Naruto != mine

Heir to the Raijin

~Chapter 13~

The convoy which the film crew was traveling with formed up the next day. Ren was polishing Mizuchi with a rag, and generally checking for damage. The blade was nigh-indestructible, but that was no reason to neglect his most valuable piece of equipment. He paused, however, and sheathed his signature weapon when he noticed Yukie approaching him. "Hello, Yukie-san. How can I help you?" He asked, rising to his feet. "I have a request for you. Seeing as you are more pleasant company than the rest of your team, I wondered if you would consider acting as my personal bodyguard for the duration of the trip?" Yukie said hopefully. "I would have to ask sensei, but I have no problem with it," Ren replied. "Nor do I. Ren is the second-highest in rank, and tied with or slightly stronger than Sasuke, so it may be for the best that he acts as your personal escort," Kakashi said, appearing out of nowhere, spooking Yukie, though Ren was unsurprised, having become used to such behavior from Team 7's somewhat odd captain. Such quirks were actually not uncommon among high-level nin, who used them as coping mechanisms.

Thus began Ren's stint as a bodyguard for one of the most famous actresses in the elemental nations. In towns en route to the docks he would hold off press and overly enthusiastic fans, be it through intimidation, killing intent, or, at one point, a weakened Suiton: Mizurappa to blast away a pushy crowd. After greeting to the docks and almost a week at sea, they finally neared the Land of Snow. On their third day in the country, they were moving to the first filming location, a large iceberg, when Ren, now wearing one of his heavy coats along with a bandana-style forehead protector, gloves, and heavy boots due to the cold, placed his left hand on Mizuchi's saya while his right hand grasped the tsuka in a firm grip, prepared to draw. "Sensei, there is are unfamiliar chakra signatures nearby. I can't get a solid trace, but we seem to have picked up some tails," Ren said in a low voice after pulling Kakashi aside. "Keep an eye out. If danger presents itself, protect Yukie at all costs," Kakashi said seriously. Ren nodded, and resumed his position beside the actress, keeping his left hand on Mizuchi's saya.

It was about an hour later when the unknown foes finally struck, dramatically revealing themselves from beneath camouflage sheets accompanied by a fiery explosion. Their leader of the three was a man with pale purple hair. other two were a very large man with a mechanical left hand and a pink-haired woman. All wore some sort of armor which was unfamiliar to Ren. After some brief introductions in which they revealed that Yukie Fujikaze was actually Princess Koyuki Kazahana, the rightful heir to the position of Snow Country's Daimyo, they attacked. Kakashi took on the leader, while Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke fought against the large one. Kakashi and the leader's duel culminated in a clash between two ice jutsu taking the form of massive narwhals composed of the surrounding ice, using the same jutsu in an eerie echo of the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza, only this time the battlefield was destroyed. Ren, through all of this, hung back, staying near Koyuki, protecting her, and when the iceberg broke he landed on the water and caught the errant princess bridal-style. When the fight was over, Naruto and Sakura had minor injuries, while Sasuke remained unmarked. Kakashi was a little low on chakra, but that was all. Once everybody was back aboard and accounted for, they set off again, though the team had questions for "Yukie Fujikaze".

That night in Koyuki's room on the ship, Team 7 grilled her for information. Once the story had been fully revealed about her uncle Doto usurping her father and her subsequent escape, it was decided that Ren should stay closer to Koyuki in case the enemy managed to infiltrate. Thus, he set up a cot in her room and slept there, Mizuchi and his tanto always near to hand. The night after their charge's origins were revealed, Ren was awoken by a loud cry from the bed. In an instant, Ren leapt up from his cot, stumbling a bit on landing due to the rocking of the ship. The source of the sound was his charge, who was apparently still asleep and in the throes of a nightmare. He took deep breaths to calm his nerves and walked over to her bedside. "Kazahana-san?" He said, trying to wake her. When words alone failed to wake her, he leaned in and grabbed her shoulder. It did the trick, and she awoke almost instantly, sitting upright. However, due to Ren's position over her, she ended up smashing her lips into his. The inadvertent lip lock ended in less than a second, but it was enough to firmly cement in Ren's mind that someone on high was intentionally causing the awkward incidents he was oh-so-often in the middle of.

"What do you think you're doing, Senju?" Koyuki asked, an air of righteous feminine fury slowly building, waiting to be unleashed upon him in the most painful manner imaginable if his answer was unsatisfactory. "You were having a nightmare, so I attempted to wake you. As for the kiss, I did not plan on it and I am deeply sorry. It was an accident, pure and simple, and I will desist from waking you in such a manner from this point on," Ren said in the most soothing and apologetic voice he could manage. "Alright, I won't kill you. But you are going to get me a drink later to make up for it," Koyuki said, laying back down and turning away from him. Ren returned to his cot and went back to sleep, hoping for an uneventful rest of the night.

