I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Ambush
Ryuu studied the information on the two seals he had found. One was a temperature regulation seal. It was meant to keep the body from getting too cold or hot. If he successfully used it, he would be able to be in the Land of Spring's winter without it feeling any different than a perfect day in Konoha. The other seal was called a gravity seal. It would increase the effect of gravity on anyone or anything it was placed on. The lowest amount was an extra fifty percent, four times the weight of his current leg weights. However, there was technically no cap to the seal's power, so if he mastered it, he could use it to immobilize his target instantly.
He started with the temperature regulation seal, placing it on his left forearm, grinning as he instantly felt the chill that had invaded their truck vanish. He kept the cloak on just in case the seal failed, but he no longer needed it. At least, not inside the truck. Outside may be different. Next, he took off his leg weights, placing a gravity seal on his arm at the lowest setting, feeling gravity yank downward on him and grunting before removing the seal, settling for his legs. Then, he looked out the window of the truck at the snow covering everything.
When they had first arrived, Kakashi had explained that when he was still an ANBU, he had saved a child princess, apparently Yukie, named Princess Koyuki Kazahana, from the Land of Spring when her uncle, Doto Kazahana, had murdered her father, having Nadare, Mizore, and Fubuki stage a coup. Koyuki had taken a crystal called the Hex Crystal, her necklace, apparently, with her when she left. The crystal seemed to be the key to the Kazahana family's treasure, which was what Doto was after. Then, Sandayu had apologized for hiding it, informing them that he was a caretaker to her as Princess Koyuki, and she had become Yukie Fujikaze to hide from Doto. However, as she came of age, he had devised a plan to get her back to the Land of Spring in order to rally the people, who were still loyal to her, to fight against Doto so that she could claim the throne that was rightfully hers.
Personally, Ryuu wasn't overly concerned with rallying the people, or with the Kazahana family treasure. What the people thought was, in the end, meaningless. Doto was a tyrant, according to Sandayu, and wouldn't rest until Koyuki's treasure was his. At which point, the people of the Land of Spring would probably experience an even worse life than they already did. So, he would dethrone Doto for them. Koyuki refused to help rally the people because she had no hope that they could win, nor any desire to assume the throne. She claimed to have not cried since the day her father died, and Ryuu believed her. But either way, he would leave Naruto in charge of changing her mind. He had a knack for that, according to Sasuke. Apparently, Naruto had turned a cold-blooded assassin Missing Nin into a crying wreck over the loss of a partner he had previously though of only as a tool, allowing the Missing Nin to sacrifice himself to save the Land of Waves. If Naruto could do that, saving Koyuki would be a walk in the park. He hoped. So, Ryuu would focus on Doto. Fighting he could do. Fighting was easy. Changing people's hearts required a natural gift and a lot of skill.
"Pee break!" the driver announced as the convoy of trucks slowed to a stop.
Ryuu opened the door, grinning as everyone else flinched at the cold draft but he felt only a warm breeze. Once outside, he placed the seal on everyone else. Then, he climbed back into the truck, waiting as everyone else piled in, now smiling comfortably. The trucks started out again before stopping on the far side.
"Why are we stopping!?" the director demanded.
"Mr. Makino! We have a problem!" the assistant shouted. "Yukie's run off again!"
Ryuu sighed, climbing out as Team Kakashi did the same. Ryuu looked around carefully from the top of his truck.
"Anything?" Kakashi asked.
"Not yet," Ryuu said, shaking his head before holding out his hand.
Yomo suddenly flew down from above, landing on his arm and turning his head, pointing with his beak before pecking him and pointing back the way they had come.
"Naruto, that way," Ryuu said pointing in the direction Yomo pointed first.
Naruto nodded, taking off at a run while Ryuu lifted his arm, Yomo taking off again.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked.
"Something's coming from behind us," Ryuu said. "Don't know what, but Yomo says it's not friendly."
"Got it," Kakashi nodded. "You three help Naruto."
Ryuu dropping to the ground as the others left. He unsealed his cloak since it was white and would hide his black clothes, then left, heading out into the trees to find Koyuki and Naruto. He didn't travel fast. Since he knew there was something behind him he needed to be careful for, he didn't travel far. Nor did he actually look for Koyuki. The others could handle that. He was waiting for Yomo. Soon, Yomo called out above him and he turned, heading back in time to see a train exit the tunnel they had just driven through on freshly-thawed tracks. Beside the tracks was Naruto and Koyuki, having just barely escaped the train running them over.
