were little…and even now, you have been—just as I, your loyal Sandayū believed, you too must believe—you have been our purest hope. Please, do not waste your tears on me," he pleaded through his pain.

Not a moment later his head fell limply to the side. Amari would never forget his final, peaceful breath.

"You are such a fool, Sandayū. I can't cry. You have my eye drops."

Heat flushed over Amari's skin. She could barely feel the cold air.

Her restraint was failing. Another push and she swore she'd…

Trudging forward in the snow, Amari knelt beside Sandayū's body, gently taking both of his limp hands into hers to lie them palm down on his chest before placing his sword between them.

"Find peace in the next life, Sandayū," she spoke. Someone with a heart ought to say some words for him, she felt. Yukie clearly didn't care. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, but you still died fighting for what you believed in. For that, as well as your passionate love for the Land of Snow, I respect you."

She tugged her sleeve up over her hand and wiped the blood from his forehead and off his cheeks. "I will ensure the Land of Snow never forgets your sacrifice or the sacrifices of the other men who have died here."

"Are you all satisfied now?" Yukie asked in that same indifferent voice of hers.

Amari reacted. She didn't think. The crack of her hand on Yukie's cheek echoed like a bolt of lightning over the mountainside. And it felt good.

The Princess's head was thrown to the side by the strike, hair whipping through the air. A red imprint was already forming on her pale cheek.

The entire movie crew gasped. Of course they did. They didn't have the guts to say or do anything to upset the actress.

None of Team Seven shared their shock. It might have been her burning anger, but Amari swore she sensed their approval. Yukie stared wide eyed at the snow, hand slowly reaching up to touch the stinging flesh.

"You disgust me," Amari hissed, eye narrowed. She pointed to Sandayū. "This man lived every day of his life serving you. From the time you were awake to the time you went to sleep he was at your beck and call, proud to serve his Princess no matter what it was."

Slowly, Yukie's eyes rose to meet hers. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Amari didn't flinch. Let her try something and see what little restraint she had left.

"He lived his life for you, dreaming of the day he could see you take up your rightful position as Princess of the Land of Snow." Her eye became a slit. "And you shrugged off his pleads, you stamped out his dreams, treated him like he was a pest and now you dare to spit on his sacrifice when he gave everything to make sure you were taken care of and safe?

"You may be a Princess, but all I see in you is a spoiled brat!" The Uchiha wound up for another slap but paused, curling her hand into a fist before lowering it. "But Sandayū believed there was a Princess worth following somewhere deep down in the pits of that place you call a heart. Out of respect for him and his sacrifice I won't give up on his dream."

With an angry huff, Yukie rose to her feet. "Let's get out of here," she said to Director Makino and the crew. "If you all stay here you'll die! Come on, let's go home," the Princess began walking towards the vehicles.

"Go ahead. Run away, Princess. It's what your best at."

Amari shut her eye and bowed her head in a respectful silence for Sandayū before getting back onto her feet. Whatever. These people deserved better than her anyway.

"Go home to where?" Naruto snarled. "I thought this was your home, wasn't it? What the heck is out there that you have to get back to? Your home is here! Now face Dotō and put your house in order!"

"You know absolutely nothing," Yukie replied. Her eyes moved over to Amari, squinting another glare at her. "Neither of you do."

"Grow up," Amari scoffed. "You're not the only person in this world to suffer loss."

With a hissed breath, she spun her back to them again. "Spring doesn't come to this country. Our tears are frozen over and our hearts are hardened with the cold!"

"But aren't you the one who is supposed to change that?" Sakura prodded. "I mean, that's what Sandayū believed. Are you really just going to walk away from your people when they need you?"

"I've had enough of this nonsense!"

Yukie stormed off but was quickly followed by Naruto. "Hey, wait a minute!"

The knucklehead snatched her wrist. Yukie spun on him, a snarl on her lips as she yanked her hand free. "Why don't you just leave me alone already?!"

"This is going nowhere," Sasuke said beneath his breath.

"Just let her go," Amari said hotly. "This Land deserves better than a spoiled actress."

Not a Princess. She didn't deserve that title anymore, if she ever deserved it to begin with.

Movement in her peripherals snapped Amari to attention. "What the…" A giant purple blimp was rising over the cliff. Mizore, who stood in the door way of the blimp, launched his mechanical arm at Yukie. The metal claws clutched around her upper body, then the wire began to reel back in—the prey finally captured.

Kōri and Fubuki dashed by through the air suddenly. A flurry of kunais raced to the icy earth. Amari's eye widened at the little balls dangling from the hilts. Hands flashing up into the Clone Seal, she yelled, "Everyone dodge!"

The largest horde of Shadow Clone's Amari had created in a while—a total of twenty—jolted into action, grabbing the movie crew and dashing them out of the way. Simultaneously, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi and Amari scattered to avoid the attack.

As each kunai landed, huge ice spikes exploded from the ground. Amari hopped back then to the side as two landed next to her. Snow and tiny shards of ice pelted her skin. Damn it. This isn't good. She jumped straight up as another landed right on her position, but she let herself fall onto the flat parts of the spikes.

The rain of kunai ended as quickly as it began. Their plan must've been to keep her team away from the blimp, and if one or more of them died in the attack, all the better. From one mess into another.

Great. Just great.

Rushing back to her teammates, Amari landed on a new ice spike next to Sakura and Sasuke. Here they are. The movie crew and my clones made it unscathed. I see Kakashi-sensei over there. But…

"Sakura, where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked before her.

"Huh?" Sakura looked to the blimp as the realization hit them all. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! That idiot!"

Without any consideration to the fact he'd be on his own, Naruto tied a rope attached to a kunai to one of the railings of the blimp. And the blimp was only getting further and further away.

Damn it. You knucklehead. Drawing fresh blood over her gloved palm, Amari weaved her handseals and slammed her hand onto the flat part of the spike. "Summoning Jutsu!"

Atsuko appeared from the plume of smoke. The Crow shivered. "Ah, Young Haya. I see you are still in the Land of Snow."

"Atsuko, are you up for a tracking mission?"

Atsuko nodded sharply. "Of course. How may I serve you?"

She pointed to the blimp in the distance. "That blimp has Naruto and Koyuki on it. Can you follow it and lead us to wherever it's going?"

"At once." Atsuko took off without question after the blimp.

Stay safe, Atsuko. You too, Naruto.

"Amari, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi landed in front of them. "Come on, we'll follow the blimp as far as we can. The movie crew will be safe here; Dotō has what he wants now." His eye hardened. "They aren't getting away with Naruto."

"Right," the trio agreed.

With Amari's Byakugan they were able to track the blimp over the hills and through mountain passes, but eventually their enemies exceeded her eyesight, slipping away. Thankfully, Kakashi had a general idea of where they were heading.

"Looks like they're heading for Kazahana Castle," he noted as they continued ninja jumping their way through the snow.

"Kazahana Castle? I thought it was destroyed?" Sakura pointed out.

"It was. Dotō has probably spent the last ten years rebuilding the throne." Kakashi sighed. "Which means it's probably prepared to defend against a ninja assault."

"Kakashi-sensei, I've been meaning to ask but haven't had the chance to: What is so important about this Hex Crystal those Snow shinobi mentioned in our first battle?" Amari asked.

"It's a key."

"A key? That's what this is all about?" Sasuke questioned incredulously.

"What's so important about this key, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know for certain what it unlocks, but I assume Dotō believes it will grant the Land of Snow power to rival the strength of the Five Great Shinobi Nations."

"Power to surpass the Five Great Nations?" Amari didn't like the sound of that at all. "That would have to be one incredible weapon. And if they started manufacturing their Chakra Armor in large quantities…"

"They'd be able to start a war. A lot of lives would be lost," Sasuke finished her statement.

"Exactly. Don't worry, though. He's pretty far away from the Hex Crystal."

