A/N: I have got to remember to say when a story is commissioned, much like this one. I really liked the concept of a Naruto x Elsa cross-over, and I feel I only scrapped the surface of this pairing, but with what I've done, I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter Nex: A Frozen Love

13: The Forest


"Hey... Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't seem as happy as I thought you would be...What's wrong? I thought this was your dream?"

"I… I think it still is—or, uh… or that it used to be, but it's like now… I dunno anymore."

"You don't know? Your one true dream, you… don't feel the same way about it anymore?"

"No, that's not it. It's just, it's not my only dream anymore. There's two. There's been two for a long while now and I think I'm just finally starting to realize it."

"Oh, really? Then what's your second dream? Has it come true?"

"Yeah, um... it did when I met you."

The most unholiest of cringes took hold of Naruto's body, sending him into a round of shivers so violent that he jerked awake, eyes flying open and chest heaving. He didn't know what that dream had been about, or why it was lodged so deeply into his subconscious that he had experienced it five days in a row now, but one thing was for damn certain:

"How do I sound like a whole can of corn even in my dreams?" he groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. He could feel the sweat there, the sweat that caused his penguin-themed pajamas to cling with a sticky sensation. "And who… was that girl?"

As he lie there, wrapped up in covers like a mummy from all his tossing and turning, Naruto struggled to bring a face to the sensual voice that persisted through his dreamscape. It flitted about his ears like silk leaving him like an addict, thirsting for more even though he could recall nothing other than a rather lithe figure with an ominous shadow concealing everything above the neck. Annoying as that was, it was also progress. The first dream had simply been words across the blackboard of his subconscious, then came the sound of someone talking, then the coherency of the words, followed by an agonizingly slow reveal of the figure that was quickly fading before his eyes.

He sighed. "This is going to drive me up the wall." Aggravated, he attempted to kick off his covers and leap up in glorious fashion, only to get further entangled and launch himself directly to the floor with a rumbling thud. "D-damn it…."

As he hurried about his small, two-room apartment tackling his morning rituals, Naruto's thoughts continuously drifted back to the oddness of his dream. In fact, they drifted so hard it took him a few seconds to realize he was pouring milk over his ramen instead of water. "Awww, man, that was my last shrimp one, too…." After reluctantly starting over, Naruto waited until he had the water boiling before falling back into his mind again.

Was it… could he have been having a prophetic vision? Something like that? Because that mysterious woman kept asking him really pointed questions about his life goals and them coming true. Currently, his number one dream was to become Hokage over the village of Konoha, a dream that he made sure the citizens knew as well by way of the pranks he pulled and by just generally shouting it out as affirmation whenever he felt the repugnant stares passerby shot his way.

Focus on the dream, focus on the dream, he told himself, mentally shifting back on track before the weight of all those demeaning stares could break him down like so many times in the past.

It had to be that… she—whoever that woman was—she was telling him that he had achieved his dream! That he'd actually made it! A roaring sense of giddiness fluttered through Naruto's stomach and he started chuckling under his breath with a firm nod. Of course, he was Uzumaki Naruto after all, the boy brimming over with talent; it was only natural that he would blitz through the ninja ranks to sit atop them all. It's where he belonged, where he was destined to be.

"And nothing's gonna stop me either," he vowed sincerely, squeezing a fist at eye level. That dream was merely confirmation of everything he simultaneously feared and pined for, of what he knew would manifest one day—

A scream burst from Naruto's throat and he leapt up, almost through the roof, when the water from his ramen pot finally bubbled over and splashed onto his foot. "AAAAAHHHH! HOT HOT HOT!"

—if he could just make it past breakfast in one piece.

When Naruto had finally managed to eat, brush his teeth, shower, and throw on his standard orange attire, he half-expected to be met with the annoying scowls of his teammates when he opened the door. But no, the front step was mercifully empty, no one to greet him except the chill of a hellishly cold winter. In less than the time it took to blink, Naruto was lashed about the exposed parts of his face and neck by what felt like a whip made of pure ice straight from the coldest pits of the universe.

"It's criminal that Kaka-sensei is making us train in this weather," Naruto grumbled, locking the door behind him and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

The sky above may have been overcast with gray, rumbling clouds that looked as though seconds from either unleashing a torrent of rain or a flurry of snow, but that didn't bother Naruto not one bit. He was ready, he was pumped. As he strolled through the lanes of Konoha, he figured anyone looking at him would find his mile-long smile creepy or at least worthy of doubling the distance they usually kept from him, and that was perfectly fine.

For Naruto already had his future in the bag. Somewhat. Enough to get excited over, at any rate. And as for the woman talking to him, he could only assume it was Sakura, an older Sakura if the well-developed figure he saw was anything to go by—it almost reminded him of his Oiroke no Jutsu. Although, the voices didn't quite match… but he was able to hand-wave that quite easily, figuring it was just a side-effect of growing up. As people grew, their voices altered, even his would eventually. So, going by that logic, the woman in his dreams who told him those silken words had to be Sakura, which almost meant—and Naruto's mind was racing very quickly now—that eventually, she would grow to love him like he did her!

"So she comes around to me," Naruto surmised, unknowingly adding a skip to his step. "I knew liking that jerk Sasuke wouldn't last long, 'cause really, there's nothing special about him. Mr. Broodsworth, thinks he's so cool, ha! I'm the one who's gonna be Hokage one day!" he declared, jabbing a thumb at his chest and catching the round of derisive sniggering that erupted from the small group of bystanders heading the opposite way. "Yeah, you heard me!" he barked at their backs. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be Hokage!"

Speaking it, getting it out into the ether, always helped to boost Naruto's confidence, as shouting the words that he himself didn't fully believe allowed them to take root in his heart and drive away the burrowing doubt. He yelled his dreams at the top of his lungs not to be heard, but to drown out his own self-defeatist thoughts. He had to be louder than what was already screaming he would never become anything except a bloody smear on the spotless history of Konoha.

