It finally has a title!! I'm so happy!!
Promises in Snow and Ice.
Chapter 2.
In the Village of Konoha there is a large fenced in area on the far side of the village that few of the civilian population venture near. They were intimidated by the fifteen foot barbed-wire topped fence and frightened by the bestial animal sounds that floated out at different times of the day or night. There were the hisses of giant snakes, the roars of irate tigers, and the growl of other wild animals as they dealt in the millennia old dance of life, love, and death. Tokubetsu Jonin Anko Mitarashi loved those sounds. To her, it meant that her domain; Training Ground 44-a.k.a. the Forest of Death- was thriving.
Jumping from building to building with a carefree yet dangerous grin on her face and her ever present stick of dango in her mouth, the recently turned 32 year old woman salivated at the thought of the torture she was going to put a team of ANBU Black Ops through. At the request of her husband, the thirty-three year old Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake, Anko had agreed to let several teams of his beloved ANBU Operatives spend three weeks in her precious forest to improve their survival skills. Closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of the air rushing across her skin, Anko landed on the ground and stopped to catch her breath for a bit. She turned as the sound of feet landing on the walkway registered behind her.
"Mitarashi-san, please be careful, you're still recovering from the birth of your twins eleven months ago. I know today is the day Lady Tsunade gave you permission to return to work, albeit with vastly limited duties but you do not need to be in such a hurry. Please Lady Mitarashi, take it easy.", begged one of the nurses Anko'd been assigned by Lady Tsunade when it became apparent that the overly exuberant Special Jonin was pregnant.
Anko chose not to answer her nurse and just stood there breathing in the atmosphere of her responsibility. Closing her eyes and basking in the familiar music, Anko quirked one delicately arched eyebrow as a trio of unfamiliar sounds echoed out into the air. Frowning at what as readily becoming apparent as angry words, Anko attempted to put names and faces to the slightly familiar voices. It became a moot point when several of the older, stronger, and taller trees in her playground were struck by chakra enhanced punches and destroyed. Anko's eyes snapped open in blaze of fury. She knew of only two people who could do that much damage with just their physical strength. One was presently sitting in her office looking over reports from her shinobi and filling her cup with her precious hidden stash of sake. The other was supposed to be working her shift at the hospital. Narrowing her eyes to slits that scared her nurse to no end, Anko muttered under her breath.
"I am so kicking her ass!! Konoha's Deadly Cherry Blossom my right fist!! She and her two rivals are destroying my domain!", hissed Anko as she sprinted toward the sounds of destruction wreaking havoc on her training ground.
Deeper into Anko's responsibility there was a clearing that showed the recent signs of three vastly different explosions of chakra. When the mistress of the Forest of Death arrived, she spotted the trio of women responsible for the damage: Konoha's Terrible Kunoichi Trio; three of Konoha's deadliest female assassins (after Anko herself of course).
To her left at one point of an equilateral triangle, the new matriarch of the Hatake Clan saw the bright pink hair of Konoha's Deadly Cherry Blossom; Tokubetsu Jonin Sakura Haruno. Fifty feet to Haruno's left stood her best friend, toughest rival, and occasional sparring partner Tokubetsu Jonin Ino Yamanaka. With her full figure and platinum blonde hair gleaming in the mid-morning sun, Anko saw why the Yamanaka was often times referred to as 'Konoha's Shining Interrogator. Stopping just inside the remaining tree line and ignoring her panting nurse, Anko shifted her gaze to the third woman in the triangle. The snake mistress gulped as she recognized the bulging veins next to the eyes sockets holding the light lavender eyes of Konoha's Ivory Widow Maker and the present head of the most powerful clan in the Hidden Leaf Village; Tokubetsu Chunin (an advanced Hyuuga-Clan rank half a step below Jonin) Hinata Hyuuga.
Extending her senses out, Anko lifted her head up and looked at the tree branch above her head. Sitting up there, enjoying a large bowl of popcorn and conversing about who knows what, were two more familiar Kunoichi. The first, newly married TenTen Hyuuga was commenting to her companion Temari Sabaku (a Jonin Ambassador from Suna) about the citrine engagement ring the twenty-three year old woman now sported on the third finger of her left hand.
From her location just inside the tree line where the five young women were gathered, Anko could hear what the three rivals were fighting about and the unsolicited commentary from the pair of observers.
"You Dark-haired, White-Eyed Hussy, How Could You? Creeping into Naruto-kun's apartment like you did last night!! I Saw you sneaking in", roared Sakura as she readjusted the gloves on her hands and took a fighting stance.
"You're Just Pissed Because I Beat You and the Blonde Harlot there!! I Know That Both of You were Planning the same damn thing!! Get Over It, Pinkie, I loved him first! Besides, He wasn't even there", retorted Hinata as she settled into her families Jyuuken stance.
"Harlot? I don't think I like the sound of that Hinata you slut! Anyway, why should I believe you when you say Naruto wasn't home? You could be lying through your oh-so-perfect teeth just to cover up your illicit sexual antics with my beloved Naruto-kun. As for loving him first!! Ha, you never approached him during our years in the academy and told him your feelings!", yelled Ino as she settled into a modified version of Rock Lee's Goken stance and prepared for the attack she knew was coming.
"Oh fer Chrissakes, Ino; you and the Strawberry-haired bitch don't deserve Naruto-kun! He's more man than either of you Uchiha fangirls can handle! My dearest Naruto-kun needs a real woman to tame his wild spirit! Not two fan girls who tore down Lady Tsunade's office door to demand they be artificially inseminated with the sperm from that traitorous Sasuke Uchiha that Lady Shizune was able to get last time the traitor was in the village so that the dammed council could have their precious Uchiha Clan returned. By the way, how are your children now? I hope you suffered severely during those tedious nine months of hell!", quipped Hinata with a very un-Hyuuga-like smirk gracing her ivory face.