Amari rose an eyebrow at that. "But doesn't he have the Princess?"

"Yep." Kakashi turned his head to back to look at the trio, eye smiling at them. He lifted the Hex Crystal necklace into view. "But I may have switched out the real Hex Crystal with a fake, just in case."

All three Team Seven members shared a smirk. "You really are sneaky, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura stated amusedly.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

His forward thinking improved the chances of Naruto and Koyuki being spared until they arrived. Just hang in there, Naruto. We're on our way.

---

This definitely was not my brightest plan, Naruto scolded himself. He was…somewhere. A building. Or, well, a prison actually. The air was cold even in here. Dank and dark, he hung from his handcuffed wrists, feet unable to touch the cold floor beneath him.

After his heroic attempt to storm the blimp alone failed, Dotō and his thugs pinned him down and latched some strange device to his stomach, right over the Nine-Tails seal. Metal wires rooted into his skin, leeching the chakra from his body. Worst of all, every time he tried to build up chakra, the device electrocuted him.

It didn't seem like he was going to be a shining white knight today. He should have thought this through, but he hadn't. He acted on instinct instead of listening to his brain, because of course he did! That was just how he operated.

I'm not giving up yet, and I know Amari, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei aren't giving up on me either. They'll be coming for me. But, he grunted as he struggled against his cuffs. Those Snow shinobi know it too. They're probably fortifying this place right now. Which means I need to get myself out of this cell and get the Princess at least outside of wherever we are so they don't have to fight their way through a horde of ninjas.

He frowned in the dimly lit cell. I also don't want to deal with Sasuke calling me an idiot for getting chained up. I am perfectly aware of how much of an idiot I am right now.

If his feet could touch the floor he would have been able to break free easier, but his shortness worked against him here. Amari would have hated it. The good news: The Princess was literally in the cell across from him. No wild search party necessary.

Apparently Dotō and his thugs weren't going to treat her like royalty. It had given the two time to discuss her previous statement about "Spring doesn't come to this country."

Her father used to tell her, "You'll see it when the spring comes, Koyuki." It being the warmth and joy of spring. He had told her that so long as she never gave up, she would one day see spring. But spring was not a season in the Land of Snow and her father died when she was still a child, so she fled and gave up hope on it.

Naruto felt bad that everything had happened the way it had to her, but that was no excuse for giving up.

He looked down at the floor after another failed attempt to break the cuffs with just his body strength. "I bet it's a lot easier. Giving up, I mean," he said lowly. "There was a time when I had no one who even cared I existed. I just tried to blow it off, ya know? But it was still pretty rough. I used to think there was no place in this world for me. I didn't know why I even got out of bed somedays. What point was there? But…"

"Oh. My name is Amaririsu."

Electricity surged out of the device on his stomach and attacked his body. Naruto cried out in agony but refused to let the pain stop his renewed struggles to break free.

His life had begun changing that day for the better; it was because he had never given up on finding someone like her.

"But I…still found friends!"

He thought of his best friend, sitting with a book in her hands as she smiled at him from beneath the shadow of the Academy tree swing they met at.

"Amari was the first to accept me for who I was. She was the first person who believed I, the no good loser, the dead last, could become Hokage. She was the first person to look at me and see right into my heart. She saved me from my darkness."

Yukie watched him with captivation.

"And through everything since that day, she has been at my side, encouraging me and inspiring me to be better! To be worthy of the title of Hokage!" he grunted as he struggled against the chains. "She sees right through your mask, too, ya know? You act like you don't care, like you don't feel anything at all, but it's a lie. I know it is!" He threw his weight downwards. "And so does Amari. She can see the hurt in your heart. She knows you're afraid to put your hope in anything or anyone."

Again he began lifting himself up. "Amari was afraid, too. Her most precious bonds have been severed again and again. She just lost someone really precious to her, but Amari keeps fighting!"

He threw his weight down against the handcuffs. A spike of pain attacked his wrists, but he battled to ignore it. "For them. For the future they couldn't see themselves. She could have given up easily, but she hasn't. And she won't. That's what makes her the strongest person I know!"

A surge of lightning made him yelp and squirm. He thought of Iruka then. Iruka-sensei and I started out rough, and I own a lot of it for the trouble I caused him, but he's still someone I hold dear because he never gave up on me! He gave me this headband because he believes in me!

Then there were his teammates. Sasuke, Sakura and him were as close as they'd ever been. They stood together to defend Amari from Gaara after she fought so hard, and they'd been training as a team to catch up to her strength ever since. The electricity faded briefly. Naruto renewed his efforts.

"Sakura, Sasuke and I didn't start on the same page, let alone the same book. But we're comrades, and as we fought battle after battle together we became friends who we know we can always count on!" He tugged strongly on the chains again. "Kakashi-sensei too! He's doing everything he can to help us grow, so that we can one day take our place as guardians of the Leaf!"

He thought of Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. Even those little runts became friends of mine.

"I kept at it!"

Shikamaru's team, Hinata's team and Mimi's team. All of them. We may fight sometimes, but we're still friends and comrades! Even Lord Third, Pervy Sage, Granny Tsunade and Shizune.

Naruto grit his teeth in preparation; he felt the electricity beginning again. "I didn't give up! And good things started happening to me!" The electricity coursed through his body, tearing screams out of him, but he kept fighting against the cuffs. "When you give up, your dreams and everything else that matters to you, they're gone!" he shouted at her.

He could feel the metal bending to his strength. It spurred him to keep fighting.

I just need some chakra! Naruto summoned some up and immediately was hit by waves and waves of crackling lightning. Yelps and screams escaped him, but no matter what, he wouldn't quit. He'd break these damn chains if it was the last thing he did!

Koyuki watched him in awe. But the sight of his continued pain sprang her to her feet. "Stop!" she pleaded.

I'm not going to give up! I'm going to get out of here no matter what!

"Your father. Sandayū." He pulled himself higher. "I'll prove it to you…that they weren't wrong!"

Using all of his strength, he slammed his weight down. The chain snapped! And he fell chest first into the solid ground.

Naruto grimaced. Ow. But he was free. He won this battle.

Time to get out of here. Naruto struggled onto his feet. Then he braced his hands on the cell door—it was a mistake. A large surge of electricity flowed from the door and into his body.

"Ahhhhh!"

The jolt sent him falling backwards unconscious.

---

Meanwhile

---

Amari stood at the ready with Atsuko perched on her shoulder, waiting for the signal to breach Kazahana Castle. Just as Kakashi had predicted, the blimp had landed at the fortified castle. They had all regrouped with Atsuko and, as a team, decided to send in Atsuko with her fellow crows to scout the outside of the castle for breach points.

The reports were valuable. They discerned breaching points that were not as heavily guarded as others, and prepared them for their strike. One thing was clear from Atsuko's report: Dotō and his men were waiting for them.

The plan was simple: Use paper bombs to blow up five different breaching points—three for them and two as a distraction to scatter the Snow shinobi forces across more of the castle. At the same time, they'd blow up a fueling station for the blimp to create a chain reaction of explosions across the castle.

Kakashi would go in alone. Sasuke and Sakura were paired together while Amari would be supported by Atsuko; alongside them were three Amari clones transformed as different members of her team, ready to go through the other two breaching points to draw off guards.

Based on Kakashi's previous visit, they had a general idea of where the jail cells would be and, with luck, that's where they'd meet up to rescue Naruto and Koyuki before disappearing into the night.

Hmm, the Nara hummed as she looked up to the sky, clouds are moving in near the full moon. They'll provide darkness for our escape, but hopefully they'll leave to provide me Shadows. If we take too much time, though, the sun will be up in the next few hours.

Their goal was to avoid confrontation with Dotō and his cronies during this battle—they couldn't risk Koyuki getting caught between them. It would also allow them to trap their enemies by using Koyuki as bait instead of marching into what was without a doubt a trap.