Snorting out a puff of air, Naruto turned off the lane and proceeded through the forest, taking a shortcut that would land him right next to his squads usual training spot.

There was no time to feel sorry for himself, or to give into depression. He was already drowning in self-pity, bathing in sorrow; he had become best friends with his shortcomings in the worst way possible, which left no other outlet other than to keep walking to prove everyone wrong. There were some who didn't think he was an outright failure, like Iruka-sensei and a few of the kids his age like Shikamaru and Chōji, but he didn't dare allow himself to think they believed he would make it.

"Fight on, fight on, fight on," he chanted under his breath to some internal beat. "No one's gonna get you there but yourself…."

Even as he said that, each word leaving his lips in a frosted cloud, Naruto couldn't help but lift his gaze skyward, staring up through the gaps in the trees toward the sky. He already knew no one was going to help him on his journey, life had already made that abundantly clear—and as a matter of fact, there would probably only be those who wanted to stop him from succeeding, if he were honest with himself and regarded the situation with the mature outlook the years had forced out of him.

But, that too was fine… he didn't really want help.

"I just, y'know… it'd just be nice not to be alone while I make this climb," he uttered softly.

Almost as if responding to his request, the wind suddenly whipped itself into a whistling frenzy, throwing his hair and clothes about, and Naruto froze mid-step, tensing as he glanced around.

"What in the—ULP!"

He nearly bit his tongue off when the temperature took a sharp dive, plunging so deep that he instantly lost feeling his toes; every breath inhaled felt like shards of glass shredding his throat raw; a thick layer of mist covered the ground, creeping and winding through the trees and dampening his pant legs—

The first thought that penetrated Naruto's frozen mind was that he had somehow fallen under a genjutsu but before he could panic or force his tingling lips to call for help, something burst overhead with the sound of a tire popping and Naruto instinctually looked up—only to have something soft yet weighty collide full force with his face.

"NNNMPGH!"

The surprised cry that left him got lost in the smothering darkness and he lost his balance, both arms flailing as he fell toppled over.

When his back crashed into the ground, all the air in Naruto's lungs came whooshing out and amidst his suffering he felt whatever had him pinned to the forest floor shiver, followed by what sounded like a hitched groan.

Someone was suddenly speaking, very fast, very rapidly, sounding about five seconds from an anxiety attack, which was precisely two less seconds that Naruto figured he had in this world before asphyxiation whisked him off to the great beyond. His chest burned for air—his legs kicked out—he tried swatting away what was on top of him but it was too heavy… too heavy… he could feel his strength waning….

I can't believe it… I'm gonna die, I'm actually gonna die, aren't I? After everything I saw and heard, I… but I thought that—no… not like this, not here! No, no, no! NO!

Acting as a summons to his words, Naruto put the last of his energy into bucking his hips, sending whatever kept him compressed to the width of a pancake tumbling off to the side. The noise that he let out struggling to inhale sounded like some creature from the deep coming up for air for the first time in a century, and he sent himself into a violent coughing fit.

"Wh-what… in the hell… is your problem?" he struggled to get out, hoisting himself up onto an elbow and glaring daggers at this… this woman? Whoever she was, she didn't look like she was from Konoha by any stretch. Her platinum blonde hair was rather lengthy and tied into a type of braid Naruto couldn't place, and she was wearing this shapely dark blue bodice over a very pretty, long-sleeved teal dress. To recent memory, Naruto had never seen anyone with that type of clothing. Was she from another land…?

When she managed to untangle herself from her dress and turned in his direction, Naruto was struck stupid. He immediately forgot about his wizened lungs, the cold, unforgiving ground turning his rear numb, and he bypassed the lethal glare she was attempting to bury him with. Because all of that paled under this woman's beauty. Her face was porcelain, beset with soft features that only served to accentuate her adorably wide and exuberant eyes. They were an enchanting shade of blue, several shades brighter than Naruto's, they almost seemed to glow; and adorning her rosy cheeks was a layer of freckles, a sharp contrast to the three whisker marks upon his own. Her lips, however twisted into a snarl they happened to be, were rosy and quite full, Naruto couldn't help the comically loud gulp that emanated from his throat.

This lady was gorgeous.

"You… you little ruffian!"

And extremely upset, if Naruto had to hazard a guess. He didn't know why her cheeks were turning that embarrassed shade of tomato red because from where he stood, it was he that should be upset. She was the one who had landed on him, after all.

"What? Hey, I'm not a ruffian!" he shouted on reflex, and he thrust a finger at the dazzling woman. "You should apologize for treatin' me like a chair! You weigh a ton!"

The blonde woman looked as though physically touched by that retort, eyes widening further surprise before narrowing with such blazing intent that Naruto faltered. "You little impudent brat… to call a lady such as myself heavy," she started, snatching her dress closer with hands covered in white gloves that looked to cost more than anything Naruto would ever own. "You were the one who had your head up my… u-up my"—she seemed to struggle over the words for a second and then took a steadying breath—"up my dress!"

Naruto pried his lips apart to argue back when he detoured into his mind, falling silent with his mouth hanging open. What did she mean by… his head had been up his dress? He tried to remember what had just happened. There was the sudden cold, and then he looked up…and when he did, she fell on him and… wait, wait, wait… those gears from before were turning again, putting pieces together, and once the picture had been formed, Naruto could feel his own cheeks glowing red hot.

"Ohhhh..."

She had sat on his face during the tumble down.

"Th-that… that, uh…." He scratched behind his head for a moment, meeting that woman's glare with one of his own. "That wasn't even my fault!" he finally yelled, swiping with his arm. "No one told you to fall outta thin air and crush me!"

"And he makes excuses," the woman huffed, beginning the climb to her feet and brushing dirt from her soiled dress, "typical ruffian behavior."