"Ohhh, that's a good one. Hinata sure isn't holding back this time, Temari. I wonder how they're gonna react.", chuckled TenTen Hyuuga as she dug her fingers into the large bowl of buttery popcorn sweetness she was sharing with the ambassador from Suna
"Isn't this a bit out of character for them? I mean, when did Ino and Sakura start plotting to get into Naruto's pants? Hinata, I understand, she's had a crush on the blonde idjit since before that first Chunin exam.
TenTen shrugged her shoulders in lieu of answering her closest Kunoichi friend. She didn't want to be rude and speak with her mouth full. Her parents would have a fit if they found out that their precious daughter had forgotten her manners. Thinking back to the past two years, TenTen wondered the same thing. When and why did Ino and Sakura start love jonesing for the blonde number one knuckleheaded hyperactive shinobi in the entire Hidden Leaf Village? Granted, Naruto had grown from a little semi-attractive twelve year old kid into a dashingly debonair and entirely deadly attractive nineteen year old man, but still: why and when did two of three most-attractive kunoichi of their academy graduating class (who'd had an altogether extremely creepy lust for the brooding traitor Sasuke Uchiha during those formative years) suddenly wanna drop their panties for the still hyperactive ANBU Black Ops captain who had a flair for flashy double S-Class assassination techniques.
TenTen finished her mouthful of popcorn and chuckled as she remembered her husband-the semi-brooding but loyal- Neji Hyuuga telling her the story of Naruto using a self-developed variation of his infamous (and triple S-class, Kage ranked secret) Oiroke and Harem jutsus to eliminate a wanted, non-shinobi playboy who'd stupidly made a pass at Uzamaki's beloved Tsunade-baachan thirty minutes before the Godaime Hokage's much anticipated and long-awaited, for some(Kotetsu and Izumo in particular; they were extremely annoyed each time Tsunade sent Jiraiya on an all-expenses paid vacation via Fist Airways. They got tired every single time the two of them had to approve much needed funds to pay for the incurred damages to the Hokage's office. Damn Tsunade for always wanting the expensive stuff!!), wedding to the one-armed Toad Sannin (and still all-around number one-ranked super pervert in the entire Five Great Shinobi Nations as well as numerous smaller hidden shinobi villages), Master Jiraiya.
Temari no Sabaku (soon to be Nara) smothered her own girlish giggle (something her fiancée, Konoha's Lazy Genius Shikamaru Nara, wouldn't believe) as she correctly guessed what her friend was thinking about. Temari remembered the wedding well. Her sister-in-law Matsuri, while in the mood changes of her early pregnancy, had broken a priceless-and full-crystal punch bowl on the head of her husband the Godaime Kazekage Gaara no Sabaku for some asinine comment he'd made after she'd upended another bowl (filled with a mildly intoxicating and spiked punch) over the head of Konoha's Golden Whirlwind for offering up an extremely explicit toast to the newlyweds during his duties as Jiraiya's best man. Temari waited for TenTen to start the story of how her husband and Naruto, then newly promoted ANBU lieutenants, boldly walked up to the targets' nonsensical palace and requested lodging for Actress 'Yukie Fujikaze' and her entourage for the night.
According to TenTen and corroborated by the head of the Hyuuga Branch House, Naruto (using his 'Oiroke no Jutsu-Yukie' variation) had attempted to seduce the target and ended up assassinating the man with his signature élan and flair before using the 'Fujikaze Harem no Jutsu' to take care of several of the decedents bodyguards.
"You can say that the bum went out happy living his greatest fantasy.", laughed TenTen as she returned her attention to the deadly battle raging below their seats.
Temari was about to comment on TenTen's words when she felt a semi-familiar sense of killer intent boiling nearby. Subtly going on guard as she tried to figure out who the intent belonged to (and why it was so familiar) the eldest child of the former Kazekage let her eyes glide over the surrounding area as she tried to find the source of the evil aura radiating nearby. Temari was about to give her search up when she heard a sibilant hiss less than ten feet from her and TenTen. Jerking her head in the direction of the noise while reaching for a kunai, Temari stopped when she saw the poisonous snake uncurling from around the trunk of the tree. It took Temari less than half a nanosecond to recognize the viper and realize that the two of them and the battling kunoichis below were in some seriously deep shit.
"Umm Ten-chan.", sputtered Temari while backing up.
"Not now 'Mari-chan! This fight's getting real good. My cousin is kicking ass here!", exclaimed the recently invested Matriarch of the Hyuuga Branch Family.
"Ten-chan!"
"WAIT ONE KAMI BE-DAMMED MINUTE!"
"TenTen.", pleaded Temari as she slowly returned her drawn kunai to its pouch and made sure she kept her hands faar away from her enormous battle fan sitting nearby.
TenTen whirled around to face her friend with a glower that would do Neji good to find out why her friend was interrupting her enjoyment of the fight.
"Dammit, what is it Temari? What the hell is it and why the fuck are you depriving me of my joy in watching Lady Hinata whup Sakura and Ino's ass?", snapped the irate weapons mistress.
"TenTen, I really think we are in a major shitload of trouble here.", whined Temari as she indicated the snake poised to strike.
TenTen glared, turned to face whatever it was that was ruining her fun….and stopped dead as she saw the swaying King Cobra. She only knew of three people who had that much control over snakes. Of the three: one was dead, one was a missing-nin, and one; the only kunoichi of the trio was due back to work running the Forest of Death that very day. The twenty year old, newly-married weapons mistress had only one thing to say.