"Young Haya, you have been troubled for some time now," Atsuko stated instead of questioned. Her eyes were keen as ever.

"Yeah. You could say that."

"May I ask why?"

Amari sighed and dropped her head to stare at the castle. "I…wasn't able to protect Sandayū. He ran off as I was fighting Kōri. When he came back, I was stuck in heated combat with her; I could only watch as he and fifty of his men were eliminated in a matter of seconds. Kōri laughed about the massacre, and so did Dotō."

"You cannot blame yourself for the actions of others, Young Haya."

"It was my duty to protect him."

"And he chose to ignore you to rally his men in order to fight this Dotō." Atsuko looked her in the eye. "Do not burden yourself, Young Haya. You are not responsible for the actions of those men or their demise. They made their choice to fight for their country on their own accord, knowing what the consequences might be."

"I know…" she sighed and turned her head to look back at the castle. But it didn't make her feel better. It didn't eliminate the guilt in her heart, or extinguish the anger.

"There is more, yes?"

She nodded. "Yeah. During our battle in the Land of Waves, I talked about killing because I thought I was capable of doing it. But back then I wasn't. The grumpy old man told me I didn't have the heart to kill indiscriminately, and he was right. My peaceful nature led me to create a part in my nindo dedicated to sparing life when I can."

Her own words made her think of Haku and his kind smile, as well as Zabuza's cocky smirk and amused taunts at her size. She remembered Gaara giving up and Hikari hugging her.

"I have seen the benefits. I've witnessed people who were my enemies choose to leave behind the path of evil. I have even been able to call some of them friends. But…"

"But you cannot find a reason to spare them, yes?" A beat of reluctance followed. Then she nodded. "From what I have seen of these shinobi, I do not doubt that your judgment is accurate.

"There are some shinobi you will face, Young Haya, where to kill or be killed is your only choice. Some of them will be shinobi like your friend Haku—shinobi you wish you did not have to kill but have no other choice to in order to protect your loved ones, your Village or yourself. Then there will be others like this Kōri and Dotō whose only purpose in this world is to create pain and suffering. In either case there is only one thing I believe you can do, and it is something Shisui and your parents wished for you to learn."

Amari once again looked to the Crow, eager for any kind of wisdom she or her family could give. "What?"

What was it that her parents and her cousin would've wanted her to learn about a scenario like this? Did they or Atsuko have wisdom that could help her to deal with this without causing her heart further struggle or strife?

"You will be forced to kill another shinobi one day. Whether that day is today or a day far in the future, killing is an inevitability you and all your peers will have to face throughout your shinobi careers. Your heart is true just as Shisui's and your parents' were in your desire to spare lives when you can; that is a worthy goal we do not want you to abandon.

"But your father, your mother, your cousin and I have killed other shinobi out of necessity or because their evil would continue to taint this world, regardless of how many second chances they were given. You will one day face these same circumstances, but what is most important is you do not let every kill become personal," Atsuko explained.

"Don't let it get personal?"

The Head of the Crows nodded. "Yes. Let me explain it another way: If you allowed every shinobi you face become another Kasai, what do you think will happen?"

"…I would be consumed by the Curse of Hatred."

"Precisely," Atsuko dipped her beak in a nod. "Those who perceive everything as a personal attack on them or those they hold dear, even when it is not, drown in suffering, especially those of Uchiha blood. Too many shinobi, both of Uchiha blood and those not, find themselves steeped in blood and darkness because they let minor confrontations become personal vendettas against a person or another Village."

Amari could see her point. Her team had spoken earlier in the day about the struggle of peace between the Shinobi Nations strictly because of bad blood and vendettas held by other shinobi. But she was once again left wondering how to prevent herself and the future generations from following the same paths as the older generations.

How did they break this cycle of war and hatred?

"So…how do you handle something like killing another shinobi without it becoming personal?"

"It's not easy, even with the psychological training you receive as students. Even when your mother and Shisui joined the ranks of the Anbu, they spared lives when possible.

"The best advice I can give is this: Seek the light in your enemies and endeavor to have them embrace it, but when killing is the only option left to you against a shinobi you despise or one you wish you did not have to kill—do it and be done. Be merciful and end their lives quickly then leave their death behind you. The life of a shinobi is hard enough without carrying every kill on your conscious."

"Is that how Mama and Shisui kept their hearts even when they were in Anbu?"

Atsuko gave a sharp nod. "Yes, it was the same with your father. Your heart is sincere, Young Haya. Trust in it and your eyes to lead you through the darkness."

"Mm. Thank you, Atsuko."

"It is my pleasure and my duty to share what wisdom I can with you."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence for a minute or two. Then Kakashi's voice came over her headset.

"Amari. Do it."

"Right." She brought her hands into Snake and detonated every paper bomb they had placed. Flashes of bright orange fire lit up the darkened environment. The explosions penetrated the quiet night and echoed across the mountainous region.

"All right team, move in and be careful."

---

Inside Kazahana Castle a collection of four Snow shinobi were dashing to the location of a breach. When they arrived, they came upon another squadron of their allies standing in the center of the large storage room, heads swiveling around as they searched for the enemy.

"What's going on?" the leader asked.

"One of the Leaf shinobi is in here. We were about to launch our attack on her when a flock of Crows came out of nowhere."

"Crows?" one of his men questioned.

Suddenly the lights of the room burst, sheathing the room in impenetrable darkness. The four Snow shinobi remained just outside of the hall, still bathed in light with their kunais ready. A strike was coming, but from where?

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Something just brushed by me!"

"Stop screwing around!"

"I'm not!"

"Ah!"

Panicked screams reverberated in the room. The four Snow shinobi took hesitant steps back.

"Something else is in here!"

"It's the Leaf Shinobi! Stop panicking— wait, what…what is this? Ahh, no! No! Get- Get off me! Get off me! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhh!"

"Re- retreat! Get out of this room! No, stay away from me! Stay away! Stay away- ahhhhhhh!"

Beads of sweat slid down the four Snow shinobis faces, their feet unconsciously carrying them back another step. What…what is this?

"Please, no! Noooo! Whatever I did, I'm sorry! Stop! Stop!"

The screams faded away. Then utter silence. It hung in the air for a beat or two, but the claps of advancing sandals on the concrete floor replaced it. Step by step, slow and methodical in its approach.

Were…were they just slaughtered by a single Leaf shinobi?

"What do we do?"

"Be ready for anything," he replied. They couldn't let whoever this was get past them. Their orders were to defend the castle from the invaders and repel their assault, and so they would do so no matter what it took.

From the darkness, four black tendrils shot across the ground at them, wrapping around the legs of two of his men. The leader and one comrade avoided the tendrils meant for them. Barely.

Cries of pain left his other two men as their feet were pulled out from under them and they were dragged into the darkness. What manner of jutsu is this? He stared down at the two tendrils slowly receding. Are those…dragons?

Horrified screams pierced the silence again. Pleas for mercy wailed at piercing octaves, only to be silenced. The clapping of sandals started again.

"I…I think we should retreat, sir," his final comrade stuttered in fear.

The sandals stopped right at the edge of the darkness and light. All he could see of the individual annihilating them was their black sandals and their small silhouette.

This shinobi…who are they? His hand trembled.What are they?

"Running is no longer an option for you two," the voice of their end told them. A girl. Not even a woman. A girl was responsible for all of this.

Suddenly, a red light flared in the eye of the Leaf Shinobi, glowing brightly in the shadows. His comrade wailed in terror then fell face first onto the floor as if struck down by a god.

The realization of what the red light was fell over him. His stomach dropped. It…It has the Sharingan? We're…I'm…

"No matter how many steps you take backwards, you will not escape your fate."

Every light in the hallway exploded, submerging him in darkness.

All he could do was scream in terror when the demonic being took form right in from of him.

---

Amari hurried out of the halls onto a short bridge leading to another hallway. Looking around, it seemed to be the center of construction in Kazahana Castle, if that yellow metal behemoth was anything to judge by.