"I just told you I'm not—"

"And why are you wearing such a hat?" she queried, and when she pointed at his head, there was so much elegance in the motion that Naruto felt he were in the presence of royalty without knowing where the feeling came from.

"Hat? What hat? This isn't a hat, it's my…." Reaching up, Naruto expected to feel his hitai-ate. What he didn't expect to feel, and immediately snatched from his head, was his penguin nightcap. "Awww, no, are you serious? I forgot my headband at home?"

Flipping to his feet, Naruto let loose a groan of frustration. After everything he had gone through to finally earn one, how could he leave it behind? There was no way he could show his face to the others without it, they would never let him live it down.

"Look crazy lady, I dunno what you got goin' on, but I gotta get home real quick, sooo…." Naruto began to slowly back away, giving a two-fingered salute and had every intention of hightailing it out of there when he was halted by a single word.

"Stay."

It was no secret to anyone who breathed that Naruto was never one to follow instructions—even the Hokage had to learn that particular lesson—but for some reason, when the word hit Naruto's ear, hearing it said with her voice… he felt compelled to listen, almost duty-bound, and remained where he was.

"So that's what the people of this land do? They assault royalty and then try to make a break for it?" the woman asked coarsely, placing one hand on her hip.

Why did Naruto feel like if he tried to make a break for it, this woman had means to drag him right back? His survival instincts, honed as they were, told him this long-haired beauty was someone he needed to avoid, to get away from, and yet, at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to be in her presence….

"People of this land…?" Naruto glanced about the frozen forest. "You mean Konoha?"

Those gleaming eyes of hers, so stern yet full of life, left Naruto's for only a second to take in her surroundings. He saw her lips move without speaking, mouthing the word 'Konoha', before her gaze snapped back to him with such force he flinched. "Take me to your home."

"M-my ho—why?" Naruto blustered.

"Because I do not know where I am—or when I am," the woman admitted, taking lithe steps toward him. "One moment, I'm in my castle, and the next… some rude little ruffian has his face in places where it ought not be," she said, and staring down at Naruto, who scowled when he was forced to look up in order to meet her eye-to-eye. She had to have him in height by almost a foot.

"For the last kunai tossing time, I am not a ruffian—my name's Naruto," he ground out.

"What an odd name," the woman mused. "Nah-row-toe…."

Naruto blanched. "You just butchered my name to hell and back, crazy lady, thanks for that."

For a brief second, it looked as though a flash of chagrin crossed the woman's face—a clear sign that she wasn't used to messing up in that fashion—but it was gone when she cleared her throat. "Yes, well… my name is Elsa."

"And what a swell name it is," Naruto said placatingly, motioning over his shoulder with a thumb, "but as you can see, I'm very late for something—really gotta jet, big people waiting and such—so if you don't mind—"

"But I do mind, Naruto," cut in Elsa smoothly, and the pronunciation of his name on the second go around came out far better, almost perfect, "because, you see, you don't seem to understand that you're standing before a Queen."

"A queen? Queen of what?" Naruto wondered blankly. "'Cause there's no queens in Konoha, lady."

"That may well be true for this quaint place, but that doesn't change facts, ruffian," Elsa said, matching Naruto not using her birth-given name, a switch he caught onto with a slight frown.

"Look, whatever you wanna do, queen, I don't care—follow me or don't, but I gotta get home," and Naruto had only turned around when a hand colder than the swirling winds landed on his shoulder, spinning him around in a complete circle like he had just performed a dance number.

"Do you believe in fate, little ruffian?"

"Do I believe in... what kinda question is that?"

"An earnest question, I think." Leaning forward, Elsa took Naruto by the chin with her gloved forefinger and thumb, and proceeded to stare so deeply into his eyes that Naruto felt as though he were being x-rayed. "I don't think it was mere coincidence that I happened to wind up here... with you. I think it's providence, a sign. Don't you feel the same?"

In truth, ever since waking up in that sea of sweat, Naruto had felt what Elsa was expressing to him. That dream, Sakura's words, the meaning behind them... there was no way their meeting was anything but the hand of fate putting them in their place. In place for what, though, Naruto hadn't a clue.

"I feel..." His eyes drifted down, then back up. "I feel like your hands must be frozen solid 'cause even through the gloves it feels like you're touching me with ice."

The way Elsa instantly looked hurt let Naruto know he had said something callous, and she snatched her hand back, gripping it with the other. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" she started frantically, and the regality was gone from her tone; she sounded exactly like what she was: a girl lost in the woods. She took a few shaky steps in reverse, hunching in on herself and muttering apologizes... some of which didn't match the situation at all.

Snorting, Naruto struck out a hand and took Elsa by the wrist. What he felt on contact almost gave him brain freeze; it was almost like he had latched onto a block of ice. He kept his face straight, relaxed, which was easy enough. Even at this early stage in his life, Naruto was a veteran at hiding pain. "Hey, hey, look at me—Elsa," he called, sounding miles away, and perhaps it was due to him finally uttering her name that brought Elsa out of whatever downward spiral she had been thrust into, because her eyes, so round and somewhat watery now, found his with an almost desperate urgency. "Look, see? Nothing's wrong, I'm fine." Naruto patted himself over the chest. "You're just a little chilly, that's all. Listen, what you need is some ramen, it'll warm you right up."

Elsa stared at the boy as if seeing him right for the first time. "What...?"

Naruto indicated back the way he'd come. "C'mon, I'll take you to my place, I gotta get my headband anyway—but just for a moment!" he reiterated, lifting a stern forefinger. "Long enough to have a bowl of ramen and that's it."

"What's ray-men?"

"...you've gotta be kiddin' me."


15: The Headband


"Naruto, no, I'm not having this."

"Ooooh, yes, you are."

"No, really—I'm not, I refuse."

Naruto crossed his arms with a smug grin. "See, you say that, but you're picking up your chopsticks anyway."