"Oh fuck!"
Quietly sitting on the branch above her prey, Tokubetsu Jonin Anko Mitarashi-Hatake heard TenTen's sudden intake of air as she prepared to warn the trio of women destroying her beloved forest and swung down to face the two young women of status while making a hand sign. The only things TenTen and Temari saw before passing out were the familiar trench coat, mesh shirt (barely restraining the pair of milk-heavy breasts of the still nursing mother), and pissed off evil grin of death personified before two more unseen vipers wrapped around their throats and covered their mouths to keep them from sounding the alarm. The last thing they heard was the elite assassins' devilish chuckle and her taunting words.
"I can't have you warning the three dumbass broads below about my arrival before I can punish them, now can I?", muttered Anko evilly while gently and purposefully caressing the throats of her two victims with her kunai and leaving a thin trail of vibrant red blood on both of their faces.
Anko was disappointed when her pair of victims passed out before seeing her lick their blood from her knife. Sighing to herself in frustration at her denied satisfaction, Anko turned her attention to her attendant and gave her a message to take to the Hokage.
"And Natsumi, make sure those battling kunoichi don't see, sense, or hear you leave. Otherwise, I will be quite disappointed in you. I take it you know what will happen if I become disappointed, don't you.", Anko stated silkily before turning her attention to the three vandals below and thinking of new and…..inventive ways to punish the interlopers for their vandalism.
"Yes ma'am. I promise they won't hear me ma'am.", croaked Natsumi as she hurriedly gathered up the hem of her battle skirt and shunshined away with alacrity.
Natsumi knew exactly how her mistress took revenge when she was disappointed. It could get……bloody.
Anko ignored the nurse and glanced at the two unconscious kunoichi with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Okay now, how should I make sure you two don't get away before your punishment? Oh, I know.", mused Anko.
Seconds later, Temari and TenTen were tightly (and intimately) bound with what Anko called her 'Penitence Rope'. Although, Anko had lifted an interested eyebrow when TenTen lustily moaned as the 32 year old Jonin tightened the knots situated between TenTen's legs and in the valley of her breasts. The eyebrow lifted higher and Anko licked her lips in anticipation when she spotted the rock hard nipples jutting against TenTen's shirt.
"Ohhh, who knew that the matriarch of theHyuuga Branch Family was into bondage? Neji, Neji, Neji, Neji, what naughty things have you been practicing with your wife? This bears further investigation. I wonder if my darling Kakashi-kun would mind tying me up like that? I know I'd damn sure be game. Oh, I gotta tell Kurenai about this. Kukukukuku, tonight's going to be an interestingly stimulating and erotic night at the Hatake Clan Compound. That reminds me; I need to stop at my favorite 'toy store' on my way home from work this evening and pick up some more rope. I better get the natural stuff when I do. Those rope burns are gonna turn me on! Kakashi's so getting it tonight!", mused Anko as an unnoticed line of drool dangled from the corner of her mouth.
With her plans for the evening set, Anko turned her attention back to Hinata, Ino, and Sakura. Performing some more hand signs, she wondered how the trio of kunoichi beneath her would react to her 'Penitence Rope' and the new knots. After seeing TenTen's reaction to the rope, Anko told herself that she would pay to see how the virgin head of the Hyuuga Main Branch Family would react to her actions.
"I'd pay more to be the one doing the tying.", Anko happily giggled before back-flipping off of her branch and sending her snakes to…restrain the three nineteen year olds.
Down below, Hinata was preparing to send a Jyuuken strike to Sakura's chest when she felt something scaly coil itself around her lower body. Glancing down, her blood froze. Bringing her face back up to see her opponents, Hinata choked when she saw Sakura and Ino giving her confusing looks of their own as similar things were happening to them. Once neither of the three could move a millimeter, a familiar trench coat wearing figure stepped out from where she had been leaning against one of the several destroyed trees. Seeing the second most famous wicked grin in all of Konoha, nay, in all of the Five Great Nations, Hinata started to panic.
"You three have desecrated my forest AGAIN!! I know I've been gone for awhile, but it hasn't been that long. I've warned the three of you time and time again about this. Now I'm going to make you pay most dearly. Let me explain how I'm going to punish you (if that old bat, Tsunade will let me) and what exactly I'm going to do.", Anko stated calmly before going into a lengthy, detailed, and gruesome explanation of what was coming to the three hardheaded kunoichi.
The screams of terror that rang out over Konoha from the Forest of Death lasted for several hours.
Ahh, Konoha's Forest of Death, where life is worthless, and the torturous shouts of Shinobi who ran afoul of the Mistress of Death lasted for insane amounts of time.
In a land far away from Konoha, actress Yukie Fujikaze glared at the calendar depicting the last sixty days before her current tour of duty as the most famous actress in the Fire Country ended and she returned to the Land of Spring and once again took up her birth name, title, and birthright as Princess Koyuki Kazahana, benevolent ruler of the Land of Spring.
Presently, Yukie was relaxing (or trying to at any rate) in the whirlpool bathtub of the hotel suite the producer and director of her latest movie had made reservations with for the entire cast and crew to use during the final month of shooting. Sighing to herself, Yukie gave the heavens a grin and thanked her guardian deity that she didn't have to stay in her trailer for these last few scenes. In fact, Yukie's private, on set trailer had been cleaned out and sent back home for a two month long inspection where it was completely dismantled and every system checked, repaired, upgraded, or replaced. By the time Yukie returned home, the inspection would be complete and the trailer (which had seen her through her entire acting career thanks to her previous manager, the late Sandayu Asama) would be in the process of being rebuilt to her non-negotiable specifications.