This is the main junction of the castle according to Kakashi-sensei. She moved over to the railing to look both up and down what seemed to be a bottomless pit and sky reaching height with her Byakugan activated. All right, she was making progress. Now to find Naruto.

"I must say, Young Haya, your display of genjutsu was as incredibly humorous as it was impressive." Atsuko's amused smile was clear in her voice.

"Thought you might like it," she replied with a smirk.

All of the Snow shinobi were taking a nice long nap now…well, nice didn't accurately describe their experience. She shrugged mentally and turned her attention upward. They shouldn't have joined Dotō.

"There's one of them!" a voice shouted at her.

The Nara jumped up onto the railing then leapt into a back flip; kunai and shuriken whizzed beneath her, pelting her previous position. Amari landed on the opposite railing of the bridge pathway. "These guys are everywhere," she hissed. "Atsuko, can you do another one of those swarm attacks you did in that last fight?"

"I can." Atsuko glided off down into the hall they arrived from to gain momentum.

In the meantime Amari's tantō jumped into her hand, clashing against the blade of one of her enemies as she balanced on the railing. She hopped to avoid a slash for her legs, quickly sidestepping on her toes along the rail as she parried and blocked.

Eye darting to her left, she immediately dropped down into a low, one footed side lunge, catching the blade of an enemy below her in a block as a second tried to sever her head from his new position on the rail.

A kunai flew from Amari's free hand, impaling her enemy in the stomach as they lifted their sword above their head. He stumbled off the rail, falling down off their bridge to one further below. He wasn't getting up again.

Second bought, she pushed the shinobi holding her in a deadlock back and jumped into a corkscrew to evade more flying ninja tools. She landed with her back facing the hall Atsuko vanished into, tantō sheathed and hands weaving handseals.

The lighting of the building and the yellow behemoth construction elevator casted a distinct shadow on the ground.

Before the other shinobi could attack, a flock of crows burst past the Uchiha in a sea of black feathers. Some of the poor souls were killed instantly as Atsuko drilled straight through them; others wailed in panic and pain as beaks and claws ripped at their skin, their attempts to retaliate proving fruitless.

My turn. Her hands held in Rat, she prepared her strike. "Ninja Art: Shadow Dragons!" Four Shadow Dragon tendrils stretched over the floor in search of helpless prey. They spiraled up the legs of the Snow shinobis and opened their maws. "Now stay down!"

The audible crack of their bones was dwarfed by their screams of bloody murder reverberating up and down the castle walls. Every shinobi clawed at the intangible shadow responsible for their pain, trying so desperately to pry them off as they sunk their teeth tighter and tighter around their shattered bones. A few appeared to have tears in their eyes as they collapsed to the floor.

With a satisfied huff, Amari let her Shadows recede. No way they'd be walking anytime soon, or without a limp in the future. The flock of Crows swooped spiraled around her, cawing ominously, until Atsuko reformed on her shoulder.

The Snow shinobi stared at them in fear. True fear. Funny, they hadn't even seen her genjutsu.

"Shall we continue on our way to the jail cells?" Atsuko asked.

"Yea—" Amari cut herself off, head turning sharply to the construction elevator. Naruto's chakra! It was within the ascending car, accompanied by Yukie. "Found him. He's in that elevator with Yukie."

But something isn't right. His chakra…it's barely there.

"Then we must follow him."

"Right."

Amari summoned her chakra to her feet and jumped onto the nearby wall, dashing after the elevator. Her eye followed the chakra signature of a man dressed in Snow shinobi gear rappelling up to the same floor as the knucklehead. Kakashi-sensei went all out with his disguise it seems. Probably didn't have as much problems as I did.

Her left eye moved to two more chakra signatures approaching the same bridge the elevator stopped on. Sakura and Sasuke were right on schedule, too. Judging on the nearby unconscious shinobi behind them they'd encountered the same resistance as Amari.

She reached the bridge and jumped onto the walkway. The group turned at her arrival. "Hope I'm not late. Got caught up by a few squads of Snow shinobi," she said, deactivating her Byakugan and dispelling her clones.

"Amari!" Naruto greeted in glee.

Amari's eye was immediately drawn to the circular device attached to his jacket; metal wires dug through the fabric into his skin, over the centered location of the Nine-Tails fūinjutsu seal. A Snow shinobi device, based on the design. It almost appeared similar to the devices powering their Chakra Armor, with a huge exception: This variation was draining Naruto's chakra and sealing it into the device.

How do we get it off?

"These Snow shinobi are everywhere! Where are we going next Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

The question spurred her to look towards Kakashi, who had already discarded his disguise and just finished returning the Hex Crystal to the actress. "This way!" Yukie said and took off down the end of the hall Amari was on.

Team Seven chased after her—this used to be her home, after all, so she hopefully had a better idea of escape routes. They ran through the poorly lit halls as the chain reactions started kicking in around the castle. Explosions rattled the stone structure, but it was unlikely it would bring the entire place down…or that was the hope of the Leaf shinobi, whose eyes nervously glanced up at the ceiling above them now and then.

They made their way into a darkened, vast chamber when Yukie halted. Bright lights suddenly flashed on. So bright, the entirety of Team Seven was temporarily blinded. Crap. This had the makings of a trap written all over it.

As their eyes finally readjusted to the change of light, they were able to see a man standing in front of a throne at the top of a tall set of stairs.

"Dotō," Kakashi cursed.

"Well done…Koyuki," Dotō stated.

Yukie suddenly took off in the direction of the stairs but both Kakashi and Amari were right on her tail. Not only a spoiled brat, but a traitor now too? Amari growled and tried to grab her. "Wait!" her sensei pleaded.

The pair halted when Nadare, Mizore, Fubuki and Kōri appeared in front of them, blocking their path. "You're all starting to piss me off," she snarled.

Yukie turned to look down from the stairs at all of them. "This shouldn't be a surprise to any of you!" she called. "I am an actress, remember?"

"Yes. Yet another brilliant performance by the fantastic Yukie Fujikaze." Dotō couldn't be more amused by their misfortune. He smiled an ugly smile and placed his hand out to be given the Hex Crystal.

Team Seven gave a mixture of hissed out breaths and growls at the condescension of their enemies. "After everything Sandayū did for you, you'll forfeit the fate of your Land to the man he was fighting?" Sakura questioned.

Enough of this. Amari wasn't about to stand here and let Koyuki turn this special key over to Dotō. "Atsuko."

"At once, Young Haya."

The body of Amari exploded into feathers and Crows, spearing straight through the Snow shinobi, up the stairs and directly for the actress. Her hand appeared out of the feathers first, snatching the Hex Crystal from Koyuki before landing beside her. The severe red eye of the pissed off Uchiha bore down on her.

"I will not allow you to toss your Land and its people to this monster like an unwanted toy. You are their Princess!" Amari pushed Koyuki aside and ducked as Dotō swung a massive arm for them both. Twirling the rope, she swung the Hex Crystal necklace around her wrist, tightly.

"You're the person that's meant to bring spring to this Land! That's what Sandayū believed! That's what your father believed!" Dotō swung his massive arm down at her and crushed the cold concrete; Crows flew towards the ceiling, reforming as Amari planted her chakra enveloped feet against it. Ninja tools flew from her hands. "I get it. You've lost people you loved. Well, guess what? So have I! I lost my family. My friends. My entire Clan was massacred!"

Her ninja tools bounced uselessly off an invisible barrier. So, Dotō had Chakra Armor beneath his garb then. He eyed her but didn't yet make another move.

"This world, it's full of suffering and death because of people like Dotō. But that's why those of us who have suffered have to keep fighting, that way the future generations don't have to suffer like we have!"

"Rousing speech, little flower. But this is over." A flying ice spear impaled through the center mass of Amari. Again her body was replaced by Crows. "Her pet is beginning to annoy me."