The next day Koyuki was frostily silent towards Ren, giving him a cold look if he made any attempt at conversation. Thus, as they reached Snow Country's mainland and disembarked, Ren followed behind her with a proverbial rain cloud over his head. "Ren, did something happen last night I should know about?" Kakashi asked. "Nothing you need worry about. I shall do my duty despite the embarrassing incident." "You sure. Because she's treating you like you peeked on her in the shower," Kakashi said, a diabolical gleam in his eye. "Sensei, do you want to test Sasuke's reflexes again?" Ren asked in a tone devoid of emotion, fixing Kakashi with a blank look. This made the Copy Ninja back off, seeing as he hadn't packed any spare Icha for the trip. "Glad you see it my way," Ren said, giving Kakashi an insincere smile.

Over the course of the next few days they continued with the filming schedule, with no disruptions or attacks by the trio of Snow Nin. Koyuki's resentment of her bodyguard due to the incident continued, though Ren had gone from depressed by it to irritated by her refusal to believe that it was an accident. He had bought her a drink as she had told him to. In fact, he had done so several times. He had been polite, courteous, and even shared some of his personal sake stash. His patience was running out, and so was his sake. He was down to his last bottle, and unless something changed soon, he was going to run out within the next couple of days.

The peace was not to last however, and the snow nin, this time accompanied by their employer, who also wore chakra armor, struck again. To do so they used a massive armored train. The massive vehicle had pursued Naruto through a tunnel while he carried Koyuki on his back and emerged from it next to the film crew's encampment. The film crew then revealed itself to be more than they appeared, shedding their bulky winter clothing to reveal samurai armor beneath. They drew their swords and charged at the train. Their heroic assault was cut short, however, by the train revealing boxy devices on the upper deck to in fact be kunai launchers which launched massive volleys that tore through the samurai and cut them down in a brutal fashion. Ren, seeing that Naruto, and by extension, Koyuki, were within the cloud of projectiles, quickly sprinted forward, drawing Mizuchi and began deflecting kunai with the flat of the blade. He took up a position in front of Koyuki and Naruto, keeping the kunai from striking the princess he was duty-bound to protect. However, he could not deflect all of them and, in the final volley, he was struck by two of them in the right shoulder and left thigh. He gritted his teeth in pain but stood firm while Doto came forward to gloat. However, Ren was in no mood to bandy words, and used a single one-handed seal and fair whack of his chakra to fire a Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu which, since it used the water available to it, was made up of slush and ice. It smashed violently into the train and left a gaping hole in the armor of the train, forcing the attackers to retreat, though not before the fat one used his grapple arm to snare Koyuki and drag her aboard. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura, who had been scouting the next filming location, now showed up to find the landscape riddled with kunai, and Ren kneeling, bleeding in the snow in front of a stunned Naruto. "What happened here?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who related the events to Team 7's captain, who instructed Sakura to treat Ren's wounds and had Sasuke and Naruto look for survivors among the film crew.

After Koyuki was captured, Team 7 paused briefly for Sakura to finish patching up survivors, and then Kakashi and Ren summoned Pakkun and Washitoru, respectively, in order to track their target. Pakkun used his nose, while Washitoru took to the skies and scouted from high above. Pakkun was able to pick up a faint scent in the snow, which they followed all the way to the capital, only to find the train abandoned and their quarry boarding an airship, leaving his three henchmen behind in order to slow down the team. Naruto, in an inspired application of kage bunshin, created a human ladder of clones and boarded the airship, leaving the three Snow nin to his teammates and sensei. "I call the girl," Ren stated, drawing Mizuchi. His pink-haired foe merely smirked and leapt into the air, using wings built into her chakra armor to glide.