When the overhaul of her trailer was complete, Koyuki and her ladies in waiting (with whom she often ignored suggestions from her council regarding her little home) would start picking the new furniture and fixtures for her little home away from home. Every piece of furniture from the dining area table to the small couch in the main room of the trailer was either ordered or hand built in the Land of Snow. Even the trailers bathroom equipment was replaced. The only pieces not replaced (upon pain of death) during the overhaul were Yukie's bedroom suite. She'd kept the same bed, chest of drawers, mirror, dresser, night stand, and vanity table she'd acquired when she bought the trailer second hand from an older actress who had retired from the spotlight. Yukie felt that the pieces of classic furniture were one of her links to Sandayu.
Shifting her train of thought away from the late warrior-turned manager-turned warrior, Yukie pondered the conversation she'd had with her director and producer at a private dinner for the three of them. She was happy that they had decided to help her enact her plan to escape from the actions of her council, but worried that the elderly assholes would send out the shinobi from the Hidden Snow Village (now allied to The Land of Spring and loyal to Princess Koyuki) to retrieve their wayward princess from wherever she escaped to. Yukie was even more worried about how those shinobi would treat the cast and crew when it became apparent that at least some of them had had something to do with Princess Koyuki's disappearance.
"Hopefully, when that time comes, I'll be busy with my Naruto-kun and he'll be busy keeping me happy. I'm going to leave enough clues that only Naruto can figure out where to 'find' me. And when he does, I'm making damn sure he doesn't leave my bed for at least two days if not more. It'll be his late birthday present from me.", chortled the screen goddess as she evilly rubbed her hands together.
When her 'Mad Scientist' moment passed, Yukie checked her watch and decided it was time to get out of the tub and go to bed to dream happy (erotic) dreams of her favorite blonde. Climbing out of the lukewarm water, Yukie reached for the full-length towel hanging from the heated towel rod and wrapped the warm and fuzzy gaily decorated terrycloth around her dripping wet and still firm naked body. Once wrapped in the material, the actress stepped the few paces over to the black marble sink, dropped her towel to the floor and inspected her body with a critical eye before retrieving her sea foam green panties from the counter and slipping her long, lightly tanned legs into the openings and sliding the delicate material up to cover her intimate folds in their satin embrace. Letting her soft fingers and their perfectly manicured nails linger over her warmth for a second, Yukie imagined how it would feel when she let the one she loved caress her velvety folds with his strong fingers and involuntarily swooned at the erotically charged picture.
Shaking her head and turning to the black terrycloth robe hanging from the hook embedded in the wall for such a purpose, Yukie slipped it on and reveled in its warmth as she loosely tied the belt and made her way into the bedroom where her golden yellow sleeping yukata with its bright blue highlights lay on the queen-size bed. Discarding her robe as she crossed the deep plush carpet toward the bed, Yukie idly gazed around the room at some of her most precious belongings.
There on one wall was a poster from a movie she did two years previous of her and her co-star locked in an increasingly passionate kiss from one of the love scenes. Even though his hair had been dyed black and his birthmarks covered up with movie make-up (he'd violently protested against the use of the powder, much to her amusement), Yukie recognized the piercing blue eyes of her prey. In order to keep his real name secret from enemies of Konoha and of his birth family, Naruto had acquiesced to using his father's first name and a common last name to keep his real identity a secret.
The night of the movie's premiere, Yukie had gotten extremely pissed off when 'Akamaru, Minato' had refused to escort her to the star-studded premiere gala and had thrown the grandmother of all hissyfits, much to the chagrin of her ladies-in-waiting and the elder council from the Land of Spring. The paparazzi, on the other hand, had enjoyed the tantrum immensely and had gotten tons of photos for the scandal rags. Naruto (there as a subtle bodyguard for the star) had grudgingly agreed to transform himself into his silver screen alter ego and dutifully escort Yukie to the premiere so that the opening could go smoothly. Of course Yukie being who she was had most definitely abused Naruto's kindness and had, immediately after the movie, replayed the lip-lock scene portrayed in the poster on the red carpet in front of the theatre much to the delight of the gathered press, the amusement of Lady Tsunade who had come to the premiere on Jiraiya's arm, and the horror of three of Konoha's deadliest kunoichi who were at the premiere providing bodyguard duty for the Hokage.
Across from that poster was a picture that was a bit confusing to those seeing it for the first time. The photo was of Yukie and, wonder of wonders, Princess Koyuki Kazahana at some big formal event the council had planned. Once again, Naruto had come through. Since the event was during the time Yukie was acting, she had to somehow appear at the same place as her birthright. Naruto has used his 'Oiroke no Jutsu-Princess Koyuki variation' to keep the council from getting in trouble if their princess didn't show. Yukie had been jealous when Naruto (or Naruko as the hyperactive Tokubetsu Jonin called his feminine alter ego) wore Yukie's royal garments and looked many times better in them than Yukie did herself. And dammed if the clothes fit Naruko like a glove!
Sighing to herself, Yukie used a genin-level jutsu her Snow Shinobi had shown her to turn off the light and turn on her radio. After an attempted coup d'etat by some rebellious shinobi was put down by the appearance of the Golden Whirlwind of Konoha and some of his friends (including a very miffed Kazekage), one of the Snow Ninja Jonin had requested that one of the Hyuuga's present use their Kekkai Genkai to see if Princess Koyuki had some, if any, chakra reserves. She did but her reserves were so small that they were nearly non-existent.
Climbing under the covers and reclining, Yukie rested her head on the pillow, closed her eyes, and drifted off into the domain of Mr. Sandman dreaming of little boys and girls running around the palace with black and yellow hair as he and her beloved watched over them.