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you, pet of Dotō."

The verbal blow touched a nerve, if the irate curl of Kōri's lips was anything to go by.

Amari appeared on the wall above the throne, red eye piercing into Koyuki's. The Princess stared at her wide eyed. "For once in your life, stop running away and become the Princess Sandayū believed you could be!" she roared.

"That's enough." Neither Atsuko nor Amari had time to react as Dotō appeared behind her. Amari didn't even feel the pain of his fist crashing into her back at first. But then it was there, intense and unforgiving as she sailed into the concrete floor at the foot of the throne; the force of the attack detached Atsuko from her shoulder.

Amari moved to scramble to her feet, but the pain intensified as Dotō crushed his boot into her back. Amari grunted and tried to squirm free. His damn Chakra Armor, it was cutting her off from her chakra. Damn it.

"Young Haya!"

"Amari!" she heard her teammates yell.

"Careful, Crow. Try to attack and I'll make sure she never walks again."

"Harm that child further and you will linger between life and death for as long as I see fit!"

Dotō chuckled darkly. "I'm sure you will. Koyuki, my darling niece, be a dear and retrieve what this Leaf kunoichi stole from you."

Koyuki plodded over and knelt down. The kunoichi snarled and thrashed against Dotō's boot, tightening her fist around the crystal. The Princess didn't even look at her as she untied the rope from her wrist.

"You're the worst kind of coward," Amari hissed. "Just because you've suffered doesn't give you the right to willfully inflict it onto others!" Koyuki winced but continued to retrieve the necklace.

The Hex Crystal was torn from her hand. Amari thrashed about and cursed vehemently as Koyuki stood up.

"Well done, Koyuki. You performed your part perfectly."

"Yes." Amari heard rather than saw the small blade unsheathe before it plunged into Dotō's stomach. "It was all an act! I told you, didn't I? I'm an actress!"

"You wretched!" Yuki gasped in pain as Dotō massive hand gripped around her throat.

"Princess!" Naruto cried out.

Amari could only stare at the Princess, bewildered. Their eyes met, and Koyuki smiled weakly.

"I always knew…Amaririsu" she tried to speak over the vice grip on her throat, "that if I returned to this country, I would die." The small actress pushed back against Dotō, twisting and turning the blade in his gut. Each twist, each push, all done to get Dotō's boot off her back. To give her access to her chakra again. "But at least I could…do this, for you.

"You were right about me. But…it's only thanks to you and Naruto that I could stop running here, at the end."

No. No. The Sharingan eye intensified. This was not how this mission was going to end. The Princess was not going to die by sacrificing herself. No one else she was meant to protect was going to die.

Fury bubbled in her stomach, and then, as her spirit was renewed, the boot left her back. Green chakra exploded off of Amari, dangerous black tips flickering at the ends, whipping and lashing as killing intent irradiated off her. Power. Raw, skin tingling power roared through her.

"What chakra!" Dotō gasped.

Koyuki pushed again, towards the edge.

Another explosion sounded off outside and shook the inside of the building. Small pieces of concrete fell to the floor from the ceiling. Slowly, Amari rose to her feet, body trembling, wild blue hair defying gravity as power surged off her.

One last push. Koyuki, alongside Dotō, tumbled off the platform. A flicker of green was all anyone saw of Amari.

She zipped along the stone, down the side of the platform, shooting off to catch the Princess in her arms before jumping between the two walls all the way down to the floor below. Amari settled the Princess onto the ground, eyes already set on Dotō as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Amaririsu…" Koyuki stared in open wonder at the chakra shrouded warrior.

Dotō pulled the blade out of his stomach without a single grimace. He tossed it aside with a scoff. "That little toy couldn't harm me. It was little more than the bite of a flea."

Amari said nothing. Her body trembled in fury. The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan simmered beneath the surface, ready to be unleashed. Wanting to be unleashed.

"It's a double-edged sword. That's why I want you to remember not to use this power as a crutch. The Mangekyō isn't meant to be abused or flaunted recklessly—it's a trump card meant to be used as a last resort. Only use it when your skill alone isn't enough to defend what you hold precious."

Amari took a single breath to maintain a semblance of self-control and stepped towards Dotō. Right. She made a promise to Shisui, never to flaunt or abuse the power of the Mangekyō. Throwing it away for this bastard would only disappoint him.

He wasn't worth the Mangekyō's power.

"I should warn you, I don't have a lot of control over my emotions right now," Amari said menacingly. "Don't blame me for what I do to you."

Dotō swung for her, but his arm phased right through her afterimage. Already the Uchiha was moving, feet pressed against the adjacent wall. Then she released the chakra at her feet, flickering away again and connecting a fist to his wide jaw as she shot past him. Like a ball being rebounded between the two walls, Amari flew back and forth at rapid speed, punching, kicking and cutting her enemy.

Wild, powerful arms swung at her afterimages; Dotō growled and grunted as his eyes failed to track the green bullet. Faster. Faster. Faster. Two Amari's shot between the walls, or so it seemed to the naked eye. Amari was alone. Chasing herself. Almost intangible at times.

She struck from below, but when Dotō would grab for her, the second Amari was already striking at the back of his neck with a hard kick. But by the time he could reach for them, they were afterimages, running a new circle as they prepared to strike again.

Koyuki watched the scene from the ground in awe. Finally, the two Amari's struck. One dashed in from his front, phasing through his counterstrike as the second appeared beneath Dotō. The first afterimage's foot cracked Dotō in his back, bringing about an intimate greeting between Amari's foot and his jaw.

His hand grabbed for her leg, but the Uchiha quickly retreated back a step.

Her tantō lunged into hand and twirled behind her back, blocking Kōri's ice sword as she kept low to the ground.

Kōri growled. "Why won't you die? Why can't I kill you?"

Amari's Sharingan locked onto the kunoichi. "I refuse to die."

They pushed off each other then, spinning around fully, Amari dashed into another clash of steel and ice. Chips of ice flung from the ice sword with each strike, a sign of weakness on her enemy's part.

Amari was the aggressor, her slashes and attacks pushing Kōri further away from Dotō and back into the main hall. Conversely, it drew Amari away from Koyuki, who Dotō had decided to pick up.

"Come, let us go, Koyuki, beyond the rainbow."

A rappel cord crashed through the ceiling and attached itself to Dotō's back, lifting him up to safety; the collapse of the ceiling started to bring the whole place down around them.

While Amari dueled, she saw Naruto rush past her towards Koyuki. Again, in his infinite wisdom, he threw his kunai attached to a rope at the man. Yukie reached out and let it tie around her arm, thus lifting Naruto off out of the collapsing building while everyone else was left behind. Damn knucklehead.

The duel ended abruptly when a slab of concrete slammed down next to Kōri and Amari. "This isn't over, little flower!" she said before joining her fellow Snow shinobi in using rappelling equipment to escape.

Amari's let her chakra shroud fade as Atsuko landed on her shoulder. "The next battle will be our last, Kōri," she promised.

What remained of Team Seven regrouped and evacuated by foot through the collapsing building. Halls passed by quickly. Everywhere they went, though, seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

"I think we used way too many paper bombs!" Amari spoke up as they ran.

"Who was in charge of that again?" Sakura teased.

"It's not my fault! I was told to make sure there were enough to create a chain reaction! How was I supposed to know that it would cause this?!" the Nara retorted as she gestured with her hand to the collapsing building.

"This way!" Kakashi ordered. Deafening explosions roared from every direction; the regular Snow shinobi forces didn't even seem to care about their enemies rushing through the halls as they, too, evacuated the premises.

The four Leaf shinobi exited from the closest breaching point and jumped out into the snow covered land. Amari missed the insulated warmth already.

"Sensei, when I was attacking Dotō, I noticed that his armor enhances his chakra more than the armor used by his cronies.