"Why is it that women always play hard to get with me?" Ren said, dipping Mizuchi into the snow. "Suiton: Daito," he declared, drawing forth the extended blade made up of the frozen water around him. "Oh my, you seem to have some tricks. Well, take a look at mine," she said, using an ice jutsu to create frozen pillars around him which closed, obviously intending to trap him. Ren merely leapt up and landed atop his intended prison, only to be blindsided by the airborne pinkette, which made him drop Mizuchi. Ren quickly drew his tanto and made a slash at his opponent's unprotected throat. "Too slow, little boy," the woman mocked, making Ren snarl an sheath his knife. "Suiton: Suiben." A slushy water whip made up of the snow around him formed, which he cracked menacingly. The pinkette giggled at the demonstration, only to have her ankle snared and get directed into the ground. Ren took the opportunity to blitz forward and pummel her with rapid-fire punches from his free hand, stunning her. He then released the whip from her ankle and instead wrapped it around her neck, grasping her wrist and twisting her arm behind he back while slowly choking her. "You're skilled. But you rely far too much on that armor. Without it, you are nothing," Ren said in her ear as he undid the fastenings of the armor, dropping it in the snow. When she finally passed out he pulled out a roll of wire and bound her thoroughly. His teammates and his captain had also finished their opponents by this point, and their mission now rested on Naruto's shoulders. They disposed of the corpses of the two male snow nin by having Sasuke incinerate them and Ren took his captive and carried her over his shoulder. "Hey, Ren, I have a question. Why does it seem that every time you fight a girl you end up choking her and tying her up?" Sasuke asked, a smirk spreading across his features. "Watch it, Uchiha. I outrank you. And I happen to have that key to your house which you gave me in case I ever needed to get in. It would be a shame if some copies of it got into the hands of your fangirls…" Ren said threateningly, picking his prisoner up and returning to camp, leaving a pale Sasuke staring into space with a horrified expression.

The next day, once everyone had rested, Team 7 set out for the capital of the Snow Country, which was progressively thawing as a result of the activation of heat generators put in place by Koyuki's father, simulating the onset of spring. Ren was beside Koyuki, as usual, though she now wore, at his insistence, a suit of armor which once belonged to his great-grandfather. It also helped to keep her warm due to the fur-lined collar, though it was a bit too large for her. "This thing weighs a ton," she complained as she trudged along. "It will protect you from most conventional attacks," Ren replied wearily, growing tired of the conversation, which they had already been through several times. When the group arrive they separated into several teams. Sasuke would would infiltrate and open the gate, while Kakashi would open the gate. Koyuki's surviving film crew would protect her, with Sakura and Kakashi for support. Ren would make the frontal assault, joined by Sasuke once his mission was completed. Naruto was back at their base camp recovering from his injuries sustained during his battle with Doto. It wasn't very ninja-like, but Sasuke had pointed out that a high-profile attack would leave a lasting impression and firmly cement Koyuki as the ruler. Sasuke completed his tasks without a hitch, and, the gates unlocked, Ren pushed them open, brazenly walking into the courtyard. He was in short order surrounded by samurai wearing heavy armor, all brandishing swords. "Why have you come here, ninja?" asked a helmet-less samurai who had the look of an experienced soldier. "We are here on behalf of the true daimyo of Snow Country. Doto is dead, and Koyuki has returned to take her rightful place," Ren said. "What proof do you have?" "The princess herself, who bears the crystal given to her by her father," Ren said, signaling for Koyuki to come forward from within her group, holding out the crystal for all to see. Upon seeing it, the samurai leader was dumbstruck. He slowly sank to his knees in a position of fealty, and the foot soldiers around him slowly followed his example, including the film crew survivors. The Konoha ninja were surprised at the odd turn of events. "That was far easier than I expected," Ren commented.

Within a week Koyuki had been fully established as the ruler of the now renamed Spring Country. The leader of the county's hidden village, Yukigakure no Sato, had come and pledged their support to the new regime. Koyuki in return signed an agreement to open relations with other countries, allowing the village to take missions outside the country, which had been impossible after Doto closed the borders and banned exports of any kind. When the week was out, the Konoha contingent prepared to leave. As they stood on the dock waiting to board their ship, Koyuki came to see them off, accompanied by a pair of Samurai and a pair of Yukigakure chunin. She was wearing a formal kimono which suited her new position as a daimyo. "Koyuki-sama," Ren said, bowing low after the others had sad their goodbyes. "There's no need for that. After all, I wouldn't be here of it wasn't for you and your team. I just came to give you a proper goodbye and a little something to remember me by," she said, gesturing for one of her bodyguards to come forward and present Ren with a new coat, similar to the one he already wore. It was white with a pale blue lining, and the collar, cuffs, and bottom were decorated with navy blue spiraling patterns. On the back was a stylized dragon of the same color curled into an 'S' shape. "Thank you, Koyuki-sama," Ren said, going to bow again, only to be pulled into a passionate kiss. When she finally broke away, she slipped an envelope into his pocket. "Give this to Naruto-san," she instructed, receiving an absentminded nod that made her giggle as he slowly turned and walked onto the ship where the rest of the team was waiting.

~End~

AN- sorry for the long wait, got distracted writing a Devil May Cry fic I've had in development for the past few months or so.