"It's been a long time, Koyuki," a voice said over the train's loudspeakers.
Ryuu turned back to the train as a man stepped out of the back car. He wore a very extravagant robe, had very broad shoulders and a broad face, and Ryuu instantly knew this was Doto.
"It's been ten years," Doto said. "Come now, don't be shy. Let's get a look at that face."
Naruto stood in front of Koyuki, glaring at Doto just as a dozen logs suddenly began to crash down the side of the mountain beside the train, crashing into two of the cars along with an avalanche of snow, trapping them. They all turned to look, seeing samurai lining the top of the rise, Sandayu along with them, now dressed in armor with a katana and his tanto.
"There you have it men! Our beloved Princess Koyuki is here to watch over us!" Sandayu shouted. "With her at our side, victory is ours!"
The samurai began to cheer as Sandayu drew his sword and Doto watched with an unimpressed expression.
"Here me Doto! We've waited a long time for this day of reckoning to come! Sandayu Asada and fifty loyal warriors stand before you to avenge our great fallen leader Lord Sosetsu! On this day you will breathe no more!"
Again the soldiers began to cheer, except that this time, they began to charge as well. As they did, Ryuu began to run around the train, watching it. Suddenly, the side facing the samurai slid open, revealing dozens of small square slots per train car, and out of the small round tube at the front and back of each car rose a small box with similar tubes along with a crank handle, a Hidden Snow ninja standing behind each small box, on hand on the crank. Ryuu unsnapped his leg weights instantly, shooting forward to land in front of the samurai, hurling handful of shuriken and forming hand seals rapidly. As he did, the train cars began to fire kunai, much too fast and too rapidly to dodge, the kunai flying in walls, more than a dozen walls flying at the samurai in each wave and more than a dozen waves. Finally, Ryuu finished his hand seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ryuu shouted, the handful of shuriken multiplying into hundreds, streaking out and beginning to block the kunai, barely holding them back, but succeeding.
The samurai slowed to a stop, watching in awe as Ryuu struggled to keep the jutsu going, kunai and shuriken dropping to the ground like rain. Then, a kunai stabbed into Ryuu's shoulder, breaking his concentration. The effect was instant. Ryuu hit the ground hard, his entire body in agony. Blood was splattering across the snow all around him. But then, it was over. The kunai had stopped. His head rolled to the side and his eyes widened. Samurai lay scattered across a sea of blood and red snow, weapons sticking out of the ground everywhere. Some of the samurai were shouting in pain, others were dead. A handful were still struggling to stand back up, having miraculously survived the slaughter. Sandayu was on his feet, but had numerous kunai buried hilt deep in his torso. Ryuu looked down at his own body. He had a kunai in his shoulder, not deep but enough to hurt, and had one in his right shin, one in his left thigh, and one in his gut. He groaned, struggling to stand but fell to the snow again. Suddenly, one of the trains fired again, a single wall of kunai flying at stopped beside Ryuu, watching the kunai come toward them. Then, a fuma shuriken shot down from above, blocking the kunai just before Sasuke shot between two piles of snow, hurling a kunai. the kunai hit a train car, exploding and damaging it but not destroying it. Then, an explosion went off above them all on the side of a much higher point in the mountain, snow cascading down the mountain and beginning to bury the train. Doto looked less than impressed and walked into the train. As he did, Sandayu fell to his knees, beginning to tip over. Ryuu managed to push himself up, catching Sandayu and setting him down. As the train began to move, the bridge exploded, the train beginning to be dragged backward as it fell. The front two train cars disconnected and the rest fell away, the front two cars escaping.
"Dammit," Ryuu groaned, ripping the kunai out of himself one at a time, bandaging the wounds. "I'm sorry, Sandayu. I tried."
"You did...plenty," Sandayu smiled. "Some of...them are...still alive...thanks to you."
Ryuu glanced at the other samurai. He was right. About ten were alive, though only about seven looked like they might stay that way. Ryuu turned back to Sandayu as the others arrived, Koyuki kneeling beside him, though she didn't look the least bit sad.
"My Princess...please...forgive me," Sandayu pleaded. "I never should have...gotten you...involved in all of this. It's just...that every single one of us here...were able to keep believing in spite of everything because...we knew you were alive. When you were little, and even now, you have always been...just as I...your loyal Sandayu...believed. So too must you believe in yourself. You have always been our purest hope Princess. Please...do not waste...your tears...on me."