"We obviously need to take him down and get Naruto, but if we go straight there we'll only draw the others there as well. Five on five is an even fight, normally. But that armor of theirs will allow them to use powerful jutsu's over and over again while we're stuck fielding off their attacks. Our chances for offense will be minimal in that situation."

"Divide and conquer," he stated understandingly.

Amari nodded. "Fubuki and Kōri will be in the air searching for us. If we're separate when they see us, I bet they'll split up to come after all of us. Nadare will go after you without a doubt—it seems personal between you two. And Kōri will want to settle matters with me.

"That leaves Mizore and Fubuki going after Sasuke and Sakura. If we fall back to the traps we set, we can eliminate them and then have a five on one advantage for a change."

"I like the sound of that," Sasuke said.

"I agree, but where is this place that's 'beyond the rainbow' Sensei?" Sakura asked. Further down the in the valley, a bright white light shaped like a giant snowflake burst to life. "Never mind."

"We're running out of time," Kakashi said. "Sasuke, Sakura, you two head off to the east set of traps. Amari you keep going straight, I'll take off to the west. We'll meet up down there as soon as we're done with our battles."

"Right!"

Team Seven split up one final time. Following his orders, Amari continued straight down towards the valley. No matter what, she was going to rescue Naruto and the Princess. No one was going to stop her. She was willing to risk her life to save me. I can't be willing to do anything less after everything I've said to her.

The dōjutsu wielder activated her Byakugan and pushed ahead as fast as she could run in the snow.

"Atsuko, use the trees for cover. I'll be the sole bait right now."

"I will attack from the shadows should you need me."

Atsuko lifted off and hid her flight pattern between the snow covered trees that littered the path down into the valley. It didn't take long for Kōri to appear in her Byakugan line of sight; she was flying fast, ensuring there was no chance Amari could outrun her.

This will be the last encounter we have, Kōri. Her eyes hardened in determination. And only one of us is walking away.

"I've got you now!"

In the moonlit shadows of the frozen forest, Amari smirked. Still so arrogant, even at the end.

Amari dropped into a slide, bending her body back to evade the almost invisible ninja wire stretching between the trees. Kōri never saw it, not until she crashed into the wire. Her wings were shredded in the tangle of ninja wire, and the kunoichi herself was sent tumbling through the snow past her prey.

Amari stopped and moved up onto her feet. "Looks like I've got you," she said with her smirk still in place.

Hastily, clumsily, Kōri got onto her feet, grabbing at the wires that were still attached to her, only for her body to halt as the Nara's Shadow ensnared her. The strain to maintain it was immediate, a fact Kōri was keenly aware of.

"No sunlight or fireballs to increase the strength of your shadows here, little flower!" she grinned.

"You're right, and with the other times I used it today it is even weaker than it should be. But I've got just enough strength to do this." She swiped her right foot across the snow in front of her. Kōri mirrored her action. "Take a look. I'll let you."

Let's see how she liked this. Amari lowered her head to let Kōri look at her predicament. The green-haired kunoichi's eyes bulged as she gasped. "Paper bombs!"

"Yep. Don't worry. Since you're a 'god,' I'm sure your armor will keep you alive. Probably."

The Shadow user brought her hands into Snake and detonated the paper bombs buried in the snow underneath her opponent. Tranquil silence was broken by the loud, large orange explosion to consume Kōri.

As she detonated the paper bombs, Amari detached her Shadow and jumped backwards onto the branch of a tree, out of range of the explosion. Heat brushed against her skin as the rush of air rustled her hair and cloak. From her position she examined her enemy through the cloud of smoke.

Still alive, as expected.

Slowly the smoke cleared, revealing Kōri, hair singed, armor cracked and broken and a dazed look on her face. Amari jumped down from the tree and took up her position opposite of the Snow ninja.

"You're finished, Kōri," she stated firmly. "Give up your career as a shinobi and go find somewhere uninhabited to die alone in some semblance of peace."

Her voice awoke her opponent from her daze. Kōri's lip curled up into a snarl and her eyes glared daggers at her. "I'm…not finished with you yet, little flower."

"If you don't give up, you'll leave me with no choice but to kill you. Be smart and just give this all up. Your armor is busted. It's not supplying you with the same strength it was before and your chakra levels are diminishing by the second."

Kōri brought her shaking hands up closer together; Amari brought her hand up to her tantō. "I promised I would kill you, but I'm giving you the chance to not let it come to that. Don't doubt my resolve in my promise."

Amari could feel her heartbeat starting to beat faster and harder against her chest as she watched the hands of her enemy. She chose to form the first handseal of her Ice Style: Ice Spear Trap.

So be it.

The Uchiha lifted her free hand up into Tiger to channel her chakra. If Kōri would not take the chance to walk away now, then the Nara had no other choice but to fulfill her promise and ensure this woman could never harm another person again.

"Your innate ability to increase the strength of your weapons with your chakra flow is impressive, Haya," she recalled Itachi's lesson in the genjutsu. "But chakra flow can be used for far more than that. Instead of merely channeling your chakra into the blade, I want you to imagine that your chakra is two stones on either side of your blade and your blade is a match."

"Two stones and a match. Okay. What then?"

"Strike the rocks together repeatedly to create a spark and ignite the match. The tantō you wield is made from a special metal that can be easily infused through chakra flow with your elemental chakra. The process I have told you will allow you to coat your blade in an intense flame."

All right. Channeling her chakra into her sheathed tantō, she shifted the two separate flows on either side of the blade like they were two stones meant to start a fire.

"You will die, little flower, and then I will kill all of your little friends too! You will no longer destroy my beautiful garden! Ice Style:—"

"Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!"

---

Uchiha Style: Halo Dance?!

Atsuko's black eyes bulged at the name of the jutsu to leave her companion's mouth.

Young Haya vanished via the Body Flicker, only to reappear in the air behind the woman with her blade coated in intense flames as she performed a diagonal downward strike. A large slashing flame left the blade and flew at the Snow shinobi, slicing across her back and through her armor. Severe burns were instantaneous as she cried out in pain and fell to one knee.

Haya reappeared on her side with her blade in another downward diagonal strike, sending yet another burst of flame at her opponent. The flames cut through her armor yet again and burned her. One final time Young Haya appeared in front of her enemy, letting loose another strike to cut and burn her torso.

The smell of charred flesh filled the air. Yet Haya chose not to strike again. She sheathed her tantō and stared at the severely wounded shinobi in front of her.

This battle is over, but when did she learn Shisui's technique?

It was something she intended to teach her personally, but to see it here and now…it brought back good memories. Young Haya mirrored Shisui's speed and movements perfectly. Her heart swelled with pride.

But what will you do now, Young Haya? Will you heed my words and eliminate your opponent mercifully, will you leave her behind or will you draw out her suffering?

Atsuko would step in if it was the latter. Otherwise the choice fell to her companion. She had to be able to choose her path here and live with the consequences.

---

Amari stared at her opponent with both of her dōjutsu activated and her hand on her tantō. "This battle was over before it even began. You're finished, Kōri."

She expected another taunt. Another barb. More arrogance despite how utterly defeated Kōri was. But what she received instead stunned her…

"Mer…Mercy. Please…don't kill…me. Have…mercy."

The sound of her pleading voice made Amari pause. The images of the blood covered snow beneath the fifty samurais flashed through her mind, alongside Sandayū's final moments.

"Mercy?" she repeated the word.

"Any second now you will witness a true massacre, and then you'll realize how hopeless this battle really is!" Kōri's grin appeared in her mind and her laughter rang in her ears.

Amari's brow furrowed deeply as she grit her teeth in a growl. "You dare beg me for mercy after you laughed at the merciless slaughter of fifty-one people? What mercy did you ever show anyone who asked you for it!" she demanded heatedly as she released her tantō and sliced her arm through the air.