While Yukie Fujikaze was dreaming of a certain bewhiskered nineteen year old blonde, said blonde's superior was sitting in her office glaring at the grinning matriarch of the reborn Hatake Clan.
Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, groaned as she dropped her head into her hands as the unrepentant Mistress of Training Area 44 explained what she had found the five bound kunoichi doing to her forest. The five were presently lying on the floor of Tsunade's office where Anko and four of her clones had haphazardly tossed them upon entering.
"I am very disappointed in the five of you. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata with your reputations; the three of you should know better than to do what you did. TenTen, you're a year older than those three and should've stopped it before it got out of hand. You knew exactly how your three friends felt about Naruto yet you not only didn't stop the developing brawl but brazenly sat in a tree and watched. Temari, you are not a kunoichi of Konoha and as such, I can't allow Lady Hatake to discipline you like she can your four partners in crime. However, upon finding out of your gross ineptitude, I had no choice but to inform the Kazekage. As you can probably guess, Lord Gaara was extremely unsatisfied with your actions. Gaara was so upset that he sent his reply by the fastest messenger hawk in Suna. Do you know what his reply was?, asked Tsunade as she shifted in her seat.
"No Lady Hokage, I do not know what his response was. I will accept any and all responsibility for my actions of lack of actions and will not appeal any punishment Lord Kazekage assigns me.", Temari replied with a subtle hint of smugness in her voice.
Hearing the faint smugness in the voice of Suna's Ambassador as she assumed that she was in the clear, Tsunade had to smother a smirk. Gaara, who knew his older sister real well and guessed exactly what she was going to do, had let Tsunade know in his response that whatever punishment Tsunade herself deemed fit for his sister, he would certainly agree to it. In addition to the punishment Tsunade was going to sentence Temari to, Gaara was in the process of temporarily demoting Temari from the rank of Jonin to the rank of Chunin and assigning her as an instructor at the Suna Ninja Academy for the foreseeable future when she returned home. Preparing her announcement, Tsunade started to reach into the drawer where she knew she had a hidden stash of sake. She stopped when Shizune (who was standing next to the seated Tsunade) kicked the drawer in question closed and trapped Tsunade's hand in the process.
"TenTen, Hinata, Sakura, and Ino; are you ready for my decision?", asked Tsunade while casting a sideways glare in Shizune's direction (Shizune merely kept the look of innocence on her face and her foot against her superiors' sake drawer).
"Yes Lady Hokage. As senior kunoichi here, I shall speak for all of us except Ambassador Sabaku and say that we will accept any punishment you so decide.", stated TenTen.
"Very well then; TenTen Hyuuga, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and Hinata Hyuuga; I hereby demote the four of you from your present kunoichi ranks to the rank of Genin. With your temporary demotion comes the need for the four of you to have a Jonin Sensei like all Genin. Therefore I am assigning the four of you as a team under…..Anko Mitarashi-Hatake. The four of you will follow all of her orders as if they were coming from me. You'll also accompany Anko on each and every mission she undertakes for the good of Konoha. Hinata, I know that your rank as Tokubetsu Chunin is a Hyuuga-only rank but I've talked with your father and Lord Hiashi has agreed to step in as temporary head of the Hyuuga Clan with vastly restricted clan head powers during your temporary demotion.", stated Tsunade with a straight face.
The blonde Hokage observed as the mouths of her four kunoichi dropped in shock. In all of the history of the office of Hokage, nobody who'd made it to Tokubetsu Jonin and Chunin ranks had ever been demoted all the way back to Genin no matter how serious the offense. It was just unbelievable that Lady Tsunade would do such a thing. TenTen started to protest but the sudden glare from the Hokage along with the little bit of killer intent the older kunoichi leaked curtailed her protest. Nodding her agreement at the rank reduction, TenTen stepped back and waited for Tsunade to dismiss her and her friends.
Putting the four Konoha Kunoichi out of her mind for the present, Tsunade turned to the lone Suna Kunoichi and passed her the message from her brother and watched as the twenty-three year old blonde Wind Mistress paled so much as to look like a distant relation (very distant and blonde) of Hinata Hyuuga. Seeing the younger woman's mouth opening but not hearing any sound at all emanating from it, Tsunade turned to the grinning visage of Anko Mitarashi (who'd correctly guessed what was about to happen).
"Anko Mitarashi-Hatake, I am hereby adding a Chunin to your new team. I have made my decision and have Lord Kazekage's support in rendering Temari no Sabaku's punishment for her actions in Training Area 44. As soon as I am finished with your genin team, I will send a message to Lord Gaara with my decision. In the meantime, I have a Low B-Ranked mission for your newly formed team to perform. You and your team need to get packed and prepared. I will brief the six of you on your mission later this afternoon since this mission requires an evening departure. I believe that once Team Six-Six is prepared, you'll have a few hours to get them trained in the teamwork required for this mission. And Anko, train them well.", said Tsunade with an innocent look.
The five Kunoichi looked on in fear as a nasty grin spread across Anko's face. They knew that in addition to their demotion, they were in some really deep shit.
"I'll train them to the utmost of my ability Lady Hokage. When it comes time for my team and I to depart, I promise they will be extremely well-trained and ready.", chuckled Anko as she rewrapped the rope used to bind the five around her arm.
"Anko, this time can you go easy on the welts, bruises, cuts, and blood? I need those five in tip-top shape for this mission? You can still use your 'Penitent Rope' on these five as you see fit.", commented Tsunade as she returned her attention to her paperwork and took a perverse pride in the scent of fear suddenly expressed by TenTen and her accomplices.