"Because I know you're not going to stop bothering me until I do," Elsa relented, annoyed as she stared down at the steaming bowl of noodles before her. It was ramen, that much was obvious, she had come to learn as such over the years, but she couldn't tell what kind. It certainly didn't smell like any other flavor she had tasted before—and she had tried them all and then some, even flavors from other lands, thanks to the grating boy beside her. "Do I really have to eat this?" she whined, pulling her most simpering puppy-dog look and twisting in her chair to make sure he didn't miss it. "On today of all days?"

The look with a normally one-hundred percent success rate fell flat this time. "It's precisely because it's today of all days that you gotta," he responded evenly, turning her back around with very little effort. "This is your key to victory, Elsa-chan, it's gonna give you the energy to succeed," and he enthusiastically punched at the air. "You got this!"

"I've got this, right," she repeated sullenly, "and this ramen is going to have me going straight to the bathroom..."

Naruto only laughed.

It had been a little over two years since he had met the beguiling woman seated at his dining room table and giving her breakfast the most surliest of looks, and during that time he had come to learn about her. Chief of which was, she truly wasn't crazy—well, she was crazy, but not crazy, crazy. She really wasn't from Konoha, or anywhere else in this world for that matter. That technically made her an alien, but on the tenth time teasingly calling her that, and after she retaliated by freezing his lips shut for a whole day, he learned two things: that she had a temper, and that she had ice powers.

Very, very strong ice powers. And it wasn't due to some super special kekkai genkai as in the case with Neji, or even Haku (rest his soul), she just happened to be born with it apparently. She was an anomaly from beyond their current understanding, beyond even Tsunade-baachan's, who had taken to extensively studying Elsa and the source of her power, which didn't stem from chakra, but rather... she had said it was "hard to quantify and even harder to pinpoint".

This, naturally, led to a fevered form of fascination that trickled all the way from the highest council member down to the very citizens of Konohakagure. Everyone wanted Elsa's time, to talk with her, find out more about her, to witness her power first-hand, to know where she came from and what she planned on doing now that she was here.

"Erm... well, I thank you for your warm welcome and hospitality, but if I could, I'd like to remain with Naruto."

The backlash that followed wasn't anything new for Naruto but it still stung all the same, hearing the people of his home rudely proclaim him and his living quarters unfit to house such a "beautiful specimen" and that she would be better served and accommodated elsewhere, like with the Hyūga's, or in one of the Uchiha estates' many mansions. They tried to entice her with food and decor and all the luxuries that more than likely came with someone of her status, with what she was surely used to.

None of which Naruto could even begin to provide.

So it came a shock to him when Elsa politely turned down all their offers and tributes, holding firm to her wish to remain where she was, with the boy she fell on top of. The warmth that swelled behind Naruto's heart, it paled in comparison only to when Iruka-sensei gifted him his hitai-ate; he had never thought for a second that once Elsa was discovered that she would deign to stay with him, regardless of if their meeting was fated or not. He figured his part had been played, that he was but a stepping stone, a footnote in the glorious life she was sure to have—at the very least, nothing but a cushion to keep her from breaking something when she fell from the sky.

"Look, Elsa-chan, you glarin' at it ain't gonna make it go away," Naruto pointed out patiently. "Am I gonna have to feed it to you, huh? Is that what you want?" he asked, prodding her in the side, a well known ticklish area.

When Elsa jumped like she had been electrocuted, she spun around so quickly that she blurred, snatching Naruto down by the neck of his shirt and placing her hand to within a centimeter of his face. "Are you so eager to take the long sleep?" she queried, flexing her fingers menacingly.

"Only if you're gonna keep bein' fussy instead of eating," he replied calmly, able to feel the frost leaking from her fingertips. "I must say, though, this isn't exactly queenly behavior, is it? Refusing to eat like this? Oh, my, my..."

If looks could kill, the glare Elsa beamed his way would have stopped Naruto's heart. "Fine!" she relented, turning back to her meal with an assertive vigor. "I promise it'll be the death of me but if you're that ready to see me gone from you, I'll eat it..."

"There we go."

To this day, Elsa still didn't know exactly what it was—or how it was—that she came to be in this world. By what method was used, or incantation, or complex alchemy, anything was up in the air, and her memory of the entire thing added nothing. Mostly because from what she could recall, she had been pacing back in forth in her room, agonizing over... over something that she was expected to do later that day. She remembered the anxiety, the fear, the reluctance to even show her face—she craved an escape, to be anywhere but there, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on Naruto's face.

"Felt like a boulder hit me," Naruto had remarked, only to have Elsa roll her eyes.

"Oh, silence, you enjoyed it, you little ruffian."

Back then, in the moment, surely not—there was nothing to enjoy about being suffocated to death, but as Naruto got to know Elsa, taking note of her mannerisms and slowly cottoning onto the standoffish way she showed her care, a part of him wished he could zip back to that incident so he could, as she so haughtily proclaimed, enjoy it.

Because he enjoyed Elsa's company far more than he was ever willing to admit, or would ever admit, especially in the face of her treating him as either a tolerable nuisance or a younger brother of sorts. She doted on him as much as she chastised him, which propelled Naruto's feelings into a blitz of confusion; he couldn't make heads or tails of the way she really felt. And that was mostly because, another thing that Naruto was quick to learn of the regnant Queen, was that she kept her feelings very close to her chest.

He knew why, of course. A little after their first year together, Naruto had come home early after being sent to get some groceries—because apparently one needed more than ramen to survive—only to find Elsa having a breakdown in his room, that she had been having them, at least three a week since first coming to his world.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey—what's wrong, why're you crying?" Naruto had asked, wasting a whole carton of eggs over the floor when he unceremoniously dropped all the bags in his rush to get to her side.

"I'm not supposed to be here! I'm... my home is back in Arendelle and I—and I don't know how to get back!" She was borderline in hysterics, barely acknowledging Naruto's presence. "I can't get back,my sister's probably worried sick, the people don't know what's happened—"

"Your sister? Wait—Elsa, slow down—you have a sister?"