"What mercy did you show Koyuki's father or the people of the Land of Snow as you plunged their lives into suffering and death?! And don't think for a second that I have forgotten a moment of our battles where you were grinning and laughing as you caused me pain or toyed with me like I was prey!

"You and Dotō and all of your comrades thrive off the suffering of others so long as it benefits you! And despite that I gave you a chance to walk away, and what did you do? You threatened to kill my friends in return! Why should I show you any semblance of mercy when you don't deserve it?!"

"There will be others like this Kōri and Dotō whose only purpose in this world is to create pain and suffering," Atsuko's words entered her mind. "Your father, your mother, your cousin and I have killed other shinobi out of necessity or because their evil would continue to taint this world, regardless of how many second chances they were given. You will one day face these same circumstances, but what is most important is you do not let every kill become personal.

"Seek the light in your enemies and endeavor to have them embrace it, but when killing is the only option left to you against a shinobi you despise or one you wish you did not have to kill—do it and be done. Be merciful and end their lives quickly then leave their death behind you. The life of a shinobi is hard enough without carrying every kill on your conscious."

Amari reached her hand back up to her tantō. "For people like you, I have no mercy left to give," she said lowly. She channeled chakra to her tantō again. "The only mercy I can give you is a quick death. I hope you have a beautiful garden to tend to in the next life."

She Body Flickered forward and delivered her final blow. Crimson blood sprayed over the snow as Kōri's body fell over like a falling tree.

Amari sheathed her blade and cast a long look at the dead body. "Goodbye, Kōri."

"Young Haya, we should hurry down to the valley," Atsuko reminded gently.

She nodded and moved around the body. "Let's get going then."

Amari, with Atsuko flying nearby, rushed down through the forest further down into the valley. Along the way she regrouped with Sasuke and Sakura, the latter of the pair was nursing a bloody and crooked looking right hand while the former held a device from their opponent's armor.

The broken hand was what caught her attention first. "Sakura, what happened to your hand?"

"I shattered Mizore's armor with a single punch. I think I also shattered my hand," she replied with pain laced in her voice.

"Uh…nice?"

"It was a solid blow. She would have crushed his ribcage if he didn't have the armor protecting him," Sasuke informed. There was a bit of amazement in his voice at what she accomplished and Amari noticed a hint of a blush on the pink-haired kunoichi's cheeks. "Her hand looks like that because she didn't release the chakra at the right moment."

"Ah. So the strength of the punch hit him and was reversed back onto you as well, huh?"

"Yeah." Sakura winced. "I'm trying not to move it too much, but that doesn't stop the pain always."

Amari nodded but kept her eye on the wound. Sakura…you're chakra control has always been superb, but to enhance a punch enough to shatter that armor with one hit? It's an amazing talent you really need to learn how to control better. The only person I know that can do anything like that is Lady Hokage... I don't know if I can help you with this, but I'll do my best.

She turned her eye from her teammate's broken hand to the device in her fellow Uchiha's. "Sasuke, what's the device for?"

"When Sakura's punch sent Mizore flying into Fubuki, their armors reacted in an explosion. I think they kept their distance from each other because whatever powers their armor is reactive to the power of another set of armor. Chidori is powerful, but it isn't as concentrated as Kakashi-sensei's Lightning Blade." He shook his head. "I don't think it will break through that force field created by Dotō's prototype armor, but with this I might be able to breach the field then shatter the armor with Chidori."

Amari dipped her head in a nod. "Good plan. Sakura, do you think you'll be able to back him up with me?"

"Yes," she confirmed with a firm nod. "I still have one good hand and both feet ready to kick Dotō out of here."

Feisty as ever, Amari thought with a smirk. Then again, I've been bloody and broken and still tried to fight so I can't say she didn't learn it from me.

"All right. Then let's go take him down."

The further they made it down the hill, the more the temperature of the air rose. "Do you guys feel that?" Amari asked, unsure if she was only imagining the change of temperature.

"Yeah. It's getting warmer the closer we get to whatever Dotō is using," Sasuke replied. He glanced to his two kunoichi teammates. "Amari, Sakura, get ready. We're almost there."

"Right. Sakura, I'm going to go in first with my tantō. Once I blast him with my fire jutsu, hit him hard in the back of the neck with a kick. That should daze him and leave him open for Sasuke's attack."

"Okay. I'll be ready."

They reached the bottom of the valley and were greeted by the sight of Dotō shattering an entire path of ice with a single punch, all to plunge their blond knucklehead into the freezing water below.

Amari took the lead and gripped her tantō in her hand. "You're finished, Dotō!" She Body Flickered and appeared to phase right through the burly man, cutting him across his back as she passed by. As her feet touched the snow again, she coated her blade in flames again and slashed it through the air.

The blast of fire hit the force field, but she wasn't done. She Body Flickered again and released two more slashes that were blocked by the force field before appearing in descent in front of him with her blade coated in flames. "Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!"

This time her flame covered blade cut right through the weakened force field from his shoulder, diagonal down to his waist.

Sakura appeared in the air behind him. "Take this! Chaaa!" Her leg connected hard against the back of his neck, yet before either kunoichi could react, Dotō swung both of his arms. One hit Sakura and sent the cherry blossom flying in the other direction as the other gripped the Nara by her throat and lifted her off the ground.

You can't be serious…

"What the hell are you made of?" she choked out.

"Amaririsu!" Koyuki shouted in the distance.

The sound of a thousand birds chirping came up rapidly from behind her. Sasuke… No time to waste. Amari grit her teeth and lifted her legs up to wrap them around Dotō's arm. He furrowed his brow in confusion, then her foot kicked him in the face. Over and over and over again.

"Why…won't…you…let…go!" she demanded with each kick.

"You little— gah!"

Her heel landed right under his jaw, forcing him to release her.

Amari hit the ice and rolled to the side out of the way just as Sasuke jumped forward and slammed the armor device right into the armor of Dotō. A purple light illuminated from the two pieces connecting, the result shattering the returning force field.

Sasuke, seeing his moment, jabbed his lightning covered hand forward right into the chest of their enemy, fracturing the power source of the armor and the armor around it. "Chidori!"

Dotō, somehow still unfazed by their attacks, landed a solid punch right in her teammate's gut. Sasuke sailed into a boulder shaped piece of ice; Amari heard Sasuke cough up blood as the ice shattered around him.

"Did you really think a tiny jutsu like that would have an effect on me?" A boot slammed right in Amari's ribs and sent her tumbling across the ice. She flopped onto her back at the end of her tumble and slid across the ice right into some snow.

That one is going to leave a massive bruise. She coughed and felt warm blood begin to drip down the side of her mouth. Ow.

Ignoring the pain, she struggled onto unsteady limbs and began walking back towards Dotō. The sight of her creased an irritated frown onto his lips. The feeling was mutual.

"Look at you, you can barely even stand. What do you alone hope to do against me?"

"Hehe," Amari chuckled roughly. "Doesn't matter how badly injured I am. I've still got enough strength to finish you off."

Casting her eyes about, she took stock of her comrade's situations. Sakura was standing up, wobbly like her but ready to fight. Sasuke made it into a kneeling position, but she could tell he wouldn't be moving from that spot. In the sky Atsuko was awaiting commands, and below… Amari smirked. She caught Sakura's and Sasuke's eyes; they nodded to her.

They were all ready.

"But you're wrong about one thing, Dotō."

"And what's that?"

"I'm not fighting alone."

A legion of Naruto clones shot out of the water. "It's payback time, pal! With interest!" the horde yelled from the air.

Amari didn't care to wonder how he got the device off; she'd ask him later.

Dotō snarled at the orange horde and thrust his fists at the sky. "Ice Style: Black Dragon Blizzard!" Two black snow dragons, eyes gleaming red, flew from his arms into the sky after the clones.

I don't have a lot of chakra left, but… Amari clenched her hands into fist and jolted forward. I won't need it to pound his face in!

"Sakura, let's go! Atsuko, Sasuke, prepare a double team attack for my signal!" she called out.