Anko frowned as the Hokage's restriction on the punishment she could dish out became apparent. Gritting her teeth in a mild level of anger, Anko turned to the five young women shaking in their boots and ordered them to go home and get prepared for their training. Seeing and smelling their fear, Anko felt her libido rise and wanted to rush home for some before mission 'quality time' with her husband. Just as she was about to jump out the window, Tsunade called Anko over to her desk. Checking around to make sure that the five doomed kunoichi had truly left, the older woman asked the younger woman a question.
"Who were Hinata, Ino, and Sakura fighting over? I know they have their disagreements but a full-on destructive fight that damaged several acres of your responsibility. What the hell Anko?" queried Tsunade.
"Do you even have to ask, Tsunade? Those three were fighting over our beloved Golden Whirlwind, Naruto Uzumaki. From what I could gather, Hinata snuck into Naruto's apartment in a quest to seduce Naruto and finally lose her virginity. It seems that Ino and Sakura had the same idea but Hinata beat them to it. So as expected Sakura and Ino were pissed, Hinata was smug, while TenTen and Temari wanted to watch.", answered Anko.
Tsunade just shook her head in astonishment; her adopted brother was suddenly a popular figure among the women-both ninja and civilian-of the village. When she had gotten into the office this morning, Tsunade had found several requests from several of Konoha's single women and single women from allied villages to marry one Naruto Uzumaki. Being the protective older sister type, Tsunade had gleefully turned them down by enthusiastically stamping them with her favorite rubber stamp (A big stamp the size of a small book that had 'DENIED' engraved in the rubber).
Turning to the purple-haired woman standing by the window, Tsunade asked her how long it was going to take her to get her temporary team ready.
"Not long, Lady Hokage. Not long at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a really pressing matter to attend to at home!", stated Anko lecherously.
(Somewhere on the other side of the village in his Clan's reopened compound, Kakashi Hatake-now wearing the snow white face mask that signified his position as head of the Hatake Clan instead of his usual black mask-shuddered as he felt a familiar erotic intent floating across Konoha. Recognizing the intent, the Copy-nin tried to hurriedly find a babysitter for his eleven month old twins: Sugumo and Rin Hatake so he could disappear from his home before his wife returned. If he was still there when Anko arrived, Kakashi knew that he wasn't going to get any training done for the rest of the day.)
"Oh, okay Anko. Don't wear Kakashi out too much today. I'll still need him later to help Iruka with something.", answered Tsunade.
Hearing no reply, Tsunade looked up. All she saw was a purple blur jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Shrugging her shoulders, Tsunade returned to her paperwork. Not surprisingly she was confronted by another request for a marriage to Naruto Uzumaki. Denying this request like she had all the others, Tsunade let her poor abused hand drift down to her hidden sake again only to have Shizune again keep her from reaching for her stress-relief potion. Shooting a glare at the younger woman that could freeze an experienced Jonin in their tracks at five thousand paces, Tsunade started to curse until Shizune reminded her of her doctor's orders.
"Lady Tsunade, you know that the doctor told you that you could not drink any alcoholic beverages in your condition.", chastised Shizune.
"Dammit, Shizune, dealing with those five, especially Hinata, Sakura, and Ino and their unrelenting crush on that blonde moron stresses me out!", snapped Tsunade as she leaned back in her chair.
Shizune nodded while checking her watch. It was time for Tsunade's doctor-mandated two hour break. Reaching down and pulling Tsunade's chair out, Shizune checked the stacks of paperwork on the massive desk of the Hokage. Seeing that before the interruption, Tsunade had gotten a good bit of work done, Shizune helped her friend to her feet. Once the fifty+ year old woman with the body of a twenty year old was standing, Shizune glanced at Tsunade's rounded belly and wondered how much longer Tsunade had until the blessed day she gave birth to her first child. Shizune returned her attention to her boss when the older woman whined that her back was hurting and her breasts felt larger than usual.
"Lady Tsunade, you know that your breasts are heavy with milk and that's why they feel larger. They are larger in fact, when I purchase your bras for you I've had to start buying the next bigger size. Do you want me to send for your husband, Tsunade? You always feel less cranky when he gives you your daily massage.", stated Shizune as she helped her very pregnant boss to the private resting quarters attached to the Hokage's office.
"Shizune, one of Jiraiya's massages is what got me into this predicament in the first place, dammit! If he hadn't been in there and adamant about getting some rest during the day, I wouldn't be pregnant in the first place!", exclaimed Tsunade in a huff as she sat down on the very soft mattress and crossed her arms over her ample bosom (or tried to).
Shizune heard the excitement in Tsunade's voice that she so desperately tried to hide and knew that more than anyone, Tsunade was ecstatic about her first pregnancy. Before she could comment, there was a subtle gust of wind and a familiar mint smell as the Hokage's husband shunshined in with the bag full of massage lotions draped over his shoulder. Shizune tried to ignore the stump of what remained of Jiraiya's left arm when he fought his battle against the head of the Akatsuki Organization a few years back.
"Hey ladies, it looks like I'm right on time!!", chuckled Jiraiya in his familiar teasing baritone as he set down the massage implements and gave his wife the crooked grin she so loved.
Shizune sighed in resignation as her boss reverted into a giggling schoolgirl whenever Master Jiraiya was around and quietly left the Sannin couple to the love she saw between them. Preparing to close the door, Shizune wondered when her crush would realize that she loved him as much as Tsunade loved Jiraiya and then some. Again checking her watch, Shizune smiled at the time she saw there. If she was quick, she could go to the cafeteria and watch as her crush ate his meal. Before she could exit the room, Tsunade asked her a question.