"This is... it's my fault I'm here! This is what I've wanted for such a very long time, t-to just be gone! To be anywhere and anyone but Elsa, Queen of Arendelle," she sobbed bitterly, spasming when Naruto attempted to put an arm around her shoulder, but she slapped his arm away and scurried in reverse until the worn headboard stopped her. "Don't touch me! That's how you get hurt! Th-that's how Anna got hurt, by trying to g-get close and then I... a-and then I..." She frantically shook her head, a cold sweat glimmering over her pale skin. "No, not again, just... please, g-go, for your own safety, Naruto."

"Elsa..."

Standing, Naruto was of half a mind to listen and leave her be. It's what he always did. Whenever she gave him an order, he obeyed without question. That's normally how it went, but not this time. This time something else took over, something that started in his gut and churned with a burning force. He knew what it was and turned around, looking more solemn than he had ever been, than what he allowed to be seen, and pulled up his undershirt.

"Look," he told her, pointing at the intricately swirling mark around his naval.

Elsa's eyes slid down to his stomach, then back to his face in a frenzy. "I... Naruto, what're you doing? Why're you showing me your stupid tattoo, I don't care about that—just leave!"

"It's not a tattoo."

Like those words had triggered a reset button within her, Elsa temporarily forgot her own grief, her face falling flat, like fresh marble. "You... what did you say?" She slowly shook her head. "But you told me it was... that you got it when you were a baby, that's your clans crest and—"

"I lied."

Sooner or later, Naruto always knew that this conversation was going to rear its ugly head, he just wished he could have staved it off for a little longer, at least until after one of them died of old age, because the look that Elsa gave him, when the realization hit and her bottom lip began to quiver, was heart-wrenching.

"This isn't the mark of my clan," Naruto continued morosely, his facial features tightening as a lump formed in his throat. "It's just... didn't you think it was kinda odd that the people here don't seem to like me for some reason?"

"Why would I? You told me it was because you constantly pulled pranks—I've seen you do it, I've tried to stop you," Elsa answered almost immediately with some scolding undertones as she sniffled.

The chuckle that left Naruto was lifeless. "It's because on the day I was born..." He dropped his shirt, firming his jaw. "The day I was born, our village was attacked by a demon, a huge, nine-tailed fox. It killed a lotta people, and I mean a lotta people... a lotta good people... and to save everyone, it was sealed inside of me," he finished, his voice cracking near the end. "S-so, everyday I have to endure those people out there, everyone inside Konoha who lost their family, their friends... they don't see me when they're yellin' insults and hurlin' bottles, they see the fox, they see a demon."

A slight pause followed his admission and Elsa stared with an amalgam of horror and pity, watching as the blonde boy before her mentally pieced himself back together.

"It's kinda funny, though," Naruto continued even though there was absolutely nothing comedic about anything he had just said, "'cause Iruka-sensei told me once that, uh... that the people here got it all wrong. He s-said that I was a hero, can you believe it? On account'a what I carry inside. Like, because of me, no one else gets h-hurt... 'cause of me, there's no more demon fox runnin' around, s-so that's why I'm—"

The rest of his sentence came out muffled against Elsa's shoulder. Over the past year, being taught the introductory basics of becoming a shinobi, her quickness to catch on proved nothing short of surprising, a bona fide natural, but moments like these, where she moved so fast that Naruto lost sight of her, were still surprising. He didn't realize he was being held until the frigid layer of frost that naturally, subconsciously encircled her threatened to stop his heart.

For a long while, well past the point where Naruto's breath began to come out as wisps of fog, neither of them said anything. Half-hanging off the bed, Elsa merely continued to hold him, her arms wrapped unyieldingly around his malnourished form, and Naruto continued to let her do so despite the extreme tundra of discomfort surging through his very bones. He was thankful back then, because he felt certain that if it weren't for the cold front wafting from her, he would have broken down in tears.

"So... don't tell me to leave you alone," Naruto continued, his teeth beginning to rattle with the shivers, "it hurts, and I don't wanna hurt anymore. Y-you're my friend, Elsa-chan," and he reached up, taking a single fistful of the back of her blouse and burying his face in the bend of her neck. "W-we both have problems, b-but we c-can help each other, r-ruh-right? We c-c-can help each other fuh-fix 'em."

There was no telling how much longer Naruto would be able to hold onto consciousness the same way Elsa held onto him, but after a few more seconds, she nodded against him, whispering, "Okay, Naruto... okay."

Honestly, she might have said more after that, a substantial bit more probably, but Naruto didn't hear because he fainted against her. A normal human probably would have died but the tenant within Naruto wouldn't have them going out in such a shameful way, so it was no surprise to him when he awoke hours later in his bed. What did surprise him was how distraught Elsa seemed over the whole thing. After he managed to calm her down, he learned more about her sister, this Anna, a humanized form of happiness to hear Elsa tell it.

What a wonderful moment in time that had been, lying back and listening to someone who willingly wanted to talk with him, zoning out to the soothing timber of her voice, watching her animate some memories with an almost childish enthusiasm. He didn't realize it then, but staring at the back of her head now, watching her break apart her chopsticks and bow her head for a moment in thanks... the butterflies in his stomach, the way he grew lightheaded whenever she touched him, whether on purpose or by accident...

"Atta girl," he told her minutes later, once she had finished and aggressively showed him the empty bowl as if to say "look, are you happy now?"

"Oh, be quiet, I'm older than you by eight years," she reminded him cantankerously.

"Really? The way you were fussing earlier, I couldn't tell which us was the adult," he laughed, extending a hand.

When she took it, rolling her eyes, the biting frost that normally came associated with her touch was far less pronounced, even through her gloves. Naruto didn't know why this was, the cause of her seemingly growing warmer, but he wasn't about to complain—add to it, Elsa didn't have a clue, either. There was very little she knew about her staggering power, other than if she didn't keep her emotions in check, the blowback usually resulted in the worst day of her life.