His face scrunched up in pain before relaxing slowly as his head rolled to the side. Koyuki simply stared at him in silence for several minutes.
"You are such a fool, Sandayu," Koyuki whispered. "I can't cry. You have my eyedrops."
Ryuu stared at her, unsure if he wanted to believe she was simply hiding her pain or if he wanted to slap her for being a coldhearted bitch.
"Are you all satisfied?" Koyuki asked, standing. "Let's go back. If you stay here your lives will be in jeopardy! Let's go home already."
"Go home to where?" Naruto growled. "I thought this was your home wasn't it? What the hell do you need to go back to, your place is here! Now face Doto and put your house in order!"
"You know absolutely nothing," Koyuki snapped. "Spring doesn't come to this country. Our tears have frozen over, and our hearts hardened with the cold."
"But, aren't you the only one with the power to change that?" Sakura asked. "I mean at least, at least that's what Sandayu believed anyway, wasn't it."
"I've had enough of this nonsense," Koyuki growled.
"Koyuki," Ryuu said. "Are you running from your death, or from your people's?"
Koyuki stopped, turning to look back at him in confusion.
"If it's your death, then I promise you we'll protect you," Ryuu said. "If it's your people's, then let us five handle Doto and his ninja. That way, none of your people are put in harm's way. And when we've defeated Doto, you'll be free to return and lead your people, right?"
Koyuki stared at him for several more seconds before turning away.
"What makes you think you can handle Doto?" Koyuki asked.
"I don't think I can," Ryuu said. "Especially wounded as I am now. But Kakashi Sensei could easily handle him. And we can handle Doto's body guards."
Koyuki stood there in silence for several seconds before huffing. "Do what you want."
She took a step just as a humming sound reached their ears. "What the hell is that?"
Suddenly, a hot air ballon began to rise from beside the cliff, the second train car hanging from it and Mizore standing in the door, his right arm healed and his damaged robotic arm fixed. Koyuki turned to run as the robotic hand fired, a cable attached to the back. The hand grabbed the back of Koyuki's coat and yanked her off the ground, pulling her back to the doorway. At the same time, Fubuki flew past, hurling a barrage of her special kunai, which Ryuu blocked with a barrage of Shuriken Shadow Clones, making the kunai land in the distance, the spikes that grew not hurting anyone.
As the spikes were growing, Naruto hurled a kunai with a rope attached, catching the back of the train car's railing and being pulled along after it, using Shadow Clones to climb inside. Ryuu sighed, turning to the others.
"Now what?" Ryuu asked.
"We follow them," Kakashi said. "Are you alright to go?"
Ryuu nodded, taking off his bloodied cloak and tossing it aside, taking his spare out of his scroll and pulling it on. He whistled and Yomo called back to him, taking off after the balloon. Ryuu nodded to the others and they all took off after the balloon. They quickly lost sight of it, however, every few seconds, there was a falling black feather, so they followed those. Finally, they reached the top of a cliff and stopped, Yomo flying down to land on Ryuu's shoulder, now missing a good number of feathers. Ryuu stroked his head gently and Yomo brushed against it.
"Get somewhere warm Yomo," Ryuu said. "I'll see you later."
Yomo squawked and took off, headed back the other way, and Ryuu turned to the cliff, the others already inspecting it.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Ryuu asked. "I'm sure Naruto's raising hell inside already, or at least planning to. So what do we do to get him out?"
"I'll cause a distraction," Kakashi said. "When I do, you three infiltrate through the roof and find Naruto and Koyuki. Break them out."
Ryuu nodded and Kakashi vanished.
"How will we know what the distraction is?" Sakura asked.
"I'm sure we'll know," Ryuu said.
Just then, an explosion rocked the cliff and Ryuu leapt forward, plummeting to the roof of the fortress below, landing heavily and rolling to a stop, Sasuke and Sakura landing beside him a moment later, Sasuke helping him up.
"Be more careful," Sasuke said. "You're hurt, remember?"
"I know," Ryuu said. "When we meet them, Fubuki's mine."
"You just want practice fighting a flying opponent for the next time you and Fu spar," Sasuke snorted.
"No, I want to steal her wings," Ryuu corrected. "Now, let's get going."
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