"Shizune, where is Naruto anyway?? I haven't heard a thing from him since he said that his time as one of the new Twelve Ninja Guards of the Fire Daimyo and his exchange duty with the Twelve Artic Foxes protecting Lady Koyuki and the Twelve Desert Tigers protecting the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was complete?", asked Tsunade.
"I don't know my lady but I did send Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka to meet up with him and the Fire Monk Sora several days ago.", answered Shizune as she edged towards the door.
Tsunade let loose an expressive groan that metamorphosized into a high-pitched girlish squeal of delight as the strong hand of her husband deftly slipped under her jacket and undid her bra before returning to the table to retrieve a large towel he stretched out over Tsunade's back as she slipped her arms out of her jacket and brassiere.
"Oh great, the party boy posse!! I wonder how much trouble they're gonna get into this time. Jiraiya, do you how much I hate it that you taught that blonde baka how to be charming during your training trips? After every mission he undertakes, I get so much paperwork from different lands wanting to marry off their daughters and single women to him. Geez it's annoying!!", ranted Tsunade before succumbing to the ministrations of her husband.
Jiraiya looked at Shizune and winked before mouthing something that brightened her day.
"Get going! Your crush forgot his lunch today and I told him that I'd have somebody deliver one for him. He should be in the cafeteria in five minutes. When you leave, check the top of your desk and take what you see with you. Now go, I'll take care of Tsunade and keep her busy for the next three hours. My dear wife is gonna get some sleep today even if I have to use a sleep jutsu on her. See you later Shizune!", mouthed the Toad Sannin as he bent to his task.
Shizune gave the older, but still roguishly handsome man a peck on the check before shunshining away with a puff of lavender scented smoke. The last thing she saw before she disappeared was Jiraiya leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss to the side of Tsunade's swollen belly.
Seventy-five miles away, the one shinobi Lady Tsunade was worried about was just disembarking from a train with his fellow member of the Twelve Embers, Sora, a monk from a nearby Fire Country Temple who had been exposed to some of the chakra of the nine-tailed demon sealed within his friend. The two looked around and spotted the group of Sora's fellow monks there to escort Sora back to the temple. Sora turned to his friend and raised the bandaged arm that hid his curse in farewell.
"Take care my friend. I look forward to our next meeting and rejoining our fellow guardsmen. We'll see who has improved the most in that time.", stated the dark-haired man wearing the familiar white robes of his sect.
"Hehehe, just make sure you have some medic-nins ready to take care of your wounds when we do, Sora my friend. I won't go easy on you.", replied Konoha's Golden Whirlwind.
"We'll see Naruto. We'll see. Next time, let's restrict ourselves to three-tails each. I believe it will take the Daimyo and his carpenters and gardeners several months to repair the damage we caused while dealing with the attack by those unknown shinobi. I don't think they were ready for the appearance of one nine-tailed demon fox, much less his six-tailed demon fox back-up.", Sora chuckled as he started to head towards his welcoming party.
Naruto Uzumaki, also known as Konoha's Golden Whirlwind and the most legendary hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja in the entire Land of Fire nodded as he hitched his traveling bag further up on his shoulder, straightened his stance, and walked away from the train station towards the hotel district to find a room for the night. Oblivious to the looks from the bystanders; the six foot one, two hundred pound Tokubetsu Jonin headed into the city after casting one more look at the disappearing form of his friend.
On the other side of town, two ninja hurried towards the railroad station. Shikamaru Nara, the twenty-year old Lazy Genius Jonin of Konoha glanced at the familiar form of the nineteen-year old leather coat wearing figure of his fellow member of Konoha's Rookie Nine, Kiba Inuzuka. As he let his look flow over the rugged man, Shika couldn't miss the glint of platinum coming from the third finger on the left hand of the expert Tracker-nin without thinking about the similar weight that would soon be gracing the same finger of his hand.
Kiba Inuzuka had, wonder of wonders, been the first of the Konoha Twelve to get married. On the occasion of the tracking experts' seventeenth birthday, the gates of the Inuzuka compound had been closed to everyone, including the Hokage for the private ceremony occurring within. When it ended thirty-six hours later, Kiba and his new bride (a member of another family of ninja dog handlers who specialized in training their young shinobi and kunoichi in how to train and work with attack dogs) Aisha Kurimitsu, exited the compound in their marriage attire and went searching for their friends to inform them of the nuptials.
Now standing six feet four inches tall and towering over the five foot ten inch Shikamaru, Kiba strolled through the street with the devil may care reckless grin he was known for though now it was a bit tempered by a bit of the maturity he was forced to quickly develop after his marriage. At the reception, Aisha had laid down the law of how she expected him to act when he was home. The five foot eight, one hundred thirty-five pound kunoichi with her wild reddish-brown hair styled just right had backed up her threat of repercussions of his antics by giving Kiba a leather couch with his name on it as a wedding present, much to the delight of Kiba's sister Hana.
The couch presently sat in the game room of the small house Kiba and Aisha shared on a piece of land connecting the Inuzuka compound with the Kurimitsu compound. Kiba always boasted that he had yet to spend the night on his couch to his friends (but he had spent a couple of nights in the doghouse Aisha had gotten him on their first anniversary).
Shikamaru sighed. In two months, like it or not, he was marrying the Suna Wind Princess. Shika knew he loved Temari and he knew that she loved him. Yet he was worried about how they were going to manage their marriage being from two different hidden villages that up until seven or eight years previous had been mortal enemies. Shikamaru was also worried about how his future in-laws AND the entire Hidden Sand Village would accept the marriage. Well he didn't have to worry about Gaara too much. The Kazekage was busy with being wrapped around his 12 month old little girl, Chiyo's, little finger. Of course Matsuri made sure that the Kazekage was humbled by having him take their daughter to work with him just about everyday. Changing the dirty diaper of a giggling baby girl (who had impeccable aim) while members of his council laughed in the other room, humbled the mightiest of men (Gaara had taken to keeping several changes of clothes in his office each time he had to watch chibi-Chiyo).