"Ready to ace that test and get one of these?" Naruto flicked his forehead protector, only having to shift his gaze upwards a little to meet Elsa's eye after hitting a growth spurt that didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Inhaling to a count of three and exhaling, Elsa nodded. "I am."

For the better portion of eight months, Elsa had thrown herself into the training that Tsunade had personally handed down to her. The process of hierarchy was tough to match as even though Elsa was the queen of her world, Tsunade was the Hokage of this one, the one she currently resided in, and Elsa wasted no time in wanting to learn, to glean as much as she could from another woman in the highest position of power that a nation could provide.

As highly acclaimed and well-received as she was, there was still the fact that Elsa was an outsider, foreign not only to Konoha, but to their world altogether. Realistically, she posed quite a threat even before the topic of her absurd power was taken into account. To wit, she was barred true citizenship within Konoha pending good behavior over an unknown period of time.

"They made you wait a whole year! Not a couple weeks, not a few months—but a whole year!" Naruto had raged.

"Naruto, calm down. Every place has their own laws and procedures concerning foreigners," Elsa told him, watching the irate boy stomp up and down in front of her with some amusement. "Even Arendelle has a waiting process."

"Alright, but is yours also a year long?"

"No—"

"A-HA!"

"—but I'm also not from a world that revolves around subterfuge and assassination either."

"I... but that's not even... okay, point proven."

Today was the day of her citizenship test and in preparation for such an occasion, Naruto had prepared a hodgepodge of ramen that generally consisted of mashing together multiple flavors at once, which now sat unsettlingly in Elsa's stomach. Trying to ignore the churning nausea, she fanned out her arms and faced Naruto, trying not to broadcast the trepidation she felt despite the way her nose crinkled when she was nervous.

"Okay, so... how do I look?" she wondered tentatively.

Far and away like the woman he met in the woods two years ago, was Naruto's first thought, and he didn't mean that just in the way of her choice of clothing—Elsa seemed to be a fan of fishnet, a kunoichi favorite—but in the way she carried herself, her expression. Adapting to the way the shinobi had reconfigured Elsa in a way that thrilled Naruto. The regality was still there, though less pronounced, having given way to a more confident and outgoing Elsa, one who didn't conceal but chose to feel instead.

Her hair was as lengthy as it always was, that hadn't changed, but the cloth of Arendelle was gone, folded and stowed away in Naruto's closet for safe-keeping. Replacing it was a specially-crafted kimono that held onto her affinity for ice blues, one that cut off just below the waist and would have been completely revealing were it not for the fishnet suit she wore underneath. Snowflakes had been stitched across the front, shin guards protected her legs, and her premium white gloves were now fingerless with metal plates over the back. Altogether, she looked about as ready for a mission as she ever would.

"What do I think?" Naruto put a hand to his chin and stared her up and down with a speculative glint, causing her to wince under the severity of his gaze.

Then he gave her a thumbs up with smile that sang with praise.

"Ten outta ten, Elsa. You look beautiful."

Even before Elsa's eyes widened, Naruto had caught onto his verbal faux pas and could feel that oh so familiar heat of embarrassment beginning to trickle from under his hairline all the way down to his neck. He had to look like he'd come off the loser in a tomato fight, and the way Elsa suddenly began to smirk at him with those plump lips colored a glistening magenta did not help matters in the slightest.

"Beautiful, you say?" she repeated, tucking a renegade strand of hair behind her ear.

"W-wait," Naruto stuttered, "hold on, hold on, I didn't—that w-wasn't what I meant... y-you look good, yeah, I mean, but you always look really good so—"

By the time Naruto was smart enough to clap a hand to his mouth to keep his foot from digging in any further, the damage was already done. Taking those elegant steps that harkened back to the queen of two years ago, Elsa approached the jittery boy at her leisure, stopping only when she had purposefully invaded his personal space. Unable to meet her face-to-face, Naruto's gaze dropped to the floor as though catching sight of a new ramen flavor, traveling down those glistening shin guards to land on the traditional zori adorning her feet, that exposed her pretty, iris-painted toes.

The blood was thundering through his head, he couldn't think straight, she had set him off on purpose, adding that extra sway to her hips, smiling in that docile yet commanding way, reducing the space between them to the length of an eyelash—his nostrils flared on instinct, taking in the sweet, ambrosial scent that surrounded her, the scent that set his brain on fire—

"You think I'm beautiful." When she spoke, Naruto's ears perked, taking in every melodic syllable. When she giggled at his reaction, Naruto's heart sang. And when she placed a single finger under his chin, he heeded the motion without any fight, allowing her to lift his gaze until they were once more eye-to-eye, the same way they had been two years ago. "Tell me, am I your queen?" she questioned in hushed tones.

Struck dumb as he was, Elsa had just claimed the top spot as his everything, though Naruto was too enamored to speak it. It was the look in his eyes, the way they burrowed back into Elsa's, they said what he couldn't, conveyed feelings that the young boy didn't quite understand himself but was certain of their sincerity.

Seeing all the raw emotion glistening there in those opulent orbs, and from someone so young, caused Elsa to blush herself, her smile growing tender, and she leaned forward to such a degree that Naruto almost fainted. "Wish your queen luck, then," was what Naruto recalled her saying before he felt something moist come into contact with his cheek.

After Elsa had swept from the room, Naruto remained where he was, rooted to the spot, trying to process what had just happened—until he broke out into a mad dash for the bathroom. He flicked on the light and nearly shoved his head through the mirror in his haste. It couldn't be, what he thought had happened couldn't have happened, not to him, not in a million years... but there it was.

A kiss-shaped lipstick mark over his cheek.