Sakura Body Flickered in with Amari. Dotō dodged his upper body back to evade a powerful punch from Sakura, stepping back simultaneously to avoid the Nara as she leapt over her teammate with her blade slicing for his chest. He swung his arms back again, but two Amari Clone's jolted in from behind Sakura's back and latched themselves onto his arms.

"What?!"

"Sakura, with me!" The duo of kunoichi released the chakra from their feet in synchronicity. Amari slid between Dotō's wide-stance legs, slicing his ankles with her tantō as she passed through.

"This is for Sandayū! CHAAA!"

Sakura slammed her good fist into Dotō's jaw. The man stumbled right into Amari, who kicked him square in the center of his back. Sakura slammed her foot into his gut. Amari slashed her blade over his back. Then, as Dotō was falling forward towards Sakura, the pink-haired kunoichi released the chakra from her feet again and launched into the air, slamming her knee into his jaw.

Amari heard something crack. She wasn't sure what, but she sensed the chakra surging off his armor. Sakura was caught in the open.

Acting quickly, Amari climbed Dotō's back and tackled herself into Sakura, using the chakra released from her feet to propel them away. A good thing, too. A massive black dragon erupted off of the man to eliminate her Clone's. Gales of wind ripped past them, even in the air.

Twisting in the air, Amari chose to take the brunt of the landing on her back. It hurt. She was left wheezing for air as they slid along the ice. But she did her best to recover quickly and shout, "Atsuko, Sasuke, now!"

Though it came out weaker than she intended, the order was still received, and from his kneeling position, Sasuke unleashed a burning torrent of fire directly on Dotō. From his shoulder, Atsuko unleashed a Wind Style: Air Bullet, intensifying the flames.

It took a moment to shake the fog from her head, left behind by the hard landing. But with it clear she noticed Sakura, who was lying on top of her while her arms were locked around her waist, grimacing in agony, cradling her broken hand against her chest. The landing hadn't done her injury any favors.

Amari detangled them as gently as she could, lying Sakura on her side, then moved into a kneeling position, panting as she looked at Dotō through the intense flames.

His damn armor, it was tough. But he wasn't getting out unscathed.

The flickering shadows on the ground, and the powerful chakra coming from Naruto, signaled their final move.

Amari weaved her handseals. Then… "Ninja Art: Shadow Dragons!"

The two tendrils stretched and thinned along the ground after Dotō. She barely had the chakra for this, but Naruto's attack required a standing still target at this point. She could provide that.

The dragons wrapped around his ankles, strengthened by the intense shadows, but weakened by her use of the jutsu in the recent battles. Amari strained to tighten them around his ankles, which was as far as she could get them to stretch.

Another blast of snow chakra erupted off of Dotō, canceling out the fire and wind jutsu attacking him. Sasuke and Atsuko both panted. Dotō's skin, clothes and armor were burned. Badly. But he was still alive, and still standing.

"It's over!" Dotō yelled. "This ridiculous fight is over!"

"You're right, it is." Amari tightened her Shadows around his ankles. "For you. Naruto! Finish this! Now!"

"You've got it, Sis!" Naruto's voice called. Dotō turned, surprised at the sight of Naruto standing beside his Clone, with a blue glow in his hand. "This battle is only over when justice prevails and evil is wiped out! Every good story has to have a happy ending!"

"Naruto! I believe in you!" Koyuki yelled. "You and Amaririsu are by far the strongest ninjas I have ever known!"

"Yeah, I know! We could have told you that!"

The pair of orange clad shinobi darted in after Dotō, and as they did the large ice pillars that surrounded the valley began melting, revealing mirrors that reflected the sunlight piercing through the clouds onto the snow covered land around them.

Her Shadow's strengthened, but she was panting heavier. Too much chakra expended. Damn it. If Naruto didn't hurry…

Sakura's hand rested on her bicep and chakra began to flow into her. "We won't let him win." The pain in her voice, it made Amari's heart ache, but renewed her Will to hold him in place.

Dotō wasn't going anywhere. Not this time.

The beams of light caught in Naruto's Rasengan, and from it rainbow spirals began to swirl around the jutsu and around himself.

Amari awed at the sight of beautiful colors bathing the previous moody grey lands.

Dotō swung his fist at the leading Naruto, popping the Clone and leaving himself open for the real one to extend his Rasengan right at him. "Take this! Rasengan!"

The initial swirls of rainbow grew in length and their speed increased as the jutsu connected against the man, who immediately screamed in agony. The strain against her Shadows increased a hundredfold and snapped them back to Amari. The Nara collapsed back onto her butt in a heap of sweat and heavy breaths.

The jutsu was held against Dotō's stomach, shredding his armor every second it was connected to his abdomen.

Finally, the jutsu exploded against him and sent a giant spiral of snow flying in the opposite direction of Naruto. Amari's eye bulged at the sight. She watched as Dotō appeared out of the snow, spinning and flailing rapidly until he slammed against one of the mirrors.

"Kami…" the Nara gasped. What power!

Dotō, if he wasn't dead already, then plummeted to the ground.

The tyrant finally slain.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi's voice rose their gazes to their teacher standing above them. "You might not believe it, but I had to outrun an avalanche."

"Uh-huh," Sakura drawled through a pain filled smirk.

"Sure you did, Kakashi-sensei," Amari followed.

The ice surrounding them suddenly melted, replaced by green grass and warm temperatures. Another gasp escaped Amari and those around her as they watched the Land of Snow turn into an abundantly green land.

It all clicked together at once for Amari. "It…wasn't a weapon," she realized.

"No. It wasn't. Seems Sōsetsu used all of his riches to create a generator that could bring spring to the Land of Snow," Kakashi observed. He looked around at the scene. "I've never seen anything like this before. It's…breathtaking."

"Amazing," Sakura awed.

Amari made her way onto her feet and hefted Sakura up, slinging her uninjured arm around her shoulders. She carried her over to Sasuke, who had laid himself onto his back to stare up at the blue sky now surrounding them. After setting Sakura down next to him, she moved to his opposite side to make sure he was okay.

"I'll be fine. Just need to rest," he told her.

Atsuko, too, was okay. She returned to the home of the Crows, parting on the amused, "I'm sure Kaito will be pleased with my return."

Finally, despite her desire to rest, too, Amari forced herself to walk over to Naruto, lying flat on his back after collapsing.

As she walked, a male voice she didn't recognize spoke from the air. "Believe in the future," it spoke. "If you do, the spring shall come." Drawn to the source, which appeared to be the center of the valley, Amari witnessed a ghostly visage of Koyuki as a child appear. "What will you do when it comes, Koyuki?" the voice asked.

"I'm going to become…a princess!" she declared.

"Oh? What sort of princess?" the man asked.

"Let's see. One who is strong, and kind, and most of all one who fights for justice!"

The man laughed warmly. "That's some dream! Well, so long as you believe in your dream, and never give up, one day you'll be that princess." A man entered the scene in a kimono, moving behind the little girl to place the Hex Crystal necklace around her neck.

"You can see it, can't you? There's a beautiful princess standing right there," he said. They were both staring in the direction of Koyuki. His kind eyes fell onto the woman his daughter had grown into. Tears flowed freely from Koyuki's eyes.

Sōsetsu…you always knew she would return here, no matter what.

"But, I sort of have a problem," the child said. "There's something else I want to be."

"Oh? What's that?" Sōsetsu asked his daughter.

"An actress!" she professed with a smile.

Amari smiled warmly as a hearty laugh left the man again. She reached her teammate and sat down next to him. "A happy ending, huh?"

"Heh heh heh," he laughed tiredly. "I knew we could do it the whole time," he said.

He passed out a moment later.

The Nara laid herself back into the warm green grass and watched a passing white cloud float by the rainbow arcing high above the giant mirrors.

What a day, she thought as she shut her eyes.