"Hey Kiba; can I ask you a question.", said Shikamaru as the pair turned up the street heading towards the train station.
"Sure, Shika go ahead.", replied the dog trainer with a knowing look. Kiba had been expecting Shikamaru's question during their entire trip.
"What is it like being married? I mean, with my impending nuptials and our abnormal lives what does it take to make a marriage work?"
"Getting cold feet, Shika? I don't think that Lord Kazekage would be pleased if you backed out of the wedding. Not to mention what Temari-chan would do to you."
Shikamaru shuddered as he thought about that. It wasn't Gaara or Temari he was worried about if he stood her up at the alter. The Lazy Genius was more worried about Kankuro's reaction to his backing out. The puppet wielding Suna Jonin had already shown Shikamaru the specially designed puppet he'd built for Shikamaru if he dared to either back-out of marrying Temari or he dared to cheat on her after they were married. Needless to say, Shikamaru was suitably impressed and scared at the same time.
"Not to mention what my parents would do if that happens! Mom has taken quite a shining to Temari-chan and dad is so whipped that he would do anything mom said if I displeased her by doing something that…troublesome!", thought Shikamaru as he spotted a familiar tall blonde wearing a black sleeveless trenchcoat with a golden design around the edges that signified cyclones.
Just as he was about to call his unpredictable friend, Kiba asked Shikamaru several questions that would disturb him for the rest of their retrieval mission.
"Shikamaru, do you love Temari with all of your heart and soul? Would you die for her? Would you kill for her? Would you protect her with your life, even if it means giving up yours? Would you want to start a family with Temari no matter what her family and village say? If you can answer any of those questions with a positive answer, then you shouldn't have to worry. If you can't then all I can say is that you need to search your soul and find the answers that feel right before you sentence both you and Temari to a hell neither of you deserve. Now let's go grab Naruto and make him take us out for drinks. You know he has a lot of extra disposable income to spend.", commented Kiba before running up to the blonde man waiting for them ahead.
Shikamaru thought about what Kiba had said but stopped when it became too troublesome. Reaching into the pocket of his Jonin vest for his pack of cigarettes and lighter, Shika remembered his sensei and wondered what Asuma would say in this situation. Shaking his head and extracting one of the menthol cigarettes from a small coastal village in The Land of Wave, Shikamaru placed the filter between his lips and expertly flicked his lighter to torch the cigarette to life. Snapping his Zippo shut and replacing it and his pack in his pocket, Shikamaru took a deep drag and let the soothing smoke pour out of his nostrils as he looked up at the ever-present clouds in the darkening indigo sky.
"Hehehe, I'll think about all of that tomorrow. Right now it's time for three members of Konoha's Party Boy Posse to chill out, relax, blow of some steam, and get blitzed. We deserve it. Shame Chouji ain't with us tonight, then things could really get out of hand. Meh, we'll see him back in Konoha. Then we'll throw a proper party for the blonde miscreant. I better thank Master Jiraiya for that seal he gave me so that we can get both Naruto and his guest drunker than a ring-tailed polecat in a hurricane.", muttered Shika with a smile on his face as he laced his hands behind his head and strolled over to where his partners in debauchery and crime were waiting with expectant smiles on their faces.
"Ahhh, life is good!"
And with that line, I bring to an end the second chapter of the NarutoxKoyuki fic 'Promises in Snow and Ice'.
First off, I wanna throw a big shout out to Lovesrainscent for all of her help and pre-reading of the different sections of this story as I sent them to her to get her opinion. Thank you LRS, I owe you big time for the help and support you've given me while I was writing this chapter. I greatly appreciate it!!
Next I wanna thank those who read and reviewed the first chapter. I appreciate the time and effort you took to stop and read this story and pushed me to continue. I owe you a lot as well. Thanks again.
I bet some of you are wondering why I titled this story what I did? Would you believe that I didn't come up with this title until I was partway through writing the first part of this chapter?! LRS and a few others had made suggestions but no matter how good they were (and some of them were DOUBLE DAMN GOOD) none of them just clicked. Then I watched the movie 'Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow' for about the fourth or fifth time (I have the three-disc special edition) and when it got to the scene where Naruto is carrying Koyuki through the railroad tunnel and makes his promise' that no matter wherever she may run, he'll find her and bring her back' (dattebayo!!) the title just came to me. I mean, come on, he makes that promise in the snow with all of the ice around them. Could anybody even write a better setting for such a romantic promise (even if the knucklehead doesn't know a thing about romance, yet.).
I have a feeling that part of this chapter is gonna generate some flames and I'm gonna address those right now. About Ino and Sakura being artificially inseminated with Sasuke's seed, there is a reason I wrote that. It may or may not become apparent why until much later in the story but stick with me here. As for the division among the Hyuuga, part of that will be explained next chapter.
Last but not least, I want to give a shout out one of my fellow members of Robotech (dot) com. Treiz, thanks for letting me use your forum catch phrase (Meh), I couldn't find anything else that would fit in there. Sorry Compadre!!
Next chapter
The Party-Boy Posse get into trouble (you expect anything less), Hinata and Neji discuss her demotion. Ino and Sakura share a mommy moment, Yukie puts her plan into action, and Tsunade gets pissed.
See youse mugs next
chapter!!
Knightewolfe
Wolfe's Den 10/08