Hardly daring to believe it, Naruto traced it with a trembling finger, feeling an abnormal amount of happiness wash over him. The dopiest smile ever produced had stretched his lips out; he felt dazed, confused, and elated all at once.

"Awesome..."


18: The Dream


If someone had told Naruto years ago that a dream he had where Sakura whispered his future to him would eventually come to past, well... he would have probably been extremely excited and eager to believe anything that even hinted at pulling him out of his dreary existence back then, back when nothing seemed to be going his way and his days were filled with the darkest of thoughts.

They would have been wrong, though, but only slightly. It hadn't been Sakura who infiltrated his dreams all those years ago—and looking back on it, Naruto couldn't help but feel daft. He should have known from the moment she opened her mouth that it had been Elsa speaking to him, encouraging him, lifting him up.

A Konohagakure headband gleamed proudly from Elsa's forehead, one adorned with several nicks and scratches to be sure, same as Naruto's, but there it sat, a testament to her hard work and the strides she took to be a part of his world, to make the best of her situation... to show him that she was worthy of his respect.

"I love you, Elsa-chan."

That's what Naruto had confessed to Elsa a little over three hours ago. The words came out more coherent than he could have hoped for, which made sense as he had spent the past two days practicing them in the mirror, repeating them over and over, instilling their meaning in his head and heart, knowing them to be true but also preparing himself for the inevitable brush-off that Elsa frequently gave to several other men who had approached her over the years.

Disappointment and rejection were a mainstay in Naruto's life, distant friends, close enemies, the wounds in his heart they caused every day he stepped out of his home had long since scabbed over but he still mentally prepared himself for the worst possible outcome.

"Honestly, it's about time you said it," she had responded, looking adorably flushed and pouting at the same time, and when she placed a hand to his cheek there wasn't a chill to be found. She was utterly warm, the warmest, most soothing thing Naruto had ever felt and he melted into her touch. "I was beginning to think you'd never get up the nerve to profess to your queen..."

"M-my queen..."

"Yes, I am yours."

If Naruto had died right there, if the Kyuubi within saw it fit to suddenly break free of the jail restraining it and explode from his body in a gruesome exhibition, it would have been the perfect regret-free way to go and Naruto would have accepted it with a smile.

Because he had just received what he already knew to be the high point of his life, even higher than becoming Hokage. Elsa's love. When she kissed him, it wasn't over the cheek like so many teasing moments in the past, no... her lips met his completely and so softly, but with purpose, making sure he felt everything there was to feel as they embraced. It was a kiss so powerful and fueled with so much longing that Naruto forgot who he was and where he was... until it happened.

Until the portal back to Elsa's world tore itself open right to them.

Fixed onto the back of his apartment door was a rapidly spinning oval of white so vivid that is almost physically hurt to stare directly at it... but through that blinding middle, when the both of them squinted, Elsa gasped. Even though it was from an overhead view miles in the air, what they were seeing was unmistakably Arendelle and all its splendor.

"Wh-what...? What is this?" Disbelief configured Elsa's voice and she turned from the portal to gauge Naruto's expression. "This is... it's one of your pranks, isn't it? You—"

But the look over Naruto's face was beyond perplexed, he had actually gone slack-jawed, marveling at the otherworldly gateway punched into the door of his home. "That's not me," he managed to squeak out, the kiss from earlier driven out of his mind. "Elsa-chan, what's going on?"

There was an aroma wafting from the portal, blowing into Naruto's apartment... one that captivated Elsa to the point where she closed her eyes and took a few animated sniffs. "O-oh..." When her eyes fluttered open again, Naruto almost jumped at the tears glittering there, at the ones running down her reddened cheeks. "It's h-home... it's my home, I'd know that smell anywhere, it's... it's Arendelle's famous bread..."

And it truly smelled delicious, unlike anything Naruto had ever smelled before, and he squeezed Elsa's hand reassuringly. "Elsa-chan," he started gently, pausing when she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from breaking down, to muffle the choked sobs threatening to consume her. "I think this is for you..." He brushed away one of her tears with a smile that didn't quite reach his heart. "This is where you go back."

Almost immediately Elsa began shaking her head, not trusting herself enough to speak.

Sitting next to her, Naruto simultaneously understood and hated the level of maturity he was displaying. After finally finding the kind of happiness he felt didn't exist for souls like him, not even less a minute later, it was being snatched away. He felt it cruel, he felt he didn't deserve it—a part of him wanted to erupt in screams, to pull his hair out at the roots and cry out the agony slowly peeling his heart to bloody rinds... but he didn't. For her sake, he kept his expression as neutral as possible, a task that proved to be most difficult undertaking of his short life.

The woman next to him meant everything. They had shared so much together over the years, gone through so many trials and tribulations, laughing and crying, fighting and making up, seeing things from each other's perspective and coming to a greater understanding beyond what they could have ever hoped to experience by themselves. She had saved him from the darkness festering within, and foolish as it was to think, he hoped that maybe... just maybe... he had saved her a little, too.

He tried to speak, to tell her it was okay, that it would be okay, but the words wouldn't come, they refused. Because they weren't true in the slightest. Nothing about this moment was okay, nothing about it would be okay.

His heart was breaking. He was breaking.

"But why...?" Elsa uttered, and it stung worse to her the sorrow in her voice, to know that she felt the same way. It was the reason she hadn't moved yet, it was the reason why she remained by his side instead of jumping through the portal without a backwards glance. She truly felt the same the about Naruto... and it was all so unfair, for this to happen. "W-why now? Why not... w-why not..."

Why not earlier, is what Elsa wanted to ask, the question that burned on her tongue, and Naruto already had an answer. Because things would have been easier years ago, back before the feelings they harbored could take root, before their love for one another had the chance to blossom into the roaring fire that it was now.

"Because..." Naruto swallowed, running his thumb over her knuckles in soft circles. "You were so cold... a-and I was so lost in my own darkness...We needed saving." His watery gaze left Elsa and focused on the portal. "That's right, isn't it?" he asked numbly.

As if the portal was sentient, as if it heard Naruto's rhetorical question, the view in the middle shifted, blurring away from Arendelle and settling on a view of Elsa, an Elsa from years ago, an Elsa that had collapsed in the middle of her very post and regal room and wracked with sobs much like the current Elsa was.

"Spirits, p-please..." On her knees, Elsa brought her hands together and clenched them with all the strength she possessed. "I'm n-not well here, I... I can't think, they want me to fill shoes too big and exude a wisdom I don't have and I... I can't, there's too much and I'm not enough," she cried, rocking back and forth. "Anna, my dear sister, she has K-Kristoff and I... who d-do I have? My thoughts, my solitude... a burden... that's all that I have, it's all that I am..."

The sobs were slipping through Elsa's fingers as she watched her younger, more distraught self expel her fears... and Naruto could tell she was remembering. She was remembering everything, the tears were dripping off her chin, she squeezed his hand to the point of discomfort but he didn't pull away.

"Take me away... please... send me to a place where I can f-find someone who will accept me for all that I am, who I can turn to... who..."

Before these could finish, the past Elsa collapsed, the stress whisking her away into unconsciousness, and not more then six seconds later, a great circle of ice began to revolve underneath her still figure, growing wider and wider until she eventually fell through and out of sight.

When silence fell, and when the portal had blurred back to the overhead view of Arendelle, the only sounds that resonated around Naruto's apartment were the muffled cries of the woman next to him, who was shaking her head side to side.

"You needed to find someone who could see you," Naruto repeated almost breathlessly, struggling to keep his pounding heart from leaping into his throat. Using the same motion she had used against him, Naruto placed a finger under her wet chin and exerted very little pressure to get her to look up at him, and only him. "And you did. I see you, Elsa-chan."

The portal continued to swirl like a hurricane between them, humming with a magical energy that didn't exist in Naruto's world.

"You've gotta go back," Naruto forced himself to say, leaning forward until their forehead protectors clinked together. A stricken look flashed over Elsa's face and he preempted whatever rebuttal she was going to say with a small kiss. "The spirits of your world, they heeded your wish, didn't they? They gave you what you wanted, you have what you need, and n-now... now they need you back, Elsa-chan. Please," he whispered, feeling his face beginning to scrunch up, "y-you gotta go back now."

"How?" she asked him dolefully, reaching up with both hands to cup his cheeks, and her red-rimmed eyes searched his with a deepness that transfixed the young blonde. "How can I when everything that healed me is here in my hands?"

Naruto sucked in his bottom lip, but it was no use. The tears that left his eyes, that burned trails down his cheeks and wet her hands, he couldn't have kept them at bay no matter how hard he tried. He almost wished he had never met Elsa, that he had never experienced what it was like to be cared for, to be loved and treated like an equal, to be seen and heard rather than ignored and talked over; all qualities that she had shown, that she had given him, and now... now he was just expected to let all of that go? To seal his heart back up inside that cold, lonely cage that her love had provided the key for?

He closed his eyes.

"Elsa-chan... do you love me?"

She closed her eyes right behind him.

"I love you, Naruto, with all that I am."

He could feel her lips against his, a subtle brushing sensation that only served to make him crave her more.

"Then marry me."

Her answer came without delay. "I will."

"When we get to your world."

Elsa's eyes flew open. "W-what?"

Naruto opened his as well, showing her a burning resolve that danced just beyond his calming, sky-blue pupils. "It's time for you to go," he told her strongly, reaching up and placing a hand over one of hers, "but that doesn't mean you have to go alone."

The hope that flicked over Elsa's face was brief, but Naruto caught it. She heard his words, she comprehended them just fine, but she couldn't believe he was serious, that such a silver lining existed in this bleak scenario... yet there he was, sitting there with that debonair smirk that she had seen him sport countless times right before he was about to do something completely reckless.

"I don't understand," she started, aghast, "you m-mean... coming with me? But what about here? What about your home?"

"You're my home," he answered genially. "A home is wherever you feel safe, at peace... and that's with you, Elsa-chan. Whether I'm here in Konoha or in Erindal"—she giggle-snorted at his mistake but Naruto continued—"it doesn't matter as long as I'm with you."

Elsa increased her grip over Naruto's cheeks, her gaze shifting around in his for any sign of deceit, a twinkle of false pretense. After a few seconds and coming up short, she latched onto another reason for him to stay: "What about your dream to become Hokage? That's all you've gone on about since I first met you, Naruto. You... you can't give that up for me..."

"Being a king sounds awesome," Naruto told her funnily. "I know what a Hokage is like—I've seen the headaches Baa-chan goes through...Got no clue about a King. Look, Elsa-chan, you found yourself here... you found me. And now I wanna do the same. Maybe there's something greater for me in your world, and maybe I'll come back to Konoha in the future, who knows... but for right now... we're in this together," he declared in a tone that brook no argument. "I've found my eternal happiness and I will be damned if I just let it go."

There was no trepidation in Naruto's heart as he pulled a scroll off the kitchen table and unfurled it. He felt no hesitation, held no regrets... he knew in his heart that this was the right thing to do, that he was heading into the life that he was meant to live, and with the person whom he was meant to live it with.

"Don't look for me, I'll be back later" — Naruto

That was the letter he left behind, the letter someone would find when they eventually came looking for him after discovering his absence. He didn't feel the need to expound on it further or to include specific names... there was no need.

Because, after all... this wasn't a definite goodbye—

"Are you ready, my love?" Elsa asked, holding onto his hand as the two of them stood before the whistling portal.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Naruto nodded stoutly, feeling a jitteriness in his stomach and a warmth in his heart.

"Then first, I suppose, we'll meet my sister. She's going to flip her lid."

—it was a 'see ya later.'

And both Naruto and Elsa stepped over the swirling threshold that would lead them onto the next journey of their life together.